15.5 BBY - "Coruscant, the Yinchom Dojo"
"I think that's enough for today..." Ottlis Dos, a student of the Yinchom Dojo, said. "Juahir wasn't lying when she told me you'd be a dedicated student." Arihnda, too, bowed her head at Ottlis, before a smug grin came across her face. "Is that all she told you about me?" She asked. Just then, the doors to the building hissed open, and Arihnda looked over Ottlis's shoulder, seeing five different Imperial Officers marching in. Recognizing the leader of the group, Arihnda walked towards the Officer, bowing her head. "Welcome to the Yinchom Dojo, Captain Thrawn." She said. "I am Arihnda Pryce. I believe we met at an ascension week in the Alisandre Hotel, back when you were a Senior Lieutenant." She continued. "You are correct, Miss Pryce." Thrawn replied. "You were an aid to Senator Domus Renking."
"You have a remarkable memory, Captain!" Arihnda said, beaming as she did so. "Since our last meeting, I have been working for an advocacy group.. How may I assist you?" She then asked. "We're here to speak to the owner." Colonel Wulff Yularen replied. "Cease!" A female voice suddenly exclaimed. Immediately, all the other students in the Dojo paused their sparring. Thrawn looked over Arihnda's shoulder, seeing a female Togorian wearing bright, golden martial arts robes. "Good day, Officers of the Empire." The Togorian said. "I am H'sishi, master of the Yinchom Dojo. How may I serve you?" She asked. "We are doing a routine spot-check of the dojos in the federal district." Yularen replied. "I presume you have full records of this facility's government contracts and bodyguard training?" H'sishi nodded her head slowly. "Of course, Colonel." She replied. "If you must excuse me, I will retrieve them for you."
H'sishi then turned around, beginning to walk away, when Thrawn spoke again. "Before you do..." He began. Immediately, H'sishi stopped dead in her tracks, turning her head towards the Captain. "We are also interested in trainers for a possible new urban combat unit." Thrawn declared, his gaze shifting between all of H'sishi's students. "I see your students are practicing advanced stick fighting..." He added on. "...Something I wish to observe firsthand." H'sishi's gaze shifted to one of her students, who immediately tossed a pair of martial arts sticks to Thrawn. Another student tossed his pair of sticks to H'sishi, who held both of their at her sides. Thrawn, grasping the sticks tightly, held them out in front of himself, as H'sishi made the first move, striking Thrawn's defenses quickly. Within a few moments, Thrawn struck H'sishi from behind, instantly knocking her off her feet and onto the ground. Rising to her feet, H'sishi locked eyes with Thrawn, bowing her head. "Excellent, Captain. Your style is unknown to me, but you have clearly been well trained." Thrawn returned the bow to H'sishi. "Thank you, instructor." He replied. "Perhaps the next time I am on Coruscant, you will teach me some of your style. It is of your species?"
"Yes... A Togorian form." H'sishi replied. "I would welcome you as both a student and a teacher." She continued, turning her attention to Yularen. "And now, Colonel Yularen, I will retrieve the records you requested." H'sishi said, returning her sticks to the student who had given them to her, and then walking away. Thrawn did the same, handing his sticks back over to their owner. "You said you worked for an advocacy group..." Thrawn began, making eye contact with Arihnda. "Which one?" "It's called Higher Skies." She replied. "Thank you, Miss Pryce." Thrawn said. "I am sure we will see each other again." He finished, leaving the building with his fellow Officers as soon as H'sishi gave the records to Yularen. "Unfortunately, I am going to have to miss our next session, Arihnda..." Ottlis said, walking up towards Arihnda. "My employer is back on the planet as we speak. However, I may have a free evening in the office, with enough space for sparring practice." He continued.
15.5 BBY - "Coruscant, Ottlis's apartment"
"Where is everyone?" Arihnda asked, as she followed Ottlis down the halls of his apartment towards his office. "Off to a party." Ottlis replied. "I'm watching the office alone tonight." He added, soon gesturing towards a gold and black door. "The conference room is just through here." Arihnda nodded, following Ottlis inside as the door hissed open. Almost as soon as she entered the room, though, her eyes widened with surprise. Across the room, she saw an Imperial Moff with grey hair sitting in Ottlis's chair, smiling; an individual she knew all too well. "Good evening, Miss Pryce." Moff Ghadi said. "It's good to see you again." Arihnda followed Ottlis to the desk slowly, pulling up a nearby seat, while Ottlis stood next to Ghadi. "It's.. Nice to see you as well, Moff Ghadi." Arihnda replied sternly. "Admittedly, I wish you had taken me into your confidence back in your estate.. Perhaps I could have told you that I was just as eager to take down Senator Renking as you were."
Ghadi's smile faded, a look of confusion slowly coming across his face. "Really.. Your own boss?" He asked. "Not just my boss." Arihnda replied. "The one who engineered the Imperial takeover of my family's mining business on Lothal.. I just would've preferred to destroy him without messing up my own life in the process." Ghadi leaned back into Ottlis's chair, peering directly into Arihnda's eyes. "Your poise and confidence alone show you've come a long way since our last meeting." He remarked. "Now... Who hired your advocacy group to destroy me?" Arihnda's eyes widened with shock. "I have no idea what you're talking about." She protested. "Oh, but I think you do..." Ghadi began. "Right after one of your people visited me, some of my confidential financial information was recovered from smugglers. Then, barely a week later, one of my mines was hit by a group of raiders." He continued.
"Now, let me ask you this, Arihnda: is it Renking? Maybe a..." Ghadi began, only to pause for a brief moment. Slowly, his smile from before returned. "Of course.. It's Tarkin, isn't it?" He asked. "Moff Tarkin, who's wanted me gone for years. Tell me it's him." "I'm sorry, your excellency, but I can't help you." Arihnda replied. Ghadi let out a heavy sigh. "Maybe you don't know what your boss is up to. But we really need to know for sure, don't we?" Ghadi asked. "From now on, you'll be my eyes and ears within Higher Skies; copying files and reporting on certain conversations where necessary." He added on. "And if I don't?" Arihnda asked. "Then I will call ISB and inform them that you came here tonight to steal confidential files." Ghadi replied, his smile growing. "Otherwise, I would suggest you welcome the chance to prove you're not playing games with me, Miss Pryce."
15.5 BBY - "Coruscant, Gilroy Plaza Diner"
"Nice glasses." Arihnda remarked, sitting across from the now Commander Thrawn, who wore a light brown cloak. "With your eyes covered, one might assume you to be a Pantoran." "So I have been told." Thrawn replied. "Why did you ask me to meet you?" He then asked. Arihnda leaned closer towards the dining table, looking to her right for a moment before she spoke again. "I recently spoke with a high government official who believes the advocacy group I work with is trying to destroy him." She replied, whispering as softly as she could. "He wants me to spy on them for him, and threatened to turn me over to the ISB if I refused." Arihnda continued. "Did he seem confident in that threat?" Thrawn asked. "Yes." Arihnda replied. "In that, if nothing else. What he didn't realize, however, was that in threatening me, he let something very important slip..."
Arihnda then placed a datapad onto the table, pushing it towards Thrawn. "During his rant, he mentioned that one of his mines had been attacked. So I decided to poke around a little..." Arihnda said. Thrawn picked up the datapad, reading the contents on the device. "Doonium." Thrawn said. "A good-sized vein of it, at that. Apparently, he never registered it either, meaning that he's selling it on the black market." Arihnda added. "I figured that since you're a friend of Colonel Yularen, you could quietly pass this along to him." Thrawn handed the datapad back to Arihnda. "I can give this to Colonel Yularen, but I cannot do so now." He said. "If your corrupt official was confident in his false arrest threat, I am certain he has allies within the ISB." Thrawn continued. "The longer this information is in the hands of Colonel Yularen, the more likely it will become known to others."
"So you will only deliver the information when you deem the time to be right?" Arihnda asked. "Precisely." Thrawn replied. "And what if I sweeten the pot?" Arihnda asked. Though his eyes were not visible underneath his pair of bright green goggles, a look of curiosity came across Thrawn's face nevertheless. "You know military tactics, but I know politics; something I may be able to help you with." Arihnda proposed. "I appreciate the offer. But I do not need assistance." Thrawn replied. "Your assistant might disagree..." Arihnda began. "In four years, you have gone from a Lieutenant to a Commander. Eli Vanto, on the other hand, is still an Ensign." She continued. "That is a military matter. Politics should play no role." Thrawn replied. "And yet, you're too good for your enemies to attack you directly." Arihnda said. "All they have is their political power, which appears to be enough to pressure High Command into keeping your aide from advancing."
Thrawn leaned back further into his seat, deep in thought. "I had noted that my ship, the Thunder Wasp, was also placed at the lowest priority for repairs." He admitted. "I assumed the repair ranking was based on which ships needed to be returned to patrol duty most quickly." He added on. "You were half right." Arihnda replied. "I have some contacts who may be able to alter that." Thrawn gave a small nod, before leaning towards the table again, pressing his fingertips together. "Tell me... Who does this high government official fear?" Thrawn asked. "I.. I don't think he fears anyone." Arihnda replied. "Then who does he hate?" Thrawn asked in reply. "All who hold positions of power hate of fear someone. Or something, for that matter." He continued. "A threat to your enemy may very well be equivalent to potential vectors of attack for you."
15.5 BBY - "Coruscant, Moff Tarkin's office"
Across the planet, Moff Tarkin sat comfortably behind his desk, reading through a datapad containing recent Imperial reports. Then, Tarkin heard the control panel next to the door beep. "Enter." Tarkin said. Immediately, the door hissed open, and a young woman stepped inside; a woman with black hair and light blue eyes, who wore a violet-colored jacket. "Miss Arihnda Pryce..." Tarkin began, placing his datapad down on his desk. "I understand you represent an advocacy group called Higher Skies." He continued. "That's certainly what many people think." Arihnda replied. "I'm actually here to represent myself. And to make you the best offer you'll get today." Tarkin's eyes widened with curiosity. "Really?" He asked. "I think perhaps you overestimate your charm." "Oh, I don't run on charm, your excellency. I only run on information." Arihnda replied, revealing a blue and silver datacard to Tarkin.
Pretend the data card is blue here"Full credit for ingenuity..." Tarkin remarked, staring at the card intently. "At least you aren't so obvious as to try a data-thief program." He added. "Not at all." Arihnda replied, revealing another datacard. "This is the one with the thief program; a brochure and agenda from Higher Skies I was supposed to give to you." Tarkin's look of curiosity only grew. "Who exactly are you, Miss Pryce?" He asked. "Someone who wants to make a deal that will benefit us both." Arihnda replied. "The information on that card should give you a taste of what I have to offer." She continued. "Most of this I already know, which proves you successfully tapped into Governor Nasling's records." Tarkin said. "How did your employers come to create such a clever thief program to begin with?" He then asked. "I imagine they brought in someone to help." Arihnda replied. "You see, I think they're rebels." Tarkin's jaw grew hard. "Rebels?" He asked.
"Yes, your excellency." Arihnda said. "But all they have is a skeleton of that data file, which is just enough to keep them happy with my work." Tarkin pursed his lips, deep in thought. "It's a double-layer thief program, crafted on the orders of Colonel Wullf Yularen. The one who advised me to bring the results to you was Commander Thrawn." Arihnda declared. "Very interesting..." Tarkin muttered under his breath. "And what do they expect from you in return for your help?" He asked. "Colonel Yularen wanted the data, of course.." Arihnda began. "Commander Thrawn, meanwhile, asked only for a long overdue promotion for his aide. But there's still some political resistance." Tarkin's eyes widened with surprise. "Resistance to a military promotion...?" Tarkin asked. "Which of our esteemed politicians has that much time and energy to spare?"
A wicked smile crept across Arihnda's face at that moment. "Moff Ghadi." She replied. "Moff Ghadi..." Tarkin repeated. "I should've guessed as much." "I have information on him, of course. He was one of the first politicians I targeted." Arihnda said, pulling out a datapad of her own and playing an audio recording. "They have a file on Tarkin? What's in it?" The voice of Ghadi asked through the recording. "I don't know. This one's under a different encryption than anything else I've found." Arihnda said through the recording. "Get it on a datacard and bring it to my office." Ghadi sternly ordered. "I want to see how high and mighty Moff Tarkin is when I'm done shoving his dirty little secrets down his throat." He continued. Tarkin leaned back in his seat, a stern look coming across his face. "So you offer me valuable data, as well as the satisfaction of removing Moff Ghadi from the face of the galaxy..." He began. "And yet, what is it that you get out of this ordeal?" Tarkin then asked.
"Governorship of Lothal." Arihnda replied. "Lothal... Not exactly the ground-shaking demand I had anticipated. Why there?" Tarkin asked. "Governor Azadi and Senator Renking cost my parents their mining company and forced them out of their home." Arihnda declared. "Being made Governor of Lothal will humiliate the first and make it easier to take down the second." She added on. "I'm afraid what you have given me isn't quite enough." Tarkin said. "A clear vision of one's goals is important in a Governor, which is an important commodity." Arihnda proceeded to pull out a third datacard, handing it to Tarkin. "That will be more than enough." She said. "Everything the Empire will ever want to know about Lothal is in that card. Gathering up the Outer Rim worlds may as well be as easy and as painless as possible." Arihnda continued. Tarkin took the datacard, staring at it intently. "Interesting.. Some would consider this a betrayal of their homeworld." He said. "I prefer to think of it as loyalty to my new homeworld." Arihnda said.
