Citadel of the Ren

Katsumi, in full-on briefing mode now that things have settled onto the course that now seems almost preordained to have been settled on, nods when Neith indicates a preference to handle the smuggler. Her voice business-like and devoid of her usual animation or quirks, Katsumi takes her borrowed datapad from a pocket of her borrowed ankle length tactical hooded jacket, Katsumi motions for Neith and Jin to come closer as she sets the device on a conveniently sized and situated crate and opens up a file containing the intelligence she had gathered on the smuggler her sisters will be hunting. Bringing up a Coruscant Security Force mug shot of a surly looking blonde haired human male that appears to be in his mid thirties, Katsumi says, ::Meet Fumnanya Jang, captain of the Geheim Masjien, a YT-2400 light freighter. Available records show Jang is a native Corellian, but digging deeper suggests that is as artificial as his blonde hair. The Geheim Masjien has been in operation with other crews, under Jang's command, for over forty years. I believe he's an Epicanthix, she points to Jang's eyes after enlarging the image, which upon close inspection appear to have been surgically altered to remove the distinctive epicanthic folds that would make identifying his true origins easier. Explaining the significance of her finding, Katsumi points out, Jang will, in all probability, be able to resist any telepathic attempts to wrest the information we need from his mind. We need to know what he knows, whether that is the identity of the third target or the location of the threat itself, so you'll need to resort to other means to gain that information before you eliminate him.::

Pausing to let Jin and Neith absorb what she has said thusfar, Katsumi continues a moment later, bringing up a series of additional mug shots as she introduces her sisters to Jang's crew, ::Jang's crew are never far from him, and have demonstrated the loyalty and camaraderie one would expect from a band of smugglers that have worked together for several years. Tapping the first mug shot, an attractive, pale skinned red haired humanoid woman in her early thirties who has a stoic expression, Katsumi says, Dikeledi Balewa, Jang's first mate and co-pilot. The name is an alias, but I matched her face to First Order military files. Balewa was a Scout Trooper, sniper trained. Deserted for reasons unknown. The next image is of a sarcastically grinning diminutive brunette woman in her late twenties with chin length hair and a pair of large black spectacles, and Katsumi says, Vejide. The crew's mechanic, and a former enforcer for a spice smuggling cartel on Tatooine. Scrapper, by all accounts, not to be underestimated. The next mug shot is of a thin, bearded humanoid male in his early forties who has the dazed expression and pinpoint pupils of an addict that had obviously recently fixed, Nkosana, the crew's splicer. Former Sector Ranger, of all things. Got too into his undercover identity as a spice user, wound up working with Jang. Dangerous, by all accounts, when not on spice. The final image is of a brown furred male Bothan in his late forties with a haughty expression, Doctor Sango Dimka. Disgraced doctor, got addicted to painkillers and found his way onto Jang's crew. Pacifist. No threat.::

Closing the file, Katsumi tells Neith, ::I'll send you the files, sister. In brief, Jang and his crew quite competently smuggle spice for organizations on Ryloth and Tatooine, and have demonstrated on more than one occasion exceptional combat readiness and prowess. Ryloth seems to be their regular base of operation, so I believe you'll find him there. He's the only member of the crew you need to eliminate. The rest of his crew, the Shadow has shown me, are no threat without Jang. Questions, sisters?::

A Family Friend

There were so many questions she wanted to ask, so many things she wanted to know about. Things that she was certain he could answer about the past and, perhaps, about the future. But his cautionary warning about some things that should remain unasked dampened some of her mood. She would just have to probe around and figure out just what exactly he was willing to reveal to her. Perhaps he might even accidentally reveal answers without meaning to by answering other questions
How did you come to join the Imperial Knights? You claim to know my mother, but she was a Knight of Ren...

I met and knew her long before she became a Ren... Quite a few decades have passed since then... As for how I joined the Imperial Knights? Well... I was serving with the Jedi Order on Dantooine for a number of years when the First Order was still in its formative phase in Imperial Space. I was there during the invasion, when the First Order announced its existence to the Galaxy. I was captured at the Jedi Enclave and spent several months as a prisoner of the First Order. It wasn't until the Galactic Alliance tried to kill me, and failed, that I was finally brought before your Father, the then Supreme Commander freshly turned Emperor. I pledged myself to serve your Father as an Imperial Knight, having seen what the future held if the Dark should overpower the Light... However, such scales have shifted and changed a lot since I received that vision and made my choice. Even before my death, the Sith had turned against the First Order, and given my last update was before I went off to help Harnan kill the Master of the Ren, I can only assume the mission was a success?
Very little talk had really occurred following Harnan's disappearance and then reappearance a few days later. Most people hadn't even really noted his absence, since he had rather regularly come and gone from Muunilinst. But Fiora had noticed his absence and felt the disturbance in the Force coupled with the nightmare she'd had. No one had even really noticed the shift in the Ren dynamic when Soku had been made Master of the Ren. Most had just assumed Soku was in charge already. Even when Harnan succeeded Soku as Master, few heads had been turned. Fiora had been too nervous to ask Harnan about any of it, despite her lingering curiosity. What ever had happened on that trip and had lead up to it were not events she fancied him wanting to recount
Soku took charge of the Ren around when your Death was made known. Harnan become Master of the Ren a couple years later and took me on as his Squire... He's the only person alive who knows what happened...

Indeed. I can only speculate as to what happened, but what we did, the sacrifice I made... was necessary for your safety. I had no regrets then and I certainly have none now, Lady Ren... We should begin your training, was there anything else you wished to ask me?

A Family Friend

There was a lot of information to process as Kortos' projection dumped a lot of detail on her. She listened, processed, and quickly picked out the most important details she needed to ask about. She suspected she was starting to get dangerously close to information the Holocron wouldn't know or wouldn't divulge to her regarding Kortos' final moments and the death of the former Master of the Ren
Why would Harnan turn to you for aid?

While I was an Imperial Knight, he knew me... Knew he could trust me... When you're dealing with an enemy that is powerful and close to you, you must look abroad to find allies. The enemy of my enemy, is my friend. He approached myself and Valance, a Knight of Zakuul, to help in his conspiracy. He knew neither of us answered to the Spectre we would be facing. My link and history with your Mother were well known to him. That is why he turned to me for aid...

And what of me and my brother? You said we were the first hybrids in millennia?

Shi'ido biology is complex and unique. A pure blood can transform into anything of any shape or size. From massive Space Whales, all the way down to something as mundane seeming as a dagger. What ever you can see and imagine, a Shi'ido could take its form. And while a DNA sample taken from a Shi'ido would look like the original, it is only a mimicry. Genetically they are incompatible with nearly every species but their own... Except under very rare circumstances. Over the generations, Shi'ido have experimented with cross breeding. Often with unsuccessful results. But every once in a while, a breakthrough would be stumbled upon. Such knowledge was kept well guarded and passed down through the ages. Your Mother used that knowledge to give birth to you and your brother...

And what makes you think you can help me control my powers? You said it yourself, hybrids are exceptional circumstances...

But our powers are the same. The ability to shift shape are fundamental building blocks of the Shi'ido species. A hybrid is just... limited as to their extent of their powers. Much like the Force, your shapeshifting skills require time and practice to master. You will never be able to shift your body the same as a Shi'ido, but there is still a great deal of changes you will be able to make... With that in mind, we would be wise to begin your training sooner than later. There is much to teach you to ensure you stay in control of them...
Fiora still had a great deal of questions left. Things she wanted to probe further into and find out. But Kortos was right. She needed to start her training if she wanted to control her powers before they grew out of hand and controlled her, instead of her controlling them. She gave a solemn nod then
Yes, you are right... Please begin the training...
She listened then, as Kortos began the training routine. There would be much more time ahead for her to ask her questions and learn from Kortos things that Harnan was not particularly forth coming about

Few things bore Katsumi as much as trawling through data; but while she would prefer the battlefield or actively conducting espionage operations herself to sifting through intelligence reports, there are times she needs set personal preference aside in order to best serve the Ren. When Australis threatened to attempt to wrest Byss from the Ren by force it necessitated that Katsumi set her planned operation with Neith and Jin aside so that she aid in the defense of the world the Ren have come to call home, and so she had taken steps to divert and redirect their prey until such a time as they could stalk them; Jang's crew being employed through an intermediary to transport a few things here and there to occupy them, while the former Resistance Officer was offered a bit of intel through yet another intermediary that would almost certainly tempt him to focus elsewhere for a time, especially when Harnan had, at the time, been making signs of preparing to move the Ren's assets away from Byss.

After the Australis threat came to naught, Katsumi had lingered at first to ensure it was not a ploy to make the Ren lower their guard, and then to take advantage of the opportunity, with Jang and the Resistance Officer still reportedly occupied with her distractions and diversions, to tend a bit more to Harnan's request that she look into the Obsidian Order. Given that, on the surface of things, the Obsidian Order and it's Arch-Mage, Silas Darkstar, were allied with the Ren, Katsumi needed to move carefully; hence sifting data rather than something more direct, and hence why, for nearly a week, she had not been wandering or skulking about as she would prefer, and has been, instead, ensconced alone in her quarters.

Limiting herself to intelligence reports from the Obsidian Order made to the Ren would skew the dataset, but Katsumi found that acceptable given it meant she did not court the risks attempting to hack into the Obsidian Order's own systems would entail. Using Ren and her ISB intelligence assets or reports from them to meticulously back check and verify the Obsidian Order's information, Katsumi has thusfar been able to detect no false reports that might suggest the Darkstar is attempting to employ disinformation, and has noted no obvious gaps in their intelligence information that, when compared to that gathered by the Ren or ISB, suggest Darkstar might be deliberately withholding information from the Ren.

Katsumi has just completed her preliminary analysis report, that the Obsidian Order appears to be conducting their affairs with the Ren in an aboveboard fashion from what she has investigated thusfar, and sent it to Harnan along with her assertion that delving deeper into the matter would require a more direct operation, with all of the risks necessarily entailed, when she becomes aware of a susurrus from the Shadow, apprising her of a tremendous change that will ripple outwards for sometime and in wildly unpredictable ways. The change, Katsumi soon learns after diving into the currents of the Shadow to divine the source of the chaotic rippling, is the death of the Emperor. The Emperor was nothing to her, Katsumi's loyalty to the Ren absolute, and so she does not mourn his passing, nor let it distract her from trying to catch what glimpses of the possible futures she can as she allows the waves of the Shadow to rise and fall, carrying her along until they at last wash her back to the shore of the present, casting her from her trance.

Remaining seated on the floor of her quarters, eyes closed beneath her skull-like helm, Katsumi sifts through the bits and pieces of possible futures she had seen, attempting to divine what she can from them.