Ask One Small Cog

[Arla]

Nez Peron was a planet that Arla had never even heard of before this assignment. It wasn't glorious, it wasn't flashy, it wasn't the capital of anything, but it was a major agricultural world. One that - while it tolerated and complied with the Empire's rule - didn't like the Empire too much. Its people were fiercely independent and preferred to solve their problems themselves.

That was all fine and good until an Imperial Peacekeeper went missing on your planet. Then things escalated, and in this case, escalation meant sending a Sith Champion.

Though newly minted as a Champion, Arla felt more than ready and up to the task. Not that she really knew what that "task" would entail, but whatever it was, she'd handle it. For sure.

The ship had dropped her off, and she departed with her backpack slung over her shoulder and her energy bow folded down against the side. She looked more like a hitchhiker than a Sith, but that had its place. In addition to being agricultural, everyone here seemed to love guns and hunting. She thought she might fit in just fine, and as she looked around the sights in the distance, she realized just how gorgeous this place was. Maybe not a bad place to vacation if she weren't here on business.

She headed down in the direction of the town just below the spaceport, and let her mind roll out over her surroundings. Okay, just need to figure out where to start, she thought.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Something it had taken Kess awhile to learn was that not every lead or every assignment needed a heavy, iron fist of an approach. Sometimes showing up in a full set of Inquisitorious garb was counter productive to an investigation, especially a newly budding one with very little detail available.

She'd caught wind of an Imperial Peacekeeper having one missing on some agri world that most people probably didn't even know existed. Which, by that fact alone, sort of made the whole thing just a little bit weirder. Kess had decided to take a look herself without committing to anything official.

It was entirely possible the Peacekeeper had simply fallen into a ravine or something and died of exposure. She wouldn't want to be seen as wasting her own, and by extension, the Inquisitorious' time and effort.

Kess had arrived on Nez Peron maybe a half day or so ago, but hadn't gotten up to much in the meantime. Mostly just settling in and doing a little asking around. At the current moment, though, she sat outside of a cantina on a small bench.

In one hand, a datapad. The other, some kind of meat on a stick. A specialty of Nez Peron, apparently. They dipped it into some kind of batter and deep fried it in oil. It was positively delicious despite its weirdness.

Looking up, Kess noticed a person who sort of looked different than most others around Nez Peron. Of course, that could have just been her overly discerning eye spotting things others might not.. or it also could have been the incredibly pointy ears.

Regardless, Kess pocketed her datapad and slide from her seat as she finished her cornakkdog and tossed the stick in the trash. Heading towards Arla, Kess would offer her a small wave.

Hey there, She said, approaching Arla. You new around here?

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla walked down the sidewalk, glancing around at just how small this place was. She had a feeling everyone around here knew each other already, so she'd have to try to play nice with her investigation because "blending in" was probably off the table.

Her eyes flicked around the cantina, store, a few restaurants, and the like before stopping and tapping her foot on the ground. The expression on her face never changed as she weighed all of her options. The cantina was probably a good place to start or the other restaurants.

She was about to go into one - a small diner-looking place - when someone approached her. Silvery eyes with golden flecks locked onto the woman with a piercing gaze. Why was she being so friendly?

She tried not to scowl before reminding herself that she needed to be friendly if she wanted to get any information.

Yeah, she said. As you might have noticed by the fact that I'm walking away from the space port, she stifled.

You get a lot of new people coming through here? she asked. She wasn't really convinced this woman was from around here, but it was difficult to tell. The galaxy was full of different people who lived all over, and Arla had seen precious little of it. She was acutely aware of that, too.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Kess's cat-like ears twitched slightly as she listened to Arla's reply. It didn't take a rocket surgeon to hear the faint prickliness in the woman's voice, though Kess didn't really hold it against her. She sort of did just kind of ambush a stranger and start asking questions without any proper introduction.

Not many, from what I've been able to gather. Kess replied with a shrug of her shoulders. And the scant few not coming home to the backwoods sort of stick out like sore thumbs.

Pausing for a moment, Kess gave Arla a proper once over, doing her best to remain as inconspicuous about it as possible.

My name's Kess, by the way. She said before flashing another smile, her pointed incisor teeth poking out just a bit. What brings you out here to the middle of nowhere?

At the risk of coming across as annoying and putting Arla off, Kess decided to continue talking. Maybe this new arrival had something to do with the missing Peacekeeper, coming back to make sure the crime was covered up and no one was looking around. It seemed unlikely, but you never knew.

I'm here looking for a friend of mine, though I haven't been able to find them yet. I've started to wonder if they've gone missing.. She let her statement trail off a bit at the end, more curious to see Arla's reaction than anything else.

Detective work could be tedious sometimes, but the truth was far too often buried in the details.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

This girl was too friendly to be real. It was setting off warning bells all over in the back of her mind, but she went with it for now. Was this woman the cause for the Peacekeeper's disappearance and she'd come to intercept anyone who wanted to look into it? Seemed... unlikely.

I came out to hunt, she said, jutting a finger toward the folded up energy bow hooked to her backpack. It wasn't untrue. She was here to hunt, but maybe not animals. But also, if she had time, she might hunt some animals too. So all technically true.

Heard there's a lot of good hunting in the area and people around here are very enthusiastic about it, she said, glancing over to the cantina the woman had just been sitting outside of. She wasn't sure what the drinking age here was, but that probably didn't matter, right?

You're not from around here then? she asked. She tried to keep the spotlight off of herself as much as possible, and with her upbringing it had become like second nature. Can't say I've seen your friend given I'm new here, but tell me about them and I'll keep an eye out, she said.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Kess couldn't help but raise an inquisitive eyebrow at Arla's reasons for coming to Nez Peron. There were a multitude of worlds, most of which were far better than here, where hunters went to nab their prize. Off the top of her head, Kess couldn't even think of a distinctive fauna that would draw hunters looking for a big score. It seemed.. hm. Just off, she guessed.

No, I'm not. She admitted with a shrug, her naturally predatorial gaze never quite leaving Arla despite Kess' attempts to remain nonchalant and breezy. My friend's name is Maro, she said, leaving out the surname but using the Peacekeeper's actual first name that she'd seen in his file.

There was a chance dropping a little factoid like that could give her some information in Arla's reaction, but if not, it was no harm no foul. There were trillions of sentients in the galaxy - there could be more than one Maro.

You said you were going out on a hunt? I've actually been looking for someone to accompany me out in the wilds, but most people around here don't take too kindly to people who aren't like them so I haven't gotten any bites yet. For whatever reason, the people of Nez Peron didn't seem to like the cat ears, which was just so strange to Kess. Most people thought they were adorable.

Care if I tag along? So far this town hasn't turned up much, so I figured I'd go look for my friend out there. But going out alone seems like a bad idea. She did her best to seem earnest, like someone truly worried about a friend. I'm worried that's what Maro did and something happened to him out there.

Eying Arla again, something suddenly dawned on Kess.

You never did tell me your name.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

There was no way that was a coincidence. Sure, there could be a lot of Maro's in the galaxy, but an off-worlder showing up looking for the same person at the same time. Arla didn't buy it.

The question now was how much information the Nightsister wanted to give up. She hadn't been given any information about anyone else assigned to this investigation, but it could have been a more... private investigation.

Oh, right. Arla, she said with a polite nod. Sure, I'll help you find your friend, I guess. Where into the wilds are you wanting to go? she asked. not that she really knew the area.

She headed toward the local store to look for anything like a map of the area while they continued talking.

You in the habit of dropping everything to go look for your friends often? she asked, quirking an eyebrow in a motion she had unquestionably picked up from her mother. Seems dangerous, too. You... know how to handle yourself? she asked, not outright asking the other woman's line of work, but hinting at it.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Well if I knew where to go, my friend wouldn't really be lost now would he? Kess said with just a hint of playful sarcasm.

Following Arla into the small store, Kess looked around idly as the two continued to talk. The inside was quaint, mostly filled with odds and ends people might need to pick up for whatever shenanigans they might be up to that day. Water, snack food, random trinkets.

The proprietor was an elderly man who's skin was rough and wrinkled by both age and too much time in the sun. Watery blue eyes followed the women as they poked around the place, somehow both a little judgmental and hopeful that they might actually buy something.

I wouldn't say often, Kess replied, perusing through some magazines. But Maro's disappearance seemed very strange to me. It's not like him to not check in. Clicking her tongue in disappointment at the lack of interesting magazines, Kess shrugged her shoulders. I can handle myself, people who can't don't last too long in this galaxy.

Once Arla found the map she was looking for, Kess would grab a bottle of some sparkly drink she'd never heard of and pay for it at the counter. Heading back outside, she'd look to Arla with an expectant glance.

I'm ready to head out whenever you are.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

I figured you had some reason you wanted to go into the wilds, she said, deadpan. Unless you were planning to wander the woods like Hansel and Gretel calling out his name, she said.

She started browsing through the store, picking out a map, some hiking-type foods, and several bottles of water before bringing them to the counter.

You and I must not live in the same galaxy. Place is full of wimps, she muttered indignantly. People were always whining about this or that minor inconvenience. It was definitely one of her less preferred things about leaving Dathomir.

Haven't seen you two around here before. What brings you all the way here? the man behind the counter said in a way that was gruff and not entirely friendly. It felt more like an interrogation than polite conversation.

She's looking for someone and I'm just here to enjoy the nature, she said to the man, who looked thoroughly unimpressed.

She left things open in case Kess decided she wanted to question the man, and in the meantime, Arla shoved the various things she'd purchased into her backpack.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Kess couldn't help but smirk at Arla's outlook on the denizens of the galaxy. She'd heard that sentiment many times from her peers. It was such a Sith way to look at things, but also somewhat short sighted. Underestimating those you see as wimps or losers was a mistake Kess made a concerted effort not to make.

When the shopkeeper decided to pipe up, Kess shot him a healthy dose of side eye before softening her expression just a little bit. Thinking that even a little bit of information would be better than nothing, Kess decided to see what she could dig up.

What do you know if the missing Peacekeeper? She asked bluntly, her gaze boring into the man as she spoke.

Oh, w-well I don't know nothin' about that. He said, visibly nervous in his answer.

I'm not so sure I believe you, Kess said, approaching the counter. Her aura was menacing, though not overtly threatening. She sensed a lighter touch would get her the information she was looking for here. Plus, she didn't want to scare off her new friend Arla, either. Just tell me what you know.

The shopkeeper seemed to shift in his skin as he contemplated whether or not he felt like lying. Luckily, it seemed logic won the day and eventually he stuttered out the truth. Their first clue!

I can't say for certain, but I heard rumors that a couple people around town had some kind of beef with that Peacekeeper. I don't got a lot of details, but I know Tyla Vek's name was brought up. He paused for a moment, the cogs in his brain turning as he tried to come up with something else that was useful.

She spends an awful amount of time out in the wilderness huntin' and stuff. Down by the big river to the west.

Thanks. Kess said simply, heading for the door.

At least now they had a heading. Kind of.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla couldn't help her eyebrow arching up for a split second as everything in the room shifted. The Force flared in its own way, impressing a form of terror onto the mind of the man in front of them. She might have crumbled herself if she weren't well experienced in resisting the spirits of Dathomir.

She took a momentary step back almost falling into a defensive stance before catching herself. Kess softened, and Arla felt her muscles relax if ever so slightly.

It did seem to have the proper effect on the man and... you knew, Arla respected it, actually. It made Kess grow on her a bit and her silvery, piercing eyes momentarily searched the other woman with a new light to them.

Have a good one, she said with a nod and headed for the door. As soon as they were out in the fresh air again, she turned her head toward the other woman. It didn't take a genius to figure out who she was. Dark Side, looking for the missing Peacekeepr, but just because she was likely Sith didn't mean she wasn't part of the issue. Though, it did seem unlikely she'd be looking for the Peacekeeper if she was the reason for his disappearance.

I wasn't told anyone else had been assigned to this, she said. Her voice wasn't quite accusatory, but it held a good bit of suspicion mixed with curiosity. Things had changed now, and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

You have a clearance code? she asked. Something she could send back to HQ to verify the other woman. If she really was Imperial, Arla knew she'd have one. It was a relatively foreign system to her, but it made sense when you weren't working in a community of people you knew. This wasn't Dathomir.

Meanwhile, she continued to head down in the direction of the river. She had a pretty good idea that this was a real Sith, and they were both after the same thing, which meant that a ploy wasn't really necessary anymore. She could turn her mind to hunting mode, and in doing so, she could operate significantly more efficiently.

We want to take this Tyla alive so we can question her, she said. She expected the other woman would have already thought of that, but it never hurt to make sure everyone was on the same page before any shooting started. If the woman was hunting then there would be guns if these off-worlders were involved.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

ISB-02519 Kess replied without missing a beat. She had no qualms about sharing her clearance code with other Sith, it wasn't like it could be used to get very far.

The moment Arla tried digging any deeper than verifying that it was a real code, she'd hit hard road blocks of classified and redacted information. One of the perks of working in the ISB, for sure.

Yes, Kess responded to Arla's mention of taking Tyla alive. But that courtesy doesn't extend to anyone else that might be accompanying her. The way Kess said the word "courtesy" would convey that she really did think the idea of not just slicing Tyla's throat for harming property of the Empire was exactly that.

I've enough experience.. extracting truths from people that we should really only need one person.

As they approached the river, Kess didn't see anyone in their immediate vicinity. Not unsurprising, though it would have been nice to have things go the easy way for once. Oh well.

Looking around, she noticed footprints in the wet earth near the banks of the river. She couldn't tell much from them, though it was pretty easy to distinguish a couple different sets heading in the same direction, following the river in the opposite direction of town.

The footprints seem like a promising lead, Kess said to Arla as she crouched down to look at them even closer. One set smaller than the other two, likely a woman's. Definitely more than one person. Maybe three or four.

Looking in the direction the footprints headed, Kess looked over at Arla.

See anything else useful?

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She punched in the code supplied to her, and sure enough, she lacked the clearance to get far. Not that she really cared. What she really wanted was confirmation that this woman was actually who she said she was. She received that, but she couldn't lie, ISB piqued her curiosity a bit.

She filed it away for a later question, instead focusing her attention back to the task at hand for now. As she slid her datapad away she noticed the acidic tone in the other woman's voice. She could sense the momentary swell of hatred that underlay her statement, but it was gone away in a moment. Buried like she was no doubt trained to do by the ISB. A real fanatic, she wondered to herself silently.

Should be interesting to see, she said. In contrast, Arla had never interrogated anyone before, and she figured there was certainly something to be learned from whatever the other woman knew.

As Kess looked at the prints, Arla let her eyes sweep over the area as a whole. It was nice, and she could see why someone would come down here. The running water of the river added a layer of noise that would mask much of the sound of movement while hunting. Plus animals would come down to drink, and it provided an excellent opportunity for hunters. Yes, Arla would have picked a similar spot herself. It told her this Tyla was good at what she did.

These prints are fresh, she said before frowning. This is a lot of people to be out here hunting together and walking the banks in the open, she said. Something else besides just hunting was going on out here, and she felt a creeping feeling up the back of her neck.

Do you know anything about what this Peacekeeper was looking into? she asked. She didn't want to mention her feeling of foreboding, but she couldn't shake it from her mind. Something was far more wrong here than she had first suspected, and she had absolutely no evidence to support that. Just... a sense.

Look at the way this set of tracks starts out and then stops and starts again. Then it's a long line through the mud down here, she said as they walked further down the river. Like someone was picked up... or dragged, she said. Unwillingly probably didn't need to be added to the sentence.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

Not really, Kess said, kneeling down to look closer at the tracks Arla pointed out as they had moved further down the river. Records were uncharacteristically vague. Makes me think the Peacekeeper might have been doing a little more around here than just keeping the peace.

In Kess' experience, heavily redacted or explicitly vague reports from Peacekeepers usually meant they were up to no good. It was pretty easy to let corruption get to you, especially on a post as back asswards as Nez Peron. When there's not a lot to get up to, people tended to make their own fun.

Definitely dragged, She said, running her fingers along the grooves in the mud. Pretty deep ruts all things considered. Seems more than likely they were dragging a fully grown man of decent size. Our Peacekeeper's records had him clocked in a couple inches over six foot and over two hundred pounds.

Standing to her feet, Kess looked around for a few moments while she pondered something. Some things about the circumstances just didn't seem to add up.

Makes you wonder why they didn't have a speeder or something. Dragging the Peacekeeper's thick ass through the mud can't have been the first option. Reaching into her pocket, Kess pulled out a pack of smokes and offered one to Arla before popping one into her own mouth and lighting it.

Makes me think that they didn't plan on killing him out here. Something happened or escalated and our boy winds up dead. She took a long drag of her cigarette and let the smoke out of her nose slowly. They definitely planned on killing him, that much is certain. But this was sloppy.

Walking away from the river and towards a throng of woods. Careful of where she stepped, eventually Kess was able to spot some flattened grass that lead into the trees.

I think the drug him into the woods, maybe gave him a pauper's grave. If we can find a body, we can at least determine how he died. Might get a lead there.

Crushing her cigarette on her bootheel, Kess flicked the butt into the grass as she headed for the woods.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

She nodded along with Kess's statements, arriving at the same conclusion only moments before Kess gave voice to them. There were a lot of things in the galaxy she didn't know, but this was one of the things she did.

Or they could have loaded him on a speeder and taken him somewhere else, she said. Hovercraft didn't leave a nice trail to follow either.

But I agree, we should have a look around, she said. Maybe they'd get lucky. She headed out into the forest, keeping her eyes peeled as things became thicker. She reached down, hand brushing against her hunting knife just for the added sense of security that it gave her.

Her pace quickened a bit as she saw a mound of fresh dirt and she moved toward it before freezing in her path. Her eyes went wider as they scanned around the area, taking in exactly what she was seeing.

What the kriff, she muttered. She could now see that it wasn't just one grave, but looked as if many had been dug. They were in various states of aged dirt and regrowth of foliage, but it could have been its own graveyard.

Or maybe he really was onto something, she said, looking back to her unexpected partner. There've gotta be at least 20 graves out here, she said. But why would anyone need to kill this many people? It made no sense to her in her naïveté to the galaxy, but there was a reason. And it wasn't a pleasant one.

 

[Kessah Skarvik]

As if they had both seen the strange scene before them at the exact same time, Kess came to the same grinding halt as Arla, her dark tawny eyes rolling over each mound of dirt as she tried to understand exactly what they were looking at here.

Twenty three, actually. Kess said idly, the shock of initial discovery having worn off. The first question that comes to mind is if you're going to kill this many people, why bury them? Especially all in the same place. Something about this isn't adding up.

Kess walked around the graveyard, head scanning from side to side as she tried to make sense of what they had just stumbled on. Some of the graves were old, at least a couple of months. But some were much newer, the earth just fading out of that freshly tilled deep brown to a lighter, sunbaked tan.

When Kess got to the end of one of the rows, her attention was drawn to one grave in particular. It looked like it had been dug in just the past few days. Kneeling down, she ran her fingers through the loose clods of earth on top of the grave. They'd barely even patted it down.

This one is almost brand new and it was filled in haste. Rell said, turning to look at Arla. I think we need to dig it up.

Reaching out with the force, Kess used telekinesis to start lifting the dirt from the hole. It would take her a few minutes to get all of it out, so hopefully Arla was okay with being the first of them to stick their head over the edge and take a peak at what lied beneath.

@Phoenix

 

[Arla]

Arla looked around at the graves that littered the area and her mind had quickly recovered from the shock of it all. What was this some kind of serial killer? But not with multiple footprints and assistance. No, it seemed more organized. They were killing people for a reason.

They have to hide the bodies somewhere, she said in response to why they were buried. True there was better technology for that, but this place wasn't exactly the pinnacle of galactic trade and business.

Kess started lifting up the dirt from one of the graves, and for the first few minutes Arla didn't help her. Instead, lightbow in hand, she walked the perimeter of the horrible graveyard, looking for more tracks or signs that anyone might be here watching them. She saw no one, no cameras, and no alarms, though she did find tracks leading out the other direction from where they had come in and made a mental note of it.

Looping back around to Kess's position, the other Sith had made good progress, and Arla was able to reach down with the Force and pull the body out, setting it down on the ground near them.

She'd gutted more than her share of game in her day and seen plenty of rotting carcasses, but you never quite got used to the smell. The putrid rot that hit her nose now was no improvement, but she pressed through it with barely a twitch to her face.

She moved over to it and started talking about what she found aloud. He... doesn't have any eyes? There's a long incision down the middle of his body, she said, poking at it with her knife.

He's missing... all his organs, she said after a moment. There was a hint of shock in her voice and she put the pieces together, sitting there for a moment, silver eyes staring unblinkingly. There couldn't be many people in the town with the capability of pulling that off, which further narrowed their suspect pool.