Raiders of the Old Order

[Ofri Theinar]

cularin




A ship that had once started life as a HWK-1000 hung in orbit over a planet that was at best unassuming. It seemed dead in space, a hodge-podge of scavenged ship parts grafted together and drifting lazily in a high orbital pattern. On board, a solitary astromech watched over the sensors and other essential tasks. the silver dome with orange accents swiveled to and fro as it relayed information to its master down below on the planet.

Down below, there was a tree. It had stood for who knew how long. It was an ancient thing, and the knurled bark looked as though it was a thousand years old. And indeed it was.

The Ch'hala Heart Tree.

Of course to probably everyone else it was just an old tree, but to the one digging at its' base, it was something much, much more.

It was the resting place of the Eye of the Sun.

Ofri Theinar had gone down at least two meters into the soil, making sure to not disturb the tree's root system as he dug. His longspade hit something at the three meter mark, and tossing his tool to the side, the Nautolan/Anselmi halfbreed fell to his knees so that he could push his fingers into the soil. He felt the contours of a wooden box, accented in metals of some sort and seemingly old as time itself. Inky black eyes narrowed, and he continued to swipe away dirt and pebbles.

The shortwave comm unit at his shoulder sputtered to life, emitting a series of beeps and twirls.

"Almosst."

Another interjection of clicks, followed by a long, trailing whistle.

"I foundt it, yess. Pulling it up, now."

The 'voice' on the other end let out an inquisitive string of gibberish.

"I hope sso."

The line went silent then, and he pushed his three-fingered hands deeper to wrap around the bottom edge. With a careful tug, the box broke free, and he pulled it out. Rough fingernails scraped away the crusted mud and detritus, and Ofri let himself fall back on his haunches as one hand shifted, running a calloused palm over the top of the box and its metal adornments. An old symbol was clearly visible, and he grinned as he stared at it.

"Come down now, Bait. It iss time for uss to go."

[Ofri Theinar]

Masz'kal was a quick ship, that had seen more years in space that one would initially think. It had been cobbled together with other ship's parts, and had become something more than what it had started life as. Just the same, the astromech, Bait, had become more than what his builders had intended when they first activated him. Integrated somewhat with the HWK-1000 had given him a peculiar set of habits, which Ofri had only seemed to encourage.

And as he'd shuffled his way aboard, feeling as the ship lifted off without him needing to be present on the bridge, Ofri knew that for the short time until they passed up and out of Cularin's atmosphere he would not need to park himself in the pilot's chair.

The box he'd dug from the ground beneath the Heart Tree was safely tucked beneath one arm, and the halfbreed hurried through the small confines of his ship to his tiny bunk.

Bait gave a whistle of alarm as he kept the ship on an upward trajectory.

"No, no one sshould know we'ss here, Bait."

An answering trill, and Ofri grunted out a curse as he shoved the box into the one-person sleeping area.

"I'ss coming, I'ss coming!"

[Yawgmoth The Devourer]

The slipstreams of star lights snapped back to pinpoints as they emerged from hyperspace. From the vantage of the bridge he could see down the length of the forked wedge body of the Arquitens-Class Light Cruiser, past the splashes of black and red that had replaced the old Republic colors of the Clone Wars Warship, and ahead to the glittering gem of a planet just ahead. Cularin. A mysterious planet, once thought lost from existence, only to return in it's own time. It held a certain significance in the galaxy, and if his explorations of old texts was to be believed, the world held a connection to the enigmatic Force. The thing from which Jedi drew their power.

The very power he craved.

There were many such planets in the galaxy. All said to be a bridge to an otherwise unknowable force. He could only take the word of those who had claimed such abilities. He scoured these worlds from time to time, like a fisher dragging a net through murky waters and hoping to pull something, anything up. Those with the so called force were often drawn to these places. Like moths to a light. Sometimes he even found Jedi. Sometimes he settled for Imperial Knights. They all tasted the same in the end. They tasted of power.

"Scan the planet. Find my prey."

Here on the less inhabited side of the planet there should be no traffic, no patrols to get in the way. Only those who do not belong, or are very unlucky to be out here on this unfortunate day.

"There's a ship leaving the surface. They are moving away from us."

A target. Any target. This was good. Better to catch a fish quickly and escape back into hyperspace before anyone could fight back. He and his ship had a reputation after all, and many knew to run when the Queen of Blades appears. They had heard the stories of Yawgmoth the Devourer.

"Release the fighters."

The faintest of shutters felt in the bulkhead signaled the launch of the two Scyk fighters mere seconds before they appeared in view, arcing out from the sides of the Queen as they glided out toward the planet. The starfighters were fast and nimble, and armed with ion cannons and drag lines. They were hunters, intent on capturing their prey and bringing it back.

For dinner.

[Ofri Theinar]

The small bridge was waiting for him, and Ofri gave only a cursory glance to Bait as he slid into the pilot's chair.

"What do you mean there'ss a ship launching fighterss?!"

Bait trilled at him in concern, and the halfbreed let out a grunt as he pulled up the long-range scanners.

"Yeah, I ssee 'em. Keep on keepin' on. I'm gonna let out the flakss, when they get closser."

Again the R2 unit whistled, and Ofri gave a strange roll of his head as he sent the Masz'kal into an arcing turn that would send him on a trajectory away from the larger cruiser.

"We gotss placess to be, Bait. Jusst let me know when we get full ssunbursst charge, yeah?"

[Yawgmoth The Devourer]

"Notify the kitchen, and get the rack ready. I will have words with this one."

The Scyk starfighters rocketed forward, pushing their engines to the edge of failure to get the most speed they could manage. They pulled up as they went, arcing their trajectory to stay on top of the distant ship as it attempted to escape. There would be no escape. Even as the Scyk's made their attack, the Queen was already sailing along in high orbit with every intent to cut the sky out from above them. With it's sides bristling with cannons, there was a certain guarantee that should they get in range that the hailstorm of ion that would be rained down would disable the craft. All it took was one shot, out of dozens fired every other second.

Yawgmoth was confident in that.