Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169 
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 7, 2013 20:38:22 GMT -8
"Planets?" Her mind reeled as she tried to wrap her head around the segueway she had ever heard in conversation. He blew up planets? Her face twisted in confusion and she stepped backwards from him, stumbling into the pilot's chair. A dawning horror stole over her features. "How many civilians died?"
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor 
Posts: 469 
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 7, 2013 20:53:06 GMT -8
Taung dropped his head slightly, looking at the floor. It wasnt a proud point or even a high point in his life. It was war...a horrible necessity...politics by other means...or so the aureutiise said long long ago. He replied in a soft downcast voice.
"The number that is being used by HNN is 32 million between the them."
It was a staggering number, even though it paled in comparison to the population of the galaxy, or even the Yuuzhan Vong war of 365 trillion....but he had given the order. That was what made the difference. Him.
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 7, 2013 21:07:42 GMT -8
Her hands clasped to her mouth. She was a trained killer but her assignments were not innocents. Her assignments were orders. Who was pulling his strings? "Why? Who issued the order? Was this Ashrah?"
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor
Posts: 469
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 7, 2013 21:24:23 GMT -8
"I gave the orders. Sernpidal, was a test on a historical Sith Naval Base of Operations. Carida...was a Jedi Base, and to send a message to the galaxy to unite against me, so that the war could be ended. Thats why this next battle is so important. I'm afraid if it doesnt end there...it may never end."
His face remained looking at the hull between their feet, his eyes not seeing the gray durasteel and ceramic.
"I sound like a monster don't I?"
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 7, 2013 21:34:44 GMT -8
"Dear god Taung. There had to be another way. Ashrah hates the force users but you put a target on the Mandalorians for everyone. What makes you any different from those you fight? Do you realize what you have done to Lianna?" A wave of uneasy spread over her and she yanked the buy'ce off the floor next to her chair and the contents of her stomach emptied into it. Once it stopped, she brushed past him to take the helmet to a refuse disposal unit. She couldn't look at him, wondering now how they were ever going to be able to live. She dropped the helmet into the trash and locked it away before she bent over the counter, cradling her head in her hands. "You kinda do. But it makes sense now why you would hand the planet to them. What makes you think they won't kill you for your crimes?"
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor
Posts: 469
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 7, 2013 22:03:30 GMT -8
"No...that is the worst part. Ashrah hates the force users its true. But the worst part is that he started a war that he couldnt win. I am a Force Sensitive...Gaeza is a Force Sensitive...he would kill us both if he found out. What he doesnt realize is that the Force shows itself at times out of pure randomness. He can't get them all without killing innocents, and he would. But what the Mandos of today don't understand...is that they can't win a war the way they are fighting it. The ways of industrial warfare will beat skill eventually. By going after everyone, he has done nothing but cause death. The Sith...the Jedi...they both dislike the Mandos, the Sith may use us as elite expendable shock troops...but this war would last forever if Ashrah had his way. By doing...what I have...on the strategic level...is that I have put a target on myself, because I am the only one who could. And the Sith and Jedi would let the war go on forever as a minor nuisance to them, while our clans are bled out and eventually wiped out, or absorbed into nothing more than slaves or forced to lose our identity. I issued a challenge to all sides to have one battle at Kuat to decide who the winner of this war is. At the end of the battle...if I plan it right...no one will be able to continue the war when the battle is over. No more innocents on unknown numbers of worlds will be displaced, starve, die of disease, be killed in violent ways, their homes will remain intact, and no one will have the military strength to enforce their will on any other. On the big scale...the sacrifice of the few...will save more."
He was silent for a moment before continuing.
"Ashrah started a war, with only 2 shipyards...one...can build capital ships. The Sith and Jedi can build capital ships at the rate that the Mandos can starfighters. We can't replace our losses, only spread destruction in a running war, striking soft targets which means civilian casualties on a mass and continuing scale as the Sith and Jedi chase us from one side of the galaxy to the other. Years...months...decades. What will stop the Sith who are very willing to pound planets from orbit...or suck the souls from them...when the Mandos can't replace their losses? How many will die?"
He was quiet again for a moment.
"The Jedi are incapable of executing anything, the Sith...won't at least the one I am going to approach, because I am offering a planet, a shipyard, and the mind that has been humiliating their forces at every encounter, and I have had dealings with them before. The price of peace is high...it is good that war is so terrible...lest the galaxy get too fond of it. It needs to horrify the galaxy to the point that they pause and remember the lessons of the last one. If it doesnt work...well I won't have to worry about it because I will be dead and not able to worry about it."
He fell silent again. He had revealed more to her in his thoughts on the war than anyone else.
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 8, 2013 21:53:07 GMT -8
She let him stand there while she searched out the refresher, her rucksack in her hand, shutting him in silence as she cocooned herself in. She pulled out her toothbrush to help get the taste of bile out of her mouth but she found herself staring herself in the face. She remembered the speeder bomb she planted. The collateral damage was a cafe full of people just getting their coffee. The innocent wife who died with her politician husband. There was plenty of blood on her hands. She could not claim to be better than Taung. Maybe they were both monsters, but at least he had principles. She was just a tool.
She finished and tucked the toothbrush away, shoving the refresher door open. She came back out to find him still standing there, looking forlorn at the floor of the ship. 6 approached him, pulling him into an embrace. She held him, her hand on the back his head, her fingers in his hair. She cooed in his ear, soothing him with a whispered apology.
"I'm sorry I reacted that way. It's not everyday someone tells you that they destroyed a planet, let alone two. I have no right to judge you for your actions because god knows mine are red enough from my own deeds." She pulled away from him, her blue eyes locked with his. "Please forgive me."
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor
Posts: 469
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 9, 2013 20:04:45 GMT -8
Taung wrapped his arms around her waist when she embraced him, he had waited, heart in his throat and stomach somewhere in his feet as he had been sitting there in silence, wondering if she might not just decide that he was a monster and remove him from the galaxy as the monster he sounded like in his own ears at the moment. The cold logic had taken over at that point and told him that even looking back...he had made the correct decision for himself and others at the time, and he had to trust his instincts and logic. If she, in this time, and place had decided that he was the one that needed to go for the betterment of the galaxy...there were consequences to ones action. When she came out and reached for him he actually half expected to see the room spin as his neck was snapped, but when she embraced him tightly and apologized to him for the way she reacted...his heart and stomach came smashing together and sent his feelings shooting in all directions.
He swallowed trying to find his voice and managed to reply in a whisper.
"I..." That was as far as he got before his voice failed, and at a loss as to what to do simply kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her and held her tight to him, his eyes squeezing out moisture at the corners to sting at the dry skin there.
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 11, 2013 19:22:47 GMT -8
She felt that peace engulf her once more, the silence in his arms that calmed the beast within, the feeling of his lips melting her defenses. What sorcery was this he possessed that he could bewitch her with just the taste of his kiss. She melted into his embrace for what seemed an eternity but when they pulled back, it had only been a couple minutes. She nuzzled his nose, her arms still wrapped around his neck.
"I suppose we should get underway. I'll need to take the shuttle back to get Sep and Einen. You just have to tell them that you hopped a ride back and that you need them to bring someone with them. I need to finish something on the surface but I'll join you soon."
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor
Posts: 469
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 11, 2013 20:21:50 GMT -8
Taung sighed, not wanting to let her go, but knowing that this was likely the way their relationship would have to be for now.
"You come right back."
He tried to keep the slight bit of fear out of his voice, not entirely succeeding as he closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against hers.
"I have to get ready for the battle...be safe."
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 11, 2013 20:59:31 GMT -8
"I can't make that promise. I have to throw them off my trail. You be careful. Give me a day. If I don't make it to Sienar, well. Let's not talk about that right now."
She kissed him quickly, before she forced herself to pull away from his body, brushing past him so he couldn't see the rush of emotion in her eyes and streaming down her cheeks. She slid into the seat, and rebooted the engines. Power flickered on as the control panel lit up like Coruscant. She pulled the yoke to make the ship climb from drifting back on course to the shipyards.
She docked quickly and opened the ramp, ready to turn and burn back down to leave this ship for Sep and Einen.
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Taung H'rel
Retired High Councilor
Posts: 469
Affiliation: Galactic Empire
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Post by Taung H'rel on Dec 12, 2013 19:14:49 GMT -8
"One day."
He gave her a quick smile before putting on his helmet and slipping off the shuttle and back to Sienar's orbital docks.
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Dec 17, 2013 20:52:57 GMT -8
6 sneaked through the crowds to the rendezvous point. She recognized 8126 across the market square, and she cursed her luck under her breath. Slipping down an alleyway, she came face to face with 9147. The pair of sisters looked grimly at 6, their anger at stealing their future from them plainly in their eyes. This was not going to be easy. They were skilled hand to hand fighters and she simply didn't have time for this. They would be passionate and fighting for revenge. She turned sideways to look both ways. 6's hands were stuffed into the front pocket of an oversized hoodie, each gripping a small slugthrower. She angled the shots as best she could as she squeezed the triggers. 8126 hit the ground, shot through the abdomen, while 9147 spun away, hit in the arm. 6 pulled out the guns and unloaded 4 shots into 9147's back before she turned and stopped by 8126. She emptied the clips into the downed spy before she fled from the marketplace.
Authorities would respond to the shots fired and Palex would know to stay away when he heard sirens. She went to the back up location and waited for about 30 minutes before the hacker showed up with a large white Cathar male. Words were few and 6 had shed another disguise. They departed for a unregistered shuttle pad outside town. The trip wasn't long but everyone was on edge until they were safely in the air. 6 wore a long curly red wig, sunglasses and a wild outfit. They disappeared into the civilian traffic in the orbit towards Sienar.
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Octavio
Member
I live... Again.
Posts: 9
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Post by Octavio on Mar 12, 2014 19:10:44 GMT -8
Octavio gazed hard at the perculiar (and altogether alien) nut as if the mere looks could crush it, then proceeded to do it with but a determined flick of his fingers and gulped the fruit. It didn't taste half as bad as he had expected. There was a small bowl of them in front of him and he proceeded to take another, avoiding the drink. If there was anything toxic within the nuts it wasn't anything his carefully hidden antidote couldn't take care of. His fingers and teeth made short work of another nut. It wasn't until then he realized that people sitting by the next table were obseving him with too much interest. Avoiding contact (he was here to meet his employer after all), he glanced around the table once again and picked up the strange-looking instrument he spotted earlier but couldn't figure out. Presumably, it was the nut opener. Oh well...
He ran his fingers through the short trimmed hair and consulted his watch. The contact was late. True, he was wearing civil clothes (with armourweave underneath), but he still didn't look like a regular patron of this fancy place, for sure. There was the other thing that rubbed him wrong: he didn't like to meet his employers up-front either. Less people know your face the better, a wise man he once killed would say. This had to be an exception though: plenty of money involved meant that the employer dictated the rules, whether the beroya like it or not.
Trying to keep his calm Octavio cracked another nut.
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Mar 13, 2014 14:13:47 GMT -8
Director Roberts entered the pub and found the bounty hunter quickly, his attire sticking out but only slightly. Roberts sat down at the table, no introductions exchanged as he slid a data stick towards the man slowly chewing on the bowl of nuts in the center of the table.
"Thank you for coming. We have an internal problem, and I am running out of options to deal with it. An agent of ours, Asset 4357 designated as operative 6 has gone rogue. So far, she has alerted her mark of the orders to kill him and killed her handler and the 2 other agents in her stable. We believe she also used a slicer named Palex to help her track and free a political prisoner we have been keeping rather quiet. She fled with Taung H'rel to the battle of Kuat, under her last known cover name, Mel Tervho. According to Imperial battle reports, Mel Tervho was captured on Kuat Drive Yards and is being transferred to a prison somewhere in the Galactic Empire. Since we are now part of the Empire, we cannot risk that she will talk to them regarding the prisoner to buy her freedom. You need to find her and bring her back here, alive."
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Octavio
Member
I live... Again.
Posts: 9
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Post by Octavio on Mar 13, 2014 14:41:16 GMT -8
Octavio accepted the datapad, pocketed it and divided his attention between the bowl of nuts and the specifics of the job. Needless to say, most of the attention went to the latter. Once his employers' representative was finished he raised his head and nodded.
''Extraction, easy. Alive... That's an expensive word in my diary. Imperial prison, doable. With certain documents. On your charge.''
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Mar 13, 2014 15:46:02 GMT -8
"Cost isn't a problem. There's 50,000 up front and 50,000 more when you bring her in. Has to be alive."
Director Roberts slid a credit chip over to the man, then grabbed some of the nuts himself, munching on them and trying to look nonchalant.
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Octavio
Member
I live... Again.
Posts: 9
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Post by Octavio on Mar 13, 2014 15:57:33 GMT -8
Octavio frowned. The man was obviously not taking the problem seriously. He also didn't look the part to just help himself to another man's nuts, but he did so without even being polite enough to ask. His eyes narrowed into thin slits of eyes, watching the cargo travel all the way up to the man's mouth. The rest of the face remained impassive though; they were both business men when all was said and done... And a dog never bit the hand that fed it. However...
O: ''100 grands in total, for this kind of job? I'm going to go out on a limb here and say it's mighty cheap.''
He raised a hand to stop any pending protest.
O: ''... And let me tell you why. You won't find a hunter able of pulling off this kind of deal for this pittance. I want... 100 thousand up front, 200 (thousand) when it's done, allowing for 50 thousand off if the target is dead before it reaches you, plus travelling and equipment expenses and a couple of high-tech ID's you might get your hands on which will make both your and my life easier. This is the deal, take or I leave.''
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Mel Tervho
The Vegemite Enclave
Posts: 169
Affiliation: Vegemite Enclave
Traffic Light: Blue
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Post by Mel Tervho on Mar 13, 2014 16:06:27 GMT -8
This was precisely why the LIA had their own agents, to avoid these kinds of runaway costs, but then again, their own internal people didn't seem to be doing such a bang up job of bringing her in at the moment. He bristled at the figures and terms, but when he thought about the cost of replacing Myrnna and her stable, he sighed. It was very well worth it, as long as he could deliver the girl. He pulled out a datapad and wired an additional 50,000 to the man across from him to an account that he had paid to set up the meeting. He slid the pad across the table so he could verify the transaction.
"Fine, we have a deal. Just get back here alive. She's no use to me dead."
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Octavio
Member
I live... Again.
Posts: 9
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Post by Octavio on Mar 13, 2014 16:17:52 GMT -8
Octavio accepted the pad and entered the number of the account. Of course, there was always a possibility of these devices having a digit-reading program, the one any man that flew under the radar was allergic to.
O: ''Alive, not answering to what she might do to herself by trying to escape, harm me, scream at the most inconvenient moment or just doing something outright stupid.''
He raised his head to gaze at his employer. The eyes reflected the lack of emotion behind the gaze: a pair of icebergs.
O: ''But I do understand the terms. Alive, at all costs. Now...''
He raised the datapad and closed both fists around it.
O: ''I am a careful man. Our deal is done and sealed, all that remains is this datapad. Shall I break it or do you wish to do the honours yourself?''
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