Until Dawn [Enoch]

[Elani Zambrano]

It had been too long since Elani Zambrano was rumored deceased. To some, her loss was devestating. To others, it was merely another casualty in a long and deadly war. But, as anyone in the galaxy would tell you, killing a Zambrano is no simple task. You have to make sure they're truly dead.

That is no less true for the heir to the Panathan throne.

After her supposed death, Elani took it upon herself to abandon the war against the Jedi and build her strength. Through the years, she has subjugated various pirate crews through the use of persuasion coupled with her powers of the dark side. She has managed to build herself a small empire in the Outer Rim and continues to conquer more and more.

On the planet of Thakwaa, she plans while her servants go out into the Outer Rim and do her bidding.

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

The Oberum Class Frigate gently glided through space, headed for the planet of Thakwaa. Once a proud ship, it had been reduced to being a Slave Trader, per the orders of Enoch Zambrano. A sociopath, Enoch had been searching the Holonet for species that might make good slaves, and decided to try out some Thakwaash. They were ugly enough that he really had no care for what happened to them. The planet was still a speck in the distance, for Enoch's navigator had put in the wrong coordinates. Before that, he had been a good crewman. Now, his lifeless body floated somewhere in the Outer Rim.

"Sir, there's a ship heading away from the planet, towards us." Spoke Enoch's captain, as rat-looking man. As Enoch leaned against his console, his mind was thinking of what the ship to be. Possibly a fellow slaver, in which case they could make a good ally, or a good pillage. Maybe a simple trade vessel, maybe pirates. Only time would tell...

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

Elani was quite busy reading over the plethora of datapads that were scattered across her desk. Each one detailed different hauls from several attacks on convoys in the past few weeks. The haul wasn't impressive but it was good enough to not mess with Elani's temper. She sighed with content. Then, her review was interrupted by a knock at the door. She groaned before she spoke. "Come in.."

The door hissed as it slid open. It was one of her servants. "Miss Black. We've incoming. It's not a frieghter or a merchant ship. This one is armed." Elani slowly stood up from her chair and walked over to her servant. She caressed his cheek before viciously slapping him. "You fething idiot. Scramble the crew!" she roared. After he was done reeling from the slap he ran off to do as she asked. Elani then returned to her desk and opened a channel that would be able to be connected to by anyone in the system. Should those in the incoming frigate join said channel, they would hear the soft voice of Miss Black.

"This is Miss Black, matron of The Concord. State your business in the system or you shall be fired upon. You have 60 seconds to comply."

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

Miss Black? Cute. Enoch listened to the message, and paused. His crew looked at him questioningly, wondering if he would even respond. Enoch would wait until he had only a few seconds before responding to the message.

"Hello, Miss Black. We're simply traders, flying around...selling goods." Enoch stepped back from his console as he spoke, slowly walking to the very front of the bridge. He stared out at the planet headed towards them. He didn't order a slow down, as he had confidence they would either let him land, or he could talk his way out of being blown to pieces. His finger raised to the thick glass of the bridge, tracing a little circle around the planet and the incoming ship.

"Forgive our weaponry. It is a dangerous galaxy, after all..."

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

Several obsidian colored ships exited the atmosphere of the planet, looking to intercept the path of the incoming frigate. 2 Sublight assault frigates accompanied by 10 Void Interceptors stood idly, awaiting orders from Miss Black. Meanwhile, on the surface, Elani recieved the reply from the supposed merchants. "It seems you've found yourself in the wrong part of the galaxy." she replied.

A smirk curled onto her soft visage. She closed the channel, reverting to the Concord's private channel. "Kill them. Take everything on the ship that isn't bolted down." she ordered her servants. Almost immediately, the frigates opened fire and the interceptors stood vigilant, ready to defend the frigates from incoming fighters or bombers. Elani returned to the open channel. "Sorry, friend. It's just business.."

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

A force rocked the ship, and a look of pure hatred crossed Enoch's face.

"Turn around, try and get us out of here. Return fire with long range turbolasers for as long as you can." The crew sprang into action, various orders being shouted, buttons being pushed. Of course, Enoch really didn't care what they did, as long as he survived, and he would fight to his last breath. Enoch responded to the woman, this time hie voice coming out angrily, spit and hatred flying out with each word.

"Know this, Miss Black, Zambranos do not forgive easily." Enoch turned off the channel abruptly, slamming his hand down. With a look at his bridge, Enoch turned around. He would head for the escape pods, prepared to eject them all with none but him in one if his crew did not succeed. A flourish of his robes, and he left his crew to die.

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

The frigates continued firing upon the ship, looking to bring it's shields down for the interceptors to begin their boarding of the ship. The endless barrage of turbolaser fire would soon be sufficient enough to do the job and the interceptors were prepared. As the merchant frigate began to turn, The pirates took note of this and began pushing forward, continuing the attack. The interceptors, of course, followed closely.

On the planet's surface, Elani spectated the battle from the safety of her office on the hologram before her. The smirk became a grin which then grew into a dark smile. She could smell the credits that would come from this haul. Almost taste it. Then, that sweet taste turned sour when she heard the name 'Zambrano'.

"Can't be.." she uttered. "Must be a trick. Someone knows who I am and is attempting to mess with my mind." She glanced back at the battle hologram. "I can't take that chance. All vessels hold your fire." Her voice echoed through the Concord ships that were in combat. Their fire stopped almost suddenly. Elani connected to the open channel once more. "I will ask you one last time. Lie to me and you will die. What is your name?" Her voice was cold, yet soft. She wanted answers. She wanted them now.

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

"Sir...sir the enemy has stopped firing..." Spoke Enoch's most senior officer, and his words stopped Enoch dead in his tracks. For, he had just about to exit the bridge, and the blast doors still stood open before him. Swiftly, the young man turned around, rushing back to his console at in a fast walk. As he approached, he quickly began looking over the status of the ship. Not too bad, but they couldn't take much more.

"Hold fire. Keep us headed away from the planet." Enoch gave the order quick to his crew, and kept looking at the ship. The aft had taken the brunt of the damage, mostly the starboard side when they had turned. Not good, engines can't take much more. We may not even be able to jump out. Escape pods still most viable option. The thoughts rushed through Enoch's brain like a tidal wave as he let his logical side take over. After all, it was his best side. Then, the woman's voice came back through the comm.

"My name is Enoch Zambrano. Leave me be and I will not return with the fleet of Panatha behind me." Enoch spoke vehemently. She attacks me, then dares to ask my name? Karker. Enoch was leaning on the console, his knuckles white from gripping it so hard.


[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani grew cold. Colder than normal. Her soft hands curled into hard fists as the name 'Zambrano' rung into her ears. She had not expected any of her kin to journey out this far. At least, not yet. She had to think of something. Luckily, she was always on her toes, even in the worst situations.

"Very well, Enoch. My deepest apologies for attacking your ship. May you return home safely." She could not jeopardize her mission. A Sith fleet would draw far too much attention. But, now that her location has been blown, she would have to find somewhere else to hide. "Have a pleasent day, Enoch." Who was this 'Enoch', anyway? Another of Kaine's bastards? More than likely. Elani would deal with that in due time.

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

"Stop. Right now." Enoch spoke sharply to his crew, and he felt the inertia as his ship abruptly stopped.

"Why let me go? In fact, I won't be leaving, I will be landing to trade." Enoch walked away from the comm, moving over to his captain. He hit the man on the back of the head. Hesitantly, his crew began to move into action, flying the small frigate back to the planet. Who was this woman? What was her karking problem? Enoch's face was hard, and an angry look was spread across his face, his brow furrowed. Perhaps his judgement was being impaired by his anger, but his crew dared not challenge him.

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

Elani was a tad bit confused about the intetnions of this man. First he asked for mercy, now he wishes to poke the rancor even more. "There is nowhere on this planet you can pander your goods. Find another system. Should you land, I cannot guarantee your safety." Either this man had a death wish or he knew the truth about Madame Black. Either way, Elani would be on her toes. She kept the ships in orbit on standby as Enoch's frigate came closer to the planet. In the meantime, those of the Concord that were still on the planet's surface readied their weapons and scrambled to Elani's defense should the incoming 'merchansts' be a threat.


[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

"No! What does my name mean to you? Why does it matter who I am? Blow me to pieces, if the Zambranos send such fear into your blood, before we run the rivers with it!" Enoch was mad, now, and he was practically yelling into the comm. He wanted to know. Why? Why did his name simply give him the privilege to leave? The young Sith had trouble believing that she would just let him go. No, she had something she was hiding, and Enoch would uncover it if it meant his death. Usually, the man wasn't like this, but something was driving him to meet this woman.

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

This man was prying to deep and taking Elani's words to heart. It was clear to her that she would have to finish him off despite his constant change in attitude towards his own demise. "Like I said before, it's business. I like to know the names of those I do bussiness with. And ours has just concluded."

The channel went cold. All Enoch would hear was static. The ships that were in orbit began to fire upon the lone frigate. This time, no mercy was shown. It was clear that Elani wanted nothing to do with who or what was aboard the ship, no matter the haul she could have gained from it. She left her office and retreated to a bunker that was a few meters away from her building. The bunker was a few meters below ground and was nicely hidden from vision. Inside were Madame Black herself and 20 of her most trusted guards. While the battle in orbit took place, she prepared herself for anything that might be coming to the surface.

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]

 

[Enoch Zambrano]

Enoch knew what he had gotten himself into. In fact, the genius boy had someone figured out a way to save face while his ship crumbled to pieces. As soon as the ship started taking fire, he was already off of the bridge. There were hundreds of men and women on board, and true to his heritage, he would leave them to die to save himself. Enoch walked briskly through the halls, panicked crewmen running to start repairs, and do anything else they could to save the ship. He brushed through them like a ghost, his black leather outfit making him look like a wraith. His pale hands and face were all that showed, and those crew who did notice him knew to look away.

As soon as he reached the escape pods, Enoch opened the door to one, and moved to sit at its main control console. Quickly, he locked down all of the escape pods through the ships terminal, and ejected each one into space. He strapped himself into the chair, and fired his own pod out of the ship. The pod tumbled through space, giving Enoch a rather good view of the battle as it plunged off into the void. As he watched the frigate crumble to pieces, he sent out a comm, sending it through the main ship's radio, rather than his pod. Thank fully, he was still close enough. The message read:

See what lives are to the Zambranos.​

See what I will sacrifice to live another day,​

and imagine what I will sacrifice to kill you. ​

With love,​

Enoch Zambrano​

​

Almost a second after Enoch sent the message out, his frigate began to collapse. Piece by pieces, it began falling apart until finally, something triggered, and the engines and fuel exploded in a massive ball of flame against a lifeless, black, background. Enoch didn't even stay to watch, and his pod was already moving at full speed for the nearest habitable planet.

[member="Elani Zambrano"]

 

[Elani Zambrano]

There was a knock upon the bunker door. Elani's guard went to the terminal that was connected to the camera on the other side. It was one of the concord pirates. "Open the door." Elani commanded. The bunker door clunked and clanged as the locks came undone then the massive door swung open, revealing the pirate.

"Madame Black. Victory is ours. The frigate has been decimated. One pod escaped, however. Should we--" The pirate was suddenly cut off as Elani raised her hand, palm outward and flat, ordering him to stop speaking. "I've no clue who this Enoch is but he's a dangerous one. Stupid if he believes bringing an entire fleet here is a good idea. No matter. It's about time we leave this planet and find a new home. I can't have any of the Sith snooping around and mucking up my plans. Get everyone prepared to leave and everything that isn't bolted down get it onto the ships and every bit of data backed up and erased from local storage. I want not race of our presence here, got it?"

The Concord pirates saluted Elani and rushed off to do as she commanded. Elani stood from her chair and proceeded towards her office. When she arrived, she noticed a message on her console. She walked over to her desk and pressed a button on the display, playing back the message. "Heh. Good luck, Enoch." She deleted the message and backed up all the data to her command ship's computers and left her office.

[member="Enoch Zambrano"]