[Clan Odan Urr - Team Identity Crisis]

Participants

Edgar Drachen - Snapshot

Droveth Kathera Vectivi - Snapshot

Darro Zhen - Snapshot

Alifal Bav - Snapshot

Edgar Drachen cursed quietly as his com failed to reach the last member of the group. The Quaster was used to having to deal with difficult to reach people, after all it was a common sight in smuggling, but this was taking it to a new level. He looked back to the men already gathered around him. Darro was already changed, though that was easier since it just involved putting robes and large clothing over his armor. Edgar’s other companion was more hesitant to put on the disguise, and was about half way through it.

“Can any of you try to reach him?” Edgar said to the group. “Because I am getting nothing.”
“I am not sure if I can reach space from here,” Droveth joked as he slid on the civilian shirt. “But I can try.”

“Probably using the wrong comm channel,” Darro replied. “I have seen a few mercenaries whose comms were setup to run specific channels, mostly those from other fighters. Usually to block out a distraction. Perhaps it would be best to reach out to the squadrons so they can let him know.”

Edgar sighed. “Damn mercenaries. If he wasn’t hired as a pilot we wouldn’t be stuck waiting for him. If we have to wait much longer I’ll fly."

Alifal sighed as he got out of the Freerunner. He had been called back from the space battle to help out some group with the invasion. The mercenary pilot grimaced as he recalled what he had just been called from. Bile built up inside of him and he grabbed the nearest thing he could, a hydrospanner, and chucked it across the hangar of the Idiot’s Array. He had been on Emery’s tail again, this time with a direct shot on her.

“I was so fraking close!” he yelled as the memory of the battle continued to burn. He took a breath and felt the bile die down. “Alright then. Air support for a squad it is.”

Alifal looked at his speeder from across the hangar. The Lone Sehl just vaguely resembled the Imperial Combat Speeder it was. It had been cobbled together from various other vehicles, showing metals of differing age and quality. It was a peice of junk to most people but always gave Alifal a warm feeling, even if it was likely due to an exhaust problem. The mercenary smiled at it as he walked over, glad that despite its not perfect condition it was almost as maneuverable as the Freerunner.

Alifal got in the airspeeder and started the engine. The warm feeling went down his back again, like a soft massage. He slowly moved the airspeeder out of the hangar, prepared for the drop that was to come. As he exited he felt the familiar pull of gravity, along side the lack of his speeders response from being up too high. The Lone Sehl plummeted towards Nancora, the inside of the ship shifting around like a wheel.

As he fell, Alifal caught a glimpse of Rose Squadron and glared at Emery’s ship. “I’will be back for you!”

The Airspeeder hit the atmosphere and began to rock back and forth from the impact. Some of the weaker metals shuddered more than the rest of the ship until the repulsors of the speeder kicked in. The combat speeder leveled out, and Alifal looked below to see the warzone on land. Lasers of various colors fired around in a dazzling though chaotic mess. The young pilot shook his head and turned on his com.

“Strike team,” he said into the com channel he had been assigned to contact his team. “This is Alifal Bav piloting the Lone Sehl. Give me a rendezvous point and tell me who we aren’t killing.”

Droveth kicked anxiously at the ground, stirring up a cloud of red dirt into a swirl. The wind picked up and died intermittently here in the Badlands, and he found himself wishing he had his robes despite the heat. Darro reached over and planted a water canteen in his chest and the Jedi accepted it graciously.

“Seems like he’s taking a while, right?” The Peacekeeper finally broke the collective silence as he wiped the water from his lips. “ I mean, I’m not like a pilot or anything…”

“He’ll be here when he gets here, be patient.” Edgar grumbled from a few feet away, sitting silently with his arms and legs crossed. Though he was facing out across the Badlands toward their target, his eyes remained closed. Droveth looked to the Mandalorian for explanation, but he only shrugged. The Jedi sighed and reluctantly sat down on the ground where he stood. “You could start stripping those soldiers down for our disguises.”

‘I know you waited until I sat down on purpose.’ Droveth shot the message into his Quaestor’s mind, but he only grunted an indecipherable response. The Peacekeeper stood and brushed the dirt from his armor intentionally slow. Darro watched on with a blank expression on his face, hands firmly gripped on his rifle. In the short time it had taken Alifal to get in contact the three of them had already incapacitated a small squad of Technocratic soldiers.

The Jedi began carefully removing the soldiers gear, focusing mostly on clothing to disguise their loyalties. Up close he could see the lengths these people went to become ultimate soldiers. In some cases physically horrid body modifications. The most horrifying aspect for Droveth was the lack of any personal identity; none had any discernable features from another. He felt a sick feeling deep in his stomach.

“He’s here,” the Seer called out, standing and joining the group. The battle was clearly still raging full force above Nancora, and Droveth wondered how this young pilot had been able to maneuver through the blockade. He scanned the area around them, a small plateau surrounded by red, cracked boulders.

“About time,” Darro grunted. The sound of footsteps drew all their attentions, turning just as Alifal rounded a boulder. The Mandalorian raised his rifle instinctively. Droveth put his hand on his hip, but his hilt had already been tucked tightly into his cuirass. Luckily this hadn’t been a life or death situation.

“Ah, decided to join us?” the Peacekeeper inquired sarcastically, walking over and patting the young Pilot on the back. “We’ve just been dyin’ here without ya’.” He inspected the new arrival with a scrutiny acquired by years of working in the shadier environments. Standing just a few inches shorter than Droveth, he had a sparse ginger beard showing his age. Alifal had an air of confidence, or arrogance, radiating off of him.

“I don’t honestly see why I’m here, my place is back on Emery’s tail.” The pilot stated as he crossed his arms.

“You are here to get us out, with or without the package.” Edgar replied, slipping on the last piece of Technocratic armor for his disguise. He pointed across the Badlands toward a large spiraling facility a few kilometers away. Two tall black towers reached up into the sky, casting a foreboding shadow on the barren plain directly below it. “That facility is our target. Our package is inside. On the opposite side is their airfield, where we will ‘requisition’ an escape vehicle.”

“Your being a tad vague about what exactly we are looking for.” Droveth interjected, looking out to the target. “ I don’t think anything good will be in there. Not anything fun at least.”

“Unfortunately this isn’t a pleasure cruise Droveth, in fact there is nothing about this mission or this place that is even remotely fun at all,” Drachen sternly shot back with his voice almost drowned out by the howl of the wind being channeled through the hollowed out ruins of what use to be some sort of cargo vessel or maybe a battle cruiser. The harsh conditions of the Badlands, time and the salvage teams of the collective stripped the hull almost down to the struts making it difficult to determine where the ship came from and how long it had been there.

With the wind dying down Edgar motioned the team closer to him “Now we are all assembled I’ll brief you on our objectives and the goals of the mission”.

Droveth collected the uniforms he gathered, Darro grabbed the attention of their mercenary pilot and almost had to drag him away from the airspeeder arguing at the commander of the Hoth forces, “Hey man, I’m only here to fly what do I care what your mission is”?

“You will care because if things go south during the mission and you are out of position to come get us then bad things could happen to one or all of us. Which will be on YOUR head and it will be your ass as well! So be quiet and pay attention,” Edgar replied.

Darro still with a firm grip on the pilot brought him over to the makeshift table and forced him to sit as Droveth threw them both disguises. Before anyone could say another word Edgar was ready to start the briefing. “Gentleman, as i mentioned our target is the facility about 10 kilometers south west of here. A facility that according to our intel is the location of Darth Plagueis’s lost scrolls. These scrolls are not only very valuable to the Collective rogue agents inside the Brotherhood have indicated that the Iron Throne will be making attempts to take these scrolls for themselves.”

“Wait, Are you saying this is secondhand information? How long do we have till the Iron Throne try to grab them first?” Droveth interjected.

“This Intel was vetted and confirmed through SenNet and to answer your other question our own agents have already confirmed the Iron Throne has already diverted troops to the facility to attain the artifacts for that murderous wretch Pravus,” Drachen said while raising his hand to as to prevent the next interruption so he could continue. “So Yes we are still going in as a small strike unit, we have limited support but mainly this mission is ours. The plan is to let Pravus fight the collective head on as we try to find another way into the facility. Once we are insides the mission is to either steal or destroy the artifacts before the Brotherhood can get their hands on them. I won’t lie to you once inside we will still have the collective to deal with and even getting out will not be easy so I hope you are all on the ball. We can’t let the collective keep these artifacts and I refuse to let Pravus get any stronger than he is now. So get your gear and into the uniforms we got ground to cover and quickly.”

As everyone went off to check their gear and prepare for the mission Darro got the first good look at his disguise and realized something was not going to work. The uniform was in no way going to fit his frame at all. This is when he turned around towards the others and complained …

“Who’s cockamamie plan was this?” the old Mandalorian grumbled.

The trio of Odanites, half dressed in their own disguises, turned and looked at the big human. Alifal burst into riotous laughter at the site before him. Hanging, barely, from the large frame of Darro were several pieces of Katarn-class armor while perch on on top of his head like some weird fashion statement was the suit’s helmet.

Droveth laughed and said “It’s a shame they don’t have a Wookiee you could shave. We could glue its fur too ya, you’d make a good walking carpet.”

The old man’s face split into a wide grin as he too laughed at the situation. The only one not laughing however was Edgar, in fact the Hoth Quaestor looked anything but jovial. Darro noticed his expression first and stopped laughing while doing his best to discreetly signal the others that now was not the time for games. Dro noticed quickly and looked to the dry, dusty ground but the groups youngest member was still too busy laughing to notice. Even with Droveth gently elbowing him in the ribs the young mercenary pilot continued his giggling.

Finally Drachen had had enough. “That’s enough!” he shouted. As Alifal went silent Edgar looked at all three of them and said “Do you not understand the gravity of this situation? If Pravus gets his hands on these artifacts he may very well become unstoppable. We need to find these things and your childish tomfoolery will not only jeopardise the mission, it could lead to someone’s death.”

“Sorry sir.” Darro said feeling ashamed.

“Yeah, sorry boss.” echoed Droveth.

Taking a deep breath the Quaestor turned to The Mandalorian and said “Dump the disguise, if we run into anyone we’ll improvise. I want you to take point, give us a heads up in case of company.”

With an informal salute Darro said “Yes sir.”

Throwing his own helmet on the old man readied his rifle and took off at a steady pace into the Badlands. Drachen, Dro and Alifal continued to pull on their disguises doing their best to ignore the stink left by the armors previous occupants. I guess personal hygiene wasn’t a big priority for these guys Alifal thought to himself. Looking to the south west the pilot could just make out the form of the big Mandalorian as he scouted ahead.

“How does he do that?” the young pilot asked.

“Do what?” inquired Dro.

Pointing to the retreating form of Darro Alifal said “That.”

It was Edgar who answered as he said “He was born and raised on a world like this, he’s used to the heat.”

“Oh,” was all the young man said.

They quickly finished throwing on their disguises and took off after the old man, doing their best not to pass out from the heat or stench. For what felt like hours they stomped through the Badlands as the sun beat down relentlessly. Suddenly Edgar stopped, holding up a hand to signal a halt. His hand came up to the side of his pilfered helmet for a moment, nodding as he listened to whomever was speaking to him.

Pulling off his helmet he turned to Droveth and Alifal and said “We’ve got incoming, small squad of Techno soldiers. Let me do the talking, if things go sideways blasters only, no lightsabers. Darro will assist if things go fubar. Understood?”

When the others replied in the affirmative Edgar pulled the helmet back on his head and headed for their first real test of this mission.

Roads had been carved into the harsh dunes from the high traffic of the Collective, giving the small group an easy route to follow. Edgar walked at the head of the group, visibly unarmed, while the other two maintained a horizontal line behind him. Droveth on the left with his hand resting on the blaster at his hip, Alifal on the right tightly gripping a blaster pistol. Darro was somewhere in the dunes, but he was well hidden. The squad of Technocratic soldiers their Quaestor had been alerted of was now in view, moving steadily down the road towards them.

While they may have at one point been individuals, all sense of identity had been removed. The soldiers’ pale skin almost glowed in the desert sun, while shadows rippled across their muscular torsos. Each was heavily modified with cybernetics all over their upper-bodies.

‘They coming to us?’ The Peacekeeper inquired telepathically to Edgar, but he was cut short by the Mandalorian.

“Looks like they’re moving to intercept.” Darro stated over the com system. There was now less than 30 meters between the two groups, but they continued to close the gap without any signs of suspicion. Though they all had near-identical appearances, the slightly taller soldier in the middle stepped up from the rest.

“Zabrak.” He said with an eerie calm, looking into each of their eyes individually. Droveth studied his face, trying to read the situation.

“Our ship went down just about 2 kilometers east of here, damn Jedi must have hit us.” Edgar replied, pointing back down the road where they had come from. The soldier did not acknowledge him at all, standing perfectly still the whole time.

“Zabrak.”

‘It’s a passcode.’ said Darro, who could feel Edgar’s presence in his mind. ‘We don’t know the second part. There’s no way we could guess right.’

‘I’ll try something.’ interjected Droveth, who had been listening as well. He slowed his breathing and focused, clearing his mind. The soldiers radio chirped to life.

“Jedi have infiltrated the base. All squads return to base.” The soldier moved for the first time since he spoke, looking down at the speaker and then back to Edgar. A small smirk formed on his lips.

“We have been under radio silence for nearly a hour. This receiver is turned off, Jedi.” His rifle started to move, but Darro was quicker. The lead soldier went down within seconds, a smoking hole in his chest. Droveth lunged forward past his Quaestor and pulled one of the soldiers to him with the Force. The Jedi brought a kick up high and connected with the chin of the soldier full force, sending him tumbling to the ground unconscious.

Darro turned his rifle to the right and dispatched another of the soldiers almost immediately. Edgar ducked under a blast shot from the last soldier, sliding through the sand and kicked his legs. As the soldier fell down on top of him, the Jedi pushed up with the Force and sent him flying. The Mandalorian caught him midair with a precise shot and when he hit the ground, he didn’t get back up.

“Don’t bother with the bodies. We’ve gotta keep moving.” Edgar commanded. He brushed the sand from his disguise and started back toward the facility with Droveth and Alifal following close behind.

Alifal raised an eyebrow at that comment. “Some stealth mission,” he muttered to himself, then focused on the group. “Also how could you guys not realize there would be a passcode? Literally every group that has hired me has had one. I was even given a passcode to not be killed by you nerf herders when I first entered the Kaist system. I expected you guys to know this stuff already since no one bothered to tell me you knew nothing.”

The rest of the team stopped and turned to the young mercenary. Droveth was the first to speak up. “What the frak do you mean?”

“I mean,” Alifal said “this is the most pathetic stealth force I have seen. We would be better off just going in guns blazing. I suck at stealth, whoever screwed up with the comm clearly isn’t used to these kinds of forces, Edgar doesn’t know their passcode, and it’s not like we have a tiny and hideable Mandalorian.”

“Oh so you know more about this than we do? You showed up late!” Droveth argued back.

“Because I was doing what I am amazing at,” the pilot replied. “Hunting down enemy fighters. Now I am stuck with you guys, and while I can shoot well I am clearly not going to be at my best here. I had a perfectly serviceable combat speeder that was ditched because you guys wanted to go a stealth route and that clearly won’t work at this rate. We can’t get passed a single patrol without resorting to combat.”

“You are just here to get us out,” Edgar replied calmly. “But I understand your concerns. We didn’t expect this kind of response to our push.”

“So you all just missed the space battle? You know our squadrons were getting hammered when we arrived right? They have a legendary pilot leading them. We have a handful of good pilots and a bunch of people who I could take out the same way I am sure our Mandalorian friend could take out cups with his guns,” Alifal replied.

“Then what do you suggest?” Edgar said rationally. “Because we don’t have time for an argument.”

Alifal pulled out his blaster rifle. “I don’t care what you guys do. I personally know regardless of how good you Jedi are at sneaking around, I am going to drag you down in the stealth department. So I am just going to shoot everyone I see that aren’t you guys.”

Edgar sighed. “We don’t have the firepower Alifal. We need to get the scrolls and get out of here.”

The young mercenary cursed to himself. “Then go get them old man. If the bodies are going to be found then we are all screwed unless you guys aren’t seen with the killer. I will wait here long enough to attract attention. Then I will make my way to the hangar. Meet me there when you guys have the target in your possession.”

“And leave you to die?” Edgar asked angrily.

“It is what I was hired for,” Alifal said darkly. “My job is to make sure I break that part of the contract to get the money you promised. Now get out of here.”

Darro pulled the two Jedi out of the way, nodding to Alifal. “See you at the hangar then,” the Mandalorian said as he made sure the two Jedi followed him.

Watching the young kid run off in front of them, Edgar started to have mixed feelings about the young man’s chances. This pilot was either going to get himself captured or killed or he’d live up to the high praise his commanders gave the young man.
Before anyone could say anything both Droveth and Ed’s helmet speakers crackled to life. Quickly putting on their helmets the static gave way to a much more urgent and forceful message then before.

“Attention all units this is Commander Drake, enemy forces are approaching the guild master’s research facility. We believe they will attempt to steal or destroy his research. All units are ordered to fall back to the facility to help defend against these filthy force users. Alpha Company will meet me and the Brute squad at the spaceport as we evacuate VIP’s and their research out of the area! Kill any enemy on sight, we will not let these dogs leave this place alive,” shouted Kerwin Drake the field commander of the Technocratic Guild’s forces.

As the radio chatter changed to various commanders ordering their men back to the facility it only took the Grey Jedi a few seconds to come to a conclusion and calmly address the others.

“So the Iron Throne is already making their move and the entire facility is on high alert. We can forget about sneaking in and grabbing the artifacts. So our entire plan has now changed but I think this can and will work to our advantage. Using our disguises and the confusion of the mass retreat we might be able to get to the airfield and if we are lucky locate and steal the ship with the artifacts on it. I almost call this a blessing in disguise,” Drachen confidently said.

“Commander, sir what about Alifal he is completely out of sight and he didn’t take his helmet with him?” Darro quickly interjected.

Edgar looked at the two men and said in a solemn but forceful tone “We can’t worry about him! He has made his own choice and run off. Hopefully things work out and we all get off this rock together but our mission remains unchanged. We are here for the artifacts only, not a rescue mission. Hopefully we can contact him once we get to the airfield but if we can’t he is going to be on his own. For now though grab your gear and Darro try to grab what you can off these bodies. We have once chance so let’s get to that airfield as fast as we can and hopefully sneak in during the confusion.”

Darro quickly searched the bodies and luckily did find some pieces that fit a little better than the last uniform he got but even still this set was nowhere near his size for a convincing fit but it just had to do. With a lot more complaining from the large man he was finally ready and the 3 men raced off toward the facility.

As the three men crested a very large sand dune they finally got a clear and up close look at the facility. They were less than a kilometer away and from their vantage point they could see fighting had already broken out. Iron Throne forces were landing off in the distance with ground forces engaging on the opposite side of the facility. It was then they all noticed 2 transports being loaded on the pads. The first one was being loaded with what looked like the ViP’s and the second one was more cargo.

“There!” Droveth yelled “ The transport on the far pad is being loaded with cargo that’s got to be where the scrolls will be!”

Right before anyone could respond or even think two of Pravus’ bombers screamed into view and fired torpedoes into the spire closest to them blowing the center of it to pieces. The Odanites all dove backwards using the dune as protection from any debris from the explosion. As they rolled down the hill the sounds of the spire crumbling and falling to the ground was all they could hear.

As the spire crashed down to the permacrete floor of the airfield the ground shook as dust and debris rained down on the men and women fighting there as fighters, forces loyal to the Iron Throne, zoomed by overhead. From the airfield came the sounds of blaster fire and explosions as a full scale battle raged over some dusty old scrolls.

Edgar shouted “We need to move now!” as he rose and sprinted down the dune towards the maelstrom of dust and laser blasts.

Not wasting a minute Droveth and Darro rose and ran after him. The dust and confusion worked in their favour as they ran straight past the the unguarded gate and into the facility. Visibility was terrible as the dust from the destroyed spire mixed with the smoke of a dozen fires obscuring anything more that a handful of feet in any direction.

Looking around trying to get his bearing the Quaestor of Hoth asked “Which way were those shuttles?” to no-one in particular.

“That way,” said Darro pointing to the west.

Looking at him incredulously Dro inquired “How the frak could you know that?”

“Because that’s where all the blaster fire is coming from,” the old Mando replied matter of factly.

“Ok, new plan,” Edgar said. “Droveth, you and I are going after those shuttles, see if we can’t steal the one with the cargo. Darro you see if you can draw some of these Techno soldiers away from those shuttles, maybe give us a chance to get on board. If we can’t steal it we’re gonna have to destroy it.”

“I got just the thing,” Darro said as he pulled a small metal orb from a pouch on his hip and tossed it to Edgar.

Droveth smiled as he said “Thermal detonator, nice.”

“The time for stealth is done, lightsabers out. Let’s move,” Drachen said confidently as he pulled the hilts of his sabers from their hiding place.

Droveth whooped as the pair ran off leaving Darro alone. He pulled the far too small Technocratic Union soldier’s helmet from his head and tossed it aside. Thank frak for that he thought to himself. Bringing his rifle to his shoulder he headed into the chaos of battle. His EL-16 barked again and again as Techno Union and Iron Legion soldiers alike fell to its fire. It’s not enough, he thought I need to go bigger. As the thought trailed off he noticed, stacked against a far wall, a series of large metal boxes with lettering stamped on them. As he headed towards them, firing like a mad man as he went, he could finally make out what they said and a wide smile crossed his scarred face.

“Get ready for a distraction,” Darro shouted into his comm unit.

From somewhere else in the facility Edgar, his lightsabers slashing left and right, shouted back “Well make it quick,” as he cut down another Iron Legion trooper. Suddenly a series of explosions rocked the airfield as ships, ammo dumps and fuel tanks exploded in a fireball that sent smoke and debris rising into the sky.

From his position beside the pair of shuttles the giant Devaronian Kerwin Drake shouted “Karabast!” Pointing to a handful of soldiers he shouted “You lot follow me now!” as he ran off towards the firestorm.

As the Fuel dump less than twenty meters away from both Droveth and his Quaestor exploded both men were showered with bits of shrapnel and heat. It was all that the two Jedi could do to dive behind cover to avoid the full force of the explosion.Unfortunately the stack of crates they dove behind had them face to face with three technocratic soldiers that were rushing toward the front.

Both groups we diving for cover behind the same crates. All of them were stunned by the sound and shock wave from the blast so it took a few moments for the soldiers and the two Jedi to come to there senses.

Edgar sat up and shook the cobwebs from his brain just in time for his senses and instincts to kick in, barely having enough time to duck out of the way from a blaster bolt fired hastily by one of the soldiers. In the split second afterward Edgar was able to pull one his pistols from the holster and shoot the closest soldier three times center mass before he know what was going on.

Rolling out of the way of the other 2 soldiers blaster fire their incoming fire was expertly blocked by Droveth’s green lightsaber. Edgar was then able to get back to his feet and reignite his sabers just in time to watch Droveth cut down the two assailants in very quick and decisive swings of his blade.

He turned to face Edgar, “You ok, Sir?”

Drachen took a second and then responded “Yeah i’m fine, that damn Mandalorian almost blew up this entire place and us with it. I know I said destroying the Artifacts is one of our options but I’d still like to get out of here alive!”

Jumping back behind cover as a few secondary explosions went off Droveth stole a glance on the other side of the crates “Sir, the transport is right over there and it looks like the guards are gone, so that crazy Mandalorian did it!”

As the Grey Jedi looked to confirm the report he took off running to the stack of containers the technicians were only a few moments before trying to load onto the ship. Once there both men confirmed the coast was still clear and they both ran for the ship’s ramp. Just before they reached it Droveth stopped, grabbing Edgar by the arm and pulled him to the side, just in time to dodge a barrage of blaster fire.

That’s when they heard a booming voice call to them “You filthy force users come to kill us and steal from us. I will see you dead at my feet before I allow you to leave this place!” Both Jedi recognized the voice from the mission brief as the Technocratic Field Commander Kerwin Drake.

“Bother Fodder! This just got more complicated!” Drachen exclaimed.

Alifal found himself observing the shuttles amid blaster fire. The Iron Throne assault wasn’t something he had predicted, though it did help him survive. He smiled as he was able to hide near a shuttle to fire upon the Collective and the newcomers. I need to contact Edgar he thought to himself. I don’t know if he and the others are ready

The young mercenary scanned the area, hitting to kill and taking time when doing so. He kept on the lookout for a way to send a signal. Despite his search he didn’t miss. The conditions were too good, and he still hadn’t been pinned down. The occasional blaster bolt would slam into the shuttle he was using as cover, but not often to cause worry. Alifal sighed to himself as he fired off another shot, taking out a Techno Union soldier. The two enemy groups weren’t fairly balanced. The Collective seemed to have the edge in this fight, though not by much. But the fight would make it difficult to steal a ship.
There were quite a few shuttles here, and they all seemed flyable. Nothing was preferable though, but Alifal knew he may not have much of a choice. Alifal head a booming voice saying something about Jedi and signed. The mercenaries eyes searched the area for someone who could sound like that and saw his team over by the one shuttle with its ramp lowered. It was a decent shuttle, but there was blaster fire aimed at it. Muttering to himself, the mercenary ran from his position to get mine of sight on whoever was attacking what would soon be his ship.

“What are you standing there for you fools? Shoot them!” Drake screamed at his men.

As one the dozen or so Techno Guild soldiers raised their rifles, aiming them directly at the pair of Jedi lying prone on the permacrete. Before they could fire a single blaster bolt flashed in from their rear punching a burning hole into the back of a Techno Guild soldier. Looking up Edgar could just make out the smiling face of the young mercenary pilot as he aimed down the site of his Blurrg pistol and fired again. His second shot went wide but he’d given Edgar and Droveth the opening they’d needed.

The pair of Force users leapt to their feet and, almost in unison, unloaded thunderous Force blasts towards the Techno Guild troopers and their hulking commander. Three of the soldiers were knocked clean off their feet, flying through the air, crashing into crates and boxes to their rear. As the initial shock of the counter attack wore off the Techno Guild soldiers struck back, opening fire on the the pair of Jedi and the pilot at their back.

Drachen stood his ground deflecting blaster bolts with apparent ease while Droveth spun and slashed like a mad man cutting down troopers left and right. As his men fell around him Drake’s ire rose to a furious rage and as his last man fell to a blaster bolt reflected back at its source by the Quaestor of House Hoth he roared in rage. With a flourish he spun his electro staff through the air and attacked, striking out at both Edgar and Droveth with a barely contained ferocity. The pair of Force wielders held their own, initially at least. Kerwin’s blows were so strong and and well placed Edgar and Dro were becoming exhausted simply holding him off.

But it didn’t last long. Droveth’s guard was beaten aside by a powerful blow before Drake followed up with a shot below the Peacekeepers jaw, lifting him off the ground several inches before he crashed back to earth on the flat of his back. Seeing his ally taken down Edgar pressed his attack, slashing left and right with Bahamut and Tiamat, pushing Drake back a few steps. The Devaronian kicked out with his leg, the blow catching Edgar in the chest forcing him back several paces, knocking him slightly off balance. Kerwin saw his opportunity to end this Jedi scum and moved to take it when a blaster bolt struck him in the shoulder from the rear.

He turned to see the young mercenary pilot aiming down the sights of his pistol. The big Devaronian merely smiled a cruel, sadistic laugh escaping his lips. Suddenly he was hit from behind by something large and fast moving, thick muscular arms wrapping around his waist as he was tackled to the ground. As he slid to a stop he raised his head to see a big Human clad in the armor of the Mandalorians.

“I’ve always wanted to kill one of your kind,” Drake said as he rose to his feet.

Darro was about to reply when he noticed the shuttle containing the scrolls Darth Plagueis lifted off from the ground. Pointing and shouting at the top of his lungs the Mandalorian said “Kid, the shuttle!” doing his best to draw Alifal’s attention to the escaping ship.

“Frak,” the pilot swore as he watched the shuttle slowly lift off into the sky. Looking around he saw a trio of old Z-95 Headhunters, undamaged and ready for action, about forty meters across the base. As he took off at a sprint he spared a look back at his allies just as Drake struck the old Human in the side of the head knocking him to his knees.

Now this is more like it.” Alifal said to himself, sliding into the cockpit of the Z-95 and strapping in. He could feel the warmth again, moving up his spine. This is where he was meant to be. The young pilot moved through the startup controls with ease, lifting off into the air in moments. He plunged the Headhunter into the chaos above Nancoran, weaving passed both Lotus and Iron Legion fighters.

Once the blockade had broken the aerial combat had shifted into the atmosphere. There were hundreds of different vessels zipping above the surface, all representing different factions. Luckily Alifal had a keen eye for his own. While he kept his vision on his target, the shuttle containing the scrolls, he couldn’t help but have a bit of fun.

The controls were merely an extension of his body as he took down enemy fighters with ease. Collective, Iron Legion, it made no difference here. None of them ever saw it coming. He smiled to himself while he soared through the wreckage of another victim.

Alright, enough play. Now work.”

“You lot are actually pathetic.” Kerwin Drake spat as Darro hit the ground, dazed from the blow to his head. “ Three of you and you didn’t even put up a fight.” He turned back towards Edgar, who stood with both lightsabers ignited and forward. Both Droveth and Darro were laid on the ground in front of Kerwin. The Quaestor prepared to push forward, but a voice gave him pause.

‘Make him step over me. Move back.’ The Peacekeeper implored Edgar telepathically. Though he was motionless on the floor, it appeared he was still able to fight.

“You seem pretty confident, but you haven’t killed me yet.” The Gray Jedi taunted, shifting backwards while he spoke. Kerwin moved with him, pausing to look down at Droveth before he stepped over.

“Soon enough.”

The next few moves all happened in the blink of an eye. Drake heard the snap-hiss of a lightsaber, turning his head just as the Peacekeeper removed his legs. He let out a scream and fell down onto his stumps. Edgar moved swifty with Bahamut and Tiamat, severing Kerwin Drake’s head and sending into clattering to the floor past Darro. The Mandalorian rolled away at the last second to avoid a spray of blood. Droveth sat up and spit the blood from his mouth.

“I didn’t know you could move that fast!” He chuckled to Darro as Edgar helped him to his feet.

“I can be quick when I want, better for people to think you’re slow.” He shot back, winking. The three men walked down the ramp and scanned the sky for Alifal. With such chaos above, he would be hard to spot. Suddenly a Z-95 roared overhead and landed abruptly about 100 meters away. The cockpit opened and the young pilot hopped out, casually strolling over to the group.

“Jobs done. I took out the shuttle.” He stated matter-of-factly. Edgar cursed and turned away, muttering more silent profanities under his breath.

“…so let’s get the frak out of here then?” Droveth asked sarcastically after a few moments of silence. The Quaestor nodded and the four boarded the previously occupied shuttle. Droveth and Darro picked up Kerwin’s body and tossed it down the ramp.

“Alright Alifal, get on the controls and get us out of here.” Edgar ordered. The pilot scoffed.

“I don’t fly these things. I’m a fighter pilot, not a delivery boy.”

“Are you serious?” The Mandalorian asked incredulously, but didn’t wait for a response as he pushed past Alifal and closed the ramp. “Fine, I’ll drive.”