The Vathinor Crisis

[Barkoa]

BACKGROUND: The year is 3980BBY, a time long ago forgotten. This was a time where thousands of jedi continually travelled the galaxy, trying to keep it in order. There is little unification among systems in the galaxy, which makes it prime time for the sith. Vying for power, system rage relentless wars to gain territory and power, but amidst this turmoil the peaceful planet of Mouvia remains. It is home to one of the largest jedi academies at the current time and finds its responsiblity to try and maintain peace in the galaxy.

 

The blackness of space seemed endless, only to be broken by the glimmering spots of stars thousands of parsecs away. Barkoa's mind wandered. Having only just recently passed his jedi trials, he was anxious to get on with his first mission. His servant droid, M-35, walked up to him. Turning to face him, Barkoa tuned into the task at hand.

"Master, we are 30 minutes from our descent into Vathinor. I have uploaded the city maps into your comlink, and your lightsaber is finished charging." said M-35, and he handed Barkoa his double-bladed blue saber.

It had served him well over the years, and it had saved his life many times. He put in into its belt clip, closed his robes around him and walked to his room.

After a quick drink, he closed his eyes. A quick searched revealed his jedi companion, after all, the council would never approve of jedi going alone. Ah, there. Leaving his room he went to get the rest of his gear ready. This wasn't going to be easy, but Master Keema had taught him well. It was this reassurance that made him sure he could do this.

[Krytos]

IC: Lying on his back, Rantar stared up towards the heavens. The stars were perfectly visable in the night, only an orange glow broke through the clear sky. The sounds, that had been absent for some time, slowly came back. First the distant sound of a fire crackling. As the sound's grew, he heard a lady mumbling over to his left. The sounds continued to grow and so did the number of voices he heard, though now they weren't mumbles - they were screams of pain and terror. The horrible truth burst back into Rantar's mind as he remembered the bomb in the hover sled exploding.

Placing a trembling hand to the ground, he slowly lifted himself up right. Staring at his chest, he saw his Vathinor Security patch was torn, and a faint trickle of blood was coming out from the hole there. Looking around, Rantar could only see the destruction the blast caused. People lay on the streets, some moving - some not, lots of people were running down the street trying to see if they could help. Rantar quickly pulled out his comm-link and began talking.

"This is Lieutenant Rantar Fell," he caughed out as he spoke. "I'm at the corner of Portual St. and Racen St. There has been a bomb explosion, and I need medical assistance for wounded." A reply came back over the unit, though he didn't hear it. Rantar fell backwards as he noticed the blood coming from his head. As he fell unconscience, his was asking himself when will this end?. Flashing lights came next and the voice of an medical officer telling him that he'll be alright.

 

OOC: I've tried to set up the crisis on Vathinor to be a sort of rebellion on planet - though you can change it if you want. I guess from here, the Jedi can interview me (Rantar) about the explosion and I can join on their crusade to stop the termoil on planet

[Barkoa]

As the ship started its ascent into the world below, Captain Mirkon looked out of the large transparisteel cockpit window. The planet was a large, dark and cold planet. Much of its terrain features were obscured from the lack of light. As the vast city below them grew larger, evidence of smoke and flames became clear. Mirkon wasn't sure what he was getting himself into this time, but it was all part of his job.

Oh well, here we go for another one! he thought

[Krytos]

Rantar opened his eyes again, expecting to be surrounded by the white walls of a hospital - rather he was still lying on the ground where he was when the bomb exploded. Now, though, he had a medical patch on his chest to deal with the injurry and a bandage around his head. Propping himself up again, he couldn't help but feel déjà vu. This time though, he walked over to ambulance and gabbed a small medikit and headed off to help as much as he could. From what he could tell, there were to many injurred, and not enough to help.

 

***

 

"I'm fine, really. It's just a bump on the head and a bit of shrapnel," Rantar said to the attending nurse. After helping out at the bomb scene, he'd been taken back to the hospital for observation. Ever since then, he'd been trying to leave.

"Mr. Fell would you stop insisting to leave, you're under doctor's orders to stay the night for observations. Besides, you have vistitors."

As she finished speaking, a large male Twi'lek moved through the door. He always got glares - after all how many Security divisions for an entire planet were controlled by a Twi'lek?

"I'll make this short Fell, I've got a huge briefing in a moment with the governor. The peace keepers have arrived on planet as of 15 minutes ago. And two of them are waiting outside to speak to you."

As Rantar's CO finished, two cloaked figures walked through the door way of the room, one human - the other he couldn't tell from were he was. His Captain stood, nodded to Rantar and the two figures and left.

Struggling to raise himself now, due to the medication, Rantar spoke first. "So, what do you want to know?"

[Jess]

A tall blonde girl with blue eyes about the age of 16 was walking through a corridor on the ship with an ASN-121 hovering next to her shoulders. She was wearing loose clothing, a knee length jacket and tall black boots. Hiding inside her left boot was a dagger and strapped to her right boot a DDC Defender. Resting hidden on her right hips, held by a belt, was a high-tech E-11, and hidden in a pocket in her jacket was a DH-17. She was armed for battle even though she knew that it was unlikely. She carried these weapons with her everywhere just in case the people after her come out of no where to arrest her. Her eyes where alert and watchful but not threatening, they were full of courage and determination. They where shining with the concealed glow of mysterious knowledge. She was an expert marksman, computer hacker and mechanic. She walked down the corridor deep in thought…

 

She was woken from her thoughts when her ASN-121 said, “here he comes. Now is your chance.â€

[Barkoa]

Barkoa walked down the long hall. He sensed much activity going on around. The sound of the emergency vehicles still putting out the fires and searching for the wounded filled his ears. He cleared his mind. His partner was walking behind, but lacked so much focus.

A tall, blonde female approached him and offered her his services. As she said this, Barkoa's partner let out a small snicker. Barkoa percieved he was amused at a non-jedi offering their services to the jedi. Turning around, Barkoa rebuked him, and turning to the women smiled. She seemed nice and sincere, but Barkoa was wary not to get civilians too involved in matters that could endanger them, although she looked quite capable of handling herself.

"Well, Afton, my name is Barkoa, and this is my partner. We are jedi here on a diplomatic investigation, but also to find the causes of this outburst. If you would come with us, we are about to interview one of the surviving security officers who witnessed it all."

 

* * * * *

 

The four of them huddled in the poorly-lit room. Rantar was still on his bed, but he was now sitting up. They listened quietly to his story, during which the jedi had asked a few simple questions. Barkoa had now revealed himself. He is a Chiss, but he found people less inviting when a blue-skinned humanoid with large glowing red eyes comes walking up to you. He had used a simple jedi projection trick to hide his real form and had made himself appear human. He had sent his partner to go outside and investigate, but he hadn't returned for a while. The two then finished listening to all the officer had to say.

[Barkoa]

Captain Mirkon stood outside. The jedi had left him to man the ship while they did their business. He didn't mind it, they did it all the time, but he was getting bored. Wandering around, he noticed there was much rubble strewn around. Many of the nearby buildings had sustained very heavy damage, and much Carbon scoring was left from the intense explosion. A few small, persistent fires still burned, but they were of little importance.

Stepping into the ruins of a nearby building, Mirkon saw something he wasn't prepared for. When they had gotten the distress call, it had said something about a local uprising, some rebellion, some...something, but no-one had mentioned this.

This was something that he had only heard about as a child. It was a long-ago legend of the past, but it was definitely real. It was real because he was now seeing it with his very own eyes. IMPOSSIBLE! He'd seen pictures, but they had hardly done justice to this monster.

It was a Voirei. He could tell from its insect-like shape and its large talons. It was covered in its own gray blood and although slightly mutilated from the explosion, it was very recognisable. He had to tell Barkoa. The memories of all his history lessons came crashing down. They attacked in swarms by the millions, overpowering by sheer numbers, which was possible since they bred so quickly. They devoured all living things, and some non-living things, and were viciously brutal.

But why only one? A scout? Hurrying back towards where he came from he was met by Barkoa's partner...

[Tan]

Séreméla's lungs were burning, her chest tight with the effort of breathing as she raced down a narrow alley between buildings. Her dark, chocolate coloured hair swung erraticaly in it's high ponytail, strands sticking to her sweaty forehead. The low, evening suns of Vathinor blazed upon her back, chasing her through the streets until eventually she reached her goal - a small, dark doorway that led into a downtown bar of dubious repute.

 

Slowing to a more casual pace she pushed the door and entered quietly, still breathing heavily. Immediately her senses were assaulted by the heavy smell of alcohol and the sharp tang of smoke as the clients enjoyed a cocktail of neurotics and stimulants.

 

It took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the lack of light compared to outside, and when they did she saw Sledj standing behind the bar preparing an unsightly green concoction.

 

Grinning, she nodded to him then wove her way to the back of the bar, head held high, aware that she was attracting stares from most of the male customers - humanoid or otherwise.

 

Glancing around she found what she was looking for - a table in one of the darkest corners, barely lit by the overhanging, red ceiling lamps. At it was seated an ominous figure in a dark cloak, his face shadowed in anonimity.

 

Sliding into the chair opposite him, Séreméla pulled a holo-vid from a pocket in her black sleeveless top, pushing it across the table to her companion.

 

"Told you I could do it." She smirked, her voice low and tinged with satisaction. She reveled in the fact that most clients thought that being attractive and being a good mercenary were mutually exclusive. She loved proving them wrong.

 

The being didn't say anything, but he did slide a considerable pile of credi chips across the table in payment.

 

Séreméla picked them up and tucked them into a pocket just below the blaster holstered on her hip, savouring the thought of what she could buy with them. As the cloaked figure left she pulled a flat blue hexagon from another pocket, ordered a drink from a waiter droid and swallowed both in a matter of minutes.

 

Leaving the bar, she savoured the feeling of the drug. Her pupils, fully dialated, saw everything in minute detail. Her mind raced as her brain was pumped full of energy. This was the feeling she lived for, and if she couldn't get it through pure adrenaline, she settled for a simulation. Although that was her last pill, she could feel the reassuring bulge of credits in her pocket. This would mean another trip to Zane or one of his girls.

 

Picking up her pace, she jogged further along the street. She may have completed the mission she'd been paid for, but if she lingered there would be jedi to deal with and even as a munitions expert she didn't like her chances of dealing with jedi...

 

OOC: no such thing as a small entrance, hey?!

[Barkoa]

Mirkon sprinted to the jedi.

"The...there...there's..." he said panting, "there's Vorei here! I saw one!" The jedi turned in interest.

 

"Show me."

 

They jogged back to the place where Mirkon had found the insect-like body, but strangely enough, there was nothing there. No visible trace of anything, no blood, no body. The jedi turned skeptically to the captain, but when he saw that there was no intention, no lie in the captain's face, he decided to give him a chance. He had never really liked dealing with non-jedi. To him they were ignorant and weak. Barkoa had constantly tried to tell him otherwise, but in his mind this was yet to be proven.

 

"We must tell Barkoa. If what you say is true, then this planet could be in extreme danger, and so are we."

 

They hurried back to the building where Barkoa, Afton and Rantar were.

[Krytos]

Rantar sat upright in the medical ward bed. The Jedi Barkoa was talking quitely to the girl that had come into the room with him - from what he gethered her name was Afton, and the Jedi seemed to be setting ground rules for working with him.

Rantar really didn't care, right now he was trying to figure out who was behind the bomb blast and more importantly why it happened? Why was any of this uprising happening? Given, the Vathinor had never been very fair, though that was because this was a colony world and was still, relatively speaking, in its infancy and required its people to make sacrifces in comfort. All people living on the planet knew this, so why were there people rebelling . . .

His thoughts trailed off as another Jedi and what appeared to be a Republic captain ran into the room.

The new Jedi spoke first, "I think we have a problem - Captain Mirkon says that he saw a Vorei."

Rantar just stared at the Jedi. Vorei, I've heard that name before - but where? His head was sore, and his mind throbbing - trying to remember where he heard this name wasn't going to help.

"What's a Vorei?" He asked.

[Barkoa]

M-35 hovered around, making sure the ship was still in top condition. They had been having problems with the landing gear, so he had given them a checkover. He finished his routine check of the ship, before going into the cockpit to set the navcomputer back up after cleaning out some of the old drives. As he walked through the door, a small blue light started flickering. An incoming message. The signal was faint because of their distance from any decent planet. Pushing a button, he recieved the message via a small holoprojector on the console. Barkoa would need to hear this, and soon.

[Jess]

Afton was tagging along with the two Jedi for the moment. They stood in the hospital ward talking to a man that supposedly knew something about the blast. She listened intently but was interupted by the second Jedi ranning into the room. He said that a man by the name of Captain Mirkon had seen something called a Vorei.

What the heel is that,she thought turning to the other Jedi, she listened very carefully to him as he started to explain...

[Barkoa]

Barkoa breathed in deeply and let out a long sigh. His flowing brown robes were becoming rather hot and heavy on his shoulders. he slid his outer robe off, and folding over his arm, prepared to speak. The first order of business was to introduce everyone. He quickly ran over everyone's names and role in this situation so far.

 

"There are some things you're all going to need to know. I'll start with a brief history of the Vorei..."

[Barkoa]

The repulsor-lift on the hover-pad of M-35 wasn't working as well on this planet as well as it should. He scanned through his data on the system, and found that the more intense electro-magnetic fallout from the harsh Vathinorian suns was affecting his circuits. He transferred more power to his movement system, and following the signal from Barkoa's comlink, he approached the building they were in. The door opened, but before he could enter, a large, dark figure in the hall turned around. It seemed surprised at his entry, and quickly leapt on him. The last thing his audio sensors picked up was the sound of tearing metal and splintering circuitboards...

[Barkoa]

A loud noise interrupted Barkoa as he started to talk. Mirkon was the first one out of the door, closely followed by Barkoa. The sounds of blaster-fire and a lightsaber being activated followed. Although Barkoa was totally unprepared for what he saw, it didn't stop him from drawing his weapon. With a quick wave of his hand, he summoned his blade to his hand and activated it. The few Vorei that were in the hall lunged at them. With a few swift strokes and a few blaster bolts, the Vorei were in pieces. Afton had also joined the fray.

 

"We've got some trouble. We need to get out of here NOW!" he ordered the others. He didn't like taking too much control of everyone, but there was little time to think when danger was near, especially Vorei.

 

Mirkon ran back to the room to help Rantar up. They couldn't afford to have one of their only witnesses getting hurt or worse. The two jedi and Afton moved outside. A large Vorei jumped from a building behind them and pounced on the Barkoa. His partner, in reflex, tried to force-push it away. This made it turn and leap onto him quicker than he could react. Before the creature's large talons could sever his flesh, Barkoa's blade was impaled through its head.

 

The other two came out of the door cautiously, and all made their way back to the ship. Barkoa had to carry M-35's pieces. All boarded the ship, and Mirkon prepped it for flight. The hatchway closed with a hiss and a thud. Rantar was taken to a secure place to sit down, and the pieces of M-35 were placed on the main table.

"Mirkon, lets get going!" Barkoa called to the cockpit, then turning to Afton, he said, "You said you were a mechanic...do you think you could fix him?"

The ship started its ascent, and the dust of the city street whipped around in a small dustcloud. A minute later the spaceports were black with the view of open space, and Vathinor shrunk in the distance...

[Barkoa]

OOC: If you guy have concerns, complaints, ideas or anything else to say, just email me! If you could also email me and ask before joining if you read this first! Thanx!

[Jess]

Afton had sensed trouble but she didn't think much of it. She was busy listening to Barkoa. Suddenly the sound of metal being crushed and claws scraping on tiles could be heard coming from down the hall. It only took the Jedi's seconds before they where running down the hall towards the noise. Afton followed closely behind with her E-11 drawn and ready.

 

The sight that beheld her shocked her beyond realisation. She had never seen such a creature before, it was like a giant bug. She quickly regained her composer, trying not to show the Jedi's here fear, and started to fire at the beast. They had just killed that beast when more started to crash through the walls everywhere. Mirkon had ran back to get Rantar while the rest of them stayed to fight the beasts.

 

Once outside the hospital Afton saw more of the creatures coming. She waisted no time in fireing. She killed one then saw one coming over the roof of the hospital. She crouched then jumped onto the roof killing the creature with one blast to the head. When she looked down on the scene below, she saw Barkoa and the other guys running towards their ship. She saw Barkoa wave her to follow and jumped down from the roof which was five stories high. When she landed she conducted a commando roll and took of running after the rest of the group.

 

When she reached the ship and scrabled in she was asked by Barkoa to fix the droid.

"Sure, no worries," she answered and headed to another room with the parts in hand.

 

Once they had left the planet her ASN-121 flew over to her holding a drink in a claw that came from a hole in its underside.

"I thought you might need this after that jump," he said while she took the cup of cool liquid.

"Thanx," she said taking a long swig and then asking,"can you ask Barkoa if he has any spare parts. Some of these parts are beyond repair."

She watched as her ASN-121 flew back out of the room. Turning back to the job at hand she settled into it with no difficulty...

[Barkoa]

Mirkon sat back in his comfortable chair. He felt a lot better being in space, and not on the ground. He would be happy anywhere away from the hideous Vorei monsters. Closing his eyes, he leaned back to relax. The ship was now on autopilot. He had set it to take them out into deep space until they could decide what to do next. He glanced over the screens one more time. It was only then that he noticed the flashing button. After pushing it the holoscreen flashed into life, and a miniature form of Master Keema appeared on the dashboard.

 

"Urgent. Mouvian scouts have detected hostile ships two days from the homeworld. Any ships in the nearby area, or anyone that can get here quicker than that, we urge you to practise caution, but we request you return home. If another attack is to come, we may need more support."

 

Why hadn't they gotten this news earlier? Quickly setting the navcomputer's coordinates for home, he put the ship into full speed. He lived for space fights, and he hoped he'd be able to participate in this one. He'd have to tell the others, and soon.

 

"BARKOA," he yelled, "YOU MIGHT WANT TO SEE THIS..."

[Krytos]

IC: Rantar swollowed the pill in his hand and the pain that engulfed his body began to ease. Until now, he hadn't realised how much pain he was in - the medical ward must have had him on some pretty strong medication.

 

He was now in the Jedi's ship, flying away from his new planet when it needed him most. Anger towards the Jedi began building up, why did they take him along with them? Shaking his head, he cleared his mind - no, they saved my life. Those creatures would have killed me if they were't there, if I had stayed . . . Ranter stopepd thinking about it, what was done was done. When they stop, he would get the Jedi to drop him back off at the cammand centre.

Rantar began walking towards the main hold on the ship, were the Jedi were. He stumbled along the halls, his legs weren't working right because of the medication. Suddenly the ship jolted as it jumped to hyperspace.

"What!" Rantar yelled. They were leaving his planet! The two jedi ran past him to the cockpit, and Rantar followed as fast as he could.

When he got there, he could see that the captain had already breifed the Jedi. "What's going on?"

Barkoa, calmly, responded. "We recieved a distress call, and we can't ignor it. We're on our way there now."

Rantar now getting annoyed continued probing. "Where are you taking us?"

[Barkoa]

Barkoa could sense the anger in Rantar far before he even got close to the cockpit. He could understand his annoyance, but more important things were going on. It wasn't that he didn't care, but, well, sometimes things just happen. He called everyone to the bridge who wasn't there, which was really just Afton. She had done a lot for poor M-35, but he wasn't finished yet.

 

When everyone was there, he started. "Everyone, we have just had a major distress call from our homeworld. If haste wasn't so dire, we would drop you off where we could, but its a bit late for that. I must explain some things, then we can answer any other questions or concerns you have. We are headed for Mouvia. It is a large, green planet that was settled by the Mouvians over 500 years ago. I may warn you now that unless the homeworld is under attack, the only non-Mouvians that can set foot there are jedi. You will, however be able to stay on one of the two moons that orbit it.

 

"When Mouvia was very young, some 50 years old, a relentless force, the Vorei emerged and attacked. They breed very quickly, so their numbers were very hard to deal with. The Mouvians nearly came to complete extinction after years of war devastated their planet. It was only through the discovery that the Vorei were excited by the force that they could be defeated. Many jedi that could be found were gathered in one spot, so the intense force concentration attracted them all. Then, those jedi gave their lives and released all of their force energy at once, incinerating everything for miles. Releasing their energy drain their life force, but also overloaded the Vorei, destroying them all, or so we thought. They are celebrated every five years at our Mouvian Games as heroes.

 

"To hear that the Vorei are not ALL dead is ill news, especially since we know of no other way to easily kill them- they just breed too fast. They are a species that's only goal is to kill and destroy everything in their path. They move to one planet, devastate everything and move on, but with greater numbers. The puzzle I can't figure out is that they don't use explosives. Their prescence doesn't explain the bomb, and those few only seemed like scouts. I will keep you all informed on what I find in the future.

 

"I advise you all get some rest and sit tight. After we deal with the emergency on our own planet, we will gladly transport you to wherever you want." The look on the faces of Afton, Rantar and Mirkon (who didn't know all of that!) looked blank. It was a lot of information all at once, so Barkoa let the silence be for a few minutes if they had anything to say.

[Krytos]

Rantar listened to every word the jedi spoke. He listened carfeully, and hated himself for being so angry. The facts slowly settled in his mind, and what he needed to do was obvious. These Vorei were not only a menace to the planet Mouvian, though to the rest of the galaxy. And if scouts were at his planet, they needed to be stopepd before the attack came.

"If these things threaten my planet, my PEOPLE, then I'm going to help destroy them. I'm no Jedi, though that hasn't stopped me before." Checking everyone's face, to make sure there were not objections, he continued. "And, I'm not about to stay on a space ship while you Jedi go have all the fun. If these creatures are as bad as you say, you're going to need help, and I'm going to give it whether you like it or not."

He could see his comments hit the nerve of one of the two Jedi. Not Barkoa though, his face was as plain as ever - it was almost as if nothing had happened.

Rantar sat down and waited for the Jedi's verdict.

[Tan]

Back on Vathinor, Séreméla watched the star-like glow of ion engines in the night sky as spacecraft departed from her small world.

 

The hallucogenic effect of the new pills she'd aquired from Zane made the sky shimmer with a thousand rainbows, and she could almost swear she heard distant music. Grinning drunkenly, she played with the catch on her hip; holstering and unholstering her blaster, preparing for action.

 

Leaning against a wall outside in the twilight, she watched the many creatures shuffling back to their pathetic houses, and she wondered if any of them would be a future mark. She enjoyed assassination - it paid well and delivered an adrenaline rush like no other job.

 

Anyone that didn't know Séreméla would call her heartless, icy, but she never let anyone get close enough to determine wether or not this was true.

 

Pushing herself off the wall she began the walk to the spaceport, acutely aware of the muscles in her legs ready to spring into action at any moment. Her dialated pupils allowed more light to enter her retina and provide greater visual accuity in the low light of the ever darkening streets.

 

Hands in her pockets, she fingered the remaining credi chips, knowing there would be more soon. She had impressed the anonymous employer with her success that morning, and he had since been in contact again to engage her services.

 

While the bomb had been well and good, he said, someone had escaped in the company of two jedi. He was the mark, and Séreméla had never failed a mission yet. Not when there were credits on the line...

[UlicHorn]

OCC: Ok I'll just change my side once you guys need me. Edited August 12, 2004 by UlicHorn

[Tan]

OOC: i have a feeling two jedi would have managed to sense a life form aboard their ship, but you can work with it or change it or something... what do you reckon Barkoa?

[UlicHorn]

OCC: Weeellll. I'm not one for technicalities, so if anyone would like to *cough* make something up...like maybe they were two busy to notice? hmmm?