For Unto Zion Shall Be Redemption

[Ardgal Raxis]

"But the laborer in Zion shall labor for Zion."
2 Nephi 26:31​

Everyone saw her fall to the duracrete in the middle of the lunch hour. Her flight had been short, quick, and horrific before she finally made contact to the hard ground.

As Ardgal looked over the young blue Twi'lek woman's body broken on the ground he felt a sense of pain. She was very young. Only 18. Ordinarily this would be a common simple affair for the local police of Commenor but there were several peculiarities so a professional was called in. A professional named Ardgal who would stop at nothing for justice, righting wrongs, and getting his job done.

The lord of the godkillers observed the skin on her wrists. They were rubbed raw to blistered bloodied scabs. The cyborg implant in his brain did a quick cross reference for what was the most likely cause. There was a 97% match up to severe rope burns? 86% to mandical bindings, and a 32% match up to zip tie binding damage.

The general rose to his feet, fists clenched in anger at the public death that had occured. He was calm, in control but felt righteous indignation at this. Something was certainly foul and he was going to find out one way or the other.

He looked to the Dark Messiah beside him. "Talk to the witnesses. Tell me what you can find. Be gentle." he stressed the word emphatically. "These are civilians. We treat them well. Our Order depends on doing well to the weak."

"Justice is doing for others what we would want done for us"​

--Bhuddist Philosophy​

With a sigh he shook his head. The middle of the business district during the rush hour. Some of the well to do and middle class going to work had witnessed the action. Past the police baricade the obligatory rubber neckers were well.... Rubber necking. What a time and place for a death to happen, Ardgal thought.

Spoiler

OOC: we will be running a number stories in this thread, all of them leading to the same pirate/slaver and criminal despot of the planet Murk Deathwood. Have fun my friends.

[member="Reshmar"] (King a la ships)
[member="Anya Loma "](The Dark Messiah)
[member="Gir Quee"] (I heard you were going to write with Resh on this one good sir.)
[member="Gray Raxis"] (As FA, tagging you seemed right)
[member="Lady Kay"] (le Presidente of Commenor)

 

[Anya Malvern]

She looked to the woman....ever since she was altered her state of mind had been....opened...she didn't feel the greater need for a nice rampage of death...and seeing this just caused her to stare silently...what was the need for her death...

She perked up and looked to her lord....the eye patch she now wore covered her eye rhat was changed for reasosn and a hood over that made her look quite the act"I will do as you say my lord I shall not be forceful nor harm" she said and started off to do her work

She looked around and went up to a person who the polic3 head away and motioned them off, she looked to the man couldn't be any old then 20 and spoke" I need to know what you saw before she fell..." she said

i...well I was walking down the street heading to my job...i...was across the street from the building at the cross walk waiting for traffic...i..oh god...I heard a scream and looked up to see something moving quickly then she hit the ground i..just..ohh gof

She held a hand up" that is all please do not hesitate to get help I imagine after this you may need it

With that she looked around again
[member="Ardgal Raxis"]

 

[Joran Greth]

Rothana - Rythan City - Blusak Detention Facility

Joran Greth walked into the interrogation room where hs had ordered the prisoner Tibus Kor sent. Kor had been the former governor's right hand and did the man's dirty work. Kor had been arrested when he placed the bomb which destroyed the power grid nearly two weeks ago. The power was repairs and the casualties buried, but Greth had no concern for that. He felt nothing for the dead, they were just gone, he felt very little for anything these days, other than power that is. Across the room the man was strapped onto a table which was pivoted up so the man was hanging by how wrists above the ground. Greth knew the man was in some considerable amount of pain as he had once been hung in such a way himself. The pain never really leaves you, it is always there int he back of your mind. Such pain is life changing, it seeps into your soul and mind as your body give way to the realization that the pain is more than you can endure. He did not expect the man to break as easily as he did, but then again he was more mercenary than loyalist. Beside the man stood his own right hand High Admiral [member="Desente Blissex"]

Blissex had sent for Greth after the prisoner had been broken and revealed the location of the governor's hideout in the orbital ring. Now the man hung from his torture device weeping and asking to be let down. Greth walked across the room tot he man and looked him in the eyes. he turned to his military commander smiled then back to Kor.

"So, you have finally come to your senses mister Kor, I hope my friends here at the prison have been hospitable," he said to the man with a grin on his face. Greth motioned to Blissex to let the man down so he was not hanging by his wrists. Greth then stepped back and let the man lower so he could support his weight.

"Admiral Blissex, please see our new freind mister Kor is well cared for, and that the information he has given us is sent to Colonel Tagge." Said Greth as he watched the man try to support his weight with atrophied legs.

 

[Desente Blissex]

Desente offered a mute nod of acknowledgement to [member="Joran Greth"] before turning his attention to Tibus Kor. He felt a brief twinge of pity toward's the man, but that was quickly overcome by the realization of who the man was. You brought yourself into this situation...you knew the risks...and the benefits. Being close to true power brings that up, whoever and wherever you are. I should know myself. The kuati man slowly helped the prisoner down with the help of one of the prison's detention personnel. Kor stumbled and let out an anguished moan, but Desente and the trooper quickly caught hold of the man.

"It may take some time for you to fully regain your strength," said Desente, helping the man to the bench, "during that time, I do hope that you seriously consider the other offer I mentioned to you earlier. I think that you will find that it is in your best interests."

Kor looked up, though his eyes struggled to make contact with his own, "I will...I swear I will..."

"Good."

Blissex left the man to linger in his cell under the careful attention of the jailor as he strode out to make a call to one Colonel Tagge.

 

[Kay-Larr]

Warehouse District 3 - Chasin City - Commenor

Spoiler

Kay crouched behind an air pipe on the rooftop of warehouse building 10, overlooking warehouse building 11. Wearing all black, the darkness of the night hid her well. Normally the President of Commenor would be deterred from going on a mission like this, but Kay was stubborn. She wanted to go alone but agreed to allow one of her security staff to come along with her.

There were rumours going around that [member="Cadan Tazi"] was spotted a few times. The Jackals pirate and slaver was one of her rivals during her time in Hutt Cartel space. She had encountered him on more than one occasion and always managed to get away from his crosshairs.

Slavery was illegal on Commenor. The heavy trade planet also forbade the transferring of slaves through it's ports, just as they were with spice and certain weapons and ammunition. So when she heard of Cadan being spotted, it revealed a breach in their screening personel in Warehouse District 3 that needed to be rectified. Patiently she waited for him to appear.

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

Ardgal was more than pleased at his Dark Messiah. She had before been a psychotic, deranged, lost girl trying to find her way. Now she was a leader; a hero in the bloom who would give hope, help to usher in an age of Order and Peace. He was in the business of making souls right, changing lives. It started with one and teaching them to pay it forward. That was how an empire was made and what it was for. Order begets Order, help begets help.

The general delicately pulled away the back of her shirt. His brow furrowed in puzzlement. There were many lashes, whipping marks that had been whelps gone bloody and rubbed raw. They were most certainly fresh, but judging by the pattern and age, there were many that were not. And scars from other whippings. He looked over her arms, there were burns; fresh, old, and recovered. He ran a logical conclusion and to be frank, he didn't like what he got.

It made his calm soul turn sour with righteous indignation. There were no good answers to this, no justifications. The examination completed, he briskly walked back into the building where this had taken place, the T&L Storage Complex. It was time for more data extraction.

[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Desente Blissex"]
[member="Joran Greth"]
[member="Anya Loma "]

 

[Anya Malvern]

The dark messiah moved through the street, she had gotten some info that helped, she jumped to comms" my lord I just spoke with a witness and it could firms something that I thought she was pushed off man said he saw something move quickly but didn't get a good look sent him for consuling "she said as she looked around there was too many people to interview

She sto]ed to think for a moment....there had to be something up where she fell...if the person had moved quickly that meant no time for them to clean up" my lord I'm going to check the area from which she fell I have a suspicion that there may be evidence "

With that she started towards the building and up to the roof

[member="Ardgal Raxis"][member="Lady Kay"][member="Desente Blissex"][member="Joran Greth"]

 

[Veris Tagge]

Colonel Tagge stood looking out across the snow covered plains before him. The twenty thousand acre preserve had become the new training grounds for the Imperium and also doubled as the Testing area for the new IFW weapons. at the moment he was watching a group of new class scout walkers maneuver and compete in a mock war game. The new walker was a new design meant to be open to a wider market and cheaper to construct than the AT-TA walkers. A walker made a direct hit on the other disabling it, then moving off to find another to pit itself against when the communicator on Veris' wrist went off. He looked at the text in the small wrist comm then pressed the button to answer the call.

"Admiral Blissex, How can I hel you?" he ask of the Imperium's High Commander.

[member="Desente Blissex"]

 

[Desente Blissex]

Admiral Blissex found himself staring at a mirror in the warden's office as he talked to Colonel [member="Veris Tagge"]. A man with as illustrious family name as my own. His eyes briefly scanned over the rows of security monitors as he waited for his call to get through to the other Imperial commander. His eyes fell upon the monitor that displayed Tibus Kor, who had taken to curling up into a ball on his cell bunk. An almost pitiful man. A brief tone emanated out of his datapad before he heard Tagge's voice.

"Colonel Tagge," offered Desente as an abbreviated greeting, "we have come across some information pertaining to...the world's previous government."

Blissex found that he disliked stating that government's official name. It was as if it left a bad taste in his mouth after he said it. But that didn't change the nature of what needed to be done.

"...It seems that we will likely be preparing a preemptive strike to...eliminate some surviving remnants of that government soon. I will transmit to your device a data packet with all of the pertinent information. It might perhaps be in your interest to contact Moff Greth about the role of your forces in this operation. I myself will be departing shortly to ensure that some final preparations are in place for the attack."

 

[Veris Tagge]

Veris paused for a moment while the transmission came through and he got a message that he had received the packet. HE saved the file for later and answered the High Admiral.

"Yes sir, I will be in the city tomorrow after these trials are at an end. I will see to visiting out Moff and what I can do for the Imperium then. Unless I need to rush this. IF so I can depart the grounds within the hour and leave this to my executive officer." said Tagge thinking over his choices. He had faith in his subordinate officers but he did not like to leave a job unfinished. He made up his mind as to what to do and spoke again before the High Admiral could respond. "I will just leave things here in the hands of my team High Admiral. Please inform Moff Greth I will be on my way to Rythan city within the hour."

[member="Desente Blissex"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

"Good work, Dark Messiah," Ardgal complemented her genuinely, stepping aside and pressing his earpiece close. He set his jaw with a grim expression, one that despite his best efforts strained through into his voice, "I see why the president called us in on this one, I just examined the body, you won't like what you hear."

Behind Ardgal, the forensics team were picking up last bits of data off her before they would move the young woman off the permacrete where she had landed.

Even after a lifetime of the mercenary side of the galaxy there were acts of cruelty that still got to him and this was certainly one of them, "We have signs of ongoing torture. Some are in very intimate places, Messiah. We are looking at more than your average death. I am running her face against recognition right now, hopefully we will find a helpful hit. Some sort of help at least."

He tapped on a nearby computer console, logging into the police database and a galactic database in another, running two different programs on her facial image.

[member="Anya Loma "]
[member="Lady Kay"]
[member="Desente Blissex"]
[member="Veris Tagge"]
[member="Joran Greth"]

 

[Cadan Tazi]

Warehouse District 3 - Chasin City - Commenor

Cadan leaned back in a a dingy looking chair, his robotic hand cradle a cup filled with a strong spitit. "I'm thinkin' maybe we 'it up Ryloth next boys? I 'aven't caught meself a tail'ead in a while!" Cadan chuckled and tossed the cup to one of the slaves chained next to him. "They'd probably fetch a better price that you!" The pirate laughed before looking towards the small crew he had in front of him.

"Now boys, I want you to go out and gather anyone interested in buyin' these 'ere 'merchandise'. And remember to keep it on the down low, or you'll end up like Tommy." As Cadan finished his sentence he looked to the lifeless body that laid next to some of his slaves.

Cadan knew that this endevour would attract some attention, and he knew one such person would be coming to investigate. She was always here to ruin his fun, but maybe if he could catch her she would make a good slave? As his crew headed out to get some buyers Cadan sat laid back in the chair and waited.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Desente Blissex]

"Understood. Blissex out."

Blissex quickly drafted a document that briefly described his interaction with [member="Veris Tagge"] which he promptly sent to [member="Joran Greth"]. With that done, the admiral began to do his own contigency planning. As much as he wanted to believe in the harsh efficiency of their interrogation of Tibus Kor, he knew that there could always be an error in what they had learned, especially if coming from only one source. Fortunately, being so close to the target area, and with the resources available to them, it did not seem likely that it could be something that they could not overcome. Desente steepled his fingers as he began to consider the assets that he could mobilize to deal with the threat and the possible scenarios which could arise from their actions. The door to the warden's office slid open to reveal a glossy black bipedal droid.

"Ah, RX-4," said Blissex, "I am glad that you are here. I trust that you were able to find the proper information in the archives?"

"Sir, I do believe so."

"Excellent. Let us depart then."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Warehouse District 3 - Chasic City - Commenor

Kay observed as a few thugs exited the warehouse. No sign of [member="Cadan Tazi"] though. She looked to her security and whispered, "We have to see who's there and what they are doing. Before you interrupt me let me tell you that I just plan on gathering evidence. Then we'll send it to the police and port authorities. If Cadan's here, he can rot in a cage for a while. Come on."

She slipped back past her cover and into the warehouse. Both her and her guard had their blasters on hand. They made their way down to the ground floor of the warehouse and then exited quietly, moving towards one of the windows that allowed them to see inside of warehouse 11. Kay clenched her jaw as she saw Cadan's profile, sitting in an old chair as if he was a king on a throne. And as expected there were slaves nearby. She recognized the look they had on their faces, their broken spirits. She brought out a recorder and began gathering video evidence, while her guard kept watch. He hoped that this wouldn't take long so that he could get her away from here and back to safety.

 

[Anya Malvern]

The dark messiah stopped at a stair case and gave a smile as she listned to her lord [member="Ardgal Raxis"] praise her work as she gave a bow of her head despite him noto being there" your praise fills me with determination my lord

But as he spoke in a strained voice she stopped at the top of the stairs and listened " go ahead my lord" as she listened she frowned and gripped her hand in a fist as she inhaled and exhaled to keep her cool" and those that have done such to her will feel the wrath of the vengeful one among them" with that she kept on moving upwards to the top then stopped...now she knew that after you killed someone you want down...or somewhere far away...she would investigate a warehouse nearby or even below

Upon arriving she frowned....sloppy job as there was the ropes that had more then likely binded the girl" my lord I have found ropes up here more then likely those that bounded the girl before her death

[member="Lady Kay"][member="Desente Blissex"][member="Cadan Tazi"]

 

[Ardgal Raxis]

The search came up with a positive match--but a very old one for database records like this. Her name was Genn Hamie, there wasn't much about her life that was important or spectacular. She had grown up as an average girl on the lower economic end of life on Ando, the daughter of very normal twi'lek parents. He quirked a brow when he saw the tell sign.

"This 18 year old girl disappeared three years ago," he said into the ear comm, "things just got a little more complicated. The case went cold almost immediately," he paused listening for a few more minutes. He had a hunch, just a hunch but still a hunch. However, he found that hunches were often just subconscious conclusions made by the secondary analysis of data for a more logical answer than the conscious could find.

"All data seems to point to a slave," he said with a nod, "But the real question is why someone would kill a slave--and if so, why so publicly?" there was no real logic involved; there were quieter, easier ways of disposing of a slave, more secure and less revealing methods. There was one real answer. Unless someone really wanted to ensure that it was impossible by all means to be traced back to the death. "I need to see if there are any security cameras, Messiah, I will check the first level here, do your work up there."

[member="Anya Loma "]

 

[Veris Tagge]

Veris walked into the office of the Moff and waited for the aide to allow him into the room. The large door slid open revealing a brightly lit large room with nothing but white backlight walls and a single desk in the center. He walked into the room and noticed Greth standing at the window looking out on the white snow-covered world in the distance. Tagge walked into the room to stand at the desk across from the single chair. It did not go unnoticed that the small desk was out of place in the massive room, but Tagge knew Greth was the type of man who did just this sort of thing to intimidate people. He had meet with the man enough times to know this room was meant for visitors and not his loyal officers.

"Moff Greth, I have arrived at your request, How can I be of service to the Imperium?"

 

[Joran Greth]

Greth stood at the window with his hands clasped at his back. He saw the colonel walk into the room out of the corner of his eye and waited for the man to fully enter and take up position at the desk before speaking. Greth heard Tagge speak then turned to acknowledge him with a nod. He walked across the floor from the window to the desk in the center of the room and took a seat behind it before speaking.

"Colonel Tagge, I trust you read over the report completely on your way in from the eastern barrens?" Asked Greth knowing full well the man had. He was a good officer and when it came to his competence Greth had no doubts in the man's abilities. "I need for you to lead a strike team into the abandon section of the orbital shipyard ring our sources have indicated to be the former governors center of operations." Said greth as he slid a data pad across the table for Tagge to pick up.

 

[Veris Tagge]

Veris watched the Moff as he walked across the room and sat behind the solitary desk. Greth was a man of few words and for as long as Tagge had known him he had never heard the man speak out of context or off topic. The Moff seldom meet with his officers these days. Blessix had been yoked with the day to day operations of the military since their occupation of Rothana. He was who most of the officers were dealing with now. That of the Chiss, which unsettled many of the loyal human officers of the Imperium. It seemed every day more and more Chiss were seen around the officer's clubs and social areas of the capital. Then there were the Rogithians, they were seldom seen and kept to themselves for the most part. But when one ventured out of their areas they were noticed. The nearly three-meter tall humans could not be missed.

Varis grabbed the pad Greth had slide across the table and looked over the information. Detailed plans for the station and the sections in general, were detailed in depth on the first page. As he scrolled to other pages information on the former governor and his associated and the battle plan for assaulting the ring were laid out. He read the body of text them placed the pad on the desk.

"Will I have the full athority of your office in this Moff Greth?" ask Tagge making sure he had what he needed to get the job done.

 

[Joran Greth]

Joran Greth took the pad now sitting on the table before him. Tagge was known to have near eidetic memory so Greth did not give it a second thought that the man knew what he was being ordered to do. Tagge was to assail the dormant section of the orbital ring and apprehended the former governor and his loyalists. The order read dead or alive but Greth knew Tagge would most certainly kill everyone given the freedom to do so. Greth had thought about having the man and his lackeys taken alive for questioning but at this point, they had become such a problem they would better serve moral dead. He thought for a moment about the man's question, what did it truly mean for Tagge to have his full authority. What freedoms would the colonel take now given a free ticket to use any means he saw fit to finish his assignment. HE placed the pad in the top left drawer of his table and closed and locked it them answered.

"Of course colonel, You have anything you need. Just put an end to this man and his loyalists once and for all so we can move along to making Rothana Great again." said Greth with a slight smirk knowing full well he had just given the man permission to rain hell and death down on anyone between him and the former governor of Rothana.