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Post by tress on Feb 19, 2011 17:50:55 GMT -5
"So kind of you. I might even take you up on that offer, wouldn't do to forget completely things that shouldn't." He tells her. It was a pain to forgo things in his life, things he really loved to do alot. Though work came first, money a close second and possibly fun, if with the right person third, but to him it was always worth bumping up to first if it was with her.
He waved off her apology. "Don't worry about things like that, best part of the day is seeing what else comes up......" Leans in close and whispers so only she could hear. "....and being near you close to snack time." Sitting back up he says louder than he should. "I'm starving, too." Though honestly he had fun here on kuat. Things where happening and it kept him busy enough to keep from being bored. "But, seriously I wouldn't be anyone where else. If I can help i am at your service...."
"The Falleen bothers me, there shouldn't be that many off their home world....or here on kuat. Did you check the customs logs of incoming passengers? A name would be nice to run with....." He tells her, then looks over at the Colonel.
Arri was the other problem, she had info on them that could hurt them. He had read her all wrong, that really bothered him the most. Had she been planning this since back then or further? What was the purpose of all this, now to bring in her master in on it. "Things feel off and things don't add up." Was this a power grab? He looked at Khari then, really expressed silently what he was thinking. "Shut down the Array, alert the KSF and the fleet?" Was it that bad to ask that question.
They had barely scrapped the surface of what she could handle, and he was looking forward to finding out more. Though, things had to wait as did his hearing implant removal. This remote was causing a serious problem between them. An upgrade was going to be needed. "It would be appreciated, thank you." he would have continued to speak to her but the comlink conversation the Colonel was having got interesting.
Reaching for the blaster a huge mischievous smile on his lips he palms it and pulls the trigger. "Ah, clumsy of me.....though good thing the safety is on." He says as he sits back and checks the power settings and power charge of the blaster. "Its been awhile, Colonel....i rarely get to use such things. Good thing is I have been trained in there use."
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Post by kharivestra on Feb 21, 2011 11:10:15 GMT -5
Khari shook her head dismissively, "Who is to say he arrived under his true name, for all we know he could have so many identities he will slip under the sensors again elsewhere? A good shot of his face will be more proficient than any name, especially if we distribute that to other facilities in system and further afield. Within a matter of hours the core could become the last place in the galaxy our green friend would want to be."
But she suspected there was more to this than a simple deception, much more than they as outsiders were able to discern here and now.
The crackling hiss of the Colonel's comlink coming to life drew her attention next, but there was very little in the galaxy that could have prepared her for what she was about to hear from the Captain reporting on the other end. Nothing was ever as simple as getting the mission done from A to B, but that was the nature of life, it's unpredictability. Khari was confident that they had all their bases covered for now...until that happened.
Now glad that she had forgone the offer of water to drink on the way over, it would have surely ended up spat all over Tress opposite, the Kuati female's brows rose so high that they nearly vanished beneath the bangs that framed her sharply aristocratic features.
"She did what?!"
No, this was all wrong, it had to be wrong! Khari's mind rapidly attempted to comprehend and justify what she had just heard, thinking that the Captain must have it all wrong, Arri wasn't capable of...well, she had seen how the girl had reacted to finding Taru in his final state, Khari, herself, holding the smoking blaster as it were. Her shock had been so profound and in accordance with how sweet natured the girl had been at all times, that Khari could never have imagined Arri would have the audacity and guile to do such a thing.
"What in the name of the ancestors is going on down there?" She demanded of the stony faced Colonel, and to the Captain too, if he were able to hear her.
This transport wasn't going fast enough for her liking, she now wanted to be there yesterday, though she could already sense the other's hesitance over her presence in this. Both for their own reasons, but she didn't have time to think about that now.
At least they were moving faster now, with some urgency too. Khari bent forwards, reaching beneath her seat to find the blaster right where Klask had said it would be, and appropriated it after giving it the once over. It went without saying she knew how to use one, she'd been taught from an early age how to wield a variety of personal weapons - when your mother was one of the most influential persons in Kuati politics, the potential ransome for kidnapping said senators offspring tended to be ludicrously high.
She looked up just in time to see Klask handing Tress a blaster of his own. The pair of them had neglected to arm themselves this time around. Tardiness reared it's ugly head at the wrong time of day it seemed.
Khari's dark eyes grew wide when she had seen him squeeze that trigger - oh she knew he was messing around alright, but was this really the time and with Klask's stuffy imperious attitude towards matters of security...as well he should be, the ex imperial never appeared to be in the joking mood. - shooting him a scowl, she chided him silently, the swift, follow up kick to the shin drove that particular point home too. Not a good time for jokes, but not that she didn't appreciate his attempt to lighten the mood a little.
"I don't understand, with Kaur dead, how does Arri expect to escape? They'll shoot her down before she has time to get aboard that ship..."
They were almost at the destination, but it occurred to her they had not really thought this through, what were they going to do when they got there, burst in and confront the Falleen and his charge? And what did the others have to do with this, how had a telbun been allowed to appropriate a blaster, take aim at her master and then execute him in front of a room full of spectators?! Answers, she thought, they needed to be swift, and front present and center today.
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Post by Heg'zi A Klask on Feb 21, 2011 19:01:18 GMT -5
Klask glances down at his communicator with and then at Tress and Khari with a expression of shock.
The Colonel fights down an overwelming desire to slap the man, and is secretly amused when Khari kicks him, what is more from that little outburst is the peek into what might be their true relationship with each other. The familiarity of it something quite other that has been presented, and that in and of itself answering so many little unexplained details.
Political implications aside, it makes little difference. As the Colonel so long ago realized love and lust seems to pay no heed to other considerations, and while Khari should know better, but who is he to judge on the matter. He keeps his thoughts to himself, and vows silently to himself to ensure that the potential truth of their relationship stay secret.
With another sharp turn they speed down the final section to the hanger, it has been a while since the Colonel got to cut loose behind the controls of a craft, and it appears he is quiet adept as he weaves back and forth passing slower cargo transports about their normal duties.
Meanwhile over the com Banner can be heard mildly grunting, with pauses as he exhales heavily;
"They are in the hangar now, changing position, I should be able to determine what they are saying now."
There is a a pause and silence;
"Lady Vestra?!" There is a faint sound of someone swallowing hard. "I am not quite sure what is going on, none of this makes any sense. From what I can tell, Rondi's men are stripping the containment from the ship, but for what reason I cannot yet determine. Arri looks agitated, but no one has paid her any attention, I think Rondi and the Captain meant to have her murder him. I do not trust using the security system Rondi's men are next to the controls they will notice immediately. Please advise course of action."
As they make the last corner, Klask sees two guards standing outside the access way to the hanger and control room. He has always taken the time to become as familiar as possible with his men, it is good for morale, often it is personally rewarding, but the main element is within the Empire he soon learned the weakness of so many commanders was the simple fact of detachment. Too often he had seen rebels infiltrate and from positions of men that a commander should have known well carried out their schemes and sabotage. He does not recognize the two guards on duty, and while so difficult to tell at a glance of men in armor, someone had made an error, the pale yellow unit designation stripes on their forearms stood out like a beacon, where they should have been dark green.
Klask slows the vehicle as he approaches and looks back over his shoulder to Tress and Khari.
"Those are the wrong guards... brace yourselves."
One guard raises his arm to signal them to halt, somewhat redundant since the vehicle already was slowing to stop, the other however thumbs off the safety of his weapon and begins to raise it.
Klask removes his foot from the brake and taps the accelerator gently, sending the transport lurching forward, the front of the vehicle catching the two men about waist-height and crushing both armor and pelvis as it stops, pinning them between it and the large pile of containers.
One succumbs immediately to his injuries and either passes out or expires on the spot, the other claws at the "hood" of the transport in agony for a moment before he to slumps and is still.
Klask opens the door and steps from the vehicle while drawing his remaining blaster, checking the area and calling to Khari and Tress.
"My wife is always on me on how I park... good thing she is on vacation."
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Post by tress on Feb 22, 2011 15:18:11 GMT -5
The kick he sort of expected, but not in front of the Colonel, so glaring at Khari, Tress leans down to rub the soreness away. There might have been some tearing up on his part, what- It hurt ! Though in the end he looked away long enough to get his composer and smirk in her direction and pat his pocket. It was a threat pure and simple, but one he would never get to use with other dire things happening.
He was looking back and forward at both of them, trying to understand who was being talked about. Who was Rondi? He had thought it was the Falleen and Arri, now there were more players involved? Could it be Rondi was a KSF agent of some sort? He would find out in a bit, either way.
Tress lifts his arm to protect Khari from the sudden stop, though she was still strapped in. His first concern was her, turning to see if she was OK he looked up at the Colonel. "Wrong guards? What do you mean...wrong guards?" He said as he unstrapped himself and pulled his borrowed blaster.
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Post by Zanear the Edge on Feb 22, 2011 18:04:34 GMT -5
Blaster still in her shaking hands, she lowered the weapon so as not to cause anymore unnecessary alarm, then pocketed it for safe keeping. This was just as well, for what Rondi had to tell her was going to shatter her world. He knew everything? Not just a little, nor a lot, he had said, everything. Arri knew well enough to tell when a person was being general and when they were absolutely serious. Not one hint of deception did she find in those words. "How? How is this possible, the security sweeps never turned up any monitoring devices, any bugs, nothing." Were they being observed remotely, even now? "I checked myself...I was always conscious of where I was going or who might overhear, I left nothing to chance!" At that the two men laughed. Oh it's too rich! Tell her Rondi, but whisper it to her, the Arkanian said aloud, but his eyes remained glued to both the monitor and the Falleen. Rondi however, seemed lost in thought for just a moment, but shook his head in the negative. Not just yet, but soon enough. When Rondi slid closer to her and spoke of Khari and Klask's imminent arrival. She could not afford to let herself succumb to the shock of what she had just perpetrated here, despite the adrenaline coursing through her veins urging her to do something rash. No, keeping a calm and clear mind was essential and as Rondi, himself, had pointed out, Arri knew precisely what happened to telbuns that turned into traitors. So he had seen that too? It might have been her last favour to Khari, an apology almost, to insure that she found out that little detail. "That was different" The blonde responded, still unable to take her eyes off of her handiwork, "but I see your point."Now she understood what was going on, if all else failed Rondi, he could blame this on the pair of them and that might be a part of his plan anyway, she didn't know what was on those documents, but she knew enough to be certain that when Khari arrived, she was going to discover all she wanted to know on those pieces of flimsi. Arri had no intention of telling anyone otherwise, not right now, maybe never. "It is not my place to question why you are doing this, so I won't. But I need to know that we won't be followed, that you can keep KDF from tracking our trajectory or following us at all. And as for him..." she flicked a wrist in Kaur's direction, "...it is no more than he deserved."Rondi just ignored her at that point, he really was rather preoccupied. It was a minor nuisance that Khari and Klask were about to arrive, even worse that somehow there was a task force watching them at this very moment! He'd have to have Hewlett root them out and deal with them right away. "Let him concentrate..." She spoke up insistently, an earnest look in her eyes. If they really had so little time before more arrived, they only had one chance to get this right. Gwain raised an eyebrow, but began to lead Zanear out into the hanger, waving two guards to stay outside the hanger. The rest of the group went into the hanger, Rondi moving to see what Hewlett was doing. Gwain continued to take readings, but getting so close made Zanear stagger. The other guard helped him walk, they moved towards the ramp of the living ship, which was right now twitching like mad. The Falleen leaned forward and touched her, placing both hands on the ship and redoubled his efforts, sending calming sensations in the Force, and releasing his pheromones full on towards Selena. Almost immediately the ship stop moving erratically, now simply swaying calmly back and forth. Finally the ship was withdrawing it's probe, and the relief was physical. He stood straight again, and was now controlling the issue, he still couldn't concentrate, or even think about anything else, but he could rest a little, and use this respite to get Selena to let them in. Almost in pure response, her living form opened up, revealing the loading ramp so they could all go inside... Rondi watched Hewlett finish releasing the net, all that was left was for the hanger bay doors to open. Pointing back the way they came, he gave the former General instructions on how to deal with the arrival of Klask and Khari. At this Hewlett nodded, and walked briskly towards the door when a loud thump shook the door. Drawing his hip blaster, he went to the door and cycled the emergency locks. The first three guards fanned out, the lead one punching a series of codes into a wrist computer. A special tone began to go off, every member of security had one built into their armor, but it was a fail safe that only members of the Ten every had access to. So it was with deep concern that Rondi looked up, hearing the tones go off, at several different locations in the hanger. The Guards then took cover, getting a bead on Banner and his men, taking cover behind different machinery. Unbeknown to them, Gwain and Zanear entered Selena with that one guard, leaving Arri outside with Rondi. The Arkanian cackled as he began to take samples of the ship, and added that data pool to his med pad he had been collecting data on. |
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Post by kharivestra on Feb 23, 2011 19:40:03 GMT -5
Rolling her eyes at the initial pause, there was little time to be cordial about things, Khari concentrated on the crux of the report, and the prudent question: What course of action did they take now?
Rondi had been one among a few of her supporters throughout her time as CEO, young, certainly imaginative, he had supported her with a view to ushering in a newer, younger face of Kuati elite, believing them to have the innovative open mindedness that was required to push KDY that bit further ahead of it's competitors. And Khari couldn't have agreed more with that sentiment, so she was rather hesitant about taking action against the man until she knew what was really going on here. Had this just been a part of the act, get her to trust him to some extent and then stick the vibroblade in?
No, that didn't make sense either. In which case, she knew what she was about to say would be a risk, Khari simply hoped that it wouldn't be a risk too far.
"Surround the place if you haven't already, but don't move in, we still don't know how many are in on this." How far did this conspiracy run? "I want to get in there and at least try to discover what is going on."
Yes, they were all going to think she was insane, and they were all going to tell her she couldn't, or rather that she shouldn't anyway. But despite the ridiculous risk she was taking, as frankly foolish as it came, she couldn't help but go with her gut feeling on this. If Rondi had forced Arri's hand, he would be forefiting his own life, he had to know this. And therefore in her being there, standing witness to much of what was going on, he might consider her a problem that needed eliminating. But both she and him shared a common enemy here, and now that enemy lay dead, it was a blessing to both their houses.
"On second thoughts, I want all security personnel that are not a part of your team to be relieved of their duties. If anyone resists, blast them and dispose of them as quietly as you are able. I want to talk to Rondi Elrath, personally. " She paused, the situation could change in an instant, Banner's men were better off playing this one by ear and taking their cues from command. Without seeing the full scale of the situation in situe, she was ill informed to advise.
"If things change for the worse, which I suspect they might, I want you to play this by ear. Capture and contain wherever possible, but you already know what to do if the situation turns sour, Captain." He would also already know that he could trust few save for his own squad, those acting under Rondi's command were in question, and until she knew his true intent, they were the enemy.
Handing the comlink back to Klask, who had just put his foot down, she turned back to glimpse Tress making that subtle patting motion against his pocket, confusing her at first a little, and then she managed a half smile, he always seemed to manage to do that, even in the most dire of times - ah yes, her mind reiterated, she hadn't forgotten about that either, but he wasn't completely out of his mind, he wouldn't dare try that now. There would also come a time she would get revenge for that little scene earlier, but first they needed to get through this.
Approaching the hanger security, Klask wasn't about to stop for anyone, and as they drew closer it became aparent why. The guards on duty weren't the usual, instead bearing the significant colour stripes for the wrong part of the array - that kind of transfer wouldn't have been done without a considerable ammount of authorization, authorization that would have had to go through Klask and possibly herself also, were the need that great. Bracing herself for impact, she gripped the sides of her seat tightly as they hit the barrier, taking one of the guards with them, the other, well...she didn't want to look. Things were just getting started, with the remaining guard clinging to the nose of the transport for dear life, and the wall fast approaching, this was going to get woefully messy.
They hit the reinforced doors at the end of the run at a moderate to fast pace, with Klask hitting the break thrusters at just the right moment so that they wouldn't be thrown around like rag dolls when they crashed. As crashes came, this was a pretty controlled one, but that didn't make the shock any less profound...especially when you took a good look at what was stuck between their transport and the battered, dented doors.
Thrown against the limits of the straps that held her in her seat, despite her tenuous grip, nothing could have prepared her for that sight, or rather the sound, that bone-jarring crunch that signified the guard had just lost more than his lunch in the collision. Khari, however, was too stunned to lose hers.
This from Tress who was apparently every bit as incredulous as she was, but perhaps not for the same reason. Knowing that she had to snap out of it, and fast, her fingertips pried at the quick release on her safety straps, disentangling herself from the webbing a second or two later, doing the quick once over in glance to the others too...they were all in one piece. That guard did not count.
"The guards at the checkpoint, they aren't supposed to be stationed on this section of the orbital array, that means someone had to have assigned them here, and whoever that was had more authority than high command." And that left it directly up to the ten...Rondi, no doubt.
Khari clambered over the edge of the transport, glad to place her feet on solid ground for once, but not dropping her guard completely. How she managed to make all that look ridiculously graceful was beyond most comprehension, but she seemed more interested in agreeing with Klask's amusing comment about what his wife made of his parking. She was definitely correct.
Taking some of her own advice and choosing to play this one by ear, she made sure she was down below the level of the askew transport, covered from the direct angle of the door, so if they opened and whoever was inside chose to open fire on them, they would have some cover at least.
Not really relishing the task of asking her next question, Khari craned her head back to toss said question to Klask. "What's the situation status?"
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Post by Heg'zi A Klask on Feb 24, 2011 12:51:56 GMT -5
Banner listens to Khari's words very carefully, for he has never dealt directly with her like before. For a moment, he considers looking in depth at her words, until his internal NCO kicks in and does an administrative override. He will never understand the complexities and nuances of the Aristocracy. In his mind it is probably a good thing he does not. He is in the middle of responding with an affirmative when a annoying tone breaks out from on his armor.
"Yes Lady Ves... What in the 12 hells of Korros?!"
Another muffled voice can be heard in the background, mentioning something about the emergency locators have gone off.
"Frak!"
The comlink connection terminates in the ensuing burst of profanity, only later will he realize who he just hung up on.
He turns to the situation at hand and disarms the annoying tone on his armor as his men scramble to do the same. As silence is restored, he breaks it again, calling from his vantge point.
"Enough with the silly-buggers! As you can very well tell your trapped and surrounded. Have your guards place their weapons on the deck and kick them away from them. On the authority of the CEO, all you KSF types are to stand down and comply. Now do it!"
**** Outside the hangar ****
Klask moves over to Khari and Tress, and checks on them briefly.
"It goes without saying, I would really prefer you two were not here in this situation..."
The Colonel looks over at the determined set in Khari's eyes...
"But I think I would need a whole regiment to keep you away at this point.
As they watch the door for a moment, and Klask works up the energy to make a dash for the door, the sounds of the locks engaging can be heard, something in Klask's jaw actually makes a cracking noise as his muscles tense in frustration.
Turning to the two of them,
"They manually engaged the blast door locks from the inside. I cannot override that, and it seems I left my cutting charges in my other uniform. Senator, by chance did your grandfather ever teach you how to bypass a blast-lock?"
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Post by kharivestra on Feb 24, 2011 20:55:20 GMT -5
If things weren't already tense enough, someone had decided to throw caution to the wind and add in a little bit extra for the hell of things by ramming something against the doors at the far end of the hanger. Whatever it was it had to be big, because the noise it made was loud enough to startle even some of Rondi's security, and Arri herself. Jumping back two paces she whirled in the direction of the sound, just as the blast doors were activated, she whirled around to face Rondi, brows knitted in concern.
"I really do not want to be here if that is who I think it is, you don't understand what I have done...." the blonde haired woman stopped, shaking her head slightly, chances were he did know exactly what she had just done, and that was a problem in it's self - how? "....never mind, of course you do."
She was already backing away from the blast doors when the guards seemed to go awry, each of them grasping at their heads where their earpieces would have been, for reasons she was completely unaware of over the din the blast sirens were making. High security alerts all round, this place was going to be crawling with personnel within moments, they didn't have time to waste. And when she glanced back at the living ship, where Zanear should have been standing with his new 'friend' as it were, she saw that the ramp had been lowered, and they were no where in sight.
"Do you think it's safe for us to enter? She didn't like it when I was on board last, well...when the Kage asked me if I wanted to sit in that chair, she took an instant dislike to me" Arri laughed nervously, trying to belay the growing anxiousness in her mind, Khari was going to kill her where she stood if they didn't find somewhere to go, now. "In any case, I would feel a lot better if we weren't standing out here with..." She gestured vaguely to where Kaur lay pale and motionless, "...that at our feet."
Edging her way away from the doors and closer to Selena, she kept her measured gaze fixed on the living ship, which now seemed to be a lot less agitated than it had before, it's ramp swaying almost casually, relaxed in it's nature - whatever Zanear had been doing to her, it was obviously working. Things might just go to plan after all.
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Post by tress on Feb 25, 2011 16:02:35 GMT -5
More authority than High Command? This spelled trouble, but with Kuati politics it was harder to handle. The Ten with each trying to gain control over the other, it was a strategic nightmare. The power was to spread around, checks and balances aside, they still tried to take over. Just like there appeared to be trying now or someone looked to be. Muttering under his breathe Tress says. "Should just kill them all..."
The crash was harsh in the sudden stop, but restrain as they were came out the other side, OK. Once outside protected by the now crashed transport, they were safe for the meantime and could plan more.
Tress had his borrowed blaster out and was kneeling at the front checking on the dead guards. That Colonel should be stripped of his pilots license, maybe it was his eyes that were going and he didn't see them there. Killing in cold blood without asking questions first? And they called him bad.
He got up and walked closer to Khari touching her arm as he passed to the back of the transport to peer around its side to check things at the back for himself, but turned to hear what the Colonel had to say.
He looked at Khari and wished they werent here, could think of several other places they could be other then where they were at. Though the Colonel was right, she would still want to be here to get to the bottom of things. So protection was the name of the game for the foreseeable future.
"He might have given me a few pointers, but i would hate to mess up my clean clothes...." He says flicking his hair back like he had seen countless snobbish people do before. Though he did go up to the blast doors to check on things. Using the butt of the borrowed blaster he bangs on the access panel until he could pry it open. Inside so many wires to choose from, different colors for different functions. Trailing a few he got a picture of the inner workings of the mechanisms that would open the door.
"Red or white?" He asks over his shoulder to no one in particular. Without waiting he tries the red, then the white with no success. Frowning he then tries the both together and is rewarded with a click. "It clicked !" He turns looking smug at them both. "That has to be good news right?"
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Post by Zanear the Edge on Feb 26, 2011 2:47:45 GMT -5
Everything was moving at a rapid pace, almost too quickly. Rondi decided it was time once again to use another one of his wild inventions. The young Kuati noble reached into his pocket, and produced a hand held device, something oddly shaped that simply didn't appear to have any real function. Although the elongated antenna at the end made it look even more complicated. Holding the device into the air, Rondi Elrath grinned, a look of pure madness if ever one was to behold, and pressed the large red button in the center. The device made an odd sound, a whirring and then a click. Then all at once every single comm link, transmitter or holo-recording vid went flatline. Just dead, spitting out pure static and white noise. Standing triumphant, he nodded his head and mock bowed to no one at all. Turning to Arri, he took and patted her hand. Well, I'm thrilled that worked. First field test you know... and with that he led her towards the opening Selena had made for them. Now this little device had a special bonus, it wiped clean all record of the last 24 standard hours on all affected items, ruining their ability to be used again as well. All the devices would have to be replaced. He snickered at that thought. What a genius he was!
Outside the three guards left had all taken cover, the lead one counting eight pings in a surrounding formation. He made several hand gestures to each one of his men, and then they began typing a command code into their wrist computers. One at a time, the light and air around each one of them began to bend and shimmer, until all three were completely cloaked. The lead guard made his way towards Selena, while the other two fanned out, each taking a section to confront the guards that had them just moments ago surrounded.
On the other side Captain Hewlett was deciding what to do. He knew his duty, and he knew the price he had agreed to for him to be present at the Death of Kuar. Now maybe he'd get the chance to eliminate another irksome foe, Colonel Klask. Both men despised each other, for whatever reason military men do, but this went deep. Gripping tightly his blaster pistol, he considered blasting the mechanism when a few sparks and a whirring sound was made. It seemed that someone on the other side was trying to hot wire it! Hewlett aimed his blaster at the lock, but instead laughed. The action had only activated the second set of blast doors, making entrance almost impossible. Whoever was over there fiddling had inadvertently bought the group more time...
Inside Selena, Zanear had begun to find his way back to himself mentally. And although the last few minutes had been rather foggy, he got the gist of what had happened. Seeing Arri and Rondi cautiously walk into Selena, he could feel the ship bristle. More intruders! she felt-thought into his mind. Poor girl wasn't happy about this at all. Tell the strange one to stop hurting me! she cried into Zanear's mind. Nodding, the Fallen reached out and grabbed Gwain's arm. That's enough... he intoned, putting the suggestive power of the Force into his speech. Your hurting her, and you have all the information that you need. Gwain stopped dead in his tracks, and seemed to process the suggestion slowly, almost fighting it off, when Selena added her own strength to Zanear's Mind Trick, giving the extra effort to put it over the edge. Yes... he said slowly. This should be enough. We wouldn't want to hurt her now would we... he trailed off, and then shook his head. Glancing at his med pad, he had a quizzical look, but then seemed to shake it off. If you'll take those wires off Zanear, Gwain said, now in his own voice untainted, We can be all done! and no sooner spoken then done, the wires were removed. Patting the Falleen on his shoulder, and then Selena, he began to walk toward Rondi. We've got everything we'll need! he exclaimed.
The Guard that was in the ship with Gwain and Zanear saw the head guard enter the ship, and the two had a very subtle nod to each other. The head guard having turned off his cloaking device once he entered the ship.
Rondi began explaining to Arri all that he had gathered information-wise about Selena, loud enough for Zanear to hear as well. On and on he droned about controls and systems, theories about piloting and so forth. As he talked Zanear moved next to Arri and held her close to him in a tight embrace, letting her know without words he was back to normal, and that he was ready for whatever might happen. Although what happened next was the biggest surprise of them all.
Gwain had packed the med pad up and was carrying it in his left hand, walking towards Rondi, when he passed the first guard. Immediately the guard raised his blaster rifle and fired two bolts, one directly into Gwain's back and the second at the center of his head. The shots rang out and the smell of charred flesh filled the ships hallway as the Arkanian fell dead instantly. Everyone froze, Rondi's mouth agape in shock. Wha...how..why? His gaze turned square at the guard, and thats when the lead guard put his blaster rifle up to Rondi's head. How did you spy on her, and know all her movements and actions? came the muffled voice behind the helmet. Rondi was in shock, only now realizing that these men weren't his loyal men, but in fact, someone else's. Simple, he stated coldly. Dear Doctor Moruea did it. It's part of her implants, you see...totally untraceable! he said the last with a grin, although it was a nervous one. Just exactly who are you anyways? Since your not one of my men...
The guard laughed, and removed his helmet. Shock would enter into both Rondi and Arri's eyes, for they both would easily recognize Khaune, Kuar's nephew. He was next in line for the head of house should Kuar produce no heir. Surprised? You should be. I've been keeping my eye on this entire situation, since Arri failed to meet up with her first contact. I've had some suspicions about all of this, and my how this has worked out. He motioned to the other guard, and he took the med pad laying on the floor next to the dead Arkanian and walked over to Rondi, taking the device he had. I'm sorry, but none of you will be receiving what is now my accounts. Come Rondi, let's have you fix Arri here, eh? The head of House Elrath took out a needle, and inserted it into Arri's arm. This will dissolve the implant completely, it's the only way... his look had turned from triumph to defeat so quickly, it was almost sad. Almost. Good, now Rondi, we need to leave. Waving his blaster rifle him and the other guard began to walk out of the ship. My house would be honor bound to chase after you if you escaped here. But instead, today you died on this ship, even if it got away. And with that he nodded at them both, Arri and Zanear, leaving with Rondi out of the ship.
Selena sent relief flooding to Zanear. Can we go now? she thought to him. Zanear mentally nodded yes, then waved a hand at Gwain. Selena herself shifted, and the body was folded into the floor, only to be ejected moments later on the other side of her. The Falleen took Arri's hand and kissed her deeply, passionately, then lead her to the pilot's station. Sitting in the chair, he smiled at her and said, Let's go!
As the trio left the ship, the second guard tapped the wrist controls, and faded from view, leaving only Khaune and Rondi. Khaune put his helmet back on before exiting, and then also faded from view. So it was this sight that Banner and his men saw: a bewildered Rondi Elrath walking out of the ship, and then stumbling on the walkway, falling down face first. Upon closer inspection a large vibrodagger was buried deep in his back.
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Post by kharivestra on Feb 26, 2011 9:42:07 GMT -5
A single, resolute nod was one half of Khari's response, there would be no arguing with her, and more fool the fool who tried.
"I am glad we reached that understanding, you are indeed correct." She mused, not curtly, but not overly polite either, and she wasn't the only one feeling the stress, she had sort of dragged Tress into another of her messes, his subtly grumbled words almost stinging her ego awry when she considered that she, too, was one of the ten. What she did understand totally was the sentiment behind that turn of phrase, sometimes she wished that many of the ten were dead. Who on Kuat did not?
Not wishing to act as though she might know a little too much about Tress, Khari deferred that look to the man himself, arching one slender eyebrow expectantly, all eyes were now on him. Truthfully, she did not actually know whether or not he would be able to slice his way past the multiple failsafes installed on those doors, there was a reason this was a high security hanger, and it would have been highly foolish to believe some of the most innovative engineers in the galaxy would overlook something as simple as the multiple and complex failsafe protocol on a space this important.
"Things have changed a tad since your grandfather's days, there are more complex measures in place, are you sure you can do this?" She asked, dark eyes unwavering, expression concerned. What was transpiring behind those doors was going to be kicked into overdrive since they had effectively announced their arrival, they could ill afford for anything to slow them down now.
She sighed, shaking her head some and gestured towards the dented doors...
"Just give it your best shot."
What happened next had the Kuati aristocrat wincing in sympathy for the inanimate lock control, with Tress repeatedly slamming the butt of his blaster against the reinforced durasteel to dent it, then pry it away from it's holdings, using the muzzle of the weapon as a lever. It worked though, the pannel dropped away with an echoing clang as it hit the floor, revealing a relative bevy of wires beyond. Ah yes, this was going to get very interesting.
"Hurry, I don't know how long it will take them to work out how to do whatever they wish to with that ship." - what could a telbun want with a living ship anyway? It was most perplexing to her, but the falleen was another thing completely, he was something else, Arri never would have gone along with any of this alone, it just wasn't like her, or was it?
Rounding the side of the downed transport and beckoning Klask to follow suit, she arrived at Tress' side the second that noticable 'click' occurred, followed by several seconds of silence. She was about to ask just what he had done when the teeth-jarring sound of metal grinding against metal screeched loudly into her ear canal followed by a deeply metallic boom of the secondary blast doors closing themselves from the other side of the barrier. A catastrophic blow for all three of them.
Standing there agast, Khari was almost slack-jawed with incredulity and denial both. Her lips moved but no sound did she make, until finally, she placed a hand upon the cold surface of the dented door, and allowed her head to drop, forehead bumping the durasteel next to her hand in gentle defeat. Her eyes closed while her thoughts hammered through her mind, searching for another solution, the only one available to her was about to be snatched away from her yet again, when everyone's comm began to hiss wildly with static. And it wasn't just the communications either, several diagnostic and control pannels in the immediate area fizzled out in a haze of static too, everything was on the fritz! How was this possible?
Exhaling slowly to calm her nerves, and failing miserably, Khari slowly drew away from the door, taking a couple of steps back until she could see both men clearly.
"I believe, gentlemen, too many minds are against us." But she still hadn't lost that edge to her voice, there still had to be something they could do, something that might take a little bit of time, but they had to at least try, "Beaten we may be, defeated, well that is another matter completely. There is a repair detail working at the far end of this approach corridor, they will have equipment that can get this door opened, I suggest we give them a new priority, unless, Colonel, you have a better solution?" Tress was always free to throw ideas into the pot, but she couldn't risk saying so out loud, giving him special treatment over a fellow Kuati was a risk too far, something she couldn't do in public.
"I don't care what resources it takes, I want those doors opened yesterday!" Khari paused, taking another look at that frazzled and sparking maintenance pannel, "And if we can get word out to KDF by any means, have them see to training their scopes on that ship if she makes a bid for freedom."
Rubbing her temples with her forefingers, the raven haired woman took another deep breath, trying to stave off the pressure headache she was getting. Today was not a good day to be CEO.
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Post by kharivestra on Feb 26, 2011 20:59:40 GMT -5
He was mad, completely, totally, absolutely mad - it didn't matter how many times that Arri tried to see things from another angle, it all came back to this. Rondi, was a mad man. And oh how she was glad he was, since that madness seemed to be working in their favour.
Whatever his intentions, and those of the debased captain, she could only assume that her and Zanear's escape facillitated this in some way, helped him along a little. One good deed deserved another - good being a point of view, but she wasn't considering that now.
The pat on her hand made her start some, however, snapping her gaze round to fix the younger Elrath in her sights, he couldn't have been much younger than herself, yet somehow this vivacious eccentricity had touched his mind at one point in his life and taken root there in his mind. It was both brilliant and disturbing, and thankfully useful.
The device he utilized would buy them a few more moments of time, so there was little time to waste standing about here in the hanger waiting to get caught. Whatever the CEO and her team were doing on the other side of those doors however, went somewhat awry when they managed to trip the failsafe for the secondary blast doors, sending them shooting across to bridge the gap. It would have been humerous had their situation not been so pressing. She could almost picture Khari fuming when that eventuality came to her attention, she was not one to rattle easily, but Arri had seen her less than pleased before now...and in the case of Taru, her former and now deceased telbun, she had seen her rattled.
She didn't need asking twice about making for Selena's boarding ramp, still swaying pleasantly as if inviting them aboard, she never would have noticed the cloaked guards making their way across the hanger in their direction, her attention was fixed firmly on the top of that ramp. Once inside, she found Zanear there with Gwain, discussing the inner workings of the vessel, the latter still taking his samples, only for the falleen to warn him off. That was probably wise, she surmised, Selena was already upset enough as it was without people stealing chunks of her for analysis.
But her initial concerns vanished when she met Zanear half way, falling into his tight embrace with as much conviction, a silent dialogue between the pair of them that let the other know everything was as it should be, they weren't out of the woods yet, though.
The initial shock of the blaster going off tore a shriek of surprise from Arri's lips, turning around so sharply that she nearly pitched back against Zanear completely, losing her balance slightly when her line of sight followed the smoking corpse of Gwain, to meet the helmeted gaze of the guard that had just shot him where he stood...more revelations would follow.
It was as if the bottom had fallen out of her world, all this time, everything she had seen, they had been there, heard everything she had heard, known her every movement and that of those around her. Everything - Arri felt the blood rising to her skin, flushing her a dusky shade of pink - absolutely everything. She should have seen this coming, should have known that when Kaur had inisited on her possessing that implant on the advise of another...someone affilliated with Rondi's household no less, that something was amiss. But who was she to question what others did with her, utilized her for? She was property, little more.
Yet despite her training, her upbringing according to those ways, she almost felt bitterness towards them for that.
It also explained how Rondi had known about she and Zanear.
And there, before her very eyes was quite the reveal. Oh she recognized that face alright, it was the same face she had seen on countless occasions, at both high profile meetings and gatherings of the Ten, to the smaller clandestine gatherings of the Kuhlvults alone. He had seldom held a conversation with her, but why would he? She wasn't worth troubling ones self over....and yet he seemed to know precisely what was going on.
This was it, Arri thought inwardly, that icy tendril coiling around her heart, slowly constricting until she, herself became frozen with dread, he had seen what she had done to his uncle, and therefore he knew who was responsible, who to charge with his cold blooded murder.
Yet for reasons she could only put down to that deeply rooted rivalry, he seemed more interested in Rondi's part in this than anyones. And that was what was going to turn the tide in their favour. The most shocking reveal of all.
"Fix me?" She shied away from that needle, not trusting either of them to do the right thing by her - this was always about themselves - she thought - never should she question her own importance in things, it was always about them, no exceptions. But it was Rondi's vice-like grip on her arm that held her firm, the subtle sting a second later making her wince a little, more out of fear for adverse effects if anything. But such things would be almost instant, would they not? And when nothing happened immediately, she began to wonder just what Kaur's Nephew's plans were for them all.
The money was a loss, a great loss to be sure, but if that loss meant both she and Zanear were able to leave with their lives, then she would hand that over gladly. She was more confused than anything when Rondi was escorted, if one could call a death march that, from Selena all together, leaving her alone with Zanear for what had to have been the first time in hours. He, seemed equally as confused as she was, and all she could offer inresponse was a tense shrug, "Kuati politics, I for one will be glad to leave it all behind."
She didn't need to look to know what would become of Rondi, for she had seen too much already, she already knew his fate. And for what it was worth, she was sorry it had to be that way, he had essentially saved them from dire straights.
Unbeknownst to Arri, the ship was as eager to leave as they were, and when she drew up that landing ramp, the former telbun instantly relaxed a little more, finally breaking stoic resolve to embrace Zanear wholeheartedly, near melting in his arms. That searing kiss told her all she needed to know about his elation, and she returned it in full and then some, drawing away to rest her forehead against his with a small smile...exuding a small chuckle a second later.
"I hope you two have had a good chat, because I don't want to get in the middle of any 'who's piloting disputes.'"
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Post by tress on Mar 1, 2011 17:47:24 GMT -5
He was looking at them with a smirk over the clicking sound. Thought he had done the impossible and gotten the door to open. Hey, it was harder once you opened the access panel with all those wires. Its one thing saying you have been given pointers another to actually give it a try when its nothing like they said it would be.
The blast doors closing with a resounding clank had him wincing at the sound, "Well there goes getting in this way..." shouldn't they have like a fail safe backdoor hatch patch to let them in? What was he doing things for.
He looked at the Colonel, then back at Khari. "Any ideas on how to get in? There has to be another way...the ventilation system?"
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Post by Heg'zi A Klask on Mar 2, 2011 17:32:16 GMT -5
Klask shakes his head and traces the line of his mustache in a manner of de-stressing.
"I do not have the layout of the access ways here memorized, I am as likely to lead us on a wild goose chase through that warren of paths as get us into the hanger. It would not be a problem normally but everything is down, I cannot get a schematic to pull up.
He turns to Khari, as she speaks of the maintenance crew further down.
"Let's hope they have plasma torches on them"
He steps a little ways away and in a voice well practiced an yelling orders barks out a very blue command to the maintenance team down the way. In the distance they can be seen to stop their work and look around, they are a little slow on the uptake, and at first one of them presumably the leader pulls out a com and begins speaking into it, only to hold it in front of him looking at it, giving it a shake and tapping on it, trying to speak to it again and then giving up putting it in his pocket. He makes a few gestures and his men start to gather their tools and jump on the little maintenance vehicle, which begins to head towards them.
Klask returns to Khari and Tress, and leans against his transport. His teeth grind subtly as he waits.
****
Meanwhile Banner finds himself near helpless to accomplish anything significant. Kaur and Rondi lay dead, an unknown number of masked troops in the hanger, no communications, and a near military vessel unguarded and in enemy control within the Array. He watches in horror as the doors to the vessel close and it begins to move. Though they have significant weaponry with them, nothing they posses is going to hamper their plans, if it had been a starfighter or a commercial transport, they might have been able to inflict enough damage to a critical component to hamper their escape.
He passes a message to one of his men to exit the access-way near the entrance to the hangar to see if Klask had arrived and brought reinforcements, or a working com at least.
Though his team is well trained, without reliable coms it is impossible to have coordinated actions, and he watches helpless to prevent it, as a panel on the far side of the hanger is blown inward and two of his men enter to try and stop the ship and secure the area.
****
A few moments later, back in front of the hangar, there is a grunt and a metallic clang as an access hatch is forcibly opened from the inside. A KSF corporal wearing the heavy armor of Banner's team stands, as over the back of the transport Klask levels his blaster at him, before recognizing the markings.
The Corporal pops open his visor and salutes.
"Colonel, the Captain sent me to find you... He looks around and spots Khari and Tress, and continues looking around expecting to see a couple of squads of KSF personnel, he looks almost as if he is about to look under the transport to see if they happen to be hiding there. His lack of understanding of what is going on gets the best of him and he finishes his sentence out of surprise, though it is obvious he is clueless to certain people's identities.
... Colonel? Where are the others, and who are they?
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Post by Zanear the Edge on Mar 8, 2011 3:59:09 GMT -5
Captain Hewlett was alone.
That was what Banner and his men saw, the only other people visible were lying on the deck dead. And it wasn't like he had a good shot at the Captain anyways, there was a living ship between them. So all he could truly do was watch as the man moved to another panel and began flipping switches and turning a few wheels. And that was when a small generator powered up. Unfortunately all it did was go to the giant hanger bay doors, which even now began to slowly open...
******************************************************
Time, time! the Captain thought, moving as fast as he could. The living ship had to escape, or everything would be for naught. He only hoped that Khaune's men would honor their agreement, the Captain had delivered two very powerful men to their deaths, and he knew that his own would soon be upon him. But it had to be this way, he reasoned to himself. The circumstances of all of this was too mind boggling to even think about. His insistence that Arri would live had been in the works for a long time, so when this opportunity presented itself, all the players had jumped to get in on it. He had only hoped she would find true happiness, and hence the next part of the plan was set in motion. Turning on a new keypad device, one that was shielded from Rondi's invention, he typed in a set of numbers, and a airlock two levels down cycled and opened, releasing a perfect body double of Arri, a clone that had been made in secret years ago. Khaune had used her a few times making sure she would pass as the real thing when it was time. The dead clone floated out under Selena, coming very close to the corpse of the Arkanian. Keying another code, a small recorder began to beep, planted on Rondi by Khaune himself as they left Selena.
You see Hewlett was Arri's cousin, from the family she never knew. He had kept tabs on her for all these years, but Kuar had found out. And that was the source of his fall, Kuar had confronted him and disgraced him publicly, while privately he had ruined the man by revealing that he knew about their relation, and his spying would be considered a break of contract, the credits that had saved their family would be in default, and they would now re-owe their old debt, plus years of interest. And when Hewlett died, that secret, and his shame, would die with him.
When whoever played the recorder back, it would show a struggle, with the Falleen attacking the lone guard in the ship next to Arri, trying to get the blaster rifle away from him, but it discharges and strikes Arri dead center. Zanear gets control, blasting the guard and then the fleeing Arkanian twice. It shows him advancing on Rondi, then pulling out a blade and stabbing him in the back. The image then fades.
******************************************************
Meanwhile, back on board Selena, Zanear makes a face at Arri's comment. She drives for now dear, just best to get out of here as fast as possible... he then sees the hangar bay doors begin to open and grins. There we are! Just another minute and we are long gone...
Selena couldn't wait to escape from this terrible prison, she would go along with these two for now, but her feelings were conflicted. Poor Corey! she thought. I wonder what happened to you? But her thoughts were interrupted by the doors starting to open, she shuddered and shook off the last of her moorings, beginning to move forward. It was time to go, and nothing would stop her now.
******************************************************
All the pieces had fallen into place and Khaune's men had made their way out of here, going back to where they were supposed to be. The young man smiled. Today he had eliminated a rival, and catapulted himself into the head of the Kuhlvult family. And now its all mine... he spoke softly, watching the rest of it unfold, prepared to finish off Hewlett himself if he didn't do the job right. Staying cloaked, he waited until Selena was almost out the hanger, then typed into a terminal on the far side, one unaffected by Rondi's wild invention. With a hiss and a clang, the secondary doors that had Khari and her ilk trapped unlocked, and slowly began to open...
******************************************************
Zanear felt Selena's mind wander, and he expanded his Force Sense. It was tiring, but he felt he had to do it. He could feel the emotions of those outside of the ship, and he could see the hanger doors opening slowly. Narrowing his eyes, he put the last of his strength into pushing those doors open faster, hands clenched on the pilots chair, blood flowing from his nose as he put all his concentration into it. And lucky for him! Because as soon as the doors were open enough, Selena shot through them like a hawk-bat out of the pits of Coruscant. Zanear had just enough sense to grab Arri, and pull her into his seat, wrapping his arms around her tightly to keep her from falling. Wake me.. he whispered to her raggedly, when we're safe... and with that he passed out, unconscious as Selena hurled them out and into space, moving for the nearest exit corridor as fast as possible.
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Post by kharivestra on Mar 8, 2011 14:33:58 GMT -5
She had been about to explain to Tress that there was no possible way they would have made it through the ventillation, simply because that would take so long to desecure, when Klask managed to wave through the maintenance crew. Now they might actually get somewhere, but would it be enough? As they spoke, that Falleen and Arri could be making good their escape, and judging by the cuffuffle that had just transpired inside - or rather what little they knew of it - something else was occurring at precisely the same time. Had this been the plan all along? Had Rondi truly intended to double cross her somehow? If she knew anything about the Elrath's it was their eccentric impulsiveness, this was very out of character for one of them and as such she had been thankful that he had been one of her biggest supporters, were that ability to combine careful planning and eccentricity turned against her, she wouldn't have stood much of a chance. There mere fact she was still alive suggested otherwise, this ran deeper than a simple coup. And it wasn't any secret to her that he'd been standing against Kaur this entire time.
"What's going on in there?" She muttered through gritted teeth to no one in particular, the stress beginning to show it's self in her stiffened posture, even the careful reassurance offered to her by Tress did little to calm her. This was bad, very bad. Had they been alone, she might have apologized to him for this, it seemed that wherever they went, whatever they did, they always seemed to manage to get into some kind of trouble. Be it hotel, strange cities or orbital array, trouble seemed to clasp it's self to them like an over zealous lover.
They had taken up cover behind the upturned transport, while the repair crew set about turning their plasma torches on the blast doors. It was going to take an age and then some to cut their way through, especially now they had been reinforced by the secondary pair of doors. But they would get there eventually. What Khari didn't expect to be hearing this soon, was the significant 'clang' of metal hitting the durasteel floor, heavy enough that it could have been one of the access hatches, thus confusing her completely, and causing her to fix both Klask and Tress with a confounded expression in her eyes. Klask, naturally, was the first to react proactively, leveling his blaster at whoever had just crawled free of the hatch. When the reply came back that they were with Banner, Khari breathed a sigh of tense relief, nudging Tress with some reassurance of her own, then nodding towards where Klask stood.
Stepping out from behind the transport, she was confronted with the sight of the young corporal pulling himself free of the tight-fitting hatch, which was only ever truly designed for maintenance droids to utilize, and they being considerable thinner in every dimension when compared to a human being. When he raised his gaze, looking from Klask to Tress and then to herself in quick succession, his confusion was palpable.
... Colonel? Where are the others, and who are they?
"Never mind who we are, Corporal. What's the situation in there?" Khari said, curtly, now far beyond the need for pleasantry or protocol. Who they were he could hear about later, right now they wanted answers, and inside that hanger.
Verging on the impulse to demand some answers from the man, they were all about to be surprised all over again, as the screech of metal scraping hard over metal split the air with it's piercing sound, forcing a wince of irritation from Khari, who raised her hands up to her ears at the enormity of it all. There was no mistaking that sound, that would be the secondary blast doors, which meant that their friends with the plasma cutters were about to have a much easier time of things. Perhaps things were going to go their way after all?
But that stroke of luck was only ever going to get them so far. The moment the crew were through, kicking their way into the hanger by pushing that cut-out in on it's self, Selena was already departing. And what lay waiting for them on the other side of the threshold could never have been expected. Through the stench of cooling metal, came the even more overwhelming scent of burnt and singed flesh. Scattered all around the hanger were the various bodies of security personnel, blasted to the nine hells by their treacherous peers, but these nameless ones, as cold as it might have sounded, mattered little to what Khari found her sight drawn to. At the epicenter of it all, lay Kaur of Kuhlvult, Rondi Elrath and his Arkanian associate, nearby; the inert form of Kaur's former telbun, Arri. The sight was enough to stop the Kuati aristocrat mid-stride. Never in all her years had she seen this level of desicration, and she had seen much more than she should have. It was shocking to the point of severe revulsion, and the stench was beginning to make her stomach turn in summersaults. Turning away from the sight sharply, she raised a hand to her head, pressing her fingertips to the upper reaches of her eye sockets. She wasn's in the least bit regretful for Kuar's imminent departure, if Arri hadn't done the job, she may well have found a way to see that it was carried out personally. But Rondi just perplexed her, and Arri....that woman she had trusted like no other, and here she lay now, dead, a traitor, Khari would never get her answers.
**********
Aboard Selena, Arri had little choice but to sit this one out, wait and trust that Zanear knew what he was talking about when he said that this ship would take care of things herself. Ships didn't tend to talk back where she was from, but nor would she have been an expert at piloting a regular one either. For the meantime, the vessel seemed to be taking to instruction well, sensing the urgency of their plight, since they all shared a common goal - the need to escape with as few entanglements as possible. For selena at least, that latter half had been fairly easy.
Now in the proverbial belly of the beats, Arri finally managed to take stock of what had happened out there. The ship had escaped the hanger, and all they needed now was for her to plot a jump and make for the quickest, safest means out of there. With communications jammed back on the array, they were home free and that feeling, that sense of elation was so overwhelming, she could have cried. Little time for tears of any kind, though - she reminded herself as she joined Zanear in the cockpit. He had been woefully quiet for a change, the sheer effort and stress of communing with the vessel had apparently taken it out of him. But that made sense, when this mind had to have been several times the size in intensity to one humanoid alone. Though in all honesty, that was but a simple guess for her.
They were approaching their jump point, from what little she could go on - the cockpit it's self bearing few mechanical aspects, so much as a meld of both they and organic instruments.
"Where is she taking us?" Arri asked, not recognizing the coordinates in the slightest, the stars really were the limit.
Strong arms pulled her back against him, and she landed on Zanear's lap with enough surprise to discover that blood now flecked her clothing...fresh blood at that. Shifting so that she could look round at him, it was only now that the blonde saw he had been bleeding - nose bleed by the looks of things, not terribly bad, but when there was little trauma to have caused it, that concerned her immensely.
Be it exhaustion or something far worse, when she looked at him he didn't have that same clarity she remembered him having to his eyes, a cloudiness seemed to have replaced it, as if he were staring off into the beyond.
Wake me.. he whispered to her raggedly, when we're safe...
And that was the last thing he said to her, before he slipped fully into unconsciousness.
With the ship hurtling along towards the safest jump point, there was little she could do that couldn't cause potential harm if she moved him. Every nudge, every word didn't seem to generate a response, save for the fact that he was, thankfully, still breathing. Arri didn't know that much about force users, but she had heard the odd tale or two, those that had been able to put themselves into a healing state of unconsciousness, and she truly hoped that was precisely what he was doing now. He'd risked so much to get them both here, she wasn't willing to take the chance and make an assumption. Looking all around herself without getting up, the jump would only throw her back against Zanear anyhow, Arri searched for some means of communicating with Selena - there was always the cognition hood that Corey had shown her, and she had seen how the ship has responded to that, it was less than favourable.
"Look," She began, not truly knowing if this was going to work or not, could this thing actually 'hear' in the traditional sense of the word? "I know you don't have any reason to trust me, especially since your master was so intent on mistrusting me, but I know that for whatever reason you trust him." She carefully motioned to Zanear, "I need to know he's alright, and for me to do that I need you to find that safe exit coridoor now. I want to escape this place as much as you, but if we don't jump soon, they will come after us."
It took two, possibly three, seconds for exactly that to happen, the distance from the array questionably safe, but this was a risk worth taking if it ensured their getaway. Evidently, Selena viewed this as a viable opportunity and had taken it. The stars outside the cockpit's viewport blurred into streaks of incandescent light, and only then could Arri concentrate as they made the jump to lightspeed - or darkspace, as was the term used by those who proprietied living ships.
Satisfied they would be alright for the time being, she pulled herself free of his lax grasp, then stood, turning around to look the Falleen over, the subtle rise and fall of his chest indicated that he wasn't having too much difficulty in breathing, and therefore still with her. He was also probably going to hate her for waking him from his trance if that was what this was, but he had to have known she would have been concerned. And she could live with him not being a 'morning' person over him being considerably injured in some fashion.
Lightly squeezing his shoulder, the blonde raised her hand to gently caress the angular side of his cheek, trying to draw out of him some form of response, conscious or otherwise. Dooku had to have kept medical supplies around here, if he didn't respond, she would search for them, stimpaks or the like, anything that would draw him back into his consciousness.
"Zanear...can you hear me? We made it, we're practically home free...Zanear?"
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Post by tress on Mar 11, 2011 21:18:57 GMT -5
He felt bad now, thinking he had actually helped and only made things worse. Though as all things he forgets about it in moments. He looks up at the maintenance access and wonders if he could find his way through it. No doubt end up getting lost and dieing of starvation in there or find himself feeding on rodents like Urai said he had to do once. That wasn't for him so he stayed right where he was, as the Colonel had a better idea.
Looking over at Khari he waited for her to decide what the next coarse of action was. It appeared they would wait to see if this next plan worked better than the first. He still thought they should be keeping themselves up to date with their own security measures.
He was having a great time other than minor set backs and bothersome company, looks over at the Colonel for emphasis. Though the rest was exciting. Danger was in the air. Sinister plots for take over maybe? It was all happy times for him, that he was with Khari made it fun for him. He was just starting to think of fun things while looking at her when something else happened.
He didnt have to answer the trooper, the others could answer for him. His eyes were now drawn to the crew working on the doors. Plasma torch in hand they got to work with quiet efficiency sending sparks as they began cutting through the thick durasteel doors. It was awe inspiring to see them work, the gravity taking hold of the heated sparks which would cool before hitting the floor. Tyber had said something about it once and he was lost in the memory.
Next thing he knew the door was opening, he leveled his blaster and stepped forward in front of Khari automatically as he scanned the room. He stuck by her as she went inside and looked around. All he was looking at was the living ship getting further away. Turning over his shoulder he asks anyone. "Get to the hanger Control station, Alert the fleet." whether he got obeyed or not was another thing. Either way it was better to get to it sooner rather than later to get a reading on the coarse plot it was taking.
He knelt looking at one person, someone he had barely gotten to know and thought trustworthy. Shaking his head he stands and places a hand on Khari's shoulder. "Who are the rest?"
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Post by kharivestra on Mar 12, 2011 19:04:38 GMT -5
"Get to the hanger Control station, Alert the fleet."
While it might have not been for Tress to say, she couldn't have put a finer point on it, it was what was on the tip of her tongue, but in the sheer ammount of effort it had taken them to get in here and discover what they had, her mind was all of a muddle. For a second or two there, she had been about to lose her rag completely...if they hadn't gotten that door down when they had.
-But what use was it now?
Her gaze sought out Klask and his very confused Captain again, brows raised in emphasis as she leaned ever so slightly in their direction expectantly. "Well? Don't just stand there...and if that ship isn't within range have them attempt to calculate it's trajectory."
Turning her attention back to the scene at hand, she stayed where she was, not yet daring to take a closer look at Kaur in particular. Of all the times she had said she wished the man would just vanish, this hadn't been the way she had expected it, nor had she counted on losing so much in the process. Over the coming days the security feeds and surveilance would be analysed in order to ascertain the truth in all of this. Or some semblance of it anyway, Khari very much doubted that the Falleen would have left so much to chance, he appeared to know excactly what he was doing when he made a direct line for this hanger. Kaur and Arri in tow. What she couldn't understand was why Arri had done this...surely not simply to get back at her master?
There were so many unanswered questions, many of which she would never have answers to.
Aware of Tress' presence nearby, she glanced at him as he, too surveyed the scene.
"Who are the rest?"
Khari motioned to each in turn, "Rondi Elrath, Kaur Kuhlvult...two members of opposing ruling families, Kaur I told you about on the way here....he was Arri's master. " And she his murderer by all accounts, that was gonna be one interesting report, "The others, I couldn't tell you...that will have to be determined in the reports."
With a sigh of stressed tension, she seemed to slump slightly, an odd posture for her to take, especially when out in public, but she couldn't have cared less right now. Things had just hit a new all time low....how was she going to explain this slip up? Well at least Arri had made life a little easier, the Kuhlvults would be too busy focussing on the family that had given her away to care about any precious cargo.
Carefully she checked to see where the others were in relation to her, within a matter of moments the place would be swarming with security...more than there were already. Then she leaned a little closer to Tress, as if sharing a private conversation, which essentially it was.
"I never thought I would hear myself say this, but it almost makes me homesick. One moment of peace won't they give us that?" Though she knew the instant she did manage to relax, she would probably crash. It had been a long and gruelling week...this just compounded things. "Something isn't right..."
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Post by tress on Mar 12, 2011 19:31:20 GMT -5
He took that time while she was busy to look around at the crime scene, cause that is want it was now, he thought. Blast scarring, the smell of ozone and burnt blood still faint in the air. The position of the body's around the room. Kneeling he looks at one blonde body, then up at the walls and the walkways up there. Noticing things that seemed off, but he kept to himself.
He stood and looked at where she indicated seeing who she was talking about. Two of the Ten ruling familes here at the sometime? What where they up to and what had Arri and the Falleen fit in things. The Falleen was still an unknown, they needed to know more about him. The others could be put down as a power struggle between two ruling families, possibly an alliance gone wrong. Looking at Khari and looking around to make sure they were alone. " Enemies? Between themselves or against you?" He wanted to know so he could make out things.
He needed more, but it could be a way to gain ground and more power. This sort of thing would hurt both families with a huge scandal, but if they were shielded? Blackmailed into siding with Khari.....atleast covertly so no one gets suspicious. That or destroy them both and take over by force which would be ideal to him.
"Noticed did you?" He asks looking around one more time, then he points at certain places. "Look there and there, there was something wrong here..... " He gets real close and whispers. "...almost staged."
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Post by Heg'zi A Klask on Mar 12, 2011 19:51:27 GMT -5
The Corporal looks to Klask not sure who the female was ordering him about, but between her tone and the look he finds on Klask's as the older man turns to look at him, he takes to his heels ASAP. It is a long haul, but something in his nerves is screaming at him to ignore the distance and just get it done.
Captain Banner unstuffs himself from an access hatch, followed by several other of his men. The ones who had entered earlier are still wandering around looking behind crates, there was one body still that was unaccounted for. That of Captain Hewlett.
The Captain hand-signals over to Klask letting him know there is still someone around.
Turning, Klask moves quickly over to Khari and Tress.
"There is still someone in here, take cover."
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