Junction And Yet the Sun Still Rises (Elysium Empire - Daxam IV & Silver Jedi Concord - Bimmisaari)

[Rex Valhoun]

Objective One
Post: 3
Tags: Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Grand Shepherd Burtch Gir Quee Martin Dux
Location: Asaari Hotel

""The elders of Bimmisaari here have kindly provided us with the best of the hospitality that they can - feel free to grab any drinks or refreshments as you need them, but I like we should begin the talks while it is still earlier, lest we encounter an unexpected problem area that takes us longer than anticipated to...negotiate. Please, won't you join me and the other representatives of the Silver Assembley at the tables set over there to begin talks?""

Rex was about to respond, but it seemed Grand Admiral Burtch was eager to speak, as he beat the young king to it:

""I am looking forward to discussing our alliance with the Concord, and I hope we can deepen our ties more here today. We have both benefited from a strictly military alliance until now, and this has been a successful testing grounds of our partnership until now, so we are proposing a more multifaceted approach to our relationship. Deepening our military ties is up for discussion, but cultural and economic facets would be welcome to the Elysium Empire, and we certainly hope that the Concord is open to this as well. With the King and Queen here, we can perform more than just brokerage, and achieve much today. I'm interested in your thoughts on this.""

So Rex took a seat like some Jedi padawan whom had spoken out of his place. As he listened he took a sip of water and, could it be? It was! The little orange candies that The Lady Rowena always had at her estate on Mnemosyne! Heath had told Rex about them, and Rex finally tried one a few months ago. They were amazing, and now he would get to treat himself to them once again!

""I think that every relationship, as you say is certainly inherent multi-faceted to some degree, and I suspect that our Concord and the Elysium Empire can be engaged in all of those areas that you mentioned - I daresay that some of those ties exist to some degree today, otherwise we would not be talking, but the real questions to discuss are the depths of those ties. Can we each find each other to be a reliable partner in these specific areas? Do we have enough in common to make these efforts practical and worthwhile? With your rank, I would hazard to guess that you are very intelligent and reasonably versed on some geopolitical realities. What foes do you believe that the Concord and the Elysium Empire share?""

Rex had an opportunity to answer the question for The Grand Admiral, but instead he refrained. It was probably rude to answer a question that was not directed at him, even if he was better suited to answer it. Hopefully the chiss admiral could give an accurate response....and hopefully he would mention how much Rex was doing to normalize relations with most nations. Barring The Sith, The Bryn, and The two Empires...Eternal and New Imperial Order...Rex wanted peace. The peacekeepers of The Silver Jedi Concord, the mighty Mandalorian Enclave, The Light Side Champions of The Ashlan Crusade, even The Galactic Alliance with all its' flaws....these were not enemies of The Empire. At least not anymore. Heath may have had his delusions of grandeur, but he was misguided. He had spent too much time studying the past without keeping up with the present. Rex would not make the same mistake.

He popped one of the orange candies in his mouth and listened as the conversation continued....

 

[Cirrus]

Objective: I - A Meeting of Co-Belligerents (Surveillance)
Location: Hotel within the Golden Strip
Tags: Aculia Voland Martin Dux

As both Martin and Aculia began bearing down upon his attempt at infiltrating the hotel, Cirrus soon came to the realization that this operation was almost to the point of failure. While not a Warden, Jedi, Sith, or any other flavor of well known force user, he was force sensitive and trained enough to know when he was being focused on. Or more accurately; when he was being pursued. There was an old saying within the intelligence community; if you’re being followed, you don’t have an operation. That said, not all was lost.

His main plan may have been compromised, which entailed infiltrating the meeting and acquiring a secondary disguise to physically get into the conference for physical surveillance. He knew enough about the arcane arts practiced by the likes of the Jedi to know that his presence within the force was unique to him; it didn’t matter what clothes he wore, or what physical alterations he affected to alter his appearance. It wasn't a forgone conclusion that he had been discovered, but he was trained to fly under the radar when people didn't see him coming. Force users were above and beyond a game changer for an agent like him. While he possessed abilities within the force, he could not resist active detection techniques for long. A drone however, was agnostic within the force, and could not be sensed by those who pursued him. He reached out with his own senses in an effort to ascertain just how close his pursuers were, doing so in such a way to mitigate any risk as further compromising his location. Yet, given the effort being made in finding him, it would be hard to really compromise himself even further.

Regardless of the outcome of his attempt, he figured he only had a few minutes at best. It was sufficient time for him to pry open an exhaust vent on the rooftop, and insert a specialized probe droid. He only had to crack the vent slightly for the droid to crawl within, which made it easy enough to replace the vent to its normal position. As he rose up to get the hell out, he felt not one but two entities combing the area for his location. His guard was up this time, giving him just a slight boost to his effort to conceal his presence in the force. Yet, he was not foolhardy enough to rely on this alone. He rushed over to the edge of the rooftop, throwing himself bodily to clear the distance of approximately 2 meters across and 5 down to the next building.

He contorted his body into a roll as his feet landed, dispersing the impact with relative ease. He then broke into a brisk stride, making his way to a ladder leading down to the opposing side of the neighboring building. They may well pinpoint his location, but he wouldn’t make it easy for them to catch up. If anything, it would make it easier for his droid to acquire the information it needed undiscovered.

The surveillance droid skittered noiselessly through the air vent, its signal integrating with Cirrus’ biochip implant as he simultaneously pulled up the floorplans of the hotel. He wasn’t trying to find the conference room outright, but rather a nearby computer terminal for the droid to hack into.

Spoiler: Dice Rolls

Rolling for the following:

• First roll to oppose the efforts of both Martin and Aculia to find him. +3 for Blackwatch Psi-Corps training, +2 for his efforts to put distance between him and them.
• Second roll for an acrobatics check to clear the distance between buildings. +5 for physical conditioning.
• Third roll to determine how easily the drone finds a computer terminal in my next post. +3 for hacking programming.

 

[Coren Starchaser]

He knew better than to touch that comment coming off the Mon Calamari. Kyra was more than capable of handling herself, and Coren knew that very well. What he was hoping for was that his Perl-daughter was not going to take after her mother on this faux pas.

Luckily for Salmakk she was in a more quiet mood. Nodding, he grinned. "Thank you for the welcome, Salmakk. I'm leaving most of this to Kyra, as it is really her vision." And he was more than proud of her for following through on it. "Once we have our gear ready to go, where would you need us?"

Kyra Perl

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Objective: 1

Lori noticed that Rex Valhoun was as quiet as she was. Yet his mind was working. She could see that. Over these months that they had been married, she had had some moments to study him and get to know him a little more.

It was strange that just looking at him and having him nearby made her feel more...at ease. Lori questioned herself briefly upon why that would be, yet the moment that she touched on gaining feelings for him, she quickly turned to focus on Grand Shepherd Burtch 's speech instead. Something, something...alliances and...oh, already the topics between Burtch and Gir Quee shifted towards military partnerships. No doubt it was to bolster both military forces when faced against a foe. That was definetly something worth paying attention to.

As Rex popped the candy into his mouth, Lori sipped her brandy and then placed her hand on his arm, giving him a look that tried to bolster both his confidence and her own. It wasn't often that either of them had been thrown into something of such political importance, as Heath had always done so in the past. It was new territory for the both of them. She just hoped that everyone else didn't take advantage of that. However that was what their advisors and entourage were for.

 

[AvRe]

Impressive, Avery thought. the Jedi master seemed more than capable of holding his own, that was good, it would boost morale.

Flooding into the area along with the many soldiers, Avery found himself beside the Jedi, shooting down any of the Bryn that still seemed to have life in them. He had to admit, he didn't know much about the aliens, but he did know they were separated by castes. Or was that not true? He couldn't remember if that was just some theory or fact. Either way, he would fight them to the best of his ability.

"Wall position!" The commander roared.

With that statement, the surrounding Shock Troopers fell to one knee, leveling their rifles at an incoming group of the aliens. They fired, killing a few. A good chuck, however, got very close. The troops responded by switching to shotgun fire, obliterating many more.

One of the Bryn broke through the wall of soldiers, knocking them to the ground. it was a brutish one, not bigger than the others, just far more sturdy. Jerking his wrist back, a vibroblade, the size of a large knife, came into the commander's hand. He rushed the Bryn, driving the blade into its chest then unloading a few shots with his slugthrower into the creature. it seemed like that killed it.

He turned to the Jedi, Travot Ravenna . "Master Ravenna, I must admit, I haven't fought many Bryn! Any tips on battling them? More so for the soldiers than myself!"

Vaux Gred

 

[Salmakk]

"I'm Kyra. Just Kyra. We've brought the equipment my father's told you about, were you able to secure a high, clear spot to set it up?"

Salmakk amicably bobbed his head up and down at Kyra Perl 's answer. While he had grown up in a mixed culture on Hast, the mon calamari engineer was not known for his proclivity to social activities - aside from his work, mostly among fellow mon calamari or engineers, and his family. Of his social circle, the only human that the mon calamari was close to was Admiral Quee, and that was not entirely a normal relationship either. His startled eyes darted towards Coren Starchaser as the jedi master spoke.

"Thank you for the welcome, Salmakk. I'm leaving most of this to Kyra, as it is really her vision. Once we have our gear ready to go, where would you need us?"

Salmakk beamed at that thought - another mind interested in science. Better yet, another mind interested in using science for the benefit of the common good, at least as the mon calamari saw it. He turned to Perit.

"My partner here has a list of possible locations to start your vision," said Salmakk, waving a webbed hand towards the other mon calamari, "he'll send them to your datapad, a ship, a droid, whatever information viewing source you like to use. Thankfully the native Bimm culture here has always been interested in maintaining sustainable living and sought to preserve much of the natural lands around them-"

Perit cleared his throat and made a slight gesture with his hands. Non-mon calamari likely wouldn't immediately know the significance of the gesture, but most social cultures had similar nonverbal cues: cut the chatter, get to the point.

"uh...our two most probable spots are on Mount Proclor, due about six hundred kilometers to the west of here, and Sojourners Peak, several thousand kilometers to the north. Proclor has more steady winds but lower humidity, whereas Sojourner's Peak has much more irregular weather patterns being so close to the coast, and with that, more humidity...typically."

The engineer abruptly stopped himself, knowing full well that he'd happily digress into more detail, but that it might be faster and more clear cut to simply see the data for themselves. Suddenly realizing that they might not have those data interfaces immediately handy, he quickly handed the young woman a datapad with that data.

"You know your equipment better than me, so it would probably be best if you chose the spot," said the alien, briefly retreating backwards, "it would seem that we need a ship or another transport to get to either location. Though it'd perhaps be easiest to ride on your ship, if you are open to it, if the equipment is already onboard. Otherwise, I'm certain that Perit wouldn't mind taking us on the Blue Drifter..."

 

[Dorthea Dobson]

"I… well," Burtch seemed to hesitate. Dorthea could tell that Burtch found the testing nature of the senator's inquiry to be off-putting. Dorthea rolled her eyes at the inexperience of her commanding officer in the theatre of diplomacy. He was a talented military man, to be sure, but practice in the field of wordplay was not his strong suit, clearly. Burtch attempted to press on, "we share many enemies of course. Namely the sith and the remnants of the Bryn'adul…"

"… and others," Dorthea interrupted him. Burtch didn't have many tells, but her experience with the man told her that he was relieved that she jumped in. She took just a fraction of a moment to take in the situation to decide how to proceed next. To the side, Rex Valhoun and Loreena Arenais-Valhoun were effectively sidelined. Burtch had been so nervous about performing as a diplomat that he had cut them off and shut them down by accident. She needed to assume some control here and get the Elysium team back in gear, but Senator Chistor was still waiting for an answer. She knew that a totally straightforward answer was not right here and she needed to show tact.

First, however, she had to get the Grand Admiral out from the stupidest position in the whole room. She shot the Marine Bodyguard, Jorj'klaw'miters a look of daggers as if to say do your kriffing job. The man did not visibly react, but he smoothly moved next to Burtch and casually moved him away from the window. Dorthea noted that Burtch was clearly still too used to being wrapped in the durasteel protection of a naval warship. She'd offer him pointers on room maneuvers later.

However, it was time to press on, "Our qualifying criteria for ‘enemies’ and ‘allies’ is a topic best suited to our foreign relations ministers, or the King himself. Lucky for you, he is here to discuss the recent reforms that he has enacted." Dorthea shot Rex a quick smile. Then her eyes twinkled as they briefly fell on Lori who was just sitting there. Oh, you're not getting out of diplomacy today, young lady, "and," she smiled as she turned back to Senator Chistor, "our queen has commissioned some special projects that you might be interested in on an economic level," She was, of course, talking about the new Mandal-Elysium Arms facilities on Damascus station, as Mandal-Elysium Arms was Lori's company. Dorthea was directing the station's logistics, but the corporate interests of Mandal-Elysium Arms were solely controlled by Lori. The Concord would surely be interested in commodity trades of goods and resources that Lori's company was producing on a mass scale. Lori's company represented the largest economic powerhouse in the Empire so far.

And then, in her musings, she remembered the very population on Damascus Station and felt it was her place to bring up the final facet of their alliance, "and later, when we have finished discussing the more strategic topics, it might surprise you to know that we have shared cultural ties that you must be made aware of. To preface this, the carnage of the Bryn'adul have brought our factions closer together than you may have realized." She was, of course, referring to the Empire's prominent refugee population. Many of the refugees came from the former Concord territory.

Gir Quee C Cirrus Thirdas Heavenshield Silver Strand

 

[Aculia Voland]

Aculia finally made her way to the roof, a little winded from the exertion of continually tracking the would-be evildoer and growing increasingly incensed that he seemed to be one step ahead of her. She felt that she had just missed sight of him as he jumped across the building and started making his way down to the street and clenched her teeth in frustration. He was making her work so damn hard, and this was supposed to be a relatively easy babysitting gig.

“Little elusive piece of bantha fodder…” she growled as she drew even more heavily on the Force, despite feeling a bit tired, both to not lose her sense of where the would-be assassin was doing, and to speed her pursuit of him up. She wanted to end this, sooner rather than later, and while she had initially intended to simply capture the man since it was always more valuable to figure out the “who” behind the assassin than “who” the assassin was, she was now split about fifty-fifty in her decision.

[+30 EP, more force sense, and a burst of speed to catch up with him, on the next post].

120 EP, Status III, "Winded".

 

[Travot Ravenna]

A storm of steel gray seemed to flow behind him as the dour Taris soldiers flooded in behind him. While he could hear them firing behind him as they came in, he trusted them - as he had any of the Concord's soldiers before them - to be competent and not shoot him in the back. Instead, he focused on the threats in front of him that might stop the rest of the troops from getting a foothold into the network of Bryn'adul strongholds.

The wounded vaydralen that he had flung back staggered up to fight, drawing some sort of sidearm that the large man didn't recognize. That wasn't too much of a surprise in and of itself - while he had encountered many types of weapons on the fringes of known space or on the battlefield itself - the bryn'adul seemed to have their own unique technologies which the Concord and its allies were only just starting to understand fully. He flicked the activation stud on his lightsaber and started to swing it before the blade had fully extended. The glowing blue blade came across in a slash that bisected the newly drawn pistol in half. No sooner had the blade accomplished that when the large man lunged forward, transforming the slash into a thrusting attack that plunged the saber deep into the alien's chest.

The alien went limp, and Travot felt its presence in the Force fade to nothingness.

He hated to be so ruthless. As the corpse fell to the ground, he could hear the roar of the Taris shock troopers behind him turning their weapons to shotgun mode. They all had to be that ruthless against a foe like the Bryn'adul. For if they did not, they would not survive long. Transformed by our enemies...It was a bitter thought, though he was taken quickly from it by A AvRe .

"Master Ravenna, I must admit, I haven't fought many Bryn! Any tips on battling them? More so for the soldiers than myself!"

He blinked and turned back to face the troops, "Some of the Bryn'adul species are susceptible to certain types of cold or heat-based weapons, but it is no sure thing, especially as the Bryn have developed them own countermeasures to them. The best advice I can give to you all right now is to stay and fight together - a single one of the Baedurin could overpower anyone in this room except for your commander and myself, and even for us, I doubt it'd be easy. Stay close to us, and stay together as a group - no solo heroics from anyone - it'll only get you killed quicker. We must be quick, and decisive to win. This is the one time where it's better to shoot first and ask questions later. And with that, I should take my own advice, and get us moving. Commander?"

 

[Silver Strand]

"Our qualifying criteria for 'enemies' and 'allies' is a topic best suited to our foreign relations ministers, or the King himself. Lucky for you, he is here to discuss the recent reforms that he has enacted. Our queen has commissioned some special projects that you might be interested in on an economic level, and later, when we have finished discussing the more strategic topics, it might surprise you to know that we have shared cultural ties that you must be made aware of. To preface this, the carnage of the Bryn'adul have brought our factions closer together than you may have realized."

Senator Bail Chistor turned his eyes from Grand Shepherd Burtch to Dorthea Dobson and let a small smile crease his face - not the smile of a friend, but rather an acknowledgement of recognizing a potential adversary as worthy of attention. The other Concord representatives seemed engage in small talk of their own, between themselves and some other minor members of the Elysium delegate, yet he knew that at least some of them had caught the woman's interruption.

"You may well be right on this matter," said the man, lifting the palm of his hand with its face upwards, "and that is part of why we are all here, after all, light years away from our homes on a world new to us, just to meet strangers face to face..."

Obviously clearing his throat to get the attention of the other Concord delegates, the man from Tirahn turned his attention to Heath Valhoun and Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

"It would seem that you both have some thoughts on your mind that you wish to share with us?"

 

[Vaux Gred]

Vaux took a breath as she heard fighting. She looked at her droid, who used his own jump jets to get freed from his slot. This was great.... At least there were some friends nearby. She looked at her revolver, sliding a couple of experimental rounds the young engineer Fred figured would be good. Vaux, for her part, wasn't too sure, but there wasn't really a way to test it without Bryn. She ran up to the house, VK rolling behind before Vaux took cover and looked up to see who was nearby.

"Yeesh I really thought I was the only one out here!" She then quickly got up to fire before... instead of a slug flying the barrel of her custom Trayc'kal froze. She ducked down quick as a speederbike before just grumbling. "I'm going to kill that ad (kid) when I see him next. Anyone happen to have a spare blast... Frag!" She quickly jumped back as one of those stupid Bryn decided her helmet covered face would be delicious. She gave a swift kick to the things face before pulling out the electro-whip she also carried, quickly trying to hit the creature with it while now in the house.

Travot Ravenna A AvRe

 

[Rex Valhoun]

Objective One
Post: 4
Tags: Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Grand Shepherd Burtch Gir Quee Martin Dux
Location: Asaari Hotel

He had jumped when Lori put her hand on his arm, as it took him by surprise. He had never been the type to touch...be it hugs, a hand on the shoulder, or anything more than a handshake. However he gave a small smile and nod to Lori, letting her know he appreciated her support.

Man those things are good. He continued to eat the candies, but at last he had to speak as Dorthea Dobson redirected the attention of Grand Admiral Burtch, and to Loreena and himself. He sat up, looking at the senator, he gave his best answer, "Well, Burtch was right for the most part. As I'm sure you know, my father was a very misguided man. He had good intentions but his execution would have led this Empire to ruin. One of his many mistakes was to make enemies of nearly every superpower in the galaxy....something that I am working hard to reverse. The Empire's only true enemies are The Bryn'adul, and any Sith cults that threaten the galaxy. We have some issues with The Eternal Empire and The New Imperial Order, but nothing too serious."

He paused a moment, then continued, "The reforms Ms. Dobson mentioned are irrelevant to The Concord, but if you wish to learn about them, I'm happy to discuss them...just ask. I'll let my wife take it from here"

 

[Martin Dux]

Martin smiled, nodding as he heard the young king speak. Atta boy. Rex Valhoun 's answer was good, he'd clearly thought about it.

The man jerked forward, he felt it, again. he scanned the room, no, they weren't any closer, and they definitely weren't inside. The old master grabbed his chin, going deep into thought as concentrated. It felt like... they were moving away.

He shook his head, that was truly strange. The person he felt was leaving the vicinity. He sighed heavily, perhaps they weren't some assassin, maybe they just so happened to be force-sensitive. But then again, coincidences like that rarely happened, especially in this galaxy.

Looking over to the delegates, Martin motioned for one of the knights to come to him. Giving a slight bow to all who would notice, the knight made his way towards the old man.

"Yes, Master?" She asked, in a quiet voice.

Martin's eyes went from place to place, giving the room another once over. "I'm... feeling something. Tell the rest to be on guard, watch the entrances, and maybe even the vents." He whispered.

She nodded, then walked back to her brothers, alerting them. Soon, the knights had changed their placement and found themselves patrolling. Soon, Martin too would be pacing the room.

In his experience, it paid to be on guard as much as possible. Granted, he had hoped to relax on this mission, but it looked like that wouldn't be the case. He supposed it was better that he came, after all, there was apparently an assassin afoot. Based on what he'd been feeling, it certainly could be true.

He looked towards Grand Shepherd Burtch , furrowing his brow, and gave a signaling nod. People needed to be on alert, not too many to cause a scene, but enough to be aware there may be a problem.

Gir Quee | Aculia Voland | C Cirrus | Thirdas Heavenshield | Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Kyra Perl]

Kyra accepted the datapad.

"Our ship works," she confirmed, glancing over the locations' details. "It's important the device is high and in fair winds, to allow for the repaired atmo to be cycled out. Yes, Proclor is a good first spot." She handed the pad back and gestured for them to board with them.

"I can set this up now, along with a twin on the other side of the continent, but it will be important that your men learn how to maintain it. We've not tried it at this scale before, but it seems likely that you'll need to relocate them in time, until the atmosphere has completely stabilized.

"We... don't know how long that will be. It's all a bit of a ... trial run," she admitted, the ship's doors closing. "Would you... like to know how it works?"

Coren Starchaser Salmakk

 

[Salmakk]

"We... don't know how long that will be. It's all a bit of a ... trial run. Would you... like to know how it works?"

Salmakk gave an exaggerated nod at Kyra Perl 's answer.

"Absolutely," started the mon calamari, "there are too many people who think that they can simply plug in technology and never give a second thought to it. But we cannot, especially with something so meaningful and vital to this world's people. If something goes wrong with it - if it is damaged somehow, we should know understand the basics of how it works in order to effectively troubleshoot it. I would guess that if elevation is important for its airflow, that it relies heavily on atmospheric currents as part of the filtration process? How far off am I in this?"

 

[Grand Shepherd Burtch]

Grand Admiral Burtch was led aside by his bodyguard while the more diplomatic people began to hash this out. The four of them, Rex Valhoun Loreena Arenais-Valhoun Dorthea Dobson and the Senator Bail Chistor, were beginning to make statements and proposals while Burtch simply listened. He had tactical and strategic knowledge to offer but now that the others were taking over the conversation, he was simply happy to wait until his services could be of use, or if one of them was asked a question that only he could answer. This was for the best.

Martin Dux caught his eye and sent Burtch some kind of signal. Burtch knew that Master Dux was concerned with security for this summit, and the behaviour that was exhibited earlier by Aculia Voland and Sol'yan had already brought concerns to Burtch's mind. Burtch turned to his bodyguard and shot him a questioning look, so Jorj'klaw'miters responded by walking over to one of Martin's knights and exchanged words quietly for a minute. Jorj'klaw'miters then walked over to Dorthea Dobson and whispered something in her ear while she was in the middle of listening to the conversation. She immediately got annoyed, and snapped at the man, whispering loudly, "yes, take the damn thing! I'm busy."

The bodyguard then sidestepped over to the floating protocol droid, "Grunty", and whispered something to it. The floating droid seemed to look at him in confusion and stated a little too loudly, "I don't quite understand what good I would do in there sir. I am programmed for etiquette, protocol, and communications assistance. I am entirely unqualified for surveillance and reconnaissance. Are you certain that this is the best course of action?"

Jorj'klaw'miters then whispered something to the droid and it listened intently. It seemed to droop a little in resignation and replied to the man's unheard question, "very well. If I should discover anything that is out of the ordinary within the air vents, I will send you a coded transmission burst of what I have found."

The droid floated across the room to where a member of the Bimm Mercantile Guard had been apparently unfastening an air vent grate this whole time. The guardsman then opened the grate like a polite noble and the droid calmly sauntered into the darkness.

Silver Strand Thirdas Heavenshield C Cirrus (I keep editing because I’m horrible at remembering relevant tags lol)

 

[Cirrus]

Objective: I - A Meeting of Co-Belligerents (Surveillance)
Location: Loose within the Golden Strip
Tags: Aculia Voland Martin Dux

Cirrus made his way down the side of the building with relative ease, narrowly missing Aculia’s notice by mere moments as he reached the bottom of the staircase. The thought had occurred to him to quick-change his clothes in the off-chance she did get a look at him, but he sensed there was no time. The same sensation washed over him as had done several times over, namely an attempt to ping his location through the force yet again. This time however, his training kicked in, and he was able to shore his mental defenses against her and Martin’s probe. To them, it would feel as though he pushed past their perception much like a person walking out of eyesight.

Attempts to do so again would be severely hampered as he made his way into the main thoroughfare of the Golden Strip, which despite the added security measures, was still abuzz with pedestrians walking to the numerous shops and restaurants mingled amongst the hotel itself. Although he couldn’t change his clothes, to the observer who had failed to see him literally extricate himself from the rooftop and down from the alleyway, he was but one of the many nameless faces of the crowd. To the truly critical, one of several maintenance workers making their way to some facility requiring service. The scores of people in the immediate area would mask his presence in a sea of consciousness, much like finding a needle in a haystack that was moving along with the individual strands of hay.

As he maintained a casual pace, mirroring the crowds amongst him, he felt more secure in his ability to remain hidden. He resynced his biochip and interfaced directly with the droid that was now making its way through the ductwork of the hotel, which was silently skittering along. It eventually made its way through a branch line, proceeding further to a mechanical closet within the upper service levels of the building. Hardly a soul came up to this area given the fact it housed the building’s essential systems. The droid skittered through an access hatch for the ductwork, and glided through the air down to the durasteel flooring of the room, which was completely devoid of anyone - be they droid or sentient. Its previous efforts to find a control panel led it to this room, which contained a service terminal hardwired into the building’s sensitive systems.

The drone connected into the terminal’s interface, utilizing its sophisticated hacking suite to connect with an anonymity that would make the galaxy’s most competent of cyber-dwellers green with envy. The droid made quick work of the security mainframe, downloading a schematic of the hotel’s facilities, as well as bypassing the partition which normally isolated the terminal from the security network of the facility. Within moments, the drone had patched into the camera feed of the hotel, and switched to the secured channel of the meeting. Audio and video fed directly through the drone’s connection to the biochip, which was being recorded and stored for later review.

For now, the Blackwatch agent dedicated the majority of his attention to remaining unnoticed and unseen, paying only cursory attention to the droid’s encoded and adaptive processes. After all, if he was captured, or even killed; this would all be for nought.

Spoiler: Dice Rolls

Dice Roll Pictures:

Roll #1 | Roll #2

Rolling for the following:

• First roll to break the trace of both Aculia and Martin. +3 for Psi Corps Training, +3 for crowd surrounding him.
• Second roll to determine whether or not Cirrus can quickly change his disguise and blend into the crowd. +3 for spycraft, +3 for elusive. In my view, he failed the ability to change, but has successfully blended into the crowd since Aculia did not get a visual on him previously.
• Third roll is to maintain stealth of the drone upon entry into the building. +6 for droid stealth
• Fourth roll is for the droid's ability to hack into the hotel systems and remain anonymous while doing so. +3 for droid hacking.

 

[Aculia Voland]

Aculia moved swiftly after her target with a quick burst of Force Speed as she vaulted the gap between the two buildings in a superhuman blur, and then quickly lept down to the alleyway below, keeping her senses trained on the target even though she could not make visual contact with him or her. She was thwarted yet again when, much to her frustration, her target simultaneously slipped into a large pedestrian crowd and became slippery in the Force, as if she was attempting to grab a writhing eel. The combination was rather effective, as he managed to break her initial lock on him as he slithered his way into the crowd.

She smiled cooly, baring her teeth like a she-wolf who was chasing her prey. Had he been simply a regular agent of some foreign power, maybe she would have lost interest in him, having chased him away from those under her protection. After all, capturing him or killing him was just a nice bonus. The fact that he had been so dogged in evading her, was clearly attuned to the Force, and had the level of mastery in it and the audacity to pull off that maneuver, simply reaffirmed her determination to collar whoever it was.

You want to play games, then, my little eel? Fine, we can play. You just better hope I don’t manage to catch you, or you might be skinned, roasted, and eaten. You would have definitely fooled that old geezer Martin or that Silver Jedi with your tricks, but they haven’t lived the life I had, haven’t needed to push and train their senses that far to merely survive.

As she slowly entered the crowd, she slowed her breathing, letting the Force guide her through the ocean of life, seeking, searching for the subtle, slippery currents of her little eel amongst the many fish in front of and around her. He might have thought himself invisible, untraceable with his abilities, but to those who truly specialized in the art of sensing through the Force, even the absence or dimming of a presence could help reveal their target’s location. She slowly followed a faint, dim trail in the Force, until she had approached around the center of the crowd, where it ebbed and blended into the area around her. At this close range, she was not able to point her quarry out exactly, but she could feel the subtle vibrations in the Force that picked him out as male.

I’ll have to rely on my eyes for more this time. If he’s that skilled in deception, he won’t be too obvious, but he won’t look like he’s trying to hide either. He will be keeping it casual, and trying to not move too quickly. He knows I am after him, and he knows I am close.

Her purple-tinged eyes scanned over the crowd, looking for one who might seem a bit out of place. Assassins tended to be physically fit to ply their trade, and this one had to be athletic to move so quickly, it would be someone with a decent amount of muscle, so it would not be a fat or out of shape man. It would not be a woman either. She doubted it would be someone who had an unusual hair color, dress, or anything that might make them stand out from the crowd either, or one of the street hawkers, as their absence would have been noticed. With this in mind, she began her search.

I’m going to find you. It’s just a question of how much longer you can delay it.

After a minute or so of scanning her surroundings, she had picked up three or so possible men who fit into her general idea. The first was a brawny Rodian who looked to be some kind of unskilled, but strong, day laborer, fiddling about with his commlink. The second was a burly Devaronian who seemed to be uncertain about something. And the third was a rather tall, muscular man in a grubby technician’s outfit, who seemed just a little bit too fit to be fiddling around with droids all day long, although maybe he just valued personal fitness. She burned their faces into her mind.

Her violet-tinged blue eyes kept flitting between the three as she carefully let herself flow through the crowd, keeping both her physical and Force senses on alert. She was feeling a little tired, but she was closing in on her interesting prey, and that kept her going.

It’s so rare I get to meet someone this interesting who challenges me. Won’t you show yourself and let me have a dance with you? She thought as she pursed her lips playfully and ran her fingers over the hilt of her lightsaber.

C Cirrus Rex Valhoun Grand Shepherd Burtch Martin Dux

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Objective: 1

Lori felt like a kid getting caught whispering in class. First by Dorthea Dobson and then by the Senator. But she wasn't whispering. In fact she wasn't saying anything. She wasn't even eating this time. It was Rex Valhoun that was doing so, albeit just on candies.

Rex had jumped when she touched him and so she removed her hand. It was just another reminder of the distance between them. But she couldn't let such a thing show. Lori had promised Heath Valhoun that she would play her part in public. And even while he was in a coma, she wasn't going to break her word.

Hopefully the Jedi would be keeping out of her mind. She hadn't learned how to block her thoughts from people as she didn't stay at the Academy to train while her Dad Veiere had taught there. She couldn't handle all the strict rules. If she had stayed, Lori probably could habe learned a lot and would have been on an entirely different path than what she was on now. But it wasn't in the cards for her.

Rex addressed the Senator first, speaking in minor details. Lori glanced over at him as he spoke of the Eternal Empire. Sge surely had issues with them. She fought against them, helped lead a Rebellion that sabotaged many ships and missions of theirs. But that all ended for her when the Eclipse Rebellion changed, moving away from the objectives it once had. Regardless she was certain that she'd be kept out of any situation regarding them.

And then she was put on the spot by her husband. Lori cleared her throat a little before speaking to the Senator. "Mandal-Elysium Arms is rebuilding well. We have many people working on a super station that allows for the same kind of living one would find on world. Some of the most uninhabitable planets in the Galaxy are rich in resources and offer a lot of opportunities for many. There'll be an abundance of trade that can be offered between both governments."

She left out any mention of Mnemosyne and it's resources. It was a planet within Silver space that her and her brother were the rulers of. If any deals fail to be struck herr, at least she'll have her own world there to work with.

Silver Strand

 

[Arken Dobson]

Objective 4… ish…

Arken Dobson, head of the family, and ex-convict of wrongful accusations, awoke in his quarters on the Special Forces Val Khaar-Class Corvette, HMS Blind Eye, and shivered from the intense cold.

He was not happy about being here. He would much rather be on his personal ship, the Silent profit where things were comfortable and amenities were close by. But… at the time he had thought that he needed to be present for this. Omar had something of his own mysterious agenda for this mission, but Arken wanted to see if Daxam IV was a valid location for the Dobson family's new base of operations. At the time, it had seemed silly to bring two ships for this, so he had hitched a ride with his brother.

He regretted his choices.

This was not Arken's first time on a navy warship. Most military vessels in the Elysium Navy were regimented and professional. Most Elysium officers upheld the Empire's reputation for running a tight ship and maintaining discipline. But Omar was always above and beyond… Arken had elected to stay in his quarters the whole time for fear of getting in the way.

Arken sighed as he threw on a massively oversized, expensive, fur housecoat. He shivered miserably with loathing for this military operation. He wasn't gonna leave the ship now. He would trust his brother's observations on the validity of this world for the new Dobson base. But he would need to talk to the acting captain. Would it kill someone to close the kriffing boarding ramp to the cold outside air?

Arken walked across his quarters to the only amenity that he could truly appreciate on this ship. He poured the freshly brewed cup of coffee and took a sip. The warmth was the only pleasure he would feel until someone closed the door…

Omar Dobson