[Statement: I performed more than optimally. Statistical comparison: You two performed acceptably.] HK said proudly as he got out of the airspeeder.
"Sure, sure you did, HK…" Vila groaned, rubbing her shoulders, kicking off her shoes, moaning, and stretching her toes on the cold steel floor, unbothered by it.
"Please," I sighed, "just… just keep watch. We may be back at home base, but..."
[Affirmation: I am always watching. We weren't followed, and on the way back, I copied and transferred the skips' digital footprints we passed, including their identifications, and falsified them with ours. Conclusion: They won't find us because there are twenty identical scans of our vehicle cruising the city, while ours have been scrambled to be unrecognizable.]
"Great," Vila muttered, "but the moment someone says something that confidently, it usually still happens and turns out to be not enough..."
Before I could say anything else, the elevator doors on the far end of the hangar slid open, and Lando stepped out, of course, his cape swishing behind him like he had rehearsed it. There wasn't even a draft in here... so... Um? How? Haah... no matter, it may be something innate, just like his unusual charm, as the man already had a drink in his hand. I didn't know if he fetched it on the way down or kept a minibar in every elevator in his casino.
"What did you two do?" he asked immediately, though he didn't sound angry. He was... more like… impressed. Nostalgic even... weird. "I barely got the news, and already word's flying through the open and under-net that someone robbed the Concordia Exchange." He wiggled his eyebrows, looking between us three, "Wasn't the money enough or what? Did they swindle you?"
"Uh…" Vila and I exchanged a glance. "Kind of."
"Mhm, I see." He sipped his drink, watching me nod, "Fortunately for you, they haven't gone public. I mean, they hadn't gone to the authorities."
"If there is news that they were robbed, why... not?" Vila asked, feeling lost for a moment.
"Well," Lando chuckled, "The local authority here only meddles with corporations and their dealings when invited to do so. Without a call for help... they let these things play out. That auction house operates halfway in the shadows anyway, so they can't exactly complain to the police without revealing their little… extracurricular activities. Which then would mean the locals would put their grabby little paws on their hoard... So lucky for you two, this stays quiet. For now..."
"This is indeed like Nar Shadda... just cleaner looking," I exhaled, tension leaving my body.
"Told you," He smiled at us, "It is. Anyway, we should have you two stay out of sight for a while. Maybe a week or so... Just to be sure!"
"House arrest?" Vila grimaced, "Great... I love being bored."
"You kidding?" He waved his hand at her, "This is Cantonica! You won't be bored in here at all, not in my casino!" With that, he motioned for us to follow, turning back toward the turbolift. "Now come upstairs. Tell me everything, because something tells me you didn't just steal a fancy candlestick..."
"We didn't," I nodded as we followed him back into his suite. The moment the doors shut behind us, Lando walked to his desk, sitting down, with drinks already prepared for us.
"So? What happened down there?"
"They had something very dangerous," I said to him, picking it out, but never letting it go, showing the lightsaber to Lando, my fingers curled around the Sith weapon's shaft, fully ready for anything. With my guidance, the Force wrapped around the hilt, caging it like a net of Light Side energy as I clamped down hard, not letting it escape. Still... The moment it was out, the room still dimmed a little, and I felt it, the Dark Side trying to influence everybody, but I didn't let it reach Lando.
However, it looked like he felt something, though, because his smile dropped and he stepped back while his new drink stopped halfway to his mouth.
"…Damn," he whispered, "what in the seven hells is that? I mean, I know it's a lightsaber, but it makes the hair stand on my back. I held Luke's once or twice, but double damn..."
"Yes, it does," I answered quietly, keeping the pressure steady around the aura, tightening my net around it whenever it pushed back against my prison. "I can't tell how old it is or whose it was, but it turned regular people into raging idiots. It has a weird influence..."
"It does?" Lando stared at the hilt like it might come alive and bite him. "And you brought that…" he gestured wildly at me, "…in here?"
"Kael is good at this," Vila said, leaning back in her chair, putting his naked feet up on the table, "If not, you would already be feeling it. He has it contained, and we can store it in HK's chest; it won't affect or corrupt anybody."
"…Stars above!" Lando rubbed his forehead with his free hand, pacing a little, back and forth. "Do we think this has something to do with where your two friends disappeared to?"
"Most likely," I said, looking at Vila, "We don't know, but there is a high chance they were following the clues towards this thing, but..."
"So we don't know..." He shrugged.
"We don't know yet." I corrected him, "But we now have a clue where to look, and next, we need to gain access to their ship. I really hoped they would show up at the auction or something, but I haven't felt them at all. And, honestly speaking, I don't think the Exchange would have been able to keep them down, nor would Iowi fall to the influence of this thing, not with how he is..."
"I have been working on that," he added, opening a drawer and rummaging in it, "I forged two access cards for you, so... You can slip in, we just need to bribe some of the security inside and we are good to go."
He moved closer, cautiously, eyeing the saber, not getting close enough to touch it as he handed me the cards and then hurriedly stepped back, behind his desk.
"Thank you," I said, taking the cards and looking back towards Lando, holding back a smile. "I need you to open a channel to Yavin 4."
"Already calling in the cavalry?" He shrugged, "Is it that bad? Please don't make me relocate to another planet... do you know how many times I had to start over? I like Luke, I like you, Jedi, but I dislike the storms you guys create..."
"Lando," I said quietly, meeting his eyes, "I need to speak to the Council. Right now. This isn't something we can sit on! Someone's been looting, probably Korriban… and selling Sith artifacts in the open! Artifacts that are also capable of causing such chaos!"
"Korriban… huh?" he murmured, shaking his head. "I thought that dustball was locked down forever. Tsk..."
"Apparently not." Vila snorted, refilling her drink in the meantime.
In the end, he set his fear aside, moved to his console, and keyed in an encrypted frequency only he and the Order should know about, opening a direct channel to Yavin 4.
"I'll get you through," he said, "But you two had better make it quick; I don't want this frequency to be discovered or tapped."
"Discovered?" I asked by reflex.
"Because whatever this is… It's big." He nodded, "And I always suspect others spying on me, so... that's that."
It was just then that the holo-transmitter began to glow and Lando's table whirred, while a faint blue glow spread across the middle of it. The encryption wheels spun and clicked one by one inside, layer after layer peeling away, and when the code sequence completed, a shimmering holo flared up, revealing Master Katarn's face.
"You two look like you've been dragged through a swoop track backwards," he said, looking at us. "What happened?"
"A lot," Vila pressed her hands to the table and leaned toward the holo. "Master, we found something. Or rather… we bought something. Well, we bought it, then we stole it... Err... complicated!"
"Okay, okay," Master Katarn blinked slowly, raising his hands, "One thing at a time, please."
"Master…" Vila glanced toward me, then I gave her a slight nod to continue, "We have a Sith artifact. A lightsaber..."
"Show me," he said, his voice serious, and when I did so, he just looked at it while I was letting it rotate above my palm before stashing it back into HK's chest. "Blast it…" he murmured, "That is a Korriban design... At least a few thousand years old!"
"It corrupted everyone in the auction house's vault," I explained. "And I mean people who aren't Jedi. Non-sensitives went mad and attacked us, as simply the saber's presence had affected the staff working around it. I don't know how fast its corruption is, or how permanent, but it's bad... really bad."
"They tried to kill us," Vila explained, making sure the seriousness of the situation was as clear as day.
"And how did you two handle this situation?" He asked.
"Of course," Vila grinned, "Efficiently. Nobody died."
"Master Katarn…" I added, "Let's just say the vault is intact, the people are alive, and the item is secured. We did... blew up some speeders as we left and they were shooting at us, though..."
"I'm pulling Jaina in," he shrugged, shaking his head, fingers already moving off-screen. "This is too big for me alone."
The moment he did so, the holo flickered, and a second image shimmered into existence beside him as Master Jaina Solo's face appeared, as she looked at us, listening to the quick explanation, furrowing her brows. Apparently, she was not at Yavin, because I could tell she was sitting in a starship's pilot's chair.
"That," she said calmly in the end, "should not exist."
"Yet it does," Vila muttered.
"If," Kyle cut in quickly, "They are right, it also means that Korriban might have been breached."
"The only ones who have its coordinate, other than us, are the Revani Order, which Ben is trying to locate... Again." She said as Master Jaina's posture changed instantly, becoming straight and battle-ready. So... that is where my Master went, huh? Looking for Vestara... Also, if they know where Korriban is, it is as good as everyone could know... Ugh. What a great open secret! "Kyle," she continued, "you need to go. Bring that relic back here."
"I was already thinking of doing that."
"Go now." She said again, "We can't spare time to dally. As for Korriban, I will head there myself." She turned her gaze on me and Vila, "Kael. Vila. Neither of you carries that weapon any longer than necessary; you simply hand it over to Master Katarn the moment he arrives. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Master," I said immediately, slightly bowing my head.
"You two did well." She continued, suddenly smiling a little, "Better than expected. But this is beyond your mission's scope now... Keep on looking for Iowi and Jalo, leave the saber and the issue with Korriban to us."
"Um," Lando coughed behind us, "Should I leave the room?" he asked, feeling he was hearing more than he should, "I feel like the old man in the corner."
"You're old indeed, Uncle Lando," Jaina chuckled, surprising all of us, how indirect she suddenly was, "But you've always been discreet, and you have already listened to more than half of the discourse."
"Because you let me do so," He smiled, shaking his head, "Good to see you be such a great leader..."
"Kyle," Master Jaina continued after a brief pause, still smiling at Lando before returning instantly to business the moment her eyes moved from him, back to us, "Go immediately. Take a secure container and then bring the hilt straight to the Academy. I'll assemble the Council for its arrival and alert Luke about this."
"Yes, Kyle nodded curtly. "On my way. Vila? Kael? Stay put! Both of you keep each other in balance until I'm there. We'll speak again soon. May the Force be with you!"
Then, just like that, the connection was cut and silence settled over the suite, broken when Lando exhaled, running a hand down his face.
"Well," he muttered, "that went about as smoothly as telling the government you found a rancor in your bathtub. But, they should be able to deal with it!"
"Oh, Master will!" Vila leaned against me, grinning, "He has the experience."
"Yeah," I nodded, feeling myself getting tired, "And while they deal with that part, we can continue looking for Iowi and Jalo. Let's rest..." I stretched, ready to stand up, "Then, after cleaning our heads... we can go check their ship."