Hunt for Eila and Kel

In 34 ABY, the First Order hunted two children, siblings Eila and Kel, who were the sole survivors of the massacre of their village on their homeworld Tehar, with the intent to kill them so they could not reveal the atrocity to anyone else. As part of their search, they placed a large bounty on the children. Resistance spy Kazuda Xiono, on a mission on the Colossus platform on Castilon, heard of the bounty at a time where he was in need of credits and, not knowing who was offering it, decided to look for the children both because of the reward and because it was the right thing to do. Ultimately Xiono, with assistance from his friend Neeku Vozo and the Colossus Chelidae engineering staff, was able to save the children by faking their deaths in front of the First Order's Commander Pyre, who reported their deaths believing his mission was complete.
==Prelude==
In 34 ABY, the First Order's army, under the command of Kylo Ren, attacked the planet Tehar, in the galaxy's Unknown Regions, and massacred a village. The only survivors were two children, siblings Kel and Eila, who escaped the massacre by stowing away on a starship. Their escape did not go unnoticed, however, as the First Order quickly discovered the existence of survivors of the genocide.
In the same year, the Resistance had become aware of the First Order's interest in the Colossus, a refueling platform on the ocean planet Castilon, in the Outer Rim Territories on the edge of Wild Space. Suspecting the First Order had a spy on the platform, they had sent in one of their own, the recently-recruited Kazuda Xiono, on a mission to identify the enemy agent and what the First Order wanted on the platform. Xiono was aided by Commander Poe Dameron's astromech droid, BB-8. Unbeknownst to the Resistance, the First Order's interest in the platform was to take it over and use it as a staging area. To that end, they were staging pirate attacks on the platform, as well as putting pressure on the Colossus owner, Captain Imanuel Doza.This pressure gave Doza, who wished to retain control of his platform, a vested interest in keeping relations with the First Order cordial. Doza had recently become suspicious of Xiono after an incident in Doza Tower that had culminated in Xiono descending the side of the tower while being shot at by stormtroopers accompanying First Order Major Elrik Vonreg, who had spoken with Doza while delivering a fuel shipment.
==The hunt==
===Refugees from Tehar===
The two fugitive siblings tried to keep a low profile, stowing away on ships repeatedly in their flight. In their search, the First Order utilized their own forces and, since at this period in the Cold War were still keeping a low profile to the galaxy at large, offered a bounty of 20,000 credits for Eila and Kel. Eventually, the children came to the Colossus platform.
===Kaz's predicament===
Xiono, besides working as a spy, had a cover as a mechanic with Team Fireball at Jarek Yeager's repair shop, a job which was complicated by his lack of mechanical skills. When he was asked by Tam Ryvora to assist her and Neeku Vozo in installing a rare and expensive acceleration compensator on the Fireball, he accidentally broke the part by turning a bolt the wrong direction, which made the surly Ryvora furious with him.
Xiono promised to get a replacement compensator, but was utterly broke, leaving him in a quandary. At Aunt Z's Tavern, he overheard two other patrons discussing the bounty on Eila and Kel. Unaware of who was offering the reward, Xiono saw it as the solution to his problem and decided to search for the children, both because of the money and because it was the right thing to do. Vozo, who Xiono enlisted to help him, was skeptical, pointing out that Xiono was not a bounty hunter. Xiono took note of a carved wooden charm Kel was wearing on his wrist in the hologram.
===Hunt for the children===
The paths of Xiono and the fugitive siblings crossed in the Colossus marketplace. Hungry, Kel had stolen a bowl of food for himself and Eila from an Ugnaught vendor while he was arguing with a customer, and the vendor, incensed upon discovering the theft, had tracked the children down, beginning a foot chase through the market. Xiono, Vozo and BB-8 had also come to the market, as Xiono thought it might be the best place to start looking. After Kel and Eila's pursuer was shaken off their trail due to a collision with gorg vendor Bolza Grool, the children accidentally ran over Xiono, Vozo and BB-8. However, Eila's leg was broken during the pursuit. Initially stunned, Xiono realized who the children were when he saw Kel's charm, but, believing Xiono to be hostile, Kel angrily rejected assistance before he and his sister fled. He lost his charm in the process, and Xiono pocketed it.
Xiono wanted more eyes on the lookout for the children, so Vozo brought him to the Colossus engineering room and introduced him to his friends, the Chelidae engineering staff. Xiono was initially unimpressed, noting the shellfolk's slowness, and their tendency to go dormant at times. Vozo left a comlink with the head engineer to contact him in case they found the children. While the two young men were doing this, up in his office, Captain Doza had become aware of Xiono's altercation with the children.
===The cover-up===
As a result, when Xiono and Vozo left engineering, they were met by Doza's droid 4D-M1N, who escorted the two of them to the tower because Doza wanted to see Xiono. In Doza's office, Xiono was asked why he was looking for the children, and answered honestly: he needed the money, and it was the right thing to do. Doza asked a pointed question about who he thought would be offering such a high reward for two missing children, but Xiono did not catch his implication.
Xiono gave Doza the charm he'd picked up from Kel, and he, Vozo and BB-8 were escorted out of the tower. Doza decided to contact Captain Phasma of the First Order, and told her that he was doing so in the interests of keeping relations with them cordial. He asked her who the missing children were, and she lied that they were members of a high-ranking non-military First Order family, a claim that Doza was skeptical of. Doza told Phasma that the children had been seen on the Colossus within the past hour, but stressed that he wanted any First Order personnel who came to look for them to follow his laws while there.
===Finding refuge and friends===
Eila and Kel, after fleeing, hid in the maintenance ducts, where they discussed the loss of their homeworld, and Eila revealed she thought her leg was broken. They were quickly found by the Chelidae, who brought them back to engineering. After leaving Doza Tower, Xiono and Vozo went back to the repair shop, where Ryvora was not happy about Xiono returning empty-handed, without the part he'd promised her. Vozo was contacted by the Chelidae, who told him they'd found the children. Before Xiono could leave again, Ryvora made him take the broken compensator so he could match up the specs for a new one.
When he got to engineering, Xiono left the compensator on the floor before going to see the children. Kel and Eila still thought he meant them no good, but this time, Xiono was able to talk to them. They told him that, contrary to reports, they weren't missing, but runaways, as they had no home to go back to, and told him about the attack on Tehar by a lightsaber-wielding man in black, Kylo Ren, and his army. Xiono deduced that the First Order had been responsible, and promised to protect the siblings. However, Eila's broken leg required medical supplies, so Xiono, Vozo and BB-8 accompanied Kel to the market.
===Escaping the First Order===
The First Order's Commander Pyre and at least two stormtroopers arrived at the Colossus to search for their quarry. After buying some medicinal herbs in the market, Vozo, Xiono and Kel saw Pyre and his troopers interrogating a vendor. They attempted to flee the market without being seen by the stormtroopers, but were spotted, so Xiono, Vozo and Kel, on BB-8's suggestion, escaped down a level in a chute, while Pyre and his troopers pursued by a more conventional route. Upon arriving back at engineering, they sealed the room with the heavy blast door, but knew that it wouldn't last long.
At this point, Xiono finally learned that the First Order had put the bounty on the siblings. They didn't know why the Order was chasing them, and Kel suspected that it wouldn't stop as long as they were alive. As the engineering room was a dead end, there appeared to be no escape, but Xiono, having an idea, had a grate in the floor lifted, exposing the ocean below. Vozo was skeptical, wondering if Xiono meant for them all to fall to their deaths.
By the time Pyre and his stormtroopers gained entry to the engineering room, Xiono's plan was in place. He, Vozo, BB-8 and some of the Chelidae hid in the maintenance space underneath the floor, around the gap to the ocean below. Kel and Eila stayed in the room above, right by the hole. When Pyre entered, he demanded to know where the children were, and the Chelidae present in the room moved to reveal Kel and Eila standing by the open grate. Pyre approached them and demanded they submit to him and his troopers, and Kel proclaimed that the siblings would never do that, before they jumped through the hole.
The children were caught and pulled out of sight into the area below the floor, while two waiting Chelidae jumped into the ocean. When Pyre and his troopers arrived at the hole, all they saw was the splash below. The two shellfolk slowed their vital signs, so when the First Order personnel scanned the water for lifesigns, they saw what appeared to be the signatures of two people drowning. Thus, it appeared as though the First Order's ultimate goal of the children's deaths had been achieved.
==Aftermath==
Before leaving the Colossus, Pyre received instructions to report to Phasma, and via hologram, told her the children were "no more". Pleased, Phasma ordered him to return to base, and he and his troopers departed the platform. Kel and Eila were given safe haven by the Chelidae, who gave them the offer to stay with them as long as they liked.
One of the Chelidae had repaired the broken compensator, so Xiono returned it to Ryvora, who was pleasantly surprised. When he told her the repair job had been done by some friends of his, she jokingly asked him if he had any other secrets he was keeping from her, which prompted an unconvincing denial before Xiono swiftly excused himself.
Reporting in to the Resistance, Xiono spoke to Ello Asty, who was taking calls as Dameron was on a mission. Xiono reported both the massacre on Tehar, and that Ren had led it, and was told that General Leia Organa would be very interested in the intel about Kylo Ren because what Xiono didn't know was that Kylo Ren was General Organa's son.
==Appearances==
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==Sources==
*Star Wars: Timelines
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==Notes and references==
Category:Battles of the Mission on the Colossus platform