Ask Most Irregular

[Godric Mand]

Spoiler: Briefing

The Sith did not simply vanish from Ithor overnight. They established a beachhead in the southern regions. Despite primarily retaining control, the people of Ithor have been unable to push the Sith from that stronghold. From their beachhead, Imperial Intelligence agents stalk the Ithorian Capital. They seek any advantage they can use to turn the tide.

Word has reached the Ithorian government the Imperial Agents plan to sabotage the Capital’s power grid which would leave the world perilously undefended. They must be stopped through any means necessary.

Godric hadn't changed his face recently and he had even allowed himself to go without the gloves that made it appear that he had a pinky finger like most human species had. Instead he waited for his partner for the mission, smoking a cigarette casually as he leaned against the exterior wall of the capital's power generator building. It was a colossal building in terms of size and he was going to get to see the inside of it soon enough.

Bad idea to smoke around power supplies though, in his experience, even if the source of the power was not supposed to be flammable. As his line of work had proven time and time again, things that weren't supposed to be flammable didn't always manage to live up to expectations when someone was determined to make it work.

The locals were talking about a potential Imperial attack from a stranded force of Imperial Irregulars, mercenaries and hardened killers who had been bought and paid for by the Empire to do the worst kind of shrak. Deniable assets too - if they murdered an orphanage the Sith could simply blame it on their hired guns even if they were the ones who gave the order after all.

Spotting his partner arriving, he paused for a moment before taking a long pull on his cigarette.

"This is going to go swimmingly..." he muttered to himself before waving to Drow with a bright smile that they both knew was as fake as his, currently, blonde hair, "Hey there boss! Fancy meeting you here, eh? I'm on that sabbatical like you asked - not my fault boss lady wants to keep something from getting sabotaged."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Serenity. There is only serenity.

Drow closed his eyes painfully as he walked up to meet with his partner for the evening...Godric. Truthfully, the man's mother could have left out the "ric" part as his name as "God!" was normally what Drow shouted whenever he'd read the Arkanian's briefing reports and expense reports. Eight cosmetic surgeries, Drow could almost handle if the fool hadn't also tried to expense a nose job to the Shadows. Plus, all those damn modifications were distracting the man from the job at hand and a Shadow should be focused at all times. Drow did not regret putting Godric on leave from the Shadows but he certainly regretted accepting this assignment from Alex before asking who his partner would be.

Drow didn't know the wisdom of their beloved Grandmaster. Actually he did. In terms of scrapper who could also sneak around, one could do a whole lot worse than Godric and Drow had a feeling this particular mission would require both stealth and strength. So, he gritted his teeth, resolved to work with the man, and just counted himself lucky that he could finally do a mission with a Jedi unmasked. He was exiled to the rest of the Order officially but Godric was a Shadow - there was no need for pretense with the man.

"Godric. Let's try and play nice this evening." Drow put on an equally fake smile.

"Just finished a perimeter walk. I'm thinking with the laser fences fences and autoturrets, a direct attack on the walls is unlikely. I'm thinking maybe a squad tunneling in underneath? Or even an aerial attack. What are you thinking?"

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Godric took another puff on his cigarette before flicking the butt of the cigarette in Drow's general direction with that same, static, smile firmly in place.

"Don't know what you're talking about old man - I play so well with others."

His last few performance reviews while he was on active duty with the Shadows had involved comments about how poorly Godric had responded to working with others. The full story, in his opinion, was that he was entirely justified in getting annoyed that Drow had tried to insert people who couldn't lie their way out of a paper bag. Part of the gig was being able to pretend to be someone you weren't, so successfully and skilfully that even people with the Force believed it.

They had lacked that level of skill in his estimation.

"If I was going to attack?" he gestured with his head toward one of the side entrances, "I'd make a show of attacking the front from the air but actually attack from the side. Oops, sorry!"

He placed a hand over his mouth.

"Was that a bit too deep into cover as a Sith?"

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Force grant me peace.

"Like the Sith would be patient enough to deal with you." Drow said, half-jokingly.

Still though, the boy had a good point and that's exactly what was so irritating about him. As extra as Godric could be, the kid had a solid tactical mind, some decent fightin skills, and the stealth to get even the most clandestine mission done. If he didn't mess this one up, Drow might have to see about placing him back on active duty.

"It's a good guess." Drow admitted to the Arkanian. "I have my droid in the control room right now to alert me if anything goes wrong. In the meantime..."

The Ishi Tib wasn't able to finish his thought as the sounds of the power grid's autoturret defense system came to life. Drow immediately ran over to the gate and up the steps to the walkway where he could see what was going on. Two airspeeders had landed and around a dozen men were steadily approaching, firing upon the walls and turrets whenever there was a reprieve in the blasterfire. Unfortunately, the power grid's turrets were designed with civillian trespassers in mind so they were only set to stun.

"Oh those bastards!" the Ishi Tib swore as he saw what the turrets were firing at. Those dozen men below were dressed head-to-toe in white armor emblazoned with the Jedi Order crest. To seal the deception even further, their seeming leader was also dressed in white (robes not armor) and was carrying a blue-bladed lightsaber. Probably an Acolyte or young Warrior by his age. Drow returned fire with his E-11 rifle from the walls, dropping one of the troopers permanently but ducked soon afer as blasterbolts whizzed his way.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Drow probably had a point there actually - he would likely need to tone the character down to ensure that no hot-headed Sith ever decided that he was too irritating to live. It would inevitably cause some kind of chase out of Sith space that would involve explosions and lightsaber duels and maybe some tears.

Dreadfully cinematic and terrible for any hope of maintaining a cover.

Of course it was then that the enemy decided to show themselves and reveal not only their attack but also the utter depths of their stupidity. They attacked, which was fine, fairly reasonable. He was even right at to the angle of attack! No, there was something else that didn't anger him for the reasons it should.

"Of all the stupid... Asinine... bullshit Sith plots..."

Them using the Jedi Order crest on their armour and waving around a blue lightsaber didn't annoy him because it was bad PR for the Order or anything like that. No, it annoyed him because it was quite literally the dumbest idea he had ever heard of. The Sith invaded and the Jedi repelled their attack, becoming fast and firm friends with the people of the planet.

So why?

Why would literally anyone believe this complete and utter farce?

"No, not doing this. YOU!"

He pointed to the supposed Jedi, igniting his own yellow lightsaber in his right hand as he Pulled the fake Jedi over with the Force with his other hand. Swinging his blade in an attempt to bisect the 'jedi', he was only mildly disappointed that they managed to get their own lightsaber up in time to block the attack.

"There is no anger - there is only peace and truth. Like the truth that I'm going to cut your heart out and make you swallow it."

The fake 'Jedi' immediately retaliated with a wild swing which Godric batted aside with contempt.

"Kill the followers, boss. Me and our 'brother' are going to have words."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Working on it!" Drow grunted as he ducked yet again under the hail of blasterfire coming his way. "Keep that one alive if you can! I want to talk to him!"

Drow had been a pretty good shot, even before learning the ways of The Force so he was able to put some troopers down but they were too spread out, moving too quickly, and returning fire so much so that wiping them out quickly was out of the question. The power grid's autoturret defense system was helping (when the stun blasts it fired were able to penetrate the trooper's armor, that it) and the fake Jedi-aligned troopers seemed to realize that. One of them fired a rocket at one of the turrets, forcing Drow to suspend the rocket in mid-air with the Force. His muscles strained as he struggled to maintain the focus necessary to ease it gently to the ground.

However, that focus wouldn't last as the surviving troopers, having made their way closer to the wall had started lobbing grenades up over the walls. One of them landed near a turret, one landed near the turrets' control panel, one landed near Drow's feet, and one landed near Godric's feet.

Drow swore, released his grip on the rocket and dove off the walkway, to avoid the incoming explosions. He was barely fast enough - the concussive force of the explosions still sending him a bit further in the air than he would have preferred as he jumped, turning his dignified leap into a pratfall.

As embarrassing as that was to happen in front of Godric, Drow experienced a momentary feeling of "I told you so" as his droid Sparky sent him a message over the comms. Evidently, Drow's idea that the Sith might try a tunnel was proven correct as Sparky radioed from his position in the power grid's control room that two Sith had emerged from a drainage culvert in the southern courtyard.

"Tunnelers! I'll deal with 'em! Stay alive!" Drow shouted to Godric as he sprinted towards the culvert in question, switching out his blaster for a lightsaber.

He knew leaving Godric to deal with an Acolyte and a handful of troopers was asking a lot but the power grid needed to be secured far more than Godric needed to be in a comfortable fight. Drow had to give it to the Sith - they knew how to spread out a defending force, even if their false flag plan was utterly stupid. And Drow ought to know - he'd run false flag operations against the Sith a few years ago, getting them and the Pykes to chase each other around the galaxy.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Keeping people alive who deserved to die? Seemed like something a lot of the Jedi would advocate for but already Godric wanted to do nothing more than cut this imposter down to size. The shock of being so deliberately singled out by a surprised Jedi was beginning to wear off and the disguised Sith seemed to be keen to settle himself back into some of the lightsaber combat forms he, no doubt, had memorized.

Poking at the Sith's defence before he could properly get it up to standard, Godric was unable to truly capitalize as the grenade landed right in between himself and the Sith. They both glanced at it in sync before they both threw their free hands forward, both of them thinking to Push both the grenade and their opponent away at the same time. Their mirrored actions caught them as their Pushes slammed into one another and, for a second, there was no movement.

"Oh you son of a-!"

Then they were flung away from each other by both the Push attempts and the sudden explosion of the grenade. Godric cursed, loudly, as his armour was battered and he could already feel himself bleeding - though the adrenaline pumping through his veins told him that he wasn't going to be figuring out where from any time soon. Pushing himself away from the wall he had found himself pushed back against, Godric cracked his neck as he twisted in leisurely.

Batting a blaster bolt back at the trooper it came from, the man let out a squawk before dying to his own re-directed attack. With Drow rushing off to fight the tunnelling forces, Godric stepped forward before setting himself in a defensive stance in front of the Sith and the squad of troopers he had brought with him. He slashed the ground in front of himself.

"See that line?" he asked the enemy as he eyed them all, "Cross the line and I'll kill you. Drop your weapons and I won't kill you. Run and I'll hunt you down; then kill you."

Some of the troopers looked less certain than the others but they all started opening fire, leaving Godric to quickly focus all his efforts into protecting himself from the blaster bolts. Through the ongoing storm of bolts he could see the Sith doing something behind the ranks of the troopers... he just bet he was going to find out what was going on before long.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow made his way to southern courtyard and found...nothing? Well, that wasn't strictly true - he did find a couple of frightened looking prairie squirrels who ran at the sight of a scarred Ishi Tib brandishing a lightsaber and the open culvert that his droid warned him about...but no troopers. Still, if one walked through a drainage culvert, one was bound to leave behind some kind of muck or gunk or even slime behind.

There it was!

Drow had to scan the ground thoroughly - his eyes not as good as they once were - but he found them. A muddy-looking foot imprint. Following where they led, he ran to the turbolift that went straight up to the control room. Even worse, he could see that the turbolift was already ascending. There was no time and he wasn't fast enough to beat them to the control room by using the stairs.

Already groaning at the thought of the expense report this action would cause, Drow squinted, aimed and threw his lightsaber as hard as he could. Propelled by the Force, it circled through the air like a Frisbee for quite a few seconds before connecting with the turbolift cable and severing it. The turbolift began descending quite rapidly until it made a loud crash that would echo throughout the power grid when it connected to the ground. Unholstering his blaster, Drow made his way to the lift, seeing if anybody had survived.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Batting aside blaster bolts as thick as rain in a downpour was nobody's idea of a good time. Even making sure he was moving to make himself harder to hit, Godric was beginning to tire. As a Jedi it was almost second nature to be able to bat aside a blaster bolt due to all the training to do just that - but it didn't mean that the repetition of the action could really get to you, really make your limbs ache like nobody's business.

Cursing as he began to see a civilian vehicle being raised into the air with the Force, Godric prepared to either carve it open with his lightsaber or throw it back at some of the Imperial soldiers. Of course it was at that point he became aware that the vehicle was not empty - a young mother clutched desperately to her child in the front seat as the Sith raised the vehicle high into the air before launching it at him.

Thinking quickly, Godric reached out with the Force to both slow the speed of the vehicle in mid-air but also spin it slightly as it came rushing at him. In landed between himself and the enemy as they continued to lay down the fire - Godric's lightsaber lashed out to cut the door open and he grabbed the mother by the shoulder gently with his free hand and urged her free from the wreck as blaster bolts slammed into it.

The Sith had given him a moral dilemma and Godric had turned it into cover... and a big problem.

"Drow - got civilians here." he called to the Shadow Jedi Master over the com-link with a grunt, "How close is your ship? I need to know if I can get them to it without leading the Imps on for so long they lose interest."

If he fled with the civilians in just the right way, he could lure the Imps into following him - away from the facility.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Blast! What are civvies doing this close to a power station?" Drow asked, slightly annoyed, as he inspected the elevator's wreckage, satisfied that the Imperials inside were in no position to sabotage anything. However, that didn't mean that they were out of the woods just yet. By the sounds of things, Drow had left Godric to deal with a real pickle and he was too far away to be certain that he could aid the former Shadow in time before something happened to either him or the civillians.

As for his ship? Drow flew a one-seater Y-Wing. While it was a great choice for the military history buff that Drow was and for delivering a choice payload, an evacuation vehicle it was not. He could radio his droid Sparky to fly the Y-Wing to their location but, again, it might take too long.

The wrong action is infinitely better than inaction.

The old Jedi teaching from Cin Drallig's holocron echoed through Drow's head as he decided what to do. The old Ishi Tib closed his eyes and blocked distractions from invading his mind. His concern for Godric, the surprise of the attack, his uncertainty, all of it vanished as he surrendered himself to the Force. Drow focused on the sounds of Sith blasters as he began to lift the remains of the elevator car with the Force. The elevator rose into the air slowly but steadily as Drow felt his way through the Force, letting the soldier's sounds and presences guide the path of the elevator. Once it was in the optimal position, Drow let go of the elevator and it fell to the ground and on top of the remaining troopers that were trying to overwhelm Godric. Or, at least, Drow figured it did since he heard quite a few screams coming from over there.

Hopefully, that just left the Acolyte. Drow picked up his saber, ignited it, and hurried towards Godric to help him put down the Sith.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

"Honestly? I wouldn't be surprised if they dragged them here first."

Trouble with playing the defence was that you were forced to allow the enemy chance to actually plan how they would attack you and yours. More than enough chance for the Sith to round up a meat shield mother and her child for use against the Jedi. It flew completely in the face of their disguises but it was pretty clear to anyone watching at this point that the attackers were Sith who were openly acknowledging that their false flag attack had failed.

One bright spot he supposed.

Well, he supposed as he watch Drow drop a lift down on the enemy troopers, that was certainly one way to facilitate an evacuation of civilians from a combat zone. Remove all but one thing that made the area a combat zone in the first place! And he was certain he could make sure the acolyte had bigger problems to deal with.

"Thanks boss." he told Drow before gesturing for the mother and child, "Run!"

Igniting his lightsaber again, Godric vaunted himself over the remains of the speeder and started at a sprint toward the Acolyte who, spotting him, decided that he was going to be brave and charged right back.

This promised to be fun.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow was a little too old to be sprinting after upstart Knights and hotheaded acolytes and he definitely couldn't run as fast as he used to be able to in his old age. But, he was still a Jedi and a warrior at heart so he was able to clear the distance in as good a time as could be expected in his old age and saw that Godric was ably handling himself against the Acolyte. The Arkanian was clearly the better duelist and this was only amplified by the Acolyte's fear of losing his men clouding his judgement.

As it was, Drow was more than happy to give Godric the practice to toy around with the Acolyte for a few moments while he watched. Sparring against fellow Jedi with low-level lightsaber frequencies was all well and good but there was nothing like the real thing to test one's true ability. As soon as Godric was able to disarm the Acolyte, Drow sprang into action and kicked the back of the Sith's knees sending him down.

"PLEASE! MERCY!" the Acolyte cried. Drow looked towards Godric and raised a reptillian eyebrow ridge, nonverbally asking if Godric wanted to play good cop or bad cop in this investigation.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Godric grinned - it was an unfriendly expression.

He grinned as he battered away at the Acolyte's frantic defences, pushing through them with precise applications of strength and speed that had the Sith floundering. The Sith was beginning to panic and it was having an effect on his fighting. Sure, the strikes were coming in harder, stronger and faster with the desperation of each movement - but they were sloppy in other ways. What good was a strike that could break duracrete if it was telegraphed from three parsecs away?

Waiting until just the right moment, Godric feinted. He pretended that he had over-extended himself so that when the Acolyte dove onto the perceived weakness like a starving man on food, he wasn't able to stop the counter attack. His blade danced along the edge of the Sith's lightsaber before he was able to flick and twist his own blade - the way the Sith had been holding his was a weaker grip at that angle...

The blade flew up into the air and Godric caught it in his free hand, backhanding the Sith with the butt of the stolen lightsaber to send him sprawling backward, right into the attack by Drow that grounded him.

Godric levelled both lightsaber blades at the Sith, the humming blades resting on either side of his neck. The Arkanian stared deeply into the Acolyte's eyes as the grin began to drop from his face.

"Why should I?" he asked, bluntly, his voice devoid of the eagerness from before, "Why should I show you Mercy? What will you give me in return for your miserable life?"

He raised an eyebrow and one of the blades lowered, beginning to burn the man's shoulder - slowly.

"I'd rather just kill you, after all. Convince us."

Bad cop it was.

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

"Easy, Godric." Drow said, stepping in and holstering his lightsaber "With saberwork this sloppy, I'd say he's an Acolyte or lower. No reason to think he'd have anything of value to offer us. Be quicker to put him out of his misery. "

At this, Drow unholstered his blaster rifle and leveled it at the squealing Sith Acolyte. Who said you couldn't have two bad cops? The young man started to blubber and Drow felt a momentary twinge of guilt and remorse. While he didn't intend on killing the man unless he forced him to, they were Jedi Shadows. Jedi Knights could show mercy to defeated foes. Shadows had to press the advantage first.

"Please! This was supposed to be my first misssion to lead. I d-didn't know you'd be here! Please don't kill me! My mother gave me up to the Sith when I was a kid! I never wanted this!" the Acolyte screamed rapid fire, trying to find any way, it seemed that he might be able to live, even as Godric's blade was digging further into his flesh.

"Alright turn off the saber, Godric. Let him talk." Drow ordered. Shock and awe had its place but the boy was good and scared already. Shadows may be more ruthless than other Jedi but they weren't butchers. And that distinction might be a bit blurred if any passerby were to see this.

OOC: Feel free to take control of the Acolyte if you want @Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Godric listened and the lightsaber continued to buzz ominously before he snorted and extinguished both blades on Drow's command. It was something he had seen so wearily often - a total lack of responsibility. He spat in the general direction of the Acolyte even as he backed off.

"Typical Sith - the second something isn't going your way its all suddenly someone else's fault." he snorted again in 'amusement', "It's your mommy's fault is it? Your mommy force you to throw those civilians at your enemies? You mommy put the lightsaber in your hands so you could gleefully slaughter people who just so happened to not suck your metaphorical dick hard enough? If you ask me, I think your mother made the smart choice and dumped a piece of shit like you before you dragged her down too."

He might have been a Jedi but that didn't mean that Godric had to be nice, especially to some of the weaker and more obviously spineless of the Sith. As the Shadow stepped away, the Acolyte shuddered slightly and lowered his gaze.

"... don't let him kill me. Please." he begged Drow, "He's going to kill when you're not looking. Look at him - he looks more like a Sith than I do! Don't you think?"

The Acolyte swallowed thickly and looked back up at Drow.

"I'm innocent - I was forced into this position first by my mother and then by my Master. Yeah I wanted to grow in power but only to stop being pushed around! I'm not here to hurt anyone."

@Fantasy Liver

 

[Drow Venn]

Drow measured the words of both men before him very carefully. Taking a life was no easy thing but, in his line of work, sparing one wasn't either. By the Force, why did he have to go and ally himself with the Cursed Hand all those years ago? Life was so much simpler back when he was a simple Jedi Knight, where the Sith were a distant rumor and all that he had to do in a day was train younglings out in the beautiful Yavin courtyard. He missed that place terribly.

"You have two paths ahead of you."

"Path number 1 is I arrest you right here and now and turn you over to the Ithorians. I'm going to tell them exactly what went down today from the attack on the power grid to you placing a mother and her child in danger, everything. I doubt you'll see the outside of a jail cell again since the Ithorians, bless their hearts, don't believe in the death penalty."

"Path number 2 is the harder one. It involves you proving to me that you're really innocent like you say. I know the Sith have a labor camp in the southern regions where they're holding Ithorian dissidents. You go in with your clearance codes and free the Ithorians and you'll have my trust." Drow finished laying out the two destinies the Acolyte had to choose.

"And then I'm free?" the Acolyte asked eagerly.

"No. Then you turn yourself in and I'll still hand you over to the Ithorians. Mercy doesn't mean absolution. But, I'll only tell the Ithorians that I caught you trespassing and vandalizing the power grid. Can't expect they'll give you more than a year in prison. Will give you some time to think on your actions and, after you do your time, I'll come see you."

The Acolyte's face fell at the news that he would be going to Ithorian prison, no matter which path he chose. Drow refrained from rolling his eyes. The pacifistic and good-natured Ithorians had some of the cushiest prisons around and this coward seemed worried? It'd be a picnic compared to what his upbringing amongst the Sith was.

Finally the Acolyte nodded and Drow let him go fulfil his redemptive mission. As he watched the Acolyte depart for the southern regions, Drow smiled. He didn't tell the Acolyte this but if he fulfilled his mission, Drow intended on visiting him when he got out of prison and, assuming he had truly changed, offer him to be trained as a Jedi. It was one thing to destroy your enemy but Drow was also fond of turning them against each other. After a few moments of watching the Acolyte disappear into horizon, Drow turned to Godric.

"Can't go breaking every neck, Goddie. Even in this line of work. You'll never know who could still be of use. Plus, I'm a firm believer in second chances." Drow said. If Godric knew him at all, the natural assumption would be that the Ishi Tib was referring to his past, before he became a Jedi where he had worked for a vicious mercenary company.

"Which is why I'd like to reinstate you as an active Shadow. If you want it, that is." Drow said with a small smile on his face. Godric and he certainly had their differences but god damn it if the man couldn't come through when it mattered most.

"Oh and if the Acolyte doesn't follow through on our deal, could you go ahead and liberate those Ithorians for me? And then kill the Acolyte?" Drow asked casually, almost as if he was reminding Godric to water his plants and not storm into a prison and slay a Sith.

@Nefieslab

 

[Godric Mand]

Godric eyed the Acolyte as he hurried away.

Perhaps he hurried to carry out Drow's mission of mercy - or perhaps he hurried away to re-join with the Sith forces. Maybe, just maybe, he might grow half a set of balls and do neither, instead choosing to go on the run from the Sith Order. Make his way as some kind of wandering warrior like some cheesy holodrama on the holonet or something. Something that weak-kneed housewives would go crazy over while their partners ignored their desires or something.

It was bullshit either way.

Contrary to his earlier flippant demeanour, he turned back to Drow as he drew in a puff on a cigarette. Extending the action until the embers of it threatened to burn at his fingers, he eyed the other Jedi for a long moment before blowing smoke out of the side of his mouth and flicking the cigarette butt over Drow's head.

"Waste of everyone's time, Drow. We could be liberating enslaved peoples right now - but instead we wait first to see if your pet project doesn't just explode with impotent Dark Side rage at being beaten?" he shook his head before drawing his lightsaber and starting to walk after the Acolyte, "I'll play it your way and when he adds this to the ever-growing list of fuck-ups that is his sorry excuse for a life? I'll remind him that it could be worse."

As he stepped past Drow he paused and glanced back at the First Shadow.

"Never really stopped being active anyway, boss. Just point the way."

/End Thread

@Fantasy Liver