Senator and Soldier

Discovery

"And a few of my guards will be with you," Riyo added. "Captain Tere said he sent some men along."

The door buzzed and Fox threw his helmet back on. A droid waddled into the room. "Dinner will be in five minutes," it said with a monotone voice.

"I will be there shortly," Mairin replied. The droid left. "I hope we'll be convincing." She looped her arm through Jairo's. "Let's go, Escort."

Fox bit his lip and raised a hand as they went out the door. Riyo shook her head at him. "Don't bother. Mairin is still Mairin."

A hand fell on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll keep an eye on them," Clay chuckled. "You two just worry about your investigation." He headed out behind them.

"We've got work to do. Let's go," Riyo said. Fox nodded and followed her out of the room.

Cato Neimoidia: 20 BBY
Lott Dod's Apartments
Riyo Chuchi

Fox took the lead through the dimly lit hallways. Surprisingly, there were very few guards around. "We need to find a droid," Riyo whispered. "We can download blueprints of the building and find the databanks."

"Smart thinking," Fox replied. "Luckily for us, there's one right up there."

He paused and pointed further down the hall. An astromech droid rolled into view. They sprinted down the hallway after the droid as it disappeared into another room. The droid screamed in alarm when they burst into the room behind it. Riyo quickly grabbed the droid's dome and switched it off.

Fox pulled a circular disk out of his belt and slid it into the droid. A light on its dome blinked on. Riyo crossed her arms and took a step back. The light projected a hologram of the building. Fox hooked a datapad into the droid as well and began scrolling through information.

Riyo tilted her head, curiously. "I don't see the databanks anywhere."

"It's not showing up here either. Maybe they aren't in this building," Fox replied.

"Where would they be, then?" She pulled the hood away from her face.

"Would the Federation have any reason to move their databanks for security purposes?" Fox asked, suddenly.

Riyo thought for a moment. "Yes, actually. Padmé told me that she was hired to spy on Clovis. She discovered some secret dealings between the Federation, Clovis, and the Separatists. They might've moved the data because of that."

"Then I can look for secondary locations." He turned his attention back to the datapad and typed something. A few seconds later, he held it up. "I've got it."

The projection flickered and replaced itself with another building. "Where is that?" Riyo asked, arching an eyebrow.

"The Trade Federation Archives. They're a short ways from here. We'll have to find a speeder." Fox unhooked the datapad and removed the disk from the droid. "Leave it powered off." She nodded and followed him back into the hallway.

The landing pads were close by, luckily. It didn't take long for them to find a speeder. Riyo hopped in and started up the engines. Fox climbed in beside her and switched his wrist comm on.

"We found out where they keep their data. We're on our way to investigate now," he said. "How are things down there?"

"Slow and boring," Clay replied. "So far, Mairin is doing a surprisingly good job of pretending to be the Senator."

"Keep an eye on them and keep us updated. This shouldn't take long."

"Yes, Sir."

The comm switched off again. "So, how did you meet them?" Riyo asked.