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"Remind me why we are here, Ritt?" a voice buzzed through the com system.

"We are waiting for the Novo and the Garath to catch up to the Bathurst before making the final mini-jump. One's carrying marines, the other is carrying bombers. Plus they're fully equipted hammerheads. The extra firepower is a welcome addition. Any problems numbah 2, over?" Ritt responded to the blue fightercraft beside him, quickly rocking side to side to show impatience.

"We could easily take that place by ourselves. Come on, two squadrons and a couple turrets, with you and a lightsaber, it'd be a piece of cake. Over?"

"Very simple. There may be up to four sith in that watchtower. Plus don't forget the two corvettes which hover around it constantly, and whatever else we may be stirring up. Any other dumb questions, Reverend?" Ritt retorted, flipping over the blue ship out of boredom.

"No, sir. Still want those triple yield concussion missles," Reverend retorted. He was referring to the earlier incident happening in the hangar. Unlike Ritt, the 'good Reverend' had wanted to put on full scale triple yield concussion missiles (one of the most powerful weapons that managed to fit on the hard points) to open up the battle with a bang, only to be shot down by Ritt, who insisted a quartet of concussion missle blisters for the entire squadron, and pulled rank to make sure it happened.

Before too long, the first of the two hammerheads arrived, the Novo. Ritt requested the squadron to move to standby. Within twenty minutes, the second hammerhead had arrived, and the squadron was up and running.

"Everyone prepare to jump on my mark. All fighters report in," the voice of the elder Eraiduian announced.

"We're all here, Tuing. Just give us the signal," Ritt snapped back.

"Watch the attitude, Jedi. You may outrank me socially, but you're under my command. Punch it in three... two... one..."

Ankara, a steppe covered world orbiting the Blue Star of Tett and the Capital world of the Tett System.
The Main Port City, Iband, was home to the primary campus for the Tett Military Academy and the System Army's Primary Garrison and command center.
It was here also that Stryder had his home: An imposing, archaic looking Castle built from the solid blue stone of Ankara's moon. It was here, at Ankara Keep, that Lord Stryder held court, planned his strategies, and trained his body and mind to be one with the Force.

Below the castle there was a room, solid, soundproof, and secreted away in the castle's catecombs. The Chamber was lit only by a series of holographic projections of Jedi, memorials to the fallen. Dominating the center was a stout round table with the Bendu Order's circle laser etched upon it's surface. At each of the eight spokes of the Bendu Wheel was a chair, each chair occupied by a Jedi clad in the robes of the order. Their lightsabers lay upon the table in a slight groove in the Bendu wheel spokes.

This was the Chamber of Eight, the meeting hall of the eight Jedi Masters, Generals, and Lords who commanded the war against the Sith from the Tett System under the overall leadership of Malcom Stryder. Here everyone was an equal. Command and rank played no part in what was discussed, for at this table, all were equal in voice.

At the chair opposite the door, Stryder himself sat, The wall behind him lit up by the holograms of all the fellow Jedi, now dead, who he had personally known. The Holograms served to remind him how much this war had already cost.

Hands resting on the table, Stryder looked each of his chief commanders in the eye.
"Gentlebeings." He said, his voice focused and determined. "The die has been cast. As of 0900, A strike force has been assembled and sent to take Galli Station, a trade station just within Sith territory."

"What did you send to attack the station, Malcom?" Asked the Twi'lek Jedi Mistress Koyi Gella, her green skin aquamarine in the bluish glow of the holograms.

"Three Hammerheads, a boarding party of Marines, a Bomber squadron, and the 510th Fighter Squadron under Knight Ritt Aareo."

This caused some mumbling among the other Jedi. The Ubese Lord Dorog Xrandla voiced his opinion, aloud, gesturng with his armored gauntlet.
"That one walks the knife's edge of the force! At any time he could fall to the Dark Side! And yet you let him go unsupervised on a mission?!"

Corellian Jedi Lord, Jarek Dulnas Lee, cast an eye to his Ubese compatriot from across the table. "Settle yourself, Dorog." Jarek said. "You jump to conclusions. The Lad's a good pilot and a sharp man. He wont fall lightly to the Dark."

"Silence, Corellian!" Dorog barked at the man. "I was Sith once! I know the lure of the Dark Side better than any of you!" The Ubese suddenly caught Stryder's disaprooving gaze and seemed rebuked somewhat by it. Sitting down with an audible clack of the armor beneath his robes, Dorog nodded to Jarek. "Forgive me, friend. I did not mean to speak out."

"Min min volgoth noh petchuck." Jarek replied. "It is forgiven."

Calanon, a near human Warrior Master, steepled his fingers and sat back in his char, his pointed ears twitching in thought. "Dorog does bring up a point. Aareo is impatient and headstrong. He doesnt keep his feet on the ground where they should be, Metaphorically speaking of course. Was it not such an attitude that cost us many young Jedi before?"

"Show a little faith in Malcom's decision." Prisk Dall'ges, Bothan Jedi General remarked, his tone slightly annoyed. "He has led us well these past fourty years. Certainly he knows what he's doing."

"When you say it like that, Prisk, it makes me feel like an old man." Stryder told his Bothan comrade.

"How do you think I feel?" Calanon said with an amused smirk. "I was around when the war started, youngling."

"I think we are getting off track with this Aareo nonsense." Naboo Jedi Lady Kira Eldin interjected. "Malcom has just fired the first shot in a new series of engagements in our sector. Surely that is more important right now."

Said Rodian Jedi General Vaska Bastra. He turned to Stryder and acknowledged him with a nod.

"We have never made any serious effort at the Bothan Salient before." Stryder told him. "In the past, we've attempted to cut it off by stabbing straight at Bothan Space. Thus far it has only gotten us minor gains. Its simply not working."

"The Sith are too strong around Bothawui." said Prisk with a sad ripple of his fur. "No matter how hard we push they dedicate themselves to throwing us back."

"The reason for that, of course is because Roon is somewhere in the regions beyond Bothan Space." Koyi stated. "No matter how much they hate each other, they will not simply let us bring the war any closer to Roon."

"Exactly, Koyi." Stryder said. "This has been the underlying problem with the majority of our campaigns. Roon's Proximity means that the Sith will not simply give up and fall back, nor will they leave us alone. That is why we attack the Bothan Salient." He punched up a holoprojection of the area that floated at the center of the table and continued. "If, however, we take that Salient out, we can tighten our lines and get more Republic support. In addition, the Sith in this Salient have only been agressors. We've had raids from there, but never have we focused our own attacks there. They have no experience fighting on the Defensive as far as we're concerened."

"This goes back to yoru Galli Station attack." Jarek said. "What's the purpose?"

"Bait. The local Sith lords wont tolerate this kind of slap in the face. Most likely they will try to take the station back and then jump straight into Tett to teach us a lesson. Even more so if the Rumors are true."

"Rumors?" Caladon asked.

"Word has it that the Sith Council is cutting the dead weight from their order. Korriban style." Dorog told him. "My informants are painting a rather consistant picture of what is going on. The Sith will be very eager to prove they are worth something. Infact, they will be stupidly eager."



Stryder nodded. "Played well, we will cripple their ability to fight and drain them of vital resources that could be used to prevent our march into the Salient. And of course the typical fingerpoint that comes after a botched Sith offensive wont hurt either."

"But how can you be so sure that this will be such an easy victory?" Kira questioned Stryder. "The Sith may be lead by fools, but they are still capable fighters."

"Because the 9th Republican Fleet is coming for a visit." Stryder said. "I Invited Master Werek Nabross to Tett to see a Naval review of the Tett Space Force. Naturally he's showing off the Core world's might by bringing his entire fleet with him."

There was silence around the table briefly. Then Jarek started chuckling followed by Dorog and Vaska. The rest werent as amused.

"Does Lord Nabross know about this?" Kira asked disaprovingly.

"I warned him that the Sith might try to attack the Naval review, but that is it. And as far as anyone else is concerned the 9th Fleet has no intention of leaving the Core. This information is classified and Ive taken great pains to keep their trip here a secret. Nabross is keeping things silent on his end as well but his reasons are separate from mine." Stryder looked to Dorog and Koyi. "I'm counting on your networks to keep me abrest of the situation. that is crucial to this venture. I want to know the second the Sith show signs of mobilization."

The two nodded their understanding of the situation. With this plan of Stryder's, timing would be everything.

In a galaxy that was divided by a centuries long war, Netural worlds were a godsend.
Especially when you're looking to sell a great deal of swag without drawing attention from the warring parties. And when the swag in question were looted from an ancient Sith Tomb, the best deals could only be gotten by people who knew their ancient relics.
In this case, the Obroan Institute for Archaeology.

Cene had left korriban in the dust, sneaking down the Daragon trail on a pirahna beetle line straight for the neutral scholar world of Obroa-skai, eager not to be picked up by the sith with a hold full of their treasure. The one thing she did before she left, however, was fire off a messenger drone to Mandalore, addressed to the Turayan clan, informing them of the offer on Saul Amarr. Word would get around pretty quick about the renegade Sithling, and every one of her clanmates would be on the look out for him, especially considering the large amount of cred the sith were putting up for him.

Cene, however, wasnt terribly interested in tracking down some little Siit di'kut. She was more interested in a little well earned downtime.
An exausting ordeal of body and soul had drained her on her last mission. After her big payoff, it was time for a break.

Cene walked up the steps of the Institute's central building, clad in a casual outfit composed of a crimson tunic, trousers, black boots and her kama clipped to her equipment belt. Her silvery hair flowed down her back as she moved with a brisk military gait. She kept drawing the mixed attention of university students who were considerably underarmed, a fact she was rather amused with. Cene herself carried no less than five weapons on her person, despite her unarmed apearance and it humored her that none of these students seemed to consider the dangerous world around them.

Di'kutla aruetiise.

She noted the males were the ones who seemed to be the most interesed in her and she knew the reasons why. She was an exotic, attractive and well endowed female, considerably more interesting than their female classmates.
That was also amusing.

Putting such idle thoughts aside for the foolishness that it was she made some inquieries around the administration and found the man she was looking for, an Arkanian professor by the name of Wodi Navin.

She found the man in his office, conveniently enough. He was a tall pale man with a light reducing visor and a cybernetic module attacked to his bald head, no doubt to enhance his intellect.
"Proffessor Wodi Navin?" She asked.

He looked down his nose at her, a difficult task when she was a hair taller than him. "Sorry, miss, but If you want lecture notes-"

"K'uur, Arkanii." Cene snapped, having none of his condensending manner. "I'm not one of your students. I'm here on buisness."

Startled, the Arkanian finally looked at her and suddenly was out of his chair and peering at her, all too quickly uncomfortably close.

Instinctively she reached for her right sleave but halted right before drawing the knife she had concealed there.
"Osik! What the Chaos are you-"

"Fascinating!" He mumbled. "A human/taung hybrid of the Mandalorian culture! In this day and age!"

"Huh?"

The Arkanian suddenly snatched her arm and peered with scientific curiosity at the markings tattooed on her grey skin. "Clan symbols, belt spat- a Xenoathropological gold mine!"

Before he even realized what had happend, the man was bodily thrown across the room to crash against the far wall, knocking holo books and a few pictures off the wall.

"Dont touch me, Aruetii." Cene said in an annoyed fasion. "I'm here to deal with something else entirely."

The man stumbled swiftly to his feet, seemingly ignoring what had just happened to him. "Yes yes, of course my dear. Forgive my boldness. Its just I was taken by-"

"Save it." She said, drawing a datapad from her belt and tossing it on his desk. "I happened upon these items and want to know how much the University is interested in them."

"Hmph." Navin said, his expression souring. "A treasure hunter. Not like we dont get alot of your kind already."

"Not with these kind of goods you dont."

Still frowning, the Arkanian picked up the datapad and scrolled down the list. He seemed very fascinated with it.

"Very interesting collection of items."

"All yours for the right price."

The Arkanian looked to the list, then back to Cene. He then entered a number into the datapad.

Cene took the datapad and looked at it. Then she glared at the proffessor.
"This is an insult."

"No, no. Thats indeed rather accurate. What with the Institute's budget, the war, your questionable background, and the lack of really useful historical objects in that list, that is indeed the going price for the lot of them. Theres a difference in archaeology and simple tomb looting you know. And while your collection is indeed very shiney and pretty, sadly it looks like it could tell us very little about ancient Sith culture that we dont already know. However..."

Cene's eyes narrowed. "...However?"

"However, I'd be willing to triple that price on the condition that you let our xenoanthropology department-of which I happen to head-study you."

"Study?"

"My dear, the taung are considered by many to be extinct in this day and age. I only managed to catch that you are one due to my own recent recearch into the subject. You are proof that the Taung are alive in this galaxy yet, and it would tell us so much about Mandalorian cutlure and its taungish roots if you would allow us to study and question you about your heritage and people. Such an opportunity would bring much prestige to the Institute, far more than your little treasure horde."

This was kind of an uncomfortable concept to Cene. The man was asking her to explain her existance to him so he could tell the whole galaxy about her.

However, the money was good...the well being of the clan came over her own personal discomforts. and if things went ary she was certain she could crush this annoying little scentist.

"Four times the price." She said. "If I'm such an important scientific discovery, then I'm certainly worth more than that."

" Oh yeah, that's the spot. Mmmm... " Siren said, receiving a massage at a little spa she decided to have setup. She had gone to the nearest city, and having convinced the people that her approval of the place would mean recognition among the Sith for the people of Thule, she got them to start making some changes according to her designs.

She had already gone back to her landing party and they relocated to the city, their shuttle in a hangar. Word was starting to spread that a reputable Sith Lord was in town and things started to pick up. Having several people eager to prove their potential by never failing to please a Sith helped as well.

Before long, the entire city would be hers, and then her influence would begin to span across the whole planet.

___________________________________

Obroa-Skai was an interesting place to visit, at least to Saria, who arrived at the library and saw it for the 1st time. The Order granted her request to come so that she could study a broader range of information that could help improve her own studies. Given her more pacifistic nature, she was sent along with another Jedi Knight who served as her escort, just in case something went wrong. At the same time, being involved in her studies would allow the Knight to understand Force Healing, so there was a mutual benefit for his presence.

" I don't feel comfortable knowing there's a number of Sith in such close proximity. I know there's that whole safe-zone thing here but you never know when someone might decide to break the rules. " Saria said to her companion. " Still, it brings that saying 'Keep yours friends close, but your enemies closer.' to mind. "

After being directed towards a certain area, Saria searched among a few lists and grabbed a few datapads. Finding a nearby empty table, she sat down and started looking through them. The Knight sat down beside her and looked over what the datapads were displaying. " It seems you can find some interesting uses for the most bizzare combination of things. " he said. " You'd be surprised. " Saria said back. " Of course, not all would be practical or really beneficial. Back at temple, what I was hoping would turn into a drink that would quickly counteract the effects of alcohol ended up becoming something very similar to a sauce used by another species to spice up their food. Tasted alright and had a burning flavor to it, but not what I had intended. "

Saria kept to studying the datapads, making idle conversation with her companion every so often to break the silence that frequently fell around them. Before too long, she was getting up and getting more datapads, and soon the table was becoming littered with them. " It'd help if I knew what to specifically look for rather than look up information for experimenting with. I just hope when we go back and I try some ideas I get from this that nothing explodes... "

Done with her negotiations, Cene left the man behind, annoyed and irritated that she wasnt going to get full price for her treasures.
It would have been better to deal with a Hutt.
They at least understood artistic value.

Before she got too far, she felt an inasailable curiosity to see the campus.
Following her feet, she soon came upon the Force wing of the Xenoanthropological department.

People trying to explain something they dont understand. Kind of stupid if you ask me...

The Mando paused as she caught sight of a human male in conversation with one of the department know-it-alls over a shield.

She recognized the Human, and she recognized the shield.
And she turned right around and began walking away.

She now realized she had been manipulated by the Sith ghost. He was looking for another host, finding the nearest Dark Sider who just happened to be the man she was asked by Korriban to find.
The universe can be really funny at times.

You do realize I'll just shoot him the second you make a move, right? She thought, starting a mental dialogue with her 'passenger.'

And lose out on your precious money? I sincearly doubt these scholars will deal with you once you kill someone they are dealing with. This isnt the middle of nowhere. This is a city with laws and men who can uphold them. So there really is nothing to stop me from taking him.

The only law I willingly follow is Mandalore's Law. I'll still shoot him, even if its only to spite you. But hows this: I dont need him once I have the shield. You can have him then.

Why not just take it now? Its right back there.

No. I still need to deal with these academic punks. Besides, he probably wants them to do some research on that shield. We'll let him get it back, then we take it from him.

Hmm....Your deviousness does you credit, woman. Perhaps there is a place for you among the Sith...

Dream on, Siit. Dream on.

It took three hours but it would have taken Saul three decades if he'd been working by himself to translate the inner ring of the cipher. Many of the symbols were ancient variants, but all of them could be found in the vast records of symbolic glyphs, kanji, and lettering that could be found in the databanks of the Obroan library.

The first ring's collection of words displayed something far more complicated then Saul had suspected from his studies, especially when the languages used were thrown into the mix. There were the words: emotion, peace, passion, vengeance, fear, control, confidence, comfort, hatred.

In addition to the ring itself Saul and the professor had managed to piece together the meaning of the three glyphs which sat at the ends of the triangle, Light, Darkness, and Balance. At the center of which a figure stood in equilibrium of all these things.

Slowly Saul looked up from the translation and the shield, "Quite a riddle, and for the life of me I can't figure out how we're suppose to solve it."

The professor smiled, "I'll have some of our people do some detailed scans tonight, perhaps whats inside can reveal something about it's meaning. tomorrow we shall continue the translation?"

"That's fine... be sure to guard the fact that you have this piece with your life," Saul said slowly.

"I understand." The Obroan answered stiffly, "It's in our hands for now."

Standing up Saul brushed himself off, "I'll keep you to your word on that. But be careful, I could have sworn someone was watching us for a bit."

"I'll keep that in mind," The professor replied as he covered the artifact and slipped it into a safe in his desk, there it would remain until the scanning room was free.

Saul left the professor and headed back down to his ship. As he went he carefully tweaked the minds of those that saw him, replacing his image with that of an aging scholar, white beard and all. He grabbed some food in one of the shops near the spaceport.

As he returned to the hanger he stopped wide eyed at his ship, glistening in the sun. Already half of the craft had been painted it's new gold color. The other half was sheathed in scaffolding. Despite himself, Saul was impressed by how quickly the woman had set to work on the ship.

"Hey sith!" A voice called from up on the top of the ship, "Did you know you've got a couple hundred slug scars on your ship?"

Saul grinned, "That's what happens when you bust out of Korriban."

"You're kidding," The woman replied, her head appearing above the ship's hull. She lifted a plasma torch from the hull as she pulled off the goggles, "The repairs are gonna cost you extra."

"I figured as much," Saul answered briskly as he walked up to the scaffolding, "How much?"

"100,000," The woman answered.

"Let's be reasonable, you want 10,000." Saul answered coldly, applying a little bit of force pressure to his response, hoping to override the clear greed in her statement.

The woman grinned at him, "Nice try butcher. I'm not some simple minded nerf-herder. The 100,000 to keep me from telling your sith friends."

Saul frowned, he was really good at persuading with just a gentle push with the force, somehow the woman had shrugged it off, "How are you going to explain why mind-tricks don't work on you... Jedi?"

The woman suddenly leapt from the corvette and landed in a crouch behind him, a leap of some fifteen meters. Slowly Saul turned around, "Smart butcher... smarter then every other scum sucking sith that comes through here."

"I just pay attention to others." Saul answered slowly, looking at her, "So whats your story... how'd you end up a mechanic in the sith docking bay?"

"Why do you care?" The woman answered coldly.

Saul grinned, "Because we might be able to help each other."

The woman actually laughed, before answering, "You call yourself a sith?"

"Not anymore," Saul answered simply, "I'm on the sith hit list, just like you jedi."

Saul spun on his foot at the sound of the door opening to the hanger. He could sense a force presence from the approaching figure, and her gait and movement immediately betrayed that she was no transient wandering around.

Saul fingered his lightsaber, "What do you want?" As he spoke he tapped a simple code on his comm. Above him the ship's guns whirred to lock onto the doorway.

Behind him he could hear a sharp intake of breath that gave him pause. The Jedi had realized that the sith had turned his back to her, trusting her not to slice him in half in that moment with the lightsaber he knew she had to be carrying on her person.

"You're the Gunship Pilot, right?" Cene asked as she walked through the open doors. "I was looking to hire someone to fly a cargo for me. And from the looks of it, your ship's got enough gun to deter anyone interested in what I plan to haul." She looked at the ship and pondered it over with an appraising frown.
"You dont see many ships like this around here...she got a decent pair of legs?"