The Rebel Faction

Trandosha: Hyossk’s Private Chambers

“The convoy has been destroyed as ordered Speaker of All.” The Admiral of the Trandoshan fleet said.

Hyossk nodded in approval. That convoy was of unknown origins and allegiance. There had been reports of a lot of unauthorized entry and reentry into Trandosha as of late and the convoys appearance in Trandoshan space made the aging Trandoshan suspect it was transporting rebels. Not wanting to take any chances, he had it destroyed.

“Very good Admiral.” Hyossk said. “I trust you didn’t tell the fleet the exact reason that convoy was targeted?”

“With loyalties as uncertain as they are Speaker, I informed the fleet they were pirates and worthy of destruction. I will assure you know….that my loyalties will always lie with you.” The Admiral made a sweeping bow. It was overdramatic and Hyossk suspected something was wrong.

“You have bad news…” Hyossk sneered, a statement more then a question.

The Admiral, a normally very calm and cool individual, looked very nervous. “Two of my ships, Destroyers Fanggore and Redclaw have gone AWOL…sir…”

Hyossk groaned, having a good guess as to what that meant. The captains of those two ships, Ossik and Rista respectively, were partners in everything they did and shared many views. It wasn’t surprising that if one went traitor…the other did as well. “Any idea on where they went?”

“No sir. All I know was that they were in the group that was to attack that convoy, only they apparently didn’t hyperspace jump to the location of the convoy with the rest of them. All communication attempts were left unanswered.”

“I trust you are taking steps to ensure no more ships turn traitor…” Hyossk said, growling lowly.

“Of course sir. As we speak, I am having spies installed on the other ships, with orders to eliminate the Captain if he or she shows signs of dissent.”

“Excellent. I would also like for you to keep in tabs with air control Admiral. Any ship that enters or leaves Trandosha with out proper clearance is to be shot down. Understood?”

“As you command, Speaker of All.”

Just then, Besk burst in, looking a bit more worse then wear with a large bandages across his chest and a couple more on his left arm.

“I take it you found the Bloodfang?” Hyossk asked, smirking slightly at Besk’s obvious agitation.

“Yes I did Hyossk…” Besk said, grumbling. “Not in a very pleasant way either.”

“Obviously. Near Tissuss I presume?”

“Yes…but not alone.”

This drew a worried look from the Councilor. “Explain.”

“I had just entered Tissuss space when I spotted Hunters Way on my scanners.”

“Varcanna’s ship.” Hyossk said, growing interested. “I trust you blew her out of space…”

Besk scowled. “I almost had her…just one more shot, would have for sure sent her to her ancestors. Then out of no where came the Bloodfang and several Aegis Class ships.”

“Aegis Class…” Hyossk echoed, now more worried. “Wookiee owned?”

“No idea…I just know they all started firing at me. I barely made it back here in one piece and my ship will be in for repairs for weeks as a result.”

“So you’ll be grounded for awhile then.” Hyossk said with a nod. “But at least we know for sure where the Bloodfang currently resides. Admiral, what is your take on this?”

Admiral looked thoughtful for a moment. “Those ships could be Wookiee owned or…they could be part of the fleet that convoy was from.”

“And we know for sure that convoy wasn’t Wookiee.” Hyossk said, rubbing his chin.

“So you went and attacked a convoy whose alliance is unknown?” Besk said bitterly. “Let me guess…you suspected rebels were onboard eh? Fool…how do you know they were helping Naosha at all!?”

“Why else would they be in our airspace?” Hyossk growled. “And watch your tongue Besk…”

“At least I don’t go jumping into a pit without checking it’s depth first.” Besk growled back, then turned around abruptly and left.

“Such show of insubordination…” The Admiral spat. “If he was under my command he wouldn’t be speaking to you as such.”

“What do you expect from a mercenary? But at least he is loyal.” Hyossk grumbled, then got a sly grin on his face. “Admiral, I want you to…’borrow’ Besk’s ship and have your tech’s go through it’s scanner database. I want to confirm what Besk saw there and anything else he might have failed to take visual notice of.”

“With pleasure sir. “The Admiral said with a grin.

Tissuss: Imperial Outpost

Silliss was discovering that the Outpost had a vast underground tunnel network and that at the end of one of those tunnels was a vast laboratory. One of the rooms was filled with tanks, some of them had various specimens within: and some of those looked very familiar to Silliss.

“Well…” He said tapping the glass of one of the tanks. “We know where those mutts came from…”

“But why would the Imperials do something like this?” One of his warriors asked.

“To use as instruments of terror…what else?” Silliss said. “Only this time, it seems their creations turned against them. And I don’t feel an ounce of pity for them.”

“Klad to kear kat.” A badly synthesized voice said. The group turned around as one, weapons at ready, only to see the monster they were hunting right before them. It was ten feet tall, it’s left arm and legs mechanical with a metal tail attached. What was flesh was green scaled and what had to have once been a normal Trandoshan body was altered to look even more primitive, likely through gene therapy. It bore numerous wounds from it’s fight with the mutts, but seemed to show no pain and most of it’s wounds were already closed. It wasn’t showing any signs of aggression, though it had a suspicious look in it’s red eyes. “Kut I still don’t know ky you are kere.” It continued, it’s red eyes narrowing. “State your kusiness kere, quickly…and ky you are kere wik kumans.”

Tissuss: Imperial Outpost Secret Lab

It took a moment for Silliss to regester what the thing said and safely assumed by 'humans' it was thinking they were Imperials. He gestured for the group to lower their weapons and stepped toward the creature.

"We did not mean to intrude on your terratory, the ship we are on crash landed here." Silliss explained, his arms spread to show he meant know harm. "The humans are our allies for the time being during our time of need and they only wanted to salvage parts from the outpost so they can repair the ship."

"'Time of need'" It echoed. "Since ken did our keople need ke assistance of kumans?"

"It's...kind of a long story..."

"Ken tell it."

Silliss frowned faintly, not so much that he didn't want to tell the story but rather the fact he didn't know where this creatures alligance truly stood. If it did not agree with Naosha's cause...he expected a fight. But he had little choice: the thing was standing in the doorway of the only exit from this room.

"Let the rest of my group return to the surface, I will remain to tell you the story." He said finally, not wanting to sacrifice all his warriors.

The creature thought this over a moment. "Very well, kut on one condiction: kat no one comes kack down kere and key not speak of kat key kave seen kere."

Silliss nodded and turned to his warriors. "Return to the surface and guard the entrance to the tunnels: no one is to come down here, got it?"

"Of course Silliss.." One of the warriors said. "But what about you?"

Silliss sighed. "If I do not emerge by midday...you know my fate. Remember not to tell of what we found here."

The warrior nodded solemnly. "Are there any other entrances to these tunnels?"

"Couple of kuildings, kangers actually, some five miles from ke outpost. Deep in ke forest." The creature answered. "Tunnels only clear pak kere now."

"With those mutts in there no one is likely to find it anytime soon..." Silliss said, rubbing his chin. "But still, send some warriors there to guard that location as well: we need to do everything we can to keep our word."

The warrior nodded and the rest of the group headed for the door. The creature stepped out the way and let them pass. Now Silliss was alone in the room with the thing and he felt his stomach tie itself into knots from anxity. Even if he wasn't still recovering from his fight with that mutt earlier...he doubted he could best this thing in combat if it came to blows...

"Now.." The creature said, blocking the door again. "Tell ke story...and pray I'm satisfied wik it..."

Silliss sat down indian style on the floor, laying his lance across his lap.

This was going to be a long night...

Tissuss Orbit: Bloodfang

Varcanna groaned softly as she regained conscisiousness, recents happenings a blurr in her mind. Sitting up, she felt her head and felt a stab of pain when she touched where she banged her head on the console.

"I suggest you take it easy for a while Miss Varcanna." A female voice said, likely a nurse. "That was a nasty bump you got."

"Where am I?" Varcanna asked, looking over at the female Trandoshan that had spoken.

"Aboard the Bloodfang madam."

"Remind me to tell the Captain to cut it a bit closer next time..." She grumbled.

"You just did." Another voice, a male's this time, said with a faint chuckle. Varcanna turned around to see a male Trandoshan in a Captains uniform. "Captain Tiosk at your service Miss Varcanna and it's a pleasure to have you on board my ship." As he said this he crosses his wrists in front of his chest and bowed his head: the Clan welcoming gesture.

"And it is a pleasure to meet you Captain Tiosk." Varcanna replied, returning the gesture. "It was brave of you to turn against our peoples fleet."

"It was the right thing to do Miss Varcanna." Tiosk said.

"Please Captain...just Varca."

"As you wish."

There was a moments silence, then Varcanna asked hesitantly. "What's the state of my ship?"

"It's in bad shape, though it can be repaired in my opinion. I had decided to let you be the judge of that though my dear."

Varcanna nodded, understanding his decisions: Trandoshans can be a bit partical to their ships and for someone else to decide such a thing could be considered an insult. "What about Besk...did you blow him away?"

"Unfortunately Miss Varca...he got away, but not before getting badly damaged. He likely won't be flying his ship for a while. Sprayrays were designed to take punishment from Capital ships after all..."

Varcanna scowled, wishing she had heard the last of that Trandoshan, but his likely grounding was better then nothing. She got out of the bed, not wanting to remain in sick bay. A brief dizzy spell washed through her and she nearly fell over, but Tiosk caught her.

"Easy now, you really should rest a bit longer." He said.

"I'll be fine." Varcanna insisted, twisting out of the Captains grip once the dizzy spell had passed. She then remembered something else and mentally kicked herself for not asking about it first. "Do you know what happened to the Triton? And if my mother is alright?"

Tiosk smiled. "The Triton was badly damaged and was forced to land on Tissuss. Your mother is fine, I just spoke with her recently."

Varcanna breathed a sigh of relief. "I would like to join her as soon as possible."

"Of course. If you like I'll have my engineers start on repairs to your ship."

"Yes please." Varcanna said. "If I see her in her present state I'll likely freak..."

Tiosk chuckled and was about to make a comment when his remote comm unit chirped.

"What is it?" He said into the mike.

~Sir we have two hyperspace signitures, ETA 2 minutes. Currently unknown who they are.~ Came the reply.

"Alright, ready battlestations. I'll be there in a moment."

~Aye sire~

"I am needed on the bridge." Tiosk said, putting the unit away. "Would you like to join me?"

Varcanna smiled and nodded. "I would like get out of sick bay."

"Spoken like a member of the K'Satikur." He said with a chuckle as he led her to the bridge.

***

The bridge was a bussle of activity as everyone got ready for a possible fight. All paused in what they were doing to regard and give respect to their Captain and to Varcanna, who wasn't used to such attention and felt a bit uncomfortable.

"What's the ETA on those two signitures?" Tiosk asked as he took his position at the front of the bridge, Varcanna right next to him.

"Should be arriving at any moment sir." The comm officer said. "There they are."

In the view port, space warp and twisted as two Trandoshan Destroyers appeared. Tensions immedately became high as officers scrabbled to confirm threat status.

"It's the Destroyers Fanggore and RedClaw." The comm officer said. "Status: weapons are unarmed."

Tiosk nodded. "Stand down battlestations and open a comm line to them."

"Aye sir. Comm line is open."

"Fanggore and RedClaw, this is Captain Tiosk of the Bloodfang. Here to join us for our little rebellion I presume?"

Trandosha: Hyossk's Private Chambers

For some reason, Besk felt very happy to report this to Hyossk.

"Sir it grieves me to inform you that our outpost on the moon Sakkh is under attack." He said, fighting hard to keep a grin off his face.

"WHAT!?" Hyossk lept out of his chair. "By who!?"

"Not by Wookiee...and not by any of our ships that went traitor." Besk said with a helpless shrug. "Perhaps...by the fleet that convoy you foolishly had destroyed was owned by..."

Hyossk went pale. "I trust our fleet is on the way to save it?"

"It is...from what I heard...but whether or not they will get there in time is in question..."

Hyossk feel back into his chair. "What else can go wrong..."

Just then, the chair broke and he fell to the floor in a heep of limbs and chair pieces.

It took all of Besk's will power not to burst out laughing...

Tissuss Orbit: Bloodfang

~Well met Captain Tiosk of the Bloodfang.~ Came a response. ~I am Captain Ossik of the Fanggore. Captain Rista is Captain of the RedClaw.~

~Well met Captain Tiosk.~ Another voice, a females, said. ~Indeed we are here to join you and Councilor Naosha in your cause.~

“What made you decide join us?” Tiosk asked, curious. “Dissent is no light matter with our people.”

~Recent actions by the Speaker Above All has been…distasteful…at the very least. Even for us T’doshouk.~ Ossik said.

~More like disgusting.~ Rista added, growling. ~The order that made us finally decide upon this course was the order to attack and destroy a convoy that was passing through Trandosha space.~

~We were told they were pirates, but our guts told us otherwise. We decided to not go through with it.~

~Not long after, during some investigating of our own, we found out that convoy was full of innocent women and children and was transporting nothing but medical supplies.~ There was a faint crack in Rista’s voice.

Varcanna, who was listening to all this, gasped in horror and felt nauseous at the thought of all those innocent children being killed. Being incapable of having children of her own, she valued the lives of all children. Looking up at Tiosk, she saw he had a look of disgust: Trandoshans may be a bloodthirsty and war like race, but it took a completely heartless Trandoshan to take the life of a child.

“Did Hyossk even know the true nature of that convoy?” Tiosk asked.

~We don’t know.~ Ossik replied. ~It’s possible he thought the convoy was transporting some of Naosha’s supporters, though we are almost positive that is not the case.~

~Not long before we exited hyperspace to your location, we received a distress call from the moon Sakkh.~ Rista said. ~Apparently the Outpost we have there is under attack, likely by the owners of that convoy.~

~The fleet is in bad shape right now as well. Including us, the fleet has lost 35% of it’s ships in recent battles. The shipyard on the moon (need a name) is frantically making more ships but…~

“Manpower is not so quickly replaced.” Tiosk finished for him, understanding the problem the fleet was facing. Putting an inexperienced crew on a Destroyer is about as good as suicide.

“Too many lives are being needlessly lost Tiosk.” Varcanna commented. “Taking all these lives defeats the purpose of our rebellion.”

“I know Miss Varca.” Tiosk said with a sigh. “But there is little we can do right now. All we can do is hope your Uncle finds a way to make Hyossk listen to reason.”

“I doubt there is just little we can do Tiosk.” Varcanna said. “I suggest we hold a meeting with my mother on the moon’s surface.”

~We agree.~ Came the reply from the two other destroyers in unison.

“Very well then.” Tiosk said. “I’ll contact Naosha and find out when she wants to hold this meeting. Perhaps we can invite the Captain of that Interdictor as well.”

Tissuss: Hidden Hanger

With a loud protesting creak the trap door opened and a Trandoshan head poked out, what light there was reflecting off the back of his eyes in a red glow. The air was stale and a bit musky smelling, but otherwise breathable.

“See any thing?” Came a voice from below him.

“No heat signatures I can see.” The warrior replied. “Which means no mutts made their home here.”

“Good. Now get out of my way so I can come up: I’m tired of looking at your ass.”

“What…don’t like what you see?” The warrior teased.

There was snarl. “If you don’t move it you’ll find the end of my K’Zuta going up it!”

The warrior winced and quickly climbed out to allow the other four Trandoshans that were with him to climb up. It was doubtful the other warrior would have been able to follow on with this threat, a K’Zuta was a difficult weapon to weld in wide open spaces let a lone a closed in space like the ladder chute, but the thought of being at the receiving end of that weapon was enough to get just about ‘anyone’ moving.

Once everyone was inside they spread out to find a light switch, hoping the place still had power to it. When a switch was found they were all momentarily blinded by the sudden light, but when their eyes adjusted they found that the hanger was bigger then they thought it was.

Inside there were three Sprayrays, a Lambda, a couple other types of transport ships, and a various other fighters, including a couple TIE fighters.

“Man Miss Varcanna would have a field day if she saw all this…” One warrior commented with a low whistle.

“Hell, Lumier and company would have a field day…” Another warrior said. “How the heck could this not be detected…this place is massive.”

“Here’s your answer.” One of the two K’Satikur warriors in the group said, pointing out a window. Outside the new day was starting to finally come, the sun appearing from behind the gas giant that the moon orbited around. When they looked downward, they could see that the ground was a good three hundred feet below them: the hanger was at the edge of the cliff. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some sort of cloaking technology was employed to disguise those hanger doors…”

“This also explains why we had to climb up of freaking fifteen foot ladder chute.” One of the warriors grumbled. “Do you think those ships still work?”

“I’m a warrior…not an engineer…”

Outpost

Many of the warriors were sleeping when Lumier and her marines showed up, having had no sleep in a while, but most of them woke to regard her.

“So this is where you guys are hiding.” Lumier said, looking them over. “Where’s Silliss?” She asked when she didn’t see the warrior among them.

“Down below, talking with the creature.” One of the warriors replied, gesturing to the trap door behind them.

“I did not notice that before.” Lumier said, her curiosity piqued. “What’s down there?” She moved toward the door but the warriors jumped into her path, blocking her way.

“You cannot go down there.” The warrior that had spoken before said.

“Why not?”

“Because if you do…Silliss’ life is forfeit.”

“It’s part of the agreement we made with the thing.” Another warrior added. “We ensure no one else goes down there while Silliss explains our reasons for being here and for being allied with you. Silliss told us to wait until midday for him to return.”

“And if he doesn’t return?”

There was a moment of silence as the warriors weren’t told exactly what to do if Silliss didn’t come back. “We leave the secrets below…a secret.” One of them finally replied, the others nodding in agreement.

Trandosha: Basement of some house

Rissonik sat pondering recent events on and around Trandosha, several members of his Clan and other supporters sitting idly by. Currently they were in the basement of one of their sympathizers, gathering information and keeping an eye out for trouble.

“You know…” Rissonik looked up at the speaker, an male who looked to be almost the same age as he was. “Most rebel groups would be staging terror attacks and whatnot. Instead we are just sitting around spreading propaganda and moving whenever we think the authorities are getting close to find our hide out.”

There were a few mummers of agreement among the rest of the group, but Rissonik remained unmoved, having expected such a statement to come forth eventually.

“To cause needless bloodshed would defeat the purpose of why we are rebelling.” He said. “Yes we have taken a few lives, but only when left no other choice.”

“Councilor Hyossk seems to be taking lives a plenty for us anyway.” One of his K’Satikur warriors said with a chuckle.

“Indeed, with his recent blunders it’s a wonder the rest of the Council hasn’t voted him off.” One of the supporters said.

Rissonik chuckled. “Isn’t it obvious my friends? Our people are starting to see that Naosha was right. If Hyossk was to lose his set now the Council will be forced to replace him with someone of another bloodline and considering the support we have now the chances of a replacement being a supporter of ours is a good one: something the Council doesn’t want.”

“What about just killing the bastard?” One warrior said.

“If he is slain his son would by right take his position.” Rissonik said. “However, we do not know where Russis stands when it comes to us: he could end up being a bigger threat to us then his father.”

“Then we should try to find out Sha’tor.” The warrior said. “If he supports us then we would have a powerful ally at our side.”

“Yes we would, but remember that assassination with our people is not only common…but expected. If he doesn’t thread carefully he could wind up with a knife in his back soon after he takes his fathers position, if not before then.
“Finding out where he stands would be useful information to discover.”

Rissonik looked over at one of the younger members of possie, who was a Keshir in the Clan and one of his spies. He only needed to give the youth a nod and the young Trandoshan understood what was required of him and ran off.

“Now we have to wait more…wonderful.” The older Trandoshan that had spoken first grumbled.

Tissuss: Outpost

Midmorning was approaching, the sun nearly completely up in the sky and the warriors were starting to get antsy and nervous, worried about Silliss' fate. When the trap door started to open, everyone jumped, weapons at the ready. Everyone relaxed when a familiar head poked out: it was Silliss, however he looked a bit disturbed.

"Glad to see you are still with us." Lumier said as Silliss climbed out. "Mind telling us what this was all about?"

Silliss smiled weakly and motioned for them to wait a moment. Then suddenly a much larger form climbed up: it was the creature. The marines that came with Lumier backed up, weapons drawn.

"It's alright." Silliss said, holding up a hand. "He's on our side now." When everyone was relaxed again he explained. "This is Tiskus. He was once a member of our Clan but on a return trip back home his ship malfunctioned and crashed here. The Imperials captured him and...turned him into this. They also made those mutts."

"Damn Imps..." Lumier growled.

"I kave decided to kelp you wik katever you need during your time kere." Tiskus said. " Kowever...kere is one condiction..."

"What is that?" Lumier asked, having barely made out what he had said.

Tiskus pointed at the trapdoor. "Kat ke labratory and all evidence of ke Imperials crimes ke destroyed."

Tissuss Orbit: Bloodfang

~I'm glad to here more support has come.~ Naosha said over the comm line. ~And I agree, a meeting would be a good idea between myself and all the Captains.~

"Should we invite the Captain of the Interdictor that has helped us?" Tiosk asked.

~Yes. At the very least so she can find out just what is going on with our people. I would like to hold the meeting later today...before sunset.~

"Of course Naosha, I will make the arrangements immedately."

Once the comm link with Naosha went dead, he turned to his comm officer. "Open a line to the Interdictor and tell them I wish to speak with their commanding offical."

"Aye sir."

(ooc: sorry, couldn't think of much else at the moment)

Tissuss Orbit: Bloodfang

"Well met Vice Admiral." Tiosk replied. "I am Captain Tiosk, captain of the Bloodfang. No doubt you have been wondering just what has been going on with our people as of late. Since you have helped us greatly as of late, Councilor Naosha has seen it prudent to invite you to a meeting we will be holding later today. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss what we can do to further our cause and to inform you of our rebellions purpose should you decide to attend."

~I will attend. Who else will be there?~ Came the reply.

"Myself, Captain Ossik of the Fanggore, Captain Rista of the Redclaw, Councilor Naosha herself and likely Captain Tzhali and..." He paused briefly and looked over at Varcanna, who nodded. "Naosha's daughter, Varcanna."

~Very well. Let me know where and when Captain Tiosk.~

"I will Madam, as soon as possible."

Tissuss: Outpost

"If you desired to destroy it...why didn't you do so yourself?" Lumier asked Tiskus, looking him over. "You look like you could take down the whole outpost if you wanted to."

"Ke Imperials implanted a device kat prevents me from purposely damaging keir equipment." Tiskus explained, a look of regret on his face. "I was always too strong willed for kem to control completely, so if key hadn't I wouldn've destroyed the place ages ago and let myself ke torn to pieces ky ke creatures key created."

"So instead...you sought to prevent the Imperials from coming back to continue what they started...."

"I kill as many of kose creatures as I can as well...kut..." He spread his hands with a helpless look. "key kreed faster ken I can kill kem..."

"They've probably eaten every single native animal by now as well..." Lumier said with a sigh.

"Not all...those that are active during the day still exist." One warrior pointed out. "Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to supply fresh meat for everyone."

"Just ke lab is to ke destroyed." Tiskus said. "You can do kat you will wik kats in ke kanger."