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ComNet > Neutral Messages > Archived StoryNet > Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
 
 
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Author
Topic:  Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
Talon
ComNet Overlord
 
[VE-ARMY] High General
[VE-DJO] Dark Jeedai Master (DJM)
[VE-VEHC] High General
 
Post Number:  1490
Total Posts:  2417
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 5, 2004 1:28:10 PM    View the profile of Talon 
[OOC: ..and so the DJO joins in Chapter 8. Any non-DJ that posts on this thread will find the post deleted. The title is playing off of the previous stories in the DJO where they've been split up doing personal missions.]

Aboard the VSD-II Griffen, the remnants of the Dark Council sat in a circle, meditating by themselves.  Those outside the room could feel a spike of Force activity now and then, but the Council members all ignored each other's activities.

Klaxons blared.

"Shit." Talon hissed as he quickly rose to his feet.  Without waiting, he dashed from the conference room, heading for the bridge.  Talon rounded a corner sharply and found himself in a long hallway.  The sound of his boots hitting the deck echoed in both directions.

A chime sounded over the speakers and a voice came over the line, "Master Taurus, this is the Captain.  Your presence is requested on the bridge immediately."  The comm was deactivated and another chime rang out.  Fighting back a sarcastic comment, Talon continued to pump his legs.  Talon saw the blast door to the bridge ahead and reached out with the Force, tapping the release.  The door irised open just in time to allow Talon to pass through and skid to a halt.  Talon straitened to his full height after coming to a halt.

Captain Jei nodded to Talon, aware that formalities past that annoyed the High General.  "Sir, we are picking up multiple hostile contacts that hyped in ahead of us.  They've formed an attack pattern and have started to open fire on the planetary defenses of Lotaith.  The contacts include Imperial class Star Destroyers with the same IFF as the Star Vipers' fleet.  The majority are TIEs launched from the Star Destroyers.  We are in the process of turning the Griffen about.  We managed to get a quick SOS transmission out to the Vectra system.  Upon sending it, our communications were jammed.  We have no clue if the fleet received the message or if they're in the process of defending as well."

Talon nodded, absorbing the information as he moved toward the command chair.  "I have the command, Captain." he said calmly.  Turning to the nearest of the crew pits, he ordered, "Comms, hail their flag ship.  It's the one taking the rear."  Talon waited patiently after the command was accepted.  'Skylla..' Talon thought.  'Be safe, my love.'  He could have kicked himself for leaving her on Lotaith.  If she was hurt in this attack...

The communications main screen flickered to life and an Imperial Commodore glared into the Griffen's bridge.  "I am Commodore Quade, Commanding Officer of the Genocide.  You will stand down now and prepare for boarding." the pompous man spouted.

Talon leaned forward in his chair and locked gazes with the man.  "Quade," he started unceremoniously, "you're a fool.  I am High General Taurus, Operations Officer of the Vast Empire.  You will stand down and prepare to be killed in a rather nasty way."  Talon didn't get a chance to play off of the rage that was building within the man before the link was cut from their end.  Talon turned back to Jei and simply said, "The command is yours, Captain.  You will command Griffen squadron, but take orders from my cousin.  Commodore Claw is in the Nemesis on the other side of the attackers.  You've got one advantage here.  Quade is no tactician.  I remember him from my diplomatic ventures with the Star Vipers.  They sent him because they can spare him."

"Aye, sir." replied Jei as he reclaimed his command chair.  He was already barking orders before Talon could leave the bridge.  The door closed behind Talon and all was quiet again.  'Meet me in the briefing room outside the hangar.' Talon instructed all of his Dark Jedi.

*  *  *


Talon nodded to Riel, who was the last to enter the briefing room.  The Krath took up his usual position in the back, leaning against the wall.  Talon took a moment to look over all of the Dark Jedi present.  "It's time to fight guys.  Darkhawk, you're with me.  We're taking out the flag ship.  Everyone else, you're covering Griffen squadron.  Keep my pilots alive, alright?  You'll be taking out the TIE Interceptors and the other two ISD's.  Leave the TIE Fighters for the turrets and planetary defenses unless you have to.  They should make short of them.  We're short on time, so head for your ships now.  In Darkness, my Brothers."

Without waiting, Talon turned and bolted out of the door.  He could hear the clanking of Darkhawk's heavy suit following him.  As Talon neared the Shadow, the ramp lowered.  Talon ran up the ramp and said, "ZeroOne, get us cloaked and airborne."  The droid within the computer systems of the Krath Infiltrator acknowledged and raised the ramp as soon as Darkhawk was aboard.  The repulsors hummed to life and pushed the ship into the air.  With calculated precision, the droid guided the Shadow out of the hold.  "Head for the Genocide." commanded Talon as he strapped the Sith sword to his back, hilt down.  He grabbed the fingerless glove that housed a type of lightsaber and strapped it to his left hand.  Finishing that, he turned to Darkhawk.  The Dark Lord was merely standing  near the hatch.  "How's the weather in there?" he asked jokingly.
 
-----------------------
OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
-----------------------
SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE
[This message has been edited by Talon (edited September 5, 2004 1:29:39 PM)]
Cyanus
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-DJO] Dark Jedi Knight (DJK)
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 5, 2004 5:48:00 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    All eyes followed Talon and Darkhawk out of there, then returned to stare at each other. Eventually, everyone seemed to leave in pairs toward the bay, until Cyanus, Phoenix, and Otto remained. Though they were with the Order, they retained their Raiders identities. They remained there, staring at the projector.
    "Together again, huh?" Cyanus looked down at the hologram showing Lotaith with red triangular shapes and numerous tiny blips zooming about. "Think I'll get to meet the Raiders during the campaign?" Phoenix managed a cynical smirk.
    "Doubtful," Otto shook his head. "And they wouldn't recognize you two. Well, not by your behavior, anyway."
    The younger men looked at him, then at each other, and grinned evilly.
    "We should go," Phoenix announced plainly.
   
   
    A small photo of two brothers flew into the disposal unit, along with some of Jikkyo's and Jubei's personal belongings that he'd taken from Bestine IV and the Atrus. Yet he didn't seem to remember bringing them. He'd disappeared without a word to Raiders, so that was probably a part of it too. No matter. Phoenix slid into his vacuum suit and clipped his saber to his belt. Covering a squadron of TIEs? Phoenix spat. He looked contemptuously at the photos, seeing himself - no, a dead man - in better days. If there were such days for a Sith. With a huff, the Dark Jedi marched out the door.

    Right next door, Cyanus zipped up his TIE fighter pilot suit and turned to find his one-time friend and squad leader waiting at the door. "Would you stop doing that?"
    "Time's a wasting," Phoenix tapped his gloved wrist and folded his arms across his chest expecting a smack across the head. His eyes wandered over to a jewel laying next to a partially dismantled saber on top of a simple wooden desk. The gem floated to his hands.
    "Pretty thing, where did you get it?" He raised an eyebrow tauntingly.
    Cyanus glared at his leader, snatching the gem back and attaching it to his right breast. "That is none of your business, and don't think about probing my mind for information either. I'm used to those tricks."
    "Wouldn't you have done the same to me?" Asked the Sith, trying his absolute best to look innocent. He looked down at Cyanus' lightsaber, a blank look on his face. "You beat me - no, Angel - once , Dee, but next time, I promise you I'll win."
    Cyanus winced at that name, then faced Phoenix. "If there is a next time. There's the door. Use it."
    Shortly after the Sith soldier left, Cyanus returned to his maintenance work. Tearing off the rayskin and cotton cord, since they simply got in the way, he opened the casing. Using tips he'd gotten from the Griffen's chief electrician, he carefully adjusted the delicate mechanisms using his spare parts with the goal of conserving power while retaining the same saber strength. Then he heard the final launch warning.
   
   
    The bay of the Griffen was an extremely busy place, with crewmen scurrying about and ships launching into space, one could easily get lost in the maze of equipment.
    Already the shielded TIE Interceptors and Dark Jedi ships were taking off. Cyanus spotted Phoenix boarding his craft. Above them, black-clad fighter pilots hastily ran across the catwalks and dropped down to their respective ships. The Krath knight jogged over to his own TIE Avenger, the Storm Knight, and checked it over with the servicemen. Receiving the all-clear signal from them and the air traffic control, he punched the accelerators. With a roar, the glossy floor in front of him skimmed by and soon he was in space joining the rest of the Dark Jedi and Griffen squadron in the attacks on the Firestorm and the Arc Nebula.

 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
[This message has been edited by Cyanus (edited September 5, 2004 10:45:41 PM)]
Cosmic
ComNet Disciple
 
[VE-ARMY] High Colonel
[VE-DJO] Krath Prophet(ess) (KPR)
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 5, 2004 9:03:04 PM    View the profile of Cosmic 
Cosmic strode to his unusual starfighter, the Nigritude, and leapt into the cockpit. The 13-meter long starfighter roared to life as Cosmic activated the powerful engines. He engaged the thrusters, and the Nigritude slowly ascended from the Griffen's hangar bay floor. Cosmic felt somewhat uneasy about being in this vessel, and yet his hands moved swiftly over the controls as if they had done it a thousand times before. He also had the strange sensation of "knowing" space combat; again, feeling that he had done this numerous times in the past with great success.

The Nigritude slowly turned on an x-axis to face the open hangar bay doors. Cosmic gave the two medium laser cannons and concussion missile launchers one final check before navigating into open space. Once the ship had birthed from the Griffen, Cosmic was greeted by a wave of Vast Empire pilots as they swept past him towards their targets. Without hesitation, he maximized the output of the engines, and sped towards his first target: a nearby TIE Interceptor.

The pilot of the Interceptor noticed the strange starfighter speeding towards him on his port side, and immediately rolled downwards and to the left. The pilot kept a close eye on his target through his scanner, and watched the little red dot rear in behind him. It was time to find out what this guy was made of, and he continued on a parallel trajectory to see what kind of pilot he was dealing with.

The Nigritude was directly behind the Interceptor by some 100 meters and continued on a parallel course. Cosmic inched closer, but did not fire. He suddenly recalled that he hadn't been in the pilot's seat since the Hyperspace Wars, and yet he finds himself in this age where Dark Jedi have become a rare sight. He suddenly felt the urge to toy with this fool in front of him, and he quickly increased the power to his thrusters, bringing in the Nigritude close behind the Interceptor.

The Interceptor pilot felt a quick sensation of panic as several interior alarms sounded signaling that an enemy vessel had become dangerously close to his own starfighter. He was about pull the stick to the left when he felt a sudden jerk. His jaw slowly dropped open as he watched the "claws" of his Interceptor slowly fold in upon themselves. Out of pure fear, he shoved the stick forward to evade, but the ship responded by flashing emergency indicator lights on his console. His engine was somehow deteriorating, but no laser fire had been fired. The engines finally cut out altogether, and he found himself in a floating coffin. All power was failing, and life support levels was dropping rapidly.

Cosmic grinned as he backed the Nigritude off to get a better view at his target. The Krath Prophet cracked his neck and smirked before pulling the trigger, destroying the Interceptor with a single blow. A low cackle escaped his lips before peeling off and locking on to his next target. He had to toy around a little first and have a little fun before truly getting into the dogfight.
 
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/HCL Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][IOC][SoA]
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE [VP][KC1][OAK]
-----------------------
Cyanus
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
[VE-DJO] Dark Jedi Knight (DJK)
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 5, 2004 10:41:46 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    Having almost no space combat experience or training whatsoever, Cyanus left his piloting abilities to the Force. He spotted three Interceptors stupidly flying in a solid delta formation and ran an IFF check. A distinct click warned the Dark Knight that these weren't friendly craft. He accelerated to full throttle and came up right behind the three. He checked his rear sensors.
    One of the Griffen's TIEs came up beside Cyanus and fired all four laser cannons at the left Interceptor. The two Imperials passed through a cloud of fiery debris and found that the remaining two split up to divide them. It was a futile maneuver. The Griffen pilot veered toward the rightmost fighter and Cyanus followed the leader.
    The Storm Knight veered hard to the right to avoid a cowardly shot from behind. One of them got in, as was shown in the display panel. Cyanus muttered darkly and flipped a lever on his flight yoke.
    A small mine was released and slammed into the pursuing fighter. The detonation rocked Cyanus' ship but he continued chasing the TIE leader. Off to the distant left, the Arc Nebula seemed to be slowly turning its bow at the Nemesis. Its complement of three TIE Interceptor squadrons bursting out of the hangers like a cloud of dust.
    Alarmed, the Dark Jedi flipped on his helmet comm. "This is the Storm Knight, I have visual confirmation of the Arc Nebula; it's moving into attack position against the Nemesis.

    Back on the Griffen, Captain Jei gazed at the tactical display,  which showed random blips disappearing and the massive ISD was vectoring toward the Nemesis for sure. "Captain, what should we do?"

    Cyanus finally matched his foe in maneuvering about to get a good missile lock. The tone rang in his head and the words 'Missile Locked' glowed brightly on the front panel. He pushed the button and watched the orange sphere make its way to the enemy, then veered away from the ensuing explosion.

   
    Flak bursts in the air made it difficult to see the space battle far above, but Colonel Jenorim peered hard through his macrobinoculars and spotted what seemed to be a white dagger-shaped vessel floating. So, they are coming to the rescue. Might be too little too late.
    Some of the building domes opened up and exposed the large gun barrels of the massive defense turrets. Unsuspecting TIEs roared overhead, and were blown apart. The gun crews shot air-bursting shells which rained flaming hell on the invaders.
    The defense fighter pilots were already manning their ships and preparing to repel these Star Vipers. It was all they could do...

   
    Scratch off another one, Cyanus thought as he gazed at the wreckage in front of him, though it was only a few grains of sand in a desert. He put his fighter into a turn and nearly crashed into a defunct TIE. Wondering when Griffen squadron would break through the lines and engage the destroyers, he gave chase to a TIE interceptor.
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
[This message has been edited by Cyanus (edited September 6, 2004 2:31:59 PM)]
Fallen Angel
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[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 1:28:15 PM    View the profile of Fallen Angel 
Dropping himself into the cockpit of the Tie A/D Avenger he recently acquired, Phoenix strapped himself in and pulled on his helmet. He had never piloted a craft quite like this one, but he knew the layout of TIE's fairly well and had no problem running through the startup procedures.

All systems showed green and hot, and Phoenix ran through a quick weapons check. Good, my missiles were replaced by Proton Torpedoes, perfect for taking out those pesky Destroyers. Activating the repulsor lifts, he lifted the Inquisitor off the hanger floor and gently rotated it to face the exit of the hanger. Kicking in his main ion drives, the Inquisitor shot out of the Griffen's hanger bay...and straight into hell.

Interceptors, fighters, bombers and various Dark Jedi ships twisted and twirled in a deadly dance. Laser beams and concussion missiles filled the empty vacuum of space. It would have been almost beautiful, had the Sith Knight any concept of the word.

Pushing the throttle to full, the Inquisitor quickly accelerated. The HUD and targeting computer came online and Phoenix switched it to the nearest target. Snap rolling his TIE, he came up behind a flight of interceptors running cover for each other. Flicking the lasers over to dual fire, Phoenix snapped off a shot at the lead Interceptor. Reaching out with the Force, Phoenix saw where the pilot's next move. Gently feathering the left rudder, he put the lasers on quad-fire, and let out a burst of pure green energy.

The doomed Interceptor rolled left, right into the quad burst. Steel superheated and melted as two beams cut through the foils. The TIE exploded as the other two pierced the ion drives. A warning through the Force cut through his joy at the kill, and Phoenix pushed down hard on the flight yoke sending the Inquisitor into a sharp dive. A linked laser burst cut through where his craft once was. Pulling back on the throttle, he whipped his fighter around in a turn which would have knocked him out in atmosphere.

He came out of the turn on the tail of one of the three remaining interceptors from the flight he was pursuing. Not wasting time, he simply slagged the interceptor with three quad bursts, then peeled off in search of the rest of his prey...

Just then Cyanus' voice crackled through the ships comm system. ""This is the Storm Knight, I have visual confirmation of the Arc Nebula, it's moving into attack position against the Nemesis."

Searching the area with the Force, Phoenix picked up the presence of the Dark Jedi and their relative positions. Cyanus was engaged a few kliks to his six, Talon and Darkhawk were somewhere ahead of him, Cosmic was shining brilliantly through the Force, his delight at the mayhem evident, and was on the opposite side of the Griffen from him.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Phoenix perceived the thrid TIE coming up from under him. Killing the throttle, he opened himself fully to the Force. Letting it guide his hand, he squeezed the trigger sending a quad burst directly into the cockpit of the Interceptor streaking in front of him. Human flesh discintegrated, along with steel and pretty much the entire Interceptor.

A wide grin crossed Phoenix's face. I love being in control!
 
-----------------------
Gunnery Sergeant Jikkyo "Fallen Angel" Nimiichi
Squad Leader (SL) - Raider Squad
-
AS-2/SL/GSG Fallen Angel/3SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/Tadath [LoR] [RoM] [BC] [CDS] [BoA]

Sith Adept Phoenix

TRN/SAD Phoenix/Training 2/VEDJ/VE/Lopen
"You need guys like me." - Tony Montana
[This message has been edited by Angel (edited September 6, 2004 1:32:08 PM)]
LoneWolf
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
[VE-DJO] Dark Jedi Knight (DJK)
[VE-NAVY] 2nd Lieutenant (2LT)
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 1:54:30 PM    View the profile of LoneWolf 
LoneWolf wasted no time in boarding his ship a TIE Advanced. His astromech droid already had the ship prepped and ready to go. As he sat down in his seat, he strapped himself in and activated the controls.
The lights dimmed into a battle mode and the engines hummed to life. He could feel the craft's power behind each course adjustment. As soon as the tips of the wings pointed toward space LoneWolf pushed the throttle to full.

The ion engines made a constant, soft, scream throughout the interior. The inside felt colder than usual, LoneWolf had failed to put on a vac suit, something he was used to wearing in space combat. The Dark Jedi Knight briefly toyed with the idea of putting one on but quickly dismissed the notion as he soon entered enemy fire.

LoneWolf was taken by surprise by the maneuverability of his ship.  He hadn't flown in what seemed like ages.
Taking advantage of his craft's capabilities, he turned to approach an enemy fighter. His cross hairs glowed brighter as he got a lock, he fired his sage lasers as did his opponent. Both of them put their ships into evasive maneuvers while trying to get another clear shot at the other. The enemy pilot tried to predict LoneWolf's course but it was the Dark Jedi who could accurately do it first. He quickly fired a few scatter shots at the target, which missed, but drove the enemy into a pair of emerald lasers which cut through him.
Satisfied, LoneWolf turned his ship to find the next target.

As the battle continued LoneWolf took advantage of a few more ships.
Flying was a skill which would never leave LoneWolf completely, yet he found himself more than a little rusty at the controls of a space fighter, and a TIE for that fact.
He double check his armaments to find a full supply of Proton Torpedoes still installed and ready.
Checking his HUD he found that both of the "secondary" Star Destroyers were still holding up, He would make it a priority to cripple one of them. The HUD showed a close up image of the ISD Firestorm. The ship had maybe ten percent more shields than it's counterpart.
LoneWolf bit his lip as he surveyed the battled, it was a decision of either going to help his comrades or to spread out their potential damage amoung the enemies.
"Lets get a few more of these fighters first." His HUD selected an interceptor on his six. Still feeling ticked off about his ordeal onboard the Griffen, LoneWolf muttered, "you chose a hell of a day to try and kill me."
 
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Lonewolf/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)(=SA=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[SRC][VC:Ebony]

CM/DJK LoneWolf/Sith/Eagle Sect/VEDJ

"With each kill, I grow wiser, with added wisdom, I grow stronger..." -Artemis Entreri
[This message has been edited by LoneWolf (edited September 6, 2004 7:35:13 PM)]
Darkhawk
ComNet Disciple
 
[VE-DJO] Sith Warrior (SW)
[VE-NAVY] Commodore (COM)
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 1:57:35 PM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  Cold. Dark. Lonely. Empty. Darkhawk repressed a shiver. Space must be a lot like death. He gazed out the viewport of Talon's Krath starfighter at the ensuing space battle. Today, space and death meet and become one. An enemy TIE Fighter exploded and a miniscule tremor rippled through the Force, unnoticeable to anyone but a highly trained Jedi. Darkhawk sensed many of these ripples as pilots were being vaporized everywhere around him. So far his fellow brethren seemed to be faring well, though.
  "Cyanus and Phoenix... how are their piloting skills?"

  Talon shook his head. "Not all that great. It always takes a while for soldiers to get used to this kind of thing. It's a risk we'll have to take, bringing them along."

  Darkhawk nodded. "There was a time when my hands would have been itching to be behind the controls of a starfighter at a time like this."

  The Grand Master arched an eyebrow. "And now?"

  "Now I could care less."

  Talon made a noncommital noise. His career had begun as a soldier, as well, so he didn't understand the thrill a pilot felt in space combat. Darkhawk was one of the best, once.
  The Dark Jedi Master had turned off his ship's comm - neither man had a deep need to listen to the battle being narrated. If any of the other Dark Jedi needed to reach one of them, the Force would suffice. Darkhawk reached out through the Force, trying to get a feel of some of the emotions they were feeling. No fear. That's good. They were up against some stacked odds, but hopefully it was nothing they couldn't handle.
  Two Mark-I Imperial Star Destroyers were fading fast behind them. The Arc Nebula was hammering the Nemesis and Lotaith's other defenses, while the Firestorm had moved to intercept the Griffen. Griffen Sect's personal starship had more than enough firepower to stand up to an ImpStar, but the enemy ship carried three times as many fighters. It would have been interesting to see how the battle was played out - if Darkhawk had been able to muster any interest.
  Their target was the Genocide, flagship of the enemy's task force. Quade, the opposing commander, had left his ship farther out, naively not expecting any reinforcements.

  "Well, if you aren't hyped up about the space battle, at least try to get a little excited about our mission," Talon said.

    The Sith Lord reached down and felt his two lightsabres, one on each side, out of habit. They were, of course, both there. "I am ready to do my duty."

  Talon grinned. "Why the stoic facade all of a sudden?"

  "I... I don't know. Something doesn't... feel right."

  The Grand Master closed his eyes for a moment. "I don't feel anything. Are you sure?"

  Darkhawk had grown used to not being believed all the time. Sometimes he didn't trust himself, either. But this... there was something to this one. He was positive. "I don't know. It's probably not important."

  They were getting closer to the enemy flagship now, near enough that turbolasers and ion cannons would have begun to fire at them if they had not been cloaked.  TIE Fighters and Interceptors began to pour out of the Genocide to join the fray. The flagship had been hanging back on the edge of battle, but now that the Griffen had shown up, it was moving to join its sister ships.

  "Looks like they really want to make this a fight."

  The Sith Warrior chuckled. "Did you expect them to just run away when we showed up?"

  "It would have been a nice gesture," Talon muttered.

  The Sith Lord glanced down at the HUD and noticed that the Nemesis was taking heavy damage from theArc Nebula. So far the Vast Empire's Golan defense platforms were still holding up, but their shields were beginning to weaken. Most of the fighters from the Nemesis seemed to have been destroyed already.
  "We need to hurry up. I'm not sure those Golans can hold up much longer, much less the Nemesis."

  "Well, get ready," he warned. "We're almost there."

  Trigit, are you there? Darkhawk called.

  Yes. What's up?

  The
Genocide is launching its wing of fighters. They'll be heading your way. Don't let them get through to the Nemesis or it's toast.

  We're doing everything we can. But thanks for the warning.
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:39:38 PM)]
Trigit
ComNet Initiate
 
[VE-ARMY] Captain
[VE-DJO] Sith Guardian (SG)
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 4:27:24 PM    View the profile of Trigit 
Trigit smiled as he vaporized his sixth kill of the engagement. He hadn't been sure of how his new Sith Starfighter would perform, since it only had two heavy laser cannons instead of the four he was used to. He found, however, that
the two ion cannons more than made up for it, since they could stop a starfighter dead in space with one volley, leaving
the target helpless for his other other's lasers. He would, however, have to give some thought to adding some things,
perhapes even a cloaking device for covert missions.

The Genocide is launching its wing of fighters.They'll be heading your way. Don't let them get through to the Nemesis or it's toast.

We're doing everything we can. But thanks for the warning.

Trigit glanced at his HUD, looking at the incoming wing of fighters, analyzing them to see what they were and their
attack pattern.

Hmm, standard Imperial wing, 36 TIE Fighters, 24 Interceptors, and 12 Bombers, wonder where the bombers will head? Trigit thought to himself. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, the bombers started vectoring in on the Nemesis.

Well, guess that answers that question. Trigit thought to himself.

Reaching out with the Force, Trigit found the closest Dark Jedi, Cyanus, and sent a thought to his brother.

Cyanus, form up on me, we can't let those bombers get into torpedo range.

Right, I'm right behind you.

As soon as Trigit sensed the reply, he noticed Cyanus turning to take up position off his wing, accelerating to catch up to the bombers. Trigit increased his throttle to max, hoping to get to the bombers before they got within range. A warbling tone entered the cockpit, indicating that the first of the bombers was entering his torpedo range, however Trigit decided to lay off on using his torpedos, as he knew they might be needed against the ISDs later. Another tone sounded, indicating that he was within laser and ion cannon range, but he had sensed this even as the tone was sounding, and selected the lead bomber to take out first. An idea occured to him then, that the enemy was driving valuable ships, even if the pilots themselves were not valuable. Switching to his ion cannons, Trigit was about to open fire when the bombers started launching torpedos.

"Sithspawn!" he swore aloud, before reaching out with the Force to Cyanus.

Cyanus, you have the faster ship, get after those torpedos, shoot 'em down, and let the Nemesis know they have incoming!

Cyanus didn't respond with the Force or a word, but he increased his throttle to max power and shot off after the torpedos. Trigit stayed back and opened fire with his ion cannons on the bombers, hoping to disable each one so that the Griffen could
recover them for possible later use.
 
-----------------------
Retired Ambassador
Sith Guardian - Rogue
irc.fesgaming.com Server Administrator
Cyanus
ComNet Member
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 5:28:44 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    The torpedoes weren't exactly that hard to find. Their glowing red energy sheaths betrayed their locations almost instantly in the black backdrop, and they were on his sensor screens anyway. Cyanus opened fire on a TIE bomber in his way and flew through its debris cloud before sighting the rest of the torpedoes. Trigit's Sith starfighter fired away with its blue rays and stopped the enemy ships in their tracks -- except for the one the Dark Knight vaporized.
    He switched to the Nemesis' frequency. "This is the Storm Knight again, ISD Nemesis, you have incoming proton torpedoes. Advise reassigning some batteries to deal with them." The Avenger starfighter took some glancing hits from the TIE bombers behind him.
    Cyanus adjusted his yoke and pedals into a gut-wrenching barrel roll, avoiding the rest of the incoming shots before Trigit disabled the attacking bomber. He let loose a barrage of lasers from his quad-cannons and jerked the craft away from the resulting explosion.
    There are still around twelve of them out there, Trigit reminded him, and sure enough, there were twelve rapidly pulsating dots on the Knight's scanners.
    'Right, I'm on them,' he replied. I hope I get there on time, Cyanus thought to himself.
   

    Commodore Quade slowly stared out the panoramic viewports of his flagship, the ISD-I Genocide. He gravely watched the ensuing battle outside. The Griffen loomed off in the distance, a good million kilometers. They were moving closer...to glory, or to death? He bit his nails as an Imperial officer hurried up to him.
    "Sir, reports indicate Zenith Squadron is under attack by what seems to be a TIE Avenger and a..." the officer looked closely at his datapad, obviously not believing the information. "A Sith starfighter. However, Gemini squadron is now assuming escort duty by the suggestion of its squadron leader. And --"
    Quade drew in a deep breath and turned to meet his assistant face-to-face. "What else? There is always something else that's worse, isn't there?"
    "Actually, sir, the Arc Nebula seems to be doing well in its engagement against that star destroyer on the far side of Lotaith, the Nemesis I believe. They've knocked out some of the surface batteries on the destroyer, and Captain Iych'Ken says they are in the process of neutralizing the shield generators with full broadside batteries. 
    Alarm sprang in the Imperial's eyes. "No! Don't send them in, use the fighters. Keep the Arc Nebula closer to us. I don't want anything getting near the Genocide do you understand?"
    The officer looked at him incredulously and said with obvious disgust, "With all due respect, sir, some of the turrets and the missile launchers are still oper--"
    "Just do it." Quade snapped.
   

    Cyanus chased after the small fiery cone, veering his ship to the left and right to keep the warhead in his targeting device. The high resolution display tracked the torpedo and flashed when the lasers finally locked on. He gripped the yoke with his black-gloved hands and squeezed the triggers.
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
[This message has been edited by Cyanus (edited September 6, 2004 5:55:26 PM)]
Cosmic
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 8:53:39 PM    View the profile of Cosmic 
The remnants of what used to be a TIE Interceptor drifted away into space, and Cosmic eased up on the trigger. He caught sight of the Nemesis and cracked his neck. There were hundreds of little green and red lines of light zipping back and forth from the Nemesis to, what seemed to be, hundreds of bees dancing over its prey. He turned towards the Nemesis and increased the throttle to Max. As he neared the Destroyer, he found a whirling mess of TIEs-chasing-TIEs and constant explosions. He spun downwards to evade the fray of lasers, and began looking for the largest threat to a Destroyer: TIE Bombers. He spotted a trio making their way from beneath the Nemesis and slowly making their way about for another run.

Cosmic looked down at his console and found the three Bombers on his targeting scanner. He pulled upwards and climbed a few hundred feet to get to the same height as the Bombers. He slowed the throttle down a bit to ease up on his acceleration. He wanted to give the Bombers some slack before quickly coming popping up and surprising them with a few precision shots of green. The Bombers were making their way over the topmost part of the starboard side of the Nemesis, and were preparing to deliver their payload.

----------

"This is Leader One. Target is in sight. Make sure you're onboard computers are set and your payload trajectory is ready."

The two other TIEs replied with their readiness, and prepared to make their run.

----------

Cosmic finally received the sign he was waiting for. The TIEs pulled up a bit to make their bombing run, and he quickly pushed the throttle to max. The Nigritude quickly made its way behind the trio of Bombers. Cosmic swiftly pulled up behind the Bomber aft of the lead Bomber, and released a quick burst of three lasers. The lasers hit home as they entered the Bomber's engine, and incinerate the starfighter. The two other Bombers pulled away from their bombing run, and began engaging evasive maneuvers. Cosmic was about to pursue, but suddenly pulled a hard left, and a volley of green lasers sped past his previous location. Milliseconds before his reaction, interior alarms began to ring, and warning lights flashed on his console.

Four Interceptors pulled in behind him, and began firing with no hesitation or calculation. There was no strategy or tactics used by these pilots. They figured if the target was in front of him and within reasonably close distance to their crosshairs, then logic would suggest a hit would result. Cosmic found himself instinctively diving and rolling away from the blasts with ease as if years of experience were programmed into him. The lead Interceptor began a slow ascent to position himself above the Nigritude, the rear Interceptor increased his throttle to move in up behind the starfighter, and the port and starboard TIEs moved in closer as well. Cosmic rolled sharply to the left, then the right, and then dove into a vertical drop.

The TIE pilots may have had bad aim, but they certainly earned their wings with keep up with their target. Cosmic attempted many maneuvers, but the Interceptors still stuck with him. He was going to try one final attempt to lose them with a simple, yet dangerous move. He readied his trigger finger and prepared to release a volley of shots. The Nigritude leveled off, and continued on a steady horizontal course before suddenly diving and breaking. The thrusters were maxed out on power as Cosmic slowed the starfighter to a near-halt. He fired a quick volley of shots at the Interceptors as soon as they flew over him. They immediately made a hard right to come about, but Cosmic engaged the engines again, and increased the throttle to catch up. Two of his shots nicked a two of the four "claw" panels of the Interceptor, and it was obvious that the pilot was having trouble controlling the craft. As an easy target, the Nigritude came in closer behind the rear Interceptor, and fired a short burst of shots around the target. The Interceptor attempted to evade, but found its way into the lines of green lasers, and exploded into a ball of fire.

The Interceptors were running towards the Nemesis for some reason. Perhaps it was for the comfort of backup. Who knew, but it didn't matter to Cosmic. That tactic only brought him closer to those remaining TIE Bombers.
 
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/HCL Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][IOC][SoA]
-----------------------
Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE [VP][KC1][OAK]
-----------------------
LoneWolf
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 6, 2004 11:47:18 PM    View the profile of LoneWolf 
The Dark Jedi Knight found himself cut off in the battle.  There were numerous TIEs everywhere. Enemy, friendly, they were all beginning to look alike. All of it was getting frustrating. The Dark Jedi Knight picked off another enemy fighter, the burning heap erupted into thousands of shards of burning material.

The TIE Advanced shook violently as he took another hit on his depleting shields.
Anger surged inside of him as he took the punishment, he lashed out another volley of emerald death against a TIE interceptor. LoneWolf yelled in both satisfaction and hatred.

A red haze filled his mind as he fired again, and again at the endless enemies. The screeching of the cannons echoed loudly within the cockpit of the TIE, their din washed out by the savagery of battle.
He hadn't flown in so long, and it showed, he was weaker and they all knew it.
An eruption of flames and durasteel flashed against LoneWolf's face, the light almost blinding.

Hearing was non-crucial, so he became deaf, talking was not needed, so his voice became dried. The only feeling he needed was that which coordinated with the ship, like the nervous center of a body, his limbs attached to each control. His eyes scanned around always, searching for more targets, more death. All he wanted to taste was blood, whether it be his own or theirs.

His fighter came behind an interceptor and began to open fire, LoneWolf was about to send the finishing blow when his muscles jerked in an anxious frenzy.
The TIE advanced rolled out of the way as sage bolts rained on where he was. He pulled the fighter out of it's roll to bank around and attack his new foe. His lasers fired off rapidly, each shot grazing the enemy interceptor until if split into shreds.
LoneWolf shoved the shrapnel out of his way with the Force and turned around to find a new enemy.

The Sith cursed as he noticed three enemies on his six, their shots blistering his now shield less craft. Plunging his TIE in a new direction, LoneWolf didn't care anymore.
"Let them kill me..." his voice hissed, he continued the desperate evasions that he knew.
A friendly craft came by and took one of the enemies off his tail but that didn't lessen the danger by much.
Making broad turns, he tried to get close to the Griffen for cover fire. He was hoping to either have them fallow him or give him an opportunity to break them off. 
"I'm a weakling I deserve to die..." The very words scratched his parched mouth, his fists shook violently around the controls. He veered his craft into a suicide run against the two fighters, he furiously fired at a pace which was almost unnatural. The TIE advanced shuddered and jerked violently at the impact of lasers.

The Dark Jedi found his eyes closed.  He opened them to find his enemies destroyed, and to also find his engines offline.
"Ah Jedi crap!" LoneWolf watched stressfully as the engines slowly came back to life.
A few crucial moments passed before the TIE advanced slowly began to accelerate again. From what the Sith could tell the acceleration was damaged, and the top speed was reduced enough to barely out perform the enemy interceptors.

LoneWolf made due as he found himself being harassed by another enemy. The fighter was confident enough to make a frontal assault, the pilot made his last mistake as LoneWolf demonstrated the still functional laser cannons.
After surveying the battle LoneWolf could tell the Nemesis was under tight pressure. He wondered if he could change craft in either the Griffen or the Nemesis, he doubted the surplus of such craft however. The Sith quickly checked all his systems again and found himself still able to fight. "Here goes nothing" the HUD targeted one of the new bombers which had entered the fray. "Best if we took away these toys."
 
-----------------------
Lonewolf/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)(=SA=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[SRC][VC:Ebony]

CM/DJK LoneWolf/Sith/Eagle Sect/VEDJ

"With each kill, I grow wiser, with added wisdom, I grow stronger..." -Artemis Entreri
Trigit
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 7, 2004 12:36:29 AM    View the profile of Trigit 
Trigit could feel the four-man flight of TIE fighters coming at him as he fired a salvo of ion beams at the last bomber, disabling it and effectivly freezing it in space. He could feel the lead TIE Fighter get into range, the pilot starting to squeeze the trigger. As soon as he felt this, Trigit mashed the left pedal into the floor, sending his fighter into a flat spin. As the nose of his fighter swung around, Trigit waited for his crosshairs to center the TIE. His ship would only be at the proper angle for a moment, and he knew the crosshairs wouldn't light up fast enough for him to see it and fire. He had to trust in the Force for the exact timing. In an instant, he felt the enemy TIE enter his crosshairs, and Trigit pulled the trigger, sending a burst of laser fire at the TIE, which took a hit straight in the cockpit and disintigrated, its pilot trying to regain control, to no avail.

Trigit had no time to celebrate, however, as the other three TIE's were closing on him fast. He continued his spin until he was back on his original heading, then pulled the stick back as far as it would go, sending the fighter into a tight loop, hoping to catch the remaining TIEs by surprise. Two of them caught the manuever and veered off left and right, but one of them didn't react fast enough and caught a blast from Trigit's laser cannons full-on. The TIE blew apart, the wing panels remaing surprisingly intact as they flew off into space.

Two down, two to go, and the last two seem to be the more experienced ones he thought as he tried to line up one of the remaining TIE fighters. The task was proving more difficult now as he no longer had the element of surprise to work with, and the two TIEs were working together, one moving behind him even as he was lining up a shot for the other, who was flying somewhat straighter than he should be, trying to bait Trigti into flying straighter to give the TIE in the rear a better shot. Trigit thought for a second, then smiled. He had one major advantage that they didn't: He could damage their ships or pilots without his lasers. With that thought, he reached out with the Force and found the pilot of the TIE closing in behind him. Half-closing his eyes, he concentrated further and found the man's throat, and started applying pressure to his air pathways. He could feel the pilot start to panic, not knowing what was going on, clutching at his throat in a vain effort to release the pressure. Trigit held his grip on the man's throat until the pilot blacked out, leaving the craft barreling through space without a pilot. Trigit again reached out with the Force and found the engine controls for the now pilotless TIE, and switched them to reverse until the craft was stopped, then he flipped the engines to standby, leaving the TIE hanging there in space, without a pilot.

With one of the two remaining TIEs out of the picture, Trigit could focus all his concentration on the one TIE left. This TIE was trying to evade him, but Trigit could sense every move he was going to made an instant before he made it. In minutes, Trigit was at point blank range, and loosed a single shot at the desperate TIE, hitting it straight in the engines, which exploded and blew the craft into oblivion. Smiling, Trigit turned his fighter in a slow loop, searching for and finding the TIE that contained the unconscious pilot. He closed to point-blank range again and fired a single volley at the TIE, once again hitting the engines, which exploded and sent debris everywhere. Trigit made no attempt to protect his craft as he flew through the debris field, rather trusting his shields to deflect anything large enough to harm his craft. Swinging his fighter back around towards the main fight, Trigit glanced at his HUD to see how Cyanus was doing against the missles and saw that, despite having thus far gotten most of them, a few were likely to get through.

"Well, we can't have that now can we?" Trigit asked himself rhetorically, as he punched his throttle to full and chose an intercept vector for the missles.
 
-----------------------
Retired Ambassador
Sith Guardian
irc.fesgaming.com Server Administrator
[This message has been edited by Trigit (edited September 7, 2004 12:37:05 AM)]
Talon
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 7, 2004 3:22:09 AM    View the profile of Talon 
[OOC: Short and sweet. Good momentum guys. Keep it going.]

"Commodore, there are 4 more torpedos incoming.  Should we shift some turbolaser batters from swatting flies to handle this?" the man standing watch at the radar screen asked.

Commodore Claw examined the display and nodded.  "Two should be enough.  Give the job to the two gunners with the highest accuracy rating and promise them 48 hours liberty if they take care of their two torps." he replied, raising his voice to be heard above the combat chatter racing across the bridge.  His ship was taking a beating and his crew knew it.  There wasn't a single man in the room that wasn't mentally crossing their fingers.  Claw turned away and muttered to the Nemesis, "Hold together, old girl."


*  *  *



"You know what to do, ZeroOne." Talon said to the droid.

"Of course, Sierra." a rather sexy voice said over the ship's main speakers.  Somehow the droid that had invaded his ship's computers happened to find a voice program and chose wisely at the available voices to use.  The droid guided the Shadow into the hangar bay and slowly rotated until it was upside down.  It found a smooth spot on the ceiling and attached itself by the electromagnetic landing skids.  "Good luck." the droid said as it powered down the non-essential equipment.

Talon nodded to Darkhawk as he opened the hatch.  The ramp raised upward and finally stopped when it touched the ceiling.  Talon walked gingerly on the ceiling of his ship until he reached the edge.  He stepped off and dropped the rather large distance to the deck below, slowing himself by pushing off of the ground with the Force.  He landed without a sound and stepped to the side to allow Darkhawk to land without driving his skull into his lower back.  The two ducked behind a repulsor tug.  'We need to shut this thing down so it causes as little damage as possible.' Talon projected through the Force.

Beneath the helmet, Darkhawk smiled.  He knew exactly what needed to be done to cut the power to the Star Destroyer.  His previous experience as an Imperial officer meant he had to know the inside and outside of an Imperial class Star Destroyer like the back of his gloved hand.  'Follow me.' he replied through the Force.  As he stood up, Darkhawk masked his appearance.  Anyone with a weak mind would never notice him.  Someone who had a strong mind would think he saw a dark armored figure briefly, but would see nothing when they looked again.  Talon was the wind.  The only way that Darkhawk knew that Talon existed was the intense Force signature that Talon emanated, something that was hard to ignore.
 
-----------------------
OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
-----------------------
SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE
[This message has been edited by Talon (edited September 7, 2004 3:25:45 AM)]
Darkhawk
ComNet Disciple
 
[VE-DJO] Sith Warrior (SW)
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 7, 2004 5:20:49 PM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  Darkhawk and Talon sprinted through the corridors of the massive 1.6 kilometer long starship with blinding speed, letting the Force flow through them and enhance their already well-toned muscles to superhuman levels. The ship was crawling with enemy engineers, technicians, crewman, and soldiers, but with the Force masking their apperances no one noticed them as they moved toward the Imperial Star Destroyer's power core.

  How heavily guarded is this place going to be? Talon asked.

  Does it matter?

  While Darkhawk had never been the captain of his own Star Destroyer, he had served on several. Or so he thought. He actually wasn't completely positive because of his memory problems, but even if he went purely on his experience in the Vast Empire, he had been aboard half a dozen at least. As he led Talon deeper into the ship, he felt very comfortable that he knew where they were going.

  After flying by a few more crewmen, Darkhawk began to slow down; Talon followed suit. It's right around the corner.

  The Grand Master did a quick scan with the Force. There are six guards. I'll take the three on the-

  Wait.

  What is it?

  I have a better idea.


  There was a pause. Talon probably hadn't liked being cut off. There's no need to spare their lives, if that's what you're planning.

  Would you rather they raise an alarm?

  They'll find out what we've done sooner or later. We are about to knock out the main power supply, you know.

  We need all the time we can get, Tal. Trust me on this one.

  Fine. Do it your way.


  Like most members of the Halcyon family, Darkhawk was strong with Illusions. It would be especially easy to control the minds of six weak-minded soldiers. As he rounded the corner, the Sith Warrior had already begun to tap into their consciousnesses with the Force, altering their sensual perceptions. Instead of an armor-clad Sith Lord, they saw a high-ranking Imperial officer instead.

  The lead guard stepped forward. "Who are you?"

  "Major Spencer. You men need to clear out of here. We have some technicians coming down to work on the power core."

  "I've never seen you before."

  "You will address me as 'sir,' Sergeant. Unless you would prefer a demotion?" The guard made no response. "I have the orders right here."

  In the guard's mind, he did indeed see direct orders to move out on a datapad with Commodore Quade's signature tacked on. He frowned nervously. "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

  "It's okay. It's a big ship. Don't make such a presumptuous mistake again, Sergeant."

  "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." The sergeant gave the orders and the six soldiers moved out, walking right past Talon as they did. The Dark Jedi Master came around the corner and nodded at Darkhawk.

  "Not bad. For a Sith."

  The Dark Lord ignored the taunt. "I can't use the Force on the blast door's security systems. You want to handle this one?"
  Talon smiled. He pulled the mystical Sith Sword out of its sheath and with one deft stroke cleaved the door in two. The two men stepped forward into a chamber housing the power systems and capacitors for the entire ship. There were backup systems scattered throughout the starship, but they had no time to worry about those. After they destroyed the main power drive, they would head to the bridge and take control of the ship, through... persuasion.

  "Do I just start hacking, or what?" Talon questioned, eyeing the nearest fusion generator.

  "Be my guest," Darkhawk replied. He pulled the onyx-and-silver-hilted lightsabre that had once belonged to Fallen off his belt and ignited it, the ruby blade snap-hissing to life. One blade is enough for this job. Beside him, Talon had already begun to get to work.
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:37:58 PM)]
Cyanus
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Gunnery Sergeant
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Post Number:  545
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 7, 2004 5:58:32 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    The Nemesis fired a warning salvo from two of its surviving batteries as a last-chance-get-out-of-there signal to Cyanus. Inside his spherical cockpit, Cyanus stomped on the right foot pedal, sending the craft into an instant dive and turn to get out of battery range. He spotted an approaching fighter that could only be Trigit's ship. Reaching out to the vast sea of energy that is the Force, he sent an urgent thought to his brother-in-arms.
    'Let's get out of here!' he projected.
    Trigit immediately pulled back on the throttle as he saw Cyanus's TIE rushing towards his Sith ship. Behind Cyanus, the Nemesis' turrets tracked the remaining four torpedoes. They launched a volley at the incoming warheads and the bolts streaked past his windshield.
   

    Returning to his commander, the officer, Major Dunajin, looked deathly pale. Quade turned around to see a zombie, or rather, his assistant. "What is it?" He asked sternly.
    "It's Zenith and Gemini squadron, sir. We've lost all contact with them. The remaining TIEs are being decimated by the Nemesis. I suggest we move the Arc Nebula in to back them up before it's too late."
    Hearing his, the commodore drew himself to his full height. "Who is the commanding officer here, you or me?" He rumbled. "Who did High Command select, you or me? Further more, who is your BOSS?"
    Dunajin stepped back. "You are...sir." he hissed through his teeth.
    "Good, send the Nebula over to support the fighters but keep it close to us. I simply love my genius." He rubbed his blubbery cheeks. "High general? We'll see who's the master." He chuckled.
    One of the crewmen in the pits blinked at his screen then stood up quickly to yell at Quade. "Sir! Our batteries and modular bays are reporting dropping power reserves!"


    "Looks like the Nebula's moving toward the main battle zone," the tactical officer pointed out to Jei the exact location. He saw the damaged starship lumbering toward the cloud of fighters battling it out mano a mano. Shields damaged, some batteries destroyed and its fighter complement already spent; this was the perfect opportunity.
    The captain stood up. "Order the strike."
   
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
[This message has been edited by Cyanus (edited September 8, 2004 6:57:19 PM)]
LoneWolf
ComNet Member
 
[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 7, 2004 8:20:49 PM    View the profile of LoneWolf 
More light blazed against LoneWolf's face as he destroyed one of the last bombers. He cautiously watched the batteries aboard the nemesis destroy the rest of the incoming torpedoes. It seemed like the first time LoneWolf could catch his breath, the enemy TIEs seemed to have lightened up significantly. Checking his HUD, the Dark Jedi Knight found the Nemesis running close to losing her shields. "Well she did take a good beating."

LoneWolf slumped into his controls and took a few deep breaths. Sweat coated his body in a light film.  He hadn't realized how much he had gotten into the battle.
An alarm buzzed inside the cockpit; a small fire had started in the engines. LoneWolf twisted a valve and extinguished the fire, he didn't want anything to make the steering unpredictable in the already damaged craft.

The remaining enemy fighters appeared to have retreated, and from what the Sith could tell, they organizing a new squadron to attack with. LoneWolf spat to the side, he hardly cared if he got some instrument panel dirty, "I'll be sure to scrap this ship if it survives the rest of this battle anyways."

The Sith got a notice that the Nebula was positioning to join the fray. LoneWolf cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms, he brought the TIE Advanced around to face the battle. "Lets see how we're going to get outta this one."
 
-----------------------
Lonewolf/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)(=SA=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[SRC][VC:Ebony]

CM/DJK LoneWolf/Sith/Eagle Sect/VEDJ

"With each kill, I grow wiser, with added wisdom, I grow stronger..." -Artemis Entreri
Darkhawk
ComNet Disciple
 
[VE-DJO] Sith Warrior (SW)
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 8, 2004 3:14:47 PM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  "Well, that's that." Darkhawk thumbed a switch and his lightsaber cut off. Talon put the Sith Sword away and nodded. "To the bridge?"

  "Lead the way."

  The Sith Warrior took off running. The bridge was above them, so they would have to take a turbolift to get there. As they sprinted down the corridor, the six soldiers they had seen earlier came charging toward the power core. Darkhawk had to suppress a laugh as they ran by. Poor bastards.
  They found a lift, but it wouldn't open without a keycard. Talon used the Force to pry the doors open and then levitated it to the proper floor. Darkhawk forced the doors open this time and they ran on toward the bridge. Before too long, the heavily reinforced doors were before them.

  Should we try to cut our way into this one? Darkhawk asked. There's no time to wait for someone to come out so that we can sneak in.

  I've got an even better idea, Talon responded. The Grand Master drew in an enormous amount of Force energy and redirected it toward the heavy doors. They ripped apart in a tremendous display of the Dark Side of the Force, and there were several yells from the other side. Wasting no time, the two Dark Jedi entered the spacious room, still masking their presence with the Force.
  According to the plan they had devised, Talon lowered his disguise first while Darkhawk moved into position, still unseen to their enemies. "Commodore Quade?"

  Everyone in the panicked room spun around to see the intruder. Several blasters were drawn, but no one fired. A short, portly man with a shrill voice turned and spoke. "I am Commodore Quade." He looked Talon up and down, taking in the dark robes that screamed 'Dark Jedi'.  His eyes widened momentarily before he regained his composure. "And you are?"

  "High General Talon of the Vast Empire." Quade's hand moved to his undrawn blaster pistol. "I am taking control of your ship."

  The commodore laughed. "You and what army, High General? In case you haven't noticed, there are thirty men in this room. Try any funny business and you'll be killed in the blink of an eye."

  "Too bad you won't be alive to see it," a cold voice spoke. With a sudden snap-hiss there was a red lightsabre blade pointed at Quade's throat as Darkhawk had materialized from thin air beside him. Several of the men present gasped at the armored figure standing before them. "Surrender or the commodore dies."
  There was a long silence. Quade's eyes scanned the room, begging his men not to deny the Dark Jedis' request. He obviously valued his life his ship and the outcome of the battle.

  A middle-aged man with fiery red hair and fear in his green eyes stepped forward. "Colonel Seligson, I command the ground forces aboard this ship. If we surrender, what do you plan to do to us?"

  "That's for me to know," Talon replied.

  "From what I can tell, you men are Dark Jedi." The Grand Master said nothing. "How do I know my soldiers - and the other crewmen - won't be tortured, or killed? There are hundreds of thousands of people aboard this vessel."

  "This decision is not up to you, Colonel," Quade hissed. Sweat was pouring down his fat face.

  "If you cooperate, your men will not be killed," Talon answered. "Not unless they give us good reason to do so."

  Seligson seemed satisfied with this answer. He thought about if for a moment longer and then said, "The Genocide is yours, High General Talon."

  "No it isn't!" Quade shouted. "Men! Destroy these intruders!" He leaped forward and began to roll on the floor, trying to avoid Darkhawk's weapon.
  Some of the crewmen didn't react, but most of them began to fire their weapons at the two Dark Jedi. Talon's darkstaff was out in the blink of an eye, twin blades deflecting blaster bolts back at their origins.
  Across the room, several of the red bolts connected with Darkhawk, and the Sith Warrior crumpled to the ground. Quade got to his knees and a grin spread across his face as he watched the Dark Jedi die. The men who shot him let out a small cheer and turned their attention to Talon.

  "Bad move, Commodore."

  Quade spun around and found himself staring into the glowing red eye visor of Darkhawk's helmet. "You!" His eyes danced back to the Sith's corpse a few feet away. "I... how?!?"

  "I am Commodore Darkhawk of the Vast Empire Navy. You, sir, are not worthy of the rank we share."

  I want him alive! Talon's voice shouted in Darkhawk's consciousness.

  "Men! Men! This one's still alive!" Quade screamed.
  A few of the officers spun back around with surprise in their faces. They readied their weapons on Darkhawk and fired. Moving with lightning-fast speed, the Sith Lord grabbed Colonel Seligson by the throat and used him to absorb the blaster fire. The muscular man cried out in agony as the first few bolts connected, but quickly grew silent as the rest hit home. Quade scuttled away to find somewhere to hide.
  Sorry, Colonel, but it was either you or me.
  The enemy crewmen who had not drawn their weapons were now huddled beneath control panels, trying to avoid getting caught in the cross-fire. Talon had been working quickly and had already taken out seven opponents, which left a total of fifteen enemies alive. Darkhawk ignited both of his lightsabres, one red blade and one orange and joined his comrade.
  Their enemies were caught in a pincer attack. The Dark Jedi Master pushed in from one side as the Sith Warrior attacked from the other. When there were only four opponents left standing, Darkhawk threw his two weapons like boomerangs and sliced three of the men in half. He guided the weapons back into his hands and turned them off, returning them to his belt. Talon ripped the last man's blaster pistol out of his hand with the Force and threw it aside, crushing it as he did. He then finished off the crewmen with a quick Force choke.

  Finally, silence filled the room once more. Talon deactivated his darkstaff. "Commodore? Are you still alive?"

  Quade reluctantly poked his greasy head out from his hiding place. "Umm... yes."

  "Is this ship mine?"

  The terrified officer gulped. "Yes. Yes, sir."

  Talon looked over at Darkhawk and smiled. "Good." The Dark Jedi Master projected message out to the rest of the order: Talon here - mission accomplished. "Quade, I need this ship's power back online. How soon until that can be managed?"

  "I... I... umm..."

  The Krath sighed. "Darkhawk?"

  "I can get her back up and running in a few minutes if the crew members cooperate."

  "Excellent. Commodore Quade, you will order your men to assist Darkhawk in whatever he needs."

  Quade looked over at the Sith Warrior and gulped again. Talon was clearly the superior, but the Sith definitely looked scarier. "Yes, of course. Of course."

  Talon turned to leave. "Darkhawk, the ship is yours."

  "Where are you going?" Quade asked.

  "I need a drink."
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:36:13 PM)]
Trigit
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 8, 2004 8:36:03 PM    View the profile of Trigit 
Trigit glanced down at his HUD display, trying to get a sense of what was going on in the confusing battle. It appeared
that the Dark Jedi were doing quite well, having shot down scores of enemy fighters without a single casualty. He knew that Talon and Darkhawk had captured the Genocide, and it was no longer a threat, however the fighters and the Arc Nebula were still out there. There was no direct threat to the Griffen, since the bombers had all been destroyed, and so Trigit decided to take a shot at the Nebula

Cyanus, you still with me?

Sure am, lets hit the Nebula.

Already headed that direction, form up, we'll aim for the bridge, see if we can shake 'em up.

There was no reply over the Force, Cyanus merely took a position off Trigit's port wing, flying in perfect formation. Smiling to himself, Trigit increased his throttle to max, knowing that Cyanus's TIE could easily keep up with him. No fighters came to challenge them as they sped towards the Nebula, all the remaing Star Viper's fighters were fighting for their lives against the rest of the Dark Jedi who were involved in the dogfight. Ignoring all the turbolasers reaching out to him, Trigit flew straight at the bridge of the ISD. None of the turbolasers even came close, they were meant for dealing out damage to other capital ships, not picking fighters out of space. Trigit kept low, skimming the hull of the ISD, not giving the gunners on the turrets an easy shot, all the while he got closer and closer to the bridge.

Trigit's eyes were half-closed, letting the Force guide his ship to the bridge. He felt himself come into range of his torpedos, and fired one directly at the bridge of the Nebula. He knew it wouldn't do any real damage, the ship's shields would stop the torpedo, but Trigit had something different in mind anyway. Pulling up and blasting away from the ISD, he reached out with the Force and found the captain of the Nebula, as well as his torpedo. The captain saw the torpedo coming, and tried to get away from the main viewport at the end of the Captain's Walk on the bridge, but Trigit held him in place, not letting him move. The man was terrified, he could see the torpedo coming right at him, and wanted to move, to run away, but he had lost control of his muscles and couldn't so much as duck to get out of the way.

Trigit smiled to himself as he felt the torpedo nearing its target, jsut seconds away from impacting on the shields of the ISD. Trigit once again reached out to the captain of the Nebula, sending his own personal message before the torpedo hit.

Knock knock.

The thought seared its way into the captain's mind just as the torpedo hit, not twenty meters in front of the captain. As soon as the warhead detonated, Trigit lifted the captain off his feet and hurled him back down the Captain's Walk, catching him just before he slammed into the blast door at the back of the bridge. The bridge went silent, the crew wondering if the captain had been hit physically somehow by the torpedo. Someone on the bridge cried out, and the silent spell was broken, as the crew rushed to help their captain, who was curled up on the floor in a fetal position.

In the confines of his fighter's cockpit, Trigit smiled to himself while looping his fighter around for another attack. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cyanus's ship making its own attack run on the bridge.

Make it count, Cyanus.
 
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Retired Ambassador
Sith Guardian
irc.fesgaming.com Server Administrator
[This message has been edited by Trigit (edited September 8, 2004 8:36:53 PM)]
Cyanus
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 8, 2004 9:35:14 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    "Shields?!" gasped the captain just as he was lifted off the floor, blood streaming down his face from some cuts. One of the crew members rushed over to the station and called out the status, "Still holding steady, sir."
    "That was no ordinary torpedo then, I can tell you that! Or it was something else."
    "Sir! Another one's coming up!"

   
    Cyanus streaked across the surface of the Arc Nebula at rapid speed, outrunning the frantically turning batteries who shot each other in their foolish attempts to hit his small craft and exploding as a result. He focused on the inside of the bridge and in that instant saw the captain limping toward the catwalk. The enemy crew were settling back down into their posts.
    He saw some lockers.
    Bingo, he thought, a deadly grin forming behind his black helmet.
    Concussion missiles didn't pack quite the punch of proton torpedoes, but they were powerful enough to rock the bridge. Setting up his run, he locked on at the most vulnerable part of the bridge, the viewports, and fired a volley of missiles. Their yellow glows led the way and struck at the exact point where Trigit's warhead hit.
   
    The equipment lockers suddenly snapped open when the bridge shook from the explosion. Their heavy toolboxes and delicate equipment came raining down on the panicking crewmen. Screaming and bleeding, they ran out of the way while the flying debris trashed viewscreens and scanners.

    Pressing carefully on the pedals, Cyanus flipped the fighter over and passed the damaged shield generator. With the Genocide captured, the Vast Empire pilots fought with a renewed vigor with the pressure taken off their shoulders. However, the Griffen was still delayed by the Firestorm, which remained unharmed for the most part. Still, they were winning the battle.
    But their progress wasn't without cost.
    "No!" the Griffen squadron pilot shouted as his critically hurt Interceptor broke away in sparks all around him. His fighter hurtled wildly through space until they struck the side of the crippled star destroyer. He was soon avenged, however, when Phoenix gunned down the brazen starfighter.
   
    'Another run, Trigit?' the Dark Jedi Cyanus projected. He veered through yet another ill-aimed attempt at destroying him and his comrades.
 
-----------------------


ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
[This message has been edited by Cyanus (edited September 8, 2004 9:49:21 PM)]
Darkhawk
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 9, 2004 11:35:41 AM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  "Captain Jedi, this is Commodore Darkhawk aboard the Imperial Star Destroyer Genocide. What is your status?"

  There was a slight pause before the captain of the Griffen responded. "Commodore, we're holding them off as well as we can. Right now the Griffen is currently trading blows with the Firestorm. The Nemesis is heavily damaged, but we've eliminated most of their TIE Bombers and a majority of the rest of their fighter support. Casualties to the Griffen's fighter squadrons are low - we've only lost three at this point."

  "What about the Arc Nebula?"

  "That's our major concern at the moment. Some of the other Dark Jedi are making passes at it, but none of them are heavily armed enough to do much damage. They've ionized all of the Golan Defense Platforms, so they're out of the fight. Claw is doing his best to keep the Nemesis alive, but it doesn't look good. I just sent him a message to prepare to evacuate the ship."

  There's no way everyone on that ship will be able to get off alive. "Captain, we just restored power to the engines and communications here, and we're moving to join the battle. By the time we're withing range of the Arc Nebula, all sensors, weapons systems, and shields should be up and running. We're heading toward the Nemesis at full speed, but we need some time." Damn you, Quade. If you weren't such a coward...

  "We could certainly use the help, Commodore."

  "Captain, you have to do something to keep the Nemesis alive until we get there."

  There was another pause. "Do you have any ideas?"

  Darkhawk glanced around the room. The Genocide's crewmen who were still alive were looking at him with terror in their faces. Obviously they hadn't anticipated having to fight one of their own ships. He turned his head and met Commodore Quade's gaze. The short little man turned away quickly. This was a big risk to take, trusting that Quade could actually make the crew of the Genocide fire on its sister vessel. But he and Talon were betting that fear would keep them in line. At least for the moment.
  "Captain, disengage from the Firestorm and attack the Arc Nebula. Your shields will hold long enough for you to withstand the fire from both ships."

  "Are you sure, Commodore?" Jei didn't sound too thrilled with this plan. "This runs the risk of the Griffen receiving heavy damage, also. If we lose both ships..."

  "We're not going to lose either ship. Trust me. We'll get there in time."

  "Yes, sir. I'm giving the orders now."

  "Genocide out." Darkhawk looked down at the sensor panel below him as it flared to life. According to this data, it would still take the ship a few minutes to get within firing range of the Arc Nebula.

  "Do you really expect me to lead this vessel in an attack on one of my own ship?" Quade asked, apparently filled with a newfound courage.

  "Yes, I do." Darkhawk's voice sounded cold and mechanical through the helmet's speaker. It was a nice touch.

  "And if I don't?"

  The blast doors slid open and Talon re-entered the room. "Then we kill every single last one of you."

  Quade considered the options: help destroy the Arc Nebula, or get everyone on the Genocide killed. There wasn't much difference, except that option two meant he would lose his life.
  "What about all of the crew of the Arc Nebula?"

  "Hopefully they will realize the battle is lost and be smart enough to evacuate the ship once we begin firing at them," Darkhawk answered.

  "There aren't enough escape pods for everyone on a ship that size! It's a flaw in the starship's design! You know that!"

  The Sith Warrior nodded. "No, but if you cram people into shuttles and troop transports, you can get most everyone off."

  "Where will they go? Down to your capital?"

  "It's better than dying," Talon replied.

  Quade frowned. "I suppose I don't really have a choice..."

  "No," the Grand Master responded, moving his hand slightly, "You don't. You will cooperate fully."

  "Yes, I will cooperate fully."

  "Good," Darkhawk said. Now I just hope the Nemesis lasts...
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:33:57 PM)]
Talon
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 10, 2004 3:57:52 AM    View the profile of Talon 
"Connect me to the Nemesis." Talon ordered toward the comms pit on the bridge.  The crewman acknowledged the order and brought up the Nemesis' bridge on the main communications screen.

Commodore Claw looked determined, but worn out.  There was yelling in the background as up-to-date status reports were given.  "Sierra?" Claw asked in disbelief.  "You sure do work fast, cousin." he said with a laugh.  There was an obvious look of relief that passed over his face, seeing Talon in command of the Genocide.

Talon smiled.  "How's she holding up, Vince?" he asked.  He knew that Claw would hold on until the last second or perhaps longer.  The Taurus family had a history of being stubborn and neither of them was an exception.

A noticeable grimace flashed on Claw's face before he hid it again.  He lowered his voice and leaned in toward the transmitter.  "The Nemesis can't take much more punishment.  The Golans have been ionized and the planetary fighters shot down.  My own fighters have been wiped out as well.  The Arc Nebula is in rough shape too, but they'll out last us."

"How long can you hold on?" Talon asked.  He could hear Darkhawk giving orders in the background to prepare to open fire on the Arc Nebula, but it would still be a minute or two until they were in a decent broadside.

Claw sighed as he looked over his shoulder at a display.  "I give the shields 2 minutes... being generous." he stated flatly.  "We've already had a few problems from the concussions.  More than a couple of things have rattled loose or simply fried into a solid piece."

"We're on our way now.  Keep pumping the Arc Nebula with everything you have.  The Griffen is moving to intercept as well.  You can assure your boys they'll make it home." Talon said as he continued to split his attention between Claw and the status of the Genocide.  "Keep her together just a little longer." he said before closing the link.  Claw's image flickered and disappeared, leaving a blank screen which promptly switched to a comprehensive status display.

Commodore Quade stepped toward Talon and all but pleaded. "Let me talk to the Arc Nebula.  I can have them stand down and no one has to die.  You can keep the Star Destroyer, just let me get the men out."

Talon chuckled slightly as he turned slightly to face Quade fully.  "Your men attacked mine.  If they make it to a shuttle they will land on Lotaith and be jailed.  They will go to an Imperial court for war crimes.  If they don't make it out they serve as a warning." he replied with a cold edge.  There was no question that he meant every bit of it and would not change his mind, no matter how much whining.  Talon turned to Darkhawk and asked, "Well, my Dark Lord, how long until we're ready to open fire?"

"We're hauling ass straight toward them, so we're not going to be getting a decent broadside.  One more minute and we should be set.  Port side cannons that are not being used are going to open up on the Firestorm to hopefully distract it from the Griffen at least for a moment.  With any luck they'll hype out when they see the Arc Nebula go up in smoke." he replied without turning away from the display he was examining.

*  *  *


Another volley of turbolaser fire slammed the shields of the ISD Nemesis and made Claw wince.  His crew was getting tired and scared.  Every time the status reports were yelled out, the shields were even lower.  The only thing that kept the crew holding on was the promise of support.  Claw made it a point to tell the entire ship that the VSD-II Griffen and the newly acquired ISD Genocide was moments from swatting the Arc Nebula out of the sky.  Claw was so engrossed in watching the shields drop that the cheer that broke out in the bridge made him jump.  Looking up, he watched round after round of turbolaser fire pummel the Arc Nebula.  Sighing, Claw muttered, "You always like waiting until the last minute, don't you Sierra?"

"Shields on the Arc Nebula have fallen!" shouted an ensign as he almost jumped out of his pit.  The entire crew looked up from their watch stations to look out of the view port.  A Lambda class shuttled could barely be seen exiting the hangar bay under the Arc Nebula seconds before a series of explosions engulfed it.  The burning shuttle spun away toward the planet Lotaith, ejected by the blast.  Moments later, it exploded as it burned up in the atmosphere.  The Arc Nebula began to rotate because of the explosions that peppered its hull.  Atmosphere sprayed out in many places, dispensing metal and bodies into the cold vacuum.  Two final turbolaser batteries continued to fire on the Nemesis before they too were silenced.  It was easy to tell just by looking at it that there would be no survivors.

"The Firestorm has recalled their fighters and are turning about.  They're going to hype out." called one of the crewman behind Claw's back.  The bridge erupted as people cheered and hugged each other.  Two crewmen jumped up on the Captain's Walk and linked their right arms as they danced in a circle.

Claw smiled as he watched.  He let them have their moment.  They earned it.  He reached for the comm and activated it.  "This is the Captain.  The Arc Nebula has been destroyed.  The Firestorm is picking up and turning tail.  I want to personally thank everyone.  You will all live to see another day because you are all professionals.  Congratulations." he spoke proudly.  Claw deactivated the comm and dropped into his chair.  He was exhausted.  He could tell it would take two trips to the masseuse to fully relax again.

*  *  *


As the Firestorm disappeared, Talon opened a telepathic link with his Dark Jedi.  'Good job everyone.  Meet back up on the Griffen.  Go ahead and relax.  The fight is over for today.  I'll be there shortly.  Closing the link, Talon turned to Quade.  "Commodore, get your men on shuttles.  They will turn themselves in to the Lotaith planetary security.  They will go to court for war crimes, but I imagine all but you and your officers will be let off.  Your cooperating will certainly help your defense."

Quade sighed and looked at his feet for a moment.  He could just barely make out the toes of his boots beyond his massive gut.  He knew that there was no fighting this.  He was grateful for his life after seeing the power of the two men that took over command of his ship.  "Yes sir." he replied.  The Captain of the Genocide relayed the information over the comm and was very adamant about informing everyone to comply with everything.  He assured them all that they would be safe and most likely turned back over to the Star Vipers.

'What are your plans?' Darkhawk asked through the Force.

Talon turned to the heavily armored Dark Lord and replied, 'Claw will take over this ship and we will give the Nemesis a skeleton crew to keep it as an oversized Golan.  It should scare off anyone who doesn't take too close of a look until we can repair and re-crew her.'  Turning back to the Commodore, Talon said, "You're coming with us, Quade.  You are relieved of command."

*  *  *


"Thrawn is real?" Talon asked with obvious surprise on his face.  He leaned back in the comfortable chair.  The conference room aboard the Griffen wasn't quite where Talon wanted to be, but at least he could finally get a chance to relax and get some food.  'Speaking of which' Talon thought as he grabbed his sandwich from the plate on the desk.  He took a large bite of the processed nerf on white bread.

Quade nodded.  "I've seen him a couple of times.  Really eerie with his red eyes.  Aside from that and the blue skin he looks human.  I would have never guess that the Emperor would use one of them." he replied.  The tone in his voice gave away how much of a xenophobe he really was.  "He's rather miffed at the Vast Empire's refusal to aid his cause.  He chose to retaliate after your mucked up his plans by attacking Moorja and then again at Bestine IV.  You ruined his well laid plans for surprises.  My superiors were ordered to attack your capital planet and destroy the defenses, then pull out.  They only wanted to teach you a lesson so they could use your resources after your High Council accepted the Grand Admiral's rule."  Quade stopped to take a sip of the water that was placed in front of him.  He eyed the Royal Guards on either side of the doors and continued.  "No one even knew that a VSD Deuce would be in the area, let alone your Dark Jedi.  Were it not for you, I would be home by now getting at least a medal." he added with more than a hint of anger.  He knew that any one of the three people in the room could kill him quickly, but he knew that Talon was a man of his word and he had been promised safety if he complied.  While he still felt threatened, there was also something comforting about having that promise.

Talon swallowed the piece of sandwich and almost choked before he spoke.  He thumped himself on the chest and swallowed hard.  "Ugh.  There we go.  Well Quade, I thank you for your honesty.  I assume you know that I can read your thoughts as if you were writing them out for me.  I'm going to have to hold you for a bit longer.  I'll return shortly.  If you need anything, let my Guardsmen know.  They've already been briefed on what you can and cannot do."  Without waiting, Talon stood and bolted out of the door.  'I'm coming, Skylla.' he thought as he ran to his ship.

Quade ran a finger around the edge of his glass as he looked the Guardsmen over.  "Lovely weather we're having today." he said with a nervous laugh.
 
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OO/HG Sierra "Talon" Taurus/HC-3/VEHC/VE[BC][IOC][LoC][SoS][BM][CDS][MSM]
GM-SL/DJM "Nightblades"/DC-1/Elite Griffen Sect/VSD-II Griffen/VEDJ/VE[IOC][OQD][WoS 2nd Class]
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SCAP/COM Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ISD Nemesis/Offensive Fleet/VEN[=A=][LoM][IOC][IC2]
CEO Vincent "Claw" Taurus/ECHC-1/Endoven/Dome 8473/VEEC/VE
[This message has been edited by Talon (edited September 10, 2004 6:49:42 AM)]
Darkhawk
ComNet Disciple
 
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 10, 2004 5:19:11 PM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  Darkhawk stepped off of the escort shuttle Tsunami and took a look around. There a few TIE interceptors missing, but for the most part the interior of the Griffen's primary hangar bay looked the same. There had been casualties on the Vast Empire's side, but not nearly as many as there could have been. He supposed that he - and, obviously, everyone else involved - had done a pretty good job during the battle. It had felt awkward, though, leading an Imperial Star Destroyer into battle. For all his apathy towards the space battle initially, he had received a slight adrenaline rush when it came down to it in the end. For a brief moment he considered calling up Japheth and asking to be reinstated into the Navy, but decided against it. He had too much to deal with as it was.
  He waved back at the pilot of the Tsunami and the shuttle took off, heading back to the Genocide. Darkhawk had turned over command to Commodore Claw a couple of hours ago. He had remained aboard the captured starship to oversee the transfer of prisoners to Lotaith, but now that the ordeal was over, he just wanted to rest a while. He'd probably interrogate Quade tomorrow and see if he could drag anymore information out of him. Talon had left him a report to read, but he figured that could wait a few hours.
  As he headed toward his quarters on the Griffen, Darkhawk passed by two of his fellow Dark Jedi. Otto and Liquid nodded at him, but made no attempt to initiate conversation. It was to be expected. Most of the Order was still afraid of the Sith Warrior, or at least disinterested in talking to him. He shrugged it off and kept walking.

  "Darkhawk!" someone shouted from behind as he traveled down a long corridor, He turned around to see Trigit standing there. Despite what Darkhawk had done to him months earlier, Trigit was one of the few Dark Jedi who seemed at ease around him. Surprising, considering the Sith Warrior had critically injured him a few months earlier.

  Not that he really did anything to deserve what I did to him in the first place... "What is it, Trigit?"

  "Some of us are going to be celebrating the victory down in the bar, along with the Griffen's pilots. Wanna come along?"

  The Sith Lord thought about it momentarily and then shook his head. "No thanks. I need some rest after what just happened. That battle was a little tense there for a few moments."

  "All the more reason to celebrate," Trigit replied.

  Darkhawk laughed. "I guess you have a point. Still, I just don't really feel up to it. Maybe I'll show up a bit later?"

  The Sith Guardian accepted that he wasn't going to get Darkhawk to come along and nodded. "Sounds good. Get some rest, then."

  "Thanks." The two went their separate ways and before long the Sith Warrior was back in his quarters. He removed his helmet and threw himself down onto his bed. He was not physically exhausted, but the past few hours had done a number on his concentration.
  It was so hard to focus on the task at hand when there were much more pressing matters to attend to. This really couldn't have come at a worse time. He had places to go and things to figure out, but he couldn't do any of it as long as he was on this mission for the Order. However, he had decided that it was time to accept responsibilty for his commitments and to carry through his obligations. I'll have some me time soon enough. An image flashed across his mind of two Jedi Knights lying dead in front of him, fresh blaster wounds still smoking. He brushed the mental picture aside and began to place himself into a Jedi trance. Sleep never came anymore, but at least there was a decent substitute. And when he came to, he would have the "pleasure" of reading Talon's report on Quade's first interrogation...
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:32:03 PM)]
Trigit
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 10, 2004 10:19:51 PM    View the profile of Trigit 
As Trigit entered the Griffen's bar, he noticed, unsurprisingly, that most of the other Dark Jedi had beat him there, and were already enjoying their drinks at the bar. He smiled at his fellow Dark Jedi as they downed their drinks, celebrating their victory. Trigit shook his head at that, knowing that victories were always short lived, that there was always another battle just
around the corner.

Well, we did win this one, and came out with a brand-new ISD to boot, not a bad day's work. he thought to himself as he sat down at the far end of the bar. The bartender noticed him and decided it was best not to keep him waiting, came over to get his order.

"What'll you have?"

"Tatooine Sunburn, make it two."

"Right"

As the bartender walked off to get his drinks, one of the Griffen's crewmen walked over. Despite all the time Trigit spent on the Griffen, he didn't recognize this one, which didn't surprise him, the Griffen had thousands of crewmen, and Trigit rarely paid them much attention. He eyed the obviously drunk man as he walked to where Trigit sat, and turned to face him when he started talking.

"You Dark Jedi did well today", this came with a slur.

"Thanks."

"Why don't yoush come join teh party instead of ssittin here all alone?"

"I'll pass, thanks."

"Oh but I insissit."

Then the man reached out and grabbed Trigit's cloak, obviously with the intent to drag the Dark Jedi into the party. It was a move he would regret. Trigit's eyes flared at the man's touch, and he reached out and grabbed the man's throat, slamming his head into the bar. Then man's arms flailed about, as he tried to get the Dark Jedi's hand off his neck. Trigit, however, only tightened his grip, as he stared straight into the man's eyes.

As the crewman gasped for breath, he managed to squeeze out a few words, "You wouldn't dare hurt me, Jedi", the words were dripping contempt.

Trigit was amazed that the man had the spine to back-talk someone who had his neck in his hands, and decided that the man needed a lesson about when to call it quits. Standing, Trigit picked the man clear off the deck by his neck, he held him there, looking straight into his eyes.

"Don't EVER touch me again."

With that, Trigit spun around and slammed the crewman's head into the wall, then released him, leaving him to tumble to the ground, dead or unconsious, Trigit didn't care. He turned back to the bar, where the bartender was putting down his drinks carefully, afraid to comment on what he had just seen. Trigit placed a couple of credits on the bar to pay for the drinks, then took a long pull off his first Sunburn.

Yeah, not a bad day's work at all. he thought with a smile.
 
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Retired Ambassador
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Cyanus
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 10, 2004 11:48:57 PM    View the profile of Cyanus 
    "Thanks," Cyanus smiled as the bartender set down a plastic bottle of Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster on the Imperial-gray counter in front of him. He turned around when Trigit drove the foolish crewman's head into the wall and left the limp body there, as did everyone else within earshot. He went up to the Sith Guardian.
    "What was that for? I nearly spilled my drink," the knight chuckled and nearly choked on his drink.
    "I'm not a...party type of guy, at least not at the moment," came the reply, and Cyanus took this cryptic answer with a silent acknowledgement.
    He glanced around the bar. Most of the Dark Jedi were present, save Talon, Japheth, and Darkhawk. They were slightly wasted on alcohol already, which was a bad thing in case missions came up.
    Some crewmen came up, enlisted men by their indicators, and offered him a dice game. He went first and tossed the two red cubes onto the table, scoring a perfect twelve. The men looked on in amazement, and one round after the other they wound up buying him drinks. Knowing that he frittered away his time in vain while he dallied in the lounge, Cyanus took his leave and gave all the drinks to Phoenix and Otto.
   
    "One-seven-four-nine-zero, unlock the container," the Griffen's resident engineer waved to two garrison crewmen who hauled a large plastc box to him. He saw Cyanus walking toward him at a brisk pace and closed his eyes briefly in anticipation. "Can I help you?" he asked just as the Dark Jedi reached him.
    "Actually, I sort of need you for a little job I've been thinking about for some time now. I want to modify my Avenger for better performance, can you help me?" Cyanus shuffled his feet, tilting his head to one side. 
    Breathing a loud sigh of relief, the engineer nodded. "What do you need?" He directed the crewmen carrying the container of water elsewhere.
   
    Highly trained technicians crawled over the advanced starfighter. Cyanus and the chief engineer stood watching the hectic construction, all the while discussing anything else the Dark Knight needed. The hasty construction job reminded Cyanus about articles he'd read of the famed Sluis Van Shipyards in his spare time. He took a swig of the Blaster in his gloved hand.
    The Dark Jedi Knight's mind wandered back to the battle, to Trigit's and his run on the Arc Nebula. He glanced at his drink carefully and smirked cynically. The battle was won, but the war was far from over. Whatever fate awaited him among the stars, he was now willing to take it full force. Or maybe that's just the Blaster talking...

 
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ASL/GSG Cyanus Cyanus/3SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1REG/VEA/VE[BoA] [ES1][BC]
CM/DJK Cyanus/Krath/Lion 1-6/VEDJ/VE
Dark Jedi Knight
"...I think I'll kill you later." - Cyanus
Assistant Squad Leader: - Raider Squad
-
Darkhawk
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 1:03:40 AM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  Darkhawk awoke from his Force trance feeling refreshed, something he had not felt in many days. He checked the chrono next to his bed; he had only been out for two hours. The crew was probably still celebrating in the lounge, so he thought he'd check it out. After all, he had sort of promised Trigit that he would stop by. I'll make it quick.
  He picked his helmet up and secured it. Thanks to recent events, he no longer needed it to see, but now he preferred to wear it whenever he was around people except for those closest to him. It had a... nice effect. He gave a voice command to the nanoarmor's central processing unit and it turn the infared visor off. It still appeared red from the outside, but now he could look at the world normally instead of through electronically-enhanced eyes.
  Before he exited his room, he threw on his dark black robes. The nanoarmor covered his entire body like an exoskeleton, but he somehow felt naked if he didn't put any clothes on. By instinct, he put on his weapons belt and attached both his lightsabres, but on second thought he put them all away. If I'm not relatively safe here aboard the Griffen, then I'm not safe anywhere.
  By the time he arrived at the lounge, most of the crew had moved on to other things. JMac and Liquid were seated at a table in the corner; they acknowledged the Sith Lord as he entered with a wave. Phoenix was passed out at another table, his head face down on a plate of food. Darkhawk was still unsure how to feel about the young man. He had had visions with Phoenix in them, but he had yet to decipher their meaning.
  The rest of the room was empty except for Trigit, was seated at the bar, and the barkeeper. Darkhawk walked over and sat down next to the Sith Guardian, who acknowledged him with a polite bow of his head. The barkeeper, a husky man named Bram Perion, walked over.

  "It's been a while since I've seen you here, Darkhawk."

  "I guess so, Bram." The Sith Warrior thought for a moment and then decided to remove his helmet. He sat it down on the stool next to him. "I've been... busy."

  "If you say so." The barkeeper shrugged. "The usual, sir?"

  "You know it," Darkhawk replied, smiling. Bram chuckled and served him up a tall glass of water. Trigit let out a small laugh. "You okay, Trig?"

  The Sith Guardian rolled his eyes. "You never drink, do you? Not even at a time like this."

  Darkhawk took a large gulp of his water and smiled. "Look, I just drank something."

  "Haha. Very funny," Trigit responded.

  The Sith Lord's eyes fell on a body crumpled on the floor that he had not noticed earlier. It was the mangled form of what appeared to be one of the Griffen's crew members, and the man looked like he was in pretty bad shape.

  Darkhawk gestured toward the injured crewman. "Is he okay?"

  Trigit shrugged. "He's still alive, isn't he?"

  A brief touch of the Force confirmed this. "I guess so. Why hasn't anyone called for a medical droid?"

  The Sith Guardian laughed. "I think I scared them all away." A glint in his eyes told Darkhawk that Trigit had had something to do with the injured crew member, so he let it go.

  "Talon probably won't be very happy, you know."

  "Yeah. I know."

  Darkhawk shook his head. Same old Trigit. He finished off his water and stood up, sliding a few credits across to Bram. "Well, I'm off to read the report that Talon left for me before he split."

  "Quade's interrogation."

  "Yeah. I wonder if he learned anything."

  "I doubt that guy had anything useful to divulge. He sure wasn't much of a tactician."

  "He wasn't much of anything," Darkhawk responded. "I'll be sure to let you all know if there was anything important in there." He picked up his helmet and placed it back on.

  "All right." Trigit paid for his drink and stood up as well. "I think I'm going to head down to the hangar. Cyanus mentioned something about modifying his fighter while we have some down time. Sounds like a good idea, so I might see what I can do for my ship."

  "Good luck."

  The two men parted ways once more. As Darkhawk headed back toward his quarters, he stopped a mouse droid and sent it off to fetch a medical droid to attend to the injured crewman. He knew it really wasn't his problem, but he also knew Trigit would have hell to pay once Talon returned if the man died from his injuries.
  Plopping down on his bed, the Sith Lord pulled out his datapad and brought up the message from Talon. It was marked "Urgent" and "Confidential", which he had not noticed earlier. Eh. Maybe I should've read this before I took a nap. He entered his personal identification code and pressed his thumbprint onto the screen, and a holographic image of the Grand Master came into view.

  "Darkhawk, this is Talon. I have just finished my initial interrogation of Commodore Quade. Guardsmen are holding him in custory. As I mentioned to you earlier, I have to leave for a short while, but I will be back soon. You and Riel are in temporary command of the Order until I return. Please inform Riel of this, because I have not left a similar message for him. This information is for you only. What I have learned from Commodore Quade is much more important than anything that I could have imagined. I believe this news pertains directly to you, which is why I wanted you to be the first to hear this."

  As the message continued, Darkhawk's good mood faded very quickly. Mental images flashed across his mind at a rapid pace, making it hard to focus on what Talon was saying. When the Dark Jedi Master finally stopped speaking, the Sith Lord just dropped the datapad onto the floor and collapsed onto his bed.
  Thrawn. At one time he and the rest of the Vast Empire had doubted that the Grand Admiral even existed, but now they knew otherwise. I told them! Darkhawk now felt that it was the will of the Force that he had had those dreams, recovered those memories... it all must have been warning him of the threat that Thrawn posed. But no one had listened. I didn't even believe myself.
  There were still plenty of pieces of his memory that had not been recovered, but his entire service under Thrawn had been recovered. Now he knew that these memories must be real. If the Vast Empire was facing Grand Admiral Thrawn, it was a dire situation indeed. Thrawn was to Quade what the Monolith was to a TIE Fighter.
  The higher ups are going to want to speak to me, no doubt. They'll probably assume that because I served with Thrawn that I'll have some kind of secret information that we can use against him. The Sith Warrior clenched his fists together. And I thought things might start to ease up around here.
  He sat up in bed and thought of his next plan of action. He decided to stop by Riel's quarters and inform him that they were in temporary charge - and then I'm going to pay my own visit to Quade to learn what I can learn. This time he took his lightsabres with him, just to give him that added effect of intimidation.
  As he passed through the door of his room once again, he reached out through the Force to send a message, unsure of whether or not the recipient would hear: Thanks for the warning, Talon.
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:31:06 PM)]
Liquid
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 1:24:15 AM    View the profile of Liquid 
The young man sighed, getting ready to leave the table he was seated at. "Something troubling you, Liquid?" JMac asked, looking his old friend in the eyes.

"Kinda."

"What's your problem then?"

"I don't know, I just have this feeling that we might be getting in over our heads."

"I have that feeling everytime I wake up, but soon, it will pass."

"I sure hope so," Liquid said, sliding out of the booth and coming to a halt so the medical droid could pass him. "Goodnight, JMac."

"Cya later, Liquid." JMac turned the the barkeep and motioned for another Correllian Ale. He knew that once he finished this one, he should go get some rest before returning to the action, but what the hell, one more couldn't hurt anything.

Liquid moved down the hall quickly, brushing off crewman's salutes and meanings of rank as he hussled his way towards his quarters. He pushed the door open with his right hand, and saw a datapad laying there, beeping. The Dark Jedi couldn't quite place whether or not it was his, but the beeping needed to stop before it started to aggravate him. He picked it up and slowly read the message. "You're right, there is going to more to this than there seems -- Trigit." He sat down on his bed and closed his eyes, wanting to fall asleep quickly so the nightmares wouldn't come.
 
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Dark Jedi Knight of the Dark Jedi Order
First Lieutenant of the Vast Empire Navy

ph34red by many

are you man enough?
Trigit
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 2:16:39 AM    View the profile of Trigit 
After parting with the Dark Lord, Trigit made his way down to the hanger, where he met Cyanus and the chief engineer of the Griffen. Trigit headed their direction, stopping when he got to them and greeting them with a nod. Cyanus spoke first, greeting Trigit.

"Hey Trigit, thought you were still in the bar?"

"I was, I left with Darkhawk, came down here, wanted to see about getting my ship modified."

The engineer grinned, "Well, that's what I'm here for, what do you need done to it?"

"Quite a bit, I was hoping you could find a place to put two extra laser cannons, jam some more torpedos into the cargo area, and squeeze in an extra seat behind the pilot's."

"Tall order, but I think we can get it done pretty quick, I'll give the orders at once."

Trigit acknowledged this with a nod, then turned and left the hanger, heading for his quarters. He debated stopping in the Medical Center and checking on the crewman he had injured, but decided it would be a waste of time, and continued on to his quarters. Locking the door behind him, Trigit unhooked his lightsabers from his belt and placed them on a small table next to his bed. He knew that strange things were about to happen, he could feel it in the Force, and so he decided not to sleep. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he slipped into a trance, channeling the Force to renew his strength that had been spent in the day's battle.
 
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Retired Ambassador
Sith Guardian
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Cosmic
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 2:56:30 AM    View the profile of Cosmic 
Cosmic looked down at the green planet from the safety of his cockpit, and just sat there staring. The Nigritude was frozen in place as the Krath pondered why he was with this group of Dark Jedi. The dark green and blue from the planet against the darkness of space was relaxing, and Cosmic found himself almost mesmerized by the otherwise-unseen beauty. A part of him felt that he belonged with these people, but another large part of him felt like he didn't even know them. He didn't know how he came to be who he was or why he remembered being present in two totally different eras in time. All he knew was that he was carrying a lot of information, and his memory fragmented. The most recent chronological memories he had started only a few days ago, and everything seemed distorted before then. Only flashes of images appeared in his dreams. Some nights he would find himself standing in the middle of a battleground wearing white Stormtrooper armor, and other times he was standing at the funeral of the late Dark Lord of the Sith, Marka Ragnos. Some memories were pleasant, like smelling the sweat perfume of a woman whom he knew only as Jen Strider, and then suddenly flashing into a terrifying scene of death... his own death.

Cosmic stared for only a few minutes more before turning his attention back to the Griffen. It was time to leave.

What am I doing here?

Cosmic increased the throttle a bit and headed to the Griffen to dock. The Nigritude sailed through space with little acceleration. The man in pitch-black robes and a golden lightsaber was in no hurry.

----------

The brandy went down nicely as he placed the empty shot glass on the small round table. Cosmic was sitting in an undisturbed corner on the farthest end of the lounge, staring at the glass on the table. The crew around him where doing their own thing, and as long as they didn't disturb his peace, everything was fine. One of the things that Cosmic noticed over the past few days was that he had become very sensitive in the Force. Life signatures were identifying themselves in his mind without him physically trying to "find" them. It was a very odd, yet comforting feeling.

Dark Jedi had already begun to come and go from the bar. Some nodded his way in greeting, but only a lifeless stare returned the favor. There were two things that began to catch his attention. One, he felt a strange sensation emanating from one of the Dark Jedi named Darkhawk, who appeared to be in a somewhat disturbed state, but was masking it very well. Two, Talon's presence aboard the Griffen was no longer felt. He had left. A thought suddenly confronted him, and that was this woman named Jen Strider. He had a great attraction and deep emotions for her.

I need to see her.

He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. The conversations around him had become white noise and no longer an annoyance. He pulled back his head and looked down at the empty glass resting on the table in front of him. The glass slowly distorted and folded in upon itself to form a perfect glass sphere. It then rolled to the center of the table and rested. Cosmic rose from his seat and pulled the dark hood back over his shining bald head, and his face returned to the darkness of the shadows that it was accustomed to. He ignored the compliments from the crew as he walked through the lounge towards the automatic doors. Phoenix was beginning to come around, and noticed Cosmic departing from the room.

"Hey, we did good. We're all still here."

The Krath stopped and slightly turned his head to the right, "Death is inevitable. A battle won does not change that." Cosmic walked out of the lounge and into the corridor.

----------

Cosmic walked over to the Nigritude and was about to leap into the cockpit when a man walked up and grabbed his shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, but you are not to leave the Griffen."

Cosmic turned around, and the man was now staring at two red glowing eyes from within the darkness of the taller man's hood.

"What are you going to do about it?" came Cosmic's cold reply.

"If you leave sir, I will have to report you."

Cosmic turned around and leapt into the cockpit, "So report me. Petty warnings don't seem to be working for you anyway."

The Nigritude came to life with a roar of the engines, and the starfighter ascended from the ground. The fighter hovered out of the hangar bay and into open space. Cosmic was once again facing the scene of the green planet against the blackness of space. He thought of Jen again. The last thing he remembered was that he was sitting beside her on her bed, watching her sleep.

She's beautiful even while she dreams.

Cosmic felt a sudden chill, but ignored it. He was quite used to having them occur often now. His hands felt cold, but he forced all physical indications aside and navigated the Nigritude down to the planet in the hopes of finding peace one more time.

----------

The apartment looked as if it had been frozen in time. Nothing had changed since he left, which wasn't long ago, but nevertheless he was expecting some kind of physical difference. He slowly walked up to her door and knocked. The door slid open a few seconds later, and her face appeared. Cosmic quickly appreciated all of her curves before settling his gaze on her eyes. She looked suspiciously at the individual in front of her, but had already encountered a man with dark robes before. Cosmic pushed back his hood and looked at her.

"Cleric," Jen whispered. In a louder tone, "What are you doing here?"

Cosmic looked down for a moment, but then looked back up as he replied, "I was fulfilling an urge. I felt that I needed to see you again."

"Well," she motioned to herself with her left hand, "Still here. Still the same."

Cosmic nodded.

"Would you like to come in?"

Cosmic took the invitation and entered her home. The automatic doors shut quickly behind him once he was inside, and he looked around the room. Everything appeared to be in same places as he remembered. He was going to ask her how she was doing with coping her brother's death but decided against it. He didn't need to bring up that subject.

"Would you like a drink?" Jen asked as she made her way to her mini-bar.

"No," said Cosmic quietly. "I'm fine."

She poured a brandy for herself before sitting down on the couch in the living room where Cosmic stood. He took the seat opposite of hers and clasped his hands together; his forearms resting on his knees as he leaned forward.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you're still in this apartment, considering that there was just a battle overhead."

Jen smirked. "I wasn't about to move myself just because two ships with guns begin a duel of the fates. Some people though went into temporary Imperial shelters just in case of planetary bombardment." She looked at Cosmic, who appeared to be swaying slightly left and right. "You ok?"

"Just a little tired," replied Cosmic.

"I'll get you a pillow then, and you can rest on the couch."

She got up and began walking to a nearby in-wall cabinet to retrieve the pillows.

"You're just as beautiful since last I saw you."

Jen appeared to ignore the comment and came back with the pillows. She piled the two pillows on top of one another at one end of the couch and motioned to it.

"Well, there you go. You sure you don't want something to drink?"

There was a short pause before Cosmic shook his head, "You've done more than enough for me already."

Cosmic rose from his chair and laid back on the couch, his head on the soft pillows and his eyes staring up at the ceiling.

"I'll be in the other room if you need me." Jen motioned to the room around the corner of the hall, and began to walk towards it.

"Wait."

Jen stopped and looked down at the Dark Jedi.

"If you would, stay here. I can't sleep anyway. My dreams seem to be more like nightmares as of late, and I didn't come here to sleep anyway."

Jen sighed, but then smiled slightly. "It's ok, Cleric." she walked over and knelt down next to him. "You're in my house now. Dream."

Cosmic turned his head to Jen, and, for the first time in several days, smiled. She placed her hand on his chest, and he placed his on hers. His eyes gave way, and he fell into a hopeful slumber.
 
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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
CoT/HCL Cosmic/HCA-3/SL/3SQD/2PLT/1COMP/1BAT/Tadath/VEA/VE [OPE][OTH][OPA][EW1][CDS][IH][GS][LM][SoS][CoH][PoC][MSM][SCP][IOC][SoA]
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Cleric "Cosmic" Vor'soth
SL/KPR Cosmic/Lion 1-1/Lopen/VEDJ/VE [VP][KC1][OAK]
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Darkhawk
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  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 2:29:19 PM    View the profile of Darkhawk 
  Darkhawk was heading toward Riel's quarters when a young crew chief came running up to him. "Commodore!"

  "Yes?"

  "Colonel Cosmic has left."

  "Left? As in, he left the Griffen?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "None of the Dark Jedi were supposed to leave this ship without direct orders!"

  "I know, sir, but he wouldn't listen. There wasn't really anything we could do to stop him."

  Darkhawk sighed. "No, I suppose not. Thank you for drawing this to my attention. I'll look into it as soon as I can."

  "Of course." The chief saluted and then ran off back to the hangar.

  Cosmic, you reckless bastard. He didn't know what was going on with the Krath Prophet, but he knew something was up. When Darkhawk had fought Cosmic aboard the Griffen earlier that week, he had definitely sensed something strange... elusive. It had been bothering him ever since, but there were more important things to worry about. If Cosmic had decided to run off, then so be it. Darkhawk didn't have the time to go track him down. Hopefully the Lion Sect Leader would return before Talon came back. And if not... Oh well.

  He reached Riel's quarters and knocked on the door. A few moments later and the Krath Oracle stepped out into the hallway. "Do you have news from Talon?"

  Darkhawk nodded. "He's gone, but he'll be back soon. You and I are in charge of the Order until he arrives."

  Riel rolled his eyes. "Whoop-dee-doo."

  "Yeah, I know. Also, it seems that Cosmic has run off."

  "Whatever."

  "That's how I feel, too. Do you have any idea what's up with him?"

  "I have my suspicions..." The Krath Lord's eyes seemed to focus in on something right above Darkhawk's left shoulder. He was silent for a while. "But, no, I don't know anything definite."

  "Talon left me a summary of his primary interrogation of Quade, as well."

  Riel's eyebrows raised. "He didn't leave anything like that for me."

  "I know. He wanted me to read it first, because it... well, it's more personal to me."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Here." Darkhawk handed him the datapad. "I removed the password protection, so you should be able to view the message. It'll explain everything." He turned to leave.

  "Where are you going?"

  "I've got to see Quade."

  Riel stared at him blankly. "Okay. Sure you don't want me to come along?"

  The Sith Lord shook his head. "Just view that message and let me know what you think. If you need me, I'll be in the cells."

          *          *          *          *          *

  During the space battle, Darkhawk had sensed something amiss, a disturbance unrelated to the conflict. Was it this trouble with Grand Admiral Thrawn? Or perhaps it has something to do with Cosmic acting so strangely? Or... He shook his head. There are million things it could be. He had not taken the time to meditate on the matter. I'll have to do it later. Right now I need to find out just how much Quade knows. As he walked, that nagging sensation remained in the back of his mind, warning that something was not right.

          *          *          *          *          *

  "Identification, please." Two Guardsmen crossed their force pikes in front of Darkhawk, blocking his access to the cell door. The Sith Warrior removed his helmet and they passed a small wand in front of his eyes. The device gave a high-pitched "ding." "Retinal scan approved, Commodore. You may proceed."

  "Thank you," Darkhawk replied. The two guards bow and he stepped into the room. Two more guards were stationed here, where Quade was sitting lazily in his chair watching a sports match on the room's holoscreen. He turned to see who his visitor was. There was no initial recognition in his eyes, because he had never seen the Sith Lord without his helmet. As his eyes passed over the dark robes and the armor visible beneath them, however, he sat up straight and saluted.

  "Commodore Darkhawk, what a pleasant surprise."

  The Sith Warrior motioned for the two Guardsmen to leave the room. "I would like to speak with the prisoner alone, please."

  The guards looked at one another and hesitated for a moment, but then decided it was all right. They bowed to the Sith Lord and glided out of the room, securing the door behind them.
  "Do what do I owe the honor of this social visit, Commodore?" Quade asked, smiling weakly.

  "I'm afraid this isn't a social visit," Darkhawk answered. He pulled up a stool and seated himself across from Quade, using the Force to turn off the holoscreen as he did.

  "Then I am to be interrogated again?"

  "If that's what you want to call it. I want you to tell me everything you know about Grand Admiral Thrawn."

  Quade fidgeted uneasily in his chair. "I already told your boss all that I know."

  "I find that hard to believe."

  A bead of sweat rolled down the chubby man's face. "Look, I was just following orders."

  "Sorry. That excuse won't work here."

  "But I've already told you everything that I know!"

  Darkhawk grinned. "Let's be sure of that, shall we?" He closed his eyes and reached out through the Force, tapping into Quade's mind. The prisoner was not strong in the Force whatsoever, so his entire mind was like an open book.

  "What, what are you doing? No! Get out of my head!" Quade shouted. He clutched his forehead and whimpered as Darkhawk pierced deeper into his memories.

  "Oh, shut up," the Sith Lord muttered. He punched the fat little man in the face, knocking him out cold. It'll be easier to read his mind when he's not actively thinking, anyway.
[This message has been edited by Darkhawk (edited September 11, 2004 2:43:28 PM)]
LoneWolf
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[VE-ARMY] Sergeant First Class
[VE-DJO] Dark Jedi Knight (DJK)
[VE-NAVY] 2nd Lieutenant (2LT)
 
Post Number:  931
Total Posts:  1075
Joined:  Sep 2001
Status:  Offline
  RE: Chapter 8 : The Order's Return
September 11, 2004 4:49:26 PM    View the profile of LoneWolf 
The dim lights in the bar afforded everyone a shadow cast across their faces. That didn't lighten the merriment as plenty of crewmen toasted to their success. LoneWolf idly sat in a booth eating the meal he had ordered.
He felt severed from it all, he was simply an observer, nothing more. His eyes dangled from face to face and always seemed to land back on the full glass of Corellian Ale in front of him.
He had ordered with no intentions of drinking it, he knew where the intoxicating substance lead. "I've been there before too much..."
Lonewolf finished his plate and left the noisy room.

*****

Yellow darts shot at a deep blue shadow, the glowing blue energy ate up the attacks with the graceful and trained strokes from its master. Firm hands traced the connection between fighter and weapon, the bond as inseparable as limbs.
LoneWolf flexed his toned arms to swivel the dark blue rod in another block. His feet shifted with his weight, affording a powerful swing toward a golden energy bolt. The muscles in his body poised like a patient cat, and burst into a spin to deflect the next shot.

An array of remotes floated around LoneWolf, he simply wore his trousers. He wanted to keep up his saber skills by practicing. Although not as renowned a swordsman as some of his superiors, the Sith had every intention of being respectable, if not one of the best someday. "Someday..." his voice hissed inside his throat as he pushed off his feet to dodge another shot.

Keeping the hilt tightly bound in his fist, his body danced in an undecided pattern as he practiced his agility. After a few heartbeats of passive defense he tightened his grip on the Force to begin an attack.
He could feel the air come a little closer to him, like a storm stockpiling energy. His body was the conductor, the medium of travel, he would compose the raw feelings into something tangible. The deep blue glow swirled in defending his body, his mind dangled between the practice droids and exploited their weakness.

They were little more than floating objects, items which he now controlled. His hand hollowly grasped out for one of the remotes and swung it around until it hit the floor.
LoneWolf's eyes dashed to the other side where three more were congregated, he imagined the power he felt congregating around them like a fist. All three spheres floated helplessly toward each other with a violent "crunch" as they all enclosed together to fall as a bigger metal heap.
The Sith found his practice session over with all the remotes wasted, "well worth the practice."
LoneWolf shut off his weapon and attached it back to his belt, he studied the room and left to go take a shower. 
 
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Lonewolf/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=A=)(=SA=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[SRC][VC:Ebony]

CM/DJK LoneWolf/Sith/Eagle Sect/VEDJ

"With each kill, I grow wiser, with added wisdom, I grow stronger..." -Artemis Entreri
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