Black Hole Sun

[Salem Ave]

Time: 12:45
Location: Barseg, Allied Tion Sector

“Is this more to your liking?”

A stout man in a militaristic uniform drew the shutters of the small office closer. The room, previously filled with the mid-day sunshine, was plunged into darkness. A small desk light was then turned on, once again illuminating the faces of those present. Foremost noticeable was the man behind the desk himself, a man past his prime in life, with a thick moustache and a cigar balanced between his fingertips.

In front of him stood the person who had requested the curtains be closed, who promptly removed a mask from his face. The unusually tall boy looked down, his face damp with cold sweat from having been in the mask so long – as a vampire he could not face sunlight and survive, and thus resorted to wearing it if moving around during the daytime.

“Ye-sss,” he hissed, “Now, do tell me how you found us, and why were are here.”

Behind him, a throng of others who seamlessly blended in with the shadows stood; each one a member of the Krath and follower of the Darkside of the Force, whether they be Dark Jedi or Sith.

“Well Mr Ave,” the full voice of the man replied, “We here on Barseg enjoy our life, and its luxuries. I am sure you can empathize with me when I say that we are not pleased to have the quality of our life … or un-life as it is in your case, degraded.”

A small hiss passed the Sith Knights lips, “… So, we have ah, called you here to aid us in returning our planets economy to what it once was.”

One two taloned hand rose up and snatched the mans collar sharply, dragging him up out of his seat so that he was half strewn across his desk. With a low growl the vampire stared down into the man’s eyes, as the guards around the room trained their weapons upon Salem.

“We arrre not here to fund yourrr worrrthless exsssistence!”

“Y-yes yes, Mr Ave! If you’ll just… put me down, and let me continue!”

Ave dropped him, “… right … now, where was I … ah yes, now for us to have a stable source of income, we must produce exports. Unfortunately we are … unable to compete with our neighbouring planet of Lianna in this area. What we require from you, from all of you, is that you … stage an overthrowing of the current Liannan government, seizing it for Barseg.”

“Toolsss in yourrr little war games?” Salem snapped, “… And we arrre to do thisss alone, I presssume? … What resistance can we expect?”

“Oh no, Mr Ave. I would not expect you to work solo. I have hired one of the foremost assassins in the galaxy to work alongside you. As for resistance … there will be little.”

For a moment, Salem became silent. In his mind, however, voices were playing out a conversation, as he discussed with his comrades-at-arms what course of action to take. One was decided within moments.

“We will leave for Barseg at night fall.”

[Valles Santhe]

“Lieutenant Farquan, report.”

“Our latest scout missions state that Belene has fallen. It’s people are fleeing here, to Caldara, to take refuge. A sum total of 211 casualties, leaving a total of 526 approaching. They should be here by mid-evening, providing no further raids take place.”

“526?” the woman exclaimed, her hand pressing to her temple as she stared down into the data pad in her lap, which currently streamed a fact file on what Farquan had just recited.

“We barely have the supplies to support what’s left of Caldara, Farquan. How do they expect us to cater for double our own number?”

The man in the tailored white uniform, which had quite obviously seen better days, gave a saddened sigh. Neither he nor any of his co-workers could answer this. For weeks now the population of Caldara had been held up in one of the old command buildings once used by the Governess’ – Valles Santhe – grandfather. Though it had been hit by bombing raids, its shields were at 18% and two of its gun turrets were up and running. As well as this, its communications had a knack of functioning on the odd occasion. What was left of food supplies was minimal, and would get the current inhabitants through another month. After that, Santhe didn’t know what they would do.

“Lady Santhe… I and Captain Turiel have come up with one idea as to how we could survive.”

“Anything, Lieutenant. Anything has to be better than sitting here in this stalemate, just waiting for Barseg to wipe us out.”

“… An SOS beacon could be deployed to the Republic. We have one left and if we route system resources to the old torpedo canon, we could launch it into orbit.”

Valles grew stone-faced. A heavy supporter of the Imperials, simply because of Lianna’s high export of TIE fighters. It had been a long time since Lianna had collaborated with the Republic; in fact it must have been a hundred years or so. The last time had been when the Republic had liberated Lianna from the control of the Barseg government. Granted, at that time, it had been a profitable thing to do – but the rulers of Barseg had been left bitter, and Santhe knew that they would not be satiated until Lianna was once again theirs.

Grudgingly, she replied, “Make it so.”

And so the message (http://sw-fans.net/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28583) was sent.

[Inu]

What in hell has driven Salem to accept this line of work? Soldiers for some petty governor's schemes? There is one good thing of this though; for the first time since their founding, the entire Krath is cooperating together to complete a goal. He is here with his apprentices, Sonzai and Neepik. Sonzai is officially part of the Krath. If Neepik proves that he can shove his misgivings about others aside, then Inu will make him their latest member.

Salem puts his mask on, a cue that they're leaving. Inu opens the door and leads the Krath out. Outside the sun is still high in the sky overhead, though a slight change of hue on the horizon indicates that sunset is only a few hours away. A large transport vehicle is parked outside, so the Krath climb in make the five kilometer journey to their temporary quarters. Once inside, the blinds are drawn and Inu seats himself in one corner, calling his apprentices to him.

"How are you two doing?"

[Sonzai Kurai]

Sonzai had been sitting quietly in a corner, just waiting then followed her Master out and to their latest spot.

"No different than usual.."

She said quietly before looking about, wondering about what was to happen.

[Feliciana Devano]

"I think this is a wise decision."

A gently flowing voice sang into the ears of Salem. From behind the Vampire stepped a young woman, no more than twenty-two years of age. Her black robes clung to her body, revealing that not only was she a skilled Dark Jedi Knight, but also fit -- and quite attractive. The corners of her cherry red lips curled upwards into a smile as she faced the Sith Knight.

"Do you think that everyone will be able to get along, though?"

She questioned, knowing that out of everyone in the group, she had only been able to speak with a few gathered presently -- Salem being one of them. An inward sigh fell upon the woman until she began to imagine the enourmous amount of bloodshed that could be had within the next twenty-four hours.

"Just know that I support this decision -- my friend."

The woman said softly and bowed before walking off toward Inu -- someone she had recently settled her differences with. Smiling genuinly, the woman knelt beside him and became quiet, not wishing to interrupt him while he spoke with his Apprentices.

"How's it goin', Inu? Are your students ready?"

She questioned, eyeing the two young Darksiders. A sinister twist came upon her soft smile -- she was not a very innocent person, no matter how calm her mannerisms were at the moment.

"We've gotten through a lot together, and I want you to know that I've got your back if you need it."

Feliciana touched his mind with her words as her eyes slowly wandered about the room, her thoughts active and questioning how this operation would pan out and whether they would be able to set aside their differences to make it work.

[Alhana Necoi]

Alhana sighed. She was in the lobby of the hotel she was supposed to stay at on Barseg. Supposedly it was the best the planet had to offer, and the man who had contracted her for the job had said she would be well taken care of.

"Dren face. After this job, I will kill that man."

Clerk: "What miss?"

The assassin turned her head and she smiled at the man. He was kind of cute. Focus Alhana! She smiled sweetly still and she spoke up...

"Oh nothing, just thinking of someone..."

The man nodded and handed her the room key and told her the number. The housing appeared nice, even for a government facility. She shook her head, her red hair shaking as she did so. She walked alone, with only the bag on her back, and a luggage bag in her left. One of the service-men tried to help, but she smiled and told him no.

After she found her room, she set her bags down on the bed and then moved to the full body sized mirror. She leaned backwards, letting her hands fall to her bare stomach as she pulled up her shirt a bit..

"I really could get used to this body..."

She laughed as she watched the mirror. Slowly her hair started to change from short and red, to long flowing black. Her frame started to grow moreso. She started to become taller, taking on new features on her face and body. Her breasts becoming fuller, her clothes changing to a black uniform of sorts. It clung to her body. She winced a second, then the pain subsided.

She smiled to herself in the mirror. He then went to the case of things in the ground, and got the things that she needed out. Thankfully she had a rather large coat and that would cover the things she had. He put that on and then stepped out, key in hand.

"Now, hopefully that fool didn't hire complete rejects like last time..."

She managed to say as she went into the elevator, she arrived at the lobby once more and found her spot. A nice, quiet, dark corner that no one would truthfully see her.

On her way over to the seat. She moved her hand so it moved towards. She used her 'ability' that some called the Force to move it closer, so that she could sit down with ease...

"Now to see them..."

[Salem Ave]

The trip from the Government Hall to their accommodation for the day was quiet. For a group of supposedly bonded warriors, the Krath were an antisocial bunch. It didn’t help that Salem was, by nature, like this – but then the others certainly weren’t making the situation any better either. Most of their personalities clashed violently, or simply didn’t coagulate well. The Knight mulled over this in the silence and decided that perhaps it was for the best. It got them all riled up for battle, and meant that no emotional ties hinged the members to doing outright stupid things for one another.

At least now, inside of their room, everyone was settled. It would be a while before they had to leave, and staying in close quarters for one another would put a bit of pressure on the group to converse – of course, Salem was having none of that, and sat in the corner alone, on one of the cot-beds, with his eyes closed and mask still on, wondering where and who this assassin was…

[Alhana Necoi]

She had watched the large group of people move by quickly, and apparently they hadn't noticed her, or looked in her direction at all. They seemed normal, except the man wrapped in black. Now he was an interesting fellow! Or she..Either way!

She smiled. Why was he dressed like that? She had to find out. This was apparently the group that was supposed to accompany her. She had to meet them then, or at least find out a small bit about them.

She passed the clerks desk and she followed them as best as she could. She was going the right direction, she could feel them..or could she? She could some time feel people...where they were. She didn't quite understand it. It must have pertained to her ability.

She stopped infront of a door that was to their room, and she closed her eyes, being deathly quiet. Her form shapped into that of a man. He was slightly taller than she. The transformation took a few moments. But she would up being around 5'9, short black hair, green eyes, and..A man.

She saw a cart with food on it and she took it, someone must have missed it. She knocked on the door. She heard someone move and she called out, her voice changed, obviously, to deeper...

"Room Service..."

[Neepik]

Neepik stood from where he had been sitting away from the group. His horns were standing up and his face mask had slid from his cheeks to cover his mouth and nose. He was on the alert, waiting to see what the others would do. Neepik was the largest one there from what he could see. Inu called him over and he stood up and walked over, letting his tail gently hit the ground with every other step.

"These people do not seem to mind me," was all he said. His face mask retracted, an outward display that he had calmed down some.

"So what exactly are we doing with these people?" Neepik's deep voice carrying a hint of scorn when he mentioned the captains and lieutenants. Neepik saw that they feared him, from the moment he ducked to get through their little doors.

"What exactly is going on here?" His slammed the ground with his tail, Neepik's way of expressing resentment and impatience.

The giant forced back his next question, which was basically his previous question worded differently. He felt the anxiety swell up in his chest and was eager to take out his frustrations in combat. If there was going to be any fighting int he first place.

[Salem Ave]

A sharp hiss rushed from Salem’s lips as he literally vaulted off of the bed to his feet, moving again like an arachnid.

“Calm yourrrssself, you fool!” he snapped at Neepik, his dark eyes moving from the tall apprentice to his Master, Inu, for a brief moment before looking back towards the room door.

With a wave of his hand the rooms door slid open, and the vampire honed a glare on the man standing at the door way.

“We didn’t orrrder anything … although I am feeling a little hungrrry now,” he added with a small laugh to himself, testing the tips of his fangs with his tongue behind closed lips.

[Alhana Necoi]

Now he was interesting. She cast a sidelong glance to everyone else in the room, not particularly caring about them. She was here to see what they were like, possibly speak to the leader of this...rabble..

"Oh, well I was sure that someone did, otherwise they wouldn't have sent me.."

She smiled, nervously. To make it look like she was afraid. The image she put on was working, from what she could tell. There was a strong presence about the room. Power. She had the feeling again, it was overwhelming...

..."And you wouldn't be here..."

She smiled up to him, knowing he would understand. He was dark, it seemed as if the shadows in the room went to him...

[Inu]

Inu shoots a glance at Salem. Neepik is his apprentice; he will deal with the humanoid.

"These Darksiders grouped here are not as shallow as some you have met. The military are cannon fodder...though they play an important role in the coming mission. Have patience with them for the moment, and keep your animosity to yourself until you should find reason to use it in battle. We are overthrowing a planet, Neepik, by the exchange between Salem and the governor. I will need both you and Sonzai to cooperate fully with the others here. For better or for worse, they are your allies. Respect and help them, and they will do the same for you."

This is said with a glance in Feliciana's direction...both she and Inu recently undertook an exercise in just that sort of thing.

[Neepik]

Neepik let out a quick breath through his nostrils. He would help them, but he still itched to get started. Neepik's facemask reappeared and he went over to one of the large windows to look out beyond the ship.

[Salem Ave]

Whilst Inu dealt with his upstart apprentice, Salem stared warily at the so-called room service man. Mentally, he was probing the person, and beginning to doubt whether or not this really was a man. Perhaps, he mulled, this was the assassin that had been sent to aid them.

With an almost cordial – disgustingly eerie looking – smile, Salem motioned a clawed hand, to signal that the ‘man’ was to enter. Once he stepped inside, the door slammed shut and the stout fellows collar was seized into a tight grasp, hefting him up into the air so that he was at eye level with the six foot seven Sith Knight.

[Alhana Necoi]

It was as if she saw it coming. As her neck was grabbed, she immediately started to change her shape, to revert back to the way she was. Her hair grew longer, and darker. Her form shorter. The man was confused for a second, and her shapeshifting altered the grip on her neck.

She took advantage quickly, moving both her feet up, she firmly planted them into his chest, causing him to step back. But from this, she flipped backwards, into the air. As she did, her shapeshifting came faster, her clothes moving to black, hugging her form tightly. She landed, her back to them, her feminine figure revealed.

She turned around, grasping a rather large dagger from her boot as she crouched, looking to him...

"I don't take kindly to being strangled!"

She seemed to steam at him as she was ready for anything. Her green eyes darted back and forth to those who were in the room, taken aback by her actions...

[Salem Ave]

In a blur of colour a blade snapped to life.

“I sss-uggest you put that dagger down. Save yourrr energy for the mission.”

Yes, two and two were certainly easy together once the two stopped pretending to be a three. Looking at the shape shifter, he couldn’t help but wonder what her, or his, true form was. As far as the species went, Salem knew very little of shifters. Perhaps they were a-sexual.

His saber, a relic of his time with Jeseth Cloak, snapped back into its sanctuary and Ave slipped it into his pocket. Truth be told, he would not have been able to wield it very well with his mask on, as it was – it limited his vision greatly.

Looking around the room through the monochrome lenses at his Krath brethren, he inhaled slightly.

“I suggest you all get some rrrest. We’ll be departing in a few hours time, and quite possssibly fighting all night.”

[Inu]

"Possibly be fighting all night? It's a certainty, Salem. I take it this shapechanger is the top assassin the goverment official mentioned?"

[Blaine]

Cold had been silent the whole time. When Cold either gave his opinion he was either contradicted or frowned upon. But he had nothing to complain about. He had nothing to object to.

Leaning on one of the walls, Cold observed the shape shifter. He had seen quite few of them but never knew much indepth about them.

"Rest? That's something I have to get used to," he thought.

[Syrius Cline]

Members of the Greater Jedi Order,

This is Valles Santhe, Governer of Lianna. We are in urgent need of help. I repeat, we are in urgent need of assistance. Our neighbouring planet, Barseg, is priming for an invasion of our territory and eventual forced seizure of power of our neutral state. Scout reports have suggested that an elite team of troops is to be deployed planet side to finally topple what strongholds remain.

The message crackled over the comm unit of a computer unit he had in his room. It was a nice little toy. Capable of connecting to the Holonet and the like, giving him instant news if he desired it. Also allowed him to play computer sabaac which was what the little box was mostly used for anyway, in his mind.

But now the emergency call came over the comm. The Jedi did that sometimes. Alerted their kind to the problem so whoever wanted the job could get to. He could almost hear it through the ventilation system, coming from other rooms where they had their speakers turned up loud enough to stun a rancor, previously used for that terrible music everyone was listening to now. Sounded like chirps and grinding woodsplinters to him.

"What the--?"

He uprighted himself from his bed, swinging his legs over the side and catapulting himself off it. Diving for the computer, he keyed for a source check. Seemed to be legit. It was encrypted and was being routed to the living areas via the GJO big wigs

During his acrobatics he'd missed half of the message. Luckily it was stored in temporary memory. He rewinded it, slipping a fresh datapad into a slot, keying for copy of the message onto it. Notching up the volume to 90% of maximum, he hit play.

Members of the Greater Jedi Order,

This is Valles Santhe, Governer of Lianna. We are in urgent need of help. I repeat, we are in urgent need of assistance. Our neighbouring planet, Barseg, is priming for an invasion of our territory and eventual forced seizure of power of our neutral state. Scout reports have suggested that an elite team of troops is to be deployed planet side to finally topple what strongholds remain.

After the ringing in his ears subsided, he grabbed a green button up shirt from the closet racks. He slipped it over his black t-shirt, leaving it to hang open. Taking out his leather over coat, longer than his jacket, he slipped it on as well. On his way to the door, he snagged the datapad, with the message fully recored on it, from the slot. He put it in one of the secret pockets on the inside of his over coat. As his only other accessories his cigarrettes and lighter joined that secret compartment in his garment.

[Valles Santhe]

"Lady Santhe, communications report that the message has been delivered."

Within the armored bunkers of the Lianna Command Building, the population of Caldara trembled, as the buildings foundations were shaken by another over head pass by Barseg bombers. As the days had gone on the regularity and quantity of bombing had decreased greatly - but not it barely mattered how many explosives were dropped. The structure and integrity of the building had been weakened greatly and would crumble under the pressure of the attack within the coming week. Atop the roof of the compound, troops armed the gun turrets once more and sent volleys of shots out into the air - sometimes striking down enemy craft, but always putting a drain on energy within the hold; causing lighting to flicker on and off and electricity to be unreliable on the whole.

"What other news, Lieutenant? Is there any sign of a reponse?"

"What scanners we have tell us that a single craft is approaching, though it is not marked with any insignia. We aren’t sure, but lifescans state it has under ten people on it."

"… Oh dear… the ambassadors for the TIE trade negotiation. Didn’t anyone warn them that we were in a state of conflict?"

"Ma’am, we are fairly confident that the approaching vessel is not from the consortium. It has been hailed numerous times and no reply has been given."

The troubled look on Valles face grew, as she sighed deeply.

"Have a scout party, with a small patrol, head out to the landing zones. There’s no way the ship could come down on the turf surrounding the building - the bombers have thrown that up into such a slurry that the ship would simply sink. No, they’ll have to set down on the western plateau and use the Hailgate bridge to cross over to us."

"Ma’am, the Hailgate bridge is all but gone. It is no longer functioning, as a large central chuck has been blown from it. I would offer to send swoops out to cross it, but we lost them all on our last foraging expedition."

Valles fist hit the wall.

"Damn it! Send out a party anyway!"

"… Very well."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan had been taking a little rest after a training exercise when a alarm went off in his quarters. He sat up and looked around, still half asleep, and wondered what was going on. The sound of the alarm was louder then, he thought, was nessasary. But then again, maybe it was to wake up people that were asleep.

Rognan stood up and looked around. His Datapad was flashing. He walked over to it to see why it was flashing. Rognan picked it up and read: Incoming tranmision. Rognan open the message and read it.

Members of the Greater Jedi Order,

This is Valles Santhe, Governer of Lianna. We are in urgent need of help. I repeat, we are in urgent need of assistance. Our neighbouring planet, Barseg, is priming for an invasion of our territory and eventual forced seizure of power of our neutral state. Scout reports have suggested that an elite team of troops is to be deployed planet side to finally topple what strongholds remain.

His eye's opened wide after he finished reading. He put the datapad down and went to his closet. There he pulled out a white cloak that matched the rest of his Jedi garments, and put it on. He went back to the table that had his datapad and put it in one of the many pockets of his robe. His datapad was a motified design of Rognan's. It had a bigger memory chip, and, well that was it, but it was all he needed to store imformation about anything he wanted. Last but not lest, he clipped on his lightsaber.

Rognan rushed to the door, opened it, stepped out closing it behind him, and running off to find someone that might be able to help him.

[Neepik]

Neepik sat down on the floor, his eyes growing heavy. His anger hand receded into the back of his thoughts, now to be replaced by a leaden boredom tjat weighed down his eyelids. The large Humanoid yawned behind his facemask, which soon retracted back into his cheeks.

A few seconds later and the giant was leaning forward on his knees, snoring slightly. His tail twitched every once in a while, and sometimes he'd growl or whatever. The horns on his head also twitched like his tail in a rythmic pattern.

"Hate them all!" He said out loud, then relaxed again.

[Inu]

Inu laughs quietly.

"Neepik has the right idea, Sonzai. Settle yourself and rest. You don't have to sleep; just conserve your energies for the upcoming battle."

[Sonzai Kurai]

Sonzai chuckles a little at Neepik's sleep talking. Might as well She thought to herself before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes, wakefulness wasn't needed for now, they had lots of time to kill.

[Syrius Cline]

"Say again."

The whisper of a man that stood behind the counter gave Syrius an annoying shrug.

"We don't have any ships free right now."

Syrius reached into his pocket to pull out his badge. It was always in his secondary jacket pocket, to his upper right.

"Republic Security Corporation," he said slowly and angerly, flashing his badge at the clerk. "Now I'm ordering you to hand me over a ship, I need it ten seconds ago."

The other man made that excruciating, I'll punch you in your smug mouth for it, shrug again.

"This is the GJO's hangar, sir" he said with no sincere sign of respect to his voice. "Not only do I not fully understand nor respect your jurisdiction in this area of Coruscant but I'm almost positive your influence does not apply to GJO run and kept facilities. Now please move along."

Syrius placed his badge slowly in his coat. Then he, without warning, marched to his left.

"Sir, you cannot enter the hangar without clearence!" the clerk announced, raising from his seat.

"What's that mate, I can't rightly hear you over this broken control panel's fritzing!"

"What contr--No!"

Syrius slammed his boot into the pad. Turning his shoulder to cover from the sparks, he smiled thinly at the clerk. He hit an emergency button next to the panel. One that only worked when the first one was out of working order. It caused a small panel to pull back on the door, making a hand hold. Syrius grabbed it and pulled the door open manually.

The clerk grabbed Syrius by the shoulder.

"Come on now, you already know that's a bad decision don't you?"

He was indeed trembling ever so slightly. The other man had obviously never been in a confrontation of this nature. Not with a man who so obviously was not afraid of doing whatever nessacary to get to his goal.

"Take a coffee break or something, young son."

It would seem Syrius had the Jedi Mind trick up his sleeve as the clerk pulled away. However it couldn't have been further from the truth. This wasn't a man willing to risk injury for a breach in protocol. He slinked away.

Syrius was through the door and into the hanger as soon as the hand was off his shoulder. Now was the hard part, finding a ship in all this mess. One he could not only get into but hotwire and start up.

[Alhana Necoi]

Alhana slowly slipped the dagger back into the boot. As she did so, her brown hair seemed to grow, and went down past her hips. It finally stopped and she stood up, her full frame in view to the man in the mask. She smiled as she backed up, turned, and opened the door. He stepped out for only a few seconds as she picked up her trench coat and slowly slipped it around her shoulders, then re-entered the room.

She looked to the rather large man who was talking with three people. Everyone else in the room seemed to not interest her; other than the masked man. The trenchcoat hugged her body as she moved forward. She was shorter than he, so when she stopped infront of him, she was just about under his chin, looking more at his chest. She canted her head up, so that the light hit her dark green pupils as she spoke. When she did so, her voice sounded like honey..

"Yes, the mission. So tell me, did that disgrace of a man send you here to help me? You look like a small bunch of nothings."

She scoffed as she looked to the others. Some didn't even look healthy, but that was of course, in her extremely biased opinion. She looked back up to the tall masked man. He was taller than she thought, but when she saw him, she was farther away...

"So, what's the plan? I assume you have one, else this mission is finished."

She had been currently thinking of what to do, infiltrate, kill the main heads of the government, and thus cause chaos. She loved chaos.

"Hm...?"

[Salem Ave]

“The plan,” Salem began, as he looked down at the assassin through the circles of duraplastic in his mask,

“Is this…

When night falls we will board a small ssship of neutral designation. Barrrseg command reports that ambassadorial vessels have been arriving at Lianna for the past few weeks, and an extra ship will not stand out on the radar systems. Once the craft lands, we will move out across the dessstrrroyed bridge on swoops and attack the command centerrrr head on.

You must assume the guise of one of the Liannan guarrrds and work your way into the compound. Find Valles Santhe, and kill herrr. We will crrreate plenty a diversssion outside…”

Looking to the rest of the Krath, Salem smiled beneath his guise.

“Our secondary goal isss to seize the TIE factory based on the planet. If this goal is compromised by defense forces, or Jedi that sssomehow get wind of the attack, and it seems as though we will not be able to sssuceed … blow the place sky high. We arrren’t leaving anything behind for them to use.”

Salem folded his arms over his chest, and nodded to himself. If all went according to plans, this would be a great day for the Krath.

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion El’ Jonson, Jedi Padawan and New Republic Admiral, had been kicking back in his room when the “urgent” chime from his computer sounded. Lifting himself from the couch he’d fallen asleep in, he paused to smooth down his hair and then started towards the computer.

“Probably some intelligence hotshot found a black market bazaar and wants it shut down or something…” he thought to himself as he sat down in a repulsorchair. He tapped some buttons and called up the report. Yawning, he read it…and then read it again. The message read:
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//Encryption Code: None\\
//Sender: Valles Santhe, governess of Lianna\\
//Recipient: New Republic Members\\

“No encryption code, from a planetary government? Odd.” Lion said out loud. He read on.

This is Valles Santhe, Governer of Lianna. We are in urgent need of help. I repeat, we are in urgent need of assistance. Our neighbouring planet, Barseg, is priming for an invasion of our territory and eventual forced seizure of power of our neutral state. Scout reports have suggested that an elite team of troops is to be deployed planet side to finally topple what strongholds remain.

//Message Terminates\\
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Interested, Lion closed the message and called up the newest version of New Republic Exploration’s databases. He searched through the listings until he found “Lianna”. He opened the link and read it. There wasn’t much information.
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Lianna is a class VII world. It is a heavy supporter of the Imperial Remnant. Population is below 2,000,000. Defenses on the planet are minimal, and consist of a small army and several Class III Planetary Turbolasers. Contact with the Republic has been fleeting. Last recorded incident was Republic action to annex the planet from the Barseg government, a neighboring planetary body. Strategic resources include a modest supply of metals, and starfighter production. Primary exports are Sienar TIE-series craft, produced at the local factory.
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“Well…” Lion thought. “Not much…but there’s a possibility of salvaging information from the TIE factory, if we can save it…oh, yeah, there’s probably refugees, too.”

With that, Lion’s mind was decided. He closed the files on his computer, and grabbed his comlink. He dialed into the nearest comm-booster and opened a link to his flagship, the immense Command Cruiser Avatar. There was a squelch of static which dissipated as the comms officer recognized the signal and cancelled the jamming.

“Good evening, Admiral. May I help you, sir?” said the voice on the other line, comms officer Mlekis.

“Yes, Lieutenant. Can I get Captain Selayar on my visual uplink, please?”

There was an acknowledgement, and a second later, the venerable Mon Cal Captain appeared on a small holoprojector to Lion’s left.

“Anything I can do for you, sir?” he asked in his gravelly voice.

“Yes, Captain. Divert the carrier Victorious and the frigates Sarken and Zolden to waypoint 8…maybe three transports, loaded with food, water, and other…humanitarian things. I’ll also need a shuttle up from the Jedi Living Quarters…Can you have it ready in an hour?”

“Easily, sir.”

“Thank you, Captain…I’d appreciate it if you were commanding Victorious. Discom.”

The image of the Mon Cal faded, and Lion quickly threw on his Admiral’s uniform. He tossed things, including his weapons, into a duffel bag, and then rushed out the door, nearly colliding with Rognan.

“Rognan…You got a distress signal, too?” he asked, waving his hand at the datapad that had fallen out of Rognan’s pocket. “I’ve got transportation, if you’re coming.”

[Rognan Dar]

It all happened so fast. One minute he was at a steady jog down one of the hallways to the exit of the Living Quarters, the next he was on his back looking up at a man that, to what he knew, looked very important. He picked himself off the floor, taking his datapad with him. After catching his breath, he answering.

"Yes, I got a message that said a some planet named Lianna, I believe, needed help."

Rognan tucked his pad back into his robe, and his eye's brightened up when he was asked to come with Lion.

"Yes I'm coming."

With that he followed Lion to his transport.

[Blaine]

Salem seemed to be handling the situation with the shapeshifter. Cold looked around the dark room. There were a couple of members he had not met; they were new. Everyone seemed to be eager to head to the battle field where blood would most likely be shed.

The Sith Knight crossed his arms. Salem started to talk and described in detail the tactics that were necessary to make the group victorious. Cold only nodded. He understood what Salem said and never misjudged his decisions. Salem always knew what he was doing and it was only for the group to contribute their effort to achieve success. Perfect timing was essential in order for this mission to go right for them.

Cold stretched and yawned. He was not tired, but bored. He only waited for the signal to depart and do what he had to do.

[Syrius Cline]

"Okay, so... yeah. I hate ship hangars," Syrius sighed.

He marched left, through pure hunch. The Padawan had always trusted his hunches but he did so more that he learned from his Master they were actual masked premonitions through the Force. An nudge to a destiny or some close simple explaination like that. Though this hunch had a sinking feeling in his stomach to accompany it. What was that? He'd have to ask his Master about it. Though it might just be some intestinal knotting.

"I really hate ship hangars."

As he walked blindly through the rows of ships...

"Hey, there are ships here. Did that weasel lie? No, I guess not," Syrius' doubt about the clerk's sencerity diminished as he noticed the slapped on 'reserved' plates on the ships' hulls. "Well, still, this is important, right?" he mused on further. "What would she say, I wonder? Would Xazor be scolding me for this, or aiding me?"

As he thought further on the subject, he noticed a ship without it's exterior lights on. There was still light on in the hangar but that wasn't the point. Syrius figured that a ship closed down would have less security than a ship powered up for boarding. Though that could backfire if the last user had rigged some kind of security measure for hi-jackers. That didn't make much sense though. This ship didn't belong to anyone, as the identification number on the side was of standard NR rent-a-ship make. That and why would anyone think to put a boobytrap measure on a ship docked inside the GJO?

"Mother always pegged me a thief," he said with a chuckle, trying to suppress the knowledge he was knowingly commiting a crime. One he'd busted countless people for. But hey, this was 'Jedi Business.'

He flipped open the access panel. Inspecting the keyboard, he sighed. How the heck would he pull this one off? Busting this bad boy wouldn't magically open the door.

Trying an trick he hoped would work, he pulled out his cigarette and lighter. Lighting it up and puffing on it a few times he proceeded to blow the smoke on the keyboard, hoping to create fingerprints.

[Lion El' Jonson]

"Hold it right there, bub." Syrius turned towards the source of the voice. 3 men walked out from behind another ship, blaster pistols drawn. Flanking them was a Wookie with a blaster rifle. All of them had the insignias of New Republic Security troops. The Wookie made some whuffing noises and then gestured with its gun.

The man who had spoken before turned to his comlink, snapped it on, and said: "Found the guy trying to hijack our ships. Bringing him to you, Admiral 'El Jonson. Lieutenant Memmels out."

The man shut off his comlink and approached Syrius.

"You underestimated our docking officer over there." He gestured towards the quiveling little clerk, who was crouched under his desk. "The little man triggered the silent alarm after you disappeared from view. The boss doesn't like hijackers, son. He especially hates hijackers that try to steal Jedi vessels. You're coming with us to see the Admiral."

The man gestured with his gun and the others came forward with stun cuffs.
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Back at the shuttle pad:

"Acknowledged." Lion snapped off his comlink. The shuttle wasn't due for another 20 minutes, and some of his security men had caught a guy trying to hijack a ship. They were bringing him to the shuttlepad...as soon as they could get him to calm down...

...knowing that a wookie was with the squad, Lion wondered if there'd be anything left of the man to pass judgement on...

[Neepik]

A while later Neepik growled and woke up standing, ready to tear down the people that looked down on him. He looked around and realized that it was only a dream.

"What's been going on?" He asked Inu, trying to play off his sudden outburst.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius grimaced.

"You're dead you little slug," he thought at the man, hoping he could suddenly summon a telepathic jolt to him. As usual, his wish didn't come true.

"Memmels? I'm being arrested by a guy with the name 'memmels'?"

"Stun cuffs? What kind of pansies use stun cuffs to bring in a hi-jacker? Well, might as well live up to my reputation. They're not going to kill me for it. If the 'stun' cuffs are any indication, they're into stuns. Blasters are probably set for stun as well."

He launched a fist at the first man, which was blocked with a raised forearm. Syrius wrapped his hand around the forearm, yanking the man in and meeting the guard's head with his other elbow. As he turned around to launch a round house into the other guard 'Memmels' shot him in the ribs with a stun bolt. Syrius went down immediantly.

[Lion El' Jonson]

One of the guards dropped like his legs had been cut off, and fell to the floor groaning. Lieutenant Memmels walked over to Syrius, who wasn't feeling like thinking of anything at the moment, and kicked him.

"Admiral ain't gonna like that, you little street punk."

He gestured, and the wookie came over and shackled Syrius, then yanked him onto his feet. Syrius immediately fell over, and the Wookie made noises that sounded like laughter. Without further ado, the smelly beast slung Syrius over his shoulder and carried him out the rental bay, to a turbolift, and out onto the landing pad. Lion stood, glaring at the prisoner, who the wookie dumped unceremoniously on the duracrete floor. Syrius had just begun getting feeling back in his body, and a 6 foot fall from a wookie's shoulders didn't feel too pleasant.

Lion walked forwards.

"I am Admiral El' Jonson, New Republic Fleet Command. The penalty for hijacking a starship is at least 7 years in a correctional facility...attempting to steal a starship from a designated jedi starport will either tack another 5 years onto that sentence, or net you a vacation on Kessel. Furthermore, striking any member of the New Republic is-"

Lion stopped short in his formal speech and glanced down at the man on the ground.

"Syrius?" he asked incredulously. "If you needed a ride...oh, hell...I'm assuming this is about the planet Lianna?"

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius groaned. His vision was focusing from a blur.

"Yeah, that's the one... Oh crap," he complained, rubbing his head. "You need to remind that carpet that cruel and unusual punishment is not allowed in the NR. And I'm not talking about him dropping me," he clamped his hand over his nose.

As Syrius got to his knees, he put out his hand to stop a guard from kicking him in the side.

"Hold on there chap," he turned back to Lion, standing up fully. "I guess you're the Admiral everyone's talking about. By the by, it'd be twenty five years. You've got breaking and entering, vandalism of government property in that control panel back there, stealing of government property, and assaulting a New Republic officer. Hell, maybe thirty."

He smiled at Lion.

"And Memmels over there might want to sue me for making fun of his name. Strikes me as that kind of a bloke."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion laughed.

"Oh, I don't think Memmels will be doing much of anything for the next few months...Lieutenant, you're hearby reassigned to security duty on Kessel for the next 6 months, effective immediately. The interdictor Grasp is going there shorty, I believe...I'll authorize you hitching a ride on her."

Lion turned to the wookie.

"And you, armpit! You're reassigned to security duty aboard the prison ship Unbreakable. Yes, the one that's had six attempted mutinies in the past month. Now, get these damn stun cuffs offa him and return to your supervisor!"

Lion turned back to Syrius and watched as they unlocked the stun cuffs. Lion held out his hand and Syrius took it and got up.

"So, I'm guessing you broke into a ship pool, harassed a docking officer, assaulted New Republic personnel, and attempted to hijack a ship belonging to our government because you plan on going to Lianna. Well, I've got a first class ride upstairs, and my shuttle is almost here...me and Rognan wouldn't mind you joining us."

Even as he spoke, a Lambda-Class shuttle bearing New Republic markings descended from the clouds and folded its wings as it neared the landing pad.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius smiled a big dren eating grin.

"Had my hopes on a backwater rental ship I could hack... but what the hell?" he winked.

Syrius, as he walked towards the shuttle, turned back.

"Memmels, have fun on Kessel. I hear it's only 100 degrees in the winter. You too tick bait."

He extended his hand to the other man next to Lion.

"Rognan I assume?"

[Rognan Dar]

This was something totaly new to Rognan. Walking next to a Admiral, seeing how they treated criminals, and what would happens to someone who upsets the Admiral. All in all, it was a interesting time.

Rognan extended his hand and took Syrius's in his, shaking it lightly.

"Yes, I'm Rognan. And your, Syrius? Happy to meet you." Rognan said with a unsure smile. This man was a Jedi, but he didn't, from what he saw and heard oh him, didn't quite fill the role he thought Jedi's were.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius smiled, pulling his hand away from the shake.

"Yeah, happy here as well mate."

He shrugged.

"So, we getting off this rock or not... Admiral?" He said with a wink at Lion.

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion grinned.

"The shuttle awaits, my friends..."

He waved towards the ship as it lowered its boarding ramp, and then started walking towards it. Two spec ops troopers from his bodyguard fell in beside them, but he waved them off.

[Syrius Cline]

As he came into the shuttle he immediantly noticed it was nicer than his living quarters or his other apartment on Coruscant. Both facts made him envious.

"Sparkly," he said deadpan, observing the twittering lights and glistening steel. "I call shotgun."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion laughed.

"You think I'm crazy enough to let you sit next to the pilot? Hell, I'm sticking your <smallfont color=gold>-Censored-</smallfont> back here where me and Rognan can keep an eye on you."

He leaned back, grabbed a soda out of the cooler and offered it to his passengers, and then turned to the pilot.

"Lieutenant, get this crate of the ground, me and my friends have a reservation with the Victorious."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan had been silent the whole time. Couldn'y find anything worth saying. But the sit of the shuttle made his mouth hang open. Some ships looked nice on the inside, this was just a shuttle and looked just as nice. After he stared around a bit, he closed his mouth and sat down near Lion.

"Do you have any water.? If not, soda is fine." He said, smiled and waited for a respons.

[Inu]

Originally posted by Neepik
A while later Neepik growled and woke up standing, ready to tear down the people that looked down on him. He looked around and realized that it was only a dream.

"What's been going on?" He asked Inu, trying to play off his sudden outburst.

"Still waiting..." Inu says with a patient smile. "Settle yourself. Salem will have things worked out soon enough."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion grinned and tossed Rognan a bottle of sterilized water.

"Look out the window, friends....there's our ride."

He motioned out of the viewport at the 3 capital ships. Two of them were standard Nebulon-B2 frigates, albeit distinguished ones, the Zolden and the Sarken. Directly between and above them, however, was a much larger shape. Once described as a "wedge that had its top lopped off", the carrier Victorious was one of the newest carriers out of the Sluis Van shipyards. The shuttle slowy docked in the curiously empty hangar bay. Once they were aboard, the ramp lowered. Before Lion or the others could disembark, however, a Mon-Cal wearing captain's pins strode up the boarding ramp and saluted. Lion returned the salute.

"Admiral 'El Jonson?" the Mon Cal wheezed. "Pleasure to have you and your companions aboard, sir."

Lion nodded.

"Nice to see you again, Captain." He turned to Syrius and Rognan. "This is Captain Selayar, commander of my flagship, the Avatar. I had him shuttled over to this heap because I'll need someone I can trust up here when I'm on the ground trying to save a TIE factory."

He motioned for them to join him, and then stepped down the ramp and waved his hands grandly.

"And this...this is the Victorious. Brand new carrier straight out of Sluis Van. We've got 12 A-Wings for escort, and another bunch of fighters on the frigates. Only two guns, but her shields are strong...if you don't mind, Captain Selayar, can you escort us to the bridge?"

The Mon Cal nodded, and they started off.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius dropped back a bit with Rognan, allowing Lion and the Mon Cal to lead. He leaned over and whispered to his fellow Padawan and civilian.

"Okay, am I the only one here who feels woefully out of place? Blimey, around here I feel like I need to salute the queen or something before using the little boy's room."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan was fasinated. Here he was, on the Victorious, standing in the presence of a Admiral, on his way to help out a planet in need. Excitment was all over Rognan's face. He turned his head and whispered back.

"Yes. It does seem weird. But it could be worse. They could make it so that we did have to." Rognan grinned and winked.

"How many decks does this carrier have, Admiral?"

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion grinned.

"How many decks are there? A bunch of 'em, Rognan."

Lion followed Captain Selayar onto the bridge, taking in the situation in a glance. A Mon Cal at navigation slowly tapped calculations into a datapad. Two R-series droids warbled and beeped near gun-command. A female...Corellian, by the looks of her...sat at Operations, whacking something or other with her fist and cursing. A Duros was gurgling near communications, playing with something that squelched static.

"Admiral on the deck!" somebody shouted, and everyone snapped to attention...minus the droids, of course. Lion returned the salute, and then moved towards the command chair and took a seat. He turned to the woman at Ops.

"Lieutenant...give me 30% in the reactors, instruct all personnel to secure for a hyperspace jump...and get Rognan and Syrius some chairs, will you?" Lion turned towards the Mon Cal. "Please calculate a course to the Liannan system, best possible speed."

The Mon Cal at navigation turned back to his datapad, and then Lion added:

"Don't bother covering our tracks, New Republic FleetCom knows where I'm going." The Mon Cal answered in its gravelly voice and plugged something into the main computer.

"Communications, signal our escort to prepare to jump. Give me an open comm with the ship." Lion slid on a headset and spoke into the mike.

"All personnel, prepare for the jump to hyperspace. Secure hangar-bay doors, retract turbolasers. Evacuate non-essential areas, seal your sections. Jumping in 5 minutes."

Ahead of the Victorious, the two escort frigates leapt into hyperspace, tearing a hole in realspace and vanishing from Lion's sight. Emotions ran high aboard the carrier as the engines ignited, heading towards the jump point. The high-pitched squeal of the engines reminded all present of the youth of this carrier. Lion turned to his companions.

"Might want to take a seat, just in case somebody screwed up and we hit a mass shadow...Captain Selayar, engage the hyperdrive."

The carrier vanished into hyperspace behind the two frigates, and there was no more evidence the fleet ever existed around Coruscant.

[Salem Ave]

Night drew in quickly on Lianna and the Krath were soon preparing for departure. Most had brought little more than themselves and a weapon with which to attack, however the government of Barseg were providing a few others items to be utilized also. Among these were four swoops and a pack of communications units that were mounted as headsets and were to be used to co-ordinate movements with not only one another, but with the president back on Barseg.

While the evenings last bombing run came to a close, the Sith and Dark Jedi clambered their way into a small previously Republic own craft, intent on appearing as peaceful travelers, Salem gave the group a once over. Some members, that had been expected to be present, were not. Among them was a newly recruited Knight, however he was sure that in time the illusive one would make his appearance.

From within the hangar on Barseg the ship took off, hissing into the sky and making straight for Lianna. Within two hours they would enter the planets atmosphere, and thirty minutes after that they would be spilling out onto the swoops, ready to make contact with the ground troops.

[Alpha]

Satine heads to his docking bay directly from the bar and grill after getting the distress call. Smiling, the Jedi hits a button on his wrist commlink, and, with a hiss of hydraulics, the ramp to his sleek, custom ship drops.

Walking up the ramp, he activates the onboard communications array, aiming at a smaller capital ship just in the moon's orbit.

"Tolaria here sir. How can we help you?"

Satine smiles. "Open up the cocking bay and prepare for the Dark Star's arrival. then set a course for these coordinates." Satine rattles off a string of numbers, while strapping into the seat, and warming up the engines. "Got all that?"

"Yes sir. We'll see you in a few minutes."

Satine clicks the comm once, and then shuts it off, putting the repulsorlifts on and gliding out. Once outside, the ?Jedi Master puts full power into the engines and rockets off on a tail of flamnes.

Within minutes, the sleek little ship lands in the docking bay of the heavily modified Hapes Nova-class ship, Tolaria, and, moments after that, the rumbling of the ship changes pitch and the battlecruiser hurtles into hyperspace.

Lowering the ramp, Satine exits the smaller ship, and heads to the bridge...

[Darth Turbogeek]

There was Bass sitting in the corner. Not getting into it. Not getting out of it. So I said to anaa, what is Bass Straight?

"Ahhh screw that."

The head phones came off, hitting the ground - a second later, beign blown to pieces by one of DT's less power array of guns.

"Frikking boring anyway"

He continued to get set with his array of firepower, waiting in this poohole of a hiding place. What the frell the Krath wanted with this dump was beyond him, but.... right now he was a spear carrier. At this mission he did as he was told. But he frikking well wished Salem, Inu and the others would get into this area, cuase he was bored and wanted the carnage to begin.

[Inu]

The two hour flight to Lianna passes in silence. Four swoops...and there are Inu, Salem, Feliciana, Sonzai, Neepik, Cold, and...him...to move out. 7 people, 4 swoops They'll have to go 2 to a bike, except for Neepik, who is too big to share one.

'I take it we'll find out more details once we've landed, Salem?"

The question comes halfway through the trip, at the exact moment the first hour has passed.

[Neepik]

Neepik, who was waiting expectantly for the mission to begin, decided to get something useful out of this boring wait and started to ask questions.

"So, we go and take out these leaders? How do we do that?"

Neepik wanted a detailed outline of how this mission was supposed to go, and what to expect to go wrong, and what to expect to go right. That way he would know what not to expect by knowing what was to be expected.

[Blaine]

Cold thought that the instructions that Salem had given were already specific enough. They would distract any resistance while the assassin looked for the one they had to kill. They would attack the command center head on. Surely they would be alerted when to do so.

Cold was still silent. He looked up at Salem and said:

"You ready for this?"

[Salem Ave]

Salem nodded slowly. As they all stood to leave the ship, the pilot unloaded the swoops. Once outside the bikes were lined up in a row, and Salem slid onto one with the shape shifting assassin Alhana sat behind him. The others got themselves in position before the back engines on each transport roared to life and jerked the bikes into the air. The whole group would be first heading for the base. Salem and Alhana would head in by means of subterfuge while the others dealt with head on combat. If all else failed, the base team would pull back to the TIE factory and rendezvous with the assassination team on the roof of the command compound.

[Neepik]

Neepik got on a swoop and waited for his teacher to lead the way. Neepik didn't like working with strangers, but he knew that it would be to his advantage to have them around. So he would cooperate.

[Blaine]

Cold nodded in return. The mission was clear. He looked at the group. There were few of them. But they all had potential. Securing his lightsaber on his belt, Cold jumped into a bike himself. He didn't know who he was going to be paired up with; whoever sat there would share the bike with him. Cold didn't care who it was as long as they got to where they had to.

[Pierce Tondry]

Hyperspace above the planet spat out the form of a nondescript freighter. It was burning ions towards the planet, easily attracting notice from the Liannan defense forces. However, the freighter beat them to the punch by sending out a message.

"This is Jedi Padawan Pierce Tondry acting as an advance scout for our forces. If there are any Liannan government officials still in power, please respond immediately."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion leaned back in his command chair and watched the starlines streak ahead of them as they crossed hyperspace.

"Status, Lieutenant Oralan?" Lion asked, directing his attention to the Mon Cal Navigational Officer.

"Emerging from hyperspace now, sir." the alien answered, swiveling its eyes in its sockets.

Lion nodded, and hit a button on his headset.

"All personnel, prepare for reversion. Battlestations. I repeat, battlestations."

His voice reverberated through the carrier.

Lion's eyes turned towards the chrono to his left, watching it count down the seconds till they dropped out of hyperspace. Slowly, it counted down...and hit zero. The reversion couldn't have gone any more brilliantly, the 3 ships stabbing into the heart of the Liannan system in perfect formation.

The starlines in front of him faded into pinpricks of light as the carrier appeared in system, the two frigates falling into escort position to the left and right of it. The fleet's arrival had sent alarms screaming off all over the planet Lianna, Lion noted with a grin.

Tapping the button on his headset again, he listened to the gain squeal as the communications officer widened the frequency to all known planetary channels.

"Attention, Lianna. This is New Republic Admiral Lion El' Jonson, aboard the carrier Victorious. We've answered your distress call. Please respond."

He sat back and glanced at Rognan and Syrius, watching for their reaction.

[Syrius Cline]

Though he'd mostly been quiet during the trip, except for some small chatter with Rognan and Lion, he'd been watching. Not one who wanted to get court martialed for saying a curse word on a battleship's bridge, or something equally ridiculous, he'd kept his voice to a whisper. Now though he spoke to Lion in a casual 'in-door' voice, despite the fact the open channel was probably picking up his words.

"I want your job, mate."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion grinned and nodded at Syrius.

"I wouldn't trust you with a garbage scow, Mr. Cline." he said lightly, listening for a reply from Lianna.

He keyed the communication link again, and repeated his last statement. Garbled static crackled through the link, and Lion wondered if Lianna was getting anything at all.

[Valles Santhe]

This … governe … santh … … plea … CRRRRSSSSSH-

Valles Santhe looked expectantly to one of the still loyal followers of the government, who shook his head, a morose expression coming over him. They had received word from the New Republic of a ship arriving, but were finding it terribly difficult to respond. The communication arrays had been hit heavily, and the systems were rapidly becoming defunct.

“I guess all we can do now is wait…”

The governess slipped her head into her hands…

BKKKK!!!

“What the….?”

[Salem Ave]

Salem and Alhana made a pass by a large satellite dish, and the shape shifting assassin got off a few shots from a rifle that struck the great convex and caused sparks to spray off of it into the air. A closer swoop by and the dish’s foundations were hit, causing it to screech loudly and topple backwards with an almighty BKKKK.

Up ahead, soldiers were pouring out of an outpost across the gap in the bridge. As the swoops moved over the gap between the two sections of the crossing, humming loudly, many began to fire on the members of the Krath, though the shots were in the most part dodged by some quick swerving. Once the bike hit down onto the base side ramp, Salem sprung up off of the vehicle and twisted his saber into his hands, cleaving out into one of the guards as he landed.

First blood.

[Pierce Tondry]

The transmission from Lianna cut off. Pierce sat stock still, listening to it replay itself in his mind, not even heeding the transmissions from the Victorious. Communications had just gone out.

... defend them all...

They were always the first thing to go.

Years of military training suddenly recalled themselves and Pierce pressed his fingertips to his forehead. Terrorism always struck facilities. Power stations. Sewers. Shield generators. Barracks. Local guard. Government buildings.

Defend them all.

Where would they strike next? It was impossible to predict. The only place Pierce knew them to be was where they were. And the other Jedi would need guidance. They would need to be protected too, as they moved to stop this attack.

DEFEND THEM ALL!!!

Long Shot's engines gunned. "Attention, New Republic vessels," Pierce's fingers blurred as he keyed for his military encryption to activate. "This is Lieutenant Pierce Tondry, New Republic Intelligence. I'm moving into atmosphere to provide field intelligence. Keep your commlinks on this frequency for emergency contact info."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion listened as Pierce's voice came in over the headset, the military encryption making his voice sound deeper than usual. He nodded to his communications officer, and then tapped the "transmit" button.

"Roger, Lieutenant Tondry. This Admiral 'El Jonson. Victorious is going to hold position here. I'm ordering the frigates into backstop positions. Good luck, Lieutenant."

Lion released the transmit button and the recievers kicked back in. He turned back to the Duros at communications.

"Secure this channel on line one, boost power to the recievers...and deploy the A-Wings in the Lehran Sphere formation for escort. Repeat our first transmission to the Liannan government every 3 minutes."

[Soolin Anjhurin]

Originally posted by Pierce Tondry
Long Shot's engines gunned. "Attention, New Republic vessels," Pierce's fingers blurred as he keyed for his military encryption to activate. "This is Lieutenant Pierce Tondry, New Republic Intelligence. I'm moving into atmosphere to provide field intelligence. Keep your commlinks on this frequency for emergency contact info."

<center><img src=http://panic.hopto.org/swf/sorsha/Soolin/Soolin_Misc/yt3400-1.jpg></center>

:: Soolin's ship appeared only a few microts after Tondry's. She opened the comm and attemped to hail Tondry's ship ::

"This is Soolin Anjhurin of the Greater Jedi Order ... "

:: it felt like a lie on her tongue, because she was still very uncertain of her status among them ::

"... I'm following you down to the surface."


<table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=2 bgcolor=#C0C0C0><tr><td><table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0><tr><td valign=center><center><img src=http://panic.hopto.org/swf/sorsha/Soolin/10122-075.jpg></center></td><td><img src=http://panic.hopto.org/swf/sorsha/Soolin/soolin.jpg></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>

[Inu]

Inu mans the third swoop, looking back at Feliciana and Sonzai.

"Sonzai, you'll be with me. Neepik, stay close by."

He wants to be able to watch them at all times.

"Cold, care to do the honors and take point?"

[Sonzai Kurai]

Sonzai did as she was told and sat on the bike behind her master, her gun was slung over her shoulder but she doubted master wanted her to use it.

[Neepik]

Neepik brought his swoop along side Inu's and waited for him to start. "Lead the way."

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan had been quiet for about the whole trip, listening. When Lion said that they would remain here, he felt like saying something, thought, he didn't know what to say.

"We're just going to sit here, Admiral? Why not go down to the surface and lend a hand? Isn't that what we came to do?"

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion shook his head.

"Not yet, Rognan. Lieutenant Pierce Tondry is heading down to the surface for reconnaisance. Before we deploy, I need to know any enemy force composition, the state of Lianna's population centers, and any strategic resources the enemy might possibly attack."

He turned to Captain Selayar.

"Captain, relay orders to our two escort frigates. Instruct them to orbit the planet, and boost their signal recievers and transmitters. If they hear so much as a peep, I want to hear about it."

He walked over to the Duros at communications. The grey-skinned creature garbled and then saluted.

"Patch me through to an encrypted channel with Lieutenant Tondry's Long Shot."

A second later the feed crackled in Lion's headset.

"Lieutenant Tondry, be advised: Soolin Anjhurin of the Jedi Order is attempting to follow you in. You want the company or should we tractor her, Pierce?"

[Syrius Cline]

"Hey Rognan," he said to get his attention. Speaking in a whisper he continued. "The man seems to know what he's doing. But... I'm getting a bad feeling about this... I can't explain it. My Master tells me these feelings I usually get is some kind of danger sense, but this is worse somehow. Like a danger sense for someone else. I know that I've got to get down there soon and do something, or else something bad is going to happen. Tell me mate, you feel anything tingly as well?"

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion nodded as Syrius whispered to Rognan. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he could sense the uneasiness coming from them. to be truthful, Lion was feeling it too.

"Alright, guys, I think it's time to get the bigger picture." Lion got up out of his command chair and walked over towards the Corellian woman standing post at ops.

"Lieutenant, tell the boys down in Crypt to get me a tap into that Weather satellite." he said, indicating a small orbiting blip on the main scanner board. I want it rotated to face the planet. Get me scans in IR, SORMS, and full visual wavelengths. Reprogram its course to orbit over the major population centers."

The Corellian woman complied, rapidly issuing orders to the decryption officer and his team in the bowels of the Victorious. Twenty minutes passed, then forty. The satellite slowly picked up speed from its stationary orbit over the planet and slingshot around Lianna, it's sensitive scanners recieving and relaying the information to the Carrier.

Nearly 90 minutes after the order had been given, Admiral Lion El' Jonson recieved the data from the satellite...and it was indeed just as he had feared. The printed visual photos captured by the satellite showed bombed out cities, their buildings splintered and half-standing.

Horrifying as that was, it was the Infrared and (S)ub (O)rbital (R)adar (M)apping (S)ystem (SORMS) that chilled Lion to the core. From the size of the cities, Lion expected to see thousands of displaced refugees milling about their damaged homes. To his horror, not a single heat signature showed up on the pictures, save for the still smoldering fires from explosions. The SORMS Radar couldn't detect the faintest trace of any movement. A photo slipped from his hand and landed on the deck, and he didn't even notice.

He put his head down and closed his eyes for a second...so much destruction, and he was too late to save anybody. Abruptly, something caught his eye on the photo he had dropped...a heat signature. He jumped out of his chair and walked over to the Corellian woman again.

"Lieutenant, get the Satellite to survey grid Habraxes-37, Corsin-92. I want as many images of the grid as we can get." The satellite was quickly routed and Lion impatiently waited for the images. He took one look at the images and knew all he needed to know.

Numerous heat signatures, at least 600, were milling about in that area. The radar scans showed a small band of light repulsorlift vehicles travelling along the main road...and the digital pictures confirmed what Lion already knew: there were survivors. A damaged shell that looked to have been a command center sat in the middle of the compound, surrounded by a severely damaged wall and destroyed turbolaser turrets.

"Captain Selayar, you have the bridge. Syrius, Rognan, we're going to rescue some people."

Lion snatched his headset from the command chair and quickly dialed into a shipwide frequency.

"Transport Group Allegiance, prepare for departure. Major Rawne, Sergeants Mkoll and Varl, load your men into your landing craft. Corusca Star, prepare to delived me and my accomplices to the planet Lianna. Coordinates will be supplied as soon as we're aboard. Wing Commander Mironia, pull two squadrons of X-Wings for escort."

Setting down the headset and starting towards the bridge door, renewed hope stirred in Lion's heart. They still had a chance...

[Rognan Dar]

Rognan listend to Syrius about the 'bad feeling.' He didn't understand what he was talking about at first. As he continued to tell him a little more about, he understood, but didn't have that feeling. He just wanted to help, thats all he felt right now. He didn't feel like something bad was going to happen, or already happened. He just wanted to get down there.

"I think I know what your saying, but I dont feel it." He told Syrius.

As one of the pictures fell from Lion's hand, he twisted he head a bit to look at it. He was shock. There was lots of buildings damaged and smoke from fires. Something bad has happened. And they were to late. But he looked at the picture closer and saw what Lion saw. Heat signatures. There was still some people alive. There might be hope after all.

Rognan was thrilled to hear that they were going to help. Thats why they came, right? Rog follow closely behind Lion, not wanting to slow his companions down.

[Darth Turbogeek]

AGHHH!

He sensed the death through the force and he grinned - a nasty, evil grin. Time to get to some carnage.

First thing first.... hets see who was about. He ducked out of his shadowy hiding place and ran for the palace.

[Lion El' Jonson]

"Alright, we're deploying to the surface, guys. Three squads from the elite 11th Regiment are going down aboard Cgynus shuttles to assist in the evacuation. My fleet is deploying supplies from several transports, we're taking my shuttle. Make sure you've got all your equipment, this might be the last time we see this carrier for a long time."

As they walked, Lion briefed his Jedi companions. The three squad leaders met with the small group halfway along a corridor, their black camo fatigues contrasting with Lion's white uniform. Heavy blasters were shrouded beneath their stealth cloaks.

"Alright, boys, listen up. According to data from a reprogrammed weather satellite, most of Lianna is in a shambles. The cities have been slagged and we can't spot a single heat signature, human or otherwise in the cities. However, because of a lucky mistake, we've located some people alive down there. Final estimates aren't in yet, but there's easily 600 people in the area. Me and Captain Selayar believe the refugees are holed up inside a command center. There's evidence of heavy damage to the compound. Most of the defensive turbolaser turrets have been blown open, and there's several breaches in the defensive wall. Blast craters matching the blast yield of a proton-bomb have been sighted."

He sighed and held up the photo towards the rest of the team.

"No doubt about it, they're hit hard. Also, the communications dish is shattered, which is probably why they couldn't respond to our hails. Major Rawne, you're in charge of the evac. operation. Sergeant Varl, get your men started on patching the wall and detonating any unexploded ordinance. Sergeant Mkoll, get your scouts around the perimeter to look for breaches. I want the base secured within a day. Rognan, Syrius, we're heading for the control room. We've got to meet with the senior governmental representative of Lianna."

The men passed through a security checkpoint secured by two towering wookie guards in body armor, and then reentered the hangar. Flight crews hustled around inside the huge space, securing supplies or fueling the transports. The three sergeants saluted Lion and then dispersed to their squads. Lion pointed at their shuttle.

"There's our ride, boys...all ashore that's going ashore!" he said cheerfully.

[Blaine]

"Cold, care to do the honors and take point?"

"My pleasure..." Cold replied

Feliciana hopped on to the bike Cold was on. Cold accelerated, causing the bike's engine to roar it's way through. There were many trying to fight but Cold did as Salem did and extended his lightsaber, instantly killing those in the way. There seemed to be a lot of damage already done.

"This is what I call fun" Cold mumbled to himself.

[Inu]

Inu's not taking his hands from the steering, choosing to use his Force altering capabilities to his advantage. Anything and everything that can be an obscacle is struck down by either fire for lightning borne of the Force.

[Neepik]

Neepik watched with excitement as his teacher created more lightning. Neepik just couldn't get enough of the Force Fire and Lightning. Someday he would learn to do that too. But in the meantime, Neepik would have to rely on his powerful tail as his main weapon while on the swoop.

[Pierce Tondry]

"Sorry for the delay, gentlebeings," Pierce said, resettling himself in the pilot's chair. "I had to adjust my sensor dish's tracking mechanism to pin these people down. Don't mind Soolin- she's clean- but take a look at this."

He keyed for a feed to run to the Victorious that would display what he was seeing, which was a close-up of several speeder bikes blitzing across terrain like it was nothing. Visible Force powers were being applied across the terrain, and lightsabers were being wielded as well. "Looks like I've found our attackers."

Pierce keyed for a tactical coordinate transfer to the Victorious so they could locate the speeder bikers. "I'm going to continue getting closer, but I won't get any farther than lower atmosphere unless things get bad and I'm needed to engage. I'm not the best for combat duty right now. Be careful, Victorious, because they look nasty."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Aboard the victorious, Captain Selayar recieved the message and had it transmitted to Lion's transport at it entered the atmosphere.
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Aboard the Corusca Star...

Lion leaned back and hit a button on his communications headset as he recieved the message.

"Roger, Captain Selayar. Wish Lieutenant Tondry good luck on his mission..."

He triggered the burst transmission and pulsed out the communication. After that, he pulled off his headset, leaned back, and sighed. So there were Dark Jedi Powers at work here...

How the hell did a group like that stay hidden so long? he thought to himself. They managed to hoodwink the Navy, Intelligence...the Jedi Order... That last thought came as a shocking realization to Lion. A group of obviously skilled Dark Jedi had somehow eluded the detection of the Council, in and of itself an incredible feat.

He turned to Rognan and Syrius, who frankly looked bored as they stared around the shuttle. He'd have to tell them eventually...

"Rognan, Syrius...I hope you both got a lot of rest of that trip, because I've got some distubing news for you: Lieutenant Pierce Tondry just picked up a group of Dark Jedi, and strong ones. We've got force lightning crackling all over the place, not to mention lightsabers...and they're on swoops, which means they can move around very quickly."

He sighed and cracked his knuckles.

"Offhand, boys, I'd say we've got our work cut out for us."

He turned to the shuttle pilot.

"Lieutenant, step on it. Nevermind proper landing procedures, I need us on the ground as soon as possible."

The man nodded and replied with a "Yes, sir." Lion felt the slight pull of acceleration as the shuttlecraft sped up its descent and the inertial compensators struggled to keep up with the sudden increase in speed.

[Rognan Dar]

It was a nice ride so far. Nothing was really happening. Then Lion got a message that he couldn't hear, but the way his face looked at hearing whatever it was...it couldn't be good.

Rognan waited patiently to see if Lion would tell them what was going on. He looked over at Syrius. He, too, look like he was waiting. After a minute, more like three, Lion took off his headset and was quite, what looked like he was thinking. Rog leaned forward in his set, eagerly waiting.

After he heard what there was to say, he thought about for a sec.

Me? Aginst skilled sith? I cant do that, I'm just a padawan, he thought to himself. There's no way I can take on someone that is willing to kill me!

"Uh....Admiral, I dont think I should go with you. I dont think I'll be of much use aginst any sith. I cant even beat a robot at a spar."

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion shook his head.

"No can do, Rognan. We're short on time as it is, and the time it'd take to turn around and drop you back on the Victorious would be fatal to our operation...unless you'd prefer to be kicked out and allowed to float back to the carrier."

Lion glanced at Rognan's face and sighed.

"I'm not actually gonna let you try it, Rognan. Don't worry, between us and Pierce we've got 4 well-trained padawans, plus a taskforce in orbit and several squads of crack New Republic Commandos. We'll be fine!" he said, sounding more reassuring than he actually felt.

"What I'd give to have General Tohmahawk show up with a few railguns..." he thought to himself.

[Syrius Cline]

Syrius' face didn't twitch. He just knew there had to be Dark Forces down there. The same way he knew he had to be there.

"We'll figure out something, Rognan. Even Sith have their weaknesses," he turned to Lion. "Any chance we could park this down right in front of their swoops? Make them crash into it and maybe give ourselves the upperhand?"

Syrius was acting more reassured than he usually was. Yet he was in fact calm, but with anxiety creeping up. He knew this was going to happen, deep down in his bones, and already made his peace with it on some level.

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion shook his head.

"I dunno, Syrius. It's a possibility, but the likelihood of us actually spooking them enough to cause a crash is pretty much zilch. A bombardment would certainly distract them, but I don't think we'll be able to target it well enough to avoid incinerating half of area...Nebulon-B's aren't exactly known for tight-beam accur-."

Lion paused in midsentence and hit a button on his headset.

"Captain Selayar, could we get the Knights, the Dragons, or the Paladins here in time?"

"I'll check, Admiral...it's a possibility." There was the slight sound of commands being entered into a touchboard, and then the Captain came back on the line. "It'd be a long shot, sir. The Black Dragons are currently escorting the Councillar-class Cruiser Maelstrom to our operation to liberate Cyrix II. The Black Knights are closer, aboard your flagship, but they're all on shore leave. The Paladins are based aboard the Marathon, the new MC-100 out of Sluis Van. Simply put, sir, we don't have any support within 2 days of here."

Lion nodded, feeling the slight hope sink.

"Roger, Captain. Keep trying to find something with guns." Lion turned off the headset and slid it off. He turned to Syrius and Rognan.

"Well, there goes my last idea. The Black Knights, the Black Dragons, and the Paladins are my elite B-Wing squadrons. If I could get them here in time, we could lay down a firestorm of torpedoes and catch the Sith running...problem is, none of them are within two days of here. The closest support we've got is out of the Lyria Sector Base, and none of the ships there are suited to anything but leveling the planet."

He turned to the pilot.

"Lieutenant?"

The man didn't turn, but answered.

"Yes sir?"

Lion grimaced.

"Take her down, Lieutenant."

The man grinned, just visible underneath his helmet.

"Yes, sir! Hang on to your hat, Admiral, this is gonna be a wild ride."

And, without further ado, the man engaged the Ion Thrusters and plummeted through the atmosphere. Lion, used to the extreme acceleration, merely sat back and yawned. Syrius and Rognan looked like their eyes were gonna pop out of their heads, and they gripped their restraints so tight they left marks in their hands.

[Salem Ave]

Alhana followed behind Salem’s guard as the two moved through the smoldering wreck of the satellite dish. Rogue blaster shots sprung in from all angles as they cleared the debris. Behind, the vampire could hear the angry hums of the bikes as they cut through resistance easily. It made him smile to think of the Krath of being so unified for one purpose.

“How far to the compound?” the shape shifter questioned, as they found a moments respite crouched in a trench of some kind.

“Ten minute-sss rrrun, providing we don’t bump into anyone. Once we get there here’s what I need you to do…”

And so Salem explained the plan that would get them into the stronghold, while off in the distance the forces of Lianna planned for the worst, as a cadre of lightsaber wielding, bike riding psychos whipped up a storm.

[Valles Santhe]

“Report!”

“The communications array has been severely damaged, ma’am. Only internal communications is still active.”

Valles stood up and strode forward defiantly to the large window that overlooked the battlefield before them. Pressing one hand against the explosion resistant glass, she looked down with misty eyes as she watched a group of specks below weaving between her soldiers. With each great flash of light from the swoops another man was taken down, or another section of the building damaged.

“Ma’am, should I send the civilians into the underground-..”

“No! We aren’t going to fall that easily, Lieutenant. Draw the soldiers back and create a perimeter defense around the gate. Call in all external patrols and get the remaining gun turrets activated. I want those swoops blown out of the water and the riders brought to me… dead or alive.”

[Lion El' Jonson]

Lion's shuttle continued to accelerate while the pilot strained to keep the craft under control. They were a little more than 20,000 feet above the ground now, and the pilot had began initializing the repulsorlifts.
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Meanwhile, aboard the other transports...

"Thirty Seconds!" bellowed Major Rawne. The men aboard the Cygnus Spaceworks Shuttle echoed his words, grimacing beneath their helmets as they came closer to the surface.

Aboard the second and third shuttles, Sergeant Mkoll silently said a prayer to every god he could think of. Sergeant Varl absentmindedly scratched his bionic shoulder, eager for the operation to get underway. Every man aboard the transports carried a Blaster Rifle, a small kit of gear, and a repulsorpack.

"Secure your weapons! We're going in!" Mkoll yelled. The shuttles were coming in fast and hard, their ion boosters still engaged. Up front, in the cockpit, tiny specks were visible on the ground...Lianna's remaining troopers, as they darted back and forth getting into battle positions. Sporadic flashes of lightning and sabers shot out, illuminating the battlefield for a brief instant. The pilots, struggling as they were just keeping the descent under control, still managed to key in a code. In the cargo hold, the back loading door slowly opened....and the men jumped out.

Fifty-Four men free-fell through the air at terrifying speeds, calmly waiting for the right moment. These troopers were the best of the best, the elite 11th "Helljumpers". They had a fierce reputation as crack special forces, renowned for their ability to place themselves within ten feet of their intended landing point. Few regiments in the New Republic could even approach their accuracy. Two minutes after jumping from their transports, the men had fallen 28,000 feet at speeds exceeding 150 miles per hour. They waited a second, and then engaged their repulsorpacks. They fell a bit longer as the antigravity systems compensated for their speed, and then began to slow and finally hover in midair.

"Check in, Alpha Platoon." Major Rawne said calmly, his voice tinny through the suit comlink.

The men reported in, their voices betraying no emotion.

"Private Melnikov, check in!" someone yelled.

"Where the hell is he?" somebody else asked.

Their question was answered a second later as a screaming man plummeted from the sky, his repulsorpack sparking. Melnikov, the 14th member of the first squad, fell the last 3,000 feet and impacted with the duracrete ground so hard he bounced, snapping his spine and cleanly shattering his skull. Aerial drops were risky business, and the dead Private had proved that. Uttering prayers, the rest of the men engaged their packs and continued down towards the Liannan military compound, the supplies shuttles streaking down behind them. It was, Major Rawne imagined, an inspiring sight for the beleagured Liannan military.
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Back aboard the Lion's shuttle, the Corusca Star...

"Sir, Alpha Platoon has completed their jump. They're closing on the Liannan Compound. There was one casualty. The troops will be on the ground in under 5 minutes."

Lion nodded.

"Roger, Captain Selayar. Relay my congratulations to Alpha Platoon, and tell them to get into contact with the Liannan Leader, no matter what the hell they've gotta go through to get there. We're coming in next door."