tchar

Hey all! Coupla things - - I think i mighta found a way to get employed again - if you remember, Phytho's people weren't the first people to place a bounty on Sebala, there was some other mysterious unknown group that placed their bounty first (that's the whole reason i was in the system in the first place). I was thinking that maybe the Organisation could have been the group who placed that first bounty. That OK with you, Krytos? If so, maybe they could offer me some more work when i deliver them proof of Sebala's death? - Again, i dunno how much a bounty is actually worth, so if someone could let me know whether 10,000 credits is in the right ballpark... - Phytho, your commanding officer on the recent combat missions was Commander Hoeye.

The meeting had gone very well. Minutes after walking into imposing headquaters building on Phalax, T'char had been escorted to the plush office of a Commander Hoeye, who had arrived barely thirty seconds later. He had wasted no time getting to the point. "Mr. T'char, I hear you're the bounty hunter Lieutennant Tython hired to track down the traitor Sebala. I take it you're here to confirm the execution of the bounty?" "That is correct." T'char said, glancing down at the refrigerated biohazzard container containing the late Captain's severed hand. "I have brought his hand for DNA verification as requested." "Excellent. Shall we go to the bio lab downstairs to perform the authentication?" "Of course." Inside of five minutes the lab's technicians had compared a DNA sample from the hand to the sample contained in Sebala's records. "It's a match, sir." "Excellent. Good job Mr. T'char." The commander handed over a credit disk. "Ten thousand credits, as agreed. It has been a pleasure doing business with you, Mr T'char." "Likewise, Commander." Another two minutes later he had exited the building, ten thousand credits richer, feeling very good about life. Somehow, he thought, I think the meeting with my other employers is unlikely to be quite as enjoyable...

Arten paused for a moment, considering his options. He was fairly confident that the idiot republic captian and his crew wouldn't be able to find any evidence of his cargo if they had looked, but the offer of a 'substantial reward' seemed too good to refuse. On the other hand though, this captain would probably have no second thoughts of screewing him over once the job was done. In the end, the implied compliment about needing 'competent people' won him over. "Sir, I hate to think that you can't trust me, since I'm such an honest, well meaning, charit..." "Cut the crap and get to the point." "I'd be delighted to join the mission, Sir." Despite the outward appearence of trustworthiness, Arten was already planning his escape route.

"Mr Sebala, I am required by law to inform you that an official bounty has been placed on your life, and that i am herewith about to fulfill the terms of that bounty by terminating your life. You are entitled to defend yourself with the weapon of your choosing, and you may have three minutes in which to prepare yourself, or run if that option is available to you." The pilot's only reply was a semi-lucid grunt. There was no way this man was going to be defending himself. In fact, he was so out of it that he probably wouldn't feel any pain before the end. That was probably for the better. T'char pulled out his KR-7 projectile pistol, and aimed it at the Sebala's chest. three minutes later the crippled pilot still hadn't moved, so T'char pulled the trigger. With a muffled thump, the bullet left the gun and pierced the pilot's heart. Combined with his earlier injuries, the bullet's damage caused an instant death. No pain. T'char noted the time of death for the record, before entering into his post-bounty ritual. "Oh Mighty Scorekeeper, I come to you with an offering.." * * * Half an hour later, he was back aboard the NightHawk examining the dead Captain's logs. Generally he wasn't a very curious creature, but the captain's spectacular arrival in the system had him intrigued. Poring through the records, he found an audiovisual recording from nine hours previously, just after Sebala had emerged from hyperspace. The captain sat at the helm of his preybird fighter, great gobs of blood floating about his head in the zero-g cockpit. "It seems i have escaped the loyalist Vathinor forces, but i have sustained major damage. It seems a large asteroid wandered into the path of my hyperspace window moments after I exited the jump. I don't think the ship hit it, but its gravitational effects on the hyperspace transit seem to have pulverised the majority of the ship's systems." He paused for a minute, seemingly struggling to remain concious. Once he recovered, he looked at a readout before him. "I have no engines, weapons or auxilary flight controls, but it seems that the life support systems are intact. I don't know how long the air will last, but since i am unable to manouver it seems kind of unimportant anyway." He paused again, this time for a full five minutes before regaining conciousness. "I'm finding it hard to remain awake, i think i may have hit my head pretty hard during the event. I'm not sure how much longer i can remain concious, so i will terminate this recording before i pass out again." The screen dissolved into static as the recording ended. His curiosity satisfied, T'char unstrapped and headed back to the cargo compartment to check that the body was stored properly in the cold storage compatment, ready for te trip back to the planet's surface. OOC - another long one, just for you Krytos!

I haven't really got a lot planned for after i've dealt with Mr. Sebala, but i'd really enjoy being employed somehow in infiltrating the Organisation, or in the planing of some other neafrious deed. Oh, and if anyone needs someone, er eliminated, T'char Expert Bounty Service is just around the corner. We guarantee results, and will provided a money-back guarantee of service, including a full refund for resurrections. Currently on offer we have a two for one deal - we'll chuck in a local drug lord assasination for free with every imperial governmental assaination. Played characters cost double!

"No, its good! There are several interesting ideas. I guess it's kinda hard for me to make a constructive comment on the subject, since i don't really believe in midichlorians, but i'm going to try... "I think that if they do exist, then you're pretty much entirely right about them being more a conduit to the force, than the force itself - i seem to recall Qui-Gon saying something to that effect once - and that its not neccessarily how many a person has got, but how they use them. But i've gotta say im not so sure about the battery theory..."

"Feel free to spurt, mate." said T'char. "I'll do my best not to laugh, and hey - maybe what you've got to say isn't actually anything funny, and is entirely right. There's no way we're gunna know unless you speak up!" He glanced at Tython, who still seemed a little usure. "OK, how about this. I've got a few ideas as well, and i'm going to share them with you, see if you laugh. For example, i think that the official explanation for the force - midichlorians - lacks a little depth, and was simply made up to help a new generation understand something that can't really be explained, and probably shouldn't be explained. I really don't think it rings true with some of the events and statements from the past, and tends to contradict itself. Anyway, that's my opinion."

I don't think thats really such a good attitude either, phytho. I mean, sure swearing isn't any good, and it's fine to get upset about it, but if you leave (or don't join in the first place because of it), then you're letting them win, and letting them dictate what you do. I reckon the best way to go about it is to simply acknowledge that it's there, that its only a few people that are making the rest look bad, and from then on ignore it or do something about it (complain, etc...). But don't let it make you decide what you want to do and where. That's my little philosophy lecture for the day

I like the idea, but i've kinda gotta agree with Mad... I find that i'm more often waiting for someone else to post after me, than having trouble keeping up. But, as i said, i like the idea, and let me know when it happens.

T'char was well into his eighth orbit of the planet, and finally starting to get sick of waiting for Sebala to arrive. The only thing really keeping him awake at the moment was the occasional false alarm as small freighters and fighters on training runs popped onto the sensors. Even those were few and far between - hed only seen 5 other craft about the planet, beside himself. He was preparing the thermal converters for another trip onto the dayside of the planet when the sensors picked up a debris field that had been masked by the planet until recently. Strapping into the command seat, T'char accelerated NighHawk toward the mass of glittering metal shards. * * * An hour later he pulled up beside the wreckage, which by now had resolved itself into a mess of glimmering hull fragments and the occaisional intact subsytem. Suprisingly the sensors were still able to pick up a transmitter operating from within the wreckage. He pulled up the transmission on the com screen. It was a standard mayday call, accompanied by an overview of what was left of the ship's systems. Major damage it said. T'char couldn't help but laugh at the irony and understatement of that. Yeah, I can kinda see that. What was even more interesting though, was that it was indicating that the reinforced cockpit was still functional, and that all life support systems were on line. He couldn't have survived that? He carefully nudged the nighthawk through the debris field toward the gyrating cockpit section, eveloped in a mist of evaporating coolant. He manouvered to withing 100m of the craft before bringing his advance to a halt. Judging by the damaged cockpit's rotation, matching rotation and docking would be possible, but would be difficlt, and would waste a lot of fuel. No, there was an easier way. Moving to the weapons console, T'char booted up the ship's magnetic grapples and targeted the cockpit airlock at the back, and the transparisteel viewport at the front. Moving to the helm again, he strapped himself tightly into his seat before nudging closer to the ship. The closer he was, the less force required, so the gentler the manouvre would be... "Computer, fire mag grapples one and two." With a whine the gauss rails flung the grapples at the tumbling wreckage, where they attached themeselves to the points he had selected. He watched carefully as the slack was taken up by the wreckage's rotations. Slowly NightHawk began to rotate, being pulled along by the wrecked cockpit. "Computer, tighten grapple lines." The powerful winches began to haul the grapples in, drawing his ship closer to the wreck. By now the starfield outside was windmilling crazily around his head as his ship began to match the wreckage's rotations. Moments later, with a dull thunk the ship made contact with the cockpit. Now for the hard part. Making sure that he was firmly connected to the preyird's cockpit, he began the labourious process of bringing the two back to some sembalence of control. Being a cold-blooded reptilian he didn't sweat, but his nictating membranes were working overtime to keep his eyes moist and functional. Finally, the planets and stars stopped revolving about his ship, and he was able to make his way out of the deris field. Suiting up, he stepped out the airlock and made his way to the other ship's airlock. Ducking around the grapple line, he stepped in and waited for it to cycle. Removing his helmet, he stepped through into the chaos of the cockpit. Seated in the pilot's seat was a captian of the Vathinor Defence Force. "Hello, Mr. Sebala." OOC - sorry 'bout the rather lengthy post - i kinda got carried away...

"Hmmm. The way I heard it, it was a little different." T'char downed a glass of spirits to coax the story out. "Yes, a capital ship did crashland on their home planet, but it created an ecological disater simply through the mayhem of the landing. When Vader found out about it, he sent droids and supplies to help rebuild the planet. The Noghri idolised him for helping them, but didn't see that he was making them dependant on him for their survival. So when he asked for their employment as assassins and badyguards. When the empire colapsed, they continued their work under the command of Grand Admiral Thrawn, until they sent out assassins to kill Leia and Luke. Due to their enhanced sense of smell, they were actually able to tell that Leia was a decendant of Vader, and so naturally followed her lead. She then showed them her father's deception, and so allowed the Noghri to go back to their old existence (but on another planet, since Vader had essentially destroyed their homeworld). The final part to the story was when Thrawn was killed by his Noghri bodyguard in revenge."

The call came just as T'char was wrapping up yet another unsuccessful business meeting with a potential client. The Rodian businessman was having problems with a rival who kept prying into his secret dealings, but like many of the locals seemed reluctant to hire an offworlder to do the job properly, when he could easily pay off one of the city's minor gangs to do it for a fraction of the cost. Tython's face appeared on the commscreen. "Hi T'char. Uh, I might have a job for you. I know you're probably kinda busy, but we've run into a slight problem over here. It seems one of the other squadron commanders - a captain Sol Sebala - has turned traitor and has been selling information to the enemy all along. We tried to apprehend him, but he escaped into hyperspace before we could nab him. It seems from his escape vector that he's heading back toward Phalax. As i said, i know you're busy, but the command types here are willing to pay up to 10,000 credits for DNA evidence of his death. He left almost three hours ago. I'm going to be hanging around here for a while, until the current campaign is over. I guess I'll see you in a couple of days. If I make it, I'll even buy you a beer." The commscreen dissolved into static. Sol Sebala? That couldn't be right. He played the message again, and was delighted to find that it was actually the case. He noted the transmission time, almost two days ago. If Sebala's ship was making any decent progress, he'd be in the system within 24 hours. He headed for the NightHawk at a brisk trot. OOC - Coupla things - Sorry for playing Tython so much Phytho; and ive got no idea what a decent bounty is - is 10,000 credits too much or too little?

"The transponder was merely a technical fault, Sir" said Arten, enjoying the officer's look of disdain at his use of the title. "As for the arrival in the middle of the battle - by the time i realised what was going on, there wasn't a lot i could do about it. I don't usually exit hyperspace to find myself in the middle of a battle. I guess you could say that i wasn't exactly expecting to arrive in the middle of a crossfire. You know how it is." "I do indeed," said the captain in an entirely unconvincing tone, that had all the hallmarks of actually meaning maybe, but you're still an idiot anyway... The captain reclined in his chair, seemingly taking delight in drawing out his sentences. "What are we going to do with you?"

Hey, hey, hey.... I was just saying that this is between me and Barkoa! Sorry Krytos! I wont do it again! *promise*

Jhee Haus! Death to all who threaten the homeworld! I long for combat (and to kick some Zerg butt!) Oh, and keep outta it jess!

Pity... Bloody Zerg...

Arten returned to his ship as ordered, supressing an amused grin. Surely the soldiers' failure to search his ship the moment he docked broke just about every regulation in the book? He went back up the ramp, codelocked the controls, exited the ship, and closed the ramp. He turned to follow the guards, who were now heading for a door set in the far wall of the hangar.

T'char sat at his usual spot at the bar, feeling uncharacteristically depressed. With the looming prospect of being unable to locate Sebala any time soon, he was soon going to be in the state that so much of the district seemed to share - and oddly enough enjoy. He was going to become virtually unemployed. With that dire future in mind, he quickly slapped a credit disk on the bar, got up, and went searching for a new target.

OOC - Oh. Oops! IC - Arten lowered the Scout's cargo ramp and walked out to meet the three troopers standing in the center of the frigate's massive hangar. He raised his hands in a gesture of mock surrender. "Look fellas, I was just running a routine courier job for one of the chemical refineries on the..." The first soldier cut him off before he was able to finish.

Aiur - The Homeworld ??? Does that make you a Protoss fan, Barkoa?

"But what's to say that an external alien empire has to be hostile? I know there have been some major confrontations with new alien races over the years, but there have also been great alliances forged with such races. Take the Mon Calamari, for example. They have always been friendly to the empire/republic, despite really being outsiders. I think you may be right that external threats are more important that pirates and smuggling, but the chances of such a race being a problem, i think is pretty remote".

OOC - I'm more than ready to make a few posts - i just need whoever is apprehending me to finish the job!

Really!?! That would be soooo cool to have so many friends on this forum going to the same school! Yeah it is pretty cool - we can talk about it and bag each other out at school between classes, and make up cunning plots in our spare time... We all use the school computers (i'm writing this during my computer graphics class ), and we tend to piss off the librarian a lot by hogging "her" computers constantly... Anyway, i think im going to be going after Phytho's traitor (maybe Cpt. Sebala could be the bad guy???). PS- BadSamaritan -

T'char switched to a mineral water for a moment to give himself a chance for his head to clear up. "I think that the biggest concern the Republic has now is to combat pirates and smugglers. Most of the systems within the Republic are unlikely to start anything big on their own - a single planet probably doesn't have the resources to create a large problem on it's own, and as you've pointed out, Karn, the military is unlikely to be a problem. No, free agents like pirates and smugglers are going to become the biggest pronlems to the republic because they hold no alliances to anyone but themselves, and they will attack the financial heart of the republic - weakening it vie\a its economy."

"I'm sorry sir, captain Sebala is currently on assignment. He isn't likely to be back for quite some time." T'char rose from the armchair that had been his home for the last three hours. "Thankyou anyway. Can I leave a message?" "Sure. I just can't guarantee that he'll get it any time soon." "No problem. Could you please ask him to send me a message when he returns? I have a buisiness proposition for him." "Sure. He knows where to contact you?" "Tell him to talk to Sergeant Tython. He'll be able to direct him to the right place." "OK. I'll send that off straight away. Good afternoon Mr T'char." "Thanks." HE strode from the foyer, and headed back to his ship.