Star Wars Star Wars: Episode VI - As Father and Son - Part 3

IC: Sel Nephrite
Dusk Till Dawn

"Right now we?re low on manpower, I took a trip to Mandalore after the battle once the smoke cleared. There are some survivors, also there was quite a bit of metal showing.?

Sel already knew what Calo was getting at...and knew the big problem that was involved with being able to go with such a plan. He let the man talk anyway, about using beskar for money and being able to make vehicles, weapons, all that would be needed for a small army. Yes, Sel saw the picture as Calo was laying it out. A step back to the Mandalorian Empire just as Sel had declared when taking on his newfound title. They had gotten too soft - whether willingly or not, it didn't matter -, got pushed - bullied, he wasn't kidding himself - by an Empire they were all but powerless to stop.

It was only later, when they stopped the phony sham of appeasement, that they got their heads out of the ground and struck back.

Now they were on the war path and they needed the material to strike back. Mandalore had that material and, as Calo took note, there may've been significant deposits of beskar that may've been uncovered due to the bombardment. With that material they could create their Mandalorian army, recreate at least a shadow of their former greatness anew.

But then came the obvious problem...or at least what seemed obvious to Sel.

"We're not the only ones who want it," Sel finally replied after another sip of his drink. "Remember? The reason the Empire even came to Mandalore was for the beskar. The fleet that took us out is probably still there, setting up operations to mine it now that we're no longer in the way. Any survivors are probably getting hunted down. It's a nice dream but it's going to be very difficult to obtain."

TAG: Sawn

 

The Executor...

Quarters...

"What is there to discuss?" The taciturn new Emperor shrugged. "My Father is no more. We made sure of that. Ruusan was...destroyed? How? And by what? Palpatine? WHY IS PALPATINE BACK?"

Darth Librium took a moment to calm himself, reminded of the rages he'd heard Vader had flown into. He would be better than Vader. Yes. He would surpass him many times over.

"And what of Flint? He came to our aid. He remains...loyal. It seems." Deep breaths. "Names? I don't know, I never..."

More breathing.

"HOW IS HE BACK?"

TAG: Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Sorry it took so long, Sarge. Been home on R&R

Calo Fett
From Dusk Til Dawn

Calo took in Sel's argument, or rather, statement about the Imperial fleet that bombarded Mandalore still being there. "You're probably right," Calo replied with a nod of his head in agreement. "But you and I know that no one whose ever tried to harvest beskar has been able to put it to use. Ancient Mando'a secret, afterall. If we could get someone on the inside to monitor the beskar shipments once they begin mining operations, we may be able to intercept those shipments. Let the Empire do the work for us"

It was a longshot, hell any operation against the Empire these days was a longshot, but the ball was in their court. With all the infighting between Palpatine and the Skywalkers, mining operations and things of that sort were going to be put on hold. Their main attention was going to be turned to their shipyards and armament, especially considering the Alliance's attempts as of late.

"Difficult to obtain, yes, but not impossible Sel. As for the survivors, if we can convince the Alliance to hit a nearby system it might draw the bulk of the Imperials to that system at a few days minimum. That'll give us more than enough time to evacuate the survivors" again, a longshot. But Calo wasn't one to leave comrades, and he knew Sel wasn't either.

"If you decide that these are too farfetched, I can understand that. Given our present stature, we don't have the resources to pull off either operation. However, I suggest we use this partnership with the Alliance for what it's worth. We have a common enemy and a common goal to do away with that enemy. If we don't act soon, they're going to hunt all of us down..."

TAG: Sarge

 

OOC: Eh, continuing education plans and getting my butt kicked by a personal trainer of a brother here >.>

IC: Sel Nephrite
From Dusk Till Dawn

"As for the survivors, if we can convince the Alliance to hit a nearby system it might draw the bulk of the Imperials to that system at a few days minimum."

"They're dead!"

It was probably the consumption of the alcohol, more then anything, that caused Sel to snap at Calo as he did now. But the memories of what happened to his homeworld certainly didn't help. Beviin had shown him the reports after they had journeyed to Taris; it had been devastating. He had heard of the Imperials conducting orbital bombardments upon worlds but what they had done to Mandalore...

"You may not have seen the reports but I did," Sel continued, though the volume of his voice had lowered back down. "It wasn't just Keldabe they annihilated but the entire planet. The entire Imperial fleet had blockaded Mandalore and devastated it, including the Executor which, by itself, has thousands of turbolasers. Cities were annihilated, lakes and rivers evaporated, forests consumed in wildfires, I doubt you can even breathe on the world anymore. They bombarded Mandalore right to it's beskar core. Even if it can somehow recover it'll take at least a hundred years before anyone can possibly live on it!"

Despite how such an event came to be the turning point, where the surviving clans have finally united to take the fight to the Empire, it haunted Sel nonetheless whenever he thought of the war and his position as Mandalore. The children had been evacuated as well as plenty of Mandalorians...but the numbers that had been left behind. That had been left to literally face the bombardment head on. Gone, annihilated, vaporized.

One of those casualties had been Mayna. The image that always gave Sel a kick in the gut was his wife's grave blasted along with that of dozens, if not hundreds, of others that had been buried during the Imperial occupation, whether because they had fought or worked themselves to death as slaves. They died for Mandalore and now Mandalore had died with them.

"It's dead," Sel finalized. "Let the Imperials waste their efforts with trying to use what they can't handle while we rip out their hearts. There have been many Mandalorians that have survived without Mandalore and it is they who bolster our ranks now, not the dead."

It was true. While they had settled on Mandalore, there had been just as many - possibly more - that were scattered all across the galaxy. With the declaration of war and the call of Mand'alor - his call -, their ranks had been slowly bolstered with an influx of fresh bodies. Continue to do so really. With the fleet that they had stolen and the numbers to man them growing day by day, their time would come to make the Empire pay.

"I'll talk with Beviin," Sel added, this time more gently before taking a sip from his drink. "We'll see about setting up scouts to see what's up. Maybe we might pick up some of those opportunities that you mentioned and show those Imperials how to use that beskar. Until then the issue is closed. We're just going to focus on bleeding them."

Not for the first time did Sel think back to Kuat, about that strange sighting of Star Destroyers battling Star Destroyers, TIEs chasing TIEs.

Something was going on with the Empire, something that may cause to be quite the distraction. And while their focused on that, he and his fellow Mandalorians will be there to finally break the Imperial back.

TAG: Sawn


---------


IC: Alec Nephrite
From Dusk Till Dawn

As always, Alec had viewed the latest sight with wide-eyed fascination from beneath his helmet. Still relatively fresh out of the reeducation facilities on Mandalore, Alec had yet to get used to the outside civilization. He had been to Taris and it's more..."sophisticated" dwellings, the Millenium Falcon, and the desolate Ruusan.

In this new location, he was once again eying brand new sights. Sights

 

OOC: SOrry for the absence, a Stomach flu and I think a normal flu or... something has been kicking my backside from oneside of the house to the other for well over two weeks now. I haven't been in much of a typing mood.

Muri
Dusk till Dawn

"Ha!" Muri said, almost a little to loudly but it was still mostly drowned out by the music after a few feet. "See Karrde thats what we do. We lay low. We go places and remain unnoticed. We're the assassins of the space ways, albeit generally less violent. We go from place to place, offering our services and doing so in a manner to not catch the attention of the authorities. You practically made my point."

Xaverri's arrival and mentioning of a 'fly boy' who could only be Solo derailed the subject, but he'd take it up with Karrde later. He'd probably want to get Han's take on the idea anyway, frankly so did Muri. So finishing up his last bit of drink he put the glass down and shrugged, "Sure, why not. Lets go welcome Mr. "I'm getting the hell out of here" to the party."

-- --
Wee bit later
-- --

"You haven't done bad for yourself either. How'd you find the time to dig out this place?"

"He didn't." Muri said stepping around from behind Karrde at Solo's comment. "I did." Sliding his hands in his pockets he locked eyes with the Corellian. "Decided since We all stuck around and actually completed the mission while you ran off to save your damsel in distress the least I could do was show my hard working compatriots the hospitality that is the Echani Sector's best dive. I'm sure they all earned it."

Tag: Solo, Matt, Xani, others

 

Dusk

Hours passed.

An ARC-170 fighter descended, somewhat shakily, through the skies above the moon, down down down, before finally coming to a hissing rest. The cockpit folded away, and out came Vima, alone. The old man knew where he wasn't wanted. They made a stop along the way, and he departed with naught but his flight suit. Vima, however, continued the voyage. The galaxy was too complicated now to go along its way without more Jedi, and she was not about to leave Solo to lead them alone.

Inside the bar, the leadership were in serious talks about the future of the Alliance. Vima could feel the tension in the room, although she hadn't been privy to their discussions. She arrived in time to hear Karrde say, "...we need time. We can rise again. Until then...we need to cut our losses and do what little we can separately." Karrde nodded in the direction of Ahto, the only man of his years in the room, as if with the age came certainty.

Vima cleared her throat. "Talon Karrde echoes my feelings. Of course, I haven't been with the Alliance long. Then again, almost no one has, these days. Most were destroyed over Sullust."

TAG: All on Dusk, (all that were on the Falcon)

 

Calo Fett
From Dusk Till Dawn

"They're dead!"

Mandalore's outcry caught a few stares from bystanders, to which Calo returned their stares with a warning glare of his own before returning his attention to Mandalore, the glare rubbing off as he eyes met his new leader once more. Then he'd been mistaken. The ones he saw on the surface weren't Mandalorians, they were Imperials. In his hope that he might be able to save the lives of his comrades, he'd been ignorant to that possibly. A foolish mistake on his part...

"You may not have seen the reports but I did," Sel continued, though the volume of his voice had lowered back down. "It wasn't just Keldabe they annihilated but the entire planet. The entire Imperial fleet had blockaded Mandalore and devastated it, including the Executor which, by itself, has thousands of turbolasers. Cities were annihilated, lakes and rivers evaporated, forests consumed in wildfires, I doubt you can even breathe on the world anymore. They bombarded Mandalore right to it's beskar core. Even if it can somehow recover it'll take at least a hundred years before anyone can possibly live on it!"

"It's dead," Sel finalized. "Let the Imperials waste their efforts with trying to use what they can't handle while we rip out their hearts. There have been many Mandalorians that have survived without Mandalore and it is they who bolster our ranks now, not the dead."

"I'll talk with Beviin," Sel added, this time more gently before taking a sip from his drink. "We'll see about setting up scouts to see what's up. Maybe we might pick up some of those opportunities that you mentioned and show those Imperials how to use that beskar. Until then the issue is closed. We're just going to focus on bleeding them."

With a heaved sigh, Calo nodded, accepting Mandalore's command. "I have an extra ship if you need it, Doomtreader type. Yours if you should require it. And if should you need someone to seek out the others, I will not be far" the others being the clans on Dxun, Concord Dawn, and other worlds. Calo knew they'd come, Sel did too, the question was would they all be able to get here in a timely fashion. They didn't need all the clans in 5 years, they needed them now. Standing from his position at the table, Calo would've normally bowed before leaving but he knew that would attract the unwanted attention he'd been trying to avoid.

"If you'll excuse me, I have some business to take care of.." stepping away from Sel's table, he passed their heir of Mandalore, unknowing of his identity or his purpose and not really giving a damn either way. Calo would always be loyal to Mandalore and he would always serve him willingly, but there would never be a time that he didn't put his family first. He supposed that level of independence came from being a clone, or perhaps it came from working closely with only his brother and one other for so many years.

Returning to the smugglers' table, ignoring their conversation, he placed a hand on Muri's shoulder. "I don't mean to disturb, but if you'd be so kind old friend, get me one of your men to escort me aboard your ship. I'll get my cargo and be on my way" now came the most difficult part of his journey: explaining to Jaster why his Father, Gunlock, had to die.

TAG: Kahn, Sarge

 

IC: Leia Organa
From Dusk Till Dawn

Leia had more or less collapsed upon boarding the Falcon. She had stayed on her feet long enough to listen to Han arrange their meeting with the Rebels (and voice her agreement, because it looked like Han was looking for it) - then she had found her old bunk and gone to sleep for hours.

Mercifully, no dreams plagued her, and she woke rested and feeling better than she had in days.

By the time they landed, Leia had showered and changed into something a little less beat-up than her saber-scarred combat jumpsuit. (That was probably a loss, Leia thought ruefully when she shook it out. Pity.) The outfits she had left on the Falcon three months ago were still intact, and she disembarked with Han and the boy - Alec - looking much like the Rebel Princess everyone expected, save for the lightsaber on her belt.

She ignored their posturing. It reminded her of the endless banter traded by the Rogues before a battle - but thinking of the Rogues made her think of Luke, and she still couldn't do that without wincing. Best to ignore it and deal with the main problem: namely, that of the Rebellion.

"That's right," Leia said calmly to Vima. "We've taken heavy losses, both at Sullust and after. We've taken a beating, lost good people - many good people - and we haven't recovered. It will be years before we can amass another fleet like that, if ever. But we don't need another fleet."

She gazed around, meeting everyone's gaze in turn - and in doing so, felt the weight of the Rebellion land on her shoulders again. Months ago, she had all but resigned from the Rebel Alliance's leadership - she had told Ackbar as much, when she left for Nar Shaddaa to search for a Jedi teacher, and she had meant it. She had fully intended to give it up, because she had known being a Jedi would take her whole heart and soul, and the Rebellion deserved the same. One person could not do both. But now Ackbar was missing, perhaps dead, so it fell back to her.

But would these smugglers follow her? Perhaps. She had to try.

"The only reason we amassed a fleet was to try and take out the Death Star," she continued, "and that was a long shot to begin with. We can't hope to beat the Empire in open warfare, on their terms. They have more ships, more people, more resources; it was worth the risk for the Death Star, but it isn't any more. What we can do, now, is go back to fighting on our terms."

Leia exhaled. "None of you know me, but you all know Han - and you know that the Rebellion has been fighting a guerrilla war for years, successfully, before this. What I propose is that we go back to that. Hit-and-run strikes instead of large-scale battles; convoy raids; stealth runs. We did that effectively for years and so did you all, in your own way; we're good at it, and they're not. We won't be liberating planets anytime soon, but we can make life difficult for the Empire - both Empires - and prevent them from operating effectively. If we sit back and do nothing, regardless of who wins we'll be facing a victorious Empire that's stronger than ever."

TAG: HS29, Sarge, Kahn, Sawn, Matt, etc

 

OOC: Been following along quietly here, and assuming that Kyle Katarn and Jan Ors were amongst this group as well...

Karm Ahto/Rahm Kota

From Dusk Til Dawn

Ahto had trouble keeping a wolfish grin off his face, even given the circumstances. There'd been a similar such discussion a good twenty years ago, on Kashyyyk; regardless of who her genetic father was, the girl had taken a lot on board from her now-deceased adoptive father, Bail Organa. Strange enough that the girl seemed to somehow rearrange things around her so almost everything -- people, planets -- became background to her presence. In the Force, its strength now flowing through dead eyesockets and providing his vision, it was even stranger. Anakin Skywalker had twined destinies around himself, and his daughter was no different.

And it was an interesting subject she'd raised, so he thought he'd best open his mouth. "Dispersing to the far corners of the galaxy and making uncoordinated harrassment strikes isn't going to do the job. Empire--the Empires I should say--will just see it for disorganisation and won't regard it as a threat. Now, what you're sayin' is right: guerrilla force can pin down a conventional force ten times its size, simply because the conventional force has to be everywhere and the guerrillas only have to seem to be in more than one place at any given time."

"And the one big drawback with guerrilla forces is that at best it's a stalemate option. Every guerrilla force from the Sith Empire forward had one objective, one purpose for its existence: harass, distract, and misdirect until it could mount a conventional force large enough to stand toe-to-toe with its enemy. Now, I understand that's going to be a problem for the time being, but as I see it there's another couple of options we've got here."

"First: you're not fighting one Empire. You're fighting two of them. The one thing you have to avoid at all costs is them joining forces and coming after you together. That's more useful than you know. If you can encourage 'em, trick 'em, into matching each other's strengths and provoking them into all-out war against each other, it's lose-lose for both and win-win for the Alliance. Yeah, one Empire might turn out stronger by the destruction of the other, but I'm guessing odds're against that. Palpatine can't create planets and materiel out of thin air, no matter how powerful he is. The idea has to be to have him wear down his armed forces fighting your--the other Sith Lord. That makes him more vulnerable once the smoke's cleared -- before he has a chance to rearm and come after us. We have to convince the Empires that each other is the greater threat, not us. And then provoke them into battle against each other."

"Second -- in one respect you've got the ultimate advantage, because this here, this situation right now, is exactly what every Sith from Darth Bane's time down spent their lives trying to stop. Two Sith, evenly or closely matched, fighting each other -- not the master and apprentice relationship that was supposed to keep the ambition in check. The last time the Sith wound up like this, only two survived, because the rest destroyed each other and the Jedi took the rest. This time, there's only really two of any power left."

"Third -- you've got the one thing that can best stop a Sith. It's the one thing Palpatine and his lapdogs spent thirty years trying to wipe out. You've got surviving Jedi Knights and Masters. I would've said that's the conventional force, if you'll pardon the pun, you need to focus on building up first. There's a damn good reason Palpatine tried to purge us all; it's because he knew his history. This," he said, gesturing absently to the bright flowers of light in the Force that were Vima, Kyle Katarn, and Leia, "is more than the Jedi Order's lowest number in history. Shades, at the Order's worst hour they were down to one -- the Exile. And one thing about Jedi: you ca

 

IC: Leia Organa
From Dusk Till Dawn

Leia made a flip gesture with one hand. "I don't mean we should provoke them into uniting against us. I do mean that we should foul their plans whenever possible. If we can also point the blame at the other Empire when we do so, so much the better."

As for the rest - Leia pressed her lips together. There were a few things she would like to say about that, most of which Han would vehemently disagree with, so - "As for rebuilding the Jedi Order - that's up to you, Karm." If that was even his name; the Karm Ahto she knew was most definitely not a Jedi Master, and yet this man obviously was. "You'd know far more about that than I do. But we shouldn't count on it. Force potential doesn't grow on trees, and Vader did his damndest best to wipe out anyone with the talent as well as the Order itself - it'll take years, at the very least, and those are years we simply don't have."

Left unsaid was the simple fact that there might be only two Sith, but those two Sith had several thousand Imperial Star Destroyers at their disposal.

TAG: Saint, all at the tapcaf!

 

IC: Leia Organa
From Dusk Till Dawn

Leia flashed Han a wry grin. Han might agree with guerrilla warfare, but he might not be so pleased with her personal plans - only half-formed, thus far, but plans nonetheless. The Jedi were important - it was just that, to Leia's mind, training more Jedi was not the answer. Training the Jedi they had, though ... training herself ... that might be it. Bail had told her countless stories of the Jedi when she was a child - tales of the library-world of Ossus, tales of artifacts and places of power like Ruusan - surely some traces of the old Order had survived in the galaxy. Vader could not have destroyed them all. And if they survived, surely she could find them.

But that was all secondary; her personal plans could be worked out later. Right now, the important part was to convince these smugglers that the fight was still worth fighting. Leia looked back at them all, gauging their reaction to what Han had said.

TAG: All in the tapcaf

 

Muri Mikaru
Tapcaf


Muri eyed this woman who randomly barged in and added her two credits to the uncharacteristic nonsense that Karrde was spouting about laying low. He was about two seconds away from asking - quite frankly - 'Just who in the Nine Corellian Hells are you?' but before he could Leia added her thoughts and Ahto cued in his point of view. The old Mandalorian made sense, his points were good, and they could be built on thats for sure. In fact Han wasted no time doing just that, and Muri of course agreed.

"You'll forgive me for a moment if I get all sentimental on you." The smuggler put his hands in his pockets as he cued up a personal speech to get the troops rallied. "I have been Captain of the Silver Lining now for 24 years. Little more than half of my life running from one end of the Galaxy to the other hauling Saara knows how many loads of everything from foodstuff to less than legal sundries. I watched the fall of the Republic, and the rise of both these Empires now from the Captains chair of that busted old bulk cruiser. I've seen and done things most of you will never Fathom, lost things all of you will hopefully never have to lose."

"What I'm trying to say is I'm got some years on me, forty two to be exact. And in all my forty two years there's been one constant. Someone trying to tell me what to do. First it was parents, then traditions, laws, regulations, now over bearing Empires trying to control what I do, when I do it, and how I go about doing it." He leaned forward and put both hands on the table as his eyes went from the woman - Vima - to Karrde. "And quite frankly after forty two years I'm sick and kriffing tired of it, and I'm going to do something about it."

"You," he pointed at Ahto, "You say the two Empires should be tricked into going into all out war with each other. And you," This time to Leia, "You think the Rebellion should get back to Guerrilla Tactics. Well the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. What we need to do, is make the Empire think the hit and run attacks are done by other Imperials, and frankly thats simple. We just need an Imperial ship, fighters, and equipment, and Saara knows we know how to do that sorta thing. Its what we do we acquire things. This isn't beyond us, this war is not over, and we can still fight it on our terms, and I sure as hell am not going to hide in some corner like an abused kid while Momma Empire and Daddy Empire beat the kriff out of each other. We're rebels dammit, its about damn time we acted like like it and rebelled."

Finished Muri leaned back off the table, his position was set, he was going to fight. He was an Echani, war was in his blood, war was his blood. From the day he was born to the day he dies that fighting instinct that is in every single white haired and silver eyed warrior will be a part of him, and it was something he was finally about to embrace.

Tag: All in the Tapcaf

Golla

Meanwhile, as Muri was going on about his speech Golla who'd been standing back behind his captain reached out and grabbed Calo's hand before the Clone could interrupt Muri. The towering block of muscle simply nodded to the door, a simple gesture for 'follow me'.

Tag: Sawn,

OOC: Sorry Sawn... couldn't interrupt Muri's dramatic moment

 

Calo Fett
From Dusk Till Dawn

Snatching his hand free, Calo reared back to give Golla a nice blow to the kisser for grabbing hold of him like some kid interrupting grown-up talk when he stopped to listen to the speeches going on between the Alliance MVPs and the Smuggling ring he'd come to know well. Old Calo would've piped in and offered his services, but New Calo had a greater commitment to the children and to the Mandalorians. He would help the Rebellion of course, but right now he had grave business to attend to...

"Alright ya big oof, let's go," Calo let out a sigh and moved toward the door, following Golla's lead toward the Silver Lining to collect what was his. It was finally time to reveal to the youngsters what happened on Kuat, what happened to their insertion team which had included Zarith and Gunlock.

TAG: Kahn

OOC: No worries mate. Sorry for the long wait all, been busy over here

 

OOC:
Holy.
Kriffing.
Kriff.

Guys, I can't apologize enough, but I've been in the lovely state of New Jersey performing Shakespeare and, as my laptop crashed last summer, I haven't been around a computer much for any extended period of time. I think the best course of action for me, then, is to continue guiding you all towards the end of Part II, and then not begin the last and final part of AFaS until mid-August, when I'm finished here.

---

[b]Dusk[/b]

Vima drew closer to Rahm Kota and his new padawan, hoping to garner solidarity from the other Jedi.

"Guerilla tactics only work to whittle down enemy resolve in the face of something bigger. We can continue hit-and-runs but only if we're working towards a larger offensive - and what's more, when the Sith are defeated, a band of guerillas cannot restore order. And Princess, do we know enough about Palpatine's Imperials? Or what your...what Luke will do? Or...the one that we called Vader?

"Perhaps it might be best to take some time."

[b]TAG: All at Dusk[/b]

[b]Secret Imperial Facility...[/b]

The one known as Kanos had signaled his return, and the assembled Imperial officers watched the ruddy skies for his ship. Ruusan was destroyed. Palpatine was dead. Now came the time to divide the spoils, beginning with the riches on this world, and in the secret, cavernous labs below.

The troops were ready. When Kanos returned, there would be a force for him to reckon with, and once he was dead, there would be no one standing in the way of the traitor-Moffs. After all, they could not return to Lord Vader...

[b]TAG: Troepfchen, Mitth[/b]

 

Muri Mikaru
Millennium Falcon, Dusk

Muri looked around the hold of the Falcon. The ship was about as close to a living legend in Smugglers circles as one could get, a history that shadowed Muri's own Lining despite being half as young and many times smaller. Months ago the concept of even visiting the Falcon never crossed Muri's mind, now he was attending a little coup meeting. Dealing with the Empire certainly did go a long way into making peoples lives interesting.

Solo got right to the heart of the issue with dealing with Vima's hair brained scheme of hiding like a pair of pups while momma was away hunting dinner. "I gotta agree." Muri said, "Though that need go without saying. Problem is now, we gotta do some of this on our own. Falcon can run off on its own well enough, its small. But if the Lining were to go missing Kaarde would get his undies in a bunch and come hunt me down lest I bring attention down on his modest little smuggling operation."

"So that's our little problem here. If we do anything we have to do it where the 'adults' don't notice what the kids are doing. Which of course means we gotta be sneaky. We all know we're good at being sneaky. So the question is how are we gonna go about it? I personally don't wanna hide but I can't exactly bring the Lining along for the rid." Muri patted his pilot Sheero on the back, "Might even have to leave her in your hands for a while old buddy." He looked back at Han, then at Leia. "Thoughts?"

Tag: Xan, Sarge, Solo

 

Dusk

The landing pad...

Vima sat straight backed before the ARC-170. Legs crossed, eyes closed, she stared off into the innerspace she had trained so long ago to see. In the galaxy, so much darkness swirled, and there was a sense of unease in the Force as if the world had spun off course. The Dark Prince and the Resurrected Emperor burned like pulsars, and somewhere, in the distance, an uneasy light, unsure of itself, remorseful, ashamed to shine. This was the presence Vima focused on and, creakily for lack of practice, reached out to.

We don't know what to do out here...

The answer came strongly, and carried echoes of three other voices that Vima did not recognize. We press on.

Vima knit her brows. Solo is not being cooperative. We Jedi know the value of biding our time...

The light in the distance was amused. We Jedi? You, just reinitiated to the Force and me, a Sith Lord that helped to teach you Jedi such patience? Solo is a troublesome one, but we have need of troublesome ones. I was a troublesome one, once.

The echoes in the Force all beamed in resentful agreement at the last statement, and the bright light, the candle in the dark, spoke once more. You do what is necessary for you. I will do what is necessary for myself. Solo will do whatever he wants and no one can convince him otherwise.

Vima smirked. No wonder he and your daughter get along so well...

The amused light burned brighter, then turned its thoughts elsewhere. Vima's eyes snapped open. She sighed.

TAG: All

The Millennium Falcon, interior

Rahm Kota cleared his throat. "With all due respect to the Mand'alor, I think I may have an idea for some help. Training militias was a specialty of mine, and during the Clone Wars there was an effort to train a special kind of fighting force on Haruun Kal. Kyle and I may be of some use there..."

Chewbacca rumbled his agreement and continued. <<If there's anything Wookiees know it's fighting the Empire in secret. Kashyyyk might not be a bad place to start, either. And it's right under the Empire's nose...>>

Goran Beviin spoke next. "The Mandalorians won't lay down and take this lightly, either. We don't have a home, but we have a fleet now, and that's enough."

TAG: HSolo29, Xan, Kahn, Sawn

 

IC: Kir Kanos
Secret Imperial Facility...

The shuttle flew low, it's wings downstretched, skimming the trees as they came ever closer to what would be the place of their Master's rebirth. Still, there was a saying he had learned that echoed in his mind. . .whilst the master's away the children will play. And with Moff's such play could be, to put it bluntly an unmittagated dissaster.

So he preppared as a Hand is wont to do, for an idle one should not be left idle to long lest mischieff be built. Then again unlike the children or the Hand that became an Arm, he was not without a mind of his own to devise a path to a journey unspecified.

Landing would be tricky but there was an expected processional, as if ready for the Emperor himself awaiting. The Sith that he had rescued and brought with him waited in the compartment, ready to depart. For with them he and those four guards and three of the most loyal Sith he felt among those present would be drop out of the craft into a tree through an now empty escape pod hatch near the site. One loyal left who had exchanged garments would impersonate him, whilst he impersonatted one of the four troopers, one of which would impersonate the sith he would of been in the small squad. Impersonattion was not a hard task since none had truly seen his face since the battle on a world that no longer existed, and as for Sith. . .plenty of hopefulls like stormtroopers seemed to be going around.

He and his small group would observe, if things went poorly they would infiltrate the Labs for the Emperors safety. If they went well, the deception would continue until the Emperor returned if necessary. A little insurence was never a bad thing, especially if one could dissappear into the crowd when things went south.

TAG: LordT, Matt

 

Imperial World

The shuttle took an uncommon amount of time to approach the facility, but when it finally did it was met by Moff Ives and a retinue of jumpy troops. At a meeting only a select few were supposed to know the location of - the existence of - an unexpected visitor meant trouble.

As the shuttle hissed to a landing and the landing ramp lowered like a jaw, a scarlet robed man appeared followed by his own troops. Initial scans had predicted more lifeforms aboard. Moff Ives shifted uncomfortably, but saluted. Robes. In the Empire, men wearing robes were never easy to deal with, and were almost always superior in rank. He saluted. "Greetings, visitor. What brings a distinguished guest here to this modest outpost?"

TAG: Mitth

 

IC: Kir Kanos/Kir Faux Kanos
Imperial World

Kir Kanos looked forward through the heads up display of the trooper helmet, the information it was occasionally streaming was most interesting. The burst transmissions were coming through slightly decayed due to the weakness of the irregular pulses from the ship, but the information that it displayed showed the meeting in progress. A nice diversion when he wasn't having to hack through vine-snakes or figure out the best back route into the facility.

Still the scene that unfolded in the one-way pulses was nice in it's ability to slowly lay things out from one of the guards perspectives.

The latest showed the salute of the head of the greeting party. Then the next a few moment later would display what he hoped would be a resolution, one way or another. Until then he continued hacking away with his vibro-blade.

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As the man approached and spoke his words he raised a hand. From within the craft came floating out several corpses, all killed by blaster fire from within the craft, those the real Kanos had killed after saving them.

"We needed to dispense of some heretical trash from Ruusan, and we come to see the Emperor's. . .re-emergence here." the man spoke softly whilst testing the smell of this place within the force. So many odors yet reached him, sorting them was a bit of a chore, but their familiarity made the take less time to sort. Friend. Foe. Deceit. Honesty. Loyalty.

TAG: Matt

 

Imperial Facility

Corpses.

The shuttle vomited them forth, bloodied and broken. The man in the lead spoke calmly and assertively even as the troops behind Ives readied their own weapons. "We needed to dispense of some heretical trash from Ruusan, and we come to see the Emperor's. . .re-emergence here."

Heretical trash. These were not Vader's men.

"Palpatine is dead, once and for all," Ives raised his own weapon, "Surrender now and we won't harm you or your men. I recognize a man of importance when I see one, and in the days ahead we may need your kind."

* * * * *

An entire jungle patrol slaughtered, their wounds cauterized, their bodies twisted and reduced to pulp. One trooper vomited in his helmet. Who had done this? And then he looked up in the trees...

TAG: Mitth

Coruscant

Imperial Palace

Darth Librium had not delayed upon arrival on Coruscant. Immediately he retired to his chambers and began to study the reports of Palpatine's secret strongholds. If the old man aspired to empire, he would have to rebuild from scratch. He looked up from the flimsi and holos for a moment to see his wife studying the masses outside the viewports, her hand cradling her womb, her brow furrowed.

There was work to be done.

Sinrebirth, All