Star Wars: Rebuilding of Empires Story Thread VIII

[Herald]

Belkadan - Yuuzhan Vong Throneworld
Belkadan, the heart of the new Yuuzhan Vong Empire. Once a minor world that was home to the ExGal Society that sought to chart the void outside the galaxy for intelligent life. They discovered it. Yomin Carr, an agent of the Praetorite Vong had been within their ranks and silenced them in order to allow the invasion forces to flood through the region designated Vector Prime. Since than, it had undergone Worldshaping and become a thriving planet.

Within the coral palace, stood two members of the Elite. The leaders of the Intendant and Priestly castes.
"... end this futile gesture. Let us call forth our brethren and renew our holy conflict!" Jakan said.
"We have spoken of this before Jakan! We thrive on the very edge of extinction. No glory to our race or the gods. All that is left is the path that stands before us." Drathul replied somewhat angrily.
"This path that you spoke of will bring about nothing but dishonour and the wrath of the gods! Already whispers are speaking amongst the castes..."
"And what have you heard, Most High Priest?" Drathul narrowed his eyes.
"They speak the words... betrayal. That we, the Elite have betrayed them by not continuing the war. To make the infidels pay for what they had done! And if we are to die, we die as warriors and secure in the knowledge that we do the work of the gods!"

The doorway dilated open which ended the argument between the two and from it came a young female Intendant.
"What is it?!" hissed Jakan.
"Belek tiu my lords" the young Intendant snapped her arms to either side in apology. "Forgive the intrusion but we have detected something entering the system."

Jakan and Drathul quickly gathered themselves and their followers to the central command chamber of the palace. Moving through the corridors, the hatch spincter opened allowing them entry into the large room itself. Inside stood Commander Malik Carr who stood nearby a large pool where a Yammosk resided. The green fluids bathing its form whilst it did its duty as a war coordinator. Its empathic form of telepathy allowed it to connect to the various dovin basals scattered across system as well as their villips thus allowing it to see what they saw. And what it saw was something large... very large.

"Report!"
"Our dovin basals register a large object moving through darkspace."
"An infidel fleet?"

Ever since the Massacre of Ithor, the Yuuzhan Vong Empire around Belkadan waited for the day for the treachorous infidels to break their so called peace and attack once more.

"No my lord... its gravitic signature is far too large for a single ship."

The most powerful of dovin basals were capable of actually moving planets yet such a technology was not available to the infidels. But right before them was evidence of a moving world.

"It's... a planet..."

The large vibrant green world slowly moved towards Belkadan leading to the the assembled fleets around the throne world moving forward with menacing purpose. Whatever this threat was, they would face it like true Yuuzhan Vong warriors. Coralskippers departed their fighter carriers whilst warships moved forward. All driven by the telepathic coordination of the primary Yammosk.

Tension filled the command chambers which led to Drathul not noticing an attendant standing next to him with his head bowed.
“What is it?!” he snarled angrily.
“My lord... the Warmasters villip calls...”

Looking at the attendant, he saw the fleshy sac which beat with life of its own. Stroking it, the creature turned into the face of Nas Choka.
“Warmaster... I have little time for this. We have a threat at our hands at this-..”
"All forces... stand down, by the authority of the Warmaster. I stand onboard the planet that approaches you now. We have much to discuss."
Drathul narrowed his eyes. “We do indeed...”

Summary:
*Zonama Sekot has arrived in the Belkadan system
*Warmaster Nas Choka brings the truth about Zonama Sekot and Yuuzhan’tar to his people

Ithor
A week later, a Yuuzhan Vong flotilla had arrived once more on Ithor which raised some alarm amongst the galactic nations until a message was given that it was a peace delegation. Warmaster Choka once again led their forces along with Jedi Master Ikrit who arrived to ensure that this time peace triumphed. Within a matter of hours, the treaty had been agreed and signed which showed a formal end to the hostilities.

With the task complete, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet departed to Belkadan once more where the Yuuzhan Vong Empire engaged in a period of isolation whilst it took stock and recovered from the devastating Yuuzhan Vong War.

Summary:
*Peace treaty signed, the Yuuzhan Vong War is officially over
*Yuuzhan Vong entering temporary isolation in the Outer Rim territories surrounding Belkadan and Zonama Sekot

[Lord Castellan]

Telos




"You heard the Admiral, up the ramp!" Saren yelled.

Krennath had taken out many of the fighters, but even now another flight descended fro mthe Star Destroyer above, and HK-77s unleashed fire on the scrambling marines. One of them, a young Human male, tripped and fell as he tried to run. Saren stooped down to pick him up by his collar, tossing the marine inside the ship. The blast door closed over the hatch as Saren turned and marched to the bridge.

There he found Admiral Krennath looking at a live feed report, the true calm amidst the crew. "Get us off the ground damn it!" Saren barked.

"Commander, we had a casualty. Knurl is dead sir!"

Saren cursed under his breath. "Who has experience flying a corvette?"

"Commander Gur'Than, you've seen me with the Eternal Ar'Kai, you know I can do it." It was Batu. Saren gave only a nod, and the Human jumped into the pilot's seat.

"Saren, that Star Destroyer is gonna block us no matter which way we go." Hirrack infromed him.

"Not like we have a choice." Krennath said.

Saren made a decision and nodded. "Gunners at the ready, hit any fighter you see. Batu take us up, lets see what this girl can do."

The crew jumped to their stations as the ship burst from atop the snowy mesa, burning droids behind with it's engines. The Bothawui soared for the sky, weapons blazing and hitting every talon-clad fighter that tried to assault them. Soon the atmosphere was upon them, and then they hit space.

"Commander! The SD is opening fire on us!"

"Evade and focus fire to the fighters. Revert power to our frontal shields. Batu, head straight for the enemy ship."

"Straight at it Commander?" Batu asked, worried.

"Trust me." And in that moment, everyone who heard the two words, did exactly as requested.

Saren called Hastur up from the lower deck, bringing Hirrack and Krennath over to him. They were smart enough to know what was coming, as the Bothawui sped towards the enemy Destroyer.The three kneeled behind Saren, waiting for his presence to graze their minds.

Batu was flying like he never had before. A hail of turbolaser fire spiraled towards the small ship, but not a single made it's mark. Through a dazzling display of tricks and dives, he dodged every shot and lead the fighters on a crazed race of confusion.

Saren waited as they edged ever closer. Just a little bit closer, just a little less distance. Almost there.

Suddenly he cried out. "CLOAK!" In the instant he gave the order, the Bothan fell to his knees, touching upon the meditating minds of his fellow Jedi and tapping into their strength. No one saw as the ghostly form of Malak floated above, lending what hold he and the dead Masters still held. The conciousnesses were as one, flowing through Saren's mind as a conduit.

Slowly the Bothan stood, opening his eyes and staring as if blankly out the view port. His eyes were white, and the silence in the ship surrounded him. He rose an arm, pointing with an outstretched hand at the Star Destroyer before him.

It wobbled at first, ever so slightly. Then suddenly the bow dipped downards, increasing in speed until the ship was nearly upside down. Droid Fighters scattered in amazement as their programming ran out of options for this scenario. Then the ship began to crumple inward as tin foil. It rolled itself into a ball, until finally imploding. There was a momentary show of light, and then nothingness, the enemy ship completely eradicated.

The crew was dumbstruck with awe, watching as Saren released the Link and the Jedi caught their breath. Saren turned to his shoulder, as if there were a hand there, then came back to reality.

"Jump to Hyperspace. Lets take the good Admiral home then ill report back to the council via holo. Good job everyone." He stood waiting until they carried out his order.

Almost as soon as the first, the second ship in the skies over Telos vanished in a show of light.

RESULTS:
-Bothawui escapes from Telos
-Will drop Admiral Krennath back off on Balmorra

[Lightning_Count]

Nar Shaddaa



Kiva watched the distant ships landing and leaving in an eternal yo-yo of motion from one of the major spaceports, a constant tide of traffic that had been using the same lanes for thousands of years. She could hear the hum of engines even from all this way, perched on top of a building like a Gargoyle teetering on the edge, wondering if she should lose her balance would it be a great loss? A long drop and a short stop, and all those problems would just go away. The fall was inviting, but despite her thoughts she held back, raising her head again to look at the ships.

“They’d never get away with that noise on Coruscant.” She remarked as a second figure joined her. “Very strict noise pollution laws.”

“I’m sorry, I think you’ve confused me with someone who cares.” Jini dismissed. “Boss wants to see you.”

“Where?”

“Shulstine V. He says make your own way there.”

“What’s he doing on Shulstine?”

Jini exhaled. “Standing in a line waiting for a tram. How the hell do I know? Just go see him.”



Kiva shrugged in disinterest, not bothering to rise to Jini’s bait today.

“I’ll get on it.”

Jini waited a few moments. “I couldn’t help but notice you are still perched on this ledge like a worried stock broker. Shouldn’t you be jumping?”

“All things in time.” Kiva replied.

“Don’t tell that to the boss, he expects you when he calls you, you don’t want him to lose his temper.”

“No, because then he might torture me for weeks on end…oh wait, he does that anyway.” Kiva exhaled.

“I always knew you were weak, that you didn’t have what it takes.” Jini sneered. “Go on, take the plunge, save us all your whining.”

Kiva smiled and stepped back, staring eye to eye with her rival. “Shulstineit is then. You coming?”

“Eventually.” Jini said. “I’ll be taking a different ship.”

“Good, there’s no room on mine for that chip on your shoulder.”

“Save the flirting for your enemies.” Jini grunted. “I’m not in the mood.”

“So you’re not my enemy?”

“I prefer the term Nemesis.” Jini smiled thinly. “Now run along.”

“I could say what I thought of you, but that would break the no flirting rule.” Kiva winked. “Later.”





Jini took a few moments to examine the same view Kiva had, then turned with a snort to walk away, almost colliding with a male figure who had apparently materialised out of thin air.

“I sense rivalry.” He stated softly. “That’s good, I like a good catfight.”

“You again.” Jini dismissed. “Mr Prophet of the Darkside.”

“Just Prophet is fine.” He said absently. “I’m not one to stand on ceremony.”

“What are you doing here?” Jini demanded.

“Stalking you.” He answered simply. “That’s the answer you expect isn’t it?”

“Is it the truth?”

“Bits of it.”

“And now I’m getting bored.” Jini shook her head. “Why are you wannabe villains so cryptic?”

“Wannabe?”

“Sure you have the force, but so do a thousand other nobodies who think they’re the new dark lord just because the own a cloak and can levitate a rock.”

“AH, so that’s what you think of me.” The Prophet smiled, most of his features concealed beneath a hood. “And what do you do to these pretenders?”

“I show them what true power looks like. By gutting them.”

The prophet extended his arms, leaving his chest unprotected.

“I suppose you better make a star then. In your own time.”



She hesitated a moment, sensing a trap, but had to act. To back down would invite ridicule and she could not tolerate that. She was still curious about this man so decided just to take his arms, replaceable but enough to instil some much needed respect.

She narrowed her eyes and in a flash she grabbed her sword, activated it, and brought it up in a vicious upward cut aimed to dismember but not destroy her opponent. Her arm moved about five inches before it stopped, a tight grip on her wrist. In the time it had taken for her to merely reach for her blade the Prophet had lunged across and grabber her arm, holding it completely solid and still without even wavering. She put all her strength into moving her arm and it didn’t even budge, the man fixing her with a pair of totally calm dark eyes.

“I am no pretender. I could have taken your head before you even touched your sabre if I had wanted. Next to me you are the pretender, your master is the pretender, neither of you has even the tiniest idea who you are dealing with.”

He lifted Jini up, holding her by the wrist, her feet dangling off the ground.

“I want you to understand that you are on the path to destruction, and only my words will save you. Are you prepared to listen?”

She wasn’t about to argue.

“I’m listening.”

“Good, except I’m not speaking. Yet.” He dropped her. “But at least I have your attention. Run along now, you have an appointment to keep.”

She backed away warily.

“Go on.” He waved. “It isn’t time yet, we’ll talk about the first lesson soon. Maybe you’ll even survive it.”

Actions-

Dooku and friends have unknown business in the SSU

The Prophet appears to Jini once more

[Corp]

Darlyn Boda

The sharp whine of blaster bolts mixed with the study hum of lightsabers as Federation forces fought battle droids. Thousands of them had landed on the surface weeks ago and while their fleet had been destroyed they continued to fight on. Now after hard fighting the droids had been pushed to a town that sat on the coast and the battle had dissolved to a house to house melee.

Shadow bent over with her lightsaber held in front of her, rushing towards the droid’s positions as rockets flew overhead. She sensed that Federation soldiers were following her trying to give her a much cover as they could. Ahead of her was another group of soldiers lead by Master Calis were already attacking the droid’s position, keeping them busy while Shadow led the flanking attack. Shadow hadn’t really been happy about it. Her skills were in hiding and stealth attacks. Every instinct she had was telling her that running out into the open with a bright, glowing stick was very stupid. That it would be far more efficient if she just held up a sigh saying ‘Jedi. Won’t someone please shoot me’. But Master Calis had insisted on this approach, saying that it helped troop morale to see the Jedi sharing the same dangers they did. Intellectually she saw his point but she still felt that she was just asking for a blaster bolt between the eyes.

Though it seemed like hours it only took a few minutes to reach the defences that the droids had thrown up. Shadow opened herself to the Force, letting it guide her hand to make up for her lack of training. She could do little but stand in one spot, deflecting blaster bolts, until the squad she was attached to arrived and began thinning out the enemy. Now able to focus on something else than just staying alive Shadow moved into the dark building, deflecting shots and cutting down droids. Shouts from the side signalled that Calis had also broken through and there was now a rush as the droids tried to withdraw to secondary positions. About a quarter of them stood their ground, giving their lives to allow their fellows time to reach safety and prepare their defences. An effective tactic had they only been facing one enemy. Instead the retreating droids ran headlong into Shadow’s group. Order gave way to confusion as the two groups wrestled each other in the gloom. A wayward rocket destroyed a far wall and the fight spilled out into the streets.

Pausing for a moment to catch her breath Shadow scanned the battle. There standing by the gaping hole stood a droid that looked different than the rest, and seemed to be directing the others. Deciding that this must be their squad leader Shadow jumped up and charged at it, using the Force to blast a path through the droids that was guarding it. Bringing her lightsaber down for what she believed would be a quick kill Shadow was shocked to see a blade slide out of the droid’s arm and come up to block hers. The metal blade held and Shadow now found herself in a dual. Taking a deep breath she calmed herself, telling herself that this would be just like training with the droids back on Endor. After a few swings she began to feel better about the situation and soon was able to find an opening and brought her blade down on the droid’s head. Her lips curled in a smile as the droid brought its other arm to block the blade. A smile that quickly disappeared then the arm not only held but caused her lightsaber to sputter and die. Able only to stare at the handle of the lightsaber in shock Shadow found herself flying due to a backhanded slap. Before she could recover the droid was looming over Shadow, its blade ready to deal the death blow. The blow never came. A pair of Gamorrean soldiers appeared a quickly hacked the droid apart with their axes.

“Need to keep your wits little Jedi,” one of them said before they ran out into the street to join the rest of their squad. They were slowly followed by a Mandalorian who was quietly muttering to himself that were was no point in him being here if no one was going to listen. Even though medical treatments and careful social control meant that the natives were much calmer than other Gamorreans didn’t mean they didn’t enjoy smashing things.

Slowly picking herself up Shadow saw that the building had been cleared of hostiles and the soldiers were moving on to the next section of the town. Opening herself to the Force once more Shadow could feel Calis a few blocks away, likely pressing the droids hard to that they couldn’t set up another strong defensive line. She also felt another Force signature and decided to head in that direction. After a few minutes she found herself on a street lined with what use to be businesses. At the end of the street was Lusa who had set up a small aid station. Watchful Legion troops patrolled the alleyways since the droids saw wounded soldiers as easy targets. “Lusa I didn’t know you were here.”

“Oh hello…err…Shadow. I just arrived here a few hours ago from Ertegas. It was felt it was better to have me here given there are more civilians. Luckily it looks like we managed to save most of the planet,” Lusa said with a smile as he wiped her hands. She turned to give a med droid instructions on care for the soldier she had just healed allowing Shadow to control her emotions. Privately she wouldn’t have minded if the droids had done a bit more damage. This was a lawless planet and she was sure there were few people who deserved saving. Of course she was smart enough to know others wouldn’t share her outlook. “Master Rillao is working on the ships so she wanted me on the surface. Say…why are you holding your ribs like that?”

“I am? Oh. I got into a disagreement with a droid commander.”

“Well we have a lull right now so let me take a look,” Lusa said and quickly looked over the padawan. “So have you talked to Halbret lately?”

Shadow gave a slight wince as Lusa prodded her torso. “No, not since we arrived. I think she’s down by the docks.”

“Hmm. I haven’t been able to talk to her since I got back to Federation space. Haven’t even been able to see my father. Ok you might have cracked a rip but there’s nothing worst than that. Tonight do a healing trance for a few hours and you’ll be back to normal.”

As Lusa was putting away her scanners one of the soldiers walked up. “Ma’am we just got word that we broke through in sector seven and we think they’re making a last stand. We should really move up closer to the fighting.”

“Alright see to it Thesal. I’ll gather up my supplies and be right behind you,” Lusa told the soldier. She had spent part of her childhood among the Foreign Legion and so knew some of the ones that stuck around by name. The soldiers quickly packed up the aid station and started moving deeper into the town. Lusa and Shadow began to follow them when the former stopped. “Wait…wait, do you feel that?”

“Feel what?”

Lusa didn’t answer and instead walked over to one of the destroyed shops. Brightly coloured dust and slivers made Lusa guess that this had once been a gem shop of some kind. Naturally it had been picked over by passing soldiers but something in the Force called her. Reaching a small pile of rubble Lusa began to shift through it. Near the bottom her hand found something smooth and hard. Pulling the object out she saw that it was a brilliant sapphire that seemed to pulse with inner power. Surprised that such a stone could survive this battle and be missed by looter Lusa turned the stone over in her hands. There seemed to be something special about it, but before she would study it more a distant explosion brought her back to the present. Pocketing the stone she decided she would worry about it later. For now she had lives that needed to be saved.


Actions:
Federation retakes Darlyn Boda
Lusa finds the Ankarres Sapphire

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

Isde Naha

As Admiral Serir looked around the conference room she considered how amazing it was that a crisis could draw so many different people together. Hoping to safe as many lives as possible President Kraas had decided to call for outside help against the murderous droids instead of waiting for enough Federation ships to gather. Traditional allies had answered but so had others who did not have a very deep history with the Federation. At the conference table the UAP admiral was debating politics with General Cody from the FRA. In a corner the top Mandalorian advisor spoke with an officer from the Compact, perhaps laying the ground work for future relations. The officers from Corellia and the Imperium just silently glared at each other. Keeping everyone moving in one direction was a bit of a challenge but in the end they were saving worlds that might have fallen to the droid’s advance. Now they had to end this invasion.

“Alright I believe we’re ready to began,” Serir said. She waited until everyone had found their seats before continuing. “To start with I’m pleased to say that we have retaken Darlyn Boda. There may be a few holdouts but the droid army that landed is no longer a threat. General Cody how are your efforts going on Ertegas?”

“There’s still some of the droids holding out in some hills on the southern landmass but I expect that we’ll be able to dig them out in the next week. Most of their heavy equipment has been destroyed and on world designed for farming we’re able to use our numbers to our advantage. I was actually a bit worried that they might try to hide among the worker droids but it’s like the idea never occurred to them. Means our loses are lower than expected,” General Cody reported.

“Excellent, and thank you again General for leading our ground operations in that system. Ladies and gentlemen I believe that it’s time to go on the offensive and destroy the droids once and for all.”

The Mandalorian spoke up. “That’s easier said than done Admiral. I’ve been studying the reports on all your encounters with these droids and every time you have a clear advantage they run and hit you somewhere else. Chances are if we confront them they’ll just run.”

“Which is why I hope to get the droids to attack us,” Serir said, nodding to an aide who dimmed the lights. She then activated a holo map showing the two sectors that the droids had attacked, the systems they held marked in red. “The Federation fleet will begin to launch aggressive attacks to reclaim the systems the droids have captured. This campaign will involve the bulk of the ships we have in the area to convince them we have thrown all our resources into these attacks. It is my hope that these attacks will convince the droids that the north and south heavily protected, and thus should be avoided.”

“What if they decide to launch an attack anyway, maybe strike at systems behind your lines?” Captain Opren asked.

“With Mandalorian help we’ve set up minefields here and here,” Serir pointed out, highlighting two areas on the map. “If the droids do try and work their way around us they should be hit with the minefields. Plus we should have enough ships around to respond to any attack. However it’s my belief that they will instead hit Bespin. Though they have avoided it thus far I believe once we being out attacks they will see it as the only logical place to attack.”

“Makes sense. Those floating cities are a gunner’s dream,” an Imperium officer pointed out.

“Exactly, though the cities have by now been mostly evacuated. Federation troops will be posted to the cities in case the droids try landing troops. General Cody I would like you to deploy your soldiers on the ‘surface’. This will allow you to use your heavy equipment. A Federation task force will be in the system and will form the center of our formation. The Corellians and Compact ships will form our left wing while the Imperium and FRA ships form our right. Once we have engaged the droids the UAP fleet will arrive and strike at their rear. Meanwhile the rest of the Federation fleet will redeploy along the major hyperspace routes to cut off any escape. Mandalorian advisors will be spread among the fleet, to those ships willing to take them.

“I would like to point out one other thing. Since this attack began we’ve yet to capture one of these droid ships. Every wreck we’ve investigated has had its memory cores completely wiped. We need to know just what these droids are and more importantly where they come from. Therefore, on orders from President Kraas, I’m offering a ten million credit bounty on an intact memory core. Off the record of course.”

That caused several of the officers around the table to sit up a bit straighter. Officially offering rewards was frowned upon. Soldiers were already paid to fight the enemy and didn’t need extras for doing their jobs. Plus there was also the risk of soldiers ignoring the battle going on around them to focus all of their attention on getting the reward. But Kraas badly wanted to know who had sent these droids to Federation space and he had ignored Serir’s objections. She only hoped that it would pay off without costing too many lives.

“So if no one has any questions about the overall plan we can start looking at the details.”


Actions:
Plans made to draw the droids into a final battle

[Coyote]

PEACE!







Crowds erupt in cheering as the Yuuzhan Vong negotiations come to a conclusion: Peace, finally, is at hand.

Throne Room, Theed Palace, Naboo


Queen Apailana knew it was going to be fleeting, but at the same time, she could not feel more relieved.

"Finally, some good news," Taime said.
"Well earned, too," the Queen said as her Handmaiden placed a tray of refreshments on a small stand next to the Throne. "Thank you," Her Majesty said. Most of the Royal Court and Command Staff was present as well, watching the news unfold on the holo. Excited murmurs, punctuated by occassional cheers and applause, accompanied the observations of the news commentators, much of it ignored by the observers in the euphoria of the moment.

"You can hear the crowds, Majesty," FADM Kulo said, looking out at the ruckus in the public square below. The Queen smiled, and rose to see for herself. The people cheered and waved flags, the joyous noise easily reaching the high balcony they stood at.

"We haven't seen crowds like that for... too long," she said, almost tearful with relief.
"It is a moment full of catharsis," Governor Otoyot observed almost solemnly. "This represents a great burden lifted from the shoulders of the people."

"Majesty!" Taime said, picking up a communicator, "Ambassador Tyla Janns and Jedi Irena Syfardos are on their way back! A Yuuzhan Vong Transport is on the way to drop them off now!" Cheers erupted at the news.
"The nightmare is finally over," Prince Nizarr said.
"This one is, anyway," Th'andra muttered. "Now we'll find creative new ones."

"Always with the cynicism?" the Prince asked.
"I was a vigo in Falleen Intel before coming here," she reminded him, "Cynicism is typically the best lens through which to view reality. Or at least healthy skepticism."
"Will you be so cynical during my run for the Throne?" the Falleen Representative asked her.

"Don't be silly," she said, "We both know you're not serious."
"Maybe," he said, "Maybe not. Maybe just not this time. I am trying to raise my public personal-- to better position myself for a hard-fought campaign in four years."
"And you call me cynical," Th'andra said.

"Have you wondered why there's no real opposition to the Queen, despite being unpopular?" Nizarr asked. "It's because despite being unpopular, no one can be seen handling the job any better now. If someone came with a vision, something to unite the people..."
"So you have no such 'vision'?" Th'andra asked sharply. "What about your aggressive Republic backers?"

"Too soon," Nizarr said. "The Empires are popular; Hadiss is not. But soon, the wheel will turn again-- the Empires will fumble soon enough; it is their nature to get drunk with victory and become too heavy-handed. In four years, Imperial victory over the Vong will be forgotten, and their reputation as harsh masters will be their ongoing legacy."

"So, four years from now, you'll clash with Ranya Saviya over finer points of Republic ideology. You'll want something aggressive; she'll push for a more diploamtic government, is that it?"
"Who knows?" Nizarr asked, sipping at his celebratory wine, "A lot will depend on what the political loandscape will look like. A lot can change on four years."

Before Th'andra could reply, the Queen moved to the balcony and nodded to her father, the Media Director. He activated the small, hidden microphone that was part of her Royal costume jewelry and patched into the external address speakers that lined the Square.

"People of Naboo and the entire Sovereign Alliance," she said, her voice rolling out over the square, "A painful chapter of history is closed; and the page turns-- now a new chapter is written, a chapter of peace, success, and rebirth for all!" Her words were met with a volcano of cheers from the people below.

"This is a much earned victory for a tired Galaxy. I thank the people of our armed services for their stalwart dedication to duty, I thank you, the people, for your perserverence. I thank our allies, who shed their blood with us to make this day possible." More cheers came from the crowd below. "And so, I proclaim this day and tomorrow the Days of Peace and Celebration! Be with your loved ones and rejoice in life! Thank you all!" she said, and spread her arms out, as if willing to embrace the entire population. The cheers and applause were thunderous, and a party seemed to erupt spontaneously from the crowd.

"You know," FADM Kulo said, "Majesty, if you don't mind my saying, it is when you speak from the heart you do your best. Sometimes when you use a script, you tend to over-think it!" he said with a laugh.
"I'll have to bear that in mind," she said, "Actually, I'll have Director Bavan replay it for me later; I'm not sure I remember exactly what I said.." There were laughs all around, mostly due to the already festive atmosphere more so than the comment itself.

In another corner, opposite the two Falleen, the slender form of Moff Adon Tabor raised his wine glass in toast as well. Through the Throne Room's open doors, he caught a glimpse of Dalia, smiling at him. She nodded at him, and seemed to whisper something. He looked at her quizzically, and she formed the words with her mouth: strike while the forge is hot.

He smiled, and nodded. Moff Tabor had a plan, and he set it into motion.





Results:
News of peace bouys a weary SAS population.
Political buzzards circle, maneuvering on the Throne for themselves.

*** *** ***

Yorik-Vec Corvette
Fate's Hand
Royal Tarmac, Naboo





Jedi Knight Irena Syfardos stepped out into the sun of Naboo and beamed. The warm summer sun glowed a healthy yellow, and she felt truly warmed by the feelings of comfort and familiarity. She held her baby, Jerec, close to her-- the boy was sound asleep, in blissful, infantile oblivion to the fuss around his mother's arrival back home.

Next to Irena stood Ambassador Tyla Janns, also relieved to be back home. Her thoughts and worries centered around he rown child, Flight Cadet Lucas Janns, who was nowhere to be seen. The news of the Yuzhan Vong peace accords had burst like a bombshell over a startled yet no less anxious population; Lucas Janns had not yet had time to get released from his duties to welcome his mother back home.

There to welcome them, however, was Moff Adon Tabor, with his staff orderly there to take holopictures.

"Welcome back!" he said, greeting them warmly and helping them ladies down the ramp-- which they didn't need, but they accepted politely, and which Tabor got good images of. "The rest of the party is up in the Throne Room. We didn't know you'd be back so soon!" he said, beaming.

"It's good to be home," Irena said, the look on her face one of great joy and relief, but also tired.
"I'll have droids take your luggage," Tabor said, "Must be nice, having droids around again, huh? Look at this little man!" he said, smiling at baby Jerec, who gurgled in his sleep. "It is so good to have you all back safe and sound. Let's get you to your quarters." He gestured towards a small knot of waiting functionaries-- the media, even most of the palace staff had been caught by surprise at the sudden arrival of the Vong ship. A female guard waited among the members of the staff offering to help, a young woman with blond hair and girlish freckles, and a couple of other random staff members.

Irena stopped and blinked, then shook her head.
"Are you okay?" Moff Tabor asked.
"I think so," she replied, "I thought I felt... no, I think I'm just tired. I';ve been travelling non-stop for weeks, and half that time in my disguise..."

"Perfectly understandable," he said, "The media will want a few words--" he held up his hands and smiled, "--but I've already told them they'll have to wait until tomorrow morning. You'r eboth exhausted."
"Thank you," Tyla Janns said gratefully and shook his hand. Moff Tabor, the luggage droids, and the small entourage of hastily-assembled Palace staff escorted the two tired women --and one resting baby-- to quarters in the Palace.

"Get some rest, ladies," he said warmly, and they went into seperate rooms to sleep and unpack. As the doors closed, he turned to the orderly.

"Did you get some good shots?" he asked.
"A lot," the man said, smiling, "Helping them down the ramp like a perfect gentleman-- the handshakes, the smiles, a great one of you with the baby."
"Excellent!" Tabor said, smiling at the man and at Dalia. "Let's get ready to turn those into some real publicity. This is going to be great!"

"You'll hit the ground running," Dalia assured him, "Everything is proceding just as I thought it would..." she said with a bright smile.




Results:
Irena & Tyla return.
Arrival used as publicity fodder by Moff Tabor.
***

[PhantomVX2000]

Nar Shaddaa

“I had been called to Shulstine. Apparently, Dooku want me to be there.” Kiva said flatly as she walked into the room.

Over the holo-table, Nurola was saddened by her best friend’s departure announcement. She exhaled, “Aw, you have to go just when the fun was about to start.”

“It’s a temporary assignment. It should be over in few days or so, and I will swing back here.”

“Ah, okay, I could wait a few days.”

“You will be fine long as Rana is around.” Kiva smiled.

“I like her and she’s nice.” Nurola nodded. She actually liked her best friend’s significant one due to her easygoing and sociable personality, and figured Rana could keep her and others in her good company. In addition, she recognized Rana’s covert expertise and field knowledge would help her team organize the upcoming anti-Jedi hunting operation. For now, they have to sit and wait until Kiva return from Shulstine.

“She is very glad to get acquainted with you guys.”

“Hmm, I will look after her while you are gone. Okay?” Nurola rose from her chair and walked toward Kiva.

“All right.” Kiva shot her a smile.

Nurola put her hand on Kiva’s shoulder, and she had a concerned looking on her face. “Hey, will you be okay?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“It’s quite close to your birthplace. You know the genocide is still going on over there.”

At that point, Kiva realized that her best friend had a good point. Going to the SSU space meant that she will face some unpleasant discoveries about her alien friends from her teenage years. She was half-terrified and troubled by her thoughts of learning what happened to them, but she knew one thing for certain: there would be hell to pay.

“I heard. Um, I don’t know what happened to some of my old friends living there.”

Nurola nodded grimly, “I hope they are fine and safe.”

“Yeah, but if anything happened to them… I will swear I’lll…”

“These murdering scums would so deserve it.” Nurola said abruptly, sincerity in her voice.

“No argue there. Well, I have to let others know.”

“Hey, do you want me go with you and let others know about your temporary reassignment?” asked Nurola.

“Please, yes.” Kiva replied, giving Nurola a light, playful jab to the shoulder.

“Hey, had you heard about the Vongs signing the peace treaty?” asked Nurola as she and Kiva made their way toward the door.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *



Shulstine V
Few hours later…

Hyperspace rippled and ripped open, and the Shadowy Act thundered through the black interstellar vacuum and shimmered out of the existence almost immediately as its pilot activated the advanced cloaking device; it arrived at the Shulstine system virtually undetected. Soon, Shadowy Act made her way toward the blue-green verdant world at full speed.

“We are here.” Ensign Darina Sidle announced from her pilot seat.

“Good job.” Kiva smiled as she patted the ensign’s back. “I am happy they picked you because I like people who excel at flying as me.”

“It was not much a choice for me.”

“Why?” asked Kiva, curious.

“I got a trouble with a foreign commissioned officer few months ago. Well, I slept with a married man, and I didn’t know that fact. My superior officer felt sorry for me. He offered me two choices: stay ensign for few more years or I could be reassigned where my troubles does not matter. I took latter one. Well, if it was not for my trouble, I would have been a lieutenant by now.” Darina answered, looking up at Kiva.

Kiva made a half grin. “Well, you are lucky to have a cool officer like him.”

“Yeah, I am fortunate. Frankly, I am very glad I chose this job.” The ensign exhaled calmly, “We should be on the surface in ten minutes.”

“Great, a staff meeting” Kiva said lazily.

“What?” Darina asked.

“Count Dooku.” Kiva grimaced at the thought of seeing him again.

“Ah, I see. That old man, his reputation preceded him. I wouldn’t want to meet him in the alleyway.”

“Yeah…”

Ten minutes later, they entered the atmosphere unnoticed and soon reached the northern continent heading for the rendezvous coordinate provided by Count Dooku. The moon-lit landscape flashed by in a never-ending chain of fields and forests and buildings at dizzying speed. Soon, the Shadowy Act slowed down upon approaching the capital city of the Shulstine Star Union and settled over above the rendezvous point. Kiva made her way down from the cockpit to the ramp door, where she slipped into a black luxurious long coat and strapped on her backpack.

“I am ready.” Kiva said.

“Okay, opening the door.” Darina replied over the PA speaker. “Do me a favor: give ‘em a hell.”

Kiva chuckled, “I will!”

The back door of the Shadowy Act hissed open, the ramp lowered, and a gush roared around Kiva. Ahead her a vast sea of ultra-crisp stars and twilight punctuated with white-yellow-orange sparkling lights from the city below her. Still, she took a deep breath and then with enthusiasm, she jumped.

She vanished into the dark.

A moment later, Kiva landed on the rooftop feet first with a barely audible thump and hurriedly looked around, noting she was not alone. On edge of the rooftop stood a grey-haired elder man dressed well in his neat black uniform.

“Master” Kiva said without betraying her emotions.

Dooku spun around and smiled, “You are finally here.” He took a brief glance at the night, “A very dramatic entrance indeed.”

“You taught me well. It’s an acquired taste and it came from you.”

“Come here.”

“Yes, master.” Kiva nodded and made her way toward the roof ledge, standing next to Dooku. From this vantage point, she could see horizon of skyscrapers and sparkling city lights that stretched along the horizon as far as she could see.

“Take a good look all around you and tell me what you feel.”

“Fear, misery, and death. They are anywhere.” Kiva replied after looking within the Force. Then she paused for a couple moments, and smiled. “It’s one of our favorite playgrounds, just like the Denon.”

“Indeed.” Dooku smiled.

Kiva clasped her hands on the ledge and looked up at him, “Master, I sensed a handful of Jedi on Nar Shaddaa when I attacked their base.”

“They sent a team to dismantle our hard work by covert means.”

“Well, one of them is pregnant.” Kiva said abruptly.

That surprised Count Dooku and his apparent reaction made Kiva smirk.

After a moment of the silence, Dooku finally spoke up, “Excellent, when this is all over, I want you go back to Nar Shaddaa and take her alive. Her child would be a great addition to our team.”

“Yes, master. I will fetch her.”

“You did me very proud, Kiva.”

“Master…” Kiva tilted her head, “…where is Jinni?”

“She is coming here.”

Kiva snickered, amused by the thought that she beaten her at reaching the Shulstine first. “That’s Jinni I know.” She inhaled of the fresh air of Shulstive deeply. “Master, why I am here?”

“I want you here as my bodyguard. Jinni too.”

“Fun… I always wanted to go in with you and Jinni.”

“You are extraordinary, Kiva, and together, we will turn this nightmare into our playing field.”

“I want to kill these scums.” Kiva said, pinging the marble ledge with her fingertips.

“You will, very soon.” Dooku said, “There is a matter I want to discuss with you. It’s about Amanda.”

“Oh?”

“I want to know how you feel about her.”

“That little bitch.” Kiva sneered, tilting her head.

“I sense a hatred for her within you.” Dooku’s lips curled into a smile.

Smirking, Kiva batted her eyes at her master, “It’s hard to not forget what she had done to me. She almost killed me by draining all my life force until her daddy showed up and ended it. Why? All she wanted was her revenge.”

“You desire to give a taste of her own poison”

“Yeah, that’s right. You know, she tried to be a good girl… but she’s so much like her daddy, ruthless and dark. And I want her to know how it feels. Sucking the life out of her.”

Dooku held his hand on Kiva’s shoulder, “Fortunately for you, I am the master at Force Drain technique, and I could teach you.”

“I would like that, master.” She smirked.

“Very well…” Dooku nodded. “…you will like this lesson. Come with me, Kiva.”

With that, they together leapt from the building and vanished from sight.

A half hour and a few miles later, Dooku and Kiva wandered nonchalantly on the street, searching for suitable preys. The wind howled and steam rose from the manholes and drains, settling over them like a mist. None of people who dared to brave the curfew bothered them, believing their seemingly inhumane presence commanded the oppressive atmosphere of nearly empty dilapidated street. And they did.

In the fact, Dooku subtly used Force fear to create a deterrence zone around them as a subtle, nagging dread feeling prompted the bystanders to steer clear of them.

And they soon reached the security checkpoint manned by a six-man armed squad of military cadets led by a young commissioned officer. From the locals’ perspective, they presumed that these two people were members of a very rich family, judging by their luxurious apparel, and found them in violation of nation-wide curfew. The social status and political connection did not matter to the security apparatus. The Matron demanded it.

On the other hand, they were about to learn that the Sith didn’t care.

“There! They are perfect.” Kiva said delightedly.

“Appropriate” Dooku concurred with her.

“Halt!” One of the cadets commanded.

“You two are in a very big trouble.” The lieutenant approached them.

“This is very terrible.” Dooku said coolly. “Are there any ways we could remedy this?”

Kiva yawned, “I am so bored. Let walk pass them 'cause they are no fun.”

“You insolent…” The lieutenant growled as he swung back his hand to slap Kiva, but Dooku caught his throat in sudden grip.

“How you dare hit a fine young woman.” Dooku snarled.

“Heya, sweetie.” Kiva grinned and lashed out. The female cadet was bowled over with a quick, powerful jab to the stomach, dropping her to the floor. Moving so fast her action was literally a blur, she reached for her lightsaber, ignited it, and swiftly decapitated four other cadets in a single horizontal stroke as they surrounded her. The heads rolled across the street, their lifeless eyes open wide. As the female cadet tried to get up, she stood over her and pinned her down with her boot. And she looked back at her master, “I want this this pretty girl to be my first victim.”

“She is a fine choice.” Dooku remarked as he held his grip on the throat of a lieutenant as she whimpered in pain. He threw off a half frantic, half pleading looking. However, Dooku did not intend to spare this man.

Kiva deactivated her lightsaber and tucked it in a thigh holster under her long coat. “Definitely not your first.”

“Indeed.” He nodded, slowly tightened his grip. “He is a fine subject to demonstrate Force drain. Watch.”

The lieutenant screamed as Dooku’s menacing eyes flashed visibly red. Dooku reached out within the Force, clearly feeling his essence, and tearing his life force right out of him. He was reveling in the sensation of his death. Immediately, the panic overcame the lieutenant and he thrashed around until his world descended into a veil of red and then smoked toward blackness. The lieutenant’s eyes turned black, lifeless, and his skin grayed and dried. Then the lifeless corpse fell over onto the floor with a thump.

“It’s so vampiric, is it?” Kiva told the horrified cadet, smirking.

“Feed on her.” Dooku commanded.

“Yes, master.” Kiva sat down on the cadet’s stomach and waggled her right index finger, damaging her vocal chords that render her unable to speak. The cadet’s eyes burned as she felt a subtle pressure in her larynx. The pain was obvious in her eyes and she panted through her nose, resigning to her inevitable fate.

Then she gently cupped the cadet’s cheeks with her hands.

“Concentrate, reach out onto her in the Force. Try to feel her essence.”

Kiva reached out with her victim and sensed her life energy within, “I could feel it.”

“Tear it out of her. I want you savior it, every bit of her life force.”

Then Kiva leaned her head forward, and kissed the cadet heavily on the lips. The cadet gasped and sucked in her last breath. Something had emerged from within Kiva. It was red and ethereal yet real. Her lips and hands glowed red. It resolved itself for Dooku to see into a half dozen thin tentacles that plunged deep into the head of the cadet. The female twitched, clawing her fingernails into the pavement, her eyes threatening to pop from their socket. When astral tentactes reemerged they held something that withered and twisted and all but screamed. The essence of cadet. At that time, she found this technique a very intoxicating process, and she could see why Amanda would enjoy doing it to her.

While she was feeding, she glanced in the direction of Count Dooku, who stood stolidly and approving, saying nothing, but watching, watching.

Then the ethereal arms retreated, the empty husk of humanity that had been a promising cadet collapsing. She was dead as Kiva tore her lips away from her victim.

Content with her first attempt, she shot Dooku a satisfied smile and looked down to survey her work.

Kiva licked her lips and sighed blissfully as she rose up to her feet, “Oh Force, it tastes so good…" She paused for a moment, "...metaphorically.”

“You have done well.” Dooku clasped his hands together.

“That would be our calling card.” Kiva poked her boot at the lifeless body that had been her victim.

The Sith Lord stiffened slightly, “Yes. I must admit that Amanda did a good thing, her vengeful action bought you under my wing.”

“We really owe her a fruit basket.” Kiva said, her lips curled into a half smile.

[Oseng]

HNS Zealous, Bridge

Praetor Bradak let out a low sigh of nostalgia as he looked around the light star destroyer's bridge. It was smaller and there were differences in the layout, such as the railings that lined the walkways above the crew pits, but it still brought back many memories of his old command back in the days of the Galactic Civil War.

Who could have known that years later he would find himself working with the leader of the rebels he had been assigned to hunt, and would even assume an office vacated by that leader. The universe worked in very strange ways, strange ways indeed.

“Excuse me, Praetor?” Senior Captain Shadra Lordess asked politely, breaking Bardak out of his trip down memory lane. “We are ready to depart for Naboo.”

“I'm getting to old for this.” Bardak muttered to himself before turning slightly to face the Twi'lek naval officer. “Go ahead and initiate the hyperspace jump then, let's be on our way.”

“Yes sir.” Lordess replied with a formal nod, turning away to issue the orders.

Bardak leaned back against the back wall of the star destroyer's bridge, quietly watching the stars turn into streaks of light as the ship jumped to hyperspace. The last few years had been hard but they had persevered and they had survived.

“Who knows, perhaps I will retire in a few years and let someone else, someone younger, take this thankless job.” Bardak muttered under his breath, letting out a small snort as he turned and headed for the turbolift at the back of the bridge. “I'm really get too old and worn out for this kind of stuff, I'd much rather be curled up back home.”

He still had a meeting with with his aides, staff, and advisers about the state visit to Naboo and the SAS before the evening was over after all. And if he did not hurry up he was going to be rather late.

At least a peace treaty had been formally signed with the Vong, according to the report they had recently received, and the first ships of Admiral Armande's Fourth Fleet were rolling out of the shipyards. Now he just had to deal with the rising political pressure to bring the First Fleet home from aiding the Bothans. Everyone agreed that the Hegemony did indeed owe a debt to the SAS and some of the other members of the Entente, but at the same time many people were unhappy about the Bothan's handling of the whole situation.

RESULTS:

- Praetor Bardak departs on his state visits, first stop is the SAS followed by the Shadow Walker Empire. He is on board the Templar II class Zealous which is escorted by 2 Monarch Frigates, 1 Regent Frigate, and 6 New Republic Corvettes. He really seems tired, worn, and somewhat ragged.

- The Praetor is beginning to face mounting political pressure to recall the First Fleet.

[An Ancient]

SWE Deep Core, Southern Border

The monolithic black structure that formed the SWE Central Command floated amidst the blaze of stars and nova that formed the heart of the Deep Core, the routes to and from the place where scouted daily and even then it was risky to leave more than a few hours after without a Force user aboard. Nonetheless, it was as secure as a location as you could get without physically removing yourself from the galaxy.

It was from here that the more shadowy activities of the SWE were co-ordinated, for many years all fleet activities had worked from here, but with the construction of Citadel Station most of the day to day functions had moved to that location. Full fleet command could still be exercised from here in the event of a full scale war though; Citadel was too obvious a target in a lot of scenarios.

But for today, it was largely the operational hub for the SWE’s part in the great hyperlane experiment, the Imperium was pressing on with their end of the bargain and the SWE had forged a tentative route out from the worst effects of the Deep Core and bound for the agreed meeting point. About a third of the route was complete from the SWE’s end, which represented about three quarters of the total distance the SWE had to cover. But this part needed to be firmly set before further exploration could begin. A single run dropping in the final S-thread boosters would be made, but the accuracy required for the job was immense, one of the many reasons a new hyperlane had not been forged in centuries.

The cost so far had been high, at least 95% of the probe droids had never been heard from again, this in itself was actually slightly better than expected, despite their best efforts three manned scout ships had also been lost, one had later been found adrift with the crew barely clinging to life, but the other two were gone as if they’d never existed. And that was only doing small jumps.

Hence the gathering today, Ty’lin Krennath had taken the time to head in from Citadel, under her orders a new ship had been prepared, again one of the Dark Fire class and again highly specialised for its owner. Amanda and Andris both had designs of their own being worked on, but this ship belonged to neither, it was called Final Destiny and was being awarded to another SWE Padawan who was being promoted, for her services in the SWE Outer Regions, Cyrene Darheel was to be awarded the rank of Knight after passing the various tests that formed the approximate qualification for someone who didn’t earn such an accolade on field of battle.

Combat and diplomacy tests had already been overseen on the Chun’nthor, but now the last test was ready to be taken. For each Padawan this last was customised to the situation and their particular skills, as something of an academic as well as a warrior Cyrene understood the principles behind hyper-route charting in great detail. Her assignment was therefore to be the pilot of the Final Destiny as it charted and secured the completed section of hyper-lane. Naturally examiners were needed to check on her progress and assist in case something went wrong, for this purpose Andris and Dinah were also present, having arrived from Mandalore a few hours before.

At sixteen standard years of age, Cyrene was a few years younger than her examiners and was looking forward to her chance to prove herself. Another Padawan, one she was quite fond of, was taking his own tests aboard the Chun’nthor and was due to be assigned to Grand Admiral Krennath himself for his final exam. Cyrene was proud of her friends achievement but had also been a bit jealous for a while until her own exam was laid out, whilst a chance to prove oneself directly to the Grand Admiral was a rare honour, to be entrusted with the lives of one of the Krennath family and their fiancé was likewise just as rare.

Adding to the general excitement was an unofficial rumour that a Sith training academy, this one still operational, had been located by the Black Watch. Word amongst the SWE Jedi had it that this represented a target formidable enough that Ty’lin was holding back on the strike until her husband and daughter returned from active duty to lead the assault. Cyrene reflected that although nothing official had come down the line her assignment list had a big blank space projected to start in a months’ time, a quick comparison showed that Dinah, Amanda, Andris, Ty’lin, Krennath himself, C’resia, Macar, and Cyrene’s friend all shared the same blank space. Corran Horn had that space booked, but it was to ‘Fleet supervision duty’ which generally meant leading a covert strike fleet.

On top of that, renowned war-hero Captain Vistek was rumoured amongst the SWE Intel community to be working on whatever it was she’d found in Wild Space in reparation for some big operation and there had been confirmed sightings of Commodore Jared Varzyn and Major Dass Panavar within the halls of SWE Central Command, the two were legends within the SWE Black Ops community, both were former members of the Shadow Guard, having made their way into that elite of elites, they’d then moved to co-operate closely with C’resia and Macar in setting up two of the most lethal combat and investigation Black Watch cells in the entire organisation. Their hand to hand training was good enough to give even a Jedi or Sith pause and with Krennath having personally given them access to the near-unholy arsenal of exotic and lethal equipment Palpatine had kept in the cavernous halls of Byss, there were few like them in the galaxy.

But all that was for the future, for the moment the Final Destiny arced away from the station towards the hyper-beacon, there to begin the journey to the edge of the Deep Core and hence to start of the new hyper-lane.

BRN Bothawui

Krennath contemplated the Sith holocrons, or at least the surviving ones, as the Bothan ship tore through hyperspace, staying deep in FRA and SWE space to avoid running into SSU forces as the conflict there reached new heights. Evil as they were, the holocrons would be stored with all their fellows on Byss, safe from falling into the wrong hands.

But they were not the focus of his mind, rather, Saren was. Krennath had kept his powers hidden when Saren had drawn on them all to facilitate their escape, allowing the Bothan to glimpse only a tithe of power Krennath could call to hand if he so wished. But a link such as that was two-way far more many knew, by opening yourself to receive power from others you also allowed in the perceptions of others, assuming those others knew what was going on in the first place.

Saren had not been alone in that encounter, the techniques he used and the power he based his attack on were both in excess and beyond what Krennath knew him to be capable of, and the other presence was crafty. It had kept itself hidden from Jedi who were mere feet away, but Saren could see and interact with it, through those perceptions, Krennath also caught a brief glimpse of it. His eyes narrowed even now as he thought of the identity of the figure, he knew who it was, and with that information he was far better placed to search for it in the Force. He’d sensed it a few times since, but the echo of the person in question seemed far more cautious now, he knew he could be detected and was far less active that he would otherwise have been.

Quite what such an invisible mentor meant for Saren’s fate was unknown, it was largely the unknown factor that kept Krennath’s lightsaber on his belt, that and the small issue of flying an unfamiliar craft alone, which would be annoying. He thought back to a vision he’d had several months ago, wherein betrayal and darkness had seemed to arise from sources known and unknown but also from sources unexpected. Maybe this was the first clue to working out that mystery, or maybe it was a completely separate issue.

In any case, he had a job to do, the gentle bump of a hyperspace transition told him they were back in normal space near Balmorra, it was time for him to be on his way.

[Coyote]

Naboo Senatorial Cruiser RNS Tiara
On Approach to Christophsis





"On approach now, Milady," the pilot, Captain Ralzon, announced. Behind him, and off to one side, the girl who would be Queen smiled at the beautiful sight before them.
"Christophsis," she said, "It truly looks like a great gem, floating in space. I think I see one of the crystal cities."
"There, right there," Theyliss said, pointing to the upper right of the globe before them.

"Yes, that's the one," Ranya Saviya said. She smiled up at the Mandalorians flanking here. "Thank you both for coming along."
"Only the best security," Ares said.
"We're approaching atmo," Captain Ralzon said, "Better go back and separate."

The two Mandalorians nodded and headed back to the rear of the silvery cruiser, where they climbed through the pressure hatch on the deckplates into their FP-31 Firespray, which was docked to the ship. The Senatorial Cruiser shuddered slightly as the Mandalorian bodyguards' ship detached and took up formation next to Saviya's vessel. They pierced the atmosphere of Christophsis and headed towards the capital city of Chaleydonia. They were met and escorted by old, surplus Actis Interceptors, used and maintained by the Christophsian militia since the end of the Clone Wars. They followed the escorts down to the massive, crystalline landing pad, where a greeting committee awaited them.

The brown-skinned humans that made up the Christophsian Oligarchy stood in tall, stiff postures as the ramp lowered. They watched as the young girl walked towards them, holding herself as high and as straight-backed as she could. She stopped before them, gave a curtsey, and introduced herself as the Mandalorians landed and walked up to flank her. The Naboo ship crew stayed back with the Senatorial cruiser --along with the four Magnatrooper combat droids in storage mode, for extra security.

"Good day, Gentlemen, ladies," she said, "I must say, your world is truly as beautiful as I had heard."
The Christophsian Oligarchs made no comment on her observation-- they'd heard it before.
"Madame Representative," the senior Oligarch said, "I trust your journey was a pleasant one. I am Chief Director Olsten Klynn, of the Chaleydonian Oligarchy. We were most interested to get your government's communique, although I can say not totally surprised."

"Your world is quite probably the lynchpin of the Sector," Ranya said, "For some time we have wondered whether to respect your privacy, or to enter into collaboration with you."
"Hmm, yes," Chief Director Klynn said, raising an eyebrow, "We have much to discuss. Please, join us in our primary conference hall." The party moved to one of the larger crystalline structures in front of them. Inside, they went up a wide, grand staircase and stood on a large section of floor-- which suddenly began to raise up, lifting the bunch of them into a large chamber covered by thin, translucent crystal shards of various colors. It was like a large chamber made of stained glass, but with subtler colors.

"Now," Chief Director Klynn said as they took seats. A pair of Rodians in servants' robes made rounds, passing out drinks and refreshments. "You wish to enter into negotiations with the Christophsian Oligarchy. We have an idea of the various resources we can bring to the table; why don't you let us know what sorts of things the Sovereign Alliance can bring to us?"

Ranya smiled, and bowed her head with humility. "The Sovereign Alliance, as you are well aware, offers a great deal by means of collective security," the young Representative said. "And--"
"Excuse me," a lanky, thin Oligarch said, "But did the Sovereign Alliance use that 'collective security' to conduct an unprovoked attack on the New Empire? And didn't a number of former member worlds leave the Alliance in protest-- and out of fear of Daala's wrath?"
"I don't see why we aren't better off with private security," a short, fat Oligarch said. "Like the Sluissi."

"--And we have Geonosian droid foundries, capable of making labor droids that work tirelessly. And we can provide them at cost, since the Geonosians will provide them in partnership and will benefit from the various crystal and mineral resources."

"An endless supply of cheap droids?" Director Klynn said. "I have to admit, it is tempting. But there is a certain... charm to having live help," he said, with a casual gesture towards the Rodian servants that waited patiently at the door.

Ranya's expression was carefully neutral. She had a plan for this, but was hesitant to use it. "As you know," she said, "we have a sizable population of prisoners on Chommell Minor. They pass their time working minor labor duties for the benefit of the Alliance-- they manufacture uniforms, boots, things like that, for the military, police, and civil services of the Alliance.

"Provided prisoners are treated humanely, there is no reason why certain trustees could not be approved for work-release programs here," she said, gauging their reaction. "But this would not be for slave labor in the mines. The Sovereign Alliance believes that by treating prisoners fairly, we encourage enemies to surrender rather than fight when confronted on the battlefield."

"The hallmark of civilized peoples, yes," Chief Director Klynn said. "Yes, this is something worth discussing. However, about the security. I think valid questions were raised. By joining the SAS, we would make ourselves targets for people who, currently, have no reason to target us."
"Specifically, the Hutts," the thin Oligarch said.

"The SAS was formed specifically to provide security from the Hutts," Ranya said, "Races such as the twi'leks were instrumental in founding the early Confederated Alliance, which grew into the Sovereign Alliance. We have had great success dealing with them in the past; foiling their plans."

"To an extent, I understand, and agree," Director Klynn said, "But at the same time, I also recall a Hutt syndicate that was on it's knees, until your King Hadiss freely supplied them with weapons to fight for independence from the New Empire. Everything hinged on a some Hutt ally you had named Fulgar something-or-other, and when he was killed by a rival, the whole plan came unraveled."
"So, you see," the fat Oligarch said, "We'd be joining an alliance to protect us from the very Hutts you armed."

"I will not deny that mistakes were made," Ranya said calmly, "I can't defend the actions of King Hadiss, who was motivated too much by his ideology. But we have grown and learned much since his time. We have forged strong alliances and agreements, and we seek to improve our relations and the quality of our government. Christophsian involvement will add an economic and organizational powerhouse to the Alliance."

The Oligarchs murmured among themselves, obviously intrigued and flattered-- but also not easily won over.

"What can you offer us by way of security measures right now?" the thin, angular Oligarch asked. "You saw our fighters on your way in; what can the SAS offer to improve them?"
"If you are intent to keep the Actis Interceptors, we can upgrade them," she said, "Or we can offer you some of our latest fighters to replace them entirely."
"Such as?" the thin one asked, leaning forward. Aha, Ranya thought, noting his interest.

"The N3A Peregrine fighter is currently being used as our first-choice fighter for planetary defense," she said, "It is more maneuverable than the legendary TIE Interceptor."
"Really?" the thin Oligarch asked, fishing for more.
"We can also supply droid divisions, repulsorlift infantry, and a planetary shield-- plus theater shields for your most important cities." Ranya knew that memories of the Clone Wars --and the control of shields on the battlefield-- would be an important point for the Christophsians. Whether it would be sufficient to tilt the balance towards joining the Alliance, was unknown.

"Representative Saviya, you have given us much to deliberate about," Chief Director Klynn said, as he rose to his feet. The rest of the Oligarchy did the same. "We will discuss these matters. You are invited to stay in the diplomatic suite and enjoy Christophsian hospitality. We will re-convene tomorrow morning, and we may have more questions for you."

"Thank you, Chief Director, Oligarchs, for your time and consideration," Ranya said politely, adding a bow as she rose, as well-- all despite the fact that the Oligarchs were largely ignoring her, and collecting their datapads and shuffling out of the room. Ranya waited until they were gone, then turned to her Mandalorian bodyguards and smiled. The three of them left, a Rodian servant silently escorting them out.

Outside, they went to the Senatorial Cruiser.

"I recommend staying here, Milady," Ares said. "It is more secure."
"I understand," Ranya said, "And you are correct. But the Christophsians are a proud, and obviously arrogant people. I cannot take the risk of insulting them by turning down their hospitality to sleep on a ship's bunk when a suite has been prepared.

"These negotiations are going to be tense," Theyliss said. "I can't believe their attitude towards sentient servants." She gave Ranya a look that expressed some curiosity about the offer of prisoners of war as servants, but said nothing.
"Get them in, then work for change," the diminutive Representative said. She looked at the Mandalorians unflinchingly. "I don't like them," she said, "But the SAS as a whole needs the economic power they can bring to the table."

"Milady, we're going to need something," Captain Ralzon said, coming down from the bridge of the Cruiser as Ranya was packing, "Moff Tabor just announced his decision to run for King."





Results:
Christophsis negotiations on hard ethical grounds.
Arrogant Oligarchs unlikeable, but have to be dealt with reasonably.
Ranya and Mandalorians will spend night in suites, but now must contend with news of Tabor runing for King.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Theed Palace, Naboo
Lower Level Coffiene Lounge




Jedi Knight Irena Syfardos sat in the comfortable lounge, baby Jerec suckling quietly under a blanket as she sipped a mochava. Nearby was her traveling companion Ambassador Tyla Janns, and a meter or so away was Commander Th'andra. All were watching the holo.

"I should have said something as soon as I saw that damn camera," Irena said tiredly.
"I didn't think of it, either," Janns said.

The images of the Jedi and the Ambassador stepping from the Yuuzhan Vong ship, greeted by Moff Tabor, playe dover and over again.

"Legally, we can't do anything, really," Janns said, "He's not saying we endorse him. They're just saying that he met us as part of his official duties, which is basically true-- any of the Court or the Queen could have met us there. The news is just reporting what happened without implication."

"But it is a nice propaganda move," Th'andra said, "The people will see him with you two-- a Jedi, a popular former contender for the Throne, and both of you the heroes of peace with the Yuuzhan Vong... and just make their own conclusions."

"How's Prince Nizarr reacting to this?" Irena asked.
"Shocked," Th'andra said. "Mostly because he didn't see it coming. It's one of those things that seem obvious once you look back at it, but didn't expect. The Empires are popular, and Moff Tabor stumbled across a rising tide of sympathy for himself and his people."

"I suppose you're going to vote for him?" Tyla asked, "Nizarr?"
"The Queen," Th'andra said, looking down and sighing.
"Um... surprising," Tyla said.
"Yeah, isn't it?" Th'andra said. "But I just can't fall in line with the 'bash the Empires' ideology just 'because'. I don't want them running the show, but... the last thing we need is another King Hadiss situation."

"Wow," Irena said. "Tabor and Nizarr running against each other."
"That's the big issue, right there," Tyla Janns said. "Take it from someone who lost an election in style-- there are three people in this race, but the media will only focus on those two, because they represent a clash of ideologies. The focus will be off the Queen entirely. This is now about who will succeed her."

"But seriously, she'll win, right?" Irena asked.
"Don't be too sure," Th'andra said. "She's not popular. Everyone expected her to be the new Raidaa, and solve all the Galaxy's problems. But she hasn't lived up to their expectations."

"They're unrealistic expectations," Irena protested. "I love Noora, but seriously, it's like they've deified her since she left office. She made mistakes."
"People remember her as the one who forged the Alliance, and saw them through hard times," Tyla said. "It's hard to follow a reputation like that. Anyone will be a pale shadow in comparison. The only reason Apailana still retains any popularity at all is because Hadiss was such a disaster."

"So how does Nizarr get any popularity, if people see him as Hadiss's second term?" Irena asked.
Th'andra shrugged. "They liked Hadiss's ideals, they just felt that he implemented them wrong," she explained, "'Prince Nizarr will do it right', they say."

"A militamt Republic," Irena said, "I don't like it. The very idea seems... wrong. Mismatched."
"People who like simple solutions to complex problems go for it," Tyla Janns explained sadly, "Just export good government at the tip of a sword and it'll solve all your problems."

"Crap," the Jedi said.
"What really stinks," Th'andra said, "Is that Prince Nizarr wasn't planning to run a really vigorous campaign. He just wanted to gain some visibility so he could run for real in four more years. But now, he feels like he really has to run to keep Tabor out. He feels like he's betraying Her Majesty, who he likes personally."

"Ahhh, politics," Tyla said, "Now you know why I ran for the lifepod and ejected. It's a filthy game. You have to screw your friends just to get by."

"Gods," Irena muttered, "I wonder how messy this is going to get."





Results:
Irena, Tyla and Th'andra size up the political situation for the audience.
Prince Nizarr will now mount a real campaign to challenge Tabor.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Campaign Headquarters
Doldur Sector Offices
Galaxy Today
with Seela Kimthrel





"I think we've thrown the baby out with the bath-water," Moff Tabor said. "I understand peoples' past suspicion of the old Empire. The Palpatine regime was guilty of unforgivable crimes! People are right to reject the philosophies of brutality of the Palpatine era." Across the table, following with professional interest, sat Seela Kimthrel of the Alliance's popular 'Galaxy Today' holoshow.

"Today's thinking is different," Moff Tabor said. "Imperial philosophy has learned so, so much from past mistakes. We're not your Grandpa's Empire. You know, had I been a young man in the Palpatine era, I might have joined the Rebellion, myself."

"That's a bold statement," Seela Kimthrel said, "Care to elaborate?"
"Well, Seela, there was law and order, but no justice," Tabor said. "The Old Empire was more concerned about efficiency and the letter of the law, than about what the spirit of laws was supposed to be."

"And what is the spirit behind having laws?"
"Protecting people from harm while allowing them to be free to flourish," Tabor said. "Palpatine set up a situation with maximum security but little freedom. No compassion. You can't rule without compassion."

"And you have that compassion?" Seela asked.
"I think I do," he replied, "I think we should have been the first ones to speak with moral clarity on the Shulstine situation. We should have dispatched diplomats to the SWE and Frontier the moment we realized there was a problem. Worked together for a solution, bring in the Entente, and orchestrate something together, like in the good old days."

"So you support the notion of the Entente?" Seela asked.
"I do, Seela, and here's why-- the Entente is a good idea, rushed into completion before it had a chance to get some polish. It could be a forum for cooperative action with traditional allies... together, we can get a lot done."

"Militarily?" the reporter asked.
"If needed. But economically, with trade, cultural exchanges, you name it."
"Would your pro-Imperial administration be able to work with traditional allies like the United Alliance?"

"I'm sure we could," Tabor said with a smile, "Oh, there might be an initial period of uncertainty, but like I said-- I'm not part of the Old Empire way of thinking. I am as ideologically opposed to the brutality of the old ways as the UAP is. I think we actually have a lot in common."

"What else do you propose in your platform?" Seela asked.
"I want to reach out to local planets that have been neighbors and trade partners for years but never officially joined the Alliance," he said. "A diplomatic mission was dispatched to Christophsis, which is great-- but I have to ask, what took so long? We should have been cultivating close ties with our neighbors years ago!"

"What would you do," Seela asked, "to mend relations with other Imperial powers that were put off by previous Administrations, or never fully warmed up to the current one?"
"Well, first, I think Queen Apailana has done a wonderful job repairing relations with the other Imperials. But now that bridges are re-built, we need to start bringing trade across those bridges. Trade, understanding... I think one thing I'd do is release the hundred thousand or so Imperial prisoners from Chommel Minor that are still held there, years after the war with the New Empire ended."

"You'd release prisoners that were captured attacking the Alliance?" Seela asked.
Tabor leaned froward and smiled. "I would, Seela, because the war is over. They had no government to go home to, so we held them. King Hadiss held them. Because of their ideology. They are prisoners of politics, prisoners of conscience. Remember that Queen Raidaa also showed this mercy to not just Imperial prisoners, but reformed Pirates as well. Some still serve in our fleet today, as fine crewers."

"Where would you release these prisoners to?" Seela asked.
"They are skilled crews and technicians," Tabor said, "I'd send them where they are needed most-- the Frontier Alliance, where they can build new lives, and not be freeloaders. Their skills are needed... and the Galaxy owes the Frontier a great debt for absorbing the first wave of the Yuuzhan Vong."

"Controversial thoughts," Seela said.
"Hard times call for hard truths," Tabor said, "It's time to confront these truths."

"This is Seela Kimthrel talking with candidate Adon Tabor, at his campaign headquarters. Thank you for being with us tonight, and tune in tomorrow for our special on the economic stimulus plan for words who are not directly benefiting from the massive military spending going on at Darglum. Good night."




Results:
Moff Tabor outlines his platform for King:
Says he represent a new way of Imperial thinking, not the brutal past.
Would seek consensus with allies and Imperials, has a lot in common with the Rebellion and UAP.
Would release prisoners of the former New Empire, still being held.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Throne Room
Theed Palace, Naboo





Royal Media Director Selway Bavan turned off the holoset, frowning.
"This is going to be a hard fight," he said. "Moff Tabor is slick and appealing."

"I'm giving second thoughts to running, really," Queen Apailana said. "Votes will be split between myself and Prince Nizarr. If I announce I'm not seeking re-election, Nizarr has a better chance at winning."

"No," Director Bavan said, "Nizarr has a lot of baggage in his past association with Hadiss. I'm sorry, sweetheart, but the truth is, Nizarr will get beat by a dashing, handsome, young and popular Imperial like him," he said, hooking his thumb towards the now-quiet holoset.

They thought for a moment, and Her Majesty briefly wondered if a King Tabor administration would truly be a disaster. They were interrupted by Taime.

"Majesty," she siad, "Praetor Bradak is landing."
"Saved by the Praetor," Queen Apailana said. "Have him met with the usual greeting ceremony," the Queen said, "And escort his party here." She smiled. "Until the elections, one way or another, I'm still Queen, and our guests will get the best treatment. I look forward to hearing from the Praetor, anyway," she said. "It has been far too long since we heard from our friends in the Dellalt Hegemony."

The Praetor was met by the Royal Guards, and the fanfares and anthems were played in welcome. The Praetor was taken into the Palace to the Throne Room, where he met with Her Royal Highness, the Queen, Chantail Apailana-II of Naboo and the Sovereign Alliance.

"Welcome, Praetor," she said, smiling. "Please, by all means, join us, and tell us how things are within the Hegemony?"




Results:
Queen ponders her political moves.
Welcomes Praetor Bradak to the Throne Room.
***

[Coyote]

Vagabond Infiltration Team
Privateer Invidious
Hutt Space





The room was dark, and the dark was oppressive. Heavy. The small cabin was adrip with emotion as the two women inside clung to one another in a shared sense of tragedy. Talking had been done; crying had been done. Now there was only room for either reconciliation, or depression. The decision still hung in the balance, but Rayce's strength of character, and Noora's gentle guidance, was winning out.

"I don't like the concept of acceptable or collateral casualties," Rayce said, sniffling.
"Neither do I," Noora said, "I never did. It's one of those things that drives you insane if you think about it too much."
"What can I do about it?"

"You have to just accept it, and drive on," Noora said. "That doesn't mean you have to be callous about it-- in fact, you must never be callous about it. But in our lines of work, people are going to get hurt and die, and sometimes for the stupidest reasons. If you're botherd by that, it means you're still a good person."

"But I caused innocent deaths," Rayce said.
"Yes," Noora said, "We both did. I've caused a lot of death, myself. I told you about that day in the Frontier, where I saw those dead soldiers, and realized what my orders had led to. But the alternative was worse-- letting the Trade Federation get away with slaughter; or letting pirates, the Sith, the Yuuzhan Vong..."

"But weren't those more... I dunno, more clear?" Rayce asked.
"They seemed that way, at times," Noora said. "Maybe I just told myself that to comfort myself, I don't know. The whole Trade Federation War was a set-up by General Tann to release Count Dooku from stasis-- it could be argued that I helped manufacture the circumstances for his return."

"No... you did what had to be done, you..." rayce stammered.
"Exactly," Noora said.

"Does it ever get any easier?"
Noora went silent, her eyes saddened. "No," she said, "You just get used to it, is all."

The door was loudly thumped on. "Get up, you two!" the Deck Officer yelled, "CAP mission, cargo transfer, fifteen minutes!" The two women got up as the Deck Officer continued down the corridor, alerting those who were on duty.

"This is it," Rayce said. "Time to get out of this dump."
"All packed and ready?" Noora asked. They'd carefully packed a handful of needed items to take with them; the rest of their gear would be left behind. We can't make it look like we knew we were going to get taken, Noora had said when planning their escape. It has to look like we expected to come back. Clothes were left behind, some food and drinks were in their small refrigerator, and a small stack of money was hidden away for eventual searchers to find. No one would suspect that we planned this, Noora was satisfied.

"Let's go," Rayce said, smiling weakly. Noora was surprised to find herself looking around one last time-- despite the circumstances, a lot of things about their relationship had come and gone in their cramped little cabin. She shrugged and they dressed and left, meeting Tillho and Geo outside.

"Taking your droid?" one passing thug asked. "It's just CAP."
"We go, he goes," Noora said, realizing that Geo's presence for CAP was unnecessary. "I won him in a card game," she said suddenly, "He's my good luck piece. Every time I fly without him, shit breaks on my plane." This seemed to explain it to the other pilot and they all raced to the hangar. The pirate pilots were briefed quickly, and they were off.

"Red two, standing by," Noora said as the small flight maneuvered for formation.
"Alright, you know the deal," the Red Leader called back, "Boring, routine stick time. Try not to fall asleep and watch out for patrols."
"Copy, Red Leader," Noora replied. The fighters formed a protective patrol area and, soon enough, their patience was awarded by the arrival of a massive LH-3210 Lucrehulk Megacontainer transport.

"That thing's gotta be Clone War vintage at least," Tillho said, "Look at those big old quad guns."
"Seen a lot of miles," Rayce said. "Hey, Geo, you ready down there?" she called.
"Roger-roger" the Shard Jedi called out through JG-458's chassis vocabulator.

"Okay, if this doesn't work," Rayce said, "You wait until all the ships clear out before hitting the emergency beacon. You'll have a hell of a view for a couple of hours."
"If you'd rather do it, I'm fine with that," Geo said.
"I think you'll have an easier time blending in than I ever would," Rayce said, "Unless they have an army of Jedi girls over there."

"I'd volunteer," Tillho said eager, his face brightening at the thought. Since Rayce and Noora had resolved their arguments over leadership and seniority, the Cerean Padawan's morale had lightened considerably.
"We'll find you some nice girlies back on Naboo," Noora said with a laugh. "Okay, get ready down there. We're almost ready for a fly-by."

"Roger-roger," Geo replied.
"Hey, Geo," Rayce said, looking down the narrow hatchway towards the Iron Knight, "Be careful, okay?"
"Rog.. I will, Rayce," he replied. "Thank you."

"Alright, here goes," Noora said. The hatch closed behind them, and the boarding hatch in Geo's section opened, allowing the droid-shard Jedi to stare out at open space. Suddenly, the large grey mass of the transfer ship filled Geo's vision, and he jumped.

Geo oriented himself towards the transfer ship and gave a short burst with the jetpack that had been stolen for his use. Tillho, Noora and Rayce had worked for weeks to smuggle spare parts from other jetpacks into their ship, carried in tool bags, and re-assembled the pack with R8K9's help just the day before. He used it to kill his momentum after ejecting from the Vagabond --using up most of his fuel-- and then giving himself little puffs of jet power to direct his "descent" towards the surface of the freighter. His droid processor calculated it perfectly-- he landed on the surface of the freighter with no more force than if he'd jumped from the last three steps from an ordinary staircase.

"I could use a beer," he whispered into his comm.

Back on the Vagabond, Noora nodded. "That's the signal," she said. "R8, you ready?"
The droid beeped.

"Let's give him time to reach inside," Rayce said, "If they do an emergency jump now, he could peel right off."
Noora nodded, her hand hovering over the comms.

"What time is it?" a voice asked over the comms.
"He's in," Noora said, "Found an airlock or something, but he's in."
"Time for you jokers to cut the chatter and maintain silence," Red Leader snapped. But this had the effect of starting a chorus of playful banter on the comms instead as the bored pirates began joking with each other.

"Aww, c'mon, Red Leader," someone said, "There's nothing out here."
"Wait, wait," another voice cut in, "I see something. I think it's a planet... no... it's your mom! She's huge!"

"Yo momma's so fat, she got smaller fat wimmen orbitin' around her!" someone said, kicking off a chorus of jokes.
"C'mon, knock it off," Red Leader tried to stifle the chatter, but he was laughing too, so the rebuke fell flat.
"Yo momma's so stupid, she thinks a light-saber has fewer calories!" someone razzed, starting laughs and "boo's" from the crews.

"Perfect," Noora siad, "They'll forget all about what kicked this off. Rayce, Tillho... ready?"
"Ready," they responded in unison. Noora nodded to R8, who patched through a secured scrambled comm line.

"Any Shadow Walker Imperial Star Navy vessel, this is Commander Starider, requesting emergency assistance; pirates at my location, I say again, pirates at my location. Please hurry." She turned to the droid. "Upload our coordinates and wait."

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Rayce asked.
"The Shadow Walker Empire?" Tillho asked.

"We can't be picked up by a Royal Navy ship," Noora said, "Or Tavira will remember SAS involvement back on Pithud."
"But... the Shadow Walker Empire?" Tillho asked. "How do you rate such pull with the SWE?"

"Back in the early days of the Vong War," Noora said, "King Hadiss sent me to be a liaison to the Imperials. I spent a lot of time on Chu'unthor with Irena and the Krennaths. It was where I first learned to use my lightsaber, my pistol, fly this," she said, patting the control handle of the Vagabond. "Grand Admiral Krennath gave me access to a command code and said that any SWE ship in range would respond to it in case of an emergency."

"So, a Shadow Walker flotilla will show up...?" Rayce said.
"And we get 'captured' by them," she said. "The Invids see us get captured, so our cover isn't blown. We'll reveal ourselves to the Shadow Walkers once aboard. At worst, we cool our heels in the brig for a day or two until one of the Krennaths can vouch for us."

"When will they get here?" Tillho asked.
"The Shadow Walkers are pretty punctual," Noora said, "I'd say they got the message, descrambled it, organized the fleet, decided on an attack plan, and are punching hyperspace now. Depending on if they took time to dump their garbage--"
"Nope, looks they came right here," Rayce said as six Star Destroyers knifed into space almost on top of them.

"Ohhh, hell," Noora said, plunging the ship down between two large steel wedge hulls in a show of trying to flee. The pirate comm channels filled with alarm and calls to action stations. Energy pulses from the SWE ships hammered into a pair of Invid fighters, but Noora's Vagabond proved hard to hit, even for SWE gunnery.

"Help, help!" she called out on the pirate channel, "This is Chera on the Vagabond, they jumped right on top of us! Help!" she called, then cut the transmitter and hollered back at R8. "Scramble code! Transmit our IFF to those SWE ships!" The droid squealed, his dome whirling around, but the little droid did it. Soon, the gun flashes of the Star Destroyers were coming at regularly close intervals, but not as close as before.

"Sorry, Red Two, emergency jump," the Invidious replied, "We'll divvy up your gear." --and the Privateer Star Destroyer warped and escaped, the LH-3210 immediately after.
"Assholes," Noora said with a smile as the tractor beam latched onto their ship and pulled them into the belly of the beast.




Results:
Noora, Rayce, Tillho and R8K9 pulled aboard an SWE Star Destroyer.
Secret high-priority command codes gifted from Grand Admiral Krennath save their hides.
Geo manages to sneak aboard the LH-3210 Transfer Ship to parts unknown.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Skywalker Farm Praxeum
The Alliance Order
Tatooine




Kenzcee Kittrex rolled in her sleep, bathed in sweat, squirming, whimpering. She woke up, visions of Darth Venge swimming in her vision as, once again, she relived the feeling of being pierced through the gut with a lightsaber. The betrayal, the incredulity, how could I have been so foolish... weakness.

Weakness.

She sat up, disoriented, and reaching for her end table. He rhand flopped around, seeking the vial she needed to shutter the visions; the visions which were still coming. She found the vial on the floor, empty-- When did I use it? she wondered. She couldn't remember.

The Force visions were as strong as ever, and it was taking more and more glitteryll and glitterstim to suppress them. She opened the little vanity drawer on her end table and fumbled through the collection of vials in there. Empty, empty, empty... Aha! She clutched one, and held it up.

Half full.

Shit, she cursed silently to herself. Still, she took it, and let the feeling wash over her-- the warm, easy feeling, like being at the beach and letting the waves carry you... or finding soft sand to lie back on... soak up the sun... she fell back into a semi-aware dream state and drifted, drifted, drifted on the stars for what seemed like hours before getting up.
"Hooo, yeah," she said. The visions were gone. She relaxed, let her muscles uncoil from their tension. I didn't realize I'd gone through so much of this stuff, she thought. Maybe I better get... some more. She got up and dressed quietly, sneaking out of her room and to the speeder bay. There, a quiet, friendly beep greeted her.

"Huh? Oh, hello, R7," she said, greeting Irena's droid as it rolled up to her. The Astromech tootled at her curiously. "Ssshhhh," she said, putting a hand on his dome to reassure him, "I'll be right back," she said, "I gotta go get something." She got on a speederbike and released the grav-brake, pushing it out on its repulsor field before strating it up. R7 trundled behind her, making worried beeps.

"Shut up!" she whispered harshly at it. "Just... go back inside, okay? I order you to go back inside." The droid backed up, made a sad toot, and turned around, but rotated its dome to look back at her. "And don't tell anyone I left, okay? That's an order, too!"

She started up the bike and pulled away, looking back at the droid. It was still there, watching her go, but finally started to go back into the garage.

Kenzcee set her jaw and headed for Mos Eisley. She tore across the desert far faster than the speeder should have been driven, especially without safety equipment, but she was desperate-- and soon, she knew, the edge would start to cut into her fears again, and she'd be unable to drive at all with the visions swamping her reason.

It was nearly two hours before she reached Mos Eisley. She parked by Chalmun's Cantina, but that was just to keep her bike relatively safe. She knew that even Chalmun's was too risky, legally speaking, to look for what she sought there. She had to go to the Tar Mass district in the old city, so she started walking.

The Tar Mass district was the place where the city of Mos Eisley got the reputation for being a "wretched hive of scum and villainy"-- most notably, the Mo' Moolee Rah market, where anything could be bought or sold. It was here that Kenzcee had learned to bargain for her regular hits of glitteryll and glitterstim.

She made her way past the thugs and pickpockets, towards the Spice Road, where much of what she was looking for was sold openly. Even in these corners of the SAS, the security forces could be paid to look the other way, and the merchants of Mo' Mooleh Rah paid much better than a civil service check.

"Glitteryll," she said, pointing to a set of vials hustled by a Toydarian with one eye.
"Twenty Credits apiece," the Toydarian said.
"They were fifteen last time," Kenzcee said, an edge to her voice.
"I see you sweating, honey," the Toydarian leered, "Twenty, or no glitterryll." Kenzcee considered attacking the Toydarian and taking all of them but she'd left without her lightsaber --stupid! she suddenly realized-- and the four large thugs he had with him had blasters and vibroblades.

"Damn you," she said, and handed over the last of her money.
"Pleasure," the Toydarian said, and tossed her the vials.

Kenzcee took the vials and started walking fast back to her bike, but began shaking-- the previous hit was wearing off, and the visions were beginning to return. She saw Darth Venge's cruel, cold, leering grin on every face she walked past, felt the cold stab in her gut... she found a dark alley and stumbled down it, fumbling with one of her vials. She was about to take her hit when a fist slammed into her ribcage, hard, sending her flailing.

"Get it, Chunkar!" a voice called out. "Hell yeah!"
A huge Gran slugged her again, sending her to the ground, where he kicked her, twice. "Noo..." she wheezed, reaching futilely for her vials as a twi'lek and the Gran collected them up and laughed, running away down the street. "No..." she sobbed, crying as the pain and visions warred in her head-- until a rough hand picked her up.

"Hree, hur?" a fat Aqualish asked. He picked her to her feet, and she struggled to stand. He stood her against the wall and held her jaw in his meaty hand, turning her from side to side, looking at her wounds and brushing the dirt and sand from her face and hair.

"Please," she said, "Please help....[/i] The Aqualish laughed, and reached into his pocket for a vial of a type she hadn't seen before, and let her try some of the contents.

The rush was amazing. Her head flashed clear, then was filled with visions and colors and a cataclysm of intensity and beauty like she hadn't seen before.

"What is it..?" she asked, her speech slurred.
"You like it?" a voice asked. A scarred Iktotchi leered at her. "I got more. Lots more. But you gotta pay."
"Anything," she said.
"Annyything?" the Iktotchi asked as the Aqualish held her up.

"Anything," she said, "Just give me more."
"You heard the lady," the Iktotchi said, "More Death Sticks. And she'll pay anything." The Iktotchi's hands fumbled at her belt, pulling down her pants as the Aqualish laughed at her feeble struggles.





Results:
Kenzcee goes to town for more drugs, finds a lot more than she bargained for.
***

[Corp]

Ison

Once again the Ison system was empty and it was here that the droid fleet had gathered to lick their wounds and consider what their next move should be. Since entering Federation space they had destroyed six systems and heavily damaged two others. In return they had lost over a quarter of their fleet with another quarter being damaged in some way. A fair trade off but now their enemies had finally reacted and were now using their superior numbers to hunt for the remaining droid ships. The question now was what to do now.

“As you know the Federation and the other meatbags that are helping them have begun retaking the systems we have cleansed. Large fleets are operating out of Ione and Darlyn Boda blocking our access to the systems beyond them,” HB-25 reported to his squadron commanders who had gathered on his flag ship. He was sure that if this was a meatbag fleet the officers would be showing signs of worry and fatigue. However there was none of that present at this meeting. As droids they had been able to rise above the failings of the living and able to accept the hard facts and move on. “Hive have you confirmed that this is the case?”

“We sent several fighters in either direction but none have returned. We believe that the meatbags have set up minefields along the hyperspace routes.”

“As expected. Giving that those two options have been closed off to us I have decided that we will next attack Bespin. Having re-examined the evidence I have concluded that the option that Bespin is a trap was in fact in error. Since we have been avoiding that system the meatbags will not expect us to attack it and with most of their ships searching for us it should be lightly guarded. We shall attack as soon as all ships are battle worthy.”

Though there was no emotion to be shown it was clear that the reaction was mixed. Most of the captains accepted this new argument and stood waiting for their orders. However a few exchanged slight glances before one finally spoke. “There is still the possibility that Bespin remains a trap of some kind. Perhaps it is time to withdraw from Federation space all together. We have destroyed many worlds, have killed millions, and have closed down the Federation’s main trade route. We have made the meatbags suffer. Perhaps it is best to break off and return home.”

“Negative,” HB-25 stated firmly. “We are still able to inflict more damage. Our fleet remains far stronger than any system pickets that the Federation may have. We shall continue to attack until possible loses become too great. However that time is not now.”

The droid commander bowed its head, acknowledging the orders of its superior. HB-25 scanned the remaining of his commanders waiting to hear more objections. When there were none he continued. “We will not withdraw, however I do believe that the time to do so is nearing. We shall begin to prepare for our escape. Hive you will begin to map our route home.”

“We’re worried about the timing. This action will require all of our scouts and many of our children. They will not be available for the battle.”

“Noted. Proceed with my orders. Now then this is the deployment of ships I want when attacking Bespin…”

Actions:
Droids decided to launch an attack on Bespin

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

Darlyn Boda

“So he comes strolling down the shuttle ramp and he’s wearing one of those long capes he loved so much. Well this one happened to be a bit longer than normal and just when he reached the end of the ramp he ends up stepping on it and doing a face plant right into the ground. You know how Ganner was, he was completely mortified. He gets up trying to pretend that nothing happened. Now here I am wanting to just fall down laughing, but I need to act all serious because I’m suppose to be the stern Jedi Master. Then he spots me and finds out that I’m actually a Ewok. The look on his face.”

Lusa smiled as she listened to Calis’ story. The other Jedi had gathered around, laughing along. Zekk wasn’t here, though he called to talk to Lusa, but all the other Federation Jedi were making it the largest gathering in years. For one night they were able to forget all of their troubles and just enjoy each other’s company. To forget their troubles and be the extended family that Rillao viewed them. Absently Lusa fingered her lightsaber that she had rebuilt using the sapphire she had found. She still wasn’t sure what it was only that it seemed to improve her healing skills and it also seemed to improve her lightsaber as well.

“So how’s the Federation’s newest Jedi?” Streen asked as he joined Lusa, handing her a mug of cocoa.

“Tired but good,” Lusa replied, smiling up at her adopted father. This was the first time they had seen each other since she left on her mission to Vong space. “I haven’t been given much of a chance to rest up. The battles and then the ceremony…”

Streen smiled and Lusa thought for a moment that she saw tears in his eyes. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the head. “You know I’m very proud of you. You had all the odds stacked against you but you came through with shining colours. You did better than I and I’m very proud.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself Dad. And thank you,” Lusa said wiping tears of her own from her eyes.

“So how was it working with the Vong?” Streen asked, changing the subject.

“Hard at first,” Lusa admitted. “For the first month or so I was afraid to sleep because I thought they would decide to kill me. But after a while I got to know the ones I had regular contact with and get lost in my work it was ok. Still it was hard and I’m glad to be home. Gladder still that the others made it back safe and were able to work out a peace agreement. But living in their society was just so…weird.”

“Couldn’t have been that weird. You still have the leg implant they gave you.”

A bit surprised Lusa looked down and saw that instead of her false leg that had been fitted after the voxyn attack she instead had the Vong implant that had been put in its place during her time in their space. She had completely forgotten about it, having grown use to it. “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

“We figured you knew what you were doing.”

“Plus Rillao threaded everyone not to say anything,” Halbret cut in as she joined her family. “She figured you hadn’t noticed and didn’t want anyone embarrassing you.”

Lusa found the relationship of her adopted parents a bit odd. From what she understood they barely saw each other now, Streen being focused on the Foreign Legion while Halbret traveled the galaxy being a full time Jedi. They at the moment they seemed very happy and it appeared that most of their past emotional wounds had healed. Likewise there was little of the quite Jedi that Streen once was but he seemed far happier than when Lusa last saw him. A look of concern was now on his face. “Is the leg a problem? Because you never got the full implant so I’m sure we can remove it without too much trouble.”

“No. No I think I’ll keep it for now,” Lusa decided after a moments thought. While it was true the Vong never gave her the top of the line implant the leg they had given her had served her well and has grown into her existing flesh naturally over time. An understanding Shaper had helped her adjust the leg to take away the pain and discomfort that went with all Vong implants and now it was as much a part of her as her natural legs. “It will help me remember what I went through to become a Jedi and that even the most vile of enemies may one day show kindness and compassion.”

“Doubt we’ll find that now,” Streen muttered, referring to the droids they had been fighting.

“Hey we all agreed not to talk about that tonight,” Halbret sternly reminder her husband. “Let’s just enjoy each others company and be thankful that Lusa has come back. Our family is once again whole and we should enjoy that while we can. These day’s moments like this are hard to come by.”

Lusa nodded. One never really missed family until they were no longer there. While the mission to Vong space had been very important to her and had helped her develop more fully as a person she was glad to be home again.




Actions:
Federation Jedi enjoy some down time.
Lusa reconnects with her family, reflects on her time with the Vong.

[Lightning_Count]

Ord Mantell





“Peace is a relative concept.” Mandus stated flatly. “A temporary pause on the eternal struggle between the ambitious and the rest. Peace serves only to give us the space necessary to prepare for the next war, for the next inevitable conflict. So while we have peace, it is little more than a prelude to the next war.”

Second Minister Brok broke a slight smile. “Are you always this depressing?”

“Force of habit.” Mandus shrugged. “I don’t think peace with the Vong will last.”

“There are a lot elements out there that still want war, splinter fleets and renegades.” Driffyn added to the discussion. “But they don’t speak for their whole race. Their official government seems more or less genuine. They want an end to the war and it is they who will enforce the peace.”

“The only good Vong is a dead Vong.” Mandus declared. “We haven’t heard the last of this.”

“Maybe not, but we’re too exhausted to do anything about it. We don’t have the strength to crush them outright and we have more pressing issues elsewhere. The treaty will be recognised, the war is over in word as well as deed.”

Mandus shook his head. “The Grand Admiral would not have had peace while his enemies still lived freely.”

“At one time perhaps, but Devan change din his time here, he reconciled.” Driffyn countered. “I think he would accept peace. The aggressors of the Vong war are dead, these who are left are moderates, the seek real peace, and this government will give them a chance.” Driffyn stated.

“On your head be it, First Minister.” Mandus gave in.

“Most things usually are.”



“The other issue at hand is a quiet Imperial conference.” Brok raised. “The Imperium suggests an informal gathering in the state room of a warship somewhere in our space. Low key.”

“Given the situation and the crisis in the Federation I think a small gathering is necessary, keep attention focused on events not on some meeting.” Driffyn agreed.

“I’d suggest Nirauan.” Mandus raised. “Well defended, far from any warzones and a strong Imperial symbol.”

“Sounds good.” Driffyn agreed. “Inform the local governor.”

“This would be a good time to propose our standing Imperial Security Council.” Mandus continued. “A way of creating a permanent discussion and decision making group to address common Imperial affairs.”

“A group like that would need a chairman, some sort of figure head.” Driffyn considered. “Thrawn would be the logical choice, but I understand he shuns political power.”

“We’ll have to discuss it.” Mandus reasoned. “If the proposal even goes through.”

“Also a good time to talk to Pentastar about our mutual border.” Brok pointed out. “We can consolidate our holdings and reach an official agreement on which sectors belong to which nation, makes it much easier to define influence by sector rather than system these days.”

“And put our name to the joint intel and task force proposals.” Driffyn suggested. “We can get this institutions moving from paper to reality as a hard counter to the Entente.”

“Hopefully without the fractures.” Mandus said with barely hidden amusement.

“The Entente is lacking a defining purpose, that is its weakness. I tdoesn’t know why it exists.” Brok sighed. “At least our organisation has a clear mandate.”



“If we do create a joint fleet these rogue droids would be a good first target.” Mandus suggested. “Something which concerns all member nations and the galaxy in general.”

“Moddell is currently seizing the initiative and hitting back against the invaders.” Driffyn said with clear satisfaction. “Hopefully they’ll be gone in time for the conference, General Cody sounded confident in their plan.”

“The first battle seemed to go well for him.” Brok added.

“Cody has fought many battles, but I think he always relishes a good Clanker slaughter. Old habits.” Mandus grinned.

“When he’s done we’ll need him to create a peacekeeping force for the SSU.” Driffyn said. “That’s going to get sticky.”

“Unless we can find a better idea we’ll have to accept joint patrols.” Brok mentioned. “I realise from my history I’m likely to been as a Republic sympathiser, but even I think this is a mess.”

“No kidding.” Mandus grunted.

“But I also think it’s done and we shouldn’t dwell on it. Time to move on and build the future.”

“It is my main concern, and likely my last major decision.” Driffyn said. “I will be stepping down this year.”

“First Minister?” Brok raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That’s out of the blue.”

“I only stayed here to honour the Grand Admiral’s wish to stabilise his nation. I am not a leader of his grade, I don’t have the charisma or force of personality.” Driffyn shook his head. “I will remain in government, but not at the top. The people can decide their new leader, I was never elected as head of state and the time of emergency is past. We should get back to normal.”

“That is an admirable decision First Minister.” Manus bowed. “I salute your humility.”

“The people must now decide their first post war leader.” Driffyn confirmed. “But before then let’s see the SSU safe and not under Entente influence. Safe borders will be my legacy, let’s make it happen.”







Shulstine.



“Makes you appreciate air speeders.” Colonel Vanessel remarked for the fifth time as the wheeled truck bounced along a track which did not deserve the title of road. “Nice smooth ride, fast, doesn’t make your joints ache.”

Beside him Selvaria offered a quiet noise of agreement.

“Air lanes are heavily restricted, ground travel is the safest way to get around.” She said.

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

“You never used to complain this much Van.” Selvaria prodded.

“I used to have feeling in my legs too Sel.” He shot back with a grin. “Anyway, we’re nearly there.”

“We’re sure this is the right settlement?” Sel asked. “The one mentioned in the signal?”

“It was pretty garbled and cut off halfway, but this is the only place that sounds like it.” He turned around a wooded corner. “And look, a road block.”

“If there was trouble we should find those responsible, the more people who hate the leadership we can get working together the better.” Selvaria stated. “Make setting up a post war authority much easier.”



They slowed down as a squad of armed men blocked their path, their officer waving them to stop. Van cut the engine and stepped out with a businesslike attitude, Selvaria following.

“Give me a report here Lieutenant.” He demanded.

“Right after you identify yourself.”

“Agent Hooyluis.” He displayed a menu from the bar they had recently visited, using a bit of influence to make the officer believe it was the correct ID for his department. “This is Agent Danous.”

“We’re here from central intelligence and the department of un-Shulstinian activities.” Selvaria spoke harshly. “You will tell us what you know.”

“Yes Ma’am, the town behind us was wiped out.”



Both agents glanced at each other, then at the town a mile or so away.

“Looks pretty intact to me.” Vanessel said.

“Yes sir, but every person in it is dead. Killed up close.”

“How?”

“Several ways sir, some with bladed weapons, some with bare hands, some with possible sabre burns.” The Lieutenant stated. “We’ve found bodies scattered in fields for miles around, it looks like a clean sweep, the entire town. Four thousand souls.”

“Any evidence of heavy fighting, gunfire?”

“Only from local law enforcement. Whoever did this left no trace. Just bodies.”

“Can’t have been a large scale incursion.” Selvaria guessed. “Can’t have been partisans either, I doubt anyone local has that sort of skill.”

“An outside group, a small number of very skilled fighters with lightsabres.” Vanessel said. “Who don’t mind killing unarmed civilians.”

“Now the party gets interesting.”



“We only found one survivor, barely worth mentioning.” The Lieutenant stated. “A Twi’lek.”

“How did she survive?” Van asked.

“She said she hid.” The Lieutenant shrugged. “Doesn’t matter, we have orders to execute all aliens.”

“You will turn her over to me.” The Colonel said through the force.

“Sorry sir, these orders are from the top.”

The agent frowned at his companion. “Those orders are ingrained, in his mind, I can’t override them.”

“That’s interesting.” Selvaria agreed as the officer dragged forwarded a handcuffed girl, her skin tone a natural red radiating clearly despite being covered in grime and blood. Two soldiers dragged her to the middle of the road, he hands manacled, and pushed her to her knees, sobbing.

“By order of the government you are judged unclean, the sentence is death.”



“Lieutenant, you will release the Twi’lek to me.” Vanessel ordered, Selvaria stepping around behind him and resting her hand gently on a vibro blade.

“Orders are orders sir, and if you stand in my way it will be considered an act of mutiny and punishable in the most severe of terms.”

“Understood Lieutenant.” Vanessel said, stepping back to join Selvaria.

“Are we going to allow this?” The white haired female asked quietly.

“No, you take the three on the left, I’ll take the three on the right.”

The Twi’lek suddenly stopped sobbing, rising to her feet and lifting her chin.

“On your knees xeno!” The officer snarled.

“No.” She answered. “Why don’t you get on your knees.”

“I was going to make it quick, but now it’s going to be slow.” The Lieutenant started forward, pulling back his arm to strike a blow.

“No.” The Twi’lek said again. “It’s still going to be quick.”

In one move she snapped her manacles with no effort and brought both her hands together on either side of the officers head, fracturing his skull with the resistance of an eggshell. Before he even began to fall she elbowed both men who were supposed to be restraining her simultaneously, crushing their chests and sending them skidding along the ground.

Two of the remaining soldiers raised their guns and fired, the Twi’lek gracefully arching her back and flipping over the streams of fire, bracing her hands on the ground and flipping herself into the air, her legs landing on the shoulders of one man snapping them and dropping him to the ground, her ankles on either side of his head. She finished her move almost eye to eye with the fifth man, mouthing a kiss before shoving her hand through his chest cavity with a grim crunch. As a finishing touch she twisted her heels, catching and snapping the neck of the man laying at her feet.



“Far too easy.” She said as she wiped her bloody hand on one of the uniforms. “Doesn’t make it any less satisfying though.”

She turned to the two agents with a sweet smile, entirely at odds with her previous brutality.

“You two aren’t local, nice trick with the fake ID by the way.” She paused. “You aren’t Jedi, based on the accent I’d say Mid-Rimmers, and you my girl are Dathomiri.”

She picked up a stone, looking for the sixth soldier who was running as fast as he could down the road. “I’m guessing Frontier Alliance.” She threw the stone, striking the fleeing man’s head with the force of a bullet. “Am I right?”

“You’re right.” Vanessel nodded. “Jon Vanessel, this is Selvaria.”

“Got a last name?” The Twi’lek asked.

“Yes.” She replied offering no further elaboration.

“Well as we’re all on first name terms now you can call me Alora.” She offered a small bow.

“Is this your work?” Selvaria nodded at the village.

“Only the creative bits, the rest belongs to me associates.”

“How many of you are there?” Van asked.

“Enough.” She replied.

“And you’re a Sith?”

“That’s actually a more complicated answer than you might guess. And you two, Jedi?”

“Also a complicated answer.” Selvaria replied.

“So why you here?”

Vanessel shrugged, the Twi’lek wasn’t going to be telling the SSU of their task. “We’re here to observe the government, set up a popular opposition to deny this world to the Bothans by installing a local leader, and if we get the chance we’ll assassinate every single fanatical figure on the planet.”

“Sounds like fun.” Alora grinned. “I think the boss might want a word with you, maybe we can both gain a little something out of this.”



Alora led the two agents into the town, in some places having to step around corpses pile dup like discarded bundles of dirty rags. It echoed the images of the death camps which had fed through the galactic news, likely a deliberate use of imagery for whoever found this desolate little place.

The two agents could sense eyes watching them, other members of the kill team, but they were hanging back waiting to see what happened. Alora displayed no hesitation or lack of confidence, leading them to the local Police station where she stopped at the door.

“The boss is expecting you.” She nodded. “We’re out of here soon, best bet is this town will get nuked before evening and we don’t want to be here for that. I’d say make it quick.”

“I don’t think we want to hang around.” Van agreed.

“Yeah, it’ll probably stink soon.” Alora said with zero guilt. “Later.”

Selvaria opened the door to the station and walked in confidently, not intending to show hesitation before a gaggle of Sith eyes. Vanessel followed, closing the door behind them with a metallic clunk. Inside they found their appointment, the deceptively slender figure of Tavion Axmis, sitting at the police chief’s desk with parts of the police chief scattered under it.



“Apologies for the décor.” She welcomed them in. “Despite what you may have heard I find this blatant display of carnage distasteful. It is a necessary evil, a symbolic gesture as well as good practice.”

“We’re not going to shed a tear.” Vanessel spoke. “We’ve seen plenty of blood on this mission, and something like this will push the government to crack down, pushing the ordinary people closer to revolution.”

“Is that why you are here?” Tavion asked.

“Our orders say aid in regime change.” Van answered. “Which basically means start trouble and hope for a coup.”

“Not a bad idea, the SSU is a threat to local stability, and I don’t like instability.” Tavion wrinkled her nose. “It upsets equilibrium which is part of the reason I am here. Another part is that wars make good training grounds, as you understand.”

“I do.” Vanessel said. “There’s no easy way to ask this, are you evil?”

Selvaria rolled her eyes as Tavion regarded him, then smiled.

“No. I mean yes, we are Sith, I expect you recognised us from Corellia. But no, we’re not evil.”



She stood up, stretching her back.

“Being evil and being a Sith are synonymous, we Sith seek only domination and destruction, defining yourself by what we bring down or ruin, not what we build. It was not always the way, once Sith nations were legitimate kingdoms, but can you imagine any accepting a Sith nation these days?”

“It would be instantly attacked.” Selvaria nodded.

“Which is why we live in shadow.” Tavion agreed. “But we shouldn’t have to, the Sith are not evil by birth or by definition, it is a choice, a choice my predecessors assumed they had to make.”

“But you know different?”

“I know different, and I have chosen differently.” Tavion confirmed. “I will not be limited by tradition or defined by somebody else's views on the force. I define myself in my terms, neither dark or light but a simple instrument of nature, aiding equilibrium by countering the excesses of both camps. Where the light grows to bright I strike to dim it, by removing one of their great beacons. But where darkness grows to deep I strike there too, or should I say I strike here.”

“So you’d be interested in seeing the regime here topple too?” Vanessel asked. “And replace it with a stable government?”

“It appeals to my sense of balance.”

Vanessel smiled. “Then perhaps we have something we can work together on.”







Elsewhere





It was impossible to tell which deity had been worshipped in this temple in the not too distant past, some house god or local divine being who had been discarded by the new wave of religious fanaticism that defined the SSU these days. Every image and statue had been symbolically blinded, their stone eyes carved out in deference to the sightless one, the bestower of judgement and righteousness on the chosen people of the SSU.

Chosen they were, selected from the races of the galaxy, and it was for a higher purpose, but it was not one which promised salvation and power as so often stated. The Matron had blessed this place with her presence, she had deigned to lower herself to walk among them and they considered them exalted, destined. Again this was true, but the destiny their new icon had laid for them was far from ideal.

A higher power had indeed elevated them from mundane obscurity, raising them just high enough so she had a good shot at their neck.



The man walked calmly through the temple, a handful of worshippers noting his presence. One of the high priests walked up to question him, opening his mouth to talk before the man raised a hand and stopped him.

“Get out. Everyone.”

Not a soul argued, they cleared the temple in moments and left the man alone, the doors slamming shut with a huge echo behind him. He took a few moments to appreciate the desecration, then went and stood before the new alter and its scarred statues.

“The power of faith.” He announced in clear deep tones. “My compliments. I have used fear, I have used love, I have used revenge and I have used hope. I have not yet used faith, an inspired choice for your efforts.”

A shadow stirred, small in stature, frail even, but there was more than a physical form shrouded in those black robes. The figure gave a brief feminine chuckle before standing on the far side of the altar.



“Religious fervour is a beautiful thing.” Traya the Matron spoke simply. “Certainly it doesn’t have the blindness of love, or the elixir of hate or fear, but I find it does a good job of making people obey you but keeping them lucid.”

“Indeed, Fear or love can make people act foolishly, Faith I see allows them to at least retain some of their higher functions.” Count Dooku continued to glance around him. “To fight with both passion and skill, not one or the other. Again, I applaud your decision and your methods, I have watched this play unfold with a smile.”

“It has worked out well.” Traya said. “But the international fall out is beyond my wildest dreams. Your work?”

“Not this time, you can thank an Imperial firebrand for extending your work and letting it seep into the cracks of Galactic Politics.” Dooku said. “”Between Denon and this it has been a good year for the Sith, your return is timely.”

“Perhaps fate, perhaps random chance. Why doesn’t matter, only what I do next.”

“Speaking of,” Dooku began. “I am here to continue our last conversation. You made a request of me, something I only grant to those I deem worthy. I believe your activities here have demonstrated I can trust you not to get yourself killed or captured anytime soon.”



He withdrew a vial from his pocket, tossing it to Traya who caught it easily.

“An enhanced form of the Bando Gora virus, incorporating what we learned from the Var’Kalek disease.” He explained. “The genetic code is unlocked, it should be easy enough to synthesise in quantity.”

“Very useful.” Traya put the vial away. “And the second part?”

“That is a considerably steeper request.” Dooku said. “You wish me to stand aside so you may take Amanda Krennath under your influence. I have a very particular interest in that child and her clan. She represents a very likely successor to my kingdom if I can finish turning her.”

“She still may.” Traya said. “But that does not mean you yourself must raise her. I can direct her as effectively as you could, the difference is she will not know me.”

“I would be willing to give you a chance, assuming she does not remove your head as soon as speak to you.” Doku nodded. “But there is a price.”

“And what price is that?”

“The entire SSU.”



Traya smiled. “An interesting choice.”

“You rule these worlds, your word is law. I am asking you to step aside and allow me to wield that power in your place.”

“It is an interesting request, and a short term one.” Traya said. “Even in the best circumstances the SSU is doomed, it won’t last more than a few more weeks before it falls to the Bothan Navy.”

“I have a contingency plan to deal with that.” Dooku said confidently. “I will arrange for this nation to continue, it should only take a few strings pulled here and there to get people so busy arguing over the future they forget to check the present. By then it will be too late to change.”

“If that is your desire.” Traya said. “One girl for a dozen planets.”

“You have received a bargain. A force user as powerful as Amanda is worth a thousand worlds, sadly you do not have quite so many to offer. I place more value on a connection to the force then I do physical power. Ships, armies, worlds are nothing compared to a knowledge of the force.”

“The Force is not so mighty as you may think Tyrannus.” Traya warned. “Nor as eternal.”

“It will serve my purposes, it will obey my will, and when I master that level of power I will prove you wrong.”

“If you do I will stand corrected.” Traya said insincerely. “I have achieved what I wished to achieve, do you wish to speak with the Empress? She is really very amusing.”

“I have no use for such broken puppets, leave them to their inevitable fate. I will start with a clean slate.”

“As you wish.” Traya nodded. “I’m sure we will speak again Lord Tyrannus.”

“I am sure we will Lady Traya.”

She paused and smiled. “It’s good to know that after all this time I still have it in me.”

[PhantomVX2000]

Nar Shaddaa



In a crowded, busy nightclub full of young adults and energy, Nurola slid onto a stool next to Tigris, who sat alone at one of the bar stations drinking an alcoholic beverage. “Hello, handsome.”

“Hello?” Tigris said guardedly as he looked up from the countertop, half startled by the female stranger.

“I hope you don’t mind my company.”

For a moment, Tigris looked at a beautiful human female in her early twenties, dressed in a nice dress that complimented her good looks and green eyes, and she was a friendly one. As he surveyed her, he realized she wanted to talk for a night. He thought having a friendly conversation with a very beautiful stranger wouldn’t hurt especially in this busy place. What the hell, he thought.

Nurola detected Tigris’s heart rate rising, the thumping in his chest accelerating as a brief flash of lust surged through his body. His breath was light. That made her smile inwardly; it was good to know that a normal gentleman like him appreciated her good looks. She repressed her urge to smile.

For her, that was a good sign as her job got easier.

“Well, no, please join with me.”

“Okay, I had been so bored lately.” Nurola exhaled lightly, resting her hand on her fist.

“Aw, what made you bored?”

Nurola looked at him and protruded her lips in a faint pout, “My best friend left on a business trip for a few days. It came up unexpectedly, and I miss her. We had fun things planned. I am now here in this club with my brother and friends.”

She was telling the truth in a way. In fact, she believed being partially honest would gain his trust and lure him into a false sense of security. That was what she was taught while undergoing her advanced training in the Supercommandos. So far, the unorthodox approach seemed to work for her.

“That sucks.” Tigris grimaced.

“Yeah, it does.” Nurola nodded. “How about you?”

“I came here to be alone, trying to clear some things from my mind.”

“Honestly it’s a strange choice.” Nurola said, looking all around her. “Coming to a busy place like here and have a drink doesn’t strike me as time alone.”

“Touché.” He chuckled.

“Trying to forget something?”

“Yeah… you could say that.” Tigris nodded his head.

“Well, well, it looks like we are on the boat.” Nurola tapped on the countertop. Soon enough, the barkeeper eagerly approached her with a smile on his face, and then she leaned slightly over the countertop, “I want two drinks for both of us. Same one as he was drinking.”

“All right, two Corellian ale coming up.”

The barkeeper set the two cups in front of them and poured out the Corellian ale.

“Thank you.” Nurola said as she paid the barkeeper a few credit coins along with a generous tip.

“I appreciate you buying me another one.”

“You are welcomed, um, so how are you?” Nurola smiled after slipping her cup of Corellian ale.

“I am doing fine.” Tigris stuck out his hand.

Nurola gladly accepted his proffered hand, “Ditto, but bored.” She exhaled lightly, “Now we are talking just fine. I am curious what’s on your mind?”

“Um…”

At that point, Nurola could sense through the Force that Tigris was feeling awkward about this particular subject. Hesitation tended to dampen a friendly conversation, she had to move fast to defuse this potential problem, her job was simple and clear: identify and soften up her target.

“It’s about a woman?” asked Nurola.

Almost immediately, Tigris relaxed and turned his head ever so slightly to one side, “You could say that.”

“It’s okay. You could say things to me.”

“You are one of these listener-types?”

“Yeah”

“Good, I feel at the home with that type of people.” Tigris smiled.

“So… about this woman?”

Tigris sighed, “To make the story short. You see, there was a pretty woman I really liked for awhile. She knew my feelings, but she was not interested because she was so committed to her duty.

Then the war with Vongs happened. That was when we started to have ups and downs, we blew up at each other a few times. Well, she pushed me away, and I stayed away from her. It was understandable because she had gone through a very rough time. Our assignments came in and we all went to the different parts of the galaxy.

Yeah, you could say we were the soldiers.

Um, she met another man and fell for him. Then he died heroically sometime later, but he left her with a child. She came back. I was the one who delivered her baby, that was awkward one, but I did my duty professionally. I was there for her as a friend and doctor because I was concerned for her and her baby due to her active duty status.

Be honest with you, I really can’t remember the last time I saw her.”

“Aw, that’s so sad.” Nurola said sympathetically. In reality, she was really feeling bad for him.

Tigris took a deep sip of his Corellian ale and chuckled, “It’s all right.”

“To make you feel better.” Nurola patted his hand. “I know how it feels like, sorta.”

“You had been there?”

Nurola nodded her head, “Yeah… okay, it happened not too long ago, there was a handsome man. Um, he came to my place to bring my co-workers and me a very important message. I was smitten when I first laid my eyes on him. He was not alone; there was another woman with him. It didn’t take a genius to figure out they were romantically involved.

An hour later, my brother and I went out looking for them because we want to discuss with them about something very important. His family showed up, they were looking for him too. So we joined them. Soon, we found them. All right, they were really busy… if you catch my drift.

That dampened my feeling for him.

Later on that late evening, he and his girl invited us to a formal dinner where he proposed to her. He’s now engaged.

That completely killed my feeling for him.

Really, I am happy that these events happened. At that time, I doesn’t want to emotionally attached to anyone, and my emotions got better of me. Well, I am a firm believer in a notion that the fate or the Force or whatever it was sometime have a good intention despite the unhappy events.

I think the fate is trying to tell you she’s not what you were looking for or you two are not ready for each other.”

There was a silence for a moment as they silently exchanged each other a look.

In reality, Nurola had her heart fractured when she realized there was no hope with her crush, Andris. She fallen victim to what amounted to be one of these hopeless infatuations many female humans experienced in their early lifetime. On that day, she finally understood why the Old Jedi Order forbade the romantic attachment on the grounds of potential dark side hazards, and it scared her to bone. Recognizing her probable weakness, she swore herself that there would be no room for romance and decided to dedicated herself to her military career from that point. She was now alike her mother in her early teenage years, always devoted to her profession.

“I don’t know what to say.” Tigris exhaled.

“It’s all right. It felt so good taking this chip off my shoulder.” Nurola smiled.

Tigris looked at her, “I envy you.”

“How so?”

“I wish I could move on that easily, but I couldn’t let her go.”

Nurola didn’t hesitate, “You see, time is a slow, perfect killer of the romantic feelings.” She took a quick sip of her Corellian ale. “I have a gut feeling you could get over her. Give yourself some time; you will forget these feelings for her like they never existed”

“We will see, but I have no intention of dwelling on my feelings for her for the rest of my life. It’s not healthy.”

“You will be fine, and I am sure of it.”

“Um, excuse me. I have to go to the restroom.” Tigris cleared his throat and rose up from his stool chair. “Please don’t leave ‘cause I will be back in a few minutes.”

“I will be here.” Nurola smiled.

“Promise?”

Nurola motioned him to go ahead. “You have my word.”

Then he vanished into the crowd.

Zayles, a change in the plan ‘cause the target had gone to the restroom, Nurola sent her brother a telepathic message. Zayles was waiting outside the club along with Rana.

Okay, what are you suggesting?

I am going to the restroom and tag him there.

Nurola stood up and made her way to the restroom area through the crowd.

The restroom was empty this tonight, as they were every midnight, as the club-goers were lost in their revelry. Tigris found the nearest stand-up and took a leak, his thoughts turned inward, trying to find some focus. He thought about his conversation with a friendly, beautiful stranger, and in some ways she was right. It had been many months since the last time he saw Irena. Anything could easily change in that amount of time. Irena could have come back from the Vong space a changed person. She could have met another man. These thoughts made him shudder to bone. The very last thing he wanted was getting hurt again when making another move on Irena. Perhaps I needed to be hammered in a reality check, he thought.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to him, Nurola was phasing through the brightly painted, metallic wall like a hand through water and then silently approached Tigris from behind. As she stepped forward, she studied his every movement and listened to the sound of urinating. When she got within one foot of Tigris, he stopped taking a leak and the sound of the faucet running started, indicating that he was done with his business. She quickly steeled her nerves and reached out with the Force.

It was time to act now.

As he was finish zipping up his pant, Nurola moved with a burst of energy, grabbing his head, and smashed him onto the wall hard, rendering him unconscious upon the impact. She felt herself wincing at the sound of Tigris slamming on the wall. Then Tigris stumped onto the floor in a heap.

Nurola looked down at him for a moment, and felt a regret having done it to him

“Sorry... I really hope you don’t take this personally. I enjoyed our conversation.” She said lightly as she crouched down and searched him for any concealed weapons, homing devices, and others.

Zayles, I have the target neutralized and secured. You could come here... now. Nurola telepathically relayed the confirmation to her brother and suppressed her emotions.

“Good job, sis.” Zayles said as he teleported into the restroom a moment later, in his full Mandalorian armor.

“Could you help me get him up, please?” asked Nurola.

Zayles nodded, “Sure thing”

[Coyote]

Chaleydonia, Christophsis
2nd Round of Negotiations
Oligarchy Hall




"I trust you had an agreeable evening in the Diplomatic Suites?" Chief Director Olsten Klynn asked pleasantly.
"I find Christophsian hospitality to among the finest in the Galaxy," Representative Saviya said. She did not have to lie-- the Christophsian suites were, indeed, lavish and comfortable, almost to the point of humbling the young Representative who'd already faced moving from Tatooine standards to Theed Palace standards in her young life.

"Excellent," Director Klynn said, clearly getting the answer he was expecting. "A few more questions, Madame Representative."
"By all means, please," Ranya said.

"We are concerned about merchant protection," the fat Oligarch said. "One thing that I find favor with the Sovereign Alliance proposal is that your government has an excellent record against piracy. A recent upsurge in piracy, in the wake of the Yuuzhan Vong War, has us concerned-- especially since the piracy does, in fact, seem to be well-led and well-organized, and appears to originate from the Hutts."

"Yes, sir," Ranya said, "Leftover Imperials from Daala's fleet that now serve the Hutts as enforcers." She wanted to make sure to get it in there that these were not Hutt pirates using weapons handed over from King Hadiss, but Imperial-supplied privateers.

"Hm, yes," the Oligarch said, "Anyhow, this piracy is affecting us, mostly through increased costs from our shippers. What benefits could we have by joining the SAS in dealing with this threat?"

"The Alliance Merchant Marine could become your primary contractor," Ranya said, "Which would be protected by either the Royal Navy or Customs service, as well as the various Home Guards of any nearby SAS member planet. You would have top-notch military protection."

The Oligarchs seemed to react positively to that, especially since, as a government-run operation, the Merchant Marine's costs would be strictly controlled. "And what of long-term goals to protect shipping to other governments?" the Thin Oligarch asked.

"The Alliance has a long-term strategic goal to exert, if not control, then at least steady influence all along the Corellian Run trade lane, from Denon to the Terminus," Ranya outlined. "That is why we support UAP control of Denon. In the future, I also plan to propose we work with the Bothans to secure and patrol various trade lanes such as the Death Wind Corridor and the Triellus Run to secure trade between our nations as well."

"You are not concerned about the Imperial stance on Denon?" Director Klynn said, "Forgive me, but it does look like the Entente as a whole is taking a serious risk with the Empires over Denon. War does not sit well with Christophsian interests."

"I am pleased to announce that a recent deal has been struck with the Empire over Denon," Ranya said with a smile. "They are willing to let it fall under the UAP sphere of influence, and the UAP has allowed them to station an Imperial Customs mission there."

"A fine bit of political dealing, to be sure," Director Klynn said, "But in truth, part of the reason the Imperials were willing to back down was because they decided to form their own trade route and bypass UAP space entirely?"
"They found an enterprising way around the problem," Ranya said, "What matters is that the situation is resolved, and there will be no war with the Empires over Denon."

"So it does not bother the Queen that she was unable to negotiate her own deal over Denon?" the thin Oligarch asked.
"The Queen sought a peaceful resolution, nothing more," Ranya said, "We do not want to micro-manage affairs and run things for others. Finding a peaceful solution from others is to be applauded."

"So, the Crown does not seek to impose its will on Christophsis, then?" the fat Oligarch asked. "We would not risk becoming a 'province of Naboo'?"
"No, sir," Ranya said, "Rulership is not a right restricted only to the Naboo. I myself am from Tatooine, and I plan to run in the future; and a Falleen is in contention for the throne now, along with a representative from the Doldur Sector. You'll have representation and will not become an extension of Naboo rulers."

The room was quiet again as the Oligarchs all looked at one another. Ranya was still sizing them all up-- there were several Oligarhs, all following the questions and answers intently, but it seemed that only three had been selected to speak: the Chief Director himself, who seemed ambivalent; the thin one, who was playing the part of the skeptic; and the fat one, who seemed to be eager about the SAS's benefits. She wondered if they were playing assigned roles, or if they were showing their true feelings on the matter.

"You have given us more to discuss," Director Klynn said, "Today's deliberations with you shall be concluded ahead of schedule. We will recess until tomorrow as we discuss matters. Good day."




Results:
Christophsian Oligarchy probes the relationship between the SAS and possible Christophsian membership.
Trade routes, pirate protection, and foreign relations all probed.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Bon'nyuw-Luq Sector
PSV Admiral Piett
Lisov-Nikitin Protectorate





Conversations among Sullustans are Translated

The Chubby Gundark had been taken into the Victory-class Star Destroyer Admiral Piett, where Bungo Bung, Jungo Yabay, and Rusti had been held in relatively comfortable means. They had actually been confined aboard the Chubby Gundark, unable to leave the ship but also unable to undock.

"For three days now," Bungo Bung said, "They have been sorting through my cargo barges!" He hung his head in despair. "I'm ruined."
"What are they looking for?" Jungo asked. "You don't have... contraband, do you?"

"No!" Bungo said, shocked, "Carrying unauthorized cargo is a clear violation of SoroSuub company policy," he said.
"Well, they want something," the young Jedi Padawan said.
"It's piracy," Rusti said, "I mean, really-- they call it 'Imperial Customs Inspection' but they board legitimate ships, take what they want, call it 'impound for inspection' and kick you loose."

"Why do they need to keep us cooped up, then, for three days just to grab some personal items?" Jungo demanded.
"If they put us in the brig," Bungo said, "Then we're prisoners. They have to charge us with a crime, and we have certain rights. But if they detain us on the ship, we're just 'impounded', like Rusti said. No crime."

"They take what they want and let us go?" Jungo asked.
"Sure," Rust replied, "And what would we do about it? Sue them? Fight them? Freight crewers are so happy to be let go without a criminal report they just absorb the losses and skate."

"Why do they do this?" Jungo asked, "I thought they were one of the few forces around patrolling space lanes from pirates."
"They are," Bungo replied, "This is their payment. Most governments will look the other way when their forces do this. It lets the navy crewers blow off steam, and support themselves at no expense to the home government."

"How come merchants don't band together and hire security?" Jungo asked.
"Are you kidding?" Rusti asked, "When government forces raid ships, they're usually pretty polite about it. This is good treatment. If were were captured by real pirates, anything could happen to us."

"We'd be enslaved," Bungo said. "So we put up with it. Shakedowns, customs inspections, protection fees, transport taxes, whatever you want to call it-- it's the cost of doing business out here, and like Rusti said, the government troops leave you with most of your cargo and your life, so we just shut up and take it."

"That's unfair," Jungo groused.
Rusti laughed. "Welcome to the Galaxy, kid," she said.

There was a knock at the hatch. "Open up in there," a Stormtrooper called.
Bungo went to the hatch and opened it. A pair of Stormtroopers, with two Imperial Customs inspection agents and a man in Imperial officer's uniform, with the rank badge and cylinders of a Commodore, stood there. The Imperial officer was a big, barrel-chested man with thick, bushy dark hair and beady eyes who might have been decent-looking at one point except for an odd cybernetic prosthetic nose.

"Gundark, huh?" the man said, the cybernetic nose making his voice sound slightly tinny. Jungo grit his teeth to keep from laughing, but he noticed that Bungo and Rusti were standing stock still, staring at him. "You make this run a lot, captain?" he asked. He looked back and forth at the two Sullustans, unable to tell them apart, until Jungo pointed to Bungo Bung.

"You the Captain?" the officer asked, "You all look alike, dammit."
"Abbo ungae ibboo ye," Bungo said.
The officer squinted at him. "What did he mumble?"
"He says we make this run a lot, sir," Rusti translated.
The officer grunted, looking at her, now, as if inspecting every seam and feature on the droid.

"You seem very familiar to me," he said. "Have we captured you before?"
"Dagoo ibyee ya doola," Bungo said.
"He says you captured us once before a long time ago, sir," Rusti said.

The officer frowned, rubbing his chin with thumb and forefinger. "Did they have any contraband?"
"No, sir," one of the Customs Inspectors said. "Mostly food, cloth, hand tools, repulsorlift parts."
"Hmmm," the officer said, looking around at the interior of the ship. "Captured you before, huh? Well, I guess if they don't have any contraband, and you've been such loyal supporters in the past..." he said with a smile. "What kind of food did they have?"

"Raw foodstuffs, some dry goods, and several pallets of food delivery for Biscuit Baron."
The Imperial officer stopped, frozen in place. "Biscuit Baron, you say?" he asked.
"Yessir," the Customs Inspector said. "Actually, it was eight pallets of Chipper Meals and another eight of Bantha Breakfast Biscuits."

The officer locked eyes with Bungo Bung, incredulity on his face. Finally, he began to smile-- a cold, cruel, evil smile. "Bungo Bung, as I live and breathe," he said. Pretty soon, he began to laugh, then he chortled with laughter, roaring at Bungo Bung. Suddenly, he stopped, and leaned over the little Sullustan, pointing to his own cybernetic nose prosthesis.

"You did this to me!" he yelled, "And now, after all these years, I have you! To the brig with you! To the brig with them all!"




Results:
Bungo, Jungo and Rusti captured by the Lisov-Nikitin Protectorate.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Nar Shadda Monastery




"Hey, has anyone heard from Tigris?" Drakko asked, walking into the common room they shared.
"Tigris?" Bronwyn asked, "No, why." She greedily ate a delicious omelet prepared by the monks for them.
"Slow down, honey," Arik said to her.
"Two against one," she said, point to her abdomen, "I'll fight ya." She shoveled another mouthful in. "This needs peanut butter. Do we have any?"

"Well, Tigris asked to borrow my new 'Midnight Sun' album," he said, holding up a player chip, "He went out last night and I haven't seen him this morning."
"Still sleeping?" Arik asked, looking over to one of the small private rooms they had. The central common room had twelve little alcoves built around it, just large enough for small bunks and a desk and chair for monks to write and meditate. Tigris's mattress was undisturbed.

"He may have got lucky," Maris said with a grin.
"I don't know," Alec Syfardos said, "He's kinda got a thing for my sister, and he's not really the type to blow her off for a random skirt."
"I haven't seen him," Hyrani said, "He didn't stay aboard the ship last night. Lorakk'chi growled his confirmation of this.

They looked around, Arik and Master Kota looking very serious.
"Alright, let's see what's going on. With General Grievous and Darth Fatale in the area, I want to find Tigris and make sure he's okay..."




Results:
Tigris missing, no one sure what it means.
Arik thinks Grievous or Fatale have something to do with it.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Mos Eisley
Tar Mass District




Her vision cleared, but she regretted it instantly. She was laying face down in a damp, murky room-- not a cell, but not a comforting place, either. Her mind felt disconnect from events, form her body, from memory. She could sense that she had been violated cruelly, multiple times, in many different ways. Her clothes were in tatters, her body bruised, her spirit broken.

She was beyond tears.

Kenzcee was in a sea of numbness, diminished humanity, and had become a plaything for men who plied her Death Sticks. Her Force visions were gone now, replaced by entirely new visions-- memories far more horrifying and brutal, far more real; sensations that sickened her and filled her with self-loathing, regret, pain... and a terrible, terrible thirst for more Death Sticks to block out the new visions.
She got up, weak, disoriented-- unable to stand. She collapsed, falling to the floor in a clatter, unable to even protect herself in her haze. She crawled instead, on her hands and knees, towards the bucket in the corner. She pulled herself up by the single ragged, dirty towel that hung through a loop on the wall and looked into the bucket, confirming what she thought it was-- her toilet, used by some of her customers as well. She squatted, hovering over the bucket, and tried to purge herself of her poisons, the very act of eliminating waste painful from the treatment she'd received.

She had nothing to clean up with, so she used the towel. Finished, she staggered over to the thin, lumpy mattress and collapsed on it, exhausted, sobbing in self pity and remorse at what had happened.

The door opened.

"Huh," a fat twi'lek said, stumbling into the room with a large basin. Awake, good." He placed the basin on the floor, slopping water out onto the floor. He went back out of the door and came back in again, with a tray with a plastic mug and a bowl.

"Eat up," he said, "Wash up. You got another day ahead." He went back out to the hall where a creature could be heard arguing, and then a heavy smack from the back of the twi'lek's hand. A cretinous Chadra-Fan limped in, avoiding her eyes, and picked up the slop bucket, carrying it out. Soon, it was brought back in, empty if not exactly clean. A replacement towel was provided, and some coarse brown papers were piled by the bucket as well.

The door closed.

Kenzcee lay on the mattress, staring at the basin and the tray without seeing them. Pretty soon, the door opened again, and a drunk Wookiee staggered in, grinning and howling. He stumbled over towards Kenzcee and rolled her on her back, without resistance, and mounted her. She lay there, enduring the rhythmic pounding slack-jawed, until the Wookiee was finished. He got up, howling with happy victory, and tossed a small vial onto the mattress next to her. She reached over and picked it up, opening it, and took some more as the Wookiee staggered out. Pretty soon, the fat twi'lek came by again.

"Wash up, gods damn you!" he said, "We've had a complaint. Said you stink." He pulled her up by her hair, but all Kenzcee could feel was a dull, aching throb. He tossed her onto the floor over by the basin and grabbed the towel, soaking it in the basin until it was dripping wet, then roughly scrubbing her body with it. She squirmed and thrashed, but he slapped his forearm against her abdomen, forcing the breath from her. She relaxed and became compliant.

The twi'lek then hauled her to her feet and dropped her in the basin, soaking her head underwater a couple of times. "Now I suggest you eat," he said, grabbing one side of the tub and lifting it with a grunt, hauling it over and dumping her and the water out onto the now flooded floor. The water ran out into a drain in the floor; Kenzcee picked her self up on her hands and knees and crawled to the tray.

Water and pasty gruel.

She drank the water, left the gruel, and went back to the mattress where she curled up and cried, hating herself and everything about her life, and wanting just to curl into herself and die.




Results:
Kenzcee wakes in a private hell.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Theed Palace, Naboo





"I don't know, I think it's ridiculous..." Irena Syfardos was saying to Tyla when the protocol droid found her.
"Excuse me, Madame Jedi," the droid said, "I have a message for you from a Mister Avar. Are you familiar with that name?"

"Avar?" Irena asked, puzzled, "I have no idea who that is. Take a message."
"I'm sorry, Madame, but, he says it's urgent."
"Another damn reporter?" Irena growled, suddenly sorry she was so annoyed with the droid, who was only doing his job. "What agency is he calling from?"

"He says he's calling from the Skywalker Farm Praxeum, and he's concerned about a Kenzcee Kittrex. Is that name familiar to you?"
"Yes... yes it is," she said, standing up. "'Scuse me, please, Tyla..."
"Of course!" Tyla Janns said as Irena left to activate her comms in private.

"Irena Syfardos here," she said. A blue-furred humanoid canid face peered back at her; someone she'd never seen before. "Who is this? What are you doing at the Praxeum?"

"I am Avar," the canid said, "Kenzcee and Jungo did not tell you of me? They found me on Nelvaan." he said.
Irena's brow furrowed. She'd heard something about Nelvaan in the flurry of briefings she'd gotten, but had been too tired to care. Kenzcee was supposed to be back at the Praxeum watching over things. Irena had been glad to let her run the show without interference, since she was taking her own time getting caught up and relaxing after the Vong mission.

"No, I mean, yes, I mean... I was told about Nelvaan. So you're Avar, the new Jedi?"
"Yes," Avar said, "I have to ask you, where is Kenzcee going? She is not here three days now, and the droid says she left to go on a mission?"

"Maybe she went to go get supplies or something for Master Arik," Irena said, feeling strange to be referring to Arik Whitesun as 'Master' now. Shayyla had died while she was still undercover on the Vong ship. So much to get used to...

"No, I do not think this is so," Avar said, "She has been sick, very sick. She takes too much medicine," he said, holding up a vial of some sort in his hand. Irena looked closely at it.
"What is that?" she asked, beginning to feel concern.
"I do not know. It smells sweet. She said it helped her stay calm."

Irena was silent for a moment, her mind racing. What is going on at the Praxeum? Who is this guy? she wondered. "Look," she said, "Just stay there. I'm coming right now."
"She took a speed-er-bike," he said.
"Just stay there! I'm on my way!" she said, and closed the connection.

Damn, she thought, and headed for the hangar to requisition a ship.





Results:
Irena getting pulled into Kenzcee's situation.
Doesn't know who Avar is, why Kenzcee is away, and still has to get used to Shayyla being gone.
***

[PhantomVX2000]

Mandallia

Ailyn Vel steadied her blaster pistol, left-handed, and fired six shots in rapid succession with each one shot hitting the holographic bullseye marker dead center, fully forty meters away. All told, she managed to score a perfect score of ambidextrous weapon handling. Satisfied with her own result, Ailyn safed her gun, put it back in her holster, and stepped back from the firing line. She looked at the weapon master standing to her, and he was very impressed with her weapon handling.

“Her ambidextrous is very excellent.” Commander Fexa Sornell, a female Rattataki and second-in-command of the Supercommandos, remarked candidly from the second story observation room. She was impressed with what she was seeing.

Marshal Motevin nodded, “Well, yeah, she is also very adept at handling virtually all kind of the weapons we could throw at her.”

“It’s hard to believe that Boba Fett himself have a daughter.”

“Yeah, I would have never believed it until her trial made to news headline a year ago. Okay, um, her mother trained her very well. She has Fett blood running through her veins and even possessed some traits what made her father a very dangerous man.”

“You said that she got all traits you were looking for?” asked Fexa.

“Yes, she managed to track her father across the galaxy for a decade. It was no easy task for her considering her father was one of the galaxy’s finest bounty hunters. That speaks strongly of her character.”

Fexa tilted her head, “I concur with you. The Fett bloodline do have reputation for determination and resourceful.”

“That’s why I am asking you to provide a few of your best trainers to whip her into a person who could hold her ground against the odds without breaking a sweat. She does have the potential of becoming a highly capable operative. But… she never joined or served in the military, that’s where you come in.” Motevin said.

“Okay, I could arrange that.”

“Thank you, I knew I could call you for a favor.” Motevin smiled.

A wry chuckle escaped from Fexa’s lips, “Don’t remind me. I am not going to play sabaac with you ever again.”

“Hey, don’t look at me. Your boss set up that game for us.” Motevin replied, smiling.

“Ugh, I will have a word with him.”

“Good luck.”

“All right, I will give you my optimal guess. I believe she could complete her training in three months. That is assuming her psychological profile is accurate.” Fexa said.

“Okay, well, I want your people throw everything at her. No expectations. No preferred treatments.”

“Will do. Just like what her grandfather did with the first batch of the clones.” Fexa smiled faintly.

“Jango Fett.” Motevin nodded. He had a strong confidence in his recruit, Ailyn Vel, and she had a very strong motivation of succeeding this training. “She could handle this one.”

ACTIONS
- Ailyn Vel starts her training as a covert agent

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Mandalore

Janus finished reviewing the progress report on research projects and the construction of new shipyards recently ordered by the High Command, having gone through the projected analysis, final cost estimation, and long-term projection, and so far they looked very promising. It was unanimously agreed that the Mandalorian Order needed to expand its shipbuilding capacity to match the border expansion, with a strong potential to churn out the new ships to replace the aging vessels with the short period. On top of all that, the new upcoming weapon system, so formidable, would be fitted on future ships, making the armada stronger than before. Mandalore, a civilization that had been living in its shadows for thousand years, was now poised to come out as new emerging galactic power with a decade. He put down the electronic paper on his desk and poured himself a cup of Mandallian Ale.

Suddenly, there was a beep coming from the communication device that sat on the left side of his desk. Curiously, he reached and activated it.

The intercom on his desk buzzed and the voice of his secretary came across clearly, “The ambassador from the Bloodstripe Confederation would like to see you.”

“Bring him in.” Janus replied.

“Yes, sir.”

Pretty soon, the door slid open, and the Corellian ambassador entered his office, calm and well-mannered. He was a human male in his forties, tall, with dark blond hair and hazel eyes, his formal attire indicated he was a very important man in his society. Janus rose up in respect for him and motioned the ambassador toward the cushiony chair.

“Thank you for bringing these bodies.” Janus said.

“We Corellians have a strong respect for the burial traditions.” The ambassador said as he took the seat offered by his counterpart.

“Indeed, so we do too.” Janus nodded. “Well, I have something in my mind I would like to share with you.”

“What would be that?” The ambassador asked, raising his eyebrows.

“I would like to offer you a friendship treaty and free trade agreement.”

That made the ambassador’s lip twitch into a smile, “That is something I will have to confer with my superiors back in the home.”

“Okay, take your time.”

“I will inform you of our decision on these matters at earliest opportunity.” The ambassador said.

ACTIONS
- The construction of new shipyards ordered: 6x 1600m, 1x 1400m
- Mandalore meets with the Bloodstripe Confed ambassador and offered him a friendship treaty and free trade agreement

*** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Nar Shaddaa

The alley was empty of living things as far as the Mandalorians were concerned. Broken glass, crumbled papers, discarded machines, and garbage containers lined up against the both walls. It was a perfect site to drop off Tigris. The Enwandung-Esterhazy siblings took a brief look at the rooftop of the building on their left and spotted their mother atop them watching their movement, providing an overwatch protection. She gave them an ‘all clear’ nod, and they stepped forward.

The tag and bag mission last night was a great success due to Nurola’s quick thinking. The force-sensitive Mandalorians were about to telepathically probe Tigris, while he was unconscious and sedeated, for actionable information and they found what they were looking for. Rather than holding him, they decided to release him unharmed in somewhere safe as to not alert the rest of his team that the Mandalorians were on them.

“Take easy on him.” Nurola said as she helped her brother moving unconscious Tigris, holding him up by the arm.

Zayles looked at her “You know this is the first time we done this”

“Yeah, this is crazy, but thrilling.”

“Ditto. You know…the last time we had that kind of fun was our high school sophomore year.”

“I remember that.” Nurola chuckled, walking down the alleyway with her brother and Tigris. “That was one of our best years.”

“I loved these days.”

“Hey, look, how about over there?” Nurola pointed at a particular spot near the dumpsters.

Zayles took his moment to study the spot and nodded, “Well, no one will see him in that spot. Yeah, we could put him there.”

“Okay. Move, please.”

They made their way to the empty spot between the partially filled dumpsters, dragging Tigris by each arm. Soon, they gently lowered him onto the floor and propped him up against the wall, crossed his hands on his lap, and straightened his legs together. Zayles and Nurola wanted Tigris to have some of his dignity intact when he wakes up, it was an honorable thing they could do for him, at least.

Satisfied, Nurola reached into her jacket pocket and retrieved a small, thin jet injector, sliding the protective cap off the nozzle, and placed its nozzle on Tigris’s neck. She injected him with a slow-acting agent that would bring him back to conscious within thirty minutes, allowing the Mandalorians ample time to depart from this area.

At the least, Tigris would be waking up without his jacket, shoes, wallet, and valuable items. Actually, the Mandalorians made sure it looks like a robbery to avoid drawing any suspicions from the other side, and this move made sense considering Nar Shaddaa ridded with crimes of all sort.

For a moment, they looked at unconscious Tigris silently.

“He never saw what hit him last night.” Nurola said.

“Yeah, but I am sure he will remember that deep conversation with you.” Zayles replied.

“He will.”

“Poor guy…” Zayles remarked. “… well, I heard the rest of your conversation with him.”

“You did?” Nurola asked, surprised.

“Yeah, uh, I sympathize with his plight. Many males would. It would totally suck if that happened to me.”

Nurola nodded regretfully, “Same here. I would so hate that, it’s like if it came straight out of one of these holo-drama movies.”

“Yeah…” Zayles grimaced lightly.

“Okay, let’s get out of here.” Nurola said, looking up at her brother.

Zayles laid his hand on his sister’s shoulder and nodded, “All right.”

Whoever you are, I hope you take my advice, Nurola thought, and headed toward the end of the alley with her brother.

ACTIONS
- Tigris released after the Mandalorians got what they were looking for.

[Corp]

Bespin

In a change of tactics the droid fleet exited hyperspace in the outer system instead of directing over Bespin. As he watched his few remaining fighters launch into space HB-25 carefully watched as data became coming in, still half expecting some kind of trap. Much to his relief it appeared that his assessment of the situation was correct and the Federation had done little to protect the system, believing it to be safe. There did seem to be more ships in the system than first thought and they included unknown designs, but HB-25 was not worried by this. His fleet still had a strong numerical advantage and those ships would either be militia units, in which case they would be easily destroyed, or ships sent by other powers, in which case would work poorly with each other.

The enemy fleet had noticed the arrival of the droid ships and began to come out to meet them. This was a bit odd given that defending fleets liked to stay in orbit of planets and take advantage of planetary guns. In this case the gas giant would have little in the way of weapons that could hurt capital ships so it was logical that the Federation fleet would want to keep the droids as far away from the floating cities as possible. That suited HB-25 just fine since there was likely nothing interesting on them anyway. The Federation had been given enough time to evacuate. “Do we have any information on the floating cities?”

“Coming in now Sir,” came the reply. “As expecting the meatbags have run. However…Sir I’m reading several thousand life signs.”

That…made no sense. Why would the meatbags put soldiers in a city that could easily be destroyed by a few bombers? They would never risk lives like that without a good reason. Perhaps the evacuation wasn’t finished. But then why were there no transports in the system? The only logical conclusion was that there was something on Bespin that the Federation was afraid the droids would find. HB-25 again considered the tactical situation and decided that it was worth taking a look at. “Once we have engaged their ships the troop carriers will mirco-jump to Bespin proper. They will land our soldiers and kill all meatbags. They will then do a sweep of the structures to see if there are any items of value that they meatbags maybe have been protecting.”

The order was acknowledged and the carriers broke off and prepared to make their jump. In the mean time the Federation fleet was quickly approaching and the fighters of the fighters of both sides had started their deadly dance. HB-25 assigned targets to his ship squadrons and decided to engage what must be the Federation flagship with his own ship. By his calculations the battle would be over within three hours. The troop carriers jumped away and the battle was joined.


“No no, the kolcta tanks go right near the door. The bacta tanks can stay where they are but if someone is bad enough to need kolcta then every second is going to count.”

The two worker droids lifted the heavy tanks and set about following Lusa’s instructions. The new Jedi Knight took a quick look around the aid station and seeing that the staff had things well in hand she walked out to get some fresh air. This aid station was set up near allied lines on the ‘surface’ of Bespin. Some of the soldiers were still adjusting to the idea that they were on Bespin but had dirt under their boots, looking up to see Cloud City floating above them. The surface was actually a massive floating platform that was created by Ugnaught workers who wanted a reminder of their homeworld. Even though it was largely covered with jungle and swamps it was the only place heavy equipment like walkers could operate.

“Are the aid stations all set up Jedi Lusa?” a voice behind her asked. Turning Lusa was a bit surprised to see General Cody with his helmet under his arm, looking over the area.

“General! Umm, yes there’re as ready as we can make them. I’m a bit surprised you came to check on them personally.”

“I like to make sure all areas under my command are operating as they should be,” Cody replied in a matter of fact tone.

Lusa gave a small nod in return. While she was glad that the FRA had sent their top commander to help fight the droids she did admit that the General made her a bit nervous. After all he didn’t have the best record working with Jedi. “How do you think the battle will go?”

“Well it depends on how many droids they can land. These clankers are a lot tougher than the ones we fought during the Clone Wars but I’m made fighting droids a bit of a speciality of mine. Plus we’ve had time to prepare plenty of surprises. I just hope your Admiral is right in the belief that they’ll actually land troops instead of just blasting us out of the sky. Until then we-“

General Cody cut off as he head sharply turned up. Lusa followed his gaze to see that patrolling squadrons of cloud cars were now rapidly pulling up and the skies above Cloud City were being lit by colourful flashes. The droids had arrived and it appeared that they were landing soldiers after all. Lusa turned to wish Cody luck only to find that the FRA General had disappeared. Taking one last look skyward Lusa headed back to the aid station to wait for the first casualties.


“Master Calis I’m pretty sure I hate this,” Shadow said as she guided her fighting through the confusing melee. There were explosions everywhere but Shadow was too focused on just staying on Calis’ wing.

”You’re doing fine, just stay with me.” The Ewok Jedi had insisted that if Shadow wanted to be a strong Jedi warrior she would need to learn how to fly a fighter. She had done all right in the sims and in training but this was the first time she had been in an actual fight.

“I think next time I’m going to stay on the ground with Lusa.”

”Come on, this isn’t so bad. I’m a bit surprised they’re not more enemy fighters here. I remember during the Ssi-ruuk War-“

”Shadow you’re doing fine,” Halbret cut in. ”Just stay with us and watch our backs.”

Taking a deep breath Shadow double clicked in acknowledge and turned her fighter to follow the two Jedi Masters. She was still learning the settings so she felt some of the Gs coming out of the turn. Calis was taking the lead, blasting apart every droid fighter he came across. Shadow followed him to ensure that no droids got on his tail, while Halbret kept an eye on her.

”Ok Shadow I just got word that we’re going to do a bit of escorting. There’s a boarding party going for one of their frigates so we’re going to form up on the shuttle and blast anything that comes near it. Lwothin is on there so we need to be on top of this. You can do this, it’s just like the training sims”

Shadow followed Calis fighter and soon saw the shuttle they were going to be escorting. It was smaller than normal, specially designed for boarding actions. Taking up position slightly above the shuttle they began moving deeper into the enemy lines.


The shuttle had no windows. You got sealed up in one place and put your trust in the pilot that he’d get you to where you were going. Till then it was just a dimly lit metal box that shook from time to time. Normally not much to worry about until you realise that those shakes are from enemy ships trying to blast you out of the sky. Nothing you can do about it either. One minute you’re just sitting there humming that song that got stuck in your head, the next you’re a bunch of floating atoms. Have to say the thought makes me nervous. Being surrounded by heavily armed and eager Rattataki and Gamorreans didn’t help the nerves.

“One minute until we reach the target! Double-check your weapons. Remember our target is the bridge, we hit them hard and fast.”

Ok time to get my head in the here and now. As the soldiers on the shuttle do their last minute checks I open myself to the Force to help find that inner calm. I can sense the others nearby, looking out for me. A comfort, I just wish they could come with-

The thought is cut off as the shuttle slams to a halt and starts burning through the enemy hull. It seemed like it took hours to reach the droid ship and it appeared the universe was trying to make up for lost time by speeding things up. Before I know it we break through and I’m suddenly on an enemy frigate. My training tells me that I need to stay up front so I can protect the soldiers with my lightsaber. However these boarding teams have their own training and I find I need to run in order to catch up. The fight is somewhere up ahead but I’m still bust with droids popping out of doorways and halls. I have no clue where I’m going other than forward. Should have paid closer attention to the briefing. Thankfully the soldiers have their destination firmly set in their minds and by following the blaster fire and trial of destroyed droids I’m able to get to the bridge. It’s, in a word, a mess. Droid pieces are everywhere and a few of the consoles were on fire. Most of the soldiers were busy securing the area but all of the officers were standing around what must have been the ship’s captain.

“Bastard was too quick. Able to enter codes before we were able to destroy it. Their memory core is deleting itself and we can’t stop it.”

“Show me where it is. Maybe I can do something.” For all I know that’s not a damn thing I can do but it’s better than kicking the deck, sighing, and then going home. They quickly show me where the backup core is located. Main core has already been wiped clean. A number of ideas pop in and out of my head as I ran to think of what to do now. In passing I wonder if these soldiers are more update about losing the data or losing the promised reward. In the end I draw upon the Force and ripping the thing out of the floor. Everyone seems impressed, most of all myself. With my level of skill that kind of raw power is rare indeed.

“Looks like the deletion wasn’t fully completed. This thing is a damn mess but we might be able to get something out of it. Alright everyone let’s get the hell out of here before we get ourselves blown up. Command might not care much but they’re going to want this core.”


The metal crates slowly lifted into the air as crewmembers rushed forward to pull their trapped friends to safety. Once they were clear Evlyn set the crates back down and ran forward to help with the wounded. As the youngest ‘Jedi’ by far attached to the fleet she had not been allowed to be directly involved in the fight and instead had been assigned to damage control aboard Admiral Serir’s flagship. She wasn’t very happy about it. She knew she was still just a padawan but she could still help out, and though part of her did acknowledge that she was she still wanted to be out in the fight helping the others.

“I’m ok, but you better get Wfalke to the med bay,” one of the rescued crewmembers said, pointing to another with burns along his side. Seems some of those boxes had been a bit warm.

“Ok, let’s go. I know I’m small but put your weight on me,” Evlyn instructed the wounded man, again drawing on the Force to help her. For the first time she saw the wisdom of doing all of those boring exercises back on Endor.

Luckily it didn’t take long from them to get to the med bay. It had been busy when Evlyn had left to respond to the emergency call and it was even worst now. Patients with lesser wounds were spilling out into the hall. Evlyn found a free med droid and dropped off the burned crewmember with it. She then went to find Master Rillao who had taken over the med bay, with the head doctor’s permission. She was right where Evlyn had left her, bent over a table that had a dozen different colours of blood on it. There was a different patient though and as Evlyn approached Rillao finished her work and the soldier was moved to one of the free bacta tanks. She called for the next serious case before turning to her padawan. “Did you bring anyone back?”

“One person. They had some bad burns but nothing overly serious from what I can tell,” Evlyn reported. “The ship seems to be taking a lot of damage though.”

“I tend not to notice such things. As a healer you’re only worry are those wounded within your care. When I’m working I’m sure I wouldn’t notice if we suffered a hull breech nearby.”

“I don’t think if being a healer is what I want to be,” Evlyn admitted, looking around at the broken bodies and the blood soaked bandages.

Rillao hand her hand through the girl’s hair and smiled. “Your talents don’t run that way but every Jedi needs to understand how such places work. Otherwise how will we be able to help those in need?”

“I guess. But we are safe right? The ship will stay together.”

“I trust Admiral Serir’s judgement,” Rillao stated as crewmember with bad burns to the face was set down before her. “She will do all she can to protect us and the people under her command. …soldier did they give you a double dose of pain meds because in your condition you shouldn’t be smiling.”

“Face hurts like hell Ma’am,” the crewmember whispered through black and blistered lips. “Smiling ‘cause the UAP fleet just ended the system. We got the bastards.”

Actions:
Droids launch their attack on Bespin

[Ironanvil1]

Natalar Mountains Resort, Adarlon, Minos Cluster



Corin looked over the central meeting chamber of the Natalar Resort, delegates grazing from a lavish buffet as they mingled, knotting into clumps as the various discussions attracted interested representatives.

The summit was currently in something of a lull - diplomats taking the opportunity to discuss side issues and cut individual deals as the implications of the Sluis Van settlement were worked through.
The recent arrival of an envoy from the Bloodstripe Confederation had only provoked yet more discreet negotiations.

Now Corin was out to make his own deal for the advantage of the Compact.

He spotted his quarry on the far side of the room - Moff Sun was alone as a servitor relieved her of her empty plate. He took the chance to gain her attention.

“Moff Sun if I could speak to you for a moment?” she turned at his words.

“Liwon, please, Minister. Of course – what can I assist you with?”

Corin gestured her into one of the conversation areas that scattered the chamber, activating the privacy field.
“I wanted to speak to you regarding Denon. I know originally the intention had been to arrange mediation by the Moddell to reach a settlement - but with the current difficulties in the Federation I had thought to propose that we discuss the matter here - since most parties are already represented.”
“But I’d like to gain the Imperium’s agreement before bringing it up, as you had originally expressed a desire to keep Sluis and Denon separate.”

“Yes - the droid assault on the Federation has made the idea of their hosting talks difficult. I’ll consult with the Chancellor but there shouldn’t be an issue now that Sluis has been dealt with satisfactorily.”

Spotting his opening Marshak changed subject. “About the Sluissi - I was speaking to Ambassador Sess’rith about refitting some warships for the Compact but he indicated he had already passed on an order from the Imperium to his superiors.”

“A Compact military build-up?”

“Ensuring our defence only. We prefer to resolve any disagreement amongst nations diplomatically, but the recent troubles in the Federation have shown sometimes trouble descends upon one unannounced – it is best to be ready for it.”
“After the Vong, the Fleet is somewhat under-strength, particularly with our recent expansion. Our building program for lighter vessels is proceeding apace, but the Vong destroyed our largest shipyards - we are unable to re-commission our Heavy Star Destroyers, the two Eradicators lost in battle around Karideph. The Sluissi yards would be able to do the work.”

“As you know the Imperium had placed an order with the Sluissi for several Star Destroyers but they aren’t urgently needed - I am sure that I could speak to the Sluissi and see to delaying the order to allow our friends in the Compact to assure their security.”

Pleased, Marshak hesitated a moment before broaching the... item – he did not wish to reveal the source the Compact’s interest.
“My government is also interested in a possible licensing deal with the Imperium – the technology for S-thread boosters. The Lord Protector wishes to reinforce and expand the hyperlane network around the cluster, to assist the flow of trade.”
“We possess the expertise to produce the needed probe droids in abundance – the Quockrans have millennia of experience in perfecting explorer droids – but we currently have no native source of S-thread boosters.”

A very brief flash of surprise showed in Liwon’s eyes before she schooled herself - it was only noticeable because he was looking for it.
“Interesting that you should mention that…..”

Actions:
Bloodstripe Ambassador arrives at Summit
Compact offers to switch Adarlon Summit to discuss Denon
Seek to use Sluissi yards to refit 2 Eradicator HSD’s
Open the topic of hyperlanes with Imperium

[PhantomVX2000]

Shulstine V

The first ray of sunlight broke out of the horizon, causing the darkness to break asunder, and stabbed at Kiva’s blue eyes, making her flinching slightly. Instinctively, she held up her hand to shield her eyes and tried to focus her vision. She was disappointed that the night was over. She took a few steps backward and left the rooftop, heading for the street, her mind spinning, the questions bombarding her. To top of all this, the last time she had good sleep was two days ago. This place was cruel, filled with fear and death, all these emotions rippling within the Force made it harder for her to sleep comfortably as it painfully reminded her of Kohlma Moon. Now she was looking for a safe place to crash.

Coming closer to the large, dilapidated warehouse situated on the hilltop she had seen from the rooftop minutes earlier, Kiva chosen this place because it was reasonably isolated and all possible approaches could be detected, making it an ideal site for her to hide and sleep. Soon, she entered the warehouse through a broken window and set down her backpack for a minute, surveying the murky, deserted room filled with a few dozen cargo containers, all gathering dust and cobwebs.

This is perfect, Kiva thought, picking up her backpack.

By the time she found her ideal sleeping site, an inflatable bed was rolled out into place on the top of the container in the center of the room and she settled herself on the bed with a weary sigh. Lying down, she watched the sunlight flowing through the ceiling windows, thoughts of her old friends, particularly what happened to them and she felt the bitterness rise. She hadn’t done enough to fulfill her need of retribution despite having already killed at least sixty-five of these genocidal killers.

In fact, Kiva wanted to kill more of them, but her heart cried out no more, her soul couldn’t take anymore of this madness.

When did I become a monster, Kiva thought as she rolled to her side.

Then she reached into her backpack and pulled out a small holo-projector, which she activated a moment later. A doll-sized holographic avatar of Rana materialized before her, she stood akimbo, smiling brightly. She missed her significant other as she wished she were with Rana and her friends back on Nar Shaddaa, not on this forsaken world.

A loud crash rang throughout the building, snapping Kiva back to the reality from her world of thoughts. Almost immediately, she deactivated the holo-projector, stowed it back into her backpack, and reached for her super-heavy plasma pistol. She sensed there was someone in this building through the Force. Now she was no longer alone. She let out a soft grunt as she rose to her feet.

This place is not ideal as I believed, Kiva thought, leaping off the container with her weapon ready.

Kiva tracked down the source of the noise, looking around and silently moving around the maze of containers. In the semi-darkness, she heard a scuffle of footsteps and mental clangs near the stairway. The Force told her where another presence was; she exploded into a Force-aided leap, landing behind the intruder, out of the intruder’s vision, hoping to catch him/her by surprise.

“I got you, son of bitch!” She hissed…

… And found herself face to face with a very young Twi’lek male in tattered clothes, about six to eight years old, crawling on the floor trying to pick up canned foods.

Instantly, he looked up, startled, dropping the canned foods, screamed like a banshee, and turned and ran. For some reason, she was startled by his scream.

“Oh shit! Shit! Shit!” Kiva cried out, watching the boy running away, screaming. She mentally facepalmed herself, she couldn’t believe that she terrorized a kid once again, just like what happened on Denon.

Somewhere, the boy raced down through the maze of cargo containers, making sudden random turns. He hoped to lose her in this place. But when he turned a corner, he ran into Kiva who was waiting for him. The boy halted abruptly, and he tried to backpedal, trying to get away. But it was too late. A shriek rang out, but Kiva pressed her hand on his mouth, seized him in his arms, and held him firmly.

It was clear that boy was very terrified. She doesn’t need the Force to tell her. She had to do something to calm him down.

“Don’t scream, please.” Kiva begged; her eyes felt wide as saucers.

The alien boy struggled to scream through her hand.

Once again, she begged, “Please… I will not hurt you. I promise.”

Then alien boy calmed down as he stared at her. A moment later, Kiva released her hand from his mouth, gently and calmly. To her relief, he didn’t scream or whatever as she asked him.

“Promise?”

“Yes, I swear to the Force.” Kiva said.

“Who are you?” asked the alien boy.

Kiva smiled, “I am Kiva. What’s your?”

“Tamuoo”

“How old are you?”

“I am seven. You?”

“Well you asked nicely. I am twenty.” Kiva said, “Okay, Tamuoo, what a young boy like you is doing in this place like here?”

Tamuoo raised his chin, “I sleep here.”

That surprised Kiva.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Well, I was going to sleep here too.”

“You are hiding from the bad people too?”

Kiva felt her heart sank, she was the Sith apprentice and Dooku’s living weapon. Hence, she was technically one of the bad people. Of course, she was a bad girl hiding from the bad people, same one that hunted Tamuoo’s people and butcher them for sick, twisted pleasure.

She bit her lower lip, “Yes… see, I am hiding because I hurt the bad people very badly.”

“Really?” The boy perked up.

“Yes…” Kiva said, wanting to believe that she was still a human being, not a monster created by Count Dooku.

Then Tamuoo reached out and tugged Kiva’s arm, signaling her to follow him. And she did. They headed for the office not far from her hideout location. Once there, Tamuoo pried the door open with a squeak, revealing the place where he had been living here in this building. From what she could see, a bed hastily assembled with clothes stuffed with soft bits, a partly open bag filled with his personal items, and near the bed was a collection of toys. There were signs that he had been here for weeks. She thought it was a miracle that Tamuoo survived all by himself.

“That’s your room.” Kiva asked as she crouched before Tamuoo.

“Yup.”

“How long had you been living here?”

“I don’t know how long.”

“Where are your parents?” Kiva gently held Tamuoo’s arms.

“Bad guys took them away.” Tamuoo answered abruptly.

Kiva let out a horrified gasp, “I am sorry.”

“They also took my sister. I watched them doing bad things to her.”

She felt very angry inwardly, feeling her primal urge to go out and kill every of these sick bastards. That was Kiva was trained for: to maim and kill, make the people suffer. But the sight of Tamuoo somehow calmed down her inner demon.

“Uh, that is very horrible.” Kiva said as she hugged him for a few moments. “This world is not safe for you.”

Tamuoo looked up at her, “Where I will go to?”

“I know a great place for you to stay. It’s far away from the bad people. My family and friends live there, they won’t let these bad guys get you, okay?”

“Where?”

“Mandalore…” She smiled faintly.

“Wait, you are a Mandalorian.”

“That’s right, boy.” Kiva tussled his head.

“Will you come with me?”

For a moment, she was silent, looking at the boy.

“Um, okay, as much as I would like to go with you, but I have to stay here and do my job. See, my job was to punish the bad people.” Kiva sighed and took a deep breath. “Listen, I swear, no matter what, you will be at the better place with my family until we find your relatives.”

“Okay.” Tamuoo nodded.

“I am going to call my friends to come here and pick you up and bring you to Mandalore, that’s my home.” Kiva said before she reached into her pocket for her small communicator device.

Fifteen minutes later, outside the warehouse, Kiva stood firmly beside Tamuoo, holding his hand gently, watching the partially sunny sky. Pretty soon, the Shadowy Acts decloaked before them as it silently touched down on the ground. The grass on the open field rippled like velvet. Then the back of the ship hissed open, the ramp lowered. Now came the hard part: saying good-bye.

“This is so cool!” Tamuoo babbled, impressed.

“Indeed.” Kiva laughed. “That is the Shadowy Acts, one of the best Mandalorian ships out there in the galaxy.” She kneed down before him. “You promise me one thing… do not tell anyone about that ship, it would be our secret.”

“I promise.” Tamuoo replied, honestly in his voice.

“Good boy.”

A moment later, Darina emerged from the ship, walking down the ramp. Kiva nodded blissfully, glad to get Tamuoo off this forsaken world, and she wanted him to live a good life.

“Hello, Tamuoo.” Darina stuck out her hand. “I am Darina, a friend of Kiva.”

“It’s okay.” Kiva said.

Tamuoo accepted her proffered hand, “Are you going to fly me to Mandalore?”

“That’s right. You are going to sit in the cockpit and I will let you fly it for a few minutes.” Darina said.

“Really?” Tamuoo said.

“Yes. We have to leave now.” Darina said.

“Tamuoo, you should go now.” Kiva motioned him toward the ship. “I guess it’s time for me to say good-bye to you.”

Tamuoo looked up at her, “Good-bye, Merra.”

“He called you sister in Ryl.” Darina smiled.

“Darina, do you know what’s the word for brother?” asked Kiva.

“Nerra.”

Kiva smiled and waved a good-bye to the boy, “Good-bye and thank you for making me a human again, Nerra.”

With that, Darina and Tamuoo disappeared into the ship and then it rose up into the sky with the cloaking device activating. As the Shadow Acts vanished, Kiva was alone once again. Saddened, she made her way back to the warehouse and her hideout to get a deserved good sleep. Relaxing, she closed her eyes slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

Then a female voice came behind her. “It feels so good, does it?"

“What the hell…” Half-startled Kiva rolled over to the other side and saw her subconscious doppelganger sitting next to her, smirking. She instantly recognized her as guilty version of herself. “Urgh, it’s you again”

“I have a flash news for you - you are a monster. You had that with you all time since you were born.” Subconscious Kiva stepped toward her counterpart, twirling her index finger in the air.

Annoyed Kiva tilted her head, “Okay, let me ask you something… if I have a heart attack, do you die too?!”

“That’s… “ The doppelganger nodded, “that’s really sweet.”

“Okay, I am not going to argue with you.”

“Come on, Kiva. That’s we do, okay, we have these inner conversations daily.” Subconscious Kiva said mockingly. ”Am I hot enough to get anything I want. Should I get in Zayles’ pant? Should I kill Dooku and his lackeys and take over his kingdom?”

“You are a bitch.” Kiva frowned.

“No, no, we’re a bitch.” Subconscious Kiva smirked. “Oh, hey, l wanted to tell you something.”

“Oh, what is it?” Kiva said and showed her a forced smile.

“Thank to you, Kiva, Tamuoo is finally free from this living hell.” Subconscious Kiva stroked her counterpart’s hair playfully and an impish smile appeared on her lovely face. “But you, I hate to say it, you will never be free long as Count Dooku live.”

Horrified Kiva looked up at her, her eyes reddened and tears swelled.

[Dark Primus]

Coruscant – The Economic Conference starts



Thousands of politicians and leaders of many various races each chosen to represent groups of worlds or entire sectors walked up the red carpeted stairs to the great hall above, where they all were gathering.
Many GC senators greeted them and they were dressed in nice clothing, nothing too fancy and nothing that screamed money. They didn't want to give the wrong picture to the rest of the galaxy, the wealthy politicians of the Commonwealth standing before the poor and the unfortunate, especially not before the hundreds of journalists and reporters from all over the galaxy who were standing at the entrance, interviewing the newly arrived guests. And what most of them said was they needed the economic package GC was going to provide them to easier handle the rebuilding, giving them an better chance to survivle in the long run.
And many appreciated the gesture the fact GC was the only power in the galaxy was willing to commit huge economic resource to help others in the northern part of the galaxy, hardest hit by the Vong. The other powers were busy rebuilding their own worlds destroyed in the Yuuchan Vong war.
GC lightly armored stormtroopers were standing in the corners, against the walls, looking at anything that was remotely suspicious. They checked if the guests had the invitation cards, once and a while reporters tried to hide among the masses and hoped to squeeze through in. But every attempt was thwarted. Light armored stormtroopers carried jet packs on their backs traveled in the air above the building and so was police hover patrol cruisers, going back and forth inspecting the sensor covered building designed to keep uninvited people out.



Alaeon stood among the senators welcoming the honored guests and exchanged a few words with those he could.
A middle aged man, with brown colored hair came up smiling from the stairs and kept his eyes on Alaeon as he walked forward and ignored the senators who stood before him ignoring their stretched out hands on his way.
“Senator Alaeon.” He started and grabbed Alaeon's hand and shook it big time. “I've heard so much about you. You're work has even reached my ears as far away as to Gordian Reach.” He said with a somewhat nonchalant tone. Alaeon looked back curiously trying to place his face somewhere he failed on it.
Alaeon's hand was released and the senator took it to his side. “I wish I could say the same about you. Not to be impolite but who are you?”
“I am representing Gordian Alliance or Gordian Reach, the name is Tamaas Veerin. I am sure you have heard of it?”
The senator had to think for a second as the memory of the Gordian Reach or the Gordian Alliance came to his mind. “Ah yes. I remember ambassador Xyl and Saalador discussed it to me six months ago. The image I got was your infrastructure was nearly totally destroyed by the Vong.”
“Yes and as chancellor of that sector it is my responsibility to give my people every chance to help them to rebuild so that is why I am here among many thousands to take advantage of the aid package.”
Alaeon smiled back at him. “Then you are doing the right thing coming here.”
“But there is also a whole other issues we need to address in the up coming hours of this meeting. But I think most of it can be talked about just between us.”
“That will be possible after I have made my speech and after the refreshments.”
“Then we can talk?”
“Then we can talk. I promise.” Alaeon assured him. With a smile on both their faces the chancellor parted and disappeared in to the crowed behind where the guests were gathered.












Jedi Temple



The Jedi council chamber has mostly been left alone, the GC Jedi has never bothered to sit down here and rule the way the Jedi used in the old times, and that had come to Jax's attention as he walked in with his arms to his sides swinging slightly back and forth. He stopped walking when he approached the center of the chamber looking at the seats all aimed at him. He swung around stirring at one seat at the time imagined the old Jedi Masters who once sat here, indulging themselves as masters of peace and justice, telling who had the right to be trained and not to be trained to be a Jedi.
Pretending to see the Jedi Masters who ruled the Jedi council forty years in the past back when he was only a pupil. He took his eyes away from the seats for the moment and stirred out to see the sun that had almost set down behind the skyscrapers and the last light was the orange mix with red colors covering almost the whole distant horizon. He looked out seeing the conference building in the distance that was currently in the news and media all over Coruscant at the moment.



Again he turned his attention to the seats.
“What would you do?” He said straight out at them pretending to see the Jedi Masters sitting on their seats with their eyes rested upon him.
“One of my Jedi students has fallen in combat badly, he still lives, but the Sith who fought him carved him up badly and now he wont wake up from his deep sleep. I think he knows he is in bad shape but dare not face the reality. How am I to tell him and how will he react.
I fear for him. As I fear his temper, and the risks he faces when he wakes up. He has always been a hot headed pupil of mine.
By the Force, help me.”
He looked down to the floor with a sad face.
“And we Jedi are too few. The Jedi has never been united since the cleansing of order 66, that's forty years into the past. Since then the Galactic Empire and the New Republic has fallen, there is no galaxy wide government any more. We have no choice but to adapt to this new scenario we are trapped in, or we will die.
And the Sith are stronger today then they were under the rule of the Empire and the Emperor Reborn. Luckily for us they are just as divided as we are and don't stand behind a single leader. The Sith has never been able to unite for a long period of time due to their backstabbing nature and thirst for power.”
And I only hope I wont live to see my students die within my lifetime in this never ending war and I hope they will pass their knowledge of the force to the next generation. The Sith are growing and becoming more numerous should Jedi fail then there will be nowhere for us to go.”
He looked down upon the conference building in the far distance through the window.
“We are going to need some extra support from the government if we are to survive. And I think I know how we are to get that support.”






The Economic Conference building.



And as all the guests in the tens of thousands were now gathering in the big welcoming hall senator Alaeon stepped up before them standing behind a temporary arranged podium bringing his papers before him.
“Dear friends and colleagues from the Galactic North and East I bid thee welcome to our Economic Conference here on Coruscant.”
The opening applauds were nothing but formal but it was still very thunderous to hear tens of thousands of people applaud.
“As many of you now know a few hours ago the Yuuchan Vong officially declared state of peace now exists between them and with the rest of the galaxy.”
Another salvo of applauds came and they were even stronger then the last and lasted for many more seconds before it too ended.
“However there is a branch of the Vong who still choose to ignore the peace treaty and continues to rampage the Known Worlds in the Galactic North. And we are still looking for them and we are still hunting them down. So a message to everyone here is to lend your support to us and help us track them down and end the threat once and for all, these Vong are the fanatic branch of the Vong war machine and they wont surrender. To all world leaders I hope you put your fleets and scouts on full alert and report any sightings of Vong vessels to us and support us with any Intel you can provide.”
He took a glass of water and poured it down his dry throat and putted the glass gently back.
“At the moment that Vong remnant force are no major threat to the galaxy as a whole but they are still a major regional threat, and a threat to the stability of the north. They do represent a problem, but as any problems they can be overcomed and there are other major problems your worlds are facing right now, that is the financial problems caused by the Yuuchan Vong war. They destroyed your industry, they destroyed your farmlands.
And this is what the conference is about, to allow us to help you to establish new economic connections with foreign worlds and major business corporations to provide you with the financial stimulation packages and help rebuild your worlds, and we the GC are also going to help you carry this burden giving your citizens the economical aid they need.”



In midst of the audience Tamaas Veerin looked around casually then slowly stepping through the crowd and once he was passed them all he went behind the rows of large concrete columns standing a few meters away from the 5 meter tall windows. The nearest person in the crowd stood at least fifteen meters away, and the dark shadows behind the supporting columns provided some cover for him from any curious eyes and distance from curious ears. There he leaned himself back against the column and waited for his contact to approach him and while he waited he listened to the speech.



Alaeon kept his eyes focused on the audience and glanced from time to time upon the written speech before him.
“As the galaxy is facing one of the most deepest economic crisis we have had since the Clone Wars we are taking on this big task to help you all...”



Tamaas kept his nervousness at bay though he didn't like to sneak around and hide like this though he stood against the column rather casually as to not to draw attention.
And as he stood there and waited another man approached dressed with clothing indicated he was a very wealthy man.
Tamaas looked at him and spoke friendly towards him. “Is there something I can do for you?”
“I am a messenger from our mutual friend Lord Tremayne.”
He took a step away from the column and a step closer to the slightly elder man.
“And how did you come in here? This place is very security tight.” He said almost whispering.
“Yes it is, sneaking in was the problem but then I required this.”
He opened up his thick robes and Tamaas caught a glimt of a lightsaber hanging from a black belt underneath it.
He brought forth a invitation card that gave him access in and held it up before Tamaas. “The poor fellow I took it from wont be needing it anymore.”
“What does our lord require from me?”
The right corner of the stranger's lips raised in a mean look.
“He wants me to remind you, start using your charm and start creating political alliances, get as many political favors as possible and make friends, get noticed and you will come far in the political game. Lord Tremayne has foreseen your political rise.”
Tamaas smiled at the thought his future looked brighter and nodded to the man before him. “I will do what Tremayne requests of me of course. And I already know the way in to the political elite.”
“Good. Now don't disappoint us. The Commonwealth will be economically weakened in the coming years as they start lending economic support to worlds that has very little chance to survive on their own. The populace will endure it for a while but they will demand a change and a strong political leader to help them out of the financial mess, if you play your card's right that leader will be you.”
“Of course that will be me.” He said smiling back but the messenger only stared at him with his stale broad face and his black pupils drilling in to his soul. He hated that look they all seemed to have.
His smile faded as he saw his smile failed to transmit over to him.
“Now go, this meeting is over.”
“Yeah.” Tamaas agreed, he didn't want to spend another minute with him. He walked back in to the crowd and disappeared in to the masses.



“...And please ladies and gentlemen enjoy your stay this week and take you sheer of refreshments they are on the house.” Alaeon said and finished the speech. And it was finished by thunderous applauds and people took to their respective glasses standing on the long row of tables to their right.



Alaeon left the stage and was preparing to join the masses when he saw Tamaas in a discussion among four others representatives, already talking.
And from the entrance Jax walked in dressed with Jedi robes mixed of white and brown colors and was almost blown away by the size of the crowd before him, he knew he was out of options by using his eyes only to find the man he was looking for so instead he started to search for him in the force and sweeped the room and found him. Then he sensed something else in the background, a malevolence. A feeling that was all to familiar. He get his Jedi senses on full alert and ready to draw his lightsaber and yet didn't want to alert this foe he had sensed him. He approached the center of the great hall took a sweep with his eyes around him and hundreds of faces filled his eye scope but nothing revealing came up.
He needed to see the crowd from another angle making it easier to spot out this person. He moved out from the sea of people and stood next to a column. If there were a force user among them he would not be easy to detect, he would have to hide, well dressed so he would not be spotted out.
“Boring conference isn't it?”
Jax turned to his left seeing a well dressed unknown person standing with his arms crossed leaning against the column looking out at the invited guests having fun and talking.
“I would not know, I just came.” Jax replied keeping his attention to the man measuring him with his eyes.
“It is... just sad the mundanes here think they know power, and they think they feel safe, but what they have is just an empty shell of false feeling of safety.”
“Lucky for them they have us to protect them.” Jax replied back at him.
The unknown character with brown hair dark eyes turned his head facing the Jedi who stared back ready to draw his lightsaber in a quick move.
“Tell me Master Jedi. Do you ever get tired serving and helping others?”
“No never.” Jax replied back. “That is what I want to do, protect them from fallen Jedi and other hazards.
If I were equal selfish like... some people in here, like... yourself I would also crave for power, but I would be hated by friends and foe alike. Always watch my back, never look weak and always seek revenge when someone humiliates me. That is not the life I strive to live.”
The man let his arms fall down to his sides more dangerously close to any potential weapons he might hide underneath his clothing.
“You Jedi claims to know so much, such a vast knowledge and yet you don't use it to prevent Jedi students from falling into the Dark Side. Yet the Jedi are gods among mundanes but they choose to serve those who don't care about them, who don't believe in them, serve those who even sees them as enemies and wants them dead.” His dark eyes started to change becoming brighter almost glowing.
Jax could feel the Dark Side flowing through the stranger before him, feeding him strength, resolve and power.
“What do you say Jedi. I rather fight you here and stand over your broken corpse in a display of victory before tens of thousands of politicians as a warning to all who stands before the might of the Dark Side.”
Jax was more then confident to keep “Bring it on whelp.”

Before the time it takes to blink with an eye the Dark Jedi had his crimson colored lightsaber drawn and clashed with Jax's own green. The columns and the walls received scorch marks of lightsabers as they dodged and avoided strikes that would have otherwise killed each other.



The commotion made the tens of thousands of honored guests turn their heads at the combatants, the sound of colliding lightsabers strikes and erupted flashes before them yet they didn't run away, more like they looked upon them curiously.
The Dark Jedi struck a mighty blow but was blocked easily and they held the lightsabers against one another testing each other's strength.
“You see Jedi, they have all come to witness your doom.”
“You talk big for a small minded man.” He pushed his saber upwards and as he blocked the enemy saber he delivered a kick to his chest sending him back against the wall temporary knocking him off balance, but he easily got up again ready for another wave of aggressive attacks.
Jax's only concern was to keep him away from the others, and avoid panic and hoped someone would have called upon heavily armed security forces by now. He felt through the force people who are under covered special agents for security were in the audience, but this foe is far beyond them by large margin. There is nothing they can do against a Dark Jedi, the best thing they can do is to avoid panic, but he felt the audience wasn't near the panic level of fear to start running, they were entertained to see them fight, they thought this was all part of a show to entertain them.



In the midst of the clashes of their sabers Jax didn't blink an eye he wanted to keep his focus upon his enemy. “Why did you come here?”
He jumped to the side avoiding another strike that would have otherwise cut him in half.
“Why wont you die, Jedi?”
“Before the likes of you? Is your goal to incapacitate me with laughter too? Why are you here, what do you want?”
“You will find out soon enough.”
Jax felt the presence of more heavily armed GC troopers approaching the hall but so must the Dark Jedi also have sensed. He jumped away from Jax and landed next to one of the large windows and tossed his lightsaber at it and shattering the glass, he stretched out with his arm and the lightsaber returned to him.
The cityscape outside fully visible and fresh air streaming in giving life to his brown hair.
Jax approached him with his green saber at the ready stopped just four meters from him.
The Dark Jedi jumped up upon the edge and stood smiling back at him. “Our dance has been fun but time is running against me now and our little dance of death has to end. Maybe we see each other again among the stars.”
“I hope not.”
Without any further delay the Dark Jedi plunged himself outwards falling down from the multi kilometer tall building.
Jax looked down following Jedi with his eyes, and felt the presence of a second force user coming from a hover car nearby raising downwards to catch the falling Dark Jedi.
He landed safely in the car and they flew off towards the horizon.
Claps of hands in the thousands erupted behind him and even whistle from dozens of others among the audience.
Jax turned around smiling and bowed before them. “Thank you all, you have all been a wonderful audience.” He tossed out kisses to them.
Alaeon used this time to play along, walking up to Jax smiling and waving at the audience and whispered to him from afar could have been seen as words of congratulations. But the words he whispered were far more sinister.
“Are we in danger? Should I postpone the conference?”
“No.” Jax smiled back, not stopping his smiling. “I will have my Jedi here in matter of minutes. Have your security forces make a clean sweep of the nearby area, just in case. No doubt he is long gone now.”
As the applauds died down and the attention of the guests were elsewhere Jax and Alaeon had a minute for themselves.
“You are senator Alaeon right?”
“Last time I checked I was, and I still am. I haven't seen you around here before”
“We have a common friend, Nil Align, I assigned to join up with him some time back. And I'm asking you now for a big big favor.”
“Say it.” Alaeon approved.
“We need an extra weapon against the Sith. That is the main reason I came here to ask you for. And we need economic resources to make it possible.”
“Given what I have just seen, I grant the Jedi anything now. I don't want this to happen again.”
“Neither do I.”
“Do we have a deal then senator.”
“We have a deal. But I want to be informed where the money goes to.”
Jax padded senator on the shoulder. “I let you know.”






Actions: The Economic Conference at Coruscant has begun.
And Jax encounters a unknown Dark Jedi.

[Lightning_Count]

Nar Shaddaa





“Data delivery.” Maris leaned against the drainpipe, exhaling a wisp of smoke and tapping the precarious ash to the ground from her cigarelle end. “It’s quite clever really, rather than send sensitive data over the holonet where it could get sliced CIS intel puts it on a memory disc and drives it across town. Makes it much harder to intercept.”

“Especially as the truck is a heavily armoured combat speeder.” Alec added from beside her, using their roof top vantage point to observe a white armoured air truck waiting at some traffic lights.

“Which moves this out of the realm of the slicer hacks and into our world, that of more up front acquisitions.” Maris smiled a little. “Even so, this is a hard task, that truck will absorb anything below military grade gunfire.”

“And if we start bringing in Royal Army anti tank weapons its going to hurt our cover.” Alec agreed. “And even if we break in Colm says they have the latest anti Jedi droids on guard duty, and fighting them in close quarters will get dicey.”

“They’re made of Phrik last I heard, cost as much as a company of old battle droids. They’ll take some effort to beat.” Maris agreed. “And if they look like they’re losing they might just destroy the data.”

“It’s a bit of a puzzle.” Alec agreed. “Okay than my young and very tall apprentice, let’s see what you’ve got.”



Lorrak’chi gave a Wookie grunt of acceptance, raised a small remote control and pushed one button.

“That it?” Alec raised an eyebrow. “I have to say it’s a little anti climatic.”

“Yeah, I was expecting a lot more violence.” Maris agreed. “Like ripping droids limb from limb, I always wanted to see you do that.”

Lorrie just gestured at the traffic, the armoured truck now moving across the intersection as its flight computer was given clearance to proceed. Only it shouldn’t have, there was still oncoming traffic moving swiftly in from both sides including a gigantic bulk freighter that out massed the truck a thousand times over.

“You sliced the traffic control computer.” Alec guessed with a growing grin. “Signalled it to let the security truck through early.”

He huffed a Wookie laugh.

“You’re way too smart to be Alec’s learner.” Maris agreed, watching the freighter try and fail to change course in time.

“Maybe you should take him on then.” Alec suggested.

“Me? Nah, I’m not good with teaching. Too busy doing.”

The freighter smashed into the truck, ripping to pieces and flattening it across its prow like an insect on a windscreen. Pieces of debris rained down onto the rooftops, including the data.

“The memory discs are tough enough to survive a crash like that, but not the droids guarding them.” Alec smiled. “And they have homing beacons which I’m guessing you have the frequency for?”

Lorrie grunted an affirmative.

“Alright then, we’ll wait here for you.” Alec nodded. “See you in a few minutes.”



Lorrak’chi hopped on a swoop bike and flitted through the traffic leaving the two older Jedi watching him hunt down the discs amid the smouldering wreckage before the authorities caught up with them.

“He did that really well.” Maris approved. “You need to think of a smarter challenge next time, taking out an armoured truck was way too easy.”

“I thought he was going to storm it, use it as a test of his combat skills, strength and reflexes.” Alec said. “Not his hacking skills, we already knew he was a smart technician.”

“He demonstrated a talent for lateral thinking, picking the strongest solution for the most efficient result.” Maris said. “If he was my student he’d get bonus points for that.”

“You never thought of taking a Padawan?” Alec broached the subject. “You’ve got a lot of experience to pass on.”

“Most of my experiences aren’t exactly cuddly camp fire stories, usually its blood pain and killing things. Kota is the teacher, I’m the fixer.”

“Even so, some of the stories…”

“It isn’t happening.” She shut him down.

“Sorry.” Alec replied. “Didn’t realise it was a touchy subject.”

“It’s not touchy.” She answered. “I said no to it once, you don’t have to ask me three times over. When I make my mind up that’s pretty much it.”

“Yeah I noticed.”

“And that’s supposed to mean…?” She gave him a sideways look.

“What? Nothing, just a joke!” Alec said. “Just trying to lighten things a little.”

She exhaled heavily. “I don’t mean to snap, just got a lot to think about this week. Dealing with the Sith is going to take some careful timing, especially with Grievous in the picture.”

“Yeah, but I know you, that’s not bringing you down. You take that sort of stuff in your stride.”

“Maybe today is different.” She answered emptily.



Alec gave a few moments of silence before speaking again.

“So is it something to do with the Monastery?”

“No, I like it there.”

“You lived there for a while didn’t you?”

She raised a defensive eyebrow before relaxing and shrugging. “You’ve been talking to the Abbott.”

“A little. He said he helped you find your way.”

“He did.” Maris confirmed. There are maybe five people in my life I owe, Abbott Brestle is one of them.”

“Who are the others?”

“Master Kota of course, Shaak’ti, a guy who went by the name Galen, and my first Master who saved me from Order 66 when I was a child. I learned from them, the helped me become who I am.”

“The Abbott said a few other things too.” Alec approached quietly. “Said you might have a few things to talk about.”

“I’ve got plenty to talk about, mostly to do with colour foundation and boots that look stylish but still let me kick butt, but I don’t think anyone else has much to say on it. Except that creepy Sith Chick, she might be stealing my look.”

“He mentioned something about your past.”

“Did he say what?”

“He said I should ask you.”

She closed her eyes with a smile. “He’s a good man, but he’s still a bit naïve. He thinks we should all get together and talk about our problems. I’m more of a bottling up sort of gal.”

“So you’ve got problems then?”

“No, I have character.” She replied simply.

“Talking them through can…”

“Err, paging Doctor Nosey Sod? I said I don’t have problems, and I don’t need to talk.”

“We all need to talk.”

“Okay, listen carefully to my next words. Shut up.”



Alec sighed in frustration. “Come on Maris, I’m a little weird with this stuff too, I don’t think I’ve ever actually cared about people’s past before.”

“Well you can stop right now.” She said curtly. “Save forming a bad habit.”

“I really want to help you.”

“Then you can start by leaving my past buried. I moved on, I’m a different person. You wouldn’t have liked the old me, she wouldn’t have enjoyed your company.”

“I saw you crying.”

Her head snapped around, her eyes giving him a look he hadn’t seen before, a look of betrayal.

“I didn’t mean to, I just…”

She slapped him across the face, a very clear gesture that she was not happy with him.

“Maris.”

“When I go somewhere for privacy you damn well let me have privacy, do you understand?”

“I don’t want to get into a fight with you.”

“That’s a damn smart idea.” She growled fiercely. “I might look like one of your toy girls, but I’m older than you, I had a life before you were out of junior school, and when I say I want alone time then I want alone time.”

“I just want to help you.”

“You do help me, you’re handy in a fight and even more handy when the lights go out, but don’t think for one damn second that means we have anything more than that. Don’t ruin our fun by getting all serious.”

“Maybe I want to be serious.”

“Then maybe you should find a girl like Bronnie.” Maris said. “She has sisters.”

“I don’t want someone else, I want you. Force help me I actually think I’m falling in…”

“Don’t even go there.” Maris raised a hand. “I mean it, you don’t understand what that word means. Don’t even think of saying it to me.”

She shook her head and tossed away her smoke.

“I’ll make my own way back.” She said. “I want some privacy, and this time I really mean it.”

Lorrak’chi arrived as Maris was leaving, tutting in Wookie fashion.

“Why do you automatically assume it was my fault?” Alec replied to his Padawan.

Lorrie gave his reply.

“By looking at me? What sort of crazy Wookie logic is that?” Alec waited for the answer. “What do you mean it’s the truth? It is… well yeah, okay it is, but I was trying to do something good. Second lesson of the day, sometimes the right thing is damn hard work.”

Lorrak’chi growled an agreement.

“You’re right, our path is not an easy one.” He watched Maris step off the ledge. “But it’s easier than some.”







Bespin





General Cody hopped off the scout car before it even fully stopped, jogging along to the command post with sprightly health defying his aged body. He had the equivalent age of a man pushing eighty years old and bore the grey hair and lines to prove it, but he was still sharp in mind and body. He could even hold his own in a gunfight, though sadly his days of going hand to hand with droids were over.
He had been growing more and more tired lately, something he tried to fight but without success. The inevitability of time was one enemy that could not be beaten and it had forced him to change his way of warfare. Once he would have led from the frontlines, but now he was a few miles behind watching a series of holographs showing the developing situation. Even so he was still in the field and still sharing a lot of the risks with his men, and that quality still endeared him greatly with those taking his orders.



“Where are they?” He asked simply, taking in the situation.
“We have three confirmed landing sites, widely dispersed.” His Staff Officer informed.
“Prevents us concentrating on one target.” Cody reasoned. “They know the landing zones are our main targets, looking at the numbers they think they can afford to lose one, maybe even two, and still win.”
“Enemy forces are advancing in large numbers.” His aide confirmed. “A mix of designs including heavy support units and anti tank designs.”
“Our boys and girls can use a little variety, it gets boring shooting the same enemies over and over again.” He looked through a set of binoculars, spotting a column of droids advancing across heavily forested terrain. He wore the standard Stormtrooper armour with extra comms gear for a senior officer, the outfit visually identical but more refined than the old Imperial uniforms. In addition he still bore the clear orange stripes of his original armour, plus a tacked on visor over his eye guards.
“All these trees will slow them down, and the swampy ground won’t help.”
“It’ll slow us down too.” Cody said grimly. “Apologies to the Federation, but use artillery to clear lines of fire through the trees. We’ll hug the forests after we ensure the droids don’t just render them down for carbon.”
“Aye sir.”
“Put fighter tanks at the front, the swamps won’t bother grav vehicles. Keep walkers close to the infantry as support. They should be able to maintain walking pace even in these conditions.”
“Sending the orders now sir.”
“We’ll let these clankers get in close, separate them from their landing zones, then cut them off and annihilate them.” Cody lowered his binoculars. “Just pray the Navy vac-heads keep those warships from blowing us out of the sky.”



The stormtroopers deployed by squads, the thick vegetation reminding many of them of combat on Ithor. Using lessons learned there they kept themselves n small groups, always close enough to support each other, and set up their defences like links in a chain rather than a solid line of guns. The terrain helped break up the droid attacks, but annoyingly these mechanical soldiers were apparently smarter than the average battledroid.
The enemy advanced quickly and quietly, dodging from cover to cover and not simply parading their way ahead as most droid armies enjoyed doing. Behind the infantry units came heavier forces carrying bigger guns, some of them large enough to fell trees like nothing more than inconvenient sticks.
The Stormtroopers waited for them to come into range, then fired. A brief wave of gunfire swept away the initial droid scouts before the troopers fell back, clearing the way for artillery fire. Seeing their prey flee the droids automatically gave chase, advancing to rout the fleeing enemy not recognising it as a feint, not until the first explosive projectiles dropped among them.
With rhythmic pounding the artillery dropped among the trees and droids, splintering wood and peeling metal like tin cans. The impact shook the entire habitat, a constant dull rumble as the industrial grade repulsors and gas tanks kept the huge platform aloft. The gunners shifted their fire slightly, walking the barrage deeper into enemy lines and leaving a shattered and smoking landscape in their wake, a region which suddenly filled with white armoured soldiers and dull coloured droids.
Despite the fearsome artillery fire plenty of droids still survived, rising from the mud and fallen trees to open fire on the advancing troops. In moments the sound of distant explosions was drowned by the twang of blaster fire as both sides engaged in earnest.



“All fronts report contact.” The aide reported. “Progress is slow, enemy resistance strong.”
“As expected.” Cody said. “Our main objective is to win of course, but we should also test the enemy, their resilience and intelligence, their ability to adapt quickly to changing circumstances. We may one day face these clankers at home, after today we’ll be ready for them.”
He watched a video feed of a squad herding droids into a group them throwing droid poppers, EMP grenades, into the middle of them with satisfying results.
“Sensor stations on cloud city reports the majority of enemy formations are engaged sir, only skeleton forces protecting their transports.”
“About time we made a move then.” Cody nodded. “My compliments to Colonel Varro of the 509th, tell her to launch her counter attack.”
“Yes sir.”
“Then get the 212th into their gunships and on the move. Quicker the better.”
Several miles away the level combat took a step up as Cody committed his main reserve, unleashing the walker formations to support his infantry in a huge frontal assault. It wasn’t subtle or unexpected, causing the droids to deploy their own reserves to meet the Imperial hammer blow. As they did so Cody moved his second wave into action, repulsor tanks ranging in size from the nimble fighter tanks up to the heavily armoured siege tanks that covered the breadth of Imperial design. He used them to bypass the heavy fighting and flank the Droid armies, rolling over the edges of their formations and turning inward to cut them off and concentrate as much fire as possible onto the hopefully trapped enemies. A tactic known as the ‘Kessel Manouevre.’
Even cut off the droids did not flinch, fighting back harder than ever. To break them would require an exceptional concentration of force. Luckily Cody had just the thing.

“Primary energisers on line and green. All systems responding.”
“Bring us up to full power.” Colonel Noir Varro commanded, her pale green eyes obscured by the helmet and visor covering the top half of her face leaving just her sharply angled jaw visible beneath the grey bell shaped helmet. “Then begin movement.”
With a shudder a small group of hills began to move, shedding their hasty camouflage of dirt and vegetation, pouring off like fine powder to reveal six massive metal beasts, each the size of small warships mounted on six heavily reinforced legs. They’re sudden appearance caused a moment of hush from both sides, followed by a massive cheer as the first batch of General Veers’ assault walkers lumbered into battle.
“Enemy sighted.”
“Commence attack, saturation pattern.” Varro ordered with customary iciness. “Prioritise vehicles and engage.”
The walkers began spitting gunfire, sweeping compound beams across the battlefield and following up with light turbolaser sprays churning up the ground in showers of dirt and droid parts. They attracted gunfire and missiles from miles around, impacting incessantly on the splinter camouflaged hulls, all with negligible effect.
The thick hides soaked up fire and attention from across the battlefield, bullet magnets which caused the enemy to focus on them and ignore the still highly lethal lesser walkers, tanks and infantry who used the reprieve to press their own attacks.
“Increase speed.” Varro ordered. “Let’s make it a real test.”

Meanwhile Cody had yet another set piece in play, dozens of packed gunships and their fighter escorts swooping underneath the habitat, whipping through the pink clouds of the gas giant before rising over the lip and assaulting from several different directions. They skimmed over the treetops, ARC 170’s going on ahead to suppress enemy air defences with barrages of rockets and gunfire. The well named ‘Flying Tanks’ strafed their way across the landing zones, several falling from the sky in flames but succeeding in their mission, the following gunships arrived only to ground fire.
“General, 212th is in position, they’re in the enemy landing sites engaging the defenders.”
“Have the ARCs circle back and begin hitting the ships themselves, gunships too.” Cody commanded. “No one gets off this rock…plate…whatever it is we’re stood on.”
He watched with approval as the gunships unloaded their troops then took off again, sweeping around to provide cover and shoot up the landing craft, a steady mechanical process of destruction that whittled away the invading forces bit by bit.
“Signals, copy a message to Admiral Serir, tell her we have the enemy contained on the surface and are cutting off their escape route. We have gunships and forces free to support Cloud City if required. Good luck and good hunting.”

Actions-

Nar Shaddaa team strikes against CIS intel
Strains between Alec and Maris

Combat on Bespin underway, hard fighting but going to plan so far

[Ironanvil1]

Bespin System, Moddell Federation



Sitting ramrod straight in his command chair the Admiral waited for the battle to approach.

The stark utilitarian lines of the Mediator’s bridge always soothed him, its hushed silence in the midst of carnage a metaphor to him of the way of Pergitor, to seek the silence of the Infinite within even in the cacophony of life.
He had not served in the Cult War as many others from Minos had, instead his duty had been to defend the cluster while others sallied forth to meet the Pinacists, but here he had a chance to serve, putting his skills to use to defend those who had helped make his homeworld bloom once more.

The sweeping flanking manoeuvre he had predicted was confirmed by the ships sensors, as a section of the droid fleet circled the gas giant, seeking to envelope the defending fleet.

His voice echoed through the stillness of the bridge, “Launch”

The tactical displays lit up as the vast cloud of Compact Swarm droids issued forth from Vergor’s Ring, the asteroid belt sunward of Bespin.
He misliked the machines, to him they smacked of decadence - reliance on technology rather than a being able to feel the touch of the Infinite - but he could not deny their effectiveness. Using them against their rebellious brethren did hold a certain grim satisfaction though.

The Venators and their corvette consorts, visible at the edge of the belt, had unleashed their cargo, as had the Lwhekks, but the latter continued to work furiously, snatching raw material from the belt with their tractor beams to create more armaments in their internal factories.

As the Swarm droids fell upon the flank of the enemy formation, the lancing beams of long range fire from the Venators converged on one of the enemy’s outlying frigates, annihilating the smaller vessel in a flash.

Closing his eyes for a moment to centre himself, he could almost feel the reaction in the droid fleet to his unexpected assault from the shimmering band of the belt.
He wondered - would droids even perceive the glorious spectacle the rainbow of the belt presented to sentient eyes?
The enemy would be goading by the stinging fire of the Venators, would attempt to close and destroy them – there.

A formation of heavier droid vessels broke off from their flank attack, sweeping out towards the belt, cutting through the harassing Compact fighters like a herd of Bantha through sandflies. They were still cautious in their advance, blasting a few of the larger stray asteroids in their path as they arrowed towards the carriers.

The Venators began to take hits, their shields protecting them thus far, but they would not last long as the droid ships closed.

It was time to end this. “Issue the activation signal and release tractors”

His crews responded smoothly - releasing its tractor beams the Mediator pulled away from the asteroid that had masked it, the rest of the squadron mirroring it.
They were positioned to the flank of the droid ships as they moved in on the carriers, now fading backwards through the belt with all available power devoted to their shields.

As he watched a chain of explosions flashed across the enemy formation as the now activated minefield he’d sown announced itself.

He did not know if the droid commander had the same thought processes, but finding oneself in the midst of a minefield, with a battle line of Star Destroyers on one flank and a horde of enemy fighters now scything into his rear, would likely cause at least momentary confusion in a human.

He did not intend to allow them time to consider the situation.
“All vessels open fire!”

Actions:
Compact squadron participates in Battle of Bespin

[An Ancient]

Hutt Space

The Captain of the SWE Star Destroyer Judgement was intrigued, the ship they’d pulled in had broadcast both a general call and an IFF that carried a clearance high enough to pull any ship within a few minutes travel time into a fleet and blind jump immediately in to assist. Given that the code had validated and there were known to only be nine such codes in existence, he wanted to know just who he’d picked up. Even though he commanded a Shadow class Star Destroyer, the identity and details of the code holders was classified even to him.

When Noora, Rayce, Tillho and R8K9 appeared at the head of the security detachment that had swarmed aboard almost as soon as the ship had touched down, it wasn’t quite what he’d expected. Noora looked familiar, but her guise as a privateer was far enough removed in appearance and time from her role as Naboo’s ruler that he didn’t make the connection. One of the key things about the top level SWE command codes was that it was made perfectly clear that the user may be in a difficult situation, there was no way to determine if the people with the code holder were hostile or not and also there was no way of determining who the code holder was until the code cylinder had been examined.

At the moment, the small group was covered by enough firepower to erase them and a good section of their ship from history, issues of this importance usually were better solved by being overly cautious than overly permissive. As he took a step forward he noticed a faint look of puzzlement and a hint of fear. He smiled to himself, as a Barabel wedged into a captains uniform he often got such looks, years of the Emperors rule meant most people found what many described a two meter tall proto-dinosaur on a Star Destroyer something of a reality disconnect. Then he remembered smiles simply highlighted how many teeth he had, so he stopped smiling and extended a talon.

“Your code device please.”

Noora handed over the small cylinder, he ran it across a secure datapad, it hummed to itself for a moment before asking to be handed over to the cylinder holder. Noora took the datapad, which immediately analysed fingerprints and took a small surface DNA sample. It beeped, she handed it back, and the text now read, “Authorisation confirmed, ascertain status of any companions and secure for further threats.” Taking this in, the captain waved a hand at the other three:

“Are these beings with you?”

“They are.”

“Very well.”

He twitched his tail sharply and the guns and missile launchers were lowered.

“Please accept my apologies for the theatrics, but these things must be verified. We will escort you to secure quarters and allow you access to our systems in case you need to track or contact anyone. We are proceeding to Citadel Station, from there you will be handed over to Citadel Central Command and given passage wherever you need to go.

If you require anything further please feel free to ask any of my officers, this is a largely Barabel ship so the general atmosphere and temperature may not be to your liking. We will inform SWE Command of the successful retrieval of the bearer to this code and await further orders.”

A small group of officers appeared behind him to assist with any items that needed moving and to guide the group to their new quarters. Visible outside the forcefield at the edge of the hanger was the rippling blue of hyperspace, the fleet was already on its way to Citadel. An incursion into Hutt Space was not especially risky for the SWE, but could raise awkward questions if they remained long enough to be noticed.

SWE Central Command – Deep Core

A very small flicker of pseudo-motion appeared outside the dark station as an assault shuttle arrived, it was a low key arrival, just as planned.

Arrived from Balmorra, Grand Admiral Krennath had far too much on his mind regarding the future to handle many more unpleasant developments. A great consolation to him was the greeting party, it was only one person, but to him Ty’lin was worth more than any ceremony. The two embraced in the darkness of the hanger, it had been far too long since they’d last been able to simple be together without something major happening in close proximity. They knew that sooner or later the galaxy would pull them in different directions again, but that simply meant they had to enjoy these few days together in peace all the more.

As they headed for the main command deck to review the current situation they noted a whole slew of welcome news, the Vong had finally signed the peace treaty, Denon was calmed down, the SSU/Bothan War had not expanded, the SWE faced no existential threats this day beyond the usual. One item caught their eye, Noora’s emergency code had been activated in the middle of Hutt Space, a note from the SED Judgement said they were bound for Citadel, cutting across so many hyper-routes would take several days, from where they were the Krennaths could reach Citadel in a matter of a half dozen hours. Silently they agreed to head over to meet Naboo’s former Queen when the Judgement and its battle-group got closer.

But for the moment both could rest easy, the SWE would operate itself for a few days in relative peace, Andris and Dinah were on relatively easy duty, Amanda was under the care of Mel, for the first time in so long the two were able to retreat to their quarters knowing that they had time purely for each other with no disturbance.

Shulstine

Amanda lay back on the roof of yet another building, contemplating another unexpected permutation in events. A few days before, in the dead of night, a new presence announced itself to the Force, the arrival of a fairly powerful Force user was something she was attuned to, exposed out in space without the camouflage of a myriad other beings the signature stood out for a while before becoming lost in the general clutter of the planets life-forms. It was familiar, one she’d sensed before, the Mandalorian she’d captured after the Corellian Incident but now somehow changed, darker, more evil. Although she knew of the strange Dark Side immunity Kiva possessed she also knew it didn’t stop someone becoming evil out of choice, or possibly even necessity.

She imagined that Kiva probably bore a rather large grudge, but on the other hand, she didn’t care all that much for the Mandalorian either, things had changed for both of them, and neither would be remotely the same person if they met again. Sith training was good at focussing the mind on killing and destruction, but it still left holes in a person’s thinking that were not easy to fill, or even recognise, in that respect she counted herself lucky. If there was anywhere to learn how to try and balance the light and dark whilst avoiding and exploiting the weaknesses of both it was by being part of the Krennath family. Much like a tightrope walker ascending a cable attached to the top of a building, the balancing act got ever harder the consequences of failure were always becoming worse, but there was no way back and no point in standing still, only an onwards march that got ever harder.

That said, something was stirring on Shulstine that was greater than a lot of things one might expect, the Force sometimes granted glimpses of the future, her father and mother both had some skill in that and it was beginning to show in Amanda, but what she’d seen recently didn’t tie in with what you might expect. Everyone knew the Bothans would attack sooner or later, and when they did it would be bloody. However, the SSU had never possessed many Force users, and probably none now. Moreover, the Bothans had few Force users and none of them were especially evil, therefore the visions of the Dark Side enveloping the planet, of the strange killer she’d seen earlier, of the destinies’ of several people coming to a head made little sense in context of a Bothan assault. However, with the arrival of Kiva things began to make more sense, these days where she went Dooku could not be far away and his influence meant the Sith had designs for this place.

All of a sudden it began t slot into place, but from the void the surrounded her Amanda could not muster much emotion to care. If it happened, it would happen, if it didn’t, then it wouldn’t, all she had to do was stay alive and keep the team alive as best she could. That would be tough enough without worrying about galactic plots and vengeful Mandalorians. That said, it never hurt to be prepared, a rat scuttled across the roof without noticing the still form of the young SWE Jedi, she moved, it gave a startled squeak and ran for the edge of the roof, aiming to make a jump across to another building. Amanda’s eyes glowed briefly with mind-bending, seemingly impossible black light that seemed to be able to cast shadows from a void. The rat withered and died without a sound in mid-jump, its corpse plummeting dozens of floors into the slums below. The unearthly glow receded and Amanda sat back, feeling slightly sickened but vaguely energised, it was not a power she’d ever wanted, but being the nexus of a Force wound meant it was hers to command, she reasoned she should at least understand how to control it, even if it was only to better avoid it.

She shivered suddenly despite the night still being relatively balmy, to many things ran through her mind again and she dropped through a broken skylight to join the other two. Wordlessly she picked up the second sniper rifle and began adjusting its aim, picking off SSU thugs would take her mind of things for a while.

[Darth Coyotus]

Nar Shadda
Anchor Point Cantina







Nar Shadda was rarely a place where people went. It was, all too frequently, a place where people ended up. And that was where Darth Thanatos --Dak Vesser-- ended up now. He sat at the bar, not entirely sure how he had, indeed, ended upon Nar Shadda, only knowing that he had, and that something inside told him it was appropriate. I suppose I let the Force be my guide, he mused to himself, sipping a house brew called Catsblood. It was red, rich, and while initially rather smooth --surprising, for such an establishment-- it had a follow-on sting that delivered a good punch.

On Nar Shadda, the Catsblood never ran dry. Only the dreams.

Dak sat there, his signature diminished in the Force. It was, ironically, one of the first things most Sith apprentices were trained to do-- not be seen. And now, his Master (is she still my Master? he wondered) was beginning a plan to undo all that, remove the necessity of hiding as a way of life... perhaps using it only for random stealth purposes on missions.

The funny thing was, deep inside, Dak Vesser knew that she was right. Lady Venge had made good points. Once, the Sith ruled openly. They... we... were a government of our own. We ruled regions of space and had troops, followers, believers, patriots, taxpayers... What's the word? Legitimacy. We had legitimacy. People saw us as a legitimate alternative to the Republic.

He pondered that as another presence, strong in the Force, entered the tavern. He glanced over, seeing a man about his age --physically, at least-- that looked every bit the smuggler-spacer. Black Bantha leathers, the vest... he only needed the bloodstripe and white shirt underneath to look like the old holos of Han Solo, back in his prime. He didn't see a lightsaber but his Jedi aura was unmistakable.

Dak Vesser didn't care. He had no beef with this random Jedi, and didn't give a damn why the guy was in the same bar. The Jedi didn't seem to be aware of him, or care, either, and Dak was fine with that. He sighed. One more point for Master Venge, he conceded. Just because we're Sith, what. we're supposed to just automatically attack every Jedi we see like rabid dogs?

The Jedi sat at the bar on the stool next to him.

"The look on your face say's trouble with the ladies," the Jedi said.
"Yeah," Dak said with a slight chuckle, "Something like that." Between Darth Venge and his lingering feelings for Juhani, it was no lie that he'd had a lot of difficulty with women involved.

The Jedi nodded to the bartender. "I'll have what he's having," he said, hooking a thumb towards Dak. "Seems to be working."
Dak chuckled again, a bit more sincere this time. "I think I'm fooling myself, really," he admitted. "So. Lady trouble with you, too, huh?"

"Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em, eh?" he asked as the bartender gave him a glass of Catsblood. He took a sip. "Hey, not bad."
Dak held up three fingers, and wordlessly counted down to two... then one...
"Whoah!" the Jedi said, blinking. "That was an ambush."

Dak grinned. "Local specialty. Whaddaya expect from Nar Shadda, huh?"
"To Nar Shadda," the Jedi said ironically, raising his glass. Dak raised his and they both downed their Catsblood. The Jedi ordered another round for both of them.

"So what's your lady's name?" the Jedi asked.
"Juhani," Dak said. "Yours?"
"Maris."

They drank to Juhani and Maris.

"So what'd you do to get booted out into the streets tonight?" the Jedi asked.
"Aw, Juhani died, actually, awhile ago," Dak said. "When we parted, we... well, it wasn't happy. We argued, got in each others' faces about... stupid things. We went our separate ways, and I found out later she died before I had a chance to make it up to her."

"Damn, man, rough," the Jedi said with sympathy. "What'd you fight about?"
Dak laughed. "It was really stupid. Would you believe politics? We got in a fight about gods-damned politics." He downed his Catsblood and this time, he bought the next round. "Of all the stupid things, to throw it all away over... How about you?"

"I invaded her privacy, apparently," the Jedi said. "Because I was concerned about her; I wanted to help her."
Dak gave a sad smile. "Rock and a hard place, man," he said, "If you don't look after her, then you don't care about her-- but if you do follow up on her, then you're being nosy. Can't win."
"Yeah," the Jedi said, then he deepened his voice to sound like a Mon Calamari: "It's a trap!" he said, in his best Admiral Ackbar impersonation. Dak laughed, shaking his head.

"Still," the Jedi said, "I'm sorry to hear about Juhani, man. Was it long ago?"
"Like yesterday," Dak said. "Our friends have all moved on, and the folks I hang with these days keep acting like I should just get over it, but... how do you walk away from something like that?"

"You don't," the Jedi said. "If you could just wad something like that up and throw it away, walk away like it didn't matter, then you'd be a cold, callous son of a bitch," he said. "You still care. So you're still a good guy. You just have to find a way to deal with the pain, reconcile the loss..." he drank some Catsblood. "Once you deal with that, you can move on."

"Yeah," Dak said. He knew that at one time, he'd have blown away the Jedi's advice as naive or childish. But now, maybe softened by the Catsblood, he found himself receptive to any answer. "I guess the advice I could give to you is to just... be there," he said, his eyes suddenly soft with sorrow. "No matter what, if you still care for her, just be there. Endure the hard looks or the hurt feelings, because they pass, and she'll remember you stood by when it would have been more comfortable to run away."

The Jedi thought about that, and nodded. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "Thanks."
"Thank you," Dak said, smiling. They drank one more round.

"Well, I better head back," Dak said, "While I still can. This stuff packs a wallop."
"Yeah, me too," the Jedi said. "See ya around, man. Take care."
"Yeah," Dak said, "you too." They lef the tavern, each going their separate ways.

Damn, I totally forgot to ask his name, Dak said, turning around, smiling-- but the friendly Jedi was already gone, disappeared into the husky mists of Nar Shadda's night.








Results:
Dak Vesser finds some of the answers he sought.
Helps another while on the way to personal understanding & reconciliation.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Shulstine V










"So what exactly is your mission focus here?" Selvaria asked.
"The short form?" Tavion said, "To right some wrongs. This place is full of wrongs."
"A bit of irony, that," Selvaria said, "Considering what most people would expect from the Sith."

"It reveals the depths to which we have allowed ourselves to be controlled by outside perceptions," Tavion said. "The word 'Sith' now means little more than 'anti-Jedi'. Back a thousand years ago, I think both Sith and Jedi went the wrong course. The Jedi hobbled themselves with the Ruusan Reformations, and the Sith limited themselves to the Rule of Two. It set the stage for today's events, I believe."

"How do you figure?" Vanessel asked, curious.

"When Darth Bane decided to hide form the Jedi, it was like an admission of guilt," she said. "True, it allowed the Sith to survive, but it left the Galaxy to be dominated by the Jedi, creating imbalance. The Jedi grew to see this as the natural order of things, and alienated and marginalized any non-Jedi person or faction they encountered," she said with a nod towards Selvaria.

"You speak of the prophesy, then," Vanessel said, "The Balance of the Force."
"It is something I have studied for years," Tavion said, "I, at first, thought that it meant that for every Jedi, there must be a Sith. I allowed myself to fall into the trap that Sith and Jedi were just antithesis to one another for no other reason than just that. But I recently had to re-evaluate my thoughts on that, and realize that bringing balance to the Force means finding balance with oneself, and to work to use the Force as a whole, not just artificial limitations imposed by one mystical order or another."

"So, discipline oneself to use the full Force," Vanessel said.
"Artificial rules saying 'don't do this, don't explore that', mean that a Jedi cannot experiment with the full abilities of the Force," Tavion extrapolated. "It leaves them stunted. Infantilized. Unable to do what needs to be done."

"Like here," Vanessel said.
"Exactly. Sometimes there are systems or people that need to be brought down. There need to be consequences for adopting perverse ideologies."

"Master," Rosh Penin said as he approached, "I suppose you felt the recent activity in the Force?"
"I have," Tavion said, "A great many powerful dark-siders have come here. For what purpose is unclear, but I can assume it has something to do with the future status of the SSU worlds. Someone will have to swoop in and establish control here."

Selvaria and Vanessel said nothing-- everyone knew that the most likely governments to provide stability in the region would be the Frontier and the Shadow Walker Empire. Tavion was certainly aware of that, as well, but appeared ot have no concern over it one way or another.

"You know," Tavion said, "If we were all working together on the same sheet of music in the first place, this whole meltdown never would have happened. If there was an order of Imperial Knights, we could have monitored this situation as it developed and and sent people in to deal with it before it spiraled out of control. It's shameful that the Bothans had to be the ones to serve as police forces on the borders of two powerful Empires. And so soon after the Vong War, too."

"An organization of... did you say 'Imperial Knights'?" Selvaria said.
Tavion shrugged. "Why not? The Jedi operate openly and with accepted legitimacy from the various Republics. Why shouldn't other Force users? People who feel as we do, that limiting one's use of the Force behind outdated rules of etiquette is like fighting with one hand tied behind one's back?"

"The Jedi would attack such an organization," Vanessel said.
"And they call us 'evil'?" Tavion said with a derisive snort of laughter. "Their hypocrisy is but one more reason to seek an alternative to this cycle of foolishness that has perpetuated for a thousand years."

The two Frontier agents exchanged the same glance-- they weren't entirely sure whether Tavion was a genius or crazy, but she had a point. Imperial Jedi were effective, but generally not as close-knit among their organizations as the various Republic Jedi were.

"It's worth thinking about," Selvaria said with a shrug.
"We'll have to see what the next town has to say," Tavion said. They were approaching another small outlying village. Far on the horizon, the capital city loomed, an eventual destination for the wandering Force users. But in the meantime, there was still much-needed purging to be done.









Results:
Tavion explains her philosophy to her recent traveling companions.
Floats the idea of a parallel organization for Imperial Force users to align with, as legitimate as the Jedi.


*** *** *** *** *** ***

ISD Stormcrow
Transit Point 557-558
Near Corellian Trade Spine








The easy parts were being done back in Imperium space.

The areas where the Imperium exerted control were much, much easier to plot hyperspace routes through. There was little trouble from pirates, and many of the astronomical phenomena were known of; finding ways to navigate past them was just a matter getting all the relevant charts from local officials, correlating them for cross-comparison, and deducing the most likely routes through them. Probe Droids were doing much of the work there, and fairly efficiently.

Once outside of Imperium space, however, the rules of the game changed dramatically. Natural phenomenon were less well-known; local authorities were either unwilling to cooperate or had not taken the time, expense, and risk to investigate local phenomenon, or they wanted a hefty fee for the information. Such requests were fielded back to Eriadu for consideration, but meanwhile, the stellar cartography work went on.

The Star Destroyer was cautiously creeping forward, leaving a trail of known space behind it, as well as who-knew-how-many pieces of shattered probe droids. Follow-on vessels had an easier time reaching them with shipments of replacement crews, spare parts, extra droids, and the like-- a more tangible measure of success than would be deduced by the plodding, frustrating forward pace of the ship. Most of the scouting ahead was done by massed Probe Droids and TIE Droidfighters, TIE Hunters with modified Droid brains like those found in the Geonosian Vulture-classes.

Captain Raybanks lamented the losses of so many Droids, because each lost Droid was several hours' worth of scouting that could not be carried out. His attrition rate was high, and in fact he'd already had almost 150% turnover in just Probe Droids alone; the amount of turnover in TIE Droidfighters was almost as bad. There had been times when he'd to slow the pace of operations down to a crawl because of a lack of Droids, and he'd had to husband his dwindling supplies carefully before new supply runs could be brought forward to replenish his hangars.

He knew that the factories back home were churning out droids as fast as possible, but the hyperspace mapping had become a sinkhole for droids in the last few weeks. There had been talk about tasking another Star Destroyer and some scout ships to the cause, but Captain Raybanks had politely refused them-- it didn't matter how many ships were assigned hyperlane scouting, if they didn't have enough Probe Droids to go around, it would be for naught.

The average "life expectancy" for his various Probe Droids and TIE Droidfighters were measured in hours. When they first started, they'd lasted a week or two, then a few days, as they got further and further from familiar space. Now, out in the wilds of the Expansion, a droid that lasted 24 hours was considered a statistical anomaly, and betting pools began. Somewhere, another source for droids had to be found, one willing to bear the costs involved for plotting new hyperlanes.







Results:
Hyperlane plotting continues, but at a high cost.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Natalar Mountains Resort, Adarlon, Minos Cluster

“Moff Sun if I could speak to you for a moment?” she turned at his words.

“Liwon, please, Minister. Of course – what can I assist you with?”

Corin gestured her into one of the conversation areas that scattered the chamber, activating the privacy field.
“I wanted to speak to you regarding Denon. I know originally the intention had been to arrange mediation by the Moddell to reach a settlement - but with the current difficulties in the Federation I had thought to propose that we discuss the matter here - since most parties are already represented.”
“But I’d like to gain the Imperium’s agreement before bringing it up, as you had originally expressed a desire to keep Sluis and Denon separate.”

“Yes - the droid assault on the Federation has made the idea of their hosting talks difficult. I’ll consult with the Chancellor but there shouldn’t be an issue now that Sluis has been dealt with satisfactorily.”


Pleased, Marshak hesitated a moment before broaching the...item – he did not wish to reveal the source the Compact’s interest.
“My government is also interested in a possible licensing deal with the Imperium – the technology for S-thread boosters. The Lord Protector wishes to reinforce and expand the hyperlane network around the cluster, to assist the flow of trade.”
“We possess the expertise to produce the needed probe droids in abundance – the Quockrans have millennia of experience in perfecting explorer droids – but we currently have no native source of S-thread boosters.”

A very brief flash of surprise showed in Liwon’s eyes before she schooled herself - it was only noticeable because he was looking for it.
“Interesting that you should mention that…..”

Moff Sun was, indeed, interested. The flow of information from the ISD Stormcrow the last week or so was especially disheartening. There were times when no progress was being made at all --or, at least, progress wasn't worth mentioning-- due to a dearth of droids.

Standing orders from Eriadu were that Moff Sun was to do whatever it took to improve relations with the Minos Compact --within reason, of course. While the Compact had no reason to be antagonistic towards the Entente --and, in fact, probably had several reasons to be friendly with them-- it was strongly suspected in the Council of Moffs that the Entente's recent heavy-handed actions throughout the Galaxy would make the Compact wary of a large organization flexing its powers at whim. The Moffs knew that there was no chance of the Compact becoming an Imperial power, much less a part of the Imperium, but if they could at least keep them open-minded about the Imperium, rather than a cheerleader for the Entente, then that was good enough.

Besides, they were an island of stability in a region that desperately needed some.

"We would be glad to work with you," she said. "As I'm sure you're aware, we are exploring a new hyperspace lane ourselves. A bypass through the Expansion Regions to the Shadow Walker Empire's Deep Core systems. We feel that the Entente has too much influence over the established trade routes as they are. While they've never done anything to disrupt the flow of trade, the fiery, anti-Imperial rhetoric of the UAP has many of our people worried back home."

"Well," Corin said, "We've obviously never had any trouble with them ourselves, but I can understand the sentiment. And regardless of the motivations behind it, new trade routes are never, in my mind, a bad thing. It is always good ot have options open for whatever reason."

"Then I think we can sign a deal," Moff Sun said. "And while we have people here, I think we can sign an agreement for the Denon System as well. The situation seems to have come to a general agreement in principle, but it would probably be good to get it all in writing..."







Results:
Imperium signs deal with Compact for S-thread boosters, Probe Droids.
Imperium brings Compact in on the hyperspace bypass lane project.
Willing to use Adarlon as a place to finalize Denon accords.

***

[Lightning_Count]

Shulstine





“It’s a good idea, I don’t deny it.” Colonel Vanessel defended. “I like the idea, it’s the source that bothers me.”

“You don’t trust Tavion.” Selvaria nodded. “Can’t say I’m ready to sign my life over to her either, but you heard her philosophy. It’s pretty convincing.”

“She’s a Sith, it’s her job to be convincing.”

“She’s not a Sith anymore, at least not in our understanding.” The female answered. “By her outlook she’s a lot closer to being one of us.”

“That a fact?” Vanessel let his eyes wander across the burning village, his ears catching the cries of the hunted population. “One of us is she?”

“Might take a little more time and work.”



Tavion’s guild had made short work of this settlement too, another fiery example of judgement. On this occasion a force od SSU security troops had responded to the chaos, sweeping into the town in armoured vehicles expecting to put down an alien revolt. They weren’t expecting a coven of force users and provided a little extra training for the group.

Selvaria and Vanessel had helped dispose of the armed troops, but had declined to savage the town, despite Tavions lucid analogies to scales and natural equilibrium. Instead they stood a short distance away considering their next move.

“She is right about the Empires though, in this day and age we need to act more unified.” She continued. “No one is as strong as they once were and no one has true galactic domination in their power. As single nations we’re vulnerable.”



Vanessel nodded. “In concept its fine, and it wouldn’t even be hard to do, most of us have a fairly similar outlook on things. Grey but sort of a light grey.”

“Maybe, though there are a lot of shades on the greyscale.” Selvaria returned. “Some of them pretty dark.”

“Too dark, there’s no way the government would be associated with this.” He gestured at the massacre.

“They had it coming.” Selvaria said.

“Did they? All those families too? Did they have it coming?”

“How about all those refugee families? Killed for being alien, many from our worlds?” She said with a hard glint in her eyes. “Did they deserve it?”

“Wiping out villagers doesn’t make it right.”

“If it makes this planet too scared to do it again, then yes, it does make it right.” Selvaria grimaced. “Blood demands blood.”



The Colonel shook his head, trying to remove the smell of burning from his nostrils.

“Right or not, can you see the commanders allying with a Sith? Cody? Driffyn, Krennath? Wasn’t so long ago she skewered one of the Admiral’s friends, and you know how he keeps grudges.”

“She isn’t a Sith Van.”

“She changed her name, not her actions. Look at it! This is still something a Sith would do, it’s just labelled as balance instead of fun!”

“Tavion was long believed to be pulling strings in the Imperium, she’s already part of an allied nation.”

“She isn’t part of the Imperium, she was just playing them.”

“How do you know that?”

“She’s a Sith.” Vanessel grunted. “it’s obvious.”



Selvaria shook her head. “Do you believe people can change?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “But they have to prove they have changed. This is not convincing me.”

“If she did join us in a united Imperial order she would be a powerful ally.”

“She could, but if she’s going to be in the same group as Admiral Krennath she’s going to have to go a long, long way towards proving her intentions.”

“We should be prepared to help her, to do what we can to bring her philosophy to fruition, bring her in from the cold.”

“There can be no half measures, either she’ll join us or die.”



They fell silent as the lithe form of the former Mistress of the Darkside emerged from the orange lit smoke of the village, a few gunshots echoing as a second army response team was removed by her associates. Tavion brushed grime from her battle gear as she joined the two agents, casting an eye back at her handiwork.

“The scales tip our way again.” She said. “But not by much, the balance of blood is still firmly on their side. Fully restoring the balance is probably beyond us, unless we wipe out a whole nation of millions.”

“Or a mega city?” Selvaria asked.

“Possibly.” Tavion hinted a smile. “Do I sense a plan.”

“The planet is volatile, tense.” The Major continued. “With tensions so high it wouldn’t take much to trigger massive civil unrest. Just the removal of the key security nodes. Without the threat of instant reprisals by the army or police we might see a lot of the anger the government has been feeding directed onto the streets.”

“Those who hate the government fighting those who love it.” Vanessel considered.

“Along with aliens using the chaos to flee once and for all.” Tavion guessed. “Or get even.”



“We’ve been examining the city for some time.” Selvaria continued. “We’ve located three main targets, one is an army base, the other two central police stations housing riot squads. Destroy them and it will leave only local police on the streets, and they would be quickly overwhelmed by such a large city.”

“Until they flew in regular troops from elsewhere.” Vanessel cautioned.

“Their best trained men are fighting the Bothans.” Selvaria answered. “The ones around here are fanatics, dedicated and brutal yes, but well trained professionals? No.”

“Thugs with guns.” Tavion agreed. “They’ve proven no challenge so far, even in large numbers.”

“We have it within our power to create a city wide riot, and use that chaos to seize key facilities such as the central holo broadcasters and send out the truth to every home in the SSU.” The female agent stated. “To break the propaganda even if just for a few hours and show the truth. It might be enough to fracture government support and hasten an end to this war.”

“It’s a very big risk, if we do broadcast they’ll send everything in the region after us.” The Colonel winced.

“Let them.” Tavion smiled. “I want to face the people who carried out these atrocities. We’ll show them the true meaning of the word.”

Actions-
FRA Agents intrigued by Tavions concepts, but wary of deceit.
Choose to work with the guild to see if Tavion is genuine and sow some chaos to hinder SSU war effort

[Coyote]

Skywalker Farm Praxeum
The Alliance Order
Tatooine





"Okay-- what is going on here, and who exactly are you?" Irena wanted to know of the blue-furred canid before her. She'd become incredibly protective of the Praxeum over time, and wasn't sure how she felt about the stranger before her-- probably because he represented change, change she wasn't entirely ready for in the place she saw of as her sanctuary.

"Esko hirarzet!" Aetvar hollered, "Bad guy! Pow!"
Irena clenched her teeth and looked at Avar for an explanation.
"Kenzcee very sick," Avar said calmly as Aetvar ran around with a toy E-11 he'd found somewhere-- probably one of Luke Skywalker's old toys, hidden in a storage room somewhere from when the Galactic hero was a child himself.

"What do you mean, 'sick'?" Irena demanded. Avar handed her the vial he'd found.
"Many like this," he said as she examined it. She took him to the medical room and put the vial on an analysis tray and had the medical droid do a chemical analysis on it. She had an idea what she'd find.

"Glitteryll," the droid said.
"Yup," Irena nodded. "Like I thought. Some of the pilots used 'em to unwind after days of fighting. You found this in her room?"

"Yes," Avar said, "Many, many more. Come look." They went down the cramped corridors to the small dorm rooms the Jedi used to stay in while at the Praxeum. Avar opened up the vanity chest on the small end table and Irena's eyes grew wide at the number of vials that clinked around in it.

"By the gods," she whispered. She picked up a few of the vials and held them up to the light. "If that other one was glitteryll, this must be regular glitterstim. Yeah, I recognize that," she said grimly, seeing trades in the small vials among pilots at Citadel during the worst days of the Yuuzhan Vong incursion. "She didn't say where she was going?"

"No," Avar said, worried, "She talk to the droid, but that was all. Said she had to go on a mission to go get something. Maybe more medicine."
"This is no medicine," Irena muttered as R7 wandered in. "R7!" she exclaimed, smiling briefly for the first time since she came in. "How are you? Where did our girl say she was going, huh?" She took out her datapad and plugged one end of it into the droid's comm socket. The screen lit up with R7's recorded words about Kenzcee leaving. "Okay," she said, "What was her course?" R7 provided a rough estimation of her destination based on her last seen vector.

"Where would she go?" Avar asked.
"I'm thinking Mos Eisley," Irena said. "That'd be the best source for these," she said, with a nod towards the drawer full of drug vials. R7 also provided a recording he'd made of Kenzcee, and Irena could see whe was sweating and agitated. She would head straight for the source of her drugs, if she was withrawing, Irena realized. Her last known course was probably pretty honest. She wouldn't have time or enough of a clear head to lay a false course.

It made her sad to know that. Irena had never used such drugs herself --well, on Citadel I'd used prescription-strength stims without the benefit of a prescription, but not glittersticks-- but she knew that look, and that need. Mostly she'd bene addicted to drinking and depression and the need for either adrenaline or passion from Ganner, just so she could feel something...

"Alright, I have to go get her," Irena said. "I don't know where she is, but I have a feeling I'll be able to track her down. First, let's pinpoint the speederbike she took...and see what she has with her." She found what she was looking for-- Kenzcee's lightsabers. She'd always tried wielding two, but she was not much of a fighter. By the time she located the sabers, R7 had pinpointed the speederbike by its hidden transponder.

"Mos Eisley, allright," Irena said.
"I will go with you," Avar said, determined.
"No, Avar," Irena said sternly, "Please. Stay here and watch over the academy. If she comes wandering back, or any of the other Jedi show up, I need someone here to run the show, okay?"
Avar frowned, knowing he was being shrugged off, but nodded his acquiescence.

"Alright," Irena said, "Come on, R7. I may need you along." The droid followed her out ot the speeder garage, where she chose a stalwart, ordinary speeder of nondescript style. She floated R7 onto the back with the Force and strapped him in, and fired up the engines, roaring off into the horizon towards Mos Eisley.





Results:
Irena leaps into action.
Not sure what's been going on in her absence, but is not pleased with it.
Uses her past experience to paint an alarming picture of what Kenzcee could be involved in.
Goes to Mos Eisley with her droid, R7D7, to try to find Kenzcee and bring her back.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

SWE Star Destroyer Judgement
en route to SWE Space





They'd been given separate staterooms, with R8K9 staying with Noora. They were treated as guests, but also as curiosities, and movement was restricted due to the nature of the ship-- it had been made clear that it was because the vessel had a number of restricted areas, not because they were anything resembling prisoners.

Still, Noora was told that she'd probably have to give an incident report as to why she had used the command code system. The captain had told her that any time such a system was used there had to be an explanation filled out pertaining to the nature of the emergency that had diverted such resources. He seemed apologetic, and told her that he could not take the report himself; it had to be delivered to "higher authority". Until then, nothing was to be entered on logs or written on paper-- for however long it took to reach Citadel Station, the incident didn't exist.

It gave Noora time to contemplate how much she wanted to bring the SWE in on the situation. She was certain that Grand Admiral Krennath would take one look at her and know exactly what was going on-- another SAS operation into Hutt Space. In truth, she knew, A Frontier citizen is already involved, that being Bronwyn Whitesun, who is probably a dual-citizen by now. And of the Frontier knows something, then the SWE knows too.

But lately she was feeling as if she, herself, had a relationship with the Imperial governments that her own home government no longer had-- or, at least, it wasn't as close. Chantal --Queen Apailana-- had not had the close, personal sense of friendship with the Frontier and SWE that she herself had enjoyed.

I think Alexander will understand right off the bat, she thought, I won't have to say much. Just that we have operations in Hutt Space that are very sensitive... and we required an immediate extraction before we were placed in a position of having to endanger ourselves. Previous exposure to Royal Navy interference would have been suspicious to the Invids. All of it was the truth, after all, she just hesitated to say anything about getting agent aboard the pirate transfer ship. That would be the part that Grand Admiral Krennath would have to be understanding about.

But then, if there was one guy who understood the nature of black ops in the Galaxy, and the necessary evil of compartmentalized information, it would be Grand Admiral Krennath.




Results:
Noora will explain code activation by admitting to operations in Hutt Space --no big surprise, really.
Will just leave unsaid the part about sneaking an agent onto the transfer ship due to potential danger to Geo.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Brig of the PSV Admiral Piett
Lisov-Nikitin Protectorate




Conversations among Sullustans are Translated

"So, who is this guy?" Jungo asked.
"Captain... well, Commodore Wankle," Bungo groaned. "Back in the days of the Rebellion, he and I butted heads a few times."
"You were in the Rebellion against the Empire?" Jungo asked, impressed.

"Don't let him fool you, kiddo," Rusti said, "He got suckered into it trying to save his skin from pirates, impress Nien Nunb, and score points with your auntie all at once."
"You make it all sound so... cheap," Bungo said.

"So, you and Commodore Wankle..?" Jungo prompted.
"Well, when I was getting started out," Bungo explained, "He was captain of a Star Destroyer in the Sullustan home sector. He was doing then pretty much what he does now-- pull random freighters over for 'inspection' and, well, you know the Empire. Sort through it, take what they want, and let you go."

"Okay," Jungo said, "So he's the neighborhood 'tax collector' running a protection racket. What about the nose?"

Bungo sighed. "Well, on one of my first big runs, we were going to take a risk and run Bantha Breakfast Biscuits to the planet Gastrula. I went in with a month's wages to by 40 crates of Bantha Biscuits from the Biscuit Baron suppliers. Wankle captured me and did his 'shakedown' routine, and took all but one of my crates."

"So... the nose?" Jungo asked.
"Well," Rusti said, "Genius here didn't bother to make sure the biscuits were safe with the atmosphere of the ship. These cargo barge drivers accumulate dust and bacteria from cargo and dockyards all over the galaxy. The stale, dusty air in the ship mixed with the ingredients of the Breakfast Biscuits to create a giant amorphous Bantha Breakfast Biscuit that came to life and attacked us."

"A... giant amorphous Bantha Biscuit?" Jungo asked.
"Yeah," Bungo said, "But we defeated it with blue sauce."
"I see," Jungo said, not really seeing it at all, but not wanting to 'go there'. "So, the nose?"

"Oh, yeah," Bungo said, "Well, we sold all but two crates of our last shipment to Gastrula and on our way back we got captured by Wankle... again."
"He knew a chump when he saw one," Rusti said.
"But this time, we gladly handed over the crates of Breakfast Biscuits," Bungo said with a mischievous smirk, "We just told him we were out of blue sauce."

"So, the giant amorphous Bantha Breakfast Biscuit..."
"...came to life on his Star Destroyer," Bungo said. "I can only assume that, in the ensuing chaos, one of the Bantha Biscuits bit his nose off."
"We ran into him again a few months later," Rusti said, "And that time, he wasn't commanding a Star Destroyer. He was commanding a Nebulon-B frigate."

"Ouch," Jungo said. "So... this guy really has it in for you."
"Yeah," Bungo said, burying his face on his hands as he sat, slouched, looking towards the floor.

"ohhh, boy," Jungo said, as he kicked back to wait what happened next.





Results:
Jungo, Bungo and Rusti cool their heels in the brig.
Read all about The Adventures of Bungo n' Rusti.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Erilnar, CSC

"Admiral, you misunderstand me. The CSC cannot afford to buy the N1s, thus we will not buy them. You are going to have to make do with the Headhunters and the X-Wings we have. They are still mission-capable and they are what we will use. You are hereby directed to use the funds allocated to the fighter program to continue the refits of our T-65 and Z-95 squadrons to the most modern levels possible. I'm sure the Mandalorians and the Verpine would be glad to assist."

Ulinar left the Senate chambers in a foul mood. The old Rebellion fighters weren't bad, but the new N1s had clearly been superior fighters...it was all politics. Those Senators stood to gain nothing from scrapping the old fighters- but an expensive modernization program would generate work for ConFed factories and labs, which bought votes. Politics is the same everywhere.

-CSC rejects N1s on basis of cost and locally-available fighters. Navy pressured into decision.
-CSC will fly T65 and variants and Z-95 until replaced by Nexus.

SubDirector Moross Non of the Naboo Royal Engineers did not know of the internal politics of the Centrality-- but he did know that something was going on that would have to explain the decision to pass up the N1 series in favor of the aging fleet of Z-95 Headhunters and X-Wings.

True, though, the SubDirector thought to himself, We upgraded the N1 family precisely to make them more competitive with the X-Wing series. With good care and maintenance, the X-Wing family is a stable craft that can soldier on for another 20 years or more, and hold its own. Plus, the X-Wing had some magnificent laurels to rest on, being "the fighter that beat the Empire". The N1-series was comparable, but no fighter out there could hold a candle to the X-Wing for reputation alone.

The Z-95s, now, that's a different story, SubDirector Non thought. They don't even have hyperdrives. They have to be ferried around and then launched. No, they're way too limited to be truly useful for much beyond target drones-- which is precisely the offer I'm going to make...

"Ah, Admiral Ulinar," Non said as he met his negotiating counterpart. "I was about to leave to go back to Naboo when I heard your government's decision, but I had an alternative proposition for you."
"Well, I'll listen, but bear in mind that my government has the final say, and they're interested in squeezing every credit."

"Well, it is probably a responsible idea, given the current economy. But in that economy, there's the need to support those Z-95s. Old craft, certainly not getting any younger, and pilots trained on them will find it difficult to transition to newer ships when they --eventually-- come on line. In the long run, between parts and training, they'll end up costing about as much as is saved."

"Heh," the Admiral smiled, "I made an argument much like that, off the record, but it didn't fly too far."
"How about if you had a place to put those old Z-95s where they'd do some good?" Non asked. "We can knock the price down a bit. A new Wing of N1A5s, for example, are 9,650,000 credits. What if we knocked that down to 9,200,000 for a Wing, and in exchange you hand over a Wing of old Z-95s."

"It's.. generous," the Admiral said, "But why would the SAS want that many Z-95s?"
"We can put Geonosian droid brains in them and use them as target drones," SubDirector Non said, "They can still make excellent gunnery practice, and the droid brains allow them to put up a bit of a fight."

"I'll bring it up," the Admiral said, "But no guarantees."




Results:
SAS offer deal to Centrality:
Price reduction per Wing of N1A5s for equal number of Wings of Z-95s to be used as target drones for Royal Navy.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Chaleydonia, Christophsis
Final Round of Negotiations
Oligarchy Hall




Chief Director Olsten Klynn had convened the meeting, and all formality had been established, but since the Oligarchs had filed in, and taken their seats, there'd been no word-- just the rustling of printout, the low tap of fingers on keypads, and the clinking of some water glasses and carafes of coffiene. At times, Ranya Saviya was certain she could hear the soft hum of the lights, far overhead, that lined the supporting beams of the vast crystal dome.

Ranya sat patiently, quiet, with her posture straight and her arms on the desk before her, fingers interlaced. She did not fidget or look around, but maintained a careful air of silent patience and expectation. The proud, arrogant Christophsian Oligarchs were unpredictable in how they'd interpret any display of impatience.

She busied herself by counting, something she did a lot of in her mind. She let her mind wander. She counted the ruffles in the decorative curtains behind the Oligarchs, and noted that there was an asymmetry to the pattern; she counted the Oligarchs themselves, noted the ratios of old to younger, male to female, and devised extrapolations about their social demographics. She began doing complex math puzzles in her head when suddenly, a thought came to her out of the blue-- a series of notes, corresponding to her mathematical values, began to coalesce.
The concerto, she realized, I finally know how to end it! She smiled, and realized she'd been humming softly to herself. Chief Director Olsten Klynn was fixing her with an odd look.

"Madame Representative, are you quite all right?" he asked.
"I am, sir, please forgive me," she said, "It's just that... I have been writing a piece of music for some time, and I did not know how to end it, and I think I have suddenly realized the perfect way to conclude it."

Director Klynn blinked. "I see," he said. "Um, a piece of music, you say?"
"For the piano, yes," she said.

The Oligarchs looked at one another. "Well, by all means," Director Klynn said, "Why not honor us with being the first to hear it, then?"
Ranya's eyes became wide. She needed to practice it, first, and go through at least once or twice...

"I'd be honored," she heard herself say.
"There is a reception hall and ballroom at the end of the hall," Director Klynn said, "After you."

Ranya got up, exchanging a nervous, uncertain glance with Ares and Theyliss, who were both trying to look unperterbed by the sudden turn of events. None of the three of them were sure if the Oligarchs were toying with her, or if this was some sort of test, but they dutifully shuffled out to the hall, and caught sight of the two Rodian servants, quietly ushering them towards a vast double-doored banquet room for governmental functions. Much more ornamental than the Oligarchy Hall, the young Representative strode towards the most beautiful Grand Piano she'd ever seen.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Milady," Ares muttered quietly as the Mandalorian guards followed her up to the performance dias and took stations to either side of the raised platform.

"I was hoping you had ideas," she replied, too sotto voce for anyone to hear.

She sat and began tapping at a few keys in experiment as the Oligarchs shuffled in. The room was unprepared for a performance, so there were no chairs. The Rodians went to get some, but Director Klynn waved them off. "This shant take long, yes?" he asked. "Just one movement?"
"Indeed, Director," Ranya said. No pressure.

She sat, feeling very self-conscious as she went through her usual routine. She breathed deeply a couple of times, and stared at the keys, letting the black and white blend and separate mentally, then she assigned numbers to the keys based on their musical value, calculated them all together, and placed her fingers on the keys, and began to play.

The first part of her work was the part she'd played the most, and it allowed her to start comfortably. It opened slowly, gradually, with a sense of building, before crashing into a sudden crescendo of explosive tones* that, she noticed, made everyone in the hall startle. Now feeling comfortably in control, she lit into the winding themes of the song, finally coming to the new part.

Momentarily, Ranya thought she should at least decrease the tempo, but she felt certain, secure, that what she had was the best possible ending for her piece. She kept at it, staring at the keyboard, navigating unfamiliar territory, demanding compliance from the keyboard as she forced the new notes from it. Her teeth were grit and her young body was becoming wet with sweat as she pulled the notes from the piano, letting both the notes and the mathematical calculations behind the notes pull her, guide her, and give her the tools to master the instrument... and make it do... as... she... wanted.

With a flourish, she reached the crescendo, and sat there, panting with exertion, as the last notes echoed off the halls.

The fog in her mind cleared and she began to take notice of her senses again. She sat on a cool wooden bench, her fingers were numb, her mind racing, her heart thundering in her ears and her torso drenched in sweat. Thin strings of hair fell in front of her face, giving her a slightly disheveled, manic look. She brushed them aside, and it was as if a switch had been thrown-- she cooled, smiled, stood, and bowed to her audience.

The Oligarchs stood, stunned expressions on their faces. Chief Director Olsten Klynn licked his lips, and finally began to clap, slowly, then picking up the pace, and joined by the others. Soon, all the Oligarchs were applauding her, amazed at her talent. Ranya smiled and walked towards them.

"I, I thought..." Director Klynn said, "I thought, maybe some 'piano lessons' type of recital..." he said. "I had no idea you meant the real thing."
"You are devoted to your art," the fat Oligarch said, "Truly admirable! Truly!"
"I look forward to the first shipment of new N3 fighters soon," the thin Oligarch said, smiling knowingly and winking.

"Does this mean..?" Ranya stammered.
"Yes," Klynn said, "I think we are in agreement. Christophsis will be glad to join such a union."




Results:
Ranya impresses the Oligarchs with a final display of.... musical talent.
Christophsis to join the Sovereign Alliance.

*Stravinsky's Firebird Suite would be comparable.

***