freedomliveson

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Best way to have handled that situation! Will post today :)

By the way, if our thread turned into a film/video game, I think Shinedown would be basically 90% of the soundtrack...man they're good xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Sounds like a great chain of events! If I might add the following:
-Pit stop would PROBABLY be Nar Shaddaa. I mean, where else could a bunch of fugitive Force users find refuge? It's a neutral planet that's a harbor for people on the run. Besides, Neta would probably recommend it.
-OH OH I like that idea! That would be an excellent way to stir up public opinion! Both Jedi and Sith homeworlds ravaged by civil war, underground footage leaked that have Force Users attempting to disrupt galactic peace, The Republic and Empire joining forces to stop the "threat to peace"...talk about the spin zone xD
-I would think the Sith homeworld would be a stop, although I think it would be easier for them to get up FIRST, then just have Ari and Yerbol head over, seeing as they have previous experience.

Sounds great! Hope all goes well this weekend and during your trial week!

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Good points! Out with the old, I suppose.

Boy, this is exciting. I mean, we're charting a WHOLE NEW UNIVERSE with these two...I mean, shivers for real, right? Star Wars has meant so much to me and to be able to build a universe basically from the ground up is such an awesome experience, especially with an amazing thread buddy :)

So do you want get the survivors off, then learn about Tython's death, get off world, etc.? Any suggestions about where to go other than that really simple structure xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine...for now.' He grunted as he lifted himself off the ground, cursing silently at his lack of forethought. He could've easily thrown up some kind of barrier to shield their impact, but the angle at which Neta had the ship pointed didn't make the ground look all that far. An experience to learn from, indeed. Speaking of experience, Aria's questions prompted him to take in his surroundings, which looked awfully familiar. The thicket of trees that had branches sticking out at odd angles just up ahead, the sweeping clearing empty except for that thicket and a few other isolated parts where there was growth.
"I think I know where we're at...give me a minute." He walked a few paces forward, then stared up at the early afternoon sun partially obscured by the normal cloud cover and nodded.
"Right, so this is where we played catch and other things that involved looking up. We also..." He shook his head.
"We also had...well, we can talk about it later. Right now, we need to keep moving." Clearing his throat, he led them forward, not wanting Aria to see the flush of red that engulfed his cheeks. He spoke again after they got past the trees with odd angles, pointing at the foot of the now gently sloped terrain, but then his arm came down, brow shooting up in thought. It took him a few moments before he spoke:
"Once we get to the bottom, I believe we can..." He paused in thought, looking to the left to find a winding path that snaked upwards towards the mountain ranges.
"We can take that path there to the Twi'lek village." Yerbol grunted in annoyance at the chest-high grass that stood ever so proudly on the left side of the hill, which made it a chore to get through. They would have to go down to the bottom, then cut across on the path unless they wanted to make themselves EASIER targets by activating their sabers and hacking through grass like a kath hound.
"Right, so let's-" The whine of an engine suddenly hit their ears as two speeders zoomed from the right hand side of the valley, passing the duo at breakneck speed before going up towards their destination.
"Something tells me that we're going to encounter resistance." He fiddled with his saber hilt before saying much quieter:
"I don't want to kill any of them. The Imperials or Republic troopers. But they're going to be gunning for us..." A sideward glance was cast Aria's way.
"We do what we have to, right?" He shuddered, a chill shooting down his spine as the reality of their mission settled in. A deep breath, then his shoulders straightened.
"Let's go."

Thankfully the path that led up towards the village had some natural cover in the form of thickets, clusters of bushes and trees as well as the occasional cave(which still REEKED of Flesh Raider. Yerbol was glad that the Council decided to push them back further onto the other side of the planet where there weren't population centers). They arrived at a vista overlooking the village in about an hour, Yerbol getting down on a knee and observing the scene below with a guarded disgust. The small homes the villagers had constructed were visibly scuffed and damaged, corpses of both Twi'lek Villagers and robed Jedi strewn about. Both Republic and Imperial troopers were patrolling the area, a Commando standing on the elevated platform that led into the makeshift assembly hall, one hand placed on the left side of his helmet. Yerbol focused as hard as he could, eyes slamming shut. The words were slightly garbled, but he could hear most of what was being said by the Commando:
"No...no, the...all taken care of. Survivors are...he...will take care of the rest...minimal resistance..."

"Survivors are probably in the assembly hall." He nodded towards the entrance, which was embedded at the foot of a rather tall cliff.
"There are..." He counted the troopers he could.
"Twelve of them. They see our lightsabers and we're done for. Either we bash our way in and risk them sending reinforcement or we try to go in stealthily, although there isn't very much cover." He motioned to a square enclosure visible in the village, located all the way to the right side, planting lazily lounging.
"Might be a good insertion point. It'll give us cover in case we get found out and a starting point taking them out." He winced at the last part of his statement, but knew all too well he couldn't afford to feel any remorse. For all he knew, the Commando was a Sith himself(or herself? The voice modulators played havoc with determining gender) or, as Yerbol assumed, the Sith were exerting so much power that the military foot soldiers were feeling some of the hatred they were broadcasting towards Force Users...or maybe they were just men and women who were doing their job. After all, the Jedi and the Sith have turned on each other...and by extension the rest of the universe.

What a fun time it was to live.

"Or we could split up, make it harder for them to pin us both down."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Speaking of chaos...

In order to obliterate Force Users, wouldn't it make the most sense to...well, destroy both Tython and Korriban? Essentially do a controlled burn of the entire planet? Do you think that would make sense given the True Sith's goals or would that be too extreme even for them?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

I appreciate your desire for my brain to rest in peace, seeing as it's going to need a LONG break after this xD

Three to four sounds great indeed! Will make sure to our duo up to the village where, as you probably know, chaos will envelop them again.

Woohoo xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

NO worries, my friend. I just blitzed through 60 essays with 28 more to go, so there isn't a PRAYER of me getting to posting today xD

Hehe...well, I thought slipspace might be a good thing to introduce. I've read about it in a couple of books regarding the SW universe, so why not, right? :p

I think that would be the gist of it, yeah. It might be cool to recruit some more permanent "followers"(or "companions" if we're using Mass Effect terminology) that become important NPC's, but that would take a lot of effort on our part...so I guess most of them would be cannon fodder that we can bring up when necessary.

Maybe bring aboard a handful? Most would either be dead or captured by now. So...three? Four?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

When Yerbol was about to answer, their all too friendly mercenary chimed in and informed them about their "closing in" on Tython. Odd...she had mentioned that it would take about a day, but then again, she could've just been making it up to shoo them away. Whatever the case, the Knight felt like he could squeeze in a response to Aria's question before he inquired as to how quickly they were ACTUALLY going to get to Tython:
"Lysa was...an interesting sibling. I know that the reputation is for siblings to have fights and not get along for most of their years together, but we really didn't. We were too busy trying to get things to work, I guess. Like..." A smile, one that spoke of genuine happiness, came to his face as he remembered:
"When we tried to start our first book club. We were nerds, but we figured that being on Tython, a planet full of nerds, we would actually get some interest. We made our rounds, trying to recruit people to discreetly read pieces of fiction that may or may not be authorized by the Council and talk about it in a glen not too far from the Temple. We teamed up on several ventures like that when we were younger...and it didn't change very much until I hit eighteen. That's when she started to pull away from me. Got involved with some strange stuff, things she wouldn't let me look at, but had a visible effect on her. She questioned the Order openly, trained with this burning anger...she almost broke my shoulder when I tried to stop her from sneaking off world the night before her induction as a Knight." The smile had disappeared, but then came back, even if it was half hearted.
"We loved each other the best we could and that's a rarity. I just wish things had worked out differently, you know? Lysa put herself in that situation, let herself get dragged down a path she shouldn't have tried walking. I kinda wish I had been there to stop her death, but...maybe it was better that way. Those last couple of years, when she had disappeared...I had basically written her off as dead. Hopefully she can find some peace." He sat up, patting Aria's knee.
"But enough of that. Let's go see our pilot. Something tells me she was lying about our initial flight time..." As he helped Aria up, he said quietly:
"I really enjoyed talking. It was nice." He placed a hand on her forearm, squeezing it gently in affirmation.
"We ought to do that more often...the talking thing. Without, preferably, the world pressing down on us."

As the duo approached the cockpit, the pilot spun around in her chair, telling them:
"We'll be touching down in about an hour...well, at least I think so."
"And I thought you said we'd be in space for a day." She smirked again, dimples making her cherub-like facial features even more accentuated.
"Well, there IS such a thing as slipspace..."
"Slip...slipspace? We were in...slipspace?"
"Maybe." Yerbol's jaw, which was now slightly ajar, closed, then reopened.
"I didn't think that was stuff was possible."
"Not if you don't know who to talk to. Roan had some strings pulled for me and wouldn't you know it, a Sith Lord commanding Imperial intelligence to arm a ship with the latest upgrades happened so quickly your head would fall off?"
"So this ship comes equipped with slipspace generators?"
"That it does, hon. Had it fueled before I came to pick you up. I can get us onto Tython relatively quiet, but getting off planet is going to be...difficult."
"How's that?"
"Because of slipspace's unpredictability, I can't make a jump while being chased or shot at, which is what's going to happen. Word is there's a blockade around the planet. I can use imperial codes to get us in, but they'll know we're not with them on the way out. BUT you let me figure that out. I've got landing coordinates ready to go. You two gear up." Yerbol nodded, half turning before asking:
"Hey so...you've got a name, right?" The mercenary laughed, nodding as she told them:
"Netanya, Neta for short."
"Neta...glad to know you're on our side." She let out a low whistle with a smile.
"You'd better be." A wink before spinning around.
"Now get yourselves ready! Once you're geared up, get to the loading ramp. Once I touch down, you've got about ten seconds to scoot out before I have to find a place to dock this thing."

With their gear firmly in place and twenty minutes left to planetside, Yerbol and Aria now stood near the exit of the ship. Yerbol had been quiet since they left the cockpit, now deciding to speak:
"We can't rescue everyone, I know that, but I know of a few younger Knights who could help us. They were in one of the Twi'lek villages south of the Temple. I say we start there and stay on the outskirts of any of the populated areas. Something tells me troopers on both sides are going to be gunning for us."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

HA! Yessss. Just to let you know(spoilers), his parents ARE alive and basically the same. I can't wait for them to meet xD

Cool beans. Grading ATM, so will get you a post in the next few hours :)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

If you'd like, I can skip ahead to Tython in my next post...or you can skip? Or we can do one more round of talking? Let me know :)