Open Terrain

*A look of confusion came over her face, as he talked about how an orphan life was hard. She could not remember a time when she was not an orphan, it wasn├óÔé¼Ôäót hard at least to her it was simply life. When he asked about her hurting anywhere she couldn├óÔé¼Ôäót think of anything that hurt beyond endurance.*

├óÔé¼┼ôMy wrist is the only thing that is bothering me. Other than that I can live with everything else├óÔé¼┬ª Can I ask you exactly where I am? Everything is still fuzzy├óÔé¼┬ª but I think other than that I am alright. And I don├óÔé¼Ôäót think that being an orphan is to horrible as long as I can remember I have been one.├óÔé¼┬Ø

*Exitius was staring at her for quite a long time before he moved away from her, by stepping a foot or two backwards, and folded his arms against his chest. Something about this young girl didn't sit right within him and he was now determined to find out exactly what that was. Maybe a bit of Indoctrination would work upon the little girl, but was something like that wise on the mind of a child? Exitius thought about holding that off for now as he moved in to address her injuries. She had several burns and scars on her body, so Exitius reached over and pulled out a small medical tube of Bacta to put on her wounds. As he did, he looked up and answered her question.*

"You're on the planet of Garqi in the Eastern Rim of the Universe."

├óÔé¼┼ôGarqi on the Eastern Rim, but I know that I had been on Naboo├óÔé¼┬ª That is a very, very long distance. Then again you never know what time is like in hyperspace.├óÔé¼┬Ø

*With a great deal of effort Moria was able to fore herself to remain still so that the stranger could take a look and then properly treat her injuries. The fact was she was still not sure what was going on herself, she had been frozen in carbonite and bam the next thing that she remember she was here. She bit her lower lip hard, as she did everything she could do to remain still.*

├óÔé¼┼ôMy name is Moria, what├óÔé¼Ôäós yours?├óÔé¼┬Ø

*Exitius didn't answer her for a few moments while he continued to treat the wounds she received from the crash. He carefully rubbed the bacta healing agent into her wounds, then wrapped them with bandages. When he was finally finished with her wounds, his eyes traced over and glared at the wrist that she claimed to be bothering her. Carefully and gently, the Sith Lord grabbed her arm and put a light medical brace on it to keep it in place until she healed. The girl was young and with wounds like these, she would heal in no time at all. After he was finished, he stood straight up and looked back over toward her after she mentioned her name to him.*

"Zalera."

*Overexcitement was something that was normal for most girl her again, and Moria was not exception. As Exitius treated her wounds, she watched attentively trying her hardest to sit still. It seemed that after the carbon freezing, all of the energy that had been held in reserves for so long was now starting to bubble to the surface, making it painful to stay completely still. When he was finished treating her, and finally looked up at her, she gave him a brilliant smile.*

├óÔé¼┼ôNice to meet you, Zalera. So how did you end up here in the middle of the woods? Where you camping? I have only been a time or two but I always found it to be so much fun! Did you notice the trees, they are purple, I have never seen purple trees before but aren├óÔé¼Ôäót they cool. Purple is my favorite color? What your favorite color?├óÔé¼┬Ø

*After Moria had been talking and asking question for a good long while with much of a pause she seemed to suddenly realize that Zalera was not talking.*

├óÔé¼┼ôThank you for helping me.├óÔé¼┬Ø

*Exitius' eyes were just glaring at the young girl as she continued to ask him question after question. Honestly, he had never met anyone so hyper in his life. It actually brought a slight smile to the left corner of his mouth while he stood there with his arms folded against his chest. From the explosion of the Force from his body back within the Medical Compound, Zalera's clothers were still dirty and damp, yet almost dry from the heat of the planet. His brownish black hair was still dripping with tiny drops of water and sweat as his eyes slowly returned to his natural brown color.*

"You're welcome. Since you don't have a family of your own, you can stay with me until your well enough. If you want to leave after that, I'll drop you off at the place of your choosing and the rest will be up to you. If you desire to stay, then you can stay."

*As young as she was Moria could tell that there was something about Exitius that he wasn't talking about. Something around him felt very charged almost like he had released something from himself and now was attempting to recover from it. Fingers drummed against the medical bed as she looked around the room trying to figure out what it would be like to go around with this man. Maybe it wouldn't be to bad, and if she wanted to cause a little terouble something about this man made her think that he might not mind so much.*

"I think that I would like to go with you, wherever it is that you are going. But are you sure that you want a little girl tagging around with you everywhere. Most guys don't like to have little girls following them around.... but if you want I will be more than happy to earn my keep, in a way that we both can find fair."

*The smirk on the corner of Exitius' lips only lifted a bit more as he turned away from the girl. With his back now facing toward her, the Sith Lord looked over his left shoulder to glance back at Moria. She was a very strange young girl, but maybe she could be trained in the ways of the Dark Side of the Force. Maybe she could be his star pupil that would burn the universe with Dark Fire. As of right now, she was just an injured young girl with an amazing potential, but if that potential was tapped into, she could be amazing when she was older. The light was reflecting perfectly in Zalera's brown crystal eyes as that same smirk remained on his lips.*

"Good. Get your rest. We're heading off world now."

*Could this young girl be useful to me in the long run? Something was telling me she could grow up to a powerful Sith, but how did I just happen to stumble across a great find like this? Was the Force leading me to discover this young girl before she died out here in the wastes? I turned my head toward the door of the medical bay and walked through it to head back to the cockpit. Once there, I sat down and quickly began to start flipping switches to activate the craft. Systems hummed to life as the reactor core sent energy throughout the primary systems of the Dynamic freighter. While the systems engaged one by one, I sat in the cockpit with my eyes closed for a few moments.*

*The thought of Dathomir popped in my mind and I could still see Zadea Ordo standing in front of my with her lightsaber ignited toward me. The red glow of the saber shinned in my direction as my already yellow eyes burned in her direction. I felt a powerful hatred for that woman twisting and turning inside of my heart as I watched her defend that cowardly woman she called a sister. As I thought about how betrayed I felt, I began to grind my top teeth against my bottom. My body felt like it was burning hot, yet the cold chill of the Dark Side was already upon me. I gave out a loud heavy sigh as I opened my eyes, grabbed the controls, and pushed down on the throttle. The ship carrying myself and my new friend, Moria, lifted from the surface of Garqi and shot off into the sky.*

*Five probe droids crash to the various points on the surface of the planet. After discarding their hyperspace capsules they began to scan the planet's surface. They focused on settlements and areas of geographical and strategic value as they reported back with burst transmissions every five minutes.*

*The probe droid tracks several speeders travelling from the capital to a small town in the middle of the countryside. It increases it's burst transmissions to the Golden Drum to once every other second for maximum information transmitted in case it is engaged. It quickly moves closer to the town to scan the buildings and get an accurate number of vehicles, people and weapons but it is engaged quickly. Laser bolts fly and rockets are let loose and the droid is hit, damaged and self-destructs.*

*The air around the settlement that was holding a gathering of armed men was calm. Calm but the atmosphere was tense, they all knew what was happening and they were against it. The meeting was only to decide which of the enthusiastic individuals would lead this group against their perceived enemy. In the town hall there were many raised voices from these individuals arguing the back and forth about who had rallied the most men, weapons and equipment. There was one person who was emerging as the best candidate but the other's didn't want to admit it. He had brought the most armed speeders, the second most men and the second most blasters to the meeting. The others, one of which had brought the most men and the other who had brought the most blasters, argued that it was fire-power and men that would be of greatest assistance as the speeders would be easy targets for any fighters. However an armed speeder had brought down the probe droid a short while ago so eventually this man, titled "Herman Supreme", was voted in as leader.*

*As this was going on the LAAT/i gunships from the Lahara Fleet had made it safely to the planets surface through the atmosphere. They were a few miles away from the town and now were approaching in a low flight-path, a trademark of theirs. This would mean they could drop off their troops relatively close but also stealthily and then be in a perfect position to provide fire support. This drop off of Marines and Scout went ahead without a hitch all around the town at a distance of 800 metres. Equipment was checked and weapons were made ready and orders sent over the comm-link to each unit to take position.

Once the Scout snipers were in position and the Marines on standby, the Gunships took off once again. This time they flew high and fast as they homed in on the town. Just as the vote was cast for the leader of the rebels, they were under attack!

The gunships fired a volley of rockets and missiles at the armed speeders guarding the outskirts of the town as the snipers began picking off the rebel troopers that were on patrol. This soon followed by the gunships flying over the whole town and the gunners using their discretion to engage targets of value with the particle beam and laser cannons. Explosions and screams or panic filled the air as the LAAT/i gunships rained fire from above, disrupting the rebels plans to say the least. The snipers had effectively dealt with the sentries on the edge of town, they had no idea what was coming.

The Marines were formed up and now moving in from the scout perimeter towards the town. They were not yelling or firing yet so the rattle and back ground noise of the equipment and movement couldn't be heard over the explosions and panic from within the town. The gunners on the LAAT's knew they wouldn't be able to fire as much once the Marine had entered the town so they were pouring it on right now. The Marines knew this too and were thankful for the cover. They formed up along the sides of buildings around the town and prepared for the next phase.*

*The Rebels were quick to react to the attack, having been on edge since the probe droid was shot down. They were quick to return fire, however ineffective that fire may be. The gunships were un-phased by the blaster fire, shrugging it off as they continued their mission. A few more fly pasts from them all and they disappeared from the skies, retreating to a safe distance for the time being. This left the town in almost complete silence expect the cries of the injured and the roaring of the fires.*

*The rebels were again quick to react to this turn of events, quickly recovering the injured and gathering the scattered equipment. They had been well prepared for this fight, just ill equipped. An inventory was quickly passed to the leader, they had lost all but four of their armed speeders, an estimated 10% of the rebel troops were dead and another 15% injured. The leader realised that almost all of the sentried from the edge of town had been killed and immediately dispatched re-enforcements to sure up the perimeter before any ground assault was launched. Little did he know he was too late.*

*Around the edge of the town the Marines waited for the signal. The scout snipers were watching for the re-enforcements that were certain to come, they were walking into a trap. The Marines sprang the trap as soon as the rebels were close. They opened fire down the narrow streets of the town and slaughtered the enemy down to the man. This was followed by a swift advance into the town from all sides, the marines would clear the town building by building as the scouts kept the enemy contained. This would take a good while.*

*The battle had lasted a couple of hours and the death toll had been quite significant. The rebels were unwilling to bow to what they saw as an alien invasion. The Marines were following orders and made sure the town was cleansed. Eventually the leader and a few rebels were trapped in the town hall and surrendered to the Marine Commander. They were rounded up and kept in the town's lightly damaged police station. Soon after that most of the marines left in the gunships leaving just a company of Marines to guard the town.*

[action:2gu6opup]All over the planet, in key areas, C-9979 landing craft of the Lahara Army touched down and deployed the units on board. This consisted of 25,000 Shock Troopers supported by 150 AT-AT's, 600 At-ST's and 375 Sabre-class Tanks. They immediately divided up into patrol groups and began to survey the area they were assigned. This included a large concentration of groups around the area of the Capital city. The goal of the groups was to maintain peace on the planet and combat any resistance to the peaceful transition to LAN rule.[/action:2gu6opup]

[quote="Group Composition":2gu6opup][list:2gu6opup][*:2gu6opup]1 [color=#FF4000:2gu6opup]AT-AT[/color:2gu6opup][/*:m:2gu6opup]
[*:2gu6opup]2 [color=#FF8000:2gu6opup]TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tanks [/color:2gu6opup][/*:m:2gu6opup]
[*:2gu6opup]4 [color=#FFBF00:2gu6opup]AT-ST's[/color:2gu6opup][/*:m:2gu6opup]
[*:2gu6opup]85 [color=#FFFF00:2gu6opup]Shock Troopers[/color:2gu6opup] [color=#40BFBF:2gu6opup][40 inside the AT-AT][/color:2gu6opup][/*:m:2gu6opup][/list:u:2gu6opup][/quote:2gu6opup]

[action:2nj3idhc]Over the course of the Army's deployment troop numbers are cut back as civilian authorities take over such jobs and policing and fire prevention. This meant troop numbers were now 10,000 Shock Troopers supported by 60 AT-AT's, 240 AT-ST's and 120 Sabre-class Tanks. They were still divided up into patrol groups continued to patrol mainly around the Capital City.[/action:2nj3idhc]

[quote="Group Composition":2nj3idhc][list:2nj3idhc][*:2nj3idhc]1 [color=#FF4000:2nj3idhc]AT-AT[/color:2nj3idhc][/*:m:2nj3idhc]
[*:2nj3idhc]2 [color=#FF8000:2nj3idhc]TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tanks [/color:2nj3idhc][/*:m:2nj3idhc]
[*:2nj3idhc]4 [color=#FFBF00:2nj3idhc]AT-ST's[/color:2nj3idhc][/*:m:2nj3idhc]
[*:2nj3idhc]65 [color=#FFFF00:2nj3idhc]Shock Troopers[/color:2nj3idhc] [color=#40BFBF:2nj3idhc][40 inside the AT-AT][/color:2nj3idhc][/*:m:2nj3idhc][/list:u:2nj3idhc][/quote:2nj3idhc]

*Normality had begun to once again return to the wilderness of Garqi, the disturbance of the slightly recent invading forces now just a blink in the vast depths of Garqi's memory. The only disturbances, which the wilderness played host too, were the vast number of farms which once again sprang to life, the farmers happy to once again be working after near to seven months of inactivity.

The newly formed Planetary Senate had recently approved a proposal, brought forth to it by the widely known Jedi Master Barden Sarrow, which formed and gave 70% of all agricultural rights to Sarrow Industries. Although a small number of politicians still adamantly fought against it, the farmers were rejoicing. They were once again working, and being paid much more then the small amounts they had collected during past harvest seasons. Now they were paid for labor, given a balance for equipment and repairs, and paid for their product as well. They knew that a golden economical age was soon to come to the city of Pesktda, and in extension, all of Garqi.*



*A small transport had landed, carrying a small survey crew and their equipment. Since the formation of Sarrow Industries, an emphasis had been placed on collecting geological samples and determining exactly what minerals the planet had to offer, what materials they could be used to fabricate, and the most eco-friendly way to go about extracting the minerals. This team was just one of many survey teams which were currently scouring what the experts had determined as mineral "hot spots" located on Garqi.

They began by setting up ground penetrating scanners, using a combination of sound and detection devices to determine if there were any vast deposits of significant minerals located below. They repeated this process in a 200 yard diameter circle. Once they had collected all their preliminary data, they began to drill in locations they had marked, aiming to reach the located deposits and acquire samples from them. they would then label the exact locations the samples were collected, store them, and eventually take them back to their main base of operations (Sarrow Industries Lab Corps.) and determine what each area had to offer.*

*The Shikkar cruised effortlessly down into the atmosphere of Garqi, sliding into the increasingly dense air with an ease that spoke well of the Yachts aerodynamic design. The modifications had been cunningly added so that they didn't sacrifice any of the ships sleek grace and curved body. The extra space that housed the fighter had been worked to elongate the shape preventing any wind drag when it operated in atmosphere and the weapons were mounted in retractable turrets that only deployed when needed.

While not an exceptional pilot Caed was quite adept at guiding his own ship and had done so through countless planetary incursions, preferring to fly himself whenever possible rather than relying on lackeys and minions. He peered out the viewports at the riot of colours below as the red, purple and green jungles of Garqi flashed past underneath his ship.

"Pretty" he thought absently, recalling a similar assessment from when he had last visited here.

The comm crackled to life with a message from the Kinshasa still in orbit. Something about a humanitarian mission and not bothering the Jedi, alien words to the Sith Assassin but ones he knew came from his Master... Or mistress. A touchy distinction it seemed. He had a flash of resentment that she hadn't contacted him directly, instead leaving it to some drool of a captain to pass on, not deigning to speak with him herself and appraise him of the situation. Far from being one to disobey he nevertheless wanted no part of any mercy mission. It was not in his nature and, while he could act the part of pretty much anything, his job requiring it often enough, he still felt a powerful urge to poke and prod the pathetic lightsiders until he drew a reaction. Perhaps he could manipulate a scenario where...

He shook his head and let out a growl of a sigh. No. It was Sinistra's party and he had no right to piss in the punch. He would just have a look around. Just another tourist on an exotic planet. If the Jedi caused some sort of confrontation... Well, his conscience, if it one could be said to have existed in the rodder of a Sith, wold be clean.

The ship banked over the forest and began its approached to Pesktda...*