STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- Cold War

Wraith- Gremon is being securely held. Mither has instructed that none may see him except the Great Leader himself.

Ker'Raos sort of facepalms to Dak's response, but Pade is more than happy to fill him in on his views of the freakish Mither.

"He's nuts," Pade says. "But, seeing as I'm an exile, I look to gain something here. Arnians can't stay away from home too long. You and I are proof of that. Now we're home."

-

Time passes. In the year following the all-around disastrous Battle of Meja'Tsid, Mither decides that his Rebellion is not truly ready to wage open war against the Royal Circle. Instead, his sends out raiding parties with the intent of hassling Royal soldiers, stealing much-needed supplies, and quietly uniting with others sympathetic with his ideas. The ranks of Mither's forces begin to swell, the secret caves becoming crowded until Pade discovers another vein of abandoned mines tens of thousands of years old.

Eventually, in one of the raids, the rebel soldiers manage to procure a cybernetic voice box for Wraith. After weeks of silence from the Dark Jedi, the voice box allows him to speak in a raspy, mechanized tone. It still sounds like him, though, and he is able to communicate freely. Mither's spies also manage to get Wraith's starfighter, the Lance of Arturyn, on the Royal registry, so that it may access Arnia. Dak- you didn't even know he had a starfighter. Bastard.

Prince Gremon remains in solitary confinement and speaks with no-one.

We pick things up again, when Mither calls for a meeting with the Dark Jedi, having summoned them to his private quarters.

Additionally- from this point on, we will be using the Lego system for the forthcoming adventures of Dak and Wraith.

Dak knocks on the door to Mither's quarters as he reaches it.

How has Dak progressed in terms of status and reputation in the Rebel army since his arrival?

Wonderful. We will see what vital body parts Wraith decides to lose next. Is the voice box obvious? If so, Wraith is just going to start wearing high-collared shirts and multi-colored ridiculous Fourth Doctor scarfs...

Wraith will go along with Dak to Mither's quarters, absent-mindedly rubbing his synthetic eye.

"What do you think the snake wants?" Wraith asks.

And same question for Wraith, I want to know if they're still freaking out because he isn't Arnian. Also, if Wraith can use his Ties to the Bounty Hunter's Guild to help out the war at all, that would be fantastic.

Dak is being hailed as the hero of the Rebellion! Mither always, as often as he is able, sends you out the lead the raiding parties, due to your talents and the confidence you instill in his forces. Everyone has been associating the successes of those raids more with your capabilities than with the strategic planning of it all.

Wraith, however, is still an Outsider. His powers and skills are a great help to the Rebellion, but Wraith has not seen as much action as Dak has. Mither prefers to send you and Ker'Raos out alone, keeping you separate. It irks you, but at least he made sure you got a voice box. And ridiculous scarf it is; the voice box is a black square protruding from just off-center on your throat.

As for your Ties, it is something best discussed with Mither. If you want the Guild's help, you need to get them onto Arnia. Mither has connections that can make that happen.

The door swings open as Pade opens it for you. Pade has been made a Captain, like yourselves, and is also leading raiding parties.

"Come on in," he says. "Mither's waiting."

The freakish Mither is sitting behind his desk once more, his gray scales dry and flaky as ever, his bulbous black eyes glaring. It unnerves you that there is no mindless flicking of the tail when it comes to him, Dak. It is something all Arnians do; he lacks one.

"Welcome, friendsss," Mither says. "I trussst you are doing well?"

"There have been no complications, Great Leader. The efforts of the Rebellion go well."

"Excellent," Mither says. "I have been reading the reports on our latest raids. I was particularly pleased with the news that you manage to procure some attack speeders for our forces to use... I intend to reward you for this, Kaliero. I am promoting you to the rank of General."

Wraith may now fume.

Wraith clenches his fists.

"With all due respect, Great Leader, have I not done all that is required of me to get this revolution underway?" Wraith fumes, his voice scratchy and robotic due to the cybernetic voice box. "I should be promoted to the status of General as well!"

"You have done admirably, Captain," Mither says, rather pointedly, "but General Kaliero isss a figure that the Revolution can rally to. As an Outsssider... you are not, I am afraid. My sinceressst apologies."

Mither's tongue flits quietly out of his mouth.

"My promoting of General Kaliero isss, in fact, necesssary to my plans for open warfare againssst the Royal Circle, believe it or not."

This is a new development. Dak and Wraith can be vaguely irked, as Mither has not been discussing his plans with you.

Dak clasps his hands together, to prevent them from clenching into fists. "Open warfare, Great Leader? This is the first I have heard of these plans..."

Considering how important he's been to the effort, Dak is angry that future plans have not been revealed to him. Once again, he has not been trusted with what he has rightfully earned...

"Are we even ready for that?" Wraith asks. "I think we should be privy to anything you ever plan, Mither. Dak and I have been to end of the Galaxy and back, I'm sure we can help you plan if you let us in on things before announcing them."

"Addresss me as I should be addresssed, Outsider!" Mither hisses, rather harshly, pounding a clawed fist on his desk. "I will do as I pleassse! It is I who formed this Rebellion, not you! Your assissstance is of great benefit to my Revolution, but thisss is not your world, Captain Arturyn! General Kaliero has that claim, not you! NOT YOU!"

Mither breathes heavily and glares at Wraith for a moment before sinking back into his chair. It is fairly obvious that his health is poor, and organizing the Revolution is taking its toll on him.

"It isss time, gentlemen," Mither says heavily. "It is time to show the Royal Circle that we are more than kidnappers and thievesss. I want to retake Meja'Tsid."

Meja'Tsid is where Dak and Wraith intervened in the fighting a year before. Recently it has taken on greater responsibility in the water trade, due to recent drouts on distant worlds.

"If we retake it, Arnia'sss economy will falter, and faith in the Queen-Mother will also," Mither reasons. "It will bring over more to our caussse."

"Retake Meja'Tsid?" Dak repeats, tail flicking. "Yes... I believe we are ready... and from there, a great many paths would become open to us..."

"Precisssely. The attack speedersss you have obtained will help greatly in the assault, though not all of them will be dedicated to the attack. Resissstance will be there, but not subssstantial. General, I want you to lead the invasion of Meja'Tsid. Captain Pade and Captain Reynal will assissst you. As for you, Outsssider... there is an artillery train scheduled for departure to Meja'Tsid. It is receiving a light fighter escort... I want that train stopped and commandeered. Take your fighter. Your amphibious student will go with the speeder asssault that I am launching to help take the train. If that train reaches Meja'Tsid, thingsss will be markedly more difficult for our prized General here..."

"My apologies, Great Leader," Wraith says, after waiting for Mither to settle down. "I did not mean to insult you. I understand my place. As for the artillery train, consider it done. It will be a wonderful addition to our forces. I'll make sure it stays intact."

"We will have Meja'Tsid under our control before the Royals even get report of the attack, Great Leader," Dak says confidently.

If I can make this completely my victory... soon, Mither may be able to be... removed.

Out of curiosity, what is the situation with Gremon?

"There is more," Mither tells you. "I have been in contact with Admiral Tishar..."

Admiral Tishar is the leader of the Arnian Navy.

Gremon has been in solitary confinement for nearly a year, and has not talked to anyone since his capture.

Dak's scaly brow furrows. "Tishar? What about?"

What does Dak know about Admiral Tishar?

Admiral Tishar has been maintaining the blockade over Arnia for longer than you have been alive. He has known no other life since a young age, and his first and foremost concern is Arnia's Naval fleet. He is highly charismatic like his ancestors before him; the Tishars have always led the Navy, particularly against the Osokan invasion centuries ago.

"The Queen-Mother has announced that, in order to make the first step to opening up Arnia to the Republic, she intendsss to downsize the Royal Navy. Part of her plan is to retire Admiral Tishar... sssomething that Tishar is very much againssst. He wants to join our Rebellion, ssso long as we can prove that we are capable of waging war. If we lossse Meja'Tsid, we lossse the Navy."

"I see. So if we capture Meja'Tsid, we also capture a powerful Navy. With such power, we could even start an assault on the Capital itself!"