Star Wars: Retaliation (IC)

[Flarbinia]

"I like customers who want to see my ship before concludin' negotiations. Let me just notify my co-pilot before I take you to the hangar. He hates unexpected guests." Mol Daldrix said to the Duros as he pocketed the thousand Credit chip, immediately following up this action by pulling out a holographic projector and pressing the button, the image of a Karkarodan in armor bearing a Techo Union symbol appearing as it hummed to life. "Jaws, we have a customer." Mol said to the Karkarodan. "What does he want us to transport? I hope it ain't Nerfs. They stink up the place and to add insult to injury, we don't get paid if we don't bring the entire herd, so I can't eat a single one." Jaws said to Mol as Pit Droids walked behind him with spare parts. "Himself. The Duros wants off this rock without havin' to deal with the Empire. He ain't a Jedi, I can assure you." Mol Daldrix replied as he glanced at the Duros for a brief second. "Did you ask him if he's bringing anyone else aboard? We're smugglers, not a cruise ship." Jaws asked Mol as he turned his attention to an R5. "That's the best part: he wants to see the ship before we continue negotiations." Mol Daldrix said to Jaws. "Make sure he stays out of the engine room. Repairs won't be complete for another three hours." Jaws said to Mol Daldrix before ending the transmission.

[The Imperial Republic]

The Triumph
Underway to Mek-Sha
Approaching the Gamorr System

Captain Aldolin Hernwick was now certain that he was going to change careers once the mission to Mek-Sha was done. The number of Inquisitors aboard the ship was far too many, and there was no Brutus aboard to keep them in check. Hernwick- and by extension, the soldiers aboard- were left completely at the darksiders’ mercy. They had one pick-up before Brutus would finally return- unfortunately, it was something even more dangerous than a horde of Inquisitors. He rested a hand on one of Triumph’s bridge consoles. The old girl had been through a lot in three months. She’d travelled all throughout the Galaxy, rarely given a chance to rest her hyperdrive. Hernwick thought it was a shame that the Empire was ceasing production of ships like her.

“On final approach to Gamorr, sir.” CC-1000- or Grand, as he preferred- reported. Hernwick knew the procedure by heart- first they’d slow the ship, then drop back into realspace. The helmsman would angle the Triumph towards Gammorr’s gravitational field, setting the ship into orbit. It would be on Hernwick to ensure that the Acclamator-class didn’t collide with any of her escort vessels during the maneuver. Star-lines shortened and warped back into pinpoints of light, and Triumph jolted as she returned to realspace at last. Triumph’s escorts dropped from hyperspace beside her- a Centax-class Frigate, and four of the ubiquitous Dreadnaught-class Cruiser.

Hernwick’s formation wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring, especially compared to the Forward Hutt Space Fleet currently stationed over Gamorr. Countless wedge-shaped vessels orbited the toxic green planet. Hernwick could spot several Venators, as well as the 8-kilometer silhouette of a Mandator-class Dreadnought. That would be Admiral Corvun’s flagship, the Monumental. Despite the fact that Corvun was the commander of the 13th Fleet, to which the Triumph belonged, Hernwick had never met the man. Triumph and Monumental hailed each other, following the standard protocol for capital ships. When Hernwick spotted several tiny silver streaks darting out of the Monumental’s hangar, he knew that Admiral Corvun wasn’t interested in making a social call. The only communication Hernwick received from the Admiral was a short message.

Acclamator-class Endeavor has been assigned to Mek-Sha op. Will be linking up with you. Shuttle carrying Codename Dark Helmet is dispatched. He’s your problem now.

Hernwick sighed. Only a few days more travel, he told himself. Then we’ll have all of our Purge Troopers back. Hernwick departed the bridge, pulling his communicator and opening up Triumph’s intercom.

”All crew and passengers, we are taking aboard a high priority passenger, prepare the main hangar for arrival,” He said. Stars knew the 7th Airborne Division would be pestering him with questions within the hour. Hernwick turned once more to Commander Steppenwolf, head of the skeleton crew of Purge Troopers still left aboard. “You and your men assemble in the hangar to greet our guest. Don’t let the 7th or the Inquisitors irritate him while he’s aboard.”

Ruhr Draay stood up and headed to the hangar, having awakened from the vision a few seconds earlier. Normally, he would stay in his quarters until the ship had reached its destination, but the announcement of a high priority passenger intrigued him.

Barriss Offee's eyes jumped open as the sound of the Captain's voice filled her head, disrupting all other thought. Her head would soon begin to ponder who this high priority passenger would have been to warrant a notification to all the passengers aboard. She got up from her bedding, gathered the few belongings she had, and headed to the hangar.

Ruhr pondered who the high priority passenger was. The secrecy of the mission ruled out the possibility of it being a Moff. It could be Lord Vader. However, if the guest was Vader, either the Jedi they were hunting was dangerous enough to warrant assigning the Sith Lord to this mission or that Vader and the Emperor believed that this Jedi is Kenobi. Regardless of the VIP's identity, he would still show them the utmost respect.

Kedoa was the next to enter, the purpose and energy in her step indicating that she had already been awake, alert, and ready for action at a moment's notice for some time. The Third Sister marched boldly into the hangar with that tell-tale look of disdain plastered on the Zabrak's tattooed face. The woman's helmet was tucked neatly under her arm, and was trailed by her billowing cloak, and the same spherical probe droid that had initially accompanied her onto the Triumph.

Without a word, she stepped up to the steadily-growing line of her fellow Inquisitors, and stood rigid at attention as was...requested. by the Captain.

Ruhr stared out at the assembled troops, noticing that some height differences between some of the Troopers. "New recruits. I am not surprised. Ever since the Empire shut down the cloning facilities on Kamino, the military will have to turn to the general populace to replace the Clones who die on the battlefield or worse, retire. Eventually, the only Clones left in Imperial service will be the ones training new recruits. Poor bastards." Ruhr Draay thought to himself as he continued to stand at attention, the light of the hangar shining off of the handles of the Lightsabers on his belt.

Ruhr awaited the arrival of the Purge Troopers. If the Empire was going to send every Inquisitor to a backwater, then it would necessitate their deployment. However, while he had regained a modicum of respect for the Clones, Brutus was the obvious exception. The Clone Commander dared to talk back to an Inquisitor, even inspiring his immediate subordinates to threaten mutiny. "Whoever his Jedi General was, he has clearly too lenient with his Clones." Ruhr Draay thought as he glanced at the entrance to the hangar.

Standing at the door that led into the hangar's main bays, Barriss Offee stood, pulling her helmet down upon her head, it's automated systems locking it down upon her neck and pressurizing with a short and whispery hiss. She saw Kedoa and Ruhr first and begun her approach.

As the Inquisitors lined up at the front of the main hangar, the troopers of the 7th Airborne Regiment took their respective formations around the landing zone where the special guest would land, spurred on by a yelling Commander Fenn. Forming squares divided by several feet, they took up a significant portion of the hangar bay, their weapons and shiny white armor gleaming in the cold white light of the blinding overhead lighting above them. At the head of the formation closest to the Inquisitors stood Commander Fenn, his hands behind his back, his head raised pridefully and his movement deathly still.

[Anowa]

Mek-Sha, Jedi Compound
GSC [3.3.8.981]
Jedi Knight Xin Endoni

---

The feeling in Xin's heart was that of a soul crushing level of emptiness. She was back on Cato Nemoidia. She stood waist deep in flowing water of a river, behind her lay a waterfall that lead in to the massive acidic oceans that lay below the kilometer thick layer of fog that had now beset the river. On both sides, an impenetrable grove of trees blocked her from vacating, and so she began to walk further down the river. As time passed, corpses began shambling past her, first one or two, faces she didn't recognise had been ruined by bloat and desiccation, as time passed, she started recognising faces, the less than a dozen people she had killed, intentionally, or not, most from her days as a Padawan, before she got a proper hold on utilising The Force and her own natural strength. Some from the few non-droids she had killed during the Clone Wars.

Soon after, mangled corpses of clones began to walk past, armour breached by punches, limbs twisted at awkward angles, torquing and swaying nauseatingly as they walked past. A number had burns coinciding with that of a high voltage electrical charge but were nowhere near any sort of conduit, a few had been condensed in to balls of polymer, metal, flesh and bone no bigger than a child's anti-gravball. Soon enough, the clogged river became a wall of clones pushing her to the waterfall. Behind her, she could see the cliff approaching, and clones walking off of it. Try as she might, she couldn't push back. And soon enough, she, and hundreds of corpses began tumbling in to the abyss.

---

Eyes snapped open and the screaming stopped, as Xin returned to the present. Her mind swiftly catching up to the last few conscious hours of happenings. The asteroid's night cycle hadn't started, given the lights weren't even dimmed, yet another day of scant sleep. But the telltale feeling of being soaked in sweat, and with the slight tugging of an IV in her arm at least meant she had some type of fluid given to her. The lack of open cracks on her lips indicated it was some form of bacta infused saline. She didn't know who had done it, but thanked them nonetheless.

Sitting up, she took stock of her belongings, to find everything was where it should be, including the necklace she wore, it was a simple leather cord through a rock, a gift given to her by her master after their escapade on Tatooine, next to it, her Padawan's braid had been tied to it. Her organic hand lingered on it, as she stared mindlessly in to the wall.

[Lady Mon]

Above Tiamat

After defeating remnants of a Separatist fleet above the planet Tiamat, The Deliverance remained in orbit above the planet as she underwent repairs due taking damage from the battle as well as making sure the ground forces secured the planet. In the bridge of the Deliverance, Admiral Karnu stood on the bridge looking at the planet below while Captain Harmenix was working with the other officers on the bridge to get the ship fully operational again. Karnu began to think about what all had happened during the battle and in his opinion, it was a total disaster with Captain Decimus recklessly charging the enemy head on and getting shot down. If it were up to Karnu, he would've removed Decimus from the Imperial Navy. Karnu's thoughts were soon interrupted as Captain Harmenix came up to him with her standing at attention.

"The ship has been fully repaired and all systems are once again operational, Admiral." Captain Harmenix said.

"Very good, once we get orders from high command we can get out of this forsaken system." The Admiral said as he turned to face his captain.

"About that sir, we also received new orders from command. They want the Deliverance to meet up with the Triumph in the Gomorr system. There we will meet someone by the codename 'Dark Helmet.'" Harmenix explained.

"Dark Helmet huh? I wonder who it could..." Karnu's sentence soon trailed off as his face turned pale with fears in his eyes as he realized who Dark Helmet was.

"Are you alright Admiral?" Harmenix asked never seeing the Admiral in this state before.

"Prepare to jump to hyperspace and order all of our ground to come on board the Deliverance and tell them to be here now. We don't have time to waste." Karnu ordered his voice shaking a bit.

"And Decimus sir?" Harmenix asked.

"Leave him and his ground forces here... They can handle this now that we dealt with the enemy fleet." Karnu said before he walked off the bridge and into another room.

Harmenix was confused on why the Admiral was behaving this way, but thought it was best not to question it as she went over to the holo table and began contacting all ground forces belonging to the Deliverance.

"Attention all Deliverance ground forces on Tiamat, the Admiral has ordered that you all return to the ship immediately. We are preparing to jump to hyperspace. I say again return to the ship immediately." Captain Harmenix said over the holo commns to any clone troopers on the planet.