[Sith Mission] Save the Walking Carpets

[Galad J. Victus]

A new age, a new rank, a new mission.

It was to be Galad's first since his ascension, and he was more than ready to level up the difficulty.

This time, the planet was Kashyyk. Their task was to eliminate a slaver, by the name of Gram Balmung. It was strange. When it came to enslaving and trading Wookies, the Empire had a long and proud history. But now, they were there to "free" them from the unfortunate fate. Clearly the man in question had made some enemies in the higher places, or was actually foolish enough to capture and sell the Imperium's most precious manpower source just for a few extra credits. Galad knew the slaver wasn't stupid. Prior to his departing for the misson, he had looked into whatever information was there to be found in the Imperial database about him. Besides the most basic entries, there were a few certain points which especially caught his interest. Some involment in the Alliance affairs in his youth, for example, was one of the more interesting parts.

Watching the orbit as the transport vessel slowly descended towards the platform set up over one of the hugest branchest on a very large tree, Galad once again checked his belt, making sure that the both hilts were correctly placed, one hidden under the robe, and the translation device was where it should be, ready to be equipped. He rose from his seat besides the Imperial pilot and went towards the door, positioning the device behind his ear and extending the metal sensor stick towards his lips along the way. It would make him able to communicate properly with the Wookies.

As soon as the transport ship touched the platform, the rampart lowered and connected the ship with the ground with a hissing and smoke coming from the both sides, Galad found before him a Wookie who was tasked with escorting them back to his village as a beginning to their mission, at the other side of the platform, waiting for them. The bigger picture around him included very huge trees scattered in every direction throughout his vision, with occasional small settlements on some of them, a large river on distance, and an endless forest, making it impossible to see the ground of the planet itself directly.

Overally, the sight was stunning, peaceful and enjoyable, with the sunset only but adding to it's indescribable beauty.

 

[Indigo]

What a strange twist of fate must have managed to work it's way to Nirulve, that his first mission since he returned ended up being led by such a familiar, once-friendly face. They had not spoken in ten years, but Galad's face was one that Nirulve still remembered. As far as Sith went, Nirulve could say that he liked Galad. They had not spoken much on the way over; Nirulve had poured himself into learning the culture of Kashyyyk, and of their people. The wookiees held no love of the Empire currently, and this mission had two clear components; do not make enemies of the wookiees to allow further exploitation of them down the road, and see this Balmung dead for his trouble. As he descended the transport vessel's ramp and drank in the beautiful scenery, his eyes only registering how difficult he would be to hide from the wookiees in this place. The boardwalks held very little in the way of cover, and trying to match the monstrous natives' ability to climb trees seemed foolish in the extreme. Opening hostilities with the wookiees could be suicide if they were not supremely careful.

Now that they were properly within the domain of the wookiees, he quickly checked the apparatus behind his ear. It seemed functional and was extremely well hidden behind his giant tangle of hair. His ears remained nearly flat to his skull, and his pale yellow eyes scanned the wookies that came to greet them quickly, searching for any unusually hostile ones. It took very little time to determine that they were not happy to see them, but were also not openly hostile. Suddenly conscious of the fact his hand had fallen on the hilt of his sword, he had to make a conscious effort to let go, to not appear threatening. His tiny size and ragged appearance probably made him look comical next to the imposing figure that Galad cut. A plain shirt and pants, revealing nothing of his association, was a stark difference from most Sith who at minimum, wore some sort of embroidery to claim their statue and heritage.

Making every effort to appear as a calm and reasonable sentient might, he turned to Galad and nodded wordlessly, signifying nothing. He then stepped behind the man, guarding their rear with a wary and cautious eye.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Lowurra, the wookie captain, had been awoken by one of the other wookies. "Sir, the imperials are incoming," he told him.


He took a deep breath and climbed to his feet. He was not that old but could feel his age and the responsibility of showing the imperials the "slaver" that had been freeing the wookies. We cannot allow them to harm the human. We must find a way to stop them.


"I will gather them personally from the landing pad," he told the wookie.


He gathered his equipment and picked up his handy bowcaster. He had seen a lot of battles with that weapon. He walked out of his cabin high in the treetops of Kashyyk. He followed the path towards the landing pad and watched as the imperial shuttle descended from the clouds. He continued to the landing pad and stood at the base of the rampart.


"Welcome to Kashyyk gentlemen, I am Lowurra the captain over this area. I will be your guide while you're on the planet." he snarled in the wookie tongue.


He turned around and indicated for the men to follow as he walked back towards the village among the trees. We have to stop them, he thought. He continued deep in thought as he walked with the men towards the main common area.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

Nirulve hadn't changed much, and Galad wasn't surprised to see it. As soon as he saw his companion again after all the years, it indeed brought back some memories. Amongst all the sith he had met so far, Nirulve was one of the fewer that he deemed safe to trust. Sure, he was probaly paranoid, or in possession of some similar mental sickness, but Galad couldn't simply bring himself to see the tiny creature as a threat. Many in the order could easily judge this as a weakness, but the young man had his own opinion on the matter. Never waste a potential friend and an ally, especially if you are a sith.

Nodding back to Nirulve, Galad turned towards the Wookiee as a greeting smile appeared in his face, not genuine as a whole.

[COLOR="#crimson"]"Greetings Lowurra. I am Galad, and this here is Nirulve, we are confident that you will do your guiding duty to it's best."[/COLOR]

His words accompanied by a gentle nod, Galad followed the Wookiee towards the walkway. Catching up with him after the first few steps, the young man was eager to start gathering information as soon as possible. Of course, the guide's knowledge of the matter would not be as valuable compared to the chieftain's, which to they were heading currently, as much as he could tell, though no harm would come from a few simple questions. He cleared his throat before speaking, in an attempt to scatter away the awkward feeling of silence over the small group. His voice was a little higher than what would be considered normal, careful to make sure translator wouldn't cause any trouble.

[COLOR="#crimson"]"So, Lowurra. Do you know anything of the man yourself? His whereabouts, size of his group, or any other potentially useful information?"
[/COLOR]

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Gram Balmung had been resting comfortably in his cabin amongst the trees. He was interrupted when one of his men, the man he had left in charge, Sam, burst through the door. "Sir, the sith are on planet, they have come for you. We have received word from the wookies to get you out of here or eliminate the sith," he told him.

"I think the best route would be organize an ambush and eliminate these sith, so our operation can continue on this world. If I run, they will pursue me until I am dead," Gram had replied with a look of almost sadness on his face. "Tell the other men we will organize an ambush near the landing pad we use to take the wookies off world. One of them will stay with the ship and the wookies already on board ready for the trip off planet. The least we can do is insure the last bunch get to go. Also, tell the wookies to give the imperials as much information as they can, they cannot be suspected of playing a part in this," he continued.
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Shorkazza, the now chieftain of the wookies, was seated in the common room. He listened as one of the scouts reported that the imperials had arrived. He sighed and listened as the scout he had sent to warn Gram returned and told him what his wishes were. He was to tell the imperials what they knew and help in the ambush at the pad they had allowed Gram to use. He disagreed with the plan, he told the scout, "Go back and tell the human fool to board his ship and get off this planet with the last of our brothers. We will deal with the imperials."

With the moves in motion, he awaited the arrival of his trusted adviser, Lowurra, who was escorting the imperials back to the common room, where they would discuss what was happening. He resettled the crown that had typically followed the chieftain title and made sure his blade and bowcaster were prepared for the battle to come, if it happened he must participate.
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Lowurra, leading the sith towards his home, was disgusted. He knew what lay before the strangers and he knew he had to protect his brothers on their way off planet with the "slavers." The human clearing his throat interrupted his concentration. He listened to the mechanical talk of the translator the man was wearing. He shook his head with a roar and replied with, "I know little of what is happening with the man you are seeking. I simply know he has been capturing our brethren and transporting them off planet."

They had almost reached the common hall and he hoped everything had been arranged as they had discussed prior to the imperials arriving. He passed the last two guards as they entered the main room of the common hall. He approached the Chieftain and presented the visitors, "This is Galad and Nirulve, they have been sent to deal with our slaver."

After he presented the guests, "If you will excuse me, I will be back to guide you to the Slaver's landing pad," he roared to both the Chieftain and the unwanted guests.

He exited the common room through the opposite door they entered where a waiting squad of wookies was waiting. "Brothers, please head to the ambush location, it will be the hut before we get to the hut containing our hero's men. You will be in the tree above us and when I pass through, we will ambush and kill the imperials," he delivered his briefing quietly.
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After receiving the revised plans from the wookies, Gram shook his head in disbelief. They would sacrifice themselves to get the group he had off this world. There must be someone amongst the group very important for the wookies. He ordered his other men to prepare the ship for launch and he would join them as soon as he knew of the fate of the imperials.

 

[Indigo]

Nirulve had silently followed behind Galad, but there was no threat he could notice. There were very few wookiees around however, and Nirulve supposed it must have something to do with the slavers. Perhaps they were hiding? Silently, he wondered how the wookiees had been reacting to the enslavement. Were they hiding? Fighting? Giving a few wookiees to spare the majority? Nirulve knew that in the past, all three of those things had been attempted. Which one was it here? His mind raced with the possibilities. The wookiees made him nervous; he couldn't gauge them at all. Most demi humans had useful facial tics that revealed deceptions, but the wookiees' unique way of speaking and their masses of hair complicated things. Unsure of how to proceed, Nirulve simply concealed his signature in the force out of sheer habit and watched their environments like a hawk, examining each wookiee in the hut for any potential dangers. He remained silent, deferring speaking to the more experienced and confident Galad.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

The wookiee settlement was little more than what the young man had expected. Hostile stares from the locals, a few readied weapons here and there, the distance that the creatures had seemingly been trying to maintain, a firm silence. It was easy to imagine that some of them were drained, their friends taken away, to unfortunate fates. While it explained a part of the passive hostility, it did nothing to surpass their long-time hatred for the Empire. The wookiees were known by it. Even if there was no logical reason left to hate, the furry creatures would still do it. It would be hard to blame them for it, however. Their people's history and experiences provided enough valid reasons. To remove a hatred so strong enough to be considered a part of a whole kind, was possible or not, only time would tell. Perhaps this, could be a solid beginning.

In the common hall, Galad took a step forward, nodding respectfully at the wookiee chieftain sitting on it's place of power, carefully eyeing the two sith as much as he could tell. He himself was intending to keep his guard up, as any other would be forced to do in a similar situation, in the middle a people and a culture he was relatively unfamiliar to. His voice was high, adressing to the Wookiee leader.

[COLOR="#crimson"]"Greetings, mighty chieftain. We are here for a mission on the Empire's behalf, to eliminate the troublesome slaver who has been kidnapping and enslaving your people against their own free will, I am sure you know of him. I suppose, you were provided with the instructions to point us at the man? So that we could remove his presence, and provide your people with the safety and protection that they truly deserve." [/COLOR]

Although he expected that the chieftain would not trust them outright, Galad reckoned that he would not hesitate to co-operate, for the good of his people, and that of his own. That did not change the fact that he himself did not trust this particular Wookiee as a return, however. Especially with the readied weapons. Was it a sign of undeclared hostility, or simply an unnecessary caution? It seemed more like the former.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

The wookie could tell see the tension in the room. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to eliminate these imperials without bloodshed. He roared his welcome and began to answer the man's questions, "I am Shorkazza, the chieftain, I know of the man of which you speak. We have been unable to find the exact location, but we do have a rough estimate on the location of the individual. We would very much enjoy him removed from our planet, he has taken far too many as it is," he finished with a roar.

He knew of the harshness that his species has suffered at the hands of the empire and they would never be allowed to leave the planet. He would personally see to that. "HE LIES!" roared a wookie from the rear of the room.

The chieftain roared in outrage, "GET HIM OUT OF HERE!"

"THE "SLAVER" IS SMUGGLING WOOKIES OFF WORLD AND OUT OF IMPERI-.." He had time to get out before three wookies had tackled him and began to drag him from the room.

The chieftain sighed with almost defeat. He drew his ceremonial ryyk blade and pounced towards the sith roaring, "ATTACK!" He aimed for the human first and brought the heavy blade towards the sith's left shoulder angled towards his right hip.
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Lowurra heard the words, but was still unable to believe it. A traitor amongst their own ranks! He opened the door in time to hear the chieftain's orders. The chieftain, his two bodyguards, himself, the two wookies guarding the walkway, and himself and his four wookies would have the imperial surrounded. He drew his crossbow and slowly walked back towards the imperials as did the rest of the wookies, except the chieftain. It was always tradition for the chieftain to fight by himself. If the chieftain managed to fall, the wookies would open fire on the imperials.

 

[Indigo]

Nirulve stared, observing with something akin to dread as the wookiees suddenly drew their weapons. He cursed under his breath. This was not what he expected. Now they had to deal with six angry wookiees, and they had yet to figure out how to find this 'slaver'. He figured some wookiees might have tried to kill them, but he hadn't prepared for this to devolve so quickly. Ultimately it didn't matter very much; he had prepared for some resistance on the part of the wookiees and so had packed accordingly. The first order of business was easy; he swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked to be a grenade. He threw it at his feet, and a massive cloud of gas was released. It obscured vision efficiently, which would be useful, but its' true danger lied in the compound used to make the smoke, which was unusually foul smelling when compared to the standard smoke bomb. They were unpopular for obvious reasons; Nirulve had taken three before he had left in order to ensure wookiee cooperation. Not terribly useful outside, but inside the smoke, and the smell, was trapped. The poor wookiees, with their advanced and more sensitive sense of smell, would suffer far worse than the two Sith. Nirulve then scooted out from underneath the two fighting warriors, his tiny figure easily able to position himself behind the chieftain and near the far wall, awaiting the outcome of Galad's fighting abilities.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

Of course, treason. It was not an utter shock. The creatures were full of hatred, an undying rage to all who had allied themselves with the dreaded Empire, no matter what the reasons. And here, at the very hall of one of their chieftains the fire would burn the brightest. Galad did not blame them for it, it was only natural for the beasts to attemp an act of betrayal such as this. It, however, did beg for a punishment. Their pride had to be shattered, their honour rendered lost, and only them would the will of the mighty warrior fade into silence. Only then.

The crusader acted swiftly. Unleashing the crimson saber from his belt, he held it with strength, aided by the Force which magnified his own natural might and speed. To meet the brute before him head on would be useless, consuming, which caused Galad to step aside instead, a wide step, performed in the last moment for creating extra stagger effect. As soon as the immediate danger was dismissed, he launched his counter-attack. Holding the hilt with both hands, he lifted it above his head and spinned as he moved quickly to chieftain's rear; angled slightly down, in a manner which would cause his foe's shoulder to be scorched by the crimson lightsaber's tip, and at the end of his lunge, if all had worked as perfectly as intended, Galad would then drive his blade of dancing fires through the traitor's chest, tip would come from the other side, out of the breached body. Coupled with the penalty Nirulve's unexpected aid would have on the chieftain's senses, which in fact Galad did not approve as a whole, rather viewing it as cheating in a duel, but still, the chances of success would be increased.

He could always use the Force to crush his bones and cast his lifeless body aside, but the young one valued honour in personal combat, expecially in this case. Not just that it would be extremly unfair, it would also enrage the other beasts in the hall, creating more trouble than eliminating. The information had to be taken still.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Shorkazza had not expected the swift movement of the sith and as such had buried the hilt of his blade into the floor of the common room. However, the sith was not finished he heard the buzz of the lightsaber before he felt it. The sudden searing pain of the lightsaber making contact with flesh moving towards the center of his chest. He collapsed to his knees, unable to say anything and unable to move. There was nothing, nothing but pain in what was left of the wookies life. His consciousness was gone before he hit the floor. The chieftain was dead.
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Lowurra, somewhat surprised at the outcome, watched as the chieftains body fell to the ground beside his blade. It was shame to see the wookiee's life ended so effortlessly. Following the attack however, he ordered the wookies surrounding the imperials to open fire and attack at will. The smoke that was beginning to fill the hall was nearly intolerable but they would not be defeated by such puny attacks. The sound of nine crossbows firing at the ring they had created permeated the air. He halfway hoped that at least one of the sith would fall to the barrage, but he found it unlikely after witnessing the strength and finesse of the taller sith and the devious methods of the smaller one.
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Gram had the last load of wookiees in the ship and was beginning the pre-flight preparations when he spotted the smoke pouring from the common hall. He knew something had gone wrong and the ambush they had set up was going to fail. He shook his head, but he knew his responsibility was to get the wookiees he did have off the planet. This would be the last time he visited Kashyyk now that the sith knew about him. He willed the ship to hurry the preparations and the wookiees to last long enough to let them get away, but he somehow had his doubts. The imperials would not send people who could not handle themselves. He sighed as various lights began to flash signaling failures in the repulsorlifts. "Get out there and get this ship going, we need to get out of here!" He yelled to one of his crew mates.

 

[Galad J. Victus]

He watched as the chieftain felt the sudden touch of death and defeat, collapsing, beyond healing. The mighty beast fell and the respect it commanded within his people would leave them with a single aim; vengeance. As the slayer of their leader, the wrath of these fiercely-loyal beasts would strike him hardest, coupled with Nirulve slipping out of the situation as the smoke rose and covered the senses. Galad, his mind swiftly calculating the most resourceful way out of the hall and to complete the mission, imagined the fire, as his own fire burned him inside out. He was betrayed, trapped and left to dead, far from home, and within the company of beasts. A fire of rage and destruction of the innocent, the whole tribe, their settlement, their people, warriors, children. The slightest sign of a corrupt and stained Wookiee civilization would be erased, and the emptiness left in where it once existed, prospered, would be a far greater example of fear than thousands of years of slavement and torture.

His wrath burned brighter and stronger than the crimson blade he held in his grasp, as he fell deeper into the rush of anger and darkness, his imagination grew wicked. The rage, it was unresistable, sweet as a heaven, yet painful. His soul would burn with the bath of memories and emotions, and the suffering, would evolve into a nightmare creature of power and evil. Galad had always fought the urge to unleash; within bloody battlefields as comrades died in his arms, screaming the name of distant loves and homes, in dark holes where he was mercilessly beaten and tortured to the point of insanity, even among the ruins of his own heaven, lifeless bodies with familiar faces. Thus came the shattering point, he had no tolerance for betrayal left, a mental disease of sorts, a trauma.

He summoned the corpse of the fallen to his hand, the chieftain for the last time standing tall, his open eyes fixed at something beyond catching, and one by one bolts pierced his body. The once glorious chieftain, reduced to nothing more than a furry meatshield. Once the barrage had ended, he cast the body towards one of the warriors closer to him, before moving silently through the smoke as a cloud of mist and shadow, his physical form slightly fading with the aid of the Force and the lightsaber vanishing into silence, making it even more difficult to spot him as he travelled through the smoke. After a seemingly long moment the crimson saber would re-appear and go through the chest of a wookiee, and his head would fly with the second lunge of the crusader, then rolling away in the floor. His hands would rise and thunders do the dance of death, in a wicked tone of purple. Multiple great bolts of destruction would arc through the hall, a fierce unleashing of wrath, enough to hit several of his enemies packed closer into each other, and scorch them, power of the lightnings enchanted with the rage crusader had greatened them with.

With that, he once again dived into the thick cover of smoke, appearing on the other side in mere moments. The green of his eyes corrupt, a strong and alive yellow, he stared at the center of his rage, Lowurra. The tip of the blade carved a path of fire in the floor as he slowly walked towards him, his mental influence would invade the warrior's mind with the flashes of the bloodbath about the come.

 

[Aaron Corinth]

Lowurra watched the man easily dispatch some of his clan's mightiest warriors and now the man was approaching him. He was petrified but he knew if he ran, he would only die tired or so it was said. He drew his own ryyk blade and threw his bowcaster to the side. If he managed to make his way out of this, he would find it again. Instead of waiting for the man to attack, he would have the preemptive strike. He began the attack with a lateral slash from the right hoping to make contact with the oncoming sith.

He had a feeling that the attack was a moot point, he had seen the man tear through the other warriors and his own chieftain as if they weren't even standing there. His life was passing before his eyes as he watched his wife boarding the ship that the "slaver' used as well as his two sons. He knew that they would make it off the planet if he delayed the sith a bit longer. He only hoped that he lasted long enough for the transport to get off the planet.
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The man he had sent to investigate the problem outside the ship reported back to him. "It appears that our ship has been sabotaged, the right engine will not engage and the fan appears jammed," he told Gram.

Gram saw his plans beginning to fall apart. Their only option was to get their weapons and hope to stop the sith coming for them. He shut the ships engines down and reported the problem to the passengers on board, which as he finished began to flee from the ship and head back into the mighty trees of the forest. Gram had five men left. Each of them including himself had a blaster rifle and a vibroblade. He ordered two of them to the entrance ramp and placed a barricade before them. If he managed to make it through the barricade the other three were by the ship with him and were prepared for the end.