Dominion The Shadow War - Act Two - Into Shadowy Depths (Silver Jedi Concord dominion of Charros IV)

[Silver Strand]

In the aftermath of the Concord's meeting with the Nimbus Alliance, the two groups have began their hunt of the Crymorah Syndicate in earnest. One group of the raiders was tracked to the Xoman System and attacked by the combined forces of the Silver Jedi Concord and the Elysium Empire, while the last group of raiders has been tracked to Charros IV, which has recently become a hotbed for arms smugglers and other less then reputable elements even as some of the native Xi Charrians have started to return home. Keen to reduce the Syndicate's power, the Nimbus Alliance and the Silver Jedi Concord have started two endeavors in the Taldot Sector in an immediate bid to undercut the profitability of the Crymorah Syndicate's local power.

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Cathedral Factory, Charros IV

Lead by a team of Silver Jedi, a number of Antarian Rangers, Concord Guardsmen, and others have managed to quickly seize an abandoned cathedral factory on Charros IV that the Crymorah Syndicate had been using to gather up Bryn'adul arms on the planet. While the small number of Syndicate enforcers present stunned and driven off by the sudden attack, they have returned in strength just as dusk arrives. Rumors have it that both Dorn Mors, a ruthless lead enforcer from the nearby Thanos system, and one of their best commanders, "Tacs" are both leading forces that will converge on the Factory (personnel files here). Concord reinforcements are already en route to reinforce the original attack group, but will not be arrive for several more hours. Prevent the cathedral and its arms stores from falling back into Crymorah Syndicate hands and if possible, capture Dorn Mors or "Tacs" for interrogation and trial.

Scene 2 - A Return in Darkness

Renanscence Medical Center, Boz Pity

Despite the Nimbus Alliance's skepticism, the Silver Jedi Concord has embarked on another, less violent path to lessen the Crymorah Syndicate's power - by going after its credits. Rather than outright destruction, the Concord seeks to recover nascent research on spice addiction treatment drugs that had started to undergo trials at the Renanscence Medical Center before it was hastily but very publicly evacuated as the Bryn'adul advanced. With allegedly no life and no resources, the world appears to have been ignored by the Bryn'adul Empire in the wake of its conquest. But that does not mean that all is well. The native, thought to be extinct Gargantelle in the underground caverns of the base were left to their own devices by the Concord's rapid withdrawal. It is unknown how they have faired or if the research remains intact. Surviving members of the Boz Pity Heavy Recon Regiment have returned to help secure their old base and discover the fate of the Gargantelle and research which may lead to the spice market bottoming out in the sector.

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Travot stood near the blast door into the hangar of the factory cathedral hangar. Wind howled over the desert flats to whip across cloak and up onto his face. The dusty air had started to turn from arid hot to an almost a damp coolness. I wonder how cold it'll get...He picked up a pair of macrobinoculars left behind by the Crymorah Syndicate, probably from another watchman, and began to scan the environment. Every once and a while, he could make quick flashes of movement around the sand dunes which he guessed were riders on speeder bikes or some other fast repulsorlift craft. Not one to rely on technology, he had also attempted to feel their presence in the Force, but he almost felt more puzzled by it. There were certainly lifeforms out there, and ones that did not feel too kindly towards him or any of the others present, but he felt that he had seen more vehicles than the number of lifeforms he felt. Are they trying to deceive us into thinking they're a larger or dangerous force? Or is something else afoot?

He put the scanners down as tan-uniformed ranger walked up to him.

"See anything out their master?"

"More speeders," said the susevfian dryly, "but nothing new otherwise."

"I can't imagine they'll just keep zipping by like that."

"They're waiting for something. Maybe nightfall," guessed the jedi.

"Is that more dangerous for us? Or for them?"

Travot let a coy smile crease his face, "Let us hope that it is for them. We should make sure we're all set for them to attack. Any luck with the doors?"

The other man shook his head, "They've been busted for months Dars says. Probably when the Bryn originally hit the world. It's busted, just like half of the things in this place."

"Well, at least there will be plenty of weapons for us to use laying around..."

 

[Gir Quee]

Scene 2 - A Return in Darkness

Zek Memorial Starship Hangar, Renanscence Medical Center

The admiral walked down the ramp of the transport into the base's starship hangar, noting that even his mere footsteps had disturbed a thick layer of dust built up on the hangar floor. Aside from the handful of recently landed starships, it appeared that nothing had moved within the room for years, even if the man had known it to be more of a matter of months. Sariya strolled down the ramp and looked things over.

"Looks just as dead as its reputation," quipped the echani woman.

"Well, that's how it's supposed to be," remarked an outrider ranger.

Standing over two meters tall, Gir wasn't entirely sure how Lieutenant Ryhias had managed to squeeze into one of the Recon Regiment's walkers, but somehow the man had not only managed that, but he had managed to survive the Bryn'adul war without any physical wounds. He could tell from the soldier's faded uniform though and beat-up sidearm that the Ryhias had been through much. Does he really want to be here? After going through all this?

"Seems a boring place to be."

"Boring but peaceful," said Ryhias, pulling out his sidearm, "I just hope it's still the same. Hopefully the gargantelles didn't get too desperate down there."

"They survived without the Concord before, didn't they?" frowned Sariya.

"Yes," said the admiral, "but it's hard going back to deprivation after going up on the rebound so quickly. That sort of psychological swinging isn't good for most people."

"But they're not most people," mused the Ryhias quietly, "I guess we'll just have to see how they've managed to cope with it all..."

 

[Haro Harend]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

19 BBY
JEDI TEMPLE, CORUSCANT

Haru Harend was fighting for his life. He had fought in countless campaigns- Haruun Kal, Bassandro, Ando, Jabiim- just to name a few. He had tangled with the notorious Jedi killer General Grievous and came away unscathed.

None of that mattered. Not here. Not now. Not against him.

"BOX HIM IN! WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THE YOUNG ONES HAVE A PATH!", he roared to his fellow Temple Guardsmen, as they struggled against the cloaked figure, a whirling dervish, blazing in the Force. He was Death incarnate, and he and the literal army of clones had come to ferry souls to the Netherworld, personally. Every move had a reason, a purpose. The Jedi Temple Guard were the best of the best- they had to be, in light of what they protected. What could they do against their greatest champion, The Hero With No Fear?

"You can die", he said mildly as he casually beheaded one of Harond's best friends, then bisected another. Haru paled, then charged- he can't kill him. He knows this, but maybe-

"Maybe you are hard of hearing", he said as he easily immobilized and lifted the Guard by his neck with the Force. He lowered his cloak. Haru's eyes widened as he locked gazes with yellowed pupil, hateful, unnatural, cruel. "You can't do anything. Except die." With a yank, he pulled Haru over to him an-

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

Cathedral Factory, Charros IV
874 ABY

"...Master? Is...is everything okay?"

Haru blinked quickly, and offered the Antarian Ranger a sheepish grin. "Apologies. so no movement by the Syndicate?"

"Affirmative."

"Fierfek", he cursed. "We're outmanned, and outgunned. What's the status of Mors and Tacs?"

"Master Ravenna is surveying outside, Master."

Haru was already striding towards the direction of the factory entrance.

"Then we need to put our heads together if we're going to survive this siege."

Travot Ravenna

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Travot gave the macrobinoculars to the ranger before wistfully back out into the desert. Aside from the distant hum of the repulsorlifts, it seemed still and peaceful. He could start to see some of the stars twinkling in the horizon in soft shades of cool blue and dusty red. He thought he could smell a fire in the distance, which vaguely reminded him of camping back in his younger days. But those times aren't now, are they? He clapped a hand on the ranger's back.

"Keep a close eye on things, and if you aren't certain if it warrants our attention, it probably does. Doesn't hesitate to ring me up on the comlink, all right?"

The young ranger silently nodded in understanding and slung his rifle over his shoulder to start scanning the horizon.

The susevfian himself began to stroll into the hangar, walking past a derelict Sheathipede shuttle around which a squad of Kintan infantry had huddled about while readying themselves for battle, performing last minute equipment checks and stocking up on ammunition. He eyed one of the red-skinned soldiers very briefly. They've already been through a lot with the Bryn'adul...I wonder if they're thinking about how much longer it'll be until their home again? He stepped past a Taris Shock trooper who was inspecting some of the Bryn'adul arms left behind. The other man picked up an impact grenade, and Travot wondered if it'd be more of a danger to them or the Syndicate. Well, that's their commander's problem now. Travot guessed that A AvRe or one of his subordinate officers wouldn't be too far along in making sure nothing went too far out of hand. After weaving through the wearied soldiers, he managed to find himself face to face with Haro Harend , the Korun jedi master who had become a man out of his time.

He slowly offered a wan smile to the man, "Is the Force giving you any feelings on what's about to happen?"

 

[Nara Allam]

Scene 2: A Return in Darkness
​

Nara had spent a lot of time learning. Learning everything she could about this Galaxy. Learning what she could about the Jedi. Of course, there were still Jedi. They might be fractured, separated into different groups with different governments and territory, but there were always Jedi. She'd learned about the wars of the recent past. Thoughts of broken Empires and genocidal creatures swirled around her head... and that came with opportunity. These Jedi had once controlled several sectors and had to retreat in the face of that threat.

The records she'd found had said it was a 'medical centre.' She was expecting a half-collapsed hospital, with some medical supplies to loot. What she found was a sizeable base that just screamed 'secret projects we don't want you to know about.' Nara'd worked minor miracles out of a tiny, two-room clinic on Nar Shaddaa, long ago. With a facility like this one, you could've done anything.

There's got to be easier ways than this, she wondered as she knelt down by a door. The walls, whilst showing a slight amount of disrepair, were far too thick and reinforced to get through. Not without huge amounts of explosives anyway. The doors were thickened and, after a brief try with a saber, left little but a scorch mark and a would in Nara's pride. So, it came to the old-fashioned standby: butcher the lock systems.

Tapping the screen she'd attached, Nara cursed silently. The code locks were proving more difficult to brute force her way through. The wiring was good and there were back-up power sources that hadn't drained. She reached up, twirling a wire around another, linking it up to her bypass board. It sparked. Nara gasped, yanking her hand back.

"Son of a b-" she said, before she noticed lights. She noticed noise. A little ways away, in the old spaceport, there were obviously others coming. Either other opportunists, looking to score something, or people from this Jedi group that'd abandoned the place. Neither would welcome her poking around, trying to engineer her way through a biometric lock.

"C'mon, c'mon, work. Work. Piece of crap," she muttered, smacking her screen on the side. Hoping she could get through before she was caught.

Gir Quee

 

[AvRe]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night


Sand as the eye could see, sand among other things. The soldiers were scattered about, of course, surveying the desert. More were inside, although they were being taken care of by Officer Vel. Out of all the officers who were there today with them, Avery certainly respected Vel more. He had survived a few battles, moreover, he'd been one of the few surviving officers of the Taris Troopers' first deployment on Danuta. Yes, Avery respected that man.

The cyborg moved into the hanger, the mechanical whirring of his servos following with him. Almost as soon as he entered, he saw the trooper examining the impact grenade. He moved swiftly towards him, grabbing the grenade from his hands.

"Don't touch anything." The commander said, in a calm, commanding voice.

Taking a few steps back, the trooper said nothing, then saluted. Avery waved him down, leaving him to his own devices. He pocketed the grenade, better with him than anyone else.

Moving a bit further, his eyes caught the figure of Travot Ravenna and another man he didn't recognize speaking to one another. Avery tilted his head, then shook it. If he was needed, the Jedi would call him over.

All in all, things seemed rather peaceful, which unsettled the commander in some way he couldn't quite explain.

Haro Harend

 

[Gir Quee]

Scene 2 - A Return in Darkness

Renanscence Medical Center

The small entourage stepped out from the hangar and into the open. His eyes immediately fell upon the host of unusual monolithic slabs that almost seemed to grow out of the ground. Most of them had some sort of sculptural relief work cut into them along with writing in a script that was entirely undecipherable to the man. The planet's high winds, bright sun, and sandy soil had weathered most of them in some shape and form, but he could easily imagine what the ancient monuments looked like in the height of their glory. Almost as far as he could see, the man could see nothing but the monuments interrupted only by the rising edifice of Renanscence Medical Center itself. A colossal undertaking...to think that most of the planet is just like this too...wonder what they could have done if they put their efforts into doing something else? They started down the path, with the newcomers drinking in the odd and ancient alien art all around them.

"Yep," muttered Ryhias, holstering his sidearm, "this is home. I remember that slab over there like the back of my hand."

"One of these tombstones yours?" snickered Sariya.

Unfazed by the echani woman's tone, the plain man simply pointed to the right of the medical center's rising tower, "About a half click that way is our barracks. Probably not much there but dust and droppings."

"We can get some droids there to clean things up," said the admiral.

"Nah, it'll be fine...not worth the hassle of supervising them-"

A muffled 'pop' seemed to echo off in the distance near the medical center. On a "dead world", sounds like that simply just didn't happen. Gir frowned and reached for his sonic pistol. Sariya herself drew one of her vibroblades even as the rest of hte group vacillated between simply stopping or drawing some sort of weapon. The admiral turned to the recon soldier.

"What do you think that was?"

"I don't know," said Ryhias, "didn't sound natural, but nothing here really is. Maybe some automated system or maintenance malfunctioned? Could be something else, can't say for sure without looking. Don't think it was any of the gargantelles..."

"We move quickly," said Sariya, gently pushing the admiral back, "and you need to stay in the back. Lieutenant, you lead, and I'll follow."

"We'll all follow," protested the admiral.

"Fine, let's go."

With that, the group awkwardly swept forward down the maze of monuments to the main entrance, with some of them moving a slow trot and others moving at a brisk walk. But the outrider ranger and the echani woman were quicker than most of them, leading the other foremost members of the group by a good dozen meters. The pair rounded a pair monolithic slabs before coming face to face with the main entrance of the hospital.

(Nara Allam feel free to RP having successfully breached into the medical center if you want)

 

[Haro Harend]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

He slowly offered a wan smile to the man, "Is the Force giving you any feelings on what's about to happen?"

Haro snorted. "As a ridiculously obstinate and wise Jedi once told me, 'Always in motion, the future is.' Which was a cute, roundabout way of saying, it's all muddled." He took in the area surrounding the factory. Sand as far as the eye could see. Well, at least the Syndicate can't exactly sneak in.

"Here's where we are though- we are a well-trained, numerically inferior force. We bloodied their nose, but they'll be back by nightfall- this Bryna'dul weaponry is too good for them to pass up. Which means, ideally, we hunker down for a siege until back-up arrives. But with the sorry state of this place...we'll be overwhelmed."

"What we can do is harass them- meet them out in the desert, sabotage, give their supply lines hell, thin out their numbers. When they get into the factory, then we really bring down the hammer- no army's built to fight in constrained conditions."

Haro noticed A AvRe nearby, and motioned him over. He was smart enough to have a general idea of war-fighting, but he also knew to leave the particulars to actual military men.

Travot Ravenna A AvRe

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

"As a ridiculously obstinate and wise Jedi once told me, 'Always in motion, the future is.' Here's where we are though- we are a well-trained, numerically inferior force. We bloodied their nose, but they'll be back by nightfall- this Bryna'dul weaponry is too good for them to pass up. Which means, ideally, we hunker down for a siege until back-up arrives. But with the sorry state of this place...we'll be overwhelmed. What we can do is harass them- meet them out in the desert, sabotage, give their supply lines hell, thin out their numbers. When they get into the factory, then we really bring down the hammer- no army's built to fight in constrained conditions."

Travot nodded in understanding as Haro Harend spoke and offered a polite nod to A AvRe when the former imperial officer approached.

"I'm more of a fighter than a planner or unit leader," admitted Travot, "so I'll leave the planning part up to you both. I guess it seems obvious that if we send a raiding party, which I think would at least cause some chaos in their ranks and delay them, we shouldn't take many people in it - probably not more than a dozen - just to ensure that we have strength here to hold the place, and because of stealth.

It strikes me though, that the approach to the factory itself is pretty wide and open terrain within a couple hundred meters to the hangar entrance. I bet we could thin them out considerably with repeating blasters, explosives, and the like if they attacked en mass. I might even guess that they'll simply try to rush the place on vehicles to try and minimize how quickly we can take them down, or maybe they'll try a night-time infiltration if they're more daring and trying to keep body count low....probably unlikely, but that seems like something a tactical droid like 'Tacs' might try.

I'll volunteer to lead the raiding party though...."

The jedi turned to the cyborg, "What do you think, commander?"

 

[AvRe]

Scene-1


Avery grabbed his chin, putting a hand on his hip. He quickly descended into thought, battlefield, logistics, the like. He'd taken the time to research a little about the Bryn, although not nearly as much as he wanted to. They were brutish, yes, but they were also organized. Well, they had been organized, how they operated now, he had no idea. With that, an idea hit.

"This question might be a bit off-topic, but do we have any idea of the leading caste? Do they have any leaders, or are they simply a band of soldiers?" Avery gave a quick to both Travot Ravenna and Haro Harend , trying to gauge their reactions, trying to see if this worried them.

He continued. "In my line of work, I've found that the stronger leader is, the more daring the tactics of the army. Unfortunately, they also tend to be more successful under that sort of banner." It didn't take long for the Commander to realize he was talking about himself, although he soon redirected.

"Altogether, the commanding force behind the soldiers will greatly determine how successful we could be, as well as how aggressive we can expect them to be."

Avery put his hands behind his back, straightening up. Avery doubted that any attack could be expected so soon, it would be foolish to do so. Still, he worried that they might be cocky enough to do so.

 

[Haro Harend]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Haro furrowed his brow as he took in the cyborg's response. 'He really didn't add much, did he?', he thought as he search through his robes. Wordlessly he pulled out the pre-brief materials, allowing pertinent information to spring forth, illuminating their faces. "Intel suggests that the individuals leading the Crymorah Syndicate efforts are Doran Mors and 'Tacs' ..a Tactical Droid."

"From what we know, Mors is an enforcer, head of a gang affiliated with the Syndicate. He doesn't seem to have a have a talent outside of bringing wanton violence to others, which has fueled his upward mobility. Our friends in the Nimbus Alliance indicate he's looking to expand his portfolio to arms-dealing."

"Tacs seems like the bigger danger. A veteran of several campaigns- allegedly behind the attack on Orleon. Incredibly ruthless."

"The force composition of the Syndicate is comprised of enforcers and raiders- not professional soldiers. They folded when we took the cathedral, but are coming back in force. They won't stand against our reinforcements. If we can get to Tacs and Mors, they likely crumble- they are driven by profit and greed, not idealism. But this cathedral has taken damage- it's not fit for any prolonged siege."

Travot Ravenna | A AvRe

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Travot nodded in agreement with Haro Harend before turning to face A AvRe , a fellow veteran of the recent fighting on Bimmisaari.

"Master Harend is right. This is first real encounter with the Syndicate as an enemy, so there will probably lots of learning and testing going on by both sides. Ideally, we can actually catch at least one of the higher-ups here today. I think that this Mors guy probably isn't too useful - he might know about some stuff going on in the sector, and he might know a few people outside of the syndicate, but he seems largely like middle management. Not terribly useful for intelligence work right now, but a potential dangerous threat later on. Tacs is really the one I'd like to grab...at least his memory banks, given that he's allegedly one of their troubleshooters. They say he's part of the droid gotra, or he was part of it. I'm thinking that he might have brought some his battle droid friends with him too. They might be the most dangerous part of the group, but it's probably more likely to be a mob of rabble that's heavily armed.

But that doesn't mean we're in the clear yet.

But Dars said that the blast doors are stuck open. The byrn'adul apparently damaged them when they took the world months ago. So there's no real way to shut them out or simply shoot into the building...and that could be bad with all of the weapons they've stored in here. I don't know a lot about Bryn'adul technology, but I wouldn't be surprised if something in the crates during out to be explosive. Last thing we need is a bunch of explosions killing us. Maybe we could make barriers to stop them from coming in? Or set up some sort of other perimeter defense to keep them from getting close enough to do that?"

 

[Nara Allam]

Scene 2: A Return in Darkness
​

Her fingers tapped on the screen. Trying everything she could. Breaching everything she could find. She was about to give up hope when finally, the doors came to life. With a groan, they wrenched open, revealing the musty darkness within. Nara sighed, leaning back for a couple of seconds to bask in her victory. That was when she remembered that there were others here, and they'd probably be approaching quickly. Disconnecting the bypass wires, Nara slipped the datapad into her bag and stepped through the opened doors.

There wasn't much light. The darkness swallowed everything in it's totality. She considered the lightsaber, but an old master long ago had told her it was foolish to do so. Blind yourself before a fight, bad idea. Words that clung in her mind, no matter how long she'd been gone. Instead, she pulled out a glow rod. Snapping it and shaking it roughly, a dull green light started to fill the room. Dusty echos of the old medical center came into view. Conscious that she may soon have company, Nara set off deeper, if only to hide herself. Plenty of places to get lost in a facility like this.

Striding off down a hallway, Nara kept on the lookout. Supplies, materials, anything. Expecting something like a code-protected supply depot, or a medicine store. Or hell, anything that she could work with. She expected there to be something obvious. What she didn't expect was the cracks in the wall. The collapsed doorway in the distance. Or the huge hole that opened up in front of her, tumbling deep into the darkness underground. Nara stopped at the edge, staring into it. Kneeling down, she frowned as she heard something, in the distance below.

Stomping. Movement. Something loud... angry too. Whatever it was, it'd gone to town on the foundations. The hell were they been keeping under this place? Another distant sound confirmed her worst fears. More than one of them. They could be moving all through the facility, making it their own. Whatever they were.

"Why is nothing ever simple?" she muttered aloud, standing up and brushing the dust off herself. Nowhere to go but back. And right back towards the open front. Girding herself for a potential confrontation, Nara tossed the glow rod down into the depths and slipped into the darkness, finding her way back to the main entrance through memory and quiet, careful steps.

Gir Quee

 

[Gir Quee]

Scene 2 - A Return in Darkness

As the group came to a halt in front of the medical center, Gir managed to peak over Ryhias's shoulder and almost immediately frowned - the doors appeared to be wide open. The evacuation report stated that they had locked the doors shut. So who opened them, and why? The most immediate thought was scavengers, whether they were seeking drugs or even simple scrap metal, there would enough material within Renanscence for most small operations to make a substantial profit. Yet there were also the possibilities of enemy spies, thrill seekers, investigative journalists, or even desperate people looking for medical care to entertain. And they all had to be handled differently, yet he took some comfort in that whoever had opened the doors hadn't seemed to cause any significant damage anywhere, nor were they being shot at - almost a certainty if the entry had been forced open by known enemies.

The admiral scanned the perimeter of the building, "I'd say there's a good chance that someone's in there now, and not one of ours."

"Nor one of the gargantelles," mused Ryhias, "the door's too small for them."

"We should secure the perimeter. Can you do that for me lieutenant?"

The man hesitated, "I'll get some of the Outrider Rangers around to do that, but I want to come inside. Besides, there aren't many who know their language or even them."

"That's fair," said the admiral, "if you need to delegate the task to someone else, fine. We can't stay here long though. Every moment we delay means a moment that whoever's in there finds out the truth...or the gargantelle."

Ryhias turned to a shorter outrider ranger, "Sergeant Qios, get your people and third squad to surround the facility and secure all of the exits on the ground floor."

"Yes sir."

Sariya frowned, "Are there exits besides the ground floor?"

Ryhias nodded, "There's tunnels and landing pads. But we don't really have the numbers to fully secure everything, especially if we're going to fully sweep and secure the center too."

"We're going to make it a targeted sweep then," muttered the admiral.

The others nodded in agreement as the Concord group split up., with Qios's people dispersing around the building while Ryhias led the others into the medical center. Once again, the admiral found himself third in line after both Ryhias and Sariya as they entered the darkened facility. He felt like he was entering a war zone from the recent Bryn'adul war once again. Electricity seemed to largely be out and there was clear damage by something organic and large - it didn't require a huge leap of logic to guess that at least several of the gargantelle had not been happy at one point during their isolation. He thought he could hear some sort of guttural sounds and movement coming up from the depths, but part of him wondered if it was simply his imagination. As long as they're not mad with us, right? Sariya held back an arm and gently pushed him to the side, steering the man away from a new hole in the ground.

"Where's the main entrance to Project Renanscence?" asked the blonde man, looking around.

"Well, it was by secure turbolifts, but it looks like there may be some new options."

"We got to get there, and start talking," said Gir, "because if there are outsiders here, things are already complicated, especially if they're more innocent than not."

Ryhias grunted, "I'm not sure how well that'll work. They're intruders, and the tribes are already paranoid of outsiders...who knows what they're like now."

The group moved forward, with Ryhias leading them through shuttered doors and sealed hallways. They passed through several of the medical wards as well as part of the morale and welfare facilities that the Sasori Hostesses company once ran. Without light, they seemed more scary than comforting, and Gir quickly found himself feeling some relief when the neared the turbolift lobby, soley because several skylights provided some natural lighting to go along with the glowrods that some of them carried.

"Think we can get that lift up and running?"

Ryhias frowned, "It's going to take a little bit of work..."

Nara Allam

 

[AvRe]

Avery stood there quietly, listening intently to both men's words, Then he responded to Travot Ravenna .

"We could certainly set up a defense, we certainly have the manpower to do so. We could set up traps, have some makeshift defenses constructed. If you believe it necessary, then I could have some Far Troopers rounded up. They'd be excellent at providing frontal coverage. Speaking of the front, I believe the barrier we set up should be left to me." Avery coughed under his helmet.

"That is entirely up to you two, though. There are a hundred things I could take care of."

He looked to Travot then Haro Harend . "What are you two planning? What's the angle on this? I'm primarily focused on the front, but something tells me that there's more at play. Never mind that all, as I said, leave the frontal to me."

He focused on Travot. "I remember you from before, on Bimmisaari. You fought well, By the way. Tell me, do you think we have a good chance here?"

Avery was hopeful, although it always helped to have an outside opinion. He valued Travot's view, the man had earned that much. He didn't know too much of Haro, although he suspected that the Jedi would have a plan. All the commander wanted now, was to know how he could help each of them.

 

[Haro Harend]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Haro regarded both men in front of him. He pulled the hood over his head.

"I come from a galaxy like yours, but unlike it. I have fought wars since I was a child. I have seen monsters, true monsters. I have had to do a great many things I wished I didn't to secure peace."

He looked out into the horizon. "Now I come to your galaxy- so alike, but so different. But your monsters are frankly not as scary, as indomitable, as mine. I think we can have peace in our time. I believe children won't have to grow up to fight a war their parents couldn't finish."

He snapped out of his reverie. "Gentleman, prepare your defenses. I will buy you your time."

And without a single word, Haro Harond strode purposely into the horizon.

A AvRe Travot Ravenna

 

[Travot Ravenna]

Scene 1 - Hallowed Night

Travot listened as A AvRe spoke. While not an expert in tactics, what the cyborg presented seemed solid. Eliminating enemies before they even became a threat might seem uncomfortable to a jedi used to defending the innocent, but it was common sense to almost any sort of military man.

"I remember you from before, on Bimmisaari. You fought well, By the way. Tell me, do you think we have a good chance here?"

The knight said, "Hard to say for sure when we don't know exactly what we're up against, but I feel hopeful. We have good people here, plenty of weapons, and they have to take the offense to win this. It's almost like the philosophy behind the lightsaber combat artform of Soresu...you don't necessarily have to win, you just have to make sure that you don't lose."

Haro Harend pulled his hood, which immediately drew Travot's attention:

"I come from a galaxy like yours, but unlike it. I have fought wars since I was a child. I have seen monsters, true monsters. I have had to do a great many things I wished I didn't to secure peace. Now I come to your galaxy- so alike, but so different. But your monsters are frankly not as scary, as indomitable, as mine. I think we can have peace in our time. I believe children won't have to grow up to fight a war their parents couldn't finish....Gentleman, prepare your defenses. I will buy you your time."

The susevfian nodded in vague understanding as the other jedi left to confront their enemies. Despite what the holos showed, the jedi of the Silver Order all had a past somewhere that made them more human than most would like to admit. A source of both strength and weakness according to many philosophers, and a source of incessant curiosity to Travot. Travot briefly considered running up to Haro to ask him more about what he meant. No, that's for another time. We've got to focus on the now, before the attack. Travot turned back to Avery.

"I'll leave setting up and directing the troops up to you commander, you are more knowledgeable and experienced in those matters than I," said the jedi, "I understand that the kintan soldiers here are fair shots with their own rifles over long ranges, but I don't think that they have quite the range that your Far Troopers do...I am going to fight at the very front, where I can put my blade to the best use, hopefully in drawing most of the enemy fire, and using my abilities to defend our troops there as best as I can. I'm going to gather up some things there myself to make some final preparations of my own."

With that, Travot headed to the hangar, taking note of some of the debris and ordnance that their enemies had neatly gathered. Well, if nothing else, I'll have plenty of things to chuck at them when they come...I just hope Master Harend knows what he's doing...

 

[Barrien Siegfried]

Scene 2 - A Return in Darkness

Everything about the place felt wrong. Starting with the inherent darkness and adding in the overall nature of the place, well, it felt ominous. Not to mention he could feel more than one presence moving about inside, and, if he wasn't mistaken, something lurked deeper in the depths, far below the facility. I wonder what lurks beneath a research facility that housed spice for research purposes, he thought. Probably not something I really want to get involved with, but if there's a chance that the research here was successful prior to its abandonment, well, that medicine could save many lives and that is well worth the risk. Besides, he'd already happened to see someone enter, though he'd watched from afar as she'd done so. Not knowing who she was, he hadn't wanted to startle her. She did seem on edge.

The others he felt present were most certainly fellow Silver's, or at least those associated with them. One of them felt somewhat familiar, though only in the sense that they may have passed each other at some time in the past. He had been away for quite some time, trying to deal with familial matters and reconcile his inability to fight the Bryn'adul. TImes had certainly changed and so had the Silver leadership. He still wasn't certain he ultimately fit in with them, but there was no other home for him at the moment.

Regardless, he watched them enter the facility as well, but didn't approach them. Instead, he walked to the side of the facility, studying its intricacies and looking for an alternate way in. If the woman he'd seen was up to no good, then he wanted to be able to head her off before she could get any spice, or the antidote, and make off with it out the other side of the facility. He had no intention of fighting her if he could avoid it, but he did want to make sure that nothing was stolen that would harm her, or subsequently harm others through no longer being available. Assuming, of course, that the antidote was real and worked.

The backside of the facility was pockmarked with loading doors and smaller man doors. Each presented an opportunity, but he was certain that they all lead to the same place: a back loading dock. That would be sufficient for his purposes. He tried them each in turn, but they were, naturally, all locked. An unfortunate outcome, but he had a solution that many didn't think to use, and that was the Force itself. He could have opted to use his lightsaber to melt through the lock, but that would render the door useless and was unnecessarily destructive. Instead, he closed his eyes, reached with the Force and found the locking mechanism. It still had power, but with some manipulation, he was able to diffuse the lock which caused the door to open.

Inside he found darkness, save for some emergency lighting meant to keep people from killing themselves by accident. Interestingly, he noted that it seemed the life forms below were now on the move. He did hope they weren't aggressive, as that could be problematic. In addition, it seemed his quarry was heading directly towards the party of silvers he'd seen enter after her. Curious. Either she wasn't aware of them being there, she was actually one of them and had been an advance party, or something was wrong and she was in flight. Too many possibilities. Focus only on the known, he told himself as he walked across towards the nearest hall.

The goal, now, was two-fold. Find out if there really was an antidote to spice addiction and obtain it, as well as link up with the other parties to ascertain the depths of the situation. For the moment, he would focus on the former. The latter would probably happen along the way.

Gir Quee | Nara Allam

 

[Mig Gred]

Scene 1

Mig sighed a bit as he trudged up to the factory that the Silvers were getting ready to attack. He'd come in slightly behind the others as a sort of rear guard, but it definitely wasn't the funnest job in the Galaxy. He would then hear a slight scream, and see a Shriek-Hawk Basilisk land on a Tunnel Strill's arm. He gave the animalistic droid a pat before speaking up.

"Nothing Alor. Lots of vehicles, but their mostly still. No activity." Mig nodded, the looked at Fora Ollen, the Netherhound's Dathmirian commander.

"Ok. Valen, keep Striker in the sky for now. We need to get going to catch up." Mig and the small group would continue up, and soon they walk up to the Rangers and Jedi that were the bulk of the operation.

"Well either this Syndicate are great at looking big, or there's a trap." As he said this the small Basilisk droid would return, this time landing on the ground before tilting it's head at the Jedi and Rangers.

Travot Ravenna Haro Harend A AvRe