Race for San Korinar: Fiction Updates

Xanos

11-04-2014 13:04:05

YCHT Violator, Corporate Wing Spaceport station,
San Korinar, Amphor, Orian System


The Violator began its descent as the ship flew over the spaceport. The spaceport was huge and its construction was complete that connected to the Public core easily enough. On board the pilot hit some buttons and turned around to say, “We've reached the station in the corporate wing sir.” A figure obscured in the shadow of the light looked up and nodded. The ship landed on the giant platform and personnel scurried around taking care of their chores.

The dark figure rose and walked towards the entrance as the ramp came down. Krath Epis and Aedile Locke Sonije descended off the ramp onto the platform. He was dressed in his business suit, black dress pants, a white shirt, a black dress jacket, and a tie. Although he wore a different face to everyone that saw him, thanks to his Assassin abilities. An illusion of a man who may at one point resembled Locke, to a snide businesslike man. In his right hand was a thick brown cane, housing his lightsaber. The Dark Jedi was here on official Black Guard business. Although this would be his last mission from his Consul Mailk Sadow, it was deemed very important that it deserved his attention.

Communication has become non-existent with the city and it was beginning to take notice by Malik. So he sent Locke to Amphor to check out things. It seems there were similar situations happening on most of the Orian system and Sadow controlled land.

Locke was here unannounced as he would be here to only see what was going on with the city. The day breeze brushed past his face as the Epis strode forward towards the Corporate Wing.

Public Core, San Korinar

The Aedile walked amongst the general populace expecting to see Dlarit police manning the streets, but instead he saw other militant forces present within the entire city. This piqued his interest and he sought information of who was behind the sudden takeover in security. Locke had contact within the city that was supposed to be meeting him at off the grid location.

The nature of the information could not be told over any of the connection’s less it be intercepted on whatever channel they use. It was very busy but Locke was very familiar with the city and its inhabitants in his time as Consul of Naga Sadow. So he had no trouble finding his contact within the sector meeting him discreetly.

His contact led him away from the busiest parts of the corporate sector down towards the Public Core. There weren’t as many eyes in these parts as there were in the corporate wing. They entered a building which had been used to exchange secret information before. There was no one else there which was how Locke wanted it. “What has happened here Nalel?” Locke asked the contact when they entered a room with only a table in it. He was of the human race tall and lanky, born and raised in the underworld, But highly resourceful at being a rat. There were always rats in the underworld, you just had to have the right cheese to draw them out.

“The Dlarit dissidents have taken over San Korinar. And they have also hired some high-profile military goons to do most of the protection here. That's why you don’t see the Dlarit police around here anymore. They’ve been concentrated on the dissidents more secret projects. Also they are on the lookout for your real face as well as some other people from your group.”

“So the city has been under a coup d'état. That means that San Korinar is just ripe for the picking,” the Epis calculated with an sinister intent on his smile.

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing that concerns you,” Locke said as he pulled out a holo-pad and started to make a call.

The Gilded Archipelago, Aeotheran, Orian System

The Beast Incarnate stared out at the view of the many islands that made up the The Gilded Archipelago. His office was a desire of many after Mirado stepped down, and not only because of the view. But the view of all that he controlled in front of him. A call interrupted his self-glory moment as the newly appointed Quaestor of Shar Dakhan. He walked over from the window to his holo-communicator and answered it.

“Locke here.”

“Ah Locke. How goes your endeavors?”

“Fairly well it seems. I have news that may be of interest to you. Before Teu and Kalon finds out, I have learned that San Korinar is now under the control of the old Dlarit corporation. The dissidents have openly challenged us it seems. Even having lookouts for my actual face.”

“So you are saying we should attack San Korinar before Teu descends upon the place herself. This could be a chance to gain the ground we need over her. Consul Malik and Darth Vexatus would be pleased with San Korinar back in our grasp,” Shirai Ryu answered back.

“I can ready the battleteams and some troops here on your orders. I will provide some reconnaissance here myself that way we can save time.”

“Go ahead and contact Alexander and Izanami. I’ll send you the troops you need there. This can’t get to Teu or she’ll be problematic.”

“Understood. I’ll report back to you when a plan is organized.”

“Shirai out,” the Quaestor ended the call. The Sith Battlemaster was a strategist in battle affairs. He was confident that they would be able to reclaim San Korinar. But his influence over the city would be bested by efforts from Teu’s backing behind Marka Ragnos. In his rise to power, San Korinar would be a good step. He would do whatever it took to get it.

Xanos

11-04-2014 13:04:41

Executive Offices, North Tower
Alabrek Citadel, Kar Alabrek
Tarthos, Orian System


Teu's eyes glared coldly out the floor to ceiling windows of her office, the room having once been used by Consuls and Quaestors of Naga Sadow in the days that had led to their resurrection. Now though, the city felt almost heartless as the Disciples of Ragnos had secluded themselves within the Citadel. A small sigh passed her lips as she recalled their reclamation of the city and that of Markosian a few weeks ago. They had lost so much in Orian as they fought throughout Sith Space in the Dark Council's Crusade, so much they had once controlled with an iron fist.

Now though, they had elected for a more subtle approach. Dlarit was dead and other shells would take its place. It seemed almost ironic in a sense; she couldn't help the slight smirk that crept across her face. Her thoughts were interrupted though by another figure entering the office, the younger man moving towards the front of her desk with military precision before speaking, "You summoned me, Quaestor?"

A puzzled look crossed Teu's face as she turned to look at her Aedile, Kalon's stance calm as he waited for her to speak, "Summoned you? I was told you requested an audience with me."

Now the look of confusion was shared between the Ragnosian leaders, neither had requested a meeting with the other and yet they had both received an official request from the other. Teu's eyebrows furrowed for a moment in thought before Kalon spoke up, "I was certain it was from you, the message was fully authenticated."

"Who..." Teu trailed off before another voice rose up from her right side, a figure appearing from what she had believed was a solid wall.

"I made the call."

The Clan's Rollmaster slipped into the room with a subtle limp, his cybernetic leg having taken its share of punishment for the Brotherhood during this struggle. Kalon immediately stepped between the pair of Sadowans, knowing full well that his Quaestor's safety was paramount. A gentle nudge in the Force was enough of a signal from Teu to give Kalon the signal he needed to relax, "You know how to make an entrance, my apprentice."

A coy smile crossed the Miraluka's face as he responded, sitting in one of the more luxerious armchairs in the room, "It does help when I helped with the designs."

"So why did you call us?" Kalon's voice chimed in, the Aedile's arms folding across his chest as he spoke.

"To the point, I like it. It seems that we have another Sith who believes himself to be a fitting heir to Shar Dakhan's title, another great General of Sadow. Shirai seeks to move his Battleteams against a threat on San Korinar."

Teu took a seat at her desk, leaning back slightly in the chair and crossing her arms in thought, "Another threat against San Korinar? Why have I not heard of this from Malik?"

That thought alone prompted a bit of a frown from the Miraluka as his sightless eyes looked out the massive windows, although it was beyond them what he was actually looking at, "Of that, I am not sure. I had delivered the information to him and he had sent Locke to confirm what my agents had found. My agents tell me that they have intercepted a transmission from San Korinar disclosing Locke's findings to his Quaestor instead, I will have to confirm this at a later time."

Kalon seemed to tense for a moment as Teu seemed to straighten up in her chair, her voice a little low, "And how does he intend to do that without the aid of the Clan?"

Her statement was enough to prompt another smirk from the Jedi, "He has already mobilized some of Sadow's military resources for this mission and the full force of his Battleteams is en route as we speak. I believe he's made the first moves towards claiming the title of Consul's Own."

The phrase had been enough, and Teu fell for her former apprentice's goading. The declaration of Consul's Own may show favouritism, but typically it was not a declaration to be made without merit. Those who held the accolade were someone whom the Consul could count upon above all else, and if Shar Dakhan were to claim the Consul's favour...

"Kalon, mobilize the Battleteams and tell their leaders I wanted them there yesterday. I'll organize a military response as quickly as possible, I suspect that won't be a problem?"

Kalon gave his simple, "No ma'am," as he left the chamber to complete her tasks, but the statement had been more for Methyas that anyone, to which the Jedi responded almost matter of factly, "None at all."

"Good," she stated flatly before turning her attention to the terminal at her desk and preparing the requisitions and orders for the soldiers who would aid Ragnos in their cause.

Rising to his feet, Methyas neatly flattened the front of his robes before starting back towards his hidden entryway, "I will send you the information you require and what I receive from San Korinar."

The woman simply nodded before she waved him away, focused on her work, her fingers typing out the request to her Battleteam Leaders, "Whoever can claim San Korinar first, earns the favour of the Quaestor."

Xanos

11-04-2014 14:05:35

Consul's Office, New Sadow Palace
Sepros, Orian System


"And you are certain that Teu is mobilizing her forces against me?" Shirai's voice came across the encrypted channel quizzingly. The Battlemaster's tone was guarded, though he had suspected that she would discover his actions soon enough, he had only wished he had more time.

"I am certain, Shirai. My agents tell me that she has learned of your plans from remnants of SHADOW. I believe she's seeking to garner the Consul's favour, that she'll be able to secure Marka Ragnos as Consul's Own," came Methyas' serene voice.

Even without seeing the Sith, the Rollmaster knew that the man had tensed at the phrase, just as Teu had. Without another second wasted, Shirai responded flatly, the malice dripping from his words, "We'll see about that. Keep me apprised of the situation, Rollmaster."

With that, the channel closed and Methyas turned slightly to face the Neti in the office with him, "Ask, and you shall receive, my Consul."

A small smile crossed Malik's face as he leaned back within his chair, as Naga Sadow's Houses scrambled to earn the Consul's favour, they would harden themselves and bring out the qualities the Clan needed in the coming months. War was coming whether they liked it or not and Malik wanted to ensure that, when the bloody carnage was over, Naga Sadow would be the one to stand victorious.

Prefect’s Citadel
The Sky City
Amphor


A tremor shook through the city in the clouds.

One of the larger beldon, the enormous, gas-filled creatures that drifted through the purple skies of the gas giant, had burst open when a gas mining barge strayed too near. The beldon had erupted like a balloon pumped too full of air, and the barge itself had been incinerated into a black cloud of ash instantaneously, but that was the sorry fate that befell greedy mining teams who ventured too close to collect the precious tibanna gas the beldon’s excreted.

This was the third loss this week.

Inside the towering sky scraper, which had once been called the Prefect’s Citadel, until the collapse of the Dlarit Corporation, the man who some called the city’s current leader hissed as a medical droid removed a long needle from deep underneath his rib cage.

The procedure—which he had done each day at sunrise—was incredibly painful, feeling like someone was driving a knife blade right up into his heart, but the steroid injections kept him alert, and allowed him to work all thirty-six hours a day on the unwelcoming world Amphor without needing to sleep. Indeed, Krenth doubted he had slept once in the past three months.

“Lesai injection procedure complete,” the droid said in its tinny voice.

Lesai was the name of a mould that grew on the back of a certain species of lizard on the planet Zebitrope in the Centrality region. Usually, addicts just rubbed it onto their throats, where it left a distinctive purplish stain, but the cocktail Krenth had been supplied with was much more potent, and was injected straight into the blood stream.

But he had been made for this. Quite literally.

One of the last survivors of the long since discredited cloning project that the former Dlarit Corporation had experimented in many years before, Krenth was every part a machine that had been built for one thing and one thing only: war. So when he and his brothers had been told that they were no longer wanted, was anyone truly surprised when so many of the clones had deserted—before they could be disposed of like any other ‘product’ no longer wanted.

In front of him, when his mind had had time to recover from the initial high of the stimulant, his eyes refocused on the mottled hologram of the alien that had provided him with it—and with a purpose. The small green creature, hailing from the same species as the legendary Jedi Master Yoda, was looking back at Krenth like a scientist studying his prize experiment.

Perhaps that’s all Krenth was to the alien, whose name he still did not know, only ‘Zero’.

“Successful, direct lesai injections are,” Zero croaked in that species’ unorthodox grammar.

About that, Krenth could not disagree. Not needing to sleep gave him more time to condition his body into a machine of war. And that, in the end, was why he was here. For many years, this ‘Zero’ and his associates had repeatedly taken advantage of the remote location of the Sky City to infiltrate it, under one front or another, in order to smuggle tibanna gas out of the Orian System for whatever purpose—Krenth did not know, nor had he asked, he didn’t care. The contacts he had in Black Sun, who had helped him take over the city from the fledgling government that had been trying to put things back together again, had not cared either.

There was little that could be done about it.

With how volatile Amphor’s atmosphere was, how prone the unstable tibanna gas was to sudden combustion like the gas mining barge a few minutes earlier, it was impossible to keep the Sky City completely quarantined, or prevent hostile elements infiltrating it. And Krenth was no fool. He knew his own occupation of the gas mining platform would not last forever, and that the dark forces who he had once bowed down to were probably already in motion, which was precisely why he had issued orders to redouble the pace. They lost more mining crews more frequently, yes, but there were always more people willing to take their place…