Open Terrain

*Twilight was falling quickly. In a secluded meadow not too far from rural homesteads, a small tent had gone up in the lee of a old tree. Stars could be seen through the gnarled, broad-sweeping branches - if it hadn't been for the small campfire some feet from the tent. Two figures sat at this fire - one a tall, sturdy Zabrak male, the other a tiny female Turazza.*

*Daryk was born for this kind of thing. He just knew it. Jerky at a campfire, wind and open air and grass and trees and a tent and stars and... He took a deep sigh and lay back on the grass, a piece of half-consumed jerky pointing skyward from between his teeth.

Essie was drawing figures in the dirt and now and then rising to shuffle to the edge of the firelight, in order to look up towards the stars. It was not the first time she had been planetside, but it was the first time she'd been planetside and able to see the stars above.

Daryk watched her a moment out of half-closed lids. He reckoned she was the closest thing he'd ever want to have to a kid. Before too much longer, he sat up, flicked on a torch, and kicked the fire out thoroughly. He called to Essie, and she came skittering back to him immediately.

He pulled back the tent flap and she dove in, immediately curling up in a corner of the tent. He stripped off his shirt and tags, revealing several white scars across his shoulder blades, before zipping the flap and dragging the thermal blanket to one side.

Closing his eyes in the darkness, he fell asleep to the sounds of the night. In the morning he would discover Essie snuggled into his back, and might remember waking up briefly, just barely feeling her curl up against him in the middle of the night.*

*Deep Caverns, somewhere below the Hapan surface.*

*It was the clearest of Hapan mornings, and Commander Djo had awakened early, walking a few steps through the caves to their makeshift communications center.* *Hiding deep in the wilds of Hapes, where he had waited and watched for the last two years, always vigilant for the opportunity to strike, Commander Willis Djo remembered the Queen Mother's last words to him, and her final command. Queen Mother McEvedy was almost certainly dead by now, or her mind and spirit so broken by the Sith that she would wish she were dead. But Willis and his small band had sheltered and raised McEvedy's young granddaughter and heir to the throne. Emelie Ka was six years old now -- old enough to understand the situation which had so terrified her two years earlier.*

=Lt. Casey=
*Lieutenant Casey looked up from the com relay, beaming, and gave Djo a thumbs up.* "Nothing's changed, sir." *He nodded upwards, towards the surface and the Sith conscripts who guarded it.* "Our friends are getting restless. They want to be paid, and fed, and reassured."

=Cmdr. Djo=
*Djo's face spread into a slow smile.* "Excellent. Send the signal to our allies. The hour has come."

=Lt. Casey=
"Yes, sir." *The communications officer immediately bent over his com set and began contacting the few Transitory Mists relays that still worked reliably with the old GCCS codes.*

=Cmdr. Djo=
"I must go to the capital." *He looked around at the men waiting, tense, but happy.* "Alone." *They looked sad.* "Wait for my signal. And guard the Princess!"

*Without another word, Djo spun on his heel and departed the room and the caves, fetching his speeder bike from the underbrush and making his way cautiously, by back traces and secondary paths, to the main highway.*

*Deep Caverns, somewhere below the Hapan surface.*

=Cmdr. Djo=
*Eight days after he initially set out from the loyalist stronghold deep beneath the capital, Commander Djo sent word to his men, alerting them to his rousing success, and calling for the execution of the next phase of their plan.* :: All has proceeded better than expected, and no blood has been shed. Loya Hapans are in possession of the entirety of Ta'a Chume'Dan, and the Sith troops have surrendered without firing a shot. It is now safe for you to bring Emelie home to the Palace. Please do so with haste, and with as much splendor as you can muster. Her people await her. ::

=Loyalists=
*There was a long, stunned moment of silence, and then the entire compound exploded into cheers and shouts and cried of jubilation, capped with a spontaneous singing, or more correctly, bellowing, of the national anthem. Then, the soldiers busied themselves, packing all of their kit and materials into their finest land speeders, and dressing in their sharpest dress uniforms.* *It would be a parade long remembered. A parade fit for a Queen.*

=Emelie=
*The little girl didn't quite understand why the men were so happy or what a surrender meant, but she did understand what going home meant. She laughed, and fairly danced around the room.* *The mood of the soldiers protecting her was contagious. She could barely remember the palace, but she knew it was a far more comfortable home than the caverns. And it was where Grandma lived!* *Obligingly, she went to her room and put on her best white dress, without being asked a second time.* "We're going home! We're going home!"

*Two hours later, the procession set out for Ta'a Chume'Dan.*

*Now that Hapes has entered a new era of peace, men have their agricultural industries once more prospering. They plan on making Hapes a self sufficient planet as much as possible, therefore not having to rely on out of system trade and only on other Hapan planets when they have to. This is the capital and it needs to be able to last for as long as possible, especially under blockade. Production of Planetary shield generators have begun, but planetary weapon placements would have to wait until the economy has settled once more.*