[IC] A Galaxy in Twilight[Lord Gressh/Zarkun]

[Lord Greshh]

Cosen Greshh

I nod. “That might just work. Now all we have to do is go over the plan with Jakito and find a way to establish communication with this High Justice Draxxal. I can go brief Jakito myself, if you like. Jerus Je’and is waiting to speak to you too.”

[Zarkun]

Temari Ordo

"That will work fine. Perhaps for the best as well. I imagine that Jerus and I will be having a rather long discussion that goes between reminiscing and the future quite frequently."

[Lord Greshh]

Cosen Greshh

“I’ll update him right away then. Hopefully we’ll have everything ready to go soon.” I look towards the window before I go. Evening had settled in. The best time to go after Stoneheart would be at night, so we would have to either go tonight or wait until tomorrow. Unfortunately, Mand’alor planned to assault Presidential Palace tomorrow. Either she would have to be convinced to delay the attack, or se would have to hurry.

END OF SCENES

[Lord Greshh]

Draxxal

Around 11:00 at night, I stand in one of the lower level chambers of Presidential Palace, watching as a series of medical droids zoom around a table. The ‘patient’ thrashes about on the operation table, screaming in intense pain. I turn to the slender woman next to me. “I’m surprised he hasn’t passed out yet.”

Carice Malori

“He is stronger than you give him credit.” I pace around the observation window. “Can’t you sense it? He wants to feel the pain. He NEEDS the pain to know that he is still alive.” I turn back to Draxxal. “And in the end, it will make him stronger.”

Draxxal

“If you say so, Mother.” My comm beeps, showing that I have received a message. When I check it the message, words appear: MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALONE

My eyes widen, and I look up to make sure Malori isn’t watching. Luckily, she is once again focused on the screaming man in the operation room. Discretely, I slip out of the room and go to the empty corridor before playing the full message.

Jakito Twilight

My hologram appears. “Greetings, High Justice. I am Jakito Twilight; Jedi Knight and Sith Hunter. The original, not the robots Chancellor Sucal made and copies our name for.” Clears throat. “Anyways, I am here on Coruscant. I k ow that the Mandalorians are making big problems for you, and I know that the a Revolution is helping them out. I’m no fan of Mandos, and I’m even less of a fan of the Greshh kids. All I care about are my family, so... IF you agree to help us sit this war out in peace, I am willing to spill everything I know about the Mandalorian plans. I’ll even help you guys capture Cosen and Gavin Greshh. Whatever you want. All I ask is that my wife, my daughter, and I all be left alone. We won’t bug you guys and hopefully you won’t bug us. I’m bringing this proposal to you instead of Sucal because, honestly, after everything we’ve been through, I’d rather take my chances trusting you than Sucal. If you agree to my terms, meet me at the following coordinates. And please come alone. I really don’t want an ambush. Especially when I have such good info for you. Okay, bye!” The message ends.

Draxxal

I stand quietly for a few moments, considering what I have just watched. Slowly, a smile comes to my face, and I head off to grab my weapons and gear.

END OF SCENE

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

Becca wasn’t too happy with the plan, especially the part where she couldn’t come. As always, she insisted that we worked better as a pair, but I reminded her that she needed to stay behind and keep and eye on Korre (and Hayden, less she try to slip away again). To at least put her at some ease, I allowed Jerus to come with me and Cosen as we headed off to our meet up with High Justice Draxxal.

As I pilot the speeder, I glance at Jerus. “Remind me to thank Kamari for helping hack Draxxal’s comm signal. He must have picked up a few tricks from Hunter before he died.”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"That IS Hunter, Jakito. But, yeah, we'll have to thank him either way. Got an idea of what you want to open this deal with?"

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

“Well, I figure we start with something somewhat honest, though not too major...” realization hits me and I glance at Jerus. “Wait, did you just say Kam is Hunter? Becca said something similar earlier, though I thought she meant it like he’s become a lot like Hunter. But your saying he actually IS Hunter, or Hunter is him, or whatever?”

Cosen Greshh

I sigh from the back seat. “It’s obvious. I don’t even know who Hunter is and it’s obvious. Kam doesn’t act like a Mandalorian. He’s too smart, and too immature. Nothing like those other stiffs back there.”

Jakito Twilight

“Oh man. We’re going to have to deal with that at some point... maybe. I don’t even know how this is even possible. This is all getting too crazy for me.”

Cosen Greshh

“Can we focus on the mission? We’re luring our a serial killer. The least we can do is have our heads in the game.”

Jakito Twilight

“Fair point. Stoneheart now, body snatching boy later. As I was saying, we should give Draxxal at least something partly true. A full on lie might be obvious, but telling too good of secrets right out of the gate might be our undoing.”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"Well, we can avoid having to worry about Draxxal transmitting the meeting to anyone he'll have playing overwatch. I'll be jamming all outgoing and incoming signals and I'm sure Stoneheart will deal with anyone actually there. If not, I will." I look around, watching the rooftops. "Honestly, Stoneheart's what I'm worried about. The guy is good at escape."

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

“As if we didn’t have so many other problems. I wonder what his deal is. Xan told us he spend weeks simply stalking her around Coruscant. Then he kidnapped her sister and held her captive until Sucal’s people rescued her. I’m that way, it’s like he was purposely trying to make Sucal look the hero. But then again, he also rescued Theron Shan and supposedly advised him to seek out Satele. And THEN he appeared on Naboo to warn Xan about an impending ambush at her home.”

Cosen Greshh

“He’s not on Sucal’s side, but he isn’t an ally either. He murdered one of my Resistance recruits because he was supposedly going to betray us. He tried to kill several other recruits too, AND Draxxal, but we managed to chase him off. Or, at least, he gave up the attack in favor of a new plan. Very strange.” I pause a moment. “I didn’t get a good look at him, but he felt strange in the Force. Temari said he wore Sith Armor, but he blended too well with the shadows for me to see him clearly.”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"Didn't Draxxal confirm the dead man had indeed sold you and the other members of the Revolution out though?" I sit back and hum thoughtfully. "And now that I think about it, he knew exactly where you would come from when going to your meeting place. I mean...he knows an awful lot about the Revolution."

[Lord Greshh]

Cosen Greshh

“So did Gendry, and all the other Dark Jedi who used to serve my father. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was one of those. Maybe he was one of those who remained loyal, and is now on some sort of twisted revenge quest. Not everyone thinks as rationally as my brother an I when immersed in the Dark Side.”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"My point is that this killer is at the very least former Revolution. That means part of why he's been escaping so much is because he knows this city planet like the back of his hand." I turn to Jakito, my mind already churning. "What did Draxxal say the place he wanted to meet us at was called?"

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

“Monument Plaza. The highest mountain peak on Coruscant. Normally it’s a huge tourist attraction, but the Mandalorians have more or less discouraged people from having fun for the time being, so the area should be cleared out. It’s open enough to give us plenty of breathing room in case of abush... which is kinda what we’re counting on, right?”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"Well, ideally, yeah. But Stoneheart knows this place. Guess we'll just have to wait and see. What do you have for ideas that'll convince Draxxal to stick around for a bit?"

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

"If there is one thing I'm good at, it's talking for a long time. If I can't keep him interested in the information I'm spilling, I can at least keep him from leaving my talking roundabout and dragging things out for as long as possible."

Cosen Greshh

"You told him you would help him capture me and Gavin, right? Maybe if worse comes to worse, we pretend I followed you to the meeting and you can pretend to help him subdue me. It'll obviously give it away to Stoneheart that I am there too, but he didn't seem particularly timid about killing in from of me before."

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"Well, I think this is the most 'what ifs' we've ever gone into a situation on before. Gonna have to play it by ear."

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

I smirk. “Playing it by ear is how I got this far in life. Always be prepared for the plan to go horribly wrong, and always have a backup plan to fall back on. And also be prepared for the backup plan to go wrong, and have a backup to that plan. Basically it’s like a descending series of plans you gotta keep falling back on until one of them sticks.”

Cosen Greshh

“I can see where Hayden gets her improv skills from.”

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

"He makes it sound flawless, but it really isn't." The meeting point came into sight and I stood, locking my helmet into place. "Alright you two, I'm gonna jet ahead, get set up. May the Force be with you." I jump off and a moment later, my jetpack kicks in and I fly even with the hovercraft a moment before jetting ahead and disappearing in a shimmer of light as my stealth tech kicks in.

[Lord Greshh]

Jakito Twilight

As we pull up close to the walkway leading to Monument Plaza, I turn to Cosen. "You wanna hop out and find a good hiding spot? As much as I'm sure Draxxal would love to see you, I think it's best if I go in alone first."

Cosen Greshh

"Alright, but remember to signal if you need me to swoop in like I said." I climb out of the speeder and dart off into the shadows.

Jakito Twilight

Locking the speeder down, I walk towards the round plaza. There are shops and restaurants on all sides, all of them of course closed do to this area being evacuated. In the center of the platform is a large triangular chunk of rock, lit on all sides to tiny spotlights. Believe it or not, this used to be the tallest mountain on Coruscant, but all of the construction over the years as greatly dwarfed it. Now, it is only a tourist attraction; something to remind people that yes, in fact there IS an actual planet underneath all this city.

I take up a position close to the mountain peak, closing my arms and trying to look casual. It was a look I adopted a lot back when i was a smuggler. Hopefully it would pay off now. I also made sure to close off my thoughts and do my best not to radiate too much emotion in the Force. I didn't know how powerful this Draxxal was, but if he picked up on my thoughts about Jerus or Cosen, or if he could sense that I wasn't being completely honest, that would be very bad.

Draxxal

A few minutes later, I arrive at the plaza. I had considered bringing an escort of Senate Commandos, but I didn't know how jumpy this man would be. Didn't want to scare him off before he revealed anything juicy. With my techblade slung over my shoulder, I walk towards Jakito. "I received your message. Shall we begin?"

[Zarkun]

Jerus Je'and

I had landed a couple of minutes ahead of Jakito and Cosen and had already begun the jamming signal while quietly sweeping each room around where Draxxal and Jakito had begun speaking. So far, I hadn't found any tell tale signs of treachery or ambush, but that could quickly change.