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Post by nighthawk on Jun 9, 2010 19:39:01 GMT -5
Nighthawk felt a presence intruding on his mind, and his eyes narrowed. He could see the usefulness of communicating without a commnlink, but it had always annoyed him how those stupid force users could reach into his mind without him letting them. That was why he had taken classes with some of the Jedi Masters at the temple to learn how he could close off his mind. This certainly wasn't Skywalker anyways. It seemed much darker, for sure. Sith? Though it had long been assumed the Sith were gone, Nighthawk knew that was the reason for the Old Republics demise, and he did not intend on repeating the mistakes they had made.
Raising Skywalker through his commnlink Nighthawk spoke to him in calm steady tones.
"Skywalker, I think i've met some resistance, and I believe there are some Sith, or at least Dark Jedi in the area. I suggest you send a Jedi Master in soon. There may be several of them."
Nighthawk advanced deeper into the direction he was going, un sheathing his beskad, he prepared to face whoever was sending these unwanted thoughts to him.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Jun 9, 2010 21:13:22 GMT -5
Ka sniffed at her tears and made her expression fierce. "No. I need explanations. Who are you? How did you get here? You know I'm a prisoner, right, not...staying here like it's some fancy hotel?"
Although it was a very fancy room.
***
Luke picked up his commlink. He scowled a little. This wasn't the military--although promptness was important, it also didn't always work. He couldn't dispatch a Jedi Master like a squad to face an unknown enemy--they had classes to teach, or weren't even on-planet.
He replied, "Come back to the temple. It's more important to find our missing students than to fight right now." And if that is a Sith Lord, it'll take more planning to kill.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 9, 2010 21:32:24 GMT -5
Ruen bowed her head, feeling her cloak shift around her shoulders. So the Force-blind warrior was foolish enough to continue on. She turned and paced back into the bowels of the building, where a communication and security center had been set up. On the cameras set into the walls she could see him moving through. He was armed like a Mandalorian. He walked out of the range of one camera, but she pressed into his mind. Mandalorian. I knew your kind when Jango Fett was the deadliest bounty hunter in the galaxy. You are scattered now. Open to attack. She tried to influence his resolve but found that most of it was protected--of course it would be if he resided on the planet of the Jedi.
Would killing him outright be best? She could always recruit him to her team....
No. Sith did not form ranks like Jedi. Two would suffice--and wouldn't get in eachother's way. But that didn't mean she didn't have defenses, purchased recently with funds from long ago.
She let the combat droid from the hanger into the halls. It was a two-legged monstrosity with glowing red 'eyes' and railguns mounted on both its arms. It would let her find out more about the person who insisted on pressing on. She supposed he really might be stupid enough to think he could kill her.
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Post by nighthawk on Jun 10, 2010 19:11:55 GMT -5
As much as Nighthawk respected the Jedi Master, there were times when he really hated his passiveness. Did he think Nighthawk was some padawan to be taught danger? Nighthawk had gone up against the best fighters in the world and won. He had run a world and commanded the Galaxy`s most feared fighters into battle. A little Sith resistance wouldn`t faze him in the least. Continuing on, Nighthawk had an odd feeling that his every moment was being tracked. Extending his senses outwards, Nighthawk saw the reason, a camera high up on the wall. So the Sith knew he was coming eh, it didn`t matter to him, but maybe he should disable this camera...
But suddenly an interesting apparition intruded on his musing and he decided he had better things to do. Activating his Jetpack, Nighthawk didn`t take the time to expend energy on thinking about why this thing was here or what he could do about it, his body acted of it`s own accord and Nighthawk activated his MM9 Rockets stored in the front of his armor, two of them slammed into the droid, driving it back a step and allowing Nighthawk to perilously land on it`s `back`. Locating the joint in the back of the droid`s shoulder, Nightawk drove his beskad into the droid`s shoulder. The blade did little damage to the droid`s armor, and Nighthawk had to think quickly. Jumping down from the back, he narrowly avoided a lumbering swing at him from one of the arms and shot his whipcord around the beasts legs. Scrambling back and regaining his balance again, Nighthawk shot backwards with his jetpack and used his momentum to increase the strength with which he pulled the droid down with his whip cord. Momentarily immobilized, Nighthawk shot another rocket at the droid, this time hitting it straight in the face, fortunately knocking out it`s photoreceptors. A perfect setup for what he planned next. He couldn`t find any other way to take out this stupid droid, so Nighthawk aimed for the ceiling above the droid, firing one of his rockets into the ceiling. Collapsing part of the ceiling onto the droid, Nighthawk was glad that was over. Turning to the camera, Nighthawk put a single blaster bolt into the casing, knocking out the image as he continued forward. Next time he went back to the temple, he`d have to remember to ask Luke for one of those Lightsabers he had lying around...
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 11, 2010 12:41:04 GMT -5
Ruen watched him fight and grew to know him. There was some of Anakin Skywalker in him; some of the boulder momentum of the confidant berserker.
She drew back further into the Temple, sensing as she grew closer to its power that Tranner and Kon had fallen. That Epsilon was such a strange presence....they were irritatingly unexpected, but she did need to find out what they wanted.
(Because she did not want to take over, she did not want to move; she simply wanted to be left alone to drown her sorrows in fermented Force.)
"Good," she crooned over the commlink, which was still active and wired into the building even though the camera had shattered. "Good. Maybe the Mandalorians have not fallen so far. State your purpose here, blind one. Do you really wish to kill an old woman?"
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Post by nighthawk on Jun 19, 2010 11:19:47 GMT -5
Nighthawk chuckled to himself over the persons use of 'blind one'. Of course, all Jedi were to a point, 'above' lower non force sensitive beings like himself, but to be called blind was simply silly. Nighthawk had access to a very many useful things, and one of these would indeed be very useful to him once he encountered this person. Hell, it was useful for a great many things, including escaping from the Grand Master when he wanted to.
Still chuckling, Nighthawk continued on his path, heading towards the hangar
(though obviously he dunnit know it's a hangar)
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jun 19, 2010 19:42:12 GMT -5
Glitch wilted until Ka’s rebuke. “No. I didn’t know that.” He replied softly. He seemed embarrassed by the question of his origins. “I don’t remember how I got here to be honest. I was very young when I first arrived to the Cortex 12 and have been a student here since I learned to walk.”
“I’m not strong enough of a Force sensitive to be trained as a Seeker and I’m not qualified to be a Sentinel, so they have me work with the one thing I am talented with—technology. I can’t read people very well with the Force, but I can fix most machines faster than anyone else because I can sense errors in the programming.” He shrugged not sure what was “normal” for Ka and struggled to find some common ground in which he could tread. “What about you? Which Cortex are you from? What were you training to become?”
*** Epsilon watched the ship’s view shimmer slightly as its stealth ability activated. The gentle down draft it created swirling the foliage as it rushed forward to the waiting sky. For a split moment he felt the mind of the man searching the area. Epsilon smile to himself as the stars grew ever closer. How unfortunate for him that Ruen’s decoy, however brief, had allowed him time to escape.
Once the craft was out of orbit, he set in a series of short random jumps before feeling comfortable with the newly added distance from Yavin. He had barely made it out of his third jump when his ship’s comm-link activated, taking the form of a frail looking miraluka. Her voice was low and raspy as though it hurt to speak. “Epsilon, I was beginning to worry something had happened to you.” She replied faintly. Epsilon had to strain to hear the words.
“I’m fine Fate. I just had some…unexpected difficulties for this particular mission.” A small smile crossed Fates lips as she replied, “Yes, I saw your prospects in one of my visions. Kuma will want Tranner and Kon taken to Cortex 14 for evaluation and to have your mission report as soon as possible.”
Epsilon nodded respectfully, but eyed the woman’s appearance with concern. She looked ashen and weary. “Is everything alright? You look like you’re about to drop.” Fate remained silent for a beat as she composed her reply. “Things have…changed. There are events in motion that I cannot see their end. I have not slept well because of it.” Her voice held a note of fear. “I sense betrayal, but do not know from where its roots lay.”
Epsilon felt his eyes narrow. “Is Alpha in danger?” Fate shook her head confidently. “No. That future I see quite clearly and it is free of this taint.” Epsilon felt a relieved sigh escape between his lips. “Understood. I’ll keep a close eye on these two once I land. Tell Kuma, she’ll have her report soon enough. Epsilon out.”
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Jun 20, 2010 21:00:26 GMT -5
Ka was wondering what all this about "Cortexes" meant when Glitch gave her the opportunity to ask. "I'm not from a Cortex," she said, trying for calm. "I'm from the Jedi temple. They used to take kids early, like how you don't remember your family, but not any more. Now Jedi can live like normal people for a while. I'm from a family on Tiss'sharl....nothing special!" She fought down fear. "What's a Cortex?"
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jun 21, 2010 17:40:47 GMT -5
Glitch guffawed at the question. “What is a Cortex?” He asked surprised. “Its where all Force users live. Its our home and sanctuary from the Syrick, what else. Surely you’ve heard of at least one of them.” By the look on Ka’s face, his question had been answered. “Ah…I guess that would be a no.” He leaned on the staircase rail, his weight resting on his forearms. “What is a Jedi? And what do you mean by “normal people”? Everyone I know seems normal enough to me. Well…Jird can be a bit scary, but that’s just personality I think. His fangs are nearly the size of my thumbs! And when he growls…the floor shakes. Oh and…” He cut himself short and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry I get a bit carried away when I’m excited.” *** Epsilon watched as a group of Sentinels moved to intercept him, a wall of impassive force. Their Force signatures grim and suspicious of his intentions as they moved to take Tranner and Kon into the main complex. The leader of the group stopped in from of him, features hidden behind the reflective facemask. Unable to determine the being’s species, much less its gender, Epsilon summit his finger to the metallic device the creature offered to him. A prick to his finger confirmed his identity and seemed to relax the guards tense stances a bit. “Do you have any cargo you wish see to Epsilon?” the figure asked. “Yes. Take the two men I have in my ship’s hull to evaluation.” “Under what category are these prospects to be tested?” “For now they’re blank slates. I’ll leave that decision up to Kuma.” “Understood. Will you be staying with us for now, Sir?” “For the moment yes.” Epsilon replied as he watched Tranner and Kon pass him on medical lifts.
Soon enough they’d awaken to the prospect dorms. The training center had been Epsilon’s home for seven harsh years. The clinically clean and orderly sleeping quarters had been stocked with every soldierly need from weapons, limited of course to melee, to medical supplies. From beyond their safety lay the grim artificial battle fields in which all prospects where tested.
The rules of the center were simple. If you obeyed the rules you lived. If you rebelled…the nearest Sentinel put a round through your head, Force user or not.
Epsilon followed the two inside, ignoring the Sentinels following on his heels. Mentally preparing for his upcoming report and telling himself not to dwell on what consequences it might have for his brothers. If his team’s mission performance was deemed poor, there was a chance Tranner and Kon would be replacing those who nearly blew the mission.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Jun 22, 2010 1:02:08 GMT -5
Ka felt reassured by the mention of someone with fangs. Finally, facial expressions she could understand without having to think about it! But this Glitch needed his priorities set straight. Even if he didn't intend to, his not seeming to understand the world outside where-ever she had been kidnapped to was annoying.
(But another part of her said, I'm a Jedi. Or at least going to be one. And Jedi are supposed to redeem people and teach them things, right?)
She tried to speak slowly. "A Jedi...is a Force user. They don't all live in Cortexes, because I go to a Jedi Academy where there's plenty of them. There have been Jedi Academies for a long time before the Empire." Oh no. How brainwashed is this kid? "You know about the Empire, don't you?"
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 22, 2010 1:30:58 GMT -5
Tranner felt like his senses were stifled. He could feel the drug working through his system, calming him, making him forget every once in a while that it was there. But then he would get a sense of the place--literally feel its air push at his montrals and bounce back from their spongy surface in a kind of echo effect, so that he could feel the open space and the movement of people around him. The drug had been designed for humans.
But he didn't feel any need to open his eyes or get up and move as he was carted away. He idly wondered where he was. Had the Empire been reborn? Ranks of people like this might have come from them. It would be so nice to be back around stormtroopers, people he knew where he stood with...
He drifted off again.
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jun 23, 2010 17:46:46 GMT -5
“Of the Great War? Yeah, we’ve talked about it in class. It was one reason the Cortexes were built. There was a really powerful Syrick named Darth Vader on the prowl at the time. He killed a lot of our Seekers, so we had to go underground. The Cortexes were designed and built to hide Force signatures. That’s why we’re safe here and why the Sentinels are so careful not to let our locations leak. They don’t want the Syrick to return and finish what they started during the Great War.”
A beeping sound drew Glitche's attention to his chrono. “I have to go to class now. If you want you can come along, you're more than welcome. You'll get to meet some of the other students.” His face beamed with a hopefully expression as he waited for Ka’s response.
***
Sitting with his legs crossed on a medical gurney, Epsilon sent his report to Kuma and waited patiently for Kon and Tranner to wake up. It wouldn’t be much longer before his drug’s affect would wear off. He doubted they’d be in a pleasant mood once they came to, but if he didn’t at least give them the ground rules of their evaluation process, they’d almost certainly be killed by the waiting Sentinels.
Running his hand through his white hair, he could remember just how many he’d see get killed because of the Sentinels overprotective nature. They had very little tolerance for wayward Syrick and would not hesitate to put one down if they dimmed a being a threat. Either way, he’d have to wait and see what was to be.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 24, 2010 13:52:29 GMT -5
Ruen was getting irritated. It would never have been like this if she had a proper Sith Academy, with other Masters and ranks and people (who would get in her way. It's not that she didn't have the power to garner support (although she never had, she'd never kept friends.) It was that these days were Force-dull for the galaxy, were nothing like the waning days of the Republic when the Sith's darkshine presence started clotting the tides--)
Enough.
Ruen took a deep breath, forgetting her past and her name. She had a juggernaut to deal with.
One more try.
"Nighthawk." Her voice boomed through the PA system. "Named for a bird, named for stealth. Do you really want to work for Skywalker, clumsy and loud as his Order is? The Sith are not evil. We are free."
***
Tranner sat up slowly, shaking his head of the remnant sound-pictures. He could see now. There were white walls around him, Kon lying on a gurney, and a man sitting in front of him...Epsilon, unmasked.
Tranner took a deep breath. Time to be calm, especially if they were going to try anything like Imperial interrogation techniques on him. How he wished to be out of sight!
He glared at Epsilon, lowering his montrals like a bantha about to charge. "Where are we?"
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Post by Jedi Master Sar Sha on Jun 26, 2010 0:13:31 GMT -5
Ignoring Tranner's question, Epsilon slid off his perch and pulled a premeasured syringe out from a nearby cabinet with the Force. Removing the cap and he tapped its tip into Kon's neck.
Epsilon waited quietly until he was sure the counter agent was working and grinned in satisfaction when Kon moaned groggily. His eyes fluttering slowly open, clear and alert.
Confident the two would be awake for the debriefing, he returned to his seat once more. "I'm sure you've both noticed the change of scenery. For now all you need know is that you're both being observed and evaluated by the complexes staff. Their report will determine whether you leave this place in a body bag or be advanced as one of their Seekers."
Epsilon gestured to the passage ways behind him. "In either hallway outside this room, is an armory stocked with melee weapons of many designs. Your first challenge will be to choose your weapons and than survive whatever creatures or sentient beings they place in the fighting pit with you. Since you are fighting as a team, your challenges will mostly require you to use each other's strengths to survive."
"Any questions?"
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Post by nighthawk on Jun 26, 2010 20:07:51 GMT -5
Nighthawk smiled. Perhaps, if Ruens offer had been genuine, he might have taken it. She was right, Skywalkers Praxeum was rather boring, and he was only being payed so much. Perhaps he could even get paid more from Ruen, and have more freedom. He had always enjoyed challenges, and it was a challenge to take down Skywalker and the Praxeum. But Nighthawk knew that the offer was not genuine and was merely a trap to get him to lower his guard. It would not happen. The best way to spring this trap, Nighthawk thought, was a different sort of challenge, and one that he was sure to enjoy.
*Why dont you beat me in single combat Ruen? If you can beat me, then perhaps I will consider your offer. Otherwise I might just kill you, and where would be the fun in that?*
Nighthawk smiled as he continued forward through the hangar. A grand place for a battle, Nighthawk smirked as he looked around.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 27, 2010 0:29:44 GMT -5
Tranner scowled. He would have stopped Epsilon from doing whatever he had done to Kon--were this the Empire, that revitalizing agent would have been billed as a truth serum too-- except that there was no malignancy behind it in the Force.
"One question. Are they all this barbaric where you come from?"
Torture droids were so much more convenient. He didn't think this was the Empire. It wasn't their style, and he didn't see any gear logos. The Empire plastered their signature on everything. ***
It was like playing dejarik. He thought it was a trap and, even if she wasn't setting a trap there, him trying to avoid one would mean he walked right into another.
However, some people just had to skip the dejarik and go straight to contact sports. Where had the finesse of the Sith gone? Forty years ago, bad guy had known how to sneak.
Ruen tsked silently and shook her cowled head. She stayed silent, not stooping to the level of taunt...but also realized that she couldn't back up any farther. The back exit of the place was far from here. She would have to show herself.
She ghosted into the hanger for just a moment before disappearing through another door, giving the Mandalorian a glimpse of her flowing cloak.
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Post by Cy Skywalker on Jun 27, 2010 0:40:43 GMT -5
Ka said, thinking, "So Syrick are...Sith. Dark Force-users, right? And Seekers are like Jedi? On the light side?"
It was really weird to think that Gadget...Gizmo...human kid only knew about the Civil War through history, but then so did Ka. It just felt different for her.
"Okay, I'll go to class...." Partially to see what this place was like, at a clinical level. Partially just to go to class. That felt normal.
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Post by nighthawk on Jun 27, 2010 12:16:07 GMT -5
Nighthawk chuckled. Did she think her mind tricks would work on him? Not at all, vowed Nighthawk. He would NOT fall victim to her. He would kill her and take her lightsaber as his prize. Keeping his senses up, Nighthawk caught a glimpse of Ruen from her cape, but that was all he needed. His hud had locked onto her heat signature now, and he sent several heat seeking missiles at her through his wrist launcher. Drawing his beskad from it's sheath, Nighthawk advanced on where her signature was, keeping his blaster in one hand and beskad in the other.
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Post by Morndakiél on Jun 27, 2010 17:06:54 GMT -5
Ruen felt the missiles part the air. The hanger was otherwise empty of heat sources, Ruen's young Sith empire being to young and not enough an empire to afford much more than the rickety starhopper she'd flown in on. She turned to see a quick glimpse of Nighthawk standing with sword drawn in the expanse of the empty hangar before the missile's smoketrail filled up her vision.
Casually, not even turning around but looking over her shoulder and raising one hand, she grabbed the missiles with the Force and directed them toward Nighthawk, fighting the computers inside them telling them that she was the heat source they looked for. One was too hard to control and she detonated it, hearing flak tick against the Force shield she raised.
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Post by nighthawk on Jun 27, 2010 22:15:01 GMT -5
Nighthawk narrowed his eyes. Typical Jedi this, 'the force is my weapon blah blah blah'. Well Nighthawk didn't need the Force to tell him to get out of the way, and that was what he did; activating his jetpack nighthawk flew towards the missile, executing a last minute barrel roll to evade the missile as it crashed into the floor beneath him. Now positioning himself in front of Ruen, Nighthawk kept up a steady stream of blaster bolts from his E-33 while he moved closer to Ruen to engage her in melee combat.
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