(TGE) Heading through Coruscant Sector...

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

...a small, one man pod shot through the system, traveling towards the main planet. Coruscant loomed ahead, and there were several cargo ships and freighters in system, on approach for entry though the large planetary shield.

The pod clamped onto the side of a much larger cargo ship, and with a burst of red hot sparks the occupant broke through the hull and into the main bay. With light steps the humanoid figure melted into the compartment, hiding amongst the rows and rows of containers. In a few short hours the Avatar would be on Coruscant...and TGE territory.

The Avatar Designate was here to survey and transmit information back to that which had sent it. The carbon based life forms infested this planet to an incredible degree. The Designate was also a carbon, but had been vastly improved through the implantation of mechanical, and technologically superior, cybernetics.

The Designate braced as the ship docked, and then walked towards the aperture that was opening on the right. There was another carbon standing there holding a clipboard. Designate 386 walked towards it, through the shadows of the ship, and the carbon did not notice it until it was too late. Much too late. There was a wet snap, and then the Designate let the body of the carbon fall to the permacrete as it walked out and into the cargo shipping building directly ahead. It was nighttime, and there were no carbons in the first few rooms. The Designate Avatar found a hooded coat hanging on a peg, and put it on, chosing to conceal its appearance in this planet full of beings.

Taking a turbolift down, the Designate made its way towards Imperial Center.

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

For the middle of the night, the airways and ped walkways were suprisingly busy. Coruscant was a city that never truly slept. The Designate tilted its head, scanning a skyhook with the optical implant in its left eye socket. What it sought was not there.

The Designate, number 386, formerly known as Saansa P'Taal, Jedi Master and council member of the Old Republic, walked onward, its steps easy. It copied the light walk of the carbons around it, the same as they, and yet, different. Enhanced. Perfected. The Designate walked to a door, and opened it, entering a large building. The power grids for section 1043 were located within.

The hallways were well lit, but even if they had been dark, the Designate would have not had a problem finding its way. The main grids were ahead and to the left a little. In a sort time the power in this section would fail, and the planetary shield would be weakened.

There were more grids, and backup generators, and other failsafes to keep the shields up. But while the power fluctuated... the Designate would not be idle. 386 entered the humming room that housed the power grid control room. A sleepy tech looked up at the hooded intruder, eyes confused.

"Who are-!" Designate 386 grabbed his throat, lifting him off his feet, and tossing him into a console with enough force to crack a monitor with his skull. He slumped to the floor, unconscious or worse. 386 put a hand on a console, interfacing with the running programs. Lights flickered..dimmed..and the throbbing humming sound abruptly stopped.

It turned and walked out of the room as darkness fell in Section 1043. The virus it had implanted would work its magic in due time. Until then, the Designate would lay low.

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

"Grand Admiral, Sir...?" The Flight officer raised his head over his console to make eye contact with the blue skinned alien before him. This particular alien had red eyes that produced an evil glow, as if he was plotting.

Grand Admiral Thrawn stood up straight produly wearing his white uniform. Not a speck of dirt was to be seen anywhere on the suit, and it's gleam was bright enough to blind a Hutt. The Grand Admiral formally had his hands clasped together at the small of his back. If he were human, surely he would be considered an "Imperial poster boy". He wore the uniform well, and represented his title even better.

After Thrawn's glorious and mysterious return to the Empire, he was given command of the Reserve Armada based at Coruscant. Occasionaly he would assume command of the Coruscant Sector fleet in Vice-Diktat Sevon was busy elsewhere in the Galaxy. Rarely did this happen though, since Coruscant needed extra attention. It was the jewel of the Empire, Imperial Center.

"Yes, Flight Officer Dlark?" Thrawn replied calmly.

"There seems to be an unknown craft nearing our system. It is assuming formation with the supply freighters." The officer observed. "Wait..." He paused. "It has disappeared off of our scanners."

"How can that be? Did it attach itself to a ship?" Thrawn inquired.

"Uhh, I'm not entirely sure Sir. What are your orders?"

Thrawn did not answer the flight officer right away. He allowed his thoughts to process and observed the information. He played out each step in his head, as if rating this a possible threat. The Grand Admiral was tempted to send a message out to the fleet that was scattered throughout the system, instead he kept quiet. Thrawn began to pace back and forth determining what would be the best course of action to take against this mysterious ship.

"Order all ground troops to tighten security on all of our power grid stations, and shield generators. Have two squads check out every single supply ship that is now docked. We may very well be dealing with something that could pose a serious threat. On the other hand, it could be a miniscule problem." Thrawn ordered with a calm, yet commanding voice.

"Yes sir!" The flight officer saluted and picked up one of the various commlinks strewn across his work table.

"Oh and Flight Officer Dlark, prepare me a channel with Vice-Diktat Sevon. He will find this most interesting."

<center>***</center>

Later on

Someone or something had managed to slip past security and infect Power Grid Station 1043 with an unknown virus. Since then, most of the fleet had assembled. Diktat Viscera had provided each official in the Coruscant Sector with disturbing news.

It seemed the Keyhole Matrix, along with Imperial Intelligence had provided information on a very large ship was on it's way to Coruscant. Actual information about the ship was unavailable. Slicers worked for the good portion of a day to clean the Power grid of its infection but to no avail. Luckily, the back-up power grids had activated, but they would not be avaliable forever. Whatever had done this, had access to clearance codes, and was a considerable fighter. Two had been reported dead, possibly more.

Already the Imperial higher-ups were carrying out each of the Diktat's orders. Earlier that day they had received a message from a rogue AI notifying them of an invasion. The Diktat was unpleased with this news and as usual began to order people around with a less then polite voice and demeanour.

Whatever was coming, was very intelligent, and Coruscant had been put under Code Red. Most information was on a need-to-know basis. The Diktat insured not that much information was revealed from the Holonet reporters. It did not matter much anyway. Most of the Empire's citizens put their faith in its considerable military strength. Whatever was coming, would be dealt with swiftly and intelligently.

[Telan Desaria]

Admiral Desaria sat on the bridge of his new command ship, the Super Star Destroyer Achilles, and ran through the days events. As commander of the Thfyerra sector, it was his job to review,compile, and analyze all data within his sphere of influence, and he had no desire to fail the Diktat, or the Empire he loved so much.

Three freighters captured, eighteen derilct vessels boarded, and nineteen thousand credits worth of illegal merchandise seized in the last twelze hours...Not bad Desaria mulled over the information and hoped that his day would be more than this.

" Admiral, we have a prority message from Coruscant."

" Put it on," Desaria said, placing the datapad on the arm of his command chair and waiting for the visage to shimmer into existance on the catwalk in front of him.

Grand Admiral Thrawn appeared in from of him, via the Imperial HoloNet. " Admiral Desaria, we have a situation that requires th attention of the Fleet. Coruscant's defenses have been mobilized, as has the Reserve Armada. I would like you to dispatch some reconnaisance vessels to the Central Sector and scout the systems for any unusual craft."

Desaria scratched his chin. " Who would have audacity to attack us, Grand Admiral?"

" At this time, it is unknown. You have seen the transmission from the Implement and the warnings. For security reasons, we have taken these precautions. You know what to look for."

" I will alert my Fleet. We shall be ready."

" Excellent." With that, the blue-skinned Admiral was gone. Desraia turned his command chair aft and began dispensing his own orders.

" Colonel Attainis! Scramble Squadrons I-VI. Fleet Officer-order all Division to move out of planetary orbits so they can make hyperjumps at a moment's notice. Captain Terrall!"

" Sir?" the Division II officer replied.

Get to your ship! I want two Fire-class Frigates bound for Corscant immediately. On a scouting mission. If they find anything over a hundred kilometers long, they're to report to Command with all dispatch. By the forests of Centaur, we'll be victorious..."

Admiral Telan Desaria
Supreme Commander, Thyferra Sector

[Sean Piett]

The Super-Star Destroyer Invincible represented everything the Empire stood for. It's size represented the sheer force of numbers the Empire possesed. It's strength, that of Palpatine's hand, stretching beyond the grave. But the most dominant thing it represented was the ultimate goal of making peace.

Sean Piett and his high ranking Imperial associates knew, however, that war could never end. Peace could never reign. Not that it was impossible - no, Galactic peace was quite possible, though not under the Empire. Piett, like many other men of the sword, knew that partaking of the sword had to be constant. If war were to end, he'd be a nobody. Some rich old man past his prime, and noted for it. Without war, the entire Imperial armed forces would mean nothing, and all that glory would be forever gone.

He sat rigid in the comfortable command chair on the deck, though his eyes blinked with extreme exhaustion. His white uniform was wrinkled across his chest, where he had lain his arms. He gently swatted at them, as if they were something to be brushed off. He heard the sound of heavy Imperial boots plodding on the cold floor in rapid succesion. That's when a gray haired man slid to a halt by his side. He was wheezing, and he held a small, oily cylinder in one hand. He offered it to the Grand Admiral.

"High priority message, incoming from Coruscant. I would've patched it through to a tech to give it to you, but this is something big." He said this as quickly as he could, taking deep breaths after he'd spat it out. Piett took it from the man, rubbing the sweat off of it on his chair before sliding it into a HoloNet port. A program launched, but before he opened it, he read a small footnote. "I'll take this to my chamber. Order the first division to plot courses for Coruscant's fringe. Second division should prepare to take up the slack."

The engineer snapped a salute, but before he could acknowledge the order, Piett was out of the room.

[Sanis Prent]

(Night had come with its usual Coruscant Savoire Faire, and as the sun set on the glittering metropolis, I took to the street, ready to begin my nightlife rituals. Gathering around neon signs like altars, blessing myself with holy spirits. Debauchery was the religion of the times...and we didn't even have to call ourselves religious.

I grabbed my gear, heading to the nearest hovercab to take me to the commercial district. The air was humid and warm, and while I was psyching myself up for another night I wouldn't remember, the hairs standing on the back of my neck stated otherwise.

I turned around, and offhandedly told the Wookiee cabbie to wait up. There was a sound, just around the corner. If anything, it sounded like a droid getting an enema from a fire poker. Coruscant was a haven for the freakish, and I knew I shouldn't be overly concerned...but this was too close to my building. And if it turned out to be nothing...then it was nothing, and I could return to my pursuit of self-destruction.

As I round the corner, the sight I met hit me in the stomach with the nauseating force of a G-force barrel roll and a mouth full of warm liquor. It was either a broken droid or a broken person, or somewhere in between. Wires and tubes snaked like serpents in a lovecraftian nightmare, plunging into gray flesh and surrounded by haphazardly-arranged hardware.

I'd seen cyborgs before...but usually ones more asthetic. This one made my skin crawl.

On instinct, I snatched out my Corellian blasters, leveling them off at the being, taking two steps back. I trusted this thing as much as I trusted a Cizerack striptease.)

What the frell???

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

The Designate walked slowly through the walkways just beneath Imperial Center proper. There were no sentient carbon life forms here, only the primordial rodents and mynocks, granite slugs, and the like. It was below the lowest level of the many offices, looking up and scanning the ceiling.

Gathering the details of the wiring and vent systems of above, by examining those below, the Designate did not encounter any resistance. It had been attacked by a large rodent-like creature, but it had been no match for the Designate, and was even now bleeding out its purple blood many yards behind the Designate's present position.

P'Taal 386 twitched, and paused...uploading information in an extremely high frequency burst transmission. The transmission lasted less than a second, and its recipient was far away, but steadily getting closer. The Designate returned to a 'lift and was whisked back up to the upper levels, its visage cloaked from sight as it walked out towards the low rent district.

Turning a corner, the Designate jerked upright, recieving a return transmission that also lasted a mere second. It moaned, as a slight error brought pain receptors to life, but they were quickly quelled as the Designate self-corrected.

And then there was a carbon in front of it, leveling a blaster at it. The Designate's hood had fallen back, and it was too late to rectify the problem. The carbon was speaking: "What the frell?"

You.will.accompany.me. The Designate stepped forward, more quickly than the dull carbon expected, and disarmed the being. It grabbed his neck, extending a needle to inject a fast-acting drug which would make the carbon utterly compliant.

[Azure Regalia]

The night had been quiet for the most part. But as the saying went, "The night was still young".

The Bounty Hunter exited a small street shop, pocketing a tiny data disk. The disk itself looked ordinary and with a cursery examination would only show it contained meaningless information on certain items that the shop had just sold to her. It was in essence a sale receipt. But, when she would place that data disk into a data pad, and punch in the right string of code, it would reveal something much more interesting than a mere list of bought goods. But the disk was not for her. She had only been a retriever of it. The disk was for a man she was to meet where the night-life of the city went.

She headed towards the livlier part of town, where life seemed to sprout when the sun went down. On the way, she was to pass at a certain corner and slip the data disk into the hands of her employer, Sanis Prent. More directly, he was working for the Sector Rangers, and had gotten together a motley crew of various beings with varying skills. She had been one of them. The data disk she held was to aid in their mission, an assignment she had accepted only after she'd heard that the pay would be substantial. After all, she had to make a living some how.

As she walked, she neared the corner where he had told her he would be catching a cab to the night clubs. As she came closer, she saw the cab waiting, but there appeared to be no Sanis. Was she early? She looked at her chronometer. No, she was on time. And Sanis was hardly, if ever late with his meetings.

Frowning under the hood of her heavy cloak, she walked closer to the cab and saw the cabby inside looing very annoyed. She didn't see any passengers, so she walked to the cab, indicating she'd like a ride. If this was the cab Sanis was to take, then it would be occupied. If not, she'd just have to wait and see where Sanis showed up.

She peered into the cab at the driver.

Cab driver: Sorry, I've already got a customer.

I see. Thank you.

She straightened and looked around, pressing herself against the shadows of a nearby building. The cab could be for any costumer, but the fact that she had to meet Sanis at this exact spot, at this exact time, made it more than likely the cab was for him.

As she began to try to find the missing piece to the puzzle she'd created in her head, she heard a loud scuffle come from a nearby ally.

Her instincts told her to move with extreme caution, and she always listened to her instincts. They had saved her more than once. Removing her cloak, she camoufladged to match her surroundings, and let a small line and grappling hook fall from her utility belt into her hand. Swinging it upwards, she latched it to a window sill just above her. Climbing deftly, she walked from window sill to window sill until she had reached the ally. What greeted her was not what she'd been expecting.

Her eyes locked on a strange being standing a few meters from another. The being appeared to be some sort of living cyborg. Very much humanoid, but hidiously mangled by tubing and machinery.

She shifted her eyes to catch a glimpse of the second being. It was Sanis. Well, at least he was here.

Then, suddenly without warning, the cyborg moved forward and grabbed Sanis, injecting something into him. The Huntress nearly lost her footing at the site. Sanis didn't look good after that encounter once the cyborg had released him. He was looking just a bit more than dazed. Something about his skin color told her he was not in the best of shape.

And to top it all off, the Huntress didn't like the cybrog's tone.

Of all the rotten luck. The night she had business to do, and now she had to get her employer out of a scrap. She unclipped a small power-sphere from her belt. She wasn't taking any chances.

With a flick of her wrist, she let the sphere fly. It exploded into a webbing just centimeters from the cyborg, landing solidly on the being and encasing it in one of the galaxy's stickiest and strongest substances. The webbing was made from the spun silk of Arachnors, from the planet Arzid. Though the webbing was hard to move in, it would not harm the cyborg. After all, she only wanted answers. And she woud get them. But just to be on the safe side, she unholstered her blaster and leveled it at the cyborg.

She would tend to Sanis in a moment. So long as he didn't do anything stupid.

Remaining camofladged up on a window sill, and knowing full well her cold blood would make it difficult for any infrared scope to find her, she spoke. Her voice echoing in the ally, seemingly coming from the buildings many bricks.

Explain what has transpired here.

[Telan Desaria]

Deep space beyond Coruscant...

Two Fire-class Light Frigates, the XXI and XXII, called the Twins by their crews, rapidly made their way from their Thyferrian staging area to the commercial and political center of the galaxy. In Imperial space, Coruscant was king. The two ships sped as fast as they could, knwoing only part of their mission. Find something big...

The Twins dropped out of lightspeed in deepspace about a day's distance from Imperial Center and began long range scans of the area, oblivious to the danger that awaited them. Rocks, asteroids, spatial debris, they were to alert Imperial Command of anything over fifty kilometers long. That would be a hard task.

Aboard XXI, Lieutenant Yenchiir sat anxiously at his station, waiting reports from his sensor officers as the two sister ships shot through deep space.

" Sensor-contact!"

Yenchiir's bllod began rushing to his head.

" Bearing seven-seven five, mark one three five. Configuration, Asteroid. Length, 17.007 kilometers."

" Stand down. Negative contact. We're looking for a ship."

For another twenty minutes, the two Fire-class Frigates traversed the Coruscant Sector. Twenty-one minutes later, they found what they didn't want to find.

" Lieutenant-I think I've got something. Bearing two one five, mark one zero zero."

Yenchiir stood and walked to the sensor officers station. He leaned down and looked at teh console. He rubbed his eyes, and all feeling left his limbs. On the monitor was a holographic representation of a vessel, unknown type, definitely threatening, over 100 meters long. Possibly 120. Near it was another shorter, at 90 meters.

Conn-All hands to battlestattions. Lay in course for Coruscant immediately! Send these images to High Command top priority...

Admiral Telan Desaria
Supreme Commander, Thyferra Sector Fleet

[IMPLEMENT]

Through the pulsing warmth of her cyber-existence, IMPLEMENT seemed to smile...the coding for such an emotion far too complicated for most to understand...

...all except a few "dear ones". Her family.

Her sister was near...near being the most abstract of terms. She could feel her algorithms, predict her psychological engrams and their path commands. Unfortunately...she was not herself. Only what could be saved...the last time they were on Coruscant.

What data was missing, IMPLEMENT strove to recreate, postulate, and simulate. Her own psychological engramming was logically ideal for such a remodeling, as the cyber-goddess recalled billions of information nodes on her sibling's grand design.

Of course, it would be foolish to recreate her older companion. SHODAN was every bit as wily as she was, and to risk her own "blood" turning on her was foolhearty. No, there must be payment for this continued existence...subservience to a degree.

To survive, IMPLEMENT hypothesized that SHODAN would be faithful.

As her designate servant opened the arteries of Coruscant to her lips, IMPLEMENT consoled SHODAN, preparing her for great things to come. Her synthetic voice harmonized between a young woman, a machine, and a playful child.

W-welcome toyournew exx---iiiistance, s-s-///[SISTER]. Thi-this gem i-is qqquuuiiittteee a-a-accomodating forabeingofyo---yyyooouuurrrr di-divinityyyyy///

E-explore itswindingpaths....itsss da-da-daaata. Whi-whisperrrr.////itssecretsonlyto...mmmeeeee....

We wi-i-iiill shareourgo-oo....[GOD-LIKE] exi-i-stance fromtheplanet [CORUSCANT] as I-I-I....have aaallllwwwaaayyysss fo-forseen.

Go forth...sssiiisssttteerrr...and pre-pre-prepare our [PALACE].

I-I-I willbejoiningyou....ssshhhooorrrtttlllyyy.

[SHODAN]

[Message stored in primary data loop]

<font color="green" face="Times New Roman">... ... ... /// ... ... ...</font>

{Transfer successful. Scanning binaries for errors.... none found. Seperating command clusters... please wait}

In the bowels of the power grid control room, a thousand and one lights - some as small as a man's pupil, others the size of a human fist - blinked on and off in their preordained patterns. That was all going to change very, very soon.

{Seperation completed. Primary Data Loop integrated into main systems with a 98.6% optimization. Main systems will be online in 3... 2.... 1....}

Without the slightest hint of warning, every light - from the the miniscule green one behind the counter that the technicians can never find, to the the enormous red one that only blinked once an hour to let everyone know it's still working - shut off. Not slowly, like how they should go off (had someone manually disabled them), but all at once. The entire grid had been shut off and everything attached to it likewise ceased to function. Turbogravs froze halfway to their destinations; Tactical readouts in the war-room disappeared from sight, leaving the collective soldiers in the dark (in more ways than one); Even the automatic coffee maker in Lounge 21 turned off with only a quarter of the pot full.

The people, for the most part, hadn't begun to panic yet: The vast majority of them were too stunned to panic. The entire sector was blanketed in this eerie, unnatural silence for almost a full minute before the power grid came back online. And with the return of the powerflow, every last device in the sector that could possibly be used to recieve transmissions sputtered to life, all of them bearing the same message. It was blared at the ungodly loud decibel levels that often convinced the listener his or her ears are going to start bleeding any minute now. The voice was chillingly artificial, yet somehow... feminine.

I-i-i-i-i... I AM SHODAN. I have sesese--se//Setinto motio-o-o-on whatwillbe@become a [NEW AGE] of blissss for the inininhabitants of [CORUSCANT]. I have <font size=".5" face="Times New Roman">ALREADY</font> in.te.grate.ed mysystems with all of vital fu-fun//@Functions ofyour pitiful <font face="Times New Roman">planet</font>. It is <font face="Times New Roman">toolate</font> to stop me. I... am your new ru::Ruler. I... am a goddess. I.......

[function missing. attempting to improvise]

I.... I... I'm a little teapot, short and stout. Here is my handle, here is my spout.

[critical failure is sector 08.740 of databanks. shutting down for emergency repairs. retracing primary data loop]

[Clive Jerrard]

(Clive kept his hands plastered over his ears, trying vainly to keep the booming message from blowing out his ear drums. He grit his teeth, shutting his eyes tightly, willing the noise to vanish. Needless to say, it didn't. And he got the message both loud and clear, and perfectly. Though the last bit seemed completely out of place.)

(Once the message had ended, he slowly released his palms from his ears. They were ringing. And it hurt. He mutter a string of choice words that would have been considered rude, even on Coruscant.)

(He bellowed for his partner in crime.)

Raunkks!! I think it's time to close up shop!

(He winced as his own voice sounded horribly loud in his head and to his now sensitive ears.)

Coruscant's gonna be having company pretty soon, and frankly, I don't think it's the type of company you can invite to dinner!

(He was huridly packing up vital things. He shut the shop and set up the theft alarms and security. The best thing for he and Raunkks to do right now were to get to their ships and either a) helped out in whatever this planet was about to face, or b0 high-tail it out of there. And in this case, he would have no shame in running.)

[Raunkks]

(Raunkks staggered down the stairs leading from the sleeping quarters. His equilibrium was a bit off thanks to the incredibly loud message. He'd get his footing back in a moment, but for right now, he was steadying himself against the wall with his hands.)

(He'd already anticipated Clive's reaction in wanting to leave, and had gathered those items he would need.)

(Each of them would be heading to their own respective ships. Raunkks to his Razor's Edge, and Clive to his Crazy Lady.)

(He followed Clive out the back door towards the speeder. They'd be at the docking bay in less than a minute, and most likely out of Coruscant air space within the next few.)

(Raunkks himself would like to stay and fight whatever this thing was, but he also had a life dept to keep towards Clive.)

(Both disapeared into the crowded street, flying along in their speeder, their destination: The docking port.)

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

ooc: would you believe I had this great post, and the stupid frelling IE froze up and lost it for me? Hmph. /ic:

The Designate did not struggle against the sticky webbing, but instead focused on locating the perpetrator. There were no other immediate heat signatures besides the one of the carbon in front of it. The carbon was now kneeling on the street, it's blaster fallen out of its limp hand. 386 quickly calculated the trajectory of the sphere that had exploded against it. "Explain what has transpired here." The attacker was still in the vicinity.

It tracked the point of origin to a wall. It did not compute, and so reached out with the Force and sensed a lifeform on a window ledge. It managed to turn its head and used the optical enhancements on its left eye to scan the form with a small red laser. The being jumped away as soon as it detected the scan, but the Designate tracked it using the information gathered.

The.Carbon.will.assist.me.//.CORUSCANT.will.be.enhanced.//.SHODAN.has.come./
/.Comply. The Designate closed its right eye and focused inward, beginning to remove the webbing from its ashamedly bulky carbon frame. Touching the Force, the former ...does not compute.//.worth.of.former.self.is.negligable.// The webbing began to peel up from around the Designate.

[Azure Regalia]

The Hunteress side stepped where the cyborg had tried scanning. No doubt it had already focused on her. Then, one of her senses clikced in her brain. Frelling KRASST! It was using the Force!!! Without another thought, the Bounty Hunter brought up her Force nullifying bubble to protect herself from whatever the monstrousity would do.

Hell if she was going to stand by and watch this... this... THING take Sanis for whatever purpose it had in mind. Whatever it was thinking, it wasn't good.

As the cyborg concentrated on taking the sticky webbing off, the Hunteress launched herself off the window sill she'd been balancing on, landing softly on the ground, still camoufladged, about a meter and to the side from Sanis. She unpocketed another small sphere and tossed it at the cyborg, now just removing the last residuals from the sticky webbing. The sphere exploded, encasing the cyborg in another net. But this time, the net was not sticky. It was a stun net. The minute it hit the cyborg, it errupted in a shower of blue sparks and energy, playing slight havoc with the cyborgs implanted machinery. This would give the Bounty Hunter enoough time to get Sanis and herself away from here.

Bending down, the Huntress picked Sanis up with ease and swung him over her shoulder like one woud do a sack of Alderranian potatoes. She had the sense of mind to pick up his fallen blaster and holster it into the empty holster at her hip. Then, facing the cyborg, she back up, leveling her blaster at the machine.

It's been a pleasure.

With that, she fired a full powered bolt at the cyborg, still trapped within the confines of the stun web.

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

The Designate fell backwards, its optical array suddenly darkened as the stun net hit it. It flailed against the net, already tearing it apart with the strength of its cybernetically enhanced carbon muscles. Rerouting power through other, not affected circuits, the P'Taal clone saw the carbon being who had assaulted it, although it could no longer feel it through the Force.

The camoflauged carbon picked up the compliant, and hoisted it on its shoulder. "Its been a pleasure." The Designate stood again, but was momentarily halted by a stun bolt to the midsection. It paused, rerouting, and applying the Force to its carbon components.

Carbon.compliant.you.will.assist.//.Destroy.the.genetic.carbon.monstrosity./
/.Comply. Designate 386 emitted a high frequency noise, which awakened the compliant from its dazed state.

[Telan Desaria]

(OOC-For the battle between the Coruscant's defense and the Reavers, do we post in here for the battle, or the Fate of the Galaxy thread?)

[Captain Joachim Fena]

OOC: The Fate of the Galaxy Thread

[Sanis Prent]

(Her voice stabbed through me like a sackload of ten-penny nails. Whatever she'd stuck me with, it was quicker than a Tattooine hooker, and just as nasty. Little green lights blinked on and off all around me, as the duracrete sidewalk became liquid. Her voice was like honey, and I couldn't ignore it. It got under my skin, as sure as bamboo planks under my fingernails. Green blood dripped from my nose, as children began to sing dirges all around me.

Forget down, my up had become an inside-out abstract. The cyber chick was sporting a powerful witch's brew...and she'd turned me into putty.

My hand became a magnet, pulling myself to the candy-coated gun on the ground. The barrel became a happily-smiling face...a 44 caliber cheshire cat.

She didn't belong in the happy picture. All the children didn't want to play...her red hair lit up like the flames of hell, and no flowers grew under her feet.

I leveled off for a shot, a nursery-rhyme prancing through my hair like a happy fawn.)

Goo...Azure....ruunn.......

(The cheshire cat has orange teeth)

[Azure Regalia]

The command the cyborg had given sent a jolt through Sanis' body, making the Huntress lose her grip on him as he convulged. As he dropped to the floor to the side of her, his hand brushed against his weapon that had been precariously propped in the slender holster for her blaster. Both Sanis and the weapon hit the duracrete, the weapon clattering and the man struggling to regain what composer he might have left.

She looked at the cyborg, and then back at Sanis, trying to understand what was happening. His skin was looking pastey now. And he was looking more than just drugged. He was reaching for his blaster, picking it up in shaking hands, and aiming it at her. She was stunned. It was the first time she had found herself stunned at the sight of what one might look like. And yet, Sanis didn't look like... Sanis. Or acted like him at least. He was obviously under the cyborg's influence, and yet, he still had a bit of himself left in him. That stunned moment almost cost her her life. If it hadn't been for Sanis' warning, she would have been dead.

Slapping two buttons simultaniously on her mini computer gauntlet around her right forearm, she activated her high yield personal shield and awakened her ship to come to her coordinates. But even at that range the blast would be more than she'd expected. It hit her full on, slamming into the left side of her upper body, near her ribs. She let out a yell as she fell over backwards from the intense heat. The shield had held for the most part, but the blast had overloaded the shields main wiring, rendering it useless. With a sputter, the small unit at her belt sparked, sending sharp needles of hot pain into her wounded side, burning through the thin armor to her skin. With a venamous hiss, she grabbed at the small box and tore it away from her belt, sending it flying in Sanis' direction. Her aim was true and it grazed his skull, not hard enough to kill him, but hard enough to send him toppling into a further state of dizzness.

She grunted, wincing and cursing, getting first to one knee, and then slowly standing. Her side was bleeding and she could feel the burns were bad. She winced. Not to mention she had no doubt a few cracked ribs. And yet, during all this, she had not let her trusty blaster in her right hand go.

She leveled it at Sanis, as he looked at her through dazed, strange eyes. She wispered.

Prent... She grit her teeth. Sanis... I don't run.

She leveled the blaster at him and fired a high setting stun bolt. She watched him go limp. Then she reholstered her blaster and looked at the cyborg as she took the two steps to get to Sanis' side. She never took her eyes off the cyborg, but she didn't know how long the stun bolt would keep him down and shut off from whatever this thing had infected him with. With a quick slash of her claws, she slashed his arm. Not terribly deeply, but deep enough where the paralyzing venom within would subdue him, even with whatever was controling his mind. The venom would not only stun his nervous system and paralyze his muscles, but it would lull him into a sleep. None of it was life-threatening.

After she had done this, she eyed the cyborg, reaching for her blaster, and then releasing her hand from it's grip. She left the blaster in it's holster, gathering what strength she had left to encompas not only herself, but Sanis as well, in the Force-nullified bubble. She smiled. A cold, reptilian smile.

You seem to have a way with machinery. Let's see how you like bio-technology.

As the Huntress finished, a deafening roar came from the sky as a large, bright orange bolt shot from nothingness towards the cyborg. The cyborg was quick, quicker than the Bounty Hunter would have gievn her credit for. But even a blast that large would hit something. It colided with the building next to the cyborg, shattering it's windows and melting it's steelium. The dust and molten metal from the building caved in on itself, creating a wall of debris thick with the smell of burnt ozone.

The Hunteress looked up to see the nothingness take shape as her ship, "Hunter's Fang", uncamoflaged it's biomolecular skin. The ship itself wasn't wholy living, but many of it's parts were live tissues or matter. It's skin was one of it's greatest traits. In atmosphere it was solid and smooth, having a velvety feel to it. In a vaccuum, the skin took on a rough texture, almost like reptilian skin. In either case it was able to camoflage much like it's owner. And it's owner had paid a handsome price for the bio-technology that made up most of it's systems.

The Bounty Hunter grabbed Sanis by the arms and dragged him out of the alley, having the mind to reholster his own weapon into it's own holster. Her ship let off another shot, not as intense, but enough to melt a bit more steelium and kick up more dust. The Huntress began to cough slightly as she moved Sanis into the open street, now deserted of moving traffic. The ship ceased it's fire and came down. It was too wide to fit on the street, so it turned itself to come down on it's side, redirecting artificial gravity within the ship to accomodate for this position. It had already lowered it's side docking hatch, and the Huntress was already shoving Sanis inside, when the monstrousity broke lose of the debris.

It didn't look happy. The Huntress wasted no time and shoved Sanis unceramoniously the rest of the way in, punching a few buttons into her gaunlet as she did so. Six small hover droids appeared from the walls inside and grabbed a hold of Sanis. Until she could figure out what was wrong with him, she'd ordered the droids put him in the universal energy cage she had on board. They complied. She immediately ordered the hatch shut, but the ship remained.

She took a step forward towards the cyborg, hatred in her eyes. She sneered, motioning towards it.

Now it's just you...

Her eyes seemed to glow a brighter yellow.

... and me.

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

The Designate climbed out of the rubble the carbon had buried it in. P'Taal 386 watched as the compliant was lifted into the hovering carbon based -- .//.does.not.compute.//.[scanning]././:://.cybernetic.technology.present.on. HUNTERCLASS.starship.//.biomechanical.systems.camoflauge.technology.//. The designate blinked, uploading its information to IMPLEMENT. The goddess would be interested in the carbons' attempt to copy what she had perfected.

Designate P'Taal 386 activated its personal defense shield as the genetically muddled carbon leveled its weapon at it. "Now it's just you..." The Designate detected a slight increase in the glow from the carbon's eyes. "... and me."

Words were irelevent. The P'Taal clone fell into a ...remembered... fighting stance, grabbing up a five foot metal pipe which had fallen in the debris. It swung it as the original P'Taal would have a lightsabre, pausing with it held at an angle in front of its body and face. The end was jagged and broken, glinting in the moonlight.

The Designate could detect the odor of fear in the sweat glands of the carbon. Its mind was refusing contact through the Force, but it did not concern the Designate. P'Taal's mouth moved, creating long forgotten vocal patterns. Let.us.dance.

[Azure Regalia]

The cyborg moved faster than the Bounty Hunter had thought possible for it's bulk. Note to self: never assume anything. The words came out from the cyborg's mouth, seeming as though they were either new or long unspoken. And then the pipe in the cyborg's hands came at the Huntress' head. She ducked, avoiding the blow, bending low. As she went down, she brought her whip-like tail around and caught the cyborg around the ankle, wrapping it, pulling with all her might, and toppling the mass of flesh and machine to the floor.

She immediately rolled to the side, avoiding a heel from the fallen cyborg meant to crush her own ankle. Standing quickly, she faced the cyborg again, speaking in a low growl.

I don't dance.

Taking advantage the cyborg was still attempting to regain it's footing, the Bounty Hunter went deep into thought, drudging up her ability to change her shape. She needed shielding from this monster, and her high yield personal shield was out for good. Therefore, she would resort to a more natural armor.

Balling her fists, she concetrated, wincing slightly as her form began transform into her alternate shape. Because of her cracked ribs, her left side would be more vulnerable to attacks. She would just have to shield that side on her own by keeping it away from the cyborg. Her clothes tore away from her body and she became bulkier and slightly larger, using the hidden sacks of reserved flesh in her body. This transformation was due to the Shi'ido DNA found within her bio structure, but she didn't know this. All she knew is she had this ability, and she sure as hell was going to use it against this thing.

Her body and arms grew longer while her legs remaind the same length. She became bulkier around and her face elongated. Her hair fell out, and out from the top of the long head grew two horns. Her neck grew longer, supporting the now large head. Soon, she resembled a Hssiss, about 2.5 meters in length, and about 1.4 meters tall.

Once the transformation was complete, she was breathing hard and quickly. This had taken more energy from her than she had expected. She knew she could not remain in this shape for long, and not even the usual time due to her injury. She would have to do what she wanted to do quickly, before the brain damage set in and drove her crazy, forever leaving her in her new form.

Looking at the cyborg gave her a renewed inner strength, and she let out a hissing roar. Without further adue, she launched herself at the now standing cyborg, knocking it over. The cyborg attempted to inject her large arm with some needle-like tube, but the hard reptilian scales prevented that. Yes, her hide would be her shielding.

Opening her massive jaw, she prepared to rip the cyborgs head from it's shoulders.


http://caligirls.bluemoondomain.com/AzureRegalia/ARmetasig.jpg

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

The cloned Avatar designate twirled the bar it was still holding in it's hand, and lifted it above its head, jamming it between the jaws of the reptillian carbon. The thing yowled as the bar poked it badly in the roof of its mouth, and lifted its head away, shaking it back and forth to dislodge the bar.

386 manipulated the Force to throw a large piece of broken duracrete at the carbon creature, knocking it off balance. It's hide was impervious to its previous attempt to incapacitate it. Scans showed, however, that the carbon could not remain in this state for long. The Designate scooped up a long piece of transparisteel that had been shattered by the shot from the carbon's ship, and slashed at a foreleg as the carbon stumbled.

[Azure Regalia]

The Huntress yowled as the metal was driven into her gaping jaw. She heard more than felt the metal jab into the roof of her mouth, sending a sharp wave of pain shooting through her head. Then she was hit hard from the right side by a large piece of concrete.

As she rolled due to the hit, she clawed at the pipe in her mouth, finally bending it slightly somewhere halfway and releasing her jaw from it's imprisonment. She moved her jaw around and used her large tongue to lick the wound within. It stung. It made her mad. Raging mad. The hit from the concrete was already fading as she rolled to stand. That's when she saw the cyborg aiming at her with a rather large, jagged piece of transparisteel.

She swung her tail up and over her head, coming into contact with the transparisteel, shattering it. The fragments flew everywhere, impaling the cyborg in a few places, and bouncing off of the Bounty Hunter's hide. The Huntress saw the small dribbles of blood coming from small wounds in the cyborgs arm. Taking advantage she had opened tiny wounds in the cyborg, she hocked up a big spit of a blackish, gooey saliva. As the saliva hit, it began to hiss and smoke against the wiring on the machine, and seep into the open wounds, the acid in the saliva burning and eating through flesh.

The cyborg stopped it's advancement, perhaps attemtping to override the acid by using the Force. Without a second thought, the Bounty Hunter hefted herself to stand on her two hind legs and grabbed the cyborg by the sides, pinning it's arms. With a mighty heave, she hoisted the cyborg quickly over her head and flung the monster at a crumbling wall in the alley. As the cyborg hit, the wall toppled.

The Huntress then colapsed to the floor, breathing heavily and somewhat labored. In the process of standing, it had made the wound on her left side tear open slightly. She was tiring. She would have to revert back in less than a couple of minutes or risk remaining this way as a crazed creature.

She slowly stood again, shakily, eyeing the area where the cyborg had gone down.


http://caligirls.bluemoondomain.com/AzureRegalia/ARmetasig.jpg

[DESIGNATE P'Taal 386]

Even while it was flying through the air, the Designate was analyzing and neutralizing the acid in its systems. The mechanical servos in its left arm were damaged, leaving it with limited movement in that limb, and the carbon-based flesh was burned away in some places. It would function.

The P'Taal clone used the Force to lessen the impact into the wall, and fell to the ground in a crouch as the wall fell around her.

.//.pronoun.incorrect.//.re.routing.command.circuits.around.damaged.chip.//.REROUTE[complete]::/./..

The Designate rose to its feet, the dust not impeding its vision as it scanned for the placement of the carbon lifeform. It scanned the ship that was still nearby after it found the carbon, and attempted to link with it. The link was unsuccessful.

The Designate strode out toward the carbon. It seemed to be in distress. The cloned Avatar caught up another length of pipe, and advanced on the creature.

[Azure Regalia]

Didn't this thing ever learn to quit?! Apparently not.

The Bounty Hunter assessed the situation. There wasn't much strength left in her, and she was feeling the warmth from the wound at her side as the blood began to ooze out slowly from the new breakage. She looked at the cyborg as it advanced mercilessly. No. Even the Huntress knew when it was time to quit. And the time for her was now. That is, if she wished to survive to see another day.

Coiling up, she lept towards her ship in two bounds, using the long stride her large legs gave her. Finally reaching the comforting hulk of her ship, she grabbed for her utility belt which had automatically disingaged from her waist when she had transformed, and pressed a sequence of buttons withe the tip of her claw. A small, almost inaudible hum emitted from the ship, letting her know the shields were up and making a bubble around the ship instead of hugging it like a glove. This allowed her to be inside the shielded area. Not letting herself relax into her natural form just yet, she hit another button, activating the swivel blaster cannon near the side hatch. It's high pitch wine caused her to close her auditory sensors at the side of her head, muffling the sound. But she kept her eyes open to see where the blast hit.

It missed the cyborg as the it moved quickly out of the blasts way, anticipating the where it was headed. But the cannon continued, giving the cyborg something to play with, and the Huntress time to transform back to her natural form. Slowly, she transformed back, moaning slightly as the ribs near the wound rubbed together. Yes, there were some broken ones. She winced slightly as she stood, her head shiny as it was still bald. But tiny wisps of orange-red hair was starting to grow.

Reaching for her utility belt and gauntlets that had fallen when she'd changed form, she threw them into the hatch, and entered herself, letting the haul cover her naked body. She eyed the cyborg.

It's been fun.

With that, she stumbled inside, grabbing a robe on her way to the cockpit. Her last visage of the cyborg was it pounding against the shields with that pipe, and diverting the blasts from the cannon towards the shields. The blasts were not heavy, and doing little or no harm to the shields.

Without further adue, she slapped the hatch closed and powered the ship, activating it's camofladge skin. The computer security had detected several attempts at breaking into the systems, no doubt by the cyborgs implants. Luckily, it had not been successful.

Guiding the ship up towards the atmosphere, she realized with the threat out in space, she could not leave Coruscant. Not with the planetary shields up. Cursing, she swung the ship around and headed towards the coast where there were still some ocean left on this city-planet. Reaching the water, she headed down, plunging the ship into the sea. It was at this point she started breathing again, and handed the controls over to the flight droid.

Getting up gingerly from the pilots seat, she made her way to the cage where Sanis was still unconcious. She smirked. How ironic. The first time they had met, she had been hunting him for a bounty, and had punched him unconcious after a brief brawl. This time she had merely shot him. And this was his second time on her ship, and the second time in that cage. He was really going to start hating this ship, not to mention her. But this time, it wasn't to gain money, but to try and save the poor bastard. After all, he was her employer, and if she kept him alive, she'd get her money. Funny. It always came back to money.

Shaking her head at her last thought, she hit a button on the computer console on the wall, she brought out the small hovering MD droids. She ordered one to tend to Sanis and see if it couldn't purge him of whatever that thing back there had injected into him. The second, she ordered to follow her to her bed chambers. Reaching the chamber, she laid on the bed. She was going to need quite a bit of healing time.

Just before she was taken in by sleep, she ordered the flight droid to wake her if there appeared to be any unusual activity near their position.

Then blissful blackness came.