Onslaught of the Empire

[Nelowulf]

"Nope, never met her," Jian said, ducking around the corner. "Let's try not go get trailed. The sith might try to do something stupid to keep me here. Like it'd do a lot of good. They can't enforce a military lockdown forever, and they can't keep staying on the planet looking for me. Sooner or later they'll have to push further in the system... or the republic will beat them back. But first things first, there's a cantina near the lodging I was at that my friend works at, it shouldn't be too hard to find her past that..."

Jian stepped into a storefront, dragging Kira behind him, and raced through the back of the store, before circling the building and changing direction.  

[stellarmagic]

"Ugh..." Alyn sat up right, ignoring the minor wounds he still suffered from and glanced down at his cloak and combat jumpsuit still smoldering slightly. Wincing in pain he glanced over at the blonde sith operative laying beside him and reached out and shook her awake.

"Hey buddy, still alive?" He asked, his voice filled with the grim and situational humor of a professional mercenary.

The woman coughed and blinked, her gold pupils glinting lightly in the dim light. Wincing, she rolled onto her side and glanced at him. "Damn... I was hopping it was just one real crappy nightmare."

"No such luck... I think he wrote us off as dead." Alyn said glancing at the woman, that looked like a dancer, who had helped him. "You know a good way to get off this dirt ball?"  

[Darkened Angel]

As the man and woman came to, Danika helped get them up and to the bar to sit and rest for a moment. She motioned to the bartender for a couple of drinks for them. She took a seat next to the man, facing him. " The only way off planet right now, from what I hear, would be buddying up with the Sith. They're apparently chasing a Jedi and likely have already grounded every ship they could. " she said.

She looked both of them up and down, getting a better look at the damage they took. " I don't know who you are, and it's not really my business to know, but I suggest not hanging around here any longer than you need to. It's not good for business when a pissed off Sith comes in and starts making a mess because of someone that did something to make them mad. " she said. " The drinks are on me. I've seen some nasty brawls before. I'm amazed you even survived. "  

[stellarmagic]

"I'm amazed too..." The woman said as she sat upright. "Force lightning usually gets worse if untreated... did you, do something to us?" She asked as she flexed her gloves and Alyn could hear the cortosis weave inside creak.

Alyn's eyes widened, he hadn't known that particular bit of info. "It... it gets worse?"

"Yes, the bones of the victim start to calcify... it's pretty grizzly." She said. "Do you know where a smuggler's den or bar is around here? Maybe some friends that would be willing to help us out?"  

[Darkened Angel]

" Maybe the Sith wasn't quite as strong he appeared to be. That Force stuff is pretty tricky. " Danika said. As the woman asked for help, Danika tried to hold back a laugh. " You're in a cantina, remember? " She then spoke quietly, so that nobody but they could hear. " I do have a friend, but I don't know if he'd be able to help. He's not very... popular around here, but he might know more about how to get around. Unfortunately, I don't know where he is right now, but he'll likely come find me before I'd need to find him anyways. He might be coming here right now for all I know. "

Danika then stood up, and moved in front of Alyn, speaking at her normal volume. " So how about it, honey? " she asked in a seductive tone while swaying her hips teasingly, as if she had been offering him a private dance the whole time.  

[lady_skuld]

The Jedi led her in a twisted maze of a path, Kira swore that this man was crazier by the minute. Thrilling, but she didn't enjoy long hunts or runs. This one was getting longer by the minute. She was already running out of breath. What more could be chasing this guy? At least he claimed to have a destination. Even if it wound up being a bit of a rat maze through the stores and alleyways. This guy did know a thing or two about running. She had to give him credit for that. Who else could handle this sort of nightmarish pace if not a jedi, in enemy territory no less?

Kira and her new pal finally made it to the cantina he mentioned. It took far longer than she would have liked. All along the way she questioned running on her judgement, but nothing fit logically. Only that everything felt "right" to her right now. Guts had to count for something, right?

"Sure you know what you're doing? I mean, you can't possibly believe that you don't stand out on this planet."

~~~~

Almost half an hour had passed since they had begun the interrogation. Sythica was bored. This time span of gentle bribery was starting to wear on the sith trooper's nerves. She could be out chasing this jedi everyone was ranting about. That'd be a thrilling chase. A true workout. A true demonstration of her faith in the Emprah and her skills. But instead, she had to settle for good old police brutality. It was weak and effortless. No honor or strong opponents. Only those gagged, bound, and without fight in them. It was more like punishing a nerf than a true blood pumping thrill of the fight.

A whirr of the door's motors alerted her. Inside, the interrogator stepped out, shaking his head. Giving a crack of her knuckles, the trooper gave a wicked grin before heading inside. Time to relieve some pent up stress.  

[stellarmagic]

Alyn couldn't help but smirk up at the dancing figure. He quickly checked his pulse. "Yep, still alive... for a second I thought I'd died and gone to heaven."

Before he could further embarrass himself the Sith Operative slapped him him upside the head and shook her head. "Spending credits you don't have yet?"

"Uh..." Alyn rolled his eyes. "She said she might know someone that can help us."

"Yeah... right." She shook her head then picked up and checked her blaster pistol. "Fine... you'll fit in if you're staring at her. I'll see about getting rid of this insignia." She pointed to the imperial crest on her armor. "Maybe I can burn it off."

Alyn glanced up and nodded at the dancing figure. If I don't survive this, this might be worth it, maybe.  

[Darkened Angel]

Danika was dancing in front of Alyn, when something caught her attention. She noticed a familiar robed figure near the entrance. " I think that friend of mine just showed up. " she said quietly. " He's not alone either, from the looks of it. I don't know if that's good or bad. "  

[Miss-Pandemica]

Nova once again tracked the Jedi and his new companion to another cantina. It was apparent to her that it was close to where he once was just earlier that day. Finding it odd that he would turn to such a place, especially when it looked like this place had suffered quite a bit of damage. She hovered just outside it, glancing in only slightly to spot the scantly dressed dancer and other occupants.  

[Nelowulf]

Jian took a deep breath, calming himself and giving a resting beat. He looked at his clothes, and then at the world around him, seeing not much wrong. Perhaps a little bit flowery, but overall, nothing directly jedi-ish. At least, to his young eyes.

"I am sure that what we find in here shall be..." he said, cutting off from the statement as soon as he saw the wrecked interior. "Today's misfortunes are tomorrow's opportunities. I imagine I shall find something of great value after today..."

The wrecked room and patrons all stared as much at him as he did at their own predicament. "Perhaps I do stand out a bit much, but as to clothing, I rather enjoy my natural garb."  

[ElladanKenet]

The crackdown was quite visible now. Ilia was in her room, recovering from the sonic blasts. Her muscles were still a bit sore, but with the help of the force (or rather her demands of the force), she was recovering quickly. In the meantime, she had her commradio on and was watching outside as the occupational crackdown beginning. The city itself had a regiment all to itself, with all the attached forces that went with it. Other cities had their own garrisons, all of smaller sizes, though they varied. The big hives had regiments, while the smaller more isolated hives had companies.

Spaceport traffic had virtually stopped, she noticed after a bit. No ships were going in or out, which was good. Ilia was confidant the Jedi couldn't escape now, unless things went to hell. Communications hadn't yet stoppe,d but were being very heavily monitored. Ilia suspected, give or take five minutes, and Ruuria would be dark.

That would spark the first wave of concern in the Republic. Losing contact with one planet would get everyone stirred up. Once the other two were down, the Republic would have no choice but to investigate personally. Seeing the battlecruiser in orbit, and having seen what happened to their last envoy, Ilia knew the Republic would overreact and send the majority of their fleet, which would then be crushed by the arrival of their own fleet from the back of the system.

Briefly, the Sith wondered in the back of her mind whether they were going to allow the Ruurians to send out a faked distress call.  

[Valkore Fraust]

Valkore stood up, unsealing his helmet. It was the only way to get a good gasp of air. Every inch of Valkore wanted to shoot the b*****d, but still, he knew his place. There was no lack of respect in his tone, but he knew the Sith were all insane.

"It's more than a coincidence, my lord," Valkore managed. "You don't see that type of woman roaming the streets of a planet like this." Valkore clasped the helmet to his belt and rubbed his throat. "I spoke with her, and she seemed like a wench, offering me a private show and questioning what was under my armor." He took another breath before continuing. "Then I saw her help up those goons you mopped up. My lord, she's trouble."  

[Cale Darksun]

"I tire of your ramblings, Mandalorian." Cinn said disdainfully as his speeder car approached. "I suggest you move along before I order you drawn and quartered for my own amusement."
The Sith Lord slipped into his transport and was driven towards where his ship was parked. He would have to get in contact with Darth Nightwind and see how her little witch hunt had fared.
 

[stellarmagic]

The Sith Operative swore quietly as she tapped at a device on her belt. Scowling she pulled a small scanner from it and stared at it for a moment before looking at the young man that had just stumbled inside. She stared for a minute then hastily covered the insignia on his shoulder before slapping Alyn upside the head. "He's here."

Alyn rubbed his head. "How'd you know?"

She held up the device. "Force sensitive detector, pity it only works when people aren't actively hiding their presence. The crystal glows blue for jedi, red for sith."

"You've got a lot of toys, you know that?" Alyn said as he turned toward the entrance and saw the two newcomers.