Bankor

Hearing that the commander wanted to speak with him, Niall wasn't about to sit around waiting.

He rose early, dressing, shaving, using the refresher, all in plenty of time to arrive bright and early at Jace's door. Well, early, anyway; some of the internal lighting was still running in night mode. Straightening, Niall pressed the door buzzer.

The door slid open to the large spacious room of the Commander, well more his office. He rose and said, “I am glad you could come here so swiftly, things have been chaotic, but I have a situation that I need your input on. I don’t mean to be cryptic but this is troubling.”

Niall saluted as he stepped inside, waiting for the door to close behind him before speaking.

"Of course." Right to the point; just what he expected from Jace. "What can I do for you, Commander?"

Jace brought up an image on a large monitor of a woman leaving a room, a woman that looked a lot like Luth, well no it was her. The room belonged to an officer that committed suicide just over a week ago. Jace frowned and said, “You know this woman?”

Niall blinked. "Yes, I do. That's Luth Khalan. She's an SIS agent. Has worked deep cover in the past. It's rather complicated actually."

He looked at Jace, his brows drawing down. "Why?" He asked. He could feel cold fear begin to grip his heart.

“Because she would be the last one to see Major Vuru alive, which means she was there before he died or after,” he said grimly.

"I see." Niall said softly.

After a moment, he shook his head firmly. "It must be something related to SIS. Something they're having her do." His lips pressed together. "Were they investigating him? This wouldn't be the first time that they've done something under the table, so to speak."

"Look into it, quietly, and report back to me, the last thing we need is this going public," he said with a bit of exasperation.

Niall saluted sharply. "Right away, sir. I won't let you down." He sighed. "I apologize again for not being faster on Captain Hurn. It was a challenge to build a case against her. I... should have expected she'd try to run before I had enough."

He straightened. "I assure you, I'll get to the bottom of this quickly."

“As far as I am concerned you removed a bad element from my unit, you succeeded,” he replied.

Niall grimaced, but didn't argue the point.

He cleared his throat. "May I use your commconsole, sir? It's rather better secured than mine. And I've got an SIS contact that I'd like to speak to."

"Handle it, Captain," he said with a nod.

With a nod, Niall moved to the commconsole.

He would call Agent Wren... but first he fired off a quick message to T7. He knew the Bad Droid would want to be on whatever case Niall was working.

Once that was done, he called Agent Wren.

Agent Wren appeared on the secure holo-channel. She smiled and said, “Captain Alderann, how can I help you?”

Niall chuckled. "Good to see you too, Agent Wren."

But this was a serious matter. His lips pressed together firmly. "Wren, there's another matter I was looking into. The suicide of a Major Vuru. An SIS agent, Luth Khalan, was recorded leaving his quarters at around the time of his death. I was hoping you could tell me anything about what she's working on, and if Major Vuru was a person of interest."

“Luth isn’t active for any of my missions. As for Major Vuru, well that is classified but seeing as you asked nicely he was under some suspicion of being a mole for the Empire we have been seeding him with false information. Standard counter-espionage stuff, but we never authorized his removal from play.”

"I do ask nicely." Niall said dryly.

He frowned. "Do you think you could look into it a little more? Luth could have been on a mission for someone else. And it wouldn't be the first time someone in SIS exceeded their authority. Just like the last time we talked."

“I will take a look but if someone is running a black ops off the books situation it won’t be on any system I can access. I will do my damndest to find out though, anything else?” she asked.

"Good point." Niall grimaced.

He was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "I suppose I'll need to look around, then. I could ask her..." His lips tightened. "This is a little awkward. She's a friend."

“Well that is a rough situation and I don’t envy you, but you got to do what is best for the Republic, Captain Alderann,” she smiled sympathetically.

Niall's lips quirked. "As always."

He sighed. "Thank you again, Agent. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you."

"Stay pretty," she said ended the call.