Galaxy's Edge Space Bar

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Al ****ed his head. There definitely seemed to be something he was missing with Ewa. She seemed, for a moment, to be running two separate trains of thought. So... multiple personalities? Al'd met some humans with multiple personalities. Nothing said "Party of One" like a Furkagoer with twelve minds.

This seemed different, though. Ewa was entirely aware of what she was doing. So... she was acting? Or... in this place, more likely, she was undercover? If that were the case, though, she did seem a bit too open about it. He expected those who were undercover to be more like Salem- never wavering from their story, creating fake identities, hiding who they were and what they could do. Ewa didn't quite seem to fill that description. He got the feeling that she'd shown her true self for a few moments... but the 'self' that she'd shown afterwards was very convincing.

So... what, then?

Al smiled. If he pushed her about it, she'd probably wind up upset, from what he'd seen. He could play along for now. She'd be forthcoming when she was ready.

He laughed, "I've seen people take it worse." He looked at her with a grin, "Ewa, you're an odd one. I mean that in the best way possible. Where is it you said you were from?"


Salem frowned. Jocun's ship was now drifting towards them... something was definitely odd about this situation.

Before he could think any more on it, however, the beeping, indicative of Rathien's presence to him, began to increase in frequency quite rapidly. Salem gripped his rope-like piece of equipment tightly and, lacking a second hand with which to turn it on, spun the "collar" against his leg. The result was that the device began to spray forth what could be mistaken for sparks or fireflies- small, glowing, yellow-orange bits of otherworldly material that seemed to be unaffected by wind or gravity or even the ground through which they passed at first, but sprayed forward in fits and spurts, until they finally fizzled out nearly as far from the end of the device as Salem was tall. The resulting spray of sparks resembled some sort of amalgamation between a sword, a whip, and a fountain. Where the first few sparks had entered the dirt, the grass withered and burned.

For about one second, the fountain of sparks sputtered and spewed unevenly, but as the last of Salem's EMF patch burned itself out, the regulator for the device began functioning again, and the sparks flowed steadily.

Salem kept his eyes in the direction everyone seemed to think Rathien was. Salem dimly noted Parker firing in the general direction he was looking- the soldier seemed to be as trigger-happy as Jocun. And he either had some way of tracking Rathien- albeit poorly, it seemed- or... Something was very wrong here.

He'd worry about it later.

Salem spun on his one good leg and dropped to one knee. As he did, he swung his "whip" in a wide arc, about waist-high, causing a wave of sparks to rocket in the direction he'd swung. In one fluid motion, he swung it twice more, sending out two more waves in an 'X' pattern.

He was intending to drop down and roll, but he stumbled as he tried to roll- though whether because of his hurt leg or his drugged state, he wasn't sure. He caught himself on his hands and knees and stayed for a moment, shaking his head, trying to clear the ringing in his ears... the beeping... the shots... the ship... so loud... he pressed his eyes closed...

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

~Rathien~

Rathien tucks into a low forward roll as the armored individual begins firing his explosive compressed-gas weapon again.  As he comes within range of Salem's failing disruptive patch, his camouflage falters a bit, not revealing his body but a series of what look like waves through the air around his location.  He dodges the first fitful sparks of Salem's odd weapon, but is forced to halt and front flip over the first true salvo of sparks as his camouflage shuts down mid-flip, revealing his body, to rematrix after the disruption patch.  He immediately spins himself into a lateral mid-air roll, his right toe barely clearing the bottom line of sparks, some of his whirling hair singed by the upper line.  He smirks and swings at Salem as his camouflage reinitializes and his body fades from sight and auditory perception once again.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Salem dropped his weapon for a moment- the heat of the sparks started small fires in the grass that quickly burned themselves out- and reached into his left pocket. He pulled out what looked like a red pill. Using his teeth, he bit off half of it and spit it into the grass. The half still in his hand displayed a tiny needle, which he pressed into the back of his right hand. That done, he looked to the side just in time to see Rathien shimmer out of visibility as he began to swing his sword.

Salem acted on instinct- he grabbed his weapon with his left hand and ducked down and forward- under where the sword had seemed to be swinging. He swung his weapon wide, to cover the routes he'd pictured Rathien using, and swung his injured foot out and up in a clumsy kick towards where Rathien would have ended up if he'd moved the direction Salem had seen him.

He thought, at this point, that he'd escaped this blow, but his perception of time was off- the edge caught him and grazed a line open, through his coat and across his back.

"Damn..." he muttered, rolling to his feet and looking once again for any signs of the hunter.

<<Al! I could use a hand!>> he yelled for the android in private thought-speak, not sure whether his friend was even within range.


Al's head turned in surprise, as if he'd actually heard Salem speak. The thought-speak was distant and the words too quiet and garbled to make out properly, but Salem's voice, and his tone of alarm, were unmistakable.

"Hold that thought," he said to Ewa. "Need to check on a friend." He began moving with unnatural speed in Salem's direction.

[Chad32]

He was there, then gone again. Far too close to Salem, and far too hard to hit. His ship hovered closer, seemingly sluggish as time seemed to drag. Jocun began running, regretting now that he morphed. His morph wasn't helping, since he was pretty much ignored. He demorphed as he ran to the ship, which was lowering a pad to allow him to get in without it needing to land. Once inside, he began punching keys. The ship could detect the enemy, and it could also of course project holograms. with this, the ship could make the enemy's location shine like a beacon. He issued the command, and went for the rifle. As the ship's sensors detected the enemy's location, it would project a bright yellow color around the immediate area. The only thing he worried about was the creature's speed causing there to be a delay in the projected spot as the sensor attempted to keep up with its movements.

With the rifle in hand, and a shield keeping the enemy from simply leaping into his ship, Jocun began looking for a bright yellow spot.

[Darth Revan]

With the movement getting closer and closer, Parker let his Battle Rifle drop to the ground. There was no time to properly stow his weapon. He grabbed his shotgun from his left shoulder and withdrew his sword from his right thigh in one motion. He saw the assailant appear where he was tracking its movements, as he crossed into the EM field. Parker ingnited his sword and leveled his scattershot shotgun at the assailant. The assassin swung at Salem and began to disappear. Parker shot, almost point blank, to where the attacker's momentum was sure to send him. He kept a firm grip on his sword. Even if the man's armor could protect him from a shot as close as that, which even a Brute was unable to do; then when, and of course if, his camo should fail, his sword would be able to lock in at that close range and send him flying into the skilled assassin.

[Darth Revan]

Garreth felt a disturbance in Raile's will. He sensed almost that he was giving up. Garreth couldn't allow this. He had come so far. He opened his eyes to look upon his friend and saw a lightsaber ignite. He immediately connected the feelings and extended one hand toward the weapon as it began to plunge toward Raile.

"NO!"

Garreth divided his attention from projecting his energy and grabbed hold of the weapon using the Force. He focused his attention now, not on helping to cleanse him, but to merely saving his life. Somehow this new resolve fueled both of his actions. His grip on the saber grew and the light from his remaining hand expanded. Rather than the light coming from his hand, it now poured from his entire body.

Garreth yelled out to Raile. To his amazement, it was both sounded and sent, <"Don't do this Raile! Don't give up when you've come so far. Stay true to yourself. You are not a coward. You are not weak. You are a Jedi Knight! I understand that you feel desperate, but that is why I AM STILL HERE!

<"Your master is gone... to The Force. He has become one with The Force. All of your brother and sister Jedi have become one with The Force. They are gone from this world; but they are not truly gone. They are with you always, beside you, behind you, above you, always with you. They live within you. You will never be alone. They are alive in the memories you have, the values you hold, the lessons you WILL pass on. They are not to be mourned, but celebrated. Honor their memory by continuing the Jedi way. Channel your thoughts toward the good they have done; and the good you will do because of them. Do not squander their efforts by sulking and pining for what cannot be changed. Be at peace brother. Mourn no more. Remember.">

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

~Rathien~

Rathien feels the exhilaration as his blade connects with Salem's flesh, but his feelings are short-lived as the armored individual fires some sort of flechette weapon at him. His flex armor catches the brunt of the blast, knocking him several feet to the side, but he feels a searing pain as one of the pellets finds its way around one of the plates and up under his arm, another burrowing into his gluteal area.

He hisses in pain and glances up at a ship overhead...apparent ly the shot earlier had not damaged it nearly enough as it was the same one that belonged to the controller.  One that could somehow track him...just as conclusions follow thoughts, he's bathed in some sort of light emanating from the ship.  He curses, torn only for a moment between finishing Tobias and fleeing from a situation that was becoming worse and worse by the moment.

After that split second, he tears himself away from Tobias's vicinity and dashes toward the treeline in a zigging, evasive pattern.  He modifies his Entroper's blast range to create a large flack explosion just above his position and fires upwards, bathing the sky around him in fire, hopefully obscuring himself from the ship at least partially.  He uses his wrist computer to locate the body of water he'd noted on his earlier scan and changes his path again.  As he reaches the treeline, he leaps into the branches, changing his heading once more, leaping from branch to branch with superior speed and agility.  He changes headings often enough to make his end-goal questionable to any tracker, and doubles back a couple of times before finally reaching the lake.  He leaps from a branch and dives into the water, pulling out his small breathable gas converter and sticking it in his mouth just before hitting the water.

His wounds burn as he strokes powerfully through the water...down and down to the bottom.  He deactivates his camouflage.  He settles on the bottom of the lakebed some distance out, reprogramming his camouflage to create a small bubble around him devoid of water, and sits for a moment, breathing hard after his exertion.  He'd resheathed his fighting knives the moment he'd reached the trees, but he gingerly feels his wounds.  Those pellets would have to come out.

He opens a small compartment on his belt that holds his emergency medical supplies.  One is a small device used to remove shrapnel.  He digs the anchoring hooks up under his arm to the place of the first pellet and arms the small but powerful electromagnet.  He hisses as the pellet is pulled from his flesh quite forcefully.  Next he moves the device to the wound in his right glute and repeats the procedure, the pain not quite as sharp there as the pellet digs its way out of muscle and flesh.  He secures the device, pellets still within it, back in its compartment and takes out an all-purpose mender to sterilize and close each wound.

That done, he takes a few more moments to catch his breath.  He'd not even bothered to remove any of his armor or clothing to take out those pellets...it had been unnecessary.  He curses under his breath again.  He'd been so close.  Now Tobias was weakened and there was nothing he could do about it.  Curse those individuals, they couldn't know the hundredth part of what Tobias was, he felt he didn't know a tenth of it himself, and yet they rushed to his aid without any rhyme or reason.  Frustration barely began to describe his feelings.  He sits a few moments underneath the water to let things hopefully cool down.  Then he could surface and finally cleanse the radiation from his body.  His wrist indicator was still flashing at him about that.



___________________ ___________________ ___________________ _________________

~Raile~

Raile fights Garreth over the lightsaber, but the other's grip is too secure...Garreth must be strong in the Force.  It is futile, but the saber is not far from Raile's chest.  He uses the Force to twist one of the small knobs, the saber's beam thinning but lengthening.  Slowly snaking its way closer to his chest without the hilt having to move.

"I have failed Garreth!  Look at this power, I will not fall!  I told you I would rather die and that is the truth!  This pain, this anger...look what it's doing to me!  It's overpowering me, I cannot control any of this!  I won't become a vessel of darkness!  I refuse to!  I wish...but there is no wishing is there?"  His words are loud but crestfallen, filled with nothing but disappointment.  They can be heard though, through the maelstrom.  Arcs of purple electricity begin lancing through the suspended rocks and dirt as everything begins to whirl around the pair.  "I cannot control it, how can I trust myself?  I cannot..."  His emotions continue to rage as the blade continues to lengthen slowly, extending...almost close enough to singe his tunic now.

[Darth Revan]

Garreth closes his eyes and concentrates on the lightsaber. He was manipulating the blade. So Garreth felt inside the lightsaber. He reached out and began to crush the lenses responsible for focusing the blade. Soon the lightsaber would be nothing more than a flashlight until repaired.

<"There is no power. There is only The Force. You can control it. You are controlling it now. You must see that. The Force does not act on its own. You are doing this, you are giving up, giving in. You are giving into the Dark Side. You must resist.

<"There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force...">

Garreth continued to chant the code both aloud and inside Raile's head. The light emanating from his body still continues to shine over Raile.


Parker couldn't see anything after shooting; however Salem was still alive. His attack must've stopped the assailant. He notices drag marks in the gravel some distance away. He immediately ran and crouched between Salem and the assassin. So the camo survived the attack, impressive still. Parker saw a light shine on the area he was observing and saw motion on his motion detector move away. The pattern was ragged and meant to throw off any tails. However Parker was not interested in giving chase. He only wanted to ensure the safety of Salem.

He stood and turned around to face Salem. He extended his hand and asked, "Would you like assistance reaching your ship?"

[Luke Skywalker (Ossanlin)]

~Raile~

Raile senses Garreth's move towards the focusing lens and his eyes widen.  "NO!"  He pulls all the Force energy into himself and pushes at the hilt, trying to dislodge it from Garreth's grip.  The last hands to have worked on that saber had been Nev'An's.  He could not allow Garreth to destroy it in such a way.

The arcs of electricity ground themselves and vanish, the whirling dust cloud ceases and begins settling to the earth.  Slowly the emotions drain from Raile like water running down a drain and he loses all grip on the Force.  He abruptly falls to the ground, slumping and falling over, the Force no longer filling him.  His body lies limp on the hard-packed earth, rocks that had been lifted high in the air still impacting around them as gravity finally brings them all the way back down.  He stares off into nothing, eyes unfocused, his mind still reeling from the shock of the entire experience.  He mumbles, barely audible and without thinking... "I will not fall...I will die first...I will not fall, Master...I will not disappoint..."  His low, thought-lacking ramblings continue on, unyielding.

[Darth Revan]

Garreth watches as the lightsaber flies away and Raile falls to the ground. He ceases his actions as well. The light emanating from his body fades. He kneels over Raile's body and begins to try to return him to consciousness. Unfortunately, the experience of his struggle with Raile had left him drained. He began to feel it in his bones; it was getting harder to stay upright. He sat down next to Raile and he began falling asleep from fatigue. Finally, with his last conscious effort, he reached out and sent Raile one last telepathic message, <Emotion, peace. Ignorance, knowledge. Passion, serenity. Chaos... harmony.... Death... Force.> Hopefully his message will get through to Raile. After expending the last of his energy, Garreth fell unconscious.

[Chad32]

"Finally got the message." Jocun said. He hadn't had much opportunity to take a shot before the mysterious enemy was gone. For now. He landed the ship and went to Salem. "Hopefully he's just sedated, and not seriously poisoned. I'll examine the dart to make sure. Thanks for your help. I'll take him to the safety of my ship." He looked at Keshin. "You're invited back in case you want to!" He said across the distance.

[AmberKatira]

Ewa smiled sheepishly at Al, grateful for his understanding.  On the inside, she was sneering at him for failing to rise to her bait.  I know you know.  You stood there so confused and thoughtful for that long, so it's not like you didn't notice.  I know you're not completely blind.  Still, he had chosen to ignore the out-of-character swipes.  If Ewa did otherwise at this point, she'd just make herself look more like a pathetic, incompetent child.  I am not going to forget this, she promised herself.

"Thanks?  I suppose."  Her eyes shifted down towards the ground.  "Don't think I even deserve questionable compliments after--"

Al's head turned in surprise
"Hold that thought," he said to Ewa. "Need to check on a friend." He began moving with unnatural speed in Salem's direction.

Ewa froze, her mouth still open, for a moment.  Slippery bastard.  Her forehead creased with concern as her jaw moved back into position and she took off after him at a sprint.  He was heading towards the landing bay, where there seemed to be some commotion in the form an eclectic collection of weapon fire and explosions.  Brilliant.  Let's all run towards the danger when all the safeties seem to be disabled.  Lovely plan.  So glad I'm doing this.  Up ahead, Al continued to put more and more distance between the two of them.

Jeeze, how fast can he run?  Nothing about the legs looks all the different, so where... Ewa quashed the thought before it could start running away from itself.

[Aluminator (Kit)]

Salem watched in surprise as a yellow glow seemed to illuminate a general area near him, then moved towards the treeline, apparently displaying Rathien's approximate location, since it coincided with the beeping in his head's rapid decrease in frequency. Salem ducked as a shot from Rathien's fun little weapon lit up the sky above the glow momentarily, but it was apparently only a diversion. Which was good- no way Salem could have ducked fast enough to evade a shot traveling at the speed of light regardless.

Coughing, Salem dropped to his hands and knees again. The chemical he'd injected himself with would provide him with a short-lived boost, similar to adrenaline- though this would work on all of his body systems. His right arm was already filled with a burning sensation as the chemical fought against whatever Rathien had injected him with- he was still feeling the effects of the tranquilizer, but his own injection would allow him to move his arm regardless. He gripped the collar of his weapon and turned it, shutting it down, and clipped it back onto his belt, then reached up with his left hand and pulled the dart from his right shoulder blade. He examined it for a moment before shaking his head- he'd get nothing out of this now, with how he was feeling- and pocketing it.

He closed his eyes, trying to block out Parker and Jocun's sudden chatter around him. Something was wrong here... very wrong. Rathien had used less-than-lethal force... that was a bit unusual, for starters, but explainable. It was strange, though, how quickly Jocun and Parker had jumped to his aid. In fact... they'd both reacted before there was any real sign of danger, hadn't they? Both firing potentially-lethal weapons after no more perceivable threat than a couple of tranquilizer darts out of thin air. And without asking questions, both had been at his side, in an instant. Parker had even apparently dodged a shot from Rathien's gun... how was that possible without predictive shielding? Entroper shots traveled at the speed of light.

The thoughts raced through his head. How could they have known that Rathien was attacking as early as they did? What would have made them choose to defend Salem? Why had Rathien used nonlethal force? Come to think of it, why hadn't Rathien tried to kill him yet altogether? And why had both Jocun and Parker fired continuously at an enemy they could neither see, nor, apparently, hit?

There was no explanation that made sense... unless... Unless they'd known the attack was coming. Unless they'd been purposefully missing.

"You tipped your hand early, Yeerk," he said to Jocun, still on his hands and knees, his eyes pressed shut. He coughed again and got slowly to his feet. "You too, soldier," he said, glaring at Parker. "I don't know if both of you are in this together, but let me make one thing clear- whoever you're working for won't be getting anything out of me until he comes clean with me."

In that moment, Al arrived, and looked around at the gathered group, concerned. "Rathien?" he asked Salem.

Salem nodded, "Fill you in later," he said quietly to the android, before turning back to Parker and Jocun. "Guys, I've used that scam myself. The fake-saving-someone-to-ingratiate-oneself-with-them bit." He glared from one to the other, "You're expecting to help me back to my ship or show me hospitality on yours, and I'll just be so grateful for all your help, I'll bend to whatever proposal you lay down? Don't know what could be so great that Rathien and the two of you would go in together on it, but if that's what's going on here, I want no part in it." He sent a command to his boots, causing them to activate, and began halfheartedly skating in the direction of his ship, half-limping thanks to his hurt leg. He coughed again, then turned and continued skating backwards. He called back, "This definitely explains a lot, though. I'll talk when you guys are ready to be honest with me."

He turned again and skated, harder now, towards his ship. The pain was warring with the chemical boost in his system- he wanted simultaneously to run for miles, track down Rathien and strangle the hunter with his bare hands, and fall asleep on the spot. It was an exhausting sensation. He gritted his teeth- the combined effect of the boost, the tranquilizer, and the blood-loss from his back was starting to make him feel dizzy and nauseated, and his heart didn't seem to want to slow down...

Al raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Salem, muttering something about "endless paranoia," then turned to Parker and Jocun and smiled. "Gentlemen," he said with a slight bow to each of them. "Good Lady," he called to Keshin, with a bit of a salute. "You're welcome to join us," he called to her.

He grinned at Ewa as she arrived on the scene, "Salem got into a fight. Boys will be boys. You know how it goes." With that, he turned to trot after Salem, at a far more normal speed this time, to allow for Keshin and Ewa to easily keep up, should they so choose.

[Darth Revan]

Parker shrugged his shoulders as Salem accused both him and Jocun of collaborating, then skated off. He was about to inquire Al of what was going on, but he ran off too. Salem was injured and obviously paranoid, and Al was probably the only one who could effectively speak to him. Parker felt rushing to try to explain the situation would only bolster Salem's paranoia; and he had successfully defended a once friendly acquaintance. The threat was gone, for now; and Parker felt no real reason to have to explain to anyone why he defended others. So he walked back toward the bar and figured he would talk to either Al or Salem at a later time.

He came across Zoshonel and another human/animal hybrid dueling. The hybrid reminded him of Morgan, except this "person" was half horse. Silver was not far spectating the exhibition. He walked up to her and asked, "So what's all this about?"

[Chad32]

Jocun shook his head. Salem was one paranoid trader. He could never really tell how someone would react to his help. Sometimes they'd be grateful, or insulted, or paranoid like Salem. Whatever the case, no one died when Jocun could have saved them. His conscious was clean. Parker walked off, but not in the direction of the Sub-Visser. Maybe he wasn't a hired bodyguard, though he did a fair job of it. He walked toward the ship to make sure the drunk Sub-Visser was ok, and noticed the hatch was open.

"Hey Sub-Visser! You ok in there? He didn't lay you on your back to let you drown in your own puke, did he?"



"We're just playing." Zoshonel said to Parker. "You want to watch?"