[IC] Star Wars: Era of Despair

[King Solterra]

Dathomir, New DFT Headquarters, Council Room

Tiberius looked up from his chair and smiled, seeing all of his Ship Commanders all around. "How are the ships coming along?" He asked, tilting his head down to look at his datapad, searching through information. One of the two Battle Fleet Admirals spoke up, "Our ships are prepped and ready, sir, upon your command, we will cut through the those Pirates!" Tiberius nodded, "Good, good. And what about your fleet, Drego?" The other Admiral looked up, a little concerned and weary, taking a deep breath. "Speak up, I'm not going to choke you via the Force." Everyone erupting into a laughter, a few nudging each other. The joke speaking about what all Sith Lord's do to their incompetents, but the real joke was that everyone suspected that the Force holders were entirely gone now, not seeing or hearing of any Jedi or Sith in so long. "Sorry sir, there's been a few problems. We're just not getting enough recruits to become Soldiers and if our numbers are too small, the plan may not work. Other than that, it's been a slow pace to restock the ships for food. You told us we could not restock from home due to the remaining refugees but the outer planets do not want to give up their food either. We can get the food... it's just a concern as I feel they do not appreciate what all we do for them."

Tiberius shook his head with a quickened pace, "No, none of the Protected Planets need to give us anything or do anything for us. I told you, I told all of you, I am the one who pays you and rewards you for what you do. I pay you to provide the Protected Planets anything they need. Medical supplies, construction equipment, ....homes. I never expect anything back. We need them on our side, not the Rebels or the Empires. They aren't doing anything, they're busy with the squabblings of each other. 'oh uh, uh oh... we need more ships to fight each other.' Bunch of bumbling Umrons, if you ask me. You know what they do? After a bunch of snot happens, they worry that either side may become stronger enough to kill them, so they worry about fleets and armies! They barely show they care about what happened to the people of the Galaxy, rarely let refugees in. It's a bunch of mynock muffins, if you ask me." All of the commanders agreed, "Sorry sir, I just felt they should be a little more willing, considering things." the original complaining Admiral stated. "Perhaps they should," Tiberius continued. "Which is why after they see the result of what our next plans our, I'm willing to bet DFT's Bank on it. Speaking of which, I haven't been informed lately, does anyone know the status of the new DFT HoloNet?" Tiberius asked, leaning back in his chair. "We've hit a snag, sir." One of the lower ship Commanders said. Tiberius, listened, waiting, "Well... go on! I haven't heard anything in awhile. So much for the DFT to be perfect!" The Ship Commander nodded quickly and continued hastily, "Most HoloNet Nodes are down. We've sent some Tugs escorted by some Gunships to make the repairs, though. So everything should be up in about a year." "Alright then. While it isn't amazing, it seems everyone has been doing their jobs without me being required to oversee it. Good job everyone."

Tiberius pushed out his chair and stood, so did the others. "Dismissed." He stated, the others nodded, and began to leave. "Don't forget! I need everyone in position as soon as possible!" They all stated, 'Yes sir!' and left the room. Tiberius reached to his face with his wrist and spoke into a small panel, "Herra, it's Tiberius. Has the Redeemer been stocked and how far is it?" A feminine voice perked up from the panel which seemed to be a small internal comm, "Hello General! The Redeemer should reach Dathomir soon, one of the weapons during check weren't functioning so we had to give it a look." "Good, thank you Herra."

[caliban22]

Deep Within the tombs in the valley of the dark lords on Korriban

Well within a sand storm Karza, Dressed in full robes walks. After a few moments he enters the relative safety the tomb of Naga sadow, "how interesting.. these ruins have stood the test of time..." he says softly as he admires the state of the ruins. Walking slowly through he softly repeats Qotsisajak Nwûl tash. Dzwol shâsotkun. Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk. Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan. Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha. Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun. over and over again. The wat of the sith had literally been beaten into him at a young age by his father. During the sparing sessions where he and his father had used heavy dulled iron blades and sparred while explaining the code to his father. any mix up or confusion could have cost him a broken limb and no food for the rest of the day. Karza chuckled softly at the idea, His father, like everyone else above Acolyte were dead. slightly pained by the fact he would never be able to take revenge on his father, he moves deeper into the tomb. As Karza walks the sound of soft clicking can be heard, K'lor slugs... their big ugly bodies being carried by tiny claw feet softly clicking away as they hit the stone floor. a smile crosses Karza's face. how he needed a release from the boredom of his own thoughts. slowly he takes out the two lightsabers he had found, activating them their blades light up his face. "come then, allow me some fun" he says laughing softly

[DELETED324324]

The Diamond in the Rough, Theros

Theros sat at his desk but his chair faced out into the darkness of space, he was watching and waiting. He had sent out a message to the DFT and a representative was supposedly on their way but they had not arrived.

He was brought out of his thought process by a knock on the door and a part of his scavenging entering. "Report." The guild master said sharply "The rodians on the planet have acknowledged our claim to the planet with this." There was a thud on the floor and when Theros turned around the heads of two of his enforcers were on the floor. "Prep the gunships, I'm going down myself with ten enforcers." The scavenger nodded, there was no sir or any sign that Theros was a superior as everyone on board the diamond was an equal.

As he walked out of the office he was stopped by one of his guards "What about the DFT?" The guard asked "If they can not be bothered to arrive on time then maybe we are better off with the pirates. But if they do show have them sent to Naori." "Yes Theros." The guard said.

Walking through the station he couldn't help but marvel at the station, they had only restored 25 percent of it, there were whole parts of it that were dark or had no oxygen. But the part the center of the station was so bustled it looked like a crowded market. But he didn't stay long entering the hangar and boarding his own ship Theros headed for Raxus' surface.

[Sep]

Mandalore

Ghes watched out the viewport of the fighter as he pulled up towards the sky, seeing the world of Mandalore spread below him by the layout of the Besu’liik cockpit. The sky above started to darken, stars began to appear as the atmosphere thinned and he made his way up and into orbit. Soon before him sprawled what was aptly named the Pride of Mandalore, the port side of the vessel facing the planet, her escorts on patrol nearby. As he began approaching the vessel his control console beeped alerting him that his docking clearance had been granted.

Swinging in around behind the behemoth his fighter maneuvered snuggly into the landing bay. He inwardly grimaced as he looked to some of the other fighters. Not Mandalorian in design but what they got cheap from DFT, at least until they managed to get their own facilities up and running. It did take them eight years to produce one gunship and six fighters. Exiting the craft, he nodded at the deck crew and spent his time heading to the bridge. Speaking to the occasional crew member or commando on his way through the corridors. Many had their helmets off, some had even opted not to wear armour. Which was fair enough with merely sitting in orbit.

Making his way to the bridge he merely sauntered over to a chair in the middle of the room, before sitting back in it. “Status?””All systems go. Missile pods loaded and ready, safeties are off. Turbolasers are green across the board.” He smirked below his helmet, only Mandalorians when asking for the ship status would focus primarily on weapons. Though these were dangerous times. “Begin plotting a hyperspace course to Dathomir, bring us out of Mandalores mass shadow ner vod.””Yes Manda’lor.”

In that moment as the ship was getting into Hyperspace range, a few ships exited hyperspace in Mandalore space. A decent range away, but enough to be picked up. They didn’t mask themselves, and their weapons did not arm. In fact there was a code signal emitting from them, the code read out as ‘DFT Vessel,’ something Tiberius implemented in hopes it helps nearby ships to realize who the owner of ships were. There was no silence, but a broadcast hail, immediately after they exited. “This is DFT Officer Beckton Colders. We do not mean harm to Mandalore, but we were sent by Tiberius himself for a mission if those of Mandalore would allow.”

Ghes grumbled beneath his helmet as he watched as the blips appeared on screen. “Scans indicate gunship analogue for all three ships… two vanguard gunships and one tug. Transmitting DFT ISS and hailing us.””Put it through.” The message played over the bridges speakers. He grumbled again. “If you meant harm to Mandalore aruetii you would have needed to bring more ships. You are speaking to Ghes Karr, Manda’lor. What is your purpose here?”

“Ah, greetings Leader Karr, Tiberius speaks very highly of you. It is an honor. The reason for why we are here is that Mandalore has been designated as a very important planet to the life of the galaxy by Tiberius himself, and he wishes for a new HoloNet node be placed on your planet. While on your planet instead of in space, Tiberius states that it is more of a hardwired link, in such words, no interruptions, no slow times, completely up-to-date without possible problems like spacial storms. So he says.”

Ghes nodded and the microphone was turned off. “How stupid do the aruetii think we are? Do they think we don’t understand anything.” There were laughs throughout the bridge when he signalled to turn the microphone back on. “Why do you need to place this relay on our planet? Why not Concordia? Also this will take land and maintenance. Tiberius should have come to me with some form of an agreement before sending your ships here.”

There was a short silence until the Officer spoke up again. “My apologies, Leader Karr. I said the same thing to Tiberius, but he said there were things he had plans for in the future with the Mandalorians. Where the Node will be, Tiberius also wants an Embassy. Essentially the Node is on the Embassy. Tiberius wants a full alliance with the Mandalorians. He feels he can trust you more than the Rebels, and if the Imperial Remnants are not something to worry about, he’s still going to need assistance with the Pirates.”

“This may be so. However it is something that should have been brought up in a meeting between myself and him. He should know, Mandalorians follow a strict code of honour and we do not take well to deceit.” He stood up now pacing. DFT was too valuable of an ally to lose, but at the same time he couldn’t just let them show up demanding access to their surface to put up some form of node and then build it into an embassy. “I will agree for you to place a node in a position of my choosing. Your gunships will remain in orbit and discussion of an embassy will happen in person. I was about to head to Dathomir anyway. This is my offer, take it or leave.”

“This was expected, Leader Karr. We are not here to make any demands and were specifically ordered to follow any requirements you may have as long as they are reasonable. Our gunships are merely for protecting the Tug for its importance. You tell us where, and our Tug will begin construction. Thank you sir.”

“Your gunships will not be necessary when in orbit and I insist that they remain in orbit with the other space faring vessels. I will transmit co-ordinates to an old clan farmstead. Inspect the premises for any potential family heirlooms before destroying it, I will have clan members sent to the location to assist as necessary-” He nodded to one of the officers on the bridge who went about sending the communications to the necessary people on the planet. “Please be aware that in the interest of Mandalores security you will be monitored.” With that he cut off the transmission, and the Pride of Mandalore jumped away from the planet into hyperspace.

The Gunships slowly moved toward the other vessels in orbit as the Tug began charting a course to the coordinates, following the rules of the Mandolorians cautiously, knowing of their legends.

[Gisk]

David Starsea's small, unnamed freighter was plummeting at high speed in a Geo-synchronous orbit around the planet of Korriban. He sat inside at the helm, meditating on the planet, on preparing himself mentally for what he might face on the surface. His hunt for knowledge had been largely unsuccessful, and he was getting truly desperate to even consider this place. And yet, he knew he could not search the planet with a fearful heart. Fear leads to anger, to hate, to suffering. As he meditated, he felt the planet with his emotions in check, and his mind at peace. His fear of this place he cast aside, lest it control him. And his anxiety as well. When he was ready, he turned to the controls, a serene look on his face, and adjusted course to land. He navigated by the Force, feeling a strong presence in the midst of a roweling sandstorm. The planet was littered with Dark Side energy, and he would ignore this one for a safer route, if not for the tiniest speck of Light Side he felt. He didn't know what light could survive in a place like this, but he knew it was his duty to rescue it. And so, he turned the ship's course toward the storm.

He was forced to land a distance from the presences he felt, outside of the worst of the storm where he feared his ship might become disabled or buried. Instead, he took his swoop bike from the hold, kicked it to life, and jetted into the flurry. He kept his hood as low as he could, and had a pair of flight goggles to keep the sand out of his eyes. But still it buffeted his bare cheeks and piled under his clothes. This was nothing like the storms on Ilum. There the cold may bite, but it didn't try to scrape the very flesh from his bones. His body was sore from the bombardment when he found the mouth of a ruin. Some place he didn't know, having not studied Sith history before the Light. He slowed the swoop bike, and turned it around, backing it into the ancient structure so that he could make a quick getaway if necessary.

David strode into the tomb, for though he didn't know it that is what it was. He pulled his hood down and looked around, marveling at the enduring structure. He didn't get far before he heard voices, the barest whisper echoing in the silence.

"Qotsisajak Nwûl tash. .... Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk..... Midwanjontû châtsatul .... itsu nuyak. Wonoksh Qyâsik nun..."

It repeated, but he could only hear parts of it, and he didn't know the language. He focused on it, both his physical senses and his sense of the Force, and began walking where he thought the voice came from. As he walked, he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see a mad red face come out of the darkness. It was a Sith, pure of blood, wielding a greatsword high over his head and screaming as he swung it down on David. His lightsaber jumped to his hand and ignited, his breath catching in his throat. But he exhaled and closed his eyes as the sword came down. He took a deep breath, and when he opened his eyes again, the apparition had gone. David extinguished his saber, putting it back on his belt. He took a deep, calming breath to clear his mind of fear once more, then turned to walk deeper.

[caliban22]

As he finishes off the last of the K'lor slugs, Karza reigns in his anger. he sighs. they had been no match for him. For all the times his master had warned him not to fight them till he was ready, the idea sickened him as he thought of his master. In the Tomb of Naga sadow Karza had planned to meditate on all he knew of the dark side. As he reaches the stone steps to the tomb and kneels to meditate A hissing voice softly speaks "Sith" the words come from no where " Not yet sith" the words say. Karza in a fit of rage yells out "What more do I need to be Sith!?" he declares. "Have I not proven enough!? is the blood that runs through my veins sith!?" he cries. The stone steps crack due to the his subconscious use of the force. Karza was tired of being an apprentice, especially to a dead sith "your compassion" the voice hissed "your master showed you kindness.. it has made you weak" the voice spat. It was true she had shown him kindness, and he had felt an almost parental bond with his late master. "Allow me to show you otherwise." Karza growls "We shall give you your chance young apprentice...A jedi has landed seek him out...destroy him!" the voice commanded.

[DELETED324324]

Raxxus Prime- Theros

Raxxus Prime was an awful junk planet, it stunk and if the inhabitants didn't get you. Junk droids who assembled themselves out of spare parts, or lakes of corrosive acid would. The freighter landed and dropped the 10 enforcers and Theros' a short distance outside the rodian stronghold. "Take no prisoners, set weapons to kill." Theros said to his men, who only nodded they all knew what they came here for. They moved forwards when they made it to the gate they knocked very politely only to be greeted with blaster fire at their feet. "We don't want to hear from you." A rodian voice spoke out in common that lisp sounding on every 'R' really irritated Theros. "Come out i bare gifts." Theros said slapping a detpack on the gate "We want nothing from you." The rodian said

"You Hurt me."

"We don't care."

"Fine, we shall use your gift then." Theros stepped back away from the gate far enough that the explosion wouldn't harm him and gave the guy with the detonator a thumbs up, the explosion was deafening and kicked up a large amount of dust. "Fire at will." Theros said and their blaster bolts streaked through the dust blindly hitting the occasional jawa or rodian the small group moved in a screaming rodian came charging for Theros vibroknife in hand, Theros shifted his weight left grabbed the things wrist and snapped it the bone jutting out as he caught the knife mid-fall and slashed it's throat sending blood spraying into the air and onto Theros' visor everywhere he looked the rodian's and jawa's were falling back or being gunned down.

"Push forward find their leader 1000 credits to the man who brings him to me alive." Theros' shouted over the comms, with that the group cheered and went to work. They didn't last long they were broken and scattered. Those who surrendered were gathered together and kept under watch. It was Theros who found their leader a blue skinned Rodian and brought him to the group of survivors. "We are sorry, we apologize, we will do whatever you want." The Leader begged but Theros heard none of it "To late you halted the progress of the guild for too long." Theros muttered and set his blaster to low and began the long process of The burning, starting with the wrists and going all the way up to the eyes blinding the Rodian who screamed and howled the entire time, and his men couldn't do a thing.

When he was done he released the Rodian. "Hold him still." Theros told his enforces as he found a fallen ships engine and pulled it out of the wreckage, he cut it open to find it still had some Rhoydium in it so he covered the surviving group in it, set his blaster back to kill and fired, the Rodians that weren't exploded instantly were burned alive. Their screams music to the Mandalorian warriors ears. "Let him go, if he survives long enough to find another scavenger group, he will tell them not to mess with the guild." He said and left heading back to the ship.

In orbit, Theros

Theros opened up a comm channel with the guild station mainly, Natori. "Did our guest arrive?" Theros asked. "No, they didn't, how did the rodian's respond." Theros chuckled. "Explosively, and I'm heading to Dathomir i shall return." And with that said he closed down the Comms and entered hyper space.

[Sep]

Ghes looked forward out of the viewport as the Pride of Mandalore dropped out of hyperspace, several smaller vessels immediately breaking course in its wake. Even here at Dathomir there were skittish with the prospect of pirates, and why wouldn’t they be? No security net was infallible especially when the pirates had the upper hand. One of the few reasons Mandalore was largely left alone as once the pirates got to the surface everyone was capable of fighting back, and pretty well too. He smirked at the thought of the last pirate raid, the first battle where the ship had seen combat. Safe to say, they hadn’t attacked since. Though he had plans to ensure that it would definitely never happen again.

Mandalore was rapidly becoming a dominant power in the Galaxy, with some of those with ships flocking to their cause but they weren’t yet strong enough. He chuckled slightly, if they got powerful enough he’d make sure the New Republic or Galactic Alliance whatever it was calling itself now adays couldn’t splinter once more and tear the galaxy into chaos. A comm channel was immediately opened with his vessel once it entered scanner range of the main DFT facilities, he nodded to let the communication through. “This is-””I don’t care who this is. This is Ghes Karr the Manda’lor. I will speak to Tiberius now.””I can’t jus-””I will speak to him. Now.”

[King Solterra]

Dathomir, DFT Orbital Station; Docking area

An alarm was sounded and the Second Officer spoke over the intercom "An unidentified dreadnought-sized vessel has exited hyperspace, stay on alert and report to your duty stations. Prep all escape pods in the event of possible devastation." This was meant as while the Station could fight any large ship, one of that size... well, the shields would never hold for long, and the Gozanti Cruisers would be like balloons. Tiberius jerked in shock, pausing to listen to the announcement. "Second Officer Jerramoy, this is Tiberius, what's going on?" Tiberius requested, speaking into his personal comm. "The unidentified vessel has no clearance codes and is immediately demanding to speak with you, sir." Tiberius developed a confused face as he thought for a moment. "Have they identified themselves yet?" "An Officer of one of the Cruisers said they called themselves Ghes Karr, do we know him?" Tiberius almost cursed, realizing what was going on. "Hold you fire, dammit! That's Ghes Karr, leader of the Mandolorians! His ship has clearance I just haven't developed the codes yet! Ask him to head to Docking Area 166."

Tiberius was already at Docking Area 159, it was custom constructed for his ship the Redeemer, which was in port as he was leaving, but he dashed forward, passing 159 and heading to 166, one of the more... larger docking areas constructed for larger ships.

Dathomir, DFT Orbital Station

The Station picked up the signal and went into armed weapon status. A ship of massive size exited hyperspace, but without any clearance codes nor any escorts, but it was big enough to annihilate anything in its path before reinforcements could arrive. The nearby Gozanti Cruisers held firm in their territory line, arming weapons. It was about sixteen Gozanti Cruisers by the station and the others within hyperspace range were put on alert if they were needed. As communication was attempted, the responder immediately over spoke on the comms, interrupting one of the Gozanti Cruiser Officers, and it was seen as an aggressive stance. "This is Second Officer Jerramoy, you will surrender and follow escorts to our docking bay or you will be fired upon. I personally don't care who you are. You have not been given any kind of clearance therefore we can not identify you." While the cruisers were inadequate at a very high degree, they were giving the station cover, a strategy that not only was created by Tiberius but something that should always be done to protect civilians onboard the station. The station was the real threat. Heavy Dual Laser Cannons, 10 of them, were targeting the dreadnought sized vessel, and were armed. But the DFT are just like the Mandolorians, they do not fire unless fired upon. Two Gozanti Cruisers released the controls of their weapons, allowing them to go cold, as they approached the massive vessel, preparing to escort it. "Unidentified Dreadnought, you have been authorized for Docking, please proceed to Docking Area 166, please do not arm weapons. Leader Tiberius is awaiting outside the airlock."

[Sep]

Ghes turned, "They're powering shields and weapons, the cruisers are moving into some form of defensive formation." The cruisers. Ships that had been simple freighters, then later used by the Empire as carriers. These were what Tiberius decided to defend his homeworld with. Too busy trying ot protect the entire galaxy that his homeworld was put at risk because off it. "Cancel that, they're powering down. Requesting that we match their course to dock with the station." Ghes snorted, "Really? Dock with the station?""That is what the order says.""These aruetii do not understand tactics... however we will let them give us the advantage if things decide to take a turn for the worse.""Yes Manda'lor.""Match course, have three super commandos meet me at the necessary docking collar." He stood up and walked from the bridge, the next in charge taking the seat as he did so.

Walking through the corridors eventually three other Mandalorians joined him, two in blue armour with red outlines and the other in an older green and red combination similar to that off Boba Fett. He stood at the other side of the airlock, hearing the "Thud" as the poorly fitting docking collar attached, and then a slight hiss as it pressurized. Not that they needed it too, any Mandalorian in the local vicinity all had their helmets on and their suits were pressurized. He walked out of the hatch facing the DFT contingent, their weapons neither at rest or drawn. Somewhere between the two in a stage of readiness, in contrast all of the Mandalorians had their weapons holstered. Yet no-one was under the impression that if trouble started that they'd stay there for long.

"So, where is Tiberius?"

[King Solterra]

Dathomir, DFT Orbital Station; Docking area

The only individual standing nearby was a DFT Soldier, standing guard by the docking hatch, every guard had one stationed by it at least. But his weapon was not drawn and he greeted Ghes. "Greetings sir. Leader Tiberius called off Initial Contact just for you," he said, referring to Initial Contact as if it was a strategy, "You must have something special about you. For that, I give you a gracious welcome to DF--" The soldier was interrupted as an old man accompanied by some clacking sounds came running up. "Ghes! Sorry about that, the codes I've been making for you all haven't quite been finished yet!" It was Tiberius, accompanied by 4 War Droids acting as guards and colored white with ice blue lines in a pattern. Their weapons were drawn but in a standard droid holding pattern, not aiming or anything. "Hello Ghes, how are," he stopped, taking a breath as he hunched over slightly, the droids helping him stand back up, "Ah, how are you, " he cleared his throat. "'Was a little much coming here in your Dreadnought, wasn't it? My Fleets are currently in their battle positions so they are a little far from home. You weren't planning to attack me, were you? Ah, Ghes, haha, what's up? What do you need?"

[Sep]

Ghes turned as the man approached, four droids. One guard and one elderly gentleman. It was lucky that this wasn’t an attack, it would have been all too easy for the four Mandalorians to finish these ones and move on throughout the station taking it over from the inside. “You should never tell someone where your fleets aren’t Tiberius. Information is valuable, even more so in these times when everyone and everything is on the move.” He took off his helmet, holding it under his right arm. “What I need, first and foremost. Is for you to ask for my permission before you send your ships to set a holonet relay on the surface of my planet, and then to declare it is to later become an embassy. We may have an agreement, however we are not a member of your little federation. You cannot dictate to us.”

Tiberius shook his head, "oh no no no, Ghes! No those men were sent to request to build one. I would never force one on you! You see we've been readily preparing our fleets and our men, I've been so busy I have barely had time to leave my office. But why I tell you any of this is because the same reason why you took your helmet off. And your men would never dare cross you, and my men don't want their families in the clutches of the pirates, so we all have our reasons to trust one another. Now I'm sure you don't want to go to my office to speak about what you want, so let's just pull ourselves to the side, heh?" Tiberius took a heave of a breath as he walked to the wall opposite of the docking bay, speaking into his communicator quietly. It was mumbled but he was requesting someone or something to grab something from his officer and to get down to the docking area. He wasn't trying to keep it quiet from Ghes, just others as he gestured Ghes over.
“Actually I took of my helmet as the speakers are a bit fuzzy and need some work. I also look more menacing when you can see how annoyed I am. Neutrality only goes so far, Mandalore has learned that lesson back during the Clone Wars. Thankfully Deathwatch saved the day, as hard as that is to imagine.” He moved near the side of the corridor he waved off the Mandalorians who moved to stand near the droids instead of following him.

It wasn’t like Ghes couldn’t handle himself in a fight anyway. I’m in need of two Dreadnoughts, and a Consular-Class. Don’t worry about the turbolasers I’ll manage to retrofit it to my own specifications. I have the necessary funds of your credits. Though how about the real reason you pulled me aside?”

Tiberius smiled as he shook his head. He took a breath and put his hand out forward. It was calm, like a gesture to pat ones shoulder but only in a stop style, trying to ease or calm things, without touching Ghes. “Ghes… I know you don’t see me as I see you. I consider you a great friend, secondly a great ally. It is I that should not trust you, the Mando’s do have a reputation, do they not?” He smirked, giving his head a shake with a ‘no’ sign, only to the left and the right once, “Heh. Well, “ He continued, trying to speak from his heart as he reached up with the easing hand to cover his heart. “I’m a dying old man, Ghes. And out of all this chaos it’s nice to see I can have a friend in the middle of it. I don’t yearn for power, I don’t want to be a mister goody goody to the galaxy. But whatever the Light was, it destroyed the way of life we had. Not the warring life, I mean, when someone would get a job, earn credits for their family, survive, and have a little luxury. Just to live. Something threatened our way of life, Ghes. And now we have those …” He jerked his hand from his chest to the territory line, “those pirate scum! At our doorstep. Every new day I get more and more reports of them crossing the boundary secretly and rading a town or base on a planet, kidnapping family members. Stealing food, everything people worked so hard for. I am willing to help you out, if you help me out. That old saying isn’t lost with our old ways, is it?”

He took another breath, trying to give a reassuring smile to Ghes before a DFT Soldier comes running up to Tiberius and greets him, saluting. “Leader Tiberius! Your secretary said you needed this as fast as possible!” the soldier handed a datapad over. “Ah, good. Thank you soldier. Dismissed.” He spoke, as he looked over to Ghes, smiling as he looked at the datapad, then to Ghes. “I didn’t know if I’d get the chance to speak to you before we left. I do need your help, Ghes. But first…” He continued, handing over the datapad willingly. “We pulled these off a smuggler a few days ago. I kept them safe for you.” On the datapad, Tiberius had already opened two documents. The first was showing schematics for a Davaab-type Starfighter and the second document showed schematics for a Mandalorian Cruiser. “Now now, I don’t want anything for them. The Mandolorians shouldn’t be a puny civilization, and I trust you won’t turn into those pirates. But you said you wanted Dreadnoughts? Ghes, what my fleets are prepared to do… without your help I don’t think we’ll be able to pull it off. But I will be asking a lot of you. Are you willing to hear me out?”

Ghes just shrugged. “We never were a puny civilization, just a diminished one. As for piracy-” He laughed. “-Yeah while in the past the Mandalorians have been on both sides of the extreme warring and peaceful we’ve found a nice little niché. We get enough combat without having to lose all sense of honour especially now. As for wanting dreadnoughts, purely defensive. I’ve got people modifying some old designs for when we have the capability to build them.” He didn’t go on to elaborate anymore, it was a surprise for the Galaxy and he wasn’t going to spoil it. Besides, having ships that nobody knew who they belonged to gave an extra edge upon entering a battle.

“Fine, I’ll hear you out. Though when you want to build your embassy you will come to me with your offer. If you go to speak about it now I’ll just leave.”

Tiberius nodded and gently took to Ghes shoulder to softly pull him in close so no others could hear. “Ghes…” he spoke softly, “I’m creating a clone army.” Quickly, he shook his head, “No, I don’t mean just something small. Right now I haven’t been able to produce many, but right now I have produced enough. I need your help, and I think I could really use you. Not, use as in… dispose of… But in the old Clone Wars they used a Fett, and with his skills they were perfect. My Clones are mostly best suited to ...well, starship command. I was thinking…. could you offer to be a base for the new clones? It’s not just that…” He took a breath. “We need more bacta and more technology and information on cloning labs. Our main battle fleet is going to strike the pirates head on, and we won’t survive without you. There’s a pirate battle group that’s been preparing above Charros, and we think they are heading to Mandalore. They have more than a few Command Ships in this battle. I wish for you to fight with me on this frontline, but also come with me as we assault from another line. You see the battle fleet of pirates we will attack will call for reinforcements, or so we hope, leaving the other field of battle… relatively clear, except for guards and such. The second fleet is heading to Fondor and Thyferra. My men will do the heavy lifting, but over there could you have Mando’s support my men on the ground against the pirate ground forces? They do know, and have known, we would be coming for the Bacta, for some time now. The Cloning Facility I had built was raided a few years ago, so it’s going to be a battlefield. You help me, I’ll get you whatever you need. This, I promise, friend.”

Ghes looked at the man. “Let’s forget the whole. Clone Army thing for a second shall we. You want a base on Mandalore, presumably to train them as the Mandalorian Trained clones in the old days were always the best. But again, let’s side step that. Mandalore doesn’t exactly have many ships to spare in order to open a second front in battle and no matter what the price is I can’t go risking our main defensive assets. Yes we can defend ourselves easily on the planet however ships are still important to have in orbit.” He looked at the man, he still couldn’t believe he was considering making a Clone Army with all the Galaxies other problems going on.

“In terms of having Mandalorians helping you in ground skirmishes. That’s different. So standard rates for use of Super Commandos apply, same for the space battle if you want boarding parties. As I don’t see you convincing me to risk my ships on this venture.”

[King Solterra]

Tiberius became a little upset, “No Ghes! I don’t want to make you or your men do heavy lifting. As an embassy I see it as a formality. An Embassy on each others planets, where you have your rules on my planets, and my rules on yours, all in a little box. But the point would be so that you could recruit. I wouldn’t do much recruiting as I’d be using a Clone Army, but this would also help get the word out that Mandalore is growing and reaching new stars. Whether or not the clones would be trained by mandalorians or not would be up to you, as I would most likely just have the Clones trained normally. But what I need from you… is your dreadnought in the Main Fleet. It can sit at the back, just help with the enemies command ships. My fleet will try to take care of the smaller things but their boarding parties are going to be trouble, so could I maybe get some mandalorians on the ships as well, for defense?” The old man took a breath, watching as a few soldiers on a patrol walked by. “In the war zones of the planets when I try to get bacta and cloning technology, you could even make it so your mando’s lead a squad, one commando to a squad, that way your mens lives aren’t threatened. I just need cover fire, you see? I don’t want to make the Mandalorians do anything critical unless they themselves feel the need to. But if I don’t have some expert help, they may make a push. We don’t know how many Command Ships they have, and we need to strike.”

“You realize that if these forces are as big as you say they are, I’m going to need to draft the regulars as well not just the super commandos.” He was right to want to use the Pride of Mandalore however. One thing that the ships in the galaxy still had poor defences for, Missiles and the Kandosii dreadnought boasted an impressive array of missile silos. “All right, but I need to see fleet dispositions and compositions and at least a week to mobilise my guys. No more no less, and everything will go out at once. I’ll also be assigning high ranking officers to each of the ground missions who will take over all command if you want their experience and training, something most your people lack. I’ll also assign someone to each fleet to manage all the anti-boarding operations. In payment. I want enough droids to get my own shipyards up to scratch. Right now we can only kick out fighters I want to start on the bigger stuff. Then after that we can talk about a base for your clones, and training them as you’ll need someone to do it.” He said the last sentence with a sigh at the end, besides. When Tiberius had no more need for them he could always taken them in, plenty more able hands were always welcome.

“The first wave on Thyferra will be commanded by my First Officer. They will give you cover so you can land. When I say cover, I mean they will be shielding themselves from the enemy weapons and turrets that will be opening fire as soon as the blast doors open, if they open. There won’t be much assistance from the sky as the ships will be blockading the planet. I will also give you your Dreadnoughts and one of my HT-2200’s. If you want a Mobquet, we’ll have to talk after this is all over.” He said, smiling, “And whether or not you believe me, you’re not a tool I can use. I’m not like the fabled Sith, but I’m also not a Republic. However I never cross a friend.” A smirk came from his face as he reached his hand out in a shaking gesture.

Ghes shrugged. “I don’t care so much about the HH. Though I’ll take the Dreadnoughts, and I’ll not be paying for them due to my fee. Also I don’t care if you’re just using me, I’m getting paid. Mandalore is benefiting that is all that matters.” He shook the mans hand. “I expect you’ll send all the necessary data to my ship before I depart? I’ll have a meeting with the clan leaders this evening and then get back to you tomorrow with how many forces I’ll be sending and how I’ll position them amongst your fleets. If Thyferra is the first engagement I’ll be leading the Mandalorians down on the surface personally. If that is all settled then, I need to get back Mandalore. There is a lot to discuss.”

Tiberius gave a quick nod. “And I’m nearly late for one last meeting today. Everything will be relayed to you before your departure, and I will send the ships you requested in fleet formation for their hyperjump along with one of my own so the minimal crew can have safe passage home. Good luck Ghes, and thank you.”

[Gisk]

Gisk:
David delved deeper into the crypt, as he walked the meager light from the opening dimmed, and he was forced to ignite his lightsaber once more, as it was his only source of light. He held it above his head like a torch, walking slowly and examining walls as he went. As he was looking at the wall on his right, it suddenly gave way to a dark corridor branching off of the main tunnel. It was pitch black now besides his saber’s light. He saw a form in the darkness, and he took a step toward it, taking a steadying breath as he went.

“Begone, apparition,” he commanded, holding his free hand out and sending out a healing wave of Force towards it.

Caliban:
Karza feels the healing wave as a gentle breeze of cool air. Angered by not only having a jedi on his world,but also by the fact the jedi believed that a small use of the force could ever banish the spirits of his ancient home world. Laughing softly Karza puts on his Sith mask and slowly walks towards the jedi “Who dares enter this sacred tomb, on this most sacred of world?” Karza asks as he stops just outside of the radius of the light given by the lightsaber “Tell me your name...so I may know who it is I kill” he says as he holds his Lightsaber with two hands and ignites his grey lightsaber the blade close to his face.
The grey saber illuminates Karza’s mask its blank metal surface with the only noticeable features being the eye slits that show His yellow eyes. Lowering the blade with his left hand he pulls out his second blade and ignites it. With both blades lowered he slowly paces outside the radius of the jedi’s lightsabers reach

David could see now, that this was no ghost. His words echoed in the physical world, and his presence was more real, more sinister. And yet, he sensed, this being was the source of the light he had felt. Maybe light was a strong word, but it was something other than the Dark Side that he felt himself drowning in. Something more, and that was enough. David let his own Light side presence radiate out as he addressed the pureblood Sith.
“I am Jedi Knight David Starsea.”

Karza Smirks “a Jedi knight? you!?” he says laughing “You are not jedi! You are one of their weak willed learners pampered by their self righteous ideas of peace and order.“ Karza growls “the very idea you are considered protectors sickens me...you are weak willed fools protecting even weaker fools...The Galaxy needs only the strong…” he says as he inches closer “you claim to be jedi and I see you are either brave enough or foolish enough to stand your ground...lets test which one it is!” he cries as he rushes as the Jedi with a jump bring both blades down towards the jedi.

David brought his saber above his head to parry the oncoming slash. He kept his saber at arm’s length, and brought it to contact with the one to his left, brushing it aside as it came down, and taking a half step to the left to get out of the way. When the slash came down, David’s saber was on top of both of the Sith’s, and he took this opportunity to flick his blade toward the Sith, meaning to jab him in the chest.

“How can a Sith call anyone weak willed? You are all slaves to your emotions, you can’t even control yourself.”

“Slave!? no...I am no slave I am freed, unshackled and power incarnate!” He says laughing. as he force pushes The jedi away, getting away with a slight cut on his right arm. A smile spreads across Karza’s face under his mask. “While you are slave to your rules, and slave to the whims of the weak..” He says as he attacks with his right hand saber with a running jump “While you and your kind attempt to learn your limits our learns to break them, for all the times your order has claimed to destroy my order...How many times have you really accomplished that feat?”

David landed on his feet after the push, and had to duck under the saber slash. He backed out into the main corridor, where there was more room for the fight.
“Prove it! Prove you are a master of yourself, prove your freedom from your own rage. Extinguish your lightsaber. You know a Jedi would return in kind.” As he spoke he kept his guard up, backstepping towards the light of the Korriban desert.

“And why would I do that?” he asks chuckling “You believe your safe out in the light?” he asks “No this is a world of darkness..The very air you breath is my ally, there is no where on this planet that is safe” he says as he rushes the Jedi “I WILL be sith! Not you nor any other of your kind will keep me from it!” he cries as he uses force pull. Karza prepares to make a stab with his left hand lightsaber intending the finish the fight.

David grunted as he lurched forward, being pulled onto the blade of the lightsaber. He gasped at the pain, but reacted quickly, twirling his own saber in front of him, and hacking at the emitter on the Sith’s hilt. The blade sputtered out. He took a half stumble backwards, and then leaped, flying backwards as he held the cauterized wound. He could say nothing more to taunt the Sith, and he saw now that he had done so too far. He had only focus now for surviving. As he fled, the Sith surely behind him, he felt for swoop bike. He activated the repulsorlift engine with the Force, and it lifted off the ground in preparation. He took one last leap and landed in the saddle, mashing the accelerator and speeding away.

---

Arriving at his ship, David parked the swoop in the freight bay, and stumbled toward the cockpit. He managed to set an auto course for orbit before he blacked out. When he came to, he didn’t know how long after, he was in orbit around Korriban. He pressed on the nav controls, faint, seeking the quickest planet he knew would be friendly. Mandalore. Not ideal, but there was a charted hyperspace route that would drop him off right there. He punched the coordinates and pulled the handle for the hyperspace jump.
He took a moment to inspect his wound as his ship was in transit. Lower torso, right hand side. He was no doctor, but he knew there was bound to be some serious damage to internal organs. Intestines, kidney maybe. He wouldn’t survive another few hours without medical attention. The only reason he was still conscious and moving was thanks to his Jedi training. He laid his head back and focused the force on his own body, trying to heal the damage as best he could as his ship flew a precharted course for Mandalore.

When he arrived in orbit, he mashed a button on his console, sending out a distress beacon.

[King Solterra]

Null

[Sep]

Ghes watches as the stars became pinpricks again as the Pride of Mandalore reverted to real space, immediately alarms began blaring and he sighed dragging himself from his datapad where he was watching a old holodrama. “What’s going on?” Was called out, not to anyone in particular.
“One contact, not Mandalorian. Not DFT and it’s broadcasting a distress signal.” Ghes turned his head, “Sensors?”On the main viewport a holographic display formed, holding tight to it.
“Sensors indicate Freighter analogue. She’s adrift right now, looks like so far she was only programmed to get here and hasn’t done anything since.” Ghes looked at it for a minute, if Tiberius was right then there was a pirate force out there posed to, foolishly, attack Mandalore. Though this couldn’t be a scout, it was too poorly planned.

“Open a hailing frequency. Prepare to tractor it into the landing bay. Demand to know who they are and what they’re doing in Mandalore space.” He heard the call go out to the ship.

“Attention Unknown Vessel, you have entered Mandalorian space. Identify yourself and your occupants immediately and your intentions here or you will be fired upon.”

David twitched in his half conscious state at the sound of a voice coming over his comm. He opened his bleary eyes and pressed on the button that opened the communication both ways.
“B-7, unnamed freighter. Owned by Dav..” he stuttered a moment and continued speaking in clipped, pained sentences, “David Starsea. Injured in a pirate raid. Seeking medical attention. Mandalore was closest planet.” He paused a moment before adding, “No other passengers. Traveling alone.”


Ghes held pause for a second. Pirates, this close. Especially if Mandalore was the closest habitable world. “Lifesigns?”
“Confirmed. Only one sir.” Came the reply from the officer who stood at a nearby console, pouring over the details on the vessel. The name didn’t seem familiar so they had to work with what they had.
“All right, power the tractor beam and reign him in.” He stood up, donning his own helmet. “I want a squad of commandos ready in the bay and internal turrets ready to blow that ship away the moment it does something… iffy.” He heard a slight chuckle from one of the officers.
“Yes sir.” The officer pressed a button on the console. “You’re being brought aboard, you will be given medical attention and later we shall discuss your payment. Prepare to be boarded.”

“Acknowledged,” David said over the comm. Then, as it went dead, he dropped to the floor and picked one of the floor panels up. He tucked his lightsaber away underneath, and put the panel back down, laying leaned against the console, waiting for help.

Ghes walked down the breadth of the ship to the hanger, running up and into the freighter as it was pulled aboard, signalling as he moved through it commandos moved into other rooms. Comm crackled through his helmet informing him that it was clear but he kept pushing to the bridge, finding the man wounded there. He didn’t say anything, just remained stoic in his helmet. He clicked his comm on “I need a medic and a stretcher on the bridge.” It took several minutes but up came another Mandalorian, this one elderly without the helmet while two youngers carried the stretcher.

They lifted the man up and onto it however as soon as he saw the wounds, Ghes held up his hand. They were stab and cut wounds. But they had been cauterised, and before there was no extensive bleeding or extra burnt flesh that led him to believe it had been done at the same time as the stab wound was made. He walked up to the now still stretcher. “Who did this to you? Where did it happen?”

“Korriban,” David gave a hint of truth, and then continued lying, “Orbit. Boarded, left for dead. Was looking for old treasure. So were they.”

“And what exactly, was it you were looking for on Korriban for? That was worth the long and treacherous journey?”

“Don’t know. Abandoned world,” David kept lying even as his vision faded to black, “No one to stop me. Easy money. Pirates had it easier. Just had to take it… from…” His eyes rolled back and he spoke no more, his head falling back onto his pillow.

Ghes shrugged it off. Something was amiss but he wouldn’t find out anytime soon. “Have him stabilized then sent down to to my clanstead. Tell my wife I’ll follow soon after. I still have questions for him.” With that he took one last look at the bridge, then walked out.