Mayferria: Back in the Stacks

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

The little Alu knew of the Force came from HoloNet searches. It was one thing to read about the Soulsaber and the Heart of Graush on disreputable little holopages. It was something else entirely to see that pencil float without any effort on Cerita's part. And the floating pyramid suggested interesting things about sympathetic linkages. She'd thought that was all theoretical, or at least the HoloNet had disagreed with itself an awful lot on the subject. Ravings about Palpatine and Force bonds and blood sacrifice basins blasted with lightning and all sorts of nonsense.

"Is this tied to..." Alu glanced up. "Is this some kind of monitoring thing? Or divination maybe?" There were no alarms as of yet. That said a lot about the ongoing success of her plan. Still, the wrong attention at the wrong time, from the wrong unknown quantity, could spell all manner of trouble. And this girl might well be a Sith. She didn't fit the monolith's adepts, not in any way, and what else could she be? Someone like Alu, maybe, but what were the odds?

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Alu'ravenor"]

She waggled her hand while studying the movements of the little pencil. Her face spelled it all out. Fascination, awestruck and very, very thoroughly satisified that her efforts had finally born fruit.

"No idea, maybe." Cerita had her suspicions, of course. An order like this one wasn't exactly known for its combat prowess. It would be very valuable for them to know exactly what was happening around its parameters the moment it happened. This could be part of it, maybe, but it was still too unclear for her. Too many voids in the theory to make for a solid hypothesis.

"Might be coincidental, though. Didn't get the sense that these people were all that into Sense to be able to pull something like this off, at least not on a large scale." then again. Maybe the acolyte was just a single rotten apple and the Elders were a whole 'nother story, Cerita couldn't be sure of that.

"So, I hope that you aren't getting all of us killed?"

The woman took a look outside - noting the difference in height, before meeting Alu's eyes.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

"Nope. Abducted. There's a bulk freighter hyperdrive in my ship's cargo hold, hooked up to a major power node. Once the repulsors get us high enough, we're out of here. Now, it's clear enough that we'll get noticed before we get high enough to jump. The time gap between notice and jump is an issue. Fortunately, I'm told there'll be a serious distraction starting up shortly."

A feral grin. "Mayferria's so deep in the Unknown Regions that there's only one real way to get here with any speed; most Unknown Regions planets are like that. Which is why an old Fringe pulse-mass mine is going to cut that route in about five minutes." There was also a chance that the outfit for which she was subcontracting would make its own coordinated move. If she had to guess, she would have said a strike at one or two of the jungle's Dark Side temples. Distractions in layers upon layers, designed by someone who clearly.knew the Unknown Regions better than Alu.

"And since the pyramid's Force.order happens to be here for a normal but mandatory meditation session...well, off we go."

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Alu'ravenor"]

Cerita studied the twi'lek girl for a moment, before shrugging.

"Never been abducted. Might be fun."

If she had to take a guess then this girl was Underground. Maybe Rebel Alliance, but considering the less destructive nature of this operation she was more inclined to believe it was the former. The RA usually had way more civilian casualties during its jobs and considering Cerita wasn't dead yet, and wasn't staring into the barrel of a gun. Yet.

She took another look at the pencil which was floating farther and farther up, wrote something down in her notes and then made a decision.

"Why don't you show me the contraption? Looking at the speed we are traveling it will probably be a while before we see any action anyway, and I could use something to take up my attention." she could always study the books some more, but they weren't really going away anywhere.

Yet Cerita did feel something. If anything was going to happen on the surface - as a distraction or a simple concurrent operation, it would have to be done very soon.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

The jungles of Mayferria boasted numerous hidden temples, many ruined, others inhabited. The Walpurgis acolytes, most converted to the Sith, had their hooks in this world well enough. Their presence had sunk into the stones. Not hard, then, for a man experienced in farsight to locate one of those ruins-in-use. The Priory of Sion, the Walpurgis cult, had a distinct scent in the Force - like watered-down Sith, ingrown, foetid.

Blood still humming from the pelko venom that spurred his farsight, Oren stepped out of a shuttle and ascended the front steps. Far off and above, the pyramid kept rising. If he'd timed this right, his presence and actions here would provide it with the necessary cover to clear the upper atmosphere and make its jump.

 

[Clone Pilot Oddball]

Oddball walked back to his V-19. He didn't want to leave, but this wasn't his business.
'May the force be with you Ma'am' he spoke to himself as he walked back. He returned to is V-19 in shock...
SOMEONE STOLE HIS HYPERDRIVE!
He turned his comm made a call for help.
"Hey, this is Oddball! I need assistance!"
[member="Alu'ravenor"]
[member="Cerita Sarova"]
[member="Oren Beorn"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

She'd pegged this one right: the green girl had no allegiance to the local order or the Sith. No need to try taking her out, then. Good. Alu relaxed a little and stood. "Sure, sounds fine to me. Not much to it, though. The repulsors were just a matter of bumping into the right lever at the right moment. Deniable, see, in case anyone was watching, or will be watching." Seeing the past was apparently a thing. "As for that one little lever mysteriously not getting located and corrected - well, I'm just a subcontractor. And I'm betting the one that slipped me some coin for this job had a connection to the bosses here. Too many things going unnoticed on purpose."

Abruptly, the paper clip twisted.

"And that's the distraction starting, is my bet."

Her comm buzzed - her service droid. She listened, eyes going wide. "Someone stole his hyperdrive? That can't be a coincidence."

 

[Clone Pilot Oddball]

Oddball kicked a rock.
"I hate when people do this! Let's see what else they stole."
Oddball walked around to the back of the V-19.
"HOLY CRAP! WHY!"
The engine was gone and both thrusters were damaged.
"Alu, I'm grounded. They got the engine. Probably pirates. Can you come down here and assist me?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Alu'ravenor"]

Now that got a confused glance from her. Who would someone steal a hyperdrive from a ship parked at the local lightside cult inside a floating pyramid? Why would someone do that. If it was meant to be a distraction it was a pretty fething bad one. Because all it would do was pull the attention towards the pyramid, instead of away from it.

"You sure he isn't just trying to get into your pants?" now that would be a far more likely explanation. Guy trying to get the attention of the pretty twi'lek by weaving up some kind of sob story.

But perhaps Cerita was just a cynic these days. Either way. She stood up, offering a hand for Alu to pull herself up.

"Your ship nearby his?"

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Cerita Sarova"]

Alu snorted. "Maybe in a puppy nek kind of way. As for the ships, mine's in a bay near here, and his is on one of the foresty balcony protrusions near the base of the pyramid. Not too close, really." She felt bad leaving him in the lurch, but the job would save a lot of lives and make a lot of money - ideally. Maybe there was some way to take care of everything, if she just muddled through. She commed her ship and had the service droid patch her through to Oddball's comlink.

[member="Clone Pilot Oddball"]

"Oddball, this is Alu. Sure the acolytes haven't just pranked you? Pissed off anyone while you've been here?"

 

[Clone Pilot Oddball]

"Nah, I just got back after talking to you. I haven't pissed anyone off. Just a bunch of jerks. I'll fix it. I'll find them, don't worry."
Oddball threw his helmet on the ground.
"AHHHHH, I HATE PIRATES!"
(is cursing allowed?)

 

[Hira Mitsae]

Job's a job. Some people liked to claim they were doing something good with theirs, but the truth was... there ain't such a thing as 'doing good'. No such thing as 'fighting the good fight'. All fights were dirty, some more than others, most of 'em involved doing some morally ambigious thing to complete it good. Take Merrill's fight against the Fringe over a decade ago. He thought he had been fighting the good ol' fight against 'em, but now they were gone... and what was left? A chaotic pile of crap mixed together with the One Sith boxing into the power vacuum and snatching it all up as they went along.

Good fight? Doing good? Naw, just a bunch of people pushing their perspectives onto other people. That's all there was to it. Sardun had accepted that, and realized that at the very least he could make a few credits out of his own skills.

No more fighting the good fight for a cause. Just a fight for a paycheck at the end of the day. That would have to do.

He stepped up next to Beorn - man smelled like the Dark, reminded him a bit of the Rhand Sorcerors. But he didn't seem all that bad, besides who was he to press judgement?

[member="Oren Beorn"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Michael Sardun"]

Oren spared his fellow subcontractor a glance as they crested the final steps. Sardun was something of an unknown quantity, but he came highly recommended.

The moment seemed to demand a grim witticism. Oren wasn't interested.

The door opened, revealing a balding man in ornate robes. "My lords, your arrival is-"

"We're not Sith." Oren's black sword cleared its sheath as the ageing Vahla blademaster took a sliding step forward. The blade skimmed past the edge of the open door and grated its way through the Walpurgian adept's ribs. The man died with a middling burst of blue energy; he'd been stronger than Oren, but not by much. Strength in the Force didn't always go hand in hand with competence. Just ask your local supermodel Sith Lord.

Oren kicked his way past the smoking corpse and through the half-open door. The Dark Side flared up from all around as adepts of varying strength ran to face the intruders. Oren brought up the bloody sword and sidestepped, leaving room for Sardun to enter.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Oren Beorn"]

Shouts followed in their wake.

Sardun stepped over the doorstep after Beorn. His companion diverted to the side to give him more room, Sardun quickly assessed the situation - five adepts of varying strength levels. Their intel had been sketchy at best so Michael wasn't entirely too sure what these people specialized in. But according to the word the Sith had taken over most of the operations here. So a bunch of Lightning with a whole lotta bloviating was probably due.

One of the adepts stepped up. Lightsaber was brought up, but before it could be ignited Sardun already moved. A heavy kick followed taking the adept straight in his chest, sending him flying. Strength augmentation was was his forte.

The others were less interested in coming up close to face him after that though.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Alu'ravenor"] @Clone Pilot Oddball (Nope, PG13. Though Star Warized expletives are fine.)

A soft chiming sound followed. Laughter, it seemed, before she shrugged.

"Your op. Dunno how good it is for the job having a stormtrooper running around the pyramid, interrogating people about his missing hyperdrive though."

Probably not good at all.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Michael Sardun"]

They started bloviating as expected. When the bloviation switched languages and became incantation, though, Oren decided the moment called for more attention on his part.

It was, after all, difficult to properly chant a spell of Sith Magic when your throat closed up. It was hard to make your twining fingers match the arcane gestures of sorcery when those fingers twisted and cracked. Sword held one-handed, Oren focused on the strongest of those he could sense. Whatever spell he was conjuring, it found an interrupt, an obstacle. The Dark Side flared around the man, throwing back Oren's influence, but the synchronized chanting had lost its rhythm.

And though Oren was not and never had been a Sith, long years on Tash-Taral had taught him the language well enough to understand the incantation. They tried to get it right, the strong one rasping along, forcing his broken fingers into some semblance of the correct gestures. Those, Oren didn't understand, though he'd seen plenty of them in bas-relief. But the words...

At exactly the wrong, or right, moment -- as power swelled from the four still standing -- Oren tilted his head and hissed out a short phrase in Kissai. Loosely translated: <<End subroutine. Amen.>>

The spell misfired like a backwards artillery shell. Colour leached from the walls, air warped, stone floors cracked, wind tore at Oren's cloak, but the Dark-imbued beskar of his armour -- metal torn from the crypt of Freedon Nadd -- proved resilient against the broken magic.

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Oren Beorn"]

Sardun, too, wore fragments of his old armor forged by elemental prowess and spirit channeling. Those days had been the days, as far as him was concerned. But nothing good ever lasted for long, most fun things were over faster than you could ever imagine - the eternal joke of time itself. The things you wanted to hold onto speeded up and the endless torment slowed down to a screeching hold. It was inevitable.

But even then. His armor was less comprehensive than Ordavo's old gear. So the howling wind tore at his body, dark magicks trying to twist and turn it into something it was not.

Problem was. Michael was already twisted. From Jedi to Slayer to Hybrid to... he didn't even know what he was right now. What the alchemical basin of the Dunaan had done to him. But it seemed to make him more resilient against Sith Magica, as its grasp was finally lost on him.

He pushed himself off the ground and took a survey of the damage. The adepts in this room were all... well, not all dead. But incapacitated at any rate. Sardun didn't comment on it, instead he met Beorn's look.

"Next room." they still had a long day ahead of them.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Michael Sardun"]

In the wake of Sardun and Beorn came silent men and women, of varying species, wearing black jumpsuits and masks. The salvagers of Ke'dem, here to fill gurneys and bags with the wreckage the two old Dark Jedi left behind. Oren ignored them and accompanied Sardun into the next room.

This one was a creche of sorts, lined with much-abused training equipment. Dark Side students, yes, but none of them older than twelve or thirteen. Oren's mouth compressed to a thin line as they lunged for him. He gestured with his sword and shoved them back; as they staggered, he closed his eyes and threw out his free hand. Their weapons tore from their grips and skittered across the floor. No need to be lethal, not with kids. Besides, the contract had specified to take alive those that could be taken. Moment of truth: would Sardun stick to that? While children were trying to buffet him with Force-blasts and scrambling for their weapons on the floor? Oren's focus had been on the weapons and the initial shove; whatever Sardun chose, he'd have all manner of time to do it before Oren could do anything else.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

OOC/ Most cursing isn't exactly encouraged -- Star Wars generally keeps it pretty tame -- and we have an automatic swear filter for the big stuff.

IC/
[member="Clone Pilot Oddball"] [member="Cerita Sarova"]

A public address system crackled to life, forestalling Alu's decision. "Attention," said the voice of one of the floating pyramid's Force-adept leaders. "All members of the Waldstein Academy, attention. Please remain calm and ensure that all visitors remain calm as well. Attention, all members of the Waldstein Academy. Please remain calm..."

The public address continued. "Well," said Alu to Cerita, "looks like someone up top has decided to let the rest of'em know they've taken notice." Assuming she was right about her employer's employer having connections out here in the Unknown Regions, anyway. There was no way that what she'd done could have gone on without the willing ignorance of the Academy's leadership. The vagueness of the announcement would help buy for time.

"I'd better go calm down Oddball," she said. "I'm currently betting that one of the Academy's leaders mistook him for a Sith agent and stripped his ship to keep him from leaving. Only thing that makes sense, unless this place is really hurting for spare parts." She touched her comm. "Oddball? It's Alu. Stay calm, stay with your ship. I'll be there soon."

 

[Clone Pilot Oddball]

"Thanks Alu, glad someone is helping. Then again, I could be dead."
Oddball looked around....something just wasn't right.