Fandom Disturbances (Star Wars: The Old Republic RP)/Open

[Mkirshnikov]

Darth Bambi Dragunov Grim Wraithe Stjerna folclor

Yeah, tell everyone the Force is calling on us. We're keeping a low profile, making sure not to get any side glances. *Sigh*

This Rodian is speaking my language, though. Much more my style.

Aksel's eyes narrowed for a second, then shrugged his shoulders, getting into a more settled-in stance. He was now more in his element, and seemed fairly comfortable, given the circumstances. "Yeah, I'll help you get it back." He turned and looked out front of the bar for a moment, then turned back to face the Rodian. "But, 'cause you shot at that blue guy, we need to leave. Now. We can't get it now, but we can get it. If any of you take any longer to leave, I'm leaving without you and forgetting you even existed." He motioned his head to the door, and walked to the exit of the bar.

Besides, having a freighter will be mighty handy when we're going out and cleaning this vault, not even to mention the payout.

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Martydi​

Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov Chak​

Rada had to roll her eyes as the wookie laid down his ultimatum. “Yeah yeah. Hold your banthas, mister grumpy. My food should be done in a minute. Besides, it’s not like we need to run off. This is Nar Shadaa. Law enforcement isn’t exactly a concern. No one’s going to come running to check out the blaster fire because no one cares. As long as it doesn’t cause the hutts problems, it’s just another day.”

She started to turn back to the rodian but was interrupted by the sudden sound of sirens approaching in the distance. It was probably just coincidence, but still…

She gave the wookie a sidelong glance as she grabbed up her duffel, saying, “Or, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. Let’s get out of here” as she headed for the door.

**

“Tower, this is 1352YNiner6 requesting clearance to depart.”

A slender white figure watched from her hiding spot in one of the freighter’s several smuggler holds as a strange Duros took the captain’s chair and prepared to lift off. She had snuck aboard the ship when it had docked at Tavoor station in the mid rim a few days ago, using a bit of the Force to make the owner, a somewhat skeevy looking rodian, ignore her presence. He had been going in the same direction as her so she had taken the opportunity for a free ride, following a pull that she had been feeling in the Force for a few weeks, a pull that led to Nar Shadaa.

Now, though, things were going awry. She had been packing her things, planning to disembark while the rodian was away, but had been caught off guard when this strange duros had appeared without warning and bypassed the ship’s security system with impressive speed.

Muttering to himself about idiots who couldn’t make their payments, he had immediately taken control of the ship and now, as the air traffic tower commed back to give him permission to leave, she felt the engines hum into life the ship began to rise into the air.

Zudid Dain, one of the best repo men in the business, gave a hard smile as the astrogation computer plotted a course. “Stupid rodian. Pull a blaster on me when I’m just doing my job?” he said to no one. “Have fun walking, idiot.”

Then he hit the accelerator and the ship was away, blasting off as the white figure swore in annoyance, taken away from her destination without warning.

**

As the very eclectic group hurried out of the diner they could see a number of speeders heading their way, lights flashing and sirens wailing. The sleek black vehicles each sported the symbol of the hutt ruling council, meaning that these were the hutt security forces, the closest thing to police to be found in hutt space and not to be trifled with. Only the best of the best were ever accepted, and one could be sure that they were capable, ruthless, and, unsurprisingly, utterly corrupt.

And they seemed to be headed straight for Janak’s.

 

[Dragunov]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna Martydi

Mkirshnikov folclor Darth Bambi Chak

The Rohdian looked at the sirens wailing "I didn't think this would end up like this. Regardless, anyone here happen to have a new plan?" He said as he looked around the area for a new ship "Or did you want to take it up with them?" He thought for a moment, his eyes looked to his lower left as he placed his index and thumb on his chin, almost as if he was stroking an imaginary beard. "Perhaps I could try swindling them, though you would have to have your weapons ready in case things do not go well. Of course... if the Hutts find out I let their target go after I was supposed to send a message... perhaps running is our best option." He said as he took a quick look at his boots to make sure they were fastened.

 

[Mkirshnikov]

Aksel grumbled to himself quietly, shaking his head. "Dammit, I tol'ja this was gonna happen." He thought for a second, then looked to the Rodian. "Yeah, I gotta plan." He looked outside, then to the group. "Don't panic, just look normal. Walk outta the bar calmy, looking like you're goin' on about your business. Everyone spread yourselves apart around ten feet away from the person ahead of ya, and follow me. Don't get caught by these guys, because if you are, they'll toss ya behind bars and forget about you. If you feel like they're going to arrest you, break off from them and book it southward to the tallest building you can see."

He didn't wait for the others to understand, and if they didn't, he didn't really care if they were arrested. He took a breath and softened his posture, opening the door and walking outside. He walked along the buildings, southbound, watching people, looking at buildings, signs, and glanced at the Hutt Security Force as they closed the distance.

I swear to all hell these people are gonna be the end of me.

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Martydi​

Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov Chak​

The noonday sun was high overhead as they fled, not that you could tell it in the shadows of the crowded blocks of sky scrapers that covered the planet. A small, two storey building tucked away at the intersection of several alleys, Janak’s was an almost singular oddity Nar Shadaa as well as a curiosity. Rumors abounded about just how the proprietor had managed to keep his tiny little restaurant instead of it being bought up by someone wanting to build on the several acres the restaurant occupied, but nobody knew for sure just how he managed it and Janak wasn’t telling. Whatever the case he and his restaurant remained, a solitary blue collar haven on a world where space was at a premium.

The four alleys ran off in four different directions. The south and east ones led further back into the shadowy maze made by the skyscrapers. Home to the lost, the destitute, and the dangerous, the wise avoided delving too far into those depths. There were places in those alleys where any misstep could get you killed or worse, and missteps were all too easy if you weren’t intimately familiar with the area. There were stories of slavers, junkie gangs, feral beasts, monstrous cults and more, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. Even the hutts didn’t dare try to police some of the areas, not that they particularly cared too. Better to leave the maze to the undesirables than to have them coming out into the light where they could cause real problems.

The third alleyway ran north. Far in the distance the port could just barely be glimpsed, a chunky light freighter in the process of taking off. And the final alley led not too far away to a large thoroughfare, although it was currently blocked by one of the omnipresent garbage droids that helped keep things tidy. The droid had beens made narrow but flexible, and almost ridiculously tall, so it could fit into tight spaces and hold a lot of waste, and its simple brain had been programmed to take pleasure in doing its job. As such it eagerly scanned the area for signs of trash and dirt and grime as it lumbered ponderously along, its many arms and attachments leaving the duracrete spotless in its wake.

And above, unnoticed, hovered a small, dark grey probe droid that watched the people entering and exiting the diner as it sent a constant stream of updates to its master.

 

[Grim Wraithe Stjerna]

Darth Bambi Dragunov Mkirshnikov Martydi folclor Chak

The Force was certainly showing its presence in this diner on the Hutt controlled world. It had brought together four very different practitioners and at least one individual that did not care for local laws or what belonged to whom. 'The Force acts in mysterious ways.' Her Master's voice echoing in her mind as the situation quickly unfolded and escalated before her. Ravish had server opinions on the situation with the Rodian but it did not seem like those opinions would ever see the gritty light of this cartel world.

The glance Rada sent to her was not missed by the Cathar, ravish returned the glance with a small nod and almost imperceptible shrug. Her ears straightened and swiveled towards the shrill sound of the approaching security force. 'This is not what I was expecting.' Ravish made a note to not leave her lightsaber in ship again, whatever the reason the Force called her for was going to need a lightsaber at some point. Her fingers flexed a few more times as her claws extended and retracted.

With how fast the situation went from merely annoying to possibly dangerous, and as she tried to see where the Force was leading her, the pilot nearly missed the plan the Brute had laid out.

"....Don't panic, just look normal. Walk outta the bar calmy, looking like you're goin' on about your business. Everyone spread yourselves apart around ten feet away from the person ahead of ya, and follow me. Don't get caught by these guys, because if you are, they'll toss ya behind bars and forget about you. If you feel like they're going to arrest you, break off from them and book it southward to the tallest building you can see."

Simple, but effective. 'You've had to have been in combat. Guardian.' Taking one more look around the dingy dive while the others made their way casually out the door, Ravish winked at the bar keep and gave a rougish two finger salute and fell into step not far behind Rada. Pulling the edge of her scarf over her head like a cowl to help hide her more identifiable features as she stepped into the shadowy daylight of the cavern like alley. "This could be fun."

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Martydi​

Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov Chak​

The sirens grew closer as everyone evacuated the building. Even the regulars were abandoning the place now, a small stream of varied aliens hurrying out as Rada followed the wookie towards the port. His advice sounded good and she found herself calling up a mental map of the area as she fled, trying to remember where the tallest building was. It wasn’t as easy as it sounded at first given the nuber of buildings around until she remembered that the hutts had instituted a law saying that no one could build any building taller than the council’s headquarters, an unpleasant looking thing that had an organic appearance to it that the hutts, having evolved on a swampy, gaseous planet, found appealing, but that most other people were more likely to describe as ‘tumorous’.

The alley leading to the main road was partially blocked by a garbage droid, its multitude of graspers large and small a blur as they picked up trash as it moved slowly along. It was more than big enough to hide bodies if it became necessary, but she prayed that it wouldn’t. Somewhat fastidious by nature the thought of having to jump into all that waste was definitely not something she liked. On the other hand the machine was big enough to block the patrol craft if they were indeed heading in their direction.

Off in the distance the port seemed to beckon, a patch of bright light in the eternal shadows of the building complexes. There was something off, though. She faltered in her stride for a second as she was hit by a feeling of danger. It wasn’t the Force talking to her, but the instincts of someone with a well honed sense of danger brought on by a lifetime spent in disreputable places just like Nar Shadaa. As she looked around she could see that the cathar and the wookie were sensing it as well, both of them slowing as they too tried to spy the threat. That alone told her that she wasn’t just imagining things, although she trusted her instincts enough that she had no doubts, anyway.

The path to the port was open, and there was nothing visible from the short path to the road other than the sani-bot. That left the alley that led into the interior of the maze, shadowed to near darkness by the angle of the sun above. In the distance she could just barely see something lumbering towards them, a hulking figure with a hunched posture. Whatever it was it had a hard, mottled carapace for skin with spikes running down its spine, and massive clawed hands. It was only about six feet tall, but it gave the impression of unnatural solidity, and it moved with a predator’s grace and speed as it charged.

She didn’t recognize it, which given the incredibly large number of planets in the galaxy, all too many of them with life supporting biomes, wasn’t a surprise. As it stomped towards them, though, it’s mass enough that even at a distance its footsteps could be heard, every instinct she had started screaming. She raised her staff without thought and ignited the ends, short lightsaber beams erupting with a hissing hum as she looked at the others to see if they had noticed it. Certainly a couple of the restaurant patrons had seen it, and someone yelled “It’s Uulru’s pet! Run!”


“Uh… Guys?”

 

[Chak]

Kaedi'ae padded down the ramp of her newly acquired craft, watching as the conspicuously injured, former owners of the craft departed from the docks. She wasn't a fool, and knew that their haste in which they sold the craft, as well as the price of thirty two thousand credits for the well maintained freighter and what cargo remained likely meant she'd find trouble involved with the YV-929 at some point. Given that they were injured when she had made her offer of purchase, and that they had already been ready to flee before she arrived left her fairly certain whatever they had in the cargo hold wasn't friendly, but that wasn't her focus at the moment.

Instead the aged Twilek's attention was drawn further from the docks as shouts of shock and dismay rang out from the city.

She felt a twinge in the tips of her lekku as she looked towards the source of the calls. She couldn't see anything in particular, but the tingly feeling in her lekkus' tips told her all she needed to know. The Force was calling to her, as it had been since the first great shudder rippled through the Force and started giving her these twinges that she now used to guide her.

Looking back, it had been a long trail to follow in so far, but so short in the grand scheme of the Force.

Shorter still was the path yet followed.

Upon reaching the last few steps of the ramp Kaedi'ae made a point to activate the ship's remote defenses, knowing the craft would lock up tight after having seen the sellers explain as much to her. Purchasing the craft wouldn't do her any good, after all, if it were to just fly off by itself as soon as she'd walked off. A thought clearly shared by its former owners given that she held the proximity activation device now.

Stepping off the boarding ramp at a jaunty pace, Kaedi'ae moved from the docks and began to make her way through the thinning crowds, the last vestiges of those bold enough to brave the middle of the street thinning out as she closed in on her target. Deftly slipping past those few bold souls, the Twilek eventually came to regard the most curious of scenes as she looked past the back of some large beast before her. On the far side was a sight that sent a tingle straight from the tips of her lekku all the way to the base of her skull.

It seemed that, in a handful of individuals, she had found herself guided fully at last. At a simple look she took in the groups' members; a Rodian that was easy to pick out, and what seemed like three possible humans, and one grey furred alien whose race she was unsure of at this distance. So, at the very least, she knew now that she would not be the sole outlier in a majority singularly racial cast crew. A nice change of pace given the umber of racial stagnant gangs and gunrunners that had a tendency to congregate in such slummy areas. Oh, and it seemed the beast between them was in the midst of a charge.

"I don't suppose," Kaedi'ae spoke, her voice ringing out clearly, yet still softly as her lilting and melodic tone reached out to the ears of those in the street before her, "That this, of all times, would be an ideal moment to inform the apparently irate being before me that I am with all of you?"

The beast seemed to slow its pace if only to regard Kaedi'ae for but a moment, but continued its charge towards the group. Realising that she knew nothing of which individual she was being guided to, or if it was a single person out of the whole group or otherwise at all, Kaedi'ae simply laughed gaily as she fell into a full tilt run, full intent on joining the fray as it looked as if events were soon to turn nasty.

OOC: I may have missed a character, as I can't seem to find Martydi's sheet for his character.

Grim Wraithe Stjerna Martydi Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov Darth Bambi​

 

[Grim Wraithe Stjerna]

Darth Bambi Dragunov Mkirshnikov Martydi folclor Chak

The increasing volume and frequency of the approaching sirens were sending shivers down her spine and form the beginnings of a headache. But taking several slow breathes and focusing on the task at hand, Ravish was able to suppress the uncomfortable feelings. Looking around to get her bearings and try to find the tallest building; being on the ground, or 'In the mud' as her squadron mates were fond of saying whenever they were dirtside on a planet, always made finding your way so much harder, since things looked upside down from the street. But the Cathar Jedi knew that she could get to her starfighter and then find the building with ease.

Her head tilted back and to the left slightly as she watched the garbage droid effortlessly go about its assigned task with what she guessed was the droid equivalent happiness. That's when she noticed a change in the air, a new sound, and a feeling in the ground. Her ears were up, as much as they could be under the cowl, scanning the thinning crowds and streets the pilot quickly homed in on the source of the change. Immediately her ears flattened under the cowl, her shoulders rolled forward and hunched as her feet shifted into a wider stance. Her eyes were wide, to take in as much of her surroundings as possible. The predatory side of her race recognized another predator right away, but the Jedi training held her in check.

“It’s Uulru’s pet! Run!” Someone in the crowd shouted as they took off running away from the docks. Which was not an option for the group.

“Uh… Guys?” Said the traveler as she also caught sight to the now charging creature.

She felt the empty weigh at her side where her lightsaber normally would be, and again she swore to not leave it behind again. "I see it." Noting the unique lightsaber staff styled weapon Rada carried. Ravish made a note ask about it later. She flexed her claws out and stepped closer to the Rada.

A soft, almost melodic voice joined the jumbled sounds of the city, clear enough to be heard. "I don't suppose, that this, of all times, would be an ideal moment to inform the apparently irate being before me that I am with all of you?" This seemed to draw the creatures attention for just a moment slow it's momentum.

"With me, strike when you see an opening." A small grin formed as she spoke quickly to Rada, it was the same smile that always formed as she was about to engage in aerial/space combat. Stepping off quickly the Cathar was into a full sprint in two blinks, her arms and legs moving with the grace and strength of her races feline heritage. The creature was back to a full charge now, pounding the pavement rapidly towards her, one of it's clawed hands out wide and moving to strike at the smaller female. As the claw swung forward Ravish pushed off the ground with her left leg, using the Force to augment her jump slightly, arching her back and leaning her head backwards, shifting her body weight and rotating her right hip forward at the same time to increase the power of the kick she was aiming at the creatures head. She felt her foot contact the creatures hard plated forehead and as soon as it did, her right leg flexed and pushed back against it, reversing her momentum into a backflip. Against a more normal sized combatant, this kick would have sent them flying several meters, or into a immovable object.
She did not expect the kick to knock the heavier creature over, or even stop it's charge, but she did hope it would be hard enough to get the creature to focus on her and allow her better armed group members to end this quickly.

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Martydi​

Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov Chak​

The scent was in the air, a scent the creature had not smelled in far too long. It was a scent that roused a primal hunger in the beast, a hunger that had nothing to do with biological needs and everything to do with pleasure; the pleasure of the hunt, the pleasure of catching its prey and rending it with tooth and claw, the pleasure of sinking its teeth into warm, wriggling and still screaming flesh, the pleasure of victory and satiation no other food could provide.

It had no name for this scent. A simple creature that acted mostly on instinct, it its brain did not operate that way. It was simply the scent, or perhaps The Scent, as there was nothing else like it. Whatever the case, what mattered was that it knew The Scent well, and could sense it coming from several of the prey up ahead of it…

And it hungered.

…

Rada’s ears twitched as, from above them, a voice said, "I don't suppose that this of all times would be an ideal moment to inform the apparently irate being before me that I am with all of you?" Instinctively she started to look to see who had said it, but she stopped as the creature suddenly turned its head to look as well. This caused it to falter ever so slightly in its charge, which was all the opening her cathar companion needed to launch a flying kick at the thing’s head that would have done Luce Bree (the famous nemoidian martial artist and holo-vid star) proud.

The creature’s reaction time was amazing as it tried to slash her open with a quick swipe, but Ravish was just a little bit faster. Her foot slammed into its face, somehow managing to avoid both the tusks jutting out from its jaws and the gaping maw full of triangular, and frighteningly sharp looking, teeth. The impact was hard enough that Rada could actually hear it, rocking the creature for just a second as the cathar turned the kick into an impressive backwards flip that carried her out of reach of the creature. Normally Rada would have applauded such a move. It showed years of dedicated practice and a certain reckless courage that few could muster at a time like this. The blow gave her an opening of her own, though, and she took it.

The blow hardly seemed to faze the monster, its hide too thick and its mass just too great for any bare handed attack to really hurt it. The sheer force of the blow was enough to rock it for a second, though, and Rada took the momentary drop in its defenses to lance forward with her staff. The dual blades humming, she dove in under the cathar as Ravish flipped over her head, and rammed one end into its shoulder. Her reward was the sound of lightsaber on flesh as her weapon struck. That was all she was given, though. The blade hit and immediately skidded off that mottled and smooth carapace, leaving a long scorch mark going across the monster’s shoulder but doing no serious damage.

Scrambling back out of its reach she took a moment to glance at Ravish, who was grinning like a lunatic.

“This could be a problem.”

 

[Chak]

It was purely luck that, of all the topics even vaguely covered in the annals of the Sith histories, the Terentateks had been briefly touched upon as creatures that were oft used to guard areas against Jedi influence. While she wouldn't have identified the beast by sight alone, the realisation that it was resistant to the strike of a lightsaber immediately sparked an ancient memory of the teachings. This was a beast that had evolved to be able to tank all the force abilities exerted upon it from the body of a Force Wielder. It also meant that, of all the people here, she was most apt for combating it. Her inward channeling of the living Force meant that she could withstand it physically, and likely be able to exert the most force against it.

Not that it made the beast any less dangerous.

Her skin was not resistant to it's claws or teeth, and she was not immunised to its venom. While her abilities made her an apt combatant against the creature, she was just as much at risk of death as the others. It may very well have been a better idea to forego fighting the beast and fleeing, and it was a fact not lost on the woman.

Launching herself into the fray alongside the other two, Kaedi'ae swept in at the Terentatek from behind, driving her heel into the back of its leg and dropping it to a knee. Reaching up, she grasped at one of it's lower spikes and pulled herself up, letting the Force ripple through her muscles as she launched herself upwards. Using her grip on the back spikes she levered herself around and spun, giving herself an angle to drive both feet into the top of the creature's head. It wasn't enough to force its face into the ground as she hoped, but it did cause it to look down far enough to let Kaedi'ae roll off its head and to the ground before the beast, taking a place alongside the other.

"Did you know I acquired a freighter? Rough around the edges, but nice enough. I do not suppose you would care to utilise it to -"

Kaedi'ae stopped a moment to roll backwards as the recovering Teretatek smashed a claw down where she'd just stood.

"Whooo! Fun times!" she laughed gaily as she rolled back to her feet, "So, short terms, 929 at the docks. Anywhere but here sound good? Or..."

Ending her phrase with a gesture towards the beast before them, the implications were clear. They either ran for the docks, or they brought down the Terentateks. The choice, however, would be left to the whims of those she'd been led to find. If the Force willed her to be their leader, she would be guided to do so. But as it stood, she had followed it here, and would continue 'following' until guided to do otherwise.

 

[Grim Wraithe Stjerna]

Darth Bambi Chak Martydi Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov

After landing with grace and apparent style only seen in holo-vids, the Cathar would have given Rada a wink and a nod for her timing and devastating strike. Had the lightsaber actually hurt the beast. However seeing the blade just bounce off the caripous sent her mind racing in other directions.

"This could be a problem.”

Hearing the traveler summarize the situation so easily brought the pilot back to the present. "Yes, I think you're right." Her smile was barely visibly now, her eyes became thin slits as her ears laid back flat along her head. She crouched onto the balls of her feet, which shifted lightly across the pavement, into a more aggressive stance, the claws on her fingers were fully extended and ready to strike if the terrible creature got too close. Though she seriously doubted she could do anything to the beast. The hackles on her neck rose and as a noise that could be reasonably called a hiss came from her.

That was when a young Twi'lek leap over the enraged creature, apparently delivering a forceful enough blow to cause the thick neck to lower the beast's spike covered maw it used as head and act as a spring board. The athletic grace with which this young women moved showed years of training, possibly Jedi frm the sense in the Force Ravish was feeling wash over her.

"Did you know I acquired a freighter? Rough around the edges, but nice enough. I do not suppose you would care to utilise it to - Whooo! Fun times!"

Ravish nearly leapt forward to knock the Twi'lek clear of the smashing claw, but pulled up short. Her eye's flicking between the newcomer and the beast. 'So much easier in the cockpit.' She thought to herself.

"So, short terms, 929 at the docks. Anywhere but here sound good? Or..."

The implication was as clear as a lake on Alderaan. "Sounds great! My fighter is there as well, think we can make it up and over?" Somehow knowing the other's would be able to follow her plan, the Cathar took two quick steps and then drawing the Force to her and then directing it into a massive push towards the ground to propel her lithe form up. Twisting mid-jump to orient the wall of the building as her new 'ground', the pilot ran along in this sideway fashion for several meters until she was clear of the sweeping jagged claws reaching to rend her, but just missing legs but not the fabric of her outfit. "Come on!" Tucking into a roll on the far side of the beast. "Push the throttles and move!" Calling to the others as she fluidly got to her feet, spinning to face the beast, though she hoped she would not have to.

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna

Chak​

It began to growl in hunger and annoyance. It was a low, rumbling sound that seemed to fill the alley, bouncing off the walls and reverberating through the listeners very bones, communicating its displeasure in a way that nothing else could. The meat was so close. It was right there for the taking, but it was resisting.

A blow hit its leg from behind. The creature barely even felt it, but even something so big and powerful was still ruled by the laws of physics. The joint buckled, forcing it to its knee as one of the meats leapt onto its back. Annoyed, it started to reach up and back to grab at the meat that was attacking it, only to roar in pain as it was hit again, this time on the top of its head and with enough force to actually hurt.

Why did the meat have to make it so hard? It just wanted to eat.

The meat jumped off and landed in front of the creature as if taunting it with its deliciousness. Hunger and anger fueling it, the creature slashed at her, only to miss and hit the stone ground as the meat danced out of reach. Lurching to its feet it tried again, swiping at another meat as the meat leapt up and ran across a wall like one of the canyon scuttlers from the planet where the beast had been born. It didn’t remember its home very well. It had been taken from its parents when it was still young. It had memories of it, though, memories that the creature had held onto through the many seasons.

The creature missed again, not quick enough to hit the scuttling meat. All it managed to do was to catch a claw in the meat’s wrapper, which tore with a sound like rain on rock. Frustrated, the creature decided to ignore the scuttle for the moment to concentrate on the other two, the ones that had actually shown themselves to be dangerous. They hadn’t hurt the creature, but they had hit it, which meant they might do it again.

Fortunately, the creature had a way to help deal with multiple meats. It bellowed, sending out a call, and lumbered towards the one with the brightstick. It heard an answering call as it tried to rake the brightstick aside and grab the succulent meat that was trying to hide behind it.



The cathar and the twilek were amazing. Rada could only watch genuinely impressed as the two of them went after the monster that was attacking them. She was no slouch in a fight, but they definitely outclassed her.

As the twilek bounced off it its skull the cathar leapt up onto a wall and ran past it, distracting it for a second. It made a noise like a kettle whistling in bass and tried to claw her. It missed, but gave Rada a chance to do what she did best.

Lowering her guard, Rada sank into a gunfighter’s stance and drew. Her hand blurred as she pulled her pistol and fired with a speed to fast to see, the result of years of practice. She wasn’t particularly impressive at hand to hand, but she was damned good with a gun.

It was a good shot, but she decided to give it a little bit extra. There was no way her blaster could penetrate its armor, so she wrapped her mind around the bolt and directed it into the creature’s shoulder, catching it in the join where the carapace was weakest. The bolt hit, making it scream in pain, but all that seemed to do was make the creature angrier as it charged her without warning.

She tried to get out of the way, but the creature showed surprising quickness as it hit her, its claws catching her side and ripping shallow furrows in her flesh. She managed to roll with the blow, lessening the damage, but it sent her tumbling to the ground as it charged after her. Scrambling to her feet, she ran, every step jolting her wound and putting her in agony as she ducked past the creature and headed towards the docks as she tried to get away. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the creature give chase as it spread its mandibles ad shoved the claws that had hit her into its mouth.

The pleased sound it made at the taste made her shiver as she stumbled away.

And, far too close for comfort, she heard something answer the creature’s call-- two something’s, actually, both of them higher in pitch but sounding very much like the creature otherwise. Atavistic fear giving wings to her feet, she fled as the hackles on the back of her neck stood on end.

 

[Thawne]

Shin Zavalla
The Jedi Temple - Coruscant
[ Interactions: Darth Bambi ]

The sound of boot steps echoed in the great halls of the rebuilt Jedi Temple on Coruscant as Jedi Knight Shin Zavalla roamed about. He had spent half the day practicing his lightsaber skills against training droids or studying the holobooks in the library. Something had been tugging at his feelings throughout the day, almost a disturbance in the Force, but he couldn't quite nail it down. He thought some training would clear his mind, but it persisted. He assumed if that didn't work he could spend some time studying the texts to calm his mind, but that prove similarly fruitless. He was making strides towards one of the many meditation chambers within the Temple in order to try to get to the bottom of this uneasy feeling. His lightsaber hilts, separated for now, hung from his belt as he calmly stretched his arms and nodded to a few Knights crossing his path.​

 

[Darth Bambi]

@Grim Wraithe Stjerna
@Thawne​

A singularly strange droid flew through the halls of the jedi enclave. Shedr was a protocol model, although one perhaps made by someone with either no understanding of basic humanoid psychology, or by a species with radically different aesthetic values from the galactic norm. It was strangely uncomfortable to look at, with an oblate sphere of dull black metal for a body, a large, red cyclopean eye, and a smaller, dully glowing yellow sensor slightly lower and to the left. There was a digital display that allowed it to mimic a mouth, permitting far more expressiveness than something like an RA-7 could produce, but the mouth was a little too large and a little too real in appearance, like someone had cut the lips off of a woman, enlarged them, and glued them to the droid.

And, perhaps worst of all, Shedr absolutely loved to be useful, like now. Shedr was on the hunt, delivering a message for one of the jedi masters, and it had just found its target. Scanning the knight to make sure it had a match, Shedr flew over to hover in front of Shen, bobbing gently in the air as it chimed in greeting. “Jedi Zavalla, mistress Thuurt wishes to speak with you.”

Its mouth opened, lips glistening wetly, and a holo-image was projected into the air in front of Shen.

Dodeng Thuurt was impressive by any standards, and absolutely stunning. She was powerfully built, with light brown skin, blue eyes, black hair and sharp tusks and horns. Numerous, furry morrts could be seen feeding off of her, proof of her health and vigor, and she had her arg’garok axe, hand forged with the symbols of the order etched into the blade, casually resting on her shoulder. Behind her could be seen two of her mates, Regig and Pel, arguing about something. As was usual for their porcine species, this involved the two of them punching each other repeatedly. It must not have been serious, though, because master Dodeng seemed to be ignoring them as she looked out over Shan.

She began to speak, Shedr translating automatically. “Zavalla, I have need of your services. Come to my quarters as soon as you receive this message", she said, only to be interrupted as Pel suddenly bumped into her from behind, his fracas with Regig getting even more animated. Squealing in anger, Dodeng suddenly spun around and laid him out with a fearsome left hook that dropped the boar like a rock. Then, as the hologram began to fade, she turned to Regig who was looking at her with something that might have been fear and might have been another emotion entirely, or possibly even a combination of things.

“If a lowly droid like myself might offer some advice, it would perhaps be wise to actually wait an hour or so before responding", Shedr said as the image blanked out completely. "I believe mistress Dodeng was about to have some rather energetic “words” with her boars when I left. I doubt you would want to intrude.”

 

[Thawne]

Shin Zavalla
Coruscant - Jedi Temple halls
[ Interactions: Darth Bambi ]

Shin stared at the droid as it wandered in, puzzled. His instincts had one of his hands resting on one of his lightsaber hilts and ready to draw it at a moment's notice. How this droid had entered the Jedi Temple and made it this far in was beyond him at the moment, but security was not as encompassing as it was before the Sith razed the Temple and attacked Coruscant. He gently released his hilt and crossed his arms as he watched the holo message play. This woman was clearly not Jedi, and she still had requested him personally. Clearly she had information on the Jedi Order, and Shin did not like that. He may have to apprehend this woman if things turn sour.

"Where is your mistress located, then? She didn't seem to tell me where her 'chambers' are," Shin pointed out​

 

[Darth Bambi]

@Grim Wraithe Stjerna
@Thawne​

Coruscant, Jedi Enclave;

Shedr vibrated for a moment as it tried to process the question, confused. by Shin’s lack of knowledge of Dodeng. Surely a jedi of his rank knew who she was? A holographic and rather disconcerting tongue appeared for a second to “moisten” Shedr’s lips as it’s CPU began over-clocking in an attempt to deduce where the error lay. Uncertain of what was going of the droid said, “Forgive me, sir. I assumed you would know all of the jedi on the council. I can’t imagine how such knowledge might have been missed, but Master Dodeng is the order’s current Arms Master. Her quarters are on floor twenty eight.”

Concerned for Shin’s health, Shedr scanned him quickly, getting a little too close for comfort as it looked for signs of illness or injury. “Are you feeling well? Should I call for a medical droid?” A metal tentacle that terminated in an unnervingly large hypodermic extended itself from Shedr’s hull. The syringe was loaded with a cloudy, greenish fluid that absolutely did not look like anything that should be injected into a human body. “I have a sedative if you need one. It’s powerful enough to overcome even a jedi’s resistance.”



Sirpentez, fifth moon;

Few things annoyed the Commandant more than willful incompetence. Failure due to unforeseen opposition or circumstances was one thing. It happened to everyone. The best were able to adapt and overcome most of the time, but it was understood that failure was always an option. However, failure because a person was unprepared, careless or sloppy in their work was something else, and not to be tolerated.

As he stood on a dais in front of his troops, the platform raised just enough to let all of them see him as his silver faceplate reflecting the light of the sun, he had a decision to make. He could forgive the squad that had failed in their mission to capture the shipment of illudium they needed for their latest project, one that would now have to be abandoned. That would show his magnanimity. He could punish them, stripping them of their rank and assigning them to the labs for use as test subjects. That would show the rest that he was a harsh but fair leader. Or, he could make them entertain the troops by fighting each other to the death as the men watched, showing that he was the kind of leader who cared about his people’s happiness and who was willing to give his men a second chance.

All were good options, but a true leader could read the mood of his men, and the Commandant could sense that his soldiers were in the mood for a show. So be it.

Below him were the four men who had let the transport ship escape with the cargo. They were manacled, kneeling in rightful subjugation and humiliation as he decided their fates. “The four of you have been decent soldiers up to now”, he said, his voice a static hiss coming from the concealed speakers built into this face plate. “Your records aren’t the best, but you had no marks against you until now. So, I give you this one chance.”

There was a podium in front of him and he pressed one of the array of buttons embedded in the wooden surface. Hydraulics whined softly as the ground below them began to shake and two doors slid aside to reveal the Pit. The look of dismay he saw on their faces right before they were dropped would have made the Commandant want to smile if he had that capacity. He knew he wouldn’t have to explain the rules, which basically boiled down to survival of the fittest anyway.

The four hit the bottom with muffled thuds and their manacles were released by remote control. Then four knives were tossed down, one for each of them. “Only one of you may leave the Pit”, the commandant said as they numbly picked up their weapons. “Fight with honor. Die with your teeth in your enemy’s throat.”



Dantooine, the Hedly estate;

There was a corpse laying on the floor, a blue skinned rodian woman with a mohawk of scalp spikes. A hole had been burned through her torso, killing her instantly. Chiyichurk Plozu had been in hiding for close to two years. She had betrayed her boss, a Nalronian crime lord, stealing nearly a million credits from him. The nalroni hadn’t actually cared hat much about the money. He had his finger in so many pies and was so successful that the money didn’t really matter. His reputation did matter, though, and the bounty he had put on Plozu had been enough to tempt even the hardest of bounty hunters.

Over the body stood a mandalorian, or at least someone in mandalorian armor. The faint wisp of smoke coming from his blaster signified that he was likely the one who had shot the woman, backed up by the fact that he was the only other person in the house. It had taken a couple of months him to locate her, using all the means at his disposal and spending more than a little cash on the hunt. She had tried to resist, but not being a fighter by nature meant that Chuka Struk had taken her down with ease.

As he took scans of the body and collected dna samples as proof of the kill Struk’s comm went off, alerting him to a message from the jedi temple on Coruscant of all places. Curious, he opened it to find the miniature face of Master Dodeng of the high council. It had been a long time since he had seen her, the two of them having worked together a couple of times in the past. The last time had been on Fondor, both of them working to hunt down a sith alchemist that had set up there, Chuka for the bounty and Dodeng because the jedi had a hate on for the sith.

Taking a second to finish with his quarry, Chuka hit the play button and Dodeng started to speak, the comm. Translating as she said, “Struk, I have a job for you if you’re available in the next three days, the hush hush kind that requires someone who can keep their mouth shut afterwards. I won’t give you the details here, but it’s going to be very dangerous, and the pay is fifty thousand credits. Come to Coruscant if you’re interested.”

 

[Chak]

Kaedi'ae was still getting her 'danger giggles' even as the other two that she'd been led to leapt into action. One managed to get up and over easily enough, while the other made an attempt to get around the beast's side. That was about when the Twilek's giggles came to an abrupt halt and though her smiled didn't falter, it did seem to suddenly not quite reach her eyes. As the Tarentatek turned its back on her and made to give chase to the woman it had just struck, Kaedi'ae decided now that the game had gotten serious.

Feet pushing her forward, the girl launched herself into an augmented sprint as her hand dipped into the sash she wore, rummaging around for but an instant before her fingers wrapped around a smooth metal tube. She had watched the blaster bolts fail to punch through the beasts hide, and vaguely recalled something about them being tough against energy, but the memory was fragmented, and ultimately she needed to keep the beast's attention from her wounded acquaintance. Flicking the switch, the keen of saber energies clashing hissed lowly as her blade fought itself, glowing brightly in the alley.

"Twice the lumens-"

She called out as her arm swung back into position to get the most momentum in a swing.

"Yet only but half the duration!"

Swinging the blade forward, it bit fiercely against the left hip of the creature, hissing and sputtering and crackling as the blade burned against the thick hide. It then gave twice, once as it sank inched into the flesh of the beast, then again as the blade flickered and failed, the sudden give causing Kaedi'ae quickly adjust to the shift of balance, falling into a quick roll before coming back to her feet to the sound of what was most politely described as 'extremely justifiably disgruntled creature' sounded harshly on her ears.

'Or but a hundredth... it seems you have remembered what you had foolishly forgotten, Katie.' she thought to herself as she caught up to the pair, knowing her saber would be useless for at least a few minutes. Coming up on her new compatriots, Kaedi'ae grinned impishly as a small laugh escaped her, "Well, I did manage to wound it. But... I am not quite certain that it helped. Continuing on with plan Alpha then?"

Grim Wraithe Stjerna Darth Bambi Thawne

 

[Grim Wraithe Stjerna]

Darth Bambi Chak Thawne Martydi Mkirshnikov folclor Dragunov

Dantooine, the Hedly estate;

Chuka stood over the body of the acquisition and listened to the message play back again. Jedi were not known for posting bounty’s, they generally took a more hands on approach to life and justice and the law of the Republic. But Master Dodeng was a very different type of Jedi, or at least she was the type of Jedi he was able to work with and not want to slap in the face. He recalled the way she handled that axe of hers on Fondor. The price was decent and once the credits from this most recent acquisition were transferred into his account his books would be further from the red and deeper in the black.

Tucking the comunit back into a pouch the Mandalorian started a quick search of the room , not expecting to find anything of importance, but it never hurt to check. Sensitive Site Exploration was one of the standards that had been drilled into him before he became an independent contractor. Coming up empty he shrugged and stepped onto the street, giving the local law enforcement constable a solid pat on the shoulder. “She’s all yours now.” His voice sounding a bit deeper and mechanized due to the helmet speakers.

Without waiting for a response the Mandoa turned down the walkway that led to the private landing pad the estate had. He was looking around at the adjoining buildings and home, multi-million credit structures, and thought this would be a good place to get new clients and some cushy jobs when he decided it was time to retire. Shaking his head as his boot stepped onto the ramp of the D5 Mantis. ‘Not yet though.’ He thought to himself as the ramp lifted and sealed behind him the bounty hunter was already stowing and securing his Blaster Rifle and Vibro Double-blade, the only weapons he always kept on him were his Ripper, a projectile firing weapon that could defeat personal shields and made a lightsabers ability to deflect ranged attacks useless since the round may melt, partially or fully, as it passed through the glowing blade it would still pass through and hot the target and his Kal dagger. Made from pure Beskar, the same metal that made Mandalorian armor so sought after and feared.

On his way to the cockpit he passed by several trophies from hard earned acquisitions that he respected. Mostly they were trinkets, broken weapons, locks of braided hair, items that would be considered junk or at least look like it to anyone else; but the ones that would stand out were the six lightsabers. Two were Jedi, one he had been able to capture alive and the other not so much. Three were Sith, none of them were around to argue his possession of them. And one that came from the daughter of a Sith Lord who had been very troublesome and had had several groups after her. But in the end he won out and kept breathing while other did not.

Settling into the cockpit Chuka powered up his ship and got clearance from the local space control to depart and once he was clear of the atmosphere he sent an encrypted burst transmission to the Nalronian who set up the contract with all the data needed to verify completion of the contract and then he set course for Coruscant. The star field stretched and shifted to blue as the ship made the jump to light speed.


Nar Shadda, alley:

The low growl translated through her very clearly, causing a shiver to run down her spine and through her, this was communication on a primal level. Her gene’s and DNA were telling her this was the bigger badder predator and that it was well past time to run. And when two more answering calls, her ears stood up tall and swiveled to pin point the direction of the new threats. “Blast it all!” She cursed under her breath.

There was a blaster shot and a howl of pain. The beast charged forward as Rada tried to not be the next meal. Drawing the Force to her once more; cupping in it both of her hands, pulling them back to her hip and focusing it into a ball. She held this pose for a moment, looking to the street beneath the beasts clawed feet. It was when the Traveler ran past with a speed only fear can give, that the Jedi unleashed the Force. The invisible energy shot through the air, pushing the dense humid vapors aside as it flew through the air to strike with the energy of a thermal detonator. The beast was not her target however, having seen a lightsaber blade practically bounce off and a blaster bolt just make angrier, she aimed at the ground just in front of its feet as is turned to rush after Rada. Hopefully the blast would be enough to trip up the beast and slow it down long enough to secure the escape towards the Freighter.

Unknown to her, but not the Force it would seem, the timing of her Blast was the same as the Twi’leks own lightsaber attack on the beasts hip, though Ravish could not see the blade she did notice a very bright flash as a the ground in front of the beast turned into a fairly large hole and threw chunks of Ferro-crete in all directions with significant momentum. Taking the opportunity to join Rada in her desperate flight the Cathar nodded to the new comer. “Alpha is a go.” Waving the other women ahead and glancing back quickly. “Lead the way.”

 

[folclor]

Nar Shaddaa
Darth Bambi Chak Thawne Martydi Mkirshnikov Grim Wraithe Stjerna Dragunov

Reva shook her head, the vision having kept her longer. When she looked about, no one else was there. Then where...? She grabbed her bag and headed out of the cantina, in search of the others. Like it or not, she needed them to complete this task. At least the Force could act as something like a navigator.

She raced through the city (taking the opportunity to 'borrow' a speeder when it was presented) and skidded around the corner, facing into the alleyway. "Need any help?" she called. Now the choice was whether to sacrifice the speeder to whatever the beast was that this small group was fighting or use it to get away. Both were tempting. If the others stepped out of the way, however, she'd let the speeder fly. No way she was using her sabers (or the Force) in view of Jedi.

 

[Dragunov]

(Not gonna lie, I'm a little lost right now.)

 

[Darth Bambi]

@Darth Bambi @Chak @Thawne @Martydi @Mkirshnikov @Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Dragunov folclor​

Nar Shadaa;

A bright line of fiery pain burned across her thigh, making her bellow in pain as she tried to catch the one she had clawed, just missing. Growling, she started to turn to face this new threat only to have the falserock beneath her feet erupt. The explosion didn’t hurt, but she stepped right into the hole it left behind. Already slightly off balance she wound up dropping painfully to one knee, the impact of the joint on that unyielding surface hard enough to hurt even her. It wasn’t bad enough to actually harm her, but the stumble and the distraction caused by the burst of pain were enough to slow her for a moment as she hauled herself back to her feet, allowing the meats to all skitter out of reach again.

She chattered in annoyance, a strangely deep yet insectile sound. Deep in her primitive brain something percolated. It wasn’t quite complex enough to be a thought, but it might have been translated as something like ‘Why was the meat being so difficult?’ Meat wasn’t supposed to fight back. Meat was supposed to be eaten. It was frustrating that these meats seemed to be refusing to do what they were supposed to do. She was so hungry, and she had babies to feed. Didn’t the meats care?

Her eyes began to turn vermilion as anger started welling up inside of her. Fortunately, at that moment her precious offspring came lumbering into view. They were only a third her size, still growing, but they were both healthy and fit and already fierce hunters and fighters. She rumbled her special greeting, it’s frequency unique to her and only used with her offspring. They called back in turn, their own greetings higher pitched but otherwise an exact match for their mother’s. When they were grown and ready to leave her they would develop their own, personal calls, but for now they used hers, allowing them all to easily recognize each other even at a distance.

She watched with something like pride as the two of them immediately charged into the fray, their claws grasping and their mandibles clacking as that ever tantalizing smell filled their minds with insatiable hunger.

Now the meats would learn how to act.

…

Rada saw the two younger creatures appear and she swore. Things were going from bad to worse all too quickly, and her side was starting to throb with pain, giving a hitch to her step as she tried to run. She had never been the best at internal Force use, but she tried to call on a bit of battle meditation to help her ignore the burning pain as she fled. Something was distracting her, though, some nagging feeling that she was being watched that penetrated even in the midst of that life and death situation.

Looking around, she stretched out with her other senses as she tied to figure out what was going on. Some instinct made her look up, and she caught a glimpse of something high above them, a probe droid hiding in the shadows, its camera trained on the goings on in the alley.

Taking a deep breath she cried out “Above us. We’re being wat…!” only to be cut off as one of the two young, so much faster than their mother thanks to not being weighed down by all that mass, tackled her from behind and took her down.

A moment’s distraction proved fatal as it tore into her. Mercifully she never even had a chance to scream as its mandibles bit through her spine, ending her life instantly.

…

As the mother watched, one of her babies caught a meat and, just as she had taught it, killed the meat cleanly and precisely with a quick bite to the back of the neck. The sound of vertebrae crunching as the mandibles sheared through was a delight to her ears and she bellowed in approval.

As the life disappeared from the meat, so did The Scent, leaving just a corpse on the ground. It still smelled good, but it was just a pile of flesh now and The Scent was still in the air, drawing the child away to stomp after another of the meats as its mother followed suit.

The feasting would be good.

 

[Darth Bambi]

@Darth Bambi @Chak @Thawne @Martydi @Mkirshnikov @Grim Wraithe Stjerna @Dragunov folclor
Nar Shadaa;
In a dark hall lit only by the screens of numerous monitors a voice said "A kill, and so quickly. Maybe we won't need to release more of them."
Shifting his massive bulk on his hoverbed, Uulru the hutt watched the scene unfold on one of the screens as one of his beloved pets made a kill. "Mo gootu tah be safe than sorry whao it comes tah jedai" it said in it's heavily accented basic as it rewound the feed to watch it again. "They are peetch danjaruus tah be tahken lightly."
"Agreed", said the hutt's sullustan partner. "However, we have an opportunity for profit here, as well. We could get a massive betting pool going if we make the call now."
Uulru rubbed its chin in thought as it casually grabbed a squeaking little sqrapit from its cage and tossed the delectable creature into its mouth with a crunch of chitin. "Risky", Uulru said as it sucked the juices. Then it smiled. "Great risk ekwalls great rewahd. Do it."

 

[Darth Bambi]

Grim Wraithe Stjerna​

Coruscant, Jedi Temple;

As Dodeng completed the message to the mercenary and disconnected, something tickled at the back of her mind, some vague sense of danger that she couldn’t pinpoint. Instantly on alert, she grabbed her axe as a violent explosion suddenly shook the temple. Immediately alerts started going off to tell the inhabitants a little bit too late that the compound was under some kind of attack, as if anyone couldn’t have figured out that something was wrong without the damned things blaring. Annoyed, and wondering just why she had only had a second or two of warning from the Force, the gammorean grabbed her axe as her husbands rushed into the room, squealing and grunting excitedly.

“Yes, of course I heard it”, she replied with a feral smile that the two of them returned, all of them feeling that familiar surge of adrenaline rising up inside. By the High Boar, it had been far too long since they’d had a chance to participate in a real battle. “Gear up while I try to find out what’s going on; full loadout with armor. I don’t know for sure what’s happening, but I’m not taking any chances.”

They nodded and immediately turned to run into the arms room while she got back on the communicator. There was a flurry of chatter as the few people currently at home in the temple tried to coordinate and figure out what was going on. It took a moment for someone, a young rodian jedi named Assep, to chime in with actual information. That was good. She knew Assep, and knew that he was a smart and capable lad not likely to let fear and excitement override his common sense. Not the best at rough and tumble, but he could hold his own if he absolutely had to. Using her authority to override the comms and silence the babbling, she squealed into the microphone, relying as usual on the computer to translate as she said, “Assep, this is Dodeng. Report. What’s happening?”

“Mistress Dodeng? Thank the Force.” The young jedi, really little more than a boy, sounded immensely relieved to hear her voice at that moment. In the background her experienced ears could detect the ripping hiss not of blasters, but of man-portable rail guns, and the crackle and hum of a lightsaber as Asepp tried desperately to defend himself from enemy fire. Instantly Dodeng was on edge. Railguns could only mean that whoever was attacking had come specifically prepared to face jedi, who could potentially block the pellets from the weapons but not reflect them back the way they could blaster bolts.

Focusing, she began to reach out with the Force in an attempt to try and get some idea of what they were dealing with as the rodian said, “We’re under attack. The east wall has been breached on floors sixteen and seventeen, and possibly more. Soldiers are coming through on both floors. I don’t recognize the insignias they’re sporting, but they’re dressed in what looks like a variant of sith battle armor. I’ve counted about thirty so far and they’re still coming. They’re armed with-SHIT!”

The comm went silent for a second as Assep desperately scrambled to get to cover, only the fighting skills that Dodeng herself had taught him keeping him alive at that moment. “They’re armed with railguns and they know how to use the damned things. They’ve got me pinned down in corridor Seventeen-D. I need help!”

Dodeng immediately jumped to her feet as her husbands reappeared. They were both fully armed and armored already, showing that amazing speed and competence in a crisis that had made her fall in love with the both of them so many years ago. Both had their axes of course, and blasters, and bandoliers of grenades (Regig's personal favorite). And Pel was holding one of her battle robes for her. Yelling so she could still be heard as she ran over to them to slip into the robe, she told Assep, “Stay calm. Stay down. Don’t engage unless you have to. We’re heading your way now.”

The boy nodded, although she couldn’t see it, and said, “For fuck’s sake please hurry! There’s no way I can handle them all!”



As the three of them bolted for one of the many sets of emergency stairs, Dodeng smart enough not to trust that the lifts would work properly in a crisis like this, the armsmaster grabbed her personal comm off her belt and thumbed the activation button. “Shedr, change of plans. We’re under attack, possibly by the sith. Tell Shin to head to level seventeen. Then contact Struk. Tell him the situation and see if he’s close enough to help. The council will pay five hundred credits a head if he wants to put those mercenary skills of his to work, no arguing.”

 

[Grim Wraithe Stjerna]

Nar Shadda, alley:

The combination of the chittering and low rumbles, sent shivers down her spine and spiked the instinctual/primal Fight or Flight response even higher. If it hadn't been for her training, and countless hundreds of hours of combat flights, Ravish would have panicked and acted on the need to blindly run away.

And straight into the two smaller versions of the beast. 'Kriff!' She thought at the sight of them. One ear swiveled back to the larger beast as she kept her eyes on the two smaller ones. "I think they're talking." The Cathar pilot said more or less to herself just before they charged. Taking a quick side-step into a forward roll, the lithe pilot managed to avoid the raking-rending claws of one of the smaller beasts. As soon as her feet were beneath her firmly, Ravish lashed out with a back-heel kick aimed at the back of the knee joint of one of smaller beasts with all the power she could muster behind it. The kick wouldn't do any damage, based on the other attacks made against the larger beast, but hopefully would cause the joint to buckle and the beast to fall as well.

"Need any help?" said a new voice over the faint whine of a speeder bike.

Followed by Rada almost immediately. “Above us. We’re being wat…!”

Ravish looked up first, then back to Rada. In time to see the young traveler fall quickly to the smaller beast Ravish had just dodged. "NO!" Ravish pushed herself off the ground, and away from the traveler, seeing no way to save her or help. It was then that the words of her Master, Ro'Shi, grand master of the Kakaroti Order, came to her. "Could you speak up? I'm not wearing any pants." It wasn't actually all that helpful, or even relevant to the situation. But he had always been one to see things differently then almost everyone else.

The beast was fast and efficient in it's ability to take down its prey. Drawing the Force to her, she focused it into her legs and lungs to help her sprint towards the newcomer on the speeder bike. "Yes!" Shouting as she ran past the Force sent reinforcement. Angling her sprint to the side of the alley and opening a clear path to the now charging beast not far behind the Cathar pilot.

Ravish had not seen the droid floating overhead when she looked up briefly and so had not made an effort to keep her makeshift cowl up to cover her ears, which would allow for easier identification when combined with her face.



Hyperspace enroute to/arriving at Coruscant, Jedi Temple:

The strange personal droid was just moving away from Shin when it sent a secure comlink to the Mandalorian. "Bounty Hunter Struk, Mistress Thuurt has an urgent addendum to the contract you agreed to. In short the Temple is under attack by what appear to be Sith and as of now each have a 500 credit bounty per head. This is non-negotiable.”

It was not a long hyperspace route from Dantooine to Coruscant, so his ship was about to jump back to normal space when the message came through. The bounty hunter gave a small shrug and sent a burst transmission with just a single word.

Incoming.

Dodeng would knew that meant he had agreed to the bonus assignment. The swirling blue/white tunnel of hyperspace changed to streaks of white then rapidly to pin pricks of light and stars. That was when the proximity sensors and warning lights started flaring up.

Sith warships and Starfighters were engaged in a chaotic battle with the Coruscant planetary defense forces. His ship rumbled and shuddered as a nearby explosion quickly flared up and died out in the vaccum. Chuka grabbed the yoke and yanked it hard to the left and down, narrowly avoiding the Sith Interceptor that had caused the welcoming explosion. The D-5 Mantis could take a fair amount of punishment, even with the shields raised, and it could dish out more then it’s weight class would lead one to believe. Pulling the stick back hard, he brought his ship back around to get behind the Interceptor. Once the Starfighter was lined up he fired off a quick burst from the chin mounted heavy blaster cannon, it flared up in a brilliant ball of yellow and orange and red briefly. The bounty hunter was already veering towards the planet, setting the fire controls to an auto target/fire option to help clear a path. It wasn’t as good as having a live gunner to aim, but it was good enough to let him focus on re-entry and getting near the Jedi Temple.

Once he was in atmosphere Chuka sent a call out to the Jedi Master. “Dodeng. Saying the temple was under attack was an understatement. The planet looks like it’s under siege.” The ship shuddered and shook as a shot tried to take the ship down. “You’ve got a heavy battalion surrounding the temple, with a sizable hole in the east side. You better be able to foot the bill on this one.”

Chuka sent a friendly landing code to the landing pad nearest the temple to set down on. The landing was rougher than he would have liked, but the Mantis held together as he took it into the covered landing bay as a pair Jedi Starfighters screamed out of it. As the ship settled in and shut down, the Mandalorian grabbed his Assault Blaster Rifle, Vibro double-blade, and decided this time would be a good time to slap on a flame thrower and a blast repulsor, which would mimic the Force Push well enough. “Let’s earn some credits.” Picking up the multi-round grenade launcher and a bandolier as he hit the button to lower the ramp.

Before the ramp thudded on to the deck he was off running, weapon up as he looked for targets of opportunity as he made his way to the stairs up. Not seeing any Sith he took the steps three at a time, quickly making his way to up to the 16th floor, where he assumed the heaviest assault would be since that was the breach point. He made sure to activate his helmet recorder, as to provide proof of his acquisitions to the council. He stopped every few floors and poked his head in to see how far down the Sith had made it. He only had to fire a few grenades on two floors before reaching the 16th, each time resulted in two or three less Sith and Sith soldiers for the Jedi to deal with.

Before he stepped on the floor he could hear and feel the railguns and explosions. “It’s a good day.” Shouldering the grenade launcher the armored man stepped into the wide hallway, quickly spotting a young Jedi stuck behind a pillar. Walking calmly towards him, his finger rapidly squeezed three more time and sent three more thermal detonator grenades sailing through the air towards the pillar and landing them in a line across the hallway about ten meters from the young Assep. Taking out four Sith soldiers who were advancing on Assep’s pillar. “You need some fire support?” Taking a knee just in front of the Jedi, calmly ejecting the spent propellant casings and loading in six more grenades. Shouldering it again and angling it ricochet a grenade off the wall and at the squad firing at them.

Ducking slightly as the rapid blasts ripped through the polished stone floors and looking up to see where they came from. Only to silently curse to himself as he saw a Mandalorian walked right towards him, igniting his lightsaber the young Jedi held it horizontally in a very basic defensive position. He could only nod slowly as the feared warrior did not kill him and seemed to be on his side. Nodding slowly, not sure what to do.

“Where’s Dodeng?” Chuka asked as he quickly looked around the pillar to assess what the situation was and just as quickly pulled his head back around as staccato of railgun rounds ripped through the stone pillar.

“Uh…” Assep blinked and ducked down a little more as stone shards flew past him. “She said to sit tight and she’d be here soon.”

“You any good with that glow stick?” Nodding to the blue lightsaber in the young Rodian’s slightly shaking hand.

Assep nodded. “Master Dodeng trained me.” He said as he stood up and took a steadying breath.

“Good enough. Stick by my side and deflect what you can and cut down anyone that gets close to us.” Nodding just once he stood and shouldered the grenade launcher. “We are going to take out that railgun and clear a path for anyone coming to us.” With that Chuka stepped out from behind cover and fired two quick grenades in the general direction of a red lightsaber wielding Sith as she gave orders to her squad to rush the pillar.

@Darth Bambi @Chak @Thawne @Martydi @Mkirshnikov @Dragunov @folclor