Post by Darth Xaos on Sept 22, 2019 3:17:01 GMT
"FILLIAN!"
Serith practically fell into the grinding gears of the B1 frame polisher at the sound of Thyngu Zoou's bellowing. The fact that normally mild and reserved Mirantha couldn't suppress a giggle at this revealed that the Toydarian foreman must have been calling multiple times for the Zeltron technician but the latter had been too distracted by stolen glances with Mirantha. It had been hard enough to concentrate on days when the Togruta information technician worked in the same area of the factory before, but now that the pair had struck up a young romance, Serith found she often lost sight of everything else. Which, considering Thyngu's general disposition, definitely hadn't worked in her favor this time.
Dealing with Thyngu as her foreman was easily the worst thing in Serith's life these days. The Toydarian was the kind of being that Serith couldn't stand: one that *never* had fun. To Thyngu Zoou only three things mattered: working tirelessly, being miserable, and making other people miserable. The Zeltron's footfalls rung out with the extra weight of dread as she ascended the metal stairs to Thyngu's elevated office.
"You're always trying to suck-up to the bigwigs, Fillian," Thyngu said, seemingly apropos of nothing as Serith entered, "So you take this Bantha poodoo off my hands."
Without bothering to look up from his work, Thyngu tossed a disposable datapad to Serith. Catching it, the Zeltron technician began to examine its sole document file. It was a standard request for a temporary technician from the Union Droid Armies and, fortunately, it looked like it would be taking her off of Raxus Secundus to Raxus Prime. She was certain that even Thyngu's bellowing wouldn't travel through space. Where the document stopped being unremarkable was at its authorization signature. It was a signature that everyone in the Obsidian Union recognized, for it was the largest and most prominent on the Declaration of Dissolution: that of Rakshesh Dawnstar, Consul of the Obsidian, Supreme Commander of the Union Droid Armies, and Lord-Commander of the Obsidian Knights. She was to report to his offices in the Raxulon Plaza building tomorrow at 10:00 local time.
"FILLIAN!" she almost jumped again at Thyngu's yell, "Stop standing there with your mouth open like a gooba fish and get back to work!"
***
"I...Can...Hold...it..." Vaeros Kasto managed to say, though the statement's intent was belied by its strained delivery, the copious sweat on his brow, and his ever-more-reddening face. The nature of his present struggle was using his limited talents at Telekinesis to prevent a series of heavy bookcases in the Raxulon University library from toppling over each other in a domino-effect any further than they already had. Instigation for this misfortune could be lain at the four paws of Aki, one of the library Felinxes, who was presently perched comfortably atop the center-most falling shelf. Struggling up the shelves, however, was the individual through whom the collapse had actually initiated, though by accident: Yvyn, a female Devaronian librarian, in the midst of trying to get hold of the Felinx.
"C'mere, Aki, good boy, good boy," Yvyn coaxed as she desperately tried to keep her balance.
"Maow!" Aki protested sullenly, refusing to budge from the new spot he'd discovered.
"Oh, for the Force's sake..." Yvyn groaned.
The sound of a door suddenly opening was all it took for Vaeros to lose his concentration, causing the long-denied domino effect to commence. The OOM security droid that had entered through the door stood and watched the display next to Vaeros.
When, at last, the dust settled, the droid said, "So...I was supposed to give you the message that Lord-Commander Dawnstar wants you at his Plaza offices at 10:00 tomorrow...but if this is a bad time I could come back."
"I'm ok!" Yvyn called from her new position, hanging precariously from a light fixture, "I just have no idea how I'm going to get down."
Aki, meanwhile, cast Vaeros a dirty look for disturbing his tree-top repose, and sulked off.
***
"I swear we're not with the Union!" Ibo Baldin pleaded over the ship's comms with the pursuing Republic Judicial Force vessels, "I had no idea those shipping containers were filled with pipe-bomb materials, illegal blasters, combat stims, thermal detonators and copies of 'Ten Reasons why Slavery is the Republic's Fault'!"
"You forgot the trained Womp Rats," the New Republic captain responded.
"Hey, I told you, I have a permit for those."
"Save it for the...well, I was going to say 'judge' but since the Security Act lets us detain suspected hostile operatives indefinitely..."
It was at that point that Ibo shut down the comm.
"Boring conversation anyway," the Rodian muttered before turning to Tara and pleading, "Vao, tell me you can get us to the border before they catch up with us!"
Tara simply rolled her eyes, a physical expression that foreshadowed her subsequent rolling of Ibo's ship to avoid Judicial Force fire. This was exactly the sort of situation that the Rodian had assured the Twi'lek would never happen when she accepted this piloting job. Smuggle some things into Republic space, bop back across the border and collect the pay; that's the way it had been sold to her. Never once had the possibility been raised of a mad dash for the Union border with New Republic Judicial Forces cruisers on their tail.
Just one more thruster burst and...there! A light went off indicating that the ship now had reliable reception with the Union Shadownet.
"Thank the Force!" Ibo exclaimed, then flipped a switch to begin transmitting a Union distress signal. It took another good twenty minutes of dodging Republic fire before a Trade Defense Force patrol arrived. The sleek, dull-bronze colored TDF ships loomed imposingly over the RJF vessels.
"You have entered Obsidian Union territory, Republic scum," the OOM patrol commander droid transmitted, "Power down your weapons and shields, then prepare to be boarded."
"Yeah, that's right!" Ibo shouted into the comm, "The Union prevails, you schuttas!"
A short glare from Tara at Ibo's choice of terminology prompted a response of, "Whoops, uh, no offense, Vao."
Far more offensive, Tara reflected once back on Raxus Secundus hours later, was the fact that Ibo's customer wasn't going to pay out for delivering pipe-bomb materials, illegal blasters, combat stims, thermal detonators and copies of 'Ten Reasons why Slavery is the Republic's Fault' to a captured Republic patrol. Though, to be fair, Ibo really did have a permit for the Womp Rats...it was forged, but he still had it. But that didn't change the fact that she'd wasted valuable time for no pay.
It was for this reason that Tara was ecstatic, upon arriving home, to discover a one-time job offer from the Union government had been sent to her. It seemed to be a scout and scavenge contract, and it wouldn't even take her out of the star system. It was little intimidating that her orientation was at Consul Dawnstar's offices the next day at 10:00, but at least it was a big step up from working for Ibo Baldin.
***
The beast prowled, lethality present in its every low, sinuous motion. Fangs glistened, long as a forearm, running downward from a maw framed by midnight black fur. This being, this perfect killing machine, this dark-furred and white-stripped tiger, moved around the object of its attentions, though its red eyes never wavered from it. Darth Bestias struggled with the beast's mind; a true Sith places themselves in harm's way to gain knowledge, that's what he had always heard.
Such intensity, such single-mindedness was present in the tiger; only its chosen prey mattered to it in this moment. Bestias struggled, he would advance towards the secrets of Beast Control today or he would face the consequences. The tiger howled as its urge to pounce was frustrated by the psychic leash that Bestias had applied to it, but the Ithorian could feel the beast straining against his mastery.
"No, Zirnitra, no!" Bestias commanded, "No clawing the furniture!"
Zirnitra grumbled and slumped down as he realized the Dark Force Adept had him restrained, but the tiger's eyes never wandered from the finely upholstered divan in the center of the garden. Suddenly getting an idea, Zirnitra scrambled up a tree and climbed onto a branch to try leaping down onto the divan.
"No!" Bestias commanded, the words enhanced both by the Force and by his Ithorian throats. As Zirnitra flopped onto the ground below, and began to pout, Bestias allowed himself to feel accomplishment. If he could command Zirnitra here, controlling beasts in the wild couldn't be far behind. It was indeed a keen privilege of being an Obsidian Knight that he could simply borrow animals from the Raxulon menagerie.
The *ding* of an incoming priority message drew his attention to his datapad. Intriguingly, it was from Dark Lord Xaos himself, a command to be at his Plaza offices the next day at 10:00. Bestias' mind instantly began to swim with the possibilities of why he was being summoned. Then he heard the ripping.
Looking up, Bestias beheld with horror the sight of Zirnitra tearing into the divan with a feverish passion. The Ithorian had let his concentration slip for one second and...
"That was Lord Reaver's favorite piece of furniture," the terrifying remembrance of why he'd chosen that divan to motivate success hit him, "That was Lord Reaver's favorite piece of furniture!"
Serith practically fell into the grinding gears of the B1 frame polisher at the sound of Thyngu Zoou's bellowing. The fact that normally mild and reserved Mirantha couldn't suppress a giggle at this revealed that the Toydarian foreman must have been calling multiple times for the Zeltron technician but the latter had been too distracted by stolen glances with Mirantha. It had been hard enough to concentrate on days when the Togruta information technician worked in the same area of the factory before, but now that the pair had struck up a young romance, Serith found she often lost sight of everything else. Which, considering Thyngu's general disposition, definitely hadn't worked in her favor this time.
Dealing with Thyngu as her foreman was easily the worst thing in Serith's life these days. The Toydarian was the kind of being that Serith couldn't stand: one that *never* had fun. To Thyngu Zoou only three things mattered: working tirelessly, being miserable, and making other people miserable. The Zeltron's footfalls rung out with the extra weight of dread as she ascended the metal stairs to Thyngu's elevated office.
"You're always trying to suck-up to the bigwigs, Fillian," Thyngu said, seemingly apropos of nothing as Serith entered, "So you take this Bantha poodoo off my hands."
Without bothering to look up from his work, Thyngu tossed a disposable datapad to Serith. Catching it, the Zeltron technician began to examine its sole document file. It was a standard request for a temporary technician from the Union Droid Armies and, fortunately, it looked like it would be taking her off of Raxus Secundus to Raxus Prime. She was certain that even Thyngu's bellowing wouldn't travel through space. Where the document stopped being unremarkable was at its authorization signature. It was a signature that everyone in the Obsidian Union recognized, for it was the largest and most prominent on the Declaration of Dissolution: that of Rakshesh Dawnstar, Consul of the Obsidian, Supreme Commander of the Union Droid Armies, and Lord-Commander of the Obsidian Knights. She was to report to his offices in the Raxulon Plaza building tomorrow at 10:00 local time.
"FILLIAN!" she almost jumped again at Thyngu's yell, "Stop standing there with your mouth open like a gooba fish and get back to work!"
***
"I...Can...Hold...it..." Vaeros Kasto managed to say, though the statement's intent was belied by its strained delivery, the copious sweat on his brow, and his ever-more-reddening face. The nature of his present struggle was using his limited talents at Telekinesis to prevent a series of heavy bookcases in the Raxulon University library from toppling over each other in a domino-effect any further than they already had. Instigation for this misfortune could be lain at the four paws of Aki, one of the library Felinxes, who was presently perched comfortably atop the center-most falling shelf. Struggling up the shelves, however, was the individual through whom the collapse had actually initiated, though by accident: Yvyn, a female Devaronian librarian, in the midst of trying to get hold of the Felinx.
"C'mere, Aki, good boy, good boy," Yvyn coaxed as she desperately tried to keep her balance.
"Maow!" Aki protested sullenly, refusing to budge from the new spot he'd discovered.
"Oh, for the Force's sake..." Yvyn groaned.
The sound of a door suddenly opening was all it took for Vaeros to lose his concentration, causing the long-denied domino effect to commence. The OOM security droid that had entered through the door stood and watched the display next to Vaeros.
When, at last, the dust settled, the droid said, "So...I was supposed to give you the message that Lord-Commander Dawnstar wants you at his Plaza offices at 10:00 tomorrow...but if this is a bad time I could come back."
"I'm ok!" Yvyn called from her new position, hanging precariously from a light fixture, "I just have no idea how I'm going to get down."
Aki, meanwhile, cast Vaeros a dirty look for disturbing his tree-top repose, and sulked off.
***
"I swear we're not with the Union!" Ibo Baldin pleaded over the ship's comms with the pursuing Republic Judicial Force vessels, "I had no idea those shipping containers were filled with pipe-bomb materials, illegal blasters, combat stims, thermal detonators and copies of 'Ten Reasons why Slavery is the Republic's Fault'!"
"You forgot the trained Womp Rats," the New Republic captain responded.
"Hey, I told you, I have a permit for those."
"Save it for the...well, I was going to say 'judge' but since the Security Act lets us detain suspected hostile operatives indefinitely..."
It was at that point that Ibo shut down the comm.
"Boring conversation anyway," the Rodian muttered before turning to Tara and pleading, "Vao, tell me you can get us to the border before they catch up with us!"
Tara simply rolled her eyes, a physical expression that foreshadowed her subsequent rolling of Ibo's ship to avoid Judicial Force fire. This was exactly the sort of situation that the Rodian had assured the Twi'lek would never happen when she accepted this piloting job. Smuggle some things into Republic space, bop back across the border and collect the pay; that's the way it had been sold to her. Never once had the possibility been raised of a mad dash for the Union border with New Republic Judicial Forces cruisers on their tail.
Just one more thruster burst and...there! A light went off indicating that the ship now had reliable reception with the Union Shadownet.
"Thank the Force!" Ibo exclaimed, then flipped a switch to begin transmitting a Union distress signal. It took another good twenty minutes of dodging Republic fire before a Trade Defense Force patrol arrived. The sleek, dull-bronze colored TDF ships loomed imposingly over the RJF vessels.
"You have entered Obsidian Union territory, Republic scum," the OOM patrol commander droid transmitted, "Power down your weapons and shields, then prepare to be boarded."
"Yeah, that's right!" Ibo shouted into the comm, "The Union prevails, you schuttas!"
A short glare from Tara at Ibo's choice of terminology prompted a response of, "Whoops, uh, no offense, Vao."
Far more offensive, Tara reflected once back on Raxus Secundus hours later, was the fact that Ibo's customer wasn't going to pay out for delivering pipe-bomb materials, illegal blasters, combat stims, thermal detonators and copies of 'Ten Reasons why Slavery is the Republic's Fault' to a captured Republic patrol. Though, to be fair, Ibo really did have a permit for the Womp Rats...it was forged, but he still had it. But that didn't change the fact that she'd wasted valuable time for no pay.
It was for this reason that Tara was ecstatic, upon arriving home, to discover a one-time job offer from the Union government had been sent to her. It seemed to be a scout and scavenge contract, and it wouldn't even take her out of the star system. It was little intimidating that her orientation was at Consul Dawnstar's offices the next day at 10:00, but at least it was a big step up from working for Ibo Baldin.
***
The beast prowled, lethality present in its every low, sinuous motion. Fangs glistened, long as a forearm, running downward from a maw framed by midnight black fur. This being, this perfect killing machine, this dark-furred and white-stripped tiger, moved around the object of its attentions, though its red eyes never wavered from it. Darth Bestias struggled with the beast's mind; a true Sith places themselves in harm's way to gain knowledge, that's what he had always heard.
Such intensity, such single-mindedness was present in the tiger; only its chosen prey mattered to it in this moment. Bestias struggled, he would advance towards the secrets of Beast Control today or he would face the consequences. The tiger howled as its urge to pounce was frustrated by the psychic leash that Bestias had applied to it, but the Ithorian could feel the beast straining against his mastery.
"No, Zirnitra, no!" Bestias commanded, "No clawing the furniture!"
Zirnitra grumbled and slumped down as he realized the Dark Force Adept had him restrained, but the tiger's eyes never wandered from the finely upholstered divan in the center of the garden. Suddenly getting an idea, Zirnitra scrambled up a tree and climbed onto a branch to try leaping down onto the divan.
"No!" Bestias commanded, the words enhanced both by the Force and by his Ithorian throats. As Zirnitra flopped onto the ground below, and began to pout, Bestias allowed himself to feel accomplishment. If he could command Zirnitra here, controlling beasts in the wild couldn't be far behind. It was indeed a keen privilege of being an Obsidian Knight that he could simply borrow animals from the Raxulon menagerie.
The *ding* of an incoming priority message drew his attention to his datapad. Intriguingly, it was from Dark Lord Xaos himself, a command to be at his Plaza offices the next day at 10:00. Bestias' mind instantly began to swim with the possibilities of why he was being summoned. Then he heard the ripping.
Looking up, Bestias beheld with horror the sight of Zirnitra tearing into the divan with a feverish passion. The Ithorian had let his concentration slip for one second and...
"That was Lord Reaver's favorite piece of furniture," the terrifying remembrance of why he'd chosen that divan to motivate success hit him, "That was Lord Reaver's favorite piece of furniture!"
Important note, only Bestias knows that the Obsidian Knights are actually the Sith, so he will have to keep quiet about that around the other characters, and other players houldn't have their characters know about the Sith. Also, in case anyone wasn't aware, Rakshesh Dawnstar is Darth Xaos' public persona