Carida

[Doran Krote]

When Doran saw another Interceptor approach him he readied himself, he knew that Norkt would begin their training soon. When he heard the Admiral's voice he looked at the Com but noticed that it wasn't in use, he quickly questioned what he heard before it continued and explained how it was contacting him. Doran's thought drifted to that thought, a power that could let you communicate without being traced would be a powerful asset. When he was told to destroy his enemies or he would die he had the urge to turn his HUD and targeting computers back on but he pushed that urge aside and concentrated on the task at hand.

 

Doran piloted his Interceptor towards the Gauntlet, he knew he had to be smart about approaching it and he knew he had to be objective about it, there would be no accidents as they would cost him and Cathair their lives. As he neared he noticed that he had taken the lead or more correctly he was given the lead which showed how brave his fellow Imperial Knight was, Doran also thought of the possibility that he was given the lead position so Cathair would have a heads up on the enemies and have a better chance of survival but either way he needed to be prepared.

 

The Mandolorian searched deep within himself, he needed to find the Force if he wanted to survive. He strained his muscles trying to draw upon some mystical force, some all powerful energy that was his only hope of survival which he had no idea of what it really was or how to obtain it and if he did somehow discover how to use it how would he know to use it correctly so he didn't end up dieing in a fiery explosion? His thoughts were negative ones so he cast those aside again, his anger was bubbling to the top and he was ready to quit.

 

'I should have went on another pointless infiltration mission.' He thought to himself jokingly.

 

He looked over and saw that Cathair had just knocked out a Headhunter, a slight sigh of relief escaped him as he knew that meant one less enemy. He knew he had to take out the other Headhunter that was flying directly at them. As it was about to collide with him he hit the brakes and pulled upwards, when the ship flew under him he hit the thrusts and flew towards the enemy ship and aimed a shot. He took a breath and fired a couple of times, they all missed and Doran cursed loudly in frustration.

 

As he was cursing he realized that he needed the Force more than ever, he needed to shoot the ship and that he couldn't do it without it. His eyes narrowed as he sped up to catch the ship, as he closed in on it he relaxed his muscles and stopped straining them, he let the Force come to him instead of him trying to search for it. His thoughts slowed down until his mind was clear and ready to go, he put the ship in his sights again and shot a couple of times with his lasers, when they made contact Doran was relieved. He turned his ship around and caught up with Cathair, he made sure the Force was flowing through him easily before he ventured into the Gauntlet.

[Nokrt]

Captain Il'Kal turned to the new cadet who had arrived on the bridge. His uniform was pressed, clean, and straight. The new recruit had blended into Imperial requirements rather quickly. A great thing to find in a raw recruit indeed. It was very rare such talent was immediately learned. The Captain was pleased his assignment would not be brutal.

 

"Cadet Galen, The Grand Admiral would like you to become more knowledgeable in the Leadership, Piloting, and Commanding of an Imperial Star Destroyer. But first you have to earn your ability to command a craft of this such. It took me nearly 12 years of service to ascertain Captain of an Imperial Star Destroyer. You will do it in a few short weeks. There is a library on this ship, read on the schematics of all Rebel and Imperial Capital Ships and Bomber Class Starfighters. When you have done that report back to me."

 

((AKA. GO TO WOOKIEEPEDIA AND LOOK UP AS MUCH INFO AS POSSIBLE AND MAKE A 700+ WORD POST ABOUT WHAT YOU LEARNED))

 

_________________________________________________________________

 

 

Meanwhile, The Grand Admiral looked upon the Guantlet. It looked as if Lieutenant Breslin and effectively become a Force User and effectively began to use it. However, Doran Krote seemed to be living on luck and chances as opposed to gaining the control over the force neseccary. It is not something controlled by muscles, but by will and determination. If he did not find that ability soon, he would die.

[Cathair Breslin]

As the TIE Interceptor shot forward through space, its pilot was reveling at his discovery. Lt. Cathair Breslin could feel the Force flowing through him. He had read reports from several Force users and recalled that each Jedi/Sith felt the Force in a different way. Most Jedi reported feeling the Force as a cool calming river running through them, soothing them and making it easier to focus upon the Force. While most Sith referred to the Force as a intense fire burning deep within them, bringing their anger, pain, and hatred forth, allowing them wield the Force as a weapon. But what the newly appointed Imperial Knight felt was somewhere in the middle. It felt almost like a stream of molten lead was coursing through his veins. While it did burn, it was not a burn designed to cause pain or fear, more to focus him on the Force, to feel its power and allow him to embrace its strength. And embrace it he did.

 

The speed of the Interceptor was unmatched as Cathair began to accelerate and push the fighter to its limits. Even from within his helmet he could hear the whine of the engines as more and more stress was put to them. In the distance he could see two more Z-95s making their towards himself and Doran. Assuming they were in range, Cathair opened fire with all six laser cannons. He watched as crimson lances of energy pulsed towards the Headhunter he had deemed his. After 13 misses, two lances slammed into the cockpit and fuselage of the enemy fighter and it erupted into flames. Deciding to show a little fancy flying, LT. Breslin performed a wide barrel roll around the flaming wreckage. As his TIE passed over the last remnants of steel parts, he felt a shudder on left side, and quickly reined in his fighter. Looking out the viewport, he noticed that his left upper laser cannon had been sheared off by a piece of wreckage.

 

Shab!

 

That's what he got for fancy flying. Cursing himself for allowing his pride to get in the way of his training and survival, Cathair vowed to keep things simple from here on out. The sudden burst in confidence and strength brought about by feeling the Force had almost cost him his life, and still might. Allowing this information to settle in, Lt. Breslin realized that just because he could access the wealth of strength, powers, and confidence the Force could bring him, did not make him invincible. All it would take to bring down even the most powerful of Jedi/Sith would be a little run of bad luck, and someone smart enough to capitalize on their own fortunes. He would need to use his own natural strengths and knowledge to augment those brought on by the Force.

 

A splash of crimson energy against his hull brought him back to the moment at hand. Peering out his viewport, he could see two Z-95 Headhunters speeding their way towards him. Pushing his TIE to accelerate he watched as the enemy ships quickly grew in his view. He had expected to see Doran speed forward and take on the first Hunter, but a quick glance to his side saw that Doran was not there. The former bounty hunter was hung up nearly 1000KM behind as he dealt with the twin of the fight that had even in death weakened the former Stormtroopers own ship. Panic almost overtook the Imperial Knight but he quickly buried the feelings of fear and focused on the burning stream within him. Allowing his eyes to fall half closed, he could almost feel where the blasts would strike and he managed to avoid each lance of energy thrown his way. As this fight continued he began to realize that he could dodge these fighters forever, but unless he could gain an edge, he would never destroy them either. As twin lances of energy streaked from his right, he felt that he should decelerate quickly and angle his fighter to the right. Pulling back on the throttle, and pulling the yoke hard to the right, he watched as the fighters split around his Interceptor. As the fighter to his left went wide to circle around and come behind him, the Knight zeroed in on the fighter that was now in front of him. A small grin was allowed to cross his face as he began to let loose trails of energy.

Within seconds, he could feel that the second fighter was now behind him, and once again firing. He knew it would be several more moments before he was within range to be truly targeted by the Hunter so he put all his focus on the fighter he was tailing. Each blast of energy he fired seemed to simply slide by the targeted Z-95 and Cathair began to feel frustrated that he could not destroy a simple computer. Anger began to boil inside of him and the stream of molten lead began to heat up. It began to course through his veins faster; sweat began to bead on his brow beneath the black helmet as the Force was called to his aid. Even though his body was heating up, calm overtook him. The anger inside of him began to bleed out. The heat from the Force began to dissipate as Lt. Breslin, without realizing it, allowed the Force to act through him.

As his firing continued, he noticed that the Headhunter began to move less and less. His shots became closer and closer to the fighter. It seemed almost as if the enemy fighter had given up, that the computer had run out of maneuvers to dodge his fire. At some points, Cathair even swore he saw the fighter move to the exact spot he needed before it slowly moved away again. Shock crossed his face as he thought he realized what he was doing.

 

I can't be moving that fighter. Only someone who is truly powerful and trained in the Force could move a star fighter during a battle.

 

As the thought crossed his mind, he looked down at his hands and truly realized what was going on. He was controlling the enemy star fighter, through the Force; he was anticipating what the ship would do. Without conscious effort, he was only able to predict what the fighter would do, nanoseconds before it happened. But now that he realized what he was doing unconsciously, he could focus on that feeling and use it better to his advantage. The things he would be able to do with that kind of power. Even on the ground that kind of tactic would be useful. IT if he could anticipate what the enemy on the ground was going to do before it happened, he could place his commandos in a perfect position to thwart that effort. And for a millisecond, he wondered how far into the future he would be able to see. A glancing blow from the fighter on his tail brought him back to the present, and he realized he would only have a few seconds to use this new talent and once again begin to dodge.

Focusing his thoughts entirely on the fighter before him, and allowing a calm to encompass his entire being, Cathair allowed the stream of molten lead that was the Force to course through him. In his mind he watched as the fighter maneuvered itself away from him. He could see each movement in slow motion. He could see the burning trails of gas being output from the exhaust of the ship. Focusing deeper, he began to saw a ghostly image of the Headhunter move to the left, followed swiftly by the real life version, quickly assuming its position. And Cathair knew when he needed to strike. Keeping his focus on the ship, his finger slid over the trigger for his chin laser cannons. As the faint ghostly image slid away from the material Z-95; his finger pulled back and twin bursts of energy lanced forward, and both bolts struck the fusion engine at the rear of the fighter. Breslin watched as the fighter erupted into a ball of flame. Diving his fighter beneath the wreckage, the Imperial Knight once again felt the fighter behind him begin firing. All around him he could feel the hotspots that would destroy his fighter if he maneuvered into them.

 

”œDamn it Doran. Where the haran are you?”

[Doran Krote]

Doran was lagging slightly behind Cathair, not because he was trying to stay behind but he was trying to manipulate the Force and he didn't feel like crashing by going as fast as he could. He was trying to create a shield around his ship, he wanted security in case he was hit a bit too much and wasn't ready to rely on his flying skills. His breathing slowed down and started breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth, it was a calming technique he learned when he was younger that he felt would help him concentrate. His mind was clear and he started to will a protective bubble around his ship, for a couple of seconds at a time a slight blue field could be seen but it would soon disappear, each consecutive try it would last longer but it still was a feint shield and Doran realized that he wasn't powerful enough to create a shield that would protect him remotely so he let go of the shield and tried to see how his ally was doing and if he need any assistance.

 

He looked at Cathair too make sure he was still alive which he was but he had decided to show off which didn't help as he was hit, Doran chuckled to himself silently as it was funny to him even though he was depending on the man for survival at that moment. Doran realized that because of his 'fancy flying' he had damaged some of his weapons so he sped up, stopping his concentration in the Force down completely as he did so. He let Cathair take the couple of Headhunters that were closing in and he decided to take on the formation that was farther down, speeding up he targeted one of them in particular by using the Force to center up the ships as much as possible, he grabbed the controls and pulled it to the side real quickly which spun the ship and he started shooting. A spiral pattern ruby red blaster bolts were sent streaking at the headhunter, as it hit the ship didn't look phased at first but a couple of seconds after it exploded in a eruption of fire. The other ships had turned on him and started firing, he had been hit a few times but turned his ship around and flew under them before turning on their flank. He reached out and grasped them with an invisible hand, with all his might he willed the ships together and when he opened his eyes he saw as they crashed, each one triggering a larger explosion.

 

Doran maneuvered through the fighting over to Cathair, he took out a couple of ships as he did so. He knew it was better if he was flying near a friendly, they could watch each other's backs and could concentrate their fire and all around be more 'efficient'. He looked to see where he was shooting but was shocked by the sudden turbulence of his Interceptor, he looked over to see a Headhunter in his blind spot, he spun around and pulled the trigger on his laser canon, a barrage of green energy was fired at it and a ball of fire erupted and Doran pulled his ship through it to lose any ships on hsi tail. As he looked at the condition of his ship he discovered how bad of condition it was in, it would fall apart and he would be another casualty in the Empire's training program.

 

"Not this time." He spat out angrily.

 

His eyes were tightly shut, his breathing was at an increased pace and he was pumped up, he had his mind set on living. He fueled the Force with his rage, he made his ship stay together. His whole mindset was on creating a vacuum like affect on his ship and as he did so his ship stayed intact. After pushing the act of maintaining it to the back of his mind as an unconscious act he turned back to the battle, he was fierce. He flew directly at the remaining ships and unleashed all that he could from his laser canons making sure that he hit at much as he could before stopping, he looked over at Cathair who looked like he was taking care of business himself and grinned. They had done it, they had survived.

[Nokrt]

The Grand Admiral was pleased in the performance of his two Imperial Knights, though they were far from done with the Gauntlet. Looking at his viewscreen, he saw that they were about half done with the course and had to really utilize their abilities to complete it. Nokrt folded his hands and watched, this would be the most fun.

[Kento Galen]

Kento walked out of the bridge and walked throughout the rest of the ship. He made his way to the library of the ship and checked out a book on Imperial and Republic ships and sat down began to read, he knew that he'd be here a while trying to do 12 years of work so quickly. He flipped to the chapter on the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser and began to read and scribble down notes. He started reading the characteristics of the Republic ship and scribbled down the notes he wrote some quickies on it how it had more shield generators and in total, the shields were more powerful than a Star Destroyer. He then read about how it was originally just a civilian transporter. Kento then came to the weapons part of it they were more spread out than a Star Destroyer but overall not as powerful.

 

Kento then read on about the Star Destroyer, the main capital ship of the Empire. He skipped the part on the history, that wouldn't be needed for now. He read about why it was shaped like a dagger, he scribbled down that it would be able to focus more on firing forward. He also read about how it was very powerful on the sides but not the back.

 

Kento then grabbed his face he was definitely bored sitting in the library studying. He hoped that this would pay off and he'd get into the field soon or at least get some action. He then stood up and went to get some water or something he just felt like he was suffocating in this godforsaken library. He hated libraries he found them a waste of time if you didn't know something then you didn't really need to. He then walked out side and found the closest source of water and drank some and splashed water on his face to cool him down.

 

He then walked back into the library and sat back down on the table and went back to work, he'd have to read about Bomber Class Starfighters now and if it were anything like what he just did, he'd have zero fun. He made it on to the TIE bomber and began to read on. He read about how it had two hulls, an unusual characteristic. It was cool, one held the pilot and one held warheads it is able to hold a variety of weapons. It was a heavy built ship and it was more powerful than the standard fighter. It was more capable of penetrating capital ship jamming. It had SFS P-s4 twin Ion engines and was able to hold a lot and travel at a reasonable speed. It could carry one of the following payloads, sixteen concussion missiles, twelve proton torpedoes, eight heavy rockets, six orbital mines, four proton bombs, sixty-four thermal detonators, or thousands of propaganda pamphlets. It always had two wing-mounted laser cannons. It was designed to be able to launch devastating blows with great precision. Though, it was slower and not as maneuverable as the standard TIE fighter. Like almost every mass-produced fighter, it had no shields but unlike other TIE's it has a stronger hull. They weren't built for dogfights due to the fact they are slower and less agile but the TIE bomber could take them out from a longer distance.

 

Kento rubbed his head, he hated information it bored him. He needed a bit of a breather, staying sat down was a thing he hated, this was mainly because of his ADD which until now had served him well, it kept him alert and moving so he wouldn't get shot and his opponent would. He then flipped to the chapter on the K-Wing and started to read. It was built like most Rebellion starfighters, to excel in a certain role but be flexible enough to work in other needed functions. It was used mainly to bomb targets suck as enemy bases and slow moving capital ships. It was made out of two wings attached to a stabilizer. It had two ion engines like a TIE bomber located between the wings. This allowed it to go at a sublight speed like its cousin the Y-Wing. It also had another engine on its dorsal of the aft section. The K-Wing had no hyperdrive ability and was always deployed from a capital ship. Its weaponry consisted flechette and concussion missiles, proton and other sublight torpedoes, thermal and other initial bombs, small space mines, and T-33 plasma torpedoes. It also had short-range quad laser turret with multi-stage lasers located at the fore and a medium-range twin laser canon turret on top of its command module. The K-Wing was equipped with a deflector shield. He then read that the K-Wing also required a gunner and that it had an escape pod incase of emergency.

 

Kento slammed the book and tucked his notes away. He left the library and played a little victory music in his mind and walked through the ship, he had a killer headache and needed an aspirin. He made his way to the bridge and saluted to Captain Il'Kal before saying, ”œSir, I have read on the schematics you assigned me, what shall I do now?”

[Sasori]

[Nokrt]

The Captain turned and then looked to the Cadet who had come after a great length of time in the library. He looked exhausted but eager to know more. The Captain respected such enthusiasm in men under his command. This Mandalorian would serve well. The Captain saluted and smiled in return to Kento Galen.

 

"Wondrous! So you can tell me if when a Rebel fleet of 3 Mon Cal Star Cruisers shows up in this system the most effective strategy for us to destroy each one keeping the ship intact?"

[Kento Galen]

Kento listened to the Captain as he asked him a question. Kento paused to think for a minute to think strategy before responding, ”œI think sending a couple squadrons of regular TIE fighters to weaken the enemies shields and defenses then send a couple of TIE bomber squads to finish the job,”

[Nokrt]

The Captain was disappointed and he showed it with his stern look towards Cadet Galen.

 

"Congratulations Cadet, you just killed at least one hundred pilots. Mon Cal Star Cruisers, much like our own Star Destroyers, have squadrons of fighters themselves within their hangar bays. All our men would be lost if we focused on disabling the the Star Cruisers, and then we would be defenseless against fighter squadrons of the Rebellion. We may die because of your failure. Think again. Think harder. What can this shole ship do to destroy the Rebel Star Cruisers?"

[Kento Galen]

He closed his eyes when he heard that he had failed, and he went back to thinking a decent stradegy that would bring them to victory, he wasn't used to planning things out he was used to being told to kill someone and how to do it. He then thought up a plan that hopefully work. "Use our turrents to take out the engines and help to take out enemy star fighters and have regular TIEs focus on the enemy star fighters. When enemy starfighters are low, send the TIE bombers to take out the Mon Cal cruisers who are now sitting ducks." he hoped this plan would work, he didn't want to sound like a fool.

[Nokrt]

The Captain allowed a slight smirk.

 

"Better, however, all TIE's would be outnumbered and even though our Pilots are superior, they would die because they could not handle all those fighters. In a 3 to 1 fight we need more numbers to even have a small chance of victory. The shields would be a problem too, Ion cannons could take them on but it would be alengthy battle and the hull integrity of our starship would not be able to handle the laser cannons of all those ships."

 

The Captain came to the side of the Cadet and looked out the viewports watching the two Imperial Knights fight through the gauntlet.

 

"Would you like to know the answer to my query Cadet?"

[Durandal!]

Dominic Skallig stood for a moment and looked over his uniform outside the grand admiral's quarters. Not developed in the ways of the force, the only thing he'd ever managed to be decent at with the ability was recognizing the presence of someone who would find him to be a rather.. grating personality. In a past life he'd been called a whole mess of things. including smuggler, troublemaker, and from what he could recall "The guy with the worst poker face this side of the rishi maze." Yet here he was standing outside the entrance to the grand admiral's quarters. One whiff of the air gave him the distinct impression that behind that door, there was a Chiss who gave off the major presence of a strict military man.

 

"I wonder if it's too late to cut and run, I mean.. being assigned to an imperial ship was the last place I expected to find myself." He thought as he ran a comb through his hair.

 

"Screw it.. Too late now, Dominic. Just don't dig yourself any holes with the people you used to spend your life hiding from. I think the empire knows to look for smuggling vessels perched behind asteroids and on icy moons by now." his conscience quipped.

 

Dominic didn't even think before he gave a melodic "Knock Kn-Kn-Kn Knock Knock" on the door..

 

"Oh hell..." he thought, realizing immediately it wasn't going to be returned by the friendly double knock that always came afterwards..

[Nokrt]

The Grand Admiral looked skeptically toward the rapping that came from the door, echoing throughout his chambers as annoyingly as possible. Nokttin'okr'tihnt was not amused that his automatic door was not working, wondering who in the hell disabled his door from opening. Going to his control panel he had the door automation re-enabled and it opened showing a new Cadet in his door.

 

Nearly immediately the Grand Admiral could sense his presence in the Force, pure and untapped. His potential was there, and he had known why he had been assigned to his ship. He was the last third leg of the Imperial Knights. The Grand Admiral was pleased that he had to do damn near no effort to find the last member of his party.

 

"I assume you are the newest Cadet assigned to my ship, Dominic Skallig, former Smuggler. Please have a seat, we have much to discuss."

 

The Grand Admiral motioned to a seat and then sat behind his own and began speaking regardless of if Cadet Skallig had sat down or not.

 

"As a former Smuggler I bet you had many tight spots, possibly with our own military, for that I cannot apologize for as we cannot have chaotic trade going on without approval, but during those times you had a great stroke of luck at tiems clsoe to death or close to losing your stash. This was part skill, but mostly the act of an all encompassing power the resides throughout the Galaxy. You have the power of the Force, waiting for you to activate it Cadet Skallig. It will be my job to extract that power and make you harness it as the most elite unit in the galaxy, the Imperial Knights."

 

Nokrt pressed a button bringing view of the Gauntlet on screen for both him and Skallig to see.

 

"The other two Imperial Knights have already ran through a test that forced them to access the Force. You however are a late arrival and thus I will have to test you personally in a different way."

 

The Grand Admiral pressed a button, and another suit of armor popped up which mirrored those before it. Another button was pressed revealing a room behind the Chiss.

 

"Put on your new uniform, Lieutenant Skallig, and meet me in the room behind me to begin your test."

 

The Grand Admiral Stood and made his way out into the back room revealed to be a large training arena. Tons of rocks and sand made it seem like an arena in the center of a Star Destroyer. The Amaunator had sacrificed much for this change, half a battalion of Stormtroopers less than the average ISD II. But it was something necessary. The Grand Admiral pressed a button on a control panel nearby revealing his own Imperial Knight armor. It was like the others except it what white in color to show his status as Grand Admiral. The underarmor was black as was the Imperial Insignia, and his cloak was black as well. His rank bar was located on the left breast much like his cloth uniform was.

 

The Grand Admiral dressed himself quickly, using the force selfishly to aid him to do it faster. Once he donned his armor he awaited his newest recruit to join him to begin training.

[Durandal!]

Dominic stood stone faced for a few seconds as the grand admiral spoke. His attention drifted to the Chiss' red eyes. This began to freak him out just a little bit, and this was then pushed further by the fact the grand admiral knew about his smuggling past.

 

"Next stop, brig.." He thought.

 

He was pleasantly surprised to find out that he was still being admitted into the knights.

 

The force was not a new term for him to hear, but he was not such a force wielding madman as the Jedi, or their equally brooding counterparts, the Sith. He'd been able to do small, but quite useful, things with the power. Cheat at cards, Woo easy women, one time he even swore he made a checkpoint guard drop his pants and waddle out of his office while trying to return to coruscanti space with a cargo bay full of smuggled death sticks.

 

"Well cap, I prefer to call it luck." He said with a big grin as his suit popped up in front of him. He listened to the admiral tell him about the immediate training and became a bit more somber at the thought of not getting a stiff drink or a death stick break before all the madness started.

 

"Jeez.. You people don't.. eh.. You don't waste any time, do you." he said as he grabbed the armor and went into the changing room.

 

"My god I look badass." he said under his breath once he finally pieced it on. He ran a comb through his hair and then scrambled to find a pocket for it. He stuffed it down in between some of the armor plating and exited the small room.

 

"Alrighty. Shall we?"

[Nokrt]

The Grand Admiral was not impressed with the attitude of the newest addition to the Imperial Knights. He had hoped he would have a group of order obeying hounds who would do whatever necessary to do as he and the Emperor willed. However it seems balance had come into play and the overbearing personality of Lieutenant Skallig would be one he would have to deal with. Perhaps his lack of orderly speech to a superior officer will be offest by his innate ability with the Force.

 

As both stood in the training arena Nokrt wasted no time focusing his energies onto the nearby rocks jutting out of the sandy floor making a half dozen of them float nearby.

 

"The test is simple Lieutenant Skallig. Just dodge."

 

With that Nokrt began flinging rocks one at a time toward the newest Imperial Knight in integrals of 10 seconds between them. The Grand Admiral did not expect him to dodge them with the Force at first, however he would be able to in time. Nokrt only threw smaller rocks, around the size of the Chiss' palm toward the man. As he progressed the rocks would get bigger and bigger and then as small as possible to see if he could sense even the smallest threat.

 

((Make a decent sized post detailing dodging and then using the Force to dodge the rocks. I detailed the progression so use that to lengthen your post. At least 700 words please.))

[Kento Galen]

Kento listened to the Captain speak before he said, "I have one last guess sir then you can give me the answer, should we retreat?"

[Nokrt]

Captain Il'kal nodded.

 

"Precisely Cadet Galen. To destroy them we would feign fighting back before while having encrpyted to the rest of the fleet to gather on a nearby star system. We make a jump to retreat and if they follow they die, if not we come back with a bigger fleet and destroy them. This ship is not equipped against those odds and fighting a losing battle is bad for the Empire. Keeping men alive is more important than a battle of pride. You have learned well. Many officers including myself would run through many tactics before winding up at retreating."

 

The Captain reached into his pocket and pulled out a new rank Insignia which he attached to Kento's uniform.

 

"Lieutenant Galen, you are now my personal assiting officer."

[Kento Galen]

Kento was proud of himself for getting the correct answer. He allowed himself to let out a slight smile as he gained his rank Kento then saluted as he spoke. "Thank you sir, I won't let you down, is there anything that I should do now sir?" he then awaited for the captain to give him any orders.

[Nokrt]

The Captain looked to the Lieutenant and smiled.

 

"Could you get me some Coffee. Black."

[Durandal!]

As they entered the training area Dominic could only think of how much if must have cost to get a giant sandbox installed on a Star Destroyer. He pondered this a little too long before a grapefruit sized stone became good friends with his face.

 

"WHAT THE.."

 

He dropped down to his knees, as another stone came whizzing overhead, his knees dug into the soft sand as he was hit by surprise and anger. He gathered his strength and rolled to the left as another stone headed his way. As he stood up, his eyes got a lock on it. His feet pressed downward as it came. With as much force as his legs could muster, he jumped up and over the rock as it passed. Before he could regain his footing, another came rocketing his way.

 

"You call this, training?!" He shouted at the Chiss as he then bent backwards on his knees as the rock came speeding by his ear. "This isn't training, this is target practice!"

 

He could see the Chiss' eyes looking from side to side as the rocks flew by. For a split second Dominic could see a pattern forming. His mind, out of self preservation or the desire to make the chiss look bad, felt a moment of clarity. He couldn't see where the rocks were going to go, but he had a feeling..

 

Two smaller stones lifted out of the sandy floor and hovered next to the chiss, Dominic focused his mind for just a moment, and managed to side step out of their path.

 

The smaller ones became easier to dodge when he did this, his mind wasn't in a grand state of clarity, but he was paying closer attention than he thought possible. After all, he did just get hit in the face with a rock. he dipped his head and buckled his rib cage as the final rocks started his way. With one good open palm slap in an gradual incline, he swatted away two.

 

"Ha! Look at that!" he said as he regained his footing.

 

"Not bad, eh?"

 

The chiss wasn't finished. He saw a final salvo of tiny rocks begin to lift off the ground. Dominic focused his mind and readied himself for them. He focused his mind on the velocity they were traveling, the size of the stones, he was Concious of his entire body.

 

And as one stone passed easily through the space between his left arm and chest, the other pegged him squarely in the solar plexus.

 

"Ow."

 

"But still.. not bad for a raw recruit, eh cap?" he said while hacking up a lung.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Guest

[Cathair Breslin]

Even as crimson lances of energy filled his viewport, the young Imperial Knight was seeing red within his own mind. When he and Doran had embarked upon this first test of their Force abilities, they had been told it was a team effort. But now, when Lt. Breslin needed the ex-bounty hunter the most; he was nowhere to be seen. He had been abandoned. Something that never happened to those who truly understood the concept of brotherhood. Although Doran was now capable of things that most Stormtroopers could never dream of, he lacked one thing that made them superior to him in the grand scheme; the feeling of brotherhood. Where Cathair had felt like a brother to each Stormtrooper he worked with, Doran was simply a stranger. He was a man who Cathair knew simply because of ability. The new Imperial Knight would have to work hard indeed if he was to impress Cathair and form a bond of brotherhood with the Imperial Lieutenant.

 

Once again slamming on the brakes, Cathair watched as the grey metal of aZ-95 Headhunter flew over his own craft. Focusing his thoughts and anger toward that single enemy, he unloaded a barrage of his own energy and watched as it exploded in a shower of sparks and flame. As he recoiled from the attack, Breslin could feel the sweat rolling down his body. Even with the Interceptors cooling systems and the light breathing material of his armor, he could feel the heat from his workout in the Force. As he flew through more waves of fighters, he began to feel the draining effects the Force was having on him. Each breath seemed to splash his face with a fresh wave of heat. Drops of sweat fell from his lashes and ran down his neck. Each fighter became more difficult to focus on, and each laser attacked seemed harder to dodge. He watched as blast after blast inched closer to him. Although he knew it was impossible, he could have sworn he was feeling the heat from each near miss.

 

How do the Jedi and Sith do this? How do they keep up with the strain of the Force? Surely there is a way to refresh oneself through the Force!!

 

Easing back on the throttle, Cathair closed his eyes and focused deep on the stream of molten lead within him. He could feel the heat radiating from the flow and he cringed at it. It seemed to be growing stronger the more he learned of the Force. Each time he learned something new, he felt the Force that much stronger. He wondered how it must feel to someone such as the Grand Admiral. Did it feel like a volcano about to erupt inside and destroy everything in its path? Or did it feel like a stormy ocean, ready to quickly overtake him and drown him in its power? Bringing his attention back to himself, he focused all his energy on that single stream of energy. He could feel his fatigue and exhaustion and began to pull them from his body and push them into the stream. He could feel it welcome his weariness and urge him to use its strength more. Pulling all his aches and pains from his body, Cathair once more pushed them into the steady stream of energy. Yet still it called for more. Grasping at the heat that burned his skin and tired his muscles, he forced it deep within the Force and he immediately began to feel its effects. The heat that once burned his body was gone; he was now cool, as if a gentle breeze now flowed through the cockpit of his fighter. Although still sticky from his sweat, he felt clean as if he had just stepped from a fresher. Each breath was calm and collected. His muscles no longer ached for the rest they could not receive, and his mind was now sharper than before he entered the Gauntlet. But the flow of the Force still yearned for more. He could feel it grasping for more to take. More to feed its fire. He could almost feel it begging to be allowed control. Begging him to give himself over to its power. To become the most powerful individual in the galaxy. And the temptation was strong. He could see himself leading vast armies of his brother Stormtroopers across the galaxy, ruling each planet as its Warlord. Nothing could stand in his way. All he would need to do is to betray the oath he took to the Empire. Kill those who stood in his way: Doran, Grand Admiral Nokrt, and lastly, now Emperor Rustic. And with that image placed firmly in his mind, the spell of temptation was broken. Quickly pulling back from the Force, Cathair breathed heavily. He could still see the image in his head of himself standing over the broken body of the Emperor, and it repulsed him. It seemed while the Force had given him nearly unlimited power, it had not realized the strength of his loyalty to those around him, and in its single fault, it had lost him. The young Imperial Knight now realized why a fierce conflict burned within the Grand Admiral. If he, a young initiate into the Force felt such temptation after experiencing only a slight fraction of power, what raged behind the determined crimson eyes of his Chiss superior.

 

With his strength and focus returned at peak efficiency, Cathair had no trouble making his way through the remainder of the Gauntlet. He made it past all remaining waves with only minimal damage to his Interceptor and only feeling a slight drain on his body. As he finished off the last of his fighters, he angled his fighter back towards his new home and opened the engines to their maximum burn. As the Interceptor sped towards the vessel, Cathair realized the true speed of the fighter and allowed a smile to grace his face. He once again understood why the fighter jockeys now loved their job. The former Stormtrooper still believed own men were superior fighters, but from now on, he would allow the pilots of the Empire a bit more slack in their remarks.

 

After docking his TIE, Breslin made his way once again towards the Admirals quarters. As he marched through the halls, he felt different. Instead of simply knowing that people were walking around him, he could feel them. He could feel each individual Imperial as they moved around him. No two felt exactly the same. Some seemed to have stronger presences than others. At this point, Cathair was unsure why this was, but he was determined to find out. As he reached the Admirals door, he could feel someone using the Force within. Sliding his hand along the access panel, he opened the door and took a single step inside. Deciding it best to wait for Nokrts attention, Cathair took a seat in one of the guest chairs and awaited his new Masters orders.

[Kento Galen]

Kento nodded as the Captain spoke and said, ”œYes sir,”

[saberforce]

Deep on the outskirts of Cardia, a Freedom Alliance Sureggi Battlecruiser waited for a cargo vessel to pull out of hyperspace. Upon arrival, the cargo vessel was quickly held down by a tractorbeam, and then boarded. While the vessel did carry some imperial storm troopers, they were unprepared and unmatched for the coming Freedom Alliance commandos. The FAC's were able to neutralize the storm troopers without only a small minor wound to one of their own. After the FAC's had handled what resistance there was, they quickly moved fast to take all Bacta, Weapons, and all other sorts of needs they were carrying for the imperials world. After they FAC's made it back with the goods, they left and jumped back into hyperspace towards their home fleet.

 

After the Freedom Alliance left, the crew of cargo vessel felt so embarrassed at their defeat, they set the ship for self-destruct and abandoned the ship to make it look less like a blue milk run.

[Doran Krote]

Doran's assumed survival for them was mistaken as he was abruptly hit which shook his ship, he almost lost his concentration but kept a hold on it. He pulled a 180 degrees turning maneuver and let loose on the headhunter that was attacking him from behind. He grinned as he hit the fighter, it was an accomplishment even if it was the help from the Force that helped but taking out a starfighter without targeting computing is a challenge and a challenge was what Doran wanted. He didn't only want a challenge for the sake of completing it but he wanted a challenge to test his abilities and grasp how much power he had.

 

He pulled his TIE Interceptor around and continued on through the Gauntlet. Dodging the volley of blasts aimed at him was intense, the attacks never seemed to stop and they came from almost every direction which caused the Mandolorian to flip his fighter around and to use a couple of complicated maneuvers. He was hit a few times but managed to escape most attacks and the ones that hit him would either barely hit or hit small part of the ship. His mind was racing as processed all of the images he was seeing, the movements he was making to pilot the ship and his use of the Force to hold his ship together which was made harder every time he was hit. He knew that if he was hit a couple of more times that he was done for, he would go out in a blaze of shame, his pride would be diminished by being killed by artificial intelligence.

 

The effect of the Force was setting in, his eye lids were getting heavy and his hands and arms were getting shaky and weak. He shook his head to try to regain control over his body but it was futile, he resorted to commanding his body to be strong even if it was for a little while longer.

 

"Stay strong, only a little bit more. Keep going..." It was almost like he was pleading with himself, he stopped for the sake of his dignity and his desire to stay sane.

 

The farther he ventured in to the Gauntlet the more he wished he hadn't agreed to become an Imperial Knight, it was out of character for him to work with a team. He was used to working alone, he didn't have to watch out for anyone and no one watched out for him. The only reason he had agreed to become an Imperial Knight was for the sake of bettering himself, the Force was an ally and the way he saw it was after he was trained he could work for Norkt for awhile before using his new found potential to help reunite his people, the Mandolorians needed to be one again and deserved to be brought back to their former glory.

 

Doran noticed a headhunter coming at him from his flank, he angled his ship down a bit and slammed on the brakes, as the ship flew over him he sped up and closed in on it, he barraged it with blaster bolts before completing the rest of the Gauntlet. A sigh of relief escaped him as he exited the deathtrap that almost took his life, he piloted his Interceptor back towards the Amaunator.

 

As he pulled into the hangar he finally let go of the Force that was surrounding his ship and as he did it fell to pieces, Doran managed to jump out before it was wrecked and landed "gracefully" if it was possible for a Mandolorian to do so. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his wrist and found his way back to the Grand Admiral's quarters and found a seat next to Cathair, he didn't say anything but nodded to the man to show he acknowledged his existence at least.

[Nokrt]

((Because you have RPd as a Force User before and because of this Freedom Alliance crap I am allowing your post to count as a Force Sense post. Don't expect me to be so lenient in the future.))

 

Nokrt was surprised his newest recruit had responded so easily to the use of the Force. His years of experience on the Fringe pulling of lucky stunts to escape custody, making sleight of hand to steal to avoid starving. The many things most fringers end up putting up with made him more akin to this section of Forc training as he had an inkling he was his whole life. Nokrt was pleased with his progress and when he was able to completely predict the rock being thrown well before it had arrived at its location the Grand Admiral stopped.

 

"Well done Lieutenant Skallig. Go to the room with the others."

 

When the Lieutenant exited the room Nokrt gave himself a moment to remove his training armor. He had no need for it except in person versus person training and battles. And as of this time he felt more comfortable in the cloth of his white Grand Admiral uniform. The armor took a few moments to release itself from it's host but when all had been completed, he was back to his sharp looking self and made his way formally from the training room to his main chambers where at this point all three Imperial Knights were seated in front of his control panel.

 

The Grand Admiral marched to his chair and sat down looking to each of the men in front of him. They all appeared exhausted by the exercises he had given them for them to gain their full knowledge of their sensitivity in the Force. He was happy the three had taken their first steps into becoming the most elite Force Users in the galaxy. Nokrt put his hands together and scanned his eyes past each of them before speaking again.

 

"You have all done superbly gaining your sensitivity to the Force in full. Your lives will never be the same now, but all the more, your lives will now be more useful as you can do anything anyone else in the galaxy can do and then more. You have taken your first steps into a larger world than you can possibly imagine. For that I congratulate you. However your training is far from over. We must move on to the next step as soon as possible. And the one I would assume most of you find the most pertinent to a Force User. The Lightsaber. We have all the appropriate materials on Carida, to which I have shipped up including instruction on how to construct the weapon, yet one thing we lack is the crystals and there are very few places in the galaxy where such crystals exist. Thus we are heading out as soon as possible to find some...."

 

______________________________________________________

 

Captain Il'kal took his coffee and sipped some of the liquid energy as soon as he could looking out the starports happy with the sight he saw. It was wonderful to be Captain of the premiere Star Destroyer in the Galactic Empire and he was proud to have gained such an honor. Though he was soon interrupted by a flashing light on the bridge and some of his men acting frantically below him.

 

"Status report."

 

"Sir," said a Technical Officer, "We have an unidentified vehicle just on the inside of sensor range, it appears to be boarding one of our cargo vessels headed to the planet. What are our orders?"

 

The Captain looked to Lieutenant Galen for a moment to make sure his new protege would be in step with his actions and he started gushing out orders.

 

"We are to go full throttle for intercept, this ship will be brought into custody as soon as possible," he turned to Lieutenant Galen, "I must alert the Grand Admiral, the ship is yours Lieutenant, make sure we intercept that ship!"

 

The Captain made his way down to the Grand Admiral's chambers, making his way in saluting and making all proper formalities to address the Chiss as a subordinate was meant to.

 

"Sir," he called to him,"we have an unidentified ship in the sector. Not of Rebellion make, nor Imperial. They are boarding one of our cargo vessels, and we have received a distress signal from our men."

 

______________________________________________________

 

The Chiss broke from his speech to his Imperial Knights and looked to the Captain and nodded in approval.

 

"Proceed as planned Captain, they are quite out of range though so make sure you trace their trajectory to follow their hyperspace jumps in case we do not make it in time."

 

The Captain saluted to Nokrt who allowed him to exit the room and return to the helm of the ship. Nokrt then sat again and continued to speak to the Imperial Knights.

 

"Sorry for that interjection men it seems we have a security breach in our system, it is of no consequence however. If they escape it would be fine training for the crew and you to take down some more enemies with your new abilities. After this is dealt with we will be heading out to Ilum to find some crystals for your lightsabers. Head out to your chambers, and study the schematics for your sabers."

 

The Chiss stood from his seat and moved out of the room and made his way to the bridge where the Captain and Lieutenant stood. They turned to him as soon as he had arrived but the Grand Admiral made no notice. He looked out the viewports noticing ion trails and an imploded cargo ship in the wake of the blackness of space.

 

"Lieutenant Galen, find the roster of the men aboard the destroyed vessel Imperial Cargo WL-3102 and send word to their families of their deaths from assailants unknown," the Chiss said without looking to the Lieutenant at all but knowing he would follow his orders.

 

"Make note of their trajectory, we will follow later. Set course for Ilum, and get me a link into the Holonet."

 

((Check your PM box Imperial Knights for your Lightsaber and schematic to focus on. Everyone post once here and then post arriving on Ilum.))

[Kento Galen]

((I'm assumming that the last part about setting course to Illum was for the Captain not me.))

 

"Yes sir," Kento stated as the Grand Admiral spoke to him. He then went to the ships computer and looked up Imperial Cargo WL-3102. And read out the list. He then went into documents and found the basic format that was used to let families know of deaths. He then edited the sheet to fit all the families except for the few who had none. Kento then sent the messages to all of the people. He gave a moment of silence for those who had died before coming to one basic conclusion, he'd make those bastards pay. He then stood up and said, "All families notified sir," he then awaited further orders.

Edited July 1, 2009 by Guest

[Durandal!]

Breathing heavily, he looked the chiss in the eyes. "Illum..?" he thought to himself. "Illum is a cold cold place.."

 

"Yessir. I'll grab my gear and be on the next transport." He said to the Grand Admiral. Yet, all he could think of was how sweet it was going to be to own a lightsaber.

[Doran Krote]

Doran listened to the Grand Admiral, he handled the situation with the attacking force with ease which was to be expected from someone so high up in the Empire. When he was instructed he went back to his ship as he hadn't been given any quarters. Once in the Black Avenger he sat down and looked at the schematics of a lightsaber, he made sure he took note of where crucial parts went so he wouldn't have as much of a problem later one when constructing it.

[Nokrt]

The Amaunator jumped to hyperspace and left the system heading to Ilum.