"Oh," she said, under the realization she was dreaming what she heard.

A tiny holographic starship shoot past as an asteroid flared to brilliant oblivion. She tapped the remote which shut down the projector. The booming sound of starship engine didn't cease, however. In fact, it felt all too real.

The walls quivered. Melissa sprang to her feet and dressed quickly. By the time she was outside and armed, the noise dissipated.

The oceans of Taris had been polluted thousands of years ago. Thousands of species died and the loss of that ecosystem contributed much to the planet's strive.

The smell of the poisoned sea struck her. She reached into her pocket and swallowed one of the blue pills.

Her laboratory was built on a small island with containment fields blocking off the polluted water from the purified water within. The clean water was noticeably clearer compared to the rest of the ocean which was murky with a yellow-green to brown tint. A walkway led outside the walls to the docks. Beside her yawl, a dark starship was at rest in the dead sea. A man climbed out of a hatch and approached the gates.

She recognized the light courier, the Intrepid. Confident it was Kenas Annig, she tapped the holographic interface of her data-pad; the gates unlocked. He stepped into the light. She smiled when her intuition was confirmed.

"Mr. Annig, you've found me. What are you doing out here?" she called out.

"This island stinks," Kenas replied.

They greeted with a hug and retreated back into the house to escape the stench.

While she removed her shoes, Kenas took in her home. She lived in quite comfortably, wooden floors and light blue wallpaper. He assumed the actual laboratory was located underground and the rest of the home was all hers. After removing his shoes, Kenas followed her to the study.

The room had dark carpeting and a gloomy dark green wallpaper which gave the impression of a small clearing in the forest. Shelves of holobooks and paintings covered parts of the wall. Scarlet tapestry draped over the high windows.

Melissa sat behind her desk and activated her computer with a voice command. "Please, sit," she said. "I suppose you need help in the city?"

Kenas sat in the comfort chair. "Yes, actually. I'm investigating an operation in the Undercity and might require use of your chemistry set."

"All right, all right," Melissa replied, nodding. "Do you need money?"

The corners of his mouth wrinkled with a light smile. "No, but thank you." He reached into the inner pocket of his overcoat and produced a data-chip. After he handed it over, he said, "If you have any contacts in the MPS, it would be helpful."

The information he could get from the local Metropolitan Police Service would be invaluable. The operations of the Lucian Alliance might have been condoned, Kenas had faith it wasn't. One thing he knew for sure, it definitely wasn't overlooked.

Melissa inserted the data-chip to her PC. She opened the file and began reading. "Ooh, drug lords. You're in luck, I might know someone who could help you." She typed with great care, inputting information on his data-chip. "Take my apartment, it's located in the middle city near your district. Any else I could do, just ask," she said.

Kenas bowed his head to her. This visit was more rewarding that had first anticipated. "Thank you, Melissa. I really appreciate this."

"No worries," she said, waving her hand. "What are friends for?"

--------------------------------------------

When presented with a few promising leads, Kenas made sure to follow the slanted path. To follow them as directly as possible would lead him into a dark room in which anything could be within. The simple truth was his enemies knew more than he did. If he began engaging them in the street, he would solve nothing. First, Kenas went about observing the drug dealers. They had to be supplied from somewhere. They had house the drugs somewhere. These were questions he needed answered.

Another question was who was in command of this operation. So, for as long as it took, Kenas searched for answers. The influx of drugs brought with it great suffering to an already miserable population. Kenas was intent on ending the anguish of the people in any way that he could.

Now that most of the fighting had been done for them (and the various players on Taris were sufficiently weakened that the Hutts could force them out later), the Anjiliac moved in to register Njon's displeasure. It had been waiting for some time, under a parsec away from Taris and in a parallel orbit, so that it was perpetually invisible, from Taris, against the glare of its sun. It had been only a short microjump to the planet as it had been reported that the spice from the Lucian Alliance's warehouses had been loaded onto freighters that were now attempting to leave.

"Attempting."

The air traffic above Taris was considerable, and the freighters most likely wouldn't notice the Anjiliac closing on their sensors. They certainly wouldn't see it coming, visually. But it had no problem seeing the freighters, closing on them quickly, and opening up with its formidable array of double turbolasers (apparently unconcerned with potentially missing their targets and hitting bystanders). They were also unconcerned with destroying the spice; the Hutt Cartel had plenty, and they would rather it be destroyed than be in a rival's hands. Besides, sometimes a show of force was more valuable than even credits. Thus, the Anjiliac shot to kill.

Before the freighters could reasonably evade, it was likely that at least one of the Marauder's tractor beams would have locked upon one of the freighters (in fact, all three projectors were working furiously on the other ships as well).

Thus, the Marauder continued to pound away at the freighters and destroy as many as possible (those believed to be carrying spice, that is, as their people on the ground had witnessed and reported). The tractor beams made this task especially simple. It didn't take any specific orders, however, for the gunners to avoid the Lambda-class shuttles; they were not a common vessel, and there was a distinct possibility that they could be Remnant. Now there was a faction the ire of which Njon was not as keen to provoke. Unlike the Republic, the Remnant could potentially be foolish and impulsive enough to bring force to bear on Hutt Space. Such an adventure would be unsuccessful, of course, but costly nonetheless.

Besides, the Remnant had been doing his dirty of work of late, and it would be profoundly counter-productive to be at odds with them.

The shuttles would escape unharassed, and the Anjiliac itself would depart quite soon after the last of the freighters was away. It wouldn't take long, as the spice disintegrated brilliantly in the atmosphere of Taris, for traffic control to get its wits about it and scramble fighters, or worse. The statement had been made, and Njon's people on the ground would finish the rest in due time. The Anjiliac gunned its engines, pulled free of Taris, and would imminently disappear into hyperspace.