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| - It was a dark night on Corellia, though with the tensions on planet, the public spaceport had plenty of light shed upon it. Axel was not happy about the light and the added security on planet but what could he do? It wasn't a matter of stealth for the smuggler and pilot. Hell, he couldn't be sneaky if he tried. It was all about retalliation. He had been bested above Bonadan, humiliated even. He was the best, or so he thought, and he was shown up. Several thousand credits went out to sources on many planets as the man was desperately trying to track Darth Mallign through the only means he knew. You track that X-Wing, you should find the pilot, was his philosophy. After half a week of searching and putting the word out his money had paid off and here he was standing next to the X-Wing fighter that he had his targets on during ego-fest. The only question now on his mind is what he plans on doing now that he found the beast. Security was too tight to plant a bomb, so pulling out a small screwdriver, Ax does the one thing he can. *SCREEEEECH* is the sound as he walks close by the ship, dragging the screwdriver down the side of the painted fuselage. The canopy of the X-wing rises up slowly as the sound begins and its pilot who was flipping through a few switches just about to turn the vessel on looks over to the side and smiles, "oh, what a surprise!" Tyler Damion leans back in his cockpit and pulls out a smoke as he stands up and lights it, "Axel Vichten, you have come all the way from Bonadan to show my ship a lesson." He smiles, "That would be the only way you'd be able to hit it, certainly not in space." With a single leap he lands onto the tarmac behind the renowned smuggler and steps around him to inspect the mark on his ship before shaking his head. There was benefits to being the right hand man to the Emperor and that was paintjobs. His hazel eyes flash up to his droid, "Nate you are suppose to be guarding the ship." The droid beeps something indignant at the Corellian along the lines of -Hey you were in the ship you idiot.- Which forces the Corellian to smile and shrug, "Got me there." There was business to be had here though. The black haired Corellian jerks his eyes back to Axel, "What are you doing here?" his eyes narrow, "You're fortunate I'm off duty and back into my civilian wears." Even the Sith punch out in the Empire. "Oh damn," Axel says to himself. He hadn't realized there was someone in the vessel. He was too nervous about getting spotted by Imperial security. All he can do is smile. "Well, I thought it only fair to return the favor for my own ship. It's going through refitting right now and should come out of the paint booth in a few days from where your torpedo scarred up the port s-foil." He looks down at his handywork and decides the job still wasn't sufficient. His own astromech rolls up behind him, beeping in gibberish like only an old droid can. "Shuddup," Ax says in response before turning his full attention back to the Sith. "I just wanted you to know that I am not afraid. Sith, Jedi, whatever you may be or you call yourself I don't care." He was lying of course, but he was at least trying to act the part. "If you wanted to make a statement, you should have at least waited until I had finished off Kreldin. I didn't give a damn about the tournament, but you denied me the one victory that I sought." At least that part was true. Axel wouldn't even have entered the tournament if Danik hadn't of showed up. Even under an alias and in disguise Axel could spot the man anywhere. There was a lot of history between the two. The Sith belts out a bit of laughter, "Even before I knew I had the power to manipulate the Force I went where I pleased and did what I pleased. Interrupting your tournament and your little grudge match was some of the most fun I have had in years." He sighs for a moment, "Make all the statements you want, it doesn't change anything." Tyler shrugs, "We're both cut from the same fabric, your fabric just has a few more stains of rivalry on it than mine." He shrugs. He runs his hand down the side of his ship, "I have been flying this ship since I won it in a drinking competition against Lando." He says looking back over a massive span of time into a different life, "This old bird is as much me as I am it. A pilot has a ship, he doesn't need anymore than that." He says musing about, "Well he does need a challenge, you and Kreldin together are a good team." He admits, "A fair bit of piloting if you ever decided to work together rather than against one another." He shrugs. Axel was an interesting figure for the Sith to study for a bit. He was younger than he or Danik, but so much like them. They were all however a generation behind what was coming into play the newer generations stepping forward to take up the torches, "Do you fear change Vichten?" he perks a brow, "We are a dying breed you and I old war hawks fighting for foolish visions of a future or for ideas and things that died back when our own identities faded behind broken ideas and goals. That is why I attacked you, because I respect you." The Corellian shrugs, "Don't let them stifle your spirit, Vichten, no one can contain the true heart of an old pilot." "I've been flying since I was a kid, and as for Danik Kreldin and I working together..." he trails off for a second. "Nevermind, best to leave that subject be." He sighs a bit and looks over the man. "I have my skill, that makes me what I am. I am not a powerful Emperor or a wealthy Industrialist, I am a combat pilot. The only way I'll become immortal is to be the greatest. People speaking my name over drinks because they witnessed me take on a fleet at Selene or people cringing in the streets when I walk by because they remember what I did to Bothawui." He pulls out a cigarette and no longer seems to be the normal jovial spice addict. "You took that bit of fame away. If I thought I could kill you here or in space, I would do it, but I know when I've been shown up. It would take a long time of practice and a total change of my style to defeat you, and in the meantime you won't be getting worse as a pilot I assume." The downtrodden man lights the cigarette and blows a thick cloud of smoke in the air, the smell showing a hint of burning andris spice. "Imperials, Republics, I don't give a damn about politics. All I care about is that I am famous or infamous and that I am always improving my abilities so that I can best anyone I come across." It was all about pride, and the man's pride had been broken. He reaches into a pocket and pulls out a silver orb. "This was my original intention," he says as he rolls the thermal detonator around in his hand. "Like you said, a pilot has a ship and doesn't need anything more than that." There is no sense of danger coming from the man. He knows that using the detonator would result in his own death and he is far from being suicidal. Tyler watches the man before him carefully observing his tone and actions. Axel was a frightened person, afraid of being forgotten or pushed underneath a cloud of obscurity. Fame was never on Tyler's agenda he did what he did because he was looking for a high, that drugs could never give him, "Fame. Not the best reason to fly out there, but it is a reason that is something we all need. I am out there for the rush, the drug like euphoria I feel when in overwhelming odds. I flew against two Death Stars and retired before a third one, flew against the best myself never to be known, but to do it." He says quietly. "I never knew fame, it just knew me and it was by accident. You're a famous person, always will be. That little action over Bonadan will be forgotten in time. Your fame drove me to meet you, and I was met with what was advertised, you're a good pilot." His hazel eyes look down at the thermal detonator as he shrugs, "Save it for another mission and make some noise for me." The older man winks, "If you want to cause havoc out there, let me know, I'd fly with you any day." He says with a smile, "Next time we meet drinks on me Axel Vichten." He turns to his ship. "Fame isn't the only reason for me either," he interrupts. "It's just one of many. I want a rematch with you one day. I don't expect to win, but I do expect to maybe find a weakness." He was more than bent on fame, he was obsessed with being victorious at any cost. He puts the detonator away. "As for flying with Kreldin, I'd do it, as I respect him as a pilot. Hell, I'd even help him overthrow the Empire if he wasn't planning on taking over when Vadim was dead." With that said, Ax turns and slowly starts to saunter off, providing he's not stopped in the process. Axel's words were like razors that force Tyler to come back down the ladder that would have led him to Coruscant to the Emperor's side. He turns his hazel eyes toward the departing criminal as he mentally clocks back into service for the Empire. Tyler Damion vanishes under a wave of dark energy that forces the entire area's temperature to lower a few degrees as he stalks behind reaching out, "Wait, did you say that Danik Kreldin intends to kill the Emperor? Or am I imagining something?" he perks a brow, "That man is a fool for considering such a thing, what do you know Vichten?" "Nothing in this galaxy comes for free," Axel says though if pressed any further he'd likely spill everything he knows. The Sith was creeping him out, and he had felt power like this before in his dealings with a previous Sith and Emperor. "I want to deal the blow to Danik myself, I don't want you or yours doing it for me. Kreldin and I have been enemies for far too long for me to take the personal reasonings out the window." Axel didn't want the Empire to kill off his enemy for a second time. He just wanted Kreldin on the run and on his turf. "What's in this for me if I tell you everything? Or are you just going to pull it from my head? You may not like what else you find." Malign shrugs politely, "If you tell me what I need to know, I will allow you to deal with Danik without Imperial interference. I will give him to you." He says darkly, "But be aware that means I will be watching these matters and the eyes of the Sith are very perceptive." He adds with an ominous tone. He shrugs, "My only goal in this life is to defend the Emperor, his Empire can crumble around him and he could be cast to the far reaches of the galaxy and I would follow him to defend his life." The Sith was truly loyal to his Master, "Is that a fair deal, Axel? Or is there something you desire more than that?" "I want to prove a point to Kreldin. I want him humiliated and put on the run." Axel gets a sadistic gleam to his face. "Recently, I was invited to dinner at the Kreldin Estate. I had suspected prior, but it was then that I learned he was not dead as had been reported. I was also not the only guest at the table. Tyy'son Eson was there, as well as one Sandor Woden, though he was small time." He makes a closer approach to the Sith and talks softer. "Danik wants to kill Vadim and I think he planned on Mr. Woden pulling the trigger with a false sense of hope that he would survive. Danik would likely then claim the throne using his Imperial reputation which he so adamantly flaunted at the dinner table." Malign listens to the news carefully and nods, "I will see what can be done to aid in your mission." He says politely, "I will remember the names of those at this meeting well my friend, and you of course are pardoned, for your willingness to pass this information into my hands." He bows his head, "I wish you a good hunt in the case of Danik Kreldin, scramble a few of his atoms for me too." The man smiles his own expression twisted with his dark nature, "I must return now to Coruscant. I will warn my Emperor of this plot and get his orders and will assure him that Danik Kreldin is taken care of, do not fail me in this Axel Vichten. I am always watching, the eyes of the Force see through all boundaries." He warns before turning and marching toward his ship now with a new sense of urgency as the Galaxy seems to be spiraling toward a new level of conflict. On the screens above breaking news begins to read that the CDU was breaking relations with the Galactic Empire, naturally an act of war. "Tyy'son and I both stepped out. While starting a war with the Imperials was enticing, neither of us wanted to support the rise of a new emperor, especially Danik. Still interested in learning more?" Axel says with a smile. "I want Danik's personal effects siezed from him. He can only fly one ship at a time, and I want that to be all he has while he is on the run. I want whatever is left behind to use in my hunt of him. I want the irony of that victory." Axel smiles a bit in anticipation. "I personally don't care about your Empire or your Emperor. I am no fan of any massive galactic dominating government. I also want the Empire to step off of Caspar. No treaties, no anything, just back away. The CDU is a neutrality and needs to stay that way." He knows this was stepping out a bit far, but he didn't care. The Sith turns toward Axel, "Understand, Axel Vichten, Tyler Damion respects you as a pilot and a comrade, but Darth Malign will have none of this." He says darkly raising a finger, "I will help you in the case of Danik Kreldin but can offer no promises of protecting your friends or your beloved world. Understand that today, if what is happening is true, is that the CDU has declared war on the Empire." His features darken, "I can try to give you time to get your personal possessions and friends off world before any major engagement but your window is limited, very limited. I could arrange you residency in the Empire as well, but do not ask me to stop the tide of fate." The Sith's tone was cold, "I will have COMPNOR seize all of the personal property and items of the Kreldin family. I will declare war on the Kreldin's for you. That is the extent of my agreement; you may warn Tyy'sun that his days are limited. Tell him to run from the wrath of the agents of the Emperor, and to fear that Emperor Vadim is infinitely more powerful than even Luke Skywalker, even immune to death." With that he marches up the ladder of his X-wing which begins its preflight sequences. Pleased with himself, Axel smiles and walks off. He thinks about trying to get in one more word but decides against it. Instead, he wanders off, content with the fact he is going to put his old enemy on the run. Stripping him of the power he claimed to have, Danik will no longer have his greatest strength to fall back on. Axel can't wait to confront the man again, to ask him once more what he was worth without the Empire backing his every move.
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