Salvation Boulevard (Raines)

[Guardian Six]

Isomer woke from his nap to the sound of his ship's central command unit. We have arrived outside of Telti, beginning our descent onto the planet. There is fresh coffee for you in the kitchen if you would like some sir. The trip wasn't long, just about the same time it took to get from Coruscant to Corellia, and Isomer had enough time to catch up on his sleep. He had left Coruscant after taking a bounty from the Galactic Alliance Defense Force, his target was just another name who stood between him and his reward.

Finally his ship arrived on the surface of Telti, it rested on a landing pad near the temple of worship, his target was sure to be inside. By Isomer thought about this target differently than the others, he wouldn't take him alive nor would he meet him before he took him down. He grabbed his two blasters and put them in his holster, he wouldn't need them right now, if at all, he reminded himself. He left the ship after visiting his armory and he took: his sniper rifle, he binoculars and his vibrosword.

He began walking away from the temple and to a sniper position where he would pull the trigger.

 

[The Stray]

From the outside, the temple was a massive complex which stretched upwards like a dark monolith. Its dark stone gave off a powerful, but secretive vibe, with its archaic architecture standing in stark contrast to the industrial city around it. The backdrop of a starry night, magnified by the overwhelming appearance of the planet Telti orbited.

Inside, the temple was well lit, yet maintained its ancient theme with narrow corridors. Inside, the majority of the buildings space was occupied by a massive room, adorned in colorful banners, sculptures of false deities, and other decorations unique to the order of the twelve crosses. Within this large room, Raines sat at a centerpiece facing a sea of people, all of which were fixated upon the archbishop. Raines bellowed with powerful lungs magnified by the theater like effects of worship hall.

“It is only through the church, that you might find paradise! And only through the extermination of the jedi, will we free ourselves of the darkness that corrodes the very fibers of the galaxy!”

The audience erupted with applause, whistles, and shouts. Cries praising the gods of the order could he heard loudly, before finally being quieted by the archbishops outstretched hands.

”Before we end our service for the night, I would like to remind you that it is your duty to save the souls who have not yet found the light of the order! And to free them of their mortal chains! Now go forth, and spread the word of the gods!

A second erupting from the crowd ensued, while Raines turned from the mass, and drifted through a back door, followed by six monks clad in robes of black and white. Now making their way through a narrow hallway, Raines was met by two armed figures and a richly dressed business man.

”Have the girls arrived?” Raines questioned, his old sickly voice tinted with a taste of lust.

“Yes, they have been moved to your personal chambers” responded the business man quite obediently.

Raines smirked, turning from the man and making his way energetically toward the towers upper floors.

 

[Guardian Six]

By the time Isomer climbed the hill and set up his rifle, he saw his target disappear from the stage, leaving him with no one to shoot and a crowd of worshipers heading his way. So he packed up and headed down the hill, thinking about his new action plan, he figured he had two options.

1). Wait for Raines to leave the compound and capture or kill him there, or
2). Find Raines and either capture or kill him there.

Either way the man was going down, Isomer never lost a bounty and he wouldn't start today. He walked through the crowd of people thinking about how he would approach his objective, he quickly thought about the solution and how he would capture the target alive. He put his weapons back on his ship, except for his two blasters, and made his way inside the church. Finally he found two bodyguards standing in front of a doorway, he had found the room. Without being seen by the guards, Isomer pulled out two smoke detonators and rolled them by the door; they were taped so they were quiet. Suddenly they smoke started pouring out of the detonators and Isomer ran towards the guards and knocked them out before putting on his re-breather.

"We have a fire out here!" Isomer yelled as he kicked down the door, "everyone evacuate now, there's a fire outside! Sir you have to come with me," Isomer said as he put his hand on his Raines's shoulder, grabbing him and brought him out of the church near his ship.

 

[The Stray]

While Raines made his way to his to his personal chambers while unbeknownst to him his assailant made his way into the building. By the time Isomer would be preparing his smoke detonators, Raines would be ogling three twe’lek’s, scantly dressed, and quivering in the corner. In his mind, Raines was full of impure thoughts, unaware of the intruder outside. It wasn’t until the sound of bodies dropping, followed by shouting that Raines snapped out of his mental fantasy.

It was as if someone had electrocuted his heart when the door shot open, with every nerve in his body vibrating in its wake. His eyes flung open, and his body snapped around to view Isomer stepping through with intent. In panic and confusion, Raines listened and obeyed the forceful commands of Isomer, bending to the will of Isomer’s hands as the directed Raines out of the room and out into the hall. But Isomer wasn’t in the clear, and while his plan may have taken him past the guards initially guarding the door, and convinced Raines out into the hall way, he had also alerted nearly every guard the in the general vicinity.

While the temple was not crawling with trained soldiers, the order of twelve’s plans meant that a supply of guards were provided to guard its notable members. So while Isomer wouldn’t be facing a small army, twenty men had been dispatched to help guard their property. Isomer had taken down 2, but while he lead Raines, three more would be rounding the corner with the intent on rendezvousing with Raines and his supposedly conscious guards. What they would find is Isomer guiding the confused and panic’d archbishop As they rounded the corner, their faces turned from focus to alarm, which in turn brought further fear to the arch bishop.

Without hesitation they drew their side arms, and while they didn’t fire, it appeared there was a bit of a corellian standoff. It wouldn’t be long before Raines would understand just what exactly had happened. But as self-interested and cowardly as he was, he wouldn’t dare move nor speak.

 

[Guardian Six]

"You there!" Isomer said as he kept his grip on Raines while walking by the guards, "I'm Doctor Kel with the medical staff, this man was involved in a chemical fire near his quarters, I have to get our cardinal to my medical kit, would you two please escort me to my ship?"

 

[The Stray]

Upon hearing Isomer speak, the three guards began to lower their weapons when one of them, the apparent leader of the trio motioned to Isomer’s blasters that hung at his side. It was more than plausible that a doctor might be carrying weapon’s, and leading Raines by his shoulder. But there certainly wouldn’t be any combat medics on staff tonight. And while these guards were not university graduates, they were brighter than they looked.

“Father Raines! Do you recognize this man!?”

The guard questioned his weapon back to its ready position, sights locked on Isomer.

”N-no!” Raines cried, his eyes flashing back to Isomer who at this point wasn’t going to fool anybody. He hadn’t dressed the part, and the evidence was starting to mount against him ”But don’t shoot! I don’t trust your accuracy!” Raines demanded.

While Isomer might have ran out of lies, he was still behind an arch bishop who wasn’t about the let paid thugs take shots to see if they could hit Isomer and not himself. If Isomer was lucky, no more guards would be on their way, but if the standoff lasted much longer, he couldn’t expect to make it out alive. The situation had kept the guards distracted, but any longer, and a comlink would alert the remaining fifteen guards who were patrolling the area.

 

[Guardian Six]

"Look," Isomer said as he kept walking towards his ship, using Raines as a shield, "I was sent by Viinn Jho, and just arrived when the fire happened. Now you are wasting this man's time, he needs to get to my medical kit or else he will die! Now escort me to my ship so I can save this man, I will give him back to you once he is vaccinated and we will sort this thing out. What do you say Cardinal?"

Isomer knew this was his last chance to persuade the men, if it worked he would bring the bounty back to Coruscant alive. If it didn't, and it looked that way, then he would kill Raines and record it with his holovid and upload it to the Alliance Headquarters. His mission was nearly complete, all that stood between him and his reward were a coward and a few trigger-happy guards.

 

[The Stray]

As the conversation between the men began to come to a climax, Raines, convinced that isomer was an enemy had slowly been building his courage. It wasn’t until Isomer suggested that Raines would die if he did not get treatment that Raines finally was ready to be released.

“Don’t let him take me!” Raines blubbered, attempting to escape the grasp of Isomer and make his way to his guards. While Isomer had suggested Raines would die due to a chemical fire, Raines heard a direct threat on his life, and found himself fleeing for the chance for life. At the same time, a comlink was raised to one of the guards lips. ”We have an intruder outside the arch bishop’s chambers. Send backup”

 

[Guardian Six]

"Don't let him take me!" Raines said as he tried to get away.

Isomer grabbed his target by his neck and drew his blaster and pointed it at the guards. He knew they wouldn't attempt anything as long as he had their leader. He moved his back towards the wall, preventing anyone from flanking him, and dragged Raines closer and closer to him ship. He was finally in earshot of The Stinger, and ordered his ship to fire at the guards; it did just that as Isomer turned his blaster on stun and shot the preacher. He was finally home free as he ran onto his ship, it's door closing just as he boarded. He was finished, he injected a high dose of medicine that would keep Raines asleep as he made his way to Coruscant. He set a course for Coruscant and began transmitting to the Military Headquarters of the Galactic Alliance.