FIRST STORY- Feel free to contribute. ANYONE MAY PLAY

QUEEQ

Suddenly the street lit up with a bright light and a thundering roar as if some kind of atomic was set off many miles away. Four of the men dressed in yellow were killed instantly by the blast from nowhere. The Man in White and his remaining follower were dazzled, knocked off their feet. When vision returned to their hurting eyes the street was empty.

In an alley a few blocks down the road leading to the outskirts of the city Ushgarak was laid down on the floor by a mysterious man in a black robe, holding a buly blaster with smoke hurling up from the nozzle into the bright sky of this remote planet. "Gundark is near, we will find her soon. We've got to get off this planet. A battle fleet has arrived, so leaving this place will be very tricky." The man removed his hood, revealing the stoic face of Master queeq. "Where's your ship?"

USHGARAK

Ushgarak, still bleary, was trying to come to his senses.

"queeq..." he said. "My thanks... my ship... the Eye of the Moon..."

Memory returned.

"It's at the spaceport. Yes... under guard. They won't destroy it. Shareth will want to wave the fact she has captured it in my face. I know her of old..."

Ushgarak fell painfully back again.

"A... a battlefleet?"

GUNDARK

Gundark's saber hummed as she confronted two armed troopers blocking her path. Following her Jedi sense, she declined to attack immediately. "Halt, Jedi," one of them ordered, pulling his blaster. The other man followed suit, aiming directly at Gundark's skull. She blocked the blaster bolt that followed with her saber and dispatched the two men with a note of regret. It galled her to kill, but these two were obviously not the conversational type. Her pain, awakened by the brief confrontation, threatened to escape its tiny prison. Gundark reached out through the Force, sensing Ush and, surprisingly, queeq, quite near.

QUEEQ

"I doubt you can get access to the spaceport anymore. Come on." queeq hauls Ushgarak over his shoulder who groans in agony. But queeq ignores him and reaches out with the Force for that sensation that was once so familiar to him. queeq and Ushgarak disappear in the shadows of the city.

"Are you hurt badly?"
"Pretty much.... queeq...." Gundy looked up towards the invisible speaker in the shadows. Then queeq emerged from the darkness, revealing a familiar person lying over his shoulder. "USHGARAK!" Gundy cried and then looked upt o queeq. "What is going on?"
"Let's get out of here", queeq replied and turned around. As he started to walked he looked back at Gundark. "Can you walk?" "Yes, I'm...fine.", she lied. Then she felt a sensation through the Force causing a familiar tingling through her injured body and strength returning to her wounded body parts. queeq turned his head and said. "Let's go... now!"

FINTI

Finti sensed the struggling jedis, but decided as long as they are running from his forces the safest place for them would be far from this planet. At this moment a group of dark jedis was approaching him.
" We have learnt that Ah-wen-ga was successful with the senate bombing" The tallest of them said.
"Good, their reaction will be sudden and poorly planed"
Finti was pleased with the events for the time being. He was also pleased with the arrival of the dark jedis led by Eli-Chi, named after Finti`s old master. It was time to encounter the mysterious stranger dressed in white robes accompanied with his yellow armored troops. He had been around messing things up far too long. Finti meant the encounter would be brief. 10 dark jedis, not counting himself, would scare the living daylight out of them. Time to show some real strength, time to show them the power of the dark side.

[ April 09, 2001: Message edited by: Ushgarak ]

QUEEQ

The three Jedi arrived at a small open spot in the forest. Ushgarak was hardly conscious now and Gundark seemed to feel better. Among the shadowy trees two red lights lit up and a mechanical voice greeted them. "Quo Vadis? Stick 'm up. Ha ha ha ha."
"AK, fire up the converters. Get this ship into space. Programme our trajectory now. Destination Coruscant." queeq brought Ushgarak on board and strapped him in one of the seats. He walked out again and looked at Gundark. "How will you get past that battle fleet?" "Cloaking. It'll be dark for another hour so we can use the cloaking device to leave the atmosphere. As soon as your outside the planet's gravity pull, Ak will drop the cloak and make the jump to hyperspace. We must hurry."
Gundark got on board, queeq followed her inside to tend her wounds. "When you get to Coruscant inform the Jedi Council there are Republican battleships circling the planet. Not a word to the Chancellor. Understand?" Gundark looked around in the small fighter which only had two seats and a place for the droid. "You're not coming with us?" queeq only looked at her and grabbed a bag with some equipment. Then, from an overhead compartment he took two lightsabres, slightly smaller than a normal sized light sabre, and placed them hilt down in two holsters under both his arms. "queeq!", Gundark snapped, "You can't stay her. Look what they did to us." queeq ignored her and gestured to his droid. "Come on, AK, get going. Time is running out." "Yippee hi ho", AK replied while wheeling into the sleek fighter.
Within seconds the fighter took off and before it lifted above the tree tops it disappeared from sight. Now queeq was alone.

USHGARAK

Ushgarak awoke on the way home. It took him a few moments to collect his wits, and remember what had happened.

Damn it! That cow of a Hutt had his ship!

His first thought was to contact his master... but he didn't have a clue how to use the comms on this damn ship. And some droid was jabberiong on at him...

GUNDARK

Gundark's attention turned from the controls of the fighter that she had taken over from AK, much to the droid's reluctance, to Ush, who was fiddling with the com unit. He appeared to have regained his senses and she smiled to herself at the droid's frustration with her fellow Jedi. AK yammered at Ushgarak in Basic, but with a comical flair that only queeq could have programmed the droid with. "Doesn't that thing work ?" Gundark queried Ush as his hands moved over the switches.

USHGARAK

"It... it seems to be based on a system I'm not familiar with... stupid custom ship!"

GUNDARK

"We'll be on Coruscant in a few Standard hours...." Gundark started, glancing briefly at AK's navicomputer. She turned to look back at Ushgarak again. His frustration with the com had distracted him and she pulled away from his thoughts. "How's your shoulder ?" She asked simply.

USHGARAK

"I've had worse," said Ushgarak. It was true, he had, and nearly all because of Shareth... mind you, Shareth had lost a lot to Ushgarak over time as well. it was a spiral of hatred that Ushgarak's old Master continually berated him for, yet it seemed to be the Will of the Force that the two enemies kept meeting...

Queeq's ship sped on towards Coruscant...

PHINNEY

A teenage boy named Phinney, has been ease dropping on the senate and it's memebers. He young and arrogant, and thinks he can control all himself. He The goes to his ship and sets a course for the planet. Does he know what waits for him??? Will Finti somehow find a way to minipulate this boy. Only time will tell.

(Edit by Ush... boy, I like this power...

Phinney- don't forget to put your character profile in the profiles thread. It's not obligatory, but it's convenient. Still waiting for queeq to put something there, actually...)

A dark figure carrying a back pack drew near to the city of Gard. It's skyline was being decorated by dozens of fighters and ships descending down to the spaceport. queeq got out his macrobinoculars to see this activity up close. All the fighters were carrying republic markings, yet no lasers were fired to stop the "intrusive" fighters. As queeq lowered his macrobinoculars he knew the Reublica had been betrayed and that the elusive dark force that had taken hold of this peaceful planet had made a pact with the commander of the battle fleet he had seen outside the planet's atmosphere.

queeq packed his equipment and disappeared in the suburbian alleys of the city of Gard.

Finti and his dark jedis surrounded the man in white and his yellow armored soldiers. After a swift battle the only remaining opponent was the white robed man.
Finti felt he was with the force, yet it was undeveloped. Finti told him to follow them back to the courthouse and he did.
The white robed man knew he had little chance against 11 well trained jedis, or dark jedis as he learned on their way to the courthouse.
"If you want I know a fallen jedi master who can fullfill your training of the way of the force." Finti noticed the interest in the white robed mans eyes as he said this. "If you agree", Finti continued "you can join us, and when your training is done follow us as we replace the jedi`s as guardiance of the republic." Finti looked into the shadows and then said. " The jedi`s are strong guardiance, but without the help of the darkside of the force they are not powerfull enough, we on the other hand use both side of the force, this makes us powerful"
The white robed man felt a shiver of coldness and fear as he heard these words, he thought this was a great chance for him, to serve this Norse order would be perfect. He felt a great honour to follow the lead of Finti. Shareth the hutt had him as a servant no longer.
Finti continued his small lecture, "We belive in the simple thing and what can come out of those things like fear. Fear attracts the fearfull, the strong, the weak, the innocent, the corrupt. Fear is one of our allies. So it is with anger hatred, but also the calm of the light side. Sometime attack and agression is not the best option, but the fact they are an option makes us powerful and dangerous." Whith those word the white robed man, named Renno left with three dark jedi for training with Gohnkaba, another fallen jedi master.
A soldier came up to Finti to report the arrival of Admiral Thrawn, " Hmm the lakei of the chancellor, he and his fleet will be usefull for our trap of the republic retaliation." Finti grinned at the thought of that all have gone as planned so far. He still felt some sort of presence though like a small stirring in the force. He ordered his dark jedis too take time out search their feelings, search for this presence he had felt. If they felt something too there was no doubt another jedi around.

[ April 10, 2001: Message edited by: finti ]

[ May 06, 2001: Message edited by: finti ]

Gundark hesitated before speaking again. Although she outranked Ushgarak as a Master, she considered him a knowledgeable and capable Knight and respected him as a friend. "This Hutt is consuming your thoughts, Ush. You know the council will sense this," she ventured evenly. "I suggest you concentrate on the present so we can make the situation clear to Master Yoda and the council." Gundark gave her fellow Jedi a knowing smile.

"We met for a reason, I'm sure of it," says Ushgarak, still checking out the fighter controls. "Nothing happens by chance..." Something else occurred to Ushgarak. He turned to face Gundark.

"Did you see anyone else other than us using Force powers back there?"

While still in space, Phinney6 started to have doubts, what if there really was a dangerous problem on the planet. It counldn't
be that bad, or the jedi woul be jedi there and have it under control. After he thought awhile, he plotted a course back the Corosunt. When he arrived he was just in time to stop, and chat with Queeq. He knew Queeq, and admired his flying.

"Not directly," Gundark answered. "I sensed the presence of the dark side the whole time I was in Gard province. When I managed to get back to Marakith, the feeling was almost overwhelming." She looked thoughtful. "I had to reach far beyond to find you and queeq." Gundark rubbed her still-sore arm. The synthflesh queeq had applied to the blaster wound itched incessantly. She nodded to the navicomputer. "Looks like we're coming up on Coruscant."

"The Dark Side..." said Ushgarak, thoughtfully. "Surely not... but it would change things.

"I must speak to my Master," said Ushgarak, as the droid expertly began the landing procedure.

"We should address the council together," Gundark pointed out. "I will wait for you outside the council chamber until you've spoken with Imorthorn." She turned to the droid. "AK, tell the skynet we wish to land on platform 397."

A little while later, Ushgarak was cleaning himself up in his quarters, his wounds healed, and his wits restored. His door opened, and Imorthorn came in.

(Imorthorn looks like David Wanrer, by the way).

"You sensed I wanted to see you?" asked Ushgarak.

"Actually," said Imorthorn, "that was just plain deduction. The surprise of your return... you always want to see me when something goes wrong." Imorthorn smiled. "You're still a child in many ways, Ush. Always wanting to play with your powers when the Mind on its own will do. And there is always someone one step ahead of you. The Force may be your ally, but that's no good if you don't concentrate is it?"

"It's a little early for lectures, isn't it?" said Ushgarak. Imorthorn widened his arms in supplication.

"You know I have faith in you. It was an unexpected situation; the best of us would have been caught out."

"Someone is maipulating the Force," said Ushgarak. "They were..." Imorthorn raised his hand to stop him.

"I know," said Imorthorn. "Gundark has mentioned it. She's waiting for you to make a full report to the Council"

"Hmm," said Ushgarak.

"You know, Ush," said Imorthorn, "You should listen to her more. She may be young for a Master but she is no fool. You need allies like her, no matter how much experience with the pirate clans you have. You would do wel to learn from her."

"Maybe," said Ushgarak. Imorthorn smiled.

"You fear for her safety? Ushgarak, I've told you before, a Master's responsbilities as a Knight do not end with Masterhood. There is still a Galaxy out there to protect, and the Masters need to be out there as much as anyone. Where would YOU be if I had not been fighting the darkness you would seek to shield all of us from?"

"She's too important to waste on exploratory missions like this one," said Ushgarak.

"Gundark can make up her own mind on that," said Imorthorn. "And it was well that she was there; what if our enemy had been able to focus all his resources on you? And you should be thankful to have a Master with you.

"What does the Council think of all this, Master?" said Ushgarak, keen to change the subject away from criticism.

"It is difficult to say," said Imorthorn. "The sudden shock of the situation has cuaght us all off-guard... but in a way, I sense they are not as surprised as I would have imagined... as if they were searching for something like this."

"Will they send us back?"

"Possibly... but it is difficult. Now that New Gard has announced its independance, which was legal, we have no official power there. And the new govenrment is... not friendly"

"But they cannot bar me from going myself? As a private citizen?"

"Absolutely not, and they will probably encourage both of you to do so, unofficially. Incidentally, the official response is bogged down in the Senate, much to the anger of the Malastarians..."

"Perhaps they won't want to send us back. Queeq is on planet. He may deal with things." Imorthorn laughed.

"Yes, of course... Queeq is a remarkable man, Ush, and he can more than take care of himself. But he's hardly the man to bring... political stability... if you know what I mean."

"Yes..." laughed Ushgarak back... "I see. Then what should I do."

"Return, if the Council advises it. But don;t confront them directly; you cannot face down the whole planet, Make friends, like that Dealer you met. Find people. Other traders. Pilots. Militia men. Supporters of the old regime. Anyone that can help you get a grip on the situation. And I will see what I can find out on your behalf."

"Thankyou, Master. Will they send Gundark back?"

"She will insist. And you should not complain. She knows the risks. Masters have long fought and even died in defence on the Republic... even recently..." Imorthorn sat down, heavily. Ushgarak senses the grief in his mind.

"You still grieve for Qui-Gon, Master?" asks Ushgarak.

"He was a good friend..." said Imorthorn. "And the greatest of all of us. That he could be killed... baffles me."

"Has the Council telled you what happened to him yet?"

"Not everything. And that also troubles me... be careful, Ush. I sense a darkness rising in the Republic that has been left unnoticed for too long. And I am too old now to go out and fight it myself... You must stay focussed!"

"Yes, Master."

"Now, go. Do not keep the Council waiting."

Ushgarak left, leaving Imorthorn to think about his old friend...

Gundark slowly opened her eyes. She let the last vestiges of the healing trance leave her mind and body, the Force moving through her as the wind moved the sands in the desert, every grain individual, yet creating the next dune as one.

She sat up on the bed and collected her wits. Gundark knew the council was waiting, with infinite patience, but waiting nontheless. When they landed on Coruscant, she had submitted to the TooOneBee unit in the med suite for treatment, then returned to her quarters for a rest. By the time Gundark had showered and changed, she felt whole again. She left her quarters and walked toward the council chambers, pulling her thoughts together along the way. The dark presence that had been felt on Gard must be identified and dealt with. Then there was that situation with Shareth. She would have to question Ushgarak on that further. Unless the council did first.

Gundark stood patiently outside the chamber, reaching out briefly to Ush. She sensed he was still with his Master, and not wanting to intrude on their privacy, withdrew. Her thoughts briefly centered on queeq. Raging his own private battle on Gard, Gundark thought disapprovingly. His ways with the Force were not her ways. Well, not anymore. Not since Gom......

While is space Phinney is feeling bad about his disition to go the the Planet> After all the senate did seem to think it was bad. He decides to turn around to head back to Corasunt. When he gets there he see's a ship that he has not seen in awhile, but he remember it.

New Gard. The streets were busy, but not as usual. The vast amount of Republic and New Gard soldiers keeping an eye on the crowds did cause an oppressive feeling that could be sensed even by a non Force sensitive person.
Among the merchants was queeq, in perfect disguise an controlling his Force sensations. He had mastered the hidden ability to send off no Force sensations at all. He had sensed the Dark Side on New Gard and knew they might sense him too. It had taken him a long time to master this ability, taught to him by the blind hermit Jedi Master Antar Oth in the desolate caves of Gom's mountain ridge. The many months he spent here against his own will had taught him many of the Force's deepest secrets. Control!

queeq walked down the street pulling his cart with Insaltines, noticing and remembering all the little details for later use.
When he passed the administrative buildings he sensed the Dark Side, stronger than he had before. Growing. queeq knew this army was too big for him to handle, but the power that binded them all, that was another matter.

queeq pulled his cart from the crowds into one of the calmer alleys and disappeared, again.

Ushgarak hurried over to Gundark as she waited outside the Council room.

"Sorry, Master," he said. "I had a lot to think about." Gundark simply smiled. For a moment, Ushgarak thouight she was trobuled by something, but then it passed.

"Shall we go in?" asked Gundark. Ushgarak nodded, and they went inside.

Gundark and Ushgarak entered the council chamber and walked to the center of the room to face Master Yoda. They both knelt and bowed their heads respectfully to the elder Jedi. "Welcome, Master Gundark and young Knight Ushgarak," Yoda said. "Much you have to tell us, I think." As Mace Windu and the rest of the council nodded a brief greeting, Gundark and Ushgarak rose to their feet. Gundark felt, as she always did in the council chamber, many layers of the Force, penetrating her very being, all seeing her as one vision. "The situation on Gard has become critical. Ushgarak and I decided to separate and I continued on to the province of New Gard while he stayed in Marakith. The militia take over I observed in New Gard is speading over the planet, as was the prescence of the Dark Side of the Force." Gundark nodded to her fellow Jedi. "Although I believe Ushgarak had a more direct confrontation with the Dark Side than I." Yoda digested this and turned his attention to Ushgarak. "And what have you tell us, young Knight ? Much, I think."

Ushgarak opened his mouth to speak.

"Angry, are you?" said Yoda, before he could.
Ushgarak looked non-plussed for a moment.

"No, Master," said Ushgarak. "Merely determined." Yoda sat back in his chair, smiling knowingly at Ushgarak.

"The Hutts are involved as well," said Ushgarak. "I'm not sure how."

"Valorum has said that the Hutts will be one day dealt with," said Mace Windu, "but not today."

"We will have to move quickly to prevent Gard and Marakith falling to the darkness..." said Ushgarak.

"Wish a war, do you?" said Yoda.

"We must do what is practical," replied Ushgarak.

"Perhpas we should focus on your mission," said Ki-Adi. "We sent you to assess the political situation. What has become of the Trade Federations' contacts in the area?"

"Gone to ground," said Ushgarak. "I didn't see any of them there. Working for the Hutts, perhaps?"

"And what of the old Government?" aksed Windu. "They, at least, were reasonable."

"As far as I know," said Ushgarak, "they have been destroyed. Those remaining will be too scared to help us. Perhaps if we move quickly..."

"If we move quickly," said Windu, "the situation could de-stablise. The Chancellor has already sent a response, but we are currently unclear on what it is. In any case, their declaration of independance WAS legal. It is not our job to change that."

"But surely the situation must be dealt with, Master?" asked Ushgarak. Windu, Yoda and Mundi all exchanged glances.

"Your old Master still speaks highly of you," said Windu, though Yoda did not seem happy at the compliment. "And you are the only Knight available now who has enough experience of the culture in that area."

"Then I am to go back?" asked Ushgarak.

"We will not ask you not to go," said Ki-Adi. "We would like someone to continue investigating the situation."

"But understand," said Windu, "we want the area stabilised. We do not want outright war. We are not sending you back to destroy our possible enemies there. We want you to use your contacts and influence to try and bring order to the area, not to help burn the planet to the ground."

"I understand, Master," said Ushgarak. "But..." Windu cut him off.

"And we do not qwant you to pursue a personal vendetta against the Hutts, "said Windu." Ushgarak looked crestfallen. "Their day will come, young Knight. You must be patient". Ushgarak just nodded.

"Now," said Windu, "perhaps we should hear more from Master Gundark. Tell us more of this dark presence you felt?" he asked, asnd Gundark felt that they seemed to be even more interested in this than she thought they would be...

"The dark presence I felt was as strong as the Sith Lord I encountered on Gom on a few years ago." Gundark stated, the memory of the confrontation still as fresh in her mind as if it had happened that morning. It had taken her total knowledge of the Force to defeat the Sith, every last ounce of her strength to finally deliver the killing blow with her lightsaber. Gundark had recovered physically, with just a few scars to show, but the impression the Sith had left on her mind was indelible in its evil. She shoved it to the back of her mind along with everything else that had transpired on Gom. In that dark place. The screaming place. "In the short time that Ushgarak and I were in Marakith, I sensed the presence became stronger. Not in the strength of one, but in the strength in numbers," Gundark hesitated, feeling Windu looking straight through her into her deepest thoughts. She knew there was no point in hiding it. "I feel it was the Sith, in some form, returned." The finality of her statement echoed throughout the chamber and she felt Ush's tenseness beside her.

Yoda and Windu exchanged a sideways look. "This could be connected to the asassin who destroyed Master Qui-Gon," Windu suggested, putting a thumb and forefinger to his chin in thought. He sat so still Gundark thought he looked like a statue. Finally Yoda spoke. "More answers we need."