Re: STAR WARS: KNIGHTS OF THE NEW REPUBLIC

[Sirius Lupin]

Atton seethed. "Cut the backtalk, Greyflight! Speaking of which are you sure you're not related to that murdering bastard? 'Cause there aren't that many Greyflights out there."

[Flagmauth]

Teren's eyes glinted like steel. "Say that again..." she said in a voice like death, teeth bared.

[Sirius Lupin]

"'Say that again' and then what?" Atton said. "You're in no position to make threats. And if you break your bonds, may I remind you that we have a Jedi on board who can easily immobilize you like last time. So I'll ask again: Is that murdering son of a bitch Vaunt Greyflight related to you?"

[Flagmauth]

Teren made as if to lunge at Atton, but that was stopped short by the rope. She settled instead for an extremely unkind remark about Atton's mother.

[Sirius Lupin]

Atton eyes flared with fire. "What did you just call my mother?!" Then, he waved his hand rather dismissivly as he said, "That's not the point. But based on your reaction, I'm guessing you are indeed related to old Vaunt. So how are you two related? Father and Daughter, I'm guessing?"

[Flagmauth]

"What do you care?" Teren snarled.

[Sirius Lupin]

"Listen, princess," Atton said with some venom in his voice. "I just asked a little question. The least you could do is to answer a question directly for once!

"Now, I used to be an Imperial SpecForces Commando in the Imperial Fleet- not by my choosing, of course- and I was put under the command of an Admiral Vaunt Greyflight. And let me tell you, sister, just 5 seconds under his command was enough to tell me everything about all Imperial Commanders: They are cunning, manipulative, and ambitious.

"Under Greyflight's command, many innocent people were killed. I remember one instance when a Rebel ship transporting refugees fleeing the violence on Ord Mantell surrendered to the Admiral. The pilot-a Cathar- called him via holocom, pleading with him to spare them as there were no Rebel soldiers on board the ship. The pilot then turned the holo from himself to the inside of the freighter to see about 350 or so people looking around with frightened looks on their faces. Greyflight- at first glance- looked sympathetic as he promised them safe passage. The pilot thanked him and then turned off the holo.

"But as soon as the holo was turned off, Greyflight turned towards his gunners with a malicious look. And then, the unthinkable happened: that bastard ordered them to fire upon the vessel! That fat gangster doublecrossed the people he promised a safe flight. And, of course, the gunners followed his orders and the last thing I remember before I collapsed with a sudden pounding headache was the unified scream of those poor refugees.

"And that wasn't the only time he and the other officers murdered innocent people." Atton finished, looking down in the sadness of the memory.

[Flagmauth]

Teren snorted derisively. "You actually believe that garbage? You're even more stupid than I thought, which is quite an achievement."

[Sirius Lupin]

"I was there when it happened!" Atton yelled, looking up with angry eyes. "My squad and I were assigned to help Vaunt Greyflight with locating a stolen bomb. He was about to brief us when the tragic event happened. After what happened, most of the squad- even the most fanatical members- became disillutioned with the Empire and were planning defection.

"As for your comment about me being stupid, guess what? If I'm stupid, then you're even more stupid for actually believing the lies that your father and the Imperial Propaganda are spewing. I've seen the Sith turn on each other like rabid dogs if they are in the mood and one Sith makes a mistake. So don't go telling me that I'm stupid because while you were busy with inspecting ships and inventing, I've actually witness the atrocities your father and other Imperial officers have done."

Atton sighed as he returned his voice to normal. "Trust me, the sooner you leave the Imperial Military service, the better."

[Flagmauth]

[Atton has to be either wrong or misinterpreting something, here, because Grand Admiral Vaunt is my character and doesn't exactly mesh well with the Empire. He's something like a Rommel or Patton - he doesn't give a good goddamn about the politics, he just knows he's there to do his job (which is outfight the Rebels) and do it well. Although that can come off as ruthless: Rommel or Patton would quite easily have damaged civilian populations to achieve their objective. Wanton cruelty, however, is right out. If you could confirm this is Atton's personal bias rather than an accurate account that'd be great, because otherwise I think this falls under the heading of puppeteering (although a bit muddier than usual, since Vaunt isn't a player character so much as a backstory enhancer).]

"So you admit you're stupid then?" Teren said, adroitly sidestepping the main point of Atton's argument.

[Sirius Lupin]

[Sorry. Guess I should've just asked you first. Let's just say Atton doesn't have the whole story behind the Greyflight and thinks he's your typical Imperial Admiral]

"If I'm admiting I'm stupid, then I'm telling you that you're even stupider." Atton says to Teren, crossing his arms. Then there was a beeping sound telling them that they were approaching their destination and Atton walks to the cockpit to switch off the hyperspace.

The Sapphire Dragon jumps out of hyperspace only to see an Imperial fleet surrounding the arid planet. There is a sound coming from the commlink when Bastila walks into the cockpit and Atton switches the commlink on. There is a voice coming from the other end- the voice of none other than General Edward Plartam, the second-in-command of the Imperial Admiral Vaunt Greyflight.

"Ah, if it isn't the Sapphire Dragon. To whomever the captain is, you have someone that Lord Malak wants, and I intend to get it for him. So surrender and I might let you live."

"His voice sounds familiar," Atton whispers before continuing with, "Was it he who ordered the gunners to fire on those individuals? My mind was hazy during those moments due to an illness I was fighting at the time."

He did not ponder for long because the next moment, the Sapphire Dragon was being pulled by a tractor beam to what appears to be the flaghsip.

Atton and Bastila prepared to be boarded, though when it came, let's just say that it didn't go well, as Atton was caught trying to stuff a struggling Teren beneath the floor and in short, Teren and Maus were freed while Atton and Bastila were tied up.

[Flagmauth]

After being freed, Teren approached the now-bound Atton. "I seem to recall you saying some things about my father. Not very nice things, either." She hit him, backhand, right in the jaw with her mechanical arm. Hard.

[Note: Atton and Bastila won't know about her right arm being mechanical - she wears gloves and long sleeves.]

[Sirius Lupin]

"That hurt, you asshole!" Atton shouted before being punched in the gut by one of his guards. He gasped in pain before continuing with, "Besides, I can say whatever the hell I want about your father!" The guards respond to this by-literally-dragging him down the loading ramp, followed by Bastila, who is also being literally dragged.

They enter a hangar and are greeted by General Platarm- a fat, dwarf-like man with a thick, un-Imperial accent (His accent is a German one) and a whiskered face. He grins as he sees his newest prisoners.

"Ah," he says, "We meet again, Lieutendant Jaq Rand."

"Great," Atton mutters before he replies with, "Jaq Rand? I have no idea who the hell that is."

[Flagmauth]

Teren stood out of the way. She'd never particularly liked Platarm and decided the less notice was paid to her the better. Best to let him get on with the interrogation.

[Sirius Lupin]

"Ah, Teren Greyflight!" Platarm said, turning to the engineer. "When we heard that these two escaped and kidnapped you, we feared for the worst. Now it seems that fate has been indeed kind to us for after a day, we have found you. And your companion droid." Platarm looked over to Maus.

"Now, Teren, I would like to ask you some questions about your captivity and captors, if you don't mind," Platarm said, looking evilly at Atton and Bastila.

"First off, I would like to ask you who the captain is. He looks very familiar, but denies being a well-known traitor who looks spusiciously like him. Can you give me a name or anything he said about his past to you during your captivity?"

"Ah, hell." Atton mutters as he realises that Platarm- though he may be slow and stupid- will quickly put two and two together after Teren tells him. Bastila rolls her eyes as she whispers, "Nice going, Captain."

[Flagmauth]

[Actually, as it happens, Atton never revealed his name where Teren could hear him.]

"Sorry, Mr. Platarm, but I never heard what his name w- "

Maus interrupted with a series of beeps and whistles.

"What?" *bleep bleep boop* "Oh, right. Maus can get that information off his ship's logs easy as you like." Maus' head spun around several times at high velocity while the droid headed for the ship, ostensibly to rummage through the ship's computer.

[Sirius Lupin]

"Did he tell you about any of his past? Even the smallest piece of info could tell us a great deal about this shady character."

Atton, at hearing Maus rummaging through the ship's logs, sighed in relief for, just before he left on his rescue mission, he deleted all of his ship's logs just in case he got captured. He thought that, though he lived a reckless lifestyle, he'd better play it safe than sorry.

"General Asshole," Atton said, receiving a swift punch to the gut from his captors as a response.

Bastila sighed in annoyance as she said, "Haven't you learned that bad-mouthing Imperials to their face is a way to get yourself killed?!"

"I have to ask," Atton continued, "Where is Admiral Greyflight? Shouldn't he be here to 'greet' us?"

[Flagmauth]

Teren proceeded to tell Platarm what Atton told her about his work with the Empire.

[Sirius Lupin]

"Ah, I thought it was you, Jaq." Platarm said, turning around to face Atton. "You've been a slippery one. For two years we have been searching for you- the last of the original, treachrous Infantry Squad 641, more commonly known as 'Shadow Squad', the best of the best of the Imperial SpecForces. How you managed to outrun me and the new Shadow Squad for so long is beyond me, but we have you now."

"Listen, you bastard!" Atton said, being punched once again but this time in the face, doubling to the pain of the injury he received earlier curtesy of Teren. Bastila sighed in annoyance rather loudly.

"Now, now, Jaq," Platarm said with an evil grin, "Is this how you treat your superior?"

Then, it suddenly hits Atton: The voice was indeed the one who ordered fire upon that transport- the same transport that claimed the life of his sister.

"You murderer!" Atton shouts, struggling against his bonds. "Teren, I'm sorry about what I said earlier about your father. Your father's not a.. well, I guess I never knew your father, but my point is, he was NOT the monster here- this son of a bitch in front of me is!"

Another punch to his gut.

"What have you done with Greyflight?" Atton seethes, his eyes burning like a wild fire.

"You'll be joining him soon enough," Platarm says as he orders the guards to escort (drag) Atton and Bastila to their cell, where there is another prisoner- none other than the droid T3-M4.

"Great, another rust bucket." Atton mumbles as the force field goes up.

[Flagmauth]

Teren looked a bit confused. "What did he mean by that? When he asked about Greyflight?"

[Sirius Lupin]

"Alas" Platarm says to Teren, "I'm afraid that your father has not been well of late. That is all you need to know." Then he began to walk to another section of the ship.

meanwhile, while Atton is sleeping, Bastila rewires T3, therefore reactivating him.

"Are you operational?" Bastila asks the little droid.

[Here you go, Paul!]

[99luftballons]

T3-M4 creates a few beeping sounds (not loud enough to alert guards and Atton) to indicate that in fact it is operational.

[Flagmauth]

Teren blocked Platarm's path to the doorway. "He's my father. There's quite a bit more I need to know."

[Sirius Lupin]

"Your father is sick." Platarm almost snarled. "That is all you need to know!"

Despite his dwarf-like stature, he easily pushes past Teren and walks to another section of the ship.

Meanwhile, Bastila- after hearing T3 was operational- then asks, "Can you tell me what exactly happened?"

[Flagmauth]

Teren made a rude gesture at Platarm's retreating back, then headed for the sick bay.

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