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Message: <blockquote data-quote="LostSoul" data-source="post: 226250" data-attributes="member: 386">Bessie heads towards the Imperial installation, loaded down with twenty of the rebellion's best infiltrators: the infamous Black Knights, masters of the quick, silent kill.  Darius respects their craft but prefers loud noises and blinding lights.  He straps on his armour while Troy talks Bessie into Refax's docking bay."Our orders are to hit the central processing centre," Darius says.  "You guys are going to make a diversion.""I'm assigning four men to guard the ship," the rebel captain says.  "Hopefully they won't see any action, if we do this quietly enough.""I'm sure we can," Darius says, grinning beneath his armour.Bessie lands.  Darius, Feyd, and Payrd get ready for action while Troy and Arthur try to work their way into the landing bay's control room.  "We need a scan done of our ship," Troy says, dressed in the black of the Imperial Navy.  "I think we're bleeding ions.""Head on up," one of the naval troopers says, and waves.  Troy and Arthur enter the secured room.  Easy enough, Troy thinks.  Overconfidence.In the control room, Troy approaches the single operator.  He has one hand on his blaster, the other on a comlink, eyes scanning for cameras and automated defenses.  He subtly points these out to Arthur.  "We need a scan done of our ship," Troy says, leaning over the operator.  "Bleeding ions."  Troy places his gun to the base of the man's skull."I didn't pick anything up," the operator says.  Those are the last words he ever speaks.Troy triggers the comm signal and watches as Darius, Feyd, and Payrd lead a horde of rebel troops out of the ship.  Arthur blasts the room's cameras and turns off the docking bay's security sensors.  Within seconds the rebels have the area secured."The main control room is this way," Arthur says, displaying a flat hologram of the comm array's blueprints.  "It shouldn't be hard to reach it.""We'll meet back here in ten minutes," Darius says.  He is met by a salute from the Black Knight's captain, and the groups split up.Darius tries to keep up with Payrd, who dashes off towards the main control room, blasters ready.  Many times Darius hears the chaos of battle; but, seconds later, there is nothing left save the hacked and bloodied remains of Imperial naval troops.  Payrd is nothing if not efficient, he thinks.The group arrives at a similar scene in the control room.  Bodies of communications operators and technicians litter the ground.  Most display screens are speckled with blood.  Payrd, having cleaned off one, seems to be re-tuning the array and scanning communications frequencies.  His one natural hand drips on the controls.Feyd feels a ripple dance through the Force.Troy locks the room and pulls out some detonite.  "Remember to keep these things apart," he says, "they'll blow if you get too much of the stuff together."  He and Darius place the heavy explosive throughout the room, hoping it's enough to blow the array to pieces; if not, at least enough to wipe out the array's computer controls.Staring at the communications displays, Arthur recalls the words of Maia's last message.  "The troops need to hear a personal message from you, their liege.  You must rally the troops, let them know that you are still alive, and free, and supporting them.  That we are fighting on the side of right and must, inevitably, win."  What better chance to send a message to his people than from the Empire's very own transmitters?  He hardens his face, holsters his blaster in his shoulder, and tries to remember all those speech lessons he took when he was young.When he is finished, Troy, Darius, and Feyd all stand speechless.  They realize that they are in the midst of epic events, events larger than all of them, events that make their own selfish desires seem as nothing.  For a moment, they feel the weight of this responsibility on their shoulders, each in their own way.  They deal with this in accordance with their nature."Let's get out of here," Troy says.  "Explosives are planted.""Sounds pretty damn good," Daruis says.  "I can't wait to watch this bitch blow."Arthur stands away from the holo-transmitter.  "Good idea," he says, drained.Suddenly, Feyd feels a rush from the Force, the feeling he had earlier now pushing against him.  Payrd's strange obsession with the communication frequencies draws his attention.  He feels the universe reaching a point, coming to a head.  Feyd steps over to the strange force-user.Payrd stops his scanning.  He focuses on one single frequency coming from Criton's Point, a world in the distant edges of the galaxy.  A wild grin comes over his face.  "This is it," he says, almost madly.  "The tablet is there!"  He turns, facing Feyd, his one eye glowing wild."Payrd, what - " is all the Jedi can get out before Payrd turns on him.  Letting out a blast of a thick, white foam from his cyborged arm, he sprays Feyd and Arthur.  Arthur is covered with the foam, which hardens instantly; Feyd shatters some of it with his sabre, breaking free."Blast him!" Troy yells, jumping into action.  But before he or Darius can react, another burst of foam covers them both.  "What are you doing?" Feyd asks, not yet willing to strike at the cyborg.  Payrd aims his metal arm at Feyd and lets loose another cone of the white substance.  Feyd tries to block it with his lightsabre, but the cone covers Feyd's weapon arm and pins his hand.  Within seconds, Payrd has all of them incapacitated.  He smiles wildly and runs away.Darius blasts his way out of his cocoon, but too late.  Payrd has already fled the scene.  "What the <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> did that bastard do that for?  What the <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /> is wrong with him?  I'm going to blast his <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing head off his <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing shoulders!  Leaving us here like nerfs in a rancor pit.  He's <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />ing dead meat."  Feyd learns just how much bounty hunters like to swear.It doesn't take long for the rest of them to free themselves and head after Payrd.  They reach the docking bay just in time to see him leave in a hyperspace-capable TIE prototype; just in time to hear the wailing of the comm array's alarm klaxons."Black Knights," Darius says over his comlink, "the hutt has his spice."Holding the docking bay proves to be easy against the disorganized Imperial forces.  Soon all rebels are back aboard Bessie.  Arthur lifts her back into space, punches through hyperspace and back to the rebel stronghold.--- Star Wars ---"Everything's loaded," Arthur says, closing up Bessie's cargo hatches.  "Good," Troy says, "I can't wait to get off this freezing piss pot."  Darius nods."You think we'll actually be able to deliver the weapons?" Arthur asks as they head up Bessie's gangway."Not a problem," Troy says.  "It's our home, after all."  They enter the cockpit, where Feyd is working with R2-FU."Was our home," Arthur says, slipping into the pilot's seat.  "Feyd, you and Spaz got the astrogation plotted?""Just about," Feyd says, stepping away from R2-FU.  "We'll need a couple minutes off-world to plot the final co-ordinates.""Great," Arthur says, revving Bessie's engines.  "I love that sound."Feyd steps away from R2 and Bessie's astrogation matrix.  The tiny display screen, meant for operators only, reveals their destination: Criton's Point.--- Star Wars ---[Stay tuned for Star Wars: Heroes of Kalarba, Episode III: Criton's Point]</blockquote>

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