Mission 5 - "Death by Deception" (Part 1)

Mission Brief 04.0228

Following the team's return to their newly patched-up ship and their reunion with the mercenaries of Daragald's Blight, Tso successfully pilots the ship away from Hoth and in to space. The ship, however, burned out its engines and was dead in space. Only a few systems remained keeping them alive. A droid ship from the Sprillious Corp arrived, and the two groups once again worked together, taking control of it. However, the ship was set for Bespin, and they could not program it to do anything but go there. The ship towed the shuttle to Bespin where they were arrested. The reason they were arrested and the charges against them are as follows:

"The Phantom Hunters have all been labeled traitors of the Republic. First the crime of Master Lo’s death has now been blamed on Satchal, who is considered a Dark Jedi of more power than any had really seen. He had masked his abilities and hidden them, fooling even some of the greater Masters. Some are even speculating that Satchal may have been the apprentice of Darth Maul and have entitled him Darth Bher Nagg Rouge. Perhaps the Sith threat has come to an end.

Tso has been labeled as an accomplice to Satchal’s murderous attacks, and has been accused of assisting Satchal in the massacre of his own crew and stealing the ship he was navigator of. Tso is wanted for crimes of being an accomplice to murder of Master Lo as well as Governor Creed and many others.

Brin’tac is said to have been tainted by Satchal’s Dark Side powers and to have aided him in the murder of Governor Creed. The Council of Jedi have even issued a statement to the courts regarding this matter stating that it was obvious to them that Satchal had been doing some sort of unauthorized training of Brin’tac in the ways of the Force in spite of the fact that they had strictly forbidden it. Although they did not sense that Satchal was evil they do not deny the possibility that his true intentions had been hidden from them. "He was always a troubled youth," stated Master Mace Windu. "It is not above the realm of possibilities that he may have been a Dark Lord and we just didn’t know it. We spent very little time with him since he has been traveling the universe with his master and Senatorial Aide Brin’tac Kyen’tir. Master Lo had even sent him off to an isolated planet to atone for some of his darker actions. However, this does, in no way, prove that he is guilty of these crimes. It is also possible, however unlikely, that someone like Senatorial Aide Kyen’tir may have been able to hide his tainting from us since his intentions with the Force may have, at the time we had met with him concerning such matters, been truly noble. If he was a Dark Jedi now, however, it would been impossible for him to have been one prior to our investigating his training. His tainting would have had to have been more recent, and we have no evidence of it."

Nyarchagga, a Dug from the Outer Rim, has had recent evidence arise stating that he was involved in several criminal organizations prior to his involvement with Brin’tac, Master Lo, and Satchal. They have now brought up charges against Nyarchagga for his involvement with such organizations as well as claiming that he, too, was an accomplice to the murder of Governor Creed as well as several others. Some are even speculating that Nyarchagga may have been aiding Satchal even before he supposedly joined with Brin’tac and the rogue Jedi.

Geldar Tharn is also considered a tainted follower of Satchal. After the Council’s last meeting with him many believe that Satchal made his true identity known to them. Using his Dark Side powers he tainted the Jedi and brought him to the Dark Side of the Force. He is also accused of being an accomplice to the murder of Governor Creed.

As for Tarrsk, he is merely considered a thug for Satchal’s purposes. Many are claiming that he is the bodyguard of Geldar and would follow him anywhere no matter what he did. Few disbelieve that if Geldar were to join the Dark Side that Tarrsk would aid him in whatever task he set for him.

Lialla is the only member of the group listed as not necessarily being a willing party involved in the murder of Governor Creed. Although she is still under suspicion and must stand trial most believe that this upstanding citizen of Naboo would have little reason to aid these criminals in any way.

Senatorial Aide Kradlo is considered a traitor to the Republic having conspired with the others in their crimes. He is said to have aided them in their escape from officials who were taking them to Coruscant for their trial. This is true also for the Mercenary Unit of Daragald’s Blight who is under suspicion of aiding Satchal and Tso in the murders of Tso’s crew as well as Master Lo and the family of Brin’tac Kyen’tir.

Other accusations have also been brought against all of these criminals including conspiring against the Republic, attempted murder of former Supreme Chancellor Valorum during the Zegmon Pent Uprising, blackmailing the Trade Federation into attacking Naboo (with Satchal taking the guise of Darth Sidious), and for being involved in the Trandoshan-Wookiee conflict (in which several Trandoshan leaders are stating that Satchal was indeed a key figure).

All of these criminals are said to be armed and dangerous, but according to a report from Senatorial Aide Vlagari of Kothlis they are all dead. During the fight against officials the mercenaries managed to rescue the criminals only to have Officer Shian Combs, the captain of the Republic Security Force taking them to the capital city, sneak aboard the enemy vessel and cause it to crash land on some desolate planet. According to the only survivors of the incident, mainly Senatorial Aide Vlagari, the ship crashed and it wasn’t likely that anyone could have escaped the explosion. Even if they did they would never likely escape from the hostile planet that they had crashed on. As of yet Vlagari and other individuals are not disclosing the planet that these said criminals have crashed on. If anyone runs into any of these individuals take extreme caution. They are considered armed and very dangerous. Contact officials immediately."

At this point the Phantom Hunters have become infamous, now known as a criminal band of mercenaries.

In as strange twist of events, the Droids of Cloud City, which make up a majority of the security forces, suddenly and thus far unexplainably, slip a gear and begin a large scale massacre and subsequent take-over of the city. During the confusion, both The Phantom Hunters and Daragald's Blight manage to escape, with the help of Ivanna. Using her considerable talents, she releases them and they fight their way free of the prison cell block where the two teams say their farewells and head in different directions and different destinies, fighting for survival in the war-torn streets!




Epilogue - "Aftermath of the Droid Uprising

Another explosion rocked the Security Center of Cloud City, and another pillar collapsed as the bombers dropped more explosives into the area. A cloud of dust and debris blew outward away from the building almost enveloping the fleeing individuals as they headed down a side street making their way west through the Military District.

Tarrsk was the last to follow, his heart pounding wildly in his chest. The last of the large, treaded security droids exploded in a fiery heap, and already his companions were way ahead of him. Why did I have to strap on that accursed heavy armor? he wondered grimly. It was so heavy and encumbering that he found himself falling way behind the others, and they had just set out from the Security Center. Behind, another host of security droids was moving into the area, and if they didn’t get out of there fast they were going to be caught in another battle they might not escape from. It didn’t look as heavy when I tried it on.

“Tarrsk!” Geldar cried as he noticed his friend lagging behind. “Hurry!”

“What does it look like I’m doing?” he shouted back, annoyed. “It’s this blasted armor. Even if I drop everything else I’m carrying I still can’t throw this thing off yet, and it’s what’s slowing me down the most.”

Geldar then stopped altogether and accessed the situation. The security droids would catch up fast if Tarrsk didn’t move faster, but if they stopped to have him strip off the armor they would be doomed as well. The droids were coming in a wave of about sixty, and there was no way they were going to withstand them all. They had to find another alternative of escape.

Ivanna noticed the situation as well and also paused to try to figure out a solution. As Geldar raced to a nearby, empty speeder to commandeer it Ivanna used the Force first to detect if anyone was alive within the bomber, and then she forced its steering mechanism to jerk downward. The ship suddenly took a dive and exploded into the Security Center in a massive fireball of destruction. Its wings tore off and shot across the courtyard smashing into a host of the security droids, and pieces of the building flew in all directions.

Tarrsk was flung to the ground with Geldar when the ship hit, and for a moment he thought he was dead. The heat from the blast could be felt on his back, and shrapnel flew about him in all directions.

But in fact Ivanna had cut off all pursuit. The explosion had collapsed several buildings around the Security Center, and the street behind Tarrsk was completely cut off.

Tarrsk lay there in the rubble-strewn street for several moments as him mind reeled. He tried to get his bearings. What had happened? Where was everyone? Was he still alive? His ears were ringing. His vision was clouded.

And then Geldar drove the speeder over to him and pulled it to a stop. The door to the passenger’s side swung open and he yelled, “Get in!” Tarrsk picked himself up and climbed into the vehicle a moment before Ivanna joined them.

“We have to pick up the others,” Ivanna told Geldar. “They’re still moving on ahead. I don’t think they really know what happened back here.”

And Geldar noticed that only Satchal had remained behind with Ivanna. The Jedi Master had raced to the vehicle almost instantly while Satchal was pumping hard just to catch up. Geldar waited for Satchal to reach the vehicle and jump in before he hit the accelerator and shot off after the others.

Meanwhile Lialla led the way down the street as the others followed after her. She searched the streets for the best avenue of escape and led them into a mob of panicked citizens. They were all being shot at from down the street by security droids twice as large as the treaded ones they fought at the Security Center. Reeling backward she shouted, “Not that way!” Then she took off back toward a different street.

Brin’tac froze in his tracks as a blaster bolt shot right past him. Ducking he spun around only to have Tso plow right into him. Both toppled to the ground in a heap as several citizens dodged around them. Nyarchagga saw the crowd just in time and, with dexterous skill, leaped up, caught onto a light post, and spun around it back in the opposite direction following Lialla.

The speeder flew around the corner and pulled to a stop just as Lialla reached the intersection. Geldar slammed onto the brakes as hard as he could and nearly plowed right into Lialla whose heart skipped a beat. “Jump in!” Geldar shouted, but Lialla needed no prodding. She was already climbing into the vehicle with Nyarchagga right behind. Now only Brin’tac and Tso were remaining in the street, and they appeared to be struggling to stand with all of the crowd charging past them.

Again Ivanna stretched out with the Force, but this time it was with a great strain. Obviously using the Force to bring down the bomber had drained her energy quite a bit. Lifting Brin’tac and Tso out of the sea of people she sent them flying upward into the air about ten meters or so. “Fly past and pick them up,” she ordered Geldar, and the Padawan was amazed for a moment at her insane plan. While Brin’tac and Tso were held aloft in the air they were easy targets to the security droids. Hitting the accelerator hard he shot up into the air towards them as Tarrsk, Lialla, and Satchal leaned over to grab them. Geldar swerved around them as he held his breath, and Tarrsk, Lialla, and Satchal snagged them nearly being torn from the speeder themselves. Blaster fire shot all around them as they ascended into the air and away from the terror below. The air speeder was hit several times, but the shots only scored the outer frame without any real damage done.

But now they had other problems. Tarrsk was attempting to haul in Brin’tac while Lialla and Satchal both tried to pull in Tso. Since Geldar wasn’t the greatest pilot the speeder swerved about on the winds in a much more rocky motion making it difficult for the Trandoshan and the two humans to pull them in. On top of this two of the military fighters had spotted their ascent and were now pulling into pursuit vectors while unleashing a barrage of cannon fire. Ivanna and Nyarchagga reached over the edge of the speeder to help them haul in the two dangling companions, and at last they managed to pull Brin’tac inside.

Still Tso held on to the edge of the speeder for dear life as Lialla, Satchal, and Nyarchagga fought to pull him in. A blast from one of the fighters hit the nearby building and sent debris everywhere. Geldar swerved nearly tossing the companions out. If it hadn’t been for Ivanna and Tarrsk grabbing onto them they would have all flew out of the vehicle and crashed to the ground.

One final heave brought Tso in at last, and the Sullustan collapsed to the floor as he tried to gather his wits. “Get to the controls before Geldar kills us!” Satchal cried, but Tso was a nervous wreck at this point.

Geldar shot Satchal a sharp glance as if to say that he didn’t appreciate Satchal’s comments about his driving, but that was all he could do. Suddenly, another vehicle shot around the corner of one of the buildings, and Geldar jerked hard on the controls, sending the vehicle into a tailspin. Everyone held on for dear life as they fought desperately to keep their last meal down. The vehicle he swerved to avoid shot past them only to be incinerated by one of the fighters a moment later. Geldar fought to regain control, but the vehicle bounced off of one of the low-rise buildings and spun across the street towards the buildings on the opposite side.

Ivanna closed her eyes and struggled with the Force to help Geldar gain control, but it was no use. She was too weak, and there simply too much going on for her to concentrate well. Another blast from the fighters struck the building they were heading towards, and fiery debris showered down on their heads. Then, all at once, the vehicle slammed into the building that the blast had hit, and instead of bouncing off of it they came to a jarring halt inside the building. Crashing through about four walls they finally came to a stop.

Nyarchagga, Brin’tac, Tarrsk, Satchal, Ivanna, and Lialla were all flung from the vehicle. They had crashed into an apartment building on the eight floor, and due to their great fortune Nyarchagga, Brin’tac, and Satchal all slammed into a couch which exploded with stuffing the moment they hit it. Ivanna and Lialla together hit a love seat set up in an “L” shape near the couch, and Tarrsk got his repeater rifle strap caught on the corner of an entertainment unit and jerked backward. He then dropped downward to the floor with the entertainment unit toppling down behind him, and he landed in a crouch position as if he had intended to land that way all along. As for Geldar, he’d taken the time to throw on the safety harness on the vehicle. Tso was on the floor when they hit the building so he was smashed into the rear of the speeder’s seats.

Of them all Lialla was actually the worst off. She had hit the love seat and flipped over it to land on the hard kitchen floor adjacent to the front room they’d landed in and behind the love seat. Still, the most any of them limped away with was a sprained limb and a few bruises.

Tarrsk was the first to recover. “Everyone okay?” he asked as he glanced around to see if they were still all together.

Everyone slowly got to their feet and announced their status. Then they all gathered in the living room of the apartment to figure out what to do next. “Chances are the ships won’t know where we disappeared,” Brin’tac said as he tried to straighten out his bristling fir. “They may have a general idea, but I doubt that they’ll know, from the distance we were at, exactly which building we were in.”

“We could try to lay low here,” said Satchal as he nursed a pulled muscle in his right shoulder.

“Not here,” said Ivanna. “Although I think we’ve managed to slip away from the heart of the Military District I doubt we left the district altogether. This is probably an apartment for some sort of military personnel. Here is where the droids will search the hardest. They will want to make sure that the entire military district is under their control; at least, that is, if they are logically trying to take over the city”.

“Do you really think that’s what they’re doing?” asked Tso. He had a nasty bump on his head from cracking it on the back of Geldar’s seat.

“Who knows what they’re doing or who is responsible for this?” said Ivanna. “I can say this much: it seems the droids are not concerned about who they kill, and they don’t want anyone to leave this city. That’s why they took the ships and fighters as quickly as they could.”

Geldar shook his head. “So what do you suggest?”

Ivanna paused a moment to think. Then she replied, “We should head to the poorer district of the city. We’ll probably find a lot of good places to hide there.”

Brin’tac nodded. “Do you remember what district that was or how to get there?”

“And how do we get there without being killed?” Lialla added.

“We should definitely avoid taking to the air,” Satchal replied. “How many times do we have to crash a vehicle before we finally give up on them?”

“We headed west,” answered Ivanna. “According to the other inmate in the Security Center District Six takes up most of the northern section of the city and directly to its east and west is District Two. District Three is dead center, and I think we should head there first.”

“Through the heart of the city?” Nyarchagga nearly shouted with a bit of exasperation in his voice. “Don’t you think it’s going to be crawling with droids?”

“Hey,” said Lialla with a sudden realization. “Speaking of droids and them going crazy, where is Gnat?”

“You ask that at a time like this?” Satchal asked with a look on his face that said he thought she was odd.

“Gnat could be a great asset right now,” Lialla commented. “He could go ahead of us to warn us if a way is blocked. In a sense he could help us avoid trouble.”

Nyarchagga smiled then with a mischievous grin. “He’s right here,” said the Dug as he produced the tiny droid from his pocket. “I made sure before we were captured to stow the droid in one of my best pockets.”

Everyone eyed him curiously, but the Dug only smiled wider. None of them was quite sure what he meant, but Brin’tac had a good guess. He’d seen the Dug actually swallow the droid before to avoid losing it when being in trouble and then cough it back up later.

“Let’s get back to the matter at hand,” said Geldar as he turned back to Ivanna. “Nyarchagga’s right. Why do you want to go through the heart of the city?”

“If I remember correctly,” said Ivanna, “District Five lies on the east side of District Four. This means we either pass through District Four, taking a long, round-about way, or we pass straight through District Three right into it. Now after speaking with several of the inmates I learned that there is a subway system that leads from the heart of the city to all the districts. We could essentially take the subway tunnels and make our way from this district straight to District Five.”

“Why not just hide in the subways?” Tso suggested.

“Because they’ll search them frequently,” said Brin’tac. “We do need a place that is more inconspicuous to hide in.”

“And we need to get out of this building soon,” Tarrsk put in nervously. “They may not know which building we’re in, but it won’t take them long to come looking.”

“So let’s just move,” said Satchal. “I swear sometimes we talk too much.”

“You’re too hasty,” Geldar commented. “We need to think this through a bit.”

“Sometimes haste is best, though,” Ivanna replied in defense of her new student. “They’re right. All this talk is getting us nowhere. Let’s just get moving and improvise as we go.” Then she headed for the door without further debating the subject. Satchal followed with a smug look on his face as if to say to Geldar, “Ha! I was right, and you were wrong.”

But as they headed out the door Brin’tac came up next to Geldar and whispered, “That didn’t sound too much like a Jedi to me. Master Lo, I would think, would have agreed with you. For the moment we don’t have to rush, so I would think now would be a good time to discuss the best move.”

Geldar gave him a sideways glance in agreement, but the two spoke no more. Down the hall they went and through a doorway into a stairwell. Then down the stairway they went to the ground floor. There they found that the lobby was already blasted, and the majority of people that must have lived in the building were already slaughtered as they tried to escape.

“They’re taking no prisoners,” Ivanna replied sadly as she paused behind the reception counter. “The droids are slaughtering mercilessly. Look. Here’s the body of a child lying next to her mother. She was cowering behind the reception counter.”

Tarrsk came to inspect the body and sneered at the gruesome scene. “The blast came from this angle,” he said as he stooped down. “The droid killed her intentionally and the child. This was no accident. There’s no blast in the counter itself. She took a direct head-shot from right here.”

Ivanna turned to them all, a grim look on her face. “If what the inmate said is true there will be few on this city that can fight against the military droids if the security force is taken down. If the droids caught the military officers on this city by surprise, as I believe is the case, then there is little chance that they were able to mount a decent defense or retreat before the droids wiped them out.”

“What are you trying to say?” Tso asked even though he knew the answer.

“With no long range communications on this city and no way off...” she trailed off.

“The droids will hunt every last being on this city down until they kill them all,” Lialla finished.

“And they’re most likely going to succeed,” Tarrsk finished.

“What do we do now?” asked Satchal. “Are we still heading for District Five?”

“No,” said Ivanna. “This changes everything. The droids will go to that section of town next. It will be the worst possible danger for us.”

“Then what are we going to do?” asked Tso. “Do we stay here then?”

“I think we should,” Geldar put in.

“I agree with him,” said Brin’tac. “There’s no way we’ll be able to stop all of the droids that will be attacking District Five. We need to hide and plan some other offensive if we’re going to get out of this alive.”

“Agreed,” said Ivanna. “Since they most likely hit here first they won’t come back any time soon. We stay here and recover while we think about how best to go about escaping this place.”

“I wish I had the Phoenix Moon,” Tso muttered dismally.

“It wouldn’t be in your hands at this point would it?” asked Ivanna somewhat sharply. “Don’t wish for things you can’t have.”

Tso looked at her with a defensive gaze. “Hey!” he snapped. “Who do you think you are? I’m not one of your students or even a Jedi. You can’t give me orders.” Then more subdued after his retort he added, “Master Jedi.”

Ivanna only raised a single eyebrow at him. “Excuse me,” she replied with a hint of sarcasm. “I was only attempting to bring your focus back to reality.”

“I don’t need my focus back on reality,” Tso replied. “Reality kind of sucks right now. And by the way, I’ll focus my reality on whatever I want to.”

Nearly everyone was taken aback. Up to this point Tso had always been a mild-tempered individual. He’d never snapped at anyone. Geldar came and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder to calm him. Still, he didn’t exactly try to dissuade his friend from speaking. In fact, he said in a non-offensive voice, “He’s right, Ivanna. You may be Satchal’s Master, and I may be a Padawan so you outrank me, technically, but you have no right to order the others around at all. Even Brin’tac is not a Jedi to tell what to do. I think you may need to give them more respect and not just take charge here. Up to this point we have all decided things together without one leading another.”

Ivanna became impassive instantly. “Perhaps you’re right, Padawan Geldar,” she replied. “Forgive me if I seem a bit bossy. You must understand that I have been outside of social situations for nearly ten years, so if I’m a bit rusty in such matters it is only because I have been without companionship for some time.”

And that was the end of it. The tension in the group quickly faded away, and Brin’tac hurriedly changed the subject so that it wouldn’t have a chance to come back. “All right, so let’s set up some fortifications and make sure we have a quick way of escape. Agreed?”

“Right,” said Geldar. “We should have Lialla and Tarrsk watching for any signs of trouble while the rest of us get the place ready to defend if we get stuck in here. Then when we’re finished we should probably get some rest.”

“We’ll take shifts,” Brin’tac added. “Tarrsk and Lialla, are you capable of handling the first shift?”

“Sure,” said Tarrsk, but Lialla looked a bit haggard.

“I had a near miss at the Security Center,” she replied. “A blast bolt nearly caught me square between the eyes.”

“Fine,” said Geldar. “Who will take first shift?”

“I will,” said Tso. “other than a few bruises I think I’ll be fine.”

“Good,” Geldar replied. “Brin’tac. Do you want to take the second shift with me?”

Brin’tac nodded. “I would be honored.”

“Then let’s get started,” the Padawan said, and they all began to move about to do whatever tasks they could to prepare their temporary hideout for an attack.

As they went Ivanna turned to Satchal with a smirk on her face. “Are they always like that?” she asked.

Satchal chuckled. “Pretty much. I think the real reason they had a problem with you taking charge was because they weren’t anymore.”

Ivanna put her arm around his waist, an act that completely caught him off guard, and she smiled warmly at him. “I can see that you and I are going to get along very nicely.”

As they went Geldar watched with a suspicious eye. Jedi were not supposed to show affection like that, especially with their Padawan. Granted Ivanna was probably about ten years older than Satchal, which meant that it wasn’t above the realm of possibility to have a relationship with him compared to most standards, but the fact that she was a Jedi Master and he was her student meant that she was breaking the Jedi Code.

Now Geldar was not a Jedi who lived by the Jedi Code in every way. His master always taught that emotions weren’t necessarily bad in themselves, but if they were used in the wrong ways they could be very dangerous. Love was a great thing, and it should be expressed especially in marriage and commitment. But this was supposed to be a Jedi that lived by the Code, and here she was getting a little too close to Satchal. There was just something not right about it, and if Geldar had had his suspicions before about her they were doubled now.

Satchal was thinking somewhat along the same lines, but in the same respect he liked having the gorgeous Jedi Master, his master, show him affection. He couldn’t help but feel a certain connection with her, and he couldn’t help but instantly feel close to her. On top of that he did feel as if she were his equal and not his master. That made it feel even more right that they should be closer in a more intimate way. In spite of what the Jedi Code said Satchal couldn’t help but feel that this move by his master was right. Maybe she was just being friendly, or maybe she was just trying to get closer to him. Whatever the case Satchal liked having her put her arm around his waist and pull him close to her. He liked feeling her warm, sleek body pressed against his, and he wasn’t about to say that she was wrong for doing so or question her in any way.

The pair walked off together to find some heavier objects to use as a barricade, and as they disappeared into the shadows of the darkened building Lialla watched from the lobby. A scowl crossed her face as she stared holes in the back of the Jedi Master’s head. She didn’t know why she hated the woman so much, but especially after she’d treated Tso the way she had she was even more hating her. Now, with her being so affectionate with Satchal, Lialla wanted to rip her heart out of her chest and shoot it to oblivion.

Just then, Brin’tac came and tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. “Are you going to see if there’s another exit?” he asked after figuring out what she was doing.

“Uh...right,” she replied, and instantly she fled from the scene.

Brin’tac watched her go and shook his head sadly. He could sense something wrong with all this, and he didn’t even need the Force to tell him that. Something bad was happening right in the midst of their little group, and Brin’tac feared there was really nothing he could do to stop it.






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Mission 5 (Part 2)

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