Keeping it in the Family

18 years after the Battle of Yavin...
A divergent, persistent and interactive Star Wars timeline with a rich history and established characters.

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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

Jerik was filled with regret.

He had a chance to take them on the street before they went to see the Hutt, and he decided not to with all the civilian eyes around. Then, he could have disabled their ship in orbit. Once they got to Mon Calamari and started playing a game of tag with the New Republic, he knew he had missed his shot.

Now the woman was in the picture. Jerik had contacted his people within the Syndicate and they gave him nothing. Either they didn’t know, which he doubted, or they just didn’t want to give him too much information. The Syndicate was always very careful disseminating their information, and Jerik was not high enough on the food chain to get any of it. That damned Duncan ass off the grid the past couple of weeks.

In other words, Jerik was on his own. He still assumed the Syndicate wanted the two of them alive since the contract was still on the holonet, but the silence from the organization was disconcerting.

His gunboat floated silently in space between the wreckage. With his systems turned off, he was undetectable. There was no way for him to get on the ship. Now, it was a waiting game.

Jerik twirled his blaster pistol in his hand, and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t do patience well. He also didn’t do “alive” well either. These twins were trying his patience, which he had very little of to begin with.

Twirling his blaster pistol, Jerik turned the holonet back on and began laughing at the latest episode of "The Wookie and Me."

* * *
Imperial Intelligence was very distracted. Their consultations with the ISB over the internal disputes between Thrawn and Moffs on Bastion had sucked up way too many resources. It left Talis with his datapad, a couple of operators that were in deep cover and a long file on the woman that was scarce on details.

The latest report from his operative said only that somehow she was part of the Republic power structure, and got orders to release a pair of twins. He didn’t know anything else, except that she was up to something. She had been seeing meeting with a number of important people, including the Solos and Skywalkers, yet there was no affiliation with the government. She appeared to be Alderaanian, and those were becoming rarer by the year. The information he got was extremely circumstantial and he couldn’t put it all together into a real profile. She was working for someone very powerful.

Talis craved information, and right now it was in short supply. Putting his feet up on his desk, Talis looked at the star map, trying to figure out what was going to happen next. The woman interested him, and perhaps these twins were the string he needed to pull to get to her.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

He was in the fighter pilot’s lounge, his feet up on a table. The Corona-class Frigate had resumed its peaceful guard duties, having settled down from its more irate feelings earlier. The nerve of those smugglers, operating in a New Republic Military Quarantine Zone, was ridiculous. There was a datapad on the table, the screen displaying information on previous Starfighter battles that the New Republic had been in, particularly the attack on Borleias by Rogue Squadron. He’d been reading it, or at least trying to, but he hated history. The number of times that he’d been told that those who weren’t students of history were doomed to repeat it was very high, but he just couldn’t bring himself to read tired old reports. These weren’t even the first reports either, but secondary sources, rife with added material, bias, and political mixings.

No, if he was going to study Borleias, or any of the insane Starfighter battles, he’d buy a former Rogue a pint of Lomin-Ale, and they’d talk about it. That was how you learned about the past. From talking to the guys who had been there, not reading reports.

He was dozing, having given up on the datapad not too long ago. There was nothing wrong with catching some sleep after a good dogfight. Those smugglers had been pretty good with their ship, the way they flew. Pretty damn good indeed. That was high praise coming from him, considering how good he was. He might have gotten to deeper sleep, if his legs hadn’t suddenly been shoved off the table. Eyes flying open, anger shot over his face, and he jumped up, ready to pounce on the person who had disturbed him. Instead, he found himself shifting to a position of attention, staring into the martial eyes of his squadron commanding officer.

“Let’s go rookie, we’ve got a situation, and it’s all hands on deck.”

“Yes, sir.” He said, and reached for his datapad.

“Leave it, Ant-“

“Yes, sir.” He said, interrupting as he sprinted out of the room to follow his CO.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

“Ranion, you’ve got everything?” Mera asked, as she strapped herself into the pilot’s seat of the Idiot’s Array.

“Yep.” Came the voice over the communications channel from the Millenium Falcon. The ship was raring to go, the blue trails from the engines bathing Mera’s view in the azure tinge. “Guess who just messaged me on the HoloNet!” He said, suddenly.

“The Bith crossdresser who wanted to get with you back on Bothawui?” She asked.

“What….No!” Ranion replied. “Guess who’s hiding in the smuggling hold of the Array.”

She sighed and grimaced as her ship started to lift off the ground. “If you say that damned droid.”

“It’s C5! I told him you were flying when he sent me a message saying someone was trying to steal our ship. He’s so thoughtful. And scared. Very…very scared. He may need a hug.”

The Array shot out of the hangar bay, followed by the Falcon.

They were going to have CDF-NR on them in a heartbeat.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

He really couldn't believe he was sitting in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, much less actually flying it. "This is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy..." Ranion kept repeating over and over as he looking around the famed cockpit. Han Solo, Leia Organa and the Jedi Master himself Luke Skywalker had sat in this very seats, dodging Imperial ships, Death Stars, Super Star Destroyers. How many battles had this ship survived? Dozens? Hundreds? And here he was sitting in the very seat of Han Solo himself. Ranion grumbled for a moment, his face showing his disdain for the Corellian Smuggler that lucked out and married the very Chief of State of the New Republic. Living the good life now, while the rest of the universe had to slog through the muck.

"Bleeding traitorous, ungratiful son of a ...." Ranion stopped himself, taking in a deep breath to calm him and then wrinkled his nose as the smell of Wookie hair, which seemed to be in every crevice and nook around the cockpit, suddenly sent a chill up his spine at the thought of what Chewbacca would do to him for stealing the Falcon

--HOOWWOOO, UGN UGN UGN!!--

Ranion nearly soiled himself at the sound of the Wookie pierced the walls of the cockpit. Ranion half expected the pissed off Wookie to be right behind him, before he realized that the Wookie's roar was coming through the Falcon's comm speaker system. Ranion understood only a few phrases and words in the Wookie's language, and from what he could understand he knew two things. One...Chewbacca was calling him names that even his own mother would probably be embarrassed, and Two...He was a dead man if the enraged Wookie ever got his paws on him. He caught something about peeling his flesh from his arms and using them to wipe his...well...the rest he couldn't understand, but he got the gist of it, and it made his skin crawl. He thought a moment to reply that he was sorry, but knowing Wookies that wouldn't do a lick of good, so he reached over and cut the comm switch off and settled into his seat.

He had flown his share of YTs in his lifetime, but this was one of the oldest versions that he had ever been in. The 1300 Series had always been buggy and sluggish, but in its day it was the workhorse of the group, especially for smugglers. But this ship was far more than it's battered, rusted and aged looking form would appear. It was modified from stem to stern with the most modern technology, most of which were jury-rigged to connect in places they had no right to be. But even Ranion was impressed by the power that this old rust buckle had. He could feel it in the controls, the vibration of the deck plates and hear the sound of the powerful, and highly modified, Girodyne SRB42 sublight engines. He may hate the owner of this vessel, and wouldn't piss in his mouth if his teeth were on fire, but he had to appreciate a man that could modify a ship like the Falcon.

Several warning alarms suddenly began warbling for attention, and Ranion looked around the semi-unfamiliar cockpit layout until he found the red blinking lights on the sensor panels. Without a co-pilot he had to lean over the co-pilot's seat and hit the buttons and see that a a dozen New Republic X-Wings had been launched and were in hot pursuit and closing fast, more importantly three New Republic Star Destroyers were making their way around the curvature of Mon Cal on a intercept course.

"Sis, do you still have the navigational readings of the debris field?" He said as he reopened the direct comm to Mera.

--Yes, but ...oh no...I'm not going back in there! You're crazy!--

"Technically, your not...but I am. This will allow you to get out. I need you to line up in front of me, and make a heading towards that blasted out Assault Boat at the edge of the field. Right before you hit the edge of the debris field, make your jump, the hyperspace wave will briefly blind the Republic's sensors and i'll make for the hulk and hide in there. They will think that we both jumped at the same time...at least that is how I worked it out in my head." He finished with a no so confident tone.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

“That…has to be….the dumbest smart idea we’ve had in a while.”

--I know, right?-- Ranion asked.

Mera shook her head as she piloted her ship. There were X-wings and E-wings that were chasing the hell out of the two of them. She’d automated all the guns on the Idiot’s Array, and the NR pilots were going to get a serious dose of surprise if they got too close. That being said, there were too many of them; the numbers game was going to catch up with her. She had to do something if she was going to make it out of this alive. Ranion’s plan made sense, but she knew that there was a flaw in it. The two of them worked as a team. While their plan was to split up and meet up later, she wouldn’t know how he was going to get there. There was no way for her to help.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with your communications set up, but you need to hit it a few times. It sounds like there’s a wookiee in there or something.”

--There is. Maybe. No, he's just yelling through the communications.--

She paused, sparing a glance a the communications controls as if they'd suddenly lit on fire. “What?

--There is…totally….no wookiee…on the ship. Or I'd die. He's very angry though.-- Ranion said, in a complete and utter deadpan.

A laser blast hit too close to home and she threw the ship in a big intentional tail spin.

“Not a chance he’s one who won some medals from the Rebel Alliance back in the day.”

--You know, I haven’t had the chance to ask, with all the yelling, but I will, don’t worry. Sis, make a break for it. I’ll figure it out.-- Ranion said. --I know you want to stay, but I’ll be fine. I promise.--

“You better.” She said, as she came up on the assault gunboat. “Or I’m going to kick your ass.” With a deep breath, she threw the hyperdrive switch, and watched, as everything became light.

In a good way.
Last edited by Mir on Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:04 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

Ranion pulled the controls, while simultaneously throwing the reverse thrusters into full power, causing the Falcon's momentum to drastically slow where even the inertial dampers could not compensate for the sudden braking maneuver. Ranion slammed hard enough into his restraints that it knocked the breath out of him, but he managed to roll the Falcon around to the blind side of the destroyed hulk of the Assault Cruiser. With barely a thread of conscious thought left, and reacting purely on instinct he managed to fire the Grapple Gun and deploy the landing claws, causing the Falcon to attached with a hard impact against the Assault ship.

Ranion slumped forward in his chair, exhausted from the maneuver, but found just enough strength to power down all the systems except Life Support. He looked around the cockpit, noticing all the wookie hair again. "Gods, I'm going to have to have C5 clean all this wookie fur up, it's disgusting."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

"Got'em."

Jerik hastily shoved his blaster pistol back in his holster, and sat up in his reclining pilot's seat. The twins ships had exploded from the hangar and they were in the hurry. Jerik had a lot of unauthorized take offs in his day and that looked like one of them. He placed his hand on the thruster control and was about to engage them when another ship followed the Idiot's Array out of the hold. \

"What the hell does that son of a sithspawn have to do with the twins?" Jerik hated Han Solo, and when he said hated, he meant hated. That Correlian thief cost Jerik a lot of credits a long time ago and he had always wanted to cash in.

Two birds.. one stone.

Grinning, Jerik began to engage the engines when the Mon Calamari cruiser's full compliment of fighters launched after them. THey weren't with the twins and the Falcon, nope, they were following them. Jerik let go of his throttle, and leaned back in his chair. He wasn't getting into the middle of this dogfight. He would wait for Solo or the twins to try one of their tricks, and after the celebrated the dolts in the Rebel Alliance, he would pick up the pieces.

* * *

The Imperial embassy on Mon Calamari, and yes, one did exist since the New Republic and Empire were operating within the status of a peace treaty, was usually quiet. The ambassadors went about their business, which was a lot of talk and little action. Talis and his men were the opposite. What they did, no one saw and even fewer spoke about. They were the spies. Keeping eyes on what happened in orbit above Mon Calamari was quite easy... and recognizing the MIllenium Falcon might have been the first lesson in ISB school. The ship was recognized everywhere and seeing it was not uncommon, especially when the Solos were in system, which they were.

What wasn't very common was to see it chased by Rogue Squadron.

Talis glanced down at his secured encrypted comm unit and looked at the incoming message as it decrypted.

He narrowed his eyes.

So... the brother and sister the woman had broken out of jail were on the Falcon... how interesting.

He stood up and walked over the break room where two men sat playing Sabaac. "We're on the move. Get the ship, gear up."

Both men smiled. For men in ops, especially the ISS, Mon Cal duty was as boring as it was comfortable for those in the foreign service. They craved action, and soon they would get it.

ooc ill let you guys play out the thing with the NR before I get involved?
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

Palanhi

Mera wasn’t one who liked Imperial space. She tended to vote against being in Imperial controlled territory whenever she could. But she couldn’t turn down lucrative offers just for that reason. Other reasons maybe, definitely one or two, but not for that reason. So Palanhi had turned into a bit of a reprieve for the twins. It was one of the places that they went when they needed to get away from the heat, or when they needed some down time between jobs. It was more Ranion’s style than hers, but they had been in a pinch back on Mon Calamari, fighting for time.

So she’d picked a place that would have been easy for him to quickly remember, given the situation.

She could only hope that he was all right. There had been a swarm of New Republic fighters all over him, and Ranion’s plans had a tendency to be spectacular, both in their ideas and in their results. But results could go either way and still be spectacular. Goosing the throttle, the Idiot’s Array shot forward through space, towards the planet. The ship’s credentials would be cleared in the Imperial database. The twins were some of the best damn smugglers around, that’s why even that Hutt wouldn’t try to honestly kill them. Break their bones maybe, but kill them? Nah. Not a chance. Mera was about to bathe in some well-deserved self-praise, when there was a voice behind her.

“Oh, thank the Maker that you’re alive. I thought for sure you’d be dead by now.”

“How are you doing, C5?” Mera asked, with a sigh, knowing that the droid’s pessimism about…everything was going to get to her very quickly.

“I’ve been better.” C5 said, forlornly, the droid coming over to where she was in the cockpit. “Though, I don’t remember a time. My life hasn’t been a collection of greatest hits. But maybe it’s just circuitry damage and I can’t remember. Would be my luck.”

“Don’t ruin music for me.”

”I ruin everything else, why shouldn’t music be the same?”

Mera closed her eyes, trying not to think dark thoughts.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The rookie of the E-wing squadron brought his ship around another piece of debris. “We’re having trouble with the scans.” He said. “Too much interference.”

“Well, that’s probably because they aren’t here, rookie.” The commanding officer of the squadron said. “I don’t know why you’re convinced that they’re still here.”

“It wasn’t enough of a hyperdrive backwash.” He replied over the communications system. “I’m telling you they have to be here.”

“Look, we’re getting the recall back to the Orion.” The other man said, referring to their home ship, the Bothan Assault Cruiser. “Drop it.”
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

"I can't believe they're giving up so quickly." Jerik muttered to himself.

The Falcon is their own ship and they don't know its tricks? Republic... idiots.

Jeric watched as the E-Wings began to pull out of the debris field and make their way back to the Mon Cal Cruiser. Jeric didn't even need his sensors to watch the ship as it rotated on the piece of Assault Carrier debris. Even though the fighters were bugging out, Jeric knew better than to think the Republic wasn't still watching the field with their sensors.

Time to show them some of my tricks.

Releasing some of the air from one of his supply compartments, Jeric's gunboat began to turn towards the wide berth of the top of the Millenium Falcon. He pushed a few buttons on his command console, arming the tracking beacon. THe object sped from the small cannon on the point of the ship and latched itself onto the transport. Solo would know something his ship put he would probably just think it was some of the debris from the ship graveyard. Then Solo would lead him to the twins.

Jerik leaned back on his chair and put his feet up on the panel of the Chaser, and waited.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

Ranion snapped awake so suddenly that a chill ran up his spine at the unfamiliar surroundings, not to mention the still slightly overwhelming smell of Wookie hair. How long he was out, Ranion didn't have a clue. A minute, an hour, days?

Slowly his mind snapped back and he remembered where he was, and just how bad a situation he was in. He looked at the passive scanner and was gratified to see the New Republic squadron blazing a away at top speed, obviously suckered by Ranion's hyperspace trick.

"Stupid as Banthas." Ranion smirked to himself.

He watched the squadron's signatures until they were far enough away that they wouldn't detect him powering the Falcon back up. Ranion released the grappler clamps and the Falcon slowly floated away from the blasted out Assault Cruiser, pivoted in place and leveled out. Ranion was still smiling as he engaged the engines and began moving away from the twisted hulk.

Looking out the cockpit viewports as he cleared the blasted hull and stared out into open space, he looked left and right, then did a double take as when he looked out the right side again, he was only meters away from the wing tip of the Rookie pilot of the E-Wing squadron that was chasing him, and who had obviously stayed behind. Their two ships had been masked from each others scanner by the thick hull.

Ranion and the Rookie both comically stared at each other in surprised shock through their respective cockpit windows, neither believing the other was there, and that this was some sort of illusion.

Ranion suddenly smiled broadly at the Rookie and waved like they were two long lost friends seeing each other for the first time in ages. The Rookie was still in shock and actually began to wave back when Ranion punched the engines of the Millennium Falcon, and set the Navi-Computer to start the calculations for the jump to Lightspeed, and just for good measure he saw the Falcon's Jammer controls and slapped the on button and hoped the pilot hadn't comm'ed his buddy with the good news.

"Bleeding Blazing Bantha Poodoo!" Ranion shook his head at his luck.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

“Where is he?” The CO asked.

“I’m not on Rookie Patrol. How should I know?” One of the other pilots in the squadron asked, a Zabrak who was sitting there with a mug of ale in his hands. “Last I saw him, we’d all received the order to come back.” He added.

The CO nodded and looked around the room slowly. The Rookie wasn’t back and it had been some time. He hated the fact that he’d been assigned this particular rookie. There was nothing like feeling as if someone from up above was watching everything you did. While he doubted that that was the case, it didn’t make the feeling go away at all. Still, there was nothing he could do but deal with it, or try to at least. it only made his job that much more difficult, and he had enough to worry about, what with the rigors of space combat, and ten other pilots in the squadron besides himself and the rookie.

He left the room, to head up to the starfighter command room. It was time to activate the E-Wing’s onboard tracking unit. They were going to find him, and he had better not gone after the ships when he’d been given orders not to. A court martial was going to be in his future, no matter who he was. No one went against orders.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

"I guess they aren't all as dumb as mynock." Jerik laughed as he watched the E-Wing try to power on fast enough to do something about the suddenly apparent YT-1300 freighter.

Maybe not stupid, but certainly slow.

Jerik strapped himself in, and looked down at his tracker unit. The Falcon had activated some kind of jamming unit, but it would only work on comms, not his tracking unit. This wasn't amateur hour. He had the ship's bearing through hyperspace, and there was only one system that they could be heading towards.

"Imperial space."Jerik frowned. He hated Imperials more than he hated Republicans. Dumb bastards always trying to tell ordinary folks what to do. This just got to be more of a pain in the bullocks. He sent out a quick message to his handlers at the Syndicate before igniting his engines. He glanced over as the E-Wing began to turn in his direction. He thought about using a couple of his concussion missiles, but decided the missiles were worth more than the joy of seeing the E-Wing go bang.

"See ya, suckers!"

The assault gunboat blasted into hyperspace...

* * *

"They're gone." Talis heard the report from his men planetside just as the shuttle left the atmosphere.

"Send out a IFB wide search on both the Millenium Falcon and the Idiot's Array, if they enter a system where we have people, I want to know about it. As soon as you have word, send the location."

"Yes sir."

With clearance to leave the system, the shuttle went into a shallow orbit, waiting for information.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

Palanhi, a planet of no small significance when it came to galactic history but one Aurora didn't care to be visiting at this moment. She was trying to get out of Imperial space but with Imperial intelligence dogging her steps and Imperial Knights trying to track her down it was all she could do just to stay ahead of them. She had to reroute herself through several different planets before arriving here hoping to lose her pursuers. It was only through sheer luck and the sacrifice of others that she managed to make it this far. Kasr's security forces had her pinned on Coruscant but Joran managed to cause enough of a destraction to allow her to escape. The cost was his own life and nearly half a city block.

With a shake of her head she pulled her hood down over her face, banishing the memories from her mind. She couldn't think about that now, not with her enemies so close behind her. She needed to find a place to lay low for a bit, give the Empire plenty of time to lose her scent. Then she could barter transport off this rock and into Republic space where she could be safe. For a brief moment she considered trying to fake her own death again but a part of her doubted the Empire would fall for it twice. She might have been able to stay off their radar had she not let Joran talk her into breaking into an Imperial installation to steal the use of their facial recognition software. She thought she had killed their security but she missed a camera and the top brass of Imperial Intelligence were notified of her remarkable resurrection almost immediately.

She wasn't about to let that happen again. Stopping at the edge of an alleyway she closed her eyes and tried to sense her surroundings through the Force. Out on the street she could sense the presence of three security cameras, two of which were pointed away from her and the other she moved herself. Before stepping out onto the street, however, she looked deeper and found a fourth camera she nearly missed. That one she also redirected away from herself then stepping out casually onto the street she walked down about half a block before ducking into a skeevy cantina. She stopped in the doorway and immediately noticed half the patrons stop what they're doing and look at her. None of them seemed to take any interest, however, and one by one they returned to their drinks.

Hoping to blend in she lowered her hood and strolled up to the bar. "Ruby bliel," she said to the bartender as soon as he came over. The man nodded once and turned to start mixing her drink. Aurora, meanwhile, kept her eye on the crowd hoping to spot any sign of trouble before it actually occurred...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

Aurora turned when a woman dropped onto a stool next to her. She saw a woman wearing a white collared shirt with a black vest over it, and black trousers walking towards her, nerf-hide boots that had delicately stepped over the often times unclean surface of the bar’s ground.

“Whyren’s reserve on the rocks.” The woman said and then looked at Aurora. “Feth, kid, you’re a kid.”

“Thank you for noticing.” Aurora said, accepting her Ruby Bliel and taking a sip.

“What are you doing in a place like this?” The woman asked.

“I could ask you the same thing.”

The woman paused and considered. “Heh. Got me there.” She said, taking her drink and lifting it in the air, saluting the other with it. “My name’s Mera. You been here before?” She asked.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Mon Calamari

"Son of a Sithspawn!" He said, banging a fist on the dashboard of his E-Wing. He was a rookie, so he wasn't used to this, his experiences of the "real world" so small. That would be what the commander would say as he gave him the court martial papers. As his astromech whistled something, he looked down at his computer as a single stream of text came across his viewscreen.

If you want to follow them, go to these coordinates - W

Who the hell was W?

It was time for another gut decision. He had broken the rules yes, but he hadn't left the system. There was a fighting chance to beat the court martial, considering the special situation and the ship that had been involved. He knew that. But this, this was different. This would be a total shirking of his orders and his duties. So what to do?

He threw the hyperdrive switch.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

Ranion eased the throttle back and the Falcon re-emerged back into real space just at the outer marker of the planet Palanhi. During brief hour within hyperspace, he took a moment to look around the iconic ship, what he found astonished him at almost every turn. The ship was a engineering nightmare, with conduit strung up in some areas with no more than a rusty piece of wire, power lines looped through the overhead area, data lines were hidden somewhere in the morass of cabling, junction boxes taped shut...yet, the ship ran with a smoothness that far belayed its ugly exterior. Ranion nodded unconsciously with professional respect at what he saw.

One of the other things that Ranion found was a Transponder scrambler...of Imperial design...hooked into the ship's identification module, and just before he cut the hyper-drives, he turned it on. While the Millennium Falcon was one of the most historical ships in the galaxy, it was only one of the most used, mass produced ships of its time. There were literally hundreds, if not thousands of YT-1300s still in use to this day and most of them were just as run down looking as the Falcon. The only notable addition, that was not factory standard, to the Falcon was the Sensor Dish on the top hull, many YT owners had them installed to emulate their own ship like the Falcon.

Ranion flipped on his comm. "Freighter..." Ranion had to look at the scrambler's readout to read the correct name. "...Jaranno", requesting permission for approach and land."

--Stand by Jaranno, while we verify your ship.-- After a brief moment. --Jaranno, you are cleared to land, mind the Star Destroyers on approach, and keep your distance.--

Ranion turned towards the curvature of the planet and saw the group of three brightly gleaming, and very recognizable triangle-shaped warships in orbit. He had seen his share of Star Destroyers in his travels, not to mention running from them a time or two, and never worried about them...but this time, there was a chill that ran up his spine. Giving the destroyers one last look, he navigated the Falcon towards the ports landing beacon and settled her gently into a covered landing bay. While he wasn't worried about anyone out of the blue recognizing the ship, he paid extra to keep it under any seriously nosy people.
After running a quick slice on the Falcon's security locks, he changed them to a code of his own and then sealed the ship up.

Stepping out into the street, he smiled a bit, as he always liked Palanhi...even for a Imperial world...it was as safe a haven as him or Mera had ever been in. He spied the door to the Tavern and stepped in, looking around for his sister.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

The Assault Gunboat Chaser arrived at Palanhi and quickly received clearance to land. The one part of the Millenium Falcon that was accurate was its hyperdrive rating/ That ship moved through hyperspace and had beaten Jerik here by significant amount of time. Luckily, it appeared all space traffic was being directed to Palanhi's main starport, not far from the banking center in the world's capital.

"Maybe the twins are looking to get paid by Solo and he has an account here." Jerik shrugged and took his ship in and landed at starport R-65. He stood up and checked his essential gear and weapons and walked off his ship.

This is not the fun part.

Jerik wasn't very welcome on his homeworld. Unlike most Gran, he was not very peaceful. His species was... annoying, and he had very little patience for their procrastination and love for what usually ended up being useless knowledge and information. Of course, he was raised on the lower levels of Coruscant among a variety of species found nowhere else. Then again, he couldn't stand most of those species either, or people. It was one of the reasons he decided to be a bounty hunter. It was a solitary job and a solitary life. It was how he liked it.

But now he was trying to find some company. There was no surprise that the Falcon wasn't registered under its own name at the port, this was an Imperial world after all. But the other ship, The Idiot's Array had been. It took a quick walk over to the port it landed at to confirm it was in fact the ship it was looking for. Jerik, not a Gran name, but instead given to him by the folks at the orphanage he grew up at, made his way towards the city center. It only took a few taps on his datapad to figure out where most of the unsavory types did their business. It was there that Jerik directed his air taxi.

* * *

"Sir, we have no word of the Falcon, but the other ship has been registered at Palanhi. Shall we detain them?"

"Negative." Talis said. "Just keep an eye on them. I'll contact you when I arrive planetside."

"Yes sir." Talis watched starts turned to lines as his shuttle sped off towards Palanhi.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

"Aurora," the girl answered, "and no. This is my first time."

She put the drink down on the table and stared at it. It was her first alcoholic drink and it was not what she expected. It had a fruity flavor to it and felt more like she was drinking juice. Mera's drink, on the other hand, smelled strong and as the bartender passed by her and set the drink down in front of Mera Aurora took one whiff of the air and wrinkled her nose.

How could anyone drink that?

"'Scuse me, ladies," a voice said from behind, startling Aurora.

The girl half turned in her chair with a blaster in her hand. The man took one look at her and the gun and immediately held up his hands. "Alright, never mind," he said before carefully backing away.

Aurora turned back to the bar but not before she caught a curious look from Mera. "Jumpy," the other woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Maybe a little," Aurora replied, "but that's my business."

Aurora stopped then and stared at the woman, examining her more closely. "You look like a Corellian spacer," she said finally, noting the woman's clothing, "I don't suppose you own a ship?"
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

"Actually, she does...or at least half of it." Ranion stated as he slapped the would be suitor in the back of the head as he walked by. "What the hell were 'you' thinkin'?"

"Sorry Ranion. I was just gonna buy your sis a drink." The man said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Yeah, how'd that work out for ya the last time idiot?"

"2 days in a Bacta Tank." He replied with a dour look. "I wuz just tryin' ta apologize to her."

"Space it, Burg." Ranion said with a tick of his thumb over his shoulder at the man.

"I don't think it's me he should have been worried about." Mera said as she nodded to Aurora. "Aurora, meet my half-wit brother Ranion. Don't shoot him, you will most likely miss since Ranion has the luck of fools, plus you'll mark up the fine decor, and spook the classy patrons of this place." Mera said with a sardonic grin and a well-timed fall of a drunk Rodian behind her.

"I heard that Mera." The barkeep chimed in as he spit into a mug and wiped it clean with a dirty rag.

Ranion sat next to his sister and tapped the counter while looking at the barkeep, then turned his attention to the newcomer. "Um, kinda young ta be here ain't ya kid?"
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

'The luck of fools'. Aurora briefly wondered if that meant he was Force sensitive. It was tough to tell just by looking at him. He didn't appear to have any formal training but she supposed he could just as easily be hiding it.

"Um, kinda young ta be here ain't ya kid," Ranion asked.

"Forget about that," Aurora said impatiently, "I want to barter passage."

"Barter passage?" Ranion raised an eyebrow, "Why the hurry?"

"That's my business," the girl said simply, "Yours is to take me to the Republic. I can pay you whatever you want."

That was a bit of a stretch. Aurora didn't currently have any credits on her but stealing some shouldn't be too difficult so long as they didn't ask for much. Aurora wasn't entirely sure she could hide a large money transfer like that, someone in Imperial Intelligence was bound to notice.

Ranion shared a glance with Mera who looked just as perplexed as he did. "Look, kid...,"

"Don't call me 'kid,'" Aurora replied hotly, "My name's Aurora. Now are you going to take me or not?"
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

Jeric entered the third bar on his little journey through the seedy part of town he immediately found his targets. The brother sister were sitting with a younger human girl at a nearby table. With his three eyes, there was no way any of the three would have noticed him looking in their direction, one of the benefits of being a Gran.

That's when the scent hit his nose.

Caraphan Stew. I love Caraphan stew.

All he had on his ship during his stakeout was processed and freeze dried garbage that tasted more like spacer junk than it did actual food. He shrugged.

Who says I can't get a bite while I watch them? Jerik walked over the bar and found a seat that would give him a view of the twins. He ordered his stew, and waited. The bar was too crowded to make an overt move here, he would have to get them on their way out or outside. He had a few tricks on him that were far less visible than the blaster on his belt or even the small handle from his carbine that could be seen on his back. The stew was placed in front of him and after a long enjoyable smell, Jerik ate... quickly, and enjoyed every moment of it.

* * *

"Sir, we have found the Idiot's Array in one of the docking bays. We have placed holds on it, and made sure it can be tracked if it somehow does manage to leave the port."

"Which is won't." Talis emphasized.

"Of course not." The local security liaison answered.

"And the YT-1300?"

"Only one came in within the past day, we've locked it down as well."

Talis nodded, but he really had no confidence in the local security forces. His cover was as some kind of bureaucrat from the ISB, so he couldn't go about ordering stormtroopers everywhere, even though there was a Star Destroyer in orbit. This was to be kept quiet. He didn't want the woman getting spooked and running. All he had at his disposal were the two operatives he brought with him, both posing as aides, and the small IFB contingent planetside. Unfortunately, getting those men mobilized would be difficult considering ISB didn't show much enthusiasm for cooperating with the Ubiquorate. Nevertheless, he had made the proper contacts planetside and hoped they would be responsive if he needed help. There were no Intelligence assets on the planet spare some suits. That was not going to change in the time he had to take the woman down.

"Can we track where the person in the Idiot's Array went?"

"THrough our camera systems we tracked her to a small neighborhood bar down by the inner commons. Rough area. They don't like government official much."

"I'll be fine." Talis said.

The security chief shrugged and walked away to get back to work. Talis looked to his men and they got into the nearby speeder that had been provided to them.

"We can't show up looking like this, we'll spook them. Get in your fatigues and make your armament... less visible." Talis said. "We can't look like Imperials or soldiers."

Talis took off his hat baring the Imperial logo and let his peppered gray hair fall back on his shoulders. His closely trimmed beard had even more gray than his hair, both of which he was far too young to have at just under forty years old. His two companions looked like shoulders, but they dressed down well enough, and looked far more like mercenaries than Imperial soldiers. It would have to do.

Talis put on his dirt covered boots and faded jacket, hiding his blaster in a concealed holster underneath his arm. The speeder made its way down the street and towards the bar...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Vox »

Xiel sipped her glass of liquor with the enjoyment of a nerf being chased by a bantha. She found no enjoyment in it, ideally she would prefer to be stalking her prey by using the Force to track the fear coming off of them. She didn't know anything about her mark other than they were here in this bar on a world she had never heard of. What she did know was that it was an Imperial world and she wasn't the only person tailing her target. An arm slipped around her and she felt stubble scrape her neck. Hiding a smile she felt a kiss follow the hair. "Zee, you shouldn't be this close to the mark."

His whispered gravely voice made her shiver ever so slightly and she smiled at the feeling. His shortening of her name had bothered her for months but she ignored it having realized that letting the small things bother you tends to make a partnership that much more tense. She reached up with her hand and ran it over his neck digging in black fingernails and extracting him from her neck before kissing him lightly. Her red eyes looked darker in the dim lighting, her ash grey skin looking more purple with what lighting was present. She had no fear of judgement here regardless but his concern hit home regardless. "Cell, you need to learn to relax and learn that traveling with me means no matter where we are it is better to be in the public eye than out of it. We are hiding in plain sight."

*********************************

Cell...

He hated that nickname, despised it actually. His name was two syllables. It was short and didn't need to be shorted more. He knew she was doing it because he had done the same to her. Her name needed shortened, she was a walking firefight and her name wouldn't help much. It was yet another hazard to teaming with Xiel on top of her rather short temper and immensely twisted and extensive training by the wonderful duo of the most evil of Imperial leaders. Keeping his voice to a whisper his rebuttal was futile yet his stubborn streak wouldn't let him leave it alone. "That might be but we aren't here to spook them. We're here to track, tail, tag and seize. It isn't just another job. This one is important."

Tapping the bar he pulled Xiel tighter against him then grabbed the drink as the barkeep slid it to him. He'd had plenty of marks, he'd ruled over Hutt's and even partnered with the most untrustworthy of individuals. He had always had fear on his side. No one ever crossed a Jedi who had gone rogue, especially one that made it a point to kill for fun and no reason whatsoever simply to make a point and prove just how much resolve he had. There was nothing that scared me, that statement had been true up until the point he met Xiel. She made him feel like the tiniest fish in the largest ocean you could imagine. One thing she lacked though was street smarts, how to work the gangs. He was a master of both.

Tapping his glass again he felt her nuzzle his neck right above one of his tattoos. No one on this world would know him, no one even cared who he was. Trouble was sooner or later someone had to find out who he was and that always ended with more dead people.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

OOC: Pops wrote the bulk of it. Mir did the funnies. Mir funny. On Wednesdays.

IC:

**Spaceport Bay 37**

The Millennium Falcon sat quietly in the closed in bay, faraway from any prying eyes, and completely oblivious that the Imperials had already locked down the bay in preparation for the return of the Twins. Within the large storage area of the Falcon the strange Otherdrive, that was loaded on the ship back on Mon Calamari for shipping to one of the New Republic's secret research locations, where it could be studied.

Little did anyone fathom that the very Otherdrive sitting quietly in the ship's bay was an experiment of the Charon's own, one that Sivter had grand schemes to use against this universe. Deep within the lattice-like workings of the alien machine a dim green glow suddenly emerged, steadily growing in intensity until the entire bay lit up with the emerald hue. It was then, in the very center of the shimmering light a small cube, about the size of a man's hand, could be seen. Intricate runes were etched in shining streaks of light on each side of the cube, which now slowly began turning in it's little chamber within the Otherdrive.

To the average person, the cube would merely appear as some alien relic. To one knowledgeable of the Force...a Holocron.

**Back at the Tavern**

"Well, that's the rub Kid." Ranion said with a smirk to acknowledge he was purposely using the name. "Me and my uppity sister just got here...well...at least I did and I'd really like to sit for a spell, maybe start up a nice friendly game of Sabacc and then get a good night’s rest. I...we've...kinda had a bit of a bad couple a days. You know, the kind that make you want to drink and make bad decisions."

Aurora seemed unfazed by the excuse, and merely stared at Ranion as if expecting him to come up with a better excuse. "Good to know you two are alcoholics. Makes me so much more comfortable with the idea of you guys piloting a ship, safely."

"We're in a bar." Ranion said as if that explained everything.

Mera thought about it, cocking her head to the side, and then nodded. "Actually he does have a point. We are in a bar."

"Listen I'm sure I could find someone more in need of cold hard credits, so if you'll excuse me." Aurora started to get up, when Mera put a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen Aurora, we really have had a rough couple of days, and need some rest...but...we definitely could use some extra credits in our pockets. Could you at least give us a few hours to just unwind, and then we'll be more than happy to take you where you want to go."

Aurora grumbled slightly, eager to get off this Imperial world, but in the end she 'felt' that she needed to be with these two. There was a ripple in the Force that seemed to bind her to them, even though she had no idea why. "Very well, 6 hours, no more."

"There, you see, it’s easy to compromise when you really need..." Ranion was smiling as he casually turned his head as he heard the entrance of the three new customers. "...something."

Ranion seemed to watch the newcomers casually, but his eyes took in everything as he turned away from them. He then noticed the Gran sitting nearby, whom seemed to be really enjoying the stew that was in front of him. The enjoyment was so profound on the Gran's face, that Ranion immediately recognized that the alien had probably been living on rations, or other shipboard foods...much as he had done when he was waiting...or watching someone. The Gran's casual glance toward them, spoke of something else.

Continuing his turn around the room he spied the two lovebirds sitting at a distant table, an edgy vibe ran up his spine as he noticed the ashen skin and hints of tattoos are her arms. His expression never changed as he recognized her race...a Xen’Chi. Oh boy... Ranion thought to himself.

Then there was the newcomers that entered and took up a table by the doorway. To the unwary, they would be seen as a group of probably mercs, which were very frequent in this part of town, but to Ranion, he could smell the boot polish, the sterile cleanliness of Imperials from a parsec away. Again, his expression of casualness never left his face, but inside, he felt like a coiled spring that had been wound one too many turns. Ranion prided himself on having one of the best Sabacc faces in the galaxy, but he did have one 'tell' that only a few people recognized, and it was then that Mera saw Ranion tapping the side of his holster with his index finger. If there was one person who would be able to recognize it, it was his sister.

Mera immediately became alert and stepped over to Ranion's side, holding his drink out to him as if she was merely being a good sister and handing him his beverage. "Sooooo...what do you say we head over to the Array and we'll fix Aurora a little spot to take a nap and catch a few winks before we head out huh?" She asked. Looking over at Aurora, she continued to speak. "I know Ranion's always grumpy if he doesn't get enough sleep. He has this mask he puts over his eyes, to keep the bags down and everything."

"Yeah..." Ranion said almost absently as he downed his drink. He wasn't even paying attention to the veiled insult his sister had thrown his way. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. The place is kinda getting crowded."

"Oh, thank the Makers! There you two are!" C5 exclaimed as he came bursting through the entrance, doing a droids best imitation of running up to them. "I have dreadful news, though I told you no good would come from coming here. Such a dreadful place!"

"Woah, woah up there C5." Ranion held his hand out as if to ward off the droid. "What's the matter, you get a transistor twisted up or something?"

"Oh dear no, it is much worse. As I was making my way here, I happened to pass by Bay 37, as Mistress Mera stated that you wished to have all the Wookie hair cleaned from the Fal..." C5 was instantly cut off as Mera slapped her hand over his mouth slot.

"Snitches get stitches, and wind up in ditches...even droid ones." Mera stated menacingly.

"How rude!" C5 stated indignantly when Mera pulled her hand away.

"Anyway...keep talking." Ranion bid C5 to continue.

"As I was saying, I went to the bay to clean and I found that the bay has been completely locked down! I was able to contact to the Port Master and inquire as to why, and he told me to mind my own business and that he had to due to Imperial orders."

"Imperial ...orders?!?" Ranion stated in surprise. "That doesn't mak...oh no." Ranion looked again at the newcomers sitting by the door and then suddenly laughed loudly. "Oh man! That Ninzi has such a wicked sense of humor! I still owe him some credits and he probably locked up the bay until I pay. What an ass! Come on Sis, let go get this cleared up and get some sleep...boy I'm bushed."

Ranion directed Mera and Aurora towards the entrance, smiling and laughing the whole way. "What a kidder that Ninzi is, right Sis?"

"Yeah, a regular crack up. Though you probably should have paid him after you wrecked his speeder trying to impress that three breasted chick from Raaltir. Honestly, always thinking with your little thing." Mera replied trying to sound sincere, but all the sincerity in the world didn't fool Talis ,as he and his men stood from there table and drew their blasters on the three of them.

"I don't think so. You three are under arrest." Talis stated curtly. "You didn't really think that I was going to just let you walk out of here, or that I bought that little cover did you?"

"Well, I kinda thought you would. Then again, I know, it’s not a little thing." Ranion stated with a smirk, the second sentence with a raised voice just in case anyone in the bar had overheard Mera’s last sentence. "I would have bought that one, wouldn't you have Sis?"

"Oh yeah, most definitely." Mera nodded. "If I was drunk, run over by a herd of Banthas, and then shot out of a concussion missile tube into a Black Hole. Also, I’ve seen you naked, unfortunately. It’s not pretty."

He sighed. "You know, these are the times when I need that back up from close family members. I need them to be supportive of me. How am I supposed to banter with people and come up with viable exit strategies from the seat of my pants if...?” He said and trailed off, seeing the expression on her face. "Oh, and you would have come up with something better?"

She nodded, eyes wide. "Yes, even if I was drunk, run over by a herd..."

"Oh shut up."

"Excuse me Sir." Aurora interrupted the twins, directly herself to Talis. "But why am I being detained? I was merely booking passage with these two. So whatever you are arresting them for, I have nothing to do with..."

"We know 'exactly' who you are Aurora. The Knights will be most pleased that we have finally caught back up with you." Talis interrupted. "Now, step forward and allow my men to put the cuffs on you, and we can be on our way."

"I always knew my life would end this way. In a hail of blaster bolts in a dirty, disgusting cantina on the far side of the galaxy." C5 said. Somehow his vocal processors were able to convey his sense of the forlorn so well.

"HEY!" Mera and the barkeep said at the same time. She politely gestured to him to go first.

"My place is not disgusting. It’s an upstanding joint." He said. "That's...that's wrong. That's libel."

"Actually, it's slander." C5. "I'm dealing with beings that don't know the difference. And who think you can sue a droid. What am I going to give you, wires? I can't give you my dignity, it was robbed from me years ago. Why did I get this lot in life?"

"You know, you said you knew you were going to die by electrocution the other day." She pointed out.

"I am cursed with a vivid imagination." C5 replied to Mera.

"Not so fast there, everyone." Jeric stated, as he had both his weapons pointed at the Imperials, with the Twins and Aurora between them. He was getting tired of the whole conversation that was going on between Mera and the droid. "I got a pretty damn decent sized contract on the twins there, and I didn't travel all this way to leave empty handed. So, if you would be so kind as to move away...I'll be taking them with me."

"You know the penalty for interfering in Imperial business is death you Bounty Hunter scum?" Talis stated with a certain sense of importance in his tone.

"Yeah, yeah...tell it walking Impie." Mera said, pointing at Jerik.

"Blue stone blazes...we sure are the popular ones." Ranion leans his head slightly and whispered to Mera.

"No kidding, we haven't been this popular since that run at Amoph for those pleasure droids. Which would have made us pretty damn wealthy if you wouldn't have...."

"Mera!" Ranion hissed. "We agreed that we wouldn't talk about that in public. I was drunk...personally, I think someone dropped some exoti juice in my drink. Though, let's face it, it's not like women can resist me. I am a bit of a popular guy."

"You're disgusting and should probably be tested. Not just for diseases, probably for mental damage." Mera sniffed

"Would you two shut up?" Talis stated menacingly. "Now, let me spell it out to you Bounty Hunter. We're not giving up these prisoners. You’re outnumbered and I can have this port shut down at a moment’s notice."

Jeric smiled at that. "I was hoping that you would say that." Jeric leveled his blasters at Talis

It was then that Burg, the would-be suitor of Mera, chose that moment to be a hero. It was a great moment for him, one that he would surely remember for the rest of his life. He decided that he would be a hero, and save himself. He ran out the door screaming, since he did not want to be a part of any trouble. There was a sudden blast from outside from what sounded like a heavy blaster, and Burg's smoking body slammed back through the entrance and landed at Mera's and Ranion's feet. He remembered that moment for the rest of his life.

The sound of heavy booted feet came from outside and then suddenly several heavily armed and armored beings came through the entrance. From what everyone could see there were humans and humanoids alike within the nearly two dozen, what appeared to be Mercenary, clomped into the room, taking up positions around them all.

Now C5 immediately threw his hands up. "We're doomed." C5 said.

OOC: Part 1 of 2. No jumpies. No jumpies.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

"The woman didn't meet them." Talis muttered to his two men.

"Should we pick them up?" One asked, who was clearly tired of waiting around.

Talis went through the option in his head. These two were too slippery to let walk, especially now that they had a fugitive from the Knights program with them. This would score hime some points with The Viper at the very least.

"Stop them." Talis finally said quietly, and stood with them as they blocked the door.

The interchange began and Talis was already regretting his decision. These two didn't shut up... ever.

* * *

Jerik looked down at his stew and couldn't believe he was going to have to step away from his much deserved feast because the twins had gotten antsy over the Imps guarding the door.

Damn amateurs...

I'm not missing my chance this time, damn the imps to hell.

Jerik stood with his blaster out and did his thing, this standoff stuff after all, was one of his specialities.

* * *

"Boss we're outgunned." One of Talis' men muttered to him.

He had no doubt his men were better, but not so much better they could overcome the numbers. What really racked Talis' mind was who else was after the twins and why? Perhaps the same reason the woman was speaking to them?

This pair was getting more interesting by the moment...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

Aurora wanted to swear, or at least she would have if she knew any swear words. Why didn't she see the obvious trap? So many people in the same room, all of them eyeing the twins. Ranion saw it, she knew that now. That was why his expression changed, why the twins began to banter. It all made such perfect sense now but she was too blinded to see it. What was it? Was it the end to her chase she saw in her eyes that blinded her? She shook her head, no thinking about that now was not going to help.

The Imps were in front of her, Jerik behind and the mercs... Well, they were kind of everywhere. The odds were not in their favor--at least maybe not in the favor of the twins. Talis and the Imperials knew who she was and were not about to let her leave, but what did the others know? Her hand crept inside her jacket, reaching for the lightsaber she had hidden in an inside pocket. Her fingers brushed against the smooth steel when she felt a blaster barrel in her back.

"That's far enough, luv," the man said through a filtered radio. Aurora didn't even have to turn to know it was one of the mercs. Great, she grumbled to herself, now what?
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

“You know, I really dislike mercenaries.” Mera said.

“Technically, we’re mercenaries.” Ranion pointed out.

“And I don’t like competition.” Mera said and Ranion nodded in agreement. “We’re popular today, aren’t we? This reminds of that one time when we had the robotic-“

“What is with you and the robotic bears?” Ranion asked. “That was not a fun time in our lives. You and I remember those things very differently.”

“They were furry and cuddly.” She said.

“Yes, and the fur was really vibroshock pads and-“ There was a cough from one of the mercenaries and Ranion fell silent for a moment, before a chagrined look came over his face. “Right, yes. The men with the guns. So sorry. You were going to speak.”

“We don’t care about these people, we just want their ship.” The leader of the mercenaries said, his voice filtered with the same modulator as the one who had spoken to Aurora. “This doesn’t have to get messy, I doubt anyone wants that.”

“Who do you work for?” Talis asked, with a sneer.

“If you had to guess, someone who doesn’t give a fething pass of gas for who you work for.” The man said, turning his head slightly to look at the Imperial. “And yes, I do know the penalty for interfering in Imperial business. Same way I know the penalty for carrying some of the weaponry that I have.”

Talis’ sneer intensified. He was the one who gave the snark, not the other way around. This was ridiculous. Unfortunately this was a delicate situation. “All you want is the ship they arrived in?” He asked. “Why?”

“Because it’s the Millenium Falcon, you dolt.” Jerik said. “Even I can figure out that one. Give them the ship, and we can go back to dividing up these fools.” He said, pointing at the Twins with his blaster. Negotiations were always dicey, making sure that everyone got what they wanted, when they really didn’t, and you got everything. But standoffs were something that Jerik liked, so he was in his element. “Otherwise, someone’s bound to leave here missing a limb and it won’t be me.”

Everyone’s weapons swiveled towards C5, who had raised his hand. “Honestly? It’ll be me.” The droid said and Aurora rolled her eyes.

“Or, we could all calm down and nobody could lose a limb.” She said, holding a hand up.

“We’ll have none of your Jedi trickery.”

“Isn’t that technically, Imperial trickery?” Mera asked. When Talis looked at her with a glare, she shrugged. “What? She’s not a Jedi, she’s an Imperial Knight. ‘Knight trickery’ would just be too vague, so ‘Imperial trickery’ seems the most appropriate.”

“Oh, sod this.” One of the mercenaries said, and made a decision that would quite possibly alter the events of galactic history forever.

All of this alteration, this re-stitching of the fabric of galactic history, all because he was getting annoyed by the wonderful dialogue that these beings, brought together for a variety of purposes and a myriad of reasons, were having on the importance of ensuring that the imparting of the meaning behind the wording of diction in such a particular way was neither verbose nor, at quite the same time, convoluted.

All it required was a simple and mundane motion, in the world of violence and scoundrely skullduggery.

He pulled a trigger.

Then everyone, having finally received permission, responded that they too would like to join in the pointless shooting.

Aurora sighed, shaking her head as she dove for cover. She had the wherewithal to grab C5 and drag him down with her, knowing that if they made it out of here, if he did lose a limb, he would be even more insufferable.

She was a quick learner.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Vox »

Xiel kept drinking while the commotion near the door got worse. The buzz from her drink was just starting to set in when the whines from various blasters joined the tune playing throughout the cantina. Dropping her shoulders slightly she felt Selic shift and looked his way. The mercenary tapped his glass for another drink, the bartender obliged while keeping an eye on the goings on. "So?"

"So?,' Selic sounded bored with the question and his tone sounded irritated that she would even insinuate his interrupting his drink to deal with a petty squabble. "I'm not getting involved, if anyone dies it makes our life easier."

Shaking her head Xiel debated it herself and through sheer luck happened to be looking directly at the man who pulled the trigger on the blaster that set the place into chaos. Why he was aiming at someone other than the three individuals most of the men appeared to be interested in she hadn't a clue but clearly he was lucky to have survived this long in life. Finishing off her drink she pulled on her hooded leather jacket and slid her stool away from the bar. Spinning around she watched the fire fight. "You know, we could just ask if we could have what we came for instead of dealing with all this."

Selic shrugged and took a bite of a piece of food he ordered. "Yeah but then we'd miss out on all this free entertain--"

Selic slammed forward as a body hit him from behind sending his food over the bar along with his drink ending up all over the front of his t-shirt. Snarling he grabbed the man by the neck and used the Force to snap it without thinking twice. Looking at Xiel she smiled happily like a child getting permission to go play outside. She wouldn't need lightsabers or the Force in this fight and that made her even more exuberant. No one was paying attention to her which clearly upset her, being as she was obviously the best combatant in the room. Grabbing a chair she broke it over one of the larger mercenaries backs and hopped from toe to toe excitedly as he turned around. Setting herself she dodged punch after punch as he tried to hit her. Kicks and open palmed slaps countered his powerful attempts and she danced around him easily. Selic stood taking the fight in knowing full well if he got involved that things would just become even more absurd than they already were. Looking back to the bartender he waved for another drink.

The fighting was hardly professional if it could even be called a fight. The Imperials were moderately trained, one of them clearly knew what he was doing. The three who had been sitting together had some experience though one of them was definitely new to the whole idea and as for the mercenaries, they were a mixture of horrible and just plain bad. They might win through sheer numbers but if that was the case it would only be because they got lucky. Another fighter came toward Selic and he produced a vibroblade with impossibly fast speed. The man stopped moving and waited for his friend before charging. Letting out an exasperated breath Selic ducked a punch while burying the vibroblade deep into the chest of one assailant. Waiting for the other to make his second move Selic tapped his glass for another fill up. This time the bartender shook his head. Furrowing his brow in anger Selic flipped the vibroblade in his hand and threw it in frustration killing the second attacker.

He found the fight a nuisance but being denied a drink he found completely unacceptable. Reaching over the bar he grabbed the bottle and poured himself another drink. Turning back around he watched Xiel move from mercenary to mercenary with pure joy on her face and a smile grew on his face. It was always enjoyable to take Xiel out into public. He found it comparable to tapping the glass on a fish tank. It was something that many people found distasteful to do but every now and then you just couldn't help yourself to watch the reactions of both the fish and the people around you.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

"Oh dear, I knew this was going to happen," C5 kept complaining. Somehow He and Aurora found themselves away from the fight on the other side of the bar. Aurora had her back up against a low wall while C5 lay sprawled out on the floor in front of her. "Danger follow those two everywhere they go. I just knew one day they'd end up dead."

"Shut up," Aurora snapped irritably. She had her eyes close and was trying to use the Force.

"How rude," the droid exclaimed, "I mean we barely know each other!"

"I mean be quiet," Aurora corrected herself, "I'm trying to concentrate."

She closed her eyes again and was trying to reach out with the Force, trying to sense the location of one of the mercenaries. Trying to sense one person out of this entire crowd, especially someone she didn't know was practically impossible but then she wasn't trying to sense a person she was searching for his electronics. C5 stood out as a beacon in front of her but reprogramming him was not her goal... At least not right now.

A body flew over the wall she was hiding behind and landed on top of C5. "I say," the droid cried, "This is worse than I imagined it would be!"

Aurora ground her teeth but said nothing. Finally, she had found what she was looking for. She could sense the sensitive electronics inside the helmets of one of the mercs. She didn't need to find any of the others, one of them was enough. All she had to do was reprogram the electronics suite built into the HUD with a virus and then open a channel with his communicator. The virus would transmit itself to the others and replicate inside their helmets effectively blinding them. It of course would also replicate inside of anything else that was set to receive on the same frequency but she wasn't concerned about collateral damage.

One by one the mercenaries found themselves afflicted by the virus, their HUD's either shining a bright white into their eyes, displaying random images or turning completely off. All at once their aim became erratic until their leader had the sense to order them to take their helmets off.

"What did you do," C5 asked, stunned by the sudden chaos and still pinned under a dead body.

"I reprogrammed the electronics inside their helmets," Aurora said, sitting up and sparing a slight glance over the wall to admire her work.

Suddenly C5 had a dreadful thought. He never imagined he would find himself alone with a woman who could hack computers with her mind. "Oh dear," he said, "This is worse than I imagined."

"I can reprogram you too, you know," Aurora replied, "but maybe I'll do that later. Right now I think it's time to leave."

She reached inside her jacket pocket and withdrew her lightsaber, scanning the crowd until she found the twins. "Stay here," she said then she ignited the golden blade and leapt over the wall.

The sudden appearance of a lightsaber drew far more attention than she would have hoped and she found herself dodging a lot of incoming fire as she made her way to where Ranion and Mera were holed up.

"I'd like to renegotiate our deal," she said as she slid into cover beside them. "I help save your lives and you get me out of here. And if you're very nice to me I might even give you a tip."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

Great, a frelling Jedi. Ranion thought to himself with a grimace. Nothing ever good comes from being around them.

"Well, I don't know Kid. We'll have to consult with our lawyer to get with your lawyer and modify the agreement. Then we'll have to get New Rep authorities to.." Ranion deadpanned

"Ranion!" Both Mera and Aurora yelled in unison.

"Ok, ok, ok! Sheesh! But first. I've always wanted to do this." Ranion smirked and then suddenly stood up from his cover, a DL-44 in each hand and screamed at the top of his lungs as he cut loose with both weapons around the room in front of him. He then ducked back down to their cover.

"How many did I get?" He asked as he looked at both of them.

Mera took a careful look over the cover of the wall. "Well, you annihilated the barroom wall, took out a couple of lights, and the children of the decorative planter are going to be sad to have lost their parent."

"Not to mention that already dead mercenary lying on the floor. You really showed him." Aurora chimed in.

"Really?" Ranion looked hurt and peeked over the wall. "Damn...oooh, just a sec." Ranion leveled his blaster at Talis and fired. The bolt came within an inch of Talis's head as it impacted against the wall next to him. Talis was surprised by the shot and looked at the direction it came from, and found Ranion holding up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart with a smug look at Talis, before ducking back under cover.

Several shots splintered the wall of their cover as Talis and his men retaliated.

"Ok, you got yourself a deal Kid."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

Aurora peeked over the edge of the toppled table they were using for cover. She quickly took note of where Talis and the surviving mercs were but she had lost track of Jerik. Either way it didn't matter, Talis was between them and the only exit. She bit her lip and cast a glance over her shoulder. There was a doorway at the back of the bar leading into another room. The kitchen had to be back there and possibly another exit.

"Okay, on my mark make a run for that door."

Ranion and Mera looked at where she was pointing and the first thing they noticed was the sheer distance between them and the door. "But--," Ranion started to say before Aurora cut him off.

"Don't argue, just go," she shouted and with an explosive blast of the Force she sent every chair, table and anything else that wasn't bolted down flying in pretty much every direction. Talis and a few of the mercs quickly took cover as tables and debris flew over their heads. Some of the other people in the area weren't quite as lucky.

Taking that as her queue Ranion and Mera quickly darted over to and through the door as Aurora followed behind, stopping only momentarily to grab the droid. "How rude, leaving me pinned under there," the droid exclaimed as soon as Aurora removed the body from on top of him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whine about it later," she said, "Now move!"

She pulled the droid to its feet as they both ran through the door with blaster fire trailing behind. On the other side they found themselves in the kitchen as Aurora had suspected and on the other side of the kitchen on the far wall was a door, presumably an exit.

"Go," Ranion said, turning to look at the others.

Aurora and Mera took off running but about halfway to the door their exit exploded inward. More mercs wearing high powered armor and carrying heavy artillery burst into the kitchen firing as they went. Mera quickly took cover behind Aurora who had shifted her lightsaber in her hand into a reverse Shien grip to deflect the incoming blaster fire.

"Into that room," she shouted, pointing to a door on her left.

Ranion and Mera ran inside first while C5 trailed behind. Shortly after Aurora followed them in and quickly ducked to the side as blaster fire lanced through the door behind her. "It's a dead end," Mera pointed out glancing around the small office they found themselves in.

"You had to say dead, didn't you," Ranion said as he reloaded the power pack in his pistols.

"Cover the door," Aurora told them, "I'll make us an exit."

Then she moved to the wall and stabbed her lightsaber into it, all the way up to the hilt. With a deliberate slowness she started to move the blade to the side, cutting as she went. The wall gave way like butter under a knife but it would still be some time before she could finish cutting a hole big enough for them. For now it was up to Ranion and Mera to buy them the time she needed...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

Jeric wasn't so much worried about the mercs, though there were enough of them. He had fought with men like that his entire life on the lower levels of Coruscant. His personal shield protected him from the first bolt, and was now recharging. Until it charged back up he was safe behind the booth to the left of the entrance. He watched his targets take cover on the opposite side of the door, and the Imperial went to work.

They were better trained than the mercenaries, but they were outnumbered. Their leader took out two of the mercenaries only a couple moments after the blasting started, but shortly thereafter they were pinned down near the bar. The one had been doing the talking was using his comm, probably sending in backup. No one seemed to be targeting Jeric, so he just waited behind the booth and kept his eyes on where the twins had hidden.

That was when the Xen Chi got involved. Jeric had tangled with one of those during the war, wrong place, wrong time, and he knew to steer clear. He was stronger than most, actually taking advantage of the natural strength Grans had, but some Xen Chi were well beyond him. That was when the lightsaber came out.

Alright, so we have Galactic marauders, Imps, mercs, smugglers and now Jedi... and if I don't get the people in between all these people the Syndicate will have all three of my eyes. Wonderful. Just great.

The trio, including the twins and the Jedi made a run towards the back of the room. No one else seemed to notice... except for the lead Imperial who kept talking into his comm. They were about to have a lot more company. He ducked away from a blaster bolt as one of his men took a blaster bolt in the chest and was then tossed aside by the Xen Chi.

Jeric kept low and made his way towards the back of the bar, blaster carbine in hand. About 15 seconds after the twins and the Jedi, Jeric walked into the kitchen area as the back wall exploded inwards. His targets ducked into a room to the side as a group of heavily armed and armored soldiers burst into the room. They were not Imperials. Jeric slid behind a nearby oven and detatched a grenade from his belt. All the fancy electronic gizmos in their helmets wouldn't like this very much.

With all the sounds from the explosion no one heard the clang of the metal grenade at the feet of the new arrivals. The disruptor grenade went off in bang and sent the soldiers to the floor. THey wouldn't be down for long. Jeric walked into the side room, and the twins and the Jedi turned towards him. The latter was making slow progress cutting a hole in the wall. The twins drew their weapons.

"Get out of the way." Jeric said, sliding a small launcher off of his shoulder. "We are going to have company very soon."

The three looked at each other and didn't move.

"Fine, get killed by the shrapnel, see if I care."

Jeric launched the explosive into the wall, and it stuck there for a moment before exploding.

* * *

"Boss, this isn't looking good." Talis' last remaining man said to him.

The Xen Chi was throwing around anyone in its way in what was becoming an epic bar fight. The mercenaries for some reason had decided to focus their attention on the Imperials first, while letting the twins run towards the back of the bar. Worse, the local ISB office was not quite understanding the type of urgency that was required in the current situation. When Imperial Intelligence and the ISS was gutted after the the reign of Damacus, all their local assets were liquidated. Talis would have to depend on the locals and the ISB Director that didn't seem to know what he was doing.

"We need an exit strategy."

The sound of the explosion from the back of the bar indicated that wasn't a good idea, and losing the twins wasn't a huge issue since both their ships were on lockdown. They weren't getting off the planet and Talis could reacquire them later.

Talis took out a small shaped charge from his jacket and put it on the wall. He pulled his man to the ground and the wall of the bar exploded and quickly burned through. Talis jumped out first, and as his man came out behind him a blade ripped through his back and out his chest. His blaster fell to the ground near Talis' feet. Not waiting a moment, Talis sprinted down the alleyway and out onto the main road, where finally he saw an Imperial transport.

Talis ran quickly to it while holding up his identification. Two men emerged from the back of it with their weapons drawn.

"Stand down." Talis said. "I'm Imperial Intelligence."

"Yes sir. Secure yourself in the back of the transport."

Talis nodded and walked towards them. As he got closer, he noticed both men had their fingers on the triggers of their blasters. Now closer to the two, he also noticed their armor... not Imperial issue... no it was the same as the mercenaries in the bar. He walked past the two men and took one step onto the back of the transport before turning quickly. Knife in hand, his initial slash cut the one guard's jugular. With a flick of his wrist, the blade flew from his hand and stuck in the second man's chest.

So much for relying on local security... or the ISB. I'm on my own.

Walking around to the front of the transport, Talis got in and made his way around to the rear entrance of the bar....
Last edited by corsos on Tue Nov 04, 2014 9:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap!" Aurora exclaimed as she jumped away from the wall just seconds before it exploded outward. She hit the ground and rolled up onto one knee and when she got up to dust herself off she shot an accusing glance at the Twins. "You two have an odd concept of 'cover the door'."

"Let's move," Jerik told them and Aurora leveled her lightsaber at him.

"Wait, who are you?"

Jerik ground his teeth but before he could respond a nearby explosion shook the building and showered them with debris. "Right, talk later," Aurora said before ducking past Jerik through the hole he just made...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Vox »

The explosion in the rear of the bar shook the teeth in Selic's head causing him to wince. He had grown irritated with the whole fight and decided the explosion was his queue to end the whole ordeal. Unzipping his leather swoop jacket Selic gave himself access to both his lightsaber and other weapons of choice and then made his way out the front door stepping over the bodies of unconscious or dead individuals. Looking at Xiel she nodded at him and jogged toward the back of the restaurant. Selic made his way around to the alley slipping passed the mass of personnel using the Force to aide in his staying hidden. He really didn't want to call more attention to Xiel or himself but if push came to shove he would have to show at least part of his hand.

He slipped into the shadow of the alley and waited for the group to appear. It seemed cliche in many ways to step out of the shadows in an alley to stop someone but honestly sometimes the cliche way was the best way to do something. He knew the Jedi would try to intimidate or at least wave her lightsaber around. He mentally shrugged at the thought and knew she was of little consequence. In reality no one in the bar really was. A job was a job and why their employer wanted what they wanted he had no idea but he was paying them well enough to not care. He wouldn't have to wait long by the sound of things which made him smirk in anticipation. He always did enjoy a good stand off especially when he knew his prey had no clue who he was or what he was capable of.

Watching four individuals exit the building Selic let the group approach him before stepping out of the shadows. His leather jacket open he saw the blasters come up and he held his hands up and smiled. "Ya know, I don't think it would be too wise to shoot. Trust me when I say you don't want to get into a fight with me."

Igniting her blade the Jedi stepped forward and Selic stopped her before she even tried to talk. "Might I suggest putting it away and perhaps finding out why exactly I stopped you? I would suggest avoiding any ideas that come from those two by the way. After the whole robotic bear incident I'm not even sure why they're still alive."

Holding open one side of his jacket Selic showed the woman two lightsabers hanging from the lining. "If these don't dissuade you, she most definitely should."


**************************

Xiel ducked through the back corridor of the restaurant her senses already on high alert. The mercenaries had been toys to her, the entire fight was nothing more than a skirmish in the end but her blood was pumping and through that her senses had become enhanced. She saw the people she was pursuing and fingered her srraka blades. Her lightsabers were hidden but within easy grabbing distance of the Force. Her previous masters had taught her many things but one thing they could never remove from her was her absolute love of her blades. Tailing Jedi was something she specialized in though the Gran she knew would probably pick up on the tail if it lasted too long.

As the group left through the hole Xiel silently followed. Rarely did she wear shoes but her soft soled boots maintained a silence she was appreciative of while protecting her feet. As she cleared the ragged edged hole and stepped into the alley she saw Selic had already stopped them. Shaking her head in disapproval she saw him standing with his hands up and then the Jedi lit her lightsaber. Xiel scowled and mumbled to herself. "That girl has got to learn to stop waving that thing around like a glow stick."

Reaching behind her back she pulled both srraka blades out of their crossed sheathes. As she pulled them out the pockets that held her lightsabers opened as well. If things got really out of hand she'd put an end to the entire situation. Their target wasn't the group so she could care less. Stopping a few feet behind the four of them she heard Selic mention her. Lifting both blades she set the one in her right hand on her right shoulder and let it run across both shoulders while the other pointed back at the ground. As she planted her feet she saw the glint in Selic's green eyes and smiled. "If these don't dissuade you, she most definitely should."

The group turned and looked at her. The Grans shoulders visibly dropped and Xiel's predatory smile turned into one of amusement. Taking a step toward them Xiel made it a point to let her impatience carry through without saying a word.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

The blade of Aurora's lightsaber fell until it was pointing to the ground. After glancing over her shoulder at the woman standing behind them she turned to look back at Selic. "Look, I just want a ride off this planet, that's all," she said, "I wasn't counting on having the worst streak of bad luck in my life."

She disengaged her lightsaber and lowered her arm to her side but she kept the hilt of her weapon in her hand. "I don't care who you are or what you want with them," she continued, "but if you have a ship I'll pay you."

"Never seen a Jedi negotiate before," Selic mused.

"I'm not a Jedi," she corrected him, "and I wouldn't delay us here very long. There are powerful people after me. People you should be afraid of."

"You're assuming much."

"And you're not listening," she exclaimed, "These people infiltrated the Knight's program under the nose of Reng Kasr. They've--done things to the initiates."

"Things," Mera asked, "What things?"

Then she caught the look from Ranion. "What? I can't know?"

"I don't remember much," Aurora said quietly, "It's why I left." Then she fixed her eyes on Selic, "but these people frighten the hell out of me and they're a lot better at hiding than you are."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

As Talis turned the transport around the corner, six figures stood out. The three troublemakers, including the one with the lightsaber was in the center, as was the bounty hunter. It looked like the Gran had his quarry and was in turn caught himself.

On either side of the group on the narrow street was the Xen Chi... and then another human. There appeared to be a bit of a standoff. All six turned towards the transport as it shed light down the duracreet street. He had interrupted something and just provided a potential opportunity to any of the captured to try something interesting.

Let's see if anyone makes a move with this little distraction.

Talis grabbed a rifle leaning on the passenger seat, and stood up, taking aim down the street. With the brightness of the lights, no one in the group would see anything but glare. For now, he would observe...
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Nichalus »

"Woah, woah and woah there Kid." Ranion had his hands out in front of him and a look of irritation on his face. "You already entered into a contract with us to get you off this planet. Not to mention you got us in the middle of whatever mess that 'you' have. Add that to the mess that me and my sister are in, and that just spells more trouble than we bargained for."

"My dim-witted brother does have a point." Mera nodded.

"Who's dim-witted?" Ranion retorted with a hurt look on his face. "Look the way I see it, we all need to get the hell outta here before our Imperial host can rally the troops. We need to make for the Falcon, it closer from here, than where the Array is."

"Wait a second, are you talking about 'the' Millennium Falcon?!?" Jerik stated incredulously. "You mean to tell me you two foul-ups actually stole the Millennium Falcon right out of the New Rep homeworld?"

Even Aurora had to look at them with a weary expression. "No way."

"Way, we did, and I think I know what the merc are here after." Ranion stated looking at Mera with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not leaving the Array." Mera stated stubbornly.

"I don't intend to. You still have the Slave Rig don't you?"

Mera reached into her pouch and felt the reassuring remote box there. "Yes, but..."

"But me no buts Sis, its the only way. She's in an open dock, and we'll just have to drag her along with us. We can't let those mercs get their hands on the package."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

"You stole the Millenium Falcon?" Aurora couldn't believe what she was hearing, "I can't show up in New Republic space on the Falcon! I'm going to them for protection! Just what'll they think if I show up on a stolen ship that belongs to one of their greatest generals?"

"I think you guys are getting ahead of yourselves," Jerik noted, pointing to the Xen'Chi and then to the headlights of the speeder just beyond.

"Oh right," Aurora replied sheepishly.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Vox »

Xiel's false impatience was quickly becoming a reality as the people before them bickered. Smacking her two srraka blades together flat on flat the ring filled the alley. This entire situation was getting out of hand and to make matters worse the daft person lighting the alley with the transport made them all look like they were part of a bad holovid. She was thrilled that at least the Gran had some sense but she was still tiring of it all. Enough of this...

"Are you all done with your childish bickering? If not let me suggest that you are." Xiel nodded toward Selic and then winked toward the transport.

"You're up. I'm done playing games. They start arguing again or do anything beyond what we say and I'm going to start with the fun parts of the loud one and work my way down to the Jedi who thinks that weapon she is carrying is a fracking glow stick."

Xiel's emphasis on Jedi made it very clear she viewed them all the same. Whether she had been a Scarlet Knight, Jedi Knight, Dark Knight or Knight of the Republic Xiel didn't care. They were all useless until they proved otherwise and each of them was nothing more than a play thing for her. She knew Selic had belonged to some order of Force users at some point in this life yet she had never cared about that either. He saw the galaxy the way she did which meant there was no black or white but there was such a thing as survival, purpose and living by a code. What that code was depended on your purpose in life and that purpose changed with how hard it was becoming to survive. Tapping her blades together again the ring seemed to get louder as if she had turned up the volume a few levels. Procrastination and being a Xen'Chi didn't get along and when she didn't get along with something it normally ended with that thing being broken or worse.

****************************

Selic shook his head at the nonsense going on in front of him and cringed as Xiel's srraka blades smacked together. He hated that sound. It was worse than any noise in the galaxy in his opinion and it made his brain feel like it had been bounced around in a box violently all day. "Before we get down to business I just want to say that stealing the Falcon was moronic. There are better ways to end up dead or worse and believe me if Solo or his wookie get a hold of you there will be a worse."

Turning away from the twins Selic looked at the Gran. "One of your associates has a gem we need. More specifically, two gems. One is a Soul Diamond and the other is a rare fire gem called a Keral. My employer needs to pull some information off of them and don't ask me what information because I don't know."

Nodding toward the three individuals behind Jerik he knew their time was going to be short and Xiel's patience was even shorter. "I don't care who has them or where they are. I just want them. If you don't hand them over she starts slicing and let's be honest none of us want that."

Making a pained face Selic looked toward Ranion and pursed his lips with an 'I told you so' look. "You really should listen to your sister more and just so you are aware, she was calling you the loud one."
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Pryde »

"This couldn't get any worse," Aurora muttered to herself. Then, almost as if on queue, another figure dropped in right in the middle of them.

"What the--," was all Ranion managed to say before the new arrival slugged him in the face. He staggered slightly under the blow and the woman used that opportunity to grab him and pull him off balance. Then she twisted him about and threw him into his sister, sending them both sprawling to the pavement.

Aurora ignited her lightsaber again and attacked, slashing at the woman with incredible speed but missing her entirely. The lithe figure dodged each of her attacks while working her way over to the Gran. Jerik blocked her first attack then her second and as he tried to bring his blaster into play he suddenly found it knocked out of his hands.

Aurora didn't let up and even as the woman was fighting Jerik she was dodging the lightsaber. A punch and a kick sent Aurora stumbling backwards and shortly after the woman caught one of Jerik's arms under hers before judo flipping him onto the ground. Mera and Ranion both had blasters and were firing at her. The woman dodged out of the way with an impressive display of acrobatics then promptly disarmed the twins with a pair of throwing knives.

Aurora recovered her balanced and charged in again. She struck wildly at the woman in a vain attempt to hit but each time swung at where she thought the woman was there was nothing there. Finally she felt the assassin grab her by the wrist and wrestle her about. At the same time Jerik was on his feet again but before he could attack the woman kicked him in the gut then spun around Aurora building a bit of momentum before round house kicking the Gran in the face and sending him flying with such force that should have been impossible for a human being.

Jerik hit a dumpster on the other side of the alley as Aurora struggled against the assassin's grip, twisting this way and that. Finally, she dropped her entire weight and tossed the woman over her head. As they both came up again Aurora had her saber raised and ready to strike but she found herself looking into the woman's eyes. Suddenly she had no desire to fight anymore and let her lightsaber fall to the pavement. She stood there in a daze doing nothing.

Talis took the opportunity to open fire, aiming for Aurora's head. There was only one way the Empire intended to handle rogue Imperial Knights and that was death. The woman did something odd then and kicked the girl out of the way just as the shot sailed right past her. At this point Xiel had had enough and with a maniacal grin she surged forward on the attack. The Xen'Chi slashed at the newcomer with deadly accuracy but Agent X41822N as she was called was a weapon forged for battle. She had no other identity, nor did she need one and despite being unarmed and outmatched by a superior opponent Agent X was holding her own...
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Vox
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Vox »

Xiel stood watching the new arrival with the intensity of a student studying for a final. Every move was calculated and nearly perfect. Nearly. She was operating on a level most would never learn to fight at. She was approaching the line where instinct and learned ability nearly aligned but something was wrong. Her moves weren't fluid or trained they were rehearsed and nearly mechanical in nature. As those in front of her tried to fight back Xiel waited a few more moments and then struck experimentally. The woman was fast but again, mechanical. As Xiel pushed her each move was exactly where it needed to be exactly when it needed to be. Speeding up her attacks Xiel slid each srraka blade into it's sheath and let her mind process each attack. Mentally nudging Selic she felt him turn and push with the Force against the transport. Whoever was in the transport was in for a rough ride if they didn't get the hint.

Dodging backward Xiel let the woman attack her several more times. Kicks, punches, slaps and knees came at her murderously fast. Each precisely when and where the Xen'Chi predicted. After a few more moments Xiel blocked an attack and struck back against the woman, hard. Her movements became faster, stronger and more precise than the woman before her. Each move was fractionally faster than the woman could compensate for and Xiel could tell the woman was having a hard time adjusting. She kept her moves unimaginative to keep things simple as she had already figured out exactly how to defeat the woman. Xiel landed a kick with her right leg followed quickly by a right elbow that was blocked. A left hook to the woman's body landed over her kidney while a right knee found her abdomen. Two elbows rained down on Xiel's neck as she twisted away and smiled. Ducking a left hook thrown towards her head Xiel side stepped and landed a right handed slap that echoed across the alley before she landed another left hook to the woman's kidney followed by a vicious right uppercut. Dancing backward the woman adjusted her feet and seemed ready to keep fighting. Smiling Xiel was beginning to enjoy herself and was happy that she didn't need to involve the Force at all. While she's not the best I've ever fought she's still entertaining...

**************************

Selic was trying to watch Xiel fight yet realized he needed to keep the person in the transport busy. Shaking the vehicle with the Force again he shoved it to the left and watched it nudge one of the nearby buildings. Whoever was inside needed to get the picture rather quickly otherwise he was going to have to go up there and that was not something he was particularly fond of doing.
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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by corsos »

"Sithspit..." Jerik said, crawling over to get his blaster back in his hand. WHomever that was... they were fast. Very fast. He had been embarrassed and didn't like that very much. As Jerik reached for the blaster it slid across the street and another ten feet from him. He glanced up at the Xen Chi's companion, who looked at him with a derisive smirk.

Another forcer...

"Fine... be that way." Jerik said, pulling a small handheld pistol from his belt. He fired it at the man, but it wasn't a laser blast or even a projectile. No, it was one of his own inventions quite useful for capturing targets alive. The gun discharged a small electrical charge and a thinly cut durasteel net designed to pin the target against a nearby wall. No doubt the man would cut out of it with his lightsaber, but it would give Jerik a chance to make some kind of move. The steel mesh shot out at the man, spreading out to a diameter as wide as six men... which at this close range would be impossible to dodge... even for a forcer.

All the while in the back of his mind, Jerik was trying to figure out what possible associate or companion the forcer was talking about... he worked alone, always.

* * *

"Another one?" Between the one that saved Aurora from his blaster shot and whomever was giving him a little nudge there were far too many players in this game for it to remain a net positive for him.

Talis felt the transport rattle back and forth, a tremor that could have only been made by the force. He didn't think the former Imperial knight had that type of ability... but maybe the other one did. He thought he recognized the man, but he would have to check his files. The fight in the bar had happened fast and he never got a good luck at the man. But all the mattered now was getting to the only two people he was concerned about, the twins. They would lead him to the woman.

Sounds and light coming down the street from the opposite direction drew Talis' attention away from the group for a moment.

Reinforcements...

He didn't have the firepower or the backup to deal with more of the mercenaries. Slipping back into the driver seat and lowering the heavily armored from panels, he pushed the transports throttle to full throttle and set it shooting down the narrow street. He took control of the forward heavy blaster and sprayed bolts down the alley, making sure to keep them away from the twins. The transport continued to pickup speed as it barreled towards the group. With only a few feet of clearance on either side of the heavily armored transport, people began to dodge. SHortly after passing the twins, Talis slammed on the breaks and opened the rear door in front of the twins.

Talis looked back through the open entry with his blaster rifle trained.

"I suggest you get on if you want a hope of getting off this planet."

He was right, after all, since he was the only one that could have the Empire lift the restrictions on their spacecraft.

ooc Voxy - I figured that Jerik's move would distract Selic long enough to get the transport down the alley without him trying to force stop it.
"The goal of war is not to die for your country, it's to make the other bastard die for his." General George S. Patton

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Re: Keeping it in the Family

Post by Mir »

His words would have found more purchase, if the Twins weren’t still knocked out. Talis grimaced, knowing that his opportunity had been sorely undervalued. The pay never justified the amount of work. About to try a new plan, his movements, and everyone else’s were halted by a voice.

“Enough.”

Some members of the group turned to see the man from the mercenary group who had spoken before. His helmet was off, like the rest of the mercenaries who had attacked them in the bar. He stood in the street, and watched as various looks crossed the faces of the people involved in this debacle, ranging from the gamut from contempt to disinterest.

Selic, who had cut through the durasteel net had his eyes trained for Jerik, but there was a motion that drew that attention away. Agent X41822N leapt forward, towards Aurora, choosing that moment to strike. The girl’s unfocused attention had been snapped when Xiel and Agent X41822N had started fighting. Suddenly, the Agent was halted in mid motion, and yanked backwards, crashing into a wall. Xiel looked at Selic who shook his head and looked at the mercenary leader. It had been too sudden for Aurora to respond to, and neither of them had done anything. Clearly the mercenary group leader was a forcer as well. The noise brought the Twins up out of unconsciousness.

“H-Hol…on, whaddwemissss…” Mera said. It was not her finest moment of utilizing Basic. But it was decidedly better than her abilities after she’d had a copious amount of Whyren’s Reserve.

“I believe the leader of the mercenaries is speaking.” C5 said. “The one who wants to end us.”

“No…I remember that part. Stuff happened after that. Someone started shooting, and I didn’t get the comm. number of the hot grey looking chick.” Ranion said. “She was very good looking.”

Xiel stepped forward, a glare on her face, a look of amusement on that of Selic’s visag.

“Whoa!” Ranion said, backing up. “Not nicer in person. She’s got knives.” He said, poking Mera in the stomach.

“You’re one man, why should we fear you?” Jerik said, the Gran’s eye stalks swiveling around as he looked to see if there were more with the mercenary, or if he was indeed, alone. It looked like it. On the inside though, Jerik’s mind was racing, trying to remember everything he could about the two stones that the Xen’Chi woman and her comrade in arms had spoken about.

“Because let’s put it this way, I don’t care how good this,” he said and gestured at all of them, “village of idiots think that they are, I’m better than you. The guy I work for, he’s pretty damn good too. I’m scared of him. The guy he works for?” The mercenary said and shook his head with a rueful smile, letting the question hang in the air.

“I’m actually interested in hearing this.” Selic said.

“Let’s just say that he’s the kind of guy that makes you hug your loved ones, because you both know you’re never going to see them again.” He replied. “Now. Here’s how we’re going to do this. The morons are coming with me. Everyone else, I don’t care about.” He said, and then pointed a finger at C5. “If I hear a word of melodrama from you about how I don’t care about you, you will come with me, and I will shoot you out of an airlock into a star.”

“I can’t let you do that.” Jerik said. “I have a bounty on them, and I will collect.” He said.

“We’re not letting him get out of our sight.” Xiel said, indicating Jerik.

The mercenary leader sighed. “Just remember when all of this is over, the Twins come with me.” He said, and turned, starting to walk away.

“You’re just leaving?” Aurora asked. “What’s going to stop us from leaving ourselves.”

It was then that they saw the heavy vehicular transports come around the corner. The mercenary leader had figured that dealing with all of them, after they were in Imperial custody and their weapons taken from them, was a better option. Stunning rounds were fired into the alleyway, as Talis held out his badge.

Things were suddenly looking up for him.
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