RK stood in the elevator, waiting for it to talked him to the top level. It would have been nice to get a little background information on the two other VE personal he would be working with; at least he was able to get their names. He was an easy going guy, but he knew not knowing his allies could end up badly.

He watched the scenery flash past as he continued to move up towards the level he was assigned to. He hoped this would be an easier mission than it sounded, just some body guard work, nothing complicated. If he had to he's just use his nueronic whip to put any enemies int there place. Easy enough.

ding.  The elevator doors slid open to reveal the majestic looking room before him. It wasn't much, just something to keep the politicians happy, specially ones that came from places like Naboo. RK stepped out onto the carpet. The doors hissed shut behind him and he could hear the elevator disappear back down to the first level.

He made his way into the lobby where the guards were supposed to meet. The was already there. RK was shocked when he saw an Ithorian stand there. It wasn't like the army didn't have aliens, but he never suspected a ithorian to joined the empire, he probably had a good reason for it. The other guard seemed to be absent.

“well, you must be Ror...”

“Yea, and your.... LK”

“No, Ryan Karraax, friends call my RK for short.” RK grinned. He had heard stories that ithorians were mean creatures, whoever told him that was wrong. Part of that could have been the tussle he got into with one back on his first mission with Jester.

“I hope I'm not late.” a man said behind RK, he was huffing , it even sounded like it he was running low on breath.

“Nope, I just got here myself.” RK commented.

“Ah, you must be LK, this is going to be hard to remember.”

“EH, don't worry about it.”

“We have to work with a Ithorian, I thought aliens weren't allowed in the VE?!?” Lk changed the subject fast, he almost didn't even formally introduce himself.

“Don't tell me your actually going to give me the same trouble that those other guys gave me.” Ror said.

“Uhhh, LK, that was abolished a long time ago when the VE separated from the remnant.”

LK didn't even respond, he just ignored Ror. well, this could be interesting, we have an ithorian, a man who dislikes the idea of aliens in the empire, and the fun guy. Eh, shouldn't be hard to learn to get along. RK loved challenge.

Ror looked at the man as he spoke about the Emperor, did this man really not know the Emperor was dead or was he just in denial or what? Ror rolled his eyes as Rk explained the next part of the mission to them.

RK sighed. “Yeah. Ok boys, here’s what we got. We’ll meet the Moff downstairs in a few hours, and it’ll be evening by then. We all got a posh dinner to go to, so we can welcome him. Our orders are to stick to him like glue, not let him leave our sight, and try not to interfere with his hob-nobbing too much. Got it?”

Great I just LOVE those post dinners, you know because US bodyguards ALWAYS get to eat their and NEVER have to stand their for hours and hours on end watching fat old vets scarff down fancy 5-star food in front of their faces.

Ror sighed at the next realization, "I suppose the dinner will be formal," scorn filling his words with by the end. Ror had grudgingly brought his dress uniform to the guard duty figuring something like this would end up happening while HE had to be on guard duty. He had a specially made jacket, shirt, and pants designed to fit his Ithroian figure. They were in the standard army greyish-blue and were stiff as can be.

RK nodded. “Perfect. Okay boys, it’s time to go check out our living arrangements. Ror let out another sigh as he got up and shoved his chair under the table. The three of them went up two flights to be one under the Moffs two flights. There three rooms were shanty staff rooms that were about 8 by 8 meters and had a desk, bed, closet, and small refresher. Ror laid down on his bed and silently set the alarm on his trusty datapad for the 10 minutes before he was to report back down stair to meet the Moff for the dinner.

Oh data pad what would I ever do without you. Such a handy thing in such a small package, ha!

Ror closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep while awaiting for the buzzing of his data pad to go off. Ror was in deep sleep for about an hour by the time the buzzer went off waking him up instantly. Ror yawned and got up slowly and walked over to his closet and grabbed his dress uniform. Quickly walking into the refresher Ror came out a minute later changed into his uniform.

Ror walked out of the room and saw LK walking down the hallway in his dress uniform towards the elevator. "Yo Lk whats up man so what about that Emperor comment earlier? Were you an original trooper? I would of but they didn't let aliens in back then and I was to young to go to war to begin with."

LK stopped dead in his tracks and stared coldly at the ithorian, "Don't talk to me you dirty bloody alien scum...I mean sir" Ror was dumbstruck by the mans bigotry. The two of them walked to the elevator in silence from there on out and went down to the meeting place.

OOC:

Okay you two each do a post about the dinner and I will do one and include moving us along to the actual murder k? We are gonna have to be very organized and consistent in our posts so recap stuff in ooc after your posts and announce if your making a shift froward in the story or what not.

LK-486 bore his commanding officer's ridicule stoically. It wouldn't be the first time his faith had been put to the test by jeering superiors.

LK-486 had not been hungry. A ration pack later in the evening would suffice. The food was too rich for him anyway, after a soldier's diet. Instead, he stood guard, taking in everything with eagle eyes. His seat was in the middle of the table, which suited him fine. He had a more commanding view of the long table at which the delegates from both factions were eating.

LK-486 turned his eyes to the chandelier hovering over them. It wasn't one of the normal ones, with repulsorlift power causing it to float; it was one of those old fashioned jobs, with a gold chain and everything. LK-486 was emotionless, but that didn't stop him from admiring another piece of artwork created by his beloved  Empire.

Ah yes....The Empire. This meeting was critical. If the Empire did not reunite soon...LK-486 repressed a shudder as he thought of that traitor, that Luke Skywalker and his New Republic. If the Empire remained in these factions, fighting over every asteroid belt which could have resources in it...

They were sitting ducks.

LK-486 caught the glance of a man across the table, staring at him. LK-486 fully appreciated the stunning factor of his brown gaze, a gaze which pierced the soul; or a gaze which simply did not have one behind it.

Not wishing to set unease in the mind of a diplomat, LK-486 readjusted his dinner jacket's cuff and looked down at his untouched soup. Most other patrons were on their second course, but he had allowed his appetizer to grow cold, his cutlery untouched. This suited the Stormtrooper fine; eating would only distract him. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to sense if anything was wrong with the scene.

Moff Tyko...unsettled him. A Moff shouldn't mix so well with his underlings. He really hoped the Moff had enough dignity to call him by his full designation. Familiarities such as “LK” were not for the brass to call the grunts. He was still a soldier, by Emperor. Not some sort of cheap bodyguard. LK-486 was an elite shock soldier, and that is why he was chosen to guard such an important person. Not because he was a chummy sort.

Being chummy lead to emotion, and emotion got in the way of duty.

Emotion got you killed.

LK-486 swiveled his head to the right, slamming his hand down on the table. He looked down at the pinned hand of his neighbor. The visiting dignitary smiled sheepishly.

“Could I use your fork? I seem to have dropped mine.”

LK-486 let go instantly, turning his head to face the person eating opposite him.

Something was not right.

Creaking?

LK-486 looked around, panning his gaze at the laughing visitors. RK and Ror were sitting closer to Moff Tyko than he was. LK-486 hissed through his teeth. What was wrong with this picture?

LK-486 stood up, excusing himself politely from the table. Instead of going to the bathroom, he instead chose to go to the far wall, apparently admiring the double doors they had entered through. The solid doors were made of imported oak, probably from Naboo. He traced a gloved hand over the door, thinking of Moenia. With a snap, he withdrew the hand and stuffed the memory back into his metal filing cabinet.

He patted his jacket, where he had his old scout pistol, back from his days fighting the Rebellion. In all those years, his service pistol had never failed him in a tight corner. While he preferred carbines, the accuracy and punch of a well-placed blaster shot was not to be under-estimated. Gripping it tightly in its side holster and looking ridiculously like Napoleon, he began to walk around the room.

Doors? Clear. Balconies? Clear. Table....

LK-486's eyes widened as he heard the creaking grow ominously louder.....

His eyes widened even more as he whipped his head around just in time to see the chandelier come tumbling down.

Right on top of Tyko's head.

OOC:

moving the plot right along. Feel free to document our horrified reactions in the next post, as well as a good telling to from some sort of higher up.

RK checked himself over, he had gotten a mark across his elbow from stray shrapnel, but other than that he was fine. It hurt like crazy, but he hop

“Well, there goes my raise.” Rk was trying to lighten the situation, but he knew it wasn't helping.

“That's the least of our worries.” Ror replied.

It was the oddest thing, that hadn't even heard a sound other than the cracking of the chandelier. Which made it highly peculiar, somehow that chandelier fell. “true, where's LK?” He went missing during the dinner and hadnt returned for a while.

“Right here, I suppose the Moff is dead?” LK came up behind them. Ror jumped slightly; RK  had to take a double take to make sure it wasn't someone else.

“Not yet, but he sustained some pretty bad injuries, so chances are he's a goner.”

“I see, looks like this isn't going exactly as planned, the Emporer is not going to be happy.”

There he goes again. RK didn't know what to do at this point. The medic's really didn't give an on the spot diagnoses, but it was obvious he wasn't going to make it, and If he didn't they would all get eaten out by their superiors. At the moment.

“He's a goner alright, sorry boys, but I just got confirmation that he's dead.” A man said, walking closer to their group.

They fell silent, for a few seconds, then RK spoke up. “Who may I ask are you?”

“I apologize, my name is Gul Nyuk. I'm a detective, just got here.” Gul was short, which was a surprise, but built which made up for his lack of stature. RK however didn't notice this, instead he was wondering why the man was smiling and just standing there. 'I have a few questions for you guys, but I'm going to have to ask you to come down to the station.”

“Wait, hold it, your arresting us?”

“Wow, you catch on fast.”

“Okay, nows not the time,the man we were supposed to be guarding just got killed, and you think we did it?!?” Ror was obviously angry about it, after all out of the three of them he would probably get the worst treatment.

“I'm sorry, but as far as I can see you three are the only one's unscathed.” Gul was persistent, and he wasn't even beating around the bush, he just came told them the Moff had died and then told them they were under arrest.

“Fine.” LK interrupted.

“Wait, fine? This is definitely not fine.”

“There's not point fighting him, he'll just bring in back up and killing him isn't an option after all he already thinks were suspects.”

This was all happening to fast for RK's liking, but he had no choice; LK was right, killing him wasn't an option. Without thought RK let his grip off his blaster's handle, he hadn't even noticed he was holding it.

“I guess that means your going to co-operate very wise of you.” They followed Gul outside, where his speeder was parked.

“Guys, we have to try and prove ourselves innocent.” RK whispered to them.

“If we have the chance.” Ror Added.

Ror started curing in old Ithorian blabbering a mile a minute using curses, hexes, profanity that one on an herdship would be ashamed to speak let a lone scream out loud. The three of them were now stuck in an Imperial cell.

We are god damn STC for emperor sake! I mean common would we really assassinate a Grand Moff of that much importance to begin with. Dammit dammit dammit! Batha fodder bastards! OH when I get out of here there will be hell to pay!

Ror was at this tiem jumping up and down screaming profanity after profanity while Lk stood still and Rk sat with his head in his arms. Finally calming down Ror spoke to the others, "What a mess we're in.” And slammed down on the bench exhausted from the shouting and raving.

“How are we going to get out of this? They can't honestly think that we did this...” Rk said looking up at Ror with a general look of panic in his eyes.

“We'll be fine.” LK-486 said. “They have nothing on us.” He turned to face his companions. “You two are loyal, aren't you?” glaring at Ror and Rk, reminding Ror why he hated the man.

“Of course, LK!” RK exclaimed insulted at Lk's statement. “We're Corporals for crying out loud! We-”


"Shhh, somes body is coming," Lk said as the all turned and saw that the detective that had arrested them was walking down the hall with some jailers.

“LK-486, you are free to go.” detective Nyuk said. Lk stood there for a moment before walking blankly out of the cell without a word.

"Hey what about us!" exclaimed Rk jumping up from the bench.

Nyuk looked down to the ground and shook his head almost in sorrow before looking back up, “Sorry boys. 'fraid old unit 486 here is the only one who walks, doncha know.”

Ror rose an eyebrow at this, "Why is that?"

Nyuk slapped Lk's back playfully excepting some type of response, of course getting none, "This here's a Stormtrooper from the Civil War, lad. Doncha know what they do? Can't be blackmailed, bribed, coerced, threatened...we're talking about the perfect soldier here, doncha know? If designation LK-486 was told to protect the life of...well, anything by a superior officer, he's gonna damn well protect it, doncha know?”

Ror spat at the statement knowing it was true,

At least one of us is getting out, maybe the cold bastard will get Rk out and leave me to rot, damn bastard

“What if we told him to kill the Moff?” Snapped RK not even realizing what he just said.

"Is that a confession?" the detective said glaring into Rk's eyes hoping that he just slipped up and the mess was solved. Rk gulped and sat back down.

“We're going to ask 486 a coupla questions, doncha know? Then we're going to let him go. Real asset to the Empire and whatnot, doncha know? And when I get back, I'll be takin' one of you next. Got it?” Both Ror and Rk nodded and the group shut the gate and turned to leave.

Rk moaned as they were left alone and Ror cursed again and punched the bench. Ror got up and walked across the room and put his hand and head on the wall, "Let me go firs! I will get us out of this mess." Ror saw Rk's head move up and down in agreement and they sat their and waited. There wasn't much to do but to think.

How could this have happened? why didn't we think of it or notice the creaking damn, this is one shit hole you got yourself into Ror

Soon Nyuk came back into the room and opened the cell, "First one up please." Ror nodded and proceeded out and followed Nyuk out into the hallway and into a integration room, "So Ror is it? Odd choice of jobs being in the STC for an Ithorian, arn't you guys tree huggers doncha ya know?"

Ror glared silently at the detective for a second before answering the question, "so is that a problem doncha ya know?"

"Now Ror don't make fun of me, besides you missed used doncha ya know, doncha ya know?" Nyuk said with a laugh. "Now Ror tell me from your point of view about all that you know happened tonight. K? that might just save ya donch ya know..."

"Can you stop the donch ya knows please they really irate me, now for what happened tonight..." Ror went onto tell Nyuk all about the night and Rk and Lk and how he dived on the "crash" site and dug through metal and glass to get the Moff out and the shooting afterwards.

"Aww yest that shooting cost the lives of a dozen innocents doncha ya know?" Nyuk said after Ror finished his story.

"Figures, anyway so you got to see we are being framed here! Well atleast I am, I didn't kill the moff, HELL! I EVEN LIKED THE GUY! you are sworn to protect the innocent and peace so help me out Mr. Nyuk." Ror said feeling his heart rate go up getting nervous.

"Now Ror it doesn't look good for you but I will do ALL THAT I CAN for you, now go back to the cell and sleep, you have had a streeful day," Nyuk added in an almost sarcastic voice, finishing with a suspicious smile creeping up on his face.

Ror and Nyuk walked back to the cell and Ror entered the cell and Nyuk took his handcuffs off, "Rk" its your turn," Nyuk said as Rk followed him out.