freedomliveson

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

To say that Yerbol was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the century. He had experienced the stench of rotting flesh while fighting off Colicoids on Balmorra(what a great way to spend the first month of one's Knighthood...), saw brave men and women throw themselves in front of blaster fire to protect their squadmates and lived through not one, but TWO epicenters of the Force being blown apart by a corrupt regime.

And yet, this place still gave him the willies.

It was the combination of acrid, sweet smelling vapors that wafted in the air, the scantily clad waitresses posing in rather suggestive...positions in order to secure tips, the dim neon lighting that cast a bluish-green glow over the entire space. Yet, if it was safe and if Neta thought they could actually get stuff done here, then he would follow along. They sidled into chairs across from the trio, the Chiss furrowing her navy blue brow.
"When did you start babysitting?" Her Imperial-tinged accent made the remark all the more condescending.
"Please, Kandar, they may be young, but they've lived through more than the average Republic citizen ever will in their lifetime. Besides, it gives me a spring in my step to hang around such spirited young adults." She shot the duo in question her all too familiar teasing smile before turning her attention to the human male, whose straw colored hair looked a yellowish green in the odd lighting.
"So tell me, Edor, you make any updates to those files?" The Devaronian blew out a sigh as the human brought out a datapad, placing it on the center of the table.
"He's going to tell you 'I told you so', Neta. He's been telling US that for the past hour, haven't you, Ed?" Edor smiled widely.
"It's just nice to get the jump on all of you once in a while, that's all."
"Just show them the bloody files." Kandar growled.
"Right, right, so here..." He turned the datapad to where the newly arrived trio could scan the information.
"See these stats?" There were columns of numbers, all headed with indecipherable abbreviations.
"They're travel log entries for all known Jedi and Sith that cross any kind of checkpoint in both Republic and Imperial space."
"Wait, how did..." Yerbol was about to finish when Ed held up a finger.
"Hold on, Yerbol, I'll get to that." Yerbol's eyes widened.
"How did..."
"Oh please,kid, I'm SIS. I know everything." Both Kandar and Bek knowingly chuckled, very aware that Edor was enjoying his time as the information bringer.
"So these entries look normal, right? Everything looks good...right up until here." He pointed at mid way down the expansive chart to a repeating set of numbers.
"This is the ship ID for both Lord Bracknell's and Master Soto's respective ships. While the entries are timestamped at different periods, they certainly met on a few worlds for a period of about two days each spaced out in two weeks intervals. The weird thing is...those periods of time correspond to extremely important elections in the Republic Senate. I could understand Soto, but Bracknell? Why would he risk showing up? But then...after seeing what's happened, I did some more digging. Turns out Bracknell's been doing a LOT of traveling, but to destinations that were just labeled "personal business". After consulting with Kandar over here, she managed to pull some logs from Bracknell's ship directly-"
"Which you owe me for."
"Right, right, so she pulled the logs and..." Ed swiped to the left, pulling up a star map with highlighted points.
"Taris, Malachor three, Hoth, Tattoine, Manaan...all unrelated except for what old Jedi and Sith records have to say." Ed's grin got even wider.
"Turns out all those locations had something to do with where the True Sith were once rumored to have bases of operations. The Sith and Jedi suppressed those records, didn't want anyone else to know, but these True Sith(as they call themselves even back then...which is weird) were extant throughout the galaxy. I mean, not MUCH exists, but from what I've pieced together, they were powerful Force Users."
"We know that now..." Yerbol mumbled as Ed continued:
"So, long story short, I've had a 'wacky' theory that Bracknell was trying to discover the True Sith's whereabouts. He somehow meets up with Soto(still trying to figure that bit out), they start to glean disciples and what do you know, the same people that pushed for this new government with a genocidal streak were elected during the time Soto and Bracknell were planetside."
"We didn't think it could be true, but...Ed here was right." Bek clapped Edor on the back, who nearly fell onto the table from the force of the gesture.
"So that's interesting and all, but we can focus on the past when we've got time to breath. For now, we've GOT to figure out how to get people rallied against the Sith." Kandar raised a hand at Neta's exhortation.
"I've got a lead on where another Sith Master could be."
"And I've got a bead on Master Carnagie and Master Ignus from the Order." Bek looked at his compatriots before snorting.
"I think the Sith have proven that it's going to take more than just a few Masters of the Force to get us where we need to be. If you want to take these guys down, you need an army. Troops, covert operatives, support specialists...and I know where to start." Neta beamed, clapping her hands together.
"I love you all. I love you all so, so, so much."
"Well, don't thank us yet." Ed placed his datapad back in a satchel next to the table before adding:
"We've gotta find a place for you guys to lay low."
"I've got someone who can do that for us, don't you worry." Bek looked to Ed, head jutting forward.
"What?!"
"Tell her about what you found here!"
"Oh, oh, right. Turns out the Jedi Battlemaster is on Nar Shaddaa." Yerbol's jaw dropped for a brief moment before he regained control of his faculties.
"THE Battlemaster?" He nearly squeaked. Kandar rolled her eyes at the exposed fanboy as Ed nodded.
"Yeah, Master Voldon Naylen. He and his wife Kira arrived on Nar Shaddaa about a month ago. They were causing a lot of trouble in the Red Light district last time I heard. Don't know why they're here, but it's worth looking into."
"Know where they were last spotted?"
"An agent last spotted them at a SIS outpost in The Works, which is awfully close to the ruins of that Jedi Temple. Need coordinates?"
"Forward them to my datapad. Bek, you said you had a lead on 'an army'?"
"Well, I exaggerated a BIT. Elara Dorne and Havok Squad, according to my sources, just turned rogue."
"Really?!"
"Oh yeah. Don't have the full story just yet, but apparently they're on the run just like your youngsters here. I know of a way to reach out to them. If we can Havok on our side...well, it'd be a good start."
"And I'll keep my eye out for our Sith Master. Once I find out anything, I'll let you know."
"Right." Neta looked the three of them each in the eye, surveying them for a moment.
"You know, you don't have to do this. You could just as easily walk away." Kandar chuckled, retorting:
"Neta, there's a reason why we work with you. We hate government just as much as you do. This abuse of power has to stop, one way or another." The other two nodded in approval before slinking away, Kandar following suit.
"Well guys...care to find out where the Battlemaster is or should we leave that to the SIS?"

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Feeling SO much better, thank you! Post incoming in the next hour(need good food first)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Hey, so I'm not feeling very good today. Will post tomorrow

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Already drumming up the next post. Fair warning: there's going to be a LOT of moving parts due to how fast the galaxy is changing, so bear with my next post...it's going to be longer than normal xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Haha! Yessssss. I'll get my dad jokes ready to go xD

I know, isn't it great? I can't wait when they have the "We DO have feelings for each other!" conversation xD

To you as well! I'll be home all next week for Thanksgiving, so expect posts from me! Not as frequently possibly due to my time off(Skyrim AND Fallout 4 xD)

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Awww, yeah that would be sweet. I think it would be nice to have Roan approve of it in some way, seeing as he would be a looming presence that would indeed get in the way of their togetherness. He doesn't HAVE to die, but yes, approval in some way would sort of be the final piece of affirmation for the two to get together.

Info warfare! It's cool to think of Ari and Yerbol teaming up with Republic and Imperial strike teams to take down Sith targets. I know it'll be a time skip, but we can certainly embellish those tales later on during the thread. Also, the time skip is cool with you?

YES. I can't wait to visit his parents. They're going to be so not what Aria is used to (Friendly, goofy...basically where Yerbol gets his personality from)

Sorry about brevity of post, by the way. Didn't want to have Yerbol ramble on too much. Feel free to skip to Nar Shaddaa :)

Edit: Oh good! Tried to find someone that had black hair AND blue eyes...hard to find xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

"Wait, wait...the planet that you've called home for years just got vaporized into particle dust and you want to talk about ME?" He took a free hand and placed it over the one Aria had on his knee, patting it gently before laughing.
"You're a lot better at handling this than I am. Maybe you ought to teach me that scream sometime...it'll save us a lot of trouble down the line when things get even worse...cause they're going to, right? Of course, I can't imagine things getting worse than both the Jedi and Sith Orders literally exploding." He sighed, looking at her with an amused smirk.
"Hold on, so if I get you mad, does that mean you're going to scream at me? Cause you basically ripped those Ice Demon things to pieces. I'd like to stay together if you don't mind." The smirk disappeared as swiftly as it had appeared, gaze cast towards the bunk.
"I don't know how you can do that. Have that much anger, so much rage inside of you without breaking mentally. I mean, what happened in the hangar was what I imagined a Sith feels like ALL the time. To use the Force like a weapon, to manipulate it like that felt so wrong and unnatural. To top it all off, I couldn't keep Udike alive." He absent mindedly began to run a thumb over the top of Aria's hand as he continued:
"But Jani and Manso are ok. They're shellshocked, but they're ok. That counts for something." Yerbol shifted a bit on the mattress, his right shoulder touching Aria's left.
"I wouldn't have..." He paused, trying to figure out the right phrasing, then settled on the following:
"I couldn't have made it off planet without you. All I could think of right after I killed all those soldiers was how I was going to explain this to you, that I lost control of myself THAT badly, that you have no reason to trust me after that massacre. I know it's going to be hard to trust myself from now on. It starts with troopers now, but if I lose control again, if there are innocents around, I..." Eyes drifted to Aria once more and he couldn't help but smile, easing his anxieties a tad.
"I'll just look at you, I guess." A blush came to his cheeks, which caused him to look down.
"So uh...you doing ok? Cause this isn't just about me, you know." He cleared his throat, continuing to massage Ari's hand with his thumb.

RH: Touching down soon. Meet at the normal place.
K: You sure? Showing your face in public again might not be the best thing for you
RH: Ah, I'll be fine. Plus, I'm bringing back-up.
B: Back-up? Since when did you travel with other people?
RH: Heh. Since the galaxy started falling apart. They'll have some interesting info for you.
E: Well, any piece of info is interesting info these days. See you all in a few.
RH: E, bring your files on what you've been working on
E: Really? You guys laughed at me last time I brought it up.
RH: We're not laughing now. Bring your files. We'll need them.

___________

As one of your trusted allies, I think you ought to know that we need to meet on Nar Shaddaa. A lot of stuff has hit the exhaust fan and we need to talk about...stuff. Remember the first place we met? See you there in a while. By the way, she's safe. And she's a lot like you.

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

You've inspired me to SCOUR the internet for the most accurate representation of Yerbol possible. I found a guy that best represents him in my head, but it's not a drawing. Ah well.

Work in Progress CS

Name: Yerbol Massani
Age: 24

Height: 6'2

Weight: 230lbs

Weapon of Choice: Single bladed Saber(eventually will turn to double bladed after experience)

Stats:

Strength: 8/10

Speed: 5/10

Dexterity: 4/10

Intelligence: 7/10

Wisdom: 6/10

Determination/Tenacity: 7/10

Stealth: 2/10

Loyalty: 10/10

Bladework/Saber prowess: 6/10

Force abilities: 5/10

Force Powers/Abilities:
(Note: Ranking these on scale of 1-10 like stats)
Force Push/Pull-6/10
Force Sense/Precognition-2/10
Force Jump/Leap-4/10
Sever Force(Learned with The Master)- 3/10
Force Valor(Learned under The Battlemaster)-7/10 <--developed throughout
Force Destruction(Learned with The Master)- 3/10

Lightsaber Forms:
(Same ranking system)
Soresu-6/10
Shii-Cho-4/10
Shii-Quen(learned from the Master)-7/10 <---developed

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Wait, WHAT?! Bracknell is going to do something to Aria?! Awwwww no. Yerbol is going to be maaaaaddddd xD

And then I read your stuff...ouch. Roan's gonna croak, eh? I like him. Ah well, such is the way of our space drama. Death does make things more compelling!

Right, so to address your points:
-That sounds like a good trajectory. I can see how after their visit to the Sith homeworld, the Masters + Ari and Yerbol realize that the Sith's goal is for total destruction of Force Users in an effort to "kill" the Force. This, obviously, is alarming. I assume that they would be able to get some proof(holos, scrolls, etc.) from the planet and get it safely off world while Bracknell hounds them. I also assume that even though Bracknell intercepts them, Roan and Matt can be an overwhelming enough Force to at least thwart Bracknell's initial attempt at squashing their rebellious movement and escape off the Sith homeworld. I think something that could help turn the tide initially is information warfare, which is where Neta's contacts would come in. They could release the information to the holonet instead of other sources, seeing as they don't trust anyone they know(they could be Sith). With the information out there, the Sith exert their powers of influence to maintain some control over the newly formed government, but more and more questions start getting asked. Defectors approach Neta's contacts and begin to send resources(including footsoldiers, agents, etc.) to help build up a resistance. This SHOULD take a while, so I'm thinking a few months of sneaky missions to take out important Sith targets to cripple the hold they have on the government. (we can do a time skip summarizing that time period)

-After ticking Bracknell off to the point of no return, he finally finds the base where the resistance has formed and sends the remaining forces he has on the planet. This is where YOUR sequence of events begins, culminating with Aria(with Yerbol's help?) defeating Bracknell. Yerbol will obviously get out of Aria's way to deliver the final blow. While this is all going on, Saresh has been mobilizing the resources she has to help stop the conflict, issuing a cease fire. Bracknell's remaining troops not being influenced by the Sith retreat under penalty of death(Saresh is mad xD) and this new government tries to wrestle with the idea that it was built specifically to commit genocide. With the resistance not needed, most of the allies disperse, allowing Yerbol and Aria to spend time alone(He MIGHT profess a desire to be together then...don't know yet, but the way they're bonding, it'll probably happen) and lick their wounds before heeding a call from the Masters later in time(Three months? I don't know, but some time off would be nice for the two of them xD)

What do you think?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

-Sounds good in terms of Roan. Can't wait to see him and Bracknell go at it...that's going to be AWESOME
-Oh no, I think it would just be Roan, a Jedi Master and our duo. That way the Masters can oversee the others like you said.
-Sounds good to me! It would make sense that Bracknell would intercept them sooner or later. The man is a master tactician, so yeah, that would make sense.

Oh please do tell! I'm still trying to sort that out in my head. Love to hear your ideas so that we can have a trajectory to take down Bracknell...cause that's going to be hard to do with ALL the Empire and Republic backing him up.