Carida

[John Skywalker]

That was an exhilirating read, well done by both authors.

 

Haphaestus appears to have a clear victory as you read early on in the duel, the simple, unrelenting domination of machine-man over frail man would make anyone want to make that conclusion near the beginning, and Ian's ability with word-play and attitude are really both benefitting this.

 

However, just the same, Nom picks up by the later 'half' of the duel. At first, desperation sets in, and his attacks become more human instinct, which is both admirable and respectable. Finally, in the third post, he made the clincher, can Haphaestus' programming cope with the indeterminable chaos about him. Which, was an awesome leap for the character's mindset.

 

As much as I'd like to say No and let the good guy-under dog prevail, physics is actually based on Uncertainty; particle physics is only limited by the human factor of coping with probability, but for a more sophisticated technological universe, one in which Haphaestus was crafted, it should be able to compensate more quickly. Not to mention, he was conceived and honored by a Chaos God.

 

To vote on particulars, Nom's strike should connect with Haphaestus, perhaps as far as the inner chassis (unless it is infact, made of phrik), from my perspective, but with enough impetus to allow Haphaestus to utter the final strike in calculated recoil, if Ian chooses to kill Nom.

 

Regardless, that shuttle is going to crash, and the victor is going to come out of it pretty banged up... with all that taken into account, the victor, by a splintered-off mechanical thread and with needs for an oil-bath and sophisticated repair-work, is Haphaestus.

 

Congratulations to both authors for a duel very well-fought.

 

-Marc

 

It is also important to note, that it seems that Haphaestus is far more in control of the Dark Side than Nom is of the Light, which was another part of reaching my decision. And, while it is minute in signficance, when duels are close, you have to consider every and all aspects of it, to make your decision.

[Haphaestus]

((Nice fight, Nom. Well-spoken ruling, Marc.))

 

What clouded perceptions of Haphaestus' organic mind were left were utterly confused by the chaos around him. They were already rank with anger and hazy with hate, and now they were confronted by something they couldn't quite make sense of.

 

However, the part of Haphaestus that, ironically, the Jedi Master aimed to confuse had a perfect perception of things. Probability was a statistic, and this statistic was modified by his extensive armor plating. While it was true that the armor had its weaknesses and uncovered points, the probability of these being struck with enough force to cause considerable damage was all but miniscule and ignorable.

 

There was one thing, however, that the droid-organism thing hadn't quite prepared for. He had somewhat underestimated humans in this, partially judging from the reactions of his own organic mind. The Jedi Master had not allowed himself to be confused by the vortex that he had created, although his biological perception of probability certain should have led to a state of vertigo or simple disregard for all safety in a final attempt to damage the Sith he battled.

 

Regardless of the specifics, Haphaestus felt a sharp pain as his armpit was penetrated by a lightsaber. His skin was seared on the blade, but the once-droid did not allow this pain to stun or paralyze him, instead spinning away with well-tuned reflexes. The damage was done, but the skin's supernatural fast healing abilities set in. The plate beneath had received a small gash not quite sufficient to hinder Haphaestus, and the Sith moved in for the kill, his biological anger rising over his biological confusion.

 

The Dark Side came like a ball of fire growing immediately from a spark. Immediately everything around Haphaestus froze. His feet no longer touched the spinning floor, and he no longer spun with the ship. The objects that had been near him instantly stopped as well, as if an invisible stasis field were holding them as well as the Sith in place. Nom continued to spin with the ship, and Haphaestus commanded the objects to disperse. Many of them slammed into the Jedi Master, throwing off his all-but-impenetrable guard.

 

Impressive. But just not quite impressive enough. The long-time HK-50, short-time half-biological reached out with a single lightsaber at precisely the right second and it met flesh before he immediately retracted it, shutting the weapon off (as well as its identical counterpart in his opposite hand). A tiny trail of blood shot out from Nom's severed jugular vein, something he simply couldn't live without. It was only a small mark among many, but it was the only one that was fatal. "I am still more than you know," he said to his dead opponent, a crude apostrophe that echoed a phrase he had used moments before. Haphaestus called heavily on the Dark Side again and slowed the spiral of the ship until it stopped its spin.

 

Unable to use the controls, Haphaestus looked out the scratched viewport and grimly noticed Carida's moon which loomed only seconds from impact. Bring it on, his organic mind thought in an emotion the Sith Master labeled as defiance and slight arrogance.

 

A moment later, only the cruching of metal could be heard, with a violent, jarring impact that sent Haphaestus and his dead opponent's bodies flying forward with more momentum that is usually conceivable. But while a biological would pass out from the impact, Haphaestus was conscious for every moment of it until no sound could be heard. My armor, he mused, seems to have provided adequate protection even from high-speed collision. It is truly well-made.

 

Some careful lightsaber work allowed the Sith to cut himself free from the ruins, his skin healing again where it had been damaged. The viewplate on his helmet was cracked, hampering his vision, so he removed it and stood in the low-gravity, dark environment of the moon and neither said nor thought anything. He would worry about getting back to Carida in a few moments. For now, he would simply reflect on his performance and devise ways to further increase his capacity for combat excellence.

 

The battle was over, and he was victorious. But this was just one more step in a journey so vast that none before him had traversed it to its end. This was the journey to perfection.

[Zon]

Zon was told to go to Revan Khanjell, the Squadron Leader to the Venom Divison. As he got there he saw a low ranking officer carrying a cloak and Revan looking over a list. He stood to attention and saluting him, shouted, "Sir!"

[Oblivion]

After the long pause made by the Dark Lord, obviously inmidst of deep contemplation over some extreme detail which did not require his attention, the man graciously bowed out of his presence with one last trailing message.

 

"Well now, I'll be sure to run the idea by Lord Dagon before persuing the notion any further. Rest assured though," His voice went low, reduced to a faint whisper as it glided across the wind of his lips,

 

"This... will bring those invested within of our faith to show their true character in devotion. Extreme, of course,... but shall reap many rewards. I have forseen this change for many months now; this title will allow me to work further with it."

 

"Good day to you."

 

Dispersing within the very shadow he kept himself anchored upon, the cloaked figure reappeared away from the Dark Lord's vision, passing by the many halls of the construct, past the virtual reality barriers. He was aware of all of these contraptions built recently through the simulated trial, yet was never quite sure what they were capable of now.

 

Clever, 'reminds me of an old project of mine. Perhaps more research is to be invested in such a venture.

 

And with that small though did he return to his vehicle, heading through the gateway which led him to enter and exited in the same, familiar and brash fasion he had landed just as well.

[Kijdic the Hutt]

Edited: Edited for alias purposes. I changed characters.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Guest

[Enigmatic]

Revan continued down the list as a small pack of soldiers gathered before him, all apart of his squad. He wandered his eyes around the area, getting a glimpse of the squad he would be commanding for some time. Resting his hands on his hips, he was halted by a soldier who decided to abruptly introduce himself more....freely then the others.

 

"And your name is soldier?"

 

He eyed him up and down as he awaited his reply.

[Zon]

Zon replied, "Zon-Iwn-Woh, Sir!"

[Enigmatic]

He smiled at the soldier under his face mask as he took a step closer to the soldier.

 

"Well Zon...I see your formalities are up to par...now get in line with the rest of your fellow squad members."

 

He had them all line up as he awaited for the rest of the squad to show up for basic.

[Nex Terren]

Blackman drummed his fingers restlessly on the desk before him. Logic dictated that the ion tubing on the wing spokes shouldn't cause an overheat due to the relative closeness to the radiators inside the wings, however reality didn't show concern to what logic decided. The computer model suggested that the curve in the tubing was too sharp, but Blackman had a feeling that this wasn't the case. For starters the ion streams should have been adequately controlled by the repulsion control generators. Also what Blackman was doing could be classified as ”˜experimental' or ”˜qualza' depending on who you asked.

 

Frustrated he went back to work on the design of his craft.

[Lord MacLeod]

Luke stood up from the desk, the plan ready to be excuted. He went to his comm unit of the wall and set a comm throughout the base.

 

--Comm--"All Imperial Pilots report to the hanger bay at once. A mission has just come in We leave at once." --End Comm--

 

Luke then left his office and headed down to the hanger bay. Once there he began to run a preflight checklist on his ship. Twenty minutes later, he had it finished and prepped for launch. Now all he waited for was the rest of the squadrons to report.

[Haphaestus]

I've lingered here long enough, Haphaestus thought to himself as he continually scanned the stars. The orbit of the moon was now as close to the Imperial base as it could be, so now was the time to move. He had the strength to provide with only his legs and the Force the escape velocity required to leave the moon and required no air for the trip over to Carida, but it would quite possibly take a long time to reach the Imperial capitol....

 

The Sith Master began to scan the numerous Imperial patrols of various ships in the area, finding a suitable one that involved a Lambda-class shuttle which would have room for him on board. He couldn't comm the shuttle, but he had alternate means of communication. Subliminally, the once-droid spoke through the power of the Dark Side to the pilot. "I am waiting for you on the surface of the moon. I would be most displeased if you do not make your arrival here of utmost importance."

 

It worked, of course. The shuttle landed moments later and Haphaestus boarded, his tattered cloak catching enough air to trail behind him. "Take me to the Sith Temple," he said simply and directly. Again, it was only a few minutes before he was there.

[Nex Terren]

Blackman adjusted the orientation of the model's engines a few degrees with a couple of pecks on the keyboard. When this didn't achieve the intended result he continued to adjust it further. A perplexed look fell upon his face and he adjusted the engines back a degree. Satisfaction became evident, and he proceeded to make minute adjustments to all the systems that this last change affected.

 

He had solved the heating problem by all but dedicating the wing-radiators to the two main engines, and giving the third engine extremely little radiation. This would drastically cut down on the time the craft could maintain peak acrobatic performance, as the third engine was primarily responsible for this. Blackman had hoped not to resort to that, but every attempt to balance the engine radiation had resulted in a suicidal craft, and an expensive one at that.

 

Armament had been a point Blackman had chiefly ignored. He told himself that it was because the craft's speed and maneuverability were what he should focus on, however truthfully he didn't want to face the realization of what limits nature held. No doubt that procrastination in this regard would force him to later make numerous unnecessary modifications to account for the weapons.

 

It was then that his desk mounted comlink filled the room with Commander Macleod's orders.

 

Blackman gave a sharp, small nod towards the comlink in a silent sign of respect. He couldn't help but wonder what this mission might entail, and notice the extremely limited amount of instructions given.

 

"This is Squadron Leader Blackman." He addressed the comlink after depressing an orange button. "I have good news: Commander MacLeod has a mission for us. Suit up and report to the hanger immediately."

 

 

------

 

 

Despite their bulky environmental flight suits that were both uncomfortable and awkward, Blackman forced his squadron into a brisk pace that maintained enough order and deliberation in the step that it almost qualified as a march. However it wasn't a march, the squadron leader made sure of this. Marches were for troopers, not fighter pilots, just as much as fighter crafts were exclusive to the Navy, and blastech rifles the Army. It wasn't that Blackman held any distain for soldiers, but simply pilots didn't do such things and that was that.

 

At first his mind was fixed upon keeping his squadron's appearance crisp, orderly, and an example for other squadrons to follow, but once he realized that the only real thing he could do in this pursuit was to simply maintain the image himself and trust his squadron to follow, something that took precious little attention on Blackman's part, his conscious mind drifted to other things.

 

He tried to decide why not only his own, but several entire squadrons were being called to the hanger. His first, and best guess was that this a ”˜mission' was just an assignment to a Star Destroyer that couldn't wait, but of course that brought the question up of why it couldn't wait.

 

When guessing got him nowhere, his mind drifted off to his craft and the countless problems that hounded him. The datacard rested lightly in his breast pocket, but heavily on his mind. After all, he had been working on the craft's design for years. Most of the craft was done, indeed every part that could be considered difficult or experimental was out of the way. All that was left was simple things with the exception of the weapon system.

 

Into the hanger the Eclipse Squadron marched in a presentation that was none too extravagant, but still a something to behold. With all the order the empire stood for, the squadron filed into a neat rectangle and waited for orders.

[Kijdic the Hutt]

Edited: Edited for alias purposes. I changed characters.

Edited February 2, 2007 by Guest

[Enigmatic]

Revan soon sent out a quick message to all squad members via com link in Venom Division.

 

"All squad members in Venom Division, Basic Training will be postponed until Commander and Sith Lord Nokrt arrives. Sit tight, and get some rest until further notice."

[Lord MacLeod]

"Alright gentlemen. You have all been called here because we have been given the green light for a special mission. This mission takes three parts, only the first of which I will tell you at the moment due to security reasons. This mission is top secret, very few people know of it. Get to your ships pilots, set your navi-computers for the Hoth system. We leave at once."

 

Luke climbed into his ship and piloted it out of the hanger, guiding it into the air. The TIE Defender quickly shot through layers of the atmosphere before finally breaking through the gravity shadow of the planet. A short time later, his ship jumped into hyperspace, followed a short time after by the rest of the three squadrons.

 

((OCC Sorry about the shortness, Im going away for the weekend))

[Nex Terren]

Blackman raised an amused eyebrow. The Commander's speech was brief at best, and his departure even quicker, if that was at all possible.

 

”œAll right men,”

[Sasori]

Nokrt's ship touched down upon the Caridian surface, the black YT-1300 standing out upon a sea of TIE's. Nokrt wasted little time exiting his ship and heading for the Venom Division staging area which was newly built and astonishing to Nokrt. The Chiss stepped into the room where all the recruits were standing along with the Sith Lord Revan Khanjell that, to Nokrt's surprise, he did not feel any sort of bitterness between he and the other and this was not familiar for the Sith Lord. Even his master had not had such an accepting sense about him. Nokrt raised his hand into a salute, the recruits and the Sith Lord following in the salute.

 

"At ease troopers, I as you no doubt have noticed, am Commander and Sith Lord Nokrt, I welcome you to Venom Division. You have applied for this position to seek the mission of boarding enemy craft in space battles sending their onboard forces into dismay and allowing us to capture or destroy any ship the Empire has us to target. I therefore require you all to be on mark. If you make one error you will fail here and you shall be removed. Other than that I believe we are ready to begin initial screening starting with the recruit named Zon-Iwn-Woh."

 

Nokrt called the recruit forward so he and Revan could make sure he was what Venom would require.

[Enigmatic]

Revan turned only to see Commander and Sith Lord Nokrt arrive on the spot. The soldiers saluted as well as Revan as he walked over to the Sith Lord.

 

"Welcome Commander"

 

Commander Nokrt immediatly made his opening speech as Revan stood behind him. When all was said, Revan approached Nokrt with a holopad of each member.

 

"Due to the lack of recruits, I don't think we should go into the more advanced training until we get more enlisted recruits."

[Sasori]

"I quite agree, I doubt half these men will make it past the basic itself taking our force down to a petty band. Perhaps later today I will notify Admiral Phillep of the situation at hand. Perhaps he can make a holonet advertisment or something to that effect."

 

Nokrt made a quick scan of the recruits, some of them looked conscripted others forced to be here.

 

"This is blasphemy what we were given" said Nokrt shaking his head in disapproval. This was by far the most rag tag force the Empire had ever presented upon Nokrt. He could only hope they would prove his instict wrong.

 

[EDIT: Lets Get this going]

 

"Trooper Zon come forward for the initial screening process, I shall administer it."

[Enigmatic]

Revan turned towards Nokrt as he walked up to him.

 

"I have current business to attend to on Mechis, I assume you will take care of things here solo until my return"

 

Nodding, he went to the landing pad and entered his ship punching in the coordinates for Mechis III.

[Sasori]

Not only had the trooper Zon appear to have suffered an amount of brain damage at Nokrt's request but now his companion upon the planet left him alone...once more....It seemed that Nokrt would never have some sort of companionship he desired. Wheter it be a good friend or a lady friend he seemed to be alone. Was he not strong enough for them to bear his company? Was he not ambitious enough? All questions to be answered in the good course of time.

 

But for now Venom was at a halt...none seemed to be interested in the squadron which made Nokrt a bit less enthralled with his current position. Perhaps it was his Sith Robes that made him look less like a Sith. Less like what he needed to be. And with that thought Nokrt left the room and made his way top his ship.

 

Upon his ship laid the commander rank which was usually attached to the Imperial Uniform...however Nokrt would wear his differently and with barely a flicker of his wrist the Rank rose into the air and attached itself to his Sith Robes at the same spot it would normally be on an Imperial Uniform. Commander Nokrt looked more Imperial now and possibly more direct in his aims for Venom. With the power of the force he would guide his men in the heat of battle and insure the Sith a victory. This would be a glorious thing should anyone actually join its ranks.

 

Making his way back to his Command office Nokrt sat down and awaited a new batch of troops to come and volunteer for Venom division.

[Leinemaster]

The YT-1300 freighter Nighthawk descended towards the command center and training arena. Above the sky were TIE starfighters performing sorties. Below, in the vast jungle, was the vast command center. Approaching the hangar, the ship steadied and slowly passed into it and rested in an open spot next to a sea of TIE interceptors. As the vessels engines wound down to rest, the entry ramp opened.

 

Det instructed R5 to remain with the ship. He exited with his blaster in holster. He stood 6-2, was wearing a black tunic and pants. He checked with some troops getting directions toward the command center when the Force passed him some information. He then turned and proceeded toward the command center.

 

He found some offices upon arrival beyond the arena where troops were being trained. He passed by several doors before turning towards an open door and knocked.

 

”œCommander Nokrt, I am Det Jusaka. The Force guided me here as I was told that there would be a master waiting.”

[Sasori]

This man obviously had guts to walk up to a Sith Lord and interrupt his current activity. A slight beatdown is certainly in order for this one. Nokrt flared his red eyes toward the force-sensitive allowing them to bore into his soul pouring the dark side within him before the Sith Lord delivered his punishment to the unsuspecting force-sensitive. Nokrt turned allowing his robes to billow around his ankles revealing his boots, and once toward his future apprentice he gathered the power of the force to him and shoved it toward the door to which on the other side stood his soon to be apprentice.

 

The door blew off its Hinge and flung into Det Jusaka smashing his nose into fragments and crushing him against the side of the corridor, the blood from his face trickling down the door and his body falling under the momentum of the door being flung at him. Nokrt smiled maliciously and moved the door with ease grabbing his apprentice by the front of his tunic he wore. Bringing him up to a level where he could reach around his head and palm it within his grasp.

 

"NEVER and I repeat NEVER interrupt me again!" screamed the Chiss at the bowels of his voice and then drove his knee into the man's face...knocking him unconcious. This would allow time for the dark side to settle within his body and the desire for the power which Nokrt just provided to be dreamt of.

 

Nokrt hoisted his apprentice's body and nestled it inot a bunk in a nearby room. Nokrt returned to his room and began to meditate searching his mind in ways to instruct this man.

[Enigmatic]

Revan shot into the atmosphere of Cardia and immediatly landed his ship onto the landing pad. With both Revan and Nokrt commanding Venom Division, it would surely be a deathly blow to the Alliance in battle. Hopping out, he went straight for the Command Office, where Sith Lord Nokrt (And Friend ) was sitting.

 

"I've returned. How are things holding up?"

 

Commander Revan spoke out as he entered the office.

[Sasori]

Nokrt looked up to his emoticon posting friend and a frown of mock concentration broke his face as he prepared to answer his co-Commander's inquiry.

 

"Seeming as I have aquired an apprentice...3 people remain in Venom...there is supposed to be a new shipment of conscropt arriving from the outer rim in thirty hours though so we should be able to recruit some new members then...I also feel as if there is another, coming here. Out of their own will."

 

Nokrt looked outwards toward the core worlds and then toward Revan again.

 

"Was your trip productive?"

 

((The troops coming are to be NPC's))

 

[edit for me not caring about Revan's voyage and thus not reading it]

Edited August 28, 2006 by Guest

[Enigmatic]

Revan was concerned with Venom's progression. There were very few members, and if war erupted, surely they would be ill-numbered.

 

"Not as productive as I thought it would be. I went in search of an apprentice, but had no luck in aquiring one. My main focus is going to be directed towards this squad."

 

Revan sat down, relaxing himself.

 

"Have you begun basic yet?"

[Vladimir Faust]

An Imperial transport lands with some minor fanfare. Some distance away on another set of docks, arrives Faust's personal shuttle, the Bhelliom, though it is visibly pilotless from one look into its tinted cockpit. As the larger transport opens, bringing supplies of weapons, slaves (Given Ryloth was the home planet of the Twi'leks, the transport took into account the "appitites" of various Imperials at HQ, not the least among them being Phillep himself), and a few other items from the Ryloth garrison, yet the Imperials standing on duty see none of these.

 

Taken out on a large repulsor lift is a universal energy cage containing the Jedi Master Talon. There is a double row of storm troopers on each side, and leading the way, like some morbid marching band conductor, arrayed in his brilliant, shining white body armor and trench coat is Vladimir Faust.

 

His gives a brief comm, directed straight to the Imperial's central command center.

 

To the esteemed Admiralty of the Imperium and to the Dark Lord, I being you a prisoner of the Jedi Talon. There are plans for this Jedi that you may wish to consider hearing out, at your leisure of course...

[Leinemaster]

(Inside Det's dream)

 

He couldn't make out where he was, but it all seemed a little bit familiar. He looked around at the surroundings to find fire all around him. He was standing in what he believed was some type of”¦

 

No. He couldn't have been killed already?

 

”˜What happened? Where am I?' He looked around to see some type of being coming toward him. It was a fire/rock combination ”“ it looked like it was some type of monster, its eyes flaring of yellow.

 

”˜What are you?' Det asked?

 

”˜It's not what I am you should be worried about, it's what I will do to you,' said the creature. With that, the creature lifted his hand and Det was lifted from his standing position and pushed back into the fire behind him. His clothing burst into flames, the creature began tossing rocks at him, each one striking him with full force. Det screamed, he should be dead, but all he feels is pain. The pain got worse with every impact and flame, he felt helpless ”“ his anger was growing with every second until he let out one great shout and”¦

 

Det woke up screaming. His heart was racing very fast as he was panting. He tasted blood in his mouth, looked down at all the bruises and cuts all over his body. He also felt queasy.

 

”˜What the”¦' Who in their right mind would do this? Then the thought crossed his mind ”“ he is still in the command center, but last time he remembered he attempted to introduce himself to who was to be his master, instead he got a door in the face. His mind started racing, he clenched his fists and built up his rage. His rage became strong enough to break a bunch of glass objects in the room”¦

[Talon]

The Imperial transport that contained the Jedi Talon was a morbid place, to say the least. The shrieks and wails of slaves and prisoners filled the air, muting the thrum of the energy field holding him in place. A heavy layer of dust and grime and perhaps even dried blood covered the floor. Worse than the sound or the filth, however, was the stench. A mix between a rotting tauntaun and a pile of bantha dung would have smelled better. If this part of the shuttle had ever been cleaned, it had been a very long time ago. Unfortunately, Talon was powerless to do anything about it. It was”¦ distracting, if nothing else.

 

The arrival at Cardia was a welcome change- not because the company was better, but because he was finally outside the range of that wretched ysalamiri field. While Talon had no intentions of escape, he was glad to be able to access the Force to center himself. It was a good start in terms of focus.

 

The ”˜parade' through the main streets, however, was anything but pleasant. The danger sense that formed a knot in his stomach grew tighter with every step forward. Of course, that was to be expected. He was in the heart of the Empire. There were no allies here- only a million ways to die”¦

[Sith Wookiee]

Tarfuda slowly walked into the court yard of the academy. He moved slowly and carefully not to be spotted. He then entered into the academy where he went through large air ducts to avoid security patrols. He then slowly came out and walked into a empty dorm.

 

(Sorry about the short post, but not much to say.)