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Roster
Knight Inyri Ginovef Pin # 14729
Battlemaster Shimura Keibatsu Pin # 3530
Mystic Firith’rar J. Versea-Stormwind Pin # 14519
Captain Marcinius Turelles Pin # 13938
Warrior DarkHawk Pin # 264
The fires were diminishing on the cityscape’s horizon, The War Host has been double timing it the last few days putting out those damn fires. Major Cromwell did a number on the city and the Brotherhood. He was probably smiling in his cell, but that smile will shortly turn to fear once Master Muz visits him.
DarkHawk was on patrol, getting a breather from everything. He thought better this way, the air, the city, the screams of crime still running rampant throughout. It kept him busy, busting up goons and those who opposed the Brotherhoods plans almost made him feel better. His prey tonight was a lieutenant in the Black Orchid crime syndicate. At this point in the plan, he was almost positive that the Black Orchid syndicate was Major Cromwell’s string puller. Just had to find the puppet master.
As his prey’s transport turned the corner heading directly towards him, they would never see the lone black-clad figure high on his perch. That element of surprise and fear put a half smile across his lips.
Just then the distraction of an incoming Holocron message beaconed. It was on a secure channel, “Damn!” he exclaimed. As he watched the transport pull into its final destination, the white’s of his teeth protruded, “I will deal with you later.” He said to himself. He hit the COMM button on his gauntlet and a small Hologram of Master Muz and someone he did not recognize appeared before him.
The prisoner was cuffed and chained but was also surrounded by the bright swirling white light of a ray shield. He was a Human male, mid-40s, light skin and greying black hair, his clothes were simple and nondescript civilian clothes. Completely unassuming as appearances went, but the interrogator knew better. His subject was an Inquisitor, and a Sith. If the ray shield failed, then both of their lives were forfeit when the commandos outside rolled in their thermal detonators.
“I must say, it’s strange to see that Naga Sadow has such a competent organization. Clearly, their puppet corporation is doing well.” The prisoner said, looking around the room. It was a plain white room, the chairs and table were dura-steel and built into the floor, and the florescent light above them was caged.
“I am not employed by the private sector.” The interrogator replied with a chuckle, “But it’s not my employers we’re here to discuss. It is yours.”
“I can sense your fear.” The prisoner said with a smirk.
“You are a member of the Inquisitorious as exposed to us by a hole in your organization that was recently created. At this time, your life is forfeit, as I am ordered to hand you over for processing by Clan leadership.” The interrogator paused, “And I’m afraid to say, it may not get that far since I’m supposed to hand you over at Ragnos Cathedral. Darth Ashern may choose to deal with you himself.”
“I don’t fear a washed up has-been.” The prisoner replied.
The Lion stepped out of the shadows of the room and simply squeezed his thumb and forefinger together. The prisoner began to gasp for breath, you could hear the distinct sound of rib bones snapping inside his torso. The Lion gazed at the prisoner, blood dripping from his mouth, he proceeded to inflict his will one more time. The prisoner managed to utter, “No, no more please…”
“He does not have his title, but he does have the power still. I don’t think you leave that behind with the parking pass when you leave office.” The interrogator said. “I am, however, offering you a way out. At this time, your capture has already been broadcast on an unsecured channel. You will be marked for death by your own people, so the offer is this. You give me some information, something worth the Clan’s time, and I will ensure your safety with a new identity, a new life.”
There was a pause, the prisoner did not respond, leering at the interrogator.
“I know you’re a patron of the arts. You’ve even made a tidy sum with some of your own works, which I’ve looked up. Your fire sculpture was very ambitious, but for someone just getting into it, you made it work quite well. Personally, I think you undersold it. With this new life, you would have to give up your current line of work, but it would allow you to do quite well in that pastime instead. Of course, we would ensure that you also have a suitable stipend and accommodations. Nothing too lavish, but you would be in luxury.” The interrogator continued.
“You expect me to take your offer of a gilded cage?” The prisoner asked.
“It is a gilded cage, but better than being torn apart like warm bread. I would prefer a life of luxury over a death in suffering agony. We will be in touch, of course, but past that, you get to make more works of art, mingle with the elite, and you would be considered quite important to many people. Important things have a way of not being abused.” The interrogator leaned forward.
The room was silent except for the buzz of the florescent light above them.
“I have something of interest to you, but I want this offer in writing.” The prisoner finally said.
And with that, the interrogator’s job was done. What followed made it all the more worth it, and would all be passed along the chain of command. OSI would send someone else to brief the appropriate people, but all of it started in a metal room and some appeasement to an Inquisitor’s vanity.
The Interrogator placed a sheet of paper on the floor at the prisoner’s feet.
“I believe you will find all is in order.”
The prisoner smiled, bent over and read through his parole document. He sat up and look at his interrogator. Smiling, “This will suffice.”
“Now speak!” the interrogator said with an enthusiasm of bass in his voice.
The prisoner started rambling on about a munitions factory on Aeotheran, off the coast of Myrmidon. He strung together broken sentences of Pravus, Fission Warheads, Kamikaze, and crystal harvesting.
The interrogator looked at the Lion, who showed no expression. The prisoner continued his confession. You could barely hear him speak, the broken rib bones undoubtedly punctured a lung. Once again he painstakingly expressed the plan of the Grand Master, he also mentioned that Pravus had four notable person’s of interest to assist in building his weapon.
“You swear to this,” asked the interrogator
“Yes,” the prisoner painfully said.
Master Muz walked out of the cell first and summoned the Holocron Communicator to the palm of his hand.
DarkHawk appeared before him and his Equite bowed before his master.
“Assemble your team, find the truth to this story.” He instructed his disciple.
DarkHawk bowed, “As you command, Master.”
The Equite switched channels on his COMM unit, hailing one Ensign Kelly.
“Ensign, I am on my way back to Level Nine, we have new mission parameters, have Inyri, Firith, and Shimura poised and ready…”
Red Sector, Markosian City
Tarthos
Inyri stalked across the roof of the high rise hotel, her X-8 up and tracking, moving in the direction of her vision. Rain poured down, water running off of her new armor and onto the rooftop. Ahead of her, a lone figure walked along, holding a sniper rifle as he looked out onto the cityscape before him.
Vengeance had to have purpose, fury had to have direction, and a weapon was only useful if it was pointed at a target. Inyri resented having to think of herself as a weapon, but it was the only way to focus herself on the mission. The assignment was easy enough, but having focus on something else was what kept the Dark Side at the edges of her sanity.
“Shrike, this is Dagger One, in position. What’s your status?” A male voice asked on the other end of her commlink.
Inyri did not reply right away, finishing closing the distance on the patrolling guard. She struck quickly and quietly, first a boot to the back of the knee to drop him down, and then smashed the muzzle of her pistol twice into his head, knocking him out.
“Dagger One, Shrike. In position, rooftop clear. Moving down now.” Inyri said, swinging her pack off and pulling out a length of synthrope. She hooked the carabiner on the end on the rope after securing it to the railing, hooked the other end to the clip on her harness, and began her descent onto the penthouse balcony below.
“Copy. Setting breaching charges now. Waiting on your go.” The voice replied. It belonged to a commando, but not a Warhost commando. These were soldiers who were supposed to not exist, executed assignments that were never authorized, and they were ruthless professionals. Working with them gave Inyri a sense of togetherness, working with people who were denied to have even existed and only existed when something dirty had to be done.
Inyri’s focus shifted to the two men standing on the balcony, looking around for signs of anyone approaching along the sides or any craft approaching from the front. Hanging upside down, Inyri continued downward, slowly, until she was able to flip around and set her feet down on the balcony. Every movement she took was deliberate, trying to minimize how much movement she made in order to keep from catching their attention. Her left hand slowly reached for her X-8 and began pulling it clear. Once it was free from its holster, her hand continued upwards, until she once more had it cradled in her right hand, canted inwards, close to her body. Once both of her thumbs shifted to point with the barrel, she lined up the advanced sights on the left guard’s head.
She pulled the trigger, sending a blue bolt into the back of his head, but the sound report was well under what most blasters had. Still, it was enough to get the other guard’s attention, but even as he was turning and trying to draw his own weapon from under his jacket, Inyri’s sights were already lining up, and a second blue bolt dropped him as well. She looked around before tucking the pistol away and drawing her matte black F-11D blaster rifle from her back.
“Boss?” A new voice, male but metallic, cut into the comms.
“Not now, Iggy.” Inyri replied.
“Ah, yes, now. That weird guy that’s like you but out of a holocomic? Yeah, he said you need to return to Level 9. Sounded like it was something important.” Iggy replied. Iggy was an IG-86 Assassin Droid that Inyri had befriended after he had saved her from the hands of a corrupt businessman that had captured her and intended to use her as a message to the Clan.
“I’m in the middle of something.” Inyri said as she took up a cover position near the door. The crossfire angle would be perfect, no one was going to leave the penthouse alive, save for those who were attacking.
“Yeah, I know. And I told him. And he threatened to scrap me. So after I decided not to shoot your boss in the face, he said he was sending you a ride. So, might want to wrap it up before he turns your chore into a real poodoo show.” Iggy replied.
“Give me two minutes.” Inyri said with a scowl under her helmet.
“I think you get thirty seconds.” Iggy said. Inyri changed the channels.
“Dagger One, clear to breach. Make it fast.” Inyri said, and hit the switch to open the door into the penthouse. As she did, three explosive charges blew two of the walls and the door opposite of her into the building. Bodyguards and guests alike all stood up in the confusion, and by the time they realized that they were being gunned down, it was too late.
“Room clear.” Dagger One called out.
“Grab the intel and get out. We’ve got Warhost inbound, it’s for me.” Inyri said, heading for the balcony while swinging her rifle back over her back.
“Copy that, Shrike.” The commando said, and whistled sharply. The squad quickly grabbed several datapads and terminal harddrives before disappearing through the holes they made, just as the LAAT gunship in Security colors began it’s final approach over the balcony. The door slid open, and Inyri bounded in.
“Rough party, ma’am?” One of the troops asked, looking at the wreckage in the penthouse.
“You didn’t see anything, soldier. Let’s go.” Inyri slapped the controls to shut the door, and the gunship headed back to Kar Alabrek.
Level Nine
Inyri pulled off her helmet as she stalked towards the central operations room, joined by Iggy as she walked. Unlike most IG-86s, Iggy was all black, save for the various red photoreceptors on his head, which matched the black digital camo pattern of Inyri’s SpecFor armor.
“How’d it go?” Iggy asked.
“Your intel was right. How’d you know about them?” Inyri replied.
“Friends of Tovan, all of them like him. A bunch of self-righteous greedy pretentious organics who have no problem telling other beings to do things but are awfully stingy when it comes to paying up. Those idiots thought they could turn Tarthos into their own little empire.” Iggy explained.
“For an assassin for hire, I’d have thought you’d have done a better job vetting your clients and making sure they’d pay you first.” Inyri replied, cracking a smirk.
“Yeah, a computational error on my part. But, who cares? They’re dead and I’ve got steady work, so I’d say that it all balances out. Besides, it’s not about the credits, it’s the principle of the matter. I provide a service, and when I perform said service, I expect to be properly compensated. I can’t expect to function on warm thoughts and fuzzy feelings.” Iggy countered.
“No, I suppose that’s true for all of us. If this is big enough for Darkhawk to interfere with my op, then I’m likely to be drawn off-world for a while. Check in and see if anyone has anything for you to do while I’m away, just so you’re busy and not bugging people.” Inyri said.
“Bug people? Me? Madam, I am the model of utility and respect, a shining paragon to lesser beings and droids of how to behave with others.” Iggy replied, chuckling as he broke off down a different direction.
Inyri rounded the corner into the main operations room, where Darkhawk was already waiting, his arms crossed.
“Where were you?” He asked.
“On assignment.” Inyri replied curtly.
“I believe that it was made quite clear to you after your recent spree that you are not to leave without my knowledge or consent, Knight.” Darkhawk said.
“I’m not a prisoner down here. A job required my set of skills, it was executed, though not without your interference nearly blowing it. You know good and well who I’m not helping, so don’t go acting like you’re my warden.” Inyri shot back, setting her helmet on top of the table in the center of the room.
“You demonstrated a gross lack of judgement and nearly brought disaster down on us all. So right now, Knight, I don’t trust that you’re doing something in the best interests of the Clan without my knowledge. Slipping out and leaving that droid to cover for you is poor form.” Darkhawk replied.
“I didn’t leave Iggy to cover for me. He’s free to come and go as he pleases. Which is all besides the point. What’s done is done, and acting like you own me isn’t going to make things better.” Inyri said with a glare.
“We will resume this discussion at a later time. Right now, there is work to be done. We’re just now waiting for the rest to arrive.” Darkhawk said. Inyri shook her head and scoffed, but let the matter drop for the moment, turning to see who else was coming in.
Level 9
Kar Alabrek
Tarthos
Black robes trailed the Battlemaster as one boot was placed in front of the other, each with swift and graceful purpose. Shimura repositioned the rocket launcher on his wrist to a more comfortable position and ran his fingers down the hilt of his lightsaber, feeling the comfort of it tap his hip with every stride.
It hadn’t been long since the Sith had returned from his wandering travels abroad before he received a pre recorded, encrypted holo communique from his Battle Team Leader. It wasn’t habit for Shimura to accept a mission without knowing the details of the mission before doing so but he was eager to recreate the special kind of wanton destruction and mayhem he was known for. While abroad, he managed to pick up a minor skill set in explosives while working as an assassin to sate his bloodlust as well as his bank account for the purpose of all things that extinguish life. Shimura only imagined between his working knowledge of explosives and martial prowess was the reason he had specifically been recruited.
He finally began to reach his destination after being lost in an unfamiliar building, the main operations room, that would no doubt be sound proofed to keep mission details a secret once the door was closed. Roughly five steps away from the door, he realized it wasn’t closed since there were clearly audible voices arguing within. Shimura paused his advance into the room to eavesdrop on the conversation. The first, male, trying to assert his dominance, the other, a female, attempting to retain her independence. The Sith made a mental note of the bickering, compartmentalizing it in case he needed to supply a push or a prod to manipulate them to serving his aspirations of further power in the future.
Shimura waited for the conflict to end before he proceeded once more, stepping through the open door into the main operations room. Technical readouts could be seen on nearly every terminal with Ragnos staff present to monitor them. The Keibatsu saw the male and female who must’ve been the ones arguing just moments before. Crossing his arms and furrowing his brow, he waited for the mission brief.
Level 7 Medical
Kar Alabrek
Tarthos
“Alright Firith, how have you been feeling?” The doctor asked. “Any lingering headaches? Blurry vision?”
“Nae, none o that. Just, well, just a general depression I guess. I canna explain it all that well.” The old Jedi responded quietly.
The doctor examined where the probe had been inserted into the base of Firith’s skull. “It’s healed nicely, minor scar at most. I see you have taken to wearing your Jedi robes again. Why the change?”
“It just felt like the right thing to do.” Firith mumbled, picking at a frayed spot on one of the tabards. Looking up at his haggard reflection in a mirror on the wall, he could see how tired he looked. He noticed the pasty, sallow complexion of an alcoholic.
“Well, you are as healthy as to be expected.” The doctor said. “You need to stop drinking and smoking, eat healthier. The same spiel I gave you at your last appointment.”
“Aye, I know,” the Gray responded with a sigh, “I know. Am I fit for duty though? More than just sitting in a cubical looking at data screens?”
“Well, you have another psyche evaluation next week, but I don’t see any reason not to sign off on you.” The doctor smiled as he scribbled something on a data pad.
The facilities overhead speakers chimed, just as Firith’s personal wrist comp vibrated. “Mystic Stormwind, report to level nine immediately. Repeat, Mystic Stormwind, report to level nine immediately.” Firith glanced at his reflection again. Took a deep breath and got down from the table. Collecting his cloak and gnarled wood cane, he headed out of the office.
Level 9
Kar Alabrek
Tarthos
Firith slowed as he approached the Operations Room. Putting his back to the wall he looked up at the ceiling, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Reaching out with the Force, he scanned the room ahead. Darkness and anger greeted him. Oh joy, this is gonna be a mess, he thought.
Reaching into a pouch on his belt he pulled out his flask opened it and took a deep drink. Here goes nothing.
Making sure his weapons were ready, he hobbled towards the Command Room. Damn knee is bothering me more than usual, must be the weather. He thought as he felt the offending joint twinge and ache.
Rounding the corner, he stopped and looked towards the room. Taking another swig, he put his flask away and headed up to the door. Stopping just outside, he cloaked himself using the Force to eavesdrop before he walked in.
Looking in, he could see that DarkHawk was upset with Inyri, nothing new there. After she went rogue, he confined the young Knight to the Level Nine watch. Apparently, she had not listened. A light skinned Zabrak dressed in red and black stood off to the side of the door, arms crossed, watching the two. As Firith watched from the shadows, the Zabrak turned and looked right at him.
Firith felt the power of Darkness emanating from the light skinned being. He’s good, huh, odd usually the red skinned Zabraks were the bad ones, hmm… He thought.
Uncloaking Firith walked into the room, his stick clacking against the floor. “You two at it again?” He scoffed, looking at his commander and the scowling Knight.
Inyri rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You give this old drunk more freedom than you give me! And he killed CHILDREN! He went on a killing spree for Pravus!”
DarkHawk slammed his hand on the table making everyone jump. “THAT IS ENOUGH!” He shouted. “You will never challenge me in front of others again or I will bring you up on formal charges for insubordination. Do you understand me Knight Ginovef?”
Inyri crossed her arms and scowled at the Warrior across from her, saying nothing.
DarkHawk walked around the table and got right in the young Knights face. “I said, do you understand me?” He growled in menacing tones.
Inyri looked at the cowled and goggled face and tried to stare it down. Then broke eye contact and looked away. “Yes sir.” She said quietly.
Firith took his pipe out and began to fill it with t’bak. Glancing over at the young Zabrak who had been following the argument between DarkHawk and Inyri. He is like me, he watches, weighs his options. I will need to watch my back around this one. Firith thought.
“Firith you light that stink weed in here again and you’ll be in more trouble than before.” DarkHawk barked, not even turning around.
Firith stuck the stem of the pipe in his mouth and bit down, grinning at his commander. “Right, lad, right,” he chuckled, “Who’s the Zabrak? He new to the Hawks?” He asked, jerking his head towards the Sith standing by the door.
The pale skinned alien turned and gave Firith a scowl but said nothing.
DarkHawk walked back around the table and began hitting commands into a keyboard, as he did he began introductions. “This is Battlemaster Shimura Kebatsu. He’s been in the Brotherhood for sometime and has only recently joined us. Aside from being an expert fighter, he knows demolitions. Knight Inyri you know. She will be leading the clandestine part of the attack, with you as back up. Firith you will be another set of eyes and provide fire support.”
Inyri snorted at this point and everyone just looked at her.
“Shimura, you and I will be in charge of destroying the warheads and missiles, Inyri you will be our backup and cover, Firith you are her backup. Firith you are also our cyber tech. We will need you to hack into any security systems, comm systems, anything that might help us and hinder them.” The Warrior continued. Pressing on last key, a hologram of a planet appeared. “There is a report of some VIP’s at this plant too. Firith, you will be the one to track them and rescue them.”
Everyone moved in closer to get a better look at the planet in question.
“Our mission is to destroy fission weapons that Grand Master Pravus is producing in a munitions factory on Aeotheran, off the coast of Myrmidon.”
“Myrmidon isn’t a coast, it’s a small city.” Firith interjected.
“What?” DarkHawk asked, looking at him through the slowly rotating hologram.
“It’s a city. Lilith is there. It is the headquarters for the Devil’s Shroud. Small place, well, it was when I was there. From what’s she has told me it has gotten larger now. It is deep in the interior of the second largest continent. You do realize Aeotheran also the home of House Shar Dakhan right? The Lion’s Tooth is on a neighboring continent.” The aged Jedi said. “I wonder if my old rooms are still there…” He said gazing at the spinning planet.
Shimura rolled his eyes at Firith’s pointless muttering. “So if this Aeotheran is our sister house’s home planet, it should be easy to get on, right?” He asked, pointing to the hologram.
DarkHawk shook his head. “No not really. While you were unaffiliated, the two houses became somewhat mistrustful of each other. We guard our planet and the surrounding space quite diligently now. That along with the attack on Seng Karash by the Dominion, HSD has become very protective of their planet.”
“And yet they allow Pravus to set up a weapons factory right under their nose…You think Sang and Locke are secretly in league with him?” Inyri asked, her expression reflective. She looked over at Firith. “That would mean your wife is in league with him too.”
Firith had his saber out and lit before anyone could react. The tip a fraction of an inch from Inyri’s face, its dark reddish color tainting the room, its humming buzz a promise of death.
“Dooon’t yea aver talk aboot ma wife like tha’ again.” The Gray Jedi growled.
“Firith! Calm down!” DarkHawk ordered. “I know Lilith, Sang and Locke are not in league with Pravus. Grand Master Muz would have sent us to exterminate them a long time ago.” DarkHawk said.
Switching off his saber Firith returned it to his belt all the while watching Inyri. She met his stare equally and did not look away.
Closing his eyes and shaking his head Firith continued the explanation. “If there is a weapons plant on planet, one that is making fission weapons, there will be radioactive pollution, or some kind of pollution that is associated with weapons manufacture. I am guessing that there is a plant somewhere remote on the continent. Well away from all the cities and hidden from scans with shields and the like. We search for the area with the highest concentration of pollutants in the water or air, and we should be able to find it. Hell, if there is an area of water where the temperature is higher along the coast, it could be there.”
“Or it could just be an active volcano,” Shimura said.
Firith nodded to the Battlemaster. “Aye lad, good point.” Looking at the others, he gave a wicked smile. “Yea all search for the plant, I’m going to do a wee bit of finagling with the computer. I fly to Aeotheran on occasion to drop off Lilith when we travel to Ryloth. The IFF of my shuttle is known by the planetary defense network. We can take it to get to where we need to go. I’ll fly us there, you tacticians work out the drop and I will meet with you at the drop site after I land.”
DarkHawk finished the brief and instructed everyone to be geared in ready in ten minutes. They would be leaving from hanger bay seven. DarkHawk grabbed Inyri’s arm as she got up to leave.
“I am not doubting your skills lady, but are you comfortable piloting Firith’s shuttle?”
Inyri glared at her battle team leader, she noticed a different look over the Warrior. At first, she took it as an insult, but she knew DarkHawk demeanor and this was completely unfamiliar. She let a long sigh escape from her lungs.
“Yes, yes Sir, I am good with it. As long as the ‘ole man does not complain too much about how I fly that bucket.”
DarkHawk released her arm and bowed to his Knight. Firith stood in the hallway and reentered as Inyri left.
“Aye, you straight Laddie?” the seasoned Gray Jedi asked.
DarkHawk glanced at the floor then recomposed himself. “Yes, I am old friend, just a lot on the table at the moment. I want you to know, from me, no harm will come to Lilith and Shar Dakhan. We will be completely covert, unless…”
Firith’s eyebrows raised as he watched his Battleteam leader.
“Aye, no worries Lad, I trust you, I will only inform my Las if we get in a bit of a wee bind.”
DarkHawk extended his hand and the two Equite’s shook on their future endeavors. Firith was almost out of the briefing room, DarkHawk was staring out the bay window arms behind his back.
“And Firith, don’t worry Sir, I won’t let Inyri scratch that shuttle up too much!”
Firith grunted as he walked out of the briefing room. DarkHawk continued to watch out the bay window, a few moments passed and the Warrior acknowledged his new BattleMaster watching him.
“Yes, my Liege, what can I help you with?”
“Ahh formalities much appreciated DarkHawk. But I want to thank you for bringing me to the team, it’s been long overdue and just the fire I need. I look forward to working with you.”
“As do I Shimura, you come highly recommended and it was an easy choice. We need your set of skills on the team. “
The Battlemaster left the room. DarkHawk gathered his things and made his way to the hanger bay. As we walked the halls of Level Nine, he walked passed headquarters where Ensing Kelly was working diligently on his computer. Kelly noticed the Warrior in something of a trance of concentration. Kelly left his station and entered the hallway.
“Boss, you good?”
“I am fine” sneered the Warrior.
He paused for a second turning to the young Ensign. The look of confusion on his face, his posture poised for a good ripping.
“You know what would look good on you Ensign?”
“No Sir, what do you have in mind?”
“Lieutenant bars” and the Warrior just walked away.
Entering the hanger bay and maneuvering to the launch bay Shimura was leaning up against the side of the shuttle and Inyri and Firith were obviously inside but could be heard bickering over who was going to do what to whom if the shuttle got damaged. Shimura had a small smile on his face and just motioned a thumbs up and then pointed it to the two inside the shuttle.
The two Equite’s entered the shuttle and strapped in. Firith and Inyri went right into launch sequence without missing a beat. Inyri slapped Firith’s hand as he started flipping control panel switches and the old man just scoffed at her. The ION engines spun up and Ensign Kelly came over COMM’s.
“Shuttle 43576, you have clearance to launch, Strike Team NH we have you all the way to your destination covering your backside.”
The shuttle lifted off the tarmac and Inyri pointed the nose towards the large hanger doors. As the doors opened light filled the shuttle and the Inyri slammed the throttle quadrant forward.
Civilian Shuttle
Enroute to Aeotheran
Orian System, Esstran Sector
“Gods woman! Yea nae need ta be so violent with the controls.” Firith said again.
Inyri jerked the control column over again to swoop the shuttle around a nearby asteroid. “Quit crying like some baby Chiss with a skinned knee! I need to know what this ship can do in an emergency!” The knight said. “What happens if we come under attack? What happens if we need to make a quick escape? I want to see how responsive it is” She elaborated.
“Aye lass I understand all that, but we are sneaking in! Nae goin in guns, which this ship does nae have, a blazin’! I have designed it for stealth. That’s why it has been painted black.” The exasperated Mystic answered. “I use it to get to my assignments, nae ta take on the galaxy.”
“Oh will you two shut the kriff up!” Shimura barked from the passenger area where he and DarkHawk were going over their equipment. “I can’t think with your constant squabbling!”
“He’s right,” DarkHawk added, “You both need to give it a rest. Firith, Inyri is more than capable to fly this. As are you.” The team leader said, cutting off Firith’s about to be made comment. “I need you to start looking over the continent map again to see if we missed anything. You will take over the landing procedures and communications when we get to Aeotheran.”
Firith unstrapped himself from his seat and headed back to the EWS station. Grumbling the entire time. Sitting down at the station he punched up the information on the planet and focused in on the southern continent where his wife’s Battleteam was headquartered. Using some subspace sensor channels he began bringing up data for air pollution, temperatures and radioactive readouts. Scrolling around the coastlines he wasn’t able to find anything that stood out.
DarkHawk came up behind him and looked over his shoulders. “Try coordinates S 35° 20.549’ E 146° 16.522’.” he said.
Firith dialed in the coordinates and looked at the region under different filters. The spike for JL-12-F was almost off the charts as were other chemicals.
“You think it’s there? In these mountains?” Firith asked.
“It fits the profile from what you said. High radioactivity compared to the surrounding area.” DarkHawk said. “It als–, wait, what’s that?” he asked pointing to a series of letters and numbers that appeared and started scrolling down the side of the map screen.
“That lad is MY secret. This electronic warfare suite is my baby. I had it especially installed to allow me to get a read on my targets and the places they are at. Communications, encrypted channels, etc.” Firith responded with a grin. “The drawback is the amount of systems I need to take off line to get this to run fully.” the aged Jedi said. He turned to look at Inyri and noticed her attempting to put the ship into hyperdrive, then looked back at DarkHawk. “In three…two…one.”
“This damn piece of junk won’t go into hyperdrive!” Inyri yelled back at the grinning Firith.
“That is correct lass. And it won’t as long as I have the EWS powered up. Besides, we don’t need it. How far out is Aeotheran?” The Mystic laughed.
“Three to five hours at this pace, and we seem to be losing power to life support too.” The young knight answered, reading the gauges in front of her.
“Och, right, it’s usually just me in here. I hadn’t thought of that.” Flipping a couple of switches he killed power to the countermeasures and extended defense warning radar. Allowing power to feed back into the ship’s primary systems.
Looking over the map Firith pointed to the data scrolling down the side. “This is communications from something. The flashing green is radar, red represents weapons…Pravus may be a shebs head, but he’s no fool. He’ll have defenses protecting the factory.”
Shimura came up and looked at the map. “Can all this fancy gear disable it?”
Firith shook his head. “Not at this distance, and I will need to refuel at Myrmidon before we can head back. That’s the easy part. The difficulty is dropping you three close enough to the plant without attracting the attention of the Devil’s Shroud command center and the planetary defense.”
Pressing a couple of buttons Firith brought up a map of the planet showing the security satellites and the overlapping circles of the planet’s early and close range radars. “Where we are going is fairly open compared to other parts of the planet. We are lucky in that respect. The drawback is while the Shroud is useless as a Battleteam, Lilith has a rather bothersome ability to get its members to participate when it comes to defending their HQ, even if they never assist her in anything else. We will be on the ragged edge of their radar when I bring us in for the drop.” He said pointing to the fringe of the radar.
“DH, how does this sound to you? I bring us in here,” Firith pointed to the map, “and you three do a quick drop and set up camp. I will fly to Myrmidon and land, dock the ship at the spaceport and speeder out to you in a small multi personnel speeder. When we are done we can use it to get back to the ship.”
“Sounds good, but won’t there be problems getting back to the ship?” The leader of the Night Hawks asked.
Firith shrugged. “I don’t see any of us surviving, so I’ll worry about that if and when we do.”
“Well aren’t you little miss sunshine.” DarkHawk laughed slapping his friend on the shoulder.
“We are about an hour and a half out. I need to go over my equipment.” Inyri called back.
Firith got up and headed up to the flight deck. “I have the controls.” he said sitting down in the co-pilot seat and wiggling the control yoke.
“Control is yours.” She answered and headed back to the seating area and began going through her equipment.
Firith began dialing up command codes to scramble the radars of Aeotheran in an attempt to render the ship as ‘invisible’ as possible while the other three discussed the landing and assault.
Later
Civilian Shuttle
Aeotheran Approach
Orian System, Esstran Sector
Firith shut down all unnecessary systems and brought the shuttle in towards the continent where Myrmidon was and their destination. All the countermeasures of his ship were running at full and he had crossed his fingers everything was going to work out.
As the ship drifted in under the radars of the planet, no alarms went off and Firith let out a sigh of relief. “Right everyone, we are ready to set down. As soon as I open the bay door, get your gear and get out. I’ll fly to Myrmidon and leave the shuttle at the star port. Then come back to the camp.”
The shuttle skirted one of the mountains in the area and set down in a clearing in the forests that surrounded them.
Flipping the switch for the hatch as the ship touched down Firith turned to watch his three companions exit the ship. As soon as they were out he took off and flew to the star port.
(post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in 24 hours unless flagged)
Wilderness
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotharan
The ghost white Zabrak stepped off the durasteel loading bay door while the soft, rainwater soaked ground beneath him slightly gave way to his weight. The sound of rain hitting leaves and his cloak was the only he he could hear. It was Shimura’s first trip to Aeotheran and he was glad he had the House armourer modify his robes with a synthetic body glove, wicking away whatever water managed to penetrate his cloak that he had wrapped tight around his body. The waterproof pack laid across his low back, containing a various amount of explosives that he may need for the mission.
“Well, from where we’re at now, intelligence says the plant is on the other side of the mountain.” Darkhawk said from behind him.
“We better get moving then.” Shimura replied to his Leader. The Battlemaster noticed it was eerily quiet. He looked back just in time to get a warm face wash from the ship’s exhaust ports as it took off back to Myrmidon City. “Umm…” Shimura paused as he cocked his head to the side, puzzled from what he wasn’t seeing, “Where’s Inyri?”
“You didn’t see her get off the ship did you? She fooled you, and any would be ambusher waiting for us to land.” Darkhawk smirked. “Force cloak.”
Shimura closed his eyes, feeling the vast amounts of non-sentient life crawling and scuttling beneath the undergrowth. Nearly one hundred meters ahead of them in the direction of their target, he felt Inyri’s presence. “Neat trick.” he mumbled to himself, clearly not happy about being tricked. The Battlemaster turned back around and started heading up the mountain.
Aeotheran
Myrmidon Spaceport
Home of Battleteam Devil’s Shroud
“Attention inbound craft, squawk IFF at 105.15.” the radio chattered. "Inbound craft identify immediately or you will be fired upon”
“That’s new, I wonder what has them so jumped up.” Firith mumbled as he flipped on his IFF transponder.
Double checking the frequency he broadcast his ships ident friend or foe registry to the spaceport.
“IFF received, welcome shuttle HT1i1. Please park in your usual spot on the apron." A robotic sounding voice prompted.
Firith set the control for landing and began powering down his EWS. He heard the familiar hum of the landing bays opening and felt the ship buffet some from the landing skids dropping into position.
Looking out of the view port he could see the flat expanse of the star port approaching. Setting the shuttle down in his usual spot, Firith gathered what equipment he still had with him, he exited the shuttle. Looking around, he spotted Lilith heading towards him with a look of consternation on her face.
“Hi Honey. What brings you out to my neck of the woods.” Lilith said as she gave her husband a kiss.
“Ummm…well.” stammered Firith.
“All right, spit it out,” Lilith said, sounding a little annoyed. “I have had this feeling all day that something was not right. What happened? I can tell that you are not just here for a visit, so just spit it out.”
Firith shrugged, knowing that it was no use, he never could hide anything from his wife. “It’s a wee bit of a story. I’m actually here on a mission. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?”
“Let’s go to my office, it’s quiet here at the moment. Most off the Team is off planet at the moment, so other than support staff, it’s just me. I have been trying to do my report, but have had a lot of trouble concentrating lately. Probably has something to do with why you are here.”
The couple made their way into the Devil’s Shroud HQ and went to Lilith’s office. Shutting the door behind Firith, Lilith walked over to her desk, sat on the edge and folding her arms, looked him square in the face. “All right, spill.”
Firith, cleared his throat and launched into the story, as he was relaying all the information, he could tell that she had no idea that Pravus had put his factory on “her” planet and he could also see that she was getting very angry.
“I can’t believe this!” The Mystic bit out. “How dare he think that he can do this right under our noses. He had to have done this during one of the transitions of power, I think that I am the third Battleteam Leader this year. Oh Gods, this is going to look bad. Darkhawk should have contacted me directly, instead of all this subterfuge.” Lilith had started pacing around the office throwing her hands up, getting louder and louder the angrier she became.
“Now dear, calm do–,” Firith started to say.
“Don’t you ‘Now dear’ me. YOU, should have talked to Darkhawk about talking to me. This is MY planet, My job at stake. Is it just you and Darkhawk? Where is he? I have a few words for that man.”
“ENOUGH!” shouted Firith. “Will you let me get a word in edgewise, woman.”
Lilith stopped her pacing, cocked an eyebrow at him, and waved her hand as if to say ‘well let’s hear it.’
Firith took a deep breath and let it out,“One, I told Darkhawk that the intel pointed towards an area that might be near where your Battleteam headquarters is located. Two, Darkhawk does know you, and he had enough sense to let everyone know that you would have no part in supporting Pravus and his new order. Three, Darkhawk and the others are waiting for me at the drop point. I, umm, was going to take a medical shuttle and meet them.” He said sheepishly. “I was really hoping that we could do this without involving you, and that way you wouldn’t know anything about it so once everything was discovered you would have plausible deniability.”
Lilith snorted. “You were going to steal one of my medical shuttles and do all this “whatever” your team hatched and think that I wouldn’t find out about it?” She paused and then looked at him, danger flashing in her hazel eyes. “Wait, he had the sense to let everyone know… Who all is with you, and WHO had the nerve to insinuate that I would have anything to do with Pravus?”
Firith grinned, seeing a way to turn her ire off him and on to someone else. “It was the wee lass Inyri, but I got on her for that and DarkHawk backed me up.” The old Jedi said trying to placate his now irate wife. “We also have a new guy, well not new, but back from wherever. He’s another Keibatsu, a Zabrak named Shimura.”
“Another Keibatsu, I swear they must breed like rabbits or have lots of ‘family’ the same as we are Versea. Give me just a minute, let me grab my things and we can go join your team.” Lilith went into the connecting room, changed out of her clothes into something a bit more mission friendly, strapped on her belt and lightsaber, and loaded a bag with medical supplies and just for good measure tossed in the case containing vials of LS-33 along with her gas mask.
“We?”
“Yes, we. Do you think that now that I know what is going on right under my nose, that I am just going to sit back and let the lot of you run amuck on Aeotheran. Not going to happen Honey.”
“Darkhawk is going to kill me,” muttered Firith as he pulled out his flask and took a good long swig.
“I heard that!” shouted Lilith from the other room as she readied her equipment.
“By the way, what’s up with the new security protocol for the spaceport ‘Identify immediately or be fired up on?”
“I told you that something hasn’t felt right and I have been getting snippets of things. I just felt that I needed to up the security a bit. I think that we will still take a medical speeder, I just know that I will be patching you up sometime during this mission.” Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she walked towards the door. “Let’s go.”
The two made good time to the Shroud’s armory where Lilith signed out a S-130 Shelter Speeder. “This will allow me to–” she started to say when her communicator chirped. Flipping it open she answered. “Lilith here, go ahead.”
“Ma’am, you have a priority call from the Lion’s Tooth, it is Quaestor Darkblade.” A communications bot responded.
Firith looked at his wife and raised his eyebrows. Lilith responded with a quick shake of her head and opened up the channel of her personal holocommunicator. “Good afternoon Darkblade, what can I do for you?”
“Lilith I need you to report to the Lion’s Tooth as soon as you can. We need to discuss some issues about the Battleteam. Can I expect you in about an hour or so?” The Savant asked.
“Yes sir, I will be there momentarily.” she said, and shut down the communication. “Damn! This HAD to happen.”
“No worries lass, it will all be fine. I can still take this, yes?” Firith said pointing to the speeder.
“Yes, but it needs two to fly it properly, you’ll have to use the ships droid to assist you.” She said.
Firith nodded, gave his wife a peck on the cheek and headed up the ramp. Stowing his gear he strapped in and started the engines.
Wilderness
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotheran
Firith brought the speeder in low, expecting some kind of resistance. He was surprised to find nothing. The team was gone and he was alone.
The old Jedi jumped as his communicator beeped. “Firith come in, repeat Firith come in.” Said DarkHawk. “Hey old man, where are you?”
“Landing at the coordinates I dropped you at? Where are you?” Firith replied.
“We have headed in, follow ASAP. we’ll need you to start hacking into their security and comm systems in a bit.” The Warrior answered back.
“Roger, landing now, will meet you in a few.” Firith answered back and began the landing procedure.
Setting the speeder down in a clearing, he cringed as it crushed into some trees. Breaking the branches and scratching the paint. Looking out the view port at the sneering devil face, now with a big scrape across it’s nose and mouth, he shook his head. Lilith is gonna’ kill me
DarkHawk watched as his Battlemaster headed up towards the mountain. He had a three-quarter pace behind him, paused for a second, got on COMM’s and called out to his Knight, Inyri.
“Inyri, scout ahead to find the entrance and take out any stragglers as we head up…Copy?”
There was a brief silent tone and then the Knight came over COMM’s.
“Yes Sir, I will rendezvous with you once I have entrance coordinates.”
The Battlemaster glanced over his shoulder towards his Battle Team Leader, “We good?” Shimura asked.
“Yes my Liege, we are…”
Just then a scraping noise, followed by a thud came from behind them in the vicinity of their makeshift camp.
“I was going to say we need to wait on Firith so he can hack the entrance, but judging by the sounds of that he is here.”
The Battlemaster grinned as he looked over the shoulder of the half Shaevalian, he saw Firith coming out into the clearing making his way up the mountain trail.
“Aye Laddy, how goes it?” the Grey Jedi asked.
DarkHawk just stared at his Mystic, he did not have to say a word.
“So judging by the parking job, how hard did Miss Lilith crack your skull old man?” the Warrior asked with a half-smile.
“Ahh, surely you be giving this old man the business, Sir.”
DarkHawk once again just stared at the Mystic…
“Ok, ok, she was none too happy at first, but I’m a wee bit of a charmer you know…”
“I am assuming she has our six then?"
“If we need her Sir, if we need her…”
Shimura shook his head, a small chuckle emanated from his lips. The three made their way up the mountain trail. The terrain started getting dense with rock and thick brush, the team continued for another twenty meters when all three got a hail over COMM’s.
“Found the entrance, from what I can gather its biometrically locked by one of the three guards I am looking at. One is keeping an eye on the door, the other two are coming directly towards you all.”
“Copy Inyri, target the straggler we have the other two.”
Shimura nodded to his teammates and seemed to disappear into the duskiness of the mountain. Firith headed up an Eastern trail, and DarkHawk circled around to the West. The footsteps of the two stragglers became blatantly loud. The Battlemaster was tucked behind two boulders as they passed, he could almost feel the heat from their breath as they passed. DarkHawk perched himself upon a rather large rock and his view of the scene was almost stellar. Inyri hung inverted from a rock above the opening only feet above the lone guard. Shimura and Firith had a crossfire position on the two descending the mountain trail.
DarkHawk came over COMM’s…
“Hold…hold…hold…NOW!”
Wilderness
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotharan
“Hold…hold…hold…NOW!”
Inyri dropped from her position and confronted the guard by the door. A quick slice of her combat knife across his throat effectively silencing his surprised shout.
“Make it fast guys, I just broke the door lock!” She called out over the COMM as the door started to grind shut. Grabbing the dead guard’s body she shoved it into the gap hoping it might keep the door from closing all the way.
Stepping inside the hall as the door closed she set up as defensive position looking down the corridor.
DarkHawk jumped down from his perch and headed towards the door hearing three sabers ignite behind him. A single blaster shot and the sound of it being batted off a blade made him smile. Until it zipped past his head to impact the stones above the door.
“Sorry!” Firith called out.
Two gurgling screams could be heard behind him as he approached the jammed open door.
Looking at the crushed man between the door and the jamb, he had to laugh at Inyri’s idea of a doorstop.
Looking back up the hill, he could see Shimura deactivating his double bladed saber as he came down the trail. Firith following behind him, looking a bit winded.
DarkHawk stepped through the door and approached Inyri. “We good?” He asked his Knight.
“So far, yes. Although I have a gut feeling that’s going to change real soon.” She answered keeping an eye the empty hall. “I can’t believe there aren’t more guards.”
Shimura entered in with Firith behind him, both glancing down at the “doorstop”, then each other and lastly at Inyri. Firith pursed his lips and raised his eyebrows. “Umm, nice?”
DarkHawk walked back to the men standing by the door. “It has merit, I’ll grant you that. Right let’s get this door closed and see what we can find out about this layout. Firith, find a computer and hack in. find us some kind of blueprint and find the VIP’s we need to rescue. Shimura, You and I are going to take care of the weapons. Inyri! We still clear?” He called out dragging the body out of the gap allowing the door to close.
“Yeah boss, were good, but hurry up.” She called back.
Firith headed to the nearest office and looked in. “I can access here I think,” he called back to the others. “There is a terminal in here. Do you want me to hack in this far up or head in further with you?”
“Hack in here, team, weapons check and set chronometers.” The Warrior called out heading into the side office where Firith started setting up his tools.
Inyri came to the door and started a final check of her equipment, while watching the hall. Shimura looked over his explosives and wrist rocket. “It’s up,” Firith said typing furiously on a keyboard. “I need to spike this… aaand, we are in.” He said inserting another spike into the system. “Okay, what do you want me to do? Kill communications? Defenses? Find personnel listings? Security?”
Pravus’ Weapons Facility
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotheron
“Find the facility blueprints, then find the personnel listing. After those are completed, shut down everything except emergency power.” DarkHawk barked at Firith, responding with a nod while furiously typing away at the keyboard. “ Inyri, cover him. Let’s go.”
Metallic thumps reverberated down the hall as the two Sith made as much haste as possible without drawing suspicion. Two Iron Legion stormtroopers walking side by side, blaster rifles across their chest turned from an adjacent corridor directly in front of them. Both Sith looked at each other, Shimura immediately dropped his hand to his lightsaber but DarkHawk waved him off. Shimura and DarkHawk began closing in on the patrol from behind. They were nearly two arms length away when one stormtrooper began to turn around to see who was behind them.
“Eyes forward Private!” DarkHawk snarled. The stormtrooper snapped forward at the order, Shimura turned to his Battle Team Leader, DarkHawk shrugged, not knowing his ruse was going to work.
“Aye, lads. I’ve uploaded the schematics to your datapads. Looks like I might have found the VIP’s too.” Firith’s voice erupted from their commlinks.
Shimura had forgot to turn down the volume of his commlink, causing the two stormtroopers ahead of them to overhear the transmission, spinning around to level their blasters at the Sith. With lightning reflexes Shimura produced his lightsaber from his belt, igniting the blades as he spun them in a vertical whirlwind. One blaster’s barrel was cleaved off while the other stormtrooper had his trigger hand severed, rendering both weapons inoperable. A wide horizontal slash removed parts of their head at some point between the crown and the chin. Both Sith expected to hear an alarm after the stark white armor clattered to the floor, but none came.
“Could you have at least kept them in one piece to make hiding them a little easier?” DarkHawk asked Shimura, who only replied with a devilish grin.
Tapping on his datapad, DarkHawk swiped his gauntleted finger across it, happy with what he was seeing. “There’s a utility closet down the hall we can stuff these poor fellas in.”
“A utility closet? Can we get a little more cliche?”
“When you have a better idea, you can be Battle Team Leader. Let’s get to it.” DarkHawk said with slight disdain.
The hallway went pitch black. A second later emergency power kicked in. “Uhh, lads.” Firith’s voice came once again over the commlink. “I think they know we’re here now.”
Pravus’ Weapons Facility
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotheron
“We are gonna have to do this the hard way and out in the open.” The Warrior replied.
“Aye, you may be right boss. This could get ugly,” said Firith over the COMMs.
“Firith, if you can, backdoor the system and overload the reactor, our cover is blown, they know we’re here, so let’s make it hurt,” DarkHawk ordered.
“Aye lad, I am tracking where you are heading, give me two minutes,” The Jedi said chuckling.
“You got one, then get your ass down here and start killing!” The Warrior said, trying to keep from yelling.
“Inyri, position yourself somewhere up high and cover us from above.” DarkHawk said, “Then when things start to get thick, and they will, get down here to us and assist.”
“Copy that, anyone coming to you guys, I will send them to their maker.” The young Knight replied heading up into the buildings open rafters.
DarkHawk looked to his Battlemaster, and both nodded. Shimura cracked a smile and darted down the main hallway with DarkHawk close behind. As the two Sith began to approach the first crossway three Stormtroopers turned the corner. Shimura never skipped a beat and kept his pace, the troopers did not have enough time to lower their weapons before the Battlemaster slid to his knees ignited both his blades and cutting the first two troopers legs out from underneath them. DarkHawk about two and a half paces behind Shimura leaped into the air performing a front flip and severing the head of the third trooper.
“Four to one,” the Battlemaster said facetiously.
DarkHawk cracked a smile as Shimura was setting charges next to a large power generator. Suddenly blaster fire exploded over the Battlemaster’s head. Both Equite’s rolled away from open fire and took cover behind a large steel support girder.
“Hey, Firith, I don’t mean to rush you or anything, but you need to move, the locals are getting pissed we are interrupting their break time.” Inyri commented from where she had hidden in the rafters.
“Aye lass, I’ve almost got her, give me thirty seconds.” Firith responded, typing as fast as he could to override the security measures. Adding another spike he smiled as the facilities systems began going haywire.
Blaster fire continued bouncing off the girder that was giving the two refuge. Scrambling footsteps were getting closer, four troopers were closing from the south, then DarkHawk grabbed Shimura and shoved him out of the way of a north assault from two more troopers.
The two Equite’s hit the floor hard and scurried around a large generator. As half a squad of troopers closed in on the two Sadowan’s, the first two suddenly fell face first to the floor, blood spewed from their battle helmets. They could hear the faint sound of a suppressed rifle then the thud of bodies falling.
Inyri had her two teammates locked in and was covering from her perch. DarkHawk rolled forward to his feet and slammed both blades of his sabers into the chest cavities of the Iron Legionnaires. Shimura followed suit and came in from the other side of the generator hacking the arm off one trooper and spun his double bladed saber in precision form and buried it almost hilt deep, just as a sniper round exploded the troopers head.
Shimura glared over his shoulder looking back at Inyri as if the act was offensive.
Firith came over COMM’s just then “Aye task complete, we got about twenty minutes before we all go boom!”
“Good, get your saber down here Firith, we are gonna need it” replied DarkHawk
Just then Inyri came over COMM’s “Um guys, we have a serious problem coming at us…”
Pravus’ Weapons Facility
Myrmidon Isle
Aeotheron
Firith finished up and headed out to find his comrades. The sound of blaster fire and the hum and crack of lightsabers made it quite easy to figure out where he needed to go.
Just then Inyri came over COMM’s “Um guys, we have a serious problem coming at us…”
Firith rounded the corner and walked up to DarkHawk and Shimura. The two men stood silent watching the approach of a robed figure dressed in black and read with a silver sash. He was followed by approximately 20 men in silver and crimson colored armor. A bold stylized three over a Seventy Five emblazoned on one shoulder of their armor told the three all they needed to know.
Firith took out his pipe and began to fill it, studying the robed man that stood before them. Applying a match to the bowl he cocked his head to the right and then looked behind the formed up troops and smiled.
“Are you serious?” Shimura asked looking at the older man next to him. “You have to smoke now?”
Firith could hear DarkHawk groan and saw his leader shake his head in disbelief. Looking back at the glowering Zabrak, Firith reached down and pulled his flask out of it’s holder. Without breaking eye contact he unscrewed the top and took a deep swig, then winked.
“I told you he was a loony,” Inyri said from her perch.
Nodding once Firith smiled and toasted her, capped his flask and put it away. Then turned and looked at the enemy.
The robed man stepped forth drawing his lightsaber. “In the name of Grand Master Pravus. I hereby order you to surrender your weapons and persons to the troops of the Iron Legion and the justice of the Iron Throne. Failure to comply will result in your immediate demise.”
DarkHawk and Shimura both readied themselves. Shimura nudging Firith to draw his saber.
“Just one thing laddie,’ Firith interrupted, “Did you know you were standing’ in front of a load of radioactive materials? Ones that the shield dampers had been removed from? We’ll all be dying of radiation poisoning within the week. But you see that won’t matter because this whole place is going to go critical in about….oh…fifteen or sixteen minutes, maybe sooner.”
The armored troops began to look behind them at the flashing lights on the different containers, every one blinking by the words, “WARNING shield disengaged”. Becoming agitated and looking at each other and themselves in panic.
“What!” Shimura barked at the smiling Jedi next to him. “You dropped the dampers on the radioactive stuff? You killed us all!”
Firith turned to look at the other two and winked again. “Aye, I turned off the dampers when I hacked the security systems,” he said pointedly.
The other two nodded in understanding. Then DarkHawk turned to look up and Inyri and briefly nodded.
Firith drew his saber and ignited the purple blade, adding it’s glow to the red that already colored the room.
Just then alarm sirens began to bellow, and vapors spewed from some of the vents. A robotic voice came over the loudspeakers. “Emergency, emergency, this is not a drill. Emergency, emergency this is not a drill. All civilian personnel must evacuate. All civilian personnel must evacuate. There has been a breach in the containment fields for the power core. You have fifteen minutes to reach minimum safe distance.”
The Sith leading the troops turned to look behind him when a single shot was heard. The troops of the Iron Legion stood stock still as their now headless leader collapsed to the ground.
“HA! Now there is a perfect shot!” Inryi said smugly.
Without missing a beat, the three men charged into the shocked troops and began hacking and slashing as Inyri kept up a steady stream of fire from above.
“Take these kriffing pretty boys down!” DarkHawk said, firing shurikens into the throats of two of the enemy while slicing into a third.
Shimura gave a feral grin and his double bladed saber became a glowing blur as it spun. Advancing into the fray the blades began to sizzle as blood briefly collected on them.
Moving with a grace that defied his bulky stature, pipe clamped in his teeth. Firith deflected shot after shot and made slice after slice against the now panicked Legion soldiers. Then without warning he threw his saber like a spear at a figure in slightly different armor, guiding it with the Force.
“Gotcha! I think I just killed a captain of the guard!” He yelled to the other two, retrieving his saber to his hand using the Force again.
“Damn! I wanted that one,” Shimura said, decapitating two solders at once.
“Right is that worth ten points, yes?” The aged Jedi called out.
Saber blades cleft weapons, bodies and equipment. Most if not all the blaster shots that were fired from the soldiers were deflected back at their owners and added to the carnage.
Within minutes, the so called elite of the Iron Throne had been decimated.