The Last Plot

[Arage Bao]

Plans were in motion, but they were always in motion, no? It was almost a constant of the world that Jared Ovmar, former Lord of the Fringe, had a scheme in ploy. Some people enjoyed to make fun of him for his exploits, others were still afraid to this day of the mention of his name and then there were the rare few that he considered true friends any time of the day.

Starchaser was one of them, Marek Starchaser to be more specific, these days there seemed to be more Starchaser than Zambranos (which wasn’t a bad thing either.)

Just a specification of the current situation.

All that aside, Ovmar had to accept the fact that the Imperialization of the Fringe Confederation had failed. He had expected… more, more people fighting for and against him, but in the end it had seemed to fizzle out and the proud nation was now collapsing in itself.

Incursions of nightmarish monsters, rebels popping out and claiming a piece of the meat, the struggle was quite real in the Unknown Regions. But there were a few things that needed to be solved, before he could take the final great vacation planned.

It all centered back to power and influence.

And so he called on [member="Marek Starchaser"] to help him in this last endeavor of his. A subtle mental prod came from out of the unknown, it would come with a whisper.

Old friend, I need some assistance. It would say, before imprinting the vague knowledge of place and time to appear for Marek.

Would he come? Doubtful. But there was a chance, and that was all that Ovmar needed.

Never tell me the odds.

 

[Corey's OOC]

The galaxy was just one of those places. Marek Starchaser knew his way around a good bunch of the places, but mainly he looked for the vice side of the galaxy lately. Sure, he did his fair share of fighting in the waning days of the Confederacy of Independant Systems, and while many of his comrades, including on silver-haired technomancer made their way to the Fringe space after one leadership fiasco or another, he was destined to stay and be the warden of the space that is now known as the Techno Union.

He had always made sure to have a good working relationship with the brothers on the other side of the galaxy, the Fringe Federation, where one Jared Ovmar was always in charge. But there were things keeping him watching over the industrial centers of the galaxy. Things that Jared understood.

But now, with the civil war in the Federation had occurred, Marek had turned his eyes to that sector of space. Using Bright Star to bring aid and much needed R&R to the soldiers in Ovmar’s camp and was helping spread the task of making an Empire in that sector. It was not going well.
And having to return to the Union often was not sitting well with the wayward Starchaser. That was, until he heard, felt, or otherwise recognized he was needed. Being the King Foreman of the Techno Union had its perks, and Marek made sure to clear his schedule, took Flow, his Santhe Challenger, by Santhe, and made his way to Annaj. From there, he’d make his way to his old friend.

 

[Arage Bao]

They would meet finally in deep space, there wasn’t anything else around, no fleet, no space structures or any other appliance that would suggest civilization had found its way to this random spot in the Galaxy, on Annaj Starchaser would have been given a different transport- some planets still had a semblance of control, funny enough exactly the planets that had been governed by Ovmar. The different transport was one of the military stealth ships the Fringe had employed.

In that random spot in Deep Space a second stealth ship would uncloak after a long, long wait. For a moment nothing happened, everything was silent and no communication was made apparent. Until finally Starchaser would hear a familiar voice in his head speaking, some mirth coloring the mental faculties.

‘Able to find it good, Marek?’

A sigh of the mental kind followed, it spoke of tiredness, perhaps just a little bit of nostalgia and other feelings that were best left unspoken. All over in a second as the Lord of the Fringe managed to take back control over himself, Starchaser might even be able to picture Ovmar nodding- more to himself than to anyone else around.

‘I am gonna be needing your help to move a few things here and there, tie up some loose ends. Might take us a while though, you up for it?’

 

[Corey's OOC]

Coming to Fringe space in such a state was disheartening. The Fringe Federation was one of those galactic nations that Marek felt deserved more. For all they did to keep the galaxy safe, for how they monitored their worlds, it was something he had strived for under the banner of the Abrion Systems Authority, until it gained its momentum as a corporate power. The biggest fear here would be running into the other Starchasers. He was keeping tabs on a few. He knew that Kaia was wandering the Republic space as a (insert scoff) Jedi, while Token, the second or third cousin was working for him. But Coren, and Jared? Last he knew, they were here helping the Imperial side of the Fringe.

Were they on the same side then? That was interesting.

Taking the extra ship, he looked at Flow like it would be the last time he’d see her. Depending how this all went? Might be. Taking the next transport to the meeting location, he was understanding the secrecy, even if he wasn’t expecting it.
“Your pilots know what they’re doing.” Marek nodded to himself, really, no one in particular. Listening to the request from his old friend, he nodded. “You’ve got me for as long as you need me. Can call some Techno Union units out here, if you need?” Always the offer. Marek knew what his nation was really good for, expensive machines of war.

 

[Arage Bao]

A snap would be heard, as if someone was snapping his fingers real loud. Which was strange considering nobody had done that in Starchaser’s vicinity, not that Marek would really have the opportunity to ponder about that particular strangeness, mostly because he suddenly found himself sitting in front of Jared Ovmar. Lord of the Fringe- can’t repeat that credential often enough, and one of his oldest friends.

‘Don’t worry about it, broski.’ Jared said with a mischievous grin, one of the old ones, a reminder of the good ol’ days when they had both been younger and things had been so much more simple. But they were both older now, one a little bit more responsible, the other still the same deviant he always had been.

Still both loyal to each other though, which said something.

‘The Fringe is dying, the Confederation falling down all around us. But my men? They will follow me wherever I go and I am.. heh.’ Ovmar chuckled softly, before continuing. ‘Well, you will see soon enough, no?’

The other stealth ship went one way and they went another, it would be a few hyperspace jumps before they would arrive to their destination. Had to keep the path and coordinates secret. In the meanwhile they would have time to chat a little bit.

 

[Corey's OOC]

The galaxy had taken them both and threw them around, hadn’t it? Thankfully for Marek, and the floor in Ovmar’s ship Marek was used to situations that disoriented him. Flying old TIE Bombers with repulsors on the wings through asteroids after doing more spice than most people should? Yeah, well, Marek was rich and he was a bit… bored? That was why he had a bionic arm, after all, because he could. Still, he reached around and looked about.

“You’re going to have to teach me that one.” It would be very very useful. And seeing Jared’s grin? Well, it was definitely something. The now-younger man was remember the good times with the Lord of the Fringe, and as much as Irani was a good substitute, he was a substitute. Still, Marek would turn worlds to help either of the men out, and he knew no less than the same would happen for him.

Nodding as Jared began about the Fringe dying, he looked to his friend. “I’ve heard. Our SpyNet does a decent job of keeping me informed on whats going on. And I’m sure we’ll see. I’ve opened up locations in Union space, we can house any Fringe citizens looking for a fresh start. I know that they’re useful and may find homes elsewhere, but the offer stands.” Good Samaritan. Plus people had mostly forgotten about Druckenwell, right?
“What are we out here for, then?”

 

[Arage Bao]

The ship disappeared into the blue iridescent colors of hyperspace and from the outside it would look fairly strange. Two ships appearing, staring at each other and then disappearing again without any other sign of exchange or communication happening. But such things were more rule than exception when it came to Jared Ovmar, so you couldn’t really expect anything different than flashy and needlessly theatrical, could ya now?

Perhaps all of this wasn’t necessary, but he wasn’t a man who enjoyed not making the extra precautions readily available to prove a point to everyone involved.

Which was, some folks are fething paranoid.

‘Making sure things stay as secure as possible for the perceivable future.’ the Sith Lord mentioned before dusting off Starchaser just a little bit, was that stardust on his shoulder? Well, they would never know now, would they?

‘How ya been, Marek? Haven’t seen ya in ages.’

Quite literally so, time is relative.

 

[Corey's OOC]

Jumping to lightspeed was not something that bothered Marek, the whole bit of not chatting over ship communications? That was something he didn’t even have time to recognize. He was apparently pulled over to the ship he was meant to be on, and he was wondering if Ovmar could’ve done that from Techno Union space out here. Granted being in a ‘meeting’ with one of the interns and then just not being in her… in the meeting would’ve been an odd site.

The one thing Marek wasn’t was paranoid. He had the SpyNet to thank for that. Agents watching him all over, because, well he was a VIP when it came to the Union. And that meant he got his own personal agents and everything. Sometimes he bought them caf, most times he just let them do their thing. Unless they were bothering him at the roulette wheel or pool tables, Marek’s two favorite games.

“I can respect that.” Marek nodded. Security was one of those things you didn’t want to mess with. Grinning at his brother, he ran a hand through his hair. How did he get on the ship?

“I’ve been… well, I’m alright. The Hegemony is finally pushing support in the Techno Union, and aside from a few illiterate and communist neighbors? Things are going fairly well in the south systems. Better than they have in a long time. “Do I even need to ask what the exact cause of… everything was?”

 

[Arage Bao]

An eyebrow was raised, some questions weren’t asked- or at least, some questions he was used not being asked. People suspected, people theorized, people always claimed to know, but they never came out and asked him. Why was that? He didn’t know, perhaps time and events had changed him to such a degree that only his old friends could look through the bubble, poke it and get out with the truth of the matter, Rave had surprised him and now so had Marek.

Didn’t mean he would give him the answer he deserved, only the one he needed. ‘A combination of overreaching, pissing off too many people at the same time, machinations and the darkness pushing back at our weakest point.’

Machinations.

Ovmar sighed and shrugged the weight off just for a single moment and went back to the old weary smile, looking Starchaser over and shaking his head.

‘You haven’t changed a bit, brother. Which amuses me greatly. I wonder when time slipped through my fingers and made me miss out on all the good stuff.’

Ramblings now? Ovmar had seen much and many things in his travels, but even though time was relative and he had spend far more time there than here? It still felt like he had missed out on a lifetime of events, instead of the six, maybe seven years.

They passed two sectors and entered a third. They still had a long journey to go.

‘Haven’t really been paying much attention, honestly. Hear something about the Techno Union and maybe rumors of heh.’ he chuckled. ‘Santhe and you? That a thing, these days?’

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek cared. Maybe that was what made him such a terrible Sith? He worried on the ones he swore meant something to him. Those people he would turn the galaxy upside down to help. Sure, he had Verd on that list, and look how it all went down. But the Hegemony was life. And he needed to do what he could. He listened to the one known as Rave for a while, and Ovmar and he were always close. When he heard the changes that occurred, all he could do is nod. And remember to not piss the galaxy off. Some bridges could be rebuilt, others, when broken, let the floodgates open.

“Well, the secret is I take the youth from all the interns I hire.” Not a full lie, but it was really only that they made him feel young. Besides, who wouldn’t want to step up to the plate with an intergalactic businessman who didn’t need to charter cruise liners because he owned a fleet of the fethers? Right? Right.

Right, Santhe and him. What was the deal there? Giving a half shrug and a ready Corellian smirk, he looked at his brother. “It is what it is. She’s good people, and I mean, I wouldn’t mind… Are worse partners to have out there.” Simple enough.

 

[Arage Bao]

A long look was afforded. Good people? As far as Ovmar knew Sasha Santhe was the biggest schutta east of the core and then some, but he kept that opinion to himself. It wouldn’t have served any purpose than to antagonize Marek, if he was really that into the broad? All the more power to him, but he would rather plot a date with a sarlacc pit than to mess around with that stuff.

‘Heh, better you than me, brotha.’ another chuckle, before he sat himself down in one of the chairs and leaned back a little bit. Another ponder, a third and a second, the sectors passed them by, but they were still not exactly where they were supposed to be.

Where was that? Ever wondered where the Imperialization Movement came from? Where did it built itself up, where had it assembled itself a warmachine? Now, ain’t that the million-dollar question. Let’s just say that the Unknown Regions were called that for a reason, even the Fringe hadn’t been able to map out the entirety of that spiel, even Jorus with his talents didn’t know every route and every sector hidden away by the radiation of stars.

Some things were better left a secret, some things… shouldn’t be unearthed. But Ovmar was never good at keeping the status quo.

‘Settle in for the ride, we still got a long way to go. Want me to teach ya a few tricks while we are at it?’

 

[Corey's OOC]

Marek liked schuttas. Hell, Marek himself was a schutta sometimes. He supposed. It didn’t really matter though, Sasha was hot, and that was what mattered to Marek. Clearly he was worried about character depth. Had you seen Starchaser? He didn’t need to worry about finding a partner for any one night, that bit was easy, but there was something about Santhe. And yes, he knew all the stories.

Didn’t matter to him. But this was the hedonist, after all.

Finding himself a chair, Marek fell back into it, the galaxy was changing a lot, wasn't it? He knew there was something out here that was regarding another power shift. And that made him a bit nervous. Losing the Fringe front? At least the Primeval and the One Sith were out there and doing their thing, but the war that was hitting the other Federation? Tsk.

“If we’ve got the time, I’d love to learn a few tricks, see what I can add to my repertoire.” Yaeh, because he was SO good with the Force as it was.

 

[Arage Bao]

Ovmar tilted his head slightly, almost as if he was listening to something funny, schuttas indeed. But in the end that was a discussion for a different time and different circumstances, as it stood they had work to do, most of which boiled down towards getting Starchaser some much needed edges when it came to the art of ‘Boomdaya’ in the Force, clearly he wouldn’t be able to teach him all that much, time was only relative to a distinct degree, before you were busying yourself with ripping the fabric of reality apart just to get what you wanted.

So Jared simply stuck to the basics, trying to clear and open Marek’s mind to the possibilities that there were other things around, other realities, other ways to accomplish the same damn thing. Talking about the ‘stuff’ that made up the entire Galaxy and could be manipulated to garner a certain effect here and there, all metaphysical stuff really and Jared doubted Marek would understand half of it immediately.

Had taken him many ages before he was open enough to accept other possibilities, wouldn’t be any different for his friend in that regard.

‘So as you see, the difference between Here and There is a single letter. One simple digit. When you truly realize the significance of this? Well, then certain paths open for ya, my friend.’

The Sith Lord looked at Marek with some expectation.

 

[Arage Bao]

It seemed that Starchaser was getting a hang out of the lessons he was trying to instill upon him, oh he was definitely nowhere near full knowledge-mode, but it was a start for something that would probably take his entire life to properly study and understand. That was the way of things though, you couldn’t really do it any other way, he had been able to theoretically sidestep some steps… but that was just semantics, really.

He had spend his time on it and eventually managed to cash in on the profits gained, time flies though and eventually they would reach the specific portion of the Galaxy that was home to perhaps the largest secret that Ovmar held these days. It was on par with the secret hideaway of Cater, where does the magician hide millions of corellians?

Find a new sector to house them in.

This idea had been repeated by Jared Ovmar, which Starcaser would realize once they jumped into the particular sector. Security and transponder codes had been exchanged beforehand, without those codes exchanged before the jump had been made?

Well, Friend or Foe wasn’t a joke this time. Ships jumping into this portion of space without proper clearance were terminated on sight, no matter how friendly or how lost they were, there were no exceptions made for this particular situation.

 

[Arage Bao]

The sector in question did not have a name, though Ovmar himself liked to call it ‘Destination Nowhere’, and when he wasn’t in the mood to dish out that entirety he just shortened it for PO-DO, which could be traced back to Point Origin - Destination Nowhere. What it meant? Perhaps only Ovmar himself knew that at this point, the man would always hold a few secrets here and there, that would never change really.

So what was Point Origin - Destination Nowhere? As Ovmar looked out of the viewport and Starchaser looking over his shoulder they would be greeted by a great assembly of starships all centered around strange space structures, refueling depots, refitting and construction yards and other constructs that were needed when you were fielding an army, or supporting it.

Finally then, the source of the Imperialization Movement had been found. A place in space where Ovmar’s personal oldguard had assembled itself in support to the man who had wanted to put Law and Order throughout the old Fringe nation.

The mission had failed, too many differences, too many fights to fight on multiple fronts, but they believed in him still. In him and the message he carried and so as the Fringe descended into infighting and chaos, his men and women had taken their families and escaped the madness.

Now they were waiting, but on what?

 

[Arage Bao]

It was a question that Ovmar could read in his friend’s eyes, Marek seemed impressed and perhaps slightly daunted at the conglomeration of the Warmachine which Ovmar had assembled in one place. In sheer numbers this navy and the fine men and women inside of them could conquer the entirety of the Fringe Confederation and then some, but that hadn’t been the path Ovmar had decided to follow.

Why? Because whatever the Lord of the Fringe had been, was and would be, he still valued the core value of the Fringe, freedom. And it had become clear that some would rather have it descended into rampancy than to see a new Order be established, Jared would respect that even if he didn’t fully agree with the decision made.

‘I have recalled most of the patrols and armies, Marek.’ the Sith Lord would say, more to himself than to Starchaser at this point. ‘We are planning on leaving the Unknown Regions behind us, we have fought hard for it, shed our blood, tears and sweat. But at some point you realize that enough is enough.’

A sigh.

‘We have charted a new system where we will bring order and settle ourselves, this is something I can give my blood and their families.’

Then the Sith Lord signaled towards one of the pilots and the transport started to move towards the biggest structure, a station which seemed to be at the heart of it all. A pulsing node, a command center perhaps.

 

[Arage Bao]

They would finally enter the command center within the structure and it was a bustling affair of Admirals and Generals, the higher-ups of Ovmar’s Imperial Order. They were the old guard, the men and women who had fought and bled with Jared when he had just joined the armies of the Fringe, they had always cared for each other, even after Ovmar became a politician and a symbol of the freedom and potential the Fringe Confederation had.

He had become a Lord of the Fringe.

Cheering, the shaking of hands and patting of shoulders. It didn’t seem as an army, there were no heavy-handed regulations here, perhaps it was the long years or perhaps it was the situation that they found themselves in now, but the fact remained.

They were more a family than anything else.

‘Report, Adama.’ the Sith Lord finally addressed the current Grand Admiral of the Navy, they were still recalling fleets and assets from worlds. The archives had been secured, most of the overstock in army supplies were ready to be shipped too. But there were still things to do, this Ovmar knew.

And the Admiral replied. ‘The Dzu’ari is ready for departure, sir, we have managed to recover the Ferocity and the Defiance too.’ a brief ponder as Adama looked over the screen and made a few mental notes here and there. ‘Varanin left the Chimaera in the care of Kalaaa and he has reported in a few hours ago.’

Ovmar raised his eyebrow, he knew Kalaaa. Longtime first officer, Ishi Tib. Which meant something had happened to Engel.

‘He’s coming in, sir. Do not worry.’

The rookie had misunderstood his expression, but that was fine. He would drink to Engel when all this was over.

 

[Arage Bao]

Adama was just about to step back and let the other advisors talk, until he blinked and resumed his portion of the conversation. ‘Oh, pardon me, sir. The Chrysalide didn’t sustain much damage from the fights, but we did some minor repairs anyway. It’s at a hundred percent battle capacity right now and is awaiting your command.’

After which he silenced himself and stepped back to deal with the other meticulous details which needed to be resolved when you were dealing with the mass movement of an entire worth of army into the unknown, it would be challenging, it would be an undertaking that was frankly lunacy in the sheer audacity planned.

But it was the only way that Jared Ovmar knew how to operate. He shifted around and put his attention on one of the logistics officers who was peening for his attention, another raised eyebrow and Dominus started speaking in a hurried tone.

‘Sir, the overstocks of Tibanna and TibbanaX overstocks have been secured and are now in transit towards our locations, the same can be said about the surplus of ores, minerals and other valuable material which was coming from 244Core. I am positive we can have all of this out of the way by the next two months, and then we should be ready to leave this space behind us.’

Ovmar pondered.

‘Cortosis and Phrik mined from Bespin and Valhalla?’

Dominus seemed pleased. ‘Already secured and loaded, sir. The Armorers’ Confederacy have also pitched in and most of the members have decided to leave with us.’

Now that earned him some a blink, which was repaid by a smile and an explanation.

‘They would rather pitch in with our lot than Slaver Empires at the fringes, sir.’

A painful concession of truth, but he had to think about his men and women. The rest was… not trivial, but he couldn’t save them all.

 

[Arage Bao]

Ovmar was about to ask more pointed questions, in his young age he would have simply assumed that everything had been done correctly and if found out later that quality was lacking? Proper actions would have been made to make sure such things wouldn’t happen in the future, but things change, men change and Jared was more careful now.

A lot of responsibility was currently clinging on his shoulders and he was trying to fill in the shoes of a certain Empress, though he was pretty sure his shoe-size was a few sizes larger, there was still the metaphysical meaning of the word where he found himself a little bit lacking.

Not that his men and women would agree with that, they all seemed to think that he couldn’t do anything wrong whatsoever. But perhaps that was the usual thing when it came to leadership, perhaps it was the illusion of competency that was the most important.

‘Don’t worry, sir. We have made sure that we took every asset that we could reasonably get our hands on, we have evacuated people… but you know how the Unknown Regions work. Most consider this still their home and won’t budge.’

A nod, Jared had expected that. Even with everything falling apart, with monsters preying in the dark and rebels hunting, they still weren’t prepared to all leave. Some, the ones loyal to him? They would follow him anywhere, but the rest would take their chances.

Their right.

‘The military schematics of our ships, weaponry, everything we have used?’

‘Erased, sir. Of course, we can’t guarantee that a hundred percent. Scavengers might start picking on the military assets that was too old for us to salvage, they might find something useful there.

‘Reasonable, that will do.’

 

[Arage Bao]

[Two Months Later]​

[member="Anja Aj'Rou"]​

It was exactly two months later that the Great Exodus came to be, nobody actually called it the Great Exodus of course. That would have been superfluous and perhaps slightly pretentious, but the general lay of the land was dictated by those two words, the warriors of the Fringe were departing their lands in search for a new home. New lands and new star systems had been scouted beforehand, stealth ships making sure that their search would stay as low profile as possible and finally they had managed to find a sector of space that was empty.

As empty as it could get, of course.

The worlds were uninhabited, but habitable and that was the most important part. There were worlds with rich ores and gas giants which generated a mixture of valuable substances, they had lost the Tibanna refineries on Taloraan. But they would find that and more in this new metaphorical Mecca for the new fledgling Fringe worlds.

‘Systems check, everything a go?’

‘Affirmative.’ one of the ensigns replied over the comms as he did the last maintenance checks for the systems. Nothing could go wrong now, nothing could go wrong, they had made sure of that many times with the tests and experiments.

‘Alright, Grand Admiral. Punch it.’

A certain lack of protocol, but that was desired in a moment as tense as this one, no?

The iridium flashes of blue danced across the viewport as they entered Hyperspace on a journey towards the new sector of space, leaving behind them a wasteland of war, strife and darkness afoot. But they were past griefing, past blaming themselves, they had their families and friends, some were left behind and yet?

Yet this was a day of remembrance, a new future would be created out there between the stars.