Rescue at Coruscant II: Re-Oriented Express

[Serena Laran]

RESCUE AT CORUSCANT


PART II
RE-ORIENTED EXPRESS

It is a dark time the REBEL ALLIANCE and the JEDI ORDER.
Having fled from Cloud City and the might of the GALACTIC EMPIRE,
a Jedi Master named SERENA LARAN, crucial to the survival of galactic freedom,
has been taken prisoner by sinister dark agents known as the INQUISITORIUS.
Without Serena's leadership, hope may soon fade for victory.

Plotting a desperate mission to CORUSCANT, capital of the Empire,
a band of Jedi and Rebels, guided by the maverick Captain,
SANIS PRENT, prepare to take the fight to the Empire where they least expect it.

Facing odds stacked greatly against them,
the passengers of the freighter LAYLA prepare to descended to the city planet
in a gambit to restore hope to a galaxy without it.

Half of their number continues on in the shuttle
BLACK CAT towards the UNDER CITY
where an ominous mag-lev train is leaving the CITADEL and heading
towards a private INQUISITORATE port, their prisoner on board...

Serena was aware of very little, other than painful movement as her body was strapped to a stretcher and rolled out of her cell. Grand Inquisitor Valten called it her room, but it was a prison cell despite what other names they might give it. Someone had come in the middle of the night and administered a drug via intravenous drip that had quickly spun her into a series of half-lucid nightmares. Another side effect of the drug was that the Force abandoned her, a feeling that she was becoming used to during her stay in the Citadel.

Her eyelids fluttered as the stretcher was rolled into a turbolift, the drugs carted along on a separate wheeled stand. There was something... something very important... The Jedi moaned, but was ignored by those around her until she slipped under and into a very dark place.

"Sssserena..." The hands of long dead Jedi reached up to grab her robes, and she fell into the abyss, screaming....

The Inquisitors accompanying her lifted one of her eyelids to check the dilation response, and then shrugged. They loaded her onto the mag-lev train, locked the stretcher into position in a guarded chamber, and left her to her nightmares.

"I'll be happy when she's gone," one of them said quietly. "Jedi give me the creeps." The other one rolled his eyes, and went to get settled in for the trip. Just a routine prisoner transfer through the Under City. Nothing to get excited about.

[Sanis Prent]

The Shuttle Black Cat

We'd launched from Layla in the upper atmo, catching one of the main traffic thoroughfares to the outskirts leading into Imperial District. The ride was a bit bumpier than the one coming in with Layla which was also rather bumpy.

Since our departure from the mother freighter, I hadn't said much. What was there to be said? I was cruising down to the Under City with a cargo of Jedi Knights. At any moment, I half expected to catch a few squadrons of TIEs above us to end our trip real quick, but it seemed like smooth sailing down to the lower levels, aside from the bumps.

The traffic had eased up a bit now that we were out of the major skylanes. It was still there, but down here it was mainly trams and the occasional private transit. I found a fitting alcove in a manufacturing zone and tucked the shuttle aside from the main drag, the repulsors kicking up as the craft eased its tripod landing struts down to touch pavement. The running lights came on, and I quickly killed them. With my hands dancing over the console to run the power-down procedure, I turned in my seat to see the arranged procession. Maybe it was the dim red lighting inside the shuttle. Maybe it was their serious faces. Maybe it's just because I had a sizeable chunk of the last Jedi Knights in the galaxy in my responsibility. Whatever it was, the occasion seemed auspicious. I felt like I had to say something.

"I'm sure the force is with you and everything, but luck's saved my ass more times than not, and if it'll help in a pinch, may luck be with you too."

Cliché or no, it seemed like it needed to be said. I stood up, and hit the switch to the gangplank, and let it hiss to the ground.

"I'll leave the light on for you."

[Lowrook]

Lowrook could feel the planet's oppressive nature as the doors began to open. It was almost like the evil that oppressed the entire planet. Rain was coming down, but it was probably 75% lubricant and dirt at this time... nothing refreshing about it.

Lowrook shifted the mount attachments on his arms. He had rigged them so that the repeating blasters he had plugged into the powerpack on his back could hang by his paws, but not interfere with getting to his lightsaber. Over it all he had donned a hooded overcloak. He was about the sized of a baby rancor.

Lowrook nodded toward Senis. "Be safe and may the Force protect you." Then he stepped through the small opening out into the greasy, oily, dank, underworld of Coruscant.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira rose in tandem with Tionne, sharing a glance at each other before heading for the exit. Anbira looked back to Sanis, giving him an understanding nod as he again stepped forth to leave the craft.

Assembled under the awning with Lowrook and Tionne, Anbira took a look at the under-belly of Imperial Center. Far from the ritz and style of the upper levels, here it was a place most people wished to forget. It suited Anbira well enough, he'd seen all sorts of places nastier than this. This too shall pass.

"We can't stay here. We need to be on the move."

[Rev Solomon]

This deep in the Undercity, there was no night/day cycle - just electric dusk followed by smog-covered dawn. Stratoscrapers obliterated every horizon, and above the duracrete pad where the Black Cat had settled down, the sky was a tangle of skybridges and broken traffic against the ubiquitous yellow haze of city light. Even in a city of trillions, there was little life to speak of in the abandoned industrial sectors the Inquisitorius had chosen as the route for Serena's prison train. That would work to the Jedi's advantage as well.

Solomon paused and lifted his head, as if he was hearing something beyond the distant roar of repulsor traffic. "She's near," he said. "I can sense her presence."

He turned and met the eyes of his comrades. "She's already on the move. We don't have a lot of time."

[Daria Nytherciria]

On guard, Daria drew up her hood as she scanned the immediate surroundings of their landing point. The Miraluka saw beyond and through the ruinous buildings that penned them in on all sides, above and below, and glimpsed flickers of life. The Under City was not without its inhabitants but these were strange creatures that could survive in no other place but the dankest, darkest depths of the city and with whom no civilised beings would choose to exist.

“Let's go,” Daria agreed, glancing for a moment at Navaria as they took their momentous first steps away from the Black Cat. They had been unable to set down directly alongside the maglev tracks, but with the Force as their ally the Jedi would surely make swift work of the journey. Their footfalls echoed in the quiet gloom as they stalked, sprinted and sprung from cat-walk to cat-walk, picking their way through the jumble of half-ruined buildings and collapsed walk-ways.

[Naomi Lang]

“Easy there.”

Naomi, ex-Inquisitorial Agent and completely out of place amongst the Jedi, grabbed a hold of the Miraluka’s shoulder.

Where the others in the motley crew seemed to hold a reservation for the dank rot of the undercity, Lang was immediately at home. She wore a skin-tight body glove (the only part of her gear the alliance let her take) fitted with light composite plates that almost flawlessly blended in with the shadows and ruins.

“Don't let the place fool you, we've hit Inquisitoriate territory. They will have eyes and ears every.”

She had lost nearly all sarcasm. Completely serious with eyes panning over every nook and cranny. She may not get along with the group all that much, but this was a mission and this was her team.

But they definitely weren’t anywhere near the level of the Project Nightmare.

“Synch your cronos to mine and keep watch your spacing. I have lead. Stay off the cats, watch the noise, and stay out of direct view of the tracks and upper levels if you can.”

Naomi gestured at Anbira. At least he was familiar with black-ops training.

"Soldier-boy has point."

[Jason Na'moda]

Jason followed Lowrook's party out, allowing for a mock two fingered salute at Sanis as he sealed on his Mandalorian helmet and strode out into the dank atmosphere of . He cracked his neck as the helmet pressurised and icons appeared for all the various tricks he had hidden away in the armour. Following Lang, he moved swiftly with the others, armour allowing for movement easily. This he could do. He'd been living in alleyways for much of his life since anarchy didn't have much in the way of a stable income. And that was only before Ka. After that, these places became some of the safer places a lone Jedi Knight could be, presuming he could defend himself from the odd mugger and scare off anyone more dangerous than that. He'd seen far too many illegal organ harvesting operations going on in places like this.

Jason wanted to move quickly, he could sense that Serena's train was under way and they'd have to catch it to have even the slightest chance of retrieving her. HE didn't want to use the jetpack now, it would immediately draw attention to their position. They needed speed now, and that would have to come from foot. Following the others, Jason joined the middle of the column and hoped they would hurry up. At the moment the Imperium had distraction in the form of the two other teams of Jedi. Seizing the opportunity to inject some dry humour, if not gallows wit, into the moment, he spoke up. "Come on Red. We're Jedi, does running in screaming with glowing swords get us no black ops brownie points?" The tone in his voice was clearly sarcastic and he made no attempt to hide it, although he wasn't trying to poke fun at her specifically rather than the idea of doing just that.

[Daria Nytherciria]

Daria looked at and through Naomi Lang. “I need no lessons in discretion. I have spent years successfully avoiding detection by your predecessors.”

She shrugged away the hand on her shoulder. At that moment, another of the party – an armoured figure with whom Daria was not familiar – spoke. She arched an eyebrow at his words, but kept moving. The Force was her ally and as always, it would guide her and guard her so long as she trusted in it.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

"With respect,"

Anbira dipped his head barely towards Naomi.

"Master Lowrook has seniority. But I have no trouble greeting any blaster bolts with a smile."

He glanced to the large Wookiee, Naomi, and Solomon, who had formed up into a group. He cast his eyes briefly to meet Tionne's, who in turn met his, and they both turned away.

"Right. I believe we have a train to catch, gentlemen."

Tapping on his hologauntlet embedded in his armor, Anbira brought up the schematic of the Under City maglev platform that lay ahead.

"If I read this right, we've got just over four minutes to make it to the track before the train crosses our position."

He tossed back a smile, and jumped off the platform, dropping down a half dozen stories to land in a crouch on a utility platform that would carry them farther.

[Rev Solomon]

Solomon watched as Anbira dropped to the moving utility platform with a flutter of his cape. He stepped away from the edge to give a look to his comrades.

"You'll have to give me some time to warm up before I try that. I see some stairs over there."

Lowrook and Solomon hurried down the stairs with Naomi securely ensconced between them.

By the time they reached the level of the mag-lev tracks, Anbira already had the utility platform secured. "If I didn't know better," Solomon said to Anbira as he embarked, "I'd think you were showing off."

[Lowrook]

Lowrook waited as they got their bearing. He looked around; taking in the layout of the area they had landed. If worse came to worse, there might be a running light fight through these dark streets and alleys. Lowrook couldn’t feel the presence of Serena, but having never met her, he knew that unfamiliarity was the reason.

He did sense evil nearby and new that their window was closing. He had the gift of shatterpoint, much like Mace Windu had. He could sense when and where to strike through the Force to break the plans of the enemy… and that window was rapidly closing.

“We must move. Inactivity kills more missions than activity.”

As Anbira jumped down to the lower levels, Solomon led Naomi down the stairs with Lowrook bringing up the rear of the formation. They made it down to the platform. Though he couldn’t see the train, he could feel the rumbling of it barreling towards them and felt the dark cloud concentrating around the train.

“The Shatterpoint is closing in”, Lowrook said, almost to himself.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

Thanewulf had spent the entire trip in complete silence, with mind afloat upon the potent conduits of the Force. Strange new emotions has to be chased away, encapsulated within her being and not let to resurface to avoid distraction. Anbira's closeness did little to help such an endeavour; an occasional glance sent a wave of pleasantness down her spine. Yet all of it remained shelled in the very same cocoon Tionne encased her Force signature, an impermeable barrier to anybody trying to sense their way though layers of the redhead's persona.

In the true vein of a skilled Ataruist, the Knight landed a few meters from Hicchoru in an almost same manner, albeit more profound and elegant. The thud of her soft boots against the durasteel plating was barely heard; rising from the crouch, she readjusted the utility belt that kept her black, sleeveless overall in place. Slate eyes narrowed whilst peering into the relative darkness of the Coruscanti Underworld, a place where inspiration for children's bedtime stories was of found.

"Showing off?" the redhead commented idly, sporting an amused grin - "Oh, there will be plenty of time to show off. The train's full of... them."
Her smile faded away, replaced by a look of determination when her eyes searched Solomon's for some form of approval.
"Let me go first. They won't be able to sense me."

[Naomi Lang]

A noticeable change overcame Naomi as she descended into the darkness alongside the Jedi. The facetious attitude and aloof posture melted away as something stirred inside. A familiar rumbling that found a home amongst the shadows. After months of slumber, the predator was slowly waking.

Lang moved like a ghost across rubble strewn steps, completely unhindered by the treacherous footing and floated across gaping holes without a sound.

Eyesight grew more focused in the black and her hearing heightened. She could make out the fine webs of night-spiders hidden in the debris and picked up the sounds of scurrying rodents far above. Adrenaline flooded through her, giving rise to an unnatural energy.

Where the Jedi felt foreboding and evil, she only felt a hunter’s instinct.

It was a ‘gift’ from the Inquisition. Naomi and her squadmates were much more than human. Nightmare wasn’t nearly an adequate enough term.

"Let me go first. They won't be able to sense me."

Naomi’s eyes tracked from one dark nook to another. She knew the Inquisition. How they thought, how they acted, what they were capable of.

“You make too many assumptions.”

She settled on the wookie and the redhead. A strange grin crept over her face.

“It’s not the ones on the train I’d worry about. I don’t like being in the open.”

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Anbira had a smile at Solomon's observation of his tactics.

"In our delicate situation, I would think speed would be a virtue."

He glanced back to Lowrook's mentioning of the approaching shatterpoint.

"Master Lowrook seems to agree, the time to move is now."

He did, however, heed the former Project Nightmare soldier. The train platform afforded them little in the way of cover or concealment, they were effectively out in the open if the Empire's agents sought a conflict.

"The building that houses the switching controls is on that platform adjacent to the track. It looks like four stormtroopers standing watch."

He glanced to Tionne and Naomi.

"Since Solomon believes subtlety to be lost on me, perhaps you ladies can show us how it's done together? I'll inform Master Tarkin her welcome wagon's coming."

Slinking back alongside Lowrook and Sol, Anbira keyed up his audo comm. There were no need for names or particulars. They both knew what the topic of discussion was.

"We're here. Our friends should be arriving shortly. Are you in position?"

[Serena Laran]

The Inquisitorate soldiers that were layered throughout the train were professionals. Although they were traveling through the heart of Imperial Center and chances of something going wrong were in the hundredths of a percent, the guards posted to Serena Laran's compartment were alert.

They didn't even look at her, strapped to a gurney and locked into place inside a small room with no outside walls. Two soldiers, clad in nightmarish black armor, traveled inside the room with her. There were more beyond the walls, all resolute and determined.

Everything was going smoothly.

Serena strained against her bonds, her face streaked with tears that had already dried. "Why didn't you come with us?" A'na cried, ghostly pale hands pulling at her, pulling her down... down... "We miss you..."

"I miss you," he said, tugging her in another direction. Sol turned towards her, eyes boiled egg white in the darkness. "I have a present for you." He pulled her close and she sank into his arms gratefully, yearning for protection from the other ghosts that were tormenting her.

Pain blossomed in her chest and she looked down to see a knife buried in her heart. "Something to show you," Sol said, smiling that smile she remembered so well, while his eyes stared balefully out of the darkness.

She screamed.

[Rev Solomon]

There was a tremor in the Force. Solomon swayed where he stood as if weathering a sudden lance of pain, but it passed as quickly as it had come. A quick look around to his compatriots told him he was the only one who had felt it.

This wouldn't do. He didn't need one of his fellow warriors to tell him that. Knowing that Serena was in pain would not help them find her any faster and could only distract him from his purpose. Much as he hated to cut himself off from her now that he'd found her again, he steeled himself and shut out his long-dormant connection with Serena.

"Master Lowrook, do you think you could assist me in getting one of those service cars up and running?"

He'd pointed to a row of open-roofed cars, roughly the size of a hoverbus, laid up on a split section of track level with the maintenance platforms where the Jedi currently stood. They were significantly narrower than the maglev tracks themselves and had far more maneuverability than a full-sized train car. They would make an ideal platform from which to chase down the train after it had passed so they could board it from the rear.

[Tionne Thanewulf]

"Five." the redhead corrected upon gazing sideways, her senses browsing through the building they were getting ready to invade. Or what was once a building, giving the current state it was in. It would be a miracle if the walls would not crumble once they smashed the doors open.

"Two on the ground floor, guarding the entrance. Three in the control room." she added, eyes narrowing as she grappled onto the Force to discern signatures in the blurriness of the Coruscanti underground. Her attention shifted to the auburn-haired agent, a bow of head and court nod given in sign of respect. The Jedi needed her help, the Knight was aware of it.

"I suggest I create a diversion and draw those three stormtroopers downstairs. You can use a liquid cable launcher to get to the top floor." Tionne suggested, then turned to stand on the edge of the raft they stood on.
"Ready when you are, agent Lang."

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria, Daria and Jason had kept to the shadows, using the Force to quiet their approach the trio of Jedi climbed the fire escape and on top of the nearest building. It was one of many burnt out apartment complexes that permeated this part of the Coruscant Underworld. Spice addicts and worse users of harder substances used these complexes to feed every need. It was an oppressive taint of human nature that hung in the back of Navaria's senses while they waited.

She remained crouched at the edge of the roof, senses alert and extending outwards, eyes fixated on the direction their target would be coming.

"We're here. Our friends should be arriving shortly. Are you in position?"

The comm was set to the lowest setting that she could hear and Navaria thumbed the switch to answer. "We are," she whispered, keeping the conversation to a minimum.

[Sarah Lymia]

A svelte figure, clad in black and crimson, leaned against the armored bulkhead of the containment cell housing the Jedi prisoner. Her eyes closed and head tipped back allowing a shock of white as snow hair to sway to the motions of the train.

She could smell the fear and panic, taste the pain and suffering emanating from Serena through the force. It was fascinating, really. The Jedi had her eyes wide open and her mouth silently screamed in terror despite being completely unconscious. Dead Man’s Dream man of the Inquisitoriate called the drug. Stimulated the nervous system, but rendered the body useless. Brain could receive impulses, but not send any of it’s own. The mind suffered from severe delusions and affected adepts far more keenly than others.

The white-haired woman’s chest slowly rose and fell as she breathed deeply, almost ritualistically drawing the storm of emotions deep inside of her. Tiny glimpses of the horrors and nightmares Serena experienced briefly flickered into focus.

She herself had been subject to the same drug, all Inquisitors had. The experience was something she had completely ripped from her own mind with the force leaving only hazy memories. But feeling someone else’s mind as the drug tortured and seduced them……..

…..it was like a window into their soul.