Onslaught of the Empire

[Darkened Angel]

" I'll leave you alone for now then. " Danika said, taking her lightwhip back and putting it back in her hidden pocket. She gave Jian a friendly pat on the shoulder. " If you need me, just go to a cantina. You'll likely see me dancing in one. If not, just ask around. The bartenders know me enough to point you towards me. " She then left his room, and made her way outside the building. Once outside, she headed towards the nearest cantina. Just a few moments after she entered the door, the bartender noticed her and smiled, waving her over.

" I was wondering if you'd come by again. It's been a few days. " he said. " Lots of places to be, not enough hours in a day. " Danika said back. " Well, I'm just glad to see those hips... Er, I mean you. " The man gave a slight, embarrassed smile after he caught himself ogling her. " Go ahead and do your thing. I think we got some big tippers in here today. " Danika smiled and nodded at the man and then went backstage, coming out on stage moments later, and began dancing for the patrons.  

[Nelowulf]

Putting a hand to the back of his head, Jian just couldn't help but watch Danika leave. Beauty aside, Jian was as much if not moreso confused than entranced. What did she mean by that whole military base thing? Enemies abound? And what was with the casual tones and discussion of how to swing ones hips? Is that how the enclaves on the rim did things?

Jian could not help but sigh, giving a small facepalm, but whomever this jedi was, if it could be called that, she did have some skills with the force. He could barely sense her. However difficult it may be to get the past her peculiarities, she may have some wisdom inside her noggin somewhere. Jian began to try to sit in his crosslegged meditation stance, but found his mind far too uneasy by the recent events to get very far in the success of his original plan. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the lad still had some sense of forced concentration. Ruuria was afterall, a decent center of knowledge; perhaps there were some archives somewhere that could help him in figuring out the best crystals to forge his own saber.

Accessing the terminal from his room, he called up the database to look up any potential information regarding a central library system. "There's bound to be one on planet somewhere..."  

[ElladanKenet]

Ilia meanwhile, was less than pleased. She had been hoping the woman had been smart and would be cooperative in working with her. No, she was dogged loyal to the Emperor to the exclusion of all else. Dumb woman. Did she not realize that by working with her, she could serve the Emperor? Did it not occur to her that Ilia genuinely did want to work with her? No, of course not. Her first accusation was that she was trying to supplant her Master or the Emperor, as if she ever would. Well, she would, but not yet; her Mistress, that is. Being a Sith, it was her goal to eventually supplant her teacher, in this case, her mother. Sure, she was still severla years off from that goal, but Ilia Nightwind knew that one day, one way or another, the Nightwind dynasty would be in her control, and she would answer to noone but the Emperor.

At that moment, as she sped through the hallways at a brisk walking speed, her personal comlink went off. A red flashing light. Normally, if it beeped, it was someone in the military. If it was a red light, that meant she was being summoned for a holoconference. Only one person dared that.

With a sigh, Ilia made her way to her room, closing the door and dimming the lights. Approaching the holorecorder in the center of the room, she activated it and knelt. "You summoned me, Mistress?"

The holorecord brought to life a woman looking very like Ilia. She was older, her hair longer, and she wore ornate black robes. She had a very haughty look,and around her neck was a necklace, a Sith amulet. Hidden in the robes she knew was a lightstaff. This was the senior Nightwind, her mother and Mistress. "Yes, I did. How go things on Ruuria?"

"The worms barely put up a fight. We expect Republic forces to arrive before the day's end, falling right into our trap."

The woman nodded tersely. "As they should be. Plans have changed on Kaas. Your recall the conversation we had, before you left?"

Indeed she did. "Yes, Mistress."

"Good. While you are out and about, I want you to search for an artifact. I seek the location of the holocron of King Adas. The Emperor has ordered I deliver it to him."

Ilia blinked. "The holocron? Why does he want it? It was lost centuries ago."

"Do not question your Mistress," the image retorted. "I am not entirely sure myself, but he desires it nonetheless. It is our earliest artifact, if one speaks of the Sith species. I will seek my own answers, but in the meantime, I want you to find it."

Ilia lowered her head more. "It shall be done."  

[Sol Walker]

"My Lord?"

Droma Cinn, meditating in a chair he had "procurred" from the library staff (One designed for humanoids of course) didn't seem to acknowledge the soldier speaking to him. The man raised his voice again, seeking the Sith's attention.

"I heard you, Sergeant." The man rumbled ominously, letting his displeasure at being perstered known. "What is it?"

"Sir," The Sith Trooper replied, his voice displaying the steady calm only a man used to the fickle whims of tyrants could muster. "the worms have secured the information we seek. I have our men securing the holotomes and transferring them to the ship as we speak."

"Good." Darth Cinn rose from the chair, the plates of his armor clacking together as he moved. "Once we are done here, we can proceed to the Alpha Colony. There, we can deal with a little pest control."

"Pest Control, sir?"

"I felt them on our way in. Jedi are poking around this world. After meditating upon it, I've decided we should move to counter their activities."

"Right sir." The trooper looked at the library and the timid ruurians who were looking at the Sith and his squad of soldiers with obvious unease. "So what is left here to do, sir?"

"Simple, Sergeant." Cinn said. Ominously, he slowly turned to face the worms, his hand casually unclipping his lightsaber from his belt. "We burn the place to the ground. Contact the Executioner and have them target these coordinates."

"What?!" Gasped the head scholar, his antena writhing furiously. "You can't do that! We have found your information, we have catered to your every whim!"

"I have rivals on this world." Cinn said as his men armed blasters. "Rivals for the Emperor's favour. I do not want them to succeed, not unless I can control how far they advance. They will seek out the resources of this prestigious Xenoarchaeology institute to advance their goals. But once this seething hotbed of Republic Sympathizers has been purged, there will be, regretfully, nothing left for them to aid in their research. They will have to come to me, and I will tell them only what I want them to know. And with that exposition out of the way, it is time for all of you to die."

Droma Cinn's Lightsaber thrummed to life, casting the room in a sinister crimson glow as he advanced upon the terrified Ruurians....

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Back aboard the Cobra, Droma Cinn watched as the heavy guns of the obiting Battlecruser destroyed the entire Ruurian city. killing chroma wing nd larva alike in a green burning inferno.
Cinn alowed himself a chuckle, and then he ordered the starship's coirse readjusted. It was time to visit the capitol and see if his premonitions about Jedi were true.  

[ElladanKenet]

It didn't take long for Ilia to get to work. Already her mind was churning as to what to do, where to go. The holocron of King Adas? A fool's errand, she should think. Legend said he was the first to build one, recording his history and power. Stories were abound about what was contained within. Personally, Ilia was skeptical of such stories, but she had a mission. Ilia would sooner end her life than fail a mission, especially if the Emperor deemed it important.

Ilia contemplated this as she paced her room. Concentrtaing. How best to approach this? The relic was old, older than anyone living, older than the Sith Empire, or any of the other empires to rise up. Active searching would be useless, unless she knew where to search, and even still that did her little good. In the end, she decided to recount what she knew of modern history.

"Major events.... it is a Sith artifact, and so should be tied to them. I doubt Darth Revan and Malak had it." Two Sith, once Dark Jedi, who they had turned and set loose on the galaxy in an effort to find the Star Forge. The Forge was destroyed in the war they caused, but they did weaken the Republic severely, as well as the Jedi Order. "Exar Kun.... no. He has ties to Marka Ragnos, and Freedon Nadd.... Nadd." She paused, contemplating the name. It was Freedon Nadd who helped create their Empire, bring it to the modern galaxy. "Nadd didn't amount to much, but he had his own cult, and trained under the spirit of Naga Sadow, died and was buried on Onderon. Exar Kun went to Onderon, where he found Ulic Qel-Droma." Such things were not uncommon, and were well known among the educated Sith. "Qel-Droma fell to the darkside on Onderon. Revan went to Onderon at one point. Perhaps a trip there would be enlightening..." But why? Why was Onderon important? The Krath were a lesser cult, and Freedon Nadd's spirit was said to have been destroyed by Exar Kun on Yavin.

Reigning herself in, Ilia went to her small kitchen and poured herself some water as she contemplated on Onderon. "Revan and Malak went to Onderon. Exar Kun and Qel-Droma went to Onderon. Freedon Nadd was buried on Onderon. Nadd and Kun both learned from Naga Sadow, founder of our Empire, who died on Yavin. Naga Sadow was destroyed by our spy though... so the lead must be Freedon Nadd. Dead or not, his tomb was in the Onderon system, and so there she should go.

As for the connection to King Adas? Ilia wasn't sure. The holocron was lost long ago. She supposed she could look up information on who last was known to have carried the holocron, and where he or she went. She could not leave yet though, because of her duties. With luck, she could make her way to Onderon, and perhaps find her answers there.  

[lady_skuld]

The hovercar pulled up beside a hangar. Sythica didn't take much note of the number or the location. She only knew that inside, a potential traitor existed within the durasteel walls of this building. Several other squads had already come by, obviously making preparations to rush the people inside.

"Now, I want them alive if at all possible, you hear me?" Clegg announced. He grabbed Sythica's armor specifically and stared at her through his mask, just to make a point. "No eviscerations."

Sythica praised her fortune and helmet for the third time that day. "Yes sir..." Gripping her blaster rifle in hand, she checked the power packs and her straps one more time, before heading towards the door. "It should be unlocked," she said. The rest of the squads formed up behind her as she examined the panel. A tap on her shoulder quietly announced that everyone was ready. Sythica gave a nod, and pushed the button to open the door with a hiss. This b*****d was going down.  

[Valkore Fraust]

Valkore felt like an animal; he was stalking a woman. She seemed almost defenseless. As he stepped away from the building, he began to trace her last steps. Likely, she went into another building, hiding or something. He never felt anymore uneasy about a person. She seemed so out of place.

"Might need backup," Valkore mumbled to himself. After looking around, he loaded the power cell back into the blaster pistol and snatched the Slugthrower Carbine from the sea bag. An ammunition belt was strapped around his waist, containing enough spare magazines to hunt and kill a Jedi. He reached in again for the jetpack and attached it. His HUD lit up, awaiting command to light up the jetpack. Valkore approached the area she walked to last and began to plan.  

[Nelowulf]

He had checked it once. He had checked it twice. And despite how many times he tried, this computer had been acting naughty, not nice. This was the trouble Jian was having on a Ruurian summer's eve, an issue that he himself could not believe. Try as he might, all that kept happening was the screen kept reading "access to the server has been cut off." He checked the connection, that was okay, but there didn't seem to be a problem about it, it had just vanished. But something didn't feel right, not....

It hit him then. A padawan might have shrugged that feeling of dread and doom off, but not he; maybe if he was six, the wave of disaster might not have registered. All of a sudden, the life on the planet had been hit hard, a chunk of the Force, crying out in woe at the sudden loss. That... was never a good sign. Jian took a step back, feeling him fall against the wall as he clutched his temples. That was a bit of a doozy... What could have possibly happened? Could it have been? No... too convenient, too much a coincidence. But coincidences are rare, the Force was always at work, and even so, the Force can work in mysterious ways. There was no doubting that. The archives on planet must have been hit, that had to be it. But by whom? The answer seemed too much like he should have seen it sooner.

"Sith." he whispered, running the ideas in his head over and over again, but the conclusion seemed the same. While terrorists and pirates or other n'erdowells could have done the damage to the system, but the timing, and the extent of the destruction was far outside their caliber. And if it was, the force would have been a valued ally, but there was little proof to that. No, the most logical conclusion had to be right in this case.

Punching a few buttons, Jian tried to hail the shuttle he came in on. "Captain Hauberk, do you read?" A flickering video signal showed the face of the ship's captain on the screen. "Can you read me?" Jian kept his voice calm, but his nerves were on edge already.

"This is the captain, we're having a bit of issues reading you," he responded through the coms.

"Listen, you must get airborne, you must relay a message to the republic that the Sith have already arrived. The mission is compromised, repeat, the mission is compromised."

"Someon-.... -ere in th-... -gar jammin-... -unications..." Was the reply, as the screen went blank with static. Jian's face of horror slowly disappeared as he stood straight up and took a deep, cleansing breath. A sigh of disappointment left his lips. He tried to find words, but they just wouldn't come out. There had to be something, something indeed. Yet, he did have one ally on this planet. She would know of something to do, at least that was the hope as he exited the room. And now he had to search her out.  

[ElladanKenet]

And so it had begun. Ilia was in her room when she felt several thousand lives snuffed in an instant. Rising from her meditation, she left the room, cloak billowing behind her as she headed to the command room. Catching an officer running in her general direction, Ilia flagged him down. "You there! Report!"

The man paled as he approached, saluting. "The archive hive was just destroyed by the Cobra, Lady Nightwind. Operations have begun."

Ilia had suspected as much. She had heard rumors that Darth Cinn was about, and had definently felt his presence, though she paid little attention to it. In hindsight, she wished she knew what it was he had been doing. "And?"

"The city's right in a buzz. The Ruurians are demanding answers, but their leaders are keeping quiet. There have been a few scattered defense forces... mostly PMCs and such."

"And the Jedi?" Ilia inquired.

"Being hunted down as we speak. We have a squad of soldiers infiltrating the building he's staying in."

Probably insufficient. She frowned. No, one squad would not be enough. even a platoon might not. Jedi were formidable, unlike the inhabitants of this planet. She knew that the Republic would probably learn of the attack and respond within the hour. She wanted the Jedi dead before then. "Very well. Fetch me a shuttle. I want to be there yesterday."

"As you wish!" the officer saluted, before leading the way to the hangar where they had shuttles and other craft waiting.  

[lady_skuld]

Kira watched as her cantina seemed to buzz alive some more. Some patrons were in a hurry to exit. She lifted an eyebrow and watched them leave. "Well, that isn't a good sign." Kira gave a chuckle though. At least the establishment took her fake ID for the drink. There was no point in not being too cautious, as she flipped the blaster pistol's safety off with a flick of her thumb.

=====

Sythica entered into the hangar bay as the squads began to surround the shuttle. The Ministry-Class shuttle's ramp was still down. That was good. It'd make it easier on them to board and handle the people. Everyone was set for stun too, so there might be a chance for interrogations later on. Sythica enjoyed interrogations. Gave her a chance to let off pent up stress. As the first trooper headed up the ramp, Sythica followed shortly after and scanned the sides as they passed by. Her helmet picked up on a conversation as she pointed forward to head that direction.

There was a lot of static coming from the console, as they heard a human trying to shout at the screen. Something about jamming communications, she didn't care as the blue rings from the stun setting on her rifle took out the man and fried the terminal. Several more shots were fired from around the cockpit area. Raising a hand to the side of her head to activate the comlink back to the car.

"Shuttle's secure and on lockdown. Seems we got something here. We'll need to trace the call to whoever this scum was calling to." Sythica waved as another private headed up to the screen and typed away. "Let's see where your friends are at..."  

[Miss-Pandemica]

As destruction rained down on Ruuria Nova felt no remorse for the lives that were lost, her mind was trained on her target. With some luck she has followed the Jedi to the building he stayed at and as she searched the floors for his presence she was able to locate him at the eight floor, room 819. She stood just outside the door when the squad of soldiers arrived. The hood of her cloak was up covering most of her face and while she made no moves against them she had the distinct feeling that what they were after was the same thing she had been hunting.

As they came rushing towards her she held out her right hand and shoved them back with the Force, knocking several of them into the walls and into each other. With a second shove she forced them back towards the end of the hallway they had come from before kicking down the door to room 819.
 

[Darkened Angel]

Danika felt something in the Force and knew something had happened, but because her attention was focused on the cantina, she couldn't tell what, only that it was likely bad. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait long to find out. As she continued dancing, word spread around, and she overheard several patrons mentioning an attack on the archives.

" Have the Sith gone ahead with their attack already? I thought we had more time. " Danika thought. After dancing for a little while longer, another dancer came on stage to take over, letting Danika have a break. She went to the bar and sat down. " Seems there's some trouble out there. " the bartender said. " Be careful when you go back out there. If it's pirates or something, a pretty thing like you is a prize they'd go for in a heartbeat. " Danika turned around and leaned back against the bar. " Hopefully it'll be over before I leave here. I've still got time for a few more performances, so I'm in no rush. " she said.  

[Valkore Fraust]

It was too late; the damned Imperials got to her first. He saw them marching in towards a building. At the very least, this confirmed his suspicion. But maybe there was more to the story.

"Piss," Valkore stated to himself. He turned about and decided to investigate the local cantina. The man folded his back and strapped it to the back of his belt. It dangled between magazine pouches and tapped against his butt. His objective at the cantina was to ask patrons and employees about the woman. He wanted to see how long she was there, if she had any friends, or anything else about her.  

[Darkened Angel]

Danika watched the dancer on stage for a while as she rested at the bar. The bartender's comm came to life, the caller being another bartender from another cantina. " Yeah, she's here. " he said in response to a question coming from the person on the other end. " Sure thing, I'll tell her. "

The bartender went back to Danika. " Someone's been asking about you. I think some spacer's heard about you and wanting to see you himself, so expect some company in a few minutes. " he said. Danika stood up. " That's enough time to get a few extra tips before I gotta give anyone a private show. " she said, and started walking towards the backstage area to get ready to dance again. " Knock 'em dead, baby. " the bartender said, watching her hips as she walked away. " Stronger than some of the drinks I mix back here... " he said to himself.  

[ElladanKenet]

When Ilia arrived at where the Jedi had been booked to stay, she immediately took charge of the scene. She had a platoon of troopers with her, led by the lieutenant who had run into her earlier. Briskly, she walked straight down the street from where the shuttle landed and into the hotel, guards flanking her and spreading around. Patrons cried in alarm and the Ruurians tried to scamper away, but were far too slow as she reached the concierge. "Where's the Jedi?!" she demanded.

The worm stammered something, it's feelers twitching nervously. "I..... his room... upstairs!"

"Which?" Her eyes furrowed and a painting behind the worm snapped off the wall.

"819! I swear, it was 819!" Pathetic.

"He'd better be," Ilia warned. "For your sake. Lieutenant!"

The officer stepped forward. "Perimeter secured, my Lady."

"Good. Send a squad upstairs, see if the Jedi is where this worm says he is. I will be up shortly."

The officer hastened to obey orders, dividing his forces and leading them up the elevator as Ilia made more threats to the Ruurian, demanding to know everything that had happened since the Jedi arrived here.