Star Wars: Cold War! [Accepting Profiles] Pages PREV 1 . . . 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 . . . 17 NEXT | |
While he did return to his hotel as planned, rest eluded Akim. After tossing and turning for what felt like hours, he got up. "Wake up trashcan." He said into his comm., as he got dressed. "We're gonna go see Rath now." Minutes later The Beast was making its way out of the congested airspace around the 'core', and into the decay of The Works where Rath had appropriated an old factory. Droning over the dead industrial wastes, a glint in the distance caught Akim's eye. "Hey, what do you see at our ten o'clock? Low, almost between that smokestack and gantry." He asked the droid. Thirteen brought the ships passive sensors to bear on the area in question, taking care not to make themselves seem too interested. After a moment, a message scrolled across a screen in the cockpit. IT APPEARS TO BE A FRIEGHTER. I CAN NOT GET A GOOD LOOK SO I CAN NOT TELL THE CLASS. PROBABLY INVOLVED SOMETHING ILLEGAL...LIKE US. "You're probably right, let's not make'em nervous." | |
Vorir swiftly snatched the datapad out of the air and quickly linked it to his own. Reading through all the details with a stern look of concentration, thinking aloud as he read. "Pay's decent. Mission sounds simple. High-risk, I like that. Usually fly solo, but let's see how this goes. Botching it seems unlikely, considering half the plan is blowing a hole in a wall..." he looked at the Shistavanen as she spoke about his current look, then replied with a bit of a smirk, "well, I hope you'll excuse me for my drab attire, I hadn't the chance to see my personal tailor on the trip over here." He then turned towards Caster with the same smirk, "Any preferences on where you'd like to be shot?" | |
"Alright, I'll be in the cockpit if you need me." Xyras said, as he climbed the ladder from the cargo hold to the cockpit. 612 BBY, The Jedi Temple "You show promise, young Padawan, but your recklessness will be the end of you if you do not learn to control it." The boy listened, but did not respond. K'har was tall, with tanned-white skin and blue eyes. His mousy brown hair had the traditional Padawan braid, which was beaded with some carved stones. He was Morellian; a species that were very similiar to humans apart from their lifespan being well over double. At 23 years, K'har looked 16. The Present Xyras looked at the lightsaber again, and felt the presence it held. | |
Dio's airship was pulled into the Circle Stronghold by tractor beam, and it docked. Dio, Fontaine and the guards left the vessel holding the prototypes. Fontaine stepped forth, and spoke into a machine in the wall: "we must speak with Maestro Adolantes". A hidden gun concealed within a wall panel aimed at the troupe powered down as a computer confirmed Fontaine Alcatraz's voice on its database. A set of heavy metal doors opened, and Dio and Fontaine proceeded inside. The guards did not follow. The Maestro's chambers were for Circle "titled members" only. Whilst walking along, Dio sighed, it had been a rough few days. He wished he was his brother Adolantes, who had inherited The Circle or at least his sister, Fontaine, who was vice-maestro. But no, he got left with a stinking planet and all it's bloody problems. Nazca was divided between rich and poor, with at least a black hole of difference in the middle. Grand-Maestro Alphonse and Grand-Maestro Delphiné, the heads of the leading Alcatraz family and his parents, seemed to pay no mind to any of their children, but if they had, Dio was sure that his brothers and sisters wouldn't have ended up so bloody twisted. He walked into the Maestro's parlour room, outlooking a huge nebula,while the Circle stronghold was hidden deep within the very centre of the inner core of the known universe, hidden to any enemies that would wish to harm the Circle. The Circle knew everything, and kept records of it too. There were records kept from vast amounts of time before the Imperial Empire was even founded; the time of the free. The tall looming figure of his brother Adolantes was diminished in the halflight. "Brother" Fontaine said courteously, "we have found something very interesting. Almost as interesting as the Heaven's edge project or the Deus-EXM superdestroyer being built by Dio". Adolantes laughed, "Do tell, sister of mine." | |
Pana was back with the credit chips. she was a bit wet from a passing sprinkle, but nothing more. She went up to Xyras in the cockpit and handed him his share, 500,000 credits. "Pay in advace." The Twi'lek said before heading down to Hann. "Your share." She said handinng him the credit chips. | |
"Thanks, Pana." Xyras said smiling as he went down to his quarters to store 400,000 of it. | |
Circle Stronghold | |
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"Wait a minute, we've got a signal." Kottal was busy poking through the wiring of the Temmick's sensor array, when a steady beeping sounded from the speakers. It was very faint, but she picked up on it immediately. "Tarr, bounce the signal back at the ship. The sonogram will give us an id on its shape." "Right, and just let them run off to tell the CSF where we are. Just leave it. If it doesn't notice us, we're good. No point in giving up our hidey hole." | |
"I'm pretty much done now. I've been doing a maintenance checks on all of the other systems at the moment to see how well they were operating. Excluding from the hyperdrive, this thing is in near perfect condition. The shields are exceptional on this thing, they surpass any other Starfighter I've seen on any battlefield and a number of freighters also despite its small size. If you're both ready to go, me and this thing are most definitely ready to go" Hann said, marveled by the ship. He couldn't wait to see it in action; he felt like he was about to burst at the seams from excitement. He and the others took their seats in the cockpit, Xyras in the pilot's chair and Hann in the co-pilot's. "Awaiting your command for take off sir" Hann addressed him like a commanding officer, it was after all his ship now and they were partaking in a mission. "Seems like the good old days again. A good crew and fine ship to take them on their travels". | |
"This is the last contract i'm taking. At least small time. What are you guys planning on doing with your shares?" Pana asked in wait of the launch. | |
"I'm just planning to make sure I survive this thing before I invest in anything. If I had to make a guess though, it would probably be better apartment. Mine is quite small, even for one person. Any particular plans yourself?" | |
"I have an old friend who is trying to get a venator off his hands. She's been through allot, but none the less is still as strong as the day she was lanched. Hell she's even tougher now, with improved armor an sheilding. He owes me a large favor and that should be enough with my share to buy it from him." Pana said daydreaming about the ship. | |
"We'll be setting off immediately, then." Xyras said, as he started up the ship. It did it's unique twisting in the air into it's flying position, and Xyras flew it out of the warehouse and up into space above Coruscant.
"Well, I'll get this fine ship painted, Old Republic colours, and with the rest... Well, I'm not sure yet. I have little real need of it at the moment, so it would be good to just hold onto in case I really to need it." Xyras answered, as he readied the ship for lightspeed travel.
"A Venator, Pana? As in, the original Star Destroyer from the old days?!" He asked, very interested. He knew some still existed, but they must be rare, mostly in storage, since the Empire replaced them with the newer Star Destroyers. | |
Circle Stronghold Mission Begin: He opened his eyes and set the EMP Timer for 6:20 Minutes. | |
Dio interrupted the conversation. "Actually Brother, the Deus-EXM plan has been scrapped. It doesn't exist anymore. I deleted it due to a breach made by a stupid man with an equally stupid name. After all, if we can't have it, why should anyone else? I also have another thing to say. That prototype is useless. It only works by using a biometric code, so we can't use it. I propose launching it into deep space". "But...why?" said Adolantes, not following his brother's idea. "Because we can" Dio said abruptly, "that's one of the original Circle laws!". Dio took the metal armament, and shoved it into a hole that appeared in the wall. Moments after the hole was sealed, a bionic arm could be seen floating outside the window. In his mind, Dio was laughing Excellent. Lets see how that sewer rat who hitched a ride on my ship fares with this. In a nearby air grate with a hacked comlink to listen in to the conversation, Agent: Strider scratched his head. Looks like I'm going to need my space suit, he thought. | |
Strider Began thinking of a Plan B. | |
"Exactly the one. Ever since i saw one i've fallen in love with the look of them. She was going to be scrapped, but i convinced her old owner to sell it to my friend. He owes e allot of favors to say the least. I know the crew and the ship well, he needs the credits and i want the ship. Its a win-win for both of us." The Twi'lek said. she had major plans for the rest of her life. | |
There strider was interrupted by Dio who happened to be walking by. "Oh look. A sewer rat that shouldn't be among people" he leered, clearly provoking the man. So is this really the infamous "Strider"? He looks like I could easily beat him, although, looks are decieving, and he's probably thinking the same about me. Dio stood in the man's way. The man looked ready to kill. But there would be none of that today. | |
Tech occ ok but only if strider can steal a damaged version of the deux plans (the "takes 3 acts to fix" kind), going somewhere with that. | |
Caster shrugged, "Very well, Nova you can handle the shooting, and our dear friend here can handle the stealth." Caster turned his attention to Vorir and spoke dryly, "Well I was really thinking about my arse, but then again the shoulder can make it seem more 'dramatic'. Do you think it'll look better if I stick to the classic 'shot in the chest' look?" A grin formed on Caster's face, "I'm sure you've done assassinations before, make it close enough towards where you usually aim, but not to close as to hit something vital or scar me for life preferably." Caster looked at the two, "The thought of being shot is... Unnerving, so I'd rather not know exactly where or when I'd get hit. It should knock me out immediately, but I wouldn't trust myself not to flinch before the exact moment... Just try and shoot me around midway through the speech... Make sure you kill the other senator first, however." With that, Caster went to the door.
He looked at the two 'Janitors'. "I suppose Rugal sent you? No need to dispose of the body, just clean it up a bit and move it somewhere else in the embassy, the least I can offer him is a proper funeral... And I don't mean throwing his corpse in a river somewhere or incinerating it. | |
"Well this is should be fun". Nova hung around the embassy for awhile. Discussing with her accomplice about their mission, getting escape transportation in order. Which they'd have a droid pick them up. And getting documents for the infiltration. The job was in 2 days, so they had time to prepare their attire and affairs. "So how long have you been in this line of work Vorir"? Nova tossed the question out of the blue. | |
Strider Stared down Dio | |
Strider pasted by the Central Computer. He quickly searched the database for all leftover Data about Deus EXM. Dammit! these files are corrupt...Fuck it they will have to do He pulled out the Keycard and downloaded the data before leaving. | |
"Aha, well that's fair enough then. Puts into perspective for me what I can get with this kind of money." Xyras said as the Firespray exited hyperspace, close to the oasis-like planet of Utapau. As they approached the sinkhole city of At'tai, and started descend into it, it became clear that it was much larger than it seemed on the surface. It was nearly 10 miles deep, and it's layers were expansive in both width and opening. Xyras could easily fit the Firespray into one and found a landing pad next to a large building. Inside the building there were a fair few ships, speeders and speeder bikes all being repaired, painted or otherwise modified. Xyras approached the counter, and since it was empty at that time, he rang the buzzer and awaited his friend's arrival. | |
Strider found Storage, leaving bodies in his wake. | |
"Yes, very fun indeed," Vorir said as he looked through the various documents and contemplated any and all possible outcomes in his mind. However, the contemplation had been interrupted when Nova prosed a more personal question. The Clawdite's expression went into his usual, stern look of concentration as he reflected upon the years before. Suddenly, his mind began filling with visions of memories of his first assignment... The very first day of Vorir's adulthood was also the day he would be assigned his first assassination. At age sixteen, he was trained to be an adept shapeshifter, tactician, and fighter. His skills would certainly be put to the test with his first assignment. Very few of the 'graduates' were given kill orders; most had tasks consisting of infiltration, observation, impersonation and the like. Vorir was quite surprised when, during the briefing, he discovered how much information was given, or rather how much wasn't. He was only shown a holoprojection of the man and a general location of his whereabouts. The man appeared to be middle-aged, graying hair and balding. His attire made him look like a scholar of some sort, not like a dangerous man at all. Of course, Vorir knew all too well how decieving looks can be. "This man is a great threat to The Empire," they told him. "He has both the power and the knowledge to derail many of our operations and remove much of our senate from office. The means with which you kill this man are left entirely up to you, though discretion is highly advised. This man is to be killed without question, you would do well to not do so much as engage in any social interaction with this man. Do not let him distract you for one moment, as he is very dangerous and is know to exploit every moment of weakness in others. I have great faith in your abilities. Do not prove me wrong..." The tension grew as both were still, standing firm in their fighting stances, mentally preparing for attack and retaliation. Vorir was the one to break the apparant stalemate and like a well-coiled spring, launched himself at the man, throwing his shoulder into the man's gut as he tackled him to the ground. The assassin delivered a couple punches to the man's kidneys and was soon met with an elbow to the spine; his natural reaction taking over and forcing him to arch his back in pain. The man on the ground saw his window and threw his knees into the assassin's chest, pushing him backwards and sprawling onto the ground. The man leapt up and swiftly advanced, forcing the assassin to draw back and scramble to his feet. No sooner than he stood, he had to duck underneath the swinging leg of the man as he attempted to kick his head from his shoulders. The man used his momentum to make a sudden turn and deliver another roundhouse kick, but Vorir grabbed hold of his leg and used his momentum to swing him around and throw him into the alley wall. The man was in a heap in the side of the alleyway and struggling to get to his feet as the assassin walked up and threw his foot down onto the man's chest. The man lurched forward and gasped for breath, then as Vorir brought his leg up once more, he swept his own underneath the assassin, knocking him off-balance and dropping him onto his back and nearly winding him. Immediately the man picked himself up and lunged at the floored assassin, throwing himself onto Vorir with full force. The two grappled and wrestled on the ground, exchanging punches and knees at every opportunity, each struggling for the upper hand. The man made a fatal mistake, however, risking vulnerability for what may have potentially been a killing blow, and Vorir exploited the opening as best he could. The man was now fighting a losing battle as the assassin put him in a chokehold. The assassin began wrenching his arm, attempting to snap the man's neck, but he was using every ounce of his strength to hold his arm in place. Slowly but surely, the man was losing his strength and couldn't help but allow the assassin centimeter after centimeter of gain. Vorir had his legs wrapped around the man's sides and applied extreme pressure, preventing his body moving in the same direction his head was turning. It seemed the closer the man's neck was to its breaking point, the more the man's body tensed, trying to hold firm in complete defiance of giving way but to no avail. When it ended, it ended swiftly. One of the man's neck vertebrae dislocated with an audible 'pop', tearing the spinal cord completely. The man's body tensed in a violent convulsion before going limp, save for a few spastic muscle contractions. At this point, Vorir was breathing heavily from exhaustion. He pushed the lifeless man's body off of himself and sat upright, taking a brief moment for reflection and regaining some energy. What happened next came as a great shock to him, the sight almost incomprehensible. The features of the corpse began changing; hair receding and skin fading from its wrinkled, pale complexion into something much more rough with a yellowish-green hue. The irises of the man's eyes went from deep blue to bright yellow pools with light black flecks near the pupils. As the facial features changed into their natural state, Vorir recognized the lifeless form before him. He had only known him as Subject Fourteen, but he was the closest thing he ever had, and quite possibly will ever have, to a friend. All this flashed through his mind in a brief second, before he shook the memories from the center of his thoughts. "You could say I've been in this line of work my whole life, though the work really began when I became of age. That puts me at a little over 12 years of experience. How about yourself? When did you realize you fancied partaking in dark deeds for large payouts?" | |
"Seven, I was taken under the wing of another Hunter for the first three. He was an honorable man, doing honorable work. He was forced into hiding, and thats when I came here". Nova herself remembered back to the day she came to the planet. The sights, the smells and the immensity of it all. She'd never been anywhere so large before. "And got into the real jobs that paid very well. But obviously weren't just dealing with some Mid-Rim scum. I always wanted more, so it worked out well. And now I'm here, in the big leagues of Bounty Hunting. 24 and already pulling jobs like Cad bane. Maybe in afew years I'll be the one to kill Skywalker, or turn cards and kill the Emporer". Nova gave a light laugh at her boast. It was good to that no one had heard her other than Vorir. "But for now. We both must settle for whats on the plate, until the next course". | |
Caster waited until the Bounty Hunters were out of sight. When he was sure they were far enough from the room, he locked the doors. The blood was mostly cleared as the "Janitors" did their duty. Caster dimmed the lights as much as he could without the room becoming too dark to see. Caster flipped on the HoloProjector, went to the office adjacent to Domerius' and opened the closet. Within the closet was a black cloak and a Mandalorian mask. The cloak did well enough to hide his uniform, and the mask hid not only his face but his voice as well. Underneath the mask he grinned, an ancient Sith by the name of "Darth Revan" had popularized the look, and several Sith had copied it since... Caster and his little 'conspiracy' however were using it for completely different means. Returning to the HoloProjector, caster set it to a specially encrypted, secure channel. Using the monitor, he 'called' the other members of the group. The monitor paused for a moment, before the a blue light emanated from the machine, and a small whirring sound could be heard. The Projector had some trouble connecting to the channel, but eventually a static image of a person wearing a similar outfit appeared on the screen. "I suppose you have good reason for this call, White King?" Caster grinned under his helmet, "Indeed I do, Black King. I have found suitable people to move the plan forward. The Senator will no longer be a problem two days from now." He heard a chuckle from the HoloProjector. "Excellent. Are the pieces Pawns, Knights, or Bishops?" Caster paused, "Until further notice, I'd say they're pawns. However, they do have some talent to them... They may very well become Knights if I feel they can be trusted with further jobs." The man on the other side nodded, "Very well, I'll inform the other ten about this. What shall I have the rooks do?" Caster shrugged, "Ensure that this is heavily reported as an attack by a Hutt Boss, withhold any information of them denying the claims, then have the man replaced by one of our bishops." The man nodded, "Very well, I look forward too seeing how this chess game plays out..." Caster moved to turn off the projector, "Very well... Now if you'll excuse me, I have some work to do. And I grow tired of these chess metaphors." He heard a laugh from the other side, "Heh, you were the one who suggested it, remember?" Caster gave a laugh of his own, there was a bit of excitement to it... These were the opening moves of the game, after all... He had to be ready for this. | |
Morcus-wait no! He was... Terrick today. Solid name, Terrick. Terrick... Beld? Sure. Why not. Terrick Beld walked off the transport to Coruscant, and though disparingly about his old freighter the Allandra. Poor thing blew up from those nasty merc guns. Oh well, he'd find a new ship soon enough. Maybe it would actually WORK half the time. He looked around and eventually, managed to get into the local bar. "Bartender, I'd like some good Coruscant liquor. Not expensive stuff, mind you, just make it decent." He smiled with a spotless Corellian accent, as he sat down he noticed that deals were being made, and scowled. Things were getting faster, the skies were getting rather more crowded. Even in the Outer Rim. Inner Rim would probably be in ANOTHER war soon, as if the first one wasn't hard enough. Except this time, it wouldn't be stalling and infiltration against order and brute fleet strength, it would be two fully functional interstellar powers wrestling in the open. Smugglers everywhere have been sleeping less and less about it. Bad for business when every other ship in the sky is going to try and shoot you down instead of just counter-hire you. Terrick gazed around again, before some small-time gang lackey sat down and almost attempted to hire him for some sucker suicide run, but reconsidered and thought of new pants on glare command. He had a contract he heard of from the Senate recently, maybe he could catch a cushy escort for a pretty girl or something. | |
Vorir looked around to ensure no one had been listening, then chuckled a bit at Nova's interesting prospects. "Well, if you decide to go after either, be sure to let me know. I'm quite certain the payout would be far too great for one being to spend. As for what's on our plates, seems insignificant to some of the jobs I've carried out." Suddenly the tone in the Clawdites voice became something much darker as he gave the Shistavanen a foreboding look. "Though, things are not as they seem. That man, Caster, he has something planned. I can't say what for sure, but I assure you, the sheer magnitude of what he may have is almost inconcievable. Be wary around him, don't turn you back on anybody, for your sake." With that, Vorir fell silent and gave another quick lookaround, silently contemplating the potential deathtrap he may have put himself into. | |
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Nova turned to notice Vorir had entered the room, she knew every hunter on the pay role. But not all knew her even though she was the former inquisitors go to hunter. "Pays 200k credits and a 500k credit bonus if we don't botch it. Not bad eh". She grabbed the datapad with all the information and linked it to her own to copy. "And Caster already transfered the funds to everyone on the pay for their jobs.". Nova finished copying the data, she tosses the new datapad to Vorir. "You want to shoot him, be my guest. As fun as it would be to do so. I like causing destruction more".
"Now Castor I assume our documentation will be waiting for us when we get back downstairs, and now all we need is transportation...... and something proper for you to wear". Nova gave a gesture to all of Vorir.