Star Wars Star Wars: Depths of Madness

Nate Carrack
The Wombat

Nate swore loudly and drew his blaster, not bothering with any more concealment. What have I gotten myself into? He had the distinct feeling that disobeying the Twi'Lek now was a very bad idea.

He ran to the cockpit and didn't bother second-guessing himself any more; survival meant dealing with this Force-user, for now. Anyways, not like any Republic trooper would believe a fething smuggler... Nate slumped into the pilot's seat, flicking switches and pressing buttons frantically. No time for mistakes, not anymore. He needed the Wombat, needed the freedom, and he couldn't let anyone take that away. The irony of the situation was not, however, lost on him.

The smuggler's hand hovered over the final button in his startup sequence. His hesitation was temporary. Galaxy's a big place. You can always run. "To hell with it."

The engines whined to life.

Tag: Sarge, Fins

 

Ambria
Freighter

Though nothing more then smugglers, the two Weequay that Morden had just slain at least knew how to keep their ship up to date as well as their databases. At the cockpit, upon accessing the navicomputer, a simple search for the world Belkov would immediately come back with a match. An image of the world appeared on the screen, showing a healthy planet colored with blues, browns, and greens; oceans and lakes, mountains, and healthy forests. It was a stark contrast to the dark worlds that Morden had been throughout her life and it was definitely different from the dead, tainted surface of Ambria.

Text appeared next to the image, giving the Sith apprentice a description of the world. Though that description was really nothing more then a summary and the world being a recent discovery would explain that. It has only been five years since the Republic had officially claimed and colonized the world and, currently, it's population of half a million people were contained in a single city: Te Rya City. There was a list of local fauna and vegetation as well as a footnote that mentioned that there was, at the moment, no hints of any prior civilizations having been established before the Republic colonized it.

There was no hint or some oddity that would've made Belkov special nonetheless a place where the fate of the galaxy was to be decided. In all appearances, it was just one of the several worlds that the Republic had been bringing into its fold in its effort to recover with the absence of the Sith.

But it was where Morden was to go.

TAG: SirakRomar





Coruscant
Private Hangar 43A, The Wombat

As Nate went through the start-up sequence, the sounds of the hangar battle still managed to filter into the cockpit of his ship. Off at the corner of his eye, barely able to see through the viewport, he would be able to see how two cargo containers transformed, extending legs similar to crabs as they soon became battle droids. Their red photoreceptors blazing to life, they soon moved out of view, the pair of blaster cannons that were on each of their backs blazing with deadly bolts of energy as they joined the increasingly-violet firefight.

But the smuggler ignored it as he brought full power to The Wombat. As if on cue, however, a voice suddenly screamed from his comms.

"Transport ship Wombat!" came the voice, a woman it would sound like. "You are wanted by Republic authorities. Cease all resistance and power down your ship so that you may be taken into custody! I repeat, power down now!"

Lights were flickering on at the hangar doors. Like the photoreceptors of the droids and the lightsaber of Mr. Shadow, these lights glowed red. Sirens blared and before the smuggler's eyes, the hangar doors started to close, intending to trap him with the rest of the combatants. He only had a few, brief seconds before his exit was to be completely sealed off.

TAG: Penguinator




Belkov
Te Rya City

Fortunately for Brandon and his squad, the flight back to the barracks was met without any trouble. There were no more emergencies, no more reports of hostiles that needed to be engaged, nothing like that. It was just a long, quiet flight that was only interrupted by Matthew's comforting words to Milo who had briefly been conscious before drifting back to sleep.

Republic personnel waited for them at the landing bay when their gunship landed. A couple them were, fortunately, doctors that saw to the care of Milo and took him away in a stretcher for immediate medical attention. The rest, however, were either here to refuel the gunship...or take possession of the bodies that had been brought back with them. There were separate stretchers for them and, as Brandon could see, each person that dared to unzip the body bags of the dead hostiles soon recoiled in astonishment and disgust of what was to be found within. Nonetheless, they carried on with their duty and each corpse was tossed onto a stretcher and taken away.

There was one person, however, that was stri

 

Haru Mura
Hangar, Coruscant

Haru needed all his concentration to defend himself, as the whirlwind of attacks began to test his defense. He used the most simple and effective blocks, not wasting time or strength on anything else. And still he felt that this dark master, this Mr. shadow, Viral or whatever he was called was about to overpower him with his furious attacks.

"Funny, so do I." He hissed and began to move backwards. Every step giving him some distance and through that precious miliseconds to defend himself against the merciless strikes. With his mind he probed for something to grab and use against his opponent. If he could hurl it against his enemy he would probabnly have the time to get behind shadow and break free of the attack. At least for a few seconds. Because one thing was sure. Such an outbreak of darkness, even though strange, artificial darkness, would be felt by the other Jedi. Haru could not defeat Viral on his own, except he was lucky. But he could probably keep him long enough busy.

"Impressive, but it won´t help your smuggling friend. Or his precious cargo." Haru pressed through his teeth. The artificial nature of his enemies power made him hope he was unable to control more refined tehcniques like mind reading. If so a good old-fashioned bluff might still safe him. He hinted he knew more than he did. No cautious Dark Jedi would kill him then, without learning how much he actually knew.

Another attack almost brought him to the knees. his mind still wandering to find anything to use it against his enemy.

Tag: Sarge

 

IC: Bran Teralyn
Belkov

The flight back to base was quiet and uneventful, leaving Bran plenty of time to ruminate over things. And things were ... not good. Their 'routine' curfew-enforcement patrol had turned out to be anything but - kriff, Milo had been hurt enough to be drugged into unconsciousness, they'd wound up shooting civilians, and they had lost the only suspect they came across at the scene. If that didn't spell "botched patrol", Bran didn't know what did.

Milo roused briefly; Bran couldn't make out what he said, nor what Matthew murmured to reassure him. Bran winced, remembering the vicious attack. He couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't have let Milo take point - the younger trooper was inexperienced, impatient and enthusiastic, he should have known better - and yet - would it have made a difference? The lieutenant replayed it in his mind: Milo moving forward, nice and slow, and then firing immediately upon sighting the first hostile...

No. Any of them would have done it the same way. If Bran had taken point, it'd be him on the stretcher now. There was nothing anyone could have done.

(then why did he feel terrible?)

The gunship touched down. Bran disembarked last, after directing the appropriate personnel to the appropriate duties with mechanical precision. Everyone knew what they were here for; all Bran had to do was to point out the body bags to the coronary team, and ensure that the doctors were taking good care of Milo. He still felt responsible -

"Lieutenant Teralyn." Bran turned to see a captain he didn't know standing off to one side. "Before you turn in the Colonel would like to have a word with you. He wants to hear your debrief in person."

Of course. "Sir, yes sir." Bran saluted. He glanced to the remaining members of his squad and quickly dismissed them. "Go get cleaned up, you two, and get some rest." He looked back at the Captain. "Right behind you, sir."

TAG: Sarge

 

Coruscant
Private Hangar 43A

"You think that will save you?"

Nonetheless, after another flurry of blows that continued to test the integrity of Haru's grip and arm strength, Viral had halted in his assault and now stood confidently in front of the Jedi Knight, his lightsaber hanging loosely at his side. A brief chance to relax and recover...and perhaps gain information. Or what little will be allowed.

"This operation?" The Twi'lek made a slight wave to the ongoing battle. "Means nothing. A retrieval of some minor assets but that's what they are: minor. In fact, this could've made things a whole lot easier. A whole lot less painful even. But, alas, it seems that time is no longer on your side. He has decided that you have spread too far. Any more delays would just lead to the inevitable age of darkness that he has foreseen."

The sound of engines igniting caused the Twi'lek to turn towards The Wombat in time to see the freighter powering on, ready to take off. As if on cue, sirens suddenly blared within the hangar bay and the hangar doors themselves were starting to close. Apparently Coruscant Security had gotten around to getting those doors sealed. But Viral looked not at all distressed and, instead, offered Haru a salute.

"You live another day." A grin appeared on his face, once again revealing his sharpened fangs. "Who knows, maybe I'll see you at Belkov. After all these years I see that the Jedi have not changed. Always trying to fight against what they cannot possibly stop."

And with that Viral was leaping backwards, the Force propelling him in a flip that saw him landing upon the boarding ramp of the freighter that was already closing. After giving Haru one last wave, the Twi'lek disappeared behind the ramp when it closed.

As if by silent command, one of the crab droids that had been firing upon the Republic troopers suddenly turned, its two blaster cannons pointing directly at Haru before firing.

TAG: DarkLordoftheFins





Belkov
Te Rya City, Barracks

The trip didn't take long and passed in relative silence as the officer led Bran through the winding halls of the barracks. Despite such a facility having been built to hold the armed personnel of the Republic, the military presence itself wasn't exactly large. Counting Bran, there were around a hundred Republic troopers stationed on Belkov at most with a few dozen other assorted personnel that were dedicated with the security of Te Rya City such as pilots. Though there were rumors about the Republic perhaps dedicating more manpower to Belkov with the continued expansion of Te Rya City if a more permanent police force had not been established, it was all about Bran and his fellow troopers keeping the peace and the city's entire population.

"Right through here, sir," came the Lieutenant's escort, the man opening a door to what had to be the office of the reigning Colonel.

When Bran stepped through, the door closed behind him, the officer having apparently been ordered beforehand to not attend. So that just left Bran with only one other man that was currently sitting behind his desk.

Colonel Michael Harkin was a hard man and any new recruit tended to bow down to the experience and outright intimidation that had been bred into him during his years of experience. He was one of the very few experienced officers that had not retired - whether willingly or forcefully - and he was one of the very, very few troopers that had experienced what it was like to face the dark side. Though the majority of Kaan's Brotherhood had perished on Ruusan, there were still stragglers and surviving members that had managed to show their faces during the years after the Sith Wars. Harkin was famous for having been part of the team that had taken what was, arguably, the last Sith Lord that had been tracked down by one of the Jedi Masters of the vaunted Order.

But it didn't go without a price. The Jedi Master having been killed early on in a carefully-laid trap, Harkin's team was cut in two-thirds by the saber of the Sith Lord and it

 

Haru Mura
Hangar

"Survive? Not my primary aim, I must confess." Haru grinned and blocked a few more strikes. Whoever this was, it was likely this man had once been a Jedi. It somehow rang through his words. His defensive stance in combat, his sympathy that was still somewhere beneath his hostility. But whatever had happened to him, whatever this artificial taint had made him become . . . it had corrupted him beyond the point where he understood what it meant to be a Jedi. Haru had ignited his lightsaber ready to die and he still as. He did not threw his life away for nothing, but surely he was ready to become one with the force. This creature could not understand that any longer. It was too far away from such a set of mind.

"You live another day." A wicked grin appeared on Viral´s face and he once again revealed his sharpened fangs. "Who knows, maybe I'll see you at Belkov. After all these years I see that the Jedi have not changed. Always trying to fight against what they cannot possibly stop." Haru watched the man step back and salute. he would have licked to attack once more, but he needed the break more badly than the Twi´lek. Belkov. What an obvious trap. And yet effective. What else could he do than go there, if the Twi´lek now escaped. It was so unsubtle, he could at least rule out this man being a Sith.

"I´ll see what I can do. Busy. You know." Haru replied, heavy breathing and prepared for another attack, as the man turned. A slice from the shoulder down. hard to block, severing the arm. If he leaped forth fast enough the man would have no way to defend and against all odds he could decide this battle for himself and take the evil creature with the good manners as his prisoner.

he never made the first move of his final attack. His danger sense radiated with urgency, as behind him he heard something turn. Viral vanished behind the ramp, just as Haru brought his lightsaber to his back. the force guided his movements, as his eyes had no time to look. The first wave of energy was blocked, as he turned and his lightsaber began to whirl, defending his body against the deadly load of the droids blasters. With his mind he reached out to grab the droid Haru rolled away to the side to find cover, just as his hand allowed his lightsaber to leave. It would follow his grip into the center of the machine. So he hoped. ducking behind a console he tried to make himself as small as possible to shield him against the explosion.

Tag: Sarge

---

[i]
ooc: SirakRomar has problems posting here. Perhaps the legendary move? Dunno, she send me a mail with a short post for Morden Szorn. Here it is.
[/i]

[b][color=orangered]Morden Szorn
The [i]Nepotism[/i], Ambria and beyond . . . [/color][/b]

Morden shut down the console and looked into the darkness of the desert. No lights anywhere. It seemed to reflect on the darkenss of her soul, but such trivial metaphors had never entertained her. Belkov. Belkov. A new world. An unexplored world. The republic had found nothing. but she was not surprised. A few digging fools could not have found what her new sponsor had found only her worthy to search. Without the force, htey were blind. Foolish and blind. The Jedi on the other hand would soon feel hte same ripples of hte force she had felt. It did not matter either. Whoever they send, he would simply die. She could kill dozens of the so called guardians of the galaxy. She had been well trained. But that power, this strange ancient power . . . it made her consider carefully how she approached the thing.

And if she was guilty of anything, it was arrogance. She was surprised how that failed now.

She reopened the console and send a simple message to her Master. "Found traces. Following them. Old Sith artifact probalby. Or just empty tombs. I´ll report as soon as I know for sure." she send the message to her Master. A one way transmission, without any way to answer. A secure transmission. It should not look to suspicious. he would have to assume she did not trust her communication. Which was natural on a third party s

 

Nate Carrack
The Wombat

He thought twice. To hell with this. He punched the controls for the ship, hoping beyond hope that that Force-user wouldn't kill him after they arrived at the destination.

The hell have you gotten yourself into? This was the worst decision you've had in a long damn time...

Tag: Sarge

 

Coruscant
Private Hangar 43A

With her control over the Force, Kalyn managed to seize the first droid that had been firing upon her and the Republic troopers and sent it flying. At another portion of the hangar, the droid that had been attacking Maru and had been damaged by the Knight's attack, was soon sent flying after the first droid. Both were aimed directly at the freighter known as The Wombat who's engines had steadily thrummed to life. Unfortunately, with sudden acceleration, the freighter blasted away before the droids even got close, causing them to slam down onto the hangar floor. The hangar doors were also too slow. Other then a scrape along the side of the The Wombat that caused sparks to fly, the ship blasted off into Coruscant's sky.

The droid that Mura had damaged suddenly exploded, catching the second droid that had been thrown next to it and causing two of its legs to cease functioning. With its remaining two legs, the second droid nonetheless tried to get itself back up, its blaster cannons looking for new targets, but a sudden volley of blaster bolts from the Republic troopers put it down for good, causing it to detonate in a shower of flame and debris.

All was quiet as the smoking pieces of the droids came to a rest. The rest of the criminal defenders had long since been gunned down by the troopers, their bodies splayed out along the hangar floor. The Republic trooper that had been blasted by one of the droids was alive, twitching on the floor, and a medic immediately came over to check on him, radioing for an emergency evac vehicle as he did so.

The comm channel that the team used came to life and a voice spoke, "We're tracking the freighter now. Republic ships are being diverted to intercept it...but I don't think they're going to make it."

It seemed like they were too late to catch their prey. But they knew where it was going: Belkov.

TAG: DarkLordoftheFins, HanSolo29



Coruscant Space
The Wombat

"Well that got a little exciting."

Behind Nate, striding into the cockpit, was Mr. Shadow. The Twi'lek had a humored grin on his face, his spirits seemingly high, and his lightsaber had vanished; no doubt having placed it back in its hiding place on his person. Stepping forward so that he stood behind Nate, the alien tilted his head so that he could get a better look at the ship's sensors.

The ship's comms were still going on, the same voice that had told Nate to power down and surrender - which, of course, was too late now - was now shouting him to return and surrender to Republic policing forces. But as both Mr. Shadow and Nate saw on The Wombat's sensors, there was no chance that any Republic ships would be able to reach them. By the time the speediest fighter managed to get a lock on them, they would've already made the jump to lightspeed and be on their way to Belkov.

"All is well," Mr. Shadow assured. "The product was able to get loaded before that interruption, we've got a good lead on any interceptors, and we'll be off to Belkov in only a few moments." He patted the top of the chair that Nate sat in. "Looks like my faith in you has been justified Mr. Carrack. Once we get to the meeting spot I'll be sure to remember this little delay when I give you your pay."

TAG: Penguinator



Belkov Orbit
The Nepotism


It had taken a couple hours for the trip to Belkov, leaving Morden free to do whatever she wanted to pass the time: meditate, lightsaber drills, or continued research. Her message to her Master, as predicted, had gone without a reply. Yes, Morden had sent a transmission that couldn't be traced but whether it be a transmission or a sensation that her Master could've sent to her through their Master-Apprentice bond, he had sent no inquiries as to what, exactly, she had found at Ambria. Either he trusted her enough to be left to her own devices or he was busy with another project which wouldn't be the first time in all the years that Morden had trained under him.

An alert suddenly blared over the inte

 

Haru Mura
Hangar

His lightsaber died down and he breathed out. the force instantly filled the vacuum inside of him, his exhaustion had left.

Turning towards the leaving freighter he smiled. The Padawan had almost stopped the ship. He nodded in approval, that she had been so quick to think and smiled at her over the battlefield. "Mira, take care of our wounded and theirs. And I need the fastest hyperspace-travelling ship we confiscated lately. He coughed out and watched the transporter vanish into the sky. "And tell Coruscant patrol they shall chase him, but under no circumstance, I repeat under no circumstances they shall stop him." He added, still catching breath. "And babe, you and your guys did a great job." He added and then turned towards the Padawan, closed the communicactions-line and walked over.

"The Sith," He paused, rethinking his words, "Or whatever he was told me, that Belkov was the place to be. I assume our smuggler is on his way there. If we hurry, we might make it even before him, if we find a faster ship. But we need to hurry. I´d say we will inform the Council on our way. They need to prepare every avaialbe Jedi. And once they´re done, let´s hope we figured that out." He was already on his way to the plattform outside. Expecting her to follow him. He was way out of his competences to order a Jedi Padawan to follow him on a quest. He was probably not even the right Jedi for this. But him being here, by accident? There WERE not accidents. The force had wanted him to be her and the Padawan. So whatever end this would take, it was the will of the force. And a Jedi always followede the will of the force.

In other words, screw the council. He smiled to himself, as the door opened. "Are you comin´?" He asked Kalyn Frey. "The dark Side of the Force is probably not waiting for us to start the party." He added then.

But under all his humor he secretly knew the purpose of his traing, of his life was about to reveal itself. He would finally face the Dark Side.

Tag: HS29, Sarge

 

ooc Sorry, but now my comp doesn´t allow me to highlight and mark up and stuff . . .

Morden Szorn
Above Belkov

The old republician battleship lay over the planet like a dead titan. What a fitting metaphor for it´s Master, the Old Republic. Morden smirked, as they hailed her. They were so predicatable. How could they expect to protect that planet? Did they think people were not prepared for questions like that?

But there was nothing the Republic could build the Sith could not tear down. Endless wars had shown that much. he coughed, opened a channel and then a strange voice escaped her lips.. Not her hissing intonation, but another womans voice. A trader girl from Korriban. she had spend nights to make her imitiation perfect.

"This is Kara Trendic." She said with a high, almost singing voice. "This is the Nepotism. I got a date here with a customer. Personal transport for Loronar Shipyards. I am a bit early." She used her cover story. Waiting for a passenger made it look unsuspicious if she stayed a little longer.

"Requesting landing permisson." she added, nicely keeping in line with the protocol.

Tag: Sarge

 

IC: Bran Teralyn
Belkov

Well, he had expected as much. That didn't mean he liked it, but - well.

"Sir," Bran saluted and sat down, trying to both steel himself and hide the fact that he was steeling himself at the same time. Keep cool, soldier. Harkin was rumoured to be able to tear junior officers to shreds without even raising his voice, and Bran had no desire to find out for himself whether it was true.

He probably would, though. His report was going to sound like the plot of a bad holocube drama.

"A ground squad had been attacked by unknown suspects and requested backup," the lieutenant began. "My squad was closest to the scene. We dropped in and intercepted the suspects as they fled in an attempt to capture them alive - but -" Bran tried not to swallow; failed; moved on quickly "- stun bolts proved ineffective. One of them managed to get to Private Milo before we could take 'em out. And," Bran hesitated, thinking about both his instinctive horror and the knowledge that this was going to sound crazy; but this was part of his report, too, "they looked - wrong - sir. I can't describe it. It was like their flesh was disintegrating off their bodies; they shouldn't have been able to move, but they could, and fast."

Bran could practically feel the colonel's scepticism, so he hurried through to the last part of his report.

"There was also a seventh suspect - a small humanoid, about the size of a human child, with what looked like long blue hair. We attempted capture as well but the suspect escaped down a storm drain."

TAG: Sarge

 

Nate Carrack
The Wombat

Sighing in relief, Nate took out a cigarette and lit it. He inhaled deeply, and he felt his heart rate slow down as the adrenaline left his system. Mr. Shadow's words should have been welcome; by all accounts, Nate had succeeded handily, and his bonus would be well-deserved. Provided the bonus isn't a lightsaber to the chest, he though grimly.

"Mr. Shadow, I- well, I appreciate that very much. But this complication is not a regular sort of...occurrence with my ship. May I ask...why me? Aside from the obvious - I am quiet, mostly, and tend to slip by undetected - but if you knew this heat was on you, why not use a better-equipped or more, ah, well, armed businessman?"

It was understandable that someone of Shadow's level of affluence and influence was capable of far greater operations. Nate found himself wondering why this operation was chosen instead of something more secure. Possibilities flew through his head, and he could only reason that Shadow was, insofar, operating solo without any outside assistance. Or perhaps he was simply a low rung on the ladder. He dreaded having to work with anyone up a rung or two. He remembered the chill that had run up his spine when that crimson blade crackled to life. He would do anything to avoid having to see that weapon again any time soon.

One thought planted itself firmly in Carrack's mind - he needed a crew, a reliable, trustworthy crew. And he needed to lie through his teeth to them. A calmness settled over his being as he lapsed into the familiar patterns of planning and recuperating he had developed over the years. You can't trust anyone anymore.

He exhaled smoke through his nostrils. "So...I guess I'm asking...what do we do now?"

Tag: Sarge

 

Space
The Wombat

"Why?"

At Nate's question as to why he had been chosen, the Twi'lek had raised a curious brow at the smuggler which morphed into amusement. While watching the trails of smoke that emitted from Nate's cigarette, Mr. Shadow shrugged before continuing, "Do I need a reason? You had a ship, you were in the area, you agreed to the arrangements, the conditions, and, more importantly, the credits. That was all I needed."

Not even bothering to ask Nate for permission, Shadow took a seat in the co-pilot's chair, kicking his feet up as he did so, so that he could rest them on the ship's instruments. His hands coming up, fingers lacing together, the Twi'lek placed them behind his head and leaned as far back as he could in the chair, eyes closing. For a while he seemed to be quite content in that position and with the silence that stretched between them it wouldn't be a surprise if Shadow had decided to fall asleep after the debacle that had occurred in the hangar. Finally, however, he chuckled.

"As much as I may have enjoyed that bit of action we encountered," he continued, "I had hoped to avoid such a thing. I had certain suspicions that I may've been attracting too much attention with how fast I was closing down my operation but I had honestly not expected that they would find me in time." Another chuckle. "Good thing I stuck with my usual security measures. But, back to your question, it was a ship that I wanted and it was a ship that you were able to provide. Nothing more, nothing less."

One eye opened and peered towards Nate. For just an instant the smuggler would believe that he saw that the eye possessed a sickly, yellow coloring but if he checked again he would see that the alien's eye was colored brown. As it had always been, right?

"As for your next question, what do you suppose we do? Last I checked, you still have a job that I paid you to do. We are to head to Belkov and deliver the product as promised. Then you can be on your way with a nice healthy sum of money."

TAG: Peng






Coruscant
Hangars

By the time the dead had been counted up and the wounded were taken care of, one of the troopers had run up to the Jedi and held out a holoprojector. "As you requested sir, a ship has been chosen for your needs."

Powering up the holoprojector, a transport was soon displayed for Haru. Along with the image came diagnostics and other text that went on to describe the ships armament's and systems. It was a light transport, part of the old NR2-series that the Republic had made use of years ago. Apparently it had been obtained from a known criminal that had links to the Hutt Cartel two weeks ago. While the ship has been confiscated, the owner has been jailed for smuggling illegal weapons so he wasn't going to be using it for quite sometime.

Though it was an obsolete model, the NR2 - which was named Kentrel -, had been outfitted with the latest engines and hyperdrives to serve its purpose as a smuggling vessel. Its armaments were restricted to a single laser cannon but Haru had requested speed, not power. And since they were heading right to Belkov, there shouldn't be any trouble that would require them to use even that single weapon.

"It's currently being fueled," the trooper continued. "You can use the same speeder that brought you here to reach it's location: the private hangar of CSF Headquarters. I'll make sure to send a message to the Jedi Temple to update them on the situation and how they can contact you."

The smuggler had a head start on them but if their ship was indeed ready by the time they got to CSF Headqarters, they would be able to possibly catch up. And if they sent an alert to Republic forces at Belkov to keep them on the lookout for the suspect's transport, they may yet catch the smuggler and the mysterious Mr. Shadow. Whatever goodbyes that needed to be said or preparations needed to be done had to be completed fast though.

TAG: Fins, Solo



Belkov Orbit
The Nepotism

There was a pause as the man known as Crewes

 

Morden Szorn
Above Belkov

"Thank you, dear Sir." She replied with her "wrong voice" and turned towards the task at hand. Land this ship like some retarded trade-pilot would. She used her auto-pilot and would turn it of only once she arrived in the spaceport, or whatever these backwater monkeys considered to be a spaceport.

Her sensors showed nothing out of the oridnary, yet. But her others senses burned with antifcipation. Like the blood on her skull burned with very real heat into her nerves. Something was here. These fools would probably not get it, but something was here.

"I am at your service." she whispered, more to the force that surrounded her like a cold bubble than to the empty cockpit. she was sure the Sith would get it.

And with a few manipulations of the conolse she was on her way down.

Tag: Sarge

 

Haru Mura
Coruscant, between Hangars so to say

Haru had a look at the ship and nodded. Fast. That was what he needed. "Perfect, thank you." He said and nodded to the trooper. Then he turned to the Padawan. "Listen, I plan to go on a hunt and tell the Council on my way what I am actually doing. They won´t like it a bit. Especially not with this Darksider involved. But hey, you don´t have to get into trouble. Two things you need to know. One. the Council will never send you on that mission. Too dangerous. Two, it is no cooincidence the force send you here today. It might be what you are meant to do. Go with me to Belkov. Which brings me to point three." Haru paused, he was actually sorry he had to drag her into this. But what he said he meant that way.

"Kalyn, we don´t know each other for long. But I will be very honest with you. Forget the force, your Masters and your training. This. THIS. THIS is the moment when you decide what kind of Jedi you are. I won´t tell you what to do. You have to decide for yourself. There is the speeder. If you want to come with me, take and we meet at the hangar in half an hour. if not, fine by me. May the force be with you." Haru stepped back one step. "And now you think half an hour is too short to decide? It isn´t. Listen to yourself. You already know the answer. You will see." Haru added with a smile. A smile that said sorry.

"I´ll take my girls speeder." He added then and wandered over to Mira. He gave her a qucik kiss. "Don´t start talking like I don´t come back, only because I probably don´t come back, okay?" He said to her, taking her face into both hands. She opened her motuh to speak but he smiled. "Yes I know. I love you too. I will try to be careful." She shut her mouse looked angry at him then at the Padawan. "I don´t know." He answered her next question.

"I hope she joins me. I think I will need help. And I think she is meant to be there." Haru sighed. Then embraced Mira. "You´re the best thing that ever happened to me." He whispered and turned. Leaving the hangar and trying not to listen to Mira scremaing how much she loved him after him.

Tag: HS, Sarge (sorry to force this scene upon you, but I wanted to move ofrward and not loose the moment, so I thought he simply doesn´t not let you speak. It´s kind off a habit of him use the scene to rewrite it if you feel the need to HS29)

 

ooc: I am so bold to move the plot forward into the hangar. If you had any MAJOR twists of plot in mind while we were in the speeder, please simply cancel this post Sarge

Haru Mura
Hangar

Mira kissed him goodbye and Haru resisted the feeling this would be their last time together. "Treasure our time, if anything happens to me. and remember, only the force honey. There is only the force." Haru nodded and turned to leave heavy-hearted but with unbroken dedication.

Half an hour later he arrived in the hangar and found the young Padawan there. Kalyn Frey had made her choice. A Jedi´s choice.

Haru gave her a mild smile and a nod and then moved to the ship without another word. There was nothing to say. two Jedi were on their way towards an unknown destiny, because the force had willed them to make that journey. And that one of them was a Knight and one a Padawan made them bound to each other. Connected.

The last thing Haru did was type in a command into his comm unit. Somewhere in Temple the Grand Master would receive a message including the holofeed of the battle in the Hangar. It would have a short report of Haru Mura attached.


"Dear Council, following your orders I have encountered there is more to the Belkov affair than we might have thought. I was forced to duel a man who was storng in the Dark Side, though probably a fallen Jedi and not necessary a Sith. He was powerful, though. Very powerful and very sure of himself. He seems to have hired the smuggler who escaped us. And he himself escaped. Everything about this points to a massive threat by the Dark Side. Something it has to do with Belkov. I will follow the lead and have decided to bring Kayln with meto Belkov. Together we wil loose no time to investigate. I suggest you rally all Jedi you can find and summon a fleet. We do not know the extend of the danger, but after having fought the Dark Jedi I can assure you it is not an irrelevant power he taps into. May the force be with us. Jedi Knight Haru Mura out. Oh, yeah. If you wanna call me back, I am already on my way to Belkov when this message reaches you. Mura out."

Mura smiled and shook his head. Then he leaned back and allowed the autopilot to get the ship into orbit.

"May the force be with us, my Padawan. We will need it as our ally on this one more than ever."

He smiled. My Padawan. It had slipped out naturally. He wondered for a second if he was ready for such a thing. Yet, who was he to doubt it? The will of the force had been clear on that one.

Tag: HS29, Sarge

 

IC: Bran Teralyn
Belkov

"Sir," Bran said, astonished. This wasn't the first time? That was the real reason behind the curfew? Why hadn't they been told?

Those weren't real questions, though, and came rather close to questioning the decisions of one of the last remaining veterans of the Sith War. Which he wasn't about to do, even if said veteran had just complimented him on a job well done, which never happened. To anyone.

Besides, he already knew the answers: it had been classified, they didn't want to spark a panic, and his squad hadn't needed to know. Until they did.

So the young officer merely saluted and left.

Once outside, Bran ran a hand through his close-cropped hair and sighed. Get some rest. Now that the colonel mentioned it, he was bone-tired on top of being filthy; all he wanted to do was jump into a sonic shower and collapse onto his bed for, oh, ten or so hours. The hand that wasn't holding his helmet was trembling slightly. Is it always like this after a fight? he wondered. Surely not; he tried to imagine the colonel getting the shakes after a small altercation, and couldn't.

He needed sleep.

But first he needed to check on Milo.

So rather than head towards the junior officers' section of the barracks, he turned and crossed back across to the medbay.

TAG: Sarge

 

Nate Carrack
The Wombat

"...right."

Nate took a particularly long drag from his cigarette. Damn this twi'lek and his easy calm, thought Nate, annoyed at the being's cavalier attitude. Not everyone was a deft hand with prescience and telekinesis.

He checked his readouts once, noticed that they were nearing their destination, and swung his boots up onto the control panel, leaning back.

"Closer and closer," he mused, feeling a bit more at ease now that he knew Shadow to be completely insane.

Tag: Sarge