Star Wars CLOSED Star Wars: Episode VI: Twilight of the Force III: A Son’s Destiny

OOC: Combos with the GM

IC: Senator Nola Deidder, Chancellor Doman Beruss, Senator Viqi Shesh, and Del Deidder
Meeting room, Star Home, New Nubia orbit

Nola's brow furrowed, even as she was regretting giving Beruss the chance to answer; apparently Senator Shesh had been watching Triebakk to see if Winter showed up.

I've got to get away from this. Del, help!

But Del was outside, and unfortunately neither of them was capable of telepathic communication.

"What are you about to do?"

"Why, I'm going to arrest Feyna Organa for conspiracy to undermine the legitimate government of the New Republic, of course," Doman said, piqued, as if she need answer. Senator Shesh looked unhappy, but also replied.

"It has rather clearly come to this, sadly."

Doman commented further. "If we side with the new Hapan monarch quickly enough, then perhaps we shall retain the 7th and 8th Fleets as well, for payment for supporting the changeover rather than resisting."

Nola's frown deepened; she wasn't sure if she could stop this, but she was going to try.

"If you intend to try Feyna Organa for treason, you're going to need an ironclad case against her. Can you prove that she conspired with Kre'frey? Can you prove what Winter and Triebakk discussed?"

So far, Doman had only speculation and circumstantial evidence. Nola knew more than she did, and even though Doman was right about Winter's reasons for visiting Triebakk, there were legitimate concerns about Doman's actions--more, now, with the things she'd admitted to hiding.

Doman looked at her, amused. “This is war, Nola. We need to do what we have to, in order to secure the future. Once Feyna’s in custody, the judges can argue it out when the war is won. But we can’t do that now.”

Another comlink chime. “Do you mind if I take this? It may be the Hapan coup leader. I just let her know that I’ve known about she plans all along.”

Nola only nodded--she wasn't sure if Shesh was still on the line, but if not, perhaps she could take advantage of Doman being distracted by the comm to get a message to Del, to warn Feyna...

If not...well, if it was the Hapan ring-leader, then that was more information for Nola.

Ducha Galney appeared on the line. "Chancellor Beruss, for what do I owe the pleasure?"

The hologram of Senator Shesh regarded the Ducha, and bowed slightly.

"No need to bow, Senator," the Ducha said graciously. "I am not Queen Mother - not yet."

Her eyes took in Nola. "And to who do I owe the pleasure?"

Doman did not presume to introduce Nola.

No luck getting a message to Del, yet, and now Nola had been directly pulled into the conversation.

"Senator Nola Deidder of New Nubia," she introduced herself. "A pleasure, Ducha?...."

Nola wasn't quite familiar enough with the Hapan nobles to recognize this one--she did know that Ducha AlGray was male, so not that one...

“Ah yes, New Nubia.” The Ducha turned to look at Doman. “It won’t surprise you to know that the Confederates offered to send forces to secure my new Throne.”

Doman shrugged. “Bothan spies are good at spying. But I doubt they agreed to keep two Hapan Fleets away from you. I could release the Seventh from Kuat and it would be at your doorstep within the hour.”

Shesh looked briefly alarmed, but Doman placated her. “I would simply recall the Fourth from Balmorra. Kuat’s far too important to leave remotely under-defended.”

Ducha Galney smirked. “Fair, fair. Suffice to say, I don’t especially care for who gets me the throne. I’ll commit to your New Republic because even I understand that the Vong are a problem.”

“Excellent,” Doman said.

There was a knock at the door.

A military police officer, Captain Darb, was present. Behind him were four other soldiers and of course Del, still in the waiting room and looking concerned.

Crudcrudcrudcrud--the military police were here, Doman was probably about to send them to arrest Feyna, and Nola didn't know what to do.

A tiny part of her hoped that maybe Triebakk had sent them for Doman, but that didn't seem likely.

Nola wanted to get away, quickly. "Chancellor, I should head back to New Nubia to ensure that everything is ready for the Senate's transfer--unless there's something else you need from me?"

"I'd rather you stayed here," Doman said smoothly, "Where it is safe. The Star Home is about to become quite messy."

"Chancellor?" The Captain said, standing to attention.

"The Hapan Queen Mother and Senators of Hapes and New Alderaan have engaged in sedition and are proposing a coup against the Senate," Doman said it without preamble. "Please direct all military police officers to move to secure the Star Home, as quietly as you can please, and your most trusted officers to head to arrest the three of them."

Del's eyes could not have gone any wider, but he managed to - with difficulty - school his features and step through the doorway and step besides Nola.

Doman paused. "The Obi-Wan is ready to disable the Star Home if you need support, but I would prefer not to, if at all possible. With the Senate aboard, we need to be surgical, and careful. I would be grateful if you would also leave a detachment to defend my War Cabinet." She indicated Nola and Shesh. "The Senator of Kuat will be shortly joining me here," Shesh nodded at that and signed off, "and I have been speaking with the new Queen Mother who will be ensuring the transition is painless."

Wolfishly, Galney nodded. "Loyal Hapans are as we speak gathering our strength to secure Hapes from the traitors, and we should have the capital within hours."

"Excellent," Doman said. "Peaceful."

Del was doing that couple-psychic-not-quite-catching-her-eye-but-trying-to-ask-if-they-were-really-going-along-with-a-coup-when-he-had-suggested-a-coup-a-meeting-ago-

Nola gave Del a helpless look--she wasn't enjoying playing along with Doman, but if the Chancellor realized that they were on Feyna's side, they would get arrested, too, and then they wouldn't be able to help anyone.

The only thing Nola could think to do was go with the madness until they could get away--maybe if they could get to Triebakk...

Del wondered aloud. "Is there anything you want for us to do?"

Doman paused. "I would like you to take a squad of MPs to the Vice Chancellor's office."

"We need to secure him, of course," said the Captain. "He may be in danger."

"From his decisions, yes," said Doman.

"Yeah, that," Del said. "A squad is four MPs, right?"

"I shall head to arrest the Queen Mother myself," the Captain clipped his boots together. "And I shall brought another squad of four with me, so you can lead that, Senator Deidder." He nodded.

Doman smiled. "Excellent news. I hope they do not resist; please ensure there are no tragedies, Captain, Senator."

"To your victory, Chancellor, and to mine," said Ducha Galney, and she signed off.

Del looked at Nola to respond. They had to play along for now, it seemed.

Nola gave Doman a solemn nod. "We'll head for Triebakk's office directly."

Now, they just needed a way to get rid of the four MPs...

------------------------------------------
IC: Feyna, Isolder, Winter, Lady Galney, and Consort Galney
Family room

Feyna did her best to keep calm.

She almost told her children to go play somewhere else, but after the Aurra clone, and now this, she didn't want them going anywhere unsupervised.

"Kalen, take your sister and go watch whatever holo-movie you want." They had a screen on the other side of the room, far enough that the kids shouldn't be able to hear anything, but where she could still see them. "Turn up the volume, and nothing scary."

She kissed Rosey's head and helped her to her feet, and gave her son's arm a gentle squeeze as she passed him, moving closer to Winter.

"How did Triebakk find out about it?"

How did the Vice-Chancellor know about a Hapan coup, but somehow Feyna and Isolder had completely missed it?

After a moment, a noisy and colourful kids show was on-going in the corner.

"Triebakk thought we knew," Winter said, tightly. "Apparently Doman has personally been handling the matter because it was so important, but now he's worried that Doman may have been covering the tracks of the traitors."

Isolder grimaced. "Great. We need to go back, now."

"Or at very least order AlGray to be arrested. But how far has the conspiracy gone?" Winter hesitated. "Who can you trust?"

"Out with it, Winter," Isolder said, perhaps a little forcibly.

Winter wasn't concerned; it was a stressful time. "Triebakk wanted to call the Wookiee Home Fleet to help."

Isolder widened his eyes. Clearly Triebakk wanted to fix the damage he had caused by trusting Doman. That was quite an offer - but Winter wasn't finished.

"And he wanted to know if you would support a Vote of No Confidence in the Chancellor."

"Oh sithspit," Isolder said.

Doman had known about the coup conspiracy?

Of course Beruss hadn't been all that happy with Feyna lately, but she hadn't thought it was this bad--and it would seem that this had been building for a while.

Triebakk seemed to want to help, but Feyna was reluctant to drag him in, or to take more assets away from the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong.

She let the question of a no-confidence vote hang for a bit. "Call Lady Galney back in here, and her husband." They could find out fairly quickly where that House stood, at least.

"What if we pull Astarta back from Nadiem? I don't know if the Jedi are there yet, but we may not be able to wait, and I don't want to take Triebakk up on his offer unless we absolutely have

He summoned Galney, and Isolder thought about it. “If Astarta can get back in time, but who knows what will happen to the Sith. The Jedi hadn’t turned up last I checked…”

“Doman sent them to Garqi to help with the retreat,” Winter said coldly.

“Alright, I’m about ready to take Del’s coup suggestion to heart now, honey.” Isolder was getting angrier by the moment.

Galney swept in, with her husband. He looked pale, as if he really did not want to be there. Thankfully they missed Isolder’s commenr. “Queen Mother, you summoned us? I was only next door so -“

Lady Galney’s older sister was the Ducha, and one of Feyna’s most outspoken supporters - she actually had thirty Hapan Battle Dragons to her command, which made her one of the strongest nobles as well.

Feyna turned to Galney and her husband--she didn't think they were involved in AlGray's plot, but Doman's betrayal was leading Feyna to question her trust in others, at the moment.

"We've received intel that Ducha AlGray may be about to launch a coup," Feyna said bluntly, watching for their reactions

Lady Galney positively exploded with panic. "A COUP! That swine of a man. He was always a complete narcissist, and he hated that we took ships to the Battle of Exegol, we all know that -" Galney was actually vibrating with anger.

Her husband, however, Consort Galney - he was a lower born man, so could not be a Lord, after all - he twitched hard, as if he really, really did not want to be there. Feyna had never actually met him - she'd just heard endlessly about him from Lady Galney.

Isolder's expression hardened.

About all the things Lady Galney spoke to him about

Feyna reached over to grasp Galney's shoulder, still concerned about her over-stressing herself--and her loud response might alarm the children. "Sit down, Galney," she instructed, trying to calm her down. "We're handling it."

Her gaze shifted to Galney's husband; she'd actually never met him, but he was looking increasingly uncomfortable--thus, increasingly suspicious, and Feyna began to worry. Galney was loyal to a fault, but what about her husband?

"Consort Galney, we've not had the pleasure of meeting before--is that why you look so nervous?"

Polite as it might seem, there was an under-layer of doubt in the Queen Mother's tone.

Lady Galney turned to her husband. “I know she’s glorious, but really.”

The Consort bowed deeply, at his waist. “I am just… in awe of your radiance, Queen Mother. And… panicked that a coup attempt is taking place with you so far away from home.”

Winter has her comlink to hand; she was making calls and connecting dots while Isolder glowered at the Galney man. “Feyna?”

Isolder wasn't buying the man's flattery, and neither was Feyna.

"If either of you know anything about this conspiracy, it's better if you tell me now," she said--though 'either of you' included Lady Galney, Feyna still didn't actually believe she was involved; not knowingly, at least. The statement was primarily aimed at the husband.

"What is it, Winter?

Winter looked up. "The Senate brought with it military police from the Obi-Wan, mainly to manage the bodyguards and lifting, but they're still aboard, Feyna. The outer ring of the Palace is basically ran by Doman, and I didn't notice she was doing it."

Isolder pressed his lips together. "Lady Galney, I suspect your Consort knows more of what is going on than he lets on."

"Don't be silly, Gregor is a harmless fop -"

He took a step towards the Queen Mother, cringing, but then Gregor stood straight and flicked a wrist. A small holdout blaster dropped into his hand, and his voice went menacing. "The True Queen Mother will be launching the Heritage Fleet at Hapes within the hour. It's been timed, Feyna, so that your reign will come to an end now. You married into the Hapan throne; you are not worthy of it."

Lady Galney raised her voice. "When my sister hears of this -"

He simply turned and shot her in the hip.

"I've wanted to do that for ages."

For a moment his blaster wasn't pointed at her, and Isolder had actually stepped away from her -

He was standing between their children at the far end of the room, oblivious behind their cartoons -

Feyna had only seconds to act while he had the blaster pointed away--feeling bad for Galney getting shot, but Feyna could now be certain of her innocence--Isolder was covering the children, who hadn't seemed to have heard the blast--

Feyna rushed at Gregor and tackled him, grabbing for the blaster

Gregor grimaced as she tackled him. He didn't have orders to kill the Hapan monarch, but he would, if he had to. He was toppled, drawing Feyna along with him, and the impact of the fall meant that her grab was jostled. He turned the blaster to her face -

And Winter kicked the weapon out of his hand.

Gregor tried to reach it, and it skittered to Galney's feet, who had a hand over mouth, tears in her eyes.

She was trying not to cry out and scare the children.

Isolder stepped over and punched Gregor in the face, knocking him out cold.

"Feyna, I love you, but I just aged about a decade then." Isolder looked at Feyna. "What are we going to do? Clearly Galney doesn't know about the coup. Gregor manipulated her, and she loved him."

His words were soft; he was upset. "He is going to know who the ringleader is when he wakes up... but we need to know now. Yesterday. Last year."

He swallowed, not sure what to do whatsoever.

"We need to decide now."

Feyna was shaking as she picked herself up, collecting Gregor's fallen blaster.

Isolder was saying they needed to figure out who was leading the coup, and to figure out a plan, fast.

"Except for a very select few, I don't trust anyone outside this room, just now."

Nola, Del, and Triebakk were the only ones on board that she was still counting among potential allies, and even then....

And Han, Lumpy, Ben, and Madelyn were too far away to help. Astarta was loyal to Isolder, but Feyna wasn't sure if that loyalty extended to her.

"If Doman's starting to take control of Star Home, I suspect we're probably about to get arrested. I don't know if we should try to confront her..." Her gaze shifted to the kids, still oblivious to the dangers. If she, Isolder, and Winter were all taken into custody, what happened to the children?

She couldn't bring herself to say it, she hated the thought of running away, but a part of her wanted to just get out, take the kids and get somewhere safe.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

OOC: Combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Barriss

Mortis, Unknown Regions

She had already started to head back to where her family was waiting, but then Barriss paused when she heard Anakin's final words.

Ahsoka is here, Barriss remembered. And so is my old master.

She looked back at where Anakin had been, only to see nobody there. Which is what she should have probably expected, since this was Mortis.

Barriss thought about returning to her family, but according to Anakin she may only have a limited time to seek out Ahsoka. And this was not an opportunity that Barriss could afford to miss out on.

So Barriss decided to keep her family waiting for a bit longer, instead choosing to go searching for two women from her past that she may have the chance to speak to once again..

.The first to appear was Ahsoka.

"Sorry, I could not risk telling you that the Father was Anakin," she said, sadly.

"Names cause ripples, especially true names, Barriss."

She was sitting in a wooden glen on a world the former Jedi was supposed to have visited in a different timeline.

"I was to have a very different story, in the original timeline - after I left the Jedi Order. After Maul and Order 66."

The shapes of Jedi with blue and green blades appeared, both men, one older, one younger.

"Friends."

A Mandalorian woman in multicolored armor.

"Perhaps even love."

Barriss frowned and sat down next to Ahsoka. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "You... you deserve to be alive." She sighed. "There are so many that deserved to live. So many that should have been saved."

"Isn't that the conundrum of where we find ourselves?" This was Luminara's voice, coming to join them at the camp fire. "That we lament what we lost, but also triumph what we have gained?" She gestured vaguely. "Such as your family. You would not have had them if not for the Changes wrought by Palpatine."

Her thought finished, she smiled warmly.

"Hello, Barriss."

Barriss didn't answer. Instead she just stared at the form of Luminara Unduli in disbelief, the first time that she had seen her old master since... well, since before Order 66.

She couldn't find the words. Instead, tears filled her eyes as Barriss began to cry. When Barriss was finally able to find her voice, it came out as a sob.

"M-mom..."

Perhaps Barriss meant to say Master. But to Barriss, that was who Luminara was to her. The only mother she had known, the only mother she had ever loved, the only mother she had ever disappointed, and the only mother she had ever lost.

Luminara smiled warmly, motherly, and she stepped over to Barriss, who, through a moment of memory, and the magicks of Mortis, was suddenly the young woman she had been when they last saw each other. "Barriss."

She drew her into a hug.

Barriss hugged back, still crying.

"I've missed you so much," she admitted, remembering when she had felt Luminara die on Kashyyyk from light years away. It had been so long since she had felt Luminara's embrace

."I've missed you too," Luminara said softly. "I'm so proud of you, Barriss."

Ahsoka sat, silently, watching them, but mainly the flames.

"You are?" Barriss asked, surprised. "I... I don't think I have done anything to make you proud. I abandoned the Jedi Order, left everything behind, stayed on the sidelines for decades until the war finally came to Nadiem..."

She looked down, suddenly feeling ashamed.

"You found love, and you loved," Luminara affirmed. "To love someone is to unlearn all the paranoia and distrust of the dark side. Pure love, that is the ultimate answer to the darkness; because the dark convinces us that we are alone, and nobody could possibly love us, and so, the dark is the only answer."

Ahsoka nodded. "To face your personal darkness, and to push beyond it, that is the ultimate triumph."

"And I am ultimately proud of you for that, my old Padawan."

Barriss nodded, tears still streaming down her face. "I want to do right by them," she admitted. "My family, I mean. B-but I also want to do right by you two."

"You can do both," Luminara said, softly. "Attachment is of the dark side, as are other emotions such as co-dependency and the aforementioned paranoia."

"As we said," Ahsoka smiled to herself. "You built on love, and that does right by all, including us."

Luminara nodded. "But it is time you stepped back up, Barriss, and into the Light of Day."

"The Dagger of Mortis is key to the future, so it needs to be delivered." Ahsoka confirmed. "I'm sorry that we had to rely upon you, when you have so much to protect."

"But that's what the galaxy needs," said Luminara softly. "Protectors, not Jedi, not even Je'daii."

Barriss realized that the Dagger was in her hands and she looked down at it. "What if... what if I fail, just like I failed during the Clone Wars? Especially with the stakes so high..."

"Failure is always a possibility," Luminara said.

"But did you fail during the Clone Wars?" Her old Master said. "I seem to remember the Order failing you, more than anything." Her eyes met Barriss's. "My failure; not yours. A freshly trained Jedi Knight? Clearly the flaw was not with you, Barriss. It was in your teachings, in the lack of compassion contained therein."

Ahsoka did not comment.

She agreed, of course.

The former Padawan had left the Order over how she was treated, how Barriss was treated.

"But nothing I did mattered," Barriss pointed out. "I didn't matter. It was all for nothing thanks to Order 66 and because of it I lost everything. I don't want to lose everything again, nor do I want my life to be for nothing like it was when I gave it to the Order."

“Had the Jedi listened, recused themselves as they did in the ancient civil wars of the Pius Dea era, rather than prop up a corrupt regime… would Order 66 have even destroyed everything?” Luminara asked the question.

“We were not always tied to the Republic,” Ahsoka confirmed. “You and I didn’t know that, not necessarily, but the Council, they did. The New Jedi Order have clear separation of themselves from the New Republic… I imagine if a dictator emerges from the Senate again, they would not be tricked into fighting a war.”

“The Separatists and the droid army were never the enemies of the Jedi Order,” Luminara confirmed. “In your own way, you understood this.”

Barriss sighed. "Palpatine was the enemy then... just like how he is the enemy now. It feels like the galaxy is on the verge of another Clone Wars, like history is repeating itself."

“Which is why the Jedi should fight what they are supposed to fight. Sith, Destructors, Force threats,” Ahsoka said. “Not the Yuuzhan Vong. Not the Eternal Empire or the Empire of the Hand or whatever Empire it is.” She stood, and stepped over.

“And Abeloth is a threat that normal people cannot be expected to stop. It is the duty of the Jedi to defeat such threats.” Luminara finished.

"I'm not a Jedi," Barriss told her old friend and former master. "I don't..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I don't deserve that title. I've been a coward and I've been selfish."

“Then don’t be a Jedi,” Luminara said gently.

“Be better.”

Barriss opened her eyes. "I'll try-" She paused, remembering the words of someone from her days in the Order. "I'll do my best."

Though she wasn't a Jedi, Barriss did want to help. She knew that this was something she had to do, that she had to go to Jakku even if she wasn't sure what to expect.

The Force was giving her a chance to do something that mattered.

"Doing you best is all we could ever ask of you," Luminara said, her eyes wet.

Ahsoka nodded. "I'll follow as best I can, Barriss, but I won't be able to help too much. Go, speak to your family, and head to Jakku."

"Time is against you, my old Padawan," she said, drawing Barriss into one more hug. It was solid, but that was fading - as was this moment.

"May the Force be with you."

A crack of lightning above the distant Monastery, and Ahsoka and Luminara were gone.

Barriss nodded, wiping the tears out of her eyes. She just sat there alone for a moment, thinking about everything she had just talked about. It had been good to see them both again, at least.

"Goodbye," Barriss whispered as she stood up. "And thank you."

After sighing to herself, Barriss began to make the journey back to where she had kept her family waiting for her. She had much to tell them.

In an instant, she was standing before Zara and the family, who had set up a small picnic for the children by the shuttle. The jungle was soft, and playful, and they could by definition play and be safe.

Indeed, the ground had shifted slightly to give way to a beech nearby, so they had a flow to play within.

Zara found it very... magical.

When she saw Barriss, she assumed she had simply finished a trek through the woods.

"Is everything alright?"

Barriss took a deep breath. "Yeah, I think I am," she said to her wife.

She then proceeded to explain everything to Zara the best she could, from what Anakin had told her about Abeloth to her mission to bring the Dagger to Jakku to her talk with Ahsoka and Luminara. Barriss was not going to keep any secrets, not from Zara. They were in this together.

"So basically, I have to give a Dagger to a Chosen on Jakku so that they can kill the Bringer of Chaos and stop the End of Time," Barriss summarized afterward. "You, Lumi, and her family will be safe here on Mortis, but this is something I feel like I need to do. I owe the galaxy that much."

Zara nodded a few times, but it wasn't entirely going in. "I managed to follow that the End of Time is bad."

"I doubt it's a literal end of time, but, yeah, the Bringer of Chaos sounds like a..." Luminara blinked a few times. "Force Volcano, or something. That's not something we want to happen."

"So that Dagger," Zara pointed at it. "Anakin, um, Master Skywalker, he said it can kill her?"

"I've never heard of Jakku, which makes it a nowhere planet... strange place for a Chosen One," Luminara thought aloud.

Barriss chuckled to herself. "Anakin was found by the Jedi on Tatooine. Some of the galaxy's most important people can come from some of the most surprising places." She looked down at the Dagger in her hands. "And because I was entrusted with this, I have to see it through and make sure that it gets to where it needs to be."

"That's a good point," Luminara conceded. "Tatooine is as far away from everything."

Zara smiled, she was happy to see the enthusiasm, and determination in Barriss again - to see her enthused by something, and someone - she had a calling. Drawing her wife into a hug, she kissed Barriss on the cheek. "I'm so proud of you, Barriss."

Luminara beamed and joined the hug. "You go kick Chaos backside, Mom!"

Barriss hugged them back, smiling gently and closing her eyes. "Will you all be okay here without me?"

"I mean, we'd much prefer if you left the ship," Luminara said jokingly. "We don't exactly want to be stranded in Heaven."

Zara rolled her eyes at that.

A ship will be supplied for you, to take you to Jakku.

That was Anakin's voice, but Zara and Luminara heard it too.

Indeed, a smaller version of the Tho Yor drifted down from the sky.

It was one of the original Meditation Spheres, shaped as a dipyramid.

My name is Heart. I have served Protectors and Je'daii and Jedi for thirty five millennia. I would serve you, Barriss Offee.

"Looks like I have a ship," Barriss admitted to Lumi and Zara, staring at the Meditation Sphere.

The ship landed, unfolding a ramp.

Come. Command.

Barriss looked from the ship to her wife. "I'll come back for you and our family," she told Zara. "I promise. No matter what, I will find a way."

"I know," Zara said, and kissed her wife fully.

Luminara mock-winced, and laughed.

"You two." There was a gaggle of noise and the grandkids clattered over, asking a thousand questions. Luminara's husband stepped up to her and she drew into him for a moment, while Zara laughed with the youngsters and, when the hugs were given and questions nudged, drew them back.

"Wave to grandma, everyone. She has a very important mission to go on."

They did so, cheerfully, excitedly, likening this journey to an elaborate adventure and loving the world of Mortis.

Utter joy.

Barriss waved back, smiling at her family. They gave her all the reason she needed to succeed with her mission. It may be too late for Nadiem, but it wasn't too late for them.

Though still a bit reluctant to leave, Barriss was sure that she would see them again as she stepped into the ship and prepared for the journey to Jakku. She was not going to neglect this responsibility like she had neglected her responsibilities as a Jedi in the past.

Yes, Barriss thought to herself. This time will be different. This time I will be different.

Or at least, that's what she hoped. The future was uncertain, but she chose to still have some faith as she whispered a soft prayer.

"May the Force be with us all."

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Ka'rta
Mandalore

The Mand'alor awoke in her chambers, cheeks stained with tears. Another lonely night had passed, a new day was here. The second day of the Great Galactic War. She checked her datapad again finding a message from Mirdala.

Cyar'ika

My forces are prepared for another day of conflict. I still worry for Tor and if you should change your mind I will not hesitate to assist our child. I will await word from you or command as to our next moves in this long awaited war. May you stay safe.

Mhi solus dar'tome (We are one when we are apart)

Mirdala

She sent no reply, the pain was too great, he was just twisting the knife reminding her of her choice to leave Tor to the whims of fate, the distance between them. Another tear fell as she quickly moved on to the usual round of messages. Tech called a war council, which she was requested to attend. Finding no messages from the Virpine left her with a sour expression. She wanted results and she wasn't getting them.

This anger at the lack of a reply burned away the sadness at her heart. As she put on her armor the Mand'alor returned, Mandalore the Vengeant, the absolute ruler of her home, the Beskar Hand that directed all in her domain.

As the helmet slipped on, the transformation was complete, hiding the salt rivers that ran down her face. She marched with purpose and authority befitting her position. As she entered the room Tech began his presentation.

The Vong had come in numbers which was unsurprising, they had just as much time to prepare as she did. The figures were staggering, but, they had taken out a quarter of their smaller worldships. They could likely take on one of the larger weapons as well. The problem came in as to where Palpantine's forces would deploy. They had significantly less information on that. And it could tip the balance. Even then Ka'rta was certain of weathering the next storm...so long as she could still coordinate. That was when the next report made her snarl.

They were losing the Holonet and there was nothing she could do about it...No, she would find a way. She would not allow herself to be blind and deaf in her own backyard.

"Find me a way to kill those things, some pesticide or something. How quickly can we go about making our own receivers to replace the ones we are losing, we can work on that while we find a solution to these Signal Eaters. They can't have prepared for someone to find a way to use a bioweapon on them." The anger was contained but present in her words. "Any couriers from our Virpine friends arrive that I haven't heard about?" She needed answers and solutions yesterday.

She could not let anything threaten everything she'd worked so hard to build.

"Make sure all forces are on high alert, and pull back all forces he had on Holonet recovery. We'll redeploy them at another time…" She hoped that there were some left and that she hadn't just sent tens of thousands of warriors to their deaths against an enemy they couldn't fight.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Vhardia
Jakku

Startled by the newcomer, Vhardia slipped down from her position, catching herself in a twist and a jump.
Amateur. she thought to herself.

"Why not both?" She shrugged at the question. "But people first. People are more important than places."
It was an odd sentiment, but as true as when she had first heard it- from Katarn prehaps? She wasn't sure.

She pondered at the bunker a moment more before turning away from it.
What was so important that Palpatine hid it on Jakku of all places?

Tags: @darthbernael @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Darth Impetuous and Rebecca

Impetuous pondered on the data and the information provided to him by Dutch; it was a lot to go over. Still, after some thought, Impetuous decided that their best course of action was to infiltrate CenterPoint station and extract Sal-solo. Sure the politician wanted to support the confederacy, but Tobbi could "persuade" Sal-solo to see things differently; the Airskipper brand needed to be expanded after all, and what better spokesperson than him, But if Sal-solo refused...

Then it would be no skin off his back as either way Impetuous wins.

Rebecca had already told Impetuous what Phennir said. Sal-Solo was one of the people that had been tipped off about his potential identity, so he was already going to die. The real question was when and how slow and painful was Impetuous going to make it. It all depended on Sal-Solo's cooperation.

Or Impetuous's mood. As once Impetuous gets there, he might kill him on the spot, not even he knew what he would do at this point; all he knew was that he wanted to go to Centerpoint station and spill more confederate blood.

"Take us to the station. Let's see how much we can tip the scales on the political side of things. Who knows, we might single handily put an end to this conflict."

Rebecca stretched,

"Are you sure, dude? The last time we fought our way off a station, we almost died...Multiple times."

Impetuous patted Rebecca on the head.

"The sooner we end this conflict, the sooner we can murder everyone responsible for making those monstrosities."

Rebecca at first accepted the head pat but quickly swatted away his hand, momentarily forgetting Dutch was still there.

"Whatever, just don't expect me to carry you this time. You're not exactly light."

Impetuous chuckled a bit.

"Your not exactly light yourself."

Rebecca's eyes flared, but after a second, she laughed.

"Just wanted to make sure you had your balls after playing a bit of damsel."

Impetuous laughed some more, enjoying the moment and playing along; if anyone else said this to him, they'd be dead, but for Rebecca, he made an exception...for now.

"Hmm, I do remember a certain speech you said to me while I was unconscious. Help me remember so I can tell it to Dutch."

"Touche."

Rebecca huffed but still grinned as she walked away and sat down.

Impetuous turned to Dutch,

"Can you get us any data on CenterPoint station? And what's the ETA on Zarya and Rock if they're able to come at all?"

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

(A mini Family reunion brought to you by @TheSilentInfluence @Sinrebirth and myself)

Tor Leia and Owen
Bakura

"no no no no no." Tor said to herself as she felt the ship lerch and pull towards the massive cargo ship that was tractoring them in. In desperation she tried to take control but it was to no avail, and her target slipped away from her...again. "Damn it..." She slammed the console getting out of the chair and storming towards the ramp her hand on her blaster ready to kill the person that dared to disrupt her hunt.

Finding the old man standing there his wizened gaze looking right through her. She made her move her hand away. The reply from Aliyn cut through her hesitancy.

"Well, he's dead...for real this time. I watched the life get sucked out of him..."

'Aliyn' responded. "Serves him right." Her voice had slightly changed. "You know I'm Mirta Gev, don't you? That's you, Tor, isn't it? Aliyn died when Zorn ate Mandalore. Flew her speeder bike into the Void. I use her name to try and track down Boba. I was sure he was alive, and I wanted him dead for what he did to Mom."

Owen looked for Leia, aware this was her ship, before he exploded at Tor.

Oh force.

"Hello Uncle Owen." Leia greeted him politely, pretending not to notice how angry he was at Tor.

"I'm just going to stand here and do nothing. But if punches start being thrown I'll separate everyone faster then you can say Jabba the Hutt."

"Mirta?" Tor asked a little taken aback, she wasn't expecting that. She'd always assumed that...Aliyn was alive just estranged, very estranged. Though she did remember meeting Mirta before, Tor was on her rise to the top of the Bounty hunting guild bagging target after target. She'd worked with the Mandalorian before a target out on Nar Shaddaa. She was as skilled as her grandfather though a little too angry. Though now Tor knew why...they were work colleagues in the past it was always business between them. They never really got into family, it was a touchy subject for both of them.

"Well, I uh...guess that's solves that..." Tor looked sheepishly away before looking back to Owen his eyes seething with anger. "But, if you're up for a job, I've got one, a big one. I can send you the particulars later, I have some business to attend to..." She kindly ended the call then turned to Owen.

"Hey Ba'buir..." she started calling him grandfather in her native tongue. "What's the big idea...we had him." Her next words were biting though not as much as the could have been.

Owen looked like he did actually want to punch Tor, but Leia's words were clear. Almira slid down the ramp to join Leia, and took her hand subtly. Owen paid it no heed, he focused on Tor.

"And you'll have him when I take you out-system too," Owen declared.

"But I've been at Garqi, spying for your mother." His aged eyes narrowed. "You know the war started, right? The Yuuzhan Vong, they're here."

"Pfft..." She hissed through her teeth, "Of course I knew the war started early. That's likely half the reason we got so far. What does it matter?" The young woman said coming closer having to crane her neck up to meet his gaze. "It doesn't concern me, the only thing that does is Graul."

Leia watched them carefully, and turned to looked at Almira as she took her hand. She squeezed it in response, and moved a little closer to her.

"Yes." Leia spoke up. "Father sent me a message. Once were done with this mission I have to go and join them."

Owen nodded. "Good luck getting in touch with him, Leia, most of the HoloNet is down in the Outer Rim."

He looked back down at Tor and took a step forward, looking murderous. "Your mother told the galaxy to go shank itself. She's abandoned it, just cares about the clans now." He grabbed Tor's shirt. "Do you think that's what is gonna save your people, Mand'alor?"

He shoved Tor to the ground.

He knew.

He knew.

Almira frowned, but stayed quiet.

Her grandfather once a kind loving man now loomed over her death in his eyes. She'd never seen this side of him. The veteran Sun Guard that had seen more war and destruction than she could in a lifetime. He was the man that had lived a life of death long before Tor was ever born. It shook her to the core but she wasn't about to let it freeze her. Her mother taught her never to freeze.

She got up to her feet setting her jaw.

"I need him dead. I will not have peace until he is dead. I can't take the reins from my Buir, not until I erase this spot from my ledger. I can't let this target get away." Her angry words hid her silent fear...what would have to happen when she set foot on Mandalore. "I'm not going back. You can't make me, not until he's dead." She looked away knowing that she was becoming obsessive always had been, a bad trait she picked up from her mother. "I need this...Mandalore isn't going anywhere, buir has seen to that..."

"I'm not going to make you do shavit, Tor," Owen said. "I'm going to make sure that you know, if things go wrong, that it's on your head."

He stepped back, put his hands back in his pockets before Leia hit him with the Force.

"The Yuuzhan Vong aren't gonna be stopped by your buir. She's going to rule over her beskar and when the Vong ignore her, she'll pat herself on her back that she was so smart." Owen sniffed. "And when the Vong come for Mandalore last, we'll have no friends left to step up."

He pointed with his chin at Leia. "Whatcha gonna do when she heads after Arthur and Alfred and Madelyn? They're at Garqi, y'know. Fighting. I saw their ship crash into a Vong capital ship." He held up a hand to forestall Leia's panic. "They're alive, the Jedi were coordinating to rescue them."

He shrugged. "They've put together a Jedi Hit Squad to kill the third Emperor out there - Palpatine."

"Hey," Tor barked at the old man, "She said after this job is done," Looking to her sister, then back to the towering man. "And Graul still breathes so the job isn't done yet." Though the information about Madelyn and the rest of Leia's family being in danger gave her pause. Would Leia choose her, or her mother?

There was a snide remark held back on her tongue choosing not to say it in the presences of a Jedi. That jedi also being her sister did have an effect as well.

"Then see they have everything well in hand, kill him the war's over." She didn't want to think about Mandalore isolated and alone as the Vong closed in around it. "And the Graul will be an issue after the war, I'm just trying to cut that problem off at the pass. And get a lot of vengeance on him."

Leia let out a slow breath. "You're mother could die." She told Tor. "But it won't be by my mother's hand. She thinks my mother abandoned her people, but she had to make a choice. She was never well suited to be Mandalore. You're mother on the other hand is everything a leader should not be. Auntie Kar'ta is selfish Tor. You know that. She doesn't care for anyone outside of Mandalore."

She gave her a serious look. "You need to be better for everyone's sake Tor. Vengeance is a very damaging thing. You don't stop thinking about it. It consumes you. Don't let it turn you into your mother."

She tried not to think about her own family, fighting the Vong. I should be with them. Shouldn't I?

"Look." Tor ran her fingers through her hair a sour expression on her face. "I get it, my mom is a monster and I'm the one to fix it but. If I do that then I'm tied down fighting the Vong, and Graul will slip through my fingers again. And no one had the stomach to try and take him before the Vong, and after we're going to be rebuilding. I can't both hunt him and rule Mandalore....not to mention..." She looked away feeling attacked on all sides. "I know what I have to do...I just...I just want to do this one thing...Just give me one more shot at him. I have a team in mind, we can bring them here and finish this off, then we can settle things with my mom..."

"And if you fail?" Owen said, shortly.

"Will you finally accept responsibility for Mandalore, or not?"

The Eravana hit real space. "Tell your back-up team that you're above Jakku. Its on the Eternal border, and decently located in the Inner Rim. I picked a good place to regroup." Owen went to turn away; he didn't care about whatever Tor had to say at this point. "You're welcome."

Almira looked back into Leia's ship. "What do we do about that Sith we picked up from Aryan?"

Owen did look back at them for that. "You brought a Sith aboard my ship?"

"Well, if I fail then I'll be dead so that's a problem that solves itself." Tor said turning away from the old man. Pulling up her com and reaching out to her b-team. "Baraduk you up for a challenge?" She said her first thought to reach out to the massive reptilian with night vision.

"Huh?" Tor reacted to Owen's hissed words. "Oh yeah he's some Sistros toady that is very important to the bastard. Could be useful for drawing him into a trap..."

Owen pursed his lips. “Maybe. I’ll soften him up for you.” His finger jabbed at Leia. “Keep an eye on her. I don’t want Tor jumping ship when we arrive at Jakku.”

Baraduk was in. He was annoyed at being left about the first team, and eager to show his new place in the galaxy now most of its best hunters were dead.

Why else would he be called up now?

“Ssssend me coordinatez.”

"You got it big man..." Tor said looking over her shoulder to Leia rolling her eyes a bit. She sent the coordinates off and started working down the list she had of contacts.

"Hey Gobolungnum, I know it's been a bit, could really use another gun on this job...I won't turn down any help from the other clans if you can scare it up."

“Just send me the deets already, Tor,” sniped Gobolungnum.

"Nell, how would you like to make some credits hunting down a war criminal?"

Nell sounded hyped. “Why do you need to ask?”

"Jas, I have some bad news about Dengar, he's gone. And I know you don't play well with others but, I'm getting a group together to hunt down the man that killed him. You in?"

“Dengar was an idiot, living on buried time anyway. You know I have my aunties debt to clear,” Jas hissed. “I’ll be there.”

"Krrsantan how've you been...You good for another fight?"

A roar came from the Wookiee bounty hunter that he was in; he hadn’t ripped any arms off today.

"Mirta, it's me again, I have coordinates if you want to meet up and go on another hunt..."

Mirta was completely on-board. She was a Mandalorian; she would never shy from a fight.

Most who could had moved out of the Outer Rim as the HoloNet went down, which was the only reason Tor could call together the team. She’d have to finance it… but she did have the contact details for Fett’s client…

One by one she got their replies and send the meeting place, looking over her shoulder to Leia to see her reaction.

Leia nodded at Uncle Owen. "Don't worry. I can handle it." She told him firmly, and looked at Tor; nearly laughing at her reaction. "We'll be fine you know."

She turned to give him a serious look. "If you come across my parents and Alfred, will you tell them I'm sorry."

TAG: @Sinrebirth @TheSilentInfluence

 

IC: Barriss

Jakku Orbit

Though she hadn't known what to expect, Barriss had hoped that this mission would be a simple one.

It seemed like she would have no such luck.

First there were the presence of six other Force sensitives, only of whom Barriss assumed was the Chosen that she was sent here for. She wondered if the others were here for the Chosen as well, but it couldn't have been a coincidence that so many Force sensitives were here at the same time. Barriss did recall what her daughter had said, calling Jakku a nowhere planet. But it was only unimportant at a first glance, since according to Anakin this was where it had all began decades ago. It was where Palpatine had found a Holocron of Prophecy, so who knows what else was down there...

Which made it troubling when an Eternal Fleet battlecruiser came out of hyperspace. That especially worried Barriss, who realized that she had to act fast. The only good sign was the glowing Dagger of Mortis, which Barriss guessed meant that the Chosen was close. She was on the right path, at least.

"Bring us down to the surface," Barriss ordered, wanting to be on Jakku before the battlecruiser noticed she was there or the Eravana could pull her in with a tractor beam. "Head over to where the Force sensitives on the planet are."

She did consider the possibility that the other Force sensitives were Jedi. That would be preferable to Sith at least, though she still wasn't ecstatic about them. Especially if they were like the Jedi that she had met on Bonadon.

Barriss sighed. She had a bad feeling about this...

TAG: @Sinrebirth @darthhelinith @darthbernael @TheSilentInfluence @galactic-vagabond422

 

Tor
Jakku

Her team was on it's way, a plan forming in her head. She didn't know how the dark side worked but she remembered some things her sister and aunt told her about the force connecting people. Those sensitive to the force could feel when people they cared about were in danger. She wondered if that was the same for those on the darkside. Though with the beating Owen was about to give the blue haired guy she was sure someone else would feel it. Silently she was grateful that it wasn't her facing the wrath of Owen. She could take him she had the youth and a deceptive amount of experience, but it would take a lot out of her and she needed that to face off against her target.

All she had left was to wait, wait for her team to arrive and then head back out somewhere isolated, away from anyone else that can feel fear, pain and anguish...probably want to knock out toady before the fight. The plan was coming together.

When the message came in from Owen she wrinkled her nose.

"If they're not aggressive then just let them go," She said dismissivly, "We're only here for a few more minutes so we can gather the team and get…."

It was at this moment she could feel the chain of fate, an old friend of the Dar'Solus family, tug on her. As she looked out she could see an Eternal Empire ship enter the system.

"FRACK!" she exclaimed though it was muffled by her helmet, Owen heard it loudly. It seemed fate was telling her to run, or stand and fight. "You think they've noticed us? 'Cus I don't think I can change the meeting place, last I heard the Holonet was going down. Don't think I'll be able to get in touch with the team."

TAG: @Sinrebirth @darthhelinith @darthbernael @TheSilentInfluence @CosmoHender

Ka'rta
Mandalore

The Mand'alor looked at her options taking an aggressive stance was the Mandalorian way though she had to balance that with the defense of the homeworld the most important thing in the galaxy. Just charging out into the void was a good way to get a lot of warriors dead. It seemed most of the council was in favor of taking action and to be fair so was she. Though it needed to be quick and decisive.

The woes of securing their communications seemed to be the major stumbling block right at the moment. That took priority at the moment. The information from their Virpine friends was diverting at least for a moment.

The gravitic compensator trick seemed to already work and as known. Stutter fire shouldn't be too hard to implement. Gravity wells that could cause some problems but that would be a question for Tech to wrap his head around. She was annoyed that there wasn't a bioweapon she could use on them, to exterminate them. Supposed that someone in their distance past tried that and they took steps to prevent it. Though she would keep pursuing it. The droid army idea did turn her stomach a bit. As Mand'alor she was loathe to replace her commandos with droids though if they had them as a vanguard, something to throw at the Vong first then have the Beskar Tide crash into them could be useful. Another thing for Tech to look at.

Her head came up seeing Ithor on the screen and the load out for a city ship. They were magnificent, and necessary to her. They were now the one thing in the galaxy she wanted. It didn't matter that they were in Republic space. She needed one, she would have one.

"Gather enough fighters to make a show of force without substantially weakening our defenses. We will arrive in the system in force. We will politely ask for one of their City ships, offering to assist with relocation. We just need one correct?" She looked to Tech for confirmation. "Then that is all we will request. If they refuse we will take it by force...just one, we will tear through any defense put up to stop us and any defenders on the City Ship itself. We will keep collateral damage to a minimum but, we will not waste time, time is something we do not have." She looked toward Garqi, "The Republic is tied up fighting a fight they cannot win. They don't have the resources to be chasing after us. Just as long as we don't give them a major reason to come after us. They allowed the Eternal Empire to exist with all their crimes. I'm sure they can overlook this one necessity. And if they don't, they will know the might of the Mandalorians." Privately she sent the data to Tech, requesting possible solutions to the stutter fire and droid armies the soonest. "Now I need attack strategies and possible countermeasures to any Republic or Ithorian response to our aggression…" The meeting began in earnest.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

IC: Jori II Atreus
Bakura, Salis Daar, Eternal Throne Room

Lagertha? The name sounded vaguely familiar, not sure from where, but surely she was not a descendant of that woman. He must be mistaken “Well, if you expected to pull off such a stunt without casualties, then you are a fool.” she said coldly. “But I will remember his sacrifice.” Jori added quickly. Better not to antagonize the man further.

She ignored the snide in his voice and looked out of the viewport. The battle was an awesome spectacle, albeit very wasteful.

“Are we going to leave any time soon?” she tilted her head inquisitively.

TAG: @Sinrebirth

 

Vhardia
Jakku, surface

Vhardia was thrown forward- she used her reflexes to spin herself with the force and propel herself forward, towards the innocents she could sense ahead, through the sand that was raining down around them. She had no concerns about Renn's safety, he was the avatar of the light side of the force, but the people on the planet didn't ask for any of this and she continued to sprint towards the settlement, concerned that she and her husband had brought danger to their peaceful lives.

One sleeve over her mouth to shield from the flying sand, she suddenly realised that life forms were all around her, panicked screams and cries of families separated from each other and clutching at belongings.

"Move away from the settlement!" She yelled, as the sand began to settle, though she suspected it wouldn't be long before the ship fired again.
She grabbed a hysterical child running past her the wrong way and led them away, towards the scattered trail of people running away as fast as they could.

Tags: @Sinrebirth @darthbernael

 

OOC: A combo with @Sinrebirth

IC: Han Solo, Ben Solo, Lumpawaroo (Lumpy), Vua Rapuung, Tycho Celchu, Fin Galfridian
Location: Millenium Falcon, Borosk

This was where Han hated being in charge.

The battle was going well, well as well as it could be. The Imperials had thankfully come out to play including some rather nifty looking TIE fighters.

Han was proud of Ben coming up with the plan, Vua had acted his part to perfection and the slave ship and Falcon were through.

But now Han had a choice, protect the refugees or help the Imps out.

I've got a bad feelin' about this.

"Fin, you and the refugees continue on to Ruan, you are safe enough out of the way. Just make sure when you get there you tell 'em you're on a stolen ship".

He looked at Lumpy, Ben and Vua "The Imps are handlin' the Vong here. There's nothin' more we can do and there is no way the Falcon will be able to do anythin'. Just get in the way".

He faced forwards "We'd better get to New Nubia. If there is a chance to end this war then we had better do it quickly".

Ben spoke to Fin over the comm "Make sure you get yourself to Yavin 4 or Ossus when this is over, and we can teach you to use the Force."

"A Jedi King?" Fin returned. "Sounds awesome."

His attention turned to Han. "Your word is kept, Captain Solo. I release you and the Falcon's impeccable crew."

Lumpy roared a goodbye.

Vua looked to Han. "Nas Choka will be honour-bound to pursue you, Hero Solo. You have impeded his success. The Warmaster is especially fond of strategies involving chasing refugees, for he believes it will breed chaos. Any world that hosts refugees will be a target for him."

Another roar; they were ready to depart. The T'sam Pah was accelerating to the jump coordinates.

The Battle of Borosk remained evenly matched, violently so.

"Good luck Your Highness, and as they say may the Force be with you. Hope to catch up with you again sometime".

Han then moved the Falcon away from where it was shadowing the slave ship and entered the coordinates for New Nubia, the battle raging on behind.

He then looked at Vua's reflection in the viewport "Anywhere we go is dangerous. Your buddies seem to be everywhere at the moment. Fin says Ruan is safe so I gotta trust his judgement".

He smirked "And besides, he will have to be very clever to know where we are goin'. And there is no way his ships are faster than the Falcon''.

Han pulled the hyperdrive lever to send them on their way.

"I cannot decide if I would rather have Nas Choka or the Warmaster pursuing us," Vua grumbled.

But then they were gone, on their way.

They would have to travel from the very Outer Rim to the Core, and that meant taking a route to the Hydian Way and then up it. But when they reached the Bandomeer junction -



They were yanked from hyperspace!

The Falcon groaned, violently unhappy, and the T'sam Pah appeared besides them in the viewport.

Before them was a coral ship, laying mines across the junction -

The ship released a cloud of some thirty fighters, and they began to head towards them en masse -

Ben was already running to the gun turret. Vua snarled.

A comlink blared; Fin, who had connected a line between them - short-distance, but decent enough. "We're going for the minelayer." The massive T'sam Pah accelerated -

Lumpy growled at Han from the co-pilot seat.

How many missiles did he want?

Han thought maybe it would be a simple trip to New Nubia.

Guess not.

"I hate it when i'm right" Han growled as he saw the ship casually laying mines right smack bang where they wanted to go.

"Be careful Your Highness" Han said to Fin "It might not take 'em long to see you're not friendly. Try and hit 'em in a weak spot, if they have any"

"Ben, concentrate on those fighters comin' our way' ' Han knew they carried eight missiles "Arm four, no use wastin' the whole payload if they are just going to suck 'em up".

Han accelerated forward "Alright let's slow these guys down. Fire one missile, I'll try and get us in range for Ben to shoot".

He looked at Vua "And any information from you might be useful".

"The dovin basils we use are limited, they propel and defend; if you tax them, they cannot do both. I would recommend striking from afar as best as possible, so the pilots have to consume their basils' focus on speed." Vua said carefully. "Unless you can make it so your lasers fire at separate points?"

Ben shouted over the chug, chug, chug of the cannons. "I did wonder if we could do that, reorient the barrels of the quad-laser out so rather than hitting a single point they hit a wider area."

Vua nodded, a chop of his head. "Precisely."

The missile distracted a coralskipper and Ben shot it down, but that was one. The missile did shoot through the debris and slam into a second, surprising it, so they did get two for one, but with twenty-eight left...

... The T'sam Pah fired streams of plasma at the tender, which deployed a plague of voids to absorb the shots. It continued to spit out mines from it's rear, seemingly determined to deploy its payload before it was destroyed.

Fin had the T'sam Pah close the distance, and fifteen coral skippers veered away after it.

There was a flicker of pseudo-motion as an X-wing appeared from hyperspace, complete with red trim. It turned on its axis the moment it was tugged out, and moved away from the engagement. "Millennium Falcon, this is Rogue Leader. Didn't expect to see you here. Are you setting up for a run on the big guy?"

That was Tycho Celchu, husband to Winter, the Senator of New Alderaan and the Alderaan Sector.

Vua growled. "He will think the T'sam Pah is a threat."

Lumpy prepared a second missile.

"Alright Ben you heard Vua, do what you can with the guns, when we land I might have to do some tinkerin'".

Han tried to keep the Falcon as far away from the fighters as possible as Vua instructed but keeping the speed up so the Falcon was harder to target.

Then it seemed some help arrived. Well one X wing anyway.

"Hey Rogue Leader, good to see you again Tycho. Was just on our way to New Nubia before we caught this one layin' mines and gettin' in the way. Ran into a bit of trouble in the Outer Rim ourselves".

"That big ship there? That's full of refugees from Shamar including royalty I might add. King Fin Galfridian himself. Promised his late father I would get him to safety".

"So they are tacklin' the minelayer whilst we tackle those fighters. Care to join in?" Han nodded at Lumpy to release another missile.

Tycho inhaled at the information. "Big ship; good, fighters; bad. Got it."

He kicked his X-wing into high drive, unleashing a stream of shots rather than a quad-burst. With a twitched and reorient he shifted the stream as he went, walking fire up a coralskipper which didn't adjust in time and exploded.

"Nice!" Ben said.

The Falcon buckled as it took a solitary plasma ball out of the rain being lobbed at it from the chasing swarm, and shields cried out as the ship spun around, suddenly facing their pursuit. Ben fired; a coralskipper exploded because it was going too fast, and then another, before the group closed the distance and could shield normally.

Lumpy roared; the Vong weapons were powerful.

Vua nodded. "Good thing it was not a magma missile; those attach to the hull and chew on them."

He pointed at the minelayer. "It likely has a Yammosk aboard; they coordinate our ships, we train them to treat dovin basals as its children so it deploys them in the best formation. Telepathic sea-creature, once upon a time. But as a war coordinator it can't be surpassed."

Indeed the coral skippers seemed to be moving with particular coordination, which was more noticeable now there were less variables. "If we destroy the minelayer, the pilots will crumble."

Tycho cut across the nose of the Falcon and led coral skippers after him, but there were still a good dozen between them and the minelayer, and the T'sam Pah was slowing to defend its oblate hull from the coral slippers that were dodging its flailing arms and gouts of plasma.

Ben continued to fire, but wasn't catching any of them - he switched to those chasing after Tycho, which allowed him to get away and loop back. "What am I hitting? I have a message from the Chancellor for the fleets fighting at Garqi - I can't waste my fuel dogfighting."

There was no way the Falcon was getting to that minelayer, they still had fighters to clear. "Fire that second missile" Han said to Lumpy again.

Han was wrestling with the ship to try and keep her under control as he tried to dodge more shots.

"Try and take out that minelayer, it has some sort of creature aboard that is helping their pilots coordinate their attacks. We'll try and keep the fighters busy so you can get a clear shot".

"I hope" Han muttered as he brought the Falcon forward to try and keep the fighters focus on him. Hopefully his flying, Ben's shooting and the second missile would do the rest.

Ben took out another fighter, but the missile didn't catch a Vong fighter; the one following after opened a void -

So Tycho blew him up instead.

"Roger," he said as he hurled towards the minelayer, which was diverting its voids to protect it from the T'sam Pah. It fired gout after gout, while trying to use its tentacles to batter coralskippers.

Vua watched the displays and found himself wondering why the minelayer wasn't firing at the X-wing. "Wait -"

A second later a swarm of a good dozen massive insects were launched, and Tycho swerved away, pursued by them all -

"Grutchins," Vua grimaced.

Then the sensors chimed for an imminent hyperspace arrival; several somethings.

Lumpy roared that they needed to get going!

This was just getting better and better. Not.

Tycho was now in trouble, the missiles didn't seem to be doing a lot of damage and the coralskippers did not seem to be thinning down a lot. And even the slave ship was not having much luck either.

"I'd love to jump, pal but we are rather stuck. We can't get to the minelayer, His Highness is rather stuck and those fighters ain't thinnin' out. We attempt to jump we'll get blown up or dragged back out of hyperspace".

"I just hope who's comin' out of hyperspace is friendly…."

There were.

Seventy two X-wings emerged from hyperspace and almost instantly acted, scattering in wine pairs and heading towards the coral skippers and grutchins.

Tycho was on the comms immediately. “Jedi Wing, the big Vong ship is friendly. I repeat, a friendly.”

“Acknowledged, Rogue Leader,” came a female voice.

“Shara, what are you doing out here?”

The woman had been put in charge of the Jedi wing because of her piloting skills, notwithstanding that she wasn’t a Jedi. She supplied a quick reply as her fighters blew apart enemy ships and creatures.

“Been sent to cover the retreat of the New Republic from Garqi.”

“I was just sent to convey the Queen Mother’s request that the Eighth withdraw.”

“Is that the Falcon?” Shara asked, as the enemy ships burst into explosions, and the X-wings set upon the minelayer and mines.

Lumpy roared an affirmative.

“Kre’frey commandeered Core defences to head to Garqi,” Shara stated. “The Chancellor is livid, she’s going to fire Kre’frey but wants the withdrawal more than him in a cell. For now he’s still Supreme Commander so that we don’t have chaos.”

Tycho didn’t reply to that.

Lumpy didn’t either.

Vua’s expression grew speculative.

Ben for his part slid down the gun well; the enemy was finished.

Thankfully the Jedi had come to save his old backside. Sometimes he was grateful for the assist even if he still thought they acted like a bunch of wizards sometimes.

But it seemed even the New Republic was having problems too.

"Thanks for the assist guys. Seems like i've been missin' all the fun whilst i've had the Vong chasin' me around".

"Since the HoloNet is down am headin' to New Nubia to brief the Chancellor. I can't say too much over an open comm but I will say that I may have someone aboard who could possibly halt the war".

The mention of the Queen Mother…" Is Her Highness alright? Was hopin' to catch up with her at some point".

It was thankfully a private channel between Tycho, Han and Shara.

"My wife suspects that Doman is losing it. The pressure has gotten to her," Tycho said. "The Queen Mother survived an assassination attempt and to cover Kre'frey's moves has moved the Star Home to New Nubia - she's there now, hosting the Senate."

"And we just bombed an Eternal outpost in the middle of New Republic space - at Anzat. We were supposed to head to Nadiem to do the same to some Sith who have crashed there after escaping a world they were trapped on in Wild Space," Shara affirmed.

"We've no idea where Palpatine is, but Grandmaster Linnett and most of the Council have gone to the front to hunt them down," she continued.

"So you can catch the Queen Mother at New Nubia as well, I reckon."

The minelayer blew, and the mines were being worked over.

Fin came over a different line. "We're clear to jump to Ruan, Han."

"We should go," Vua affirmed.

"We're going to Garqi either way," said Shara. "Rogue Leader, did you want me to deliver the message to the Eighth?"

"Forwarding now," Tycho stated. "Captain Solo, can I follow you to New Nubia? I suspect my wife is going to need a hand."

It was a lot of information to take in but one thing was for sure, the Chancellor had gone bonkers. Feyna would now be the next choice to report to.

Meanwhile Madelyn was on the front lines, even though she was a Jedi that concerned him. She was one of his kids too.

"Shara, I hope you guys get there safely. And thanks again for the assist. If you find Madelyn, say hi from the Falcon. Hopefully she's alright".

"Your Highness" he said to Fin "You're in charge of those refugees now. Take care and maybe one day we'll meet again. You and Ben got on well and any friend of his is a friend of mine".

"Tycho, you can definitely come with us. Feyna is a toughie, so is Winter. She won't take anythin' lying down. But if things are fallin' apart, she's goin' to need some backup".

He re-inputted the coordinates to New Nubia and took them into hyperspace.

Hang on Feyna, we're coming...

TAG: @Sinrebirth , @JediMasterAnne (help incoming! @TheSilentInfluence for the mention)

 

OOC: Combos w/ Sinre

IC: Senator Nola Deidder, Vice-Chancellor Triebakk, and Del
Triebakk's office, Star Home

Unfortunately, Nola was unable to come up with a plan to ditch the guards before they reached Triebakk's office, and the Vice-Chancellor was naturally, instantly, suspicious.

She stepped closer to Triebakk's desk, in front of the MPs. "The Chancellor gave orders for you to be taken into custody."

As she spoke, she typed on her datapad, doing her best to mask her movements from the guards. She turned the pad so Triebakk could see (but hopefully not the guards):

Help get rid of MPs, I'll explain.

Eying the datapad absently, Triebakk rumbled under his breath.

Not likely.

He grabbed the nearest NR guard and smacked him into the wall -

"Oh boy," shouted Del, and his hand whipped around, catching an officer in the neck in a precise attack -

The other two reached for their pistols -

Nola quickly drew her blaster, turning it on the nearest guard and firing--

The guard crashed to the ground around his wound -

The other swung his blaster around, smacking her in the side of the head and turning to shoot at Del, who had expertly trapped his opponent while they were choking in a headlock. The guard tried to break free, but was losing consciousness, just not quick enough for Del to see the blaster -

Triebakk roared and slapped the weapon away, not a moment before it shot him -

The weapon went clattering to the ground but Triebakk moaned in pain -

Nola was momentarily dazed when one guard atruck her, but once her head cleared again, she mentally swore upon seeing Triebakk had been shot.

She shot at the last guard, just to be sure--Del had pretty much choked him out, then rushed to help Triebakk.

The guards were all dead, and Del twisted the neck of his to be sure. He paid the noise no heed; he had been a bodyguard for many years and sometimes it had to be done.

Triebakk was standing, and he looked down at the wound in his side. He yipped a noise. I'm fine, but unless someone explains what's going on right now I shall begin to rip off arms.

Relieved, Nola wasted no time. "Doman knows Winter was here speaking with you, she's paranoid that Feyna is about to lauch a coup against her.

"She was hiding the Hapan plot from her, and she was just in contact with the Ducha in charge. There's more..." Nola went on, detailing Doman's admission of the other things she'd concealed: the attack on Nouane, how Doman had manipulated the Eternal Empire and the Empire of the Hand against each other...

"She's sent another squad of MPs to arrest Feyna, Winter, and Isolder."

Triebakk released a huff. He explained that he had offered the Wookiee Home Fleet to Feyna, but he couldn't raise her anymore. He held up his comlink. He was jammed.

Del checked his. "I'm still live."

The Wookiee's eyes lit up. He asked her which Ducha it was that was behind the coup.

"She never said her name, that I heard--it wasn't AlGray, who's the other big one? Galney, I think?"

Triebakk sat forward, produced a datapad. He showed her an image of Ducha Galney.

Her?

Del's eyes widened.

The Wookiee's eyes were hard; angry.

Nola nodded. "Yes, her.

"She said she had support from the Confederation, as well," she remembered.

Triebakk nodded. I'm sure.

He held out a hand for Nola's comlink.

Before Doman jams yours too, please.

Del for his part had poked his head out of the office door; he was going to keep an eye out.

Nola handed over her comlink, wondering what Triebakk's plan was.

The Wookiee opened a channel to Kashyyyk. The Queen Mother’s foe has been named. To the holdings of Ducha Galney, you should go.

There was a roar; a war cry, and then the line silenced.

Triebakk looked at Nola.

Now we shall confront the Chancellor once and for all.

Del peeked back in. “Coast is clear."

Nola swallowed, then nodded. "Let's go, then."

She turned back to Triebakk, glancing at the comlink curiously. "That was the Kashyyyk Home fleet, wasn't it?"

Triebakk nodded. Enough is enough.

Del grinned. "Let's go and get ourselves a Chancellor."

Nola checked her blaster--hopefully she wouldn't need it again, but just in case--and started to head out.

Just before she went out into the corridor, she had another rush of recollection. "I think Winter probably told you about the assassination attempt against Feyna--I know they thought it was Palpatine, but Beruss said that the Hapan nobles were behind that, too. And the bounty hunter was a clone, not the actual Aurra Sing."

Nola's tone became cynical. "Doman told Feyna she'd have a word with the Senators from the cloning worlds, but I think we all know she won't."

With everything that was going on, it was hard keeping track of all the information she needed to relay.

-------------------------

IC: Feyna, Lady Galney, Isolder, Winter, and Kalen
Aboard the Star Home

Feyna frowned at the door; she wasn't convinced that Doman was really interested in a thorough investigation, and considering that Triebakk had offered the Kashyyyk Home fleet to assist her, she took the rest with more than a little cynicism.

She handed Galney the blaster. "Try to get yourself out if you can. If not, we'll try to come back for you when it's safe." She was being optimistic; she didn't expect to see Galney again. She hoped that the police wouldn't hurt her more than she'd already been, but there was no telling what they might do once they realized that Feyna and the others had fled. She gave the woman a careful hug, avoiding her injuries. "Thank you."

Isolder had his comlink out, but he looked unsure of who to call. "Let's just get out first, then we'll figure out who we can still talk to," she said softly, heading over to the kids, grabbing some of their things in the process. "Come on, you two, we have to go." Her tone was calm but firm.

Galney hugged the Queen Mother back, tentatively. Winter had moved over a chair, and Galney sat, readying the blaster. "Good luck, my Queen."

She slowly, pained, crossed her legs to conceal her hip wound and appear disinterested, the blaster subtly beneath her hand.

The children, for their part, were grumpy that their shows had been cancelled, but they knew when their Mother was using her authority, and they did as they were told. Isolder ferried them, pressing a button to open a way that was more the size of their children than them. He pulled a face, but crouched and began to lead them, making sure the family was behind them, and leaving Feyna to shut the door behind them.

The door knocked again, and Galney spoke loudly, calmly. "The Queen Mother is indisposed with her husband, how may I help?"

Isolder chuckled slightly, but quietly. For his part, Kalen thought this was great. And then -

"I forgot my picture!"

Feyna had already closed the hatch behind her, and quickly stuck out her arm to stop her child going back. "We can't go back for it, sweetie, it"s not safe."

She put a finger to her lips in a 'shush' gesture and prodded them further into the passage.

Kalen complied with a sigh that belonged to an adult, and Isolder led them along.

The door was closed, so they couldn't hear the room behind them -

But they weren't a handful of steps away before there was the distinct noise of blaster fire, suddenly.

Kalen craned his neck to look back at his mother. "What was that?"

Feyna flinched at the sound, but swallowed and pressed on. "Don't be scared, just keep going."

Kalen was distracted by Isolder opening a door to a room over, and let it go. Isolder moved them out, and helped Feyna up. "We need to keep going," Winter said, who had been just behind the Prince. "We should probably split up though."

Isolder nodded. "Someone needs to stay with the children while we rally the Guards to take back the ship." The room was a kind of library, and he stepped over to a box for datapads. The History of Corvis Minor was on the side of it.

"Which means we have to decide if we're taking down Doman."

Kalen sighed again. "Adult stuff."

Winter pulled a face at him. "Important stuff."

Isolder drew from the box a trio of datapads while Winter checked the comms. They had been jammed. She crushed the comlink under her boot. "In-case they track us."

The Prince handed over the 'pads. "The secondary maps for the Secret Way, Feyna. There is a safe room, and of course ways to the outer parts of the Palace where the Senate is."

He held the box out to Feyna. Inside were a pair of small blasters. Feyna would recognise the design as one with very few shots; five at most. Isolder smirked slightly. "Nobody would ever look up Corvis Minor, trust me."

Winter held their youngest, who had asked to be picked up. "I can take the children to the safe room."

"No Dad? No Mum?" Kalen said, worried.

Isolder's heart caught his throat. They were going into danger. They might not see the children ever again - but it made sense for one member of the Royal Family to stay back. Winter looked pained, as the decision they had to make was not one they could afford to tarry on.

Feyna bit her lip, not sure she liked where this was going; surely Isolder was not implying thay they actually kill Doman...

And as to rallying the Hapan guards, Feyna had been quite literal when she'd said she didn't trust anyone outside their little group--their guards might well be in on the plot as well.

And the idea of separating from the kids...the 'what-if's' going through her head scared her to death, more than the thought of anything Doman might do to her.

But the children wouldn't be safe if they didn't stop Doman, stop this coup.

Feyna swallowed back the tightness in her throat, hugging both of her children, kissing them each on their cheeks. "Just for a little bit," she reassured them, hoping with everything that it would be true. "Do as Winter says, she'll keep you safe.

"I love you both."

She hugged Winter, too. "Look after them, we'll come find you as soon as we can."

Winter hugged her, one armed. "You be careful, Feyna."

Kalen looked worried, finally catching on. "Is everything alright?"

Focused on the task at hand, Isolder checked the charge on his holdout blaster surreptitiously, so his son could not see. "I know a way to Doman's room. If we can at least talk to her, maybe that'll be enough."

"Mummy? Daddy?" Kalen's eyes began to water.

Feyna nodded to Isolder, tucking the other blaster into her pocket. "What about Triebakk's room, do we want to try him first? He did offer help..." And she'd feel a little better going to Doman with a little more backup.

Kalen was getting scared; Feyna couldn't blame him, and it tore her apart. She knelt down to hug him again. "It's going to be okay, honey."

Kalen held her tight.

Isolder knelt down too.

"Mum and Dad promise, alright?"

Winter's face was utter stoicism; she couldn't afford to get upset. "Come on Kalen, let's get to the room. There will be plenty there to keep you busy, and Mum and Dad will be back soon. On our way, we'll grab a book or two, find some more stationary and flimsi paper, yeah?"

She held out her free hand.

Kalen nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"I'll do my best, Mummy, Daddy."

"Be a brave boy, okay?" Feyna kissed Kalen's head once more as she got to her feet. She reached for Isolder for comfort and strength, but she couldn't let her children see her upset.

"It'll be all right, and we'll be back soon."

The children let Winter gently guide them away, and Isolder held Feyna close for a moment.

"I'm sorry, Fey."

He kissed her forehead. "I can lead us to Triebakk or to Doman; your choice - but we may have to take Doman into custody now. She's lost it, if she's working with coups and arresting us."

Feyna pulled herself together as Winter headed off with the kids--They'll be fine. Winter was one of two people Feyna trusted most in the galaxy, she'd look after the children just fine.

Taking her blaster back out, Feyna checked the charge. She was nervous about going straight to Doman, that attempting to detain her themselves would just reinforce the Chancellor's fears of a coup--but that was probably going to happen no matter who else they got behind them.

"Let's just head for Doman; I don't know if she's going to listen to us, though, and if things don't go our way..." She'd like to avoid violence in this situation.

She glanced back the way they'd come. "I'm guessing Galney is either dead or captured," she added, regretfully. "If the police report back to Doman that we gave them the slip---"

She wasn't even sure how to finish that sentence--what would Doman do?

Isolder nodded. “We can’t do anything about that. All we can do is deal with Doman directly. Either we deal with her now, or we deal with Doman and the coup.”

He held her, kissed her.

“You faced off against a Yuuzhan Vong before we even knew what they were. We can handle a single power-crazed Corellian.

"I love you, Fey."

Feyna hugged him, kissed him back. The pep talk helped. "I love you, too."

She looked to the maps on the datapad, getting her bearings. "Lead the way."

Isolder nodded. "This way, Queen Mother."

He settled himself in.

They would have this coup - both of them, it seemed, dealt with, and they would be reunited with their family he promised.

Feyna nodded back, took his hand, and followed.

TAG: @Sinrebirth