Staring at the Void [TSE Dominion of Rimcee]

[Ao Xian]

Rimcee System​

​

On the far edge of the galaxy, just beyond the borders of the Sith Empire, lay darkness. Out in the black beyond there are mysteries that the denizens of our galaxy are unable to pierce. A shroud, a veil, a point of no return. While the Empire understands the very essence of its limitations, there is still a worry- a need to watch that dark line on the horizon for threats far more serious than anything in their backyard. Things lurk, beyond that edge. And the Empire would have warning if they ever chose reach out a skeletal hand.

Some things go bump in the night. The Empire wished to be prepared to peek under the bed.

Objective 1: Rimcee Station
An age ago, Rimcee station was an imperial way point in an otherwise unoccupied system. Long abandoned, it became a breeding ground at the edge of nowhere for those with unsavory attentions. The ebb and flow of influence changes with the years, but currently a pirate crew has holed up here. Even as the empire approached, the pirates have scrambled a small group of mixed ships- none a threat to the empire on their own, but small enough to be a bother to the larger ships the Empire brought with them to support the Engineering Corp.

Objective 1a: Deal with the frustrating gnats as they try to harry our fleet.
Objective 1b: Enter the station and deal more directly with the infestation.

OBJECTIVE 2: The Observatory
On the edge of Rimcee system the Sith-Imperial Engineering Corps once more showed that… they don't give a kark. While an active combat scenario develops on board the Rimcee Station work continues on the latest feat of engineering tackled by the Sith Empire.

Hundreds of sensors, advanced communication arrays, the latest in scientific design, this station was aimed at pushing forward the scientific cause for decades.

Oversee the construction of the station, defend it against possible incursion outbreaks stemming from Rimcee Station. Perhaps learn a thing or two in one of the finished departments.

Ignorance certainly is not bliss in the Sith Empire.

Objective 3: BYOO - have a blast! Go nuts!

 

[Irajah Ven]

The Observatory

Doctors Vain Jar'He and Jain Ve'Rah liked the Observatory. Probably for very different reasons, but Vain hadn't asked, honestly. She liked it because of how far away from everything else it was. It was like a little slice of heaven, situated right on the cliff over looking hell. She appreciated the duality of that.

She liked the darkness on the one side, and the cool, clear, nearly blue light of the central star, distant but clean, visible from the other. She liked how quiet it was, almost eerily so. She liked that [member="Darth Carnifex"] had stocked the place generously with her favorite cafs.

She was significantly less fond of the influx of people, now that the framework was done and they were starting to get to the meat of the project.

Outside one of the labs that was starting to be built, Vain harrumphed.

Wearing the usual mask, voice distorted, unclear if it was a male or female creature, or if it was even human, the diminutive figure glared balefully at the workers. It wasn't personal.

That was just how Vain looked most of the time.

"I don't see why they couldn't just send in droid workers. Then they could work in vacuum, section by section, and we wouldn't have to run decontam on every lab once they were done."

The voice practically buzzed with annoyance.

[member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"] [member="Farah"] [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Farah]

Dr. Vain Jar’He was the closest thing Farah had to a mother.

Which was a really weird thing to think about given that in the traditional biological sense, she had not given birth to Farah. No one had. The Zeltron had been synthesized from organic material using existing DNA as a template.

It was also really weird because they didn’t speak much. Vain wasn’t really into talking, but that was alright with Farah. It meant that she didn’t waste time nor breath.

Farah had elected to travel to the observatory, pointedly away from the infestation overtaking Rimcee Station. Still, she was wearing her favored envirosuit sans helmet in the event that….anything happened. Literally anything. The suit was created from a material she’d put a lot of effort into and she’d be damned into the void if she didn’t wear it every opportunity she had.

“…And this is going to be a bioengineering laboratory.” Stepping through the threshold and into the room where the grumpy doctor was, she gestured towards some of the laminar flow hoods that had already been installed. Shiny, new equipment! Turning toward Joyce, she elaborated. “There’s a lot we can do with bioengineering from altering bacteria to growing organic limbs and organs and…cloning.” That was always a weird point of discussion. Still, Farah was happy to explain. She and Joyce met on the battlefield of Janimere and had gotten along quite nicely since then.

“This is Dr. Vain Jar’He. She practically lives on an IV drip of caf.”

[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] [member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"] [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Darth Ophidia]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum

Pirates followed a fairly simple recipe, they had a handful of key persons that kept it all together and who kept the balance of power between themselves. Without them, it would all dissolve into chaos and anarchy. The issue was to find the right people to assassinate. She had only so many shots at this before it became suspicious and they would hole up. She would much prefer not to have to take on the entire band of them at once.

Now, normally one would think something along the lines of: But first you must gain entrance! That is a challenge in and of itself! Perhaps to a novice. At this point, infiltrating a space station like Rimcee had become routine for Darth Ophidia. There were those that offered complications, but usually they all had this one feature that made them very easy to infiltrate: Trash chutes. Now, finding these trash chutes could be tricky, but Rimcee was an imperial station and the trash chutes had remained fairly similar in placements through the ages. It was a matter of practicality, she supposed. From knowing similar stations, she had a fairly good idea of where it would be.

And like some malicious parasite, the Pale Assassin was not too proud to take the back-way through filth and muck to get what she wanted.

After being launched out from the Phasma in a space-suit, she used a helium tank to propell herself to the trash chute with controlled bursts. As she reached the chute, magnetic boots clamped on and she started searching for the maintenance panel. These things were fairly simple technologically speaking, so the dataspike made for her by her apprentice would give force the doors to make a discharge of refuse, and at that moment she could sneak in.

Ophidia pried open the panel and pulled the spike from her utility harness, then stapped it into one of the waiting ports. The doors next to her yawned open and discharged the ash that had built up in its furnace, and Ophidia slipped inside.

 

[Imogen Daniels]

Heading to Rimcee Station

A dark fog cloaked the woman standing before Imogen. It enveloped the woman’s entire being, hanging off her shoulders and pressing against her back. Angry and full of a deep crackling energy - similar to the charged feeling in the air before a storm, it had stuck out to Imogen immediately. It was all Imogen could do to not immediately latch onto the fact and spill it to the woman. She had introduced herself as [member="Leliana"], and though Imogen couldn’t see the woman’s face - she knew she wasn’t aware of the dark energy wrapping itself around her.

Imogen however, was well aware. So much so in fact, that it had lead her to this moment, asking her to join. Preparing herself to stand her ground and prove her worth to Leliana, Imogen was left baffled as the woman gave her a short huff, followed by a “Fine. Just get on the ship”.

Quick to make her way into the Phasma-class infiltrator, Imogen grabbed what she needed and helped her partner, the milky whites of her eyes darting around, leaving a sense of unease on anyone who wasn’t used to their effects. Though her stature was small, both in height and frame - Imogen was a force to be reckoned with. She likened it to her eyes, as no one was immediately uneasy around her until after her accident - and Imogen used that to her advantage.

Leliana had briefed her shortly on where they were headed and what they were planning on doing, and while Imogen tried to hold off - her curiosity was far too peaked as it was. Her question slipped past her lips before she could stop it, her droid that went with her everywhere indignantly calling out to her, “Imogen! Don’t be rude”.

“You aren’t used to travel companions, are you?”

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] [member="Farah"]

Joycelyn had a grand ambition for her future. Its exact end goal was not one she spoke of publicly, but it involved becoming vastly popular to certain sectors of the Empire, particularly the holdings invested in by her father. She needed to become something of a constant, a given, a pillar to hold the ceiling open should another wither and die. She would not purposefully cause any such withering, not yet anyway, but time touched all.

For that reason, and the rather inconvenient hazard of construction sites having catastrophic failures and killing people, Joycelyn was dressed top-to-toe in her signature armour. The visor was drawn back to such an extent that her entire head was visible within the maw and its teeth lightly crested her face. Zaudraka lingered on her hip, ever waiting and watching for something to tear and burn.

Compared to the two scientists, Joycelyn cut quite a different figure. She was almost twice as tall, with more shoulders than either put together, but only half the genuine enthusiasm towards the scientific pursuits. Instead, she had her most polite face on and took enjoyment in the passion displayed by the pink doctor.

"Why, fascinating. Truly fascinating."

So, they grew stuff here. She understood cloning, and got some basic concepts of the other examples, but the knowhow went straight over Joycelyn's head. She was, however, impressed with the amount of space they were taking up for themselves. It indicated that it was important in one way or another. There were many clones among the Zambranos, a process that seemed to fascinate her father. Would they be born here?

"Doctor Vain, it's a pleasure." "I thank you for your contributions to Imperial research, they are considerable."

She had no idea who Vain really was, only that her name came up in certain projects Joycelyn had to review as a captain and as a local person of power in certain districts of the Empire. So, she had made an assumption.

 

[Onrai]

The Ablution​ cruised through space once more. Vanessa Vantai was, as usual, focused in her meditative chamber, crafted of metal from the Star Forge. As usual, the conquest of this new star system was an opportunity to test relatively new pieces of imperial technology - this time, it was Crimson Command. Revived from the ashes of the Galactic Empire, Vanessa too had experimented with some of the oldest XoXaan II-class Star Destroyers in use by the Sith Empire. These vessels were so old, so time-worn in fact, that they were destined for the scrapyards, to slowly but surely be broken apart and used as spare parts for newer vessels in the Imperial war machine. Vanessa had saved these prestigious ships from a decaying fate and had taken them to the Nathema yards to be refitted, turned into a new breed of light Star Destroyer capable of engaging a true Star Destroyer and potentially coming out on top.

The entire fleet was here today. Their command ship, the Militus-class Star Battlecruiser ​Battalion​, was on assignment elsewhere, but all ten havod-hulled XoXaans were here. It would be overwhelming fleet firepower that would level the pirates or otherwise intimidate them into pacifying so no bloodshed would be required. Vanessa didn't like wasting potential assets, after all.

 

[Delaney Wilder]

[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] | [member="Farah"] | [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"]

"Oh, but think of the sentient touch, Doctor." Jain cooed underneath the table, where they were trying to fetch a piece of equipment that had fallen just a moment or two ago. "It is quite fascinating to see them hum and buzz around like little ants, don't you think? Besides, they fetch us things!" Indicating the coffee that was next to Vain. Next to the coffee was a glass of pure water, exported from Helska's ice and it was quite delicious indeed as far as Jain was concerned.

Very fresh.

Once the gloved fingers curled around the hilt of the scalpel the Good Doctor rose up and came face-to-face with... oh, dear.

Farah was honestly forgotten next to Joycelyn. If Vain was the absent mother than Jain was most likely the fussy aunt, who tried her level-best to make sure Farah ate enough, did her homework and clean up that room, missy, and I don't want to hear another word! Or something similar to what Sith would do in that instance. "Ohmy, you just keep on going, don't you, dear?" Jain followed the length of the armor up to the helmet that did show the face with the visor retracted.

"I wonder what Kaine feeds you, hmmm, must be some of that new super-food they have been marketing." A wide grin flashed beneath the mask, but sadly no one would ever know how pretty it was and how it lighted up her face in that moment.

"Now what is the daughter of Kaine doing in our little humble abode? I would expect you to be using that blade of your like a scythe! Against those darn pirates."

They didn't introduce themselves though.

In truth it was a funny game that Jain liked to play. One was good, the other was bad and you never knew! Until the beak opened up and the words came pouring out.

 

[Sebastian Thel]

Location: The Observatory
Allies: [member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"], [member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"], [member="Farah"], [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"]

In an office adjoining the laboratory where Doctor Vain Jar'He and Doctor Jain Ve'Rah worked, Sebastian poured over a theorem while he watched the digital numbers of a clock reflect in the surface of a window overlooking the space outside. Red numbers glaring against the black pane separating Sebastian from the void beyond flashed and told him that it was time for coffee.

Having missed living in space, he welcomed the opportunity when the observatory had offered him a position in the mathematics department. Pulling his neck away from the window, he traced a line with his straightedge and expanded on the graph he configured which made up one of the many astral anomalies affecting Rimcee. Uncovering the mystery of world was his task and he had been working closely with several other departments.

Placing down his pen, Sebastian looked at the time again and stretched his wrist. He rose to his feet and collected his most recent notes, which he filed away on a clipboard with a pen secured underneath the latch.

"I'm famished." From another desk, a young researcher spoke up and joined Sebastian as he walked to the door. He was younger than the mathematician and still in university, wearing a cardigan, suit pants and wide-rimmed glasses. Sebastian turned to face him as he opened the door.

"Coffee?" He asked, leading the way as they walked down the corridor. "I know Doctor Jar'He keeps a caf machine in their lab." With a cheeky smile, Sebastian walked into the laboratory where the two scientists were overseeing construction.

As he beheld them, along with Farah and Joycelyn Zambrano, Sebastian felt the other young man hide behind his back, his hand gripping the fabric of his coat. At first, he almost forgot to speak, before motioning over to the caf machine and raising his head. He held the clipboard under his arm and stood before the gargantuan warrior as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Hello Lady Zambrano." Sebastian said in a quiet voice, never raising his tone or suggesting any dramatic nuance. "I've taken a rough measure of one of the rifts forming within the system, it's only an estimation, but provides a geometric configuration of the anomaly, as well as the shape and activity." Sebastian explained as he lowered the clipboard for Joycelyn to see.

"At least, the astrophysics department think it is a rift." Cupping his chin in thought, Sebastian wracked his brain in frustration at the uncertainty of the conclusion. "Otherwise, we're making good headway in research." Nodding, he exchanged a glance between Farah and the two other doctors, biting his lip in determination. The answer to the question gripping Rimcee was too intriguing for him to abandon.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum


Murder was an HRD's vocation. Not the brainless slaughter motivated by base desires like sadism or cruelty to prove how 'edgy' you were. But cold, dispassionate elimination. HRDs were not cruel. They were efficient. They did not about Light, Dark or whatever excuses organic beings came up with to make themselves feel justified.


Present objective? Eliminate a bunch of pirates. Archangel was under contract. Swarms of droid fighters provided a good distraction. The fighters were extremely fast, extremely numerous and extremely expendable. They were, after all, just drones and Archangel had those in abundance. This was what made them a good distraction, giving the pirates' craft a good deal to shoot at.


Meanwhile, a cloaked two-person starfighter approached the station. The Eidolon had a Stygium cloaking device, Thrust Thrace Dampeners and Gravitic Modulators. A combination of Cryomium platng and mechanical pilots made the ship light and agile enough to outdo all but the fastest interceptors. Oh, and life support was minimal because droids did not need that nonsense. The sleek, elegant phantom craft approached its target, finding a spot to dock as it emerged alongside the station. Magnetic clamps were activated to keep the fighter stuck in place.


Two HRDs emerged. One was Enyo, the other was Gunther. Both walked across the hull. Space suits, magnetic boots and casual camouflage suits enalbed them to swiftly cross the plating without being detected. When they finally came to the hatch they were seeking, Enyo used her lightsabre to burn away the lock, infiltrate the airlock and remove the bulky suits. Presumably their infiltration would not go undetected. Murder ought to ensue in the next post or so.

 

[Lethia Morow]

Rimcee Station

--

Pirates played pazaak as the purple-eyed predator perched above. Lethia smiled a crooked smile as that thought crossed her mind; she loved alliteration. That smile, however, quickly faded as the witch took a proper look at the situation. Multiple presences in the Force – none of which were familiar to Lethia, and none of which had that pretty little spark of hate so common to Imperials – occupied the room beneath her. It was overwhelmingly likely that all of them were armed, and although Lethia was a tough lady-lizard-thing, she couldn’t take a blaster bolt to the face.

The creature nearly hissed before she remembered herself, and then skittered along in the vents to find more vulnerable prey.

Fortunately, it didn't seem like she'd have to wait too long. Crying – male by the sound of it, no more nineteen galactic standard years old – echoed through the ventilation shaft, and Lethia’s tail flicked behind her with anticipation. With a crooked-toothed smile and a gentle coo, the creature followed the sound through the vents.

--

Jace should’ve listened to his mother, gone to university. This whole pirate thing had been fun for a while, sure, but now the Sith were here, and they wanted the station back, and he’d heard Kelsy scream a few minutes ago, and, and…

He’d ended up hiding in the broom closet, like a coward, while his friends – okay, maybe they weren’t friends, but they’d been nice enough to him – were getting slaughtered. And he’d get slaughtered too, soon enough, when the Sith found him, so why was he so scared to fight? He was going to die any-

A pair of hands with slim, delicate fingers wrapped around Jace’s throat.

--

Hands slicked with gore, Lethia licked her fingers clean before plucking a button from her latest victim's shirt. She examined it for a few seconds, then stuffed it in the pouch on her hip with a satisfied hum before shoving the corpse back down the vent.

If nothing else, at least she'd have a souvenir to bring back to Susan.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum

Inevitably such intrusion did not go unnoticed. So soon alarms were blaring and armed security came to investigate. To this suited the death machines just fine. With lightsabre activate Enyo reflected bolts back with one hand, taking cover when needed, and using her own pistol to gun down enemies. Up close she cut through them with her blade or clubbed them.


“She’s a Sith!” one of them shouted. Outwardly she looked human, after all. The longer they were deceived the longer it would be before they brought out the ion weapons. Several pirates responded in the ways that tended to work against Force-users; gas grenades, stun bolts, slugthrowers, Ssi-Ruuvi paddle beamers and by trying to vent air out of a section she was in. These options were not effective against an HRD. Eventually, they wizened up when blaster bolts peeled away some of her organic covering.


Gunther, meanwhile, provided covering fire. Blaster fire erupted as he sprayed pirates with a heavy repeating blaster. Bolts impacted on metal walls and armoured men, bursting and sizzling. As the pirates formed a firing line and bombarded the duo, a torrent of flame swept over them. Men ran about, screaming, flailing and burning, adding to the chaos.

 

[Darth Athora]

Objective 1A
Malicious One

"Pirates. I bloody hate pirates."

Admiral Zahori Denko had come to the Rimcee system for one reason and one reason only: pirates. The chance to turn their kind into burning space debris was one Zahori would never pass up. Their numbers in the system were small, but Zahori would still have plenty of fun on the mission.

The imperial admiral entered the system, followed by a squadron of TIE/HVs behind her. The starfighters were on approach to the station when the enemy ships came into view. "As the reports said, they aren't very many of them. Engage." The Malicious One's thrusters ignited epicly as the starfighter darted towards the enemy ships. The TIE/HVs were close behind the admiral, ready to engage as ordered. The enemy fighters, a ragtag bunch of freighters and older starfighter models, moved to intercept the admiral. "Break the formation. Divide them from one another then rip them to shreds." With Zahori's order, the dogfights began.

 

[Onrai]

Crimson Command quickly began to scatter. The deliberate spreading out through the immediate area around Rimcee Station was deliberate. The ships were capable of engaging targets on their own, moreso than one would think given their size, but disseminating them would allow the pirates to think that perhaps there was a vulnerability in Vanessa's assault - one they could perhaps exploit. Yet they weren't coming out, intriguingly enough. Perhaps the pirate presence was mistaken.

"No." Vanessa said to herself, eyes closed. She began to mentally scan the void of the system - not the station, where the pirates were being slaughtered by her Dark Side associates. Not the Sith ships - but the asteroids, the voids in question that Crimson Command was now searching. If she found life there, life that wasn't supposed to be there... death would come.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum


Outside the space battle continued. As the Sith fleet engaged the corsairs, swarms of Archangel droid fighters would dart forward to fall upon the enemy ships. Inside, Enyo's path was lined with corpses. Finally, the pirates had realised the true nature of their assailants. A bit too late. When a frag grenade exploded and the splinters tore off the skin on her face, they finally saw the metal beneath. Smoke coiled off her and skin was burnt.


“It’s a droid, get the ion-arrgh!” a pirate leader called, too late. A swipe of the lightsabre finished him off. Switching to ion blasters, if they had any of them, the pirates bombarded the intruders. Enyo twitched as ion energy struck her. Indeed, the volleys caused her to stumble and stagger. But though damaged she pressed on. Telekinetic power, channelled through her free hand, activated a few of the hand grenades the corsairs carried on their belts. Furthermore, a telekinetic bubble encased the shooters.


Boom. Bodies were ripped apart by the explosions, with blood and body parts being splattered across walls and the floor. Eventually they'd reached their destination. The door had, of course, been fortified, and as Enyo soon noticed it had been reinforced to resist even lightsabres. However, Gunther had an idea. Scavenging quickly he was able to collect blaster power packs, explosives and a couple thermal detonators into an impromptu bomb. Wedging it in place, hhe took cover and activated a remote detonating mine. The blast shook the station, and when the smoke cleared a small but usable hole had been punched into the command centre. The hisses of lightsabres igniting filled the air as the duo was confronted by two Force-using pirates.

 

[Irajah Ven]

The Observatory
[member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"] [member="Farah"] [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"] [member="Sebastian Thel"]

"'Sentient touch' my-"

Her rude comment was interrupted by the arrival of Farah and one of Carnifex's truly biological children. Beneath the mask, Vain wrinkled her nose slightly. Oh, it was nothing against Joycelyn herself. In truth she was a deeply impressive specimen. Vain simply found the roulette of the genetic lottery when it came to breeding to be seldom worth the effort of the whole thing. Too much input for something you never could be sure of. Joycelyn had won that particular lottery, but she still found it tediously risky.

Farah on the other hand was exactly what they had hoped for. Vain was rather proud of her. Oh, not as a parent would be, of her accomplishments for her own sake. But her accomplishments as pride for Vain herself.

"An IV drip would be dangerous. Believe me. I checked." Came the distorted voice.

Vain looked Joyce up and down without shame, the mask turning toward Farah and then back again to the taller woman.

"It is, and they are."

Humility was not a trait that the doctor had in any particular quantity.

The masked face turned toward the door as the two men entered. Other than this now being the second interruption (Vain handled those poorly as a matter of course), they were.... excuse them.

"Touch that caf and I will make you a permanent resident of this lab."

Vain was also not particularly good at sharing.

Despite barely topping five feet, Vain's reputation made it clear that the threat was not an idle one.

 

[Enyo Typhos]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum

Murder began. The HRDs faced two piratical Dark Force-Users in the control room.


Reacting as a machine would, Gunther did not waste time with lame puns and chatter. Rather he opened fire with his repeating blaster. A crimson lightsabre swatted away the bolts. The corsair picked up speed, with blaster bolts being pushed in all directions. Immense fury empowered his body. He also wore a silly Sith mask. He uttered an eerie, inhumane cry as he charged at the droid. Unfortunately for the Dark Force-user, if he expected said cry to be scary, his expectations were misplaced. Intimidation did not work on an HRD.


Gunther switched to full auto and a hail of bolts shot from the muzzle of his gun to be met with the pirate's lightsabre. Bolts poured out in rapid succession, but the corsair wielded his blade with skill, deflecting the energy away. Inside the room, technicians ducked for cover as bolts ricocheted off walls. However, it was a bit difficult to block all those rounds and so one bolt snuck by and sliced through the corsair's thigh. Another grazed his shoulder. He cried out in pain and anger, drawing upon a crazed fury inside him to keep going.


In the blink of an eye, the Dark Force-user was upon the HRD. The repeating blaster had fun out of juice. Gunther threw the gun at his opponent, who dodged. That was fine. It gave the HRD time to prepare his flamethrower. A torrent of blazing heat surged towards the darksider. A blood-curdling scream escaped him as he was enveloped by fiery death. The Force surged through him as she did his best to absorb the heat, but he was nonetheless covered in nasty burns and risked being cooked inside his armour.


Overtaken by fury, the corsair clove through the flamethrower. That worked - too well. For his blade struck the fuel tank of the flamer. It burst open with a loud, crunching sound, with the effect being that hot, burning fuel was sprayed on them. This damaged Gunther and gave him a grotesque appearance, but hurt the organic. His body was on fire. Dropping the useless weapon, Gunther seized his chance and rammed his fist into the pirate's mask, smashing it. A gruesome crunching sound could be heard.


The Darksider cried out in agony, staggering from the force of the blow. Teeth had been knocked out and his nose was broken. His fury caused him to summon a blast of lightning. Gunther twitched as the electricity crawled over his body and the darksider struck the droid's thigh with his weapon. Gunther only wore duraplast armour and joint areas lacked the heavy plating, so the smell of burning, sizzling flesh filled the air as the blade cut through sythflesh. Fortunately for Gunther, his endoskeleton was made of Phrik. Gunther dropped down to one knee, experiencing the effects of getting circuits blown up. Breathing strongly and with a facial expression contorted in hatred, the pirate raised his lightsabre, only for Gunther to duck and stab him in the groin with a vibrodagger.


Pain surged through the pirate. He was frozen in place and his lightsabre fell out of his hands. The blast of lightning ceased. With a dispassionate expression, Gunther twisted the dagger. Another shriek of anguish ensued. Then his mechanical fist smote the pirate on the neck, putting him out of his misery. Meanwhile, Enyo was dealing with her own adversary.

 

[Farah]

The Nerdvatory

The first time she’s seen both Vain and Jain in the same room, Farah thought she was seeing double. After she learned that they were separate people—albeit clone twins who liked to dress alike—that didn’t make it any less weird. The Sith Empire was weird. This was weird.

“Really.” Her voice deadpanned.

She could tell that Joycelyn wasn’t as interested in scientific pursuits as, oh say, the four scientists that now surrounded them. But that made sense. The rest of them had a vested in interest in their craft by necessity. Still, Joyce’s appreciation was appreciated. She had a good position in the Empire as the Dark Lord’s daughter and was a powerful force in her own right. Her approval could help them push for more resources when and if the time came.

“This one is Dr. Jain Ve’Rah.” With dry words, she indicated the masked doctor that had commented on Joyce’s stature. “Totally different from Dr. Vain Jar’He. Have fun with that.” Farah’s own first few meetings with them had been…frustrating on that level.

Perhaps the most normal of the occurrences was Thel and his friend. Farah didn’t know much about the young mathematician but had likely scanned his name over once or twice while passing through the references of some research paper or another.

“You’re better off getting a cup from the cafeteria.” She brushed a few paces back them to check the air filtering system on one of the flow hoods. “If Vain doesn’t have a consistent level of caffeine in her blood she’ll wither away into nothingness.”

Do Not Touch Vain’s Caf was the number one rule of working with Vain. One that Farah had learned quickly—and while she was fond of a cup of brew herself, the Zeltron preferred stimulants and controlled release pills of her own design. Quicker and easier and you weren’t bringing consumables into the lab or the operating room.

She ran a gloved hand along the top of the hood and gentled worked out the newly installed filter. It was the wrong one—not wrong per say as it would still do its job, but there were more efficient models. Specifically the ones she’s placed an inventory order for.

[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"] [member="Joycelyn Zambrano"]

 

[Enyo Typhos]

OBJECTIVE: Murderise Scum


While Gunther had his one-on-one duel with a nameless, Force-using corsair, Enyo dealt with another one. This one also wore a melodramatic looking mask. It looked like it had been fashioned out of a human skull. How quaint. Enyo considered such trophies silly. Anyhow, combat ensued.


The corsair did not charge immediately. Enyo waited. It was not her style to rush into combat. Rather she let the enemy come to her. Organics tired. Machines did not. However, the corsair did not charge. At least not right away. Rather she extended her willpower, compelling dark tendrils of the Force to infect Enyo's mind. Horrible images, vile, perverse and grotesque, flooded her brain, seeking to overload her sanity.


Enyo had trouble blocking her assailant due to her inexperience with mental assaults. It froze her for a moment. Violently she pushed back. It helped that images of horror and slaughter did not shock her. Her attacker rushed towards her, wielding a ruby lightsabre in each hand. Battle madness flowed through the corsair's veins.


Enyo caught a lightsabre sweeping towards her head. Their lightsabres sizzled loudly as they crashed. Twin blades of plasma rubbed against one another. Shoving her enemy's lightsabre aside, Enyo's HUD registered damage to her systems, for her enemy's other lightsabre had struck her leg, hitting a vulnerable spot. Luckily, the damage was manegeable. Reacting quickly, Enyo raised the foot of her leg and delivered a thunderous kick towards the corsair's shin. Ouch.


One could hear the sweet sound of bones breaking. Her opponent staggered, clearly in pain. He toppled to the ground. When she launched a powerful cut, the corsair rolled over the table, though her blade kissed his face. Her lightsabre cut through the table. Raising a computer console with his mind, he sent it flying towards Enyo, causing it to slam into her. It caused her to stagger, but she maintained her footing. She crossed the distance and their blades locked. Enyo seized the opportunity to grapple him with her free hand. Lifting the struggling corsair off the floor before he could launch a riposte, she applied an iron, crushing grip. He tried to twist away, but she smashed him into a wall. More ouch. He lost purchase on his sabres. But the corsair still had fight in him. When Enyo raised her blade, the corsair acted on instinct, kicking it out of her hand. The manoeuvre caught her offguard and this bought him a little time. Time to summon one of his sabres and send it flying towards her neck, intent on piercing it and wreaking havoc.


The neck joint was a weak point of any armour. The sabre aimed to spear through it and then up the skull. Her neck twisted slightly, but burning plasma still shore into her neck. Her body might be that of a machine, but her mind was human, kept alive by her electronics. Inside her brain jar, the temperature still rose and the phrik began to melt where the sabre had struck. To call this unpleasant was an understatement. Orange tendrils of Force Drain surged from her opponent's fingertips, enveloping her and seeking to devour her life. They came from all sides.


Then there was a bright flash, emanating from the palm of her right hand, for it contained a miniaturised ion disruptor. The beam speared through his chest, collapsing a lung. Choking on his own blood, the corsair raised his own arms weakly. He looked like he was about to say something, for he opened his mouth. But Enyo simply yanked his lightsabre out of her neck and plunged it into his open mouth.

 

[Joycelyn Zambrano]

The Observatory
[member="Dr. Vain Jar'He"] [member="Sebastian Thel"] [member="Dr. Jain Ve'Rah"] [member="Farah"]

At first, she had not noticed that there were two, and now she wasn't quite sure which was Vain and which was Jain. Had she just spoken to the wrong one? Possibly, but events soon came to illuminate her. Vain was infamous for her protectiveness of her caf, and Joycelyn had originally thought it was simply a silly rumour to make the mysterious doctor seem all the more strange.

"Pardon?"

By Vahl's fiery p- Do not blaspheme. Their voices were nearly indistinguishable in Joycelyn's ears.

"Noted."

For the sake of her own attention span, Joycelyn opted to ignore the voices at her back and focus on what was ahead of her. It was ultimately a good decision as she only then could distinguish the two by the crass threat against any abuse of the caf machine. The threat also filled Joycelyn with a desire for caf from that exact machine. Perhaps when the doctor was not looking, or if she had to prove a point to the abrasive researcher.

"Doctor Vain and Doctor Jain."

She subtly gestured at them each in turn to help herself distinguish them.

"I would much rather have been on the front lines, but the defence of this station is paramount." She opted to not mention the lingering wounds from her previous battles. By strict protocol she should have been under obligatory leave somewhere restful. "So, during my stay, Farah offered to give me a tour of the facilities."

She looked down at Farah next, making the obvious connection of names, then glanced back at the two men who had just entered. Young, huan, pale, spindly, definitely not soldiers, cute hair. Researchers? Likely, given the circumstances. She did not know their names yet, though one of them seemed oddly familiar. Had she read his file?

"So, if I may ask." She returned her attention to the two bird-masked doctors. "What are your latest projects?"

Did she expect to understand? No, but she expected the question to send them each off in an extensive and well-rehearsed rant about the importance and implications of their work, and to possibly start a debate between them about the finer details. This would allow Joycelyn a position where she could pick and choose her battles a little better. Then again, these two appeared to be practically the same person, would it still work?