| abstract
| - Arrivals Platform (Imperial Palace: Imperial City) An ovular metal platform juts out from the massive gray-green rock pyramid that is home to the Imperial Palace, the tallest building on Coruscant. Imperial guards in blood red robes and armor flank the entrance to the Grand Corridor. On either end of the platform stand heavy cannons that are manned around the clock by Imperial personnel. The great sprawl of Imperial City spreads out below and to the horizon. A squad of crimson-garbed Imperial guards, tall, masked and armed with force pikes, escorts the shriveled, black-robed form of Emperor Palpatine. Hundreds of Imperial officers, stormtroopers and pilots have assembled on the arrivals platform to hear the Emperor's remarks in the wake of Lord Darth Vader's demise. The Imperial guards lead Palpatine toward a raised platform with a microphone, circled by holocam bots. Dylar quickly exit one of the newly arrived Imperial transports. After a short moment the large Darktrooper waves for his group to follow him to their assigned positions, quickly making his way there himself. Telal follows after Dylar and the others quickly, marching in formation with the rest of the 10th towards their assigned location. Davis flanks Dylar, moving with rigid precision. He makes no effort to herd anyone - it's expected that they'll follow. They're supposed to be the next to best best, after all. Janmes exits the transport and takes up a position just slightly to the left of the assembled Stormtroopers of the 10th. He stands straight with his hands behind his back, ready for the coming ceremony. Gelidus follows directly behind Davis, moving to the assigned position without comment, though a careful observer would note that his features look a bit conflicted. Looper follows out behind the rest of the troopers. He moves to where he needs to be without conflict or delay. He looks rather indiferent for the time being. Rushii's eyes are locked on Palpatine's hooded figure as she moves, though the officer somehow manages not to move out of step despite her inattention to the formation. She walks just ahead of Janmes, to the left of the rest of the 10th, every movement precise to give formality and honor to this ceremony. Palpatine uses a walking stick to stabilize himself as he struggles up the steps of the platform, followed by his guards. Stooped over, pasty and gnarled-looking, the Emperor leans the staff against the podium and stares out at the assembled Imperials. He gnashes his yellowed teeth, clutching the sides of the lecturn with his pale hands. "We gather today to remember a loyal servant of the Galactic Empire. A protector of our values and ideals. Selfless in his pursuit of this government's interests. In the interests of humanity. Lord Darth Vader." He tilts his head slightly. "I had suspected a day such as this would come. The outlanders. The aliens. Those who oppose us; who would throw down our way of life and replace it with their own selfish dogma. Now, my friends, the Galactic Empire is motivated to make clear to all who would stand against us that to do so is folly. Resistance is futile. Rebellion is insignificant." He regards the crowd through gleaming yellow eyes. "Starting today, we make clear, in no uncertain terms, that the Empire will give no quarter to terrorists and insurrectionists. Starting today, we take the fight to them. Starting today, we build a brighter tomorrow for the Galactic Empire." Taqion, your typical stormtrooper, exits the transport and hastily moves along with the group and falls into rank. There is an E-11 blaster rifle slung over one of his shoulders. Dylar once finally in position Dylar quickly comes to attention. The Darktrooper stands out amongst the see of white like a sore thumb, his armor not only being gray, but also the fact that he towers over most everyone else here. Despite all this, he stil remains at a rigid attention and listens carefully to what Palpatine has to say. "The first taste of the Empire's new purifying fire of justice will come this hour to the world of Ryloth, homeworld of the Twi'leks," the Emperor hisses. "A Twi'lek murdered Lord Vader. Let his people pay the ultimate price for this assassination. Let the galaxy see that giving quarter to a *Jedi* is to become a traitor to the Empire. And to become a traitor to the Empire costs dearly." Palpatine bows his head slightly, then concludes: "I rely on you, my loyal subjects, servants of the Empire, to seek out traitors and bring them to justice. And to hunt down to the last these evil Jedi. And destroy them. Utterly." With that, the Emperor reaches for his walking stick, makes his way toward the steps, and then proceeds toward the palace, escorted by his crimson-robed guards. Telal smiles ever so slightly at Palpatines words as he continues to stand in attention, his eyes focused upon their leader. Davis smiles, raising a fist and cheering as the Emperor departs. This isn't the first time he's heard a speech like this, and it probably won't be the last, but it still manages to get him riled. Give the man a blaster rifle, and he might try to conquer the universe alone. Meanwhile, near Ryloth... Hangar Bay (Flight Deck: Hrathi-Class Dreadnaught) Flickering magnetic containment fields and heavy blast doors protect the massive open ports on the side of the ship. When closed, the doors look like any other part of the ship's hull, but when opened, it looks like a gaping wound has opened in the side of the vessel. The hangar bay is massive, looking to be able to fit five of the Djalin-class Cruisers in berthing slips. Each cruiser has it's own port, which it stays facing, ready to move out at a moment's notice. The 24 fighters are also contained in this bay, sitting on racks in front of the cruiser berths, also looking ready to be scrambled. The flight line is a constant buzz of activity, with the ships being maintained or overhauled by the zealous crewmen who take care of them. Through the opening in the hangar bay, the golden orb of Ryloth shimmers in the distance. And then, with a significant white-blue flash, a large vessel of some kind materializes out of hyperspace. About the size of a small moon, bisected by a trench, with a circular depression in the upper hemisphere. It rotates as it slows on approach to Ryloth. Nee'luk arrives from the aft corridor, the Jedi moving very slowly into the bay. He does not look well, with his features drawn and taut with obvious exhaustion. If anything, he looks quite ill, though his movements are still nearly flawlessly graceful. Two lightsabers are clipped at his hips: One, his own white saber, and the second, the late Darth Vader's weapon The J'rathi Shipleader makes its way down the corridor into the hangar bay, reaching the open space just in time to see the flash that leaves, in its wake, what appears to be a small moon. If Djalin hadn't just seen it appear, it might think it a feature of the system. "Preparations ready?" Bryn enters into the hangar bay of the modified J'rathi ship, waving its arms at its sides. It waves to the rebels gathered there, and produces... a box of candy, for Praloth, to whom it attempts to deliver presently, making a beeline toward the busy general. Praloth nods a bit to Djalin. "Sure, things are pretty ready. We can leave at yer convenience.." he says, but his voice trails off as he looks out of the hangar bay and into space. "What th' fuck is that? One of yers? Big..." he says, taking several steps towards the opening to try to get a better look. Gleaming beams of green energy lance out from emitters along the perimeter of the circular depression in the upper hemisphere of the moon-sized battle station. They meet at a single point, and from that apex the singular salvo sizzles inexorably toward the storm-tossed Twi'lek homeworld. When the energy beam strikes the planet, Ryloth erupts instantly. Core shattered, continents ripped apart, mountains torn free, deserts scattered on the cosmic winds. A glittering shockwave pulses outward and fades. Bits of the planet roll toward the J'rathi vessel. "Nice... anatomy, this Ryloth has," Bryn says, tilting its head to one side as it stares in awe out the magnalock hangar bay, all but dropping Praloth's box of candies. "Does it always do that?" Cooper stares out of the hangar bay doors, at the large deatht hingy and it's target. He slowly steps towards the opening, his mouth hanging open, and his face displaying shock, "What the hell?! It just...destroyed that planet! Nothing can do that!" "NO!" The Jedi bellows as Ryloth erupts into shattered pieces, his footsteps carrying him straight towards the Mag-Con field. It appears he has recognized his homeworld, his face an absolute mask of anguish and anger, both oddities on the Knight's normally-calm features. Uncaring of where he runs, the Knight trips over a hose and lands, sprawled, hand outstretched towards the planet as if to try and stop its rapid expansion. As it becomes obvious he can do nothing, the hand falls, graspingat air. The battle station turns slowly, the destructive disc turning toward the dreadnaught. "I'm guessing... no..." Bryn says, glancing about at the other people on the deck. "We should never have left J'rath..." it says, adding a little vibrato to the end of its alto-voiced sentence, backing up slowly and finally turning to run to wherever Jin be, letting its box of candies drop to the deck, and scatter. "Okay, so, uh. Shipleader, it's, ah... it's turning toward us. That's not good?" Cooper's frown deepends, "Uh. I think it saw us. We need to leave! If it can do -that- to a -planet-!" He pauses, "We also need to tell the others! It's huge, too! I don't think we'd be able to destroy it with just one of these ships." He glances around nervously. Praloth shakes his head, and as the planet explodes. "Well.. least it was a quick death.." he mutters, still blinking a few times. "I don't know. But I don't want to see what it can do to this ship." The shipleader stiffens, it's clear skin immediatly flushed with a rush of blood and the tensing as adrenaline hits muscles. The J'rathi defense advisor knows more about firepower than its colleague, and it's huge eyes grow possibly even larger at that sight. "Get the Jedi away from the field," it orders. "No, not good. Very not good. We never should have left. What isn't it? Our shields can't take that. Our pulse cannons can't match that. They could do damage, but... We should run." Djalin turns towards Praloth. "Could it follow us? If we ran to the nebula..." Savossk slowly folds his arms across his chest as his eyes take in the massive sight. His head shakes slowly in disappointment, but unsurprisingly, he remains completely silent. "It would follow us home! We can't go home!" Bryn shouts, slumping to the deck, looking as if it would cry, its clear eyelids shutting over its large optical orbs. "Is... if it's not yours," Bryn says, looking up, "And it's not ours... I thought you said Star Destroyers were the best the Empire had?" Bryn says this last bit with a slight twinge of accusation. TIE fighters begin to spill from launch bays along the equatorial trench of the Death Star, angling off in squadrons toward the J'rathi vessel. They appear to be several minutes distant, but closing in a deadly swarm. "It looks Imperial. Sorta." Cooper says, still staring out the opening, "I don't know if it's fast enough to follow us or now, but with that size, it can't be too fast." He looks towards Bryn, "This is the first I've seen this, or even heard of it! Now you see how the Empire truely is. First thing we need to do is get away, do a zig-zag course to...anywhere, empty space, or anything, away from here. Maybe we'll lose them." He watches the TIEs come out, "Yep. Imperial. Those are their fighters, we need to leave -NOW-!" Praloth shakes his head at Djalin. "I don't know, but you're wasting too much time in talking. Whatever we do, needs to be done now!" he growls. "Get this ship moving, on a random course for now, then change courses and head to J'ra later." he looks to Cooper and Savossk. "Get the Jedi off of here, and use the shuttle to get to Tatooine or somewhere. Use random jump points to throw off any pursuers, the shuttle's ready. I'm gonna go with the J'rathi. Something needs to be done about this." he nods a bit. "We have a good distance from it, if it has any fighters, the Shuttle should be able to get to hyperspace before something gets a fix on them." A glistening stream of tears falls from the Jedi's single organic eye as he slowly pushes himself to his feet. His voice, broken, finally appears. "Why Ryloth? Of all the worlds in the galaxy, why mine?!" Not the calm acceptance of a Jedi Knight, exactly, but something close. "-That- is the best the Empire has. I've seen it work before, it destroyed the prison world the Empire held myself and my apprentices on. We must flee. Use short jumps to make a difficult-to-follow trail, but yes, you must flee home. No vessel in the former Republic can stand against that thing's power. Perhaps J'rathi ingenuity has a chance." Bitterness is the flavor of the day for the Twi'lek's words, even as his voice becomes more clear, the tears slowly coming to an end. Even as they stop dripping, they leave a glistening trail down one side of his face. "Now, J'rathi, you see Imperial justice. This is what they do to even imagined threats. We must flee, or we will all die." Cooper nods at Praloth, "I know of a few places we can go. And I need to tell my friends about this." He starts towards the shuttle, "I'll fly it, unless someone thinks they can do a better job." He looks at Djalin, pausing, as if asking for approval. The threat to its ship, and its homeworld, is enough to panic Djalin just long enough that it actually stands there listening to everyone instead of ordering the ship into hyperspace. "Shuttle has no weapons. We jump to a random point, unload them here. Won't risk dropping shields, nor waiting for them to get clear. Not with that here." It turns and moves purposefully for the corridor that will take it to the command deck. "We flee. Now!" It orders to the general area, comm pickups spreading these words throughout the ship. The TIE fighter squadrons continue to close on the J'rathi vessel, arming their weapons. Some of the fighters appear to be bombers, equipped with torpedoes. Soon, they will be within missile range. "Anywhere otherr than here or Coruscant iz fine." the Trandoshan says quietly, to no one in particular. He also begins to head towards the shuttle, a few meters behind Cooper. "They're not getting any farther away!" Cooper exclaims, "We have to jump. Now. I'll go ahead and power up the shuttle, charge the drives, and all that. Just tell me when you're ready for us to launch. Everything has to be quick!" He starts up the ramp into the shuttle. And Cooper walks right into the door that refuses to open at the top of the ramp. "Ow." he mutters, then looks out into the bay, "What's the boarding code?!" he yells out. Bryn crawls to its feet, walking slowly at first, and then breaking into a run toward the hangar bay exit to follow after Jin up to the command deck, so that the ship doesn't um. Blow up. It doesn't answer Cooper, but continues to run; mostly because it doesn't know what the boarding code is either. The ship hums loudly as it enters into hyperspace. Nee'luk simply shakes his head, turning towards the shuttle and slowly moving towards it, not appearing to be in all that much of a rush. The bitterness and anger has faded from his face, replaced now by a shattered, subdued sadness. The momentary anger has revived him, though, and he looks healthy again - for the moment. The shipleader has already left for the command deck, but one of the crew preparing the shuttle shrugs in response to Cooper's question. "I'm pretty sure blowing off the door wouldn't be wise, so, anyone have any idea how to open the dooor -without- damaging it?" Cooper says, glancing around at the others in the bay. Savossk shakes his head slowly, growling quietly, "I do not know." He clenches his teeth together, losing his patience. "I will open the shuttle." One hand extends as the Jedi speaks these five words, fingers splayed as he directs the Force to bypass the shuttle's lock and allow the hatch to open. Still, the Jedi seems reluctant and almost ashamed of his action as he does this, the Force gathering around his hand and then leaping to his will. "Hmm. That works." Cooper says, peering at Luck. He turns, and tries the door. It opens, and he looks back, "Don't know how you did it...but let's get ready to go anyway." He dashes into the shuttle. The Knight moves toward the shuttle's boarding ramp, pausing. "My apprentice. We must... wait for her." A worried look appears on his features, yet another deviance from the normal calm of the Jedi's emotions. Savossk calmly follows Cooper into the shuttle, his arms still folded across his chest. He sends one last glance back to the hangar bay before disappearing into the vessel. And here she is. Heller hurries out of the main corridor, heading towards the others. She seems relieved and happy to see her master, ~Master!~ Everyone else gets a brief nod but otherwise go unacknowledged. "That ship should not have followed us here," Djalin assures, walking down the corridor to see that the shuttle's departure goes smoothly and in a timely manner. "You can go. Find home. Or somewhere to hide." Bryn enters into the hangar bay, ready to pull some tools out of one of its myriad pockets and open up a ship's security console like a sardine can... but the Force's already done that for it. It sees the people heading into the dead Lord's shuttle, and shrugs, turning to face the incoming Djalin. "J'rathi, when the time comes, I will seek your world out. I will not bring harm, but you may fear my arrival nonetheless." The Knight's proclomation ends as he disappears into the shuttle, responding to Heller in kind, ~Apprentice, hurry! We must flee~ Cooper pops his head out of the shuttle's hatch, "Anyone's who comin' better hurry up and get onboard. The drives are charged, and we're ready t' go." He looks at Bryn, "Time to launch yet?" Heller nods, ~I hurry, master.~ And the apprentice does hurry. She scampers after her master, onto the shuttle, still ignoring Bryn and Djalin and pretty much anyone else; they take second place right now. Bryn nods its clear head to Cooper, and shouts, "Make haste, opaque one!" It seems to ignore Luck's comment until Djalin mentions it. Turning to its colleague, it says, in a low voice, "I fear him already. I'd rather he be far from us as possible." "Don't worry 'bout the Jedi," Cooper says, "That was his homeworld you just saw blow up." He glances in the shuttle, making sure everyone's onboard, "Thanks for everything. Maybe we'll meet again someday." He heads into the shuttle, ramp going up behind him.
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