Avast and Belay (LS Dominion of Arkas)

[Valiens Nantaris]

Target: Arkas
Goal: Free the slaves, help the settlers, claim the silver mines.

The battle was over.

It hadn’t been much of a fight, in all honesty, but the slavers lay dead and the Free Space rangers were alive.

Valiens Nantaris holstered his blaster pistol and stepped over the corpses towards the back of the ship. He was met by a wall, but he knew what was behind it. Even with the Force being so wonky he could feel the fear, the anxiety coming from behind it.

Drawing his lightsabres, he activated the green blade and swiftly cut through the false wall. With the help of the rangers he pulled it aside.

A score of frightened faced looked at him from inside the cages in the back of the hold.

“Don’t worry, I’m a Jedi, we’re here to help,” Nantaris said, putting his lightsabre on his belt.

He helped them to get the locks off the cages and helped the prisoners out. They looked terrified, with good reason…but there was something more than that. There was an awe and fear at everything around aside from the fighting.

“Where are you folks from?” he asked.

One of them, their leader, looked at him puzzled. “We…safe?” she asked in broken basic.
“Yes, safe. Which planet are you from?”
The bewildered look he got him interested. “Four-Three! Get over here!” he called.
A bronze coloured protocol droid limped over. “Yes, oh most munificent one?” it wheezed with a sarcastic bow.
“Your lord and master commands you to sodding well do your job,” Nantaris growled. “Talk to this lot and find out where they’re from.”

Striding away, he headed to the front of the ship. “Give me something, Lacey, where’s this ship from?”
His tech specialist, Alicia, looked up from her work. “I cracked their encryption in like five seconds. Destination isn’t showing up on any of the databanks. Seems like it’s a new planet. Settler world maybe?”
“Maybe. Give us the hyperspace co-ordinates when you can.”

As he headed out a voice hailed him. “Boss! You’ll want to see this.”
His deputy, Raloph Scindia was standing with what appeared to be an Eldorai. The poor girl was traumatised, but was trying to hold herself together.
“Space-elf, huh,” he muttered. In his very best Eldarai he bowed to her and said, “May the blessings of the Goddess be upon you. Where are you from?”
The girl looked at him blankly and started talking in her own language, similar, yet very different.
“Gah, will something just make sodding sense already?!” he grumbled. “Look, be nice to her, get Four-Three to try and figure out where she’s from…if the sod is feeling in the mood.”
“Sure.”

“Master, oh great Master!” the protocol droid said, appearing on cue. With him came a blue twi’lek. Nantaris’ eyes lit up, but he carefully kept his voice steady.
“Yes, Four-Three?”
“The enslaved residents were speaking an archaic form of Basic which varies in eighty-seven tonal ways from Galactic Standard.”
“Four-Three, are you going to cut to the chase or am I going to lightsabre you?” Nantaris replied evenly. He noted the Twi’lek smirked. Good start.
“Well, oh great one, if you would not like me to discern my methods you might as well-.”
Nantaris produced his lightsabre and played with it casually.
“On the other hand, most benevolent one, this is Mytirae. She was captured by the rapscallions.”
“That’s right. Feroz in the Corsairs didn’t like me poking my nose in. He tried to ‘seduce’ me, until I kicked him in the nuts. He sold me off after that, that is until you showed up,” the Twi’lek said. Her lekku were wriggling in a way which Nantaris could barely keep from staring at.
“So, you speak our language?” Nantaris asked lamely. It was the only thing he could think to say. He coughed and looked away. “So, what’s this planet called, and why don’t they speak Basic?”
“It’s a colony world or something, isolated for centuries. Corsairs, Outcasts and Ironsides came in and have driven them into the jungles. They raid and get slaves to sell off world. The planet’s called Arkas.”
“Right, we’ve got a name, we’ll soon have co-ordinates. It’s time to visit this Arkas and deal with the slavers, I think.”
“Just the twenty of you? There’s thousands of them!”
Nantaris smirked. “I’ve got some friends. How about you, want to stick around?”
“Well, Feroz has my ship, so until I get it back, sure. What’s your name, Jedi?”
“The name’s Nantaris. Remember it. Scindia, get her a blaster and some decent clothes and get these other people somewhere nice, but get Four-Three to talk to the Eldorai. Try and figure out something about her, or at least if there’s more of them.”

And so Nantaris put out the call to the Sanctum, to Free Space, to anyone who would listen about Arkas. It was a place where slavers were oppressing the settlers and they needed help.

He reserved a special call back to Kaeshana though to let anyone who was interested know about the Eldorai they’d found…the very unusual Eldorai they’d found there.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"]


The XS freighter roared out of the depths of hyperspace and towards the massive green orb that was Arkas. The part about it roaring was not hyperbole, by the way. Suffice to say the ship had seen better days and she really needed to fix it up a bit. As the freighter traversed the fathomless void that was space, heading closer towards the planet, Elpsis sat in the pilot seat, combat boots propped up. She lounged in the pilot chair, well, as much as you could lounge when you were wearing full armour, the helmet resting in her lap.



Her blue-grey eyes was directed at the viewport. Arkas loomed in the distance. Undoubtedly the planet was engulfed in anarchy. Granted, most of the Galaxy seemed to be these days, though in this case it would not be because everyone had their knickers in a twist about trillions of people suddenly vanishing. No, if her intel was as good as it was claimed, Arkas had been swallowed up by anarchy and chaos because it had always been that way. A haven for smugglers, pirates, sex traffickers and slavers. Close to so called Free Space. Elpsis did not have strong feelings on the Levantines, beyond the fact that they seemed less likely to boss her around than Jedi. And weren't monsters like Sith...just...space hippies. Well, she could deal with that.


The spawn of a Jedi healer and a sadistic mass-murderer - spawn in the sense that her mother had been raped by a monster - felt distaste rise into her mouth. Slavery gave her the instinctive urge to go shoot scum, but smuggling was good money and there was plenty of profit to be had with gun running and supposedly with smuggling Najiim. Some corporate bigwig wanted the stuff and the credits were enough for her.


"So...smuggling medical goods again. Better not go like last time when we ran into that little spitfire of a Jedi. Hell of a girl, if you ask me. So soddin' tiny, but scary," her co-pilot, apparently thinking she was terribly witty. Elpsis did not mind since the Cathar had gotten her out of her share of hairy situations. "Reminds me of you a little."


Elpsis snorted, but could not help chuckling. "Right. Can you ever imagine me being a Jedi?" she asked with a measure of amusement. Very few amongst the people she worked with in the underworld knew that she had once been a Jedi. Or was even able to use the Force. It was safer that way. More to the point, it was part of her life she would rather forget. Along with anything involving the Force in general...except for those situations where it turned out that, yes, it was useful to have.


The co-pilot thought for a moment, then shook her head, giving Elpsis a slap on the shoulder with her paw. "Nah. They'd kick you out for your fighting, drinking and womanising, girl! Or maybe not. They change their rules every couple weeks, or so I hear."


"Yeah, they do. Anyway, on to work. Do we have the coordinates for the cartel HQ?"


"Yep, logged and ready to go. Our contact vouches for them. Or something dramatic like that. Much yammering about free traders being welcome, corsairs won't infere. Looks shaky."


"You don't think we can trust them?"


"Nah. Far as I can throw them."


"Same here. Hence why they're only getting crappy slugthrowers and old blasters. Let's go. We get our stuff, pay, get out. Keep the weapons prepped" Fingers rapped against her helmet before she pressed a button on the computerised interface. "And let's get some bloody music on, for feth's sake.." And so within moments the popular slong I got the devil on my shoulder was playing as the freighter swept through the atmosphere of Arkas. The planet might look like a paradise, pretty as a picture on the outside, but Elpsis knew better. Good thing she had plenty of guns with her.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Valiens Nantaris"], [member="Anya Venari"]


Kaeshana


The message about the extremely unusual Eldorai would indeed reach Kaeshana. However, as it happened Kaida was not in her office - not her office, she had to remind herself, but that of the Grand Seraph. Rather she would be found in the vast hall where the Angelii trained. It went without saying that the corps been strongly diminished in numbers ever since the great cataclysm had swept away so many souls. At least thanks to Adril Tythorin and [member="Coryth Elaris"], they knew now where the lost had vanished to.


It did not make the event any less painful. There was barely an Angelii who had not lost someone they cared for. A parent, a sibling, a cousin, a bondmate...but whilst the pain was great and it left a hole, they still had a duty to fulfil. Kaida had temporarily taken over command of the Angelii after so many battle sisters more high-ranking than her had vanished, among them the Grand Seraph. One of the few officers above Kaida had actually respected.


So here she was again, dressed in the traditional Angelii armour and with a bolt pistol magclamped to her thigh, overseeing the training of new recruits. In this particular case, the recruits were practicing assembling their blaster rifles together, which would be followed by various live fire drills. Of course, the traditional weapons of an Angelii were sarix, sarzmigar and Taegis shield, but they had to move on with the times and so they had also harnessed modern technology and firearms. This was becoming even more important given how wonky and out of balance the Force was. So they would have to learn, whether they wanted to or not.


"Ten...nine...eight...," Kaida spoke, tone clipped and professional, expression impassive and dispassionate as she stepped through the room, her words punctuated by the sound of the click-clack of her combat boots upon the floor as she passed through, her blue eyes falling upon every recruit in turn. They were all young, so very young. Of course, Eldorai aging was weird compared to that of humans. A space elf could be two hundred years and still appear youthful, but still. With the mass disappearances having claimed so many lives, Sciians were being recruited far earlier and put on a fast track to the Angelii corps. In the old days many of these girls would not have passed muster in basic, let alone been considered. Still, they would be forged into an effective fighting force. "Seven..six...five..four..."


Kaeshana expected every Eldorai to do her duty. By now her eyes had already focused upon one recruit in particular. "Three...two...one...you're done!" she ordered. "You think that rifle is ready to fire, soldier?" she asked, nay, demanded from the black-haired Eldorai recruit, who happened to be taller than she was, as she approached her. They would learn and become the warriors Kaeshana needed them to be. If they wanted to live through their first battle, that is. Those who did not make the cut would simply be weeded out.


The recruit looked just a bit nervous, for Kaida had a...reputation, but straightened and tried to look confident. "Yes, ma'am," she replied at last.


"Would you bet your life on that? And the lives of all your battle sisters?" Kaida demanded further, poking on.


"Ma'am...Yes, ma'am."


"Then...," with that Kaida suddenly raised the gun. "Fire your weapon." When there was no response she simply pushed the gun up and aimed it at her chest. They were so close that the barrel of the bolter was pressing against her. "Are you deaf, soldier? I said fire your fething weapon!" At that Kaida repositioned the gun over her heart and pulled the trigger, whilst staring intently at him. The recruit, looking paralysed, froze and seemed to freak...but...nothing happened at all. Instead the gun just clicked, but no bolt leapt out of it. Kaida's expression was impassive as she saw the look of surprise and relief, then simply picked up the missing component and showed it to the recruit. "Again." Her tone was frigid, commanding.


As she turned away she was suddenly confronted by an Angelii messenger rushing, clearly out of breath and appearing like she had been looking to Kaida for quite a while. "Lady Seraph, apologies for the interruption. A message has been received from a monk...a human by the name of Nantaris. Jedi. Levantine," the messenger began.


"I know the man," Kaida brushed her aside. "What is the message?"


"It has been labelled high priority. The Queen wishes to see you immediately about it."


Kaida seemed a bit puzzled, for she did not like being kept in the dark about things, but then nodded nonetheless. "I see. Lead the way. Talon, carry on. Have them practice fire drills, then sparring against one another." And so, following the Angelii, Kaida would quickly be ushered into the presence of the Queen-Exarch after being announced by an Angelii guard, dressed in battle armour and her face obscured by an imposing helmet.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Location : Arkas Atmosphere
Objective : Secure Silver Mines



The transport rattled and shuddered. The security force jostled into one another, weapons and armor clattering together in the otherwise quiet space. Everyone sat shoulder-to-shoulder against the walls, staring ahead. Their employer had sent them out into the hellhole of a galaxy. Said it was time to strike. As if they didn't have enough problems back home on the primary space station.


Delila stretched out her sore knee experimentally. Getting old wasn't for wimps. Some days it felt like bone was grinding against bone. Hell, it probably was. Then again, it was wise she had disappeared into 'hiding' so to speak, working on the security force of the mining outfit. The pay was good. Most days the work wasn't strenuous. Mainly lots of hiking around to various locations. If she was lucky enough something moved and she got to shoot at it. Not exactly glory and charging into battlefields but those days were long gone. For the better.


At least that's what I've been telling myself for six years.


"Approaching Arkas. ETA is five minutes, be prepared to roll out"


Well, better to land and get to work than sit here and stare at these kids.

 

[Anya Venari]

[member="Kaida Taldir"]
The queen was waiting, and brought Kaida in rapidly and dismissed all others present.
"Thank you for coming, Kaida, I appreciate it. A matter has come to my attention which deserves rapid attention. We have received word of a planet on the far rim, near the lands of the human Levantine Sanctum. They have reported a substantial population of Eldorai slaves who do not correspond to our culture or appearance. We believe that they may be from a different planet, whether a colony or other settlement, we're not sure. We have confirmation from Jedi Master Elaris of a world apart from the Eldorai. And we have a sudden need for this." The Queen looked troubled, but pressed on.
"I want you to lead a small expedition to investigate this world, free the Eldorai and report on any information relating to this lost world."

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Arkas,
Tripoli Base HQ.


When you thought about it, Tripoli Base was a lovely place. Or at least it's location, which was a heavily defended atoll. The beach was just begging for you to go sunbathing, relax and enjoy the rays of sun shining down upon you, before going for a dive in the water that seemed so warm and inviting. Assuming it was not populated by predatory sea monsters that pounced on you as soon as you went for a swim. There was a light breeze coming Elpsis' way when she sauntered down the landing ramp of her freighter after having touched down at what counted for a landing pad.



The wind brushed against her long firemane and she removed some stray locks of hair from her face. Yes, she could really stand to go on vacation here, she found, as she looked upon the island. Long beaches, a nice ocean to swim in, large palms that stretched high into the air.


Well...it would be a good vacation spot if it was not infested with pirates and slavers. Now, Elpsis was hardly pure as white snow. Indeed, she was probably the opposite of that. Mercenary and gun for hire, smuggler of goods, narcotics, medical supplies and such. It is terribly common in holomovies to depict smugglers as rogues with a heart of gold, who never really do any smuggling and if they do, it's usually to prop up misceallaneous Rebellions who are sticking it to the Evil Empire. By the end of the tale, they'll have given up their criminal ways and embraced the good fight. However, this was not the case with Elpsis. Sure, she had strong loathing of Sith - daddy issues ahoy! - and likewise hated slavers, but she was not that picky about how she did business for.


Long as it was not dealing with slaves, kids and so forth. She suppressed an expression of pure distaste when she saw a procession of slaves, evidently being marched down to the silver mines that were one of the main sources of profit for the Corsairs. The scum was...not gentle when it came to motivating the cowed, terrified slaves. Her hand almost instinctively went to her blaster when she saw a pirate savagely whip a slave who had broken down, but then she felt the stony hand of her companion upon her shoulder.


"Yeah, Nara'zun, I know," she said softly to the Kar'zun, a big man who looked like he was made of rock, which was true. An exile from Kaeshana who had left the planet because of how badly the elves treated his people, he was the muscle. "Let's go."


Their path took them to what passed for your typical bar, where pirates, smugglers and the rest of the low-life that called this island their home, congregated. The smell of alcohol, spice and bad cigarettes greeted her by kindly invading her nostrils when she approached. Spice, ah, great! She had been trying to quit. Maybe that could be her new year's resolution! The wretched hive of scum and villainy had the usual assortment of criminals, swindlers and dancers, though the latter happened to be slaves, as their collars showed. Needless to say, Elpsis and her companion were on their guard when they entered. After all, she knew what this place was like.


No sooner had they stepped through before a couple thugs had decided to initiate them, the Tripoli way. Apparently this place was not very friendly to newcomers! "Well, aren't you sweet? What's a pretty girl like you doin' here? Why don't I initiate you...," one of the Corsairs found his attempt to grab her butt rudely cut off when suddenly a swift elbow into his chest doubled him over. As he was reeling Elpsis did not give him time to recover, but kicked him in the balls. Always a good place to hit a man.


She then grabbed the back of his head and violently slammed his face into her knee. Suffice to say there was a loud crack and it did not come from her. As he fell and two thugs came at her she suddenly produced a vibrodagger and tossed it through the air at one of them. Her aim was true and it embedded itself in his forehead, taking him out. The third had, meanwhile, gotten behind her, but in the moment where he raised his blaster he suddenly found his movment arrested as powerful, rock-like hands grabbed his head and ripped it off. Elpsis spun around as she heard the crunching sound, giving Nara'zun an appreciative nod.



Blasters and slugthrowers were drawn, but then abruptly dropped when a leather-clad female Zeltron entered the scene through a backroom door. "Now, now, fellas, that ain't the way to treat guests, is it? You're the girl Ajax recommended to me, yes? I'm Teltri. Captain. Sorry about the mess. The boys here like to play a wee bit rough, if you catch my drift. We call it establishing status. Here on Arkas, if you're not a master, you're a slave. The boundaries shift easily!"


Oh, shut it, queen. Elpsis looked suspicious for a moment then shrugged. "Oh, I don't mind a little fight. Helps establish boundaries, if you catch my drift," she responded, sarcasm dripping from her words as she briefly turned away to pull the blood-splattered knife out of thug number two's forehead, whilst the Kar'zun watched her back. Better safe than sorry, after all!


"And you sure gave us a nice show," the Zeltron seemed to think she was being terribly witty before turning to look upon Nara'zun. "I don't think I've seen anyone of your species 'round here. What are you?"


"Kar'zun," he responded laconically. "You're our business partner. Bit of a schedule." He was not the talkative sort it seemed.


"Business, of course. Ajax said you could deliver swiftly and efficiently. Not that I don't trust him, but I hope that's true. See, the boundaries on Arkas are very...fluid."


"I can deliver, if you can. Mind taking this somewhere private? I don't want a crowd," Elpsis threw in, apparently getting impatient.


The Zeltron clapped her hands then pointed towards a door leading to the backroom. "Come with me, girl. Let's discuss this transaction somewhere more private. We can call in a dancer or two if you want and have some drinks. To make things less stiff and formal. On Arkas all masters get to share the spoils. Seventy-Three, go get us some drinks, there's a good girl. Chop, chop!" she called out, gesturing to one of the slave girls, who incidentally happened to be an Eldorai. She looked like she had been beaten and the collar around her neck was a constant reminder of her status, but she meekly obeyed. Not even a name, just a number engraved in her collar.


"Easy, girl," the Kar'zun spoke quietly to her as he saw Elpsis tense.


The redhead just gave him a side-look as they passed through and were led into the backroom. "Keep alert," she grunted, though she still felt like shooting the woman. Or more like shooting a bunch of other people as well. Still, credits were credits. Guns, some of which might be quite crappy, for silver and that Najiim plant. Assuming the corsairs did not try to screw them over. Oh, wait, they'd definitely do that. Hence the muscle and plenty of spare ammo for her guns.

 

[Kaida Taldir]

[member="Anya Venari"]


By now Kaida was used to all sorts of bizarre revelations, given what she knew about the Eldorai's past. Still...hearing about Lost Eldorai was still a bit of a shock for her, though she kept her composure. The Rakatan had created the Eldorai, something only a precious few in the Galaxy knew, and once ruled the stars, so they might have transplanted elves aeons ago. "I understand. With all due, Your Majesty, I'd rather be here. We're short-staffed on soldiers as is, even with the returness. Fringe is busy going on a conquest spree and we can't expect anything even remotely useful from the Protectorate if we get attacked. The Levantine Sanctum is half a galaxy away."


Lacking the power of farsight as well as meta knowledge, Kaida could not know about the disaster that would soon befall Kaeshana. Her aura and words reflected concern for her homeworld, for much could happen while she was gone. Of course, she was not so arrogant to assume that her presence would change things, going on a journey so far away felt like abandoning it. However, then she frowned, going over some of the words the Queen had said - and more importantly what she had not said. "Why do we have sudden need for this, Majesty?" On automatism her tone had lowered. Sure, the Queen had dismissed all her courtiers and minions, but the walls still had ears.

 

[Coryth Elaris]

[member="Anya Venari"] [member="Kaida Taldir"]
Coryth heard a knock at her door. The redhead rose slowly and headed for the door, opening it looking quite the mess and rather groggy. "There's a message for you ma'am."

Reaching out she accepted it and quickly read over the Aurebesh symbols. It was from the Queen calling her to a meeting. "I'll be there soon, just let me change." Spoken as she was already closing the door, and headed to her closet. Soon enough dressed in a simple black tank top and a pair of khaki pants, with her hair neatly braided back from her face.

Given the visions she'd been having of late, there was little doubt that the galaxy was changing. Further more, she kept dreaming of a young redhead woman, appearing no older than eighteen. Everything seemed to scream that this might be her child, the one she had only just started to look for. Maybe the force was finally trying to put the two of them together, since Xerexes was now dead.
Soon enough she followed the lead of the minion that had been waiting for her and was escorted to the Palace. No doubt to soon meet with Anya Venari.

Brought into the room, Coryth spied Kaida and respectfully bowed to Ayna but for now said nothing and only listened. It was not her place to step in the middle of the conversation. Not when she'd only just been called to join the meeting.

 

[Delila Castillon]

Location : Landing ; Large unnamed island on Arkas
Objective : Silver Fever




Rickety transport came to a halt, settling uneven on the ground. The ramp lowered and they were all but blinded by the sunshine streaming in. Delila pulled a pair of sunglasses out of her breast pocket and stuck them on, slowly gathering her gear. The more eager and stupid of the group were already piling out of the ship. Putting on her pack, Delila shrugged to adjust it and picked up her blaster rifle, the same one she had always used in combat. Not that she expected combat, yet it was wise to be safer than sorry.


Coming down the ramp, she was greeted with a tropical island paradise. The surf was was crash against the sandy beach. Vibrant green plants had sprung up everywhere. At her booted feet, a hermit crab scuttled along.With the hot and bright sun, Delila could feel herself already starting to freckle. Maybe if enough of them filled in it would like more like a tan.


Why didn't I choose this place for exile?


"Alright, word is there is some kind of cavern system around here. Lets fan out and scout the island. Comm the group should you find anything. Move out."


Security forces started to scatter out across the island. Delila remained motionless and looked about. The cave system wouldn't be typical, like mountain caves. Perhaps something underwater? Or something that looked like a sink hole? Not seeing any real indications, Dells set off towards the east to scout first.

 

[Hevana Martin]

Strapping a vibroblade to her shin, she slid her uniform's leg down over her boot to conceal it. With that she was dressed and ready to head to whatever important meeting she had been called to. Hevana never really kept up with politics too much, her place was to follow orders not decide mandates.

Heading to the palace, and made her way inside. She knew many of the eldorai had little love for her as a human, but the guards who knew her were smart enough not to stir up extra trouble. Walking in, Hevana hid a smirk as she spotted one still showing signs of bruising.

Inside she stood dutifully next to Coryth, standing at attention and saying nothing.

[member="Coryth Elaris"]

 

[Nick Kahoshi]

Where the Force called, Nick had always gone. In this case it drew him through hyperspace to a planet he had never heard of before. Either newly discovered or lost during the plague, which he did not know. As he approached, he felt none of the darkside that was normally his target. Why he was here remained a mystery.

Following the guidance of the Force, Nick broke atmosphere and landed. Jumping from his craft,the Jedi Master scanned the area. Something was certainly amiss on this planet, and he could not leave until he discovered what.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

Tripoli Base,
Pirate bar


"Please sit down, enjoy the drinks. Enjoy the girl, if you're in to that. Now, you have the weapons? The Boss is very interested in these...what do you call them again, bolters?" 'Captain' Teltri spoke, all smugness and arrogance, when she settled down into a plush leather chair.



Elpsis had to subsist with a normal one because apparently even amongst 'masters' there were class differences! Her Kar'zun companion, having been unable to find a seat that would accommodate his big, stony hide, decided to stand and look stoic. Someone who seemed made of rock was quite good at doing that.


"You know I don't have those. If your Boss wants to get his hand on bolters, he has to toss more credits my way. 'sides, no Jedi are popping up," Elpsis responded, seemingly nonchalant, as she propped her boots up on the table. The casual motion thinly obscured the fact that one hand, the one that was not holding the glass of whiskey she was taking a sip from, was quite close to her gun. "We can deliver slugthrowers, blasters...whatever else. Galaxy's gone nuts, plenty of spare weapons around nobody needs."



"Ah, yes, we heard about it. The great disappearances. People vanishing everywhere. One of my personal slaves vanished! But where one disappears, there's plenty more. Especially these Elves. They're so obedient when you break them in. Isn't that right, Seventy-Three?" While she said this Teltri was casually playing with a remote control. Elpsis could see how the slave girl seemed to freeze and look struck with fear. Presumably activating it would release electrical shocks.


"Yes, Mistress," the badly abused slave said meekly, clearly terrified of punishment. For her part Elpsis suppressed a wince. Or an urge to shoot someone, as in Teltri, but kept her composure. Instead she gave a nod to her companion, who opened a duffel bag and produced a gun, blaster rifle from the old Sith Empire. The one that had fallen apart, returned to the shadows and returned as the One Sith, who promptly went on a big conquest spree, successfully going from strength to strength.


"Nice, how soon can you deliver? And how many guns do you have?" Teltri asked, running her hands over the gun.


"These are our numbers and price," Elpsis said smoothly, passing a datapad over. Somehow it happened that when Teltri took the proffered pad out of her hand, the Zeltron's fingers ended up brushing against hers for just a moment longer than was decent. Tensing, the redhead quickly pulled her hand away. "We don't have all of them here, of course, but we can give you an appetiser, so to speak. In return I want the amount of silver and Najiim laid out there. And to check the quality before."



One of the corsairs seemed intensely annoyed by this and advanced. "You don't make demands here, girl!" He did not get much further because the Kar'zun suddenly grabbed his shoulder. By the standards of the rock people, he was being gentle. In the sense that he did not break bones, but it would still be unpleasant...


"Let's not, shall we? Humans break so easily," he said calmly.


Guns were about to be drawn but Teltri waved them aside. "Please, kids, do act like proper masters. Not like mindless rabble like the slaves do. I like you...kid. Word of advice: It comes down to trust. There's no Better Business bureau for what we do. Customer complaints, doublecrosses and such are dealt with through...killing, torture, beating...sometimes fire. Or drowning. Screw us over, you won't make it off the island," she said dramatically.


Elpsis shrugged and took a sip from her whiskey. "If I knew this was gonna be a seminar, I'd have worn a name tag. You want the guns, we deliver, you pay, beyond that I don't care. The whole coming down to trust part just happens to be mutual. See, I have a thing as well about people screwing me over. I like shooting them."


Teltri finished her drink and put it down. "If you change your mind, you may have a place here. You'll get to inspect your silver. Tell your people to get the merchandise. I need your stuff tested as well. Then we trade." Perhaps it could be tested through a couple executions.


"Deal." They ended up adjourning to a warehouse, where the goods could be inspected.


Large unnamed island,
[member="Delila Castillon"]


The tropical island was truly idyllic and a beauty to behold. Blue waves crashed against the sandy beach, vibrant green plants sprung up everywhere and palms rose up into the sky. It was definitely the right place to go sunbathing...or go into exile and forget the Galaxy! This one definitely thinks that the Patron Saint of Redheads should retire here!


Unfortunately, the locals were less than friendly. Once Dells' team moved deeper into the caverns and reached the actual silver mines, they would probably come across slaves being worked to death by pirates. The slavemasters were very liberal in applying shocks via electro-whips or simply beating their captives when they did not work fast enough. Defence systems had been set up in form of e-webs and such, though the corsairs might have grown complacent because so far the only battles had been with other pirate gangs. Likewise traps had been prepared in the caverns.


Speaking of the pirates, the landing of Dells' transport ship had not gone completely unnoticed. A scout patrol was being dispatched their way, though many of the corsairs were armed with guns that by galactic standards would be a tad outdated.

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"]

Location: Tripoli Base
Pirate Bar.

From the back of the bar, situated in a small dirty booth Coci sits watching and listening to the conversations around this pirate infested place. Nothing of her attire would give away her station in life, she looked for all purposes, just another wayward traveler in the galaxy. Cream trousers, brown skuffed boots, white shirts over which is her charcoal leather jacket which concealed her blaster and lightsaber. Corellian to the core. Oh Corellia, ripped asunder, countless lives lost had broken her heart.

There will be time later to discover exactly what happened to her beloved homeland and find a way to help all the displaced people that escape the destruction. But now she is here to aid the Sanctum, a small group of like minded people she considers friends and one in particular she would do anything for, a certain Master [member="Thurion Heavenshield"]. Coci watched the girl, feeting resting on the table and inviting trouble to say the least.

However, as the talks continued, a arms deal it seems, Coci grew more interested. The scum of the galaxy taking advantage of the tradgedy of others and this boiled her blood. She stood and moved to the bar, leaning against it with her back, looking as casual as able, and order another drink, she is closer to the small group but looked to pay no attention to them. The force is sparadic, inconsistant of late due to the events, but she probed the area regardless, sensing all in the room and their emotions.

As they stood to leave Coci turned away taking up her fresh drink as they passed her leaving to inspected the 'goods' no doubt, she would give it a little time before she would follow the girl.

((here by invitation))

 

[Nick Kahoshi]

It did not take long for Nick to find civilization, such as it was. The robes of the Jedi were designed to blend in to most of the Galaxy, but here he seemed to stand out. This was not the typical settlement on a backward planet, the men and woman here all seemed to have a purpose. Not to mention he noted what appeared to be eldorai slaves, which was odd by its own right.

As he neared what appeared to be a bar, the young woman that stepped from it made him stop for a moment. The hair was slightly off, but she looked strongly familiar. Not only that, but as he reached out she felt familiar. That he knew it was not Coryth only made the similarity stranger.

Then he felt the danger. Something was about to happen, and Nick decided he needed to be nearby when it did. Long strides carried him closer to the woman and the others, but he kept his view slightly off center and his sabers sheathed. He had long ago learned charging danger only tended to make things worse.

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"]

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Nick Kahoshi"], [member="Coci Sinopi"]


Arkas,
Tripoli HQ, Pirate Bar, warehouse with silver stuff.


By now Elpsis and company had reached the warehouse in question, where this particular band of corsairs stored their ill-begotten goods. In this particular case it was silver, which was extracted from the mines by the labour of slaves, who were forced to meet a regular quota by their masters, lest they suffer harsh penalties. Amputation of limbs was one of them. The two Jedi who had snuck into the base might have seen procession of slaves, being herded like beasts of burden.


With her Kar'zun companion guarding her, Elpsis was scanning a particular case of silver with some sort of PDA-like device. Presumably in this high-tech future where seemingly impossible things can happen such as force storms and faster-than-light-travel, there's some word method to determine the quality of minerals.


She frowned as she looked at what the instruments were telling her, tensing. "Somethin' wrong, boss?" Nara'zun, the laconic stone man, asked, though truth be told he had already figured there was. Likewise he had spent the time taking in the number of guards and the available exits, as she had.


"It's inferior silver," Elpsis said flatly, coldly. Prelude to redhead rage perhaps. As anyone who knows [member="Coryth Elaris"] well, pissing off redheads is never a good thing. She shot Teltri a cold look. On instinct, her hand had slipped down to her holster. "You think you can rip me off that easily? Deal's off unless I get quality."


"Oh, I assure you this was just a slip-up...I blame the slaves. You know how they are...," in this very moment the heavy blast doors abruptly closed. Well, given the fact that such durasteel doors closing causes quite a bit of noise, it was probably not that abrupt, but let us not spoil the dramatic and moderately predictable moment with banal realism and logic!


Thing was, Elpsis might...significantly more over her head in certain situations than she was ready to admit. However, she had dealt with enough underworld scum to know what was coming. Moreover, thanks to her mother, whom she had never known, she had some rather...handy gifts. She was barely trained in most of them. Indeed, she had chosen not to pursue her gifts in the Force. However, if there was one thing she had a knack for her, it was precog.


A little ability that could make all the difference at the right moment. For a change, the Force was with her. Doubtless things would backfire at some point given how wonky it was! A thug behind her pulled out his blaster and was about to unload it into her...except Elpsis did not give him time. In what might have been a blur she spun and quickly side-stepped ever so slightly out of the immediate trajectory. One hand went to grab the thug's gun hand and spin it around, her other, balled into a fist, went for his solar plexus. Always a good place to hit someone, as the cry showed.


Grabbing him by the throat she used her strength to turn him around as an improvised human shield, squeezing the trigger. One thug fell...stunned. That brought clarity about the fact that they had not intended to kill her...but have her join the slaves. Sheer rage boiled up inside her and as her improvised hostage struggled she sliced his throat and gave him a kick. Bringing out her own pistol, loaded with kill-bolts, she fired, a thug fell, but as bolts rained down upon her Elpsis was pulled into cover by Nara'zun, who used his considerable strength to toss a charging corsair into a wall, leaving a dent.


In the mayhem the lights were blown out, engulfing the warehouse in darkness. Seeking cover behind crates, Elpsis quickly hit her comm, informing her Cathar friend on her ship to better come here guns blazing. Another pirate was taken out, kill-bolt blasting his head very nicely, and, passing on a signal to Nara'zun to advance, she tossed in a frag grenade.


BANG BANG BANG


Alas, the pirates, after two had been blown up nicely, had the bright idea to lob grenades as well...gas. Feth. She had not put her helmet on! And so soon she was starting to cough as smoke and gas invaded her lungs. Tears appeared in her flesh eye and they started to pain. Her vision grew hazy, though dimly she could make out pirates advancing as she stumbled after being hit by a fume of gas. Stray blaster bolts shot through the air. Then suddenly a pirate gripped her from behind and violently smashed her into a crate. Blunt trauma. Nasty. Out of an open wound, blood began seeping out of her forehead. Hopefully it was not a concussion. As if the bloody coughing was not bad enough. She struggled in his grip and tried to ram her elbow into him, but found her efforts futile as he simply, till the pirate suddenly came down with an unfortunate case of having a Kar'zun break his arms, whereupon Elpsis, trying to control her breath, tore off his gas mask and slipped it on. Her knife gourged one of his eyes out and as he fell, she grabbed a discarded shotgun.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

[member="Coryth Elaris"], [member="Anya Venari"], [member="Hevana Martin"]


Clearly the throne room was a popular place! Unfortunately, Her Majesty did not have an, ahem, special throne in it. As it happened Siobhan was not there, but had called in via holocom from her house. Wait, how was the villa looking these days? This writer is not quite sure, but anyhow, holocom worked. She was trying to hide the fact that presumably Galina was holding her hand in a very tight, almost iron grip.



Truth be told, she was not looking good and it showed. Murdering your way across Vong-infested Alderaan and then jumping into a portal to the underworld because your family had vanished would do that to you. Her arm, the bionic one she had lost, had by now been replaced, though she still felt sore. Sometimes there was what you might call phantom pains. Her lost eye had been replaced, but she was not to rely on it yet because it was still new.


Aside from that, she was walking with a strong limp. Suffice to say her knee had been bashed pretty badly and she was leaning very heavily on her cane. At least it was a nice one, with intricate Eldorai runes. A bit unusually, she was dressed in a navy blue Firemane uniform. Perhaps a sign of more serious times. For her part, Kaida did her utmost to ignore her. It was accurate to say that both women cordially loathed one another and it seemed even an apocalypse would not change that.


This one thinks that Siobhan and Kaida need to get their priorities straight. "I'll leave those questions to the Queen," she said, though one got the impression that she knew exactly what Anya was going to say. Siobhan gave Coryth and Hevana a nod. "I won't be going myself, for obvious reasons, but I've contacted an old friend to help out. [member="Fabula Cavataio"]. We go...way back and she's a good fighter. Filled her in about stuff on Arkas and told her to meet with us. Communication has been sent to Firemane's units on Etti IV to help. Likewise I can assign Lieutenants Martin and Sergeant Solveig. Lieutenant Tempest is en route."


Presumably Siobhan knew how to contact Fabula, who had recently gone through some underworld experiences of her own. In essence the message was: 'Hi, Fabula, how are you doin'? Hope you're ok. Look, there's a little something you can help me with. Planet called Arkas, full of pirate scum enslaving people. Kaeshana is gonna send people to clobber them. Tempest is gonna be there. PS: We really need to catch up.'

 

[Coci Heavenshield]

[member="Elpsis Kallikora"] [member="Nick Kahoshi"]

Location: Tripoli Base
Pirate Bar on the move to the warehouse.

For the purposes of show, it appeared Coci had downed the rest of her drink and as she moved off to leave she gave the bar keep the nod of farewell while throwing some credits on the bar top. Stepping out side however, she spat out the content of the drink to the side walk, it is the most foul stuff she had ever tasted, being pregnant had something to do with it too. She began to follow the girl, ease enough having picked up on her force signature and it appeared she had caught the attention of another people. However, Coci ducked down an alley and would follow parallel to them and as she did, she pulled the force around her, and went into concealment. For now it held true, her force signature removed as well as her physical presence.

Her brow knitted, having to use more energy to maintain the concealment to an effective level, but she soon found the warehouse and entered undetected. It did not take long find the girl, did not really need to the force to indicate direction as the deal it seemed, went pear shaped and the sound of bolts echoed through the warehouse.

Coci made her way up a long corridor, passing many beings, slaves in a state of destitution and undernurished, some with limbs removed and shackled but first deal with the 'masters' before getting them to freedom. And this young girl is well over her head, Coci had been on the receiving end of such things before this, in her youth working for the resistance on Corellia and running guns and all manner of things knows well enough the fickle nature of the pirate or smuggler, and these ones are of the lowest water.

She turned into the room, unseen. The young girl holding her own for now, but the situation soon changed rapidly. With her arm extended, Coci grabbed one of the pirates and threw him to the wall, hitting hard before colapsing to the floor. This unfortuately disturbed the connection through the force and her cloak dropped, damn it.

"Hello there", she said to one of the surprised pirates. "Not a nice way to treat a girl now is it?", she added. At this point however, the room filled with gas, and she began to cough, her lungs burning with the foul stuff. Blaster bolts began coming her way, her saber jumped to her hand deflecting the bolts back from where they came, some hitting the offenders. Coci began to buckle effected by the gas, in an attempt to open a window at the back of the room, she levitated a bar of the silver and threw it out the window. The glass smashed sending shards to the fall and over those nearest. The plan worked to a point, as the gas began to escape out the window but not quickly enough.

 

[Galina Kerrigan-Alcori]

[member="Anya Venari"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"]

Siobhan was not alone, not at all. For since being separated from her mummy and trapped in the netherworld with Tegaea, and Chesna, the little redhead couldn't stand to be apart from Siobhan for more than a couple minutes at a time.

Clutching Siobhan's organic hand tightly, she stayed right by her side. Even since they had all returned together, she'd asked to stay in the same bed with her adoptive parents. You see, this was not the first loss the young redhead had been through.

She'd lost her brother and sister before she was old enough to truly remember them. Both had gone to war upon Sigma Nine-Five-Seven and never returned. Her biological parents then stole her away from the planet and ran the blockade. They perished on an arctic island that they crashed here upon. By sheer luck and the force manifesting its warnings, warned her to move to a different section of the ship and likely saved the young girl's life then. And for eight years, she was entirely alone, survive with primitive weapons on the frigid island. With the recent events separating her from Siobhan, she feared too much losing her mummy if she was separated again.

So, the young redhead sat beside her mother, glancing between the holoscreen and the brunette beside her. Her nerves clearly felt as the young woman still trembled a fair bit since coming back from the underworld. Her fears of losing her family had nearly come true, and frankly she couldn't bare losing a family that loved her twice over. For now, all she could do was keep them as close as she possibly could.

 

[Delila Castillon]

The island wasn't large by most standards. The security team has already fanned out around the perimeter and search for the caves. A young private even got in the water to scout of an outcropping of rocks. Which turned out to be nothing but rocks and coral. Beautiful,but not what they were looking for by any means. This left only the densely jungled interior to be scouted. The team would form a loose circle around their last area and slowly advance. Not scientific, but it did get the job done.


Cheeks red from the heat, sweat rolling down her neck, Delila welcomed the shade of the dense vegetation. Boots carefully crunched along, yet something seemed amiss. There was shouting -- and not from her group.


"Be on alert! Could be natives, could be pirates. Either way, it sounds angry"

Spoiler

Apologies for the short post. My eye is still on the fritz tonight

 

[Nick Kahoshi]

Nick watched as the durasteel doors slammed shut before him, locking the young woman on the other side. He felt danger, and heard the muffled thud of explosives. It would seem that his suspicion had been confirmed, she could use some assistance.

Reaching out he grabbed the doors with the Force, and while the Force was strange these days he fought it and pulled back. The durasteel doors tore free with a horrendous noise, sending many pirates in front of it scattering so as not to be crushed. Surrounding himself with the Force he launched himself forward, entering the warehouse at a startling speed lightsabers in both hands.

The room was dark, but the light from the wrecked entrance revealed gas filling the immediate area. Once more he reached out to the Force, attempting to push the wind away. This time the Force did not heed his commands easily, and the wind he created was wild. It succeeded in pushing the gas out a window another woman had just broken, but it now buffeted Nick and the others with random gusts from every direction.

One pirate seeing his entrance fired, then fell backward as the Jedi reflected the blaster bolt back into the pirate's chest. That brought the attention of a half dozen more pirates, and Nick found himself under heavy fire as he waded his way toward the women.

[member="Coci Sinopi"] [member="Elpsis Kallikora"]