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IT IS 3,954 BBY
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IN THE LEHON SYSTEM, THE REPUBLIC CLASHES WITH THE SITH AT THE BATTLE OF RAKATA PRIME.
REVAN DEFEATS DARTH MALAK IN A DUEL.
THE REPUBLIC DEFEATS THE SITH EMPIRE AS THE STAR FORGE IS DESTROYED AND WITH IT THE JEDI CIVIL WAR FINALLY COMES TO AN END.
REVAN LEAVES ONCE MORE FOR THE UNKNOWN REGIONS.
SITH LORDS, FORMERLY LOYAL TO DARTH REVAN AND MALAK, BEGIN BREAKING THE SITH EMPIRE INTO SMALLER DOMAINS, DECLARING THEMSELVES SOVEREIGN WARLORDS.
THE REPUBLIC BEGINS TO ROLL UP THE SITH IMPIRIAL REMNANTS, AND THE PEOPLE FEEL HOPE AGAIN AS FINAL PEACE IS IN SIGHT…
You are standing alone on the darkened bridge of a capital ship.
Ahead of you a gigantic viewscreen gives a panoramic view of a dense star field.
Against that backdrop is the inky black form of a cloaked figure. You feel a hunger coming from it, so vast and deep and… and Gnawing. It seems beyond the Dark side, beyond Evil; a kind of ultimate Nothingness. You feel it pulling at you. Your life force.
A beautiful blue-green world slowly rotates into view. You feel the eagerness erupt as it’s hunger increases.
Then…
It becomes aware of you and you are struck by a horrible fear.
Slowly it turns to face you. You can see nothing of its face; it is covered by a Krath ghost-mask.
A sudden red glare erupts it turns on a lightsaber, a thin core of blackness marring the light.
You know it’s coming for you. You and your whole team.
A name comes to you, dimly.
Darth Nihilus.
The large farmboy backs up slightly, taking a defensive stance. His lightsaber ignites, its green glow illuminating a man in his 20's with a wide face, deeply inset eyes and a slightly worried look on his face. His hair is sandy blonde and his voice is steady as he speaks.
"Welllll. Looks like we got ourselves a fight here, y'all. Ah reckon Ah should have seen this one comin'." He circles to his left, moving slowly but steadily.
The disorientation fades quickly, and instincts kick in as the tall, yellow-skinned Feeorin takes in his surroundings.
Fear and hatred war with training as he watches the cloaked figure ignite his tell-tale red lightsaber. The fear and hatred - borne of years of pain and cruelty - cry for the monster's blood, but a reckless soldier is usually a dead soldier. Behind this emotional war, Desh's mind takes stock of the situation.
Armor - none. Grenade launcher - broken. Carbine - in auto-fire. Vibro-blade - locked. Now to the target and the environment….
His attention snaps back to the slowly advancing figure, dark red eyes fiercely mirroring the crimson blade as his lips pull back in a grim but silent snarl.
Only one tactic against force-users… overwhelm the *@#%!-ers!
The thought is drowned out as Desh white-knuckles the trigger to his carbine blaster, and the dark room is thrown into a strobe-like stark lighting as a stream of plasma bursts towards the target.
Six lets fly a number of choice Zabrakian curses as he brings his cabine to bear on the... Jedi? He shakes off the confusion and focuses on the oncoming threat.
Fjandinn! What's going on? Who or what in víti is that?!
The masked figure fills his scope, and he sends a bolt of compressed plasma energy flying toward the horrific visage. A flare of more blaster fire flashes to his left, a harmonious opera of red electric death enveloping the death's-head figure.
Dax stands stock still, one foot slightly behind the other, fists clenched and raised by his hips as he takes in the scene, moving not a muscle as he calmly gazes at the Sith Lord as the tell-tale sign of his red lightsaber illuminates his death mask.
A slight twitch is the only movement as he battles his emotions, fight or flee? Fight or flee? Every instict in his body tells him to turn and run, he has no chance of surviving a battle with a sith lord no less. 'RUN!' his mind screams and his eye twitches.
'Fear.' he thinks calmly to himself, trying to see through the haze of emotion. 'Fear is of the dark. Calm. Ride it out. Calm.' taking a deep breath he repeats the mantra to himself. Breathing out he springs into action, betraying no emotion as he meets the dark lords gaze, no emotion but pitty.
"Don't worry." he says as he surges into range of the monster. "This will all be over soon."
Falling back on his teachings he allows the force to flow through his hands as he attacks in a flurry of blows.
Over the din of battle, Six makes out a few words from one of the men nearby.
"Don't worry." he says as he surges into range of the monster. "This will all be over soon."
Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of...
No matter what you did, Darth Nihilus seems to just suck the energy into his body. And as you begin your last futile charge, he grasps his hand in a gesture, and you can feel the life being pulled from your body. You can actually see a purplish radiance leaving your teams bodies and being pulled into the Sith Lord.
You can feel yourself strangling, drowning...
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...you expell the last of the liquid from your lungs, gasping and choking on a metal deck. Looking up you see that you are lying buck naked in the middle of an industrial processing lab.
Nearby you see a kind of pod, its door open and a strange Kolto-like fluid still spilling over it's threshold. Pipes and conduits flow everywhere.
In the middle of the chamber is a raised control station, with numerous sensor and control panels.
The air reeks of medicine, burned insulation and burned flesh.
As you struggle to sit up, you see the bodies. People in lab coats, a couple of corporate security guards, and some guys who are neither.
Jerrn grasps the edge of the pod. "What in the name of Alderaan is goin' on?!?"
Once again Desh fights the disorientation, but this time his groggy brain fights to move above a slug's pace. He pulls himself up from where he lies in the oddly padded pod, and a mucusy rivulet falls from his face and tendrils onto his chest. Gross.
"What in the name of Alderaan is goin' on?!?"
Desh turns to look at the source of the question, surprised to see the broad-chested human sitting there in only his pink skin. Somehow they look even weaker naked, he thinks, but decides to keep that thought to himself.
Desh responds in a deep, rumbling voice, "Not a clue." One giant yellow hand goes again to his head, "But I feel like I just got sh!t out by a bantha."
Then he notices the acrid smells, and he looks around to take in his surroundings. The other pods, the medical machinery, then the bodies - medical, security, and the others.
Start with the obvious… he thinks as he forces his body upright. As he moves to one of the bodies he can't identify , he looks once again at the broad human, "So none of this makes sense to you, huh?" He continues talking as he checks the body for a pulse then begins searching the body for any identifying marks or items. "The name's Desh, and if you find a cigar anywhere in here, I'll arm-wrestle ya for it."
Rising to his hands and knees Dax spits and coughs out the last of the liquids, raising his head his long hair falling out over his head he plods down into a sitting postition and tries to make sence of his surroundings.
"Where am I?" he manages as he closes his eyes and tries to feel the ryth and flow of the force.
Quick to adapt, Six sets to searching the bodies. Weapons, security access cards - anything useful.
Feeling the cool recycled air against his damp skin, he reminds himself to keep an eye out for a pair of pants in his size.
"The name's Desh, and if you find a cigar anywhere in here, I'll arm-wrestle ya for it."
Six pauses in his search for weapons at the Feeorin's introduction.
"Desh!? What are you doing here? Hell, what am I doing here?"
"Where am I?"
Desh looks over briefly to spot a second human climbing from a pod, then continues searching. "None of us know. And these guys…" he bumps the body he's currently searching on the head, ".. don't seem to in the answerin' mood."
He seems about to say something else when Six pipes up, and Desh flashes a confused look over towards him. Despite his tone, he smiles at the Zabrak, "Hell! No wonder I'm havin' a bad day.. Six is here. What's it been? A year?"
Jerrn pulls himself out of the pod, stretching and popping his joints as he goes. He moves over to one of the bodies, that of a lab coat, and begins searching it, taking his time to be thorough.
"Well, I jes' had a terrible dream about being beaten on by a Sith Lord, then I woke up here with you lot in them pods. I don't know you from Sally and I figure this here lot might have some answers. Anybody found a data card or pass anywhere on 'em?"
Jerrn finishes the search and stands. "And we're all nekkid. I swear, this is not the life I had in mind when I left the moisture farm. I'm Jerrn. Jerrn Darklighter. You lot know each other?"
Desh stops his search, looking up at the big human, "Hmmm... not too far from what I just woke from." He looks at the pods from which they all just climbed. "Wonder if it was projected into our minds."
Then he looks over at Dax before continuing his search, "I dont know that one. Me and the Zabrak shared a few tours a while back. Don't know many who shoot better'n he does. Also don't know many who get into more trouble."
"Moisture farmer, huh? That sounds.... exciting."
"Moisture farmer, huh? That sounds.... exciting."
"'Bout as exciting as it sounds. Why do you think I left"
Still sitting with his hands in his lap Dax opens his eyes at the mention of the dream. "I was having the same dream. You felt familiar in it, like we were part of a team." Feeling calmer he gets up and goes to stand over the corpses, in no hurry to neither arm nor dress himself. "Do you see any markings on them? Any identifyers?"
Looking around, you realize that a fierce battle took place here, blaster pockmarks and carbon scoring are all around the room, and the dead bodies were definitely shot multiple times. It looks like the lab coated guys had taken cover behind the computer consoles in the middle of the room. It didn’t do them much good, and blasterfire has completely trashed the control equipment.
It also looks like the pods that were hit and damaged were the ones you were occupying.
The first thing you notice is the Force. It is roaring by you like you were in a wind tunnel. You have never felt anything like it before.
Aside from that, you can feel knots of fear, rage and death.
You hear blaster shots in the distance beyond the doors, pistol, rifle and repeater.
Searching the bodies, you find:
On the two security guys you find
Combat Jumpsuit, Helmet, Blaster Pistol, hip holster, Two power packs, medpac, Credit chip (one with 33 and one with 61 credits), Short-range comlink, Binder cuffs, blue security card “Security Agent [Tolin Keff and Gabara Elin]”
On one lab guy
Civilian jumpsuit, lab coat, holdout blaster pistol, one powercell, Credit chip (71 credits), medpac, white security card “Lab Technician Hale Torver”
Other lab guy
Civilian jumpsuit, lab coat, holdout blaster pistol, one powercell, short range comlink, Datapad, Code Cylinder, pocket scrambler, Credit chip (550 credits), red security card “Project Manager Ire Kaladius”
The three other bodies are dressed in mismatched leather clothing, heavily tattooed and generally giving every appearance of being a swoop gang member.
Fiber Armor, Pulse wave pistol, hip holster, four power packs, short range comlink, speeder bike codekey.
You don't know any of the insignia, but you can tell the equipment is of the highest of high technology. Core world tech.
The outer clothing of the dead men seem wearable (but, ugh, not the underwear).
While you're searching, one of the gang's comlinks crackles to life.
"Bones! Bones, where the (&%$%^# are you? I'm comin' buddy!"
"Thers a blaster fight going on outside." Dax states as he scans over the corpses, "I don't recognize the insignia but the equipment is definately core-world tech, very high tech." Bending down he starts stripping the lab technician of his jumpsuit and putting it on along with his boots.
"Let's gather up any usable equipment. Better to have it and not need it than the other way around."
Freezing in his tracks as the comlink crackles he quickly picks up the remainder of technician Hale's equipment, checking the power supply of the hold out blaster as he stands up.
Desh nods to the skinny one, "Good call, but I missed your name, human. You must have killer ears… I didn't hear any shots fired."
Or he's a force-user… what other surprises do we have in this room? He does, however, take the man's advice.
The big feeorin looks across all the dead bodies, and finds that only one outfit is even close to fitting - that of one of the supposed swoop gang members. "So why the hell does a swoop gang bust up a medical joint with top-of-the-line defense personnel?" Regardless, he strips the leathers off the gang-member and puts it on… followed by his armor, weapons, and all. It's a squeeze getting into the fiber armor, but at least it's functional.
As he stands he gives his new pulse wave pistol the once over, testing the power packs, housing, and trigger before slamming the power pack back into place. A comforting BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE of the chamber loading makes him smile.
"Now that's more like it. Six, this fiber armor is a bit tougher than those combat jumpsuits, but I'm not sure if one of us should be dressed like a facility security guy or not. Could come in handy if we have to get crafty out there."
He looks at the broad human, "They teach you to use a blaster in the fields, farm-boy?"
He then casts about for anything else useable, but specifically for any decent close-combat weapons and a duffel bag to jam everything else into. As he looks for those, he swings by any remaining unopened pods to see what's in them.
As he looks, he talks, "So what do you guys figure is going on here? I mean, I don't have a clue how we got here. And I sure as hell don't remember falling asleep in a test tube. This some kind of mental conditioning joint? All I remember is that dream, but that coulda' been piped into our brains in these tin-cans."
Not looking back, he gestures to the active comm through which the man just shouted, "If we're gonna work together, we should all grab a comm and set them accordingly. And will one of you either answer that or shut it off?"
If nothing else is turned up in his search, he helps stuff any cred sticks, ammo, weapons, or security cards in his pockets before heading for the door. He stops, looking back at the readying group. There is a smile on his lips, "So, what do you suppose we have behind door number 1?"
"Dax, Dax Oan. Your Desh, he's Six, he's Jerrn." Dax states as he goes over to the other body in a labcoat and rifles through his pockets.
"We have a security card a datapad and a code cylinder here, let's see what he's working on." he says as he powers up the datapad and inserts the code cylinder with the pocket scrambler.
Finding some leathers and boots that fit, Six dresses and scoops up a blaster pistol, holster, and a pair of power packs, along with binder cuffs and the swoop codekey. Grabbing empty containers from a nearby table, he drops in the credit chips and security cards, along with the medpack.
Six, this fiber armor is a bit tougher than those combat jumpsuits, but I'm not sure if one of us should be dressed like a facility security guy or not."
Six displays his acquired leathers like a new tuxedo. "My thoughts exactly, Desh. Besides, that bulky garbage will only slow me down - look what good it did these guys, after all."
Grabbing the squawking comlink and the blast helmet, Six steps over to the nearest broken console. Pointing the com away, he activates it and activates the com intermittently, smashing the helmet into the consoles and yelling.
"ot this under contro... secure the fron..."
His performance at an end, Six tosses the blast helmet into a pile along with the other clothing.
Desh can sort of make the leathers/fiber armor work by ripping strategic seams, but you worry about its effectiveness.
Dax fiddles with the datapad, but he finds that the code cylinder does not fit it. It most likely would fit a full computer workstation.
The scrambler fits over a comlink.
With a curse you desist; the datapad is code locked. It will take several hours at a workstation to crack it.
When you examine the other pods closely, you see that there is a sliding viewport.
Looking in you recoil in horror for a moment. Inside are the remains of men; so withered that you can hardly tell they were humanoid at one time.
You see Caels get hit by one of those purple radiance-whatevers from Darth Nihilus; in seconds he shrinks into a withered husk, and Nihilus stands tall again. It was like he was never injured at all. And he keeps on coming!
As Six finishes his performance, you hear from the gangers comlink; "I'm comin' Bones! Just hang on! Blast that bridge will ya?"
You all hear a WHUMP from some medium distance outside the southern door. Then a bang and a clatter on the door itself.
Some repeater fires a long burst close by as well.
"Fjandinn! Six grabs shoves the credit chips and security cards into his pockets, and tosses the medpack to Desh. Grabbing the second comlink, and turning the volume to maximum he lays it under one of the fallen gang members. He calls to the others in a hushed voice. "Get behind those tanks - let them get inside, and take them by surprise." Suiting actions to words, Six ducks behind the tank closest to the thudding door.
Without a word Dax follows Six's orders and hurriedly ducks behind the pod in front of the door, hunkering down he awaits the entrance of the unknown friend or foe. "Anybody have a clue if either faction is friendly?"
"Not a clue," Desh says as he looks around the room, trying to determine what the best position is for an ambush. "Unless you guys are really, really charming, i'd say it's best to act like everyone's an enemy... well, present company excluded, of course."
As he moves into position , he gives a look back at the pod he searched. "There are some jacked up guys in those pods... somewhat like i remember a squad-mate looking when that Sith - the one from our dream - hit him with those purple waves. Those bodies have been dead a long time."
As he gets into place, he hides as best he can.
Jerrn will take one of the holdout pistols and gather any credit chips or IDs that weren't taken. When the noises start, he'll assume a position toward the rear of the group.
Six, your character sheet looks like level 4, you know you're Level 5 now right?
Dax:
Desh:
Jerrn:
Six:
Gang:
======================================
Surprise round--
DAX OAN
DESH
SIX
JERRN DARKLIGHTER
One of the southern doors slides aside in a shriek and a shower of sparks. Darting through are a human, a twilek, and a zabrak; all wearing the filty leather and fiber armors of the dead gangers and bearing either pulse-wave or sonic weapons. The human skids to a stop at the nearest ganger body. You can see he is wired (probably on some illegal substance) and terrified.
"Bones! Dammit bones, ya shoulda waited fer us!"
Perception Red-1:
Perception Red-2:
But they both seem oblivious to you guys as you hide.
The Twilek looks like he's going for the central computer station. Maybe looking for either cover or something to loot.
The zabrak is looking back through the door as a wookie with what looks like mange and bones braided into his fur backs through the door.
He is firing a repeater of some kind and roaring in defiance.
Odd, there doesn't seem to be anyone firing at him. Why is he shooting?
'Great, junkies.' Stepping up Dax swiftly makes his way along the pod he was hiding behind to come up by the zabrak staring out the door. Gliding to him Dax comes up with two swift jabs to his head, aiming to put him down swiftly.
Well, hell! Desh thinks, I guess we're closing to hand-to-hand early, then...
Always more comfortable up-close, Desh rushes the third man into the room, ending with a solid heel-kick to the man's gut. "Six! The wookie! And let's take one or two alive to get some answers!"
Six peeks around the cover of the kolto tank, and pops off a shot at the wookiee. "I think that wookiee is as crazed as a jawa in a droid factory - he's either shooting at nothing, or they just aren't shooting back!"
Jerrn fires the holdout, aiming at one of the men entering. He doesn't give much thought to the shot, he's too busy wondering where his lightsaber is and trying to sense its familiar prescence.
Use the Force:
Holdout Blaster:
Damage:
Surprise round--
DAX OAN______________________________
Stepping up Dax swiftly makes his way along the pod he was hiding behind to come up by the Zabrak staring out the door. Gliding to him Dax comes up and lands two swift jabs to his head, his hand blurring with the Force empowered Telekinetic Strike, dealing 20 nonlethal. The Zabrak staggers back 5 feet, reeling.
DESH__________________________________
Desh rushes the Zabrak, ending with a solid heel-kick to the man's gut for 9 nonlethal. The combined damage with Dax’ strike hurl the zabrak unconscious through the air to hit the Wookie in the back and bounce off, his sonic carbine clattering to the deck.
"Six! The wookie! And let's take one or two alive to get some answers!"
SIX____________________________________
Six peeks around the cover of the kolto tank, and pops off a shot at the wookiee, hitting him in the back for 14. The Wookie roars in pain as it stumbles.
"I think that wookiee is as crazed as a jawa in a droid factory - he's either shooting at nothing, or they just aren't shooting back!"
JERRN DARKLIGHTER_______________________
Jerrn fires the holdout, aiming at Red-2, but misses him; the shot srikes a pipe over Six’ head, a loud blast of pressurized gas shrieks over his head. He doesn't give much thought to the shot, he's too busy wondering where his lightsaber is...
You don’t sense your lightsaber. But you do sense a disturbance in The Force, even through the windtunnel-like pressure. You can tell someone else is searching the force… for people like you.
Red-1 (Human): 30
Red-2 (Twilek): 27
Red-3 (Zabrak): 0 nonlethal, unconscious.
Red-4 (Wookie): 36, condition -1
No one's shooting back?!
As the first man falls unconscious, Desh turns to engage the wookie, trying to slam his fist into the creature's thick skull, "DROP THE REPEATER, WOOKIE!"
Hearing Six's warning Dax takes a moment to cast his sences down the corridor to see if he can sence other lifeforms battling the wookie.
Unable to center his feelings he feels only the hurricane that is the force around him. "I can't sence anyone down there, the force is troubled here." he states as he follows after Desh to attack the wookie.
,
Jerrn moves cautiously forward to H-14 and fires at #2!
Attack:
Damage:
"Gentlemen? Remember our friend from the dream we all shared? I think he might be lookin' for us. I got the heebie-jeebies somethin' fierce here."
Toggling a switch on the blaster, Six sets the pistol to stun, and fires another volley at the hallucinating wookiee. Instinct and training kick in, and the blueish plasma shots easily thread the space between Desh and Dax, and at the drugged furball beyond. "I really didn't need to hear that right now, Jedi. I really did not."
"Gentlemen? Remember our friend from the dream we all shared? I think he might be lookin' for us. I got the heebie-jeebies somethin' fierce here."
"Ah, hell!"
ROUND 1--
DAX OAN______________________________
Hearing Six's warning Dax takes a moment to cast his senses down the corridor to see if he can sense other lifeforms battling the wookie.
Unable to center his feelings he feels only the hurricane that is the force around him.
"I can't sense anyone down there, the force is troubled here." he states as he follows after Desh to attack the wookie.
His hand blurs again as he rapid strikes the Wookie, but it’s like striking a hairy treetrunk and he makes no impression.
DESH_________________________________
As the first man falls unconscious, Desh charges to engage the wookie.
Slamming his fist into the creature's thick skull for 12, he shouts "DROP THE REPEATER, WOOKIE!"
SIX___________________________________
Toggling a switch on the blaster, Six sets the pistol to stun, and fires another volley at the hallucinating wookiee. Instinct and training kick in, and the blueish plasma shots easily thread the space between Desh and Dax, and at the drugged furball beyond. He hits for 13 nonlethal.
"I really didn't need to hear that right now, Jedi. I really did not."
JERRN DARKLIGHTER_____________________
Jerrn moves cautiously forward and fires at the Twilek, but misses.
"Gentlemen? Remember our friend from the dream we all shared? I think he might be lookin' for us. I got the heebie-jeebies somethin' fierce here."
GANGERS_______________________________
Red-1 (Human): Runs toward the other side of the room, firing his blasters at Six.
Blaster 1 vs Six RefD21: Miss.
Blaster 2 vs Six RefD21: Miss.
Red-2 (Twilek): Startled, total defense rolls behind the center computer station.
Red-3 (Zabrak): Unconscious.
Red-4 (Wookie): Staggering and clearly a little woozy under the assault, the Wookie roars in pain and rage, then steps forward and turns around.
For a moment you note that he is using what looks like a couple of light repeating pulse-wave rifles welded together in an open bracket, a power cable leading up an arm to the generator on his back. Then the gun roars as well.
Autofire, braced, vs Dax Oan RefD20 vs Desh RefD20: Hit! for energy damage to both.
Red-1 (Human): 30
Red-2 (Twilek): 27
Red-3 (Zabrak): 0 nonlethal, unconscious.
Red-4 (Wookie): 11 nonlethal, condition -1