"Relay, open communication systems to commercial channels. Helm, give me an ETA to departure."

"Ninety secs sir, and eight minutes to ETA to arrival."

Cronus had begotten a bit of relief in enabling system power to engines and being able to funnel the nessecary energy to route shield power to the nessecary and critical stations onboard the destroyer. However, the strategic details of leaving an entire Vong task force hovering over the Minos orbit disturbed him greatly, and he was quite anxious to precede the enemies forethought and make the enemy come to <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> him<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->. He was in fact, theorizing that allowing the enemy to discern their whereabouts would drive the Vong to split their fleet, sending a detachment to pursue Cronus fleet, where Cronus could signal for reinforcements and destroy his pursuers, as well as giving the Minos defense ministers more of a chance at putting up a better fight against the invaders.

"Sir, communication systems open to prescribed channels, shall we transmit broadcast?"

Cronus nodded.

"Make it so Relay, tactical message. Allow those bastards to know where we're going, but phase the message so they won't expect a trap."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Ambassador Arien!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> Cronus served into the seating of the TCC, signaling a direct video and audio link to engineering. Last known whereabouts of the Caprician assembladge projected most of the crewers near red section of barracks, closing in on engineering. A static shrill focused by fading shillouetes emerged on screen, then cleared into a proper projection. The view of engineering was grim, with teeming technicians working frantically to gain and maintain power to the destroyers critical stations and components.

Adalric immediately recognized the main engineering technician, and was not the least bit surprised to see Scipio standing next to the technician, muttering incoherently under her breath. What did marvel him however, was the grave yet amused look on a face Cronus did not recognize, nor had ever seen in the Caprician assembladge. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Interesting indeed...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> He mentally filed a note to have the person checked out with security detail.

The main engineering tech's eyes darted to the video display, and motioned himself towards it.

"High Admiral, we've got coolant leaks and drive errors maintained throughout the ship, but our reserve power generators are needed to keep shield systems up, and I can't find a way to funnel power to weapons..."

His eyes sank to the floor, and back at the video display.

"How is the bridge sir?"

Cronus frowned grimly.

"In complete stasis. We've locked in coordinates to rondevouz with reinforcements, but times are short. I'm trying to get part of the Vong taskforce to pursue us in hopes of giving those Capricians at Minos some relief."

"Understood sir. Anything you request?"

"Indeed technician. You've eight minutes to route power to Gunnery."

The tech's jaw dropped slightly in distrubed astonishment, trying to comprehend the prefabricated logic. Scipio notice and took in the conversation, and to Cronus surprise, approched the video display with a look of bemused consternation on her face. Adalric smiled. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> She's cute when she get's angry.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"High Admiral, may I ask your logic in those orders? Do you understand our situation here? We're completely cut off from the bridge. We'd need to route power through the drive coils through to Gunnery first before they can distribute the power to the sections of the ship that'll need the fire power. We can't give Gunnery the power they need if we can't reach power through to the bridge."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> She's quite gesticulous.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> Adalric sighed, the poor girl obviously didn't understand Imperial efficiency. He crossed his arms loosely, looking gravely at the two figures. Suddenly, a lurch sent the ship sprawling into hyperspace. Cronus paused their conversation to confirm that a detachment of several of the Vong cruisers had indeed leaped in hyperspace in pursuit, most likely predicted the ship's vector point. He turned his attention back towards the two.

"Technician, ambassador, you've both eight minutes to find us a way of getting power to our weapon systems."

Before Scipio could audibly protest, Cronus raised a finger to hinder her words.

"Eight minutes main technician..."

He lowered his voice to a wry tone, a lop-sided and confident grin on his features.

"... or I'll reduce your pension to minimum wage."

Scipio smiled at Achinta's words though she thought she detected a hint of concern over the Imperials.

She whispered wryly in response, "A crime organization posturing as Imperials hardly constitutes the Empire."

She gestured to the face that suddenly appeared on a monitor, "Our 'friend' Cronus seems to be the only Imperial here. The ship's compliment picks up their paychecks from Tenloss. We have an 'understanding' with Mr. Tenloss that has proved profitable for both parties."

She then shook a finger at the android, "Remember our Embassy is located on Onderon?"

Her lips curled into a pout and she teased, "I can't believe you'd forget our meeting."


Her eyes flickered to the monitor where the Engineer's Mate was conversing with Adalric.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "You've eight minutes to reroute power...."<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

Suddenly, Scipio's anger flared...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> After all we've been through... after all we've done....he's...he's...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


She responded with fire but Cronus was unfazed and then repeated his order, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Because he can't back his position! Men!<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, and then threatened the technician.

Eveyone was silent as the monitor went dark, the engineers and techies having turned white. The soldiers shifted uneasily.

"Just like the old goat to rain on our parade..." she murmured.

The Engineer's Mate leaned against the wall and slumped down, his fatigue taking over.

The Caprician woman walked over and shook the man. "Eric? Can it be done?"

The engineer shook his head. "It'll take the crews at least thirty minutes to repair the breaches between the engine room and the bridge. The teams are working as fast as they can.. but.. this is a Super Star Destroyer... not some Maw Cluster Dreadnaught."

Scipio ran it over in her mind. "The gunnery station on the bridge needs the power to distribute to the remaining weaopn placements. We can generate the power but it won't reach the station for another thirty minutes..."

Her eyes narrowed, "Then we need an auxilary source for about half an hour?"

"Where do we get the power?"

She, out of sheer desperation, turned to Achinta who, due to his nature perhaps, pointed out the only "obvious" course of action.

In one thoughtful glance, he turned to her and said, "The bridge has power."

Scipio had already waved her hand down toward his suggestion and then his comment registered.

"What did you say?" her eyes widening.

Achinta looked straight at her and simply stated, "The bridge already HAS power."

The Engineer picked his head up and suddenly everyone was contemplating his words..

Both Achinta and Scipio turned to him but he stated, almost defensively, "The stations run on a weak subsystem network. What computer activity we saw through the monitor was due to those subsystems and battery relays."

"But it is an independent system, correct?" Achinta continued in his matter of fact way and Scipio grinned.

"Leaping Bantha's, he's right!" another tech responded.

"We'd have to strip those subsystems down too..too.."

and an evil grin crossed Scipio's face. "The bridge crew will have to live with it. Besides," her head cocked to one side, "your Commander stated that his priority was the weapons.."

"Six and a half minutes people!" another soldier shouted and people scrambled.

Sending commands across the subsystems at an enormous rate, the engineer spared no time for chit chat.

<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It's gonna get cold up there... but only for thirty minutes. They'll survive.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->

"I believe that's enough to reroute power to the weapons."

"Tracking?" Scipio asked and the engineer exhaled. "Most of targeting systems are overloaded and smashed..so it's recommended that they go to manual anyway. What targeting systems are operating will be erratic."

The engineer gave a tired grin. "You'll see Imperial efficiency at it's finest, my lady."

Suddenly, the monitor lit up and Cronus was seen hovering over his station, emergency lighting casting a redish orange hue across the bridge.

"Ambassador," he replied with a rather intense demeanor.

"Your weapons are hot, Commander." she informed without preamble.

"How can I shoot what I can't see?" he calmly asked, his eyes again not losing a sliver of their quiet fire.

"Look out a window!" she snapped back in irritation and then flushed as her own fatigue was taking over.

A tired grin came to her face as she looked at the SSD's Commander, "Guess you will have to show me that Imperial efficiency and ingenuity I hear so much about.."

Bonadan

As Miles entered through the large double glass doors of Vinda-Corp HQ the tension that he had felt earlier now began to duplicate in size, running through his entire body. He had one of those odd feelings in the pit of his stomach, as if something wasn't quite right.

Everything appeared to be normal, nothing out of place, but the feeling of uneasiness still never seemed to fade away from Miles as he walked toward the main desk, swiping his member card into the machine that was set on the main desk. The woman sitting at the desk looked up at him, smiling, she handed him another card.

"Good to see you again, Mr. Johnson, you've got quite the mess of papers waiting for you."

He took the card, thanking the woman with a small smile, and then went on his way, heading toward his office.

Miles hadn't expected Vinda Corp to be so busy, especially with a lot of its employees out and away.

Hmm, must have got some new employees while I was gone. Heh, and I thought this place couldn't get any bigger than it already was

He smiled lopsidedly, now turning down the corridor that led to his own office. His smile faded when he saw a woman quickly making her way toward him. She appeared to be in a bit of a hurry, she would occasionally look back behind her, as if looking for someone, and she hadn't yet seemed to notice Miles, he didn't recognize her either.

[i]Probably one of the new employees...

He called out to her, seeing if there was something he could do to help her, trying to get her attention.

"Ah, hi, hello there, I couldn't help but notice that you seemed...a bit occupied. Is there something or someone you're looking for? Anything I can help you with?"

"Sweet Clannus Prime!" Herridian's voice whispered in awe.

The Marzullo Clan had been hard at work erradicating any Jedi presence (including the prisoners).

His eyes misted over as he noted the masses of skeletons decorating the open rooms he walked by as he descended deeper into the Marzullo base.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Some of them were mere children..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

The Sith faction had incorporated their victim's blood as part of an intricate mural that spiraled into the ceiling of a larger room that the Caprician and a fellow scientist walked into.

The mural depicted Itala Marzullo's rise to power..

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The unfinished portions must be when his fall to damnation occurred..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

A side wall had fallen, the artificial lighting they had brought shining into the "hidden hall".

"They built this base over the existing Jedi structure it seems," the companion of Herridian mentioned (a scientist).

He helped Herridian's portly body through the wall's opening. and the Clan Leader sneezed as the dust that remained undisturbed for so long suddenly was kicked up.

"Take recordings of everything Sestus." Wye said, glancing around, not particularly fond of moving through another dark hall.

"You might forget the Jedi once you see this.."


Deeper the dark corridors went...

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The Jedi structure must have been immense...now all that was left were these underground areas..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

....until Herridian and Sestus met the rest of the exploratory team at the edge of what seemed like a large fissure.

A dark, cool wind blew against Wye's face though he was unable to see where the breeze could possibly be coming from.

"The fissure is natural..." a scientist commented.

"Fairly recent judging from the looks of it.. probably due to tectonic activity..."

"That's a geologist's study of interest but what has this to do with the Yuuzhan Vong plague?" Herridian snapped, his impatience getting the better of him.

Suddenly a soldier came into view flanked by two guards carrying military issue lights.

The soldier handed eye covers (ironic for the underground) to the them and soon two extremely bright beams of light were directed down below.

The fissure's edge revealed several hundred meters below, a rather massive room.

A hidden room was enough to encourage Herridian's curiousity but what he saw next drove it wild.

..Portions of a marble floor were seen and printed on it was a symbol, by all their history, shouldn't have been there..


..the symbol was Caprician...


...the banner of the first Clannus Prime...

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Providence<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="bright red">"One little realized fact escapes many, young ones....a fact that remains the same for all living things.... As long as you draw breath... as long as you are alive, you have the power to effect change.... you have the power to command your life. Let no one deceive you otherwise."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->


Tyscio tried to dodge the razor projectiles and yet still close the distance between himself and the small creature. It was hard to focus.. with the Caprician people in the lines shouting, the chanting of the aliens, the wailing of the small one and the howling of the wind, it took all of Tyscio's concentration to avoid being hit..


..then he took a wrong step and the creature's arm came down smashing into this body armor throwing him completely to the ground. He brought his saber up to block any further movements the creature would make to take advantage of his situation...


..but the creature was just too strong. Despite the hiss in anger and pain as his saber struck the arm of the creature, it seemed he did very little damage to it..


He scrambled out of the grasp of the creature, standing back up narrowly missing another glob of acid spit at him.


The creature charged....


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It's... it's too damned fast...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->




<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="bright red">"...strip away a your power... strip away your dramatic speeches.... strip away your grand designs...and what are you?

If you are nothing without the force, then you are certainly nothing with it."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->




Korban's saber was held straight on toward the charging creature and he braced his feet to take the brunt of the creature's speed in an effort to impale it upon his saber..


...when he felt Leia go down.


It distracted him momentarily but that was all the creature needed. Tyscio felt his saber hand swatted away and the creature grabbed at his elbows (from the inside) to brace his arms (and the saber away). Korban pushed himself backward and he went down falling against his back. Through his armor he felt the thin layer of hardening ice on the snow break under his weight.


He brought is legs up, ignoring the fact that they felt like lead weights and as the creature's momentum carried it forward, he planted his feet against the alien's stomach flipping him.


He tried to spin around and bring his blade back up but his body just wouldn't cooperate.


Exhaustion, mixed with numbness from the cold and the fact that they'd been fighting for a while suddenly fell upon him and his body simply said, "no."


The creature knocked his saber down and brought a fist down onto his armor denting it badly.

The creature, though, seemed more interested in Leia (perhaps being a powerful force user) and after kicking Tyscio back into a nearby trench, moved to join his fellow creature as it sat on Leia.



<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="bright red">"It's the Caprician way, Korban. If life's challenges cannot be met head on, what's the use in facing them.... Others will tell you all about power... but power comes and goes... .you, though... you will always be a man."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->



The pain throbbing in Korban's head did little to offset the pain he felt throughout his body.


His eyes fluttered open as a snowflake settled on an eyelash and he was staring up at the trench wall.


He felt sleep beckoning but forced himself up.


Crawling out of the trench he could see Leia nose to nose with the creature that had been fighting him and that the wailing of the small creature had stopped.


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> He must be ready...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


He stared at the small creature's form, a little hazy due to the snow and the fact that he was bleeding over one eye.


The lightsaber found it's way back into his hand, igniting once more and with the last ounces of his strength, yelling as loud as he could, all his frustrations being poured out into one action...


...he hurled the saber as true as he could.



<!--EZCODE HTML START--> <font color="bright red">A young Tyscio Korban looked at the older man...his mentor... his teacher..

"...and at the end of the day, when it's all over?"


The old man smiled warmly... "If, in this great galaxy of chance, you find yourself alive for one more day... do not think that it is without purpose. Finding it out.. now that's the trick..."</font><!--EZCODE HTML END-->



The little creature saw Tyscio as he moved closer and Korban knew he was next...


The little one seemed to open his mouth and Tyscio braced himself for the invisible wall to smite him...


..but it didn't come.


At that moment, the blade struck home piercing the tiny creature through...


causing it to stagger for a bit and shout a last scream of defiance ..


The force of the blade striking the creature caused him to pivot a bit and as he screamed, he released whatever power was building... striking out in Leia's direction.


An invisible wall of sorts slammed into the two creatures and Leia..


And the tiny alien fell....


..the chanting stopped...




Suddenly, yells were heard but it took a moment for Korban to realize that they weren't coming from the alien line but from behind him...


Mathias had rounded up who he could and had prepared them for a charge...


The men rushed past Tyscio and the aliens braced themselves for the challenge by raising their weapons.


They let out a yell of their own and moved to meet the charge.



Tyscio swayed on his feet but before he could drop, Mathias braced him on his left side. The aging militia man was limping himself yet offered no complaint as Tyscio seemd to let his weight fall on the man.

"Looks like you weren't that quick.." Mathias commented..


Korban turned to see that his body armor on the left shoulder seemed to be slightly "eaten" away.. probably due to a close glob hit nearby.


He merely grunted being too tired to reply...


He turned his head toward where Leia had been but Mathias was ahead of him ordering some soldiers to assist Leia with her "problems" if needed.


"How bad do you think that litle bugger hurt those big nasties?" Mathias asked.


But Tyscio mumbled something incoherent.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Blaze of Glory<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




*..Achinta couldn't help but smirk at the sharp repost that Scipio threw towards Adalric....

...looking back up to Scipio, Achinta became a little concerned at her comment about their first meeting...He remembered it vividly, in fact it was stored, so to speak.
In fact he was just about to describe everything he could remember about it, what she was wearing, what the Embassy looked like, what the chemical make-up of the atmosphere had been...but..decided better of it...*

"...I did not forget our meeting Scipio Arien, I was merely unaware that Mr Tenloss had such close ties to the Empire...*

*...Achinta's face grew more serious....*

"..have you had any contact with your people Scipio Arien, or Mr Vinda?, I have tried to myself but had found it useless to even attempt to transmit long distance...is the communications array still operational?..."

*..Checking his Chrono, Achinta shifted slightly...it had been a long time since he had heard from anyone, including C4...the droid was long overdue...and that worried him...he feared the worst...*

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> The Outmarches...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




*Vinda relaxed into his chair as he watched the fighters wipe out the last of the Vong threat, and even allowed himself a faint smile to form...
..Chewing on his unlit Cigarra, Vinda turned to face Omar...*

"...make sure everyone is prepped and on standby, we move out in an hour, and Omar...

(he glanced back at the screen)

congratulate them...."

*..A small nod was Omar's prompt response....
..Vinda observed the fighters regroup and dock onscreen...
Yet his eyes seemed blank, His thoughts were elsewhere,
his mind still perturbed at the strange message he had recieved from Ahnk...

He couldn't help but feel concerned at how his voice sounded, cold, distant and so....

Hollow...

The voice seemed to still echo , and send a shiver down his spine...
Flicking a comm's panel open on his Armrest, Vinda contacted the Aide he had originally assigned the task of deciphering the message....*

"...what have you found ?..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "....er..quite a lot , sir..."<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

"..anything useful?..."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "not really, a few patented farming technologies, a secretarial Droid, 7 formula's for cocktails made in the..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Vinda rolled his eyes, and impatiently interrupted the Aide...*

"..what about co-ordinates?, does it correspond to anything?.."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> "well, not really Sir, they can be equated to Star-chart co-ordinates , however I have gone over several different maps many times, and it just leads to empty space, I really don't think...'<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Vinda once again interrupted the Aide...*

"you are not payed to think!, you are payed to do!, now punch those co-ordinates to the bridge, I wish to view them onscreen..."

*The Aide sheepishly acknowledged still wincing from Vinda's sharp respite, and as he did so Vinda studied the star chart in front of him , his eyes narrowing as he observed its location..*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Interesting....what are you up to Ahnk?....what is it you need?...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Vinda felt a strong pull from the force, it was calling him,
...Beckoning him...
Vinda lit his Cigarra , and gestured for Omar's attention, puffing out swirling trails of smoke...*

"...Captain give these co-ordinates to the core fleet, and who is 2nd in command from you?..."

*..Omar's face gave a hint of confusion as he answered Vinda...*

"...Asariat, Sir..."

*..Vinda nodded, and removed the cigarra from his mouth, expelling thick smoke as he did so...*

"..ah, yes, Asariat is a capable man, he will lead the core fleet to Capricia, in our absence...
(Vinda took another drag)
take us, 3 Nova cruisers and another VSD....to these alternate Co-ordinates..."

*As Omar took the data-pad off of Vinda, his face seemed to grow even more confused than ever...*

"...our Absence!?, Can I ask why sir?..."

*...Fixing his focus onto Omar, a small wry smiled appeared just barely visible through the curling veil of smoke that now engulfed Vinda..*

"..of course, we are going on an excursion...captain..."


*Vinda turned his chair back round to face the viewscreen signalling the end of the conversation, Omar stood there , looking at the back of Vinda's chair, blankly...*

"...I see..."

(he muttered to himself).


*The ships detached themselves from the rest of the core fleet and within moments , had made the jump to Hyperspace...

Vinda and his small entourage headed for the mysterious co-ordinates...

..and the Core fleet, to Capricia...*







****************************************************



<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Mr Vinda's Diversion....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> EMPIRE'S SHADOWS: "The Middle of nowhere" <!--EZCODE BOLD END-->







Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
...8 4 7 3 5 9 1 7 0...





*..Vinda's party exited hyperspace , at the exact co-ordinates given by Ahnk....and sure enough...

...there was nothing there...

...nothing except space itself, that is...

Vinda sat in his chair , surrounded in a halo of smoke, exaggerated by the Nostromo's low lit bridge...

Omar Paced back and forth, his impatience and frustration clearly evident...until he could stand it no more....*

"..Sir, with all due respect ,why are we here!?..we should be aiding the fleet and the Capricians!..."

*Vinda lifted his hand , a gesture to calm him down...and answered simply and elegantly*

"...I don't know..."

*...Omar snorted out of frustration at Vinda's unhelpful reply...*

"..then what do we do now?..."

*..Tired of having to explain himself, Vinda's tone, grew serious, and as he spoke the smoke from his Cigarra seemed to both dance and accentuate the words that were spoken...*


"Now...we wait..."





The Bitch Montague
Civilian
Posts: 45
(2/2/02 1:12:40 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
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You've done well, Seth Vinda.

(In front of the Vinda Corporation fleet, a Sith Infiltrator, looking to be modified from it's armament, pulled from hyperspace. Vinda had seen the ship before, and could recognize it as Ahnk's personal shuttle as it slowed to a halt in front of the VSD.)

You've done very well, considering how tight the times are with your war against the Yuuzhan Vong. Allow me to board.






Seth Vinda
Entrepenuer &
CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 205
(2/2/02 7:27:43 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
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*Vinda observed onscreen, and did indeed recognise Ahnk's vessel...though not the stranger contacting him from inside it, which , as you could imagine, perplexed him slightly...Vinda's head tilted to the side and nodded cautiously...as he recieved the message...*

...quite..

*Gesturing for an Aide, Vinda eyes narrowed as he studied the ship onscreen...
Taking a quick drag on his Cigarra , Vinda spoke....*

"...let the ship board...."


*...With an ardent response, the Ensign turned on his heels and left the Bridge. Vinda took a moment to contemplate the situation...*

..unexpected....yet I sense she is sincere....

*...Stubbing out the little of what was left of his Cigarra, Vinda rose from his chair, and straightened his suit, and walked slowly to leave...leaving a somewhat confused looking Crew...*

"...Captain Omar....you have the bridge...inform me of any new developments...... any..."





Edited by: Seth Vinda at: 2/3/02 7:24:55 am
The Bitch Montague
Civilian
Posts: 46
(2/2/02 7:36:28 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOC: *cough* Holofeed?

"Impressive ship, Mr. Seth Vinda."
(She looked around at the walls of the VSD. Nothing she hadn't seen before but the old designs did have their charm. The man, too, was interesting in his own way... he looked to be her elder but that meant little.)
"You, and Ahnk, met before, correct?"






Seth Vinda
Entrepenuer &
CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 206
(2/3/02 8:30:30 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
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*...Vinda's eyes looked over the stranger in front of him, he was indeed very curious as to who this person was, he smiled as she spoke...*

"..thank you,and ...yes, Ahnk and I know each other, I am greatly curious as to the nature of this visit...and why he should have entrusted you, and not come himself..."

*..Vinda already suspected he knew the answer to this but decided he would like to hear , to be sure...he gestured for Ms Montague to walk with him...*

"...forgive my directness, but , who are you?..."

...the force is strong with this one...





The Bitch Montague
Civilian
Posts: 51
(2/3/02 9:13:36 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
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"Ahnk doesn't know I'm here."
(She smiled at him, and it reeked of incenserity, and did nothing to disguise the radiated hate she gave off when his name was mentioned.)
"He's currently tied up with affairs of the New Republic's demise."
(She walked to him, and rubbed a hand across his chest.)
"Firm... toned... how long do you last in bed?"
(Before Seth could get an answer, she felt a sharp claw poke her back and Seth heard a screech representative of metal being scraped away.)
"Ah, Mr. Vinda, allow me to inroduce Par Khai."
(The beast that greeted him was a horrible site of wet, red scaled skin and grooved spines on arms and back. The long claws it possessed scraped against the floor of the Star Destroyer, and were in not in a crouch with it's reverse jointed legs, it could have swiped up and hit the cieling as well. It muttered something to him, which she responded to by slapping him across the enlongated face, hard enough to reduce most to tears. He merely shook his head and opened his jaws in a mock snarl.)
"He asked which one is a more active predator... he who does it kill, or she who does it to feed."
(She raised an eyebrow.)
"Anyway..."






Seth Vinda
Entrepenuer &
CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 207
(2/3/02 9:53:44 am)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Re: Empire's Shadows: "The Middle of Nowhere"
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...doesn't know?....New Republic's demise?...


*...Vinda shifted slightly as the woman got uncomfortably close, and winced a little as he heard the beast behind her, what sounded like , scream...
Despite the distractions Vinda picked up on both her falseness, and even more puzzling to Vinda, her hatred as Ahnk was mentioned...Vinda gestured in greeting to the strange and disturbing looking creature in front of him..then addressed her statement...*


"...depends on which one has the strongest will to survive...I would suppose..."

...you seem to be somewhat of a Predator yourself...


*..Vinda reached into his suit pocket and retrived a Cigarra pouch and offered one to the woman , and the "other", gentleman...*







M4S5A5S1 Z3R0
Civilian
Posts: 1
(2/3/02 9:56:14 am)
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[Let us get to buisness, M'Lady.]
(Par Khai said, taking the offered cigara and swallowing it in one gulp.)






The Bitch Montague
Civilian
Posts: 52
(2/3/02 10:0 1:0 6 am)
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(She absently waved away the cigarra.)

But aren't we both, Seth?

(She fixed him a smile as she walked to her Massassi beast's position.)
"You and Ahnk were friends... no?"







Seth Vinda
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CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 208
(2/3/02 10:16:20 am)
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...Friends...


*..That word seemed to stick inside Vinda's mind, as he heard it, it was no secret that the two men seemed to like each other...despite one anothers agenda, They had both helped each other many times, and trusted each other....
....yet the word "friend " had not come to mind before.....
Vinda thoughtfully reflected on this for a moment before answering carefully....*

"...yes, that would be the best way to describe our arrangement....better still, call it Mutual respect..."

*...Vinda glanced up at the creature that had just consumed a very expensive brand of Cigarra, and put away his pouch...*







The Bitch Montague
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(2/3/02 10:18:34 am)
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"Then you would, it times of distress, help his family after his death?"
(She spat that at him.)





Seth Vinda
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Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 209
(2/3/02 10:32:54 am)
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...his family?...his death!?...


*Vinda's eyes focused onto hers, as he listened...
His instinct had been right...
..Vinda slowly lit the Cigarra he was holding as he considered the ramifications...
He sighed loudly as he exhaled, the Cigarra smoke seemed to obscure him for a moment...*

"...If I could be of any help.... then ...yes..."





M4S5A5S1 Z3R0
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(2/3/02 11:44:59 pm)
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[You can be of help, corporate man. You will deliver me to the frozen world, and I will make one the last and only.]
(The beast replied, scraping at his bony head with a long talon.)





The Bitch Montague
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Posts: 55
(2/3/02 11:48:53 pm)
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"What my collegue means to say is that we would ask for passage to a world in the Hoth system. Upon arrival, we would land a small ship on the surface, and your debt to Ahnk would be repayed, and I would owe one to you."
(She looked at Par Khai as he let out a grunt, and back to Vinda.)
"Would this be agreeable?"





Seth Vinda
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Rambunctious and Ominous British
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(2/4/02 5:20:59 am)
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...Debt!?!...


*Vinda chewed on his Cigarra as he listened to Montague's words...Clearly there was more to this story, but the request however seemed reasonable enough...
Vinda spoke through gritted teeth as they clenched his Cigarra...*

"... sounds.. agreeable..."

*Removing the Cigarra from his mouth, he glanced across to Par Khai, then back to Montague...*

"...is that all?..."






The Bitch Montague
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(2/4/02 10:35:35 am)
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"Set a course for Hoth 4."
(She glanced around.)
"I will be leaving now."





Seth Vinda
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CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
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(2/4/02 10:46:31 am)
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*..Taking the cigarra from his mouth, Vinda nodded, and used his personal comm-link to contact the Bridge...*

Sir?

"..Omar, take us to Hoth-4 , now..."

..I see, very good sir...

*..admiring the quality of the cigarra, Vinda absently observed it, whilst he talked to Montague....*

"..If I remember correctly, Hoth-4 is run by The Rogue Empire, is it not?..."

*Vinda glanced back up to Montague, his eyes narrowing slightly...*

"..aren't they going to want to have a say in this...?..."







The Bitch Montague
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(2/4/02 11:24:0 1 am)
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"Did you shed a tear for the Corporate Sector Authority when you took Bonadon?"
(She shook her head.)
"I don't have time to @#%$ around... if you're timid, we;'ll both leave. Or if you think that the wife of your dead friend is important, I'll continue on my way and you can take Par Khai to Hoth. It's as simple as that."






Seth Vinda
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Rambunctious and Ominous British
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(2/4/02 11:46:0 2 am)
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...charming...


*..Vinda's eyes didn't move from hers as he exhaled from another drag..the smoke swirled around his face as he glanced to the Massassi creature, then back to Montague...a small wry smile forming....*

"...point taken..."






The Bitch Montague
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Posts: 58
(2/4/02 11:47:26 am)
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(She got into her shuttle, aimed for Dantooine, and left the beast behind.)






Seth Vinda
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CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 217
(2/4/02 12:0 0:15 pm)
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*...After watching Montague leave, Vinda turned to look at the beast in front of him...and sighed slightly...*

"...just me and you then..."

*..A small lurch forward indicated that the ship had just entered Hyperspace, with a small step forward to steady himself Vinda gestured for the Creature to join him on the Bridge...*






M4S5A5S1 Z3R0
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(2/4/02 12:10:52 pm)
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(On all fours Par Khai followed the coporote henchman. He sniffed the air as he walked, mumbling to himself in a language Seth didn't comprehend.)






Seth Vinda
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CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 218
(2/4/02 12:35:55 pm)
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<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Four Days later...<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->





*...Vinda made his way to the bridge, he was glad to have had the rest , a comms alert had warned that the Nostromo had just come out of Hyperspace...Vinda checked his chrono...and winced slightly...*

..this "expedition" is starting to get time-consuming...

*..As he Walked onto the bridge, the doors slid aside, and the noise of the command centre once again filled his ears...Vinda was starting to get weary of it....
Looking up he caught sight of Omar, looking slightly uncomfortable as the Massassi warrior was already there next to him, observing over his shoulder...
Omar noticed Vinda, and looked more relieved because of it...bowing a little, he spoke, somewhat subdued...*

"we have arrived quite a bit outside the Hoth system, sir.."

*..Vinda nodded sharply, and took his seat...Glancing over to the Massassi , Vinda spoke...*

"...what do you have in mind?..."






ChaddFearsons
Emporer of TRE
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Posts: 343
(2/4/02 12:56:33 pm)
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With the twenty Dreadnaughts just finishing completion, Rear Admiral Vislek was quite pleased with his miniature fleet. The crews around him jokingly called it the "Wannabe Katana Fleet", and he would often smile at the bright hearted humor. Amidst the asteroid belt there, the last two Dreadnaughts finished their tests and drew themselves back toward the shipyard, awaiting the several fighters which would be loaded onto the Rogue Imperial capital ships.

Though it was an older model, the Dreadnaughts proved to be quite well done at space superiority rolls, especially against other old craft such as the Victory Star Destroyer. Smaller craft, like that of the Hapes Consortium and the Imperial cache, were also targets prey of the Dreadnaughts ulterior might. Of course it was quite obvious a Dreadnaught, or even five, could not hold its own against an Imperial Star Destroyer or the more modern craft about. Sadly, Vislek had never been around the big warships before, and only had he seen the smaller warcraft stationed at the not quite so important bases. Like Pier 104 on Yaga Minor, or Eagle Eye Station's few Carrack Cruisers. Once or twice he'd had the priveladge of seeing a Victory Star Destroyer, but never in action, and never had he seen ships of that caliber for more than a moment.

However now that had all changed as the Imperial-Class Star Destroyer Liberi lingered itself past the shipyard. It was a beautiful sight to see, truly showing the majesty and glory that the Rogue Empire portrayed. He felt as if it was a priveladge to stare upon the great, wedged warship, and indeed in a way...it was. The Liberi had been named after the man who took Hoth Four over for the Rogue Empire, Chris Liberi, who had found his fate in a black hole after a tragic attempt of fleeing from the New Alliance.

"Sir," reported Lieutenant Commander Wilkins. Vislek spun on his heels to the man standing at attention and nodded. "As per the emperor's request, we have loaded the assault transports and some of the Dreadnaughts with cloning cylinders and the required clones that were requested."

"Including that of Admiral Wyldan?" Vislek wondered, hoping that in a way they could ressurect the slain admiral.

"Aye sir, we have his clone aboard too."

He peered back out into the blackness of space, expecting to see nothing but the asteroid belt and twinkling stars as usual. However, his sensors proved otherwise. There was a small bleeping of a Code Blue alarm, meaning there were potential hostiles in the area. The Liberi had been positioned at Hoth after the Phantom Pirate attack, to keep out any others who tried to steal the precious cloning technology and ended up slaying the Snake clone in the process.

"We'll be alright," he said to himself, stroking his wedding ring. "What kind of ships are we expecting?"

"We don't know yet sir," responded Lt. Commander Wilkins after speaking to one of the helmsmen. "The asteroid belt is blocking any clean sensor readouts."

"I see...get ready and bring the fighters into a close perimeter."

If someone wanted a fight...a fight they'd get.

"Activate the Gencore," he suddenly demanded. It was built there shortly after the pirate attack to keep out any who tried to entered the base there. A good forty thousand soldiers were allocated there as well. The shield was then activated...and any who tried to enter the base on Hoth would have quite the time. Of course...there was no need to panic...what if it was just a smuggler fleeing from Rogue Imperial forces? Still...that chance couldn't be taken.






Seth Vinda
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CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 219
(2/4/02 2:17:46 pm)
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... 2 Hours later...


*..Vinda sat on the bridge and observed onscreen, it was impossible from this distance to tell the difference between the planet and the stars that surrounded it...Vinda raised his hand , a signal for Omar....*

"is everything set?..."

"..Yes sir waiting for your word..."

*..Vinda flicked open the comms, and alerted the Massassi, he responded in kind indicating his readiness..*

"..whats our status in regards to their defensive capabilities?..."

*Omar shifted slightly, as he read off of the data-screen...*

"...we cannot get a reading, and...in all likelyhood,vice versa, there appears to be interference blocking readings to our long range scanners...plus we're both too far out of range anyway.."

*Vinda nodded listening...*

"..good, how about the pod?..is it prepared?.."

"...yes sir, all identity markings have been removed, its untraceable..."

*Vinda paused in thought for a moment, then turned to face Omar, his voice calm....*

"..launch..."


*One simple command initiated the chain of events...

The unmarked Escape Pod was launched from its moorings for the direction of Hoth....

...and Vinda-Corp's small band of Ships lurched away in the opposite direction of the pod, into Hyperspace,

and disappeared in an instant...*







ChaddFearsons
Emporer of TRE
Self Proclaimed
Jedi Knight
Posts: 346
(2/4/02 2:31:35 pm)
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The Dreadnaughts, who had been on alert, seemed to cease their actions of hostility as the abnormal blips on the radar curved away. But then..what if they were those Vong creatures that Rashnak and Siather had reported?

"We cannot go down on alert, put us on yellow!" cried Visalek, and the persons were quick to comply. The turbo lasers had been fully powered, and the Liberi wedged itself in front of the asteroid field.

There was a short and brief comms relay. "Attention, we have a meteorite inbound for Hoth, repeat, inbound inbound. They are closing at one one three decimal four six, no, make that seven."

"What is it?" Visalek wondered as he watched it move swiftly through the field of debris and space rock. Is it Vong or otherwise?

"Sir it could just be a meteorite, let's let it go," one of the helmsman said, and immediately Visalek turned with an icey glare.

"You FOOL!" he roared angrily. "A meteorite is what cost the rebellion the Battle of Hoth! I will not suffer for your stupidity, aim at that pod and fire as fast as you can and as accurate as you can...get soldiers on high alert on the ground, and see if you can't get some TIE Defenders inbound."

"A-A-Aye sir," the helmsman said. Immediately...the TIEs were off, and turbo lasers smeered straight forward at the pod from nearly every craft in the area.






M4S5A5S1 Z3R0
Civilian
Posts: 6
(2/4/02 11:59:52 pm)
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(The pod immediatly was breached. The gases inside ignited instantly and the pod exploded, the excriment contained inside bruning rapidly in a brillant corusca of fire.)
(Par Khai couldn't see it, but he imagined that the Rogue Imperial forces celebrated in the destruction of a Vinda Corporation escape pod.)
(During the large barage of fire, Par Khai had smoothly piloted his Dinafet Cruiser to the back of the Liberi and magnetized his lower hull. He had deactivated the physical cloak... it was not nescessary, as this particular place, however he would be sure to turn it on once the Dreadnaughts began rotation. His sensor jamming suite was active and running, as well as his weapons systems charged, albeit lightly. The ship emitted no sound and little heat... what was visible was obscured by the sensor jamming bubble aurrounding his ship. He would wait until the ship passed the mine field, and should they show any signs of other intentions, they would be seperated from their rapt embrace, and the cloaked cruiser would drift in on the wake of one of the Dreadnaughts.)
(Which reminded him, they were going to turn. He activated the cloak and dissapeared into the night.)






Seth Vinda
Entrepenuer &
CEO of Vinda-Corp.
Rambunctious and Ominous British
Posts: 228
(2/5/02 2:45:51 pm)
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&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp "The Middle of Nowhere..."
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<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Hyperspace<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->
...En Route to Capricia...




*..Vinda rubbed his eyes, as they were beginning to get sore, he watched the stars fly past the view-port of his ready-room...they had been travelling for four days straight, and that was just from the slight "detour" the party had encountered...loosening his tie slightly, he sighed as he checked his Chrono...*

...Time....never enough time....

*..After hearing about Ahnk's demise, Vinda had been thinking about his own mortality, about which he was all too aware of..
..he stared absently into the streaks letting himself go...

...as if slipping into a trance...he closed his eyes and sunk back into his chair....reaching out into the force....the only way he knew how...

..he exhaled loudly as he felt it coarse through him, like a wave...

and a cluster of images flashed before him...
His brow furrowed, as what he saw disturbed him..

..an unidentified planet ,no , planets!, under attack...

...explosions, screams of terror...

...A figure with two heads...

... an apparition of Ahnk, standing in a blaze of fire...

...the face of a Caprician...

Vinda gasped silently, and opened his eyes, as the images faded as quickly as they arrived...
Getting up from his chair, Vinda opened a small drawer in his desk, and took out a small bottle of Scotch...filling a glass, Vinda sipped it slowly as he considered about the significance of what he had just experienced....
A comms alert bought him out of his thoughts, it was Omar...*

"...Go ahead..."

"..Sir, just to inform you , we are making good progress, we should be catching up with the Core fleet in no time at all..."

*..Vinda sat back down as he listened to Omar...*

"..also, we have recieved the transmitted data from the pod we launched towards Hoth..."

(Vinda's ears seemed to prick up)

"ahh, excellent, have you reviewed the data?..."

"...yes Sir, they did exactly what we expected..the pod was destroyed..."

*Vinda paused for a moment in thought before continuing...*

"..of course ...was there any chance they intercepted the data?..."

"..Not a chance Sir, the data shows they didn't even scan it!, besides even if they had done, it was heavily encrypted , it would make no sense to them.."

*Vinda smiled a little...*

"..Good, create some duplicate copies, it might shed some light on their defenses...should we ever need it...
.... you never know Omar....you never know...."

*Vinda de-activated the comms, and relaxed into his chair...and continued to watch the universe fly by outside....*



...lets hope we won't....

Just mere fractions of a second before the second invisible wall hit, Leia's saber flashed to life in her hand... right into the mouth of the creature inches from her face. The blade penetrated through it's head and brain, and the tip poked out of the top of the skull.

The creature didn't even have a chance for a last roar, scream, or whatever that thing was they did. It died instantly, the blood oozing from it's fatal wound evaporating into toxic brown fumes that Leia turned her head to avoid. That left only the one behind Leia.

But she didn't even have time to recognize that the first creature was dead before the second shock wave hit her, knocking her completely senseless. Whatever conscious intelligence Leia had retained from the first wave now completely gone, she collapsed numbly to her side and lay there motionless. The other creature was clearly stunned, and it began to wobble around aimlessly, tripping over it's own feet.

With admirable swiftness the Capricians advanced, and soon two grim soldiers stooped down over Leia, one grabbed her legs, the other slung his arms under her own, and they hoisted her relatively easy, for Leia was not a tall woman, and had a surprisingly little frame for such an active Jedi. They carried her back towards whatever safety the Caprician held lines could still offer.

Another soldier spotted Leia's lightsaber laying on the ground. He picked it up, and looked from it to the stumbling creature. A sudden, inexplicable burst of courage had him ignite the blade, jog over to the creature, and cut it's head off. The corpse collapsed before him, and as he realized what he had done, he merely quickly shut off the saber and stuffed it in his belt to return it to it's owner later, and ran to get back into his assigned position. Just another tally for him.

A collective roar of fury sounded from the Yuzzhan Vong forces, now that the 'infidels' had killed all three of their magnificent creatures. They charged forward with a renewed cause to meet the Caprician advance, and it began to be pushed back.

Even before the soldiers had set Leia down she had begun to stir a little from all of the jostling. Her state of awareness was further aroused when a soldier knelt beside her, removed her helmet, and proceeded to dump an entire canteen of luke warm water on her face. She sputtered and began to thrash around, until her eyes fluttered open and focused blearily on the soldier bent over her.

After a moment of meeting her blank empty stare, the soldier concluded that Leia was going to need a bit more time to recover and he called for a medic, even as Leia's eyes rolled to the back of her head again. He quickly checked for a pulse just to make sure, and then a medic was beside him to help get her further back to safety.

The same party that was carrying Leia and other injured soldiers to the back lines also picked up the tired and weary Tyscio on the way. Leia was out cold throughout the entire process, and even afterwards when they finally reached the back lines and medics attempted to get her back in the world of the coherent again.

Obviously a lesson came out of the encounter of the day:

<font color=red>Do not get in the way of invisible walls.</font>

Now, wasn't that a handy tidbit of info.

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Vinda-Corp H.Q<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->




*Yana looked up suddenly as a voice brought her out of her thoughts...Glancing up to see Miles suddenly standing next to her, she recognised him immediatly, and panicked slightly because of it...*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Miles Johnson!...he's one of Vinda's top diplomats!....<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*She straightened herself to face Miles...*


"...no..I, er...no I 'm fine thank you, I just have an important meeting I have to attend , and I am late...thanks..."

*Yana backed away slowly as she talked, in an effort to get out of conversation...she smiled nervously, and gestured with the data-pad she was still holding...as if indicating she had work to do ....*

"...sorry, I, I have to go,...goodbye.."

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..smooth Yana, smooth...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...As she talked Yana seemed to avoid Miles's gaze, bowing slightly, but repeatedly, she made her excuses and hurried away , before Miles could react , down the long corridor...*


*No sooner had Miles watched her walk out of sight, there was a huge Mind-splitting explosion that seemed to shake the entire Building....

...And The corridor seemed to fall down around him...


...Yana after making it to the 2nd floor, had just managed to avoid the force of the blast, watched as disorientated employees began to regain their composure and rise to their feet...herself included...
The emergency services were already on their way , the service Droids that were already there had started to help those wounded...their cries barely audible above the tirade of emergency alarms ringing throughout the building...

Yana checked her Chrono....*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ...Security forces will be here any minute...theres not much time...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Slipping past the mayhem that had ensued, Yana made her way to the emergency stair well....
The bomb had gutted the first floor of the building, it had however been carefully designed to cause minimal damage...the Building's structure itself was intact....


...Making her way to the 6th floor , Yana checked to see of the lifts were still operational...her request was answered as the elevator doors opened in front of her, spilling its contents of employees ....*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..they're evacuating the building...Good...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*...Throughout the bedlam and confusion, no-one noticed a small young woman slip past the waves of evacuating employees...


No-one saw her enter the lifts as they emptied...



No-one noticed her make her way to the top floor..



...and slip quietly into Mr Vinda's office....*

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Capricia<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->



"Ship breaking off from the main group!" a scanning officer shouted and a quick look to the probe's data being relayed though Capricia's ionized atmosphere confirmed the claim.

"Steady!" the Captain ordered, and suddenly a Yuuzhan Vong had penetrated the atmosphere intent on the planet's surface...

"Fire!! All ships fire!"

...never seeing the Caprician Fleet that had held position under the ionized atmosphere.


The Fleet's powerful weapons tore the Yuuzhan craft apart before it had a chance to response.


"Sir, the Chief Engineer says threshold limit imminent!"


The Captain stole one more blast at the explosion disappearing and bellowed, "Gravity anchor's retract..!!"



----------------



Tslah Vhess had smiled at the descending craft sent to deliver their deadly virus.

Already, from orbit their massive ships had continued spilling out plasma on Caprician's Capital of Antioch.

//The sacrifice would be great.. Yun-Yammka would be pleased//


..and then the ship exploded..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What???<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> The War Coordinator nearly killed the slave nearby out of anger.

//The Infidels rise// he murmured as suddenly the Caprician Fleet appeared coming up out of the atmosphere.

His eyes took on an evil glint as the challenge presented itself.

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The gods give nothing for free..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> he realized, suddenly satisfied, inwardly chagrined at his earlier shock.

//Destroy the infidel fleet//


---------------


"Sweet Clans old and new." Tyscio Zier whispered as his portion of the fleet exited hyperspace from Tirus..

Their holographic scanners showed the Defense Fleet positioning themselves between the planet and the Invaders..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> But the invaders were close..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Tyscio's fleet was directly behind the invaders...and began their firing..


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> You always wanted to test your mettle against the invaders as Gomorran had once did 5 years ago...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


And the fight began..


------------------------


<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> Politics<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->


Parliament Member Jorrum Gerrard gave a satisfied smile as his transports headed back toward Capricia, their mission a success.

His eyes fell upon his "self appointed" ambassador, the man feeling good with himself, thinking he played an important part in coming to the aid of his world with the threat of the invaders.


Jorrum knew better though, weaving an intricate web of deceit. Having spun a tale for the Jedi witch...he spun one for this idealistic (if misdirected) fellow Parliament member. The fact was, the young man actually did think he was authorized by the Regent to speak on behalf of their government and would have projected as much to the sanctimonious, bloated Jedi Council.

While he looked upon the Jedi with contempt he did respect their "powers" and could not risk speaking to them in person should their perceptions become overzealous.

Now loaded with his wishlist they were now minutes from the Caprician system.

"No response from tracking control.." the lead pilot had commented drawing a bit of concern from Gerrard.

With the latest in communications and tracking systems brought into the system from Vinda Corporation by the efforts of Scipio Arien. But even those improvements were suspisciously silent.


(Reversion)


And Capricia hung in the distance surrounded by tiny flashes of light..

"Are we too late?" the psuedo ambassador asked.

Jorrum narrowed his eyes and grunted.

"Looks like we are just in time."