Lesser of Two Evils

[Devrim Wolfe]

theme​

Huffing while simultaneously trying to contain his laboured breathing, Devrim pushed his way through the busy streets of an Onderonian marketplace. With the Dxun rebel cell's hands tied by the Alliance Commander, there was little else that they could do other than stealthy raids for ever-dwindling supplies. While most were executed flawlessly by the cell's members, this time the hit had gone awry. Somehow, their information on Imperial patrol routes were wrong. Two guards had spotted Devrim, and he was doing his best to disappear into the crowd. At least he had managed to nab a few kolto packets before he'd been seen.

"Watch it!" a gruff man retorted as Devrim's broad shoulders caught him in passing. Not looking back to apologize or even acknowledge the Onderonian citizen, the rebel trekked onward and turned down a side street. He knew these parts well — a lifetime making hits from Dxun allowed Devrim to memorize the vast city quite well. But deep down he knew the rebels would have to seek out other places to operate — being so close to the core was dangerous, and one day it would almost certainly get them all killed.

Deeking into a shadowy corner, Devrim tried to calm his breathing even further to lose the trailing patrol. However, the marching footsteps of Imperial agents drew closer until they were nearly upon him. "Kessing Imperials," the man muttered under his breath while mentally preparing himself for a fight. If he couldn't lose them in the streets, he'd have to knock them out. As soon as he saw one of the patrols turn the corner, Devrim leapt out and bashed him squarely with the butt end of his blaster rifle. The man made a muffled cry of shock and pain before the rebel knocked him over the head once again.

@Shalken​

 

[Toland Vult]

This was it. This was the day that he'd actually do it. For months after what he saw on Medriaas, Toland had been in mental turmoil, the integrity of the nation he once loved now called into question. What was worse, literally everyone else on his squad had just accepted it and moved on. How could they? How could the Empire? Vult understood shutting down insurgents that were threatening the stability of their leadership — that he could justify. But the bombing on Medriaas was far more than that. It was an agri-world, filled with farmers and innocents that had nothing to do with the upstart rebellion. Sick with guilt, Toland had been planning his escape for some time now, and finally he had a chance. He had been transferred to reinforce the garrison on Onderon against rebels that were striking repeatedly from the demon moon of Dxun. They soldiers had gotten a lead that the rebels might be raiding their medical supplies that day, so the officers decided to double the patrols, putting Toland with a rather unsavoury fellow. ⋮⋮ I'll get out of here somehow, ⋮⋮ he thought to himself fretfully. ⋮⋮ I just need to wait for the right moment. ⋮⋮

Sure enough, their lead had proven correct, and Toland was soon bolting after a Kolto thief through the crowded streets. His heart pounded in tune with his steps as he followed a few meters behind the other soldier, filled with trepidation and adrenaline as the opportunity was thrust upon him. Whether they managed to catch the perpetrator or not, he would have to disappear. As the crowds dwindled and they approached a more secluded part of town, the rebel ducked into a corner. The other agent blindly followed, only to walk into the butt end of a rifle and subsequently get knocked to the ground, unconscious. As the burly man stood to face Toland, all trepidation immediately left him. This was his chance, and he knew exactly what to do. Throwing aside his rifle, Toland shot both his hands into the air. "Wait!" he called out, using one hand to fumble with the clasp under his chin before ripping his helmet from his head. "You're a rebel, right?" he asked, lowering his voice to a harsh whisper. "Take me with you! I want to join you!" Vult kept his hands raised, his life now in the hands of a man he didn't even know. He swallowed thickly, a bead of sweat slipping down his forehead as he waited for the man to respond.

@Vosrik​

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Fully prepared to blast the hell out of the next trooper that turned the corner, Devrim's face turned into utter shock underneath his helmet as the other patrol tossed aside his weapons. ⋮⋮ What's with this guy? ⋮⋮ the rebel thought as the trooper also removed his helmet and threw his hands into the air. Not lowering his rifle just yet, Devrim gestured for the man to get out of the street and into the alleyway. "You want to join us?" he replied, looking the man over. "Well you'll need to get out of that outfit first or you'll be shot on sight where I'm from. Here, put this on." With his free hand, Devrim unclasped his black cloak and handed it over. "You got a name?" Devrim asked, looking up and down the street for any sign of more Imperials.

After hearing the former trooper's answer, the rebel commented, "We need to get moving. Soon this place will be crawling with more Imperials, as I'm sure you'd know." Motioning for his newfound companion to head to the other end of the side street, Devrim pulled his comlink to his mouth and opened a channel. "Any Rebels in the area, I need backup and extraction. Rendezvous at hangar B28, over." Continuing onward, the rebel kept his wits about him should any more Imperials show their faces. "So what's the story? Not enough excitement in your life, or do you prefer fighting for your life every day over the padded life in the Empire?" Devrim asked, genuinely curious. If this guy was serious about wanting to join the Rebels and the Galactic Alliance, his knowledge on the workings of the Imperial Republica could be immensely useful to their operations. For now though, Devrim knew in the back of his mind that if we wanted to do something good for the Alliance, he'd need to leave his rebel cell and start working in the Outer Rim, away from the dangerous clutches of the Core. Perhaps only then would he regain a semblance of favour with the Commander, who was none too discreet with his dislike of the Dxun cell.

@Shalken​

 

[Fey Meraska]

Fey's hands gripped tightly to the slings of her pack she kept flushed tight against her back. Her feet carry her quickly through the crowds of the Onderonian Marketplace she happened to be slinking around lately on raids here and there for the Alliance. Her hood pulled up to cover most of her face, the Pantoran rebel briskly dips out of a mixed throng of aliens and humans alike, to press herself against the side of a narrow alleyway. Fey closes her eyes and breathes, forcing her beating heart to still as loud footsteps of an Imperial troop stomp past her shaded impasse.
Fey is about to slink onto the aligning street, when her com link crackles to life in her ear. "Any Rebels in the area, I need backup and extraction. Rendezvous at hangar B28, over." Without missing a beat, Fey glances back and forth along the street, scanning for more troops, and begins towards hangar B28. She had known something was up with the different troop rotation that had not been accounted for by Alliance intel. She also just felt something off about the bustling streets that day, some strange energy.

Rounding the corner, she comes almost face to face with the rebel and... Fey grips her staff which had been handing from her back in her right hand, barring it against her chest as she defensively glared at the man who suspiciously had an Imperial uniform peeking from underneath a black cloak. "What is going on here?" Her teeth are gritted, as her blue skin darkens with the sudden rush of adrenaline through her veins.

 

[Motshan Dragoste]

Motshan lay on a desolate dust covered rooftop down the street from where the initial encounter had taken place. He took the entire scene in via the scope of his A10 rifle. His finger was so tense on the trigger when the Imperial had thrown his hands up that a stiff breeze would have discharged the weapon. "Just like that," the Ryn muttered to himself, "Dontcha know that is how spies get in?" He watched as the supposed defector was escorted out of site, returning to view a few moments later shrouded in a black cloak.

Still, Motshan kept his rifle trained on the defector. He did not trust anyone who would have willingly put on a Sith uniform; truth be told, Motshan did not trust much of anyone. He kept the weapon pointed at Toland until the duo was out of sight. About the same time, his earbud crackled to life as one of his fellow rebels requested backup in a nearby hangar. With an audible sigh, Motshan rolled backwards to his feet, crouched as he slung the rifle over his shoulder, "If that kriffin' bantha buttock gets me killed I'll haunt his every remaining living step, few as they may be!"

Setting off at a brisk walk/trot, Motshan lept from rooftop to rooftop following the group towards the hangar. pausing as they did when they encountered a blue skinned female. From his vantage point, the young Ryn shrugged his rifle back off his shoulder and using a brick outcropping, levelled it back towards the defector and the unidentified blue-skinned woman. There was something to be said for knowing who you were working with. Motshan Dragoste had volunteered to haul a few discrete folks to Onderon and while here had been able to fall in with the rebel cell operating planetside. To his unsurprised dismay there had been no other Ryns in the disarrayed fighting force. Regardless, a chance to strike at the Sith was not something he would pass up. All he had to do was provide cover from a vantage point while the team made off with a shipment of Imperial supplies. Things were not going according to plan.

The barrel of his rifle waivered back and forth as Motshan shifted from Fey to Toland and back. He did not know either of them and he was not going to let some random passerby shank his fellow rebel anymore than he was going to let an Imperial waltz through the front door.

 

[Toland Vult]

A slight wave of relief washed over Toland as the man did not immediately shoot him, instead yanking him into the alley and sizing him up — likely trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not. Though he seemed to believe Vult on principle, he still kept his gun trained on the defecting Imperial soldier, understandably so. Nodding to the gritty rebel, Vult quickly grasped the cloak offered to him, pulling it over his uniform. He would have removed it right then in there, but leaving his old clothes next to the other incapacitated soldier would give him away. "Toland Vult," he replied, still keeping his voice low. While normally he would have asked for the other man's name in return, for now they were focused on getting out as quickly as possible. Pleasantries would have to wait until later. "Not immediately, but they will come looking once they realize we haven't returned."

Once on their way through the less-populated side streets, the rebel started asking him questions, trying to discern the motive behind joining their cause. "Growing up, I used to admire the Empire. I always thought they could do no wrong, that they looked out for people. Helped everyone get along. But after Medriaas and Dantooine? Not anymore." Finding themselves approaching a secluded hangar, Toland stayed behind the rebel as they went inside. Right now the smartest thing to do was keep his head low and follow orders, and that was exactly what he intended to do. "If the Empire's going to kill millions of innocent people just to stay in power, then I want no part of it." Once inside bay B28, a Pantoran woman armed with a staff rounded the corner, raising it suspiciously as she saw Toland. He raised his hands in surrender again for the second time today, remaining quiet and calm while letting the gritty Rebel that brought him here do the talking. ⋮⋮ I have to get this uniform off as soon as possible, ⋮⋮ he realized. Perhaps he could salvage the armourweave undersuit, but the rest would have to go. Vult needed little encouragement to deface the clothes denoting the Empire he once proudly stood for.

@Vosrik @Fey Aadedai @The Mad Hammer​

 

[Sharlon Kruger]

"Any Rebels in the area, I need backup and extraction. Rendezvous at hangar B28, over."

Kruger heard the call. Though not in his ship he did have a pilot Droid. Since he never wanted to be stuck needing a ride. Pulling out a comuncator Kruger brought to his lip as he gulped down the last piece of steak in his mouth." no worry there will be ride on stand by. Hanger B28. Just get there fast I don't want to pay docking fees." with that down Kruger forced his way through the crowd keying his comuncator again. "Droidie Boi, you there" waiting for the beeping reply Kruger gave the order. "get the ship to hanger B28 and be fast about it."


Kruger was not far from the hangers and actually watched his antelope take off and start to fly casually towards the new hanger. His ship would beat him to the hanger hopefully he would be there in time to greet his passenger.

 

[Devrim Wolfe]

Nodding and pursing his lips at Toland's introduction, Devrim declined from giving the former trooper his own name. That would come in time, if this guy was serious about joining the Rebels. The two didn't even reach the end of the street after Devrim spoke to the nearby rebels before hearing responses from all over the district. This brought a smile to the marksman's face — they may be a rag-tag bunch, but the rebels sure did know how to support each other and get things done. One of the respondents Devrim recognized as an accomplished marksman like himself that he'd seen around Dxun. Raising the comm to his mouth again, he replied, "Don't worry, we'll screen him thoroughly. Hopefully nobody will be haunting anyone today." Another rebel chimed in, bringing in a vessel for those present to extract in. "We'll be there soon, over."

As Toland's replied to Devrim's questions as they walked, the rebel listened curiously. The former trooper certainly seemed to have good intentions, and a genuine care for others that Devrim hadn't seen in other Imperial agents before. The two nearly bumped into a Pantoran as they reached the hangar. He couldn't immediately recall her name — Fen? Rey? Something like that, but Devrim had certainly seen her around the Dxun cell for a little while recently. Nodding to her in acknowledgement, the rebel waved his hand dismissively upon seeing her suspicion for Toland. "I've got a pack of Kolto to take back to base. This guy here, Toland, says he wants to join up. Just keep your wits about you and don't give him a blaster." Passing by, they approached the Galactic Alliance shuttle that had surely reached bay B28 by now.

@Fey Aadedai @The Mad Hammer @Shalken @Andrewza​

 

[Motshan Dragoste]

As the group made their way into the hangar, Motshan watched with suspicion. He moved along, never letting them out of sight for more than a few moments. Once they were off the street, Motshan found a nearby stairway and holding the rifle low so as to hope to avoid being too noticeable, darted across the desolate roadway into the hangar.

Inside, Hangar B28, Motshan hurried after Devrim and company. Once within hearing range, he growled, "Lets get this over with before anything else goes off plan," shooting a glare that could only be described as loathing at the Imperial Defector. "Traitor," he muttered under his breath, before looking from his fellow rebels to the newly arriving vessel. Shrugging with his shoulder, he pressed forward towards the ship, "C'mon. Time to get us outta here."

"Kriffin' Sith. . ."

@Vosrik
@Shalken

 

[Zane Knox]

With reports of increased Rebel activity in this sector and on the planet of Onderon, Zane, on the bridge of the Imperial Frigate "Valor" jumped into a medium orbit over Onderon. Their mission was to find and destroy any resistance forces in the sector. Today, that involved screening any ship of sufficient size trying to leave the planets surface while agents on the ground did their jobs in trying to fluster them out of hiding. Zane was loving being back on the bridge and being a part of the bridge crew again, but he was unsure if his new commander liked him or not. Having a history like he does, coming up from nothing is normally frowned upon by most other officers.

Before Zane could finish his thoughts on the matter, the captain spoke, not really to him but to the rest of the bridge crew. "I want this planet on lock-down as soon as possible." He said before looking directly at one of Zanes fellow bridge officers and commanding "Mathews, have all three assault ships manned and launched immediately" before looking over to Zane and continuing "Knox, have all four wing commanders and their pilots in their starfighters immediately, and launched!" As Mathews and Zane were busy calling to arms, the captain spoke his orders once more "Have each assault ship cover each of the three star-ports on the surface, if any ship looks or acts suspicious, have them boarded by the assault ship. Have one wing assigned to protect each assault ship and the fourth to remain in our vicinity." "This planet is only one of many in this sector to verify, Lieutenant Knox, report to hanger 3 and take an assault ship to monitor this planet. Return to our previous coordinates in 2 days."

The bridge was buzzing with activity and nothing was different with Zane as he barked out orders down to the Wing commanders. and Zane was off to his assigned assault ship, disgusted with the turn of events. He had ended up as an officer on the bridge of a Frigate of the Empire only once more found as the commander of a small and insignificant ship.

As Zane exited the hanger, the "Valor" was gone in a flash, leaving Zane to do the dirty work on this planet.

 

[Toland Vult]

Stepping towards the shuttle that had just made landfall in hangar B28, Toland noticed as two more Rebels entered the bay and prepared to evacuate. Unsure of where they would be taking him, he did his best to prepare himself for what would come next. There would most likely be a thorough interrogation, and likely several months of probation as well. The idea was certainly unpleasant, but serving a corrupt Empire for the rest of his life was a far worse fate.

Glancing at the rebel marksman as he passed by, Toland flinched lightly under the man's withering gaze and venomous accusation. He would get used to such treatment in time; but for now, it stung all the same. Keeping his head down, Vult boarded the ship ahead of Devrim and the other rebels moments before they took off, heading for the nearby demon moon of Dxun. After a quick transfer away from any official Alliance outpost, Toland was to be taken offworld to be interrogated so as to determine where his loyalties would lie.

Fin​