Rinn: The Sentinel

[Xais'fir]

~A notification flashed on the controls of the Nightwraith signalling its imminent arrival in the Rinn system, Xais'fir awaked by his ship via his link with it and he stretches. He had forgotten how long it took him to get here, though he didn't care, all that was important was that he get in, accomplish his mission, and get out as quickly as possible. Back in the cargo hold the cloaking device he'd stolen for Lirreka had been fully integrated into the 'wraith, barely recognizable as the device it was to anyone who didn't look carefully. The concern now was if it was integrated enough to operate properly, if it did he could slip in undetected, if not, then his ship along with himself would be scattered across this part of the sector. Pressing a few buttons on his control panel he hopes for the best as the cloak is activated, though still in hyperspace his ship slowly fades from view, the device working perfectly which brought a hidden smile to his face. Quickly he recored a brief coded message on a secure channel very few knew of, "Mission Begun," to be sent out the moment he exited hyperspace. Again the indicator flashes, he was just on the edge of the system now and he taps a button, forcing his ship out of hyperspace prematurely, he wanted to do this carefully and he still didn't know if the cloak was masking his prescence at all.

Lowering the engines to half power he changes heading towards the last known position of the Sentinel, a Republic Interdictor ship that had been crippled during a recent battle. It did not take long for the first and final test of the cloak's functionality to arrive, in the form of a squadron of fighters on a perimeter patrol. Holding course he watched as the six strike craft pass right by him, no hint that they had discovered his prescence was noticable until they were well beyond sensor range for such small vessels. The sound of a deep exhale fills his ears, not realizing he had been holding his breath, though now his fears had been put to rest as he powers the engines fully. It took hardly any time at all to reach the coordinates for his target, the large silhouette of the Sentinel filling his cockpit, backdropped by the system's sun as sat helpless, listing to the side slightly in a slow spin.

Countless holes marred the Interdictor's hull, fires visible in most of them, spewing smoke and other debris into space, to mix the the wreckage of a few dozen other ships. Xais didn't know who the Republic had ambushed, nor did he care save that he knew it hadn't been the Ebonclaw, of that he was sure as he nears the starboard side of the huge ship. Red lenses glance at the two other large silhouette's flanking the Interdictor, a pair of Destroyers sent as escort until the Sentinel could be repaired. A few dozen other craft filled the space between the cap ships, support ships mostly save for a few fighter squadrons and a handful, say six or seven gunboats. Those he ignored as he pulls the 'wraith beside a hole in the ship's hull, matching the larger vessels rotation to essentially plug up the wound. This he did on purpose, giving him an entry point that would be unobserved as well as letting him fill the area beneath with atmosphere

Seperating himself from the 'wraith he walks back into the hold, retrieving his mandalorian heavy repeating blaster, a few grenades; two concussion, one plasma, two sonic and two ion; and two of the prototype bio-tech devices he'd been working on. All of which he merely touched to his armor, a split second later to be absorbed into it for ease of carrying, even the blaster, before he stands slightly off center oin the hold. Slowly he begins descending through the floor, not from a hidden lift, but from passing through his ship, both his armor and the ship itself working in unison to drop him onto the floor of what used to be a turbolaser control room, silently. He had 'cloaked' the moment he passed from his ship and landed in a crouch, immediately glancing around for any signs of life though he had been right about using one of the holes, it meant no one would be here to observe his infiltration. No one had and he quietly steps through the half opened door, searching both directions of the corridor beyond for life before making his way down the lefthand path. Having the layout of the ship made finding the Sentinel's Gravity Well Generator the easy part, getting the schematics for it and leaving without detection was the difficulty. Though this rouote eventually led to the Generator, that was not his first stop, the tertiary control center being his current destination. It would allow him to assess the ship's situation a little better as well as provide intel on his best course of action.

The damage was extensive in this part of the ship, the corridors scarred by fire and smoke and in a few cases what appeared to be blaster scoring, suggesting that the Sentinel was boarded at some point during the battle. The lighting in this section was also sporadic, even then barely enough to illuminate more than a few feet in front of Xais which didn't hinder him at all, in fact it would only make avoiding detection that much easier. After a ten minute walk he rounds a corner, rather peering 'round said corner at the fairly well lit door to the teriary control center, his intended target for the moment. The pair of blaster turrets that were in place to defend it had already been destroyed, as was the door to the center itself, seems he was not the only one to have chosen this tactic though likely for different reasons. Innumerable score marks from blaster fire, as well as burns from grenade explosions covered the corridor, the fighting here had been fierce, yet it would appear that the invaders had won as he cautiously slides along the wall to pause just aside the ruined door, signs of a thermal detonator being used to rend the reinforced plasteel door apart were visible.

Voices were heard from within the room as well as the sounds of computers running, a good sign, hopefully the center itself had maintained minimal damage during the fray. Popping his head around the corner long enough to spot the four individuals within he calculates what to do next, two looked like technicians, the third was well armed, presumeably a marine and the fourth was armed the same yet wore the markings of an squad leader. The techs appeared to be performing minor repairs to one of the computer banks while the other two stood watch, the subordinate carried a heavy blaster rifle; a blaster pistol; two grenades and a vibroblade; his commander having much the same except his pistol was of Arkanian make and the rifle looked modified heavily. Looking across from the door at the light fixture just offset from the door he gets an idea na dmoves over to slam his right claw into it, the resulting crash, sparking and loss of light,made enough noise to attract the attention of the four within the control center~

The commander glances out the door with a grunt, motioning with a gloved hand for the techs to continue their work as he addresses the other marine. "Damnit, this thing's falling apart around us, by the time the repair fleet arrives there won't be anything left to repair. At anyrate go check it out, might be something the techs can fix." The subordinate marine, a Private so it would seem, nodded, grabbed his blaster rifle in hand and left the room to investigate the situation. Xais'fir had taken up position just to the right of the door, letting the soldier pass right by him, following silently behind and waiting until the man stopped at the light to swiftly place his left hand over his mouth while the blade on his right arm is shoved through the man's middle, severing his spine. The man had no time to react having been caught by surprise and Xais holds onto him, the body slowly being pulled apart as his armor consumes the soldier. Were someone to happen by they would merely see the Private hovering in the air as the layers of his body slowly peel from him. How long it took, Xais didn't know but he figured it had been over ten minutes as he could hear the commander calling for the Private he'd just slain. A wide grin curls the corner of his lips as he turns to walk back into the control center, no longer the bio-tech armored mercenary under Ebonclaw employ, but Pvt. Kelvyn Crass~

"Damnit Crass, what the hell took you so long, you decide to relieve yourself on the bulkhead or what?" The commander halfgrowls as 'Crass' enters, who quickly shook his head and saluted before moving to stand next to a console slightly behind his CO. "No sir, it was just difficult to see anything with that light out. looks like the wiring got shorted somewhere and it finally blew. I'm not a tech so I can't be sure, sir." His accent was one used to the wastes of Tatooine and his skin was tanned enough to prove it.

"I figured it was something like that, I swear if that fleet doesn't show soon we should declare the ship lost, transfer to the destroyers and get the hell outta this backwater system." The officer said before turning to watch the techs during their work, both having listened to 'Crass''s report while they kept at it.

~Xais'fir smiled as the hilt of his Adu'dhaera lightsaber seemed to grow from his right palm, resting familiarly within it as he looked at the three others, a wicked idea forming in his mind at the same time. He so did like causing havoc and this would likely cause a bit of chaos if the plan he just made fell into place~

[Xais'fir]

~Slowly and silently he reached over to tap the button for the ship's comm, establishing a one-way link with the bridge. They could hear what was about to happen but their calls would go unnoticed as 'Crass' steps behind the officer. With a very careful turn of his wrists, the hilt of his Adu'dhaera lightsaber slides apart, becoming two seperate sabers as their blades extend, the Silver beamed one flying at the two technicians, spinning in a deadly arc to slice across the first's back then into the second's side as he turns to see what made his companion scream, his own filling the room in turn. Though he could have easily slain the officer he didn't, letting the man dive forward over the console, lifting his modified blaster rifle up to aim at Xais in confusion~

"Crass..what the hell...SITH!.." That last word was what Xais'd been waiting for, the returning lightsaber being the cause for the officer's cry as the Viridan one impales the officer in the chest in mid leap from Xais, the man's blaster firing once in a death knell.

~For a moment the hilt of the Silver beamed 'saber slides back into his armor as he grabs the officer's weapon, firing multiple shots towards the door and a few of the non-critical computer banks, periodically mixing it with slahes from the Viridian 'saber as it cut through a nearby console that had been destroyed in the previous battle~

"Sir! You killed Sarge!..Why are you attacking us, we're allies you Sith dog?" Said 'Crass' as he fired several more rounds into the back wall then backing out into the hallway to give the proper effect before returning to the control room and dropping the rifle on it's owner's corpse.

~The two techs had been dead since the first strike and he retrieves his Silver lightsaber from his armor and rejoins them before letting his armor absorb them again. He figured, conservatively, that it would take at least twenty minutes for any sort of reinforcements to arrive which was more than enough time for him to do what he came here to do. Stepping in front of the main control console he hacks into it using his armor's wrist-slicer, searching through the menus for the ones he needed he downloads information on the ship's current state, casualty lists, any access codes he could find then sabotaging the console so it would appear as though it were inoperable.

Once this had been done he quickly fled the control room, after retrieving his guise's blaster rifle, then heading further down the corridor outside the room in the opposite direction he had come. It took him another twenty minutes to arrive at a cross section of corridors where he needed to turn when he heard the sounds of boots thumping on metal coming from the corridor to his left. A grin meets his lips as he summons one of his lightsabers, and slices the blaster rifle in half as it's tosssed back the way he came. Next he ran in the direction of the soldiers he knew to be heading his way, a panicked look on his face when he sees them round the corner~

"Help! I've got a Dark Jedi right behind me!" He says in that Tatooininan accent as he runs towards the group of six sent to investigate the distrubance he'd instigated.

~All were armed as 'Crass' had been as they ran passed Xais, the moment the rear two were adjacent to him his lightsaber appeared in his hands, the Silver and Viridian beams extending to stab into their sides only to neatly slice through their backs from momentum alone. Their screams alert the four remaining soldiers to danger as Xais spins around, sending one of the back two into the one in front of him with a Force Push, then continuing on to meet the second pair. Silver blurrs as it slwipes down at the rifle of the closest soldier, burning it in half while a Viridian blurr swings low to sever the man's legs at the knees. The Soldier still standing opens fire on Xais as his Force Pushed compatriots hit the cross-section's wall with a crash. Upending the Silver lightsaber Xais stabs downward as he crouches, burning a clean hole into the now legless soldier's head. The Viridian lightsaber waving rapidly as it deflects the blaster fire away from him until he can leap at the source, both lightsabers slashing horizontally to split the man into three seperate pieces. In one swift motion he tosses both lightsabers into the air as the mandalorian heavy repeating blaster slides from his back as he reaches behind to grab it, easily swinging the heavy weapon down in front of him as the last two soldiers rise to their feet. Xais was drawing on the Force to increase the speed of his movements, a forefinger squeezes the trigger, a moment later the weapon unleashes a barrage of blaster fire on the two before him, the bolts slam into their bodies making them jerk about until they collapse to the floor in a heap. Only then does Xais release the trigger, quickly slinging the mandalorian heavy repeater behind him to catch both halves of his Adu'dhaera lightsaber when they fall to waist level.

Moving over to who he suspected to be the leader of this group he grabs the corpse's head, having been the one he'd sliced in thirds. The head and shoulders are absorbed into his armor and though after an attempt, he couldn't take on the soldiers appearance, he could however mimic his voice. Which was Xais' goal in the first palce as he searches the man until he finds his communicator, pressing a few buttons to send a message in the Onderonian's voice~

"Bridge. This is Beta leader, we found Pvt. Crass, he's a little beat up and his weapon was destroyed but he's alive. He's reported that Sith attacked the tertiary control center, a single squad lead by a Dark Jedi. How the hell could they get on board without us knowing about it? We're going to patrol corridors 016, 015 and 014 in addition to the Grav Well Generator. Beta Leader out." What could only be called an evil grin curled his lips as he headed down the corridor he needed to enter to reach Grav Control, keeping the communicator to listen in on troop movements. His plan seemed to be working so far and he was bristling with anticipation to see it through fruition.

[Xais'fir]

~Xais'fir paid close attention to the miniature layout of the Sentinel transposed in his left lense, not only did it serve to make getting to the Grav Control Room easier, it also informed him of which sections fo corridors had sustained severe damage hence needing to be sealed off. Due to the size fo the ship it took him quite some time to get to the halfway mark as he was and would be a little while still before he reached his destination. So he'd spent most of that time reviewing the data he'd downloaded from the tertiary control computer, starting with the ships' status report. The Sentinel had suffered massive amounts of damage during the battle, losing over half of its engines, its shield generators were offline as were over 75% of its weapon systems and even those operational only at half capacity, the power generators being pushed beyond their design limits after the ship lost two of its primaries. The Grav Well Generator still had enough power to function and had been made a priority, in case they were attacked again it would give them a little more warning. Also the ships' internal sensors and most of its defenses were offline or destroyed, only the most critical areas had power rerouted to those systems, or been made priority repair items. All of which made his job easier, since they couldn't track him or their patrols, so any he ran across could be dealt with without alerting anyone to his movements or what was truly happening. Xais had continued to maintain his guise as Pvt. Kelvyn Crass, for the eventuality that he ran across another patrol, which he had on three previous occasions. Xais was staring to get a little exerted as he'd been running through the corridors, not wanting to waste time moving through the massive vessel. After another half hour he finally enters the corridor to Grav Control, with a slightly irritated grunt as he slows his pace to a brisk walk. He had guessed the Grav Generator would be guarded just not as well as it currently was, the three pairs of autoturrets linning the end near the door were active as were four assault droids and the total of the previous defenses in soldiers and that was just getting up to the door, what awaited beyond that would be unknown until he could either sneak his way in or fight his way in. The latter was the best option and as he nears the turrets he quickly assesses his odds and decides on a course of action, the first of the soldiers letting out a nervous sigh when he recognizes 'Crass'~

"It is good to see you, we thought you met death, Crass. Are you alone?" The twi'lek sargeant said just as nervously as he eyed the corridor behind Xais, the heavy blaster rifle he was armed with shaking in his hands.

Xais gives him a feigned look of fear as he moves past the turrets and droids and stands before the twi'lek. "I almost did...the..the Dark Jedi just came into the control room and sliced Sarge in half...then he threw his lightsaber at the techs killing them with one swing and he reflected every one of my shots before he sliced my blaster rifle in half. I've barely avoided a dozen Sith groups just getting here, the last friendly patrol I found got slaughtered..I think they're heading to the bridge..They may even have cloaking devices on some of their soldiers...I dunno." By the time he'd finished the twi'lek was sweating profusely, buying into his farce hook line and sinker as he cues into the communicator he quickly brought up.

"Bridge, this is Grav Control Two. Crass, made it here but he's alone...he says Beta has been killed and that the Sith are headed your way. They even have cloaking devices on some of them, possibly elite soldiers along with at least one Dark Jedi."

After a moment the comm clicked, a human voice on the other side sounding rather panicked. "Damn...uh...all Patrols, report to the Bridge immediately to aid in its defense...the Venture and the Callid are sending troops to help us repel the intruders. Grav Control Two, leave the defense there to the droids and to the turrets I want all hands back to the Bridge now."

~No sooner had the transmission ended than forty or so soldiers came flowing at a dead run from the Control room, making Xais very glad he had decided against a confrontation. The twi'lek was the last to leave, having questioned 'Crass' as to why he wasn't heading to the Bridge, though his reply of needing to acquire a new weapon was enough to sate the soldiers' curiosity. Once all of his sentient hinderances had left Xais went about ridding himself of the mechanical ones. Stepping from the line of sight of the droids he 'cloaks', then moving through the door after hacking it open to glance about the room. There were another dozen droids, all assault types, scattered around the interior and all oblivious to Xais' presence as he made his way to the Gravity Well Generator's main console.

Extending the wrist-slicer he bypasses the console's login and accessess the droid and turret control protocols, changing their targetting behavior to include friendlies other than himself as well as setting the droids on patrol mode, or rather a search-and-destroy mode with their patrol path leading to the Bridge. Looking at the nearest droid he smiles as its defense shield activates and it along with the other eleven droids file out the door to carry out their new directive. With the turrets and droids out of the way, soon adding to the confusion and havoc he's already caused Xais begins searching the system for schematics to the Grav Generator behind the window to his rear. Despite his skills it took him a good amount of time to find the plans to the Generator, having had to bypass, override, rewrite and a dozen other things to the safety protocols guarding the information he sought. After the download was complete Xais stepped back and made his way to a maintenance access door behind him, cycling it open to allow entry then heading to the base of the Generator itself. The first of the two prototype bio-tech devices he had moved out of his armor, at which point he retrieves and places the devices at the base of the Grav Generator. After a moment the device activates, the faint purr it made being the only clue before the surface where it touched slowly began to dissolve as the device 'eats' through it. Xais now had only thirty minutes to make his escape before the device would reach critical mass and detonate, with twice the force of a permacrete detonator.

Xais turned back out the maintenace tunnel at a dead run, only to slide to a stop before the door when the sounds of the turrets in outside corridor meet his ears. Screams soon followed as the twi'lek Xais had spoke to earlier and his squad find themsleves being killed by their own defenses. Still 'cloaked' Xais pokes his head through the doorway, watching as they are slowly cut down, along with a few of the turrets. A few ion grenades detonate near the last two turrets, rendering them inoperable and Xais bolts down the corridor, sliding to a stop again when he nearly tramples over a robed figure.

The Jedi standing before him jumped back in shock at seeing the blurry image in front of him, the affect making him sick to his stomach though he retains his composure and draws his lightsaber, the beam yellow~

"Reveal yourself now and surrender or suffer the consequences Sith."

~Xais couldn't help but smile at that, even the Jedi Knight had fallen for his ruse and slowly the hilt of his Adu'dhaera lightsaber slips into his palms, twisting them enough to seperate it into two.~

"I would rather die than to be captured by a Jedi. The Sith shall never bow to you weak fools, this alliance is a joke." He says in a venomnous tone as the blades of his lightsabers extend, causing the Jedi Knight's eyes to widen in shock, likely wondering why he couldn't feel the Force within the cloaked figure before him.

~Leaping at the Jedi he swipes down with both lightsabers, hoping to end this quickly for his present would go off in less than twenty-five minutes~

[Xais'fir]

~The Jedi Knight parries Xais' attack, jumping backwards as he swings with both lightsabers again and blocking both with a series of rapid movements. The affect of Xais' Chameleon Cloak messed with the Knight's senses, keeping him on the defensive as each movement Xais made only made it worse. Silver and Viridian spark against Yellow as both of them wage battle in the damaged corridor, Xais pressing his attacks more with each precious second this combat costs him in time to flee. The Knight was slowly being forced backwords into a wall which he bumps into but quickly rolls to the side, Xais' Viridian lightsaber slicing into it where the Knight had been. Xais brings his Silver saber down in time to block a low aimed swing, the two blades sparking against one another as he brings his Viridian saber in a downward arc. Rather than dodging the swing the Knight Force Pushes Xais, though his armor made him resistant to the Force it still managed to send him back a few feet. Xais retaliates by throwing his Silver lightsaber at the Jedi, once he'd recovered, just before charging him again. The Knight quickly brings up his own lightsaber to deflect the Silver saber as it's hurled at him, Xais catching it in his left hand just as he slashes at the Knight with his other. The Jedi was drawing on the Force to make him harder to hit, Force Armor, though Xais was finally able to breach his defenses with a flurry of attacks from his twin lightsabers. The Silver one slashes lightly into the Knight's right arm during a vertical swipe, being enough of a distraction to allow the Viridian one to slip past the Knight's lightsaber and pierce his middle.

The countdown was reaching the ten minute mark and Xais knew he had no time to return to his ship, communicating with the Nightwraith telepathically the ship lifts off of the larger vessel and speeds towards another wound in the Interdictor that was only a few corridors away from Xais's current position.

The Jedi Knight drops to his knees as Xais pulls his lightsaber from his gut, having dropped his own once the crippling blow had been dealt, though not before inflicting his own wound on Xais which was evident by the gapping slice across his midsection. Deactivating his lightsabers Xais ponders for a moment before grabbing the Jedi by the throat and lifting him into the air with some effort from the wound he suffered. Slowly the armor begins to consume the Knight, peeling his flesh form him, followed by layer after layer of the rest of his body. The process was painful beyond measure as the Jedi was still alive when it began, even once all of his flesh had been removed until death finally took him, not a pleasant way to die to say the least as his strangled cries echo erilly throughout the corridor and the Force.

After roughly five minutes the armor had finished the process of absorbing the Jedi into his being, longer than Xais would have liked as he weakily staggers down the corridor. Doing what he'd just done to a non-Force user was painful and exhausting, but he now knew that doing that to a Force user was a two-edged blade as he barely manages to stumble into the section where his ship had docked, only by way of drawing on what little grasp he had of the Force did he remain concious enough to leap into the ship, passing through the hull like a ghost to be deposited into the hold in time to meet the black oblivion of unconciousness.

Following both a survival instinct as well as the command of its pilot, the Nightwraith detaches itself from the doomed Interdictor and blasts away from it at full speed having to veer wildly to avoid one of the capital ships as it exits Hyperspace. The repair fleet had just arrived and the 'wraith intercepted a message sent from the Sentinel to the Destroyer leading the repair fleet, warning them that the Sith had boarded them when the Interdictor is wracked by a single massive explosion that ripples through the vessel outward in a deadly shockwave. Which spreads like wildfire towards the nearby escorts, vaporizing the smaller vessels the moment it hits them and tearing through the two escort destroyers which reel from the shockwave before exploding themselves. The repair fleet quickly reversed direction, most of the smaller, faster ships able to move clear of the wave, but the capital ships were helpless, including the two repair vessels, as they take the full force of the shockwave.

The Nightwraith barely stayed ahead of the shockwave as it passed by the repair fleet's lead destroyer, which quickly buckled from the force to send jets of plasma and pieces of hull plating along with other debris outwards as it dies, the 'wraith dodging and weaving, spinning and rolling as it flies along the exterior, its engines pushed to their breaking point to keep ahead of the wave. The bio-tech ship had nearly cleared the larger vessel when one of the destroyers engines blows, sending a chunk of hull barreling into the its side and sending it into a spin. The smaller vessel's agility and speed allowed it to recover quickly and it sped past the rest of the fleet, but not in time to avoid the tail end of the shockwave as it slams into the Nightwraith the moment it entered hyperspace, leaving the devastated repair fleet and it's single remaining and now crippled repair vessel behind.