[IC] Star Wars: Dark Secrets of the Empire

[Simple Unicycle]

@guineamania
Owen still pointed his blaster at Aura as she made her piece. When she was done, he kept it pointed at her for a moment, before exhaling and bringing the pistol down. "Alright then. What exactly are you on this moon for? Nothing here but crime and scum for hundreds of miles, and hell, there's a meeting between a boatload of crime lords now, at least to my knowledge there is." He looked at R2-T5, before looking back up at Aura. "Anyhow, the name's Owen, Owen Glewdis. This is my Astromech, R2-T5, but we all just call him T5." With that, Owen stepped forward and extended his hand for her to shake.

[VitaVitaAR]

Saku Rira

Well, that had certainly been one way of getting there. Saku steadied herself shaking her head, having used some application of the Force in order to keep herself from falling down. The Corvette, shielded and much larger and heavier than the fighters, had of course not taken damage, and the Interceptors were steadily breaking off as they realized the ship was far too close to the city below to risk firing on it. Needless to say, the situation was looking more and more like they would soon find this meeting of crime lords and Children of the Empire.

"... That was incredibly reckless and incredibly brilliant," Saku said, unable to stop her usually irritable expression from breaking into a grin, "The Imperials didn't expect that! ... But now's not the time for celebration. We have to land, and fast. They'll be organizing forces to intercept us when we land, no doubt."

Saku peered out of the viewing port, to the spaceport below. Yes, they needed to quickly land to avoid being overwhelmed. If they cut to the heart of this matter, and fast, then they could end it just as swiftly. And discover just what that disturbance was.

---

The fighters had to break off. After all, they needed to at least make it appear they cared more for the city below then destroying the Republic... Commander Oren swiftly turned to face the assembled crime lords again. They were all staring in surprise at the dark jedi who had assembled. Certainly, it was not something they had access to under normal circumstances. The Imperial commander addressed the room at large once more.

"There are four of these Dark Acolytes," she began, "Though one of their number is currently assigned another mission. As you have agreed to sell us this information, they will be at your disposal."

There was a murmur of approval among the crime lords. Dark Jedi working for them... That was interesting.

Grogga leaned forward.

"{Certainly, we rarely have such agents at our disposal,}" the especially corpulent hutt began, "{But the New Republic has entered our airspace. What will you do about that, Imperial?}"

Oren nodded her head, quietly. "We'll stop them. No matter what."

As she spoke, a large contingent of Stormtroopers made its way to the nearby spaceport...

The Children of the Emperor had one last plan to ensure that this went through.

[Scrapula]

Sulik

Sulik crawled out of the dented wreckage of the speeder, thankful that Lucar had the good sense not to die in a blazing inferno. With barely-concealed frustration, he hauled Lucar out of the driver's seat and hauled him to his feet.

"In the interest of self-preservation," Sulik hissed. "I am going to take charge here."

Sulik smoothly pulled a small device out of his belt-pouch. With special care not to let anyone else hear him, he began muttering into it.
_{"U-SK to U-KR, U-SK to U-KR. Situation changed, need exit. Be advised, multiple points in airspace, exercise caution. Over."}
Sulik delicately returned his device and looked determinedly at Lucar. The air of professionality evaporated.
"Ride's here, ten minutes," Sulik hissed. "starport's couple blocks away. Follow me."

Sulik took off at a healthy jog towards the starport eclipsing the skyline. By coincidence, it was the very same port The Ardent Liberty was preparing to touch down in. Completely unaware of the situation he was running into, Sulik forged onwards.

[guineamania]

"I'm a trader. Had some goods that wouldn't sell brought em here," Aura shrugged non-chalantly. "Here bout that meeting though, nasty business if you ask me. Heard something about these Dark Jedi signing up to work for the crime lords. The New Republic really should put a stop to that if they have any sense," Aura continued muttering on as if nothing was wrong. "The names Aura Cyone and this is the Majestic," Aura stated gesturing at her ship. And then realising that she was a wanted criminal so giving her name out to the New Republic pilot was probably not her best idea ever. So she carried on speaking. "Saw your mates were heading to ground? Want a lift for you and your droid, least I can do, some sort of civic duty I guess."

@Simple Unicycle

[NightmareInd]

Bounty Hunter Krat Gyton

As Krat arrived at what used to be the battlefield, he saw the TIE-interceptors were already retreating. "Looks like we just missed the party." He said dissapointed, and Denying sounded angered that they didn't have the chance to take some out. However, he had came to the Republic vessel with a reason: he needed help with this task. "Denying, open a channel with the Republic vessel, please. And make sure it is secure this time." Denying, a bit annoyed, opened the channel. "Greetings, Republic people. My name is Krat Gyton, bounty hunter, and I think we have some mutual interests in this situation that drawn us to this planet. I like to ask your captain for permission to dock onto your vessel for what I could best describe as a business proposal." He muted his microphone. "Denying, keep your scanners on high alert. I don't know what those crime lords are planning, but I know that they don't give up that easily, and the Republic might take precautions when talking to a bounty hunter..."

[Ookawa]

Kara smirked at the Jedi. "You don't become a Marine by being super-careful." Carefully Kara steered the corvette into bay 27 and landed in a way that allowed fighters to enter the hangar of the corvette from the docking bay.
"Well, we have arrived. Not as much of a comfortable journey as planned." The com-panel light up.
"I think, Master Jedi, that might be a call for you. If you want I can already prepare my combat equipment and order one of the crewmen to keep the engines warm. I got my blaster and Vibrosword ready, if you need me outside."
Kara shrugged and flicked her ears.

[Scrapula]

Sulik

The streets leading to the starport were, as expected of Nar Shaddaa, full to bursting with life. Droids, humanoids, sapients, and non-sapients alike surged in the streets, hawking their wares indiscriminately. Sulik weaved and jostled his way through the sea of bodies in front of him, and hesitantly squeezed into the main lobby of the starport.

The interior of the starport was, compared to the streets outside, rather empty. Ringed with scores of ticket terminals on the interior wall and a wide variety of officially-sanctioned bars, shops, and restaurants, the room seemed more like a humble marketplace than a lobby. Sulik glanced around the lobby, searching for a relatively quiet place to sit and wait for his comrades. Though the lobby had a fantastic array of benches and seats for foreigners of all shapes and sizes, all of them were occupied by beings in various states of rest. The few seats that weren't occupied were filled in by luggage, bags of food, or unpleasantly organic residue. Not wishing to ruin his day by contracting an exotic new disease, Sulik looked to the long crescent-shape of shops and bars on the exterior wall. One name in particular drew his eye: "Heckram's Wing Shack".

"Hey," Sulik said, turning to face Lucar. "Ship won't be here for few minutes. Want to eat?" Without even waiting for an answer, Sulik strode into Heckram's Wing Shack.
The interior of the diner was caked in that special kind of filth only seen in places that have somehow managed to decay for decades while still undergoing regular maintenance. An enormously corpulent Grant, presumably Heckram himself, hunched over a steaming grill and attended to a variety of anonymous meats.

Sulik's nostrils flared hungrily at the scent of charred flesh and offensively hot spices. Barely concealing his lust for grease and barbeque sauce, Sulik threw himself into an unoccupied stool, and caught for the attention of the waitress.
"Order of Mynock Wings," Sulik said, staring into the menu like a child in a candy shop. "Kreetle Back-Bacon, and Whirlbat Nuggets. As hot as possible."

Sulik looked back towards Lucar. Did people like him need to eat? He looked like he could eat, but Sulik hadn't ever seen him do it. In the interest of courtesy, perhaps it would be best to buy him something.
"You want anything?" Sulik said to Lucar. "Food's good here."

[Aerath]

Once the TIE fighters gave up their attempt to intercept their voyage, Akyra sat up and began towards the hatch. Her unease only grew as the corvette approached the spaceport. The Vahra's connection to the force was exceptionally strong, that much was obvious. There were others on this planet that were strongly connected with the force - the dark side - and she had no doubt that the others had sensed it. But it definitely wasn't just one. No, there was more than one.

They're hiding something big.

A droid caught her eye as she hurried to her destination. F7-250, carrying an unconscious crewmember by the looks of it. Her instinct told her to help, it was only natural for the healer, but she knew where her priorities were at the moment. Besides, the droid was undoubtedly capable of handling the situation. Despite her disinterest in droids, she did find a liking for the unique AI.

Focus on the matter at hand, She reminded herself.

Time suddenly became a very important factor in this mission, which is why she was among the first to reach the hatch. Once they landed they would have to be quick. If they didn't get to their destination in time they might lose their lead. Of course, they weren't going to get anywhere without a fight, this much she knew. For a quick moment she checked to make sure she was prepared. Her lightsaber was clipped to her belt and her crystals on her person, just in case they ran into trouble.

"They're coming to greet us," She realized and thought out loud, though it didn't surprise her in the slightest. There was a number of people coming their way, and somehow she doubted they were there to offer polite greetings.

[Simple Unicycle]

@guineamania
Luckily for Aura, Owen didn't seem to recognize her name or her ship's name at first. "That'd be great, we need to get back on the Corvette and get a new X-Wing." Says Owen, before he grabs some things from his cockpit and heads up the hatch and into the ship, R2-T5 following close behind. "I'm sure the Republic'll reward you with some creds, what with you ensuring the safety of one of their pilots..." He pauses for a moment. "You know, I think I've heard your name or this ship's name before... Ah well."

[guineamania]

"Renowned traders," Aura winked jokily despite nerves coursing through her whole body. Lying was her job, she just had to get this pilot back to his ship, get her crews and get out of here. She helped the pilot and his droid onto the ship, patting herself on the back for hiding all her contraband weapons before landed. "I'll just go get this beauty into the air. Make yourself comfortable," Aura continued, settling down into her old Wien pilots chair and taking off

@Simple Unicycle

[clanjos]

"Yeah, I could eat." Lucar muttered. "I'll take the bottomless Apocalyptic Mynock Wings. You never start the entertainment without a ready supply of food. Oh yeah, and some Crystal Fizzyglug."

Lucar motioned for Sulik to follow him to a secluded booth. There were stains where the patrons had left drinks for long periods, and divots in the finish where they'd spilled their drinks. Looking around carefully, Lucar took a commlink out of his pocket before fiddling with the settings. With a hiss and crackle, the Commlink went through about fourteen subgenres of Jizz, two rock bands, and a Trandoshan love ballad as Lucar finally tuned to the right frequency.

"{...posal. But the New Republic has entered our airspace. What will you do about that, Imperial?}"

"I planted a bug between some of Delro's fat rolls while he was distracted. This way, we'll be able to tell what the frell's going down."

Grabbing a wing, Lucar took a sizeable bite and kept listening in. He smacked his lips, enjoying the infamous burn of the Tatooine sauce- so named because the flavor was rough, coarse, and got everywhere.

"I swear, these things never fill you up."

[VitaVitaAR]

Saku Rira

"Well, I can't say those wouldn't be good ideas," replied Saku, glancing at the com panel. Swiftly, she switched it on, and heard the words of the bountry hunter who wanted to, apparently, be of service. She wasn't exactly the most trusting of bounty hunters on the best of days, but she did not sense ill intent, and he was volunteering to dock with their ship by himself. This was somewhat more promising, but at the moment there did not appear to be a good opening for any 'business proposal'.

"We have Imperial forces approaching, so I'd hardly say now is the time for such a discussion," she said, quickly, glancing back over her shoulder. "But if you're truly interested in helping, you can talk to the captain."

She stepped away from the communications, giving Kara a meaningful glance. Now was not the best time, but addressing a potential ally seemed wise.

"I'm going to defend the ship and make us a path to the meeting. May the Force be with you."

With that, she turned, and sprinted down the hall.

---

The stormtroopers wasted no time in blasting the doors open and training their blasters on the ship. The swiftly surrounded the modified corvette, raising their blasters to bare. The New Republic Forces were immediately putting up a fight, and soon the platform was filled with open laserfire, and the occasional cry of shock and pain. But it was clear the Stormtroopers had more numbers, and one swiftly advanced towards the ship, seeing an opening.

There was that familiar snap-hiss sound, and purple light reflected off the metallic hull of the ship, as Saku sprinted out. The first Stormtrooper had been raising his blaster rifle already.

"It's a Jedi!" she heard him shout, as he opened fire. Her smaller frame made dodging easier, ducking under the bolts that careened over her head. As she came close she heard him prime a thermal detonator, likely out of desperation. She swung her lightsaber in an upwards arc, the blade humming and then letting out a hiss as it went through armor like butter, putting a sizzling gash through the trooper's torso and head. He fell back, dead instantly, and she raised her other hand swiftly.

With a wooshing sound, she pushed the thermal detonator with the force, feeling it flow through her arm and send the explosive rocketing into the air. Even high up, away from the ship, the blast of light and sound was incredibly loud.

[GingerBoi123]

Gideon Shurima

Gideon stared at Saku for just a moment after she sprinted away before following her. "May the force be with you!" He called back as he worked to catch up with the small Jedi. He used the force to pull the hilt of his saber to his hand as he was running, and adopted the reversed grip technique, Form V would be best if there are already enemies awaiting them. "Good luck Saku." He commented before they departed. As Saku sprinted down the middle, Gideon crouched, facing the right side of the ship. He blocked two incoming blaster shots, rebounding them towards two other troopers about to take fire. Gideon switched left, force pushing an advancing stormtrooper. He held his palm flat and open towards the stormtropper, surging the force throughout his arm and at the soldier. Hopefully, that would incapacitate the man. Gideon ran forward off of the ramp, deciding to follow Saku in close quarters combat. Gideon noticed another stormtrooper training his sights on the human Jedi, Gideon quickly raised his left arm in response and formed his signature force shield across his forearm to block the incoming shot. Unfortunately, it didn't have as much rebound control as he'd like, so Gideon charged forward, spinning his blade when he was close enough, slicing the front of the gun. As the stormtrooper watched as the muzzle of his blaster slid off, Gideon took this opportunity to stab him in the stomach, using the backwards grip as a quicker way of making contact. This might be a short, or a long battle.

---

FUSION

Fusion got out of the turret as they finally made landing, fixing on his mask after. He looked out a view port (window) and saw that stormtroopers were already nearing the ship. "Can't have that..." He thought. Severus drew his suppressed blaster and looked for an access hatch to the roof of the ship. That should give him a good vantage point. He tuned his comlink to the channel where everyone can hear him after he spotted two Jedi's lead the charge. "This is Infiltrator Soldier "Fusion." I request all combat-ready personnel get their boots on the ground ASAP. We need to push back Imperial Troops and establish a foothold. All snipers and crack shots head to the roof on the ship, the rest should deploy with the Jedi. Fusion, over and out." It wasn't often Severus gave orders like that, but a quick deployment was necessary and efficient. Straightforward orders should avoid confusion. Severus found a ladder leading to the outside. He ascended as quick as possible and aimed his suppressed blaster as Fusion surged forward to the edge of the ship, firing away at stormtroopers to back up the Jedi. "Can't let the Jedi Knights have all the fun." He thought with a small, cruel-looking smirk forming across his lips as he squeezed the trigger again.

[Simple Unicycle]

@guineamania, @VitaVitaAR
As the duo were approaching the Corvette, Owen heard a loud BOOM sound coming from it, most likely from an explosive. "Oh I've got a bad feeling about this..." He said, his voice taking on a panicked tone. "A very bad feeling." With that, Owen turned on his commlink and tried to contact any of his squadron: "Come in, come in, this is Red Seven, do any of you copy?" He waited for a response.

[guineamania]

Aura cursed as she tried to get closer to the action but there was nowhere to land. "I can't land near here and can't fire without hitting your damn jedi as well," she shouted, angrily slamming her fist down onto the console. Now in a normal situation she would be perfectly happy to rain hell down on all those that dared disturb her happy little existance but that was probably not the best idea with a Resistance pilot looming over her shoulder.

@Simple Unicycle @VitaVitaAR

[Ookawa]

Kara sighed. Instead of having to communicate with a bounty hunter, she wanted to get out and drive away the Empire's troops not sit in the cockpit and watch her comrades potentially die. To that effect she sounded rather impatient over the comms.

"I can allow you to dock, but I'd advise you against leaving your ship until we can get a security team to the hangar. The situation is precarious enough, so we truly don't need another person lounging around in our ship. Otherwise, if you don't agree with that, you can land in one of the adjacent space port bays and walk to us."

With that Kara broke off the comm channel and launched herself out of the pilot's chair and quickly stormed to the armoury. In a speed that seemed pretty impressive to the armoury guard, Kara put on the black and red armour of the Republic Marines, specifically designed for her alien body form, her tail sticking out behind her as well as her ears from the top of the helmet. She could hear well enough without the audio enhancing equipment in the hi-tech helmet and comm-wise, two in-ear "headphones" were mounted on a part that was fixed with the ears and turned with them.

From her locker, Kara grabbed her E-15 rifle and her Vibrosword placing the latter on her back. For now, she left the rocket launcher in the armoury, she didn't expect any resistance that heavy on a neutral planet.
"Alright. Showtime.", she exclaimed, the voice panel on the helmet-front distorting her voice to a more threatening version and the small solider marched out directly to the exit ramp, her blaster trained in front of her.

As soon as the light sensors of the helmet sensed the outside light and the fireworks going on outside, Kara opened fire burning holes into the back of the helmets of two stormtroopers about to fire on one of the Jedi from behind with her blue blaster fire. "Imperial Scum! Go seek somebody else to bother!"