Dawnbreaker Episode III/Part 3

CHAPTER 7: New brass...Pain in the ass

High Orbit of Yavin IV, Yavin System

Nearly a year has passed since the Terran Expeditionary Fleet came to this distant galaxy through a unique Quasar Jump Point, and became involved in a massive battle to determine the fate of the known universe. Since the battle, a similar Quasar was discovered in a system the locals call Yavin, and a supply line has been established. Though relief forces will be unavailable due to the continuing war with the Kilrathi Empire, the Expedition Fleet is no longer cut off from their own Galaxy.

Walking through the corridors of the TCS Excalibur, Lt. Cmdr. Christopher "Rattler" Johnson makes his way to the ship's lounge. Known as Pilot's Country, the lounge is a favorite hangout for pilots from both flight wings. As Alpha Wing, consisting of half the Excalibur's squadrons, were on standby for this shift or out on CAP, Pilot's Country was filled with people from Delta Wing. Getting himself a glass of fresh Orange Juice, which he was thankful came in one one of the first resupply transports, Chris sat down near the viewport and looked out at the forest covered moon of Yavin. He was thinking about that battle again. Something was bothering him about it. For one thing, that mysterious cloaked woman had disappeared without a trace. Where had she gone, and what was her role in the battle? It wasn't long before a sudden sense of foreboding came upon the Terran pilot.

"Hey Ratt man! Mags and Blaze are at it again!"

Shaking off the foreboding, Chris looked back at the pilot who called him by that nickname. Although his callsign was a reference to the Terran Rattlesnake, a few people would shorten it, making it sound more like a reference to a rodent. Lt. William "Psycho" English hiked a thumb towards the simulator in the corner, and the crowd around it. Getting up to see what was going on, although he had an idea already, he found Lts. Reanna "Mags" Wilkins and Sean "Blaze" Davis taking turns in the simulator, trying to outscore each other. And as usual, bets were being made as to who would win. Chris smiled at the sight. It was nice to see that things were somewhat back to normal since they came to this galaxy.

"So you are still unsure about the intentions of this so called 'Shadow Empire' or what caused the disappearance of the the 'Sith Empire'?"

An older man sat across from Captain Sasha O'Neill. She had met him only once before, when the Excalibur had officially made First Contact with the Cornerians. Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn regarded her report with minor interest. The TCS Concordia had escorted a supply convoy, and was here to oversee the construction of an outpost to act as a resupply base for the Expeditionary Fleet.

"That's what I said sir," O'Neill replied. "At some point after the battle, the Reborn True Sith Empire completely vanished as if they never existed. So far, it appears as though the Shadow Empire is moving in on the abandoned territory."

"And this, 'Gatekeeper', has no other name?"

"Not that we're aware of sir."

"With the political situation still an unknown, many are starting to question maintaining a presence in this new Galaxy. With the Kilrathi making a push in both Vega and Enigma Sectors, there are those in the Confederation Assembly that believe we should recall the Expedition to reinforce our efforts back home and not involve ourselves in 'foreign affairs'."

Captain O'Neill narrowed her eyes at the silent implication. Admiral Tolwyn had subtly hinted that she may have exposed the Confederation to new threats, and she did not like it.

"With all due respect sir, it may have only been a matter of time before one of those governments found us anyway. If we didn't come here, and they found us, we would be totally unprepared. Now, we have an idea of what to expect should they turn hostile. Also, this is a big galaxy sir. There are bound to be other powers that may be willing to help us without dragging us into their own conflicts."

Admiral Tolwyn stood up. "I must be getting back to the Concordia. I would appreciate it of you would send me all the tactical data you have on the local superpowers. I will see to it that the data makes it safely back to Confed when we ship out."

"Yes sir." O'Neill said as she stood up, giving the Admiral a salute. Tolwyn returned the salute, and walked out of the Captain's Office. As soon as she was sure Tolwyn was out of earshot, she cursed.

"Bastard doesn't even care. We went through hell to get here, and he makes it sound like we're on vacation," she snarled as she looked out the viewport. In the distance she could see the TCS Kyushu alongside her sister ship, and Admiral Tolwyn's command ship, the TCS Concordia. Normally, the sight of two Confederation class Dreadnoughts would have made her feel a little better, but not now. Now, she agreed with pilots about the Admiralty in general, and new Captains when they showed up in the middle of a mission.

"New Brass... Pain in the Ass."

CHAPTER 8: Who are you, exactly?

BASTION - IMPERIAL REMNANT CAPITAL

The peaceful skies above the Imperial Remnant capital of Bastion had thus been spared the arrival of any invading forces, which were still being held off in other places. A lone Super Star Destroyer did float menacingly in distance, the rest of home defense fleet scattered around the planet itself awaiting unwanted visitors, in case the SE decided to disturb that peace. The Admiral commanding the SSD had been alerted that a large vessel was to be arriving soon, but that it was friendly and not a threat. How large a vessel? He had been pondering the question during his long wait on the bridge. It had not been specified what to expect, but he didn't figure on the ship being that big. After all, the New Republic had never been able to present a ship large enough to contest an Executor Dreadnaught, which was what he himself was commanding. But the question of who it was, as it was obviously not Imperial, was perhaps his biggest curiosity. He'd have to wait and see...

Then out of a ripple in hyperspace, there it was. The Despair had arrived, directly across from the Super Star Destroyer, which found itself outsized and outgunned for the first time in it's existence.

On the vessel, while Remus stood patiently in the background, Admiral Reynolds, who had been transferred from her Vera previously, opened a line to Imperial Command: "Here we are. Awaiting instructions," she said as the ship's scanners picked up Grage's vessel entering the system.

The Remnant commander was shocked for a moment, never had he expected to see something larger than his own vessel. Realizing he still had a job to do, plus the entire home defense fleet to back him up in case of treachery, he calmed himself before replying Reynolds' message.

"The Council of the Moffs has been assembled and is awaiting your arrival planet-side." the admiral stated, not even bothering to introduce himself, "Unless you have objections, an escort will be sent to guide your shuttle to the capitol building."

Grage's VSD arrived rather unnoticed.

"Very well, but I will not be the one present," Patricia stated as Remus moved past her.

"I will be waiting in the hangar bay," Remus growled as he walked out the blast doors.

"Opening hangar doors now. Tell the escort it shouldn't be too hard to find. Port side, under the bridge," Patricia added.

"Very well." the admiral responded.

A small group of TIE Interceptors flew out to the Despair and hovered near the hangar, awaiting Remus's shuttle. At the same time, Grage's own shuttle had left his VSD, along with a few fighter escorts, and was already en route to the planet surface. Rather than getting a shuttle, they got a Clone Wars-era Jedi Starfighter, fully restored, with Remus piloting it.

"After you," he broadcasted.

The Interceptor pilots were a bit surprised both that this leader was piloting his own ship, and that his ship was a design that had been long obsolete. Regardless, they did their jobs, as two of the Interceptors took up position in front and two taking escort position on either side. Grage and Remus's ships both landed about the same time, as Remus's ship was faster which allowed it to make up for the head-start Grage's shuttle had. Remus was met on the platform by a husky officer with a pencil mustache and a monocle.

Opening the hatch of the Jedi Starfighter, Remus stepped out and greeted the officer and his escort, who were all significantly smaller than he was.

"Good afternoon," he said, his voice empty.

"Welcome to Bastion." the Imperial responded in heavily accented voice, which didn't seem to betray any sense of fear, "I'm Colonel Brojeck of the Capitol's security forces; I've been assigned to be your guide and see to your comfort during your stay here. The Council is expecting you; this way please."

The officer motioned politely toward a turbolift on the platform. Grage walked up at that moment, the rather thin and pale scientist appearing even smaller compared to Remus than Brojeck.

"Admiral Grage," he identified himself quickly, "the council will be expecting me as well."

"Yes, quite." Brojeck responded before repeating: "This way please."

Remus, nodding to acknowledge Grage, instantly recognizing him from the files he had read on him, followed Col. Brojeck with Grage in tow to the turbolift. As the turbolift took off, Remus suppressed many of the questions he felt like asking about the setup of the place, and instead looked up to see where they were heading.

After going several floors upward, the lift stopped and the door opened. Brojeck rapidly headed toward the conference room, not wanting to keep the Moffs waiting.

Remus followed, easily keeping pace with the Colonel.

Eventually they reached the meeting room, and Remus was ushered inside. The brightly-lit room featured a long table around which the Moffs sat and it had large windows on the opposite wall from the door. Stormtroopers and several Royal Guards were positioned around the room in stiff guard poses. As Remus entered, the Moffs rose to their feet at the urging of their chairman, a grey-haired human with a bushy mustache. He was first to speak.

"Greetings. I am Gilad Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Navy." he boomed, "I doubt you want to waste time with formalities or procedures, so I'll yield the floor to you so you may introduce yourself and get down to business."

Brojeck took position beside the door behind Remus. Remus, his dark purple eyes sweeping the Moffs in the room, straightened up.

"You are correct. Formalities are not my forte. My name is Remus Von Grath, Kamen of the Ekatra Order and Supreme Commander of Ekatra Sentinel, a large-scale military organization that has recently overthrown oppressive political leaders under my directive. I am here for many reasons, the most important of which is to stop the Shadow Empire," he said all at once, getting to his point quickly.

The Moffs looked at one-another. There was silence, as everyone expected Remus to elaborate further.

"You expect me to come in here and tell you of my intergalactic plans down to the finest detail?" Remus snapped, sensing what was on their minds before continuing. "As far as the Remnant is concerned, and I was waiting for Admiral Grage to arrive here before I spoke of this, but I grew interested in his experiments over the past year since the battle with the True Sith, and subsequently I have always viewed the Empire in a higher manner than other military factions, per say the Rebel Alliance and what is supposed to be a New Republic. So, when my spies brought information of the Shadow Empire's plan to my attention, naturally I couldn't resist getting involved," he said, his voice calice and cold.

"I see. If you'll forgive me a few questions, but where does your organization hail from?" Pellaeon inquired, "I'd assume from another galaxy, as we've never heard of you before."

Grage had slipped inside unnoticed during Remus's brief tirade and was standing in a corner.

"Yes. We are from Mudara. Prime's neighbor to the Northeast."

"So you must be very familiar with the SE then." one of the Moffs suggested.

"Yes, we have been ruining their lives for a long, long time. The Gatekeeper was once my apprentice, in fact," Remus recalled.

"Then no doubt you're organization is locked in a war for control of Mudara with the SE, much as we had been fighting the Republic, and now the SE, for this galaxy. I see that a military alliance between us would be most beneficial for both our causes." Pellaeon observed.

"I agree," Remus then added in a dark, mystical voice; "Wherever the Shadow Empire goes, we will follow..."

"I'm quite certain we'll be able to come up with a straightforward treaty declaring us allies." Pellaeon suggested, "But before we enter into that, I'm curious about your seeming connection with Admiral Grage."

Pellaeon noted Grage's presence in the corner of the room, and some of the Moffs finally took notice as well.

"I have always been intrigued by scientists who were never viewed as stable, myself being one of them," Remus began, not entirely sure how he was going to explain. "I first heard of Admiral Grage in the midst of the episode with the True Sith from last year. I learned about his Fury relics, and how he had developed them into energy weapons for his fleet's ships, similar but more primitive to the methods I used for my weapons many years ago. His methods, stability concerns, and obvious underappreciated value to his organization reminded me of me when I was..."

He stopped there, drawing a blank as to his age.

"What seems like forever ago," he deduced. "Back then, I was a scientist for a long-since dead military organization. I had developed our galaxy's first unique energy weapons that were not variations of lasers. But, like Grage, my work was mostly unappreciated. It was years before someone even offered to test them on a real ship, and by that time, we were in a war we could not win."

"My weapons were used as a last resort on a defense fleet over our research planet. At the time, they consumed a lot of energy, and quickly drained the ships of their reserves, but they worked marvelously. We held off the enemy for almost a week with them, and by that time, all of us had managed to escape to safer territory, but by then the war was over. We had lost. The survivors fled, and then my story truly begins..." Remus concluded.

"But why did I just tell you all this? Think: my encounters back then and Grage's of today are almost exactly alike. And that, Mr. Pellaeon, is why I became interested in Admiral Grage. He is heading down the same path that I went down, and look where I ended up."

Pellaeon, along with almost the entire council, appeared surprised at Remus's high opinion of Grage. The obscure scientist and naval officer had largely remained hidden during the years after the Empire's defeat at Endor. Although he had made some contributions, Imperial command had largely forgotten him. Only recently had Pellaeon allowed Grage to conduct his Fury experiments with official Imperial endorsement. He wasn't sure where to begin.

"There is no doubt Admiral Grage has been an asset to the Imperial war effort over the years." Pellaeon responded, "Although you must understand his research on the Fury relics was prohibited up until recently due to the very dangerous properties the original relics possessed. The Empire did not want a repeat of what happened when the Furies were first discovered."

"Regardless, I believe the man has potential. More potential than any of you realize," Remus stated bluntly.

From the corner of the room, Grage was trying to keep from smiling. Even if he still couldn't trust Remus, the praise he was being given was enough to inflate his pride.

"What would you suggest?" one of the Moffs asked, "From the sound of it, you must want Grage to be elevated to a higher post."

"He should be given more freedom within the Empire to conduct his research, refit his ships, and more freedoms in general," Remus stated. "I have no doubt that the man can be more than just a 'useful asset' to you, should he be given the chance. Now, what else is on the table for discussion while we are all here?"

"I can have a treaty drawn up to make an alliance between us official." Pellaeon suggested, "Outside of that, anything military is solely my jurisdiction, not the council's."

"That sounds ideal. After the treaty is drawn, where do we start? You've already lost much of your territory, and as I said before, the SE is coming here."

"After we sign, you and I can move immediately to discuss strategies. Do you have reinforcements available?"

Remus's eyes visibly glowed a little bit brighter at Pellaeon's last statement. "Yes. Plenty of reinforcements," he said.

As Remus and Palleaon continued their discussion, cloaked in a different corner of the room, opposite Grage, was an SE Sith Assassin sent to kill Gilad. As Remus and Gilad left the room separately, with the guards going after Remus, the Assassin crept up the stairs after Palleaon, who was organizing the draft of the treaty. Silently position himself to the side, he pressed a button on his visor, enabling a digital recording of what he was about to do, as proof of his success...

At that moment a pair of moffs walked into the room and confronted the Imperial Supreme Commander. "Pellaeon, you're far too trusting! This fella comes in here with a lot of flowery talk and you're already about to make an alliance with him, while we have no information on who he is or what his organization is." the first of the moffs, a short chubby man snapped.

"And we never were given the opportunity to vote on the creation of an alliance with these people." the second added.

"Gentlemen, I share your concerns." Pellaeon responded, "But may I remind you that SE forces are bearing down on the capitol at this very moment and our forces are far too outnumbered to stop them. There is no time to send inquiries to a distant galaxy."

The Assassin, although intrigued, had a job to do. He had been doing this type of work for 25 years, and he wasn't about to let a slight change of parties get in his way! Reaching in his pocket, he pulled his lightsaber, which was specially-crafted to be thin, easy to maneuver, and light: perfect for a Sith Assassin.

Deciding to take all three of them down at once and then escape through the window, the Assassin uncloaked and activated his lightsaber. Charging across the room, he had the three dead to rights.

Just as Gilad turned around and saw him, clearly seeing the SE symbol on his armor, he was upon them. But then out of nowhere came Remus, who caught the Sith in mid-air using the Force, and hurled him back over 10 yards against the wall, leaving a small indention. Activating his lightsaber, Remus stepped toward the Sith, who charged out of the corner like a caged animal. Going high, the Assassin swung for the Kamen's head, but Remus ducked, and the momentum turned the Sith around. Whirling around again, this time to cleave him in two, his momentum was overpowered by a single strike from Remus's saber, knocking the Sith sideways. In the same move, Remus managed to slice off both of the Assassin's hands, and then cleanly cut off his head.

As the corpse fell to the floor, Remus shut off and put away his saber, turned around to face Palleaon and the Moffs, and said, "I was just on my way to tell you that you had an infiltrator in here."

The two Moffs were frozen in shock. Pellaeon had a blaster drawn in his hand, although it would have been of little use.

"H-how did you know he was in here?" the chubby moff asked.

"I sensed him. Cloaked or not, it takes a powerful Force user to completely hide their scent," Remus replied, then bent over and snatched the Sith's SE badge from his chest.

"SE Sith Assassin. No doubt sent to kill you, Gilad. This proves my point. The SE only sends spies to places that they are scoping out for an invasion. And I doubt he's alone..."

Pellaeon nodded then looked at the moffs. "Return to the conference room; I'll be there in a few moments. I'm certain you won't be wanting to squander time any longer."

As the moffs left the room, Pellaeon hastily began drawing up a vague alliance treaty on a piece of flimsi.

"If there are other spies here, what would be the best way to deal with them?" he asked as he wrote, "You are more familiar with their tactics than we are."

"If you have any Force users left in your ranks, this would be a good time to put them to use," Remus suggested. "Even if they aren't powerful, all you need is their ability to sense. Force Sense goes right through most types of standard cloaking. But if you don't have any, I'd suggest equipping your patrols with ion weapons. Something about ion technology causes SE cloaks, the ones spies use, to short out when they come within about 30 yards or so. As for tactics... Each spy is different, but they are all the same. Standard spies who gather information tend to leave bugs all over the place. Frequently look behind your statues, paintings, and other related things to find them. Use scanners to your advantage," he added.

"And make sure no one goes anywhere alone," he finished, looking over Palleaon's shoulder at his work.

"Any Force-users we may have had are long gone now." Pellaeon sighed, "But we can see about getting search teams with proper equipment out there. I'll give the order to lock-down the building in the meantime."

Finally he finished writing.

"As much as I'd rather not waste time on them, I want to avoid trouble with the moffs, so we'll sign the treaty in the conference room."

"A shame..." Remus sighed, disappointment evident in his voice.

"Very well. After you."

Brojeck was standing outside, hand on his holstered blaster.

"The moffs looked like they had just seen a ghost when they came out. What went on in there?" he asked.

"SE Assassin." Pellaeon replied, "I want the building locked-down. Nobody leaves, understand?"

"Right-o."

Brojeck went the opposite direction down the hall as Pellaeon and Remus returned the conference room. Pellaeon went immediately to the head of the table and slapped the flimsi down.

"Our time is short, so there is little time for useless debate." he declared, "This treaty only establishes an immediate military alliance between our two governments. Any further agreements can be done when we've stabilized the front lines with the SE."

Most of the Moffs, although reluctant, nodded in acknowledgement. Some of the more stubborn ones simply remained seated in silence, but didn't voice any opposition. Pellaeon pulled out a pen and signed his name on the paper, before pushing it over to Remus, who signed it, and pushed it back to Pellaeon.

"With that done, there are affairs that require our immediate attention. SE Spies are here in this very building, so for your own safety, you will all be kept here until we lift the lockdown." Pellaeon stated.

"What?! You go and sign a treaty without a vote of approval and now you intend to hold us prisoner here?" one of the moffs snapped.

"There are SE agents here." said the fat moff who had been in the room with Pellaeon earlier.

"SE agents never travel alone. I can attest to it personally," Remus input.

"Like I said, for your own safety you'll be kept here." Pellaeon stated, "Now I must see to it that the spies are found."

Grage was still standing in the conference room as well.

"How will you do that?" an elderly moff asked from the front.

"I'd like to know how spies got in here in the first place!" another moff snapped.

Pellaeon shifted uneasily, knowing that time was being wasted. "I've declared a lockdown of the building. We'll have the guards comb every room for the presence of cloaked assassins." he stated, "But I cannot explain how the spies got here. I only have just been made aware of it today!"

The Moffs looked back and forth at each other, talking amongst themselves for a few moments. Remus, meanwhile, had had just about enough of the Moffs. They were reminding him of the former ES Senate. And, he too knowing that time was being wasted, spoke up: "I believe Gilad has more important things to worry about than stirring up trouble with you right now," he said, directed at the Moffs, who immediately turned to face him. "Surely you must realize that as you converse amongst yourselves, going on about whatever it is you're talking about over there, that SE forces are no doubt preparing their next attack on your territory? And I might add that the longer we sit here, the less time we are going to have to prepare ourselves for said attack!"

"This is not the time for politics! This is the time for action!" Remus snapped, his voice turning dark again.

"Then we should be allowed to return to our Sector Commands so we can command local defenses." a Moff suggested.

"By all means, go ahead... if you'd like to be assassinated by the spies!" Remus growled, frustrated with the Moffs already and he didn't know any of their names.

"Gentlemen, you can do nothing to help your sector defenses now!" Pellaeon said firmly, "SE forces have overrun our lines and many of your sectors are already completely in their control. Now, as chairman of this body and commander of the Imperial Military; I'm ordering all of you to remain here until it is safe for you to leave! That is all."

Pellaeon turned toward the door and looked at Remus.

"We have work to do, let's not waste anymore time."

Noticing Grage still standing silently in the corner he added: "Admiral, you're a military man, so you will be of help. You can come with us."

The Moffs collectively stared in disbelief at Pellaeon as he led Remus and Grage out the door. As they were walking, Remus spoke again: "Although I managed to save Grage and his forces from certain destruction, my forces were unable to get to the remaining outposts that the SE attacked. Apparently they ran into several ambushes, and had to turn back, indicating that the SE already has a strong presence at the perimeter of your territory," he said, "However, I do have a little bit of Intel on what is out there, and you're not gonna like it..."

"Give me it straight." Pellaeon said.

At that moment, Brojeck walked up and saluted.

"Building is locked down, sar!" he reported, "Further orders?"

"Organize well-armed squads and search the building thoroughly for any cloaked beings."

Pellaeon responded, then looked up at Remus, "You said Ion weapons work?"

"Ion weapons, yes," Remus said.

"As for the Intel, this is by no means a full report and is subject to change, obviously, but our scouts continuously reported run-ins with Titan Star Destroyers. Also, one of my Ekatra present on a ship felt a strong shift in the Force. He concluded that the SE has an abnormally powerful Sith Lord commanding their operations," he put bluntly.

"You heard." Pellaeon stated at Brojeck.

"Yes sar!"

As Brojeck turned and jogged back down the hall, Pellaeon replied to Remus. "They're clearly not messing around." he observed.

"No they are not. The fleet at Mygeeto was a diversion I suspect, and a good one, too. But they didn't expect me to show up. That forced them to change their plans, and probably adopt this heavy assault approach," Remus said as they continued walking.

"Where are going?" he suddenly asked, realizing he had no clue where Pellaeon was leading them.

"The command room; we can attempt to direct defenses and counter-attacks from there." Pellaeon replied, "I'd lead the forces in the field, but there are too many fronts to cover at once."

"Good idea. And my forces and jump in to your surviving systems to aid in the battles. We'll have to direct many fields at once, though. But with the SE forces containing Titan Star Destroyers, and no doubt other advanced ships, here's the million credit question: can your forces hold out until my reinforcements arrive?"

"It will vary location to location. We have some Super Star Destroyers in different places and have managed to hold some of the offensives back in those areas. But there are only a handful of them, and the rest of our fleet is spread thin. I'd suggest sending the reinforcements to the locations where our forces are weakest first, even if they are of lesser strategic value."

"That will do. And Admiral Grage?" Remus asked as they entered the room.

"At the moment he'll have to remain with us and offer strategic or tactical advice. But as soon as the imminent spy threat is lifted, I'd like to have him return to his research and produce more usable warships with his new weapon technologies. I'll make sure the Moffs approve an increase of funding for his experiments." Pellaeon replied.

Inside the room was a large holo-emitter around which a couple Imperial officers were standing. The holographic display showed Imperial forces locked in combat with an SE fleet somewhere in Remnant space.

"I can assist greatly with tactical support vs. the SE ships. I know them just as well as they do, if not better," Remus said, approaching the projector.

Looking at the display, he could tell that the Remnant was in trouble. They were outnumbered roughly 2-1, and he saw the familiar forms of two Titan Star Destroyers lurking in the back.

"Those are the Titans," he said, pointing at one of them just as it blew apart a corvette. "You can tell a Titan from an Allegiance because it has a hangar and is white, while the Allegiance is grey."

"One of them has already chewed through an Imperial Star Destroyer and several frigates." one of the officers said, still fixated on the scene.

The other officers turned to face Remus, the imposing being drawing some stares for a few moments. As Pellaeon and Grage walked up alongside, the officers returned their focus to the battle.

"What system is that?" Remus asked the officer who addressed him, disregarding the stares that he's dealt with all his life.

"This is above Kalee." the officer replied.

"Hmm... I think I can get someone in there... closest commander I have to Kalee is..." Remus began, then pulled his comlink - the only piece of technology he carried besides his lightsabers - and switched it to the Despair's channel.

"Admiral Reynolds," the female voice responded.

"Patricia, this is Remus. I'm going to use this line to keep in contact with you and issue orders," he said.

"Affirmative. What'cha need?" she asked.

"Send two Tier 6 Battle-Groups to Kalee immediately," Remus ordered. "As you wish," Patricia said, then abiding by ES procedure, hung up the line.

The officer glanced over at Remus, curious as to who he was and who he was commanding, as obviously the rest of the Remnant had not yet been informed about Remus or the ES.

"How's that?" he asked, "Who are you, exactly?"

That prompted Pellaeon to realize that Remnant forces should be briefed on the ES intervention.

"Send a message to all Imperial commands, naval forces bearing the colors of the Ekatra Sentinel are to be considered friendly." he ordered one of the other officers, "Make sure they are all aware that ES forces may enter their sector at any time."

"The colors are indigo, black, and gold," Remus added to Pellaeon, then turned to the officer.

"That is a conversation for another time. For now, I advise that your fleet take shelter within range of their largest ship and/or space station. SE Titan Captains are trained to reroute power to the weapons when they find a pack of enemies. The best way to survive is to get as close as possible."

As the officer hustled off to relay the message, Pellaeon shifted his gaze back to the holo-projector.

CHAPTER 9: Get us out of here!

DANTOOINE, IMPERIAL BASE

The Assailant quickly made his way through the corridors of the imperial facility on Dantooine. He had finally managed to slip away from Mardin for a few minutes, whose mood had worsened even more after the attack. The Assailant had to talk to Ty and Syren before they spoke to anyone else. One word from them, and he was as good as dead. The guards stood at attention as the Assailant entered the detention block. He approached the man in charge of security, who was sitting in front of multiple consoles, and asked him where the two prisoners were being kept. The officer pointed to a small video feed on one of the screens, showing Ty pacing back and forth in the small room, alone. "Cell B12." He replied.

"Where is the woman?" The Assailant asked, noticing that Syren was missing.

"Captain Tyris took her about an hour ago."

"Where did he take her?"

"I don't know, sir. Somewhere off planet. I'll bring up the orders." The officer pushed several buttons on his console, and a file appeared on screen, with orders from Grand Admiral Durren, to take Syren to a secret military base.

"What would they want from a bounty hunter like her?" The Assailant asked, more to himself than anyone.

"I don't know sir, it was not my place to ask."

"Never mind. I want to interrogate the man. Alone. Deactivate the security camera, and the microphone in that room."

"But sir-"

"Don't question my orders!" The Assailant snapped. "I want you to turn off the security camera. I trust I do not have to repeat myself?"

"No sir." Said the officer, as he complied. Without another word, the Assailant turned and walked down the hallway to cell B12. He typed in the key code, and stepped into the cell, closing the door behind him. His eyes moved to the camera on the corner of the ceiling, and he wondered whether or not it was actually deactivated. After a few seconds, the lights in the camera went dead, and the Assailant turned to Ty.

"Well?" the merc asked, glaring at the Assailant.

"Long story, no time, I'll explain later." Said the Assailant as he pulled a small object from his pocket, that had a timer and a few buttons on it. "This will open the door. Don't open it until the timer is out. After the timer is out, you'll have about 12 seconds to get out, close the door, and escape before anyone notices. There's a garbage chute about six feet down the hall, move the panel and slide down. I'll meet you down there, and we'll get out of here."

"And that's all there is to it?" Ty responded, as he took the object. "What about my companions?"

"Someone took Syren off planet without my authorization." The Assailant explained. "I have no idea where she went, but she was taken by some Grand Admiral named Durren. I have no idea what an Admiral from the empire would want with her." He said as he turned towards the door.

"What about Deek?" Ty asked.

The Assailant stopped. "Deek?"

"I suppose you never saw him. He's a Twi'lek mercenary who infiltrated the base with Syren and I. He was posing as a criminal while we were pretending to be Stormtroopers taking him in for questioning, but you weren't at your office at the time so we had to place him in one of the cells."

There was a brief silence, before the Assailant said. "I'll think of something." He opened the door and stepped out before turning back to Ty. "Remember, open the door as soon as the timer goes out, and I'll meet you downstairs." The cell door closed, leaving Ty alone in the cell again. The merc looked at the device, which had just over five hours remaining.

Five hours later...

Ty got to his feet and walked over to the cell door, holding the device in his hand and mentally counting down the seconds as they ticked off the clock. Those two minutes seemed to last forever, but the timer finally reached zero and the mercenary opened the door. The cell block was empty for the time being, but at any moment a guard or camera could spot him and sound the alarm. Looking around, he spotted the garbage chute the Assailant had mentioned. "Now how do I get the grate open?" he whispered to himself.

The Assailant was about to unlock the door to the trash compactor, when a voice from behind him said.

"Commander?"

The Assailant was so startled by the voice, he dropped the key card he was about to use to open the door. He turned around and placed his foot on the key card, hoping the officer hadn't noticed.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked the officer standing in front of him.

"The Admiral sent me to find you."

"You've found me, now what does the Admiral want?" The Assailant asked.

"He wanted to talk to you, and you weren't responding to your comm device."

Nosy bastard... The Assailant thought before answering. "I must have left it in my office. I'll meet the Admiral right away. You may go now."

The officer gave the Assailant a confused look.

"Sir, what-"

"I said, you were dismissed." The Assailant said angrily.

"Yes..Sir." The officer said as he turned and walked away.

The Assailant continued to watch him until he had disappeared around a corner. Sighing a breath of relief, the Assailant picked the key card off the floor and opened the door to the trash compactor.

After fumbling around the grate, Ty finally located a control panel off to one side. "You'd figure they'd make these a little easier to find." The merc muttered as he pushed the button to open it.

"Halt! You there!" a voice shouted.

Ty turned to see a pair of Stormtroopers standing at the entrance to the cell block, blasters pointed right at him. Not even giving them a chance to fire, the mercenary dove forward into the chute, landing on a pile of scrap moments later. "Damn, wish I still had my armor." Ty cursed as some of the metal tore into his skin, drawing blood.

The Assailant swore as he heard blaster fire and saw Ty fly down the chute. He stepped into the compactor and pulled Ty to his feet.

"This was supposed to be quiet." he muttered as the two ran for the exit.

"Well, I've never been an expert at anything covert." Ty responded as they reached the door, "I'm used to making alot of noise."

"Put these on." Said the Assailant as he handed Ty a pair of handcuffs. "This base is going to be on alert in less than a minute, so lets just walk out of here...Quickly."

"Huh, brilliant." Ty groaned as he worked the cuffs around his wrists, though being careful not to secure them all the way.

The Assailant stood behind Ty, and the two of them quickly made their way towards the building exit. Stormtroopers and officers began turning their heads and watching them.

"Sir, what are you-"

"I'm escorting a prisoner, get back to your duties." The Assailant said quickly.

"But-"

Suddenly, an alarm started blaring throughout the building, and a voice came through the speakers.

"Attention. We have an escaped prisoner at level B. He is not to leave the building." The troopers raised their weapons.

"Sir, we can't let you pass."

The Assailant and Ty stopped, and the Assailant said quietly. "Killik, it's time for plan B."

The stormtroopers began advancing, when there was a loud high pitched sound outside. The troopers turned and saw a small ship hovering just outside the glass wall. Ty felt a blaster being placed in his hand.

There was a deafening sound as the ship opened fire on the glass wall, followed by blaster fire from the troopers. The Assailant dropped an object on the floor, causing smoke to flood the room.

Ty and the Assailant bolted towards the nearest exit. The ship hovered barely above the ground, and the boarding ramp opened to show Deek motioning for them to get on board.By now already near the door, Ty looked back in time to spot the ramp being lowered. "Shoulda figured."

As several Stormtroopers fired poorly aimed shots at him, the mercenary turned and dashed toward the ship. The Assailant ran up the boarding ramp and into the ship.

"Get us out of here!"

Ty leaped onto the ramp just as it started to retract, taking a blaster bolt in the thigh as he did. "Nice." Ty said as the ship closed up and left the base. The ship jolted forward and shook violently, knocking the Assailant and Ty to the floor. The Assailant climbed back to his feet and ran into the cockpit.

"What was that?" He asked urgently.

"We got tie fighters on our tail!" The pilot responded.

"If you break my ship..."

"Just shut up and get on those turrets! I only need a few more minutes before I can jump to lightspeed."

"Turrets?" Ty asked.

"You stay here Ty, I'll go help hold the Ties off." Deek said.

As the Assailant ran by, he pointed down a hallway telling Deek where to go. The Assailant ran down the opposite hallway and sat down at the turret.The Twi'lek mercenary complied and got into the other turret, quickly getting positioned before targeting a pursuing Tie Fighter. Ty meanwhile, took a seat in the cockpit next to the pilot. The Assailant fired several shots at one of the ties, but missed. He brought down the targeting visor.

"Come on..."

The second Tie flew into view, and the Assailant let off a barrage of fire, destroying it. He took aim again as the first Tie came back around. Almost in range...The Assailant pulled the trigger, but only three shots burst out before the turret stopped. He pulled the trigger again, just as warning screen appeared on the console, informing him that the turret had malfunctioned.

"Damn it!" The Assailant yelled as he shoved the visor out of his face and stood up. "I knew I shoulda brought this piece of scrap metal in for maintenance!"

"How long 'till we make the jump into hyperspace?" Ty asked the pilot, as a laser blast from one of the Ties rattled the ship.

"Just hold on a second!" The pilot yelled.

Suddenly the Assailant burst into the room.

"How much longer until we make the jump to hyperspace?" He asked urgently.

"Oh for the love of...Just hang onto something!" The pilot said back, just before making the jump to hyperspace.

It was quiet for a moment, before Ty broke the silence. "Well, that was fun. Where are we going?"

"Vorzyd, for now. We just want to lost the imperials until he..." The pilot said, gesturing at the Assailant. "Comes up with a plan."

"A plan for what?" Deek inquired as he arrived at the bridge.

"Yah, what's goin' on here exactly?" Ty added.

The pilot glanced over his shoulder at the Assailant. There was a moment of silence before he answered. "Long story short, my previous 'employers' decided to stab me in the back rather than ‘pay me', so they disappeared off the grid, and now they want me dead. I need to find these people so I can end this."

"And who exactly are these people?" Ty asked.

The pilot rolled his eyes and turned back to the ship's screen. The Assailant waited a moment before saying: "I don't know."

"So you mean to tell us that you were working for someone and didn't even know who it was?!" Deek exclaimed.

"And how do you know if they're connected with Rowan if you don't even know who they are?" Ty added.

"It's...Complicated..." The Assailant began. "I actually found Rowan accidentally. Lately, he has been making trips into the Unknown Regions. That's not normal for a slaver, is it? He's not delivering slaves, either. I think he's connected to my enemies."

"Rowan only goes places if it's for profit or pleasure, and I doubt he's going to the Unknown Regions for a vacation. Must be some sort of business contact."

"Exactly, I think he's in league with whoever's after me. That's why I was posing as an imperial, the Remnant has resources I don't have. That's also why I sent Syren after you. I couldn't blow my cover, and I couldn't let you take Rowan. Without Rowan, I have no link to these people."

"I guess that means I'm gunna have to help you find these people so that you'll... let me kill Rowan." Ty remarked.

The Assailant gave Ty an odd look, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn't figure out what it was. "How's your leg?" He asked, changing the subject.

"It's not bad, I've had a lot worse." The merc replied, apparently having forgot about the injury.

Deek cleared his throat. "You still owe me money Ty." He said coldly.

"And Rowan's still alive, you don't get paid until that job is done." Ty growled, before looking back at the Assailant, "I suspect you wanna try tracing these people by following that Chiss goon then?"

"Yes. After he escaped from you, we managed to figure out where he went until we lost him somewhere around the Vorzyd sector, and Rhen Var." The Assailant undid the collar on his uniform before continuing. "While I was on Dantooine, we intercepted a message from an uknown source to Rowan. It was heavily encrypted however, and we haven't managed to crack it yet."

"And you couldn't trace the source of the transmission either?"

"We've got him working on it." The Pilot said, gesturing towards an astromech droid sitting in the corner.

"So you've basically got nothing to go on yet." Ty muttered, before the pain in his leg started to intensify slightly, "You have any medpacks?"

"In the back room." The Assailant pointed down the hall.

Ty got up and limped out of the cockpit, while Deek took his seat. "Where'd you say we were going again?" He asked.

"Vorzyd. A little planet in the outer rim. Last time we spotted Rowan's ship, it was docked on a spaceship orbiting that planet." The Pilot explained.

The Assailant whispered something in the pilot's ear, before walking down the hall, and into one of the bunk rooms to get out of the imperial uniform.