Open Terrain

*The commander of Charlie squad nodded as he listened to Danula over his encrypted comlink.*

Roger that sir. I will proceed immediately.

:: You had better soldier. There will be consequences if you mess this up. ::

*The speeder pilot signed off and relayed the orders to his squad. He was to proceed alone to the persons ahead of them and hand over a backup comlink that he carried. Then he was to return to his squad and withdraw another 200m away from their contact and wait for furthur orders.

After a little grumbling the men agreed and the captain proceeded forward with his hands on his head to show that he had no malicious intent.*

*There had been no reaction so far so the trooper slowly walked back to his squad and relayed what had happened.*

*Now that brief threat of mistaken invasion had passed, a quiet calm returned to the villages and towns of Drall, and the peaceful furry folk, after their tremendous scare, quickly returned to their calm and peaceful way of life, returning from their most secret sanctums and hiding spots, and re-inhabiting the towns they had fled in such haste. Little in the way of harm had actually been done, in fact, not a single life had been lost, and for this the Drall gave thanks. They also gave thanks for the friendship of their Corellian brethren, and were quietly reassured that they were, in fact. safe from attack thanks to the military strength of the Five Worlds. Atef and the other Drall leaders may not have agreed with militarization, but they did recognize the benefits of a strong national defense given that they lived in a universe of such ruthless evil and hate.*

*A small convoy of military engineers and cartographers flew across the entire terrain of Drall, noting and mapping small details of the unfamiliar terrain, so as to augment the satellite maps that already existed of the planet. Every few years, it was customary to conduct such a review, so as to familiarize themselves with geological and seismic changes that were occurring on the planet. All relevant information is fed back to the Corellian Sector's military mapping agency over an encrypted military channel.*

*The transport with 90 sheets of the durasteel requested, landed at it targeted area, upon touch down, the cargo hold is opened and a few droids pushing repulsor carts bring the cargo off and to a holding area, after the paer work is signed the transport would leave back to Bilbringi.*

The Boiling Sea

Guppy had been swimming in the Boiling Sea for nearly two full days now, weaving amongst the algae blooms and following after fishes, studying their behaviour patterns, natural habitats. She narrowly avoided becoming fish food herself when she encountered a predator. But that was all part of a biologists work and life, at least, it was for her! Finally, and rather reluctantly leaving the water, Guppy immediately felt the weight of gravity fully once more, along with the heat, humidity and the harshness of the land upon her sensitive skin. She looked longingly at the waters, then quickly turned her head away, fearing that she would not be able to resist the urge to dash back into the embrace of the aquatic.

Taking step after painful step on the coarse sand...it felt coarse to her feet, she dried rather quickly, and winced as the sun began to cause severe discomfort for her bare skin, of which there was a lot exposed, time to put some protective clothes on. Pulling forward the bag that she'd been carrying, she opens it and pulls out all its contents, revealing them to be very damp clothing. She folds the small tailfins along the back of her shins tightly long her legs, and they become almost completely invisible, then pulls the long pants on, relishing the relief the dampness gave her. She folds in her arm fins, only the soft spikes protruding from the tips of her elbows betrayed any sign of the fins' presence. She puts on the wet shirt, slips on the protective sandals, and finally, the wide brimmed hat. Finished with dressing, the Aquarion makes for the city.

She would have prefered staying in the sea, but she needed to get supplies, and also a new source of income. After being dropped off by Arca'Trion DeLozuoix, she'd survived on what little credits she had left, and earned some more by doing odd jobs involving deep sea works for anyone that was willing to pay her. But now she decided she needed something better, something more solid and one that provided more than just a day's worth of survival. Best place to find what she was looking for was in the city.

*Hadrig floated miles above the lush forests of Drall, lying perfectly still on his stomach as he peered over the left shoulder of Narella, his trusty Great Ibbot steed. It was a beautiful afternoon, without a cloud in the sky, and the young Wingrider was enjoying himself. Laid out below him like toys on a carpet were several small Drall villages, their homes poking up here and there through the forest trees. Children played in the quiet cleared fields, or sat in circles listening to some Matriarch teaching history or science. It was blissful, and not a sign of trouble was anywhere to be seen. This, this was why Hadrig had become a Wingrider. To sit way up here like an eye in the sky, and watch the beauty of his people and his planet play out before his eyes. He could watch, and enjoy the scenes, and know that they were all safe. It was a beautiful life.*

The ship was half way down nearing the terrain of Drall with Gabriel still at the ships controls which may of being a bad idea after the sudden incident. After the moment Arcad seen him flip out he himself was wondering if it was going to happen again so he decided if it did he wasn't going to be around for the awkward silence afterwards. Gabriel was starting to chill out while focusing on piloting the ship threw the clouds of the lower atmosphere moving across the skies above the meadows below. He couldn't help but see a picture of his memory in his head of that rotting hand on his shoulder but he was also debating on if it was real or not- if so it was either lack of sleep or something was playing with him. Something evil.

The rest of them were gathered in the cargo bay near Nicoli's workbench talking about what just happened and listening out for gabriel incase anything else happened to him. Gabriel had a firm grip on the controls as he starred out into the clouds blowing past the window. For some reason his heart began to race, he heard something fall in the corridor which caused him to look back but there was nothing in the corridor behind him. Until he turned around and moving threw the front window and the shields of the ship was a dark ghostly figure reaching out while moving at a great speed towards him. His mouth parted open an inch yet before he could shout, the demonic looking ghost pass threw him and like flipping a switch his brain shut down. His head dropped against the panel after his hands slid off the manuel controls and all of the sudden the ship began falling. What the hell is happening!

Kara shouted to the both of them while the three of them stood on the floor with the ship falling threw the sky. It seems like Nicoli's gravity stabilizer did come in handy for this odd and unexpected occasion. Carefully they made their way towards the front of the ship finding Gabriel as if he was knocked out with a club to the head. Help me with servantus...we need to level this ship out before--

Then all of the sudden the loud racket of turbulance stopped as they all looked up as the ship hit the ground at a high speed on a 20 degree angle with a rough landing. They all went forward and the ship dug into the ground hard enough to dig up some ground, it flew off the other side of the hill on the meadow then began sliding across the ground towards the edge of the forest. The ship was close enough to hit a tree and when it did it severed the tree in half and destroyed the west dorm in the ship as well of the coms array. No one spoke as they were all knocked out cold, after the ship stopped their bodies fell off the panels except Arcad. The ships functions were all offline from the impact of the crash.

The first one to make a sound was Kera. Mhm.. She began to move slowly as her eyes slowly open. She saw Nicoli infront of her with a gash on his head close to his temple which is very dangerous and life threatening. She pushed him off of her and onto his back beside the co-pilots chair. Slowly she got up and felt her arm feeling the broken bone inside so she ripped the bottom of her shirt then wrapped it from her neck and around her arm and let it rest on her chest. She observed Gabriel on the floor between the panel and the pilots seat. She lifted him up onto his seat and pushed him back by his shoulder. Gabriel...can you hear me, You have to wake up! She hit the side of his face and looked at him to see if she could get a physical response from him until she saw his eyes move slightly but they did not open so at least he was alive. While she was attending to him Nicoli began to wake up feeling very dizzy from blood loss. She hadn't noticed this and was already returning with her medic pack finding he was trying to get up so she stopped him at sitting. Nicoli were in a bad situation here i need you to stay awake. Can you do this for me?

She noticed he was swaying a bit but he managed to nod. When he did she quickly opened her medic pack, took out a wrap and began tending to the cut near the temple with medicen. After she did she covered the wound with a head wrap. Then while Nicoli attempted to crawl up in the empty seat she noticed that the window was broke open and Arcad was gone threw it. His legs were inside and the rest was on the front of the ship. When she crawled up over the panel and observed him laying on his back awake she covered her mouth and tried to hold back her tears but she couldn't help it at the sight of a large shard of glass moving up threw his chest. He was breathing slowly and he turned his head and looked at her. Gabriel is indanger- - - Kara. Save him. He coughed up some blood. Save him or you will have---have to- - - - -

Arcads eyes suddenly went blank and the rest of his body went limp. She even noticed the life draining from his eyes making her wimper and burst out in tears. She closed his eyes with a swipe of her hand and observed her friends lifeless body. What could have done this to make Gabriel pass out like that. There were medical explainations to this but there was a root feeling inside of her that told her this was a bigger picture...something else was at work here. Then when she heard Nicoli coughing she heard the strenght returning inside of him but that didn't make her turn around...it's what he said next that did. Kara..he's gone. Gabriel ran away.

She shifted herself back inside finding that nicoli was right. Gabriel was up and running but why would he do this? What was the reason to run away from his friends--unless something drove him like..fear. She mentioned for him to stand but when he did he stumbled a bit so she grabbed his arm he carried him out side and away from the ship that was now engulfed in black smoke. They went ways away from the ship until they collapsed in the meadow. She hissed in pain after hitting her arm again. Trying to get up again this time Arcad stopped her and got up himself. I'm regaining my focus Kara. The medicen is beguinning to seal the wound- i'll go get Gabriel. Stay here. He was the one with the head injury and when he stumbled back a bit she got up, pulled out a needle and stuck it into his arm then injected the medicen. What did you just--

Moments after she injected sleeping serum into Nicoli he fell back against a bundle of grass and began sleeping. She looked down at him then out into the meadow while rubbing her arm. Minutes later she began walking away from the crash site and in the direction Gabriel was heading in. Wherever he was going.

The both of them were approaching the crash site and Kara kept thinking about his sudden memory loss and exspecially the cause of it. It was either head damage or something else byond the both of them. He kept looking from her and ahead in the direction he was following her in. When they got to the top of the meadow she saw Nicoli dragging Arcads dead body down by the meadow and it seems that the ship had already exploaded because it was now in flames and the surrounding ground was burnt. He looked at her face when she looked down at the man dragging the kids body into the meadow, he saw the saddness and if he knew these people...shouldn't he be sad?
It's Arcad..don't you remember him?!

She looked at him just as Nicoli looked up hearing her raised voice then stood up and looked at the both of them from the distance. He looked down at the dead body that was just a kid with bright yellow hair and he looked back at her and shook his head. Your all strangers to me...i'm sorry for your loss.

She looked at him then turned and began walking down the hill while he watched her until he followed moments later. When they began approaching Nicoli he looked at him. What a moment to got out for a stroll eh? Fantastic timing mate..

He parted his mouth not knowing what he was talking about. He looked at this man then to Kara when she looked back at him but Kara spoke to nicoli. Hey..he don't remember any of us. I'm guessing head truama. He remembers nothing we've ever done. Gabriel...why were you walking in that direction anyway?

He looked at her and shrugged then thought it over and couldn't explain why he was walking that way. When he woke up he just felt like going in that direction. I don't know... She looked back at nicoli with a sigh when he looked down at Arcad and starred at him. When he walked past Kara and knelt down by this boys corpse both Nicoli and Kara looked at him starring down at him when he squinted his eyes. I feel a great deal of sadness when i see him like this. I'm not sure why...you said i knew him?

He looked to Kara and she nodded as he looked at the boy again before standing up. When they were silent suddenly a ship flew above them and flew in the other direction. The pilot had taken a look back then circled around then landed as the YT-2400 Freighter touched ground and the systems shut down. They looked over as the ramp opened up and a Jedi jogged out and approached the group. Hey are you people alright..can i be of any assistance!?

Kara and nicoli felt so relieved to see a jedi randomly find them here at this moment in time. After Kara accepted his assistance the Jedi looked over at their ship and when he approached the group further he looked at Gabriel then down to the body with a frown. He's been dead for quite a while now and Gabriel here is suffering from memory loss of...his life.

When she said this he looked from the young boys body and looked at Gabriel as he stood up after kneeling by the boy. He looked at Gabriel and approached him. Allow me...i may be able to find your memories with the force. Gabriel starred at him as the jedi also looked at him. For some reason he didn't like the presence of the jedi here...infact he felt offended just by him standing in his own presence. He stepped back but stopped when the Jedi touched his head and looked deep into his mind when the jedi saw the face of the dark side that possessed Gabriel. When he had touched his forehead gabriels eyes widened as he stepped back and made a growling sound almost like a wild animale would. The jedi took a few steps back as he gasped with fear..this was only a padawan after all. He pointed at gabriel and looked at Kara. Something evil is inside of that man. Great evil.

Kara parted her mouth then looked over at Gabriel into his predator-like eyes starring at the jedi. When she looked from him to the jedi she thought of something. Can you destroy it..can you kill it without harming him??!

He stepped back again like seeing a predator ready to attack and dramaticly he shook his head after looking back at Kara. It is dead...it cannot be destroyed by the likes of me. Even if i killed your friend it would still possess him like a puppet. What you see now is just a portion of what was your friend. Then she realized why his memory was gone and when she spoke to the jedi she was looking to Gabriel. It severed his memories from his head to control him easier. Now what..

When the jedi was slowly going for his hilt Kara shook her head but then he saw what the jedi was doing then used force grip on the young jedi as his body seized up then flew forward towards Gabriel like a ragdoll. His body began getting tight as if he was being torn apart. The jedi screamed in agony as Kara shouted at him to stop and when she did Gabriel dropped the jedi and grasped his hair as he screamed in pain this time when his head began to throb in pain at the conflict inside. The jedi got up then flicked out his lightsaber and swung down. No!

Kara screamed as she reached out and when she did a ripple of the force propelled from her hand and hit the jedi in the chest lifting him off the ground and to the top of the burning wreckage. She was startled by what she had done, first she took no notice of the burning jedi but to her hand. She knew she had force capability but not that powerfull yet ever since she's been around the 'new' gabriel she felt the flow of the force easier. Gabriel stood up after the pain stopped and looked over at her, by now the jedi had burnt to death and he looked over at her and smirked. I owe you my life Kara weldin. Thanks..

She looked over at Gabriel and then to the dead jedi on the ship. After realizing that this thing inside of Gabriel was living off of him she felt some-what afraid even when he began to approach her yet when he got closer she found that he was heading to the jedi ship, he pointed to it and spoke to the both of them. Hey, our way off was handed to us on a silver platter...hopefully others like him can't track this ship. Come on lets go. He said to them as he entered the ship and Nicoli looked over at Kara for a few moments until she nodded to him. Nicoli trusted her and he spoke to her as they approached the ship. Were really going with him Kara?

She was silent for a moment then nodded while looking up to the ship.
He's still in there and he trusts me. If i can get close to him and get his full trust i may be able to get into his head and destroy what ever is latched onto his mind. For now lets just do what he says..it seems we have a connection me and Gabriel. Come on.. He looked at her and followed her into the ship. When they were inside they had a looked around while the ramp closed up. She noticed the jedi order symol when she passed this part of the ship and so she continued into the pilots area and sat down beside him while nicoli stayed anywhere that was away from gabriel..or what ever he was now. She looked at him just as he brought the ship off the ground and then finally launched it up into the atmosphere threw the clouds.

*With political business finally off his mind for once, Senator Hadrig Wingryder went for a long walk in the woods one cool summer morning. There was heavy dew on the ground, and a bit of fog in the air -- just how he liked it. It felt so good to be home and be in the outdoors, away from all the bother and trouble of the Galactic Republic. As worthy a venture as the new galactic government was, and as much good as it no doubt would ultimately do, Hadrig sometimes feared that it would bring unnecessary wars, suffering, and hardship upon his own people or his close allies. It was this cause of pacifism that would most likely consume the entirety of his next term in the Senate. Something had to be done to stop the long war against the NOE, or Nicas' Folly, as if was sometimes called behind closed doors.*

"Eugh, enough of these reflections. Nature. Trees. Avians. Enjoy yourself." *Hadrig muttered to himself. Reaching a quiet glen, he pitched headlong into the high, dewy grass with a sigh, and rolled flat on his back, staring up at the clear blue sky, tinged pink in the east with Corel's first rays. His head found a patch of springy moss on which to rest, and he let out a long, contented sigh. This was life. His eyes blinked, and then closed ....*

*... For a second. Then, he screamed and sat bolt upright, fumbling with the belt that girded his furry, otherwise naked midsection. It was his comlink, and it had rung. At the highest setting. Hadrig stared at the device in a rage, half tempted to pitch it into the cool stream that flowed barely two meters away. But his newfound responsibility took over, and he glanced at the identifier. A monthly taxation report.*

"Bah-humbug! Politics! Fierfek!"

*Having vanquished the monthly report with surprising violence for a pacifist, Hadrig settled into the dewy grass once more with a contented sigh. Corel was above the horizon now, and the huge yellow circle that gave the Corellian system it's life and light had chased the last vestiges of darkness from the sky. The songs and conversations of the avians in the trees, and ever the coarse, loud cried as two jays argued over ownership of a breakfast were music to the young Drall's ears. He had spent far too many hours inside duracrete walls recently, listening to stuffy politicians reminisce about the Old Repubic as some sacred standard to be replicated. Hadrig loved some of his friends in the Senate very much, but he could never stand meetings. History and books and study and research he understood, but not the empty, content-less word-smithing of the typical windbag politician. He smiled, though, as he remembered who was the Chancellor now. Vid'aan, a strong Coruscanti woman, who was more suited to action than words. Perhaps she, along with Koronov of Corellian and Naberrie of Naboo, could shed this cloak of apathy from the Republic.*

[quote="Kel'Al Raganella":soch9wts][narration:soch9wts]Corellian intelligence operatives on the supposedly pacifist planet had been told to expect a top-secret shipment from an unspecified dealer, and had been provided with the appropriate IFF codes for which to listen. In response, a request had been inserted into Drall's central air traffic control system, and the Mystic Gift was cleared through without question or pause.[/narration:soch9wts]

[color=#00FF40:soch9wts][b:soch9wts]=Sgt. Ruffin=[/b:soch9wts][/color:soch9wts]
[action:soch9wts]Receiving notification of the craft's arrival, the nearly jet-black Drall officer scouped up his short-range comlink, and hopped into his speeder, then took off into the untamed Drall forest. As he sped along, he sighted upward to a point where the smuggler ought to have been crossing, per the flight plan from Drall control. On a low-powered signal, he made cautious contact.[/action:soch9wts] [comlink:soch9wts]Mystic Gift, this is the Cigara.[/comlink:soch9wts] [narration:soch9wts]It was a reference to the previous meeting.[/narration:soch9wts] [comlink:soch9wts]We have a light at ---[/comlink:soch9wts] [narration:soch9wts]And here he gave the coordinates of a lonely clearing in the forest where the exchange could be made.[/narration:soch9wts][/quote:soch9wts]
[color=#00FF40:soch9wts][b:soch9wts]=Sgt. Ruffin=[/b:soch9wts][/color:soch9wts]
[action:soch9wts]Arriving at the indicated clearing, the middle-aged Drall parked his speeder barely in the shade of the forest canopy, and waited.[/action:soch9wts] [narration:soch9wts]It was almost dusk, and the clearing itself was only about twice the size of the smuggler's incoming C-70. There should have excellent cover for their little transaction, without high risk of being seen or overheard. Besides, who would pick sleepy old Drall as the location where the Corellian Sector was about to buy its most powerful personal weapons?[/narration:soch9wts]

*A sonic boom sounds as a ship enters the upper atmosphere from space. The black modified Consular-class cruiser screaming down through the night sky as it enters the air of the planet, heading towards the designated landing spot. As it nears the clearing the ship does not slow, instead it holds speed but tilts the nose up heavily. The momentum of the entry continues to carry the ship downwards, the main vector thrusters firing to slow its descent, a trick used by combat pilots to quickly get through a anti-aircraft barrage and land safely. The large freighter extends its landing struts and activates the repulsors as the landing jets continue to fire, steadying itself as it cuts down on main engine thrust. The ship lowers itself slowly into the clearing, the hull steaming slightly from the rapid change in temperature, and soon touches down with a mechanical hiss of the landing struts taking on the weight of the ship. The repulsors and landing thrusters cut off and the main engines turn off with a low hum, soon going black as the ship's hull itself.*

*Kurt picked up his nerf-hide jacket from the back of the chair he had been sitting at, swinging it up and around and putting it on easily. He pulled the six shot revolver from its holster on his chest, flicked open the chambers, looked at the bullets briefly to make sure it was fully loaded, then flicked it shut again, shoving it back into the armpit holster under his jacket, concealing it easily. He walked to the turbolift and rode it down to the bottom deck, moving toward the landing ramp and pressing the button to lower it.*

*The ramp lowers, the majority of his crew on deck with him to make sure the transaction goes as planned. Kurt walked down the ramp, the repulsor track following behind, holding the cargo that had been requested. Trailed by Criax, Chaz, and Alys who had their particular weapons concealed just in case. Kurt parked the repuslor track and let it rest on the ground, waiting for his contact to come forward.*

*Kurt shook hands with the leader of the group he was transferring the weapons over to. Making small talk about how he was a Corellian and it was good to be helping them for once. Kurt received what ever payment had been allotted for the job, allowing for the cargo to transfer owners, though it was all strictly illegal for the most part. Buying and selling weapons on the black market or to large factions through small contracts on the side was nothing new. Most of these contracts of course were under the table and usually not officially documented or what have you. Usually no names were involved anyway. Kurt and his crew loaded back up into the Mystic Gift and set the ship to prepare to exit into the blackness of space.

The landing struts retracted and the engines fired up, vector thrusters and repulsors heating up to help lift the giant metal beast into the night sky. Kurt strapped himself in at the helm of the ship, allowing for Garok the normal pilot to get some sleep. Besides, a captain has to sail his own boat every once in a while, it was only natural since it is what he loved to do. Being on the wings of technology, the Gift flew up and out of the planets atmosphere, into space. The bright orange lights of the engines glowing as it sped up into the infinite universe.*

=Sgt. Ruffin=
*The Drall Republic officer worked quickly. As soon as payment had been transferred for the smuggled goods, the smuggler's transport had departed.* *Ruffin waited to a count of twenty, then send a com to the waiting speeder truck, parked two miles away, deeper into the forest. In three minutes, the cargo-grade speeder had arrived, and the repulsortruck bearing the illicit weapons shipment had been transferred.* *The pacifist Drall leadership would not have been happy if they had caught wind of this transshipping operation on Drall, but no one would expect something like that to happen way out here in the wild, least of all Sith spies. And that was the most important consideration.*

*Five minutes later, the clearing was empty, as the cargo hauler buzzed along through the shadowy trees towards Meccha spaceport, with Ruffin riding ahead as a scout and escort, assault rifle held at the ready.* *They chose their path carefully, avoiding the outlying villages in favor of uninhabited wild lands. In half an hour, they would arrive at their destination.*

*Senator Hadrig's civic duties had called him away from his task as a Wingrider watch leader, and even, for a time, away from the planet entirely, but that did not mean that Drall's skies or the safety of her people was abandoned. Many other wingriders, floating a mile high in the sky astride their ibbot mounts, kept watch over the people, cities, and wilderness of Drall, observing all from a great height. As the airborne and most mobile units of Drall's police force, they could quickly cover great distances even when the terrain prevented easy access by foot or speeder. It was for this reason that the role of the wingriders in maintaining Drall's security was immeasurable.*