?I have a new assignment for you, Pilot.? The Inquisitor?s voice was curt. He set his datapad on his desk and stared at the tall, pale Twi?lek woman before him. Said Twi'lek, commonly known as Dawnstar, nodded in acknowledgement, alert to her surroundings. The zabrak edge and Imperial cadence to his words was muted somewhat by the sound of shuttle landing nearby and the drone of her swoop idling. She could smell hot hydraulic oils and the pungent marshy reek of the distant Nabooian swamp.

?It has come to my attention that you are well-placed to observe a number of individuals the Emperor considers of interest,? the Inquisitor continued with a peculiar smirk. ?While I believe you are well suited to the Imperial Inquisition, the question remains whether you have the aptitude for this. You may consider it a test of sorts - challenging at best and impossibly difficult at worst. ?

?Yes, sir,? said Dawnstar. She kept her face impassive, but knew her superior officer could feel the unease in her mind. He?d seen the horrors born of the previous ?tests? which still echoed in her dreams.

His eyes roved over the shape of her form, lingering on the lekku, the lack of weapon holsters which would normally adorn the uniform she wore. Female ... aberration... sub-human... He projected his thoughts, knowing it was not necessary to hide his disgust from an underling. ?If the Force is strong with you, failure will not be an option. Fortunately, your shortcomings as a ground combatant should not be a factor in this assignment,? the Inquisitor sneered. ?At least your loyalty has remained exemplary in the past.?

?I understand, sir.? Dawnstar respectfully looked down. Inside, her emotions were boiling. A flash of anger at the pervasive supercilious Imperial attitude, the sick sense of fear in her gut as she consider the possible nature of her assignment, and shame for feeling that way. She felt a sudden desire to get the hell off planet. Now.

?Haha, I doubt you fully understand, but you will. The Empire expects you to complete your regular patrol duties while on this assignment. Your current missions are encoded on your datapad. ? The Inquisitor smoothed his hands over his robe. He looked amused by the polite demeanor she displayed, knowing that it covered a much more mercurial nature. ?I hope that you?ll not prove my trust in you misplaced, Dawnstar.?

?Sir.? She bowed stiffly and headed back to her swoop, killing the engine before heading to the abbreviated, mountain-side starport.

?The ... subject was quite reluctant to answer the questions I posed to her,? Dawnstar explained, ?but I sensed no dishonesty when she said she was not aiding the Rebellion in any way. She had no idea that she was a clone herself. And she was quite fearful of the Empire?s attention.?

?Reluctant. . . yet fearful. At least you were not a complete failure, if you inspired fear.? The Inquisitor mused. He looked hard at the twi?lek standing before him. ?But fail, you did. Fear is not enough to motivate those who are already anxious. You did not use all of your skills in this interrogation.? His statement was acerbic, unquestioning.

After a long silence, Dawnstar nodded. ?Yes, sir.?

?Why??

?A public display, in such a lawless place as Mos Eisley, would only have drawn unwanted attention to the situation. Had I attempted to remove to a more private locale, she would likely have contacted her ex-bodyguard, who would have enjoyed stalling the completion of my mission, or killing me. And Daydr- the subject did ultimately report to the Medical Center.?

While not the complete truth of the situation, Dawnstar?s answer was the literal truth. It didn?t reveal Daydream?s Force strengths, which had begun to surpass her own, nor did it betray her loyalty to the Nightsisters she had recently taken up with. The pilot hoped that this vaguery would suffice, even as she sensed the Inquisitor probing her emotions. It felt like a violation of her mind.

-Failure.- She heard the taunting word unspoken by the Inquisitor, and she glared in response.

?You are angry.? He laughed. ?Good. I know you do not care for the clone?s ... ex-bodyguard. He would be Jensaari, you know, but that will be left to others to investigate, given your... disappointing failure.?

?I have a bad feeling about this,? muttered Dawnstar as she paced the confines of her yacht, staring at the bright and shifting nebula off the port side.

Her incautious conversation with the Clan Mother the evening prior had not gone well. When her connection to the Imperial Inquisition was revealed, a blaster had been meaningfully and quietly aimed at her chest. The bone-white Twi?lek had ultimately decided she?d rather face the possibility of death than walk away and risk a blaster bolt in the back. The later discovery that the firearm was nothing more than a toy did little to disperse her unease.

As if the Clan Mother needed a blaster to make her point.

The entire conversation, particularly the conclusion and the quest set upon her as an Initiate, had born a bitter similarity to the issue that had caused her to question her duty to the Empire. As Daydream?s trust in Dawnstar had been rapidly disintegrating, it was, more likely than not, a quest she could not complete.

Apparently I?ve no worth other than bringing back strays, she brooded. She snarled at the dim tracing of her reflection in the transparisteel window. Beyond that, energy arced in a jagged veridian flash through the nebula. She closed her eyes and saw the afterimage against her eyelids, imagined she could feel the prickle against her skin as the shields shifted to compensate for the flare.

Dawnstar returned to the controls of the ship and set them to autopilot back toward Naboo, resolving to map a path to success around the high potential of failure.