In the Name of Justice... [Lords of the Fringe Dominion of Riflor]

[Garza]

Team Two
@Inger Stromfire | [member="Lucien Cordel"] | @Nickolas Imura(ME!) | [member="Elias Truden"]

As much as I would rather not suit up in something that sported a tie, I had to. I needed to look the part as though I was a real businessman. I was anyways, but not the kind that wore a Tux. Instead I opted to wear a set of jet black paints, a black button up shirt, a white tie that was loose around my neck so I could breathe, and a red vest that looked to almost be on fire when in brighter lights. Underneath, I was wearing my necklace. The silver and onyx cross was warm against my skin as I wore gloves to cover up the deformity of my left hand.

I was glad that I was the former apprentice of the man leading this operation. I still had some contacts within his clothing department and had gotten all of this clothing made out of armorweave. Considering I felt naked without my leather jacket, this would have to do. Hidden on my body, concealed visibly from the force and with a little bit of alchemy to hide any traces of heat or metal, a lightsaber was somewhere on my body. My Knights blade was one that I always carried. However as this was one place not to be left alone, being seen without some kind of weapon was almost rude in some cases. However, this was not. I looked rather handsome with my long black hair and in a getup to match. I bet my girlfriend Aerin would just love to see this.

At that thought, I placed in my earpiece with a gentle push into my ear. Clicked it on, and looked at the papers one more time of the fourteen people we were here for. Standing off to the side putting earrings on, was an Arkanian female by the name of Kalee. She was dressed to match me with a shoulderless dress that faded from black at her chest, all the way to a red and on through to white at her feet. The dress hugged her form, but bellowed out after it reached her knees.

Turning to face me, she had a look of disgust on her face. "Why did I have to come in a dress instead of Hunter. He would have fit the part better." I smiled and walked over. I twirled my hand and with a turn of her body, I zipped up the back of the dress and hid the line upon her back within the folds. "Because you have a figure that would steal the eyes of men, while I need to be on the job."
"So I am the distraction..."
"Not rea-"
"Lie again Nick and and will strip this in the middle of the mission."
"Darling, you need to keep this on, or you won't get to work on your ships."
"Why is it that I don't know your weak spot, yet you know mine?"
​"Because you reveal it so easily. Now, we must be off. Earpiece in."

She followed my instructions and as I held out my arm, she laced hers within mine. Walking out of the door, it was locked and we proceeded to move on towards the objective.

Freeing the Slaves.... kind of.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Riflor had a population of 5.6 billion. Some of those people were slaves, some were slavers...

...and some just didn't much like the Fringe. Captain J.Q. Merrill, for one, numbered among those 5.6 billion people at this particular moment -- ironically enough, because he, too, was looking at taking action against the slavers. Riflor was one of the worlds where the old Rebel Alliance had kept safehouses and gotten their ships refitted. He still had a few contacts here. He'd stopped by for a visit, found the problem, started formulating a solution.

Minor complication: if the Fringe was here to fight slavers, that meant they were here to make this particular bit of the Neutral Zone not so neutral anymore. And Captain J.Q. Merrill was wanted in Fringe territory.

The Bullet Time sat in a no-name hangar on Riflor, one freighter among hundreds. In the cockpit, Captain J.Q. Merrill watched the sensor screens and listened to comms intercepts on the off chance someone would do something with an unencrypted comlink. He pondered escape. A lot.

"General?"

That was one of the local contacts, an old Rebel, none of this new breed. Jorus glanced back at the door to the rest of the ship. "Yeah, Barth?"

"How bad's the weather?"

Jorus turned back to the sensors. "Looks like at least a couple of Hood-class with escorts, which makes me think it's the same stunt they pulled at Serpena. Overwhelming ground force with elite units, total planetary encirclement. We try to run for it, we're looking at concentrated fire from near-lightspeed weapons on multiple vectors. The weather's bad."

"Better odds than staying here, if they're sticking around. Do you...have room for a few of us?"

"The old gang?"

"The old gang can go to ground. My family."

Jorus' eyes tightened. "Might be best to keep low for a while, get out when they don't have a fleet around the planet."

Barth, a human of middling years and unprepossessing appearance, slouched into the seat next ot him. "Assuming we don't end up like Jar'Kai or Eriadu."

"Jar'Kai wasn't them, per se. That was the Feds, after Fringe double-crossed'em. Eriadu was only bad in small doses. But point taken. I've got room for six -- you've seen how cramped it is back there. This ship's got no space to spare, and it'd take hours we don't have to drop the gear that's bolted in. How many you got?"

 

[Marselia Urstalis]

Team One

She was so used to being on-board one ship or another with [member="Jared Starchaser"] or her master that being planetside felt weird the longer she was up in the great, big black, and this time, not only was she going to be planetside, but she was going to be planetside on a world that could swallow her whole, quite literally. The ground could just open up and devour her, among other unsavoury fates that could befall anyone that set foot on Riflor. It wasn't that she was afraid... okay, maybe a tiny bit, but it was enough to be considered culture shock. Maybe she needed to get out more, but when she thought that, it was a thought easily dismissed. She was okay being some kind of space hermit, if Jared was there.

"I'm with..." her eyes drifted from that blonde that looked to be about her age, over to the one she was supposed to call 'Master' but usually didn't, and sometimes, sometimes shared a bed with, "...with you, Knight Sivas. Um, I mean medical."

As if that wasn't obvious. She hadn't yet picked up any defensive skills that didn't involve being in the cockpit and pressing a button.

[member="Dissero"] | [member="Phedre Parenthis"] | [member="Anders Sivas"] | [member="Token Waters"] | [member="Verie Lacroix"] |[member="Fenri"]​

 

[Jorus Merrill]

Barth, it transpired, had a largeish family.

"The feth you mean, you've only got room for six? This ship's fifty meters!"

"You've been all through it. If you think you can cram more in, be my guest, but frack, Barth, Beyyr can hardly stand up back there. And make sure they're the next best thing to strapped in. Afterburners kick in, the inertial dampeners don't cover everything."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Team Four

Jared avoided planetside. Sure, his woman was there, but really, calling her his woman? Meh, he wasn't quite so sure how that would go over. The pair had a different relationship, but being military meant taking happiness and enjoyment when and where you could find it. And it also meant, at least for him, sacrifice. He and Lia didn't get a normal life, and for a Force user, Jared was devastatingly basic. Barriers, navigation and a bit of telekinesis. Hell, his lightsaber still was running around with an unstable crystal. Unstable and cyan, he couldn't even make the viridian Starchaser crystal well.

Soon. Soon he'd get himself out of a cockpit and train. Get himself to a Knight. He was almost there once, with the Fel Empire, but now? He was busy being a CAG. And that was fine.

“Any reports, Wing, from the planet?” He spoke out, across all boards. It appeared that there were Slavers leaving the planet. And that was when he started marking targets. “We'll move for the larger targets first, anything that looks like they're in a hurry to get out the orders are to take out their engines. Flight One, we're on the disable. Two, you're flying cover for us, and Three, take it to the bogeys. Keep the fighting up here and away from any civilian traffic.”

Unfortunately for the pilot, he had no idea [member="Jorus Merrill"] was around. And going against that man? Maybe not the smartest thing to do.

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Jared Starchaser"]

"You better be here to tell me everything's all squared away back there," said Jorus over his shoulder. "I'm reading some nasty-looking patrols."

"Five minutes, General. I swear, just five minutes."

"We're down to the wire, Barth, I'm warning you. Once those Fringe intercept teams get in position, our window of opportunity starts looking like an arrow slit, and I'm not that great a shot."

 

[Jared Starchaser]

Team Four

Jared was checking the reports, really, he was also waiting to hear from [member="Carlos Castillo"], because, well, it was their operation. He was just flying a Wing, and making sure that everything was handled in his realm. Interdiction was not always his strongest suit, but the Exalts could chase nearly anything that launched down and had the power to blow it out of the sky.

"Any reports on the ground about ships preparing?"

"Just what is in the air, sir." Jared was expecting that, but who knew, there would be waves, from what he suspected.

"Warm up the weapons, everyone, take your targets."

[member="Jorus Merrill"]

 

[Jorus Merrill]

[member="Jared Starchaser"]

Jorus cursed bitterly. As a younger man, he'd have made the run anyway.

"We're hosed, Barth. I'm not thinking I can get us past that. Those are SFS TIE Exalts -- two guns that hit like six. If we go it alone, we die. Fingers crossed one of the other ships isn't as smart. Numbers are the only way we'll get through." He hissed through his teeth. "Until then, we have to wait."

 

[Dharma Vessia]

Team Two - [member="Inger Strömfire"] | [member="Lucien Cordel"] | [member="Nickolas Imura"] | [member="Elias Truden"]

“Shut it!” An angry Dharma commanded, “I don’t look like a nerf… you look a stool sample from a Hutt.” Last words added as she slammed one of fourteen photos down on her bed. “At least the holo-projector, bed, and this person agrees with me.” Picking up the photo of the one agreeing with her as she said who was on her side for a change. This was not abnormal in Dharma’s world. Others might question the sanity of her, but those normally went cray cray within minutes.

The little fighting was over the black dress she was wearing for the mission. Well that dress, then there was the jewelry, and ear piece mic thing. Dharma finished getting ready with less fighting happening. There were words shared but it did not slow her down. Some of the photos and other objects in the room were telling her that others were departing.

As Dharma was about to grab the door handle and leave, a rude voice started up again. “The nerf says… roooo. Hey you hear me, rrrooooing nerf.”

“Oh no, you didn’t!” Dharma expressed while spinning around on a heel, and then charged the bed. Leaping into the air, she belly flopped on the bed. The photo was found quickly as it was still making noises at her. Dharma just began to tear it with the help of her teeth. Growling as her teeth hold the photo and she pulled downwards to rip it. After five good minutes of destroying the photo, she slowly got up and straightened her dress out. Then left the room not to fall behind the rest of the team.

 

[Yasha Cadera]

Team One:
Riflor Mines

"Alright. Those doing Protection keep a weather eye and try not to look too threatening? The Healers with me. We're about t--" my voice cuts out as the vessel touches down on our landing point. The swell of despair has been leaking into my telepathic net, but now that the ground is beneath us, my natural inclinations toward empathy burn a deep and sizeable hole through my lovely calm.

[member="Spencer Jacobs"] taught me once how to block emotions out. I was a kid on a park bench and she was a trusting stranger, come upon the curiously emotional Padawan. I shut my eyes and let slip a cleansing exhale. The emotions filter behind a drifting fisherman's net and pass through. "They're angry and terrified. Worst mix."

As we exit the ship, I send the Protection detail off as Bucket sticks by my side, Tyr and Tus the EMBU's help MASH, BASH, Stabs and Suture (Medical & Search & Rescue Droids) set up makeshift hospital tents. The air is acrid and offensive. I don't know what's getting me more: The smell of sulfur, sweat or the emotions. I take Lia's hand for a brief moment, letting the girl know I'm there. That whatever happens next, we're going back to the Sumatiyara alive.

Slaves begin to collect, I hold up my hands. "Citizens of Riflor, be slaves no longer. Bring us your sick and wounded. We are here to free you from the mines. You will be given fresh clothing and a decent meal after we ensure your wounds are repaired and your children have care."

The extension of my hands hides another bit of magic befalling this world.

I push outward to the dwindling flock and make the offer more pleasant to their minds. Slaves begin to come to those who chose to heal them.

[member="Dissero"] [member="Phedre Parenthis"] [member="Token Waters"] [member="Marselia Urstalis"] [member="Verie Lacroix"] [member="Fenri"]

 

[Kesare]

Team Three

Something shifted inside of her just as everyone aboard the ship finishes any last minute preparations before they dropped – the countdown buzzing in her ears as a loud reminder of what lay behind those doors. Their mission was clear: kill or be killed – a notion that she has become all too familiar with. Unsheathing a dagger from her belt she lovingly caresses the blade as wild images of taking down slavers danced around her head and excitement coursed through her veins.

This was the type of assignment that she lived for – the rush of adrenaline pulsing through her veins, the surge of power buzzing beneath her skin, to feel bone crush beneath her hands and the sticky warmth of blood coating her skin. Yes, missions like this one were her favorite. It would be a lie if she said that she wasn't doing this for her own perverse pleasure in watching the light of their eyes flicker out and bodies crumbling in distorted heaps to the ground, the fact that they were helping to free a bunch of slaves was just icing on the cake for her.

With one final sweep over each unfamiliar face, she makes note to get familiar with all five of them by the end of the mission. Matsu is the only face in the small group that she is familiar with and they don't need to say anything to know what the other is thinking as their eyes lock just as the doors begin to open and she offers her a wolfish, knowing grin.

The tunnel is shrouded in darkness and the air is stale and reeks of sulfur – spinning the dagger around her fingers she keeps in step with the others. "Right, because how hard could that be?" Her tone is laced with an amused tease as they pool out of the ship. For a brief and fleeting moment everything appears to be quiet...still – the calm before the storm. Her excitement has increased exponentially and she can practically taste the turmoil before any blood has spilled. It only takes a matter of seconds before order turns into chaos as a man hidden behind the cloak blackness shrieks a battle cry as he rushes forward. There is no finesse behind the attack, his movements almost sloppy and comical because somewhere in his brain he chose to respond to their threat with fight and not flight – brave but stupid.

Before the man can get any closer she releases the dagger from her grip, watching it sink into his chest from where she'd been aiming since the second he gave away his location in the dark. He makes a garbled sound in the back of his throat before hitting the ground on his knees with a 'thunk' – stalking over to him she thrusts out her foot in a hard kick that sends him flat on his back and forces the blade to thrust deeper into his chest. She watches as death crawls up to drag him off before ripping the blade out with a satisfied sigh and a curl of her lips.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"] | [member="Carré Inirial"] | [member="Apos"] | [member="Tylan Toarinar"] | @K'Dan La'Roi | [member="Togashi Yokuni"]​

 

[Judah Lesan]

ooc: late comer to the party... talked with Lucianus and he recommended team three for killing and destroying things...

TEAM THREE

Blackmoore was his own man. Natrually it was the monarch in him to travel alone, but also the fact he was still adjusting to the new timeline he was living in. His personal mission kept him away from Fringe activity, but his old firend Lucianus Adair had personally asked him to help in the matter of eradicating slavery from their controlled space. A particular planet had been named, and Xander agreed, after several glasses of the expensive wine Lucianus kept in his possession.

This particular mission was odd for Xander. He persoanlly had servants, though they were treated much better than slaves. His culture had always made a difference between the ruling class and the serving class. He now had one in his estate that saw herself as a slave, though again she was treated more as an apprentice. Xander was crafting her for something specific, a task which could not be connected to him. She would learn to do things she never thought herself capable of doing. Xander was making her Sith, despite the fact she could not use the force.

The monarch's personal ship hovered over the opening to the caverns. This was the drop point for the other members of the team, Xander had been told as he was en route from his estate on Ec Pand. He reached out with the force to sense whether the team had arrived yet, and found one familiar aura among them. A devilish grin stretched across his face as he knew this particular meeting would be much different than the last.

With the force, the control for the loading ramp was released. Booted feet walked along the ramp as it descended, and stopped so the King could view the caverns from above. "Move to the mouth, I want to get a better view," he demanded of his pilot. When the drop ship came into view Xander signaled a stop, and the ship hovered once more over the drop site. "I shall summon you when you are needed again. Until then be discrete and don't get shot down."

Xander leaped from the ramp, calling both lightsaber hilts to his hands with the force. Joining them, the Sith Knight ignited the violet blades which were thirsty for the task at hand, upon his landing. It had been a long time since Xander Blackmoore dressed as the hunter, and today many lives would be taken to ensure his reputation ring throughout the galaxy once more.

His decent had drawn attention to himself by an attacker. The guard, task master, whatever he was, charged at Blackmoore. Before a move could be made, the monarch stepped forward and relieved the attacker of his right arm before thrusting the second blade into the man's heart, ending the life quickly and precisely.

[member="Matsu Xiangu"] | [member="Kesare Salazar"] | [member="Carré Inirial"] | [member="Apos"] | [member="Tylan Toarinar"] | @K'Dan La'Roi | [member="Togashi Yokuni"]​

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=16pt]Team Three[/SIZE]

There was, as expected, little opposition at first. They struck hard and fast, pressing the advantage of surprise for however long it would last. The Fringe possessed some of the best fighters and tacticians in the Galaxy, but they maintained supremacy through an unwillingness to become lazy – they would not be lulled in to false complacency, in to believing that this would be easy simply because they were going up against worthless slavers. The occasional rain of dusty earth floated downwards as equipment deeper within the mines hit a particularly stubborn patch of ore, rocking the rest of the complex. Dim lighting was enough for her to catch her apprentice felling one of the lone forward guard. But there was also someone who hadn’t come in with them on the dropship, her eyes flashing towards him only to see him cut down a slaver with quick work. He hadn’t taken the time to announce himself and she didn’t know him, but he was working towards her goal and for the moment that was all that mattered to her.

A strangely light guardian force…but quickly remedied as they sprinted deeper, her heart in her ears as they descended further in to choking darkness. Matsu took a corner, skidding along the dirt in her speed, lights flickering overhead as mining equipment ripped another shockwave through the system…to find dozens of men and women all toiling in the darkness turned to look as they came in to view. She reached out over the minds of the slaves, wide-eyed and frozen, and pressed a single word out over them: ‘Run.’

They would find the search & rescue team at their aid.

She didn’t say anything as she pulled Tianzun from its sheath – she didn’t have to, the metallic shear of its appearance enough of a ‘game on’ as she let slaves stream past her in a panic towards the exit. Physical combat wasn’t her strongsuit, but even without the ability to perform more sweeping telekinetic or sith magicka attack a thousand options went through her head as the sizzle-hot sound of air flew past her head with a blaster bolt. Followed by at least a dozen more.

Rotating Tianzun to deflect the bolts – thought without much thought to the precision of sending them back in any particular direction – she moved her way through cover, closing her fingers and twisting when she got close to one of the slavers and snapping his neck with a telekinetic crack, feeling for Kesare and the stranger behind her as they advanced…the thumping from the center of the mine only getting louder.

[member="Kesare Salazar"] | [member="Xander Blackmoore"] | [member="Carré Inirial"] | [member="Apos"] | [member="Tylan Toarinar"] | [member="Togashi Yokuni"] | @K'Dan La'Roi​

 

[Velok the Younger]

Team One​

​

[member="Dissero"] | [member="Phedre Parenthis"] | [member="Anders Sivas"] | [member="Token Waters"] | [member="Marselia Urstalis"] | [member="Verie Lacroix"] | [member="Fenri"]​

​

Team Two​

​

[member="Inger Strömfire"] | [member="Lucien Cordel"] | [member="Vincent Imura"] | [member="Elias Truden"]​

​

Team Three​

​

​

[member="Kesare Salazar"] | [member="Xander Blackmoore"] | [member="Carré Inirial"] | [member="Apos"] | [member="Tylan Toarinar"] | [member="Togashi Yokuni"] | @K'Dan La'Roi | [member="Matsu Xiangu"]​

​

Team Four​

​

[member="Carlos Castillo"] | [member="Jared Starchaser"]​

A shadow and a threat began to grow in the minds of the Lords of the Fringe, but not the normal hazards or premonitions. It manifested first as deja vu, then as fear, and then -- most incisively, insidiously and permanently -- as the sense of standing on a cliff's edge, about to be uprooted from all surety and certainty. It was a feeling possibly without precedent.

A voice, like Rave and yet unlike, touched the minds of whoever was listening. Fear, desperation -- it wasn't Rave, but anyone who knew her would find it familiar. Matsu Xiangu, for whatever reason, would hear it most clearly.

-Can you hear me? Please can you hear me? What kind of-

-Is there room-

-What kind of shadow is it-

-Don't make me-

***​

In her ship's command chair, Rave sat bolt upright. "What the feth-"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The deja vu, the fear, and the sense of impending displacement or dissociation -- none of it fit, none of it made any sense. As the feelings and the voice washed over Ashin and the bridge of the Grave Wind, she grunted audibly. "Lieutenant Winters," she said between gritted teeth, "get me Lord Adair."

[member="Lucianus Adair"]

"Lord Adair, this is Admiral Varanin. Are you feeling what I'm feeling?"

 

[Jorus Merrill]

In the Bullet Time, hunkered down in a landing bay like any other, waiting for a gap in the Fringe blockade, Jorus felt what the Fringers felt. Perhaps he felt it more, not just because Rave was his sister, but because the differences between her and this voice were so profound, so unsettling. It was a bit like hearing from the Rave that might have been, if she hadn't been made bitter and ambitious and greedy. If she hadn't chosen to nurture those qualities. It was like-

It was like Rave, if Rave had stayed. If she hadn't gone to Sirella, Velok and the rest. If she hadn't been possessed by a Dark Master at age five, forced to spend childhood knowing torture and the facts of life.

He was very confused, very angry, and very glad to be alone in the cockpit.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The Neutral Zone was as good a place as any to keep one's head down, when known space meant a small but significant price on said cranium. Her own fault for liquefying and liquidating the gigantic golden statue of a Hutt in the grand promenade on Nar Shaddaa. So she'd odd-jobbed and trailblazed her way along the Braxant Run and then the under-construction Blood Trail, and wound up running Rebel guns to Sith Empire-controlled Asahi, then selling songsteel ores at 244Core, in Fringe territory. Fringe territory, in general, wasn't conducive to one's health when one ran an independent mining barge. Hence the Neutral Zone.

Today...that turned out to have been a bad choice.

 

[Matsu Xiangu]

[SIZE=16pt]Team Three[/SIZE]

Mid-swing, Matsu felt a thrill of fear crawl up her spine. She knew the voice indirectly - a pity, it seemed, as Ovmar had so much to do with the mysterious [member="Rave Merrill"] - but well enough to recognize that something was different. Whatever it was she couldn't speak to but the sudden anxiety was all she needed to switch gears after felling another of the attacking slavers.

Their commotion had a domino effect, the initial wave of defending slavers getting the attention of those further down as their brothers and sisters cascaded upwards, rippling down deeper in to the mines. Through the surrounding madness and fear she could pick out the feeling of them abandoning their posts to defend themselves.

For the moment she could hold this position - the tunnel grew larger if they moved forward, and if they remained they could use the bottleneck like a killing pen. She was hesitant to move any further until she got another snippet of what she'd just heard. Opening her comms for just a second she spoke to the rest on her team, and hopefully to any of the search & rescue behind them as slaves continued to pour through and past her team. "Hold this position for a moment, pick them off while we can."

She didn't have to explain the pause - she was sure they'd felt it too.

[member="Kesare Salazar"] | [member="Xander Blackmoore"] | [member="Apos"] | [member="Carré Inirial"] | [member="Tylan Toarinar"] | [member="Togashi Yokuni"] | @K'Dan La'Roi​

 

[Lucien Cordel]

Team 2
[member="Elias Truden"] [member="Vincent Imura"]

A nasty feeling swept over lucien. He felt as if he had been here before. He shifted uncomfortably. Why did that scare him? Then can an unnerving feeling of anarchy and a garbled voice. Lucien racked his mind what was going on. "Get me the high council and round the block the bussiness men can wait"

Lucien's driver nodded and the connections were attempted "what was that ?" He asked lighting a cigarette, a stream of smoke filing his transport.

 

[Arage Bao]

Jared Ovmar, Lord of the Fringe and holder of many more irrelevant titles, sniffed quite loudly at the sudden intrusion of his personal and private space. He had been in heavy negotiations with the various important parties of the planet, business negotiations, one can't ever expand too much if you asked Jared. Riflor had opportunities in spaces, from their export of rare isotope to the more pronouced need of droidical goods. All things the Tion Hegemony could proved, for a price of course.

At any rate, after the loud sniff the Sith Lord opened his eyes staring into the corner of the executive office. Some of the men present looked worried, but no questions came, just the endless polite wait of the executive branch.

"Merrill." the Mentalist finally whispered in his associate's mind. "Was that what I thought it was?"

[member="Rave Merrill"]