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Topic:  IIan Cand: The Outsider
Raigen
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Raigen
 
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  IIan Cand: The Outsider
March 12, 2013 4:10:58 AM    View the profile of Raigen 
Part One : Hope Rekindled

It had been almost six months since IIan Trask Cand had seen the the stars.  He found little difference in the Republic's prison's from that of the Imperial ones on Cetti IV. His skin was pale and his hair had grown long and dried out.  Being bounced between the Republic's burgeoning justice system did little for his appearance but he took solace in knowing that he was finally free.  The bleak landscape of Coruscunt's prison district rose high on what IIan could only assume was the horizon, but he could still see the stars almost straight above him. He was at the center of a vast galaxy, expanding and extending ever outward, never still, always moving. An emergent forest of the unknown.  He was a new man, ripped from the grasp of death, thrown into the depths of the galaxy and spit out like a phoenix from the ash.  Thow he new this was the start of something new for himself, he still had some loose ends. 


There was a holobooth at the end of the walkway heading toward the gravlifts. Large platforms ten meters wide suspended by energy. At any time, twenty to thirty people crowded the inside of the cylidrical elevator, shooving themselves in and forcing their way back out as it stoped at the more prominent levels of the ever-rising cityscape.  "Contact Code Boar-Phi-Theta-Two-One-Epsilon-Three," there was a pause as the HUD on the holobooth flickered and went dark...a soft female voice replied in an alien language which IIan did not speak. It was inconsequential, he new how to respond. "I'd like to speak with the ringmaker please, his son is calling."


"Data is not relevant, no such employee." the voice responded, this time in basic. Cand knew that the voice recognition on the other end must have recognized him and transfered him to the Secure Transcom. But he had not expected the response.  Surely the flagship escaped. His unit couldn't have been the only survivors.


"Give me the Captain, this is crewman Cand, callsign WOLFEPACK FIVE authorization code little bantha." There was another pause, this time longer, which gave him some comfort, it meant he was being connected.


"This is Commander Tara Challon. Good to hear from you Cand." The voice was stronger, more assertive than the last but in no way less soft,  The was a sensuous nature to the command in her vocal patterns, something IIan tried not to dwell on, knowing how dangerous the faceless woman speaking to him from across the galaxy really was.


"And you, tell me...what of Admiral Bandaar? What of the fleet?"


"As far as we know," the fierceness had faded from her voice, "Only the Helsa escaped, we've renamed her the Widow's Tears in honor of the fallen...and obviously you managed to escape the surface.  There have been scattered reports of survivors across the outer regions but nothing conclusive...We are still conducting investigations on possible survivors...How did you escape? We haven't even heard rumors of anyone on the surface esaping the bombardment..."


"I was with the Sector Marshall when we fled the capital, there couldn't have been more than a few hundred of us left...I...We made it north and..." It was a blur, combined with a flash, and blinded by tears. Men he had fought with, men he knew not just as comrades but as friends dying around him. Falling like snow in a blizzard of death and loss.  He wasn't even sure if he was holding back the memory on his own or if it was his heart not letting him bring up the past.


"It's fine Cand. Are you coming in? I can arrange a transport." The voice had regained some of its softness.


"Yes, I'm on coruscant, I'm sending you the coordinates to my location now."
[-=Nazgul Squadron=-]
FM/CPO Raigen/Nazgul Squadron 12/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1FL/VEN/VE(=*A*=)[VC:B][SWC][BRC][NS-2]
Author/WS Raigen/Lotaith/VET/VE

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Raigen
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Raigen
 
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  RE: IIan Cand: The Outsider
March 12, 2013 10:48:19 PM    View the profile of Raigen 
Coruscant’s prison district was a bustling hub of motels, general traders, and pubs sprawling with the odd mix of recently released prisoners, off duty guards, and the occasional visiting friend or family member.  Spaceports littered the upper levels, with the temporary housing, slums, and bars providing the foundation of the space scrapers.  Compared with the rest of the great expanse of the city-planet, the prison district was crevasse of the skyline dipping underneath the taller, more imposing buildings that shot up miles into the atmosphere. The glow and splendor of the financial or entertainment quadrants was replaced by a combination of shadows from the taller buildings in the distance and the dense smog from the workhouses, sweatshops, and factories that employed the galaxy’s vile, corrupt, and a fair number of innocent scapegoats.


It was here that IIan had spent the last two months or so, in and out of hearings, trials, and meetings with republic appointed arbitrators.  Prisoners of the Imperial Remnant are rarely tried in Republic Courts after liberation, but the combination of false identity records and his pirate tattoos lead to a long litigation process that kept him behind bars here on Coruscant. But now he was free, released from the small cell and the blue shielded wall that kept him confined to his own thoughts, his own past.  And now, he would start a new life for himself in the Outer Rim, far away from the hypocritical Republic and their regulations and deliberations.  He thought of Tatooine, maybe as a bantha farmer. The leather sold fairly quickly and the meat didn’t taste horrible.  He had heard of jobs transporting fresh water to Tatooine from the inner routes.  He wouldn’t mind learning to fly.


The lift screamed to a stop with whirring of turbines fading away and the breaks screeching the platform to a halt against the durasteel pilings that guided it up and down along the spaceport’s underlying layers.  The spaceport level was wider than those of the other layers with walkways and platforms suspended by relpusar lifts and redundant cables.  All kinds of transports and freighters in holding patterns, docking or departing the platforms created a buzzing atmosphere around the hub.  IIan tried to eye his transport but soon realized it would be impossible amongst the traffic.


It was dusk, and although he could not see the sun rising on the unseen horizon, an ambient light began to peek over the tops of the buildings.  Although, for spacers, there was no such thing as night, at this time of day more ship were departing filling ascension lanes and leaving empty ports for incoming ships.  This was the busiest time of the stardate.  Incoming transports would be fighting over the comm for open travel lanes, there would be numbers of port officials tracking and guiding both ships incoming and outgoing as well as airspeeders attempting to fly through the docking zones.  Long customs regulations would be gone over for any ship requesting to leave the planet, even more for those leaving the system.  IIan knew it could be hours before his transport arrived, and more before he could depart.  He looked for somewhere to change clothes.

Cand approached one of the green glowing signs lain out in a cul de sac of the inside of the space port.  Horizontally above the sign were the words Cantina in basic Aurek Besh but running down were words in an odd language similar to Duran that he could barely make out.  The bar itself was suspect, but he was low on credits and there was no cover at this particular venue so he ventured in.  The inside of the Glowlight Cantina was as filled with smog as the air in the prison district.  There were skookum pipes in every corner and the misty green smoke rose up to the ceiling in little clouds above the booths.  There was no clear, dominant species in the bar.  In fact IIan saw few humans there at all.  IIan covered his face as he pushed through the crowded dance floor, away from the pipes and toward the bar.  The bartender was Bothan and didn't seem to speak basic so he ordered in Huttesse, a language he learned as a child when he was the deckboy on a RDO yaht (in all honesty he knew now that the yaht was a front for a spice smuggling ship). 

"Dantoonian Ale no. 3 please." He asked with little urgency.  The Bothan's fur was a paling black ebony that made IIan think that he must be twice his own age.  Scars on his face and hand suggested he had fought in the civil war but he knew better than to inquire.

"We don't have it," the barkeep replied in Basic with a snarl and an feeling of contempt toward him.

"No. 7 then?"  IIan tried to sound cordial but he was doubtful this was going to go well for him.  He looked around at the other patrons.  Those who weren't staring in contempt looked plainly as if they were trying to avoid his presence.  He had stumbled into an all alien bar.

"No.1, thats ten credits." the bartender's attitude changed and IIan could see he was amused with himself.

"For a High Brew, you're kidding me. Give me a CoroLite." He could tell he was being ripped off...'better stay for just one,' he thought as he tossed a few credits on the bar.  He took the beer, a piss poor excuse for one at any rate, and watched the holonews on the small projection in front of him.  Little of the headlines were relevant as it was a galaxy wide program: bits on prices of ship fuel going up, rebellions in backwater outer rim planets, certain diplomatic figures having an extramarital affair, certain diplomatic figures having and extrahumanoidal affair.  It was all a dog and pony show to distract the public from the threat of the many Imperial Remnant groups gaining power closer to the Inner Rim.
[-=Nazgul Squadron=-]
FM/CPO Raigen/Nazgul Squadron 12/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1FL/VEN/VE(=*A*=)[VC:B][SWC][BRC][NS-2]
Author/WS Raigen/Lotaith/VET/VE

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Still Alive as of 1-6-11 [email protected]
Raigen
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Raigen
 
[VE-NAVY] Chief Petty Officer
 
Post Number:  1301
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  RE: IIan Cand: The Outsider
March 14, 2013 12:58:41 AM    View the profile of Raigen 
Outside, IIan could hardly notice that the traffic had slowed down to its normal midday pace, although this was hardly a noticeable difference, and the sun was edging its way up through the cracks in the city's skyline.  All kinds of nocturnal species and night-owls had pulled up their hoods and headed in for their days rest.  IIan, who stood almost three meters and was hardly a slender sentient, found it difficult to push his way through the crowded platform toward the lobby of the spaceport.  The receiving platform was massive considering the small size of the district.  Holosigns dictating the arrival of larger commercial ships hung in a circle around the center of the lobby two and a half meters above the deck, suspended in nothing, projected from a towering pole hanging from the awning the covered the area.  Cand approached one of the smaller terminals that were spread out on the deck like callbooths.


"Ship Number 284759-Thesh:....Inbound...Estimated Docking time 1028 CrscST.  Platform 14-Docking bay 3"  He read over it carefully before checking the time on the monitor.  The ship would be here in any minute and he still had not changed.  'On the ship' he thought as he whipped his drawpack back over his shoulder and shoveled off for the platform.  He recognized the ship almost immediately, it was a KSY vessel.  Korribian Ship Yards, the brain child of the late Raigen Tei-Yehn, was a shipyard located within the center of Asteroid Prime.  After the hostile takeover of the spacestation, the inside of the asteroid was mined out and turned into a private drydock for the Red Dragon Order.  The ship itself was one of the POD transports, a long, narrow ship with a rounded cockpit.  The fuselage had an almost phallic shape that reminded IIan of its designer.  'Raigen...never the serious one were you.'


The captain was twi'lek, quiet.  He spoke one sentence, "We should be arriving at our destination in three hours and there is a small refresher in the back for you to change."  At first, Cand wondered how the spacer knew he intended to change onboard.  It was then, as he entered the boarding ramp, that he saw the neatly folded uniform on the first jump seat closest to the bow.  IIan was familiar with the double-belted ensemble.  All black, trousers, tunic, undershirt, the collar coming close together on the neck.  His medals and ribbons were already adorned upon the breast, he noticed new additions, he ignored them.  He put all but one out of his mind, the silver stripe along the pants.  Third highest award in the Order, the Rebels' Stripe.  He knew most of the men who received it shot up through the chain of command like a rocket.  The last he knew to be awarded the stripe was Tei-Yehn, and he became second in command of the entire Alliance soon after.  He grabbed the boots and belts but left the rest as he headed toward the refresher.


IIan emerged from the refresher as he was double strapping the second belt.  He wore his trousers bloused over his boots, and his white undertunic was still sweat stained from the hours of calisthenics that it took to fit into the oversized shirt he had been issued in prison.  He tossed his old black battle tunic, now fading, over his back and slipped in his arms.  He looked down at the old nametag on his chest and ripped it off with conviction.  As the cloth fell to the floor of the ship it folded so that the name Trask was hardly legible.
TRN/CPO IIan Trask Cand/S:137 Raptor/W:46 Shield/PLF Cappadocious/TF:TH/3Flt/VENA/SC/VEN/VE (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*BO*=)[VC:B][SWC][BRC][NS-2]

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Raigen
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Raigen
 
[VE-NAVY] Chief Petty Officer
 
Post Number:  1303
Total Posts:  1363
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  RE: IIan Cand: The Outsider
March 14, 2013 11:06:56 PM    View the profile of Raigen 
The flight took almost ten hours, or at least he thought judging on how rested he felt, before they had reached the remote point in space in the mid rim.  IIan, as well traveled in the galaxy as he was, did not recognize the system.  A singular sun, three planets (none of which looked even remotely inhabitable), one small blue gas giant, and there were at least three asteroid belts and multiple larger demiplanets that made up the system.  The POD-E5 transport locked in an approach vector for the gas giant as it made its way beyond the first asteroid belt.


"We're approaching the Marcus Platform now.  I'd advise you to strap yourself in now, sir.  The ride will not continue to be this pleasant."  As the ship descended into the rings of the gas giant, the dust and particles began to stress the deflector shields, rocking the ship and alerting multiple alarms within the cockpit. "I apologize for the rough entry, but we have very strict security protocols here on Helios I.  Any ship that approaches the planet at a different vector is immediately met with the turbolaser batteries upon entering the atmosphere."  The ship banked around one of the larger rocks as the platform came into view.


"What kind of gas is this?"  IIan asked as the ship maneuvered into a descent.  The subtle changes in color around the planet seemed to disappear as the closed in.  Strait ahead, behind the clouds and the storms that made up the upper level of the planet's atmosphere, the platform's size became apparent. Hundreds of kilometers in every direction, long parallel components at least a hundred meters apart were aglow with ships, droids, and workers all abuzz constructing unrecognizable parts and components.  "My god, it's a shipyard, within the gas giant?"


"Zylum-824, very volatile, it powers the entire station.  Once within the atmosphere we're limited to repulsar power.  There are hundreds of tractor stations hidden within the planets rings that brings completed parts and ships out of the gravity well and within safe range for normal thrusters."  Cand could see some of the larger ship sections moving into the assembly area above the platform.  IIan could barely recognize the design, a Korribian Super Star Destroyer Type A, It would be the largest ship in the RDO once completed, rivaling even the larger Imperial vessels.  At the lower portion of the platform, the Korribian Battle Class Cruiser Widows'' Tears was docked, roughly the size of a dreadnaught but much more modular and with more stealth and speed.  The BattleCruisers have been known to hold there own against the larger Victory class Star Destroyers by maneuvering to the rear and disabling their engines.


As the Cruisers tractor beam pulled the ship into the port docking bay.  Rows of sparrow class fighters lined the top of the docking bay while numbers of suspended R2 and R3 astromech droids serviced them while hanging upside down on the ceiling of the docking bay.  Behind them, a Hawk Class Long Range Patrol ship was holding its position outside the docking back as its fighters slowly, one by one, broke from the carrier and crept into the brightly lit hanger.  Each, slowly inverting and connecting with the unused docking ports, R3 droids rushed toward the scars in the hulls of the sparrows as the snub pilots pulled themselves upright and climbed out of their ships.  The Hawk boat then took off toward its refueling station on another side of the station.


IIan remembered the pirate fighter pilots as a child, always drinking or gambling in their quarters apart from the rest of the Order.  Most of them had signed up because they lost their right to fly legally, or just wanted a free ride and a life outside the Civil War.  Most of them lived to fly, and the Order(with less personnel than the Remnants or the Republic) let them fly more sorties than the sanctioned navies.  Some spent more time in the cockpit than they did onboard their assigned ships and although they weren't paid any more for the extra work, the excitement and the flight time made it worth it.  The Order benefited the most from this, as the pilots were usually dead before they could collect their pay.  Nonetheless, IIan respected these men as they were loyal and had no fear of death.


The hanger floor was alive with activity; techs running routine checkups on the assault gunships(two pilot vessels with four pivoting gun batteries that swiveled in almost every direction,) officers inspecting the cleanliness of the area, and a second transport unloading the new recruits from who-knows-where.  IIan could make out the looks on there faces as they exited the ship.  They knew they would be dead within the week.  At least most of them at any rate.  Cand gave a final nod toward the pilot who proceeded to inspect his ship before his imminent departure.


The BattleCruisers were taller than the Dreadnaughts, or at least they had more levels and more modular sections making them seem bigger.  A lift ran from the hanger to the bridge level and then fore'd to the Command Center of the Widows' Tears.  The lift was an express route to high command, reserved especially for officers and covered half the length of the ship in mere seconds.  IIan struggled to remain on his feet as it screamed to a stop just outside the bridge, across from the officers quarters.  He passed no security checkpoints he entered the command center; they were expecting him.
TRN/CRM IIan Trask Cand/S:137 Raptor/W:46 Shield/PLF Cappadocious/TF:TH/3Flt/VENA/SC/VEN/VE[BRC]

==================
CPO Raigen DarkBlayde Tei-Yehn/VE (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*BO*=)[VC:B][SWC][BRC][NS-2] ==RETIRED==

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Raigen
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Raigen
 
[VE-NAVY] Chief Petty Officer
 
Post Number:  1305
Total Posts:  1363
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  RE: IIan Cand: The Outsider
March 19, 2013 2:01:13 AM    View the profile of Raigen 
Tara Kast Challon stood at an unimposing 5'8", although everyone around her knew she had a short temper and a durasteel heart that could freeze a wompa.  She had, much like many of the higher ups and to much of her contemporaries distaste, been raised and trained by the Grand Admiral Darren Bandaar himself.  It was Darren who organized the Order and brought it back from obscurity after the fall of the senate during the clone wars.  The old republic saw no need for clandestine tendrils within its ranks, and once the senate was purged of the Order, the red dragon leadership withdrew into the shadows.


In the time before the Galactic Civil War, Darren was able to use key members of the Empire along with valuable political ties in the outer rim to create a fleet of pirates working in almost every corner of the outer rim.  In that time and up to a few years after Corruscant changed hands, Darren was able to amass an armada, the largest racket the galaxy had ever seen, all under the nose of the public.  But those days were over, and the order was reduced to a skeleton fleet and a handful of smaller platforms.  In the process of rebuilding the Order after the massacre at Lorelei, the Helios station was built by Challon to rebuild the armada.  She has overseen its facilities from the flagship ever since.

The bridge of the Widows' Tears was dark, and a ghost shift crew manned the helm.  Tara paced from the communications sensors to the long range array in a militaristic parade stance.  One would never tell that she had never been formally trained.  Rather, she had developed her mentors' body language over years of acute observation.

Dwarfed by the new presence on the bridge, Challon offered the customary two fingered salute and stepped forward toward IIan Cand.  Tara's uniform, tight fitting and professional, contrasted brilliantly with IIan's grungy appearance.  The two had grown up side by side but it was immediately evident that they were from two very different worlds.  "Commander," she stated as she looked over him with a mixture of relief and disgust.  He needed a shower, and she so wished he'd have tried on the new uniform if nothing else than to boost the crew's morale, "Our resident hero, the sole survivor," her accent was thick.  There were rumors that she laid it on to seem exotic, but it was just another inherited quirk.

"Commander, that's a hoot Tarr, last time I checked I was just another gun totin' spacer."  IIan looked around the bridge, admiring the upgrades to the weapons systems.  He knew the Helsa had been due for an overhaul before the name change.  'nothing ever stays the same' he thought to himself.

"Asteroid Prime just rolled out the second battlecruiser, Bandaar's Legacy.  She's a beauty...and with the addition of a second command ship, I can officially take the title of Admiral."  Tara smirked a little.

"Oh no, that was you and Raigen who were queer for titles.  You aren't impressing me.  Now what's this bantha about me being a Commander."

"With our primary fleet patroling this sector and the construction of the Avignon II, I'm required to oversee this facility for a few more weeks.  And the Legacy needs a captain." Tara looked at IIan out of the corner of her eye, 'your move big man' she thought to herself, not knowing whether or not he'd accept.

"Now hold on Tara, I just spent a damn Bocalian year in prison, don't give me that bantha.  Is that what you brought me here for? So you can flaunt me around as your little hero and make me a ship captain for some crazy cause I never believed in in the first place?"  IIan's face turned red with anger and he pointed at Challon as he talked.

"I won't have you disrespect me in front of my crew!" Tara bit back at Cand and they were toe to toe in a heartbeat. "We'll continue this conversation in my quarters comrade Cand where I expect a full debriefing.  If you haven't forgotten, your mission isn't over and if you fail to comply, so help me sith I'll space the fodder out of you so fast your eyeballs will shoot out your head like vertuvian fruit worms."

Tara ran her shoulder into IIan's chest as she left the bridge, "I WON"T ASK AGAIN COMRADE!"  IIan twitched as he turned and followed.  He thought he heard one of the crewman mutter something along the lines of 'bitch' as he exited.
TRN/CRM IIan Trask Cand/S:137 Raptor/W:46 Shield/PLF Cappadocious/TF:TH/3Flt/VENA/SC/VEN/VE[BRC]

==================
CPO Raigen DarkBlayde Tei-Yehn/VE (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*BO*=)[VC:B][SWC][BRC][NS-2] ==RETIRED==

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