Trust, Credits and Loyalty Options

[Rico VanZant]

Rico saluted as the unnamed Jedi skidded to a halt before them. Instincts took over on the battlefield and old habits died hard. Now we're getting somewhere, he thought to himself as the Bounty Hunter dropped out of the sky.

"The Nautolan might be able to crack this gate." Rico motioned over his shoulder with his thumb at Dren, who was engrossed in his work on the control panel. "Lets hold here and give him a few minutes." His words trailed off as the ominous red glow of a Sith lightsabre appeared behind the Bounty Hunter and Jedi.

Now armed with his weapon of choice, Rico didn't miss a beat as he unleashed a torrent of blaster fire at the oncoming menace. In a blur of movement, the Sith deflected all of Rico's fire back at him. As the bolts exploded into the ground and walls around him, he felt himself lose control of his muscles. With a flick of the attacker's wrist, he found himself hurdling through the air and impacting against the blast gate with a heavy crunch. As he fell to the ground, breathless and broken, he looked over at Dren. "Better hurry kid. There's not much time now."

[Jaedan]

((Sorry for the long hiatus and the wall of text here...had to catch up...))

Anduin spun and deflected an incoming blaster bolt off across the courtyard and quickly extended his palm toward the his assailant sending him airborne and through the window of a warehouse. He quickly turns to survey the area with the last of the sith troopers dispatched that were attacking him. His gaze comes to rest on a group of four troopers behind a low stone wall unloading all they have on two militia trapped behind a speeder. His hand moves quickly to clip the lightsaber back to his belt as he takes a deep breath and raises his other hand to wards the sith and begins to concentrate. The wall of the building beside them begins to shake and crack slightly as the trooper nearest the wall ceases fire and looks to his left. Alarmed he tries to warn his comrades but he is too late. A large piece of the buildings heavy wall comes loose and falls on the three closest troopers burying them beneath a pile of rubble. The fourth trooper startles and quickly jumps out of the way of the falling rocks and out of his cover. He attempts to run but is cut down by a hail of blaster fire from the now relieved militia.

In the brief moment of calm Anduin's mind has the time to feel the sting of a slash across his left shoulder. Earlier in the fight one of the troopers had come close to his goal with his vibroblade as he came up behind the jedi in the middle of a fray. It was a close call that would leave a reminder for Jaedan to be more mindful of his surroundings. He was not left with much time however. Almost as though the smoke and sound of battle briefly vanished and he could hear a distant voice his mind's attention was pulled to a deep rooted feeling in his gut. He wasn't alone. There was another jedi on the planet and that jedi was headed this way. He turned and headed to wards the source as it approached his friends. Anduin continued to survey the battle field as the sound of blaster fire slowed down gradually. For a moment he was pleased. The militia had done well and another jedi had arrived that had no doubt helped turn the tide in their favor. But again his thoughts were cut short as he jogged to wards his allies. Almost by instinct his pace quickened as he felt a shadow in the force close in on his allies as well.

He rounded a corner and headed to wards the starport across the courtyard. Through the smoke and haze he saw the unmistakable red glow of a Sith blade. His resolve hardened and he pressed himself to a full sprint as he heard the sound of blaster fire, saw the red glow move quickly and then return to a stationary position after the sound of a crash. His lightsaber flew from his belt to his right hand, the blade extending on the way, as he came ever closer to his sworn enemy. At a distance of about 20 meters his left hand moved swiftly, a piece of debris from the battle flew to wards the Sith, and Anduin lept into the air to wards his target. Immediately the Sith turn his attention behind him, spun around and motioned sending the incoming debris off to the side. Attempting to catch him off guard Anduin came down to wards the Sith but the dark jedi was quick and moved at the last second losing only a piece of his robe's sleeve to the yellow blade as it hummed by. Anduin hit the ground and without losing a beat spun around swinging his blade to wards the Sith's head. His yellow blade met a red one as a loud pop and crackle was heard through the ally and the two enemies seemed to take a moment to stare at one another before pushing away and taking a step back. Jaedan waited for his opponent to make the next move, preparing himself to defend against an attack.

He didn't have to wait long as the Sith lunged at him; this time he was sloppy and left himself open. As Jaedan sidesteps the attack he grabs his attackers wrist and spins elbowing him in the face and turning his arm so that he can no longer hold onto his blade, the red glow disappearing as the hilt falls to the ground. Spinning the other way the Jedi again swings his lightsaber at his opponent, the Sith again barely saving his life as his robes are singed across the chest, but he was too off balance to dodge the boot headed to wards the mark as Jaedan continued to use his momentum. The Sith stumbled backward as Jaedan switched his blade to his offhand, threw his palm forward, and his stumbling opponent went airborne and crashed hard into the wall behind him.

Jaedan raised his blade and prepared to lunge forward to finish off his enemy but then stopped abruptly and quickly looked around. The battered Sith slowly got to his feet, his tattered robe hanging off him exposing a scarred red skinned midsection, a quiet laugh could be heard coming from him. Anduin seemed to stop as he dropped his saber hand to his side and stood up straight. He turned his head to the right to look at the Twilek standing with his other allies, she must be the jedi he sensed earlier. The Sith extended his hand and took the opportunity to rearm himself as his lightsaber hilt flew back to him. Jaedan's attention returned to the enemy as he narrowed his eyes, a second lightsaber flying from his belt to his open hand. Now with two yellow blades Jaedan takes a slow step to wards the Sith but he simply pulls his hood back, seemingly unafraid, revealing a red and black head spotted with small protrusions of bone and a half smile. He let out another brief chuckle. Again Anduin stopped and leveled his eyes with his enemy.

"Where is your master, apprentice?"

[Thriolith]

Vanelli's eyes turned upwards at the sound of a jetpack and watched the bounty hunter touch down behind her. Neither the Nautolan or the human had opened fire on the bounty hunter, so she assumed that he was on their side.

The trooper turned to the bounty hunter and gestured at the Nautolan working on the access panel, letting him know that the Nautolan was trying to get the gate open.

Vanelli felt the presence of an approaching Sith and spun on her heels to face the oncoming threat. Blaster fire erupted from behind her as the quick-fingered trooper unleashed on the Sith. Just as suddenly the blaster bolts were sent flying back, exploding into the area surrounding the trooper. The trooper was thrown back into the blast gate by the Sith.

Vanelli turned to check on the fallen trooper. Luckily, it didn't look like any of the deflected blaster bolts had come back and hit him. The trooper's injuries didn't appear to be too severe, but it didn't look like he would be rejoining the battle anytime soon. Vanelli looked over her shoulder to see another Jedi dueling the Sith. The other Jedi and the Sith appeared to be fairly evenly matched, but the Jedi seemed to be slowly coming out on top, having disarmed the Sith of his lightsaber.

Just as sudden as it started, the fighting stopped and the two stared each other down. The Jedi drew another lightsaber as the Sith drew back his hood and retrieved his own lightsaber with a tug with the force.

Vanelli drew her saber and ran at the Sith's back. Vanelli used a force jump, her lekku trailing out behind her as she came down on the Sith with a double-handed chop. The Sith turned and deftly parried the Twi'lek's attack and countered with a flurry of his own. Vanelli parried the flurry and spun to her left, sending a backhand swing at the Sith's weapon arm. The Sith blocked the backhand and returned the favor with a kick to the Twi'lek's abdomen, sending her stumbling back a few steps.

This post has been edited by Thriolith: Sep 16 2009, 05:06 PM

[Calys]

Watching the laser swords clash and sizzle, the bounty hunter watched the battle ensue between the 3 Jedi. A clash of light versus dark, just like the beginning of his training as a bounty hunter. He took orders from the Dark Sith once, and hated being controlled and contained. That is when Calys went freelance.

Watching the two Jedi Knights dual the single Sith Lord was both beautiful and deadly. The both flowed together seamlessly rather than individuals, while the Sith hacked and slashed in a rage. Taking aim with his wrist rocket, the laser aimed right at the feet of the sith, but Calys could not get a clear shot. When the Twi'lik Jedi stumbled back a few feet, Calys launched his rocket, sending a great load of a dust and concrete into the air.

[Drenarb Xchiline]

As the hum and buzz of whirling lightsabers filled the promenade, drowning out the sound of the bubbling fountain, another sound met everyone's ears: the sound of the blast gate opening.

"I got it!" Dren Xito shouted as he rushed inside the starport. The Nautolan quickly raced to where his uncle's ship was located. "Come on, everyone!"

Waylond Xchiline took aim at several Sith foot soldiers trying to edge their way back into the spaceport courtyard. The Zabrak's well placed shots had them running for cover again. As he turned and ran into the spaceport, Waylond began running through various scenarios, and all of them bad. The Sith had no doubt been alerted to their presence, and were already waiting for them in orbit, so they would need all the firepower they could muster to break through whatever resistance the Sith had to offer. Also, the Zabrak realized, launch codes would be useless now since the Sith were looking for them.

Waylond knew the best way out of their current predicament was to take at least two ships. However, he knew the Bounty Hunter would not allow his nephew to leave with him in his own ship, but Waylond was not sure he trusted the Bounty Hunter to not run away with his nephew aboard.

What seemed like forever, but was in fact mere seconds, Waylond made up his mind. He would offer himself as the Bounty Hunter's prisoner in exchange for his nephew to leave in the Raptor. They would arrange to rendezvous once they broke through the Sith resistance above the planet to plan their next move. It was his nephew's only chance.

[Rico VanZant]

Rico sprawled out onto his back as the blast gate slid out from behind him. Rolling over onto his stomach, he used his newly aquired blaster rifle as a crutch to stand, slowly. First he rose to his knees, then onto his feet. Tucking the rifle stock under his arm, he considered loosing a few more shots at the Sith Warrior, but knew he couldn't do so without risking his two Jedi allies. This was their fight now, and he wished them the best of luck.

The old trooper would need his own luck just to make it to the ship. He hadn't really felt it up until now, but he'd broken something in his most recent melee. Maybe a rib... maybe more. The pain seemed to blend into a continuous throbbing that shot from his shoulders to his waist. His face also felt like it had been through a meat grinder, and he could tell it was starting to swell.

"We've got to get to the ships," Rico said, directing his statement at Waylond and the Bounty Hunter. "This fight is two against one. The Jedi should be able to handle this guy." Rico looked at the whirling lightsabres again and hoped it was true.

[Jaedan]

Anduin stood there nearly motionless as if stareing through the dust created by the bounty hunter's rockets still peering into the eyes of his Sith opponent. In the major battles of the war the Jedi had served as generals and leaders for the army of the Republic. The battles there were what many of them had trained for. Their Jedi practices and disciplines keeping their heads clear and their mind on their goals. But Jedi were not clones and no training could truely remove every ounce of individualism. Ever since the end of the war and the fall of their temple on Corsucant the Jedi Order had struggled to regain it's identity within the Republic while many of the Knights were left to fight an internal struggle with their own identity trying to break through. This is where it finally came to a head with Anduin...the reason the council sent him to take some time and regain hsi composure. In the great battles Anduin had been surrounded by his troopers numbering in the thousands staring across the battlefield at a faceless enemy of numbers. War was a math problem for the generals...how to take away more from their side than from yours with every move you make. But when the Sith set foot inside the temple it became personal. The enemy had a face. There were no troops to command or strategies to plan. There were simply Jedi and Sith and only one would remain standing at the end of the day. It was their temple that fell.

Here, outside the spaceport on what amounted to some random planet he visited intending to find some peace and meditate to bring his mind back into focus from what bordered on hate for the Sith, he found himself knowing the face of that enemy again. He could still feel the force flowing through his body, connecting him to his allies, to his fellow Jedi, even to the Sith masked by a cloud of dust. But here he also felt the power the force gave him. The power to remove another shadow from the light side no matter how meaningless another Sith apprentice might me.

As the dust cloud began to settle the red glow and drone of the Sith's saber gave away his position. Anduin's attention immediatly snapped back to where he was. He had to end it and get off this planet for his sake and that of his new found companions. He could no longer afford to draw out this fight. As soon as the Sith's image came into view he threw his left hand forward, his saber flying from his hand towards it's target. He immediatly jumped into the air, still guideing the flying blade towards the dark jedi with his mind. As the blade came into view the Sith moved and parried the weapon but failed to turn fast enough. Anduin landed behind his opponent and quickly brought his other saber up to deflect the Sith's backhand blow then back down severing the hand of his enemy. The saber that he threw quickly returned to his other hand as he burried the scorching blade into the Sith's stomach, spun around and followed through with his second saber. His opponent's limp body fell to the ground as his head slowly bounced down the pile of rubble.

It was over for now. Anduin took a slow breath and relaxed a bit as the hum of battle diminished as his blades seemed to retract back to their hilts. He replaced the sabers on the clasps along his belt and turned towards the new Jedi to the fight. "My name is Anduin. I found myself here in the middle of this fight and am assisting this group in getting off the planet. Will you come with us? We must hurry. This was just an apprentice but I am sure we have not defeated all the Sith forces on this planet and I fear his master will be close behind."

[Thriolith]

Vanelli turned and shielded her eyes against the flying dust and rock sent flying by the bounty hunter's rocket. Through her eyes, she could only make out the silhouettes of the Jedi and the Sith, along with the glows of their lightsabers. Through the force, she could see the two of them, as plain as day.

They all stood waiting for someone to make a move when the other Jedi exploded into motion, throwing one of his sabers at the Sith. It was all over before she could make a move, the Sith slid to the ground as the Jedi withdrew both his sabers from the Sith's stomach.

Vanelli released her lightsaber and returned it to her belt as the other Jedi turned to her. "My name is Anduin. I found myself here in the middle of this fight and am assisting this group in getting off the planet. Will you come with us? We must hurry. This was just an apprentice but I am sure we have not defeated all the Sith forces on this planet and I fear his master will be close behind."

"Well fought, Master Anduin. I am Vanelli", replied the Twi'lek. "I agree, we should get off of this planet while we still have the chance."

Vanelli followed the other Jedi through the now open blast gate. Anduin's claim that the Sith was just an apprentice echoed inside her head, for that apprentice had been more powerful than some of the Sith Masters she had encountered in the past.

This post has been edited by Thriolith: Sep 16 2009, 05:07 PM

[Drenarb Xchiline]

Waylond Xchiline glanced over his shoulder to see that the Republic soldier, known as Rico, was more injured than he realized. The Zabrak ran back to the soldier's side and rested an arm around his neck. Half carrying the human, the Zabrak yelled to his nephew, "Get to the Raptor and prep it for launch!"

"What about you?" the Nautolan yelled over the blaster-fire and distance hum and hiss of clashing lightsabers.

"I'll be fine!" Waylond said. "Take the Jedi with you and head to Rodia! Rendezvous just outside of the planetary well and wait for us!"

"You're going with the bounty hunter?!"

Waylond furrowed his hairless brow and shouted, "Get to the ship with the Jedi and GO!"

With that the Waylond propped Rico against a door jam and crouched beside him as he waited on the bounty hunter known as Calys to show them to his ship. He was taking a gamble, but it was the only choice he had to protect his nephew.

[Rico VanZant]

Rico nodded his approval at Waylond's plan as he shouldered his rifle and covered the entrance of the starport. The Corellian militia and Sith infantry were in a viscious melee outside, and it looked as if the two Jedi had effectively eliminated the threat from the Sith Lord.

Glancing at the bounty hunter, who seemed to be somewhat enthralled with the combat, Rico whispered to Waylond. "My trigger finger still works ok, if this hunter gets froggy." Rico could taste blood in his mouth as he spoke. "Though his earlier offer of medical assistance does seem pretty appealing right now."

[Drenarb Xchiline]

Waylond nodded, "You might play off that your worse than what you really are. Could come in handy if he attempts to double cross me." The Zabrak ducked as a stray bolt blew a chunk out of the ferrocrete above his head. "However, I think he'll be in hot water with his associate when word reaches the Hutt that he's involved in this."

"In fact, I bet his Hutt employer has already been notified..."

[Calys]

Calys was picking off soldiers with his rifle when he heard the mumblings of the group behind him.

"If were ready to go, I'll signal the ship to pick us up. She's heavily armored, so we should be able to out maneuver any capital ships in orbit." He looked down at his wrist computer, and pushed a few buttons.

As the blasts of battle around them began to lessen, a roar of engines flew over them, and a green ship made a screeching turn in mid air and hovered above the rooftops around the battle. The triangle shaped ship hovered in midair, as Calys' companions stared at the unusal looking starship.

Calys pointed over and stated matter of factly, "That's her, The Black Angel. Lets get to a rooftop, and quickly."

[Calys]

The three of them scrambled onto the loading dock as stray blaster bolts continued to spray around them, hitting chunks of stone out of the buildings around them.

An HK-47 droid greeted them at the doorway of the cockpit, "Master, there are many capital ships orbiting the planet. How will we get passed them?"

Calys stated matter of factly, "We'll out maneuver them and get to hyperspace. You need to figure out where were going. This target has ended up being a bigger pain in the Wampa's rear than we originally thought Fourseven. Lets get out of here."

Calys ran into the cockpit as the engines roared and the ship climbed into orbit steadly. His mind racing, Calys first was thinking how he was going to get off planet, and then how he personally was going to survive as now his name will certainly be on top of the bounty list.

[Rico VanZant]

With one arm around Waylond and the other still clutching his blaster rifle, Rico didn't have a hard time pretending to be worse off than he really was. His left eye was swollen completely shut now and breathing seemed to be getting more difficult by the moment. As the trio piled into the bounty hunter's ship, Rico collapsed into a jumpseat at the rear of the cockpit. Wincing as he strapped himself in, he waved off Waylond's attempt at assistance.

"Let's get into orbit and get past any enemy ships first. I can get patched up when we're free and clear. Rico looked back at Calys. "I hope you can fly this baby." Rico considered the situation for a moment and remembered his manners. "Also... sorry about getting blood on the seat."

[Drenarb Xchiline]

The Nautolan, Dren Xito waved to the Jedi to follow him as he burst into the bay holding the Corellian light freighter, Raptor. He scurried up the boarding ramp and bolted to the cockpit to perform a cold start. Engines whined in protest as the ship's systems came online and Dren began feeding energy to the weapons and shielding.

Heavy bootsteps behind him told him that the Jedi were on board. He called over his shoulder as he flipped more switches, "One of you can man the turret! I've already began feeding power to them!"

Scanning the board in front of him he happened to notice that he had miraculously been given a launch code. He momentarily wondered how that happened, and then shrugged it off quickly as he ran a final diagnostic of the ship, eased the Raptor out of its berth and shot for the stars.

********

Meanwhile, Waylond Xchiline settled himself into the co-pilot's chair of The Black Angel and familiarized himself with the controls. His concern over his nephew and the badly injured war veteran sitting behind him was only surpassed by the current situation off planet.

"Head to the Rodia system," Waylond instructed the bounty hunter. "I've told my nephew to rendezvous with us there."

The Zabrak didn't wait for a response as he began searching through the nav computer and noticed that the ship had been given launch codes. "Thank you, Emone," Waylond said to himself. "You just bought us some precious time."

Waylond looked across the cockpit at Calys. "We'ver been given launch codes. We'll be able to make it a bit farther without having the Sith forces drawn to us like a magnet to it's opposite pole."

The Zabrak continued to busy himself looking over the impressive weapon, shield and scanner systems the ship boasted as he noticed that several other ships, including his own, were heading out of port.

"Looks like the Sith will have even more targets to shoot at than just us," Waylond said, nodding towards the other ships leaving the spaceport.

[Thriolith]

The two Jedi followed the Nautolan into the holding bay housing a Corellian light freighter. Vanelli watched the Nautolan race up the ramp and into the ship. Not for the first time, Vanelli wondered what Dren had gotten them all into, drawing the enmity of both the Sith and the bounty hunter's former employer. Vanelli shrugged and ran up the ramp after Dren with a grin on her face.

"One of you can man the turret! I've already began feeding power to them!" came the Nautolan's voice from the cockpit.

Vanelli nodded at her fellow Jedi, Anduin and slid into the gunner's seat. "The Raptor, huh?" asked Vanelli. "I sure hope it lives up to its name."

[Calys]

The Black Angel sped out of the atmosphere with the rest of the populace lucky enough to board their own ships and escape the Sith invasion. Only, something seemed off.

"Where is the Sith navy?" asked Calys. The speed and ferocity of the Sith assault was amazing and yet it seemed that there were no ships in orbit around Corellia except the refugees. The scanners were silent, and nothing was on the radar.

"Waylond, boot up the Nav computer and set it for Rodia if thats where were meeting your nephew. I have a feeling this is a trap and we need to get out of here right now."

[Rico VanZant]

*bleeds unconsciously in the back seat*

[Drenarb Xchiline]

The ride to Rodia was quiet. Waylond Xchiline tended to Rico's wounds, patching them up with patches laced with healing bacta salve, all the while wondering at the lack of Sith ships in orbit over Corellia. Had they been called off to assist elsewhere? Were they concerned about being seen and found in violation of the "peace treaty"?

Waylond had no answer. After seeing that the retired soldier was okay, the Zabrak accessed the ship's Holo-net console, checking several sites Emone had shown him for tracking down individuals or checking bounties. Supposedly only bounty hunters, crime lords and less-than-reputable entrepreneurs had access to these sites to trade information on bounties, smuggling and other valuable data.

The concern for his nephew and the trouble he had gotten into with the Hutts prompted his search now. He was searching for any clues as to the reason his nephew was being hunted. His search however, brought up other news, however.

"Calys," Waylond said softly. "You need to see this."

Waylond Xchiline moved slightly to allow the bounty hunter room to peer at the holorecord he had pulled up, the streaming flow of hyperspace glowing off his armor. The bounty hunter sighed.

"I'm sorry, Calys," Waylond said, closing the page down. "If I had known that this Hutt was this well connected, I would have tried something else. Punched you in the face and sent a credit chip in the mail. I never intended for this Hutt to place a bounty on your head. My only concern was for my nephew."

They rode silently for several moments, mulling over the latest news. Waylond broke the silence. "I'll help you. I got you into this mess. I'll help you out of it. Perhaps I can kill two mynocks with one blaster and get my nephew out of trouble, too. When we get to Rodia, we'll finalize a plan."

At that, a light began to blink on the cockpit console, signaling it was time to come out of hyperspace. With a slight jerk, the ship found itself just outside the gravity well of the green and yellow orb known as Rodia. Several hundred meters away, Waylond could see his ship waiting for them. It was time to plan...



This post has been edited by Drenarb Xchiline: Nov 4 2009, 10:34 PM

[Jaedan]

((Sorry guys...I'm still in this I've just been slammed at work so I haven't had a chance to write much. My company got purchased by Dell so the merger stuff is keeping me busy. Anduin the jedi will be back in soon cause I know you all miss my writings as you hope Dren will post something soon ))