Detour

During the Battle of Fury

The 2^nd Imperial Fleet assumes hyperspace formation on the edge of the Deominian Cloud

"Ah'm sick of all this playin' around, Wookiee!" Dalon Marr was, to put it lightly, pissed off. He'd been kept for weeks grounded on Kashyyyk, then his ship had been practically hijacked, his navicomp erased, and now he was stuck in the middle of who knows where on some planet that probably had never shown up on any chart in history. "Ah'm nay yer ferry service, and ah'm nay a messenger boy either!"
Tashannoc sat calmly, the translation device over his mouth hiding his amusement. "Mr. Marr, I really do apologize for the inconvenience you've had. However, the reason I've brought you here isn't just to run a message for me. Once you get there, I have something special planned for you, to pay you back for helping Lerma out." Tashannoc went on to describe his plan, and by the end, Marr was nodding.
"All right. Ah admit that yer offer's temptin'. Ah'll give it a try. But Ah'll warn ye, yer nay to tell another soul where Ah am. Ah've some secret's Ah'd rather nay have out.
"Now, what's yer message."
"Okay, once you arrive on Coruscant, check into any hotel you want in Imperial City itself. My man will find you. You are to tell him two words. The first is the message for him: Sideslip. The second will get you what you want. That's Red Rain. However, if the only message you give him is Red Rain, then you'll never see the light of day again. Understood?"
"Aye, Ah understand. When do ah leave?"
"A transport will take you out of the system. You will stay in the hold until you are let go. You'll be provided with your location, and a well calculated route to Coruscant from your location. Your ship has already been loaded, and you can leave whenever you are ready."

One week after the Alpha and Omega Battle Groups returned to Deominia, the Dark Lord of the Sith found himself spending a great deal of time in study and in meditation. The Sith scrolls Domino had acquired on Yavin IV were full of ancient rituals and knowledge long forgotten, and he was already feeling the focus of the power. As Domino came out of a state of meditative rage, he experienced a vision of Darkness and death.
"Martel!" the Dark Lord cried out in anger. "There is no safe haven for you, or your Nerakan master!"

The state of affairs on Deominia for the past few weeks had been chaotic, but ultimately the entropy gave way to order and Domino de Devastator had assembled his assault squads of Julayps and Sith warriors for the impending mission.

For many long hours, Domino de Devastator meditated and considered the events at Yavin IV. He considered the way the Alliance, even when offered the chance to retreat, fought like fools and lost more of their own. He considered Marina's progress down the dark path, and the ferocity with which she cut down the pathetic Jedi student who begged for her help. He considered how she glared at her husband, Kyp Durron.
"Ah.....how delightfully twisted that was, too!" he said to himself.
Finally, Domino came to the thought that kept him meditating, only to find that it had nothing whatsoever to do with Yavin IV. 'Lord Martel!'

#####

Two days later, The 2nd Imperial Fleet, minus the Alpha and Omega Battle Groups, exited the Deominian Cloud and entered hyperspace. The destination was Coruscant.

"Sit, my friend. I see you have troubling thoughts, but you are hiding them well." Palpatine said in greeting to Domino. The Emperor made a mental note that the Dark Lord had not bothered to kneel or bow his head, or make any other movement of servitude, to him.

Domino nodded. "Yes, Emperor. I seek your approval in leading a vast armada against The Nerakan Empire."
Domino had never seen the Emperor's skin actually turn paler than it already was, but Palpatine had noticeably blanched at de Devastator's words.
"The Nerakan bastard-Lord Martel, of Corellia, has offended you by annihilating many of your Sith Lords, and he succeeded in killing me physically."

Palpatine nodded once, slowly. "I suspected as much. I felt your passing, though from behind your nebula it was faint." The Emperor looked out a window at a passing shuttle, then turned back to Domino. "You will no doubt want to double your number of ships, I imagine."

Domino shook his head. "There is no need for that. I just want to take five of your remaining Sith Lords with me."

Palpatine stood up from his chair and lead Domino to the door. "So be it. You shall have my final five Sith Lords, as well as two Sovereign Super Star Destroyers and one Eclipse Super Star Destroyer. When you return, you will return those ships here to Coruscant, but you may take them with you to Neraka Prime. You will need that kind of firepower."

They traded a few final pleasantries, then Domino departed from the room.
'I'm going to have to start training some new Sith Lords.' the Emperor thought as he watched Domino enter the turbolift.

#####

Three days later, the 2nd Fleet was completely stocked with fresh supplies and the three new ships had joined the fleet. The Eclipse-class Star Destroyer Deathwail, and the two Sovereign-class Star Destroyers Eliminator and Bloodsurge, were to serve as the flagship and command supports for the fleet.
Emperor Palpatine shook his head as he received the notification that the 2nd Fleet had departed for Nerakan space.

Things were going as usual at the end of training for the Emperor's elite forces, his royal guard. Fifteen had made it alive through the training, out of an original thirty-five, and now the Emperor himself was on hand to bestow the new red mantle upon these new guardsmen. As he finished with the fourteenth, he moved down the line, and found no one there.
He glared at the man in charge of the training: a twenty year guardsmen veteran. "I thought you said that there were fifteen, Captain?"
"Yes, my lord," the man stammered. "I don't understand it. It looks like Marten is missing, my lord." The Captain, fearing for his life, was bowing as low as he could at the feet of the Emperor. A search of the facilities found nothing, except that the Emperor's private shuttle was missing.
"I want this Marten found," the Emperor hissed, "And I want him brought to me personally."

On a small planetoid, the Emperor's shuttle docked with another small craft, and the pilot transferred from one ship to the other. Once on board, the man stripped off the guardsman training armor, as well as the prosthetic makeup he had been wearing for the past six months to disguise his face. Finally back on his own ship, he took a quick shower, and put on his own armor. The familiar feel and smell of the Mandalorian battle armor made him feel truly at home. The man couldn't remember a time when he had trained as hard as he had in the last few months, but it was worth it. His skills were at levels they had never been before. He sat down in his command chair in the cockpit, and scrolled through some recent bounty postings. It was time to get back into the Game.
"Ah, here's an interesting morsel," he commented to no one in particular. "Aye, Ah think that's just what Ah need: a challenge."
As the Rancor's Maw lifted off of the planetoid, Dalon Marr was smiling.

Han Solo was tired.

The smugglers had begun to form a new alliance to protect themselves against new anti-criminal activity from various regions, and he had been sent to try to negotiate a deal for the Rebel Alliance with them. However, after almost twenty years of being legit, he had lost touch with the underworld somewhat, and now they no longer trusted him as they once would have, which made his job that much more difficult. To make matters worse, he was here practically alone. His wife, Leia, was busy trying to convince the alliance that the recent lapse in Imperial activity was no reason to relax their guard, as some had suggested. Chewie, during the lull, had decided to go visit his wife and kids on Kashyyyk.

So that left Solo alone on a godforsaken piece of rock, with a minor Rebel garrison and an envoy from the smugglers. He had just finished up a marathon run of talks that had lasted almost fourteen hours, and had just gone in circles, leaving everyone ultimately right back where they had started the day. He reached the end of the corridor and entered his room, pausing for a moment in the dark as the door slid closed behind him.

Wait a minute, he thought, Didn't I leave the lights on? And shouldn't there be a guard outside my door?

His hand went to his hip where his blaster should have been, then he remembered: they hadn't allowed blasters at the talks. He inched forward to where he had hidden the blaster, when he tripped over something soft. Reaching his hand down, he felt a face, then some hair, and then his hand came away wet. Barely touching his fingers to his nose, he sniffed: Human blood.

Just at that moment a Force Pike came down on his back, knocking him to the ground. He rolled out of the way of the next blow, and heard it hit the ground. Trying to anticipate the assailant's next move by sound, Solo ducked, and heard the pike whiz over his head. Unfortunately, he also felt a sharp prick on his shoulder.

Damn, stun dart. Not much time.

He hurled himself at where he thought the attacker to be, only to find himself slamming into the wall. Hoping to gain an advantage with the lights on, he hit the switch.

Nothing happened.

Solo's head began to swim, and he decided that his last hope was to call for help. As he took in a breath, however, a sharp blow to his trachea silenced him, and all he could let out was a gasp. He sank to his knees, and felt himself get thrown over an armored shoulder, and then all was black.

#####

Dalon Marr lifted off from the Rebel rock, using the clearance codes that he had stolen from Tashannoc. This had been a challenge. It wasn't often that he ran into someone who could fight in the dark as well as Solo had. And the setup hadn't been easy either. Getting into the computers to get Solo into a room just a couple of walls away from the docking bay, and then cutting through those walls without getting caught had been tricky. But now he was on his way to Tatooine. Some new Hutt, a distant cousin of Jabba's, had taken over a few of Jabba's operations, and brought the family business out of turmoil. However, it was said that he was a little insane, and blamed Solo for the financial troubles his family had been having over the past twenty years. So the Hutt had posted an exorbitant bounty for Solo's capture, alive, nothing if dead. Most hunters nowadays were too afraid to go after Solo, after hearing what had happened to all the others.

Marr, on the other hand, had figured that Solo was getting old, and that almost fifteen years without a significant bounty on his head would make him soft.

"Well, lad," he addressed the sleeping figure in a force cage in his hold, "Ah hope ye've had a good life, because Ah wouldn't want to be in yer shoes when Bubba the Hutt get's ahold of ye."

Knowing that it would be hours before they found out Solo was missing, Marr leisurely plotted a course into hyperspace. Soon he would be getting his reward.

"Come, Lord Belthaz. Enter into my presence and report."
The grand hearing chamber of Emperor Nelazriel was full of his many lieutenants and Force-trained servants who were there this day for only one reason....their failure, and their acceptance of the consequences of that failure.
"Yes Lord Belthaz, step up here and explain what happened on Visima VII. Recount for me in full detail how the events there enabled de Devastator's armada to gain access to Shuma-Ikonn and annihilate the forces there..... With minimal injury to his own forces!"
Nelazriel stood from his throne. "Could you please tell me what happened, Lord Belthaz?" Gesturing to the entire assembly, Nelazriel rephrased the question, "Could you please tell us what happened?"

Belthaz, who had been standing only seconds before, began to tremble before his Emperor Nelazriel. He fell to his knees before the Nerakan ruler and opened his mouth to begin his explanation. No words came out, simply a gurgling sound as his face turned color; first pale, then slightly bluish. Belthaz fell over dead within seconds.
"Don't bother." Nelazriel said. "I am aware of what happened."
Addressing everyone in the chamber, Nelazriel stepped over the husk that once was Lord Belthaz. "This pathetic wretch was unable to prevent non-Nerakans from infiltrating his organizations. Certainly these spies used the Force to alter their appearance, but Belthaz, or one of his men should have found out that deception." Nelazriel held up a fist. "But what if the Dark Lord bribed Belthaz or some of his men? Could it be that de Devastator has discovered a weakness in the lesser captains of the Nerakan Empire?"

Nelazriel continued to hear the reports from his servants for days, killing those that deserved it and forgiving the few who were at no fault whatsoever.

Domino de Devastator stood on the deck of the orbital shipyard at Shuma-Ikonn. He was replaying the events of the recent battle in his mind.
55 Nerakan vessels were annihilated in short order as the 2nd Imperial Fleet exited hyperspace with turbolasers blazing. The superlasers of the Sovereign SSD's Eliminator and Bloodsurge and the Eclipse SSD Deathwail wrought havoc upon the Nerakan Warbirds, as the work of saboteurs disabled many ships from being able to retaliate. The engagement was ended with just as much surprising efficiency as it had begun.

"General Tamar, how soon will this facility be ready for our purposes?" the Dark Lord asked.

"Only the reactor was destroyed my Lord, so it will only be about 12 hours and we will have a new power source for the shipyard." Tamar looked out at the aftermath of the battle. "Incidentally, a call has been made to the Deominian relay. We have called for reinforcements. Grand Admiral de Devastator is bringing 15 ships with full personnel and support complement."

"That is good." Domino said as he observed the proceedings of the replacement of the reactor. "Of course, the shipyards will be running for nearly a day when she arrives, but we won't be able to produce any new vessels anyway, only repair them."
Domino turned to General Tamar. "Will my cousin remain here?"

Tamar shook his head. "I am not certain. I was only notified that the Pride of de Devastator and 15 Ships had entered hyperspace just four hours ago."

"Yes, sir, just one moment." The protocol droid on the holoscreen was as annoying as any Dalon Marr had met, although he couldn't think of any that hadn't annoyed him. "Well, sir, I'm afraid that you cannot land at Master Boruma's palace as you have requested."

"Ahnd why would that be, droid?"

"Well, sir, the Monks overran the earlier palace, so the Illustrious Boruma the Hutt has relocated to a spot in the Jundland Wastes."

"Well, then, can Ah land there?"

"One moment sir."

Marr was fairly certain that if he ever encountered this droid face to face he would blast it into little tiny pieces.

"Now, what did you say your cargo was again?"

"Ah'm a Bounty Hunter, ya daft moron. Ah'm bringin' in a bounty for the Hutt. Can ya nae remember a word Ah say?"

"Of course, sir." A pause. "You are cleared to land. Please follow the navigation beacon."

Marr testily cut off the communication, then started to follow the beacon down to the surface. He quickly glanced at the screen showing the rear compartment, and saw that Solo was sleeping like a baby. He checked life signs, and everything was strong. Too strong, actually. The heart rate was too fast for Solo to be asleep. He hit the intercom. "Sorry, Solo, but Ah'm nay that stupid." He saw Solo sit up in surprise as more stun gas filled the room. Marr watched as Solo collapsed, and decided to keep a little of the gas in the chamber, just in case. Besides, the filters in his helmet would keep Marr from being affected. "Soon Ah'll have the man off of my hands, and then Ah kin find someplace to spend all this money."

"So you see, my cousin, that the Nerakan menace was not prepared for such a devastatingly overwhelming force to be thrown on them here at Shuma-Ikonn. The shipyard is ours. We have effected the repairs of all of our vessels with these facilities," Domino's eyes gleamed as they flicked over to Darin, "and we can soon begin to use them as we desire."

Darin nodded, considering the enormity of the Dark Lord's campaign against the Nerakan Empire.
"Domino, what about Nelazriel? He is powerful. How can you defeat him?"

Domino smirked, and stifled a chuckle as he looked at his cousin again. "He is indeed powerful ..... while he remains on Neraka Prime. If he can be lured from his planet he is undone. If I cannot best him on Neraka Prime, I will find a way to pull him from his safety net."
The two de Devastator's had been talking for hours, but it was time for Grand Admiral de Devastator to part company from Dark Lord de Devastator for the moment. She had administrative duties to see to on Pride of de Devastator.

#####

Three days later, two battle groups of the 2nd fleet emerged from hyperspace over Tikandroma, a planet rich in minerals that supplied 65% of the metals for the ships of the Nerakan Empire. The battle was swift, as the Nerakan vessels were outnumbered four to one.
Domino read the account of the battle with dark joy in his heart. He was pleased that all of his planning was being fulfilled. Now it was time for him to begin plotting the demise of Lord Martel, the loyal servant of Emperor Nelazriel.

Lord Martel entered the room with a swirl of his dark cloak and his eyes on fire. Bowing only as an afterthought to the individual members of the High Council, he finally stopped in front of Nelazriel's throne and knelt down on one knee.
"Rise, Martel. We have chosen you to lead the assembled Nerakan Armada against Lord de Devastator. Under no circumstances are you to face him yourself. He has grown powerful since you bested him on Deominia. If the two of you meet, and he destroys you, he will gain more power and come after me. That cannot happen. Lead the Armada against his forces, target his ship, and destroy him that way."
Nelazriel turned to regard his council. Several members of the council nodded their agreement.
"The Dark Lord must not be allowed to live another week. This ends as soon as you find his fleet."

Martel simply stood in place, seemingly angry.
"What is it Martel?" Nelazriel asked.

"If presented with the opportunity, I am not to engage Domino in single combat?" The Dark warrior asked, incredulously. "Why?"

Nelazriel's face looked grim. "Domino has grown very powerful. I suspect he could be drawing to within the range of my power. If he can defeat you, he could gain more power and become my superior."

"But you forget, my Master," Martel interrupted, "I have become more powerful as well!"
He paused, angry, yet knowing that to lash out in anger against his master would serve no purpose. "If I am faced with the opportunity to engaged Domino in one-on-one combat again, I will take that opportunity."

Nelazriel rose from his throne and leveled his scepter at Martel. "You leave me no alternative, my once faithful servant." The Nerakan Emperor raised his left hand and gestured for someone from the back to step forward. Martel met the eyes of decay and madness as this evil being approached. "Lord Gillinull will accompany you. If you appear about to disobey my wishes, he will intervene."

Martel backed down. He knew that none of Nelazriel's servants were as qualified as he was to lead the armada, but he had also heard of the man who stood next to him and the many bizarre and inhuman things he was capable of. This Dark master made Palpatine look like a cherubic young idealist!

"I understand, Emperor Nelazriel. Your will shall be my pleasure to uphold."

The meeting room on board the Eclipse SSD Deathwail was full of Imperial 2nd Fleet celebrity.
Grand Admiral Darin de Devastator was there, as well as Admiral Daliwhel, General Tamar, Stormtrooper Commander Krith, and even Captain Delsin had arrived to assist in the final three offensives that the Dark Lord had planned. The campaign to overwhelm the Nerakan Empire was drawing to a close.
As the serving staff began to leave the room after setting the components of the meal on the meeting room table, Domino began to speak. "My allies, we are approaching the final stages of our plans. Neraka Prime is well within our grasp. In between the 2nd fleet and our primary objective stands two obstacles. Selluvius, the heart and soul of Nerakan military training, and Hinj'etcsku, where intelligence reports that the Nerakan Armada is just now beginning to amass. We leave for Selluvius in one hour, obliterate any opposing forces that we see there, then depart from there to Hinj'etcsku."
Domino leaned in on the table and smiled. "Victory, my friends." He licked his lips. Standing up to his full height, he raised his chalice full of Alderaanian wine. "For the glory of the Empire!"

Everyone stood and cried out "For the glory of the Empire!" raising their glasses high.

One week later...

The battle at Selluvius was shorter than Domino and his Imperial strategists had planned. The Nerakan's had pulled all but a token resistance away from their military training sector, thinking to lull the 2nd Fleet into an overconfident attitude.

It didn't work.

The 2nd Fleet arrived at Selluvius with 140 ships of various sizes only to see 2 Nerakan Warbirds and 10 support frigates. There were only three squadrons of Nerakan starfighers. The battle of Selluvius was over in less than fifteen minutes.

Domino stood on the bridge of the Deathwail looking out at the wreckage of the Nerakan defenses.
"Lieutenant Selchow, what do the scans on the surface of Selluvius tell us?"

The sensor officer choked, as he had never before spoken personally to the Dark Lord. "M-my L-l-lord," he stammered, then gained his composure, "Only minimal staffing was left in the training centers on Selluvius. We could invade them with a nominal force and...."

"Thank you lieutenant. When I am in need of tactical advice I will consult someone with a history of strategy in their service record."
Domino turned to General Tamar. "What do you think, General?"

"Lord de Devastator, we could take the Selluvius training complex at this time, but that would leave the Nerakan forces at Hinj'etcsku with more time to prepare."
Tamar paused to look down at Selluvius. "We could leave a Victory Star Destroyer and 5 support vessels and charge them with invading the training complexes on Selluvius. That would only be 6 ships from our fleet, and the Nerakan Armada is reported to be only 125 ships strong at this time."

"So be it." Domino proclaimed. "Assign which ships will stay here. We depart for Hinj'etcsku in thirty minutes. Our momentum is too great to not press on now."

#####

Martel grimaced. Intelligence reported that the defense force at Selluvius was not even enough to make the 2nd Imperial fleet pause for even a few moments. This was Martel's one chance to defeat the Dark Lord once and for all.
"This time Domino....." the servant of the Nerakan Empire said, "this time, you will stay dead."

The 2nd Fleet arrived at Hinj'etcsku with little fanfare other than a blaze of turbolaser fire, and from the superlasers of the Deathwail, the Bloodsurge, and the Eliminator. The Nerakan forces were taking a serious beating at the hands of Domino's fleet.

Martel was barely startled by the arrival of the 2nd Fleet. He knew they would be coming, and he expected losses by the fire of the superlasers.
He gave the order to release the first wave of Nerakan fightercraft. The battle was met and former allies became ruthless foes.

The superlasers were tireless, ripping whole ships in two with one single blast. Martel was enraged that he was taking such a beating before his own secret power could be revealed.
Suddenly a trio of Eclipse Star Destroyers bearing Nerakan Armada beacon signatures lumbered around the horizon of Hinj'etcsku and released a violent wave of superlaser fire at the Sovereign SSD Eliminator. The ship erupted in flames and showered the 2nd Fleet with flashes. The hull of the SvSSD was badly damaged, as the ship released one final burst from its superlaser, destroying yet another Nerakan Warbird.
Shuttles and TIE squadrons were launching from the Eliminator's belly as the ship lost its lateral controls and began to dive toward one of Hinj'etcsku's three moons.
Admiral Daliwhel was charging furiously toward the command escape pod. He had given the evacuation order the very moment he realized the ESSD's were firing at his vessel. He was right. Only the superlaser crew and himself remained on board to make one last effort in the battle, and he had ordered those men to evacuate as well.
He had served the Empire with distinction, and Daliwhel was always prepared to die for the glory of the New Order, but he was human. Though the commander always goes down with his ship, he wasn't too fond of that tradition at this point. He boarded the command escape pod, waited fifteen seconds for two of his bridge crew to arrive behind him, then released the launch circuit.
The pod shot out from the Eliminator. The mighty vessel was just a few short kilometers from crashing into the moon, as it erupted in a huge fiery blast and sent shards of metal and globs of gaseous fire throughout the immediate vicinity. Daliwhel's escape pod was engulfed in the blast, and the admiral's career was over......

For the glory of the Empire.

"Day tchoo da monda lopa."

"Ah understand that, Boruma, but Ah need t'be goin'. Ah've other jobs t'do, ye ken." Dalon Marr stood across from the monstrous Hutt, and wished that he'd changed the filters in his helmet more recently. The Hutt's stench must be strong to penetrate into Marr's nostrils.

"Na dooma go pa lotcha. Y scoo yabba din ta malama de scoma."

"Ah'm glad that ye appreciate what ah've done, but it was just a job. Now that ye've paid me, Ah'd like t'be off. Ah'm nae in any need for a feast in m'honor. Ah never eat in public, anyway."

A group of well armed guards moved out of the shadows. "Yap de kooska."

"Ah see, ye're insisting. Well, let it nae be said that a Hutt canna be convincing. If ye don't mind, I'll be goin' t'my room to freshen up."

Marr didn't wait for permission as he left the room, escorted by one of the guards. Marr could easily have taken out the single guard and left, but the Hutt paid well, and he might want to work for him at some later date.

He settled down into his room, knowing that the place was bugged and not daring to remove his armor, and lay down on the bed that had been provided for him. He tried to get to sleep, but couldn't. Boruma had for some reason placed Marr near the prison facilities. Every time they tortured Solo, Marr could hear the screams perfectly. He also heard the chuckles of the Hutt as he gave instructions on what to do next. The Hutt must have thought that Marr would enjoy that sort of thing, but he was wrong. Dalon Marr could be ruthless, and didn't usually care who got in his crossfire, but he wasn't sadistic, and didn't particularly enjoy watching people get tortured. He didn't like his work to get personal. He'd seen too many hunters fall because of that, many of them chasing Solo.

He turned up a music program on his helmet headset, set up some alarms that would wake him in an emergency, and quickly fell into a light slumber.

Too weak to actually move, Han Solo let the Togorian guards carry him back to his cell for the brief recuperation period. He was going to get used to this routine in a hurry, that was certain.
'Cat-men'll drag me to my room. Chadra-fan chef brings me the bland chowder. I sniff at it and eat a bite, then throw up. Then I sleep for however long.' Han paused to glance at his wrist out of the corner of his eye. 'The bastards busted my chronometer during "round one" of my torture vacation.'
The Togorians dropped Han in an informal manner on the floor of his cell and shut the door with a confining *whoomp* noise.

Han curled into a ball and held his stomach. "Sith-sucking situation you've found yourself in this time, Han." Chastising himself as if he could have done something about his plight.

"Sith-sucking?" A voice came from across the cell. "What is this Sith-sucking? Does it bring you satisfaction?"

Han jerked involuntarily to find the voice. He spotted the small hole in the wall, and the furry finger protruding out of it.
"Who are you?" Han asked. "What are you?"

The voice replied, "Festus is Squib! Festus is your neighbor! Boruma caught Festus stealing from his kitchen and now Festus will die! Are you Sith-sucking?"

Han growned. 'Fantastic. Only being to contact me is a member of this inane race. I despise Squibs.'
"Yeah, Festus. You might as well say I'm a Sith-sucker. Tell me about Boruma the Hutt. How long have you been imprisoned?"

Festus giggled. "Boruma is the mightiest Hutt of all! If he knows Festus praises him, perhaps he will spare Festus!" the annoying Squib stopped talking, perhaps to think. "Festus is in jail for two days, maybe three weeks. Festus isn't certain!"

Han thought for a few seconds, then he asked the Squib, "Say, Festus, how did you make that hole we're talking through?"

"Festus made tools! Festus has digger tools! Sith-sucking human want a digger tool?"

Han felt a flow of strength enter his body. "Yeah! Yeah, I want a digger tool! Can you slide it through the hole?"
The tool slowly made its appearance through the hole.

"Sith-sucker like the digger tool?"

"It looks perfect Festus. I should be able to use it for something."
'Like picking my teeth,' Han concluded in his head. "Wait!"

Festus yelped. "Wait?"

"Picking! Festus, this is the gift of freedom! You want out of this dump, you just stick with your pal Han Solo!"

Domino watched the Sovereign Super Star Destroyer Eliminator explode in a furious display of energy. He watched as 40 TIE squadrons attempted to escape the hot searing ball of death their ship had become. 23 full squadrons made good their evacuation. He watched as escape pods and shuttles fell away from the vessel, as just more than 60% of them actually got away in time.
He reached out with the Force and felt 110,375 lives lost in the blast that destroyed the Eliminator. The Dark Lord was not mourning the loss of life, he was simply disgusted that the vessel hadn't been more useful to him before it was destroyed.
"I feel you Martel. I know you are here at Hinj'etcsku."
He motioned to General Tamar to take control of the Deathwail, then he sat in his command chair and concentrated on his rage.

Two Imperial Star Destroyers, three Victory Star Destroyers, and eight Carrack-class cruisers began to rush, in concert, toward the three Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyers. The ships were firing every conceivable weapon they had at their disposal, as they slammed into two of the three monolithic vessels, obliterating their shields and wreaking havoc on the hulls of the ships. The Deathwail and the Bloodsurge immediately opened fire with their superlasers on the two vulnerable ships, as the untouched Nerakan Eclipse SSD opened up on the Bloodsurge.
Domino opened his eyes, momentarily, to gaze at the spectacle of destruction he had caused. He had never made a strong habit of taking complete control over people's minds like he had just done, but he wouldn't have expected even his men to blindly ram their ships into the Nerakan vessels.
The Dark Lord shut his eyes again, and stretched his arms out toward the remaining Nerakan-owned Eclipse Super Star Destroyer. "You will die now, Martel."

Martel watched as the Imperial warships charged headlong into his mightiest weapons. "Open fire on the Sovereign! Blow it out of existence." The Bloodsurge and the Deathwail had both reduced the other two Eclipses to nothing but gas and metal and had turned their fire upon Martel's ship itself. Then Martel felt it.

~You will die now, Martel.~

Engaging his lightsaber, Martel charged for the Dark warrior who had been empowered to stop Martel from doing precisely what he would now attempt.
Lord Gillinull did exactly what Martel expected, standing directly in his path with his lightsaber drawn and ready. What Gillinull didn't expect was that Martel would have a perfect wall of secrecy shrouding his mind as he controlled five officers to draw their blasters and open fire on the warrior.

Gillinull still parried every one of the blaster shots, but he was unable to turn and defend against Martel's swift striking blade. Lord Gillinull, the great enforcer of Nelazriel's reign, was dead.

Minutes later, Martel had boarded a Sentinel-class shuttle and departed from the hangar of his ship. he immediately hailed the Deathwail.

"So, Hawk," Nathan drawled, "are we almost to Tatooine yet?"

Hawk rolled his eyes and turned to his partner. "Nate, for the last time, we'll be there in a bit! We're going to drop out of hyperspace in about 30 minutes."

Nathan grumbled, "....should never sign for jobs from spiced-out Hutts on back-water desert worlds....." as he walked back to the galley to drink the last Mieleböch Lum in the cooler. To tell the truth, just thinking about being on Tatooine again was enough to make Nathan start to sweat, and delivering goods to a Hutt didn't make it any more enjoyable.
"Say Hawk?"

"WHAT?" Hawk responded, agitation rising high in his voice.

Nathan chuckled, "We're just going to deliver the crates, get our payment and then split, right?"

Hawk was shaking his head. "Yeah! We're going to unload the crates, get our credits and then well stop off quickly at Mos Eisley for fresh supplies and take off for Corellia."
He looked at the bottle of lum. "Ummm....buddy, if that is the last bottle of Mieleböch you'd better pass it here before I send you floating down to Tatooine."

The two pirates bickered for the remainder of the trip.

The Force storm opened up and threatened to consume the Nerakan Eclipse Super Star Destroyer. Domino stepped to the communications console. "open up every known Nerakan frequency. As we tractor in Martel's shuttle so that he and I may face each other, we'll have every ship out there either surrender to us or be destroyed."

~Attention Nerakan Armada. Your commander, Lord Martel, has been captured. Currently you are faced with ultimate defeat and imminent death. All commanders must have their ships join the line of the 2nd Fleet before the Force storm reaches them. 2nd Fleet officers and crew will assume command of the vessels. You will be transported to 2nd Fleet ships to receive debriefing. You will forsake your Nerakan masters from this point forward or you will be destroyed.~

Domino returned to his station by his command chair and watched as the individual commanders of the Nerakan Armada made their decisions. Martel watched as his fury rose. Several of his ships had taken up a position to indicate that they were aligning themselves with the 2nd Fleet.
Those that weren't were being attacked from two angles. On one side, turbolaser fire from the 2nd Fleet, but on the other side, a vicious Force storm began to rip and rend ships from existence.
The grand servant of the Nerakan Empire watched his entire fleet join Domino or be destroyed. A total of 87 ships joined the 2nd Fleet.

General Tamar approached the Dark Lord. "Lord de Devastator, counting our losses in this battle and the addition of the Nerakan vessels, we now have 168 vessels in our Fleet. Intelligence reports that there are only 93 Nerakan ships surrounding Neraka Prime. We have them my Lord."

Domino allowed a slight grin to form on his lips as he turned to the turbolift to meet Martel in the hangar.
"Hold any more good news until I return with Martel's heart in my hip-pouch."

Marr kept alert, as difficult as it was. During the feast, each of Boruma's lieutenants was trying to give the best toast, that combined praise for Boruma, how despicable Solo was, and then praise for Marr. Of course, Marr didn't need that kind of crap, and he was getting sick of watching these guys vie for Boruma's attention. As far as Marr was concerned, not being noticed was the best policy. So instead of paying attention to the speeches, he paid attention to his surroundings. He didn't trust anyone here, and didn't need any surprises.

Han worked with the "digger tool" on the locking mechanism for a few minutes before hearing the distinctive *click* of the tumblers moving in his favor. "Festus, do you have any idea how long they're going to wait before coming back for me?"

"Han Solo has maybe one hour. Han Solo has maybe less time."

'Uh huh. He doesn't really know. Good. That will really help me.' Han thought.

"Han Solo has a blaster? Han Solo will need a blaster." Festus, it seemed, was good at providing a little help at the cost of much annoyance.

Han paused before opening his cell door. "No. I don't have a blaster. Where can I get one?"

Festus giggled. "Festus has no blaster. Han Solo will have to find a blaster."

"That's what I figured." Han responded as he stepped into the hallway. Finding it empty, he moved to Festus's cell door and picked the lock. Several seconds later, the squib and human duo were moving down the hallway.
Han stepped into a dark corner and pulled Festus close to him. Han had a question or two for the squib, so he proceeded to whisper.
"You must have some knowledge of this place, am I right?"

He nodded. "Festus knows where things are. Festus can tell you where to go."

"Thanks." Han said, considering things in his mind. "There must be a hangar, a garage..... a motorpool?"

Again, the squib nodded.
"Great! Take me there!"

Hawk and Nathan sat by the ramp of the Lumchugger as Boruma's men unloaded the freighter.
"So how far is it from this dive to Mos Eisley?" Hawk asked the supervisor.

The grungy-looking human replied, "It should take you 15 or 20 minutes in this ship, but you can get whatever you want straight from us."

'At conveniently "jacked-up" prices too, I'm sure.' Hawk thought. "Actually, we're meeting someone there. I don't think you can sell us that."

"Nah, you have a good point." the filthy man replied. "Well," he added, crustily, "Just one more crate, then we'll load your 4 payment crates, after you look through them, of course."

Hawk chuckled, emptily, "Of course."

Han crept up silently behind the lone guard, keeping in mind the tiny tree branch he stepped on over 20 years ago at Endor. That twig caused him so much trouble.
Quickly, he moved his hand around and clamped the man's mouth shut, slitting his throat with the squib's "digger tool."

"That's the way to do it Han Solo! Festus approves!"

Han was busy dragging the guard into the shadows, but he couldn't resist the opportunity.
"Festus, that makes me happy. You can't know how important it is to me that I have your approval. The approval of a Hutt-captive squib is much sought after throughout the galaxy, let me assure you." Han proceeded to remove the all but worthless armor from the man he had just killed, and took his helmet and weapons. Now he was armed with a blaster rifle and a vibro-shiv, and he was even able to provide a hold-out blaster for Festus.
Handing the small "pea-shooter" to the squib, he said, "Now take me to the hangar. We're leaving immediately."

At the first available moment, Marr excused himself from the banquet, pawning off an excuse of fatigue. Since it had devolved into trying to please the Hutt's ego, Marr doubted that he would be missed. A glance at the Hutt's eyes, however, showed that he knew what was going on, and may not be as mad as he had seemed. He's nae one to underestimate, Marr considered.

He seemingly meandered down the twisted hallways, reflecting that even the layout of the complex seemed insane, but once you got into it there was an underlying, if somewhat twisted, logic. The alarm on his armor indicated that someone had tried to break into his ship, and had been rudely rewarded for their efforts. Ah've gotta thank th' Wook for th' security measures.

Marr made his way to the hangar, and as he walked in, he was stopped by a guard with a bandaged right hand. "Unless you have authorization, you are not allowed to proceed any further."

Marr didn't answer, but instead pulled out his vibro-nuks, flipped them from hand to hand, then made as if resting his weight against the wall. Even semi-reclined on the wall, he was in a combat stance.

The guard puffed up as if to intimidate Marr, but he ignored the self important man, and strode forward. The guard made as if to stop him, but received a flurry of blows to the knees and shoulders, dropping him to the ground. "Next time, keep yer filthy mitt off of m'ship, lad."

Marr strode across to the Rancor's Maw, and examined the hangar as he went. A pair of smugglers were loading their ship, and whatever cargo they had brought in was being moved out of the hangar. Marr examined the exterior of his ship, and found a poorly placed explosive. Nothing that would cause any serious damage, but it might have done something to his maneuvering thrusters. "Amateur," he commented of the guard. After making sure that the seals to the door were still in place, he set about double checking the hull, keeping the sensors in his armor tuned to any movement in case the guard decided to come looking for more punishment.

Ah've got t'get out of here as soon as Ah can. he thought.

Hawk charged up the loading ramp of the Lumchugger as the final crate was loaded. Nathan was playing another game of "Fetch'n'tackle" with Arionis.
Hawk stepped back down into the hangar of Boruma's palace and called to his partner. "Nate, c'mon. It's all here. Let's cruise to Mos Eisley, get what we need, then get our Sithing butts off this rock."

"Leeeeeving sssssso ssssssoon?" a lisping voice called from 10 meters away in the shadows.

Hawk turned with his hand on the grip of his blaster. Nathan was already aiming his weapon, and Arionis was poised to pounce.
"Boruma woooood like yyyooour prrressssence in hissss dining chammmber."

Nathan shook his head. "We hate to decline, but we'll have to if you're by yourself."

Just then, four of Boruma's guards stepped out of the shadows.

"Nice work, buddy." Hawk said, jeering Nathan.

Arriving at a doorway to the hangar, Han tensed. Something didn't feel right about the scene he had happened upon. Five men, one in the shadows, were circling two men and their animal by the landing struts of their ship. Not that a scene like this was so uncommon, just that it wasn't right. Han didn't like the odds.
Moving closer, Han waved Festus to his side.
Whispering, Han gave the squib a few instructions. "First of all Festus, if you start talking, I'll cram this "digger tool" of yours into the side of your head."
Festus only nodded with his eyes wide open showing his belief that Han would do just that.
"Second, You go around that Ghtroc freighter there and give me some cover fire. Those two pilots are our ticket outta here, and we've gotta help 'em get us outta here." Han looked out at the scene again. "When I give you the thumbs up, you start blasting at those two right there." Han pointed out two of Boruma's men (easily distinguished from Hawk and Nathan by their attire) and watched Festus move to where he had been told.
'Han old boy, you really need to find a different way to spend your life. Getting captured and tortured, getting captured and tortured and placed in carbon freeze.....It's some weird cycle that never stops.' Taking a deep breath, Han counted to three in his head, gave Festus the "thumbs up," then sprinted into the open, blaster blazing at one of Boruma's ugliest.

MOVE ON TO PART II
RETURN TO THE ARCHIVES

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