Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

2 years prior to The Force Awakens...
A persistent and interactive galaxy set shortly before the events of Episode VII

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VagueDurin
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

Post by VagueDurin »

When Vague arrived, he was unrecognizable. Dressed in a pair of upper-calf high brown boots, grey slacks, an offwhite tank top and a brown vest, the outlaw carried what looked like a makeshift cane in one gloved hand. His skin was a steely blue color, and atop his head was one full, and one amputated stump of a lekku. He looked every bit the part of a grizzled, down on his luck but highly experienced bounty hunter.

"What have we got?" he asked after being granted admittance to Rossi's room.

"Not really sure," Rossi answered. "The name is anonymous and the message is addressed to Quentin King."

"He wants to meet with you," Nova interjected, then after a moment of hesitation she added, "And me."

Vague looked concerned. "You? Why you?"

Nova shrugged. "Doesn't say," she said, "but he's offering a lot of zeros just to speak with us."

Durin's now pale pink eyes narrowed a bit. "We are both fond, and short on zeros around here lately." He uttered. "No name, huh. Don't suppose our mystery suitor left an address?"

Rossi simply applied her patented blank Are you really trying to tell me how to do my job? stare and aimed it at Vague's chest. The captain opened his mouth to elaborate, and the Kessurian simply lifted a pink hued hand and pointed at one of the many screens behind her. "The backtrace is already running. So far I've been able to narrow it down to Oversector 20."

At the mention, Vague's expression darkened considerably.

"Okay, blue or not, I know that look. What's wrong."

"Royals." Vague spoke the single word as if it conveyed a field manual's worth of relevant data. "Not a celestial body in that Sector worth a grain of silica that isn't neck deep in the Tapani Nobility. In my experience, the Nobility nearly never exemplifies the title."

Nova looked confused. "What would a Tapani noble want with me," she asked.

The Captain sighed a bit. "We made a considerably larger splash on the Wanderlust than I'd have preferred. It only stands to reason that's where this person found out about us. It's the only time you and Quentin would have pinged at the same time. Well, besides your old temple planet but that hardly counts." He stood still for a moment, tapping his fingers on the handle of the cane in his hand in thought.

"Agree to the meet." He finally declared. "Keep doing what you do and hopefully we won't be walking in blind, but at this point, for those credits, we ought to hear it out."

"Roger that." Rossi replied, turning back to her console and typing away. After a moment, she glanced back over her shoulder at Vague, as if to ask why he was still there.

"Right, well... best finish up your disguise then. I'll see you out in the hangar." He told Nova and retreated from the room.

"Yea, about that disguise," Nova began after Vague had left the room. "I'm no good at that sort of thing, so I thought...," she let her words trail off hoping Rossi would understand her meaning.

"Yeah, well, the man with a thousand faces doesn't exactly help building confidence either, does it?" The Kessurian joked, motioning with a pink thumb towards the door Vague had just left through. "He probably spent all of 10 minutes getting into all of that, but never talks about the years of training and experience he had back in, well, hat other life."

She trailed off a bit at the end then turned to completely face Nova. "Unfortunately eyes and hair alone isn't going to cut it for you this time... Not with your face already plastered all over the bounty hunters guilds wanted sheets... Let's take a walk to the holo-booth, shall we?" She asked as she stood and motioned for Nova to follow...

Inside the 'holo-booth', Rossi showed Nova their secret weapon in the game of anonymity. It was a semi-autonomous machine that could be programmed to duplicate all sorts of humanoid and near human traits, creating nearly indistinguishable disguises that were custom printed to fit the wearer. Within the span of twenty minutes, Nova emerged from the booth looking every bit like a green skinned Mirialan. The light tone of the skin complemented by an intricate series of facial markings. "Perfect." Rossi commented. "Now all you've got to do is gear up like a hunter ought to be, find a place to stash your glow-rod, and you're set to jett!"

******************************************

Vague paused by the arms locker and snagged a couple items before making his way towards the exit. He passed Micaiah along the way and nodded in her direction. "I know you didn't ask for all these patients, but I appreciate you looking after them until Nova and I get back." He told the Sylarian, leaning on the unneeded cane as if he'd used it his whole life.

"This is the reason why I became a doctor," she said matter-of-factly. "It's no trouble at all."

Then she tilted her head and looked at him with a more appraising eye. "So who is this character supposed to be?"

Vague was appreciative of her response. It reminded him far more of the Micaiah they'd met on the Luxury Liner and much less like the one who escaped the First Order Frigate. He smirked at her inquiry and offered a slightly overstaged bow of a greeting in response. "This unfortunate soul is a struggling Bounty Hunter known as Serge Yablono. Been awhile since he's paid his guild dues but he ought to fit right in."
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

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The trip to Kamparas was rather muted. Nova sat in the cockpit with Jacen and quietly conversed with him while Isis and Vague waited in the hold. The young woman was surprisingly less chatty than she appeared before. When they first met she exuded bravado and arrogance. Now she seemed distant and aloof and Vague suspected that it wasn't because of him or the lie she told him earlier. Rather he suspected it had more to do with her having a front row seat to Tsivoin disintegrating a group of Red Key Raiders. The girl had mentioned meeting Jedi before on the planet Juoi, but she'd likely never seen anything like that before.

"We're here," Nova announced from the cockpit and Vague stood to go join them.

It was a surprisingly short conversation with air traffic control before they were given a heading and a berth number. Jacen landed the ship with little effort and together the four of them took a lift to the old Jedi training facility. This was Nova's first time seeing the building from the outside. It had such a different, more practical architecture to it compared to the Jedi temple she was used to. This building had a more urban appeal to it. Inside the facility was no different. Nova suspected a few things may have changed over the years, but it was hard to imagine that she was now standing inside a structure where Jedi nearly a century old would have been training young padawans like her.

"Returning empty handed again, Sinclair," a gruff voice asked and the four of them turned a Nautolan staring at them. "You're not bringing the great Jacen Kryze down to your level now are you?"

Isis balled up her fist and looked as though she were about to say something when Jacen interrupted her. "Still hiding out inside the guild, I see. When was your last collar, Rhin?"

The Nautolan glared at him but said nothing, so Jacen leaned in closer. "That girl has more spunk and tenacity than you will ever have and while you're wallowing away in obscurity she'll be making a name for herself. So maybe try treating her with a little more respect."

"Right, I got ya, Kryze, alright," the Nautolan replied before slinking away in defeat.

Nova gave the young bounty hunter a curious look. "Does everyone here talk to you like that?"

Isis shrugged. "Pretty much," she said, "My first big bounty involved breaking up a weapons smuggling ring on Corellia, but New Republic SIS couldn't admit that a Republic senator was selling weapons to the First Order so they covered it up. Then they did the same with my second bounty... Well, 'bounty', I guess. I wasn't officially hired."

"What happened there," Nova pressed.

"Juoi was not officially part of the Republic, so rather than risk causing an international incident SIS covered up my involvement in the events there despite my status as a free agent simply because of who my father is."

Nova fell silent after that. It was hard to believe that the bounty hunter who managed to capture the entire crew of the Veiled Bedlam, if even for a brief moment, got zero respect from her peers.

"So where exactly do we need to go," Vague asked suddenly, drawing their attention back to the present.

"I'm not entirely sure," Nova said as she led them deeper into the facility. "The empire would have picked this place clean, but I guess they must have missed something. Obi-Wan wouldn't have sent me here, otherwise."

"Obi-Wan," Jacen asked, "Isn't that the name of a Jedi who died years ago?"

Nova bit her lip. "Well, yea. Technically, I guess. He didn't really go into details about how, though."

"Maybe we should split up," Isis offered, "We could cover more ground."

"I'm not entirely sure I know what to look for," Nova admitted. "I just thought...," her words cut off suddenly as they passed through a doorway into a large arena like room. In one moment she was talking to Vague and the others, in the next she was standing by herself in a room full of young Jedi.

There were scores of them, pairing off against each other and practicing various forms of lightsaber combat. Nova stood dumbfounded as she watched. How am I here? How is this possible? She heard a throat clearing behind her and turned to find a blue skinned Chagrian towering over her. "A little late for class, aren't we," he asked.

"Excuse me, what," Nova said, not entirely realizing he was talking to her.

"What kind of outfit is that," he continued, "Where are your Jedi robes? And your lightsaber? Hurry up and join the others."

Nova quickly held up her hands. "Look, I feel like there's been some sort of mistake. I'm not...," the sudden sound of blasterfire and plasteel boots on tiled floor filled the auditorium. Scores of what looked like stormtroopers poured into the arena, firing their weapons as they moved. Nearly a dozen young padawans were cut down before they even had a chance to react. The Jedi master standing in front of her ignited his lightsaber and turned to defend the children, but the numbers of the stormtroopers were just too overwhelming.

Nova shrank back in fear as the Chagrian fell dead at her feet and when she turned to run she found herself cut off by three of the oddly colored stormtroopers. She didn't even have time to reach for her lightsaber before they opened fire. Instead she raised her arms and closed her eyes and screamed in response, falling backwards into Jacen's arms.

"Jet'ika! What is it? What's wrong," he asked, his face hidden behind his helmet but his concern showing plainly in his voice. He even forgot his place for a moment and referred to her as little Jedi in his native tongue.

Nova looked up at him then around at her surroundings. Instead of stormtroopers and dead Jedi padawans she found bounty hunters milling about practicing combat techniques on the various machines here. "W--what happened? Where am I?"

"Still here," Isis interjected, "but you started wigging out and talking to yourself for a minute there."

"I--what," Nova asked, looking at her in surprise. Then she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I... I was here, I think. Sixty years ago when the Empire began its purge against the Jedi. I saw it happen."

"Sounded like it was a bit more than that," Isis continued, "Someone was talking to you. Someone from the past?"

The Jedi nodded. "A Chagrian Jedi Master, he died right here," she said, indicating the spot where she last saw him.

"We need to move," Jacen interrupted them, suddenly. "We're drawing too much attention. I say we go with the little hunter's idea and split up for the time being. What about you," he asked, looking directly at Vague.
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VagueDurin
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

Post by VagueDurin »

Vague nodded immediately, his one full lekku drifting off his shoulder as he leaned on the cane in his hand. "Agreed. Unless the two of you make it a habit to travel around guild facilities in groups, which I doubt after spending some time with you." He spoke, his voice in it's lower register and with a strong accent meant to resemble several places but not pin him down to any. "That's why we brought the comms. Someone should stick with Nova, though. In case some more past events take hold of her."

The Outlaw wanted to suggest himself for the role, but found he was unable to do so. If questioned, he wouldn't admit that it was jealousy... but he couldn't argue with himself that he was being affected by Jacen and Nova's previous connection.

"I'll take the little hunter," Jacen said after watching Vague for a moment. He had a feeling the outlaw would rather go with Nova and Jacen was curious to get to know Sinclair a little better.

"This is as good a place as any for a rally point." Vague offered, lowering the volume of his voice slightly. "If we haven't found anything in two standard hours, meet back here. Otherwise, call out any deviations on the comms."

He waited for a nod from each of the members of the team, then turned and started off to the right, Nova falling into step by his side. "So... this dead guy who sent you here.... We trust him?" He asked, trying to bring a touch of levity to the surface following what must have been a grim vision she'd just experienced.

"He taught me everything I know," she said, "He taught my Master as well."

Vague's artificially colored face pinched a bit in response. She was too drawn in, too focused for levity, then. "You don't talk about them much." He replied. It wasn't a question, he could hardly expect her to wax lyrical about her past when he kept his own under several layers of durasteel and duracrete.

The pair had left the training area, and were now descending a vast staircase. The upper level of the facility had been a mix of pre-fab materials, and mid and post-war architecture sort of, crudely applied over top of a more storied, traditional structure. Vague took note as they moved deeper and lower the decor seemed to become more ornate, and the spaces larger and more open. They also hadn't come across another hunter in awhile. "This place has been here for a long time." He noted into the silence as he made a show of struggling a bit on the stairs with his cane.

Nova glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He had just voiced exactly what she'd been feeling. Once upon a time these halls would have been filled with people. Wise Jedi masters and their pupils. It brought back memories of her time at Luke's temple. Vague was right, she didn't talk about them much. It wasn't that she couldn't or that it was too hard. Rather, it was because she hardly knew them. Other than Richter she had failed to form a bond with anyone else.

"It would be nice if Master Kenobi had drawn a map," she muttered to herself, just loud enough for Vague to hear.

"What," he asked.

Nova looked surprised, she hadn't fully realized she had spoken outloud. "I was just thinking it's going to take us forever to search this place."

Vague slowed his gait and took a moment to look over their surroundings. She wasn’t wrong, this training site was indeed massive. They also had no landmark or direction to go on. The Outlaw was about to ask Nova a question about her conversation with this.. Kenobi, when the pair were interrupted suddenly.

“Yoblano!” The shout echoed through the wide open corridor.

Vague immediately sighed, glancing towards the duracrete at his feet while simultaneously tossing a ‘follow my lead’ signal to Nova before he turned to face the voice. In the time it took for him to spin around the Captain ran back through the times he’d adopted the Twi’lek persona... By the time he finished and faced the speaker, he wasn’t surprised to see an armored figure with a blaster leveled at them.

“Perstol, it’s uh, been a long time.” Vague spoke, watching as a trio of similarly armored figures appeared from the nearby archway.

“I didn’t believe it when someone said the one lekku’d hunter had landed here. Imagine my fortune, after all these years. Did you think we’d forget?”

"Yoblano? What the hell is going on," Nova asked. She was getting better at recognizing Vague's coded signals, but there was still a lot to remember. The one thing that was clear, however, was that in this situation she should not refer to Vague by his real name. "Who are these guys?"

The lead hunter, the man Vague had identified as Perstol, looked at her as if just now seeing her for the first time. "Your friend here has got some debts to pay, sweetheart. Didn't he tell you?"

Nova cast a sidelong glance at Vague. "Failed to mention it," she answered.

Just then one of the three other hunters from behind Perstol spoke up. "Hey, isn't that a Westar 35?"

Perstol looked at her again. "Well, I'll be. What's a sweet thing like you doing with Mandalorian hardware? You one of them?"

"Found it," Nova lied, "and it's none of your business."

"Leave the girl out of it, Perstol," Vague interrupted them. "This is between us."

"You're damned right it is," Perstol answered, "but that doesn't mean we can't take a bit of leverage."

He whistled and waved a finger at one of his men then suddenly Nova felt someone reach out and grab her. "Hey," she cried, trying her best to fight her way free but to little avail. The man who grabbed her was much larger than her and stronger too.

By now Vague had drawn an oversized blaster and pointed it at the man who held Nova. "Let her go," he ordered him.

"Not until we have a chat," Perstol interjected, "'Bout that deal we made."

"Listen, P--," Vague began but before he could finish something tall and dark reached from the shadows of a nearby hallway, grabbing one of the hunters and squeezing him until his spine snapped with a sickening crack.

"Fething hell," Perstol cried out firing several bolts into the droid before turning tail to run. He didn't make it far before a second droid stepped out in front of him and swatted him aside.

The hunter holding Nova let go of her and raised his blaster, firing wildly into the second droid. Three of his shots hit but did nothing to damage the droid's thick armor. Meanwhile Nova found herself thrown to the ground while Vague and everyone else around her unloaded on the droids with every weapon they had. Blaster bolts filled the corridor but both droids shrugged off the damage like it was nothing. The first droid dropped the lifeless corpse of the hunter and stalked forward, heading straight for Nova. Vague stepped in front of her and now fired from two matching oversized blaster pistols into the droid's chest to no effect. The droid simply swatted him aside sending him crashing through a nearby wall.

"Vay--Yoblano," Nova cried out after quickly correcting herself.

The droid turned its attention back to her and Nova quickly scrambled to her feet. It reached out to grab her but she ducked under its arm and dashed past it a bit further down the hallway before drawing her blaster and turning around. She fired a few shots into the droid's back only to have her shots ping loudly of its armor leaving little more than a scratch. Just then the second droid that had been attacking Perstol's men suddenly broke off from them and joined the first in chasing after Nova...

Vague quickly scrambled back to his feet and dug his way out of the pile crumbled rock that had collected from him crashing through the wall. The disguised captain stooped down to pick up one of his blaster pistols, then skidded into a combat stance in the middle of the corridor. Thus far only two droid attackers had revealed themselves and it seemed like Nova had quickly become the center of their attention. Even as Perstol and his remaining hunters rushed forward he stayed back, observing. The droid frames were massive - from this distance he couldn't tell if the material itself was black or if they'd been painted so. He could see they possessed reinforced joints, lacked exposed wiring, and as he watched the trailing droid turn to re-engage the hunters he noted that they moved slowly but made up for it with sheer power.

He couldn't see an alternative at the moment. Vague wasn't even certain that he could take down one of these droids, but he knew that both he and Nova had a better shot if they had the droids separated. So to that end, he knelt and began searching through the downed hunter's kit. Perstol skidded by him after being struck by the droid and another of the hunters followed shortly. Vague stood suddenly and shouldered a heavy flechette rifle. He fired the rifle twice and watched as the physical projectiles struck the droid. The rounds didn't penetrate the armor but their mass and momentum did stagger the droid. He fired once more this time aiming lower at one of the droids knee joints and took the momentary respite to help one of Perstol's men scramble for cover.

"What else you got?" he asked Perstol, hoping that either he or one of his hunters had another weapon... anything that could actually damage these things.

Meanwhile, Nova found herself on the defensive. As one of the droids broke off to deal with the hunters the first continued its relentless pursuit of the Jedi. It wasn't very fast, which was fortunate, but in the cramped quarters of the hallway they currently occupied there wasn't much room to maneuver. Nova quickly found herself with her back against the wall as blaster bolt after blaster bolt pinged off the droid's armor leaving behind no damage. The droid reached out to grab her, wrapping its cold metallic fingers around her neck before lifting her up into the air. Nova could feel its grip tighten around her throat as she desperately gasped for air. She kicked her legs wildly in the air and scratched and pawed at the droid's wrist, anything to try and free herself from its grip but she just couldn't beat the machine's strength. With nothing left to do she let go of her grasp on the droid's wrist and reached back inside her jacket at the small of her back. Suddenly, there was a snap hiss as a deep golden glow filled the darkened corridor. One slice of her saber and she had separated the droid's arm from its body. The girl fell onto her knees coughing loudly as air began to fill her lungs. The droid reacted with what might have looked like surprise before it tried to attack her again. It raised its other hand, intent on crushing her skull with one solid punch but after sensing the danger Nova quickly rolled out of the way then twisted around and sliced the droid in half right at the waist. The droid's upper body slid off of its lower half, crashing to the floor with a loud thud where it lay silent, no longer moving.

The Jedi took a moment to collect herself before a cry from behind her drew her attention back to the others. One of the hunters had tried to block an attack from the second droid, a mistake he'd not likely repeat again. The sickening crack of his arm breaking filled the hallway along with his cries of pain. Perstol and Vague had both joined the fray, firing their weapons as quickly as they could but having little to no impact on the droid's armor. The machine stalked towards Vague, both hands raised, ready to pound him into the ground. Nova reacted immediately, dashing forward with Force assisted speed she leapt into the air, somersaulting over the droid as she lashed out with her saber. In an instant the fight was over, the droid's arms and head crashing to the ground at Vague's feet as the rest of the machine toppled over.

After she had landed Nova quickly turned to Vague. "Are you alright," she asked.

The freighter captain nodded, ignoring the pain in his shoulder from crashing through the wall.

Meanwhile, Perstol and the two remaining hunters were busy picking themselves up off the ground. As the uninjured hunter looked over his wounded friend's shoulder he caught a full view of the Mirialan girl standing next to Yoblano with a golden laser sword in her hand. "Gold blade," he muttered to the armored man standing to his left. "She's the one from the holos. The Jedi who assaulted the Wanderlust."

Unaware of the brewing danger Nova turned her attention back to the dismantled droid. "Vague, look," she said quietly as she hovered her lightsaber over its decapitated head. "I couldn't see it in the darkness before, but...," she let her words trail off into nothing as Vague saw what she was talking about. The droid's face, it was shaped like a stormtrooper helmet and there were Imperial insignia's emblazoned on its shoulders. The droid's were Imperial, probably from the Dominion. "Do you think they know we're here?"

Vague cursed under his breath. It was bad enough that they ran into Imperial assets here at the facility, even in their disguises. He made a note to question Isis and Jacen about it. If either of them had been aware of Imperial presence onsite then they'd deliberately failed to mention it to him. The question now was, who sent them, did they have time to communicate with that person, if so, what sort of data had they managed to release? If there hadn't been an outgoing transmission, then it would at least take time for someone to investigate the droids disappearance and then identify the lightsaber damage... That would be ideal. Vague couldn't count on that, though. He'd have to assume the worst, that one of those droids had a clear snapshot of Nova and her distinctive weapon and had sent it direct link to whoever they called master.

"Stands to reason." He commented to Nova, nudging one of the fallen droids arms with his boot. He patted Nova on the shoulder lightly then stood, limping his way over to the discarded cane. As he bent over to retrieve it he caught the trail end of a whispered conversation between Perstol and his minions. It was as Vague had feared. They'd identified Nova's weapon and linked her to the outstanding bounty. To their credit, at least, the trio was smart enough to know they were outmatched. They were devising a plan now on how they could retreat to the training hall to round up some allies to even the field. The disguised outlaw sighed heavily and grabbed the cane tightly he stood up straight, passing in front of Nova as she continued to examine the droid he flashed her a gesture that she couldn't quite peg down. Was it stay put, run and hide?

Vague moved subtly at first, positioning himself so that his frame blocked Nova from any errant shots. He was leaning heavily on the cane as Perstol approached - the leader had obviously been assigned the duty of stalling while the others went back for help. The armored hunter started to speak but Vague never let the sentence materialize. In a literal blur of motion he jabbed the cane's foot into Perstol's midsection, knocking the wind out of the man before he side stepped and hooked the handle of the cane deftly into the crook of Perstol's elbow and torqued. The Captain now had Perstol in a painfully effective armbar and Vague shifted him so that he could be used as a shield if necessary.

Vague had hoped that by capturing Perstol the remining two hunters would stay and fight, or bargain. They did neither. Unfortunately they stuck to their plan and started to retreat to the main facility. With a Soccoran curse, Vague applied the remaining pressure into the armbar and snapped Perstol's dominant arm at the shoulder joint. He followed that up with a savage kick to the inside of the mans leg that destroyed his knee joint and then through the neutralized hunter to the ground a meter away. With a flick of his wrist, the bottom portion of the cane suddenly extended half again it's length into a proper staff and he immediately swung it around handle out to trip up the hunter closest to the exit before lunging forward to engage the one closer to him.

Despite the added length of his improvised weapon, Vague kept his strikes compact and surgical. A handful of body blows, and some well placed shots to the joints, and the third hunter was staggered. Vague could see that the second hunter was starting to struggle to his feet though and knew he needed to wrap this up. A savage horizontal swing of the staff caught the third hunter in the faceplate, shattering it and causing him to drop to a knee as he tried to remove some of the shrapnel from his pale skin. Durin didn't hesitate. He twisted a lever that retracted the staff portion of the cane and immediately afterward twisted the handle until it came free, revealing a palm length dagger.

One backhanded slice opened the third hunters throat before Vague rapidly closed the distance with the second hunter. This opponent seemed better trained in hand to hand than the last. To his credit, he was able to utilize his blaster rifle to deflect a few of Vague's strikes and even managed to land a pair of buttstrokes to Vague's midsection. The man was horrendously outmatched, though, and the fight ended with the cane-handles dagger lodged into the side of his chest. Durin then reached down to retrieve the second hunters holdout blaster from an ankle rig and turned to put a trio of bolts into Perstol's still squirming form. Less than 20 seconds later it was all over, the three hunters were dead. He calmly leaned down to remove the dagger form the second hunters chest and after wiping the blood away on the hunter's own garments, Vague re-assembled the cane and turned to face Nova who had a stunned look on her face.

The young Jedi was frozen into inaction. Everything had just happened so fast she wasn't expecting it. One minute they were examining one of the droids the next Vague was brutally murdering the other hunters. Why? She found herself asking. She let her eyes droop down to the still active lightsaber she held in her hand and in that moment she remembered something he had said in regards to Tsiv. "I would do anything to protect my family."

Oh no, she thought as she held the lightsaber up a little higher. It was her fault. They were dead because of her. If they hadn't seen her lightsaber...

"Nova," Vague said, reaching out to her.

"Stay away," she cried in a knee jerk reaction as she pulled away from him.

"Nova," he repeated firmly, forcefully grabbing her by the wrist and turning off her lightsaber. "We need to go."

Nova looked up at him with a mixture of fear and guilt in her eyes, but before she could say anything the ground suddenly shook beneath their feet. The muffled scream of TIE fighters could be heard overhead and the pair immediately knew what was happening.

Vague’s heart sank at the expression on her face, and the look in Nova’s eyes. The middle aged Captain had seen the very same look many times before, most recently from Micaiah onboard the Wanderlust the moment she realized how very false his affable Quentin King persona really was. He reminded himself, as he always did, that he’d done what was necessary. That he’d do it again and again if required.

Before he had a chance to explain any further, however, the unmistakable sound of Tie Fighters in a low atmosphere flyby opened a new chapter in this latest adventure. His grip relaxed somewhat on Nova’s wrist, leaning his cane against his hip Vague then he brought his comm up to his lips with his free hand.

“Radish, radish radish.” He spoke the distress call, alerting Isis and Jacen to the trouble and calling for the rendezvous back at the training arena.

They responded in the affirmative and he pocketed the comm. The Captain paused for a moment, then finally relinquished his grip on Nova’s wrist completely. He quickly went to gather up his discarded blaster pistol, holstering the weapon and shouldering a rifle.

“Pir biborîne, Hazynam, we have to move. Now.” Vague spoke, his tone a subdued mix of remorseful yet encouraging.

Nova still had a wild look in her eyes, but as startled as she was by Vague's actions the threat of being captured by the Empire was more pressing. She silently nodded then followed him back the way they had come, up the stairs and back into the main training area. Looking around they tried and failed to find Isis and Jacen, but they did notice that a lot of the bounty hunters around their were on high alert. The sound of blasterfire from down below echoed back up the stairs. That on top of the sudden Imperial presence put everyone on edge. Vague scanned the room one more time but could not see any sign of Sinclair or Kryze. Finally, making up his mind he gently urged Nova forward with a hand on her shoulder.

"We can't wait for the others, we need to move," he told her.

They were about ten feet from the door when a squad of Dominion troops suddenly burst in and formed a semi circle around them. From the look of their all black uniforms, they must have been members of the RABD Bureau of Special Tactics. Both Nova and Vague instinctively put their hands on their weapons ready to fight their way out when Nova suddenly placed a hand on his elbow. The commandos were indeed fanning out to surround them, but the odd thing was that their weapons were mostly trained on the hunters rather than them. After the room was secured a man dressed in a dark green and black uniform that was obviously a descendent of Imperial design entered the facility. From the look of the markings and lack of armor this man seemed to be an officer.

The man stalked out into the middle of the circle and stood directly in front of Vague and Nova, turning his attention to the young Jedi. "Elena Connor, I presume," he said and Nova's eyes widened. "You needn't looked so surprised. We analyzed your fighting style and the weapon you carry and matched them to the reports from the attack on the Wanderlust."

"What do you want," Vague asked, protectively inserting himself in front of Nova.

"To chat," the officer answered simply, "I apologize for the rather excessive show of force, but I felt it necessary to keep the rabble under control." The way he mouthed the word 'rabble' was filled with such contempt for the crowd of mostly alien hunters surrounding them. "If you would honor us, Master Jedi, my commanding officer would like to speak with you and your friend here."

Nova glanced up at Vague, afraid he might start shooting and killing innocent people. Before he could respond or even make a move she spoke up. "Of course," she said quickly, "We would be glad to."

Vague's eyes narrowed and he turned slightly to look over at Nova. The young Jedi merely squeezed tighter on his elbow and flipped the very same Follow my lead signal that he'd given her earlier when Perstol and his goons had surprised them down below.

"Right," Vague grudgingly replied. The last thing he needed right now, especially with a lucrative meet already in the works, was to get twisted up with the Imperial Remnant. "Glad to."

They were quickly escorted out of the facility and to a nearby landing pad. There waiting were a pair of Skipray Blastboats and a Sentinel-class Landing Craft. A glance overhead revealed a flight of Tie Fighters still on station above. Vague and Nova were directed to board the landing craft, followed by the officer who had yet to reveal his name and his squad of commandos. The Blastboats were already lifting off the pad by the time that the landing crafts ramp started to shut, and then they too were headed for the stars.

Using the straining sounds of the ion drives as they rocketed up through the atmosphere as cover, Vague leaned slightly over to speak to Nova in a low tone. "What's the play here?" he asked, clearly not keen on this turn of events.
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

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"The play," Nova started, "was to avoid killing everybody."

The way she said it was perhaps a bit harsher than she had intended, but she was still reeling from Vague's merciless slaughter of Perstol and his men. Were Tsivoin and Vague perhaps more alike than she believed? No, I can't think about that right now, she thought, shaking her head to clear it. Vague caught the motion out of the corner of his eye but then she turned away from him, gazing out the window as the ground descended below them. Truth was she didn't really have a plan, but the Imperials had yet to disarm them so maybe they were genuine in their request to just 'chat.' Anything was better than starting a fight while surrounded by soldiers and bounty hunters.

Nova's emphasis wasn't lost on Vague, and the older rogue fell silent next to the young Jedi. Maybe had they known that the Remnant was descending upon them, there could have been an alternative course of action... as they had stood though, Vague had done what was necessary. He didn't fault the girl for utilizing the means at her disposal to defend against and defeat the droids - Force knows none of the weapons he or Perstol's men had access to were damaging them... but in doing so she had revealed to the others her training, heritage, and most critically, her value.

He knew now certainly wasn't the time to address it, and maybe there was nothing to say, regardless the Captain merely took a deep breath and spent the next few minutes idly studying their... hosts. He and the other members of his crew knew of the Borleian Remnant, had some experience working in and around their sector but had never needed to interact with them directly.

His eyes ultimately were drawn to the flag hanging near the rear of the landers passenger bay. Black on either side, with a vertical white stripe in the middle. featured in the center was an Imooda, a bright red and orange lizard native to the planet Borleias. The Imooda was resting on a tree branch within the center of the unmistakable silhouette of the Imperial insignia. The cog may have been green and grey, and these troops surrounding him may not have been covered in white plasteel armor... but it all still felt very much the same.

"I don't suppose you can tell us where we are headed?" He asked the trooper to his right, receiving only silence in response.

"Or who's waiting there for us?" He turned to the trooper across the aisle. The same silence followed.

He felt the ship level off beneath them as the pilots ceased their climb into the upper atmosphere of the planet. Looking out towards the viewport he could just make out the curvature of Kamparas interlaced with some distant mountain range that he'd likely never visit. There was no telling how long this journey would be, nor what might await them upon arrival. So he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Vague couldn't be entirely sure how much later it was when the transport shifting into a dive woke him. A glance out the viewport told him it was still daytime, at any rate. His disguised pink eyes glanced around the passenger section and confirming nothing had changed. The officer had called Elena by name, Vague wondered if his Yoblano identity was still in play here... He'd have to assume so for now. They knew Elena from the Wanderlust heist... if he had to he could fall back into King.

As the ship descended onto a pad on the outskirts of what was undoubtedly an old Imperial facility, the Outlaw glanced over at Nova. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to clear the air between them but the way she avoided his gaze completely stopped him short and before he could steel himself further the ramp hissed open and the RABD troops stood and began ushering the pair to disembark.

Having been given no reason to suspect that these Imperials knew who he really was, Vague stuck to utilizing the cane to help ease his way down the ramp and onto the duracrete below. He squinted against the setting sun and could make out at least two more officers near the entrance to the facility flanked by some more security. He turned back towards the craft with a pointed glance at Nova before the Officer made his way down the ramp.

"The Kamparas Imperial Archives," He boasted as he used a gloved hand to gesture at the tower. "An enduring relic of the glory of the former Empire, we've converted it into a sort of... Regional Governors Palace."

Vague's ear perked a bit at the pause and he noted the slight shift in the mans tone, but said nothing. They were here because of Elena's decision, and she was the one invited by this man. He'd let her lead the way, contenting himself to planning a way out if things turned south.

Now that they were out in the open and not in the darkened former Jedi facility Vague could make out the mans rank and name insignia on his uniform. He was Commander Kaufman, the patch on his shoulder noted he was a member of the Borleian Dominions Starfleet.

"What of the archives?" He heard her ask the man idly.

"Still very much intact, preserved after the fall. We've committed to adding our own additions when necessary as well." He offered then directed them to follow him to the facilities entrance.
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

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Isis cried out in pain as the force of the droid's blow threw her back into the wall. The force of the impact knocked the air from her lungs and she slid to the floor gasping for breath. The dark trooper half turned to continue its relentless pursuit before Jacen suddenly moved to intercept it. The Mandalorian blasted the droid with a solid stream of flame that seemed to do little to deter it. The dark trooper grabbed Jacen by his neck and tossed him aside like an old sack of potatoes. When it turned back to look for Isis the bounty hunter was no longer there. Isis had moved around behind it, firing her blaster into its back side but doing little to damage it.

The droid turned around, swatting its arm at her as it moved. Isis ducked under the attack and darted around it. At that moment Jacen reached into his belt and withdrew a small disk. "Ver'ika," he shouted as he tossed the device to Isis.

The young woman snatched it from the air before running straight at the wall. The dark trooper turned to pursue her and as it reached out to grab her she ran up the wall two or three steps then kicked off, sailing over the droid's head. As she passed over the dark trooper she reached out and slapped the disk onto the back of its neck, underneath the metal plating. Then she turned to run as fast as she could. She barely made it more than a few feet before the force of the explosion from the disk picked her up and tossed her into a wall. When she clawed her way back up to her feet she turned to find the droid's head had completely separated from its body. The dark trooper was now lying on the floor completely still.

Isis took a moment to catch her breath as Jacen came over to stand next to her. "Very impressive, little one," he said and Isis made a face.

"'Little soldier'," she asked.

Jacen just shrugged, "It also means warrior."

"Yeah well, a soldier is what my Dad wanted me to be," she answered, then she bent down and scooped up her discarded blaster. "Any idea where this thing came from?" She continued after straightening back up.

Jacen stared down at the droid, noting the markings on its shoulders. "It's clearly Imperial," he told her, "Probably from the Dominion, but why is it here?"

Isis' expression darkened. "It came for Elena," she said, "Someone must have told them we were here. We need to get back to the rendezvous now."

The Mandalorian nodded and the two of them made their way back through the winding hallways and up the stairs to the main training ground. By the time they got there, however, it was too late. A ring of soldiers surrounded Vague and Elena who were talking to an officer about something Isis couldn't make out from here. Then the officer turned and escorted them outside to a waiting shuttle. "Shavvit," Isis swore under her breath, "Now what?"

Jacen thought about that for a moment. "They'll likely take them to the Archives," he answered, "You and I are going to need some disguises..."

**********

They had barely crossed the threshold into the archives when Nova felt a familiar pull. As the Imperial officer led them through the facility and into a waiting turbolift Nova crept closer to Vague and tapped him on the elbow. The older man looked down at her, though her eyes were still on the officer.

"It's here," she whispered, "The holocron. I can feel it."

The Imperial officer had led them right to where they needed to be, but Nova couldn't help but wonder how she could have known to look here. Had Obi-Wan known what would happen after they landed? Did he know they would be attacked by Imperial droids? A part of her wished he was here right now so she could get some answers out of him. She didn't have much time to think about it, however, before the lift doors opened and they were led into an opulent apartment at the top of the facility. Off to one side of the main room was a large dining area. The table was set with various dishes from worlds Nova couldn't even begin to imagine and at the head of the table stood a regal man wearing a white Imperial uniform.

"Welcome," he said gesturing to the open seats around the table, "We would be honored if you would join us..."
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

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*Ord Mantell: Worlport: Queens Mask Casino, Herlic’s Folly District 2311:36 Local Standard Time*

The seedy lounge reeked of cheap tabaak, lousy booze, and unkempt denizens. It’s gaudy decor, low light, and lack of security made it close to the last place Abbot and his team would ever willingly venture into. And yet, here they were. He and his band of seven other First Order Raiders found themselves disguised in what passed for Ord Mantellian streetwear and had dispersed themselves within the Queen’s Mask Casino. Wedge and Pivot were seated at the bar, Rowen and Killswitch were posed as a couple near the stage with the singing Twi’lek, Tarhead was with the newest members of the team Jewel and Shade - covering the exits.

Abbot finally saw the opening they’d been waiting for and called it out via comms. “Thirsty Savrip.” He spoke to the concealed communicator in his gaudy chronometer, then the commander set into motion. Staggering his way around a high topped table, narrowly avoiding a collision with a cocktail waitress, and arriving at the targets booth at the same time as Rowen and Killswitch. Rowen reached in quickly to pull the hapless Pantoran out of the booth and just as swiftly Abbot slid into the now vacant seat across from their target while Rowen and Killswitch stood to block any egress. Just as the occupant looked up at him with a haughty and mildly annoyed expression, before speaking into her own comms device and trying to peer around Abbot’s team. The sound of a very heavy Zabrak hitting the floor soured her expression immediately and the Zeltron turned to reappraise the man who’d interrupted her evening.

“All offense intended, you’re really, really not my type.” She offered in a thick brogue. “I’m sure there’s a dame somewhere on this awful world who’s just waiting to fall for you’re little ‘lord of the underbelly’ routine here.”

Abbot offered Lyshani a humorless smile, allowing the act of inebriation to disappear from his demeanor. “I’m afraid I didn’t come here tonight to woo you.” He paused for a moment, as if expecting - no, waiting for something. “Yes, you’re probably wondering why I haven’t fallen into a stupor yet. In order to fall under the effect of pheromones, one must possess a functioning olfactory system. We’ve had ours... disabled.” With her ace in the whole neutralized, Abbot knew this was a critical moment. With a swipe at the dark brown stubble along his jaw, he signaled and Rowen quickly produced the needed incentive to keep Lyshani seated and still, the dark black haired raider had drawn a holdout blaster, which she now aimed at the center of Lyshani’s mass. “Now that we’re past pleasantries. We’re here to talk about the Oracle.”
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

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Lyshani glanced from Abbot to Rowen then finally at the pistol the latter held in his hand. That act Abbot put on was convincing and the fact they managed to identify and neutralize her bodyguard could only mean one thing. These men were spec ops. Probably not Republic, though, they'd have already had her in binders if that were the case. Imperial then? Or First Order? Difficult to say considering their garb.

"Hate to disappoint but you came to the wrong girl," she answered with a shrug. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Abbot produced a device from his pocket then activated it. A holographic image of security footage from the Wanderlust appeared in the air above the device. In the image Lyshani could see herself ducking into an airlock carrying the oracle under her arm. Her expression soured and she bit her lip in frustration. Really wish your pet slicer had been more thorough, Durin.

"That's the last time you try to lie," Abbot told her, his tone having a certain finality to it.

"Fine," she said with an exasperated sigh, "I had the Oracle, alright? But then Durin stole it from me. Heard later he traded it away for the life of a single Ryn, to the same three psychopaths that attacked that ship."
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Re: Star Wars: Remember Tomorrow

Post by VagueDurin »

“Finally, we’re getting somewhere.” A voice came through the Sable teams comms.

Abbot couldn’t be sure who it was, but it sounded a lot like his heavy weapons specialist Pivot. He and Wedge had both burgundy to have doubts of their current assignment. Truth be told most of the team, save for the newcomers Jewel and Shade, his whole team disagreed with their mandate to seek out the three force users from the Wanderlust incident. They’d lost too many of their own in the battle with Elena Connor and her friends and being ordered to abandon pursuit of those responsible for their team members deaths hadn’t gone over well at all.

The commander touched a finger to the bridge of his noses he thought... The procedure they’d undergone to neutralize the Zeltron’s pheromones had been invasive and unpleasant. No small sacrifice for the good of their mission, and for their order. Getting somewhere. he thought to himself briefly. He spoke a brief command, requesting a situational update from his team members. Really, he was buying time as he keyed inputs into the holographic device.

“Just to confirm, these are the ‘psychopaths’?” He asked the Zeltron, the image shifting to a shot of the three darksiders in a dimly lit corridor.

Lyshani nodded her head in minor annoyance, who else did he think she was talking about.

“What can you tell us about them?” Rowen asked from the side of the booth, still keeping her grip tight and aim true with the holdout blaster.

Lyshani resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She'd been hitting them both with a highly concentrated dose of pheromones during the whole conversation to test Abbot's claim that they were immune. Apparently, his claim was no bluff and that realization manifested itself in her expression with great annoyance.

"Me? Not very much," she answered finally, "But I know somebody who can, Durin's pet Jedi. They seemed to know each other. She could probably tell you all about them."

Abbot’s eyes narrowed a bit as he regarded Lyshani. He didn’t trust the alien, but he hadn’t expected her to have much of note to offer on the darksiders. Something else interested him more. “That’s the second time you’ve mentioned that name. Durin. We know that this is the fugitive Elena Connor,” he paused to display an image of her in the air between them, it quickly zoomed outward to reveal Vague in his Quentin King disguise. “This is?” He led.

“Wait, you’re telling me you came all this way and tracked me down in a bar and you didn’t even know that’s Vague Durin? You’re in worse shape than I thought.”

Rowen’s grip tightened on the holdout and Killswitch shifted weight on her feet. Abbot held out his hand to steady the two raiders, then looked back to the Zeltron. “Maybe we know more than you think.” He offered, tapping again at the device. The next image displayed was of a Vague over a decade before Lyshani likely ever knew him, “His name isn’t Vague Durin, what kind of name is that anyway. No, you’re looking at a very, very wanted fugitive and traitor, Auden Ward. Now tell me everything you think you know about this man, and how we can find him.”

Lyshani arched an eyebrow. Wanted fugitive she already knew, but traitor? To whom? The First Order? The Republic? The Empire? Vague wasn't very fond of either one of them, so as far as she knew it could have been any of them. I always knew he had his secrets, but I never suspected... She sighed and uncrossed her arms.

"My relationship with Duri--Mr. Ward has been strictly professional," she told him, with a hint of lamentation in her tone. Her greatest disappointment was that Vague Durin had never taken her up on her offer to bed her. "I don't need to tell you that he is a man of many secrets. Most of which he'd never dream of sharing with me. But," she added, before Abbot or any of his men could remark about how useless she was, "he regularly frequents this planet and has a great many contacts. For the right price I could give you a few names."

To this, Abbot smiled. Yes. They were finally getting somewhere, indeed.
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