Dominion Return of the Sages | GA Dominion of Dorin Hex

[Corazona von Ascania]

Gatz Derrevar Jalen Kai'el

"They didn't say ugly…" Cora trailed, though they might as well have.

She blinked again, still caught off guard by the insinuation and now the appearance of two friends of her own. Gatz's comment made her flush a bright pink. Cora gave him a small, abashed smile and a grateful tilt of her head.

Jalen's comment had the girls stiffening in surprise. What if this got back to Ko and he hated them??

"I t…I told you that was rude!" One hissed. "You're not supposed to say things like that, even if it's true!"

"Ko will never talk to us now!"

"I didn't say that! I said that she just looks…different!"

"That's still not something you should say!! Sorry, Miss. She can be so thick-skulled sometimes!"

One last flutter blinked away the surprise. Cora's face warmed, and she chuckled softly. The girls must have been no older than 14 or 15 - not that she was an expert on Kel'dor biology - and were still learning to navigate social graces. They were not malicious, just lacking in tact.

"It's alright. Just don't let Ko hear you talking like that, hmm?"

It was hard to imagine the humble Ko as a heartthrob. Maybe he wasn't aware? Maybe he was but was too polite to mention it?

Trying to rectify the situation, one of the girls pointed a clawed finger at another human in the group photo.

"Is that your boyfriend? He looks…very human."

Cora glanced to the screen.

"Er, no. That's Colette . She's female."

"Kana!" The two others snapped at the same time.

"What! Sorry!"

One of the girls shook her head, then fixed her attention on Gatz and Jalen.

"Are you two Jedi as well? Have you met Ko Vuto?"

 

[Ko Vuto]

Location: Dorin
Objective: BYOO
Tag: Jonyna Si

As they spoke, the Sage made no mention of the wraps around Ko’s eyes, or at least what used to be his eyes. It wasn’t hard to imagine a Kel Dor offworld going blind. Especially one with the adventurous lifestyle of a young jedi.

Jonyna’s mention that she took pride in training Ko was certainly encouraging. It also sounded like he was living up to her expectations more than he would’ve thought. “I’m grateful to hear that. We here in the Baran Do believed that Ko would be in trustworthy and capable hands when we looked into getting him transferred to the New Jedi Order.” Pon said to Jonyna. All those years ago they had to foresight to know that the Jedi would be a better fit for the rambunctious young Kel Dor, who wanted to grow up to be just like his older brother.

“We’re glad you’re back, if only temporarily.” The Sage added, glancing back to Ko. “Some of us here wish to see you finish your training as an apprentice. Believing that your time as a youngling and padawan will greatly expedite the process.”

The suggestion that he could complete his training as an apprentice with the Baran Do had caught him off guard. “R-Really?” Ko replied, his voice cracking some. He had sounded notably different without his mask from not needing to speak into a microphone built into it. “But it’s been years since I trained here. I couldn’t possibly be close to earning a higher rank here.” He replied doubtful of the prospect of being the equivalent of a knight within the local force tradition.

“Ko, I’m sure you’re aware that the Jedi and Baran Do aren’t too dissimilar, and have plenty of overlap. Plus if your bonsai tree is still healthy it would tell me that you’re still connected to your roots here on Dorin.” Pon explained to Ko. Reminding him of the small tree she had tasked him with caring for when he was small. “Also using the knowledge of tea brewing that your Uncle taught you, or your calligraphy.” She mentioned, calling back to some of the various hobbies he had maintained from his brief time as an apprentice here. All tasks that required patience and discouraged hastiness. Principles that were all a large focus of the Baran Do.

“Subtly you’ve still been training as a Sage even as a Jedi. You’re sort of a dual enrollment student. The two orders are not mutually exclusive, and there have been a good number of renowned Kel Dor Force Adepts who were members of both the Baran Do and Jedi.“ Pon Dool further explained to Ko. She was right of course. Several legendary Jedi that came from Dorin often had a place in both orders.

“I never really thought about it like that. I learned to do those things here, but I always felt like I kept them up for different reasons. But regardless of why, I suppose the effect is still the same.” Ko wondered if they had always known that he would become a Jedi, and spent the limited time he had here instilling these practices to carry with him after becoming a youngling. But now there was also something else Ko had wanted to ask Pon.

“Um… You mentioned my Uncle. How is he? I haven’t seen him here yet.” Ko had wondered if his uncle might be off on some sort of mission or advising a powerful family here on Dorin. He was the senior combat instructor of The Order when Ko was younger. So he could even be teaching some important lessons. But sensed a bit of apprehension from Pon from his question.

“You’re uncle Xojo… I’m afraid he’d been away from the order for some time now. He’s still alive I believe. But it has grown very distant for years now.” That wasn’t really good news, but in some ways hearing that he was still alive was a relief to Ko. For a long time he wasn’t sure if he was the last of his family still alive. But he wasn’t sure why he’d grown distant from the Baran Do. ​

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Sith Lightsaber - Concealed within R4-Z3
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Jalen Kai'el

Someone stepped up next to him, after he'd stepped up next to Cora. Gatz recognized neither his presence in the Force, nor his voice. And with these stupid masks in the way, he couldn't get a look at the kid's face either. Ah well. That wasn't really important. Even without all those things to divine who this blonde kid was, Gatz could still tell he was a Padawan. It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd gotten lost.

"Yeah, good try, but that doesn't really mean anything in this instance."

"I didn't say it for their benefit, kid."

He'd said it for Cora's. But maybe the kid was a little young to understand that. Gatz didn't care if these teenaged girls thought that Cora was pretty or not. He only cared that Cora thought that Cora was pretty. And that old scoundrel charm of his wasn't good for much these days—had never really been good for much, really—but if it could be put to use to bolster a friend's confidence in herself...

Well, then why wouldn't he? It was just a shame that he couldn't properly see Cora flushing through her mask, or his own. That would have been a sight to tease her about for days to come.

But then the kid said something about a Ko Vuto? Gatz had absolutely no idea who that was, but these teenagers sure seemed to. Was he, like, in a boy band or something? Teenage heartthrob? He'd ask Cora later. For now, he was amused by their sheer concern that this 'Ko' would hate them now. Teenagers. So stupid.

And that amusement turned into a stifled snort, as Cora showed the gaggle of Kel'dor a picture of Colette, only for her to be mistaken for a man. Was it mature of him to laugh at Colette's expense? No. Was it a funny misunderstanding though? Yes, very much so. He was just glad the brat wasn't here to witness it. She'd probably have been embarrassed and indignant.

But, finally, the teenagers turned to him.

"Jedi? Yes."

Gatz almost went on to say that he had absolutely no idea who Ko Vuto was. But then a terrible, evil plan hatched in his mind. One that was certain to mortify Cora. A smile crept onto his face.

"Ko Vuto? Why are you asking us?" Gatz couldn't keep the unbridled joy at what he was about to do out of his voice, and he gestured toward Cora with a tilt of his head, "you were just talking to his girlfriend."

 

[Lodd Grimmin]

CONSQUENCES

>> HOLO.ENCRYPT//113M-ejj--; data=ghosted; data-uplink=secure; masking-status=active; function=security; permissions=limited;]

"The Alliance Occupation of Dorin poses a delicate problem to the Trade Federation of Planets, Minister Grimminger. The remaining Imperial Officers and Loyalist supporters remaining on the Surface will need to be evacuated before they can spill any information regarding the Federation's Support for the New Imperial Order and their successive government in the Empire of the Lost."

There was a simple glance behind round tinted sunglasses as they stared from the upper floor window of the warehouse in the City of Dor'galk on Dorin. It was a delicate mission that the Minister had been assigned by the upper echelons, evacuating any remaining imperial officers and loyalty supporters trapped on the world during the end of the Imperial Occupation. It was going to be difficult given the Alliance Defense Forces and the New Jedi Order had arrived on the petitioning of the Dorin Government and were likely searching for remnants to capture and officials to neutralize. The warehouse district in the city was located quite some distance away from the Spaceports which would give them roughly a few hours to find and assist the local imperials to escape the surface and be transported to the Empire of the Lost's space for protection.

Inside the warehouse proper, they had managed to smuggle in some Trade Federation Freighters which had been brought past the Alliance Defense Fleet in orbit by claiming that it was relief supplies for the population. It was a quite suspicious reasoning as Dorin was not apart of the Alliance yet, but the commanding officer of the fleet had owed the Federation a favor for not exposing credit fraud in his accounts. Grimminger moved down from the upper floor towards the ground level to assist the ground crew in finding and guiding Imperial Officers to their location.

"How is it looking on our end?" a simple question but one of vital importance.

"Sir, we have located about 5 Imperial Officers during our search of the city before our landing was made. But the Alliance and Local Investagtors are quickly moving in on us." OM-11 reported, an ancient BB-1 Battle droid which was left over from the Ancient Clone Wars Surplus, that the Federation had managed to regain during negotiations with the New Imperial Order.

"Terrible news but we've made some progress, Let us hope that I am not seen here otherwise I would have a lot of explaining to do in front of the senate." Grimminger sighed to himself, the chances of being captured and interrogated was high. Some of the Loyalist Supporters had already arrived and were being loaded onto the transports after making sure that they weren't being tracked down by the Strategic Intelligence Agency

 

[Vera Noble]

Dorrin

​

Tag: Aris Noble BB-610

At first, Vera smiled when she heard Bee's voice. But she did pick up on her brother's feelings, and noticed his little frown. Bee picked up on it too, and did what he always did best — be there for his family to provide comfort and encourage. Aris wasn't someone to wallow in self-pity, but Vera did want him to feel confident about what he'd do for this mission.

"Yeah! You'll do great, Aris. My visions aren't precise, so we have to investigate closer. I... really need your help with that." This was still dangerous territory and he was the duelist. She felt safe with him by her side, and Bee would be there to assist too. Together, she figured they'd make for an excellent team.

In addition, it was some insight into what their Mom once did, and she hoped that was worth something, too.

"Bee? Could you help us document what we find?" Vera then asked. "Locations, voice samples, details — everything we find can be useful in their case." All those spy shows she watched were finally useful to her. This was the type of stuff she loved, and now she was doing it herself!

"My first location to check out is just up ahead. There should be an old speeder parked in front of the garage door, and a bright, red neon sign above the building. I... saw something there when we were landing." But what would be there? She had a feeling it was an Imperial, but her visions could show other kinds of trouble, too.

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Dorin
Tags: Corazona von Ascania , Gatz Derrevar

​

"you were just talking to his girlfriend."

Jalen turned to the older man with a rather dumbfounded look on his face. That was the last thing he expected to hear, and perhaps the worst as well. Cora was in for it now, and probably not in the good way. Gatz had no idea the depths of hell that could come from the jealousy of teenage girls.

"What are you talking about?" Jalen asked with a smirk. "You hit your head? Ko's single as they get. Besides, Cora's got mushy romance stuff going on with Makko. I'm blind and even I noticed."

He sighed, giving a dismissive hand wave as he went back to plucking at his strings.

"Sorry about the old guy," he added. "I don't think he pays attention that much."

Crisis averted. Hopefully.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

​

---

Objective II
Consequences

​

Location: SIA Safehouse Meeting
Objective: Start Investigation.
Tags: Harvey Denson

Katarine was in the back of the meeting, leaning against the wall with her arms folded across her chest. She wasn't exactly fond of partaking in what she had always called 'the boys club' even if there were several female SIA agents in the mix. The reason she had labeled law enforcement with this title was because they usually acted like one of those clubs that sought to keep women out, only this time they weren't keeping her out because she was female but more because she was a Jedi. Most of them didn't like working with Jedi in her experience, though that was nine hundred years ago. Who knew what the galaxy was like now. Things could change but Kat could swear she had already gotten three dirty looks when they saw the lightsabers clipped to her belt. In her experience it was a lack of trust in Jedi or an unease about them that made it difficult to do the type of work she did. Kat was no ordinary Jedi. She was a Jedi Investigator who had served the Republic undercover for most of her life. She often felt more like a cop than a Jedi but when she was in a room full of real agents she realized that she didn't fit in as much as she wanted.

There was a highly official looking SIA agent giving them a brief and she realized she had been drifting and decided to try and pay attention.

".... Many are going to be aiming to get off world as quickly as they can. We have already put you in pairs and a few other agents are already on the ground. You know what you have to do. Use the frequency if you get in trouble and try to work smarter. We don't want to spook too many of them or we might let some slip through our fingers. The rest is in your briefing notes."

Kat stared down at the datapad in front of her. Thankfully it had been turned on and set to the page she needed when it had been handed to her. Kat was still getting used to the technology in this day and age. The datapads had a lot more buttons on them than they had nine hundred years ago when she served.

Her deep green eyes scanned the information about her new assigned partner and she glanced around the room. He was the one who walked in late. She pushed off the wall and merged her way through the now moving crowed towards the man, noticing as she did so he was handsome, obviously rough around the edges, and looked like someone who didn't always play by the rules. Lucky her. She felt the corners of her mouth twitch up but reminded herself to behave and not give the man a hard time. He was probably already cussing his luck at drawing the short straw and getting assigned a Jedi.

"Detective Denson? I'm Master Ryiah."

​

 

[Jonyna Si]

“You’re uncle Xojo… I’m afraid he’d been away from the order for some time now. He’s still alive I believe. But it has grown very distant for years now.”

​

"You never mentioned an uncle. Is he someone close to you Ko?" Jonyna's voice was soft, caring. It was clear how she saw the boy, and even if they weren't related, it still felt that way.

The thought of her padawan becoming a Sage, a word that meant something very different in her culture, but seemed important to him, she smiled. "You should do it. I mean, you can still be a jedi and train here, yeah?"

Tag: Ko Vuto

 

[Aris Noble]

Aris blinked in surprise as Bee nuzzled his hand, then smiled after a moment. They saw his frown, then. He hadn't thought much of it himself, but they seemed to. Both of them. He looked over towards Vera, nodding once. She was trying to make him feel included. He was no better at figuring out who might be the people they're searching for than her, but he could at least help with that much. Two heads better than one, and all that.

Three was even better, especially when one was cybernetic.

"What exactly did you see, Vera?"

Vera Noble | BB-610

 

[Damian Du Couteau]

Damian Du Couteau, Senator of Empress Teta
Location: Black Hole Observatory, Dorin
Objective: Threading the Needle
Outfit

It was a strange feeling to have for Damian when Captain Drake couldn’t confirm that Mister Merril survived challenging a black hole. It’s just a tall tale, don’t get so attached Damian. With a quick glance, Damian followed Captain Drake’s gesture towards his ship. Why do I feel like I read about him from somewhere? Damian narrowed his eyes in concentration, memories of articles during the Maw invasion and attacks flooded. With a quick shake of his head Damian returned his attention to the back hole. I don't want to bring in work from the Senate, why bother someone if they were apart of the Alliance. Damian couldn’t help but smile when Captain Drake asked if he was an anchorite, shaking his head he turned to face the Captain.

“No, I’m just easily impressed, especially when I can witness them.” He explained as he gestured with his right hand towards the black hole that was in a long process of tearing apart a nearby celestial body.

“But maybe you’re right, perhaps the universe is simply showing off, that there is something that makes even the power of the Force insignificant.” Damian added, a bit wistful, “-I mean even relative to things we can control, it’s only been recently since we’ve been able to destroy planetary bodies. Though never to the extent of a black hole.”

“I still believe in a day that we’ll be able to fly though one, as ridiculous as that sounds, because I think there is nothing more insatiable than our need to explore and beat the impossible.” Damian added with a small laugh, More insatiable than a black hole even, the heat death of the universe won’t extinguish that fire. . . my how poetic of you Damian.
​

|| Atlas Drake ||​

 

[Harvey Denson]

Location: Dorin
Objective: Consequences
Theme: Fly Like An Eagle

​

//: SIA Safehouse, Dorin…

“Master?” Harvey repeated with a raised brow. He took a large mouthful of coffee to regain his vigor, then looked to @Katarina Ryiah with a mix of dread and confusion.

“Didn’t know the agency worked with Jedi Spooks…”

A smaller sip this time as he thought over the situation. He supposed it couldn’t hurt to have a Jedi’s special talents. Better than the Imps having the upper hand, he figured. Dorin was their turf, after all. And as much as the good ole GA wanted to deny it, there was always a chunk of the population who loved the Empire.

They were bound to run into folks who wanted to protect their grey-suit buddies. Yeah, a Jedi’s insight could be good…

He blinked back into the conversation, quirking his mouth into an apologetic smirk.

“Sorry, sorry. We’re all in this together. Yeah, I’m Denson. It’s good to meet you… erm- Master. So, where d’ya wanna start?” He flicked through the dossier on his datapad, passing over several human and near-human faces before coming across a nasty looking Chiss fella. His hand hesitated for a moment, eyes widening a bit, and then he scrolled away.

“I’m game for any of them,” he said.

- Katarine Ryiah -​

 

[BB-610]

CONSEQUENCES

| LOCATION: Dorin |
| TAG: Vera Noble | Aris Noble |


BB-610 nodded with a happy chirp, content with recording their progress. If nothing else, it would serve as good memorabilia to reflect on when the two had grown older; one of their first missions together, and he was there to help document it all. The droid hadn't had a single memory wipe since being taken care of by Valery, with his logs all neatly tucked away within his memory banks.

As their walk continued, BB-610 couldn't help but roll a tad faster, enough to take the trio's lead. He hadn't doubted Vera's description, but it hardly seemed like the safest place for children, so with a strong overprotective nature, the droid opted to take the heat should any surprises spring up before them. His motors whirred idly, and to ensure they'd stay on track, his lifeform scanner soon emerged from his head.

With the swirl of its satellite, a small speck dotted his internal radar. BB-610 bweeped, saying that he'd detected somebody up ahead. Soon enough, his radar blinked once more - its dot not far from the first - to the astromech's surprise. BB-610 bweeped again, continuing by saying that he'd picked up somebody else as well.

He was unsure of whether the two unidentified lifeforms were working together, or if one had simply happened to walk close by to the other, but a sinking feeling was beginning to well at his core. BB-610 kept his position firmly ahead of the Nobles, his optic narrowing.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Ko Vuto? Why are you asking us?"
"you were just talking to his girlfriend."

Cora blinked. Hard. She was doing quite a lot of that today.

Her head slowly turned toward Gatz like she was a mechanical doll. If he thought she'd glared at him during their trip to Ukatis, the stare she gave him now could've vaporized the ex-smuggler where he stood. The little notes of glee in his voice almost made her seethe.

If Makko had been here, he'd likely be trying to stifle his laughter.

The girls gasped loudly, drawing in a few stares from passersby.

"You're his g...g-g-g…"

The trio of Kel'dor teenagers managed to look amazed and enraged at the same time. Jalen cut in before they could tip over into pure anguish with a mention of Makko.

"Oh, I think he knows exactly what he's doing." Cora muttered to Jalen, loud enough for Gatz to hear.

The girls quieted for a moment, taking this new information into consideration until one of them squealed;

"Y…you're cheating on Ko?!"

Cora's left eyebrow twitched. She pressed two fingers to either of her temples in an attempt to massage out the coming headache before it hit in earnest.

"Gatz, you'd better pray that I'm not in charge of your training regime one day."

Gatz Derrevar Jalen Kai'el

 

[Vulpesen]

"Busy," Vulpesen responded, his smiling face hidden beneath the vulpine facade of his mask. "Though I'm getting better at allowing others to lighten the load." Elias' next question regarding Vulpesen's people was a little more tricky as to his personal affairs. Not in terms of any complication, but more in terms of the politics that it involved. How his people fared during war time had been a sticking point last time the Vlade had attempted to expand Veradune's prospects into the wider galaxy. The silver jedi had been... unappreciative of their talents.

"Zorrens are born to protect the galaxy. At our heart, we are warriors ill suited to peace so I think we've been faring well enough." The Wilders were often more concerned with the internal struggles of Veradune, content to safeguard the wild places in the world. Still, there had been talk of integrating them into the Armis militia. But such were discussions left for halls of the Howlaw court, not the Baran Do.

"You should have seen this place sixty five years ago. The Baran Do sages were one of my main stops before I became a jedi. You see, I took a couple years to go on a sort of pilgrimage. The Fallanassi, the Aing-tii, and of courses the Baran Do, I visited all of them to learn what I could of the force before I joined the jedi." Vulpesen let out a soft chuckle as he strode over to press a hand lightly agaisnt one of the pillars. "If only I'd known just how little of the surface I was scratching." He turned to face Elias once more. "What about you? First time weathering Dorin's storms?"

Elias Edo

 

[Gatz Derrevar]

Ship: The Red Night
Weapons: Training Saber
Tag: Corazona von Ascania Jalen Kai'el

The youngest of the blonde trio didn't understand what the oldest of the blonde trio was trying to do. That was: create entertainment for himself. If Gatz had to sit here on this dumb planet, with its dumb air that he couldn't breathe, then he could at least find someway to have a good time. Now, was he poking the bear? Very much so. Cora was practically the only reason he hadn't flunked out of the Order yet.

But... well... it was totally worth failing in his studies to see where this was going to go.

"Just watch, kid."

The Kel'dor teenagers had a great reaction, of course. At first came the stuttering anxiety. They were afraid that they'd just insulted their celebrity crush's girlfriend, and Gatz was well versed enough in Kel'dor facial expressions to see them warp through shock, and doubt, and mortification, and surprise. But, if he were to be completely honest, Gatz hadn't fibbed to see their reactions.

Naturally, he only cared about Cora.

And boy, did he get what he was looking for: she turned to look at him, the motion slow and deliberate, like a marionette out of some horror movie. Her glare was more heated than any Valery had ever pointed his way, and while it did send shivers down Gatz's spine (frankly, of both the bad and good varieties), he just beamed at her through his stupid mask. Oh if only this clunky thing wasn't in the way of his face. Even tired, and with bags under his eyes, he was a pretty man. Cora couldn't possibly have stayed mad at him, if she'd been properly able to see his toothy grin.

And then came the kicker that Gatz hadn't been expecting: the girls accusing Cora of cheating on Ko. And all because the youngest of the blondes had opened his mouth. Maybe the kid was good for something after all!

Cora pressed her fingers against her temples. That was when Gatz knew he had truly succeeded.

"Gatz, you'd better pray that I'm not in charge of your training regime one day."

"Oh, but it was so worth it, Princess."

 

[Jalen Kai'el]

Dorin
Tags: Corazona von Ascania , Gatz Derrevar

​

"Oh, I think he knows exactly what he's doing."

"Just watch, kid."

"Oh," Jalen frowned.

He was playing around. A ruse, nefarious behavior masked under oblivious observation. And it seemed to be working. The situation proceeded to escalate, with the Kel'Dor teens somehow concluding that Cora had cheated on Ko.

"Are you deaf?" he asked. "I said Ko was single. He hasn't been dating anybody. How the hell did you get cheating?"

So this was the game they were getting at, was it? Jalen needed to adapt to the situation. He could shift and join in on messing around, but unfortunately for Gatz he had an allegiance that was already decided. Reading auras could only get him so far. He needed something to get a reaction that would shift the scenerio to their favor. But what to do... The answer seemed obvious pretty clear as day the moment Jalen gave it any thought:

He'd call Gatz's bluff.

"Hey, I don't recall you ever meeting Ko," Jalen observed, directed towards the oldest of the trio. "You can't've heard anything from him directly, yeah?" Now he had an in. The young man gave a shrug. "I suppose gossip is pretty commonplace for fresh-faced padawans."

Checkmate.

 

[Atlas Drake]

Damian Du Couteau ​

---

Captain Drake chuckled.

"Kid, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the other. I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful Force controlling everything."

Of course he'd met Jedi before, but that didn't make Atlas a convert to their hokey religion. Skepticism was a common Outer Rim trait where the temples were too scattered and old tales grew into legend. So what if he couldn't explain everything he'd seen in that cave on Dagobah? No weirder than growing up close to the Kathol Rift.

“I still believe in a day that we’ll be able to fly though one, as ridiculous as that sounds, because I think there is nothing more insatiable than our need to explore and beat the impossible.”

"I'll drink to that!" he gave Damian a hearty shoulder slap, "There's always a new horizon. If only the blasted Senate agreed."

Ever since Exegol, funding for projects like Outbound Flight had slowly dried up in favor of post-war reconstruction. Now with mandalorian raids on Inner Rim worlds it felt like the Alliance's brief era of discovery was ending. Drake still looked clueless that he was complaining about politics to one of the most powerful individuals in this star system.

 

[Danthem Scipios]

​

System: Dorin
Objective: Objective 2 Consequences
Tags: Open

In the long and fabled history of fighter pilots it could hardly be said that one led a boring life. Sure there was the reams of paperwork that came with briefing and debriefing and more forms to fill out for an ordinance drop than was probably absolutely necessary but the thrill of flying even a training platform was an experience few got the chance to feel. At least that was what was advertised in the Galactic Alliance's recruitment holos. They tended to leave out quite how boring and laborious hyperspace chart plotting was. Then how you slowly feel your biological undercarriage go numb while in translation through that swirling blue which connected the systems together. Even now as he ran over the post jump checklist scrawled in small font in the plastic sleeve of his knee board, Danthem shuffled about as to try and get some of the blood flowing again. His eyes drifted across to the master electrics panel within his cockpit and following a few moments to check that none of the lights that were on that shouldn't be as well as vice versa.

The pilot sighed and leaned back into his seat wiggling his toes to keep blood moving in his legs keying the comm-link.

"Two one, tuning tac on channel one." He said clearly into the microphone within his helmet.

"Two." Came the reply from the second ship that had been dispatched from their detached flight.

Danthem glanced to the bottom right of his cockpit and twisted a small knob to adjust his fuel bingo warning indicator. The two ships had been lucky enough to hit a tanker en-route from the Naval Air Station they had been based out of giving them a good amount of time over their target area. In truth the dance to line up on the larger ships boom and hold position was the most exciting thing that was expected to happen on this mission. He pushed the communications button then keyed in the pre-briefed channel frequency and pushed enter.

"Dorin traffic, Alien two-one checking in on frequency. Two ship in-bound for Dor'galk airspace. Transmitting codes now."

He twisted his head back and peered through the canopy of his snub-fighter to gain a visual contact with the U-Wing gunship behind him. He looked at the swept back wings of the vessel and gave the other pilot a nod before the area controller came back over the net to clear their flight path through the space lane and down toward the planet below.

"Copy traffic, Alien out."

With that out the way the two ships rolled slightly to shift themselves onto the correct heading before pushing throttles up to cruise. Now the real flying would begin. Their tasking had been opaque to say the lease. Danthem was flying lead in the fighter with the primary mission of running escort for the larger drop-ship. His secondary mission had been to provide assistance to alliance allied forces on the ground with his on board sensors to search for and track specified targets should it be required and use the electronic warfare suite to facilitate the interception and monitoring of lesser encrypted communication channels. The U-Wing he was escorting sat in configuration for transport and casualty evacuation role should the ground team require it.

"One, setting barometric to two niner niner four. Setup your nav and flir weather looks rough down there. Below clouds might even get stuck on instruments so be careful."

"Two copies all. Setting barometric and bringing up instruments."

And with that he pushed the flight stick forward and bunted the nose down toward the planet below.

 

[Katarine Ryiah]

​

​

---

Objective II
Consequences

​

Location: SIA Safehouse Meeting
Objective: Start Investigation.
Tags: Harvey Denson

So far it was going better than she expected. He seemed surprised she was a Jedi but not too put out about it. That at least skipped over the tough guy routine she usually had to deal with.


"Didn't know the agency worked with Jedi Spooks…"

"Sometimes they do. I've hunted Imperials before and besides I can't stand politics. It was this or serve as a diplomat today."

There was little else Kat hated more than politicians so she would willingly throw herself into a lions den rather than deal with a bunch of stuffy political discourse.

"Sorry, sorry. We're all in this together. Yeah, I'm Denson. It's good to meet you… erm- Master. So, where d'ya wanna start?"

She chuckled at the way he said master. "You can call me Kat." She had felt something when his eyes widened and glanced as his screen. She lightly slid her finger out and scrolled backward, so that the angry Chiss was staring at them.

"Let's start here. You know this one?"

She was perhaps too perceptive for her own good but they had to start somewhere after all and if he already had intel that might help them.

​

 

[Nathan Bloodscrawl]

Nathan followed the Sorceress and Renald quietly, his mere presence enough to cause unease in Renald.

"Myg..." he whispered to the Sorceress of Mygeeto as they got closer to the start of the mountain trail. "This guy feels all wrong. What kinda Padawan gets snake eyes like that?"

"The kind who's had a hard life." The Sorceress answered. "Force Spawn are capable of great destruction and death...or have you so easily forgotten what happened at Metallos?" Myg asked.

"If The Lightbreach Coven hadn't acted, the whole surface of the planet would have bitten it." Renald countered.

"The Coven has made its own mistakes and has been too aggressive at certain times where subtlety would have been a far better option. Sometimes we deserve the suspicion. Even you were worried about encountering one of us at one point."

Renald thought about it, then slowly nodded in acknowledgement.

The trail had clearly been marked by the Ancient Baran Do sages, and the lightning started to flash as they stepped over the threshold.

"This place is strong in the Force..." Nathan remarked. "This Jedi Master you seek. Is he a Kel Dor?"

"Yes." Myg answered. "He is very wise, and I have a great deal of respect for him. His name is Fros N'iama."

What Jedi Master would be so foolish as to trust you? Nathan wondered in private. He only worked with Syd because he required her knowledge, At no point did he extend her any form of trust or confidence. He treated murderous, bloodthirsty Androids with more respect and consideration than he did Force Spawn.

His thoughts wandered once again back to the voluptuous, stab-happy killer-lawyer-android, Vera. He crushed them immediately. Sensations and feelings could be felt more strongly by Force Spawn. It was why he despised Syd so much. He could hide nothing from her. It was a nightmare he couldn't wake from.

The trail began to incline upward, and that was when Nathan noticed the flashes of lightning in the distance. Bright and large and yellow. The rumbles of thunder made the ground rattle, even at this range.

"If we're going to reach this Jedi Master, we should hurry. Does the shrine have sufficient cover from the storms?" Nathan asked.

"Of course." Myg assured him.

The lightning flashes grew closer, and Nathan spotted a corpse, wearing old imperial stormtrooper armor and immediately went to examine it.

"This man was killed by a lightsaber." Nathan muttered. "We have company waiting for us most likely."

The jaw of the Sorceress expanded to unnatural lengths, tendrils erupting from her throat and producing a simplistic lightsaber hilt from within her body, her flesh resetting to its prior, gorgeous appearance.

Nathan his how the sight made his stomach turn.

"You better keep that blade pointed away from me." he warned.

"I would never dream of cutting down a Padawan." Myg replied, as she went ahead of him. "This way, please..."

Ten minutes of following her and they began to smell smoke and see it over the horizon.

"Oh, no..." Myg said, running forward on the narrow trail, which had become a steep incline they all had to constantly battle. But they soon cleared the trail and found more level ground. A magnificent shrine of carved stone depicting Gnost Dural, an ancient Kel Dor Jedi master, in the center of a courtyard scoured with fire and blaster bolts, and dozens of dead stormtroopers.

"They came in blasting. He would not have resorted to lethal force unless left with no other choice." Myg whispered, running into the ruins with Renald, while Nathan followed close by, examining the dead for useful equipment.

"Fros?! Fros, talk to me!" Myg called out worriedly, a green blade snaking out of her lightsaber hilt.

"He's not here. Renald, could you check the nearby interiors for any signs of him? What he was doing before the troopers came could prove useful." Myg requested, getting control of her stress level.

"On it." Renald assured, running into what looked like a private dojo.

"What the hell were these troopers thinking? What could Fros have done to draw their attention?" Myg wondered, trying to still her thoughts and feel the area for some trace, some hint of where her friend was.

"Non standard equipment. Whatever they could scavenge or steal..." Nathan observed, picking up a still loaded R-1 Repeating Pistol.

"They came in hard and fast, hoping to overwhelm him..." Nathan continued, tracing the path of destruction. "One guy blows what I presume is the Master's home up with a Plasma Grenade in the west. Here..." he said, pointing to splotches of alien blood. Kel Dor blood.

"Here's where Your master was surrounded from all sides. He killed the four over there." Nathan pointed to a small pile of dead troopers. "With redirected blaster fire. Then he probably killed the two here immediately after via lightsaber. The cuts are sloppy. One of the troopers must have gotten lucky and hit him before all that happened. He's lost about a pint and a half of blood by my estimate. He won't be doing too good." he explained, turning over the bodies and removing their plasma grenades, searching for any orders or information they had.

"I think they were looking for a new base of operations." he theorized as he pulled out a rolled up sheet of flimsi that had directions and tunneling diagrams off one of the corpses.

"Probably tunneling their way from where they were to here for a while. This mountain has good vantage points...lots of tight corners on the way up. Storms ward off aerial assault...yeah,,, you could stay hidden and operate a good long while from here." he muttered. "But they didn't count on running into a Jedi Master."

He turned to Myg. "What's inside the shrine itself? Do you know?"

Myg shook her head. "Fros was sworn to guard whatever was inside with his life. No clue what it could be. I never really asked."

"Myg!" Renald called out as he ran out of the remains of the masters' small cottage home. "I found his journal."

"Gimme." Myg exclaimed as he handed it to her, and she began flipping through it, before her brow scrunched in confusion.

"I can't read it. It's written in some language I don't recognize."

"Let me look..." Nathan said, holding out his hand, the journal placed into it moments later as he flipped through it.

"Its Anzat. Real obscure dialect...clever, using a language that's not very well documented."

"You're a linguist?" Renald asked in surprise.

"There's a million things out there trying to kill you. Might as well learn what some of them are speaking..." he replied as he flipped through the pages.

His brow scrunched in concern.

"The shrine is containing something very dangerous. He was growing increasingly concerned about the shrine's ability to restrain whatever was inside. Said he was going further up to obtain the key to the shrine when the stormtroopers attacked. My guess is if he survived, he's probably making a beeline for that key.

"But that doesn't explain the stormtrooper we found way before we came across this slaughter..." Renald pointed out. "We found him downward of the trail, remember?"

Nathan shrugged. "Probably killed for failure. Enemy Force User is likely present. Has a good start on us..."

"Well, then what are we waiting for? We need to get after them before they kill Fros!" Renald exclaimed.

"Agreed." Nathan muttered coldly as he looked to the trail beyond the shrine.

"I sense a great disturbance..." he spoke as he went ahead of them.

A half hour later.

The trail up the mountain grew ever more treacherous, ever more narrow. Twice now all of them had nearly slipped and fell off.

Nathan kept ahead, blade active, trying to figure out all the variables, when they came across a major obstruction, a giant boulder blocking the path.

"I got this..." Myg trailed, going to the rock and closing her eyes. He held out two fingers at a particular spot, tapping the boulder.

It crumbled, turning to sand.

"Shatterpoint..." Nathan realized out loud."

Myg nodded in acknowledgement. "You are well studied, Padawan. I...don't think I got your name..."

"I didn't give it." he replied icily as he brushed past her, stepping over the granite sand she had reduced the boulder to by striking true...