Tashannoc rushed out of his quarters and made his way to the Rolling Thunder. On the way, he contacted the crews of a dozen of his new ships to be ready for departure in five minutes. As he was nearing the docking bay, he ran into one of his Minisculian techs, a senior one as he remembered, who tried to stop him to talk and instead had to run to keep up with the striding Wookiee. "Sir," the tech cried, "There has been an accident. Some of the new ships have been compromised, completely destroyed. We think that it is sabotage!" Tashannoc growled, "Damn! I don't have time to deal with this right now. One of my mining facilities in the Corporate Sector has broken communications. I have to check it out. Tighten security, and tell Lerma to start a check on the activities of everyone who had been within 500 meters of those ships in the past few months. I want that saboteur found!" With that, Tasha reached the Thunder, and rushed inside to prep for takeoff, leaving the tech to carry out his orders.
In orbit around Tashannoc's mining facility, Mirath Omnes opened his eyes and smiled. He laughed evilly to himself, then turned to glance at his latest 'pupil.' "Everything is proceeding according to my plans. Soon Tashannoc will come here, and start down the path that will lead to his destruction." As Omnes continued to laugh, Neb Calluna merely nodded, as the rebelling fragment of his mind continued to cry out,
"Help, Tasha, help."
Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-be
Hendrikson flipped off his alarm chrono and rolled out of his bunk onto the cold
floor. He landed with a thump and got wearily up. The paperwork lay where he left it, half
opened, half unopened, and none completed. He walked groggily over to a sink and splashed
some water in his face to help wake him up. What day is it? Hendrikson thought. Oh
yeah...Thursday…I don't shave today.
Hendrikson shaved twice a week, but needed to much more than that. His beard stubble
helped project the image of his personality, or so he believed. It, like Thix's
ever-present bandanna, seemed to be his trademark, or one of them, anyway.
Thix had tons of trademarks. His tunic-style white shirt or overalls, his across the
shoulder lightsaber carrying case (which he wore while on assignment or in battle) and the
bandanna.
Hendrikson opened another one of the letters. This one, he noted, was not stamped with
anything. He opened it up. "Addressed to one Mj. Lance M. Hendrikson. It has come to
our attention that-" Hendrikson paused and sighed. A letter from the brass. Another
promotion offer?! No thank you.. "that you have participated valiantly in many battle
of late. We know better than to offer one such as you another promotion, as you will most
likely turn it down, but instead have decided to assign you the job of teacher. As we
receive young officers fresh from our academies, joyous in the fact that they have command
over their own ship, we have nowhere to place them. They are well-learned, but lack
experience. We will be assigning officers to you, under your command, for periods of one
week apiece. You will engage them in faux combat, and place them in every battle situation
possible. Temper these young individuals, so they can do battle with greater force. Your
first trainee goes by the name Frew Grenix, his current rank is Commander. He is commander
of three Nebulon-B Frigates and an escort carrier, smaller than your Xenomorph. Good luck.
"What?!?" Hendrikson cried incredulously. "They want me to what?!? Tutor?
Teacher? Wha-?" He slumped into a chair to ponder this strange turn of events..
Tashannoc came out of hyperspace, and his sensors went nuts. A quick glance out of his viewscreen told him why. Out of cannon range were over a hundred Imperial type ships, with a few rebel ships (some of which he recognized as his own defense troops). In the middle of the opposing formation was a huge ship, obviously a Sovereign class Star Destroyer. A strong sense of evil emanated from that ship, but Tashannoc could also hear a faint plea:
help, Tasha, help.
Analyzing the strength he was up against, Tashannoc roared an order to the dozen
ships with him as the enemies started to close in. "Everyone, evasive maneuvers. Get
into hyperspace as fast as you can, I'll try to cover your escape. We'll regroup at
checkpoint M." If I get out of this alive he added silently to
himself.
Tashannoc watched as his ships entered hyperspace, masking the real reason he had
stayed to face the armada approaching him. Neb, how did you get yourself into this mess?
he thought, trying to find the source of the mental distress call. He was hoping that it
wasn't on the Sov. Star Destroyer, but unfortunately, his senses confirmed that it was.
Tasha reached out with the force to free the minds of the men on his ships. He succeeded
with one ship, but it was blown to dust before it could escape. Tashannoc checked his
shields: He was down to less than 15% on all shields. Despite his maneuverability, with
over 200 ships firing at him, he was in danger of getting toasted himself. Also, the
effort of freeing the minds of his men on the cruiser left him weakened, and he could feel
a malevolent presence bearing down upon him.
He was just about to move to hyperspace, when a blast took out his rear shields and his
hyperdrive. He yelled back to the mechanical crews he had with him, "Get that
fixed!" The reply came, "Sir, it's repairable, but it's going to take a couple
of minutes, and you've got to keep us from getting hit!" Tashannoc growled, and
transferred more power to the shields to reestablish his rear screens. It left him without
any power for the weapons, but he wasn't doing all that well alone against this many ships
anyway. As he scanned his controls, he growled. His front shields were still stronger than
his rear ones. Only one way to play this: Take them head on!
Tashannoc blazed toward the nearest group of ships, thinking, This is a serious fleet!
Over a hundred ships, and the weakest one is a Heavy Mon Cal Cruiser! That would explain
why he had taken such a beating. Tasha reached out with the force, using it to dodge and
maneuver his ship around the blasts.
Fortunately, the captains of the ships were responding sluggishly, probably due to the
mind control Mirath had exacted. They were surprised that the small rebel ship was still
alive, and that he was coming straight at them. One minute passed, two, three. The
intercom blazed, "Sir, It's fixed. Get us out of here!"
Tashannoc reached out with the force and instinctively punched in a set of coordinates,
and hit the hyperdrive for a short jump. Once out in space, he used the breathing room to
calculate a safer jump, and started to make his way back home. On the way, he was trying
to think of some way to rescue Neb, when suddenly a new thought popped into his head: He
should check up on Major Hendrikson, and see how he was doing. Changing course to meet up
with Lance's fleet, he made the jump.
Tasha stood up in surprise. "Thix is what? When?"
Major Lance Hendrikson briefly reflected that he was amazed at how well the technology of
Tashannoc's translation device captured his inflection, and then answered, "It was
while you were incommunicado. There was a battle, and he took out the hangar bay of one of
de Devastator's ISD's. Domino wasn't happy about it and captured him and the rest of
Nemesis Squadron."
Tashannoc sat down and reflected for a bit. "If Domino has him then he's in real
danger. People who end up in Domino's clutches have a tendency to just disappear, as if
they weren't even in the galaxy any more. I've suspected that Domino has a planet that he
retreats to from time to time, but that's pure conjecture. If it does exist, I doubt that
anyone knows, and the few that might have got to be fiercely loyal to Domino, or at least
enough so that they wouldn't want to help us out any."
Tashannoc rose again, and sensing that he was going to leave, Hendrikson stood as well.
"It was good seeing you again, Lance." Tashannoc handed the Major a data chip.
"This has my personal communication line on it. Just plug it into a com unit, and any
message you send is automatically routed to me. Contact me if you ever need me. I don't
expect that the Rebellion would be willing to put much effort into locating one fighter
commander, so I'll put my own spy network onto finding him. I'll give it first priority.
Don't worry, Lance. If he can be found, we'll find him. Even if I have to go through
Domino to get him."
"Come on baby, purr for daddy." Sammy was lying on his back in the hanger
of Major Hendrikson's flag ship under his own ship, the Cat, trying to repair the vertical
maneuver thruster. Out of the corner of his eye, Sammy saw a huge hairy beast walking
across the bay. "Hey, that's General Tashannoc," he thought, remembering the
Jedi Wookiee from a battle they fought together 5 years ago. Something was wrong. Usually
the epitome of calmness, the general was displaying more of his Wookiee emotions. Sammy
got up and walked over to the towering figure. "General Tashannoc, I'm not sure you
remember me, sir, we fought together about 5 years ago. I'm Sammy Gavin."
"Yes," the General replied, "the demolition expert. The pilot who won't use
turbo lasers, only proton torpedoes. It is difficult to forget someone of your unique
style. What can I do for you?"
"Well, sir, I thought I could ask you the same question. Pardon me for noticing, but
you seem to be a bit distressed. I was wondering what was wrong, and if I could
help."
Tashannoc eyed the pilot for some time. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do have a
problem, I'm not sure I have much information but when I do I will let you know. I'm sure
your skills and knowledge will be of great help."
"Great! I better go finish fixing my ship. Thank you, sir."
"Thank you as well, Sammy. I will get in touch with you when I know more."
Tashannoc continued walking across the hanger.
"Well, kitty, you don't want to upset the general now do you?"
Thix stood in a corner of his cell, perspiration beading on his forehead. He could feel the ripples of the dark side forces waging war on each other not so far away from his position now. The dark side energy was making him jumpy. Ever since the Lady Tionne had flooded his mind with images of his friends being tortured and killed he had shrunk from the slightest whisper of Dark Side energy he felt in the palace, meaning he shrunk back a lot. Suddenly, he reeled as an explosion of force energy washed over him. Someone had lost. Who, he could not tell. The force energies were silent now. Some odd creatures, the likes of which Thix had never sensed before, seemed to be troubled. "What happened out there?" He wondered.
Onboard the Rolling Thunder, Tashannoc was deep in thought about the current situation: two bright Force sensitive pilots were in the clutches of two Dark Side Masters. And Tashannoc wasn't sure what he could do about either. Tashannoc had just sent a message to his sister, hoping that he could get a hold of her. If he did find where Thix was, she and her commando's could be a tremendous help. Just then, Tashannoc reeled back in his chair. There was a massive disturbance in the force, the like of which Tasha hadn't felt before. It was like someone was screaming in his head. As the sensation passed, Tashannoc realized that the voice sounded familiar. It was much like Domino de Devastator's. What could he be up to now?
Thix Barkon sat up suddenly in his cell as the door slid open. Two white-armored
stormtroopers stood in the doorway, bearing a bedraggled man between them.
"Say hello to your new cellmate, Rebel scum." The stormtroopers made ready to
toss the man in, but he turned and faced them, holding up his bound fists.
"Doesn't a prisoner who's about to be locked up for life get one last holocall to his
mother?"
"Not in your case!"
The troopers turned to grab him once more and Thix made his move. Jumping up, he barreled
into the first trooper and knocked him backwards.
"Hey-!" The second troop shouted, but the new captive kneed him. He yelped and
jumped around, trying to hold onto his knee with his bound hands.
Thix wrested the first guard's blaster away and leveled it at the second guard. He fired.
The bolt was a few inches off to the left, and blew a chunk out of the trooper's shoulder.
"Ahh!" The stormtrooper cried as he staggered backwards, fumbling with his own
blaster. Thix quickly aimed the blaster back downwards and shot the first trooper in the
face. He aimed back up at the second, and found himself staring into the barrel of a
blaster, held by the second trooper.
The new captive tackled the second man and Thix took the opportunity to blast him.
"Hold out your hands!"
Thix leveled the blaster and shot the man's cuffs.
"Thanks! Let's get out of here!"
"No, wait! Two of my friends are trapped in here. Do you think you could help find
them?"
"HELP? Kid, I could transfer Lord Domino's credit account to yours, if you
wanted."
"Oh, I get it..you're a slicer, aren't you?!"
One of the best..at least I think so. Ross Lvensn, at your service."
"Thix Barkon." Ross moved swiftly to a nearby terminal and tapped some keys.
"Oh, no skills necessary. Two Rebel pilots located in cells 452-B and 489-D."
After retrieving the two Nemesis pilots, Thix and the other three were confronted with a
problem.
"How do we get off this rock?" Ross wondered. "Let's have a look around
this place!"
Mirath Omnes reclined on his throne, located deep within the palace on his new
capital planet. This planet was only temporary, while he consolidated his power. His toy
had just asked a question, and Mirath decided to answer with the truth. "Why did we
withdraw all our troops from the Corporate Sector, Neb? Why, I should think it would be
obvious. We don't have the resources to hold them right now, but the offensive will draw
some attention. I now control an eighth of the galaxy, and almost no one knows. I must be
viewed as a threat before I can strike. Part of that was revealing part of my strength to
Tashannoc, and making sure that he knows that you are still alive. You will be the bait
that leads him to me. Domino may be dead, but if he is he's sure to have left a successor.
"Domino's planet will be one of the last that I crush. I will make the de Devastators
watch while I rip the galaxy to shreds, and then I will exact my revenge upon their
family." Mirath grasped and stroked his staff, amazed at how the object had bonded
itself to him. While he lived, he would be the sole possessor of the staff, it would
answer only to him. He glanced at Neb. "That is more than you need to know. Now
return to your training. I will need your skills in the upcoming battle."
With Neb gone, Mirath fell into a Farseeing trance, and gazed into what was now the most
probable future: The galaxy under his command, the fledgling Jedi and the Emperors
crushed, Deominia once again his. The entire population of the Galaxy his to draw upon for
power. Soon, he would unlock the secrets to finding other Galaxies as well, and he would
take them too. He opened his eyes and laughed at the thought of what he would look like
with Head-Tails.
Days later Mirath, with Neb Calluna at his right hand, had gathered together the
best of his Fleet commanders. The fleet now numbered over 300 ships, and not one of them
was smaller than a Victory Class Star Destroyer, and he only had about half a dozen of
those. The rest were Imperial and Super SD's, and the Flagship, a Sovereign Class
destroyer named after its master. Mirath spoke, "I have sensed the preparation of a
new ship that draws power from the Dark side itself. We must make our first strike now
before they are ready."
One of his admirals, who was very loyal on his own and required very little 'enhancement'
of that loyalty, asked, "Master, where would you have us deploy the fleet?"
Mirath pondered for a moment, then replied. "I am not quite prepared to strike at the
Empire. Therefore, we will lash out at something very dear to the Rebellion."
Another admiral spoke, "Are we striking at the Academy on Yavin IV?"
"NO. That would be foolish, even with my flagship. No, we will take the Bormea
Sector, and with it Chandrila, the homeworld of Mon Mothma, leader of the rebellion. That
will get their attention sufficiently. It is also close enough to the Empire that they
will feel me pressuring in on them."
The admirals were all pleased that they would soon be able to demonstrate their loyalty to
their master, and stood even straighter at attention. "When do we deploy the fleet,
sir?"
Mirath smiled. "Why, General, what makes you think that I need you to move my fleet?
We are already on our way."
Following the recent assaults on the Jedi Academy, the Alliance stepped up the
military complement stationed there. Luke was not accustomed to seeing so many
troops on yavin IV, at least not since the original battle of yavin so many years ago.
Suddenly he was pulled aside by a rebel officer. "Sir, there's a priority message
being routed to you, but we can't lock in on its source. Every time we try we get a
graphic of a Wookiee baring his teeth at us. We can't get it off the line, either. Do you
want to take it?" The officer was obviously nervous about interrupting Luke, so he
smiled reassuringly. After all, he was pretty sure he knew who it was from. "Lead the
way, Lieutenant." Once in the communications room, Luke asked for some privacy and
got it, then answered the comm. Even before the face on the other line became clear, he
said, "Hey, Tasha. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
On the other end of the line, Tashannoc smiled, a sight that would unnerve anyone who
wasn't used to dealing with Wookiees. [Yes,] he growled, [We haven't spoken since a little
after Mechis III, that little run in with Fey'lya.]
"Yeah, that's right. Boy, I expect we've both been through a lot since then. Speaking
of which, I expect that this isn't a social call. What can I do for you, Tasha?"
[I need you to tell me everything you remember about Mirath Omnes from those texts you
found in Master Kenobi's hut.]
"Mirath Omnes, huh? I seem to recall that he was a Sith who tried to overthrow the
Republic a few hundred years ago. The Jedi stopped him cold, however. As far as I know,
he's dead. Why do you ask?"
[I think that it is Mirath Omnes that has Neb. More, I think that he's a lot older than a
few hundred years. I ran into his fleet, too. It is extremely formidable. I think that we
could be in trouble.]
"I'm glad you told me, Tasha. Is there anything that I can do for you now?"
[For now, just sit on it, and keep it to yourself. I'll be in touch when I know more. And,
Luke, I may need your help if I'm going to save Neb.]
"Of course. I'm always here for you, buddy, just like you've been around for me the
past twenty years. Let me know when you've got something more."
[I will. Thanks, Luke. And if Chewie's there, say hi to him for me.]
"I'll do that."
MOVE ON NOW TO PART II
RETURN TO THE ARCHIVES
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