SWRPF Archive 11 BBY - Empire in Crisis - The Jedi Reborn - The Second Clone War

GM Approved!


Name: Raine Vartan
Age: 27
Species: Human
Planet of Birth: Unknown (Lianna)
Gender: Female
Appearance: Dark brown hair (cut short), brown eyes, lightly tanned skin, tall and wiry. Cybernetic left hand due to a war injury.
Affiliation: Empire
Allegiance: Empire
Rank: Imperial Inquisitor
Weapons: Lightsaber, blaster pistol, various vibroblades hidden on her person
Personal ship: GAT-12m Skipray Blastboat, modified to allow an astromech to take over the copilot and sensor operator functions
Bio:
Once upon a time, Raine Vartan was a Jedi like any other. She attended classes, studied philosophy, knew no other life but that of the Temple on Coruscant where she had been raised, and at thirteen she was chosen as a Padawan by Master Mia Regann, a female Miraluka from Alpheridies.

The next few years were spent travelling the Outer Rim on peacekeeping duties, rarely returning to Coruscant: Regann preferred to report to the Council in via holocomm rather than travel back to the Temple. She claimed to be able to see the will of the Force just as well from the edge of the galaxy than at the centre, and professed a dislike for unnecessary travel, but Raine was always privately certain her Master simply liked the freedom to do as she pleased without interference from the Council.

When the Clone Wars broke out, Raine and Master Regann were recalled from the Outer Rim and sent to the front lines. Tragically, Mia Regann perished early in the campaign, the victim of a stray missile blast that took her out and half their clone troopers. Raine, wounded and reeling from the loss of her Master, survived to report back to Coruscant - where she would become one of many Padawans orphaned by the war.

The next two years were a blur of Masters and missions. Sometimes a Jedi Knight or Master could be spared to supervise, but mostly Raine served as one of a group of Padawans, assigned because there were no Knights available. She grew accustomed to leading clone squads into battle, to making decisions where the cost was measured not in credits, but in lives. She killed more than she cared to remember. It got easier as time went on.

When Order 66 came out, Raine and her temporary Master were in command of a squad of clone troopers. Her Master had just sent Raine ahead as a forward scout when the clone troopers cut him down; she had watched, enraged and horrified, before fleeing for her life. She was on the run for a while, but a lone Padawan - even one more familiar with the Outer Rim fringes than most - could not elude the Jedi hunters forever. And in the end, Raine grew tired of running. She fought back, killing the first Inquisitor on her tail - a victim of overconfidence, for he had not expected such resistance from a Padawan - before being captured by a second.

After all she had been through, it was not especially difficult for the Inquisitor to turn Raine to the dark side. She was hungry for a purpose again, for the sense of belonging she had lost with her first Master - and she had long begun to resent the Jedi Order, who had sent her and the friends she had lost on mission after mission like disposable attack neks. An Inquisitor was born.

 

IC: Grand Moff Trachta

?Care to share my airlimo to Eastport? I feel that us mere mortals should discuss our comrades? no??

Trachta, at first, believed he had misheard, and that Kya was being overtly friendly - discuss as comrades. When the truth struck Trachta, Kya seemed a far more calculating man. He sought to make alliances, and to strategize. Another wave broke upon the Grand Moff - "..us mere mortals."

How much did Kya know or suspect?

"Yes," Trachta replied with a cordial grin. Extending an arm, he continued, "Lead the way."

TAG: Sinre

 

Sinrebirth approved!

Name: Lurek Darkray
Age: 21
Species: Human
Planet of Birth: Muunilinst
Gender: Male
Appearance: Lurek stands at an average of 5'10, and has dark brown shoulder length hair that falls from a centre parting to cover his usually pale face. Lurek is seen mostly wearing a black reinforced jacket over a black jumpsuit and boots.
Affiliation: Fallen Jedi
Allegiance: Empire
Rank: Adept
Weapons: Lightsaber (red)
Personal ship: N/A
Bio: Lurek was part of a rich and noble family that settled on Muunilinst during the Invasion of Naboo, a planet of which they originally came from. The family always justified their departure as luck, as they were part of a street that resided in Spinnaker, the last village to be conquered in the Trade Federation's quest for domination and escaped a very grim fate. Lurek's connection to the force was through his father, Zuram, who struggled with the temptations of the dark side itself before he ended that chapter of his life after resignation from the Jedi.

Zuram Darkray took on an occupation as a banker working for the InterGalactic Banking Clan, and quickly rose in rank to executive officer, where he organized roles and positions within the establishment. He made the costly mistake of denying Pors Tonith, also a rising employee, position of admiral. Shortly after, Count Dooku saw to it that Pors was given the rank, as the bank agency needed more staff with a military mindset. Still bitter about Zuram's decision, Pors took it upon himself to have Zuram killed during the Battle of Muunilinst. But under orders from a much higher authority.

Pors told Zuram's wife, through a display of smug confidence, that her husband had died under executive orders of a Jedi. Little did she know that this was a lie, and the Jedi would have avoided such an incident at all costs. Pors was right in a sense; the Jedi in question was Count Dooku, dark Jedi, who believed that Zuram Darkray was far too charitable with the Republic to be let off more than once. Young Lurek grew up with nothing but misplaced anger for the Jedi, promising himself that he would find someway to make them suffer.

Lurek has had brief training, through dusty Jedi tuition books that his father had left behind. He has worked on the motives for his father's death, and has learned that his father had taken a voluntary exile from the Jedi Order after discovering he had a penchant for acts that some would regard 'divergent' of Jedi standards.

At some point, Lurek enrolled within the Empire and having found that the Jedi were branded traitors, has pushed himself to get back at the Jedi in any way possible.

 

IC: Sergeant Adenn
Kaminoa, Tipoca City, Lower Levels

The breaching charge was more then enough to take out the door, the obstacle vanishing beneath the explosive power of the charge. Adenn had been skeptical at first, finding it hard to believe that the door to a room that held Taun We would be so flimsy and not reinforced. But seeing now the open entryway into the next room Adenn waved his troops forward as he stood up and charged forth, jumping through the doorway and bringing his DC-15 up, having high expectations that, if not the door, then something had to be in the room itself to stop Adenn and his squad from taking Taun We.

Which was why he was surprised when nothing was stopping or at least shooting them. The room was bare, in fact. Well, there was a hole in the ceiling that could've only been caused by a large detonation, there was Taun We as well, and there was...

Boba Fett?

Adenn had instantly thought that it was a clone when he saw the T-shaped visor, and having been fighting them for quite a while now he had instinctively brought up his rifle but managed to halt from shooting when he took in the rest of the armor and saw that it was, indeed, Boba Fett, the bounty hunter that had been hired by the Empire for this battle thanks to his extensive knowledge of Kamino. Must've been sent down to help capture Taun We as well when Adenn and the rest of his fellow troopers had run into the extensive resistance that had been set up against them.

"Boba Fett," Adenn greeted, stepping forward, lowering his blaster rifle a bit but still on guard while he signaled his troops to spread out and secure the room. Who knew if this bare room was actually a facade to conceal whatever hidden weaponry or reinforcements that Taun We may have. "It seems that you have managed to beat us to her."

He wished he still had his helmet, as now he found his eyes staring at the visor of the bounty hunter's own helmet while he stopped in front of Boba and Taun We. "We can take it from here. I'll make sure to notify Cagi that you were the one that secured her."

It reminded Adenn that his comlink was still offline, not allowing him to hear whatever order Cagi may be giving out right this minute. He should probably turn it back on soon and notify his superior that Taun We was now their prisoner.

TAG: Sinrebirth, TheManinBlack

 

IC: Raine Vartan

Arkania, Depths

Standing at the mine entrance, Raine suppressed a sigh. That the clone garrison had at first tried to deal with the Jedi themselves didn't surprise her, but it did make her life more difficult. If they had only called it in earlier ... More than a dozen clones were now missing, presumed dead, and Serifa Altunan had long fled into the abandoned mines.

A mistake. Now there was nowhere to run... But Altunan must have known that, surely. Intrigued, Raine had pulled her file from the archive records before departing. Altunan, it turned out, was deserter of the Clone Wars, so technically former Jedi, but the manner in which she conducted herself suggested she still clung to the old tenets. Not one Raine had known personally back in the day, but the file had been interesting reading.

Her interest, though, was purely professional. It suited Raine just fine to be hunting her former brethren.

Now Raine nodded at the clone sergeant, standing stiffly at attention in front of her. "Very well. Pull your men out of the mines, I'll deal with her myself. If you haven't already, secure all known exits; make certain she doesn't leave, Sergeant, by any means necessary. Comm me if anything changes."

Satisfied that the clones would carry out their orders - they always did - the Inquisitor spun on her heel and strode into the mines, her mind turning towards the hunt. The Force swirled around her, as always, and Raine bent its power towards finding her quarry ... yes ... Altunan's presence was like a beacon. So either the Jedi couldn't mask herself, or she wasn't bothering.

Either she was stupid, or this might actually be fun.

Only one way to find out. Raine made her way unhurriedly through the mines, following her intuition.

TAG: Sinre

 

IC: Troy Heimdal
Aboard ISD Caduceus, Anaxes, Core

"I shall inform Director Isard so he can inform your supervisors of the change in plans, and direct them to meet you at Arkania. Brashin out."

Frei blinked. "Well, that was a surprise, sir. The forces you requested have been deployed and prepared, however, sir. Orders?"

Heimdal watched as, after he had acknowledged his new orders, Grand General Brashin's face dissolved from the display field of the main comms station. Troy laughed his characteristic and sarcastic laugh, and turned to his lieutenant, "Good work, Frei. But now, we're going to have to swap out the stormtroopers aboard those assault transports with regular Naval Troopers prepped for heavy operations, see to it, I'll take over the bridge."

Frei nodded and turned to leave the bridge to carry out his orders as Heimdal called back over his shoulder, "Oh and lieutenant? We can't let this new turn of events slow us down at all. While we head to Arkania, deploy the shuttles here and have them monitor the probes' signals and relay any findings to us, I want up to date intel on those systems long before we get there, we can't let this pit stop slow down our momentum. Go."

The lieutenant darted off.

Troy paced to the head of the bridge until the cool of the vacuum radiating from beyond the transparisteel viewport made the hair on his neck stand up. He took a moment to wonder the cause of this sudden redistribution of soldiers. Admittedly, everything in the Empire seemed chaotic all of a sudden. He was still awful curious as to the content of the message Teshik had mentioned from the Indefatigable that had been confiscated by Intelligence. It would probably be of use to a man in my situation...probably even tells what's wrong with the troopers on board my ship, he thought with a smirk. "Now that would be too convenient," he said quietly aloud before his thought was interrupted by a message on his comlink from Frei.

"Captain, the shuttle crews have been changed out and are safely away."

"Very good, get back up here," he said shortly before turning to his mighty vessel's helm station, "Navigation, set your course for the Arkania system and jump when ready."

After a few short minutes, alert kalxons began to ring in the back of Heimdal's ears and the stars before him elongated as the Caduceus ripped itself from the bonds of realspace and rocketed into the tumbling realm of hyperspace. They would be at Arkania soon.

TAG: Sinrebirth, Any

 

Arden Lai
Aboard the Charter, Imperial Center orbit, Core

Arden let herself be lead towards the rear of the cargo bay. Outside her musings, she noticed how large it was. And, also, how completely unmanned. This would be a good spot to hide contraband, if one so wished. She noted that without a sound and turned her mind on Cannon?s words.

She had heard of the Empire, but in the far reaches of space, she hadn?t been touched by the information. It was a standard regime change. She had seen two when she was a cub, back on Cathar. However, now that she was back in the Core, she was already feeling the strain that the Empire had on the people. She had seen it in the passengers and even in the captain of this very vessel.

They were weary, afraid. It was worse than she had ever seen. Arden nibbled on her bottom lip. And, now, it seemed, the market was on a decline. So, the Empire was organized. Amazingly so, for only having been instated for a decade. Whoever was up top, had some ingenious planning.

However, Cannon had infiltrated them. It made her wonder? She pushed that thought down. She needed to see her family, before she even thought about reverting to her old ways. But, it was a hard thing to quell. She still thought like a criminal, after all those years.

Cannon pulled her to a extravagant escape pod, no doubt to be used only by the higher ups. He explained that he had rigged the sensors to fail for a short period, so they could escape. Arden admired his ingenuity. He then said, ?We'll need to get you into the Alien Protection Zone, before the Empire arrests you for your 'protection'. Apparently zealous Imperials might gun down non-humans the moment they're seen outside that zone.?

That seemed the perfect place to start her search for her parents. If they were still on Coruscant, that?s where they would have to be. And, if they had left, maybe she could find someone who knew them. Arden was still thinking about that when Cannon pulled her into his arms. He embraced her, as before, but, this time, lay a kiss on her cheek. Arden blushed profusely. Her heart fluttered lightly. That bothered her, but she couldn?t speak against it.

Cannon spoke again, ?Ready to go? I'll answer any question you have when we're going down, Arden, I promise." Arden replied with a curt nod, but didn?t talk. As per his advice, she would do so, when they were underway. Cannon shut the pod?s hatch. Arden let herself drop into the posh cushioned seat. Cannon typed another code into a keypad, and Arden leaned back, watching his back move with his breathing.

The air in the escape pod pressurized and they jettisoned. Cannon took his seat. Arden marveled at the smoothness of the craft. She backtracked, thinking about what she wanted to ask him. It only took a second, before she blurted out, ?Your marshal disguise was quite handy, Cannon. Have you been working on it for long? But, how deep does it go?? He would know what her last question meant. It was standard criminal talk for asking how realistic the disguise was. Sure, it was great to work with a fleeting glance, but if he had the paperwork to back it up, it may be invaluable.

True to her nature, Arden didn?t wait for a response. She was already thinking about the next question. This one was more about interest, than value. She said it slower, ?If the market?s down?, what have you been doing??

Tag: Sinre

 

IC: Tagg Sivrak
Ando City, Ando, Mid Rim

The General followed them out close on their heels, something he didn't mind all that much. If he wanted he could even make his death look like an accident or casualty of war and most likely not have it looked into, if it weren't for Recce and killing him wasn't an option so he was stuck with a gun ho General to baby sit as well.

Although, he mussed grudgingly as he placed his filter on, the ability to get warnings without delaying action does have its bonus'. The whole place seemed like it was being fumigated, most likely worse, another thing to forget about and stay focused on the task of living through this day.

Of course that wave of hopeful idealism was squished rather quickly as the General opened his mouth a second time commenting on his actions, stogy old man. Wonder if he was given a blaster and told to shoot his a man that he found out moments before was his brother how he would react then, probably not as well as this soldier he seemed to think of as only a clone.

However, from what he could plainly see the beachhead had been landed and was quickly spreading, what once was a welcomed site of salvation or redeployment having taken on the distasteful affects of an invasion or clanker waves on a late evening. Especially by how they killed indiscrimanately Ando species and Imperial personel alike. Something which the General stated by using different obvious facts.

Taking a peak over the edge and zooming with his range-finder he quickly made the minor calculations that came into play when shooting packets of contained plasma and laser energy. What met him was interesting, a group of clones were down, near the front. A clone went down and placed what appeared to be a shaped charge near the corpses, and then rejoined the line. He scanned the rest of them, and clones were doing it all the front line, being careful not to walk upon the explosives. This was most intrigueing, perhaps his earlier analogy was correct. That or else there was something special about this batch that whoever was using them didn't want them to know about as far as he willing to let his mind roam. But there was more then one way to shell a mineral-fish as the Ando might say. Thinking of which...

The building shook slightly as a horde of Ando's burst into the building in their typical brute fashion. The General Coll finally aquiesced on his hard brain blocked nature giving Recce the post that the man would be better suited for in this twisted situation. He then got a facefull of orders as Coll swung on him giving his command ever so vaguely to slow them down, his favorite type of order. A clear objective with plenty of wiggle room to complete it while tying a slip knot.

Taking sites he made out his spray pattern, poking up with sniper rifle ready he stitched the five most commanding indivuals on the side of the advancing column, three on the left and two on the right edges before ducking back down again. He could hear Recce shooting, doing a similar pattarn. Opening small comm link to the man he asked a question that was starting to form what the General had said, "You know the general has me thinking."

"Never a good sign Tagg." Recce responded with some light humor. Something they never seemed to lack in combat, a trait he admirred of those clones that wore it well.

With a soft grunt he started to get lined up on five more, two of which were lowering those explosive charges. "Maybe with a wide broadcaste we could redirect insurgents and populace to fight these barves."

"Just a second..." he heard several shots before Recce continued, "Your patched through, the audience is all yours."

His mouth dropping slightly at the impromtu backfire of his question he popped up firing the five shots in quick succession. "Hey, you tusked faced, mutated conglomeration of a bunch of worthless bones. Yes I'm talking to you misreable Aqualish. Are you so scarred of a fight for your very homes that you'ld rather shoot a few lone

 

Kay Koda/ Toola Wastelands/ Toola

The two Jedi had been walking for almost close to an hour through the cold wastelands of Toola. The indigenous Motmot?s howl in the distance could be heard through the slight snow storm. Kay wondered where they were going and how long it would take them, he wasn?t really as anatomically prepared as K?Kruhk was, considering that Kay didn?t have fur.

Slowly but surely the two finally came to the entrance of an old cave, one Kay had not known about despite his time on Toola. They entered to find an old Jedi, obviously Master T?un. He was older than Kay had imagined, he was not expecting that a human Jedi could live as long as he had.

The old Jedi master used to the force to pulled the holocrons out of the satchel and towards him. Kay almost reached for them, afraid they would be broken since they were the only precious force objects he had left. Master T?un raised his hand, a gesture for Kay to stand back. He looked over them for a little while, inspecting them and feeling what information they contained through the force. Kay sat on a rock, waiting for what the old master had to say about these holocrons. Minutes passed before Master T?un looked up in shock and scowled, he looked over at Kay.

"These are fakes, Kay Koda. Created by the Emperor, with slight adjustments to Jedi teachings to push unsuspecting Force users towards the dark side. How long have you been using them?"

?A?a few years, but I had no idea?I mean I haven?t felt the effects at all. I bought them off a marketer whose allegiance was to the Old Republic. I had no idea,? said Kay in shock at the recent discovery. If these had been augmented by the Emperor, then could they have led the Empire here? Who would be coming to claim him, stormtroopers, bounty hunters, Darth Vader himself? It was only a matter of time before they would find him and the two other Jedi, but they hopefully they were going to be burning lines and be far away from this planet before any of those possible hunters arrived.

Tag: Sinre

 

IC: Boba Fett
Kamino, Tipoca City, Lower Levels

"Only I can read that datacard, Boba." she said, softly. "I have sequenced it so it will wipe out it's data if anyone attempts to slice it without the correct code. Kaminoans do not make the mistake humans do, forgetting codes and putting them in wrongly." Taun We blinked her eyes, slowly.

Boba almost opened his mouth, in his very short life in this Galaxy, he met a good number of slicers who no doubt could have done that. It was one of the reasons he still worked with Jaba, despite his?unpleasant?personality. Now wasn?t the time for conversation, he heard the Storm Troopers set a charge and it would go of any minute now. He could get her out of this need be. Would be the first time he had to shoot his way out of a room. But out of an entire Imperial controlled area?


"I can use this data to unravel the aging process, Boba. Surely you have considered that you will deteriorate, Boba?" Taun We began to say. "I can save you from death, Boba..."

It was then Boba lost all respect to the woman. Maybe it was because he was still new to this, maybe because it was because of how text book case yet calm her words where. But he had let this Kaminoan women get not only the chance to beg, but to have him actually consider it. Stupid of him to say the least. Was he still this much of a novice, that this still happened to him? Was he this alone, that a supposed fried would pull this on him of all things, the friendship card. And now the classic, your going to die card. All clones died younger than usual. Usually when they where older though. Given the fact he had no growth hormone manipulation let alone gene manipulation to accelerate his aging, he might last longer with the problem then if he would even if they succeeded in fixing it. Messing with genes this late in a life time was a tricky business. And to do something so risky for something that would only hurt him much further down the road was stupid. When would this hit him? When he was sixty or seventy? Maybe next she would promise him if he saved her, he wouldn?t have to worry about hang nails and paper cuts? He was glad he was wearing a helmet, he didn?t want her to see how much his face was fuming in anger. Just then the door to the lab exploded and Storm Troppers swarmed the room. Good.

"Boba Fett," Adenn greeted, stepping forward, lowering his blaster rifle a bit but still on guard while he signaled his troops to spread out and secure the room. It seems that you have managed to beat us to her."

Boba head rose slowly trying to keep any venom out of his voice, as he found his eyes meeting those of The Storm Trooper Sergeant the man stopped in front of Boba and Taun We. "We can take it from here. I'll make sure to notify Cagi that you were the one that secured her."

?Good?? Boba began looking down at Adenn?s arm band to identify his rank ?Sergeant?tell your men they shouldn?t be looking for weapons or anything. The Kaminoans would be arrogant and impractical to put them this far down in the facility.? He said softly while turning his head and glaring at Taun We. He turned back to Adenn and smiled underneath his mask.

?Look for an escape path or vehicle though, and then, as they say, follow the trail. You might be able to tie up more loose ends. Her inability to prioritize simple matters may have cost her and her people everything. Of course for advising on how to clean up this little disaster of a rebellion, I expect a bonus. Speaking of loose ends, wasn?t your squad supposed to return to the top level. Due to another squad being wiped out. Might not have too, might just have to get her to tell her troops to surrender ? Boba said softly turning to Taun We. He removed his helmet revealing to Adenn their identical features. The computer was shot?literally, and it was the only way to communication done quickly as possible was like this.

? Let me offer you a counter offer. Give Adenn the Datacard, set my helmet?s comlink on your clones frequency and tell your men

 

IC: Lei'Vor
The Handy Helper, Sentran II, Outer Rim
___________________________________________________________________________


The entire bar suddenly burst into action. Or atleast Lei'Vor's secondary target the Jedi Neth had. The former Jedi had reacted instantly as soon as he had been pointed to, as had the bartender.

"Wonderful" Lei'Vor muttered under his breath at the same time as Neth's cry of 'Stormies' rolling to the side to dodge the flying table Lei'Vor drew his lightsaber from his belt quickly standing to his feet and using the force in a rather untuned fashion to find the location of the bartender, Killian.

Sensing his target within the force Lei'Vor attempted to make a slash at the bartender. Lei didn't care whether he killed or simply disabled his targets, except the Jedi Lei wanted him dead. Quickly after his attempt, without even checking to see if his oponent was properly injured or not Lei'Vor propelled himself to the Quarren.

Using the force Lei'Vor managed to clumsily land on the table the Quaren had been sitting at. His blade swinging in a wide arc aiming to kill all three of the traitors at once. Though it was a simple attack it was also rather efficent, it was quick and didn't waste any energy which Lei'Vor knew he would need to deal with the Jedi standing in the room.

Tag: Sinre

 

IC: Sergeant Adenn
Kamino, Tipoca City, Lower Levels

?Look for an escape path or vehicle though, and then, as they say, follow the trail. You might be able to tie up more loose ends. Her inability to prioritize simple matters may have cost her and her people everything. Of course for advising on how to clean up this little disaster of a rebellion, I expect a bonus. Speaking of loose ends, wasn?t your squad supposed to return to the top level. Due to another squad being wiped out. Might not have too, might just have to get her to tell her troops to surrender ?

Adenn just stared silently at the other man, saying nothing about the brought up subject about a bonus. The veteran wasn't in charge of the Empire's credits, just it's soldiers. At the advisement of looking for an escape path or vehicle though, Adenn sent three of his squad to go and look for one. The rest of his squad remained in the room with him where, despite Fett's...helpful advice, Adenn was still roped into standard procedures to make sure that a taken area was indeed secure. The Kaminoans already had enough surprises from their rebel army to the long, excruciating fight in the lower levels. And having been ordered to actually forget about Taun We when he had been right at the door to her office, Adenn just wanted to make sure that she wasn't going to launch anymore surprises to get more of his people killed and allow her to escape.

And it was that order to forget about Taun We that Fett was now addressing. With the fighting seeming to have ended for now, Adenn was now able to reflect on his actions in response to the order and felt a bit of shame. He had ignored it to make sure to capture Taun We and to have his brothers not die in vain, but there probably had been other clone troopers that had died in the ambush that he could've supported. Still, that had been his choice and he was sticking to it.

"The comms have had some difficulties down here, sir," Adenn replied, which was true. It just didn't happen to be a comm malfunction though which the Sergeant was still going to have to try and explain to Cagi. Hopefully the capture of Taun We would calm him somewhat.

That worry was put on hold, however, when Fett pulled off his helmet. Despite himself, Adenn had stiffened at the face that was now revealed to him. He had the same face.

The veteran tried not to stare but the fact was that he was staring. Boba Fett had the same face as he did, the same face that his brothers had, and the same face that the other clone troopers had. Was this man the donor of the genes that now made up Adenn's and every other clone's being? Had to be.

? Let me offer you a counter offer. Give Adenn the Datacard, set my helmet?s comlink on your clones frequency and tell your men to back down or I give you the fabled fate worse then death.?

Adenn was able to stop himself from visibly stiffening this time when the bounty hunter raised his blaster and pointed it at Taun We, audibly setting it to kill rather then stun...which was not part of Adenn's orders. He was supposed to capture Taun We, meaning to bring her back alive. He stopped himself from saying anything though and just figured that Fett was just trying to intimidate Taun We into calling off her clone troopers.

...

He hoped that that was all Fett was doing.

TAG: Sinrebirth, TheManinBlack

 

IC: Valara Saar
~Aboard the Corellian Mantle, near Bpfassh, Outer Rim~

---

As Valara entered the mess, the four crew members turned to look at her and Marl, who had apparently decided to follow her. The room was filled with a tense silence as the murmured chatter from the crew ceased upon their arrival. Valara, although concerned, made it a general rule to appear oblivious - best not to let others know what you were thinking. She smiled at the crew and led Zeev over to a table in the corner. Marl exchanged a few words with the crew members, who, one by one, deserted the mess. Valara glanced at Zeev; the feathers on the back of his neck were standing on end - a sign that he was ready to fight. Something was very wrong. She sensed betrayal in the air, but couldn't bring herself to believe it of Marl's crew. Still, she hadn't survived this long by being naive.

[color=indigo][i]"Valara, follow me."[/i][/color]

She complied, Zeev following closely by her side. They passed one of the crew - Garm, she believed - and Marl ignored his excuse about a pressure leak. Valara could have sworn that she spotted a blaster hidden beneath the man's pillow...

The Captain eventually led her into the cargo bay; a largely unremarkable dark room filled with crates. The first thing she noted, however, was the lack of Pynt, who had claimed to be headed for this room. Marl locked the door behind her, then reached for a bulkhead - or so she thought.

[color=indigo][i]"There's no cam's in the cargo bay, so don't worry. Marka is informing the Bpfasshi about us, or, at very least, you."[/i][/color]

Great, Valara thought, that was just what she wanted - a welcoming committee, and one that would likely turn them over to the Empire. But she was yanked from her thoughts as, to her surprise, the apparently plain bulkhead revealed several screens, each displaying the contents of the cockpit's computers. Marl studied the displays for a moment, then announced that they were reverting. As he spoke, a text message scrolled past on the screen, something that Valara could understand of her own accord;

[color=seagreen]POSSIBLY TWO, NOT ONE. PLEASE STANDBY.[/color]

Valara stood in silence as Marl sighed; she knew that the betrayal would hit him the hardest. It was a lot for a man to take in one day. Then he turned to her, obviously resolved to deal it and move on. A typical leader.

[color=indigo][i]"I don't suppose you're willing to take out my crew and give seeing the Bpfasshi a miss today?"[/i][/color]

Valara slumped onto a nearby crate. Resting her face in her palms, she struggled to concentrate on the problem at hand, feeling like a child lost in a sea of darkness. Zeev put a paw on her leg, tilting his head to one side out of concern. Valara knew she couldn't fall apart now, especially when someone was depending on her. Quietly she repeated the ancient mantra from her sacred scroll to herself;

[color=darkblue]"There is no emotion, there is peace."[/color]

Those words had become like a security blanket to her over the years, clearing her thoughts, allowing her to focus. Finally, she lifted her head, fixing her gaze on Marl;

[color=darkblue]"I think you've convinced me to cancel my prior engagement."[/color] Her voice was flat, the humour dissipated. [color=darkblue]"It's just too dangerous for the two of us, especially if the Bpfasshi have already contacted the Empire. Zeev and I wouldn't have any problems giving them the slip, but..." [/color]

She trailed off, realising that the last thing Marl needed was to be made to feel like a dependant child.

[color=darkblue]"As for the crew, not unless we have to. I will not attack anyone unless in self-defence. Or until all other options are ruled out."[/color]

Valara studied the cargo bay. There had to be another way. Most of the small room was filled with crates, but in between two stacks of cargo, she caught sight of an air vent. Now there was an idea...

[color=darkblue]"As far as I can see, we have three options."

 

IC: Mother Cappie
Pedestrian Walkway, Level 109, Exterior of Fordox Commercial Residence Tower, Nar Shaddaa

"Hired assassins, I reckon. I heard Maelku had some pretty deep contacts with the Senex Lords, so it wouldn't surprise me if they hired some heavyweights if Maelku irritated them. We were probably afterthoughts."

Cappie's first instinct was to assume Badure was right. That was the easiest possibility for her to believe.

Then she heard the thunderous boom of the laser battery firing. She watched as flame belched out of her former business in an initial explosion. She sank to a sitting position, sitting on the sled with her feet off the side, resting them on the durasteel walkway, as fire continued to lick out of her garage.

She put a palm over her eyes and let her head rest in it. She needed to be still for a moment, just a second to calm down. Momentarily, she ran her hand over the top of her head, removing the greasy orange bandana she always wore. She brought the bandana to her face, wiping away sweat and grime, and applying a little extra pressure and slowness to her strokes, as though she were trying to massage away her despondence.

Cappie knew next to nothing about the Senex Lords, but she couldn't imagine that anyone would take out several levels of a building just to make an example of one small-time Vodran smuggler who had happened to stop by. As bad as she felt for Maelku, she hoped Badure was right and the soldiers had been after him. But her hope was the desperate hope of someone who knows that what they hope for is not true, and that reality will be worse. Moreover, she felt terrible about Maelku and the destruction the Temptress, the ship that was Alex's livelihood.

"I have some friends," Badure said lamely, "But I reckon it'll be easier to hide if we split up. Even your droid." Judging by his tone, he, also, could tell the soldiers were after her.

"I can give you a hand getting to these friends of yours, but that's all I'd recommend, as a soldier." He winced. "How far to your closest friend?" Cappie collected herself. She decided to focus on what to do next until she was safe. She would think in the calm, ordered way she was used to. She tried to think of which of her friends was not only close, but also on Nar Shaddaa currently, and most importantly, fond enough of Cappie to risk getting their ship blown up by these soldiers. Roa was off-world, as were Salla Zend and Falan Iniro. Danith Jalay and Niev Jaub liked her, but they were based too far away to reach on a repulsorsled...

Suddenly, Cappie saw Rehyn Nejos' Dead Bolt beginning to approach the corvette and her erstwhile business. Ships were as unique as people to her, and Cappie had worked on the Dead Bolt before and could tell it from sight, even at that distance. Cappie sttod up, wondering what Nejos was doing. If he needed repairs he certainly wasn't going to get any today. Actually, he was starting to come dangerously close to the corvette. Was he trying to investigate, or even rescue her? Cappie hadn't thought Nejos was that brave, but she had to warn him away from the shop in any case. That strange corvette could easily blow him out of the sky, and she wasn't about to let another of her friends die because of her.

Thinking quickly, Cappie pulled out the portable comlink in her pocket. To save on start-up costs, she had never installed a hard-line comlink system in her shop, but rather used a cheaper portable comlink as her business and personal com. She had the comlink receiver codes of her customers stored on her comlink's data chip. She scrolled up the number to the Bolt's onboard comlink, hoping Nejos would pick up in time. She had to tell him that no one was left in the shop. Hopefully he'd be willing to pick up Cappie, Ayfor, and Badure.

With each passing moment as Cappie waited for Nejos to pick up, she was coming to accept more and more the fact that those soldiers had not been after Ma

 

OOC: I sent in a CS but I did not get a response. Did I do something wrong?

 

IC: Mother Cappie
Pedestrian Walkway, Level 109, Exterior of Fordox Commercial Residence Tower, Nar Shaddaa

"Cappie, listen to me, honey, you need to leave. Drop what you're doing and get the hell outta there! I don't really have time to explain, but let's just say there's some thugs up here with a special interest in your place. And somehow, I don't think they're here for your services."

"I am out!" Cappie cried, raising her voice as her adrenaline rose. "Don't approach the garage! No one's there! I repeat: don't approach the garage, I'm already out!" She found herself adopting a business-like, but still urgent, tone that she imagined smugglers and pilots used in emergencies like this. "I'm with Alex Badure and my droid. We're--stang, where is this?" she said lightly, moving the comlink away from her face slightly as she tried to get her bearings.

"Fordox Commercial Residence Tower," Badure told her.

Cappie parroted it back to Nejos. "We're at Fordox Commercial Residence Tower." Of course. She knew where the Fordox was, she'd just had trouble getting her bearings under all the stress of the current situation. "It's half a kilometer west of the garage. We're on a pedestrian walkway on the building's exterior somewhere. We're okay for now, but we've only got a small repulsorcraft, no ship."

 

By the way, I got carried away while writing Raine's bio and produced this, a fanficcy retelling of, well, the events in her bio. It's quite short, but I like it. (Meant to link it last week, but I forgot..)


IC: Raine Vartan

Arkania, Depths

The mines were dark. Raine didn't miss the symbolic irony in this: the Jedi hiding in the depths of the underworld, and the Inquisitor coming from above to defeat her.

She had been walking for several minutes when the voice echoed through the mines, coming from everywhere and nowhere. ?My name is Serifa Altunan. May I receive the name of my hunter??

Raine halted, tilting her head. Noise traveled far underground, so the echo was hardly surprising ... but there was something about the quality of Serifa's voice that made her think there was something more than just mine acoustics at work here. Interesting. She said nothing, listening - and yes, there was the snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting, with a definitely more normal echo. Serifa continued, ?I am ready for you, Imperial scum, you realise. Does that worry you??

"My name is Raine Vartan," Raine called back, faux-pleasantly. As she spoke, she unhooked her lightsaber and drew the Force around her tightly with the calm, wary alertness of a hunter. Serifa's presence continued to blaze, a light in the darkness, radiating confidence and arrogance; not from where her voice had come from, but as far as she could tell it matched the general direction of the lightsaber ignition.

Raine smiled. So it had been a trick, and one she hadn't encountered before, too. Interesting, but it hadn't worked.

Briefly, the Inquisitor debated staying where she was and waiting for her quarry to come to her. Serifa's intent was clearly confrontation, not escape; there was little risk of losing her, and a rather greater risk of walking into a lovingly designed trap. Perhaps Serifa could be flushed out... "I have killed far better Jedi than you," Raine called mockingly. "Ones that didn't have to hide underground for years to stay alive, like some tunnel rat ... Does that worry you?"

TAG: Sinrebirth