Cause and effect: The Grand Inquisitor (Imperials, those involved)

[Lady Kota]

Tann could see his escort and did understand his frustration. "Your frustration will be fixed, I promise that is if you can help." Tann said, he noticed Neive behind Doren. He was certain that they could also see the cloaked figure by him. This was Xavius, the only other Shadow master in the galaxy, also Lady Kota's love and Nyria's father. Neither of the last two was known to anyone outside the Kash. "Situations have become complicated which is why we are here. I need the Kash to figure out something, but I know you will not simply hand it over to me. So I offer a trade, information and not just any information. I believe we have a lead on your missing Grand Inquisitor." Tann said. He wasn't sure how Doren was going to take that. "As for the ordeal..... it's best that I keep the ysalamiri." He said he wasn't going to reveal something that wasn't on the table for discussion.

Nyria remained hidden under her father's cloak as per uncle Tann's request, but she didn't quite understand why she had to hide from these people. However her size and the eyes of her father allowed her to hide easily. 'Who are these people?' She thought.

[Xavius Bain]

Still.

The snake-like stillness of the Shadow Lord would have made him harder to see, but his unsettling presence alone seemed to suck the oxygen out of the room they stood in. The Ysalimiri presence was an annoyance, but Xavius Bain was far from powerless.

Imperials.

The Shadow Lord had no love for them. In fact, he was initially created because of them. They had commissioned an experimental project to combat force users, and Xavius Bain was a result of that project. Of course, most involved were already killed by their creation, and though he hasn’t been entirely successful in wiping it out, there were few left with the memory of it. A strong look into imperial records would be sure to come up with information about the project, but the imperials also liked to cover up their failures. Xavius Bain was one hell of a failure for them.

Black eyes locked onto the man standing next to the Captain. He was familiar. Dromund Kaas. Possibly during Xavius's battle with Tormentous as well... Xavius didn’t know much about him, but he definitely recognized the individual. The Shadow Lord’s fingers traced the hilt of his lightsaber, and he could feel the weight of his whip on his back. He had no plan to interrupt Tann’s objective, but he would protect the girl. Tann wouldn’t have called on Xavius if he didn’t need him, and Xavius Bain would see this through. However, the girl was Xavius Bain’s priority, and the only one that Xavius Bain trusted, was Xavius himself.

The onyx eyes flickered for a moment, flames appearing for no longer than a blink. She clutched his leg, a false sense of security flowing through the naive child. She had no idea what Xavius really was. No idea what he was capable of, what he’d done. How incapable he was of being the father she saw him as on the rare occasion they shared the same room. The longer he spent from Kota, the less human the Lord of the Shadows became; and the longer the child spent with Xavius… what would become of her?

For now, only stillness.

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis watched as the captain turned heel and stepped away, briskly matching his pace at the nod as he walked with his superior to meet this begrudged informant, if he was correctly assessing this situation.

Staying silent, he observed the individuals in front of him, his senses hazed by the nearby creature. With this, he relied on his vision and looked over the man that Captain Vassyl spoke with, while examining the area around them. The man in the shadows was his main concern, Prazutis moving subtly to captain Vassyl’s left side, placing himself between the captain and the dark individual.

If this man attacked, or the one in front attacked, his right hand would push the captain back through the airlock while Prazutis stood his ground, getting Vassyl out of harm’s way immediately. Although he didn’t have the force’s abilities on his side for the moment, his armor was still physically able, and his skills with a lightsaber were still decent.

[Professor Mors]

Doren raised a skeptical, but not unwilling eyebrow. Indeed, Tann likely held the answers to the dreadnaught debacle, and he was clearly motivated to rediscover their mutual acquaintance as much as the Captain was. His manners and negotiating skills were in dire need of polishing, but Vassyl was capable of overlooking this messy start if it meant getting closure on matters. “You will join us aboard the Dominator”, Vassyl announced, turning about to lead the procession back into his shuttle, “And have your transport fall in line with our escort. We will journey to the Kash together. I will personally supervise your investigation, and provide whatever equipment and your staff require- if that is agreeable”. The Captain concluded rhetorically, not waiting up for the Chiss’ consent as he filed back through the airlock.

[Lady Kota]

Tann didn't like that at all, but he couldn't get a chance to object. He turned to Xavius and carefully handed him the ysalamiri. "Don't let it out of your hands, for all our sales." He whispered to Xavius. His eyes were on her as he said that, he knew that Xavius was skilled, but he wasn't Kota skilled. If Nyria went off again, their survival chances were less than before.
Nyria wanted to stop him, but she was supposed to stay hidden behind her father. She knew Uncle Tann didn't want her to accidentally melt the ship again. Still she watched from the shadow.

Later at the Kash....

When they made it to the Kash, he could see how heavily it was guarded, but it didn't matter to him. He was sure Kota would figure out how to get it back. Tann didn't need anything from the Empire as far as staff or equipment, it seemed like they had done a great deal of repairs. As Doren, Neive and him landed with who ever Doren wanted, as well as Xavius and secretly Nyria. Tann headed to the console, he pushed a few buttons to get the database. He pulled up a specific file on screen, an image of Darth Fett appeared and all known info that the Kash had.

"This is Darth Fett, once dark lord of the Sith, one of the few people to beat Lady Kota in combat one on one. His werabouts are unknown as he disappeared quite some time ago. Though I am not sure the circumstances we believe he is involved with the Grand Inquisitor's disappearance. The place is unknown, all we have is a brief phrase, the wurm in the darkness." Tann explained.

[Xavius Bain]

Though it wasn’t apparent to the eye, underneath his stoic mask, the shadow lord winced when he held the ysalamiri. For a moment, he flashed back to his training with Lady Death. She had covered a room with the creatures, and then attacked Xavius Bain at full force. Even before his mastery in the force, he had been a skilled warrior without its aid. Lady Death had molded him into one of the most powerful Shadows in existence, but it was really her groundwork that provided Xavius a path to mastery. While his journey was far from complete, and his skills were still evolving, there were few at his level with a blade. Even with the force hindering creatures, the Shadow Lord was far from immobilized.

But it wasn’t for him.

Was it to keep the girl hidden? Making it harder to be sensed? Or was it to protect everyone else from her? It was possible that Lady Kota has spawned someone similar to the last child the two cared for. Then lost. The Ysalamiri was inhibiting her potential in that case, but now was not the time. Perhaps Xavius would need to spend more time with the child. Perhaps this could be the one apprentice that would fail him. Or die.

Fett’s image appeared, but Xavius Bain was still focused on the men in front of him. He wasn’t sure Tann knew what he was doing, but since Kota always trusted him, he decided to go along with his plan. Whatever that may be. If it came down to it though, if things went south, Xaviu Bain would have a clear moral conscience if he needed to cut down imperials today.

If he still had any conscience at all...

[Neive Undant]

Prazutis made sure to keep an eye on each figure around him equally until the encounter had concluded, and Prazutis followed close behind the captain as he made way for his own vessel once more.

Aboard their ship, Prazutis could feel his connection to the force return as he escaped the Ysalamiri’s effects. It was a rush of power throughout the normally hollow insides of his armor, his spirit feeding again on the power that gave him his strength.

Listening to the conversation with the captain and the Chiss, Prazutis thought about the Grand Inquisitor, the possibility of finding her... perhaps through the force, he would find a path to her along with the men before him. Of course, if he were to pick up on such a presence, although unfamiliar, he would surely inform the Captain. But as they made their way to Kash, Prazutis could only meditate on the thought... the Grand Inquisitor returning to service in the Empire... with Prazutis’ aspirations, perhaps it wasn’t for the best. But it was not his own will that he wished to carry out, it was the Empire’s. If they wanted to find the Grand Inquisitor...

Prazutis would make it a priority.

[Professor Mors]

Sith Lords and riddles: two of Doren’s least favorite things. The visage of this Fett individual did little to move the Captain to fear. Indeed, in terms of ghastly death masques, he was no Tormentous. Still, if Tann’s words were to be held at face value, the fact that this individual defeated Kota in single combat was not to be taken lightly. “My knowledge of ‘wurms’ is limited at best”, Doren conceded dryly to the point of muted sarcasm, “Still, there are many experts in xenobiology at our disposal”. Assuming that this was indeed a creature of some natural origin, and not an aberration. There was a chance that Sith alchemy could explain whatever this entity was- or even what it might stand for insofar as a metaphor was concerned.

Vassyl had been down that research path before, and he knew what a headache it was. Thankfully, there were several figures of authority on the subject at the Captains’ beck and call. While Prazutis was a handy addition, Doren considered the necessity of multiple minds for the task at hand. “Contact the Reverent and instruct Lieutenant Torbough to hail the citadel on Prakith”, Vassyl turned to one of his aides and announced loudly, “I want every available High Inquisitor summoned for a holocall- which is to be rerouted to the projector unit here on the Kash”. At the very least, perhaps the phrase would mean something to Mister Caesar once he was brought up to speed. If nothing else, the dialogue ought to provoke some sort of insight or lead.

[Lady Kota]

'This is going to take to long.' Tann thought. He had an idea, a risky one. He walked over to Xavius and knelt before him. His head looked up at Xavius, but his eyes were focused on Nyria. "Do you think you can identify the worm, if you saw it?" He whispered to her, it would be loud enough for Xavius and her to hear but no one else.


Nyria still didn't quite understand why she was hiding behind her father, but uncle Tann whispered. "Do you think you can identify the worm, if you saw it?" He said. She eyed her father, then eyed Uncle Tann. She didn't know if she should say anything, so she touched Tann's hand discreet to let him know she would try.

He smiled and waited for her to be hidden again before standing up. "I might have a faster way than all that, however only you, him, the ysalamiri and me will be invited to attempt this. This attempt is high risk with little promise of reward. After that we can do it your way." Tann said.

[Xavius Bain]

Black eyes ferociously glared into the Chiss. If it were his job to protect the child, Tann's potential stunt would make that far more difficult. If Tann used Xavius and Kota's daughter to expedite their goal, her existence would come into fruition. As far as he was concerned, Xavius Bain was in enemy territory. His history with the Imperials had mostly been wiped out, but any savvy investigator could locate the records of the Capasite project and find that at one point, Xavius Bain was a valuable member of their wanted list. Imperials were careful to cover up their failures, and to call Xavius Bain's existence a failure would be a gross understatement. Paired with the value of a child born from the DNA of two of the most powerful Shadows in existence…

No. Xavius did not like this plan. But he was only here because of Tann to begin with, and he needed to find Kota. While it often baffled the Shadow Lord, she trusted Tann’s judgment . Perhaps more than she trusted Xavius, despite their romantic involvement. At least that held some value.

Nyria would do whatever Tann asked of her. While she knew that Xavius was her father, it was no secret that Tann was the one who raised her along with Kota, far more than the often estranged Shadow Lord. Of course she would try. She could succeed. But the child was likely unstable, and imperial didn't like unstable. Nyria would need to remain hidden.

Xavius listened to the Chiss's pitch to the men. If they held some form of trust based on a previous relationship or mutual goal, there was no reason to disagree. He offered a faster way to the goal with minimal terms. However, if there was no previous relationship or trust, who knows what they would think. The Shadow Lord began to take inventory of the two men in front of him. While it was hard to get a read on the two between the Ysalamiri and keeping Nyria hidden, he was a detailed observer. Inventory of the facial expressions, muscle twitches, body stance, and any other relevant details could give more insight to how this was going to go.

For now, he continued his stoic silence. For a brief, unnoticeable moment, he let his daughter know that he would protect her with a brief nudge of her shoulder. Signs of affection were rare for the Shadow lord, but this was calculated. He would complete his duty. The girl would be protected.