“Return to the crater platform, Corporal Hawk. Bring your pet.”

Lieutenant Commander Cani Patral is taller than the scout and Jawa may have envisioned. She has short dark hair, sharp nose and piercing green eyes, with a hint of cruelty to them. With her on the platform is the prototype walker she has been working on. Taking out a datapad with a small holoprojector, the shimmering blue image of an altogether different prototype appears before them.

”This is the ‘Varactyl.’ It has been taken by traitors to the Empire. A deserter and a spy. The machine itself is expendable. As are its occupants.”

The image disappears. “Hunt it down and take it out. See that it is completely destroyed. Hawk, you will take my ‘Zalaaca’ walker, which is a far superior design. I shall anxiously await your positive feedback on its performance in the field.”

”Jawa, you may select an actual varactyl to be your mount, from the kennel.” The officer barely looks at the diminutive hunter, as she gestures dismissively toward the platform where the remaining shell-shocked animals are kept.

”Coordinates and tracking are programmed. Your prey has enjoyed a significant head start, but they are traveling at a slower pace. Happy hunting.” Her smile almost looks like a genuine smile. “Dismissed.”

The pirate queen is surprisingly cooperative, when it becomes clear that the ISB Interrogator intends to dose her. Just as he administers the drugs, however, a thin blade flicks out from one of the prisoner’s fingers. A quick jab sends it into the startled Evon’s face. The doctor instinctively jerks away, though he knows on an intellectual level that such is not the correct protocol for a sharp object embedded in the eye.

”An eye for an eye, eh Doctor? Now we can talk.” The detainment cell is too small for the attendant troopers to enter, but the two closest manage to thrust at her with their riot batons until she is more subdued. The hand with the blade is obviously cybernetic in nature, as it sparks and shorts beneath the barrage of blows.

The Fourth Brother growls, "Petty." His lightsaber is ignited and he severs the mechanical hand from the Pirate Queen's arm. "Attack the Doctor again and I remove more." He says clearly very annoyed he sounded furious. "Cooperate, and you may yet live."

Hunting a machine, the Jawa thinks to himself... and to hunt it a traumatised beast. the human expects me to fail.

The Jawa looks at his compatriot.. “ let’s get this done “

he gives no sign of emotion and adjusts the strap on Betsy before walking to the pen where the beasts are located

"Hawk" hoists himself into the walker, after quickly restocking on ammo.

As the guards subdue the queen, Evon takes a moment to check his eye with his hand.

,,Lost eyesight to left eye, no sign of bleeding, the blade didn't hit veins. It's gonna be fine for now, though I'll probably need a cybernetic afterwards... That vile woman!"

,,Sir, I'm going to be fine. The serum should already work, she's going to be a bit hazy and his grip on the Force weakened. Let's proceed."

"Tell me of the fighter craft that the girl escaped in." the Inquisitor starts his questioning asking around the topic of the girls location to begin with, she was not yet broken and asking such questions now would not be productive.

The pirate queen is clutching her forearm, just above where her hand had been severed, but the lightsaber has done a good job of cauterizing the wound. She is either in shock, or very good at shutting out pain, perhaps a little of both.

“Well. It is obviously an Imperial design, some sort of TIE prototype, unusual in that it is fitted with an astromech socket. Restricted to only the uppermost echelon of the Empire’s operatives. You should get one yourself, free up that poor lieutenant from shuttling you all over the galaxy.” While all true, this is nothing the Inquisitor has not already surmised, and the last bit does not please him.

Hellhole Crater, Saleucami

Lieutenant Commander Patral’s air of superiority can be grating to those beneath her, but her true usefulness to the Empire lies in her engineering innovations. Using tech and intelligence previously gathered by the task force, she has installed a tracking system that will guide the two shooters to the rogue walker’s location, within four square klicks. Not ideal, but not too shabby, considering the stealth tech involved.

Nevertheless, she is unfamiliar with the two operators she has sent, and air support might be useful in flushing out her prey. “Task Force 75, this is Lieutenant Commander Patral. I require air support for hunting down the rogue walker. Lieutenant Somar will scramble the Phantom at 0400 Saleucami time to conduct high altitude observation. This is a field test of my own prototype, so do not engage unless air support is called for from the ground team.”

Upon hearing the mandate from Patral, Somar checks his chrono, and turns to the Inquisitor for instruction.

He lets the comment about his Pilot slide, "Have you made any modifications since your stealing of said craft?" Drogos says looking at her straight in the eyes.

1 minute ago, bsmith23 said:

Upon hearing the mandate from Patral, Somar checks his chrono, and turns to the Inquisitor for instruction.

"Assist the Lieutenant Commander, send me the heavy weapons Stormtrooper to take your place here." The Inquisitor said looking to Ral for a brief second then turning his gaze back to the Pirate Queen.

“Modifications..” The pirate queen appears to genuinely consider. “I do not think so, but I let others handle such matters. I am neither a pilot, nor an engineer.”

Her gaze meets the Inquisitor’s glare with equal intensity, fierce despite the obvious ocular trauma, the metallic shard still jutting from her eye socket. “I am a killer. Like you.”

"A killer indeed, with little control over your rage and pitiful Discipline." He said keeping his gaze locked with her "A pity, a mind like yours could accomplish greatness if you did not squander your talents." He was trying to egg her on to anger her.

3 hours ago, Shlambate said:

"Assist the Lieutenant Commander, send me the heavy weapons Stormtrooper to take your place here." The Inquisitor said looking to Ral for a brief second then turning his gaze back to the Pirate Queen.

Somar straightens and snaps a salute. "Sir!". He turns on his heels and exits to find Hale. Upon locating him, he wakes him from his rest. "Wakey wakey, sunshine. Redlade wants you for the interrogation. Have fun."

He then heads off for a quick bite, followed by a nice sleep himself.

Hale shakes his head as he rolls off the bunk, grabbing his bucket as he walks toward the door. He checks his pistol and his wrist blades, then pulls on his helmet and walks out.

As he approaches the interrogation room, he takes a deep breath before entering, half expecting the pirate queen to be missing multiple limbs. The door snaps open and he steps through, crossing his arms across his chest and leaning against the doorframe as the door shuts behind him.

“You do NOT know who you are dealing with!” She slams the flat of her remaining hand hard against the bulkhead, inside the detention cell.

”There is room for greatness only in the Emperor and his chosen. If you aspire for such, you do so at your peril. Or do you not know the rule of two?”

The pirate queen breathes, recovering somewhat from her outburst. She smiles as she continues, more calmly now: “Greatness is rewarded with death. Mediocrity is sometimes tolerated, and recruited into the Inquisitoriate.”

Taking the hint, Evon understands that the Brother is softening up the PQ for the girl. He turns her attention to the pirates. He picks up his mean face and stares right at the Queen, showing that he is not bothered by the injury at all.

,,I advise you to answer the Inquisitor's question without further derailing." - says in a low, grim voice. ,,Your capitalship is in ruins, your bodyguards executed, you have no backup, no reinforcements. Not much of the Sorority you have. You are left utterly alone in our hands. And you don't want me to start digging deeper in my pack. I have way worse things in syringes than you can possibly imagine."

“Do not bring up the rule of two again.” The Inquisitor says very very seriously “Now tell me, what did you teach your daughter? I need to know, for when I find her.” He said a cruel smile on his face.

“I taught the girl to keep her powers to herself, and not flaunt them with the Empire about. She listens as well as I did at her age.”

Looking past the Inquisitor and Interrogator, the pirate queen’s one good eye lingers briefly on Val, before settling upon Briar.

“Agents of the Empire. Your Inquisitor is compromised. As I was. The mask. It is your unenviable responsibility to relieve him of his duties. I, Noira, Hand of the Emperor, command this!”

The pieces of the puzzle click into place. The gauntlet thrown that had brought the task force together in the first place, the severed hand on the table... Noira’s words carry irrefutable authority, but of course she is in no position to be giving orders to anyone. What would the agents do with this information?

Hale was disquieted by the sight of the Inquisitor wearing the mask, but when the prisoner said what she said, he made a snap decision. With the Inquisitor distracted by the pirate queen, he braces against the wall and cannons forward into Drogos, grabbing the mask in one hand as he drives his knee into the Inquisitor's side, sending him sprawling. Hale holds the mask in his hand and braces for potential retaliation from Drogos. "Sorry boss. You're compromised. Until we can determine otherwise, stay down. Boys! Cover him. Set to stun." The Banshees had been trained for dealing with Jedi, and as much as they aren't supposed to admit it, to deal with rogue Inquisitors. The assertion that he had been compromised seemed rather credible under the circumstances, and he didn't want to take any chances.

,,That was spectacular take down Hale!" Evon admits in his head, but no time for praises now, the situation is quite volatile. He turns to the PQ.

,,Do you have any authoriztion code to prove your status? As you are currently harboring a fugitive force user we have more than enough reason for an execution, so time to show your hand!"

Noira provides the same bona fides that have been given previously by Venlana and Val. “Time to show my hand? Really?” (Looks pointedly at the cauterized terminus of her right arm). “I like you. I’m almost sorry about the eye.”

”The codes are compromised, at this point, but new ones have not been established as yet. My status is likely ‘Missing, Presumed Dead’- such retirement is premature, however. I do not know what the future holds for me now.”

The hunting party on the surface of Saleucami journeys through the night. Hawk has been trained in piloting similarly sized scout walkers, but the controls on this Zalaaca prototype are highly sensitive, causing occasional bursts of erratic movement.

Giving the scout trooper enough space to work out the quirks of his new toy, Q’ri follows on his requisitioned varactyl. The Jawa has ridden astride nearly as many beasts as he has hunted, so this is not his first rodeo.

It is nearly dawn of the next day when their tracking system pings on the target. The walker they hunt appears to be powered down and is not moving.

Drogos gets up without a word, standing up slowly and brushing himself off, he straightened his armor for when he was so rudely knocked over a few things were out of place. Then Still silent he glared straight at Hale, his eyes filled with anger and controlled rage, "Who Commands here!" He says softly, his tone lined with menace as he asked a question, "The Prisoner or the Inquisitor?" He looks at everyone in the room then looks back at Hale expectantly.

"Currently? I do, sir. I hope to return command to you soon, but you were compromised. I had to take action to safeguard the mission, the task force, and the Empire. I'm sure we can sort this all out." He is balancing lightly on the balls of his feet, arms in a defensive position, clearly ready to react if the Inquisitor makes a move towards him or the mask.

"You were given information by a prisoner trying to disrupt an interrogation." He says ever more annoyed that the Stormtrooper did not back down, "An Interrogation is a battle of wits, she blinded the Doctor and she had me tackled by you, Using Pain on the Good Doctor to try and destabilize him, and trying to take my command from me through you." For those who were on the ship with the Lieutenant Governor Velana they could tell he was just as annoyed at Hale as he was with Velana."You have been manipulated Stand Down!"