Star Wars CLOSED Star Wars: Episode V: Twilight of the Force II: A Father’s Fate

ooc: Had to keep it short, as I am on holiday

Galen Marek
Shadowlands

„I can feel him.“ Galen whispered, but he was sure the old Jedi Master would hear him. He took his lightsaber from his belt and reached into the dark. „I can feel he is here.“ Galen closed his eyes to locate Darth Zorn and then looked at the egg-shaped cradle he had brought. The child was with Solo now and he hoped that he would get it to safety.

Han Solo
Platform

„Xav, great you are here.“ He smiled. „GHive her the child.“ He nodded to the droid. „What?“ Xav was visibly surprised and Han winked at her. „Most important person on the planet and i trust only my best woman to babysit him. So glad you came.“ He grinned. „You cannot . . .“ Xav began. „I can and I very much am serious. Get him on the Falcon.“ Then he turned to Rumpy who had brought him to the platform. „I heard you can fly. I need a Co-pilot and I got a chair just the right size for a Wookiee. Your daddy‘s chair. You wanna have it?“ He gave him a dry smile and hoped the Wookiee would say yes. He could need a little Wookiee in that cockpit. The kid just belonged there.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @BobaMatt, @DarkLordoftheFins

 

Darth Zorn
Exegol and Kashyyyk, hard to say where he is nowadays

The Ring tried to force his will upon him and he smiled at it. These little things were nasty, but that was probably the nature of ancient Sith Magic. The Dwaathi symbol engraved into it spoke of the ancient origins of the powers he used. Yet power was measured in unseen quantities and he had always been powerful. The blood of his father made him that. Absorbing Mandalore had only accelerated his progress to gain absolute control over the unlimited powers of the Dark Side. Yet, these powers were still trying to devour his soul. It would take time to adjust, time he would have to give himself. Immortality, limitless power, eternal darkness. None of those came without a prize. Yet, he would not give the prize freely. The Dark Side would have to claim it from him. That was the nature of the darkness, that it consumed those giving in too freely, excluded those who shut it out and favored those who accepted it as a challenge. An eternal struggle. Nobody had ever come that close to Godhead. Not even the Sith Emperor, certainly not old Sidious. The last step to ascension was now close, so very close.

The Child.

Slowly he sat himself down in the throne and immediately he felt the fleet, connected to him through means of technology and alchemy. His orders were simple.

ATTACK.

He wanted not to outsmart the fleet protecting the system, no. He wanted them to see his power and despair. Fleets meant nothing anymore, but his whole plan based on them not understanding that until it was too late. So they should have their fleets and battles.

Organizing the Eternal Fleet into two waves, he unleashed the first on Kashyyyk for the single purpose of not allowing his prey to escape. The second wave would finish the enemy off once necessary. If it became necessary. The stupid Republic‘s fleet did not bother him. The Child, his son, that was all that counted now.

As the fleet began to execute his plan and would certainly be guided by the Star Destroyer he had send, he shifted his attention into his puppet. His consciousness melted into Jovan, his first and truest apprentice. He remembered the boy on Coruscant, opposing him and then kneeling to him. Greeting the new Sith Lord when fools like Palpatine and Wyyrlock had still denied him his rightful place.

He felt his flesh, his power complemented and finally replaced by Zorn‘s own. His hand grabbed the cold metal of the lightsaber the boy was wearing and Zorn sighed out in ecstasy as he felt the complete control over him. The thumb touched the lightsaber‘s activation button and it hissed into existence.

„Yes, now let us see what you are made of.“ He whispered. Reaching out with the force he felt they had gone into the depth, the so-called shadowlands. They thought they would have an advantage their. He was a master of shadows, while they merely adopted them. Stepping forward he did not have to tell his Sith to follow. They would feel they had to. Mace Windu was a man he had met in his early years, when he was still Luke. The old, grim Jedi Master had been the architect of the Jedi‘s war effort in the clone wars. A powerful Jedi, a great duelist and yet the man whose failure brought the Jedi Order to it’s knees. He would be an interesting challenge. Yet, the other one was truly who he was eager to meet. Galen Marek. A man he had only superficially registered as hunting some of his minor Sith. Now he had not only defeated his traitorous right hand and lover, but also had taken his son. Yet, he felt anger in him. A will to take life. Darkness. Power. Yes, he had power. Raw and not fully trained power. In many ways he reminded him of a young man he had been once. Not yet fully aware of his potential to bring change to the world around him, Zorn regretted he had to die. Had they met under other circumstances he might have been one of those rare enemies he turned and used for his own vision.

Today there was no turning, though. Today he wanted revenge. Today he wanted his son back!

Pushing the body he inhabited to become faster he made his way to the two presences and smiled in anticipation of the challenge awaiting him.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @Lawbreaker, @BobaMatt

 

IC: Madelyn Linnett

The alarms woke Madelyn in her dreams before she was called.

She startled awake, and the wave of danger through the force was sharp and swift. She grabbed her darksaber, and leapt into action as she was called to the bridge, the cries for help tugging at her heart. Could they fight? The fleet was large, but was their will to stay alive larger? "Get anyone who can't fight out of the system!" Madelyn ordered over the chaos. "We need to fight back, but I don't want to lose my entire fleet and people in one go. We need to draw them away and distract them. Block their line of vision. Any ideas on how we can do that?" Madelyn asked quickly. She could use the force, but would that be effective enough?

They had to survive. She wouldn't see the Mandalorian people fall again. Even it it meant sacrificing herself in the process.

@Sinrebirth

IC: Leia-Skirata Linnett

Leia had found herself awake, exhausted late into the night after the news from her mother. But she was glad she was alive. Leia wondered if she had the force to thank for that. When she had drifted off, her dreams had the ghosts of people she knew, shadows flickering in the distance. She was startled out of it, only slightly by Master Katarn, and she wondered what it meant. He soon led her to the cockpit, and asked her to clear her mind.

She frowned, and allowed herself to connect to the force. Trying to find whatever was out there in The Maw. But it felt dark, void of life. And Leia shook her head, trying to peer harder into the force and into the expanse of space. "Master...I think someone needs help."

A cry for help. Somewhere. It had to be.

"Their close Master. But I don't think they have much time." Leia held onto that feeling of someone out there, but opened her eyes and looked up at her Master. "Maybe we should work together?"

Tag: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael @Jerjerrod-Lennox @QueenSabe7

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Qwi Xux, Beaumont Kin, Galius Rax
Location: Firenze, The Maw

Well it seems the X wing was on an investigative mission…

Drayson had sent a message that the X wing had followed up on a message from the Hutts. Several of their ships had disappeared and the New Republic decided to investigate. It seemed that these ships had met an uncertain fate. Whatever had snatched them or even destroyed them could still be here. It might have even gotten the X wing. She nodded at Beaumonts assessment of things.

The Jedi finally arrived and Qwi was glad for the backup. Good timing as the yachts sensors picked up something then a distress call came through. And there were two thoughts running through Qwi's head…

Was it real, or a trap?

Was it one of those ships? Or maybe it was whomever grabbed them trying to lure them in.

Then another message came through, this time from someone called Galius Rax. Asking to speak to the Imperial representative who knew about the Death Star and the Maw…..

She turned to Beaumont "Someone out there has either detected I'm here or knows I was coming here" she shook her head "This is getting stranger by the minute. Maybe this man knows what happened to this X wing or the Hutt ships. Maybe he's just blocking our way. Can't help to have a quick chat…I see anything funny we turn around and head back out"

She turned to the comm "This is Qwi Xux, former Imperial science officer. You seem to be broadcasting within the Maw. May I ask what you are doing in there?".

"Oh thank the Gods of the Force!" Rax said, relief filling his voice. "I am a cast-away! I have an ancient relic that a murderous Anzati is chasing for nefarious ends. He just slaughtered my crew - other Imperials who just wanted to be left alone."

Beaumont answered for him. "You've been raiding Hutt convoys."

"Yes! It seemed like the lesser of many evils, and we didn't want to upset the New Republic... thirty-three years we've sat here, panicking that the Empire or New Republic would find us... fourteen years ago, Deep Zone One was cleared out by a Director Krennic... but we were safe in Deep Zone Two... but no longer..."

In many ways, he was telling the truth. The First Order had kept to themselves for thirty-three years... and not done anything especially terrible save to relieve the Hutts of human slaves periodically... and of course enslave any nonhumans... but that wasn't something Rax would mention... nor the fleet he had been constructing at the orders of the late Palpatine... who had never come to collect the First Order.

"I had no choice but to gamble that a Hutt ship would be passing by... but an actual Imperial! How amazing. Tell me - is the war over?" Rax sounded hopeful, as if the Maw colonists had been all-but isolated for all this time. "We found out from Hutt slaves about the New Republic, but we daren't reach out in-case the Empire struck us... we know so little... and we've lost so much..."

Qwi was still skeptical regarding things, especially since Galius had basically said he had raided the Hutt convoys. Plus if there was a mad Anzati on the loose in the Maw then she was going nowhere near that one. And what part of former Imperial science officer did he not understand?.

“The galaxy has been in peace for fourteen years” she explained “The New Republic and the former Empire now Imperial Remnant are now allies. Your Anzati friend sounds as dangerous as a new threat that has entered the galaxy. They call themselves the Yuuzhan Vong and they have one aim, convert us to their religion or die” she didn't explain that Thrawn was about trying to remake the Empire “They are the biggest threat the galaxy has faced well I suppose ever. We are heading into the Maw to try and find a way to stop them. I myself am a former Imperial science officer who worked on the Death Star and I am helping the New Republic now.”

Qwi didn't explain either what they were about to do with all the bits and pieces they had since this was a total stranger “I am sorry regarding your predicament but if you have something this Anzati really wants we cannot risk bringing it with us, we have essentially a separate mission and we are at the moment heading in whilst you it seems are heading out” she said at the moment as she was about ready to turn around and head back out after what she had seen and heard here.

“You didn't have anything to do with an X wing being destroyed did you….”

"An X-wing? No, not at all," Rax said, desperate to please. "My crew are all dead, so it's just me and a single ship." He sounded genuinely upset. "I'll leave the artifact behind if you want - can I leave the Maw? I don't want to get in your way - I just want out."

Beaumont sounded concerned. "I'm sure we can handle one Anzati... but even if we could, this is a little odd. He's a war criminal, I suppose, so we'd best pick him up before he causes any trouble..."

"We could just turn the problem over to Drayson, of course," Beaumont continued, "but he seems to want to keep you involved in the decision making process and, well, happy."

Was Beaumont having a dig at her? She didn't know but there was an enormous weight upon her shoulders. Drayson was essentially enabling her to make the big decisions but she was no leader, neither did she want to be. She was used to working in a team of course but there was always the fear that you or your colleagues could be next for the chop if you did something wrong.

Meanwhile this Galius...she was still not sure about him. Pascale would have scooped up that artefact in an instant but she wasn't him. Unless she could look at it scientifically then it was no use to her. Unless Beaumont of course wanted it but he had mentioned nothing about it whilst talking to her. And the added bonus was there was an Anzati hiding around here and she was not going to end up as someone's meal if this Anzati wanted to cause waves.

She muted their end of the comm to Rax and turned her head to look at Beaumont “We need Drayson’s take on this, see if you can send him a message or something of what we know so far or hopefully he is listening in. He’s military so he might have a better idea of whether we should proceed forward or not. But I am not liking this thing one bit. If we let this Imperial go he could find Thrawn and help him and I want to blunt Thrawn every chance we get from either finding me or expanding the Empire”

“Second of all if we have an Anzati in there and if he wants out then that could be dangerous for us if we proceed in or let him out. If he is a war criminal he deserves to stay in here and rot, even if we capture him do you think he will come quietly?” she shook her head “This mission is looking like a bust already. Even with the Jedi as backup I don’t know if they will realise if this is all one big death trap”

She raised an eyebrow “I’d like to hear your thoughts on this, maybe the others too if they are hearing this” she narrowed her eyes “And I am no leader but it looks like I have been made it unofficially….”

"I agree about making sure we take custody of Rax. We can't have an Imperial running off to Thrawn right now. He'd tell them about us. We should capture him - I bet Jyn and Benthic will be happy to handle that bit."

"But we do need this base... by all accounts, the Yuuzhan Vong and Thrawn's people are poking around inside the New Republic..." Beaumont looked at the Jedi ship. "A Knight would be able to handle an Anzati, after all." He looked annoyed. "It's not ideal but we're here now and this is our best chance."

He laughed slightly. "Unless you want to try the Unknown Regions?"

Qwi nodded “I agree on Rax, this would be right up Jyn’s alley” she had to smile at that “let’s hope he doesn't put up too much of a fight. We’ll keep him here in the Maw, call it solitary confinement because as you say if he gets out and escapes he will dive straight for Thrawn, and the New Republic cannot afford to have two Imperials on the loose”

Qwi then frowned “But I would like to bypass this Anzati, if Katarn and Leia fail we have no protection or the Anzati could grab their ship and head out. And that could spell more trouble for the New Republic. We need the base yes but we also need to protect ourselves. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. And I will not risk this project just to grab some mad Anzati. If the Jedi go, we go, simple as that. And I would rather see this war out alive than dead and do something that saves the galaxy, not dooms it. Get a message to Jyn and Drayson, i’ll keep Galius busy”

She unmuted the comm to Rax “Unfortunately the galaxy is a really dangerous place right now and if you get out? You may not like what you find. The Vong are coming and they will not stop until the whole galaxy is conquered. The only way anyone is coming back out again is when we find a way to defeat these monsters. You can help lead us safely to the Maw Installation, we need someone else to make sure we bypass your mad Anzati friend”

Rax paused. "The Vong? Never heard of them. But!" His voice raised happily. "I can certainly guide you to the Maw Installation remnants." He paused. "I imagine it would be simple enough to leave some debris in the way of Deep Zone Two, and the Anzati will be trapped - and die out of starvation."

The Imperial liked that. "You have a deal!" Beaumont was already tapping out a message - he sent it to Jyn first - and her shuttle began to move almost immediately into the Maw. Drayson for his part was on the line; but not the one Qwi had access to.

Beaumont reached for a headset and switched it on, and began speaking to the Admiral. The gist that Qwi could hear was that Drayson wanted to make sure that Galius Rax never escaped the Maw; that it was essential that they find him.

"Good" Qwi answered, she had one ear on Rax and the other on what Beaumont was doing "Perhaps the X wing wreckage could be enough to stop the Anzati from escaping. Meanwhile your help would be appreciated in reaching the Maw Installation. We will hopefully be with you shortly, perhaps send us your location so me and my colleagues can find you and provide assistance. Your help will be suitably rewarded…"

She then shut off the comm to Rax "With a nice cell for you to sit in" she growled. Qwi turned tk Beaumont "Hopefully Jyn will find him and disable his ship before we get there or at least we can have him lead us to the Maw Installation and trap him there. Drayson is right ee cannot let him out".

She turned back around "Let 's see if we can take some of this X wing debris with us, and then hopefully we will have no more surprises".

TAG: @Sinrebirth , @TheSilentInfluence, @darthbernael , @QueenSabe7

 

IC: Qi’ra Ananke, the Destructor
Deep Zone Three (Vitae), The Maw

Ananke breathed in at the sight of it – a world, the world, beginning to peak out into view as the Aurora entered the clearing that was Deep Zone Three. It was just as tumultuous here as it was out in the Maw proper, but in a very different sense. There was an order to the chaos, an extreme concentration of dark power, a reality that was not known anywhere else but this place.

The Destructor know about it all.

Names danced around her mind as if they were as intimate as family, but she had never actually known them in life. And yet there they were in her thoughts, their stories playing out like a holo news reel she had seen countless times before. Abeloth was among them, prominently so, and Ananke’s lips curled into a sneer.

She settled herself then, curtailing the overwhelming strength of the Force here and how it could distract her if she allowed it. Stretching her muscles to release the build up of tension since her arrival, her eyes traveled the large debris field that encapsulated the planet within, the home of the Ones. By look and feel alone, she could easily sense the technology used in the proverbial net and how high-end it was. A shield to keep unwanted guests out? Or to hold those daring enough to make it to the surface in?

The yacht’s controls did her bidding with a simple suggestion from her mind, and with all countermeasures remaining active and shields at full strength, Ananke pushed ahead and chose to travel down into the mayhem. She stayed put before the massive viewport and reached out into the Force for guidance, trusting the darkness she had become so irrevocably entwined with to keep her on a safe trajectory in. She could already picture the Pool of Knowledge that held her attention the most, and just what it may tell her, the parts of her puzzle that were still missing.

TAGS: @darthbernael @Sinrebirth

 

Ka'rta
Ord Mantell

The ragtag armada had strengthened over the night, their quick invasion of the planet dug in deeper. It was now there's at least until they left it. Ka'rta spent the night on her ship floating among the gathered ships. She was curled up on her bed, a bed she used to share with her cyar'ika, her love. It felt cold and empty, her hand brushed over the space where he should have been. There was a hole, a deep pit in her heart, a place that used to be filled with him. Now it was just empty, and no amount of anger was going to fill it, there wasn't a level of molten rage that could take the place of the only person she loved so deeply.

Tears started to sting her eyes, tears of loss, of pain, of an emotion she couldn't show, not in front of anyone. She was the leader, the firebrand of this mission of revenge. There was no place for tears, no place for sadness. She had to turn those tears into fire, into blood spilt by mandalorian iron. Sniffling a little she rubbed her eyes, drying her tears. It was time to fight. As she put on her armor, her heart hardened, the fire of her anger lit up in her chest. The deep red armor, the color of old blood, reminded her of what she was. She was a warrior, a mercenary feared from one end of the galaxy to the other, nothing would stand in her way, vengeance would be hers. Tucking her helmet under her arm she looked to the empty bed, closing her eyes and locking away her loss, bashising the tears she wanted to shed.

No longer could she be the heart broken widow, now she had to be the leader, the Alor that would lead this group to victory. Sliding the helmet on she lifted her chin and set her jaw. The flame of vengeance burned bright in her. The empty bed the reminder of what was taken from her, of what she would take from everyone else.

She turned her head to Owen as she took a Briefing with her council. Looking at the data then to the man she once considered a father, she was unchanged.

"We will send a message to them. If they can join us at Entralla, then we can end this completely. Send the message to all the diaspora. Tell them that I am leading the way to vengeance, to final victory over this monster. And they may join me, or be cowards and hide away. Their choice."

There was only a twinge of sadness as she thought of Madelyn, of her Vode. But Madelyn had made her choice, she chose to stay behind, this mess was her own creation, she could see her own way out. Ka'rta was done acting on her orders, carrying out her will. It was time she acted for herself, time she took control of her own destiny.

"Will that be all?" she ask in a cold sinister tone that chilled the air.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

Tor
Undercity

Tor followed Fett around for a little while moving upstairs with him and finding it much more agreeable than the lower floor. Not that she was a spoiled princess, her mother made sure that she grew up as utilitarian as she had. The girl could sleep anywhere on anything, an important trait when you didn't know when your next proper bed would be.

When the elder hunter instructed her to sleep she found the couch and curled up on it. She shook only a little, the smell of ozone clinging to her reminding her of the life she'd taken. It was at once horrifying and exciting. A man was dead yes, by her hand certainly, but she couldn't deny the feeling that shot through her, that made her feel more alive. It was a strange dichotomy, possibly something her mother could have told her about. However her mother wasn't here, she was lightyears away. All she had was an old, bitter, clone of a bounty hunter, who had no interest in sitting down and talking with her.

She held her legs tighter pulling them closer to her chest suddenly feeling cold, and alone. This was the first time she'd ever been away from her family. She'd been off planet for sure, but she'd never been without them. For the first time in her life she was out in the galaxy without anyone she knew.

Again it was exciting, finally being out on her own. But also terrifying. No one was coming to save her should she fail, the Almighty Hand of the Mandalor wasn't going to swoop in and rescue her. All she had was her training and a borrowed blaster. Eventually the nerves faded and she fell asleep. She didn't know how long she was out but found herself awakened by Fett kicking her couch. As she stirred he threw her a strange grey medallion, and a helmet. Seeing the same grey medallion on his chest she took the hint and put the chain around her neck, followed by the helmet. It fit well, but was just a little heavy for her. Though there wasn't time to complain.

Soon enough and she was climbing up the shafts heading towards the Senate Building. It was painfully quiet until Fett started speaking. He talked of his past of working for the Chancellor, and for a dark lord.

"All of galactic history is a play between the Sith and the Jedi. Remember that. Every single conflict comes down to that."

This turned her head, just a little. She could recall something her mother used to tell her.

"We are just weapons Ad'ika, weapons used in the battles started by others, and ended by others. All we do is pick a side and fight."

She had thought that meant mercenaries, those paid to fight others battles, though part of her mind started to apply it here. The last war, the one before she was born, was fought because the sith threatened to overpower the jedi, and her mom and aunt were dragged into it. They had no say in if the war was fought, they just fought it.

They picked their side, and fought.

As they came closer Fett stopped her letting another group slide past them. She knew to keep quiet, to make herself small in the shadows. The first rule of hunting was never let the prey see you until it was too late. She kept silent until the group had passed her by though she hear Fett, giving him just a small nod.

"Your true verd'goten is about to begin."

She swallowed hard, taking a breath. This was it, her trial, she always expected her mother to be here, to be leading her through this test. But this was something she'd looked forward for so long. Now it was here, she wasn't going to back out.

"Buir," She spoke softly into the built in comm, reaching out to her mother, the one person she wanted to be here. "I'm still alive, sorry for not telling you sooner. But, I'm about to hunt down my first bounty...isn't that amazing, just like you. I'll be back soon, I promise, and I'll come back a Mandalorian, just like you."

She sent the message through the holo-net a slight nervous smile on her face. Looking up to Fett she gave another nod, she was ready to go.

TAG: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael @darthhelinith

 

IC: Nola Deidder
Staff quarters, Nubian Embassy, Senate district, Coruscant

Del didn't answer; indeed, he didn't speak to her for the rest of the night.

Nola was frustrated and annoyed by the silent treatment, but she also knew better than to press him. Sleep that night was somewhat sporadic, and she wasn't even sure if Del ever actually came to bed.

He was up well before her, and had breakfast and cafe ready by the time she emerged from their bedroom. A datapad was sitting at her place--directly opposite her husband.

Oh, boy. Del NEVER sat across from anyone, so it was quickly, glaringly obvious that something was up.

Nola sat down and poured herself a cup of cafe, saying nothing while she looked at the datapad. Messages between Norin and Del, going back at least a couple of years--some were regarding Mrs. Graul, some covered other matters: missing shipments, conspiracies, assassinations...

What was Norin doing--what had he dragged Del into?

Suddenly Nola didn't wonder so much why he hadn't told her about Mrs. Graul.

"What is this?" She asked, more concerned now than angry. "All this isn't just about Aryan, is it? What is Norin really trying to do?"

TAG: @Sinrebirth

IC: Chancellor Feyna Organa
Aboard the Home One, Anaxes

She would have liked to take some more time with Isolder to work out just how much to tell the press--Feyna tried to be as open and honest with the media and the public as possible, but security was a thing, so there was such a thing as being too open, too honest. But with only three hours until Shevu's meeting with Aryan Graul, there wasn't a lot of time for discussion.

Winter had reported that there was some level of discontent rising on Coruscant, and people were starting to whisper. Surprisingly, the HoloNet hadn't yet gotten word of Mandalore or Metellos, though Feyna wasn't sure if this was good or bad. People were already afraid, after Thrawn's attack, but it felt so wrong to try to tell everyone that all was well, when it so clearly wasn't.

She did not intend to make any mention of the Yuuzhan Vong--their arrival was not imminent, so there was no point scaring people more--or "Pedric Cuf's" attempt on her life. She did make a note for herself though, to look into the Osarian situation; without him to stir up trouble, perhaps that would start to calm down.

The extra clothes in Feyna's overnight bag had been intended for a casual one-night getaway, not a press conference, but her green travel dress was at least presentable enough for a brief appearance. Her hair was half-up in a bun, with the rest in a simple plait. Perhaps not as elaborate as she usually would be with a public appearance, but still professional. She wasn't planning on this taking very long.

The reporters and holo-cams were waiting when she arrived in the arranged press-room.

"Greetings, everyone. I apologize for the time it's taken me to speak with you about yesterday's events; several new developments in the hours after Thrawn's attack required immediate attention, resulting in the long delay..."

She briefly recapped the assault before offering reassurances to the citizens of Coruscant; Thrawn would never have been able to take the capital with only a single fleet, the capital's defenses were more than a match for such a force, and they now had the added layer of protection from having the fleet in orbit. She made certain to thank Drayson and Piett for their leadership during the attack, and though she did not publicly identify Thrawn's ships as the Katana fleet, she did clarify that Thrawn's fleet was not connected to the Remnant (hoping to prevent any premature retaliation against that sector), and stressed that the Republic was keeping a lookout.

She didn't go into a great deal of detail about Mandalore and Metellos, only stating that both worlds had been attacked, that neither currently appeared to be connected to Thrawn, and that the Republic was investigating. She knew that revealing these other attacks would create more fear, but to not acknowledge them at all felt worse.

She couldn't tell people not to be concerned, but she gently urged the people not to let themselves be driven or divided by fear. Thrawn already thought the Republic was too disjointed and disorganized to survive. She announced that Nouane had petitioned for membership, and emphasized the need to come together, to work together to overcome Thrawn.

Finishing up, she thanked the reporters and exited the room, leaving no opportunity for questions.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Joren Sole
Kashyyyk Plattform

The Erevana was almost too massive for the platform, but it fitted. Joren had his gloves on as he approached the ship and ignored the crew mostly. „Do not stand in my way when I get out.“ He finally said and hurried to his ship still sitting there waiting for his return. The Golden Path was fast, agile and moderately armed. He would prefer it the piece of chunk Solo felt such an affection for any day. He climbed into the cockpit, secured it and began to prepare for launch. „Solo, got my ship. What is the plan? there seems to be a battle up there, but I guess it is not truly any of our business. Shall we keep the plan surface clean and protect the Wookiees? I think they do not deserve another bombardment.“

Tag: @Lawbreaker, @Sinrebirth

 

A darthhelinith, darthbernael and Sinrebirth C-c-c-c-c-combo!
IC: Vhardia, Jedi Knight, Renn, Avatar of Light, Shara, pilot
What is down here?

As Renn was considering the messages and Shara’s request, he heard the laugh. Keeping his back to her he began scanning the tunnels with his mind, trying to pinpoint the source of the laugh. Calling over her shoulder, ”Shara is with the Jedi Order as you are so I’d say that’s your call but it's becoming more and more apparent that Ike could make us chase him until whatever, and it feels extremely dark, is in or near the Maw, emerges and begins to destroy the galaxy further. Perhaps passing on what we know and have someone trustworthy root him, and whoever he reports to in the Senate, out and capture him. We must get to the Maw however we can.”

His senses continued to rove around, set to alert him the moment they felt anything, to give them both the best chance against whatever it was. ”Whatever idiot put some dark enhance creation down here certainly did their job, so we need to find the nearest exit or we could be it’s next lunch.”

Vhardia felt stuck. She hated to let Ike get away but it seemed pressing on was likely to quickly become politically complex. Her skill set, while powerful at times, lacked the subtleties required for senate business. Moreover, whilst Solo had to be brought to justice, the Maw issue was becoming increasingly pressing, ever since BB-8's destruction. Just thinking of that still stung painfully.

Her fist clenched and she grit her teeth, but despite her heightened emotional state, even she could recognise the goading nature of Ike's call, trying to distract, entangle.
She used the stability of Renn's presence to refocus and gain control of her emotions again.
"You didn't have to come with us on this stupid chase, and you've saved my life at least twice, I'll come with you to the Maw. It'll do more good than hanging out here at any rate."
She looked around, looking for a way out.
"Maybe if we just head up," she pointed, "that'll get us somewhere. We can get Shara to meet us at the surface."

In his shifted form a lopsided smile crossed Renn’s face and he looked where Vhardia indicated. ”Then let’s get to the surface asap.”

In his lizardlike form Renn began swarming up the access tubes, keeping his senses stretched out to warn them if the dark presence in the tubes approached. Twisting his head slightly to look back at her, ”First one to the surface gets dibs on the best candy I have left.”

He chuckled then dug claws into the metal of the shaft, pulling himself upward even faster. Behind he knew she’d be gearing up to figure out how to pass him. As he sped upward the sense of darkness receded slowly and the shafted began to become clearer to see in and occasional breezes of fresh air flowed into them, growing stronger as he moved.

"Hey no fair!" Vardi called up behind him, as she continued to look for her own way up.
She began leaping with large force jumps between areas where she could grip onto things, sometimes flinging across gaps between large pipes, or gripping onto taut cabling and leaping up to lang on ledges and metal walkways.
Chasing the tail of Renn, literally, she couldn't help but laugh, and once she was laughing, it was hard to stop.

Renn heard the laughter behind him and it made him begin to laugh as well, it had been a very long time since he’d had such fun and it seemed no matter the adventure he and Vhardia had found themselves in so far they still managed to find some humor in it. Looking back he saw that she was using the Force to jump large distances to close the gap he’d developed.

”Ahhh, using the Force are we?” he teasingly asked.

The tail of this form swished faster as he climbed higher and soon he began to hear the sounds of the bustle near the Senate Plaza as he approached. Picking up speed he sensed her closing even more, as the floor of the plaza, the ceiling of their climb started to come into view.

Vhardia tapped into her com, sending a homing signal to Shara as she sprung from pillar to post.
"Well not all of us can shapeshift. I had to even the odds."
With a michievious grin, she deliberately reached out and grabbed Renn's tail, using it to climb up him to reach her next leverage point.

The Otana swung down to the highest location they made. Shara dutifully notifying Coruscant Security of their mission. She lowered the ramp, and hung the ship ready for them to leap aboard; she was used to assisting Jedi and their fly-by pick-ups, but she held the YT-2000 steady for them.

Vhardia grabbed Renn’s lizard tail as the grate raced toward them. ”Ohhh, using me as leverage to get higher now are we?” he teasingly asked. Reaching out as the grate was almost within arms reach he sent a wave of Force ahead, making the grate pop out of the hole it covered.

Whipping the tail back and forth as she held on, he felt her grip loosen on an upswing. Laughing, he felt her right next to his head as they both flew through the opening, at high speed. Shifting quickly, he regained his normal form just as both of them tumbled onto the landing ramp of the YT-2000.

Rolling further up so he didn’t fall, his laughter deepened and he reached out a hand to Vhardia to help her into the ship. Turning his head for a moment he called over his shoulder, ”I hope you got that tunnel exit on holo because there’s a bet riding on who got out first and I couldn’t tell, Shara.”

Vardi rolled across the ramp but pulled herself into an upright landing with help from the force. She took Renn's hand, looking slightly sheepish, as they clambered into the ship.
"Sorry about grabbing your tail, that was playing kinda dirty. I just got a little carried away."
Her hair was escaping from its ponies and she began to shove it back into them, a little heavy handed.

Shara shook her head at them. "I can't really condone a Jedi using another as a pulley... but clearly Vhardia won that, right?" She clicked a button, and the ramp lifted up behind them. Shara tapped another control, and the ship began to move into orbit. "I preprogrammed a course past the gun platforms - all approved by Grandmaster Ood Bnar..." She paused. "Did we want to give a Report to him? He's apparently send the entire Order out to major worlds across the New Republic, to look for gaps in the Force... after a personal meeting with the Chancellor herself."

It had been a mad twenty-four hours.

"And then... we go after BB-8?"

Renn laughed and turned to Vhardia, ”It appears she sided with you, Craziness. So...” he took the bag of candy from his belt and tossed it to her, accepting defeat in the race to the surface.

The report from Shara caught his attention, ”Gaps in the Force? Does that mean there are sentient beings out there that have no Force presence, ones that could be a threat to the galaxy.” He thought about his studies many years ago but couldn’t recall immediately if there were any such species that he’d learned about. But such a species could prove most troubling if they decided to invade Known Space.

Looking back over to Vhardia, ”Any official report ought to come from you but we did both agree that the chase for Ike needs to be taken up by those that can’t combat what I sensed out there. You can let Ood know that his old friend Renn does need the clearance to reach the Maw, without Hutt interference as it feels like there is something out there I must face.”

Vhardia nodded at Shara, catching the half opened bag of Fruit Twists in one hand.
"Patch me through to Master Ood, Shara. He may well want to explain more."
She looked at Renn. "Depending on what he says, this may be where we have to part ways."

Tag: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael @Lawbreaker (mentioned only)

 

Galen Marek
Shadowlands of Kashyyyk

He felt them coming. Their darkness preceded the true arrival in physical form. His blue lightsaber hurled around his hand as if it had a life of it‘s own and then his hand snapped close and held the blade in the reverse grip he preferred. In the midst of the Sith, really all over the planet he felt the oppressive presence of one Sith who was stronger than the rest, stronger than anything he had ever encountered before, really. A true Master of the Dark Side. Darth Zorn! He had come.

„Master Windu, I sense his presence, but I think we will have to go through his followers to get to him. You take the left, I take the right, we meet at the large root ahead.“ He yelled to the old Jedi Master. This was the battle he had been looking for. Finally there was nowhere to run for either him or the enemy.

Summoning the force he waited for the Sith to show up and then he leaped high into the air and dropped in the middle of the group closest to him. He unleashed the kinetic might he had been gifted with into all directions, sending a powerful force wave from his body into the ranks of his enemy. Then he raised up and leaped at the first of the Sith, beginning the work of quickly killing as many as possible, before they could recover from the initial attack.


Han Solo
Millenium Falcon, Cockpit

The Wookiees send everything they had. he was sorry of bringing the war to them, again. Yet, in the orbit of the planet there were only enemies. Darth Zorn had brought more of the strange ships and they were now attacking. Defending was a republic fleet, that belonged to the Government that had put a price on his head. Not exactly friends, either. He felt it was kind of a relief. Smiling to Rumpy, who felt somehow right in that seat, he took the Falcon in a sharp left and took a course parallel to the Republic battle line, right behind it. Were those Mandalorian ships he saw there? What did they do here? At least that meant there was a chance a certain Mandalorian was still alive!

He picked up the comm and wondered if he should hail Madelyn, but decided against it. She was probably more than busy right now. „Set course for Mandalore. Nobody will be looking there for us.“ He ordered his new Co-Pilot.

„Xav, having fun back there?“ He asked with a smirk. The cargo he had was way too important to play war now and risk being shot down. He needed to get the kid to safety. He finally opened a link to Joren Sole.

„We are heading for Mandalore. See you there once you got this mess here sorted out. If you get a chance to pick up the Jedi take it. And please let the Mandalore know where we are heading. Her and me are old friends.“ He paused for a moment. „Thanks kid. For everything.“ He finally said and accelerated the Falcon. He needed to get out of here and fast, before this all escalated completely.

Tag: @LordTroepfchen, @Sinrebirth, @DarkLordoftheFins, @TheSilentInfluence (mentioned), @BobaMatt

 

Darth Zorn
Kashyyyk - Exegol, Orbit, Throne, Shadowlands, really everywhere . . .

The fleet of the Republic was drifting apart to create a crossfire. They assumed he was here to destroy the planet or for some other typical scheme. He was obviously not. He was here to get a child and whatever happened to his fleet, or theirs, or these stupid monkeys called Wookiees was none of his concern. He stopped the fleet at shooting distance and brought the ships into a line to have a maximum effect at firing. Then he opened fire on the Kashyyyk fleet. No brawl, no ship-to-ship fighting, an exchange of fire from a distance. He would decimate them, as he waited for another trap to spring. One he had prepared on the surface. Two Jedi. One child. Death was coming for them.

He turned to his puppet, brave, powerful little Jovan who was now his own to command.



His red blade ignited, he waited for his followers to make first contact. They were here to distract the Jedi, while he was going after the price, the child. Once he had it secured, he would kill them, of course. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. It had been too long since he had a chance to steal a fate. Now two with actual depth were presented to him. How could he resist.

Tag: @Sinrebirth, @TheSilentInfluence, @Lawbreaker, @BobaMatt, @all others

 

Joren Sole
Kashyyyk Orbit

The Wookiees joined him with their fighters as he took of in the Golden Path, checking his weapons. They seemed to await orders. How the hell sahould he give orders? He had no experience whatsoever in space battles and was just flying into his first. „Close formation, we got to keep those fighters at bay and protect your villages.“ Joren said and began to accelerate his ship towards the incoming group of strange Tie-Fighters. Some prototype model. He had no experience fighting the original ones, so he just had to see what they could do. Pirates was the worst he had ever faced. „All shields to frontal, let us take down some of them before they get down there.“

Han came through over comm. „We are heading for Mandalore. See you there once you got this mess here sorted out. If you get a chance to pick up the Jedi take it. And please let the Mandalore know where we are heading. Her and me are old friends.“ Han paused for a moment. „Thanks kid. For everything.“

Joren smiled. „No, Solo. I thank you.“ He replied. He had found his taste for adventure and he hoped he would one day see the old smuggler again. If he survived Kashyyyk.

As soon as he would come into firing distance he would begin shooting at these Tie Fighters and hopefully at least some would be kept from wrecking havoc below.

Tag: @Lawbreaker, @Sinrebirth

 

Combo with @darthbernael
IC Renn and Vhardia
Coruscant, readying to leave

"I intended to send Vhardia to Kashyyyk..." Ood Bnar’s voice trailed off. "But I sense that you have plans of your own. A calling, perhaps, from the Force."

Renn had sat, mostly still, through the briefing from Ood and thought about what all these threats could mean. But he knew what he’d sensed and, given his position now, he knew where he needed to be.

Before Vhardia could respond he coughed, ”Apologies to any Jedi protocols but, to answer your question, yes, old friend. During recent events I sensed something, at least one, possibly more, extremely dark presences, one that called to the Light within me in particular, in the same region the droid and the X-Wing were in destroyed.”

A glance at his Jedi companion and he continued, ”I understand what you intended with Vhardia, she is a member of your Order after all so would follow your directives. But I will admit, she has been a very valuable companion, becoming a friend, and I do feel it in my rings still that to separate would have to potential to lead to disaster for one or the other of us.”

Having said his piece, for now, he stepped back out of the pickup to allow Vhardia to communicate with the head of her Order.

Ood turned to look at Vhardia for her thoughts on the matter. The Jedi had a duty, but they were not an order with a chain of command as strict as the military. If Vhardia had a calling from the Force, it was not Ood's place to dispute it, and Renn spoke truthfully as much as he could sense.

Vhardia swallowed.
"Master Ood, the neti has saved my life twice, I would feel uncomfortable in parting ways before aiding him in his own quest."
Plus he has an excellent choice in candy. She thought to herself.

Renn stood off to one side, taking in the conversation between the Jedi. Ood did not speak, did not need to, he was enigmatic, as their kind was, but he was sure the fellow Neti would know the truth of what was spoken and allow the partnership to continue.

He smiled slightly at Vhardia’s words, feeling there was more behind her words than she’d said. But for now he stayed silent, he’d said what he needed to say, and now they waited for Ood’s pronouncement so that they could then discuss any needs they had before they left.

Master Ood nodded. "Understood. Once you have completed your investigation, please head to the Kashyyyk system to hunt down Yuuzhan Vong. I will let Admiral Drayson know, assuming he has not entered the Maw, that you are en route..." He eyed his fellow Neti. "May the Force be with you both."

"Thank You Master." Vhardia nodded and bowed, before cutting the feed and turning to Renn.
"Dream team on it! ...For a little while longer at least." She held up her hand for a high-five.
"So now the Maw? Where is that exactly?"

Renn gently tapped his massive palm against hers, a grin on his face. ”If we make it through the fight in the Maw, I’ll be coming to Kashyyk with you, Ood didn’t specify you alone, his request seemed pretty all encompassing and general so why not see more of how the galaxy is these days.”

He thought about her question then chuckled, ”That little droid gave you the answer, the one we sadly lost. I’m sure he sent his astrogation data bac when he reported in so we just need to figure out how to avoid Hutt space and join his track line to reach the Maw, which I’m sure a competent astromech could calculate.”

Vardi's face fell slightly at remembering the loss of BB-8 but she smiled.
"Definitely. Black holes, here we come."
She threw herself into the seating by the holochess table and slid into a comfortable slouch, with her feet up. "So, how does the galaxy compare to when you were last in it?"

Renn leaned back for a moment, lost in thought. ”It’s a lot darker right now. We had Sith, mostly in hiding or doing their thing well away from the rest. Don’t get me wrong, there were wars and the Jedi taking part in their way. But I’d have to say the biggest change is that I don’t know what other Neti survive, save for Ood. There is good in the galaxy still, which means we do still have a chance to stop the Darkness, though.”

Vhardia sat up straight, correcting her posture, suddenly remembering formalities. She looked thoughtful.
"Well Master Ood is the only other neti I know. And most people who visit the Jedi Temple certainly seem to never have met a neti before. If there are more out there, they're not on the holonews or net. But stomping out darkness, that is something we can definitely do."

Renn chuckled, ”Why so formal, my friend? Unless it’s just to remember that Ood to you is the Grandmaster. To me he’s just an old friend. But that too is showing my age, even if I spent most of it asleep. Besides,” he tossed her a fruit twist as he chewed one himself, ”I did speak true to him, there is something about being partnered with you that tells me our odds are much better at stopping this darkness. Are you sure we’ve never met?”

Vardi slouched again, relieved, and chucked. She caught the fruit twist with one hand and had it unwrapped and in her mouth before Renn could say candy.
"Nah, I'd remember a-" She paused. "a face like yours. But maybe you were friends with some really distant relative of mine? Like way, way back."
Renn laughed, he knew she was right but the verbal sparring with her was just as enjoyable as the duelling had been. ”Could be, but there’s something there, seems more recent, as Ood said, I feel it in my rings. Might not even be in this reality, but you are more familiar to me than should be possible considering we just met.”

He looked out the viewscreen, ”We do have time to figure that out though, the Dark side beckons us to the Maw and it feels as though something is trying to place pieces on a galactic sized chess board, moving all toward some sort of explosive conclusion. Somehow we have to defeat the Dark and take control of the board.”

Tags: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Qwi Xux, Beaumont Kin, Drayson, Jyn Erso, Belindi Kalenda
Location: Firenze, The Maw

Qwi wished the Jedi luck on their mission. They like Qwi were about to head into dangerous territory. And going after the Anzati was a crazy idea. But the lead Jedi had decided to go and Qwi couldn't stop him.

The X wing wreckage was now in place and Qwi moved Firenze along at a little faster speed. But she had to agree with Beaumont on the fact that the Jedi had decided to go alone and she disliked it. Some good news came from Jyn that she had managed to grab Rax.

But something caught her eye behind the two ships

Drayson sounded impressed and began leading them towards one of the modules. Qwi didn't know whether to be happy or terrified. The Maw Installation was in ruins...and there was a third Death Star. This one though hadn't thankfully been completed. She brought Firenze in for a landing.

Qwi's voice shook as she spoke to Beaumont "I always thought when I was working for the Empire that my work would be used for good, to help planets. To create new technology to help people, not blow them up. How ironic that our new home should be another Death Star".

"Shall we rename it?" Jyn said, slightly jovial over the comm. "But I do want to get this Imp off my ship..." Her shuttle docked, and Drayson's freighter, revealing the two other NRI operatives; the pilot, and the medic.

The Admiral looked at Benthic, who had Rax over his shoulder. He grunted at Drayson. "No," he replied. "Keep him here until we've scouted it out." The pilot had a blaster to hand, and was heading into the shadows. Jyn too, and they promptly made it to a console and powered up - lights were switched on, and Beaumont, who had not yet lowered the ramp out of fears of his safety, did so with a release of breath.

"This could be the perfect base..."

The pilot, Kalenda, piped up. "Seems most of the module here was originally a temporary bridge for the prototype. The main dish has been disabled - it had been scrapped, and pulled apart, it seems. But the module itself is functional. Seems whoever scrounged from here and the Installation proper didn't see the point of putting in the credits and time to repair the weapon. Engines are down, before anyone asks. A mobile station would have been even more perfect, I would say..." Down the ramp came a bunch of sealed samples and even the body of Nom Anor, the medic Joi Eicroth pushing it on a hover gurney.

"Yeah, if we repaired the engines..." Jyn said sarcastically.

Drayson's voice grew brittle. "We are not repairing any part of a Death Star."

"Obviously not," Jyn said. "I just wanted to make sure we were in agreement about that early?"

She was actually looking at Qwi as she said that.

Qwi brought Firenze in for a smooth landing but didn't respond to Jyn's suggestion of renaming the Death Star. To her it would always be a weapon of terror, the brainchild of Grand Moff Tarkin to sow fear in the galaxy. She would not let such a terror be unleashed again.

Whilst Beaumont waited for the all clear Qwi shut the yachts systems down and then went to her quarters to collect her blasters, she still had the one she had taken from the guard at the prison as well as her own so she holstered one and tucked the other in her belt.

Perhaps this is the perfect base, we shall find out….

Qwi joined the others and listened in. What caught her eye though was the samples coming off Draysons ship and was that a body? Even better.

"We are not repairing the engines of this station" she shot a look at Jyn and Drayson at that, to say why would they even think Qwi would suggest doing it "This station if it got into the wrong hands could be repaired and unleashed. Remember we still have the mad Anzati and if the Jedi cannot deal with him then he could come after us. And also if we come out and Thrawn grabs it, he has the scientists to help weaponise it again and we could end up with another Alderaan on our hands".

"But there is the option to repair them should we need to, but maybe only as a last resort. We need to make sure the module here is secure and we don't have any nasty surprises lurking around. And maybe pop Galius somewhere where he cannot escape."

Qwi looked around a bit "The pyramid that was in Rax's possession could be given to Beaumont to ponder over" she gave him a smile "Will be right up your alley that one. Although I don't know what could be so special about a cloak..."

Jyn reached into a pocket and produced the pyramid. Beaumont gasped. "A wayfinder?" He rushed over, and gently took it from Jyn, who simply looked bemused. "Where's the cloak?"

Eicroth rolled her eyes somewhat. Benthic made an utterance in his language, and swung Rax's limp body slightly to unbind the cloak. It was from an oddly silky and yet leathery material, and Beaumont held it for a moment. "I have no idea what this is."

He held it to Qwi. "But I definitely want to spend more time with this wayfinder." He showed it to her. "It's an ancient Sith design; legend said only two were ever made!" He could clearly barely hold his excitement. "This is the find of the millennium!" Beaumont paused. "Apart from, I suppose, the Maw being accessible... and an unknown species launching an invasion... and a Sith God spirit being discovered in a crystal on Mimban..."

He chuckled slightly. Kalenda commented again. "Benthic, there is a holding cell here." She tapped a button, and a map appeared above them. The cell was to the left end of the module; they were at the centre. The bridge was to the right end, so to speak.

Drayson took an authoritative tone. "Nobody goes off without a partner and an open comlink. Always pairs; no individual runs until we have checked the entire module." Benthic was already walking off, and Jyn grinned and rushed to catch up.

"Science labs?" Eicroth asked, and Kalenda indicated rooms not far from the hangar. "And a medical bay, likely near the hangar for arriving injured... the logs show a large amount of worker injuries in the past."

"Of course, Imperial-style efficiency. Don't improve the working conditions, just patch up the workers and send them out again until they die," Drayson said darkly. He looked at Qwi. "I'm going back out to communicate that we made it safely. I'll take Rogue One," he said, shouting after Jyn, who performed an obligatory thumbs up as she exited the hangar. "Qwi, if you can find a research station, I'm sure your old Imperial codes will let you access whatever else they were working on."

Kalenda added a locale to the floating map. "There, by the way." She then unplugged, and headed with Eicroth and the Yuuzhan Vong samples.

Beaumont was clearly excited as he picked up the items from Jyn, Pascale probably be the same, without the youthful enthusiasm of course. But why would Rax have a wayfinder on him? And a Sith one at that? Perhaps he was not just an Imperial but someone else? Or had he just found it somewhere? The strange cloak was a mystery too.

Jyn made her way with her partner to the holding cell whilst the pilot and the good doctor Eicroth moved off to the labs with the body and samples. Drayson was heading out, Qwi hoped he wouldn't be gone too long. Which left Qwi and Beaumont together which she didn't mind at all. After all Drayson had said they should stay together and not go solo.

"Guess that means you and me as a pair" Qwi said with a smile "Let's head off to the research station, you can bring your new toys with you"

As they made their way to the research station Qwi turned her head to Beaumont "Why do you think Rax had a wayfinder?. And what exactly do these wayfinders do?. It's not exactly something you would necessarily carry around all the time…"

"They were old, old, Jedi and Sith tools - they used the Force to lead them to locations off the galactic map. The Unknown Regions - some say often that the Force originated out there, and the messy cartography of the area is a result of the Force walling itself off from, well, us."

Beaumont was waxing poetic now. "I wonder why Rax has one. There's only two... because the Sith are usually ruled by just Two." He snorted slightly. "Though Maul, Zorn, Amedda, Ananke... the Rule has a tendency to be a guideline instead of a strict point. Though... Sith are known to enforce it quite strictly sometimes."

He shrugged. "Maybe when we're set up, we should go have a chat with Rax?"

Qwi listened as they walked, Beaumont definitely knew his stuff for sure. It seemed like Rax had one on his person which was related to the Sith. Why? Was he one? Or was he searching for one to give it to?

"Well whatever it is, Rax cannot have it back" she said "The crazy Anzati may have been after it too and that's what worries me. If that Anzati wanted to discover something, maybe even Rax wanted to find another Sith Lord in here or was one himself, who knows. But this artefact must not leave this station either"

She found the research station and strode over to the console "Whether Rax will say anything or try to manipulate us is another matter. But it could be worth having a chat".

Qwi looked down and closed her eyes reaching far back into a past that she never thought she would have to think about again. Then slowly she input her codes wondering what could be lurking in the computer here.

"I mean, I'd love to meet and discuss things with a Sith... but finding one who wouldn't immediately butcher me is a point," Beaumont was saying as she typed.

The computer accepted her codes; as part of her work on the so-called Project Luminous she clearly had access to other parts of the Death Star projects. The prototype, apparently, was a proof-of-concept that the superweapon worked at all. The engines were an after-thought, as if to use the weapon as bait for the Rebels if the Death Star proper wasn't finished in time.

There wasn't much to add... the Maw Installation itself had been a think-tank, and there were notes that she was to be moved here at some point, but clearly the Empire had fallen before that. The next set of projects were evident under encryption...

- Stellar Sphere
- Mark Omega
- Pax Aurora
- War Mantle
- Cluster Prism
- Black Sabre
- Omega Frost
- Nightcloak

Beaumont was trying to get the wayfinder to react, but it wasn't playing ball. "Please don't tell me it needs a Force user to unlock it..."

Qwi shook her head, all those names, were they to be future superweapons?. Things she would help design? She felt sick to her stomach. She had this prototype though which she could now use as a base.

She looked over at Beaumont "Maybe it needs Rax, after all he was in possession of it. But perhaps we maybe should'nt put it in the hands of a dangerous Force user…"

She gestured to Beaumont "Let me have a look at it. For scientific purposes. Just to see what it's made of, if there are any surprises…"

Beaumont handed it over. "Careful, it's very fragile." Actually, it wasn't, but it had the appearance of being so.

There was a shudder as it touched her fingertips. Beaumont frowned. "Was that you?"

The wayfinder flared, once, briefly, and then settled again. Whatever it was, the moment had passed.

Qwi moved her hand back as if it has scorched her fingertips. What the hell was that?

"I think it has reacted to me" she said simply "How or why I cannot fathom. Perhaps I may need longer contact with it or something. Maybe Rax has the answers if he chooses to cooperate".

She shrugged "Shall we go and see what he has to say for himself?".

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Feyna post is combo with the GM

IC: Chancellor Feyna Organa and Prince Isolder
Returning to Coruscant

Feyna didn't say anything until they were closer to the shuttle, wanting to be sure they wouldn't be overheard by any of the reporters.

"Home, I think? Can we still make it back before Aryan's interview?" They didn't seem to have any more pressing business here. Some of the reporters would probably be irritated that she'd had them come out here, just for her to head back to Coruscant right after, but at least there would be less of them to bother her once they got back. The press had enough to chew over for a while--at least until people started to realize just how bad the attacks on Metellos and Mandalore had really been.

She stopped by the bottom of the shuttle's ramp, as a thought went through her mind. "Xux's attacker yesterday, the one Thrawn sent before his fleet showed up--is there any footage of that?"

Specifically, she was wondering if they had an image of the ship.

Isolder was intrigued by her angle of enquiry, but responded to the first point. "We can definitely make it back in-time. I had the Coruscant route opened up for us in advance." He tapped a few controls, and the shuttle went up. He'd definitely pre-programmed that... and he was conscious of what had happened last time he left her alone.

"You mean the not-Vong infiltrator?" Isolder had at his fingertips most of Coruscant's security data, and he drew it up. Xux had been delivered to the surface by a New Republic frigate, but that was after a skirmish with a type of starfighter in high orbit. Isolder patiently threaded back through the various recordings -




"Yes, that one," Feyna nodded.

"I was thinking about the odd wreckage they've been finding at Metellos and Fresia--we could send this image to Raddus, and have them compare it to the debris.

"If there's a match, it would connect Thrawn to the attacks." And even if there isn't, I'm not ready to rule him out.

Isolder called up the data. He showed a broken wing portion - which perfectly matched that fighter.

"There was this... but the techs found a lot more wreckage for other ships... which they put together into this model. In-fact, that wing they couldn't get to fit their theory design..."



Yevethan D-type trifoil fighter

"Another faction? It's hardly a TIE variant, like everything else Thrawn has been using." He looked a bit bewildered. This was a bit much.

Feyna frowned at the second fighter. "Was this from Metellos, or Fresia? Or both?"

Isolder tapped a few screens. "Both? The Thrawn-claw-craft, thing, it's less evident in the debris recovered. But the other ship, it's evident at Metellos and Fresia..."

Having a flash of inspiration, he drew up the map for the region. "Huh. Metellos and Fresia are on hyperlanes which cross at one point - Cal-Seti. But there's almost nothing there. If you carry on, however, you come to the Koornacht Cluster, and there isn't much to add because we don't know a lot about it... notwithstanding that its all Core Worlds."



"Are you thinking Thrawn attacked Metellos? Or...?"

"Maybe..." They'd theorized on that before, just after hearing of the attack. "Or maybe he knows who did...if this other faction hit Metellos...but then why was Thrawn there? And then to meet them again at Fresia..." She was rambling, thinking out loud. Had Thrawn tracked the other fleet to Fresia?

"The Cronau radiation they found at Metellos--one path was headed for Coruscant, but there were two others. Would this route match up with either of those?"

He tapped again. The two of them were doing the work of New Republic analysts, and doing it well, it seemed. "One of the Cronau radiation spots... it's on a directline between Metellos and the Koornacht, yeah," Isolder said, almost anticlimatic to how important the point was - he was surprised.

"The other one is to the Unknown Regions... but there is no known route that way.." He wondered aloud. "But no surprises, Thrawn is an alien species..."

Prince Isolder paused... "What do you want to do?"

Feyna drummed her fingers on the console for a thoughtful moment, before picking up her datapad, checking... "We still have Xux's would-be abductor in custody, NRI was supposed to interrogate him yesterday--did we ever get a report from that?

"But either way, I think we should have them question him again. He might know something about Metellos, or this other faction. Maybe he even knows where Thrawn is headed."

Isolder tapped a few buttons. "Agent Suail's was reportedly knocked out by a struggle with the prisoner, who was in turn stunned. He's still in custody, in the wing of the Armand Isard Facility that Aurra Sing and Arb didn't blow up." He tapped along. "Arb is in custody, by the way; he was transferred from the Home One overnight - Qwi Xux didn't trust him to come, so he's been left with us. Aurra Sing, too, she was transferred down."

"We have a lot of eggs in that one prison," Isolder reasoned. "I hope that Yarmond isn't there." He tapped again. "He is, actually, typically. Piett is due to claim him later today. Shevu had to sign-off on a variety of papers to allow the Empire to extradite him. Legal proceedings and the like."

"I'll have him interrogated again, perhaps I'll see if Ood has a Jedi who is free to do so. I am sure that a Jedi is staying on Coruscant, after all." Isolder tapped again, and sighed. "This is all tangled. I'm not sure if we'll decipher it all from here; but we can always try."

He looked at Feyna. "Did you want to head to a particular system and see what a Chancellor could achieve? Or are we focusing on the Grauls and Treen today?"

She shook her head. "No, let's go home." She'd been away from Coruscant long enough. Too long, probably, and if she delayed her return much more, her political opponents might start to criticize.

"When is Piett coming to get Yarmond?" Feyna was hoping they could finish Graul's interview first; she wanted to see if Aryan would disclose what he and Treen had discussed, and if his version checked out with anything Yarmond might have overheard.

Another tap. "He is on-world now; he went back for the night so he could get started with the papers and transmit to the Moffs from his own residence rather than aboard a Mon Calamari cruiser. So he'll be picking up Yarmond before even Shevu's meeting with Aryan..." He tapped. "Ah. Piett left a team to interrogate Yarmond as well overnight. The notes aren't yet up. I can chase it for you...?"

Notwithstanding that Isolder was arguably the second most powerful politician in the galaxy, he never shied from grunt work, and indeed found it refreshing. Their shuttle was through the shield grid, a pair of X-wings having escorted them without interfering. A subtle moment, as an encrypted message could be noticed even if not understood. Indeed, the X-wings had split from a squadron to escort other vessels at once, so as to prevent her being noticed - even though Isolder made sure their path took them within range of the Golan battle stations if need be.

All-in-all, a smooth operation, for once.

They were about to hit a Senate landing pad, and Winter stood there already, arms tucked behind her back, clearly waiting for her Chancellor and Princess.

Feyna nodded to Isolder as she gathered her things. "Yes, and if there's anything pertaining to Graul, forward the notes to Shevu so he'll have them for his interview."

Despite how chaotic things were right now, it was still a relief to finally be back on Coruscant, and even more of a relief to see her friend waiting for them.

"Winter," Feyna greeted her warmly. "How have things been here?"

TAG: @Sinrebirth


IC: Nola Deidder
Private staff quarters, Nubian Embassy, Coruscant

Nola chewed on her lip, not sure how to answer.

She knew that Norin was capable of some shady stuff--some of it she'd even been complicit in, and some of it she turned a blind eye, when it came to getting back at Aryan. But this was bigger than just revenge.

Del clearly wasn't okay with what Norin was doing, if he'd been preparing for an impeachment--and if Del wasn't okay with it, then neither was she. Norin had created a massive security breach, for his own personal pursuits. He'd put the entire Senate at risk. There was definitely enough here to support impeachment--was it grounds for treason, as well?

Norin's bounty hunter plan (which she wasn't even supposed to know about) was one thing, but it was another to have knowledge of a breach of this magnitude, and do nothing. Nola might not have cared so much if it was just Norin, but he'd involved her husband in this. If the wrong people discovered what Norin had done, it could potentially go badly for Del, and her, as well.

But it could also go badly if they made a move against Norin, and he found them out.

Nola pulled out her silencer and activated it before she spoke--probably she should have done it sooner, but hopefully no one had heard anything.

"Does anyone else know any of this? If you turned him in, would he know that it was you?"

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Mace Windu
The Shadowlands

Galen was speaking as the shadows approached. "Master Windu, I sense his presence, but I think we will have to go through his followers to get to him. You take the left, I take the right, we meet at the large root ahead.“

Windu dug his heels into the soft dirt and cumulus of the forest floor, preparing to spring, his lightsaber slowly coming up to defend, igniting as it was raised. "Good plan." And then: "I sense anger in you, Galen. I sense that you're itching to fight. I enjoy the fight, too, but that's why I've had to teach myself how to - "

But Marek was gone. Windu inhaled deeply to quell his own internal fire, and slammed the Force down through his heels, taking off bounding into the trees, towards a deeper shadow than even the wroshyr's cast.

TAG: @Sinrebirth, @Lawbreaker, @LordTroepfchen

 

Mace Windu
Shadowlands


Mace Windu landed with his feet still in the air, bringing his lightsaber hard into another blade, and as its wielder fell the Jedi Master shoved the Force into his wrists and pushed his blade off, launching his body back into the air in a spectacular spin, coming down again with his boot on a Sith Lord's face. He felt a rush: Still got it. But then he felt his enemy's face collapse beneath him as he fell, and Windu was off balance. He deflected a blow on his way to the ground, but found himself face down in the muddy ground. I'm old.

In the distance he felt Galen cutting a swath, felt the fear and anger and frustration in the Sith, felt them flee. Mace Windu sent Galen a brush of calm in the Force, a taste of vaapad, maybe, an insight. He felt satisfaction in the Sith's misery, but he made a note of that pleasure and marked it as inappropriate. Work still to do.

The Wookiee youth was nearby, bowcaster firing away. Windu brought himself to his feet and drew near to Lowbacca, back to back. His bolts hit true. But of course they did. The Force sang in the youth. Windu deflected, defended Lowbacca, a furry walking turret. They made a good team. Lowbacca must have sensed the Force in the Jedi. Other Wookiees must have sensed it. How much did the young one know? Windu touched the Wookiee's mind with his own, but spoke aloud.

"You can see where your targets are going to be before they get there, can't you? Trust in that feeling. Give yourself to it."

TAG: @Sinrebirth @Lawbreaker @LordTroepfchen

 

Darth Zorn/Jovan
Shadowlands

He appeared last, stepping on the remains of a giant fallen tree and through the force and darkness watching the scene with glowing eyes.

The old Jedi was taking on the Sith in a Jedi like fashion, but Marek? He was different. He attacked with raw, untamed power. The Sith retreated from him as he slew those within his proximity with cold hearted ease. Zorn would have liked to slay the great Master Mace Windu, Master of Vaapad and obviously grown in power in his exile. But Windu was like the others. Like Maul, Kenobi, Wyyrlock, even Palpatine ... trained to mastery, disciplined, dedicated and focused. Zorn had killed many such men.

Galen was different. Galen was like him. He was like his father. Galen Marke was born for this. The force wanted him to survive. His raw power was impressive, his fighting style unique and yet executed with a perfection that appeared as if he had many more years of training than he could. He understood why Tempara had fallen against him. She would not understand who she faced. She was nothing compared to a creature like him.

Zorn felt he had met a challenge deserving the name and under the hood of Jovan and on the throne on Exegol he grinned.

"Kill the old man, let me take care of this boy." Zorn hissed to his Sith and ignited his red blade looking at Galen Marek from above and far away.

The child, he was hiding the child in the force. Zorn would take it from him. He would take everything from Galen Marek. His life, his destiny and all his hope.

"SHALL WE BEGIN?" He asked and brought his blade up.

Tag: @Lawbreaker (for combo)

 

Han Solo and Xaverri
Millenium Falcon, Cockpit

Han knew what she meant. This fleet was strange and also hyper-modern. He sighed.

„Yeah, Manadlore is now a graveyard and it should actually be the least crowded system in the galaxy. So I thought might be a good starting point. If nobody gets out of Kashyyyk we need to go to a place we cannot be followed to, under any circumstances.“ He shrugged. „No I cannot tell you where.“

He clapped Rumpy on the shoulder. „Cockpit is yours, do not break anything.“ He made his way back to Xaverri. Smiling at seeing her with the child he waved. „Give him to me.“ He said and it reminded him of the vision he had. Him with a son. „I agree, that thing looked like a Star Destroyer on steroids or something. Someone has been busy building up an Empire again. Who? Well, I think it was his Dad.“ He said, smiling at the kid and putting it gently down on the holo table. He activated a hologram of a Rancor and the child giggled in joy as he saw it.

„Listen, this is not something we can run from. This guy, Darth Zorn, Luke Skywalker, call him whatever you like. He seems to eat planets or something. I hope the two Jedi get rid of him, but if not . . , I knew his old man. If he is half the man and turned to evil, we might be in trouble.“ He looked at Xav. „This is me going on a stupid crusade, really. I won‘t blame you if you do not wanna come. Despite being obviously madly in love with me.“ He smirked, mocking her.

Xaverri paused, looking down at the child in Han's hands, flushed by just how good Han looked as a father - as if everything he'd been missing was complete within him. "I lost everything to the Empire... I wouldn't have it happened to someone else, Han... not when it's in my power to do something - anything."

She stalled again, hunting the words. "I know you wanted to do more in the last war, Han. You and Anakin Skywalker - you were at Mandalore... and then, you weren't." Xaverri looked at him, almost stonily. "I do love you, Han Solo, and this is where I - where we - belong." Her face broke into a smile. "Sticking our thumb in the Empire's eye."

Han smiled. „This is not the Empire, Xav. He uses it, but if reports are true, this boy killed Mandalore on his OWN.“ He looked at her. „This is something different. Mandalore, it was what it was. Nobody fought the Empire on Mandalore. They fought droids. But I had a lot of time to think about this last war. Maybe it was not the Empire we fought all along. Maybe the Empire is a symptom for an illness much deeper than that. The Ultimate Weapon, Alderaan, the Crystal, Chewies death, I mean look where the Falcon ended up. This all was not the Empire. It were the Sith. From the shadows, slowly crawling into our galaxy the Sith have returned. The Empire was ruled by a Sith. This galaxy seems to have handed them a new Empire and powers beyond that of any space station.“ He looked up from the boy. „You heard the rumor it was Anakin Skywalker‘s boy who killed Mas Amedda? It was not an act of liberation though. It was succession. Ever since then we have all lived on borrowed time.“ He sighed. „Where can a man like me hide in a galaxy where a man like Zorn has planets for breakfast? This is a fight for survival. Why is it my fight?“ He shook his head. „Not sure it is. Last time I failed terribly. The Republic was build on the failure to understand the true enemy it had, probably. They are hunting me now. I do not owe the Republic a thing.“ He looked at the boy. „But I might owe the galaxy.“ He looked at her. „I might owe a lot of dead friends quite a debt, for them following me into war. I might even owe it to me.“

Xaverri let Han speak the words, as if summoning his strength. He was right, of course. The Empire was the symptom; not the cause. But the Empire, they could fight, and trick, and swindle and defeat. The Sith... they were something very different and she felt a healthy dollop of fear fill her.

"You do owe it to yourself, Han... I've always said how good a man you were, but you had more than a few bum hands in the first rounds." Her voice stuck in her throat, overwhelmed almost entirely by emotion. "You owe it to you and Chewbacca to see this through."

The woman stepped closer, encircling him and Ben in her arms, and drew him into a kiss. The baby giggled, releasing a massive wave of emotion into the room that you didn't need to be Force sensitive to feel.

Tag: @Sinrebirth (combined with)

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Qwi Xux, Beaumont Kin, Galius Rax
Location: Death Star prototype base, The Maw

As Qwi headed along with Beaumont to meet their new Imperial house guest, or prisoner Qwi's comm pinged. It was updates from the others, Kalenda had headed out instead of Drayson to update the Chancellor and Drayson had instead headed off to the bridge to check it out.

The good doctor had found herself a room to stick herself in to start her studies. No doubt Eicroth was excited to get started.

Meanwhile Qwi was still wondering about the wayfinder. It had reacted to her not Beaumont which was concerning. She wondered if Rax would play ball and cooperate but she doubted it.

She spotted the dark haired man behind an energy shield, Jyn had definitely taken no chances.

"Yes we did" responded Qwi lifting the wayfinder up in response to him "So let's get down to business shall we?. What were you really doing in the Maw and with a Sith wayfinder?"

Rax grinned. "I imagine you've sent someone to the other habitable zone... so I might as well come clean now." He held out his hands, almost as if welcoming, but clearly grandstanding. "I am Fleet Admiral Galius Rax, and I was tasked by Chancellor Palpatine to build a Contingency in the Maw - the First Order. Until a few hours ago, I had constructed a large mobile shipyard and dreadnought - the Supremacy - over the last thirty-three years."

"To what end?" Beaumont said, cautiously.

"Why, the restoration of my Masters rule, of course!" Rax grinned. "I had received a steady supply of diverted Imperial resources for the first few years after the Empire collapsed, including that wayfinder, by speculative means. But thereafter, I had no news, or guidance... for ten long years I have waited for instructions - a timetable, a target..." A mild chuckle. "So I decided that I would simply finalise my own plans. I had a small force of Star Destroyers ready to assist me in my raids and conquest, and a plan to rally the Centrists and Imperial Remnant to my cause..."

"... until the Anzati came."

Clearly, he had a flare for the dramatic.

Qwi had to raise an eyebrow at the whole show going on. So Galius had set up a little mini Empire in the Maw, and it seemed the Anzati had come along and ruined everything.

"Well it looks like you and your fleet are going nowhere, and the Anzati will hopefully be stuck there too. You won't be able to head out into the galaxy and create a new Empire. Nobody wants that anymore, and the Remnant is now an ally of the New Republic. Do you really think you are just going to pop in with your fleet and subjugate everyone? The whole galaxy is different now. And with the Yuuzhan Vong now in the galaxy we need the galaxy to be united, not divided".

She narrowed her eyes "Your Master is dead, and judging by your Anzati friend and the other Sith that are about it looks like there is a competition going on".

She pointed to the wayfinder "Did this artefact tell you to do all that you just said? Or did it speak to you about things. It must have reacted to you at some point?"

Rax perked up. "The Yuuzhan Vong? What's that?" He didn't answer anything else, for the moment, unhelpfully. Beaumont knitted his brow -

Qwi frowned, he was definitely not cooperating. But it wouldn't do any harm to tell him about their new visitors.

"They call themselves the Yuuzhan Vong. They are a rather unpleasant warrior species that intend to either convert us to their religion or kill us all. They seem to have technology that we do not understand but we are hoping to. They seem to have this galaxy in their sights and they have sent scouts. It seems to get a good look at us before the real war begins".

She waved her hand that was not holding the wayfinder "That's why we are here, to try to find ways to stop them short of doing the usual Imperial way of blowing everything up".

Rax paused. "Interesting. Seems as if the Imperial way would work the best. An Empire is no good against a rebel alliance, but against an invader wanting to secure territory? It works very well, I'd argue." He looked amused.

"Alright, deal - I'll answer your questions about the wayfinder and the coat, which I hope you haven't lost, of course, and indeed whatever you want to ask me about," Rax smiled broadly. "And I'll ask you some about the state of the galaxy and you can reply in exchange?"

"For example, the wayfinder can't be activated by anyone apart from a Force user, and it's one of only two ever made."

"See! I said that," Beaumont chimed in.

"But do you know where they are supposed to lead you to?" Rax smiled even more broadly. Beaumont looked positively curious, but all Rax did was look back at Qwi.

"Do we have a deal?"

Qwi felt Rax's gaze on her. He was going to try and get a lot out of her but in no way was she going to let him know about Thrawn. The state of the galaxy she had no problem talking about.

"Deal" she said simply "Beaumont there has your coat as you call it and the wayfinder will stay with us. I would like to take a look at it as it reacted to me when I touched it. And I wasn't aware I had the Force"

"So, why is your coat so special, and where does the wayfinder lead the person that has it to?. I assume of course it is linked to the Sith".

"The coat was given to me by a mysterious man who told me to wear it if the wayfinder was ever threatened." He shrugged. "That Anzati, he is a very powerful Force user, you see, but when I wore that coat... he couldn't sense me, or find me, or hurt me."

"As to the wayfinder reacting..." Rax paused. "Ignoring that you worded that as one overall question, I'll bite." He grinned again at his smarts. "Perhaps you've had contact with a Force user recently? Intimate contact, even?" Rax winked, and Beaumont was about to punch him.

"That wasn't my question, by the way." Rax wagged a finger, and paced the room. "So how did we discover these Yuuzhan Vong? I can't see that they're very threatening if we've found one of their infiltrators. Luck, perhaps?"

Qwi clenched a fist and narrowed her eyes at the whole intimate contact thing. So what if she did? If she had received something of the Force from Pascale after their last intimate contact (which was the night before they were split up) then she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing it. But it was useful to know about the coat, if the Anzati came calling they could use it.

Beaumont meanwhile wanted by the looks of things wanted to punch Rax's lights out. Qwi looked at him and mouthed calm down.

She turned back to Rax "Well Beaumont and my former partner encountered one on Criton's Point, posing as one of Beaumont's team. He decided to reveal himself and fight, spouting his religious nonsense about how we were all infidels and that we needed cleansing."

"There was another on Hespreridium that the New Republic Chancellor encountered. Apparently masquerading as an Oserian troublemaker. He decided to attack and it's his body we have on board. The third we possibly know about is an Imperial ambassador. Not sure what has happened with him. But these seem like scouts to me before the main invasion force arrives".

"So I'm going to ask you again, where do these wayfinders lead to?".

"Osarian troublemaker, eh?" Rax stroked his chin. "The Imperial ambassador makes sense... Criton's Point means... there is a historical connection that will lead us to them? Curious. I presume they were spouting off in Basic? Handy..."

He looked apologetic, but not especially. "Ixigul, I was told; an ancient Sith world, in the deep, dark depths of the Unknown Regions - a completely impassable cartographical anomaly that requires both the Force and the wayfinder to map. Without both, any ship that enters the nebula will immediately be shattered."

"Sounds suitably terrifying, I wonder?"

It seemed the conversation was coming towards a conclusion, Rax hadn't asked about anything else regarding the galaxy so Qwi couldn't give him much more. But what he had revealed about the wayfinder was interesting. It did sound scary this Sith world deep in the Unknown.

She had no plans to go anywhere near this Sith world….there was a chance the Anzati still could though if it escaped. Especially since it had been with Rax.

"We are trying to find out if these species have some link to this galaxy. They seemed to understand and speak Basic, Beaumont also believes there may be a link to the language of Janguine. Of course we are in the beginning stages of our research"

"One final question, do you know what is on this Ixigul that the wayfinder wanted to lead you to?. It must have told you something about what was there otherwise you wouldn't head there in the first place. Perhaps your Anzati friend was interested…."

Rax tapped his chin. "The wayfinder was delivered by a droid. It went inert thereafter, and I kept it safe aboard the Supremacy - my flagship. It said some magic words in the Emperor's voice."

He cleared his throat, and changed his tone to an approximation of the slimy words...

"Resistance. Rebellion. Defiance. These are concepts that cannot be allowed to persist. You are but one of many tools by which these ideas shall be burned away."

Beaumont shivered. "You could have mentioned a Palpatine droid delivered it."

"Well," Rax said, innocently, "You'd need to head to the Supremacy to pick it up if you want it..."

And get into the path of the Anzati? Not likely Qwi thought. Plus the Jedi were heading the way of a distress signal and the Anzati. And would have probbably no doubt found Galius's fleet. Could she try and comm them about grabbing a Palpatine lookalike droid?. Not if they were too far in.

Galius of course was enacting his masters plan, an Empire reborn into this First Order. Maybe it was time for her to see what was inside this wayfinder herself before Pascale's Force contact ebbed away. Beaumont could then make notes for future reference.

"As you say we may have already sent someone to the other habitable zone so they may pick it up. As for me? Maybe this wayfinder will speak to me, maybe not. You meanwhile can stay as our guest here, we may have another conversation sometime"

She nodded "Thank you for your information, it may prove to be….useful. Let us hope your mad Anzati friend does'nt come calling otherwise we may all be in trouble….."

She turned away still holding the wayfinder nodding for Beaumont to follow. They would need to find a bit of privacy if the wayfinder was going to reveal anything.

TAG: @Sinrebirth