You know my name

[Eluna Thals]

Bothauwi


The trip from the Fourth Fleet rendezvous at Sullust had been longer than normal, if only to protect against blowback. The Jedi Zem Vymes was a fugitive from General Dan, and if the Jedi was to be believed, the reasons for this could potentially unseat the entire Rebellion. Taking care to plot an indirect course which doubled back several times, Eluna and Jane escorted Zem to a point where he could be clandestinely spirited away to the secret location of the Wheel, the Jedi convoy under close watch by the Rebels to protect it from enemy attack.

Once their paths parted, the two Alliance operatives returned to the beating heart of of Intel - Bothauwi. It made sense strategically to regroup and assess the variables from a position of strength. If they were about to seriously move against one of the most powerful men in the Alliance, their hand would have to be unseen, fast, and decisive. Already, Starborn was putting together a plot to clandestinely test the General's blood for midichlorians - the microscopic building blocks of force potential. From what Eluna knew, a high count wouldn't be conclusive evidence of a Sith in the midst, but it would be compelling when faced with other evidence against Dan.

There existed several options. The possibility of penetrating Dan's inner circle to find somebody to perform the extraction would be difficult. Eluna had been, at best, on the fringe of his network before being passed to Phoenix Cell. He carefully controlled access to himself. Other means involved potentially using insectoid-sized droids to potentially mimic a biting insect or something similar. This too would be a long shot. Of course, there was also a chance of mining old medical data, but the possibility of such data being doctored or simply deleted was high.

On top of that, there was still the issue of Byl. They'd found Zem while following Byl's trail, and their paths were connected. The chance was high that if they could uncover the Captain's whereabouts, then other pieces of the puzzle might come together. That was easier said than done, however. From her time working with Byl, she knew he was extremely careful and paranoid. He hadn't made following him easy.

As Eluna sat at a terminal in her Bothauwi apartment, disseminating data over all half traces of the Captain's last movements, she expected more of the same disappointments. Perhaps that's what made a nondescript byline on the Bothauwi embassy's comm scanner nearly cause her to double take.

In an instant, her hand was at the comm, pinging her most recent contact.

"Jane, get over here immediately!"

[Jane Starborn]

She was beginning to feel like a zombie. Jane scrubbed her face with a dry hand, flicking her hair out of her eyes, and held back a sigh. In her office on Bothauwi she could smell the faint odor of the Bothans' fur. It had a slightly musky scent that permeated the entire planet. Not unpleasant, but took some getting used to if you'd been away for a while.

Zem Vymes was with Dashiel and they had probably rendezvoused with the Wheel already. Wherever that was. Jane wasn't in the Need To Know, and didn't care to be. Director Van-Derveld had agreed with the urgent nature of the Jedi Knight's news (or rumor - it was still hearsay at this point), and the Wheel had been jumped to a new place and had a particularly virulent strain of the Corellian Flu that needed to be quarantined for the time being. Jane hoped that the Council was receptive to what Zem had to say, and would understand the need for the deception regarding the quarantine.

Task Force 42 was also reportedly on the move. General Dan had wasted no time after Jane, Dash, and Eluna had absconded with his secret prisoner, and was getting ready to - do something. Nothing had been recorded as far as a jump plan or orders. Not yet, anyway.

Jane stared at her screen, rubbed her eyes again (they felt dry, like her eyelids were sandpaper), and then pressed a button, activating the tracker she'd left in the care of James Prent. Hopefully the girl hadn't abandoned it on Copperline and had taken the card with -

The Senior Operative blinked bleary eyes, trying to clear her vision, and peered at the trace report. Within five klicks? On Bothauwi? She jumped as a ping sounded, and a red box appeared on her computer screen.

LAPROVIK ID TAGGED AT EMBASSY/FACIAL RECOGNITION CONFIRMS ID

Jane started up to her feet so suddenly that her expensive office chair crashed to the ground and a stack of datapads scattered all over her desk. Her commlink buzzed and she unconsciously answered it. "Jane, get over here immediately!"

"I have a better idea. Meet me at the embassy. Like, yesterday." Jane was already out the door of her office and running down the hall.

[Byl Laprovik]

This wasn't the outcome he'd hoped for, but it was certainly an outcome he'd expected.

Coming in from the cold to meet with the Alliance held many unknowns. He knew from James and other scraps of information he could dredge up that he was some kind of special agent in the Alliance. The double edged sword of trying to find out about his past was that even by looking, there was next to nothing he could turn up on the outside. He had to know. Not knowing meant too many unknowns. They couldn't keep running from both the Empire and the Rebels. The Empire was a known quantity in that they wanted them both dead. The Alliance could hold the key to their salvation...

...or it could lead to this dead end.

"Mr. Laprovik. I'm Assistant Consular Seregrin. You do know why you've been detained, don't you?"

Byl sat at the opposite end of a table from the man facing him. He was balding, dressed in a suit, and held a holoflimsy. At the midpoint between the two men, the table was bisected by a force field that cut the room in half. The half of the room Byl sat in was a holding cell. The table gave the illusion that this was simply a sit-down meeting between two men, but it was the thinnest of illusions.

From the question asked, Byl derived that his captor was every bit as lost as he was.

"My name was on a list."

It wasn't much of a guess. He'd shown up on Bothauwi with nothing but a face and a name. He'd even arrived on separate transports from James. She'd come in on the evening flight from Devaron. He'd given her an audio device with a playtrack on it, and instructions on when and how she was to come to the embassy. If he didn't contact her an hour after he stepped through those oversized front doors, she knew what to do. They'd been on the run long enough to know how to depend on each other. She was his lifeline.

Consular Seregrin's expression tightened into an attempted smile. Byl returned a small, but genuine smile. He knew the Consular was fishing for a hint. Even if Byl had one to give, he wouldn't.

"You could say that. A priority two name. I'm sure you know what that means, yes?"

"It means every open set of eyes in the Alliance is looking for me, but not enough for a death mark. What's wrong, Consular? Nobody up top cares to give you anything more than a name?"

The frustration on Seregrin's face became more pronounced.

"You'd make this a lot easier for yourself if you just started talking."

Byl leaned forward, his eyes glinting knowingly.

"I think we both want to know why my name's on that list."

"Don't be coy, Laprovik. I'm an Alliance Consular. If you cooperate, I have plenipotentiary authority within the confines of this Embassy. I can at least give you a fair shake. Once your out of my sight, you're likely to drop into an unmarked speeder courtesy of Intel, and I doubt they'll give you the light of day."

They both knew where Seregrin's authority began and ended. Right about where the force field cut the table in half.

"I can handle the light of day, Consular. I came to Bothauwi for answers."

Seregrin's forehead began to faintly perspire. He was getting stonewalled.

"Answers to what?"

Byl placed both hands palms down on the table.

"If I'm priority two, hanging off the Alliance's proverbial bollocks on Bothauwi, I expect someone from Intel to be along shortly with the right questions."

He glanced impatiently down at his chrono. Another ten minutes, give or take.

"If they dawdle. I'm leaving. I didn't come here for the free room and board."

Seregrin blinked at Laprovik's brazen response.

"I don't know what you were or you think you were in Intel, but you're behind a force field in an embassy held by a platoon of Alliance marines, on a planet with a spy behind every rock. You're gonna have to come to grips with that, and start cooperating."

Byl sighed.

"We're wasting each other's time, Consular."

The conversation was over.

[James Prent]

James Prent was terrified. Closing her eyes and trying to picture a quiet green meadow, or a stream burbling through rocks wasn't helping. And of course having her eyes closed only made her think that someone was going to be standing in front of her when she opened them, ready to shoot her or clap her in cuffs.

She fiddled with the small box in her inner jacket pocket, then forced herself to stop. Byl's time was running out, he hadn't contacted her, and it was time for her to get moving. James stood on the magtrain platform, waiting for the next commuter train to pull in to the station, a hood pulled up over her short hair and concealing her face from any security cameras.

The surge of bravado and backbone she'd briefly found just before Byl had hatched this harebrained idea was long gone. All that was left in it's place was a chilly sense of being watched. The train whooshed to the platform, and she casually shouldered her way through the other beings and found a seat.

[Eluna Thals]

Just as the magtrain doors were preparing to close, a familiar flame-haired woman in a casual tee and capris knifed a hand through the gap, pushing the doors apart. This wouldn't be like the last time. They were beyond pretending this was a social call. Fortunately, enough loose ends were up in the air to make sure that James Prent was a bit less disposable than she otherwise would've been considered.

Lucky her.

A large man dawdled a bit too close to the center aisle for Eluna's liking, and she checked him against one of the support poles, sending him sprawling. That was enough of an entrance to get James' attention.

"James Prent. Come with me."

[Jane Starborn]

Jane tried not to run as she worked her way through the layers of security in the embassy, but every second counted. What was Byl playing at? Why the embassy and not checking in with his direct superiors in Intel?

It was funny - she'd never met the man but she felt like they were on a first name basis now, after all she'd been through because of him. Maybe she'd wring his neck. Jane cracked a smile at that, and finally someone was opening a door and there he was, safely on the other side of a force field, with a consular getting to his feet and saying something.

Saying something to her. Jane ticked her gaze over to Consular Seregrin, and said, "Yes, thank you, Intel will be taking over from here. You may go." He looked vaguely confused, like what she'd replied with hadn't matched his question, but nodded and took his leave anyway.

Jane sat down stiffly in the warm, just-vacated seat. Byl Laprovik looked at her impassively, no flicker of recognition in his eyes. Of course, they'd never met before.

"You look just like your holo, Commander Laprovik." It felt awkward, like a first date at a middle school dance. "I am Senior Operative Starborn, and I have been looking for you for quite a long time."

[Byl Laprovik]

At last.

Byl's smile took on a small bit of assuredness.

"Should I be flattered or concerned?"

Now it was time to get to the bottom of all this.

"I came here to talk to an Operative. So let's talk."

[Jane Starborn]

She narrowed her eyes slightly, studying his careful sabacc face. "I assume you have a report to file?" He made no positive indications with his expression, a schooled response that revealed absolutely nothing - except for the fact that he wished to reveal nothing.

"What reason can you give me for disappearing off the grid for months and not reporting in? It better be good, or you'll be facing court martial for being absent without leave." Jane pursed her lips slightly. "Its no secret you have a long leash, Commander, but you are tied to Intel and we do expect you to check in and to go on missions with your comrades in Phoenix Cell."

[Byl Laprovik]

Phoenix Cell.

She was the first to disclose new information, even if it was just a name.

Mulling it over, he tapped a few times on the tabletop with a finger, before bringing his hand to rest, at last deciding to see how far he could get with being earnest.

"I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you with an underwhelming report. The earliest thing I can remember is coming to in a one man shuttle in the Figaro Favoura system, about nine months ago."

[Jane Starborn]

"Bullshit." Jane sat back in the chair and shook her head. "I'm not going to buy that. If you want to report to the Director instead of me, I can arrange that, but you're going to have to give me more than some line about having amnesia."

[Byl Laprovik]

That went about how he'd expected it would. Who would buy a line about amnesia, anyway?

"If that was the best lie I could come up with, I would've just stayed out on the lam, wouldn't I? You've been close to catching me, but not that close."

He sat forward a little, lacing his fingers together as he lowered his voice.

"I'm here to know who I am. Who I was. What that all means between me and you. I've spent too long chasing a ghost."

[Jane Starborn]

To someone with an eidetic memory, the concept of amnesia seemed impossible. Still - it was scientifically real. Jane could think of thirteen types of amnesia or memory loss and that was without trying. There were two different ways the memory loss occured, as well. Antereograde amnesia meant the being could no longer form new memories; there'd been a holomovie along those lines a few years ago. Retrograde amnesia was the loss of pre-existing memories to conscious recollection, beyond an ordinary degree of forgetfulness, and seemed to be what Laprovik was claiming.

He could have suffered the memory loss from a post-traumatic situation, or a dissociative episode after a psychologically trying experience. With his training it was unlikely he'd simply snapped or tried to repress some memory. A head injury was more likely, or...

I did not dare venture out to see. It was very heated and obviously violent. Some time later, I did see something peculiar out in the courtyard. Madam s'Ilancy carried a man out. I did not get a good look, you must excuse me. She carried him to a ship and put him in it. Minutes later, the ship took off.* (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showpost.php?p=334036&postcount=56)

"Does the name Loklorien s'Ilancy mean anything to you?" She raised an eyebrow.

[Byl Laprovik]

"No, I don't bel..."

He paused in the midst of his denial, suddenly unsure. It wasn't a name he recalled from any memory or anything in his travels, no. But...

"...wait, this name. I'm certain I've never heard it, or never remembered hearing it at least. But I think this was in a dream I had."

Byl looked at the table, confused and unsure where this tangent would lead.

"Was this a mission I was on? To find this woman? To kill her?"

The dreams he'd had were so disjointed and made no sense. It didn't seem like a replay of a memory. It didn't seem like anything.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane shook her head. "No mission. Nothing on record." She looked around a bit, knowing that the room was secure, but slightly paranoid of listening devices anyway. She amended her statement. "You and the rest of your team were accompanied by Jedi s'Ilancy on a snatch-and-grab mission to Coruscant, where you ... liberated a scientist from the Empire. Colonel Karrnage."

As she spoke, Jane searched the man's hard face for any signs of recognition. "You left the fleet and accompanied the prisoner with General Dan Thrule, but that's where we lost track of you. I assume you went to Figaro Favoura IV where the General and his consort Loklorien s'Ilancy were retiring and ..." She spread her hands and shrugged.

"The last Intel heard from you you left a cryptic message about going after a traitor. You missed your check in, and here we are, months and months later."* (http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/showpost.php?p=287381&postcount=12) Jane leaned forward, her elbows on the table. "I have been very generous with giving you this information, Laprovik. Right now the Alliance is balanced on the edge of a knife - you are the piece that will tip it one way or the other. Since you came in yourself I assume you are tired of not knowing, or you're playing some other game that I can't even guess at.

"I don't have time for games. Captain Thals is bringing in James Prent right now, and then we'll visit Medical and get you checked out. The docs should be able to tell me if what you're saying about your memory loss is true."

[Byl Laprovik]

"You think this...traitor...on Figaro Favoura, you think I found them?"

Assuming that someone or something out there had the ability to wipe minds, it still didn't make sense. That sort of information could be potentially damning if uncovered. Jane seemed to think it was an existential threat to the Alliance. Certainly big enough to kill over then.

"Wouldn't it just be easier to kill me?"

Unless, of course, they wanted to avoid someone finding a body, or a trace of foul play. A bit of dawning came into his eyes.

"No, why do that, if they could just make it look like I'd gone rogue. I wake up, ignorant as the day I was born, and to those on the need to know, it looks like I myself am the traitor. Bloody brilliant, that."

Of course, if that theory held...

Byl's face suddenly tensed.

"We can't stay here."

[James Prent]

"James Prent. Come with me."

James clutched at the little box in her jacket through the lining, her hand in the outer pocket, frantically trying to think if she was close enough for it to do any good and knowing instinctively that she was still too far away. The woman looming over her was one of the Alliance agents who had come to their apartment on Copperline, and she was looking even less friendly than she had then.

"Um, okay." She got to her feet shakily, the motion of the high speed train giving an excuse for the tremble in her knees. "No need to shove anyone else around, I'm peaceable."

[Eluna Thals]

"I know."

It was said with a bit of assuredness. The woman carried herself with a kind of hesitance that could reasonably draw conclusions that she was certainly fearful. Her dossier suggested some degree of force sensitivity, but no formal training.

As they stood, Eluna threaded her arm in the crook of James' own. To all onlookers, they appeared as two friends out on the town.

"Byl's safe."

She looked at the brunette, interested in what that revelation would reveal in her expression.

[James Prent]

James' heart beat faster at the mention of Byl, and worry and relief were all over her face. She licked her suddenly dry lips, shaking her head a little bit. "No, he isn't. I've been trying to protect him..." Her soft voice trailed off.

He just had to have answers. She knew she'd said too much, and chewed her lower lip, her eyes shining with an influx of emotion.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna gave James' arm a gentle pull so that she faced her.

"Who have you been protecting him from, James?"

Seeing hesitation on her face, Eluna's own expression softened, putting an empathetic hand against the side of her face.

"You care for him, don't you?"

Eluna allowed her AI personality to express itself organically, and she shared emotions with James that were real enough from a certain point of view.

"I do too."

Even if Eluna was lying, it was still important to tease information out of James. She knew Byl well enough to know he would be a nightmare to crack. James was leverage.

[James Prent]

James flinched as the other woman touched her face, but forced herself to relax. "You don't understand. No one will."

She set her lips in a hard line, the train rocking slightly as it pulled into the next station. Still too far away. James tried to breathe slowly and easily, but her chest felt like iron bands were clamping tightly around it.

[Eluna Thals]

By her verbal and physical response, it was a statistically sound assumption to conclude that James and Byl shared at least some romantic interaction.

"Maybe not exactly, but I have some idea. Does he feel the same for you?"

Envy was expressing dominance in the AI algorithm. Eluna held onto it to appreciate its bittersweet character, for some reason not ready to suppress it outright. Were James' affections for Byl requited? Why did she care so much?

[James Prent]

"No, it's not -" James sighed. "He's vulnerable and he just walked into custody. How I feel about him, or what he thinks about me is sorta irrelevant, y'know? You guys are the wolves and he's not a whole wolf any more."

[Eluna Thals]

That was all the impetus the Machine needed to take over. Eluna's face became unreadable again, and she turned her eyes forward.

"We're getting off at the next stop. Be ready."

The train was starting to gently glide into its deceleration cycle. A few seconds more, and it would come to a halt.

[James Prent]

It was the stop before the one she wanted. James still had the Alliance agent's arm looped through hers, and she casually put her hand back in her pocket as the red head tugged her toward the doors. Was she close enough? Dammit, dammit.

The agent towered over James' diminutive frame, and there was a steely quality to the woman's arm that suggested she could do a lot of damage if she wanted to. James swallowed hard, her mouth dry again as they stepped off the train. She hadn't been searched yet, but that would probably change the closer she got to being in actual custody. It was now or never.

She felt through the lining of her jacket to where the box was nestled in her inner pocket, and fumbled for the activation switch. The agent pulled her along through the commuters, and James stumbled a bit, finally getting the traction she needed on the device and activating it.

She could only hope that it's affect would be widespread enough to help Byl.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane nodded, "Yes, I am just waiting for final authorization to take legal custody of you." She gestured at the barely shimmering field between them. "Then we will be gone from here, and gone from Bothawui, along with your friend, Prent."

There was a sound at the door, and she turned to look at it. "That is probably the Consular now."

As she shifted in her seat the lights flickered, and then the door slid open. A matte grey cylinder rolled into the room, and Jane barely had time to identify it (flash-bang grenade, also known as flash bomb, a weapon that, when thrown, blinded and deafened the target rather than harming them, allowing the user to either attack or flee. Most modern versions disrupted the senses of both organics and in-organics such as droids) before it went off.

Stunned, she found herself on her hands and knees on the ground, her chair knocked over in her dive to get away from the flash bomb. Jane pulled her blaster out of its holster, and then realized that something had deactivated the force field, as she should have rolled against it but instead had the far table leg pressed against her back.

[Byl Laprovik]

React.

Byl had expected one chain of events. The other he didn't expect. He was in the midst of running across the top of the table at the first sign of the force field failing due to James' disruption device (coded to a frequency he somehow knew was a failsafe override of Alliance force screens) when the flash bomb rolled in. He was already committed to his action when he saw the device, and was a split second too late to divert his eyes from it when it went off.

The center of his vision erupted into a white haze, and his ears rang hollow from the thunderous report the flash bomb gave off, made worse by the small room in which it was used. He'd been slow to look away, but he was fast to respond now. He was off the table, focusing on the periphery of his vision, which while visible was seen in a strange photo negative effect due to the sensory overload. No detail. Only movement.

Movement came shortly thereafter. A shape like an arm, holding a shape like a blaster, leading through the only exit to the room. Byl wrenched it taut, and slammed the hyperextended arm with the full force of his body weight against the door frame, breaking it at the elbow before brushing against the assailant's body to find the nearest knee, which he threw his boot into before stripping the object clean from his attacker's hand just in time to parry what was probably a knife or a shock baton a second hazy figure swung at his head.

[Eluna Thals]

The electromagnetic radiation lit up from James like a sunburst, and Eluna immediately wrenched her charge around, and pulled the object from her pocket. Her EM sensor picked up the spectrum signature, and she knew exactly what the woman had done. Before she could react, her live comm with Jane flared up with the sound of an explosion and of violence.

There would be enough time to deal with James later. Right now, there was much larger trouble. She slapped the device free from James' hand, and promptly drove a heel down on top of it before pulling her toward the door, battering it open with a forceful shoulder.

Too late.

Eluna could already see a few black-clad Bothans and Humans bottling up the exit points at the nearest stop. They were going to have to fight it out.

[James Prent]

James hissed through her teeth as the agent yanked her hand out of her pocket and riffled through her pockets to find the disruption device. As it sparked to oblivion under the woman's boot she could only hope it had worked.

"Stop pulling, you're gonna dislocate my - holy dren!" She squeaked and tried to duck as a few blaster bolts splattered nearby. The agent was still bulling forward and wrenching her arm as the people on the crowded boarding platform began to scream and run in all directions.

[Jane Starborn]

She had turned her head and closed her eyes in time to avoid the flash, but the bang had left her ears ringing. So Jane had a fairly good view of Commander Laprovik laying waste to the first two beings to come into the holding room, a Bothan and a human. Her instincts were to shoot Byl with a stun blast, but she stopped herself, shifting her aim to take out the man with the broken arm who was stumbling into the room.

Jane switched from stun to full power, pushed to her feet and darted to the door. "I'm grabbing your arm, Byl," and then she did, shooting the knife wielder in the shoulder and pulling Laprovik through the door past the Bothan and laying cover fire down the hallway.

[Byl Laprovik]

Jane's voice sounded miles away, but she'd lead in with an open hand instead of a blaster, so until he got his bearings, he would take her word for it all. He resisted against her lead just long enough to scoop the blaster out of the hands of the incapacitated Bothan, although he wouldn't be much good with it for another minute.

"Friends of yours?"

Byl yelled to offset the ringing in his ears.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna unceremoniously threw James on the ground. Straddling her charge, she lay down a hail of very accurate blaster pistol fire, zipping up the enemy on her flank's midsection as the nearest moved to engage with a zap baton. That was a mistake. She telegraphed a high strike the assassin moved to counter with his baton, but the force of her strike snapped through his weapon, as she rebounded with an empty handed swipe at his neck that broke it clean for an instant kill.

Where the body fell, Eluna turned and wrenched one of the maglift train doors off its tracks, and propped it against the corpse, making makeshift cover for James.

"Stay."

A shot from another assassin honed through and scorched Eluna's arm, causing her to break attention and resume the assault.

[James Prent]

James could do little but crouch behind the shelter she'd been thrown at, her mind racing. Why did these people want to kill her? Where had they come from? Alliance, certainly, but if this agent was bringing her in..?

Each question only led to more questions and paranoia. And the woman had ripped the door off the train with her bare hands. James looked around frantically for a way out, but the black uniforms had the platform pretty well closed off. Except in one direction.

Heart in her throat, James backed up a little, still crouched with one hand on the door. Then she turned and ran for the front of the train, skidding on the duracrete platform and dropping to the maglift track as energy bolts sizzled just over her head.

[Jane Starborn]

"My friends don't tend to shoot at me," Jane gritted out, and then she yelled down the hall. "This is Senior Operative Starborn - this man is in the custody of Alliance Intelligence, you will stand down!"

The only answer was another burst of red blaster bolts from around the nearest corner. "Frack," she swore breathlessly, releasing Byl's arm and hoping he had the good sense to stay behind her. In the room they were fish in a barrel, but out in the hallway it wasn't much better. "I will use deadly force against you," she shouted. "You are interfering with an authorized mission!"

Jane crouched down, inching along the wall as quietly as she could, trying to get close enough to the corner to catch whoever was there off guard next time they poked their heads around.

[Eluna Thals]

Well, that complicated things.

Eluna hefted the door that had previously served as cover for James, and threw it in a wild arc at the assassins before retreating behind Prent at a distance, using accurate blaster fire to keep heads down. It was a delaying action, a tactical retreat, and she needed to make sure not to delay so much as to lose James entirely.

She dared to flick her head in Prent's direction to get a glimpse of her bearing.

"Stay low!"

She shouted to James as another blaster bolt struck her in the shoulder, spinning her around slightly. The girl inside winced. The machine registered it as a setback.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl focused on what he could hear, and let his eyes see when they were ready to see. The cold pragmatics of survivalism made it agreeable to let Starborn be his human shield for a while. He needed answers, but if that meant paying with his life, then he'd have to find another option.

"If they're not friends, best save your breath and just kill them!"

The haze around his eyes began to lift, and he blinked what he could away. Turning his attention to his blaster, he maxed out the tibanna feed pressure, setting the weapon on an overload cycle.

[Jane Starborn]

A head peeked around the corner, and Jane shot it, running forward as the body flopped to the ground and strafing the adjacent hallway with blaster fire. There were three other beings there, making it a full squad of six, and they had access to the turbolifts locked down.

She flattened herself against the other side of the opening, looking back at Byl who was messing with his blaster. What if they got outside the building and he just disappeared again? Or, of course, what if they both got killed right here in the hallway?

Jane took a deep breath and stepped away from the wall, shooting one of the guys huddled by the 'lifts who hadn't moved since she'd run past, and then ducked back into cover.

[James Prent]

The train was stopped, it was safe to be on the track - at least this close to the station. James vaguely remembered something about not touching the second rail, but there was only one, so she tried to leave it alone.

The agent was right behind her, screaming at her to stay low, and James ducked and zigged to the other side of the magnetic rail, skipping over it rather than stepping on it. The duracrete on either side of the track was falling away, and she realized that they were headed up an overpass of some kind. No railing, only the skinny track.

She paused, looking down before she ran too high up, and the agent caught up with her and shoved her off the edge. James was too shocked to scream, but managed to tuck and roll as she hit the grassy slope underneath. She rolled too far, knocking over some unwary pedestrians, and quickly struggled to get upright again, but was tangled up in some screaming and cursing arms and legs.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna was quick after her, landing on her feet in a sure-footed pounce. She looked back quickly, expecting the worst, but for the moment they had some breathing room.

"We have to assume they have multiple paths to the embassy covered. Come on."

She favored her left arm, her right having taken a shot in the forearm and shoulder, but she wasn't slowing down.

[James Prent]

James cursed and shoved the people she'd rolled into, and then was yanked nearly off her feet by the agent, who released her after she'd gotten clear of the mess. "Won't they be expecting us t' head t' th' embassy? I mean -"

She ran after the sure footed red head, expecting a blaster bolt in the back at any moment. "I mean, they knew where t' expect you before."

[Byl Laprovik]

With Jane providing covering fire as she began to witdraw again, Byl ducked low, tossing his weapon across the floor. It took a bit of force to make sure it would slide far enough to reach, but by the time it came to a stop, the grip of the weapon was glowing red. The pressurized tibanna went critical, igniting a small flash explosion with enough shrapnel behind it to ruin a few peoples' day.

Once again disarmed, Byl hung back waiting to follow Jane's lead.

[Jane Starborn]

She jerked back from the adjoining passage as the improvised bomb went critical, the wall shielding her from the blast. The sound was still reverberating when she came around the corner again, quickly picking off the few men who were still trying to put up a fight.

"Come on," she waved Byl over, "We're taking the stairs down to the subbasement."

[Byl Laprovik]

He paused a bit, frowning.

"That's no good. It's a dead end that way."

They continued along as they discussed the plan's validity, Byl quick to commandeer another weapon as his vision returned to him.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane sighted along her arms, blaster held out straight in front of her as she checked the initial few flights of stairs. "The building is most likely in lockdown. This is the only way out." She hurried down the stairs, trusting Byl to follow, and to have her back. If she thought about what was going on she was afraid her brain might just shut down, so instead she surfed on the edge of thought, reacting with just barely more than instinct.

They hadn't been high up in the building, and apparently the squad sent after them had assumed they'd be enough to take out two people. She couldn't figure why they'd disabled the force field - no, time to think later. Jane banged open the door to the subbasement, and of course the lights were dim and flickering. Of course.

"There is a tunnel entrance - or in our case, exit - to the embassy. Guarded, of course, but if," IF "the guards are loyal I have clearance to use it."

[Byl Laprovik]

News to Byl. Of course, he'd been on the lam for a while, and maybe there were things that he simply didn't know from his previous life. Or maybe Jane was walking him into a trap. Considering where she had him previously, that was becoming more and more unlikely. Trust was never an on and off switch. It was a subtle gradient. She was shifting it her way a little bit.

"You suspect someone paid off Alliance troops, or something else?"

He checked his weapon as he followed, making sure it was in serviceable condition.

"Could the Empire infiltrate Bothauwi this deeply?"

[Jane Starborn]

"Not likely," she replied sourly, checking to make sure every aisle was clear as they moved through the storage area. The subbasement didn't look like an escape route, and that was the idea, but it hadn't been cleared for an evacuation either so the passage to the tunnel was narrow and easily defensible.

"We are dealing with an internal threat," she said quietly, but did not continue, holding her weapon up to show she was no threat and flashing her ident card at the guards once they reached the entrance to the tunnel. "Senior Operative Jane Starborn - I need to use the exit. Immediately."

The two guards goggled at her a bit, but quickly moved into action, one checking her credentials (oh, please, don't have been red flagged) and the other moving into position to unlock the heavy durasteel door. Jane waited as patiently as she could, the thirty seconds of fact checking crawling by at a snail's pace.

"Of course, Operative Starborn." The two men used their keys in unison to unlock the door, and as she and Byl moved toward the tunnel one said, "Can I ask what this is about?"

"I'm afraid you don't have clearance, Corporal. Thank you. Don't let anyone else through after us - or at least stall them as long as you can. I will be giving a commendation for both of you to your superior officers." She saluted them, and then she and Byl were running down the brightly lit tunnel, the blast door sealing them in.

[Eluna Thals]

"Starborn. Come in."

Eluna hung a left at a service road, pulling Prent along for the ride as she looked back for pursuit. So far, none. She spoke to thin air, her onboard comm sending the necessary message to her partner.

"The Embassy is hot. Do you have Byl? We need to meet at the rendezvous."

Having a pre-selected rally point prior to making their move helped in contingencies like this.

Taking momentary refuge behind a trash dumpster, Eluna checked at the wounds on her left arm. Blaster bolts had singed through, scorching and cauterizing flesh. The pain was real enough, but she'd elected to dismiss the neuro receptors. The most important issue was that operational efficiency was at 20%. She could still move it, but without the force or dexterity she was used to.

She looked to James. The woman didn't appear injured, but she wanted a confirmation.

"Are you okay?"

[James Prent]

James stared at the other woman and her obvious wound, and said, "I'm fine. Y'look like you're not." The agent brushed off her concern, and concentrated on her comm. James could hear another female voice on the other end, the transmission was staticky but she sounded out of breath.

"Confirmed, embassy is hot, I have the package. We are on our way out. Must assume rendezvous at spaceport is being watched and our commlinks may be compromised... so plan B. We can be there in twenty minutes."

[Eluna Thals]

"Plan B, check. I'll be on encryption six when you pick a clean unit. Thals out."

A sharp blink and the commline was severed. She looked to James, a bit of a smile at the girl's well-intentioned empathy.

"It's just a flesh wound, as they say."

Already she was forming a plan in her mind.

"We have to cover two miles fairly quickly. It may be easier if we steal a speeder."

[James Prent]

"Fine." James looked around and then pointed. "Up the street - parking garage." She looked at the agent. "You never told me your name."

[Eluna Thals]

"Eluna Thals."

She carefully closed the distance with Prent in tow, eyes on the swivel for any sign of a renewed assault. James had been right, the gunmen were no doubt concentrating on keeping rings of coverage around the embassy. As long as they moved away from it, they were probably safe for now.

"I'm Captain Laprovik's second, or at least I was, until he went rogue."

The parking garage was a preferable idea to Eluna's initial choice to steal a speeder at gunpoint. The distance to clear was longer, but it would attract far less attention.

[James Prent]

"He didn't go rogue," James sighed, jogging to keep up with Thals. "I mean, I guess he did, but not on purpose. Y'know? No, I guess y'don't."

She looked around, her head on a swivel as they moved, but they reached the garage and its relative safety after just a few moments. Eluna picked a speeder with an open top, did something to circumvent the alarm, and hopped inside. James climbed over the door and into the vehicle as the other woman bent low to hotwire it. It seemed she'd fallen in with someone who knew Byl, and who cared about him, and if her partner had Byl then that had to be good... right?

She still felt like she was going to throw up though. Just hold it together. Twenty minutes an' I'll see him again. Or... No, don't think about the or. The OR made her legs weak. James wrapped her arms around her body and huddled in the passenger seat as the speeder roared to life, and her captor - or savior - whipped it out of it's parking spot.

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna gained speed quickly, knifing through traffic in a few quick maneuvers.

"I go by what I know, James. I'd like to believe you. Maybe you can help?"

Still on the swivel for danger, Eluna constantly checked her six. So far, nothing. With the level of preparation their attackers showed, however, that couldn't last.

"What happened then?"

[James Prent]

James twisted around to look behind them, and chewed her lip. Oh hells, why not. "I wish I could tell you what happened t' him. We don't know. I knew him from... before... and I decided t' call him up." She blushed faintly. "He had no idea who I was. No idea who he was, y'know?

"With no clue how he got that way we jus' decided not t' trust anyone. Except... we had t' find out somehow, and so here we are."

[Eluna Thals]

The due dilligence paid off, and they arrived at the pre-determined coordinates without an obvious tail or a gunfight. Of course it was possible they might still be made, but that was something that would be dealt with in due time.

"Amnesia?"

Eluna's poker face was flawless, but it seemed like a long shot. If they hadn't discovered what they knew to this point, she would find the girl's story patently unbelievable.

She parked the speeder at the entrance to the Bothan District of the city, and pushed on. There was a bustling crowd of the furry sapients hawking various goods at market kiosks, making for an energetic snarl of pedestrians.

[James Prent]

James shrugged. "Y'don't have t' believe the truth if y' don't want to. I'm not tryin' t' sell you a story." She followed after Eluna and frowned, feeling uneasy again, hugging her arms around herself as she surveyed the furry faced aliens all around them.

[Jane Starborn]

Jane pulled Laprovik into the Bothan bar that she and Thals had set as their rendezvous. The name of the place was not translated into Basic, and they were two of only a handful of non-Bothan in the place. "Looks like they beat us here," she said, heading toward the back where Eluna was sitting with James Prent.

The young woman looked small and worried, but her face lit up when Byl came into view. The HRD was watching the entrance and exits like a hawk, but spared Jane a nod. She pulled up a chair across from the captain. "We weren't followed."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl made a face at the location of the rendezvous.

"Guess blending in isn't the intention, is it?"

He caught sight of James, and gave her an embrace, quickly once-overing her to make sure she was okay.

"James..."

She looked fine, but her escort had been shot. She didn't look worse for wear other than the cauterization wounds that were ashen and red with crusted blood. Tough woman.

"Looks like they cast a wide net if you were caught up in this. Who in Korriban are we even fighting?"

[Jane Starborn]

James Prent had jumped to her feet, wrapping her arms around Byl without hesitation, then just as quickly released him, her cheeks tinged pink. Jane politely pretended not to notice. Eluna was stone faced and silent, and so it fell to Jane to explain, at least partially, what was going on.

"Funny you should mention Korriban," her lips attempted a wry smile but failed, "But we think we have a Sith after us. After you, really, but as I was assigned to track down and recover you after you went M.I.A. Captain Thals and I have become his enemies as well. General Dan Thrule and his... consort, Jedi s'Ilancy, are both suspected Sith or near enough so as there's no difference.

"Whatever they did to you, I assume they thought it would have taken care of the Laprovik problem they had." Jane mentioned the last communication she'd recovered from Byl, about him going after a possible traitor, and a quick summary of her finding Vymes instead of him in a secret holding cell on the Dauntless. "Dan is on the move, and his reach is far enough that when you popped up at the embassy it mobilized his supporters.

"Or so I presume." Jane looked at Eluna. "Have you secured transport to Liah'starn yet?"

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna nodded.

"I've done work with an independent Bothan contractor before, and arranged for an exit."

Jane didn't need to know much more. Phoenix Cell's franchise work was kept off the dockett for the most part.

"He's not Alliance, but he's a reliable operator, and can keep quiet."

[James Prent]

James' hand tightened on Byl's at the mention of a Sith - the word was as meaningful as boogeyman to her, but she knew that such people did exist, or had. Some said Palpatine had been one, and to think that his like was a general in the Alliance...

...and hunting down Byl and by default her as well... it was slightly more than terrifying.

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl looked at James, instilling in her some strength. The odds against them had always been high. This wasn't a change in that.

"Well at least we can put a few faces to the threat we face. Better than what we had before."

So far their attackers hadn't pursued them this far. It didn't seem wise to tempt fate.

"I'd rather not stick around and tempt fate, however. I'm ready when you are, Starborn."

[Jane Starborn]

"Then let's move out." Jane let Eluna take point as she was the only one who knew exactly where they were going to meet up with their ride. With Byl and James in the middle, she brought up the rear, head on a swivel as she studied the beings around them.

The entire place was sown with security cameras. The Bothan government could probably tap into any of the feeds at a moments notice, which made every minute that the four of them were out in the open dangerous. It was only a matter of time before facial recognition software pinged on their location and sent the goons after them again.

[Eluna Thals]

Making the most of their newfound initiative, Eluna wasted little time navigating the narrow streets of the Bothan barrios to arrive at a commercial district spaceport. Mostly cargo flowed in and out of here, and passengers weren't frequent. At the fringes of one of the hangars, a chain-smoking Bothan extinguished a stim and quickly walked toward the group, keeping just shy of expressing any more due haste than that, lest he attract attention.

"You mentioned three passengers."

The fur at his muzzle bristled a little, and he shifted on his feet. He didn't like deviation, but if this was impossible he would be upfront about it.

"I don't like surprises. Come, before I change my mind."

Eluna, for her part, didn't bait her fussy colleague. He would've complained about something no matter how they showed up.

[James Prent]

The Bothan pilot's fur was ruffled, literally, and James tried not to look as nervous as she felt. She wanted to press her hand into Byl's, but knew that having one's hands free was important when one was being pursued by assassins. In fact, if this were a holomovie, then this was the part where the bad guys would appear out of nowhere and launch another attack, chasing the heroes through the spaceport and around cargo and moving forklifts, until they reached their ship and got away just in the nick of time.

Thankfully, this wasn't a holomovie. Walking through the 'port was uneventful, though her three companions all had their heads on swivels, checking every blind corner and movement around them. James tried to use the Force to feel the intentions of the beings around them, but only ended up partially hyperventilating before Byl touched her shoulder and she snapped out of it.

The Bothan spoke to Eluna briefly, and pointed at a freighter that loomed large in front of them. She nodded, and they parted ways. He, to the passenger part of the ship, and the rest of them toward the back where the hold was still open. And apparently, full of cargo.

The Rebel agent walked into the hold, not deviating from whatever path she had in mind, and James gawked at the size of the shipping containers around them. There was barely room to walk between the carefully secured stacks, but soon they were near the back of the hold and Eluna was messing with one of the containers.

"Smugglers," muttered Starborn, her back to the group and facing out, blaster in hand but pointed toward the ground. The light grew fainter and James realized that the hold was being closed up. Were they going to travel here, in this tiny hallway between metal crates? What if they shifted during the flight and crushed them all?

Then Byl was holding her hand and pulling her gently forward, into the container that Eluna had stopped by. It was empty, and large enough for eight people to sit comfortably on the fold down seats that had been fastened to it's walls. After Agent Starborn climbed inside, Eluna closed up the hidden door and sealed them in.

[Byl Laprovik]

"Not sure what I imagined would happen, coming in from the cold like I did."

Byl mainly spoke to James as they sat side-by-side. The container had interior lighting, albeit pale. Everyone inside was illuminated in a faint orange glow.

"Feels better to know."

His hand tightened around hers, as if to apologize for putting her in more danger than she ought to be in. If Starborn was right, and he had no cause to doubt her at this point, then there was still nearly no one in the galaxy they could trust. From his view on the outside, he knew of this General Dan Thrule, and knew he carried weight with the Alliance. The Jedi, he'd only heard of her through his Rebel handlers - and his dream.

He glanced at the redhead, who shrugged off her wounds and was instead staring at him in a way that made him slightly uneasy.

"What do we know about Loklorien s'Ilancy?"

[Jane Starborn]

"Former padawan of Master Windu," supplied Jane as she examined the walls of the smuggling container. Pressing a button revealed a compartment that was adequately stocked with MREs and a few bottles of water. Of course, there was no refresher, so eat and drink at ones own risk. "Highly trained in the Vaapad style of lightsaber fighting, which involves skirting the edge of the dark side and employing emotions to fuel attacks. Very dangerous, very deadly.

"She was presumed dead after the Purge of the Jedi Temple, but resurfaced later and joined the Rebellion in it's infancy, along with her new master, Zem Vymes." She'd been doing her research since discovering Vymes in the brig, and surmised that this connection was what had led s'Ilancy to keep the man alive when he knew so much that could damn her. "This is when she met Thrule. s'Ilancy dropped off the grid for almost a decade, only to show up again a few years ago and yet again join the Rebellion.

"She fell in with Thrule again; they are married in all but name. Vymes contests she has not fallen to the Dark side, but if Thrule is a Sith I cannot imagine how deluded she must be to continue with him unless she shares his goals, and the means he is using to gain them."

Jane closed the supply compartment and took a seat, sorting out the restraints that were built in. The safety precautions in this metal traveling box were minimal at best and outdated. We better not crash.

"I'm not sure what is worse - a Sith or a deluded Jedi who might as well be one." Starborn shrugged, snapping the five point harness across her chest. "Having never dealt with either before, this is all new territory for me."

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna watched Byl and James interact, burying feelings as she went. Instead she busied herself with the analysis in front of them. One problem emerged.

"If we're considering moving against s'Ilancy, I'd suggest more caution than is obviously warranted. A move on the Jedi could certainly be exploited by Dan, if his intent is to move against the remnants quickly. If we kill her, our hand must be invisible."

[Jane Starborn]

"I do not want to move against any Jedi at the moment," said Jane, firmly. "If Master s'Ilancy puts herself against us, however, that will be something else." Probably our deaths. Not a pleasant thought.

"For the time being, we should concentrate on what our next move will be. Recovering your memories, Byl, should be a priority."

[Byl Laprovik]

With a confused look, he glanced about, hoping to see the answer to that question written on someone's expression. He saw nothing of the sort.

"Exactly how do we pull that off? Hire a hypnotist?"

[Jane Starborn]

"Not exactly," she said. "We'll start with some standard medical scans and work our way from there. Once," she amended, "we get someplace safe. I had some equipment we could have used on my ship, but we had to leave that behind."

Jane hoped that her confident tone was convincing. She had no idea how memories could be forgotten in the first place, as it was something that had never happened to her. Still, she had experience with brain scans and knew that long term memory was an area that brain experts had many opinions on. Surely they would be able to find someone who could help them.

She smiled a little. "Maybe we will use a hypnotist. Couldn't hurt."

[Eluna Thals]

Eluna's predictor algorythms were working overtime. If it was beyond her expertise, she had to sift through as much anecdotal data as she could gather and find trends worth pursuing.

"If Byl remains a fugitive, it is easy for our enemies to marginalize him and attempt to kill him, as it fits with the narrative of bringing an enemy of the state to justice. If, however, he is reinstated, the nature of Intel's special relationship to Alliance legal code makes this difficult.

If he is seen as an asset in play, it may alter our enemies plans in such a way that can be taken advantage of."

[Jane Starborn]

"Yes, I agree," Jane nodded, after a moment of consideration. James Prent was nestled against Byl's side with her eyes closed, but Jane doubted that the young woman was sleeping. "I will contact my mother as soon as we're clear of this... ship."

She looked around their close surroundings with distaste. "She can help me convince Director Van-Derveld that this is the best choice."

[Byl Laprovik]

Byl said nothing, but the foregone conclusion for him to return to Alliance Intel was disconcerting. He looked at James, wondering what she thought of this. In the end, they'd made the decision to chase his ghosts. He hoped what he would uncover would be worth it.