Onslaught of the Empire

[Sayla-girl]

Unaware of the hunter prowling nearby, F'an and the Twi'lek talked business, the Twi'lek occasionally speaking with his rodian associates before returning to discuss things with the bith. Finally, a small parcel was handed to D'an and he nodded to the Twi'lek who then gestured to the Rodians. Holstering their blasters, they headed aboard D'an's ship and started carrying a number of boxes out of the vessel to load onto their own.

The crack of a blaster bolt smashing apart a droid disrupted this business and both parties scrambled for cover as the droids started to converge on the noise, only to be ripped apart by green energy bolts coming from the treeline.

Qaina surged forward out of the forest near D'an's ship, charging towards the organics and letting fly with a hail of bolts from her pistols as she tried to cut the smuggler off from his vessel. The coloring and style of her armor confused the Twi'lek and he rose out of cover in an attempt to tell her to stand down only to get a pair of bolts in the chest. The Rodians didn't make that mistake and opened fire with their own blasters, forcing Qaina to scoop up one of the blasted droids to use as cover while she advanced, her D-200 Military Enforcer barking angrily at her opponents. Reaching D'an's ship, she ducked behind the boarding ramp and unleashed another salvo of bolts at the Rodians, clipping one of them in the arm.

Qaina reloaded and flipped the stun switch on her Manhunter Blaster, eyes casting about for her Bith target. Not seeing D'an and assuming he was using the statue for cover like the Rodians were, Qaina decided to storm their position and root the target out. Inhaling and exhaling, Qaina then whirled around from behind the ramp and sprayed bolts at the Rodian's postion. Charging, she vaulted past the statue and leveled her blaster at the remaining Rodian's head.

"Drop it." She ordered the Rodian, and sure enough he did just that, grunting in annoyance as he let the pistol slip from his hands.

"Where's D'an?" Qaina demanded, but before the rodian could reply the Hunter got her answer. The Shuttlecraft powered up and was floating off the ground.

Her prey about to escape, Qaina opened fire on the ship, shooting up its hull in the process but doing little to stop D'an from getting airborn and flying off.
Qaina had to think fast. She had to catch D'an before he escaped or got shot down by one of the military groups engaged nearby. She shot a look back to the Rodians and tilted her head towards D'an's ship.

"Can either of you fly?"
 

[Skyeborne]

Khyber had underestimated just how tall the mountain was. Valtheim's slopes rose up to the gathering storm-clouds above, it's peak now concealed. For most of the walk Khyber had climbed unaided, practicing his Breath Control to help counter both the high oxygen content of this planet's atmosphere and the changes in that atmosphere as he rose in elevation. As he neared the end of the steps, however, Khyber slipped on a rebreather so that he could concentrate fully on the task at hand.

After slipping on the mask, the young Jedi heard a familiar voice in his head; his companion Caisar, informing him that he was en route. The older Jedi had spoken to him more than once before regarding his motives on this chase, and was understandably worried about how close such a path could lead to the Dark Side. His worry, though a comforting sign of the depth of their relationship, was unneccesary. Khyber knew the risks, and he reassured himself that he could and would act as any proper Jedi in this situation...

The steps came to an end, and before Khyber stood the massive stone ruins, remarkably intact for the most part. Considering the almost daily storms at this altitude, it was indeed a testament to the temple's architects that it was still standing after so many millenia...  

[Cale Darksun]

Cinn unfastened his helmet and set it on his armor stand as Danika posed her question. He considered it as he started unfastening his gauntlets and then looked over his shoulder at the Jedi he had conquered.
"Dance, slave." Was his command for her, and he resumed removing his armor pieces and setting them on their stand.

 

[Darkened Angel]

" Yes, Master. " Danika said, then slowly began to sway her hips, moving her arms out to her sides. Her movements were small and slow to start with, but gradually picked up the pace as she got into it. Her dance was a sensual one, focusing on graceful, fluid movements, limiting the speed of her movements to help accentuate the sensuality of her body.

It wasn't much different than when she would perform private dances for a single spectator in a cantina. Her focus was on Cinn, giving him the best view of everything as she danced for his pleasure. For a moment, she lost herself in her dancing, no longer seeing Cinn as the Sith master she was forced to obey, but as a man she was intent to leave in awe of her dancing. She gazed into his eyes and gave him a seductive smile as she put her arms over her head and swayed her hips in a hypnotic figure eight pattern.  

[Cale Darksun]

Cinn payed little attention to the dance, focusing more on carefully removing his armor. He used the force to unbind the straps he couldn't reach, then placed the remaining plates on the stand. Now clad in his undersuit, he summons his toolset to his hand and then begans to examine and perform maintenance upon the old set, mumbling archaic words of prayer and reverence as he worked. Occasionally he glanced over at Danika to ensure she was still dancing, then resumed cleaning and repairing his armor.

 

[Skyeborne]

"The ruins are empty, Master," reported DEVRO, after scanning them for several minutes. "There is only one individual inside. Male, Sith, steady pulse of 40 beats a minute. Two power sources identified as unactivated Diatium power cells located on his person, assumed to be two separate lightsabers. He is in the center of the complex, in a large circular chamber approximately 10 meters in diameter..."

"That's enough, DEVRO," said Khyber, cutting him off. "Conceal yourself in those rocks. I shouldn't be long."

"Master?" the droid said questioningly. "What if you require assistance?"

Khyber sighed, and looked up at the clouds above and below him. "If I need your help to survive the coming storm, DEVRO, then I will be in very dire straits indeed."

With that, Khyber pulled his dart pistol from his robes, loaded it with a knockout dart, then lifted up his cane and walked carefully into the temple ruins...  

[Darkened Angel]

Danika was a bit confused, but didn't say anything as she continued dancing. She had seen it before in various cantinas, where she would be dancing for a specific table of patrons, but they would talk business and otherwise focus on each other or other things, simply wanting her there for the sake of the environment. However, alone with Cinn in his private quarters, she was expecting more.

She continued to move her body sensually, watching Cinn maintain his armor as she did so. Perhaps he wanted her to dance just for the sake of having her obey him, showing his dominance to some unseen audience. It didn't make much difference in the end. As long as he was pleased with her, that was all that mattered.  

[Sayla-girl]

With the promise of handing them the Smuggler's ship plus whatever fee and cargo D'an had made off with in the stolen shuttle, the Rodians were quick to forgive the fact Qaina had just been shooting at them and applied themselves as best they could to the layout of the console. Having clambered into a gunwell, Qaina scanned the skies for trouble as she waited for the ship to take off.
They weren't taking off fast enough.
"What's the hold up?!" She radioed to the Rodians. "That Bith is getting away!"

The Injured Rodian responded over the com, rather rudely saying she should just be patient as they figured out how the ship worked. Qaina grumbled and tapped her foot impatiently on the pedal bar of the gunwell, until, shakily, the Smuggler ship lifted off the ground and shot off in pursuit. Had Qaina not been in the gunner chair, the sudden acceleration would have been a bit jarring. Now, however, they were airborne, and with Qaina using his own ship to hunt him down, D'an couldn't hope to get away in a dinged up shuttle.

Smirking as her target came into view, Qaina lined up a disabling shot aimed at the port nacelle and opened up with the souped up smuggler ship guns, crimson bolts chasing the shuttle across the sky. Even with the fact it was only a civilian ship, D'an still seemed to have some tricks up his sleeve and he barrel rolled out of the incoming fire.

"Keep her steady!" Qaina called down to the command deck as she fired another salvo. "I need a clear shot to disable him!"
 

[Nelowulf]

Lieutenant Warren McJump
Location: Minos Cluster - Travnin system
Personal Location: Bridge of the Indefatigable
Accompanying ships: 2 Wayfarers.

Knight-errant Jian Yakamura
Location: Minos Cluster
Personal Location: Travnin, Minos Cluster
Accompanying People: None
Current Attire: http://fong-saiyuk.deviantart.com/art/Wudang-Swordsman-285257811

Jian pressed a remote on his belt, as five disks around him began to float up on micro repulsors, their bladed edges presenting a threat that grew as they spun like a buzzsaw. Jian ignited his saber, looking to his sides and reaching out with the force as the blades circled him, like wolves surrounding their prey. He shifted his stance to the right, as the blades took up different positions higher and lower in the air, changing trajectory to promote weaknesses. The first one finally made it's move, aiming for his arm, which Jian sidestepped and knocked with his hilt off it's path, sending it skittering off the floor. As the first disk bounced back up and started to reorient itself, two more came, one high, one low. Jian spun his saber around, lifting his right leg to let the low blade pass harmlessly by, as the high blade was swatted away by the saber. A small buzz in the back of Jian's neck warned him of an incoming disk from behind, causing him to spin to the left and use his momentum to swat this one down into the floor.

The acrobatic training became more intense, as Jian was forced to in some cases jump through the narrow gap of the blades and press his ataru skills to a limit. It wasn't good against multiple opponents, but the evasion techniques were very worthwhile in their own rights. He panted heavily as the weights on his body tugged him downward, knicking the disks at times as they drifted down into their path. Jian took these little dings on his clothing as a sign of being too slow still, as he spun his saber around to knock a disk to the other side of the room. The door buzzer alerted him to someone entering, as he quickly reached down and hit the remote on his belt to pacify the floating blades. His lightsaber hissed back into it's hilt, which he replaced upon his hip and folded his arms into their sleeves. A young woman had entered, her coreworld accent a refreshing sound to his ears.

"Master Jedi, the council wishes to speak with you now. They claim to have found your help," she said. Her eyes darted away, as she gripped her arm in shyness. She quickly tried to shake the natural instincts, and perform her duty by returning her attention to Jian, who had also looked to the side to help not make her feel like his attention locked onto her. "You're hurt," she exclaimed, a little surprised, as Jian looked back at her, then traced her gaze to his arm. He hadn't noticed the thin stream of blood running down his elbow and staining his sleeve.

"I suppose I got that sometime earlier," Jian remarked with a chuckle. He hadn't quite gotten hit in the entire section, leading his mind and his feelings to the same conclusion that it had been a narrow miss when the door buzzer distracted him. He made a mental note to work on that... somehow. Maybe one of the Jedi masters knew a way to help with it. For another time though. His distracted thoughts were once again revealed as he noticed the messenger woman moving towards him.

"I'll notify the medbay that you will require some attention, and notify the council that you'll be slightly postpo-" she began, before Jian began to speak and cut her off.

"It's alright, just find me some kolto spray and deliver it to the conference." The messenger seemed a bit confused, as the idea slowly ebbed into her head. He could almost watch her expression match the words he spoke into the ear travel to her head, as she finally nodded and gave a bow of her head.

"Yes, Master Jedi. I will do so immediately," she said, turning around and heading out the door. Jian lifted a hand but had to speak to interrupt her exodus. "Is there something else you need?"

"Uh... where are they expecting me?" The most necessary information had convienently been forgotten, when the message was delivered.

"The conference room aurek," the young woman said with a blush. Jian gave his thanks, watching her hurry herself out, hoping to further reduce her fears of doing an even more poor job. Jian gave another audible sigh, before poking his wound. Understandably, he made quite a remark as it stung from the prodding, before the young sentinel waved his hand to return the disks to their spot on the wall, and exited the room.

Upon entering the meeting room, he noted the same three masters as before, and several new faces. Reaching out, he couldn't sense much force strength within the two new people, but that didn't mean they weren't hiding it. His attention focused back on the presiding trio at the long end of the table, giving a bow of politeness and continuing to stand despite them offering him a seat.

"Jian, meet Lieutenant Warren McJump, and his..." the Selkath began, unsure how to describe the bulky human beside the green rabbit. Jian could sense that the Selkath was rather conflicted by the being's presence, as if trying to be polite, but couldn't figure out how to not insult while being honest. At least, that's what he thought.

"Master-at-arms," the bulky human spoke up, offering his own interpretation of his role. Warren looked to his side, at the mutton-chopped Soldier, silencing him and speaking up to continue.

"We like to refer to him as Gundark. Please excuse us, we're not used to these situations." Jian felt as if the statement was genuine. Even if trained in his abilities further, however, the young Jedi would have had difficulty getting a read on Warren's emotions, as calm as he was at giving statements. The Lepi knew how to tell incomplete truths, a necessary part of the political game he constantly played with officers and public officials. A lie could have been proven false, but partial ignorance was far harder to disprove.

"Yes, the infamous Gundark," the Selkath garbled, as the marine grumbled something under his breath. "Regardless, it seems the Force has smiled upon us. Their recent mission in the sector managed to secure a boatload of enslaved civilians destined for rendezvous with the Sith forces. However, apparently some of them were already purchased for display with some gala being hosted in the recently invaded territories. Republic military forces have tasked Warren's Task Unit to crash the little party and damage it. However..."

"If this little get together is really as big of a scene as the invitation suggests, I won't have the firepower with a few small boats to ruin any plans. The republic navy does not consider this mission priority enough to send a true compliment of forces to disrupt it, nor can it spare any from the line in the sector which is being beaten back. I will not risk crew in a futile frontal assault. My orders were clear: Disrupt it as much as possible, any way I saw fit using what resources I could obtain. My advisor suggested petitioning the Jedi enclave. They said it would be a good opportunity on their part too." The Lepi wiggled his nose a little in annoyance, folding his arms across his chest. Jian looked at his body language, wondering what that meant, having never encountered such a strange creature before. Warren, however, was busy trying to keep his thoughts to himself, somewhat dismayed at the bleeding jedi that was promised to him as 'assistance'.

"So I assume that the Gala is where you assume the Jedi agent shall be held at?" Jian asked. "And that they are to be my way in?" A wave of hope that his guess was right was easily quelled by the disturbing thought that while he had some reinforcements, he would be once again, outmanned and outgunned. The masters all confirmed this, as the tension in the room built up. Only the arrival of the messenger from before with the Kolto spray really let the pressure deflate from the room. Jian gave a slight bow and apology, turning away to tend to his cut.

"Ji-yaan?" The master Consular spoke up, as the young Jedi returned the medical device and his thanks to the messenger. "You should not underestimate your allies. They may be strange, but they are not entirely without merit." The epicanthix reached out with a hand, whacking the Gundark across the head, who was enraptured with watching the young woman leave the room. "Even if they are silly at times. I personally vouch that they are as good as my nephew. Even if he dishonors his uncle by being fascinated by large warships and performing in battle instead of doing his Ree-search."

"I am looking forward to working with you, Jian," Warren said with a smile.

"And I am looking forward to my lunch," the epicanthix consular rebuked. "Munn bean sandwich very good for letting the Force flow through one's body." The Gundark gave a slight chuckle, his thoughts of the joke floating through his head transparent with his reaction. The impending whack on the head, however, still reminded the marine of where to focus.  

[Des Voh]

"Sir, it looks like there may be trouble ahead..." The flight lieutenant advised Caisar, who was unstrapping his harness and moving forward of the cabin to peer through the viewport.
"I see that, any markings?"

"Not that I can tell, sir. I don't have the systems to say much more than make on the craft. But way out here, probably a tussle between freelance shippers and locals." He responded, his co-pilot nodded in agreement. They were almost a kilometer and a half out from the confrontation, but the dull red and gunmetal armored and insignia'd hull of the NR2 was distinctive against the darkening cloak of clouds.
"Corporal, charge twin laser cannon turrets." Ordered the pilot.
"Yes, sir. Charging."
"Lets try not to get on the receiving end of the guns on that freighter, they're definitely not stock." The lieutenant then pressed on the comm button for the back cabin."Strap in troopers, we might be entering hostile airspace shortly."
With that, the shuttle took further altitude towards the clouds and increased speed slightly. Caisar strapped himself back into his seat and reached out with his senses towards the two ships.  

[Sayla-girl]

The chase continued, heedless or ignorant of the Gully Jumper seemingly floating about nearby. The Shuttle continued to dance around, preventing a solid lock as Qaina opened fire, trying to bring it down. There was no mistake. D'an was a good pilot. But sooner or later he was going to-

A pair of bolts shattered the engine nacelle of the shuttle in a burst of fire, smoke and shrapnel and D'an spiraled to the ground. This was both good and bad. Good was that Qaina had shot D'an down. Bad was that he might not survive the impact.

"Maiksuk!" She cursed as she hastily unbuckled herself from the gunner harness. "Take us down! Now!"

Sliding down the gunwell ladder, Qaina hustled for the airlock door, slapping her bucket on and drawing pistols as the freighter landed. The Airlock door slid open upon her command and the hunter lept out of the ship, quickly clearing the ground between her and the crashed shuttle. D'an had made a successful hard landing, the shuttle digging up the terrain but otherwise grounding intact, and as the Smuggler popped the hatch on the shuttle and climbed out, he was greeted to the cold hard metal of Qaina's Military Enforcer as it was slapped against his cranium. Knocked onto his a**, the smuggler stared in fright as he looked now into the twin barrels of the huntress' pistols.

"You're coming with me, D'an." Qaina said, thumbing the stun selectors on her pistols. "Now, get your hands where I can see them."
 

[Cale Darksun]

Having finished maintaining both his armor and his lightsaber, Cinn finally arose from his workbench, wiping his hands with a cloth. It was important that, should the need arise, Cinn's gear be fully repaired and functional. His life depended upon his equipment, and he gave it the proper veneration it deserved. But now his chores were done, it was time to indulge himself. Tossing the rag aside, Cinn then looked to Danika, who had been dancing this whole time. He opened his hand, Force pushing Danika onto the bed behind her.

"Now," Cinn said with a cruel smirk, "I desire pleasure..."

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One long starflight later, the Cobra had docked at the Regellia system Station. Cinn, cleaned up and refreshed, was clad again in his armor, his helmet hanging from his belt as he walked along with his slave and the Station Commander to the turbolift, The station's soldiers lining the way and standing at attention.

"Have the summons gone out?" Cinn asked of the commander.

"Aye, M'lord. We've contacted all the military governors, commanders, and influential Sith in the Cluster and surrounding space. We've even managed to send invitations to Lord Krosis and Lady Nightwind as per your instructions...though I am unsure why we used a subpar code for the encryption. What if the Republic finds out about the Demonstration?"

"I want them to find out." Cinn told him, clearly unbothered by the fact the enemy might have found out about his plans. "I want them to know the Graviton Puncture Machine is very real, and after the test firing, they will know it really works. And it will terrify them."

 

[Darkened Angel]

Danika listened as Cinn and the station commander talked as they made their way through the station. As she followed her master around, she looked at the soldiers along the way. Cinn definitely had their loyalty and respect, but she wondered how much of it was gained from fear rather than inspiring it through leadership. He might be a Sith warrior, but the man was far more cunning than he let on. It was an admirable trait, but unforunately it meant he was a dangerous enemy to the Republic and the Jedi.  

[Skyeborne]

Khyber placed one foot carefully in front of the other, sliding gracefully into the ruins without making a sound. He kept the dart pistol at the ready, peering around each corner before passing through the corridors. Outside a low rumble signaled the beginning stages of the storm, and a slight wind whistled through the occasional hole in the stone.

The central chamber DEVRO had mentioned was easily located. It was simple, and yet elegant. Ancient runes were carved along the entire wall of the circular room; and some even went up to the center of the domed ceiling. A tall, well-dressed Sith was standing at the opposite wall, his back turned away from Khyber as he examined the runes closely. Thunder sounded again, closer in the skies around the mountain, as Khyber took aim and fired.

The dart stopped less than an inch from the back of the Sith's neck, and he turned slowly to examine it. Slowly the dart disassembled in mid-air, each piece floating apart from the others.

"An interesting compound, with a complex barbiturate as its base. Still, there are better poisons to use in subduing a target," said the Sith, finally looking up at the young Jedi. "Hello, Khyber."  

[Des Voh]

Watching the firefight take place, Caisar closed his eyes once more, reaching out to his companion in the ruins beyond atop the cliff, watching him through the Force when suddenly his focus was interrupted.
"Sir, the shuttle has been shot down, the ship is moving in to the crash site, what should be do?"

"Bring us down, and be ready for anything." The Jedi responded, opening his eyes and watching the smoke begin to rise over the crash zone which they were now quickly descending towards.

The cabin hatch opened up and a man in full field armor stepped in, a short-barreled, compact blaster rifle cradled in his grasp, his helmet was off revealing a human with dark skin and no hair besides a mustache. He looked out the view-port then to Caisar."Sir, are we going down there?"

"Correct Sargent. Get your men ready, we don't know what we're dealing with, but we're going to end it."
"But what about Master Strife?"
"He will be fine until we arrive. We must be sure this has nothing to do with the Sith, if they are this close then we're going to have more problems later on. Perpare your men."
"Affirmative." The man responded before heading toward the back cabin and began shouting orders before the door sealed.
"Bringing us in, Master Adonexus, thirty seconds to the crash-site."
"Good, disable that ships gun before it has a chance to pick up on us and bring us in just close to the ground for a drop, but don't land until you get the singal." Caisar responded, standing up to step ahead and stepping forward of the cabin to focus on the crash sight.
"Sir." The pilot responded as he reached over and hit the airbourne drop light for the back cabin and as Caisar turned and stepped through to it he was awash with a blinking red light and the sound of power-packs hissing into the load-chambers of blasters and the sound of hard pats on the shoulder from troopers beside another indicating their armor was good. Each then pulled a ripcord and attached it to their harness and moved close to the wide hatch that would open in the rear of the cabin for rapid deployment drops.
Caisar took note to marvel at the refinement this model of the NR2 had at its job. He made sure to secure his lightsaber in its holster on his side and rolled up the sleeves of his robe to the elbow then took hold of a ripcord himself and waited.

~~~~~~~

The armoured NR2 in Republic red and gunmetal with a Falcon decal across each side blazed down towards the crash site, its double twin-laser cannons swiveling with the approach to lock onto the turrets of the freighter, blasting them with heavy fire as the shuttle circled in for the drop.