Thyferra

Thyferra

Astrographical Information

Region: Inner Rim

Sector: Jaso Sector

System: Polith System

Orbital Position: 4

Moons: 2

Grid Coordinates: L-7

Physical Information

Class: Terrestrial

Atmosphere: Type 1 Breathable

Primary Terrain: tropical jungles, mountains

Points of Interest: bacta companies headquarters

Societal Information

Indigenous Species: Vratix

Immigrated Species: humans

Primary Language(s): Galactic Basic, Vratix

Faction Affiliation: neutral

Defense Rating: level 3

JediRP Canon History: Thyferra is famous for being one of the biggest producers of bacta in the galaxy. It is run by two rival companies, the Xucphra and Zaltin Corporations. During the war, both the Black Sun and the Empire had tried to hold Thyferra, but it was always able to remain neutral.

((Summary compiled by Amidala Skywalker. Thank you!))

Doran landed near a village, where he could complete his mission, not be noticed and make a quick escape. Which was always a plus. He started to get prepared as his droid rolled up to him from the back of his ship.

"Bwoop"

"No R5, stay with the ship. In case we need to get out of here fast."

"Bee Whoop"

"Remote, your coming with me"

At that Doran and his small remote walked off the ship. The only thing that he knew about Thyferra was that Bacta was produced there. Doran kept up a steady pace until he was a distance away from his ship. He heard noise so he slowed down and hid behind a bush, it was just some locals so he got up and left after they past. He opened up a com with his ship. "R5, there are some people coming your way. But they're fine, just let them pass."

Doran continued to search the terrain. He found a few things like rivers and rocks. He came to a ledge which was a little bit out of his reach so he activated his jetpack and landed gently on the ledge. He proceeded with his recon with little effort. He didn't come across anything of potential danger. There were some site which could facilitate something like a factory or spaceport. He eventually decided that his job was done so he headed back to his ship. Where he saw the locals trying to break into his ship. He caught them up with his fiber-cord and then approached them with his ACP Scatter Gun pointed at them.

"What do you you think your doing?"He asked.

"N-nothing"

"I'm gonna let you go but if I see you again you better run the other direction"Doran said as he cut them free, and they scattered off into the distance. He walked onto his ship and his R5 unit was beeping and whistling in the back somewhere. Him and his remote set a course for Courascant to report back and tell of his mission. Soon he was in the distance as a speck until he hit the atmosphere and entered space.

Black Sun Agents R3-N0, RU-D3 (Formerly RU-I]3_, 3L-3N4 arrive, lead by chief operative T5-3NG. Agent R3-N0, armed with a force pike, and the other two with sonic stun-knucklets, make their way into Thyferra's capitol, with lesser, secondary operatives providing cover. A few guards try to stop their entrance, but are prominently pummeled into submission by the 3 key operatives. T5-SNG, in a dignified fashion, follows up the rear.

Inflitrating the center of Thyferra's two main companies, the Zaltin and Xucphra corporations, each is given an offer they cannot refuse. With R3-N0 holding 3L-3N4 back, they let agent T5-3NG calmly explain the facts of their new agreement: Black Sun would be moving in and taking control of Thyferra's, and in turn the galaxy's bacta production. It would be business as normal, but all shipping outside of Thyferra proper would pass through Black Sun's hands, and a small, reasonable percentage (the reasonableness is emphasized with a delicately waved blaster), would be taken off the top.

After getting the boards of each company to agree, T5-3NG has a handful of "security specialists" stay behind to watch over the companies and make sure they adhered to their contracts. The remaining Black Sun operatives depart back for Coruscant to bring the good news.

A quick flicker, a small motion, and that was all the warning the small planet was given before the massive warforce showed up in its skies.

1 Command structure:

1 Tector-class Star Destroyer, 2 Pellaeon-class star destroyers

2 Blitzer element:

3 Pellaeon-class star destroyers

3 anti- starfighter

9 Lancer-class frigates

4 surgical element

2 Pellaeon-class 1 Interdictor Star Destroyer

5 Destroyer element

3 Imperial class II star destroyers

6 20 squadrons of three ships each of GAT-12 Skipray Blastboats

Special abilities

Precision deployment: The commander can use the interdictor to redeploy units exactly where he needs, allowing him to strike the most vulnerable areas of the enemy.

Concentrate Firepower: The forward firing turbolasers of the imperial star destroyer allow it to bring down immense damage upon the enemy. Captial ships can focus this firepower on a single ship(not a command ship) inside an element to destroy it outright. Can only be done once every three turns.

Troop details:

Vec: All AT-AT are

Quote:

a new variant of the AT-AT that was equipped with the most powerful Imperial turbolasers and the new X-80 power cells.

Quote:

The Tracked Mobile Base (TR-MB) was a heavily armored Imperial prototype vehicle that could carry a commander and six stormtroopers into battle and function as a mobile command center.

Shields have been added for better protection.

All tie fighters are predator class.

S-company: 120 soldiers

1 full platoon or 50 dark troopers phase II further subdivided into five squads

1 small platoon or 30 seatroopers

1 unit 40 imperial commandos.

Alpha company: 200 soldiers

Four full platoons or 200 elite stormtoopers

Fire company: 200 soldiers

2 full platoons or 100 incendiary stormtroopers

1 full platoon or 50 nova troopers

1 full platoon or 50 bomb troopers

Beta company : 200 soldiers

Two full platoons or 100 elite stormtroopers

Two full platoons or 100 imperal shock troopers

Platoon of 30 swamp troopers

Ten man squad of rocket troopers, the flying kind no the heavy kind

Another squad of hazard troopers also reaching ten men

20 black hole storm troopers

1 small platoon or 30 space troopers

Lt. tk-051 Sat quietly at the helm of the Tector-class Star Destroyer Aegis It was time to bring both Zaltin and Xucphra back under Imperial control. COMPLETE Imperial control.

"Jam the system, I want nothing leaving."

His orders were followed to the letter. After all he was a member of the Emperor's personal command staff. To disobey him would be to disobey the will of the Emperor.

Shaking his head slightly he asked for an update.

"Sir we have Air superiority, we can land troops or bombard."

"We arn't here to destroy, we are here to protect. Send down the troops, I want an Imperial garrison up and running with in the next three hours. Actually I want three of them up and running in three hours. One for Zaltin, one for Xucphra and one for the Vratix. Make sure the Canir Understands we are not here for subjugation. We are just securing supplies during a time of war. That this is not a subjugation, but us protecting them, while they deal exclusively with us."

"Yes sir, right away sir. I'll transmit that to the ambassadors. They have already left, each with a cadre of Stormtroopers."

"Excellent, we want this done quietly and done by the books. Our scout has already been here and we know what to expect. While ground troops land I want the fleet deployed in the following formation.

Have the Blitzer element Located high above the Rimma Trade Route. Capture any ship smaller than 600 meters, and out right destroy any ship larger than 600 meters. Concentrated fire power. Underneath that lane I want the anti- starfighter element. They should destroy any small ship giving the big guys trouble.

With the main route secure I want the Destroyer element flanking to the right of the surgical element. I want both of those facing away from the planet on the opposite corridor. Then we shall remain in our current position. Should for some reason an enemy fleet does appear we will engage fire, covered by half of the last element. The rest of that element has orders to disperse, and prepare to cover any inbound or outbound flight. Those are my orders dismissed."

The fleet quickly moved to their assigned positions. The ambassadors began talks, and the Imperial garrisons were quickly begin set up. All in all, the operation was running smoothly, and soon the Empire would have a monopoly on the market of Bacta, same as they had with myrkr.

The moment the Imperials "showed up in the skies" over Thyferra repeating Needa's infamous mistake over Hoth which now gave this planet advanced warning of the attack, orders were quickly passed to the two companies controlling bacta supplies for the galaxy, which were found to be agreeable by both parties realizing the gloomy reality of an Imperial takeover. This in turn was relayed to the various bacta production facilities and their guards.

With everything in motion, a single comm line is opened locally to the Imperial commander, its message short, while ambassadors for the controlling party on the planet- its main two corporations, and by secret association, Black Sun- worked simply to stall until the above was absolutely in place.

The message was short and as follows, with the means to carry out the threat in place and ready to go with four minutes and counting. Short and insolent, it spoke of a superior bargaining position, showing the firm control over the planet- especially given the prospect of Imperial disenfranchisement and slavery as the obvious alternative.

To the esteemed Imperial commanders beseiging our planet. You are kindly being told to **** off and leave our space within the next three minutes. The moment you attack with one laser or even launch a single shuttle down to the planet, you lose your prize. If you don't comply and leave, you lose.

It's a simple fact that he who controls a thing can destroy it, and we control bacta. We know of your hardline attempts to nationalize industries, and the instant you try to take what is ours, we will destroy it all. The people are in place and are all seperately monitoring the situation using groundline communications. The moment you fire a single shot, or launch a single troop, or try staying beyond the next 2:42 and counting means we torch our alazhi and kavam supplies, cutting bacta off at its source. We do that, and everyone cries. If you never learned anything from the Bacta war, you cannot take Thyferra with overwhelming force, which is why the New Republic never tried it that way.

Now, kindly piss off. If you need bacta for your war efforts, licensed distributors will be ready to visit you and still sell you what you need despite this incident. You have 2:30 and counting to leave.

Lt. tk-051 face did not contort into the mask of unfathomable and undirected rage that the person on the other line no doubt hoped would happen. His Imperial training however, was being strained past the breaking point. Both his patience as well as how humorous he found the threat were threatening to overwhelm him.

He temporarily turned off camera to address the men on his bridge.

"Should I tell them?"

After a few nods, which surely took at least thirty seconds of the two minutes and thirty second ultimatum. He turned back to face the comm unit. By this point, Imperial cameras were trained all over the Head quarters and production facilities, of the two major companies as shuttles had long since been launched. Mainly during the conference where two imperially backed powers decided they would bite the hand that feeds it.

--comm--

"The Empire, does not respond kindly to threats."

--comm--

A lt which was actually ranked lower them him, as he wasn't really a lt but, kept the title out of a mild annoyance at change, came up to him.

"But sir, if they really do what they say, well the whole galaxy will suffer."

"Don't worry Lt, the galaxy will suffer for at most a single month. They can't carry out their threat with any manner whatso ever. Should they carry it out, they will be demonized in the public. That along with the exclusive contract they did have and are about to lose will put both companies out of business. They will have torched their own supplies. Hunted down relentlessly by both the Empire and the natives, and should they magically ever get production capabilities again, who would buy from them?

I mean the ultimate ban we are about to place and embargo trade will make both companies actually owe us money for even having to station a fleet here. They seemed to have forgotten their history, and how they became and still are the monopoly they are today. We will simply give their monopoly rights over to the natives, hence why we sent down an ambassador directly to the natives.

They can naturally produce everything we need, so unless they people are capable of a world wide genocide, they can't even pull of the threat in the manner which they speak of. The components of bacta can easily be salvaged, either by using the natives themselves, or through off world purposes. For example the planet Verkuyl easily has the Alazhi needed for bacta production. Kavam comes directly from the natives themselves and Ambori is nothing more that a suspension medium for the ingredients.

At most they can torch their personal stores of their ingredients... hold on I'll finish explaining in a bit.

Has the Time limit past?"

"Yes sir."

"Have we left yet?"

"No sir."

"We scouted this places for planetary defenses?"

"Yes sir."

"Do they have any?"

"No sir, not according to the report made by the bounty hunter."

"Shall we turn both headquarters into glass, broadcast this treachery, across the galaxy, allowing them to hang themselves, as well as long any chance at making money?"

"I propose that we do not sir." Came the reply of a more elderly colonel.

"On what grounds solider?"

"Surely they are bluffing, hoping to scare a green commander in to backing off. There is no way between here and bespin, that they would actually torch their own plants in defiance to the Empire. They know the only reason they are the monopoly they are is because we have allowed them to be."

"What do you propose then Colonel?"

"I suggest we let some of the commandos out of the bag. Even for something like this. Clearly an example must be made of. Maybe we can salvage the companies, if we have the heads executed over the holonet, for threatening such a dastardly act of terrorism all over a few credits."

"You make a good point. COMMANDER, ready our turbolasers, and tell all ships to be on high alert, active scans. If they so much as twitch, go ahead and turn the headquarters to slag. Also send a team to protect the ambassador to the Natives. I would like to know how he is coming along. Colonel go ready your men, while I respond to this 'threat'."

--comm--

It seems the two minutes and thirty seconds are up. The Empire, is feeling rather gracious however so feel free to alert everyone in your company, as well as the other traitorous company, that we will let all of this unpleasantness slide if they bring me the heads of you and all of your associates. You have, three minutes to comply. Just in case you were unwilling.... this was a planetary wide broadcast. See you in three minutes.

---end comm---

He turned and looked at the colonel. "Are your men ready?"

"Sir they launched in the first wave with the garrisons and ambassadors. They just be awaiting standing orders."

"Excellent. You know what to do, have at it."

((3 dayed Black sun, legal double post, just posting the Imperial response.))

With quiet military efficiency all things fell into place. The elite Imperial commandos quickly and quietly went to work. Their landing, unnoticed, their work and methods unheard of, their touch suddenly known. The Entire operation from start to finish was over far more quickly than any normal assault would have finished. Naturally the General in charge was beaming in pride at his men work. It would have been impossible to remove every element of the traitorous regime that had just been subjugated. Shipped off to Courscant or killed on sight for resisting.

Still with both companies secured, as well as transport and orbit, the call went out for the finale of this world. This world was far two important for the likes of Rebel operators to get their hands on. It was to that end that the Empire was willing sink in a massive amount of effort.

Space was abuzz with Imperial might. Numerous ships dropped in and out of hyperspace. All of them on official Imperial business, checked and cleared. And Entire fleet also made its way into system, its presence unnoticed especially amidst the buzz of Imperial ships.

Ground side, Three Imperial garrisons had been deployed. One for both Headquaters of the two dominate Bacta producing companies. The third was meant for the native people to protect them, against such things as genocide. It also served as a rather handy way to seek out and deter any rebellious cells before the became a problem.

To complement the ground forces, against Space warfare, as rebels these days seem to have access to far more fleets than they should, ground emplacements were being constructed. Taking a page out of the rebel's battle of Hoth a v-180 Planet Defender anti-orbital ion cannon was being deployed for every Garrison on the ground. Along with such a defensive measure came two HVs-2 hypervelocity gun per garrison and one W-165 planetary turbolaser per garrison. The goal being to stave off enemy bombardment, and or repel an enemy invasion. Flak cannons were set up perhaps even in excess, yet were being put into place thanks to the previous Bacta War of times past.

A full-spectrum transceiver as well as a hyperwave signal interceptor were being lend as separate facilities to monitor the traffic in more ways than one. There was also a main sensor array. This was for all intents and purposes an Imperial lock down of the planet.

As this had been in the planning for some time. Imperial Space stations began to send their finished works to aid in the planet's defense.

The Pride and joy of this new system of defenses came along with the Golan III Space Defense NovaGun. Three of them were being deployed along with three Bavos-II military space platforms. Six XQ2 Platforms armed with the magnetic pulse warhead technology became a nice perimeter for the planet. Six XQ3 Platforms would also find their way into the defense of this world. Given the Empire willingness to deploy fighters twenty separate TIE Staging Areas were also added to the defense network. Each one capable of deploying forty eight startfighters, which under the New Imperial eye, meant each one was dedicated to have Twenty four TIE defenders and Twenty four TIE Predators.

While all of this was either being constructed and or brought in, or a combination off, The Space lanes were busy in another fashion as well. As the Area became more and more militarized fewer and fewer lanes were needed. As a result a mine network was also being constructed. The Defender ion mine was the mine of choice in this case, as Bacta was rather valuable, and there was no need to exploded stolen Bacta, if it ever came to that. Those were placed near the entryway of most hyperspace exit points. Meant as a first ambush for those entering the system, around this world. Hard to detect as they were, a backup for them consisted of Mine Type B, or Mn/T2 meant to take down fleeing warships, or ships just entering space as well. It was a parallel set up, so that one type would serve as a screen for the other if need be.

Two Ion batteries were placed next to every single space station in orbit bring the total of ion batteries up to eighty eight.

The THDC was also supplemented by the Imperial and were given Tie Interceptors and for the good pilots Ewings. As a way to coordinate the space forces, a leader needed to be present and so it was. In the form of a single Main communications ship Waiian Two gladiatorial class Star destroyer served as its constant escort, as it made rounds around the planet. The only safe way in or out of the system was truly the Rimma Trade Route, which was where a lot of the ire power was focused on defending, incase a rebellious fleet showed up using that specific route. The goal was a bottle neck that wouldn't actually restrict traffic flow to and from the planet, as Bacta was vitally important to be put out in a timely manner. With the complete and total black out of this sector, no one was alerted to the massive Imperial movements unless they had already been in Imperial Space, and specifically one of the worlds the Empire was drawing from to move or create the materials.

As this was a protection of the the Vratix species. Other worlds in the seven world system also received Imperial treatment. Both Iqobal and Ferxani were granted the defensive line of Achtnak Turbine Stations with the added benefit of both stations being able to repair ships in the system. The moons of these two worlds, also functioned as rather decent storage facilities, accompanied with small military bases, that could serve as a fall back and regrouping point, should Thyferra should be lost. A total of seven moons were made up of the fall back position network, with Tie staging areas, armed with Bombers and Preds scattered through out for a total of fourteen. The idea being to do what the rebels had once used rouge Squadron to do only with greater numbers.

The Polith Belt was at first slated to receive a similar treatment as Bilbringi. However, time and budget constraints, did limit such an overhaul. However the asteroid Laser Battery and the Asteroid Warhead Launcher were fitted among various Asteroids, as a way to prevent a Millennium Falcon escape, as it was coined in the Empire.

Standard armaments for the warhead lanucher included proton torpedoes, heavy rockets, ion pulse missiles, mag pulse missiles or space bombs concussion missiles.

As the project commenced massive as it was, the First fleet did not falter in it's duty to protect the world. Still on the look out for a Rebel attack, and now suddenly bolstered with far more numbers than any rebel fleet would have been able to predicted, it was highly likely, any show of rebel force, no matter how improbable, would end up being routed.

((3 dayed Black sun, legal double post, just posting the Imperial response.))

---------------------edit 10/20/09

All things were completed with the utter most speed and efficiency. The Imperial war machine was very mobile and very good at its job. It could no doubt repel a rebellious attack either on or off the ground. The details however, would be continued to be hammered out so all things would remain smooth.

Ahhhh, Thyferra, land of health and land of great leverage for the rest of the Galaxy, Syn thought as he stepped onto the ground of Thyferra's capital, Zalxuc, for the first time. With all the new business coming and going, it was an easy matter to get a ride in an Imperial aligned commercial transport. It was a far cry from his dreams of riding shotgun in Imperial Star Destroyers, but it was a start: his first major assignment and his first one offworld.

He quickly passed customs with both his Imperial and Press ID and got a hotel room to unload his gear in. As soon as he had taken a shower and grabbed a bite to eat, he set out to being touring the city. He wasn't here on a specific objective, simply to see what was going on and how things were playing out on the planet now that the Empire had liberated it.

A full-spectrum transceiver as well as a hyperwave signal interceptor were being lend as separate facilities to monitor the traffic in more ways than one. There was also a main sensor array.

”œWOA!”

Qaela had spent much of their trip from Corellia either in meditation or working with her supplies of alchemical equipment. Alchemy had never been her strongest point, but her increased Force potential and Sith training meant she could do things that no Nightsister could do on her own. It had taken a little work and a lot of patience to do what she wanted, but in the end, she had three usable vials of dark blue liquid that should work quite nicely. It had not been difficult to get the DNA of her shipboard companions: hair from the refresher or on the back of one of the Jedi's clothes was sufficient. If Starlisk had been unhappy with her using the Force in a way he might interpret as being of the dark, she didn't really care. His reaction to her ending Faust's agent's threat had hardened her resolve. She wasn't going to do things to intentionally anger him, but there were going to be times when playing light sider wouldn't cut it. She hoped he wasn't intending on her fighting Faust, Black Sun, or whatever else came against them with her hands tied behind her back.

When they landed, she approached Starlisk. She had an idea that she hoped would at least help them, if not help build trust between the two of them. "Starlisk, it seems to me that the Pu—Ads has reached the point where he knows what he needs to know to become one of your Jedi Knights. From what I know about the Jedi and Sith, your kind typically likes to have some sort of initiation trial or test before you can award the title officially. If you approve, I am willing to face him in a non-lethal duel to let you test how he fares in both combat and against the darkness."

She paused, then added, "If I do this, I am not going to hold back or play around. I promise not to do anything that will kill or severely maim him, but I cannot promise that he will come out as the Jedi you want him to be. I will use the darkness and I will do my best to 'corrupt' him to the darkness itself. Only agree to this if you want him to be genuinely tested and are able to live with the potential consequences."

As they were getting ready to depart from the ship on Thyferra, having let the Force and some reasoning guide them to which part of the planet they had landed upon, Qaela came to Onderin with a proposition. He considered it for a moment. "It is true that Ads is very close to being ready," he said. "Unfortunately, he doesn't have any formal lightsaber instruction yet, although with Faust's agents gunning for us it's becoming all the more pressing that he gets just that."

He paused in thought for a moment. He hadn't made any specific plans for Ads' trials, but he felt the will of the Force working through these circumstances. That Ads would be here, with him, close to finishing his training and exposed to such unusual circumstances -- it seemed easy to see that most of Ads' trials were already being presented to him. Or perhaps they would be soon.

"I will keep your offer in mind," he said. "Depending on what we find here and if we end up with any downtime, I may take you up on your offer." Of course, he had utmost faith on his apprentice's ability to resist the lure of the dark side. He had shown no interest in anything Qaela had said thus far, and had brushed off temptation on Dantooine with little trouble.

"Shall we get moving, then?" he asked, lowering the boarding ramp.

"Why not?" Ads responded as he approached Onderin and Qaela. A blast of hot, humid air met him at the boarding ramp. It was oppressive after traveling in the cool, sterile air of the transport. Nevertheless, Ads hiked up his pack and tightened the straps. And of course he buckled the chest and hip straps on his way down the gangplank; it just looks silly to walk around with those bouncing around all over the place. When Ads got to the bottom he realized that he had no idea where he was going so he stepped aside as if he had headed out to wait on purpose.

Qaela accepted Starlisk's comments with a nod. If he took her up on the offer, she would be glad. It had been some time since she had been able to fight a real fight and she had not faced a Jedi in actual combat before. It would be fun to see how he handled himself, plus she would rather have a stronger ally with her if they had to fight Faust.

She followed Ads down the boarding ramp with her spear in her right hand and her bag of various goodies slung over her right shoulder and across to her left hip. It wasn't much, but it was all she needed if things got bad. What few things she had left on the ship were expendable. It wouldn't do to have valuable things on a ship that could be blown up by an attack or that she might need should she herself be under attack. She didn't think Faust could sneak up on her, not with her own affinity with the darkness and two Jedi to cover the light. However, Faust had already shown he had multiple slaves fighting for him, so she needed to be ready for them.

"Do you have any idea where to start?" she asked. "This is a big planet and I don't feel anything abnormally dark here."

Onderin looked about. He had chosen to set down in the capital city of Xozhixi, a city which had a population dominated by the native insectoid Vratix but also had a minority human population. It contained the headquarters for the two major bacta producing titans, the Xucphra and Zaltin Corporations. There was a long history of bad blood between the Xucphra and Zaltin, with the former often supporting the Empire but the latter sympathetic to their enemies and more loyal to the planet's own interests. During the first Galactic Civil War and its aftershocks, the planet had been liberated more than once from the Empire, but the Rebellion/New Republic had never settled there, allowing Thyferra to remain neutral--as it should have been.

During the more recent war, it had also managed to stay neutral, so Onderin had not needed to fight over it -- although for some years he had taken on a lot of the administrative tasks in running the Alliance's war machine which involved dealing with the Zaltin Corporation and their delegates. Perhaps the Empire had finally come to understand that trying to horde bacta and keep it out of the hands of its enemies was both impractical and inhumane. Onderin could think of no galactic target that he would fight as hard to liberate.

And now Faust was making threats. "The local government will not be aware that Faust indicated them as a target," he said. "But they will have heard the threats he made to the Senate. We should get in touch with them and the two major corporations and put them on alert -- if Faust has not struck yet, the least we can do is make it more difficult for him and his agents by putting security on alert."

Xozhixi was a large city, of course. Onderin headed for the local public transport network, which was close to the spaceport for obvious reasons. There were many Vratix milling about, and the two Jedi with their unusual colleagues drew some stares. As they were in transit, he almost expected Faust's plan to reveal itself in some way. After all, it had been Faust himself who had led them here, and he expected it wasn't just to get them out of the way.

((Ads?))

With a shrug, Qaela followed Starlisk through the city. She was glad that she was wearing a tightly fitting black blouse and pants instead of her rancor hides. She already got more attention than she normally preferred for carrying a spear around. It didn't take a well traveled scholar to figure that these people weren't used to seeing others carrying weapons in the metro lines, especially not something as crude and primitive looking as her spear. They couldn't know that it would take an industrial laser drill to cut the Force imbued wood and that the simple steel tip was sharpened to the atomic level. She had never liked a lightsaber and was more than happy with her childhood weapon.

"We might also wish to alert whatever space authorities are in the area," she said. "I would prefer not to allow Faust to fire more missiles down at us. We also need to be nearby a ship in case he attacks some other place on this planet."

Behind the Jedi, a soft voice can be heard, announcing its presence in the transport hub.

"I think you've been led astray by Faust from his announcement on Corellia," the voice states in a near whisper. "The Hunter is playing for time to gather his forces and prepare his final ritual." The voice is masculine, measured, and spoken with calm, though there's a rasping quality to it, as if the speaker needed mechanical assistance to speak and even breathe. "Thyferra may yet become a battlefield, but it would only be a diversion to draw your eyes here."

The speaker is cloaked and hooded, but in solid black. Under the cloak is what appears to be a sable colored imitation of Jedi robes, distinctly set apart from the white that Faust always favored. Black boots, black gloves, and disconcertingly, a set of black wrappings and tinted goggles cover the man's face completely. There is a dim Force presence from the speaker, but its aura cannot be readily identified as Light or Dark.

"I know only a little of what the Hunter has planned, but time is running out. There is hope... A shatterpoint.... one forms around the Hunter, enabling him to be defeated even as we speak, but if... when.... he escapes, more action will be needed than blindly following the trails he gives."

((Sorry, I've been really busy lately and will be the rest of the week. Next week is my Spring Break so I don't know how reliable I'll be through then. I'll try to post but donn't count on me replying to any specific post through about the end of March. I'm currently posting from class actually because it's the most free time I have so this will be a short post, sorry!))

Ads turned to see who was speaking. At first he didn't realize the man was speaking to them but there was something compelling about the voice that made Ads want to check it out. He wasn't sure what to make of what the man was saying, so he expectantly looked to Onderin, waiting for his response.

Onderin turned to face the strange figure. Definitely not a Vratix, dressed differently from most of Faust's agents, but clearly informed to approach the Jedi knowing just why they had come. That almost certainly made him one of the Sith's minions anyway, despite the conspiratory tone he adopted. He almost certainly could not be trusted... but right now he was Onderin's best lead to learning what he needed.

"Faust's movements are difficult to predict, and there are few of us to hunt him," the Jedi Master said to the black-garbed man by way of explanation. "Who do you represent? What is your interest in the matter?"

He focused on the being with the Force, determined to catch a lie if one were to be told.

Qaela held back her instinctive desire to dispose of this man in the same manner as she did the last of Faust's agents. Not only would it likely permanently turn Starlisk against her, but this being felt slightly different. That didn't mean she trusted it at all, especially not in light of how it had been waiting for them.

As good as it felt to be vindicated on how this was likely a complete waste of their time, she decided to cast her attention elsewhere. Starlisk and Ads seemed focused enough on him, so she would focus elsewhere to the pod they were in and farther. If this being wasn't alone or had some sort of trap in mind, she wanted to be ready for it.

There is a moment of hesitation, the emotion tangible to those with the ability to sense it as the man weigh's giving his name. "One like you who is hunting the Hunter," he adds in his soft, rasping voice, "though I don't have the capability to stop him as you do. Not any more." The name holds up his hands, and removes his gloves. Though the hands look normal enough, they gave out no aura in the Force, nor did the man's legs, hinting at their cybernetic nature. "A gift from the Hunter during our last meeting, as were my other wounds." There is no regret in his voice as he speaks, just calm acceptance.

After a momentary pause, he continues, his voice a bit more hollow as if intoning a vision. "I see two paths to Faust through you, Starlisk. One is a place where you fought and won a great victory, but that victory was tainted in the aftermath by cries of innocent blood staining your hands. The Hunter is gathering his armies at this place if you can find it. The other... is a name... I think... I sense you have a connection to it, but I do not know what it means. Van Isel, with whom the darkness of the Sith gathers." The man shakes his head as if clearing away the cloudiness of a trance and turns around to leave. "That's the only help I can give. May the Force be with you, and may your own quest for justice fare you better than mine did."

Onderin took a moment to consider both hints, all the while wondering whether this mysterious agent was trustworthy enough for his suggestions to be acted upon. On one hand, it was indeed too late of an hour to be following Faust's bread trail when moves could potentially be made to head him off. On the other hand, this could just be another agent of the powerful Sith Master, leading them away from the place where they were most needed based off vague directives.

Nonetheless, the Jedi Master knew what both clues meant. They both took him back to the war, and to times where he could now see his judgment had been clouded. It had taken him a long time to get over his wartime mentality; Qaela's presence here and the conviction of Kirlocca for his actions against her were evidence that he could move on, however.

As the agent walked away, Onderin turned to Qaela and Ads. "The first reference is to the bombardment of the Kuat Drive Yards. As perhaps the largest source of capital ships for the Galactic Alliance, it is a valuable but well defended target," he explained. "Van Isel... was a man I met on Onderon and was purportedly a professor studying Sith artifacts. I remember feeling a little uneasy about him, but he helped us evade a terrorist attack during our stay there, in which we were negotiating with Mandalorians. I have absolutely no idea why his name should come up now, but I imagine I could find him again if we were to go to Iziz."

He narrowed his eyes. He had no idea who he could trust, or which leads were worth following. Should they split up and tackle both, or was that too risky? Perhaps other members of the Council--or some higher up agents from CoreSec--could investigate Kuat while his team went to Iziz. Kuat was one place in the galaxy where he felt... particularly unwelcome. Perhaps equally to other such strongly traditional Imperial worlds as Carida.

"Thoughts?"

Qaela didn't think that Starlisk would like her advice, not after rejecting it before. "You can't trust anything from the Sith. As before, this could be just another waste of time designed to give him the time to do whatever he needs to prepare. We should strike at something we know is there: Black Sun."

On that thought, she paused. There was some place else that they could strike, or at least, talk to. She wasn't sure how to do it or if it would work out at all, but it was worth mentioning. "You know," she said with a slightly devious smile growing on her face, "we could go and find the rest of the Sith and see what they think about Faust. If his actions are enough to rattle someone like me who embraces the dark, there could be others among the Sith who feel the same. I don't recall Faust being with the rest of the Sith when I was there last, so I don't think they are in on his plan. We also haven't seen any other Sith working with him. It may be worth it to try to investigate them to see if they are willing or able to help us. And, if they are with Faust, at least we will know more about his plans."

A short, low-priority text-based message comes in for Onderin to check at his leisure. Ironically, the grammar was about the level of a fifth grader.

((Ads PMed me saying he probably won't have time to post this week.))

Onderin drew a deep breathe and let it out slowly, trying to focus his mind. Qaela seemed fixated on trying to draw Faust out by assuming that he had loyalties, even though Onderin had tried to explain to her that Faust certainly didn't care enough about Black Sun to come to their aid should they fall under attack. He wanted her to be a part of this investigation, but she couldn't seem to get past her initial idea. He wondered if she was trying to prove something. Unfortunately, he just didn't think they had the time to waste on leads that had a low chance of panning out--not while Faust was loose and planning his next attack.

Going to the Sith as potential allies was another interesting thought. Onderin hardly thought he would be welcome among them--and he rather preferred it that way--but it would not perhaps be so bad a thing since they had to share this galaxy that Faust wanted to cripple.

"I still do not think Faust would respond to a threat on the Black Sun," he said. "Even the crime syndicate will suffer do to Faust's destruction. I'm willing to bet the losses are already adding up from the collapse of the Corellian stock exchange and Black Sun assets there that were lost. Faust bears no allegiance to them or anyone else.

"I do think that the Sith might be necessary allies in this fight," he said with just a bit of hesitation. "Of course, I don't know where to find them, and I would be reticent to drop off these Van Isel and Kuat leads altogether."

He paused to check the comm that he had received, furrowed his eyebrows at its crudeness, and checked to see if he could estimate the origin of the signal. "We're going to need more people. Let's head back to the ship," he said. "I'm going to make a few calls. I wasn't the only Jedi present on Onderon when we met Van Isel..."

As the medical shuttle flickered back into sub-space and a stable orbital trajectory established, the pilot, still not sure who he was, or why had such large gaps in his memories, decided to check, again, to see if his passengers had reanimated. Setting the autopilot to maintain the orbital trajectory, he stood, stretching with a yawn, working the kinks out of his body from sitting for so long.

It had been a long trip to where he was now. Thyferra. The name came unbidden to his mind, gently, without the viciousness of the previous 'new' memory recall and he wondered why there was such a difference. It didn't matter at the moment he decided, moving to the main area of the shuttle. His passengers were still asleep, and he looked at them, wondering he felt like he should know both of them by sight, and why their clothing looked familiar. He rifled through their pockets, again, just in case there had been something in there that he had missed, and once again, came up empty. No identification or any other trinkets that might give him some clues as to who they were, or how he knew them.

Returning to the cockpit, he looked at the sensor display, and asked the ships computer to bring up details about the planet. Idly he perused through the information, noting that nothing looked familiar, or caused any of the pain he had previously experienced when his memories had crashed back into his conscious mind.

Zooming in on the sensor array, he asked the computer for information about the city below him, and the name came back as Xozhixi. He noted that there seemed to be non-humans populating the city, but that there was a group of humans, all within close proximity to each other, and to a ship. Setting the sensor to track the ship, he sat down and wondered why it seemed like the right thing to do, to follow the ship, given that he didn't know what kind of ship it was, who it belonged to, who they were aligned with or what his status was in the galaxy at the moment, other than some sort of struggling amnesiac.

Sighing, he opened up another emergency ration bar, and chewed unenthusiastically on it, knowing that he needed to eat, but not knowing why he needed to eat, and tried to decide whether or not to contact the ship, or wait til it took off and try to follow it. Deciding on the side of caution, he sat back and waited, hoping it turned out to be a ship that he recognised, or recognised his ship, and that he could maybe get some answers.

Qaela shook her head slightly in frustration. These Jedi were far too trusting. They were being led around like prey and weren't smart enough to see it. She was willing to bet that the "random" man they met was nothing more than another of Faust's minions designed to make them continue to waste their time. They needed to strike instead of being led around by the nose. Even if attacking Black Sun wouldn't directly hurt Faust or even entice him to come after them, it would deny him further use of their resources which might in turn inhibit or delay his future plans. In war, one didn't only just attack the head, sometimes you had to first disable the feet to ensure the head didn't run away before destroying the hands so the head couldn't fight back.

She had voiced her opinion twice and Starlisk had dismissed it twice. If the Jedi was wrong, it was on his head. She didn't really care about what happened in the rest of the Galaxy or how many people were killed because of Faust, so it was better for her to let the Jedi be wrong than be wrong herself and have him blame her. At least he was willing to consider her idea of contacting the Sith. That would at least make things quite interesting and perhaps give her some companions to balance out the equation.

"I know how to contact the Sith," she said, "but I don't know if they will listen." She sure as hell wasn't going to take them to their hideout in the Maw. Furion would kill her for that, and she wasn't about to betray the Sith in that manner and burn those bridges even if they were tenuous. "I will need access to a data terminal and a time and location you want to meet."

Onderin finished making his three calls. "I have people looking into both leads," he said. "We should be free to meet with the Sith. I will let you decide the details -- the sooner the meeting, the better. We don't know how much time we have before Faust's next terrorist attack occurs."

He was hoping that the Sith would be a little bit civil. He wasn't sure who the Dark Lord was at the moment, and the Sith had been rather quiet as of late. He generally thought of that as a good thing. Maybe they were still licking their wounds from the destruction of their temple on Coruscant. Whatever they were doing, he certainly hoped they weren't gathering strength and scheming for a big move in the future, as he wasn't positive the Jedi would have the strength to oppose a unified Sith Order.

At any rate, he would remain on his guard as always when dealing with their kind. Too many times before had he been betrayed when attempting to negotiate, but this time the stakes were higher for both parties.

Qaela went to a data terminal and composed a simple message. This is Qaela of the Nightsisters, ally of the Sith. I am currently tracking the actions of Faust. I have recruited some Jedi to assist, but would prefer some proper Sith company. I was on Dantooine when he first struck and the destruction threatens us all: light and dark. Join us in the Last Call on Coruscant in three days if you wish to assist us in containing the threat.

She input the security verification code Dark Lord Furion gave her hoping that it would be recognized by whatever Sith read this message and then sent it to the general Sith inbox. If the darkness was with her, at least some of the surviving Sith were still checking that encrypted account and would receive her message. It would be so very good to have fellow followers of the darkness with her after spending so much time among the Jedi. It would also be amusing to see how the two groups would act together.

When she was done, she returned to Starlisk and Ads. "I am ready to leave whenever you are. I told the Sith to meet us at the Last Call on Coruscant in three days. Hopefully that will be a suitable neutral location that will satisfy you."

The Last Call. That was a place that Ads had spent a lot of time.

"The Last Call. That's a place I've spent a lot of time. Not that I'm an alcoholic or anything. Because I'm not one."

Ads was intrigued by the prospect of meeting Sith, especially in the supposed "safest place in the galaxy." What would happen? Would the Sith try to pull any funny business? Either way, it would be interesting at the very least. It almost seemed like the bad holovids about total enemies coming together to face a mutual enemy. Although this was actually legitimate and was probably for the best.

"So in other words, I am ready to go there."

Onderin nodded. His third call had been to alert Thyferran security about the possible threat from Faust. They had assured him that since the Sith Lord's grand proclamation of war on the galaxy, they had taken great precautions to assure that bacta would continue flowing out of this world's plants no matter how bad things got. He supposed he didn't have any additional, more specific information to offer them, so he had done all he could short of launching a full investigation himself.

And for that, they simply didn't have the time. The Jedi Master immediately started to head back to the ship. Thyferra was an inner rim world, and it sounded like they had three days before they were to meet with their Sith contact. He could use the downtime once they reached Coruscant to finally get Ads some lightsaber training -- they might have an extra day or so.

It didn't take them long to get back to the ship, as they had not left the spaceport. Soon, they were off again.

((Feel free to add anything. I'm sure you know by now that I hate making arrival posts. Let's shoot for the Upper Levels or something rather than heading straight to the Last Call.))