Harnaidan

*After settling his ship in the berth traffic control designated for him, John spun his chair to face Rutil and crossed his legs in front of him and his arms across his chest.* "So how long a wait should I be expecting?"

*Reaching into his large ready-bag that was on the floor next to his seat, Rutil looked to John before looking out of the bridge's viewport, seeing the city sprawling before him. His left hand pulled a simple black cloak from the bag, which the Jedi pulled over his saffron-colored robes as he stood to get a better view. The hood of the cloak fell awkwardly on one side, no doubt as a result of the Zabrak's broken horn.*

"It shouldn't take too long. If I didn't need to gauge the strength of their infantry, we probably could have done this from the air."

*Rutil shifted his lightsaber closer to his side, pushing it so that it wasn't immediately in view. While proud to be a Jedi Guardian, the old Knight was well aware that sometimes it wasn't in his best interest to draw attention to that fact. On a mission like this, it was important to simply go along as everyone else was. Even on a planet controlled by Dark Jedi warlords, finding a Jedi in a city of millions would not be the easiest of feats.*

*Fortunately, this was the easy part. All Rutil would need to do was size up what was an average soldier. Depending on how well-equipped they were, he could come up with a figure of how much firepower he may need to bring to bear to neutralize the enemy forces while minimizing civilian casualties.

He hated that idea. Minimizing civilian casualties. Not eliminating. Minimizing. No matter how easy or hard it was, conflicts of this nature were bound to have innocent blood spilled in the crossfire.*

*The Knight reached into a pouch on his belt, putting a small earpiece over his right ear. Civilian model. Hands-free communication. No reason to suspect the older Zabrak gentleman beyond the obvious taste in attire.*

"Want to tag along? Doubt I'll need a daring air rescue."

"Rescues are extra." *Not that I wouldn't help out if I happened to be there when things got started. I wanted to stay out of another prison cell as much as the next guy, but anything beyond a cut and run was not on my to do list.* "I think I'll just wait here. I've got some writing to catch up on." *Standing, John strode out of the cockpit and soon found himself in the lounge with a pen and his latest journal.*

"Keep the line open."

*Without another word, Rutil Iorek left the bridge of the ship and departed from it altogether a few moments later, making his way into Harnaidan.*

----------

*After about half an hour of walking, sightseeing, and map reading, Rutil had gauged enough, by his reckoning.

The city's defenses were not at all lackluster. A few small bases here and there, the average soldier had equipment roughly on par with the standard issue equipment of the Yavin troops, and patrols were not run nearly as often, with the few soldiers Rutil did see looking bored. For all their weaponry, this place was not one that was prepared for a coming invasion. Further along that train of thought, the grizzled Zabrak wondered if that would have even been necessary; from what he'd heard of the so-called Dark Jedi Order, they disbanded themselves and scattered by dint of being in the same room together.

If such a group imploded on itself so easily, then whoever was here and looking after the leftovers couldn't possibly be too terribly eager to hang onto it. All Muunilinst would be was a reminder of their failure. A Dark Jedi's ego couldn't handle it. And being the selfish creatures they were, the only reason they would stick around was to maintain some semblance of control over their pithy holdings.*

*Rutil pulled his cloak around him, hit by a sudden gust of wind. Night would soon fall on this side of the planet. Even for a Jedi, hanging around in a strange city at night was far from wise, especially when one's ride was waiting ever so patiently (assuming said ride hadn't just up and left with the precious information). The old Zabrak huffed and made his way back toward the starport.*

*Perhaps it would be best to hold off on the outright invasion and send a diplomat. It'd allow for less wasted life, and would bring the Dark Jedi still running the planet to justice anyway (which would require a lie, but that was a politician's specialty).*

*After roughly an hour of waiting, a man in a black cloak and lopsided hood came strolling towards the Frosty Gundark. The trip had been rather uneventful, with little meaningful information being brought to light. There was a layout, and a general assessment of standardized armament, but nothing about numbers, higher-capability troops, artillery, or anything else of that nature.*

:: Let's roll, John. Nothing else here for us. ::

*Rutil's voice was even more gravelly than usual, and Jedi patience had been eschewed for a gruff comlink message not twenty meters from the rampway. The stone-faced Zabrak seemed dismayed; evidently, he had wanted a far better turnout. Lives could be on the line, and his intel on the city was shoddy at best.

But it was something. And for now, that'd have to do.*

*And that's a wrap.* *Switching the engines out of standby and signaling for the work crew to disconnect the fuel lines, John quickly had the ship ready for liftoff and when the confirmation of a closed ramp came in the ship lifted hastily off the scorched pad and made for orbit.*

*Soldiers from the Harnaidan Emergency Response Taskforce (HERT) patrol the streets of Harnaidan on BARC speeders in groups of three, two taking point and one always covering their back. They were a common sight now, and between their heavy patrolling and the natural law-abiding nature of Muun citizens, the crime rate was close to a record low. The stability of the new government and its dedication to peace, prosperity and security had also lent a confident feeling to the Muun capital that had long been absent. The fact that the galaxy at large seemed more stable now as well, with the unified Jedi Order providing an unprecedented check on Sith dominion, just made life all the sweeter for the now independant planetary government of Muunilinst, crown jewel of the Outer Rim*

*Open doors. *

*Entering the lobby of the IGBC's headquarters, dressed in a dark blue business suit tailored to conceal her shoulder holster and a white blouse, Yemisi does not stop to look around, striding purposefully towards the reception desk and, once she has the attention of the receptionist, says, exchanging her usual terse manner of speaking for a more professionally polite tone for the occasion,* "Good afternoon. My name is Madieke Anenih. I'm a private investigator, *she reaches into the breast pocket of her suit jacket and places her PI license on the desk,* I've been hired by a former employee of the IGBC, Cleite Kallas, to look into some things about her past, *reaching into her jacket again, she places a copy of her contract with Cleite Kallas on the desk beside her license, knowing that the contract does not afford her any legal powers but can sometimes open doors that might otherwise remain closed to her,* As a part of my investigation, I'm trying to locate another former employee of the IGBC, Akulina Pajari, and am hoping that your human resources department might be able to help me. It would also be helpful if I could speak to any of either Miss Pajari's or Miss Kallas's co-workers or supervisors."

Eighteenth Floor

*Remote. Promising.*

*Well traveled enough to know that anything other than the remote and cooly professional reception the Muun gives her is nothing out of the ordinary, Madieke is neither surprised nor offended by it. Somewhat inclined to conducting herself dispassionately, Madieke actually finds the tone a welcome one since it means that she will more likely than not be able to handle things with a minimum of the false conviviality that many cultures prefer.*

*Nodding when the receptionist instructs her to take the elevator up to meet with someone, Madieke finds the opening with Bagala somewhat promising as it seems to indicate a willingness to at least entertain her questions, which is more than the Muun is legally required to do given her status as a PI. Once in Bagala's office, Madieke takes the seat he offers and, setting her datapad on her knee to take notes, she looks across the desk at him as she says,* "As I trust your receptionist has informed you, I've been hired by your former employee, Cleite Kallas, to look into certain matters for her. I'm here primarily to see if you will be able to provide me with any addresses she had at the time of her employment with the IGBC as well as any that you may have for an Akulina Pajari, who also worked for the IGBC. It's my understanding that Miss Kallas was her personal assistant. It would also be helpful if you would be willing to share any of your impressions of the relationship between Miss Kallas and Pajari, or with you or any of her co-workers at the time."

*The key. Not listed. Liquidated. Dead end.*

*Nothing that Bagala is able to tell her is news to Madieke. Having learned of the relationship between Kallas and Pajari from the CSF investigation, hearing that it continued is not particularly surprising given that Kallas had been employed first as her personal assistant at IGBC and then in her own firm. The two were, by all accounts provided by those interviewed after Kallas's disappearance on Coruscant, self-contained and intensely private even back then. The CSF investigators found no indication that Kallas's parents disapproved of the relationship, ruling that out as a motive for her to disappear of her own accord either, meaning that Madieke is no closer to solving that particular mystery. It is sounding, as her own investigation progresses, more and more like Pajari is the key to unlocking the mystery of why Kallas disappeared and never contacted her family. The CSF investigators's report stated that Pajari seemed genuinely distraught, but the fact she and Kallas were reunited on Muunilinst and still never contacted Kallas's family seems off to Madieke. Kallas was a talented and determined ballet student, why give it up to become a personal assistant?*

*Shaking her head and returning her datapad to the pocket of her suit jacket, Madieke pauses to think of any other questions the Muun might be able to answer and then says,* "No. You've been very helpful Mr. Bagala, thank you." *After leaving the IGBC headquarters, Madieke heads for a ferry that can take her to Mariunhus to see if Pajari still resides at the address she shared with Kallas while they were both employed at the IGBC.* *While on the ferry Madieke, the possibility that Pajari may have been killed in the recent conflict occurring to her based on what Bagala said about the island being heavily damaged in the attacks, uses her datapad to find a list of the citizens of Muunilinst that died in the conflict and learns that Pajari is not listed among them. Performing a property title search reveals that she is wasting her time going to the island since the home on the property had been destroyed in the conflict. The search does, however, reveal that Pajari was listed as the sole title holder. A search for Pajari in the directory of current residents of Mariunhus or Harnaidan turns up zilch, leaving Madieke with no idea how to go about locating the Umbaran.

On the ferry ride back to Harnaidan, Madieke calls in a favor from one of her contacts in the Sector Rangers to see if they can locate any financial records for Pajari and, if so, provide her with any recent activity that could lead her to the Umbaran. Interestingly enough, Pajari had liquidated her assets several months ago, during the conflict on Muunilinst, but had never redeposited them elsewhere, at least insofar as her contact could determine. With a little more digging, Madieke's contact learns that Kallas, while employed with the IGBC, had a joint account with Pajari that her paychecks were deposited into, that account having been transferred to Pajari's own after they left the company, suggesting to Madieke that Pajari controlled the couple's finances but not explaining why, if she were planning to leave Muunilinst after liquidating all of her assets, she would have left Kallas behind when she had the accident that left her with amnesia. A search for Pajari in any other records on Muunilinst proves equally fruitless, suggesting that she has left the planet. Calling in another favor, Madieke contacts an old friend in BoSS to see if Pajari or Kallas owned any ships and learning that Pajari did, but that the ship had not shown up anywhere after it's most recently filed flight plan for a return trip to Muunilinst.

Having exhausted the investigative possibilities on Muunilinst, Madieke returns to the Skyhook to take it back to High Port, determining that the Umbaran is a dead end unless she can pick up her trail and that her best hope of completing the job she has been hired to do lays now on Coruscant, in her client's past.*