Star Wars Chaos Eternal: The Age of Ruin (Always Accepting New Players)

Overlord Vexx
The Prevalence - In Orbit Around Mandalore

It is only Vexx's superior self-restraint that keeps him from crushing Slay's skull with his talons. She is thinking about immediate results rather than long-term goals and this sort of thinking frustrates him almost beyond what he can bear and still remain civil. He starts to stalk over to her, the rhythm of death itself drummed out by every clank of his metal talons against the durasteel floor, when Slay's apprentice speaks up and calms his mounting anger.

"Your apprentice seems more in tune with the symphony of war than you are, Advisor," he mimics the same tone Slay has just used addressing her apprentice, "Have you forgotten that the attack on Sundari was intended as a secondary objective. The main intent here was to give the appearance of a plan to besiege the city, but it is only to serve as an illusion. It is not our main intent. Permitting me to refresh your memory, the plan was to wear the enemy down without directly engaging them."

Slay may not know it, but she is indebted to her apprentice. Vexx had been dangerously close to disregarding the consequences of throttling her only moments ago, before her apprentice had spoken up and appealed to his strategy. He inclines his head to the aspiring Sith before turning his yellow eyes back to Slay as she points out the supposed flaws in his current plan.

"We will not send reinforcements," he declares, already aware of Slay bristling at this news, "Instead, we will retreat. Let them have their city and revel in the battle they have won. They will soon learn that there is a much bigger plot to all of this and for your sake, I hope you will soon learn the same."

He paces away, hands clasped behind his back. He can relate to Slay's desire to join the battle. He too is a warrior down to the core. Commanding from afar is not his preferred position, but he knows patience will pay off. He will get his fill of direct engagement soon enough. He glowers over his shoulder at Slay. It would be a pity if she did not live long enough to join him on the front.

Tag: @ConservativeJedi321

 

GM Update

IC: Jia Hiss
Hoth

The Caamasi meditated in tranquil peace with his eye's closed, drawing on the force to give him strength. He sensed the pirates walking to his cell, felt them as they stood just outside the door.

The barrier opened, and the three beings observed him for a moment.

"What do ya think it is boss?"

Jia didn't give them a chance to answer, he leaped to his feet and unleashed a wave of energy knocking them all back. One soldier tried to shoot him, but he pulled the humans blaster out from his hand. Simultaneously he kick his leg into the pirates Talz companion's chest.
Both were soon out cold.

All that remained was the Captain, a Klatooinian male with a large axe.
The leader had gotten back on his feet, and was charging Jia. The Jedi leapt out of the way, and the brute found himself barreling into the wall of his cell.
The Captain collapsed with a thud.

Only then did Jia Hiss see their lightsabers hanging loosely on his belt.

"I'll be taking these back if you don't mind." After retrieving their weapons he locked the door behind him, and opened Cebara's cell door. His fellow Jedi didn't ask any questions, only leaping to his feet, so he could attend to his likely terrified Padawan Learner in the next room.

"This facility is crude." Jia explained as the Mandalorian attempted to sooth his apprentice. "But if you want it could be a far more practical base of operation than the shack we set up camp in the first night. The captains in my old cell, it shouldn't be hard to persuade him to join our cause."

@JediCebara

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IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City

After a long day of debate, and tedious discussion amongst her advisors Prena was relieved to finally have a few hours of peace.
She now stood at the balcony of her room in the Wookiee city. Looking out over the greenery, she could just make out the ocean waves calmly splashing on the beach several klicks beyond her chambers. The sun was setting over it, offering a beautiful picture that rivaled her home world of Naboo. Oh she missed it now, and longed to return.
Still, she could not until Sergeant Aldrich was certain enough security measures were in place.

At that moment her thoughts were interrupted by the chiming at her rooms personal communicator. With a sigh, she moved to answer the call. The stout features of Jedi Master Reth Voquen came on the screen, and she offered a wane smile in an attempt to hide her irritation at being interrupted.

"Quen Masorna." The Lannik began. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No of course not, I'm happy to hear from you." She stated as quickly as I could.
A grave expression came over his face. "I know you're lying." Prena's eye's bulged. Could he really sense her anxiety at such a distance?
"You need to brush up on your acting lessons." a smirk came to his features, and she realized he was toying with her. The Queens shoulders sagged, and she offered a short laugh, "It has been a long day Mast Voquen."

"No matter, I simply called to inform you that I have returned to my base of operations. And that the Jedi are prepared to do our duty."
"It will take time for the UUW to make up for the damage brought at Naboo." She informed him. "We won't be staging any full scale attacks until we can get our fleet functioning again."

"Just as well." He nodded in understanding. "Our own fleets are still being retrofitted with weaponry. These pirate vessels are more designed for hit and run tactics than full scale war. Still, I should think some action ought to be taken to prevent the Hutts from retaliating in a timely manner?"

She smiled, in agreement. "We have an agent in their territory working to undermine their efforts. If you like I can put you in contact with him."

"The Jedi are at your disposal Queen Masorna."

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IC: Amorr Donnan
Radnor

The Twi'lek had been busy the last few days. Flying from one world to another, setting up a foothold in the new Hutt territories. He had just finished with Christophsis, and come out of hyperspace in the Hutts latest conquest.
Though before he could even take into account their forces in the sector, his holotransceiver signaled an in coming message.
The worst possible time to, he was just about to power down the vessel so he could move past the larger ships without being detected.

Instead he lingered back, and only powered off most nonessential items.

He finally activated the relay, in low power mode. A fuzzy image of a short being with pointy ears came formed above the display. But the signal was weak.

"Tztz..aster Voquen. Quee... *pop* gave me this freque...chtzzzz Hear me? Can you... tzzzzz Jedi. I am..."

Despite the poor quality of the audio, Amorr understood the gist of what the being was saying. He was the Jedi Queen Masorna had recently been in contact with, and she told this 'Voquen' to contact him and offer aid. Amorr wasn't very trusting, but he didn't have time to press for more information.

"I get what you're saying Jedi. But I'm not too keen on letting your people interfere in my operations." He whispered, though perhaps he didn't have to. Its not like the Hutt fleet could hear him at this distance either way.
A pause followed, and the Twi'lek feared his message hadn't gotten across.

"We... chtzzzu side. Give... us... chance frzzzum prove... our commitment."

The Jedi was trying to work around the static, but his message was clear, and Amorr didn't want to waste time arguing.
"Fine. My operatives on Ando are planning a strike on the Kolto refineries there. If you want a chance to prove yourself send aid to help them."
Without hesitation the Jedi agreed. "We...jzzzt...spatch Jedi Ki-Hon.. tz... apprentice immediately."

Amorr turned off the communicator instantly, and began guiding his vessel towards the surface.

@Shadow Trooper

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Jeston Kryze
Mandalore, Sundari

Jeston moved towards the balcony, to watch the turrets bombard the vessel above. While the shield were holding off the worst of the attack, it was apparent they were weakening.

Initially the destroyer attempted to fire back, but apparently realizing such course of action was useless they began to turn tail and run a minute later. Soon fading from sight across the evening sky, Jeston briefly cursed, they had let it get away!
But the cheering of his men prevented him from vocalizing this concern.

Destroying the ship would have served as a far greater signal, but its retreat would do almost as well.

Reluctantly he decided to fall back into the building, wandering briefly. The battle had been costly, but they had won. Just as he said they would. He came to a stop in the control room, where corpses still lay about the small chamber. Kneeling by his fallen brother, he held in tears. "Ni Kelir ratiin partaylir vod..." he spoke in a horse tone, as he held the fallen mans hand.

It was at this moment one of his followers interrupted him. "Jeston, Ba'vodu Sargi is on the communicator."

Jeston stood, and silently moved passed the soldier. The communications room was down the hall, and sure enough a hologram of his uncle was waiting for him. "Jeston." the older man began, but the young Mandalorian had enough.

"We won. Sundari is liberated, no thanks to you. My only brother is dead, and the Imperials have retreated. I have done more for our clan than you ever have!"

There was a look of condescending pity in Sargi's eye, that made him sick. "Jeston, you have to know such outbursts do not help the clan. Creating division will only serve the Sith's ultimate goal."

"The Sith are gone Uncle! Mandalore is liberated! Not one living sorcerer remains on our planet, because of the blood split by MY clan."

"They are still in the system Jeston. You have to know they won't leave so easily..." His uncle had a pleading tone in his voice, but that just sparked his anger. "A mere fraction of our total force pushed them out of Sundari! If you would stop cowering in the forests we might force them out of system all together." he clenched his hand for emphasis.
This only elicited a sigh from Sargi. "You really believe it's that easy don't you?"
A short pause followed, as the two Kryze contemplated their situation.

"I don't want another civil war." Sargi finally spoke hesitantly. "Such a waste of Mandalorian blood would serve no purpose, I'm sure we can both agree." Jeston reluctantly nodded in concurrence as his uncle went on. "Let us meet then, on neutral ground. I favor luring the Sith to our position, you would prefer going on the attack. I'm certain we can find common ground somewhere."
With visible reluctance Jeston agreed. "There is an outpost a few clicks from Sundari. We will meet there."

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IC: Darth Slay
The Prevalence

As the evening turned to night, the war council concluded, and both Slay and her apprentice moved to retire to their respective chambers. Only, Slay was to restless to sleep, so as they left the communications room she pulled on Wacten's arm, and led him to a small empty room that had been converted to a sparring dojo.

"Let us see how your training has come along apprentice." She could see concern in the older mans eye, though he stood resolute before her. "If that is your wish, master."

They both ignited their crimson blades instantly, and Slay went on the attack. She struck thrice at his abdomen, and he evaded all her attacks. "You are too passive." She snorted. "Unbecoming of a Sith."
She thrust her blade down at his leg, before dragging it up, aiming at his chin." He caught her blade on his own, and pulled it just far enough away to avoid grievous injury. "It is not a reluctance to fight Master. But a desire to win."

She launch another furry of attacks, for which Wacten blocked or evaded each one in an almost elegant fashion. "You have been practicing." She deduced. "Form III?" Slay scowled. "That is the Jedi's form."
She carefully pushed him backwards, towards the wall in order to limit his mobility.

"It is a tactical form Master." He stated, in an almost mockingly polite manner. "You underestimate it at your own peril. In the hands of one with patients it can be a deadly tool."

Slay lashed out furiously, attacking him in a ruthless series of sequences she was sure would off balance him. To her surprise he held his own. She had expected him to capitulated like in their previous sparring session, and at this point she realized he actually had the potential to be a threat.

Her frustration boiled over as she arced her blade wide expecting to cut him in half, only to see him leap over her. She attempted to turn and reengage him, but felt his boot in her stomach as she did so.
All of a sudden she felt her own back towards the wall she was driving him towards. He was leaning on her, blade inches away. "Yield." He demanded.

With a smile the Iktotchi head butted him, driving her left horn into his right eye. He cried out in pain, and collapsed on the floor.
She eyed him with contempt. deeming her previous concern premature. "A lesson for you apprentice. When you have your enemy defeated, never give them a chance to strike back."
Recalling her lightsaber to her hand she left the injured Wacten Plus squirming on the floor as she retired to her bed chamber.

@Kaleesh-Cyborg

 

Overlord Vexx
The Prevalence

Cold yellow eyes watch from the shadows as master and apprentice engage one another. Vexx never could resist observing a duel, although this is not what one would call an "innocent" observation. The cyborg has a motive, though not necessarily one of any high priority. He is learning the way in which Slay fights. Typical aggression exhibited by most Sith he has witnessed in combat; she has as much patience in dueling as she did in the war room a few hours ago. Vexx smirks behind his skeletal mask; he could have a lot of fun irritating her in a duel.

As he watches the progression of the sparring session, he sees immense potential in the apprentice. His chosen style is under-appreciated by his master and while Vexx is not inclined to rely on Soresu unless he is faced with blaster-wielding opponents, he is a practitioner of it as a secondary form to compensate for the weaknesses in his favored Makashi combat style. He has half a mind to kill Slay just to take over training her apprentice out of sheer disdain for what he is witnessing now.

The duel comes to a disappointing close with the wounding of the apprentice. Vexx growls softly under his breath. He has never agreed with the training styles he has witnessed from most Sith Lords. His own master, Draconis of the Sith Empire, had a clever way of training that Vexx had stubbornly bucked for a long time before he submitted to it and later found it to be effective. He has witnessed and been on the receiving end of his master's disapproval, but he had never seen Draconis lose his cold demeanor. His wrath and any subsequent punishment he dealt out was always amazingly calm, which had a tendency to evoke even more fear than it might have if he had been inclined to rant and rave like Slay.

Once the Iktotchi departs and leaves her collapsed apprentice to writhe in agony, Vexx emerges from the shadows and approaches Wacten, his metal talons clanking on the floor with each footfall as he comes to the man's side and gazes down on him with an unreadable expression.

"You show great potential," his cybernetic voice rumbles like distant thunder in the silence of the room, "It is a pity that you are saddled with an incompetent master. It is not my preferred form, but I too practice Soresu when the situation calls for it. You are a natural, but you lack a secondary element to fall back on. Warfare is ever changing, necessitating the ability to know when and how to adjust accordingly."

In a rarely shown moment of compassion, Vexx reaches through the Force to lessen the pain of Wacten's wound, not enough to remove it completely, but enough that the man can at least recover his dignity and get to his feet to take himself to the infirmary for proper treatment. He says no more as he calmly turns and strides away, hands clasped behind his back as he moves back toward the shadows from whence he had come.

Tag: @ConservativeJedi321

 

Ando
IC: Scale
The night was dark and quiet, almost peaceful. The Besadii guards were drunk and happy. They had displaced their rivals, the hated Trandoshan mercenaries, and they now had a prestigious, easy and lucrative assignment of controlling the Kolto facilities. The slaves were also acting rather subdued lately. The rabble rousing and trouble among the workers that had occurred under Scale's watch had not been a problem for the new Besadii Masters.
Several platoons of Scale's Reavers were camped outside of the main Kolto production facility. Leading this group was Captain Fafnir. Scale was also present along with his captive, Gysor's Twilek majordomo, Vuro Wilt. Unlike the Besadii guards, the mercenaries were alert and on edge, ready for action.
"The Besadii have been given control of the Kolto facilities General" Captain Fafnir said. "I do not like this, encouraging the laves to revolt like this for.. political reasons. If the Jedi destroy the Kolto plan instead of simply free the slaves, my men will not be deployed to prevent this action. We may be too late to stop them!"
"Your fears are unfounded Captain. You are thinking like a soldier and not like a Jedi. These facilities produce medicine that saves millions of lives, destroying them would condemn people across the galaxy to certain death because of the loss of these medical supplies. I tell you that their objective will be the camps and not the facility itself."
Scale had just finished speaking when a cry of alert came from the sentries. The guard post and the slave barracks had come under attack by unknown aggressors. The attackers were reportedly being led... by two Jedi.
"Stang! Your tactical insights never fail to amaze me!" Fafnir said. "The Besadii seem sufficiently overwhelmed. I will take the troops and subdue this rebellion as we had discussed."
Fafnir's troops were deployed to the barracks while Scale stayed behind with his hapless prisoner. The Trandoshan Mercenary stood over the captive Twilek with a gloating smirk. He had always been fond of bragging, especially when his auditor was a... captive audience.
"As you can see, we had every detail of your little scheme. You plan was doomed from the start and the slaves and Jedi that you used in your little plan are walking into a slaughter. All that remains is to find the conclusive proof that Gysor had set this all up to sabotage me and collude with the Jedi, and his time in power is finished!"
"You're insane and paranoid Scale!" Vuro Wilt said. "I told you nothing because I know nothing. I tell you that I was never involved ith the Jedi or any attempt to frame you."
"All lies!" Scale growled. "But we will get the truth from you soon enough. The ambush was designed to capture the lead conspirators alive and whole, or at least intact enough to resolve our questions!" One of the assault vehicles that Fafnir and the Mercenaries had used in the assault was driving back towards Scale's encampment. "Perfect timing" Scale said, flashing a predatory, reptilian smile at Vuro. "It looks like our net turned up some prey after all. The time has come to get my answers!"

 

GM Update

IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City

The Queen had awaken early, hoping to have time to herself before a ruckus of new problems took her away for the day. She dressed in a grey jumpsuit, and threw on a camouflage poncho, before strapping her heavy blaster to her ankle.

To her chagrin as she stepped out of her room a Wookiee guard insisted on accompanying her. She could handle herself, and really wanted some alone time. Still, Prena could sympathize with guards desire to keep her safe. Wookiee's were a notoriously loyal species, and they probably couldn't bear the thought of something bad happening to her.

As the tall being entered into step beside her he growled a question. To which she responded "I'm going for a walk in the forest. Never been fond of being cooped up. Plus I'd like some fresh air."
He snorted back a surprisingly candid retort, and she was thankful for that. It was rare to come across someone who would say what they mean with her. She was a Queen yes, but she nevertheless loathed the niceties of politics. "The balcony may offer some fresh air, but it is just as confining as my room."

They carried on the conversation as they walked from platform, to platform. All the way down the lift, Greskkeran, her blunt companion, attempted to dissuade her from going on the short voyage.

"Yes, I've heard you're forests are quite dangerous. But this isn't the shadowland. I hear the wildlife of Kachirho is somewhat less hostile. Or am I wrong?"
Greskkeran didn't answer right away, but after a moment of hesitation he growled a response that basically translated 'Perhaps for a Wookiee.' Prena laughed. "Well then, good thing I have you by my side. Though I should expect a warrior of your stature to be braver than that." She offered it as a playful taunt; to which Gresk roared in surprisingly haughty way.

"Fine. Then you should have no problem watching my back as I study the remarkable fauna of your planet."
She turned her back to him, and came upon a large bed of flowers. Prena knelt to pluck some of the multi-colored buds.
Just as she finished her first bundle, a hissing noise came to her attention. She raised the floret to her ears, wondering if that may be where the strange noise was coming from.

But before she could say anything she felt Gresk grab her in his large arms, he threw her to the side just a blaster shot rang out, burning strait into his shoulder blades. Prena screamed in surprise, but refused to allow herself go numb. Leaping behind a tree, she untethered her blaster. Where had the shot come from? Was Gresk ok?

Risking a glance beyond the tree, the Queen saw the large Wookiee laying motionless by the flowerbed. A brawny orange Trandoshan came into view from the other side of the clearing. "A good Wookiee is a dead Wookiee." He was saying, either to himself or her. "The scorekeeper will look favorably on this kill." There was what may have been a sadistic grin on its face. "Now, to deal with you little lady."

She gulped, and fired two shots at him, both of which he dodged. "A feisty one. I like it. Queen Masorna is it not? Yes, the Hutts have a nice bounty on you're head."
He unleashed three shots in her direction, all of which exploded in the large tree she was hiding behind. "To my pleasure, they will accept you dead or alive. Put up a good fight, and you're death will be even more prestigious to me"
The Queen took a calming breath, but before she could act she heard a loud roar. It was a Wookiee war cry, and a green-bow caster bolt tore into the woodwork near her. It clearly caught the hunter by surprise, and in that instant another shot kneecapped him. Prena ran out of her hiding spot waving her hands. "No, don't kill him." She hated the hunter with a passion for what he did to Gresk, but couldn't let that blind her.

Chief Yirrawa was leading the party of Wookiees, and he scoffed indignantly at her request. "I know you despise Trandoshans. This one tried to kill me, and I would certainly like to see him dead as well. But he is an asset. He knew who I was, he might know more about our enemies."
"Just Kill me." The squirming creature shouted in pain, as he writhed on the ground. Capture was the ultimate disgrace for Trandoshans, that would offer her some comfort. Yirrawa offered a skeptical grunt, and Prena could understand his reluctance. "Yes, I'm sure you come across these kinds of hunters all the time. The conflict between you're peoples is well known; but I don't believe this was an accident. Greskkeran sacrificed himself for me, that means I was the initial target, not him. We need to be sure they didn't transfer my location before engaging.
Finally the Wookiee's consented.

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IC: Jia Hiss
Hoth

Jia wasn't sure which promise convinced the Klatooinian to side with them: money, glory, or land.
Perhaps he just figured he didn't have a choice, he'd rather serve as part of Jedi leadership than be locked up in the brig for the rest of his life. In any case, with the aid of the pirate captain, Jintor-Valez, they began touring their new base of operations. With a simple gesture he ordered his troops to stand down. "I don't know what you think we have to offer Master Jedi." He started, rubbing the back of his head. He was clearly uncomfortable taking orders. "We number about a hundred, got a couple ships stored in the hanger two floors up. But they ain't military craft. We're pirates boss, we don't exactly go around conquering worlds here and there."

"It's a start." Jia stated. "We have the resources needed to build up a fleet, we just need individuals capable of recruiting warriors to man them."

"Right." He shook his head. "Right, we can help with that. A couple of my lieutenants are Zeltron." A goofy grin came upon Jintor's face, after an awkward moment Jia nodded. "Ok, well I need to report back to the council."
He pulled Cebara to the side and whispered to him. "Keep an eye on this guy. Personally I don't like working with Pirates, but we don't have much of a choice."

With a polite nod Jia stepped away, pulling his hood up he left the base and began the walk back to their ship.

Tag: @JediCebara
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IC: Sorvi Jatas
Ando

"Be careful!" The Jedi's green blade sliced through a Gamorrean guard as the Aqualish fighters continued their attack on the Kolto refinery.
Sorvi growled in response. "If you get yourself killed it ain't my fault!", she tossed another grenade which exploded taking out a line of machinery with the Guards standing near it.

"We didn't come to destroy kolto!" Ki-Hon hissed. "It's the slaves that matter!"

"These Hutt slime captured my brother. He's probably dead in a ditch right now!" She fired her rifle "I'm not in the mood to go easy. We free these slaves they capture more. We blow this place, and we set them back months."

The Jedi took up position next to his apprentice, intercepting blaster shots and cutting down guards. "At what cost!?! These medical supplies are necessary to protect lives!"

Sorvi lobbed a thermal detonator before leaping behind cover again. "You really think the Hutts will allow these supplies to be used to help innocents? You're more delusional than I thought."
The Jedi jumped behind a box of Kolto as the detonator exploded killing a dozen guards, and caving in the hallway they were coming out of.

"Leaving the slaves to die is unjust. In doing so you will be no better than those you seek to defeat."
Sorvi's tusks twitched. "We don't have time to argue!"
She pointed to one of her rebel companions. "Hand me the explosives. We need to level this entire building if we really want to hurt them!"

Tag: @Shadow Trooper
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IC: Sargi Kryze
Mandalorian Outpost

Sargi felt uncomfortably exposed as he stepped off his shuttle. His two companions, of houses Viszla and Itera respectively came as ambassadors for their individual clans. They could be trusted to look out for their own interests, but he wasn't convinced they were as committed to a unified Mandalore as he was. The only reason they served him now was that their clans had been decimated by the Sith. They could not take his in a fair fight, but if their weakness became apparent, all bets were off.

He glanced up at their planets dark sky, dawn was on the rise. They had done their best to scramble all possible communications off the planet. Even so, he couldn't help but feel nervous.

The door to the facility opened, and Jeston stepped out. Two Kryze guards were by his side, if this discussion went south Sargi would be surrounded. A sacrifice he was willing to make, he would gladly die to ensure the survival of Mandalore. He was still convinced defense was the best strategy, if they attacked the Sith directly they would be annihilated.

His nephew offered a short, reluctant bow. "Su cuy'gar ba'vodu."
Sargi offered one in return. "Hello Jeston."

The meeting room is prepared." Jeston waved behind him. Sargi glanced in the chmaber beyond. The top floor of the security complex had been cleaned out, and powered up. A table was ready, with Cassius tea prepared for them.
Sargi sighed in relief. If Jeston had intended to challenge him he would have just come out and done it. To defeat him any other way would be dishonorable. "Very well, let the negotiations begin."
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IC: Eden Yull
Bridge of The Prevalence

Yull was still getting the hang of being the captain of a star destroyer. Every day he went through a basic routine, system checks, recording communications, ensuring the troops are at their stations, and so forth.

He still couldn't understand these Sith, he always felt as if he was walking a tightrope between life and death. One misstep and he wouldn't know what hit him. Even during his service to the Corusant Crime Families he hadn't felt that sort of pressure,

He stood now at the bridges central computer, reading reports as they came in: Two interceptors malfunction on a routine flight, a shield generator technician was electrocuted during repairs, a Sith apprentice was immitted to the infirmary with an eye wound.
As he came upon the fourth item in the list his heart stopped.

With a shaky finger Eden transferred the information onto his datapad, and walked as fast as he could to the command deck where Overlord Vexx now was. Captain Yull made a soft coughing noise in an attempt to get his superiors attention. "Sir." he began more timid than he would have liked. Would he be killed for being weak?
"Sir! We have scanned a pair of shuttles heading towards a Mandalorian outpost in the fields west of Sundari." He put a more assertive tone in his voice, and cringed again. Would he be killed for acting tougher than he was?

"One came from the forests, the other from Sundari. It could be Sargi. This could be our opportunity!" He attempted to find a balance between the two.

Tag: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

 

Ando
Captain Fanir stepped out of the assault transport, looking somewhat worse for wear. General Scale approached them eagerly. "Did you catch the Jedi?" he asked the weary mercenary.
"The Master is pinned down protecting the slaves as you planned" said Fafnir. "But the Apprentice is planning to blow the kolto facilities!"
Scale cursed bitterly while Vuro Wilt began to laugh. "Was this your plan!" Scale said turning to the T'wilek. "If so it was well played. But the Jedi weren't counting on facing Scale's Reavers! Bring this slime with us Fafnir, I want him to visit the end of his friends."
The Trandoshan mercenaries re boarded their attack craft and headed towards the burning Kolto facility. Scale and his forces arrived to a scene of utter chaos. Much of the kolto harvesting equipment had already been entirely ruined and the bodies of Mercenaries and slaves alike were strewn across the factory floor. Flames spread unchecked as a result of the fighting and the battlefield was covered in a pall of thick smoke. The slaves had ruined half of the plant and were close to taking the rest of it when Scale's forces arrived to their rear. The doors of the transport opened and the bloodthirsty mercenaries emerged, cutting a bloody path through the slave army's flank. The sudden re appearance of the Mercenaries took the rebelling slaves and the UUW agitators quite by surprise and the tide of the battle quickly shifted. They rallied together valiantly for a last stand but they were soon overwhelmed. At last, the slaves were depleted so that only the Jedi remained standing.
"Surrender to us Jedi" Scale said. "Your cause is hopeless and you have no chance of escape, but if you lay down your arms, we will be merciful."
The Jedi pulled out a thermal detonator, a look of crazed determination on her face. "I know all about your mercy General Scale! Korwin has told me what you did to her master, and the whole galaxy saw what you tried to do to the Queen! I think that I would prefer to die, and deny you of your prize."
"Really" Scale murmured. "Even if it means killing your leader."
"What do you mean. My master has already escaped you. My fight here has tied up your forces fighting here, giving the rest of the slaves time to flee."
"That may be true, but he was not who I was referring to. I am talking about the double agent that the UUW has used to lead this campaign. I am talking about the T'wilek!" Scale pulled Vuro Wilt forward.
The Jedi woman just looked at him, mockingly. "That man had nothing to do with our operation." she smirked. "Why don't you contact your forces, ask them what is happening at Christophsis. You truly do know nothing."
Fafnir pulled out his comlink. "General Scale Sir. Our soldiers have reported the presence of more slave rebellions in our crystal mines. They are led by a male T'wilek."
"Did you hear!" Vuro screamed. "I was innocent."
"So you were" said Scale "Perhaps Gysor was loyal too? He can not learn of what we've done, of our talk of sedition!" Scale "It can't get out". The General began to babble crazily. Fafnir and the Jedi both looked at the Captain General curiously. The Fafnir stepped forward to take action.
"Sorry about this pal" Fafnir said looking down at Vuro Wilt. The mercenary thrust his vibro blade through the T'wilek's throat.
"Well that decides it. We will never submit to you" The Jedi Woman flashed a bloody smile, "The galaxy will be free from your tyranny. It is just too bad that I will not live to see it." The detonator flashed in her hand.
"It's going to blow!" Fafnir shouted. "Get back!" The Trandoshans threw themselves backwards to get away from the bomb. The silver sphere exploded into a wave of fire, and the Jedi and the nearby Kolto tanks were gone. Captain Fafnir pulled himself to his feet. "Put those fires out", he shouted, waving away the other Mercenaries from himself and Scale "Rescue the remaining Kolto tanks if you can. Perhaps this can be salvaged."
Scale was quiet now, but he had the look of a haunted being. The Jedi were really getting to him Fafnir thought. In all his years of service, Fafnir had never seen the General so shaken. Fafnir had the sneaking feeling that the Reavers would be needing a new General soon.

 

GM Update
IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City

She observed the solitary Trandoshan, through the glass window looking down into his cell. Her handmaiden Tiiné was inconsolable, convinced she should have been there to protect her Queen. when the attempt on her life was made.

Prena's focus was elsewhere, however. "Please pull yourself together my friend. There was nothing you could do."
Pulling away from the young women, she looked to Chief Yirrawa, who was glaring at the reptile from across the room. "Where do you suppose he came from?"
The Wookiee's sarcastic growl seemed uncharacteristic of the Chief she had gotten to know from recent weeks.

"Trandosha is of course the most obvious conclusion. But I suspect there is more to it, the assassin who tried to kill me over Naboo was also a Trandoshan. Could the Hutts have set up operation there? It seems a bit far out, they couldn't reasonably expect to hold any base placed there."
Yirrawa offered a grunt, before pointing out that the species was known for being aggressive. The Hutts didn't need to occupy their planet to hire their hunters.

"We need to know more. He's not talking to your people, let me go in and talk to him."
As expected Yirrawa pointedly refused. "Give me a chance. He can't hurt me, he's in chains!"

The Chief was still hesitant, but did not say no. So the Queen pushed right past him, and entered the dark cell. Shadows cast the orange, scaled creature in an eerie light. But she was not afraid.
"Let's start with your name, who are you?"
He lifted his head as if it weighed a ton. When his yellow eye's flickered on her, he hissed but did not recoil as he did with the previous interrogators. "I am Dressk of Trandosha."

That was a start. "Why are you here?" A slow sinister laugh followed, but she noticed it seemed weaker than she would have expected. Almost hollow. "Wookiee pelts are a fine trophy to my people."
"But you aimed for me when you had the shot. My friend..." she choked on his name. "he sacrificed himself so I could live."

The lizard paused, but she did not recognize any sympathy in his eye. "The Hutts have placed a very large bounty on your head. Far more valuable to me than the honor of another Wookiee kill. Half the hunters in the galaxy are searching for you. I never expected to get the chance myself, but when the opportunity presented itself I would have been foolish not to take it."

That much she figured, but there was still more that had to be asked. "Did you contact anyone else before taking the shot?" The captive shook his head, but did not speak. "Will more hunters be coming?"
No answer, and a cold shiver came down the Queens spine.
She turned to the door.

But before she could leave Dressk spoke. "My people will eventually notice my absence. If they haven't already. When that happens, they will come looking."
Prena's heart stopped, and the Chiefs words rang through her head.
The Hutts don't have to occupy Trandosha to gain the benefits that it's people offered.
It was a direct line to Nal Hutta. It could not be ignored.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Iress
Orbit, Cerea

The Jedi Master was gazing tranquilly at the green world below, as he did every morning in order to center his mind. Cerea truly was a beautiful world, it's inhabitants were rather primitive technology wise, but its people had good relations with the Jedi Order. It was for that reason he had chosen this world to set up his operation.
It was usually uneventful.

But on this day, things were different. Half a standard hour ago, Captain Yim informed him that an unmarked transport had entered the system. Only a moment previously the Jedi was informed the shuttled had settled in Hanger One. "Then let us greet our guest." The Rodian offered in a musical tone.

Finally he turned, and waved his apprentice to the turbolift. The Master sensed young Kes-Yun Thane was bustling with questions. "All in good time Padawan." In truth Iress did not know who it was either.
That was why he wanted to greet the mysterious individual personally.

He had been informed that it was urgent. Iress was suspicious of this individual, the mans thoughts were alien to him. Unusually calm, organized, but hidden and difficult to read.

As they approached the hanger the Master decided it would do him best to listen with an open mind.
Captain Yim was there, with a large garrison of soldiers. The man who stepped off the shuttle stood out among all of them. His skin was a dark blue, and his eyes a ghastly red. Iress wasn't sure what to make of him, but her apprentice clearly knew more.

"A Chiss?" He stated with surprise. It made sense that he would know more than Iress, Kes was Cerean. This was his world, he would know his people, and their neighbors better than him.
"You recognize this being apprentice? By all means fill me in."

The teenager hesitated briefly. "Well, I don't know much Master. They have always been a bit of an enigma. In truth I thought them to be a myth. Most of the worlds around the Unknown Regions have heard of them. Great warriors, wise, thoughtful. Just the general stuff.

"Can you communicate with him?" Iress pressed curiously. This startled Kes, but he responded. "I know a couple trade languages but..."
"That will not be necessary." The Chiss spoke in a soothing tone. "I am most comfortable in your own Galactic Basic. I am Captain Thar'Joul'Doatar of the Chiss Ascendency. I come on behalf of my people, to inform you that are under threat. You have angered someone, someone very dangerous. And he will not stop until you are driven out of this region of the galaxy."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Ki-Hon
Ando

Ki had been surprised, and disappointed when his apprentice had chosen to side with the bloodthirsty rebels.
Jiga Tull had seemed to be such an innocent girl, scarred by conflict perhaps. But he couldn't fathom that she might fall so far. The look in her eye as she broke off their defensive position, to aid in Sorvi's attack on the equipment was haunting.

Saving the slaves was there goal, nothing else mattered. Maybe losing her first master had a worse affect on the young women than he could have guessed.
Now as her death rippled through the force, all Ki could do was hope she found some peace as she was reunited with the force.

Now, far from the scorched factories the Jedi Knight took a seat by his small shuttle. He had guided the slaves this far, now it was there turn to find freedom for themselves. "I don't know how many of you will fit in there, but I intend to stay. The rebels are disorganized, frantic. Their leadership is dead, and the rest will be hunted down if they don't reorganize. Perhaps a gentler hand might lead them back into the light."
He glanced at each person, they were scared, hungry, and confused. "If you want to join the cause, I would be thankful. If not, then the shuttle has enough fuel to take you half way across the galaxy if you see fit."

To his surprise most of the former slaves chose to stay.

Tag: @Shadow Trooper

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Sargi Kryze
Mandalore

The Mandalorians gathered around the table, and for a few brief minutes and awkward silence followed.
"I don't want to send you to your death." The leader put bluntly. "But if you are insistent on this plan of attack of yours, I can provide you some resources..."

"It won't work unless we get everybody behind us." Jeston insisted. "I am not naïve Uncle. I know we have a fight ahead of us, that many will die. I don't like it either, but if we are to cower in the forests we might as well no longer call ourselves Mandalorian! We are the finest warriors in this galaxy, we can handle anything."
Sargi sighed, and rubbed his temple in irritation. "That is exactly what Rev and Oren thought..."

"You fear death, that is your weakness Uncle. No one not willing to give it his all should lead."
Sargi was dumbstruck for a second, he could never fathom his little nephew would throw such an insult at him.
"I do not fear death! I am more capable then you know, but I did not survive this long by being stupid!"

This boy had only seen a fraction of what the Sith were capable of, that much he was certain. Sargi had served under the dark lords in the months prior to their capture of Coruscant. That time was enough, they were savages. Masters at torture, killers through and through. Nothing scared them, least of all a self absorbed little besom like him!

Fortunately for the negotiations Sargi had enough sense not to speak these thoughts out loud.
"It is about our culture Jeston. Why should we charge ahead foolishly, let them wipe us out? Our heritage? Our history? If we lose the battle you are proposing we lose everything."

His nephew was shaking his head. "If we do not fight, then we are unworthy of the culture and history we embody."

He stood, and moved to leave. Sargi tried to stop if. "If you insist, I can offer you three corvettes, and a Kedabe-class battle ship. With a full compliment of start fighters for each."
His nephew didn't respond. "Just please, Jeston, if you make it past the blockade, run, escape, hide! Don't let our culture die with you."

The boy grunted, clearly holding his emotions in.
"Goodbye Sargi."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Darth Slay
The Prevalence: Orbit around Mandalore

The Dark Lady was infuriated when she learned of the opportunity presented!
Told by a lowly technician, she practically strangled the man to death right then!

"What is Vexx waiting for!" She demanded, though the man was incapable of responding.
"Oh I know. 'A better opportunity to trip Sargi up". Well I'm not waiting forever! We need to strike!."
At the edge of her vision she saw movement. Letting the technician go she turned to see her apprentice, now sporting a large grey machine sticking out of his eye socket. Clearly placed there by the medical droid.

"That's it, we're mobilizing a force and taking this fight to them!" She grabbed the mans arm, and began leading him to the hanger, but he resisted. "We should run this by Vexx first. Discord placed him in command here!"
With a snarl she tugged his arm again. "I am on the Dark Council, and it is my command we fight! Do not think so highly of yourself that you dare to defy me." She leaned in, her left horn reflecting of his prosthetic eye. "Or do I need to remind you of that again?"

He hesitated, clearly contemplating the wound he was still healing from. Before he could say anything he felt another arm on her shoulder. It was the technician. "Madam... Lord Vexx was... just informed himself. At least... wait to see what he says..."

With a scowl she used her claws to cut the mans neck. "How dare you touch me!"
Glaring down at the soon to be corpse she declared. "I know how he will respond. And it does not matter. Either he will join me in glory, or he will fall in shame before the dark lord."

When her gaze returned to her apprentice, she realized he had escaped. Most likely to inform Vexx.
"Coward." She dismissed him. "After this is done I will be sure to report this weakness to Discord."

Then she continued on her journey down to the hanger, in a commanding tone she ordered. "Scramble the starfighters! Board the transports! We will not get another chance at this!"

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

 

Ando
IC:Scale
For once, things were calm and orderly on Ando for Scale and his troopers. The rebuilding efforts of the Kolto factories had been going well. Although many of the slave had been killed or lost during the uprising, Scale's men were shipping in replacements from all over the Hutt territories. The slave revolt had cleansed the work force of mutinous elements. The sabotage and sedition that had plagued his occupation of the planet had ceased entirely. His problems with his Hutt competitors had largely ceased on the planet as well as they ceded it to his authority. Scale's hostilities against his employer Gysor had been temporarily calmed after the revelations of Vuro Wilt, and Scale's return to success in his task of planetary occupation. The machinations of his Besadii rivals had also been checked by the events on Ando. Many of the Besadii personnel had been killed in the raid or else fled the planet in disgrace after their disastrous attempts to ward off the slave revolt. They had taken the blame from the Hutt council for the problems on Ando while Scale had taken the credit for salvaging what appeared to be a damaging situation.
Having achieved his purpose on the world, Scale was eager to return to action. It was lucky for him that the Hutt council felt the same way. Scale's liaison with the Hutts, his sibordinate Captain Zorya, delivered new summons to the Trandoshan mercenary from his employer.
"Your actions on Ando have been noticed by the Hutt council, General Scale" Captain Zorya said. "They believe you have redeemed yourself for your failed assassination of the Queen. The time has come to strike back once more at the UUW and their Jedi allies. We have been authorized to commence raids in the inner rim."
"Excellent!" said Scale. "We must gather all of our troops, and all of our ships and then we will squeeze the UUW worlds until everything of value has been bled from them."

 

GM Update

IC: Iress
Orbit, Cerea

"Pirate Warlord?" Iress declared with curiosity, after Captain Joul elaborated on their situation.
"A deadly one at that. Raised away from Chiss society, I may only speculate at the conditions he faced growing up. Based on the record of his parents however, I must assume they were brutal."
This coldness in his voice may have undermined the darkness of his warning, but something in his tone seemed to highlight his the serious nature of his tone.

"You said, 'based on the records'..." The Chiss nodded, and placed a hand on his chest. "I was still quite young when they were exiled. But I read about it in advance of my mission here."

"This is so strange..." Kes-Yun seemed truly baffled by the story presented, and Iress trusted his apprentice. Sorry about that.
"What do you mean Padawan?" The Cerean tapped the side of his head thoughtfully. "All the stories I've heard over the years, the Chiss are supposed to be an honorable species. Rational, beings who have set up a perfect society. It's simply at odds with the concept that this Pirates parents committed such heinous acts,"

Joul placed one hand on the table, and had the faintest echo of a smirk on his features. "Yes. The myth may be grander than the reality young Cerean. Still, in any society created by mortals perfection may be illusive."
The Captain hesitated briefly before continuing. "Corruption, selling beings into slavery, and pointless acts of cruelty are not approved of by the ascendency I assure you. It is for this reason we exiled them. They were..."
Again, that hesitation. As if he wasn't sure of the most accurate word to use. "Defective. Sacrifices must be made to protect our society."

Iress sensed disappointment in her apprentices mind. "You could have helped them! You created this demon by releasing him into the galaxy instead of trying to treat his illness!"
The words seemed to have left their guest briefly speechless. "Sacrifices must be made..."

The Master sensed connections being made in the Captains mind, but could not decipher it. "What happens when this Jotth turns his focus to your Ascendency? Surely he'll want revenge for his parents exile?"
If this question surprised him, he did not react to it. "So he would. But his pirate fleet is no match for our more experienced forces. To your band however, he may pose a challenge."

With a nod, the Jedi shared a glance. "We will keep this in mind. I thank you for the warning."
Iress stood, preparing to lead their guest back to his shuttle, but he stayed still. "If you do not mind, I have been flying for many hours to give you this information. Before I depart, I would like to rest briefly.
Again, the Jedi shared a glance. "I do not want to impose of course. If you desire, I can find a more suitable location to rest."

With some wariness to his voice, Iress nodded. "You may stay for as long as need be Captain Joul. We are in your debt." Master Iress pulled his apprentice to the side, and rested his hand on the Cerean's shoulder. "I must inform the council. If he speaks the truth all our forces must be put on alert."
"If?" Clearly Kes-Yun was too caught up in the moment to pay attention to the cosmic force. "Yes if. He is difficult to read, you have surely noticed. And the future is clouded. I want you to guide him back to his shuttle, and keep an eye on him until he is ready to go."
"Yes Master."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City, War Room

"Invade Trandosha? Are you Mad!?" Sergeant Aldrich placed his holographic hands on the communications table before him. "No. It is a threat, a threat that must be dealt with."

Chief Yirrawa offered a skeptical growl. "Of course, if it was as easy as that you surely would have done it centuries ago. But you've never had our help before."

Captain Venerwaalk offered a forceful question, one she had been grappling with the last couple days.
Shaking her head she responded. "Yes, down south we are still rebuilding. But this is the mid rim, surely it wouldn't stretch our resources too thin to occupy one measly planet?"

Aldrich still seemed baffled. "What are you plans after the battle is won? Short of killing them all it won't do much to hamper their mercenary work. And it just might give them more reason to serve the Hutts."

Again, a difficult question to which her response felt hollow. "A simple blockade would serve the purpose of hampering their activities. Make it difficult to enter and exit the system, and spy on our activities."
She pressed a few keys on the holotransmitter, and a hologram of the planet came into view.

"Of course to be effective we will need to occupy all starprts, and register all vessels on the planet."
Her Allies resistance appeared to be waning, but they quite clearly remained weary, rightfully so if she was honest.

Venerwaalk gently shook his head, and pointed out that the Trandoshans would be unlikely to surrender easily. Such a combative species would fight to the end in most cases. Maybe even flee into their many forests and start a guerilla war.
"After we secure the ports, we can hire willing natives to keep the peace." She contemplated. "Minimize violence. Many of them would do any job for the right price. After we make clear our intentions are non violent hopefully we can avoid a prolonged conflict. Those that do fight back may be imprisoned. But Do Not Kill Them." She stressed the last part. "We have to prove ourselves the morally superior alternative to the Hutts if we want to make a difference in this decaying galaxy."

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: G'espetan Mon
Kor Desilijic

In the small oval chamber that had become the Desilijic war room, only four individuals were physically present.
Gysor, and Mama of course. As well as the Siniteen finance minister Jiggren Tralli, and finally himself G'espetan Mon.

Communicating via hologram, Jissi Besadii Kirr, and Visha Estorra Huck were the largest presence to say the least. The leaders of two of the most wealthy Hutt clans rivaled, and allied to his bosses.
Then there were a small gathering of mercenary captains and Assassin's hired by the various clans to compose their military High Command: Eghar a burley male Gamorrean in service to House Besadii, Zeay Jorgeve an impossibly petite Zabrak female with a booming voice in service to House Estorra.

And then there was Scale, the Trandoshan in full body armor. A curious being Mon had only heard of via word of mouth by this point. If he was as skilled as his reputation implied then the Desilijic were wise to hire him.

For his part, G'espetan Mon felt awkward in such a conversational environment. He was a brute, a warrior born and raised to be on the front lines of arena fighting. What the Hutts thought he might bring to this fight of theirs he did not know. He was told to be a tactician, to look at the big picture while others did the dirty work.

It was not something he was use too. Thinking ahead he could do, planning a whole war? He wasn't even sure what this threat they were fighting was!

So, for his part he stood back, in the shadows, as Tralli began the meeting with the extraordinarily dull formalities. "And of course, without the backing of the Illustrious Besadii and Estorra clans, we would never have been able to rebuild in such a timely manner." He was saying in a dull monotone.

Mon hadn't been working directly with the Hutt long, but he knew Gysor would surely have fed himself to a Nexu before giving such thanks to his rivals. So he concluded that this compliment coming from a servant must surely be as good as coming from the slug himself to their species.

"And of course, in return for that aid..." The creature continued. "The illustrious Desilijic-Quiisilli clan will grant you the planets of your choice upon our next conquest."

"The Question." Jissi interrupted. "Is what planets will that be?"
Tralli hesitated, clearly surprised by having his formalities cut short. With some apprehension in his eye the Siniteen glanced at G'espetan.

With some reluctance the Nikto stepped forward. "I have instructed our forces to converge on the mid rim, and work towards the Core from there. Creating a wedge between the Sith and UUW planets, before overtaking them each from there."
The Zabrak laughed callously, and he glared at her. "You would expose us to two foe's at once?" She scoffed.
Shaking his head he clarified. "No, The Sith are occupied on Mandalore our intelligence has confirmed. That has consumed a significant portion of their force. We should be able to sweep into Coruscant before they know what's happened."

Zeay was not convinced. "In doing so you leave us open to retaliation from the UUW. And if we fail we draw the ire of the Sith. We need to focus on one enemy at a time. The Union would have suffered high casualties during your failed strike on Naboo. We need to kick them while they're down!"
That battle was before his service to the Hutt's but he did not correct her.

"And leave the Sith to finish of the Mandalorians, and absorb their territory?" The implications of that need not be said. But she clearly was not convinced. "The Sith have no quarrel with us at the moment. But if he go after them they will have reason to retaliate. We have already engaged the UUW. Let us finish them off, and incorporate their worlds and resources before moving on to another foe."

His retort was cut off by a shout from Gysor. "Enough!" He declared in Huttese. "There is no need for you two to control the entire debate! Let us hear what the others have to say. Perhaps there is an option we are unaware of yet?"

Tags: @Shadow Trooper
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Sargi Kryze
Mandalorian Outpost

Before negotiations could go any further one of his Mandalorian sergeants burst into the room in a cold sweat. "Mand'alor! We have Sith transports coming at 008!"

"What?" Jeston had an unbelievable look of terror on his face. "We're exposed out here!"

Sargi did his best to avoid looking smug, but couldn't hold back a subtle smirk. "You're exposed my young nephew. This is exactly what I've been preparing for."
There was still a subtle knot in his stomach, as he raised his communicator to his mouth. "Commence maneuver 2A-1138."

This would be close, he still wasn't sure he could win a strait up confrontation with the Sith.
But at very least they would have the homefield advantage.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Darth Slay
Mandalore

As her transports doors opened the dark lady laughed in euphoria, the battle had begun!
Hopefully Sargi will not capitulate too quickly, Slay had been anticipating this fight for far too long.

Over her communicator an officer shouted: "My lady, Tyrant Squad and Crave Squad are being harassed by Mandalorian Starfighters staged out of the forests!"

"Order Skull Squadron to redirect and deal with these pests, let no one escape!"

Her ship touched down outside of the Mandalorian Outpost, and Slay ignited her blade as she leaped out.
To her disappointment only a small squad on Mandalorians awaited her. With a subtle signal, she ordered her troops to stay back. If this battle was to be so easy, she might as well do her best to enjoy it.

As she entered the fray she offered a deathly war cry that would paralyze any foe within earshot.

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

OOC: This update is long overdue. Things got busy faster than I expected as I transitioned into school.

 

IC: Scale
Scale shook his head incredulously at the strategy presented at the Hutt conference. Go into the core? Provoke the Sith? These moves would surely result in the destruction of their little coalition. They were having difficulties enough quelling revolts on the planets that they have already occupied. Expanding into the Core, the opposition would be fiercer and they would be opening themselves up to a two front war.
"If I might interject Lord Gysor, the strategies presented to you are doomed to failure." Scale said. ""Captain Jorgeve is correct in her assessment that pushing into the Core would be a strategic blunder. We have all gotten too greedy, seeking to occupy prizes that we can not hope to hold under the present circumstances. The worlds that we have conquered have been seeded with rebellion, with internal opposition to our rule. This kind of resistance would only get harder as we pushed further into the Core"
"The Trandoshan speaks cowardice!" grumbled Eghar, the Gamorrean Besadii captain. "Just because he had difficulties quelling a rebellion does not mean the rest of us will."
"Is that so?" Scale replied. "As I recall, it was the Besadii clan that insisted they be put in charge of security of the Kolto manufacturing plant on Ando, under heir watch that the plant was damaged by saboteurs. Had it not been for my soldiers intervention, the whole planet might have been unsalvageable."
"You waste everyone's time with this hollow boasting." Jissi Besadii Curr said.
"It's no boast. It is evidence that our current situation is barely tenable as it is, and that our current forces are not fit for occupations at this time.
"If our current strategy of occupation is as unfeasible as you claim, than what would you suggest?" G'espetan Mon said. He was sill a little insulted that Scale had dismissed his tactics as foolish in front of their masters.
"It is quite simple. We return to our previous ways of piracy. We raid UUW planets and disappear back into our controlled space before the enemy can retaliate. We hit their supply lines and steal their war material to cripple the UUW efforts. And most importantly we turn our efforts towards killing the Jedi."
"And what of the Core Worlds? What of the Sith?" The Besadii leader wondered.
"Captain Jorgeve was on the right track when she mentioned that the Sith are not currently opposed to us in our conquests. I suggest that we send emissaries to them so that we might extend an offer of alliance. Right now both UUW and Sith are too powerful for us to antagonize, but if we can have our enemies turn their weapons on each other, have them expend their forces and material in the project of conquest instead of ours, whichever one comes out on top will be severely weakened while we will be at full strength and growing. When the time comes, that is when we will make our move and destroy the victor to claim Galactic supremacy.
The council was silent for a moment to ponder the merit of Scale's words.
"This is why I hired Scale. He is as clever as he is vicious" Gysor rumbled. "The Hutt council will withdraw now to consider which of these presented plans we will put into action."

 

GM Update

IC: Iress
Orbit, Cerea

As the Rodian entered the Communications Room, The Ring-Runner shook, and the Jedi Master heard a deafening explosion. The disturbance nearly nocked him off his feet, but he recuperated fast enough.

With a quick precision Iress typed in the code for the bridge, and a moment later Captain De-Gor-Yim appeared in front of her. "What is happening up there!" the Jedi croaked, trying to get a gage on what was happening.

"Several light frigates have come out of hyperspace General!" The Cerean declared, as he made a ducking motion. Apparently they had already unleashed several starfighter squadrons that were assaulting the bridge. "They are pounding us. It's an ambush! Our engines have been sabotaged, and we cannot maneuver to properly align our gun turrets with the hostile vessels."

Treachery! Iress reached out to Kes-Yun Thane to warn him, but felt nothing of his Padawan in the force. It was too late.
Not even taking a moment to mourn, Iress took charge. "Mobilize our fighters! We need to get their focus away from the cruiser. Send someone down to engines to see what can be done, I will deal with the traitor."

"Yes sir..." the hologram fizzled out, then back in for a moment. They were now pounding the communications array, or so it seemed. "But you should knozzz." Another glitch, longer this time. It wouldn't be long before their conversation was permanently cut off. "A shuttle just took an unscheduled departure from the hanger."

With a slight Rodian curse, Iress realized he had achieved his goal.
Before the hologram fizzled out again he shouted "Escape pods Captain!" That was their only hope. "Get everyone to escape pods! This ship is lost!"
Just then the image of De-Gor-Yim collapsed, and was replaced by the image of a blue skinned Chiss. Sighing, the Jedi realized he had clearly thought this sabotage through.

"Captain Joul." he greeted the creature as respectfully as he could manage. "If that is your real name."
There was a smirk on its lips, though its red gaze revealed nothing more of its mood.
"Ah. So you have deduced my role. Fair enough, it reduces the amount of exposition I must give. Joul is not my name, though the story I told you is true. Mostly. I am Jottha'rul'dorrao, rightful conqueror of this region. With this victory I take one step closer to galactic domination! Get to your pods green one, I will order my troops to let you flee in cowardice. Warn your council, warn them all! For this is my turf, and I am your doom!"

The bombastic nature of its voice was not betrayed in the almost serene expression it bore. In truth it was rather eerie, though deep down Iress wanted to win this engagement, to fight on for Kes, he did not. For he had a responsibility to the other men and women under his command.
"I accept your conditions." He muttered with resignation.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Venerwaalk
Aboard The Tree Dome

The Wookiee Captain stood on the bridge of his ship, planning their route of invasion.
When the Hutts invaded they damaged most of their Southern system fleets, now Venerwaalk feared they were finishing the job on behalf of the Hutts. Their midrim fleet was their only remaining bulwark against another invasion. If their war plan wasn't perfect they would be left defenseless against further attacks.

The whole scheme of Invading Trandosha seemed foolish to him, the Queen overly idealistic. The lizards were savages, nothing more. Murderers and thieves, they had plagued his people forever. "We need to at swiftly." Prena Masorna was speaking via hologram. "The longer we wait the greater the risk our captives people learn something wrong."

With a soft growl Venerwaalk pointed out the dangers involved, that they needed to be careful. Particularly because she ordered them to limit casualties they needed to be very specific in their plans. "This is a war." She reluctantly conceded. "During the conquest do what you have must to secure the planet. But when we have control of the area, avoid conflict where possible."

Again easier said than done, the nature of a blockade would inevitably spark hostility in the locals. A normal invasion would be one thing, but he very much doubted the Trandoshans would take kindly to being conquered by Wookiee's.
"Don't let anyone enter or leave, and block all communications. When we have control of the ports any other form of resistance will be irrelevant."
So, they were really going through with this? With a growl the Captain consented, offering a short bow he cut the line and ordered the ships to make the jump. It was a short trip, but they needed to offer as short a warning of their attack as possible.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Gysor Desilijic Tiure
Kor Desilijic

Gysor thought on the Trandoshans words, but was still the first to speak. "There is logic to his recommendation you must admit." The three Hutts were now alone, the other lines had been cut and his servants were ordered to leave. The Clans were the leaders of this domain, and their orders were final.

"We had prospered for centuries by using subterfuge, picking up worlds while the Republic and UUW were distracted, but getting rich by funding raids and using our smugglers to steal their wealth under their nose."

There was another reason why Gysor liked this plan, it would appease Ruuven and Lociini, both of whom had been vocally opposed to the war since day one.

Trade is the fundamental topic they keep bringing up, that the Hutts have made their hostility to the other factions clear has made their smuggling enterprise virtually collapse in in itself. Operations that had previously been overlooked, or ignored, were now being actively sought out and squashed by the UUW, or Sith. At best the shipments were caught in the middle of battles unprepared, at worst they were the direct targets being destroyed by the enemies of their leaders. It just wasn't good financially.

Naturally Visha and Jissi weren't fond of this idea. "It was your idea to declare War Gysor! " Jissi snarled. "You and that freeloading of a wife of yours!" Mama offered an offended growl in return, but surprisingly did not fight back at the accusation. Probably cause it wasn't an inaccurate description. "You better make this worth our while if you want continued use of our resources." Visha put her two credits in.

"We've already gained so much!" Gysor interjected as diplomatically as he could manage. A look came to Visha's eye that indicated to him that she was not exactly pleased with her current gains. "Look. The fact of the matter is our military is not up to par with our competitors, I know that's not what you want to hear but that is the fact. We have tried refitting them for sustained warfare but our mercenaries have so little experience in that sort of conflict." Jissi threw up his arms. "Then why did we start fighting the in the first place!?!"

Gysor signaled to him. "For profit! By using raids we can gain resources, and weaken our foe at the same time! Plus we don't have it takes far fewer ships to raid a planet than to conquer it. Save the troops for when we need them most." The Hutt took a moment to grab a squirming creature off the communicator and throw it in his mouth. "Look. We will conquer more worlds eventually, I promise you that. We just need to be practical about this. We know where our strengths lye, and by using them we gain a long term advantage!"

Visha sighed, but her resolve seemed to be lessening. "You aren't really thinking of allying with the Sith are you? Have you not been paying attention these past months? That their warships are currently stationed over the Mandalorian Home World is not enough evidence of their intentions?"
That was one thing he was slightly hesitant about, but then again a dividing their resources was not practical either. "We will offer a nonaggression pact for now. If nothing else it will buy us time, as long as we are the first to violate it then the advantage is still ours."
Signaling for his major domo, he was surprised to see Jiggren Tralli enter instead. He would question that later. "Send a message to Lociini Ptiinii Russ, he is going to Coruscant, and tell Scale to pick his target wisely. I'm trusting him"

Tags: @Shadow Trooper
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IC: Sargi Kryze
Mandalorian Outpost

The Leader of the Mandalorians was ready for war, he had been preparing for this moment since the Sith betrayed them.
As the Sith fought outside he gathered what was needed.
His clans beskar shield, the Crusader helmet of clan Itera, and finally the Dark Saber.
Together these symbols would lead Mandalore to greatness again.
Together the Mandalorian Clans would defeat the Sith!

As he stepped out to the balcony of the outpost, and witnessed the battle below he shouted "Par cuun aliite! par Manda'yaim!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Darth Slay
Mandalorian Outposts

The guards were corpses before they hit the ground, and Slay was disappointed they offered such a poor challenge.
Though in truth the fight was just beginning, nearly half a dozen gunships appeared on the horizon, and she was tempted to let them land.
Still, even she would admit that wouldn't be very efficient.
"Shoot them down!" She ordered into her communicator.
No response. "What? I said shoot them down!"

At this moment the captain of her troops tentatively approached. "Mam. Uh, we lost contact with Skull squadron when they followed the Mando's back into the forest as you ordered. It's... possible they encountered unexpected resistance."
Slay unleashed an animalistic growl as she grabbed the human by the throat. "The fools! I told them to destroy the fighters!! Not fall into their trap!!!"

Wisely the captain did not speak as she throttled him. Ultimately the ships landed, and she ignited her blade. There was a question on the mans mind, and to his credit he did not ask it. "I don't need that beasts help. We will handle these bucket heads ourselves, or you will die trying." With that said, she leapt back into the fight.

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

 

OC: Scale
Captain Zorya, the Reaver's clever Falleen negotiator, had returned from her meeting with Gysor's Liaison.
The staging area for Scale's reavers was buzzing with excitement. Their leader had made quite an impression on the Hutt Council with his latest successes and battle plans and the mercenaries were seeing increased deference and profits as a result. Yet despite the prestige their actions on Ando had given them, the reavers found themselves tiring of their role as administrators and guards.
"General Scale, your plan has been approved." Captain Zorya reported. "The Reavers are ready for a target."
The assembled soldiers cheered at this good news. The past few months of planetary occupation had been testing for them and they were eager to be done with it and return to their raider ways.
"Very good." Scale gave a toothy, reptilian smile. "I have just the target in mind. The Jedi have been a stone in my boot for too long. It is time we draw some more of their blood."
"Is it wise to fight those sorcerers directly?" Captain Calo said. " Do you remember how much damage even a single Jedi can cause? We were nearly killed by one small female on Naboo, not to mention the losses we took fighting off their sabotage on Ando!"
"The Jedi are dangerous" Scale said placatingly. He did not want Calo to spread the fear of the Jedi among the men. "Which is why we must move to reduce their capacity in this war. They will inevitably move to stop us once they hear of our raids, unless we cripple their capacity to counter us first!"
Calo nodded, but he did not seem convinced. Scale would have to keep an eye on him, so that his superstition and cowardice did not further harm morale. Perhaps he would reassign Zorya or Fafnir to lead the raiding fleet for the time being.
"Captain Zorya" Scale said. "Would you please brief the Reavers on the plan we discussed with the Hutts. Scale could always count on Zorya to rally the men. She had a soothing demeanor and her chemical pheromones that made both employers and employees more agreeable to Scale's wishes. A most invaluable officer for dealing with the social niceties that aggravated Scale so much.
"Have you heard of the planet Dantooine?" Zorya said. The mercs were silent."I would not have expected you to. It is a remote, agricultural world in the Outer Rim, mostly small settlements. One such settlement is a Training Academy for Jedi! The Jedi keep their young ones there to instruct them in the ways of the force. Almost all of their warriors are required on the front lines but the Academy still operates on a reduced staff.The Jedi believe that greater defenses are not necessary, that their remoteness will keep them safe and hidden and their "Force" will protect them. I know that many of you fear the powers of the Jedi, but Scale assures you that the danger will be minimal compared to the possible rewards. The Academy is a soft target, but one with much significance to the Jedi, and attacking it will do much to harm the Jedi cause and strike fear in their hearts. Furthermore any artifacts or students that we capture could be of great value to certain buyers... like the Sith. And General Scale will be joining you personally in this attack. He has killed Jedi before, he has shown that they are not gods, but mortals that can bleed and die just like us."
Excited by the prospect of Sith treasure, the earlier apprehension and nervousness that Calo's warnings had caused was dispelled. The men were ready and eager to storm a Jedi stronghold with Scale, an idea so audacious that it would seem suicidal coming from any other leader. Zorya had done a most excellent job at persuading both Hutts and Mercenaries to follow along with his plan. The Hutts had been tentatively excited by the boldness of his plan, but also unwilling to commit their own men to a seige of a Jedi Temple, but thanks to Zorya's influence, Scale was able to persuade them to strike a diversionary raids across UUW space, therefore drawing the Jedi's attention and defenders away from his own activities. While they still refused to aid him directly in raiding Dantooine, this was fine by Scale because this way, the risks and more importantly the rewards would be reaped by him above all.

 

GM Update
IC: Reth Voquen
Ach-To

In the makeshift council chambers the Jedi Grand Master curled his ears in concern as he listened carefully to Master Iress tell his tale.
After his fellow Master concluded, barely a moment passed before the voice of Master Trossik, the Jedi's second in command echoed in the small chamber "One man wiped out our entire fleet? How could we have been caught so flat footed by this Pirate 'Jotth'?"
It was the smooth voice of Een Gor that answered. "We were aware of the presence of pirates to in the region. His name in particular has been referenced repeatedly by the locals."

Reth nodded in understanding. "We underestimated him." with a sigh the Lannik looked at his gathered peers. "We assumed that by trusting in the force we could counter anything this disorganized rabble might send our way. We were wrong."

Iress finally spoke up, surprisingly Reth sensed the Rodian was the least perturbed of them by what had happened, but there remained a certain awe in his squeaky tone "I have never seen such tactics before. Such treachery would be considered a war crime by most civilized people."
"They are pirates!" Master Trossik spoke slightly louder, but not in a rude manner. "They prey on innocence for profit. We should not be so surprised they would do anything to prove their superiority."

Master Gor shook her head. "It is not the lengths they went to that concern me, but the organized way the plotted their actions. Pirates are rarely so methodological"

"Action must be taken to counter this insurgent." Reth acknowledged, but trailed off briefly as he sensed someone approaching the chamber. "But first lets settled down and let Jedi Firka'ag speak."

The human female appeared at the door only a moment later. She seemed stronger, more confident than the last time she appeared before the council but still maintained a subtle trepidation in her step. "May I enter?" she asked quietly. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?" The Grand Master shook his head, and offered a subtle smile. "No, and I sense a certain urgency in your presence here. We can set aside our discussion for the moment."

Korwin Firka'ag bowed deeply before stepping forward. "It is for myself that I stand before you Masters. Our communications staff recently intercepted a signal, from Mandalorian Space..." The gathered Masters shared a look, but said nothing, allowing her to continue uninterrupted. "We scrambled the signal of course, can't have anyone tracing it here. But the individual on the other end claims to be Master Krarthis Loom."

The shock of the gathered Jedi could not be suppressed as it rippled loudly into the force. Krarthis Loom was a senior Master before the war, the elderly Gran was assumed dead in the initial Sith invasion. If she was alive this was a big deal.
Korwin produced a small transceiver from her pocket, before finishing "We thought you might want to hear this yourself."

It could be a trap, was the unspoken assumption. But if the signal was scrambled there was no danger in listening to her. With a nod from Master Voquen being her only cue, Korwin stepped forward and plugged the device into a small table at the center of the room.

A fuzzy grey image appeared before them, though its basic dimensions looked to be that of a slouched female Gran. "Hello?" She said, in a croaky voice that seemed to echo from the depth of the gathered Jedi's memory. If this was a trap it was a very elaborate one. "I sense you gaping at me. Didn't your masters teach you any better?"
It was a light joke, but enough to startle the Jedi back to the present.

"We are happy to hear of your survival Master Loom." Alan Trossik offered first. Even as she was only approximately three decades older than the oldest Jedi present, seeing her alive made them all briefly feel like younglings caught steeling sweets.

Trying to sound more mature Een Gor stood and moved towards the image. "But we were under the impression you were dead." The humans tone might have come off as harsh, but it reasserted a feeling of leadership in the other Masters.
"As I did you. In fact I was certain I was the only Jedi Master left alive. You have done well in masking your presence through the force."
The praise did not dissuade their line of questioning. "But how did you survive Master Loom? The Sith invasion was as brutal as it was swift, not even Grand Master Yulan made it off Coruscant before it fell." There was a brief wave of grief as Master Voquen spoke of their fallen leader. But it was swiftly brought under control.

"I was in charge of the Jedi enclave on Dantooine, as I still am. Surely you realized this? We are most fortunate to be remote enough that our presence was overlooked by the attackers."
This was true, though there was more to it than that he knew. It was Iress that pointed out why it was that the outpost might have been overlooked. "The Mandalorians laid claim to the Raioballo sector after the fall of Coruscant, but the betrayal of the Sith must have prevented them from pressing that claim."
"Once the Sith have conquered Mandalore they will surely turn their focus to asserting control over all the provinces of their new Empire." Master Gor stated.

Voquen was surprised they went so quickly from skepticism to concern over the Masters safety. "We must evacuate the Enclave." Master Trossik stated firmly. "Even if the Sith do not stumble upon it, it is far too close to Hutt space for my liking."
The fuzzy image shook her head. "There are far to many younglings and apprentices here to do that. Relocating them would surely draw unwanted attention to the system, and the civilians would suffer for harboring us."
No objection was immediately presented, but a ripple of concern was felt in the force.

The Grand Master had only one question, an important one he felt was overlooked. "How did you find us? You yourself said you could not sense us, so what led you here now?" Without hesitation Master Loom spoke out "Your presence on Naboo made the Holonet. That is what made me aware of your survival, after that I knew there could only be so many places you might hide. Being a Jedi Master has its advantages you know."

Master Voquen sensed no deceit in these words, but conversing via hologram made trusting that instinct difficult for him. "We will send reinforcements your way. Nothing big, a couple Jedi is all I ask to confirm your story..."
"And help defend you." This interruption came from Master Trossik.
There was an amused tone in her voice as Master Loom agreed."

As the hologram faded out Voquen looked back to Jedi Firka'ag
"Take a small transport and Jedi Bw'aga and prepare to depart for Dantooine."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Venerwaalk
The Tree Dome

What the Captain saw from his starship could not be described as a battle, instead it could only be called a massacre. There was no enemy fleet in this system, as Trandosha was officially an independent world. The lizards clearly were not expecting the Wookiee's, or the UUW to react so strongly to the association with the Hutts. Most of the vessels in the system were private ships, used by mercenaries and bounty hunters. Some put up a powerful fight, taking a few squadrons of starfighters with them as they were obliterated.
But none could so much as dent their fleet.

Before long any ship that was not suicidal was forced to ground and the Fifth Fleet set up a blockade. Venerwaalk was disappointed that the fight was so short, he had hopped to kill more lizards before they secured the planet. But he was satisfied that their planet was now under his control. He wondered how they would react to this dishonor, he would gladly blast any of their ships out of the sky. Maybe those of them that were off-world would try to break the blockade? That would certainly be a fun fight.

Even if they didn't, at least they couldn't use their home world as a staging point to strike at Kashyyyk or the UUW. That made this strike worth it.
Soon his second in command informed him they had secured all ports, and many Trandoshans were fleeing into the forest or fighting back brutally. The Captain told him to maintain formation, they didn't need to completely control the planet, they just needed to keep them from escaping.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: G'espetan Mon
Orbit: Kor Desilijic

The Nikto briefly looked up at the greyish-brown orb beyond the viewport. As a warrior-for-hire he had been to many brutal and inhospitable worlds but there was something about the Hutt resort-worlds that made him feel uncomfortable. Most beings would only live in such a vile environment if they had no other choice, but it was apparent to him the Hutts actually liked living in such a disgusting place. To them this was beauty, and that simply seemed unthinkable.

When he realized that his mind was drifting he turned back to the Captain of this vessel, a slimy Rodian who looked to be little more than a twig compared to the Mon himself.
"Report?" he growled to the subordinate who offered a squeaky reply. "Raids are going as planned." G'espetan still disliked such indirect tactics. During the years he spent in the ring he had learned that after an attack, only a fool gave their enemy time to think twice. These raids would cost the UUW funds, but it was costing the Hutts time. They could wipe them out in a day if the committed to the attack. The longer they delayed the more time they gave this enemy to plan a reaction.

"We popped two of their mining stations in the Drexel system...." The Rodian was still squeaking. "...scorched a spaceport on the colony of Omwat, robbed them of a large supply of industrial equipment going to Vohai. Their navy is stretched thin protecting their boarder."
"No. It's not." This declaration caught the Captain off guard, and he tried to babble a reply, but Mon did not let him. "The fleets they have stationed in the mid rim have barely moved." he pointed out. "If they were having trouble countering these hit and run strikes they would surely have redirected reinforcements to the threatened systems."

Clearly a point the creature had not realized. If you only looked at the outlying systems then it did look like they were scrambling, the fact that their First Fleet had clearly not completely recovered from he battle at Naboo certainly contributed to that appearance. But the absence of panic coming from the area's furthest from the boarder region indicated their actions were not reverberating as far as they would like.

After a moment of thought, the Nikto gave a new order. "What of the Refugees? They would not ignore the plight of those displaced by our strikes, where are they being sent?" The answer of course was far from the front, but there had to be a charted route for them to escape the conflict.

It only took a moment for a human Communications officer to intervene in their conversation. "Farstine sir." G'espetan glared at the man, hoping for an elaboration. "Our spice smugglers have reported that an unusual amount of civilian transport activity has come out of that system." The small smirk that appeared on the Nikto's face might come off as eerie to others, but it betrayed a realization on his part. Near the boarder region, Farstine connected the Five Veils Trade Route to the mid rim, and was only a small jump away from Naboo. What safer route than that which ran strait to the Queens home world?

With a snarl he ordered "Raid that port. Do what damage you can, and then lets see how they react." Nobody dared question him, this attack would prove a dual purpose. Hurting the refugees would serve to stir moral outrage on behalf of the UUW leadership. Plus, another attack so close to Naboo would drive home the security risk.

Hopefully that would give Scale the distraction he needed, for it was a certainty that after this strike Queen Prena would order any required reinforcements needed to protect that region. They would have the Chommell Sector, and all nearby systems locked down tighter than Coruscant.

Tags: @Shadow Trooper
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IC: Darth Slay
Mandalorian Outposts

The dark side coursed through her veins as Slay fell into the fight.
These bucket heads were no match for the Sith, something she sensed most of them knew. Few went for her directly, only the arrogant and the stupid.
They were whittling down her forces, soldiers were dying and eventually they would be gone. Once she was alone she knew not even the force would save her from the sheer number of enemies.

To mitigate this concern Slay went on a killing spree, the more Mandalorians that died now the less she would have to worry about later. Yanking her crimson blade out of the neck of one of their fools she leapt forward looking for another foe.
Swiftly a tangle of lightning fried another man through his armor, and Slay sliced off a woman's leg in a clean cut.
With a snarl the Sith surrendered to her animal instincts, decapitating two soldiers, before impaling a third brutally. Her telekinetic grasp was inescapable as four necks were snapped with a mere thought.

An explosion caught Slay off guard, nearly knocking her off her feet, but she recovered. In that moment she felt the creeping pause of fatigue. Using the force she flushed this weakness away, and struck out again slicking a man in half. One nano-second slower than her reaction should have been, but still too fast for the enemy to react.
"Die." she hissed, leaping into another group of Mandalorians, a wave of energy knocked them back as her lightsaber dispatched them each in a variety of horrendous ways.

As the last soldier fell to her blade she heard the sound of a snap-hiss, and instinctively twirled her weapon, catching a black sword on her own.

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

OOC: I apologize for the delay once again. It took me longer than I expected to get this sorted out, even after Winter Break started but now I'm here and expect to get back to monthly updates at least until summer.

 

IC: Scale
Dantooine
Scale's raiding ships jumped out of hyperspace into orbit around the target. The Raiding craft silently deployed the armored gunships that Scale preferred to use on his raids. Dantooine was a quiet world, remote and peaceful; there would be little resistance. Still, the men lacked the exuberance they would usually show on such raids.They feared the Jedi and their sorceries. This fear is what Scale hoped to cure today. Today's attack was about destroying the mythology behind the Jedi's mysticism. Behind all their mysticism and freakish sorceries, the Jedi were just flesh and blood, beings that can be killed like any other. He would show the Hutt fleet the Jedi were weak and he would show the UUW that the Jedi could hardly protect them if they could not even save their own most vulnerable. The Academy was located near a small settlement called Khoonda.
"Do you want to send a force to attack the settlement sir?" Captain Fafnir asked.
"Leave it alone" Scale said. "There is nothing of value that these farmers have; the real treasure will be in the temple. And I don't want to split our forces like that. We might need the extra back up to fight the Jedi."
"Of course" Fafnir said. Scale knew the Trandoshan veteran agreed with his tactics but he could hear grumbling from some of the men though whether there disappointment sprung from Greed or Cowardice he could not be certain.
The Jedi Enclave was shaped like a giant circle, ringed with four towers. The central courtyard would be the ideal landing zone to put them right in the center, so they could expand quickly inside the academy in all directions.
"Soften up the courtyard with a flyby volley before we drop in the first wave of troops!" Scale ordered. Two of the gunships peeled off from the formation. A volley of heavy blaster fire rained down on the courtyard.
"Did you kill anything!" Scale asked.
"Just a bunch of statues! The LZ is empty."
Scale looked out the viewport next to his pilot. "Where could they be hiding?" he mused. The Jedi must have been alerted to their arrival with their precognition.
Suddenly, one of the broken statues seemed to rise up from the ground. The heavy stone was thrown violently at the two gunships that Scale had sent in, catching one of them near the rear missile pods and engines and causing it to explode.
"I think I see the target" one of the gunners reported. "Left tower, third floor."
Light him up, use the missiles!" Scale said. "And deploy the first wave!"
The first missile detonated against the target area, raining down fiery debris into the courtyard.
A platoon of Trandoshans and Rodians rappelled down from the open side hatches while the gunships provided cover with their missiles. Two of the men used their fusion cutter to break through the sealed outer doors. Some security droids provided light opposition, but Scales veterans tore through them with ease. Once the entrance was secure. Scale gave the order for the rest of the crew to descend. Scale ordered the dropships to stay on standby for a quick exit, and also to watch for any aerial reinforcements that might arrive.
"Are you sure the targets are here?" One Rodian asked. "This place seems near abandoned."
"It Seems abandoned" Scale said. "That's it. The Jedi are using their illusions to hide from us. Bring in the droids. Their sensors can not be tricked like our senses can. One of the Tech specialists deployed a probe droid. The droid hovered in the air for a moment, then floated forward purposefully until it disappeared through an apparently solid stone wall.
The mercenaries stood around looking mystified. "Well what are you waiting for! Go in there after it you slugs!" The first merc lingered uncertainly at the threshold for a second than dashed in. Once the first man was through, it broke the other soldier's inertia and they started moving too.
A robed female Gran stood before them, an ignited lightsaber held in a defensive stance. Behind her were a bunch of books, holocrons, and of course, the younglings. The treasure of the Jedi.
"This is a protected place. So far you have done no harm except damage some property. Leave now, peacefully."
"Protected? By what you? An old woman and a bunch of children?" Scale laughed. "Or are the rest of your comrades hiding somewhere else?"
"We are protected by the force?"
"The force?" Scale said. He fired his slugthrower. The Jedi raised her saber to deflect the projectiles, but Scale deployed a shock net instead. The electrified fibers wrapped around the Jedi's arms and deployed a nasty jolt to the Gran, disarming her and sending her to her knees.
"Where is your force now Jedi?" Scale growled. He slashed the Jedi across the face with is claws. "Do you see this men!" Scale roared. "The Force can not protect the Jedi. It can not protect anybody. There is no defending against Scale's Reavers. We have our own Force, the Force of our arms, of our violence. And with our Force we can take everything."
As if on cue, the Mercenaries moved forward to bind younglings and gather up holocrons and artifacts.
"Be quick about this. Fafnir growled. "We don't know how long it will take before this provokes a response."
One of the Jedi children pouted defiantly at his captors. "You think you have won today but you haven't. Korwin is coming and she is bringing an army of Jedi with her."
Scale smiled. This day was getting better and better. This Jedi, Korwin, was the hate filled female that had maimed him on the UUW transport over Naboo. He looked forward to clashing arms with her again. Her flesh would be a good offering to the scorekeeper and he needed to redeem his honor after she had bested him in the last confrontation. "Perhaps we could wait a little longer Fafnir" Scale said. "We have an old friend arriving and it would be rude to leave without saying hello first."

 

IC: Darth Slay
Mandalorian Outposts

The Mandalorian held some skill with the blade, though it was obvious he had never wielded a lightsaber before. Slay parried three of his strikes with ease, before offering a wide swipe at his abdomen that would have bisected him if not for the beskar shield he placed in between them.

Slay scowled at his refusal to die, the Mandalorian armament was designed to combat Jedi, and in her mind these contraptions were a cheap mockery of the force it sought to stymie. Still, she was a Sith, and had many more resources at her disposal than the average Jedi.

Reaching out with her clawed hand twin streaks of lightning were flung at Kryze, who tried to intercept them on the darksaber, unfortunately for him the momentum was not in his favor and as the dark energy collided with his weapon it flew out of his hand.
The dark lady would have ended it right there had another Mandalorian warrior not intervened on his leaders behalf. She parried two shots, before slicing the man off at the knee than decapitating him.

In this second Kryze retreated, leaping back aided by his jetpack and unleashing a bombardment of rockets at her. Slay dodged almost effortlessly, though as she landed she noticed he cloak was now smoking. Indifferently she tossed it off and lashed at the Mandalorian leader, who for the moment was distracted by a pair of her soldiers. As her blade came down at him, he deftly parried her strike off his gauntlet shield, before igniting his flamethrower inches from her face.
The dark lady entered a force enhanced retreat, but not quick enough to avoid the scalding burns to her right cheek.
Now this was personal.

Only half way into her retreat, she pushed forward again striking at him ten times in under five seconds. He managed to dodge twice, parried several more of her blows, before one pierced his shoulder. The warrior grunted, though admirably did not cry out in pain. Instead he leaped to the side, snatching the dark saber off the ground.
He tried to lift it in an attack, though the movement was stiff from his injury.
Instead she parried the blow low, before slipping under his guard and cutting off both hands at the wrist.

At last victory was hers. "You underestimated me Sargi." She smiled, savoring the moment. "Now you die.."
The defeated warrior raised his head defiantly, and as he spoke she detected not a hint of pain, or even regret for the injuries he had sustained.
"I may die. But Mandalore shall survive, we always survive..."
Slay growled at his arrogance, and decapitated him.

Looking around the battle, a mountain of corpses lay still. The Sith had one, and without the Kaleesh warrior to aid them. This battle was hers, this day belonged to Darth Slay.

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg

OOC: This is where we say goodbye to the Mandalorian Faction. If someone wants to take up the challenge of rebuilding them they are free too try, but I have enough on my plate and this is the easiest way to simplify this game for now.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City

The room was encapsulated by a startling silence that unnerved Prena.
She, Tiiné and Chief Yirrawa were joined by the holographic images of Nablé Aldrich, Master Voquen, and Captain Venerwaalk.

The horrific image they were all staring at was the slaughter of refugee's by the Hutt Fleet/
"Stop this." She order, and the image froze on the image a UUW frigates in flames attempting to flee the system.

Yirrawa offered a disgusting growl, to which Master Voquen nodded. "This is barbaric." The Jedi spoke solemnly.
"There is little we can do I am afraid." Aldrich spoke in a disturbingly indifferent tone that to her eye's almost had a mocking quality to it. "We have to do something!" She punched the terminal in front of her, which offered a slight squeak in response.
An apologetic look came to the Sergeant's eye "I only meant it in a practical sense my Queen." His tone was noticeably more sympathetic, and for a moment she wondered if her feelings were coloring her perspective.
"If we move any active fleets to address this war crime, we would be leaving Naboo open to attack and then it is our people who would be massacred. Surely you don't want that?"

Masorna paused, for a moment heaving her shoulders in defeat. He was right she knew, but there had to be a way. Finally she looked up to Master Voquen. "Master Jedi, is there any way you can save the refugees? We can't just sit by."
Reth sighed for a moment, thoughtful for a second before responding. "By the time we get a new fleet in the area the Hutts will likely be gone. They have been relying on hit and run tactics lately... but we can take action to be sure this never happens again. Jedi Knights Lua Vain and Waba Wu will be directed there immediately to protect the system and secure the area for any future movements in-system."

The Queen bowed in thanks, it wasn't much, but perhaps it was the best she could hope for.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
​

IC: Greg Bw'aga​

Dantooine​

As they came out of Hyperspace Jedi Korwin Firka'ag fell to her knees next to him "Master Loom is in pain." she grunted "Something terrible has happened."
The Bothans ears bent backward in response. "I sense it too. We cannot let ourselves be distracted by sentiment, the younglings come first remember it."

Korwin suppressed a scowl as she stood back to her feet. "I don't like leaving anyone behind." "Neither do I." he stated bluntly. "But if they took down Master Loom we must be prepared for a worse case scenario."
"Sith?" She stated, already shaking her head anticipating his answer.
"We would sense the dark sides hand in this. That leaves pirates, mercenaries, or Mandalorians as the most logical culprit."

His fellow knight seemed to be holding something back, but before he could ask Ugi Bruvis, the captain of this vessel approached them. "We are approaching the atmosphere." she stated. "Where do you want us to put this thing down?"
The pirate was as candid as she was dirty, but he trusted her more than most in their service. She at least had a clear sense of honor.

"Put it down at the local port. We need to be careful to avoid attention." Turning back to Korwin he began hatching a plan "I will go in and distract the threat, and you sneak in and get the younglings out of there."
She fidgeted somewhat. "I think I should provide the distraction."
Bw'aga was surprised at the confidence in her voice. "Is there a reason you want that role?" he asked suspiciously. "Just a feeling." She stated a little too quickly.
"A familiar, hungry feeling that has me on my nerves."

The Bothan eyed her careful, before folding his arms behind his back. "If you are on your nerves than that just reinforces the notion that I am the one who should provide the distraction." He sensed her tense at the claim, but did not object. For good measure he pointed out "I am the senior Knight here, best to do it my way."
She nodded, but he still sensed a fire in her eye. Perhaps she should have stayed at Ach-To? Suppressing the thought he reminded himself to trust the Council Judgement.
"Captain Bruvis, I will require a mercenary company to join me on this task. Can't be too careful now can we?" He flashed a smile, and began to move towards the exit to the frigate.

Tags: @Shadow Trooper

OOC: Hutt Update is combined with the Jedi one this time for simplicities sake. Sorry for the delay again, school has been hectic and I'm applying for my Block Student Teaching classes, and the paperwork for that is a workload in itself.​

 

That's cool. Killing younglings is a little too dark even for me (I'm no Anakin)! I'll try to add my update after work. And don't worry about slow updates. I know how school is and my job has been causing me delays as well, lol.

 

OOC: Ignore the last post friends. That was supposed to go in another thread,
IC:Scale
Dantooine
This day was going better than Scale ever hoped. They had caught the Jedi almost completely by surprise and struck them where they ere most vulnerable. They had robbed them of their treasure and their children. And now the Jedi female who had caused him so much trouble was coming to fight him. He was truly blessed by the Scorekeeper.
It was a shame then that the men did not share his enthusiasm. He had hoped to show them today that the Jedi were mortal and fallible. But old superstitions die hard. It was time for a further demonstration then.
"This is what we are going to do. I will divide our force into three groups:
My group will take this Gran and set up an ambush.
Captain Fafnir, take a team to load up the Jedi artifacts and treasures. That should be our main objective.
I want the third squad to guard the captives. They are our leverage."
"Are you sure you want to split our forces like this?" on of the Rodian officers said. "We have the numerical advantage right now."
Fafnir moved to silence the dissent but Scale waved him off.
"The treasure is the most important thing." Scale replied. "If we can keep them occupied with other distractions, then our plan is more likely to succeed."
Scale peeled off with a group of mercenaries, dragging the injured Jedi Master along with them. He had his men take up positions in a large meeting hall and set up their weapons; slugthrowers, shock nets, flame jets, mines and all sorts of other weapons Jedi could not deflect with their lightsabers. In the middle of the trap lay the Jedi. She had seemed to lapse into unresponsiveness, but Scale knew it was more likely she was trying to cal on her force.
"She is calling out to her friends! Her pain will be a beacon they can not resist. They will charge blindly to her aid, and then we shall strike."
The men sat in silence. Scale's comlink chimed."This is Fafnir" We've loaded nearly all the gunships but the Jedi have not come. If they had an army, why have we not seen their ships? I think the little ones were bluffing".
Scale growled in anger. "They will come. They must come. The female, Corwin will be offered up to the Scorekeeper."
Fafnir was Trandoshan, he would understand. But the others may be getting antsy. "Contact Calo and tell him to take the fleet in. Start sending up the treasure ships as well. And I want you to start loading the captives personally"
"As you wish sir" Fafnir said.
The comlink chimed once again. "This is Sergeant Cryden.One of my patrols has had their minds clouded with Jedi witchcraft. Be advised they have breached our perimitter."
One of the Rodians hooted excitedly. "General Scale, sir. We have contacts on the motion scanner! Coming our way!"
"Get ready" Scale growled. "As soon as that door opens, I want you all to focus all your fire." The door began to slide open. "Now!" Scale roared. 20 slugthrowers roared in unison. The smoke cleared but there was no Jedi, just a single Rodian mercenary full of holes. What was going on? Then from down the corridor, the sound of a lightsaber. It was time for revenge! Forget the ambush, the Jedi already knows we are in here. Let's start hunting!"

 

GM Approved

Name: Zis Evern
Darth Title: Darth Rahkil
Age: In his 50's
Species: Human
Home World: Taris
Faction: New Sith
Rank: Sith Lord
Weapons/Lightsaber: Single Curved crimson Lightsaber with a synthetic focusing crystal.
Form/Technique: Makashi
Starfighter: Sith Buzzard
Appearance: A human male with dark brown hair and golden eyes corrupted by the Dark Side.
Attire:
Personality/Traits: Inquisitive, logical, arrogant. Has a dry sense of humor. He does not believe in killing unless it serves a greater purpose. He does not wish to rule the Sith, he simply wishes for them to remain united.
Master: None
Apprentice: None
Strengths/Weaknesses:
Strengths: Because of his many years of study he is familiar with a few lesser known Force abilities. He is particularly proficient in the use of Force Lightning. During his time as a Sith, he has mastered Makashi.
Weaknesses: His own arrogance, though he is usually logical he is prone to overestimating his abilities at the worst times.
Relationships: He had a night of passion with a Chiss woman which resulted in the birth of a son. He is however unaware of the existence of this son or the whereabouts of the Chiss woman.
Base Location: None
Bio: Born on the planet Taris, he was adopted into the Jedi order at the age of 4 after his parents were rescued by a Jedi Knight named Cad Reance. He would later become Reance's apprentice when he turned 14, and it was his master that fostered his deep curiosity with the nature of the Force. This curiosity would lead him to pursue a career as a Jedi Counselor. He would be knighted at the age of 21, and he would spend the next few years simply studying the Force. This curiosity was part of the reason he was among the 50 Jedi to defect to the New Sith when the former Jedi Master Phanius returned to wage war on the Republic. Though he was committed to the Sith cause at first, he later grew disillusioned with them. He began to believe that Darth Ruin was not the right fit for leading the SIth to victory. He also became frustrated that the Sith did not spend more time studying the Dark Side. This caused him to leave the Sith behind to pursue knowledge by himself in the Unkown Regions. On his travels, he became obsessed with the idea of balance. He believed that since the light side had had its period of dominance, the Dark Side needed to have a period of dominance to balance this out. Seeing the Sith as the best opportunity for doing this, he has returned to the known Galaxy. Though he still does not trust Ruin as a leader, he will serve him until he finds someone superior to throw his support behind.

 

GM UPDATE
IC: Wacten Plus
Orbit, Mandalore

The day had been long, and exhausting for Wacten Plus. At its start he could never imagine the twists and turns that it had taken, for starters he still couldn't believe he had betrayed his Master the way he had. What had possessed him to do that? Disobey a direct order, and run to the Kaleesh with his Masters plot? He could stand behind the Cyborg now, that would delay Slay's wrath, but the moment the mysterious creature was gone the Iktotchi dark lord would not hold back, if he was really lucky she would strike him down the moment they were left alone. The odds however, made him think that by the end of this day he would long for the long cold hours he spent in the med bay after she had gouged out his eye.

Vexx stood above him now, watching the developing battle with great interest. Not long after arriving on the bridge the Kaleesh had assigned Wacten to starfigher command, he didn't know why, he had little experience in such a position. The human had adapted quickly, and in the pit of his stomach he suspected the Kaleesh lord was impressed with his work. Not long after Slay had launched for the surface a steady stream of enemy vessels broke from the atmosphere, their numbers had been overwhelming at first and several ships escaped into hyperspace. But it took only minutes for Wacten to adapt to his new position and in the hours since over a hundred enemy crafts were shot down.

Now the Mandalorians were broken, his Master had underestimated their foe and that had cost them dearly. Still, whatever tattered remnants survived could hardly constitute a government, and certainly could never construct a force that would threaten the Sith.
The apprentice was impressed by the way their leader and turned his Masters failure into something resembling victory, and he also held a sense of pride for the role he played in ensuring it.

A light beeped on the screen before him, and the communications officer called for his attention. "Sir! We have six fighters accelerating from the northern hemisphere."
Briefly the Sith let out a sigh, at this point any attempt at escape was suicide, but those few scattered Mando's that remained seemed determined to try. He wasn't sure what delayed this squadron so long, but that hardly mattered.

"Tell Rakghoul squadron to intercept. Inform them to be weary, this could be a diversion. Shoot to kill, but stay alert for any other ships in the area."

Rakghoul squadron had arrived in the middle of the campaign, during Vexx's long siege Emperor Ruin had sent them as reinforcements to aid in their victory. The leader of the squad was a human Sith named Darth Rahkil, very few lords were granted the title Darth so when he arrived word spread fast. Rumor was he had deserted at some point in the past, but Wacten didn't believe it. If that were true he wouldn't have lived long enough to return to the front.
This thought was interrupted with another flashing light on the console, his masters shuttle had returned to the hanger. With this realization Wacten looked nervously up at Lord Vexx to give him the news.

Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg, @Dlurkon427
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Darth Butchar
Coruscant

As the Sith Lord assigned to meet the Hutt emissary, Butchar hardly felt honored. Maybe it was her smooth voice that led Discord to assign her to represent the Empire on the diplomatic front, what little diplomacy they did anyways. She would far prefer to be on the front lines, slaughtering their enemies by the thousands. Butchar hadn't seen a good fight since the capture of Coruscant, and now she was getting irritable.

She saw the Hutts skiff on the horizon, it was quite the view, traffic was light due to mandatory curfew, but the Starships of the Sith armada could be seen on the horizon, ever alert, guarding their new capital from the enemies that surrounded them.

Through the darkness, she heard the ugly vehicle clunk down on the landing pad in front of her. For a moment she felt sick, which was odd considering the slug hadn't even slithered off of the starship yet.
"Keep your eyes out." She whispered harshly to the soldier next to her.

Nearly a dozen humanoid guards preceded their overlord off the Skiff, and a Whiphid chief of security stood first among them. "It is with great pleasure that I present the honorable, kind, and just ruler of thirty nine system... Lociini Ptiinii Russ!"

The blue skinned blob that slowly slid its way down the ramp was a disgusting creature in Butchars eyes, but she managed to fake a smile. "Finally, it has been a long trip." The Hutt surprisingly spoke in basic. "I trust you have a meal planned for us? I would not impose, but if this alliance bares fruit I would hope we might celebrate."
"Lord Lociini." Butchar nodded, for she would never bow to a lesser creature. Only the Emperor deserved to reverence. "I am Darth Butchar, member of the Sith Advisory Council and Representative of the Emperor."

The Hutt snorted. "Butchar? You Sith certainly have a thing for the grandiose."
The dark lady glowered briefly, she had heard Lociini was more tactful than most Hutts. Though she supposed he at very least made a pretense of deferring to her.
"He offers his regrets that he could not meet you this day" she continued "..but security concerns mean that he rarely can afford to leave the Sith Temple. I'm sure you understand." In truth, Ruin couldn't be bothered with such a trivial matter. The Hutts had resources, and dealing with multiple enemies at once could be dangerous, but in the end they were all just pawns.

"I am thankful for your considerations." The Hutt gave what might have been a smile. "Though if you could show me to my bed chambers, I require at least a night to accommodate to..."
Assassins...
The thought leapt into her mind a moment before her an explosion went off, but just in time for her to shout "Down!"
Several guards ducked, though the fire that quickly engulfed the Hutts ship knocked several more to the ground. Butchar braced, and through the smoke saw one of her guards take aim at the diplomat who was now flopping on the ground, screaming for protection.

In an instant the Sith's crimson blade sprung to life and cut of the mans arm, taking his head in a second swipe. Shots rang out, two more of her men fell dead. It took Butchar a moment to realize it was not the Hutts firing at them, but their allies. In that moment the Whiphid died, a meaningless life, but the dark lady would not tolerate treachery.
She cut one of the fake soldiers in half, and threw two more off the platform screaming to their deaths. One remained, she sensed his fear, but he did not hesitate. Two shots, that is all he managed, she blocked both with ease before she cut him off at the knees.
He collapsed with a shriek. Butchar offered a smirk, before unleashing several tendrils of lightning into him. "Who do you work for!" She demanded.
Defiance. This man was well trained.

Another zap, and another. Eventually he shouted out "All Hail Emperor Ruin!"
Lies. She sensed the falsehood even as he stared her in the eyes defiantly.
Torture would do her no good she finally realized. Finally she deactivated her lightsaber, and knelt by the squirming man. Delicately she place a palm at his temple, and reached into his mind, images flickered, and his screams faded into the background as he followed this mans path. A wife, children, a well paying job at the Coruscant Power generators, fire from the sky, loss, pain... a new purpose. He saw a women.

"Thalia Idiorr." Butchar snarled as she snapped the false soldiers neck.
"This is the work of Rebels." She stated bluntly as she stood.
Lociini was back upright, though leaning slightly on his Falleen Major Domo. Most of her guards were dead, but Butchar already proved she could handle superior fire power. Lociini glanced at his remaining allies, all of whom looked at her with apprehension. These were hired thugs, some would die for him, but most would flee if given the chance.

Finally the Hutt threw an arm up and ordered his troops to stand down.
"It seems, Lady Butchar, I have little choice but to believe you. If our alliance comes through the Hutt Empire would be more than happy to help you with your... Rebel problem."

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Prena Masorna
Kashyyyk; Kachirho City

A long pause in the debate gave Prena time to think.
When she finally stated "We have to go on the offensive." all eyes were on her.
The Hutts had been raiding them for weeks, credits, resources, and people were all being lost. This enemy was elusive, it always struck where there defenses were the weakest and they couldn't afford to protect every planet under their control.

"Have you gone mad!?!" Sergeant Aldrich finally stated bluntly, and Captain Venerwaalk growled his concurrence. "If we go on the attack it will leave many more worlds defenseless." Aldrich stated the thought she had been wrestling with for the last couple minutes. "It is completely counterintuitive! You want to save lives but would leave us open to attack to divert attention."

For his part Grand Master Voquen simply listened carefully. The Queen was thankful for that, since she her other companions had been far to quick to judge. "We have been debating what to do for days now!" She countered. "And I have decided that doing something is essential, we can throw words around this holo-table all we want but they are just words. This war is happening whether you believe it or not, and the time for politics is past. If people are going to die, I'd rather we take this fight to the Hutts than let them keep harassing us like this."

The Sergeant was left speechless for once, and Grand Master Voquen finally spoke. "With what force do you propose we strike with?"
The Queen sighed, and after a moment offered her opinion. "We lack the resources to occupy worlds, this is true. We can't even defend the ones we have, but if we do to them what they are doing to us they won't have free rain to attack whenever they want. A small force, a few of the ships that were eft undamaged after the Battle of Naboo combined with a third of one of your fleets Master Voquen. That is all I ask."

Another minute passed, and Aldrich offered an incredulous look at the Jedi. "You can't be taking this offer seriously Master Jedi? The risks are far to great! If we lose those ships..." "We are losing ships every day Sergeant." The Jedi interrupted. "This is a war, and action must be taken. I agree to your request My Lady."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Greg Bw'aga
Dantooine

The Bothan knelt carefully by the window, he sensed the young Jedi nearby but received a feeling of alarm in return. They were expected.
He had no intention of leaving, but took a moment to think. Ugi Bruvis, stood next to him, blaster in hand and waiting for orders.
The Jedi Knight took a deep breath, he could not transfer words via the force, but he could send feelings. At this moment he sent a strong urge to action across this common bond, and shouted "Now!"

The facility burst open, and one of Ugi's men tossed a smoke bomb in. Chaos ensued.
It took the mercenaries a few moments to realize they had not entered the front door as they had expected, and in that instant the Jedi reacted. He sensed the trainee's move, the older ones must have tackled mercenaries near them, while the rest ran to safety. Korwin do her duty nearby, protecting them. But multiple lines of attack would surely contribute to their confusion.

Bw'aga ignited his blade, and saw a Trandoshan turn to face him.
The Jedi did not hesitate, lashing out at the nearest hostile with a furious force.
Whatever happened, if he bought Korwin time she could escape with others.

Tags: @Shadow Trooper

 

IC: Darth Rahkil
Orbit over Mandalore

Darth Rahkil frowned as he scanned the wreckage of the six Mandalorian fighters he and his squad had been sent to destroy.

What had initially seemed like an escape attempt had quickly been revealed to be one last suicide run. As soon as they had closed to within firing range of the fighters, they had brought their guns to bare. Rakghoul squad had lost two fighters in the ensuing chaos, but in the end, their superior skill had won them the day.

Still, he should have sensed the trap sooner than he did. Perhaps he needed to get used to true combat once more. He knew he would have to re-adapt fast or he would be left behind.

His thoughts were interrupted by his comm crackling to life.

“My Lord” Rakghoul Two, a Bith male said. “The threat has been neutralized, what are your orders?”.

He was about to order they head back to the dreadnought they had arrived in when he thought better of it. He had only briefly met the Sith whom he was to serve, and this meeting certainly had not been enough to determine his true character. There was also the matter of the other Sith that had led the ground assault.

With the battle won it would not be long before they were sent elsewhere, and he needed to start fulfilling his true mission.

Determining who would one day replace Ruin at the head of the Empire. It hadn't been easy to convince Ruin to take him back, but the promise of learning the locations where Rahkil had learned his new powers was too much for the Emperor to resist. He would one day regret this decision. The Force demanded a new champion.

“Contact Wacten Plus. Let him know I wish to meet with Lord Slay and Lord Vexx”.

TAGS : @ConservativeJedi321 @Kaleesh-Cyborg

 

Dantooine
IC: Scale
A lone Jedi stood before Scale, his bright green blade angled forward. Brown and furry, a Bothan. Not Korwin then. A pile of dead mercenaries lay at his feet. From elsewhere in the building the sound of an ongoing firefight. The Jedi had brought some UUW then to help keep his men occupied.
A single Trandoshan lay against the wall, clutching the stump where his arm used to be. Rather unbecoming for a mercenary to whine like that, Scale thought. Stop moaning idiot, It'll grow back. So he was fighting alone then? No matter. Scale had done it before.

"You fight well Jedi!" Scale said. "You will be worth many Jagannath points I think. I will give you a minute to pray to your Force, before I take your skin for the Scorekeeper!"
"If you want my pelt, you're going to have to take it first!" the Bothan said.
Scale raised his slugthrower, fired on full auto. The Jedi's lightsaber would have more trouble deflecting the projectiles than it would with blaster bolts. The Bothan dodged aside, nimbly avoiding the stream of deadly fire. The lightsaber flashed off suddenly, the Bothan vanished from sight. Almost as if he had never been there.

Scale recalled the reports from his men during the initial chaos. Of disappearances and illusions and tricks of the mind. Sorcery then.
He did not think the Jedi had left. The Trandoshan Mercenary was too big of a threat to the UUW and the Order to leave alive, especially after he had attacked Dantooine. The Jedi would strike soon... right about... NOW !
His natural hunter's instincts kick in. The Trandoshan moves deftly to the side as the lightsaber sabs from out of the dark. His claws slash to the side, finding a grip on flesh, and tearing.

The Bothan lay on the cold stones, his chest a ragged, bloody mess. His eyes wept, but on his face was look of joy.
"You smile Jedi, even as you die. Why is that?" Scale wondered.
"There is no death, only the force. And Korwin has saved the children."
The Mercenary heard the sound of a ship taking off. His joy turning to rage in a moment. "No!" Scale rasped. He started running towards the landing pad. Knew he was far too late even before he started. By the time he would make it there, his prize would be gone.

At his belt, the comlink chimed. "The children are gone sir" Fafnir said. "We won't have any slaves today. But the Jedi Artifacts are secure."
Not a total loss yet. And the Jedi would be coming for him now, as he had hoped. Korwin may have chosen the children today, but he was certain that she would not give up her quest to avenge her master. Just as he must deliver her to the Scorekeeper, for robbing his goddess of his sacred offering, the death of the UUW Queen. As long as she lived, he would find no peace, in this life or the next.

 

GM Update
IC: Darth Slay
Mandalore

The Iktotchi felt her claws burrowing into the palm of her hand as her shuttle landed in the hanger bay of The Prevalence.
It was a victory. She told herself one more time.
The Mandalorian's were defeated. She grimaced slightly as she saw Vexx was waiting.
The glory of the battle was mine alone. Her cowardly apprentice stood in the cyborgs shadow. Clearly hoping to avoid her wrath.
The number of casualties is irrelevant when in service to the Sith Empire.

A fact Wacten Plus would surely learn shortly.
"I assume you are here to congratulate me on my victory." Slay stated, feigning indifference as she strode across the deck to face the Kaleesh.
"Thanks to me the Mandalorian Sector is ours, their people are scattered now, no threat to our Emperor."
She was within striking distance now, and discretely placed her now bloody palm on her hip, inches away from her lightsaber.
I am a member of the Sith Advisory Council. If he so much as lays a finger on me he will be a fugitive for life.

Before any words could pass between them a the whine of a starfighter engine was heard, and all present turned to see a Sith Buzzard dock two squares over from her shuttle. She recognized it as belonging to Rakghoul squadron, but hardly cared. She took the momentary distraction to catch her breath, and collect her thoughts once more.
Tags: @Kaleesh-Cyborg, @Dlurkon427
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Gysor Desilijic Tiure
Kor Desilijic

Gysor was dreaming of ancient times, the age of consolidation where his ancestors spread out among the stars and took control of hundreds of systems, creating an Empire that consolidated the wealth to such a degree that to this day the Hutt species lived a life of luxury.
It was a happy dream.

He didn't enjoy being roused from it.
"Choy?" He shouted as he felt a hand tap his shoulder tentatively.
When he saw Brosk Jackani, his new Major Domo after his last one vanished, he scowled with a fury. "Kee baatu baatu Chuba doompa, dopa-maskey kung!"
"Y..yes Master." The Gotal stuttered anxiously. "There is r...r...r...rrreport from the front."
What? What front? There shouldn't be any battles! Their skirmish tactics were targeting weak points in the enemy forces. His confusion was clearly apparent in his expression as the Gotal quickly clarified.

"The UUW h..has launched several s..strikes. Raiding Near Pando, Syvris, and T..T.. Tsyk."

"WHAT!" He lashed out with his tail, knocking the nearby translator droid off its pedestal and waking Mama from her slumber.
"Keepuna Sleemo!" She shook her head in surprise, and Gysor raised a hand to defend himself should she lash out for being woke at such an hour.
"It's nothing Sweets patogga. don't worry." He whispered quietly, to keep his servant from hearing. She glared for a moment, but closed her eyes and was soon snoring as loud as ever.

After he was sure she was asleep Gysor turned back to Brosk. "What are you doing about it?" The creatures fur was standing on end now, clearly he had no idea.
"Well! Do something!" The Hutt whispered as harshly as he could without waking Mama. "Relocate our forces to defense. And inform Scale! We need to act fast."
Tags: @Shadow Trooper
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Tomas Wokan
Orbit: Teth
The Captain looked down upon the isolated world as his ships streamed out of their hangers, striking at the Hutt trade ships that were caught in the fight. There was little in this system of value, but Teth was a common stop for criminals and vagrants working in Hutt space. All they had to do was destroy any ships capable of fighting back, and seize the cargo on any they captured and they will have done their duty.
"Focus fire on mark 3-8." He ordered, and watched as a pirate frigate erupted in flames.
The Jedi supervisor, Riss Jet, stepped forward and gave a stand-down command. "They are retreating Captain Wokan. There is no need to continue firing."
Tomas rolled his eyes at that. "Any ships we allow to escape now is firepower they can use against us later. I'm sure you understand if I would rather be safe than sorry."
The brown-cloaked man did not waver however. "If we sacrifice our standards for convenience how can we truly say we are better than them?"
Unbelievable! Tomas sighed in irritation. "Maybe by the fact that we didn't attack first, we don't enslave innocence, or slaughter refugee's!"

Before the Jedi could respond one of his communications officers interrupted. "We have captures a freighter sir. There are slaves aboard.
Well at least there is some good news in all of this. "Give them food and quarters. We can offer them sanctuary when we get back to Naboo." If they so desired they could join the UUW militia, or get on a transport of their choosing. Either way they are freed and the Hutts are deprived of a valuable resource.
When his gaze returned to the viewport he realized all Hutt military-capable vessels had escaped and offered a slight curse. "Fall back then." he commanded. "We aren't here to hold the planet, just to disrupt their activities."
Turning back to face the Jedi, the Captain simply shrugged his shoulders. "Back to friendly space, we can plan our next attack when we don't have to worry about enemy reinforcements."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

IC: Reth Voquen
Ach-To

The Knight stood before the gathered council, her outward expression was calm but Reth sensed a hollow regret in her heart.
"You did well." He told Korwin Firka'ag in a soothing tone. "Jedi B'waga knew what he was doing, and you saved a great many lives."
The women nodded hesitantly. "I know. That is of some comfort, but it is those we could not save that haunt me."
This isn't the first time she has expressed regret, yet this was different as well.
"Regret is a burden we all live with." Master Trossik stated with a haunted gleam in his eye. "The danger is allowing it to consume you."
Een Gor nodded in concurrence. "You have your regrets, but in the end you did what was necessary. That is the duty of any Jedi."
Reth felt sorrow for their losses, and his ears slope down as he knew many more would die before this was over.

A pause lapsed in their conversation, and the Jedi Master shared subtle glances at one another. Finally Master Iress spoke "Following the events on Datooine we have a new generation arriving on Ach-To. Young Padawans that lack teachers, they will be assigned given time."
Korwin raised her head, looking at them with suspicion in here eye. Never one for dramatics Master Trossik spoke next. "We were hoping that you might take Jessa Coop under your wing. She is young, but her background is very similar to your own."
The Knight was clearly surprised by the offer, but to her credit didn't jump to an answer. "Are you sure that is a wise move Masters?"
Iress's snout curled in a small smile. "You know pain young one, but you are no longer consumed by it. When you followed through with Knigh B'waga's plan, even knowing it might mean his demise, you showed that you are growing beyond your past."

Trossik agreed. "You trusted in him, and we are placing our trust in you."
Reth wasn't so sure. Though the discussion they had prior to extending this offer had mostly involved the events on Dantooine and Korwin's mindset, there was a deeper meaning none of them wanted to bring up: there simply were not enough Knights to go around. So many had died at the wars onset, so many apprentices were left without Masters.
It was a sign that these were grim times that they were now offering Korwin an apprentice of her own.
One more moment passed, and the Knight bowed before them.
"If that is the judgement of this council, I will accept it."