Treachery on Taladin Seven, Epilogue

      The Final Report

             After she finished her cover job Tortai was actually glad when she returned to Coruscant. She got to see all of her friends again and was even glad to see her boss. She compiled her final report on her mission and turned it in to Nathaniel Logan. As she sat across from him and he scanned the information on her datapad, he looked extremely pleased.

             “Excellent work, Agent Haar, most impressive,” Logan looked at data-pad. “I would like to know more about that Imperial togrutan agent you encountered, Sminaa Car.”

            “Not much to tell, she seems harmless enough,” Tortai shrugged. “Although, I wouldn’t want to underestimate her, she’s got the potential to be a very talented agent. She’s also a good infiltrator.”

             “Hmm, I’ll keep a note of that.” Logan scrolled. “Let’s see, attempted abduction by bounty hunter Jericho Savage, you neutralized him and he was arrested by Taladin authorities, good work on that. Hear you got a rather nasty bruise on your right foot from that encounter.”

             “I’ll be fine, just like always.”

           “Of course,” Logan smiled as he looked over the rest of her report. “Great job snagging the information on that TIE fighter factory they tried to build there, that would’ve proven very nasty if Zsinj had gotten a hold of more fighters. And these TIE Raptor specs will be very helpful to our fleet strategists.”

         “Thank you, sir.” Tortai smiled, resisting the urge to tell him she’d got a copy of it off Rao Vergesen.

          “All in all, a well-executed mission,” Logan shut off the data-pad handed it back to her. “I’d say you’ve earned yourself a little break. Take the rest of the day off and don’t come back until next Monday.”

         “But sir, that’s three whole days…”

         “Don’t worry about it,” Logan interrupted. “Not that much has happened here while you were gone and knowing you; you’ll be caught up in less than an hour. Besides, you’ve earned it, go out, and have some fun!”
“Thank you sir, I will.” Tortai smiled.

          She shut down her cubicle for the day and changed into her speeder bike clothes, smiling from the accomplishment of another mission. She sped home to her apartment and decided to change into a blue shirt, gray slacks and get caught up on one of her crime novels. A few hours later, her green twi’lek friend Kina’larn came over. Tortai was naturally excited to see her; they’d been very close friends ever since they met as field agents at a cantina on Tatooine. After two weeks of not seeing her, Tortai was elated to have her hanging out at her apartment.

             “I’m so glad you’re back, Tortai,” The green twi’lek sat down on her couch in her gray suit, gray headband, and skirt, slipping off her heels. “Things were getting boring here without you.”

         “Oh,” Tortai sat down next to her. “You haven’t had any fun working those domestic terrorism cases?”

          “Eh, some of them get kind of interesting,” Kina shrugged. “I was referring to our girl’s nights; they aren’t as fun without you.”

          “Really, what about Jenny’s flirting lessons?”

        “Well, those are fun and I’m actually impressed with the progress that little human chemical lab tech has made,” Kina smirked. “But everyone knows you’re the best flirt at the NRI.”

          “Oh, please, you flirt just as well as I do,” Tortai put her right hand on her cheek. “The only reason why I attract more men is because togrutan women appear to be more exotic than twi’leks.”

            “Whatever,” Kina rolled her brown eyes. “So, how was your mission to Taladin Seven?”

          “Fairly standard,” Tortai shrugged. “Snuck in, discovered an amateur Imperial agent, seduced a gross sexist, defeated a low level bounty hunter, exposed a nasty Imperial plot, and acquired some very useful Intel. You know the usual. I was just about to start dinner, would you like to join me?”

         “Sure,” Kina said as Tortai got up and went to the kitchen. “I find it incredible how casually you take your missions, if I had to deal with all that including the bounty hunter, my lekku wouldn’t stop twitching for two weeks.”

           “Well, with a cousin like Kaalia, I guess I learned to have a very casual outlook on life, even during the most stressful times.”

          “Granted,” Kina smiled. “Speaking of which, what has she been up to lately, last time I heard she was going back into modeling?”

         “Yeah,” Tortai got out a pack of Nerf steaks from the fridge. “I was just talking to her on the holo-com yesterday and she told me she had some photo shoot for a swimsuit company on Naboo.”

         “Sounds splendid,” Kina stroked her right lekku. “Whatever possessed her to get back into modeling again?”

        “Same thing that possesses her to do anything, credits,” Tortai shrugged as she pulled out a pan and put it on the stove. “Plus it’s only a part time gig, so she also gets to pilot her ship for that freight company.”

         “Who’d thought she’d ever become an honest, outstanding citizen?” Kina shook her head. “So, now that you’ve completed another mission, what’s next for the illustrious Tortai Haar?”

          “Well, I got three days off, figure I’ll catch up on my reading. Then I’m back to desk duty on Monday, hopefully it won’t take long before my next field assignment. In the meantime, I think I might take on a boyfriend.”

              “A boyfriend,” Kina asked in shock. “You’ve found someone?”

            “Maybe,” Tortai rolled her eyes as she put the steaks on the pan. “I don’t know, I’m going to have to handle this carefully, it’s a bit complicated.”

              “Oh, no,” Kina groaned. “You didn’t meet him on Taladin, did you? You know we’re not supposed to get romantically involved with people while undercover, especially someone like you.”
             
             “I know,” Tortai bit her lip. “But this guy’s so nice, and handsome, and a togruta, and into swoops,and…”

                “Ok, ok, you’ve convinced me. Just be very careful, you never know when the Empire could try and use a relationship against a person. You know where he lives?”        

              “He works as a private investigator on the south side of the planet,” Tortai said. “I was going to call him toward the end of my mission, but he left me a message on my cover com-link saying that he had to leave early because of the backlog of clients.”

              “Oh, a successful P.I.,” Kina cooed. “If he’s half as handsome as you say he is, I might try to seek him out.”

               “Don’t you dare,” Tortai joked as she seasoned the steaks. “Besides you hate swoops, remember that time I gave you a ride home from work?”

           “You’re right,” Kina said. “Then I wish you and your potential boy toy all the best.”

          “Thank you, I appreciate it.” Tortai slapped her hands. “Now, how do you want your steak cooked?”

        Sean’s Luck

             A month after he met what turned out to be Tortai Haar, Sean Ganall couldn’t help but look at the orange skinned beauty and feel like the luckiest man in the galaxy. The thirty four year old dark red togrutan private investigator from Kiros couldn’t believe he managed to get together with her, she was considered a legend amongst their kind. Yet there she was, curled up next to him on the couch at her apartment in a cropped green tank top and a short blue frilly skirt. She was unlike any girl he’d met in all his life. She was intelligent, graceful, stylish, funny and very easygoing for a spy. By all definitions of the word, she was a lady. No, she was more than that, she was a goddess.

            “Oh, stop,” Tortai smirked, giving him a play slap after he called her a goddess. “I’m not a goddess, if I was, I’d have supernatural powers.”

           “Well, then you’re the closest thing to one,” He said as a twi’lek holo-drama blared on the holo-viewer. “I really have no idea why decided to go with a guy like me, I’m not very interesting or wealthy at all. Most people assumed you’d only date a man of some kind of royalty.”

              “Sean, Let me tell you something.” Tortai looked at him with those beautiful blue eyes. “If I’ve learned anything in all my travels around this mixed up galaxy is that just because someone is of a royal family or has a lot of money, doesn’t mean they have class. You on the other hand, may not be a royal or rich, but you have a lot of class, and that’s why I like dating you.”

              “Aw, shoot,” Sean smiled. “You really mean it?”

               “Of course I do,” Tortai rubbed his right lekku. “You’re a kind and considerate person that I’m lucky to have as a boyfriend. Especially after the shock you must’ve faced after I told you who I really was.”

                 “I admit, seeing a completely different pattern of facial markings all of the sudden appear from underneath all that face paint took me aback,” Sean hugged her around the shoulder. “That’s why I was a bit despondent for a couple days, but after a while I realized you were only doing your job and that I was lucky to have such a fine lady interested in me. So I figured I’d call you back.”

                 “I’m glad you did,” Tortai turned to him with her natural face of triangles on her cheeks and curly-Q stripes on her eyebrows. “Those were the most stressful five days of my life.”

                 “Even more stressful than that time you turned yourself in on Kiros and incited that prison riot that helped free the planet?”

             “Eh,” Tortai thought it over. “About even, at least with the prison riot, everything went along pretty close to how we planned it. With you, I couldn’t be so sure since you are your own person with your own mind. I figured you would never want to speak to me again.”

                  “With a pretty voice like yours, why wouldn’t I want to speak to you?” Sean rubbed her right arm. “Plus, I love how you look, including the tats on your right arm.”

                   “I’m glad you noticed,” Tortai picked up her arm. “Even some togrutas miss that they are the traditional symbols of peace and beauty in our language. It makes me sad to have to cover them up on assignments.”

                  “I can understand why,” Sean wrapped his hands around her stomach. “They’re both words that describe you perfectly.”

          “Ah,” She cooed, turning to face him. “That’s so nice, c’mere my sweet Kirosian prince!”

         She then wrapped her hands around his face and kissed him. As they made out, a brown haired human anchorman came on the holo-viewer with the news.

          “….In inter-galactic news, bounty hunter Jericho Savage was killed today in an attempt to escape from a maximum security prison at the south pole of Taladin Seven. The bounty hunter was being held for the attempted abduction of a togrutan diplomat a month earlier and was shot dead when he tried to escape during recreation time early this morning. A prison spokesperson said it was a ‘regrettable incident’ and that they’re ‘taking measures to prevent future occurrences’. The bounty hunter had warrants for his arrest in twenty systems and was slated for extradition to New Republic space before his death.” The newsman set a paper aside.
         
            “…In financial news, Spacecraft Dynamics, recently renamed Vergesen Spacecraft Corporation; has reported its first profit since Raos’oubi Vergesen took control of the company from her brother in law Darren who went to a rehabilitation clinic on Cardia a month ago. The profit comes two weeks after the announcement of plans to build the TV-1000 super luxury liner at the company’s new manufacturing hub on Taladin Seven. It will be capable of transporting well over five thousand sentient beings at once and is the first project the company has undertaken separate of Sienar fleet systems since the end of the Clone Wars. This spacecraft will be the first spacecraft built on Taladin Seven. Prime Minister Stev Milak has pledged his full support for the project, after being assured by Rao Vergesen that all the subcontractor work would be carried out by neutral local contractors. The TV-1000 will also be the first craft to be openly sold to companies of both the New Republic and the Empire. Now over to weathercaster Barr’yillans with the five day forecast, Barry?”
The End