Three Blades for One Crown (Vael, Imura, Laatl)

[Nimue Stormson]

Somewhere within the Outer Rim…​

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A private transport provided by close friends of the special occupant was currently in-route towards the Endor System. The person in question had heard about Ewoks and how they could be cuddly creatures or make for wonderful trophies, something she wanted to determine once she got there. This was to be the next grand stop on her little tour through the galaxy, stopping from one famous planet or landmark to the next. All of it a means to get a sense and feeling of the galaxy itself and determine if her people were right to want to join the grand scale community so soon.​

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Plenty of guards and personal were onboard the small transport, enough that Empress Nimue Stormson of Effekt had felt safe and content. This long journey had been long and grand for her, seeing new species and sights and all manner of interesting things the planets had to offer. From Naboo to Mandalore. Atecedent to Coruscant. Acting under a neutral banner in order to not be fully affiliated with one faction or the other. For her this was something of a means of vacation.​

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In her cabin the Empress was checking the time, seeing how long it would be before the next stop. Currenlty she was dressed only in a nightdress with a long silk robe over her and comfortable slippers over her feet. Instead of looking like a fully dressed and regal Empress she was Nimue looked more like she was ready for bed; or a slumber party. In the meantime, however, the Empress had been given a holopad with a number of songs from across the galaxy stored on it; a gift from a friend on her latest visit.​

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The current song had gotten to her so much she couldn’t help but bop her head, sway her hips and move to the beat while singing the lyrics aloud to where she could almost be heard from all across the ship. Though given the subject and lyrics, some could see why she felt it was appealing.​

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y62OlGvC-bk​

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(Sorry, song's been stuck in my head so I just had to lol)​

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All seemed fine. Until…​

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The captain of the shuttle had gotten an odd reading. Three ships about to drop out of hyperspace. What was odd was that this was out in the middle of open space, no nearby systems they could possibly be out there for. It wasn’t until they’d all dropped out that he realized what they were there for.​

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The ships, all armed, were mercenary ships. It was clear by the make and the fact that they had different alien signs and logos painted on them. If that wasn’t clear enough then the fact they started opening fire on the ship, aiming for the express intent of taking out the shields, would be clear enough.​

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The captain called for a red alert all across the ship, even to where the Empress had been shocked by the news. Everyone got to their stations and armed themselves while men stood by at the Empress’ door to keep her safe. It wasn’t long until the shields were gone and another of the ships had moved in to board them.​

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From her room the Empress stood at the furthermost back of the room into a corner. She listened as outside everything was quiet before the sounds of the ship boarding the shuttle echoed through the place. After that there was nothing but gun fire and people shouting. Even to where, within a few minutes, the noises were just outside the door. And then, after the sound of bodies dropping, did everything go quiet again.​

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As soon as the door burst open Nimue reached out with the force and pushed on of the armed mercenaries back. He yelped before being knocked into another, Nimue turning her attention to another merc who aimed his weapon at her. She used the magic trick she’d been taught and pulled out the man’s worst fears from his mind, making him drop his weapon before dropping to the floor and screaming.​

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Two more mercenaries, however, had managed to surprise her and fired their weapons at her. Three shots of stun blasts had hit the Empress. She groaned before falling to the ground, barley able to move. She’d been beaten. She was defenses. She was theirs.​

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As she twitched on the ground Nimue was approached by another merc, the leader who she could tell and a woman from the figure and voice, who loomed over her captive and said “Greetings, your majesty. Sorry for the interruption, but your little trip’s been cut short.” After that she turned to her men and said “Take her.”​

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After that everything went dark, and the only feeling that went through Nimue’s mind was anger…​

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**********​

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Two days later…​

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The three nobles of Effekt stood at the landing platform in the city of Halaban, awaiting the arrival of the people they’d sent messages to.​

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Lord Bulmy, Bulkus and Tezarus all looked anxious and angered that they’d not arrived yet. Part of it was because they had expected them sooner, and the other part was their own growing sense of dread. Usually they would meet with people in the palace, but with the situation as it is there was no way they could. And all of this needed to remain as quiet as possible. Given those who’d answered the call to meet with them, all the lords hoped that they could be able to solve this before things got any worse. The people were unaware, and that was what was intended. ​

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After all, how would you react if your beloved Empress was captured and held ransom?​

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[member="Gherron Vael"] [member="Nickolas Imura"] [member="Cain Laatl"]​

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron had traveled to Effekt as quickly as he could, once the Empress' lords had contacted him. He still wasn't too much on royalty, but the idea of kidnapping an empress to a planet? Unthinkable. How could a planet run itself, without its headstone? Coming into the atmosphere, he soon found himself on the landing pad, strapping his saber to his belt and throwing on his cloak. "Brweeep?", questioned the astromech behind him. "No, Arr-seven, stay here. I'll be back soon." Stepping out of his ship, he met the three lords, bowing to each in turn. "I heard about the empress. Are there any leads yet?"

[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Garza]

Aw hell.

I had thought this mission was for a bounty on an empresses head. Instead I come to find out that this is really just a rescue mission. None the less, I smiled smugly as I geared up. Decked out all in my Wyvern gear with my tri-barreled pistol, my lightsaber, Storm, and even a poisoned dagger that I had gotten as a prize. I adjusted the bandana on my forehead and unclipped the large pistol to be lax in the holster. This was all rather strange. From the reports, it was told that the empress was caught out in open space. Nothing around them. Meaning that this was not just some raid gone wrong. This was a personal attack. Trained troops as well, to the point where they can track a ship from hyperspace most likely. Very hard, but possible.

It was good being a Bounty Hunter. It gave me insight to things that normally would not happen, or be seen by others. As well, I am a Sith, meaning I can think about the worst case scenario and still come up on top. You see, I worked hard for where I am at. And no two others were going to beat me to it. As of now, I was working under the guise of the Lords of the Fringe, instead of the Sith at the moment. I wanted a break from the constant wars. However, it looks like that break would be over sooner rather than later.

Walking down the ramp of the freighter, I wrapped the cuffs I had around my belt as I was walking down, only to look up and feel a very familiar presence. Smiling I knew this would be such a great hunt.

"Vael."

Speaking with utter disgust in my voice, I walked towards the meeting spot. Seeing him there in his nice clean robes. I was half tempted to start throwing fire, but stopped as I needed to be professional not for my own sake, but for someone else as well.

"Poor fella, he won't know what'll hit him."

Thinking to myself about the young man. Rivals, I stayed silent and tried to keep some distance from him as I could hear his words of any leads for the task. I shook my head. "Dumbass" muttering under my breath, and hidden behind the high collar that rose around my neck and cloak.

[member="Nimue Stormson"], [member="Gherron Vael"], [member="Cain Laatl"],

 

[rain21199]

Cain had arrived shortly after hearing the news. An Empress taken. If he could retrieve her then that might give him a very powerful friend. One that he might need later on. The ship landed a couple yards away from where the meeting was taking place. The door to the ship opened with little noise until it hit the ground, causing a scraping noise. Cain stepped down from the ship, wearing black robes with armor underneath. He was equipped with his regular 5 lightsabers.

Cain marched over to the meeting of men. Their conversation was just beginning, which meant that Cain was barely late. He noticed the two men that he would be fighting for the the honor of retrieving the Empress. It was a simply race against time. Whoever got to her first would be declared the winner, and could bask in the glory. He bowed to the men and gave an introduction. "My name is Cain Laatl. I'm happy to be of service to you."

[member="Nickolas Imura"]
[member="Gherron Vael"]
[member="Nimue Stormson"]

 

[Nimue Stormson]

With the arrival of each man the nobles recalled to each other, in their minds, why these certain men had arrived. For one, they were all Force users. While the Effektians didn’t trust the Force as of yet they knew it was powerful. And having as much power needed to bring their Empress back wasn’t something they would think unnecessary. The other reason that, from what they could tell from each of them, the men all represented extended partners and friends of the Empress herself.​

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[member="Gherron Vael"] was not only a Jedi, and one who’d secretly taught her a few ways in the force, but was also a representative of the Republic’s aid in this dilemma. [member="Nickolas Imura"] was a Sith, another brand of force users the Empress had dealings with. But he was also from the territory in control by a faction known as the Lords of the Fringe, more allies the Empress had spoken with on a few occasions now and then. Finally there was [member="Cain Laatl"] who, as far as the nobles knew, was an unknown. Perhaos he’d represented another party they were unaware of that the Empress failed to share with them. If anything he might have been sent by another for their own sake in seeing her brought back.​

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Lord Bulmy, speaking for the others, stepped forward and tried to stop the bickering by saying “Gentlemen, please! This is getting us nowhere. We must speak now and fast before it’s too late.” After a moment to make sure they were silent he sighed and said “She was taken two days ago by a mercenary group. We don’t know how they knew were she’d been, but we know why they wanted her.” After that he reached into his clock and removed a holo-device, stating “This came to us just yesterday.”​

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Activating it the device showed an image of the mercenary woman, the leader of the group, and next to her was a half-naked Empress Nimue tied to a chair and gagged. The Empress was still in her night clothes but she looked like she’d been roughly manhandled in the process. The merc leader was armored up and had her helmet on to keep her face hidden, yet when she spoke her voice was clear enough for everyone to hear.​

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“Gentlemen of Effekt,” she began in a very confident voice “we are the Gundark Bastards, and as you can see we have your Empress visiting with US for today. Don’t worry though. She’s safe and unharmed. For now. And if you want her to stay that way then you’ll agree to our terms and follow them to a T, or else miss high and mighty won’t have a tongue to talk with when this is over.” She reached over and out of view before holding up Nimue’s crown and saying “We know you’re all a very rich bunch of slobs, so we won’t ask for much. 10 billion credits worth of gold within three days. You’ll bring it to Yavin where you can pick up your precious Empress there. Don’t keep us waiting, or else we’ll have to send you one piece of her each day to make it clear what you’re losing. And if you try anything funny,” she pulled out a blaster and held it up against Nimue’s head “I think you get the picture. See you soon.”​

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With that the message went dead and the nobles looked worried. They all looked up to the men assembled to see their reactions.​

 

[Gherron Dragovalor]

Gherron could feel the man's presence as soon as he stepped off his ship. Nick. He didn't even have to turn around, he knew exactly who it was. Flashes of battle filled his head, and he remembered both fights they'd had, once as mere apprentices in strength, and one not too long ago, now that they were both more powerful. Why he of all people had been called to rescue an empress, he had no idea. Probably in it for the money. Sith and their 'values'. He had barely the time to finish his thought though, when a third joined the group. 'Geez, how many did they call for one task?', he thought. Upon further realization, he could just barely recall a duel with this one as well, so long ago. What was this, a challenge? To see who could get to the empress first? If so, then very well. But he would not put the woman in harms way just because Nicky boy wanted another fight.

Once they all seemed to be there, the three lords tried to calm down their help. Once Gherron made that inference, it actually made sense. Likely, each lord had chosen a certain person. When they put up the video, Gherron watched it carefully. Ten million credits? From what he'd seen, they definitely had the resources, but they obviously didn't negotiate with people like pirates and gangs. He nodded in respect, that was a good thing.

[member="Nickolas Imura"] [member="Cain Laatl"] @Nimune Stormson

 

[Garza]

Already from the message, I could tell a few things. 1) The group was trying too hard to gain attention, 2) The woman in the video with armor was most likely ex-military or a bounty hunter. Someone with contacts to get that kind of battle armor to make her form look larger than it really is. It was most likely an Exosuit or a set of armor with Muscle weave that would greatly enhance the users abilities physically at a price. 3) She had not done this before. She may have not, or was just her first time on camera doing this stunt. 4) She is expecting them to grab people, or send a rescue mission. She was smarter than she sounded. She was too smart for her own good.

Smiling devilishly, I walked up and reached out for the holo-device, taking it from his grasp without even asking. Turning it over, looked over the Holo. ignoring any complaints from the men, or from the Jedi about being more kind to others. They wanted their queen back right? Well then let me get my job done. I pulled out my own, looking very similar and looked them both over. Nothing was different. Activating the Holo-device, I began to play it while mine was recording it. Once it was done, I took the man's device, dropped it on the ground, and began to smash it with my boot.

"Be careful of transmissions sent to you. It was likely bugged, and may have had a virus to wipe out your holonet connections here on the planet. Here."

Handing him mine, I would allow him to keep it. Deciding to take the lead role, I continued without pause. "I also need everything you can get about these Gormak Bastards, names, numbers, hell, even their goddamn pet's name. Continuing with that, I need to have any information on the Empress and what has happened such as threats, rumours, or even a little mention of her name, title or her own pet up to three months ago."

I turned around to go back to my ship to get some gear to record all of this information, but stopped and turned around, "Oh and I will need to see her living quarters for any clues or evidence."

[member="Gherron Vael"], [member="Nimue Stormson"], [member="Cain Laatl"],