Hunting the Sith Pretender, The Sith begin their hunt for Aaryn...

[Darth Adder]

Darth Adder's fighter landed on Coruscant without any problems. The legitimate transponder codes and registration were free of any flaws.

The pad they landed on was a private hangar for a security agency. Adder just happened to have the clearance codes and a good rapport with their owner. Yet Adder and Dreckori did not stay long, they had other places to be, so they headed off toward the rendezvous point.

As Dreckori drove the private air speeder to their destination, Adder went over the details. They would meet up with one of Dreckori's men, a tech specialist and slicer. The slicer already had a head start and would provide them with what details he had already discovered. From there Dreckori and Adder would track down the clues with a small back up team at the ready in case of necessity. The rest of the team would be busy at their various tasks.

Finally they'd made it to the spot, a nice little techno cafe on the verge of one of Coruscant's shopping districts.

[Anasor Dreckori]

Anasor knew he would not recognize the contact when they arrived. He was however quite surprised to find a girl staring him straight in the eyes from a booth that matched the description he had receieved. He was certain she had recognised him, if not the Sith Lord that had come with him.

'I suppose it isn't like the faces of Commanders in the Sith Army are kept secret. Though I would not put it past her to have sliced my records.'

He lead the way to the booth and ordered a duplicate of whatever she was having before giving the identity check. From close up, he could see that she was older than he had estimated at first, but still not quite what he expected as a Deep Cover operative.

The girl answered his check, prompting him to his second question, the reason they had come.

"I'm afraid we missed the holoNet news on the way here. Has anything of much interest happened recently?"

"Apart from a Jedi girl murdering somebody in a court case a while back, nothing really."

It wasn't quite the answer he had been hoping for. Apparently they would have a lot of work to do. After a few pleasentries they left the Cafe together to head to the Deep Cover unit's safe house.

[Darth Adder]

Adder gave the woman's looks only a cursory glance, enough to notice that she would be attractive enough to manipulate other males. He noted the narrow vibroblade she kept on her ankle, tucked inside her boot, and concealed by her pants leg. A very small blaster, probably a Verpine back up model, nestled in the back waist band of her pants. Though it was concealed by her gray vest, he was still able to see the tale tell clues.

How many more weapons does she have tucked away? He wondered to himself.

They had already walked three blocks, Adder had remained quiet and aloof, lagging behind exactly three steps. One by one they entered a rugged apartment building. The smooth duracrete walls were engraved with a false stone pattern. Inside was a simple tenet setup. A check-in/maintenance/superintendent office was located next to a turbolift. Inside was a listing for over eighty floors. Obviously the apartment complex only housed a portion of the expansive skyscraper.

On the 38 floor they traveled to the end of a long hallway. The operative entered a numeric code and biometric display, gaining access to the room.

Inside they made themselves comfortable. "The room is clean." She said as she set up her computer. "I've got a pretty detailed history on the target..." she printed out a flimsi and handed it to Adder. "Ex-Mandalorian, recent dark sider and pro-republic extremist. Last contact was a public cam that caught him walking along a public skywalk with a young female."

"Do you have a ID on the female?" Adder handed the flimsi to Dreckori.

"Girl is a Twi'lek, Zeta Cortana, bounty hunter for Gargantua the Hutt. She's also a Force-sensitive."

"The Hutt...I've heard of him, once saw him get his arm cut off." Adder smiled.

The operative merely continued. "Aaryn was on trial and being held in his cell. The girl, Zeta, broke him out and they escaped together. The Jedi and the Republic have formed a joint strike force to track them down but with no luck..." she waved a vid disk in the air, "I've got the only copy of the public cam showing their departure. The authorities don't know the identity of the girl yet, so we're ahead of them."

"Good work." Adder thought about their options.

They could look around some more but to what purpose. Their prey was in transit to Nar Shaddaa. The bounty hunter would want to check in with the Hutt. The longer they waited, the colder the trail would get. Yet might there be some clues, something of value left behind...

"I can't think of any reason to stay. This bounty hunter, Cortana, she will want to check in with her boss, collect her reward. If we go to Nar Shaddaa now, there is a good chance we can catch her, maybe Aaryn will still be with her. If not she would be the next step in the trail to finding him." He stopped to think about the situation.

Was he missing something? Was there something still here to be looked at...

[Darth Skuldren]

A call came over Darth Adder's private long range Sith comlink. As he picked it up, a familiar voice filtered through.

"Lord Adder, I hope all is going well in your search." Darth Skuldren's voice paused for a half second. "Regardless, I called to let you know that there is a special package I want you to pick up on Bothawui if you need it. It should help you in completing the mission."

Another pause. "I won't be in contact for a while, my destination is still uncertain as of the moment. The currents of the Force are still steadying...remember to trust in the Force. Do not let your skills blind you to your powers. Only together do you reach your full potential."

The comm ended.

[Darth Adder]

Adder turned to Commander Dreckori. "Lord Skuldren has informed me that he has a present on Bothawui." He arched an eyebrow. "Since we have no further business here, I say we make a stop on our way to Nar Shaddaa. Bothawui isn't that far off."

[Anasor Dreckori]

"Agreed. Regardless of the details, all that's left to tell of our target is that he is no longer here. I'm ready to go as I am, where shall I send the team?"

[Darth Adder]

"We should keep a few spies on Coruscant, it is a good source for information. But I think it would be wise to keep the combat team with us. One can never know when the hunter will run across its prey." A devilish smile ran across Darth Adder's tattooed face.

"We'll also want to check out the Bothan Spynet while we're there. We might find something interesting."

After giving the team its orders, the two men departed Coruscant, destination Bothawui.

[Thread Closed- Continued on Bothawui]