Star Wars: A New Dawn

Case shook her head, "an unfair advantage. You've got the saber, and though I've seen a Jedi master face up against one with his own bare hands, I have to say I don't fancy being cut to pieces trying to attempt the same thing. So... Gonna offer me one? And if you do... ted to say sorry for every time I've hurt you and I want to say sorry in advance for every time I might hurt you."

Mellicious wrote:

Arden looked to the side and shrugged, "you know my story. I've been around far longer than most ever have.  You are right it sounds better as a lie, a nice dramatic story. But the day comes when you've had enough. Your mind can be spent, even if your body's not. So tell me what I possibly have to gain from lying to you? I'm still going to take this ship and hunt down Cervana with or without your help. I'm just giving you a very generous offer where I don't kill you."

She tilted her head and grinned, "In fact I'm giving you so much more. You get to tell your master that you've taken down a wanted traitor, an ancient master of the force as I'm not a sith nor a Jedi, and lastly you save his daughter. If I were you, I'd be thinking of the grand prize you'll be rewarded with. Kill me now and the future will be that Cervana wins. Do you think she'll stop after the girl is dead? If you do then you don't know her thoughts like I do."

Darren narrowed his eyes. He knew she would try and throw him under the bus eventually, but the smart move would be to follow and keep tabs on Arden under the false assumption that he's submitting to her own agenda. He took his hand away from his lightsaber and closed his robe. "Fine."

Arden smiled and turned her lightsaber off, "glad to hear it, you're doing the hard work, you're getting the ship away from here."

Darren stood there completely still for a moment, as if processing what she had just said. He then began to walk past her and onto the ramp leading up and inside the ship. "Then I sincerely hope that you are fine with a blind man in charge of piloting your 'get away ship', so to speak."

*gulp facepalm- that was me! You know that now sounds incredibly daft. I should edit.*

(Ha ha ha, no, don't, it's all right. He can 'sorta' see with a variation of Force Sight, well enough to pilot a ship to a straightforward location and if he's familiar with the controls of a ship)

*i think I know how to sort it*

Arden grinned, "I know, but if they see me with you, not only will I be dead but you would face the same if they suspect you were going to let me escape. I'll be right at your feet directing you, if you put it into auto it will link up to their controls and get the ship ready for takeoff itself. Besides if you mean to betray me right now I'll slice your legs off. So we both have something to be concerned about."

She knelt down and powered up the ship, which alerted the hangar guards, "t562 what is your reason for departing?"

Darren didn't feel particularly intimidated by Arden. He recognized her skill through her reputation, of course, but he had his own reasons for following along with her plans. The risky play on his part was whether or not he would gain what he wanted out of his partnership himself and if it would cost him favor with his master if unsuccessful.

He tilted his head as the coms activated. "Control, this is T562. I have been ordered to scout swamp planet BP-79 due to reports informing us of the likelihood that traitor Darth Sestra is currently situating herself there.", he responds. Before they can reply or attempt to verify anything, Darren raises his hand and uses his influence with the force to reach out and sway, or rather, trick Control, ultimately persuading them that he was telling the truth and that everything was in order.

"You haven't passed security-" the controller began and then stopped short, "take your plane out of the holding area and activate auto departure."

It wasn't until the ship had taken off that Arden breathed a sigh of relief and pulled herself up into the seat alongside him, "foolish minds will always be the ones that are easily corrupted and manipulated."

She hopped up and pressed a few buttons, turning off their fracker and sat back down, "hearing you just now- darth sestra. I've long forgotten that she's a person and one of us. From the moment she became one I feared that she was too ambitious and in it for herself. Do you remember the stories about my time as an ancient? Full of reckless men and women who all thought they would be the greatest, the best and the only one. I've come to realise that there never will be just one greatest sith or Jedi of all time. I want you to promise me something. It has nothing to do with what we're doing now but my future doesn't look long term. Even if I make it intact against Cervana. I worry for maeror... When you're that high up in authority there will always be someone like Cervana that wants to destroy it. You may think little of me, surprisingly I think the same way about myself but we both have one thing in common, we both hold great regard for our master.

Look we're in the system. You're a good pilot Darren. Should we cloak our radars?"

Maeror looked out into space from the observation deck of his flagship, Leviathan. He turned his head as Sith Warrior approached him and knelt.

"My Lord, we've received reports from Darth Desir. She is on Anzat and beginning her search. We've also learned that your apprentice has left with the prisoner-"

Maeror turned back looking out to space. "I am aware. Let them go." He said. "Order the bridge to take us back to the capital and have Angalacon push his advantage. Kuat must fall."

"Yes, my lord." The Sith said rising up and backing away a few steps before turning and leaving.

There'ss a reply to case above

"Very well.", Darren replied and slid his hand across the dashboard, finding the appropriate dial and turning it. He began to frown. "What is it that you wanted me to promise you? You didn't say."

Arden took a breath and stared ahead as they approached the planet slowly landing in dense trees. She stood and placed her hand on his shoulder, "I thought it was obvious. By keeping my daughter safe you are also protecting darth maeror, our master. I am not asking you to be her protector but if you can prevent sestra from getting her hands on her then that's all I'm asking. I'm saying this because I- no let's not go there...I've said enough."
She handed him his cloak and took hers into her arms, it felt weird to her as she never cared much for hiding under hoods. If she wanted to hide she would normally use the force. As she turned from him she picked up a ships signal.
"Be alert, we're not alone. There's a Jedi here as well."

~~~~~~~~
Despite the concerns of Luke and Leia, Neri couldn't ignore the fact that her sister was alive and that she could try and change her. Surely she would abandon all trace of the dark side for her sister? Her baby sister?

Leiliana accompanies Desir and Talon on Anzat, scouting ahead slightly. Meanwhile, Quin happily follows behind the Sith Lady, balancing on a few rocks along the way with her arms outstretched. She eventually grows bored and sits on a larger one, Indian-style, proceeding to lift it through the force and use it to carry her along. "My, this is uneventful. I should've brought a doll to pass the time," she laments.

Ink wrote:

With Nix running the stealth systems, Kitty brings the ship in for a drop-off at the Sith shipyard. "Bring back souvenirs!" Kitty chimes as the teams get together.

"I know.", Darren replied through slightly gritted teeth. He did not care for her easy going attitude towards him. Upon walking over to the platform he felt something else. "This planet is... strange. As if it affects my connection to the force."

Arden pursed her lips together picking up on his body and facial expressions, "You too...?" She never showed fear but she was bothered by what he was feeling, she couldn't put her finger on it.

"Whatever it is it's strong..." she knelt and scanned the environment, when there was nothing there was disappointment in her face. Then her scanner instead picked up an object and she stood, "You were spot, its definitely a craft. I have no objections to checking it out, but my gut feeling is that she would be far from there by now. Feel free to have the deciding vote."

She strapped her saber to her waist and activated the cloak shield on the ship.

*it sounds pointless but buying time so Drake gets a chance to catch up.*

Calspur stepped out from beside a rock outcropping near the scouting Leilianna, dropping the cloak of his Force Stealth. "Kaede. I assume the rest of Darth Desir's group is here with you."

***

Ena pulled her hair up into a tight bun and pinned it in place, then pulled the canine helmet over her head and sealed it with the hermetics on her armor. "Ready when you are, Nix," she said, voice coming out scratchy and electronic through the external speaker. "Beta?"

A few burbles of droidspeak and a couple irritated bleeps answered her. "Yeah, I know. Sneaking's not really your thing," she admitted, shrugging as she slid her lightsaber into a case on her belt. "But hey, at least you get to try out the new chassis?"

A more positive bleep, and then both of them turned to look at Nix.

***

Serra got on the shipboard comm of the Requiem. "All right ladies, gentlemen, droids, and otherwise-gendered beings. We are going to get underway soon, so I suggest you get ready for takeoff. Next stop, the Anzat system. Intel has pegged quite the party of Sith activity planetside."

"They are," she says, still looking straight ahead as she continues scouting their path with her usual apathy.

---

Nix convenes with Ena and Beta "Infiltration team's ready to drop," she says.

The Merc Knights and Jaxie gather as well. "Knights ready to deploy," Zora says.

"Why do I get the feeling my medical skills are about to get a workout?"

Tsuni takes up her place at the main gun, and Hsien heads to engineering. From the cockpit, Kitty observes the hub. "All systems online. Ready for action." With the flip of a switch, the hatch opens.

---

"Anzat, huh?" Major says. "Never a dull moment, with this one."

(sure, no worries mel)

"We might find a decent lead if we locate the vessel she arrived in.", Darren said. "I say we go."

Arden nodded and leapt from the platform levitating herself down into the valley below. Once deep within the valley and jungle she felt the eerieness of how dark it was.

Darren walked beside her quietly as they made their way further inside the enclosing jungle, letting the darkness cover them. He let his force sight search their surroundings. Usually he could see rather far ahead of himself but there was something about this forest that clouded his 'sight'. It made him feel at unease, but also intrigued.

"Have you been here before?"

Arden looked to him rather surprised by his curious and sudden question to her. She wasn't one to smile or grin but she did wonder whether the change in attitude was because he was finally assured that she wasn't a threat to him.

"No, planets full of dark valleys and trees are not my thing," she replied with humour, "but I have heard of this place. It is said that some of the most rarest types of animal and flora can be found here that do not exist on any other planet. For our sake I certainly hope none of these creatures are big meat eaters."

"Taking in the humidity and factoring the terrain I don't think that's likely.", Darren said. "I'm assuming we're surrounded by vegetation and the rest of the planet is about the same? Hmm... We should probably try and distant ourselves as much as possible from the valleys however."

"That is very true," arden admitted, "and knowing our traitor she wouldn't be hiding here in the darkness. 1- she's way too proud and 2- she's here not necessarily to hide. If I wanted to disappear entirely I would be ensuring that my ship and I couldn't be found. Therefore I strongly suspect she's after something here."

"Right.", Darren said with a sigh. "I don't suppose there are any rare artifacts strewn around this part of the galaxy which would happen to include this planet?"