Grasslands

*Xerxan felt, smelled and sensed the troopers coming long before he saw them with his eyes, they looked fresh and tasty but when one of them spoke it made him think of something else to do instead of kill them outright.*

=Undead Sith Lord Xerxan=
"You wish me to follow you to a secure location?"

*He looked around, seeing many of these troopers and nothing of a hostile nature, he wondered who this man was trying to protect.*

=Xerxan=
"Tell me, why is this location not a secure one? *He asked, gesturing to his surroundings and the many troops spreading out across the open fields* It looks secure to me with you and your men flailing about like little lost Nerfs."

*He had decided he would rather wait here for his orb to arrive than be led anywhere by these fools, followers of Brandwyn they appeared to be.

In the distance his orb had broken through the atmosphere and seemed as though it was on a direct course towards where they were standing, although in reality it was going to land directly on top of the forward command post a few meters away, and it did.*

=Xerxan=
"Tell me something, pet of Brandwyn, why is it you choose to follow such a retched being? He brings nothing but suffering to those around him, I should know. *He lifts the soldier off the ground using the Force* After all I am the one who slayed his despicable family, cleansing the bloodlines one could say, though I did leave that tasty morsel alive. *He spoke in a way that clouded the man's mind, dominating it in fact* Tell me where to find Terese Alana Brandwyn, the beloved niece of the one who holds your leash. and tell me soon, for your life depends on it."

*The Dark Side of the Force was surrounding them now, and it shielded them from view of the other troopers, all they saw was their friend speaking to a crippled old man and leading him to safety, until the orb landed anyway. The Forward post was decimated by the large sphere, and a small door opened on the side, with a ramp extending from it to the ground.*

[quote="Lord Xerxan":j4n6wdfx]
[color=#FF0000:j4n6wdfx]=Undead Sith Lord Xerxan=[/color:j4n6wdfx]
"You wish me to follow you to a secure location?"[/quote:j4n6wdfx]

=Galek=
"Yes sir, that is the general idea when asking one to follow you to somewhere safe."

[narration:j4n6wdfx]Galek was getting annoyed with this man and sent a quick message about him off to the commanders in the Forward Operations Center.[/narration:j4n6wdfx]

[quote="Lord Xerxan":j4n6wdfx]
[color=#FF0000:j4n6wdfx]=Xerxan=[/color:j4n6wdfx]
"Tell me, why is this location not a secure one? [action:j4n6wdfx]He asked, gesturing to his surroundings and the many troops spreading out across the open fields[/action:j4n6wdfx] It looks secure to me with you and your men flailing about like little lost Nerfs."[/quote:j4n6wdfx]

=Galek=
"Sir, this is not a secure location because we are out in the open, an enemy counterstrike could easily hit us here and take you out with it as well."

[quote="Lord Xerxan":j4n6wdfx]
[color=#FF0000:j4n6wdfx]=Xerxan=[/color:j4n6wdfx]
"Tell me something, pet of Brandwyn, why is it you choose to follow such a retched being? He brings nothing but suffering to those around him, I should know. [action:j4n6wdfx]He lifts the soldier off the ground using the Force[/action:j4n6wdfx] After all I am the one who slayed his despicable family, cleansing the bloodlines one could say, though I did leave that tasty morsel alive. [action:j4n6wdfx]He spoke in a way that clouded the man's mind, dominating it in fact[/action:j4n6wdfx] [color=#400000:j4n6wdfx]Tell me where to find Terese Alana Brandwyn, the beloved niece of the one who holds your leash.[/color:j4n6wdfx] and tell me soon, for your life depends on it."[/quote:j4n6wdfx]

[narration:j4n6wdfx]Galek was really starting to dislike this man, then he bad mouthed the deceased Jedi Master that had given Galek a home and a purpose, he was ready to shoot the man when suddenly he could no longer move and was lifted off the ground. Then he admitted being the one to kill the Brandwyn family. Galek had read a report about that, he was told it was Lord Xerxan that had done that, but he had seen Xerxan die at the hands of Stridal. there were many rumors that he had returned from death, but this man before him looked nothing like the Xerxan he remembered meeting long ago at the academy here. Yet he knew of the sole survivor of the massacre, Arden's niece...

Galek's mind clouded over, he could no longer think straight, he tried to focus through the fog, tried to hear the man's words... He felt compelled to tell him everything he knew about Alana, but he tried to fight it to no avail... he never even heard the man threaten his life if he didn't say anything, he just let the information slip out as if it were nothing.[/narration:j4n6wdfx]

=Galek=
"Her last known location was in a secret base in the southern hemisphere of Alderaan, but that was before we lost all communications from there, the planet is under the control of a Mando named Malice and we can not verify that she is even there let alone still alive."

[narration:j4n6wdfx]He felt the clouds in his mind fade slowly and he realized what he had just done, he wanted to weep for his betrayal but knew his only option was to stop this man from using that information to do any harm, he swiftly grabbed his pistol, raised it to chest level and fired point blank into the man's chest, using an anti-matter slug...[/narration:j4n6wdfx]

[quote="Arden Brandwyn":22xpwhfe]
=Galek=
"Her last known location was in a secret base in the southern hemisphere of Alderaan, but that was before we lost all communications from there, the planet is under the control of a Mando named Malice and we can not verify that she is even there let alone still alive."[/quote:22xpwhfe]


[color=#FF0000:22xpwhfe]=Xerxan=[/color:22xpwhfe]
"Thank you, you have been most helpful... [narration:22xpwhfe]The man pulled his pistol[/narration:22xpwhfe] ...Seriously?"

[narration:22xpwhfe]The man aimed and fired into Xerxan's chest, Xerxan laughed as the highly explosive round exploded between the two men...

As the smoke cleared Xerxan remained standing and laughing in the cloud of smoke and debris.[/narration:22xpwhfe]

[color=#FF0000:22xpwhfe]=Xerxan=[/color:22xpwhfe]
"Fool, your toys can not hurt me. You have nothing that can defeat me, not even your great hero Arden. He has been killed and now there is no one left in your puny order that can stand toe to toe with me. None of your worthless Jedi are anywhere near my level, and certainly none of you damn peons could survive if I decided that you are as worthless as the ground you lay on."

[narration:22xpwhfe]He stepped over the man and began walking to where the command post was, where his ship was aiming to land.[/narration:22xpwhfe]

[quote="Lord Xerxan":uch9u7yb]
[color=#FF0000:uch9u7yb]=Xerxan=[/color:uch9u7yb]
"Thank you, you have been most helpful... [narration:uch9u7yb]The man pulled his pistol[/narration:uch9u7yb] ...Seriously?"[/quote:uch9u7yb]

[narration:uch9u7yb]After the explosion at such a close proximity he was certain he had killed the evil rodder, but saw he had been wrong...[/narration:uch9u7yb]

[quote="Lord Xerxan":uch9u7yb]
[color=#FF0000:uch9u7yb]=Xerxan=[/color:uch9u7yb]
"Fool, your toys can not hurt me. You have nothing that can defeat me, not even your great hero Arden. He has been killed and now there is no one left in your puny order that can stand toe to toe with me. None of your worthless Jedi are anywhere near my level, and certainly none of you damn peons could survive if I decided that you are as worthless as the ground you lay on."[/quote:uch9u7yb]

[narration:uch9u7yb]The man had not been hurt, which could not be said of Galek, he was laying on the ground a few feet away, unable to feel his legs or move his arms although he could still feel his weapon in his hand. He had no stength to lift, aim or fire the weapon, all he could do was lay there in pain and listen to the man laugh before walking towards the forward position. He watched in horror as a large sphere fell from the sky and destroyed the base along with his friends and brothers in arms. His head slumped to the ground as he lost the ability to lift it, after that he saw nothing else of the man and could not hear anything but the chatter on his helmet com. He was suffering and could not even muster the strength to key his mic and call for help. He had become certain that eh was going to die on this spot, he knew he was bleeding out from the stumps where his legs had once been. His helmet felt so heavy that he stopped trying to lift it and the weight pulled his head to the left, where the last thing he saw before losing power to the visor was the stump where his arm had been and his hand, still twitching, fifteen feet away...

To anyone entering this area, there are several hundred bodies crushed beneath a sphere (if and when it leaves) there will probably be a spherical imprint in the ground with crushed bodies mashed into the ground itself, and several feet away from it is a barely alive soldier with no legs and one arm, his vitals will be fading when help arrives (unless I say he has died before anyone else gets here). Farther away are several other soldiers, wandering around in a daze. They seem to have shell shock, for lack of a better term. Between Xerxan's actions, the sphere killing the command staff and the explosion of Galek's they are a little out of it, should make for an interesting dialog...

The shocked troopers wander around dazed, some talk to rocks and one simply stands there, staring at Galek as if he was frozen in time a the moment of the explosion, inside his helmet his eyes are closed and his teeth clenched so tight he has actually broken his own jaw.[/narration:uch9u7yb]

*Xerxan laughed harder when his sphere landed, he found humor in the amount of bodies he was leaving in his wake, if this did't tell the fools of the CUF he had returned for blood, nothing would. The ramp had lowered itself from the sphere and he walked up it and into his meditation pod.*

=Computer=
"Welcome home sir. Do we have a destination?"

=Xerxan=
*Sits in the center of his pod and relaxes before he answers*
"It's nice to be back away from the living, they all smell funny. Destination? Yes we do, set a course for Alderaan. Someone there has a date with the end of her life."

=Computer=
"Very good sir, we are departing now."

*With the computers final words the ramp was closed and secured and the shp slowly lifted off from the pile of bodies and rubble it had caused. It ascended through the atmosphere and broke free into orbit...*

*The speeder bikes, led by Forbes arrived in the area in time to see the orb shaped ship break out of the atmosphere. On the ground lay several soldiers and several more seemed to be wandering around aimlessly, a burnt mess remained were the command post had once been.*

=Forbes=
"Xander, please see what you can do for the men on the ground, I'll contact control and get medics sent here."

*He didn't mean to sound as if he was issuing orders, but his men were down and commanders were gone, it was all he could do to not lose his mind like those that had been here...*

*Raamah looks at the utter destruction that lay before him, he heard the words of Forbes and used the force to deaden the pain of the troopers that lay before him, faint taste of a dark side user lay in the air and the force around him*

Raamah-
I have done what i can for them, tell me Forbes are there any reports of what happened here? i sense the dark side

*Forbes quickly reviewed his coms log, he saw something about a spherical ship having a near collision with one of the ships in orbit, it was determined that it's trajectory put it as leaving from this area.*

=Forbes=
"Sir, it appears there was a ship of some kind in this area, it was descriped as a sphere. It almost collided with a ship in orbit on it's departure, other than that we have no information. Perhaps one of the men here can answer some questions..."

*As he looked over the men in the area he saw that almost none of them were in any shape to be questioned. Forbes then saw a ghastly sight, a soldier with no legs and a missing arm, which was actually located rather close to him, that seemed to have been outside the main area affected, he also saw the markings on his helmet identified him as Galek. Forbes had met Galek on a number of occasions in the past.*

=Forbes=
"Sir, I know that man, please help me. If he's alive then he might be able to tell us what happened here."

*Forbes rushed over to Galek and pulled off the man's helmet. His eyes were glazed over and his pulse was weak, but the man was still alive... barely...*

*Raamah walked over to where Forbes had the injured soldier and started to use the force to help ease the mans pain and bring his mind into focus*

Raamah-
There that should help the man, any chance you can track the vessel i would like to know where it is heading, what is the soldiers name?

*Jacciens life of fighting had finally begun to come to an end. This old soldier was tired, and decided it was time to settle down and retire to his ancient Mandalorian roots. Wanting to return to farming Jaccien chose the agricultural planet of Telos to bring his herd of 40 Nerf to build his home.

Jaccien knew that the herd would not go anywhere far tonight so he would wait to build a fence until the next day. So after letting the herd go Jaccien found a nice flat spot on top of a hill and made a small camp ground where he built a fire and cooked his first meal in his new home.*

*After his meal Jaccien began work on an ancient Mandalorian tradition known as a . This small cottage would serve him well until he found the need to build something bigger. Jaccien being the warrior that he was did not really care about the luxuriousness of his dwelling, he actually found the vheh'yaim pretty homy.

After saying prayers to Kad, Jaccien begins digging while keeping a constant eye on his Nerf.*

*With the help of his work Nerfs and a yolk or two Jaccien got the whole dug and also hauled in branches and timber for the vheh'yaim. Piece by piece Jaccien weaves and and splats as the structure slowly begins to be recognizable. After several hours of antagonizing work Jaccien takes a break to water his cattle with water retrieved from the small tributary that ran through his land.

Jaccien never really looked back on his old life as a warrior, but every now and again he thinks he wants to go back to fighting and killing, but then he remembers there are hardly any of his kind left. The "Mandalorians" on Mandalore are just a bunch of squabbling politicians. One day maybe he would return to Mandalore see what he could be done.

For now though his home must be built, so he returned and came closer and closer to completing his shelter.*

*Jaccien finally finished up his vheh'yaim and turned to work on his fence. If you have ever worked on a farm you would know, fence work is not something that is fun to do by yourself, so Jaccien decided to head into town. Before he left he gathered his armor, weapons, and some money to hire some workers to help him out on the farm.

Walking down the road to Thani, Jaccien took in the beauty of his new homeworld, and hoped that he would be able to lead a peaceful life here. Lost in thought Jaccien soon reached Thani*

*Many of the troops had been evacuated back to the command ships in orbit, they were preparing to redeploy in the assault on Alderaan. Forbes approached Raamah with the updated reports.*

=Forbes=
"Sir, Galek has reported back to duty. He was the injured trooper you saved, he's also been promoted to Staff Sergeant. Anyway, he says the man who caused the destruction and flew in the sphere claimed to be the same man that killed Master Brandwyn's family. I've also received a recent report that a vessel matching it's description has been spotted in orbit over Bonadan. We are being ordered to make ready for an all out assault on Alderaan in order to free it, will you be joining us?"

*Fores had been heading up the ground forces in this sector and wasn't really looking forard to leaving, or to doing this all over again on Alderaan. He hoped that at least on Alderaan there would be more CUF supporters in the general populace then here. Even though most people here had lived under CUF control and others they were still unsettled about the change of control once again. If things changed again it was hard to tell what the people might do in response...*