| abstract
| - Parliamentary District -- Corusca City: Coruscant An abrupt change from the surrounding cityscape, the Parliamentary District maintains an aura of formality and nobility. Every building is four stories tall and has been constructed with the same architecture in mind. Long, wide steps lead up to the tall front doors of the buildings. Round pillars seem to support the front of each building, each decorated with carved images depicting an eventful history of the former Republic government. The Senate building is wider than the rest, but it has recently been bombed and all but destroyed. All the buildings in this area seem to be arrayed around it in quiet deference. The main road widens to the north in the direction of a local Star Anchorage. A crossroads depart from this area of the city; the Manarai mountains are just visible to the south, and while a nice residential district develops as one heads west, the classical styling of buildings in the city continues on to the east. Though the exterior paths and lawns out in the Parliamentary district are largely deserted of pedestrian and speeder traffic, the area has false quiet. People lying low and staying indoors unless absolutely necessary contribute less noise, but the air is still tense with distant artificial roars of aerial traffic and building ventilation systems. Almost every hour, explosions can be heard reminding everyone about the fighting in different parts of the planet-city. Deep in Wing C of a government complex that survived the bombing of the neighboring Senate building, Arise Omondra and her "classmates" were woken this morning with uneasy news. Their chaperone droid, and a couple of officials (new people! not their teachers) came in and told the kids to pack some of their things. Not everything, just one bag each. Vengan lounges a bit against the side of the evac shuttle. He's got the right to lounge now and again, as long as he looks like he's doing something important. A fresh bronze stripe on his helmet indicates new rank, as does the squad pulling security around the collapsed wing. Vengan watches them coming and going, occasionally checking his HUD to see what his other three squad leaders are doing. "So...I hear you and Blackledge are spending some time together," Vengan states off-handedly to Aramis, still sitting at the speeder's controls. He grins broadly up at the pilot, glancing back the ruins a moment later. "You melted the Queen of Ice, or are you just getting desperate?" Aramis doesn't even have to look when he tosses the disposable cup from his late-morning Caf at Vengan so that it tinks off of his helmet. "Rules, bantha-breath. Rules," he says, lazy and unoffended. He checks over his datapad again and then glances into the back of the speeder where spare gear sized for adults is waiting for the children, vests and helmets, just in case. "First, she fixes my ride. Anyone who touches my ride is off-limits. Second, she outranks me and then some. Third, she's scary. Fourth, if anything, we're friends, except she's pissed at me right now. Something about KT, but I don't know what I did. Fifth, I am never, ever desperate." He straightens up and then scrambles out of the speeder. "I just want to get these kids out of here so I can stop worrying so damn much. It's not right." It had taken a good bit of effort to get both the /Voidstalker/ and the /Rising Phoenix/ retrofit for carrying a plethora of younglings. Skywalker had been right there with the rest of the tech crews, working diligently with his droid to get the parts installed. They'd even had a bit of help from Chewbacca, who owed Luke for a little favor some months ago, making much shorter work on the upgrades than they would have been able to pull off with only the tech crew Blackledge had appropriated for them. Now, well into mid-day, Skywalker is part of a small entourage that is headed briskly through the NR-defended corridor toward the government complex. He pilots one of two passenger speeders, lightly armored, both of which are escorted by a pair of Marine scouts on speederbikes. The entourage draws up to the government complex, where Aramis and Vengan are posted with the marines to guard the facility, and comes to a rest. Once his speeder is in hover mode, Luke vaults over the verge and down to the dockway below, landing gracefully. It's not often that the kids actually pack stuff in bags and actually go somewhere else. There was that one time when the ones who have been here longer went camping at the mountain over a weekend last summer, but even those kids can figure out that it's too dangerous out there for camping. All the other kids, could also tell from the expressions on the adults' faces that this was serious. Reading adult faces is a skill that even the youngest infant learns quickly. But Arise and the older kids can also interpret a subtle energy in the adults. It's going to be risky, but having a plan to move the kids out of a warzone is better than staying hunkered down here. Once the initial bustle passed, however, the children were left to looking around at each other expectantly, and the waiting set in. Vengan starts a bit as the cup bounces off his helmet. He looks around, a bit wildly, then catches the falling cup in the corner of his eye. The Marine mutters something unrepeatable under his breath, half clambering onto the skimmer to thrash Aramis but thinking better of it. He suffices by pointing an angry finger at the man. "KICK yo' ass," he mutters. At that moment though, General Skywalker comes rolling up with his usual pilot's stride. "Sir," Vengan nods, disdaining the salute in the field. "I've got a squad here pulling security. Child Welfare sent a few field agents out here to collect the kids. We told them one small bag each." He glances around the area. "It's pretty quiet for now. Nothing on radar, but I can't promise things won't change. I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible." Munch pads in carefully, attempting to stay out of sight keeping his quarry under careful watch. He'd noticed these little ones which smelled the same as the big ones (except dirtier) but were closer to his own size. Perhaps they were more reasonable than the big ones. But they seemed to be mostly confined to areas and ordered around by the big ones. It would seem that they are captives of some sort and this is the detention area. Quietly, he moves, hoping he has not yet been seen but it seems people react with surprise to him wherever he goes. He ducks behind a small dividing wall and peeks up from behind it surveying the scene with deep black eyes, before lowering his head again. Then up for another peek, and then down leaving only his furry tufted ears visible twitching. Aramis is completely unconcerned, grinning at Vengan as the General pulls up and puts a halt to any thrashings, not that he would have been worried regardless. "I'll go speak to my contact, sir, get the kids ready to go. All the paperwork for moving the children out seems to be in order." He rolls his eyes a little like that. There's a war on and there's fighting in the streets, but you still have to do paperwork to perform an evacuation of the wards of the state, before or after the fact. Aramis checks his datapad one more time and nods at Luke and Vengan before heading up the steps to speak to someone up in Wing C about getting the children out to the speeders. Kyrin supervised the techs working on the Rising Phoenix. No way was she gonna let Brandis' ship be mucked with if she could avoid it. And when they went for the speeders, she's got the other one, her wings almost absently flaring behind her, skimming the air as if she was gliding under her own power. It's not enough to unseat her from the speeder, but more like a kid holding his hand out in the airflow of a window whilst his parent is going very fast on the interstate. When the speeders pull up, she leaps out and joins Skywalker, nodding to Aramis and Vengan. Coming to rest near the marine's speeder, Luke bobs his head in confirmation. "I agree. The ships are ready to go, we should get moving as soon as the young ones are ready." The two marine scouts skim the area in slow circles, keeping a watchful eye for any funny business. The building security guard who met Aramis the other day recognizes the pilot, and waves him through the temporary durasteel gate after only the briefest of ident-badge checking. A flurry of memos over the past 12-24 hours have put all the necessary pieces into play for this operation. "Hello, Mr. Tyrese," the guard greets, escorting Aramis to the turbolifts. Much less keeping an eye on the pilot as making sure people in the lobby stay out of the way. Meanwhile, the kids upstairs have been left with free time in their lounge, and no lessons to work on. Highly unusual this time of the week. Arise pulls out her own datapad and quietly resumes work on her own long-term personal "research" project. Vengan grabs the styrofoam cup off the ground, hurling it back at Aramis with all the force one can hurl a styrofoam cup. He watches the man depart, then turns back to Luke. "I've got a question, sir," he states, taking a breath. "Er, well, more of a request. You said no one could tangle with Korolov without a lightsaber, right? Well...we're going in there, and I'd hate for my 'toon to meet him head on and be caught with our pants down." A glitter in his eyes betrays a hint of personal grudge against the Sith. "So I was wondering...do you think you could show me a thing or two with a lightsaber? Show me how I can at least slow him down a bit if we cross paths?" Munch peers up from behind his cover again. More of the big ones. They seem to be gathering. And a few have weapons. This must be bad news. Something must be done about the little ones that are being kept prisoner in the building before it's too late. He eyes the wings of the tall female, wishing he still had his hang-glider. Time to make do without. But there were too many to fight single-handed. He'd need a diversion. Suddenly Munch jumps out of cover, screaming as he runs to leap into one of the nearby parked speeders. Aramis follows the security guard into the building and when they get into the lounge, he stops with his hands on his hips and grins at the kids. "Hey, y'all," he drawls. Are we ready for another field trip?" He waves at a couple kids that he remembers. "Let's see if we can't get this show on the road." He looks around for the droids that usually herd the children. "Everyone ready?" Kyrin remains by the speeders, not really all that good with hatchlings. Looking around warily, she's just in time to hear a scream behind her, and she spins, a blaster coming up in her hand, ready to fire, until she realizes it's... not the Wookiee she'd seen earlier. Holstering the blaster, she flaps her wings once and alighting behind the controls so the fuzzball can't be stealing this particular speeder. Skywalker blinks twice, purely surprised, at Vengan's question. "Huh?" He asks, squinting his eyes until it dawns on him. "Oh. Well... working with a lightsaber's no task for someone who isn't trained in the ways of-" He stops at the sound of a scream, and pivots about to look at the speeder that's come 'under attack', as it were. "What the..." He cranes his neck forward, doubting his eyes for a moment. Field trip. Yeah. Really. Without words needing to be said, the appearance of the pilot confirms what the older kids have already figured out: it's time to get outta Dodge. Surprisingly efficiently, according to some sort of law-of-the-jungle pecking order internally worked out among the kids from months and years of play and schooling, the oldest few, in the 12 to 13-year old range, take the hands of the youngest who are already not taken care of by the two civilian adults. The chaperone droid's programming isn't keeping up with today's action, and it tags along in the back of the group, ready to resume its functions once they're in a safer location. Arise thumbs a marker onto her datapad file to mark her place, and hugs the padd to her chest. She and the rest of the middling kids all group together loosely. "I think-" Whatever brilliant argument Vengan had ready is lost in the shrieking yell, and the Marine goes wide-eyed. He fairly bulls Luke backwards automatically, putting himself in front of what his mind says is another ranking officer in the field. His DL-44 is half drawn when he sees...amazingly....an Ewok, trying to steal a speeder, and Kyrin behind it. "...What in the...?" he trails off. He glances at Luke with both eyebrows raised, snapping his visor up to get a better view of the creature. Aramis doesn't mean to patronize, it's just probably wise to be optimistic. He'll shoot off at the mouth more often than not when it's just his own luck, but the kids are another story. With a nod to the security guard who had brought him in, he leads the way. "I'm going to go first," he explains, glancing over his shoulder once in a while. "When I tell y'all, you come straight out to the speeders with me. You know who's coming with us? General Skywalker." That name should be enough to perk up at least a few of the worried little faces. "He's waiting for us outside, and my friends Kyrin and Vengan and some other soldiers are out there, too. We'll get you somewhere safe and less boring." He'd be bored to tears in this place. Already, he's counting heads and heights and wondering how many he can plunk into the sims for fighter practice. Munch dives into the speeder and scrambles for the controls but is blocked by the wing guard reeling backwards as he flees. "Ploopa." He does an acrobatic flip over the side of the speeder to escape (though its not as graceful as it could be. Seems the little ewok's been packing away a few too many sweets) and he bounds one way, sees guards and begins to take off the other way. (speaking in Ewokese) Kyrin gives a VERY strange look at the Ewok caroming off the speeder and trying to scramble away. She's so very startled, she doesn't even try to stop him. "That was definitely very odd," she states calmly. "It's an Ewok," exclaims Luke, seeming suddenly less surprised, as a huge grin spread across his face. A split moment later, though, the concern comes back. "It won't understand a word we're saying, either. Blast it, where's Threepio when I /really/ need him?" Safe is good. Less boring is good. Well, the good kind of less boring anyway, not the exploding kind of less boring. The blob of children and adults turns into a steady stream of bodies: the pilot, security guard, and one of the civilians in front, and the chaperone droid and another civilian bringing up the rear. The mention of General Skywalker has put the kids more confidently on their "best behavior," a la what would Skywalker do in this situation? The usually well-behaved Arise just nibbles on her lower lip and follows quietly. The group commandeers a few turbolift cars to get everyone out into the lobby, where another quick headcount is conducted. The guard once again clears a path through the lobby, escorting the evacuation as far as the doors. "Good luck, Tyrese!" the guard calls above the general din. "Thanks, friend." Aramis gives the man a wave and checks ahead. It looks like there's no fighting out front and his commlink is quiet so he strides out and waves the adults and children to go ahead. "Everyone into the skimmers, kids. Let's try and get upstairs in time for lunch." He stops and watches out for the children as they file toward the skimmers. "...Well. That was interesting," Vengan comments. He shakes his head and turns back to the Senate, waiting for the kids to emerge. He glances at Luke. "Er...anyway, sir. I suppose now isn't the best time to talk about it, but maybe once we get back to camp. If you can spare some time and show me a thing or two, well...I'd sure appreciate it." He smiles once at the General, in thanks, then turns back to the doors as the kids emerge. The Marine strides towards the children. He's not as big a figure as some, but he's heavily armed, which always counts for something. "Good afternoon, kids. I'm Lieutenant Draelis. We'll be your aerial support today. With me are the men of 3rd Squad, 2nd Platoon. We're from the Reprisal. For today, I'm going to need you to all be on your best behaviour. When I say jump, jump. When I say duck, you duck. When I say 'Let's go', we go. All right?" He flashes a reassuring grin, suddenly looking not much older than some of the elder students. "Don't worry. This'll be a fun ride, and we'll be done before you can spell krayt dragon backwards." Marines move to the shuttles and start cracking access ramps, helping kids get onto the craft one at a time and locking them firmly in place. Kyrin watches the Ewok continue running, a rather bemused and baffled expression on her blue-skinned face. "Hardly an Imperial stormtrooper," she remarks as her grey eyes pick out the children approaching, settling back behind the controls of the speeder. "Master Skywalker, how true are the stories about Endor?" Munch peels around a corner of a building once he's safely out of range and peeks back to assess the situation. Turning, Luke observes quietly as Vengan takes charge of the situation. As the children are led single file from the building toward the speeders, a bittersweet look crosses his face. Seeing such care and attention given to the orphans brings joy to his soul, but the context for why it's happening... darkness. Such as it is, he's a bit slow to respond to Kyrin. "You'd have to ask General Solo or Leia," he comments, turning a sideward look toward the Chyleni pilot. "I wasn't there. All I know is, those Ewok's managed to take down some of the Emperor's best troops." He raises his eyebrows suggestively, before turning back toward the children. Stepping forward, he watches as they are loaded into the speeders one by one, his Jedi senses attuned to the potential dangers that could come their way. For a moment, he considers finding the Ewok and seeing if it won't come too, and so he reaches for the comlink on his belt. "Threepio?" he says into it. So far, except for the incident with the Ewok which the kids don't have enough time to see, this operation has been smooth and efficient. The civilian aides pass the children off to Marine crewmen who load them into the seats furthest from the doors first. Efficient. The civilians only start looking nervous once they step back from the speeder, getting out of the way. Getting strapped in, Arise can't help but have anxious tautness creep into her forehead. She looks up at the Marine crewman and ventures, "Excuse me. My dad's still in the city hospital. What will happen to him?" Vengan grins down at Arise, patting her on the shoulder as he triple-checks all the restraints. "Don't worry, hon!" he shouts over the engines as they warm up. "If he's in the hospital, he's being taken good care of!" He smiles, pats her on the shoulder again, then hops off the shuttlecraft. He repeats the procedure on the lead vehicle, then flashes Luke a thumbs up. "Shuttles one and two, good to go!" he shouts, taking a seat in the back of shuttle 1. Two Marines from the squad hop into the back of Shuttle 2, weapons at the ready, while the rest load into the APC that brought them out there. "Sir, we're ready when you are!" Munch slumps down on the ground to rummage through his pouch for a treat as long as he's not pursued. Maybe the guards will clear away and he'll have another chance to rescue those kids soon. He just need to watch out for the one with the built-in hang-glider. Kyrin turns that bemused look upon Luke and her gaze goes to where she last saw the Ewok. "I will speak to either of them should I see them again. It has been too long since I have seen the Chief of State," she states as she checks on her passengers, trying to smile in a friendly manner, keeping her wings out of reach, since she can practically feel the eyes on her and her oddball physiology. Getting no response from the protocol droid, Skywalker isn't quite sure whether he should be relieved or not. If only Ai'kani where around, she might be able to communicate with the little Ewok and help it along. Looking from the buildings around them to the children as they are loaded, he sighs and decidedly turns toward the speeders, catching the tail end of Vengan's remark to the young one he recognizes. "He's right," he says, speaking up. "The hospitalized will be among the first who are evacuated if the time comes. If not, then we'll all be back here as soon as we've gotten rid of the invaders." He hops on board the speeder he had piloted, and looks back to the children. "Everyone ready?" "Yes, Mister Skywalker," they say in a near unison. Luke turns and signals the 'ready to go' sign to Vengan, and gently draws the speeder to a liftoff. The marine scouts form up on the three speeder's wings. That wasn't exactly her question, but Arise bites her tongue at the Marine's response. Especially when Skywalker hits the nail on the head. After spending so much time with well-meaning, but clueless bureaucrats, answers from the comparatively with-it Skywalker are unnerving. She sighs, looks away to stare at a spot on the speeder's wall, and grips the seat's restraint system in preparation for moving. Her knuckles pale a little from the effort and her expression is gloomy.
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)