Raptor Squad: Episode VIII: Operation Windfall/Part 2

“You look good...just like a traveling magician,” Vic said. In front of him Baal stood, adorned in a costume of garish silk sashes and trinkets. Deuce stood behind him, as Perfo finished stitching up a seam on her similar brightly colored outfit. “This isn’t going to work and I feel like a fool,” Baal snarled. “Sure it will,” Vic said around a needle he had clutched in his teeth, “the Imps will think you and Deuce are lost entertainers and that was your ship that went down. We’ll ambush the stormie hunting party, get some uniforms and walk into the garrison like it was a Celanon marketplace.” “What if they imprison us? I do not like the thought of that…” “They won’t imprison you,  they might hold you for some questions, by the time they figure out you are lying your tail off we will be bugging out…at that point you and Deuce just kill your captors and…” “Kill?” Ball asked. Vic looked up from the hem of Baal’s baggy purple silk pants. “Baal…these aren’t some swoop scum out for a good time….these are Imperials, it’s very likely that we are going to have to kill a few people on your way out of there.” Baal wrinkled his nose at the idea but remained silent, crossing his arms in defiance. Deuce, from behind, snickered. “Don’t worry Vic, if the big lug has a problem relieving some Imps of their heads, I’ll take care of it,” she said, smiling evilly. Perfo stepped back and inspected his handiwork. “The Imps normally drop off several creatures and hunt them for a few hours for sport,” he said, adjusting Deuces bright Gold lame’ collar, “We will hit them shortly after they set out…at a small creek they normally use to get ahead of their prey.” “Perfect….lets get you guys out of these monkey-lizard outfits and get em’ stowed till we need em. We head out in an hour,” Vic said, looking out into the gray, wet De’Jer prime dawn. ==2== Klux hunkered down into the cold wet bush. The temperate climate of De’Jer prime had turned and what was once just a wet muggy morning had turned into a cool wet muggy morning. He gripped the wet Firelance rifle in his hands and calmed his breathing. Da’Jonys voice drifted to him across the span of time and space. “A Jedi does not let his surroundings control him, rather he controls himself and his surroundings become immaterial,” he once said. Klux let his muscles relax and felt a soothing calm come over him. In front of him, in a swelled creek bed, he could just make out a small hump in the water that was Vic’s helmet before it disappeared completely. The team had set up along both sides of the creek for the ambush. Less than a half an hour earlier they had watched the Imperials unload a number of large saurian creatures with remote collars and set them loose in the jungle. They had arrived at this position and picked ambush spots; Baal on one side of the large creek, Vic, A’sok and Perfo in the creek and he and Deuce on the other side. And Rontak? They had just told him that Rontak would be around…and Klux didn’t question it. “The only thing you need to know, is if you hear ‘RONTAK’ in your headset, drop!” Perfo had told him over breakfast. Klux got ready. They would hit the unit of stormies as they crossed the river. Several fat raindrops fell from the bush above Klux and slithered down the neck of his camo poncho. He would be surprised if the stormies could even see in this mess. The morning showers had grown worse and a fog had come up, covering much of the jungle in a misty haze. He began to let his mind wander, thinking about something Da’Jonny had said about weather control… Movement. Directly across and above where Klux sat. He gripped his rifle and noticed ghostly white figures silently making their way down a worn muddy path towards the creek. They were moving slowly, picking their way carefully along the hazardous trail. Klux couldn’t see Baal but knew his team mate was somewhere on the other side, waiting for his opportunity. The stormies must have been talking but the rain drowned out any sounds. Vague gestures and head movements told Klux enough. However... He let his emotion drain and opened himself up to the force. It came slowly, but it was there. The first thing he felt was excitement and apprehension…this from Vic and A’sok in the creek bed. Then, just faintly, he received a feeling from one of the troopers. Bored, tired, but still full of aggression; a random feeling of distrust and anger towards anything and everything. Klux then realized that he was picking up the surface feelings of other troopers as well. They were out to kill, for no other reason than because it was something to do. Not because they needed food, or because they were in danger. Anger sparked in Klux but he shut it out. The squad was almost to the river now. With grim determination he slowly brought the weapon up into his shoulder and waited. They had just waded into the creek bed, keeping the rifles at chest level. Soon…very soon… Vic exploded from the water behind the trooper. With the vibroblade humming in his right hand, he grabbed the startled trooper from behind and brought it slicing down towards the troopers exposed neck. Then the trooper did two things. Dropped his head so his helmet concealed his neck and brought his rifle up to block the deadly weapon. Vic’s forearm clashed against the trooper’s and the next thing he knew the trooper was firing his left elbow into his ribs. This was going to get messy. Water rushed around A’sok’s ears. He had been sitting in wait for nearly 4 minutes and was going to be running out of air soon He readied the vibroblade in his hand. It was an awkward clumsy weapon that didn’t feel totally natural when held. He felt the water close to his stir and realized it was time. Vic should have his trooper down by now. A’sok moved to spring up from the water, but his boot became lodged under a rock and he barely broke the surface. The trooper directly above him spun. Having turned to fire towards Vic and his teammate, the Imperial was caught off guard and luckily, had his weapon pointed away. As the white clad stormie turned his full attention to A’sok, A’sok lunged with all of his energy and blindly thrust the vibroblade into the back of the trooper’s thigh. White armor split and the blade dove deep, a geyser of red exploding from the wound. The trooper reared back in pain but never dropped his weapon. A’sok, still struggling in the creek had just enough time to cover his face when the trooper jammed the barrel of his rifle into his forehead… Red flashed brilliantly in the misty dawn. Baal had leapt from where he had been hiding and had dispatched two troopers with a vicious martial arts nerve punch, rendering them unconscious inside of mere seconds. He now stood on the slick trail, watching the drama unfold in the creek bed. Below him, Vic was entangled in a life and death battle with a stormie. Both were grappling, but the outlaw looked like he was going to prevail…despite several missed attempts to plunge the deadly vibroblade into the soldier’s larynx. A’sok however was another story. He was just coming up and about when the stormie turned on him. Baal was moving before he realized what was happening. The stormie jerked harshly in one direction, his blaster slipping from A’soks wet forehead. Baal could feel Klux pulling the trooper in one direction with the force, a move that had saved A’soks life. A blaster bolt screamed from the barrel and sizzled into the water a mere meter away from its target. Baal then reached out with the force, jerking the trooper from the water and lifting him skyward. The startled trooper hung suspended above A’sok for mere seconds. To A’sok it felt like an eternity. Things seemed to slow down; the trooper hanging there, Vic off to his right plunging the vibroblade deep into his targets throat, Klux emerging from the underbrush opposite of him, having shouldered his Firelance and hand reached out towards the suspended trooper. Blood dripped from the trooper’s leg and fell along with the rain from the jungle canopy…both spattered against A’soks face. Then the blaster bolt hit. It wasn’t an ordinary blaster bolt. The rifle it came from was developed on a planet that took extra special pride in their weapons. A series of focusing crystals enhanced its accuracy while never jeopardizing its power. The bolt would be equivalent to several standard blaster bolts. A’sok knew this because it was all Perfo and Vic talked about over rations the night before. It was a bolt from a rifle handled by Rontak, possibly the deadliest sniper in the Rebellion. Armor exploded and the trooper jerked back, arms flailing out to his side and going limp. A’sok wished it was only armor that rained down on him but it wasn’t. Gore fell around him in clumps, great charred pieces of flesh and charred plasteel dropped into the surrounding water in a grisly downpour. He had just enough presence of mind to dive out of the way as the body splashed heavily into the water, sending up a crimson wave and resurfacing several meters downstream. Silence fell across the creek. Stormtrooper corpses lay everywhere and a sick stench of blood and burned flesh mixed with the morning mist. A’sok thought he was going to be sick. The orangeish blaster bolt struck the suspended stormie. Baal’s eyes flew open and horror gripped him. A wave of pain and anguish hit him in the chest like a physical blow. The seven foot tall cat stepped back and shut his mind out to the silent scream. This wasn’t supposed to happen…he had planned the entire scenario in a nanosecond in his mind. The stormie was supposed to be dropped back onto the bank where Baal could have disarmed him and rendered him unconscious; instead he was literally torn apart by a lancing orange bolt of death... Baal felt sick, having made the stormie nothing more than an available target to the sniper who was hiding out in the woods somewhere. This was not what he was taught. This is not what the Trianni people were; ruthless killers who took opportunities to make others targets. Not a race who manipulated the force to be nothing more than a weapon of opportunity, a weapon of the dark side. “Beware the dark feelings Baal…they may well up and overtake you before you can stop them…and once they do, it is few who have ever made it back…” His father’s words from long ago echoed in his ears. He repressed the darkness that threatened to overtake him. “The sniper didn’t know…only did what he was trained to do…I won’t give in to anger...I wont be like him…like Grent…Greta...” he didn’t finish the sentence. He relaxed and opened his eyes and saw that things had resumed in the creek bed. ==3== “Tell me if there is any sort of special code or call sign I need when I report back in,” Vic said to the captured stormie. The tanned black haired man scowled up at the outlaw and spat. “I’ll tell you nothing you piece of trash…” Vic looked around. Perfo shook his head and shrugged. Baal and Klux had gone back down to the creek bed to clear out any evidence and the rest of the team was busy stripping armor from the corpses they had dragged from the water. “These stormies are tough, but I bet he will talk if I loosen a few of his teeth,” Deuce said stepping away from her corpse. “I’ll tell you nothing you blue freak!” the man snarled. “When the rest of my team…” Vic turned around and drew a blaster pistol from his hip holster. He checked the charge and walked over to the kneeling prisoner. The man didn’t flinch; instead a small smile crossed his lips. “What, you think waving a blaster at me is going to make me talk?” “No, I don’t,” Vic said and fired two blaster bolts into the mans face. Everyone stopped. Deuce’s snarl had been replaced with a look of surprise. Rontak watched Vic silently; Perfo turned away. Vic holstered the blaster and surveyed the area. “Let’s get these bodies stashed and get on with this thing,” he said, reaching down and grabbing the still twitching prisoner by the waistband.

The team picked their way towards the troop transport. Rain fell in sheets, periodically creating small waterfalls that poured through the thick jungle canopy. Vic and Perfo were in front, Klux and A’sok in the rear. All wore stormtrooper armor, with minor cosmetic changes masking the small tears in the throat and rib areas. Baal and Deuce were in the center of the group, dressed in their garish outfits pieced together from robes and clothing they had stowed on the Skull. The outfits were soaked now however, and both were miserable. It made the ruse all the more convincing. “We are damn lucky they had disabled their helmet comms or would have the entire garrison down on us,” Perfo said next to Vic. “Yeah, well, let’s just stick to the plan and maybe we’ll be able to walk away from this alive….well, some of us…” Vic replied as they entered the clearing. The transport sat a hundred meters away in the middle of a soaked clearing. The large Imperial Gray vehicle stood out like a sore thumb amidst the lush green vegetation that covered the jungle ground. As the group neared a squad of stormies appeared from the rear of the vehicle. An officer, sporting an orange shoulder pauldron, stepped up and addressed the group as it approached. “What’s going on here? We’ve been trying to raise you for over thirty minutes. And where is the rest of your squad?” Vic finally activated his helmet comm. His voice sounding foreign and strange as it emerged from his helmet. “Comms were down sir, we didn’t want to spook the creatures, that’s when…that’s when they attacked sir…” The officer jerked his head from Baal and Deuce back to Vic. “What!?!?”

“They attacked sir, the creatures we were hunting today...I don’t know what happened but they came out of nowhere...the control device,” Vic held up the now disabled black box, “was useless. I lost 4 men in the attack sir...there …there wasn’t much left of them.” No one said anything for a moment and the officer turned back to the other troopers. “Radio the garrison and let them know we lost some men,” then, turning back to Vic, “And what of these two? What is their story?” “We came across them earlier in the day sir…I had two men stationed to guard them, they were one of the reasons I was short handed when those creatures attacked. They claim to have crash landed sometime yesterday, part of a traveling magic act.” The info was almost too much for the officer. “Ok, look, get those prisoners secured on the transport, we are going to pull out of here, get back to the garrison and get a team together to come out and check for remains, and look for their ship,” he said gesturing towards Baal and Deuce.

Without missing a beat Vic nodded. “Yes sir,” he said and gestured the team towards the transport. The Imperial Garrison loomed into view less than twenty minutes later. A’sok tried not to fidget but the sight of the garrison almost floored the young hacker. He had heard stories about them before, had been on planets with them even, but had never seen one up close. Now that he had, he felt doom creep into his stomach. A thirty foot-high fence stretched around the complex. This would be charged with deadly electricity he thought. Beyond that a series of watchtowers and catwalks surrounded the building along the perimeter of the fence. The white armor of stormies could be seen walking back and forth. Several stopped and watched the vehicle as it approached. Moments later they were inside, moving slowly towards the actual garrison. It was imposing to say the least. Over a hundred meters high and bristling with weaponry, it was one of the most intimidating structures A’sok had laid his eyes on. “Good night…” he whispered, not aware that his voice came out a crackling hiss in the tight troop compartment. He guessed it was Vic’s head that swiveled around and just stared for a moment. A’sok realized the slip up and shrugged his shoulders. No one else seemed to notice. “I hope I don’t die today, I hope I don’t die today,” A’sok mouthed to himself as the transport passed through the heavy blast doors and into the vehicle bay. He looked to Deuce and saw that, while she was obviously cold and miserable, she was ready. Her strength astounded him and he drew some comfort from her resolve.

==4==

They climbed out into the impeccably clean dull gray of the vehicle bay. Aligned along each of the walls sat all varieties of Imperial transportation. Techs scurried around several speeder bikes while a group of scouts sat off to the side conversing. They had stepped into the dragons’ mouth, Vic thought, pushing the rising fear out of his gut. “Request permission to take these…creatures…to the detention block,” he said to the stormie officer, trying to inject as much disdain into his voice as he could muster. “Acknowledged, and report back at once…” but the man was cut off abruptly by the soft purr of a female’s voice. “Belay that order Sergeant.” The woman said. She was strikingly beautiful, with coal black hair pulled back in a severe ponytail. She wore a black leather jumpsuit with a steel breastplate and a chain mail sash that hung from her belt. A belt, Vic noticed, that had a lightsaber dangling from it. The white and blue saber hilt slapped easily against her thigh as she approached. Flanking her was two stormtroopers, but not your standard ground pounding troopers, Vic noticed. Bands of crimson ran across their shoulder pauldrons and he would swear that these stormies were slightly larger than any others in his group. “Mistress Darkmoon,” the officer replied, almost bowing, “Of course I will belay the order.” Nomi approached Baal and Deuce and stared at them for a long moment. Baal stiffened but tried not to look directly at her. Deuce simply tried to put on what Vic interpreted as an innocent look. “And what is…this?” she asked still staring up at Baal. Vic had a bad feeling creeping up his spine. If she had a lightsaber then she was a Jedi and if she was a Jedi…

“These are ‘entertainers’, apparently their ship crashed several kilometers away, we have yet to verify that,” the officer began. Nomi let her gaze linger for another moment and turned away, her ponytail swinging tightly around.

“Bring them both to Interrogation Room A-2,” she spat not breaking stride.

“Uh…we were going to take them to the detention block…” Vic heard himself say. Time stopped. Imperial stormies did not speak when not spoken to and they NEVER disputed an order. Vic’s slip had just closed the dragons’ mouth.

Nomi stopped and turned slowly. Her eyebrow arched upwards and she slowly strode over to Vic. He straightened up and kept his helmet straight, trying not to look her in the eye, even though the tinted eyepieces insured she couldn’t see what he was looking at anyway.

“And you would be…”

“Trooper 1138.”

“And you are in command of this squad?” she asked, gesturing to A’sok, Klux, Perfo and a few others. “That is correct.”

“And I take it you have completed all of your required Imperial Protocol training?” she hissed.

“Yes.”

She stared at him for a long moment, never blinking. Vic felt sweat trickled from his brow and weave its way down the side of his face and along the collar of his bodysuit. Nomi suddenly sank a well-manicured hand into the top of his torso armor and jerked him forward. Her face was pressed almost against his helmet and her breath fogged up his optical lenses as she spoke. “You obviously haven’t learned well enough! You and your men will report for re-conditioning at once!” she screamed, her ruby lips turning into a snarl. She pushed him off and Vic just barely retained his balance. With that, she spun and stormed off. The officer tilted his heads towards Vic but didn’t say anything. Baal and Deuce were led off by Nomi’s personal guard while Vic and the rest of the team marched off in the opposite direction.

Ditching the rest of the group was a snap and soon Vic, Perfo, Klux and A’sok were on their own. Perfo led the way, having smuggled a hard copy of the garrison’s layout in with him. They were in an abandoned hallway, lit by dull white lights and void of any sound other than the clacking of their boot heels. “Ok,” Perfo said turning to the team, “The computer room is at the end of this hallway, and then go right. It’s the first door on your right. I’ll stay out here and cover you guys…” “What about Baal and Deuce?” Vic asked, checking the charge on his blaster rifle. “We’ll get them on the way out…we are almost through with this operation…we got in here, now we just need A’sok to grab the plans for the experimental shield generator and we are out of here…” They split up with A’sok taking the lead. Rounding the corner they stood staring down another deserted hallway. To their right was a nondescript gray door set into the wall. A’sok slid a passkey into the slot and the door slid upwards. With a final look over his shoulder to Klux and Vic he walked into the room. Klux felt something was wrong a mere instant before A’sok entered the room. It was a light feeling of unrest, but it was there. He was about to open his mouth when the siren went off. A’sok had just passed through the doorway and froze. Beyond him two techs were seated at a large computer console with another already making his way towards the door.

“Warning! Intruder Alert! A Non-Human life form has…” the loud metallic voice rang out in the hallway. Klux quickly brought his blaster up to the intercom located directly above the door. One shot took it out, blowing it into sparking chunks.

A’sok was already moving. The tech that had stood facing him had now turned and was about to make for a gun belt slung over a nearby chair. A’sok brought a blaster pistol from out of nowhere and emptied a blaster bolt into the back of the mans head. The body jerked and fell, collapsing to the ground at the foot of the console. Vic shot past him and instantly rendered the remaining techs unconscious. A’sok thought he had merely grabbed the men by the neck but apparently he had tapped some sort of nerve and their limp bodies slumped to the ground.

“Klux! Seal the door and keep a look out,” Vic snapped. A’sok had already produced his laptop from under his armors chest plate and had jacked into the main system. “This is gonna take a minute,” he said as his fingers played across the keyboard. Imperial firewalls and security screens began to appear but A’sok neutralized them just as quickly. From behind him came Vic’s voice, foreign and metallic. “Hurry, I have a feeling that Jedi-woman we ran into wasn’t going to offer Baal and Deuce a fruit basket just for showing up.”

==5==

Somewhere behind him Deuce lay subdued. Baal could hear her ragged breathing, coming out now in short gasps. He continued to lay on the gurney, his large bulging arms strapped down by leather restraints. He could easily use the force to break his binds, but curiosity and discipline kept him calm. This Nomi person was an enemy, one he needed to study further before he attacked. He shut his eyes against the bright overhead lights. The room was sterile and clean, a slight smell of sanitizing foam still lingering in the air. The walls were duracrete and painted a flat drab white color while the floor was tiled green, a small drain hole set into the center of the floor. If he stretched his senses he could just pick up the faint hint of Deuce’s blood where the interrogation droid had pierced the skin between her fingers. To her credit, she had told them nothing, standing by her story until she temporarily blacked out.

The door to his right slid open and he swiveled his eye towards it. Nomi walked in and motioned for her bodyguards to stand aside. “Well, since we got nothing but lies from your companion, I guess we will see how high your pain threshold is,” she said smiling. Baal watched as she produced a nasty looking vibroblade from her belt and tossed her black cloak over one shoulder.

“You may do what you wish, but I assure you, we are simple entertainers who…”

“Shut up!” she screamed, sounding almost like an angered little child. An angered little child who was trained in the force but not aware of its power, its true power…the light side. He saw her then as her master must have seen her: A spoiled childish brat who possessed enough power to be dangerous but not enough to be a threat. A mere pawn to be moved around a game board.

Baal remained quiet and she slowly began to circle the gurney. “I know what you are, and I know how powerful you think you are…” she began. She was behind him now and he felt her cold leather glove tracing a line across his scalp. “You think you are a Jedi…but…the Jedi...are dead….” Baal evened his breathing to a slow, consistent rhythm. The others would still be somewhere in the garrison and he had to buy them more time. To attack now would endanger him and Deuce….

“I answer to no one. You may make whatever assumptions you wish...”

Her face appeared from his left side, centimeters away. The thin steel of the vibroblade emerged between them and instantly hummed to life. Baal could feel its energy causing the hair on his face to rise. Her breath was warm and wormed its way into his fur, making him feel unclean.

“Oh you will answer to me Balthazar, or you will experience just how painful the dark side can be…”

“Got it!’ A’sok said and slapped his laptop shut. Several minutes had passed and Vic was growing more impatient by the second. “You sure?” he asked, heading for the door. “Positive,” A’sok said slipping the thin board up under his chest plate. “Now let’s get out and find Deuce and uh…uhh…” “Baal,” Vic said triggering the door. He felt somewhat better, now that they had actually downloaded the schematic, but this wasn’t over yet. A’sok always knew something could -and usually did - go wrong. Klux was outside covering the hall. He spun around, blaster at the ready when Vic and A’sok emerged. Vic sealed the door and they headed back from where they came. Rounding the corner they almost ran into each other. Five stormtroopers stood in the hallway in front of a generator room motioning up the hall. “Blast!” Klux snarled and gripped his carbine. Vic, who was in front of him turned slightly. “Quiet! Let’s play this cool…” he hissed, and with a military gait approached the gathering. One of the stormies was gesturing to the group as they approached. “…sent them to check the hallway. Well? Anything to report?” he said turning to Vic. Vic realized it was Perfo and shook his head. “Negative sir, that hallway is clean.” “Very well. The leaves only one other places the intruders could have gone,’ Perfo said motioning to the maintenance door. The trooper Perfo had been talking too nodded. “Agreed. Let’s split into groups and check out this room.” All eight entered the room and split into pairs. Vic was coupled with another Stormie, as was Perfo. As the four teams made their way through the cavernous generator room, Vic made a point to lead his partner deep near the core reactor. “I don’t think anyone has…” his partner began but never finished. Vic had plunged his vibroblade deep into the base of the mans skull and lightly took his body to the ground. Several drums sat nearby and Vic carefully took the trooper and stuffed him in one, sealing the top. He quickly returned to the main door and saw another trooper emerge a moment later alone. Vic made a subtle hand gesture the Ivory Brigade used to use when they were doing infiltration jobs. To a civilian it would look like the stormie was picking something from his shoulder, to an Ivory Brigade soldier it meant “all clear”. The other soldier responded with the same gesture. “We need to get out of here, where are Klux and A’sok?” Perfo asked, approaching Vic. Vic shrugged and was fishing his comm out when two troopers emerged. “Vic! Come on let’s get…” Klux began but Vic held a hand up. “Whoa pal, how did you know it was me?” Klux smiled and shrugged. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you…now come on those other two stormies are still patrolling back by the cooling coils.” Moving quickly now, all four exited the room and headed back towards the turbo lifts. “Why don’t you tell me Baal….tell me why you resist the dark side!” Nomi spat into his face. His muscles were bulging now and his vision blurred. Anger was quickly consuming him and he fought it back, but just barely. Nomi’s taunts and attacks bored into him. Her arrogance, cynicism and brutality were all products of the dark side and as tangible to him as a blaster or vibroblade. A trickle of blood matted under his eye where she had slowly brought the vibroblade across his muzzle. “Go eat sith,” Baal spat back at her, snarling. Anger turned what would normally be a beautiful face into a distorted and gruesome mask of rage. “Fine! If you won’t talk then I’ll just kill your girlfriend, we’ll see how much your tongue loosens after that!” she screamed and turned towards Deuce, igniting her lightsaber’s crimson blade. Sorry Vic, Baal thought to himself and summoned all of the strength he could. He forced all negative thoughts from his mind and a calm serenity settled over him. He had no idea the restraints snapped until he heard them. His bright green eyes flashed open and he was up and on the ground, landing a solid kick to the nearest trooper without making so much as a sound. Nomi had spun and was already screaming orders at the remaining trooper. “Secure him!” was all she managed to get out before Baal landed a shot to the mans solar plexus, crunching armor and dropping the stormie to the ground. Baal rose up to his full height of 7’plus and stared daggers at Nomi. “You will release us now I think, you dark corrupt child.” He went to take a step forward but Nomi switched her lightsaber to her left hand and brought her right hand up in a flash as something on her palm glowed to life. Baal felt his body literally rise from the ground and go crashing into the wall behind him. Wave after wave of pressure slammed against him, keeping him at bay. He fought against it but every movement was a struggle. “You silly creature, did you really think the only thing I was armed with was a simple lightsaber?” she laughed. The turbolift doors opened and revealed another eight stormies. A’sok was behind Vic and just caught himself before he let a string of expletives gush from his mouth. Somewhere, up above them Deuce was fighting for her life. Hell, she might be dead by now; he thought to himself and felt anger rising up like bile in his throat. If she was dead, he was going to paint this entire garrison with Imperial blood...he swore it. In front of him Vic was running a scam on the newly arrived detail. “…have potential intruders. You four come with us, you four guard these turbolifts,” he heard Vic say. The stormies seemed to buy it and they were once again heading back up the hallway. But what about when they found the bodies Vic and Perfo left in the maintenance room? What if they take them back for debriefing? A’sok’s mind reeled at the possibilities and he tightened his grip on his blaster carbine and let the image of Deuce return to his mind. The curve of her face, the way her eyes danced with a mischievous light when she was making a joke. All of these things calmed him and steeled his resolve. They entered the maintenance room. The detail fanned out and they all now stood shoulder to shoulder facing the maze of pipes and wiring and ventilation ducts that sat roaring in front of them. One of the stormies stepped away from the group and turned. A’sok realized it wasn’t one of his team. “I suggest we split up…” he heard the man say. His stomach dropped, but before anyone could object, the two stormies they had lost in the room moments earlier rounded a series of large square steam exchangers. “Imposters!!!” He heard Vic scream and the outlaw raised his blaster rifle and began unloading. All of the detail took his cue and suddenly, the room was full of red blaster bolts slamming ruthlessly into the two stormies, who never had a chance. Every trooper had fired at least eight shots before they stopped, leaving two burning corpses crumpled at the base of the exchangers. No one said anything for a moment. Then the stormie who proposed the search looked at Vic, at the corpses and back at Vic. “Who did you say your commanding officer was?” he said. Vic looked from the corpses to the stormie and towards Klux and A’sok who were standing next to each other. “Run” he calmly said and broke into a mad sprint for the door. The stormies, caught off guard, did nothing. They were out the door and sprinting down the hall before they heard the first sounds of blaster fire erupt from the room. They rounded the corner into the other 4 troopers, still standing guard at the turbolift. Vic ran up to the closest and grabbed him by the shoulder. “We’ve got imposters! Come on son lets go!” he screamed and practically threw the trooper into the hallway. The remaining detail, pumped up on adrenaline and looking for action after months of hunting complacent beasts sprinted up the hallway towards the maintenance room. A’sok, Vic and Klux fell in behind them just in time to see Perfo, without his helmet, come skittering out of the maintenance room, spraying blaster fire from right to left. The 4 stormies were just raising their rifles to fire when Vic and Klux began to fire. A’sok picked his target and unloaded into the trooper, sending several crimson bolts directly into the base of his spine. “Let’s get the hell out of this place!” Perfo screamed, diving over the crumpled corpses and racing past them, headed for the turbolift. A’sok followed suit and soon they were rocketing upwards. Then the base alarms began to wail. The waves of gravity hammered against Baal mercilessly. He fought to compose his mind but it wasn’t working. Mustering every muscle in his body he readied himself for one last attack. Nomi had closed with him and was just a meter away now. Anger, fury and pleasure contorted her face as Baal crouched towards the ground, seeming to shrinking right in front of her. “It hurt’s doesn’t it you mindless creature!??!” she screamed at him. Then he sprang. Almost too fast for her to even comprehend, all seven feet of the cat sprang forward, uncoiling his body in one last attempt at freedom. He slashed out with his claws and severed several fingers on her left hand. Blood sprayed form the severed digits and the lightsaber dropped to the ground, shutting down. “GAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed. Bewilderment and pain exploded on her face and she closed her eyes fighting back waves of nausea. Baal immediately took advantage of the situation and backhanded her to the ground. Nomi dropped unconscious to the tile floor as blood began to seep from her hand towards the drain in small crimson rivers. Baal was up and over to Deuce in a second. She was just coming around when he unstrapped her. “Can you move?” he asked. She nodded and he helped her to the ground, grabbing one of the stormies blaster rifles as they went. Then he stopped. Reaching down he scooped up Nomi’s lightsaber; it was too small for his large paw, but he felt the darkness that pulsed from within it. A buzzing in the back of his mind snapped him back and began growing louder. Someone was coming close, very close…. “Vic,” Ball muttered, and triggered the door. A meter away a door suddenly slid open and A’sok almost emptied his blaster into it. Stumbling out was Baal, clutching a lightsaber and Deuce, who looked like she had recently lost a fight with a Rancor, with a blaster rifle tucked into the bloodied silk of her shirt. He and the others sprinted up to them. He grabbed Deuce under the arm and pulled her close. “Are you ok?” he asked, his voice coming from the helmet a mechanical rasp. Her face twisted in anger and then softened. “Oh, A’sok….yeah, I’m ok…come on, let’s get out of here…” The team was moving quickly and had almost reached the vehicle bay. They encountered little resistance and what they did encounter were merely techies who scurried out of their way. Vic, up ahead, suddenly stopped and turned towards Perfo. A’sok wasn’t sure what they said but Vic grabbed a bag Perfo had been carrying and sprinted off an adjacent hallway. “Where the hell is he going?” he hissed at Perfo, who continued moving. Perfo didn’t stop but just yelled back over his shoulder, “you’ll see…heh…” They reached the vehicle bay and Perfo was already heading towards an Ubrikkian skiff. Several techs and a few scout troopers were in the bay and opened fire, but were no match for Klux, A’sok and Perfo. The repulsor engine roared to life and Perfo brought the large machine up and around. “Get in!” he screamed and the team began to scramble aboard. Vic appeared from the hallway and sprinted madly for the skiff. As he leapt aboard, A’sok heard a loud roar erupt from somewhere in the garrison. Vic spun around, his face a mask of intensity. “Keep your heads down!” he screamed and the Skiff rocketed from the bay. They had just cleared the blast doors when everything around them began to shake. While everyone else strapped into the skiff, A’sok spun around to see what the commotion was. Fire and debris exploded from the tie-fighter launch chutes on top of the garrison. The sensor tower, a structure that reached far and above the installation, began to collapse in on itself. The Imperial Garrison was effectively exploding from the inside out. Somewhere in the skiff he heard Vic snickering.

“Remind me to pack more Thermal Wells on the next mission,” the outlaw said. A’sok was so busy watching the raw carnage he never saw the repulsormine that went off nearby, causing the skiff to jerk violently. He heard a woman scream...Deuce? The he was airborne. As his body turned he waited for the impact of the wet ground. More than likely his neck would snap and he would die instantly. It was over quick. Warmth wrapped around him and the next thing he knew he was being hauled back to the skiff. As he soared through the air he realized that Baal had him clutched tightly and the crazy cat was latched to the skiff by a length of bungee cord. As they Collapsed back into the skiff Perfo spun the machine around and they were heading backwards at a ridiculous speed. Vic was manning a heavy repeating blaster on the back now and blowing a large hole in the death fence. He had come crashing down on a crate when he landed but Deuce was quickly next to him, pulling a restraining strap around his waist. Something warm and wet dripped down onto his neck and darkness moved along the edges of his vision. “Lay there, we are gonna be out of here soon,” she said and dipped her head close to his as they shot through the hole in the death fence. When she rose A’sok saw her grit her teeth and fire several rounds over his head. He didn’t need to see to know what was out there; speederbikes. And something else…an unmistakable whine of a single Tie Fighter. It was the last thing A’sok heard before darkness took him. “We’ve got company! Turn this mother around Perfo!” Vic screamed and let loose with another blast from the HRB. Perfo hit the brakes and jerked the controls, sending the skiff in an angle it wasn’t meant for. Everyone tilted, and Vic’s grip went white on the cannon. As Perfo straightened out, two speederbikes appeared behind them and sped ahead, closing the gap. Vic let loose with several more bolts, one catching the lead bike and causing it to spin uncontrollably, plunging into a large tree. He was about to draw a bead on another when a large bolt of green death erupted from the jungle canopy and exploded into the foliage just a few meters away. “HOLY MOTHER!” Vic shouted and he heard the whine of the skiffs repulsors as Perfo jerked the large machine hard to port. Had he not been strapped in Vic would have been slung form the vehicle. Turning, he was about to scream instructions when he saw the last thing he wanted to see in a situation like this. A large clearing, up ahead, and devoid of any tree cover. “Frell….” He murmured and turned back to the advancing speederbike. He wasn’t sure if it was luck or maybe one of his Jedi friends giving an assist but the speederbike seemed to slow a bit. Vic was able to pull off another shot and landed it right under the bike’s stabilizer, sending it into a mad spin. Vic didn’t waste time to see what happened. “We’ve got a tie on us Perfo!” he screamed but his voice was lost in the whine of the skiff’s engine. With nothing left to loose, Vic snatched his comm, hoping the droids on the ‘Skull had been monitoring the secret frequency… Hell was breaking out all around Klux. Perfo was gripping the controls of the skiff and staring intently ahead. Vic was in the rear, causing as much damage as he possibly could. Deuce was crouched over A’sok, shielding his body and, subsequently, his laptop with her small frame. And now a Tie Fighter was about to bear down on them and blow them from the face of the planet. Calming himself he reached into the stormtrooper uniform he still wore and produced his lightsaber. Next to him Baal, who had been watching the jungle roar by at over 100km per hour turned a wet muzzle towards Klux. They locked eyes for a moment and the large cat drew up and pulled out Nomi’s saber. Klux triggered his to life, its blue blade snapping alive in his hands. He could feel its power, its energy coursing through his hands. Next to him Baal did the same thing, rain smacking and hissing against the glowing red blade. Both were at one with the force. It flowed between them, almost a tangible thing. Time seemed to slow, and Klux saw things not as material objects, not as crude matter, but as living energy, as a life force that existed not only in the skiff but everywhere, all at once…he could feel it and, through his mind, could almost…almost control it. The skiff broke into the clearing and the Tie Fighter was waiting, clearing the jungle’s roof and bearing down on them. Two large bolts of light lanced from it towards Baal and Klux. Klux was not worried. Baal’s life force was glowing as brightly as his and, in one smooth motion the two Jedi brought their lightsabers up and together at the same time, crossing them. One green bolt exploded into the ground next to the skiff. The other lanced directly at the point where the two glowing lightsabers converged. The bolt hit and sparks exploded into the skiff; the bolt, repelled by the power of the Jedi, shot off harmlessly into space and away from the skiff. “Crap…” Vic managed. Both of the Jedi had been knocked back into the skiff but they were still very much alive. Vic comm barked to life in his hands. “Hello! Hello!’ Ten Spots voice crackled across. The tie fighter had dipped and pulled up and was in a roll, heading back around for another pass. “Ten Spot! Draw a bead on our location and...” “Uh, there is someone here…” Vic stopped, confused. “What?” he screamed, covering his ear and keeping an eye on the Tie Fighter. The edge of the clearing was racing towards them, a sheer drop off several thousand meters followed. “He wants me to tell you something...” “What? Who? What does he want?” Vic screamed, wondering who had infiltrated the ship… Imperials? Pirates? “He said to tell you…what?...Oh, RONTAK!” Vic instinctively dropped to the floor of the skiff upon hearing the code word. Suddenly, in front of them, the Skullduggery rose into view like a phoenix. The Klattoonian was strapped to the loading ramp and opened fire with his sniper rifle, raining bolts of hot death towards the pursuing Tie. The pilot was not nearly as good a pilot as Rontak was a sniper and took two damaging shots to his starfighter before peeling off and retreating. Perfo swung the skiff around and brought it up into the cargo bay as somewhere in the ship droids worked manically to shut all of the access ports. Seconds later the ship leapt skyward and was gone. ==Epilogue== Darkness enveloped him. Somewhere, far away a dorger pig muzzled its way through some undergrowth. Calm lay across him like a gentle unseen hand and he wondered if he had ever felt such peace. The calm was disturbed. Before it even happened, before the agent of chaos was even set into motion his mind and body were moving in synch. The Galdda fruit reached him at the same time he brought his weapon up and his humming blue blade cleaved the red orb in half, then quarters sending four pieces sizzling to each side of him. In less time it takes to blink Klux had closed down the saber and shot a hand out, snatching one of the small slices as it whirled in the air. Popping the warm delicious fruit slice into his mouth he took off his blindfold and smiled widely at Vic and Baal who were watching him with a mixture of interest and amazement. “Nice pile Klux, but I’m not cleaning it up,” Baal said grinning. All around Klux charred slices of fruit lay. Not one of the Galdda fruit remained intact. “No need for any of us to.” As he approached Vic, an invisible wave lifted all of the fruit slices and gently dropped them over the landing pad and into the jungle below. “Neat trick, ya know, we could have made a pie,” Vic said, tossing one of the fruit into the air towards Baal who caught it between his large teeth and snapped it in half, grinning. Klux latched his weapon onto his belt and all headed for the Tierfon interior. “True, but there are easier ways to roast a Galdaa,” he replied slapping them both on the back. “Yeah, just like there is more than one way to skin a…” he stopped and smiled at Baal. “Nevermind.” They all burst into laughter that carried out into the quiet Tierfon evening. Dusk crept across the planet and A’sok watched with renewed interest. Sitting atop a large outcropping of rock above Tierfon Station’s landing bay, he watched as clouds rolled slowly overhead and the sky turn to a deep pink. Somewhere below him he heard his partners laughing. He smelled her before he saw her. A faint scent of berries and cream floated to him from behind. Deuce dropped next to him and didn’t say anything. They both just sat in comfortable silence watching the sky, much like they did just a few days before on De’Jer Prime. Seemed a lot longer now though, thought A’sok. But at least the view was more pleasant, and the circumstances. “It’s really beautiful right before evening,” she said in a soft voice. She was out of her armor now and dressed in a loose fitting green cotton sundress. Her aquamarine headtails curled easily across her shoulders and she wore soft nerfhide moccasins. A’sok shrugged. “There are more beautiful things on this planet I think,” he said, flashing her a small smile. Deuce snickered. Not a giggle, not a girlish titter that one might expect, but the kind of sound a woman made; a woman who had seen hardships, and would be called upon to do things other beings might not have the stomach for. Deadly things. The kind of things that stole away one innocence. Her smile faded and she turned to him. “A’sok, back on De’Jer, I hope you didn’t think I was using my…past…to guilt you or anything. I mean, that night, it was just…I hadn’t really talked to anyone in such a long time… and…” He put his hand on top of hers. Her skin was soft and surprisingly warm. “Deuce, you didn’t do anything but clear things up for a very confused hacker,” he said, turning fully to her. “When I set out on this mission, it was to see how much the Rebellion was willing to cough up for my skills. It was almost like a game some mindless kid would play. Now, well…now I see that there are more important things in this universe than a stack of credits. You helped me to see that.” She smiled and leaned next to him. Her body, strong and muscular, now seemed soft and pliant, conforming to the contours of his body. The quiet that wrapped around them was as comfortable as the climate and soon the sky had turned to a dark crimson. A thin strip of indigo creeping across the planet appeared on the distant horizon. “I know you can’t tell me what it was I downloaded,” he finally said, his mind wandering back to De’Jer prime momentarily. “I know it was some sort of schematic for an experimental shield generator…saw that much at the garrison…” “A’sok, I…” “It’s cool. Better I don’t know actually. I just hope that they go to help someone. I hope the Rebellion uses it for some good and it just doesn’t get lost in some folder on a desk somewhere...” “They don’t tell us much,” she said, looking up to him. The evening had turned a bit cooler and he could feel her tremble slightly under the sundress. “I asked Jax and he said the plans had something to do with a moon called “Endor” but couldn’t elaborate.” “Yeah, I wouldn’t expect any less from Jax,” he said laughing. He swallowed hard and tried to ready himself for what he knew he had to say. “Deuce, I know you won’t leave Vornskr Pack…they are like your family, and I would never even ask that of you. I know that given our lives, things between us…” She pulled back slightly, “A’sok, don’t….” “Hey, hey,” he said pulling her back to him. She faced him now and he could see tears welling up in the corners of her lavender eyes. “Look, its ok. It’s the life we are in, it just doesn’t make room for…well, hopeless romantics I guess,” he said, giving her a crooked smile. “Vic mentioned that we were going to be here for a few more days, then we were heading back to Garnib…” Deuce drew a thumb under her eyes and sniffled quietly. “Vornskr Pack is leaving in a few days too…we just, I wish there were more time… I’ve just only now realized how much I’ve stopped living and you…you changed that. You’ve given me something to live for, something more than just pointless revenge…” A’sok pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her aquamarine shoulders. “There’s never enough time Deuce. The only thing people like us can do is make time for the important things. And you’ve become more important to me than anything.” She melted next to him and laced her arms around his midsection. He held her close and they watched the sky give up its battle with the cloud of nightfall that marched across the planet. Stars appeared slowly, and soon millions lit up the black sky. The Rebellion, De’Jer Prime and the Empire were now just faint memories as they lay among the tall grass and stared skyward. There will always be light in darkness, A’sok thought to himself as he gathered Deuce into his arms and watched the stars shimmer above. Sometimes, you just have to look for it. THE END