Chapter 5: Empire of the Hand

Star Wars: Revised System
Table of Contents Character Creation Classes Attributes Abilities Backgrounds Feats Virtues & Vices Experience Game Mechanics Species List Force Powers Combat Starship Combat Equipment Starships Compendium
Stories
Prelude 1: A Treaty on the Brink 2: Amity in Peril 3: Fish in a Barrel 4: Measured Success 5: Empire of the Hand 6: Icy Reception 7: Galactic Chess 8: Heart of the Ascendancy 9: A Familiar Foe 10: Csaplarian Streets 11: Ascendancy in Turmoil
Characters
Akea Oahu - CS Allanar Onsai - CS Renora Cordalis - CS Greer Lachlan - CS Brance Maddox - CS

Suggested Music: TBD

7 Elona, 25 ABY - Yavin IV, Gordian Reach, Outer Rim

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The familiar planetscape of Yavin IV filled the cockpit viewport. Akea proceeded to guide the Leviathan to the ancient temples that housed the Jedi Praxeum. Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker would likely be awaiting their arrival.

As the site approached, the ancient temples were visible just over the treeline. There was no sign of a landing platform; and as Renora looked out the viewport, she wondered where exactly they were going to land. At a small opening in the trees, Akea guided the Leviathan down toward a tranquil pond. "Fasten your seatbelt," he cautioned. His fins flipped several switches on the dash, cutting power to the repulsorlift engines. Gravity took hold and the Leviathan plunged into the water at a 45-degree angle. The splash was quite audible from within the cockpit but the impact was less than Renora expected. After all, the Leviathan was designed to do this sort of thing.

The front lights kicked on and the aquatic engines propelled the ship deeper. A small tunnel was visible ahead, not much wider than the ship itself. Akea guided the ship carefully through the tunnel for a few hundred meters. The tunnel gradually ascended into an opening that was sized specifically for the Leviathan. Akea brought the ship to the surface and killed the engines. The ship rocked slightly as it floated in place.

They were in a small cavern inside one of the temples; it was a dimly lit room, lit only by a 4 torches, one on each wall. Akea had this entrance constructed specifically for the Leviathan, though the original intention was an emergency exit. After the Shadow Academy's attack a few years ago, more secret tunnels and escape routes were installed, including this little garage for the Leviathan.

The whistles of an R2 unit echoed through the room, as the famous R2-D2 unit spun his head around excitedly. An older human male, one of the older Jedi trainees and one of the most recent to become a Jedi Knight, stood by the droid, waiting for the group to disembark.

Kirkland 16:33, 11 January 2010 (EST)

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The top hatch of the Leviathan opened, and Allanar Onsai climbed out first. He then assisted the two Chiss out of the hatch. Vayra's arms were cuffed behind her back, and she looked less than thrilled to be there. As the three stood atop the floating ship, a young human teenager ran into the room and toward the trio and offered them a hand and a welcoming smile as they stepped across the water and onto the stone floor. "Master Onsai, I am Brance Maddox," the kid introduced himself and bowed formally.

Must be Greer's new apprentice... Allanar gathered. The teen's personality seemed to be the polar opposite of his master's. Greer Lachlan remained standing at the entrance, as stern as ever. While the two hadn't interacted much, they certainly knew each other. Greer had never been fond of Allanar, or any Jedi that had dabbled in the dark side, for that matter. And he didn't look thrilled to see Allanar and a Sith standing before him in the Jedi temple.

Akea Oahu emerged from the water just in time to listen as Greer spoke.

His tone was unwelcoming, but that was just his personality, "It's good to see you again. Master Skywalker wishes to meet with you immediately. My apprentice, Brance, and I can take the prisoners to their... quarters." Greer struggled to find the correct word, as the Jedi Praxeum had no prison cells to speak of, it was simply a make-shift room they had prepared when they heard that Akea and Allanar would be bringing along extra company.

Kirkland 14:46, 13 January 2010 (EST)

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Akea and Allanar parted ways with Greer, Brance, and the two Chiss. Akea and Allanar both assured Renora they would be back to talk with her after their conversation with Luke. The pair of Jedi followed R2-D2 through the familiar Jedi temple to the second level war room, where they were told Luke was waiting for them.

((Wookieepedia: Great Temple has some good descriptions and layout diagrams of the building.))

They entered the war room where the unmistakable Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker were huddled over a computer console, looking over some information. Luke turned as the two Jedi entered, flashing a quick smile. "Allanar, Akea, it's good to see you." His expression turned more serious as he continued, "I heard about the events surrounding the Bastion treaty talks. Your response to the incident was extraordinary given the circumstances." By this time Mara had turned around, nodding to the two Jedi.

Luke continued, "Unfortunately, as you may very well suspect, this is not an isolated incident. This is a discussion we should have had a long time ago, and it is my fault that it has not taken place. Come, let me show you. Artoo," he walked over to one of the transparent boards that was currently displaying a 2-dimensional cross-section of the galaxy. R2 also wheeled over to that location, and plugged in his scomp link.

"Do you remember the Caamas Document Crisis?" Luke asked, a clearly rhetorical question as the Jedi obviously remembered this piece of recent galactic history. It was the event that eventually lead to the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty and the end of the Galactic Civil War between the Remnant and the Republic.

"When Mara and I were on Nirauan retrieving the Caamas Document, R2 stumbled upon something else." The transparent war room display flickered, and the display zoomed into a section of the galaxy that was lightly documented, at best, an area called the Unknown Regions. Even with all the advancements the New Republic has made over the years, this area of the galaxy has been left largely unexplored, and neither Akea nor Allanar knew of any detailed astrogation charts for it.

Rather surprisingly, the display lit up with a plethora of data on star systems; a large section of the screen was mapped out. It wasn't up to the standards of a typical astrogation chart of the known galaxy, but it was clear that someone had a very good understanding of what was in these Unknown Regions.

"While we were there, we discovered a group that called themselves the Empire of the Hand. It was a division of the Empire that Grand Admiral Thrawn had completely isolated from the Galactic Empire at the time. Thrawn had a clone of himself stored in a large military complex on Nirauan. Mara and I destroyed the clone, and the facility, and perhaps a but foolishly, through that was the end."

Mara stood up from the terminal she was at and walked over the display. She chimed into the conversation, "When we heard that Chiss were involved in the terrorist attack two days ago, it set off some alarm bells. There are still many questions, but Luke and I feel that this 'Empire of the Hand' might not be entirely dead after all. We're still waiting to see how the Imperial Remnant reacts to all of this; their actions may shed some light on their position in this whole debacle. Right now we don't have enough information to determine if they're victims or orchestrators. So far they've isolated themselves from any further diplomatic discussions, citing the apparent kidnapping of their leaders."

With more answers came more questions, but all of this information was instrumental for the Jedi if they were going to plan a strategy for investigating this crisis further; and they certainly have plenty of leads.

Kirkland 18:00, 15 January 2010 (EST)