Once The Key Has Been Turned, It Cannot Be Undone

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A heavy sigh escaped Cedric's lips as he brought the shuttle down to rest upon the durasteel landing pad. The simple transport's wings folded up upon itself as it settled gently upon the pad, a team of service droids racing up the stairway leading to it as the reactor powered down.

If his contact was correct, then Erstwhile station held what he sought. Even still, he felt something off about this place. It was not particularly malevolent, but rather out of balance. It set him on edge.

This station had been built as a waypoint between unknown space and First Order territory. It was a place where travelers came to rest, and deals of great import were made in the shadows. It lingered alone against an empty backdrop of stars and nebulae, the last port of call before venturing off into the unknown. Cedric had never been here before, and he had little desire to stay.

"Welcome to Erstwhile," Cedric spoke to his two companions, [member="Dak"] and [member="Alexander Kalden"]. "Once we find the holocron you'll get your pay. I don't want to spend too much time here. It's giving me an odd feeling."

The Jedi Master quickly clad himself in his battle plate, and wasted little time in making his way down onto the landing pad. The droids paid him no mind, and he appreciated having a moment to gather his thoughts.

What awaited them within the depths of the station? He could only hope they would retrieve the holocron without facing any kind of violence.

"Where was the last place you heard of this thing being on the station Alexander?"

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Dak"] | [member="Alexander Kalden"] |

Before Ella had returned to the New Republic to take up politics, she had once lived on the planet Dosuun. During her time in the city of Avalonia, a metropolis designed to hold the moral and aesthetics of the First Order first in mind, she met several members of the Knights of Ren in order to gauge their strength. With the idea that she could recruit some of them to serve her and forward her own agenda, she had been confronted by another Sith Lord with similar motives and ideas.

She did not know what had happened to [member="Darth Veles"] since the days where she had gone by the name of Avedia Lacroix but their encounter with one another had quickly ended her time there. He had discovered her true identity and with influence with the First Order she was eager not to be captured by them for interrogation, which Ella assumed what would have happened if she had remained in Avalonia for anything longer than necessary. After all, it had been with Veles that she had discovered the Holocron of Heresies and she had assumed that once her rival had learned that she planned to abscond with it to parts unknown then he would have come after her.

Given that now she was a public figure in the New Republic Ella was waiting for the day when Veles revealed himself. Due to the fact that she had taken the Holocon of Heresies without sharing it with him as they had agreed prior to raiding Corvus Raaf's estate on Tatooine, she assumed that he would come to take her down the path of ruin. Until that day came, however, Ella saw no reason for why the Grand Plan should be stagnated by the prospect of a rival coming to kill her. She welcomed the future conflict. Stagnation was the pathway of the light side, but she was a true follower of the dark side and would not allow her plans to be stopped by the emotions of worry or apprehension that all her work on Humbarine could be ruined by one damned alien.

No, she had to push on, and continue as the paradigm of her work continued to evolve and shift itself with the galaxy. It was precisely her work that had brought her to far flung wayward station of Erstwhile. She had heard brief mentions of her during her time living on Avalonia as she had explored the city and dined in it's fine cantina, overhearing conversation and even participating in a few. But it had been the contacts, the spy network that she had been building since her days on Chandrila that had alerted her that there was something worth while to come out here for.

When Serj Sularis had told her about this from a contact that had flown through Erstwhile some weeks prior Ella had felt it. As soon as the Muun had begun to tell her about what the contact had told him she had felt the Force respond to his words and compel her to go there. Knowing to trust her instincts and allow her feelings to guide her Ella had left her aides to oversee her work on Humbarine whilst she had quickly left it's ecumenopolis on course of Erstwhile on board the Initium.

In a matter of hours she would land on the station to begin her search with only the Force to guide her to what was here.

 

[Kyyrk]

Dorin sat in the lounge of the small space station idly skimming over HoloNet news reports. His ship wasnt scheduled to leave for another little while. He signaled for another drink, trying to steady his hand as he did so. He didn't like it that his hand shook like that. Meant he wasn't as steady a shot.

Subconsciously, he reached down and laid a hand on the lightsaber strapped to his waist. It was securely fastened there, not intended to be quickly utilized. He adjusted his scarf so that it covered the blade while he sat, not wanting to draw any undue attention to himself.

His time on the station had been...frustrating. He was called in for a job, and then was asked to double the work for half the pay. Really not in a position to refuse, he took it anyway. He needed the money. At least now he could eat for the next month or so. Maybe even repair his armor if he skipped a meal or two. Dorin's armor looked rough, still bearing the scars of his battle on Commenor. Though it did give him something of a rough and dependable look.

Dorin looked up from his datapad, and scanned the area around him. He had abandoned his visor in favor of a simple black cloth, light enough to see through, but heavy enough to dim the bright lights. Dorin had a gnawing feeling at the back of his mind suggesting that something was afoot. But then again, he always felt like that these days. Still, worth being on the alert. Trouble was always brewing out here on the edges of First Order teritorry...

 

[Alexander Kalden]

Alexander had taken the upfront part of his payment and put it to good use, there was a slicer he knew on Coruscant that was able to slice him up a set of forged access codes that would give him admin level permissions in the cargo levels, it wouldn't be much help in the actual heist of the artefact, but it would make their get away far, far easier if they ended up using his ship as the main exit strategy.

"Last time I hearda tha ting some rich lowda had it on a secure level, 27, same level the money changers and banks store their felota on, but it's not actually in a safety deposit box with the bank stuff bosmang."

Alexander held up code cylinder he had from slicer. "I can get us right up to tha door, this little ting get us right up to the door, if we go though the cargo levels, but once we get there, tings are gonna get a little more spicy after that."

[member="Dorin Arkx"] [member="Ella Nova"] [member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Hellur Thraxis "]

 

[Dak]

Dak watches the maintenance droids as the three depart the ship, but his curiosity is snagged at the notion of the situation becoming 'spicy'. He struggles to identify the intended meaning of the description, along with many other things in the human's odd dialect for that matter.

"We are robbing a bank, Master Cedric?" he asks without any reserve for who might be listening, his tone suggesting surprise "not the impression I had expected you to make with this First Order, but I must admit it does sound exciting none-the-less."

The droid tugs at the shoulder strap for the BR-212 [member="Cedric Grayson"] had provided him, adjusting its position on his back for optimal access. He was disappointed his own Liquidator had not been recovered from the Graywall, but the close quarter blaster seemed like an adequate alternative in his examinations of it along their journey.

[member="Alexander Kalden"] | [member="Dorin Arkx"] | [member="Ella Nova"]​

 

[Somi Zariah]

Somi's soft blue hands gently rubbed up and down her arms, attempting to stealthily warm herself. She was in the presence of an acquaintance who had a habit of worrying too much. The pair were stood in a small observation deck aboard the station, staring through the glass at the beautiful shimmering Galaxy.

"I can't explain why...but the stars seem especially lov-"

"You're cold" Somi's friend exclaimed, cutting her off. A small giggle escaped Somi's lips as she shook her head at her friend. "You don't have to go right this second Somi. You can stay with us as long as you need" Somi's friend said in a lecturing, but caring tone.

"No, you have been too good to me already. It's time i find my own way. Thank you...for everything" The pair embraced in a hug emotional hug. This was likely the last time they would see each other and they were both painfully aware of it. Somi pulled away from the hug and forced a smile "Now go. you'll miss your flight off this blasted station" She watched as her friend faded in to the crowd and out of her life.

Somi had led her friend to believe that she had everything planned out when in reality, she had no clue. Somi slowly strolled over to a vacant bench and sat down, a laboured sigh leaving her lips as she did so. Folding one leg over the other, Somi sat and stared blankly before her. Unsure of what was to become of her.


[member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Ella Nova"] [member="Dorin Arkx"] [member="Alexander Kalden"]

 

[Saria Messoa]

[member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Somi Zariah"] @Dak @Alexander Kalden [member="Dorin Arkx"] [member="Ella Nova"]


Saria sat back in a dark, seedy corner of the space station, waiting. The club around her was buzzing with the nightlife excitement. One of her hands nursed the glass of whiskey on the table. The other was under the table, idly caressing her sidearm strapped to her thigh. The twe’lik’s eyes stared off into the distance, past the club around her of celebrating patrons, into an entirely different time.

Images of the past flashed before her. She could see her ship burning, flames boiled it all in a deadly inferno. The Mystic Wanderer was sinking into a gravity well. She could feel herself pulling against it, struggling against the gravity itself. The wizened carcass of Diggs lay sprawled out in one of the chairs. There wasn’t much left of his Tranoshan body as the flames were licking the flesh off his bones. Hand over hand, Saria pulled herself towards the escape pod. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she could feel the sweat trickling down her skin and the hot durasteel burning her.

“Hey there, pretty lady,” said a sleezy man, sliding next to her in the booth, “You interested in having some fun tonight?”

She reached out, grabbing one of the doors. The contact ripped her palm in a series of blisters as the flesh was seared instantly. But Saria didn’t have time to think about that, she pulled herself with it, just another move closer to the door.

“Hey, you hear me?” he asked, he paused getting irritated, “hey, you ignoring me? I’m talking to you.”

Her body ached, but Saria had to make it just feet further from that door. The gravity had grown so much stronger than anything she had willingly felt before. She didn’t have time anymore, it was now or never. She reached for the escape pod door, stretching to the max. Her fingertips teased along the latch, but she was just too short. Her body gave out and Saria was free falling, down, down down, with the ship towards the planet. She was dying, this was it. At long last, and all she could think about was pure regret that she hadn’t been better.

“Oh come on, look at me,” he demanded grabbing her hand.

Saria snapped to live, back to the moment. She grabbed the back of the man’s head. He was as surprised as she was. Her hand gripped his long hair and without thinking, slammed him face-first on the table. Had he been expecting it, there was no doubt he probably would have expected it coming, but instead he was out cold on contact with a bloody nose.

Saria wasn’t sure what he would be like when he woke up and she wasn’t about to find out. The woman slid over her table and sprinted out into the space station’s street. Her feet carried her away as fast as she could, and the Twe’lik didn’t dare stop or look back. All she knew was that was terrifying, and she had to get far away from whatever that was.

 

[Aeshi Tillian]

"Let me see those cargo manifests," Aeshi said, leaning past her co-pilot to pick a datapad from the command console. The younger man slid it over even as he powered down the engines and finalized the landing procedure. Around her, the ship settled with a hiss of hydraulics and and cooling metal echoing through the corridors.

"Nothing of interest, per se," the co-pilot answered. "Another fairly dull milk run."

"Quite," Aeshi replied, striding from the bridge. "I'm going to inspect the cargo before we load it. If anything about this isn't a milk run, I want to know beforehand." She tightened the gloves on her hands and strode from the ship into the hangar. Activity bustled around her as she strode to the nearest lift.

It had been a while since she'd had a cargo stop here, but she still remembered her way around. At least, she remembered it well enough to find her way to where cargo was stored.

A few others were headed that way too, from what she could tell. The usual collection of scoundrels, misfits, and mercenaries. Her kind of people really. More than the more civilized traders of the Core who pretended to be friendly, but would stab you in the back while feeding you more luxurious food. She wanted no part of those games.

 

[STaCLO]

In the pursuit of constant improvement being edged on my http://starwarsrp.net/topic/121983-s%CD%9D%CD%9F%CD%8F%CC%A7y%CD%8F%CC%B6n%CC%A7%CD%9E-the-deulsional-droid/]SYN. They were on the pursuit of the ultimate improvement, to achieve Force Sensitivity. There's only one kind of method in order to get that information, and that's from a Holocron. Moving through the station he went deeper and deeper into it. He wasn't alone though, Dute along with a Techno-Service droid were companions he brought alone. STaCLO also brought a pair of B1s to accompany him in case they needed them.

The Holocron he was looking for was on level 27, where most of the stations secure storage was in bansk. However, he wasn't here to make a deposit, he was here to make a withdraw. This whole time the two A.I.s in one body communicated to one another internally "I'd recommended that we forge the information necessary to get it." Said SYN.

"That wouldn't have worked. They would suspect that we weren't the actually owners of the property since we're droids. I would've foreseen a higher then 75% chance we wouldn't be able to retrieve it. It'd be better to take it by force, where we could only face minor resistance from security. If any that is. Since I predict that no one else really knows what kind of cargo is here." STaCLO replied as they arrived to level 27.

[member="Aeshi Tillian"]
[member="Saria Messoa"]
[member="Somi Zariah"]
[member="Dak"]
[member="Alexander Kalden"]
[member="Dorin Arkx"]
[member="Ella Nova"]
[member="Cedric Grayson"]

 

[Captain Keeli]

[member="STaCLO"]

Meanwhile on level 27......

Introducer was tasked with helping people out and asking for ID once they got to the twenty seventh level. He had a lifeform/metal detector that allowed him to see what people would try and bring in past his podium. Every now and then he'd get a person that would forget to take off their watch or a well to do woman who left on her earrings and he'd have to run her back through the scanners to see if they were good or not. Some got rude and were carried off by other of the security here. Introducer's main purpose of being here was to get some off planet exposure as he did a similar task on Coruscant as a member of the Coruscant Guard. The job proved to be quite satisfying as Introducer excelled at public relations and navigation through Coruscant. As he was on Erstwhile, he did not know what the layout of the cities were. To compensate he bought a planet map from a kiosk after he exited the shuttle that brought him here. The Clone looked around after no one had come for a while and decided to dine quickly on a snack bar before logging in the first of the days reports into the system.

 

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"I don't know what spicy means in that context," Cedric said plainly. It seemed straightforward enough, and that left him feeling a bit antsy. The easier the objective seemed to be, the more dangerous things tended to turn out.

"Sometimes you have to cause a little trouble to do some good," he added as Dak voiced his thoughts. "Most of the folks that run through this sector of space aren't exactly upstanding people." The Jedi Master inclined his head ever so slightly toward [member="Alexander Kalden"].

The group would go unnoticed by the dockworkers. Cedric had already set his group through the proper security background checks before landing on the station. The last thing they needed to do was waste time going through unpleasant security searches.

"Alright Alexander, lead us on to the cargo bay. The sooner we're off this station the better."

[member="Aeshi Tillian"], [member="Saria Messoa"], [member="Somi Zariah"], [member="Dak"], [member="Alexander Kalden"], [member="Dorin Arkx"], [member="Ella Nova"], [member="STaCLO"]

 

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c42crh_308c​

Lord Godfrey was a man of odd tastes.

Born to a family of Coruscanti nobles, he'd enjoyed himself a life of luxury throughout his youth. That standard of living was something he carried with him into his adult years, even as his funds dried up and the stark reality that he simply had no worthwhile skills to recuperate his losses sunk in.

The resulting psychotic break had resulted in the birth of a new Godfrey, and that Godfrey had found that one could make a very pretty credit when working in the trade of displaced indentured servants. He appraised one of those very indentured servants right now; she was a Togorian creature that had signed a contract of service to the station for several years. Godfrey found a wry smile crawling across his pale angular face as he regarded the scantily clad dog-cat woman.

"Something's goin' up with the hallycran Goddard!" Godfrey's protocol droid, Barkley, squealed from the adjacent room. Infuriated at being disturbed during his me time, Godfrey shot up to his feet and found himself shouting back.

"Tell me about it later!"

"Nah man it's sparking and osik!"

Mumbling a string of curses, Godfrey moved to remove his pink leisure costume, but the sound of a loud pop in the next room stole his attentions. The indentured servant trade baron cursed the stars as he meandered into the room to see what the problem was. Hopefully Barkley's screaming hadn't alerted everyone on level 27 as to their business.

[member="Cedric Grayson"], [member="Captain Keeli"], [member="STaCLO"], [member="Aeshi Tillian"], [member="Saria Messoa"], [member="Somi Zariah"], [member="Dak"], [member="Alexander Kalden"], [member="Dorin Arkx"], [member="Ella Nova"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Cedric Grayson"] | [member="Captain Keeli"] | [member="STaCLO"] | [member="Aeshi Tillian"] | [member="Saria Messoa"] | [member="Somi Zariah"] | [member="Dak"] | [member="Alexander Kalden"] | [member="Dorin Arkx"] | [member="NPCs by Psychonaut"] |

The journey from Humbarine all the way out to Erstwhile had taken a standard week. During that time Ella had preoccupied herself with finishing paperwork that she had been putting off before dedicating herself to intensive training in the back of the Initium. One failed swipe of her Lightsaber blade could have ripped open the hull of the transport, resulting in a tear that would have opened the ship to the vacuum of space. The ship would have activated it's emergency procedures and activated a shield to cover the tear, but it would have resulted in her having to turn the ship back around to Humbarine. It would have been infuriating, and an expensive mistake.

The idea that her time could have been wasted by such a mistake was what made Ella all the more determined to practice her sequences. Living on the fine line between success and failure was a constant motivator. She was a Sith Lord who followed the ways of the dark side, so therefore difficulty was not to be shied away from but instead embraced and incorporated into daily living. Every day she lived that fine line as she walked among the elite on Humbarine, posing as the former Jedi Knight who had saved their world from Sith incursion and fought for their liberty during the One Sith Wars, only in reality to be the Dark Lord of the Sith that plotted against them. She knew the risks, but without risk there was to be no progression, no success at the end of her life, and success hinged on things numbered in the hundreds for her.

Various factors, people and entities were incorporated into the foundation of a Grand Plan to destroy the Jedi, and it was at Erstwhile that the plan continued it's evolution.

A bleeping sound from the cockpit interrupted Ella's recent sequence of moves and parries against an invisible opponent that she had been fighting for the past three hours. Sweat clung onto her small body, and the temptation to lower her guard so as to investigate the source of the bleeping battled against her continued desire to keep on fighting. Slashing her Lightsaber wildly into the air, she stopped it from touching the walls of the ship just in time to parry her invisible opponents counter-attack and swing her weapon back around for a perfect beheading. Envisaging the dead body of her opponent, which she imagined to be [member="Taeli Raaf"] in her minds eye, Ella thumbed the ignition button of her blade and lowered her aching arms.

Taking in deep breaths, she endured the pain of her aching body to climb into the cockpit and lower herself into the pilot's seat to investigate the source of the sound. It was the computer telling her that she had an incoming hail. When she accepted the hail, a stream of words lined the computer's screen, telling her the contents of it's message:

W E L C O M E​

T O​

E R S T W H I L E​

​

Property of the First Order.​

​

Please prepare your documents for inspection upon arrival to the spacestation, and for a inspection team to board your ship.​

​

Clicking her tongue off the roof of her mouth, Ella leaned backwards in her seat to think about how she would deal with the inspection team. If they were to inspect her navigational computer then they would be able to see the flight plan that she had taken from the Humbarine system all the way out to this region of space, telling each system she had passed through and stopped by for fuel en route to the Erstwhile station. Then there was the Lightsaber that she held in her hand, plus the other pieces of contraband she was sure they would confiscate and arrest her for once they got aboard.

Closing her eyes, Ella submerged herself into the dark side, allowing it's energy to course through her tired body to replenish her strength, and to help her think on how she would deal with this issue prior to her arrival.

 

[Kyyrk]

Dorin still had several hours before his shuttle departed. He wasn't in the mood to sit still, and so he took to wandering the halls of the station. He was as unhurried as he'd ever remembered being. Strolling along, taking in the sights, with his hands folded at the small of his back. In his right hand, he held his data pad, defaulted to the permits for his weapons. No one had stopped him so far, but that wasn't always the case.

Dorin paused in a small observation room near the hangars, folding his arms over his chest as he looked out. The only other occupant was a small Twi'lek woman, Dorin guessed she was only a couple decades old. He watched the ships come and go for a moment, before glancing at the Twi'lek. He noticed a rather....forlorn look on her face. One he'd seen plenty in the past. "Intimidating, is it not?"

The thought occurred to Dorin that between his black armor, and a veil that covered most of his head, save for his mouth and chin, he probably looked very much like a Sith. He offered the girl a small smile, with as much joy as he could muster behind such a gesture at a time like this. "Your first time off world?"

[member="Ella Nova"] [member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Alexander Kalden"] [member="Dak"] [member="STaCLO"] [member="Aeshi Tillian"] [member="Saria Messoa"] [member="Somi Zariah"]

 

[Alexander Kalden]

"Aye bosmang, I'll take yeah thar." Alexander said "Yain't never had a spicy job before?"

"Welwala" Alexander muttered under his breath, it felt like he was working with a bunch of planet humping amateurs. "Spicy means that tings can get too hot fer most to handle 'less they know what dare doin'. Yeah readin' me?"

Alexander lead the crew through some crowds to the entrance to a large cargo elevator, it was a bit of a pain, if he had known that they were heading straight for the goods he would have tried to arrange for a cargo landing pass in place of the passenger one he had now. Although it would make things slightly easier to get things off the station, customs was always tighter around the cargo than the passengers, and the agents were always more tired and willing to let the little things slide after a little filibustering or a few credits.

[member="Dorin Arkx"] [member="Ella Nova"] [member="NPCs by Psychonaut"] [member="Cedric Grayson"] [member="Captain Keeli"] [member="STaCLO"] [member="Dak"] [member="Somi Zariah"] [member="Saria Messoa"] [member="Aeshi Tillian"]