By Frost [Dutch]

[Ghostie]

One of the most unfortunate responsibilities of being a member of the Jedi Order was having to deal with violence and death on a regular basis. With a whole Knighthood defined by a galactic-scale war, Kol had seen his fair share of it. More than. He had seen men shot down by blasters. Killed with explosives. Impaled in vehicular crashes. Flames was always the worst, as the whole surrounding air simply choked with the stench of burning flesh, and the victim was in complete and utter agony for the few minutes they were still alive. The Jedi Master himself had dealt out more death than he’d care to admit, but that was always quick and clean, with wounds cauterized by the searing blade of a lightsaber. Kol despised all of it, and he figured that any self-respecting Jedi would.

This, however, was something entirely new.

Kol coughed a bit as he squatted next to one of the corpses, exhaling in two short rasps as the water in his breath crystallized immediately after leaving his mouth. As he turned his head away and into the high collar of his coat out of respect for the deceased, the Jedi rubbed his strong hands together, trying to keep them warm. The interior to one of the many walk-in freezers of the Slepnir Plaza Hotel was now home to a pair of bodies. Not just any pair of bodies, either.

One, Kol had seen on the holonet before, across news articles and whatnot. A female Twi’lek, middle-aged. Her green skin was frosted over, and Kol could see the little ice crystals lodged in her wrinkles as he knelt over her corpse, her final position that of reclining against a shelf of fruity ice cream. Her name was Hyorti Poy’ta, she was a Senator from Ryloth and Ambassador to Prahzi. Across the rectangular room was another middle-aged being, a human male with greying hair that used to be brown, laying in the fetal position. He must’ve been Senator Poy’ta’s counterpart from the Sith Empire.

This was where Prazhi became a confusing, interesting, and dangerous place. Kol had been close, so when word of the Senator’s death had reached the Republic, the Jedi Master had been sent to investigate. But seeing as how there was also a Sith Aristocrat lying dead in the same freezer, the Sith Order was sending one of their own to investigate. And Prazhi was forcing both side to play nice and get along, as if they were two unruly brothers who couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. Kol supposed such an analogy wouldn’t be inaccurate, but he knew he could control himself. A Sith controlling themselves would be a sight to see, though. Kol didn't have the highest opinion of their Order, considering they stood against the Jedi in nearly every way possible. Nonetheless, he'd do his best to get along.

Standing, the Jedi Master slowly walked out of the frigid air and cold room. The authorities had said that the freezer had been locked from the outside, and that the man seemed to have tried to claw his way out through a vent, without success. Both had been bruised as if they had been in a scuffle, but it didn’t seem to look as though it had been a scuffle with each other. So now the question was who wanted both a Republic Senator and Sith Aristocrat dead. Kol had let the coroner do a tox-exam on both victims, but not yet move them until the Sith had arrived. And he was running behind.

“Any word from your boss, yet?” As Kol stepped out, there was a squad of Republic soldiers on one side of the entrance to the freezer, and a squad of Sith troopers on the other. The kitchen was like an occupied military zone, as both sides checked coroners and security forces as they went to and fro. No one else was allowed in. Both Republic and Sith were eyeing each other, keeping their distance, and donned full sets of armor. The sergeant in charge of the Sith’s squad spoke up with utmost professionalism. At least their military had discipline, the Jedi thought to himself. “Not yet, sir.” Kol nodded, and looked to the Republic sergeant. “Let's give the Sith some more time, but sooner or later the bodies have to go back to the morgue for a proper exam.”

[Dutch]

He had barely left the conference chamber within the Republic Embassy from where Meira Valli still stood when Solis’ holocomm began to buzz, with a message from the local Imperial Lord in charge. The Sith exited the Republic embassy along with his posse of Cult of Truth Inquisitors, but not before all had raised their hoods and obscured their identities. All still dressed in black robes, personalized yet not enough to instantly read which Sith was which as they traveled.

There was bloody mischief about Prazhi that day, and apparently the murder of an important enough Aristocrat was important enough to warrant his attention. Important enough for a Jedi Master to be assigned to the case as well. Unsurprising, given the only other apparent victim was a Senator. Curious and local enough as he was, the Darth chuckled quietly to himself. It had been nearly two years since encountering the Jedi after the Treaty. Two years, and now suddenly he couldn’t get away from them.

With the Slepnir Plaza not more than a few streets away from the Embassy, a gentle nudge within the Force pushed the Sith towards it. They turned in unison, and stalked onward. They walked the crowded streets, hands hidden in robes behind their backs and billowing hoods obscuring their faces. The crowds parted like water before the entourage, and only the worthy or foolish even attempted eye contact. The first to move too close had his genitals kicked by a burst of ephemeral energy, and none attempted closer.

*

One by one the Sith would swoop in with a swing of the kitchen doors, where the panels were held open by intangible forces. The Sith moved with a smooth purpose to stand in each corner of the room, except for the shortest who moved to stand by the highest ranking Sith officer.

He like all the other Sith within had fallen to one knee and bowed their heads, and none moved a muscle until the short Sith Lady used two hoary fingers to raise the officer to his feet gently. The others returned to theirs and resumed steady dutiful positioning.

One by one the Lords began to drop their hoods, revealing various species from human to quarren. The final one to drop her hood, the petite Lady Inquisitor; A rattataki, all golden piercings and dark green tattoos, raised her chin to greet the room with a bright, warm visage. Stormy gray eyes turned to each Republican with a stunningly beautiful smile, and her voice rang out sweet and celestial.

“Behold! And rejoice knowing you lay eyes upon Darth Solis, Dark Lord of the Sith, Lord Inquisitor of the Cult of Truth, Jade Pillar of the Empire, First Through the Gates, Annexer of Wayland, and Her Coalescent Bridge.”

With a flourish of pale hands which came together before his chest, the named zelosian dropped into an absolutely pristine example of a Jedi bowing upon greeting another. He paused then straightened his posture elegantly as both hands now raised to pull his own hood back and over feathered black hair. A pair of searing red eyes gleamed ghoulishly above a wide, toothy smile, all turned to the hardy Jedi before him.

“I’m a sucker for a good entrance.” Solis said still smiling. The Sith paused, and his gaze narrowed to study the Master’s hyper-masculine features closer. “I know your face… “ Solis stilled his tongue once more for effect. “Master Guardian, Kol Gedyc, the Hero of Yaga Minor, Haar’dul’tal’din, and all around prodigious hero of Republican justice.”

The Darth tilted his head and looked the Jedi from head to toe, then back again.

“Your reputation precedes you, and it was no exaggeration, friend.”

[Ghostie]

The particular kitchen of the Slepnir Plaza Hotel that Republic and Imperial troops occupied wasn’t particularly large. So when the double serving door flew open with a loud bang and dark beings in dark robes started to descend upon the room, it seemed to fill up rather quickly. Or maybe it was just that Kol was starting to feel quite outnumbered. One Sith each, to every corner, and a shorter being in the same black robes to the center of the room. The Imperial troops dropped to one knee, and the Republic troops started to tense up, and shuffle around a bit. The Jedi Master could feel their stress like waves through the Force. He could feel the eerie chill the Sith brought in their wake. The death permating behind him didn’t help matters.

Kol hadn’t realised just how unpleasant this mission might be.

And now the Jedi Master had good reason to fear that the Sith couldn’t control themselves, if they put on such a grand show for entering a simple room. Nonetheless, Kol doubled down on keeping his resolve, and those of the troops next to him. As they grew ever more restless, Kol cross his arms and threw up a hand in their direction, from under his elbow. With the gesture, the Jedi tried to create an aura of calming sensations throughout the Force, but it was battered repeatedly by the presence of the darkside.

The Sith in the middle, the short being, threw back their hood to reveal a female Rattataki adorned in tattoos and piercings, which wasn’t uncommon for her race. Kol listened as she began to herald in her master, Darth Solis. Dark Lord of the Sith. Lord Inquisitor. Pillar of Jade or some such, Head of the Truth Brigade. To be completely fair, Kol stopped listening after a while, his eyes fixed on the being that had appeared next to the Rattataki’s side. Undoubtedly the very being she was praising, who seemed to form from out of the very shadows themselves. As the Darth bowed, Kol was respectful, and met the Inquisitor’s greeting back at the same height, never letting his eyes leave Solis.

"Any grander of an entrance, and I daresay the hotel would come down around us." If Kol was again honest, Solis’s appearance what something that he had envisioned in his head already. Blood-red eyes. Greasy black hair. An air of arrogance befitting most Sith. He was a Zelosian, which was interesting, but not completely weird. And he knew Kol. Or rather, he knew of Kol. From the Battle of Yaga Minor, all the way down to Kol’s heritage. The bit of Mando’a made the Jedi’s heart leap into his throat for a split second. Kol hadn’t even known about his own family ties until he was a Knight. And Solis was reciting them as if they were common knowledge.

Still, something about Haar’dul’tal’din made Kol want to grin just a bit, out of the corner of his mouth. He supposed smirking was the only good response to someone knowing so many intimate details about yourself, anyways.

“As does yours, Inquisitor Solis…” Kol kept his arms crossed, but they loosened a bit as the greetings went on. His two differently colored eyes fell upon the Rattataki herald. “... Obviously. I’m surprised they would send a Darth for something like this.” Sith Lords and Jedi Masters, from what Kol knew, were similar in number and strength. But the Imperials sending a Darth would have been like the Jedi sending a High Councilor or the Battle Master. But that was as far as his limited knowledge of the inner working of the Sith Order took him. Beckoning Solis to follow, Kol turned back towards the walk-in freezer. The crime scene. “You guys can go back to the embassy.” He threw over his shoulder to the Republic troops, who hastened to take their leave.

Kol stopped at the entrance to the freezer, arms still crossed, but now to ward off the chill of the frost more than to show his displeasure and keep his guard up. The Jedi Master let Solis examine the bodies and the scene by himself, without interference or interruption.

“Coroner said there’s signs of a struggle, bruises and skin under both their nails and whatnot. But the struggle clearly wasn’t here, and they don’t have each other’s DNA under their nails.” The two politicians, it seemed, were locked in the freezer. The question was by who, and why. “He took some tox-screens, but I didn’t want him to move the bodies until you got a chance to look them over at the scene yourself. Maybe see something I didn’t.” Kol tried to keep his obvious distaste for the darksiders and bias against the Sith in check, and hoped that the last remark would show he was willing to work with the Inquisitor to solve the case.

[Dutch]

“Ah, yes. You’re right of course, and very lucky to have said Darth. As Lord Inquisitor, I have brought with me some of our Order’s finest deductive minds.” Solis said with a turn of his gaze towards the still smiling herald. She beamed back at the Jedi Master, and shot him a slow wink as her Darth turned a knowing smirk to Kol. The zelosian would raise a single hand casually, and the other Sith began to exit as they entered. One by one they turned to leave, except for the herald as she waited for the Imperial troops before leaving. Not without one last glance and alluring grin back at the Jedi Guardian.

“While we direct our attentions to the victims, they will inquire with everyone near during the apparent time of death.” Said the Sith as he followed behind the Jedi. Even as they moved Solis let his presence billow forth before them to sample their surroundings. The freezer was cold, and he kept his dislike of it silent. Instead the Darth drank in the death which pervaded within, a heady cloud which sustained him in the chill.

Slowly he’d breath it in, his presence becoming bolder as he fed on the darkness. He could taste the wake of emotion left behind, as intricate and layered as a fine wine. Solis let his red eyes slide shut, though the darkened lids still fluttered as he breathed it all in deeper. His inky presence flowed over both corpses and pooled into them, the sample almost overwhelming but the Darth held himself steady.

“Their fear and despair was strong … also not... love, but… longing? Lust?” Solis exhaled slowly, his head cocked to the dead man as if he heard something from the corpse. “Oh my… I do believe he even thought to get it in once more before death…” He finished as his eyes slid open once more, and turned a smile back to his Jedi companion. “Seems your senator rebuffed him, but that’s not what caused their untimely demise.”

The Sith’s boots clicked lightly as he walked over to the senator, where he knelt down to study her face unnervingly close. Black robes pooled out under him, and the mists of frigid air hung ominously about the Darth. His crimson gaze shined shrewdly as he studied her with a squinted gaze, always moving as they scanned.

“Obviously Rylothian… and a beauty even at her age. No wonder Duke Darlatan couldn’t resist.” Solis said as he stood and glanced at Kol.

“Is it a surprise to find her here? To understand one’s death, we need to know her life.”

[Ghostie]

“Their fear and despair was strong... also not... love, but… longing? Lust?”

Kol had discovered some of the same residual sensations himself, on his first investigative pass through the large freezer. The attachment, and longing, and fiery passion. However, the Jedi had kept his own examinations mostly on Senator Poy’ta, steering clear of the Imperial. And what feelings still lingered across her frosted corpse were not what Kol would not exactly call lustful. Perhaps more longing. Caring. Devoted. A strong sense of worry for her companion, and perhaps a slight bit of annoyance. It seemed that she was more invested in the Aristocrat, than the Aristocrat was invested in her.

“Well, it certainly would’ve been one way to keep warm.”

The Lord Inquisitor had swept into the kitchens of the Slepir Plaza Hotel and made his presence quite large. Between his casual flair and the way he tried to take charge, Kol had almost expected the Zelosian to have some sort of crass comment about the victim’s relationship. The Jedi Master had rolled his eyes so hard when the words came from the Sith, he was afraid they might have made an audible sound. Arms still crossed, Kol leaned against the durasteel doorway to the sub-zero room. Even if he found the comment a bit crass, the Jedi decided to banter a bit. If he didn’t, this would be quite the long assignment.

“However, a walk-in freezer isn’t exactly the most romantic place I can think of.”

Darth Solis crouched by the unlucky Republic Senator, and without looking back at Kol, asked if it was unusual to find the woman at this particular hotel. Even without the Sith looking, the Jedi shook his head by instinct. His two very different eyes watched his counterpart’s back, unsure of where the black robes pooling on the floor ended, and the Sith began, aside from the man’s head.

“The Slepnir is close enough to the Republic Embassy that a lot of the senators and ambassadors hold functions here. It sounds like Senator Poy’ta might’ve had a suite on a long term basis, but that’s not unusual. She was here on Prahzi far more than she ever was on Coruscant, from what I’m told.”

As if cutting off the Sith before he could ask, Kol added.

“The staff are scrounging around for an extra key as we speak. Things are a little disorganized this morning, obviously.”