Carida

[Kyrie Eleison]

Kyrie passed a hand through her braids, feeling them brush against her face as they dropped back across her vision. The young man’s words were almost her own, when her thoughts strayed to the Jedi Order. The current state of galaxy was one of chaos, where marauding bands of darksiders and pirates were able to roam free without consequence. She leaned forward on her seat, looking intently at the young man

 

“I’m sorry your father never took you under his wing, but I’m sure you aren’t looking for a sympathetic pat on the back, or the wise words of ‘It made you far stronger, being forged by your own hands’...”

 

She took a small sip of her tea, letting the soft caress of warmth assuage her own mind of her own traumatic experiences of her father’s lack of love.

 

“The Jedi Order… I’ve only seen it to be useless, soldiers like your father exiled so that pacifists and scholars can judge the galaxy and do nothing but squabble in the safety of their chambers.”

 

The Jedi General turned to the reporter, keeping her emerald eyes narrowed as she spoke, her voice almost a whisper

 

“We are the Imperial Knights, and we actually act. We tear down the darkness to save life, we fight alongside the Empire, to keep it pure, and to keep it fighting for good. We do not override personalities by some code that wishes to lobotomize us all... Our impact on this galaxy will be a strike for good.”

 

She displayed the image of Kirlocca

 

“You spoke of the Grandmaster, who has been slain by the forces of evil. We have been invited to attend the funeral out of respect…”

 

She passed the invite to the comlink of the Empress.

 

“I shall attend as a sign of peace between the orders, and those that fight for the Light… I invite you to join me, in what I hope will become a battlecry against evil.”

 

Kyrie shrugged her armoured shoulders as she stood, her ebony braids running down her cloaked back. She bowed to them both, motioning them to follow her to the attached landing pad, where the Sanctis Cogitatione lay in preparation for their journey

[Raven Nasra]

Wyler nodded solemnly, his rough stubble making a scratching sound as it rubbed against the stiff fabric of his collar. “Yes, we would be happy to give you stocks and investments, and even a position on the Moff council if you were willing to assist us in the conquest of Hutt space and the eradication of slavery in the outer rim.“ There he had laid out the entire imperial deck of sabacc cards on the table. This could give the Hutt the power to find his ship and the money to support him, as well as provide him with his only chance at redemption. Not to mention Hutt space was a perfect place to stage an all out assault on the Bothan regions from the Kaaga hyperlane. If it were to come to that. But the Head of State had been particular, she wanted the Hutt redeemed. Plus the influence of Doordjooba would greatly assist in the upcoming White Helm assault.

 

_____________________

 

Raven commed Beck while she was preparing for departure to the Wookiee homeworld. She and her honour guard boarded the Admiral Andripov and headed for Kashyyyk

 

 

Commander, greetings, thank you for gathering the fleet, attached are orders for operation White Helm. Please prepare an order of battle for the operation and send scouts into the Nal Hutta system to scout for enemy numbers. THe objective is to end the slave trade and rescue as many innocents as possible, do not act like you did at Cloud City. Destruction is not the objective here.

 

Upon the Head of States secret departure, acting head of state Moff Achim Hastangel, was prepared to answer any questions the Imperial Commander would have.

[Aidan Darkfire]

Aidan hoped the interactions between these two wouldn't be this bad in the future...there seemed to be a lot of undertone vitriol between the two women. He nodded at the General, looking back at Sophia with an I'm sorry look on his face before following after Kyrie with the historian. He liked the ideals the General ascribed to, but silently wished Sophia wasn't the brunt of her grudges. Sophia didn't seem to be a bad woman...not that he saw yet, anyways. She had good intentions, at the least, and that was commendable.

 

For a while, he simply kept his mouth shut until he was addressed again. He still needed time to think.

[Beck Pilon]

Beck had received the comm from Head of State Raven Zinthos and felt annoyed rather quickly with her tone. Had she actually given real military instructions, none of the things she didn't want to happen on Bespin never would have. If she was going to hang that over his head for her own bad judgement of issuing orders, then she would eventually find that no one in the military or navy command will want to follow her. Luckily for her, he still had an itch for battle, and scouting was something all of the commandos trained under the Rebirth Project excelled at. After making all the necessary movements to get off the Glory of Carida and on the surface, he found himself being greeted by his own wing of commandos, Torpid Squad.

 

"We've been given an assignment gentlemen. Let's make all the needed arrangements for our scouts to be sent to Nal Hutta. I want them to bring back full details on numbers, weak spots, strong spots, and anything else deemed important. I want to be able to know how long it will take and what sort of losses we can avoid. Operation White Helm is now in effect, and I want every military and navy personnel to be ready. Go and see to it now."

 

Beck lifted his hand and dismissed the squad as he returned to his own quarters to hit the refresher and get cleaned. The Imperial Navy always held a standard for tidiness and precision. All officers should dress accordingly.

[Jaina Jade Skywalker]

Encrypted, a comm arrives for Kyrie Eleison.

 

 

"Knight Eleison, this is Jaina Jade Skywalker. I would be grateful for the chance to make your acquaintance. I am unfamiliar with the Imperial Knights, but if you are a student of Xae-Lin Ardel, you are a friend of mine. I will look for your arrival here on Kashyyyk."

 

[Kala Ianauria]

Her Scout-Snipers provided them with an early warning about the two new squads of soldiers approaching their position. Kala’s Captain immediately moved to cut the bonds holding her wrists together.

 

Her “Wild Bunch” immediately set to making an ambush that followed the Imperial rulebook for such contingencies. Master Eleison warning through the Force ripped the carefully created plan to shreds.

 

When the two squads of heavy enemy troopers marched into the square, they found themselves confronted by a vision of the past. To their eyes, a single Jedi stood in the moddle of their square, her hands around a double bladed lightsabre that remained unlit. They brought their weapons to bear on her.

 

From behind her, in their ambush position, the “Wild Bunch” watched as their young Knight brought their small corner of the war to a grind halt on nothing more than a hunch from the Force.

In front of her, twenty rifle barrels remained unwaveringly trained on her.

 

Neither side moved for several seconds..

 

Slowly, Kala moved her hands to her sides, clipping the lightsabre to its resting position on her back. She then sat down.

 

At a signal from one of the troopers, the rest dispersed into defensive positions. The trooper walked forward and sat opposite Kala and removed her helmet. Long red hair cascaded downward and back over her heavy armor.

 

“Commander Nara Schiahavilli, 301st Imperial Combat Engineers, retired,” said the woman.

 

“Imperial Knight Kala Ianauria.”

 

Both sat in the middle of the square while an unreal, tense silence existed in a bubble around them for several seconds.

 

“So why are you here, Kala?” asked the woman.

 

“Initially to rescue an Imperial hostage and eliminate any resistance,” said Kala.

 

“Heard about you Knights. Never thought I would see Imperial Jedi. Yet you are talking to me,” said the woman, “So why?”

 

“Because something’s not adding up and I had a warning from my master.”

 

“So you took a chance and walked out here to talk to us?”

 

“Not entirely alone. Got three squads of troopers and air support on the other side of the square.”

 

Nara’s eyes went wide in recognition. “Your that group of commandoes that cut through our forward positions.”

 

“We call ourselves the ‘Wild Bunch’. And if you check, most of the 1st batch of troopers we encountered are still alive.”

 

Nara shook her head. “Considering your tactics, your moniker is appropriate. And you have been had. There is no Imperial hostage. General Theiux resigned his commission over the treatment of the natives. Your rescue mission is a case of your superiors not telling you the whole truth.”

 

Kala closed her eyes to center herself in the Force. Doing so allowed her to better hear the song, especially where it swirled around Nara. The notes coming from Nara felt warm, felt right, felt alive. There was one senior Imperial official Kala knew of whose notes made her shiver.

 

She opened her eyes and reached for the comp built into her bracer. Information from her troopers sprayed across the screen as they scrambled to try and confirm the Commander’s story.

 

“Stop,” said Kala into her mic. With a deep, steadying breath, she turned to Commander Nara and asked, “Commander, why did General Theiux resign her commission?”

 

“We came here on a survey mission. Found a massive liquid Tibanna deposit underneath this city and began making deals to benefit the natives. You know, jobs, monetary compensation, that sort of thing. A partnership according to the G.A. model instead of the old Imperial method.”

 

Kala smiled encouragingly and fed peace and serenity to the Commander through the Force. She waited for the woman to continue, wandering what went wrong. The woman looked at her curiously for a few moments before continuing.

 

“Just when everything’s up and working, we found the natives got cut out of their share by some consortium of businesses out of Kuat. Seems some of the nobles decided they preferred the old ways and that meant thugs being sent to make sure they got all the profits.”

 

“Mother,” muttered Kala.

 

Mistaking her muttered word for something vulgar, the Commander nodded. She continued speaking, “Next thing we know, the natives got restless and we were facing a full scale rebellion.

Despite her youth, Kala filled in what came next. “An Imperial citizen got hurt or worse and someone call for the Stormtroopers.”

 

“For a massive deposit of liquid Tibanna already spun sealed?” asked the Commander incredulously. “They sent a dozen legions and a half dozen Star Destroyers.”

“When did the General resign?”

 

“When she got orders to use lethal force against civilians.”

 

“And so that’s how we got here. Someone decided to stop the native forces by relieving them of what made them effective by staging a rescue mission,” stated Kala in a shaking, angry voice.

 

Her communicated chirped. Commander Nala nodded affirmative when Kala silently pleaded to be allowed to answer it. “Yes Captain?”

 

“If its true, what do we do?”

 

The question stopped Kala’s thought process for a second. “I thought Empress Raven made firing on civilians illegal in most cases.”

 

“According to the conventions put into place. As is using military assets to suppress rebellions created by corporate maleficence.”

 

“Quoting the book?” joked Kala.

 

“You don’t want to hear my thoughts on the matter. Its going to take some time for us to confirm this.”

 

“We’ve got as much times as remains on the mission time. So you better get started.”

 

Forgetting she sat in front of the Commander, Kala continued, “As for your thoughts, if their like mine they involve lightsabers and blasters to certain offending parties. We’ll need to settle for arresting guilty parties.”

 

Kala heard the smile in the Captain’s voice. “Already started Knight Kala. What should we do in the meantime?”

 

“Stay put,” said Kala.

 

“And your pressed for time. We do have evidence of our own supporting this if your willing to let us help prove our claims.”

 

“Captain,” asked Kala, “what do you think?”

 

“Send it,” said the Captain.

 

Twenty minutes later Kala found herself calling down their ride. Beside her “Wild Bunch” stood Commander Nara and her two squads of troopers. A grim look graced every face in the bunch. Between the evidence presented by General Theiux rebels and what her troopers discovered or verified, she needed to arrest several Imperial officers for bribery and corruption among other charges. Along with the Imperial officers, they intended to arrest several Imperial civilians for similar and worse charges.

 

As the broached atmosphere, she sent her report to Master for her Master’s eyes only. She wanted to arrest the first several people with the element of surprise. To her surprise, a certain controller had not been on that list. And since being a bigot was not illegal, he got left alone.

 

Well, until he received orders permanently assigning him to the ‘Wild Bunch’.

 

All on the word of a sixteen year old Imperial Knight outraged at the miscarriage of justice that created the Rebellion on the planet below. A ceasefire held while the rebellion and Imperial troops waited for the outcome of her mission.

 

She did not know her actions would change of Imperial procurement law, how Imperial troops supressed rebellions, and provide a training example of how the new Empire needed to work on multiple levels.

When all was said and done, she ended up arresting over 200 civilians and military personnel over serveral hours. Many of them, realizing they faced a tougher justice than they were used to immediately began implicating others.

 

It soon began obvious that the investigation needed to be expanded and conducted by more than one Imperial Knight and five squads of increasingly angry troopers.

 

Kala tapped the transport’s pilot on the shoulder and ordered him to return to the station. Taking up a seat at the comm station she called her Master and sent her the information she had and what her prisoners were telling her.

 

She also sent the results to General Theiux and her rebels along with the planetary garrisons. Both sides withdrew until a more permanent solution could be found. According to one diplomat, they wanted to reset to the original contracts.

 

Along with her report, she put in a request of her to spend some time training with her troops and exploring more of what the Force had to offer. The ‘Battle Meditation’ seemed to be a good place to start. Before that though, she wanted to explore the facets of the Force in greater detail. She wanted to know what abilities and mysteries the Force might hold for her.

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

A brief joke about how he couldn’t possibly fit into a Moff uniform passed through Dordjooba’s mind like a raging plasma bolt. The words ‘slavery in the Outer Rim’ pierced the thin slimy skin of his head and melted into his brain, causing a righteous explosion of cold fury.

 

Slavery. Had those shuttas returned to befoul the work Dordjooba finished all those years ago? It made sense. Still…

 

Dordjooba cussed in his native tongue and looked to Kaldena with severity. “Is it true? Slavery in MY space?”

 

Kaldena smiled. The gesture was a tease and seemed a little inappropriate, but Dordjooba knew she meant well. “Technically, Dordjooba, it isn’t ‘your space’ which means that the other Hutt clans are free to reinforce their own influence. That means a return to the old way of doing things. Not all the other clans appreciate your reformed ideals of business and structure. Although they respect your results, they scorn you for not profiting off the exploitation of ‘lesser races.’”

 

Kaldena retrieved her datapad from the table in front of her where the Moff left it and paged through a few screens before finding several transmissions from Dordjooba’s people on Nal Hutta. “In fact, it looks like the Kalimore Ascendancy has moved in and started spreading their influence on the planet. They’ve even attempted to gain access to your factories, but your security has pushed them back with varying degrees of effectiveness. Ultimately, your assets are protected. For now.”

 

Dordjooba looked troubled. His face contorted with frustrated confusion and it took a few seconds before he had any semblance of an answer for the Moff. When he did, and the crux of his mental hurdles was gone, he shifted his pale blue eyes to look directly at the Moff.

 

“I will do whatever in my power to assist the Empire in removing slavery from Hutt space.”

[DoctorOblivious]

Despite herself, Sophia stiffened upon listening to Commander Eleison’s speech regarding the perceived uselessness of the Jedi Order and the more proactive stance that she wanted to take with the Imperial Knights. She’d heard this speech before, almost word for word. Indeed, anyone with any knowledge of history would have heard this speech before, and probably had read it many other times, all delivered by young Jedi and other well-meaning iconoclasts. How effective their efforts were… those results tended to be mixed. Sometimes, they would leave behind a legacy of a period of long-overdue reform; more likely, they flared out dramatically or ended up causing for more damage than they fixed. The Jedi Order was certainly in need of reform, but considering the resurgence of the Sith…

 

The historian just nodded and followed to the Corellian freighter, hefting her bag with its priceless curios onto one shoulder. She gave the canvas bag a test shake, hearing the quiet clinking of the archival devices and electronics inside; nothing was unaccounted for.

 

Sophia wasn’t in any position to voice her concerns, or even to probe exactly how Eleison intended to maintain the “purity” of any political organization, especially one with as tattered a history as the Empire. In the meantime, however, the scholar would be in a unique position of a lay witness to a historic meeting of the Jedi Order. Her role would be to document as much as she was able: record as much as possible, take holos when it wasn’t intrusive, and to take note of anything that transpired that could be of consequence.

 

Hopefully she wouldn’t manage to make enemies in either fragment of the Jedi Order in the meantime.

[Raven Nasra]

Wyler nodded to the Hutt, “Then you may depart either with the fleet or ahead of it, I will before you leave, need a full listing of hutt clans and members associated with the slave trade other than Kalimore, that would be perfect to begin our attack. The remnant and the millions of innocents in slavery thank you for your service. I look forward to meeting you in the next Council meeting Moff Dordjooba after this assault. Your stocks are already being transferred, I can also get the tailor to make a 10x uniform if you would need such a thing.”

 

 

He shuffled through datacards on his desk, prepared to answer any more questions the Hutt would have.

 

___________________

[Keenava Dira]

Keenava wore a face of indeterminable scorn when her apprentice asked a question she answered only moments before. But, knowing how foolish and naïve she’d been when Furion found her, it seemed commonplace for raw minds to hear things multiple times.

 

“We are heading straight through the Caridan system; flying casually. We are going to ping to verify that my lead on the Hutt is solid. Then, when or if our quarry comes into view, I am going to transmit an encrypted tight-beam communication to their vessel.” Keenava stuttered a little trying to find the proper words to convey her intent. And part of her wanted to keep the truth from her apprentice. But, considering that her apprentice’s life was in danger, the Twi’lek owed her an explanation.

 

“We are strafing through the Caridan system in a casual flight pattern. Because, if we enter the system with any other approach or intent, we will be shot on sight. If you need to understand why, you can access the Holonet archives and elucidate your present confusion.” Keenava grunted as she maneuvered to the comm terminal. The task before her was somewhat simple - in part due to a video she watched on the Holonet about it. It wouldn’t be pretty, but she’d be able to rig a simple communication. The piloting maneuvers would be the risky part. She was a fair hand at the yoke, but she was not an experienced combat fighter. And any added stress would not do well for her potential prospects. Which was a shame; this was a nice ship.

Still, no distractions.

 

Keenava screened out the mechanical whirring of the computer systems, the vents of the ship and every other little beep and click that exploded to life around her. Her ruby eyes zeroed in on the comm system and her hands shadowed the technician she watched. Each button was drawn from memory, each toggle switch and each electronic mechanism were triggered with echoed precision. Everything was one half-second behind, but the timing was not critical with this phase of the plan. The transmission was set, the wave was pared down to a tight beam and would trigger on her cue. And her cue would come the minute that there was confirmation of Dordjooba’s presence in the system. The only registered transponder that Keenava could find attached to Dordjooba’s records was that of his Yacht, the Dornja Kajin. So, if they found his Yacht, the communication would hit the ship's comm array and then they’d blast out of there like nobody’s business.

 

It was risky, but there wasn’t another way that she could see. Every other option ended in death.

 

“Apprentice, this will be rough. We’re going to power through the Caridan system and right past the Imperial Capital. We are probably going to get hit, but I will do whatever in my power to avoid getting shot out of the sky. However… Seeing as this is your ship, let’s see you in the pilot’s chair and I’ll assist with defensive maneuvers.”

 

The obsidian Twi’lek smiled, adrenaline pumping through her veins. When she firmly settled in the co-pilot’s chair the operation went into motion. The Dark Edge came out of Hyperspace and sped past Carida. It pinged the local orbiting satellite, which would likely draw Imperial attention, and located the appropriate vessel. Keenava’s comm shot in a tight beam to the Yacht with heavy encryption. It was messy and the beam wasn’t perfect. It was likely that this slight miscalculation would draw more attention, but the message was sent. Now all they had to do was get out.

 

________________________________

 

 

Dordjooba nodded and chuckled when the Moff mentioned the uniform. "The Uniform will not be needed unless you feel it is. I will wear it if it is protocol, but I will not ask you to accommodate in such a way for me unless you wish it. As to your request, I will do whatever in my power. Kalimore, Hegeiron, Kesdjicc, Judack, and Gabbac - according to Kaldena - are the only clans participating in the slave trade in the Outer Rim at the moment. Kalimore is the only one notable on my home planet, but that doesn't mean he isn't working with the others. This has been a project of mine for a while and it appears I need to finish what I started a long time ago. Oh, and the stocks are welcome, thank you."

 

When Dordjooba was finished with his speech, Kaldena got a small chime on her ear device. The sound drew the Hutt's attention and he momentarily turned to look at the Zeltron, incredulity laden in the folds of his face. The audio signal was short, but Kaldena nodded her assent and walked over to Dordjooba to confer with him for a moment. When she was done, Dordjooba nodded once more and sent her on her way.

 

The Hutt turned back to Moff Weyler with a hesitant smile that slipped into dismay. "I have received news. It appears more of my business interests in the Outer Rim are starting to slip. I've sent Kaldena away with Vlahjik to handle this issue. I will accompany your fleet as you move on Nal Hutta if you'll have me."

[Anastasia Faust]

Ammi's farewell to Coruscant left her in a peculiar emotional state. So much happened during that trip that she still tried to get a handle on.

 

Her ordeals at the Memorial.

Learning more about Kalen and the Gems.

Trying to cope with her own feelings and the boundaries in her and Kalen's professional relationship.

Meeting wonderful new people to work with, and Alira, in making her first major holonet video.

Discovering her friendship with Ephie Prink.

With that, finally admitting to herself those harmonies she heard and felt could be more, that she may be more.

And possibly getting more clues to who she was.

 

Ammi didn't really talk much during the flight to Cardia, likely surprising Kalen. Besides working on the drafts for Plague of Shadows, scribbling down notes about possible lyrics and trying to come up with a melody that tied them together, she let her thoughts go back to the other song she was working on. The Ace of Coins and the Queen of Air and Hearts, she didn't want to work on it when Kalen was around. Part of it was wanting to surprise him with the finished piece. The other was the uncertainty on how he'd react to her fulfilling that promise to turn it into a song. It also went back to her trying to define those boundaries.

 

She felt she had a solid set of lyrics as a possible draft for Plague of Shadows. A strong, percussion based metal intro would work, heavy on the drums and then a lead with the bass guitar. Ammi could feel out how to have her join in, using her voice and guitar as a counterpoint to the intro. Soaring, triumphant, energetic. She kept at it, using a series of holoscreens around her to add notations to the sheet music, the only sounds coming from the cockpit where the ship's engines, Ammi's humming, and synthesized playbacks of the notes she entered, played by the ship's computers.

 

As Ammi worked on her music, 4L-T0 and B45-50 worked in the back, occupied by their own tasks in tuning the equipment and taking inventory. They were still trying to chart out probabilities in why Alira did what she did, trying not to be caught off guard by sticking to their original conclusions to the point where they ignored other dangers. They struggled in their own ways, trying to understand the rewards and risks of letting M3Z-Z0 and 50P-R4N0 in on what they knew, as well as details of their past attempts at keeping Ammi safe during their tour, as well as letting Ammi know what they knew about Kalen.

 

Tired out, Ammi waved her hand and the screens disappeared. She brought up the navcharts. They'd be at Cardia soon. She'd heard it mentioned as her homeworld once, or thought she had, but she wasn't sure if that was true, or a mention that her father was stationed there. Either way, she made a point to see if she could find any records of a Wolfstar in the Imperial forces as a possible lead. She looked up and caught sight of Kalen in the reflection of one of her screens, jumping in shock, then remembered he'd been there the whole time.

 

"Sorry, Kalen," she apologized, turning her seat around and smiling. "Wasn't trying to ignore you. Just... got a lot to think about after the trip to Coruscant." She leaned back in her chair. "Music helps me lose myself." She reached up, twirling her hair with a finger, thinking back to her conversation with Ephie. "I gotta question for you," she said, her voice innocent and guileless, which meant that Kalen might have figured out her intentions were almost anything but by now. "We've still got a bit of time before we reach Cardia. Are you up for a friendly game of cards to pass the time?" Despite that innocent tone, there was a hint of challenge in her voice. "We could make it interesting too. Each winner gets to ask one question of the loser, which he... or I suppose she is possible too..." she added with a laugh, "has to answer honestly. Whaddya' say?"

[Raven Nasra]

As TIE defenders from the Hand of Valour scrambled towards Keenava’s ship at the limits of their ion engine’s perameters, Moff Wyler laughed along with the Hutt. The vision of him in a Moff’s uniform was nearly too much for his hungover mind to forget about.

 

“Yes you may accompany the Hand of Valour to Nal Hutta, they will be departing within the hour, to meet up with the forces under the head of state. I will also be going, in an effort to proove myself still a man of war and science.”

 

He laughed again, and beckoned the Hutt to join him on the shuttle up to the awaiting Imperial Frigate.

 

___________________

 

Elsewhere the refit of the Golan III Archangel began with an estimated completion date of 10/17/2017

 

___________________

[Kalen Lorell]

"I say you're full of it," he came back immediately, but an easy grin played across his face. "What do you play, kid? You can't take me in sabacc."

 

Ammi was typically prone to verbal processing, the sort of stream-of-consciousness-projectile-word-vomit that left little to the imagination. Kalen had never truly had to prompt her to hear her thoughts, a degree of vulnerability that was frankly foreign to him. Coming from a culture and a habit that kept everything behind closed doors, hidden daggers and sleight of hand, her forthright candor bordered on unsettling. But over the admittedly short amount of time that he had known her, he had grown slightly more accustomed to his sense of propriety and personal space invaded on the regular.

 

Which meant that her loaded question was all the more suspicious.

 

But the heavy chip on his shoulder--not to mention a dose of pride in his skill at the game that was in no way diminutive--could not turn away from a challenge. Settling in across from her, he tossed a nod in her direction with a jut of his chin.

 

"Deal me in, superstar."

[Anastasia Faust]

Ammi caught Kalen's surefire grin. "We'll see," was all she said. "I'm going to guess you know the Corellian Gambit play style." she said, the sentence very much not a question. She had learned the basics of the game, and her papa was very good at it, knowing all sorts of variants. Despite that, Mama almost always managed to beat him, just wearing the same sweet expression that came naturally to her throughout the entire match. Ammi hoped to replicate that.

 

She searched around the cockpit, finding a deck of sabacc cards tucked off to the side. She would occasionally play with 4L-T0 and B45-50 to pass time. Ammi rarely won for reasons about to be readily apparent.

 

If she'd had a chance to connect with the two droids she might have actually had some interesting questions to ask Kalen, but after her conversation with Ephie, she wanted to test something. Already being an open book in her own eyes, she figured losing wasn't something she minded too much. Assuming Kalen didn't ask certain questions which she trusted... hoped he wouldn't. She guessed Kalen wouldn't pass up a challenge, even with such an innocuous wager, and he'd want to win. It was built into him as much as Ammi was built to make music.

 

She dealt out her hand, trying her best not to look at it. She assumed her "negotiations" face and did her best to keep it up. She hummed softly to herself, a variation on the tune she found helped her last night to shield herself. She tried to focus on Kalen, not sure what she expected to sense. In her mind, it worked out that if she could find a harmony for herself to shield her abilities from reading others, maybe another tune could help them reach out and do the reverse. She half-jokingly and half-seriously, once asked Kalen if he was a Force Sensitive or user with his uncanny ability to win and never got an answer. Now, she intended to try and catch him at it as it seemed a safe way to test her abilities and also understand her manager better. Was he strong in it? Did he use it consciously or not? Was there something she could learn from him?

 

The flaw, evident when she glanced at her hand and saw a -21, was that while she could put on a stoic face for some negotiations, she was terrible at cards, and the brief, unwitting grin that flashed on her face as she saw her hand gave away more than she intended. Par for the course.

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

Dordjooba sent a communication to his agent Kaldesh, summoning him to Nal Hutta for the White Helm assault. Then the Hutt alerted the Moff to his agent’s involvement and accompanied him to the Hand of Valour.

 

Their ascent to and subsequent set up on the Hand of Valour was uneventful. There were many on the vessel that did not wish to be commanded or influenced by a Hutt, especially when they were on their way to dispatch a power-mad Hutt. But, Dordjooba didn’t back down. He made his way across the small platform to the bridge, bookended by Moff Wyler and another surly looking individual. An older shriveled chiss that looked like he was pulled straight from the earliest years of the Old Galactic War, walked up beside the Hutt and stared out the viewport at Carida. He licked his lips and furrowed his brow.

 

“Greetings. I am Starfighter Commander Ravir Tanus. I will help coordinate your bomber and defender movements.” His words were short and officious. But the piercing light of his red eyes told Dordjooba everything he needed to know about the old alien.

 

“Greetings Tanus. I believe you already know who I am.” Dordjooba said, countering the chiss’ feigned grace with a repartee of his own. “But, in case your superiors had not informed you; just in case anyone on this ship has not heard,” Dordjooba said, taking the conn, and transmitting his resonating baritone voice throughout the frigate. “My name is Dordjooba. I am a Hutt and I have been requested to take command of this vessel by Moff Wyler. We are on a mission to end slavery, such as it is, on my home planet, something I have been fighting for, for years. Kallimore is a fiend with no scruples or morals. And as much as I don’t attest to be free of blame or sin, he is the literal scum of which our race is attributed to. He must be stopped before he is allowed to spread his repugnant grasp across the whole of Hutt space. You may not like me. You don’t have to like me. It is not my job to gain the appeal of everyone on board. I only request that you do your duty as you would for any of these gentlemen before me. Now, we jump to Nal Hutta in fifteen minutes. And when we do, show them why you’re the best naval force the galaxy has to offer.”

 

The Hutt smiled from wherever he would have an ear to the other side of his large head. His charcoal skin looked black in the low light of the bridge and with a small bow, he went to rejoin the other two gentlemen, followed by his small cleaning slime-Roomba.

 

“Let the fighters know we will be jumping soon Tanus,” Wyler issued. The chiss nodded and bowed with a small crick issuing from the small of his back before walking to a panel on the starboard side of the bridge. “Good rallying call Dordjooba. I wish you luck in this engagement. Now, let’s hit them where it hurts.”

 

Dordjooba nodded, thinking briefly to Arkanus, and then dismissing himself for a moment to communicate with his men on Nal Hutta.

 

_______

 

Keenava narrowly dodged the Tie’s in pursuit of the Edge and when she felt that they were a reasonable distance out from their line of fire, Keenava hit the hyperdrive and shot off toward Korriban. She had some thinking to do. And it wasn’t fair to bring Dri along with her in that regard.

[Wyvernfall]

The Personal Luxury Yacht 5000 (PLY5000) glided to a smooth stop as it exited hyperspace a short distance from the orbit of Carida; home of the Imperial Remnant. For all the once undercover CoreSec operatives turned undercover Galactic Alliance quasi-soldier mercs the lack of any sort of GA affiliated signatures or items was a blessing. Truthfully, the crew had, for the most part, been so invested in the undercity of Coruscant, that they were not even sure what to make of the Imperial Remnant. Were they alien haters? Did they get along with the GA? Tolerate the GA? Who knew! Combine all this with the orders to not report their activity to anyone save for the ex-leader of CoreSec now turned politico and things were just a mystery wrapped in a potential consipracy theory and gently frosted with a sugary web of lies and deceit; really, just another day in the office.

 

The stolen yacht, silent in the void of space, approached the planet, her altered transponder signal gallantly seemingly fooling any would be half-hearted space-to-planet-traffic controllers who not seeing anything immediately suspicious granted clearance to the stream lined yacht of some unheard of rich core world persona.

 

Landing went without a hitch. the Yacht settled smoothly into its birth.

 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Wandering from his stateroom to where Earn had holed himself up for the interplanetary trek he leaned on the doorframe. "Right droidy guy, we're here. Remember, don't say we're from CoreSec, the Alliance, nothing. If anyone asks you had your memory wiped a few weeks ago and now you are used for clerical and combat purposes for the Burnin' Nemoids. With that, the Herglic jerked his head towards the out-of-sight exit ramp. "Lets go." and he turned and walked off; knowing that most of the Nemoids would stay aboard the ship, armed to the teeth; just in case something went bad they would be able to ride in on their steel steeds of despair to the rescue.

 

Walking down the exit ramp, not waiting to see if Earn accompanied him or not, Feldstar paused midstep, his jaw dropping open slightly. Stormtroopers.....great.

It'd been a while since he had dealt with the white plastoid wannabe robots and he didn't like them then, why should he like them now?

[Raven Nasra]

The 43rd Combat Assault Pioneers brigade, attached to the Caridan main combat battle group and garrison were a bit shocked to be assigned to investigating a landing shuttle. They were in the area, and the only combat group available at the moment so they did their duty. Suiting up and arming themselves with E-22 blaster rifles. Brigade Leader Priess made sure that his helmet and green grey armour were properly fitted and secured before he and thirteen of his men and women ran to the landing bay, where a shuttle had just touched down. Listening to his in ear comm as the boarding ramp lowered, Priess extended his hand to the occupants, when he spoke, his voice carried the not often heard Galan accent.

 

“Let’s see IDs and immigration forms gentlemen, we are under heavy lockdown while the planet is under repair from the Sith attack, so I need you to immediantly comply.”

 

As if to accent that, the Pioneers behind him raised their weapons to ready position.

 

_____________________

[Kalen Lorell]

All in all, Ammi's gameplay showed a certain level of experience, though Kalen did find himself idly wondering several things as he watched her movements. Gambit-style sabacc, more than any other style of play, required an intense ability to read your opponent. Every single flutter of an eyelid, every millisecond a hand paused before drawing a new card, every twitch of the upper lip during the shifting phase: whether she knew it or not, it all meant something to him. Sabacc, after all, was not about playing the hand you were dealt, but playing the person across from you.

 

She played casually, as one might when nothing was at stake, during pickup games with sisters or on family vacations where the long space flights would have everyone reeling from boredom and cabin fever by the end. And while he was curious as to the mechanisms of her mind, the way her thoughts carried her, there were no burning questions he felt the need to ask her. Though, if her setup was any indication, the reverse was not true.

 

The Ace of Flasks and The Star peeked up at him tauntingly, and the Three of Flasks lay next to the Queen of Air and Darkness on the table, giving him a grand total of -1, a spectacularly colossal failure if it had not been prior to the shifting phase. Patience had saved him before, and it would do so again. Any card player who could not have patience with the setup of the game deserved the losses that would find him.

 

Tossing the Star into the distortion field, keeping only the Ace clutched in his cool hand, he watched as a shimmer of electricity passed over the top of them and changed the values.

 

Ammi's grin, notable in its jubilance, was second only to the gleeful triumph he himself felt.

 

The Star gave way to the Mistress of Coins, exchanging a -17 value for a +13 value. The Three of Flasks melted into Balance at -8, and the Queen of Air and Darkness morphed into the Two of Staves.

 

+22. Not pure sabacc, but good enough to win. The round was called, and Ammi laid her hand first.

 

"So, for my first question," he said as he laid his last hand card on the table, "I'll go easy on you. Have you ever let someone else take the blame for something you did?"

 

Resisting the urge to laugh, he sat back in his chair and crossed his ankles.

 

"You know, Miss Ammi," he said slyly as the next shift phase began, "where I come from, if money isn't involved, we don't play." Glancing down at his cards, his constantly teasing grin was impassive as the total on his cards changed from a +9 to a -22. "Or," he winked at her, "we play strip sabacc."

[Anastasia Faust]

Ammi's eyes closed as she hummed, the tune soft and flowing as her whims directed the song. She tried to feel out anything from Kalen. She felt nothing.

 

Her eyes cracked open a sliver, watching his eyes study her. She had a sudden realization that it could be just skill alone that lead her into a world of embarrassment as she absently rubbed at her pendant. It'd brought her luck before on several occasions and she hoped it'd come through this time. She glanced down at her cards again, the back of her hand covering her mouth, instinctively trying to conceal her reactions, though a faint wriggling of her ring finger along with her humming gave another minute tell of her excitement.

 

She felt the first pang of... something as Kalen looked at his cards. It was a flinty feeling, dull and smooth. She wasn't sure what that meant, but then watched him toss the card into the distortion field, a cool toss. She broke off her humming at that, getting an aura of unease from herself and still feeling that cool, dull calm aura from Kalen. Her eyes narrowed as she felt something... radiant. This was not good. Still, she had a -21. That was something.

 

She laid her cards out on the table, giving Kalen a level look, sensing that radiant aura remaining. To her credit, she didn't blink as the -23 was put before her.

 

"You were losing until you put the card in the distortion field," she observed softly. She looked up, calmly folding her hands under her chin. "Ask away."

 

At the question, she flinched, looking away, her fingers tightening. That was one question that definitely resonated with her. "Yes," she admitted, her voice quiet. "It's happened a few times," she kept her eyes down. "I'll give you three times," she said shortly. "When I was nine, papa built a prototype amplifier unit for me. I got ahold of a tool kit and tried to work on it, to crank it up. It ah... kinda blew out and shattered plasteel across the house when it turned on. Mama was kind about it, laughing it off, as were my sisters, and papa was confused, sure he'd assembled it right..." She grimaced. "He still got a hard time about it, even a couple months before I left." She gave a soft laugh at that, though there was a hint of unease in her voice. "Second time, my sisters and I tried joy riding in the family's speeder. It kinda ended up in a lake. I was driving at the time. I ended up swimming over to another bank, my sisters to the other, right where mama and papa came running. They took the rap for me." She smiled, a wistful look in her eyes. "I don't know if I ever really got a chance to repay them for that."

 

She straightened up, looking more confident as she spoke. "Last time, I was on performing on a backwater moon, not saying which one. There might have been a fire after I got into an argument with the venue owner over drinks and food for performing that night. A band of slavers who worked closely with the venue owner, also in the audience that night, might have ended up wearing most of that food and drink during the performance. The whole lot also might have been arrested for arson and insurance fraud when the smoke cleared." She gave a genuine smile at that one, giving a satisfied chuckle. "Didn't plan on that, just ran after the fire started. It just kinda... happened to work out. Just as long as I know our itinerary, we can avoid going back there."

 

She gathered up the cards, ready for the next hand. She felt less embarrassed after sharing that last one, chalking it up to the Force or whatever else balancing the karmic scales. She wondered if she should ever come clean on the first two, letting her parents and sisters know. But that would involve getting into contact with them, which felt harder still given how they left. Maybe after this tour ended.

 

She glanced at Kalen, immediately catching something in his voice that put her on edge. One eyebrow raised up at the mention of money, eyes narrowing and the blue growing more pronounced as she stared at his grin. She flinched, her cheeks heating up as he mentioned the last. "You can't be serious?!" she choked, then stared at that grin again. She drew herself up again, face becoming a mask. Well, as long as it didn't get out of hand, she'd be able to feel out those earlier sensations and still accomplish what she wanted. She felt confident she could preserve her modesty and maybe, just maybe if she got better at reading him, give him something to take that smile off his face.

 

------

 

"Maybe, Basso," 4L-T0 conceded, checking the guitars set. "I think we need to consider upgrading to the new fiber strings. They're supposed to be strong enough to tether a starship from blasting off and have a better sound. I think we could order so-"

 

A loud, frustrated and earpiercing scream from Ammi was heard, followed by a shout.

 

"YOU CHEATING GAMORREAN PIG! AAARGHHH!"

 

They froze solid, then 4L-T0 creeped forward and peeked out of the cargo bay. M3Z-Z0 and 50P-R4N0's heads could be seen ducking up as well from where they sat in a semi-sleep state. There was a sound of something like a table being knocked over and something like... cards? hitting the floor. An overhead bin could be heard opening in the cockpit. It sounded like the one with the emergency supplies, food, blankets, medkit, and the like given the rusty sounding hinge, and then heard what sounded like the hasty stomp of bare feet. 4L-T0 caught a glimpse of Ammi storming by, wrapped in a blanket with her pendant dangling outside, her face redder than her strawberry blonde hair.

 

B45-50 and the other droids made a move to head on out and investigate, but 4L-T0 ducked his head back in, quickly to avoid having Ammi see him, and shook his head, raising an arm to prevent the others from going out into the hall. He knew better than to engage Ammi at all when something like this happened. They heard the slam of the door to Ammi's cabin followed by a string of curses that surprised 4L-T0. When had she learned those words?

 

"So..." 4L-T0 began, trying to move on as if nothing happened. "I think we should order some once we get to Cardia to try them out. We'll check with Kalen... assuming Ammi doesn't try throwing him out the airlock first, and see if he can get us a discount." He looked at M3Z-Z0 and 50P-R4N0, making a sweeping motion with his arms, showing that was not a serious suggestion and to stand down.

 

"Trip to Cardia's gonna be a lot quieter from here on out," B45-50 concluded.

[ChaoticGood123]

Eam got up immediately when addressed by Feldstar. He agreed with his suggestion of a memory wipe... it was convincing, as no one could visually tell he was in any way organic. "Good idea." The cyborg looked out the window as the ship turned off... and saw several signs of a recent attack. As his optical sensors assessed the damage, he knew it must have been quite a battle, and under these circumstances the city, if not the whole planet, would be on lockdown, according to what he knew about Imperial Remnant policy. "Blast it...!" he said. As the rest of the gang members prepared to disembark, the cyborg quickly connected his brain implant to the ship's computer and forged digital representations of everything they needed to pass, as authentically as he could make it (which was pretty good). "This better work, or we're screwed..." After a few seconds, he had everything he needed, and the cyborg then disconnected and followed the gang outside. As Brigade Leader Priess demanded their authentication, Eam used his holoprojector to display the data needed to pass. "Here are the IDs and forms, Brigade leader. Are we cleared?" The cyborg then stood completely still, completely inconspicuous, although he was still prepared to grab his electrostaff if the gang's luck was bad enough for this to end up violent so quickly. He even used his targeting systems to lock on to each present trooper ahead of time. And yet, he was still letting everything rest on those false IDs, because despite him usually capable of taking on dozens of stormtroopers, he doubted that himself or the rest of his new friends could last very long against a whole Imperial-occupied planet.

[Raven Nasra]

Priess glanced at the holo IDs as they manifested in the air in front of him. He was expecting the normal holoIDs that were issued in chip form that could be inserted into datapads and read. Not whatever this was. Priess looked over the IDs with a surprised expression on his face, invisible as it was under his green helmet. His eye caught the red blinking light on his HUD and he gulped down a gasp of air. Every Assault Pioneer on the ramp were getting the same blinking target lock from their HUDs. This was about to get very interesting. Triggering his throat mic to his brigade he relayed his orders. He looked to the large fish like man and laughed, his voice carrying a dangerous tone.

 

“Is your name really Buttes Mc’Tavish? Because while these are good, they are not verifiable records…”

 

With a move as fast as lightning he whipped up his E-22 rifle and pointed it center mass to the Droid. His finger ready to depress the trigger, his men following suite on Wyvernfall and the other gangmembers. The three ground based turbolaser towers within range lowered their large caliber barrels towards the ship. Their crews suddenly quite awake from their lunch break. Their caf' forgotten at the briefing table.

 

“So why don’t you turn off your targeting systems, calm the kriff down and tell us, what the Kriff you are doing here! You have three seconds to comply.”

 

The 43rd Combat Assault Pioneers were not some defenseless group of engineers, they were stormtrooper trained first and foremost and Jonathan Priess was no dainty Moff like his father. He was all too happy to pull the trigger first, write some paperwork and get back to rebuilding the planet.

 

_________________

[ChaoticGood123]

Eam was not pleased with this situation. He ran through his decision making process. If he complied with this apparently cunning trooper, they would risk an outstanding prison sentence for espionage, and he himself would be melted down, being a droid in their eyes. If they ran to their shuttle and tried escaping, the fleet would catch them, if they are lucky enough to escape the turrets. If they fought now, the turrets would surely blow them up before they could make much of a dent, even if they could take on this many top-class troops at once. If they scattered and tried escaping the launch pad, the search parties would find them eventually. He didn't have very many good options. As this guy would say, 'Kriff.' he turned off his targeting sensors, but saved the data in case he was forced to fight if other options failed. "I'll cooperate, Brigade leader. We're rogue refugees from Raxus Prime, escaping the Sith. We are lucky you fought off their recent attack, in that case. Look, I know you guys are not too fond of fake IDs or my aggressive, ah, precaution, but with what we've seen we've come to trust no one, and these IDs were largely for smuggling out of Sith territory. No offense, but your territory wasn't exactly our first choice, however, we don't have much of a choice, and that's why we can't get hold of proper admittance either. Don't get us wrong, we don't want or expect your sympathy. We just want a place to stay, and if you don't want us here, you can point us to another planet to take refuge."

[Wyvernfall]

SHow me your papers. Great.....should've expected this. The thought raced through Feldstar's mind as his razor sharp mind began to turn over a plethora of ways to possibly get out of this. All of that didn't matter though as the Burnin' Nemoids' newest recruit jumped in offering up some e-visual types of decidedly false, albiet adequately forged identification....Buttes McTavish? Are you kidding me?

 

The next thing to happen would have warranted a facepalm to the the center of his overly large cetacean forehead had there not been a myriad of highly trained and effective death-dealing rifles leveled at the Herglic and his comrades all quite obviously dressed as Swoopers. Not exactly the most law abiding folks in the galaxy. If these stormies decided to prod the ship too deeply their gig would surely be up. Maybe I can still salvage this....

 

Before he could act, his newfound comrade stepped up to the plate again with a disastrous lie about their being refugees from Sith territory. Yup. Admit their false IDs. Greaaaat.

I've never been in an Imperial prison; but I've heard they are no where near as nice as the ones I worked in back with CoreSec. Prison, and not a prison guard by the looks of things.

 

"Whoa! Whoa!" Feldstar stepped forward between Eam and the troopers hoping against hope to not have blaster bolts tear through his blubber covered muscular body. "My apologies for my droid," he explained to the trooper trying to do damage control, "it is programmed to protect our interests. As you can see," he continued as he signaled one of his comrades to turn around showing the sickly green stylized Nemodian skull encircled in a dark orange flaming ring emblazoned on the back of each swoopers leather club vest. "we're obviously less than the most upstanding group out there and if you check our ship's logs you'll see we just came from Coruscant. We might have had a few less than legal dealings there that needed us to get off planet, quickly; however, word on the street was you bucketheads are looking to take out a nasty group o' slavers. We figured this might give us a chance to turn over a new leaf; maybe earn some clemency from the Remnant.

 

Don't mind our droid. It hasn't been reprogrammed since our last job."

 

Gesturing at the still open gangplank of their decidedly luxurious ship, a ship way to nice for the rough ragtag crew now standing on the landing platform, indicating they were welcome to board. Feldstar's crew of a dozen undercover operatives, minus Eam, all were smart enough to not point their weapons back at the stormtroopers, but the tension was thick enough in the air and anyone with any military sense knew that the hands resting on all manner of heavy, modified, or potentially illegal weaponry were ready to spring into action at a mere fraction of a moment. The Burnin' Nemoids were no strangers to rules-free combat and were, in truth, rather expert at it. Death would be instantaneous on both sides for many.

 

Now all they had to do ws let the tension hang in the air and see if the troopers took the story as fact or at least allowed it to pass for the greater good.

[Raven Nasra]

Priess did not lower the charged E-22, but looked over at the large fishlike man. He let out a laugh and shook his head,

 

“Well if you didn’t attempt to pass off forged documents first I would think we would be all too happy to have you in the Operation. I can certainly say that if you serve well you will be forgiven your crimes, but if you want to get out of this mess alive, I reccomend mind wiping this defective thing, or program it to use better slicing techniques for IDs.”

 

He looked back to Feldstar and his men took a step back instinctively, “You both need to cut the lies right the kriff now, either you are refugees from Raxus or you are Swoopers from triple zero, tell us the gorramed truth, or your droid gets to be reprogrammed after it gets you, yours, and some of mine blasted to seven hells. I don’t believe either story, and your hands are not nearly greasy and worn enough to be a swoop jockey. If you are Sith you are going to die, quickly or slowly your choice so you’d better pull your sabre and go for it. If you are something else, then you had better say right the kriff now and kriffing prove it.”

 

His finger tightened on the trigger pointed at the droid to right before the ignition point. One millisecond twitch would be all it took to send pieces of a droid scattering all over the crew compartment. While his men did the same on the undercover CoreSec/GA. He began to count backwards.

 

“Three...”

_________________

[ChaoticGood123]

Eam suddenly started laughing eerily the second Priess reached "one". He then spoke in a voice less monotone, but it sounded no less menacing. "You're quite the stubborn one, aren't you? Well, it doesn't matter. Good luck damaging a duraplated alloy with that E-22 blaster..." With blurring speed, the droid slapped the blaster straight out of Priess's hand and swung his electrostaff at him. He then jumped out of the way of a turret blast, and zapped a couple troopers in his path unconscious as he announced, "Take cover, fast! If you all stay away from those turrets, we have a statistically of higher chance of surviving!" He then activated his targeting system and targeted everyone in sight, including the turrets for when he used any concussion grenades on them. He fired his shoulder-mounted pulse cannon rapidly while swinging his staff at troops with stunning accuracy, overwhelming the squad with a combination of deadly melee dueling and rapid blaster shots. He narrowly avoided another turret blast and called Feldstar via a built-in comlink. "Do you think its convenient that a Sith attack put the guy on high alert right before the start of our mission? This is very unfortunate, and we need a plan." The cyborg couldn't help but suspect the Sith had planned this turn of events... he was wanted for killing an apprentice, and they probably were not fond of him joining the GA, or CoreSec, for that matter. Did they know he was going to land here on a mission? Did they even know about his recruitment, or his whereabouts? Whatever the case, Sith plot or not, this was not good. At all. A couple troop's blasts hit his armor as he was distracted by this line of thought, and the cyborg started focusing again, searching for more cover points. When Eam didn't find any, he used his flamethrower to make a perimeter, blocking the trooper's sight of the gang. He fired his first concussion grenade straight at one of the turrets, decimating it, although there was still another threatening them. For an opening skirmish, this is brutal. he thought.

[Raven Nasra]

The 43rd Combat Assault Pioneers were a battle hardened group, and with the lack of answers to the three count they knew all hell would break loose. When Priess hit a pause after one all the troopers opened up. They didn’t want to be here, but they certainly would not allow any Sith spies to pass onto the capital world of Carida. As soon as the count hit one the result was inevitable. The E-22 reciprocating rifles that the men carried let off a fury of red highpowered blaster bolts before the droid could finish his mechanical laughter. Aimed at mainly Feldstar, the Droid, and his men. Always center of mass, always to kill. There was no time for trickshots.

 

Brigade leader Priess triggered a five round burst into the droid from point blank range and began a fighting retreat from the vehicle. His thirteen men followed suite, triggering high powered rounds from their rifles into Feldstar and his men while backing slowly back down the ramp, their comms calling for backup to the surrounding base. All over the Caridian landing zone, units that were otherwise on high alert began a mad dash to help their fellows. A 12 vehicle AT-PT crew began to move, along with three Imperial Dropships, enroute to rescue their comrades at maximum speed. The frantic call of “man down!” echoed across the comm networks and the mood became very grim indeed. All normal comm traffic ceased as the 43rd Combat Assault Pioneers began their fighting retreat from the vehicle as all Imperial troops, fighter wings, and bombers in the Caridian Capital prepared themselves for the task of suspect elimination or capture. As soon as the men were clear, the turbolaser towers knew their duty. There would be no escape for enemies of the Imperial State.

 

<>

 

_________________

[Wyvernfall]

Before his metallitc-minded comrade had even finished his monologue the squadron before them had launched into what was inevitably a well rehearsed dance of destruction. Feldstar, standing as he was, closest to the leader of the white-clad imperial shocktroopers was also the closest, and arguably the largest, target, at least on their side, on the platform. In the open with relatively little cover, Feldstar had been hoping to talk their way onto Carida; apparently that was a no-go now.

 

As blaster bolts burned against his leather covered armored plates, the large whale-like being tumbled backwards, a fittingly whale-esque cry of pain escaping his lips at a low and exceptionally loud resonance flooding the area with noise; inside and outside the Pleasure Yacht. Lying on the ground he heaved a painful breath, "RUN!" he shouted; hoping that perhaps the others could get away before the Imperials completely closed in.

 

The few Nemoids who had come out onto the landing platform returned fire, but were no match for the better trained and better equipped and more numerous stormtroopers and their garrison. IN an instant the five Nemoids on the platform fell to the dense devastating barrage of Imperial laserfire.

 

Aboard the Gem of the Coral Seas, those Nemoids in the entry way quickly ducked back inside, all the while shouting orders to one another and leaving the two pilots to scramble back towards the cockpit of the large elegant ship. Grabbing at the nearby weapons, cleverly hidden within the decorative shrubbery within the ship a duo of Nemoids, one being Tssodak, and the other being a strikingly stunning lucious male Zeltron with flowing locks to match, scrambled to wrest the duo of hidden RPS-8 Rocket Launchers hidden amongst the onboard shrubbery near the boarding ramp, from their hiding places in an effort to stave off any would be boarders until the ship woould have a chance to take off. Of course that all depended on the pilots making it back to the cockpit. THe fact that their brethren lay sprawled on the platform was not lost to them either; but the emotional toll of such a loss came second to preserving their cover and salvaging what they could. After all, with enough time and effort who knew what a group of skilled imperial researchers, analysts, and slicers could uncover in the ragtag groups swoops and scavenged CoreSec supplies.

 

<<>>

[Kalen Lorell]

Having transferred their crew and cargo manifest to Carida's intensive customs patrol, the Galactic GlobeTrotter made its landfall on the Imperial capital. They had opted to stay on the ship rather than spending extra money on a hotel, and landed just outside Carida's premier performance hall. It wasn't the Galaxies Opera House, but it was grand and beautiful in an ordered Imperial fashion nonetheless.

 

Moments later, Kalen appeared out from the cockpit, a cheeky grin on his face, clutching a small bundle of fabric in his hands. Depositing it into the metal clutches of 4L-T0, he winked at the pair of droids."I never cheat. Not for less than 10 million cred, anyways," he added smugly. "If you don't mind checking on her, we'll go tour the space and talk setup when she's ready."

 

The grin remained plastered to his face long after he retreated to his own bunk. However, it didn't escape his attention that the girl was still holding onto questions she did not feel she could openly ask. That was just as well: he had never intentionally revealed the most private elements of his history to anyone, and he wasn't about to start now.

 

((Phone post, apologies for the quality. I've been holding us up long enough!))

[Anastasia Faust]

4L-T0 and B45-50 were still checking the equipment shortly after landing. As expected, the trip was quieter in the aftermath. 4L-T0 had a few guesses what happened, later confirmed when Kalen came by with Ammi's outfit and a smug grin. One got the impression from his posture that if the droid more of a face, he'd have arched up an eyebrow at the bundle, which he took, immediately shaking his head and giving a low chuckle at Kalen's remark. Something stirred in his programming though to come to Ammi's defense though this was something she clearly brought on herself.

 

"Surely, Mister Lorell, Miss Ammi's modesty is worth at least a good 12,000,000 credits, and one upping her is priceless," he said, delivering this with a straight deadpan. "That does lend some credence to her claims. I mean, it's not like she wasn't goaded on in any fashion."

 

"We can check on her," B45-50 interjected. "but if you want the rest of this tour to be civil, you better put on the part of prince charming and apologize." B45-50's tone was soft as he handed Kalen a datapad that covered the new molecularly bonded fiber guitar strings he and 4L-T0 were discussing earlier. "May not have been your fault, but Ammi can hold a grudge." B45-50 chose all of his words in those sentences with the same measured care he offered when he normally spoke.

 

A short time later, Ammi emerged from her cabin and went to see 4L-T0 and B45-50. She wore a simple purple dress along with her pendant. Belted at the waist was her wolf's head dagger on her right side and the Gems amethyst one on her left. She was calm, too calm, which told the droids Ammi was still very pissed, a fact belied by how frosty the blue specks in her eyes looked.

 

For her part, she knew Kalen hadn't cheated, at least not consciously or in any way she could sense. She also now knew when down to almost nothing, "double or nothing" in that particular game was a bad, bad idea.

 

Even so, how dare he?!!! He's still a no good fething Gamorrean Pig!

 

She eyed the pile of clothes, carefully set down in a corner of the cargo bay with a cold stare. Even M3Z-Z0 and 50P-R4N0 took a step back, sensing something amiss. "Put those back in my cabin, and tell Kalen he can keep the shirt," she said shortly. "We're even then." She motioned for M3Z-Z0 to follow her. "We'll tour the venue ourselves. Let Kalen know, m'kay? He can catch up with us." Despite the casual language, Ammi's language was hard and all business. Turning abruptly, she walked out.

 

"Amethyst seems rather upset," 50P-R4N0 observed aloud after the two left. 4L-T0, being a droid, couldn't roll his optics, but B45-50 just gave the guard droid a friendly pat on the shoulder.

 

Ammi cooled down once inside the venue, getting ahold of the general manager and having a few quiet words with him. She got a rough idea of the set up, and despite her simmering anger at Kalen, once more had to acknowledge he truly had her back and picked out quite the venue. She was not going to apologize for her outburst earlier, but she decided she also wasn't going to let him have it like she planned the next time she saw him. She let the manager know Kalen would likely be coming by later to work out the details, and after expressing her satisfaction, she stepped out.

 

"Miss Amethyst," M3Z-Z0 cautioned. "We are deviating from planned arrangements. Where are we going?"

 

Ammi hailed a speeder-taxi, stepping in once it stopped. "We got plenty of time to practice before the show. I'm heading over to the military's main archives complex." The effort of staying mad drained her, but a hint of nervous energy ran through her. "I'm going to see what I can find, public or otherwise, on my parents."

 

She sat with M3Z-Z0 in silence, finally arriving. She tipped the cab driver generously and stepped out. She felt the close scrutiny of the Empire's eyes on her, stormtroopers around every corner it seemed. Even so, she couldn't hate them, not for their work against the Sith and what they were supposedly doing to crack down on slavery. If this truly was a new Empire, she'd give her full support to those causes. Still didn't mean she wanted to live here though either.

 

Approaching a pair of stormtroopers by the main entrance, Ammi presented her civilian credentials and Galactic Passport. "My name is Ammi 'Amethyst' Wolfstar. I was told my birth father was an Imperial officer," she declared. "I'm not an Imperial citizen, but I'd like to access any public or civilian records I'm allowed to see what I can find on him or my mother."

[Kalen Lorell]

"Where in the name of Jabba's twitching tail is that girl?" Kalen fumed at 4L-T0 and B45-50.

 

The pair of droids simply met each others' eyes, not immediately opting to come forth with any relevant information. Not feeling particularly calm enough to wait indefinitely for them to decide if bolstering her safety by revealing their precious mistress's secrets would be worth the wrath that they would undoubtedly incur, Kalen stormed backstage to find the manager of the venue.

 

"How long ago did she leave?" he said far too quietly, barely restraining his irritation. Carida, in its current state of military lockdown, was no place for her to be wandering around idly. This was not a sightseeing tour through the Imperial capital. Not to mention, having heard enough of her stories to be generally mistrusting of her ability to keep herself out of trouble with the authorities, he did not particularly relish the idea of having to bail her out.

 

"An hour, maybe two," the manager replied with a shrug.

 

"Did she say anything? Where did she go after she left here?" He glanced out the window at the rear of the green room as though she might manifest on the permacrete outside.

 

"She said she was happy with the arrangements and that you would come by later to make sure everything was ready. I'm not sure where she went. Took one of those big droids with her. Never seen one of those before," the stiffly formal manager added curiously.

 

Kalen waved him off. "They're Lemnos custom." Knowing that Ammi had taken one of her bodyguards with her made him feel fractionally better, but only just. "Listen, if you hear from her, make sure she checks in with me, will you?"

 

Bursting through the green room doors that carried him onto the stage, he yanked his comlink out of his pocket irritably and punched in the starlet's frequency. "Kid, listen. I know you're pissed at me, but I really need to know where you are."