Star Wars: Return to Trigalis Ch. 04

Authoress's notes: The following story is a sequel to Transformations, in which Tahiri Veila, while working as a bounty hunter, is captured by a swoop-bike gang and turned into a gang slut, and rescued by Jedi Knights Ta'tan'ia and Wyric Torrin. This story also includes the character Colonel Drasi, who is the son of Ysanne Isard, Instead of running the ProCorps Academy like he did in my Imperial Prostitute stories though, Colonel Drasi is now a high ranking member of Imperial Security. Stormie, who was the ProCorps Academy's tattoo artist in those stories, is now a member of Imperial Security as well. This story takes place in the 'legends' universe.

Return to Trigalis: Twi'lek Trap

"Let's meet. I'll send you the coordinates," he suggested.

"Alright," Ta'tan'ia answered, glancing at Stormie. She almost mentioned she would be with her, but decided not to. Best to just make the introductions in person.

"See you in about twenty," Captain Tormond said.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ PART IV ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"Okay," Ta'tan'ia responded with an unconscious flick of her lek, even though it was a voice-only link.

The Jedi and Imperial Security Operative found their rented speeder in the lot near the spaceport entrance. Stormie opened it with the remote, and climbed into the pilot's seat. As Ta'tan'ia climbed into the passenger side, she stripped off her cloak, and tossed it in the back seat.

About ten minutes later they arrived at the coordinates Captain Tormond had sent Ta'tan'ia. It was a nearly empty parking lot next to strip of shops. Most of the shoppers were parked in the bigger lot in front. Stormie spun the speeder around, backed into a space facing out, and they waited.

Several minutes later a New Coronet Security Force speeder pulled into the parking lot. It quickly backed in next to them, its passenger side nearest to Stormie. She hit the button on the door to slide the transparisteel window down.

"Jedi Ta'tan'ia?" the passenger greeted them, looking more at Stormie than Ta'tan'ia. "I'm Captain Tormond, and this is Officer Pratt," he added, nodding back towards the driver.

Ta'tan'ia immediately sensed that Captain Tormond was in pain. She also spotted what looked like a bacta patch on his upper arm, partially underneath the sleeve of his uniform.

"Jedi Ta'tan'ia," Ta'tan'ia confirmed, sensing the question in his greeting. "And this is Lieutenant Kintra of Imperial Security," she said, flicking her tchun—her left lek—towards Stormie. "She's with me," she added, also sensing his unease at her presence.

Captain Tormond glanced at Stormie a heartbeat, then back at Officer Pratt a moment, then finally to Ta'tan'ia.

"Alright," he replied, nodding towards Stormie in greeting. "You said you were looking for Cyllir?" he asked, turning his attention back to Ta'tan'ia.

"That's right," Ta'tan'ia confirmed. "We've been interviewing Zoloz at the Detention Center most of the day, including Quinn Nobi, the chapter president. We're mainly looking into the blasters your people confiscated from them at the warehouse. They came from the Empire, so that's why Lieutenant Kintra is here."

"Yeah, one of those bastards shot me," Captain Tormond said, glancing down at his right arm. "Twice," he added, gesturing towards his chest. "Luckily my vest got the second one."

"I'm sorry," Ta'tan'ia responded sympathetically. "We believe Cyllir knows who they got them from, and we're trying to make sure they can't get anymore from them."

"Yeah, that sounds like the way they operate," Captain Tormond replied with a nod. "They know what they're doing when it comes to getting some illegal shavit done."

"We talked to a Sergeant Bakuu at the Detention Center," Ta'tan'ia told them. "He suggested we talk to a Lieutenant Danills of the gang unit about where Cyllir might be hiding."

She almost explained why she had got in contact with him instead of talking to Lieutenant Danills, but decided on tact instead. She was sure Captain Tormond was aware of law enforcement's reputation on Trigalis.

By Officer Pratt's derisive chuckle, she knew she had made the right decision, even before Captain Tormond spoke.

"Yeah, Lieutenant Danills probably can't help you," he confirmed. "Don't get me wrong, he's not completely corrupt, but half the officers in the gang unit are on the take from someone. Every now and then they'll make a few big arrests for show, but that's about it. The rest of our department isn't much better. There's a select group of us that share information, and try to clean up the city."

"Well, we weren't too sure about Sergeant Bakuu either," Ta'tan'ia commented. "That's why we found you."

The two Security Officers stared at each other questioningly for a few heartbeats, then Officer Pratt shrugged.

"What do you mean you weren't sure about him?" Captain Tormond asked. "I mean, I've never thought much of him—not that I've worked with him much—but he's always seemed okay to me."

"He said he had a list of all the Zoloz prisoners for us in front of Quinn," Stormie explained. "And that the interrogation wasn't being recorded."

The two New Coronet Officers glanced at each other again, then Captain Tormond looked back towards Ta'tan'ia and Stormie.

"Maybe he was just sloppy, but I'm not sure," Ta'tan'ia told them. "I got the feeling it was conveniently deliberate."

"Well, we'll keep an eye on him," Captain Tormond responded. "But like I said, we never thought much of him anyway."

"Glad to be of assistance," Ta'tan'ia replied. "But since Lieutenant Danills can't help me...?"

"Well, I'm not sure we can help you either, Jedi Ta'tan'ia," Captain Tormond said with a sigh. "The Zoloz have a few places they'll go to ground here in New Coronet, but when they really want to hide, they go into the swamp."

That thought had entered Ta'tan'ia's mind when Stormie was complaining about the heat earlier. She had hoped it wouldn't be true.

"Any idea where?" she asked hopefully.

Officer Pratt let out a laugh. "They probably have half-a-dozen or so hideouts set up at any given time, fully stocked with food, weapons, and supplies. And they move them around all the time. All the criminals go out there to hide out."

"A bunch of them pretty much live out there," Captain Tormond added. "Probably more than live in the city, and there's a little over a hundred, across four chapters in New Coronet."

Ta'tan'ia glanced at Stormie, who had looked back at her.

"Anybody ever go out there looking for them?" Ta'tan'ia asked, turning her attention back to Captain Tormond.

"We've tried," Officer Pratt responded. "By the time we get up enough officers so we don't all get killed, they've found out we're coming, and went deeper in."

Even with the Force, Ta'tan'ia wasn't eager to go into a swamp against several dozen Zoloz. Actually, she'd never even been in a swamp. She had been born on Coruscant, and only left a few times up until Master Skywalker had moved the Temple to Ossus. Still, with the Force as her ally, she was confident she could find Cyllir if she had too. She didn't plan on mentioning her lack of experience in swamps to her Imperial partner for now though.

"Any ideas then?" she asked them.

Captain Tormond shrugged. "Bring in a brigade or two of soldiers? If you can figure out about where he is with the Force or whatever, launch some missiles or something at him?"

Ta'tan'ia chuckled politely in response.

"Maybe if you flew your ship, and let a lot of people see you get on it and leave, out into the swamp, and waited a few days or so, Cyllir might think you left, and come back. When he does, one of us can comm you," Officer Pratt suggested.

"Yeah, that might work," Captain Tormond agreed. "Cyllir can't stay out there too long, he's got to run things, especially since we have Quinn locked up. That means he's going to have to come back into New Coronet before long. Some of the other Zoloz can stay out there indefinitely, but Cyllir will have to come back if he wants to run the Zoloz, and he wants run the Zoloz."

"Definitely," Officer Pratt agreed with nod. "Cyllir's not going to stay out there hiding forever."

Ta'tan'ia didn't really want to sit around waiting for days, but if that's the only option she had. . .

"Any ideas on getting Quinn to tell us?" Ta'tan'ia asked. "We know he knows who their supplier is."

Captain Tormond glanced back at Officer Pratt before replying.

"Na, sorry," he finally said. "We've never been able to get anything out of him."

Ta'tan'ia sighed, and wriggled her lekku in disappointment.

"Alright," she responded. "Thanks for your help."

"No problem, Jedi Ta'tan'ia," he replied cheerfully. "If you need anything else, you've got my comm code."

"Let me give you mine too," Officer Pratt interjected from the other side of the Security Force speeder. "Captain Tormond is supposed to be on light duty," he added with a hint of tenseness.

Captain Tormond merely smiled at the mild rebuke.

"Thanks," Ta'tan'ia replied with a smile, noticing Stormie glancing down and tapping her wrist comlink.

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

Stormie felt a subtle vibration from her wrist comlink, and glanced down at it. There was an urgent notice from Colonel Drasi. It said for her to comm him as soon as possible, when she was alone. She acknowledged without replying.

"By the way, was that you and your partner—Jedi Torran, I think his name is—at the spaceport about the same time we hit the warehouse? With those Blood Riders?" Officer Pratt asked Ta'tan'ia as he sent her his comm code.

It took Stormie a couple of seconds to realize what Officer Pratt was talking about. The five dead swoop-bikers.

"Yeah," Ta'tan'ia answered absently, as she accepted his message. "They were trying to steal our ship." It was obvious she didn't want to discuss the matter.

"Hey, no need to explain," Officer Pratt responded with a smile, raising his hands in mock surrender. "You're a Jedi, and the Blood Riders are known criminals."

Captain Tormond nodded his head in agreement.

Stormie frowned a moment. She had assumed the Jedi hadn't killed them. Then she realized that Ta'tan'ia probably didn't want to talk about it because she had been rescuing that schutta Veila, and she didn't want her to know about it. The cops though, thought it was because the Jedi had killed the Blood Riders.

She glanced back towards Ta'tan'ia to ask her about it, but quickly stopped herself. Her mission was to find out who was supplying the Zoloz with Imperial weapons, not concern herself with who killed a bunch of swoop-bikers. It wasn't interfering with her mission, so she wasn't going to bring it up, especially considering she seemed to be the only one with the information at the moment. Well, except for the Zoloz, and they weren't likely to tell anyone they killed the Blood Riders. Besides, she didn't want Ta'tan'ia remembering too much about yesterday anyway.

"Thank you again for your help, Captain Tormond, Officer Pratt," Ta'tan'ia told them.

"No problem, Jedi Ta'tan'ia," Captain Tormond replied with a nod. "Happy to help," he added, nodding towards Stormie.

Stormie politely nodded her head in reply.

"Good luck," Officer Pratt said, sliding up his window and pulling out of the parking space.

Stormie hit the button to slide up her window as she watched them leave. Then she glanced over at her Jedi companion.

"Can you find Cyllir in the swamp?" she asked her.

Ta'tan'ia sat silently for a moment. "Probably," she finally admitted. "But I'd probably find a lot more Zoloz with him," she added, flashing an amused smile.

"If you can hold them off, I'll make Cyllir talk," Stormie told her with determination. "Or at least give the fish something to eat," she added with a grim smile.

"Then your guy will just sell blasters to another Zoloz," Ta'tan'ia replied.

Stormie shrugged her shoulders. She just wanted to get this mission over with, before Ta'tan'ia remembered something she wasn't supposed to.

"Back to my ship?" she asked her, Colonel Drasi's message on her mind.

"Yeah, I need to think about things for a bit," Ta'tan'ia answered, unzipping her body suit a little.

Stormie pulled away, heading towards the spaceport. She saw a quick-serve restaurant, and realized she hadn't eaten since before she'd rendezvoused with the Dark Horizon. Besides a quick nap on that trip, she had only caught a couple of hours of sleep on the first trip to Trigalis. In the last thirty-six hours, she'd gotten maybe three hours of sleep. Still, the mission came before both of those problems. She needed to comm Colonel Drasi back.

Once they arrived at the ship, Ta'tan'ia grabbed her cloak from the back seat, and said she was going to meditate. Stormie almost offered her one of the cabins, but quickly changed her mind. If she was fine being in a cell, she wasn't going to worry about it. Stormie let her go in, while she headed for the cockpit, and the ship's comm.

"Lieutenant Kintra," Colonel Drasi greeted her once the link had been made. "Status report."

"We interviewed about thirty of the Zoloz that were in the local detention center. The only one of them who knows who provided the blasters is Quinn, the local club president. Even with Jedi Ta'tan'ia using her mind tricks, he won't say anything. We believe the club Vice-President, Cyllir, also knows who provided them. He is likely hiding out in the swamps, so Jedi Ta'tan'ia is currently meditating on his whereabouts," Stormie explained.

Colonel Drasi stared at her a few seconds. "What are you doing to find this Cyllir character?"

"At the moment I'm just monitoring local comm traffic for his frequency, Sir," she said. "When he uses his comlink, we'll know where he's at."

"Well, there's been a chance of plans. Talk to Cyllir or Quinn or whoever knows who from the Empire is providing the weapons. But we want to make a deal with them. They give up the source, but in exchange, we will keep supplying them with weapons. More, at a much better price," he explained.

"What!?" Stormie asked in bewilderment. "We're going to still sell the Zoloz blasters?"

"Yes," Colonel Drasi replied with a nod. "Obviously, the Jedi or Galactic Alliance can't find out about this though."

"Obviously," she answered, still surprised. Now she had a whole other lie to sell Ta'tan'ia on. "May I ask whose insane idea this was, Sir?"

"Imperial Intelligence," he replied tightly. "They probably don't have a clue who the weapons are coming from, so they're trying to set us up to fail. If we don't pull this off, then it's our fault. If we do, they still get some credit, because it was their idea."

Stormie sat there a few heartbeats. The biggest problem would be convincing Cyllir or Quinn to agree. Well, after not letting Ta'tan'ia find out.

"And they have to give up their source before we ship them anymore weapons, right?" she finally asked.

"We could be a bit flexible on that," he replied. "But time is of the essence. If whoever stole two thousand or so blasters and sold them to outlaw swoop-bikers finds out about the deal, they could disappear on us."

"So I can't get them to give us a fake name so the Jedi will be satisfied and leave, so we can do what we need to do," she commented.

"That would be extremely risky," Colonel Drasi agreed. "You can tell whoever you talk to that we have someone at the New Coronet Spaceport that will ensure safe transit of all deliveries though."

"We do?" she asked in disbelief. "That's pretty convenient, for us." I might have been able to use them when I was looking for Veila.

"We will soon enough, anyway," Colonel Drasi informed her dismissively. "Infiltrating their spaceport won't be a problem."

"Okay Sir," Stormie replied with a nod. "My impression is that they are pretty disciplined, for outlaw swoop-bikers though." She paused, then added, "If it weren't for the Jedi, the shipment they already had probably wouldn't have been discovered."

"We could send them some credits as a sign of good faith," he said after a few moments' thought.

"That might work. How much do I have to negotiate with?" Stormie asked.

Colonel Drasi frowned. "You can go up to seventy-five thousand." He paused a heartbeat, then added, "But anything over fifty thousand we'll need back after a shipment or two."

"I'll take care of it, Sir," Stormie said with a nod.

"Remember, secrecy is of the utmost importance on this, Lieutenant Kintra. If we make this arrangement, and the Jedi or Galactic Alliance find out, it will be extremely embarrassing for the Empire."

"Yes Sir," Stormie responded with certainly.

"I'll forward you the details of what we're prepared to provide, and at what price. Also mention that when things start going smoothly, we may occasionally need them to move some weapons or other minor items for us. We'd be willing to pay a nominal courtesy fee for this service, of course."

"Yes Sir," Stormie repeated. She immediately suspected that this was a major reason the Empire want to make this deal, but she wasn't about to comment on it.

Colonel Drasi nodded his head in acknowledgment and shut down the link. Stormie closed it from her end, and checked the surveillance holocams to make sure Ta'tan'ia was still in the cell. Maybe that loyalty stuff Admiral Daala's Doctor did to her would pay off. Stormie sighed, and commed Cyllir.

He didn't answer of course. Stormie left him a message asking him to comm her back as soon as possible, saying that it would be worth his while. Then she ran back to the Medical Station, and grabbed a stimshot. On the way back to the cockpit she also picked up a couple of ration bars, and a bottle of water from the galley.

Once she sat back down in the pilot's seat, Stormie opened the stimshot, raised it to the side of her neck, and injected herself. Almost immediately, she felt a rush of energy hit her. That should keep me going another six hours or so. Next she opened her ration bar, took a bite, then a swallow of water. She watched Ta'tan'ia meditate while she waited for Cyllir, and she began scanning the information Colonel Drasi had just sent her about what the Empire was willing to sell the Zoloz.

Nearly twenty minutes later, Cyllir commed her back. She quickly accepted the call. Her tracking program said he was just a few hundred meters from their clubhouse. She was a bit surprised he wasn't out in the swamp somewhere, or at least a lot further away from the clubhouse.

"Hello again," Stormie said with a friendly smile, once the link was made. She purposely didn't mention his name, since that's what he had wanted last time.

His holofield was tight on his upper body, only revealing a plain brown wall behind him. She knew hers was set up the same way, only showing a little of the blank bulkhead behind her.

"Talk," the Zoloz' Vice-President said after a few moments of silence.

"I have a business proposition for you," Stormie told him. "We know you got those blasters that were at the warehouse from the Empire. We want to continue that arrangement. Even expand it." She paused a moment and added, "It just has to go through the proper channels."

"All those blasters are Quinn's," Cyllir replied with a shrug. "We don't know anything about them."

Stormie glanced at the holocams in the cell. Ta'tan'ia was still meditating. "Look, we are going to find out who sold them to you. You will not get another single blaster from them. You can get even more blasters from the Empire though, on a regular basis. You just have to tell me who you got those from."

Cyllir laughed. "That's all you got? We already know you're working with that Jedi. You don't seriously expect me to believe the Jedi are going to let us have a few thousand Imperial blasters?"