Part 20 - Distress
Rhijans wasn't in any doubt about priorities. "Get rid of the box now...as remotely as practical, don't take it with us anywhere there might be a strong Imperial presence." It was as much as he was willing to say in front of an Imperial prisoner, even if chances of the man getting word out were highly remote. If he did, all the Empire had to go on was that they had a box, of some kind, that they didn't want the Empire to have. It was a long leap from that to 'some kind of recorded Sith sentience looking for an apprentice'.
"After that, I think we can worry about the agrocite. Judging by the look on his face when Osmur was mentioned, I suspect he hasn't really stayed up to date on events there, so we'd be back to almost no useful intel, whatsoever. We know they're still working on it...somewhere. May not even be in this sector, anymore, since the Moff has demonstrated his inability to protect such an important project from infiltrators and saboteurs." There was a twinkle in his eye as he spoke, that would only be noticed by someone watching him closely (and familiar with his mannerisms)...but his tone of voice was as dry and matter-of-fact as if he was discussing a maintenance list for a common transport.
"Once we're rid of the box, however, we should probably deliver our extra personnel...it won't do us much good to be dragging an Imperial along with us, and our other guest shouldn't be placed in the forefront of contact with the enemy." Again, the cagey reluctance to let any actual solid information about Kourene's identity slip...he honestly couldn't recall, for certain, if anyone had given away the fact that their extra crewman was the commanding officer for the Alliance forces in the area...but he wasn't going to say anything to directly confirm it.