FORSAKEN IV - Harbinger of Chaos

CHAPTER TWENTY

In the Savareen sector of the Outer Rim, an Imperial Gozanti-class cruiser linked up to the docking ring of a well-traveled YT-1000 freighter. The transponder code classified the ship as a salvage vessel registered with the Scrapper Guild. A Gotal with matted fur welcomed the boarding party and led them to the sickbay, where a Crocin was waiting next to the body of a female Twi'lek dressed in a starship crew's uniform. Both beings were surprised when they saw the lieutenant in charge was a graying clone, who identified himself as Crest; a name he got from his clone brother back in the war, due to his Mohawk.

"I haven't seen one of you in years," said the Gotal when he welcomed the Imperials aboard his ship.

The stormtrooper medic scanned the corpse with a medical sensor and crosschecked his findings on his datapad. "The code chain matches, sir," she said. "Flight Navigator Lera Twen of the Consular-class cruiser, the Winds of Change."

"What did she die of?" said Crest.

"Looks like blunt trauma to the neck before she was jettisoned into space. There are no other signs of injury to the body. No lacerations, blaster wounds, skin abrasions; it's as if the spine was fractured from within, if you can believe that's possible."

"I can." Crest had seen this kind of injury once before during the Clone Wars.

"We found her floating just outside the Corellian Run while doing some repairs," said the Gotal. "We thought she was part of a ship at first. We called her in as soon as she was brought aboard."

The Crocin said something in Croci.

"I'm getting to it." The Gotal dismissing him with a wave. "He wants to know if there's a reward for finding her."

"There's no reward for citizens doing their civic duty," said Crest. "But if you find others like this, I'd take it as a personal favor, and see to it that you don't get written up for any violations your freighter may incur for the rest of the year." He gave his surroundings a passing look.

"Give me your personal comcode and you got a deal."

"Bag the body. We're taking it with us."

"Yes, sir," said the medic.

###

"Colonel, I got news," said a hologram of Crest. "We found one of the crew members of the Winds of Change—the Flight Navigator. She was found drifting in space in the Savareen sector outside the Corellian Run hyperroute by some scrappers. She was killed before being dumped in space. Her neck was broken with no external signs of trauma, suggesting a Jedi might have been the perpetrator."

What are the odds? Eisvolk thought, sitting in her office in the COMPNOR archology. Maybe the Force smiled on her after all. After he served under her on a classified mission to hunt the Je'daii, Crest was recruited by Eisvolk to System Cell, a secret unit in Sector Plexus that carried out human intelligence operations. "So, she wasn't killed by pirates," she said.

"Not unless they have Jedi powers. Should I continue searching for other bodies?"

So, the Jedi could have done this to plant one of their own in the Senate. Very cunning.

"There's no need for that," said Eisvolk. "I already learned what I needed to know. I want you to head to the Sujimis sector and search for the Jedi of the Outcast. Start with Pantora."

"You think they're still hiding there after all this time?"

"When the Imperial Navy engaged them outside Svivren, the damage to their freighter was too great for them to travel outside the surrounding sectors, so it was believed they hid in one of those systems. One of their known close associates is the former Pantoran senator, Riyo Chuchi. I'm willing to bet the Jedi landed on Pantora at some point."