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Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 1
(9/17/01 5:19:02 pm)
Reply Conquest of Capricia - Part I: War Drums (DnD)
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Tallien Yzan watched the numbers increase as new vessels were grown. A campaign deviation from the Warmaster's overall plan was not unheard of, but it was unusual.
However, Tallien was certain that Yun-Yuuzhan would approve their sojourn to find a people worthy of the truth in the Yuuzhan Vong's apparent 'Manifest Destiny'. He silently gazed at the Caprician sun, a mere pinpoint of light now. Soon their fleet, such as it was, would enter the infidel system and begin their "conversion".
He smiled to himself, supremely confident in the outcome.
Xanadal, how wrong you were! Mere will was not enough against the glorious warriors of Yuuzhan Vong.
He noted a warrior, off to the side, silently approach in deference to the Master Shaper's status. The warrior, though, was anxious to partake in the fighting and Tallien could not fault him for that.
Yun-Yuuzhan created us as we are. We embrace this suffering. We acknowledge the pain of existence and would gladly run the road of broken horns a thousand times to further His will.
The star flickered as if in response and Tallien's gaze narrowed.
If only the heretics would yield! If only they would come to see the truth!
Suddenly, a sharp pain on his right colar bone brought him from his reverie and he turned to the warrior waiting patiently.
At least he knows his place.
The warrior's eyes glanced briefly at the small, almost metallic looking, creature chewing pieces of flesh off of Tallien's collar and admired the fact that Tallien made no sound.
That fact was not lost on any who met the Master Shaper and they respected him for it. Anyone who could command such pain could command life. The warrior would have no problem following explicitly the orders given by this pious Yuuzhan Vong.
//The slave ships arrive tomorrow.// the warrior had spoken in their native tongue.
The Master Shaper contemplated this for a bit. As of now, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet consisted of his command ship and several smaller cruisers each housing a full compliment of coral fighters.
//My adepts will be joining our action tomorrow as well.//
Tallien's mind drifted briefly to Vuas Huung before speaking again, //Have we chosen a starting vector?//
The warrior nodded his head and a villip mutation came to life suddenly activated by his motions. //The outermost world the infidels call, "Minos".//
//"Minos"// Tallien let the name rest on his tongue. //I do not recognize this name from our first invasion.//
//The planet's orbit was not one conducive to our actions at the time and our vector cut much deeper in system.//
Tallien nodded accepting the fact for what it was... truth.
It is time the infidels of this galaxy realized truth as well.
He turned his body back to space, locating the Caprician star.
//Spread our ships out and activate the larger dovin basals. Cut the arteries leading into the system. You have leave to destroy any and all ships you can. Make your sacrifices to Yun-Yammka..spare no one the privilege of death.//
The deep cuts into the warriors lips spread as he smiled.
//As you command, your Eminence.//
The alien vessels moved, positioning themselves in the major hyperspace lanes and began projecting their gravity fields to take the civilian/commercial transports. It was as if a large hand had come forth and begun to squeeze off the blood to the heart of the system.
>*<*>*<
"Dang it, Seth!" came a gruff voice from the engine room of the rather dirty transport. "I told you to go easy on my engines!"
The voice shouted through the hall as a figure moved to the forward compartment.
"We got overloads all over the damn place and if you are not careful we could blow our cargo across space."
"Nag, nag, nag." mocked the pilot named Seth. "This is the last shipment of arms to Capricia. I just want my money and - - - "
The vessel was suddenly flung out of hyperspace by some unknown force. The dovin basal was old and not extremely powerful but the old ship just could not stand the stresses. The hull gave way instantly decompressing the cabin area killing everyone immediately. Debris floated past the stationary Yuuzhan Vong cruiser.
It had begun.
Edited by: Tallien Yzan at: 9/28/01 12:27:56 am
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 129
(9/18/01 8:40:50 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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Naboo
....if, at the end of the day, you find yourself alive, young Korban, do not think that it is without purpose. Finding it, though... that's the trick.
Tyscio slashed the air with his blade, his fierce concentration displayed only by his precise movements and repitition.
Lately, his focus was becoming more and more tuned as his self testing and experimenting took him to new levels of effort.
Lento, in the distance, watched his activity and he felt a slight trepidation in the force.
As his skill increased, as his awareness became more focused, as his perceptions became clearer he found himself thinking of only one person.
He looked at the scars on his wrist.
His purpose...
"..you would have done the same for me..." he whispers to himself, recalling those words.
It seems like so long ago, and yet, it wasn't.
Everything he had done was for one purpose and one purpose alone.
To aid a person that would have done the same for him.
"come back to me..." whispered the wind.. and Tyscio turned off the saber.
He stood there in the small clearing looking at the forest and realized that he had become estranged from everything he is.. was.. and perhaps will be.
..living on borrowed time...
He smiled ruefully and glanced at the staff propped up in the ground.
..her teacher was wise...
He looked up at the darkening sky.
I stand on this insignificant ball of dirt, an insignificant person, and wonder: If as long as we are alive we have the power to effect change, why hasn't it happened yet?
He stared at the lightly visible stars and vowed.
I will find you Iriana. I will do for you what you would do for me.... what we have already done for each other...
..life in exchange for life....
His smile turned into a grin.
"Perhaps this time ability will outfox experience and we shall dance around the fires..." his voice was soft...
Soon!
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/19/01 10:35:44 am
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 98
(9/23/01 12:28:41 am)
Reply | Edit Politics...
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Capricia - Hall of Voice
The screen showed several children playing in a field. Boys... running around..laughing.
They were carrying piping fixtures... pointing them at each other as some sort of imaginary ray gun battling alien menace.
Another child came running up to play with them carrying something rather large.
(the audience stirred)
Soon he too was running after another child, joining in the laughter.
He took his large object and pointed it at the other child pulling the trigger.
So powerful was the blast from the weapon that it broke several ribs of the child holding the blaster rifle. The child it was aimed at simply ceased to be...being ripped apart by the energy eminating from the weapon.
(the lights came on)
"This is what we face ladies and gentlemen with the introduction of the Regent's plan to arm families. Already this has happened to several families. Tell the citizens of Capricia how they are to sleep safe at nights when our own inexperienced children are running around toting the weapons that you gave them?"
The speaker was eloquent. The speaker was dramatic. The speaker made some very good points...and, unfortunately, the speaker was also against Gomorran.
The Regent of the Capricia looked from his seat to the man speaking rather emphatically for his cause.
".... fellow Capricians anymore. How long are we to put up with the 'War time' taxation during 'peace'? How long are we to put up with the blaster rifles being handed out along with marriage certificates which ultimately kill our children as we just have seen? How long are we to remain a military state?"
All good questions, he admitted. How long indeed.
Perhaps it was the Regents slight smile at his own thoughts or perhaps it was the fact that he had not deigned to answer the question that the speaker brought the attack to a personal level.
"You smile smugly in your comfortable seat of power. Tell me, Sir, if the question wasn't even raised, would you have had the courage to ..."
"Objection!" came Zier's forceful yet timely yell. "You forget whom you address Councilman. Have you forgotten the invaders?"
The Councilman made a slight sneer at Tyscio Clan's Leader and looked directly at Gomorran. "How long are we to be dragged again and again through the horrible past of our near demise? The Invaders are gone! Let the dead bury the dead and let Capricia move on!
Move on indeed!, Gomorran thought with a frown. How many of these attacks will I have to endure...
He stopped his thoughts as he realized just how well he had had it in the governmental seat of Caprician Power. Typically, if all Clans were present, then the government would have been comprised of a Council. However, the remaining seven Clans abdicated their right to a Council by subjecting themselves to a more centralized government, a Regency.
Up to this point, Gomorran had enjoyed unchallenged command of the planet and resources and had faced no opposition. Now, with the Reconstruction over, more and more people found themselves with more time on their hands and such time led to mischief.
Province Councilmen suddenly began cropping up everywhere and it was a matter of time before one eventually challenged the Regent.
This upstart was gaining popularity among those who felt pressured by the changes the Clans were directing all over the planet.
It was not lost on Gomorran, though, that the speaker was also from a Noble House and would probably have been ruling in his place had the Clans not returned from their Exodus.
He couldn't shake the nagging and growing dread that was eating him up inside. Tyscio Korban's report about the Caprician bodies found on Endor was startling. He did not like the implications at all and was fully prepared to commit more resources to a military buildup.
The only obstacle was political and while this upstart might not be able to wrestle the reigns of the government away from the Regent, he could damage the people's trust in their leaders.
Just what am I going to do with you?
Edited by: GomorranKay at: 9/23/01 10:39:06 am
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 13
(9/23/01 3:55:18 pm)
Reply Conquest
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"Kill him.. "
..spoke Vuas Huung as she moved to her quarters.
The wimpering alien had tried to escape...perhaps a cause worthy of note if it had been successful. The alien did not even kill one captor in his flight, preferring to stick to the shadows.
The Chazrach soldier gripped the alien roughly and led it off in total obedience to his lady.
.. as it should be.
She found herself running out of captives for sacrifice but knew that Tallien would soon open the cauldrons of death once more upon the worlds of his choosing.
Still... even though the outcome was inevitable, she yearned for challenge and so far, the pathetic beings of this galaxy offered none.
She moved across the rather warm and humid hall of her living ship and stopped at one spot, looking at the wall, moving her hand across several hair-like feelers.
The wall parted as if the cavity was a result of the massive ship breathing and closed as she walked past it.
She had not been in this room in some time and the screams were still there in her mind's eye. She turned to a corner and saw the small Gup settled. A Gup was a special design of Tallien's bioengineering. The round body of the Gup was supported by six short legs and stood about two feet off the ground. However, the mouth opened wide.. giving an almost bowl effect. It was one of her favorites.
In the center of the small room rested a human skull, the bioluminescence of the ship creating an erie glow within it.
She knelt down running her slit fingers across the bone almost as if caressing the white object.
She smiled at the memories..
The creature had sworn up and down that he was no Jeedai. That even though he weilded the same magic, he was something called Sith.
Vuas laughed.
As if the difference, which evidently was of some importance to her captive, would actually matter to her.
Still, the infidel had continued to profess his hatred for the Jeedai and everything they stood for...trying to show that their goals were the same.
That had brought Vuas up short.
She had heard of beings like this.. beings that sold out their own galactic inhabitants to the greater glory of the Yuuzhan Vong.
So she put him to the test. She asked if he would willingly serve the Yuuzhan Vong obediently, without question, as did the Chazrach?
The Sith, of course, answered yes but there was a slight hesitation and Vuas picked up on it.
The heretic had thought himself equal to the Yuuzhan Vong, a distortion of truth that would need to be corrected.
The Sith has called himself ...what was the term.. evil.. as well as the Yuuzhan Vong. Was the creature attempting to prove that Yuuzhan Vong and Sith came from the same ancestry?
She knew he was lying if that was the case. Yun-Harla, the trickster goddess, would grant even the stupidest of creatures the ability to see through that lie.
The charade had gone on long enough, she stated flatly and she saw the infidel tense.
She had almost convinced herself that the tales of the professed magic that these Jeedai displayed (and she grouped every of these under that name for it gave her a perverse pleasure at seeing this Sith go unacknowledged) were just that.. stories. She had seen nothing of import with this person.
She brought out a very sharp weapon and the Sith smiled. He said if she struck him down he would become more powerful than she could possilby imagine.
She thought a bit and asked if this was true of all Sith.
"Most of them.." he had replied.
She looked him in the eye and her thin lips grew into a feral smile. "Then why haven't all the Sith slit their throats to become more powerful than we can all imagine?"
The Sith looked at her in silence.
"It's because you fear death..... like the Jeedai.."
The Sith was going to angrily retort when she flashed his lightsaber and said, "You claim to be equal. Prove it."
The restraining creatures unlocked their hold and the Sith grabbed his saber, igniting it immediately.
He slashed at Vuas, her weapon blocking his strike and then his hand shot out as if attempting to use his almost imaginary power of the force.
Vuas, in irritation slapped his hand down and went on the attack. She was surprised at the Sith's lack of strength and coordination. His hand shot out again as if he was trying to will the organic door open. His face was a vision of rage and hatred and soon turned to one of pain as her left hand grabbed his wrist holding the saber and the other hand sliced down severing it. He screamed.
"You are nothing without this force are you?" she asked with contempt.
The Sith's remaining hand went to a necklace and she reached in and pulled it out, yanking it from his neck.
"The.. sp.spirit of an ancient Sith will con..consume you.." he managed to get out through clenched teeth. "..ver..very powerful.."
Vuas looked at the ornament in her hand and raised a tatooed eye at him. "If he is so powerful, why keep him in a cage?"
Her hand crumbled the ornament and a small light shifted off and away from the crushed amulet trying to find another host. Unfortunately, the Yuuzhan Vong did not have the force within them and therefore the only living receptacle was the Sith himself.
He screamed as the dead "spirit" took possession and soon Vuas saw the Sith's expression change.
More rage..more hatred...and, naturally, more arrogance.
His other hand shot out as he attempted to walk by her and push her away with whatever evil forces he claimed to possess. His face also registered surprise as her blade took his other hand.
"Do you fear death," she aksed and the Sith whispered.. "Never." attempting to cradle his two handless arms.
She was impressed at the fact that the Sith didn't scream out in pain as he had when the first hand was taken.
"Then you won't resist." She finished and grabbed his head forcing him to his knees. The Gup had crawled over opening it's large mouth and Vuas hauled the Sith over to the creature by his hair.
The cavity of the creature was a weird yellow-brownish goo that seemed to swirl around. Her grip tightened and she put the Sith's head into the creature's large mouth, the dissolving acids of the goo reacting instantly to the contact.
Almost immediately Vuas felt him resist and try to pull himself out.
He was, indeed, afraid of dying.
With no other recognizable receptacles, Vuas saw the shimmering light of their spirits die.
She spat out the word, "Jeedai"
The skull came back into view...the only thing not consumed by the Gup.
"Never doubt our reach.." she whispered hoping that soon, the halls of her ship would once again be filled with the wails of sacrifices to the great Yun-Yuuzhan.
Tallien's Command ship was found and her group of small cruisers fell into position along side it.
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/23/01 7:30:06 pm
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 100
(9/24/01 7:26:59 pm)
Reply | Edit Conquest of Capricia - Part I: The Beginning
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Capricia - Hall of Voice
I have you now you arrogant bastard!, the speaker thought, surprised at his own vehemence.
The months of silent maneuvering, the late conferences with the heads of various houses.
This was but the first step in de-throning the Regent from his dictatorial rule. There should be checks and balances. There should be a ruling body...not one single individual. There should be .... and suddenly the hypocrisy slipped a bit. I should be the one in that seat!
Even as he thought it, he knew...he just knew that he could definitely do a better job. It would take an act of Jedi gods to get the Regent out of this mess..
*
The speaker had finally ended his passionate speech and took his seat opposite the Regent, opting not to sit behind a table... a subtle inference that he had nothing to hide.
Judging from the body language, Gomorran could see that the speaker's arguement hit home with several people.
He started to speak.
"Mr. Speaker, I must thank you."
The man's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"For you see, you have touched on a responsibility that has been going unnoticed by the Caprician people. (he paused) No longer. As you correctly brought out, each family that is founded by marriage is issued a weapon for protection. If that family should have young ones, then the responsibility to the parents is to keep such a dangerous weapon OUT OF REACH of their children.
Our military even teaches it's soldiers to respect weapons and their danger. Should it not be more so among the civilian population?"
The speaker seated opposite the Regent smiled and retorted, "I am questioning the law itself Sir. It is unnecessary...."
The Regent turned to his Adjutant, interrupted the man. "Scipio, what was the talley of deaths among the civilian population in the invasion five years ago?"
The blonde woman dressed in her clan uniform of maroon and black stepped forward and looked at the audience seated behind the speaker. "One fifth of our population."
"And the reason for so much deaths?"
"The enemy did not distinguish between military and civilian targets, my Lord. Most of the civilians were unarmed and unable to protect themselves."
"BUT THE INVADER'S ARE GONE!!" shouted the speaker suddenly standing up. His breach of protocol made the audience slightly nervous.
"You use the excuse of the invaders time and again to bury Capricia under martial law!"
The speaker paused and swept his arm across the audience. "Sir, we want... we want-"
"You want to be innocent again." the Regent finished softly. He stared at the audience. "We can never go back to the days of blissful ignorance. Like it or not, we cannot go hide and hope the galaxy will pass us by not noticing. We have to change.."
Suddenly, soldiers (wearing Gomorran Clan colors) burst into the Hall of Voice in a hurry to the Regent's place. The Clan Leaders had gotten up ready for anything, Scipio stepping in front of Gomorran until he stood and placed his hands on her shoulders moving her aside.
The speaker and audience were in a flurry at the presence of soldiers. The leader of the squad went right up to the Regent and handed him a datapad.
Everyone was quiet as they watched their leader read it. Gomorran's eyes suddenly raised and they looked old. He passed the pad to Tyscio Zier and the others.
The audience saw Mescian and Boranius suddenly leave the auditorium after reading. The planetary population was watching this meeting via the interplanetary communications. They too stirred (those that were watching).
Gomorran looked over the audience and spoke with a grave calm that belied his anxiety.
"All war power protocols are now activated. All reserves are to report to their barracks."
People started talking among themselves quickly. The protocols were only used when Capricia was in a state of war.
"The invaders, whom intelligence has identified as the Yuuzhan Vong, have been spotted gathering in force outside our system. Already commercial traffic his being harrassed."
He was about to walk out amidst the flurry of heightened activity but he stopped, looked at the speaker and spoke into the audio amplifier once more.
"Blaster Rifles will be issued to families needing them. War preparations will be handled and organized by Scipio Clan."
The leaders of Capricia left the Hall.
"You did that on purpose, Sir!" Scipio said as they left.
Gomorran smiled grimly. "I suddenly ran out of time for finesse. If I have an opportunity to wipe away an adversary, I will take it."
"Too bad you can't do that with the invaders." she quipped.
"If opportunities aren't avaliable I will just have to make some." he replied walking into the Capricia sun, the sirens blaring.
So, they've come back...
Edited by: GomorranKay at: 9/26/01 8:07:31 pm
Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 2
(9/24/01 9:31:03 pm)
Reply Outside the Caprician System
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Tallien watched in his mind, the glorious attack upon the world of Capricia...
..the subjugation of it's people..
..the death of the world as it soon would become a breeding ground for Yorik coral, the building block for all Yuuzhan Vong living vessels.
The Yuuzhan Vong spies were in place, launched many months ago. He was never sure if the Warmaster would approve the small campaign against the World of Decision. When the Warmaster had given Tallien Yzan his approval, the Master Shaper felt that Yun-Yuuzhan himself was behind the action.
However, Tallien had no experience leading the mighty Yuuzhan Vong fleet. This was why they waited at the edge of the infidel system, awaiting the arrival of the Warmaster's chosen to follow Tallien's wishes by directing the warriors in the glorious conquest.
Tallien studied the reports from his spies trying to probe the mind of Capricians.
How could a people come to such visciousness in combat and yet return to the soft ways of heretics as soon as the Yuuzhan Vong left?
It was.. hypocritical.
He thought back to a particular race of beings that the Yuuzhan Vong had encountered a thousand years ago in their own galaxy. The people had professed conversion and inflicted the glorious pain on their own to such a point as to make Yun-Harla, the trickster goddess, proud. When their hypocrisy was discovered, the Domains returned and that race was left extinct. The warriors did not approve of Yun-Harla's tricks used on them.
In the reports he saw that the ruling bodies, the Clans, had left the planet after the aborted invasion. The planet had plunged into Civil War for another two years until the Clans returned stronger and imposed the peace they now experienced.
So these Clans needed to be wiped out! The population of this heretical world worked to become part of these "clans". These clans had superceded the glorious future of working toward the Yuuzhan Vong inevitability of conquest.
He also noticed one small report of growing dissent among the Caprician "Domains" or houses.
Something that could be used... exploited.
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 147
(9/25/01 8:08:59 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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The military forces of Capricia were readying themselves for extended combat. From this buildup a small attack frigate slipped away with instructions to bring back Capricia's rogue citizen and, currently (with the exception of Scipio), Caprcia's strongest force user.
It was a promise Gomorran had agreed too at Korban's strong request when reporting the horrors found on Endor with Leia Organa Solo.
With most of the major shipping routes littered with dovin basals, the Aries left through a little known military route.
It came to rest in high orbit around a very green planet.
Naboo..
Tyscio Korban stared at the man on his communication's screen incredulously.
"They are there?" he asked dumbly.
"Sir, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet outside our system was growing when we left. For all I know, they've started their move toward homeworld... So you can see why we are anxious to get under way..", the Captain's voice trailed off.
Korban nodded. "I will signal you when I am ready."
"Standing by. A shuttle is on it's way." and the screen went dark.
Tyscio knew he had to move quickly. Naboo military officials might be getting antsy at having a nonaligned warship remain in orbit over their planet for too long.
He grabbed his small travel pack, personal weapons as well as his light saber. He looked at the staff but decided to leave it as he looked out towards the back door of his home at the wolves running around near the forest's edge.
He felt his hand shake as his mind was rapidly going over the imminent action he would soon be facing.
I am the only Caprician who hasn't been through the invasion., he thought with irony. He had spent it marooned on Almania while Capricia went to hell.
Not without me this time..
He had gathered his things and signaled the frigate as he heard the shuttle overhead. He almost stepped out to board when he remembered a promise of his own.
He keyed up the communications consol once more and relayed what he hoped would not be his last message.
Receiver: Leia Organa Solo - Gungan High Council.
Location: Naboo
Encryption: CAP-254-001
Greetings My Lady,
I hope that this message finds you well and in good health. I have been regularly following your reconstruction updates with interest. Your Jedi Temple looks breathtaking.
By now you are no doubt tapping your foot hoping when I will get to the point. (Tyscio flashed a wry smile before growing serious once again).
It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Capricia's invaders have returned. Hostilities are imminent.
My people fight once more to push back the darkness that descends upon them. As the threat of extinction becomes very real.
My Lady, you wished to be notified if and when these monsters returned. I am preparing to leave Naboo immediately.
Come alone or bring as many as you desire. No help will be refused. I am transmitting the coordinates for the military route into our system. Your shuttles will not be harmed. Our warship will remain in orbit for one cycle before the Captain returns to Capricia.
(A thought crossed Korban's mind. Would this be his last message to her?)
He touched the screen briefly and he was lost in thought.
Be well Leia..
The figure of the Caprician clad in light and dark blue colors gave an ironic smile, but a slight gleam in his eye showed uncertainty.
(the screen went dark)
...if, in the end, you find yourself alive for one more day, do not think that it is without reason.
"War ends all reason. War cancels all bets. War leaves nothing..." he whispered as he suddenly imagined the horrors he had seen on Endor suddenly enacted on this world.
Naboo's rolling, green hills aflame...
the chanting of alien language growing..
He shook his head at the images and stepped out of his house, giving it and the staff one final glance before heading to the Caprician shuttle that landed at a distance..
..the past..
"Tyscio laughed as he used the force to draw a tree's branch within reach. As he steadied himself, "Teacher, why are not our armies filled with scores of force users. Think of what we could do? Think of what we are?"
"And just what are you, Korban?" asked his teacher looking up at him from the ground.
Tyscio jumped up reaching out to grab a higher limb. "I'm high...ulp!"
His force blocked, the branch now unreachable, he dropped.
His teacher walked over to him, leaned over and repeated to the young man in pain, "What are you, Korban?"
"I... I am muddy." he answered in a shaken voice.
"Exactly!" his teacher smiled."
..now..
The shuttle door lifted...
I am about to get bloody..
..the door shut with an audible 'clang'.
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/26/01 8:19:09 pm
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 14
(9/25/01 10:51:14 pm)
Reply Scipio Arien
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"..If I have an opportunity to wipe away an adversary, I will take it."
Scipio slowed her pace as Gomorran walked quickly to the intelligence briefing room. He had momentarily flared in anger at the situation developing around him.
She felt the force in him and her hand went to her side, a sharp pain blocking out all thought.
Beads of sweat started to appear on her forehead as various aides came over asking if there was anything they could do.
She put a hand on the wall and pushed herself up, straightening and waved the aides away with an irritated scowl.
Her small frame moved quickly through the hall and she soon found the small conference room where they would soon learn how bad things really were.
The report started..
.. and things were....bad.
Scipio sat back in her chair, the pain subsiding but with each passing breath a reminder of what he had done to her. It was because of him that she could not use the force without experiencing pain.
She was strong...one of the strongest on Capricia and yet, here she sat with the force as a useless tool.
Does that lessen me?
At certain moments, he came, invading her thoughts.
Scipio's Clan Leader tried to concentrate on the information being presented...
".... a total of forty vessels have already been reported as missing, My Lord."
Tyscio Zier turned to Gomorran, "They are attempting a war of attrition? A little early for that.. our galactic economy has only begun to grow."
Grow?
The pain returned as Scipio could feel the blood from her mouth drip down onto the ground. Her blaster rifle was set out of reach as a taunt.
A creature had gripped her wrists as she hung slightly suspended.
She was inside an invader ship....but as consciousness returned, she found that the ship had crashed on the surface, noting dead "bugs" of every sort littering the floor and cooridors.
She heard breathing and knew at once that she was being watched by someone close.
Her eyes closed and she tried to reach out to identify her surroundings through the force. Imagine her surprise when everything came up blank.
..it just wasn't possible....was it?
She concentrated harder....until something shot out and kicked her side, her wrists wrenched by the creature's relentless hold.
She let out a gasp for air and tears stung her eyes blurring her vision.
A voice..
"....your fear will grow infidel...."
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/26/01 10:25:17 pm
Organa Solo
Jedi Master
Duct Tape Master
Posts: 7065
(9/26/01 12:52:01 pm)
Reply
Re: Scipio Arien
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Meanwhile on Naboo...
Leia walked slowly into her new quarters at the Jedi Temple in Theed, glad to finally have some peace and quiet to herself after a long day of work. She was not two steps in before she tripped over a box sitting in the floor, and she stumbled further into the room with a soft curse.
Her comm was blinking insistently at her, and so she walked over to the table it sat on and shoved aside a stack of files to get to the access controls. She called up a list of her unviewed messages, and the newest message flagged with a priority marking immeditely caught her eye. It was from Tyscio.
A sudden surge of anticipation filled her, and she watched intently as the mini hologram of Tyscio flickered to life on the table. The message played through fully once, and she then hit replay. The message restarted, but Leia wasn't paying any attention to it. Her earlier problems forgotten, her mind began re-organizing her priorities automatically.
The response time for any sort of move on our part would be too slow to get there in good time. I could leave now and catch the warship before it left... but what about support?
Leia wrestled with the question of whether or not to tell her colleagues.
No. She wouldn't tell them... until after she'd left. She picked up a large pack off of the floor and dumped it's contents back onto the floor. Since her things were strewn everywhere about her quarters due to the fact that she hadn't had time to fully move in yet, she made a relatively quick task of packing the clothes and other essentials she would need.
Next stop was her office. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and arrived to that disaster area within only a few minutes. Dropping her bag outside the door, she walked in and keyed up her holorecorder. It would have to be brief. The ready signal came on, and she took a deep breath before starting. She was committing herself to what could be a very long, hard ordeal. In fact, it could even be her last ordeal....
By the time you recieve this message I will be well on my way to the planet of Capricia. Despite my duties here, it is in my own opinion that they are in grave danger. An outside force threatens them as we have never been threatened before. As a Jedi I feel it is my duty to help them in their upcoming struggle... I not only go for that reason, but a friend calls that planet home, and I wish to help him. I cannot and will not overlook this. I hope you understand, and I apologize for any inconveniences it may cause for the time being. I do not know how long I will be gone, or if I will even come back in one piece. But that will be decided soon enough...
If you feel compelled to follow after me, there is nothing stopping you. You will find the information you need to get safely into the system embedded in heavy encryption within this message. May the Force be with us all"
She ended the message there, and set it to cut on for the first person who walked in the door. Then she keyed up her comm unit and ordered a transport to meet her on the building roof. Her stature made that a routine request, and so tith that she exited her office an headed for the roof.
The ordered shuttle was waiting for her when she got there, and she climbed in. The orbit of the Caprician warship had been tracked as per orders. It hadn't left the system yet. That was a plus. They set out on an intercept route. The only problem was whether they'd reach it in time before it made the jump out of system...
As Leia sat patiently in her acceleration couch it occurred to her that what she was doing borderlined impossible, but she had done it. She also knew her decision to be right. And not only for herself, but others. She had been forced to move as quickly as she did to avoid being held up on her departure. But now that she was free, what came next...?
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 17
(9/26/01 9:20:44 pm)
Reply Scipio Arien
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Scipio came back to reality pushing experiences of the past behind her.
She was with Tyscio Zier, his unsmiling countenance an unspoken pillar of support. His short cropped white hair made his face look almost menacing as he spoke in a personal communications device...
..to his army?
The magnetic train they were in moved across the land at an incredible rate of speed. She looked out the window glancing at the natural landmarks of the planet that seemed to belie the train's speed.
Suddenly, they were travelling on the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast, sandrock crater.
Every so often she would spot an armoured division moving.
"Leantre," she spoke turning to the elder of the clan leaders, (who at the moment seemed lost in thought as he too gazed out a window). "Are there antiaircraft weapons here?"
Leantre Vio, leader of the Defense Division of Capricia turned to the young woman and smiled enigmatically.
She saw in his eyes though, that his confidence seemed to fade.
She felt an shiver of excitement run through her the closer the train got to their destination.
Gomorran seemed distant, pouring over the reports.
He was like this during the first invasion.., she thought trying to remember being at his side as his Adjutant on the old Flagship.
He beat himself up over losing the entire fleet in an effort to stop the occupation of Capricia. He did not realize that his efforts also cost the invaders.. the Yuuzhan Vong (she corrected herself) all their capital ships as well.
When they did finally leave, all they mostly had were shuttles..
Or was there another Command Ship in orbit to meet them? ..and if so, why did it not attack? They could have taken what was left of our armies and defenses out from on top...
Scipio pondered this.
Herridian Wye was still out exploring and she knew that Zier had already sent the recall out to all offworld Capricians.
Is this the end of Capricia?
Her thoughts seemed to stray back to the phrase that plagued her mind.. over and over..
..she shivered again...
"....your fear will grow infidel...."
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/26/01 10:27:17 pm
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 154
(9/26/01 9:54:16 pm)
Reply
Yuuzhan Vong ~ Conquest
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Tslah Vhess stood in the middle of his vessel's massive villip choir. Already the creatures started to receive the lesser villips on the individual coralskippers swarming around the fleet.
Soon, every coral fighter had started transmitting through the villips a strange sound and when they all came over the choir in front of Vhess, he felt moved.
..for this was the Dance of Ominous Portent.
Tslah watched the swarms weave in and out of each other in strange formations, oddly enough changing maneuvers with the sounds that were projected.
To an outsider, with all the movement of the smaller ships, it would look as if the ships were fighting each other... the only things missing were the plasma and explosions.
An outsider, though, wouldn't be able to hear all the Yuuzhan Vong warriors in the mighty bowels of the capital ships suddenly yell as loud as they could in their alien language in response to the sounds from the villips.
The coralskippers moved quicker and their sounds merged in a strange harmony....
... the coralskippers were singing...
The mighty halls in the yorik coral vessels reverberated with the echoes of their warcries.
..the ceremony continued uninterrupted to the satisfaction to all in the alien fleet.
..a good portent indeed.
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 155
(9/26/01 10:34:35 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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"Calculations set for hyperspace, Sir." came the competent voice of the Helm Officer.
"Ready all stations.." the Captain started when the Tracking Officer suddenly spoke up.
"Gungan Government transport approaching rapidly! Recognition signal being sent.. Captain? I believe the plan to dock."
The Captain turned to Tyscio Korban standing on the rather small bridge of the Lancer Frigate Aries, "Friend of yours?"
Tyscio reached out and felt the familiar presence. A small smile appeared on his face. "Looks like you've picked up another passenger.."
The Captain nodded. "Helm hold position and wait till the shuttle either is secured or is away before making the jump."
"Aye Sir."
Tyscio noted that the Captain was anxious but under control. He turned to the rogue Caprician passenger. "So, you going to go greet our guest?"
Tyscio's smile turned into a full fledge grin as he bowed like a Caprician nobleman. "I take my leave of you, oh great Captain."
The Master of the Aries snorted at the display but smiled himself, relieving his tension (as Tyscio had intended).
He headed to the small bay where the Jedi shuttle had docked. His light and dark blue uniform stood out to the black and gray uniform of the Gomorran Clan soldiers on the ship.
The Jedi Master bustled out of the shuttle as if full of energy.
Tyscio could tell that she was anything but...as she got nearer.
Though she hid it admirably, there was a harried look about her.
How quickly we slip back into our routines.., he started to think and then smiled at himself. The first thing he did upon returning from Endor was build himself a house at a forests edge near Theed City. He had been frustrated many times trying to deal with the local bureaucrats about zoning issues and whatnot.
He could understand her appearance since she sat on top off the entire process trying to maintain some semblence of order day in and day out.
He felt a familiar determination in the woman and he stepped across the meet her half way.
Upon noticing the familiarity between the two individuals, the Gomorran guards left leaving the flight deck crew to check the systems of the guest shuttle (as was their custom).
Tyscio took her bag (for guests just didn't carry their own bags on Caprician Vessels....unless, of course, they were hostile guests) and flashed her a wry smile, noting the engines of the shuttle still smoking slightly.
"Going my way?"
But then the anxiety closed down on him and he turned serious.
"I do appreciate your extremely quick response."
he mentioned on their walk through the vessels' corridor.
Hit hit an intercom and signaled the bridge. "Captain, we have our passenger. Leia Organa Solo of the Gungan High Council."
"Are we expecting anyone else?" the Captain asked over the comm.
Tyscio looked at Leia and she shook her head.
"She's it, Sir."
"Very good, show her our guest quarters on C-Deck.. and then get up here. There might be some intel we need to go over and she might have something useful to add."
Tyscio raised his eyebrow, "You assume she won't?"
The Captain's voice came back equally quickly, "I don't assume in this business.. only hope."
Tyscio nodded and signed off leading Leia off to C-Deck.
As they walked, he turned and asked with concern, "How are you?"
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/27/01 1:18:24 am
Sully Tigereye
Civilian
Posts: 1
(9/27/01 4:27:19 pm)
Reply Sully Tigereye
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Deep space....Sepan Sector...
The hum of sublight engines brought a snarl from a most atrocious source. Sully’s slivery brown-coated pelt shown in radiance under the integrated bioluminescence lamps of the scout freighter's, Jaded Sky, peripherals. Sully felt drowsy and heavy in spirits enduring through weeks of fatigue-ridden espionage of the Inner Sanctum, and their conglomerating business partners (potentially useless information).
Such was what he was tracking now: the elite commercial benefactor of the Inner Sanctum, the Vinda Corporation. He had tracked a main shipping convoy from Bonadan through deep space, vectoring into some unknown rendezvous point that appeared nowhere on his ships nav charts, not that he had checked them.
The Cathar had just arisen from his early catnap… an ironic use of the term cat, as his complexion bore a most similar resemblance to lineage of feline ancestry. His deep blue eyes reflected bemusement and annoyance at the urge of hyperspace beacons sounding general alarms to begin pre departure procedures. Fortunately for him, the ships on board cortex could handle such procedure without the pilot present. He had put in an extra twenty thousand credits for smart chip devices that would depend less on his own flight experience.
Cathar were never notable for being good pilots, anyways. Better to rely on machine in space, rather than instincts.
That was his domain. Instincts were bred into Cathar as requirement of lineage. He arose from his sleeping pit; on all fours, preceded a path towards his grooming mantel, containing various tools for the complex needs of Cathar hygiene. He preferred to listen to music while grooming himself. He asked the ships computer cortex for the various melodies of the consecrated home world, and soon a shrill of high pitched and eloquent notes reverberated through the corridors of the ship. The song was brought down from his ancestors, a melody from his own clan.
The home world was notably a paradise of blooming beauty, being dominated by terrains consisting of vast icy tundra’s, dried grassy plains, and plateaus of marshlands erecting themselves from the plains. Rainy seasons were plentiful, making agriculture or noble source of firm well balanced diet for the Cathar. Preys were abundant throughout the prairies, making hunting a practice of honor and valor. Temperatures were mild and temperate, useful for jubilant, outdoor lifestyle.
Social structure were consisting of noble warriors, the women kin, who had all the rights and privileges as their male counterparts, and the pranskis, the religious sect of the tribe. Agriculture and hunting were conducted by the offspring of the tribe, as a source of humility and religious test to prove oneself for the warrior’s caste. If not excepted that youth was sacrificed to the Fagrath, the mother goddess, who represent all feline, as a symbol of apology for failing her qualifications to be one of the elite. Life was normally pleasant. The Cathar was not a blood-slaughtering race, but saw war as a noble practice, to be enterprise with rules and boundaries. They believed that peace existed and co existed with destruction, which the two were constantly at balance with one another, until the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong.
They came in force, the day of the Cathal Tigre, or burning meadows when translated into basic. Their savagery and brutal methods of victory were overwhelming to the Cathar, yet, the feline finesse warriors gathered by multitudes upon multitudes on the plains, ready in closure of protection.
The Cathar had never been technologically advanced, yet even they were not familiar with the concepts of primitive graphite and stone tools. During the Vong’s attack, the Cathar experienced sheer bewilderment at being completely awe struck by the devices of which these bizarre foreigners wielded to bring means of unprecedented and sudden death. Devices of terror and merciless pain that no elder of any clan of all Cathar on the home world could bring into recollection of some ill begotten remembrance of a distant past.
On the home world, however, the Cathar’s most useful tool was not found engraved into stone, graphite, or wood. Indeed for a creature capable of instilling a psychological terror upon its prey from shear ferocity, true... the Cathar physical entity was its most lethal weapon, and useful of tools, in which to commit the most vile and atrocious of acts that it seemed fit to deem upon.
Glistening pairs of serrated claws that could easily tear through durasteel plating were kept neatly and comfortably behind a pad of thick velvet. A jaw raw enough to crush and grind through bone complemented rows of jagged teeth, which could create an output of kinetic energy as great to compare as to a hydro clamp. An vengeful offensive force of three thousand Cathar blood warriors were sent out to intercept a Vong raiding party of a few hundred, kilometers away from meeting at the Cathal Tigre. A battle waged, where hundreds of the poor, yet honorable, Cathar had nobly met the Fagrath. Religious rites of long ago were lost with so many of the Red River clan meeting a violent end.
The caretakers of the village had evacuated from the village, carrying the wailing cubs in their arms, leaving behind all their personal beloved parcels, in some vain hope of one point in time of returning. Sully had been among those taken to the caves, in the north the home world, a terrain of desolate ice tundra’s. The caves of ancient religious ceremonies dominated the landscape, and proved variable hiding places of enclosure.
Sully winced at his remembrance of his sad, distant past. It wasn’t until the New Republic arrived at their home world, to be taken off planet in wings of silver, a material that was never viewed upon the Cathar. Sully had been among those who would be taken off world, to new strange inhabited areas of the newly found galaxy, over wide expanses and regions that seemed endless.
In bittersweet anger, his hand reflexively crushed a glass container of a sweet smelling perfume. He purred in serenity, watching as few droplets of satin crept down his arm, but was enveloped in a blanket of fur. A single tear... a single remembrance of what used to be, and what he could never again have formed in the pocket of his eye.
He shook the thoughts from his head, the mourning period had been at an end years ago, yet he could never bring himself to forget and rolling plains, the rainy seasons, the hunt, the sweet cries of young cubs, of the home world, his beloved home world... the devastation the ships of the Yuuzhan Vong had wrought upon it... oh... the beautiful plains... the plains...
He entered the bridge cockpit. To anyone with year’s one experienced veteran piloting, the interior would have set off a world of oblivious malevolence. Cathar hands weren’t meant to grip the control throttles of steering circuits, so he had put in a request, actually more like a formal demand, for complete onboard voice activation slave circuit. The Jaded Sky was completely constructed for voice automation activation systems.
"CORE, relay to target, where is the convoy?"
An enhanced feminine voice replied in taunt.
"The VC convoy is precisely on target, they’ve met with another shipping group of YT series of freighters."
Sully’s eyebrows shifted in perplexing curiosity.
"Any identifications on the recipient group?'
"Negative on BAC scanners."
"Run an infrared external scan."
"Proceeding."
Servomotors could be heard whining in protest. Tigereye stared past the bulkhead of the cockpit, locking his acute visual senses on the small brood of what was the VC convoy, and...
"Sully, relay to Tenloss his suspicions are correct, VC is conglomerating with the Inner Sanctum."
"Fine... after this we can head back into-"
A sudden shrill of alarms sent Sully sprawling into action, with a series of voice commands, he rerouted power from auxiliary backup to the particle shielding power apparatus, and increased sublight speed to six point eight before three of the Sanctum’s freighters took flight and came gunning for him.
With preset nav coordinates, he flung back into hyperspace. He sat there, at the brink of mental and physical collapse, with no contact with the outside world for weeks. CORE interrupted his pronounced mood of silence.
"Sully, our internal communication relays intercepted a transmission."
His eyes went wide in surprise; he noted that he heard a faint distinction in CORE’s voice as well...
"Well... that’d explain why they found us. If they were rendezvousing to receive that transmission..."
CORE interjected:
"... and we received it, that would explain their motive for scanning the region to see if someone was tracking them. They probably noted that someone intercepted the message."
"Precisely, which makes this liable intelligence of any sort."
"Should we wait to report to Tenloss?"
"No... play the record, visual recording only, display on monitor four."
Moments of time came and left in fleeting futileness, finally after much deliberation, the message of dire importance scrolled upon the screen.
General message to all Capricians offworld.
My friends, my fellow Capricians,
We are once again beseiged by the darkness. It is a darkness
we know well..it is a darkness that almost consumed us. Citizens, the "invaders" have returned to our world.
Intelligence has identified our invaders as the Yuuzhan Vong, a particularly vicious and brutal species bent on the destruction of everything we hold dear and the subjugation of this galaxy.
I am issuing this formal recall to all citizens of the Caprician Regency to come aid in the defense of their homeworld.
To any who should intercept this message, please be aware that the Caprician system is now classified as a war zone.
Entry into our system will be at great risk to yourselves, your crew and cargo. Should you choose to fight beside us, you will be welcome.
Together we can defeat the darkness once more.
To the religious: May the Force be with you.
To the nonreligious: Let's make sure they don't get up again.
Gomorran Kay
Regent - Caprician Regency
Sully’s senses failed to compensate for the amount of shock he was suffering. His voice barely managed to give a series of orders that issued a finality to which side he would take in the bitter struggle soon to come.
In honor, by valor, he would not let the Vong do to Capricia what they accomplished on the home world.
Be damned those savage bastards.
"CORE, get me IS Official Cronus, stat."
Edited by: Sully Tigereye at: 9/28/01 9:24:12 pm
Organa Solo
Jedi Master
Duct Tape Master
Posts: 7074
(9/27/01 4:43:29 pm)
Reply
Re: Tyscio Korban
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Leia noted the concerned tone of Tyscio's voice, and it puzzled her somewhat. But she adopted a thoughtful expression and decided to clear up a few things she had noted were out of date earlier.
"Well, I suppose I should mind you that I'm not really by title nor job a Gungan diplomat anymore. My titles lay more in my Jedi position and my Republic position as Chief of State. My term just started for that position not all that long ago, but things are already in full swing. Those two positions take up almost all of my time, but I still do manage a handful of political jobs that come in from Naboo from day to day."
Leia grinned.
"In fact, that is why my response was so quick. I had the leverage to rate a top priority shuttle ride, and so I was on my way. If I hadn't have gone then I might not have been able to get out for a long time. Politics does that to you. So basically you could call me a runaway Leader, though soon enough they'll know where I am going and will manage to get along adequately until I return. They knew I was flightly when they handed me the job"
Leia swallowed hard as the already familiar thought entered her mind. She didn't know if she'd survive this and be able to come back.
They had reached 'C Deck' and Leia noticed she had been talking quite a long while about the same time she noticed that she had neglected to change out of her heavy crimson ceremonial robes before she had left. Gone unnoticed for a while, their heavy uncomfortable weight suddenly registered in Leia's mind again, and she shifted her tired shoulders as she followed Tyscio down a corridor. They stopped in front of a door and she waited while Tyscio opened it.
"Well, I suppose altogether I am doing quite well for myself, work has taken up a good deal of my time, but I've found time to continue working on internal issues. This was certainly unexpected, but not totally unwelcome in it's own cruel way"
She said no more, for Tyscio knew what she was referring to, at least mostly. He had opened the door, and she followed him inside as he turned on a light and deposited her bag into a secure storage place. It wasn't until they were exiting the room on the way to wherever their next destination was that Leia returned the query.
"So how are you doing these days?"
Leantre Vio
Civilian
Posts: 5
(9/27/01 6:45:14 pm)
Reply Leantre Vio
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Capricia
I am getting too old for this...
The elder Caprician Clan Leader, saddled with the responsibility of the Regency's defense, bore up well under the pressure but he could feel himself growing tired.
While his mind remained alert and lost none of it's sharpness, he knew his body just could not keep up.
This is what happens when you get to be my age, Vio... you get old!
He glanced at the youngsters around him and wondered if they'd even get the chance to grow old.
Scipio Arien.....The Regency's Ambassador to the outer galactic powers. She took her assignment rather well (even though not trained for it) and her young aides flurished under her tutelage. But she also considered herself Gomorran's Adjutant, as if he ever thought of her as anything but.
Come to think of it, he realized that Gomorran always addressed her as "Adjutant".
He remembered when her father held the reigns of Scipio Clan. Now that was a man who could lead!
Leantre watched Scipio from afar, Her father would be proud.
She was born Crystal Ariennis, the pride and joy of her parents. The force was strong in Noble House Ariennis, one of the few on their world.
She had tagged along with Gomorran and his friends when they were children..always getting into trouble. All children from Noble Houses.
All except Tyscio Korban.
Leantre wondered why he suddenly thought of the young man living on Naboo. Because, unrealized yet by the others, this member of Tyscio Clan would soon become prominent.
Leantre had known many people in his life...had seen many fall... and many triumph...and the boy, Korban, had a quality about him that would/could end up being a guiding force on Capricia eventually.
If he survives..
Leantre had fought the Yuuzhan Vong five years ago and even then he was not fooled. He knew that the Capricians should have lost.... while the Caprician spirit burned bright within, he knew that they had already lost.
It was the alien's sudden withdrawal that plagued him in his sleepless nights.
Why did they just "up" and leave?
Why, when victory was in their grasp?
They had to have known that.. so why?
He sighed, looking at his timepiece...one given to him many decades ago by someone he held dear.
Christine..... I miss you.
His wrinkled hands moved over his house ring that he still wore for the memory of his deceased wife.
At least she had died before the first invasion began. It would have broken her heart to see Capricia as it was then...
His attention turned to Gomorran. Born: Marcus Kayalous, of Noble House Kayalous. By assuming the mantle of Regent, his fears would soon become Capricia's fears... his thoughts, turned into Caprician action. For such was the effect of leaders.
Leadership was a double edged sword sometimes and Leantre sometimes thought he could see pieces of Gomorran's soul shredded that much more with each hard or painful decision he made.
..and it's only beginning..
Leantre was not a force user... but he didn't need it to know that his Regent's thoughts rested on the family that never was.
In the first invasion, Gomorran Kay lost his wife, his children and his house. He was the last of the Noble House Kayalous and such pressure must weigh heavily.
Will he seek vengence for his lost family?
He didn't know for sure, but he had heard reports about his Regent taking action into his own hands hunting down the grave robbing slime that had broken into the Caprician Monument. Slime that had stolen the ashes (and their gold containers) of many of the children who had died during the invasion (whom the monument was a tribute too).
He had left the nomadic clans (during the final part of their three year Exodus) for a while to find the criminals who held the remains of his son, Janus.
If the reports were to be believed, Gomorran had executed the men on Onderon, just before the Clans had met up with him....just before the construction of their Embassy.
He sighed for he just didn't have the heart to investigate.
..and once more we fall into the abyss..
Edited by: Leantre Vio at: 9/28/01 1:00:50 am
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 103
(9/27/01 8:52:05 pm)
Reply | Edit Gomorran Kay
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Capricia
"Marcus? Marcus Kayalous? Who are you?"
The young man in the vision held a confident smile, one arm gripping the waist of his wife, Arianna, and the other around his growing boy, Janus (named after a friend).
Marcus Kayalous had gone through his Rite of Passage and found himself of Gomorran Clan, which suited him just fine.
His father was Gomorran....and his father... and his father....
..on and on the generations of Noble House Kayalous, serviing proudly Gomorran Clan.
.And yet he was the first Kayalous to actually hold the position of Clan Leader.
The young man, Marcus, was dressed immaculately (as was his family) in the black and gray colors of his new clan.
She was two months pregnant then. Arianna.
A hand fell upon the picture, slowly tracing the outline of her features...her hair... her mouth...
He stared in her eyes and even in the picture, they showed a measure of depth.... as if he could see into the depths of her soul... (even dead these many years).
She was happy.
Janus?
The tiny child had a rambunctious gleam in his eye as his missing teeth shined through his smile.
(Gomorran smiled)
Janus had lost them trying to climb the shell of a star freighter.
But as quickly as the memories came from the picture, so too the images of his family estates smoldering from the devestation wrought.
..and where was he?
Where was he when his family was dying?
Where was he when his planet was suffering?
.. he was leading the fleet at the system's edge..
..thinking he had defeated the alien fleet.
..thinking he had saved the day..
..taking his time.. revelling in the maneuvers that they had thought saved the day..
Celebrating while his wife and children burned.
Gomorran continued looking at the reports scrolling across his datapad, his old family photo safely tucked away in his uniform.
He looked at Tyscio Zier, who was speaking to the fleet, and said:
"The Fleet stays here."
Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 3
(9/27/01 10:13:07 pm)
Reply Yuuzhan Vong
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Outreaches of the Caprician System...
The symphony of pain was over, the warriors all ready, eager, and willing to advance that closer to death, a repayment to Yun-Yuuzhan for creating the universe by sacrificing pieces of himself.
Really, in the light of such sacrifice, the life of a warrior amounted to very little.... almost nothing.
The sacrifice of slaves amounted to less than that of a warrior...
..and the sacrifice of infidels barely held any value..
Which was why any sacrifice that took place with infidels had to be extremely large, to ensure that their screams (to the delight of the gods) were heard.
The sacrifices ..the gifts to the gods would be counted as worthless if such gifts could not get the god's attention.
Or so Tallien felt.
With the Warmaster's chosen join
Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 1
(9/17/01 5:19:02 pm)
Reply Conquest of Capricia - Part I: War Drums (DnD)
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Tallien Yzan watched the numbers increase as new vessels were grown. A campaign deviation from the Warmaster's overall plan was not unheard of, but it was unusual.
However, Tallien was certain that Yun-Yuuzhan would approve their sojourn to find a people worthy of the truth in the Yuuzhan Vong's apparent 'Manifest Destiny'. He silently gazed at the Caprician sun, a mere pinpoint of light now. Soon their fleet, such as it was, would enter the infidel system and begin their "conversion".
He smiled to himself, supremely confident in the outcome.
Xanadal, how wrong you were! Mere will was not enough against the glorious warriors of Yuuzhan Vong.
He noted a warrior, off to the side, silently approach in deference to the Master Shaper's status. The warrior, though, was anxious to partake in the fighting and Tallien could not fault him for that.
Yun-Yuuzhan created us as we are. We embrace this suffering. We acknowledge the pain of existence and would gladly run the road of broken horns a thousand times to further His will.
The star flickered as if in response and Tallien's gaze narrowed.
If only the heretics would yield! If only they would come to see the truth!
Suddenly, a sharp pain on his right colar bone brought him from his reverie and he turned to the warrior waiting patiently.
At least he knows his place.
The warrior's eyes glanced briefly at the small, almost metallic looking, creature chewing pieces of flesh off of Tallien's collar and admired the fact that Tallien made no sound.
That fact was not lost on any who met the Master Shaper and they respected him for it. Anyone who could command such pain could command life. The warrior would have no problem following explicitly the orders given by this pious Yuuzhan Vong.
//The slave ships arrive tomorrow.// the warrior had spoken in their native tongue.
The Master Shaper contemplated this for a bit. As of now, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet consisted of his command ship and several smaller cruisers each housing a full compliment of coral fighters.
//My adepts will be joining our action tomorrow as well.//
Tallien's mind drifted briefly to Vuas Huung before speaking again, //Have we chosen a starting vector?//
The warrior nodded his head and a villip mutation came to life suddenly activated by his motions. //The outermost world the infidels call, "Minos".//
//"Minos"// Tallien let the name rest on his tongue. //I do not recognize this name from our first invasion.//
//The planet's orbit was not one conducive to our actions at the time and our vector cut much deeper in system.//
Tallien nodded accepting the fact for what it was... truth.
It is time the infidels of this galaxy realized truth as well.
He turned his body back to space, locating the Caprician star.
//Spread our ships out and activate the larger dovin basals. Cut the arteries leading into the system. You have leave to destroy any and all ships you can. Make your sacrifices to Yun-Yammka..spare no one the privilege of death.//
The deep cuts into the warriors lips spread as he smiled.
//As you command, your Eminence.//
The alien vessels moved, positioning themselves in the major hyperspace lanes and began projecting their gravity fields to take the civilian/commercial transports. It was as if a large hand had come forth and begun to squeeze off the blood to the heart of the system.
>*<*>*<
"Dang it, Seth!" came a gruff voice from the engine room of the rather dirty transport. "I told you to go easy on my engines!"
The voice shouted through the hall as a figure moved to the forward compartment.
"We got overloads all over the damn place and if you are not careful we could blow our cargo across space."
"Nag, nag, nag." mocked the pilot named Seth. "This is the last shipment of arms to Capricia. I just want my money and - - - "
The vessel was suddenly flung out of hyperspace by some unknown force. The dovin basal was old and not extremely powerful but the old ship just could not stand the stresses. The hull gave way instantly decompressing the cabin area killing everyone immediately. Debris floated past the stationary Yuuzhan Vong cruiser.
It had begun.
Edited by: Tallien Yzan at: 9/28/01 12:27:56 am
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 129
(9/18/01 8:40:50 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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Naboo
....if, at the end of the day, you find yourself alive, young Korban, do not think that it is without purpose. Finding it, though... that's the trick.
Tyscio slashed the air with his blade, his fierce concentration displayed only by his precise movements and repitition.
Lately, his focus was becoming more and more tuned as his self testing and experimenting took him to new levels of effort.
Lento, in the distance, watched his activity and he felt a slight trepidation in the force.
As his skill increased, as his awareness became more focused, as his perceptions became clearer he found himself thinking of only one person.
He looked at the scars on his wrist.
His purpose...
"..you would have done the same for me..." he whispers to himself, recalling those words.
It seems like so long ago, and yet, it wasn't.
Everything he had done was for one purpose and one purpose alone.
To aid a person that would have done the same for him.
"come back to me..." whispered the wind.. and Tyscio turned off the saber.
He stood there in the small clearing looking at the forest and realized that he had become estranged from everything he is.. was.. and perhaps will be.
..living on borrowed time...
He smiled ruefully and glanced at the staff propped up in the ground.
..her teacher was wise...
He looked up at the darkening sky.
I stand on this insignificant ball of dirt, an insignificant person, and wonder: If as long as we are alive we have the power to effect change, why hasn't it happened yet?
He stared at the lightly visible stars and vowed.
I will find you Iriana. I will do for you what you would do for me.... what we have already done for each other...
..life in exchange for life....
His smile turned into a grin.
"Perhaps this time ability will outfox experience and we shall dance around the fires..." his voice was soft...
Soon!
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/19/01 10:35:44 am
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 98
(9/23/01 12:28:41 am)
Reply | Edit Politics...
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Capricia - Hall of Voice
The screen showed several children playing in a field. Boys... running around..laughing.
They were carrying piping fixtures... pointing them at each other as some sort of imaginary ray gun battling alien menace.
Another child came running up to play with them carrying something rather large.
(the audience stirred)
Soon he too was running after another child, joining in the laughter.
He took his large object and pointed it at the other child pulling the trigger.
So powerful was the blast from the weapon that it broke several ribs of the child holding the blaster rifle. The child it was aimed at simply ceased to be...being ripped apart by the energy eminating from the weapon.
(the lights came on)
"This is what we face ladies and gentlemen with the introduction of the Regent's plan to arm families. Already this has happened to several families. Tell the citizens of Capricia how they are to sleep safe at nights when our own inexperienced children are running around toting the weapons that you gave them?"
The speaker was eloquent. The speaker was dramatic. The speaker made some very good points...and, unfortunately, the speaker was also against Gomorran.
The Regent of the Capricia looked from his seat to the man speaking rather emphatically for his cause.
".... fellow Capricians anymore. How long are we to put up with the 'War time' taxation during 'peace'? How long are we to put up with the blaster rifles being handed out along with marriage certificates which ultimately kill our children as we just have seen? How long are we to remain a military state?"
All good questions, he admitted. How long indeed.
Perhaps it was the Regents slight smile at his own thoughts or perhaps it was the fact that he had not deigned to answer the question that the speaker brought the attack to a personal level.
"You smile smugly in your comfortable seat of power. Tell me, Sir, if the question wasn't even raised, would you have had the courage to ..."
"Objection!" came Zier's forceful yet timely yell. "You forget whom you address Councilman. Have you forgotten the invaders?"
The Councilman made a slight sneer at Tyscio Clan's Leader and looked directly at Gomorran. "How long are we to be dragged again and again through the horrible past of our near demise? The Invaders are gone! Let the dead bury the dead and let Capricia move on!
Move on indeed!, Gomorran thought with a frown. How many of these attacks will I have to endure...
He stopped his thoughts as he realized just how well he had had it in the governmental seat of Caprician Power. Typically, if all Clans were present, then the government would have been comprised of a Council. However, the remaining seven Clans abdicated their right to a Council by subjecting themselves to a more centralized government, a Regency.
Up to this point, Gomorran had enjoyed unchallenged command of the planet and resources and had faced no opposition. Now, with the Reconstruction over, more and more people found themselves with more time on their hands and such time led to mischief.
Province Councilmen suddenly began cropping up everywhere and it was a matter of time before one eventually challenged the Regent.
This upstart was gaining popularity among those who felt pressured by the changes the Clans were directing all over the planet.
It was not lost on Gomorran, though, that the speaker was also from a Noble House and would probably have been ruling in his place had the Clans not returned from their Exodus.
He couldn't shake the nagging and growing dread that was eating him up inside. Tyscio Korban's report about the Caprician bodies found on Endor was startling. He did not like the implications at all and was fully prepared to commit more resources to a military buildup.
The only obstacle was political and while this upstart might not be able to wrestle the reigns of the government away from the Regent, he could damage the people's trust in their leaders.
Just what am I going to do with you?
Edited by: GomorranKay at: 9/23/01 10:39:06 am
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 13
(9/23/01 3:55:18 pm)
Reply Conquest
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"Kill him.. "
..spoke Vuas Huung as she moved to her quarters.
The wimpering alien had tried to escape...perhaps a cause worthy of note if it had been successful. The alien did not even kill one captor in his flight, preferring to stick to the shadows.
The Chazrach soldier gripped the alien roughly and led it off in total obedience to his lady.
.. as it should be.
She found herself running out of captives for sacrifice but knew that Tallien would soon open the cauldrons of death once more upon the worlds of his choosing.
Still... even though the outcome was inevitable, she yearned for challenge and so far, the pathetic beings of this galaxy offered none.
She moved across the rather warm and humid hall of her living ship and stopped at one spot, looking at the wall, moving her hand across several hair-like feelers.
The wall parted as if the cavity was a result of the massive ship breathing and closed as she walked past it.
She had not been in this room in some time and the screams were still there in her mind's eye. She turned to a corner and saw the small Gup settled. A Gup was a special design of Tallien's bioengineering. The round body of the Gup was supported by six short legs and stood about two feet off the ground. However, the mouth opened wide.. giving an almost bowl effect. It was one of her favorites.
In the center of the small room rested a human skull, the bioluminescence of the ship creating an erie glow within it.
She knelt down running her slit fingers across the bone almost as if caressing the white object.
She smiled at the memories..
The creature had sworn up and down that he was no Jeedai. That even though he weilded the same magic, he was something called Sith.
Vuas laughed.
As if the difference, which evidently was of some importance to her captive, would actually matter to her.
Still, the infidel had continued to profess his hatred for the Jeedai and everything they stood for...trying to show that their goals were the same.
That had brought Vuas up short.
She had heard of beings like this.. beings that sold out their own galactic inhabitants to the greater glory of the Yuuzhan Vong.
So she put him to the test. She asked if he would willingly serve the Yuuzhan Vong obediently, without question, as did the Chazrach?
The Sith, of course, answered yes but there was a slight hesitation and Vuas picked up on it.
The heretic had thought himself equal to the Yuuzhan Vong, a distortion of truth that would need to be corrected.
The Sith has called himself ...what was the term.. evil.. as well as the Yuuzhan Vong. Was the creature attempting to prove that Yuuzhan Vong and Sith came from the same ancestry?
She knew he was lying if that was the case. Yun-Harla, the trickster goddess, would grant even the stupidest of creatures the ability to see through that lie.
The charade had gone on long enough, she stated flatly and she saw the infidel tense.
She had almost convinced herself that the tales of the professed magic that these Jeedai displayed (and she grouped every of these under that name for it gave her a perverse pleasure at seeing this Sith go unacknowledged) were just that.. stories. She had seen nothing of import with this person.
She brought out a very sharp weapon and the Sith smiled. He said if she struck him down he would become more powerful than she could possilby imagine.
She thought a bit and asked if this was true of all Sith.
"Most of them.." he had replied.
She looked him in the eye and her thin lips grew into a feral smile. "Then why haven't all the Sith slit their throats to become more powerful than we can all imagine?"
The Sith looked at her in silence.
"It's because you fear death..... like the Jeedai.."
The Sith was going to angrily retort when she flashed his lightsaber and said, "You claim to be equal. Prove it."
The restraining creatures unlocked their hold and the Sith grabbed his saber, igniting it immediately.
He slashed at Vuas, her weapon blocking his strike and then his hand shot out as if attempting to use his almost imaginary power of the force.
Vuas, in irritation slapped his hand down and went on the attack. She was surprised at the Sith's lack of strength and coordination. His hand shot out again as if he was trying to will the organic door open. His face was a vision of rage and hatred and soon turned to one of pain as her left hand grabbed his wrist holding the saber and the other hand sliced down severing it. He screamed.
"You are nothing without this force are you?" she asked with contempt.
The Sith's remaining hand went to a necklace and she reached in and pulled it out, yanking it from his neck.
"The.. sp.spirit of an ancient Sith will con..consume you.." he managed to get out through clenched teeth. "..ver..very powerful.."
Vuas looked at the ornament in her hand and raised a tatooed eye at him. "If he is so powerful, why keep him in a cage?"
Her hand crumbled the ornament and a small light shifted off and away from the crushed amulet trying to find another host. Unfortunately, the Yuuzhan Vong did not have the force within them and therefore the only living receptacle was the Sith himself.
He screamed as the dead "spirit" took possession and soon Vuas saw the Sith's expression change.
More rage..more hatred...and, naturally, more arrogance.
His other hand shot out as he attempted to walk by her and push her away with whatever evil forces he claimed to possess. His face also registered surprise as her blade took his other hand.
"Do you fear death," she aksed and the Sith whispered.. "Never." attempting to cradle his two handless arms.
She was impressed at the fact that the Sith didn't scream out in pain as he had when the first hand was taken.
"Then you won't resist." She finished and grabbed his head forcing him to his knees. The Gup had crawled over opening it's large mouth and Vuas hauled the Sith over to the creature by his hair.
The cavity of the creature was a weird yellow-brownish goo that seemed to swirl around. Her grip tightened and she put the Sith's head into the creature's large mouth, the dissolving acids of the goo reacting instantly to the contact.
Almost immediately Vuas felt him resist and try to pull himself out.
He was, indeed, afraid of dying.
With no other recognizable receptacles, Vuas saw the shimmering light of their spirits die.
She spat out the word, "Jeedai"
The skull came back into view...the only thing not consumed by the Gup.
"Never doubt our reach.." she whispered hoping that soon, the halls of her ship would once again be filled with the wails of sacrifices to the great Yun-Yuuzhan.
Tallien's Command ship was found and her group of small cruisers fell into position along side it.
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/23/01 7:30:06 pm
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 100
(9/24/01 7:26:59 pm)
Reply | Edit Conquest of Capricia - Part I: The Beginning
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Capricia - Hall of Voice
I have you now you arrogant bastard!, the speaker thought, surprised at his own vehemence.
The months of silent maneuvering, the late conferences with the heads of various houses.
This was but the first step in de-throning the Regent from his dictatorial rule. There should be checks and balances. There should be a ruling body...not one single individual. There should be .... and suddenly the hypocrisy slipped a bit. I should be the one in that seat!
Even as he thought it, he knew...he just knew that he could definitely do a better job. It would take an act of Jedi gods to get the Regent out of this mess..
*
The speaker had finally ended his passionate speech and took his seat opposite the Regent, opting not to sit behind a table... a subtle inference that he had nothing to hide.
Judging from the body language, Gomorran could see that the speaker's arguement hit home with several people.
He started to speak.
"Mr. Speaker, I must thank you."
The man's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"For you see, you have touched on a responsibility that has been going unnoticed by the Caprician people. (he paused) No longer. As you correctly brought out, each family that is founded by marriage is issued a weapon for protection. If that family should have young ones, then the responsibility to the parents is to keep such a dangerous weapon OUT OF REACH of their children.
Our military even teaches it's soldiers to respect weapons and their danger. Should it not be more so among the civilian population?"
The speaker seated opposite the Regent smiled and retorted, "I am questioning the law itself Sir. It is unnecessary...."
The Regent turned to his Adjutant, interrupted the man. "Scipio, what was the talley of deaths among the civilian population in the invasion five years ago?"
The blonde woman dressed in her clan uniform of maroon and black stepped forward and looked at the audience seated behind the speaker. "One fifth of our population."
"And the reason for so much deaths?"
"The enemy did not distinguish between military and civilian targets, my Lord. Most of the civilians were unarmed and unable to protect themselves."
"BUT THE INVADER'S ARE GONE!!" shouted the speaker suddenly standing up. His breach of protocol made the audience slightly nervous.
"You use the excuse of the invaders time and again to bury Capricia under martial law!"
The speaker paused and swept his arm across the audience. "Sir, we want... we want-"
"You want to be innocent again." the Regent finished softly. He stared at the audience. "We can never go back to the days of blissful ignorance. Like it or not, we cannot go hide and hope the galaxy will pass us by not noticing. We have to change.."
Suddenly, soldiers (wearing Gomorran Clan colors) burst into the Hall of Voice in a hurry to the Regent's place. The Clan Leaders had gotten up ready for anything, Scipio stepping in front of Gomorran until he stood and placed his hands on her shoulders moving her aside.
The speaker and audience were in a flurry at the presence of soldiers. The leader of the squad went right up to the Regent and handed him a datapad.
Everyone was quiet as they watched their leader read it. Gomorran's eyes suddenly raised and they looked old. He passed the pad to Tyscio Zier and the others.
The audience saw Mescian and Boranius suddenly leave the auditorium after reading. The planetary population was watching this meeting via the interplanetary communications. They too stirred (those that were watching).
Gomorran looked over the audience and spoke with a grave calm that belied his anxiety.
"All war power protocols are now activated. All reserves are to report to their barracks."
People started talking among themselves quickly. The protocols were only used when Capricia was in a state of war.
"The invaders, whom intelligence has identified as the Yuuzhan Vong, have been spotted gathering in force outside our system. Already commercial traffic his being harrassed."
He was about to walk out amidst the flurry of heightened activity but he stopped, looked at the speaker and spoke into the audio amplifier once more.
"Blaster Rifles will be issued to families needing them. War preparations will be handled and organized by Scipio Clan."
The leaders of Capricia left the Hall.
"You did that on purpose, Sir!" Scipio said as they left.
Gomorran smiled grimly. "I suddenly ran out of time for finesse. If I have an opportunity to wipe away an adversary, I will take it."
"Too bad you can't do that with the invaders." she quipped.
"If opportunities aren't avaliable I will just have to make some." he replied walking into the Capricia sun, the sirens blaring.
So, they've come back...
Edited by: GomorranKay at: 9/26/01 8:07:31 pm
Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 2
(9/24/01 9:31:03 pm)
Reply Outside the Caprician System
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Tallien watched in his mind, the glorious attack upon the world of Capricia...
..the subjugation of it's people..
..the death of the world as it soon would become a breeding ground for Yorik coral, the building block for all Yuuzhan Vong living vessels.
The Yuuzhan Vong spies were in place, launched many months ago. He was never sure if the Warmaster would approve the small campaign against the World of Decision. When the Warmaster had given Tallien Yzan his approval, the Master Shaper felt that Yun-Yuuzhan himself was behind the action.
However, Tallien had no experience leading the mighty Yuuzhan Vong fleet. This was why they waited at the edge of the infidel system, awaiting the arrival of the Warmaster's chosen to follow Tallien's wishes by directing the warriors in the glorious conquest.
Tallien studied the reports from his spies trying to probe the mind of Capricians.
How could a people come to such visciousness in combat and yet return to the soft ways of heretics as soon as the Yuuzhan Vong left?
It was.. hypocritical.
He thought back to a particular race of beings that the Yuuzhan Vong had encountered a thousand years ago in their own galaxy. The people had professed conversion and inflicted the glorious pain on their own to such a point as to make Yun-Harla, the trickster goddess, proud. When their hypocrisy was discovered, the Domains returned and that race was left extinct. The warriors did not approve of Yun-Harla's tricks used on them.
In the reports he saw that the ruling bodies, the Clans, had left the planet after the aborted invasion. The planet had plunged into Civil War for another two years until the Clans returned stronger and imposed the peace they now experienced.
So these Clans needed to be wiped out! The population of this heretical world worked to become part of these "clans". These clans had superceded the glorious future of working toward the Yuuzhan Vong inevitability of conquest.
He also noticed one small report of growing dissent among the Caprician "Domains" or houses.
Something that could be used... exploited.
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 147
(9/25/01 8:08:59 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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The military forces of Capricia were readying themselves for extended combat. From this buildup a small attack frigate slipped away with instructions to bring back Capricia's rogue citizen and, currently (with the exception of Scipio), Caprcia's strongest force user.
It was a promise Gomorran had agreed too at Korban's strong request when reporting the horrors found on Endor with Leia Organa Solo.
With most of the major shipping routes littered with dovin basals, the Aries left through a little known military route.
It came to rest in high orbit around a very green planet.
Naboo..
Tyscio Korban stared at the man on his communication's screen incredulously.
"They are there?" he asked dumbly.
"Sir, the Yuuzhan Vong fleet outside our system was growing when we left. For all I know, they've started their move toward homeworld... So you can see why we are anxious to get under way..", the Captain's voice trailed off.
Korban nodded. "I will signal you when I am ready."
"Standing by. A shuttle is on it's way." and the screen went dark.
Tyscio knew he had to move quickly. Naboo military officials might be getting antsy at having a nonaligned warship remain in orbit over their planet for too long.
He grabbed his small travel pack, personal weapons as well as his light saber. He looked at the staff but decided to leave it as he looked out towards the back door of his home at the wolves running around near the forest's edge.
He felt his hand shake as his mind was rapidly going over the imminent action he would soon be facing.
I am the only Caprician who hasn't been through the invasion., he thought with irony. He had spent it marooned on Almania while Capricia went to hell.
Not without me this time..
He had gathered his things and signaled the frigate as he heard the shuttle overhead. He almost stepped out to board when he remembered a promise of his own.
He keyed up the communications consol once more and relayed what he hoped would not be his last message.
Receiver: Leia Organa Solo - Gungan High Council.
Location: Naboo
Encryption: CAP-254-001
Greetings My Lady,
I hope that this message finds you well and in good health. I have been regularly following your reconstruction updates with interest. Your Jedi Temple looks breathtaking.
By now you are no doubt tapping your foot hoping when I will get to the point. (Tyscio flashed a wry smile before growing serious once again).
It is my unfortunate duty to inform you that Capricia's invaders have returned. Hostilities are imminent.
My people fight once more to push back the darkness that descends upon them. As the threat of extinction becomes very real.
My Lady, you wished to be notified if and when these monsters returned. I am preparing to leave Naboo immediately.
Come alone or bring as many as you desire. No help will be refused. I am transmitting the coordinates for the military route into our system. Your shuttles will not be harmed. Our warship will remain in orbit for one cycle before the Captain returns to Capricia.
(A thought crossed Korban's mind. Would this be his last message to her?)
He touched the screen briefly and he was lost in thought.
Be well Leia..
The figure of the Caprician clad in light and dark blue colors gave an ironic smile, but a slight gleam in his eye showed uncertainty.
(the screen went dark)
...if, in the end, you find yourself alive for one more day, do not think that it is without reason.
"War ends all reason. War cancels all bets. War leaves nothing..." he whispered as he suddenly imagined the horrors he had seen on Endor suddenly enacted on this world.
Naboo's rolling, green hills aflame...
the chanting of alien language growing..
He shook his head at the images and stepped out of his house, giving it and the staff one final glance before heading to the Caprician shuttle that landed at a distance..
..the past..
"Tyscio laughed as he used the force to draw a tree's branch within reach. As he steadied himself, "Teacher, why are not our armies filled with scores of force users. Think of what we could do? Think of what we are?"
"And just what are you, Korban?" asked his teacher looking up at him from the ground.
Tyscio jumped up reaching out to grab a higher limb. "I'm high...ulp!"
His force blocked, the branch now unreachable, he dropped.
His teacher walked over to him, leaned over and repeated to the young man in pain, "What are you, Korban?"
"I... I am muddy." he answered in a shaken voice.
"Exactly!" his teacher smiled."
..now..
The shuttle door lifted...
I am about to get bloody..
..the door shut with an audible 'clang'.
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/26/01 8:19:09 pm
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 14
(9/25/01 10:51:14 pm)
Reply Scipio Arien
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"..If I have an opportunity to wipe away an adversary, I will take it."
Scipio slowed her pace as Gomorran walked quickly to the intelligence briefing room. He had momentarily flared in anger at the situation developing around him.
She felt the force in him and her hand went to her side, a sharp pain blocking out all thought.
Beads of sweat started to appear on her forehead as various aides came over asking if there was anything they could do.
She put a hand on the wall and pushed herself up, straightening and waved the aides away with an irritated scowl.
Her small frame moved quickly through the hall and she soon found the small conference room where they would soon learn how bad things really were.
The report started..
.. and things were....bad.
Scipio sat back in her chair, the pain subsiding but with each passing breath a reminder of what he had done to her. It was because of him that she could not use the force without experiencing pain.
She was strong...one of the strongest on Capricia and yet, here she sat with the force as a useless tool.
Does that lessen me?
At certain moments, he came, invading her thoughts.
Scipio's Clan Leader tried to concentrate on the information being presented...
".... a total of forty vessels have already been reported as missing, My Lord."
Tyscio Zier turned to Gomorran, "They are attempting a war of attrition? A little early for that.. our galactic economy has only begun to grow."
Grow?
The pain returned as Scipio could feel the blood from her mouth drip down onto the ground. Her blaster rifle was set out of reach as a taunt.
A creature had gripped her wrists as she hung slightly suspended.
She was inside an invader ship....but as consciousness returned, she found that the ship had crashed on the surface, noting dead "bugs" of every sort littering the floor and cooridors.
She heard breathing and knew at once that she was being watched by someone close.
Her eyes closed and she tried to reach out to identify her surroundings through the force. Imagine her surprise when everything came up blank.
..it just wasn't possible....was it?
She concentrated harder....until something shot out and kicked her side, her wrists wrenched by the creature's relentless hold.
She let out a gasp for air and tears stung her eyes blurring her vision.
A voice..
"....your fear will grow infidel...."
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/26/01 10:25:17 pm
Organa Solo
Jedi Master
Duct Tape Master
Posts: 7065
(9/26/01 12:52:01 pm)
Reply
Re: Scipio Arien
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Meanwhile on Naboo...
Leia walked slowly into her new quarters at the Jedi Temple in Theed, glad to finally have some peace and quiet to herself after a long day of work. She was not two steps in before she tripped over a box sitting in the floor, and she stumbled further into the room with a soft curse.
Her comm was blinking insistently at her, and so she walked over to the table it sat on and shoved aside a stack of files to get to the access controls. She called up a list of her unviewed messages, and the newest message flagged with a priority marking immeditely caught her eye. It was from Tyscio.
A sudden surge of anticipation filled her, and she watched intently as the mini hologram of Tyscio flickered to life on the table. The message played through fully once, and she then hit replay. The message restarted, but Leia wasn't paying any attention to it. Her earlier problems forgotten, her mind began re-organizing her priorities automatically.
The response time for any sort of move on our part would be too slow to get there in good time. I could leave now and catch the warship before it left... but what about support?
Leia wrestled with the question of whether or not to tell her colleagues.
No. She wouldn't tell them... until after she'd left. She picked up a large pack off of the floor and dumped it's contents back onto the floor. Since her things were strewn everywhere about her quarters due to the fact that she hadn't had time to fully move in yet, she made a relatively quick task of packing the clothes and other essentials she would need.
Next stop was her office. She slung her bag over her shoulder, and arrived to that disaster area within only a few minutes. Dropping her bag outside the door, she walked in and keyed up her holorecorder. It would have to be brief. The ready signal came on, and she took a deep breath before starting. She was committing herself to what could be a very long, hard ordeal. In fact, it could even be her last ordeal....
By the time you recieve this message I will be well on my way to the planet of Capricia. Despite my duties here, it is in my own opinion that they are in grave danger. An outside force threatens them as we have never been threatened before. As a Jedi I feel it is my duty to help them in their upcoming struggle... I not only go for that reason, but a friend calls that planet home, and I wish to help him. I cannot and will not overlook this. I hope you understand, and I apologize for any inconveniences it may cause for the time being. I do not know how long I will be gone, or if I will even come back in one piece. But that will be decided soon enough...
If you feel compelled to follow after me, there is nothing stopping you. You will find the information you need to get safely into the system embedded in heavy encryption within this message. May the Force be with us all"
She ended the message there, and set it to cut on for the first person who walked in the door. Then she keyed up her comm unit and ordered a transport to meet her on the building roof. Her stature made that a routine request, and so tith that she exited her office an headed for the roof.
The ordered shuttle was waiting for her when she got there, and she climbed in. The orbit of the Caprician warship had been tracked as per orders. It hadn't left the system yet. That was a plus. They set out on an intercept route. The only problem was whether they'd reach it in time before it made the jump out of system...
As Leia sat patiently in her acceleration couch it occurred to her that what she was doing borderlined impossible, but she had done it. She also knew her decision to be right. And not only for herself, but others. She had been forced to move as quickly as she did to avoid being held up on her departure. But now that she was free, what came next...?
Scipio Arien
Civilian
Posts: 17
(9/26/01 9:20:44 pm)
Reply Scipio Arien
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Scipio came back to reality pushing experiences of the past behind her.
She was with Tyscio Zier, his unsmiling countenance an unspoken pillar of support. His short cropped white hair made his face look almost menacing as he spoke in a personal communications device...
..to his army?
The magnetic train they were in moved across the land at an incredible rate of speed. She looked out the window glancing at the natural landmarks of the planet that seemed to belie the train's speed.
Suddenly, they were travelling on the edge of a cliff overlooking a vast, sandrock crater.
Every so often she would spot an armoured division moving.
"Leantre," she spoke turning to the elder of the clan leaders, (who at the moment seemed lost in thought as he too gazed out a window). "Are there antiaircraft weapons here?"
Leantre Vio, leader of the Defense Division of Capricia turned to the young woman and smiled enigmatically.
She saw in his eyes though, that his confidence seemed to fade.
She felt an shiver of excitement run through her the closer the train got to their destination.
Gomorran seemed distant, pouring over the reports.
He was like this during the first invasion.., she thought trying to remember being at his side as his Adjutant on the old Flagship.
He beat himself up over losing the entire fleet in an effort to stop the occupation of Capricia. He did not realize that his efforts also cost the invaders.. the Yuuzhan Vong (she corrected herself) all their capital ships as well.
When they did finally leave, all they mostly had were shuttles..
Or was there another Command Ship in orbit to meet them? ..and if so, why did it not attack? They could have taken what was left of our armies and defenses out from on top...
Scipio pondered this.
Herridian Wye was still out exploring and she knew that Zier had already sent the recall out to all offworld Capricians.
Is this the end of Capricia?
Her thoughts seemed to stray back to the phrase that plagued her mind.. over and over..
..she shivered again...
"....your fear will grow infidel...."
Edited by: Scipio Arien at: 9/26/01 10:27:17 pm
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 154
(9/26/01 9:54:16 pm)
Reply
Yuuzhan Vong ~ Conquest
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Tslah Vhess stood in the middle of his vessel's massive villip choir. Already the creatures started to receive the lesser villips on the individual coralskippers swarming around the fleet.
Soon, every coral fighter had started transmitting through the villips a strange sound and when they all came over the choir in front of Vhess, he felt moved.
..for this was the Dance of Ominous Portent.
Tslah watched the swarms weave in and out of each other in strange formations, oddly enough changing maneuvers with the sounds that were projected.
To an outsider, with all the movement of the smaller ships, it would look as if the ships were fighting each other... the only things missing were the plasma and explosions.
An outsider, though, wouldn't be able to hear all the Yuuzhan Vong warriors in the mighty bowels of the capital ships suddenly yell as loud as they could in their alien language in response to the sounds from the villips.
The coralskippers moved quicker and their sounds merged in a strange harmony....
... the coralskippers were singing...
The mighty halls in the yorik coral vessels reverberated with the echoes of their warcries.
..the ceremony continued uninterrupted to the satisfaction to all in the alien fleet.
..a good portent indeed.
Omnae
Civilian
Posts: 155
(9/26/01 10:34:35 pm)
Reply
Tyscio Korban
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"Calculations set for hyperspace, Sir." came the competent voice of the Helm Officer.
"Ready all stations.." the Captain started when the Tracking Officer suddenly spoke up.
"Gungan Government transport approaching rapidly! Recognition signal being sent.. Captain? I believe the plan to dock."
The Captain turned to Tyscio Korban standing on the rather small bridge of the Lancer Frigate Aries, "Friend of yours?"
Tyscio reached out and felt the familiar presence. A small smile appeared on his face. "Looks like you've picked up another passenger.."
The Captain nodded. "Helm hold position and wait till the shuttle either is secured or is away before making the jump."
"Aye Sir."
Tyscio noted that the Captain was anxious but under control. He turned to the rogue Caprician passenger. "So, you going to go greet our guest?"
Tyscio's smile turned into a full fledge grin as he bowed like a Caprician nobleman. "I take my leave of you, oh great Captain."
The Master of the Aries snorted at the display but smiled himself, relieving his tension (as Tyscio had intended).
He headed to the small bay where the Jedi shuttle had docked. His light and dark blue uniform stood out to the black and gray uniform of the Gomorran Clan soldiers on the ship.
The Jedi Master bustled out of the shuttle as if full of energy.
Tyscio could tell that she was anything but...as she got nearer.
Though she hid it admirably, there was a harried look about her.
How quickly we slip back into our routines.., he started to think and then smiled at himself. The first thing he did upon returning from Endor was build himself a house at a forests edge near Theed City. He had been frustrated many times trying to deal with the local bureaucrats about zoning issues and whatnot.
He could understand her appearance since she sat on top off the entire process trying to maintain some semblence of order day in and day out.
He felt a familiar determination in the woman and he stepped across the meet her half way.
Upon noticing the familiarity between the two individuals, the Gomorran guards left leaving the flight deck crew to check the systems of the guest shuttle (as was their custom).
Tyscio took her bag (for guests just didn't carry their own bags on Caprician Vessels....unless, of course, they were hostile guests) and flashed her a wry smile, noting the engines of the shuttle still smoking slightly.
"Going my way?"
But then the anxiety closed down on him and he turned serious.
"I do appreciate your extremely quick response."
he mentioned on their walk through the vessels' corridor.
Hit hit an intercom and signaled the bridge. "Captain, we have our passenger. Leia Organa Solo of the Gungan High Council."
"Are we expecting anyone else?" the Captain asked over the comm.
Tyscio looked at Leia and she shook her head.
"She's it, Sir."
"Very good, show her our guest quarters on C-Deck.. and then get up here. There might be some intel we need to go over and she might have something useful to add."
Tyscio raised his eyebrow, "You assume she won't?"
The Captain's voice came back equally quickly, "I don't assume in this business.. only hope."
Tyscio nodded and signed off leading Leia off to C-Deck.
As they walked, he turned and asked with concern, "How are you?"
Edited by: Omnae at: 9/27/01 1:18:24 am
Sully Tigereye
Civilian
Posts: 1
(9/27/01 4:27:19 pm)
Reply Sully Tigereye
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Deep space....Sepan Sector...
The hum of sublight engines brought a snarl from a most atrocious source. Sully’s slivery brown-coated pelt shown in radiance under the integrated bioluminescence lamps of the scout freighter's, Jaded Sky, peripherals. Sully felt drowsy and heavy in spirits enduring through weeks of fatigue-ridden espionage of the Inner Sanctum, and their conglomerating business partners (potentially useless information).
Such was what he was tracking now: the elite commercial benefactor of the Inner Sanctum, the Vinda Corporation. He had tracked a main shipping convoy from Bonadan through deep space, vectoring into some unknown rendezvous point that appeared nowhere on his ships nav charts, not that he had checked them.
The Cathar had just arisen from his early catnap… an ironic use of the term cat, as his complexion bore a most similar resemblance to lineage of feline ancestry. His deep blue eyes reflected bemusement and annoyance at the urge of hyperspace beacons sounding general alarms to begin pre departure procedures. Fortunately for him, the ships on board cortex could handle such procedure without the pilot present. He had put in an extra twenty thousand credits for smart chip devices that would depend less on his own flight experience.
Cathar were never notable for being good pilots, anyways. Better to rely on machine in space, rather than instincts.
That was his domain. Instincts were bred into Cathar as requirement of lineage. He arose from his sleeping pit; on all fours, preceded a path towards his grooming mantel, containing various tools for the complex needs of Cathar hygiene. He preferred to listen to music while grooming himself. He asked the ships computer cortex for the various melodies of the consecrated home world, and soon a shrill of high pitched and eloquent notes reverberated through the corridors of the ship. The song was brought down from his ancestors, a melody from his own clan.
The home world was notably a paradise of blooming beauty, being dominated by terrains consisting of vast icy tundra’s, dried grassy plains, and plateaus of marshlands erecting themselves from the plains. Rainy seasons were plentiful, making agriculture or noble source of firm well balanced diet for the Cathar. Preys were abundant throughout the prairies, making hunting a practice of honor and valor. Temperatures were mild and temperate, useful for jubilant, outdoor lifestyle.
Social structure were consisting of noble warriors, the women kin, who had all the rights and privileges as their male counterparts, and the pranskis, the religious sect of the tribe. Agriculture and hunting were conducted by the offspring of the tribe, as a source of humility and religious test to prove oneself for the warrior’s caste. If not excepted that youth was sacrificed to the Fagrath, the mother goddess, who represent all feline, as a symbol of apology for failing her qualifications to be one of the elite. Life was normally pleasant. The Cathar was not a blood-slaughtering race, but saw war as a noble practice, to be enterprise with rules and boundaries. They believed that peace existed and co existed with destruction, which the two were constantly at balance with one another, until the coming of the Yuuzhan Vong.
They came in force, the day of the Cathal Tigre, or burning meadows when translated into basic. Their savagery and brutal methods of victory were overwhelming to the Cathar, yet, the feline finesse warriors gathered by multitudes upon multitudes on the plains, ready in closure of protection.
The Cathar had never been technologically advanced, yet even they were not familiar with the concepts of primitive graphite and stone tools. During the Vong’s attack, the Cathar experienced sheer bewilderment at being completely awe struck by the devices of which these bizarre foreigners wielded to bring means of unprecedented and sudden death. Devices of terror and merciless pain that no elder of any clan of all Cathar on the home world could bring into recollection of some ill begotten remembrance of a distant past.
On the home world, however, the Cathar’s most useful tool was not found engraved into stone, graphite, or wood. Indeed for a creature capable of instilling a psychological terror upon its prey from shear ferocity, true... the Cathar physical entity was its most lethal weapon, and useful of tools, in which to commit the most vile and atrocious of acts that it seemed fit to deem upon.
Glistening pairs of serrated claws that could easily tear through durasteel plating were kept neatly and comfortably behind a pad of thick velvet. A jaw raw enough to crush and grind through bone complemented rows of jagged teeth, which could create an output of kinetic energy as great to compare as to a hydro clamp. An vengeful offensive force of three thousand Cathar blood warriors were sent out to intercept a Vong raiding party of a few hundred, kilometers away from meeting at the Cathal Tigre. A battle waged, where hundreds of the poor, yet honorable, Cathar had nobly met the Fagrath. Religious rites of long ago were lost with so many of the Red River clan meeting a violent end.
The caretakers of the village had evacuated from the village, carrying the wailing cubs in their arms, leaving behind all their personal beloved parcels, in some vain hope of one point in time of returning. Sully had been among those taken to the caves, in the north the home world, a terrain of desolate ice tundra’s. The caves of ancient religious ceremonies dominated the landscape, and proved variable hiding places of enclosure.
Sully winced at his remembrance of his sad, distant past. It wasn’t until the New Republic arrived at their home world, to be taken off planet in wings of silver, a material that was never viewed upon the Cathar. Sully had been among those who would be taken off world, to new strange inhabited areas of the newly found galaxy, over wide expanses and regions that seemed endless.
In bittersweet anger, his hand reflexively crushed a glass container of a sweet smelling perfume. He purred in serenity, watching as few droplets of satin crept down his arm, but was enveloped in a blanket of fur. A single tear... a single remembrance of what used to be, and what he could never again have formed in the pocket of his eye.
He shook the thoughts from his head, the mourning period had been at an end years ago, yet he could never bring himself to forget and rolling plains, the rainy seasons, the hunt, the sweet cries of young cubs, of the home world, his beloved home world... the devastation the ships of the Yuuzhan Vong had wrought upon it... oh... the beautiful plains... the plains...
He entered the bridge cockpit. To anyone with year’s one experienced veteran piloting, the interior would have set off a world of oblivious malevolence. Cathar hands weren’t meant to grip the control throttles of steering circuits, so he had put in a request, actually more like a formal demand, for complete onboard voice activation slave circuit. The Jaded Sky was completely constructed for voice automation activation systems.
"CORE, relay to target, where is the convoy?"
An enhanced feminine voice replied in taunt.
"The VC convoy is precisely on target, they’ve met with another shipping group of YT series of freighters."
Sully’s eyebrows shifted in perplexing curiosity.
"Any identifications on the recipient group?'
"Negative on BAC scanners."
"Run an infrared external scan."
"Proceeding."
Servomotors could be heard whining in protest. Tigereye stared past the bulkhead of the cockpit, locking his acute visual senses on the small brood of what was the VC convoy, and...
"Sully, relay to Tenloss his suspicions are correct, VC is conglomerating with the Inner Sanctum."
"Fine... after this we can head back into-"
A sudden shrill of alarms sent Sully sprawling into action, with a series of voice commands, he rerouted power from auxiliary backup to the particle shielding power apparatus, and increased sublight speed to six point eight before three of the Sanctum’s freighters took flight and came gunning for him.
With preset nav coordinates, he flung back into hyperspace. He sat there, at the brink of mental and physical collapse, with no contact with the outside world for weeks. CORE interrupted his pronounced mood of silence.
"Sully, our internal communication relays intercepted a transmission."
His eyes went wide in surprise; he noted that he heard a faint distinction in CORE’s voice as well...
"Well... that’d explain why they found us. If they were rendezvousing to receive that transmission..."
CORE interjected:
"... and we received it, that would explain their motive for scanning the region to see if someone was tracking them. They probably noted that someone intercepted the message."
"Precisely, which makes this liable intelligence of any sort."
"Should we wait to report to Tenloss?"
"No... play the record, visual recording only, display on monitor four."
Moments of time came and left in fleeting futileness, finally after much deliberation, the message of dire importance scrolled upon the screen.
General message to all Capricians offworld.
My friends, my fellow Capricians,
We are once again beseiged by the darkness. It is a darkness
we know well..it is a darkness that almost consumed us. Citizens, the "invaders" have returned to our world.
Intelligence has identified our invaders as the Yuuzhan Vong, a particularly vicious and brutal species bent on the destruction of everything we hold dear and the subjugation of this galaxy.
I am issuing this formal recall to all citizens of the Caprician Regency to come aid in the defense of their homeworld.
To any who should intercept this message, please be aware that the Caprician system is now classified as a war zone.
Entry into our system will be at great risk to yourselves, your crew and cargo. Should you choose to fight beside us, you will be welcome.
Together we can defeat the darkness once more.
To the religious: May the Force be with you.
To the nonreligious: Let's make sure they don't get up again.
Gomorran Kay
Regent - Caprician Regency
Sully’s senses failed to compensate for the amount of shock he was suffering. His voice barely managed to give a series of orders that issued a finality to which side he would take in the bitter struggle soon to come.
In honor, by valor, he would not let the Vong do to Capricia what they accomplished on the home world.
Be damned those savage bastards.
"CORE, get me IS Official Cronus, stat."
Edited by: Sully Tigereye at: 9/28/01 9:24:12 pm
Organa Solo
Jedi Master
Duct Tape Master
Posts: 7074
(9/27/01 4:43:29 pm)
Reply
Re: Tyscio Korban
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Leia noted the concerned tone of Tyscio's voice, and it puzzled her somewhat. But she adopted a thoughtful expression and decided to clear up a few things she had noted were out of date earlier.
"Well, I suppose I should mind you that I'm not really by title nor job a Gungan diplomat anymore. My titles lay more in my Jedi position and my Republic position as Chief of State. My term just started for that position not all that long ago, but things are already in full swing. Those two positions take up almost all of my time, but I still do manage a handful of political jobs that come in from Naboo from day to day."
Leia grinned.
"In fact, that is why my response was so quick. I had the leverage to rate a top priority shuttle ride, and so I was on my way. If I hadn't have gone then I might not have been able to get out for a long time. Politics does that to you. So basically you could call me a runaway Leader, though soon enough they'll know where I am going and will manage to get along adequately until I return. They knew I was flightly when they handed me the job"
Leia swallowed hard as the already familiar thought entered her mind. She didn't know if she'd survive this and be able to come back.
They had reached 'C Deck' and Leia noticed she had been talking quite a long while about the same time she noticed that she had neglected to change out of her heavy crimson ceremonial robes before she had left. Gone unnoticed for a while, their heavy uncomfortable weight suddenly registered in Leia's mind again, and she shifted her tired shoulders as she followed Tyscio down a corridor. They stopped in front of a door and she waited while Tyscio opened it.
"Well, I suppose altogether I am doing quite well for myself, work has taken up a good deal of my time, but I've found time to continue working on internal issues. This was certainly unexpected, but not totally unwelcome in it's own cruel way"
She said no more, for Tyscio knew what she was referring to, at least mostly. He had opened the door, and she followed him inside as he turned on a light and deposited her bag into a secure storage place. It wasn't until they were exiting the room on the way to wherever their next destination was that Leia returned the query.
"So how are you doing these days?"
Leantre Vio
Civilian
Posts: 5
(9/27/01 6:45:14 pm)
Reply Leantre Vio
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Capricia
I am getting too old for this...
The elder Caprician Clan Leader, saddled with the responsibility of the Regency's defense, bore up well under the pressure but he could feel himself growing tired.
While his mind remained alert and lost none of it's sharpness, he knew his body just could not keep up.
This is what happens when you get to be my age, Vio... you get old!
He glanced at the youngsters around him and wondered if they'd even get the chance to grow old.
Scipio Arien.....The Regency's Ambassador to the outer galactic powers. She took her assignment rather well (even though not trained for it) and her young aides flurished under her tutelage. But she also considered herself Gomorran's Adjutant, as if he ever thought of her as anything but.
Come to think of it, he realized that Gomorran always addressed her as "Adjutant".
He remembered when her father held the reigns of Scipio Clan. Now that was a man who could lead!
Leantre watched Scipio from afar, Her father would be proud.
She was born Crystal Ariennis, the pride and joy of her parents. The force was strong in Noble House Ariennis, one of the few on their world.
She had tagged along with Gomorran and his friends when they were children..always getting into trouble. All children from Noble Houses.
All except Tyscio Korban.
Leantre wondered why he suddenly thought of the young man living on Naboo. Because, unrealized yet by the others, this member of Tyscio Clan would soon become prominent.
Leantre had known many people in his life...had seen many fall... and many triumph...and the boy, Korban, had a quality about him that would/could end up being a guiding force on Capricia eventually.
If he survives..
Leantre had fought the Yuuzhan Vong five years ago and even then he was not fooled. He knew that the Capricians should have lost.... while the Caprician spirit burned bright within, he knew that they had already lost.
It was the alien's sudden withdrawal that plagued him in his sleepless nights.
Why did they just "up" and leave?
Why, when victory was in their grasp?
They had to have known that.. so why?
He sighed, looking at his timepiece...one given to him many decades ago by someone he held dear.
Christine..... I miss you.
His wrinkled hands moved over his house ring that he still wore for the memory of his deceased wife.
At least she had died before the first invasion began. It would have broken her heart to see Capricia as it was then...
His attention turned to Gomorran. Born: Marcus Kayalous, of Noble House Kayalous. By assuming the mantle of Regent, his fears would soon become Capricia's fears... his thoughts, turned into Caprician action. For such was the effect of leaders.
Leadership was a double edged sword sometimes and Leantre sometimes thought he could see pieces of Gomorran's soul shredded that much more with each hard or painful decision he made.
..and it's only beginning..
Leantre was not a force user... but he didn't need it to know that his Regent's thoughts rested on the family that never was.
In the first invasion, Gomorran Kay lost his wife, his children and his house. He was the last of the Noble House Kayalous and such pressure must weigh heavily.
Will he seek vengence for his lost family?
He didn't know for sure, but he had heard reports about his Regent taking action into his own hands hunting down the grave robbing slime that had broken into the Caprician Monument. Slime that had stolen the ashes (and their gold containers) of many of the children who had died during the invasion (whom the monument was a tribute too).
He had left the nomadic clans (during the final part of their three year Exodus) for a while to find the criminals who held the remains of his son, Janus.
If the reports were to be believed, Gomorran had executed the men on Onderon, just before the Clans had met up with him....just before the construction of their Embassy.
He sighed for he just didn't have the heart to investigate.
..and once more we fall into the abyss..
Edited by: Leantre Vio at: 9/28/01 1:00:50 am
GomorranKay
Civilian
Posts: 103
(9/27/01 8:52:05 pm)
Reply | Edit Gomorran Kay
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Capricia
"Marcus? Marcus Kayalous? Who are you?"
The young man in the vision held a confident smile, one arm gripping the waist of his wife, Arianna, and the other around his growing boy, Janus (named after a friend).
Marcus Kayalous had gone through his Rite of Passage and found himself of Gomorran Clan, which suited him just fine.
His father was Gomorran....and his father... and his father....
..on and on the generations of Noble House Kayalous, serviing proudly Gomorran Clan.
.And yet he was the first Kayalous to actually hold the position of Clan Leader.
The young man, Marcus, was dressed immaculately (as was his family) in the black and gray colors of his new clan.
She was two months pregnant then. Arianna.
A hand fell upon the picture, slowly tracing the outline of her features...her hair... her mouth...
He stared in her eyes and even in the picture, they showed a measure of depth.... as if he could see into the depths of her soul... (even dead these many years).
She was happy.
Janus?
The tiny child had a rambunctious gleam in his eye as his missing teeth shined through his smile.
(Gomorran smiled)
Janus had lost them trying to climb the shell of a star freighter.
But as quickly as the memories came from the picture, so too the images of his family estates smoldering from the devestation wrought.
..and where was he?
Where was he when his family was dying?
Where was he when his planet was suffering?
.. he was leading the fleet at the system's edge..
..thinking he had defeated the alien fleet.
..thinking he had saved the day..
..taking his time.. revelling in the maneuvers that they had thought saved the day..
Celebrating while his wife and children burned.
Gomorran continued looking at the reports scrolling across his datapad, his old family photo safely tucked away in his uniform.
He looked at Tyscio Zier, who was speaking to the fleet, and said:
"The Fleet stays here."
Tallien Yzan
Civilian
Posts: 3
(9/27/01 10:13:07 pm)
Reply Yuuzhan Vong
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Outreaches of the Caprician System...
The symphony of pain was over, the warriors all ready, eager, and willing to advance that closer to death, a repayment to Yun-Yuuzhan for creating the universe by sacrificing pieces of himself.
Really, in the light of such sacrifice, the life of a warrior amounted to very little.... almost nothing.
The sacrifice of slaves amounted to less than that of a warrior...
..and the sacrifice of infidels barely held any value..
Which was why any sacrifice that took place with infidels had to be extremely large, to ensure that their screams (to the delight of the gods) were heard.
The sacrifices ..the gifts to the gods would be counted as worthless if such gifts could not get the god's attention.
Or so Tallien felt.
With the Warmaster's chosen join