Veils of Justice

[Darth Victress]

.

Slaver encampments had always resonated a multitude of emotional responses for many, Arianna being one of them. The Kuat native had not seen slavery until she arrived in Korriban and every teaching she had received dictated on the ethical immorality of the practice. However, times had changed and so did circumstance. As a representative of the true Empire, she would ensure that her factions assets would be protected and those of their opposition destroyed. And as such, she did accordingly.

Her figure was shrouded in the dark fabrics of Black Hades, seemingly invisible in the midnight skies with only a flicker of pale moonlight to guide visually. The datapad in her hands identified her targets' coordinates, an Imperial Republica slaving outpost approximately 50 meters north. Putting the electronics away, her right hand slowly grabbed for the hilt of her weapon. Scorching plasma echoed outwards, the glimpse of a crimson blade lighting the darkness surrounding her. She channeled the vile magics within her body, corruption tainting her once rosy face as green eyes slowly turned to golden. Visage hidden behind the ebony mask, making the acolyte a fear inspiring apparition.

Coordinates had been deployed, now she merely waited for her associates.

@Gian Greydragon @Nerovec @BlackJack @Laskt

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

Contracts had been pouring in steady for H5PAD the last few days in Kashyyyk. The assassin droid found irony in the celebration of Life Day with so many days of death surrounding the event. It was humorous to the droid, but then it recalled that it did not muse on humorous thoughts as a droid. Hale’s latest contract was in the employ of a team of Sith. In need of an extra combatant for their crew, they hired H5PAD, or Hale, for the task. The droid calculated a high percentage chance that he was hired due to discretion in a place that was not friendly to the Sith. Regardless, he needed the contract, so accepted immediately once the contract hit his unclaimed queue.

PERSONALITY STATUS: ANALYTICAL

DIRECTIVES
PRIMARY – Make contact with Lady Marris of the Sith
SECONDARY – Prepare gear and combat platform for assault
TERTIARY – Avoid friendly fire at all costs


Moving a bit more “natural” than most assassin droids, H5PAD made a quiet approach to the side of Arianna. With the decibels on his vocabulator turned down, the assassin droid spoke in his deep mechanical voice, ”Greetings. Preliminary analysis of your physical form prompts that you are Lady Marris. I am H5PAD, or Hale. Hale is present to fulfill the stipulations of my contract with your band. Hale awaits further orders…”

It took only a second to make a quick rundown of its inventory and a preemptive threat analysis on the what was known about the opposition thus far. With that, the assassin droid unslung his SB-3 Sniper Rifle, laying across his opposite arm, waiting to follow the Sith’s lead…

 

[Artarion Sekt]

Artarion slid through the shadows of Kashyyyk down the side trail leading to the rendezvous. He had yet to meet any of the potential associates that were assigned to this endeavor. The only name on the data pad that he had recalled was that of the assassin droid, H5PAD (@Mithias ). Artarion had been given the droid’s information as a potential asset for future use in the service of the True Empire.

Approaching the agreed upon coordinates he moved out to the center of the trail and made sure his hands were where they could be easily seen. No need in getting shot because someone got nervous when a hand rested on a blaster hilt. He pulled back the hood he had been using to keep moisture out of his mask and let it lie across his shoulders.

Walking quietly and calmly he strode into the area and surveyed it quickly, giving the agreed upon sign he said calmly, “Rule of the Strong forever.” He addressed the female, (@Faded Truth) knowing the assassin droid was nearby and that it had already likely targeted him and moved on to continue scanning the area. Moving to one side so as to not remain in the open for more than a heartbeat, he traveled close to where the woman stood and waited to see who else would arrive.

@Faded Truth
@Mithias

 

[Grik Volic]

Grik waded through the brush to the rendezvous point, having not met the other Sith yet, but was told of extra assignments at a certain time tonight for a chance for some extra credits, or a good few lackeys. Grik had been brought to Kashyyyk by his own curiosity about the whole buzz over 'Life Day' that so many had been going on about, and made his way, participated in a bare knuckle brawl, and continued to terrorize some of the tertiary settlements from the woods. He'd made a bit of jerky from his last kill, and kept it on his person, in a pouch kept within his pants pocket. Making it to the rendezvous point a bit later than the others, his presence was likely not missed. He was not very silent on land, preferring a water-based approach, if stealth was a necessity. He made no attempt to introduce himself, as he did not care who he worked with, so long as his mission for the True Emperor was fulfilled, as well as his insatiable hunger for the flesh of the sentient.

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna stood there in the darkness, golden hue eyes glancing at the encampment before her attention was disrupted by the arrival of her comrades. Slowly shifting attention, she turned to look upon all three of them: Two males and one masculine frame droid. "Greetings Hale, nice of you to join us." Head turned towards the other Sith, "Welcome Artarion, nice to have you at my side once again." And then finally upon the Barabel, her head tilting while smile crept upon her face. "Grik, always a pleasure."

She reached out of her cloak to pull out a datapad, hologram radiating from the screen as it showed a blueprint of the encampment up ahead as well as seven red dots designating enemy combatants. "We may be outnumbered, but we are true Sith and they are merely children dabbling in arts that we've mastered. Spare no one, Darth Vrael does not like prisoners...Hale, you are permitted to utilize lethal force if desired.." She stated, simply unleashing the Droid to do its bidding. It was a part political move as well, she had heard quite a bit about H5PAD and was intrigued to see its abilities in combat.

As instructions were given, she quickly turned her attention towards the encampment and raised her crimson lightsaber into a defensive position. Shrouded form sprinted forwards, channeling the dark energies of the force in her free hand. The first combatant engaged appeared to be Sith as well, his armored form hulking and pivoting as he came to glare upon the dark figure advancing. Crimson lightsaber engaged on his part as well, his larger movements striking first towards Arianna but the lithe sorceress knew better and quietly ducked underneath the blow. Coming to a rolling knee, she slashed tactfully from right to left in an upward trajectory. The slaver solidified his stance with one leg before jamming his own blade downwards. The echoes of clashing weapons resonated through the valley, signifying the initiation of hostilities.

The duo exchanged several more lightsaber blows, each of which countered by each other to a near stand still. The slaver swung widely from left to right which was soundly blocked by Arianna's defensive blow. She pivoted on her non dominant foot and smashed her left hand upwards towards her opponent's chest. Channeling the dark energies this whole time, she unleashed a cone of Force that shattered the armor plating he worn and hurled his figure several yards into the air until it crashed with a thundering heap. Arianna displayed no hesistance or doubt, and as she had re-claimed the upper hand in this fight, she began to viciously circle around her prey. Saber in one hand and the force in the other; predator searching for its next kill.

She hoped her comrades would fare equally well.

@Gian Greydragon @Critas @Mithias

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

"We may be outnumbered, but we are true Sith and they are merely children dabbling in arts that we've mastered. Spare no one, Darth Vrael does not like prisoners...Hale, you are permitted to utilize lethal force if desired.."

The assassin droid nodded and stated dryly, ”Confirmed, Lady Marris. Lethal force permitted.”

PERSONALITY STATUS: AGGRESSIVE

DIRECTIVES
PRIMARY – Eliminate hostile contacts threatening Sith allies
SECONDARY – Ongoing overwatch
TERTIARY – Avoid friendly fire at all costs

H5PAD needed no more instructions. His directives were clear. Deftly, the assassin droid padded off, already having calculated the optimal firing zone for the camp. Arianna waded into the camp, engaging the Sith slavers in melee. Coming to a stop next to one of the hulking trees, H5PAD settled in and braced the SB-3 Sniper Rifle against the side of the trunk. His targeting optics had a variety of optimal targets, but his directive shifted down to overwatch. A Sith slaver dressed in black robes ignited his red-hued lightsaber, intent on supporting one of the other allies engaged with Arianna. With mechanical precision, Hale lined up the Sith and squeezed the trigger.

ZOT!*

The rifle bucked and a red bolt spewed out, streaking towards the Sith. He sensed the attack and turned to face its would be attacker, trying to get his lightsaber around to deflect the bolt. However, H5PAD had chosen his target quickly and without hesitation fired—the Sith could not block the bolt in time. The bolt hit the slaver fully in the gut, forcing the human to the ground. H5PAD sensed movement still from the slaver.

ZOT!

His rifle bucked again, slamming into the Sith center mass, ending the threat. The droid had no hesitation, no feeling of accomplishment, no rattled nerves, and no compunction about what he was doing. With the cold, unfeeling precision, the assassin droid switched targets. A female in bounty hunter armor began emerging from her tent, loaded for bear.

ZOT!*

The shot slammed into her armor, throwing her back in the tent. H5PAD calculated that the shot was not fatal and that she was still an active hostile on the field of battle. Another trigger pull from the sniper rifle to finish her…

CLICK.

The trigger assembly came loose, causing a malfunction in the firing mechanism. H5PAD quickly ran to another vantage point, not wanting to stay in one place too long—staying stationary was a death sentence for snipers. As he trotted over to another vantage point, partially circling the camp, he quickly reached down in his pouch and found a spanner, tightening the trigger assembly as he moved…

@Gian Greydragon @Critas @Faded Truth

 

[Artarion Sekt]

Artarion nodded to Grik as he arrived, not a welcoming nod or even a nod among warriors, more of a nod that I see you and you have been identified. Turning back to examine the camp, he observed the figures moving around the camp. He could count five visible and two that appeared to be inside a tent. Likely their leader and a second in command in the tent, allowing their lesser to do the menial tasks of patrol and camp maintenance.

Looking at the data pad and the blue print, he listened to Arianna’s pep talk with muted amusement. It had a touch of briefing with a side of encouragement that would have made the gladiator trainers on Rattatak proud. It both informed and inspired without crossing the line into “rah rah go Sith team”. Artarion could appreciate the fine distinction and was impressed with Arianna’s ability to phrase such as speech. As the data pad went dark, he watched as Arianna ignited her lightsaber and waded into combat.

Not to be outdone by a fellow acolyte, he too started into battle. He was a bit more cautious at first, allowing Arianna to grab some of the attention before entering battle. Reaching out to the Force, he pulled in the anger he used to fuel his abilities. Anger flowed through the Sith as he ignited both of his lightsabers and charged into combat, using the force and his anger to augment his speed to target. He had picked out a duo that appeared to be attempting to flank Arianna. “Not today,” he said under his breath.

Charging between the two and their intended target he engaged the first with an overhand swipe, keeping his other saber low and ready to defend. The slaver was not taken by surprise by the bold move and side stepped the swing, bringing up his carbine to engage Artarion. Anger grew within Artarion with the failed attack and he raised his second saber in a classic scissors strike, attempting to end the battle in one shot. The first saber connected with the slaver’s carbine, cutting it neatly in half but the second saber missed as the slaver dodged once more. Artarion continued his movement, putting the engaged and now disarmed slaver between he and the second one.

Slaver 2 rolled to one side and cleared the firing line for a shot at Artarion. The shot rang out, aimed at Artarion’s chest, the bolt streaking towards the Sith. Artarion was just able to raise one blade enough to deflect the shot into his shoulder, the shot hit the nerve cluster there and his left arm went limp, the lightsaber in that hand falling to the ground. The blade of the saber closed down and Artarion fought to maintain consciousness, knowing that to fall would be to die.

 

[Grik Volic]

Grik ignited the 2-meter-long blade of his primary lightsaber, following the other Sith, while the Droid sat back and fired on them from afar, although, something had seemed to malfunction in his weapon, or he'd taken on heavy blasterfire. Grik charged forward, bearing his massive greatsaber, using the length of the blade to target three slavers, hoping to kill them in one fell swoop, only managing to slash one human slaver across the chest, leaving the Twi'lek and Shistavanen, who deftly leapt out of the way at the last minute. Seeing the Shistavanen as the greater threat, he pursued, with a leaping thrust, aimad at his chest, but again, was sidestepped, though this time, was able to get a shot off, which was quickly deflected back at him, hitting his gun, and disarming him. Seeking no intent on granting mercy, Grik brought his blade back and thrust it forward, but he was interrupted by a blaster shot narrowly missing his abdomen, as the Twi'lek came back into the fray, causing his thrust to land in the hip of the guard he had previously disarmed, non-fatally putting him out of the fight, as he fell to the ground, in shock.

Rushing forward, Grik cast forward a telekinetic burst, akin to a sudden gust of wind, to knock the shooter off balance, enabling him to wind up a strike that would land across his chest before he could get out of the way, although the wound was shallow, and could potentially be non-life-threatening. With his coast clear, he rushed forward, to aid his comrades, stepping in front of his wounded Sith Comrade, Antarion (@Critas )

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna circled her opponent with predatory grace, golden eyes staring and studying his body language for hints of movements. As his muscles tensed and came for her, the lithe sorceress snickered with a sinister smile, ducking underneath the blow and bringing her crimson weapon from right to left. The singular torso of her enemy collapsed into two separate pieces. Head snapped to the side, as she hurled the lightsaber forwards, traveling in guidance by the force as it pierced through the lungs of the slaver @Artarion Sekt had disarmed.

Her armored figure sprinted at full speed, recalling the saber back into her hand as she lept into the air and came swooping downwards in a lethal arc, stabbing the saber into the Shistavanen who had found temporary solace on the ground after being amputated by Grik. With two of her comrades injured, she took the mantle of executioner upon herself; eyes twitching as dark side channeled within her, ascending from the base of her torso and outpouring in a punishing force smash towards the slaver that had immobilized Artarion. The blast sent the enemy hurling backwards and smashing violently against the husk of a large tree. Sounds of snapping branches and bending metal were heard as the slaver slumped to the ground unconscious.

Crimson saber twirled in her hand as she stood in front of both Artarion and the Barabel, weapon held defensively to ward off any incoming dangers. "We fight well, Darth Vrael will be pleased.." She stated, blood thirsty pride accentuated on her wordage. Gaze fell upon those that remained against them, "H5PAD, are you prepared for prime directive? Execute all that oppose the Empire." @Mithias

@Gian Greydragon @Critas

 

[H5PAD]

Outskirts of Slaver’s Camp
Kashyyyk

"We fight well, Darth Vrael will be pleased..H5PAD, are you prepared for prime directive? Execute all that oppose the Empire."

Processing his employer’s command, this would have been quite simple for a battle droid designed to hear orders and follow them—but H5PAD was not a normal battle droid. The orders he interpreted as a prime directive were within the context of the contract. In that vein, he was able to comply.

”Confirmed. Eliminate remaining hostiles in the area.”

Just as his vocabulator rattled off the confirmation, Hale finished repairing the SB-3’s trigger assembly. The droid had not taken its optics off the main camp, so as soon as a threat came into his sightline, another shot was fired.

ZOT!*

The blaster shot slammed into another slaver, impacting the human in the shoulder. Sighting him up for another shot, the droid squeezed the trigger…

CLICK. CLANG.*

At this point, the trigger assembly completely feel apart into a dozen pieces. H5PAD tried to catch the parts, but the rifle banged against the tree and accidentally fired off a shot…

ZOT! CRASH!*

The stray red bolt sizzled through a tree branch, hanging over the camp, severing its connection to the tree. The branch fell amongst the slavers, scattering them from the falling foliage. At this point, H5PAD kicked the SB-3 across the forest, pulled his blaster pistol and without another comment, began marching down towards the camp…

The Sith around the droid that if H5PAD was a sentient, he would be shouting a stream of expletives about now...

@Gian Greydragon @Critas @Faded Truth

 

[Grik Volic]

Grik stepped forward adopting a Shien stance as he prepared for the last few slavers as they took aim at him. In defense of the other Sith, and those behind him, he blocked all but the last two, taking a hit to a gauntlet, and busting it, but not doing much damage to him. The rest, he managed to deflect back into the extremities of the two shooters, disarming them of their carbines, though one kept a holdout blaster, and managed to get a pair of bolts into Grik's shoulder, before he was cleaved in two.

The final strike, he grabbed the slaver by his face, and flicked his wrist forward, forcing back, the slaver's neck causing it to snap, killing him instantly. Grik turned to the wounded Sith, (@Critas) and simply grumbled, "Clear," before moving forward to check slave containment cells, who were weak at best and showed signs of malnutrition. Most of them cowered in the corner, except who seemed interested in putting up a fight, when Grik moved to greet him, and he stepped back. Already being shackled, that made things easier when moving them back to the ship.

@Critas

 

[Artarion Sekt]

The pain in Artarion’s arm was excruciating and any normal Ratattak would have likely fallen at that moment. But he was Sith and all the pain did to him was drive his head under the waves of the force, focusing his anger in the pain. He saw the Barabel run between he and the slaver who had just wounded him and sneered. He was appreciative of the cover but hated his own weakness for needing it. He let that hate wash over him and he struggled to his feet, left arm limp at his side.

Using the force he picked up the fallen lightsaber and slid it inside his belt, raising his good arm which still held a saber into an engarde position.

Suddenly Arianna was there as well, announcing her presence by dropping another slaver with a force propelled tree branch. “Interesting and inventive. Well done” thought Artarion.

"We fight well, Darth Vrael will be pleased.." Arianna stated, blood thirsty pride accentuated on her wordage. Gaze fell upon those that remained against them, "H5PAD, are you prepared for prime directive? Execute all that oppose the Empire."

Mentioning the assassin droid brought Artarion’s attention to the bloodthirsty machine. He watched the droid methodically drop a slaver then break its own weapon in its fervor. “Sloppy craftsmanship” thought Artarion.

Attention was brought back to Grik as two slavers charged, he and Artarion. Raising his one functional arm he prepared to defend himself. The slavers obviously saw the seven-foot-tall lizard as the more dangerous target and both fired at him. This was their last mistake and the Barabel deflected the shots, disarmed the slavers and dispatched them in a rather matter of fact manner. This effectively ended the battle as the Barabel turned and said to Artarion “Clear” before leaving to clear cells.

Artarion surveyed the battlefield and hooked his one remaining lightsaber he had deployed to his belt. He punched his wounded arm in frustration, driving a pain spike into his brain that almost caused him to pass out. Growling in frustration he started to direct the effort in the mop up, ignoring his wounded arm like one might a headache.

“We need to clear this area Arianna, there may be some sort of Wookiee response and engaging them here would be against the Darth’s orders.”

With that said he started assisting Grik with getting the slaves ready to move. Nowhere in their briefing did it mention they couldn’t take advantage of the already packaged for shipment stock of slaves.

@Faded Truth
@Mithias
@Gian Greydragon

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna was slightly frustrated at her comrades for not heeding the instructions she had delivered earlier, as she thought she made herself clear when she said No Prisoners... But yet, her allies were leaving behind disarmed slaver opposition. Taking a deeper breath to cool herself, the crimson haired sorceress collected her thoughts while methodically advancing upon the fallen enemies. Quick saber plunges into their torso ended their existence, the vile creatures unable to mount any defense due to being incapacitated in previous rounds.

Golden eyes flickered upwards to rest upon Artarion's request before shifting slowly over the slaves now pending imminent freedom. A wicked grin came to her face as she began to chuckle, "As always friend, your judgment is sound..worry not, I have prepared for contingency plans." As she stated, two medium Imperial transports appeared overhead in short view, floodlights dimming upon the encampment as the sorceress motioned with her hands. "Come lets get this slaves aboard and get out of here. Well done, Sith, the Empire shines brightly upon you tonight.." She stated coldly as her comrades would aid in the boarding, her dark figure itself disappearing aboard the vessel ramp.

// end thread