For Their Own Good (Galactic Empire Invasion of Fondor)

[Preliat Mantis]

@[member="Noah Corek"] @[member="Talia Al Ghul"]


Preliat blinked for several moments, before putting the rifle down.


"Well that was stupid."

 

[Hauf Xren]

"We're having heavy losses, sir! This battle is unwinnable!"

The situation was getting out of hand, the Vong's ship retreated when Hauf ordered to support it. Hauf analyzed the situation and the chances to win we're slim.

"Sir! Lord Nedo ordered the retreat. We need to get out of here."
"Then do it! Order the retreat..."

He was disappointed, very... Hauf did the best he could and with that he wasn't able to turn the tide of the battle. And now the possibilities that the Protectorate were bound to counter-attack were high, he knew that. The ship jumped to hyperspace before their engines were destroyed, and with that Hauf took out his datapad and started again to buy more stocks, taking the opportunity to get more winnings from the stock market.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Well this was all a rather interesting turn of events. Ivy remained stoically silent the duration of it all. Through the unforeseen retreat and the short order of directives from the Lord Protector that followed. She might've queried on the name 'Preacher', for she doubted it was a very common name, but hell, she'd find out if it was who she thought it was sooner or later.

Lye continued standing next to @[member="Ayden Cater"], eyes trained on the viewport with a curious intensity and apparent understanding that a tuk'ata probably shouldn't have. It rumbled an odd noise.

EEEeeeeeEEEeaaaaaaaaaat.

Ivy perked a brow, arms crossed, looking askance at her companion she offered it a low chuckle, "How do you like your tea, Lord Protector?"

 

[Miles Varden]

Miles and his squadrons had only just begun to fight when the enemy turned tail and ran. He received the order from @[member="Ayden Cater"] that the Protectorate fleet was going to follow the Imps back home and crush them.

All wings, back to the line. We are preparing for a jump to Imperial Space. Our Lord Protector has decided to repay their visit. Move out!

| @[member="Talia Al Ghul"] @[member="Jorus Merrill"] @[member="Basaba Willamina"] @[member="Noah Corek"] @[member="Knight"] @[member="Corvo Anattolius"] @[member="Jonathan Walsh"] @[member="Nyos Val"] @[member="Chloe Blake"]
@[member="Spencer Jacobs"] @[member="Lady Exedō"] @[member="Preliat Mantis"] @[member="Gilamar Skirata"] @[member="Ivy Lasranae"] @[member="Sarge Potteiger"] |

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Short brown tuffs of hair were sticking out in all different directions on top of Jorus's head; he always had that 'just rolled out of bed' look about him that made her smile widen.

"Been a long while since I've had something with a good enough kick," she said with a wide smile, following him into the Gypsy, her hand coming up to brush the tips of her fingers across the seam of the hatch. He'd mention Mara, which perked her head. He also mentioned Alna, which from their last conversation, was a name she remembered well.

"Haven't gone back home in a while, so feeling a bit homesick if you've some Corellian gold around," she asked, following him as she added, "How's Mara? She talking your ear off yet?"

There was some old familiarity to walking the corridors of the Gypsy, and Chloe couldn't help but keep touching the durasteel walls, the beams and pipes as she made her way towards the mess.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Droideka 0793"] @[member="Chloe Blake"]

"Corellian gold I can do," he said. The sentence ended with a grunt as he pulled his uncoordinated droideka to its tripod feet. "Buddy, come on, don't get excited. You widdle all over my guests anytime I've got one. Now I'm gonna take the lady up to the bridge for some chow, and you're gonna do your darndest not to shoot up my ship from sheer excitement. Got it?" He patted the droideka on the head, grabbed a couple quickheat packs of ribenes and a bottle of Whyren's Reserve, and went up to the cockpit. Four seats, plenty of room, plenty of consoles to hold food and drink. A dashboard compartment held a couple of glasteel tumblers. He pulled the heating tabs on the food and poured a couple of drinks.

"Thought we'd be having a war right about now," he said. "Just finished getting the old gun all good to go. Who'da thought the Empire would be stupid enough to shoot for Fondor?"

 

[Talia]

@Noah Corek @Talia Al Ghul @[member="Preliat Mantis"]

FONDOR
STARPORT
TOP OF THE TOWER

"The enemy force has retreated, for now. They came here in arrogance, so sure that we would bow to them. They had the audacity to demand our surrender then claim moral superiority before turning tail and running.
"This travesty... this insult will not go unpunished. We're going to repay the favor, and we're not going to stop at some paltry speech. I want every military vessel not part of the Fondor Defense Fleet capable of fighting ready for jump in thirty minutes. We're going to show them how 'weak' we are."

There came a narrowing of Talia's eyes at the message. Ahh, so he was the new Lord Protector? Was Tegs still an Exarch? So much had apparently changed in her absence...

But that was another matter for another time. She would undoubtedly be playing catch up once she read over holonews files and caught up with the other changes within S.A.A.T ... and the Protectorate.

However, that would have to wait. By all intents and purposes, it appeared war was looming over the horizon for the Protectorate. She remained quiet alongside the Colonel and the Mandalorian, already, there was a stir in the air as the soldiers along their backs gave a cheer. Her nostrils flared for a moment, a furrow coming to her brow.

Just how far would this go?

"Well.. looks like we have our orders," came her comment, shouldering the rifle at her back. "And I've my fellow scientists to discuss this future endevour." She gave a nod to Noah, "Colonel, " then to Preliat , "I'm sure we will soon face the Atrisians anew sooner than later.."

 

[Noah Corek]

@[member="Talia Al Ghul"] @[member="Preliat Mantis"]
FONDOR
STARPORT
TOP OF THE TOWER
Noah saw her eyes scrunch when Ayden came over the comm. "Yeah a lot has changed since you left. Alcori was the Protector,but then due to personal issues,she resigned and Cater stepped in. Personally,I don't trust him,he has too much of a shady background if you ask me." Noah informed her,giving his honest opinion. When her heard her speak he smiled at her. "Yeah,I've got a feeling we will." Noah stated as he began to walk to the elevator.

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"] @[member="Droideka 0793"] ( sorry to have missed you 0793!)

Perhaps it was the shock at seeing Jorus again that made the young Corellian miss the odd Johnny Five of a Droideka at his side, but no longer! If Chloe's grin could get any wider, it did then, mirth dancing in her eyes at the rather comical sight of Jorus helping the Droideka find it's balance.

"You alright there?" came her question of concern, moving forward as if to provide aid, but Jorus beat her to it. Her hand rose, and fingers gave a small wiggle at hello, for this was one companion she hadn't seen fly with Jorus yet.

"Never thought I'd see you flying with a Droideka before," came Chloe's teasing comment, her eyes twinkling as she followed him to the bridge. She slid onto the co-pilot's fairly naturally, her body draping itself upon it with a measure of comfort she hadn't felt in a while. It was... nice. Kinda like slipping back into an old familiar blanket. At the mention of the Empire a coming invading, she gave a sigh, blowing hot hair up to make her blonde bangs fly off her face.

"There be always one or another wanting to regulate one thing or another, be it the space lanes or any other thing regarded as free to claim." she said a bit wearily, her hand coming up to tuck a rebellious blond curl back behind her right ear. "But we do what we can."

"Good ol' Whyren's, mm?" she said then, smiling at the bottle of whiskey he held in hand. She came from Corellian stock with several generations worth of farming the barley and rye to make traditional Corellian gold. "My Grandaddy will likely be keen on replacing any bottles you might need," she said in casual conversation, for that at least, kept any kind of silence from forming.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

"Yeah, Tim -- called himself Tim, the fether -- I picked him up when I... how to I put this." He leaned the chair back, trying not to notice how well she fit into that chair. As if she'd never left it. But memory was inaccurate, and sight-

He took a sip, then another, just to clear his head. "Yeah, I've kept in touch with your grandpappy -- not as me, but as Silk. My company buys a few bottles every now and again for whatever, an' a good chunk of that goes to me. Or whoever I need to bribe to keep the lanes clear. I, uh, run a whole lotta hyperlanes right now, run'em the way I'd like to think Wardens would want. Not my first choice of life, but one I can live with. Find new lanes when I can, set up waypoints and fuel stops and nav markers. Found a few new worlds some months back, waaaay out rimward of Mon Cal in the end of the Tingel Arm. Worlds that never got reconnected to the galaxy after the Dark Age. Linked'em up, and whaddaya know, they've got trade goin' on, with some old spacers, a couple Vagrants, and some disaffected Jedi runnin' patrols to keep the space free. Levantine Sanctum, it's called. I'm makin' some ships for'em when I can. Free space, no Republic dren, no Empire clart, just asteroid fields and wrecks and worlds that owe nothin' to nobody."

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

There came a grateful smile to her face, warmer now at the mention that Jorus was still keeping in touch with her grandpa. The old coot always held the Warden with the warmest of regards. "Good to hear... and I'm grateful for it." she told him as she sat up a bit straighter, leaning forward towards him, her forearms coming to rest at the top of her thighs.

Navigating the spacelanes and looking over their safety has been a call for the limited amount of Wardens out in the black. Their kind kept to themselves, choosing to keep their ways myth and legend. Jorus, she mused with a familiar sense of amusement, chose to go against the grain. A bit too public with his methods, a bit blunt... ahh... but that is just how he was. There was no guile in the man, he did what he had to do for what he stood for and those he needed to protect. It was something she always admired about him. Which is why she wasn't at all surprised at his success with Silk holdings, nor at his adventures in the black with the Levantine Sanctum.

"For the Levantine Sanctum? Out rimward of Mon Cal?" she repeated, her hands hanging lightly between her legs, "Funny that... I spent the bulk of my time out in the Centrality.... doing the same myself out in the ThonBoka Nebula." she'd needed some time away to think, to discover just what the Gods intended for her to do. Find a measure of peace. In part, she had spending her time with the Oswaft, learning from them.

"Got to fly with the Oswaft, Jorus." there came a kind of nostalgic expression on her face, a joy. "It was beautiful." she said with a low appreciative hush and a half crooked smile; the same kind of look she'd once given him during their trip down to see the Flamewind.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

A low curse of awe escaped him. "The Oswaft - that's insane. The Duinuogwuin I flew with were at least...comprehensible. Spoke Basic, visited the Republic from time to time. But the Oswaft are so much bigger, so much...stranger. I saw one once, off Lorrd. Just for a minute before it jumped. I'm pretty fethin' jealous of you right now."

He brushed cortosis ore off a panel -- long story, that -- and reached for the bottle again, just to put another fingerwidth in the glass, just for something to do. "You gotta tell me that one one of these days. Who knows, next time I'm out in the Sanctum free zone, might take a jaunt up near Etti, see if I can't track down what you've seen."

His cybernetic eyes lit up. "Hold on a sec. Check this."

A holoprojector flared to life, depicting...

"Space trains. Cheap safe planet-surface-to-planet-surface trains. I made'em. They're fething everywhere now -- all through the Unknown Regions, few worlds of the Tion Hegemony, heck, even Kessel, sold a few to a Hutt."

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"You know I'm always up to share a tale or two," came her soft reply, simply enjoying being around her fellow Warden. It felt good.

There was something about that kid like delight in Jorus's expression that tugged at the old heartstrings. It was in the excited glint in his cybernetic eyes, in the manner his entire body practically thrummed with energy.

Chloe watched him, more than just a little amused as the holo-projector came to life, bathing the small cockpit in it's cerulean glow. She scooted a bit closer. A hand went reaching to brush off a light film of cortosis ore remaining across the panel that had been left behind, a light arch of a questioning brow following a small amused shake of her head.

She stared up at the holo projection with a keen gaze, admiring the the detail. Her hands came up, manipulating the image to get a better look at just how it worked.

"Leave it to you to come up with a method of traveling the lanes in an unorthodox manner," she quipped at him, giving a small laugh. It was a light feminine sound and a lot more carefree than before. " How long does travel usually take?" came her next question, returning her blue gaze back to the holo-projector, that wayward lock of blonde hair falling over her right eye again as she came in to get a closer look at his creation.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

For a moment, the instincts of a married man betrayed him. It would have been an unconscious and normal action to brush back Alna's hair if she was sitting this close and her hair had fallen across her face. His shoulder and arm even shifted, just slightly, before his mind caught up with his instincts. "Class Three equivalent. Only sends'em out for single jumps to nearby systems or stations on hyperlanes. For rerouting, we take one of the end modules, no tether, and just stick the thing in deep space to catch and pitch, catch and pitch. Cost per ton of cargo is like sixty percent of bulk freighters -- same for a steerage-class ticket. I've pulled off whole planetary evacs with HALCYON systems. Gimme a year and I'll have people runnin' trains all over, even in CIS space. You heard about the bounty, right?"

He chuckled a little, just a tad hollow. "I called'em out on one of their top dogs torturin' Thessa Kai, they didn't believe me, Sarge blew some stuff up, they tried to arrest me, I dropped some assault concussion missiles on their Forcer fortress. Million creds on my head. I do business with people in CIS space, Arceneau for one...but I don't do business in CIS space no more."

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

She caught the slight movement at the corner of her eye, and it was enough to cast her attention to him, her gaze momentarily considering the distinct slope of his cheekbones and the cut of his jaw before returning to his eyes. This was a bit more familiar territory, ironically enough. Where in their past they would never cross the line of skinship that would risk a desire for more.

Her shoulders rose as she took deep breath, giving a quick nod and turning away to return her attention to the holo-projector. " Heard about it after stopping by the cantina at Moreau," she said quietly, blinking slowly as she continued with notable concern, "How is Thessa? Is she alright?"

"And what are you going to do about that bounty?" she turned back towards him, concern for his well being evident in her eyes, one hand reaching out for the glass of whiskey just to keep her hands busy. Guess even time away couldn't fade the desire to reach out and touch.

"Isn't Silk Holdings within Confederate Space?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

"Thessa bounced back, all thanks to Judah Dashiell. Force knows what's so special about him, but there's somethin'. That unassuming farmboy saw action at Roche, went toe to toe with Velok, the Feds -- I get his outfit to make me droids every now and again. Silk's astromech equivalent, train conductors too...I think he keeps her busy. Though who knows if they ever..."

He waved eloquently to finish the sentence, and mimed tossing dice. "The bounty's a hiccup, more so than bein' based outta Ukio was. We moved, didn't take much doin' -- we're based on Drogheda now, got offices all over the place, even got people all through the Rishi Maze. We never had much in Fed space anyway. An' then there's Void Station, which basically belongs to Silk but is rightthefeth on Fed borders. They ain't touched it 'cause they know I'd be there to burn'em, at a guess. I've rebuilt that station twice, saved it twice -- ain't no way I'm forgettin' it."

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

Chloe absorbed his tale with only one small chuckle at the rolling of the dice reference, a cheeky smile coming cut her face in half at that. " We'll know in due time." her wrist lightly rotated her glass as she thought of what her grandfather once told her, 'A man and a woman can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other... Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever.' It was a point that held true for Judah and Thessa, for theirs was a relationship that many had long seen coming; despite Thessa's arguments to the contrary.

There was a time where those words had struck a cord in her; now, well it was just an acceptance. Didn't mean that the love she has for the man would go away, it just meant she'd love him her own way. Each unsent letter she had written was a testimony to it. Chloe took a sip of the whiskey, feeling the warmth of the liquor pool into her belly as she added, "From my talks with Judah and what I know of him, he'll look over her right."

Another deep breath, and then she reached over to pour them both a bit more whiskey, "Sounds like you have everything in working order then. S'ides, reckon there ain't an entity in the 'verse that can tie you down." she continued, giving him a nod and a half smile. "So tell me more about the Levantines...."

"Also, I'm keen on asking just where one might tackle a star dragon for a lesson or two." Conversation had always been the safest route. "Most of the Vagrants have been hard to get a hold of. Makes me wonder just how much has changed since I went off to the Centrality."

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

Jorus shrugged awkwardly. "I can take you to the Graveyard of the Dragons, though they don't much like visitors -- one almost ate Sarge and I. Sacred place, contemplation, no desire to get bothered while they're waiting to die. I got lucky. But if I showed up like one o'them, they'd feel that an' I could probably get you a conversation or two. It's not too far from Levantine space, so who knows, maybe they've realized that there's folks, good folks, patrollin' that region.

"As for the Vagrants..." He grimaced. "Some of'em came to work for me. Some of'em followed Varanin an' Jacobs to the Fringe. Some of'em are the Levantines. Some of'em are the Rebel Alliance. A couple of'em just went nowhere. They went floatin' away. I know where to find most of'em, if anyone in particular caught your fancy for reconnection."

 

[Chloe Blake]

@[member="Jorus Merrill"]

"Wouldn't want you to have to risk much, " she countered, her finger tapping against the glass of her whiskey, bringing it up to her lips to have a sip. "But if there is any way you could ease the transition, I would be much obliged." she said with a faint crooked grin.

Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath at the revelation at just exactly what happened to the Vagrants. "Heard anything from Mikhail? What about Qae?" her brows drew a bit as she came up with names, "You already mentioned Judah and Thessa."

"Where did those two run off to?" she asked in regards to the former.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

@[member="Chloe Blake"]

Jorus sat back and grimaced.

"Far as I know, Mikhail's gone off the deep end. He and Cavill -- you remember Cavill -- destroyed the Senate on Coruscant, so bad they moved the Senate to Anaxes permanently. He runs with Fringe a bit, I think. Not a top dog there. Causes too much trouble these days." He took a hard sip. "Some call him 'Thronebreaker.' He gets his jollies challenging Sith Emperors an' smashin'em. Mikhail's twenty pounds of trouble in a ten-pound sack these days.

"As for Qae...well, you knew he bought in on Silk from the start, ten percent. Did a couple good fighter designs for us, too. An' then?" He shrugged. "Then he started gettin' more an' more controlling, 'specially after Ori'vod left the Fleet. Always had to be in charge, always had somewhere the Fleet Needed To Be. I never signed up for that, most didn't cotton to havin' someone In Charge. An' when he figured out that nobody was really interested in havin' him as a boss, he sorta...faded away.

"So I bought out his shares of Silk, because deadweight. Ain't nobody heard from him in ages."