2370/The Heist

The Heist
Date of Scene:	02 June 2015
Location:	Faraway Galaxy <FG>
Synopsis:	Left with no choice, the crew of the Rogue Shadow must risk a raid against Sienar Fleet Systems, the Imperial shipwright that originally created the ship, and steal the parts that they need to fully repair it.
Cast of Characters:	20, 414, 428, 530, Starbound Flotilla, 731, 754, 794

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Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Corulag is a blue and green planet near the heart of the Core Worlds. A staunch Imperial supporter, it has long been a supplier of promising candidates to the Imperial Academy, and an upholder of Galactic Imperial policy. Sienar Fleet Systems, one of the major galactic shipwrights contracted to handle Imperial Navy supplies and designs, also has an advanced research facility here on the surface.

This is important, because Sienar Fleet Systems was the starship manufacturer that originally constructed the Rogue Shadow. It's the only place in the galaxy that its crew will find the components necessary to fully repair it.

Travelling even to territories in the Outer Rim would be a dangerous proposition, but travelling to a Core World like Corulag is insanity itself. Only desperation has forced the two Imperial refugees to even consider it, let alone actually do it.

Fortunately, Sienar's campus is fairly broad, and there is very little air traffic over it. What seems to happen here is mostly work on TIE Fighters and variations thereof, for Sienar is the industrial shipwright that supplies the Empire with its swarms of those small but deadly starfighters. The campus' openness and its poor interior security means that nobody happens to notice a cloaked starship descending slowly and carefully. Its security is focused on the perimeter, interested more in keeping civilians out than anything else; its airspace is a no-fly zone, so nobody's actually going to expect anything.

Juno waits just long enough for Galen to disembark before the ship is airborne again, hopefully before anybody notices. She never disengages the cloak; doing so would be suicide.

[I'll provide what intelligence I can, but Sienar has heavy shielding in effect. The sensors can't pierce most of those structures. You may have to guess, but you know what to look for. We've got approximately three hours before the stygium crystals begin to overheat, at which time we'll need to retreat. Decloaking here would be suicidal.]

Her voice is calm and professional, regardless of the horrible anxiety she can feel trying to gnaw its way through her gut.

[Good luck, Galen.]

A little worry creeps into her tone with that last statement. She masks it as well as she can... but there's no hiding her worry from him; not really.

Galen will find the nearest building is a long, straight building with a corridor leading in. It looks like it's leading straight for some research labs, and it's populated by scientists and engineers wearing neat, clean white lab coats. Several of them are carrying datapads. That's probably a good place to start his search!

Incidentally, a set of coordinates was also transmitted to the Ebon Hawk, the ship piloted by one Lowri Revan-Shan. It was just a burst of coordinates and a very brief message to the effect of needing a hand against a kicked hornet's nest; in other words, she can expect trouble when she arrives.

It pays to be thorough, and Juno knows this isn't something she should handle alone.

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
[Don't worry, Juno. We've got this as good as done.]

There's a little tension in his voice as well. The Shadow is in dire straits, and yet here it is in Corulag's airspace. If the stealth systems were to be lost, or unable to hold up... He needed to move fast. He's dressed in a grey jacket and matching pants, lightsaber stowed within a jacket pocket. There wasn't much he could do for a disguise, so he'd have to just rely on his ability to be quiet and stealthy.

Mind Tricks and the ability to overwhelm and knock people out with his mind might help here too.

He notices the scientists, and smirks slightly. Juno may have let him out at just the perfect place. He makes his way down the hall, mind focused on getting the parts and getting out. He keeps his senses tuned to the area around him. Any inkling that he might be spotted and he would try and overwhelm whatever unfortunate mind happened to find out.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
This was, in all likelihood, a banner day for HK-47, all things considered. Many droids had eliminated targets. Many droids had captured targets. Some had even taken out skilled or reputable targets of some form of note.

How many droids could say they would be attempting to bring down a target that was once one of their subsidiary Masters? Let alone one they had some level of respect for?

Perhaps the same as how very few droids could say they met alternate versions of their creator

Corulag, in retrospect, was an obvious place for Blackout – or rather, former Imperial Captain Juno Eclipse – to return to. Not only was it the site of a major research holding for the company that, thanks to the dockets he received upon taking this mission from the sith Vader, but it was also "Blackout's" homeworld, so it would be a local she was intimately familiar with and have connections on. All the components of being the first choice for one on the run. He has already spotted the rouge inquisitor entering the nearest building, and already he makes his approach, heading for the doors with his rifle drawn.

However, the complication was not from the rouge Sith inquisitor who aided with Blackout's defection... but rather in one of the vessels that was accompanying them. A ship he recognized instantly – one he had personal experience with.

A Dynamic-Class Stock Frigate – the Ebon Hawk. The vessel his master and creator had used in her war against her traitorous apprentice, Darth Malak.

The implications alone were enough to send HK's processors into overdrive – last he knew, that vessel was still on Dromund Kass where the exile Meetra Surik had left it in the wake of her failure to defeat Revan after his master became Sith Emperor. And due to there being no record of it's departure, it seemed likely to conclude this version came from a mirror universe from a different corner of the Multiverse.

However, whoever was on that ship, HK at least knew they were not allies, as the vessel, according to Imperial Report, had been part of the group that helped Blackout escape. But, for now, they were a secondary target – his primary was the inquisitor.

He checks comms to see if the ship has been spotted, then hits the door release for the complex's entrance – he is a droid, so the target ought to have trouble sensing him... though his damnable danger sense may warn him of the threat he poses.

It had been a long time since he had hunted a force-sensitive. It would be an excellent return to form.

Garen (530) has posed:
The Rogue Shadow was not the only ship hiding out near Corulag. The X70 Phantom was also in the area, and aboard it Garen. The Chiss agent figured that at some point, Captain Eclipse would return here, and he would be waiting. "Any moment now....you'll walk into my web. You may be from the future, but you know nothing about the sith empire's branch of Imperial Intelligence."

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
The Starbound Flotilla have various reasons to be here. They are not, actually, fully here; right now, the only one here is actually George. He KNOWS corporate spaceculture. Places like this are where he was born and raised, and where he has survived for years in spite of functioning almost exclusively as a sabotaging agent of espionage. He didn't do this by inserting right into the facility itself, no; with forgery, hacking, corporate manipulation, bribery, threats, and similarly less direct approaches, George has waged a one-man espionage campaign to get himself wedged firmly somewhere nearby.

His Matter Manipulator hangs loosely at the belt, looking like something entirely normal for this world. Hopefully, until now, he's been doing some CASING THE JOINT for Galen; wherever he happens to be right now under the orders of the local facility, he has hopefully been able to provide some intelligence to Galen. He is currently disguised as a STAFF ASSISTANT, which is to say, a low-level engineer, the dime-a-dozen type. This disguise is incredibly thorough. He is wearing a fake beard over his real beard.

At the direction of JUNO or GALEN, George will immediately move to assist in the capacity of a TRAITOR. The STARBOUND FLOTILLA in the form of the CORE FLEET also waits, hidden in distant, deep space nearby, ready to FTL jump in at a moment's notice.

Revan (414) has posed:
It was a strange turn of events indeed that the Prodigal Knight found herself helping a former Imperial, someone once aligned with the latest incarnation of the Sith Empire. Of course, the Force worked in some truly mysterious ways, and she wasn't terribly surprised at how things had turned out. Similarly, she wasn't surprised to receive the cryptic transmission and co-ordinates. She had already helped Juno out of her previous crisis for a number of reasons, not the least of which was to harry the Empire and Confederacy in one fell swoop. 'Blackout' knew full well that the Guardian was more than happy to make a few Imperial lives miserable for a day.

The other was a promise she had made to an alternate version of the pilot, that she would protect the lives of both the Inquisitor and his captain. And she did have something of a soft spot for her and the fact that their relationship was very familiar, indeed.

Unfortunately, as a mere freighter, the Ebon Hawk boasted no sophisticated cloaking technology. Considerable weaponry as the personal vessel of a notorious Exchange boss who practically ran all of Taris's business prior to the Sith bombardment which had reduced the planet to rubble, but no cloaking. Which meant she had to stay just out of range until the very last moment before making planetfall.

"T3, you have the controls! Ulaire, I need readouts!" Revan barked her orders before leaving the pilot's seat. The droid and the shinki both understood she would need to man the laser turrets probably very soon.

"And get us as close as you can," she further instructed, since they had an extra passenger this time to wreak further havoc on the ground. "Ready?" she radioed Toph. Her new Insecticon friend could probably lead her to the drop if she needed any extra help getting there.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Space travel is something that Toph Beifong has never gone through before. An earthbender keeps their feet on the ground. But in the multiverse, there are things you have to do. While Toph wouldn't call the woman she first knew as Blackout as a friend, she has been friendly to her, especially when she needed it the most. If she could brave an ocean for her adoptive father, then she can surely brave a ride through space on a ship with Revan.

For the sake of appearances she has even put on some clothes that is typical for teens in this world. Simple pants, a shirt, jacket and a cap on her head, as well as some boots that are missing their soles should make her look far more normal in these parts. Now the only thing she has to worry about is whether or not they will find it suspicious that a young girl is in the area on her own. Good thing there is a lot of earth and metal around!

"Ready!" Toph calls over the radio to Revan, then drops down the final feet to the ground. And she lets out a sigh of relief upon feeling something familiar underneath her feet again instead of nothing all around the ship. And then she hurries off towards the coordinates that Juno supplied her with, speaking up on the radio to get a sense of what they are needed for her. If there's trouble, the greatest earthbender of all time is prepared to handle it!

Into the building she goes, and Toph does her best to act as if she belongs here.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
For its part, the Rogue Shadow remains airborne. Touching down would be too risky; hostiles might be able to reach or shoot down the ship, and then taking off would strain already-compromised engines to the breaking point. They're barely functional right now. As it is, if it has to break cover, there won't be any outrunning anything.

It's probably no surprise that Juno Eclipse is sweating in her seat, and trying very hard not to think about all of the ways this insane mission could go wrong.

[No, we don't. Stay sharp, Galen. No mistakes.]

Her tone is one of both worry and warning as she sifts through the sensor data. Everything seems to be normal, but it isn't in her nature to trust anything blindly.

[It looks like you're coming up on a group of researchers, but I know George is in the area, too. If you can meet up with him, I imagine you two can help each other to get deeper into the facility.]

Fingers dance over the controls as she glances at the pilot's console, almost self-consciously glancing over her shoulder, as though she could actually see the Imperials bound to descend on their heads sooner or later.

[George, if you can read my signal, Galen is heading into your area. If you can rendezvous safely, I recommend that; you might be able to get further into the facility if you work together.]

She drums her fingers on the console, glancing to where Toph shows up on her sensors.

[Galen, George, I have a Union ally inbound to your approximate location. Galen, continue down the corridor. You should come to an elevator of some kind. Two floors down, head northward, and I believe you may find something interesting. Most of the classified material isn't going to be on ground level.]

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
A single Imperial II-Class Star Destroyer is enough to make a world lose whatever fight it had in it before it arrived in orbit. Their distinctve wedge-shaped appearance, colossal size, and the considerable number of Imperial soldiers housed within is all well-known information to the galaxy at large, to say nothing of the fact that the armaments of a single Star Destroyer are more than capable of turning the surface of a planet into slag if extended bombardment occurs. As mobile bases of operations and objects of fear alike, the Star Destroyer is a machine that does its job with extreme effectiveness.

What the Star Destroyer does to worlds, the Executor does to entire star systems. It emerges from hyperspace into the Ringali Shell, its position parallel with the Hydian Way hyperroute that leads away from Corulag... and towards the relative safety of the outer colonies. Its current bearing would suggest that its original intended route was towards Coruscant. Why, then, did it elect to stop here?

Deep within the Executor's titanic mass, Darth Vader sits inside his sealed chamber. His mask lingers above, suspended by the arm that removes it from him. His eyes are shut, the cooling remnants of a meal sitting on a nearby tray. An array of droid parts and tools are scattered about from his latest tinkering project, which has truthfully gone nowhere. He is uncertain what he wishes to make, even at the most basic level, and several empty droid shells – including an astromech, an old war droid, and a large loader chasis – sit in pieces towards the rear of the chamber.

A hiss issues nearby as the door to the chamber opens, an officer arriving just outside the sealed chamber to inform him of... something. The arm upon which his helmet rests descends, sealing him back into his suit before the chamber locks open and rotates his seat towards the door.

The rasp of his respirator fills the silence of the room pending their exchange.

"Lord Vader, we've arrived above Corulag." The Lieutenant states, clearly and uncertainly.

"Take a shuttle and a token escort down to the shipyards for a routine inspection. That will be all, Lieutenant." Vader's voice booms, as he rises and makes his way towards the exit. The Lieutenant offers a response that Vader barely recognizes, and scurries away to form an inspection party. It won't be long before a Lambda-class shuttle begins its descent, and chatter of an Imperial inspection begins on local comm frequencies.

Darth Vader sweeps down the hallways of the Executor with confidence and purpose that his subordinates do not share. They don't know why they're really here, and they won't. Not until his mission to this place is already complete.

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
[George? Good to have you along as well. Union ally, Juno? Who am I looking for?]

Galen makes his way down the corridor, keeping an eye out for George. However, the man is disguised. He'd have to count on the Flotilla Core member to find him, rather than the other way around. A voice, unfamiliar to Galen, comes across his personal band. A girl. Was this the ally that Juno had mentioned? She must be strong if she ventured into this sort of space.

He makes his way past the researchers and toward the elevator that Juno mentions, keeping his gaze carefully averted to not arouse suspicion. His senses are beginning to pick up powerful players in the area. Good or bad, he can't be...

Oh... shit...

[Juno! Bad news. The big guy is here. Not on surface, but in the area. Be careful.]

He visibly tenses, but he keeps his eyes forward. There's no way Vader knew they were here. But, if he could sense him, it would be only a matter of time before Darth Vader was able to return the favor. He makes his way to the elevator, the weight of his ex-master's aura bearing down on him.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
HK enters the research building without much issue – one of the "perks" of knowing his target.

Thanks to his Protocol Systems, HK was able to masquerade as an assistance droid for the complex, giving him subsidiary access to the facility for his undercover operations – and with the authority clearance codes given to him by Darth Vader as part of his mission, the droid effectively had full access to the base in addition to the benefit of being one of the few forces already on-site, ready and waiting to begin his attack.

Stalking through the corridors and entering the primary research area, he moves through the unwitting throng of envirosuit-clad meatbags and plugs into the security system through an access port, the priority clearance granted to him as a current retainer to the Imperial Fleet giving him access to the facility's internal security network.

No sooner does he do this then he initiates full shut-down of the facility's core by reporting a false contaminant leak and activating security measures, locking down all doors, forcing them into manual override mode.

if the inquisitor wishes to advance now, he will either have to cut down the doors with his lightsaber or use a maintenance override key to manually crank the doors open, which would only be held by maintenance technicians – and none of the technicians will likely allow a rouge inquisitor in. If he wishes to get anything from the computers, he'll have to restart the core manually – and he cannot be in two places at once. The automated containment breach would also alert the base – and any Imperials in the area – the exact location on the planet where the trouble is.

The trap is set. The target has been painted. Now it was time for the main event to begin.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
"Hey there, newbie!" George says, grinning and laughing once he hits the elevator, slipping into the area. "You look like you don't have access here, I oughta report this." The jokng laugh keeps going long after the doors shut down and go into manual override mode. "Oh hey, check it out. They've rolled out the welcome wagon for us! Hey guy, want me to handle this?"

Manual override mode, huh? George can handle that. "We gotta get underground before big boss hits the dirt here, let's chop chop here." Striding on, he'll focus on using his ESPIONAGE SHENANIGANS, specifically his engineering expertise, to manually rewire the door's mechanisms after tearing off an access panel somewhere, and hopefully breach and hijack the elevator in a similar way. Ideally, using his fancy tools and insulated equipment, as well as an understanding of the hardware of the facility itself, George can bypass the doors. Though he may need Toph's help to breach the access panel! If so, he'll try to get her called over to break through.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
"This place is not open to the public, young lady."

Toph lets out a sniffle, her lower lip quivering where she stands and a forelorn look on her face. "But... but my uncle works here, and he told me to..." she says, seeming smaller than she usually is.

The guard sighs, then puts a hand to her shoulder and gestures for her to turn around. "Look, we are doing research here, and I have no idea how you got past the front lobby, but this is no place for a little girl like you. Come on, I'll show you outside and we'll find your uncle later. What's your name?" he asks, even as Toph reaches a hand up to wipe at her eyes. "Rocky Stark..." she sniffles, shuffling along even as she concentrates on 'seeing' what is going on around the building. So many people, so many things... Where is Juno's companion anyway?

When the alarm blares though, she can't help but wince. Not only at the sound shrieking through her sensitive ears, but also as she feels the whole place closing down. Shit! What is going on here? One thing Toph knows though, that if there is a time for a distraction, this is it! Immediately the blind earthbender is no longer 'crying' as she kicks the floor. The metal shrieks and opens up before it closes again, and the guard lets out a flabbergasted sound before he reaches for his radio.

Toph too reaches for her radio. "HEY! Guys! Seems they know we are here!"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Juno narrows her eyes, checking over the sensors. Something doesn't look right. A turn of a knob and a few flicked switches, and she focuses her attention on the local chatter of Imperial soldiers.

Something about an inspection. That's odd; wouldn't that sort of thing be scheduled for a secure facility like this? There's always the chance that there's a spot inspection, but that seems unlikely from what Juno knows of these sorts of facilities...

[George, Galen, you've got company. It sounds like there's some kind of inspection in progress. Expect company, but you might be able to convince them that you're just here for routine maintenance—]

Big guy? Here? The pilot frowns, and then as the implication settles in, the blood drains from her face. Wonderful. Rather than panic, she reaches for that famed professionality. This is a mission like any other, and she is not facing down potentially horrible death by Vader's hand if things go wrong. Totally. Normal operating procedure. She's just doing an Inquisitorial mission, here...

[Acknowledged, Galen. Hurry and find those parts. I believe that's just cut our timetable down considerably. He'll know you're in the area; there's no way he wouldn't.]

Yeah, no, this is bad. Very bad. The temptation to panic is almost overwhelming, and only military training is holding that gibbering terror at bay.

Juno shifts in her seat, fretting in silence. What to do? She's stuck where she is. Withdrawing the Rogue Shadow into a place where it can immediately jump to hyperspace means leaving Galen behind, and she's not willing to do that. Yet if she stays here, it's inevitable that Vader will not only know she's here, if he doesn't already, but pinpoint where she has the ship. She has no doubt that he'll probably be able to see right through the stealth systems.

Well, no, not really, but it's Vader; she is certain that she can reasonably assume the worst and it'll probably be true.

"Damn it to bloody hell," she mutters under her breath.

At least they'd decided to leave PROXY behind on the AMATERASU facility. The cockpit is silent but for the hum of idling engines, and it helps her to think.

[George, Toph, Lowri, watch yourselves. If this is who we think it is, you're all in far more danger than you were before. Standby. I'm going to try to—]

HK-47 springs his trap, and the facility locks down.

Juno lets forth a litany of scathing curses that are completely unbecoming to a former Imperial Navy officer.

[The sensors are coming back with something large, but it's too far away to identify reliably. If you sense Vader, it's probably the Executor. We officially don't have time to waste, now. Get underground, although I doubt it's going to help you if he knows you're here.]

She narrows her eyes.

[Galen. Knock four times on the wall. It'll signal to our Union friends.]

Garen (530) has posed:
Garen ponders his next move carefully. With the alarms going off, it was only a matter of time before he would have his moment to move. So in the meantime, he remained quiet. The Phantom remained stealthed, watching. The Chiss agent's eyes kept on the Ebon Hawk, watching it. He was already factoring in it's apparent need to interfere in Imperial business.

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
Despite the panic that the Executor's mere appearance has caused, Darth Vader has done nothing. The Lambda Shuttle that descended to the planetside shipyard has landed and... been held up by the lockdown. They're stuck in their docking bay for the moment. They could leave, but if they want to actually perform the inspection they were assigned to do, they'll just have to wait around until things calm down. There's a lot of comm chatter about this, with the Lieutenant who was dispatched getting quite angry at the personnel currently manning the shipyard.

No one wants to disappoint Vader. Not even on a matter as trivial as this. Fortunately for the Lieutenant, all is going according to the Sith Lord's plans. He stands now on the primary observation deck of the Executor, gazing down on Corulag. He can feel Inquisitor Starkiller reaching out, probing the area for major powers. But Vader does not react. He does not even reach out in turn.

"Lord Vader. One of our droids has signalled that there is a stolen vessel nearby. It's a..." The communications officer pauses, screwing up his face in confusion. "... A Core Galaxy Systems Dynamic-class light freighter?"

Vader turns from the viewing port to look at the officer. Under less pressing circumstances he would be very interested in such a vessel for historical value alone. At the moment, it's less than pressing. He says, "I am not interested in antiques. Leave the matter to planetary security."

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
The facility is on lockdown. As the alarms blare, Galen curses under his breath. They knew they were here. It was another trap, and now he and Juno were separated pretty solidly. He listens to the radio, keeping himself appraised of the situation as he approaches a nearby wall. With the building shutting down, he draws his lightsaber from his jacket as well. Chances are they would be coming for him if the stealth systems on the Shadow held.

[Juno. We're out of time. I'll get the parts, but you need to run. I'll hitch a ride with George or something once we're done, but the Shadow's not battle-worthy. Get out before you're found.]

With that, his fist SLAMS into the wall. Four punches, amplified by his considerable strength. That was Toph's signal, right? With that, he books it for the elevator. "Let's get moving, now!" he yells, all need for stealth gone. The chaos of lockdown worked more to Galen's strengths anyway. If anyone wanted to try and stop him, it would be an almost-guaranteed suicide mission.

For anyone not Elite, that is.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Watch themselves? Toph sighs even as she tears her way through another floor with one hand, and adjusting the radio with her other.

[This is Toph. I don't know about you guys, but the entire place has closed down tight! I can get through these walls with my bending though, I'm heading down from the lobby as I speak! Knock four times into the wall or floor, and I'll know where you are!]

More metal gives way as Toph drops down another level, then hurries down another corridor and through a wall, all for the sake of evading any guards and people there. Not that they won't be able to tell that there is something going on, as bending durasteel is noisy as hell. She listens in on the radio chatter, and she can't help but agree. Juno is a sitting duck out there, isn't she?

[Just don't take any chances, Juno. There's Revan too, and there's bound to be a warp gate here somewhere, right?]

They can only hope! Once Galen slams his fist into the wall Toph's eyes widen, and her face is set with determination as she spreads her arms. The floors below have no choice but to obey her, and Toph Beifong kicks off, leaping several floors down until she lands on the same one as Galen and George, a heavy metallic THUD resonating and surely alerting a certain droid to her presence.

Revan (414) has posed:
Lowri refrained from contacting Juno via radio at first; too risky and the former Imperial would have known she was there anyway. Once she was in range and Toph on the ground and in place, she could probably start the co-ordination...

...Or not. A couple of highly unpleasant surprises came in the form of a mysterious Imperial and a very familiar voice. Familiar, because she had built the assassination droid herself in her past as a Dark Lord.

"Shards," she muttered. "T3, is HK still deactivated and locked in that compartment?"

The equally-baffled utility droid chirped his affirmation. "Then...great. Multiverse."

It wasn't very long before she had further confirmation. From what she could gather, events similar to her own happened to the 'Revan' this version of the HK unit knew, but instead of becoming redeemed and rejoining the Jedi Order, that version of herself reclaimed her place as a Dark Lord. That's not comforting at all, she thought sardonically as she stalled for time, falling back on her smuggler/bounty hunter persona. Not that it seemed to be working; she knew HK a little too well for that to be entirely successful. Moreover, she was probably not fooling the owner of the other voice. Then again, fooling them hadn't been the intention, something all parties seemed to know. It was an elaborate game they were playing, and if the stakes weren't so high, Lowri would be enjoying the dance. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to keep stalling them.

"I think Dark Side me built him a little too well," she muttered to T3, who made a mildly sarcastic electronic grunt.

[I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to give these guys the run-around, and I think they know it.]

And yet, that wasn't even the worst part. Suddenly, Revan could feel an overwhelming Dark Side presence...which meant that presence would no doubt be able to sense her in turn. She wouldn't need to warn Galen, but he was going to have his hands more than full. "Things can never be straightforward and simple, can they?"

[I can cover for you of things get hot, but don't get fancy down there.]

HK-47 (754) has posed:
The first stages are accomplished – and spectacularly so. The base is locked down, and Imperial forces in the area now know where the target is, closing the noose around the target.

But as always, there are annoying complications. Apparently, one could not account for the stupidity of meatbags, as one of the technicians had indeed began rewiring the manual overrides for one of the entrance doors, letting the inquisitor in.

Taking in his target, the droid was not certain if he was impressed or underwhelmed. The target was still a rather young humanoid, and while it was impressive that he had garnered this level of attention, he was still rather lanky in the droid's own opinion to have been that overpowering a presence. But then again, his own master had been roughly the inquisitor's age when she built HK-47 himself, so he knew better then to judge outward appearances.

He saw them advance together – but the technician was not his concern. The inquisitor was. Even the earth bender, threat that she was to his metal frame, could be dissuaded if he had the target in his possession. It was time to move.

HK-47 wasted no time in stalking forward toward the inquistor location, already drawing his cortosis-vibrokife in anticipation of using it to short out his target's lightsaber should he get too close. His carbonate thrower was already pre-primed – after all, the objective was both the inquisitor and the rouge pilot, and one would surely come for the other. Therefore, he had to take the target alive.

But that did not mean he had to be entirely intact.

Approaching without a word, the droid rounds the corner as he sees the inquisitor bolts for the elevator, aims his wrist-launcher and fires a stream of supercooled carbonate at the wayward target, intent on freezing his prize solid for transport.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Even as she runs towards where she can 'see' Galen and George, there is something that catches Toph's attention. Something metallic moving towards him. Something she recognized from only a few days ago! Just as HK-47 rounds the corner and takes aim, the metal wall tears open and partially bends towards the assassin droid, blocking the fire. Toph leaps through the wall, her arms to the side before she moves them towards the opposite wall, and the metal walls obey, completely closing off the hallway and opening up the room by the elevator.

Toph has clearly been running for as fast as she can to catch up with them, as she leans slightly on the wall. Even with all the shortcuts through walls it did take some time! "You guys go on ahead and find the part!" she calls to Galen and George.

[Juno, I met up with your boyfriend! Gotta focus on that damn droid though.]

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
George can't stop HK-47 from firing, but he CAN take cover in the elevator! Which is what he does, diving in and rolling to a standing cover position off to the side. Some more desperate hacking, and he gets the doors shut, swinging out of cove3r just in time for Hk-47 to see him, and for him to recognize the droid. He gives the droid a grinning thumbs-up, winking at him and removing the fake beard (which he has kept over his real beard) just to make it worse.

Unless Galen is entirely disabled by being encased in a block of ice or something, George will be counting on Toph to slow the droid down. He's fairly sure he can't take him in a straight fight. For now, he presses a button on his Matter Manipulator, and with a flash he's wearing his Starbound-'verse Durasteel EVA-like combat gear. "Alright big guy, best thing for a situation like this is outrun the bad news. Don't stop to handle everything. Book it north, no matter what."

And when he emerges from the elevator, that's what he plans to do.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The Rogue Shadow continues to maintain its position, hiding in plain sight over the Sienar facility. Juno's hands are stady over the sensor controls, although she diverts her attention every so often to adjust the ship's trim and heading.

[Negative. If Vader is here, then he has the Executor here somewhere. If he has an escort detail, they'll be able to outrun the Rogue Shadow, and I'll need to drop the cloak to prime the hyperdrive... but I'll see what I can do. Maybe he really is focused on this facility.]

That's a long shot, and she knows it. Still, she cocks a head as Toph's voice crackles over the ship's line.

[I'm doing what I can. The warpgate is too far away to make a sprint to. I'll need to make a few random hyperspace jumps, and hope it's enough to lose them. The hyperdrive is still functional, but I can't outrun anything with the sublights... unless...]

Something beeps on the console. Juno's eyes flick to it almost absently.

[Do what you need to do, Lowri. I'm grateful for this much help.]

Temperature readings on the cloaking device. Juno's expression falls, and the string of curses she employs are absolutely unbecoming to a former Imperial officer... but extremely satisfying.

[The stygium crystals are overheating. I'm going to have to drop the cloak and make a break for orbit.]

Her voice sounds fatalistic and eerily calm even to her own ears, as though she were discussing somebody else who were caught between stone and anvil, and not herself. Toph's words cause her to tilt her head slightly, though. Boyfriend? Droid? She must have found Galen, but what droid? She had pushed for leaving PROXY behind in the AMATERASU shipyard, the better to be ready to help with repairs on her return, and to help guide the ship in to dock; she was expecting further damage. That means she and Galen, at least, haven't got a droid with them... but she can't afford to focus on that right now.

[Good luck.]

It's all she can spare for them. Drawing in a deep breath, she deactivates the cloak.

The Rogue Shadow shimmers into existence above the Sienar Fleet Systems' advanced research facility, looming like a predator bird – a broken bird, electricity snapping and arcing from its starboard sublight engine. It's visibly crippled.

And no sooner has it decloaked than it's already wheeling around and making a break for orbit, trailing sparks and smoke all the way.

In the cockpit, Juno puts everything she has into the thrusters, patting the console. "Just a little faster," she pleads. "Come on. One more sprint. I swear I'll have you whole again after all this. Just get me through this; get me back to the Flotilla..."

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
During the Clone Wars, the Separatist movement had a small number of exceptionally powerful flagships. They were larger than the old Venator-class Star Destroyers by far, and consumed a great deal more power. Anakin Skywalker had personally seen to the destruction of one of these ships, by reprogramming the navicomputer to fly the ship into a moon. The primary armaments of this ship, known as the Malevolence, was a titanic ion cannon capable of rendering entire fleets helpless. The follow-up using standard turbolasters on helpless, unshielded ships was more than enough to scatter them into so much space debris.

Darth Vader remembered, and Darth Vader sought out the wreckage to address a unique need. The ship that emerges now from hyperspace in the shadow of the Executor is a great patchwork hulk. It was clearly pieced together from debris and spare parts, and although it is dwarfed by the Super Star Destroyer above it, it is easily four times the size of a regular Star Destroyer.

The ship does not have a crew. It is slaved to the Executor, operated remotely. Although bulky, it is little more than a frame with internal components and engines operating. It was assembled hastily... but hastily does not mean that it will not do its job. It hides itself within the bounds of the Executor's shields to protect itself.

It was not brought here without reason. The great ion cannon, a colossal dish mounted along both sides of its main reactor, began charging the moment that it appeared.

"You may fire when ready." Vader booms to his command crew.

There is no delay. This weapon is no Death Star. There is no need to hesitate over the lives of billions. The husk of the Malevolence fires its ion cannon, a massive net-like energy field blossoming forth and spreading outward and descending upon the Sienar facility. If it were aimed spaceward, it would have the range and breadth to disable a fleet of old-style Star Destroyers with ease.

Ships drop from the sky, buildings lose power, satellites go offline, most droids fry on the spot, weapon power sources fail abruptly, and security lockdowns cease having any sort of force... but so does all hope of accessing anything non-manually! You'll be needing a crowbar or other tool to get around, but at the very least everything won't be fighting against anyone anymore.

"Direct tractor beams in a wide area over the facility. Pick up any ships or debris in the air, and prepare boarding parties." Vader commands, resting his hands on his belt and gazing down smugly over the facility.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
Perhaps it was what they called fate?

Not three days ago, HK had met this 'earth-bender' when observing the recently-ressurected Tony Stark. And now she was impending him against his target. It also did not help that his target was effectively the worst possible opposition he could face – due to her being able to twist metal to her will.

And as a droid, HK was almost entirely made of metal.

He also recognizes the technician – a member of the Starbound Flotilla that he had served with alongside Blackout on what had been his very first mission into the multiverse at large. The irony was almost ridiculous – individuals from his first mission and his most recent mission, together for this one.

Of course, it also meant that the droid now knew where it was that Juno Eclipse had taken refuge – for why else would a member of the Flotilla be here if at least some of their members knew where 'Blackout' had been hiding. Perhaps Vader would entertain an... outing to try and see what they knew, should he propose this to his current employer?

But that would come later. For now, he had a rather angry earth-bender to deal with.

Activating his grenades, the droid lobs his plasma grenade, which, upon detonation, will turn the metal into molten sludge, superheating it to the point that it ought to sear human skin – as a droid, he would be unaffected aside from some light searing on his metallic feet. The barefoot earth-bender, however, would not be so lucky as the heat will make the floor panels become very hot, very fast.

T Then... suddenly, everything blacks out for a crippling moment as the droid's systems overload and fall into emergency shut-down. If not for his desh plating and his advanced design having countermeasures for ion weapons, he would be fried entirely... but as he is, the droid, frozen on the spot, slumps forward into a half-stand, powered down and forced into emergency restart as his subsystems try to compensate for the critical overcharge, temporarily offline but utterly helpless.

Garen (530) has posed:
Garen grinned evilly as Juno had revealed herself at long last. "Got you." He said to himself. Dropping his cloak, he leapt out after the former captain, bent on shooting her down. That is...until the ion blast shut his system down. "Damn it all...." He mutters. While his ship was a proto-type, it still needed a manual restart.

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
Galen nods. With Juno moving into orbit, he hopes that it will be enough for her to escape. But with the Executor in orbit... He's not so sure. He has to focus, though. He's nearly caught off guard by the droid's sudden assault, but luckily he has the Multiverse's greatest earthbender and metalbender on his side. She puts a wall between the droid and the ex-Sith, giving Galen enough time to fall back and ignite his lightsaber. He leaps around the wall, trying to avoid the grenade even as the heat rolls over him. He moves in, preparing to move in on the droid, eyes narrowed. And then the pulse happens, and HK falls into stasis. Instead of just disassembling him right there, he clicks his saber back off and runs past him.

"Forget the droid! We need to move, now! New girl, can you get us two floors down?" With the power out, the elevator was out of the question. Everything is going to hell, and fast. Apparently, according to chatter, even ships are falling down.

Galen stops. Juno. If the Rogue Shadow crashes...

[Juno! Status report, now!]

HK-47 (754) has posed:
The last thing HK-47 knew, he was blowing down a metal barrier created by the earth-bender. Then... he was abruptly shut down.

However, he had been extensively upgraded in his service to the Sith Empire – desh plating and internal circuit breakers being one of the many new upgrades. However, his subsystems were mostly still recovering, so he only had partial movement available.

More then enough.

Moving as fast as he can while the damnable radios shout a warning, a compartment in his wrist slides open and starts belching out a thick stream of toxic gas, intent on bringing down the organic with something she cannot reliably block – cyanogin gas, a very toxic natural gas that attacked humans through both skin-absorbtion and inhalation. Breathing it or being caught in it was fatal either way, as even a whiff could leave the target feeling debilitatingly ill.

And with the base on full lockdown, there was nowhere for her to go before the gas afflicted her.

And when the inquisitor runs by, all the better. It won't kill a force user outright... but he would certainly be sick enough for him to catch. Him, or whoever other imperials arrived.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
The plasma grenade knocks into the wall, and Toph yelps as she feels the floor starting to get hot. "Ow!"

Hurrying back several meters, Toph frowns and reaches out with her hands towards the floor before the heat can spread too quickly, and she tears it up as well, bending it up to serve as another makeshift wall. It becomes noisy as she bends it into place, and she feels something happening all around them. Who turned off the generators and stuff? She taps her radio, looking confused as things seem to have shut down around them. Including the murderdroid on the other side of the makeshift wall that is melting. Well, time to reinforce things! After George's warning Toph focuses on bending more of the surrounding walls and ceiling around the melting slab of metal, then she gestures for Galen and George. "Follow me, and watch your landing!"

The teenage bender leaps forward towards the hole she just made, though not without breathing in some of the gas. And it has its results as Toph lands on the floor below, coughing and leaning over. "W-what the hell...?" she gasps, then falls to her knees as pain spreads through her torso. Still, she reaches out, digging her fingers into the floor and tearing it open enough for the others to get down, though she certainly seems to be needing some help.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The Rogue Shadow's engines strain for a brief instant longer, ion sublights screaming madly and the damaged side spitting sparks.

And then the ship goes silent.

For one awful, seemingly eternal moment the ship hangs weightless. Juno scrabbles frantically for the controls with a cry of despair, trying desperately to restart the engines and arrest the ship's helpless stall. She's still in Corulag's gravity well, and the ship is being pulled down, down...

Gravity returns, as the forces of momentum alter. That is not, however, a product of its engines.

The Rogue Shadow lurches as a tractor beam seizes it.

"No!" Juno slams a fist against the console, desperation and hysteria and something approaching gibbering terror warring for dominance in her gut. No, she can't be caught, the ship can't stop; not now, not when they were so close...!

And Vader...

"No...!" This time it's a snarl of defiance as she guns the engines, but for nothing.

Damaged, they're not strong enough to break free...

...and static gets her attention.

Several aggravating restarts later, Juno curses into the open frequency.

[Galen, the ship's dead in the water! Get George and our allies and get out of here! I'm going to try and break free even if I have to blow out the starboard sublight!]

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
George has descended far below. Alone, apparently, since Galen hasn't headed into the elevator himself. The power goes out right as the elevator reaches the bottom, trapping him inside temporarily. Now that nobody who matters is around him, George immediately stops pretending to be a goofy, fun guy, and immediately begins getting incredibly businesslike. He pulls a heavy POWER CROWBAR out of his Matter Manipulator and jams it brutally through the door, intending to wrench it apart. Unlike an ordinary crowbar, by jamming it through the gaps, its powered nature causes it to exert a tremendous force in both directions very suddenly, forcing the doors open like a bomb went off.

It's probably pitch black in here, which is thankfully counteracted by his backpack light unit. He is immediately going to start tearing through this floor. He doesn't care what components he gets; he is just going to steal pretty much everything that's north of the elevator, and hopefully open the area up enough that Galen can do the same once he's down here on this floor through Toph's help. He may also be bludgeoning any local security and scientists with aforementioned crowbar. Wordlessly, and in a way that's unlike his usual goofiness.

Every priority is getting what they need and getting out. That's really all there is at the moment! Even if it's dark and unpowered down here.

Revan (414) has posed:
It would seem that Lowri didn't need to maintain her obfuscation for much longer, not when the Rogue Shadow could no longer maintain its cloak. And when Garen started to give chase, the Ebon Hawk finally moved.

At least until the ion cannon opened up on everything.

Ion weapons were hardly unheard of in Lowri's time, but one that large and covering that much area was unheard of. "What the..."

The blast had come from outside the atmosphere, likely from a ship in orbit which had just come out of hyperspace. And suddenly, not only was the Ebon Hawk offline, but so was her mechanical 'crew'...or rather, all but one.

The Waffebunny-model shinki, Ulaire, was built not by a robotics hobby company, but a military-grade arms manufacturer. Her own power source was protected by a system called TEMPEST, which protected her from even nuclear strikes, much more the many forms of electronic warfare. Now it seemed was the diminutive robot's time to shine. "Ulaire, status?"

The little black-clad robot responded immediately. "Ma'am! Reporting fully functional, ma'am!"

Revan grinned. There were a few plans she had, as long as the ones down below could get to where they needed to in time. In the meantime...

"Ulaire, I'm going to need to borrow a little bit of your power. Just don't overdo it."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!"

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
A spike of frustration below the Executor signals to Darth Vader that he has accomplished his goal. He moves over to the tractor beam consoles, adjusting the settings over the shoulder of one of the technicians to zero in on the Rogue Shadow. Other, less (or more) fortunate ships are released and allowed to plummet... or go on their way, if they've managed to regain power. In the meantime, the Executor's grasp on the Rogue Shadow is cemented, reeling it in at a more rapid pace than before. Vader stalks away from the control console, allowing the operators to resume doing their jobs as he does so.

Quickly, all too quickly, the Rogue Shadow is drawn into the shadow of the Super Star Destroyer, towards one of its many docking bays.

Experimentally, Darth Vader reaches out with the Force to ascertain the standing of the individuals below. Another presence, one he doesn't recognize, lingers nearby. He pays it no mind, unfamiliar with it, and unconcerned with its status. It is Galen Marek's presence below that he zeroes in on... and it is Galen Marek's presence that confirms his course of action. There is no need to hesitate with the woman in his custody. In a worst-case scenario, a secondary trap can be sprung.

"Begin bombardment of the facility. Avoid the landing pad the inspection team is at, but issue an order to remain on-site." Vader says, taking up his position at the viewing port once more and gazing down on Corulag dispassionately. It would have been preferable to claim yet another Marek's lightsaber as a trophy.

But this is also acceptable.

Without further warning, the Executor begins to open fire on the facility below. Orbital bombardment rains down on the unshielded complex, great curtains of green light striking the ground and blossoming outward into ground-shaking explosions that leave behind glassed-over craters. The weapons fire is so frequent that it may feel more like an earthquake than bombardment... but it doesn't come from below.

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
Galen inhales the gas, and immediately his vision blurs. His mind slows, following Toph through the hole. He staggers, staring back up. Far above, Juno was getting caught, trying to fire the engines and escape. He draws to full height, staggering. He's a bit more resilient than most, but the toxin is taking hold nonetheless. Toph is affected as well, and everything... everything is going wrong. He places his lightsaber back in his jacket, slapping his face to clear his vision. No good, however. His mind latches on to one thought, though.

Juno.

His vision sharpens even as the poison seeps through his system. They were trying to capture them, take them back to Vader. He couldn't let that happen.

He fires his lightsaber again, then turns toward Toph. She was suffering too. They needed the anti-toxin, and fast... but then bombardment starts. As the blasts ring out, the ex-Sith is lost. He can't get back out... He can't make it in time. His body is slowing... He'll have to escape.

Juno...

"Let's go, quick!" he roars, keeping his saber lit. Things... fell apart in a heartbeat, and he can do nothing to stop it.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
After what feels like an eternity, the droids limbic systems recover from the shock, and he draws his virbo-knife, making his way toward the obviously-ill inquisitor, dismissing the earth-bender for the moment as he encroaches on his target.

Out of a sense of sportsmanship, he gives his target the chance to make the smart decision, less fun as it may be. "Advisory – Submit or be eradicated, meatbag!"

Thankfully, it doesn't seem that the inquisitor will oblige.

The moment he sees the lightsaber comes active, the droid swings his knife, forged from pure cortosis – and energy-conductive material that shorts out directed energy weapons – intending to cut through the lightsaber and short it out to render the inquisitor defenseless. After all, while debilitated, it will be far harder for him to gather the needed concentration to use the Force – and thus, without his lightsaber, he will be all but defenseless.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Even as HK-47 speaks over the radio, Toph can tell that whever is happening is bad. Breathing hurts suddenly. Was that weird hissing sound she heard him letting out some nasty poison? Still, surrender is not an option. Not if this droid is truly out to get them. If they do, they will die for sure! It's even worse when he tries to bring Tony into this, and the blind girl grits her teeth. They have to find medical help somewhere!

Still, she forces herself back up on her feet as she coughs and spits. 30 minutes...

If there's one word that defines Toph, it's stubbornness. Even if she's hurting, even if they have a crazy murderdroid on their tail, Toph reaches out with her arm and raises yet another wall behind them to slow HK-47 down. With that same arm she reaches out to grab Galen by the wrist and pull him with her as she begins hurrying along the corridor and in George's direction. Her vision is getting blurry, but she can still feel it.

The building is under fire, and the place is shaking. Which means that she needs to make an improvised exit for them.

George will be met by something tearing through the ceiling above him, and Toph drops down along with Galen, looking awfully pale as she coughs violently. Is that blood running down the side of her mouth?

"I'll get us out," she half croaks, then lets go of Galen's wrist so she can head on over to the wall. As she places both hands on it she opens up a hole through the metal, revealing the earth outside. She adapts a wide stance, and pulls her arms back, then throws her arms forward in a split palm attack, and a diagonal tunnel begins to form ahead of them.

Though Toph is interrupted by another violent coughing fit as she leans forward, letting out some wheezing sounds.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
The engines of the Rogue Shadow manage one last defiant flare, blue-white light searing behind them as the exhausts vent the sublight engines' incredible heat. With a damaged engine, though, the right-hand engine is doing little more than spitting sparks, its light dimmed and flickering.

Eventually both engines flicker out. The Rogue Shadow hangs weightless within the tractor beam, drawn inexorably toward the Executor's docking bay, helpless.

So it's done. She's caught.

There's no escaping from it, this time; she risks a glance at the instrument panels, which tell her exactly the depressing story she expected them to.

Juno sits up straighter in her seat, tugs her clothing straight, and exhales, very softly. Forcibly, she calms herself; banishes that helpless rage and despair behind a veneer of the professional, competent officer she had once worn so well. She might as well meet her fate with dignity. It won't matter a whit to Vader, but it will to her.

"Well, Eclipse, you've really stepped in it this time," she murmurs, leaning forward over her console. She touches the controls for one last transmission, though the line is almost entirely static by this point.

[I'm sor—I'm sorry, everyone. Looks like I won't be getting out of this one today. Galen, I—]

The comm beleaguered comm systems finally fail. Juno looks down at the console, expression bleak.

She doesn't know what possible reason Vader might have for capturing her, other than to bait Galen into a trap. Putting aside the Dark Lord, her former allies also have no particular love of her.

It's not looking very good, is it?

Left with no other recourse, Juno leans back in her seat. There's nothing left for her, then, but to wait for her fate with a strange sense of detached calm.

Revan (414) has posed:
It was not a very good place to be. With the tractor beam on the Rogue Shadow, that would have been her first priority. At least, if she wasn't attempting to get the systems back online. It didn't take long with the extra boost from the Waffebunny, and not long after T3 and the Insecticon shook it off, the latter scurrying nearby as if for comfort of her presence.

Lowri cursed softly. She didn't like abandoning Juno, but she had promised another version of her to save Galen...for both their sakes.

"T3, take us down there. We need to get them out of here...We can't do anything for her right now," she muttered to the droid's disbelieving squawk between gritted teeth as she guided the Ebon Hawk down, evading the bombardment through the Force.

"Ulaire, do you have a lock on where they are?"

"Affirmative, ma'am!"

The freighter swerved around, the turrets training on a nearby wall.

[Hey guys, you might want to step away from that wall to your east.]

That was the warning before Lowri opened fire, intending to give the group a much-needed exit.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
Bombings. Shit is fucked! George can't continue his thievery under a bombardment. Thank god for his combat armor, because ceilings and walls collapsing, things exploding around and above him, it's all smashing debris into him. He thinks it might be prudent to snag some medkits down here too. He's bruised and disoriented BADLY by the bombardment.

MEANWHILE...

"Aye, aye cap'n, fine." Pavo says, sitting in... An odd hylotl craft. It's one that JUNO ECLIPSE has heavily redesigned. By redirecting all its weapon systems, the Starling-class vessel is less of a shuttle and more of a zippy space-jet. She immediately jumps into the space around the planet, diving low. Juno's engineering is INCREDIBLY effective at achieving high speed and agility! But just one shot from the Imperial craft above will be enough to put it in the dirt!

"GOING NOW." George shouts, as, with a strange burst of blue light from his feet, he slams his way out of the hole ripped in the ground by Toph. Pavo, meanwhile, is straining to get this thing to swing down. She has to swing BRUTALLY low down to the facility to get practical line-of-sight for a fast extraction teleport if they're going to get out of here! He's going to immediately draw anti-toxin injectors and come down on Galen and Toph with a heavy stinging jab! Ideally this will get them in running condition. "Hey tin can, we have drugs! It's how meatbags roll!" He yells out, in the usual out of place goofiness.

He's going to try to YANK both through the tunnel collaboratively constructed by Revan and Toph. "Who's up for a jog? I'm up for one! I'm also up for a dash, whatever you guys are in the mood for!!" He says, panting as he performes a power-assisted mad dash for the end of the tunnel, and hopefully out into the open where the Flotilla's runner can teleport him – and the others, if they came along – up!

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
As Toph opens a tunnel, Galen turns his back to it. HK slashes out with his dagger, but Galen shifts his arm, taking a gash across his arm for his trouble. He winces, but glares at the combat droid. "Big talk for a tin can..." he growls, stepping forward. "I'll send you back to your master in your component parts." The sounds of explosions rattle the area, but one in particular hits close to home. The other side of Toph's tunnel opens up, and their exit is clear. If it wasn't Force interference, it was blind luck. Either way, it's a way out. Juno... He had to be in prime condition if he was going to do this. If he was going to gut Juno's captors and get her back, he needed his full power. So, as everything lines up for escape, he takes a swipe at HK's optics. "Next time, droid. You better count the minutes." With that, he lets George grab him, his body weakening as his lightsaber clicks off. He tries to match the frentic pace, but in the end, by the time he lands on the ship's floor, he's panting heavily and his face is wet.

His fist hits the deck weakly, eyes closed. "J... Juno...!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
As George stabs her with a needle Toph lets out an extra high pitched wheeze, and she hasn't cought her breath even as she is forcefully yanked either, her eyes wide in panic. It's hard to follow everything that's going on around them now as oxygen is kind of necessary, and a lack of it makes it hard to focus. Though light as she is she's at least easily dragged along despite her current weakness. Teleportation doesn't make anything easier, and the blind earthbender heaves for breath as she half flops down on the floor next to George and Galen. Even if she is in no shape to talk right now she still hears the pain in Galen's voice, and she clenches her eyes shut. Juno got taken... this was not according to plan.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
The droid, in all honesty, expected more. But the inquisitor's age made him close to being exactly what he predicted – impulsive and easy to manipulate, driven by his desire to protect his ally. In fact, he acted far more like a Jedi then a Sith – or perhaps more like a mix of the two, as he had no concern for himself but was obviously very passionate about defending what was close to him.

It made the hunt much smoother then he expected, putting aside the sudden shut-down of his systems – he would have to ask about what exactly that was about, since if there was one thing the droid did not appreciate, it was being used as a disposable tool.

However, that was a relatively minor issue, seeing as he was coming close to completing his objective.

Seeing the inquisitor's half-hearted attempt to block, the droid manages to slice into his dominant arm and weaken him further, continuing his encroachment as he spots the earth-bender trying to muster up the strength to fight back.

He had made sure to make good on his promise to record every moment – after all, a video of the meatbag dying in the background would be an effective intimidation message to send to her father should he prove uncooperative to Confederate interests. However, he needed Starkiller to cooperate, so seeing as Eclipse was as good as dead, perhaps bargaining for an antidote for the girl would entice his surren-

That was as far as HK got in his musings before the tunnel exploded.

Forced to kneel down and take cover, HK sees, much to his concern, that one of the meatbags has what appears to be an anti-toxin injector system, possibly retrofitted from a medical droid suite? It is hard to tell as it seems somewhat haphazardly strapped to him. He aims his wrist-launcher and fires a stream of carbonate – too late, as the targets all vanish in what appears to be a teleport.

Change in plan – if he couldn't capture the individuals, he would down them. Already, he began pulling his sniper rifle and aiming for the ship itself, trying to get a bead on the engines.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
George notices HK's interference. One shot from that could take the ship down! Shit!!

He lets the others teleport... But doesn't teleport himsewlf. "PAVO!" He calls out over Core Fleet secure coms, and also audibly. "SWING LOW, TWENTY TO THE GROUND!" And it's at this point that something incredible and magical happens. The fighter swings low enough that it makes an incredibly swift turn, and... George does not teleport aboard it. Instead he latches on with his GRAPPLING HOOK, swiftly procured from his Matter Manipulator. Using that, he....

He swings around. Intending to solidly kick HK square on the chest with a ship-speed swing. Unfortunately, this leaves him open for a counterattack, possibly even sniping himself, but at least the ship will get away! And then with that, the four people ought to be able to get out to where they're going.

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
The truth is, the sudden arrival of a new ship takes Darth Vader off-guard. It is not of local origin, and although he knew that off-worlders were involved in this matter, there was little evidence that the transport being used was anything but "local." His respirator quickens briefly as he feels Galen's location shifting from below to above... along with several others in his company? He turns towards the gunnery line and barks, "Cease bombardment. Recall the shuttle below at once, and begin tracking the unknown vessel. Scramble TIE Interceptors. Shoot it DOWN."

That ship is too small to reliably target at this distance. The Executor does attempt to open fire on the hylotl craft, but it simply doesn't have the accuracy to score a direct hit. The great columns of green weapons fire go soaring past and strike the ground beneath the vessel, but they do not find their mark. Below in the hangars, TIE pilots previously on standby begin to climb into their machines and power up for departure. The docking bay energy field opens, and the distinctive scream of the TIE ion engines rips through the hangar as the first ships exit.

They're fast. But not fast enough to catch up at this distance.

Down below, the Rogue Shadow is secured in a docking bay. The external shields snap shut with a burning hiss, and Stormtroopers approach with blasters set to stun. A distinctive metallic THUNK can be heard as a breaching charge is placed on the closed boarding ramp, a distant beeping audible to Juno as its timer begins to run down.

Garen (530) has posed:
Garen growls at his ship, slamming the console. Apparently that works, cause the Phantom roars back to life. The Imperial Intelligence strike ship chases after the new transport vessel, with Garen aiming to get in close and blast out the engines.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
The droid sees the ship turn – the very same ship he had helped Juno Eclipse liberate from those avaian pirates in the beginning. Another irony, as he thus knows exactly where to hit it.

He sees the meatbag – the last one remaining – latch onto the vessel with a grappling hook.

Then his logic circuits short overload when he sees the meatbag swing around and fly straight for him, catching him in gridlock – however, he still tries to shoot the ship, deeming it the priority target instead of the lone meatbag. His weapon – a disruptor – disintegrates organic targets and cripples electronics. One shot won't just cripple the engines – it will blow them to bits.

And it is here the droid curses his mistake, as, in angling himself to shoot the vessel, he lowers down into a deep crouch to steady his attack – and as a result, when the transport buckles to avoid the Agent's Phantom, the meatbag is thrown off-course and his feet instead collides with HK's head, sending the shot wide. It sears past the transport and brushes against the Phantom, the Agent's ship barely missing being hit by friendly fire. The shot also passes the meatbag that hit him close enough to scorch his leg and take off a patch of clothes and a layer of skin, but he frustratingly avoids lethal damage, and HK himself is sent crashing to the ground with a loud metallic clattering of armor against the ruined walls of the base.

....

It would seem he underestimated the situation, as well as the determination of the meatbags from the Flotilla.

He would have to pay them back for that someday.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
Damnit, this feels even worse now! Even as the ship rises through the sky, the blind girl gets to her feet, stumbling to somewhere safer to sit down. As much as she hates to admit it there's not much she can do inside this ship, and especially not in her current condition. If she wasn't still affected she might be able to do something about the other ships from afar, but there's no chance of that now.

Everything is noisy around them, and Toph winces as she gets seated, clutching her radio between her hands and trying to sound as calm as possible when she speaks into it. Ugh, she feels like she's going to puke! But at least breathing is somewhat easier now, thanks to the drugs George gave her. Galen's heartbeat does sound better too.

Not that it will matter much if they are shot out of the sky!

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Aboard the Executor, the Rogue Shadow offers no resistance as the Executor's tractor beams pull it into position. It lurches as the magnetic clamps engage over the hull, snapping into place over the battered durasteel with several distinct thuds. One of them misses, since it's aiming for engine housing that's simply missing; it swings awkwardly, but the remaining clamps are more than sufficient to hold the ship down.

Juno exhales softly, and then opens her eyes. She can hear the charges, and she knows exactly what they are. She snorts quietly. Of course they'd rip a hole in the ship, instead of asking her to open the hatch. It's just another insult on top of all the damage already done to the Rogue Shadow.

Poor ship.

"I'm not going to shoot," she calls to the stormtroopers doubtless already on their way forward to the cockpit, "so you can put those away. And stop blowing holes in my ship," she adds, annoyed.

She should really be panicking right about now, but instead all she can feel is a strange sort of detached calm. She's even standing and turning to face them, offering her wrists for the magna cuffs they're doubtless going to slap on her.

"I'm going to guess you're here to take me into Vader's custody. Right? I'm unarmed, so you don't even need to check."

Revan (414) has posed:
Once the group was away, Lowri grunted with some satisfaction. "All right, T3, get us out of here!"

A bleep of affirmation, and the engines roared to life, though not without some damage from a certain sniper rifle. "Dark Side me really built him too well," she muttered, firing on the rooftop to cave it in as the assassin droid was hauled off his feet by a grappling hook.

They weren't out of the proverbial woods yet, though...not with a few hangers-on after the. A few well-placed shots took them off the Ebon Hawk's tail before she cleared the atmosphere in George's wake not far behind. But not before firing off a parting shot at Garen to get him off George's tail. however.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
George suffers a brutal wound to his leg as he slams into HK-47, wincing in pain and grunting heavily as armor shears off the limb. "Son of a bitch." He whispers where nobody can hear him as he reels up to the craft. But then... GOD DAMN IT. Now he has the PHANTOM to deal with! "Christ, can't you just fuck off." He mutters under his breath, the heavy disintegration wounding disabling his ability to walk. Thankfully, he just needs to hang on. Pavo GUNS it. This is less like a full craft, and more like a fighter, though it utterly lacks armaments. Which is unfortunate!

This means the runner is utterly defenseless against Garen's assault, but small enough to at least mostly dodge most of that. "Shit shit shit shit shit!" George yells, as he reels onto the underside of the ship and just sort of sticks there, shouting. Toph, ironically, will be the only one who can "see" him. He's not out any windows but she'll be able to feel him sort of sticking there. He is currently making an incredibly rude gesture at Garen, which is all he can do. Shots are whizzing past the runner, shaving armor and shielding off of the thing. The engine and shield systems are starting to overload and explode brutally inside, though that shouldn't be too much risk to Toph and Galen...

Pavo, for her own part, does her best to just maneuver away from Garen and let Revan take the offensive. It's all she can do! It's going to be the only way to survive, because the entire transport will explode if it takes a heavy, direct hit from that craft!

Garen (530) has posed:
Garen looks over and spots the impact onto his ship's shield. He fires off a parting blast and a few rockets at the transport (Don't worry, they miss) before flipping the ship to do a pass at Revan and the Ebon Hawk. After that volley though, the ship vanishes. It apparently had stealth systems as well.

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
"Cover me." One of the Stormtroopers calls, moving into the cockpit with cuffs in hand. These don't sound or look like normal stormtroopers, insofar as they can be seen or heard as individuals at all. They are of uniform height, and this one at least has a very distinct voice. The 501st is not made up of ordinary conscripts. These are all clones of Jango Fett. As it is, they're not particularly rough restraining Juno, but they don't give her a lot of wiggle room to believe she's in charge, either. She'll be escorted out of the broken husk of the Rogue Shadow, surrounded by a squad of the 501st's finest.

But they're not going to where the detention facilities would be on an ordinary Star Destroyer. They are going up, towards the primary bridge.

"Begin charging sequence of the Malevolence and prepare to fire a second round." Vader barks to the bridge. Down below, the Malevolence – which had decisively disabled the Rogue Shadow and many other ships – begins to spin up its generator again. The main weapons, mounted on twin dishes on either side of the ship's structure, begins to thrum with blue-white power as it builds the strength to fire a second time.

This might be trouble if it manages another shot...

HK-47 (754) has posed:
The droid knows what to look for this time – he sees the massive vessel spooling up it's generator. He does not intend to be hit by it a second time.

Moving through the facility, he sees the imperial shuttle, already beginning it's liftoff as the recall is initiated, and he hops aboard the closing ramp, intent on making it to Super Star Destroyer. Entering the cockpit, he looks to whoever or whatever is piloting it and gestures with his wrist-mounted flamethrower even as the shuttle begins leaving the atmosphere.

"Advisory – I am on the retainer of Lord Vader. Escort me to the Executor, now. There is an investment I wish to secure."

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
Galen remains on the floor even as the ship lurches around and does things relating to George swingkicking robots in the face. As the anti-toxin kicks in, he pulls himself to his feet, staring out of the viewport. They had Juno. They had Juno.

He clips his saber to his belt, ignoring the open wound on his arm. They had Juno. His eyes are on fire, burning with an intensity that only his enemies had seen as the light left their own eyes at the end of his mission. They had Juno.

And they would REGRET taking Juno.

His hands clench into fists, watching on with despair and anger as they try to stop the retreat. They had one half, but they wanted both. Greedy bastards. "Get us out of here," he says, "We're in no shape to take on the Empire."

The Empire had Juno.

He clicks his radio on, his voice oddly calm.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
It's a little gratifying to know that the stormtroopers incarcerating her are in fact not rank and file stormtroopers, but part of the 501st Legion, Vader's personal squadron, clones of superior genetic material with a reputation for success and perseverance.

So. There's that.

There's no resistance from the pilot as the cuffs are slapped on her, and the hum of the electromagnetic lock initialising is enough to make her teeth vibrate. It's a very unpleasant sensation.

"This isn't the way to the brig." Juno abruptly looks from one stormtrooper to the other at each side, but they don't seem interested in answering her. That calm begins to fragment, and she feels something icy twisting in her gut. "This is the way to the bridge. Why are we going to the bridge?"

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
"Lord Vader has requested your presence. You'll be processed and placed in the brig afterwards." One of the Troopers answers Juno, his voice identical to the others. They board one of the lifts, and begin their (seemingly) long ascent. It feels like an awful long time, but it's not much. When the lift finally ceases, they emerge at the rear of a familiar bridge, in a style very similar to that found on other Star Destroyers. A raised platform for officers (in this case, mostly Vader), with pits carved here and there with numerous stations of various functions in the surroundings. All are fully manned, the quiet buzz of not-quite-chatter not quite drowned out by the beeping and buzzing of instruments.

Below, the Imperial Lieutenant in the shuttle waves his assent to HK-47. "We are aware of the arrangements, droid." The pilot is beginning the lift-off sequence, even as they speak. The shuttle's wings fold down as it takes off, heading up towards the Executor. Looks like they'll make it in time to get out of the way of the next round of ion cannon fire... though it may be best not to assume that this shuttle is a high priority to Darth Vader.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
The runner is damaged after that run-in with Garen, and still straining all its systems to pull away. George is still attached to its underside, though, and with several strained motions, he begins climbing to the top from the side. Once he gets there, to the top hatch that opens out to the thin atmosphere here, he'll get to work; pulling out his Matter Manipulator, he rapidly constructs a large-scale safety structure designed to let Galen and Toph surf the top of the craft without falling off. This should give their senses a clear shot to perceive the threat in low orbit. There's also a heavy pair of guiding rails of some sort, and there's a... Tremendous lump of Durasteel. A giant slug of it, in fact.

"Fuck you." He mutters under his breath in strained tones, and begins rattling off data to Toph and Galen. Pavo's sensor suite is currently being operated by Seft, and so she can get plenty of data about what's going on in the firing arrays. George has come up with a 'firing solution'. He wants his FORCE USER and his METALBENDER allies to function as what appears to be some kind of rapid-constructed human railgun.

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Oh. Juno hadn't actually expected the stormtroopers to answer her. Most of the time if they're escorting a prisoner, they give that prisoner the stoic treatment, and refuse to answer questions. In this instance, the answer is probably a calculated thing meant to instill even more fear into the prisoner. That is to say, her.

Welp. It's working.

Juno goes very, very quiet as she's led to the platform. Thinking it over, maybe, although she's doing her level best not to show any fear. She comes to a halt wherever her keepers indicate, drawing herself up and raising her chin; defiance in her eyes.

"Vader."

No obeisances, this time; no shows of respect that she might have given as an officer. There's only simple acknowledgement in her clipped, Corulag tones.

She seems about to say something else, but instead decides to wait. Let the Dark Lord say whatever he's going to say. She doesn't need to tell him that she isn't going to cooperate with whatever he has planned. That much is probably blindingly obvious.

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
The Malevolence is, entirely literally, a piece of junk that was crashed into a moon a good thirty or more years ago now. Its current state is essentially a giant, unprotected weapons platform unless it is hiding inside of the Executor's shields. But! Those shields do not account for the Force. They do not account for a power such as metalbending. The power systems are almost entirely exposed, as are what few internal systems are mounted to it. In essence, it is barebones. It is not even a ship. No one could possibly live in it without a fully sealed suit. It's being operated remotely, to boot.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
No sooner does the shuttle arrive on the Executor then the droid moves for the loading hatch, disembarking as soon as it lowers all the way and moving past the throng of disposable cannon-fodder soldiers to reach the trubolift.

There is a moment where the droid is stopped, but he shows his authority codes as one of Vader's retainers and enters the lift, making his way to the bridge.

He wanted to see for himself what the result would be... and have at least one opportunity to see his old subsidiary Master "Blackout" again before she was presumably executed.

It was actually a shame, in his personal opinion. She was clever for a meatbag, and certainly driven. But sadly, her repugnant sense of morality had impeded those traits, and it had cost her.

But then again, nothing was meant to last forever. And if nothing else, he wished to greet her one last time, if only to communicate that he had thought of her as an adequate master in the time he knew her.

After having been the overseer for his first missions in the multiverse, he owed her that respect, at least.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
... fuckthisisnotgood!

Toph's eyes widen as she feels George clinging to the outside of the ship, and she immediately pushes herself up from her seat, stumbling and coughing. But the message from George is clear. And they have no choice if they are to survive this. Far off in the distance she can feel something huge, something large. Sure enough, it's perhaps too far away for her to reach, but there is metal all around, and Toph swallows.

If she can hold up a massive palace-like library against a spirit, then she can sure as well do this, even if she's still recovering!

Toph takes a deep breath, then she heads up the top hatch. It's not a nice feeling to be up here, but then again, what choice do they have?

Toph reaches out towards the big lump of Durasteel, and the large piece of metal shifts, taking on a cylinder shape as Toph shapes it into something that will surely be able to do some lasting damage. "Help me move this!" she rasps to Galen. He's a Force user, right?

Either way, Toph uses all of her iron will to move the thing, digging her heels into the top of the ship as she lets out a cry, pushing the large piece of durasteel off towards the ship she can sense way, way afar. You better help her here, Galen!

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
Galen makes his way to the top of the ship, following Toph. As he eyes the durasteel slug, Toph bends it into a new shape and begins to propel it. Her power is earth and metalbending. A crucial skill no doubt, but his?

His can help her finish the job.

He closes his eyes, reaching out and 'seizing' the slug. It begins to accelerate rapidly, and even as it arcs through the atmosphere it begins to spark with lightning. The strain is incredible.

They took Juno.

His eyes snap open, and he roars out, hands in front of him as he launches the slug with increasing velocity toward the Malevolence. It's coated with lightning and driven by metalbending techniques and the power of the Force. Faster and faster.

George starts the countdown, and Galen smiles a devious smile. "TAKE THIS!"

Revan (414) has posed:
T3 kept the ship steady – and thank the Force she had programmed him with the lessons her own instructor had given her – as she opened fire, careful to avoid George. Friendly fire was not a good thing.

But even when the Phantom broke off and cloaked, the Guardian knew they weren't clear yet. She didn't need the Force to tell her that much.

Likewise, her mental discipline kept her from falling into a morbid mood at HK's references to his own version of the universe. She had avoided falling back to the Dark Side, so why had her 'other self' fall again? Even more how could she have brought herself to kill the very man she loved, the one she left behind to protect him?

Oh yes, she helped Juno and Galen...partly to help herself. Partly because she knew exactly what they faced.

But there would be no chance to help them if she couldn't stay focused....especially when she observed the ion cannon preparing another attack. This time, however, she was ready.

Manoeuvring the Ebon Hawk out of range so that the ally ship wouldn't be caught in what she planned, she barked over her radio, "Ulaire, how's that pulse coming?"

"Ma'am, it's ready!"

"Good." She could already make out the absolutely insane idea George had come up with. It was perfect.

Her slight smile returned. "Fire."

From the Ebon Hawk came a elecromagnetic pulse which, while not an ion pulse, would hopefully send the weapons systems and defences into feedback loop, giving the others the necessary opening for their own counterattack.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
George is limping and wounded and unable to do much here besides call out "HIT IT!" and do an appropriately dramatic gesture. The durasteel is from the Flotilla's native universe; it is one of the densest and most impactful alloys short of Violium or the unyielding Impervium. A huge slug of it has just been fired towards the ion weapon's firing array.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
He has only just stepped off the turbo lift when he sees the massive generator dish – what he assumes is the ion weapon that disabled him before – be targeted by a duresteel slug.

He was not a highly-effective and near-peerless combat droid for nothing. He knew what that shot meant. He knew what was going to happen.

And yet... while it effectively means that they have lost, HK cannot help but admire the singular act. With a single piece of metal alloy, they were pining to bring down a larger target by aiming for it's vital points – the founding principle of assassination. He suspected his behavioral core would be glowing pleasantly at their actions... if it weren't for the fact that half his quarry would escape due to this.

However... it was not as though he did not have a way to circumvent that. After all, he would assuredly return for his associate. He had taken her along with him – it was inconceivable that he would abandon her for long.

Striding down the bridge corridor with the characteristic metal 'ca-clank' of his joints and armor shifting, HK-47 approaches the captive form of his former subsidiary Master, taking a sidelong position so as not to be considered encouraging on Vader's immediate area. if there was one thing he had learned, it was that Sith were notoriously finicky about intrusions in their immediate surroundings.

"Greeting – It is a distinct pleasure to see you again, Master Blackout. Musing – Or should I call you 'Captain Juno Eclipse?'"

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
The initial reaction to Juno's entrance onto the bridge of the Executor is nothing. Nothing at all. Darth Vader does not prioritize her, or perhaps he does, and his actions are entirely intended to inspire dread. Regardless, he does not address her directly. He turns towards one of the officers on deck, "Captain Piett. Set a course for Coruscant, we will be departing shortly." There couldn't be a worse place for Juno to be, save perhaps for the Emperor's private fortress-world of Byss. Even that would only be marginally more terrible than the Galactic Core.

Outside, the Executor re-orients itself very very slightly, pointing "past" Corulag and towards Coruscant proper.

In the meantime, Juno is radiating defiance towards him. Darth Vader has ways of acquiring information from those who are not compliant, but he has no interest in using these methods against the former Captain Eclipse. Not here, and not now. Sometime, perhaps, once he has gotten what he needed out of her. As things stand, she hasn't had the time to make contact with greater Rebel cells. Her allies are mercenaries, children, and a smuggler in an ancient ship.

"I do not require your cooperation, Captain. What I need from you is an inevitability, and your action or inaction is irrelevant." Vader pauses momentarily a spike of fury resonating through the Force. Toph and George's efforts were invisible to him, not because of a lack of potency – and their actions were potent – but because their talents are not native to him.

Galen's are. His presence is familiar. After all, he was Starkiller's teacher.

The projectile slips in underneath the Executor's shields and drives itself into the exposed power generator of the Malevolence, through the face of the ion cannon array. The build-up of power ceases, and an ion-like pulse from the Ebon Hawk disrupts the functionality of the charging weapons further. With nowhere else to go, the power built up in the damaged generator detonates violently, scattering the rusted frame of a ship and its armaments across the underside of the Executor and into the atmosphere of Corulag.

Darth Vader nods towards HK-47, a silent invitation to approach closer if it wishes to do so, and sweeps off towards the nearby consoles indicating damage to the ship.

HK-47 (754) has posed:
After receiving permission to approach from Vader, the droid approaches Juno slowly, as if letting his image of him encroaching on her as an enemy this time sink in for her. He has little doubt that she remembers his actions on Nar Shaddaa. How he efficiently dispatched the meatbags with his disruptor.

He can see that she appears unaffected. But that only tells him what she is trying to project, and not what she feels.

"Commentary – It seems you have been abandoned, Captain Eclipse. You now face charges against the Galactic Empire, at least two iterations of the Sith Empire. Your position is not enviable."

He activates his transmitter and connects it to his broadcasting system – he intends to show everyone what he sees and what he says. He wants Starkiller to see that he has his prize in his grip... and entice the emotional meatbag into doing exactly what they need him to do.

"Clarification – However, it is doubtable that you will be executed immediately. Not until the extent of your association with the Starbound Flotilla is expanded upon... as well as where Inquisitor Starkiller has left to. The Agent has queries as to how much you may know of Sith operations. And I myself have queries regarding your connection to the smuggler vessel known as the Ebon Hawk... as well as any individuals bearing the name or title 'Revan.'"

"Addendum – And also..."
In a gesture of intimidation, the droid grips her by the shoulder, discreetly squeezing it enough to strain the bones beneath her skin as his metal fingers threaten to puncture her skin.

"I wish to question you on precisely how much prodding your partner will require, before he comes to try and rescue you?"

Juno Eclipse (428) has posed:
Cuffed and standing with the same straight posture she would have worn along with her Imperial uniform, Juno is the perfect picture of maintained dignity, despite her restraints. They can take her, and they can even kill her, but they won't take her dignity.

For a moment, she ignores the droid utterly. Had she not heard him? No, she did; those ice-blue eyes rake over HK-47 for a brief instant, angry and scornful, before her attention returns fully to Vader.

Juno Eclipse swallows. Her throat is dry, but she manages to keep herself from gagging on her own dry throat and anxiety.

"Good." Her voice cracks. She ignores it. "You wouldn't have it." She seems unsurprised at that, too; perhaps she already knows on some level that she's only meant to be bait.

And then, perhaps surprisingly, she smiles. It's a wintry expression not much suited to her face; although it complements well with the shadows of sleeplessness under her eyes.

"You can't control him." She doesn't sound smug, but she does sound confident. "It's true, you can use me as bait, and he'll follow. But what happens after that is out of your control. Any defenses you muster, any place you put me, he'll tear it apart to get me out of there. And he'll rip your Empire to ribbons, with or without me."

That smile broadens; Malevolence practically radiates from her – an outlet, however minor, for all those long years of frustration, exhaustion, and despair. "And if you so much as lay a finger on me, you'll seal your own fate."

She turns, then, finally facing HK-47. "The same goes for you, tin can, and your Agent friend. If either of you so much as lay a single strand of my hair out of line, he'll tear you both apart." She glances back to Vader. It's a gamble, but... "You might want to warn them, in fact, that you don't want me dead right away. They're champing at the bit to do me in, you see, and I don't very much think that you want a corpse, or you wouldn't have gone to the trouble of capturing the Rogue Shadow. You'd have simply shot the ship down. Which, I might add, wouldn't have been overly difficult."

Silence falls, broken only by the hum of the ship's drives, and the quiet sounds of the bridge.

Her own fear and anxiety is almost stifling, but Juno keeps up her brave face. She has to – for him, if nothing else.

"Wherever you put me," she says softly, anger and defiance warring with the fear in her eyes, "there aren't enough stormtroopers or Five Hundred First Legions in the galaxy to keep us apart."

Suddenly there is a murderdroid in her personal space. To her credit, she doesn't flinch, although she wants to.

"Abandoned?" She smiles, wintry again. "Hardly. I told him to flee. I asked my allies to help him escape. It's not abandonment when it's acknowledged to be the smart solution. And thanks for the reminder of what I already know. It's useless to me."

She lifts her chin to HK-47, defiant. "I will not, no. Vader obviously has a use for me, or he wouldn't have bothered with capturing the Rogue Shadow. As to that, that's going to be up to Vader. I'm not going to tell you any of that willingly. Or anything."

That nasty little smile broadens. "Chew on that, tin can—"

Suddenly there is a murderdroid seizing her by the shoulder. Juno reacts without thinking; her hands are bound, but her legs are not, and she lashes out with one leg in a kick meant to try and unseat HK-47. "Get away from me," she snarls, immediately attempting to backpedal into one of the two Five Hundred First Legionnaires standing behind her.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
They freaking did it. They blew up a huge spaceship.

Toph leans forward, resting her hands on her knees as she heaves for breath. Man, that took a lot out of her.

She really hopes they are getting out of here now, and she reaches out to punch Galen in the arm. "We'll get her back..." Winded she might be, but Toph sounds certain. Juno might not be Union, but she's not somebody who deserves something like this. Whoever this Vader guy is, it doesn't seem like he will be kind to her. Nor that messed up droid.

But it's clear they are in no shape to fight back right now. Not here.

Starbound Flotilla has posed:
Seft pops the top hatch of this ship. "Urgent. I advise getting back inside." She says, trying to invite Toph and Galen inside. George immediately takes the invitation as well, just sort of flopping inside with his wound; the craft itself is going to get to work heading out.

As it does, Pavo speaks up from the cockpit ahead of the cramped crew area. "We're gettin' her back, Marek." She says, without any hesitation or uncertainty. "You recover and rest. We're going to get her back as soon as it's possible." And then she pushes the craft into its maximum acceleration, blasting off to the side and making an unsteady FTL jump of an escape. Hopefully Revan cancover any pursuit from Garen; they can't, at all!

HK-47 (754) has posed:
"Advisory – You need not fear, Captain Eclipse. Like the others, I do not wish you dead" He speaks loud enough for anyone on the bridge, Vader included, to hear him.

"Musing – After all, all three of us require you alive. Addendum – Or at least myself and Vader do. The Agent, however, only has one thing he requires you to do – die. Which I am confident will be the case after we are finished with you. However, while Lord Vader requires you to be alive, he does not necessarily require you to be undamaged... and escape will be much harder for you if you cannot use a blaster. Entertain escape, and I shall gladly ask Lord Vader's permission to snap your dominant hand at the wrist."

The next instant, HK releases her and steps back, taking a guardsman-style position beside her. All throughout, he is broadcasting his visual and audio input – forcing Starkiller and the others to listen in on every action. And all throughout, he stands beside Juno, as if simply to assure her that he will not be going anywhere anytime soon.

Revan (414) has posed:
The Force looks after its own, Lowri knew this. She had seen it time and time again. And yet that crazy stunt should not have worked...even if it was rather impressive.

"T3, take us into hyperspace once they're clear," she ordered the droid. If Garen decided to make one last attempt, he'd be looking at more laser fire.

[Good work. And she won't be in there long, you can count on it.]

"And good work to you guys," she praised her mechanical crew with a slight grin as she eased out of the turret seat once they were clear. "Glad to have you with me."

Amidst electronic whistles and a flustered "J-just doing my job, ma'am!" Revan made her way back up to the cockpit and dropped gratefully down in the pilot's seat. She had a lot to think about, once this was over. But for the moment, they had a much more immediate task.

Darth Vader (794) has posed:
"The Rogue Shadow is my blessing, and I have withdrawn it. I need no other reason to take back my ship. But you are right, I do not want you dead, tortured, or broken. Not now." Darth Vader states simply, raising a hand and directing it towards Juno as she kicks towards HK-47. A simple gesture of will and a moderate telekinetic force lances out at her, threatening to hurl her across the bridge – away from HK-47's grip. He lowers his hand then, looking between HK-47 and Juno in mild aggravation. The fact that HK-47 was designed by a Sith is plain as the light of the stairs. He utilizes Sith social strategies far too readily to be anything but.

"Former Captain Eclipse will be... relatively... unharmed, and uninterrogated. I have plans for her that require her to be... intact, and living." Vader gestures towards a nearby trooper, drawing a pair of cuffs away from his belt telekinetically. He adjusts them, and gestures vaguely towards Juno, bringing her legs together and clapping the cuffs – which are NOT made to be manacles for the legs, but are adjustable enough to fit hers – just above the ankles. This has a side-effect of making it impossible for her to walk normally. The most she can do is shuffle awkwardly, if she can even get to her feet on her own.

This is not even slightly dignified, and it is VERY uncomfortable.

For the time being, Vader does not reprimand HK-47. He is not, the Sith Lord understands, actually encroaching upon his authority. The earlier deference was noted, and the nature of the banter is understood. Anger them. Make them irrational. Bring out all the darkest qualities buried in their hearts. And then, once they're embroiled in their own uncontrolled passions, utilize your superior ability to perform under the effects of the Dark Side of the Force to overcome.

It is a notion that applies even within the bounds of basic psychology that a droid can exploit.

"Take her to the brig." Vader waves dismissively to the Stormtroopers, who fall in line to execute the order soon after.

Galen Marek (731) has posed:
As Galen lowers back into the ship, he leans against the wall of the ship. Closing his eyes, he nods his affirmation. "Of course we're getting her back. I'm just angry that I let her get taken in the first place," he says, "But I need to let go of my hatred. After... After I destroy all three of these Empires!"

He grimaces, but he knows she'll be relatively safe. Vader wants him.

He wants Galen to... succumb to the Dark Side.

"No... I need to let go of my hatred before..." he says, smiling. "I'll give them a different Galen Marek to deal with."

With that, he closes his eyes a bit more firmly. 'I will get you back,' he thinks, and Juno's face appears in his mind's eye.