Dark Age of the New Republic

[Grace]

"Take us anywhere," Reibe ordered, strapping herself into a seat. Jahara did the same next to her. "We'll worry about exactly where to go after we're out of this."

 

-------------------------------

 

Charna made her way to Tepe's ship. When she found him, she bowed slightly. "You called for me, my Lord?"

[Black Knight of Keno]

The dark lord looked at Kaoin and frowned.

"Find the Hunters! I want them destroyed once and for all. I will hold you directly responsible if you fail" he said before cutting communications and turning to Charna.

 

"Finally. I want you with me. We must train even if you are wounded. Being wounded does not interfere your connection to the force unless you want it to. Let's go to the meditation chamber. There we can start training you in the more powerful forms of fighting. That of fear and mind tricks" he said and turned to the admiral.

"Interrupt us only if there is something worth interrupting us for" he said and looked as the admiral bowed before leaving off with the Colonel tailing them.

[Sigundr]

"Captain, release the interceptor squadron and search for the hunters, and when they find them, destroy them." Kaoin was a bit shocked by his master's reply, but he had gotten used to the bluntness.

[Flamehart]

((Sorry guys. Real Life is a pain, but here's my next post! ))

 

The Ragnarok soared directly at Kaoin's starship. It was under cloak, completely masked to visual and radar.

 

It was then that Strider saw the approaching interceptors, though headed directly at the Pirate Ship, he knew they were scanning for the Hunters. He waited for just the right moment, when they were in range of all of the Ragnarok's weapon systems.

 

The ship uncloaked and unleashed a volley of blaster fire and torpedos at the group, striking most of them dead on and whizzing past them, disappearing back into its cloak field.

 

"Alright, now they're going to be paying attention," remarked Strider, now making a sharp turn for Kaoin's ship. He increased the accelerator and the ship blasted towards Kaoin's ship. If they weren't detectable by radar, they sure were by thermal by now.

 

The Ragnarok shot past Kaoin's cruiser, unloading several torpedoes and missles into the external shield generator. Strider quickly shot a communication message back to the Pirates.

 

"We did some damage to the shield generator. Whether or not it's out, I'm not sure, but it should give you guys a head start. We gotta jet, sorry old friend, thanks again for everything. May the Force be with you," Strider said, his tone very rushed. With that, he redirected the ship and punched in the appropriate hyperspace coordinates for their new destination, and without further hesitation, made the jump to Hyperspace away from the battle.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Danera ran past several evacuating mercenaries. The ship was on fire and the hull had been breached. Still the Dominion ships continued to pummel the temporary flagship. Danera switched on the commlink while running towards the hangar bay.

"Let's get ready to leave, boys" he said into the comm just before entering the hangar bay. The ramp of his ship lowered and the battle droid pilot started hover mode. Danera pushed the switch next to the entrance, opening the hangar doors below his ship and jumping to the ramp. The ramp closed just in the nick of time as an explosion shook the hangar and an explosion overcame the entrance. The ship launched swiftly and with the cover of the exploding ship jumped into hyperspace. The rest fo the small fighters within the hangar bay launched to fight the Kaoin's fleet, but it would be useless.

 

------

 

The intercom opened within the flagship of Darth Tepe. He watched as Charna meditated and heard the info on the ship about to jump out of hyperspace. He raised himself up and ooked down on the woman.

"Continue the meditation lessons. I must observe the battle" he said and left, drawing on his cloak when reaching the door. He left the room and haded for the bridge.

 

Just as he arrived, the ship jumped out of hyperspace and informed of itself by opening fire on a squadron of pirate starfighters trying to flank Kaoin's fleet. The massive hunk of weaponry stopped and contacted Kaoin. As the communications opened, Darth Tepe stepped in range of the holoprojector so they could see him.

"Status, Kaoin? Did you get them?" Tepe asked much more swiftly than the Admiral could ask about the battle and losses.

[Grace]

Even after Tepe left, Charna did as he ordered, continuing to meditate. However, the longer she meditated, and the deeper she went within herself, the more bizarre things seemed to her. First, she saw only herself and all that motivated her to join Tepe's Sith Dominion. Initially, it was a shock to her, but gradually, she calmed herself and pressed forward.

 

Slowly, she became aware of guards around her. Instead of withdrawing as she might have done once upon a time, she drew them in, examining each of them and considering their motivations for where they were. She almost laughed; one guard was merely glad to be out of Kaoin's service... he'd do anything other than that again. Dismissing her amusement, she went still further until her perception flooded the entire ship.

 

Morale was high, she observed; nearly all of the soldiers were proud to be serving such a man as Darth Tepe. Some were fearful, worrying about the security of the Dominion. Charna could not comprehend the Dominion loosing anything and she allowed those thoughts to slip into the minds of the fearful. Their fears were banished and morale rose to an even greater level. All men were satisfied; no one was left behind.

 

My Lord Tepe, Charna called to him through the Force. Exhausted though my body may be, my mind is so alert I cannot find anything suitable to acheive. I have raised the ship's morale so high it won't be coming down unless we happen on the odd misfortune to explode.

 

What shall I do?

[Black Knight of Keno]

Tepe waited for a response from Kaoin when he got Charna's message. He grunted quietly and looked at the admiral, stepping out of the holoprojector's range.

'You are still weak. Rest for a while. If anything interesting happens, I'll call for you' he called out to her and waited for Kaoin to respond. It might take a while, taking that the ship had taken some damage from the Ragnarok and alarms might be going on, but fortunately for Kaoin, Tepe was in a good mood.

 

------

 

Danera's ship rushed throught hyperspace and towards a Kuat Drive Yards drydock. He had ordered a new ship, a Wayfarer-class medium transport, for himself after gathering up some money from the pirate organization. It would be waiting for him with everything he needed and modified just for him. It would be a beauty, easily competing with the Ragnarok once the Firrerreo mercenary had gotten his hands on it and managed to do some personal modifications to the ship with his own two hands.

[Flamehart]

The Ragnarok appeared at a strangely unknown set of space. There was no planet nearby, but a space station, at which the Ragnarok docked without question. Strider looked back at the group to reassure he knew what he was doing, and once docked securely, he stepped into the main ship area with them to speak.

 

"This is the docking station I often stayed at while in refuge, when I vanished from the Hunters. The owner of this station has been my supplier for the technologies on this ship. He's a bit on the aged side, but he's got incredible stuff you won't find on any market, even illegal ones. If you need to stock up on anything, now would be the time to do it," he informed them, then turned and lowered the entry ramp and exited first. He knew he didn't even have to knock. The door was already open in fact, and they could see in the distance an aged man behind a workbench with some large glasses on, peering over the top of the frame at them.

 

"Well bloody hell look who it is," he shouted over at Strider. "God knows how long's it been, get in here, Flamehart. You've got some explaining to do!"

 

Strider chuckled, and nodded at his friends to come with. "I brought you company this time, so don't complain about my silence being boring now," he called back to the old man and walked in to the workshop.

[Black Knight of Keno]

Danera jumped out of hyperspace and started to approach the drydock where his new ship waited. A lone pirate vessel was around coordinating the modfications and the arrival of any new parts for the ship. As Danera was landing, the commlink opened and the pirate ship contacted him.

"Sir, the last parts just arrived. Everything should be ready"

"Good. Take my air cruiser and demolish it, then feel yourselves freed from duty. The whole fleet was destroyed by the Dominion. Captain, take control of your ship and do anything you wish with the crew. Any spare money we still have is yours. Thank you for your loyalty"

"Yes, sir"

 

Danera jumped off of his ship with the pilot droid and looked at it one last time before leaving off to see his new, much larger ship. He knew the captain would be pssed to find that the spare money was less than a thousand credits and the rest was in Danera's own accounts around the galaxy. He approached the new ship when a worker came up and smiled kindly.

"The droids have been updated, modifications added and the hull repainted"

"Thank you"

"No, thank you. If our humble drydock can do anything for you, we will"

"Yes... Please, keep this ship's construction to yourselves"

"Indeed. Thank you again"

 

Danera entered the ship with his droid and looked around. It was a great ship indeed. He closed the airlock and started to wander around. The ship was heavily modified. Two of the crew quarters had been emptied and connected into one training room, a hidden storage room had been loaded up with upgraded droidekas and battledroids, the cockpit was manned mostly by LE-series repair droids that could also be used as pilots. The ship was otherwise maintained by droids too. The small hangar area was stuffed with as many droid tri-fighters they managed to get in, which was 30-something. Even the weapons were controlled by Gunner droids. The whole droid crew had indeed been upgraded completely with the latest technology available to him and most of the weaponry on both the droidekas, battle droids and tri-fighters was upgraded into much more powerful ones than the ones they had when found from an old CIS warehouse. After many test runs, the ship and crew had finally passed throught Danera's very detailed list.

 

As Danera stepped into the cockpit that had two seats still available, the pilot droids stood up and hailed their new master. They were all modified with a new droid brain, making a droid control station useless and also making it much easier to travel with the pilot droids. This was also made to the other droids. Danera's original pilot battle droid took the main control station, being the leader of the other droids within the ship, taking Danera trusted it the most of any of the other droids. The Firrerreo man himself sat down in the captain's seat, moving his cape aside as he gave the first orders.

"Let's get out of here, then. Report ship status"

"Engines warm"

"Fuel level at maximum"

"No mechanical problems"

"All airlocks sealed"

"Weapons system down, but ready to be armed"

"Good. Let's set coordinates for Coruscant and head out"

 

The ship lifted off and launched for the dark space, heading into hyperspace with a bright flash. It was a fast ship with an even faster hyperdrive. Danera was a sneaky man. He would travel to Coruscant, one of the few places he hoped that he was still anonymous. He still had a place there if the building hadn't been taken down. Taking he now had a completely new ship, he should get past Alliance checkpoints easily. Especially after he covered up the droids from scans

 

((This is a picture of the ship in it's initial form))

[Black Knight of Keno]

((Actually, people. I think it's time to start closing this part of the RP slowly. Post your last actions so we can get a more speedy start with the next thread. Taking we are mostly at the same position right now that when we last closed the thread with th Hunters off regrouping and training and the Dominion at war with the other galactic power, I hope the next thread will start drawing towards a conclusion to this.))

[Grace]

"And so we are concealed once more," Reibe said softly. "And so much the better..."

 

"Had you noticed we go into hiding whenever there's a major conflict that could use our help?" Jahara commented. Reibe shook her head.

 

"The major conflicts you speak of cannot be helped," she said softly. "That is why we slip away. We can do nothing, so we save ourselves for a time that we can. The Hunters have done this for centuries... for millenia now." She turned to Jahara with a faint smile and said, "Welcome to the life of a Sith Hunter. We are there when it matters most and gone when it won't make a difference."

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

At Tepe's instructions, Charna bowed her head obediently. Then, she struggled to her feet. "Where, bed... must I..." she mumbled. Staggering to the nearest available room, she called on the Force to rip the doors away. A young lieutenant was sleeping, but the sound of the groaning metal of his door awoke him and he sprang out of bed.

 

"Lady Charna," he stammered, watching her stagger in. "I... oh, my! Can I help you in any way at all?"

 

"Let me... bed, rest..." she murmured. "I'll fix... door later."

 

Hurrying to her side, the young man helped her to his bed and laid her down gently. She was asleep almost before her head hit the pillow. As the young man stared down at her, a thought struck him.

 

"Where'm I gonna sleep?" he muttered. Dressing quickly he decided now was not the time for sleep and hurried out of the room, hoping no one would look in and try to disturb the sleeping Lady. And that's when it occurred to him. He would guard the door. Checking his belt for his blaster, he positioned himself in the doorway and prepared for several hours of guard duty.

[Sigundr]

Kaoin braced himself against a bulkhead as the ship violently shuddered.

 

"Ma'am," the systems officer yelled to the captain. "Our main shield generator has been knocked out. Activating secondary shields!" The ship shook with another shock.

 

Kaoin looked out the transparisteel and saw the Ragnarok rocket into hyperspace. "Damn!" Kaoin screamed. Just then the holoemitter activated and the surly form of Darth Tepe took form.

 

Status, Kaoin? Did you get them?"

 

Kaoin stepped into the holo-projector field and knelt. "My master. I regret to inform you that the Ragnarok and the hunters escaped into hyperspace. We have decimated the pirate fleet, and requesting to pursue the Ragnarok." said Kaoin, his face drenched with sweat.

[Black Knight of Keno]

"Blasted!" was the almost immediate response.

"No! You will never catch them. I know that much of the Ragnarok" Tepe said as the admiral came to him, showing some statistics Kaoin's ship was transmitting on a datapad. You could see a hint of fury in his eyes as he observed the datapad and then glanced over at the hologram of Kaoin.

"Take your fleet and move it to engage the Cronese Mandate. They have become troublesome and have valuable resources. Take the Mandate and then mend your wounds there for a while. I will send a fleet to defend the sector as soon as we spare them. The Galactic Alliance is pushing hard on us. We need hose resources. Scout Mon Calamari while you're there and wait for further instructions. Meditate and find calmness, my apprentice. The Sith way is not only destruction" he said and left the holoprojector's range.

 

Before leaving the bridge, he turned to the Admiral.

"Let's go to Naboo, admiral. Lady Charna needs rest."

"Yes, my lord"

So Darth Tepe left to find Charna throught the ship. He would eventually find her and sit by her side, making sure she healed well.

 

------

 

Danera jumped out of hyperspace and approahced Coruscant. He smirked as he saw the planet and started planetfall on the dark side of the planet.

"Ah, the life of a scumbag"

 

((And so it ends. The Galactic Alliance and Sith Dominion locked in battle and both the Sith and the Sith hunters mending their wounds while Jedi are hunting both. The next thread will start tomorrow at some point and will take place a year and a half after this with the Dominion and the Galactic Alliance locked in one of their most furious stages of the whole war))

[Sigundr]

((Gotta love this.))

[Flamehart]

((Making my last say before we close this fully. Awesome, can't wait for the next thread.))

 

As the Hunters entered the docking bay, there was a hooded figure sitting near the old man, which rose as the Hunters entered. Strider at first was startled, and immediately reached for his blade.

 

"Relax," spoke the old man, as if he knew what Strider's reaction was going to be before he did it. "This is no enemy, Flamehart. In fact, you might be surprised to know you know them."

 

The figure reached up and lowered the hood of their robe, revealing a young male face to Strider.

 

"Seraxis Dex...I thought you were dead!" Strider said, in disbelief - a rare thing for Flamehart.

 

"Haven't seen you since I helped you in the Unknown Regions, Strider. I remember our conflict, and you left me stranded in space to die by the True Sith, leaving nothing behind but your accusation that I hadn't learned a thing. I was captured by the True Sith and my mind was opened to so many things. I realize now what you wanted me to learn, and now, I return in hopes of teaching you, and your friends, some things that might aid you," said Seraxis.

 

"Nice to know," Strider said, turning to face his fellow Hunters. "Maybe with some time and training...we can finally bring an end to this war."

[Sigundr]

((The Dominion threads have turned into an epic as a thread leader once said to me*cough*. I am honored to participate in this epic, and, hopefully, it is one of those never ending epics. Oh, Hart, you're always teh mushy one. Lol ))