[Tides of Change] Team 4

The following are on Team 4:

Watchman Nathan Deciarus (#307)
Warlord Andrelious J. Mimosa-Inahj (#1653)
Savant Krandon Lucius Firebringer (#8629)
Battlemaster Zakath (#9096)
Chronicler Kaira Rohana (#10057)
Priestess Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj (#13714)
Protector Vithrian Manx (#14106)

“SERVICE!!” yelled a female voice, which echoed through the ship’s eating area.

Most of the Interdictor crew were sat down for a gourmet feast upon their vessel. Some droids were circling the area and heading to the serving hatch, ready to collect the first course.

Kookimarissia Mimosa-Inahj was currently the head chef aboard the Interdictor Conqueror. She was quite enjoying being in this new disguise. It meant she could boss people about and have things her way. The female was conducting a more sinister plan in her head, but that would be implemented later. She had to bide her time. If she moved too soon, suspicions would arise. Timing was everything.

[B]A Few Hours Previously…[/B]

The Arconan mother was drying off her newly dyed hair as her tiny baby daughters slept in the basket they shared. Once again she was leaving them with their paternal grandparents on Corellia. She had expressed enough breast milk to keep them satisfied for at least a month. Kooki liked to be overzealous just to be sure. She hated leaving them behind, but her latest mission was not a safe place for her children. The Alderaanian was struggling with her conscience at having completely jet black hair. Having no tips of any colour just felt wrong somehow, but it was for the greater good. Adjusting her complexion to looking like a citrus fruit was also another necessity, despite her spouse finding it incredibly amusing. Kooki would send a signal to Andrelious when she was in position and ready for him and the remainder of their team to join her. Working in alliance with the lighties was going to be interesting to say the least. With a kiss on her twins’ foreheads and a quick embrace with Andrelious, Kooki fled the Inahj homestead and set off to find the ship needing her powerful infiltration.

[B]Elsewhere…[/B]

The militant troops were boarding the Conqueror ready for their latest mission. All armed and ready for action. None of them knew they were being watched carefully.

“All present and correct, Sir.” Stated a senior officer to the captain.

The captain just nodded at him stoically, without altering his facial expression.

Meanwhile, a nervous chef was pacing up and down, making sure she didn’t forget anything. It was her first day aboard a ship and she was slightly nervous. Previously she’d been a sous chef in a restaurant, but she was prepared to up her game. Just as she prepared to head towards the ship, a stranger approached her. The stranger was dressed prominently in black and purple, yet similar to the nervous near human she too had an orange face.

“You look nervous, young one,” the black and purple stranger enquired.

“Just a little,” the chef replied.

“I think you could do with a drink to calm your nerves,” the unknown female commented.

“I could do with a drink to calm my nerves,” said the catering expert rather robotically.

Without wasting any time, Kooki produced a small hip-flask containing a familiar substance of Silicartha. The nervous female hastily took a large swig in a vain attempt to steady her nerves. Within seconds she was clasping her chest and had fallen to the floor.

“All that stress isn’t good for your heart,” Kooki mused, as she watched the colour drain from her victim’s face.

With a final rise and fall of a chest, the chef was dead. A quick glance around and Kooki stripped the corpse of its clothes and pushed it to one side, leaving the hip-flask beside the stone cold body. Anyone who would happen to see it would easily think it was a drunken accident.

Quickly changing into the chef’s whites, Kooki disposed of her own robes in a nearby waste disposal area and ran towards a ship in the distance.

Upon arrival, Kooki saluted the captain who was frowning at her lateness.

“Sincere apologies, Sir. I got a little lost and nervous.” She uttered.

Nodding, yet looking stoic as always, the captain turned to the senior officer beside him.

“That’s definitely the last of them, Sir,” he confirmed.

“Good. Then let’s go!” ordered the captain.

[B]Current Time…[/B]

The droids were promptly serving the introductory course to the majority of the crew. They were getting ready for battle. Whilst it was relatively quiet between courses, Kooki sneakily sent a signal to her spouse. Patting her boots reassuringly, she knew she was armed and ready. Her other boot contained a much needed accessory to this mission, but timing was paramount.

Plates were hastily cleared and Kookimarissia looked up and yelled out to her kitchen staff.

“Right! Main event people! Hop to it!” she shouted in her most demonstrative tone of voice.

The militant cooks responded determined and raring to go, causing Kooki to smile to herself.

“YES CHEF!!”

NSD Fey’lya’s Last Stand
Enroute to New Tython

Admiral Tresk Fiarr’ges stood in front of the captain’s chair on the bridge of the Nebula-class Star Destroyer Fey’lya’s Last Stand, his arms crossed and his chin held high. “Everyone man your battle stations!” he commanded, and as an alarm went off alerting the crew of the ship, he glanced around at the mighty Bothans - and other crewmembers - that were gathered at their respective consoles. “Today, we fight a major battle against an invading fleet that are determined to take away our homes. Today, we fight against a navy that will stop at nothing to tear us down. Today, begins the next chapter in our great history. These invaders have threatened our homes, our planet, and today, we make them pay!” The crew cheered in agreement. “Prepare for glorious battle!”

The streaks on the viewscreen collapsed into stars as the NSD left hyperspace. The Admiral glanced around in a little confusion, first to one side, then to the other. The Bothan Weapons Officer, Irys Jastra’skra, turned to the Admiral and said, in a voice that captured the excitement of the moment, “Wow.” The Admiral gave her a withering look before turning to the young teenage boy that was busy typing rapidly into an arm-mounted datapad.

“Ok, on my command, I need you to send us into hyperspace again,” the boy ordered an Ithorian as the Admiral slowly walked towards him. “Timing is everything, so you need to push the button when I say so.”

“Nathan…” the Admiral interjected. The boy did not notice as he continued to enter commands into his datapad. “Nathan!” The boy jumped a little.

“What?”

“I thought you patched the hyperdrive so we could join the battle faster.”

“That’s not exactly what I did. See, the droid was calculating our route based on a linear trajectory, where a more jagged approach would have been faster. Thanks to my calculations, we will join the battle a few hours early.” The Admiral glanced at the main viewscreen, then turned to Nathan once again.

“What battle? Do you see a battle anywhere out there?!”

“Yes, it’s on our sensors.” Nathan pointed at the relevant console before typing in a few more commands. Some members of the crew cringed. “You wished we could attack the enemy fleet from the flank. I’m taking us to the flank.”

“If we were attacking the enemy fleet, they would be on my viewscreen.”

“Mm-hmm,” the boy nodded. “Almost done.”

The Admiral hesitated, then gulped down his fear and asked, “Done with what?”

“I’m calculating a new hyperspace jump that will take us to the side of the battle.”

“So instead of jumping us into the battle, you have stopped us parsecs away from it, so we can jump to it?” Nathan gave the Admiral an irritated look, then noticed he was already receiving one.

“What seems to be the problem? He pushes the button when I’m ready and we jump.”

“We cannot jump. We just left hyperspace!”

“We will be able to jump just fine. Don’t get your fur in a knot.” The Admiral spluttered and grumbled before calming himself down enough to continue the conversation. “Which one of these is navigation?” The relevant officer raised a hand and Nathan wandered over, uploading a series of commands. The engines on the NSD fired up, and she began repositioning laboriously.

“Look, Jedi,” the Admiral continued, “I know you’re not familiar with ships, but we cannot re-engage the hyperdrive this soon after leaving hyperspace without risking damage to the hyperdrive and destroying the ENTIRE ship.”

“I know that much,” Nathan replied. “I’m not an idiot.” The Admiral clearly looked like he was going to object. “Class 1 hyperdrives usually include a safety protocol to prevent jumping to hyperspace too early. I am trying to convince it not to.” The Admiral closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “All right, get ready to push the button.” The Ithorian Navigation Officer gave the Admiral a wary look as Nathan uploaded the next engine command. “Push it!”

“Don’t push the button!” the Admiral ordered before returning his attention to Nathan. “You have messed around with every core system on this ship, including disabling life support to provide more power to sensors. Sensors!”

“We don’t need life support all the time. Just every 30 seconds.”

“You have disabled every safety protocol known to our ship’s computer, and I suspect you invented more just to disable them!”

“Did you die?”

“I want you off my ship the second we reach the planet.”

“Technically,” the boy replied sarcastically, “I’d need some time to get on a shuttle.”

“Technically,” the Bothan growled, “I’d just need some time to find a parachute.” The boy’s eyes widened a little as the Admiral leaned in closer. “Get me to the battle. Now.” He glanced at the Ithorian. “Push the button.”

“Sir, the hyperdrive may detonate under the strain-”

“The monkey pushes the button,” Nathan said as he loaded the last engine command. The Ithorian turned to the console.

“The monkey pushes the button,” the Navigation Officer droned.

Exiting hyperspace beneath the distant flank of the enemy fleet, the Weapons Officer opened fire on all batteries as their inertia and momentum from hyperspace carried them past at a sprint. Caught off-guard, the NSD was able to inflict some serious damage as it repositioned itself to engage the enemy. The Admiral sighed exasperatedly before turning to his crew.

“Today, we fight…”

[B]Bridge
Nebula-class Star Destroyer [I]Encanis[/I]
Orbit, New Tython[/B]

Andrelious watched the ongoing battle from the Captain’s chair of the Encanis, the newest addition to the Arconan Expeditionary Force. Through his status as one of Arcona’s Shadeborn, he had taken command of the ship for the duration of the operation over New Tython. Also present on the bridge were the Warlord’s new apprentice, the Miraluka Vithrian Manx, and the Barabel, Zakath.

“Keep up the firepower on that Majestic! It won’t be able to take much more!” Andrelious ordered as a volley of turbolaser fire smashed into a nearby enemy cruiser. A series of explosions along the side of its hull gave way to fire, indicating that the Arconan ship had successfully breached its hull in several places.

The arrival of Odan-Urr’s Nebula-class couldn’t have come at a better time; some of the Expeditionary Force’s smaller ships were beginning to wilt under sustained firepower, so the surprisingly well planned trajectory of Feylya’s Last Stand, which served to disperse the enemy fleet, had potentially saved hundreds of Arconan personnel.

I’ll give the lighties that one. Andrelious thought.

Zakath, by now himself a veteran of space missions after his time serving on the Nighthawk, spotted a pair of Interdictors, holding position towards the rear of the enemy fleet.

“Hew-mon. This one suggests we try and capture those. They’re valuable,” the Battlemaster hissed, pointing at the two dagger-shaped, bulbous vessels.

Andrelious’ eyes moved to regard the alien. He was not happy that the Barabel had been assigned as his second for the battle; the pair were old rivals.

“That’s already in hand, Zakath. Just be ready. We’ll be boarding one of them ourselves,” the ex-Imperial responded.

Vithrian overheard. “We’re going to fight them hand-to-hand, Master?” the young Miraluka asked, excitement in his voice.

The Warlord smirked. He could sense that his apprentice, young though he was, was spoiling for a fight. He pushed a button that gave him a direct line to the Encanis’ fighter wing.

“Adjudication, stop what you’re doing and disable the Conqueror. Messiah and Ignition squadrons will cover you!”

There was no reply, but the B-Wings of Adjudication squadron, along with their TIE Advanced escort, turned and began to head towards their new target. The Conqueror’s own fighter screen moved to engage it. Mimosa-Inahj was already hopeful: Immobilizer-418 ‘Interdictor’ Cruisers did not carry many fighters.

After firing a salvo of proton torpedoes at the enemy ship, the B-Wings closed into cannon range, firing their ion cannons. A sea of cyan zipped through space, soon overloading what little of the Interdictor’s shields that hadn’t been destroyed by the warheads.

The voice of Lex Sebastian, Adjudication’s commander, echoed throughout the bridge. “This is Adjudication One. Target disabled!”

“Zakath. Have Colonel Banx meet you in the hangar with thirty-five of his best men. We’re about to head over to the Conqueror,” Andrelious stated. The Barabel nodded and headed towards the turbolift.

The Warlord now turned to the Encanis’ regular commander. “Captain Gore. The bridge is yours. Keep the pressure up on the enemy and make sure we’re unharmed on the Conqueror,”

“Of course, Lord Mimosa-Inahj,” Gore responded.

“Master. Any reason we’re not just destroying the enemy ship?” Vithrian questioned.

“Two very good reasons, boy. First, my wife is onboard that ship. And second, Immobilizer-418 Cruisers, as weak as they are as attack ships, are hard to get hold of,” Andrelious explained.

“I’ll go and get my weapons, Master.” the Miraluka replied, walking off the bridge with a youthful excitement in his step. His Master sent a quick message back to Kooki indicating that they were coming, and exited the bridge himself.

Hangar

Andrelious arrived to the sight of Zakath organising a squad of men onto one of the troop transports. The soldiers were all equipped perfectly for a boarding operation.

Vithrian was about to board the transport himself when he sensed his Master approaching.

“Master. Zakath says we’re all ready to go. Can we kill some lighties now?” the Protector questioned.

“Just remember, boy. According to the Shadow Lord, the light siders are our allies. Our enemy today is the crew of that Interdictor,” Andrelious instructed, secretly wishing he could give the command to board the Last Stand, instead.

“This one has a question, Hew-mon. How will you get past the hangar bay doors?” Zakath queried.

“We’ll probably have to blast our way in. That’ll mean the hangar will be depressurised. Times like this I wish I still had Saskia. She could have sliced it open, especially with the ship disabled…” Andrelious responded, cursing his daughter’s absence.

“Depressurised combat. Good job we packed the equipment,” a female soldier with the rank insignia of a Sergeant stated.

“Don’t you worry, Sergeant. If your training has been up to scratch, you’ll be fine. Zakath, Vithrian, you’ll be with me in the cockpit. I’m flying this thing across. Once we land, we hit them with everything we have,” the Warlord commanded.

Inside Transport
Vithrian sat up with his Master. As the transport left the hangar, he dropped his hands down to his blasters.

I hope the lighties don’t get in the way of my fight. he thought.

“Everything we have?” Vithrian heard Zakath ask. “It should be a good fight then.”

Vithrian nodded in agreement. A good fight indeed. “I will see if I can… remove some of our foes.” the Miraluka stated. “It will be a good test for my favorite skill set.”

Andrelious laughed. “The more foes you get to run, the less we get to kill. Remember that.”

Vithrian nodded again. “They may get in the way of the lighties. Even though we are allies, I would prefer to stay far from the hypocrites.”

The transport neared the Conqueror, only 50 meters from the hangar doors. Vithrian could feel the positive feeling from his companions and felt more secure. I am the weakest. So I guess this will be a chance to prove myself. Still there is a lot riding on this fight I think Vithrian thought to himself.

Andrelious fired several times at the hangar bay doors to the Conqueror. The doors broke under the fire, and Vithrian, through the Force, could feel the fear of the men inside. He recognized it as the fear of the unknown, as they remained inside the ship. They must have been ready for something like this. Even so…

“Master, if we could get closer I would have a better effect on them. I can feel fear from them already, but they haven’t moved outside the ship. I can only feel ten. But we aren’t very close. Sorry sir, I’m rambling. These men, they seem to be ready for depressurized combat. We should put on the equipment now.” Vithrian stated.

Zakath’s eyes narrowed. “If you can only sense ten, there are more. Get used to it. We aren’t at the Shadow Academy where the worst thing that could happen is you fail a test. Our lives are at stake. But your analysis of them being prepared is helpful.”

“As much as I hate to say it, Zakath is right Vithrian.” Andrelious replied. “However if we were to point out the one in charge of this area, do you think you could get a hold on him?”

“Yes…” Vithrian replied before a sharp turn from Andrelious knocked him from his seat. “Master, if we get close enough I may be able to scare them a bit. A minor illusion. Maybe just make a mynock. It could get them to panic. I have heard mynock’s rarely travel alone.”

“We will be there in a few seconds.” Andrelious replied, understanding Vithrian’s idea… “Why scare them with a mynock? We could just kill them.”

“They could waste a few blasts on the mynock. Plus it would distract them. We could then jump aboard and tear them to pieces if needed. In this case I personally would prefer not to kill everyone. Just in case we need a hostage.” Vithrian stated eagerly.

The transport, now only ten meters from the hangar doors, sped up as the Protector called upon the Force. A small black object flew into the Conqueror, and Vithrian’s effort was rewarded by the enemies feeling of panic. The transporter landed in the hangar, and thanks to Vithrian’s illusion was not immediately blasted at.

“Vithrian, get your gear on. We are boarding!” He heard Andrelious shout.

Cursing his slowness, he moved to get his gear on, and saw almost all the others leave the ship. One soldier stayed behind to keep it where it was. Vithrian slipped into his gear, and leaped out of the ship. He landed, barely able to stay where he was. He pulled out his twin blaster pistols and advanced, firing at any enemy he sensed. He was able to keep up with Andrelious and Zakath, who each had their sabers out.

“Vithrian, the leader of this group here is that man there! Can you get him?” Andrelious called out.

Hangar Bay
Interdictor Cruiser Conquerer
Orbit, New Tython

Zakath let out a thundering roar as he strode through the hangar bay, his bloodshine blade deflecting blaster bolts back toward the enemy while he ignored the whipping wind of the air being sucked out of the hangar bay, his magnetic boots keeping him solidly planted on the floor. Andrelious was keeping pace with the Barabel, his own blade whipping to and fro, picking off blaster bolts, while Vithrian kept a step behind the duo, his blaster pistols picking off guards in a carefully aimed series of bolts.

In answer to Andrelious’ question, the Protector merely grinned before firing at the person that the Sith Warlord had signaled out, ruby red energy bolts smashing into the leader’s knees and nearly toppling him backward, magnetic boots being the only thing keeping him standing up.

“Leave him alive! Kill the others and secure the hangar!” Zakath bellowed out to the boarding party as he continued his relentless march.

Just then, the hangar bay back-up magcon field came online, causing the wind to die. The Barabel snarled as he swatted away a blaster bolt before he began running forward into a leap that carried him over the heads of the rearmost of the hangar guards. One wide sweep of his lightsaber saw them decapitated before they could react. Looking around, Zakath nodded in grim satisfaction as he saw Andrelious finishing off the last of the guards, and the Arconan troopers bustling to set up an initial defensive position, while others began priming the door leading further into the ship with explosives.

“Hew-mon, do we have time to interrogate the prisoner?” Zakath asked as he put away his lightsaber.

“A quick one. I’ll handle it myself.” Andrelious replied as he walked swiftly over to the wounded prisoner, lips twitching at the sight of the guard clutching at his knees. “Vithrian, search him for anything useful. You, guard. Quit your whimpering. Is this Interdictor still laid out as per Imperial spec?”

“Frag, I don’t get paid enough for this. Yeah, as far as I know, it is.” The guard groaned as he held his blackened knees.

“Good.” Andrelious replied as he stared down at the man. “And how many are on board? Are you running a full crew?”

“Yeah, full strength. Can I get something for my frakking knees now?”

“One final thing, hew-mon.” Zakath hissed before he reached down and seized the guard’s throat, lifting him fully up into the air. “Are there any Force-users on board? Jeedai, Sith, or otherwise? Think carefully before you answer.”

“N-n- no!” The guard choked out through Zakath’s crushing grip.

The Barabel turned to Andrelious. “Do you have any further use for him?”

“No.” Andrelious said flatly before turning to inspect the explosives being set up. Zakath snorted slightly before igniting his lightsaber into the guard’s chest, vaporizing his heart. Dropping the guard’s corpse, Zakath turned to Vithrian.

“Did you find anything useful?”

“A couple keycards, might prove useful when we get further in.” Vithrian replied, holding up the keycards. “Other than that, he was just carrying pocket change and a comlink.”

“Hm. Alright.” Zakath turned to face the Sergeant in charge of the boarding party. “Are we ready to blow it? Everyone prepared?”

“Yessir.” The Sergeant replied crisply.

“Let’s proceed.” Zakath nodded as he joined Andrelious and Vithrian a couple meters away from the door.” “Everyone’s prepared, hew-mon.”

“Alrigh-” Andrelious paused and flicked an annoyed glance at Zakath. “Zakath, why do you persist in using that ridiculous accent? I know fully well you can speak properly. In fact, I’ve seen you speak properly.”

Zakath gazed at Andrelious for a long minute before chuckling softly. “Force of habit.” The Barabel admitted with a toothy grin. “It irritates you.”

Admiral Tresk Fiarr’ges watched his sensor display carefully, reviewing the battlefield like a hawk watching for its prey. “Our Corvettes look badly damaged, can we verify that?” One of the technicians fiddled at their station before nodding her confirmation. “Then maneuver us into position to engage whatever forces are harassing them. Let’s give these invaders something to worry about.” The Admiral pawed his way through a few more readouts.

“What are they doing?” the Bothan Admiral asked. He was reviewing sensor scans of the battle, showing the Encanis’ assault against an Interdictor. “Very clever,” he whispered to himself. “Very clever. Boy!”

Nathan jumped a little and turned to the Admiral. Since the Admiral’s threat of jettisoning him with nothing but a parachute, he had been far more manageable. If only he had thought of that at the start of their previous mission. The boy stared at him silently.

“The Arconans are going to disable and board one of the Interdictors. Tactically, if we can get control of their gravity well generators, we can prevent any further enemy reinforcements from jumping too close to the planet. Do you think you can gain control of the other one?” Nathan frowned as he considered the request.

“I’ll need to know what kind of communications hardware they use.”

“It’s an old Interdictor, so it should be something moderately dated.”

“I meant specifically.”

“How specifically?”

“Like, you’re going to whack me on the head for explaining it, specifically.” The Bothan nodded his head slowly. Unfortunately, when asked to explain what he was doing, Nathan often rambled in technical terms, and the Admiral had - more than once - needed to resort to physically reminding the child that not everyone was as well-versed in machines as he was.

“If I could get on that ship, I could-”

“That sounds like a good plan,” the Admiral murmured, his eyes lighting up at the possibility.

“…I could study the communication device they have on the bridge and figure out something from there. Possibly even a way to shut down the other vessels remotely. It’ll depend on what kind of command codes they use for inter-fleet communications. See, inter-fleet communications all follow a standard encryption that is handled across the entire network, but the decryption processors are-” Nathan came to a halt as he saw the look on the Admiral’s face. “I’ll need an escort.”

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” the Bothan eagerly assured him. Not quite understanding his enthusiasm, Nathan gave a polite smile.

“Just an escort team. Maybe a couple of Jedi. The Arconans are meant to be our friends, so, I should be ok with them.” Nathan began fiddling with his datapad while the Admiral gave orders to organize a team of soldiers to escort Nathan to the Conqueror.

The Admiral turned to his Communications Officer. “Open a channel with the Encanis. Tell them we want to coordinate our efforts on the Interdictor. Tell them we can offer them a way to remotely disable any vessel in the enemy fleet.” The Communications Officer nodded and sent an encrypted signal as Nathan left the bridge.

Hangar Bay
Immobilizer 418 cruiser Conqueror

Andrelious watched anxiously as a demolitions expert examined his colleagues’ handiwork. The Twi’lek turned to his Sith superior, giving a ‘thumbs up’ to indicate that the explosives had been set efficiently enough to destroy the door that barred their way. It was then that the Warlord heard Captain Gore’s voice. He took his comlink from his belt, slightly annoyed that the naval officer felt the need to bother him during such an intricate boarding operation.

“Yes, Captain? Is there some kind of problem?” the former Rollmaster hissed.

“We’ve just received a priority message from the Odan-Urr flagship. They’re sending their own team over to meet with you on the Conqueror. They’ve apparently got a way to remotely disable the enemy ships. They’ll be with you shortly,” Gore answered, his voice distorted a little by occasional crackling.

That’s all we need. A bunch of lighties and their warped views of the Force. Andrelious thought as he replaced his comlink.

“Change of plan! Hold off on blowing the door until I say otherwise!” the Warlord barked.

The demolitions expert saluted in affirmation, but he couldn’t hide his disappointment from the Force users in the room.

One of the Corporals attached to the boarding party marched over to the trio of Dark Jedi. “My Lords, if I may…” he began.

“What is it, Corporal? Are you hurt?” Andrelious queried.

“Hardly anyone is. That’s what I wanted to point out to you. These O’reenians are supposed to be a lot tougher than what we’ve faced down here. Unless we’ve been incredibly lucky and boarded a ship with green recruits, something’s not quite right,” the soldier stated, shifting around a little nervously in the gaze of his superiors.

“The Corporal is right. I could see from the way they were moving around the hangar that they were trying to form into a specific pattern, but their execution of it was incredibly sloppy,” Zakath added, noticing his fellow Sith smiling.

“Impressive observation skills. Once the Jedi get here, we’ll be heading to the ship’s kitchen. I’m sure the Conqueror’s head chef will be able to help us with that one,” Mimosa-Inahj answered with a wink.

Bridge

Since the Arconan B-Wings had hosed the ship with ion cannon fire, many of the bridge’s consoles were rendered useless. The Conqueror was effectively dead in space, with its engines, weaponry and gravity wells all shutting down. Internal systems, such as life support, were still active, but that came as little consolation to the ship’s Captain.

“Captain, I’m about to try a global reset of the ship’s systems. That’ll disable all but life support and emergency lighting for the next two minutes. When they come back on, we’ll have our engines and primary weapons back online,” a senior engineer declared, her finger ready over a large red switch.

“What about the other systems, Lieutenant? We’re an Interdictor, without the gravity well generators we’re next to useless!” the Captain snapped. Aside from the stress of battle, he, like most of his crew, had been feeling unwell for the past few days. Both his trusted Executive Officer and Chief Engineer had become confined to sickbay, joining a worryingly long list from all over the ship.

The female officer shook her head. “The shields took too heavy a pounding from the torpedoes, sir. As for the gravity wells, we’ll need a shipyard to get those back online. An old Imperial failsafe, I’m afraid, sir.”

“Flick the switch, Lieutenant. We’ll just have to limp away from battle,” the Captain ordered, pushing a button that allowed him to address the entire ship at once.

Hangar Bay

“Attention. This is your Captain speaking. We will be attempting a global reset in an effort to restore our ship’s systems. Additionally, we have been boarded. Keep your weapons ready.” a set of speakers blared.

“Right. They’re trying a system cut. That’s going to mean we’ll lose the main lighting for a minute or two. We’re best off just waiting here until the lights come back on. From the sound of that announcement, the Captain doesn’t know anything about us. Let’s try and keep it that way,” Andrelious commanded.

Bridge

Having sent the ship-wide communiqué, the [I]Conqueror’s[/I] Captain began to feel a little more ill.

Making his excuses to one of his senior offices, the aging O’reenian headed towards the turbolift, hoping he’d make it to his office [I]before[/I] the shutdown.

Sleeping Quarters

Kooki lay on her front on her compact bed with her feet in the air, scowling under her breath in annoyance at the less than adequate facilities. She was straining her eyes to read her datapad in the dimly lit room, just as the Captain’s message echoed before the area around her plunged into darkness.

Now what? Kooki thought to herself.

At least she could seek slight solace in the fact that her spouse and teammates were on board also. Now she had to start thinking harder and work out the next part of her plan. It was already working.

Captain’s Office

“You summoned me?” enquired a crew member called Jetsun.

“Yes….” Replied the Captain, rather weakly.

“I’d like you to step in…”

“But Sir, I couldn’t possibly,” Jetsun began.

“Silence, young one. Just do it!” silenced the Captain, as the power came back on.

As the lights flickered on, the Captain turned a deathly shade of pale and fell to the floor.

“Captain!!!” Jetsun panicked.

“You’re the Captain now,” came a weakening reply.

“What do I do?” continued the nervous Officer.

As the Captain lay on the floor, barely clinging to life, he grabbed Jetsun’s sleeve with what little strength he had.

“Corruption…… from….within…… it’s…. her!”

“Who Sir? Who’s doing this to us all?” Jetsun queried, a sense of urgency in his voice.

The Captain looked him directly in the eye, and released his tight grasp on Jetsun’s sleeve. He opened his mouth to speak and no sound came out, just a final exhale of air. Seconds later, the Captain lay there dead.

Jetsun turned and fled the room. He was the Captain now.

Sickbay

A couple of hours later, Jetsun walked into the sickbay to find some of his fellow crew mates adorning the area. Several medics were busying about from patient to patient. He headed over to a medic who was preparing some medication for the casualties, in a vain attempt to get them better.

“Any update on what exactly is causing the illnesses?” he questioned.

The medic shook her head sadly.

“No Sir, no idea sorry. All we know is it’s not contagious.” The medic replied.

“Then how is it spreading?” asked the new Captain.

The medic just shrugged.

“We haven’t quite got that far yet. It’s hard enough to find an antidote that cures the ones we have.” She responded, rather sadly.

A crew member let out a wail in pain and the medic rushed to his side. Jetsun spotted the crew member and immediately recognised him as the Conqueror’s Executive Officer. Seeing him lying there made Jetsun feel very guilty about having been appointed Captain. If he had been of better health, it would be him as Captain right now. However, Jetsun thought it best to keep his new appointed position and the news of the former Captain’s death quiet in front of the casualty. He would mention it quietly to a medic, so the body could be removed.

Jetsun sighed and left. Right now he had to try and sort out a way to locate the enemy that had boarded the ship.

Corridor

Jetsun arrived promptly in a corridor, only to find an array of armed soldiers, both male and female preparing themselves for battle.

“Right, listen up. We have been boarded and we need to locate the enemy as soon as possible.” Jetsun boomed.

Before anyone left the scene, a soldier piped up, “You’re not the Captain. Why should we do what YOU say?”

“I am the Captain now!” replied the newly appointed Captain.

The soldier had been a very loyal companion of the former Captain, since they were childhood friends.

“What have you done to him? I refuse to obey the likes of YOU!” the soldier retorted.

“We have no time to explain, just get searching,” Jetsun explained.

As he did so, a majority of the soldiers began dispersing. Suddenly a stretcher was carried through by two medics. Adorning this was a concealed body. It didn’t take long for the soldier to realise that underneath the opaque bag was his childhood friend. Before he could argue with Jetsun, a shrill klaxon echoed throughout the ship, sending a well known signal to the crew of the Conqueror.

It was time for battle.

Space battle over New Tython
The Lobster
A bright red Kom’kr-class transport, known as the Lobster flew into the battlefield firing. The old ship had a few dents, but other than that looked to be new. Inside two men operated the guns, one a Zabrak, one a Gand, while a middle aged human and a young Nautolan piloted the ship.

“Feylya’s Last Stand, this is Scheat, piloting my lovely ship, the Lobster. Where should I go?” the Nautolan called into the comlink. “I repeat where should we go. We have hit a few foes, but not much has happened.”

Over the comlink he heard a male voice, presumably the Bothan Tresk Fiarr’ges. “Scheat we are sending a group of Jedi to the Conqueror. Meet with them there. Supposedly there are Arconan troops there as well. We need to prevent enemy reinforcements from arriving. The Arconan’s blew a hole into the hangar doors, so you should be able to get in safely, as long as you have the proper equipment.”

“Will do sir,” Scheat responded with a smile. He turned to the human next to him. “Darius I need you to pilot us to that ship there,” he said pointing out the Conqueror, “and take over as pilot from there. I’m going to board. I’ll get my spacesuit and all. Also, I may need something for slicing, you have anything?”

Darius nodded. “Datapad, near the back of the ship. Should be able to hack into a ship that old. May need a better slicer than your self for it though.”

“I’ll see if any of our reinforcements can use it.” the blue skinned Nautolan replied. He ran over and put on his equipment. He chuckled to himself. This is going to be fun! he thought.

The Lobster made it to the Conqueror without being noticed. The Sith inside stared at the red ship incredulously as it flew into the hangar.

Scheat neared the door to his ship, ready to exit the door. he could here voices on the other side of the ship.

“These the Jedi coming Andrelious?” Zakath questioned.

“Unless there was only one Jedi, it is not.” Vithrian replied before his master had a chance.

The door to the transport opened and Scheat jumped out. “Hello Sith,” he said a grin on his face. “Darius take off. Get some more hits in for the good guys!”

The red ship took off behind Scheat, as he turned to assess his new allies. “Hullo there,” he said. “I am Scheat Eclipseflame, Jedi and Smuggler extraordinaire. I was told to come assist you. More Jedi should arrive soon. I take it you are the Arconans? Yeah no way you can’t be.”

The Sith looked at each other, not expecting the Jedi to be so talkative.

“Yes we are,” answered Andrelious, trying to gauge this Jedi. “And you are a genocidal baby snatcher. Now that we are acquainted…”

“Acquainted?! I don’t even know your names. Nor am I a genocidal baby snatcher… That is not why I have a bounty on my head!” Scheat laughed. “It is from hiding innocents targeted by crime lords, and freeing slaves from slave guilds… and annoying the Black Sun to no end… And trafficking spice and death sticks… but that’s it! Ohhh… and of course I was banned from Coruscant for assaulting a few authorities there… I swear it was only a dozen! Don’t kill me for it!”

The Sith all looked at eachother again, amazed at the Jedi’s behavior. It was Vithrian of all of them who was able to move through his shock and respond.

“I am Vithrian Manx, one of the Krath.” the Miraluka said. “This is my master Andrelious. And that is Zakath. Now we are acquainted. I hoped to avoid confrontation with you but…”

“Quiet Vithrian.” Andrelious commanded. “There you go you know our names. Is that all?”

“Andrelious….I swear I have heard that name before.” Scheat stated. He pulled out a datapad from the backpack he wore. “Yes here it is. Wow. Nice record. TIE Corps. Did not expect someone of your standing to be on a simple boarding mission. Hey there is a marriage report here.” Scheat looked up when he realized he was rambling. “Sorry about that. My team aboard the Lobster likes to keep me prepared. They made a list of all major important figures in Arcona and Odan-Urr. Mainly so I wouldn’t be caught off guard. I suppose that is what I get when my smuggling crew is full of my father’s friends. I don’t suppose any of you want to join a smuggler’s crew? No? Ok.”

The Arconians could only shrug helplessly. Andrelious was shocked, and it could be seen on his face.

“You have a file on me?” He asked outraged.

“Just the basics. Important things. In reality there is nothing. I have nothing on your wife or your record in the TIE Corps. Just that you are married and were in the TIE Corps.” Scheat stammered. “So I’m not your average Jedi. I’m still skilled. And an asset. And DON’T BLOW UP THAT DOOR!!!”

It took the Sith a moment to recover from the Nautolan’s outburst.

“We were waiting on you Jedi to arrive,” responded Zakath.

“Well hopefully someone can slice better than I can.” Scheat respond. “If we blow it up then the enemy will know we are coming! I have a datapad that should help here in my bag, but well I am not the best slicer. I mean I can trip the door, but that may take some time.”

Andrelious raised an eyebrow. “Well go then. Hack the door while we wait for the other Jedi.”

Scheat nodded, and ran to the door, starting to hack into it.

New Tython

Spaceport

Shuttle to Sanctuary

The veteran clan member stood on the ramp of the shuttle watching over all the medical supplies being loaded. “Come on, get a move on.” Kaira barked at the medical droid.

“Ma’am, if you want fast you could help.” The droid said back to the Jedi.

“You are right, however who would make sure we get everything on board? Just get the job done.” Kaira turned her back on the droid as she checked off more from her list. They were just about ready.

All that she could think about was how fast she could make it to the space station, to help them with the evacuation that was going on right now. The station had called for medical supplies and help; that would be why she was on her way up there.

It was ten minutes later than Kaira wanted, but everything was now packed and she was sitting in the cockpit on her way to the space station.

Sanctuary Space station

“Sanctuary, to shuttle Evac one dock with us in hangar bay 2.”

“Shuttle Evac one, thank you Sanctuary.”

Within moments, Kaira had the shuttle docked and shut down. As she came down the ramp of the shuttle, her eyes scanned the area. This was worse than anyone had told her. There was no one that looked like they knew what they were doing. She saw injured people just laying out on the bay floor.

The Jedi frowned as she moved through the bay to find who was in charge. That was a challenge as there were bodies littered everywhere throughout the bay. Medical droids moved from one body to the next to examine their injuries to evaluate what they needed most.

“Who is in charge?” Kaira yelled as her voice seemed to bounce off the walls.

One of the medical droids came up to her quickly. “Master Jedi, the captain has left me in charge of the medical docking bay. With you here, you shall take charge.”

That was news to Kaira but she nodded as she waved the droid away. “Right now get the worst injured onto the shuttle. Once full, take off to New Tython. There are three more shuttles on their way. I am going to speak with the captain.”

Quickly, the Consular Chronicler took off to the main hub of the station. From the moment she walked onto this station she knew it was bad, but now as she made her way to the station’s control center she knew it was even worse.

“Captain?” Kaira said softly as she came onto the bridge."

No one stopped but one man turned to Kaira. “Consular Chronicler Rohana.” Such a formal way to talk to her; she knew this was not the captain.

“Sir, where is your captain?”

The man in front of her frowned. “He is with the injured or dead, Ma’am.”

That was the last straw. Kaira scowled at the man. “Alright why did you not inform the Clan leaders on New Tython of this?”

“We knew you were on your way Ma’am. We thought you would take charge."

“You leave me little choice. You are relieved and are to pack up and head to New Tython on the next shuttle.” With that Kaira got onto the com.

“Sanctuary, this is a distress call. Need to evac whole station. Send all shuttles for evac.”

Kaira sent out the call on all channels. The Clan did not have enough shuttles to evacuate the whole station without help. With all that had to be done, Kaira just hoped they would be able to get everyone off before the station lost power.

Right on cue, the next shuttle glided into the hangar bay, landing and opening long enough to drop off a pair of Jedi and a small squad of soldiers. The Arconan and Odan-Urr troopers eyed each other off as they escorted the two Jedi, Nathan and Krandon, to the others. Andrelious raised an eyebrow as he sized up the young boy, who looked even younger than his own apprentice, and the smuggler.

“Are you the Jedi that were sent here?” Andrelious asked. Nathan nodded, his gaze fixated on the Barabel to his right.

“What the frak is that?” the boy asked, pointing.

“A Barabel,” Krandon whispered. “Don’t make it angry.”

“It already looks angry. Is it a monster or an Arconan?”

“Arconan, little hew-mon,” Zakath hissed as he took a step forward. Andrelious rolled his eyes as Nathan took a step back, sizing up the towering warrior. “I leave the creation of monsters to the Jeedai.” Nathan backed away quickly, while Krandon stood his ground and placed a hand on his lightsaber. The troops shuffled nervously as they pretended to fiddle with their rifles, each one ready to open fire at a moment’s notice. Sensing the tension, Scheat looked up from the door controls and sauntered over, while Andrelious broke the tense silence first.

“I was told Odan-Urr had a way to disable an enemy ship,” the former TIE Corps officer demanded, his tone of voice carrying his displeasure at what was rapidly looking to be a baby-sitting job.

“I can disable every enemy ship. Probably.” Nathan stepped forward again, giving Zakath a nervous look. “I’m a slicer and an engineer, second best in the Clan. I just need to get to the bridge so I can access the main communications control node. See, every fleet has its own frequency for networking communications, which is typically stored on a master circuit and if I can isolate and re-wire the right conduit I can download the relevant codes and-” Krandon gave Nathan a gentle slap to the head. “What?! Fine.” The boy grumbled to himself. “Get me to the bridge. Intact.”

“A slicer and an engineer?” Scheat asked. “I was just slicing the door open, but you’re welcome to have a crack at any others if you’d like. Name’s Scheat.” He and Krandon shook hands while Nathan smiled and stared at his datapad. “I have a datapad if you… need one.” The smuggler caught sight of Nathan’s own datapad, affixed to a bracer on his arm.

“I prefer my own, thanks,” the boy smiled.

“I can see why. That must be handy. Don’t suppose you’re looking to join a crew?” Nathan gave him a slightly puzzled look before Andrelious cleared his throat pointedly.

“We need to rendezvous at the kitchens first.” Nathan’s eyes lit up at the mention of kitchen. “Zakath, give him the keycards,” the Arconan leader ordered. Krandon spoke with the Odan-Urr troops briefly.

“We’ll follow your lead for now, Arconan,” Krandon confirmed as Zakath held up one of the keycards. Nathan jumped forward, eagerly snatching the first card from the Barabel. He examined it carefully, turning it over and waving it across his datapad. He punched in a few commands and examined the card again, turning it over and over.

“There’s no frequencies coming off of it,” the boy mused, completely oblivious to the terrifying lizard that was mere inches away and slowly leaning in closer, holding up the other two cards. Nathan grabbed them just as eagerly and began conducting the same tests. “I’ll need to slice a card reader in the ship and slide them through. Once I’ve done that I should be able to trace the connection back to the main security server and figure out what they do. Do you have any more?” the boy looked up expectantly.

Zakath shook his head with the most menacing expression he could muster. Nathan looked disappointed. “No, but we will likely obtain more as we cut our way deeper into the ship.”

“Lead the way, Arconan,” Krandon smiled hollowly at the Barabel. They both joined the combined squad of troopers, minus the soldiers who elected to stay behind and secure the hangar. “Don’t hog too much of the fighting either.”

“A curious request, coming from a Jeedai,” the Barabel grinned. Krandon gave him a sly wink.

“I thought you said not to make him angry?” Nathan whispered, to which Krandon also winked. “Still, I vote we let them do a lot of the fighting.”

“Don’t worry about the combat, I’ll keep you safe.” The boy nodded his thanks as Andrelious led the way.

Flight Deck Corridor
Immobilizer 418 cruiser Conqueror

Although he had been happy to simply destroy the secured door between the hangar and the rest of the flight deck, Andrelious had to admit that the arrival of Nathan and Scheat and their slicing abilities had been a welcome one. The fact that they were also light siders didn’t matter, at least for now; they had a mission to complete. Debates over the philosophy of the Force and its uses could come later.

“Right. On an Immobilizer 418, the kitchen is on the fourth level from bottom. If this ship is still to its original Imperial spec, they can control the turbolift from both the bridge and a security hub. But, that shouldn’t be a problem for a couple of expert slicers,” Andrelious explained, gesturing over to a nearby set of double doors.

Nathan took the cue and immediately opened a panel on the frame of the turbolift doors, plugging his datapad into a small opening on the other side. The youngster began tapping away, cracking and bypassing its security systems with little trouble.

“No more resistance on the flight deck?” Vithrian queried.

“The hangar itself aside, the flight deck isn’t a very defensible location. They’ll be holed up on higher levels, so we’ll still be in for a fight. Just be ready,” the Warlord replied, studying the area to make doubly sure.

“I’m in. No wonder the Imps lost so many of these,” Nathan stated as the turbolift doors slid open. Andrelious led the way inside, his lightsaber ready just in case. The former Imperial selected the deck that carried the kitchen, and the lift shook a little as it began moving, as if to protest against the Jedi slicer’s cracking of its codes.

Habitation Deck

Like most of the ship, the Habitation Deck had been hastily prepared for boarding. Tables from the eating area had been turned on their side, ready to be used as a makeshift cover, and many of the kitchen staff had joined other members of the ship’s crew, ready to try and repel whoever it was had dared board the Conqueror. The head chef was conspicuous in her absence, but the kitchen staff guessed that she was probably defending another part of the deck.

Kooki craned her neck out of the doorway leading to her temporary quarters, immediately noticing the scene. A member of her staff, one of the dessert chefs, noticed the dark haired female as he made his own way to join one of the stockades.

“Aren’t you going to join us, Chef?” the O’reenian asked.

“I’m afraid I feel a little bit unwell. I think I’ve picked up that illness that’s spreading throughout the frakking ship,” Kooki replied, lightening her voice a little to enhance the ruse.

“You as well? There’s at least seventy people off duty right now. If I didn’t know better, I’d think our enemy somehow managed to sabotage us before we even set off,” the male answered with a frown.

“That’s just silly! We’re all friends here,” the Priestess said, waving her hand a little at her subordinate.

“I’m just being silly. We’re all friends here,” the dessert chef mimicked, before starting to move away to join his crewmates.

With a smirk and a quick check to see the coast was clear, Kooki reached into her slightly oversized boot and armed herself with her lightsaber. With a single movement she plunged its amethyst blade into the back of the unsuspecting O’reenian.

“Make that seventy-one,” the disguised Human quipped coldly.

Turbolift

As soon as the turbolift came to a stop and its doors were opened, Andrelious and Zakath charged forwards, lightsabers at the ready. The others followed, armed with their own lightsabers, with the exception of Vithrian who carried his pair of DH-23s.

With half a dozen Force users attacking them, the first of the O’reenians had little time to think of a strategy before being cut down by blades of various colours. Even Nathan, who Andrelious had assumed was a weaker fighter, proved more than able with his weapon, mixing lightsaber attacks with slamming enemies into the walls or each other with the Force.

In short order, the defenders in the immediate area were defeated, again with little more than a few scratches to the Arconan-Urrite team.

“Which way to the kitchen?” Zakath asked.

“That way. Past the crew quarters. We’ll probably start to face some stiffer resistance as we head-” Andrelious began, but cut himself short when he heard a death cry somewhere in the corridor in front of him.

“Seems we’re not the only ones here.” Vithrian interjected.

Electing to keep up heading in the direction of the kitchen, Andrelious rounded a corner, lightsaber ready. He was faced with the sight of three men laying dead. Standing over them was a determined looking Kooki.

“About time you got here, babe,” the Alderaanian said, managing a quick smile for her husband. “Average chefs, but second rate fighters,” she continued, apparently referring to the men she had just slain.

"Hm. Not bad.” Zakath murmured to himself as he glanced down at the bodies. “You seem to have married a capable woman. How curious.”

“Capable? You just wait and see. You don’t know what you’re dealing with, lizard,” Kooki replied, irritated. She looked over the rest of the team.

“We’ll handle the introductions later,” Andrelious added.

Kooki smiled again and kissed the Warlord lightly on the lips, remembering to keep things professional.

“Shall we crack some skulls?” she asked.

The two teams, led by Kookimarissia, made their way uneventfully through the corridor outside the crew quarters; everyone was either in sick bay, holed up somewhere defensive, or tending to other duties. Kooki pointed forward and announced the doors to the cafeteria, which were sealed shut. “That door leads to the main cafeteria, which I believe will be heavily defended.”

“Can you describe the rough layout?” Zakath asked her.

“It is quite large, but it is mostly tables and chairs with a large buffet.” Nathan and Scheat’s eyes lit up at the mention of buffet.

“Ma’am, they’d be using them as makeshift fortifications,” one of the Arconan Sergeants advised with a respectful salute. “We could breach the doors using the terminal there, or our explosives, but either way they’ll likely be ready for us, and it could be a tough fight.”

“Well, some of you boys might just have to man up,” Kooki replied in a no-nonsense voice.

“With all due respect, Ma’am, I have orders to ensure the safety of all Arconan VIPs.” Kooki raised an eyebrow at the soldier, but Vithrian interrupted before she could speak.

“I can sense a good deal of fear in there,” the Miralukan apprentice interjected, “and I have a great idea.”

“So do I!” Scheat added. “I had mine first.”

Cafeteria

Wiping sweat off her brow, the highest ranking O’reenian looked around at the men and women that now fell under her unorthodox command. She was a career chef stationed on the Conqueror, whose specialties leaned more towards gourmet salads and exotic fare. She quietly noted to herself that her decision to join the O’reenian military properly and reap a higher paycheck had lost much of its former appeal.

She kept her own pistol trained on the doors, and viciously threatened anyone not focused on their own survival. Over the past few minutes, more and more of the motley crew of defenders had become afraid, and she had to become increasingly hostile towards those whose lives she was hoping would be lost shielding her long enough to survive this invasion.

Suddenly, the lights in cafeteria blacked out, and the fear and panic was tangible. The salad chef, feeling a little panicky herself, executed the closest person and yelled harshly at everyone. She was cut off from completing her sentence as a bright, molten streak started to appear. “The Jedi are trying to cut through the wall!” she shouted. “Take aim you cowards!” Some of the defenders ignored her, huddling like a gibbering mess as fear took control of their minds.

As Scheat’s magenta lightsaber blade had melted a line from the floor to roughly adult height and started carving horizontally, the doors of the cafeteria crumpled and were torn out of their frames, flying out towards the startled and sickly defenders. Soldiers from Odan-Urr and Arcona charged into the room, lit up by red, green and blue lightsaber blades.

Close to the lead was Vithrian, who opened fire with his dual DH-23 blasters, prioritizing anyone not crippled with the terror he had been spreading through the room. Unaffected by the absence of conventional light, the Miralukan’s assault claimed several lives.

Those defenders who could, then opened fire. Blaster bolts scattered about harmlessly, some deflected by lightsaber blades, some by unseen methods, and some were just poorly aimed by terrified and shaky hands.

The salad chef gulped down her fear and leaned out from her position, taking aim at a female Jedi that was busy deflecting blaster bolts from a few of the weaklings in her crew. From this angle, she knew she could cut past her impressive defenses. She squeezed her trigger desperately, but the blaster bolts disappeared into thin air as some bratty kid appeared to wave them off dismissively.

Programmed to reactivate on a timer, the lights flashed back on as the invaders rapidly closed the gap between the door and the upturned tables that had served as makeshift fortifications.

Vithrian changed the energy packs in his blasters, while the others prepared to leave the cafeteria; all except for Nathan, who instead asked, “Can I grab a quick snack first? I haven’t eaten for most of the day, and I’m starving!”

“Sure,” Kooki replied a little sarcastically. “Try some of the bantha meat loaf. I made it myself.” Her voice carried a little note of pride, and attracted a look of mild alarm from Andrelious.

“Did you poison it too?” he asked.

“It won’t kill the little Lightie,” she replied with an indifferent shrug. “Even if he is the only Jedi half your size,” she added. Nathan returned with a slice of bantha meat loaf, which he was already nibbling on.

“Nathan, wait! That’s been poisoned!” Scheat exclaimed. Nathan fixed him with a slightly puzzled look.

“It won’t kill him,” Kooki repeated. Reassured, Nathan took another nibble.

“Is the poison why it’s so salty and chewy and tough?” the boy asked earnestly. “I thought it was just badly cooked, but this poison tastes terrible!”

“It must be the poison,” Andrelious confirmed. “Her meat loaf is great.”

Nathan took another bite as Kooki glared at them both flatly, not revealing that the poison was actually tasteless.

“Try some of the pudding,” she suggested icily.

“I don’t think I’m that hungry anymore.” Nathan offered the poisoned meat around, before discarding it on a nearby table.

The Conqueror

“All Crew prepare for a suicide mission. We are going to ram into an enemy ship.”

Scheat looked up in confusion and fear. This cannot be good. He ran through all the options in his head. He came up with three. First, he turned to Kooki. “Excuse me miss, but how many did you poison?” he asked, politely as he could.

“Seventy are off duty from the poisoning. I got the entire crew,” she replied.

“Ok, I guess we have three options. We can either flee the ship, we can attempt to wrestle control of the ship from our enemy, or we can heal those poisoned pin it on the captain and start a mutiny. I prefer the last one as it makes us look like heroes.” Scheat said, his mind racing.

“Look like heroes? Aren’t you Jedi supposed to be heroes? And don’t forget we have killed many of these people.” asked Vithrian sarcastically.

Nathan and Krandon stared at Scheat in confusion as well. Scheat shook his head. Great. Now even other Jedi are against me. Why don’t people just accept I want to help people. Just because I am a smuggler doesn’t mean I don’t care about people…

“There is a bounty on my head from being a hero. I never killed a soul. At least not one from this ship. I think starting a mutiny sounds fun though. Besides there has been enough death. I would rather save as many people as possible. Plus we did all come aboard to take the ship anyhow. Its best to just get that done.” Scheat stated, mildly annoyed but his smile never leaving his face.

Scheat looked around to see that most of the people around him looked like he was insane. Well then. Fine don’t listen to my plan. We could have taken the ship without any more bloodshed. I guess I could explain more…… Maybe.

“Healing them would take no time. We have some with the skills necessary. But…” Scheat said. He stopped again. He was getting a death glare from Zakath. “What do you want Barabel? Do you have some issue with me? Do you just like killing for the fun of it?”

Cafeteria
Interdictor Cruiser Conqueror
Orbit, New Tython

“How is it that the Jeedai managed to survive so long with imbeciles like you?” Zakath asked as he stared at Scheat. But before Scheat could answer, Zakath continued on with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Never mind, I don’t want to know. Your little plan won’t work because we are going to be dead within an half hour if we try it your way. We either scratch this plan and return to the hangar bay to abandon ship, or we strike for the bridge and avert this plan of theirs. Those are our only two options at this point.”

“I agree.” Andrelious replied as he stared icily at the Jedi. “We’ve no time to be heroes, so lose that ridiculous notion. I’m sure Kooki brought enough antidote for just herself, not cure the whole crew, so that plan’s already off the table, am I right, dear?”

“Yeah.” Kooki nodded in agreement as she crossed her slim arms across her chest. “There was never any plan to cure them, just cripple them enough to make a potential capture operation more probable.”

“So we return to the two options open to us.” Krandon interrupted, looking around at the group. “Either we take control of the ship before they complete their suicide run, or we get out of here ASAP. Hey Nathan, do you think you can hack into a terminal somewhere and find out how the battle is going outside? That’ll tell us how much time we have before the ship crashes into whatever it’s target is. Also distance from the target they’ve picked would help as well.”

Nathan’s eyebrows furrowed as he considered the idea before he nodded confidently. “Yeah, shouldn’t be a problem. I will need to get to a dedicated terminal though, can’t just be one here in the cafeteria, It’ll need to be one dedicated to combat operations for us to get the data quickly. Doesn’t have to be one on the bridge though, an auxiliary terminal will do just fine. It won’t take long to hack through, since they’re optimized to prevent remote hacking from outs-”

“Yeah, we get it.” Krandon rolled his eyes as he slapped Nathan lightly on the back of the head. “Get to a dedicated terminal and you can hack it in no time.”

“Then I think we got our plan for the moment. Let’s get moving, everybody.” Andrelious ordered as he began making his way toward the corridor. “We don’t have much time.”

“Hey, seriously, do you have a problem with me?” Scheat interrupted, staring at Zakath with an intense look. “I mean, I’m just trying to help here, there’s no need to treat me like trash, now, is it?”

“Iridonian.” Zakath ignored Scheat’s question, addressing Krandon while staring coldly at the Nautolan, his eyes beginning to glow purple as a sign of his irritation at the smuggler-turned-Jedi. “Is there something in your Jeedai code that says that a Jeedai has to have a tongue in order to be in your Order? Because if you don’t bring your Nautolan’s mouth under control, he may be losing his. For the sake of our sanity, if nothing else.”

That prompted a snicker from Vithrian and an eye-roll from Andrelious, although the Warlord had to work hard at suppressing the smirk that threatened to come on his face in response to Zakath’s threat.

Cafeteria
Immobilizer 418 cruiser Conqueror

“Shall we get moving, gentleman?” Kooki asked impatiently.

“My my, you did find a feisty one,” Zakath replied with a smirk.

“Feisty, yes, but she’s also right. If we stand around here arguing we’ll go down with the ship,” Andrelious stated, trying to appear more calm than he actually was. Not knowing how the battle outside was going unnerved the Warlord, especially as he was on a ship that was now making a suicide run.

“The sooner you can get me to a terminal with the correct specs, the sooner we’ll be able to see what’s going on outside. Does this model of ship have an auxiliary control?” Nathan questioned.

“Yes. Another two decks up from here. If they’re sensible, they’ll be defending it almost as tightly as they will be defending the bridge. So be prepared for a tough fight,” the Warlord said, knowing more but also that only Nathan would have been interested in the technical side of things.

“Back to the turbolift then. Chop chop!” Kooki called out, leading the way. Andrelious followed behind, with Vithrian, Krandon, Scheat and Nathan also in tow. Zakath provided the rearguard, ready in the case of an ambush. The mundane soldiers followed on even further behind.

The journey to the turbolift was uneventful, as was the short journey up to the deck that the former Arconan Rollmaster had specified as the one that had what Nathan needed. As the doors opened, the team immediately came under heavy blaster fire. The shots were a little more well aimed and better coordinated than what the team had faced so far, suggesting that the men stationed to defend this particular deck weren’t as ill from Kooki’s spiking of their food. A few of the Arconan and Odan-Urr soldiers were cut down by the fire, but quickly filed out of the turbolift into defensive positions nearby.

Andrelious charged past his spouse with a snarl and laid into the nearest group of guards. The Alderaanian wasn’t to be outdone and attacked a trio of enemies, whilst the Urrites on the team stuck together and dealt with a larger group that included some sort of combat droid. Zakath deflected away blaster bolt after blaster bolt, and eventually joined in on the proceedings. Vithrian waited in the lift at first, firing his blaster at anything that didn’t have the bright glow of a Force sensitive.

“Nathan, see if you can disable that droid!” Andrelious cried out as he finished off his targets. The boy nodded, picking up the last of the O’reenian soldiers that surrounded the automaton and throwing him into the far wall. With cat-like reflexes, he moved to the rear of the droid and whipped open a maintenance panel.

“Get the one that’s in the lift!” an O’reenian yelled, and his comrades complied, concentrating their fire on Vithrian. The Miraluka heard the command and began to dive out of the way, but a blaster bolt connected with his right leg, severely burning it and leaving the Protector struggling to stand.

Andrelious spotted the attack and leapt at the soldier who’d hit his apprentice, his emerald blade cleaving her clean in half. Kooki and Zakath quickly killed the last few stragglers, leaving the immediate area under the team’s control.

“Medic! See to my apprentice!” The Warlord commanded. One of the Odan-Urr soldiers, a Sullustan, nodded and headed over to the wounded Protector.

“Sure you don’t need me to take a look?” Nathan asked. “I’ve been told I’m a pretty good cleric,”

“No. I trust your man with him, at least for now. Your job is to re-program that droid. I want it to lead the way into the auxiliary control room. It will cause enough of a distraction that we’ll get the jump on them. And watch out. They’ve probably got turrets and blaster cannons inside.

“He’s right, Nathan. There’s at least two dozen more O’reenians inside, and they’re all prepped for combat,” Krandon added.

The Watchman was already processing his ally’s request. “Not only can I reprogram this thing, but I can improve its targeting and rate of fire. Its hardware will overheat after a short time. That’s why-”

“Alright. We don’t need its life story. Just do as Andrel said!” Kooki snapped.

“That’s already done. Shall I send it in?” Nathan asked.

“Wait. Go and access that panel to the left of the main door,” Andrelious ordered.

“What’s the point of that? The droid will trip the door’s recognition system,” the Urrite argued.

The Warlord chuckled “You’ll find that panel will allow you to disable the auxillary control room’s turret defences. You might even be able to turn them against the O’reenians. If you’re as good as my daughter, anyway,”

Nathan nodded again and scuttled towards the panel, opening it and connecting his datapad. “You have a baby that can slice into systems? That’s-” he began.

“I mean my eldest daughter, you stupid boy!” Andrelious admonished. “Now disable those frakking turrets!”

Sanctuary
Bridge

Kaira had taken over command of the space station to make sure everyone,was evacuated. The Jedi was not going to leave even one person behind. In light of her call, Arcona and her Clan had sent as many transport shuttles they could spare. It was a good thing they had some escape pods that could hold up to 3, but Kaira had ordered them to carry no less than 4.

The station seemed so quiet with no one on the bridge but her. At least until a call came over the comm from a ship named the Lobster who asked if they needed help. Her eyes grew wide as she knew this would be the answer they needed. “Yes, there are ten more crew members that need off of this thing. Can you handle that many?” The answer came back as yes.

Now all she needed to do was focus on the life force of the crew still on board. This of course was easier said than done for it opened up a whole new set of challenges for the Consular. Shockwaves of pain and anxiety rang throughout the crew that was left aboard. Kaira was slammed with thoughts of death as she pulled back but not before her body betrayed her. It was good no one stood on the bridge with her for the Jedi sat on her knees as tears streamed down her cheeks. The power it took to drive back the ripples of pain made it hard for her to breath.

As she stood once more a call came in from the planet. With a long deep breath she listened, glad for the distraction.

“Sanctuary, this is Odan planet command Report.”

A quick push with the Force opened the comm channel so that she never had to leave her post. It also gave her another moment to recover. “Command, this is Sanctuary, all who are aboard have left for their escape. Once they are safely away, I will lock down the station then head planet side to help. Do I have new orders?”

The comm buzzed with the dead sound of static as she waited for a response from her leadership.

“Before you return, make sure you find all other Jedi that need a ride. We will send a list of unaccounted for Jedi. “

“Will do Command. Sanctuary out.”

The last of the crew was either gone or already on their way. So the only thing left for Kaira to do here would be to lock down Sanctuary so no one could take it over then leave herself. Kaira was not that great with computers so it was good that Nathan had written a coded program for her to upload once everyone was safely off the station. Now she had to just follow his instructions to the letter. Her hand softly moved over the controls and with a bit of Force enabled calm, she finished quickly. The Jedi took one last look at the bridge then turned to head to her shuttle.

The hangar bay lay in disrepair as her shuttle was all that was left behind. The Odan-Urr Jedi rushed to the cockpit to find that the orders from the clan had been sent to the shuttle just as she had hoped. Now she looked through the list and saw one name that stood out. As she started up the shuttle she opened all comm channels, “If there are any Jedi still out there that need a lift I have room…” She paused for a moment as she moved the shuttle out of the bay and into open space.

“Nathan, if you’re still out there you need a lift? Anyone else?”

The Conqueror

Vithrian, still in pain, scanned the room. His current companions were more skilled than he was, that was for sure. While he still despised the ‘Jedi hypocrites’, these Jedi could beat him any day, so for now he would have to accept that.

He heard Nathan speaking into a comlink but ignored it.

We came on board to take a ship. I will not be the one to let the team down because I was shot.

He looked toward his master. The group had high morale at this point. It would be no trouble. The pain started to subside as the Urr medic worked on him. Once it was bearable, the Protector stood up.

Vithrian saw Scheat was staring at him. “What do you want Jedi?”

The Guardian laughed. “Nothing from you. Well actually there is something I noticed while we were in the kitchen that your mental abilities are far beyond mine. Could be useful to have on a team.”

“I will not join your smuggler’s guild,” Vithrian growled.

“Silly Miraluka.” Scheat said. “I have a plan. Stay behind me in combat and if we can identify a leader in a group, take him out using your ability to cause fear in someone. Maybe if Nathan fails to hack the system, or if his plan does work, you can take out the captain. It will always help to have hostages.”

The Miraluka was shocked at this declaration, though he managed to hide it. “That doesn’t sound like the Light side.”

“We have to adapt in a situation. Sometimes it is necessary to dabble in things best left in shadows. Besides the last thing I need is for one of the O’reenians to get an idea about capturing me and turning me in for the bounty on my head. I would rather we get them on our side, but no one likes that Idea. So we should kill all we can, but get hostages if it gets to be too much. There are only seven of us Jedi. Even with our soldiers, and Nathan’s new droid… some steps have to be taken.”

Only then did they notice their conversation was being overheard. Vithrian noticed it wasthe Mimosa-Inahj couple who were listening in.

“Well, that is a devious plan,” Kooki stated. “Do you have such little faith in us, Jedi?”

“I have faith in everyone to an extent. I have more at risk here than all of you. You guys worry about the fate of a few ships,” Scheat responded. “I am more concerned about not being handed over and tortured for years because I pissed off major groups.”

Well then. This Jedi is more than meets the eye. Maybe I should take the bounty on his head. Vithrian thought. He pulled out one of his blasters, and started to raise it before Andrelious looked at him, and shook his head.

We must follow the Alliance the Shadow Lord has put in place for us. Even though we may disagree with these bastards Andrelious ‘said’ in Vithrian’s head.

“Lady Mimosa-Inahj,” Vithrian stated. “The Jedi-smuggler happens to have one thing right. Hostages have turned the course of a battle one way or another if I recall correctly. Besides I have been hit enough times as it is, and while I hate to admit it, the Jedi is more skilled than I. His plan lets me use my skill set to the fullest advantage. I say lets use it.”

The Priestess nodded, seeming to agree.

It would be a mistake to think she agrees completely. She poisoned the entire crew of this ship.

“Got the droid on our side now,” Nathan called out, “It was a simple matter of rewiring several components of the–” Krandon interrupted him by lightly slapping his head.

“I wasn’t done,” Nathan said. “I just got a message from Sanctuary. They are almost completely evacuated. I suggest we deal with this ship now.”

Outside Auxillary Control Room
Interdictor Crusier Conqueror

“Then get the droid moving.” Zakath barked out as he gripped the hilt of his lightsaber.

“You got it.” Nathan replied as he made one last adjustment to the back of the droid before closing the access panel. “Droid, move into the control room and uh…”

“Kill everyone there.” Zakath finished the order for the uncomfortable Jedi. “No survivors.”

“Droid, hold it!” Scheat interrupted, the Nautolan staring angrily at the Barabel. “I thought we were taking hostages!”

“We have no time for hostages.” Andrelious replied bluntly. “At this point, they’ll only slow us down.”

“But…” Scheat was only able to utter that one word before Zakath seized his throat and lifted him up into the air, his eyes flaring into purple flames.

“We. Have. No. Time.” The Barabel hissed angrily, his crushing grip tightened, cutting off any reply Scheat might’ve choked out. “Droid! Into the control room! Kill everyone there!”

The droid acknowledged the order and moved to the door. A quick beep from the droid, and the door to the control room slid open, granting the droid access. A second later, blaster fire erupted as the droid began its grisly work.

“Let him go.” Krandon said to Zakath, the Iridonian resting one hand on his lightsaber. “Now.”

The Barabel turned his glare onto Krandon, who kept his face expressionless in the face of Zakath’s fury. After a few seconds, the Barabel relented, dropping the Nautolan to his knees on the floor.

“Teach him to keep his mouth shut.” Zakath hissed. “Or I will shut it for him. Permanently.” With that threat uttered, the Sith Barabel turned to Andrelious.”Shall we proceed?”

“Yes.” The Warlord nodded as he cocked his head in the direction of the control room, where the blaster fire was continuing. “Sounds like the droid’s about to be overwhelmed.”

“Then let’s go.” Zakath replied before slamming a fist onto the access panel.

The Sith entered the room, followed closely by Kooki, with the Jedi bringing up the rear. The sight that greeted the team was utter chaos as O’reenian soldiers and technicians took cover behind consoles, the soldiers taking potshots at the droid when they emerged from cover.

“You take the left, I got the right.” Andrelious ordered, his lightsaber already lit.

Zakath acknowledged the order with a guttural roar as he sprang forward, his bloodshine blade already arcing forward to impale itself into the chest of the closest O’reenian soldier. Andrelious quickly followed suit, his emerald blade quickly lopping off the head of a technician before stabbing the next soldier in the chest, vaporizing his heart.

Taken by surprise, the O’reenians offered only light resistance against the Sith onslaught, and within a minute, it was all over.

Krandon raised an eyebrow. “You Sith are efficient killers, I’ll give you that.”

“Boy! Get to a console now and find out how the battle’s going!” Andrelious ordered as he returned his lightsaber to his belt.

Nathan’s eyes were wide as he stared at the carnage before Andrelious’ order registered. “Oh, yeah. On it.”

Zakath took up position next to the door, acting as a sentry while the rest of the team clustered around Nathan who had taken over a terminal and had begun to override the security measures, connecting his datapad to the ship’s systems.

“Run this program here… activate that…, cross-reference that program with…” Nathan mumbled to himself as he worked furiously, his fingers a blur as they worked the terminal. “…and I’m in. Bringing up the battle now.”

The holoprojector in front of the terminal hummed as it came online, bringing a virtual display of the outside battle. The team immediately zeroed in on the Interdictor’s position in the battle. After a minute of studying, it soon dawned on Andrelious what the Interdictor was planning.

“It’s aiming for the Invicta.” The Warlord growled.

“Going to hit it too, it’s about 10 minutes out.” Nathan replied as he calculated the distance between the two ships. “Nothing we can do about it in time on our side.”

“Can you open a communications channel with the Invicta?” Andrelious asked, his eyes intent on the map.

“Yeah, that shouldn’t be a problem.” Nathan replied, his eyes glued to the terminal. After a minute, he nodded. “Got an open comm channel with them. Use the comm unit over there, it’s the only one working.”

[B]Orbit, New Tython[/B]

Debris of destroyed ships of various sizes littered the area. The two sides continued to trade fire, turbolaser for turbolaser, torpedo for torpedo. The combined Arcona/Odan-Urr fleet was beginning to turn the screw on the O’reenians, though the battle was still far from over. In particular both sides had been largely relieved of their bombers, leaving the larger ships to fight among themselves.

The Invicta, Arcona’s flagship, was in the thick of the battle and was trading fire with an O’reenian Star Destroyer.

[B]Bridge
Nebula class Star Destroyer Invicta
[/B]

“Intensify forward firepower! I don’t want anything to get through!” Ban Quell commanded. The naval officer was technically third in command - both the Consul and Proconsul were on board. Atyiru, however, lacked any kind of naval command experience at all, whilst Legorii had long deferred to Quell on all things space.

“Sir! We have an incoming message from the Interdictor Conqueror!” an officer yelled.

“Put them on, Lieutenant! We’ve a boarding team on that one!” Ban ordered, looking over his shoulder to confirm from his masters. Atyiru nodded in confirmation.

[B]Auxiliary Control Room
Immobilizer 418 cruiser Conqueror
[/B]

“Mimosa-Inahj to Invicta. The Conqueror’s preparing to ram you,” Andrelious began, wasting no words.

“Understood, sir. What should we do?” Quell replied, his voice a crackle over the hacked communications system.

“Divert some B-Wings. Disable again,” the Warlord demanded.

“We can’t, sir. We lost them to the enemy fighter screen,” came the answer.

Andrelious frowned. The Commodore’s response was not a welcome one. With no B-Wings available, and the Conqueror well on its way to performing a suicide run, his team had far fewer options.

“Andrel, dear, can you get control of the ship in time?” Atyiru piped up.

“I can’t guarantee that. Given they’re trying to ram you, I’d suspect they’d set off a self destruct sequence if we tried to storm the bridge,” the former Imperial said calmly.

“We haven’t got the time to be worrying about such things! We need to get off this thing. Now,” Kooki demanded sternly. Some of the others nodded in agreement, whilst Andrelious terminated the link between them and the Arconan ship.

“This is Captain Jetsum. Due to our present situation, I am sacrificing this ship for the greater good of Magnus. Those of you who are able have my permission to evacuate. Thank you,” the ship’s PA boomed.

“A race to the hangar then. Fantastic,” Zakath observed.

As Kooki and the others were swiftly making their way back to the hangar, the evacuation was in full swing. The Arconans and their light sided allies were not alone. The O’reenians were also fleeing their ship. The Priestess could sense trouble wasn’t far away.

“I’m starting to get used to that tanned complexion of yours, darling,” teased Andrelious, causing the small team to attempt stifling their laughter.

Kooki glared at her spouse and the others, causing a sudden silence within the group. They seemed a little frightened of this feisty female, yet none of them dared to admit this.

The small group finally arrived at the turbolift. The doors slid open slowly and as expected, some enemies came into view. Upon noticing their ‘chef’, the orange faced species hastily grabbed their blasters, yet Kooki was in a particularly feisty mood. She gestured to her fellow teammates to give her room. Predictably, the O’reenians charged out of the turbolift to fight for the small claustrophobic space. As they came out, Andrelious and the other Arconans and Urrites rushed in. Kooki nodded at her spouse and he and the others went down into the turbolift.

“What’s for lunch then, chef?” mused a loyal friend of Jetsun, preparing to attack the traitorous female.

The Alderaanian was no match for the dozen of aliens that encircled her. Little did they realise, but circling the backstabbing female was going to be to their detriment.

With a snap and a hiss, a bright amethyst blade was soon slicing through the enemies with ease. Most of the shorter O’reenians were swiftly decapitated, their orange necks being burnt to the core, as Kooki spun round. A couple were slightly taller than the others and it was their chests that fell victim to Kooki’s saber. The purple light was the last sight they saw before having their vital organs punctured and falling to their death.

Leaving a pile of dead bodies, a slightly dizzy Kooki ran into the turbolift to join her teammates in the hangar. As the doors were about to slide shut, she looked at her latest victims strewn on the ship’s deck and sighed contentedly.

“Revenge is a dish best served cold,”

“Indeed.” Zakath let a harsh laugh slip as he rolled his neck, stretching muscles and cracking bones, his huge hand gripping the hilt of his lightsaber in a crushing grip. “And it’s not over yet.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Scheat accused the Barabel, looking at the Sith with contempt.

“To do battle with an enemy and see my foes cut down?” Zakath’s smile widened into a serpent’s grin. “Yes I am. Very much so. Only a pity that you Jeedai are not among my foes today.”

“Keep up that attitude, and I’m sure the chance to face us will come soon enough.” Scheat snorted as he looked away, dismissing the Barabel’s presence.

“Good.” Zakath growled, his grin still in place. “Then I look forward to cutting you down on the battlefield. Or perhaps I should collect on your bounty.”

Before Scheat could retort back, Andrelious intervened. “That’s enough. We’re almost to the hangar. Stow it, you two.”

“As you wish.” Zakath hissed, his gaze now fixating on the turbolift doors as he shoved his way to the front, the feeling of life signs beginning to swell within the Force, a clear indication that a mass of O’reenian soldiers and technicians were heading in the same direction of the hangar bay.

“So what’s the plan?” Krandon asked mildly, interrupting the dead silence that had suddenly descended upon the group.

“Kill everyone that gets in our way, and get onto the ship.” Andrelious replied, his voice icy cold. “No time for prisoners. Once we’re onboard, I will take the pilot station. Kooki, get a communications channel open to the Invicta and give them the green light to blow the ship to hell.”

“Yes, dear.” Kooki replied with a slight nod, her grip tightening on her lightsaber.

“We’re almost there.” Zakath breathed out, entering an almost reverent state as he began to draw upon the Force, his eyes erupting into purple flames in response.

“Get ready.” Andrelious ordered, his own lightsaber now in hand.

As the door slid open, Zakath was suddenly a blur as he erupted out of the turbolift, his lightsaber springing into bloody life as he began his rampage, quickly cutting down the first O’reenian soldiers coming out of other turbolifts. Andrelious was not far behind, his emerald blade snapping into existence just in time to impale an officier. The rest of the team soon filtered out, with the Arconan soldiers setting up an improvised kill zone, and soon blaster fire joined the lightsabers in remorselessly cutting down the enemy personnel.

Zakath was like a possessed demon as he moved from soldier to soldier, his blade ripping into the enemy ranks and throwing them into chaos. But despite his bloody lust for battle, the Barabel still retained the strategy laid out, and he began to shift the flow of battle toward the awaiting Arconan ship, even as the O’reenians began to consolidate themselves, blaster fire beginning to intensify as they turned to face the unexpected team ripping into their rear.

Good. The Barabel thought to himself as he grinned viciously. Perhaps they will offer a small challenge after all.

The Arconan-Urrite team continued to make progress towards the waiting shuttle. The O’reenians in the hangar were putting up a far more effective defence than the rest of the crew - they were likely among those who had been least affected by their tainted food. The Arconan soldiers that had been holed up in the hangar during the boarding operation found themselves forced to take cover behind whatever they could find, reducing the covering fire they could provide for their Force using masters.

As the team approached a larger group of enemies, Nathan scooped their point man up, throwing him into the throng of firing O’reenians. Andrelious, Zakath and Kooki charged in, their blades making quick work of the floored soldiers. Scheat and Krandon had adopted a more defensive role, attempting to use their sabers to cover Vithrian, who, unlike his fellow Force sensitives, carried no means of deflecting a blaster bolt.

Though they were reaching their ship relatively quickly, the team noticed that a lot of their mundane backup was falling to enemy fire. The Odan-Urr contingent, perhaps less well trained than either their Arconan allies or their O’reenian enemies, were taking the brunt of that, but Arcona were far from free of casualties.

“Look out, babe!” Kooki yelled. Andrelious, who was busy planning his final run to the shuttle, looked around just in time to see an O’reenian wielding a vibro-blade. The orange skinned humanoid snarled at the Warlord, and delivered a vicious blow aimed at the Warlord’s upper torso. Andrelious dodged just enough to make the vibro-blade hit his left wrist, instead, but the attack was still enough to wound the Human. Zakath leapt to the former Imperial’s rescue, robbing the O’reenian of his arms.

“I guess I owe you one,” the ex-Rollmaster stated as the Barabel finished off their cursing enemy.

The Battlemaster just smirked briefly before helping Kooki clear the last few enemies between them and the shuttle.

“Can you still fly?” Nathan asked, having witnessed the incident from behind.

“Save your compassionate act for later, Jedi. We need to get on the shuttle and go. Now,” Andrelious hissed in response.

“Sir,” the female Sergeant that Andrelious had met earlier interrupted. “We’re down to just five combat capable men, but we’ve several wounded,”

“There’s no time to help them, Sergeant. We leave in one minute. Anyone not on board will be going down with this ship,” the Warlord replied coldly.

The Sergeant nodded, not daring to argue. Andrelious had a reputation for allowing the wounded to be left behind, even after numerous rebukes from his own superiors. She signalled to the survivors, before boarding the shuttle herself. In the end, the five uninjured men were joined by a few more walking wounded, including a lone Urrite soldier with a broken arm. Nathan, using his ability to heal with the Force, assisted a surviving medic in patching up their wounds as the shuttle launched violently.

“Careful. If we’d wanted an erratic flight, we’d have let Vithrian fly,” Kooki snapped as she strapped herself in.

“You know, the twins are almost old enough to be weaned. I could always leave you beh-” Andrelious replied, but a slap from the Alderaanian silenced him.

“Save the lover’s tiff for later.” Zakath hissed as the ship broke through the magnetic containment field.

“Invicta, we’re clear. Feel free to fire on the Interdictor,” Kooki broadcast.

No oral response was forthcoming from the Arconan ship, but any doubt that it had heard the message was quashed as it turned its firepower on the Conqueror.

“It won’t last long. Interdictors are terrible at everything other than, well, interdicting,” Andrelious explained as turbolaser fire slammed into the beleaguered O’reenian ship. Fire poured from several hull breaches, and, sure enough, a second volley was enough to destroy it.

A green light flashed on the cockpit’s instrument panel.

“Ah. Seems that the combined fleet has eliminated the other Interdictor as well,” Andrelious explained as he studied a tactical readout. “Both sides have taken losses. Both Urrite Corvettes and the cruiser Shadow have been destroyed, but the O’reenians are down to an Imperial-II and a Majestic. Most of the fighters have been eliminated, as well.”

“How about you stop blathering on about that and you start flying us back to the Invicta?” Kooki asked.

“Andrelious. What of the Jeedai who helped us?” Zakath added.

“Mayday! Mayday! This is the Lobster. Our engines cut out. We need help!” a voice cried over the comm.

Krandon burst into the cockpit.

“We should go and rescue the Lobster. One of our Jedi is aboard,” the Zabrak declared.

“Why shouldn’t we just blast it out of the sky? Given it’s Scheat’s ship, there’s probably a bounty on its crew,” Zakath suggested.

Andrelious cycled through targets on the ship’s computer, eventually finding the red hued ship. His readout indicated that not only were its engines damaged, but that its life support would soon fail, too.

“Three options. We either risk our necks getting the Jedi, and whoever else is aboard, off the Lobster, leave them to die, or I can fire a warhead at them and we can make something up about why,” Andrelious stated.

“You will not destroy the Lobster.” The Iridonian’s voice dropped to a deadly hiss as his hand dropped to his lightsaber hilt. “We have an alliance, Arconan, and I expect you to honor it.”

Andrelious had also retrieved his lightsaber as well and was now glaring back at Krandon, his lips curled back into a disdainful sneer. “Don’t worry, Jedi. If we destroy the Lobster, you won’t be around to see it. You will be killed while attempting to escape the Conqueror. A sad fate, but understandable.”

“Andrelious.”

Zakath had remained silent as he considered the ramifications of each course of action laid out by the Sith Warlord but now felt the need to speak up. The Barabel’s visage was a demonic mask of icy coldness with eyes glowing like hot purple coals as he gazed at the other people in the cockpit, his arms crossed in a display of indifference.

“What is it, Zakath?” Andrelious bit out as he continued to glare at Krandon.

“I advise not moving against the Jeedai.” The Barabel Sith’s voice had taken on a soft rumbling growl. “The alliance was arranged by the Consul, and even if we could maintain the deception, she will find out the truth in time.”

“At least someone has a sensible head on their shoulders.” Krandon growled out, his steely gaze squarely on Andrelious.

“Do not think this means I am taking your side, Jeedai.” Zakath snorted as his eyes fell on Krandon. “I will no doubt we will meet on the field of battle soon enough, and on that day, I will gladly take your skull as my trophy.” His gaze returned to Andrelious. “We will move against the Jeedai soon enough. Until then, let’s just rescue their incapable people and ensure that weakness remains in their ranks. I’m sure your friendship with our dear Consul can only… improve with this news of their rescue.”

“Babe, as much as I hate to admit it, I think the Barabel has a point.” Kooki spoke up, staring at Kradon’s lightsaber with a pointed glare. “The Jedi will fall soon enough, why risk Atty’s displeasure now when we can kill them later? And if we rescue the Jedi, it could only benefit us if Atty learns of it, since she was the driving force behind this ridiculous alliance, after all.”

Andrelious’ eyes flicked back and forth between the other Arconans and the Jedi as he considered their input. After a long deadly moment, Andrelious exhaled deeply before turning to the cockpit controls, dismissing the presence of the Jedi. “Fine. Kooki, comm the Lobster. Tell them we are coming in for an emergency docking and to be ready when we connect. If they’re not there by the time the airlock opens, we will leave them behind.”

“Alright, doing it now.” Kooki replied as she gave Krandon one last icy stare before settling into the co-pilot’s chair and began tinkering with the comm station.

“I guess your Jeedai friend will live to see another day.” Zakath chuckled softly as he leaned against a bulkhead. “How amusing. I never thought I’ll see the day come when I advocate allowing the Jeedai to live.”

“There’s hope for you yet.” Krandon replied dryly as he kept his eyes on the Sith Warlord. “Who knows? Maybe you can even be a Jedi one day.”

“Doubt it.” Zakath snorted before moving to leave. “The day will come when we will meet on the battlefield. And on that day, I look forward to taking your lightsaber as my trophy.”

“I thought you wanted my skull?” Krandon replied as Zakath slipped through the door.

“That too.” Was the last thing Krandon heard from the Barabel before the Sith disappeared.

Krandon snorted softly to himself and crossed his arms as he watched Andrelious guide the ship, the damaged silhouette of the Lobster coming into view.

It was enough that his Jedi comrade was going to be rescued.

With a clunk, the shuttle docked with the Lobster. Andrelious pulled on a lever to open the docking hatch.

“They have one minute,” he stated cooly.

Kaira Rohana appeared the cockpit’s doorway seconds later.

“We didn’t think anyone was coming. Thank you,” the new arrival said, smiling at the unmoving Andrelious.

“Do not thank me, Jedi. If I had my way, I’d have left your little Clan to be crushed by the O’reenians. Our Shadow Lord thinks differently,” the Warlord replied harshly.

Kaira shook her head, choosing not to say anything further. She disappeared to take a seat in the passenger area. Krandon followed her, tired of the company of the Mimosa-Inahj couple.

“Is it something we said?” Kooki asked.

“They don’t trust us. At least, they don’t trust me. You and Zakath were the only reason I didn’t slaughter the lot of them the second we got off the Conqueror,” the ex-Imperial responded.

“You have changed, babe. Atty herself said that. When I met you, you were headstrong and proud of your Imperial heritage. Being a father has softened you,” the Alderaanian said, smiling at her husband.

“Master, if I could just interrupt?” Vithrian interjected suddenly.

“What’s going on, boy? Are the survivors from the Lobster aboard?”

“Yes. But there’s a problem. The new arrival, a Lady Rohana, tells me that she sensed great suffering aboard her Clan’s flagship,” the Miraluka continued.

Andrelious wasted no time, and targetted the Last Stand. He frowned as he read that its shields had failed and its hull was severely weakened. A quick glance at another monitor indicated that the O’reenian fleet, heavily depleted though it was, was moving in to finish the Odan-Urr ship off.

“Tell the Jedi that their flagship is doomed. I’m taking us back to the Invicta. No arguments,” the Warlord ordered. Vithrian headed off to obey his Master’s command.

The ex-Imperial undocked from the Lobster. He quickly analysed the sensor readouts, his Imperial training telling him that the Invicta was indeed the safest place.

The battle was reaching its climax. Andrelious found that he had to pick his way through debris from all kinds of ship, even having to swerve suddenly to avoid a large chunk of Star Destroyer hull. As he flew through the area, he took a few pot shots at any O’reenian fighter unfortunate enough to fly in front of his shuttle’s sights.

“Invicta, we’re about to land. Please open your hangar bay doors,” Kooki broadcast as the large mass of the Arconan flagship loomed close. Again, there was no response. Its crew were too busy finishing off an O’reenian cruiser.

Nearby, the Last Stand had warded off its attackers, but was in no shape to go anywhere. Its hull was breached in several places, leaving the telltale sign of burning, venting atmosphere. Andrelious already knew that it was unlikely to be salvageable.

Cutting the throttle to near zero, the Arconan Warlord felt the ship jolt slightly as it was caught by the Invicta’s guidance tractor beam. As usual, it began to drag the shuttle in gently.

At that point, the shuttle shook violently. Alarms began to sound, accompanied by several red lights on the control panel.

“What the frak is that?” Kooki yelled, having nearly jumped out of her skin.

“Seems an enemy fighter managed to fire a torpedo at the Invicta’s tractor beam. It’s been overloaded and is pulling us in too fast!!” Andrelious screamed, fighting with the controls in a desperate attempt to break free.

“Invicta, we’re coming in fast!” the Priestess warned, feeling the ship start to speed up again. Her husband was still trying to abort the landing procedure, but was apparently having no luck.

-x-

“The team led by Lord Mimosa-Inahj are caught in our malfunctioning tractor beam, Lady Consul,” a bridge officer stated solemnly.

“Shut it down! Ashla and Bogan, SHUT IT DOWN!” Atyiru ordered, already fearing the worst.

“They’re coming in hot! Get a rescue crew to the main hangar bay! Now!” Ban Quell demanded.

-x-

“Get to the back of the ship. I’m going to have to crash us!” Andrelious declared, shunting what power he could to the deflector shields. Kooki didn’t argue and leapt out of the co-pilot’s seat, joining the others, who had heard everything, in the rear of the ship.

Now alone, the Sith gripped the controls of the shuttle tightly. He had been trained for this scenario, but only in a TIE starfighter. And he was flying something far larger.

“Arcona Invicta!” he cried, closing his eyes.

-x-

The shuttle smashed into the magcon field, crashing a few feet beyond it. As it collided with the floor of the Invicta’s hangar, it continued sliding onwards, even as its emergency braking thrusters engaged. The rescue crew waited at the far end of the hangar as the carnage erupted before them. Cargo containers spilled their contents everywhere, much of it becoming ignited as the shuttle’s fuel tank soaked everything in starship fuel. In no time, the hangar became a blazing inferno as the shuttle ground to a halt after smashing into a bulkhead.

The commander of the rescue crew stepped gingerly forward, guiding her men to start putting out the fire.

The shuttle’s hatch opened from the inside, revealing a hurt and tired looking Andrelious, flanked by his Arconan and Urrite teammates. The rescue crew’s leader nodded a quick greeting. She hadn’t expected to find Andrelious, a known Jedi hater, in such company.

“Welcome home, my Lords,” the woman declared.

“Lieutenant. Prepare the medical bay. We have injuries. We’ll also need to arrange for the return of the lightie bas-our Jedi friends here. Oh, and one other thing,” the ex-Rollmaster stated.

“What’s that, my Lord?”

“Tell Quell not to let Atty touch the tractor beam again,” Andrelious quipped.