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 Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2011 11:40 pm
Antar 5
It was nightfall before the traitorous Kal Rem finally emerged from the deep. If it wasn't for his silver hair, Sephis might have missed his exit entirely. For the moment, it seemed as if his ploy had succeeded. Massacre a colony, and leave just enough evidence to suggest that it was a Force-sensitive. Plant a native, who is sensitive to the Force, at the crime scene, and wait for the Jedi to come. Kal Rem might not be the best material to work with, but at least it was something.
Sephis lay in wait, lying prone from nearly a kilometer away, suppressing his Force-signature the best he could, and watched as Kal Rem shot up to his freighter. It was a few minutes before the ship lifted off, and Sephis stayed flat on the ground for 10 minutes after the Advent had disappeared before getting up. Sephis got up on one knee and looked around. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. Heard nothing. Then he stood up fully and doubled back to his TIE fighter.
The fighter had been hidden in the mine Kal had just exited from, buried deep in the ground. It had taken Sephis an hour just lift up enough earth so he could bury the fighter so it wouldn't be seen. It would take Sephis probably just as long to get the fighter out and into atmosphere, but if this plan worked, then the time and effort put into this would be worth it. Soon, Sephis thought, relations between the Jedi and the Republic would be torn asunder.
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Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2011 4:54 pm
NABOO
Isani is blunt and to the point. There is no dancing of words here.
"You," she says simply. "I was looking for you." She stares openly at the teal-haired woman, this shade of Sam-el Joelk in Nubian dress cutting flowers in a field full of them. Her lip curls, just slightly (apathy here, not fury; and the stirring of something other than grief. Pity? Perhaps.)
The once-Sith, once-Jedi sighs impatiently. "Sit, Sam," Isani bids the former Grandmaster, wading out of the field of flowers and seating herself cross-legged. She tosses her cloak and saber to the side, the former still concealing the latter. "You have much to learn, and you will not learn it by cutting flowers."
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haphazardly parked Vice Captain
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 11:13 am
Swift Edge, Prindaar System
Sephis downloaded the video from his datapad into the TIE fighter's communications system. Then he attached it to an encrypted, anonymous transmission, showing Kal Rem leaving the scene at the mining outpost. Sephis sent the transmission, waited for the confirming bleep that indicated it was en route, and jumped to hyperspace. This was in the name of the Empire, Sephis thought, and for the sake of taking care of a loose end.
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Coruscant, Imperial Palace
"Why are we doing this in the War Room?"
"This room is one of the only rooms in the Palace District, and maybe on the entire planet, that we can guarantee is psi-proof."
"What does that mean?"
"That means, Chief, that even telepathic Jedi and Sith, like Grand Master Storm and Darth Ensis, can't 'hear' us in here."
The Imperial Palace was a building located in the Palace District of Coruscant. The Imperial Palace was originally called the Presidential Palace or the Palace of the Republic when it was used by the President of the Galactic Republic and as a complex of offices for its Senate. It was included on the list of the Twenty Wonders of the Galaxy by the historian Vicendi in 10,000 BBY. The Imperial Palace was the residence of Emperor Palpatine during his reign over the Galactic Empire. He drastically rebuilt the Palace into a massive complex that included grand corridors, an alternative Senate Chamber, and a blast-shielded war room located in the middle of the second floor, which was where the Chief of State's administration was holding a meeting right now.
"Why isn't Cole Barranks here?" the Chief of State asked.
"This is, in part, about Cole Barranks, sir. As your appointed Director-General of the Senate Bureau of Intelligence it is my obligation to inform you of a recent attack, not authorized by this Administration, have brought to light the possibility that there are people in your administration or under your command, that believe you are under the influence of a Jedi master, and that your decision to ally the Republic with the Jedi is a direct result of their influence over you."
"Well, that's just..."
"Now, as we discussed in private, sir, the conundrum of this situation is that there is no way for you to know if you are being controlled, let alone prove to anyone that you aren't," the Director-General went on. "We took a series of resonance images and here is what we found... Needless to say, gentlmen, as everything else that take place in this room... What is said here, right now, in this room, stays in this room... This information is Code White Top Secret..."
The Director General pulled out a palm-sized device from his coat-pocket and thumbed a button on it. A holo-display lit up, protraying a brain. A human brain. The Chief of State of the Republic was a human, after all.
"This is a digital scan of a brain-wave pattern of a brain that has been psychically penetrated," the Director-General said.
The brain appeared to be 'glowing' in a way. Not glowing so much that it was blindingly bright, but the brain appeared to have this overflowing, dark orange luminescence about it. One might have described the light as 'swollen.'
"This is a brain that has not," the Director-General said, thumbing the device again.
Another human brain appeared. This one also had glowing parts, but the glow was different. It wasn't overflowing into other parts of the brain, and the glow seemed brighter, as well.
"This is the Chief's brain as of this morning," the Director-General said, thumbing to a new image. "There is no evidence of any prior psychic manipulation."
The display, indeed, appared identical to the brain that had not been tampered with telepathically.
"So, everything is all right, then," the Chief of State said. "Very good, Director-General."
"Well, no, sir," the Director-General replied, correcting his superior. "No, because though we here in this room can rest assured that you have not been manipulated by anyone, there is nothing that this administraion can say or do that will rectify the fact that there are those who believe that you have."
"So, we'll release these displays, and everyone will know everything is all right," the Chief of State argued. "I don't see what the problem is here."
"Sir, what the Director-General is trying to say is..."
"It's the content of the Jedi's relationship with others that might be the problem here," the Director-General explained.
"Though we can all agree that the Jedi are generally noble and peaceful, but the Jedi don't make the best decisions in who to place trust in. First, that horrifying Brood business... Their choice of member acceptance has become increasingly questionable... It's nothing but one hotbed of trouble after another for you."
"What... Are you talking about that Rem fellow?" the Chief of State asked. "I thought we had that all worked out. The Republic sweeps his record under the rug so long as the Jedi keep him underfoot."
"Yes, sir, but late last week, there was an incident," one of the Chief's advisor spoke up.
"What... Did he go crazy?" the Chief of State asked, half-heartedly.
"Last week in the Prindaar system, the incident of..."
"The 300 odd people that died in the mining accident at..."
"It seems it wasn't a mining incident," the advisor said.
"The Subcommittee on Mineral Taxation said it..."
"Yes, well, that report you're referring to came to us from the Combined Defense Forces of the Republic, not the subcommittee," the Director-General said, thumbing a new image into the display. "This picture was acquired by the SIB shortly after the incident on Antar 5. That is the Imperial refugee Kal Rem, otherwise known as Darth Eccen, seen at the site of the accident."
"You're saying Eccen killed all those people?" the Chief of State asked.
"No, sir, intelligence analysis believes it was a Sith or Jedi-related issue and that Eccen may have been sent in there to 'clean it up,' the advisor answered. "I believe, best guess, that Cole Barranks quietly sent him in to remove the problem of a Force-user who could..."
"Cole Barranks..."
"Yes, sir," the advisor said.
"We don't know, though," the Chief of State replied.
"Best guess at this point... If you add it all up, though, the Jedi and Cole Barranks are not looking good," the Director-General responded. "It is the SIB's belief that Cole Barranks does not trust this Office. His reasons are unknown, but he went out of his way to contract the services of a former-Sith, in order to deal with a threat that would have been swiftly dealt with by the authority of this administration. There is nothing that one Jedi or Sith can do that the might of the Republic Army and Navy can't handle. He clearly does not trust this administration. The missing link here is why he would go to Eccen, if he didn't trust your judgement because of him."
The Chief of State was quiet for more than a minute. Then, he spoke:
"Well, I am very uncomfortable with this entire situation. I am."
"Yes, sir."
"I want you to keep an eye on this Director," the Chief of State ordered.
"Yes, sir."
"If Cole Barranks truly does not trust my Office, then we're going to have a problem here," the Chief of State continued. "And we need to be keeping better tabs on this Rem figure. If he's getting involved with 'mining incidents' or mass murders, or whatever happened on Antar 5, then he may need to be taken care of. We don't a loose cannon, running around the galaxy, doing whatever he wants."
"Yes, sir."
"Sir, I must advise..."
"Lark, when I want you on my shoulder, I'll give you a call," the Chief of State asked. "Right now, I'm only asking you to keep tabs on two people and accept my orders. Is that too much too ask?"
"No, sir."
"Good, because I wouldn't want people to start questioning my judgement, after all."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:09 pm
Tatooine - Moss Eisley [Night]
Thump, thump, thump...
A steady gait walked over the floor plating outside, behind the merchants housing. Back and forth, over and over again, kicking up the sand that covered the walkway every so slightly with every impatient step.
It was night, a short event on a planet which possessed two suns, but certainly not an unwelcome one. For the time being, if one was not inside any of the local cantina, it was nearly dead quiet outside, save for a couple of uncommon sounds. One being the steps of her heavy combat boots, the other a sound she adored every so much, the frantic struggle of someone desperate for even a single gasp of air.
Every now and then she granted him the favor, if only to prolong his suffering.
The woman whom paced before the choking man, with the exception of two orange orbs which flared with anger, seemed to be nothing more that a common mercenary, whom was dressed in a simple green colored and light armored jumpsuit.
Her skin seemed to be very pale, though, no longer the tanned appearance of earlier that day. Every since her eyes had turned so vivid and colorful, it appeared as if the woman became every slightly so less human than she was when he had met her. Ears perking up, red markings adorning her sleeveless arms, becoming suddenly visible as her wardrobe altered. The woman no longer altering his perception of reality around her.
"When leading a war, it is of utmost importance that as a commander, you are able to provide your troops the reassurance that the side they fight on is not only the just, but the most powerful as well." She suddenly began to speak to him, yet continued to pace. "My Master had been kind enough to inform me that most of the Sith's ancient knowledge and artifacts that were not destroyed, or already in our possession, still lay hidden around this galaxy, a lot in the hands of ignorant collectors and black market merchants."
She had come to halt, facing him directly. Her voice was calm, collected, nearly warm as if she were but a mother deciding how best to punish her child for his disobedience.
In contrast, the merchant seemed only to panic more, as if the pressure on his neck became tighter and tighter...
"You promised to have found me items of great power and importance, yet you present me with junk. Worthless trinkets that could've been crafted by children even..."
She cocked her head slightly, as if expecting he could explain himself. When he obviously did not answer, she continued.
"Now you see, the duty of properly strengthening the Sith has come to be my responsibility and when I return to my flagship I am going to look very foolish before my apprentice. A situation very unfitting for the Dark Lady of the Sith, wouldn't you agree?" She asked him, a slight smile showing on her features as she savored the fear in his eyes.
Then, without warning or sound, a streak of warm blood erupted from his cranium, splashing half of it over her face and upper body. Calmly, yet with a slight hint of disgust, she wiped her hand over her face to prevent the liquid from getting in her eyes, just in time to glimpse what appeared to be a Mandalorian mercenary walking with quiet steps towards her. When he approached her, but keeping a good safe distance, a small red light began to blink at the back of his belt.
"If you're going to kill someone, then just do it. Only a coward tortures his opponent to feed their own grand delusions of power."
Pointing the rifle with a one handed aim towards her head, he seemed intent to look her over one last time before pulling the trigger as his helmet bopped up and down, only to express a sudden found amusement by way of a mocking chuckle.
"Not even a lightsaber on you?" He asked, but the woman continued to give him the same indifferent expression as when she had first laid eyes on him. He scoffed at her when he received no answer.
"Well, I didn't expect this set-up to lure in you personally, praise my luck, but for you to be this careless and stupid as well..."
His finger moved over the trigger, slightly beginning to squeeze it.
"Don't worry, when I tell of this, I'll make you out to be a lot more tougher than you were. I'd like to make this kill a bit more impressive considering who you are, for my reputation. You can understand, right?"
She smiled at him, the sweetest she could manage as with a single nod she confirmed her understanding. The way she saw it that was.
"All too clearly." she replied to him, at last.
The red light at his back had stopped blinking, now making it's presence known with a high pitched beep. One hand moved in a panic to the frag mines on his belt, the other pulled back the trigger of the rifle only to find the weapon jammed.
"Bi-"
There was not even a second of a pause as the mine silenced, not even enough for the two-bit bounty hunter to utter a single insult as the explosion at his back enveloped him and tore his armor to shreds along with the man inside.
People came running outside in a fright, yet curious as to what all that noise was about. Questioning shouts erupted from windows around the establishment she was at, but she had already cloaked herself from their prying eyes. Hidden within the Force as, with an all too big a grin, she headed for the dunes to return to her landed ship.
In the end, she was pleased, perhaps even more so than she would have expected to be had the artifact actually been worth something. For today she had learned something.
In these past five years since coming to this galaxy, despite rebuilding the Sith Order anew, she had made herself important enough to be known. She had made herself important enough to be wanted dead. She had made herself strong enough to be worthy of her name.
Darth Ensis, ruler of the True Sith Order.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:28 pm
[ CORUSCANT, IMPERIAL PALACE ]
When the Director-General returned to his rooms, she was waiting for him; of average height, she had fair skin, vacant blue eyes and blonde hair tied back in a long braid. She was dressed to kill (quite literally) in a skin-tight suit of a red so dark it might as well have been black, with a saber tucked into her belt. In the Director-General's quarters, she wasn't afraid to walk without a disguise; the security cameras were all on infinity-loops that alternated between nobody in the room at all, or the Director-General doing some innocuous things and wandering his quarters.
Should anyone feel the need to replay the recordings - which they shouldn't, if she was doing her job right - Rikka Mord didn't even exist.
"Director," the Sith Knight purred when the tall, heavy-set man entered. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled him close, standing on tiptoes to kiss him. "I assume the meeting went well, darling."
"Of course," the Director replied, untangling Rikka's arms from his neck and stepping back to smile fondly at her (the woman who didn't exist.)
"Excellent. I'll need a few squads, then - black ops, I should think. Can you manage that, my sweet?" The question was more for Rikka's enjoyment than a true question -- the Director-General was as much under her thumb as the black ops squads she was requesting.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:31 pm
Ord Lithone, Niwhsrig's Diner
Ord Lithone was a planet in the Ord Lithone system, which was in the Inner Rim. In the years preceding the Clone Wars, it was the site of a Baktoid Armor Workshop droid manufacturing facility. Baktoid left the planet in 22 BBY, intending to move its factories to the Outer Rim territories. Now the planet was famous for Niwhsrig's Diner, the most mediocre diner in the galaxy. It was truly a treat for a Jedi.
Kal had stopped on the planet to resupply. His consumables were running low, and even a Jedi enjoyed need nourishment. This was a convenient stop for him to do so on his route to visit a friend of his. After he'd loaded up his ship, Kal had spent the night on the planet and was treating himself to what he thought was going to be a delicious sandwich. As he poked at it with his finger, though, in this glory-hole of a restaurant, he knew he'd held his expectations too high. The eggs on this sandwich were rotten.
Kal considered lifting it up and throwing it at the bartender, a Neimoidian that was slowly wiping down the bar. He'd force him to make a new one after that, too, but the Neimoidian would probably just spit on the sandwich and deliberately drop it on the floor if he did. This establishment wasn't exactly respectable, and Kal wouldn't be surprised if the Neimoidian refused a refund to him. Grudgingly, he stared back down at the sandwich and tried to convince himself to stomach it.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 6:57 pm
[ ORD LITHONE ]
"Well, this place has seen better days. Or maybe not," Rikka drawled, sliding into the seat across from Darth Eccen - or whatever he was going by nowadays. He'd seemed a little light so long ago, when Darth Isani had called in Rikka for her special talents... Though Isani herself had gone over the the Lightside for a bit, too, so who was Rikka to judge?
She leaned back in her seat, a cat-like grin on her face. She was wearing a black jacket over the top half of her outfit, in order to appear a little less strange in her skintight apparel. "It's been a while, Darth Eccen."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:03 pm
Ord Lithone
Kal looked up from his plate. He hadn't been called 'Darth Eccen' in years.
"Do I know you?" Kal asked, tensing up.
Kal tried to reach out to the Force discreetly. He wasn't so sure that it was discreet, however, with the speed in which he was ready to use it. He had no idea who this was sitting down in front of him, but she clearly knew him, most likely from years past than anything recent. Kal didn't like his years past.
"There aren't many people who know that name."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:11 pm
[ ORD LITHONE ]
Rikka's grin grew wider. "Ooh, lucky I'm one of them," she teased. She was unfazed by the fact that Darth Eccen didn't remember her - Rikka was a very forgettable person (so long as you didn't come in contact with her cold worktable) and she worked to be that way (for the most part. Sometimes.) "I feel so very honored."
The knight leaned forward, voice very low now. "I'd be impressed by your anonymity, but nobody knows who I am. So I think I win."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:19 pm
Ord Lithone
Kal put a stare on the girl sitting before him. It was something between expressing intrigue and a glare, but nonetheless, Kal was interested. If this was something from his past coming to bite him, then he wanted it dealt with and out of the way. If this was something coming at him out of the blue, he wanted to take stock and prepare. Either scenario involved getting more information out of Miss... What was her name again?
"Care to make me the first to confide your identity in?" Kal asked rhetorically, leaning in towards his new company. "I promise I won't tell."
Kal's lip curled as said it. It was a hint of a larger s**t-eating grin he used to be famous for. If it served Kal's best interests, he'd divulge this person's name in a heartbeat. She didn't need to know that, though.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:27 pm
[ ORD LITHONE ]
"I'm Katarine," Rikka lied instantly and easily. She'd always wanted to be called Katarine, when she was younger. Thought it was a pretty name, and all. "So, I'm sure you already realize that no, I don't. But it's really not important," she was quick to assure Eccen with false cheer.
She tapped her hip thoughtfully, sending a signal to her men outside. Kal Rem was within, and they could proceed as planned. So long as he stayed put.
"Or maybe I'll give you a hint," she said in a conspiratorial way, drawing him deeper in. "I knew your little blonde friend. Intimately, I'd say."
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:41 pm
Ord Lithone
Kal stared at 'Katarine' intensely now, his mouth slightly agape, as wheels turned in his head. It took him a moment to realize who she was talking about, but Kal could only think of one 'little blonde friend', if you could call her that, that she might have been talking about. So, Katarine walks in, calls Kal Rem by his former Darth title, and tells him that she knew Alliandre Kigarin quite well. There was no doubt now that Katarine had to be a Sith, or an Imperial agent. Perhaps a mix of both. The question was, now: What was she doing here?
"How'd you know her?" Kal asked.
Kal cocked his head a tad, recalling the details of her stay among the Sith.
"Did the two of you meet while she was taking a visit?" Kal asked.
Katarine's answer would immediately tell Kal if he wanted to stick around for this conversation or not. He had an inkling in the Force, that he did not. He shoved that inkling to the side, however. He was more concerned with getting information, at this point.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:45 pm
[ ORD LITHONE ]
Rikka tut-tutted. "Did I mention there was a guessing time-limit?" she asked brightly. "Because time's up, Eccen." She stood and leaned over the table, lightning-fast, patting Kal on the cheek like one would a child - though when cooing over a child, one didn't generally slip a razor-blade between their fingers meant to draw a little blood.
Not too much - just a nick on his cheek, a little reminder of before.
"Now," Rikka bit out, voice steel as she dropped to the ground.
And then the room lit up with blaster fire.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:59 pm
Ord Lithone
Katarine stood up, leaned over to Kal, felt something sharp nick his cheek where she patted it, and dove. The sound of blasterfire exploded into the room. The windows shattered as red streaks of light flowed in. Two shots caught Kal in the shoulder, turning his dive for cover into a flailing collapse. Kal screamed, as the blaster fire burned. His eyes squeezed shut and he moved one hand to hold his wound.
Blaster fire was still entering the diner over his head. The few people that were in the diner were either screaming in pain, or crying from the shock and fear. Kal set up a Force Barrier around himself, not bothering to prevent the furthering of chaos around the diner. Kal opened his eyes, bearing his teeth in anger and pain, and stared at Katarine. She dove before the blaster fire. She knew it was coming. She would be the victim of his rage.
Using telekinesis, Kal began to slide Katarine along the floor so she would be right up next to him.
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