-= Onyx,Unknown Regions =-

Logan stared out the window of his office at the surface of Onyx.It was nearly paradise,with beuitiful skys and hundreds of subspecies of grass.His office was on the top floor of a builing that stretched kilometers up into the clouds.For weeks his scout ships had been hidding near the planet Clak'dor VII.Rumored to be the home world of the Bith.Logan had ordered the scouting mission some time ago and the scouts reported back every week.Almost always they reported bad news,they had not found anything conclusive.So now Logan stood in his office,looking out at the Onyx landscape.He hoped that the scouts would report good news soon.


Down in the communications room in the same builing two bored techs sat playing holo-chess.As was their lot in life.Down in a dungeon-like room not doing anyhing worthwhile.They had been assigned to monitoring the comm bands,searching for some sign that the scouts had finnaly found what they were looking for.

"Check mate"

One of the techs threw his fist in the air as he won the game.The other tech just stared at the holo-chess board for a moment untill admitting defeat.As they reorganized the holo-chess board and prepared to play another game,somthing on their control board started beeping.The techs looked at each other for a moment in astonishment.Then they scrambled to get to their stations and do their jobs.

"What is it" One of the techs asked the other.

"It is a comm signal from one of the scout teams" The other replied.

"Aren't they on a scouting run at Clak'dor VII"?

"Yes they are.Regent Logan himself gave specific orders to be notified if the teams reported back that they had found it"

"Well.Let's hear the messege"

The other tech nodded and started punching buttons untill the comm messege came on.

"-ompleted mission.....no resistance....no...established defences.....repeat..we have completed our mission we have discovered no established defences.....eturning to base.Repeat...we are returning to base"

The techs looked at each other again and one of them reached for the comm to call the Regent to tell him that the scouts have reported back from Clack'Dor VII.

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Logan was talking via comm to the New Alliance ambassador to the Mon Calimari Republic.They had been taling the current situation inside the planet Mon Calamari.Soon a rather insistant beeping noise came from the private comm unit.He told the Ambassador that he would talk to him later and signed off.He went to the private comm unit.

"Logan"

"Sir this is Corporal Dominic from tech station twenty four.You asked to be notified once the reports from the Clak'dor recon team"

"Ah yes.What is the messege Corporal"?

"The messege incicates that the team had scouted the Clak'dor system and has found no emplaced defenses and are returning to base"

"Very good.Very good Corporal"

Logan switched the comm off and got his secretary in his office.

"Selphie get me Captain Idinian.Get him into my office"

"Right away sir"

After a few moments Captain Idinian walked through his office door.

"You asked for me sir"?

"Yes.I have an assignment for you.I want you to take your ship,the Dreadnaught <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, on a diplomatic misson to Clak'dor VII.The Bith have been talking to me about securing protection for their planet but I have never really followed it up.That is where you come in.Take the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> to Clak'dor VII and ask them if they are still interested in protection and trade"

"What about defenses.With all due respect sir,I don't want to take just one Dreadnaught against planetary defenses"

Logan grinned.He liked Captain Idinian.

"I have already dispatched a scout team and their report says there is no defenses"

"In that case sir.I will leave now,for Clak'dor VII"

"Good luck Captain Idinian"

"Thank you sir"


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-= Onboard Dreadnaught <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> =-

Captain Idinian took his time walking to the bridge of his ship.He was going over a datapad that contained the recon team's report.If you could call it a report.It was very short and garbled...as if the team was under attack.And that is why he asked the Regent why he was only going with one Dreadnaught.He would feel more comfortable if he had at least two <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Legacy<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->-class Torpedo Attack Cruisers with him.But the Regent insisted that one Dreadnaught was enough.And orders were orders and Captain Idinian was going to follow them.He got to the bridge and went directly to his command chair and sat down.He set his datapad on the arm of the chair.He began snapping orders and told his helmsman to set course for Clak'dor VII and engage the hyperdrive.


Hours later they arrived in the Clak'dor system and immedietly headed for the planet.Captain Idinian spent most of his time revewing the New Alliance files on the Bith speicies.The Bith were a very advanced and highly capable species that had discovered spaceflight long before the Old Republic was formed.They had large heads and were excellent for administrative purposes.They also have a deep love for music and could be found playing in jizz bands across the galaxy.

As soon as the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> got within communications range it recieved a messege from the Bith government asking who they were and what did they want.Captain Idinian responed that they were ambassadors from the New Alliance and they wanted to take the Bith government up on their offer.They did not recieve another transmission from the Bith government for several hours untill finally they responded.They were slightly surprised that the New Alliance was willing to send a ship all the way to Clak'dor VII just to have a meeting with them.And that they were not only willing to talk,they were eager to talk.Captain Idinian was happy to oblige and entered into talks immedietly.The Bith leader and ambassadors told him that several strange occurances.One was that a mysterious ship kept appearing and dissapearing...as if out of thin air.Captain Idinian was puzzled...the only thing that could do that was a cloaking device.The Bith said if he could solve the mystery of this ghost ship they would let the New Alliance take control o the planet.

IA cloaking device........cloaking devices use a massive gravitic spatial distortion field to warp the fabric of space-time completely around a cloaked vessel. This makes the vessel effectively invisible since all electromagnetic radiation and matter will be re-directed around the ship. However, the comprehensive nature of this cloak brings with it a major deficiency: since all incoming matter and energy are directed around the vessel, the ship is completely blind. It is impossible to communicate with the vessel, and inside the vessel nothing can be detected on sensors but a black emptiness around the ship.Captain Idinian's theory was that the mysterious ship was using a cloaking device to hide their ship.But the main question was why.Why would a ship use a cloaking device to hide itself? And what did have to hide? And where did it get the cloaking device itself?These were the questions that were constant in Captain Idinian's head,and he was determined to solve this mystery.The Bith had provided all the information they had on the ship,all their sensor logs,all their readings.Captain Idinian went through sll of these a million times and a week later was no closer to solving the mystery than he was when he had started.They best way to track a cloaked ship is to scan a small area of space and look for the ships ion backwash...or a trail.Since Clak'dor VII was a hub for traders,merchants,smugglers,bounty hunters,and other ships there were many Ion trails from many sublight engines.But Captain Idinian was confedant that using the information the Bith had provided they could match an Ion trail to the mysterious ship.

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

After several days of scanning space for the appropiate ion trail they had narrowed their choices down to three Ion trails that were nearly identical.However only one had to be the cloaked ship.So Captain Idinian ordered the navigators to pick a trail and plot a course to where the ship was.Once the navigators had reported thsat they had found the ship Captain Idinian ordered the helmsmen to enter hyperspace and get to that ship.Moments later they arrived on the scene. A small Correlian YT-1300 light freighter was being attacked by a much larger Correllian Corvette.Captain Idinian frowned.

"Open a channel to the Light Freighter"

"Channel open"

"This is Captain Idinian of the New Alliance Dreadnaught <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.What is your situation.?"

"I am a New Alliance merchant transporting supplies to Clak'dor VII.I have been doing so for several days now.The ship attacking me is pirates! You must help me"

"open a channel to the Corvette"

"Open"

"This is Captain Idinian of the New Alliance Dreadnaught <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.Cease fire on the Light Freighter immedietaly.If you do not we will disable your vessel."

The Correlian Corvette made no respnse and continued it's attack on the light freighter.

"Open fire,Ion cannons only"

The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> fired from it's numerous Ion emplacements and quickly disabled the attacking ship.Captain Idinian made contact with another New Alliance Dreadnaught,the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Vendetta<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> and it's captain agreed to transport bothe the corvette and the light freighter to Myrkr.Captain Idinian then ordered his ship back to Clak'dor VII,to search the remaining Ion trails.

The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> arrived back into the Clak'dor system and started searching for the second Ion trail.Captain Idinian sat in his command chair in the slightly cramped bridge and stroked his chin-and a beard stuble-as he waited for the navigators to match the Ion trails.He had been thinking alot lately about that 'ghost' ship that kept appearing and disapearing.The ghost ship had actually appeared right in front of their very eyes and disappeared almost instantly...as if taunting them to find it.And Captain Idinian would search his entire life to find it...if he had to.

"Captain Idinian! We have matched the Ion trail and have plotted a course along it.We are ready to go as soon as you give the order"

"Excellent.Helm forward 5 MGLT.As soon as you are into to the hyperdrive positon engage all hyperdrive engines"

The <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> went forward for a second then entered hyperspace.A few minutes later they exited and scanned the surounding space.

"Nothing sir"

"What do you mean nothing"?

"I mean that there isn't anything here"

Captain Idinian frowned....where could it be?
Then he got an idea and turned it over in his mind.If the ghost ship was indeed cloaked they would need to uncloak it to find it.His frown became deeper as he thought.How do you uncloak a cloaked ship? the opposite of a cloaking device is an....anti-cloaking device.If they could somehow rig one together they might be able to find the host ship.The navigator turned in his chair to face Captain Idinian.

"Sir.The ion trail we were tracking is not that of the ghost ship.The ion trail terminates here.It suggests that the ship that created the Ion trail went into hyperspace."

"Couldn't the ghost ship go into hyperspace"?

"Well yes...but according to all are readings and that of the Bith...the ship doesn't appear hyperspace capable"

"Okay."

He quickly got all his engineers togather and told them his plan..

A small contingent of 2nd fleet ships came out of hyper space. standing as back up if the admiral needed it.

Hapan Battle Dragon- Long Guard
Lancer-class Frigate- Ralroost
Armadia-Class thrust ship- Waryone
Modular Cruiser- Chemelian

OOC: I am going to have to put this RP on hold untill my comp gets fixed

The galaxy was a huge place,with billions of stars and planets.Seemingly small the Dreadnaught <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> hung motionless in the surrounding void of space.Nothing moved in or around it....everything was quiet.Suddenly a flash and a medium-sized ship appeared..and vanished seconds later.Then a wave of blue energy spread outward from the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->,like a ripple.And out of nowhere the cloaked ship appeared and hung there,as if in shock.The lights on it's hull dimmed for a moment then came back to full life.The ship,angular and unfamiliar shot forward,desperately trying to get away.The slower Dreadnaught didn't follow,instead it just fired with all it's weapons.Turbolasers and Ion cannons flashed out from the multiple gun emplacements to slam into the apparently heavily armed medium transport.Once the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->'s turbolasers hit their mark and sunk into the transports hull the transprt decided to fight and retalitaed.The New Alliance Dreadnaught might be slow but it had good sheilds and it took the retalitory blasts with ease.Then it fired back,this time with proton torpedoes.The torpedoes hit the hull of the transport and destroyed what remained of it's sheilds.Then the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> came forward and waited.


"Nothing sir"

"What do you mean"?

"The transport is not moving and there is no apparent movement inside or outside the vessel.It is not doing anything"

"Interesting.Run a ful anylisis on the vessel and it's hull.Prepare a boarding party immedietly"

"Yes sir"

Captain Kerth Idinian went to his ready room and called his senior officers in.They came in one by one.First Officer,Commander Tobruck,a Shistiven Wolfman who had been exiled from his home planet wrongly and had graduated from the New Alliance Officer Training Academy with honors.Second Officer,Lieutenant Commander Vwhen,a Gand from the Gand homeworld.He was one of the most talented tactical officers Idinian had ever known.Third Officer,Lieutenant Sophia,a human from Almania.She was one of the few women in the New Alliance Military and was the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->'s helsman.And finally Cheif Engineer Monty.An easy-going man that always had a T'bac Ciggarra in his mouth,he was one of the best engineers in the Fleet and Idinian was proud to have him on the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.

"I have called all of you here to discuss our current situation regarding the derilict vessel."

Tobruck spoke up "Captain,I suggest that we board the vessel and capture it and it's crew.After that we could question them to find out who they are and why they are in this system"

Sophia shook her head. "No.We have orders not to take any hostile or aggresive actions.If we board the ship and take it over forceably then we will be disobeying orders"

Vwhen nodded "Sophia is correct.We should not take control of the vessel by force"

Idinian shruged "Then what do we do"?

Monty spoke up. "I'm tellin' ya Cap'n,we need to do somthin' 'bout th' ship"

"I agree" Idinian replied. "But what"?

Vwhen,the voice of reason, spoke. "I suggest we hail the vessel.If they reply we should try to negotiate and get as much information as we possibly can.If they do not reply then we should tractor the vessel and head for the nearest New Alliance outpost"

Idinian shook his head. "Regent Logan gave me specific orders not to leave this system until the Bith agree to transfer control of the system to the New Alliance.Therefore we must deal with this problem without leaving"

Tobruck had been silent.

"Tobruck? What do you think"

"I still think we should take it over.It would be much easier..plus I have a squad of Freedom Guards onboard.We could do it quickly"

"Very well.Board the ship but do not fire at anyone unless thy fire first and try to avoid any gunfire"

"Yes sir"

"Dismissed"

Idinian spun around in his chair and faced the wall as his officers filed out.Displayed on the wall were holographs of his family.They were all killed in an explosion 3 years ago when the reactor of the ship they were on malfunctioned and destroyed the whole vessel with all the passengers and cargo.It had a passenger cruiser about the size of an <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Imperial<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->-class Star Destroyer and Idinian's wife and children were coming to see him off just before the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Peacemaker<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> was launched.
He heard a long sigh and snapped out of his thoughts.

"Sophia"?

"I am here,Kerth" Idinian smiled as he spun around in his chair and faced her.They had been dating for several months now.

"What"?

"I do not like Tobruck's plan.You know how trigger-happy he is.If one of the vessel's current residents fires at him he will hunt down every single one of them and kill them all"

"I know"

"And you are going to do nothing"?

"Sophia my dear,I know what Tobruck will do.And I even expressed my concerns to Regent Logan.And guess what he did"?

Sophia's face fell. "What"?

"Do you know what a Jedi Knight is"?

"Yes,cold-blooded murderers with absolutly no mercy"

Idinian raised his eyebrows with interest.He had never heard Sophia speak of anyone so coldly before.

"Whay do you say that"?

"Becuse they killed my family"

"Excuse me"?

"When I was young my father was a Jedi.He served them for years faithfully.One night as we were all sleeping the Jedi came and killed my father.They fought wih their stupid lightsabers for a long time until my Father's opponent killed him.I watched al of this with my own eyes.Later,my mother took us off the planet we were living on at the time and moved us to Almania"

"Are you sure it was Jedi that killed your father"?

"Yes"

"Positive"?

"Well....not absolutly positive.But who else fights with lightsabers"?

"The Sith"

"Who are they"?

"I'll tell you later.Right now I must see to making sure that our special operative provided by Regent Logan is on Tobruck's Freedom Guard team"

OOC: I don't know how much knowledge you have of Gands, but since your the first player I've seen to use Gand NPC's, I thought I'd use this as an opportunity to point some things out regarding Gand culture. There isn't neccesarily anything wrong with the way you used the Vwhen, I just wished to make some points. One, as a general note, not many Gands leave Gand(the Gand homeworld), so Gand NPCs shouldn't be too common of an occurance.

Additionally, as you may or may not have read in the X-wing books, Gand have a detailed honor and naming system that effects thier speech patterns. To use personal pronouns like I, Vwhen would have to be Januwine, or so accomplished that it is assumed that all people he would speak to would know who he is. It's much more likely he would use a family or personal name, depending on his specific accomplishments. Just going from what you showed there, I'd say he'd be capable of either usage, family or personal name.

Not a big deal, it just struck me for some reason when I finally saw somebody use a Gand NPC that I might want to give some culture points. Btw, if your wondering why Siather and my characters use personal pronouns, we're both continuing characters from other games that have proved themselves in the past. As well, at least among the Gand Roleplayers I know(primarily in the Star Wars Combine), we believe that any PC Gand will generally be Januwine, except for RP purposes.

OOC: Interesting.I will change his species...lol

OOC: No need to change the species, I'm just a proud Gand Roleplayer and like to see my fellows RP'd as they would act. Thanks for the consideration though. My apologies for interrupting the thread.

"We do not know what is onboard this ship.There could be hostile aliens,bounty hunters,fugitives,mercenaries,pirates,or other hostile and violent species.Procede with extreme care and set your weapons to stun"

After giving these orders Tobruck set his battle helmit in place and made sure his blaster-protective body armor was adjusted,he sat down in the assault shuttle's cockpit and began preflight procedures.Wade Vox watched all of this carefully.Logan had told the Jedi Knight to do everything Captain Idinian told him to do.And Captain Idinian wanted him to watch Commander Tobruck carefully and make sure he doesn't harm any of the dereilict vessel's inhabitants unneccesarily.


The shuttle lifted off the Peacemaker's small hangar bay and headed out of the small opening and into space.The Peacemaker had gotten within fifty meters of the vessel to give the assault shuttle easy access.Equipped with coursca gems that were grouped at the nose of the shuttle the shuttle could cut through the hull of the vessel and make an opening for the security/recon team to crawl through and get into the ship.


The shuttle stopped one meter away from the derelict ship's hull and began cutting through the steel that made up the hull.The coursca gems worked perfectly and a large round peice of hull plating fell away and began tumbling through space wildly.The other troopers went ahead of him and Wade checked again to make sure his lightsaber was hidden and in place at his waist.He took a deep breath and let it out as he stepped through the opening of the hole in the hull.


He really wished he had his Jedi robe with him right now.The commando armor and helmits Tobruck insisted on everyone wearing was hard to move in and was uncomfortable.The Jedi Robe Wade always wore was comfortable,fitting and was easier to fade into a crowd when the time called for it.Now he felt himself moving through darkened hallways of the derelict vessel.They had been making their way to the bridge,or at least that was where Tobruck said they were going.After several minutes it was obvious Tobruck had no idea where he was going so Wade stepped forward and asked the commander if they could go back to the shuttle or contact the Peacemaker for directions.In response Tobruck turned and snarled that he knew where he was going and they would be at the bridge in a few more minutes.He then told Wade that if he ever questioned or doubted Tobruck again,he would be demoted and cast into some sensor array on Almania's fourth moon,Pydyr.Wade went back to the back of the group and kept his mouth shut.



Twenty five minutes had past and Tobruck still had not found the bridge and Wade was begining to get frustrated.If they didn't find the bridge,or someone for that matter,soon Captain Idinian would send a search party after them.Wade decided on what he would do,he would use the Force to guide them to the bridge so they could figure out what was going on onboard this ship.He stepped forward and spoke to Tobruck.

"Sir I think I know the way to the bridge if you will le me show you"

"You don't know anything you dithering fool! I am the only one who knows he correct way to the bridge"!

"Sir,no offense but I think the rest of the squad would agree that you have no idea where the bridge is and if you would let me I can get us there"

The rest of the squad nodded and stoped walking to stare at Tobruck,who looked stricken and surprised after seeing the rest of the squad agree with Wade he relented.

"I m going to try each and every one of you for insubordination.....but for now lead us to the bridge"

Wade nodded and guided the group through winding passeges and up turbolifts and ladders.Tobruck never hesetated to express his opinions that they were going to complete opposite way from the bridge.But by now the team were following Wade,not Tobruck.When the team got to Deck 1,the bridge deck Wade became more careful.He sensed ominomous intentions on this deck and he was ready for anything.He was sure that when a trap came he would be able to repel it.




The attack did indeed come...and Wade Vox was caught completely by surprise.The crew of the ship had barricaded them selves at the door of the bridge and they were armed with lots and lots of weapons.The way to get to the bridge was to go through a large cargo/fighter bay at the front of the ship and into a turbolift that was on one wall like a doorway.The only way to the bridge was to go up the turbolift.

The crew of the ship were using sandbag-like barricades and had mounted heavy repeating blasters and anti-personnel cannons that flanked the turbolift doorway.As soon as they saw the commando team they opened fire on them.Red blaster bolts flashed out from behind the barricades.Wade yelled for the team to spread out but was sharply cut off by Tobruck.Tobruck screamed that he was in charge of this mission and he would give the orders.He managed to get the team behind plasteel barrels,using them as cover.As they crouched down he gave the orders.

"Dakin,Hurce, I want you to concentrate fire on the right flank and kill as many of those vermin as you can.Shnit,Vox,you concentrate on the left flank and kill them there.Me and Chhn will hit the front.Now get to it"!

Wade went to the left side of the barrels and opened fire on the crew members.His blaster was not set to stun but he did not kill any of the crew.Instead he hit them in the legs and arms.He even used the Force to hit the blasters out of the crew's hands.But Tobruck made no effort to do so.With a wild grin on his face he fired perfectly,cutting down crewmen left and right.Wade ignored him for the time and watched as Dakin and Hurce brought down one of the anti-personel cannons and disabled a few more crew members.Meanwhile Tobruck was getting more and more ruthless on his attack on the crewmen.He took perverse pleasure in decapitating some of them with blaster shots

Suddenly, Wade saw a flash and smoke.Dakin nd Hurce were killed by lucky blaster shots from the now-angry crewmen.And were lying lifelessly on the ground,their chests now smoking.Upon seeing this Tobruck flew into a rage and pulled out his proton grenades he began to prime one to throw at the barricaded enemy.Wade saw this and made a snap decision.He yanked his lightsaber free of his belt and ignited it.Tobruck didn't see the lightsaber's glow at first and brought his arm back to throw the grenede......untill Wade cleanly cut his hand off.Tobruck yowled and looked at Wade,the lightsaber,and his smoking hand.His eyes burned with hatred and he strood up out of the cover of the barrels,a vibroblade in his hand.He stepped toward Wade,as if to kill him-...

...-and was promtly hit by several blaster bolts from the vengeful crew.He stumbled and tried to lift the vibroblade up and stab Wade but fell to the ground,smoking.Wade looked at Tobruck and the crewmen.


It was time to end this.