Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 7, 2005 23:50:07 GMT -5
The surface of Kuat was barely visible beneath the driveyards, huge metallic monstrosities even larger than the miles long ships they produced. Constant motion -- construction vessels, supply ships, Kuati workers in pressurized suits, shuttles between the surface and the shipyards, shuttles between different shipyards, private vessels, and of course the ever present Republic vessels, keeping the planet below secure.
Just a few weeks ago the group of Venator Class Star Destroyers would not be floating high above Kuat. Kuat was a core world, close to the center of Republic might. What's more, Kuat was a world so deeply entrenched in the service of the Grand Army of the Republic that nearly every drydock had a Star Destroyer developing inside, its guns armed even before the hull was completed. Kuat was considered a world as vastly untouchable as Hapes, Alderaan, and Coruscant, the bright center of the galaxy.
But then the Separatists hit Coruscant hard, abducted the Supreme Chancellor.
Now the Republic wasn't taking any chances.
Capital ships were dispatched to the more prominent of the Core Worlds, especially this one, Kuat, the most important cog in the machine of the Republic's war effort. It was upon this cog that General Iric Kelrim looked from the bridge of his destroyer, arms crossed behind his back. He closed his eyes, breathed in deeply, felt the Force envelop him, flow through him. He stretched his feelings to see the past, the future, and the present blend to become one glistening --
"Whatchadoin'?"
Iric's eyes shot open. He looked down to see his Padawan, Anu Belkis, staring up at him inquisitively, chewing.
"What are you eating?" he asked.
"Candy."
"Where did you get it?"
"Flint." Flint was the Clone Commander, the ARC trained leader of the 281st, the troopers -- some had taken to calling them "stormtroopers" -- under Iric's command.
"Why did Flint give you candy?"
"I won it from him."
"You won it from him?"
"Yeah, he bet me I couldn't guess how many planets he'd been stationed on. I did. Twelve. He told me I was wrong, that he'd only served on eleven, but then I reminded him that he had to have been on Kamino at some point, so...he gave me the candy, and he laughed and said I cheated and used a Jedi mind trick but I didn't. I just guessed."
Iric nodded. It was amazing how much she could talk. Not a very Jedi-like trait but, at times, an endearing one. He watched her chew, and reminded himself he was not supposed to become attached to anyone or anything. Attachment was strictly forbidden by the Jedi code, as attachment could lead to --
"So..."
"'So...' what?"
"So whatchadoin'?"
Iric chuckled. He had forgoten all about her initial question. "I'm watching them build new ships," he said, "You see that one over there?" He indicated a ship, more triangular than the one he was on, but bulkier, less flat. "That's called a Victory Class. They haven't even rolled those off the line yet. Besides the technicians, we're some of the first to see them." Iric watched Anu as she watched the ship being built. She seemed to regard it critically, weigh it in her mind.
"I don't like it," she finally announced.
"And why not?"
"It looks...harsher. More strength but less care."
"Wouldn't that make it a better weapon? It looks more dangerous to an enemy."
"But..." Anu seemed to grope for the right way to say it, "...it's not the Republic. The ship looks...cold..."
Iric was taken aback. Anu never ceased to surprise him. He decided to change the subject away from the ships. He smiled.
"Do you know what today is?"
Anu turned away from the viewport to look Iric in the eye. He could feel her probing his mind for an answer. He playfully brushed her aura away from his.
"No, what is today?"
"Today," Iric said, stooping to her eye level and grinning, "according to the Galactic Standard Calendar..." he paused, let her curiosity grow, "is your birthday."
Anu's face lit up, but she quickly composed herself, lifted an eyebrow, "Master Iric, you know Jedi don't celebrate birthdays."
"Well, Anu," Iric stated, composing himself in mock seriousnes, "you are not a Jedi yet."
She beamed, and Iric could not help but follow suit, seeing her smile. "Go to the galley," he said, "I think the cooks have prepared something special for you."
Anu started off towards the end of the bridge, stopped, turned quickly, and hugged her Master tightly. Iric returned the embrace, still uneasy at the sign of affection so foreign to the Jedi training, yet he welcomed it, for despite himself he loved her -- he imagined she was like a daughter to him, and, somewhere deep inside, hoped she saw him as a father. "Now, hurry off, you don't want them to eat your treat without you." She jogged down the aisle, meeting Captain Jan Dodonna and Commander Flint on the way. Dodonna wore the blue uniform of the Republic Officer Corps, and Flint wore the green-marked armor of the 281st, not to mention the same dark, strong face as every other soldier in the GAR.
"It's my birthday!" Anu said.
"Your birthday?" asked Dodonna, "How old are you?"
"Fourteen."
"Funny," Flint said, grinning, "so am I." It was a joke, referring to the age acceleration of the clone troopers, cutting their lives in half, causing them to age two years for every year. While only fourteen standard years had passed since Flint's birth, he was physically and genetically twenty-eight.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" asked Dodonna, scratching his beard.
"The galley. The cooks made me something special."
"I thought I smelled something odd," Flint quipped. He watched Anu start off down the narrow walkway again, but again he stopped her. "Before you go, Anu, I've got to show you what we used to do on birthdays back on Kamino."
He set his helmet on the floor and did a short, military sounding song accompanied by a few steps. The officers and technicians on the bridge all stopped what they were doing to watch the clone humiliate himself. When he finished, all present, even Iric, applauded. Anu hugged the soldier, waved to Dodonna, and headed off towards the galley.
Dodonna and the clone approached the front viewport where Iric stood.
"Cute kid," the Captain said, smirking. He scratched his beard. He was just getting used to it -- during the crisis at Rendili, he hadn't had time to shave. The look stuck. Iric nodded. Dodonna continued: "And you were wrong about the Victory Class; there are a few out there already in active service, and they're doing quite well. They're planning on phasing out the Venator and just using the old Acclamators if they need to make landings. You're looking at the new face of the Republic out there."
An aid came forward with a datapad, distracting Dodonna. He excused himself and walked off, leaving Iric with Flint. The two stood in silence for a moment, watching the bustling drydocks. The two needn't share words; they shared an understanding that the Jedi never could with the likes of Dodonna. The Captain was a great leader, but the experience was far too different -- Flint and Iric had gotten dirty, smelled the smoke and ozone of the battlefields, been covered in the oil of countless battle droids...their worldviews and their backgrounds were different, but they bonded as warriors. It had been said among many Jedi that the only men in the galaxy that could read a Jedi's mind was a clone commander. Finally, Flint spoke: "Everything one-hundred-percent?"
"Just thinking."
"Don't think. It causes problems."
Iric laughed. "You don't think?"
"I trust my feelings." The clone said this in a husky, mystical voice, parodying the mysticism and wisdom of the Jedi.
"And what if it's my feelings that I'm thinking about?"
"Uh-oh...don't turn mushy on me. Jedi aren't supposed to be mushy."
Iric didn't smile. Flint cleared his throat.
The Jedi cast his eyes downward. "I shouldn't be celebrating her birthday."
* * * *
Before retiring for the night, Iric walked to the lounge to say goodnight to those present. He found Anu there with a few female oficers, discussing something that seemed to excite them. When Anu saw him, she stood, crossed the room, and hugged him again, thanking him for the surprise in the galley -- a large cake. Iric felt a swirl in the Force, a disturbance, far off, a pulse that set him on alert. He brushed it aside, hugged his young Padawan. The crowd in the lounge thinned as the chronometer tolled a late hour. Dodonna remained, sipping a stimcaf. Iric turned to him. "How go things?"
"Well enough. Slight engine trouble earlier. Nothing that can't be fixed. I mean, we're stationed above Kuat -- the command tower could fall clean off and all we'd have to do is order a replacement."
Iric sat across from Dodonna as the door hissed open. In walked Flint and two other stormtroopers. They saluted the captain.
"Engine trouble cleared up?" Flint asked. Iric felt something wrong with Flint.
"Yeah, we're having it worked on."
Flint nodded, inhaled deeply. There was something on his mind. He turned to Anu, who had retired to a holoprojector on the opposite side of the room. "Hey there, Anu, why don't you come over here for a second? I've got a surprise for you." The two troopers who flanked Flint crossed to stand behind the chair where Iric sat. The Force pulsed again.
Anu crossed eagerly to Flint. "Some birthday this is turning out to be! What's the surprise."
"No, no," Flint said, a grin on his face that did not extend to his eyes, "you have to close your eyes first."
Anu did so. "Now turn around," said the clone. She did.
Flint raised his blaster pistol and fired a single shot into the back of the girl's head.
It took a moment for Iric to even register what had happenned. His jaw trembled. His heart began to race and his eyes widened. He was not in control of himself. He felt weak, unable to move, unable to act, unable even to utter the silent wail trapped in his throat. He reached out and clung to the cold darkness that swirled around him and threatened to swallow him. He touched it, and it gave him strength.
Within a flash the two stormtroopers standing behind him were dead, in pieces, even as they aimed their rifles at the back of Iric's head. Flint was dispatched with a lightsaber through the heart. An officer was felled as well, and the Jedi spun to face Dodonna. "You ordered this!" He bellowed.
Dodonna stared Iric in the eye, the Jedi's green blade at his throat. "I didn't, Iric. I don't know what's happened here. You know I didn't do this Iric. Please. We can work together to get to the bottom of this."
Iric sensed the truth in this. He shut off his lightsaber, and the strength he had found failed him. He sank to his knees amid the carnage of the lounge, and his body was wracked with sobs. Finally, he regained composure. "Who could have done this? Who could have killed her? Who ordered this?"
Dodonna said nothing.
Iric's gaze worked its way up the captain's blue uniform. His lip quivered as he spat the name: "Jerjerrod."
Faster than Dodonna could see, the Jedi was gone from the room.
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Dakota
Junior Scholar
Breathe Deep, Read Fast
Posts: 363
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Post by Dakota on Jul 8, 2005 12:36:22 GMT -5
Valos sat in his room. ever sence he and his master had moved the newly found planet of Tadak, he couldn't sleep. He thought maby it was because he was near Naboo. Home. Oh how he longed to go there, stroll the streets of Oth-Gunga, and meet his parents. He had left home, or rather had been kidnaped when he was five years old. He missed his parents, and wondered if they missed him. His father was clumsy and was banished for a while. He Had fought with the jedi scum in the battle of Naboo. Even though he had helped what Valos was tought to hate he still wanted to meet him.
"What was his name?" He wondered.
"I think it was Jar..."
"It is time." Siad his master as he hurried into the room inturupting his thoughts.
"Come we must go to couricant and meet with Lord Sidious."
"Yes my master"
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SilvanoshiS
Apprentice
flightless and loving it
Posts: 143
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Post by SilvanoshiS on Jul 8, 2005 22:56:04 GMT -5
Jacob jumped as the com light flashed. Finally, a job, he thought as he made himself presentable.
As he pressed the button, the image of a slug-like Hutt came into focus.
"Oh gods, why them," he thought before he said "How may help you?" He had never liked the Hutts, greedy and self important, they were not the best employers. At least they payed well.
"We need someone dead," said the Hutt.
"Rival crime lord, I assume? It'll cost you," Jacob stated.
"No, Tatooine has just elected to become a part of the Republic, and we can't have that."
"A Senator? How m-?"
'2 million credits. They'll be on Coruscant within the week." the Hutt replied before he could finish. The Hutt signed off.
Kill a senator. No big deal, he'd done it before, but this was on Coruscant. Well, money's money. The Jedi would pose the biggest threat, if any were still around to protect the planet due to the war. The comm began blinking again and Bossk appeared.
"I heard about your little job. You'll be glad to know that the Jedi are being slaughtered by clones as we speak." The comm went dark.
"Well, that certainly makes things easier," thought Jacob as he made his way towards Coruscant.
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aric
demi-admin
I drink your milkshake!
Posts: 989
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Post by aric on Jul 9, 2005 1:39:24 GMT -5
The orb of planet Oranphor floated serenely against the coruscating luminance of a nearby nebula. Thousands of pinpoints of light lay behind the orange-brown world. Their brilliance was emphasized by the inky blackness of the omnipresent space that held all things together.
The great pointed prow of a Republic star destroyer glided toward the planet. Its graceful motion took it further from the hull from which it blew off. Carbonized blast marks splotched the normally white and red paint of the ship. The interior lattice of decks and bulkheads were exposed to space, its crew blown out into the vacuum. Sparks occasionally flashed from severed power conduits.
Two V-Wing fighters zoomed under the ruined prow and zipped toward geosynchronous orbit over Oranphor. They flew nearer to the scene of battle. Thousands of warships dotted the space above the planet. Streaks of blue and red turbolaser shots lanced between ships. The occasional fireball engulfed the hull of ship whose reactor overloaded.
Mephisto Zork ran over to the communications station aboard the bridge. He shouted to the comm. officer “Signal Admiral Terrlon! Tell him to watch his left flank! The Separatists are isolating several squadrons there!”
“Yes sir,” the communications officer replied.
The bridge rocked with the impact of a massive turbolaser shot from a Munificent star frigate’s heavy prow cannons. The shields of the battered Victory-class Star Destroyer barely held. The heat sink meter almost went off the chart. Luckily for them, that probably wasn’t a full powered shot.
Tianni Astarta, captain of the Berserker, shouted “Return the favor!”
The Berserker’s quad turbolasers replied with deadly force. The already beleaguered star frigate lost her shields. The last turbolaser shot center-punched the star frigate’s prow. The cetacean-shaped warship blossomed into a satisfying fireball.
There was no time to linger over the small victory. A Separatist fleet of thousands of warships had come out of hyperspace right on top of Terrlon’s 43rd Republic Fleet. Zork’s own 57th fleet had been on the other side of the planet helping to envelop the planet and maintain the siege. Terrlon lost a couple hundred ships in the first surprise attack. Zork took two-fifths of his fleet and vectored to the other side of the planet within minutes and slammed into the left wing of the Separatist attack fleet. Apparently, they desperately wanted the trillions of inactive battledroids stored on Oranphor. The Republic sent two fleets to break the planet’s chain of shields that covered the planet and provided it with some measure of protection. So far, they had been there for five months. They had spent that time on concentrated bombardments on certain sections of the planet-wide shielding in hopes of forcing the Separatist stronghold to expend their fuel and overload the shield machinery. They had another month to wear out the fortress world when the Separatists decided to retake their territory and supplies in the Outer Rim.
The debris of battle flashed-vaporized against the Berserker’s shields. Zork ordered several squadrons to follow his own personal task force to relieve Terrlon’s strained fleet. Masses of Separatist ships began to shift their attention to the groups of Republic warships barreling through their battle lines. Clouds of droid fighters swarmed toward Zork’s relief force. Things were looking bad.
“Where are our reinforcements?” Zork called to the comm. officer.
“Can’t say! The Separatists are flooding every hyperwave frequency with static!” the comm. officer shouted.
Just as the comm. officer spoke, a squadron of large donut shaped Trade Federation battleship moved to block the relief force. Droid fighters poured out of their two primary docking bays. The battleships’ heavy quad turbolasers blasted at the lead Republic ships. The Berserker took hits. The operations officer yelled out an alarmed warning on the immanent failure of the shields.
“Reroute auxiliary power to shields!” Captain Astarta shouted.
“Too late!” the ops officer wailed.
Just before the shield generator could shut down, a hail of turbolaser fire splashed against the battleships that were assaulting Zork’s squadrons. One battleship lost shields immediately and got ripped apart by the salvos. The others broke off their concerted attack and turned part of their attention to the source of heavy turbolaser fire.
A new group of Republic warships came in at full thrust to break up the fray. The markings on the ships didn’t correspond to either of the siege fleets.
“It’s our reinforcements!” shouted Astarta.
Zork ran over to the viewports and saw fresh Republic warships jumping in from hyperspace. The comm. officer spoke up. “Sir, some signals are getting through. It’s the 127th fleet from the Sevarii Sector.”
Hundreds of new Star Destroyers and even a Mandator-II Star Dreadnaught vectored in towards the battle line. Realizing the battle was lost, the Separatist fleet began to disengage and make their way towards open space. Firing back as they retreated, the warships of the CIS blasted past most of Terrlon’s fleet. Some never made it out of the melee and were destroyed by Republic gunners who smelled blood in the water. Blue turbolaser fire from the siege fleets and the new fleet pummeled the Separatists from two sides.
A crackling signal cut through the static over the communications frequencies. “This is General Alabast to the two siege fleets; break off your attacks. We don’t want friendly fire.”
Zork ordered his squadrons to stop firing. He looked out to see if he could make out Alabast’s fighter. It was unlikely, of course. He never ceased to be amazed at the Jedi willingness to put themselves at the forefront of a battle. It was quite heroic - and quite stupid. It was one of the main reasons why they took so many casualties.
“Relay a message to Terrlon’s flagship. Inquire as to his status and the disposition of his fleet,” Zork ordered.
The reinforcement fleet moved out of the path of the Separatist fleet and allowed them to pass into open space. Tasting freedom, the Separatists flew onwards. Republic cannons continued to blast the rushing enemy ships, destroying dozens more Separatist ships. Stragglers were either destroyed or were signaling their surrender. Only a fraction of the initial attack force escaped into Separatist space.
A few enemy ships that could not jump to lightspeed for one reason or another continued to fight, perhaps thinking they could escape. Hordes of droid fighters flooded the space around the periphery of the reinforcement fleet. Undoubtedly, Alabast was in the thick of the fighting. Zork ordered his own squadrons to support the fighter mop up action.
He saw flights of V-wings and ARC-170s fly off to the battle. While seeing them off, he thought he could actually see Alabast’s Aethersprite starfighter. The deep violet painting highlighting the fighter’s hull did seem to indicate that it was his fighter. Zork magnified the viewscreen to give him a better look at Alabast’s efforts. Indeed, it was the Jedi’s personal craft. He seemed to be racking up the most kills. Vulture droids and Tri-fighters were no match for his flying skills. His two wingmen chased him, watching his back, as he flew from one droid to another.
Zork was thinking about recording Alabast’s action when he saw the Jedi’s two wingmen fall back. His puzzlement turned into astonishment when they began to fire on the Aethersprite. Apparently not anticipating fire from his own wingmen, Alabast did not respond quickly enough. His fighter quickly succumbed to the concentrated fire of the two V-Wings and flew apart in a fiery explosion.
Zork motioned to the comm. officer to open a channel to the Star Dreadnaught. “Fleet Admiral, what the hell is going on with your fighters? They just killed general Alabast!”
The open channel fizzed with some sort of static and noise. He then realized that the static was the whir of a lightsaber on the bridge. The noise composed of shouts and blaster fire. The Star Dreadnaught’s comm. officer yelled something incoherent. Zork could hear the lightsaber into metal and other things on the bridge. His gut churned as he thought those things were people. The buzz of the lightsaber was soon silenced by the sound of dozens of blaster shots. Presumably, Alabast’s padawan had just been dispatched.
As the adrenaline rush of the battle receded, Zork was left with a feeling of exhaustion. His limbs felt heavy. His body seemed disconnected with reality. He thought about blacking out on the bridge, but willed himself to remain conscious. He turned to the ops officer.
"Open another channel,” Zork commanded. “I want to find out what’s going on over there.”
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Dakota
Junior Scholar
Breathe Deep, Read Fast
Posts: 363
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Post by Dakota on Jul 9, 2005 16:26:11 GMT -5
Darth Farlond and his apprentice Valos sat in their small two man ship headed to Couricant.
"Master" Said Valos to Darth Farlond. "There is a message from the chancellor, I mean the Emperor coming in"
"Then answer it!"
"Yes master."
"Ahh. Hello Lord Sidious"Said Farlond "How may I be of service?"
"I need you to go to Kuat" Said the Emperor. "The body of a Jedi called Iric is missing. They found the padawan but he was know where to be seen. The troops suspect that he escape. Find him!"
"Yes master" Said Farlond as the message went off.
"Valos set new coordinates for Kaut"
"As you wish"
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Post by thereisnosaurus on Jul 10, 2005 9:09:22 GMT -5
so, starting up:
Gareth: current status: Entering Coruscant system in the longsword. no current pursuers. Small republic fleet in orbit around planet. 2 passengers: tatooinian droid mechanic (kartok) and 1 bodyguard/protocol droid (k7-946)
the longsword nosed silently through the dark space of the coruscant system, and gareth relaxed back in his seat. Republic ships were thin on the screens and it looked like it would be an easy landing on Coruscant. Despite the presence of the Sith on the galactic capital, gareth felt safest near where the jedi temple was. Or used to be, he reminded himself with a sigh. So many of his friends, dead, missing, hidden. If only they had seen it coming. he shunted the fore-TIE engines on the longsword back into thrusting positions and began the hour long cruise into coruscant's orbit, flicking on decoys and cloaking devices as he went. stretching and cracking his knuckles, he pulled a dataslate onto his lap and started to calculate the coordinates to evade the majority of the republic ships floating hundreds of kilometres above the planet's surface.
It was going to be a long day
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 11, 2005 11:00:05 GMT -5
((OOC: Aric! Awesome! Yay!))
Iric flew through the halls, cutting down everything in his path. Jerjerrod had never liked the Jedi. Iric could feel the aura of fear and contempt everytime he stood near the man. He had often expressed discontent at "having to answer to a bunch of mystics" and thought "monks have no place on a battlefield." This was surely his work, Iric thought, and he punctuated his thought by killing a serving man for not running fast enough.
Clones fired at him before being dispatched, officers reported that their General had gone rogue, and Iric could feel waves of pain and loss in the Force. Something was very wrong in the galaxy. The Jedi clung to the cold dark cloud surrounding him, the nebulous blackness that hissed its encouragement, the presence that he had been taught to avoid, to push away -- it was the only thing giving him the strength to move forward. In return, Iric fed the darkness his pain, his sadness, his anger, and to the darkness he sacrificed so many Republic staff.
He reached Jerjerrod's quarters and killed both stormtroopers guarding the door. The room bled terror. Iric cut through it and kicked it inward. Jerjerrod stood, his jaw set, his pistol drawn. He fired a shot at the Jedi as soon as the door fell in, hoping to catch the General off guard, but to no avail. The bolt impacted the Jedi's weapon and went sailing back past Jerjerrod's head, destroying the view screen behind him. To this Republic officer, the Jedi seemed a monster, a necromancer come to steal his soul. His pistol was jerked from his grip by an unseen hand, clattered against the far wall. Jerjerrod sank to his knees and surrendered. The Jedi loomed over him, his eyes aflame, his lightsaber deactivated and hanging from his belt.
"Why?" the creature asked.
Jerjerrod stammered. did not know how to answer. "I--I don't know what you mean?"
The air before Jerjerrod hardened into a fist, hit him in the gut and propelled him against the wall. Jedi sorcery! "Why have you ordered the clones to kill my Anu? Why have you ordered them to kill me?"
Jerjerrod face contorted in a dance of confusion. "Wh--why I haven't done any such thing! Master Jedi, I had no idea..."
The darkness spoke to Iric, crackled around him. "Liar!" Iric shouted, and Jerjerrod cowered.
Jerjerrod persisted. "No...no, the stormtroopers take orders only from their commanders, from the Jedi, and ever so often from the Chancellor...I have nothing to do with them...please..." Iric retrieved his saber, lit it, and prepared to destroy the simpering man before him.
He felt the cold metal of a blaster barrel against the back of his head.
Iric took a deep breath, slowly lowered his lit weapon. He spoke to the man behind him as the darkness laughed. "I could kill you before you pull the trigger."
"I know that, but I trust that you won't." It was Dodonna.
Iric seethed. He saw the man before him, saw the pleading in his eyes. Iric removed his thumb from the ignition button on his saber's hilt, heard it sink back into the cylinder. The darkness hissed and shrieked, and finally retreated, keeping Iric's anger, but returning him his sadness and despair. Iric sensed the truth of Jerjerrod's confusion. Dodonna lowered his pistol.
"What's the word?" Iric asked after a moment.
Dodonna spoke slowly, so that Iric could take it all in. "I'm not getting anything from Coruscant, but we've tried to notify them. In the meantime, Kuat control is about to unload its orbital cannons on this ship. They've been notified that you've...gone rogue...and taken control of this vessel. They're going to destroy it rather than board and risk having to fight you in close quarters."
Iric looked at the floor and nodded. "You notified them?"
"Yes...I had to...my allegiance is to..."
"The Republic, yes...but what do you believe?"
"I believe you are a powerful man who was betrayed by the very people who were meant to be most loyal to him. I believe you saw your child cut down before your eyes. I believe your training never prepared you for that. I believe you took revenge. I believe you should run before they kill you."
"You're a good man Dodonna," Iric sighed, "You know if they find out you helped me..."
"...they'll commend me, Iric. They'll find out what happened here, and they'll realize you didn't go rogue. Everything will turn out okay."
"I wish I shared your confidence." Iric breathed, closed his eyes, watched the tendrils of possibility flow through the Force. Finally, he opened his eyes again. "Take Jerjerrod," he said, "and find an escape pod. Get off this ship."
"What will you do?" Dodonna asked.
"I'll destroy this ship."
Dodonna nodded. Jerjerrod rose and followed the Captain away. Iric rushed to the bridge.
Kuat's orbital cannon platforms came in to view, a battery of ion guns and turbolasers flying between the drive yards.. Iric did what he could to bring the prow of the Star Destroyer around. He turned dials, punched keys, rushing between control panels. He brought the nose down to point planetward, and set thrusters to maximum. The capital ship lurched as it sank faster than it should have on a trajectory it never should have been placed on. Alarms wailed. Systems disengaged. The shield evaporated as the Star Destroyer impacted a dry dock destroying it and the Victory class under construction within. If he was going to die, Iric decided, he was going to make his death useful. The Star Destroyer continued to crash through Kuati contruction projects. Most systems went dark as the ion cannon fired on the destroyer, but the momentum was enough. The ship crashed through one of the gun platforms even as it chipped away at the hull.
Auxilliary kicked in, and certain viewscreens popped up, along with a few emergency readouts. All escape pods had been launched. The hangar bay door had been opened manually with the release inside the hangar when the power went down, and all shuttles were gone, though fighters were still launching. So, Iric thought, this truly will be the end. He meditated on his death while the ship sank to the surface of Kuat, wishing he had paid more attention to his old friend Qui-Gon's babble about persistence after death and the Journal of the Whills.
Then he remembered something. He cued up the surveillance cameras in the hangar, and then he saw it -- his Aethersprite--7 still resided there, untouched, his R4 unit chirping in its cradle. A Jedi gladly layed down his life, but he never gave it unnecessarily. Iric made his way to the hangar, trying to avoid any entanglements. He reached the hangar, entered, cut down a few clone pilots that tried to get in his way, and jumped into his starfighter's cockpit. Systems checks were made, and the ship rocketed out of the hangar.
Still tuned into the Republic channel, Iric's comm crackled to life with chatter.
"The Jedi traitor has left the hangar. Take 'im out. Whoever forgot to destroy his ship is going to be in deep."
Traitor? But there was little time to ponder the implications as two V-Wings rounded the Jedi and opened fire. The Jedi rolled, dove, and engaged reverse thrusters, taking the two snub fighters out from behind. He flew as skillfully as he could, employing every bit of knowledge he had of aerial combat, trying desperately to make it to a hyperspace ring. V-Wings were all around him, but where were the ARC 170's?
Iric destroyed two more V-Wings as he received a transmission. It was an automated voice from coordinated 000 -- Coruscant.
"The war is over. All Jedi convene at the Temple on Coruscant. Repeat, all Jedi return to Coruscant immediately."
The Force pulsed, but Iric had to obey orders from the Council. First thing's first, though. He had to find a way to return, and that meant he needed to jump to hyperspace -- something his ship couldn't do on its own.
"R4," Iric said to his droid, "prepare to return to Coruscant. Chart the course and be ready to jump once we dock with a ring."
The astromech whistled its approval. Iric saw it above him: A hyperspace ring, a new model with four boosters. He pointed his nose straight for it, boosted, braced for the impact he was a sure to feel with forcing a docking at this speed.
He flew through an explosion as the ring was ripped to pieces. Behind him, an ARC-170, s-foils locked in attack position, had cut off his escape. Iric wheeled around. There was at least one more ring, this he knew.
He punched it, pushing his ship to the end of its ability. Two more ARCs joined the one that tailed him and began unloading their cannons.
"Arfour! Send all shield strength to rear deflector!"
In a moment, Iric could no longer see behind him as his shield lit up in an almost constant corona as it was pelted by blaster bolts. His ship whined and protested but he kept pushing it. Arfour beeped his concern, but Iric ignored him. Then he saw it -- the other ring, an older version from the beginning of the war.
"Give it everything, Arfour!"
The shields collapsed as the astromech gave all power to the thrusters. The starfighter shuddered with the impact of the ARC-170s' fire. He docked, and there was a moment's pause as the hyperspace ring prepared to engage. A shot pierced the ring's casing. Another struck Arfour. Iric prayed silently, begged the Force.
And with that, the stars swirled, stretched, and Iric escaped.
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aric
demi-admin
I drink your milkshake!
Posts: 989
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Post by aric on Jul 11, 2005 18:24:57 GMT -5
(OOC: Yeah. gotta love the new sub-forum. w00t! Anyway, this post takes place a day after Order 66 is given. I don't know what schedule you other folks are on. If it's too early, let me know so I can delete this post and put it up later.)
“The remaining Jedi will be hunted down and defeated!” The Senate room erupted with applause. “Any collaborators will suffer the same fate.” The Senate once again roared with approval. “These have been trying times, but we have passed the test!”
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine’s strong oratory was not diminished by its broadcast over hyperwave. Fleet Admiral Zork sat at his chair in the conference room along with staff members as well as Captain Astarta. The hologram of the Chancellor shone at the center of the circular table from a recess at its center. Palpatine loomed over all those watching the speech at the Senate chambers.
“The attempt on my life has left me scarred and deformed, but I assure you my resolve has never been stronger.”
“I can’t believe this,” a young lieutenant muttered. “The Jedi conspiring against the Republic?”
“Believe it,” Astarta stated flatly.
Zork looked closely at Palpatine. Even over the fuzziness of the holo-transmission, his disfigurement was clear. His face was a melted wreck. His eyes had become horribly jaunticed in a way Zork had never seen before. Blind rage threatened to boil over within him, but a part of him asked how the Jedi pulled that one off. He had never seen Jedi powers capable of doing something like that.
The senate chamber once again applauded the Chancellor. They were never more elated at the sound of his words than right now.
“The war is over.” The Senate let Palpatine know of their support with claps and cheers. Zork could understand this part. Not a day ago, he had been in life and death combat with Separatist forces. And now, they had folded when General Grievous was executed. “The Separatists have been defeated . . .” Zork let himself join in on the rejoicing. His sentiments were well shared by the Senate’s ovation. “. . . and the Jedi rebellion has been foiled. We stand on the threshold of a new beginning.”
The praise from the Senate was particularly long and wild. Zork wondered if there was any thought to the amount of approval that was going on. It seemed to happen automatically at the end of every cue in Palpatine’s speech. Group mentality, Zork thought.
“In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society which I assure you will last for ten thousand years.”
The thunderous applause of the Senate nearly overloaded the microphones and sent static and feedback into the hologram of Palpatine.
Zork’s jaw dropped. “What the hell?”
Others at the table were similarly shocked. Others were grinning with excitement.
“Well, looks like Galactic civilization will be more secure now than ever before. Palpatine had the foresight to take advantage of the situation to improve the decrepit Republic,” Astarta said, beaming.
“An empire that will continue to be ruled by this august body, and a sovereign ruler chosen for life . . .”
Murmurs from some members of the staff intermingled with applause from the Senate as well as some sounds of approval from others at the table.
“An empire ruled by the majority . . . Ruled by a new constitution . . .”
“Finally. No more pandering to subhumans,” someone whispered. Zork didn’t catch who it was. Even the Senate, whose members were made up of non-humans, voiced their approval. He shut the hologram off.
“Well, there you have it. The Republic as we knew it is no more,” Zork said.
A moment of silence passed between everyone at the table. Then someone spoke up.
“Isn’t that a good thing? I mean the condition of the Republic is exactly why the Clone Wars broke out in the first place. There was simply too much chaos. The fact that corporations could accumulate that much power, or even thought that they needed military forces, doesn’t speak well to a government’s ability to secure its own interiors. The Empire is a good thing.”
Several people nodded in agreement. Zork could see the reasoning there. If the Republic had been stronger and worked properly, the Clone War never would have started. There would be countless billions of people alive today had the Republic worked in the first place
“What’s done is done. We work for the Empire now. The only thing we can do is help make it work.” Zork sat back. “I’ll notify the new sectorial governor of our status. In the meanwhile, we haven’t gotten the signal to stand down yet. Deploy the fleet in geosynchronous orbit over Oranphor. Dismissed.”
Everyone at the conference table began to disperse. Tianni still sat at her seat. “How are you?”
Zork looked at her. “Fine. Guess I’m still getting used to working for an Emperor now. I generally don’t like change. I knew the Republic had to be reformed, but this. . . .”
Astarta regarded him for a moment. “It’ll pass. It’ll come to the point where you can’t imagine it any other way.”
She got up and left the conference room.
Zork still sat at his place. A feeling of dislocation permeated his being. The Republic is gone. What will this Empire turn out to be like, I wonder.
And this so-called Jedi rebellion. The evidence appended to the holo-transmission seemed legitimate. Four Jedi walked into Palpatine's office and nearly assassinated him. Apparently, the hero Anakin Skywalker saved the Chancellor.
These are strange times.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 11, 2005 19:21:52 GMT -5
Iric came out of hyperspace next to an abandoned hyperspace ring. Good, he thought, more Jedi have returned.
The space above Coruscant was quiet, empty, quite unheard of for the capital city. The only ships above the glittering orb were Republic Star Destroyers. Clearly, the city world was on lockdown. But why?
Iric's comm crackled to life. The voice came in a crisp Core-World accent. "This is the Republic Star Destroyer Carida's Pride. Identify yourself."
"This is General Iric Kelrim, responding to the Jedi beacon. My troops turned on me. My padawan is dead."
There was a moment of comm silence. The Carida's Pride came again: "I am sorry to hear that, General. Proceed towards the Temple. We'll give you an escort."
Two V-19 Torrent fighters exited the hangar of one of the destroyers and swooped in behind the Aethersprite.
Iric watched the city beneath him, watched speeders pass beneath him. The air seemed hazier than usual. Smokey.
Then he saw it. The Temple, a prominent part of the Coruscant skyline, a beacon of hope and justice, a symbol of the Republic, his home as a child and the pinnacle of all he stood for, lay smoldering.
"Wha--what happened here? How did this happen?" Iric's grip tightened on the controls. He increased speed. He needed to see, need to know. His life was burning to the ground before him!
His fighter escort increased speed behind him. Arfour whistled in alarm. The V-19s had locked onto his fighter, and were charging their weapons.
**edit: ((OOC: Rather than double post, I figured I'd just add to this one.))**
Iric turned his ship towards the planet's surface in a sharp dive. The Torrent fighters overshot him, not anticipating his maneuver. The Jedi calmed himself, allowed the Force to wash over him. He flew his ship towards a heavy traffic lane as the V-19s banked to pursue. Again he dove, anticipating openings in the horizontal speeder traffic as his ship fell vertically. A bus exploded above him, and the debris rained down, including one of a Torrent fighter's three wings. Iric looked back to see a single V-19 peeling away from the traffic as speeders veered dangerously out of its way, honking their horns. Apparently, without the Force to guide them, the clone pilots could not navigate the plunge as well as the Jedi; one clone tried and failed, and the other wouldn't risk it. Iric assessed his options as he flew deeper and deeper -- he now had no one in pursuit, but that would not last long. He couldn't dock his ship anywhere, as alerts would certainly be out for a Jedi Starfighter, and the likelihood of stashing the craft in secrecy was unlikely on a city-wide planet. He could not turn and run, as he would never make it past the planet's defense screen; besides, they had probably blown away his hyperspace ring.
The hyperspace ring.
Iric remembered the ring he had seen immediately upon reversion to realspace. Whatever fighter it had brought here was nowhere to be seen, its whereabouts and status unknown to Iric, odd for a fellow Jedi ship. He thought of his clones turning on him, his fighter escort shooting at him, the burning Temple...at last it dawned on Iric, amid a moment of calm as he zipped around an oncoming pleasurecraft, that the betrayal was not confined to Kuat, that it was not a fluke or an accident. Dodonna had been wrong. But who did this? Why?
Again, Iric found his thoughts interrupted as speeder traffic thinned considerably and the surface of Coruscant rose to meet him. Iric reached to his hip, ignited his lightsaber, cut through the ship's transparisteel canopy, replaced the weapon on his belt, and leapt from the cockpit. He saw the ship careen towards the ground below him as he softened his fall with the Force, heard Arfour's mournful cry as he plummeted with the ship. The ship impacted the duracrete, exploded, lit the lower levels of Coruscant briefly. Iric landed nearby. Drifters turned to look at the ruckus, the wretched masses of Coruscant's lower levels peeked their heads out of windows to see what all the noise and light was about. Soon, all eyes turned to Iric, the horned man that had fallen from the sky. They watched him, pondered him, backed away, their eyes round.
Iric slumped to the walkway, his back against a wall. Far away, faint, triumphal music came from the sky, the upper levels. Iric could not fathom what for.
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Post by thereisnosaurus on Jul 13, 2005 9:24:22 GMT -5
Gareth angled the longsword over coruscant city, uncloaking the ship so aerial transport would not hit the ship. he watched, stunned, as the jedi aethersprite dodged and dived out from under fire of it's escorts. why the hell was a jedi flying around in mid coruscant? didn't he know what had happened? The still burning ruins of the jedi temple lay scarce kilometres away.
he reached for the passenger comlink "kartok? Yes, I'm sorry, there's something going on out there. I'm going to have to take a detour. I'll drop you off at the lower tzanarii spaceport. You should be able to catch a shuttle from there to the senate quarters. Sorry for the inconvienience."
Wiping a bead of sweat from his forehead, Gareth tucked his boltlances into their holsters and put both hands firmly on the controls, wheeling the longsword down through the traffic. Unlike the jedi, he followed one of the major arterial routes, maintaining as clean a bead as he could on the crashed jedi fighter. Already he could see people gathering around the carcass of the spacecraft. The longsword swung silently into dock at the spaceport, and gareth locked the controls hastily, throwing on his cloak and picking up his satchel from the back of the bubble cockpit, he slid down the stairs into the passenger hold, where Kartok was preparing to open the hatches. "No! wait a minute, let me go first"
The droidsmith raised an eyebrow but then bowed out of the way as gareth punched the opening key, stepping outside warily. There were no republic police nearby, and gareth ducked back in and ushered the passengers out before sealing the hull.
"good luck, friend. watch yourself, I have the feeling coruscant isn't going to be as friendly as it once was"
kartok nodded "I think I'd better clear out of here before any clone patrols come through. Don't want to be caught with an ex-jedi, that's for sure"
Gareth grinned "I think I'm going to live to thank that 'ex' bit" His smile faltered "I don't think the same can be said for that poor *chocolate* they just got"
Kartok shook his head "I doubt it. Knowing you, it's a lot harder to kill a jedi than you'd think"
"I sure hope you're right"
20 minutes later, gareth made his way through the crowd around the downed aethersprite, the wreckage strewn over a wide area and the crumpled and half incinerated bodies of several pedestrians scattered about. Gareth couldn't spot any tell tale jedi robes, and the clone troopers standing guard around the fighter were stunning anyone foolish enough to try and get too close. Gareth sighed, not even yoda could have survived a crash like that. Annakin, maybe, the boy's luck had seen him through worse, but Annakin was, well, from the reports gareth had heard, little Annie was no jedi any more. shouldering his cloak around him, Gareth headed for the nearest cantina, down a side street. Seeing a clone patrol ahead, he darted down an alley, edging along next to a cavernous drop.
"HEY! YOU!"
Gareth looked up, startled by the loud sound, his hand moving instinctively to his boltlance. A group of figures stood in a closeknit formation near the other end of the alley. two of them were advancing towards him and pointing blasters ominously accurately towards his head. Gareth could just make out another group of the thugs holding another man to the wall. Gareth raised a hand submissively, hoping that the rest of the group remained detained long enough that they would not surround him. "What do you think you're doing down here. I suppose you're some damned bounty hunter who thinks he's good enough to take on the serpents?"
"not at all. I was actually looking for the nearest bar, would you mind directing me to a good one, you seem to know this area"
"looking for a bar down this alley? well lad, you've come to the wrong place. Now get out before we come and make you"
"of course" Gareth turned, but felt a flicker of energy in his mind. He had learnt to trust his instincts while training in the temple and promptly fell flat on his face, as two highpowered blaster rounds ripped apart the air above his head. Rolling, he avoided a third shot, bringing one of his boltlances up and firing a shot in desperation. it clearly missed the thugs, but the explosive round punched into the wall and sent a shower of debris punching into the brutes, sending one to the floor, brain draining out from the shattered side of his head as the other cowered behind his sagging body. At the noise, the other gangers, distracted from their prey, looked towards him. Gareth caught the sound of a lightsabre powering up as both the gangers holding the man to the wall were rapidly despatched. A moment of triumph flickered in gareth's head, shortly before a blaster bolt scored against his leg, sending him staggering to the ground, hanging on to the edge of the pavement with one hand and trying to aim his weapon with the other. His second bolt hit it's mark, scattering the torso and limbs of the ganger who had shot him across several metres. Two more of the thugs raced towards him but were cut down in a flurry of coloured light as the jedi sprang after them. Gareth was about to open his mouth to thank the victim turned saviour when he realised the jedi wasn't slowing down and his lightsabre was still activated. he barely got his boltlances up in time, leaning against the wall and swinging the two small golden blades to parry the downwards sweep of the jedi's blade. Gareth gasped, his strength only barely holding the jedi's weapon above his face. as shock settled in, he stared into the jedi's eyes.
(that's you BTW Iric)
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Dakota
Junior Scholar
Breathe Deep, Read Fast
Posts: 363
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Post by Dakota on Jul 13, 2005 10:46:37 GMT -5
The Tyderian came out of hyperspace. Valos and Forlorn were about to prepare to land on Kaut when they saw a star destroyer (It was a star destroyer right?) crash into the planet, and a Jedi star fighter jump into hyper space.
"Well there goes the Jedi scum now" said Forlorn. "Looks like we are going to couricant after all"
A while later.
"What is your business on couricant? Identify yourself." Said a guard over the comm.
"I am Lord Forlorn, The senate wanted me in charge of hunting down and killing the Jedi.
"You are clear to land."
"See Valos now we are in charge. we can come in to public and it won't matter if they know who we are." Forlorn said.
"Master when this is over I'd, I'd like to go back to Naboo., and Visit my home world."
"Why yes Valos, of course." "Not a chance" he thought. "He might find his parents and want to stay and give up on his training! He is to powerful for that.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 13, 2005 11:09:41 GMT -5
((OOC: lol...yeah, thanks, I caught the implication. Thanks for the in, btw, I was itching to post. I'm really happy with the way this is going -- the feel of it is perfect.))
Iric let the darkness retreat from him again -- it was taking a toll. He deactivated his lightsaber, realizing that the man was not a threat. More than that he could not perceive, except for the faint energy of a killer around him, and a dull presence in the Force. He felt almost ashamed that he had attacked the man at all; all was clouded by the Dark Side, and it was becoming more and more difficult to access the Force, to hear its call, its messages. The Jedi decided it was better not to trust anyone until he had an idea of what was going on. He hooked his lightsaber back on his belt, nodded curtly to the man who had just blocked his strike, and sped off down a dark alleyway, disappearing into the shadows as the man on the sidewalk shouted "Wait!" When the man followed him down the alley, the Jedi was nowhere to be found.
* * * *
Iric ditched his cloak, ditched his tunic. He hoped the scant garment underneath was unrecognizable to most. He deftly dodged into the first clothing store he came to -- a Republic subsidized charity thrift store -- and bought a used, brown jacket of some rough material -- possibly the hide of an animal -- and walked back out, sparingly using the Force to confuse the cashier's sense of sight. As he walked toward the door, he noticed a
Back on the street, disguised, if even only marginally, he felt more comfortable. He let the crowd of poor sweep him up. He looked for the nearest bar -- always a good place to find information. According to his assailant, the alley from which he had come was not a good place to look for one. He walked in the opposite direction.
* * * * The Laughing Gran was run by a fellow by the name of Pawsheek. He was, of course, a Gran, his three eyestalks searching the crowd of patrons to make sure nothing was awry in what would otherwise be the seediest bar in the lower levels -- and the lower levels of Coruscant were chock full of seedy bars. The Gran enjoyed his work, though. It afforded him the ability to expand his knowledge: of current events, of the galaxy at large, of what seemed to be an ever-expanding catalogue of sapient species...for instance, the guy that just walked in, looking weary and a bit nervous, was a Zabrak, plain as day. He wore a pretty nice jacket, and seemed to be out of his element -- a spacer no doubt.
Iric was pleased that his disguise seemed to be working.
He sat at the bar on a stool that had just been vacated by a Toydarian, the scent of the belly gasses that kept it aloft following it as it winged away. The Gran barkeep looked at him with all three eyes and spoke, his voice deep, rumbly, and a little throaty, as Gran voices go: "You look tired, spacer."
Spacer. Iric decided there was no reason to argue. If the bartender has just assumed that Iric was a spacer -- a smuggler, a freighter, a shuttlepilot, whatever -- then that was just one less step to establish in his front.
"Brother, you don't know the half of it," Iric said, "I just got here and suddenly the whole galaxy is furglutz. I have no karking idea what's going on but its rough out there -- yeah, gimme your best brew -- anyway, I was hoping someone could tell me why every laserbrain on the street has got his underwear in a knot."
The Gran paused in the middle of bending to get a bottle of some reddish concoction: "You don't know?"
Iric shrugged.
The Gran made a noise that Iric guessed was a laugh. "Oh, brother...what hasn't happened? You really don't know anything?"
Iric shook his head. "I was doing a long cargo run, man, all the way from the Outer Rim. When I jumped, the Republic was at war and the Jedi are okay. I come revert, and find out there's no war and the Jedi Temple's on fire. Fill me in, brother, the suspense is killing me."
The Gran placed the bottle before Iric and sighed. "Well where do I start? Um...well the war's over. Someone killed General Grievous on some far off rock. Soon after that happened the Jedi rebelled --"
"They rebelled?" Iric tried hard to keep the incredulity in his voice at a purely impersonal level.
"Yep. Tried to kill the Chancellor. Anyway, they never left the office, and a whole legion of stormtroopers went in and took care of the rebellion in the Temple."
"No way," Iric said, once again trying to get the information he wanted while playing the role of disinterested spacer, "stormtroopers couldn't take out all the Jedi in the Temple. From what I hear they can't even shoot straight."
"Well they weren't alone," Iric raised an eyebrow as the Gran continued, "No, no, they had someone with him. 'Lord Darth Vader' or something like that. They won't show any pictures of him, but apparently he's the Emperor's right hand man. I wonder what a guy who could kill so many Jedi could look like --"
There was almost too much to question here. Iric didn't know where to begin. He started easy. "Emperor?"
"Oh yeah, so anyway the Jedi are rebelling all across the galaxy and so their troops were forced to kill them. Palpatine comes to the Senate yesterday and they shut down all the HoloNet broadcasts because he has a special announcement to make. So they show the senate chamber and he's in there wearing this red robe to cover him up because he was so deformed when the Jedi tried to kill him, and he says that the war is won, and that the Jedi traitors will be hunted down and destroyed. Then he says, to make the galaxy stronger, it will turn from a Republic to a Galactic Empire and he'll be the Emperor and everything will be more safe, more secure...I don't know, a lots been going on. They've been celebrating in the upper levels for a day, now."
Iric paused. This was unheard of. But this was no time for reflection. He pressed on: "And this Vader guy?"
The Gran shrugged: "Oh yeah, Vader. I dunno, like I said, they don't show you what he looks like when they talk about him, just say his name, 'Darth Vader.' Apparently he's some big warrior guy. He fought the Jedi here on Coruscant, then he went off to hunt down the Seperatist leaders in the Outer Rim somewhere, then sometime later he's apparently headed off to Dantooine to take out the Jedi there..."
Iric took a sip from the bottle. All he could do was mutter, "Thanks" and let the Gran get back to running his bar. How could such a Force user hide from the Jedi for so long? He must be the second Sith, so long elusive, come out to complete his mission once his apprentice was killed.
But the Sith had been in charge of the CIS, not servants of the Republic. And if Vader was the Sith Lord then why did he bow to this new Emperor, rather than dispatch Palpatine and take the mantle himself? Come to think of it, the second Sith's name was Sidious, not Vader, so it was more likely that Vader was a replacement for Tyranus...the realization dawned on Iric, slowly growing and clarifying before his eyes as if he could reach out and touch it. Palpatine was the second Sith all along. Iric's stomach went plummeting. He stood, paid for the drink, and stumbled from the bar, his world shattered on the floor around him.
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Stouthorn
Junior Scholar
"POWER! UNLIMITED POWER!!"
Posts: 341
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Post by Stouthorn on Jul 13, 2005 15:50:56 GMT -5
((OOC: God, I hate double-posting. Makes me seem like an RP fiend. BUT...I thought this deserved its own post. Yeah. Thanks for the suggestion, Aric))
The guard hadn't stood a chance.
He lay on the ground, crumpled, his red armor and robes stewn about, his force pike extending from the wall behind where he had stood. Blood stained the carpet below his broken body. His limbs jutted from his torso at grotesque angles, the bones split and broken and twisted. Within the blank red helmet, the guard's face was frozen in an expression of agony and terror. All this, and the guard had not once been touched by his assailant.
It was this guard's misfortune to have had to deliver bad news to the Dark Lord of the Sith.
Palpatine rose from the bacta, dripping, his wounds and bruises already improving as the viscous blue liquid ran down the intricate black tattoo that spread across his back. He dried, unceremoniously, and stood naked, feeling the Force flow around him like the cool air, invigorating him, praising him. He approached a protocol droid that held his cloak, and held out his arms as the droid dressed him. He felt the smooth material against his skin and lifted his hood to better hide his features, a simple matter of pride. Once he had masked his face to hid his identity. Now he sought to conceal the fact that the Dark Side had begun to eat him from the inside out. To fire lightning from the tips of one's fingertips was a raw use of the Force, each arcing bolt of electricity a physical manifestation of hatred, of anger, of the desire to see the victim suffer to death -- and the Force exacted a tribute for its use. Each time one tapped into the Dark Side of the Force to use its power, the Dark Side used him as well.
No matter. As a native of Naboo, as a wielder of the Force, the Emperor was accutely aware of symbiotic relationships.
Palpatine cast a yellowed eye upon the pile of blood, pulp, and red cloth he had rendered, the guard he had so thoroughly destroyed. He grinned as he remembered the sight of the guard bouncing from wall to wall, collapsing in on himself, because he had reported that the search teams could still find no sign of Master Yoda. The Sith looked at the protocol droid who had dressed him: "Clean this up."
The droid buzzed its obeisance, and loped off to find a maintenance droid.
The holoprojector on the Emperor's desk chimed, and his Rodian aid -- a disgusting subhuman who would soonn be cast into the street, if he was allowed to live -- reported that the Carida's Pride requested the Emperor's attention. Palpatine requested that the ship be patched through.
An officer appeared, blue in the hologram. He bowed, and then spoke: "Your Imperial Highness, a shuttle has entered Coruscant space. They are using an outdated code, but they claim to be here on your orders -- a certain Lord Farlond and passenger."
The Emperor did not bother to supress his grin. What need had he? He was the supreme power in the universe. "Yes, Captain Moriday, let them through. Tell them to report to my offices."
The officer bowed again, and the hologram blurred, wavered, and disappeared. Palpatine sat in his chair and waited for the arrival of the two Dark Jedi.
Not Sith. Hardly better than Jedi, truth be told. Palpatine fought the desire to kill them both as they entered his chambers.
No, for now they would continue to breathe. With Lord Vader...indisposed, for the time being -- laying, burnt beyond recognition, on an operating table -- the two could prove useful.
He waited.
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SilvanoshiS
Apprentice
flightless and loving it
Posts: 143
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Post by SilvanoshiS on Jul 13, 2005 21:22:58 GMT -5
Mistress' engines let out a whine as they fired up after finishing the jump to Coruscant. "Traffic's dead today. I wonder what's going on?" thought Jacob aloud.
"Unidentified craft, what is your name cargo and destination?" bellowed a Star Distroyer captain.
"Loki's Greed, this is the captain Mufesto speaking. No cargo, no passengers, come to pick up cargo for a drop on an Outer Rim world," Jacob said as he transmitted false coding to the ship.
"Your ID checks out, you're clear to land. See you on the way out," said the captain, almost too happily.
***
On a roof, looking to the Tatooine senator's balcony, Jacob waited. Soon, there he was, a tall man with brown hair. It didn't matter. The blaster made no sound as he hit the senator between the eyes. Again it flared as he hit the protocol droid following him. Once more for the holocam on the door. "3 shots in under 2 seconds, not bad, but I coulda done better," thought Jacob. Packing his blaster he made his way to a favorite haunt of smuggler's and bounty hunters, The Laughing Gran
***
He never did make it in though, near the entrance a very stong, very bewhildered, very (what seemed to be) drunk man ran into him, causing them both to fall over.
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Post by Christopher on Jul 16, 2005 13:13:18 GMT -5
Riz sat at one of the tables in the cantina he wandered into. He didn't bother to check the name of it. He never looked up, when he sensed a jedi step into the room, which usually ment trouble for him, but given recent events was nothing to worry about, now. The force user sat at a card table, across from a Rodian. Both the human and Rodian were absorbed in a game of Pazaak.
The alien appeared nervous. Not only was a large sum of money on the line, but also his reputation. In the many years of coming to this cantina, he had never lost a game, and this fact was evident by the large crowd that gathered around the table.
"Are you ever going to take your turn?" the human asked, impatiently
"Give me time!" The Rodian demanded
After several moments, the Rodian finally played. The Rodian's green hand reached over, and flipped the top card of the deck. The Rodian could barely hide the relief that swept over him, when he placed the card with the rest of his.
"Twenty-one, your move, human."
Riz closed his eyes, and appeared to the casual observer to be in deep thought. But to those that were sensative to it, could tell he was using the force.
"I think I'll draw another card." Riz said, while reaching for the deck
"Your loss" the Rodian remarked
The alien smirked, the human was already at twenty, and there were no more ones left in the deck. The human flipped the card over.
"Aww...a 6...seems you lose!"
The Rodian started to laugh at the human's attempt to actually beat HIM, the best Pazaak player in the galaxy (of course, this was just a self-proclaimed title). The Rodian, however, was soon choking on his own laughs, when the human placed the last card in his hand with the rest. The card read "+/- 5".
"Twenty-one, which makes this round a tie, and me the victor of the game." The human began to imitate the Rodian's laugh
The Rodian's hand slowly wrapped itself around the handle of a blaster, hidden in his boot.
"You...you...YOU CHEATED!"
The Rodian drew the blaster, but before he could fire, the human had the blade of a sword at his throat.
"I wouldn't try that, if I were you."
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