Where were you?

[Jorshal Vuntana]

OOC statment: The rules for joining this thread are simple. One post is allowed detailing where a character was and how they were involved in the attack. The primary focus is on the victims, not the perpetrators; NPC's are encouraged, the story concerning everyone but the Sith is completely open. The Sith's thoughts and reactions will be filled in.

This takes place 8 months AE.

This is a roleplaying experiement, hopefully it will be enjoyable to all. PM me for questions.
---

"I allow myself one thing every week, mom." Lrrac said as he wrapped the plastic bag around his furry arm. "That one thing happens to be comics. The rest of my money is saved.''

"Whatever, where'd you go for dinner last night?" His control freak of a mother boomed through his ear piece.

"The Corellian Buffet." He replied as he rose the candy bar he had picked up from a street vendor to his mouth.

"Exactly." She said full of condemning confidence. 'You don't realize you're poor! You think you're just as rich as all your Bushwood friends." She chuckled, now she was just busting his chops.

"Hey! Hey, you picked out the school." He contested. Often he complained to her about the money saturated state of most of the people at his small college. Their parent's bought them speeders, paid for insurance and parts, ect. These kids lived in lavish off-planet houses with get-a-way villas somewhere else. Yeah, Lrrac went to a rich, smart kid's school, but he wasn't rich and he wasn't as smart as most people there. 'It's not what you know it's who you know.' It's what his mom said to him when he finally got the acceptance letter to the school he wanted so badly to attend. It was true, he had one connection to a man on the admissions board and he barely got in.

"Yeah, yeah. Just get a job this year and you can buy all you want. You can probably afford a cheap speeder too." She said as the conversation began to dwindle down.

"I found a junker for sale at a lot. I'm gonna check it out later today." Lrrac said as a sports speeder passed by.

"Well, once you graduate you'll be able to afford something nice. You've got two years left."

"Two years." He reiterated. "Alright, anyway. I got to get going. I'll give youa call after the seminar week is over."

"Alright, Lrrac. I love you."

"Love you too, mom." He said casually. As if some passer by was listening in. He turned the dial on a small gadget attached to his belt. The music of Kashyyyk's greatest hard rock band filled his ears as he took a deep breathe of the Coruscant morning air. He hadn't been up this early in the morning in a while, but it was the fifth day of the week, meaning comics day and he had a job interview as well as classes to attend the rest of the day. Getting up early was a neccessity.

Taking a seat at the sheltered transit stop beneath the Kyros Staar building he pulled one of the comics from his bag. Granted they were published through the Imperial Publishing Corperation and therefore very much slanted towards the Imperial Docterine, they were cheap and sometimes you could read a very good story. He opened it on his lap, crossing a leg and raising it a little so that the cute girl on the other end of the waiting station didn't notice it was a comic book. It was the last issue of a massive story by his favorite writer, it was as if he had unknowingly walked into a pool; the story filled him and surrounded him, he was immersed.

Perhaps it was him, maybe it was the word's fault for not being able to fit what happened next. A loud noise. A girl's scream. The pain in his leg resulting from large rock bursting through the glass panel of the public transit stop...

His mind racked itself for answers and found none. He couldn't see, he could barely breathe. It was dust. Dust had taken awareness away from him. Only pain remained. He had to escape, he needed to breathe.

A cough escaped his lungs, though it sounded more like the laugh of a dying man. He couldn't stop coughing now, the lungs of a Wookie were large what could bring them to this point of failure? Where had this dust come from? Who would save him?

It was as if the coughing stopped, or maybe he had simply become used to it. Things seemed tranquil all of a sudden, the darkness became comforting. In an ocean of pain he found an island of a different sensation. He was soaked, though he could not identify the source of the thick liquid. He wanted only to rest, to save what strength he had to make it.

He legs went numb as the dark rumble of the rock moving forward, crushing his body, filled his ears amongst the sound of of more falling rock and durasteele. Lrrac laid his head down on the ground, shallow breaths sorrounding his thoughts.

This wasn't fair. He was supposed live a life of hundreds of years. He was going to meet a nice girl from Kashyyyk, he imagined what she might be like every night before he fell asleep. He was going to raise children. He wanted to see the galaxy, he wanted to go to Corellia. He was supposed to, three weeks from now. He had a trip coming up with the school to survey the architecture. He wasn't going anymore. He dreaded becoming old, but he expected it. He fought with his brothers, but he expected that would change as they grew older.

He hated an uneventful life, but he lived it. All the futures he imagined each passing day... true love, finding that miricle job that he enoyed, visiting exotic places... Life. The word meant so much yet everyone took it for granted. Lrrac closed his eyes, shutting the dust out, and took another breath of dirty air. Someone was coming, someone was going to save him. They had to. What feeling of pain he had returned since his legs went numb returned to him as his shallow breaths died.

This isn't fair.

---

Silence had stood between the two since the bombing happened. Jorshal and Zereth stood at the top of another building, watching as the face of the Kyros Staar building fell down onto the square below. It was the morning rush, the Kyros Staar plaza was the nexus of the Katz sector on Coruscant, one of the most busy sectors on the planet. They chose this place for a reason, the hundreds of people killed or wounded below was it.

In some circles he was known as Darth Akhilleus, a Sith Master. He was considered evil by many, this act should have brought him pleasure. It did not. To bring so many to death was not what he wanted, he wanted to free them all. Take them away from decadent Empire, away from the false promises of the Rebel Alliance, away from the ideals of the Jedi. He wanted to build a place for them, for the people to come, where he could lead them. Jorshal Vuntana wanted the galaxy and this was war.

He glanced at Zereth, he wondered what he thought. Perhaps he was enjoying himself, perhaps he was crying inside. The attack was Jorshal's idea, the methods were Zereth's. Force bombs, completely undetectable. An open declaration of war against the Empire by something or someone that resembled a ghost. The Sith would not claim the attack, not yet at least. The Empire would never figure it out. It would become a riddle that plagued the Empire and its citizens for years to come. He glanced at Zereth again, saying nothing and again he wondered what he was thinking.

[Lucianus Adair]

So this was the plan.

The time had long since passed for the ruling staff to pass from the grimed paws of the Empire, and there were more than just those of the Rebel Alliance who knew it; There was truly only one who could properly take it. He had to admit the overall aim was acceptable, but this first step to achieve the goal was somewhat pompous in its grandeur, and with a little more consideration, another mode of action could possibly have been discovered. But what was necessary was done, and done well, for it grabbed attention as quickly as a moment's passing, and that was the point. Mass murder tended to have that kind of glitz to it...It attracted the media and government eye with a pheremone-like quality.

This declaration would not go unheeded.

Mars sat with patience monitoring the channels from the cockpit of his vessel, Tchetzhur, slowly becoming at least remotely impressed with the immediate response of the local media and the speed at which statements were put forth by government officials. Terrorism was generally frowned upon in most every culture, and this was no exception. Otherwise, Mars awaited the time at which his colleagues would wish to depart. That's what the predator was here for. Transport in and out, and the monitoring of the snowball of events that would spring from this one act. He didn't agree with the rising death toll any more than those more innocent than he might, even though it was thought one with his thirst for blood might. Mars' actions were always small in measure, but they piled up. He had lived a life of remaining unnoticed.

What did they think now that their plan had been put into action?

[Draken Chakara]

It was just another day at the factory. The hours were long, as usual. Lunch was a bland sandwich and soup combo, as usual. I rest my hammer on my shoulder and trudge home, as usual.

And then I feel the shockwave.

I look up to see a massive dust cloud rise... the biggest one I've ever seen. There have been explosions since I've been on Coruscant. Usually they were things like a restaurant with faulty tubing, or that one time the firework store exploded. This is something all together different.

I make sure my hammer is tight on my back and rush toward the dust, hoping I can help. When I finally arrive, I almost lose hope.

The building is a husk. The chances of anyone surviving it are almost nil. My shoulders sag in despair as I survey the scene. Out of the corner of my eye, I see what looks like a tuft of fur. I rush over to find an arm... it looks like a Wookie's arm, and it appears to be stirring faintly.

I glance around quickly to make sure I'm not observed, and then reach down to grab the piece of rubble. I summon my armor to protect my hands, and augment my strength with the Force. It takes all I have, but I'm able to remove the chunk of duracrete covering the Wookie.

"Sir! Sir! Are you ok?"

He lets out a brief groan. He's alive, but not by much. I have to get him to a hospital.

"We're going to get you out of here..."

I reach down and grab both of his arms and attempt to drag him. I fear to pick him up, in case his spine is injured. I wouldn't move him in most situations, but if I don't get him somewhere soon, he'll die for sure.

[Zereth Lancer]

It was just another average day for Mia. She got up in the morning, showered and dressed, ate breakfast, and kissed her mother goodbye. She was young, but she was mature for her age with a brilliant mind and a eagerness to learn. Her mother waved from the doorway as until she faded from sight, at which point Mia started to feel a bit homesick. The large bag on his shoulder revealed her intentions for the day, travel. She was going to Naboo to stay with her uncle and his family for a week, during which time she planned to scout out the colleges for an educational system worthy of her personal intelligence, and her parent's credits.

She pushed her glasses back up her nose and continued on, the Transit Station was not far from her house. At the pace she walked she arrived at the Kyros Staar building and took a seat at one of the benches. The Transit bus would arrive any moment, but in the meantime she had nothing to do. A wookie across the Station caught her eye. She found Wookie's odd, but she'd always wanted to run her hand through their fur, to find out if it was soft or rough. Her imagination carried her off to a faraway land that existed within her own mind. She imagined herself standing beside a large, strong wookie, her hands combing through the soft fur of his forearm.

She let out a sigh and returned to the real world. She had no time to feed her imagination. She was too old for that anyways. She strived to defeat her age and become a more mature person, but she only managed to do so on the outside. On the inside she was still a sixteen-cycle old girl with an intelligence beyong her years.

She didn't want to leave Coruscant, her home, her parents, but she had exhausted the education resources available to here and without branching out to other planets she would never learn all there was to learn. Most of all she hoped on Naboo she wouldn't have to sing the Imperial National Anthem every morning before starting her studies. It was annoying, repetitive, and wasted valuable time that could be used learning something.

Her eyes focused on the wookie again and started to ask it a question, only to have her words brushed away by the loudest bang she had ever heard. A wave of heat, dust, and dirt washed over her for a moment, her tight fitting glasses preventing the dust and dirt from blinding her, but in the end she wished they had. A chunk of some material fell through the ceiling and hit the wookie. She screamed.

More debris fell around her, a fist sized chunk hitting her shoulder and cutting a long gash down her arm. She screamed again, but this time she willed her legs to propel her off the bench and towards the exit. No sooner has she reached the doorway when something heavy hit the back of her legs, knocking her down to the ground.

She tried to get up. Her legs wouldn't move. She craned her heads backwards and found a large block of durocrete lain across her legs. Bone shards could be seen protruding through visible flesh and blood was everywhere. Funny how she didn't feel anything. She turned around again in time to see a stray durocrete slab the size of a fist blast it's way into a business man's chest with a sickening crunch.

She tried to scream, but instead of air blood filled her mouth. All she could think about was the wookie boy, the business man, and then herself. They all had lives to live, and now that was all gone, stolen away by some freak accident. She wanted to cry over the future she wouldn't have now, but the creeping darkness was too thick for her to think straight. She laid her head down in a puddle of her own blood and laid still.

Life is not fair...

---

The blast echoed through the streets and the top of the Kyros Staar building collapsed downward as the foundation was blown free from the rest of the building. From his vantage point he could see the carnage, the mayhem, the chaos. A closer view was not needed, from back here he could see the grand picture. The destroyed building, the casualties that surrounded the rubble that had once been the Kyros Staar building, and the reaction of Coruscant's citizens as the impossible just happened. No one had done so much damage so quickly for as long as some could remember. Coruscant was the Imperial Center and people believed themselves safe from outside evil. How foolish of them to hide in one lion's den in order to avoid another.

Zereth Lancer, or Darth Necross as he was known among his brethren, shifted his red eyes to the side to look his accomplice, meeting Jorshal's gaze. The plan had worked without a hitch, and yet he felt no giddiness at the success of his bombs. Hundreds of poeple had just died and countless more wounded, trapped within the rubble. Yet, in the back of his mind he found a slight sense of pleasure to have enacted such an act of unspeakable violence in the name of the darkside of the force.

He broke Jorshal's gaze and looked back down upon the scene. Law enforcement was showing up now, the multitude of flashing emergency lights made it hard to see anything else. The show was over. He looked back over at Jorshal, "Objective accomplished," He said, his voice cold and hollow as always, yet one could not miss the excitement and anticipation that flaked his voice.

Today was the day they began their war against the Empire. They were ghosts to the Empire, phantoms that claimed the lives of it's citizens and sent them to a freedom outside the tyranny of the Empire. He didn't share all of Jorshal's fervent belief in what they were doing. He understood why Jorshal did this and he was more then willing to aid his brother in his task to topple the hypocritical Empire.

[Jorshal Vuntana]

He clenched his teeth giving his jaw a rigid look. He said, ''Indeed."

There was no need to stand around anymore, the act had been committed and all that needed to be said had been said. The two Sith turned and headed for the exit off the roof of the building as men who either heard or saw what happened dashed past them. To any and all of them the Sith could be anyone who happened to be around at the time of the bombings. With a short work illusion, the Sith passed the gawking crowds apparently taking heed to the calls for an evacuation of the buildings surrounding the Kyros Staar.

"Do you think the inquisition would find it neccessary to investigate?" He asked calmly. If there was anything the Sith need worry about, it was the capable hands of the inquisition. "At least immediatly. They have ways of tracking us while we're on planet."

[Ilias Nytrau]

His beeper went off, but if it wasn't enough already that he felt the malicious force rock the foundations of the medical complex which he owned, run, and was the base for all his research. Doctor Falcon Gyndar was ever a busy man, and this day was no exception. He was working on a heavy deadline, and the investor who had funded this venture was very straightfaced, very serious about the urgency of the timely completion of the project. Today, however, the good doctor would do something that was a bit out-of-character for him, for he never missed a deadline, unless it was due to unavoidable circumstances. Speaking of deadlines, Falcon was right in the midst of a crucial section of his current most important project when it happened. The man simply had to drop everything and bolt out the door [much to the complete and utter surprise of the other staff and interns in the room with him], and down the corridor to the lifts. Doctor Gyndar rushed with all speed to the Operations hub of the Med complex Cure, taking the lift all the way from the eighteenth level basement, conversing with the head operative via his private link.

"Stop all projects, Larosh. I want all our resources devoted to this matter."

"But sir...Mr. Yarick will not be in the least happy with you if his project is not completed on time. Not to mention the other investors..and the government! Think of that, sir!"

Falcon frowned, deeply, as he came out of the lift, which stopped directly acrouss from the Ops hub. He approached swiftly, and planted his hands firmly on the desktop, with a resounding THUD, giving the topman, Larosh, a look that would have burned a very hurtful hole through the man. The topman nearly fell out of his seat. It was not to be taken lightly when his employer reacted in such a way.

"Where is your heart, Larosh? I don't want to hear such lack of concern coming from your mouth again, or I may very well see you as no longer fit to work here." He spat. Then, he recoiled. "I'm sorry, but if I felt the explosion that well, then it means that there is not much left to say of the Kyros Staar. Stop all projects, and inform the staff thouroughly, because..." And he looked at the woman manning the security room through a window, who was giving him a rather concerned look and a definite signal "...it looks like the aftermath is being brought to us as we speak."

We have no choice. I can feel their pain. Such pain I have not felt since...

But that thought was cut off. The first of them were approaching the main entrance, and the good doctor would go to meet them.