Kuat

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Arriving out of hyperspace, Ganelon takes a steady orbit around the world of Kaut, still able to observe the decimation to the orbital ship yards and some of the defenses. Though it appeared a clean tactical strike in so far as he could tell, there would still be the invariable loss of life, as well as a call for retribution from the Empire.

 

Not like the Empire gives a damn about their losses. Its injured pride at getting caught with its pants down and the Rebels carving a new hole for them is more likely to send it clammering for revenge than anything else.

 

Following proper procedures, Ganelon sets out a general hail, trying to pick up information.

[Rihn]

Orsa slowly watched the floating debris created by the massive destruction the combined Hutt and Rebel forces had wraught. Their strike was successful and once again, the Empire had failed to protect its people or its interests. But even more than that, they had finally destroyed a very strategic location on the Empire universal map.

 

Soaking up the sights for a little, Orsa was finally interrupted by the communications officer.

 

"Sure. We have finally received a reply to the message we sent Agent Tobias."

 

Orsa nodded, "Very good. Patch it to my office."

 

An audio only transmission, Orsa sat at his desk as the mysterious man spoke softly.

 

"So I hear you had success."

 

"Yes. The shipyards are completely destroyed."

 

The voice on the other end quitely laughed a little.

 

"Then things have gone as planned. But I think we have crippled the Empire enough for one day. Pull the fleet out of Kuat. We'll regroup elsewhere."

 

Orsa paused for a few seconds.

 

"Where did you have in mind?"

 

"Nowhere in particular. I'm sure you can see to things as you deem fit."

 

"Uh...ok. I guess I will await our next move."

 

"I guess you will, Tobias out."

 

Orsa sat at his desk for a few more seconds. He wasn't exactly sure where he would like to move the fleet to next. It was obvious, though, that their work here was done. The Hutt Cartel was now a name that struck fear into the hearts of the Empire. No citizen or soldier could feel entirely safe, less maybe there was a SD floating in orbit around their system or planet. As it stood, the war with the Hutts had proven to be a costly venture to both sides but most dramatically to the Empire. Orsa nodded to himself.

 

It's not the size of the creature. It's the size of its stinger.

 

As Orsa sat in silence, however, a ship dropped out of hyperspace and opened up a general hail. The communications officer paged Orsa in his room.

 

"Commander. We have a vessel hailing the fleet. It looks like a Link vessel."

 

"Oh? We have a treaty with the Link, do we not?"

 

"Yes, sir. I believe so, sir."

 

"Very well. Open up communications with that ship."

 

"Yes, sir."

 

"Unidentified vessel. This the Commander Orsa of the Te Kandosii. Please specify your purpose for entering this sector and hailing our vessels."

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon waits, mulling over what he could see below and in space. Finally he receives an answer. He takes a moment, then formulates a reply. As a precaution, he beams it back on a secure line, lest any remaining Imperial watchers pick up.

 

"This is Lord Ganelon of Seneferia on the Alhazard, representing the Link Organization. Given the recent events here, I have come on the Link's behalf to avail myself as to your organization per our prior agreement."

 

Ganelon sends it off, waiting for a reply. Now began a careful and delicate dance he witnessed many times before by his prior employer- extending one's services to an ally while keeping a safe distance that avoided one from being marked by enemies of that ally- particularly by the Empire.

 

And so the dance begins anew. Let us see how this plays out and what profits we may reap.

[Rihn]

"Ah. So it is the Link. I wonder what they want at the moment..."

 

Orsa paused for a few seconds. He then paged one of his officers.

 

"Run a background check on a Lord Ganelon of Seneferia."

 

Over the intercom an officer replied, "Yes, sir."

 

Orsa nodded, "Good. Now to reply to his communication..."

 

"Link Vessel. This is Commander Orsa. Uh. I'm curious as to which services you might be refering to. We currently have completed our most pressing agendas and are prepared to leave the system. If the Link has anything pressing to discuss, perhaps they would like us to visit the Casino? Or is it something we can take care of right here and now?"

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon waits a moment, looking at the ruined Kaut Drive Yards, a small idea forming in his mind of a way he can appease both the Hutts, his bosses, and even profit off of the Empire. He was probably going beyond his authority here, but...

 

"A more discrete meeting ground should be in order for what I have mind. There was a matter of some offices leased to your organization on Coruscant I was sent to inquire about a while back, and I believe they would be an ideal meeting place. I shall see you there."

 

He sends off a comm back to the Link and departs into hyperspace.

[Rihn]

Orsa nods.

 

"Yes. I know of these. That would be agreeable. We will send someone to meet with you shortly. Orsa out."

 

Reentering the bridge, Orsa caught a glimpse of the Link vessel as it jumped into hyperspace. Turning to survey the bridge, Orsa smiled.

 

"Well, boys. We've done our job. Let's take the fleet to hyperspace."

 

Without hesitating a moment more, the fleet fired up its engines and jumped to hyperspace.

[Menthu]

And so he was left there, with nothing, he hadn't even got a chance to fire his gun. Well he coudl always return back and see if there were any other jobs for him.

 

Starting up his ship, he put putted back.

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Once more, the disparaged nobleman Ganelon finds himself in orbit over Kaut, though he uses his civilian creditentials to secure a landing on the planet and makes his way to the surface offices of the KDY. The chaos he finds there as they try to recoup from the devistating attack wages on them does not surprise him, though he believes he can see order emerging from what he guesses to be orders from the new management. He carries himself well, though has a sure feeling he is being watched. Still a nominally imperial world, non-humans were regarded with suspicion and contempt.

 

The fools...

 

Before formally approaching the KDY represenatives with a formal proposal, he spends a day checking with old contacts he used to hear of from his former employer, trying to hit up ansilary members and friends of the Daviot family for news regarding the take over and privitization. Still left with many questions about Darkwatch Securities, he spends his evening in a crowded hotel trying to use his references with the Link's own information hub to gain some more intel. As near as he could find out, they focused more on military armorments and weapons, as well as their tactical deployment. A thin smile draws on his pale blue lips in hopes that they would find a need for contractors that specialized in ship building to fill in the gap. Likely he would be able to undercut most competitors- the CEC being among the most well paid and loyal workers in the galaxy and less than likely to leave than even Mon Cal workers, who would balk at working at an Imperial aligned shipyard.

 

Yes, this would be a good day indeed...

 

The next morning, Ganelon preens himself, then returns to the KDY offices, presenting himself as the chief executive officer of Con Vez Shipyards, wishing to speak with the current chief of operations here on Kaut about a business deal to help rebuild the shipyards.

[Dagon]

::A small fleet of clone ships moves into the orbit of Kuat, the first in a long process of revitalizing the shipyards. Full clone societal systems begin growth, with emphasis on laborer, scientist, and medical clones. Ganelon is informed that his offer and his presence are not required at this time.::

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon listens to this news, partially bemused, but still insistant and unrelenting to back down.

 

"Clone labor has its advantages," he counters smoothly. "At least for replacing educated and trained personnel. For your ordinary day laborers, it's far easier to import them, and even better if they've had some experience. Of course it'd be better if you had someone to make the Alliance pay for those damages-" with this, the nobleman makes a tsking noise, then continues, "-someone established and with experience in this area could make it very profitable for you while still lowering your overhead."

 

Still not sure if he would win over the new owners, Ganelon decides to take one final gamble, vowing silently to get this contract even if it was written in blood.

 

"You know, Con Vez is based out of Nar Shaada," Ganelon continues. "I happened upon it in a deal that almost seemed too good to be true, with its former owners pressuring me to make this deal." Ganelon taps his fingers, letting the representative consider this. "As it is, I am nobody's pawn."

 

True enough.... There's no way my old employer, or even Zara would possibly consent to what I'm about to do... but I have too much riding on this and there's no way I can let this fail...

 

Clearing his throat, Ganelon continues. "I know the Empire, and I'm asuming your own agency would have an interest in ensuring the smooth maintenance of this facility, as well as keeping an eye on the Hutts, which is also why I'm offering this trade." Ganelon cracks his knuckles. "You can always use the labor- it's cheap, affordable, and helps you in the long run. You also have the benefit of keeping your enemies close since I have little doubt that at least some of the workers we'll be bringing in will have conflicted loyalties." He proceeds on, knowing there was no going back now.

 

"As the new CEO, I'll be entitled to my administrative staff, which will have several openings. I'm sure there's enough ties that a few trained covert operatives can use to their advantage. The Empire can nuke Nar Shaada into oblivion a hundred thousand times, and the roaches will always crawl back, like lopping a snake off at the tail. If you wish to kill a snake... or a Hutt... you need its head. That being said, do you wish to reconsider my offer now?"

[Mr. Mortati]

The Requiem, a cargo hauler of immense proportions, arrived in system with a load of supplies, a show of good faith some would say, for Kuat. On board were not only vital supplies, but also a large amount of workers. They were only comparable to worker Bee's in a bee hive; their sole purpose having been genetically embedded.

 

A comm was sent out, to whoever was in charge, concerning the supplies. If they wished to rebuild on their own, they would accept that and make their way back to where they had come from, but if not then they would begin unloading and rebuilding immediately.

[Dagon]

I'm not sure what shoddy clone technology you've dealt with before, but our clones are capable of being genetically enhanced for their given tasks, and can even be given genetic memories to replicate experience. As for the Hutts, we're neutral until we're paid to be otherwise, so you have nothing of interest to us.

 

::With the completion of the restored shipyards, the clone workers began the proccess of building new ships...::

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon gives a polite nod, then departs, hiding his anger and disgust.

 

Waiting for clearance to depart, Ganelon relaxes in a small bar, ordering a drink and watching the arrival of new clone workers.

 

Talk about staring at the same ugly faces all the time...

 

He is bemused to see the Holonet report from his allies go up. It would infuriate the Empire, and probably not go quite so well where he was sitting, but he also realized that with the new ownership of KDY, the Empire may have lost its jurisdictional claims against the Alliance and Hutts. He knew that his own proposal would have cost the Hutts a few operatives, but Ganelon also knew, given the chance, he could manage his ability to play all sides against the middle. As for what all that meant... Not a fat lot.

 

Tired, he receives clearance and prepares to take off back to the space. He now had a succesfully laundered ship building industry in his pocket and would need to figure out what to do with it.

[Mr. Mortati]

As Ganelon is moving towards the exit of the alley he is in, two men with rifles step into view at the end of the alley. If he tried to run, he'd find the same had happened at the other end. All of them are the exact same height, except for a fifth who was at least three inches taller then the others. His face was completely covered by a red hood of sorts and he wore black goggles as if to protect his eyes from something.

 

”œMr. Ganelon, how are you this evening?”

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon's orange eyes narrow. His hand reflexively strays towards the blaster at his side, though he remains calm..

 

They know my name... Not good...

 

If these thugs wanted to take him down, he would go fighting and make their bounty-head or attempted robbery costly to them. Till then he was willing to try to talk his way out.

 

"It's been quant," he states acidly, eyeing the hooded leader. "You gentleman seem to have taken pains to look me up, so what can I do for you?"

[Mr. Mortati]

The man approached him, the others taking up guard positions with their weapons ready in case Ganelon tried anything. The hooded man stopped a few feet from him, his face unreadable thanks to the goggles and cloth wrapped around his head.

 

”œYou've got quite a history, you know. It's not exactly easy to find you either”¦”

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon remains calm, trying to still his rapidly beating heart.

 

"Adiquate," he states aloud, looking at the credit stick and crossing his arms. "Anything in particular you want intel on?"

[Mr. Mortati]

"Business deals and militaristic activity."

 

He turned to leave, but almost as an after thought he turned and added...

 

"...My comm is wired into that cred-stick. The name's Dr. Thrax. Keep me informed."

 

A muffled chuckle was heard through his hood before he left the alley, closely followed by the two men that had entered at the end in front of Ganelon. The two at the other end were gone before he could look back.

[Ganelon of Seneferia]

Ganelon nods, pocketing the credit stick.

 

"Very well, Doctor Thrax..." he whispers, then hurries back to his ship and makes the jump to hyperspace.

 

All in all, things were starting to look up.

[Zeke]

Zeke arrived in the system and activated his sensors. He picked up several relief cruisers that were working hard on trying to remove much of the remaining debris from around Kuat. He could see several pieces burning up in the atmosphere, but he knew the larger pieces wouldn't completely burn up and could risk destroying people and property alike if they impacted the surface.

 

His ship slowed to a complete stop and once he activated the defenses he moved to the holding area. The three upgraded Aries mobile suits sat quietly, as if in contemplation of their next actions. All three of them would find use today, but only one would have an actual pilot. Since this was supposed to be a non-combative mission it wouldn't make much of a difference. He spent the next half hour programming the ship's A.I. for their new task. Once it was over, the program would be easily deleted and replaced with their old software.

 

After suiting up in a basic enviro-suit he fired up the mobile suits and made a mental note to find someone who could create one to his liking. It wasn't exactly smart to fly around in space without one and these run of the mill ones just didn't cut it.

 

The three suits left the ship, with two of them following Zeke. He sent a comm. to the people working on removing the debris which alerted them to his presence and that he was here to help out the cause. He sent one of the units towards the western side of the planet and the other to the northern portions where things were only moderately bad. He stayed near the middle so he could easily get to another sector that was in dire need of help.

 

He set to work blasting apart the chunks to large for him to throw in the other direction, but after several hours of work he was out of ammunition for his suit and was faced with a piece that had come out of no where. His thrusters lit up as he rocketed over towards it. Several other relief workers were doing the same, but it'd be at least five minutes before they could cover the full distance and about four before they got in weapons range.

 

If his calculations proved anywhere near correct then it'd be only three minutes before it broke the atmosphere of the planet. He stopped in front of it, letting his thrusters carry him backwards a bit as the debris hit him and began driving him towards the planet. He pressed the palms of the massive machine against it and redirected all of the ships energy to the engines. He was succeeding in slowing the thing, but not in changing its direction. The gravitational pull had too strong of a hold on it. System alarms began blaring as they were in serious danger of frying which would leave him in the awkward position of being the first thing to hit the ground”¦just before thousands, maybe millions depending on the planets population, were killed.

 

He grasped the dark side and began pumping it into his Mech in copious amounts. It was transformed into energy as it made the transition. The result was the over-clocking of his machine. More energy then it could handle began to pour into its system and he heard Zain's voice warning him, but he didn't pay attention as he continued”¦he knew that the Aries could withstand even more then she gave it credit for.

 

His thrusters burned violet, rather then their normal blue, as he strained against the debris. The dark energy exploded outwards, his hands and the Mech unable to contain it any longer, and pushed against the dura-steel chunk with greater force then had been previously visited upon it. It began to slow at a greater speed until soon it was moving backwards.

 

”œ”¦Systems overloaded, reentering atmosphere now”¦”

[Onderin Starlisk]

The remaining Alliance presence at Kuat quietly departed.

[Dagon]

::A Darkwatch shuttle arrives at one of the many medstations docked at Kuat. Three critical care patients are unloaded to the intensive care wards of the station, where medical clones oversee their recovery. It took days for them to become stable enough for interrogation.::

 

What do you remember?

[Leonardo Stovachi]

What do you remember?

 

These were the words the monster screamed as it chased him through the darkness. He did not know what it looked like for he was too afraid to turn and look. He knew the monster behind him represented everything that was evil in the universe. It was what took his memory. It is what caused him pain. And he knew it was all the evil that was inside him. It was everything he felt sworn to destroy. But he was afraid. Afraid that he could not stop it. Afraid to face the evil behind. And the evil within him.

 

As his his mind ran from a monster, his body still reacted to the pain coursing through it. His back arched, his fingers spasmed, his toes curled. His eyes fluttered with attempts at revival, but he was nothing but a shell. His mind tormented by the very evil attempting to destroy his soul.

 

As he ran, he spotted a light in the darkness. An orb hovered above the ground, beckoning him towards it. Within the orb he could see people, places, things he could not imagine, and then he saw it. He saw himself holding a blade of light. He was holding the weapon of a Jedi: a lightsaber. Turning towards the orb, he sprinted towards it. He could feel the monster mere inches from his back. But he spurred forward. He knew this orb held his memories and would bring back his whole life. If he could reach that orb, he would become who he once was. When he was within mere feet of the light, he leapt. He flew through the air, and he stretched out his arms.

 

I remember........

 

At the last second, a wall materialized around the orb. Smashing into the steel, the soul fell to the ground in a heap. His hopes dashed at regaining himself. Turning his eyes to the monster, he watched as its jaws enclosed him.

 

His eyes opened within the tank as a single word slipped through his lips. A single word that answered the question from the monster. A single word that told what he was, and showed how utterly broken he was.

 

"Nothing."

[Arclight]

Arclight waking up after apparently a long nap... was now wondering where all of his armor had gone? and ... what the?

 

One minute Arclight was perfectly safe on Hoth and the next he was in a medical facility... Good thing he spotted Tiana and that guy they had picked up in the snow or surely Arclight would have just completely freaked out...

 

So they must have picked us up together Arclight thought... although this may have somewhat explained how they got here, this didn't explain why..

 

Arclight was uncomfortable being away from his swords and his armor... he felt naked without them, even if it weren't for the fact that he really was pretty much naked in the Tank...

 

Then came a voice - "What do you remember?" it said

 

Hesitant to speak within his tank Arclight said, "well I remember being on Hoth with these two, and so far that I know I still remember how I ended up on Hoth in the first place... I also remember some Armor and Weapons that are not currently in my possession that I would really like to have back..."

 

Arclight knew that this was a very abrupt answer, but he also knew that the feeling of separation from the only remnant of his family he had left was still to hard to bear... "they just vanished"... after his response Arclight took a glance over at Tiana and the man that they had picked up in the snow to see how they were doing...

 

The man was looking pretty bad, but was being fixed up rather well, and Tiana hadn't spoken yet... whether that was from lack of words or purposeful silence Arclight didn't know... All he knew was that they were stuck in this critical care facility...

[Tiana Calthye]

Dizzy, tired.

 

What the hell just happened?

 

Blank.

 

Blink.

 

Pain.

 

What?

 

Damn. The voices were back. No surprise, always there, arguing, haha...

 

She remembered too long in pain, remembered too much incomprehension. This wasn't Hoth anymore. Dammit, her ship was on Hoth! All that work stealing it from Kamino, but no, it was in the snow on Hoth.

 

All of us.

 

We're here.

 

Where's here?

 

Some place not on Hoth, medical. Reminded her too much of Kamino.

 

At least, what brought her there...

 

"Everything. Do you honestly want my entire life story? That could take a while!" she fumed. "At least, until someone so kindly knocked us out on Hoth. Someone care to fill in the blanks?"

 

After Oblivion, she wasn't particularly concerned what crazed manical captors with full-fledged medical facilities could do. She couldn't get much crazier, after all.

[Dagon]

That is unfortunate, captain Stovachi, but we have ways to restore your memories, old friend. You will be returned to us soon enough. You Tiana, are here because my apprentice Oblivion spoke... fondly of you. It grieves me greatly that Oblivion appears to have disappeared, and if you are as talented as he said, your presence may fill the emptiness of his absence.

 

You sir are here as a matter of professional curiosity. The design of weapons and armor is a personal interest of mine, and yours appear to be unique. I would like you to indulge me in the story of their creation, after which you are free to leave to any port of call. Darkwatch is on good terms with all factions of the galaxy.

[Arclight]

Interestingly enough, Arclight was surprised when the mysterious stranger had asked for Identification on his weapons and armor... Mostly for the fact that he had no idea how they were made... I mean he knew the components from which Semper Fi (his Two Handed Vibro Claymore) was made from, but that was really the only solid knowledge he knew... Besides the fact that the other two swords he had were gifts... Who knows what they did or protected against; it's not like he practiced against jedi...

 

Arclight supposed he could tell the stranger how his parents were masters of a sword art that had its roots in lightsabre style, and that his armor was very unique because long ago it was specially crafted for his father... but how would that really help him..? Even in the position that he was. So, he decided that his story was as good as it was going to get for the stranger so...

 

"Well thank you for the pick up then I suppose. I myself have little knowledge as to how the armor and dual swords were created. I do know how my Two handed Sword was created though - to a certain extent - and since I really have no choice but to let ya know... let's start with that one first and I'll work down in my knowledge... "

 

Arclight paused trying to muster up his memories...

 

"ok, so I was actually there watching my friend's father make the Two Handed Sword, granted I didn't quite understand how he was doing it, but I could see him working with very interesting components and he often told me what they were; one main component he mentioned to me, I think was called refined cortosis; something my friend said helps resist lightsabres.. Besides that, I got to see him fashion the blade and reinforce it several times through the constant addition of more and more metal... and once he had enough refined cortosis compacted to the point of extreme solidarity; he began to shave off little by little the excess metal..." "When I had asked him why he was doing this, he simply told me that the integrity of the sword would remain sound and would still have the same compound feel and effect as if it hadn't been shaved off at all, but at the same time it would be lighter... Then, he fashioned onto it the Ultrasonic generator that gave it the kick that Vibroblades usually have... but also, something that I found pretty unusual, he put a thermal energy generator into the hilt along with the ultrasonic one... Farebeat from me to know why he did it; I have little knowledge when it comes to those things and therefore I just concluded it was a little weird because I didn't see something that generated heat involved with the actual function of the vibro blade...Anyway, once he did it, the sword generated this interesting kind of arctic blue light that is extremely hot to the touch... I know this because that's how my friend burnt his Index and middle finger off..."

 

Arclight paused for his response was so long winded...

 

"Anyway, as for the armor and my dual blades - the dual blades were just some pretty nice vibro blades given to my family as a gift, but they seemed pretty standard to me... kind of like the ones my parents trained me with..."

 

The next subject Arclight was fairly hesitant with however... although he may try to exude toughness and have a fairly indifferent attitude towards interacting with people; he just seemed to have some deep emotional attachment to his armor. His armor was very closely linked to his family heritage... he had no idea in what way, but his father did and now he was gone... When Arclight picked back up with his dialogue this time, he seemed a bit unsure and hesitant”¦

 

”œWell”¦ my, Armor is a little unique for a set of ornate composite armor, but I don't know why”¦ All I know was that it was made for my father in the days he served as a mercenary”

[Darth Furion]

The Chameleon limped out of hyperspace. Its mission complete, all power save for emergency life support on the ship vanished. Julio breathed a sigh of relief, as if holding his breath had somehow carried the ship thus far. With a few quick flicks of his wrist, Julio rerouted a little power from the life support to the comms.

 

-This is Julio Furion, captain of The Chameleon, requesting assistance.-

 

Julio sat back in his seat, feeling Rose emerge from her room to offer him company. She sat in the copilot chair, staring into the blackness of space. The whole trip she had said nothing, carefully noting his choice of solitude and silence. Now they continued to wait.

[Leonardo Stovachi]

Captain.....Old friend....

 

Had he worked with this man in the past? Had they been friends before he slipped into darkness? Had he been a soldier in some military? One would think he would remember such things: combat, death, blood soaked battlefields, weapons, orders, soldiers. These were things people did not forget. Reaching deep into his mind, he tried to remember anything that would tell him he was a soldier. But the only thing he could remember was the darkness of nothing and the white power that covered the planet of Hoth.

 

Looking down through the fluid filled tank, he watched as the man spoke to the others. He seemed to have a connection to all of them. But his connection to the the amnesiac was the only one that seemed mysterious.

[Dagon]

"Actually, the tubes are preventing necrotic energies from eating the flesh off of your bones and causing massive genetic mutation. You see, when the good captain "Came through" he brought something from the other side with him, and dit doesn't play well with others. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment, I need to see a man about a wookie."

 

::Dagon left the medical center to head towards the docking bay that Furion-Exodus would be coming in. With him was the child and the body of the Jedi master, a sacrifice on the altar of rising power.::

 

"Julio, I've been expecting you"