Solution on Scarif [Imperial Remnant T2 Dominion of Scarif and Kowak]

[Alasdair Sitra]

XIX​

All around them the Rebels burnt.
They had jumped in the system expecting the chance to stop Thurman to his rightful claim, to stop the Empire. Yet now all that remained was withering husks of ships long past their prime. Already the flagship was being boarded by the Inquisition, secrets ready to be pulled from the minds of those who called themselves freedom fighters.

Thurman released a breath and closed his eyes for just a moment, the hum of the conqueror was relaxing at best, all he needed now was to return to Kamino and allow the realisation to sink into the rest of the council that he, High Moff Thurman was willing to take the risks necessary to eradicate the Rebel Scum.

“Sir. The Grand Moff has entered the system.” He was offered an update on the situation by one of the nearby communication officers of which he had never made notice of. “The Rebel forces have been reported as removed and the 501st have reported victory on planetside.”

“Excellent.” Thurman smirked. “See to it that none leave this day without understanding the power at which they have put themselves against. Scarf is an Imperial world and this entire sector is under the flag of our protection and laws. They came to fight a Remnant, what they found was an Empire.”

He turned on his heel and headed for the bridge entrance. It was time to leave this operation to those trained to do so. He had done his part. All it had taken was a little push and now here they were, an united Empire with the tools to eradicate foes such as the Rebellion.

All in all, everything had proceeded swimmingly.

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

"Sene word to the Moff Council" Irridius spoke, eyes trained on the sea of shrapnel that lay outside the viewport. The First Fleet had been prepared for the rebels and by the time they showed their faces, they were already dead. "Inform them that a terrorist fleet had entered the system but was quickly dispatched. Kilko, have there been any reported hyperspace jumps?"

"One, sir, a ship no larger than freighter class seemed to have jumped sometime before the conclusion of the battle," Kilko responded, turning on a heel to look upon his leader. Irridius showed no signs of anger or spite, rather he scratched at his chin with a thoughtfulness.

"Begin deployment of probe droids into surrounding systems, the terrorists could not have gotten far. Send a boarding party to search the First Order vessel as well and deploy a series of probe droids to the rebel bases on Scarif. I want to learn what these terrorists were hiding."

 

[Alasdair Sitra]

XX​

“Secure them.”
The 501st had almost wiped out what resistance was remaining on the planet. Occasionally another series of comm-calls would alert them to another pocket of rebels or a lone survivor putting up a fight but for the most part it was clear that the Empire had won this day.

RN had found himself tasked with watching over a line of knelt rebels, each looked beaten and defeated with their hands fastened behind their backs by standard Imperial binders. One was staring at the ground, his mouth moving in silent words; another was refusing to look at any of them instead keeping his eyes on the sky above.

“We should just shoot them now.” Another of the stormtroopers said as he walked down the other side of the line. “Rebel Scum.” His white boot connected with the back of one of the rebels and knocked him to the ground, no fight was given back, he merely led there. “See useless, pointless and a complete waste of Imperial lives.”

“We’ve been told they are being processed.” RN answered, sparking a slight interest from one of the prisoners. “I don’t know why, the Inquisition has prepared something special for them.”

“The Inquisition? Those force using weirdos?” The other enquired. “What would they want with these scumbags?”

“I dunno. Just following orders.” RN’s fingers tightened on his rifle. “That’s what we do.”

“Aye.” The other turned back to guard the line. “Follow orders.”

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

XXII

​

​

The High Inquisitor continued to twirl the hilt, and along with it the blade, deflecting numerous blaster bolts at once. Skaara reach out with an open hand and suddenly one of the Rebel soldiers appeared to float into the air, dropping his blaster in surprise. The other rebels watched in horror as the lord raised his hand and pinned the man to the ceiling of the corridor, still moving forward and deflecting any bolts that were once against being sent his way.

The courier holding the datadisk continued to bang against the door, and one of the soldiers on the other side ran to help him try to open the blast door to no avail. The armored man swiped his lightsaber behind him and killed the rebel that he had placed on the ceiling.

 

[Vrapir Detta]

As Detta waited with this unknown soldier, he could not stop his imagination going wild. If they were having so much trouble here, than how bad was the fighting everywhere else? Was the Empire really losing the battle across Scarif, or was it just here? But his thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable screech of a TIE craft. Detta loked up to see two TIE bombers being escorted by TIE fighters soaring towards the mini citadel Detta and his comrades had been laying siege too. With pinpoint accuracy, the TIE bombers annihilated the building, leveling the complex entirely. Following not to far behind, was three Sentinel-class Transports. As they landed near Detta's position, dozens of fresh stormtroopers rushed out, escorting medics to the positions of injured personnel. Before Detta could say a word, two medical personnel forced him on a stretcher and began undoing his left leg armor, to examine the wound. Another stormtrooper approached the moving stretcher, "Thanks for your work here, we'll hold down the fort. These boys will take you to the nearest medical transport and you'll be on your way back to Kamino." Detta groaned in response, having already been sedated by the more senior medic.

As Detta was taken aboard one of the Sentinels along with the majority of stormtroopers who had been sieging the citadel, Detta could only think one thing, I cannot wait to get a farm.

 

[Graf's Archive Account]

XXIII

​

​

He opened his fist and deflected a blaster bolt with the phrik gauntlets of his armor, directing it back at the one who had shot at him. As the rebel soldier fell to the ground in agony, the lord wretched his fist back and the weapons were ripped out of the hands of the remaining people in front of him. Some retreated towards the walls, while some stood frozen in shook and were subsequently cut down by the High Inquisitor.

Skaara raised his saber high into the air and sliced clean through another one of the rebels, leaving molten saber marks on the wall from where he had hit.

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

Irrdius watched as the readings from the probe droids sent to Scariff began flooding through the readout displayed before Irridius. The camera feeds showed the smoking rubble and molten durasteel running like rivers into the ocean. The turbo lasers had more than just decimated the bases, they had turned them into little more than smoldering memories. The Grand Admiral the video feed as the droids picked through the rubble at each site, passing over partly vaporized corpses and twisted metal of starfighters that never left the ground.

Nothing was catching the Grand Admiral's eye until he spotted a series of blinking lights through the black smoke. "Stop there. Send the droids into the smoke. Investigate the source of those lights."

The operators obeyed, sending the probe droid gliding through the thick smoke. A few moments passed before a building, wall blown out by the barrage, came into view. Inside, seen through the smoldering hole was a series of control consoles blinking rapidly with their former users dead in their shadow. "There, mine those computers for any data we can retrieve."

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

[SIZE=10.5pt]Desmond stared at the wonders of the old Empire astonished. It had been quite some time since he had seen anything so grand. Even in all it's blasted tarnish it was still quiet formidable. An old tower that was slightly damaged and heavily scorched. It was here that the beginning of the end started. Desmond ran his hands along the cold metal walls astounded they had stood for so long. Small bits of shrubbery were peaking through overgrown ceramic flooring. Still Desmond tread lightly through this sacred place. He was on hallowed ground and he knew it. He lit his helmet light and began to make his way to the Imperial data vaults that lay buried in this decrepit crypt. [/SIZE]

 

[Darth Vulcanus]

The probe droids went to work, plugging in across the servers left partially damaged by the bombing campaign conducted by the Grand Admiral. Data was scrubbed by the droids before being sent to the Star Destroyer where it went through several stages of scans, scrubs, and analyses before finally being allowed to the main server as a readable set of documents, plans, and maps. Irridius poked through every file that was sent to him, stopping to extensively analyze only those that mentioned Imperial plans stolen by the terrorists or any data referring to locations on or outside of Scarif.

A few things caught his attention...plans for an orbital docking elevator...surface fleet defense platforms...things the rebellion could never use themselves but could surely sell for a profit to further their cause. One thing struck out at him though. Something dark. Something vile that caused Irridius' lips to curl in disgust.

"Send this file to the council. It appears as if we need to have a discussion with the Grand Master of the Imperial Knights."

 

[Aram Kalast]

“The information was passed on?” The agent’s voice was calm and collected despite the fiery death that surrounded him. He spoke into a simple com-link that was held in a whitening fist. “The Rebels got away with it?”
“It would seem as such.” A voice, modulated and broken sounded back. Allowing a release of breath from the agent. “The link was in place?”

“Yes I promise that part was done.” He took a deep breath and tried not to focus on the blaster in his other hand. “When the Imperial’s find the data it will prove only one thing…”

“That the Imperial Knights are traitors.” The voice sounded again. “Very good. Now you know what you must do.”

“Yes.”

His arm quivered. The blaster was raised. Planted firmly to his forehead.

“May the Empire truly reign.”

The smoke cleared as the blaster ignited and the agent’s body slouched to the floor as his life ended. His mission complete.

Somewhere a Director smiled. His work yet again successful as he used the galaxy closer to Imperial domination.

 

[Noire]

K O W A K
Sevetta Sector


Smoke rose from the S.I.N cigarillo currently perched in between the full crimson lips of one Natalia Thawne. Behind a critical mix of a cybernetic ocular and an organic green eye, one of the leaders of the Coratanni Cartel reviewed the holographic planetary display in front of her.

The Imperial Remnant - well the Empire - had long since become a thorn in the criminal Underworld's side with the growing restrictions on what had originally been Underworld domain. For now, they've kept their heads low, but push come to shove it was obvious that the Empire was trying to spread its wings. The more it spread the more annoying it became to the Underworld's smuggling operations. It wouldn't just affect Coratanni Cartel, but the Hutt Cartel, other pirate entities, and smugglers alike.

Murmurs from Queen Siei, the reigning Queen of the Zygerrian Slaver's Guild, said that she also wasn't too happy with the spread of the Empire, especially over her domain on Kowak. For all intents and purposes, the tiny jungle planet was no man's land, but for the Guild, it was a right and proper area to deploy their assets and slaves.

For now, the Empire had only begun to construct the bare bones of a Cardan 5 station; One that had the current defense fleet jumped away for a priority call.

What they didn't realize is that at that very moment in time, Queen Siei had begun talks and asked for all interested criminal parties who had a bone to pick with this Empire to join her in a little meeting.

After all, the Underworld is not a government. It is not an organization, syndicate, or any structured group. There is no one leader of the Underworld, there is no ruling council, and there is no one goal or vision, save survival.

The Underworld is a loose affiliation of criminals, scoundrels, scum, and all those who would dwell within the darker underbelly of the galaxy.

As its names implies, The Underworld is all encompassing, neither rejecting nor accepting anyone or anything. In simplest terms, The Underworld is a compact undertaken by dozens of gangs, syndicates, organizations, and even individual criminals. Though there is no real constitution or even binding the agreement The Underworld works on the simple thought of cooperation out of necessity.

There is no real organization or structure to the Underworld. Instead, it is a compact. The idea is simple. When faced with a larger threat, those within The Underworld band together to protect their interests as a whole.

Of course, The Underworld is still entirely built on Criminals, and as we all know Criminals are not often the most trustworthy. Subterfuge, plots for power, and outright betrayal are not uncommon within The Underworld.

Such is the risk of The Underworld. Everyone plays together, but they don’t always play nice...

[member="Drogh"] [member="Gregor Montague "] [member="Nate the Bounty Hunter"] [member="Saani Kenow"] [member="Bourne Cavanagh"] [member="Cadan Tazi"] [member="Captain Colton Renfroe"] [member="Danny"] [member="Darth Abyss"] [member="Drogh"] @Flannigan Mcnash [member="Ghorua the Shark"] [member="Gregor Montague "][member="Griffin Coldwell"] [member="Hare"] [member="Huginn"] [member="Jagen Wren"] [member="Jen"] [member="Jynx"] [member="Kendall Ginn"] [member="Kyros Fen"] [member="Lok Munin"] [member="Lysle of the Hydian Way"] [member="Munin"] [member="Pollux"] [member="Thraxis"] [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] [member="Tiali Orazio"] [member="Xalus"] [member="Xavo Grev"] [member="Zaku Gardner"] [member="Zef Halo"] [member="Zofia Marek"] [member="Laguz Vald"] [member="Siobhan Kerrigan"] [member="Slevin Thawne"] [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] [member="Thrukk Gulpdar"] [member="Miss Blonde"] [member="Skairus"] [member="Cerek Fyeluzhe"] [member="Tek Sidereal"] [member="Keziah Quelin "][member="Jaris Nocgulla"] [member="Darth Doom"] [member="Ben Antillies"] [member="Rachel Starfire"] [member="Red Cloud"] [member="The Rope"] [member="Drogh"] [member="Six-O"] [member="Jerolme Moore"] [member="Captain Colton Renfroe2"] [member="Colton Renfrew"]

 

[Laguz Vald]

Click click click went the boots on the deck.

Clattering. A curse.

A long shadow spilled over the floor, over the walls. Its owner grunted a string of colorful profanities – some obscure tongue from the Unknown regions – and yanked a locker open. Humanoid fingers reached inside, prying the other door until it relented to the increasingly more violent pulling.

This time, an exasperated yell echoed in the small space. Almost sounded like ‘Anja’s frozen tits’ – but that couldn’t be right. Could it?

The source of these expletives took a step back and plopped down on top of a sturdy workbench. With a lazy sweep, xe pushed a handful of tools out of the way, leaning back to observe xir options.

And sweet Lost gods, were there options.

Tessie. Xir oldest lover. Despite her age, she was in beautiful shape; a daily labor of love on xir part. She’d seen too many battlefields and abandoned apartments to count, but the care and attention xe paid her shined through it all.

Only… Kowak was a jungle planet. Damned canopy and branches and shet visibility.

With a forlorn gaze, xe turned to xir next darling.

Daisy. Xir eyes glinted as they caressed her long neck, the shape of her body, her lovely curves… Xe cooed, shoving off the table to lay an appreciative palm on the object of xir desire. Whispering sweet nothings to one of the most dangerous babes to ever grace the galaxy, xe turned to her sister in death.

Ah, Brenda. Xe stood speechless when faced with her elegant beauty, her cold reticence, her fierce core… like her people, she was impossible to tame, never tied down. Difficult to wrangle, wild and passionate; but if anyone could handle her, it was xem.

Then finally, Lara. Darker than the rest, a bit more heavy-set too. Still, xe never judged. She was just as fine as the rest of them, and more than made up for any shortcomings with her reach and strength. Nowhere near as problematic to work with as Brenda. Not as fast as Daisy or Tessie, though.

Sighing, xe rubbed xir brow. From the cockpit, a scratchy voice: “ETA five minutes, boss.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m ready.”

Nightmarish visions of the terrain and foliage flashed behind xir closed eyes. It was a sad day whenever xe had to leave xir love behind, but needs must.

“You understand, Tessie. I know you do,” xe murmured under xir breath and pressed a light peck to her sleek body. “Come here, Daisy. Work awaits.” Xe wrapped her in xir arms, all gentle-like, and made to prepare for landing.

A good sniper always appreciates a challenge.

And Laguz Vald was a a very good sniper.

 

[H3xle]

K O W A K
Sevetta Sector
The Tendency (Dark Lotus Syndicate ship, registered as a Merchant Freighter out of Nar Shaddaa)

Tek sat on the bridge, reclining in an honest to gods couch while he watched the bridge crew work. He had a cigar clamped in his teeth, pumping out regular puffs of smoke as he watched. The bridge crew worked efficiently, and ignored his presence for the most part. They worked for the Syndicate, and he worked for the Syndicate. They were in the relatively small, but important, naval section of the Syndicate.

Well, that sounded a bit too...official. Really, they were pirates, but not just your average, run of the mill pirates. They were organized, and were often dispatched on missions like this where someone like Tek was needed at a place and might need to show some muscle.

Tek was an enforcer. Well, really he was The Enforcer, of the Dark Lotus Syndicate. His say was only second to the Dark Mistress of the Syndicate, and he was one of only a handful that had ever seen the Dark Mistress. He was here as the official representative of the Dark Lotus Syndicate to the Slaver Queen Siei. and was here to stir poodoo up on the Syndicates behalf if that was what things came to.

Tek took a pull, the cherry on the cigar glowing brightly in the relative darkness of the bridge. A part of him looked out at the planet, one like so many others, and remembered another time. Another life. Xander had been an experiment from a bygone age who woke up and found himself in a galaxy changed. He'd joined with the Red Raven gang, and done some bloody work for them. All just to end up on the floor in some mooks slant house, waiting to die. Tek and some of his boys had come in, and Xander had a chance at new life. He took it.

Only, things didn't go quite as planned. So, now he was sharing headspace with a criminal enforcer who hadn't really had any drive before. As their personalities slowly merged, Xander was teaching him about the better things in life.

"Let the Slaver Queen know we will be at her compound in an hour. Keep an eye out for anything from the Imperial Remnant, they've been building in the area." Tek said as he rose, blowing out smoke as he took the cigar with his left hand.

"Galactic Empire, now." The Captain said as she looked back over her shoulder and grinned at the enforcer.

"Yeah. And Bantha's fly, Corellia ain't broke, and I'm the Atrisian Emperor reborn. They've got a handful of systems, a laughable economy, and their scariest thing is their fetish for big proton cannons. Won't say where that comes from." Tek said as he grinned, gesturing his hands small bit apart, then popped his cigar in his mouth and took a pull as he walked out of the bridge.


------------------------------------------------------------------------


On the Planet

Mathias Wreck had an unfortunate name for someone who worked with some of the planets most advanced technology. At work he was always joked with about wrecking projects, but he worked hard, and laughed the jokes off. His firm had been given the rights to work on the uplink station groundside for a new Imperial Remnant space station that was under construction in orbit.

'Galactic Empire...they aren't the Imperial Remnant anymore...Empire, Empire, Empire...despite not having an Emperor...' He thought to himself as he pushed the last vestiges of sleep from his mind. He rolled over and kissed his wife's forehead, then left her sleeping form in their soft, comfortable bed, and padded into the shower. A quick rinse, soap, rinse, and he was getting dressed for the day. The house was still and quiet by the time he left, his children had finally started sleeping late, which let their mother get more rest. 'I should pick up some Iris's for her on the way home from work...' He thought as he got into his aircar and pulled around.

Kowak didn't have a dense population, it's cities were barely that, but they had resources, and so the companies that had headquarters on more...designer worlds had subsidiaries with subsidiaries that had shell corporations with subsidiaries on the planet. Mathias worked at one of those, a far cry from his parents upbringing, half savage with actually growing their own food. The trip to work was barely worth getting in the aircar, but Mathias didn't want to walk in. The aircar was a symbol, he was superior to his ancestry in everyway, and so he drove it in to work every morning.

"Hey Barb, you're here early..." Mathias said as he passed the security desk. The woman in front of him was the other engineer in his division, drop dead gorgeous, with a brain to match. Mathias had caught himself thinking very bad things on his off time, and so had always kept her at an arms length, lest he test those waters in a moment of weakness.

"Yeah, I wanted to get a headstart on the code for the new operating system the Remnant has us building. I'm a little stuck with the translation matrix for where it will network with our groundbased systems using different operating systems..." She replied, offering him a genuine smile and waiting for him to pass through the screening the security desk put them all through. "Maybe you could come by and take a look if you have the time..."

"Yeah...I'll, uh, I'll try. I've got that meeting with the Remnant officers...erm, Imperial Officers, from their fleet. We'll be dialing in the communication systems to lock in their station only from our ground station." He replied.

"Right, they're the Galactic Empire now, despite not having an Emperor..." She said, and giggled. "Well, their fleet jumped out last night. They've still got some construction crews out at the station, but those are mostly local contractors. I doubt you'd find an officer anywhere in system at the moment..."

"Oh..." He said, and blushed furiously. He should have known that, but now he was grasping for something to keep him out of her office. He failed, as that meeting was planned to take up his entire morning and go through lunch. "OK, then. Lead the way. My morning is free..."

"Great!" She said, and led the way to her office. They began to go in depth on the coding problem she had run into. The more they talked, however, the less he thought she was running into any problem...

[member="Laguz Vald"]
[member="Natalia Thawne"]

 

[Subject 37]

K O W A K
Sevetta Sector
[member="Natalia Thawne"]

Fingers slowly drummed against an arm rest, his lips thin, one ankle resting on his knee.

The Crime Lord sat quietly, his face resting in his hand, fingers slowly swirling at the top of a small glass resting to the left of him. His eye slowly followed movements on the map, his lips thin as he considered their next move. There was a time when perhaps things could have been different, when they could have exploited and used this, yet it all seemed so...wrong now. Slevin didn't enjoy war. Oh he loved blood and battle, but war? War was so costly.

Sure one could profit from it, and it was lovely when one did, but here?

Here it affected him.

The wars raging all across the galaxy were all well and good. The First Order fighting the Alliance was a beautiful thing. The New Sith Empire and the Silver Jedi were divine! But this? This paltry excuse for a Galactic Empire? He couldn't stand it. They were in his way, they were disturbing his business. First they had taken Rishi, and now this. It was unforgivable, unthinkable. Annoyance floated across his features as one of the girls wandered in front of him, his eyes locking on hers. A flash of fear crossed her features and she quickly scrambled to get out of his way.

The Crime Lord let out a small sigh, then returned his gaze to the map in front of him. "Where are we?"

He asked quietly, his gaze drifting over the small map. He knew that this wasn't war as it was fought before, not usually anyway. The Underworld had no fleets. They claimed no armies and they held nothing that couldn't be rebuilt somewhere else. This was a different kind of war, a different kind of battle. He only wondered if the Empire knew it.

 

[Darth Abyss]

Kowak, Outside the planets gravitational pull

A single asteroid drifting through space, just a bit larger than an average human. That was all Abyss needed.

It was rare that the underworld called for a united effort on something, and even more so that anyone actually answered the call. That was the reason why Abyss made the decision to aid the slaver queen and whoever else took an interest in this call. The underworld was all about appearances, and a good appearance was a save way to make new allies in the long run, allies he needed for the wars to come in the future. If he could make an effort to show his dedication to the world of crime and corruption yet another time, then maybe he could count on them the next time he needed their assistance. Once again disrupting the efforts of the imperial remnant that despite nor sharing many similarities to the all powerful intergalactic entity of a pervious age was now called the galactic empire was only a bonus.

It wasn't his first hit on an imperial space station, the assault on the void station had set the groundwork for what he was about to do. The main fleet might wasn't there to defend the currently being constructed orbital structure, but still only a fool would try to directly engage the empire in ship to ship combat. They always had been a naval force, and Abyss new quite well how dangerous it was to try to beat an enemy at his own game. That was why they would play his game instead.

The Tainted Chorus had scattered since the fall of Malachor, leaving him with less assets to execute the assault. But army or no army didn't mattered, even during their height he always had been the most dangerous weapon of his own organisation.

A single asteroid drifting through space, the empty husk that was the Prophet clawed deep into the stone, his metal shell obscured by various cloaks of Shadows and darkness.

It took some time to figure out the right way to push a asteroid through space to hit exactly where you had planned, but the force was a quite useful tool for that. Foresight allowed to predict the position of the space station at the time of his arrival, while instinctive astrogation allowed to see the path it had to take, speed and angle included. Yet it was far from a hard science, more a mix of trusting in the force and improvisation when needed.

The hit on the void station had been done with explosives, but Abyss had learned a trick or two since then. Instead of conventional weapons his bag was filled with various containers filled with blood. It was a neat little trick he had used to defend the shadowport that had orbited his world, and as an offensive measure it would be even more effective. Through the dark side he would summon and control the horrors of space, creatures called Starweirds. Resistant against most weapons, incorporeal if needed, and violent beyond believe. They would rip the station apart, while all he had to do was watch.

A single asteroid drifting through space, the metal figure on it lacking anything that could show up on their scanners. No heat signature, no heartbeat and no electricity. Only cold, unforgiving metal.

[member="Tek Sidereal"] [member="Natalia Thawne"]

 

[Jorga the Hutt]

KOWAK

The noble Kowaki people had powerful advantages in life, advantages they often transferred to their employers. Kowaki were nimble, dextrous, clever, and unassuming in appearance. They made phenomenal thieves and scavengers, and passable mechanics.

Oh, and humans considered them non-sentient pets for Huttese crime lords. The best servant was one who could do its work without notice.

The star yacht 'Lean and Hungry Look' parked at the edge of a large Kowaki warren. Jorga's Twi'lek negotiators went out to meet a party of the noble people that humans called 'monkey-lizards.'

 

[Laguz Vald]

[member="Natalia Thawne"] | [member="Slevin Thawne"] | [member="Darth Abyss"] | [member="Tek Sidereal"]


“Boss.”
“Yeah?”
“It’s gonna be a rough one. Could’ve mentioned this place was a backwater jungle, you know?”

Laguz shrugged, face splitting into a cheeky grin. (Like, literally. Xir cheeks could do things.)

“There’s something wrong with you,” said the pilot, shaking his head. “You’re gonna give some poor frakker a heart attack pulling that shet.”

The shi’ido leaned forward, draping a long, long hand over his shoulder. “That’s why I always take you with me, Slim.”
“Oh, frak off, Vald. We’re here, get off and get out.”
“Touchy, are we? There a new girl in your life I don’t know about?”
“What, like you’re a woman? Come on, man, I’ve seen you go from Arceneau to rancor in the span of a second. Guy’d have to be blind or desperate to stick anything inside... that… no offense.”

Xe snorted and righted the carrier bag containing xir beloved Daisy. “None taken, Slim. I just wouldn’t stand by any windows if I were you… or linger outside… or, you know, show your face at all.”

“Vald! Get off, now, or you'll miss your fething window!”

Xir laugh echoed through the ship long after the merc had jumped off, smirking ear to ear.

Mid-air, the shapeshifter began to morph, spreading out until a pair of wings sprouted from xir back with a sickening pop. Xir mouth twisted, the expression of a daring fridge-explorer who’d taken a gamble with the overdue milk and lost to the odds. It was always tough, dragging old memories and forms to the surface – like trying to remember how to solve quadratic equations if the last time you did it was before you’d gotten married, popped out a bunch of kids, and taken out two mortgages on the house.

Still, compared to many shi’ido, Laguz explored a lot. Both the galaxy and the bounds of xir own abilities. Predictably, this ended in pain more often than not, but the results had taught xem plenty about xir limits. Thus, some two hundred years later, the shapeshifter carried with xem a much wider repertoire than xir counterparts, which happened to include a number of winged species.

Useful if you didn’t want to end up strewn over a click of rainforest.

Winded – in every sense – Laguz maneuvered into a light landing on a small stretch of open ground. Nearly stumbled over the edge of a cliff, but xe shot out an arm out just in time to grab a branch.

“Alright, Slim. Talk to me.”
::Four o’clock, half a click. Looks like the biggest camp this side of the planet. That you wheezing, Vald?::
“Shut your face, Slim. Fly low, land if you can. Ping me once if Kiran shows up, twice if they’re coming down on me. Going dark.”
::Roger, boss. Happy hunting.::

The merc curled and folded over xemself. Beads of sweat journeyed down xir forehead as xe reshaped, gripping the tree for support. Maybe it didn’t hurt like with clawdites, but it sure as feth wasn’t easy.

“Anja’s frozen tits.”

Xe spat, shifted the rifle on xir back, and disappeared into the jungle.

 

[Subject 37]

Kiran sat quietly in his Nephilim, his lips slightly turned in a frown, his hands filled with his rifle.

For a moment he found himself questioning why he did things like this. He was now fifty three years old, pushing him into that line which made him into an 'old man'. His use of Titan's Aspha Serum had made it so his aging slowed, but he could still feel the creak of his bones, the slight stiffening of his muscles. The Zeltron was slower, he was weaker, he could feel it. Perhaps someone else might not have noticed, but after nearly thirty years of fighting...Kiran couldn't help but lament.

His body was slowly betraying him.

It was a fact that he didn't really like to think about. There would come a time when he was simply too old to continue his work. Already he was suffering, and he knew that any injuries he took today would take longer to heal than they would have yesterday. He frowned slightly as he slid the barrel of his rifle back into place, hearing the metallic click as the clasps fell into place. He looked at the disassembled weapon for a few moments, then continued with his work.

He frowned as he placed each piece back where it belonged, eventually sliding the reflex slight into it's place on the rail before hefting the rifle itself. He weighed it for just a moment, and then shifted to glance towards one of the control panels. The blinking light sped up slightly, telling him that he was about to fall from Hyperspace. Another sigh escaped him, hand reaching out to grab the blaster pistol on the table. The smaller weapon was slid into his thigh holster, the rifle placed into the nearby weapons rack.

The Mercenary slid himself into the pilots seat, taking the control and flipping through a few switches. "Coming in."

Two short, terse words that went out over Saeva comms.

 

[H3xle]

K O W A K
Sevetta Sector
Criminals: [member="Kiran Vess"] | [member="Laguz Vald"] | [member="Rel Connory"] | [member="Darth Abyss"] | [member="Slevin Thawne"] | [member="Natalia Thawne"]
Imperials: [member="Aram Kalast"] | [member="Lucien E. Irridius"] | [member="Desmond C'artyom"] | [member="Skaara Carlon"] | [member="Vrapir Detta "]| [member="RN-4655"] | [member="Thurman"]

On the Planet

"As you can see, the translation matrix should be reading the coding from our current setup here..." Barb said as she gestured towards the virtual screen with her left hand. In her right she held a stylus, the tip of her index finger running over the rubberized tip in what could be seen as a nervous gesture. "And run the translate executable over it to shift data into the correct format for the new Remnant, erm, Imperial code we've been writing. However, it keeps messing up the syntax here and here." She continued, gesturing to a pair of points that held punctuation.

To an untrained mind, those punctuation looked innocuous. However, Mathias knew that a specific punctuation mark in one set of code could mean the same thing as in most languages, a spacing mark between parts of a statement or entire statements. In other forms of code, though, it could be an entire statement in and of itself. The problem here was that Barb should have been able to run down where the mixup was. Mathias, though, only thought that in the back of his mind. The front was busy trying not to notice how near she was. Nor how fit she was, nor how her moderately conservative business suit flattered her in a near perfect way. He was seriously trying not to notice how the smell of her hair, a simple strawberry kiwi scent, was so utterly intoxicating. Nor how the curve of her neck was so inviting for lips...

"Achem." Mathias shook himself and looked back at the screen. He'd been about to...no, he couldn't have been so close to kissing her neck. That'd have him in front of human resources faster than he could blink! No, he had to get his mind back on the task at hand, help her solve this punctuation problem, then get back to his nice, safe office. 'I should get Malia a dozen Irises...' He thought guiltily. "So, what is it changing this mark into in the new code?" He asked, gesturing at the screen. Her head turned towards him and her hair fell across his arm for a moment before she turned back and typed into the console. The touch of that hair sent tingles straight up his spine.

"That mark..." She began, looking at the secondary screen she popped up and typed coding into. She knew he couldn't see her slight smirk. "...changes into the statement Alter, which then makes everything after it take the place of the lines before it." She finished, then leaned on one of her arm rests as she shook out the other arms wrist. That brought her shoulder into contact with his arm, and she could feel the visceral shiver run through him.

"That...that is a big problem." He said trying to focus. Her scent wafted up to his nose more with her nearness, and it was getting harder. Harder to think on the problem, harder to ignore her presence. "If I recall...achem, if I recall correctly..." He said, wracking his brain and shifting to get rid of a slight discomforting pressure. "...that mark should translate into the Share Add command in the new structure, placing the lines after into the graphical interface as choices upon start up...that means we'd not be able to initialize the system without running into an error..." He paused, and the distractions hit him harder. He felt himself lean into the small contact of his arm on her shoulder. He didn't make a conscious effort to do so, but neither did he stop it or correct it. He was trying his hardest to focus on the issue. Their project was seriously hampered by it, but it was just so difficult not to notice those emerald eyes flecked with bits of jade and gold looking up at him as he spoke. Such an attentive listener, and engaged! She understood him when he spoke about this stuff and was adding in ideas he hadn't gotten to thinking about yet.

She could feel him falling. She continued to reel him in as they worked.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aboard The Tendency (Dark Lotus Syndicate ship, registered as a Merchant Freighter out of Nar Shaddaa)

Tek walked from the bridge and stopped in his quarters. They were small on a ship this sized, but bigger than the tenement housing he'd grown up in. Bigger than the survival pod Xander had floated in for millenia. He took a long pull from his cigar, savoring the savory taste of it, and the bitter after taste before exhaling and putting it out in a tray. The tray disposed of it, and the air recyclers removed the scent after a few moments. Tek disrobed, then drew on an under the armor jumpsuit before donning his clothes again. The clothes were mildly armored, but still allowed him free movement. Once he'd pulled on pants, shirt, socks, and boots, he strapped into his combat harness. Two heavy blaster pistols were secured in holsters on his thighs, and a combat shotgun was holstered in the small of his back. His belt was strung with extra ammo, and he took a moment and went through the reloading motions, making sure they were stuck in his muscle memory.

While he did this, he cycled through a hardware check of his cybernetic systems. Everything came back clean and working, and he cycled everything off and on again, just to make sure. Once he was satisfied with his readiness, he moved into the cargo area. There he had some of his best trained operatives waiting. They were part guard unit for him, and part wet works team. He didn't know if he'd use them here or not, but better safe then sorry.

"Alright, everyone ready?"

 

[Loray Tares]

Scarif - En route

His vision clarified as the stars no longer formed tendrils within the darkness of space. The vessel came to view from the gaping maw of pitch, just out of reach of the planets gravitational pull. Celestial objects, big and small, were plucked from the perennial flow of hyperspace, coming into view. The man beneath the armor held no value or commodity, strictly speaking, in doing away with this faction or the work they had put into conquest of the galaxy. Or order. Or whatever their propaganda machine labeled it at this given time.

These things were no longer his concern. Not when covered in metal and fibers, casting away the chitin and bone for when the time called for it.

The vermillion beam, signifying his direct attention, focused on the communications. Pointing to it, he ushered out effort from an otherwise disinterested pilot of the ship. A slave, wage or otherwise, hailing from Point Nadir - likely one of many siphoned away from the various gangs. When blood and the crush of bones was the only form of currency he knew, it was easy to understand just how persuasive he could be.

Pressing the offered switch on the microphone, he held the item to the mouthpiece of his armor. Following a long drawn out breath, he gave nothing but silence. He wasn't the loquacious type and given offering of friend or foe codes, the Underworld would know where his temporal allegiance lied. It was, of course, in the congregation of the uncivil. He could have made statement regarding the Equalizers but in truth, the Equalizers weren't here. He stood alone on the vessel, as he often did.

The SS Leviathan, with Stygium Cloaking Device enabled, descended towards planet. He was told there would be jungles below. He wondered if it would remind him of Kashyyyk and the way the trees burned.

[member="Natalia Thawne"]​