Star Wars: Return to Trigalis Ch. 02

"Twenty-eight," Stormie answered. "The people they send for stuff like this'll be pissed about missing out."

"Forty-two hundred," Cyllir responded.

"Look, I can give you thirty-three hundred," Stormie told him. "I'm gonna have enough trouble explaining this anyway," she lied smoothly.

He paused a moment, then said, "I'm gonna need at least thirty-eight. I just took over and all, and I can't afford to look too weak in front of my people."

Stormie flashed him an annoyed look. He didn't seem too interested in what his buddies thought when they were interrogating her. She was pretty sure he knew she knew that too.

"Thirty-five," she told him, displaying the cuff maglocked around her right wrist. She made sure her left wrist, and the plasticast, were out of the holocam field. "And you have to unlock the cuffs and ankle shackles. Send the code or whatever."

Cyllir grinned at her a couple of seconds. "Thirty-five. But I like you wearing cuffs and shackles, even if I don't see them, so I'm not unlocking them. He paused a moment, then added, "Or we'll take just a thousand if you'll put our collar back on and destroy the remote."

Stormie briefly wondered if they'd take Ta'tan'ia wearing the shock collar with PROPERTY OF ZOLOZ on it, but quickly discarded the idea. She didn't want to reveal any information she didn't have to. The Zoloz thought she was working with Ta'tan'ia, she didn't see any reason to tell them anything different right now.

"Thirty-five," she agreed. "Send me an account number."

"Of course," Cyllir responded with a nod, glancing off to the side.

A few seconds later the account information appeared on Stormie's screen.

"By the way, since you're not going to wear the collar, is there anyway you could send it back to us?" Cyllir asked her.

"Nope," she answered as she transferred thirty-five hundred credits from one of her drop accounts to his. "I want a souvenir." She paused a moment, then added, "Besides, you got my shock stick."

Cyllir chuckled, then glanced off screen again. "Alright, my man says everything is good to go on our end. Anything else you want to talk about before we get to this?"

"Nope," she repeated. "I'm waiting on you."

A moment later another masked Zoloz half-dragged Imperial Security Agent Broxn into the holocamera field. Just as Cyllir had said back at the clubhouse, they'd been pretty rough on him. He was naked—at least from his stomach up—and his hands were bound behind his back. Most of his visible skin was covered with cuts, bruises and electrical burns. One of his eyes was swollen completely shut, and the other was bruised as well.

Stormie watched Broxn recognize her on the holoscreen. Behind him, Cyllir produced a blaster, and raised it towards his head. Broxn must have realized what was about to happen. As he muttered a curse, Cyllir shot him just behind his ear. He dropped to the ground like a . . . well, like a dead guy.

"That good for you?" Cyllir asked nonchalantly.

"Let me see him," Stormie replied.

Cyllir stepped forward, and a moment later the holocamera tilted down. Stormie looked into Broxn's lifeless eyes, then to the centimeter-wide hole the blaster had left in the side of his head.

"Okay," she said after a few seconds.

The holocamera tilted back up, and Cyllir came back into view. He glanced into the holoscreen a moment, then back down at Broxn.

"So you guys gonna tell his wife and kids he died a hero or something?" he asked as he looked down at the body.

"I don't frakking know," Stormie replied in exasperation. That sort of thing had honestly never occurred to her. She didn't even know if he even actually had a wife and kids.

Cyllir stared down another heartbeat. "Oh well," he said, shrugging his shoulders and looking back up. "Anything else?"

"Hell no," she answered, leaning forward. "Goodbye," she said, her finger hovering over the comm controls.

"Yeah," he responded sarcastically, already looking away.

Stormie shut off the link, and double checked her hyperspace jump. Then she reached for the controls, and made the jump. Seventy-five seconds later, the ship reverted to subspace. She was just a few light years outside the Trigalis system, and coreward of it. She changed course about ninety degrees, and programmed in a system a little over midway to her real destination. That trip would give her a couple of hours to get both herself and Ta'tan'ia settled in. Then on her next stop she'd be able to get any messages or anything before making the final leg of her trip.

Before she entered hyperspace again though, Stormie commed Imperial Security and told them Broxn had been killed as well. She glanced at the cell holofeed, and saw that Ta'tan'ia was still out. A couple of minutes later Imperial Security commed her back, acknowledging Broxn's death. Then Stormie commed Colonel Drasi directly, and told him she needed a couple of days before she came back. He told her it was no problem, and that he'd cover for her.

With those two things taken care of, Stormie pulled the hyperspace levers back, and made her next jump. Once she had safely entered hyperspace, she headed back to the cell, to have some fun with her Jedi.

The first thing Stormie did was move the unconscious Twi'lek up onto the bunk. That took quite a bit of effort with just one good hand. Next she took off the Twi'lek's head and thigh harnesses. Her chest harness wouldn't come off without uncuffing her, so she just unbuckled it, and left it tangled around her upper arms. The second thing she did was take off the unconscious Jedi's wedge heeled boots. Her wrist didn't help her with that either. They were ankle boots, and had a wide strap fastening them at the top, around her ankles. Stormie couldn't say she was really surprised the Twi'lek's boots had built in ankle cuffs.

Then Stormie cut the spacer's tape around her upper arms, and pulled her bodysuit and chest harness down to her cuffed wrists. That revealed that the Jedi wasn't wearing a bra. Next Stormie wrapped a five-centimeter wide nerfhide strap around her upper arms, and pulled it tight. Once that was done, she uncuffed her, and pulled her chest harness off, and her bodysuit down past her hips.

Stormie quickly re-cuffed her, then pulled the bodysuit all the way off her, revealing a silver chastity belt. That made her remember that Admiral Daala had locked a beskar one on her while she had been her Jedi liaison. Damn, she's sexy, Stormie thought as she admired the mostly naked and cuffed Twi'lek. The purple skin, the chastity belt, the permanent beskar chrono and comlink cuffs, and especially the collar. She definitely understood why Admiral Daala liked her so much.

There was a cut on the side of her head, probably where she hit her with the blaster, but it didn't look too bad. She didn't see the cut from the second blow. After a couple of heartbeats, she decided she probably hit her nerfhide head harness one time. It felt thick enough to protect her from getting a cut from a blaster to the side of her head.

Next Stormie put a pair of cuffs on her ankles, and strapped her to the bunk, still face down. Then she paused in thought a moment, then wrapped a few layers of spacer tape around her fingers and thumbs. Now there was no way she could get into trouble.

With Ta'tan'ia secure, Stormie grabbed a chair from her cabin, settled down next to her, and began investigating her comlink.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

A little over two hours into the hyperspace jump . . .

Stormie leaned back in the pilot's seat, watching the timer countdown. During the hyperspace jump, she had poked around in Ta'tan'ia's comlink a while. Unfortunately she didn't find anything really secret though. She suspected there was another layer of security. She did read some interesting sex chat between Ta'tan'ia, Syal and Myri Antilles, Jysella Horn, and a few of her other friends in the Jedi. What a bunch of kinky sluts!

After that she had programmed her ship's computer to mimic the code to unlock the shackles around her own wrists and ankles. The cuff on her left wrist was trapped underneath her plasticast, so she couldn't take it off yet. Then she replaced the cuff on her right wrist with her durasteel comlink. What could she say, she liked the feel of durasteel around her wrists.

The timer reached zero and the starlines shortened to points of light. Stormie glanced at her sensors a couple of seconds. There wasn't anything for over a hundred thousand klicks in any direction. She was just outside the nearest star system. Next she checked the comm. She had a message from Colonel Drasi, wanting her to comm him immediately. First she changed course though. While the navicomputer was plotting her next hyperspace jump, she turned to her comm system.

A minute later Colonel Drasi appeared on her holoscreen. He was in his office, but had taken off his uniform tunic, revealing his undertunic. She knew it was well past his normal duty hours. "Colonel Drasi," she greeted him. "You needed to talk to me?"

"Moff Reige," he began with a sigh, "is a bit upset with you."

"What did I do?" Stormie responded, more than a little concerned. Even with her family legacy, she didn't want to annoy her Emperor if she could avoid it.

"Well, to start with, he didn't really want you going after Veila. Come to think of it, neither did I. Then you lost a good man in Agent Whytte. And then, to top it off, it turns out that Broxn's uncle is General Gharstill, and he's raising hell that his sister-in-law's baby boy died on some backwater Outer Rim world chasing some ex-Jedi schutta."

Stormie did notice he didn't say Broxn was a good man. "I'm real sorry about Whytte," she told him. "And I'm sorry for upsetting High Moff Reige." Then she paused a moment. "If you don't mind me asking Sir, can you tell me if he's more upset about Agent Whytte dying, General Gharstill causing problems, or me going after Veila?" she asked him.

"Well, since you going after Veila caused the other two, I think it's mostly that," Colonel Drasi told her. "But if it wasn't for General Gharstill, he probably wouldn't be as annoyed, and thus I wouldn't be as annoyed."

"I'm sorry, Colonel," Stormie apologized sincerely. While she had nothing but respect for Moff Reige, she cared more about what Colonel Drasi thought. "It was my mission, and I pushed it against both your and his advice. I really don't know how all three of us were made, but it's my responsibility."

"These things happen. The nature of our work is often dangerous. Moff Reige, and even General Gharstill knows this. But this really isn't the reason I wanted to talk to you." He paused a moment, then added, "At least not completely."

Stormie frowned warily. Before she could respond, he continued.

"I see that you paid this Cyllir character thirty-five hundred credits to kill Broxn. Do we still need to send a team in to clean up?"

"I don't think so, Sir," Stormie told him. "He talked, but I seriously doubt outlaw swoop-bikers even know what sort of questions to ask an Imperial Security Operative to learn anything really damaging."

Colonel Drasi considered that a moment. "But he likely told them we were going after Jedi Veila?"

"Yes Sir," Stormie answered. "They were already going to find that out from that tattoo artist that he didn't kill like he was supposed to though. And even then we just go back to the word of a bunch of outlaw swoop-bikers. If we send a clean-up team back in, it would only expose us even more to the G-A government."

"Okay," he replied thoughtfully. "We've already implemented standard security protocols for a compromised operative. That should be sufficient."

"Yes Sir," she responded with a nod.

"Now the last thing is, before you got captured, did you find Jedi Veila?" he asked her.

"No Sir," Stormie answered. "I got some intel that the Jedi got her literally the day before we got there. I was trying to confirm that when the Zoloz ambushed us."

"Okay." Then he leaned forward, and asked, "Are you still looking for Jedi Veila?"

"No Sir," she replied.

"Good. Keep it that way," he instructed her. "Moff Reige has made it clear that you are not to go after her in anyway."

"I understand Sir," Stormie responded with an affirmative nod.

Colonel Drasi stared at her a few seconds. "I'm serious, Lieutenant Tarkin. Do not pursue her. That is a direct order."

He only used her real last name when he really wanted her attention.

"I got it, Sir," she answered defensively. "I'm not going after Veila."

"So when can I expect you back here?" he asked her.

"Probably the day after tomorrow, Sir," she told him. "Probably late, though."

"You. Will. Be. Standing. In front of my desk by eighteen-hundred-hours the day after tomorrow, Lieutenant Tarkin," he instructed her.

That would be pushing it a bit, but Stormie just wouldn't be able to visit as long as she had hoped.

"Yes Sir," she replied obediently.

Colonel Drasi shut down the link, and Stormie relaxed a bit. That hadn't gone too bad. Then she reached out, and made her next comm call. A few moments later, Admiral Daala, a close family friend and former ruler of both the Empire and Galactic Alliance, appeared on her screen.

"Hello Stormie," she greeted her once the link was made. "It's been a while. How have you been doing?"

"Fine, Ma'am, just fine," she answered with a smile. "I was just in the sector, and I thought I'd drop by for a quick visit. With your permission, of course?"

"All of the Tarkins are always welcome on my ship," she responded.

"Great, Admiral," Stormie replied with a smile. "I'm bringing you a little present as well." With that she pulled up the feed from the cell, and sent it across the link.

"Ta'tan'ia!" Admiral Daala said incredulously, looking at the unconscious and bound Jedi on the cell bunk. "How in the name of the Emperor did you get her?"

Stormie grinned. "Well, you could say she was so eager to get on board my ship she evaded blaster bolts to get here."

"Really?" she asked skeptically.

Stormie locked eyes with her a couple of heartbeats, then said, "I got in a bit of a tight on Trigalis. The next thing I know, there appears Jedi Knight Ta'tan'ia to my rescue. I get her to fly her speeder-bike, with me on the back, to my ship. When she hit my ysalamiri's anti-Force-bubble, I took her down. She doesn't even know who I am. She thinks I'm a just a spacer that was making a delivery on Trigalis."

"Nice job," Admiral Daala said in admiration. "I hope you didn't hurt her too badly?"

"She's fine," Stormie assured her. "I just knocked her out, then gave her something that will keep her out for a few hours or so. As a matter of fact—" she paused to display her broken left wrist—"I wound up hurt more than she did."

"I guess she spent more time in the gym training than I thought," Admiral Daala commented, seemingly mostly to herself. "Still, you managed to capture her, with just one good arm."

"Yes I did," Stormie replied with some satisfaction. "Even without the Force, the little Twi'lek put up a good fight."

Admiral Daala thought a few moments. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't take her. If she went missing, the Jedi would automatically suspect me, and a purple-skinned Twi'lek wearing a beskar collar and wrist cuffs is kind of hard to hide. I don't need the hassle." She paused a heartbeat, then added, with a friendly smile, "I'd be happy to have my people come get her, and drop her off back on. . . Trigalis, you said you found her?"

Stormie frowned. She hadn't anticipated her not taking Ta'tan'ia. While the Jedi didn't know her real name, and she never planned on going back to Trigalis, she didn't really want a Jedi on the lookout for her. "Um, Admiral, she's a Jedi. I'd rather not have her coming after me.

"No problem," Admiral Daala responded. "I had planned on wiping the last few hours of her memory anyway."

"Sound great Ma'am," Stormie said with a smile. "I'll need to make the rendezvous soon though. I have to be back the day after tomorrow." Then she paused, and grinned slyly. "My superiors don't even know I have her."

Admiral Daala smiled back at her. "Very nicely done, Lieutenant Tarkin. I'll have one of my ships meet you. It doesn't have any ysalamiri on board though, would it be possible to get one of yours?"

"No problem, Ma'am," she answered. "I have one on a portable frame, ready to go. I can just say it was lost on Trigalis with the other one." She paused again, then added, "I was on Trigalis looking for that schutta Veila. She was there, but Ta'tan'ia here"—she paused to nod towards the shackled Twi'lek on the holoscreen—"and another Jedi got her right before I got there."

"Reige sent you after Veila?" Admiral Daala asked questioningly. "I didn't know the Empire cared about her."

"He didn't, Ma'am," Stormie admitted. "I found out Veila was with some outlaw swoop-bikers, and I talked them into letting me go after her. They could care less about justice."

Admiral Daala shook her head in sympathy. "Look, I know the schutta killed Gilad, but she was just a pawn," she told her. "She's not worth you wasting your time worrying about her."

Stormie leaned back and thought about that a few seconds. If Admiral Daala didn't care about bring Veila to justice, then maybe she should really let it go.

"Alright, Ma'am," she finally responded.

Admiral Daala was obviously relieved with her answer. "I mean, if you happen to have her in your crosshairs or something, then by all means, feel free to take her out. Or if she wanders into your ship, bring her to me. But I don't want you running all over the galaxy after that piece of trash out of some obligation to me, or to the memory of Grand Admiral Pellaeon."

"Yes Ma'am," she answered obediently.

"I need to arrange things on my end on my end for Ta'tan'ia," Admiral Daala told her. "I'll send the coordinates for you to meet one of my ships in a few minutes. Also, I need to know exactly where you captured her, and any suggestions for the best place to leave her, along with the time line, so we know how far back to wipe her memory."

"Yes Ma'am," she repeated with a nod. Even if the memory wipe wasn't one-hundred-percent, the Jedi wouldn't remember enough to even began to track her down.

A moment later Admiral Daala's image disappeared. Stormie shut down her end of the link, and leaned back in her chair to wait. Ta'tan'ia was still unconscious in the cell. A couple of minutes later, she received a message with the name of the ship she would be meeting, as well as a rendezvous location and time. The new coordinates were only a little off course from her original destination. Once the navicomputer had plotted in the new jump, Stormie pulled back the hyperspace levers, and was on her way.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ END PART II ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

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