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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dr Midnight" data-source="post: 1644293" data-attributes="member: 69">“I knew something was wrong,” Magnus said to himself. When Mikau didn’t reply, he added “I never trusted him. I felt the Force in him, and I sensed deeper motives.”“We must not be too hasty,” Mikau said. “He’s come clean with us. I believe he’s told us everything there is to know.”“Oh? Then who’s this ‘man in black’?”Mikau’s head bobbed slowly as he thought. “I don’t know, but I believe that Jaren doesn’t know either. He feels like his 'mission' is soured, and he says he's come to value Pock. Otherwise he might not have strayed from the path he agreed to.” “There’s something bigger going on here than we know. What’s upsetting me the most is that whoever this ‘man in black’ is, he’s got Republic connections. Connections high enough in the chain to get a Separatist agent assigned on a priority mission.”“We were never a priority.” The two stood in the small tool lock at the rear of the crewman’s deck aboard the Pheleeni ship. Here, they felt isolated enough from the others- but Pock was just outside. Magnus could sense him there. He wanted Pock close, if not in earshot. If Creel were brazen enough to take the boy now, Magnus would sense it before the scoundrel could make a move… yet Pock couldn’t overhear the discussion of Jaren’s confessed nature as a double agent.Jaren had told Yash’s guards that Boba Fett would be worth several thousand credits on Coruscant, and had promised them a seventy-five percent share if they helped get him- alive- to the Council. “The logic being,” Jaren said, “that Boba Fett was at the first battle of the war, at Geonosis. He was on the Separatists’ side, and he probably saw a lot of things at his ‘dad’s’ side that the Jedi would be very interested in.” Neither Jedi could refute that yes, Fett was probably worth something to the Council. A mind-probe might turn up valuable information that could end the war. Magnus sighed. “What do we do now? We can’t leave Creel in charge of the ship. We’re going to Manaan on some insane courier mission for a crime lord. That barada on the lower deck said we’re delivering ‘some biological weapon’ to an ‘Ekra Tev’. I most definitely will not be responsible for bringing large-scale death to Manaan. I want to honor our bargain with Yet Yash, but not until I’m sure we’re doing the right thing.”“Agreed,” Mikau said. “I know Ekra Tev. He’s a Selkath. I sat with him on a provincial council of aquatic worlds. He’s something of a radical, with ideas and opinions that few others could agree with. Tev despised the Republic as an ‘archaic fossil of beaurocratic fatcats,’ if I remember correctly. He eventually left the council to form his own group.” He looked to Magnus and added “It would hold that he’s fallen in line with the Separatists by now.”“I’ve heard enough,” Magnus said. He walked from the room and found Pock meditating on the floor. The padawan quickly snapped awake and followed them back up to the cockpit. “Creel”, Magnus said coldly. “We’re going to have this parcel of Yash’s investigated. What’s the nearest Republic-friendly world with a  decent hazardous materials team?”Jaren punched some buttons and waited a moment for the answer. “Ithor is about an hour away, but it’s off-course.”“Make it on-course. We’re not delivering this box until we know what’s inside it.”Jaren sighed. “That would be twice today I’d have broken a deal. I’d never broken a deal before coming along with you people.”“You have my sympathies,” Magnus said. “Do it.”Jaren plotted a new course for Ithor. He thumbed a red button and announced “Ithor control, this is… uh… the Pheleeni Rain, Republic transport. We’ve got a situation and we have need of a hazmat team. We’ll be reaching Ithor’s orbit in about fifty-five standard minutes.”A warbling, deep voice came back, speaking Basic in a thick Ithorian accent. “Pheleeni Rain, this is Ithor control. That’s a negative on coming into orbit. If you want a hazmat team we’ll dispatch one to you in space. What seems to be the problem?”“We’ve got a box up here. Quite possibly something dangerous. A ‘biological weapon’, we’re told.”Mikau and Magnus had very carefully opened the crate and were looking down on four metal canisters set in molded packing foam. Mikau picked up a datapad lying there and read it. “The material is known as ‘Nessaecide’, if this is to be trusted. It also says that this is the fifth delivery to Manaan on this docklist. Can they have four other containers of this material already?”When the ship reached the space just outside Ithor’s orbit, a craft was waiting for them. They docked together and three bright yellow-bodysuited Ithorians stepped aboard. “Greetings,” one said. “Please direct us to the items in question.”They were led to the crate, and after about five minutes of testing, the Ithorians pulled off their yellow headpieces. “This is Nessaecide,” their leader said crossly.Pock asked “What’s that?”“It’s not a biological weapon. It’s the antiparasite solution that kills Nessae.” Seeing the next question coming, he went on. ”Nessae are a waterborne organism that multiply quickly and devour all kinds of metal, reducing its to its base components. Nessae, likewise, is not a biological weapon.”Mikau turned to Magnus. “It would be on Manaan, where an entire world of aquatic creatures has built a civilization out of metals from the ocean floor to the surface.” “You’re quite right.” He thanked the Ithorians, who returned to their ship. “It looks like your friend Ekra Tev has ordered Nessae, and this box is merely the means to kill them if Manaan’s government agrees to his demands.”Mikau blinked. “You think Tev is plotting some form of terrorism?”“You don’t?”“I suppose you’re right. The Selkath have evolved for millennia with technology. Taking all of their constructs from them and plunging them back into the sea will likely leave them unequipped to deal with predators as they were long ago.” His head bowed sadly. Magnus sat in the copilot’s seat and thought. “I can’t justify going on now. We should get the Nessaecide to Manaan, but… I need guidance. We should go back to Coruscant and discuss this with the Council. Besides, I need to get Pock home. That was the original mission. We’ve been sidetracked long enough.”Mikau said “What about the men belowdeck?”Magnus replied “Their mission is on Coruscant with Jaren, delivering Boba Fett to the Council. They’ll be happy to go.” He looked at Jaren. “As an added bonus, we can see what the Jedi Council wants done with you. Plot a course for Coruscant.”Jaren Creel grumbled indignantly and pushed a number of buttons on the astrogate console. The ship turned in space, adjusted its angle, and shot forward into hyperspace.More to come… </blockquote>

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