Rapora Wars: The Yaathkree Afair (Subplot RPG)

[Stellar_Magic]

Councilor Valar stepped through the barren cooridors of the Raporan Replicator Resurrected Life, the newest command ship of the Raporan Imperium and the home to it's leader, the Timeless One.

 

Councilor Valar was a Rapora with speckaled red brown skin and the therapod frame of his species. He wore the ceremonical red brown robe of the Raporan Chief Council. At his side was the spiral emblem of the Raporan faith, the Resurrection cycle, and at his belt was an ornate lightsaber.

 

Despite his fierce appearance Revak Valar was not a warrior, instead he was the head of the Raporan Diplomatic core, a little used but powerful entity within the Rapora Imperium.

 

The door of the throne room slid open and Valar stepped inside with his head bowed in subservience. Instead of completely kneeling as a Sith or Warrior, Valar knelt onto both knees while keeping an upright posture signifying his elevation and power from his post.

 

The Timeless One smiled as he stood from his thrown, "It is good of you to have come on such short notice Councilor."

 

"I live to serve you my lord, and hasten to your will," Valar answered respectfully, "How may I serve you?"

 

"In my meditations I've discovered a most disturbing thing, the enemy is attempting to court the Vaathkree into joining their side." The Timeless One smiled slightly at Valar, "The enemy has made a intelligent choice, they could be formidable foes to the Aklasp." The Timeless One smiled, "They would make equally powerful allies."

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: I will use this first post to tell how the Empire's been after Bastion. Just some background I've been wanting to write, but I had no chance in the main RP thread. (Some foreshadowing to a subplot Stellar and I had discussed a while back).

 

Commodore Arien Yage felt uncomfortable. It had been a sentiment present since the transmission with Grand Admiral Oreton ended. A more profound analysis of her worries might have suggested that her discomfort could be traced to earlier events. To the begin of her mission, to Oreton taking over as Supreme Commander.

 

Perhaps, that was the source of all it, she decided as a lieutenant brought her an updated report on materiel on the Right to Rule. The Empire may have not yet recovered from Pellaeon's loss, and the circumstances thereof did not ease the situation. Pellaeon had not died, instead he had fallen into a severe comma. And medical officers did not count on him waking up, his last words and efforts had been directed at giving Oreton the title of Supreme Commander of the Galactic Empire. Or it's remnants, Arien accepted. There was nothing new to the story of Oreton's promotion in the shadow of the fall of Bastion.

 

Oreton was more than competent. Intelligent, disciplined she knew that he had been considered the great Imperial promise during the confrontation with the Yuuzhan Vong. She knew too, and there lay the problem, that he was young. At thirty-nine Oreton was older than her for a few years, but he was eons younger than the members of the Moff Council. He had never exerted much political power, and unlike other older commanders his links to a glorious Imperial past were few. Pellaeon's comma had severed one of them. Oreton counted with full support from the Council, but the first sign of dissent were there.

 

The main arguements of his opponents was that Oreton did not care about the inner workings of his Empire. He is away, out beyond Imperial Territor. He has reassigned ships to guard the Imperial worlds, to protect their secret colonies, but has not spent any time at all in Imperial territory after his promotion. He only want intact supply bases, his opponent whispered.

 

And now Arien was taking some of the defensive forces into a mission to Vaathkree. She had seen Vana Dorja take some of the best ground forces to Ord Mantell. One planet that had nothing to do with the Empire, but the Empire was there, Oreton had answered to orders.

 

No one should give the Supreme Commander orders, the opponents repated. And their opinions spread through some of the cadres of the Empire with a great resonance in the military.

 

The younger officers, that had come to fill up the command roles in the aftermath of the Vong war supported Oreton, the older ones who would have preferred an old-timer ahead of the Empire disagreed with Oreton. Isolation should have been the top priority after Bastion fell. It would have been Pellaeon's priority. Not even the confirmation of Thrawn's resurgence changed their minds. Thrawn came back with his own faction, he cares not for the Empire either. Why should the Empire care for him?

 

That was the reason for her discomfort. She had been Oreton's liasion to the Imperial worlds. He had given her a secondary mission at the time, now that secondary mission required her to overrule the first one. Now she must embark on a trip to Vaathkree, and a mission that can take weeks. Weeks, who could now what could happen to the fragil political stability of the Empire in those weeks, with Oreton focused so intensely in the Ord Mantell campaign, and Vana Dorja reported dead. What could happen? Secretly, Arien hoped for Vana to live, to be here. Vana's history made her a more amicable figure for the older commanders, Oreton's trust in her had made her a popular figure in the younger generations of the Navy. But she was gone, gone forever.

 

Vaathkree, she reminded herself. The objective. She had read the summary of the species, she expected fierce negotiations. The Vaathkree religion focused on "the deal". She had heard tales of Vaathkree bargains for war materiel, or for some mercenary services. If she was tehre to negotiate their incorporation into the Empire and their incorporation of their people in their ranks, she would have to use every bit of wit to strike a deal with them.

 

"Are we ready for hyperspace?" Arien asked.

 

"Yes, the fleet is awaiting your orders."

 

Arien looked out of the viewport at the provisional capital world of the Empire. "It's only a few weeks. Nothing will happen," she comforted herself.

 

"Enter hyperspace."

 

Right to Rule, Charging Knight and Silent Death entered hyperspace. Her discomfort did not fade in hyperspace, quite the opposite with every parsec her worries augmented.

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: Yep, there's that subplot, lurking in the background You've also just met the biggest Raporan player in that subplot.

 

IC: The Savla class Cruiser Ammending Cycle dropped out of hyperspace, its weapons completely powered down, its engines pulling more power then usual, a feat unheard of on a Raporan vessel, but this being Councilor Valar's personal ship it made sense. The Savla was a diplomatic vessel, its weapons only meant for defense. To this end they'd been downgraded from the warship specs and equipped with a new power redistribution package, allowing power to be divereted away from weapons and into the engine assembly. To a warrior this would have been an obscenity, to Valar it was a necessity.

 

"Councilor, the system seems to be clear of possibly hostile contacts." The fleet Captain of the ship, Luvar Krask said quietly as Councilor Valar stepped onto the bridge.

 

"Good," Valar smiled broadly as the enormous sulfar covered moon of the Vaathkree homeworld rose into view. He nodded to the sensor operator, "Begin a scan for Vaathkree vessels."

 

"Yes sir."

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Is it just me or these seems a Stellar vs. Trej thread?... Where's everyone else? BS, you said you played the Vaathkree in a RPG years ago, don't you want to be our Vaathkree planetary leader?

 

IC:

 

Lietenant Essinat'veg had been at her side for a decade, and it did not take him long to realize that she was not comfortable. Having reviewed by himself all the procedures for their departure, he knew that she was not annoyed by the crew, but by the mission.

 

Essinat'veg, or simply at'Veg, had been given a short briefing on the mission. A diplomatic mission to an alien world was nothing new to Arien Yage, at'Veg decided. After all, he had been with her when they went into the Unknown Regions. Their year-long experience there required the crew of the Widowmaker (many of which now served in Right to Rule) to become diplomats. Arien's development in that area had led to a subsequent series of missions after the war, then she had succeeded in expanding the Empire's borders as many worlds chose to join the Empire instead of the Galactic Federartion. Arien had learnt the Jedi way of dealing with aliens, then the Chiss way, naturally the Imperial way, and her own un-orthodox way of dealing with aliens in the Unknown Regions for nine months.

 

As the hyperspace counter still had almost an hour to count down, Essinat'veg decided to approach her.

 

The Arkanian came directly at her, and Arien suppressed a smile. The slightly-more-arrogant-than-normal pace of the Arkanian confirmed her suspicions. He would want to discuss the briefing and find out the reason of her discomfort. She knew him well, and trusted him. She looked at him and went to her private command room. Without saying a word the Arkanian understood and mute followed her into the small private room.

 

"You want the unofficial briefing," she stated and started a holographic presentation. "The Vaathkree are a silica-based lifeform hailing from a volcanic planet of the same name. Their lifecycle is over four times longer than the human standard. During their lifes they develop a natural armor made out of solid stone. Blaster fire does not harm them, they can resist extremely high temperatures and even survive shortly in vacuum. On Ord Mantell the Rapora were reinforced by an alien creature, of similar characteristics. Oreton wants to have allies to counter those creatures, thus we are here."

 

For another hour Yage gave her Arkanian officer the details of the mission, before they return to the bridge. The counter reached zero and the shapes hyperspace, once again were reduced to planets, moons, asteroids and Rapora!? A Savla class Cruiser was visible in orbit around the planet.

 

"Signal to all ships, prepare for battle."

 

"Commodore," at'Vek reported in confusion. "The Cruiser is minimally armed, it seems it's a consular ship."

 

Arien Yage frowned. The Rapora had somehow learnt of Oreton plan, she carefully considered her choices. Attacking the Rapora could bring a diplomatic cataclysm, especially if three Imperial Star Destroyers attacked a minimally armed consular vessel. From what she read about the Vaathkree, it would be a sacrilege to their religion. An alliance or a compromise had to be resolved through dealing, not through warfare.

 

"Remain in formation and launch two squads of Interceptor as an escort for our ships. Then open a channel to the planet. at'Vek find the Vaathkree defense fleet."

 

"Already did, Commodore. They are just in front of us." Arien looked out of the viewport and saw nothing but the planet and its moons, and the asteroids. Then she recalled what kind of alien species the Vaathkree were.

 

"The asteroids?" The asteroids were a formation of drop-shaped rocky vessels. Several protusion revealed themselves as cannons of sorts and some other as turbolasers, and their rear finally revealed the much familiar glowing engines. A most innovative fusion of common technology and their own culture.

 

"A most incredible feat of engineering, they have hyperspace, plasma weapons, turbolasers and shields. Heat signatures are very high. They are maneuvering their fleet in between both vessels.

 

Arien supressed a whistle as she ordered to open a channel to the Vaathkree and explain the situation. I am here, and I have a mission to complete She thought for herself as she watched the Savla vanish beyond the planetary horizon. Whatever it takes

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: ive been around, just been getting ready for this. I actually found my old char sheets for my Vathkree, so I think I will use him. As for planetary leader, why not? he probably conned his way into the job anyways.

 

IC: Esklesh eV'Rthoguh sat at his desk, staring at the two holograms in front of him. One showed the Reporan Consular ship, which had arrived before the the vessels in the other hologram. Those vessels, and trio of Imperial Star Destroyers, had arrived nto more than an hour ago. Both sides had sought to send landing ships, and both sides had been denied access to the planets surface. He didnt want to show favor towards any one side just yet. The Deal stated that if you had two chances to make a good deal, do not faovr one over the other, but consider them equal, until one proves to be worth more. And considering his faith in The Deal had gotten him to his current position of the leader of his people, he had no reason to ignore it now.

 

He continued to stare at the holograms both, and weighed his current options. he could call one down before the other, but that would make the other fell that his enemy was being treated with more respect then he. But at the same time, he couldnt call them both down at once, he did not want a battle to be fought on, or around, this world. His military forces were well trained, but they were no match for the Imperials, and the Repora would massacre them, at the very least. So before he could even begin to make a deal with either side, he had to figure out a way to get them not to kill each other while they were both on the planet. So before the Deal copuld be initiated, a Deal had to be made. Oddly enough, he found it to be fitting.

 

He leaned back in his chair, and thought about how exactly he could get the first step accomplished, and at the same time get the better end of the deal at the same time. The answer came to him quickly enough. He turned to his intercom, and tapped it lightly.

 

"Ta'leth, please prepare living quarters for a group of reporan diplomats at the palace. But before you do that, go to the Academy, and have the General bring his entire supply of force-dampening feilds there. I dont want the Repora to have the force aid them in The Deal." he said, and his aide mumbled somethign through the intercom. Eskleth frowned at that, like he always did. But, part of being the ruler was having to live with Ta'leth. It had been, so far, the worst part of the best deal he had ever made.

 

He wondered to himself for a moment where exactly her predessecor had gotten the force-dampening feilds, but he decided now was not the time to worry about it. He knew they worked, they had tested them on several jedi in years past, with excellent results. And by having them installed, he would even the playing feild between the Repora and the Imperials for now. But he wanted to have an advantage over them both. Andhe knew exactly how to do it. he tapped a seperate button on his desk, and spoke briskly into the intercomm.

 

"Sev, we will be allowing both the imperials and the Repora to have diplomats on planet. They will be staying at the palace. Prepare their rooms, will you?" he asked, and the man at the other end of the intercomm chuckled.

 

"Usual package?" he asked, adn Esklesh smiled.

 

"Of course. Our most sensitve listening devices inside, and outside the rooms. And sensors to pick up wall vibrations. I want to know exactly what they are saying inside those rooms." he said, and he heard the intercom close off at the other end. Esleth leaned back in his chair, and smiled. He fully expected both the imperials and the Repora to find the listening devices that his people owuld plant in and around the rooms. But he doubted that they would also expect the walls themselves to be listening. It was by far the best of his recent aqquisitions. The sosnors would pick up the most sensitive of wall vibrations, and from those, they could discern what exactly was being said from within the rooms.

 

He then started to tap out a short message to send to both vessels, telling each side exactly who could come down to the planet. One diplomat, three escorts each. No more, no less. And if either side had difficulty accepting that, then this would be the easiest deal ever.

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: Considering all the stuff about 'the Deal' I'm reminded of Mara's comment about Bargainers from Vision of the Future?

 

Councilor Valar smiled coldly as the transmission from the planet arrived, "Just as expected, though perhaps a little heavy on the number of guards, Lieutenant Calra?"

 

"Councilor?" The female Rapora warrior answered turning to the ambassador. Her gender being defined by the smaller killing claw at the center of her foot and lighter build. She had a brilliant black and white stripe running from the tip of her snout to the edge of her tail seperating the rust brown color of her upper body from the greyish tone of her underside.

 

"I need three guards, you shall be one of them, inform the captain that I'll need two of the Kar'Vanel'kar droids as the other guards."

 

The Lieutnenant blinked her golden eyes, "Why not two warriors Councilor?"

 

Councilor Valar smiled, "Using droids will make us seem less threatening, both to the Vaathkree and to the enemy." Councilor Valar continued with a brilliant smile at the lieutenant, "I've read your record Calra Nordur, you are the best warrior in the fleet according to your test scores, and if you had stronger force abilities you certainly would be a member of the Personal guard under Captain Clawdar or perhaps you may have even become a sith."

 

Calra bowed her head to her chest, the Raporan version of a blush, "Please councilor, do not flatter me."

 

"I merely speak the truth Cakra, you are as old as I am, and have advanced from the lowliest of privates to the personal guardian of a councilor. You have risen quickly, just as I have, we are not so different Calra, I may be your superior in command, but in skills you are my equal."

 

"Thank you my lord."

 

Valar stood and glanced sideways at her, "Do remember though that these Vaathkree will not be easily convinced, I trust you know that to them there are no rules of fair play, except the deal." Valar clasped her shoulder, "Do not become overzealous or overprotective in your duty, remember the objective."

[Trejiuvanat]

The Vathkree communiqué had arrived, and an answer had already been given. Lieutenant at'Veg followed the Commodore through some of the laberynthine halls of the Star Destroyer.

 

"I trust you have kept up with your defense training," Arien commented.

 

"I have been training every now and then with Lieutenant Kor's regiment," at'Vek answered. Originally a stormtrooper upon leaving the Academy at Prefsbelt IV, the little adventure in the Unknown Regions had revealed the Intelligence of the Arkanian to be misplaced. A quick shift to the naval forces and a subsequent promotion had finally given him the cherished post among Widowmaker's and now Right to Rule's officers.

 

"Fit to impersonate a stormtrooper?" Arien insisted.

 

"Yes Commodore. Who will be the other escorts, if I may ask?"

 

"Colonel Nerba and one of his men," Arien answered.

 

"Commandos?" The Arkanian wondered.

 

"I need more flexible minds than the ones from stormtroopers, we will face subterfuge not only from our rivals as from our hosts. Should the Rapora make a more tempting offer, the Vaathkree might decide to simplify the choice by eliminating one of the contenders. Plus, the sight of Imperial stormtroopers in diplomatic negotiations has given us a bad image." Arien commented from her own experience. Stormtroopers would not bring more worlds into the Empire. The days of Lord Vader were long gone. Fear could not be the main motivation for their allies, the Empire had to reveal a more humane side. "You will still were Stormtrooper armor, no helmet though."

 

She entered her personal chamber. Under the doorway she turned at him. "Do not bring white armor, one of the specials. Cortosis grey might be a great choice." at'Veg nodded.

 

***

 

The shuttle started it's descent towards the given coordinates. The Commodore in her regal dress uniform, seemed distraught. The two commandos rechecked their multiple weapons and their light armor. Visible and invisible comlinks, assorted equipment and a light helmet was all they carried.

 

at'Veg reviewed some reports in a datapad. He could not do so on the planet, there he had to play his role as a stiff, obedient stormtrooper. A nonhuman stormtrooper, as his obviously Arkanian face revealed.

 

Ahead of them the Palace of Vaathkree grew.

[Stellar_Magic]

The Raporan Savla class Cruiser Ammending Cycle had one major problem with it Councilor Valar realized as the ship slid into the atmosphere of the Vaathkree homeworld, it didn't have any transports onboard, it had been meant to be the transport in of itself, not the carrier of a transport. There were four fighters in the hold and not a single transport.

 

Nodding to himself as the Vaathkree palace grew in the bridge viewports, round one was going to the GFFA, simply because there ships couldn't enter the atmosphere. As it was the Ammending Cycle was being flanked by a trio of Yaathkree ships and a glance at the sensor board revealed that they had their weapons powered and targeted on the ship. From the nervous look of the captain it was also clear that he was worried about what a barrage from them would do.

 

Valar smiled as he felt the fear radiating from most of the crew, like most Rapora the idea of walking into a situation with a gun at their heas was repulsive, to him it had just become business.

 

Slowly, much more slowly then was the norm for a Savla, the ship touched down on the landing pad as the three vessels stopped overhead and swiveled to keep their weapons on the now stationary vessel. With a hiss the forward hatch irised open and a purple carpeted ramp slid out.

 

With a sigh Valar turned to Lieutenant Calra and the two droids, "Lets go."

 

As Valar, Calra, and the droids descended the ramp, directly across from them the GFFA envoy was descending their own Lambda class shuttle. Between them was the Vaathkree Planetary Leader, waiting for them.

 

As the group stepped off the ramp, it slid back up and the hatch closed before lifting off for orbit, where the Raporan Consular ship would remain, for now.

[Trejiuvanat]

Already on board the Lambda Shuttle, had the pilot noted that the Rapora were landing their cruiser. Arien found that unusual, and began to form ideas how to use that most effectively in their talks. Instead of communicating back to orbit, and give some last-second orders she had the Colonel and his aide take some scans of the cruiser as soon as they landed.

 

Across the landing bay Arien spotted the Rapora delegation leaving their ship. A venerable-looking Rapora (if it could be applied to the creature) a warrior and two droids. The hatch closed and the Vaathkree fighters manuvered over the landing area, waiting for the cruiser to depart.

 

Slowly the cruiser began to hover away, it had been on the ground only for a handful of minutes, Yage wondered if it had been enough for the Colonel. Shaking those thoughts away, Arien began to near the Vaathkree planetary leader. The Imperial group advanced in a diamond formation, with Arien ahead wearing a cordial but distant smile. The Colonel and his assistant in the black uniform of a Naval trooper and at'Vek in his helmet-less grey Stormtrooper suit.

 

Arien chose some words to greet the leader, but decided against it, waiting for the Vaathkree to address her first.

[BadSamaritan]

Esklesh looked two both of the diplomatic parties as they began to approach him. He was disturbed at the fact that the Repora had brought droid gaurds with them. He had expected live gaurds. This would complicate matters somewhat. he would need to outfit the palace troops with different weapons now, in case things got ugly. But he hoped it wouldnt come to that. As they both appraoched, he raised his arms in greeting.

 

"Welcome to our world. I will dispence with the un-pleasentries right now, and get them over with. Diplomat Arien of the Empire, meet diplomat Valar of the Reporan Imperium. Diplomat Valar, meet diplomat Arien, of the empire." Esklash said, and surprisingly enough, Valar nodded to Arian, a gesture ofrespect that he hadnt expected. Arien was caught off gaurd by ths, but smoothly recovered, bowing slightly. Esklesh waited for them to look bak to him, and he clasped his hands behind him.

 

"Now, we all know why you are here. You both are currently at war with one another. You both want my people as allies, for varius reasons. By having you here, I am accepting the risk of putting not only my people, but my world in the warpath of one fleet or another. But hopefully, by the end of all of this, I will have made a deal that will help one side, anger the other side, and keep my world in one piece." he said, and he waited to see the reactions of both the parties. He noted that the Reporan was slightly confused by his impromtu speach, while the Human had kept a striaght face. Something to be remembered. He turned around, and motioned them to follow him.

 

As they walked towards the palace, he pointed out several prominent landmarks that were visible, explaining each one. It was simple filler to void out the dead silence, but he still disliked having to do it. But soon enough, they reached the palace. They entered the massive doors to the main hall, and Esklesh turned to see the astounded looks on the faces of boththe diplomatic parties. In front of them in the grand hall stood hundreds of vathkree soldiers, all wearing thier full battle gear. Each one of them held a massive blaster rifle.

 

As the diplomats entered, the entire regiment snapped to attention, and the sound of hundreeds o shuffling feet swelled through teh echoing main chamber. Esklesh turned to the diplomats, and smiled.

 

"As you can see, our troops are well trained, and well equipped. And this is just one of many regiments stationed just in the capitol city. And this is what you both will be trying to get on your side. But for now, you will be accompanied to your rooms by my gaurds. i want you to rest for now. Food will be delivered whenever you like. Just ask. I will call one you all tommorrow." he said, and he turned to walk away from them. As he did, his comlink beeped at him. He picked it out of his pocket, and activated it.

 

"The feilds are ready, president. Just say the word, and they will be activated." came a tinny voice. Esklesh nodded in approvement.

 

"Wait until both parties are in thier rooms. Then, activate them. What is the overall range?" he asked, and a chuckle came back to him.

 

"The entire palace shall be covered. No force user will be able to feel the force, let alone use it. And if I am wrong, Ill throw myself off the top of the palace." the voice said, and Esklesh laughed.

 

"No need for that. Just make sure that feild stays on at all times. I want this deal to be made fair and square." he said, and he deactivated the comlink. He then headed to his chambers, and prepared for what was going to be the most fatefull deal in his people history.

[Stellar_Magic]

Councilor Valar stepped into the room alloted for their mission and crossed his arms in front of him and waited, out of the corner of his eye he watched Lieutenant Calra sweep the room with a portable scanner. He half smiled as he watched, he knew the Vaathkree had bugged the room, and undoubtably some of those same bugs would be placed well enough as to not be detected, but the Vaathkree would be suspicious if they didn't try and find the bugs. In addition Valar knew something that Calra did not, the Vaathkree possessed force inhibiting technology, and now Valar was merely waiting for them to use it.

 

Then suddenly, Valar knew they did. Calra stopped and glanced to the councilor, her eyes flicking about as if waiting for some unforseen foe to appear, "Councilor..."

 

"I know, the Vaathkree just activated one of their force interferring shields. They feel that to allow us to use the force would be an insult to the deal and force us to use a level playing field."

 

Lieutenant Calra hissed slightly, "Just how fair will they be?"

 

"From here on out, expect nothing of the sort," Valra said smiling slightly.

[Trejiuvanat]

Arien knew exactly what to expect from their quarters in the Palace. As soon as they set foot in them, the Colonel had dropped the equipment cases. The loud thud meant to annoy the ones who might be listening through supersenstitive equipment. In less than five minutes, the Colonel and his assistant had already spotted three of the more obvious devices. Yage paid no heed to them, she had instructed the colonel not to remove them. For every one they coudl actually find, there would be many more the could not.

 

at'Veg had already began to reorganize the furniture in the room, in the event of a fight in their room. The massive stone furniture caused him a bit trouble, but the exercise felt good. It distracted him from the thought that kept possessing his mind.

 

After a few hours in which the silent room mates completed particular procedures that had been fixed earlier, and occasionally commenting lightly on their impressions, Arien signaled with her left thumb to the door. The Colonel dismissed the sign. Only the Arkanian would go with her, evidently she had noticed at'Veg's turmoil.

 

They took a walk outside. The gray-armored soldier clutched his weapon, it was the hallmark of a stormtrooper, no matter the time that he had now served as a naval officer, he still held the weapon with the same strength he had done almost a decade ago.

 

The gray halls of the palace led them to a balcony wtih a spectacular view of the landscape. Off in the distance a large volcanic cone let some of it magma fly into the air. Natural fireworks. Below the balcony the rocky surface of the planet opened into large caves adorned only by light vegetation.

 

"What did you notice in the reception?"

 

"It might be simply unimportant, Commodore. But I cannot get it out of my head."

 

"Speak." She said, even the slightest detail was useful.

 

"The Rapora, they once spoke to each other in their language. Not more than a few phrases. But I recognized some words."

 

"A language you have heard before?" She asked and his nod answered the question. "Did you here it out there? In the Unknown?"

 

"No, Commodore. And that is what troubles me, their tongue is closely related to old Arkanian."

 

"Old Arkanian?" Arien asked. This was somethingshe had not expected.

 

"It was once called the language of the Lords. The Lords of the Sith." at'Veg said sharply. The memory of the Sith had cause much prejudice against Arkanian within the Galactic Republic and the New Republic, the Empire's apparent indifference to the Force had been more welcome, which is why at'Veg had decided to join the Remnant and not the GFFA.

 

"Once upon a time, the Sith Lords ruled on Arkania. the strong and fierce became their assassin, the wise developed science for them, the rest were enslaved. The Lords who came from another planet brought their own tongue. The slaves and their seervants were forced to learn it, as no lord would ever speak slave tongue. The lords then were defeated, but the tongue remained. With the milennia it fusioned with slave tongue and formed modern Arkanian, but the words of the language of Lords can still be understood."

 

"So you are suggesting, that the Rapora are related to the Sith Lords. That their relation to them suceeds the sith supremacy over Arkania, Iridonia and other worlds?"

 

"Or predates it," at'Veg noted.

 

"An intriguing find, it might be useful in the long run. It might be soemthing that Oreton might find interesting. Those bits of trivia is all he needs to be put on the right track."

 

at'Veg nodded, the Rapora-Sith connection even if it might be a linguistical coincidence was worth noting to the Grand Admiral. At least getting his suspicions out relaxed him. Or as relaxed as a man with stormtrooper training can get.

 

The comlink clicked in the Commodore's pocket. The Vaathkree were calling.

[Stellar_Magic]

Councilor Valar ywaned, his jaws gapping in the room and licked his lips, the air was dry here much drier then most worlds even desolate Tatooine... He thought to himself, of course the Vaathkree were silicon life forms, water as far as Valar knew, could be poisonous to them.

 

Valar frowned slightly as he tried to get comfortable on the stone furniture, like most furniture it was designed for a roughly humanoid form and this had always created a problem for him. He always found difficulty in becoming truly comfortable. Across from him Calra swirled around a decanter of water on the table, her harden shoulder blades flexing like a cats as her eagle like eyes defocused on the drink, "How long?"

 

"Any time now," Valar answered sighing, he stood and walked over to the table and turned one of its chairs sideways before sitting, "You seem ill at ease with the situation."

 

Calra seemed to grimace before a slight smile slid over her mouth, "What is there to be at ease about?" She snorted slightly, "We're sitting down the hall from a bunch of Imperials that certainly would be willing to kill us if they had the chance, with just some droids to protect us."

 

Valar smiled slightly, "I have the utmost respect in your abilities." At that moment his commlink beeped, "Well it seems our hosts are calling."

[BadSamaritan]

Eklesh sighed, and pondered what how he should go about this deal. If he wasnt carefull, he would end up getting his planet leveled. Not to metnion his people destroyed. And he hated having that hanging over his head. But it was somethign he had to deal with. He turned to one of his advisors, and smiled.

 

"So tell me, what have our esteemed guests been doing so far? Anything interesting?" he asked, and his advisor shook his head.

 

"No, your excellence. The repora seem uncomfterable somewhat with the force no longer at their disposal, but the imperials dont seem to have noticed. Or they are very good at hiding it. And most of theri talk has been idle chatter. But the Reporan diplomat doesn't seem to think you will be fair in this deal." he said, and Eklesh laughed softly. It was obvious he wasnt going to be fair. he wanted the best deal possible, so being fair was already out of the question.

 

"Well, then it seems that the Repora already have an important part figured out. Dont expect me to be fair. Which i wont be, of course. Im going to do my best to see that this wrold makes it out on top of this mess." he said, and his advisors all nodded their heads in agreement.

 

"Well then, lets get the deal making started. Call both the imperials and the Reporans to the table, and see what they have to offer. I want to see if we can get them to out-bid one another before they even know what I am willing to offer them. And then, we can go from there." he said, and he rose up from the table. His advisors did the same, and they all began to walk from the room. As they did so, Eshleks commlink beeped at him. He frowned, and picked it up. he put it t his ear, and spoke.

 

"Yes?" he said, and a harsh voice came back over the commlink.

 

"Your excellency, we have received a communication from an unknown source. They say they are willing to make a deal to secure our nuetrality in this conflict." the voice said, and Eshleck frowned. He wasnt aware of the fact that there was a third party involved in the war. Especially one interested in nuetrailty. Perhaps someone that thought they would come out on top, by staying out of it? An interesting prospect indeed.

 

"Contact them, and say that I am willing to hear them out. But the rules of the deal are plain in this matter. Once the deal has begun, nothing may stop it." he said, and he put his comlink back in his pocket. This was turning out to be a very interesting day, to say the very least. SO he decided to make it even better.

 

"Prepare a feast for our first meeting, I dont want to bargain on an empty stomach!" he said, and his advisors laughed. They all knew the one thing he liked as much as a good deal, was a good feast. And both at the same time, made his a very happy person indeed.

 

OOC: Who could this third party be? Will the Repora and the Empire both fail in their attempts to succure a much needed ally or tha war? And most importantly, whats for dinner?

[Stellar_Magic]

Coucnilor Valar smiled when he heard the news, "Interesting." He tossed the datapad on the table as the Vaathkree stepped inside the chamber, "Especially considering that was precisely what my first offer would have been, their neutrality in exchange for some trivial piece of technology."

 

"Neutrality?" Calra asked raising her eyebrow slightly as she spoke, "I thought..."

 

"Neutrality is just one step away from war, Calra, tempt them enough and they'd jump for it." Valar smiled slightly before leaning forward onto the table and glancing at the prepared feast that was lain before them, "For cilicate creatures they are quite good cooks it seems."

 

Hissing softly Valar leaned back and glanced across the table to the Imperial delegation and smiled, "Arkanian, something on your mind?"

 

The Arkanian frowned and glanced to the leader of the delegation, "Sir..."

 

Valar smiled before clearing his throat and spoke again this time in Rapora, "You know what I'm saying... Your ancestors knew, do you?"

 

Before the Arkanian could answer the door to the room slid open and Valar turned and felt his muscles contract as a massive creature stepped inside. As it entered Valar felt the temperature of the room increase, "By the Timeless One."

 

It was an Aklasp, an elder one from the look of it and Valar felt his eyes narrow, "Councilor Chorack why are you here?"

 

The Aklasp smiled before answering, his glowing eyes flicking over to the imperials, "Doing what I always due Valar. I'm insuring the survival of my race."

 

OOC: Ha! There's your new group, take that imperial scum!

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Threepio voice: "Oh my, I was not fast enough!"

 

IC: I'll post later.

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: i was wondering who you would use as the thrid party in this. But just remember, a deal is a deal. And The Deal, cannot be altered.

 

IC: Eklesh sat in his chair, and wondered what the other delegates would make of his new guest. The reporan delegates did not look happy to see him at all, and the imperials looked like they were about to either run in fear, or pull out weapons to start fighting. Neither of which were proper manners during a dinner feast. After a few moments of thinking, he decided it was time to interject. He stood from his chair, and turned to a door which led into the dining room. He moved to his seat, and sat down.

 

"Well then, Now that everyone is here, let me just say that this is the best feast i have seen in quite some time. But since our Aklasp delegate has arrived, I do believe it is time to get onto business. And that is whos sie my people will be fighting on." he said, and everyone around the table nodded. he reached ino the food that had been set out for himself, and began to nibble on some of it. He turned to Councilor Valar, and nodded.

 

"I am sure that you are all aware of why my people are of such great importance to this war. We are a direct threat to the Aklasp, due to our similar nature of being silicon based. Now, the GFFA, or more correctly, the Imperials, want us to help fight the Aklasp. The Repora want us to help fight the GFFA, and help them keep an advantage in ground battles. And the Aklasp would rather not see us on the battlefeild whatsoever, it would seem." he said, and all the delegates nodded in agreement. Eklesh knew that today would be one of the only days they would all agree on anything. For now, at least.

 

"Your excellency, our forces have already shown that the GFFA is no match for us. We have handed them several defeats, most of them costing them vital worlds. Their forces have proven themselves to be no match for our firepower, and they have proven that they are in no condition to continue such a brutal war." Valar stated, and Eklesh smiled.

 

"While this may be true, you were handed a defeat at Kuat, even though your forces were vastly superior to the ones you faced. And since then, the GFFA forces have proven that they are more than capable of adapting to your technology. I think that soon, you may find that you will be facing GFFA technology that is capable of going toe to toe with your own." Eklesh said, and Valar stared at him for a moment, then seemed to hiss out a sigh.

 

"What you said is very true, Excellency. We are working around the clock to come up with technology to take on the Repora, and our forces are learning quickly how to counter their forces with what we have now. Im certain that soon, we will be able to take on their fleets and troops with equally powerfull weapons, taking away the one edge the repora have had over us so far." Arien said, and Eklesh smiled.

 

"So what you are saying, is that your technology is inferior to theirs then? Alright, then I will not eccept any offers of technology from the empire in exchange for our services in the war. Unless you can prove That I am mistaken?" he said, and Arien simply stared back at him, a dumbfounded look on her face. Eklesh knew that Arien could not do that, so she had placed herself in a rather bad bargaining position. Valar smiled, also knowing this. Ekslesh saw him smile, and then turned to him.

 

"As for your people, Councilor, I will not accept promises of military might for our support. While you were able to readily defeat your enemies early on, it is proving to much more difficult then it was before. And you have no way of proving that you will be able to continue defeating them with ease, if at all." he said, and Valar seemed to sink into his chair, if it were possible.

 

"But, Chancellor Chorak has offered something that intrigues me. While Valar referred to is as 'trivial technology', I find that it may be of some use to my people. Especially here on our own home planet. And, if my intelligence serves me right, the Aklasp have proven themselves to be quite capable of defeating GFFA forces, considering how they handled themselves at the beginning of the battle for Ord Mantell." he said, and Chorak bowed his head slightly.

 

"Thank you for your kind words, your excellency." Chorak states simply, and Eklesh smiled.

 

"Think nothing of it. I am quite happy to hand out praise when it is due." he said, and he sighed, having eatin his fill of the food at the table. He looked about for a moment, and then smiled.

 

"Well, that was a wonderfull meal. But i am going to need some time to digest it, and look over you offers again, and see what you are offering my people in exchange for our loyalty in the war. And I think some of you may want to reconsider your diplomatic strategies." he said, and he stood up from his chair. Noddign to all of them, he turned from the table, and walked out of the room. Chorak looked to Valar, then Arien, and then walked out of the room.

 

Arien watched them both leave, and then turned to Valar, a curios look on her face.

 

"Councilor, may I ask you something? Diplomat to diplomat?" she asked, and after a few moments, Valar nodded cautiously.

 

"Have you ever had the feeling that every diplomatic fiber in your being was no match for the unpredictable logic of a trader?" she asked, and Valar could only nod.

 

"Yes, I have. But only once. And I fully intent on not letting president Eklesh do it again." he said, and Valar then rose from his chair, and stalked out of the room. Arein watched him go, and then turned to her aides.

 

"Well, I think we have our work cut out for us. Eklesh has just taken the most basic rules of diplomacy, and thrown them out the window. We need to re-think our strategy." she said, and they all nodded. Then they to got up, and walked from the room. After all the partied had left, servants appeared to clan up what was left of the various food pruducts. As they worked, they began to idly chat with one another.

 

"I have 15 credits that say President Eklesh owns the Reporan homeworld by the time this is over." one of them said, and another servant macthed his bet. Not to be outdone, another servant tossed 30 credits onto the table and smiled.

 

"I say he owns the Reporan homeworld, and an Imperial fleet." he said, and after a while, the servants were discussing the odds of the Vathkree winning the war through the Deal before they had even entered it.

 

OOC: I am not going to make this very easy on anyone. You guys had better start thinking hard, because the first person to run out of ideas, loses.

[Stellar_Magic]

Councilor Valar paced in his room, his claw fingering his lip, "A piece of 'trivial' technology..." Frowning he turned to Calra, "Have you gotten access to the data library onboard the Ammending Cycle?"

 

"Yes, what exactly am I looking for?"

 

Valar smiled as he stopped and glanced at the stone furniture, "What technologies do the Vaathkree lack." He stopped thinking back through their entire stay as a thought struck him, "Stone..." Frowning again he wandered over to the table top and rapped at it, "Of course!" Valar turned, "Run a search for high energy chemistry, compare our list with known alloys used by the Aklasp."

 

"I don't see where this is going..." Calra answered as she tapped at the keyboard.

 

"Think Calra, the Vaathkree use asteroids as space craft, stone tableware, and have you seen how weathered the keypads of their devices look after just a few moments use." Valar dropped down in front of Calra, "The Aklasp have none of these problems."

 

Suddenly Calra stopped as the implications sank in, "You're saying they lack the basic technology to build metallic equipment that can withstand their use."

 

"Exactly, the Aklasp have developed a way to maintain the integritty of their vessels and equipment despite the intense heat they give off, which is significantly more then our hosts... And because they are on our ships as often as they are..."

 

Calra smiled as her communications equipment pinged and began to download, "They shared it with us."

 

Valar grinned at her as the droids in the suite stood somberly starring out into space, "And I know just how to sweeten the deal."

[Trejiuvanat]

Straight-faced at'Veg joined Arien for their night walk through the Palace corridors. The first two walks had helped at'Veg spot some places that were not under strong surveillance, opposed to their private quarters.

 

"Your outburst in the dining table was not a healthy thing for our negotiations," at'Veg mentioned. Looking at river of lava flowing in the distance.

 

"It was not, I admit that the arrival of the," she waited looking for the right name for the species, "Aklasp surprised me."

 

"It was unexpected, but I do not think it was regrettable," the Arakanian commented.

 

"Nor do I," Arien agreed. "It was very revealing. The Aklasp are not the underdogs of the Rapora, they have their won autnomy, their own diplomatic interests. a more humane interest in their species."

 

"Arien?"

 

"They are not here for the view, thye are here because they know the Vaathkree are arguiably the only species that can present a real threat to them. They have a political agenda of their own, and as of know their priority is to secure their own survival outisde the battlefield. They do not seem to be interested in the war for the same reasons as the Rapora."

 

There was another phrase that Arien dared not even murmur, but at'Veg knew it was there. The hope that the Aklasp could be swayed from the Rapora's side.

 

"Their presence also took the Rapora by surprise. They definitely did not welcome their intromission," at'Veg finished.

 

They kept another few minutes in silence.

 

"Have you reconsidered your approach to the Vaathkree?"

 

"Not wholly. The Deal, for all its sacredness is not different from a Bargainer's code. Eklesh wants all three parties to offer the bbest they have, but he will also laugh iin the face of a party that makes him an useless offer."

 

"What do we have to offer?"

 

"Let us go to the Balcony," Arien ordered, the Balcony was a more exposed location. More Vaathkree dignitaries would waste their idle time watching their planet from a beautiful stone terrace. Only a minister o lower members from the planetary government were present at the time Arien and her nonhuman stormtrooper entered.

 

"Their technology is very advanced, moreso than they are letting us know," Arien said lightly.

 

At'Veg gave her a questioning look. We have seen of this world only what we were needed to. We saw some of their asteroid ships in orbit, and a regiment of their soldiers when we landed. We are here in their palace, but we have not seen their people. The population of the planet, which is carefully hidden underground.

 

"Eklesh wants us to especulate what he needs. From an old treaty between the Galactic Republic and the Vaathkree homeworld, I know that was included in their first exchange program, and what the Republic offered for a full membership. Then Vaathkree withdrew just before the Clone Wars, in the high wave of Separatism. Either way, the Vaathkree had access to all of the Galactic Republic's technology long before the Empire was born. "

 

"They were allied with the confederates?"

 

"To some extent," Arien said. "Deatils on that, as everything related to the Clone Wars are sketchy. Whatever the Confederacy paid, it was most likely obsolete when the New Republic and the Vaathkree signed their membership."

 

"What could the New Republic offer?"

 

"Military protection, commercial exchange, and most of the usual stuff."

 

"Nothing extraordinary."

 

"One thing," Arien said. "I almost overlooked it. A Jedi was involved in the bargaining process, there must have been some additional bargaining with that one."

 

"Who was the Jedi?"

 

"One of Skywalker's best. 'Suncrusher' Durron." Arien said," I believe whatever he did here, was the reason behind their Force-dampening field."

 

"There is one in place?" at'Veg asked and Arien serious look confirmed him. "Back to the mission, what will you offer the Vaathkree?"

 

"We have already made it obvious that we cannot match technologic offer, and military ones are not likely. But I do what we could still offer them. Information."

 

"Information on what?"

 

"That," Arien looked as grim as the landscape behind her, "is the question, is it not?"

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: Thanks for the idea Trej. I'll see who I can dig up for this next one.

 

Luke Skywalker felt the weight that had been with him since blasting off Zonoma Sekot begin to ease, maybe it was Mara's company, or maybe it was Ben's presence. Or maybe it was the horrifying things he was learning, the Rapora had a new weapon in their arsenal, one that may be able to defeat the New Republic single handedly, one which the New Republic knew absolutely nothing about. Except that they were silicate creatures and therefore the military and basic technology of warfare was all but useless against them.

 

So here he was, being sent to make a deal with the one other form of silicate life known to the New Republic with a request of help. In front of him on the main computer screen was the report filed by Kyp Durron on his mission to the Vaathkree, and Luke knew that his mission just had gotten harder starring at the words, "Why am I still cleaning up after him over ten years later?"

 

"Because you didn't slap him down way back when," Mara answered from her seat as she glanced back at Ben, "Strap in, we're twenty seconds out."

 

Luke looked up at the blue tunnel of hyperspace and pulled his belt tight around his chest and leaned back as Artoo twittered from his mount between the seats. Then with a flash the tunnel turned into starlines then individual stars around a dark world sheathed in the brilliant light of a red giant star, "By the force."

 

Even Mara sat in wonder at the sight of Vaathkree serenely orbiting the star, "Wow, its allot like Sullust or Ryloth."

 

Luke nodded, it was a lot like those worlds, but worse it was fruther to its star then Ryloth was but it was constantly rotating, and just as volcanic as Sullust, without the deep caverns and tunnels that helped those that lived their survive. Vaathkree was a demon world.

 

Ben leaned back in his seat and tapped his screen, "Mom, multiple contacts, I've got several Imperial ships, one Kar Lur cruiser, and several unknown contacts."

 

Mara leaned over her displays, "Twelve of the unknowns are a match to known Vaathkree designs, the other one..." Luke frowned as the image came up, at first it looked like an anatomical display of kracken until Luke read the marked points on the ship. Mara tightened her fist, "It's one of the Raporan allies, those 'firewalker' things."

 

Suddenly the comm screen crackled, "Jade Scimitar you have entered Vaathkree space, please state your mission, passengers, and any cargo."

 

Luke leaned forward and frowned, "This is Luke Skywalker of the New Republic transport Jade Scimitar on a diplomatic mission to the ruler of Vaathkree. My passengers include my wife, son, and droid. We have no cargo which we wish to declare."

 

"Very well, are we to assume your purpose is to form an alliance against the Rapora as well?"

 

"You may."

 

"Then I welcome you to the deal as another bargainer for the friendship of our people," The comm answered before closing.

 

Luke glanced over at Mara, "So how'd I sound?"

[Trejiuvanat]

OOC: Let's see what we can do to keep this one alive.

 

IC:

 

"I do not understand why you keep repeating that," Threepio snapped back at Artoo. "What is so bad about a volcanic planet? They are energy-efficient, and the Vaakthree are not bad people either, and Master Luke already knew of the," he lowered the volume of his voice "Rapora and the Aklasp were here."

 

Artoo's answer came back in a staccato as he moved ahead in the curved corridor.

 

"What do you mean by past tragedies on volcanic planets? The heat is probably frying your circuits, you walking trashcontainer."

 

The little astromech stopped in the middle of the corridor as he recognized a human ahead. His dome swiveled back to Threepio and reported a happy chirp and rolled ahead.

 

"You know her?"

 

The human lady dressed in he standard Imperial uniform smiled as she recognized the little astromech droid. "Hello small one," she said. "I guess the Skywalkers finally found out about Vaathkree."

 

The droid beeped an affirmative and Threepio caught up with her.

 

"Well hello, I am C-3P0, human - cyborg relations and this, who you already know is Artoo-Det-"

 

"Arien Yage," she said interrupting him. "Can you take me to Luke and Mara?"

 

"They have just landed and probably are in their personal quarters. I guessed that at this late hour everyone was sleeping, and thus they weren't introduced to the other diplomatic parties."

 

Arien nodded mutely. It was indeed rather late, the sun had set about six hours ago and most of the activity in the Palace was greatly reduced. In the past few days Arien had grown accustomed to these nightwalks, during which she would consider the day's events, and discuss them with at'Veg.

 

As the Arkanian moved closer to the woman, Threepio's photoreceptors focused on him. "Oh, an Arkanian," the droid noted to himself. "What a wonderful opportunity for my protocol skills."

 

"Ateles'nev gutaraks," Threepio said in fluent perfectly toned Arkanian. The stormtroopers smiled at the droid and answered the protocolary response.

 

Arien noted, a slight change in her officer. And she knew what the Arkanian was thinking. In the shadow of his revelations about the remarkable similarities between the Old Arkanian and Rapora language, having a protocol droid would help him advance that front of research.

 

"Well it is very late, even for us," Arien said. "Though I would advise you too to return to the Skywalker's quarters or to your ship."

 

"That was what I was telling the droid, madame," Threepio sounded tired. "But he insisted in having a look around. Come Artoo I hope this meeting satisifed your curiosity."

 

"Threepio," Arien said extending her hand to stop Threepio. "Tell Master Skywalker to meet me at the northern balcony of the Diplomat's Wing when the sun rises."

 

"Well of course, good night." The droid answered and left with his short companion.

 

"Meeting the Jedi?" at'Veg asked.

 

"The Skywalker's late night arrival definitely prevented us from a proper diplomatic introductions and our hosts definitely wanted their presence here not to be noticed until tomorrow. I want to meet him before any diplomatic meeting begins, and fill him in the situation and learn why or how the knew of this place and of Durron's involvement."

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: Begining CPR...

 

IC:

Luke felt deaf and blind in the simple quarters that his family had been given. He frowned at the almost sickly look on Ben's face as he clambered into bed, "Mara, do you know if Karrde ever shipped some yslamiri to the Vaathkree?"

 

"No, if he did it would have been after I left the organization," Mara answered as the door to the chamber opened.

 

The whir of Artoo's wheels was followed by C-3PO's prissy voice, "Master Skywalker, we met the Imperial emessary, she wants to speak to you at dawn."

 

"Great," Mara hissed as she glanced at the chrono, "Thats just four hours from now."

 

"She seemed to think it was urgent," Threepio answered.

 

Luke sighed, "Well we cannot disappoint her then."

 

* * *

 

Councilor Valar walked along the hallways overlooking the Vaathkree homeworld, "Very much like the Aklasp home isn't it Calra?"

 

"Yes, its been a long time since I saw that world, it was hotter then this one though," Calra sighed, "The Vaathkree may be Silicate creatures but they lack most of the advantages that the Aklasp have in their Anatomy, so why would they make such powerful allies for our foes."

 

"You are thinking from the perspective of us Calra, if you are a Silicate lifeform you would have developed technologies to effectively kill other forms of silicate life forms early in your development, it is these technologies that make them dangerous, not perhaps to us as much as to our friends the Aklasp."

[BadSamaritan]

OOC: YAY!! I can post today!

 

IC: Eklesh sat in his quarters, and carefully read the reports that were laid out in front of him. With the arrival of the skywalkers, almost every major government involved in the war had a representative here. He was beginning to wonder what was taking the Chiss and UDA so long in sending people. But he heoped thay wouldnt. So many parties would make the deal much more difficult than it already was. To many parties getting involved would only cause more problems.

 

Asd Eklesh sat there, his intercomm chimes at him twice, announcing the arrival of his security captain. He sighed, and wondered what was going wrong now. They were already having problems with the force dampening feild, its energy consumption was enourmous. But he refused to lower it, considering the damage that fool Durron had caused a decade ago. He trusted the skywalkers notto be proplematic, itwas the Repora he was worried about. He knew just enough about them to know they were about as trust worthy as his people were.

 

"Come in." he said, and he nodded as his captain of security entered the room. He still found it strangeto have a human running his security, but he was the best money could by.

 

"President, I will keep this quick. Here are the latest recordings from all of the conversations that the delegates have had. But those can wait. This is far more important." he said, and he slippeda small datapad to Eklesh. Eklesh took the pad,and read the breif report. The look on his face went from one of boredom to one of concern.

 

"Are you certain this is correct? Not some fluke? you know that sensor has caused us problems in the past." He asked cautiously, but his security advisor shook his head.

 

"No, I ran several diagnostics myself. The readings are correct. It entered the range of our sensors several hours ago, and has held steady at those coordinates since." he said, and the president slowly nodded.

 

"So they want us to know they are there then. Any idea as to who they are?" he asked, but the captian simply shook his head.

 

"Unfortunetly, no. The gravitronic sensors can give us general massof the vessel, but since it is cloaked, we cant really tell who it is. But I can say one thing for certain, it is not from any of the governments that already have people here. Doingsomethinglike this would violate the deal." he said, and Eklesh nodded.

 

"Very true. Which leaves what, the UDA or the chiss?" he asked, and the captain nodded.

 

"Basically. But since the chiss are scattered along with their military, I doubt they would waste such a valuable vessel on something like spying on a diplomatic mission. So more than likely it is the UDA." he said, and Eklesh nodded. But Eklesh noted the slight glimmer in the mans eye, and frowned.

 

"You know something that you arent telling me, Dont you?" he asked, and the captain stared at him for a moment, then sighed.

 

"Yes, but unfortunetly I cannot tell you what that is." he said, and Eklesh sneered.

 

"You will if you value your job, along with your life." Eklesh barked, but the captian stood his ground.

 

"With all due repect sir, if I do tell you, I would be safer in the hands of the Repora than I would be enywhere else. And even thenI would not be safe." he said, and Eklesh stared at him for a moment. But he then decided that some secrets were best kept as secrets.

 

"Alright, I will trust you for now. But know this. The moment I decide that that vessel may compromise me in the deal, either you will tell me what you know, or I will execute you myself, and my fleet will blast it to pieces. Understood?" he asked, and the captain nodded.

 

"Yes sir. But trust me when I say they will stay out of it unless they themselves are threatened. If it is who I think it may be, that is." he said, and he turned to walkout of the room. Eklesh watched him walk for a few moments, and then sighed. He was beginning to wonder if maybe he should have just kept his people out of this whole mess to begin with. But it was to latefor that. For now, he just had to make the best out of this whole situation that he could.

 

He picked up the other reports, and beganlooking through them, carefully reading over what all the delegates had been discussing, looking for ways to take as much ashe could from all of them, andgiveback as little as possible. Butmore and more, itwas looking that no matter what, his people in the long run would be receiving the short end of the stick. And that did not make him happy.

 

OOC: Dont worry about the cloaked ship for now, its simply an observer,and will leave everyone alone.

[Stellar_Magic]

OOC: I see two possibilities for the cloaked ship...Vagaari or Mandalorian, the UDA wouldn't be stupid enough to send in a vessel that way. Plus if Thrawn wanted the Vaathkree, he'd get the Vaathkree.

 

Councilor Valar smiled as he set the device down on the counter, "You know what this is Calra?"

 

Calra smiled, her curved teeth glinting in the volcanic light, "Yes, who should be the recipient then?"

 

Councilor Valar glanced at the repeater display, "The Arkanian."

 

"Then I'll get to it," Calra answered as she slipped the device beneath her cloak and stepped to the door, "Wish me luck."

 

"Always," Valar answered as the door slid shut behind her.

 

Calra slipped past the Vaathkree guards and smiled to herself, even without the force slipping past them had been easy, almost too easy. Still the aim was to do this unseen. As she came around a bend she froze, hearing the rhythmic step of boots on the stone flooring. Someone was coming. In almost a panic Calra jumped straight upwards and spun. She gripped the grated panel over the glowlights, and hung there as her claws sunk into the soft metal. She flattened herself against the ceiling as Arien Yage walked past without glancing up. Calra slowly turned to watch her as the soft sound of movement betrayed someone else approaching.

 

Calra held her breath as Luke and Mara stepped out of a sidecorridor directly beneath her. Luke peered out across the volcanic plain, "So what do you think Mara?"

 

"A bit hotter then even Ryloth, but you get a better view." Mara shrugged, "Lets go meet Arien and find out what all this is about."

 

As the two humans walked past Calra shook her head, the Skywalkers? Here? What next? With a sigh she dropped back down onto the floor and slunk to the door for the Imperial's quarters. With a smile she slipped inside and dropped the device on the floor. As she closed the door behind her the device stood and wandered over to the nearest dataport and plugged itself in before cloaking into nothingness.

[Trejiuvanat]

Arien and at'Veg returned to their quarters immediately after their run-in into the Skywalkers. Their presence here came to slightly balance the bargaining situation, or take it into a whole new level of complications even so. Arien felt better knowing that she had an ally in this hellish world.

 

They had four hours before dawn and she intended to use them in the most efficient way, she had had at'Veg come up with all possible meanings of the phrase 'trivial technology'. They had come up with dozens of interpretations for the phrase going from the very literal -which resulted in at'Veg constructing a complete pre-hyperspace tech tree to be analyzed- to the most sarcastic in which trivial technology had the completely opposite meaning which resulted in analyzing the highest and most secret technologies developed by the Empire -from Death Stars and anything made in the Maw Facility to other handful of projects developed by Emperor, Moffs, or Warlords-.

 

Arien looked forward to the meeting if only to compare notes with Skywalker, and ask him what it was that Durron did here, what he bargained with. The Imperial knew in the back of her mind that whatever that trivial bit of technology was it was directly related to Durron's doings.

 

"One hour for dawn," at'Veg said as he looked into his chrono. "You should get ready."

 

Arien nodded and wnt to get changed. She took a quick shower and replaced the olive green standard uniform for one more fitting for a Moff's funeral. As dark as Vader's soul and as black as a Defel's shadow the black uniform had advantages over the usual uniform. Especially because it was an uniform tailored for her by Imperial Intelligence.

 

"I never got what was so special about that suit," at'Veg commented in between a yawn.

 

"I guess they wanted some kind of compromise between the cut of the usual uniform and the more formal Dress Uniform," Arien added and shrugged. "Plus it makes more of an impression."

 

Both comments had been for no other purpose than to distract and confuse all that where listening to the exchange.

 

"I think I should go," Arien said and left the room. Off to meet the Skywalkers.

 

The Arkanian then sat back on the table with his handful of datapads continuing his analysis of the phrase 'trivial technology'. In another datapad the small compilation of the Rapora vocabulary, including a phrase Valar had uttered during the dinner when the Aklasp appeared. Sidieie'nej.