Darkness loomed over the planet below – a silent scream of the terror that it brought with it.


The great hive world of Corusant, thought to be out of the gaze of the newly founded Infinite Empire; now laid under siege by Lord Tidus and his warship – The Reaper.

From the bowels of the ship sprung hundreds if not thousands of Star Destroyers that encompassed the entire planet in a physical metal shell. – Those that attempted to fight or flee were quickly exterminated without hesitation. – Very few attempted such a death wish. – A year of peace makes you weak.

Soon the first wave was over and Tidus had shown his power to the heart of the galaxy. – Soon other systems would fall.
News of the invasion flooded the Holonet. The Infinite Empire didn’t block any outbound communication. – Tidus wanted the galaxy to know what had just transpired.

Tidus’s shuttle left the Reaper with haste, beckoning down into the atmosphere and made a beeline for the Grand Impearl Palace. – The seat of tyranny in the galaxy.

However, as he arrived, two agents of the Skywalker clan had been sent to ambush Tidus, and bring justice quickly. – They would soon know that this was a grave mistake.

"Flail, heads up! Bogies on your four-o-clock." Victor shouted into his comm as he shot at a smoking YT-1300 freighter. The Interdictor 'Petrified' and it's fleet were above Brentaal IV, a planet within a system of vital importance for logistical purposes as it was the place where the Hydian Way and the Perlemian Trade Route hyperlanes crossed. The Imperial fleet was given orders to hold and support all friendly vessels traveling through while also stopping all civilian traffic for identification. The objective was meant to be a somewhat easy one, however it would seem some would-be 'heroes' have managed to encourage a few of the civilian ships to engage the Imperial fleet.

"Roger that Lieutenant." Jeremy 'Flail' Falcone responded as he started to fly around like a lunatic, "I'mma write their names into the void, so that they're always forgotten." The starfighters chasing him, three Cloakshape fighters, kept their pursuit as they attempted to get a lock on the nimble TIE-Interceptor.

Victor Caldeck barked orders into his comm at another two of his wingmen, "Barrage, Debris, light them up! Recruit and I will tend to the wounded tango." After getting a confirmation from both of them, Victor took a quick gaze at the battle raging around them. It was incredibly one sided, the Imperial forces outnumbered and outpowered the scum that threw themselves at them, it always seemed one or two hostiles more would join the fight after entering the system. On top of that, the small cruiser that the 'heroes' were transmitting their message of utter suicide from was not engaged in the combat.

Victor pulled his thoughts back to his target as he came about on it for another strafing run, lighting up it's hull with green laser fire and sparks. Whoever was manning the top turret on the old bucket of a ship was clearly unfamiliar with how to shoot it properly as its shots were so wide that it couldn't hit the side of a bantha. Victor pulled around yet again to see Recruit's Interceptor perform it's own passing run on the YT-1300. The old wreck of a ship took a hit to its main engine, causing it to drift.

As Victor was about to perform the killing blow, he saw a large amount of jump signatures enter the system. He didn't open fire on the vessel as he passed it, instead he was now looking at a large fleet of twenty or thirty odd ships. As they began to move towards the imperial fleet, so did the 'heroes' in their little cruiser. Victor simply sat back and crossed his arms for a moment as he smiled under his helmet. Darth Tidus had mentioned to command, who then told the rest of the officers, that a significant force of scum would attempt to break through their blockade. Victor took up his controls and turned his craft towards the imperial fleet as he began counting down, "3... 2... 1-" Suddenly, a fleet of six imperial star destroyers arrived with a support fleet nearly quadruple the size of the original few that were sent. "-Bingo" The ace pilot could see the hostile vessels attempt to turn and run in panic, nearly crashing into each other, while the civilian ships that were smart enough to stay out of the fight quickly made way for the gigantic fleet.

"Lieut. The YT-1300's sending a white flag signal to me. Orders?" Victor turned his vessel around, this time to face the heavily damaged freighter vessel. Recruit's Interceptor hovered around the wounded ship, like a bee checking a flower. Victor opened a comm to his squadron's coordinator on the Imperial Star Destroyer 'Intimidation', "Command, we've got a hostile vessel stranded and sending us a white flag. Shall we cover the target until it can be picked up by tractor-beam?"

The officer on the other end responded coldly, "Negative. Our current orders are to make examples of all hostiles."

Frowning, Victor tried to argue, "I'm certain they got the message sir. I-"

"Now is not the time SF-225. You will eliminate that vessel and then your squadron will escort bomber squadron Zeta to destroy the MC80 that's in command of the upstart fleet. Is. That. Clear?"

Victor responded immediately, "Affirmative sir." He then swapped comms back to his squadron, "Recruit, finish up the YT-1300 as quickly as possible. Flail, you still with us?" A voice blared over the comms, "Pff, as if some no-good pirate-wannabes could take down old Flail McGail! I do, however, owe the beautiful Barrage a drink for taking two of them out for me." The familiar voice of Crutz 'Debris' Nimbly was what filled the squadron comms next, "With all those space-acrobatics you were doing, I'd expect the last thing on your mind should be alcohol." Rachelle 'Barrage' Elcort responded, "To be fair, we're fighting a bunch of inexperienced tangos, at least by our standards. We could probably take them on drunk." Before Victor could scold his squadron for cluttering their comms, the newer voice of Dreg 'Recruit' Taz was quick to add his opinion, "I'm with Barrage, on this one. The toughest thing I've fought so far is a YT-1300 who not only couldn't fly straight, but shoot straight either... The ship's dead by the way Lieut." Victor waited for a moment, to see if anyone wanted to speak up again. Which, of course, Flail was the culprit, "Well, honestly-"

Victor interrupted him, "Quit the whining, we've got escort duty with Zeta squadron. Our task is to break through what enemy fighters are dumb enough to try to stop us and help eliminate the enemy's flagship, a MC80. Let's move out. On me." The squadron quickly reformed on him as they flew away from the wreckage of the YT-1300, Victor choosing to ignore any thoughts of who may have been inside it.

The sky, littered with the hulls of warships looking down on the planet below. Corusant would once more be the seat of evil in the galaxy. In the streets and speeder highways not a single soul could be seen, for they knew all too well that the real fighting was to begin and thus retreated to the safety of under-level bunkers.

Meanwhile above the clouds, on the landing pad of the Imperial Palace, two Jedi Knights – fresh from their training had ambushed Tidus and his armed escort. The Knights drew their sabers, waiting for Tidus to make his move. The guards raised their weapons at the invaders but Tidus signalled them to be lowered with his left hand.

“I didn’t realise that the Jedi sent assassins now, my how they’ve progressed in five-thousand years.” Tidus announced, his mask heavily removing any trace of organic feeling from his voice.

The two Knights remained silent. However, the obviously younger of the two looked over to the elder for reassurance.

“As you wish…” Tidus concluded as he drew his saber in which the red kyber crystal was clearly unstable and the energy pulsated through in overloaded quantities.

Tidus lunged into the fray, separating the Knights from each other.

Sabers clashed and sparks of iridescence light filled the air. The swaying sounds of the sabers being thrown around was drowned out by the solid crashing sound of the blades colliding.

Each desperate attack made against Tidus were merely deflected with minimum effort made on his part. TO him this fight was nothing more than a well-rehearsed dance.

But soon, the Knights found their resolve dampening. They weren’t gaining any ground and Tidus was clearly holding back. But why?
To mock them?

Or maybe assess their abilities and pick a worthy apprentice.

The elder knight attempted to force push, sending two guards off the edge of the docking pad and down do the streets miles below. However, Tidus was unscathed by such a meagre show of power.

“Is that all you have? Pathetic.” Tidus mocked.

The elder knight gripped the hilt of his saber firmly. He thought that he and the other knight would have been able to defeat Tidus had they worked together, but his master had often warned him that his great ambitions would lead him into trouble if he wasn’t prepared for the challenge that he had set himself. This caused a swelling of emotions to begin to rupture within himself, and Tidus knew this.

“Even my twelve-year-old son could land a hit on me with a training staff.” Tidus remarked, ever pushing the Knight to the edge.

And soon he could no longer control his emotions...

In the much quieter area of the galaxy, the tranquil water world of Manann sat peacefully – almost as if it were unaware of the terror that was sweeping the galaxy.

In orbit however were the remnants of a Rebel fleet that consisted of several Mon Calamari Cruisers that were on their routine patrol.
On the planet’s surface there was only one place of interest that offworlders were able to visit. – Ahto City.

The city, along with the Selkath had suffered terribly in the past and now have only truly begun to rebuild. But those who weren’t aware would believe that Ahto City was under the control of the Infinite Empire as hundreds of soldiers patrolled the streets in armour all too familiar with Clone War Veterans.

It was deep within the underwater labs that the weapons that were being used against the Infinate Empire were being created and testing them were two relics, thought to be lost.

“Now… Was it Red-Red-Green, or Red-Green-Red?”

“You’re supposed to be the demolitions expert knucklehead!”

Asai's Banshee fighter zipped through the air above the besieged Corusaunt, moving at speeds far greater than the attempted resistance; hoping she would be able to slip through the Imperial blockade having had little dealings with the organization since her last assassination contract. Due to her turning down an offer of great power from Darth Tidus, figuring a second run in with the powerful Sith was an ill advised venture; her Banshee shot across the depths of space dodging the occasional blast and refraining from firing her own cannons. It wasn't long however till a squadron of TIE fighters swept up behind her fighter, gritting her teeth under her helmet she cursed loudly; slowing her fighter as she knew she was hopelessly outgunned by the countless Imperial personel.

As she slowed her ship was pulled into a tractor beam by a large Imperial destroyer, Asai quickly got out of her pilots seat and ran into the back of her ship; taking the lightsaber she carried and stowing it away in a hidden compartment in the floor figuring it would be an ill found treasure. Her durasteel boots thudding against her ships floor, returning to the pilots seat in the front of her ship; just in time to see her ship being pulled into an open hanger many other civilian ships covering the area. As her ship came to a halt Asai stood up, opening the hatch which extended a long walkway down; her armored form stepping into sight a group of stormtroopers accompanied by an Imperial officer waiting at the base. Asai already had her hands raised above her head, her blaster holstered by her left hip; helmet already scanning the troops before her the long antenna extending from the left side connected to her ships comms.

"I'm just a bounty hunter, I'm no rebel i was here on business."

Aboard the 'Nightstalker'

Chigan lurched forward, his seatbelt holding him down as the VCX-100 freighter spun and wove with the grace of a twi'lek dancer. Alarms rang in his ears, with every single nudge signalling another beam of energy that stretched his shields to the breaking point. The radar showed three fighters left, each attempting to get a line on the larger vessel to launch their devastating missiles.

"Bringing it down hard, see if you can get a bead on them!" Chigan's confident demeanor seemed to be breached by a little bit of panic as the experienced pilot played with the fact that he had potentially made his match. The comms rang returned an affirmative grunt and the sound of the Nightstalker's top turret firing desperately in the background. Jakoli, his partner in crime, was more than capable manning the guns, but they could not seem to shake the pilots.

Pushing the controls forward in a violent motion, the freighter shot directly downward towards the nearest planet, Metellos. Holding the controls down, the Nightstalker was held in a full front flip, a maneuver definitely not designed for a larger ship. As the ship settled, he noticed that the three remaining Tie interceptors had wound up coming at the freighter head-on in the confusing evasive maneuver. A grin pulled Chigan's cheeks up to his ears, as he lined up the first of the oncoming traffic in his sights. The front facing laser cannons bucked, sending the tie fighter into oblivion as its pilot was sucked into the vacuum. Turning to focus on his two other adversaries, he had noticed that the top mounted swivel cannon had done the job for him. "Three down," echoed the speaker to confirm his observations on the ship's radar.

There was not the usual celebration, no yip's and hollers as the battle was won. Both parties knew what tie fighters in the Core Worlds meant, that a Battlegroup was nearby. Fortunately, the radar showed nothing for the immediate time. Turning to the approaching figure behind him, the Rodian smuggler shook his head.

"Haven't seen Imperial Tie Fighters since the war. Means something's up, turn on the Holo while we prepare for hyperdrive. Think we should head back to Nar Shadaa for another load."

Nodding back to Chigan, Jakoli pressed the button to the Holonet terminal as he walked to his Co-Pilots chair. What greeted the duo was the siege of Coruscant, the pre-war pillar of democracy and freedom. Judging by the size of the fleet and the shadow that eclipsed Coruscant's sun, the city-planet did not have a hope. The talking heads filling the screen had no idea what was going on, though as their faces flickered in and out it was apparent their input wouldn't be broadcasted for much longer.

Chigan stared blankly for a moment, the hum of the ship signalling the hyperdrive spinning up.

"I think we should contact Dantooine. Looks like they may need our services again..."

Prior to lift off, a communication request was sent to the Alliance base designated with the Nightstalker's old authentication code. While the duo weren't exactly 'Rebel Heroes', they had a name for doing everything from blockade runs with Special Operations Teams on board to delivering high level packages to local resistance groups. Despite the work's danger, the credits were too substantial to pass up to feign some patriotism.

A small freighter was making it's way past the Rebel fleet. Not too long ago he was getting screening to make sure his identity was someone not in leagues with the Infinite Empire. Of course, his past was a bit rough with the Rebels, but he nonetheless made his way through when the Captain of one of the Mon Calimari ships vouched for him. Needless to say, he never did like security checks. They made him feel like a criminal, but he understood the importance of it. I mean, would you want an enemy spy who worked for a Sith Lord to make their way in and reveal one of the few safe havens you have?

With a click of a few buttons and a flick of some switches, the ship slowly made it's way into one of the hangars. The landing was a bit rough, but at least she could take a few hits. "I need to get this damn thing checked up sometime." His tone was a little bitter, but soon that would go away; the thought of credits from Mon Mothma's own pockets was too good to not smile at. "Welcome to Ahto City. We pride ourselves in being the number one producer of kolto. . ." He never did like the announcements they made. They were always boring and never had too much useful information to give. "Not like anyone uses Kolto anymore...or that was the case when Bacta came along."

So there he was in the city of Ahto, lugging a crate around on a small piece of machinery to withstand it's weight. Inside was rare resource that he had collected from an illegal planet. When the Galactic Empire came to rule, Emperor Palpatine had barred off any planet, or zone, that naturally grew crystals which could be used for lightsabers. One such planet and the one that he was able to make his way to was Illum. Inside were many different colors of crystals; blue, green, orange, yellow, you name it. Of course, there were a few that weren't in there, namely red, since it was made synthetically. "I better get paid good money for this...hey you, security! I need your help with this! I got some...'medical supplies' for the scientists down in the labs, can you give me a hand with this?"

The sound of fusion cutters was prevalent in the silence of the ageing wreck of a Star Destroyer, predating even the start of the Galactic Civil War. No-one knew what brought it down, nor did they care. The only thing important to the team of armoured figures stripping the derelict warship was what they can take and sell... even if it's technically illegal. Watching from remains of an early generation TIE fighter, the leader, marked by a white Krayt Dragon painted on his left shoulder, pulled his helmet off to run his hand through his ragged brown hair before he looked off to the side, to the HK-51 standing next to him, a DC-17M Sniper Rifle in his metal hands. Before he could say anything, a small explosion echoed down one of long corridors and his head turned to the adjoining doorway. Quickly glancing back to his metal companion, he pulled his helmet back on.

"Stay here. I'll check it out. You make sure no-one else comes in behind me."

Sliding off of the TIE Fighter, he pulled his DE-10 out of it's holster and walked over to the corridor. Activating his helmet-mounted light, he peered into the long hallway as he crept further away from his team. The previous room was no longer in sight when a flash of greenish blue skin stopped him in his tracks. 'Rodians?' He flicked off his headlamp and activated his low-light vision. His vision was bathed in a murky green as he could make out the shapes of three armed rodians with A-280C rifles, all wearing the standard uniform for ex-rebellion soldiers and pointing their weapons in his direction. Trying his luck, the armoured man called out through the darkness.

"Stop there and let's talk. I've got a gun on you, but I'd rather avoid a firefight. What are Rebel soldiers doing in the middle of nowhere, on a wrecked Imperial ship?"

His answer came in a volley of harsh red blaster fire from all three in his direction. He quickly ducked behind a ruined doorframe and cursed under his breath. 'Fine, have it your way.... Taking a single long breath, he stepped out of the door frame and time seemed to slow as he pulled the trigger of his heavy blaster pistol. A single blue blaster shot ripped from the barrel and into the chest of the rodian in the middle, the target's heart burned away and he fell backwards. His two companions were shocked for a moment until two more bolts blasted into them, one in the neck and the other straight though his left eye and into his brain. The armoured figure didn't lower his weapon as he crept forward instead keeping it ready as he checked the corridors and hallways around the fallen bodies.

Satisfied that he was in the clear, he turned off the night-vision and switched his headlamp back on to get a closer look at the supposed 'rebels'. Searching the bodies, he found them all to be wearing a strange patch hidden under their rebel disguises, featuring a Sando aqua-monster eating a Star Destroyer. He click his tongue and pulled out a portable holo-projector and called his robotic partner. After a few seconds, the holo-graphic image of HK-51 appeared.

"Inquiry: Yes, Khyrr?"

"Get the droids to hurry up and take what we've got back to the ship. The Sando Salvage Company have decided to crash our little party. What's the score?"

"Estimation: About 16k, give or take."

"That'll have to do. I'll be there in 3 minutes."

With a short glare at the three corpses, he turned and ran back the way he came in time to see the armoured figures loading pieces of scrap and more valuable salvage into a transport cart. The last pieces were stilling being tossed in as two of the figures began to push the cart. The assassin droid atop the TIE Fighter tossed him his custom built blaster rifle and within minutes, the small group of Khyrr, HK-51 and two droids in similar armour were escorting the cart with the two droids pushing it. They weaved through the derelict hallways until another group of mercenaries, humans and rodians disguised as rebels, formed to block their path.

"HK, take the droids down the connecting hallway and head for the Revenant. I'll draw the attention away and then I'll meet you where we got in. Go!"

The assassin droid didn't reply, instead just nodding his mechanical head and breaking off down the indicated hallway as Khyrr ran the other way, firing his custom blaster rifle in full-auto as he ran. Luckily, the mercenaries followed after him as planned. He slid to a stop as he entered a large room filled with what seemed to be fuel of some kind and a smirk graced his face. The mercenaries that entered the room barely had time to register the red light of a primed thermal detonator before they were consumed by an explosion of plasma. Khyrr bolted from his hiding place, running until he saw the natural light outside. He just stepped out into the open when...

A chorus of blaster safeties being disengaged stopped him in his tracks, on the edge of a makeshift landing pad. He stopped and put his hands up, hand away from the trigger of his blaster. He turned around and the leader sneered at him.

"You've been a pain in my boss's ass for long enough, Thane. Now I get to put you down."

"You think so?"

"I know so. The bosses told be about you and your tricks. You've cost me some good men back there, so now you're gonna pay..."

"Whatever your bosses told you, it obviously wasn't enough because... I'm not the one that dies here."

As he spoke, the Fury-class Interceptor rose up behind him stopping a metre above him. It hung there for a tense moment before the hextuple barrels of the Z-6 underneath the cockpit began to spin and blanketed the landing pad with blue laser bolts, a confident smirk etched onto Khyrr's face. The bolts stopped raining after a few seconds and the smoking barrels cooled as the Corellian salvager looked at all of the fallen bodies and couldn't resist a grin.

"Excellent shooting HK, Now let's get the hell out of here!

The ship swung around and the cargo ramp dropped for him to board, and a few minutes later his was in the pilot's seat, helmet off as he broke though the atmosphere and set the hyperdrive to Coruscant. When he arrived however...

"Well... Crap."

@Charter

As the fight above Brentaal IV drew to a close, a secure transmission bearing the Infinate Empire Security Council’s emblem broadcasted a live feed of a human male in his late twenties stood to attention.

“Attention, this is Security Director Ti’nia. Battle Group Sigma, you are to regroup and support Battle Group Orion over the planet of Dantooine. Orbital Bombardment is prohibited. These are strict instructions from Lord Tidus himself. You are to secure orbital dominance and aid Imperial Commandos is locating an artifact only known to as a ‘Star Map’”

---

@Jonesy

As Chigan tired the comms for anything from Dantooine, a simple, old fashioned distress class that used sounds tones to broadcast messages was decoded by the ship’s comms terminal.

DANGER.THREAT CLOSE.PROTECT ARTIFACT.IMPERAL FORCES.

The message continued to repeat for a while before suddenly becoming silent.

---

@Vas Khaleen

As troops flooded Asai’s ship with their guns raised, a woman wearing an officer’s uniform littered with medals and commendations it stood there with her arms folded, smiling down at her. The officer’s blonde hair was kept in a neat bun and her face was a symbol of perfection. But her looks were just another deadly weapon in her arsenal.

“A bounty hunter you say?” She asked, her voice regal and proper. “Well I must say, you arrived at a most unfortunate time. As you can see we are cleaning up this sector.” She continued.
As she finished, she gave a gesture to the troops to bring Asai on board and taker her to the officer’s office.
Once inside the troops placed Asai in a chair in front a large, grey desk. On the walls were the heads and helmets of many beasts and warriors, there was even a Mandolorian helmet.

The officer sat in her throne-like chair, resting her legs on the desk.
“We may have use for you.”

Asai followed the white armored soldiers their plastoid armor far less protective than her own heavier durasteel set, as she entered the officers office she gazed briefly at the many trophies across the walls; both hands pulling the Mandalorian helm off of her head tucking the metal helm underneath her right arm. Her hard black eyes examining the woman whom sat before her, gazing across her well pressed uniform and nigh flawless looks; in direct contrast of Asai who's armor was scuffed and scratched in several places. Her face sporting a long scar across her left jawline, as the officer spoke she intently listened; leaning back slightly in the chair in a relaxed manner upon hearing they had a job for her. The dark red primary color of her armor clashing against the slightly dulled gold trim, the jetpack upon her back resting against the seat honestly surprised she was allowed to retain her weapons; though she could tell the female had dealt with bounty hunters before and knew credits were king amongst her kind.

"A job then? I'll need details, and there's the issue of my reward I don't come cheap."

She spoke with great confidence maintaining eye contact with the officer, despite the fact that the Imperials could simply kill her with relative ease; and escape without their consent was a nigh impossibility. The chrome finish on her Westar 34 catching a light hanging overhead inside of its leather holster, glinting with a clean and well maintained shine; seeing that she would be there for a moment Asai set her helmet down on the edge of the woman's desk awaiting a response.

@Legion-114

@Vas Khaleen

The officer smirked at Asai.

“We know Ms. Asai. Allow me to introduce myself, I’m Lieutenant Marell – Special Operations.”

Marell stood up from her seat and began to pace as she tumbled what looked like an orb of some kind.

“This is to be a snatch and grab mission… no disintegrations.” Marell paused. “You will be hunting a young Miralukaian male. – A Jedi.” She looked at Asai, judging her reaction.

“And while we will compensate you greatly, we have something you may value more than credits… your brother per say?”

Asai narrowed her eyes as the officer used her actual name without prior introduction, she of course had prior introduction to the Infinite Empire and was likely in a database of some form but regardless it put her slightly on edge. Pushing the thought aside she listened intently examining the orb which the woman toyed with, her own hands laid easily on the arms of the metal chair she sat upon.

"Jedi are especially expensive."

Just as she finished saying this is when the officer made mention of her brother, which warranted an actually surprised look upon her face; last having seen her two remaining brothers after collecting the bounty which took her parents and sister. Her right hand instinctually and slightly out of anger shifted towards the blaster on her right side, if the woman was force sensitive she would also detect Asai's own force ability rustling awake; something she had no experience hiding from those who could tell.

"I haven't seen my brothers since the outer-rim...."

@Legion-114

Aboard the Nightstalker

Pulling out of hyperspace over the planet of Dantooine, Chigan couldn't help but sigh. Despite being a beautiful planet pre-war, the sight of the planet brought about the thought of how fragile this resistance was. The remnants of the Alliance's Navy was nothing compared to what he'd seen on the holonet, and he knew for sure that a frontal assault from this Infinite Empire would be the death of the Alliance.

A few seconds later a call came out, the request for an authentication code to enter the Alliance controlled region. As Jakoli began inputting the code, a few X-Wings came up behind him in escort formation. A smile flickered across Chigan's face, speaking in his native Rodian tongue, "They aren't taking security lightly here, they are worried."

Seconds later, a voice came over the communication terminal. Despite the usual sounding official and mundane, the message clearly carried a sense of urgency that he'd not heard in a long time. "Authentication cleared. Make your way to the provided coordinates and report to Commander Nevil. Auxillary ships will be refitted for deployment on sight."

Chigan did not need his M-TD translator droid to relay the instructions in Rodian from Galactic Basic, but it did its job regardless. The freighter rerouted towards the planet, its escort halving to only two ships. Under closer examination, it looked like every civilian ship had some sort of escort. "They're not taking security lightly here, are they Jakoli?"

"Would you?"

That question, while not rhetorical, did not need an answer. The ship descended to the planet's surface with its crew in utter silence. Only the Holonet, still replaying scenes of the sacking of Coruscant, made a sound. Moments later, the ship came into land at what seemed to be a refitted spaceport, lined with anti-starfighter defenses and ground based turrets.

As the ramp lowered, the ship was flooded with Alliance soldiers who under normal circumstances would not pass for combatants. The aging rodian pushed himself from his seat, keeping his hands stretched out to his side. As the man bearing what seemed to be the highest insignia boarded, he examined the meager crew for a moment.

"I assume that you will not be opposed to us searching the ship?" The translator droid pumped out the flawless translation in real time for Chigan.

"I do not have a choice?" Chigan was not concerned about his secret cargo hold being full of evidence of his spice running activities, as the Alliance was clearly more interested in spies other subversive elements being smuggled in. In reality, he had very little to hide. The Alliance had to let a little bit go when they hired smugglers for these types of jobs.

"We'll have this ship refitted for the task while you report to the Commander," the ranking officer's tone clearly gave away his displeasure with the current task.

Stepping out of his ship, he took a moment to reflect. Once again, the planet's beauty was marred by military installations dotting the landscape, as well as training missions tearing up nature. There was no time to meditate on the fact, as his short walk came to an end. Standing in front of him was a well decorated Quarren Commander.

Offering a quick salute, Chigan waited for his orders.

Aisi -- Distress Call

The outer rim was never a pleasant place to be, yet it was the only place she could really think herself to evem be remotely safe. Hidden in plain sight beneath a hood, the Twi'lek Jedi took a sip of crisp water while she listened carefully to the surrounding crowds.

As much as it were a hovel for drunkards, it was also a place to garner information. Alcohol, as poisonous as it were, was also more than able to loosen lips so that some might say what they ought not.

Leaning forward for another sip, her ears caught wind of precisely the information she needed. A few men were speaking loudly with intermittent slirs over a crisis in Dantooine. Where a rebel stronghold was in dire straits.

A light smile crept upward on her lips, that indeed was a place where she could have a positive effect. Looking about her to find those who speaking in hushed tones, the Jedi Knight found that which she needed.

Smugglers, men who ran blockades in high speed ships to deliver goods on the black market. Standing up and dusting off her clothes, he Twi'lek strode towards the table, each step she took seeming to sway while she drew closer. With each step, an pair of eyes spotted her, which continued to grow until the entire table stared at her suspiciously as she came to stand beside it.

Theough the minds of all, she instilled a singular thought to which she demanded of them.

"I need a ride to Dantooine. One of you will give it to me." She stated, with her ability to trick minds in full effect.

One of the pilots scrambled to a stand, and lead her silently from the bar towards a hangar. Inside was revealed to he a simple, but swift cargo vessel. One that was unarmed, and relied purely on speed to avlid its adversaries. Waving her onboard, the Pilot immediately went to work on the controls, and soon enough they were in the air!

Once they had breached the atmosphere, he transcended into hyperspeed, and within a few hours after that, the lightspeed broke to have them just a few hundred feet off the surface of Dantooine.

There was a reason she chose a smuggler pilot after all.

Pulling up sharply, the craft came to a landing in the midst of the forests, and from there, the Jedi dismounted. Walking in alone wouldn't cause too much trouble, however, going in roaring with an unmarked cargo ship certainly would. So on foot, she trudged towards a rebel base, where another ship had landed and was now being promptly searched.

Of which the Pilot it belonged to had found a commanding officer. While she remained hooded, she entered the camp, and was within a few feet of that same commanding officer when a stopped her with a blaster practically plugged into her back.

"Please, I mean no harm!" She explained at first, before he could even demand her name or identification. "If you would allow me to lower my hood, I can explain."

The guard took a step back, and the Twi'lek slipped off the hood so that her tentacles could move freely again at last. The robe that covered her came undone, and collapsed about her ankles, revealing her normal clothing, and more inportantly, a duet of lightsabers sheathed at her hips.

"My name is Aisika Hailisiev, and I am a Jedi Knight. I heard your distress call, and I am here to help." She spoke calmly to the Quarren Commander, even with a blaster at her back. "Tell me what you need me to accomplish, and it shall be done."

@Vas Khaleen
Marell crossed her arms, clearly pleased with herself. She had found an entry point in which she could now manipulate Asai.

“Your brother had a little run-in with Empire forces on the Outer Rim. He is now serving a life sentence working the spice mines of Kessel. Of course, if you were to bring us this Jedi back alive, we would happily trade his life for your brother’s.”

---

Dantooine
@Feisty-Pants
@Jonesy

The orbital defence of Dantooine was almost completely destroyed.
Landing ships soon began to descend to the planet below. Each carrying special task force commandos. Cries for help would sweep across the rebel comms.

“Imperial commandos have breached the base perimeter! I repeat Commandos have breached the base perimeter. They have Stalk…. Oh god, please… No…” The feed goes dark with the sound of the operator being choked.

@Legion-114

"How do i know you aren't lying to me? Jedi aren't to be trifled with, I'll need proof more than your word."

Asai rolled her shoulders a bit, standing up as she spoke picking her helmet up off the desk where it sat; waiting for the womans response. Leaving her hands lax by their respective sides if the officer spoke truly she had little time to waste, strong as her brother was the spice mines where known to break even the most durable of people; both in mind and body. But if she lied then Asai would need to learn why, and beyond that make sure she wasn't being cheated; her helmet once more tucked beneath her right underarm as she gripped at the belt around her waist with her free hand.

Zeros looked across the war-torn surface of Mygeeto with a solemn expression, his force vision spreading across the greying ruins. While he might not have seen what the surface may have looked like to a pair of normal eyes, the way he perceived the force allowed him to see the desolate landscape almost like a smoky mirage, the broken land before him in muted colours. Shaking his head, he turned back towards the settlement of drifters and junkers he had landed near. His ship, the Ash Vorkskr, was being repaired after a group of pirates attacked while he was on his way to the Yavin system. Hopefully, he could find what we was looking for, or at least a lead...

He was brought out of his musing as he was approached by one of the settlers, telling him that repairs were being finalised and he could be off the ground in a few hours. He nodded to the man and began to follow him back to the ship. It was then that a chill danced down his spine. Something dark was coming, and it was sending ripples through the force. Shaking his head to clear the thought, he stepped onto his ship to wait for the final repairs to be complete. Entering the Cargo bay retrofitted as a training room and locking the door behind him, he pressed a series of buttons on one of the control panels and 6 training drones, far more than standard for any Jedi-in-training, activated and began to hover in a circle around a wide circular plate in the centre of the room.

Removing his coat and replacing it with some training robes, he stepped into the centre of the plate and activated his twin purple lightsabers before expanding his force-vision. Suddenly, two drones opened fire and Zeros was moving. Combining his skills in Form V and VI, he reflected both incoming bolts back at the drone that fired, one with each lightsaber. Both narrowly avoided the returned bolts, and all the drones seemed to hesitate for a moment before they all unleashed a storm of stinging bolts against the young Miraluka. Zeros seemed to be locked in an elegant but fast-paced dance of blade and blaster as he reflected bolt after both, one bolt occasionally striking a drone and disabling it for a few seconds. After a few minutes, he placed the hilts of the lightsabers together and twisted them, locking the dual lightsabers into a single, double-bladed lightsaber. The graceful dance finally came to an end as he split the two lightsabers and reflected a rapid burst of fire with either blade, the bolts flying straight back to their drones and stunning them all in a near simultaneous instant. As they fell to the ground with a chorus of clunks, Zeros exhaled and crossed his arms in front of him, lightsabers held straight up and parallel to each other.

He deactivated the blades with snap-hiss and returned them to his belt as he sat down in the centre of the circular plate and began to meditate whilst he waited for the repairs were complete...

Victor let his mind wander as his squadron calmly escorted Zeta squadron while silence had finally falling on the system after the destruction of the hostile fleet. In spite of how easy a fight it was, the high adrenaline his body was producing had finally stopped and left him tired. This could have very well been the case of each of those in his squadron as none of them spoke either. Victor took another needless headcount of his squadron, it's not often they left a battlefield without a scratch, let alone without casualties. Besides Flail, Cannonball (who was with the other half of the squadron when they split up earlier) and himself none of the nine interceptor pilots had more than a few months of real combat experience. He knew he would see more of them perish in the coming campaign. Despite the speed and maneuverability of the TIE Interceptor, it was difficult for one to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of the vehicle, a shortfall that most rookies won't be able to have a second chance at.

A message from the Imperial Star Destroyer 'Intimidation' brought Victor back to reality. "Attention all squadrons, rendezvous to your landing zones ASAP. New orders have been dropped in and we are to move immediately. You will be briefed upon landing." The ace pilot straightened himself as he spoke into his com to Zeta squad, "You guys think you can push your engines to max?" A laugh came over the line, "They've been at max the entire time, we know how slow speed gets on you Interceptors' nerves." Victor responded with a smile, "We could help push you along." Another laugh came through the com from the Zeta squadron leader, "That you could. Anyway, at our speed, we'll make it to our landing point in ten minutes, give or take. Feel free to head off to get your ships rearmed faster." The ace pilot shook his head, "Not when there's a risk of you still being shot down, in spite of your ludicrous speed." Victor got one final laugh from the Zeta squadron leader before they ended the comlink.

Flail spoke up immediately, "They're moving so fast I'm seeing plaid." Debris was quick to retort, "I sometimes worry if you're using glitterstim, Flail..." Barrage was next to talk, "Let the old man have his meds." Flail's voice took over the coms again, "Now wait just a minute. I am not old!.. Alright, maybe by TIE pilot standards, but come on!" Victor rolled his eyes as his team continued to chatter.

He did notice that Recruit hadn't said anything since the end of the combat. He interrupted the current conversation, "Everything alright, Recruit?" The rest of the squadron went quiet for a few moments before Recruit finally spoke up, "Sorry, Lieut. I've been trying to figure out a name to stick with. Maybe something related to the YT-1300 we shot up earlier?" Victor didn't say anything, mostly for someone else in the squadron to speak up. Debris was that someone, "What? Like 'Gundown'? Or maybe 'Sitting Duck'? I doubt picking a name from shooting an old rusty freighter down is worth it Recruit." Barrage was quick to pick up on the conversation, "What Debris means is that we're about to head into another probable battle-zone, where you can pick one up then." The familiar voice of Flail was next to add his opinion, "Or... You could have one of us help you with your squadron name. Let's see if I can come up with one... Um, let's see... Oh! I've got one for you! How about Ja-" A unified shout of "NO!" through the coms from Debri and Barrage was enough to silence Flail. Debris spoke sharply, "That joke was cute at first Flail, but you always try to get someone named it, even when it breaks the rules you put in place for the whole naming thing anyway!" Barrage spoke in an annoyed manner, "I'm with Debris on this, that joke got old real fast." Flail was quick to counter, "Aww... But I'd love to have someone on the team called Jawa! Particularly if they go around shouting 'Utini!'"

Victor finally spoke up to break up the inevitable fight, "I'm in agreement with Debris, Recruit. Nothing spectacular happened that would be worth naming yourself in relation to it. Do you want to be remembered by the squadron as the guy who shot down a surrendering YT-1300 that probably belonged to some illegal immigrants or minor thugs?" Recruit groaned over the com, "No offence Lieut, but I don't want to be shot down as the guy with the name 'Recruit'. The name itself is insulting, I was already a TIE pilot who was bumped up to an Interceptor for crying out loud." Victor spoke sternly over the com, "You have to earn a name like everyone else. It's the rule of the squadron." Recruit was clearly upset about this as he shouted back into the com, "I fail to see how this is important to you guys, that you'd simply ignore my Imperial ID as well as my birth name for a stupid place holder name of 'Recruit'." Victor barked back, "When you join the the Imperial Navy, you don't pick your ID, the brass does. When you're born, you cannot name yourself, whoever is your parental figure will give you a name. When someone joins the squadron, we give them a simple name; like Recruit, Green or Rookie, to indicate that their past, whatever it was, is forgotten. They join the family of the squadron, not simply a team of individuals. Then, through the actions of the individual, they may choose their own name based off a event from combat or a situation that they were involved in."

Victor took a deep breath. The coms stayed silent until he spoke again, "We take it seriously because we want you to have a new name, one that not only you are proud of, but one for us to also remember and to share between each other. This way, every individual that comes through the squadron makes themself on who they are, not what their past says." Silence loomed in the coms for a minute or so before Recruit spoke up again, "And if I die before my new name?" Victor released a hesitant sigh, "A name will be given to you, one fitting of what you accomplished."

After a few more moments of quiet, Flail spoke up, "Couldn't have said it better myself, Lieut." Victor gave a simple nod as he continued to fly his starfighter, "We should clear our heads, we've got a mission coming up as soon as we land." Victor and his squadron pulled away from the bombers as they reached their landing platform, heading for their own. After a few moments of preparation by the Imperial fleet, and the gathering of her flocks of TIEs, a large portion of it jumped into hyperspace, onroute to it's next destination. Dantooine.

The still flickering embers of ash rained down upon the rooftops of the mighty towers that stretched far above the clouds of Corusant. Proton-Torpedoes came hammering down in return; dropped by the legions of bombers that ripped through the atmosphere. Their mission not to destroy, but rather to terrorise.

Meanwhile on the landing pad of the Imperial Palace a duel of ideologies still raged on. Lord Tidus, through his iconic death mask, stared down at the older Knight. The Knight tightened his grip, clearly losing his patience with the one-sided fight.
“It seems you are failing your own code, Jedi…” Tidus chanted, his voice clams and still.

The older Jedi lunged blindly at Tidus, hoping to catch him off guard. Tidus had already predicted such an attack and moved to counter. Then with a puff of crimson mist, the knight fell to his knees.

The younger Knight cried out the other’s name, rushing to his aid. Tidus, using the force pushed him over the edge of the high-rise, narrowly grabbing hold of the side in time.

He took a small glance at the burning streets below before summoning the power to jump back up. There Tidus was waiting for him, clapping.
“I must say, that was impressive. I was certain that you had met your end.”

---

@Vas Khaleen

Marell smiled. Certain with herself. She knew very well that she was speaking the truth.

“Seven-Seven-Nine-Three-One Alpha. That is your brother’s prison identification number. I know because I sentenced him myself.”

“Now, we have that out of the way; I have received reports that your target was last seen somewhere near Mygeeto. So that would be the most logical place to start looking.”

Aisi -- Hiding In Plain Sight

The screams and cries for help were all that she needed to hear. Striding gracefully towards a rack ofnweapons, she extracted a pair of blasters from them, and tied their holsters about her waist. Glancing over to the smuggler pilot that had arrived essentially at the same time she did, the Twi'lek girl offered him a sly wink.

"Smuggler, once you get done with that inspection, mind holding on a few minutes extra for me? Keep the engines hot if you would?" Twirling one blaster dextrously, it quickly was tucked away unto its home, as she also hid the pair of Lightsabers she possessed by tucking them into her garb.

The longer the Empire did not know of a Jedi in their midst the better their chances were for escape afrer all.

However, it also meant that she was now going to get to work. With remarkable speed, she sprinted towards the outskirts of the perimeter, and the sight she was met with was certainly grim. Under heavy assault, a small group of rebels were being attacked by a cluster of Storm Troopers. Deftly snapping up her pair of recently borrowed blasters, the incognito Jedi got to work.

Remaining hidden in the forest line, she flanked the storm troopers and opened fire. With rapid but precise shots, the four troopers that made up the left flank were quickly dropped to the earth as the surprise assistance emboldened the Rebels. Rising up, they too would lay down covering fire and seoon before long, the other octuplet of Storm Troopers would be eliminated as well.

"Gather your things and fall back!" Aisi exclaimed, waving them towards the base. "Evacuation is under way, I will assist more groups! Move! Quickly now!"

The beleagured Rebels would gather their things and move quickly to the camp, assisting the wounded all the same. She had to buy more time, she had to move quickly, and so the Jedi bolted into the woods again, moving with haste towards the next sound of blaster fire she heard.

After all, there were lives to save, and lives to end. To which she would be party to both ends of such an ordeal.

The next nightmare she came upon was even more hellish. A wounded rebel, cowering behind cover, who did not look much older than a child! A scowl crept up upon her lips then as this time she didn't even hesitate. Drawing upon the strength in the Force she possessed, a handful of bolts would literally stop in midair a split second before they would strike the boy.

Once he was saved, she would lash out then against the quartet of troopers. What would feel like a concussive blast of telekinesis comparable to a hand grenade would send them flying every which way, so intense was it that the armor that protected them would shatter as if they were glass, ans thenforce she enacred upon them was the stone.

Swiftly, she would tear across the ground at the boy and pluck him up just in time befire the paused bolts would resume their path, pockmarking thenl ground where he had once been. Wrapping his arm anout her shoulders, she would hurriedly begin the way back to the Rebel Camp. Getting back beneath the canopy of the wood, she would insure that they remained hidden from the skies above.

@Jonesy
@Legion-114