The scene in the informal dining area of the ambassador's suite could very easily be described as tranquil. The large window and the transparisteel door revealed a dazzling sunrise, and the chirping of native birds could be faintly heard. Within the sun-bathed room, Rina sat alone at the small table, a cup of caf in one hand and a stack of datapads before her. The Holonet transceiver in the corner was turned on, but it mostly served as background noise. If she closed her eyes, Rina could almost imagine that she'd never left, and that it was just another morning in the Natasi household. Her mother brewing a pot of caf, even though she was the only one who drank it. Her father eating a bowl of barq and milk while watching the news. Rina begging her father to switch to a more interesting program or reading a new holonovel while eating a piece of muja fruit.

Then she would open her eyes and remember it wasn't. She was alone. The Holonet was set on the news, as always, because it was important that she as a representative of the New Republic remain informed about galactic affairs. Her breakfast was practical: a bowl of blue milk yogurt for its nutritional values, and a cup of caf because she'd had far too little sleep the night before. And she wasn't reading a gossip article or a holonovel... she was writing a message to some of the most reliable mercenaries in the galaxy.

She'd desperately hoped it wouldn't come to this; in fact, even a few years ago, she would have been shocked and deeply insulted if someone had even suggested that she would stoop to such a level. It went against all of her morals, and besides that, it was just plain lazy. It seemed rather cheap to simply have someone killed if one couldn't come to an agreement with them. However, several years in the world of politics had taught Rina that sometimes morals were just not a luxury that could be afforded. Sometimes one had to choose the lesser of two evils. And that was what she was doing.

For almost a week now she had been negotiating with the Imadi queen. Both when officially in meeting and when on more personal visits, she'd pleaded with her younger cousin to see reason. There was so much Imadi would gain from joining the New Republic; she only wished Justyna could see it. Finally, however, it became evident that the young queen lacked the foresight necessary for such a bold step forward. As much as Rina hated it, Justyna was essentially the only thing standing in the way of Imadi's greater good. All the negotiations required was the ruler's consent, yet the queen refused to give it.

And so Rina had been forced to look into other options. Due to the Empire's extermination of much of the Royal Family, she and Justyna were essentially the only remnants of that bloodline. Even though Rina was older than Justyna, the younger was the daughter of the king, whereas Rina was only his niece, and so Justyna had been the natural choice for queen following her father's death. But should something happen to Justyna -not necessarily something deadly, but at least enough to render her incapable of ruling-, Rina would be first in line for the throne. As ruler, she could then sign the pact with the New Republic and bring Imadi into a new age of recovery and development. It was a terrible price to pay, but she was willing to make that sacrifice for the good of her people.

Reading over her message one final time and checking for errors, Rina selected 'send.' That was it, then. There was no going back. Sighing, she finished off her caf and prepared to be "assisted" in getting ready for the day. Sometimes, she really didn't like her job.

Karina stood stock still behind the queen; ready to help her at any moment. The party had officially started and there was much talk in hushed voices. She could feel her stomach turning with nervousness and excitement. Being the queen's aid was always exciting and brought new challenges for her.

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[font=Times New Roman]
Hello, I'm Amoniel
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Well... I got nothign for now. I gues i will check back in later.

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Visit The Varsian Kingdom!

Well... I got nothign for now. I gues i will check back in later.

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Visit The Varsian Kingdom!

(I'm waiting for the Doctor to respond, but if he doesn't I'll go ahead and post. ps, amoniel, we've moved a week ahead.)

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

OOC: Sorry for not posting. My internet is down currently, so I'll get my post up soon. Sorry again.

[EDIT]

OOC: okay, I've got most of it done. (the stuff for Xanzi at least) Sorry for the short post, but atleast its done.

Xanzi had just received a comm from one of his officers saying that one of the prisoners that they had captured had broken and given them a location. As soon as he ended that communication, another started up. He listened to Xerik. “Understood,” Xanzi looked at his data pad. These were the coordinates to a location inside of the city, the same place as the other coordinates that he just received. “I’m dispatching me there now with containment orders. They will be leaving in a few minutes if you wish to join them.”

He gave the order to his men as he made his way to the Queen’s morning workout, he was already late. Xanzi pulled open the door, “Ma’am, we just received some intel on the sniper attack, so if you wouldn’t mind if we postpone this until later, I’ll command the mission personally.”

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Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

"My apprentice will be there soon to join you." Xerik told Xanzi before cutting off the communication.

He then called Ashay.

"I want you to go help. But remember what I hve tought you. Don't be hasty, bide your time and let the force guide you not impuls. I'm trusting you to keep yourself in check." Xerik told Ashay, knowing she had a bit of a problem.

"Yes master. i will." She assured him.

Before long Ashay arrived to join the team as they went to investigate the location.

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OOC: Jax, I'm not with the team right now. I'm with the Queen.

_________________
Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

OOC: oh. sorry aout that. I wil edit

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Justyna nodded in response to her guard. "Of course. My schedule is full for the rest of the day; I'll work solo this morning and"- she grinned slightly, pointedly using a term he would understand -"'regroup' tomorrow morning."

The queen stood for a moment after he left, pondering the possible outcomes of Xanzi's mission. The sniper, like the rest, was Imadi. DNA analysis had already provided his identity, and thus his House. In fact, she had a personal meeting with his House Prime - the hereditary leader of his clan - later that day. Hopefully the guard captain would be able to uncover the logistics underpinning the organized assassination attempt, and clamp down on that while Justyna publically reasoned with the Imadi people as a whole.

After stretching out, the queen worked through her more recent martial practice routines, or forms, and settled down to a serious workout with the punching bag. At thirty-two kilos, it took a fair amount of power in her punches and kicks to set it swinging. Elbow, step, punch, clear range for kick, low kick, turn, high kick. Today was a negotiation-free day, a recess of sorts. She and the ambassador had reached an impasse. It wasn't that Justyna and her advisors didn't like the New Republic; it showed much promise, but it was still very young and unstable. Kick, reset, sidestep, knifehand strike.

Shaking away the sweat rolling down her forehead, she eyed the bag, waiting for the backswing. Kick, clear, drop and roll, up and punch. The queen wasn't prepared to commit the recovering economy of her world to something so unestablished. Better to err on the side of caution. Because, quite frankly, another large war or disturbance would be more than they could handle.

Turnkick, back, crossguard... oh, watch the stance. Focus. Justyna was quite happy to have deeper trading ties with the Republic - but ones that could quickly be severed. Imadi was her first concern, not galactic health. Reset, roundhouse. That needed work. Reset again, roundhouse. And with the left foot. And her cousin. Things could have been very different, were it not for the Empire. Rina would have been her chief advisor, her confidante, a strong support on which to lean. But here she was, trying to force Imadi down a path which it was too fragile to take. New Republic ideals were lofty, but they were exactly that: ideals. Justyna hadn't enjoyed her residence with administrators of the Empire, but they had taught her efficiency, decisiveness, and the coldness of reality.

They needed to talk, later. Food might help. Step, breathe, kick, turn, punch. And she needed to shower. Towelling herself down, Justyna left the room, leaving the heavy bag swinging, reminiscent of a pendulum and the passage of time.

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>

Ashay shifted her wight from one foot to the other as her left leg bent to a relaxed position. "How soon will we be leaving?" she asked the, anxious to investigate.

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The lieutenant in charge of the squad looked towards the Padawan, wern't Jedi supposed to be slightly more reserved? he thought. OUt loud, he replied to her question, "Three minutes." Captian Xanzi had given him specific orders, wait for five mintues, and then leave with out him. Two minutes had passed so far, so three minutes left.

***

Xanzi snapped a sharp salute to the Queen, "Of course, ma'am." He turned around in his sharp, military fashion, and began to make his way to the front gate. He took a detour and stopped by the armoury to exhange his customary uniform for his personalized suit of body armour. It was made out of Mandalorian iron, a supprisingly light subsance that is amlost indestructable to normal blasters and is resistant to lightsabers. However, it was mainly concentrated around his torso, with peices over his upper arms, lower arms, elbows, knees, and the fronts of his thighs and calfs. This provided valuable protection to vital areas without restricting movement. He also left his saber behind and picked up a BlasTech DLT-20A blaster rifle

After leaving the armoury, he approached his men at the front gate. Xanzi saw that one of the Jedi was there-the Padawan, was it?-and seemed to be impatient to get moving. "Everyone, weapon's check." There was a flury of activity as each person checked over their weapons once again to make sure that nothing was wrong. There was nothing worse than getting into combat and finding out that your blaster didn't work. Everyones weapons' checked out, and Xanzi didn't even bother to ask the Jedi if her weapon was all right, he just assumed that it was.

"Move out, two by two cover formation. Seargant Ralins, take point." The team began to move, and Xanzi motioned for the Jedi to fall in behind him, they were the second pair. It was a relativly large group, comprising of eight members with Xanzi and Ashay (most strike teams had only four members), but would still be relatibly easy to protect all of them.

_________________
Four Gods wait on the windowsill,
Where once eight Gods did war and will,
And if the Gods themselves may die,
What does that say for you and I?

Now, three Gods wait on the windowsill
Where one God's blood was lately spilled
While black tongues lap at the spreading pool
And build the strength they need to rule.

Ashay cought the sense from Xanzi of her impatience and reminded herslef to calm down.

"Don't be hasty. Waity on the force." She told herself silently. That had to be one of the harder lessons for her to learn. She always had to be doing something.


Ashay fell in behind Xanzi. She wasn't to familar with all the military stuff but she got by. Between comon sense and the proding of the force she fell in line.

With her dark red hair done back in a pony tail, and her Jedi robe left back at her room she scanned the area with the force, searchign for anything.

Her lightsaber was already in her hand, her finger hovering ominously above the ignition button.

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[I'm really sorry guys. I don't have as much time for the computer nowadays as I thought I'd have. I'm going to have to drop out of this one.]

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going on a journey through my old claims

(Aw.. well see ya. *waves* nice rping with you as small of time as it was)

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(Sorry I was gone for so long, y'all, I had finals. Who all is still interested in continuing this? Please indicate either yes or no - comments, suggestions also appreciated.)

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<center>Nothing but the Rain</center>