Gears of War (Jedi Mission)

[KnightOfTheOrder]

The heavy rains of Jaemus poured down on the city streets. A cloaked figure huddled in a dim alcove along a narrow street, momentarily sheltered from the downpour by an awning stretched between two buildings. He had a comm link in his hand which he had been speaking into moments ago and now was lowering to his belt. The comm link shut off with a decisive click as it was tucked away. Ginh Su-Nyf had commed the ship the Temple had granted as his transportation to Jaemus, with instructions to the ship’s computer to relay the message to Coruscant, but he was uncertain how clear his transmission had been. Jaemus was a temperate world rich with ore, both in solid mineral veins in the earth and in high atmospheric contents that concentrated in it’s clouds, and he had noticed that surface to surface transmissions caught significant interference. His contact had told him as much when he first came to the planet, explaining it had something to do with communications having difficulty with the ferric content of the clouds, especially during precipitation. Under better circumstances he would have waited until a more opportune time to send his message. For that matter, under better circumstances he would have been able to make it to the ship. Unfortunately, his circumstances left him uncertain that he would have an opportunity for either.

Ginh had been sent to Jaemus to investigate reports of a building threat from a contact that the Council felt was reliable. They had landed on Galantrix, the world’s capital, had met the contact and been given several intercepted communiqués indicating a terrorist cell, of unknown origin or intent, had recently gone into operation on the planet and appeared to be engineering a strike in the near future. His contact had indicated that if the terrorists were of a political nature they were likely to strike within a standard week, as that would mark the anniversary of the planet’s establishment as a represented world of the Republic, which had elevated them from their original status as an independent colonial holding of Gallantro Heavy Works. The date was considered a planetary holiday of political significance. Aside from that information, the contact had managed to supply him with a landspeeder, some local maps and a contact within the Planetary Parliamentary Guard who could provide him with any further information they had acquired on the suspected terrorist cell.

The PPG contact had been willing to help, but very limited in his ability to do so. Despite being an officer of the official planetary peacekeeping force, he seemed to run into a surprising amount of difficulty with the Gallantro Security Forces, which seemed to assert a distinct jurisdiction over Gallantro interests and properties. As the Gallantro conglomerate predated the planetary government of Jaemus it maintained its status as an independent intergalactic non-governmental organization and held fast to its established claims of sovereignty over it’s own operations and properties, meaning that anything that occurred within the massive orbital shipyard complexes, the vast mining facilities or any number of supporting industries was withheld from the scrutiny of the PPG. The result was that several days of working through official channels turned up little to no new results, and nothing upon which Ginh could act. Eventually, Ginh decided that his own investigations might be more fruitful and began looking for information in the cantinas and card-dens of the space port. After a day of eavesdropping and asking selective questions, he got a lead which led him to the cavernous industrial housing projects of the city, and after an interview there with a reluctant colonist he was directed to a Gallantro Heavy Works warehouse about five hour’s ride away by landspeeder in the industrial town of Ferrotro City.

Infiltrating the Gallantro compound, in which the warehouse he sought was housed, had not posed any particular difficulty to Ginh. He was a seasoned Jedi in his element, and the compound’s security seemed to be somewhat slack. One Force-aided leap had managed to clear the perimeter fence and land close to the guardhouse in which a single occupant sat reading a data pad and paying little heed to the screens displaying the various cameras’ views. A gentle mind trick had convinced the man to pay no heed to the screens, as he clearly had no interest in them anyways, but it didn’t hurt to make sure the man would not look up. He then continued on his way, still making sure he did not pass before the cameras when they could be avoided, until he reached Warehouse GHW-158J.

While the warehouse was largely filled with nondescript crates, towards the center of it’s labyrinthine aisles Ginh found a small foreman’s office which appeared to have become a makeshift war room, with maps and notes scattered about detailing the city of Gallantrix, the positions of the PPG patrols and stationary guards, information regarding the layout of a parade in which several of the high ranking ministers of the Jaemus Planetary Parliament were to be in attendance, and a map highlighting the route and several red tacks pinned upon it. What struck him as unusual, though, was that a good deal of the classified information appeared to be originated within the Gallantro Heavy Works databases and that the plans did not seem to stop with a strike along the parade route but went on to describe operations thereafter. Focused on absorbing as much of the information as possible, Ginh had narrowed his awareness and thus did not immediately notice a slight hissing that had begun to accompany the noise of the air circulation system.

He had been in the middle of trying to decipher the full extent of the group’s plans when a nagging sensation in the Force suddenly came to his attention, accompanied by a feeling of grogginess that was slowly seeping into his consciousness. Realization dawned suddenly and, shaking his head in a natural reaction to try to clear it, he snapped his attention back to the present and became acutely aware of the sound of gas being pumped into the office. Ginh hastily moved to the door which, unsurprisingly, was sealed. It seemed that whoever had been organizing this operation had not anticipated the intervention of a Jedi, though, as one fluid motion and a flash of golden light from his lightsaber carved an opening through the door. Much to his dismay, Ginh stumbled out of the office to find a small cadre of unmarked security droids with blasters leveled and waiting for him. “Droids…” he had muttered under his breath with annoyance, “I hate droids…” Calling on the Force, he had flooded his body with it’s strength and heightened his senses with it’s clarity, and in the second or two it took for the droids to calibrate their targeting computers on his form and train their firearms upon him, he launched himself into a leap that vaulted him over one of the towering rows of massive crates and into the empty aisle beyond.

Running full speed through the cavernous rows of the warehouse, Ginh had relied on the whispers of the Force to navigate him successfully towards nearest exit. He burst from the door and rushing into the moist air of the Jaemusian afternoon as the downpour of it’s heavy clouds began. Sirens had begun to wail in the compound. Ginh had assumed that the gas and the droids had been an automated response, possibly arranged by the plotting terrorists, as from what he had seen Galantro Heavy Works did not rely heavily of droids in their security forces. However, the Galantro Security forces that were scrambling to the sounds of the alarm were quick to respond to the intruder that had emerged from the warehouse and, while they didn’t get a drop on him quite as successfully as the droids, Ginh still found himself beating a hasty retreat as he sprinted towards the nearest perimeter fence. He hurdled the fence with the aid of another Force leap, and ran at breakneck speed into the warren of twisting roads and alleys that made up Ferrotro City.

He had hoped to lose his pursuit in the tangled streets of the city, but a squad of security forces on Single-Trooper Aerial Platforms kept close. While he managed to use the unpredictable streets and his own agility to keep a step ahead of them, he frequently found that any time he was on a straight path for more than a handful of seconds he would have a spurt of blaster bolts hot on his trail as he armed repulsorcraft attempted to bring him down.

As Ginh had turned a corner he saw he was on a short street which ended in a ‘t’ intersection, with a the street peeling off right and left and a small recessed alcove jutting past the intersection, presumably for the parking of a speeder. Drawing on the Force deeply, Ginh cast an illusion of a solid brick wall at the end of the intersection, making the alcove appear nonexistent. He approached the intersection as he heard the whine of the security forces’ repulsorcraft catching up and managed to duck into the hidden alcove just before the first of the security forces turned the corner. He sat in silence, sweat and rain mixing as they trickled down his face. His controlled breathing was steady but his heart pounded in the silence as he waited for the sounds of his pursuit to grow faint. As the sounds of pursuit faded Ginh allowed his illusion to fade as well, and he moved beneath an awning to get out of view of the immediate street and attempted to make his transmission to the Temple.

After having made his attempt, he headed out into the street again, drawing the hood of his robe over his head and keeping to the alleys whenever possible. He needed to get back to Gallantrix, back to his contacts and ship and, perhaps most important of all, back to the seat of government upon which the plans he had discovered seemed centered. He headed in the directly of the landspeeder in which he had arrived, though he wasn’t confident it would be a plausible escape vehicle. Considering the resources of Gallantro Heavy Works, he wouldn’t be surprised if they had impounded all unoccupied vehicles or instituted a curfew on such transportation until the intruder had been apprehended, which could make things a bit difficult. Nevetheless, he had to see what his options were, and so slowly he moved off into the darkening evening, heading towards the outskirts of the city where, hopefully, his landspeeder would be where he left it.

[Jace]

The sound of breathing, deep, controlled, methodical. The Jedi sat crossed legged in the center of his quarters, silent. His lightsaber lay before him, hands resting on his knees, palms facing upwards. Silence, it helped him focus, it always had. Sure, there was time to meditate at the Temple but that was only a fraction of his time. The rest was spent dealing with officials from the Republic and internal affairs. Many loathed the long journey to the Rim, he embraced it.

Jedi Master Jace Beleren slowly opened his eyes scanning the room. Dull blue eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the quarters. He checked the time, they would be arriving on Jaemus soon. The Jedi stood up slowly, stretching before proceeding out of the room. Jace wondered if this was the last time he would travel to a mostly Republic occupied Rim. There were too many unsettling occurrences in the galaxy of late. Jace knew it was only a matter of time before some evil showed its true face.

Could this darkness be due to the return of the Sith? he wondered

He trusted Master Vreem's words, but the question was should they trust what that 'Sith' had told him. Oddly enough, Jace believed that the man hadn't been lying about the Sith returning. The question was, how large could they have actually grown?The Jedi master did not believe their numbers could be that large, but he knew the darkside clouded all. Then again it didn't necessarily mean that they were cause of this growing darkness. Jace's experience had taught him that you don't need to be a Sith to be evil. There was enough darkness in this galaxy then Jace cared to admit.

Jace couldn't be sure if Jaemus was involved somehow or if it was on isolated incident. Of course, he still didn't know what the problem on Jaemus was in the first place. All he knew was that it had to be serious, otherwise Ginh would not have called for assistance. There was also the fact that Jace had not been able to contact the other Jedi since he departed. He was either captured, dead, or had went underground to avoid detection. Jace believed the latter to be true, Ginh was no easy target, he knew how to stay alive.

The Jedi Grandmaster was not alone on this mission, not by a long shot. Along with him was a highly trained team of Republic Special Operations soldiers. Jace had believed it prudent that they accompany him considering the request had come through the Republic. He had run many missions alongside Republic soldiers before, especially as a shadow. Many sting operations were too large for just local law enforcement. He nodded to the soldiers as he passed them, acknowledging their salutes.

"ETA?" He asked as he reached the cockpit

"Ten minutes,sir" replied the pilot

"Good, inform the ground team to gather in the galley ASAP"

Turning, Jace headed back the way he came, this time towards the galley. As he navigated through the ship's interior he heard the pilot's voice over the comm relaying his instructions. He entered the galley, their temporary briefing room, and waited patiently for everyone to arrive.

"We will be landing shortly, before we disembark I want to go over our objectives once more. We have received a distress call from a Jedi sent to Jaemus. The message was scrambled but from what we uncovered there may be terrorists involved. I want to draw your attention to two things. We are not able to contact the Jedi which means he has most likely been driven underground. If this is true, that means there is a relatively powerful force out there preventing him from surfacing. Two, if there is such a hostile entity out there, our presence will most likely be unwelcome. Our primary objective is to make contact with Knight Ginh, find out what he knows, and deal with whatever possible threat he has uncovered."

Jace nodded to the soldiers, their eyes told him everything he needed to know. Though Jace was a Jedi and not a soldier, he could still respect the dedication and training these people put forth to protect the Republic. Indeed, if Jace hadn't been a Jedi, he believed he might have been one of the soldiers standing before him. They would be landing soon, and hopefully Jace would learn the truth of Jaemus.

[Dutch]

A wet, repetitive, grinding sound could be heard within the mess hall. A hulk of a reptile could be seen sitting among a small group of fellow soldiers, his pitch black eyes focused on a large whet stone working. With a steady, repetitive motion, Republic Spec Ops Specialist Vangar Slihm sharpened his most deadly weapon- his claws. This was more than just a cosmetic ritual to the Barabel, the brute relying on them just as much as his trusty rifle. His usual armor of black leather contrasted just slightly with his rusty red scales. The Barabel's tongue would occasionally slip from his mouth to taste the air, and two things crossed his mind as he did. The men and women around him reeked of anticipation, fear, some even pleasure. And also, that a familiar taste was getting closer. Van excused himself from the group to come out of the hall just in time to see Jace Beleren- Jedi Grandmaster. In a quick move Slihm sunk to one knee, his head bowed for a second before standing back up and turning back into the mess.

Van, just like almost every Barabel, held the Jedi in tremendous esteem- some might say more than any other species. He however, also had a personal reason to respect them so. If it wasn't for the Jedi, he would still be stuck fighting for his life in the Arena- or dead already. Slihm crouched back in his spot just in time for a Chiss to ask him what that was about. Slihm's tail thrashed left then right irritably before barking and snarling back in his own language. A slow hiss sounded from between his teeth before he cleared his throat, his eyes turning to the Chiss.

"Thisss one owesss much to the Jeedai- and plansss on letting them know of his gratitude."

Slihm growled before sliding a claw out and beginning to pick at his teeth. To most, Barabel's would seem like mindless, ornery brutes. Though this may be true to some, those raised traditionally always were a respectful group, though still quick to temper- that was unavoidable. Unfortunately for any that didn't care for Van's presence, he was a key member of this mission. A Jedi had gone missing, and if there was one thing he was good at, it was finding those that didn't want, or couldn't be found.

The reptile looked up as an announcement came over the comm, telling everyone to meet in the galley. Slihm sissed, a Barabel laugh, as he was already in it, he simply stood up and walked towards where most of the group were gathering, arms crossed and tail swishing steadily. When Jace entered the room, once more, the Barabel sank to his knee in a quick bow then stood, senses peeled for the Jedi's words. He nodded as he listened, the mission seemed pretty cut and dry to the soldier- get in, save the Jedi, get out asap.

"Thisss one will more easssily find Jeedai Ginh if he had something that sssmelled or tasssted of him. If the Force can not whisssper hisss location to you, thisss one will be able to find him bessst, Master Beleren."

The Barabel stepped out from the group of soldiers and looked down at Jace, smiling a very toothy Barabel grin. It almost pleased him to think that he was the Jedi's only hope of finding his ally, any chance Slihm had to repay the Jedi was always good for him. He waited to be handed something along the lines of a scrap of clothing or a item he owned.

[KnightOfTheOrder]

Despite the thoroughly unwelcome turn of events that had complicated his mission, Ginh had been fortunate enough to find his speeder was where he had left it, unharmed and unguarded. He hastened across the darkened street, entered the landspeeder and quickly began his return to Gallantrix. If he had correctly understood the information he had read in the warehouse, the ‘terrorist cell’ he had been investigating was far more malignant that he had originally suspected. The plans he had uncovered did not simply consist of a terrorist strike on the sitting government of the Jaemusian Parliament, it contained operational details for interception and neutralization of the Planetary Parliamentary Guard, the occupation of the centers of government, media and security, and policy guidelines for what amounted to martial law. As his speeder zipped off into the silent night, Ginh felt a cold unease seeping through him as he sped towards the planet’s capital city. Despite the serenity of the night, he knew that the morning would hold no peace. The plans hinged on the terrorist strike on the morning’s parade, though, and therein lied Ginh’s only hope of stopping what appeared to be a coup before it got out of hand.

As Ginh turned the landspeeder off the narrow streets of the city and on to the larger intercity highway that connected Ferrotro City to Gallantrix, he came across a road block, manned by the Gallantro Security Forces that served as the corporate city’s local law enforcement. This didn’t truly surprise him, but he groaned inwardly at the sight, knowing it was just another obstacle that could potentially prevent him from getting back to Gallantrix in time. He slowed to a stop as he approached the roadblock while a Security Forces officer approached his car. Cautiously he cast a masquerade over his features to avoid visual identification, causing himself to appear much older and heavier, with silver hair and a drooping moustache so that he wouldn’t match any possible images Gallantro had acquired of him during his escape from their facility. The officer gently knocked on the window of his land speeder, prompting Ginh to lower it, and asked for identification. Ginh provided him with the documentation he had obtained from his original contact on the planet, and gently suggested, “There’s really no need to detain me, officer,” with a slight nudge of the Force behind his words.

The officer frowned as he looked over the documents, and looked up at Ginh with confusion in his eyes. “Sir, the highway has been closed by authority of he Gallantro Colonial Governing Board. We’re not supposed to allow anyone on tonight.”

Ginh sighed in frustration. Officers with clear orders were often more difficult to persuade, and it would take a more direct application of the Force to get past this man. Despite his reluctance to bend the will of another being, the urgency of his mission did not allow him the luxury of trying to gently persuade the man. “It’s necessary that I be allowed to pass,” he said, pouring the Force into his voice and subtly waving his hand in the form used when focusing on using Force persuasion techniques. “You will not detain me, and will not bother reporting my passage.”

There was a tense moment while their eyes met, with Ginh’s bottomless, near black eyes seeming to well up and absorb the man’s will like a black hole consuming light, and then the man’s eyes clouded over once again. “It’s necessary that you be allowed to pass,” he mumbled, “There’s no need to detain you or report this.”

With that, the main raised the gate that had been blocking passage down the road, and Ginh sped off into the blackness night.

*****

Nearly two hours after passing the roadblock, a sudden sense of danger spiked in Ginh’s mind. He hastily whipped his head around to the left and right, seeking out the source of the Force’s warning, and then looked up as he began to here the high pitched whine of small aircraft above him. Through the night’s murk he was able to make out two craft swooping low with Gallantro Security Force markings. Ginh silently cursed to himself, realizing the roadblock must have been monitored electronically or that, eventually, the officer with whom he had spoken had revealed that he had let Ginh through to the highway, and that someone had put together his flight from the warehouse and this violation of the roadblock and sent airborne pursuit. The aircraft paced him for about 100 yards and then, as the pitch of their engines increased, they sped up to get ahead of him, and dropped a concussion missile on the road before him.

The immediate flare in Ginh’s danger sense as the aircraft moved ahead of him was the only thing that saved his life. Slamming on the breaks and flipping his land speeder into a 180 turn, he had managed to avoid being at the center of the explosion. The back half of his speeder was shredded in a wave of heat and concussive force from the explosion, and the remains of the vehicle were flipped end over end along the shattered patch of road. The destroyed speeder careened over the shards of duracrete, rolled several times and came to a halt in a ditch edging the road. Ginh hastily got out of the speeder, head spinning and blood seeping from several wounds, and began running as best he could into the surrounding trees. The aircraft swept by once more to drop another missile on the remains of the speeder and then took off into the night, assuming that their target had been eliminated.

Frustration welled up within Ginh, but he had dealt with setbacks before. Taking stock of his situation, he discovered that his equipment, including his comlink, had been destroyed, leaving him with nothing but his wits, his lightsaber, and the Force. ‘Powerful allies indeed,’ the thought to himself, though he had a sinking feeling that they might not be enough to get him to Gallantrix in time to intervene with the terrorist strike and subsequent coup attempt. Shedding his robe and calling of the Force to fill him with strength and provide him endurance, he set off at a sustainable pace to run the remainder of the of journey to Gallantrix.

*****

It had been a long 24 hours, and Ginh seemed to have spent the majority of the time running, as attested by the bone-piercing weariness that dragged on his limbs. He approached the fringes of the city of Gallantrix with as much caution as the urgency of his mission and exhaustion of mind and body could allow, but he neither saw nor sensed any hostile or suspicious presences. As he hurried into the streets of the capital city, it occurred to him that there wasn’t just a lack of hostile presences, there was a surprising shortage of presences altogether. He glanced at the sun to ascertain the time, as his chronometer had been destroyed with the rest of his equipment in the wreckage of his speeder, and saw that as best as he could estimate it was near mid-morning. Alarm flooded his mind as he realized why the side streets on the city’s fringe were empty - the parade, the celebration of Jaemus’ admission to the Republic, must have started. Hastily he rushed towards the central boulevard of the city, pulling on the Force to sustain his weary limbs and sore feet. As he rushed headlong towards the center of the city, though, he heard a sound that sunk his heart deep into his chest - an earth-shaking boom, followed by the sounds of blasterfire and the screams of people. The sound was centered somewhere north of him, and he took off at a breakneck pace towards it.

He didn’t get more than three blocks, though, before running into a stampede of fleeing citizens. He tried to fight his way through the crowd, but between their blinding fear, the crush of those behind them and his own exhaustion, Ginh was unable to make any headway. Gradually he was forced towards the edge of the oncoming crowd until he ducked down a small alleyway. Halfway down the alley he managed to find the back door to one of the storefronts on the main thoroughfare and forced entry into back of the store. The place was mercifully empty, and so Ginh took a moment to try to gather his thoughts and catch his breath.

Everything on this mission had gone wrong. It was absolute chaos.

‘There in no chaos, there is harmony,’ he reminded himself. He tried to focus on the Force and the peace and clarity it represented. ‘Chaos is only appears to exist when one does not understand, and one cannot understand what one does not know,’ he reminded himself as his mind drifted back to some of his earliest lessons under the tutelage of his master. ’There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. Therefore, focus on what you know, understand what knowledge you have, and dispel your perception of chaos.’ Years of grueling physical training and rigorous mediation had prepared him for situations like this, and years of experience provided him the wisdom to overcome the adversity of his situation.

He knew that the terrorists were in some way connected with Gallantro, if not simply a front for Gallantro's plans, and that they appeared to be engaged in a coup attempt. He knew that the sound of the detonation had to have been along the parade route, and that it likely meant that many, if not all, of the chief minister’s of the Planetary Parliament were killed. And he knew that the sounds of sporadic blaster fire along the streets indicated that the first wave of terrorist strikes, meant to instill fear in the populace and smooth the path to Gallantro’s illegal seizure of power, was still ongoing.

While emotionally he wanted to rush into the streets headlong at the terrorists in an attempt to thwart the terrorist strike and the coup, he did not feel the urgency in the Force that would support his actions. He considered the situation from a strategic standpoint, and it was clear that blind heroism was not the wisest path at this time. He knew full well he wasn’t up against a limited terrorist cell - he was facing a well organized coup staged by a interstellar military-industrial conglomerate that once had controlled the planet and still maintained the resources and influence to do so again. He would not succeed such an attempt, and would possibly not survive.

His course of action had to be one of insurgence. He needed to locate the members of the Planetary Parliament, the remaining Planetary Parliamentary Guard members and any others who could offer him the resources he would need to strike against Gallantro’s ambitions. He would need information, a secure comlink, and, perhaps most importantly, a place to stay to recover from the rigors of the last day and night.

He stepped out into the alleyway and made his way back towards the main street, where he effortlessly slipped into the crowd. The crowd was thinner and less panicked as the sounds of blaster fire had vanished from behind them, but fear and tension still permeated the air thickly enough that one could sense it without sensitivity to the Force. As he made his way through the crowd, air speeders began making flybys overhead and a metallic voice sounded from speakers mounted, blaring a message informing the populace that Gallatro Security Forces had restored peace and apprehended the terrorists and urging them to return to their homes. Ginh headed towards the spaceport with the thought that, while he probably could not access his ship, he could disappear amidst the swarm of diverse peoples and the warren of taverns, lounges and mammoth housing projects, and from there try to make connections with anyone willing to help him attempt to restore the planet’s government to power.

[Jace]

The Jedi studied the Barabel soldier before him, Slihm he believed his name was. He had noticed that Barabel bow as he entered the room before, though Jace wished for no one to bow due to his presence, he still appreciated it. Jace didn't believe it to be much of a stretch to assume that this Barabel held Jedi in high regard for one reason or the other.

"Forgive me soldier, our path was not fated to be so simple" He replied with a melancholic smile."Jedi have few possessions and what possessions they have they keep on their person. Yet if we can trace his movements we may be able to find something for you to use"

He nodded to the Barabel as the voice of the pilot resounded over the intercom "Two minutes"

The Jedi Master made his way to a seat and strapped in. Landing exactly two minutes later, Jace made his way to the exit ramp to the find the rest of the soldiers waiting for him. The Jedi had a deep sense of foreboding, he had not had such a feeling since he had traveled to Korriban. The landing ramp lowered and Jace scanned the area in front of him. Nothing seemed out of place, seemingly contradicting what the Force was telling him. Just as Jace stepped off the ship, an explosion rocked the ground.

The spaceport was unharmed which meant the explosion had not occurred in the immediate vicinity. The Jedi heard screaming not so far off in the distance. His mind geared into overdrive, running through a variety of possibilities. An explosion in the heart of the capital city could only truly mean one thing. Spotting a port official near by, Jace quickly approached the man.

"Excuse me sir, was there anything special going on in Gallantrix today?"

"Well of course, today was the annual Parliamentary Parade" replied the man

It was even worse than Jace had feared. That undoubtedly meant that most if not all of Jaemus' senior government officials had been killed. Something seemed out of place though, there had never been any reports of terrorism from Jaemus prior to this incident. Who would all of a sudden attempt to wipe out the government? A distant announcement spoke of the Gallantro Heavy works restoring peace. Everything suddenly became disturbingly clear to the Jedi. They needed to act fast, their safety and those of the populace were no longer assured. He turned to address the soldiers.

"Things here are far worse than I could have imagined. Unless I am mistaken Gallantro has attempted to eliminate a majority of parliament to seize control of the government. This means that the Republic is no longer welcome here." Jace's words were clear, the level of danger had jumped tenfold. Their ship was right behind them, safety was in their grasp. The look in every soldier's eyes told him that not one of them had given though to leaving."Our priority still remains to find Knight Ginh. We will prevent this usurpation of the Jaemus government."

There was at least one bit of good news, Jace could sense Ginh, and he was coming to them. Once they had joined together, they could decide where to go from there. The most obvious step would be to find any remaining parliament assets and coordinate a resistance effort with them. They had been lucky enough to land before the attack had taken place. Undoubtedly Gallantro would be securing the spaceport. No ships in or out. May the Force be with them all.

"Alright, time is of the essence, lets move out"

[Dutch]

Slihm couldn't help but let out an annoyed snarl followed by a string of sharp barks and hissing- the Barabel spitting some choice swears in his native tongue. Without anything that the Jedi had touched or used, the reptile would be unable to track him. But he nodded and accepted the Master's explanation. Even though Slihm himself was unable to feel the Force- he trusted in it fully, just as his father had taught him.

"Asss you wish Master Jeedai." Slihm responded as he bowed his head slightly. Slihm's tail twitched as the ETA was announced, the hunt was about to begin, and this one would be a challenge.

After they landed Vangar was the first out of the ship, his tongue licking the air and his senses pealed. Nothing out of the ordinary in this spaceport from what he could tell, the smell of many sentients, ship fuel, and food stood out the most, and words were those of barter and friendship. From what the Barabel could tell, the people of Jaemus seemed to be a good group, the level of threat was far lower than most ports he had landed in.

"Thisss one sssee's no trouble here, perhapssss Massster Jace wassss wrong about Jeedai Ginh being in trouble." Rasped the Barabel to his fellow soldiers. But not a second these words had escaped his lips did a massive explosion rock the area. "Blight of Barabel!" Spat Slihm, instantly sinking to all fours and snarling in the direction of the explosion, just as Jace exited the ship.

It pleased Slihm to see the Jedi get right to work, sparing no time. The Barabel heard everything Jace and the dock official, nodding to Jace as he got back to them and told them what happened. He sissed- Barabel laughter- wen he said that they were not welcome here.

"I am an eight foot tall lizard Master Jeedai, I am not welcome in mossst placesss." Joked the Barabel, followed by more sissing and a toothy grin. He saluted Jace when the Jedi said the mission was still on, ready to do what was needed.

"Lead the way sssir, we're behind you." Rasped the Barabel as he turned his eyes towards the spaceport, and towards what would hopefully be a casualty-less mission.

[KnightOfTheOrder]

As Ginh hastened through the streets of the capitol city the air speeders above began to announce a temporary curfew to expedite the apprehension of any terrorist sympathizers and he began to come across checkpoints that were being established across major streets. Initially they weren’t difficult to avoid, as detours down the alleys behind buildings or cutting through the occasional abandoned store allowed him to circumvent the Gallantro Security checkpoints, but as the crowd began to thin it was becoming increasingly difficult to slip in and out of alleys unnoticed. He wracked his mind for details of the plans he had uncovered only an afternoon ago, though it felt as if a week or more had passed since then. He recalled the orders for establishing curfews, checkpoints and street patrols to “ensure the populace is secured and complacent, and that any assemblages that could be detrimental to our purposes are identified easily and responded to swiftly,” but he had not encountered any maps the help him determine where the checkpoints and patrols would be. The people on the street now numbered in the dozens, down from the hundreds that had been milling about shortly after the explosion. Ginh slowly made his way through an alley as he headed west from a checkpoint the had observed in an attempt to avoid it, his dark blue tunic and faded brown pants blending into the shadows as he moved away from the vigilant eyes of the Gallantro Security forces. While Ginh could continue to rely on his skill and the Force to keep him from attracting unwanted notice, he knew that they could only tilt odds in his favor and that soon enough the odds of him being caught would outweigh the advantages of his Jedi training and senses. He needed information, and he needed it soon.

As he emerged from the alley on an empty street and continued towards the spaceport and the haven of anonymity it presented, he noticed one of the Planetary Parliamentary Guard posts that dotted the multispecied warrens that surrounded the spaceport. He sensed seven presences there, five within and two outside. He approached the post and was able identify two Gallantro Security guards standing outside the post with boredom etched on their faces as they stared off down the empty road. Ginh reached out to them through his senses. They were connected with him in the Force. From those inside he could feel confusion, annoyance, simmering anger. He caught glimpses of a small guardhouse with several men in PPG uniforms cuffed to chairs and a singe Gallantro Security officer armed with a carbine standing guard. From the two outside he could feel their boredom with their dull post, feel their dissatisfaction with inactivity, and their inattentiveness. They had been looking at an empty road for an hour, and they expected to look at an empty road for many hours more. In his mind’s eye he could see the empty road as they saw it and, through his will and the Force, he was able to cause the image of that empty road to occupy their minds’, to flood their mind with that image with such clarity and reality that, with a subtle suggestion, their minds were willing to believe that they were actually seeing the image of the empty road that he projected. He stepped into the road and hastened towards the two guards, flooding their minds with his illusion until he had reached the corner of the guardhouse and ducked behind it out of the guards‘ view. His illusions were very good, but to sneak past the guards under the guise of an illusion would require him to mask sound as well as sight, and he was too tired for such multifaceted illusions. Moreover, the guards were fairly close to the door and so there was an added risk of accidental contact giving him away.

His master had often reminded him that, as much as Ginh was drawn to master and use ever more intricate Force techniques and lightsaber manuevers, it was often the simplest of skills that could be most effective. His lesson rang true on this occasion. Moving his hand as if pointing something out, Ginh issued the slightest nudge of the Force to cause the two guards to hear the sound of footsteps fading down an alleyway. The guards looked at each other, and Ginh could sense their boredom fading to be replaced by anticipation as they realized they had an excuse to go do something.

“You here that?” one asked. The other nodded confirmation, saying, “We should check it out.” One of the men beat on the guardhouse door twice quickly, and once after a pause, shouting “Jaskon, open up!”

The door was opened and the two Gallantro guards let their comrade who was inside the post know that they heard someone in violation of the curfew and that they were going to investigate. After a brief exchange, the two guards headed off down the alley while the third returned inside the post and closed the door behind him. Taking his lightsaber from out of his tunic where he had hidden it while trying to go undetected, Ginh waited for nearly a minute before he went and pounded on the door, twice quickly and once after a pause. After a moment the door was opened, and a swarthy man in a Gallantro Security Forces uniform stood with a carbine and a surly look on his face. The man’s expression quickly turned to one of surprise and he reached to bring the carbine around to point at Ginh, but not before a swift, circular motion of flashing yellow light had snapped off the front end of the carbine and brought the point of Ginh’s brilliant blade to hover inches from the man's nose. “Lets not be hasty, Jaskon,” Ginh said in an even tone, “I suggest we step inside for a moment and try to handle this civilly.”

Jaskon didn’t move at first, but as the bright yellow blade of Ginh’s lightsaber moved an inch closer, he slowly backed into the guard post. Entering the post and closing the door behind him, Ginh found four Planetary Parliamentary Guardsmen cuffed and unarmed, clearly having been ‘relieved of authority under suspicion of complicity in terrorism and negligence of duty’ as the plans he had uncovered had indicated was to be the official charge against the PPG and surviving members of parliament. Ginh let Jaskon back away to the wall of the compound, and then motioned towards the PPG guardsmen. “Unlock their cuffs.”

Jaskon complied, and Ginh then had one of the PPG officers cuff Jaskon to a chair. With their immediate threat incapacitated, Ginh shut of his lightsaber and stooped to the Gallantro Security guard’s eye level. “Jaskon, I am a patient man, but circumstances do not allow for patience. I need information. Specifically, I need to know everything you know about where Gallantro has set up checkpoints, where their men will be patrolling, and the extent of this takeover.”

He let the silence hang for a moment and locked eyes with the man and gave his most piercing 'Jedi stare' - the kind of unwavering, motionless stare that was focused somewhere behind the eyes of the person he was looking at and seemed to convey the impression that any thoughts or secrets they had were already being revealed. In reality, he didn’t know that he was in a condition to actually dig through Jaskon’s mind if he was unwilling and had training in resisting interrogations, but most people never assumed Jedi were tired or having an off day. “I would prefer you provide this information willingly,” he said, “but if you are uncooperative, I can leave you to the mercies of these PPG officers while I go look for your two friends.”

Jaskon’s eyes flickered towards the door for a moment, and then he looked down at the floor. Ginh could feel the man’s defiance fading away as he considered his situation. Within three minutes, between the information Jaskon had willingly provided and the thoughts and images that had floated to the front of his mind as he spoke, Ginh had enough information to piece together the streets he needed to avoid and the general areas being patrolled, though the man lacked knowledge about the scope of the coup beyond this section of Gallantrix. He set out with the four PPG officers, now armed with carbines and stun grenades from the equipment locker at their post, towards the neighborhoods of housing projects that surrounded the city’s spaceport. Once there, they holed up in a room one of the guards rented and began trying to determine what would be the next move. The guards were discussing trying to locate other guard posts, where presumably other PPG guards would be held, and arguing about whether they would still be held there or if Gallantro Security Forces would have moved their comrades to other locations by now. Ginh rested in a light meditation, half-listening to their planning session and half-allowing his consciousness to wade into the rejuvenating energy of the Force. It was not quite as refreshing as a full mediation or the blissful embrace of sleep, but it allowed him to still monitor their situation while regaining some energy. While in this state, a familiar sense in the Force brushed across his consciousness and snapped him to attention. Master Beleren he thought, recognizing the presence of the Grand Master of the Order. For the first time, he felt optimism kindle in his heart. He tried to project some sense of where he was to his fellow Jedi, and permitted himself to think that perhaps his situation was not as hopeless as he had begun to fear after all.

[Jace]

They had been ducking through alleys and side streets to avoid patrols but it was getting more difficult with each step. No doubt Gallantro set up their headquarters in the center of the city. Jace and his team had been lucky enough to get out of the spaceport in the first place. He could sense they were closing in on Ginh's position, but they still had a bit to go. Looking around the corner of the alley, Jace gave the all clear signal.

The Jedi master wanted to avoid any sort of conflict, at least until they met up with Ginh. They couldn't afford to get into a firefight. Unnecessary violence, not to mention they would be grossly outnumbered. No, they would duck and hide until they reached their goal. He was sure that the soldiers would not exactly be pleased but they would follow orders, they always did.

Jace wondered how different he was from his current comrades. As a shadow did he not do the same thing that these special operations soldiers did. Didn't they devote their whole life and put themselves in harm's way for the sake of the Republic? They trained just as much as he or any other Jedi did. Maybe they didn't have the Force or a lightsaber but they defended the Republic in their own way. Part of him knew the fundamental difference between the two but part of him said it was hypocrisy.

He suddenly stopped, holding his hand up in the sign to hold. A patrol was coming directly towards them. Jace and the rest would be spotted in a matter of moments. He quickly sent his conscience out towards the guards. 'Suggesting' that it would be more beneficial if they turned the other way and went down another street. They suddenly stopped walking, looked at each other and paused. Turning, they both walked off back the way they came. The Jedi let out an involuntary sigh of relief.

Another fifteen minutes of sneaking around and avoiding guards found the team in one of the city's housing projects. This was undoubtedly where Ginh was, the Force marked his location like a beacon. Jace guessed that the Knight was also trying to make his position known through the Force. The Grandmaster eventually tracked Ginh's location to a room. Jace silently nodded to the soldiers indicating them to prepare for possible hostiles. The Jedi knocked on the door, he heard the sound of voices and the shuffling of footsteps.

"Who is it?" A voice asked through the door.

"I am a Jedi, a seek another Jedi who is with you"

He heard the sound of whispered voices obviously debating whether they should believe him or not.

"Prove it" said the man

Jace unclipped his lightsaber and brought it up to the eye-hole. Apparently that was enough to convince them and they unlocked the door. The Jedi stepped in and motioned for the soldiers to stand down and follow him. He soon spotted Knight Ginh, he looked like he had been through Hell, but otherwise alright.

"It relieves me to see that you are alive and relatively well. I have guessed most of what has occurred here, but I would like to hear the full tale from you. Once that is done, we can decide on the next course of action"

[Dutch]

One might have thought that the Barabel was deranged as the group moved, his tongue flicking out from his mouth every few seconds and his head darting all over. But these movements had purpose, the expert tracker did what he could as they moved, gathered information as no other could. Senses peeled, Slihm picked up smells, sounds and tastes in the air. The main thing he tasted was panic, the local residents unsure what was going on.

As they ran Vangar kept close to Jace, making sure the Jedi was within his reach in case something were to happen. He knew that the Grand Master was more than capable of taking care of himself, but Slihm could sense things even the expert Jedi couldn't. As the patrol began to get closer, the reptile's claws unsheathed silently, the thick talons itching for blood. A low rumbling growl sounded from his chest, but stopped the minute they turned away. Slihm wasn't aware that it was Jace who made them turn away, the one thing the hunter couldn't sense was the Force itself.

Finally, they arrived at the destination, the predator watching intently as Jace made contact with the group. Slihm's eyes darted to the lightsaber as Jace removed it from his belt, his muscles automatically tensing. Slihm could take a bruising, even a blaster bolt or two but that was one weapon he did not want to be at the business end of. But finally they got entrance.

As Vangar entered a toothy grin slid to his face, a slight sissing of relief hissing from his teeth.

"Thisss one is pleasssed to sssee you alive Jeedai Ginh, we were afraid you got caught in the attack."

Said the Barabel as he bowed his head respectfully to the Knight. Slihm turned his obsidian gaze to Jace as he spoke, nodding in agreement and waiting to hear what their next step would be.