The Sword's Sheath

Itaana Belt

Yridia System

Kadne lowered her eyes to the stun cuffs on her wrists. She would not let herself be beaten down, not again. She met the older man's eyes with as much of a steely gaze as she could muster and shook her head.

"No. I want out. Now." Her voice still unwavering. She was not expecting a smirk to appear on the man's face.

"You have guts, kid." Hades said as he began to size her up a bit more closely. She might have been early thirties, slightly above average height for a human female. She did not look away as she brushed a fallen strand of auburn hair out of her eyes. Her mind and body seemed solid. The calluses on her hands told the story of her life of manual work. He looked down at the datapad in his hands and looked over the section of the report detailing the items taken off of her when his guards took her into custody. A DL-44 blaster pistol, two viroblades, extra energy packs and a small explosive device. A crude device that had some type of chemical reaction which resulted in an explosion and fragmentation of the case it was contained in. It was crude, but effective. Other than that, she had a datapad with an incomplete schematic of the Sword's Sheath. Hades sat down across from her and met her gaze.

"I'm not a kid. Do not disrespect me like that." That elicited a chuckle from the older man which just seemed to infuriate her further until he held up his hands.

"Okay. Okay. What is your name?" He asked. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair as she answered.

"Kadne." She said finally.

"Kadne, what?" Hades replied.

"Kadne Jax."

"Well Kadne Jax. My name is Hades and you've stumbled into a base of House Tarentum. One that was supposed to be hidden. One that we would like to stay hidden." Kadne sighed and winced to herself.

"You've heard of Tarentum, I'd wager. Good." Hades stood and moved over towards her as the woman began to sink lower in her chair until she realizes what she is doing, then sat up straight and looked him in the eyes.

"Yes, I've heard of you Tarentie, or whatever you're called. You do not like smugglers."

"Oh, so you're a smuggler? Interesting." Hades let his right hand lower to the lightsaber on hanging off his belt. The woman's eyes flashed with fear before she looked away.

"Look! I wasn't here to steal anything! I was just returning the droid! I didn't do anything!" She pleaded. She was lying, but not by much. People tend to say anything under duress.

"You seem like a capable young woman, Kadne. So do not disrespect ME by lying to me about anything further. I am a Dark Jedi of the Sith Order, I do not take kindly to pitiful smugglers lying to my face!" Hades slammed his force aided hand into the table, creating a small dent. Kadne recoiled and began to break. She lowered her head in her hands as her shoulders shook softly. Hades knew this part was delicate, so he said on the edge of the table.

"Tell me why you were here and I will spare your life." The woman rolled her eyes.

"You've watched too many holovids. That doesn't usually end well for the person in my position." Kadne said as she bit her lower lip.

Hades ignited his lightsaber and brought it up to a striking position over his right shoulder. Kadne threw her hands out and screamed "NO! Okay!" She closed her eyes and began to recount her ordeal on Joran Base. She told him about the voices and what she could hear. Once finished, she waited with her eyes closed for the death she knew was coming. She then heard the lightsaber shut down. In disbelief she opened one eye to find a hand extended to her.

"I believe you. But now you must come with me. Your information is very important and needs to be retold to others." Hades’ eyes met hers and she could tell he was truthful and serious. She took his hand and stood and nodded.

He lead her to the main shuttle bay where a black escort shuttle was waiting. Her eyes were full of wonder as he guided her onboard. The droid had already been loaded onto the shuttle and was currently being worked on by another droid. He sat her next to him in the front as he keyed a button on his armrest.

"Castle Tarentum, best possible speed." Hades said and released the button. Within moments the shuttle had lifted off of the deck. It turned towards space and accelerated into the asteroid belt, on their way to the seat of power in the Yridia system.

"Who is your employer?" Hades asked, cutting the silence abruptly. It took a moment for Kadne to answer, but she looked at her hands when she did.

"No one. I work for myself."

"Excellent. Now you work for me." Hades said as he gazed at the datapad in his hands. Kadne opened her mouth to protest but thought better of it. All she wanted to do was make it out alive at this point.

Throne Room, Castle Tarentum

Yridia II

Yridia System

Scion Altera gripped the edge of the throne tightly, almost to the point of breaking his own hand.

"Has this been verified?" The Prince spoke in a very low tone. Hades nodded.

"Yes, Prince. It's been backed up from the information from your own droid. Currently Sith Bloodfyre, Darth Aeternus, and Raiju Kang are on board the Orion above Joran Base. The Navigation officer has informed us they are on their way back immediately following the, issue, with the Grand Master."

Scion nodded then stood and looked at Hades and Kadne and the droid. "Well, it's obvious Raiju will no longer serve as Aedile of Tarentum. As for the other two I will need to have a long.... talk, with the both of them." Maxamillian von Oberst-Tarentae, Marshal of the Armies of Tarentum stepped forward.

"My Prince, let me do the honors."

Scion shook his head in disagreement.

"I would almost agree, Marshal, but this needs to be handled a bit differently. Arrest Raiju upon his return. Bring him to me once you do." The Marshal bowed.

"As you wish, Prince." said the Marshal.

"Hades." The Sith Battlemaster stepped forward and bowed.

"Enemies are everywhere today. Within the Brotherhood, within these walls." Scion said, almost to himself. He then turned to the slightly younger man.

"You will serve as Aedile of Tarentum until you die or I find someone better." Scion ordered.

Hades bowed deeply. "I serve at the pleasure of the Prince."

"Assemble the fleet and gather the troops. You and the Marshal have a lot to do. It looks like Tarentum is going to war." Scion nodded at the two men as he stepped down from the throne and retreated to his chambers with an aide.

Oberst nodded at Hades. "War Room. Thirty minutes." With that the Marshal walked out.

Hades turned to Kadne and his apprentice, Dark Jedi Knight and Rollmaster of Tarentum, Farrin. The woman did her best to keep to the back wall of the throne room, attempting to go unnoticed. He motioned to the both of them. They approached and Farrin nodded to Hades.

"Master." Farrin said as he eyed Kadne. Hades nodded and turned his attention directly to her.

"Kadne. The galaxy is about to get a lot more dangerous for you and your kind real quick. There is about to be a civil war within the Brotherhood. Lucky for you, you now work for us."

"I do?" Kadne asked.

"She does?" Farrin added.

"Either you work for us, or the location of the Sword's Sheath follows you into the next airlock I come across." Hades was serious. But more importantly, she knew it. She didn't know which part scared her the most, that she was working for a Sith or that she was... glad? She would have to ponder what that was about later. She nodded to him.

"Yes, My Lord." Kadne bowed slightly. Hades smiled at her as Farrin eyed the woman for a moment.

"Now come along you two, we have a war to win." Hades turned and exited the throne room with both Farrin and Kadne in tow.

RSD Orion

Orbit of Yridia VIII

Yridia System

Raiju Kang sat on the bridge of Tarentum's newest ship, the Republic-class Star Destroyer Orion when his personal datapad chimed. He pulled out the datapad and read the message. Then again, slower. Finally, a third time. He replaced the datapad and stood. He turned toward the ship's Captain and cleared his throat.

"Captain, where are Sith Bloodfyre and Darth Aeternus?" He asked pleasantly.

"Sir, they are in the flag conference room one deck down." Said the Captain as he stood behind the Navigation Officer.

"Very well. I have been recalled back to Castle Tarentum with haste. Faster than this ship is capable. I will take a starfighter and return to Yridia II. Upon their return, will you inform the Masters of my absence?"

Raiju made his way to the turbolift and did not wait for the Captain's reply. He keyed the hangar bay level and waited as he descended. His spy within the Prince’s throne room had paid off with his life. Tarentum would have no chance to arrest him. Not if he played it smooth. The lift doors chimed and opened. The shuttle bay was smaller than that of an Imperial-class Star Destroyer, but it was still a very large space. He moved towards the locker room and changed into a flight suit. He pointed to the closest starship and yelled over to the deck officer.

"Ready that ship. I have been recalled by the Prince!" The deck officer nodded and saluted Raiju as he yelled into a comm. unit. Within a few minutes the Y-Wing was fueled and an astromech droid was placed in the fighter. Raiju climbed in and the ground crew strapped him in. He gave a thumbs up to the deck officer as he was cleared to move. Raiju engaged the repulsor coils and the older fighter hovered over the deck as he slid his way to the opening of the hangar bay. He engaged his engines and shot out into the blackness of space.

He moved the starfighter in a lazy arc before imputing his true coordinates into the nav computer. He opened up a comm. unit and made sure the astromech could not overhear.

"House Odan-Urr. This is Spectre-1. Come in Odan-Urr." He spoke into his mic. An eternity passed before he got a response.

"Spectre-1. Please confirm identity."

"House Odan-Urr. Spectre-1. Confirm Identity, Whiskey, Tango, Alpha, 9,3,7, Confirm." Raiju waited in silence for a few seconds before a more familiar voice appeared.

"Line secure. Raiju, what happened?" Said the voice.

"Coup aborted. We were discovered. I was able to escape. Requesting permission to return home." Raiju held his breath awaiting his fate.

"Permission granted. Come home, old friend. There is a war coming and we will need every Jedi we can get. There is a lot to discuss." Raiju smiled.

"Yes, Liam. There is. I'll see you soon." Raiju cut off the comm. and engaged the hyperdrive of the Y-Wing for Odan-Urr space.

---

Greetings Tarenti from your beloved AED!

Today is the day! Today starts the GJW at 7pm EST. Below is the current list of the group participants. If your name is not on it and it should be, email myself, Scion and Farrin and we will make the change.

Run-On Team 1: -Scion, Egregoius, Aynar d'Tana, Samael Ozriel

Run-On Team 2: -Hades, Farrin, Ceasar

Battleplan Team 1: -Egregious, Aynar d'Tana, Samael Ozriel, Ceasar

Battleplan Team 2: -Hades

Multi-media Team 1: -Egregious, Magik, Ceasar

Multi-media Team 2: None

I need some help on the Battleplan Team 2 and the Run-on Team 2!! Sign up now to help us mow down some Rebel scum.

This is what we work for. If you are new to the Brotherhood, think of the Great Jedi War as our version of the World Cup. This is the biggest game around and it does not come around very often. Best part of this is you can smite your enemies upon the battlefield. Fun times for all.

It is time we show the Brotherhood what we are made of. It's time to really put forth our best effort and bring home a win for Tarentum.

The only news I have for you right now are two items. First Jabis has left us for House Odan-Urr. It was sudden, but we wish him well petting bunnies and unicorns over in HOU. Second, Rial has stepped down and left Tarentum due to IRL issues. He said he would be back once the GJW is over, but that since he could not be active to help us, he did not want his roster position to count against us. That was a very selfless thing to do, Rial. We all hope you take care of business and come back to us soon.

OK, that's it from me. Sign up for the open positions on the teams. Let's make this our best GJW yet!