freedomliveson

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

-Right! I assume the allies could find their way with support from the trio plus Neta and Elara's help

-Sure! I think that would work

-I would think Renso would try to reach out to Ari and Yerbol one last time to try and gauge their progress, seeing as he knows he's already lost Bracknell

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Feel free to alter/shift/modify/add/take away from what I started!

Stuff's about to get reeaaaallllll! xD

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Roan's decisive analysis of the True Sith's information stunned Yerbol into silence. He could SEE his name there along with parents, grandparents, Lysa...how had Renso kept track of all the changes? Why would this probably hundreds of year old(that was another matter entirely) Master leave such information laying around in a terminal room? Where WAS Renso and if he is as powerful and omniscient as he seems to be, why hadn't he just crushed them into powder? Questions kept springing into existence as Roan proposed his plan, which garnered incredulous looks from both Neta and Elara, the latter speaking up:
"What you're proposing is daunting to say the least. That would require infiltration into two of the most highly guarded facilities in known space, both of which are located on capital worlds."
"What about comm substations? Couldn't we just hack into a remote outpost and feed information that way?" Neta proposed, her spec ops companion shook her head.
"I suppose if it had to be a short burst of information passed along a short distance, but for the kind of reach Lord Noctis desires, information would have to be uploaded to central communication hubs, which are located on Dromund Kaas..."
"And Coruscant." Neta groaned, shaking her head before looking to Roan:
"You know that's suicide, right? We'd get caught and or killed once we got within a mile of either location, not to mention that network and communication hubs are normally synced across multiple locations to prevent something like we're proposing from happening." She sighed, glancing at the screen.
"But I've had worse odds." Elara chuckled, giving Neta a mischievous smirk, a moment of recognition passing between the two women before Voldon contributed:
"How else will we get others joined to our cause? If we could get this information disseminated and shown to the public, we might convince many to our cause."
"Might being the key word there, big guy." Kira sardonically commented, following up with:
"You know that even if we do pull this off, the info can get rejected, laughed off even. No one's going to believe something that just flashes onto their screen for a few minutes."
"She's right, you know." Matt had his arms folded across his chest, sitting in a chair to the left of the screen.
"It would be a massive waste of our respective talents if we put our faith in the ability of the general public to try and digest this...however, if we get this information in the right hands...say Chancellor Saresh? Other leaders from both parties?" Jungze quickly shot that down:
"And how would we know which person would be under Bracknell's thumb or not, hmm? The man has shown that with Kator's power, he can manipulate governments, control weather patterns...putting information out there for the public eye would be the better option because we would have a much wider net to cast. We would, of course, have to simplify our message, remind the galaxy of the genocide Bracknell and Saresh have authorized under the guise of 'galactic security'."
"But we DO have an inkling of who's working for Bracknell. That list of names...there must be a paper trail of some kind that exposes at least a handful of them." Neta suggested, which prompted a nod from Voldon.
"Good point. If we could not only get the public aware of the True Sith's motives, but also show them that they're real, tangible threats, then we might have a chance at swaying not only popular opinion, but help migrate resources our way."
"We'd be stretched thin, but with pulling a few strings, I think we can get this done." The entire group was then silent for what felt like an eternity, the weight of events sinking into the room. What broke the silence was a quietly placed question from Yerbol:
"So where do we start?"

____________________

It took several hours of strategy sessions, contacting every possible asset Neta and Elara could think of and many a glazed peanut, but their attack plan was decided upon. Two teams would be deployed, one to Dromund Kaas and another to Coruscant where not only SIS and Imperial Intelligence had their command centers, but several key members of Bracknell's consortium would be(according to the list and some well dropped information from Bek, who had taken the opportunity to join them on world. His reasoning was quite simple: "They almost found me out. Might as well prolong the inevitable.") Each team deployed would then break into sub groups, one group heading towards the offices of Bracknell's group to dig up information while the others attempted to find their way into the server rooms. Once the server rooms were secure, information not only about the True Sith would be uploaded, but also anything found by the other group. With this accomplished, the sub groups would then find their own way off world and meet back up at their new base. After all this, Yerbol's head was practically about to spin off. So much tactical information was thrown at them by Neta and the members of Havoc Squad(along with Bek and Voldon, the latter serving many years in the Republic military) that Yerbol felt like he was back at the training academy on Coruscant. Finally able to tear himself away, he found himself sitting on the exterior steps leading up to the entrance of their base, looking up at the clear night sky. Footsteps could be heard approaching...

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

SERIOUSLY. I was thinking about that the other day. It evolved from these two kids fighting each other to a space drama where I THINK we're going to have establish a repository of some kind for all the lore we're writing XD

Don't think I'm going to get to post today, but I'll get you one tomorrow! (or post more today...you know what I mean)

Addendum: I just read your post and that was WELL done, my friend. That could've gotten really bogged down, but you made the connections really well! That'll also tie in VERY closely to what Ari and Yerbol are going to find out about his parents...*dun dun duuuuuuuuuuuuuun*

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yay for 200! :D

A few quick things:
-I figured that Roan would want to jump in and talk, seeing as seems to enjoy this scholarly type thing.
-I was thinking we could roll with your idea about Kator tracing lineages? Kator would probably identify a couple of Masters he knew he could trust, then follow the bloodlines to today. Sound ok?
-I was also thinking that one of the reasons why Renso hasn't just said "HEY BRACKNELL, THEY'RE OVER HERE!" is that his connection to Bracknell is atrophying. It seems like a Bracknell-ish type move to absorb whatever knowledge Kator has, then superimpose his own agenda. So instead of wiping the galaxy clean of all Force users to "balance" and eventually "kill" the Force, Bracknell chooses to purge the galaxy of opponents by murder, imprisonment or slavery while establishing the Galactic Alliance as, basically, his new Empire. What do you think?

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yerbol held her close to him as she recounted her memories of her mother, the apathy of her father and the overall turbulence of her emotions when it came to the subject. Guilt, sorrow, anguish, remorse and a whole other host of feelings whipped around her mind, Yerbol feeling the weight on Ari's shoulders along with aforementioned emotions, albeit surely not as strongly as she did. It was difficult to share the burden of her past sin(s) on his shoulders, but not because he didn't want to; it was that it almost physically pained him to know that she of all people was put into a position where her loyalty would be judged based on assassinating a family member(who, Yerbol assumed, had some sort of political affiliation with a group or person that the Dark Council wanted out of the picture? It didn't seem out of character.)

After her profession and a few more moments of quiet, she left his side and returned him back to the present. A wise move considering that they might've thrown a bit of a wrench into Bracknell's plan, giving them some time to discuss how they were going to strike back at Bracknell's new order. He didn't want to leave, but there would be a lot of time to talk after the galaxy was put back into order...or some semblance of it anyway. As he reached the door, Aria flashed a smile, a genuine, beautiful smile that almost made his knees wobble(stop that!). Her sentiment was returned quickly:
"That's a two way street. Without you here, I'd be...well, I'd be a wreck. You've helped me in so many ways and I'm very, very grateful for you, too." He patted her on the back, sighing as he used his other hand to open the door.
"I have a feeling we're going to walk into a meeting they already started. We're forming a habit of doing that."

____

"Roan, that's rather brilliant if you ask me. And I don't compliment you very often." Jungze shot Roan a smirk, pointing at a massive square projection in the center of the room, said projection emitting from a very tiny rectangular device in the center of the main area. On the "screen" were, upon close inspection, names that were connected with lines and arrows that pointed in various directions. These genealogies took up the left hand side of the screen while the right had a large column of text pulled from one of the holodisks jammed into the projector at an awkward angle. Assembled in front of the screen were the Masters and Lords along with Neta and Elara(lords in their own right). As the younger duo joined the crowd, Jungze followed up on her comment:
"Since we've all gotten our bearings since our excursion, I believe it would be best to brief you all on the information we found." She stepped forward and pointed at the right side of the screen.
"With some help from Roan, we cracked some of the more difficult language that the True Sith employed in their writings. While they did indeed in write in Basic, there were phrases that I wasn't familiar with. Language troubles aside, allow me to read you what self-proclaimed historian of the True Sith Junoco Mane had to say about government within the Order:

While there have always been competing factions jockeying for power, the Council has always stayed true to ensuring that the most practical, realistic issues are dealt with. Eight Council members always reside, with each having equal voice. When a decision is proposed, communal with the Force along with sometimes heated discussion ensues before a mutual consensus is made. In dire circumstances when action is required, each Council member reserves the right to act as they see fit as long as their actions only further the goals of harmonization across the galaxy.

Does the tone sound familiar at all?" Yerbol quickly piped up:
"Sounds like a textbook, almost like a primer for up and coming members of the Order."
"Precisely. What we took back with us were the last remaining chapters of a treatise entitled 'Order for the Initiate'. It appears that they were to study this material intensively along with other information in the library you two stumbled upon."
"That lines up with the theory you two proposed earlier about the temple being a training ground for new Force users." After validating the duo's suppositions when they first regaled the makeshift "Council" with their story, Voldon added:
"We know that there was indeed a Council, that Council being formed by a man named Renso Kator. There's a section...here." He walked next to Jungze and swiped downward to reveal a different block of text.
"You can read it for yourselves, but in summary, Kator was one of the first documented True Sith Masters. He formed much of the teachings of the Order and carried them forward until...well, I'll have Roan explain how this ties to the genealogies."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Those two indeed...man they're cute xD

Will post tomorrow!

Witcher interest check (The last time, I promise xD)

A bump

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

He wanted to protest to Roan's stereotyping, but now was an inappropriate time to stick up for his moral character. Instead of giving into his first desire, he filtered into their quarters to find Aria sitting up on her cot, knees drawn against her body, hugging herself. Without a word, he gently placed himself next to her, draping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her a bit closer to him. He didn't speak for a while, allowing the meaningful silence between them to settle before he spoke:
"I remember when I first joined a squadron of Republic troopers as a Knight. I was supposed to serve as support, following the lead of a veteran Sargent named McCoy(Don't remember this first name). McCoy and his troopers were being dropped into the middle of a contested zone on Ilum to secure some sort of generator that the Imperials had captured and was important to the war effort. You know, the usual war time schpeal to get the men motivated to dehumanize the enemy." He shifted his weight on the cot a bit as he continued:
"So we drop down on Ilum, ok? And it's freezing. I mean, to the point where I thought my blood was going to turn into ice. It's dark, quiet, no one around for miles except us and the assumed imperials a few clicks away on a sweeping plain with no cover minus some cliffs coated in ice flanking us on either side. So basically we're screwed if we get ambushed, right? But whatever, we know that the generator isn't too far off, so we plod along and get to the coordinates, which lead us right to the opening of a cave. Go inside the cave, spot the generator and wouldn't you know it, Imperial troopers drop in right behind us and ambush us, taking out nearly half the squadron in a few seconds. We find cover and I'm doing all I can to hold them off, but more keep pouring into the cave, ok? More and more of them, rifles just pouring fire over our heads. It's just three of us left now, McCoy, a private named Jensen and me. Jensen got hit pretty bad in the leg and McCoy had some scorch marks on his chestplate and we're just sitting there, letting them get closer. Probably fifteen of them now? Twenty? I don't know, I lost count." The hand not on Aria's shoulder played absent mindedly with the hem of his shirt.
"So McCoy points to the generator, which is further down into the cave and says that we can cause a cave in if we destroy it. He says he's got a flash grenade, one flash grenade left and that if I can get Jensen out when he lets off the grenade, he can do the rest. I wasn't about to leave him, no way was I about to leave him, but he didn't give me a choice. He pulled the pin and told me to..." He chortled grimly.
"Told me to 'just use the Force! You Jedi do that, right?!' as the grenade hit the ground. I pull Jensen up, throw a barrier between us and I start running, screaming my lungs out cause if I'm gonna die, I'm gonna go out loud. Grenade goes off and I'm blinded, but I'm running, I just keep running until my legs collapsed underneath me and I go skidding across the ice, Jensen not too far behind. Once I come to, I look back and the cave entrance is gone, buried by blocks of ice." He shook his head.
"I felt, no, correction, still feel guilty about leaving him behind. I feel like I killed him by leaving him there. I know that in the heat of things, his logic made sense, but I had a choice. I could've stuck by him, helped him out and maybe we all would've made it." He looked down into Aria's hazel eyes as he continued:
"I'm not gonna pretend to know exactly what you're going through and I'm not saying that my experience is nowhere near yours, but in some small way, I understand what you're feeling." In a gesture that even surprised him, he kissed her forehead softly, looking ahead, allowing silence to permeate the room for another small period of time.
"You don't have to talk to me about it...but I'm listening if you want to."

You never see it coming[Freedomliveson/The Elvenqueen]

Yep! Sorry for not making that clear enough :/

Haha, yep, I feel you there. I have a level 48 bounty hunter that needs to get leveled to 65 already xD

No worries on that front! When you return, you'll be greeted with a lot of feels from Yerbol. Just warning you