Rafaella walked around and around in circles. Something was not right here, and she'd very much like to know what. She stopped walking, realizing she'd probably make a hole in her office floor. Hoping to find something to keep her mind off Neb Calluna and the latest, odd happenings, she went to watch the students training. Everything seemed normal, but she had this feeling... She shivered. Last time she'd felt like this, was when her father died and Azrael took over her home planet. She wanted to run, but didn't know where or how. Suddenly she noticed something. Taista was missing! After asking a few questions, she realized he'd gone to find Devastator and hurt or kill him. "That crazy oaf! When I find him, I'll beat the crap out of him!" she thought as she ran for the Hope, hoping to overtake Taista before he hurt himself or someone else...
Lin growled angrily and cursed the fellow who'd thought placing a Jedi school next to a cantina was a good idea, as she grabbed hold of another squealing student. Sometimes this place was enough to drive a sensible Jedi crazy. She hoped master Rafaella'd return soon from chasing Taista. She didn't want to student-sit more than absolutely necessary...
Taista chuckled as he opened another beer. Stealing that case of beer had been a good idea. Soon, very soon he'd be facing Devastator. Chuckling, he steered with one hand, opening beers with the other. He was getting a little drunk, but why not... The appallingly colored Blade lurched on towards Deominia...
A message was sent; it read thusly: "Taista: I understand that you have a great deal of vengeance towards a certain Sith Lord. My employer has information on how to actually reach the Deominian system, but the information is hard to come by, and it will cost you a large sum. If interested, simply reply 'yes' to this message, and meet me in two days time on Cadezia in the Trualis system. Wait in the spaceport in the capitol city, and I will find you."
Lerma Haaknu realized that this mission was going downhill. From Tatooine to the depths of Corellia, and now to Nar Shadaa. Just his luck, he supposed. After landing at what he hoped was a relatively safe spaceport, he made his way to the Gundark's ear. Once inside, he found a table in the shadows and hiked his hood up even farther, masking his face in as much shadow as he possibly could. Why did I ever agree to meet with a bounty hunter, he wondered. Soon a man dressed in Mandalorian battle armor, which was colored in a dark gray with blood red highlights, sat down with him. "I am Dalon Marr," the man hissed through his helmet. "What do you want?"
"I was told that you may have information about the sale of a certain listening device." "My employer deals in many such devices. Determining the sale of one could be difficult, practically impossible." "No, I've been told that this is quite unique." Lerma pulled out the listening device that he had found in Tashannoc's quarters on the table. Did Marr jerk just a little bit? As if in surprise? "Yeah, I recognize it. You're right, it is one of a kind. Glunteb the Hutt himself designed it. I'm surprised you found it, you weren't supposed to." "Let's just say I'm gifted at such things." "Okay, we can say that. I really don't care. My question is how much are you willing to pay?" "I'll give you 50000 credits." Marr laughed. "Fifty Thousand. To sell out a former client? You must be joking. Gluteb wouldn't have me sell out for anything less than two hundred thousand." They bartered for a while, then came to rest on the sum of 110,000 credits, very satisfactory to both parties. "Okay," Marr said, "We didn't hand off to the buyer, there was a middle man involved. He didn't give his real name, but he's a fat man who runs a bakery in Delteth, on Quian. He goes by the name of Brunoq. That's who I gave the device to. Now, I'd love to have this little thing back. What do you say I shave the price in half and you let me have the device." Lerma took the device off of the table, and put it back in his robes. "No deal," he said, and handed the money to Dalon Marr. "Okay, so the nice way isn't going to work," said the bounty hunter. "So what's going to stop me from killing you, taking the device, and getting the bounty on your Zuu Shi hide. It might not be as much as it would be for you alive. Yes I know who you are Mr. Haaknu, the hood doesn't fool me. Now, I have a blaster leveled at your chest. Why don't we step outside into an alley, and talk this over real civilized?" Lerma just smiled, and said, "Sorry, Marr, but I'm already late. I'll see you around." With that, Lerma was no longer in the Gundark's Ear, and was heading at a rapid pace back to his ship. "Why can't I just have a normal vacation?" he asked no one in particular.
A very drunk Taista squinted at the message for four whole minutes. Then he replied.
"YES" After that, he turned the autopilot on and went to find a clean suit.
Somehow he thought wearing the checkered blue and neon green leisure suit that always made
Lin growl and pretend to barf wasn't a good
idea...
"Captain Marquis, you are cleared for landing bay 372. Blasters are legal to carry, as long as they are kept in plain sight, and at the lowest stun setting. Enjoy your stay in Cadezia." crackled the comm. The spaceport comm officer sounded unenthusiastic, at best. Marquis homed in on her specified landing beacon and prepared to bring the ship down. 'I only need to be here for a short time, maybe only a day.' she thought. Her heart had been fluttering since she had reached the Trualis system, but her sensors had not picked up any hostile parties. She just couldn't shake the paranoia.
Rayla burst into the Trualis system and locked in on Marquis ship immediately. She knew she was one of the best assassins in the galaxy, but she was proud of her tracking abilities too. "Sure pays to keep tracking devices handy." she announced to the air freshener hanging from the cockpit ceiling. "I'll just keep tabs on this gal and see what she's up to. Maybe I can take her, and present her to Lord Domino as a gift." Rayla made contact with the port authority, and got clearance for landing bay 376, then bribed the comm officer for information about Marquis. A limitless credit voucher had many uses! 'I wonder if there is a place here that sells dewback loin?' she thought, thinking once again that she should stop to eat a little more often.
Thix wiped sweat off of his forehead and checked the ammo level on his blaster. Half charge. He'd win yet! He swung around a corner in the dimly lit hall and fired two shots at his enemy, Jacen Solo. Jacen yelled and dived to cover. He responded with a quick shot of his own that barely missed Thix. Thix pulled his wits together and ran up to Jacen's bunker and waited until he popped up for a shot. Thix quickly reached up and placed the pistol under Jacen's chin. "Loser!" Thix said. "Aww, man!" Jacen said. "I am the ULTIMATE lasershot!" Thix said, holding up his blaster in triumph. "This game is really...really..." "Realistic?" Thix offered. "Yes. Now, I must exit the arena. You killed me." "Heheh." Thix got a refilled blaster from a referee and though for a second. This game was really cool. It just got installed on B Deck at the base and was used as a morale booster. Thix was ranked eighth best player in the base.
Suddenly, he was startled by the intercom blaring, "NEW CHALLENGER!" Thix flicked his gun to single shot and walked through the maze like corridors looking for his adversary. He saw a flash of movement and fired once. Miss. A bolt flew past his head. "Whoa!" He ducked behind the wall. He enemy continued to fir relentlessly. Thix stopped firing and watched. How dumb was this guy? The gun stopped firing. Out of ammo. Easy prey. Thix held his blaster out in front of him and prepared to chalk up another one. He stepped out from behind the wall--and saw his opponent step from behind the wall, take aim, and splash Thix's chest with red ink. "What the? How? Where?" His opponent came forward. "Unnghh...not again. When are you going to stop trying to prove me wrong? What did I do?" "I guess you're just in the wrong place at the wrong time, Thix." "Don't get philosophical with me, Becky. I know how to play this and you know that...what did you do anyway?" "I had one shot left."
"Perfect." He took her gun and they walked out of the arena; gave them back to the operator. "Look, Becky, can we befriends again? These little showups are, well-" "Preplanned." "Yeah. Anyway, if a battle or something doesn't show up in a couple of days, I'm shipping back to the Academy for a while. I thought it would be nice to have a friend at the base." "I don't have any friends." "What about your squadron? I suppose that Yellow group--" "There's only one Yellow left. Me."
Thix walked in silence for a while. "Well, then would you object to having a friend?" Right then Jacen ran up. "Thix, man, you've got to see this. They just got a new shipment of proton torps in and you'll never believe what was in the exhaust of one." "What?" "You'll see!" Thix looked back at Becky with an exasperated look on his face, as if asking, Could you answer now please before I get ripped in two? She nodded and waved as he walked off with Jacen to see this mystery creature.
Rafaella frowned. She hoped Taista didn't get into too much trouble. Driving drunk was bad enough, and chasing Devastator was suicidal. Especially as he was going alone. Sometimes his antics made it really hard not to go Dark Side and choke him...
Tashannoc made it to the planet on which he had spent so many years, and had never thought to return to. He had come to think of this place as a kind of prison. What was he doing back here?
As Lerma touched down on the planet, he wasn't sure what to make of the place. Deltleth was definitely a step up on the ladder of cities he'd been to, but that wasn't saying much. He hoped he could get off of Quian soon. He made his way to the bakery that Brunoq ran, and walked in the door, and stared at the dead body on the floor, bleeding from a gaping chest wound. The man was, presumably, Brunoq. Just then, a member of the local peacekeeping force walked into the bakery. "Hey, we had word of a disturbance- What the H***!" He drew his blaster and held it at Lerma. He was obviously not used to dealing with any disturbances beyond someone disturbing the peace and the blaster wavered dangerously as it pointed in Lerma's general direction. "Hold on there friend, I just came in here for a pastry." A third voice entered the room. "Put the blaster down, son, I got this one covered." The newcomer was obviously a battle hardened veteran, and wasn't going to make a mistake. He continued, "I got word that some alien freak might have tried to do something to old Brunoq. Not much of a loss really, as he wasn't exactly the cream of society. However, I was also told that you resisted arrest and I had to put you down before you hurt me or my friend here. That was a real dumb move." The corrupt officer smiled, and pushed the contact on his blaster. Lerma wasn't waiting to get shot though. Knowing he couldn't leave these two behind him, he went into action. POP! behind veteran, vibroblade between back vertebrae, pierce lung and heart. POP! under greenie, vibroblade in groin, make him wish he was never born. POP! out the building, run to the ship, don't bother waiting for permission to take off.
He avoided getting blasted as he made his way out of the atmosphere and a pair of Z-95's were falling back. Fortunately this shuttle was faster than standard. As he entered hyperspace, Lerma muttered, "Somebody set me up. I think I know who, and I think I know where to find him."
In a spaceport on Cadezia, Taista waited. He was not in a very good mood, as a nasty hangover was starting to form. Fortunately, there was a bar at the spaceport, and he decided to grab a bottle of whiskey to while away the time.
On the other side of the spaceport, Rayla had recently arrived, tracking Marquis. Little did she know about the subterfuge going on nearby, but if she did she certainly would want her master to know about it.
The shadowy figure had seen both subjects, and watched them carefully. Taista was a fool, trying to hunt the predator in its own den. 'Oh, well,' he thought. 'The universe isn't going to miss one more fool. And I can use the money. I just hope I get to keep my share of it, or that Bastich isn't going to have my services any longer.' He decided the time wasn't right quite yet, and decided to send another message, to another party. Might as well spice things up a little.
Neb was afraid of the man standing before him, and yet he knew that what had been said was true. Neb had lost his chance to make choices. His destiny was no longer his own.
"In conclusion, gentlemen, I am telling you that Lord Domino may be going mad!" Admiral Daliwhel had been speaking for nearly fifty minutes about the commander of the 2nd Fleet, and was just now saying in conclusion. "Rather than send reinforcements to the situation at Dantooine, he chose to wait here in his safe zone and work his dark magics to create havoc in the galaxy. What kind of a fit warlord is he? If he does not prove himself worthy of our servitude, we may need to overthrow him! Remarks?" The room remained silent for a few minutes and became unbearably awkward before Captain Tjern Delsin, commander of the Omega battle group, stood to address his peers. Turning to each man present, he saw that they recognized him and his reputation. He knew that this meant he had earned respect that his rank had not given him.
"Admiral Daliwhel, gentlemen, I am not used to dealing with the Dark Master and have only met him once on Imperial Center. In just twenty minutes of conversation, he struck me as having extraordinary wisdom and knowledge about a great many things. I do not know how many of you are familiar with the writings of the old Republic general Velthzul Tyotsu, but I study his teachings fervently, much to my credit if I do say so myself." Undaunted by the unfamiliar room or the inhabitants, Delsin licked his lips coolly and continued. "There is an old philosophy that Tyotsu wrote on, and it is on the use of ordinary versus outlandish forces. He wrote, 'To succeed beyond your hopes, engage the enemy with the mundane forces, which is what they are used to, then overwhelm them with bizarre force. This will catch them unawares, and you will win!' Good Admiral, I propose that Lord Domino has his full wits about him, and he has a plan for this simian legion of war creatures. Thank you!"
Delsin sat, then silence reigned for several more minutes. Finally, Daliwhel broke the barrier. "I must admit that I made some improper judgements on our Lord Dark Master. Captain Delsin, thank you for those encouraging, inspiring words. I put it forth from this day forward, that all ship commanders in the 2nd Fleet, will read out of the writings of Tyotsu every day! Gentlemen, dismissed!"
Rayla followed Marquis for several hundred meters till she stepped into a bar on the edge of the spaceport. She stepped in and began to blend into the crowd, not wanting to be spotted by Marquis just yet (if at all). Marquis had gone straight to the bar, purchased a bottled beverage, then walked for the exit.
Rayla decided the time was right. "Marquis? It is you! What are you doing here?" Rayla used her best friendly and surprised voice. Marquis stood, unbelieving, then smiled at Rayla. "I might ask the same of you! This is a long way from Nar Shadaa. Isn't that where you said you'd be going?" Rayla replied to the affirmative. "Marquis, I have a proposition for you. My employer has sent me scouting for able pilots to do some freelance hauling for him. I would wager that he can pay at least twice what you make per month now!" Marquis shook her head. "Are you kidding me? That would be nearly 10,000 credits a month! Is he really able to pay that much?" Rayla nodded again then offered to buy the woman a meal. Before the evening was over, they had an agreement to meet on Nar Shadaa in four weeks.
"Aaaaaahhhhhh........" Was all that Domino uttered as he blew out the thick gray
smoke from the Chandrillan cigar that was in his grasp at the moment. "Arcana, you
never fail to please me! Tell me of your greatest desire, and with all of my authority, I
will seek to grant it! I wish to reward you beyond our usual arrangement, and in exchange,
you can consider yourself one of my retainers." Domino sat on his throne and watched
the smuggler for several long minutes, waiting for him to answer. Arcana was not one to
make important decisions without thinking them through, so he stood there thinking.......
Rafaella pondered what to do next about Taista. She knew where he was going, but somehow she was reluctant to go there. "Hey, what am I thinking? Possibly no one have ever heard of Azrael's bounty on me. Besides, I can't leave Taista alone. He's my student, and my responsibility" she thought. Of course going there without a disguise would be folly. Flicking the autopilot on, she went to work
Just as Rayla moved toward the bar and stepped in, Taista stumbled his way away from it, back toward his ship. He appeared to be getting antsy and impatient, so the information broker stepped out of his own ship and approached carefully. "Taista, don't make a sound. I'm the one who sent for you. Come with me quietly, or we'll both probably be killed." Taista looked over the man in front of him in a drunken haze. The gray Mandalorian armor had blood red highlights, and through the whiskey looked funny rather than imposing. "What did you do, steal Boba Fett's Pajama's?" Taista laughed uproariously at his own joke. Dalon Marr, who was sick of the information business and would much rather go back to some decent bounty hunting, smacked Taista in the jaw, knocking him into a daze. He dragged the drunken man to a quiet alley nearby, and injected him with a stimulant that would wake him up and sober him up a little.
"You idiot!" Marr whispered. "One of de Devastator's best agents is in the spaceport. She would have killed you if she saw you and don't think in some fit of drunken bravado that you could have taken her. Now listen, I can give you information on how to get to the Deominian system, but I can't get you through the cloud. You've got to figure that one out yourself. However, you'll never get anywhere close without my help. Now, you want Domino, and I'm the only one who can help you, so my price is non-negotiable. 75,000, all in advance or no deal." Taista thought about it for a bit, but the alcohol was enhancing his desire for revenge. He tried to negotiate, but hadn't paid much attention and offered a price higher than the one Marr had stated. Not willing to take advantage of a drunk man, Marr stood firm at his price. Taista paid, and went back to his ship and left Cadezia. He wasn't sure if he'd use the info, but at least now he had it. He uploaded the info that had been sent from Marr, and attached was a little note. "Okay, bud, you got yourself some rented info. You'd better use it in the next 24 hours, though, because it has a self-deletion tag on it and will be gone after that. Just stick the data into your navicomp, and the program will calculate the safest jump from where you are. Have a nice trip." The note was unsigned and Taista wondered what the name of the guy he'd been dealing with was.
Rayla finished up her negotiations with Maquis and returned to her ship, and found a new message from her 'friend.' She smiled and sent a reply.
Lerma was not pleased. He had just arrived on Cadezia, and parked his shuttle on the opposite side of the spaceport from Dalon Marr. He had watched the interaction with Taista, and had heard most of what had gone on (having large ears has its advantages), but didn't interfere. If Taista was dumb enough or drunk enough to take on Domino on his own turf, that was his problem, not Lerma's. As Marr went back to his ship, Lerma made his move. POP! He teleported right over Marr and dropped on him with a savage yell. Not expecting an attack from the previously open sky, Marr didn't even have time to draw his blaster as the surprisingly strong little man wrestled him to the ground. "I know who your boss is," Lerma said, "Not the Hutt figurehead, but your real boss. Tell him I don't like being set up. I spared his life once, don't expect me to do it a second time." Marr, on the other hand, was confused. Set him up? What was he talking about?
Rayla heard the commotion across the spaceport and saw the struggle going on. Normally, she wouldn't get involved, but she recognized the figure on top of the Mandalorian. A Zuu Shi, she thought. This could be interesting.
"Your deal." Jacen handed Jaina a deck of Sabacc cards. She, Jacen, and Thix were in a rebel transport that was bound for Yavin 4. The base hadn't seen much action in a while and Thix thought it would be good to get in some more training. Jaina took the deck of cards and dealt out the hands. Thix looked at his cards. The Idiot, a two, and a nine. He sighed and wished he'd gotten a three instead of that nine, making an Idiot's array. Jacen tossed a couple of chips into the center of the small table and said "Hit me." Suddenly the whole craft shook up and down, like it was a salt shaker. Thix couldn't see straight for a few seconds, then his vision cleared. Jacen groaned and wobbled to his feet. "I didn't mean that literally..." Thix grabbed for the door to the cockpit. It pulled open and he looked in. "What the?" The pilot was gone! Thix noticed for the first time that the transport was on ground, not in space where it was supposed to be. There was a lush green plain outside the window and part of a rock obscured some of the view. They must have lost altitude slowly and skimmed to here. Where the heck was the pilot?! "Umm, okay..." He muttered.
Jaina stood. "Was that an asteroid?" "No, Jeena, that was a boulder." Thix said, slurring her name as he always did. "Uh-huh. Next you'll tell me we hit a Hutt." She came up to the cockpit door and her jaw dropped. Recovering she slid into the pilot's chair and punched up navigation coordinates. "This can't be right...." She said. "What?" Thix and Jacen asked both almost simultaneously. "The computer says we've landed on....Alderaan."
Rayla crept slowly. She still could not hear what was being said, but she could feel the tension between the two figures. 'If I can bring Domino this Zuu Shi, he would reward me greatly!' She thought. Moving with the silence of a Katarn on the prowl, she moved within five meters of the situation. 'Now to pounce and take this one quickly, or he'll just disappear!'
Growling, Taista bought half of a nearby liquor store, then went off to the Deominian system. Halfway through his third beer, he noticed something that sobered him up, as he flipped the credit card. He'd gotten Rafaella's card in stead of his own. No wonder the money didn't run out...He wondered for a moment what the Master'd do with him when...if she caught him. Then he threw the card on the floor and opened another beer...
Rafaella shadowed Taista every step of the way, waiting for an opportunity to get at him. Unfortunately none presented itself, and she had to return to the Hope and take off very swiftly, in order not to lose him. She felt like cursing him, or at least see if she could find the whip her predecessor had used on difficult students. Not only had he left on a harebrained trip to the most dangerous part of the galaxy, he'd misunderstood all about what the Jedi was...and then there was the thing about stealing her card. She wondered whether to make sure he couldn't use it, but decided to set a limit on the amount he could use instead...
Rayla had nick named the two beings in her mind. The bounty hunter she simply called Buck, but the Zuu Shi had earned the title of Percy. She drew her neural inhibitor hesitantly, she wasn't sure what the effects would be on the Percy's metabolism. 'Stang!' she thought. 'I would rather take him alive, he'd be worth more then. Well, I can worry about his health after he is safely tucked into the prisoner hold on my ship!' As she made her decision silently, it seemed as if Percy had become aware of more than himself and Buck being present, as he began to turn his head in her direction. Undaunted, she aimed carefully, and squeezed the trigger. Two tiny projectiles flew through the air at a nearly indeterminable rate of speed and struck their mark just below the neck on Percy's back. He reeled in surprise, then began to shudder and finally dropped to the ground after some fairly fierce convulsions. She moved with determination to check on her acquisition to see if he had survived. "Life signs appear strong, despite the presence of the neurotoxin...." she muttered, then looked at Buck. "Are you okay?" she asked. "This one will be all right, but he will be out of it for about 15 minutes." She kept her eyes on Buck as she felt through Percy's clothing for weapons.
From the cover of the alley, Marquis had watched the whole thing. 'I have no idea why she attacked that creature, but I have no reason not to trust her judgement. I will stick around and help her out of trouble if she needs it. That bounty hunter looks a little rough!' Marquis drew her Merr-Sonn "Quick" 6 blaster pistol, and trained it on the bounty hunter. She felt fairly safe in the darkness of her hiding place.
"Okay, problem three." Thix tugged at the door to the shuttle, which was anchored in by layers of dirt and rock. The shuttle, after closer inspection, had flown at a slight angle, but must have hit an unexpected air current, turbulence that threw the craft down. Jacen turned on his lightsaber. "Scuse me." He said, and sliced a square in the door. "No, Jacen don't!" The square slice of door caved inward, followed by as large amount of soil. "Ahem. Nice." Thix pulled his legs free of the dirt and helped Jacen out of it as well. Jaina was still in the cockpit, puzzling. Thix was mystified at their current location but was more concerned about getting outside. After nearly twenty minutes of digging with hands and using 'sabers to cut large rock, they plowed a path to the surface. Jacen tumbled out, followed by Thix and finally Jaina.
Jaina stood and looked around. "I just don't get it. This is the Plains of Greelka, located in the southern hemisphere of Alderaan, But.. that's impossible." She held up a datapad to Thix and Jacen that displayed the same info. "What do you think happened?" Jacen asked. "Well, there's lots of possibilities. One, our navicomputer has a major virus, two, my datapad is on the fritz, three, all of the above, or somehow… we ended up on Alderaan." Jaina answered. The three students didn't know what to do next so they trudged ahead, taking with them what little supplies could be salvaged. After about three hours, Jaina noticed something and spoke up. "We can't be on Alderaan. Alderaan was famous for great floating cities where people could live without disturbing the other lifeforms. But there's one that supposed to be directly overhead now, but it's not...I'm really confused now." Jaina said. Thix looked above him, then a slow realization crept over him. "I think that we are overlooking the obvious." He said. "What?" Jaina replied. "Just that.. hang on.." He pulled his own lightsaber, which had a deep blue blade. He cut a large triangle in the ground and levered it up. Crouching down next to the hole, he repeated the cut. This time when he lifted out the chunk, he saw what he was looking for.
"STEEL?" Jaina asked incredulously. "Steel under the ground?" The soil ended about four feet under ground and a layer of steel and steel supports rested beneath it. "Yeah.. steel." Thix said. "We're not on Alderaan, we're on some terraformed planet that looks exactly like Alderaan!" "Amazing. I hope it's controllers are friendly." Jaina said. "Friendly? Depends on what you're definition of a friend is." A deep voice said from behind the three. They turned. A human sitting on a stone held a heavy blaster pistol trained on them. "Actually I don't think your definition matters at all." He said with an evil grin. "It's what my boss thinks that matters to you...."
Sick of being taken for a fool, and wondering what the Zuu Shi had been talking about before being stunned, Dalon Marr picked himself up off of the ground. As Rayla approached him, he muttered, "Um, thanks." She started rifling through Lerma's clothes, and Marr decided to take a quick stock of the situation. Spaceport was fairly empty, only people nearby were himself, Lerma, Rayla, and the woman aiming a blaster at him. Glad I've got infrared in my helmet he thought. I really don't like the way things are looking here. Rayla had removed the small blaster and vibroblade from Lerma's clothing, and was starting to pick up the unconscious form. "Here," said Marr, "let me help you with that." He ducked down and removed a pair of Magnacuffs, putting them on Lerma's wrists. He watched the woman keep the gun trained on him. She didn't seem entirely sure of herself. Maybe he could use it to his advantage. He straitened up quickly with the magnacuffs in one hand, and used his arm blasters to shoot at the woman. He almost simultaneously activated his jump pack and plowed Rayla over. She recovered quickly, but he was keeping low, practically dragging Lerma, and using the ships in the port for cover. His ship wasn't far, and he met signaled to have the hatch open. Just as he was nearing the ship, a well aimed blast hit the rocket pack, and sent him careening into the nearest ship, looking up at the Rancor Teeth that were on the cockpit, he realized it was his own ship, the Rancor's Maw. 'By the maker that bloody assassin recovers fast!'
He realized that Rayla was closing too fast for him to save his own hide and Lerma's, so he made the obvious choice and dropped Lerma and made it into the ship, closing the hatch. 'Good thing I'm not very well known. There's no way she'd know that this is my ship.' A couple of minutes later Rayla caught up, not having seen where Marr had gone. However, she had the Zuu Shi, and that was what was important. She picked him up and started making her way back to her ship, when suddenly the weight in her arms was gone! All she was left with was an old pair of magnacuffs.
Marr watched on his screen as Rayla stopped in surprise, and cursed herself for not stunning the Zuu Shi again. "Man, she looks pissed." a voice behind him observed. He looked over his shoulder to see Lerma! "What are you doing here? How did you get away?" Marr of course had a blaster focused on Lerma. "Well, I obviously couldn't go back to my own ship. She'll be expecting that. I figured that since you were trying to rescue me this would be a safe place to go, plus it was a short jump. My race has a pretty good metabolism, and I've built up my stamina over the years, so I was able to beat the effects of the neural inhibitor rather quickly. I wouldn't have had the time if you hadn't gotten me away though. Thanks. I think I owe you an apology for jumping you earlier. I think you've been played as much for a dupe as I have." Marr decided to relax a bit. Lerma seemed genuine, and he did have a grudging admiration for the guy.
'Getting soft hearted again' part of his mind chastised. It was just that thing that got you shipped off of Mandalore. Ignoring himself, he put away the blaster, and let his voice go back to normal. "Alright, laddie, but what are ya thinkin' of doin' next?" Lerma was somewhat taken aback at the new accent, but decided to ignore it. "I thought that we could pay your Hutt friend a little visit. I'm not ready to deal with your boss just yet, but I think the Hutt will have enough information to get us started. "All right, me boyo, Nal Hutta it 'tis! But first we have to wait for a safer time to leave."
Later in the afternoon, ships started leaving the spaceport in greater numbers. Lerma's ship had been impounded (apparently the hand of the Sith Lord extended even to this supposedly neutral world), and Marr waited for permission before he left the surface. Once in orbit, he scanned the surface of his ship for tracking devices (can't be too sure) then made a few erratic jumps to throw off any followers, all more out of habit than anything. "Is all this really necessary?" Lerma asked at one point. "Aye, lad. Yer only paranoid if they ain't after ya, and that's the truth."
"Whooooo..." Thix mumbled as he stumbled over a rock. The man behind the three students had taken their lightsabers and tied their hands. Thix had no idea where he was taking them or what was going to happen. The man suddenly said "Stop here." The three stopped. The man moved ahead of them and stooped down on the ground near a rock. He pressed two of his fingers down on the stone and Thix heard a beeping noise, then a panel that looked like a patch of dirt slid to one side, revealing a spiral stairway to which the captor gestured to with his pistol. "Down there." Jacen, Jaina and Thix stepped onto the stairs and began walking down. The man sealed the door behind them.
Upon reaching the bottom, they were met by a large steel door. An access card held by their captor opened it, and the four stepped into a well-furnished office. Thix had no idea as to why an office would be placed here of all places. Behind a huge wooden desk a man stood, looking cautious. "Who are these three, Jarrti?" Their captor, Jarrti, shrugged. "I don't know. They were up above messing around." "How did you get here?!" the man asked Jacen. "We, uh, crashed." The tall man looked incredulous. "How could you have possibly crashed on Alderaan? It's gone! Destroyed! Blown to pieces! How do you like being here on Alderaan? Quite nice, isn't it? Especially in the spring. I like the spring, don't you?" Thix realized that this man had jumped off the deep end quite some time ago. The man continued. "I rebuilt Alderaan, see? I picked through the pieces and I rebuilt the planet. It only took me a year.. a year..." He sat down and picked up a pen, began to write on a sheet. "Uh, sir?" Jarrti asked the man. "What should I do with these three?" "Umm.....I'm not quite sure at the moment. Lock them up." Jarrti turned to the three students and waved the pistol to a door. Thix sighed and did as he was told.
Tashannoc made his way to the hut where he had spent many significant years of his life. Funny how it seemed so much smaller now that his world was so much larger.
Neb cowered in fear before Mirath Omnes, but had no idea of what else to do. "Good," said the Dark Master. "You know your place."
Dalon Marr checked the coordinates. Yes, they should be at Nal Hutta, but it wasn't there. Lerma came back from the hold, having slept off the effects of the neural inhibitor. "Where are we," he asked. Marr frowned under his mask. "I don't know. It looks like someone messed with my navicomputer. We're lost." The two looked at each other, and wondered what to do next.
As Buck ran away, Rayla cursed herself for having lost the chance to take in Percy. She made her way to the landing bay where her ship was, then froze. She was being followed!
Marquis waited for the danger to pass, then got out of her hiding spot to follow Rayla. She couldn't explain to herself what it was about this woman that kept her so curious, but she wasn't going to fight it. Nearly lost in her reverie, she forgot to pay attention to what she was doing and found a blaster muzzle under her chin!
"Marquis!??! What are you doing following me? That's a great way for someone to get shot! Come with me to my ship!" Rayla said, grabbing Marquis by the collar of her blouse and dragging her with her!
"Well, you know, Rayla! I was in the neighborhood! Thought I'd keep a blaster pointed at that bounty hunter in case things got dangerous for you!" Marquis replied, gaining her shirt and dignity back from the purposeful assassin. "So why are we going to your ship anyway?"
Rayla thought about it for several seconds, then replied, matter of factly. "Well, I don't think we need to meet up on Nar Shadaa after all. I see now how your interests and loyalties sit. We're flying out to meet my employer, and he'll send someone to check out your vessel for bugs, then fly it home!" Rayla concluded as they entered her landing bay. Marquis was amazed at Rayla's magnificent ship. She had never seen anything like it.
She could only contain her curiosity so long, as she decided to ask about it. "What class of ship is this, Rayla? I don't recall ever seeing anything like it!"
"And you probably never will, at least when it's flying." Rayla said, wincing. She berated herself in her mind, 'Dumb, dumb, dumb! Don't give away too much information about your craft!' Composing herself, she began to tell Marquis what her craft did, without giving away too much information! "Marquis, this is my fighter/transport, the 'SHADOW-HAWK.' I can't tell you too much about it, my employer forbids that, but I can say that it could be one of the most expensive crafts in free space!" As they entered the ship, Marquis was surprised to see an astromech droid sitting in the hall, especially with the blaster appendage pointed at her. "Oh, pay him no mind, he won't shoot you if you're with me! That's Lil' Dianoga, or R2LD if you want to get technical. He's what passes for a co-pilot and security on this vessel! I'll show you to the lounge and guest quarters, but unfortunately, I can't let you see the cockpit."
"Oh, that's fine! I could use the rest! I'll just use a refresher, and get some sleep." Marquis stated. Rayla went to the cockpit, performed a more than routine check on her systems, then with R2LD's help, swept the ship with great scrutiny for tracking devices. When everything was looking good, she blasted off and set a course for Deominia.
Taista gasped as the cloud came into view. It was huge! And somewhere in it was his way in, to Devastator...He was going to crank the speed up to full, when he suddenly began thinking of Master Rafaella. What would she have done? He almost wished she was there, but then his resolve strengthened. He slowed down and began looking for a way in. Then, suddenly, the he felt a tickle at the base of his neck. "Master" he thought in surprise, hoping that it was so.
Rafaella frowned slightly, eyeing the Deominian cloud. She was quite sure Taista had noticed her presence, yet he made no attempt to flee. She thought of contacting him over the comm or with the Force, but decided against it as she nudged the Hope closer to Taista's ship, hoping that she could get him with her, musing about how much he resembled her brother Marek. Though one was a pink bunny Jedi-in-training and the other a Dallethian Sith Lord-in-training, they resembled each other like twins some times...
"Watch the merchandise!" Thix said to Jarrti as he pushed him into a cell under the office area. The cell was dark and damp and Thix mused that he must be near the automatic irrigators and that they must have internal coolers for this condensation to form. Irrigators. He had an idea, but first he would have to get his hands on his saber. Of course, with his saber, he could bust out of here. He decided to find out what this guy was up to out here in the middle of space with a clone Alderaan. If he was a simple wacko who missed Alderaan, it was fine by Thix has long as he could get off here. If this place so much as had one offensive turbolaser battery he'd use his plan. Sitting down, he dozed for about an hour.
Suddenly, the steel door creaked open and Jarrti stepped in again. "Come here, the boss wants to talk to you." "Umm, what's your boss' name?" Thix ventured. "That's a good question. He keeps to himself. But for what he pays I don't care if he's Emperor Palpatine himself." "I would," Thix muttered. He was led up a set of stairs. Jarrti opened a massive steel door that led to the office. Thix hoped this meeting would be more productive than the last one…
Commander Lanos Ta'fras and Lieutenant Dalthane Voss left the Deominian Cloud like a blaster bolt with a purpose. And in fact they did have a purpose, the retrieval of Marquis' ship. The network of the Deominian system was very primitive, but in the same way very complex. Rayla's message had come to the attention of Recon Team Epsilon. They immediately scrambled a courier fighter to the heart of the cloud. That pilot, gave the message to Domino de Devastator, who then dispatched his two able pilots Commander Ta'fras and Lieutenant Voss to retrieve the freighter on Cadezia. The network of communication was of such a fragile complexity that many of Lord Domino's peers had belittled him for using the Deominian cloud at all. They warned him of turncoats, backstabbers and highway men who would try to profit from the knowledge of the cloud's secrets.
Domino chuckled as he thought of this. 'Yes, what if I had a traitor among my men? They are so brainwashed, they would sooner fall on their own vibroblade before they would betray me! The very idea of one of my own welling me out is entirely inconceivable!' There had been two messages brought in by the courier. The first message was from Rayla. She was returning with the plans for the Super Droid, and with a new recruit. It would be wonderful to have his loyal retainer back home. How he'd missed their walks.
The second message was from an unfamiliar party, though not entirely unknown, who was wishing to meet with Domino. He was in the process of preparing a return message to Sith Mistress Mumar Ali Kazar while talking to the courier pilot. "So there are two ships outside of the cloud, and they are making sensor readings on the cloud? Why should this interest me! Pilot, take this encoded message back to the 'Interloper' and see that your commander sends it with all due haste! The ships outside of the cloud are to be left alone, if they haven't all ready been stopped. I have been expecting them."
"Yes Lord Domino!" The pilot replied.
'So, the great self-styled Sith priestess Mumar Ali Kazar wishes to hold counsel with me. This is an honor. I will make arrangements to depart for Imperial Center the very same moment that Rayla arrives with this 'new recruit!''
Mumar Kazar was expecting the message as it came in on her com-unit. Domino's dark visage appeared on her screen. ~My dear Mumar! Kind of you to think of me! I must admit that I know very little of you, but the Emperor has mentioned you and your loyalty on occasion. I look forward to meeting with you at my castle on Imperial Center, the City block coordinates follow at the end of this transmission.~ Mumar sat for a few moments as she considered what this message could mean for her! 'By Circe! He will meet with me. Every vision I have had of the future started with this moment's occurrence! The Sith religion shall once again rise!!!'
Suddenly Rafaella saw a ship heading out of the swirling cloud. "There, Taista! There's the way in!" she muttered into the comm unit before nudging her ship into the opening. Taista followed on her heel... Rafaella gasped as she saw the beauty of the cloud, the swirling colors. It was almost more beautiful than everything else she had seen. Oddly enough she got a little homesick, because the colors somehow reminded her of a dragon's scales on an early summer morning, when the light caught them... She swerved, seeing that she almost took a wrong turn because she was so fascinated by the beauty of it all... "Taista! Where are you?!" she muttered into the comm. "Outside the blasted cloud! I took a wrong turn somewhere! This "way in" is as maze-like as something a bureaucrat's dream up!" he yelled back. "Cool down and try again!" she replied calmly before continuing. She wasn't the worst pilot she knew of, but before long she was outside, next to Taista's ship. From the sound of his voice, he was going to be very hysterical soon if they didn't find the way in fast... "Once more, Taista." she said as soothingly as she could and nudged her ship back towards the way in, Taista following...
"I trust you are enjoying your stay?" The insane man behind the desk said to Thix in his office. Unsure as of how to respond to a disturbed man, Thix said "Uh, it's great. I love the suite. Nice view." "Thank you. It's nice to have guests. Alderaan...Anyway, I had my fellow partner Jarrti look at your craft, and the damage is only superficial. I have three astromech droids here who will repair your craft. In the meantime feel free to wander my...domain. Whatever you do, please refrain from visiting the southern woods or wing 3 floor B." "Why?" Thix asked, curious. "No reason. Ah, they are my personal quarters." "Oh." Thix was escorted from the room by Jarrti, who (Thix thankfully noticed) had sheathed his heavy blaster pistol. Outside the door, he was met by Jacen and Jaina. They had neutral expressions on their faces. "I guess you had the same conversation with Mr. I-want-to-ride-the-lightning?" Thix said to them. Jaina responded "Yeah, but I'm suspicious about this quarantined area. I say we check this out first opportunity possible." "I heard that!" Thix said, agreeing.
"Heck, kids will be kids. They probably stopped off to play some hologames or something." Lance said to one of Green Squadron's pilots. Green Squadron had been assigned to run escort today and Thix was supposed to broadcast their briefing, encrypted of course, to the base for the rest of the group from his position at the Academy. Hendrikson shrugged the fact that Thix hadn't checked in off. Thix was the kind of person who would do something like that. If something was really wrong he would know, because the shuttle had a beacon on it. As long as the shuttle was in one piece, he got a signal from it. It got jarred once, but ion storms could jar a signal like that. Since the briefing he had told the hologame story four times: Once to the flight leader on the base, once to Becky Caleer, and twice to different members of the squadron. In the end the flight leader had to dig up the briefing from mounds of new programs in the system and read it. Green squadron was just heading out. Hendrikson himself was ready for some sleep and peace. Suddenly the base jolted, and Lance lost his balance and found himself on the ground. "What in the name of?" He staggered to his feet. A computer voice blared over an intercom.
~WARNING. WARNING.
ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE BAY FOUR.
BREACH IN MAGNETIC FIELDS. SPACE EXPOSURE HIGH.
RADIATION LEVELS HIGH.
WARNING...~
Hendrikson coughed. Bay four? "Mother of Gurn! Green squadron!" Hendrikson
ran to bay four's entrance. The doors had been automatically sealed. He reached into a
locker and grabbed a space suit with magnetic boots. He made sure it was lead-coated, as
he remembered the warning, and picked up a couple more suits. Opening the door in an
emergency airlock, he stepped through. Into Hell. The entire hangar bay was destroyed.
Only three X-Wings and a shuttle remained. Hendrikson walked swiftly towards the nearest
X-Wing, his boots clomping onto the surface and sticking. Once he hit something with his
foot and it
didn't stick, and he looked down, almost got sick when he saw he had stepped on a human's
arm that was protruding from beneath a metal rod. The computer started up again.
~WARNING. WARNING.
FOREIGN MATERIAL DETECTED.
CLASS FOUR THERMAL DETONATOR PLANTED IN UNIT R4-S3.~
Class four was high powered, and highly illegal. Hendrikson pulled himself up the ladder to the first X-Wing and looked in the cockpit. It was empty. He sighed, half in relief and in resignation. Nobody meant no survivor, but it also meant no dead. He made his way to the second X-Wing and peered in. A pilot, his helmet just on, slumped over his joystick. Hendrikson crossed his fingers and popped the canopy, threw in a suit, and sealed it quickly enough as so not to expose the pilot to the elements or radiation. When he woke up he could put on the suit and escape. The third X-Wing was empty. Hendrikson made his way to the shuttle and jumped in, closing the door as quick as possible behind him. He checked the passenger area, which was empty. He entered in the cockpit, saw a figure huddled on the ground. "Aww, Becky, you always get in the biggest trouble." He lifted her up onto a chair and checked her pulse. Steady, but faint. He pulled out the third suit and laid it in her lap for the time being. He found a medical kit and cleaned a couple nasty cuts she had. Only after he had sunk into the other chair and the adrenaline had run out of his system did he realize what had just happened. "Someone bombed the hangar bay. We've got another bug problem… Uh-oh."
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