Despair on Lyspair
Team members:
Warlord Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj (#1653)
Knight Dek Rott (#6352)
Warrior Lokasena ‘Sena’ Corvinus (#7384)
Battlelord Saskia Ortega-Inahj (#8396)
Warrior Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj (#13714)
Knight Delak Krennel (#13944)
[B]Primary Docking Bay
Modified Immobilizer 418 Cruiser Orthanc
Orbit, Karufr[/B]
Andrelious had heard much about the Orthanc from his service in Clan Arcona, but had never encountered the ship personally until his subsequent defection to Taldryan. Now, he had been granted temporary command over the vessel after being volunteered for a ‘special mission’ by Consul Cantor.
The Warlord was awaiting arrival of a shuttle carrying Dek Rott, a member of Scholae Palatinae that he personally captured for attempting to hack into Taldryan’s databanks. The Duros had been awaiting a trial ever since, despite Emperor Xen’Mordin’s demands that he be returned to Judecca.
As Andrelious recalled the fight between himself and Rott, one of the Clan’s shuttles broke through the magcon, guiding itself to the nearest marked landing area. Its hatchway opened, allowing two Taldryan officers, followed by Dek Rott, to disembark. To Mimosa-Inahj’s surprise, the Knight was not restrained.
“Welcome, Palatinaean. Have you been told why you’re here?” Andrelious queried. Dek simply shook his head.
“Very well. As you were my prisoner, I have decided to grant you a trial by combat, so to speak. If you help my family and I complete this mission, I shall return you to your so called Emperor. Fail, and you die,” the Warlord announced coldly.
“I understand,” Dek answered.
“Good,” Andrelious said, before turning to a nearby naval officer. “Have a communique sent to Judecca. Explain that I’m willing to return Rott to them, assuming he completes the mission. And tell Captain Kordoo to expect a Scholae presence at Lyspair,”
“At once, sir!” the officer snapped, offering a quick salute to his Sith superior.
Andrelious unclipped a lightsaber hilt from his belt. Dek’s eyes widened a little as his recognised it as his.
“Here’s your weapon back. Don’t make me regret this!” the Sith said. The Duros readily grabbed the lightsaber, fingering its activation switch as if he were a child with a new toy.
The Orthanc entered hyperspace with a slight lurch.
Saskia should have a look at the inertial dampers on this thing. Where are her and Kooki? Andrelious thought, already sensing that they were on board.
Transporter to Orthanc
Orbit, Karufr
Saskia’s hazel eyes flicked over her stepmother as the latter soothed her twins. There had been no friendly senses between the two women since the Battlelord had joined the Brotherhood as they finally docked to board the Orthanc. The Cirran had been silently itching to get into the circuits of the Immobilizer cruiser since she had heard about it, and the journey of near silence had only dragged.
Her half-sisters starting stirring in earnest, sensing the proximity of their father. Kooki said nothing, gently bouncing the bundles as they waited impatiently for the doors to unlock. She had placed herself ahead of the young woman, nose slightly poised in the air as she entered the Orthanc.
Mimosa-Inahj rushed forward, seemingly eager to attempt to lose Saskia as the Battlelord dawdled. She retrieved her datapad from her pocket, and began furiously researching the model of ship. Any loopholes to find out information was always useful to barter with for a price. Her father had been going on about the ship on the lead up to the mission, but she was hardly impressed by the schematics that were being presented whilst sitting down on the floor in a doorway as she pulled the cables out to link them up.
A cough interrupted her serene silence, as Ruusan buzzed loudly at the same time. “Well, you’re not much good if you don’t alert me to someone approaching if they’re already here when you make a noise,” Saskia calmly spoke, acknowledging only that her dad was standing there with a quick glance.
“Glad you made it, could you wait to break the electronics until you’ve at least reported in before you go and hide?” Andrelious asked, raising an eyebrow at his eldest daughter as she unplugged herself from the ship.
“Why? Kooki was here, so you knew I was here. Might as well get comfortable,” the woman shrugged and followed the male back to the Primary Docking Bay.
Onboard the Indomitable
Orbiting Judecca
Delak stood on the bridge of the Imperial Star Destroyer, awaiting the final delivery of supplies and foodstuffs that would be required for any deep space mission. They had been shuttling back and forth from the planet all day. Delak’s communicator pinged.
“Sir there is an incoming holo message from the palace. It’s the Emperor.” A voiced stated.
“Very well. I will take it in my chambers.” Delak replied as he clicked off his communicator and left the bridge in the direction of his personal quarters. His crew was busy repairing outdated circuitry and replacing burnt out displays that had seen better days as he walked by quickly.
Delak reached his quarters and entered swiftly into the double sized Captain’s quarters. He had made some adjustments himself to make it less cramped. One of the bulkheads had been removed and moved further into the storage room that had been right behind his quarters. His quarters were adorned with a stuffed Taun Taun baby he had captured during his time on Caina. He also had a display with several lightsabers which belonged to Jedi that he had destroyed on the battlefield over the years. They were reminders of his power in the force and how weak his enemies had been. The bed was made with Corulagian Silks which he had imported earlier that year to make it feel more like home. And the final touch was the Krennel Royal Crest that hung above his bed. He had been a Prince and now he was trying to recapture some of that lineage. As he stepped into the room his holo table lit up brightly with the image of Xen glaring at him from behind his Iron Mask.
“Yes my Emperor. What do you command?” Delak asked with a bow.
“Delak, it has come to my attention that Dek Rott is still alive in Taldryan space. He is going to be given his freedom once he helps them with a mission that I am tasking you to take part in. We have heard from Andrelious that the Shadow Academy on Lyspair still houses some of the more undesirable alien races. In return for his assistance in wiping them out, Dek is to be granted his freedom. You are to rendezvous in Shadow Academy space and assist him and his crew with whatever they require. We will get Dek back soon. Scholae takes care of its own. You depart immediately.” Xen commanded.
“It will be done Master.” Delak cut the transmission with a bow. “Krennel to the bridge. Get those supplies onboard yesterday. We have a mission. Set your course for Lyspair.”
[I]Kr’Tal system[/I]
“Double check! If the motivators fail again, it’s going to be your ass on the line, Mikus.”
“Yeah, I know…. I know. Just don’t make any sharp turns while I’m in the maintenance hatch, okay Huxley?”
“You got it!” Huxley replied to his partner. They were traders on a commercial freighter making regular runs between Taldryan’s systems. There wasn’t a lot of money involved when dealing with the Clan, unless certain members required certain “off the record” items. Then, there was a lot of money involved. So for some it was worth the risk.
They had just dropped of their goods on Karufr and were plotting to return home as soon as their old Sailfish Transport would allow it.
Mikus grabbed his flask of grog and took a big gulp. He swayed toward the door to the engine compartment. But as the door slid open, he just stopped and stared blankly at the tall darkly cloaked figure standing right in front of him.
“Hurry up, man!” Huxley said as he turned his chair away from the control console to check what the hold-up was. His eyes widened when he took in the scene. “Holy sh_”
“Shhhhhh . . .” the dark figure cut him off raising a finger to his lips as he pushed Mikus back and stepped into the cockpit. Mikus had stepped back until his legs leaned against the seat of his chair. The slightest push from the cloaked figure caused him to fall back into his chair.
“Relax gentlemen, I don’t want any trouble. I just need a lift!”
Huxley tried to swallow but his throat was dry. “Uhm . . . we’ve got some engine trouble.”
“Yes! Don’t worry about that. It should work fine now.” the mysterious man said.
Mikus’ mouth dropped open. “How did you….?”
“Less talking, more plotting courses, gentlemen. We don’t want to miss out on a good opportunity.” He stepped forward and piercing eyes shot out from under the hood of his cloak into the dark void ahead.
Huxley and Mikus may not have known who this man was, but they knew enough to never argue with one of those guys. “What’s the destination?”
“Lyspair…” came as a hiss from under the dark hood. The cloaked figure took out a small device and pressed the single button on it and began to speak into it. “Cleric Corvinus, underway.”
Huxley suddenly felt the need to swallow again.
Orthanc
Canteen
The Emperor does not tolerate failure. That is one of the many non-specific rules that Dek slowly learned while in service to him. His time in Clan Scholae Palatinae had been short. He cared little for the Emperor and the Sith-ilk that inhabited these systems. Yet now he was a pawn in their games. Undesirables, the Duros scoffed at the word. The powerful always had verbose rituals and distinct attitudes towards anything they disagreed with. They have the right, thought Dek admittedly. However, he did not have to accept that reasoning entirely.
All he wanted was some experience and better pay. Dek wanted to solidify himself as a credible and reliable person. This failure does not help his case. And yet the Emperor wanted him back. The Knight thought that if the Emperor wanted him to return he would have had to have some sort of plan for Dek. As a newer person he wasn’t too valuable. His work for shadow organizations within the structure of Clan Scholae Palatinae was easier work. Small time hacking, pilot escorts, enhanced Force training; all duties expected for members of the Clan in some capacity. Still, he was needed to return. Dek was both fearful and excited by the prospects. All he had to do was kill a bunch of people for some grandiose Sith Lord.
swooooosh
“You, Jedi,” spouted the soldier, “Get up!”
Dek drank the last gulp of his cup of red honey and straightened himself up from a slouch, taking a momentary stretch. “I’m no Jedi,” he moaned through his muscle movements.
“Warlord Mimosa-Inahj wishes to see you.”
“About?”
“Strategy and what you should be doing.”
The Duros sighed and left the canteen, closely followed by a few guards. Let’s do this.
Poppy and Etty were crawling about, yet remaining within a close proximity of their protective mother. Everyone else was already here and already engaging in deep conversations. Kooki smiled as she overlooked her offspring playing happily. She sensed a familiar presence drawing near to her and looked up to greet her spouse with a smile, however he looked unusually downcast. The female Sith couldn’t help but feel slightly unnerved by such things.
"So, where can our little ladies go?” queried Kooki, trying to remain hopeful.
An awkward silence loomed. After what felt like ages, Andrelious spoke and refused to pause to allow Kooki to argue.
“Sorry love. They will have to be left in the crèche aboard the ship, whilst we complete our mission. We won’t be gone all that long and you can come back and see them anytime you like. Saskia is coming with us, and besides we won’t be far away.”
Strangely Kooki didn’t argue back. She also knew Andrelious would be far from content if she was to abandon him and the rest of those on the mission, just to see how her little girls were.
A loud, resounding noise echoed. The startled twins looked round. Their mother opened her arms and scooped up her daughters onto hers and Andrelious’ laps. They were all soon strapped into their seats and the girls were mesmerised by the streaks of light becoming stars once again, as the ship left hyperspace. Just like their mother, they seemed to already share a love of the stars.
The two girls were surprisingly content at being deposited somewhere new to them and with new people. The crèche area on the ship seemed more than adequate and the facilities seemed pleasant.
The Alderaanian mother was dreading leaving the girls behind, especially with a Force blind stranger. She had umpteen doubts in the back of her mind since when she had left the twins with Atty not all that long ago. This time she was not taking any chances.
“Ah. Mr and Mrs Mimosa. Welcome!” greeted a female childcare worker.
That’s Mim…” began Andrelious.
He was soon hushed when his spouse’s steel-toe cap boots came into a harsh contact with his foot closest to her.
“Ooh. There’s two of them.” The crèche leader stated, rather surprised.
“Oh frak! Left the third one behind again,” teased Kooki with a smirk.
Luckily the female opposite her understood Kooki’s wit and revealed little concern to the mother’s previous utterance.
Just as the parents turned to leave, Kooki handed over a single teddy bear that had been hers as a young girl.
Poppy and Etty were already happily playing, oblivious to their mother and father leaving them.
“Make sure they always have this teddy with them.” Kooki explained, firmly.
Without any further questions, they left the crèche area.
Andrelious looked over at his spouse, and hated questioning her, but he was very perplexed.
“What’s with the teddy bear?” he asked.
Kooki said nothing, but switched on her datapad and loaded up a programme Andrelious had never seen. Soon a slightly grainy, but visible image appeared on the screen. On the Alderaanian’s datapad, an image of Poppy and Etty playing appeared.
“The magic of NannyCam!” Kooki mused.
“I’m taking NO chances!”
Bridge
Modified Immobilizer 418 Cruiser Orthanc
Approaching Lyspair
“Officers on the bridge!” an Ensign declared, quickly offering a sharp salute as Kooki and Andrelious arrived from the turbolift.
“Welcome to my bridge,” Captain Ammar Kordoo declared, offering his hand to the two Sith. “Now, are you going to tell me exactly what we’re doing here?”
“Just do as I say and we’ll get on just fine, Captain!” Kooki hissed.
“We’re here to deal with some holdouts from the Grand Master’s purge, Captain. As you’re no doubt aware of by now, Darth Pravus deemed members of certain species to be ‘undesirable’. We’ve had word that there are survivors in what’s left of the old Shadow Academy. The reason you’re here is to make sure nothing can escape. Keep the gravity well generators online. And I want Howler squadron on patrol. If anyone gets past, I will hold you and your crew responsible. Am I clear?” Andrelious barked.
The Barabel officer opened his mouth to answer, but was distracted as the bridge was plunged into darkness.
“Good job I’m on your side! This computer was child’s play!” Saskia chuckled from through her father’s comlink.
“Very funny. Restore power at once!” Kordoo snapped. The lights came back on almost instantly.
“I hope that in a combat situation, you’ll prove a little more capable, Captain,” Andrelious warned.
“Get the gravity wells online! Now!” the Barabel ordered.
“Wells online, sir! Something’s coming in!” a female Ensign announced, frowning at her monitor. The reading was not for a small ship, nor was the signal originating from Lyspair. The Orthanc was soon flanked by the new arrival. The Warlord immediately identified it as an Imperial-II class Star Destroyer.
“Get an ID on that ImpStar Deuce! Weapons and shields to maximum power!” Kordoo commanded, knowing that they stood very little chance if the Star Destroyer was hostile.
“Inbound Star Destroyer, this is Warlord A.J. Mimosa-Inahj of Clan Taldryan. Please identify yourself and state your intent,” Andrelious said, his eyes drawn to the turbolift doors as Dek Rott stepped onto the bridge, flanked by a pair of armed escorts.
A hologram appeared between Andrelious and Kooki, depicting a tall, heavily built Human male dressed in a combination of Imperial officer’s uniform, and stormtrooper armour. “Greetings, Taldryanite. I am Delak Krennel, representative of the Imperial Clan. I am here to provide assistance with your mission. Is our man with you?” he replied.
“Hang on. We’re working with frakking Imperials? You said nothing about this!” Kooki interrupted crossly.
“If I’d told you that, you’d not have come. This is dangerous work, darling. Your skills may prove vital to the mission at hand,” Andrelious answered nervously.
Delak cleared his throat loudly.
“Apologies for that, Mr. Krennel. My wife’s not very keen on Imperials…Alderaanian,” the Warlord explained, stepping away from Kooki as she glared angrily at him.
“If you’ve quite finished, I’d like to cordially invite you and your wife onto the Indomitable. And bring Dek. My orders say to make sure he’s unhurt before we proceed,” Krennel responded, nodding as his hologram disappeared.
“Typical frakking Imperial. Didn’t even give you a chance to answer,” Kooki spat.
Andrelious smirked. He was well used to the Warrior’s barbs about all things Imperial. “He has the bigger guns. We didn’t need to answer,” he answered. “I’ll see if Saskia wants to join us.”
Shadow Academy
Lyspair
A Verpine peered at the scan monitor with a worried frown. Things had been deathly quiet in the entire Antei system since Pravus’ takeover, but two red triangles now edged their way along the monitor, seemingly headed straight for them.
“Two targets inbound! It looks like Geolan was right! Pravus is sending a team!” the Verpine warned.
The large cloaked figure in the corner sighed. “Show me. I’ll be amazed if anything that holier-than-thou nerf herder is right about anything. Stupid Jedi should have saved himself when he had the chance. Instead, he insisted on sticking with his damn fool idealistic crusade. Typical light sider,” he stated, his accented basic turning into an almost unbearable hiss as his anger built. He, like the rest of his species, had been earmarked as ‘undesirable’ by Pravus’ agents, in spite of his years of service as an Instructor at the Shadow Academy. Loyalty apparently meant nothing to Darth Ashen’s successor.
“There. The scans report an Interdictor and an ImpStar Deuce. Not enough to level the Academy, but certainly enough men onboard. It’s time we retreated, Master,” the Verpine declared.
“I want everyone armed and ready! They’ll chase us to their deaths, or go insane trying!” the figure ordered, activating his lightsaber briefly as if to check it was still working.
Primary Hangar Bay
Modified Immobilizer 418 Cruiser Orthanc
“Sir! We have contact from another ship! A man calling himself Cleric Corvinus claims he’s here to help,” a Lieutenant said, running over to Andrelious as the Sith moved towards the Orthanc’s Lambda-class Shuttle.
“Direct him to land on Scholae’s ship. I’ll meet him there,” Andrelious ordered.
[I]Indomitable hangar bay[/I]
Alarms went off as the small transport entered the hangar bay. It was a filthy pile of rust amidst the near sterile environment of the Indomitable. Near the landing pad a small group of officers and guards were waiting. Just after the craft set down, they saw a light turn on and off very quickly.
The officer in charge, a young woman, let out a deep sigh. Whoever was piloting that ship, was probably dead now, and she could clean up the mess.
“Be on your guard men.” She said. “The Cleric stands on a certain protocol concerning Imperials.”
The side door panel of the transport opened and the Cleric walked out in a calm but long stride. He certainly made an impression on the officer as he walked toward her and pushed back the hood of his cloak. Sharp eyes peered at her, although his eyebrows also revealed there was a soft side to him. His jaw was wide and he had a strong chin, despite his beard.
“Cleric Corvinus, it is an honour to have thee here with us.”
“Very kind of you. Now please take me to Krennel. We have much to discuss.”
“Your will, sir!” the young woman replied quickly.
The young woman started walking and Corvinus followed closely. The guards fell in line with him. It was easy for Lokasena to sense their fear and distrust of him. This was good. It meant he wasn’t dealing with fools.
A lifter platform took them to a higher deck where they boarded an elevator. Sena was very curious what this mission would bring. He had never worked with any of these people before. Quite the opposite. They had been his enemies in times past. But that was all political. He was not a man to hold grudges simply because his superiors told him to. It was all based on policy and policies changed all the time along whoever was making them. His reputation among these people would be based on his official file which was drenched in rumour and innuendo. This was also to the Cleric’s liking. If knowledge was power, then to be unknown is to be invincible.
Bridge of Indomitable
Approaching Lyspair
Leaving her father at the bridge to deal with the politics behind a multi-clan deal, Saskia retrieved Ruusaan from her bag and activated the buzz droid much to the annoyance of the ship staff around her. Ruusaan immediately analysed their location and ship, flitting amongst all the bridge staff and flying under fingers to determine the exact role of each member present. One of the Sith’s rare smiles broke her face before Andrelious caught sight of the droid and looked directly at his eldest daughter. With a sulk, Saskia reluctantly called back Ruusaan to her and they both left for the engine and control rooms.
As she left, the young woman could practically hear her father making excuses for why things would suddenly cease working without directly blaming either his daughter or their ship. Diplomacy would be something he would work on, she had something much more interesting to look into.
***
Sliding into a tiny crevice, it almost deceived the possibility of any human fitting in. A pause to ensure that no one near by had actually heard her whilst Ruusaan hovered silently just above the gap, patiently waiting for her mistress to invite her into the minute space.
Saskia carefully removed the screws that held the panel in place, ensuring to not drop them for fear of being discovered that it was sabotage she would be accused of if discovered before she could finish everything. She frowned and slid the metal piece to the side before dipping down into the newly created gap and summoned her droid with a slight wave of her hand.
Sitting down, Saskia let her eyes adjust to the dim light before moving anything towards the computing systems. Linking her data pad in via the nearest portal, she found that the firewalls in place were a little taxing, but nothing a logical hacker couldn’t figure out. She was willing to bet that Scholae Palatinae weren’t used to logical trains of thought for their systems as she navigated herself virtually through the ship, finding out each weak point in intimate detail before pulling herself back to the starting point.
“I hope dad’s readied himself by now,” Saskia giggled, and plunged the ship into darkness.
Indomitable
Housing Block
Dek looked into the mirror of his temporary room. He was used to the lack of sleep and the random schedules and wants from other people. He was also in a prickly situation. The exact status of him on the ship and on the mission was slightly up in the air. Outside his door stood four guards; two Taldryan soldiers told to follow the ‘prisoner’ and two Scholae soldiers told to guard the guards as well as to watch the Knight. Andrelious and Delak were on the bridge discussing strategy, something which he had expected to be a part of, but unsurprised that he currently wasn’t. Alongside Andrelious were most likely Corvinus and Kookimarissia, adding to the discussion itself. Whether others would join, he didn’t entirely…
gggggzzzhhhhhh
And the lights were out. Surprised, Dek took his cipher pad and saber and headed to the door, lit only by the blue streaks of the light drive trailing around the Indomitable. Upon the door opening, Dek looked at the lights on the guards helmets that had activated upon entering into darkness. He looked at one of the Scholae guards, “And?” He hated formal military terminology. He understood it, but avoided it. It sounded pretentious to the Duros.
“Uh, we haven’t gotten a report, sir. Nothing on the communicator.”
Dek walked down the hallway of the ship, all four guards following him, and went to a panel on the side of the wall. He pressed a few buttons and spoke into a speaker.
“Punch me into Delak Krennel,” Dek spoke to the computer in a half-serious tone. “Delak, what’s going on?”
“Sir, this is Officer Jared. Captain Krennel is busy…demanding…to find out the root of the problem. However, we currently know that it was purposefully turned off. Whether it was a person or the system, we do not know.”
“On my way,” Dek started to move. “Mister Rott,” the speaker informed, “the Captain is telling me you will not be needed as of yet, and you may return to your temporary housing for the time being. We are closing in on our destination anyway.”
One of the soldiers from Taldryan had put his hand on Dek’s shoulder, and a guard from Scholae had put his hand on the other guard’s arm. “It’s alright soldier…the Scholae one. I don’t remove hands on a whim like the Sith do.” The Taldryan guard took his hand aback. Dek spoke into the speaker again, still feeling a sting of embarrassment from Delak’s order, “Of course, Officer,” Dek spoke a bit louder, “the Captain surely has everything in order, even without the lights on and with increasingly powerful entities aboard the ship.”
Dek turned off the panel and left for the armory. To the Duros, Delak might be a veteran, but his command of a ship left much to be desired.
Indomitable
Armory
“The luck of the ship,” chortled a cadet.
“Oh, c’mon, Jet. Yes, you finally get a winning hand, and yes, the lights go out. But I’m sure someday Judeccan Shovels will turn a better hand for you in the future.”
Dek strode into the gun laden surfaces around him, guards and soldiers putting on uniforms, battle gear, and holstering weapons. Dek didn’t garner much attention, although he never really did. He was still relatively new in the Empire.
“Is there a computer console around here?” Dek thought the console in the armory might be the most protected in the entire ship.
“Battlestations, all personnel to battlestations. We are approaching Lyspair.” The speaker in the corner of the room spat out the words to the soldiers. And with that the room emptied quite fast.
“Well, I guess I don’t need that console anymore.”
“Ship wide announcement, Dek Rott report the bridge,” the speaker spoke up again.
The Duros scoffed as he headed to his new destination.
