Of Men And Machines (Republic Dominion of Loronar)

[Kyrana Gould]

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

“Captain, what is the status?”
“Landings on schedule, sir. Light resistance, but nothing organised.”
“Good, keep an eye on things.”

Heading down to his secured meeting room he put in a call to the Caledonia.
“I’m sorry, Admiral, Admiral Tyven is on a call to the Chief of the Senate.”
“I see, nothing urgent. Inform her I called and for her to contact me when she is free.” With the line cut he shook his head. “Rather you than me, Kayleigh. I have no patience for politicians.”

It was perhaps well that Admiral Stahlmann was not in on the call with the Chief of the Senate. For him, very much in the Clausewitz mould, war was the continuation of diplomacy. The Senate had done little or nothing when the incident occurred, or since then either. How many planets had been reclaimed by pious worries about the dangers of Imperialism? Zero.

Yet how many had been recovered by the brave actions of Republic soldiers and Jedi? A dozen major worlds and dozens of unnamed ones. Should they have continued to be a rump of a state situation on Onderon and appeased their conscience that they weren’t being Imperialist? Possibly, but it would make whatever end the Sith might make even quicker to come.

 

[Kian Karr]

As soon as the two droids had left the entrance and were out of sight, Kian was on the move. He swung out wide, away from the viewport of the security booth and leapt up grabbing a hold on the side of the wall. Pulling himself up, Kian silently slid onto the roof of the booth and carefully made his way toward the vent in the middle. Kian reached onto his belt and pull a small cylinder. Pulling the vent back, Kian thumbed the button and dropped the cylinder into the vent, then slammed it close. Kian waited for a few moments. He heard the scuffling of feet beneath him as the gas began to pump out of the small grenade. Kian wasn't stretching out with the force, but if he was he was sure he would feel the panic of a man who felt trapped.

Moving toward the door, Kian arrived just in time for it to swing open and the guard come pouring out, coughing and grabbing at his eyes, clearly burning from the effects of the gas. Kian dropped down just behind the man and thumbing the switch on his blaster that set it to stun and fired point blank into the man's back. His knees buckled and he dropped down. Kian grabbed him and slid him away from the door, then ducked inside. With his antiox mask and goggles, the gas didn't bother him in the least.

Kian, hesistant to use the force, was unaware of [member="Ardeo Sophos"]'s presence, or of the imminent return of the two battledroids. They had assessed the situation faster than Kian had anticipated and were on their way back to his location. Unbeknownst to Kian, he would soon find himself trapped in the room.

 

[Corvus Raaf]

Corvus heard the alarm sound and the rotund guard looked embarassed and quickly called the siren off. "A bit late?" he offered, beads of sweat on his brow.

"Just a touch," she replied and at that moment saw a Jedi walk up to her. "Master Raaf, I heard the alert, do you require any assistance?"

Corvus liked him already. He didn't panic and he got straight to the point. "Padawan Mend, yes? Glad to have the company. I think we're pretty much done here, so let's make a round of the premises before out shift ends. And while we walk, you can tell me what Sera's like as a Master." She smiled to put him at ease and stepped back over the smoking droid before leaving the medical facility with him and headed for the cells.

[member="Axo Mend"]

 

[Geneviève Lasedri]

"You think I can afford to constantly look to the Senate for 'approval'?" They both were as stubborn as gundarks, and Gen was beginning to feel very challenged by this aide. "But you're walking a thin line."

Briefly, she considered the fact that she could probably coordinate Tyven's ousting. But what would be worse? The Fleet was making its own rules and, even with the assurance that the Jedi would no longer be involved in these decisions, it was unsettling to think about just how far they might go. Yet she liked the initiative the military was beginning to take. She had been a Rebel.

The last thing the Republic needed in this fragile time, however, was dissent and a faltering government that allowed the military to do as it pleased. The perceived balance of power could not tip that way in the public eye. "Trust me. The Senate will be tightening its control on things--Jedi, Fleet, and you. It's unavoidable." Senators talk, whether the Chief is present or not.

Lasedri reached for her trademark sunhat and situated it upon her crown, indicating that she would be calling the Senate into session as soon as this conversation was completed. "Now, with that in mind--how about you tell me what you need?"

[member="Kayleigh Tyven"]

 

[Mariya Pyne]

Kayleigh scoffed at Genevieve. Insolent woman. "I walk a thin line every time I step aboard this ship, Senator. Every time this vessel leaves the safety of Onderon, thousands of lives aboard this ship are on the line. Hundreds of thousands, no, millions more are on the line every time this ship and every other ship in this Navy take fire from the Sith and her allies!"

Her voice cracked as she spoke. The strain of sleepless nights and countless 24 hour shifts were beginning to take their toll on her. Her hand lifted and rubbed her eye as she took a few breaths. "The Senate had better get their priorities straight then. I am not the problem here. I have been running this kriffing military for....I can't even count how long now, with Vaudin missing! How many planets have been restored to the Republic under my command? The Republic is cracked, not broken, ma'am. I suggest you open your eyes and realize that the state this military was in when I took over was an embarrassment. Go ahead and reprimand me, but the facts stand. You don't have to like me, Senator. But, you need me."

She made her best attempt to return towards a more pleasant and cheerful tone as the swelling anger subsided. "What I need are more able bodies. Find me more recruits. Wake the senate up. Locate us companies that will construct shipyards and vessels for us, and only us."

The blonde admiral heard her comm buzz. "Ma'am, Admiral Stahlmann was asking for you. He requested to be contacted at your earliest convenience." She took a deep breath. Stahlmann was fortunate, not to have to imbed himself with the headaches of dealing with filthy politicians, content to wave their wand of command while sitting in their cushy offices as if they were contributing to the success of the war. Imbeciles.

[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] | [member="Friedrich Stahlmann"]

 

[Gir Quee]

Stormfire-class Frigate Audacious, Loronar System

"Sir?"

Gir turned from the astrogation table to face the young lieutenant, "Yes Brachii?"

"One of our gunships has interdicted a freighter with a suspicious sensor signature. The vessel isn't responding to normal communications...but it's not doing anything hostile."

Gir frowned. Such an ambiguity of motivation was problematic for him and his men, exacerbating the the tension between civilian and military, neutral and Republic. We have enough barriers to breach than to be met by what's stonewalling at best...and a set-up at worse. Best to play it cautious. He turned to the holo-tank to glance at the locations of the various vessels in the system. The Boreas is closest, but it's probably not the best suited for this...the Brazen it is. The blonde man turned back to Brachii.

"Instruct the Brazen to jump to that craft and board it," decided the Commodore, "if they're hostile, their marines should be able to contain the threat. Put the Boreas on standby to jump in. If the ship needs help, once the vessel and its crew has been determined to not be a threat, we can patch them up and send them on their way to Loronar."

"Yes sir."

Gir turned his attention back to the astrogation and Lieutenant Herson. The lanky man swiveled a console display to face the Commodore. Gir squinted at the trajectory and nodded sagely.

"Better," said Gir, "I suppose you're keeping in that large safety margin to keep the jump expiration time longer?"

The other man nodded, "I didn't know when or if it was actually going to be used..."

"I won't ever ask you to double-check a computer's general route unless we're actually going to use it. There's just too much that can wrong if it isn't done correctly. Have you heard of the Stark Hyperspace war?"

"Sounds vaguely familiar...I'm sure I ran across it in the academy. Relatively small conflict, right?"

Gir nodded, "Half of an Old Republic fleet was lost because of a virus had corrupted their nav-computers, and no-one double checked their route. I don't need to lose anyone else because we relied on a corruptible machine."

"Yes sir."

"All right, with that said, go ahead and launch our two birds of Gold group on standby with their passengers," ordered the Commodore, "they'll be using the route you just calculated to bring medical aid and supplies to the world below. Do you feel that your data is safe, fully calculated so that our medical personnel and the people of Loronar can depend on it?"

"I do."

"Good," said Gir, "because if you don't, or if your data isn't, you'll never make it to a command position. I like you Herson, and I don't want to see you fall by the wayside. Keep up the good work."

 

[Moira Skaldi]

Her business with the Republic having concluded, Moira sent a quick transmission to her partner in crime, [member="Maelion Liates"]. More commonly known under her official business cover as Anna Comnena, good friend of 'Nalia Alderana' and co-owner of Archangel Research and Design. The message boiled down to passing on to her that the Republic would not encroach upon Archangel operations on the planet. Property rights would be respected and the Company's factories would churn out droids and war machines for them.



Perhaps when it came to fortifying the new planets the Republic had conquered, Archangel could make a profit by selling heavy defence turrets and planetary defence turbolaser cannons. In any case, there was plenty of paperwork to attend to, much of it being devoted to Archangel moving its headquarters to the massive ecumenopolis of Denon. Shame about Corellia really. First the Protectorate dropped space stations on it, then the planet got torn in half. Well, presumably Moira did not care about that because she was not a nice person! At Archangel's factories and on its shipyard all was calm, order was being maintained.

 

[Axo Mend]

Axo nodded and fell into step with [member="Corvus Raaf"]. He was astounded as how calm and serene she managed to remain, even through whatever problem had occurred. He placed his hands together behind his back as they walked, his robes making a faint sweeping sound as he walked. The cells were filled with all types of beings, some were obviously in the prison for a reason, their looks as the pair of Jedi passed was one of contempt and anger, others had a look of regret, their faces covered in the sorrow of whatever they had done.

He tried to take it all in and remain as calm as his companion, but he was still a padawan and had been known to show more emotion than was wise. " I wish there was more to tell, Master Raaf. With the stare of affairs being so chaotic right now, we have had no time for training. Master Shel'tah has been very patient with me so far. i am happy that she chose me to be her padawan, It's a great honor." His voice didn't betray him, but his emotions rolled off of him like smoke off a fire.

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

[member="Kian Karr"]

Master Karr's plan was working well, that is until the battle droids decided to come, back after not finding anything. Shortly after Master Karr entered the room, the battle droids came along and found the man Kian had taken out. This apparently triggered a response, because they opened the door to the room Kian had entered, and went in to search for the cause of this problem.

"Looks like I'll be needed after all. what a drag, but at least it will be more interesting than sitting around here."

I put my rebreather in my mouth, and my handy dandy clear battle goggles. This was going to be a very interesting fight. Low visibility, little to no force... fun! I lept from behind a metal box, that was probably to pull air into the building, and went through the door in after the droids, and Kian.

Once inside it was near impossible to see. The gas wasn't cleared out yet, but soon the air system would filter it and replace it with new air. I looked for the droids or Kian, but couldn't find anything. I closed my eyes, and listened. I listened for anything that could be the droids or Kian. I even began to connect to the force just slightly to enhance hearing.

 

[Kian Karr]

Kian plugged into the command console and allowed the virus to upload. Republic Intelligence had set this up several days before with the operation in mind. It would allow the slicers to gain access and once they were in they would seize control of the droids. It would take time however. Turning back toward the entrance, Kian saw the droids entering the room.

Kian flattened himself up against the wall and began to inch around the perimeter of the building toward the door. He wasn't sure what the design of the droids were but he was sure they would have an easier time of seeing in the foggy room. As he unclipped his lightsaber he saw f[member="Ardeo Sophos"] enter behind them. Smiling to himself, Kian dove forward rolling and igniting his blade as he came up. The golden blade cut across the lead droids chest. Standing up, Kian flicked his blade back in the opposite direction and sent the droids head tumbling to the ground.

As Kian did this the second droid raised its blaster arm to fire on him. Kian sidestepped and kicked the droid in the side, driving it back toward Ardeo.

"He's all yours kid!" Kian yelled out.

 

[Ardeo Sophos]

With one clean movement I shoot forward, cutting out with both sabers, and slicing the droid in half. I finish gracefully, and deactivate both my lightsabers. My visibility begins to finally clear, as the gas filters back out side. I can see [member="Kian Karr"] with his gold saber. "Well that was fun. I almost thought you wouldn't notice them," I say, taking my rebreather out of my mouth, and my goggles off. "Well at least I managed to fulfill my purpose. I was here as back up in case things went south. I was not to engage, or interrupt, unless you needed me, though I guess you may not have technically needed me." I say with a smile.