Strings of Fate [Moross Crusade Dominion of Aurum]

[Soliath Devin Talith]

The woman knew how to speak, he would give her that. For a second he mulled things over, it wasn't the people she was trying to save, not the Vong that lived here, simply the infrastructure. She wanted the factories, the mines, and she wanted them all for herself. Money was key for her he supposed, as it was for so many other people in the galaxy.

She had caught his interest however.

No matter how money grubbing she or those of her ilk were, Soliael knew the benefit of having them around. For two hundred Years he had walked this galaxy and gained experience, learning the benefits of capitalist instinct.

It was fascinating really, though in his current Mood Soliael was hardly prepared to analyze it.

The False God raised a hand, a move that some might take as a threat, but when index finger and thumb met there was only a single clap of thunder.

The black rolling clouds above them began to sink and die, the red lightning that had sparked and bitten at the sky began to fade and blink away. The threatening veil of darkness that had surrounded Aurums center most city was slowly disappearing, broken away by the will of the False God.
“I will not destroy this world.” He said it as though it were a concession.

An annoying one.

 

[Sal Katarn]

The apparition at the False God's side watched, long forgotten or lest ill-remembered. He cared not for the reactions of the lesser-races. The eclipsing power of Neth was but the shadow of the sun, setting on his reign. With eyes of crimson, malice and reflected hell-fire, he beheld the angling craft of the female. The fragility of her mortal race beside the power of gods seemed not to quail her. She charged into her bargain with words darting, quick as blades and as soft upon the ears as a lover's caress.

Intrigued, the demented witnessed a miracle at work beyond mere powers of ending, as a mortal lured a god away from the ruination of this petulant world. The watcher did not understand this idle bargaining. Why sway to this female's words when Neth might bend her mind to his will as easily as a master potter might fashion clay. The concept of negotiation failed upon the idle one's ears, but he with held further urgings, though in his mind they tumbled. Subjugate her. Make her his vessel. The Keeper held the power in his hands, yet listened still.

All this Duvain saw and pondered while silent, offering at last an enigmatic mutter, more whisper than breath.

"Peculiar."

 

[Danger Arceneau]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Danger would hold to her polite smile, even though on the inside she gave a small sigh of relief. Baby steps. It was all about baby steps. This could very well turn around at any moment.

"I am sure you would like to discuss the finer details, Aesir. However, I would first like to aide you in any way that you may need." she would give him a straight look, one that said she knew very well that he had his own agenda here.

"My scout are already across Aurum, what manner of method you may need them for your use are yours. Just say the word. "

 

[Ibby]

[member="Crystal"] [member="Azlyn Ike"]

Awake. Alert. And yet, frustrated.

The ghost's inspection of her portion of the temple yielded nothing, and again she cursed her limitations. Long ago, on Bothawui, Ibelia had learned that she was limited to a range of fifty feet, a cause of endless rage for her.

Now, she was attached to a piece of metal decoration, confining her to one wing of the temple. The amulet itself was long gone.

Even so, the ghost would not be deterred. Concentrating, she sent out inconspicuous probes, striving to reach as far as possible.

Yes, something was definitely going on. But what it was still remained a mystery, and as such Ibelia decided, much to her chagrin, to settle down and wait.

 

[Ereza]

Aboard a generic shuttle en route to [member="Soliael Devin Talith"]'s location.

At the back, Amore remained by the furthest window, watching the world of Aurum pass them by hundreds of feet below. The strangest sensation of deja vu, the oddest feeling of some former life. She'd seen it all, yet it was still new at the same time. Her mind recognized the shadow of history within the landscape while her eyes recognized nothing and everything - like a picture with a long exposure, ghosts weaved in and out.

And then there was [member="Cameron Centurion"], the warmth of his presence at her back and the heat of his emotions lingering in her mind.

She closed her eyes, feeling suddenly rather lost as her thoughts moved from the present to that of Moross. Amore needn't delve into Cameron's mind to know that many things had transpired during her absence, and it was this implication of time that drew a frown to her face.

"How long was I gone?"

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron had retreatd in to his own thoughts much like [member="Amorella Mae"] had once they'd settled in the main cabin of the shuttle. The soft, rhythmic hum of the engines drifted through the Sith Lord's ears as he contemplated how drastically his life had changed in the last year. The previous months had been some of the most...agonizing of his life. There was no arguing that fact, but part of him never really feared he would never see Amorella again. In fact...his fear was perhaps much more vested in the potential that she would return...only to resent him and, ultimately, reject his emotions.

That would have brought about a tide of darkness that the entirety of Wild Space would have been swallowed whole by. It would be worse than the prophesized coming of Erebos...the Devourer of all things. His eyes shifted briefly to the slender form seated with him and a thin smile played across his lips as Amorella turned her blue gaze to meet his silver-green. The question she asked forced the smile from his lips.

"Too long. Four months, one week, and three days, to be exact." Slowly, his smile returned. "Would you like that down to seconds?"

 

[Ereza]

A wane smile touched at her expression, gaze falling at the answer.

Four months? Amore released a slow breath as she thought on this, a short shake of her head her only reply to his query.

Four months.

A knot formed in the pit of her stomach, her wounded hand smarted momentarily as her mind traveled back to ... everything that had happened since the moment she'd vanished from his sight. It hadn't felt like months. No, it had felt like years, eternity even. Time had played no role in the lessons she'd suffered through or the conversations she'd had. She'd spent weeks traveling with a man whose face she could no longer remember, which was odd given her natural affinity for memory. Her time spent with Preacher at the Jedi Temple on Ossus? Everything that had happened to her seemed twisted and torn, only pieces of the whole resided in her mind now. The rest? Well, perhaps it was lost in the ether.

...and perhaps it was best that it remain lost. Amore felt certain there were things she might regret remembering.

Reaching down she gathered the man's nearest hand and turned it palm up on her lap, quietly inspecting the lines etched across his skin. She traced them with her fingertips.

"Too long," Amore nodded, giving a subtle glance towards the front of the shuttle to check on their continued privacy before lifting his hand in her own and pressing the back of his against her face. She breathed deeply, inhaling the scent that had become both alluring and scintillating to her senses. He smelled of the night and smoke and the arcane - all things powerful and mysterious, though no more a mystery to her anymore than a book read and memorized, now she need only know the pages as well as she knew the words.

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron's gaze never left [member="Amorella Mae"]'s even as she drew his hand into her lap. At this point in his life, Cameron didn't really take very great pains to hide any aspect of his being. Even with the facade of Aatrox, Cameron had elected not to obscure his face in mask...insinuating that the God had chosen some random vessel. If someone were to discover his showing of affections to Amorella, the explanation would be all too easy. A God did as he chose with whom he chose. Granted, if such an occurrence were to happen when they were both discharging their duties to the Crusade, the scandal of Aatrox being involved with Inari would undoubtedly be...curious.

All of these thoughts quickly melted from his mind as he felt the smooth backside of his hand come into contact with Amorella's cheek. A warm smile of contentment spread across his lips as he gently reached up with a free hand to run two fingers through the hair on the opposing side of her head. The Sith Lord had no words to offer this situation, worried that any speech at that precise moment would shatter the fragile tenderness of the moment.

Too long indeed.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Danger Arceneau"]

He thought for a moment about what else he needed here on Aurum, and found that the answer was only one thing.

Amorella.

His scowl turned down, his eyes casting towards Duvain for a moment, then towards Danger. There was no hesitation in his body language, no contemplation, nothing. He simply thought about whether or not Danger could be useful in his endeavor. Though if she had scouts all across this world, and Camerons words rang true, then Amorella was here.

Find my sister. The words were forced into Dangers mind. There was no pressing of words, no probing, it was simply a forcing of thought into Dangers mind, a command, nothing else. With it came a wave of information, what Danger would need, though of course with secret withheld.

He needed to find Amorella.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

The command was well heard -- even if it thoroughly irked Danger to feel that kind of hoodoo pressed into her mind.

"Of course Aesir," Danger would say, giving a slight inclination of her head for seeming reverence. Well, she was in Moross Territory, and they DID believe themselves to be Gods.

Not to mention this entire negotiation relied on making nice.

However.... When the rest of the information about Amore came to Danger, it picked up Danger's brooding hen tendencies. It was always about women in need with her.

Her comm came to her lips and she relaid the information.

 

[Micah Talith]

The Trandoshan named Sue got his orders; even if he wasn't quite sure how the boss lady got them from the short pink guy to begin with. He gave a shrug.

He would be part of the scouting group for searching in this local area, and with that his men. In a guttural voice thick in Huttese, the Reptile would relay to the various scouting parties within the area of their new objective.

Finding a redhead woman by the name of Amore.

 

[Alisha'ven]

Alisha'ven would coordinate searching efforts from the air once she got the scoop. She didn't ask questions, she merely did what she was told. It was one of the few qualities that allowed the Rutian Twi'lek to stand beside Danger Arceneau for so long. Things had to be done at times at the drop of a dime.

In this instance, a planet wide search among Yuuzhan Vong for a single woman. Thankfully, various areas had been scouted already and they were able to cut out a large part of the planet.

It was time to focus on the parts they had not yet charted.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael had no idea of course that Cameron and Amorella were on there way.

Oh sure he could sense Cameron about, and even a hint of the light that was Amorella, but he couldn't pinpoint them. No one could do that, that would just be silly. Soliael waited impatiently, not moving from his place in the plains.

Aurum had been half torn asunder by his rage. Burning villages and torched fields lay behind him in mass expanses. Huge swaths of corpses, like rivers, lay across the planet, and mounds of once thriving Yuuzhan Vong creatures had been tossed to the side with simple waves of the earth. It had all been for her, to find Amorella.

Not at all subtle really.

 

[Apollymi Djo]

Meanwhile...

Apollymi had been busy doing her own little collection and experiments. Namely in wrecking face with the Yuuzhan Vong while gathering sample of their shaped creatures. She had stumbled upon one of their Shaper's den, and this would certainly prove most useful.

The battle began as the witch scouting party would crash against the Shaper Caste. While they would not be able to affect the Vong directly, it didn't mean that Apollymi wouldn't be able to use their environment against them.

There were ways to counter the vong. It was just a matter of finding them.

 

[Danger Arceneau]

Danger would leave the Aesir to oversee the current shift of operation's focus. The full hipped woman would return to the shuttle, glad that her newly won factories and production facilities would not be torn down and destroyed as of yet.

She couldn't say the same about the Yuuzhan Vong.

A shrug would come to her. Who cared about the Vong anyways? They were such a pesky bit of vermin. A thought came to her. Perhaps it was time to go into research and development of anti vong arms.

A slow grin would draw over her lips. Yes. She could collect various specimens of vong and their shaped creatures and use them as test subjects for perhaps high impact rounds, grenades... all of the like in order to combat them.

Well well well... this certainly would turn out all the better. Idea in hand, she would start to take mental notes. So many things to do.

So little time.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael watched the woman depart with an abject look, his eyes following her only long enough to ensure that she got on the shuttle.

The promises she had made would be fulfilled, he knew that. Danger Arceneau knew better than to lie to him, or anyone of his stature. She wanted the factories upon this world, and come the end of the day it was very likely that the Crusades entire armada would be on Aurums doorstep. This planet, along with everything and anything on it would belong to him within the blink of an eye.

If Danger kept her word, she would keep her factories.

He mused for a second.

A Trade world.

What an interesting prospect. They had Terminus already, though that was merely a mainstay between Fringe and Them. If Aurum could be connected to the rest of the galaxy, and the world centralized as a Trade zone within Moross space, it would be a way to make money on both tariffs and general trade goods.

What would Amorella say to this?

 

[Micah Talith]

So began the search.

Approximately sixty percent of the planet had already been charted. Leaving a good forty percent yet to be mapped. It took a few minutes for all of Arceneau's current scouting parties to change their objective; really, it was a matter of doing both things at the same time.

Sue would soon gather updates, to include the movements of Moross's own troops. He would send a comm message up to Alisha'ven so that she could relay any more information down -- perhaps even communicate with the Moross forces so there weren't any miscommunications.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

With Amorella now being searched for by others Soliael began to ponder what he would have for lunch today.

Bantha?

Perhaps some sort of Fish?

He wasn't really sure, but his mind began to wander away from the rage he had earlier felt. Was it the fact that Amorella's rescue was now almost guaranteed? Or was it the subtle hint of her presence drawing closer? It was difficult to tell, but a calm once again found its way towards Soliael, one that slowly eroded the rage.

 

[Alisha'ven]

Aurum Orbit
[member="Amorella Mae"] [member="Cameron Centurion"]


Indeed, sensors would relay the images of Moross Forces throughout Aurum in holographic detail compared to Arceneau's own. With a nod, she would ask the comm officer to bring up a channel to hail Moross Forces within the next few minutes. Time to introduce herself.

When ready, the Rutian Twi'lek would send the following.

[ This is Alisha'ven of Arceneau Trade Company, hailing in response to an offer of aid in the search for one of your own per the guidance of Neth the Keeper. We would offer to coordinate our efforts to speed this recovery.]

 

[Blackthorne]

And with great timing and the utmost absurd of handwaivium - Loxa and her new parties arrived. Let's not get into time-space continuum or the truth of just how far Annaj was from Aurum. We're here for story people, and that's all that matters. Besides, these guys wanna stomp Vong and I'm more than happy to let them have at it.

No one said the thread has to end when we reach 100 posts.

Loxa's ship touched down outside a location known as the Enclave where their ancient temple stood in ruin. The Priestess could sense the presence of others on the planet, including that of the Vong.

"Let us cleanse this place, my friends-" and with that she drew her lightsaber, golden beam springing to life with a resounding snap-hiss.

[member="Jared Ovmar"]
[member="Darth Janus"]
[member="Moira Skaldi"]