[Clan Odan Urr - Team Bantha Ballet]

[GJWXII] Run On - The Lost Artifacts of Darth Plagueis the Wise

Clan Odan-Urr: Team “Bantha Ballet”

• Hyle Alihandross (CS) #15008

• Tyraal Bitshiver (CS) #14567

• Talis DeMorte (CS) #14096

• Korroth (CS) #8488

• Daniel “Seraphol” Stephens (CS) #146

Mission: You are a member of an Elite Strike Force assembled by your Clan to infiltrate Nancora Prime, rendezvous in the Badlands, and assault the Technocratic Guild’s compound. Your mission will require you to overcome enemy combatants, fortress security measures, and infiltrate one of the most heavily guarded and secure vaults in the Outer Rim. You mission will be complete once you turn the artifacts over to the Dark Council, claim their for your own, or destroy them for the good of the Universe.

Light Side Hook: Rogue Agents within the Dark Brotherhood have notified members of Odan-Urr and the Resistance that the Grand Master has placed a priority elite forces to break away from the main Invasion forces on Nancora and retrieve the scrolls of Darth Plagueis for the Dark Brotherhood’s archives. It is your task to steal the scrolls first or sabotage the Dark Brotherhood’s efforts while also inflicting damage against the Technocratic Guild. You are authorized to engage Dark Brotherhood forces who are also seeking the artifacts.

Rules:

1. Teams must have a minimum of 4 participants and a maximum of 6. For a team to qualify for placement, all posts must meet requirements in these rules and all members of the team must meet post number requirements. However, for participation alone, any individual meeting minimum post requirements will count toward his or her unit.

2. Members may only be part of one team." "Run-ons must begin with a first post listing all members of a team, and including a snap shot for each team member to the character sheet used in the run-on. This snapshot will be used for all realism judging.

3. All members must make 3 posts throughout the duration of the run-on.

4. Posts must meet the following requirements:

5. Minimum post length: 250 +/- 10 words

6. Maximum post length: 2500 +/- 10 words.

7. Any member posting twice in a row will disqualify his or her team from placing, but not from participation credit (e.g. if an entire team stops posting, a member may post twice in a row to get their own participation credit).

8. Edits may occur on a post until a follow on post has been made (follow on posts include “reserving” a space). Edits may only be made by the original posts author (The only Forum Administrator that may edit a post is GM Pravus).

9. Members may reserve a post, but no posts can occur until after the reserved post is written.

10. Judging will follow the Run-On Rubric

11. A Snapshot of the Character Sheet being used for a participating member of the Run-On team must be included in the lead post.

12. Threads should have the a tag: [Clan - TeamName]

13. Coordination and editing: Team members are encouraged to work with each other to coordinate posts, develop the story, and work on continuity of posts. Team members may also provide proofing of each other’s posts. However, team members may not engage in whole-sale re-writing of sections of a post that is not their own. Further, team members should refrain from completing detailed outlines for each other as to post content.

14. Dark Brotherhood members unable to find a team that meets the minimum requirements may create a two person team to earn participation points. Two person teams will fall under all other stated rules within this document, but will not be permitted to place.

15. Teams should work to incorporate the Badlands location, Technocratic Guild Capabilities, and NPCs into their run on. A large degree of freedom has been offered in this run-on, but teams strive to incorporate the setting and combatants provided. This includes bypassing the enemy fleet and making landing on Nancora.

First Post – Hyle Alihandross

So here they were, four Jedi and Hyle Alihandross crowded onto a civilian short hauler trying to lift some Sith artefacts. The first challenge was getting past the Collective’s defence fleet, which meant avoiding detection altogether or bluffing their way through. Fighting was not an option as their ship was not armed at all.

As he was the best navigator amongst the group, he had been tasked with plotting a course that would allow them to evade most of the enemy patrols or sensors. Korroth’s droid issued a series of whistles and trills. Hyle checked the translator on his datapad. A dozen capital ships and several fighters. Tyraal was the best pilot, so despite Talis’ protests, he had been given control of the Endor’s Revenge once they had dropped out of hyperspace. The ship’s droid brain had been given the task of minimising their energy signature to further avoid detection.

“So once we’re past the risk of frostbite here and roasting on the surface, what else is there to look forward to?” asked Seraphol.

“Apart from facing off potentially hundreds of cybernetically enhanced nutcases hell bent on eradicating the Force or at least its users from the face of the Galaxy?” Hyle said.

“Stay focused on the task at hand,” Korroth said, testily.

“What, checking for frostbite?”

“Remind me to recommend you for the position of Court Jester when we get back.” The Pau’an said, without a hint of humour.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to cut comedy hour short, looks like we might have company.” Tyraal muttered.

Checking the sensor display, Hyle could see two Z-95 Headhunters less than 50 kilometres away. Were they investigating or simply following their standard route? No signalling, no active sensor scans, no evidence of powered up weapons. Attempting to listen in on their comm traffic would almost certainly give them away, as would any attempts at telepathy. The fighters did not deviate from their previous course, it seemed they hadn’t been seen. Yet.

Another hour of convoluted manoeuvrings followed, with course corrections whistled from various droids and they were finally in orbit. The initial suggestion of blending in with civilian traffic had been vetoed as touching at the main port would add potentially hours of unnecessary delay to reaching their true destination and objective.

Their arrival involved one of the most uncomfortable re-entries that Hyle could remember. Power consumption had been kept to a minimum, meaning most of the inertial compensators and shields were inactive. The shaking and noise did not seem like a fair tradeoff for the cold. Concealing re-entry was nigh impossible, so even if they weren’t detected or identified, the Collective would probably step up security measures in the air and identify probable landing sites. This again, presented difficulties as the aptly named Badlands had more than their fair share of hazards of their own for even the hardiest, most well prepared traveller.

Several tense minutes passed before a suitable landing spot was chosen. Air traffic had become noticeably heavier, but still they were not directly challenged. Even if the Collective didn’t know they were coming, they obviously suspected that something was amiss. A blast of warm stale air greeted the party as the ramp lowered and they finally disembarked.

The infiltration team made their way down the ramp. The first to descend onto the scorched, weather beaten terrain was the Hunter, Hyle. Out of all of the members of the team, Talis knew the least about this man. He had been briefed before the mission about all of the team members by his Sentinel Network contacts from his time back in Strike team Ooroo.

He knew Seraphol, who followed the considerably smaller framed Journeyman down the ramp. Neither of the two made any noise as they descended the durasteel plating onto the sandy wasteland.

The last two made their way out of the back of the shuttle and out into the dry arid environment like shadows. Korroth stood just a little taller than the Knight who walked beside him. A gangly looking Clawdite named Tyraal, who had recently been elevated to the rank of Knight, slinked past him and nodded signifying the team had disembarked from the Endor’s Revenge, Talis’ personal starcraft. They chose his shuttle because it carried the entire team and the team’s personal droids.

Talis felt the uneasiness growing as he watched the last two descend before he motioned to his droid, R2-B9 to close the hatch and lock the ship down behind them. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they were running out of time. He could sense the others were feeling it as well. Above them, planetary air traffic continued to zip by oblivious to their presence.

Talis flowed down the ramp silent as death and joined his four team members. They all looked to their Pau’an team leader who motioned for them to move to cover. The five avatars of death glided across the ground to cover near a destroyed monolith where a mostly salvaged starfighter had come to an abrupt rest before Korroth motioned for them to stop and vanish. A small squad of collective soldiers were off in the distance marching through some rubble. Talis reached out and barely saw them at the very farthest range of his sense but they were there, slowly meandering through the rubble of an ancient civilization.

‘How did they not see our approach?’ Talis’ thought to himself.

Korroth, who donned the simplest attire among the group, motioned for the team to rally on him by pointing his gray finger into the air and making a tight swirling motion. Talis being the nearest and bringing up the rear guard of the group was the last to arrive. Taking a knee around Korroth he began laying out his plan crudely in the sand.

Tyraal moved slowly towards Korroth, keeping an eye around the group. Korroth, in grimly hushed tones, was outlining their plan of operation. Tyraal glanced briefly at Talis, whose blind eyes never watched the horizon; but the Miraluka was clearly prodding out and scanning the landscape through the Force. Tyraal looked around, checking the same points as the blind one had doubtlessly observed before. Tyraal felt himself tingle slightly as the wind began to pick up. He frowned. Too weak for a windstorm. He looked up.

“Cover!” he hissed. “Ships dropping to the east!”

The not-so-merry band abruptly scattered, Tyraal and Seraphol ducking behind the rock they had all been nestled near. The ships in question were three in number: a shuttle, and the two Headhunter starfighters from before.

“They followed us it seems…” murmured Seraphol, and Tyraal ground his teeth.
“No really? You don’t think they settled down next to us just to stretch their legs?” Tyraal rebutted dryly.

The U-wing hatch opened, and a group of soldiers bounced out. Tyraal frowned as he squinted at them.

“Mercs?” asked Seraphol.

The two Z-95 cockpits popped open and their pilots hopped out.

“Possibly, though it doesn’t make sense,” muttered Tyraal, chewing his lip as he ducked down behind the rock. “Why hire troops when you’ve got a near inexhaustible supply of your own, and you’re currently actively turning your enemy to your own?”

He peeked out around the rock and watched the two pilots walk toward Endor’s Revenge. He opened his comlink to the rest of the team.

“I have a plan,” he quietly announced.

“Brilliant,” growled Korroth.

“If you boys can rush the group at the U-Wing, Talis can rush the U-Wing itself. I can take the pilots investigating our ship.” Tyraal explained quickly. “Then, I can shift to mimic one of them, and one of you can fly the other Headhunter with me. Then we can casually fly in.”

His, personally seemingly impressive, plan was met with silence.

“Boys, come on, yay or nay, we haven’t got time!”

“Risky,” answered Hyle.

“We’re crunched for time,” agreed Talis.

“But if they radio us in, we’re toast,” Tyraal returned flatly. “Burnt. Black. Toast.”

“What if we’re just a little toasted?” Talis didn’t wait for an answer. “If we limp in with a smoking shuttle, make-believe our comms were taken out in a battle, they won’t know we aren’t Collective until it’s too late.”

Before Tyraal could comment on this rather imprudent modification to the plan, he heard a soft whir through the comlink, followed by a series of staccato beeps.

“Whoa!” Hyle’s exclamation crackled over the comlink.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Korroth interjected.

“I’m dealing with the radio problem!”

“Wait, you’ll—” Tyraal was too late. There was a brief glint of metal in the sky, then a clink in the direction of the U-Wing, a startled cry and a ground-shaking, thudding explosion.

Standing up next to the Clawdite, Seraphol uttered an expletive. “Get the pilots,” he threw over his shoulder, before vaulting over the rock and sprinting in the direction of the explosion, saber hilt in hand.

Tyraal turned his attention to the parked Headhunters. The two pilots had heard the explosion and were trying to radio-in their comrades. One of them spotted Seraphol and pointed towards him. The second pilot unholstered a holdout pistol, but he hadn’t taken aim before two red blaster shots thumped into his chest. Tyraal snapped his E-11 to the left, but the other pilot had already disappeared behind a mound of metal, probably the ancient carcass of a hovertank.

The whiz of lightsabers and echo of blasters rang out from the U-Wing as Tyraal circled around the debris field, trying to get the pilot back in his sights. Movement drew his eyes to one of the Z-95 Headhunters. The pilot was scrambling into the cockpit, but he was out of luck. If there was one thing that Tyraal knew well, it was starfighters. The Clawdite took aim at the Headhunter’s ion engines. If there were two things he knew well, then the second one was undoubtedly the power of a well-aimed blaster shot.

Before the Collective pilot had the chance to charge shields, Tyraal fired his salvo of plasma bolts. At first nothing happened, but then the Headhunter powered up. The left ion engine began to spout black smoke, which Tyraal took as his cue to take cover. The next thing he knew, an explosive shockwave pounded his eardrums, a crumpled durasteel wing flew past his hiding hole and a heatwave flashed briefly over his skin.

“Tyraal, Tyraal! You done?” The Knight took a minute to realise Hyle’s voice was calling him from the comlink. “I think we may need you to fly the shuttle.”

Tyraal shook his head in a futile attempt to relieve the ringing in his ears. “Why, what have you done to it?” he spoke into his wrist device. As he walked to rejoin his comrades, the Knight cast a brief glance back at the remains of the Headhunter. He found a pile of mangled fuselage, spewing a column of fumes so thick the breeze hardly dispersed it. “Nasty way to go,” he muttered to himself.

“Well hell, there goes our chance at sneaking in.” Seraphol said while looking at the wreckage.

Walking up behind him, Korroth placed a hand on the grizzled veterans shoulder. “Calm yourself my friend. We can still turn this to our favor.” Turning to Tyraal, “Young Knight, we will need you to assume the appearance of one these men and pilot the remaining Headhunter.”

Seraphol walked forward towards the U-Wing and stretched out his arms. “I’ve got an idea too. Y’all may want to step back a bit.” Drawing on the Force he turned his connection to life into a display of pure power. Blue and white lighting lept from his fingers and raked across the hull of the troopship creating blackened burn marks across it. After several moments he released his control on the Force, and heard a loud yelp followed by a tirade of curses directed at him.

“You karking fool, I was in the cockpit trying to get the ship operational. You almost fried the ship AND me!” yelled Talis as he stomped down the entry ramp.

That extreme use of the Force took alot out of the aging man, and he began to sway a little on his feet. “Heh, sorry about that. I didn’t see you go into the ship. At least that gives us some visible damage for an up close inspection.”

Looking around for everyone to make sure he hadn’t killed any of the team in his haste. “Let’s get some charges placed on the Revenge to disable her, make is look like she was shot down. Won’t do for a detailed investigation, but we should be at our target before they figure out too much. We’ve got to get out of here and into the city quick, the longer we dilly dally, the less Lady Luck is with us.”

Tyraal glanced at the bickering Jedi, and shook his head.

“Gentlemen, enough with the snarling. You might as well call in the Nexu cats, they’ll do about as much good as you are,” he shouted.

The others glanced up, all save Hyle who was unhappily placing the charges on their entry vehicle.

“Get the U-wing functioning,” began Tyraal.

“Who put you in charge?” asked a heated Talis.

“The elders of this group not being able to coordinate.”

Seraphol waved Tyraal’s complaint away, and hopped into the shuttle. Talis turned to keep guard for others coming to their location, while Tyraal knelt down beside one of the dead pilots.

“Marvelous,” he muttered. “Haven’t had to be someone in years.”

“Your idea, don’t forget,” commented Talis, from the other side of the U-wing.

Hyle mosied over to the U-wing, and hopped through the open door. Korroth and Seraphol were both inside fiddling with wiring in the control panel.

“How’s it going, boys?” asked Hyle.

“Be better if you kept your fat mouth shut,” growled Seraphol, popping out from underneath the panel. “Ready?”

Korroth pulled himself out, and settled into one of the seats.

“Flip ‘em all,” he grinned.

The older man obliged, and the ship crackled to life. They both gave a sigh of relief.

“Go tell Talis we’re leaving without him,” grimaced Korroth. “And ignore Seraphol’s comment: he’s just jealous of your slim physique.”

Seraphol almost laughed. At least, the sound coming out roughly resembled a chuckle. It could’ve also been some other-worldly swear. As Hyle leaned around the doorway, the operational Z-95 roared to life and lifted slowly off the ground. Talis sprinted up, vaulting up to the cabin, gripping Hyle’s outstretched arm.

“Here we go, boys,” called Seraphol.

“Make sure you kill your radio,” came Tyraal’s voice across the holo-waves.

“Roger-dodger, and all your other piloting nonsense expletives that you yell in combat,” chirped Hyle.

“Put her down if she becomes too much trouble, and I’ll fly.”

“Oh don’t worry, you’ll know if we’re in trouble.”

“And let’s hope your Lady Luck is with us,” Tyraal commented to Seraphol.

“Oh, the naivety of youth and promotion,” chuckled Seraphol. “There’s no such thing as Luck. Only the Force.”

Post 7 - Hyle

The U Wing and the Z-95 climbed slowly. Looking out the window, Hyle pressed the key on his datapad that controlled the explosives. Nothing happened. Talis could sense something was wrong.

“You did set the detonator charge, right?” Hyle checked the data pad.

“Says here the the link works fine, the charge should activate from my datapad.”

“Did you set it to time delay, remote trigger or proximity?”

“I thought they’d already been set up for remote.” Talis didn’t respond.

“Ok, what’s the default setting?”

“15 minute delay, just hope no-one finds it and disarms it by then.”

“Looks like comedy hour isn’t over just yet.” Korroth said sardonically

“Well, who wouldn’t be able to see the funny side of these maniacs getting a tip off?” Hyle asked.

“I’m going to see if I can reprogram the detonator.” The Apprentice Jedi continued

“Forget it, we’re out of range of that thing and the comm’s fried, so we can’t boost the signal.” Talis said.

“What about the droids?”

“Could work I suppose.”

Talis’ droid seemed to have the same idea, it reached for Hyle’s data pad with an extended manipulator. A short bleep as if though the droid was in deep contemplation, rapid movement of the manipulator, and a longer series of bleeps.

“Another error corrected.” The translation read.

“Now that problem’s solved, looks like we might have another, company, two Z-95s closing fast.” Seraphol said, tersely.

“Now we see if they buy are story. Or i we can sell it without any comms.” Hyle observed.

“Be prepared for a rough landing and a very warm reception.”

Hyle checked his carbine and pistol for charge and readiness.

The lightsaber he’d rebuilt over years was reliable enough, but he wasn’t sure the same could be said for its user, having never used in actual combat before. The fighters continued their approach, and there was nothing more for Hyle to do but wait and see how this incident would unfold.

The two Collective Headhunters flew straight for the hijacked vessels and roared past them.

“Keep going,” Korroth instructed Seraphol. “They haven’t opened fire yet.”

The starfighters circled above the Odanite team once, twice, then dove back down towards them. Five spears of crimson plasma screamed past in front of the U-wing’s cockpit.

“One more pass and they’ll shoot us down like mynocks!” Talis remarked.

“That may have been a warning shot,” Korroth responded. “Keep her steady and make for that landing pad, Seraphol. The rest is up to Tyraal.”

The Technocratic Guild’s fortress now loomed in their flight-path. A circle of squat, bulky buildings surrounded a central bastion made of scaffolding and soldered metal, and the whole compound bristled with artillery emplacements.

“Speaking of Tyraal,” Seraphol interjected. “What is that Clawdite doing?”

The Collective snubfighters were turning round and bearing down on the Odanites again, when the Knight’s Z-95 broke formation with the U-wing and climbed above the enemy fighters. Suddenly it dipped its wing and turned upside down, dropping to travel parallel, cockpit-to-cockpit, with the nearest Collective craft. As the two synchronous Z-95s sped past, the crew of the U-wing saw the figure inside make a thumbs-up gesture with his hand, then tap that hand on his helmet, shaking his head.

The Odanites soon discovered what the Collective made of that gesture, because their Z-95s fell into formation behind the hijacked crafts, taking up escort positions but clearly ready to respond to any further suspicious behaviour.

“Looks like they’re giving us the benefit of the doubt,” Hyle said as the transport approached the landing pad.

Tyraal’s snubfighter landed first. The sight of the U-wing, trailing smoke and listing to one side, had prompted the personnel on the ground to clear the area, while squads of officers and soldiers filed out of a control tower. The Knight’s cockpit swung open as they came closer. Somebody jumped out, not a grey-skinned Clawdite, but a pale Human male with a blond buzz-cut.

The U-wing set down just as Tyraal saluted an approaching officer. The sham Collective pilot began waving his arms in a distressed manner and pointing off in the direction he had flown in from, where a faint plume of smoke could be seen rising in the distance. The officer turned on her heels and gestured at the soldiers under her command. Several of the squads split out and marched into the junk fields that surrounded the fortress, while another flight of starfighters fanned out from a nearby hangar. The landing pad was nearly emptied but for the officer and a handful of guards.

“How long do you think he can hold it?” Talis wondered out loud.

“His shapeshifting thing? I guess we’ll see,” Hyle said, peeking through the ventral veiwport.

The blond-haired Tyraal turned towards the U-wing, but before he could take a step the officer grabbed him by the arm. A terse exchange went back and forth, with both humanoids gesturing at the transport, then the officer gestured at her guards to fall in behind her as she marched Tyraal in the direction of the U-wing, hand on holster.

“Looks like the game’s up,” said Seraphol. “Soon as they knock on that bulkhead the fun begins.”

The engines began to spool down on the U-wing as the bases commander approached with her entourage of four technocratic guild huntress. Talis had been briefed on their capabilities before the mission. He was fairly confident he could handle the situation quickly. He braced up against the bulkhead and crouched down. He pulled his lightsaber out and held it in his left hand as he pooled energy into his legs. He took a deep breath as he concentrated and reached out his palm.

“That’s Kendra Icasta!” Hyle blurted out.

The sudden break in the silence from the team startled the Miralukan but he didn’t let the feeling linger as he re-centered himself. There was no going back now.

The cabin depressurized and the ramp opened to their formation. Two huntress to each side, the commander flanking them in the back, and Tyraal in disguise in the center.

Talis exploded forward as Seraphol and Korroth exited their seats in the cockpit. Talis felt the force well up in the palm of his hand and heard the huntress yell in pain.

Tyraal’s vision went white as a flash erupted from the cabin. Out of reflex the Clawdite dropped to one knee. He heard a lightsaber spring to life and fly over his head spinning and heard two bodies drop to the ground to his right. The noise of the lightsaber stopped a short distance behind him before he heard it come spinning back in and he heard the searing scream of the weapon impacting something. Another body dropped to the ground to his left before the lightsaber returned back behind him.

Talis caught the lightsaber and spun, smacking an energy bolt away from him as he did so. He came back around to see a golden blade erupt from the chest of the lone remaining huntress. Her energy bow rattled off ground in front of her as she made a grasping motion with her hands, too afraid to touch the yellow blade. The blade disappeared back through her with a burning hiss and her lifeless body slapped to the ground hard revealing Hyle standing at the ready. Talis offered the older man a curt nod before returning his attention to the final enemy.

Seraphol and Korroth exited the U-wing side by side, lightsabers in hand. The two men scanned the landing pad and their stare came to rest on the chiss holding a slugthrower pistol in one hand and an electro whip in her other.

Seraphol eyed the woman for a few seconds thinking on the best way to handle the situation. If she used the slug thrower the round could be vaporized, but that electro whip had him more nervous. Looking over at Korroth “Flank her sides, and keep pushing forward. The others can fill in gaps to keep up the pressure.”

The two activated their lightsabers and assumed their combat stances, both moving forward and to the sides of the Chiss. A smile formed on her face as she took a quick shot at Seraphol, and quickly turned to her side snapping her whip at Korroth’s feet. Another quick motion and the Pau’an was on his back. As quick as her attack was, she turned just as quick and ran for the entrance of the fortress.

Korroth flipped easily to his feet and gestured for Seraphol to follow as he ran after the woman. As he went to follow, Seraphol looked over his shoulder to make sure no one had went back into the transport.

“We need to get in after her before she calls in reinforcements!” he yelled at the young Knights and Padawan. Korroth was gaining on the woman with his long stride, but she had too much of a headstart on him. As she reached the doorway she slapped the mechanism that operated the door. As it closed she began to laugh and the last thing Korroth and Seraphol saw was a rude gesture.

“Karabast, I hate this woman even more.” Seraphol stated when he reached the door, seconds ahead of the rest of the team. As he looked around he could not see an operating panel for the door on the outside. “Must be opened by internal transmitte…” His statement was cut short with the hiss of a lightsaber being activated and a dull bubbling sound of melting durasteel.

Talis turned his head away from the door towards Seraphol, “Here is our internal transmitter.”

Alarm klaxons blared as a section of the door clunked to the ground. The team filed through the gap and formed up in a defensive line across the hallway, but nobody was there to greet them.

“Can you sense her? Have we lost her?” Tyraal, back to his scarred grey self, cast his eyes over the corridors and blast doors that faced the atrium.

“I don’t know, there are a lot of people coming towards us,” Talis replied

“It doesn’t matter,” Korroth said, heading towards a turbolift shaft. “She’s not our objective, those Sith scrolls are. We’re making for them, and you can bet she is too.”

“Our SeNet sources said the Guild keeps the artefacts in a laboratory about a dozen levels underground,” Hyle stated, nodding his head towards the turbolift. “But that’s the only way to get down there.”

“Don’t you ever read the warning panels? ‘Do not use turbolift in case of fire or hostile infiltration,’” the Miraluka quipped. “If local security shuts that lift, we’re stuck here in Collective Central, and that blue witch flies off with our mission objective.”

“That’s a moot point.” Tyraal, having opened the turbolift doors, leaned in to look down the empty shaft. “We can’t get stuck in a lift if the lift isn’t—”

“Wait, step back!” the Pau’an shouted.

Tyraal looked down and, at the last moment, saw his boot cross a faint line of red light.

“Too late!” Seraphol, his arms imbued with Force-given vigour, shoved his companions into the shaft. “Jump!”

The trip mine beeped three, four times, then a sonic shockwave blasted down the shaft, followed by a roaring fireball. The five Odanites hurtled down into darkness, broiling light reaching for them from above. Korroth saw the dark-clad form of Tyraal lift a blaster. Three shots fired, and a service door slid open in the wall of the shaft. Talis, the crimson of the flames glinting off his black armour, latched onto a cable and brought his own freefall to a halt. He reached out with his other arm and grabbed a fistful of Korroth’s clothes as he flew by. The Pau’an slammed into the cable, but managed to stop his descent. Above them, the fireball became noticeably dissipated as it passed the opening in the shaft, its vitality sucked out into the adjoining corridor. The Odanites, strung out across the length of the turbolift cable, merely felt the residual heat surge past their skin.

“Who said we needed a turbolift?” Hyle voiced as the shaft turned pitch-black.

Post 12 - Hyle

No one laughed at Hyle’s attempt at levity, although Koroth muttered.
“I’m serious about my recommendation. Good thinking with the Droids and the charges though.”

“Thanks. I guess one of us should apply for the post of abseiling instructor at the praxeum when we get back.”

“Here we go again.”

“What? You’ve done this before? Abseiling down a lift shaft to swipe Sith artefacts?”

Hyle and the four jedi continued the descent in silence. Hyle has needed to fight his way out of a lot of tight spots over the years, but somehow this was different. He’d finally confronted and accepted the fact that he would need to a lightsabre in combat, and not just sneaking up on people and stabbing them in the back. Reaching out with the Force, he tried to take stock of their surroundings as best he could. There was precious little light, although there were no obvious signs of pursuit. Still, either there was something waiting for them there, or the Collective was planning on catching them when they tried to make their way out again.

“This is it.” Hyle said.

“Are you sure?” Asked Talis.

“It’s what the plans say. Anyone know how to open a locked door.”

Talis busied himself with blowing the door open, while Hyle drew his blaster.

“This must be it. The Darkness is strong here.” Talis said.

Hyle could indeed feel a sense of foreboding. Was that how Jedi perceived the darkside?

A startled yelp issued from below.

“Talis!” Seraphol yelled, igniting his lightsabre.

Against his better judgement, Hyle scrambled down the lift cable. Talis and Seraphol were both dead, while Koroth lay against a wall, barely conscious. Without thinking, Hyle moved to help the injured Pau’an. Then a cold pain flooded his belly. He looked as his red stained hand. So this is it then?

“Hyle? Hyle!” Koroth hissed.

Hyle nearly let go of the cable.

“Are you alright?” The Pau’an asked

“We need to be careful.” Hyle said, hoarsely.

“Are you sure this is it?”

“Positive.”

“So SeNet can give as good as the Inquisitorious.” Korroth said.

“That and I saw most of us get killed.” Hyle said, at a vain attempt at flippancy.

“What?”

”What? How?” Tyraal asked.

“Maybe it’s just nerves.” Korroth said, without conviction.

“No, no it isn’t” Tyraal said.

“Did your vision have any details? Did you see who or what?”

“No.” Hyle said, blandly.
“But whatever’s behind that door, someone does not want us or anyone else to have it.”

“Do you still want me to blow the door?” Talis asked in a hushed tone.

“Yea, plant the charges but try and direct most of the blast outward. We can scramble back up the cabling to get out of the way of the blast. Once the doors are down we can chuck some imploders into the room beyond.” Seraphol answered. Tearing off a piece of his robes he stuck the cloth in his ears. “I would suggest y’all stuffing something into your respective hearing holes. It’s gonna get loud quick.”

Talis sat his explosives pouch down on the ground and pulled out door breaching charges. Placing them on each side of the doorway. Then he moved to the rear of the shaft and pulled out two rectangular explosives, ran his hand across the front of them and let out a chuckle. “I still laugh when I read ‘Point this side toward enemy’. These will help clear anything out just beyond the door and will go off after the initial explosion.”

Before throwing the pouch back over his shoulder he took out 3 imploders and tossed them to Hyle, Korroth, and Tyraal. “Chuck these through the hole a few seconds after the boom.”

As he jumped and began climbing the cables, Seraphol said, “I’ll try and focus best I can with Battle Meditation against them so they are a bit confused and don’t take as many precautions. After the imploders go off, I’ll be right behind y’all. If I say duck, do it quick. There will be a few hundred thousand bolts being slung at whoever’s head pokes out.”

“I’ll create a patch of Darkness after the imploders go off too, maybe between it and your meditation they will fire into nothing and waste their ammo.” Talis piped in.

“May the Force be with us.” Hyle said grimly.

Talis took a deep breathe as he centered himself.

Holding his Denton charge out in front of himself. The spherical orb with a glowing red ring on it floated down slowly before attaching on the lip of the door facing downward towards the door and the nothingness of the turbolift shaft.

The timer on it blinked slowly as it counted down. The five Jedi braced themselves and held tight to their cables. A loud repetitive beeping noise marred the silence of the shaft before holding a drawn out beat. Talis counted the seconds in his head.

‘One Odanite, Two Odanite, Three Odanite.’

The resulting blast shook the cables hard accompanied with the screeching of durasteel as the doors blew violently into the corridor.

“Now” Talis barked out the order and on command Korroth threw his followed Hyle and then Tyraal. Three resounding blasts echoed out one after the other. Talis gripped the cable with one hand and reached out with his other.

A volley of energy bolts sailed into the empty air and scored the back wall of the shaft. After about fifteen seconds the blaster fire stopped and you could hear the people in the hallway speaking.

“I’m black on ammo, reloading!” one voiced called out.

“10-4 everyone change magazines!” barked another voice.

“Now!” Talis yelled. The four jedi below him descended down and entered the gaping hole in the wall. Four lightsabers activated and could be heard whirling about.

Talis swung his legs around and spun himself. Timing his descent, the Miralukan landing on a bracing beam of durasteel directly across from the shaft. The hallway was open as his allies attacked their enemies. The knight crouched and called energy to his legs.

The black armor clad Jedi erupted through the door drawing his lightsaber as he flew past his allies. Swatting out he activated the lightsaber and detached one head from its soldiers before spinning and smacking to the individual in the back full force with a vicious stab and landed hard on the dead commander.

The soldiers panicked as they turned to meet him but Seraphol, Tyraal, and Korroth descended upon their broken lines like a wave. Talis turned to see another door behind him. On it was a screen with the image of a hand with a slot below it. Talis looked down to the commander and hanging around his neck was a key card.

The rest of the group mopped up the last remaining guard quickly and joined Talis by the door.

“How are we supposed to get through this?” Hyle exclaimed.

“We will have to find a way,” Seraphol replied curtly.

“I got an idea.” Everyone looked at the Miralukan who pointed down at the card hanging around the deceased commander’s neck.

“Unit two! Check in Unit two!” one of the soldiers communicators roared to life. Sounds of blaster fire and lightsabers echoed through with the voice.

“Sounds like we have company,” Tyraal said as he kneeled down to retrieve the card. With a violent yank the cord it was attached with snapped.

“Hyle would you kindly help Tyraal with the door?” Talis said through a deep breath. He could feel fatigue biting at his subconscious but he ushered it away with a few deep breathes. Hyle walked up and with a flick of his wrist the commander’s hand spun free on the floor. The Padawan reached down and retrieved the hand before stepping up to the door panel.

They placed the severed hand on the door and the card into the slot. It beeped and the locking mechanisms could be heard clanging as they opened. Talis felt the malice of what lay behind grow quickly as the door swung open. A fight could be heard inside the chamber.

On the opposite side of the room was another door where four red lightsabers twirled around knocking blaster fire away from their wielders. The four men were clad in Inquisitor armor and fighting off the onslaught of a dozen Technocratic guild Soldiers. Two Inquisitors lay at the far door where they had entered and fell into the Soldiers trap. Their door was shut tight behind them offering them no retreat from the skirmish and no cover.

“Let’s take this nice and quietly,” Korroth whispered.

“I agree,” Seraphol replied back in a hushed voice.

“Tyraal and Hyle can you guard the door so we have an exit just in case they turn their attention towards us?” Korroth turned to the two who replied with silent nods as they kept their gaze fixated on the far door.

“And find a place to hide as well.” The two odanites moved to either side of the door. Tyraal held his lightsaber hilt in one hand and the key card in the other. Hyle who was tucked into an access panel recess in the wall held his lightsaber hilt in his right hand and the severed hand of the commander in his other.

Talis followed by Korroth and Seraphol crouched down as they hurriedly stalked around the corner into the antechamber that held the artifacts.

Sitting upon a dais in the center of the open room was their target. A small stack of scrolls all neatly bound together. The three scrolls had the marks of Darth Plagueis the Wise emblazoned on the end of their ancient wooden rollers.

“Isn’t this nice of them?” Talis chuckled lightly to his comrades.

“This is too easy.” Seraphol glanced around nervously.

“Yeah, probably,” Talis replied, “but it’s worth a shot.”

“What’s the plan?” Korroth chimed in as the came to a stop in the shadows outside the only light source in the room. The light that beamed down was around something Talis had seen in his time at the Sentinel Network.

“First we disable that.” Talis pointed to the ray shield emitter above the dais.

“How do you plan on doing that?” Korroth asked.

“A lightsaber.” Talis stood and drew his spare lightsaber from his right boot in one motion. He activated the sapphire blue blade and flung it violently at the Ray shield emitter. It stuck into the emitter and showered sparks down on the tomes on the table.

“What’s next?” Seraphol asked in surprised confusion.

“We steal them of course!” Talis smiled.

Talis walked up to the stack of scrolls and shaked his fingers nervously as he reached out and touched them. He felt a slight intrusion but not a powerful one.

“I don’t think i’m the best person for the task of carrying these though.” Talis turned and smiled to Seraphol. “Would you be so kind?”

Seraphol answered the young Jedi’s smile with a glare before stepping forward and picking up the scrolls. Almost immediately a grimace crossed his face as he slouched hard to one side and propped himself up against the dais.

Korroth stepped up and pushed the scrolls back onto the dais out of Seraphol’s grasp. Talis heard another scream of pain and heard one of the Inquisitor’s lightsabers deactivate.

“We don’t have time for this!” Talis grimaced as his mind raced through some ideas.

Another lightsaber extinguished in the distance. Time was of the essence. If he had time he would wire all the remaining explosives they had been stocked up with but they didn’t have enough time left to set them up properly. Talis looked at the two Equites and smiled.

“Move back im going to destroy them with explosives.” Talis’ statement drew stares from both of the Odanites.

“Do we have enough to actually destroy them?” Korroth asked.

“Won’t know until we try.” Talis stepped up and tapped the scrolls to the middle of the dais with a few quick touches. Trying not to put himself into the same predicament as Seraphol did when he picked them up.

The two stared onwards for a few moments before Talis turned to them and motioned with his head towards the door. The two nodded and began making their way to the door. Talis laid out some wire to anchor the explosives to the table as well as the scrolls. He made sure not to touch the wire after it made contact with the scrolls.

The final lightsaber extinguished as he finished his extravagant set up. He turned to watch Seraphol and Korroth skitter around the corner out of sight as the remaining five Collective soldiers came walking back around with smiles on their faces as they bragged amongst each other.

“Did you see how that Force wielding loser died, he was all like.” The soldier grasped at his chest at an imaginary wound in his chest as he pretended to gasp for air. He was the first to notice the man in black armor standing in front of the dais holding a detonator in his hand.

Talis held the detonator up as the group went silent. They could see the extravagant explosives set up behind him but what they did not realize was the detonator was a dud. He hadn’t had enough time to set up the detonator so he needed to buy some time before the explosives went off. He began a mental countdown.

“So it looks like i caught you with your pants down.” Talis waved the detonator at the five soldiers who all flinched back. “I see you know what this is.”

The group nodded sheepishly. The Jedi smirked as he pushed the button and the group reflexively flinched. The all seemed to exhale when they opened their eyes and see that nothing had happened.

“You are a funny man!” One of the soldiers exclaimed.

“It would be funny mister if it wasn’t a deadman switch.” The group looked on in fear at the jedi. “You think i would wire this without having a backup plan?”

“Look here buddy.” the leader stepped forward with his hands up in the air. “We have orders to guard those creepy pieces of paper, If you want them, Take em.”

“Hey!” One of the other’s exclaimed. His protest was silenced by the lead soldiers up raised palm.

“We will just look the other way.” The leader turned to his men for approval. Their sheepish nods showed that they were lying. Their attempt to stall for time was easily apparent to the Jedi.

“Well i’m not here to steal them,” Talis said through a big grin, “the mission was never a two way trip mister, so I suggest you run along.”

Talis waved them back with the hand holding the deadman switch. With his open hand he began reaching out to the lightsaber lodged in the ray shield in the roof of the antechamber.

With searing slice the blade came free and snapped to his open right hand. Talis tossed the deadman switch at the leader before he could even react. Talis drew his lightsaber off the dais where he had placed it to wire up the explosives. He called out to the Force and surged as much power into his arms and legs as he could.

Stepping forward hard he ignited the amethyst blade and turning, he smashed the two beams of light into the scrolls as hard as he could. The arcing strike landed hard against the scrolls. With a scream the scrolls exploded. Talis felt the blast strike him in the chest. His visioned darkened as he felt himself flying through the air and come to a bouncing stop on the floor. He could vaguely hear a voice yelling at him.

“Talis, stay with us.” The Jedi felt himself smile as he embraced the warm grasp of unconsciousness.