Cynthiana of House Kuat's Story

Cynthiana smiled and took Kinara with her to get the food. the Force Temple was huge to say in the least. Allowing the two Jedi to wander freely without worry of being harmed by anyone. Where the Force Hound went only the Force knew. Briefly giving Deiyi a curt, yet confused glance, the sheer power of the Force around the beaten young woman made her nervous yet oddly at peace

Deiyi looked first to Byron, then motioned Sadr forward as she was suddenly enveloped in a hug from Byron, she hugged him back just as tightly. "It is a odd story to be told, but I will keep it brief." she said reaching to Sadr to give the man a hug as well. Let the Lost Sith feel flesh and blood hug him for once. After all, she brought both of them there. To safety

"Mor took my body somewhere in his empire. But once my body was away from him, my spirit, and some of my.... skill... was granted onto him, in order to keep him busy at least. Two others rescued me from his throne room. They were Force Hounds, like Viv. Sent by Master Siya to aid me" The whole reason she looked as if she'd gone through a wall of lightsabers as Sadr put it in his head, was bewcause of the raw power Mor had when he tried to see her core and all he saw was raw Force energies.

So, her ragged torn up appearance to her body as a whole was because of Darth Mor's own fingers tearing at the raw Force of her being and power. Which in turn harmed her body greatly. So in a manner of speaking, Mor did it. But she did leave him a gift of her power; it was at the time all she could give, she had plans.

Kinara sighed as Cynthiana walked with her to the food-court, the Grey Jedi hadn't been in a real fight in a long while, though she still drilled with her sabers daily. "That woman.....the dead-looking one. Who is she?" She asked Cynthiana as they entered the food-court. "She's obviously not Jedi, though....she's not overtly hostile despite her dark-side presence." she said.

Piling food onto her plate, she sighed, and sat at a table, eating for a few bites before looking to Kinara. "Say....you remember those old plans for a small Star Destroyer? The...um..." She took a bite as she thought. "Sabre Class?" at her friend's nod, she smiled and finished the roll she was eating. "Hypothetically....what if we were to, oh, I dunno...make it about 2100 meters long, and...say....overload it with Super Heavy Turbo Lasers, and...build seven unitblocks of them?" she asked her close friend. "With Appropriate droid crews of course." she added.

Her face slowly turned into one of giddy excitement. That much firepower could decimate a Super Star Destroyer in a matter of minutes, seconds if concentrated all in one precise spot. She let out a faint giggle at the thought. Idly, she checked the time. "I'll have to be leaving soon, perhaps after I finish eating. I've commissioned a Clone Army for myself. I wish to have a tour of the facilities that will be training them, and oversee the first batch's training myself." she explained.

Byron took a step back and simply nodded understanding what she had said. The Archivist felt swelling anger grow within the pit of his belly and his eyes seemed to grow cold as he thought of the Emperor and what he had wrought upon Deiyi.

"What are we to do?" Byron muttered only to glance towards Sadr only to turn his head as he thought he heard something moving behind them and beyond but was unable to perceive the thing that skulked in the shadows, though he felt it through the force as a thing that was.

"Emperor Mor needs to pay for what he has done. If he is able to continue then the abominations that he will create will be something beyond even our abilities."

Sadr seized up slightly as physical contact was made with Deiyi...almost like an energetic spark that raced through him, paralyzing him. What was he supposed to do? He'd never been hugged. Ever. Like...in his entire life. And yet, the movement felt so smooth...so familiar somehow. Inside himself, he knew what the appropriate response was...

To hug back.

Instead, he kept that rush of feelings within himself (via intense Sith Lord training and general stone face demeanor) and stood stock still until she let go and explained her appearance. Familiar faced flashed into his mind when she mentioned two other Force Hounds...Vir's companions. He didn't even know their names, but he knew they were both dudes. Vir was the only female Force Hound of the three. He wondered where they were and if they were slowing Sony down or even if they knew about her.

"Emperor Mor needs to pay for what he has done," Sadr turned as the Archivist on his right spoke for the first time. "If he is able to continue then the abominations that he will create will be something beyond even our abilities."

"Wait a minute here," Sadr held up a hand and took a step back from them, "I didn't agree to any kind of rebellion against the Sith. I was just running from Sony. You two do what you guys will, but I need to find another place to jump to. Sony could come ramming down the door at any moment." He wondered if she'd abide by the laws of the Force Temple. Probably not, he decided.

Deiyi pulled away from Sadr as he spoke, her gentle hand on his shoulder until he stepped back. "Dont worry, if Sonyjae were to come here she'd find a barren rock at best. The Observors are very stritct about what happens here and wont allow conflict to occur here." Deiyi looked up then seeing clearly the known 'ghost' confused briefly at why a droid of all things was looking at ancient datacards. She gave it no further heed. Feeling Rayia's presence clearly in orbit.

"Sadr, you knew it yourself, The force cannot take from itself or eliminate from itself, but it can direct, What I cannot do you two, and Vir, can" Deiyi said then giving a simple shiver as an Observer stepped up to the three almost insisting that Deiyi lay back down as she had just woken up and was obviously still badly wounded. It was clear that the Observers, with no Force Signature, reminded her far too much of the Dashades. Which when standing next to one you couldnt sense them through the Force.

"Master Siya sent Vir with you, I guided you all here to safety." Deiyi said leaning then rather heavily on Byron for support as her legs threatened to give out. "Can you achive the balance that I.... unsettled ?"

++++++

In the dining area of the massive underground temple Cynthiana scarfed down a plate of Nerf Meat. She listened as Kinara spoke, nodding at times. Finally around a mouthful of meat she said simply "Possible sure, but we'd have to be at KDY to do it, but I'm not saying no to a friend whatsoever, heck I think we could do it if I could set up a remote connection to the shipyards" Then the topic turned to Deiyi

Cynthiana seemed to get lost in thought. Finalyl she spoke "You know. When I looked at that dead appearing woman, I felt something strange, almost.... oddly familar. You think she's related to your old Master Snowbund somehow ?" Cynthiana couldnt explain it, though Snowbund was permamently drunk, it was oddly possible. Heck the mere connection Cynthiana felt from the woman to the Force screamed Snowbund... or atl east a distant relative

A radio hail picked up Rayia's signal and replied simply "Shadow of Korriban you are cleared for landing pad seven." The path was sent to the landing pad, it was in fact large enough for the Shadowto land without hinderance whatsoever. There was already a massive warship landed there as it was.

Kinara smiled as Cynthiana wasn't saying no. "Perfect. while I wait for my Clone Army, you can also build more of my fleet!" She said, smiling as she ate with her friend. "Speaking of which, I think I'm due to tour the training facilities....so I'll have to be leaving after this meal." She said, shoving another mouthful of food into her mouth.

At the mention of Deiyi's relation to Snowbund, Kinara closed her eyes and reached out with the Force briefly, opening them after a few seconds. "You're right....she feels familiar, like Snowy. Force Signature is oddly similar...almost a copy, really." she said. She shook her head. "Either way, she creeps me out a bit." She added before piling more food into her mouth, better than what she had on the ship that's for sure. Idly, she felt the sith that she'd encountered earlier approaching. Hopefully they followed the no-violence policy. She finished her meal and then stood.

"I must be going then, Clones aren't going to buy themselves." She smiled. With that she moved over to Cynthiana, and gave her another hug, patting her back.

As Deiyi trusted Byron like a wooden post to support herself as she stood the Sith began to fathom what he was needed for. What did she mean when she asked if they would be able to fix what she had unsettled.

"Deiyi I don't follow...." Byron interjected only to quickly take hold of her as she seemed to loose more strength by simply standing than sitting or laying down. The Archivist would move her over to a bed whist the others seemed to be present only to shake his head. "You need to rest. Once you have recovered then we can speak further."

"Bring her some water." Byron commanded a medical droid only to long for the services of the facilities back at Cobalt Edge. Byron quickly brought his attention back over to Sadr only to glare at the man with cold intent. He could not command those who did not serve under his emperor but what could be described as cowardice might also be intelligence.

"Prepare the ship for landing Admiral. Have the rest of the fleet stay in low orbit" Rayia ordered.
" As you will it mistress." Replied the admiral who then turned giving orders to the crew.

The Shadow of Korriban started it's descent into the planet's atmosphere. The clouds broke as the black ship pierced though them slowly descending on the plains casting a dark shadow over the land below. Finally the ship hovered over the landing pad a great blast of wind rippling over the plains as it set down.

Rayia by this time had reached the hanger and soon made her way down the ramp her guard started to follow but Rayia turned "This I must do alone" she stated
All the guards nodded and saluted but one the leader who spoke " Mistress if I may please let me stay by your side."
Rayia shook her head "Not this time Kassandra" she said placing her hand on where Kassandra's cheek would be under her helmet.

Rayia only held her hand there for a moment before turning towards the temple. Kassandra watched her mistress until she finally entered into the temple.

Rayia entered the temple removing her hood and lowering her mask. Her snow white hair fell loose down to her shoulders it's color vastly different than the dark of her skin. I hope they have a tour guide she thought to herself as she walked into the main hall of the temple.

Out of Hyperspace came a single ship, the Obsidian Eagle, and from her main forward Hangar a single shuttle came. In the shuttle was one person, a person of Interest to River, seeing as this person possessed the army that had cleared out The Jarrako Downs Station so that she could use it for her own purposes.

"Kinara. Didn't think you'd show up without your whole fleet." she said when opening up comms.

"Yea, well, I know you like your privacy River; you're probably not wearing clothes right now." Kinara responded.

"Fair enough, and you're wrong, I'm at least wearing underwear. You're cleared for Hangar four."

Kinara smiled. "Thank you, dear, I'll be having a friend over by the name of Cynthiana, we're going to conduct some business. Legal enough, but there we prefer to meet in fun secret places to do our stuff."

"Well, normally I'd ask for ten percent of the cut, but since its you, I'll let you do whatever. Consider it more of a bonus for clearing out the station for me."

"Well, thank you kindly. Kinara out."

Standing, the Grey Jedi set course for the Hangar given to her and moved to her long range transmitter. Punching a few buttons, she opened up communications to her dear friend Cynthiana. "Hey hey~! Cynthiana, dear, come to Jarrako Downs, I got a business proposal and I think it's time you had a few drinks." she sent the message out and then returned to piloting her ship. It was a simple shuttle, nothing too fancy. It was Black with Dark Green details, most significant was the symbol of the Grey Jedi on its hull, symbolizing its allegiance to neither the Light Nor the Dark. It was slender and swept back, designed for speed and stealth, rather than fighting, in case Kinara had to leave her Fleet for whatever reason. It was of course maintained by droids, with her as the only life-form, it made it easier to hide from sensors, as she could use the Force to hide herself in a pinch.

Landing in the Hangar, she sent another transmission to Cynthiana, saying that she'd meet her at what was equivalent to the best Sushi joint on the Station. Moving with ease through her ship, and then through the Station proper was easy. No one thought to stop the woman in a large hooded cloak. Truth be told she was here for two reasons, one was to talk to Cynthiana about getting another addition to the Grey Battalion's Fleet, and the second was to find herself some more clothing, and by extension armor to wear. Her Jedi Robes were old and worn out, and the armor she used to wear didn't provide the needed protection that she felt she needed when in the heat of combat anymore.

But first things first, she was hungry!

Cynthiana at that point had just taken her ship to hyperspace when she received her friends call. So, Kinara had a business deal she wanted to perform at a junkyard ?.... well what USED to be a junkyard at least. The old Fury Interceptor dropped out of hyperspace as she reviewed the transmission from Kinara before getting a second one,

Well, no time like the present!

Her hand went, by habit alone, to her belt. A soft smile graced her face as she felt the familar dark presence of the Sith Holocron genteically coded to her. Since leaving Kazzei Plains Cynthiana had been all over the major ports, and mostly her home planet of Kuat before wanderlust took over and she picked a random vector to hyperspace when she got Kinaras message

Within moments of dropping from hyperspace Cynthiana saw the station, Jarrako Downs.... A rundown place but recently undergoing new residences. She found herself directly to hangar seven and headed for it letting the stations gudiance system kick in when the time was right

Moving quickly Cythiana left the cockpit and went to the main lounge area. The droid stood nearby "Master, I do hope you enjioy where it is we are going with no intention of deactivating me" Tuvee was easily scared

Cythiana smiled "Dont worry Tuvee. The plan is simple, but stay put and keep the ship in running order, restock any supplies we have need for. I'll be back soon" Moments passed as the droid nodded to his assigned task, perfect! The ramp activated and Cynthiana exited the ship, her lightsaber on her belt and ready in the case it was needed, but with Kinara, it never was. But with Snowy.... it might as well be in hand at all times.

She headed off to find her friend, though she wondered.... what was sushi ? Was it anything like Mon Calamari ?

Kinara was quiet until her friend finally sat next to her at the sushi joint, and as she did, the platters of sushi were laid out in front of the girls so they could eat. For a few minutes they would discuss the usual small-talk, how things were, plans for the future, love lives, etc. etc. After their first round of Sushi Kinara turned towards her old friend.

"Got another request for you. Ever heard of the old Bellator Class Dreadnoughts? Well...theoretically....what would happen if you made it as big as you possibly could? And then...oh, I dunno...scaled the weaponry to match?" she smiled, the next platter being set down before them as well as refills of their drinks.

Reaching for her holo and an image of what she was thinking of, with the appropriate specs as well blazing before her eyes. Pressing a button, those specs were transfered to Cynthiana's holo.

"How quickly could I expect such a....tall order?" She asked.

Cynthiana was first confused at what was set before her, but ended up enjoying something similar to Skuzzi Spits, which were basically calamari kebabs with a strong cinnamon tang to them. She nodded at the question however, "those old things, the Empire outlawed them from construction for a few years before realising the strength and durablity made them more profitable as sector protective sderivce vessels..."

She held up a finger then "Two things, one, what am I eating, and two, have you been drinking servo oil recently ?" Making a Bellator meant resources towards a single vessel. And once she saw what Kinara wanted, Cynthiana smiled and said "and three, can I have a drink of that servo oil ?"

Aftera moment of quiet eating and thinking, or was that thinking and sort of eating ? IOK mostly just thinknig and drinking.... Cynthiana nodded again "It can be made; but until yiour Unitblocks currently in dockyard constrution, it will be a bit delayed until at least a unitblock is completed before I can devote workforce to even laying the keel for it"

She raised a wineglass "Is that doable ?"

As the platform lowered another vessel glided in to land at a nearby landing pad. the old Sith Fury-class Interceptor was useful and durable as well. A single woman stepped from the vessel and ont an elevated platform that moved to join another platform allowing the woman to head towards Radimus.

Looking up briefly at the mans ship the woman nodded. Her long brown hair over time had changed to black mostly thanks to the Dark Side influences of a certain artefact in her possession. Her smuggler had arrived. She had something she needed to get to Kinara, and contacting her even with the Cyper wouldnt work as Imperials were getting better at cracking their code. The last meeting point had been ambushed.

Kinara had been waiting for the crystal for years last Cynthiana knew. The Jedi turned starship seller still had her own lightsaber, the white and silver hilt of the staffsaber glittering in the hangar lights as it hung on her right side. Of course Cynthiana didnt know kinara had gotten her new crystal for her Tonfasaber.

Nevertheless, the dark core of the kyber crystal gave it a nice forest green hue. Perfect for what Kinara liked. She just had to get it to her friend. Cynthiana didnt remember the guys name as she racked her mind trying to remember it before speaking, finally saying instead. "You the smuggler ?" She had the kyber crystal in the package. Kinaras name on it in Aurebesh and strange numbers

“I’m the Pilot,” Radimus corrected. Straight-up saying he was a smuggler would put a damper on his reputation. Plus, even if the station was perfectly secure, one could never be too careful. “You must be Cynthia,” Radimus greeted with a bow of his head. His gaze flashed to the lightsaber handle at the woman’s hip, but they just as quickly returned to her eyes. ”I thought you’d be taller,“ The ice-breaker came with a wink.

“I don’t think I need to say this, but the quicker we get your cargo loaded up, the easier it is for the trip.” Assorted loaders began hefting metallic green crates aboard Captain Dorr’s ship- perfectly legitimate cargo, the better to fool customs and chance pirates. “So where am I taking the processed ore?” By that, he meant Where am I taking your smuggled goods.

"What a Kuatian isnt that tall are they ?" Cynthiana asked, she was about average for humans of her planet, a good meter and two thirds or so, almost two meters actually in her own case.

She smiled then, good he was the man she sought. "Good, exactly what the messenger needs" She said simply, She nodded to his craft "As you landed I managed to get word from the receiver of the cargo. She will meet you in the Dalian System. Massive Star Destroyer, named Obsidian Eagle, cant miss it."

Cynthiana then lifted the package. It was small, about the size of her own head. "This is to be given to her directly, It is something I feel she should have. You will recognise the woman you are to give this to, she will have a tonfashoto lightsaber hilt on her belt." She handed the kyber crystal to Radimus "Between here and Dailian is clear flying. hopefully you wont come across any Imperial or Sith entanglements enroute. If you do, hide this. However a smufggle does his work is good for me, dont tell me your secrets"

Cynthiana for a former Jedi, was in a happy mood. Happy in the sense that before she met Radimus she had a shower to get rid of the stink of shit. Someone had flooded the Moorja Jedi Temple with its own backed up sewer network. "Get this to her without any entanglements with the other cargo to be shipped to Dailian directly in terms of supplies and I will triple the payment for you"

Radimus Dorr smirked, “All in a humble pilot’s work,” He slipped the package under his arm, “I’ll give it the royal treatment.”

Royal treatment was Smuggler’s Code for “The most well-hidden compartment on the ship.” In Radimus’ case, it was in a small locker hidden underneath a floor plate somewhere in the cockpit. In all Captain Dorr’s years as a pilot, no boarder has ever lived long enough to see the cockpit, let alone search it.

Triple pay, The words rang in Radimus’ ears like music. “Not sure what a tonfashoto is, but I’ve been around the block long enough to know a beam sword when I see it.” The layman language used tends to help blow off any suspicion that Dorr was in any way Force-sensitive. “Sides, if she’s as pretty as you, I doubt I’d have any trouble finding her.”

With that smirk still on his face, Radimus about-faced and headed back up the ramp into his ship. “Be seein’ you.”

It was a rather long ramp, giving ample time for any retort.

Cynthiana smiled, The package was away, But at his comment of how pretty she was and if Kinara was as pretty as her. She partly doubted so she merely snickered as the cargo was loaded aboard As he walked up the ramp she called after him simply saying "Look for the only soldier using a lightsaber, and you'll find who the package goes to." There were fifteen million female clones that were identical to Kinara, and also fifteen male clones. So it gave a enw meaning to being told to go screw yourself.

But she meant it, triple the payment the secon d the crystal touched Kinaras hands. She knew she had made the right choice in pilot to transport cargo. Besides the ship needed the items for supplies anyhow, starship fuel, hypermatter, wasnt easy to refine, but Cytnhiana had a deal going and Kinara was flying free because of it and the former Jedi's pocket book was lined with so many credits it was a chore to figure out what to buy. Lately it was clothing.

Once aboard his ship, Radimus went through the motions and phrases. Permissions to disembark, warming up the engines, following the directions of the control tower. The same shit any pilot goes through- smuggler or otherwise.

When the ship crossed the hangar threshold, the safety tethers released their hold, and Captain Dorr was officially off on his job.

After inputting coordinates into the ship’s computer, Radimus fired up the hyperdrive, and left the ship on auto-pilot in hyperspace. With that out of the way, the pilot stood from his chair and began doing some smuggler-specific work.

The special package- which had been set on the floor next to his cockpit seat- was properly secured within his “Royal vault”. From there, he left the cockpit and headed into the cargo bay.

All of the crates of materials and such were exactly where the loaders had left them. The locations were pre-determined by Radimus himself, through marks along the cargo bay floor. This was advantageous because the pilot’s work involved strapping down the cargo in case he came across any shaky flying or (less likely) got boarded by pirates.

It took several minutes to properly strap down all of the cargo, but travelling through hyperspace tended to take hours at a time. This was preferable to the decades that normal engines would have taken, and no one alive was going to argue that.

On the last pile of boxes, near the cargo bay door, Radimus noticed an unusual sight. One of the crates wasn’t quite even. As a professional, Radimus needed to make sure that nothing was tampered with. As he grabbed the crate, he noticed that it was significantly lighter than the rest.

Was I had somehow? Radimus didn’t like the idea of someone managing to sneak away with some goods within such a short time span, especially within range of the station. Most smugglers wouldn’t dare examine their clients’ goods. In the case of Radimus, he was a careful man, and that allowed him to be one of the best in his business.

His arms- strong from doing his own loading and unloading, effortlessly removed the lid to the crate. The pilot made a concerned face when he saw that the box was only partially full. Several small boxes of spices- rock salts- were off to one side.

“Not exactly the best organizing,” Radimus commented as he reached in to shift the boxes to a more secure position. “Hm…” He glanced over to the fire station, and grabbed one of the blankets. Radimus stuffed the blanket into the crate, and closed it up. “That should do it.”

More than likely, it was a last-minute addition to the cargo. Radimus did note he was to take four crates of these particular spices to the designated location. This fifth barely-filled crate may have even been a bonus.

It was no issue altogether, the crates all secured down the same. Soon, the pilot was done, and he headed back to the cockpit.

It was easier than she had thought, watching him from the Refresher with the door closed and the light inside off so he wouldnt notice, masking herself with the Force was one thing, but smuggling herself aboard was quite another. C0ynthiana found herself drawn to this man for some strange reason. He screamed ladykiller. But something of how he focused on the job than wanting to screw the first woman he found made her think. He didnt even look at her belt where the holocron was kept. Most men she met went right for it straight off.

But this man didnt do that. No, Radimus was focused on the job at hand and that was to deliver the kyber crystal to Kinara. And that meant a lot. She went to her wtristmounted comlink "C2, prep the ship, go to Dailian and wait for me there, I'm shutting off my comlink entirely. You know what to do" She said simply. Sometimes she was glad to have the droid as a means of transport as a last resort when times called for it

The orders received she motioned for a 5th crate to be readied. Easily concealing herself inside the droid loading the ship didnt even notice the weight difference as the crate was set within the cargo hold of the vessel.

That of course was ten minutes before she felt the ship go to hyperspace. Which gave her less than a minute if not more than a minute to hide somewhere else. Easily slipping out of the crate and into the refresher without a sound she watched through a crack in the door with the lights off as he went about the cargo hold making sure the cargo was properly secured. She watched without a sound as he repacked the crate. A bonus, yes, for him actually. The spice was useful only to a few people. herself included. She blinked.

Oh Sithspit

Spice made her high, she couldnt avoid getting loaded around spice, and the spice she hid in was the illegally refined spice It wasnt just basic rocksalts!! Briefly she turned on a glowrod, and btriefly in the mirror of the refresher she didnt see herself, she instead saw Radimus' smiling face. That itself wasnt so bad, the bad thing was she didnt know the guys name!!

Illegal spice made her do weird things, blackout type things, things she couldnt dare hope to even remotely try to remember. {thankfully those things that she had done blackout high nobody remembered anymore to begin with because the planet was destroyed by the Empire}

But why was she thinking about the Pilot ? He knew her name, but she didnt know his ?? She turned off the glowrod, but right before she did so, her spice screwed mind briefly saw Radimus again.

That smile.

And the fact he either didnt see or completely ignored the holocron when he saw her saberstaff hilt. But that smile on his face. That disarming charming smile.... She reached out with her senses. which in her drugged state was a bad idea.

Whoops.

Radimus stopped back at the cockpit and went through some diagnostics. As he tapped some old-fashioned keys on the control deck, he suddenly felt a strange sensation.

The Force. Radimus recognized the feeling. It was suddenly calling him. While he hid his affinity from others, he did trust in the mysterious workings of the Force. It was what helped him out of some nasty situations.

What the… The pilot stepped out of the cockpit, and continued focusing his senses. He followed the vague instructions down the corridors. Eventually he arrived at a door close to the cargo bay.

The Refreshment chamber? Radimus didn’t feel like he needed to relieve himself. Then again, it couldn’t hurt to have a shower before sleeping for the few hours hyperspace time.

The pilot tapped a single button on the nearby keypad to open the door, and a second button to turn on the lights. There, he spotted a woman. Not just any woman, but one he recognized almost immediately.

“Cynth?” Radimus stepped back, “I thought you were staying at the station. What are you doing here?”