> Cleanup efforts are underway in the aftermath of the violent rioting in Pratikaya that caused millions in property damage and left thousands dead or injured. Clan Nimor's spokeswoman, Saraya Kuniripal, said that security services, reinforced by the Royal Defense Force, have restored order to the city and its surrounding precincts. Clan officials have declared a state of emergency, including a dusk-to-dawn curfew, until further notice. The Royal Medical Service reported that they are on the ground with three field hospitals, and triage teams are spreading through the city to provide immediate treatment for citizens and denizens who may not have reported to one of the designated emergency medical intake centers.

>

> Investigation into the cause of the disturbances continues, with prefectural and royal authorities promising swift action to discover those responsible and bring them to account. Asked to comment on early reports of Asantu-sar insurgent activity in the weeks leading up to the unrest, officials declined. Leaders of the Tavit-wey suffrage movement issued vociferous denials, stating that 'violence is the prerogative of the State, not powerless denizens seeking a better life.' and that they pursue their goals of societal change only through 'non-violent means'.

- Zirash Ganev

Temal Dihrai News Service

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41:03:32 GrS

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Feeling the kind of deep depression that had paralyzed her in the days following her family's deaths, Lyra drifted toward wakefulness. Above her head she could just glimpse a slice of Inusagi's azure orb through the armored viewport in the captain's cabin. Taz was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he couldn't sleep.

She thought her sadness would keep her awake too, but her physical and emotional exhaustion had been so complete when they came aboard the previous evening. She recalled burrowing under the covers, sobbing until she fell asleep in Taz's arms, and dreams that drowned her in oceans of loss and despair.

She yawned with a long stretch, still lethargic. Her brain felt dull, like it had all those years ago. "Can't I just stay in bed? The galaxy can get on without me for one day." She hugged her knees to her chest, rocking back and forth and feeling very alone.

Years ago she could do nothing, but now she didn't have that luxury, as much as she might crave it. "Move it, Nimor." Her limbs were heavy but she dragged herself off the bed and headed into the 'fresher, letting the shower wake her up.

Lyra dried herself under the warm air blowers. Then she dressed, flexing her torso to test her range of motion. Some stiffness remained, but the pain was gone. Despite Taz's uncertainty about his ability to control the Force in the wake of his subjugation, her injury was entirely healed.

"If he'd been there for Uncle Shin..." Lyra trembled, remembering the horrible injury that had taken his life, assaulted anew by awful guilt from the certainty that his death fell upon her. She put her hand over her heart, wishing that Taz could heal the hurt there, too. Sniffing deeply in a fruitless attempt to banish the oppressing thoughts, she shrugged into her clothes. Despite wanting to curl up into a ball and hide away, Lyra forced herself to stand tall and walked out of the cabin.

Sera sat on the exam bed in the medbay, Reiko clutching her hand on one side and Taz standing at the other. Lyra saw the strain on the commando's face, and the concentration on Taz's. His cupped hand hovered at the side of her head where that animal Rawl had cut away her ear. A dull glow escaped from beneath his fingers. Ariel floated this way and that, peering intently at the procedure as if she might learn something. The scene made the corner of Lyra's mouth twitch despite her dour temperament.

Taz opened his eyes as his hand dropped. He and Sera uttered strained sighs at nearly the same time.

Sera waved her over. "Morning, Nimor."

"Morning yourself."

Reiko held a mirror while Sera turned her head, smiling at the look of her restored ear. "It's amazing, Doc. Thanks."

"Ariel will run an auditory test just to be sure everything's working as it should."

"Of course, Master Taz!" answered the IM-8 droid, sounding eager to be useful after the near-mystical procedure she'd just observed.

He walked over to Lyra and took her hands, looking soft-hearted. "How are you?"

He knows today will be a hard one. She gave him a wan smile. "I'm alright."

"Sure," he answered, sounding concerned and unconvinced. He tilted his head toward the table. "Sit. Khaff? Tea?"

"Tea." She took a seat while he shuffled behind the galley counter. He brought a mug and carafe of the floral, spicy red lantis tea, then returned a minute later with a plate of scrambled eggs and solanroot hash.

Lyra waved her fork at them. "What about you?"

"We've eaten," said Rei, though she dispensed a cup of khaff from the autochef.

Tetris emerged from the engine room, whistling a greeting while he rolled over to Lyra.

"Good morning, Tetris. Have you been working hard to help Reiko?"

The engineer laughed. "He's been a great help, haven't you, Tetris?"

The droid chirped a bright affirmative.

"I never thanked you for looking after the Chimera and flying her to the Korvis." Lyra patted the droid's head, drawing a happy trill from him.

"Wait, you let him pilot my ship?" Taz quipped.

Tetris's reply was heavy on buzzes and low, staccato tones. At the table, Reiko put a hand to her mouth and giggled wildly.

"What'd he say?"

"That he's definitely a better pilot than you'll ever be." Then she giggled again.

"Nice," Taz groused. "Go make yourself useful and clean out the radiation traps, you rolling wastebasket," he grumbled.

Tetris's answer was an emphatic "Pfffft!"

Lyra made soothing noises at the astromech. "I'm afraid I did some damage when I ran that forced docking maneuver with the Ammon Night."

Reiko waved her mug. "Some buckled hull plates, plus moderate damage to the docking ring and one of the secondary drives. It could have been worse. I'll call the spaceport and arrange repairs."

Kallista came down from the cockpit and greeted them. "Message from the Korvis, Mistress Lyra. They've requested your presence for a debrief. Shall I send a response?"

"We don't have to do it today," Taz suggested.

"It's fine. I'm fine, really." She appreciated their concern, but she didn't need them walking on eggshells around her. "Thanks, Kalli. Please tell the Korvis we'll be there within the hour."

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"Thank you for coming, everyone," said Franz Indrus. He shook their hands as they entered. "Please have a seat." His yeoman ushered them to the table.

Indrus wasn't as tall as his voice made him sound. Lyra allowed herself a little smile at that. Naktiya Renosi and a woman wearing a Customs uniform sat next to him, and there was a dark-skinned man on the other side of the table.

She nodded a greeting to Renosi. "Thanks again for your help, Naktiya."

The Neablu woman gave Lyra's hand a firm shake. "I'm happy to see that you've all recovered."

The woman beside her had light brown hair pinned up under her cap, and an oval face that framed hazel eyes. "Lieutenant Eccleston?" Lyra guessed.

The woman reached across the table with an olive-skinned hand. "Yes ma'am."

"Thanks for the assist with the Ammon Night."

"My pleasure. You executed that Eye-poke like a pro."

Lyra flashed a wry smile. "Not my first podrace."

"It showed, ma'am."

"Your pilots and gunners did a great job. Some of the crews assigned to my squadron were... let's just say they didn't come off the top of the pile."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Unremarkable, you could say," Indrus mused, drawing a quick grin from the man across the table. "My crew are entirely volunteers, a mixed team from Customs and the Rangers."

"You're fortunate, sir."

The other man stuck out his hand. He was lean, with broad shoulders and a head full of tight braids of black hair that was beginning to grey. "Armin Naveen, Sector Rangers Special Enforcement Officer."

"Lyra Nimor," she responded, returning his firm grip. "Thanks for coming, SEO Naveen. I can't speak in any official capacity, but Inusagi is my homeworld. I very much appreciate the assistance you provided. That goes for all of you." She gave them appreciative smiles and nods.

Sera wore an excited look as she extended her hand. "Sera Rendix. It's good to meet you, Officer Naveen."

"My pleasure," he said, tilting his head at her odd expression. "Do I know you?"

"Ever hear of a place called Arclight Academy?"

"Sure," he said, looking surprised. "You know it?"

"I graduated from there. Are you related to Jereeda Naveen?"

Armin laughed and slapped his leg. "By the Blue Sun, Reeda's my sister!" He tapped at his wrist link. A holo image that must have been decades old showed him standing next to a young woman with rows of braids decorated with brightly colored beads. There was no mistaking the family resemblance.

Lyra looked nonplussed. "You two know each other?"

"No, but Colonel Jereeda Naveen led my special forces group and she ran the facility where all of the Razorclaws were trained. She never mentioned a brother, though."

"Well, I was in Imperial service, yeah? Reeda served in the war before the Emperor came to power. After what happened, she didn't have any stomach for serving the Empire. The Rangers try to steer clear of politics, but..." He trailed off. "I haven't talked to her in, oh, it must be close to twenty years. She's a colonel now, yeah? I don't suppose you know how she's doing?"

"She took a hit from a force pike a few years back. Lost part of her arm, but killed three storm commandos in exchange. Last I heard she was back at Arclight, doing what she does best."

Naveen gave her a wide grin. "That sounds like the Reeda I know. When we were kids she'd pick fights with the bullies at school just so she could kick their asses. Sometimes she took a few shots, too, but she never stayed down for long. How did you two meet?"

Sera's smile got bigger. "I tried lifting her credit chip— and failed badly. She caught me; nearly twisted my arm off. But instead of turning me in, she bought me a meal, found me a place to stay, and enrolled me at Arclight. She taught me nearly everything I know about being a warrior and a protector." She glanced at Reiko, who shared her fond smile.

Naveen laughed, deep and low. "She liked collecting strays when we were kids, too." He waved his hands apologetically. "No offense, yeah?"

"None taken. 'Stray' definitely describes me back then."

"I hope we'll have time to swap stories."

"I'd enjoy that," Sera answered.

A service droid wearing a glossy black and silver finish poured khaff for them. Lyra noticed the Imperial Crest on its shoulders had been scuffed off and hastily painted over. She dropped sweetener tabs in her mug and sipped. The brown brew was thin and tasted like it had been roasted for too long, exactly as it had on every Customs ship she'd served aboard. It made her wonder if the Rebels had suffered through mornings with cheap khaff the way she had for eight years.

Indrus activated the holoprojector. "First I want to thank you for your assistance with this investigation. SEO Naveen and I have been tracking the activities of the Zephyr Combine for over a year. This is the closest we've gotten to any of their leadership."

Lyra leaned over her mug. "Was Sykes on that ship? Did you capture her?"

"We believe she was. We retrieved two of the escape pods. Three more landed on Inusagi's primary moon. Their passengers were detained by planetary authorities at our request. No sign of Anais Sykes or the command staff of her vessel, though." Indrus frowned. "Whether they escaped or perished when the frigate was destroyed is yet to be determined."

Lyra sat back and crossed her arms. "Damn. I'd like to have seen that woman strung up for what she did."

"We'll take our victories where we can get them, yeah?" said Naveen. "If she's still out there, the data core you snagged from her ship could give us some leads."

"Oh?" Lyra perked up.

"Looks like it was being swapped out for maintenance. There's a lot of corrupted files; it'll take some time for our forensics team to reconstruct them. But what we've seen so far indicates payments to planetary officials throughout the Mid Rim, including here on Inusagi."

Naveen tapped some controls to display the partial data entries. "Our best guess is that they were paying for sensor records to be scrubbed, altering ident codes and landing logs, that kind of thing. Tyber Zann likes sowing chaos, but on his timetable. The run-ups to his big operations usually involve paying local authorities to look the other way, if he can't buy their cooperation outright."

Lyra watched the scroll of information. A lot was missing and much of the rest was scrambled. "Some of these are Sajoku clan families or their retainers. This went deeper than just the royal defense forces." She pointed suddenly at one of them, her face stiff with anger.

"What is it?" Taz asked.

"Kuniripal. It's one of Clan Nimor's vassal families." She clenched her fist, seething. "That means my Sajoku was involved—!"

Taz gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I know it's hard news but from what we saw, it's not surprising."

"That doesn't make it any easier to take, Oktos."

Naveen brought up an entry. "Speaking of that, we were hoping you could help with this one. Believe it or not, Imperial records for Inusagi are kind of spotty, yeah? We're not sure what it's referring to."

Lyra read it and her expression went from rage to disbelief. "It's a transliteration of Ka-Rayet, the language of the Rayeths. The phrase describes a position on the ambassador's staff. Some kind of assistant, I think." She looked at Sera. "They were paying someone in the ambassador's office to stifle investigations into the abductions of the Rayeths."

"That's probably why the Revered Mother didn't get anywhere," Sera offered.

Lyra felt sick, then angry again. "I know how petty Humans are but I'd always thought the Rayeths were nobler than that."

Naveen spread his hands. "The Consortium doesn't just pay; they abduct, intimidate, tempt officials into committing crimes, then threaten to expose them if they don't cooperate. Find the right motivation and you can get people to do almost anything, even the good ones, yeah? In any case, we'll provide this information to the Rangers' office in-sector. They should have a liaison with the Inusagi authorities. They can take the local investigation from here."

Lyra's cheeks flushed with contempt. The thought of Rayeths conspiring with gangsters left her feeling cheated. "When we were growing up, Rayeths seemed like these magical, mysterious neighbors. Now I find out they're just as corruptible as the rest of us." She made a disgusted noise deep in her throat, but she realized that her idealized view of the Rayeths was another childish vestige she needed to grow out of.

Taz patted her hand. "I'd bet most of them are the noble creatures you think they are. Just like most other beings."

Indrus turned off the projector. "No doubt the forensics teams will turn up more once they've reconstructed the data on that core. If we're lucky there'll be some good intel— Zann safe ports, places where Sykes might go if she did escape." He looked frustrated. "Still, one thing this operation has shown us is just how big the Zephyr operation is. If they're active from Lantillies to Inusagi, that covers a huge swath of the Mid Rim and the Slice. It's a sure bet their operation is decentralized. We're going to need a lot of coordination to run it all down." The Customs captain ran a hand through his thick blond hair. "It could take years."

Lyra took her hand back from Taz. "You don't have a central office for this op?"

"Customs is... reorganizing after the change in government, Miss Nimor. Most of our resources are dedicated to that or to sector patrols. Not a lot of capacity for an investigation like this, especially because the links to the Zann Consortium have been so damned hard to find."

"Ranger operations are about the same, yeah?" Naveen put in.

A smile spread slowly across Lyra's face. "I think I know someone who could help with that."

"Oh?"

"Commander Brenn Endeel."

"Who is that?" Indrus inquired.

"He's running Enarc Orbital Approach Control right now, but he used to be the commandant at the Alui Sector Academy. He was one of my instructors. He's a good man who's wasting away in a job that's better suited for a mid-tier performer like me."

"Mid-tier sounds about right," Sera fired across her bow, looking wicked.

"Keep it up, Rendix," Lyra sniped back. "See how many more piloting lessons you get from me." She returned to Indrus. "I'm sure Commandant Endeel would appreciate an opportunity like this, Captain. Don't get me wrong, he was a pain in the ass at the academy. To be honest, we butted heads a lot while I was there."

"I can't imagine," Indrus returned, unexpectedly droll.

Lyra made an reflexive scowl. "Anyway, I've never met anyone more committed to duty and fairness. Plus, he was commandant there forever, so he must be a decent administrator."

Indrus rubbed at his mustache, covering his surprise. "Thank you for that endorsement, Miss Nimor. I'll take your recommendation under advisement."

"How's the Korvis?"

"She took a fair ration of damage," Indrus admitted.

"Those hammerheads have reputations as tough rammers for a reason," Eccleston added with a sour look. "Even our primary turbolasers couldn't penetrate the extra armor they added to her bow. If you hadn't disabled her, their next run might have—"

"Hammered us?" Renosi offered with a huge smile.

"Cute," Lyra grumbled.

Indrus cut in. "The Korvis is a hardy ship. Our damage control teams are handling it."

Taz grimaced. "We had our run-ins with Carracks. During the war, I mean. We know how tough they are."

The captain's eyes narrowed. "You were a Rebel?"

"Alliance," Taz answered, his expression hardening. He pointed toward Sera and Rei. "Sector Force Seven Six Seven, out of Filve."

"And you, Nimor?"

She didn't miss his suspicious tone. "They recruited me on Jakku, sir. After the surrender," she added, answering the question he hadn't asked. "We're making our way together in a new galaxy, same as you."

Indrus rubbed his carefully shorn chin. "I suppose that's true."

"Anyway," continued Taz, "I heard your infirmary was over capacity. If you can use another medtech, put me to work."

"Your offer is appreciated Mr. Oktos, but we've offloaded the worst injuries to the royal medical center at Lankash. Our staff can handle the rest, and given your recent circumstances I'd say you're better off as a patient than a medic."

"Understood, Captain, but if you need help, don't hesitate to call. It's the least I can do to repay you and your crew." He took a sober breath. "Can I ask what happened to the Misery, the other ship?"

"It was heavily damaged, especially when Miss Nimor fired those missiles into its hangar," Eccleston said. "We monitored readings consistent with a reactor overload. It escaped into hyperspace, but with all that damage... we think it's unlikely they survived the jump."

Taz nodded slowly. "Thank you, Lieutenant." He looked troubled and haunted. "If you didn't see the ship destroyed... Their commander is a being of great power. I wouldn't discount the possibility that he survived, Captain Indrus."

"I'll keep that in mind," Indrus replied, but there was no mistaking his skeptical tone. He addressed all of them. "I know you've been through a lot but we'd like to get statements from each of you. It seems like you've had... unique exposure to the Zephyr operation, and I'm sure your knowledge will be helpful to our investigation."

Lyra grunted. "More statements." She aimed a glower at Renosi, recalling the long stay they'd had at the spaceport police station on Lantillies.

The Neablu woman just smiled in response. "If you'd like, I'd be happy to take your statement personally, Miss Nimor."

Lyra screwed up her mouth at the suggestion, but Naktiya wasn't in any way deterred.

"It won't take long, yeah?" Naveen said, flashing another smile.

"No more than an hour," Indrus promised, looking grave. "I know you have other duties you need to perform."

Lyra uttered a sigh and met his steady gaze. "Thank you, Captain. An hour will be fine."