The Black Sun Armada

THE DARK SUN STATION The Fallout Chief Engineer Alteki Jrenni sprinted through the hallways, leaping over fallen debris, his lekku twitching madly with anticipation. There had been no response from the command section since they had broadcasted an offline signal. Security holos showed the room littered with corpses. Mostly clawing at locked doors as they suffocated to death in the place they all had begun to call their home. Dark Sun was supposed to be a place to retire, it wasn’t kriffing Dubrillion or the old Black Sun Citadel where you could get bombed every two minutes. And this had been after they had surrendered. Kriff it all. Maybe the propaganda about the Jedi was really true. Then his pink tinged eyes caught something strange. The glow panels that hadn’t been taken out by shrapnel were starting glow brighter. In an almost pulsing fashion. His boots skidded to a stop on the lush red carpeting. He pulled his datapad and scrolled through it until he gasped. The reactor wasn’t showing any signal at all. He pulled his comm out of his shirt pocket and began to run in another direction towards the reactor level. He was shortly joined by the rest of his reserve IT and engineering team. But he couldn't but not think about his Wife and two children hidden on the living level. They hadn't been killed by the Jedi, so he pulled his comm out and dialed the familiar number as they rounded the corner to feel the heat through the large bulkhead doors. As the dial began to sound he gestured to his team, four women and five men. "Get your protection suits on, we have to douse the core before it goes super critical." They were all silent but nodded. Their families were here too, many had children, and Lizza who was tucking her auburn hair into a vacuum suit was just starting to show from the pregnancy that the security chief had given her. The dial connected and before the other end could answer he whispered “Know I've always loved you, through it all, tell them that Daddy’s done well. Make for the escape pods as soon as you can.” Then he slammed his hand over the dial button and left the call without hearing the voice he knew would make him reconsider this next action. The bulkhead door ground open and they were hit with a heatwave that nearly drove them all to their knees. Alteki’s mouth filled with saliva that tasted like copper and duraloid mixed into a slurry. He strode against the pulsating wave of heat, shielding his eyes from the red glow of a reactor ticking its way into oblivion. He looked at the control panel for the coolant system and whatever colour was in his face faded away. Controls were remotely disabled and there was no time. He choked back a curse and turned to his men, most of whom were slumped next to the wall. Kriff The edges of his vision narrowed as he slammed his fist against the controls, his breathing becoming a whine of rage as his throat began to swell and close up. Blood pouring into his body suit from his bleeding gums. As the radiation ate away his cell’s very DNA. Within hours the station was silent as the tomb it had become. Those that hadn’t made it to escape pods were decomposing as the station's reactor slowly ate through the durasteel confinement. To eventually breach into open void.

First on sensors would be the St Cathryne, the old warhorse of the Black Sun, dating back some twenty years to the rule of Smash Daisaku, the sleek curves of Mon Calamari design showing stark contrast to its sisters as the flashed out of hyperspace around the Citadel. Beside it was the twin sister Star Destroyers, Mephistopheles and Holofernes, the wicked edges of their borrowed Sith design bristling with turbolasers and cannonade. The corvette Marie stood at the leading edge of the flotilla its heavily modified sensors laying down a wide field jamming layer as its fast engines propelled it in evasive maneuvers around the leading edge of the mighty fleet. Laid down during the reign of the ‘Old Pretender’ Ronin Wartide at the Red Dawn shipyards on Outremer, the Marie was the ship with the longest history in the Black Sun fleet. It had taken part in the massacre at Naboo, Cloud City, and Gala. The rest of the fleet also was there, in their stark magnificence. Deployed En mass around the Citadel.

The girl smiled widely at the bounty hunter, her eyes returning to their shifting colour spectrum as she accessed records files. "You seek the bounty placed by the Black Sun, as such the information is free, as of fifteen minutes ago he was spotted by holodroids ordering at the Blue Cabana." She pointed a metal plated hand towards the top of a skyscraper some 800 floors tall. "A beautiful scene, healthy food, distractions. Best of luck, and I look forward to your return." She smiled again and itched the holopoint cord that was secured to the back of her head which fed her the information.

The young slave gave the traveler a very blank look, the LED lights in her eyes flashing a rainbow aura as she processed his answer for signs of a questions, while the human side of her smirked right on back at him in an effort to convey that she agreed with him. "There are many dining establishments on this beautiful world of Chandrila, but sadly I cannot accompany you though like everything from my owners, I am for sale if you have the credits. Is there anything else I can assist you with good sir?" Her eyes stopped on a pale red and her smile returned to a blank slate.

"Tah tah!" Waved the information broker who was shooing off the crowd of Rodians who had just paid heavily for some scandalous information regarding the Mothma family. Her cybernetic pink eyes flashed as she scanned the spaceport for any new customers. She was a spindly girl, a slave that had been brain drained, and a 33422 cybernetic unit bolted into the back of her head. Her memory was downloaded and uploaded through a neural link every few hours, and was maintained by the Black Sun criminal network. Those amethyst eyes found Kail and her arm limply pointed to the sign above her head that read. 'Information Broker' In crimson neon. "You look lost traveler, need directions to a hostel to stay in?" Her voice was soft and carried with it a smile that was not sincere.

The Armada had served its purpose. Though there were many casualties, the battle of Kuat was at its end. Many Sith, Imperial Knights, troops, and black sun mercenaries had fallen in the battle, but the Axis had succeeded in holding the field. They had even captured the Empress, and now as salvage tugs began to pull in ruined starships to the orbital rings, and shuttles picked up EV pilots Kuat returned to work.

The Black Sun agent laughed heartily, the jowls along his neckline jittering up and down like the leather push to an organ. He strode forward and extended his hand to the young smuggler, his eyes not showing at all the mirth in his laugh. “Well you smuggle right. See that's what the Black Sun is interested in, and I may have overblown your significance in the smuggling world and if so I apologize. But the Black Sun can give you the opportunity and monetary ability to make a name for yourself in the lucrative world of smuggling.” THen it was Melania’s turn to take the smuggler’s hand and she also snatched the cigar from his hand and took a draw. Her smile on her face plastique and foreign as she talked to Malin. “Well there are multiple jobs available, for instance we need some corrupted bacta smuggled into nar shaddaa, and also some liquid explosives smuggled onto Thyferra. You interested Malin?”

The Black Sun Agent lifted her hands in mock surrender a sly smile on her lips. “Then you will find them on Coruscant, where they are beginning their first baptism of fire. Attached is your contract, please sign and return the slip to me or drop it in the phrik box over there” Her thin finger pointed to the box that was labelled “receipts.” “We also have several ships available should you need them in the hanger, now shoo.”

“Well….” The agent’s eyes flickered for a moment as the AI implanted inside her skull searched the archives of the Black Sun. Compiling and cross referencing her file, editing a bit, then releasing the information it was able. “Her contract was up and she had a chance to renew but the Blood Prince decreed that she should return to her people and make them strong again as a darkness was coming to the galaxy.” The Agent smiled wryly, “Or at least that is what the file says, perhaps she will tell you more. She is called Mandalore the Heartless for a reason.” The agent pushed forward another credit chip but kept her finger on top of it. “Would you like payment up front?”

The black sun agent smiled warmly as she accepted his holovid card. She inserted it into the console at her fingertips and quickly replayed the footage from the battle and smirked as the Tusken was taken out like a bantha in a slaughter pen. She compared the stills grabbed of the face of the tusken with records. She clapped her hands twice and smiled. “Bounty Review!” Then she looked off into the distance as the computer chip in her brain calculated bonuses and licensing rights for the snuff footage of the tusken to be sold on the dark holonet. When the funds had been transferred to the credit chit on her desk, she lifted the golden card and placed it before the bounty hunter. “You will need to be more specific, there are currently ten thousand individuals registered as Canderous of Mandalore. It seems to be a common name. Though if it is the person seen in the early section of the footage presented that would be Canderous Bralor. A well renowned ex Mandalore of his people. Currently serving with on of our ex agents Terra. Named Mandalore the Heartless. Would you be interested in joining them on behalf of the Black Sun? An agent to inform us of their movements as necessary. We will pay you a retainer of one million credits per six months of service should you be interested.”

The Farstriders Rest the crescent shaped space station that hosted the finest illegal gambling halls, trading stations, exotic dancers, and the largest slave market on its lower levels drifted in the orbits of Tatooine. IT also had no ties to the Enigma or prior establishments on tatooine but was only named such a way because its designer, Delta, had thought it was a cool name. That and he had seen some holos about a crescent shaped space station called Montressor Spaceport but hadn't wanted to be sued for copyright infringement. The Black Sun Security officers walked always pair by pair as they patrolled the many kilometer long corridors of the bustling station. It was two of such agents, Melania and Barron Viliksbaren, that escorted the Black Sun Viceroy Yelna to meet the intrepid smuggler Malin. She bowed her golden head as she interrupted his conversation, “The Black Sun are interested in your exploits, how available are you for jobs?”

“Yeah bacta is pretty expensive, in fact it costs globs of cash just to treat some poor sod that got hit by a stray laser. Which is why we want to control every aspect of it, sell it for cheap to our allies, exploit the shit out of the colonies and lesser regions. You know, make so much money we can buy two super star destroyers. How cool would that be?” Her eyelids fluttered for a moment and she stood stock still, her hand still in the process of loading an anti-speeder rifle. “It looks like the Black Sun fleet and the Sith Armada are heading to engage the Imperium at Kuat, which means there will be little galactic response should we get into a prolonged firefight. We also may have another new agent joining us as well as a Vigo which could get really exciting.” She looked at the girls lightsabre and chuckled. “Of course that’ll do the trick if we get up close and personal. Do you know how to use it though?”

“Well!” The girl smirked as she pulled down a heavy grenade launcher and opened the port with a ‘thunk’ of metal on metal. “The Thyferran league are a group of stupid corporate leaders on the planet Thyferra which are in charge of of the growing, production, and distribution of Bacta. Bacta can only be produced on that world, and as such we are going to kill the whole lot of them and seize the companies while other agents begin sabotage work on the crops to destabilize them for the buyout and takeover. And if the buyout doesn't work, without corporate leadership, the military of that world will fall to pieces and we can waltz in and take over without any hassle.” She blinked her large eyes at the other girl and smiled broadly. “What kind of weapon takes your fancy?”

The Black Sun Agent with whom miss Celora Karth was currently attached to let a simple grin roll across her face and she clapped her bloody hands in front of her with a ‘eep’ of joy. She reached out and grabbed Celora’s hand and dragged her through the underlevels until they arrived at a storefront whose sign was the many pointed star of the Black Sun. The ancient organization that had outlived the other syndicates, including the Crimson Dawn which had been incorporated several decades prior under the Six Vigos; Mindan Bretch’ll, Piccolo, Jacen Onnd, Kayal Crindon, Delta73, and Crosa Hoverich. The founders of the Modern Black Sun. Of whom only one remained. His statue stood in the foyer, holding a marble gungan head and standing upon the carved grave of Padme Skywalker. THe Agent pointed to it as she dragged Celora by, her voice in reverence. “That memorializes the last SCORPION raid, in which the Sith and the Black Sun solidified their friendship and Vigo Delta established himself as the blood prince. Pretty cool huh?” She pressed her eye against a socket in the wall and a large room opened before them, stocked with every type of weapon and armour imaginable. “We are going to assassinate the leaders of the Thyferran league and their families. You down with that?” _____________________ The receptionist looked up at Qi'Nali and its photoreceptors blinked lazily. Its voice rasped through seldom used voice reflectors. “Krales is not here, Agent Corun is here and can discuss any business that you may wish, he is in office 34-1 please prepare whatever plan or mission you have cooked up for his review. Thank you.”

The receptionist looked up with dewy green photoreceptors to the Gank bounty hunter before him. He nodded and flipped open a datapad and placed it before him without saying a word. ||BOUNTY LIST|| ||BLACK SUN SPONSORED|| [HARD][REWARD 100K] Target: Tusken Raider Rruror’rur’rr Reason: Abandonment of Contract Description: Dirty Sandperson Condition: Dead/Alive [HARD][REWARD 110K] Target: Hapan Princess Kiliiis Ta’Djo Reason: Why not lol - |AMMENDED BY USER D73| Description: Hot, red haired Condition: Alive [EASY][REWARD 10K] Target: Grandmaster Darex of the Jedi COuncil Reason: force user Description: Tired old man Condition: Dead obviously ||BLACK SUN SPONSORED|| ||BOUNTY LIST||

The Black Sun Agent finished off her slaver with a quick knife hand to the throat which left him gasping and flailing at his crushed larynx, until he expired some minutes later, choking on his own neck. She let out a little giggle of delight and clapped her hands in front of her. “Well done little one! I like the lightsabre strikes, it was very well done!” She wiped her hands off on a scrap of a slaves clothing and beckoned to Celora. “Do you want to make like a tonne of credits hunting down rich politicians? We can do that next if you want!” She quickly dug through the pockets of the slavers and pocketed the loose cash credits before beginning to walk back towards the underground.

“You don’t want to go and kill every last one of the suckers?” The HRD’s voice sounded disappointed, and the young girl could see that she had even unbuckled her holster in anticipation. She smirked, and her eyes took on a red glow. “Just one okay?” She whipped her pistol up from its retention holster and triggered a crimson round into a minor slaver who was ushering a pack of children into a supply speeder. Cutting open a large furrow of melted skin and oozing black blood through his chest cavity. Dropping him like a sack of gilgameshi potatoes. “Keep up darlin, your turn.”

Slowly the duo picked their way through the streets of Ord Mantell, keeping in close proximity on a world filled to bursting with crime. Man Jurs was still a shitehole, and Black Sun was not trying to clean up the neighbourhood. “Ok so what skills do you have other than just your basic intuition with the force? Do you want to learn how to kill?” The girl jogged up a flight of permacrete steps and they were suddenly in a brightly coloured slave auction. Her mechanical eyes looked over the young human girl with a bit of a smile reflected in them. “How does this make you feel?” She gestured to a long line of humans and aliens in chains.

There was not much else to do for the Black Sun agents onboard the cloud city but die and die meaninglessly. Even the diehard agent Cathryne, the provisional governor would rather not do that. Plus they were not part of the slavery wing of the Black Sun and the most they could be convicted of was running casinos illegally. So they surrendered. The wings of fighters landed, and waited for eventual captivity. The stories of the empire killing innocents were not too scary to the men and women of the city, for they trusted their governor. The city in the clouds surrendered to the Empire without another shot fired and the remaining high level agents went to ground as the mass wealth of the casinos was transferred through datalink to the Black Sun coffers outside the Imperial jurisdiction. But the population wondered, would the Empire treat the city fairly?

The black sun agents on ground, or in this case cloud city itself, were shocked at the approach, and Provisional Governor Cathryne Atali began to make provisions for the station to pierce the shield. Additional spin-sealed Tibanna gas was pumped into the power generator in an effort to prepare for the increased load from the crashing station. The defending starfighters lined up an approach on the shield, preparing to burst forth and sortie until the shield could be restored in the slight chance it would be taken down by such a thing as a falling space station. ((Defense))

With a pull of a plug the young girl’s eyes flashed and she was relatively back to normal. Or at least as normal as a HRD could be to a young ex-slave girl. As the shuttle touched down, the Black Sun girl unbuckled her restraints and walked to the descending cargo ramp. “Tell me of yourself and your ambitions. Tell me of your desires, your lusts for revenge, your desire for love, glory, honour, or blood as we walk. It’ll be a bit of a hike afterall…” The girl’s voice trailed off into a mechanical whirr and she jumped down onto the dirty permacrete walkway below them. The closest offices were almost a mile away, through the slums of Man Jurs, and it would be quite the adventure to get there.

Ah yes, welcome to the Black Sun Dubrillion office Mr Erdric I believe you are here to see Mr Germaine? Please come this way…. The buxom blonde secretary's voice purred over the distant sound of repulsorlifts. The woman was of of medium height, wearing a short red skirt and a snappy uniform top, also of bright crimson, escorted the man into the back office. There he was greeted by a heavyset man with long blonde hair and an evil demeanor. “Welcome, I believe you were interested in a bounty hunting mission?” The question was rhetorical, and the Black Sun Lieutenant would harbour no answer of ‘no.’ His grin told all the tale the young hunter would need. “The bounty is for the head of the Galactic Senate. Godfrey d’Outremer from the sector known as the expanse within the Tapani freeworlds. You will find him at the restaurant Lias De Gress on COruscant’s upper levels. Since he has lost his wife, he has spent many days there, He wears a pale blue cloak, the bounty is five hundred thousand. Dead or alive.” He slid the man a datacard with the information upon it. “Now sign this contract and be on your way. Any questions”

The few Black Sun ‘skeleton’ crew onboard the Golan Defense platform did their utmost to put every last shot into the blasted imperial fleet before it overwhelmed them with Ion. Gunning for the most vulnerable smaller frigates the Black Sun would go out in a blaze of glory. Or at least that was the hope. The commander onboard, a twi'lek of younger years sat in a seat far too large for her, surveying a crew of soldiers her own age. She was outraged by the fact that her small command would soon be kriffed to all hell. “Kill them all!” She screeched at the top of her lungs. ((Disableshot Defense)) __________ The Black Sun had not skimped on some shield that would not even stop torpedoes raining down on their precious city in the clouds. Deflector shields like the planetary defense type were fickle things that sapped a great amount of power from the citadel, but they were designed to withstand months of orbital bombardment. When the high intensity scanners and scopes in the city spotted the very fast moving shuttles hurtling straight down towards the city, the command centre was speechless. Shuttles of that speed would simply burst against deflector shields like rain drops on a coruscanti permacrete skybridge. The Provisional Governor Cathryne Atali, survivor of the last Imperial Incursion against the planet shook her fist at the distant shield, her voice almost sad. “Have the guts to drop a bloody star destroyer on the shield not shuttles. Or at least something cool!” When the shuttles hit the shields it would not be some kind of electronic defense it would instead be a hard wall of energy designed to keep out invaders, turbolasers, and general bombardment. It would be a fantastic opening to the battle, at least for those not smashed like a cake thrown onto the ground at a child's birthday party. Bodies would soon be skidding across energy shields in the void of empty atmosphere. Those not killed outright by kinetic impact, burned alive in their white armour like knights before a dragons breath. How decidedly imperial. ((INFILTRATION SHOT DEFENSE))

"Ah then we will get you to him then." Came the voice of the largest mercenary with a pair of blood stripe down the side of his pressed trousers. He examined the trandoshan and compared him to his datapad. The alcohol seemingly having left him completely. Finally he stared up at the Lizard like being and said two words. "Rote Festung" And placed a hyperspace coordinate pad into his hand. A long string of three sets of numbers that when compared against the galactic zero placed them very near this own system, though outside of it in darkspace. “Remember Rote Festung it is the phrase you will need to get clearance to the main operations centre.” It was some kind of code word. And he emphasized it by pointing to a about to depart troop shuttle marked for deepsace and packed with Black Sun Marines. ((You will arrive in Space alongside the black sun battegroup. THere you will report to Delta aboard the Golden Dawn)) ____________ “No they never did anything for you or your people at all did they? They let their Republic get built on the labour of slaves and peons and do nothing.” The girl took Celora’s hand in hers and marched her towards the Nubian ship. Once inside, they walked to the lusciously decorated cockpit and the Black Sun girl began running through the preflight checklists. She ran her strong pale fingers across the rows of switches and toggles and the engines began to humm. She reached over to the side of the crash webbing and opened a side hatch, withdrawing a long charging and data cable with one hand and removing the cap from her head with the other, she plugged the cable into the back of her skull. Her grey eyes flashed a bright blue and the repulsor lifts kicked in. The impulse engines hit next and flung them into the atmosphere. An hour later they were past the minefield and with a pull of a lever they were in hyperspace. ((Post next on Ord Mantell))