Hostage Situation (Open)

[Archer]

Now he had lost it. His wife had left him for another man and was refusing to let him see his daughter. His job was hanging in the balance and the note from his wife saying she wants her share of the house, which he had bought was the last straw. It pushed him over the edge.

He made his way over to an overhead compartment in his bedroom and picked out a variety of weapons. He kept a few of them close to hand but placed most of them inside a large sports bag and made his way to the conference.

He arrived sweaty and nervous. He entered the impressive building at which various senators were discussing local issues. It was a pretty big affair and security was pretty tight. He made his way up to the reception where the security guard greeted him.

Security Guard: Ah good afternoon Mr Archer. Is....is everything ok. You seem kind of tense.

Archer: Yes, yes im fine. Im running a bit late and so need to get through to the conference straight away.

Security Guard: Of course sir.

Archer flashed his pass and the guard let him past. A cold sweat passed over the tense man. No turning back now he thought to himself. He made his way to the main security room.

Head of Security: Hey Archer, you ok?

With that, Archer pulled out a gun, appologised and blew three holes in the guard. It was done. He pointed the gun at a young man he didnt know who must have been new. A hostage. He tied him up to a chair so he couldnt move then he moved swiftly to a control pannel and sealed off the building. Steal shutters came down over all the doors and windows. There was now no way in, or out. He watched the security cameras as panick spread through the building. He sealed of the main security room and possitioned himself over a micraphone. Over the tannoy he spoke to everyone in the building.

Archer: Ladies and gentlemen. If I may have your attention please. I am now in control of this building. If you do as I say no one will get hurt and you will get to go home. Could I please ask everyone to gather in conference room one. Thankyou.

Archer looked down at a comunicator and switched it on. He awaited the enevetable call from whoever was going to try and nogotiation out of this situation.

427 people in the buildng that day. Three senaters.This was going to be a long day.

Death Count 1.

OOC: Open to anyone.

[Alpha]

Satine guns his motorcycle, blasting past the rest of traffic like it was standing still. The silver haired Jedi Warrior-Defender had heard of the hostages that were taken, and he was going to see if he could get them realeased. Skidding to a stop in front of the building, Satine looks to the lead law enforcement officer, and gives a quick bow.

"I'm Satine Capashen, Warrior JEdi Knight, and Defender. I'm here to help..."

[Xander Kace]

Xander was inside the building when Archer had arrived, milling about in a long line for paying fines.

"God-damn, Come on!" The sportist growled, shifting his weight over from the left leg to his right. THe line was long, and Xan was tired, plus to add it all to boot. The lady at the front had a hard time hearing so it was nearly impossible for the clerk to finish the transaction.

Then the whole place went dark as the security windows and ectera slammed down and locked. Short cries of fright hopped around the room as Xander glanced around calmly with one eyebrow arched.

"Ladies and gentlemen. If I may have your attention please. I am now in control of this building. If you do as I say no one will get hurt and you will get to go home. Could I please ask everyone to gather in conference room one. Thankyou. " A voice commanded over the intercom, Xander let a breif smile cross his face.

The clerk picked up his phone and tried calling outside, but shrugged and put the phone on it's hook and stood up to follow the rest of the occupants into the stairs and turbolifts.

Xander shrugged and stayed were he stood, seeing no other 'terrorist lackies' in sight.

Once the room had become deserted, Xan unclipped a mobile phone from his belt and flipped the receiver up and dialed a number.

"Yo, Cops?"

[Alpha]

Satine's head snaps to the side as he sees a cop talking with what sounded like a person from inside.

Satine motions for the officer to get a second line connected to the hostage's cell, and picks it up.

"I take it you're inside. Can you tell me how many of them are there in the building? Or at least where you are?"

[Xander Kace]

"Yeah, I"m inside. First floor, The office where ya pay fees. I've got confirm that the hossies are inside conference room one. Plus, with all this metal crap over the doors there's now way for you to get out unless you can get into the main control room."

Xander walked over to one of the covered windows and tapped on it twice. "I dont know how many there are, but it may be possible he has a comm open to talk with ya."

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

The impressive building - small by some Coruscant standards, but lavish and excessively secure from intruders - had more than four hundred and twenty-eight beings (including the man who had just snuffed the life of a security guard) within it. It had another, but no one could see him. And if they were Force-users... well, they couldn't see him either. Couldn't sense him.

Kar'h'tzen Shaed was cloaked in nothingness. A mystical effect, but one that was easily brought about by projecting his surroundings but not himself. People noticed everything else more acutely, but they didn't notice it. And they didn't notice him. He had spent quite a large part of his still-young life on creating this effect. Assisting it was the fact that he could easily take out his image, his noises - not that he made many - and even his scent from the minds of most people.

It was a disturbingly complex way to go about business, but he was used to it. But it didn't allow him to think very well when he was hiding himself this deeply.

His brain snapped slight electrical currents back and forth in concentration. A few flitted about his conscious thought process, leading him to remember why he was here.

The man - Archer was his name - was here, and had promptly begun to lose what was left of his mental health. It was delightful in itself, but despite how much Shaed had been following the human around these days, the half-breed wasn't here for him.

He was here for... the "big" people, not these pathetic weaklings. Most of whom had complied with Archer's embedded command to migrate to that one conference room. It would be interesting to see how those he sought would react.

Shaed relaxed his hiding concentration slightly to check on how Archer was doing. The man had downed one security guard... no, he'd just offed another, a fat man with repulsive looks - by Archer's standards - who had tried to pull his weapon on the hostage-taker. The other guards were being ordered to release their weaponry to the floor and go up to Conference Room 1.

[Alpha]

Satine hears the tap--his senses heightened by the Force--and walks over to it, switching his comm to the cell phone.

"Tell me, there's no camera pointed at you, is there?"

Getting a negative on the camera, Satine ignites his black-bladed sabre, the blade crackling to life with a hiss. Shoving it into the place where the ground meets the wall, Satine carves a hole big enough for him to crawl through. Grinning, he makes it in, and then cuts the wall into a door, waving the people in this room out.

"I would reccomend getitng out of here. I'll take care of the rest of the people in here."

[Chase Starwalker]

A small speeder came to a stop in front of the complex building, zooming its way in and out of Coruscant's rush hour traffic. A robed individual made his way calmly through the front doors, un-noticed by the security officers that now lined the lobby. Climbing through the narrow hole, he located the silver haired individual who now stood not 3 feet from him. He placed a hand on his shoulder as he turned around. Chase pulled back the hood.

"I felt it too Satine." Chase said concerning the disturbance in the Force.

"I fear our situation will only get graver, we must act quickly."

[Maester Wargrave]

"Hold," the gravelly voice said to Shaed as the dark-cloaked man stood over him, wrapped in darkness as well.

Although the man was not Shaed's apprentice the two had been thrust together on a favor asked by Lilaena De'Ville. Maester Wargrave did not sigh, it was not his nature to.

Shaed was a patient apprentice, a tribute to De'Ville's choosing. Wargrave was pleased with the advancement that Shaed had shown- another tribute to his fellow Black Hand member.

"The senators are important to us. They have shown to be willing to listen to anti-Jedi propaganda as well as anti-New Republic. They must be kept alive...

"But if they die, there will be more elected. Either way, the Jedi would have the receive the blame for the hostages dying."

He paused, then watched as the Jedi, Alpha, released some of the hostages.

"I do not condone killing hostages, but sometimes chaos needs to reign supreme. Mister Shaed...the hostages are yours. I will take care of the Jedi. Join me when you've killed some of the hostages."

Wargrave began his illusion immediately, taking the form of the Jedi Master Liam Jinn...complete with Jedi Robes and hood. He moved quickly, sliding behind the new Jedi...then brought his gloved hands up behind Starwalker.

Wargrave swung his hands down on the back of the neck of the Jedi Padawan. The Padawan fell towards the floor.

"Satine, we can't let these men and women leave," he took the voice of Liam Jinn, as well,"These people are criminals and need to be punished."

[Chase Starwalker]

Darkness struck quickly out of nowhere. The room spun as he hit the ground in a diluted slump. What in.. His eys adjusted, he looked up to Liam Jinn, Jedi Master standing over him. But why..? Chase rubbed the back of his neck profously.

"Master...what are you saying? These are innocent people!"

[Alpha]

"I have to agree with Chase. Show me what they've done wrong..."

On instinct, Satine reaches out wit his senses, aiming them at Liam/Wargrave.

[Maester Wargrave]

"Can you not feel the evil in this room? Or the secrets the men and women hold here?"

Wargrave pointed towards one of the men cowering in fear.

"He cheats on his wife, with the woman the out there used to marry."

A finger to a woman standing nearby, "She takes money from the financial resources of this company."

Wargrave went down the line of men and women in the room, pointing out problems in their lives. Each had a problem...each tried to hide it.

And each...failed.

"In this dark world, Satine...Chase...why should we protect them?"

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Still wreathed in impermeable invisibility - even Wargrave only knew he was there because he KNEW he was there - Shaed moved deeper into the towering structure, towards the center where he knew Conference Room 1 to be located. Blueprints were easily obtainable from the HoloNet, and Shaed had visited the building several times in disguise to make sure the blueprints were correct.

He could sense beings still gathering in the cavernous room. And... the Jedi, as expected. They had breached the main wall and apparently freed a handful of captives... it was a fast response.

The huddled mass of humanity in the conference room - they were all there, now, even the high and mighty senators and the security guards who had failed their jobs - watched as the main turbolift doors opened in front of them. There was another security guard standing there...

Shaed emanated the guard's appearances with some difficulty - it was easier to make them think nothing was there. Then he lifted his stolen blaster rifle to shoulder height and killed a handful of people.

Screams split the air. Not a single hostage attempted to rush the turbolift's occupant. Five bodies fell to the floor, irrepairably damaged. The turbolift closed again, but Shaed was no longer on it. He was, however, hidden again. He would watch the captives closely and monitor the progress of the Jedi. And of Wargrave.

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase stood now, facing Liam fully. He gave a cautious glance to Satine. Something was not right.

"We do not judge. We protect." His voice was filled with spite. Liam Jinn would not act this way, both Satine and Chase knew it.

[Archer]

A large whailing nosie came over the tannoy to which everyone in the building seemed to hold thier ears in pain. There was a bit of a ruffling noise before a young mans voice was heard.

By the sound of him he would be about 21. His voice quivered as everyone could hear him sob as he talked.

Young Guard: My name is William, and I have a wife and three children. Please, I dont want to di....

There was a sound of a punch and the tannoy fell silent for a few brief seconds.

Acher: We have some Jedi in the building I see. I would strongly advise not moving the hostages as you may find are friend William here with a bullet through his head. Thanks for listning...

He sat back in his chair and continued to watch on the cameras. He was pretty unhappy at people moving the hostages without trying to talk to him first. These Jedi were obviously quick to rush in, putting peoples lives in danger. The best of it was, they had no idea about the suprise he had prepared for the people if he didnt get what he wanted.

[Maester Wargrave]

"Excellent, young one," Wargrave let his voice go back to his own and he smiled. The image of Liam Jinn wavered, then slowly disappeared revealing the darker man, with a stone face underneath the hood.

"You do know who the Light Jedi are. Congratulations."

Wargrave kept his body cloaked by the black cloak he wore, held together by the silver rose pins and the iron chain. When the sounds began playing, he ignored the high-pitched whine- shutting down his hearing while it played.


My name is William, and I have a wife and three children. Please, I dont want to di....

"But I believe the man who you want to stop is beginning to kill again. Will you stop him or deal with me?"

To Archer he finally spoke in his mind.

If you pay attention to me, you can kill all those you want and still escape.

[Alpha]

Wargrave looks away for a second, and, when he looks back, Satine is gone.

Chase, keep an eye on Wargrave. I'm going after the hostage-taker. he sends to his fellow Jedi, getting into the nearest turbolift, disengaging his sabre, but keeping the hilt in his hand...

[Xander Kace]

Xander had stayed inside the building as Satine evacuated the building of the first floor recipiants. Xan kept a hand on his colt .45 as Satine ran to the turbolifts.

"Woa! Waitaminit!" He shouted, following closely on Staine's heels. THe doors began to close but Xan was able to thrust his arm into the doors keeping them from closing.

"Your' gonna need some help." Xan spoke as he stepped into the lift.

[Alpha]

The silver haired Knight looks at Xander.

"You think you can keep up?"

[Archer]

Archer was now listning in very carfully on what the Jedi were saying and watching them very closely. He saw the movement of the Jedi and quickly made efforts to thwart their attempt of trying to capture him.

He shut down the power for the turbo lifts leaving the Jedi stranded inside, and in between floors. He took hold of William and made his way out of the control room. William was being held at gun point all the way. Still wimpering. Using the stairs Archer made his way to the conference room to where all the hostages were. Things were getting to be somewhat tense inside that room now. People were getting nervy and worried. Panic was starting to spread through.

He looked out over the group for a few brief moments before speaking out to the crowd.

Archer: Hi, I am Archer. Will everyone remain calm and as I said before no one will get hurt.

He glanced an evil look over to the Senators. Glancing back at the crowd of people he pointed out four children and two womenand told them to follow him. They were reluctant to move so he pulled out his gun and shot a bullet into the roof. There were screems for a few seconds before they all got up and joined Archer. He got them to move as a group back to the security control room.

Once inside he checked to make sure the Jedi were still trapped. They looked like they were trying to escape but so far had been unsucsessful.

The control room was at the very pinacle of technology. Archer pushed a button sealing off the room within a wall of 7ft deep steel. Around that youd find a hard job getting round the green lasered force field. It was one of the most secure rooms Archer had ever designed.

He spoke over the tanoy to the people in the building once again. Mainly, his words were aimed at the Jedi.

Archer: Seems we have a couple of Jedi in the building who dont know who they are messing with. Im very serious about my threats and will carry them out accordingly. I am now int eh presense of several women and children, and of course William.

There was a pause.......then a gun shot......

Archer: Actually, better make that one less child. I'll be waiting for your call.

There were screams in the background before the sound fell silent.

OOC: Im off for a few days everyone so please give us a chance to reply to your posts. Dont get too carried away, be back soon!

[Alpha]

Satine curses as he hears the gunshot. Activating his wrist comm, Satine hears the man pick up.

"This is Satine Capashen, JEdi Knight. What is it you want?"

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase circled the dark hooded man who now stood silently still. His hand went to his saber, but did not draw it. Sith or Dark Jedi, Chase did not know, nor did it matter. He heard the words of the desperate man holding the hostages.

"I suggest you leave this place. You have no business here."

[Xander Kace]

Xander gave Satine a cocky grin. "Sure, if you can keep up with me."

Then the lift stopped dead in it's moorings, the terrorist spoke over the building's comm system. Then the gun shot.

"Oh frell!" Xan cursed, slamming his fist into the closed doors. "That guy is sooooo going to get it."

With this, Xander removed the colt .45 from the concealed holster. Whispering inaubibly to the security cameras, but so the Jedi could hear it slightly.

"Jedi, I want you to act dead when I shoot you. Second chamber in this gun is always a blank, I'm gonna shoot you and you need to fall down. Sounds' crazy, but it will work if I can persuade the terr. to get the lift moving again..." With this, Xander leveled the gun at Satine and spoke, winking his eye.

"Alright Archer. Hope ya are listening; This Jedi's gonna die. Why? Because I want to join' ya on this excapade..."

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed watched through a young woman's eyes as Archer took her and some of the other hostages up to the control room. Good, he'd almost certainly be safe there from the Jedi fools.

As for himself, he invisibly drew a small throwing disc - made of an almost completely useless ore, and fragile - and slit the throat of a man deep in the crowd of hostages with the sharp side of it before slipping it back into his long, black coat. Nobody saw the man die. He was just suddenly not there... and then he was back again, though he seemed taller. Shaed was beginning to get used to assuming all these personalities, he thought, as he hugged an elderly woman close to him. The woman had been the dead man's mother, visiting this building on a pleasant excursion from their regular tedious life. She would be the first to die, if the Jedi came up here rashly.

So much death was happening today... it was most unusual, but it needed to happen for what Wargrave and Shaed planned. These beings were just pawns. They had only one conceivable use for their lives. And there was no sense of loss - none of them would be missed, for the galaxy had countless billions of such pawns.

[Archer]

Archer sat quiet in his chair as the Jedi known as Satine called out to him. At last, perhaps now the situation could move forward. He couldnt belive that in a hostage situation it had taken this long to ask what it was he wanted. Perhaps they didnt take him seriously enough. With the death of the child, a small boy of around 9 at a guess, Archer was now going to be talked to.

He put his feet up on the table in front of him and leaned over the tannoy to speak again. This time the voice did not echo around the entire building but instead only where the Jedi stood.

Archer: What do I want.....what do I want.....I'll tell you what I want. Peace, justice, freedom. I want life to be fair. It seems I cant have these things though. Life is just one long kick in the head and sooner or later you just cant be bothered to get back up off the ground. People will not help each other, the people who dont know what its like dont want to help each other. Im here today to show these people, just how sad life can really be. These may look like innocent people but really, they are the very ones causing all the problems.

Another man, known as Xander spoke up of his desire to join Archers cause. The tannoy went silent again before he replied.

Archer: Thanks for the offer, but for now no one else need get involved. I'll keep you in mind later on. Thanks for the offer.

There was some background noise before the tannot shut off again. It was the sound of a woman talking. She seemed distressed and certainly upset but not in pain.

[Maester Wargrave]

Wargrave chuckled, a low, drawn out laugh...

"Are you so certain at that Mister Starwalker? Perhaps I have every right to be here. Perhaps I have the same goal as you.

He took a step forward, walking towards the circling Jedi Padawan.

"Perhaps all I was is this hostage situation to end so I can go home..."

Wargrave was now close to Starwalker, a tight smile on his face.

"Or perhaps I am controlling this entire situation...without anyone knowting."

Then, using the Force, he pushed Chase back near where the hostages were. Chase slammed into the table, breaking it.

"Now...where did Mister Capashen go..."

[Khabarakh Khalagor]

A short grey figure swaithed in a brown cloak, stands in a corner on the second level of the building.

I am Khabarakh Khalagor, a former Noghri warrior, now a bounty hunter after my banishment from from my clan.

*Swears silently in native tongue*

"Now that Jedi are here it will be even harder to acquire my bounty"

I had taken this job from a human after my successful acquisition of the smuggler Doran. The bounty was high for just one human. Too high. This would not be an ordinary hunt.

All I had was a holo on my datapad and a place and time where he was to be.

I had spotted him but in the following chaos when the hostage taker came he disappeared. I would now kill the gunman and wait as the Coruscant peace keepers brought the hostages out one by one. Then I would strike.

I silently head for the main security room one level down.

I will acquire this bounty as I have all others. Only once have I failed. The memory of the failure causes me to pick up my pace....

[Marcus Telcontar]

A few hours ago .....


There was a quiet knock on the Chief of State's door. Sighing audibly, for this was supposed ot be a quiet time for her, she had to have them to stop from going insane from the pressures of the job - and she had left instructions not to be disturbed, unless it was an emergency.

"Yes?" she asked. "Who is it?"

There was no answer, but the lock on the door inexplicably unlatched and the door opened - and in walked a hooded and cloaked figure, closing the door quietly behind itself. The Chancellor stood up fast, anger in her voice.

"Who are you and how did you get past the.... the.... the..... " Her words failed as the hooded being removed the hood, revealing his weatherbeaten and rough face, a face she didn't recognse.... but the eyes had an intensity she had seen before, somewhere else - and if she rememered right....

"Let us say, I'm an old friend, come back from the dead. With many an axe to grind"

Her jaw dropped, for the voice was even different, but now she knew. Surprised beyond words she gaped, until regaining control, a broad grin crossed her face. "Marcus Q'Dunn! Oh, when I heard Tohmahawk was dead, I feared for the worst for you!"

"Aye, I feared the worst too for a while. It does me good to meet you again, Madam Chancellor"

The older woman looked over the being she knew for years as the Jedi Master, gone undercover and in different guises - the last being James Tohmahawk, New Republic General. An old, old friend for many years and one of her closest allies behind the scenes. "Marcus, I've missed you being around. Why, it's been at least 6 months without you even contacting me! where have you been?"

"Here and there - I have returned to the Jedi and have been settling in with life in The Order once again. Also been keeping a low profile, so none knew who or where I was"

"Not even me... but I should have guessed when I heard of a Helenias Q'Dunn in the Jedi. Who is she, someone related?"

"My wife, Madam. She is my wife and has been for many years"

"Well... As much as it is pleasant to speak to you, this would not be a social visit, no?"

"You would be incorrect, for that is what it is. A chance to catch up with a dear friend - oh and to tell you, your security is worthless. Fire the lot and get someone whom understands security. I got in without being noticed anywhere"

She shook her head, a smile on her face. "Mastr Q'Dunn, I doubt there is a place in the Galaxy that could stop you walking in"

--

The pair talked for some time, catching up, fir indeed they were fast friends. She knew most of his secrets, while he was the silent and strong pillar she had needed in her office. A pillar she felt she sorely lacked while he had been recovering from the ambush he had just finished talking abaout and his decsion to resume in the Jedi Order.

"....so, will you sit on the Council Marcus? The Jedi would be much strengthened by that"

He was sitting across from her, drinking a cup of tea. "Unlikely. Some in the Jedi view me with suspicion and anyway, my time to lead the Jedi is over. I can do much more by standing to one side and advising those whom would lead now. Plus, it gives me the freedom to move and to act as I desire. Being on Council requires certain ..... " he stopped as the Chancellor was getting a prioity message on her desktop comm unit. She read it over, her face darkening

"I'm soorry, we will have to cut this short, Marcus. We have a hostage situation involving Senators"

His ears pricked up. "Oh? Who's dealing with it"

"A few Jedi apparently. One of them cloaked apparently.... is something wrong?" sh asked, noting Marcus becoming more animated.

"Are you... sure they are Jedi?" he asked.

"Well.... no"

Suspicion flooded his mind as he felt something wrong here, badly wrong. "Madam Chancellor, put a blanket news coverage ban on this apart from officail channels. Also, jam any signals in or out of the area. And get me a Guardsman uniform"

--

Didn't look like much, but under the visor that showed only his chin and his beard, the Jedi Master considered the situation as he mingled with other guards and local law enforcement surrounding the building. About half an hour after the Chief of State was notified - it took that long for a disguse to be found and for him to drift inot a squad going to seal off the area. Three Senators apparently taken hostage was guarentteed to cause a stir. Now lookinglike any other guard, it was easy to just fade behind the barriers being erected and to move without being stopped to a sservice entrance. A rapid break-in was all that it took to move from the chaos outside to the now quiet within. Another quiet moment and he went into full Hide, the ability to mute his Force Presence, so it became negigible to the point of not being detectible, except at close range. Before he did, he got a good mental lock on where it seemed the hostages were.

And on something else. A disturbance in the Force.

Now with Force Hide on fully, her ran up to where the stair well was. He looked up, pulled out an ascention gun, with had a harpoon and a few hundred meters of microcable in a reel. Aiming up, he fired into a fixutre several floor up and began to make the climb by the reelwinding him upwards.

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase stood up slowly from the broken table, the impact still fresh on his body. He started his pace toward Maester.

"Leave this place Wargrave. We both know you can't win. What do you plan to accomplish by this?" Chase made no attempt to draw his saber. "I know somewhere in that twisted mind you have a reason behind this. What is it?"

[Maester Wargrave]

"Win?" Wargrave raised a black eyebrow, "Who says I am here to win?"

He shuffled his cloak back around his black and red bodysuit.

"I am here mainly to observe the bank itself and their people. Get a sense of their culture and habits. Surely there is nothing evil about that..."

He bore a cold, blue eyed stare into Starwalker's eyes.

"Tell me, do you believe I am here to cause chaos or restore order?"

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase shifted his weight onto his right foot, eyeing Maester intently. He stayed on course with his own glare.
"I believe somehow you've had a hand in all this Wargrave. Either way, the situation has become critical, your time for observation is over."

Chase let the last words be more of a statement than anything else, stone stated with little give in his voice.

[Alpha]

"What do I want.....what do I want.....I'll tell you what I want. Peace, justice, freedom. I want life to be fair. It seems I cant have these things though. Life is just one long kick in the head and sooner or later you just cant be bothered to get back up off the ground. People will not help each other, the people who dont know what its like dont want to help each other. Im here today to show these people, just how sad life can really be. These may look like innocent people but really, they are the very ones causing all the problems. "

Satine heard these words, and gritted his teeth.

"Some might be the cause of the problems, but what of those that are innocent? If need be, I would gladly trade myself for the hostages. Think about it, a Jedi for a hostage? That would give you far more leverage then just with civilians and senators. How about it?" satine asks, his mind becoming crystal clear in his determination of getting the hostages out anyway possible. Anyway, even if he had to give himself up, and possibly die. After all, wasn't that what being a Jedi was about?

[Maester Wargrave]

"Me have a hand in this?" The Dark Jedi almost laughed again, "My dear boy you assume quite a lot don't you?"

Wargrave didn't move, instead stared straight at Chase, "No...your friend, Mister Capashen, is doing quite a good job at barganing with Mister Archer. But I do believe things are going to get quite interesting in the minutes to come. After all...if you're talking with me...who's watching the hostages?"

[Khabarakh Khalagor]

As expected the turbolifts were down. Either the Guards or the hostage taker had shut them down.

No problem for Noghri warrior, even if he no longer officially was.

Ever real bounty hunter carries some form of device to scale obstacles. Khab (as called by the few people who knew his real name) was no exception.

After opening a window with a vibro-blade (blasting it was another option but was noisy, messy, not to mention melo-dramatic) Khab attaches his ascending cable but instead uses it to descend to the level which according to his datapad housed the main security center.

The trouble of scaling the outside had the added benefit of avoiding any holocams that might been able to track his progress through the building.

Still scaling the side Khabarakh pauses just above what should be balcony which should be the level with housing security center.




OOC: I am having a hard time typing with my sister watching a Cary Grant film in the same room. lol. I will stop here.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Didn't take it long for the reel to finish spooling and have him up to where he had fired the harpoon. Grabbing hold of a ledge, the gun was reloaded and then fired again, this time to the floor two below where he believed the hostages were, by the disturbances he had felt before Force Hiding.

This is one helll of a way to scale a building.....

Thank the Force he came from a heavy grav planet - otherwise, beign dragged upwards for so far would be a killer on the shoulders. A few more time clicks and he would be where he wanted to be. A plan was beginning to form in his mind as well.

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase raised his eys slightly at the comment. Wargrave had a point, but still, he had to be in on this.

"One of your fellow Hand members?" Chase could not live down Wargrave's stare of harsh blankness. "Maybe someone you hired? It doesn't matter now. If you are truly not behind this, then prove it. Help me get to this madman before he kills anymore innocent people."

[Maester Wargrave]

"I'm afraid you are mistaken Mister Starwalker, as I do not know who Mister Archer is. I have not met him, nor can I prove it other wise."

"I have also said," he took a step backwards, towards where Alpha had disappeared earlier, "These men and women are not as innocent as you suspect. You must decide if their sins are worth protecting or not."

And with that, Wargrave cloaked himself in shadows and disappeared.

"Time to find Alpha"

In the back of his mind though, the Dark Jedi began feeling an almost familiar presence. As if something were coming that he could not read. He pondered this, as he slipped out of the room and towards where Satine was.

[Archer]

A Jedi for a hostage.... A Jedi for a Hostage. There was a silence over the tanoy as Archer pondered satine's words.

Then a small crackle over the tannoy was heard again.

Archer: Sorry my friend. My beef is not with the Jedi, but with the common man. Incidently, I am willing to release one hostage from my hold here in the control room.....it seems she is with child. As it may not have appeared at first I am not completly an evil man. She says she is not due for another day but she seems to be in some pain from the stress. I wish for her to be released.

[Alpha]

"Let me come up there, and I'll escort her out. I'll even leave my weapons here, in the turbolift, if you so want."

[Chase Starwalker]

Chase made no attempt to follow Wargrave. Instead, hooking his hilt back to his belt, he looked around for the nearest lift. There has to be an emergency lift somewhere around here.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed was able to sense several beings on the move around the building... none of them heading towards the room the hostages were in, however. A pity.

A man, standing across the huge conference room floor from Shaed, was surprised to find himself ripping an elegant wooden chair to pieces. And was shocked when he found his own hand grabbing a splintered wooden leg and forcing it through the chest of a woman next to him. At this point, the man became insensate and didn't even notice himself treating three more beings in a similar brutally inhuman fashion. Fortunately, two nearby Wookies and another human male brought him down - one of the Wooks tearing the man's arm off in the process.

Then a small girl grabbed the bloodied chair leg, and stabbed it through the bigger Wookiee with utterly inhuman strength. Then she killed a Gran, before also being brought down. But another person grabbed the slippery chair leg, shocked at doing so yet helpless to stop the madness. And another. And then another.

Shaed could almost have cut the palpable fear in the cavernous room with a lightsaber.

Roughly 403 people still in the buildng that day.

Death count: Seventeen sentients, and rising as fast as the mass hysteria.

[Maester Wargrave]

Wargrave watched from the darkness as Starwalker looked for a working lift. He could tell the boy had used the Force most of his life.

Doesn't know how to rely on his own abilities. Pity...

The Dark Jedi slipped from the room, hearing the sounds of violence from where the hostages were. He ignored them though, as it was not his business. The man, supposedly in control of it was.

It was then the black-cloaked man saw it...a ventalation shaft in the hallway, tucked enough away to not be noticed unless one was looking for it.

He gazed down the windowless corridor. No one was coming.

And quickly, he leaped at the shaft, breaking the grate as he fell through. Pain shot through his shoulder as he collided with the grate, pain he ignored...then righted, just as he did the grate, resealing the shaft.

Wargrave didn't have a layout of the building so instead, he used the Force as a tracking unit...tracking on the calm manner in which Archer conducted his business. And quickly, the Dark Jedi scurried down the shaft, in search of Archer.

As he grew close to where he sensed the man, he came across the security defenses. Seven foot metal wall, including a Force Field. The Dark Jedi stared at the Force Field, getting a feel for the blazing green energy barrier.

There is a focussing beam near here...I can hear the energy pulsating...if I were a security agent...where would the emergency shut off be?

He worked his way around the Force Field, then found the housing cannister. A view of what was next to it confirmed his suspicions.

Gas container directly next to it. Not unlike some Star Destroyers...

Wargrave paused, then began breaking the container.

[Archer]

Archer sat slouched in his chair considering Satines proposal to come and get the pregnant woman. To be honest, he wasnt keen but on the other hand he felt that getting rid of her would have to be done. Archer had morals, even at this stage. He reached over to the tannoy again to speak...

Archer: Satine, as you are probably aware, im not all that keen to come face to face with a Jedi. Not at this moment in time anyway. Instead I have a proposal for you. I think....

There was silence over the tannoy. Archer could hear some sort of banging noise. He disengaged the speaker and went closer to where the banging came from. Was someone trying to break the gas containers? Surly not. Archer would have seen them on one of the security cameras wouldnt he?

He moved quickly to his seat in the control room. Knowing there were no cameras looking towards where the banging was comming from it was time to use Rover. Rover was like a tiny old fashioned remote control car with a small camera on top. He powered up Rover and moved it out to investigate.

[Khabarakh Khalagor]

Khabarakh now on the right level moves soundlessly down one of the countless hallways which were common in the Coruscant architecture.

Hearing a slight screeching sound he turns around a spots a small remote controled car, the kind popular among the young of most species, power up and start moving after him. A small camera was plainly visible on it and was swiveling toward him.

Prefering there be no record of him on Coruscant he quickly steps through a doorway only to be confronted by a stand Force Field. A movement attracts his attention as someone is there before him and as the bounty hunter watches a black cloaked man maneuvers around the Field and begins smashing a container.

Taking a blaster from a nearby corpse of a security guard he sets the power selecter to kill but then pauses and continues to watch...

[Marcus Telcontar]

Marcus finally got to the floor underneath where he believed the hostages were and now, it was time for disguise to be dropped. He lowered the Force Hide and took in what the Force told him once again.

Oh crap. This was so not good.

Several presences lit up his senses like a sun-light, some too far away, some close.

And a god-awful feeling in his stomach that there was more to this than a simple hostage situation. Far more. Like it was a setup and a trap, but not for him.

Millard and that apprentice of Deville! What in the name of the Force are they doing here?!?

More to the point, why the hell was Shead causing beings to kill each other? This was not the way of either the Dark Side or the Light Side, that was sheer, total and complete madness. He closed his eyes, located where Shead was in The Force, then with his mind pushed so that he would be thrown upwards, hard into the ceiling.

Common murderer. What is a man like Millard doing with scum like that

[Maester Wargrave]

Wargrave suddenly sense a surge in the Force...

Interesting...Marcus Q'Dunn...time to focus though.

He looked at the pipe and found it interesting he actually sensed the gas within the canister. It was alive...remenents of some of the bioweapons used by special forces in the Imperial Army.

Archer has training within the Empire. Unless someone else created this security system.

The Dark Jedi began concentrating, sending a message to the organisms within the canister.

Consume yourself...the one next to you is the enemy...

He felt a strange rush, as the organisms ate each other. The rush from chaos turning to order...such as what would happen now.

With the gas gone, Wargrave ignited his blue-red lightsaber, destroying the housing where the force field was. With a muffled whazorp! the force field went down.

His ears pricked up at the mechanical sound behind him, about twenty feet away. Something was approaching...somethin mechanical. The Dark Jedi paused then made his decision.

If Archer knew the building, then he would be certain any intruder was dead.

Very well...let's give him what he wants

As the droid turned around the corner to where the security station was, it found a body- cooling- laying on the ground by the station...dead.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

Shaed had observed the Jedi's movements beneath him - Q'Dunn, he was named. Shaed had met Q'Dunn briefly, a while back. However, Q'Dunn was not moving towards the tall human son, who was still protectively hugging his mother. The Jedi was heading for a relatively nondescript man thirty feet away, who - unfortunately - was exuding Shaed's Force "signature", as it were. A handy decoy, that only Jedi could detect. Easily seen through, but not when you couldn't see them.

The man suddenly flew up through the air. Caught totally off-guard, the human's neck snapped to the side and broke when his head smashed into the ceiling.

Shaed could no longer be sensed.

Shaed smiled, as he had three more beings grab the other chair legs and run off into the crowd with murderous abandon. Exceptionally weak-minded, they were perfect tools. It reminded Shaed of a simple peg game - hop over the pegs you can't access to be rid of them first, then hop over the easy pegs you used to remove the harder ones. It wasn't neccessary in this case, but it was easier and allowed him to remain in hiding.

[Marcus Telcontar]

OOC : I'm a floor below you Shaed. How can I be moving on anyone?

--

IC : Under the room, he could sense..... something wrong. Something very wrong. Like he had been tricked. He had felt people die in the Force and this had not been right - nor had he thrown the apprentice hard enough to kill - that wasn nto his intention.

Nothing he could sense..... but as he stretched out his mind, he felt the effects of someone using The Force. Not definant what it was, like someone trying to hide, but still trying to influence it. The Jedi Master understood how Hiding worked - it was a double blind - you reduced your presence in The Force till it was negible, but if you did anything at all to affect the Force other than to recieve sensory information, you stood out once again. Even more so because if the way you appeared and disappeared. Being as practiced as Marcus was, he knew the advantages.

And the limitations.

It appears you still have much to learn young one.

More screams. Time was not on his side. Concentrated in The Force, reached out with his mind and also his hand, picturing in his mind what he wanted to do. He stepped back as he collapsed the ceiling above his head and with it the floor of the room above.

As the debris fell, along with beings (Few cuts and bruises, not much for the beings whom had been standing- was only a fall of a few meters) he kept his attention on, sensing and sifting for his now target. The fall would have broken concentration.

After he was finished here, he and Millard were going to have a bit of a chat. But he doubted Millard would enjoy what he was goign to say

[Khabarakh Khalagor]

Suddenly the black cloaked man stopped moving and suddenly the room became almost erie.

"Somethings not right with this guy"

Then things got really bad as the man pulled out a lightsaber and destroyed the housing shutting down the force field.

"Sithspawn!"

With a force user here Khabarakh's heart sank along with his chances for acquiring this bounty.

Then things really got weird. The force weirdo drops down as if dead.

A screeching noise reminds Khabarakh of the remote vehicle and gives him a sudden idea through this mess.

Without another thought he jumps over the force user hoping against hope that either he was really dead or would prefer to continue his charade and not interfere.

Racing to the door behind what was the force field and with subtlety no longer an option starts burning through the controls with his capture blaster...

[Alpha]

Satine reaches out, and senses the woman in the control room, along with Archer, who was distracted at the time. Satine projects a fairly strong Force shield around the pregnant woman, and then ignites his sabre, cutting through the door of the lift, and then jumping, using the Force to propel himself upwards. Once he got to a door, Satine cuts it open, and jumps into the empty corridor. Breathing heavily, Satine gets to his feet, and begins his way towards a staircase, becoming tired from maintaining a shield so far away...

[Maester Wargrave]

"Ah, I see you have my idea," the voice behind the Noghri spoke as Wargrave righted himself.

"I fear a blaster will no work against the seven-foot durasteel barrier. Here...allow me."

The blue-red lightsaber reignited, casting an eerie glow over the entire walkway. Wargrave swung an arced wing, cutting the durasteel at a point high enough for him to walk through. Another two cuts and he was able to walk down the hole he'd cut to the area just above where Archer was.

He gave a stone-faced smile.

"See you downstairs..."

Then he broke the nearest grate and fell into the room where Archer was.

[Archer]

Archer couldnt seem to work out where the noise was comming from using the small camera on the remote control car so he turned to a monitor on one of the control panels and turned on the heat sensors. Several figures were heading straight for the hostage taker and all of a sudden panic spread through his body. the next thing he knew a force field appeared around the pregnant woman.

Archer: This was not part of the deal !!!

He spun round and began shooting at the other hostages in the room. Two children remained as he stopped to reload his pistol. He would have killed them too but he heard a noise comming from above. He quickly checked his monitor to see there was someone right above that room. He pulled the two young children in close to him, then flicked a switch on the control panel and waited. He then held his gun to one of the childrens heads and fired. The child dropped like a rag doll. Archer trembled with fear and panic. His eyes filled up. A figure dropped into the room just in time to see archer hold his gun to the last childs head. He then quickly pulled out another gun pointing at the person stood before him.

Archer: your too late my friend. Ive set a bomb to go off to kill all the hostages in that room. There is a remote switch in a secret location that only I know where it is. If I die, so do the hostages. Ive been pushed to far this time.

His hands shook with rage. One of Archers guns pushed hard against the head of the last child. The child was screaming and crying for his mother.

[Alpha]

Satine felt the pain through the force, and gritted his teeth, controling his anger quite well, surprisingly. He continues up, finally getting to the command centre, and the cut open door. He ignites one of his sabres, and then pulls out a SOCOM, gettign ready to go in there...

[Maester Wargrave]

Originally posted by Archer
Archer: your too late my friend. Ive set a bomb to go off to kill all the hostages in that room. There is a remote switch in a secret location that only I know where it is. If I die, so do the hostages. Ive been pushed to far this time.

"You have have you?" Wargrave's blue eyes glowed as he stared at Archer. He held the gun close to the child, having all ready killed one of them. What was to stop him from killing another.

Without even a flinch of his hand, Wargrave ripped the gun from Archer's sending it flying across the room. The man himself was lifted off the ground and brought towards the Dark Jedi.

"If there is one thing I detest, it is a man who kills children without reason. Creating chaos is one thing...killing children is another."

He gave an evil smile, then pulled Archer's coat down, trapping his sleeves.

"If I thought your death would mean anything I would kill you now...but no...I have a better solution for you."

He dove into Archer's mind, watching as all the pain and torment surrounded him. The wife leaving, the child...unable to see him. His family gone...surely this was a pitiful man.

Wargrave grabbed the pain, enhancing it...then found the center of Archer's mind. He took the pain and imprisoned Archer's psyche in it...literally shutting his brain down from the overload of pain.

He exitted the mind, then pulled a bit of rope from behind his cloak. As he tied Archer up...Wargrave smiled.

"The Jedi can take you out of this mental prison, I've put you in...actually...only one can. The one who is currently causing trouble downstairs...Marcus Q'Dunn."

The Black Hand member smiled, then turned to the hostages in the room.

"Get out of here...now!"

He keyed the button to open the door to the vault, keeping Archer's trussed up body behind him...and smiled at Alpha.

"Your young padawan friend wondered if I had something to do with it...Now...you know."

[Khabarakh Khalagor]

With the hostage taker out of action it was time to go. Soon this place would be swarming with Jedi not to mention the Coruscant Guards. The bounty would have to wait for another day. As the a stream of hostages head for exits Khabarakh merges with them and soon emerges on the outside as the guards prepare to go in.

A beep alerts him to his comlink.

A message? New instructions?. It would appear that the hunt has just begun.

[Alpha]

"Yes, I do know." Satine says, nodding at Wargrave, putting his weapons up.

[Maester Wargrave]

Wargrave threw the captured figure of Archer towards Alpha.

"I believe this is the man you are looking for."

He stared at Alpha, "Tell me young Capashan, does this surprise you to see a Dark Jedi assisting you?"

[Alpha]

Kneeling to check that Archer was still alive, Satine looks into Wargrave's eyes, his own silver eyes boring into the Dark Jedi's.

"Yes, it does, actually. What I want to know, is why."

[Maester Wargrave]

Wargrave only smiled.

"I fear there is one person who can answer that question that is not me."

He raised his voice, "Mister Q'Dunn I know you're in the building. Reveal yourself...

"Please."

[Archer]

Archer was distraught. The image of his family leaving him and not being able to see his child was driving the man to insanity. He lay on the foor whimpering like a child. Tears flowing from his eyes. He wiped his nose across his sleeve. He couldnt get the images out of his head. Over and over and over again they played.

What was to become of him, he didnt want to die and he really didnt want to hurt anyone but things had gotten out of control today.

The majority of hostages were still in the conference room as time ticked by, the situation was becoming more dangerous. Archer was the only one who could stop the bomb. There was enough explosives there to blow a rather large hole in the plannet. An evacuation would take to long, and time was running out.

[Kar'h'tzen Shaed]

OOC. Since you won't answer my PMs, Q'Dunn, I guess I'll just do the best I can without a response. But you've lost the right to be peeved over it.

IC. Unfortunately, the inevitable happened. With Shaed continually influencing events, the Jedi were bound to find him. At least the hapless man who had been flung into the ceiling had been able to warn the young Dark Jedi by his suffering.

Shaed's last act, before cloaking himself fully once more, was to permanently alter a few minds around the cavernous meeting room. Also, he noticed that his hapless decoy wasn't dead... too bad. Then he dissappeared.

But not in time.

The floor suddenly began to disintegrate, a process that Shaed was unable to observe until it was physically apparent. The tall half-breed made one last-ditch leap of chance (unaided by the Force, which would have probably marked him yet again) as the floor crumbled and fell, and with it over two hundred very surprised lifeforms.

Friends - back when Shaed had had friends, a memory that was all too distant nowadays - had jokingly remarked that the young apprentice Jedi had a mind like a durasteel Wookie trap. Once it was closed, nothing else got in. It was funny at the time, but it was also true.

Shaed didn't notice hitting the ground two meters below his original elevation. Didn't notice the gash in his forehead, either, until the blood got in his eye and turned half of the world red... which took a while to understand. Shaed was still taking in all the sensory data he took in while not Hiding, yet during the process he was unable to process it all. Only the smallest fraction, in fact.

From what he could tell, the abrupt fall had actually calmed the pandamonium of the crowd of hostages somewhat. Could be that he just wasn't noticing it, though. Hide. Small.

Dark.

The killings would continue through the five he had warped, but all too soon they would be stopped...

Hide...

Shaed hoped the Jedi would leave, and that he would notice it in time to make good his own escape before the charges blew.

Couldn't move. A small part of his mind wondered if he was severely hurt by the fall or not. Couldn't check now. If he moved amidst this rubble, Q'Dunn would surely see the movement. He hoped the Jedi would assume he'd gotten away, somehow.

Shaed interpreted a little bit of information his eyes were giving him. Ha! He could see the unfortunate who's neck had snapped so recently. It looked quite dead, now.

[Alpha]

Satine looks at Archer, and then to Wargrave.

"You said a JEdi can take out the memories for now. Am I strong enough to? We need to stop that bomb!"

[Maester Wargrave]

"I ask a simple question, Mister Capashan...Why?

[Alpha]

"Because, there are innocents in here." Satine says simply.