STAR WARS: Outer Rim Outpost
Location: Coruscant, the debate chamber of the GFT.

A group of politicians sit at a very thick and sturdy, rather large rounded table. The tan wood polished beautifully, enough to see one’s own reflection. Representatives of many different races adorned in there long formal robes discuss placing an outpost on a key planet located far in the outer rim.
A tall representative of Muunilinst stands and says “As we all know the Yuuzhan Vong came from beyond the outer rim and they slipped past us to easy” He clears his voice and continues, “I propose a permanent outpost on the newly discovered…” The politician starts to shuffle through his notes clearing his throat a few times before continuing, “Ahemm, excuse me the planet Mazitec.”
“The Empire agrees.” Responds a man adorned and highly decorated in an Imperial officer’s uniform.
“All in favor?” A number of hands lift as the notion is passed.
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Location: Mazitec, the outpost. Four months later.

The holo-communicator in the center of the briefing room projects the image of an older human man with grey hair and dressed in a dark grey imperial officer’s uniform. His many badges and medals marking him as one of great power and influence within the Empire.

”The Empire’s reach is always stretching a bit further thanks to you brave soldiers on the edge of the known territories. You have been tasked with keeping the influence of the Empire and GFT in a remote area as you are in. Exploring the planet as well as the whole system in search of assets to our great Empire. You will act as the eye of the Empire, you will complete your duty in the name of our great Emperor Lord Fel.”

The hologram distorts fizzling into the image of Jedi Master Chata who continues,


”As you all know the planet was first discovered by spice smugglers, the band was captured by a vicious assassin only known as Ghost. Not much is known about her but I suspect that she will return to the Mazi system. She knows that she is one of very few who even know about the system and how to maneuver around the terror of the asteroid maze. It’s a miracle that the smugglers where able to get there in the first place none the less map the course.
The Yuuzhan Vong may still have scattered remnants of survivors and their bio technology. Watch out for wild Amphistaffs and other horrible abominations they may have left behind. As always my friends may the force be with you.”

The hologram dissipates as you are all left in each other’s company so very far away from all you know.

Rad'qet gazed at the ancient holocron, then at the star map projected on the navigation screen of his personal transport ship. The holocron was a black obelisk, with rune engravings that were older than he first thought. They dated to around the great hyperspace war.

"I left it on mazitec" then the holocron cut out. This wasn't the only one that pointed to mazitec, he'd found 2 other holocrons saying similar things, and even talked to one of the ancient sith's ghost, but no one fucking knew!

He stood up and walked to the rear of his ship, his shelves of journals and holocrons arranged by date, with even more important ones sitting to the side. He was lucky he had an informant on the council, he wouldn't want to land on the planet only to be met with anti aircraft blaster fire. No. He'd have to find a suitable base, then find more underlings. Stepping foot on the planet would be a last resort.

He sat back and smiled, his apprentice would be put to good use here.

Izin Stayed in her room like she normally did when she had little to do. Of course, there was always something to do, but the time she spent in her room was personal time. The only thing she really ever did was read, listen, and learn, though it didn't seem to be much of a problem in the eyes of her master.

While each and every species in the galaxy had their own origins and developments, the one that she was most intrigued by was the Human race. Unlike most of the other races and species she had read about, the actual origins of the humans seemed to be shrouded in mystery. It had been accepted that they grew and reached out to the rest of the galaxy from Coruscant, but she did not believe that. It was highly unlikely for a species as abundant as the humans to grow up on a core world and not be touched by the rest of the galaxy for years upon uncountable years. She believed that the original human homeworld was in the unexplored area of the galaxy, and ar least half of the total population of that original homeworld was toted off to the core world.

Getting lost in her thoughts, the young woman lay in her bed in the corner of the small room, awaiting orders from her master.

M-0018 was confused, he had been reprimanded for performing his tasks as a soldier and sent to the outpost. Had he not followed the correct medical procedures? Had he failed his squad in someway? If so why was he not executed for his conducts. This new Empire was odd to him, but he is sworn to it.

M-0018 did not understand his squad. They would spend hours talking, he had to pay all the more attention as to not miss any orders or vital information. He did not want to seem week.

They sometimes make quiet coughs as he enters a room. He would ask them about this. They did not seem to understand. They smile and say they don't know what he means. M-0018 believes it is endemic, a weakness of the mind. He will test them for lung-rot and larvae bores in case.

Sometimes the squad doesn't seem to understand his duty. On a patrol, a trooper was impaled by an aberrant. M-0018 cannot waste valuable medicine on a soldier that cannot return to full fighting strength . Medicine is for those who can be saved. His pains are a weakness in the mind. His screams are a weakness of the mind. M-0018 ignores them. The squad does not. They are weak. They do not understand. It is a waste of ammunition to end a the life of the grievously wounded, he was told. It is a waste of medicine to heal the grievously wounded, he was taught. His new squad cannot understand.

M-0018's equipment is generic and has been replaced many times. He can no longer distinguish between his equipment from his body, as both are required for his tasks.

His new squad has conflicting doctrines and beliefs. They are inefficient. Orders are given in unfamiliar tones and with unfamiliar style. M-0018 struggles to adapt. But he will not fail. He will not be weak. The squad needs him. He can protect them. He can save them to fight another day. If they die it is his duty, in the absence of a quartermaster, to ensure their equipment is distributed or stored properly and that the body is placed where it will not decay and spread contaminated air, or impede the efforts of the Empire.

Now he is alone.Returned after a patrol. Dismissed and debriefed by the sergeant, after the Holocron message. He stood in the empty hall awaiting new orders. The others have left, perhaps under orders he was not aware of. Still he waits.

Darth Rad'qet listens to his master on the holo-communicator as he describes his current objective.
Darth Majies sits at his ancient sith meditation throne, the souls of his prisoners are tied to it with lengths of ghostly chains that are constantly making an eerie jangling sound.

”Darth Rad'qet, Have you reached the Mazi system yet? You must retrieve the relic my loyal student just as we have planned. As you know the GFT has discovered the system as well. Just as we suspected the pirate vessel was sold to the GFT. I’m not certain yet if it was Ghost who sold the ship but none the less the charts and maps that it held are now in the hands of the GFT.
If it was Ghost that sold the ship then we have to assume that she has discovered the second piece of the puzzle that we need. Within the Mazi system there is said to be a lost and long abandoned city forgotten in time that was host to the creation of the human race itself. This fabled race that created all the races was said to be very powerful and held relics of unimaginable power. One in particular is said to contain countless amounts of their knowledge and teachings. I want you to first obtain this item before continuing to the sith relic. I will send you the location where I believe this item may lie. And remember my student we cannot let the Jedi or imperials find out we are here."

The communications are ended as the charts Majies sent Darth Rad'qet start to appear in front of him. The charts show the items location to be the fifth planet in the systems moon. An oxygen deprived dusty rock that once held life long ago. Within the ruins of an ancient temple.

"Izin, come here" Rad'qet shouted to make sure the girl would hear him.

"this assignment will surely require a change in direction... that shouldn't be a problem, we can just swing around the opposite way avoiding the sight of the main outpost..." he mumbled while changing the coordinates. Rad'qet respected Darth Majies, but he didn't like the way he acted. Or the way most sith acted, now that he thought about it.

All they care about is power and killing but power transcends your combat prowess. It was one of the reasons he had picked up the twi'lek girl from her planet. Why waste such potential on another power hungry sith when he could create a knowledge driven one.It matters not how well you can duel if your opponent thinks his head is an orange that he needs to peel, or if he thinks his arms have become swarms of locusts. Loremaster fit Rad'qet quite well and allowed him a nigh-infinite source of texts and artifacts, and he'd been priming his apprentice to follow after him but the girl proved more interested in fighting than in reading. He couldn't blame her, she was still young and full of such vitriol, but deeper than that he could see she had the desire to learn, the desire to explore, and most importantly the desire to know.

Rad'qet sat back in his chair and began to research everything he could about the moon. Especially where they would be dropping down to explore.

He once again called for the twi'lek girl, figuring she must be sleeping. Or better yet, studying.

She had been reading when her master called her. For months she had been researching the forms and origins of her guard shota. One of the first people known to make waves with the strange Lightsaber variant was Maris Brood, a jedi who had turned dark and was let free by a secret apprentice of Darth Vader. What angered her about Brood's story was that she suddenly disappeared after being spared by Starkiller, the apprentice. Of course, It wasn't a normal case for people to disappear without any traces, and with enough resources, she could be found, but the former Jedi had left nothing for anyone to find her with. There was so much Izin could have learned with her saber from one of the most prominent users, but she just had to disappear.

Hearing the voice of her master call her a second time, the Twi'lek woman got off of her bed and carefully stepped out of her room. When she really got into studying, her room would become a mess, and her master's vessels of knowledge would be splayed out in every possible location. She would clean everything up when she was done, but it was just when she was studying that is was almost impossible to maneuver around. In quick time, though, she was able to get out of her room.

In little time, Izin reached her master and slowed down to a halt as she stood before him. Looking at him briefly before bowing, she was curious as to why he had called her. "What did you need, Master?"

"Take these notes and tell me what you think, they're orders from Darth Majies along with a few details I've added." Rad'qet said before handing his apprentice the sheet of paper. As soon as she had the papers, Rad'qet stood up and walked to his chamber. "We will be there in one day, I am going to meditate, do not disturb me unless time is of the essence" he said before shutting the door.

Rad'qet had acquired the small ship a few months ago, and had done well to convert his room into a meditation chamber. The room was already mostly soundproofed, a perk of it being the Captain's room, however he had to remove the wallpaper and thin layer of poorly done,fake dry wall that tried to give the room an actual house like feeling. This left him with sleek steel walls that he later had redone, making them black. It wasn't to represent the "darkness inside of him" or any other rhetorical reason, he only had it done because the reflections of light on the steel gave him a headache. Once the walls were the proper "emptyness" he stripped the room of unnecessary furniture and light fixtures until there was only one overhead light hanging over the center of the room. The final step was to mark it with runes, which for Rad'qet had been the easiest step.

Once inside the barren, but empowered room, Rad'qet could reflect and plan. The room allowed him to focus, to streamline his thoughts into more useful information. It also allowed him to better manipulate the force, which is why he would always create and imbue things with the dark force's energy in this room. Rad'qet wished he could do such things while inside of a Dark Force Nexus, but they were so far and few between it would be impractical to always travel to them. He pondered on the thought that the moon he was traveling to might contain a force nexus, and planned a few things he would do if it was.

After the hologram's speech Cade turned on his heel and left the room. He had no wish or need to be around the imperials. As Cade walked he came upon a training room filled with many different things and decided to enter. Cade walked into the room and looked around, finally he found his intended object. Booting up an old training droid he searched through its settings and finally decided on a setting of a zabrak with a red saber.

Cade stepped into the middle of the training room followed by the zabrak placing himself opposite of him. Cade ignited his saber and paced right the zabrak mimicking his movement. Finally Cade lunged forward his foot hitting the ground about halfway through then pushing him off towards the zabrak. He led with a thrust towards the zabrak's chest, which was parried and retaliated to. Cade leaned back to allow the saber to go over his head, then he stepped back and parried the overhead strike with knocking the Zabrak off balance. As they both set themselves in stances they began to prepare for another clash.

The zabrak closed first and attempted to bring his saber down on Cade's head, but cade spun to the left and the saber hit the floor. Cade retaliated by kicking the zabrak in the body and sending it flying onto its back. Cade grabds the zabrak's foot with the force and then crushed down with his power. The image of a zabrak was quickly shattered as the training bot's leg shattered into pieces under Cade's force powers.

M-0018 saw the Jedi enter the training rooms. He heard other troops talk about them: Guardians of Peace, Keepers of knowledge some professed. Others believed them to be arcane, practitioners of archaic and obsolete arts. He had no feeling either way. He simply knew what he was taught. Avoid provocation, they are deadly up close. Some users capable of manipulating matter and the mind. They were an asset to the Empire and as such, not considered an immediate threat.

Still M-0018 found it odd that he knew of standard protocols and procedures when dealing with rogue jedi: massed blaster volley in a cross-fire, flanking solutions and squad target priorities. He thought nothing of it. He hypothesized it to be remnant instructions of the old Kiminoan templates.

The clash of ionized plasma rang from the rooms. M-0018's curiosity was unforgivably piqued, a weakness he thought. A soldier must not act unless told so. Must not think unless told so. Must not speak unless told so. He will have to seek out a discipline officer for his misconduct. He maintained correct attendant posture, eyes fixed forward as he heard the brutal crunch of metal and circuitry. The Jedi had succeeded in his mock battle, commendable. The Jedi had also succeeded in the destruction of Imperial property using excessive force, unforgivable. As per orders, M-0018 was acting quartermaster as their was no dedicated trooper for the position.

The Jedi must be confronted, and informed that further misconduct will result in appropriate reprimands from the Senior Officer of the Outpost. M-0018 broke attention and took strides to the training room. He found the Jedi, hardly broken a sweat in the exercise, the crushed leg of the droid evident.

"M-0018, acting quartermaster, speaking to inform Knight Cade that he has committed a misconduct under Imperial regulation: unwarranted destruction of Imperial property. At this time I will inform Knight Cade that lethal options are forbidden in the training room, all weapons must be set to non-lethal frequencies or be substituted for non-lethal variants. Additionally utilization of force powers to a lethal degree are not allowed in the inside of the Outpost. As Knight Cade is not a Imperial Soldier and would be doubtfully aware of these codes, this will be your first and final warning. Further misdemeanors will be reported to the installations commanding officer. Does Knight Cade receive and understand this."

M-0018 of course finished the warning in a neutral and monotone voice. The Jedi didn't immediately respond. As per regulation, M-0018 would wait, if not given a response or individual acts in open insubordination, he must TRY to subdue and place individual under military arrest.

Apello looked at the holo-com as it ended, as he watched it end its message before watching the other Jedi in the room leave. He thought silently by himself before he remembered the name of the Jedi, Cade was his name. He had watched the other man walk out, and with nothing else to occupy his time he followed to sate his curiosity. After tailing the other Jedi, he eventually appeared in the training training room and had entered sitting on the side of the wall watching the other Jedi practice on a droid.

After the observation of Cade's skills Apello thought to himself silently, thinking about having a friendly match with the other. After a moment of silent thinking, he stood up before grabbing his lightsaber and into his hands before announcing to the Jedi.

"Want to have another match? A friendly one of course however, no vital injuries" He said as he looked down at the droid's leg. Of course as a Jedi force powers were slightly less effective on him, he didn't doubt the prowess of the force and how powerful it could be when butted head to head. However, during Cade's small battle with the droid it was obvious that he had use a more offensive style of fighting as his actions we mostly leaded to offensive moves after. It also had seem that he also used evasive techniques as he for the most part of the fight had evaded the attacks of the droid and used a small amount of martial arts as well. All of these he had taken a note of for future reference and now knew a little more about the people that he was going to fight with...

Cade squared up with the man staring him in the eyes. "Do not threaten a jedi of the order imperial, noted"

As the other jedi approached him Cade's eyes flashed. The man was smaller than he in stature and a miraluka. As the man made his challenge Cade grunted and nodded accepting it. He took three steps back igniting his saber. Cade glared at the man and paced sizing him up and waiting for him to make his move.

Jade listened to the holo-communicator quietly next to the other two Jedi, but she was hardly paying attention as she looked at the other people in the room. She did not know how to deal with the Imperials as they were very different from the Jedi Council and finally decided that she wouldn't deal with them if she didn't have to. She followed the two Jedi to the training room and sat in the corner while Cade trained against the droid before squaring off with the Apello.

"Take it easy Bucket." The Padawan told the Imperial soldier as she picked up a small ball with the force and threw it at him. "I don't think we really need to listen to your rules. Don't you know not to get in the way of Jedi as they train. Now come on Masters, I only want to be taught by the best." She said with a smile from her cross-legged position as the end of the room watching with wide eyes as the two sized each other up.

"Hello my child, how have you been?" Apello said kindly and smiled to the girl the moment she entered the room, as he had felt her presence coming closer, and there was another person that had entered the room that he failed to take note of. It was probably a trooper who he didn't pay attention to as he was focused on Cade's practice run with the poor droid with the now shattered leg. When he heard that his challenge was accepted, he too went near the center where both of them would start and made sure there was also a decent amount of space between them. After that he began to make his preparation for the match.

As he walked to the center he focused his mind, and calmed himself down as he began to position himself, with his lightsaber to his right side in a parrying position. Along with his feet being spread evenly, allowing him to see the position of his opponent's blade easier allowing him to predict where the blade will go next. This allowed him to more easily deflect his opponents attacks as well as parry them, as this stance allowed him to defend easily. In general, anyone who looked at him would notice that his form was more of a passive form allowing the opponent to do something first before he would react. His positioning of his body gave off the feeling of his style of combat was a more defensive orientation and it would seem that Cade would have to start the battle. It was confirmed with a nod by Apello to start the match, as his body was now prepared to take anything that was coming at him for the most part.

Unacceptable. Unwarranted. Unforgivable. M-0018 found their transgressions illogical. He was not a cleaning implement. Threats? Hardly? M-0018 thought himself fair. He gave a nuetral warning, yet they continued, if anything they threatened the safety of the outpost. In addition the young one had threw a ball at an Imperial Soldier. Inexcusable. M-0018 had been taught that codes and regulations preserved peace and order. Any deviations decreased stability and brought anarchy. While the padawan's assault was benign, continued transgressions could lead to more heinous acts. Had they been Imperial Soldiers of the old empire they were to be trialed and unceremoniously executed, but as "honored guests" he was forced to keep quiet.

M-0018 was told the Jedi were masters of their emotions, bound to codes similar to those drilled on to him. When he first heard of their arrival he was... content, finding solace in the thought that others would share his resolution. Instead the outpost received this motley crew. For a organization that lauded their ideals they were lax in their enforcement. One knight displayed open tendencies of aggression, the youngling -manipulative and deceptive of her true nature- was an hazard to outpost security with her mischievous tendencies. He would say the other knight was compliant, but he was an enabler of their behaviors.

"Padawan Jade, this trooper's serial is M-0018, and he will treat this incident-"
M-0018 stopped, he can tell he was being actively ignored. They continued in their combat exercises, the padawan's attention firmly fixed. Their devotion to their martial arts was evident as they took their stances, sizing each other up. He was compelled to stay, but again chastised himself for his weakness, troopers must return to their post once their duty was complete. He turned around, forgoing the typical salute in the presence of what are otherwise civilians, and started to march back to the dark main hall.

Duke Siliscus sat at the helm of his ship, watching eagerly as 'The Copperhead' moved towards a large cargo ship. They'd managed to sneak up on the imperial ship by cutting coms and easing up slowly.
"Bring coms back up, I'm hailing their captain. I will give them one chance to surrender" Siliscus said to the Communication officer
"You're on all coms, and where there's a holo screen they'll hear you, beginning full scale broadcasting in 3,2..."

"This is Duke Siliscus, captain of the Copperhead and i am giving you one chance to allow us to dock. Once docked we will take whatever goods we please and be on our way. If you refuse we will cripple your engines, board, take what we like and then burn the remaining cargo. We will kill anyone who resists but those whom surrender will be guaranteed safe passage to the closest imperial planet, albeit stripped of weapons and armor along with all credits. You have 30 seconds to comply, if you fire up your engines or engage your Hyper drive we will fire."

"This is Captain Weq, refuse your offer"
As soon as the words left Weq's lips The Copperhead fired a precise salvo of blaster cannons that left the cargo ship crippled. Siliscus lead the boarding party with two dozen of his finest men. Well maybe finest wasn't the right word for these men.
As soon as the blast doors between the shuttle and cargo ship opened Siliscus heard dozens of men shout " Don't Fire! We've accepted your ultimatum!" They would be dropped off within one week, their weapons and armor used on the ship. In total, every crew member with the exception of the captain and 6 bodyguards.
Duke Siliscus had the pleasure of separating the captains head from torso with his Ryyk, but his bodyguards were cut down by his men. The raid ended with a great success, the cargo on board looted had military weapons, along with lots of food and medicine.

The Duke was greatly satisfied.

"Of course, master." She replied to him as she bowed once more. She had hardly ever deliberately tested Rad'qet's patience in the past. She was well away of what the Sith mater was capable of, and didn't want to upset him and take his books away from her. She had learned so much because of his collection, and she didn't want to stop learning any time soon.

As she took the papers, she waited for him to leave the room first before going back to her own room, where she would proceed to review the contents of the papers and see just what was going on.

Cade stepped towards his opponent gripping his saber with both hands and slashed horizontally at the man's chest. His saber would come from the man's left side and be a blur of blue as it flashed towards him. If the man did not block Cade would stop the saber moments before it contacted his skin. As he slashed his left foot planted firmly in front of him and his right foot slightly behind. This gave him balance and mobility to carry into the swing.

With the beginning of Cade's left foot moving forward, and his body flowing into his attack with his light saber coming to his left. He saw how his body would move and saw how this Jedi worked during his fighting and so with light saber being on his right, it moved to his left side of the chest as the other blue blade came into contact with his purple light saber deflecting it up. The purple light saber had been positioned diagonally to the right allowing the blue blade to slide up with Cade's own momentum carrying it upwards. It didn't matter if he switch from his dominant side to attack his opponent's left side. It allowed him to safely think about his next actions as Cade was to defend himself as his next move was thought out. Then he quickly swung at the other Jedi's left side where it was open horizontally as well, leaving the possibility for defensive if the other Jedi was able to recover.

The man had parried as Cade figured he would. Instead of continuing with his saber he drove of with his left foot in a straight punch towards the miraluka's nose. When he did this the rotation of his body snapping back would create more force as if he had been spinning. Cades right hand also came down in a guard position as his punch was thrown guarding his flank in case the opponents saber would reach before his punch did. The punch was not full force, but did have some power behind it.