Private Tarnished World

[Gir Quee]

The Waystation, somewhere in Deep Space

"Do you trust her?" asked Ariela.

"One doesn't exactly trust a sith..." said Gir with a frown as they approached the featureless blast door.

He didn't really like it, even with Sariya and hundreds if not thousands of battle droids and shock marines at his beck and call on the Waystation. You only have to make a mistake once with someone like her...The man let out a brief sigh and tried to clear his mind as best he could while Ariela accessed the prison cell. The doors slowly slid open to review a female humanoid lounging inside a cage which itself was encased by an energy field. The woman slowly rose from it and slowly smiled. For a moment, the man briefly wondered if Huhax was attempting to use the pheromones for which her race was so known for. Yet he felt nothing out of the ordinary, and he began to assume that Ariela had set up some sort of countermeasure for that too along with the sith's force powers.

"You are back. You must believe my story."

"You've said enough that we've been able to verify," started the man, "that it sounds like a plausible scenario."

Huhax's smile briefly flickered from friendly to baleful in a matter of micro-seconds, "We don't have time to linger over this, admiral. They could move the worldcraft at any moment."

"But they haven't," said the blonde man, "according to you, by over a dozen years, despite two close calls that you personally told me about."

"Darth Talonreaver pushes his luck, or he's skillful," said the falleen, "but I assure you, if he senses a true threat, he will not hesitate to move it."

"I don't think he can," said Ariela.

"Is that a bet you are willing to take?"

Gir quickly conceded, "We cannot. And we will take you with us if we most...and I am probably going to regret having to ask this, but what's your price?"

"My freedom...and maybe a few things I can take from the worldcraft with my bare hands...nothing that would be of real personal interests to you or your Directorate, I assure you..."

And that's the hook we have to watch for...Sith holocron? Some ancient relic or artifact? Or is it simple material wealth in the form of credits or gems?

"All right, we'll work on the specifics when we actually travel. I must inform some of my partners."

Huhax slinked back into her cage while the admiral and Ariela quickly departed. The admiral turned a brief eye to his aide.

"Better assemble everyone who's interested in this merry little hunt in the Council Chambers antechamber."

She nodded, "I'll call them all right away."

 

[Mig Gred]

Aboard Echo's Light.

Mig slowly looked through the information Gir Quee had sent. Worldcraft? Didn't see many of those. He kept looking before his sister Vaux Gred , walked back from the cockpit.

"Well be there soon." Mig tilted his head a bit. He didn't need the Force to notice the ace seemed concerned about something. Her voice, the way she held herself wasn't as confident as usual. He sighed a bit, putting down the pad.

"Something's on your mind?"

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself? You're an Alor, and you have ade (children) to look out for. I know you think you have to jump into everything, but you could have someone else do the legwork on this one." Mig looked, nodding a bit.

"Well... you want things to be better sometime you have to keep busy. And I'll have you know I haven't done anything this insane recently." Vaux just shook her head and slid on her helmet before walking back to the cockpit.

"Stubborn like Buir (parent, Dad in this case) was. I'm still coming with you for this meeting." Mig just chuckled a bit as his sister went back to the cockpit.

"You're one to talk about stubborn." He got his things ready and Vaux quickly flew the ship to a landing area, looking at her V-1 droid VK before walking out to follower her brother to the meeting, still hoping to convince him to maybe stay behind.

 

[Gir Quee]

The council chambers were only sparsely occupied - most business meetings had already concluded at this time of day based on the station's internal clock (itself based on that of Coruscant, cultural center of the galaxy). Yet a smattering of figures, both finely dressed businessmen and dour military officers alike, seemed to linger like stale cigarra smoke in a low level Coruscanti bar. Gir fought a want to usher them out of the large room - he probably had the unofficial clout to do that - though it'd officially be something that'd be out of his grasp. He glanced around the tables and holo-projectors before spotting an adjoining antechamber that also served as an adjoining conference room. Seeing it unoccupied, the blonde man was quick to rush in and plug in his datapad with its sensitive and incomplete data on the subjects at hand. With a quick wave of his hand, he had Sariya secure the door, to prevent any unwanted eyes or visitors from prying into such a delicate affair.

Fenni's voice wafted through the doorway, "What do you want me to tell anyone who comes here who shouldn't be here?"

"That they shouldn't be here?"

"Very funny," sighed Sariya, "how would Ariela put this...what polite excuse should I use?"

"The truth," said the blonde man, "that we're discussing a sensitive operation related to the Lucerne consortium."

"That's not entirely true..."

"It's true enough for our purposes," said the admiral, "it could potentially impact some of the consortium's holdings and profit margins."

"Have it your way..." said the echani woman.

Ariela motioned to take over the holo-projector's controls, which Gir was quick to do. She was far more adept at manipulating the system's controls and finding data within the databanks- which Gir liked to attribute to her mechanical nature, though what was more likely was his own fatigue. Light coalesced to start and form what appeared to be a golden sphere - mistakeable from a distance as maybe being a crude image of a sun. But a closer look revealed intricate lines - trenches really - that criss-crossed the surface of the entire sphere. Sometimes, megalithic structures rose from the golden plains where the camera's resolution as really good. But just as often, there would be blotchy, line-frame drawings where the sensors had not been able to receive perfect data. Such incompleteness irritated the man, but he couldn't help that the recon probe hadn't survived the encounter with the Golden Sun...

Mig Gred | Vaux Gred

 

[Mig Gred]

Mig walked through the station to where the council chamber was, giving a nod to a few people as they passed. Vaux, in contrast, at least outwardly seemed more focused on just getting to this meeting. As they continued, the pair would continue to talk some. Mostly speculation and small talk, and the occasional attempt at Vaux bringing up her brother not going. As they approached the doors, Vaux would stop and turn to VK, looking around.

"Keep watch out here, ok?" The droid let out some affirming binary as he looked around, peeking left and right before seeing the nearest person, and giving a bit of a "hello."

The Mandalorians would walk in, and Mig would smile a bit as he walked in and saw Gir. He'd walk up, offering a handshake before speaking up.

"Gir,, long time no see. Seems like you've found something a bit different here." Vaux wasn't quite as inviting as her brother, preferring to watch inste.... "Oh, and this is my sister, Vaux. Think you've been at some of the same battles recently." If Vaux wasn't wearing a helmet there'd be a very clear glare directed at her brother. She could at least try to not let it get on her nerves right now, simply giving the man a nod as a greeting.

Gir Quee

 

[Emilia Locke]

//: Gir Quee Mig Gred //:

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This sort of summons from the directorate wasn’t normally something she would entertain, it seemed there would be combat of some sort. Nevertheless it was an opportunity, both for her to meet face to face with the other members of the directorate and an opportunity to test new designs. Her involvement in the Ascendancy meant she was on Verun more often than not, making trips to the core and beyond very time consuming endeavors. Her arrival was self-serving in some ways. The first prototype ship since she assumed operational control of Elatar Enterprises is what delivered her to this meeting. It was teeming with new technologies, and now an opportunity came for a field test.

Those who knew John Locke would no doubt associate an air of class with the Locke name, Emilia was no exception. She carried herself with grace and authority, she was dressed simply however more casual than her cousin would dare to be but still refined enough to be meeting her peers. She simply wore a gray and black shirt and matching pair of slacks, classy but comfortable.

As she made her way to the chamber she saw a little droid guarding the door. She gave the little astromech a smile and a pat on the head as she entered “Good job making sure we are all safe, keep it up” she turned her attention back ahead as she entered the room and found a couple of the members already present.

“Gentlemen, good to see you in the flesh for a change as opposed to a holocall.” she gave an apologetic smile and started toward them.

 

[Gir Quee]

Gir was staring intently at the visage of the Golden Sun when the Mandalorians entered. His face briefly flickered in confusion as he turned his attention from the golden sith construct to Mig Gred and Vaux. While siblings, Gir thought that two Greds were quite different, to the point where if he wondered if they had been raised entirely separate from the other. But he reasoned that it might be because he'd never actually seen Vaux in person - and even now, he wasn't actually seeing anything more personal than her armor.

"Gir,, long time no see. Seems like you've found something a bit different here. Oh, and this is my sister, Vaux. Think you've been at some of the same battles recently."

The man from Hast nodded, "I can't quite take credit for finding it. I've only taken part in doing some preliminary confirmation work..."

He was distracted once more by another individual entering the room. At a glance, Emilia Locke appeared to be a relatively young brunette who could have passed as one of Ariela's offwork friends, if the replica droid actually had friends. But that was based solely on appearance, and working solely on appearances was a mistake that few ever made more than once in his line of work. Her familial connections alone made him curious about the woman - he had once worked with one of her cousins on several projects in years past - but this wasn't really the venue to talk about that...at least not yet.

"Gentlemen, good to see in the flesh for a change as opposed to a holocall."

"It's been rare to see each other in the flesh," agreed the admiral, half hoping that Vaux would remove helmet to join in on the moment, "but some things are better discussed in person, regardless of the technologies that knit the greater galaxy together...."

"Sorry I'm late," offered a new figure, who quickly strode through the doorway, "getting my ship to the right dock took a little longer than expected. I can't have missed much though, could I?"

"This is....Soren Kestis," started Gir, "who is the one who brought in Huhax to our custody on the Waystation. Would you like to introduce yourself?"

The man glanced downwards for a few seconds before looking up to make brief eye contact with everyone in the room, "I like to think of myself as a quiet problem solver these days. In years past...working for a certain government...I was a bit more of a...louder problem solver, shall we say. But let's not talk about me, let's talk about what draws us all together from the far reaches of the galaxy, eh?"

Soren glanced at the Golden Sun, "This is pretty, but I don't think it's our main problem...well, not the root problem. Darth Talonreaver, please?"

The light flickered before the Golden Sun suddenly vanished to be replaced with a grainy image of a dark-cloaked humanoid wielding a red lightsaber. Not only did the holo have poor resolution, but the man's pose and setting itself seemed contrived to Gir's eyes - almost like all of the Kuati corporate portraits that were in vogue back during the times of the first Galactic Empire. Soren slowly grew a subdued smile.

"Darth Talonreaver isn't actually what he calls himself," admitted Soren, "it what his sith name roughly translates into Basic, and that bastardized name is what he is known by his low level underlings. And this holo, as terrible as it is, is also the only actual image we have of him."

Sariya meandered into the room, "Did he get it at Sith Lords-R-Us's half off, Sithmas sale? Sorry, figured we had enough door guards now, so I'd sit in on this before the admiral here gets himself killed..."

Really...you're going to do this now?

Soren's smile briefly turned tightlipped, "I recovered it on a datapad taken from the body of one of his couriers two years ago."

"Two years and you're still going after him..."

"It's been longer than that..."

Gir cleared his throat to catch the echani woman's attention, which caused his bodyguard to notice his sharp look at her.

"Sorry, I'll be quiet."

"Anyways, last week, I managed to catch one of his apprentices, the falleen woman who calls herself Huhax, lingering at the site of one of his raids," continued Soren, "and this is the closest that I've ever been to reaching him. I always seem to have arrived too late to stop his massacres or plundering. And this is the first time I've heard of the Golden Sun, a worldcraft which serves as his home base according Huhax."

Ariela changed the holo back to show the resplendent worldcraft.

"...and with it, we have a chance to stop his attacks on the Outer Rim, and possibly rescue some captive slaves and recover the wealth of at least a dozen worlds. But this task is beyond me and my few supporters, and I need help. Now, it'd be very easy for me to simply as the admiral here or ADM. Reshmar to simply try and take it down with brute force from a bunch of large warships, but I think more subtlety is needed to actually ensure that he doesn't somehow slip away during such an attack. And this is where you all come in, if you are willing. But I'm asking much of you, especially since I've only brought you the basics so far. What questions or concerns would you have in conducting such an operation with me and the admiral here?"

 

[Mig Gred]

She gave the little astromech a smile and a pat on the head as she entered “Good job making sure we are all safe, keep it up”

VK whistled a bit at the pat, taking a quick look through dad he could find on who he was looking at. Ok she was good... and nice. He'd make sure Vaux got a quick message and go back to his watching. Vaux would give Emilia a nod, while Mig turned, noticing Gir seemed a bit distracted as he started to explain it wasn't exactly him that got the data.

“Gentlemen, good to see you in the flesh for a change as opposed to a holocall.”

"It's been rare to see each other in the flesh," agreed the admiral, half hoping that Vaux would remove helmet to join in on the moment, "but some things are better discussed in person, regardless of the technologies that knit the greater galaxy together...."

Mig smiled, nodding a bit himself.

"Couldn't agree more. Of course that's coming from the ag-world Mando. But if it's this important I'm guessing you don't want to risk anything." It was then that a new face, Soren Kestis from what Gir said, who would be bringing in most of the details. What this mission would entail. Particularly catching Mig's attention was the bury image of a Sith. Vaux would even seem to have her interest peeked, walking a bit closer, and removing her helmet to test if it was just her HUD going out. Nope. Well this got more interesting.

As the discussion continued, the point came up for why they were called there. A need to be more subtle, which seemed to actually peek Vaux's interest as she quickly asked her own question about this all.

"When you say 'subtle,' what exactly are you expecting? Small groups? Starfighters? Cloaking maybe?" Vaux also did like the idea of Sith getting their names from some Sith store... but that was beside the point. Mig looked over at his sister as she ask. And that's why he didn't worry too much about her tagging along. Meant she could help ask some of the more important questions he wouldn't even think of.

 

[Emilia Locke]

//: Gir Quee Mig Gred //:

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Emilia listened quietly as the others spoke of a Sith and a worldcraft, something the likes the galaxy had not seen in a very long time, Emilia walked around fascinated by the holo Infront of her, she would need to ask Gir to forward her to schematics on that, perhaps something a little less grand but the same idea would be functional.​

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A soft chuckle escaped delicate lips. "Apologies, but I am no soldier so I am not sure how much help I will be with this. If its weapons or ships, that I can provide but I would definitely not be of help in any sort of a commando raid. More accurately I believe I would be a liability. However, perhaps I could provide a distraction with my ship. It does have both Locke and Key as well as Elatar transponders so that could very well be a good bit of bait. Not to mention, she can bite pretty hard for her size."

She pondered further for the moment as she considered things. "I can also provide technical assessments if needed. Unless you have other ideas?" she raised her eyebrow slightly towards Gir Quee as if to see what he had in mind.

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