Dawnbreaker Episode Split Destiny/Part 6

CHAPTER 16

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF AKATES SYSTEM...

As Delagon waited patiently, the call finally came in:

"Do it, Delagon." - The Gatekeeper's voice broke through, then quickly faded.

"All units, commence the attack." - Delagon mumbled into his fleet-wide commlink.

"General, our shield has been disabled!" - a crewman aboard Tasckird's Sova Carrier called out.

"What?! The Imperials are running the show down there! Why would they disable the shield?!" Tasckird asked in amazement, pulling his commlink out to speak directly with the management team.

Just then, the Imperial fleet entered the system: Two Executors and a Sovereign leading the way.

"What the devil is this?!" Tasckird called out, not wanting to admit the answer.

The Sovereign fired its Superlaser, obliterating the first Argonev. The shockwave explosion caught a large part of the TEC fleet, including a Dunov.

With Darth Sicol gone from their side, and thus no Battle Meditation, the TEC forces in this sector were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of Star Destroyers. Not even the mighty Kol Battleships could stand up versus so many.

Technologically speaking, the TEC could compete with anyone. But there were too many Imperials. The battle was lost. Within the hour, the SE had taken complete control of Akates...

But the Sol System was still alive and well.

Ron Repelon had seen this coming for a long time. And when news reached him, he wasn't the least bit surprised. Though people around him were panicking, Ron saw an opportunity.

As the evening went on, with every news station around covering the disaster, Repelon was busy in his office. He was making a call to an old friend he knew before his TEC had allied up with the Shadow Empire...

TITANIA

Diablo had just left for the day, after a rigorous training session, and Remus was back in his office, ready to do it all again, when his private commlink began buzzing. He couldn't remember the last time someone had contacted him this way. He had very few friends, and none knew his number. Curious, he picked it up.

"Yes?" - he asked, knowing that this couldn't be an Ekatra contact.

"Remus... It's been a long time..." - Ron Repelon's voice said from the other end.

"Well, I'll be. If it isn't Mr. Repelon." - Remus said, genuinely surprised.

"I told you I hate it when you call me that." - Ron said, chuckling, several memories flooding back to the forefront of his mind.

"What irked you to call me, Ron? We're in the middle of a war, you know, and one of my Generals recently decided to attack you..." - Remus pointed out.

"Take it easy. You were right. My so-called alliance with the Shadow Empire was a mistake." - Repelon said, his voice tone changing slightly.

"Ah. They finally did it, did they?" - Remus asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"Yes. They attacked Akates. Three Super Star Destroyers... We didn't stand a chance." - Ron admitted.

Remus stayed quiet for a minute, while Ron spoke again.

"They had over 600 ships. We had less than 50..." - he said.

"They must be planning to move on deeper into your territory, possibly for Sol itself." - Remus finally interjected.

"Yes. That is the only motivation they could have for bringing that many ships... Now, for the real reason I called..."

Remus perked up at this.

"Is your offer still on the table, after all these years?" - Ron asked.

Remus, who previously had not been feeling any emotion, other than surprise, was suddenly feeling a mixture of the same, and... something else entirely. Memories of life before the TEC took the SE's side for a hefty sum of credits, and how he, Remus, went out of his way to tell Ron that should he ever change his mind, he'd be there for him.

"Indeed it is." - he finally said after over a minute of silence.

Now Ron was the surprised one: He was fully expecting Remus' Demonic nature to take over, not his Devior side. He had prepared a mental list of various ways to sway him, knowing they wouldn't work, but he did not expect THIS.

"I... I don't know what to say..." - Ron muttered, his voice barely a whisper.

"You were expecting rejection, weren't you?" - was Remus' next question.

"Yes." - Repelon said simply.

"If you are sincere, as I know you must be, considering the state your Coalition must be in right now, I am sure we can work something out." - Remus said, actually sounding compassionate.

"I have to admit... I want to kill those bastards now... I had many friends at Akates..." Ron said, his voice growing stronger.

"Good..." Remus growled, using his signature booming, deep and echoing demon voice that only he can replicate.

"We will make them pay for what they have done to us..." Repelon said, his voice steely calm, but with an undertone of rage.

"You know where to find me... and bring your schematics with you..." - Remus said, already toying with the idea of having the massive economy of the TEC on his side and what it, with their best-in-the-Universe armor designs would be capable of alongside his weapons and shields.

Seeming to read his mind, Ron spoke:

"I will bring all my schematics. I am sure with your weapons and my armor we can create an unbeatable force!"

Once again surprised by Ron's statement, Remus merely grinned, and said:

"See you here."

With that, the line was disconnected, and moments later, Repelon's Kol Battleship, TDN Khronis, was lifting off into the night sky, bound for Titania.

UTAPAU

Millions upon millions of clones had been produced, and the old droid foundries were online again, producing various refitted units from other eras. Above the planet, a freshly-built space station was guarding a massive shipyard facility, which was churning out similar warships. At the center of it all stood one man; a rogue Ekatra Lord called Count Ennomos, formally known as Lord Vlad. Ennomos, who sympathized with the old Sentinel clones and came from one of the richest families in galactic history, was quickly organizing their operation into a substantial military force.

At the moment, he was aboard a recently-produced Mandator-II and was looking out amongst the stars, hoping against hope that the Ekatra would not find him here, and ruin his operation before he could exact his revenge...

CORUSCANT, PRIVATE CHANCELLOR'S DEBRIEFING ROOM, BENEATH THE SENATE CHAMBER

Two days after Admiral Bel Iblis returned from his unsuccessful campaign to counterattack the RTSE, he and Chancellor Mon Mothma, the leader of the New Republic Senate, were discussing the deteriorating situation the New Republic finds itself in...

"And you say that Grandmaster Katarn's scheme with Battle Meditation has ultimately proven counterproductive, Admiral?" - Mon Mothma asked, concerned.

"I'm afraid so... despite the initial great success, the Sith had resorted to early boarding tactics in the following battles, attempting to hunt down and neutralize the Adepts at any and all costs. They were rather successful, and the Adepts' proficiency in combating the attacking Acolytes has proven inadequate. We have lost over half of the Adepts Katarn had sent us." - Bel Iblis replied in a glum tone, nodding, before he added:

"And that's not the worst of it..."

"Continue, Admiral..." - Mon Mothma prompted.

"We've discovered that Battle Meditation isn't without rather severe negative sideeffects, Chancellor... making our ships' crews and troops dependent upon it, whereas they lose a great deal of their natural resolve and initiative in battle. Our estimates indicate that the loss is directly proportional to the gain from the Meditation effect. Fortunately, the effects have been temporary, but lengthy enough to put us at a severe disadvantage following the reversal of the crucial battle at Wayland... giving the Sith an opportunity to push us back." - Bel Iblis finished.

"How much have we lost?" - Mon Mothma asked, her voice suggesting she wasn't eager to hear the answer.

"Three entire battlegroups of warships and support craft, with more reports of losses incoming hourly... and we've just received reports that the RTSE had seized Obroa-Skai and Taanab, along with a few minor systems in the sector. With Sith'ari Darkon and the Blood Sanctum taking the lead in the RTSE push, their advance task force reinforced with more battlegroups from deeper in the RTSE, our sector fleets in the area have been put on the defensive." - Bel Iblis reported, the weight of defeat obvious in his voice.

Mon Mothma's expression grew dark, as she replied in a grim voice:

"I'll call an emergency meeting of the Senate, to try and push through an initiative to divert more resources toward war production and shipbuilding efforts. In the meantime, what would you suggest needs to be done, Admiral?"

"I have already given the orders to redeploy our sector fleets along a new defense perimeter, with the new focal point at Chazwa. With our fixed installations in all the adjoining systems, our positions there should be reasonably secure from even a determined RTSE attack. Meanwhile, the Hapans have agreed to provide more substantial support, with their warships. Between the two of us, we should be able to stall the RTSE for awhile..." - Bel Iblis began, before Mon Mothma added:

"But all of it will ultimately be pointless if the Jedi don't join in the effort. Because with the Sith, and especially Darkon himself leading them in their offensive now, the Jedi are the only ones who can fight them at their terms - using the Force."

Bel Iblis nodded.

"Exactly. I've already sent an urgent message to the Jedi Council and Katarn himself that we need them to take a direct role in this war. Their response should become known before the day is over." - he said, while thinking scornfully:

"Maybe now it'll finally get through to them that staying hidden and meditating while we fight the Sith won't accomplish anything! And sending a few Adepts won't make much difference... they have to come in all the way, if the Sith are to be stopped!"

Their discussion continued for the next few minutes, before Mon Mothma concluded the debriefing.

BLOOD SANCTUM, IN HIGH ORBIT OF TANAAB...

Sith'ari Darkon stood at the forward bridge viewport, observing yet another massive wave of landing craft from the ships in his fleet entering the planet's atmosphere, carrying more troops and materiel to join the sizable RTSE force already on the planet.

"What is the progress of our pacification forces, Admiral?" - he suddenly spoke in a glacially calm voice, addressing Zavron, sitting in the bridge command chair behind him.

"Moderate resistance from New Republic garrisons on the surface, the local forces have accepted the shift in control, my Lord. Likewise with our fleet at Obroa-Skai." - Zavron reported, satisfaction evident in his tone, before adding:

"My Lord... I have to admit to certain surprise at the lack of resistance from the local elements to our takeover. I would have expected fierce resistance, due to the propaganda nonsense the New Republic constantly applies against us."

Lord Darkon's expression turned cynical at that, before he replied:

"The problem, Admiral, with empty propaganda of any sort, is that after a time, the subjects cease to blindly accept what they are being lied to on the news channels by their weak, decadent, and corrupt government. Not to mention our actions toward the civilian populace on all the recently seized worlds have demonstrated rather graphically that the Reborn True Sith Empire is not the 'ultimate evil' the New Republic paints us as. Admittedly, propaganda has its place, but concrete actions to prove the truth of it have to come before it - a fact the squabbling delegates in their Senate, and their frigid Chancellor schutta, had clearly missed. They offer empty promises, while providing nothing." - in a durasteel-hard voice laced with cool contempt, before addressing the Sanctum's communications officer:

"Is the hyperlink connection with the local Holo-Net relay station established?"

"Yes, My Lord... we can address most of the worlds in the Core Regions and Inner Rim, with one hyperchannel reaching all the way to Mon Calamari." - the officer replied with a nod.

"Excellent. Then the time had come for us to give our new subjects a complete, uncensored outline of what they can expect as an integral part of the Reborn True Sith Empire. Open the hyperchannel." - Lord Darkon commanded, stepping to the aft bridge holocomm station, in front of a large, high-resolution holotrasmitter array.

"My Lord... are you certain it's a good idea to transmit from here? Because most of the worlds still in the New Republic will also be able to overhear, as well as the NR government itself." - Zavron inquired dubiously.

Lord Darkon only gave him a devious smile.

"So much the better! Because at the same time, our message will undermine the New Republic propaganda machine in their own home territories as well. And as for their leaders - and the Jedi in Hapan space, who are also close enough to listen in - I WANT them to hear this! I want them to realize the resolve of the RTSE, and I want them to show themselves to face us in open war, where we can crush them into dust, once and for all! For Blood... and Death!" - the last sentence, and the battle cry, spoken in a ferocious growl, as Lord Darkon clenched his fists hard enough to draw blood from his palms.

Admiral Zavron echoed the battle cry, with a salute, at the same time the communications officer opened the hyperchannel.

Taking a deep breath, Lord Darkon began:

"I am the Sith'ari, ruler of the Reborn True Sith Empire, herald of the future for our galaxy. Today, you, the people of Mon Calamari, Tanaab, and Obroa Skai, find yourselves inducted into the glorious family of the True Sith. I am certain many of you must feel a sense of unease, hesitation, or even fear at the prospect of what that means, no doubt being exposed to the mistaken propaganda of the New Republic that we are the ultimate evil of the galaxy."

Lord Darkon's face took a reassuring expression, as he continued in a warmer tone:

"Rest assured, my friends... nothing could be further from the truth! Ask yourselves this... if we were the ultimate evil, wouldn't we have begun enslaving and exploiting you as we saw fit? No. Only those without conscience, or vision for the future do such things."

Taking another breath, Lord Darkon continued in a steely tone:

"For we are the True Sith, not the pathetic pretenders that the Galactic Empire, led by the withered carcass Palpatine, was. They, contrary to the widespread belief, were NOT Sith! That fact was demonstrated in everything they were, and done during their reign, laced with corruption, misery, weakness, and failure! Nor are we the so-called New Republic, smothering you in empty promises of freedom and democracy, while they constantly squabble amongst themselves, unable to accomplish ANYTHING, due to decadence and corruption already beginning to take hold in their ranks. The Jedi are the prime example of this." - he said, his voice turning contemptuous at this point:

"Where are they? The "guardians of peace and justice" - as they sanctimoniously refer to themselves. Where are they now, when their precious New Republic needs them the most? Where are they, when their allies are losing ground to us? I shall tell you... they are hiding! Hiding from a direct battle, shying away from the challenge! They have crawled in a hole, afraid to face us directly, instead attempting cowardly subversion tactics like the one which was just recently foiled by the glorious RTSE forces. Their weakness is as obvious as it is repugnant, and shall be their undoing in the end!"

Now laced with determination, the intensity of his voice increasing slightly, he continued:

"The True Sith are different. For us, weakness, of any sort, is intolerable, and something to be surpassed. Be it weakness of the body, weakness of the spirit, or weakness of one's convictions and character. In the RTSE, corruption and cowardice is unheard of. Each and every one of use work to fulfill our potential, and to better our glorious society as a whole. Any individual attempting to live as a parasite, off the efforts of the others, is an abomination, to be eliminated in short order. Thus, your planetary systems of government shall be reorganized accordingly. Your newly appointed planetary governors will be issuing a detailed memo with the full scope of the changes, but for now, I will outline the broad aspects..." - he paused, taking a breath:

"Unemploymet will be eliminated in full, by any and all means necessary. Like I said, parasites and free-loaders will not be tolerated. Either they will learn to contribute, be forced to do so as slaves, or be eliminated, as a threat to the cohesion of the RTSE. Our internal security forces will conduct a thorough investigation of the workings of your planetary governments, in an effort to uncover any corruption. If found, it, and its perpetrators, will be dealt with harshly. Any discriminative policies, be it caste, gender, or otherwise based, will be eliminated. In the RTSE, everyone has an opportunity to achieve whatever they set their minds to, assuming they have the determination and resolve to do so. Likewise with any religious beliefs encouraging discrimination."

His voice now becoming quietly relentless, Lord Darkon added:

"However, I will not deceive you... there are certain prices to be paid, and sacrifices to be made, in order to achieve this level of perfection in a society. Any sort of disability, be it bodily or mental, will not be tolerated, and such individuals will either be compelled to undergo rehabilitation or genetic correction procedures to eliminate the disability, or, if such is not possible, will be eliminated. It is a harsh price to pay, but is necessary to ensure the genetic integrity of any culture wishing to remain overally strong and healthy. Upon reflection, you will come to realize the truth of this." - before adding in an encouraging tone.

"Still, since the RTSE's level of biogenetic engineering expertise is formidable, I anticipate a very narrow range of disabilities which our experts will be unable to correct. There will not be many instances of the necessity to apply the secondary solution, of that I can assure you, and those of you whom vagaries of natural selection had cheated of the fair chance to compete, will at last have the opportunity to realize your dreams, and live up to your full potential."

Finishing the speech, Lord Darkon's voice turned back to reassuring:

"That would conclude the broad overview of the changes which will be implemented, my friends. For some of you, the transition might prove difficult, but I have full confidence in your ability to rise to the challenge. In the end, such trials will only serve to build one's character, and inner strength. With best wishes for the future, this is Sith'ari Darkon, signing off." As the hyperlink was terminated, Lord Darkon turned back to Zavron, and intoned:

"And now, it is time to continue our push toward the Core. For you at least, Admiral..."

"My Lord?" - Zavron asked, confused.

"I am taking a leave of absence from the fleet - until I can find my apprentice. The longer she is missing, the more worried I become. And frankly, I refuse to simply wait, until I can hear from her. I have to find her!" - Lord Darkon said, concern evident in his voice, before adding:

"You will be in command of the Coreward push from the time being, as well as retaining the Blood Sanctum. I'll take one of the fleet's Karas class warships, and travel to the Outer Rim. I have to find her..."

Before Zavron could answer, Lord Darkon had already left the bridge.

Within the next hour, the last of the forces had landed on Tanaab, and the RTSE task force began to regroup, some of the battlegroups heading back to their respective staging areas to resupply and refuel, while fresh ones took their place, in preparations to continue the campaign against the New Republic, while Darkon's co-opted Karas separated, setting a course for the Outer Rim territories.

ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF THE Y'TOUB SYSTEM...

Huntress Zaiya's ship dropped out of hyperspace minutes ago, after a two-day trek there from Dathomir, setting course for Nar Shaddaa.

"This is where our spies have tracked Kiara last... Nar Shaddaa." - Zaiya said, addressing her two teammates.

"Oh, great... the chance of actually finding someone specific there is less than that of finding a Kowakian monkey-lizard flying a ship! Where do we even begin?" - one of them asked irritably.

Hey! One step at a time... I'm certain someone like her wouldn't pass unnoticed in a rot-hive like this! We shall pick up the trail, don't worry about that." -Zaiya retorted, before adding:

"Just remember what's at stake... and how much we stand to gain in the end!"

Within the next half an hour, the elegant vessel came in for a landing at one of the remote platforms on the outskirts of the city, trying to attract as little attention as possible. As the trio of Nightsisters disembarked, a nearby group of ten bandits approached.

"Hey! You! This is our landing pad! You land here, you pay the toll! Got it?" - one of the bandits, a scarred Twi'Lek, shouted toward Zaiya and her companions.

The bandits stepped close, blasters in hands, while Zaiya sent a Force message to the other two huntresses, who are already spreading a little further apart, relaxed and prepared, their hands already inconspicuously drawing their toxic blowdart weapons, holding them in back-hand grip, unseen by the bandits.

"Poor, dead fools! They have NO conception whom they're facing... wait for the mark, my sisters!" - as she stepped half a step forward, right hand casually dropping on the hip, much closer to the lightwhip handle at her belt, while she addressed the Twi'Lek leader in a sultry voice, and a seductive smile, simultaneously applying a judicious measure of Force Persuasion:

"Mmm... relax, handsome! I'm certain we can arrive at a mutually beneficial arrangement."

The Twi'Lek's face suddely lost focus, his eyes literally undressing Zaiya, his weapon wavering slightly, as he asked, the other thugs snickering, their weapons still trained at the trio of Nightsisters, but their attention no longer focused:

"Heh... what kinda 'arrangement', pretty one?" - he growled arousedly.

"I can guess..." - one of the other bandits chimed in, as the other two Huntresses draw a little wider apart...

"Come closer, and I'll show you..." - Zaiya whispered to the Twi'Lek, in that same seductive tone, amplifying Force Persuasion.

The Twi'Lek, stepped close to her... directly into a devastating knee strike to the crotch.

Force Jump.

By the time the Twi'Lek finished collapsing to the deck, Zaiya was already in midair, her lightwhip activated, and swishing to decapitate the two bandits standing directly behind the Twi'Lek. The other two Huntresses' blowdarts have already buried themselves into the chests of the other pair of nearby bandits, instantly paralyzing them, as both other huntresses dart aside, and apply Force Camouflage, vanishing where they stood.

The remaining five standing bandits glaze in confusion for two and a half seconds in the meantime, staring agape at the two Huntresses seemingly vanishing into thin air, as Zaiya landed behind them, also applying Force Camouflage. By the time they spin back around to track her... there is seemingly no-one there.

A sudden flash of crimson light behind them is their only warning, as two lightwhips come sweeping, to split another pair of bandits in half, as the pair of Huntresses became visible again, attacking, before Force Speeding quickly to take cover behind the ship, the remaining three bandits' panicked blaster fire tracking in their wake.

Zaiya attacked again, becoming visible, still standing in exactly the spot she landed, her lightwhip sweeping to skewer the two nearer bandits horizontally in half. The last bandit, spinning back around once again, only had time to see a blur of motion, as Zaiya Force Speeded away, then Force Jumped on top of a nearby wall, vanishing from sight. Panicked, the bandit screamed in terror, dropping his blaster and running from the landing pad.

"I have the last one!" - Zaiya Force signalled to the other two, watching the bandit run from the landing pad.

Running silently, she followed the bandit along the top of the wall, Force Jumping to the opposing wall on the other side of the platform, to get a better angle of attack, pulling out her blowdart weapon, and blowing a toxic dart in the back of the fleeing bandit, paralyzing him instantly.

Then, she jumped back down, walking back to the landing platform, and the two paralyzed bandits there, along with the Twi'Lek, the only one of them left who is still mobile, or alive, now raising back to his feet, staring in dumbfound disbelief at the severed bodies around him, and the two motionless companions beside him.

"Hey... hey! What's the matter with you two, huh? Come on, say something!" - he yelled at the paralyzed bandits, before hearing Zaiya's voice behind him:

"They won't be saying anything for the next two hours, handsome... and whether they... and you... ever say anything else again, depends on your cooperation. Am I understood?" - her voice suddenly hardening.

The other two Huntresses emerged from behind the ship, and came back to stand on the other side of the Twi'Lek. He glanced back at them, then returned the glance to Zaiya, before asking:

"Who... who ARE you?! I've NEVER seen anyth--" - before Zaiya cut him off:

"You may call me Zaiya. I'm someone you don't want to get on the bad side of... And I am asking the questions here! Your answers will determine your lifespan!" - as the other two Huntresses stepped close, and put a blade of a small vibrodagger at the Twi'Lek's neck, one on each side.

The Twi'Lek swallowed.

"Yeah, I got it. What you wanna know?"

"You must be familiar with the dregs and rotscum of this city. I want you to keep an eye out for someone for me, handsome!" - Zaiya said, her tone once again changing, now seemingly friendly again.

"Yeah? Who?" - he asked varily.

"Someone who possibly looks... and acts... very much like us, but not quite. Someone who will probably be in the similar line of work you and your gang are... but considerably more effective. Would you happen to know... someone... like that? And don't lie, because I WILL know!" - Zaiya asked, looking the Twi'Lek directly in the eye.

"Well... I've heard rumours of some hardcore mercenary woman hanging around the Industrial Sector and the Exchange-owned fighter manufacturing operation there. A nasty piece of work, by the stories and the bodycount I've heard is left behind..." - the Twi'Lek answered.

The eyes of both Huntresses blaze, as Zaiya sent them a Force message:

"The trail has been found, my sisters!" - before she addressed the Twi'Lek again.

"You have been very helpful, indeed! Now... as for the mutually beneficial arrangement I've mentioned in the beginning... you and your gang survivors keep informing us of this bounty hunter's movements, whenever you hear anything, as well as guarding our ship here, and we shall keep sparing your lives. Sounds fair, does it not?" - Zaiya asked, actually smiling at the Twi'Lek.

"Very!" - the Twi'Lek managed, returning a weak smile.

"Mmm... glad to hear it! See you..." - Zaiya responded, motioning the other two Huntresses to follow.

The Twi'Lek stared after them as they disappear behind a far corner of the landing platform wall, shaking his head and thinking to himself:

"Sith-spit! Who ARE these schuttas?!"

CHAPTER 17

TATOOINE, AT APPROXIMATELY THE SAME TIME...

The Recluse, having spent the past four days observing the interactions between Jaden Korr and Deathstrike, couldn't help but be surprised by the unexpected turn of events their working relationship had taken in the last day and a half. Contrary to his expectation, the two didn't continue to work together. After Jaden Korr had decided to help a desperate family whose small daughter had been seized by the slavers, and sold to Gardula the Hutt, the former wife of Jabba, now the crime boss of the planet, Deathstrike had refused to join the effort, opting instead to continue her inquiries about any Force users on the planet... continuing her relentless efforts to find and confront him, the Recluse.

Meditating, the Recluse thought:

''"It is a fundamental difference in their respective philosophies. Idealism versus practicality. Jaden Korr cannot stop being a Jedi, helping others at the very possible cost of his own interests, even in a circumstance such as this. His idealism guides him... to the exclusion of everything else, at this point, even solving his predicament. And Deathstrike's Sith worldviews directly conflict with the prospect of assisting in his effort to find the child, as she thinks the daughter's family should effect the rescue of their child themselves, and asking for help was a sign of weakness on their part. Of course, that reasoning also serves as an excellent excuse for her to resume trying to find me - which is of course, an efficient solution to her predicament. She remains practical to the core. However, both of them miss the point - that they will have to work together to reach me. That is why I have arranged the kidnapping of the girl in the first place. Her family has information on my whereabouts, and they would reveal it in grattitude for the rescue. Yet, Jaden Korr is not up to the task by himself - not without the Force. He will need Deathstrike's help. And she will certainly never succeed in finding me, despite her determination. I am only found by anyone, if I wish to be found."''

Opening his eyes, he muttered:

"Need one another, they do... fail, both will, working alone."

A trade caravan, en-route from Anchorhead to Mos Eisley... just approaching Mos Eisley outskirts.

After over a day spent making inquiries throughout Anchorhead, and not uncovering so much as a rumour regarding any Force users on the planet, Deathstrike had decided to continue her search in the capital settlement on the planet... Mos Eisley. Arranging a job with one of the trade caravans as one of the guards, a full day journey through the desert with the caravan was almost over.

"Mos Eisley... this pathetic settlement had became galactically famous ever since it was known that Luke Skywalker came from here. But it is the capital... someone here shall have the information I'm looking for..." - Deathstrike thought as she walked, gazing at the distant reflections of the city in the scorching desert.

Once again, her endurance had proven an asset, as she looked only moderately exhausted after a grueling day-long journey, complete with a raid by the Tuskens, successfully repelled in large part due to her efforts. She was the only Human member of the caravan, in addition to the caravan master, who had spent most of the journey travelling comfortably in the passenger cart. The other four guards, two Weequay, a Gran, and a Devaronian, who had expressed snide remarks about her chances of survival at the start of the journey, were now grudgingly respectful to say the least, having seen for themselves how mistaken their evaluation of Deathstrike was - and her performance in the battle with the Tuskens, which claimed the lives of three more caravan guards.

The Gran approached to walk alongside her.

"Hope you join again on way back. Always need tough lady like you!" - he grunted in a typically rough voice of his species, but with clear friendly overtones.

"Perhaps I will... if my efforts here prove useless." - Deathstrike replied with a slight smile.

"Think you find that Force guy here?" - the Gran inquired, aware of the reason Deathstrike was travelling to Mos Eisley.

"I hope so... the two of us have some unfinished business." - she hissed in a vicious voice.

The Gran chuckled.

"Gonna kill 'im, eh? Force guy make tough lady mad?"

Deathstrike nodded, eyes blazing with that manic reddish/emerald gleam.

"Oh, yes... Force guy has made the tough lady very mad indeed..." - she whispered darkly, while thinking:

"He kidnapped me, took me halfway across the galaxy to this miserable planet, suppressed my connection to the Force, while toying with me in a series of pointless trials, no doubt only for his amusement! I'll find you, Recluse, wherever you are hiding... and when I do, you shall regret ever being born!"

"Good luck findin' him! Mos Eisley big place..." - the Gran's grinning reply intruded in her thoughts.

Shaking herself out of it, Deathstrike replied, grinning back:

"Oh, I know... but I don't give up easily!"

With that, the caravan had reached Mos Eisley outskirts. After receiving her payment from the caravan master, Deathstrike set out to the city itself.

Meanwhile, slightly to the east of Anchorhead, Jaden Korr was about to infiltrate Gardula the Hutt's stronghold...

Climbing down a rocky chasm into the cavern, Jaden crouched in a shadow of a jutting rock, as a pair of Gamorrean guards passed, massive axes held in their hands. Silently drawing a vibrosword he managed to get his hands on during the past day, he started after them.

After a few minutes, the Gamorreans came to a barred gate in the back of the cavern. One of them grunted something in his own language, and the gate began sliding open with a creak.

Peering hard, Jaden couldn't see any sentients operating the gate, nor any security cameras nearby.

"Probably just an automated voice recognition system... good! If I can take out these two piggies, I can slip inside unnoticed. Looks like they don't have too much security at this back-door entrance..." - he thought, lifting the vibrosword and starting his advance to the Gamorreans, trying to stay quiet.

As the gate was halfway opened, the Gamorreans moved on... while Jaden was already halfway there. Only when he had gotten within ten meters of them, just passing through the gate himself, did they finally become aware of his approach, as a piece of rock skittered under his foot. As the nearer of the two turned to face him, Jaden thought:

"Was just starting to think it could get too easy..." - a cocky grin appearing on his face.

The alien roared, lifting his axe high overhead, in an effort to bring it down on Jaden's head, with the intent to cleave him in two, head to foot. Jaden easily evaded the attack by sidestepping to the right, then sweeping his vibrosword diagonally upwards, even as the Gamorrean's axe was still coming down. The sword slashed the alien's left arm cleanly off at the elbow, making him drop the axe with a roar of pain - cut off abruptly as Jaden decapitated him.

The second Gamorrean took a less reckless approach, stopping short before reaching Jaden, and thrusting his axe forward at the Human with a sudden, powerful motion. The move caught Jaden slightly off-guard, as he barely managed to parry the thrust, still receiving a hard graze across his ribs.

"Ow!" - Jaden grunted as the Gamorrean followed through with a powerful horisontal slash.

Knowing he can't match the Gamorrean strength for strength, Jaden didn't even try to parry this strike with his sword, instead dropping down and rolling under it, then coming back to his feet just as the Gamorrean was shifting into a new attack. Before the alien's axe could build up any momentum, Jaden blocked it, then kicked the Gamorrean hard in the stomach with a direct-kick. The resilient alien easily resisted the blow, but it did throw him off-balance for a second... all the time Jaden needed to bring the tip of his sword to pierce him through the chest, then slash out to one side, killing him.

With a moan, the Gamorrean fell to the ground.

Sheathing his vibrosword, Jaden moved on, through one of the doors nearby into the stronghold itself. However, little did he know that the back entrance was under surveillance after all... a single camera, positioned directly over the gate, in a rocky recess which would have made it invisible from where Jaden was looking from before.

Exhausted from the long trip, Deathstrike made her way to a nearby cantina - the same one Ben Kenobi and Luke Skywalker visited all those years ago. As it was then, the band was playing music in one corner, and the place was crowded with a wide variety of many different species, from Humans to Bith and even a pair of Ithorians, all mostly smugglers, rogues, thieves, or various other kinds of shady characters. Her entrance went mostly unnoticed, since she was still clad in the worn-out commoner outfit she picked up in Anchorhead two days ago. Leaning against the bar, she summoned the bartender.

"What'll it be, miss?" - the bartender, also the very same man who was attending the place during Ben Kenobi's and Skywalker's visit, asked.

"Forvish Ale... and a glass of water." - she replied, while taking a casual glance around the cantina.

Most of the patrons seemed to be absorbed in their own conversations, or tending to their drinks, but her trained gaze quickly noticed a pair of hooded individuals, at one of the corner booths, trying very hard to look like they were conversing amongst themselves - and making every effort to avoid even accidentally glancing in her direction. To Deathstrike, however, their amateurish pretense at subtlety was as clear a warning as a navigational beacon. Likewise, the ease and precision of their hand movements while gesturing in their apparent conversation told her they were both trained in unarmed combat... and a slight elongated bulge beneath the right sleeve of both their jackets was equally revealing...

"Assassins... well-trained, carrying holdout knives, and likely more weapons. Not the sort of reception the Recluse would have waiting for me, I'm certain of that... so they must be payback from whatever slaver boss that those four thugs I dispatched at Anchorhead were from. Apparently, I left quite an impression..." - she thought, before turning back with a slight eager smile, as the bartender brought her drinks.

"But clearly, they don't intend to attack here... with so many bystanders. Professional." - still observing the two in the reflection of her ale glass, also noting the booth number, and its relative position to the cantina doors.

Just as the bartender was about to move away, she stopped him with a gentle pull on his sleeve.

"And a bottle of Necry'gor Omic wine for my two friends in booth sixteen. Oh, and please... don't tell them who it's from, and... don't bring it over to them immediately. Take a few minutes first..." - she whispered in a sultry tone, with a wink, slipping a high-denomination credit chit into his pocket.

The bartended winked back with a smile.

"Wow... expensive! Special friends, I take it, miss?" - he whispered back.

"Indeed. Friends to die for..." - Deathstrike nodded with a pleasant smile.

"At least their intent for me... but I have another in mind. Let's see exactly how professional are they..." - she thought as the bartender moved away, her eyes beginning to take on that manic emerald gleam.

Minutes later, after serving a few more customers first, as per her wish, so the two couldn't possibly trace the wine back to her, the bartender brought the wine to the two assassins, while Deathstrike was carefully observing the scene in the reflection of her glass. The two assassins accepted the wine, surprise evident in their body language, as both turned their faces toward the bartender, allowing Deathstrike to see them clearly - a Human male and a Twi'Lek female. The Twi'Lek's lips moved, apparently asking the bartender who sent the wine, but the bartender had already turned away, not giving an answer.

"Excellent." - Deathstrike thought, still observing carefully.

For long moments, they seemed to decide whether or not to drink the wine, as she saw them surreptitiously glancing in her direction.

"Yes... my gift to you, from one assassin to another! Don't worry, you have time to enjoy it. I won't be going anywhere. In fact, that is what I want..." - as she took a sip of her water, while leaning more heavily against the bar, a deliberate pose to give them an impression like she planned to stay for quite some time.

The two fell for the trick, and turned back, opening the wine bottle. Deathstrike inhaled deeply, then smiled viciously to herself, whispering:

"Amateurs, after all." - while thinking:

"Mmm... exquisite! The Necry'gor aroma is as potent as I remember. Drink your fill... and I shall be able to smell you from fifty paces upwind, for the next few hours at least, when you finally decide to pounce on me! And since no-one else in this cesspit would waste their money on something as expensive as a Necry'gor, I can be certain it's you when I smell you... and have advance warning."

Just at that moment, a familiar voice sounded next to her. Preoccupied with observing the assassins, Deathstrike completely missed the individual's approach:

"Well... I see the galaxy hadn't ran out of ways to surprise me... Deathstrike!"

Only by sheer force of will did she avoid jumping in surprise, as she took a two-count before casually turning to face the voice. Liyan, the smuggler she crossed paths with on Mon Calamari, and fought the Mon Cal security squads alongside him and the other rebels, stood there, a wide smile on his face.

"I should say the same, Liyan! Because you did surprise me just now... not an easy thing to do." - Deathstrike replied with a grin, motioning for him to join her.

Briefly turning her attention back at the glass reflection of the two assassins, and noticing that they seemed even more at ease now, the wine bottle already half-empty, convinced that her new company would keep her here for some time to come, she added:

"Anyway, I see you managed to fight off more of the fish-people, handsome... and surviving! Not bad..."

"Well, it was mostly mop-up work after you left, Sith girl... and when your guys came over to lend a hand, all I got to do is watch, actually. Boring! So, I got back to smuggling, and dropped here to pick up some work with Gardula. Imagine my surprise seeing you here, foxy!" - Liyan said, before adding:

"So, what brings you here, anyway? Don't tell me the Sith are infiltrating this worthless sand ball--" - before Deathstrike cut him off with a finger over her mouth.

"Sshhh... I would rather keep my Sith connection quiet here, my dear... you understand, of course!" - she hissed in a sultry voice.

"Of course... can't be too careful with that kind of thing." - Liyan smiled knowingly, then asked:

"But why are you here, anyway?"

"Let's just say the Recluse - the person I was tracking back on Mon Cal - is involved. However... this place truly isn't the most appropriate surrounding for that kind of conversation, is it... shall we go?" - Deathstrike replied, deliberately making her tone even more... inviting, while thinking:

"Time to throw those two off the scent for awhile... a few hours. Enough time for me to... mmm... probe... Liyan for any information he might have on the Recluse, since I'm sure he was as curious as I were, given his tone of voice when he asked that Twi'Lek woman about him. And as a smuggler, he does have certain... contacts... that would provide him with information I couldn't get to. If fortune favours me, he might even know where the Recluse could be hiding on this planet... theoretically."

Liyan nodded, picking up on Deathstrike's unspoken invitation, as he smiled, and replied in a smooth voice:

"Absolutely not, foxy... but I have a nice room in the best motel in this town. Should be ideal for us to have a... private... conversation."

"Indeed... that shall suffice." - she purred, 'accidentally' brushing against him as they walked out of the cantina, while catching a glimpse of the two assassins out of the corner of her eye, glancing with obvious surprise in her direction.

"M-hm... several hours at least. And even if he doesn't know the Recluse's whereabouts here, he should have an idea who might. Not to mention, I am really in the mood for some... pleasure... right now, after such an exhausting journey. I... wanted... him ever since our encounter on Mon Cal!" - she thought, with a lustful smile, before adding an afterthought:

"The Necry'gor wine odor should still be active by then, as well. And once those two assassins - and whatever backup they might summon - again catch up with me, I shall not be facing them alone!" - smile changing from lustful to vicious.

Turning a corner, the two disappeared down the alley where Liyan's motel was.

KOMM

The Gatekeeper, now mostly healed from his injuries at the hands of the Kamen from an earlier battle, was dead-set on launching an offensive on the Ekatra, where he would command his forces personally from his flagship, the Arkun, which he was eager to test out in battle. Currently, he was having a rather interesting conversation with Grand Admiral Delagon...

"...and for those reasons, my Lord, I believe I should be commanding the fleet during our upcoming wars with the Ekatra." - Firmus finished, having gone on a nearly 20 minute rant about his qualifications.

The Gatekeeper, who had done more listening about his best Admiral's personal life than he ever wanted to do again, stood up.

"No. I will command my forces vs. the Ekatra, Admiral. Fighting the Ekatra is going to require a Force user capable of strategic military thought and fighting on the front lines without dying at the hands of the first laser that flies your way. You have none of those qualifications, Delagon. And apart from that, I want personal revenge against that Demon who has made my life a living hell since as long as I can remember!" - he snapped, making his opinion as clear as he could.

"I understand, my Lord..." - Delagon muttered, visibly disappointed.

"If you want something to do, go attack the TEC," - GK said, walking to the door, "They have vanished off of our radar. They must be plotting something. I want them found, and I want them eliminated before they can do us any more harm."

"Yes my Lord!" - Delagon said, getting his memo and walking past the Gatekeeper.

An hour later, the Gatekeeper was on the bridge of the Arkun, his target selected and his fleet standing by.

"Set course for Abderhalden!" - he ordered, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Abderhalden?! My Lord, that is one of the Ekatra's primary military outposts!" - a Sith Knight stationed nearby informed him.

"Precisely the point. If we take a large military facility, then they may just think twice about going silent for so long!" - the Gatekeeper shouted, anticipating the battle already, "They will never again forget that the Shadow Empire is the Universe's true power!"

The Sith Knight, feeding off of the Gatekeeper's emotion, roared back: "Affirmative, my Lord!"

The Gatekeeper turned back to the viewport, as his fleet exited into hyperspace...

ABDERHALDEN

Above the planet was a familiar face to the SE: General Patricia Reynolds, and the 21st Ekatra Starfleet. They were sitting above the planet refitting and refueling for new adventures to who knows where, when long range scanners picked up something interesting...

"General, Sensors detect an incoming SE fleet! Among them is some kind of Super Star Destroyer. Over 1,000 ships total." - a CyberSoldier informed the General.

Patricia was slightly worried at this, and it showed on her face.

"They must be crazy to try and attack here. With our Corsul, KV's, HH's, and the 21st, they're walking into a death trap... What kind of SSD is it?" - she mused. "Unknown. It is unrecognized." - the trooper replied.

"Interesting. So it could be a new design?" - Reynolds asked, interested.

"It is possible."

"What's the composition of the fleet?" - Reynolds asked, expecting nothing more than the standard small Star Destroyer spam while taking a sip of her blue milk.

"It is the 1st, Ma'am."

Patricia spit out her drink and shouted:

"That's the Gatekeeper's fleet! He commands it personally!"

Before the CyberSoldier could respond, Reynolds was up the stairs and to the bridge of the Dungeon, her Pacu, and was on fleet-wide comm:

"Attention, the 1st SE Fleet is incoming!" - she yelled, then switched to her emergency line, direct to command:

"Titania, get me some reinforcements! This is General Patricia Reynolds of the 21st Ekatra Starfleet at the Abderhalden system! The 1st SE Fleet is incoming!"

She didn't give command time to answer. Little did she know, however, that the Arkun was jamming her long range communications. In other words, she was going this one alone.

1 HOUR, 25 MINUTES LATER

General Reynolds had rearranged her fleet into a standoff/defensive formation around the static defenses, with her Pacu in front of the Corsul Starbase. All eyes were on the hyperspace lane coming from the East...

Then, out of nowhere, they appeared. In an assault formation lead by the Arkun came the 1st SE Fleet. For the Gatekeeper, this was the first fleet battle he had had in months. He was eager to see if he could still hang with the best of them.

"Move up! Engage the Ekatra directly!" - he ordered.

Having no other choice but to comply, the thousand plus Star Destroyers and other craft moved forward, right at the Ekatra, who held their ground. But then a frightening statistic was unveiled via the ES scanners: The SE had 733 Imperial-class Star Destroyer MK4's present.

"Uh-oh..." - Patricia said as soon as she got the statistic, "And ISD4's have heavy flak cannons on them... what's the rest of the fleet?"

"Mostly Escort Carriers, with some Tyrant Missile Cruisers and Gladiator Star Destroyers." - was her answer.

"Simple, but damn effective..." - Patricia muttered under her breath, thinking that she had a marginal chance if she could take out the carriers.

Meanwhile, the ISD4's had reached the assembled ES warships, and were tearing through the Karavans like they were flimsi. The Karavans focused their fire, and successfully destroyed about 25 of them, but there were more Star Destroyers than Karavans; never a good sign. The Warcraft Bombers had snuck past the ISDs and, as per Patricia's orders, were attacking the carriers with success, but the carriers were not where the majority of the TIEs were coming from... It was the Arkun.

The Gatekeeper, realizing that the Warcraft, the best bombers in the galaxy, would be coming after him soon, made a simple call that he had used a thousand times over, but still worked to this day, a trick that he had learned from Remus:

"Stack up. Use your radar systems to scramble their torpedoes."

The tactic worked. The carriers got close to each other, and focused their power to their radars, and subsequently, the torpedoes began to veer off in various directions whenever they got close.

Patricia, having no idea what was going on, called it as she saw it.

"Warcraft, check your guidance systems. Make sure your torpedoes are lined up properly." - she said, though she knew there was more going on here than meets the eye.

There was an explosion from the rear of the fleet as an LV Platform blew up, and Patricia whirled around, just in time to see an SE Infiltrator cloak.

"SPIES!" - she yelled, "Englads, start spy-checking the platforms!"

Most of Englads were busy at the moment, however, fighting off hordes of automated TIE Hunters, or at least trying to. The Englads were outnumbered, and, although that was always the case, this time, there was simply too many of them. They had to fall back slightly, so they did, but a good chunk of them were shot down while retreating.

A pack of 6 ISD4's had broken through the Ekatra line of defense and was now terrorizing the static defenses. Though slow, bomber attack were proving fruitless, as the ISDs, as Patricia noted, had heavy flak cannons. One by one, the pack was destroying the LV's, but once they met a KV, they were met with a problem: Maser Beams combined with Mass Drivers. The combo was extremely effective vs. literally any kind of armor/shield combo, and it was already weakening the ISDs by disabling their shields.

Right after the first KV went down, the first ISD4 in the pack was destroyed.

Patricia could tell, though she was winning some of the battles, she was losing the war.

"Corsul, get moving. We need you to help us defend!"

"Affirmative, Admiral. We'll clean up this mess!" - the operator of the massive Starbase responded optimistically.

"Now... for us... Let's see what that Super Star Destroyer is made of..." - Reynolds said with a grin.

Nodding, the Captain of the Dungeon switched the engines to full ahead, and the vessel took a course straight for the Arkun.

The Gatekeeper quickly noticed this, and was highly amused.

"They think they can take on the Arkun? We'll see about that! Engage the enemy at will, Commander!" - the Gatekeeper ordered.

The Commander of the Arkun, knowing who the Gatekeeper was referring to, did the same as Patricia, and the Arkun, which previously had not fired a shot, began to open fire on every Ekatra craft around it. Volley after volley of Turbolasers left the beast, and nearly all of them hit something. And more often than not, that something was obliterated. Even a Raptor Battleship was destroyed in two volleys.

The gigantic ships entered range, and opened fire on each other at the exact same time, with the Dungeon having the early edge in firepower thanks to superior weapon design. Both ship's shields refused to buckle, and early it looked like a stalemate.

But as the ships got closer together, the Arkun began to dominate the Dungeon; the Arkun's weapons were meant for close-range combat while the Dungeon's were meant for all-around combat, and as such, the Arkun's Turbolasers were higher intensity than the Pacu's Maser Beams.

Despite the Maser Beam's nature, they were failing miserably at penetrating the Arkun. The Arkun's shield generator was not built on the outside of the ship, and it was shielded by a separate shield covered with an extra layer of armor, similar to the Despair, making knocking out its shields all but impossible.

And as the ships began to pass by each other, the Dungeon's shields buckled, and were overwhelmed by the Arkun's firepower. As the lasers, and missiles, ate away at her ship's hull, Patricia looked around the battlefield for a brief moment:

All 26 defense platforms had been destroyed. The hole created by the losses of several Raptors allowed a few packs of ISD4s to sneak in and destroy them.

One HH Hangar was left standing, and it was out of fighters.

The Corsul, although dominating everything it came across, was taking progressively more damage from the Tyrant Missile Cruisers as time went on. Eventually, it would go down.

The 21st fleet, although still very much intact, was simply too outnumbered. Their marginal chance at victory was gone, and it was obvious. Like at Akates, Patricia was simply ill-prepared for a foe this strong.

On the Arkun, the Gatekeeper was grinning from ear to ear. He knew from the second Patricia's Pacu had moved up that the ES was running on fumes in the battle. Only one more thing needed to be done here to seal the victory...

"Fire the Superlaser! Aim at the Corsul!" he ordered.

Just as the Corsul had mopped up a group of Gladiator's, the Superlaser was fired from the middle of the Arkun. Right on target, the shot disintegrated the massive Starbase.

The explosion was the final straw for Patricia. She had had enough.

"Fleet, fall back! They've won..." - she said simply as her ship continued to be rocked by Turbolaser fire.

HALF AN HOUR LATER

With the rest of the ES fleet having barely escaped Abderhalden with their lives, the Gatekeeper took a moment to reflect on the battle, a battle that the SE had completely dominated.

Now, the only thing left to do: Take the planet itself...

MYTUS SYSTEM, MYTUS 8 - SECRET RTSE EXPERIMENTAL SHIPYARD

When Fleet Admiral Rajko took charge of the covert strike force at Korriban, his new second in command, RTSE Intelligence Director Jenzer, told him about the newest experimental technology that was invented at Mytus shipyards - a holographic masking array for use aboard any warship, giving them the ability to look like any enemy ship of choice when active. Just after Lord Darkon detached from the Coreward assault, he sent instructions to Mytus, authorizing the installaton of the arrays aboard all the ships in the covert strike force...

At the moment, all 64 ships in the strike force were docked inside the shipyard, being refitted with the masking arrays.

"Are you certain these devices are safe to use?" - Rajko asked Jenzer, staring out the viewport at the large robotic arms and zero-g workers integrating the new components to his flagship's hull.

Jenzer answered with certainty: - "we have already tested them on unmanned barges, sir... wit only 15% occurence of system-failure. And even then, ther was no damage to the barge's other systems."

"And if ther is a system failure?" - Rajko asked, stil not convinced.

"The holo-cloak would collapse, and the illusion would be dissipated, sir... until we can recalibrate the system. Nothing else!" Janzer reassured his superior.

Rajko nodded, a little more reassured nov: - "And how exactly does this holo-masking work?"

"As you can see, sir, special signal emitters are being installed on your ship's hull surface. They work as a matrix, powered by interior signal generator, projecting a sophisticated holografic illusion over the ship's hull. The illusion can be almost anything, of the same size of the ship or above; another ship, asteroid, a large freighter, a space station - whatever is feasible for any covert mission in question, sir." - Janzer replied with pride.

"What is the size limit?" - was Rajko's next question.

"Theoretically unlimited, sir... except by the drain on ship's reactor core, and signal degradation. But we can easily make the Zatornik look like the Blood Sanctum, sir, with acceptable power drain." - Janzer answered.

Rajko's face spread into a smile: - "Well, I'll be convinced when I see it... but if it works like you outlined, Director, I have to admit, this technology will be a significant asset in our upcoming mission to SE space! And... I can already think of quite a few direct-battlefield uses for it as well."

"Indeed, sir... but I must point out thet it is primarily meant as an infiltration aid - the holo-illusion isn't durable enough to last long undr enemy fire, increasing the chance of system failure, and shots would simpli pass thru it, not fooling the enemy for long." - Janzer retorted dubiously.

"I realize that - but it would stil be valuable as a means of getting early advantage in a fight." - was Rajko's reply.

Two hours later, the integration of the array was finished on the Zatornik, and time had come for the first test...

Floating in space some distance from the shipyard, the Kurgarin destroyer was motionless and silent, Rajko standing at the forward bridge viewport.

"Power systems ready, sir... matrix initialized." - came the voice of the engineering oficer.

"Holo-specifications of the Blood Sanctum have been input into the matrix, as per your orders, sir." - Janzer added.

For few moments, Rajko stood there, before replying:

"Activate the array!"

Viewed from outside perspective, it was a maginificant sight... as the Zatornik's hull seemed to expand, with a soft rippling, glowing diffuse effect... expand, enlarge, and shape itself until it assumed a picture-perfect illusion of the Blood Sanctum. The holoprojection was perfect - not a single ripple could be seen along the solid-looking edges of the illusion, or detected by sensors, as, for all intents and purposes, the RTSE's majestic flagship was there, where only moments before, there was the Zatornik.

"Getting a report from the observation station, sir... we register az a solid object, not a hologram! Standard sensors can't recognize the difference..." - came the voice of the communication officer.

A minute later, the officer added: "Deep-level sensor scan complete by the station - only with a deep scan can the illusion be detected."

"Impressive!" - waz Rajko's thought, before he ordered: - "Alright, that should do it for now... disengage the array!"

"I take it you're convinced now, sir?" - Janzer asked.

"Absolutely. We could disguise ourselvs as SE ships when we arrive, and operate almost freely in their space! It will make the missions much more manageable..." - Rajko replied with a satisfied smile.

In the following hours, the refitting was complete on all the rest of the ships. With all the preparations made, Fleet Admiral Rajko finally gave the order for the strike forxe to set a course for the Mudara Galaxy - and the Shadow Empire.

CHAPTER 18

SERNDIPAL, FOREST OUTSKIRTS...

After a second day of scouting Hale's base at closer range, a second day fraught with danger of remaining outside the shuttle at night, and attracting the attention of the creatures, indentified as the Goalla in the planetary library database Fareeni accessed, Kiara and Ruusan had finally found a weakness in the perimeter... the exchange of lookout shifts in the watchtowers.

Back at the shuttle for the moment, the three are planning the incursion...

"I've gotten close enough undetected to listen in on some of their local transmissions... when the shift exchange takes place, the access codes for the defense perimeter - including proximity scanners - are changed, and the system is recalibrated to accept input from the new codes." - the Rodian said.

"So during that time, the system is put on standby? How long?" - Kiara asked, a glint in her eyes.

"Couldn't tell for sure... but at a guess, about three minutes. I suppose it would be enough time for us to close the distance to one of the towers, if not for the minefield, and the patrols on the ground..." - Ruusan replied dubiously.

However, the glint in Kiara's black eyes didn't vanish, as she retorted in a devious tone, markedly different from her standard cold pretense.

"Actually, I was thinking about that... and I have an idea how to take care of the minefield AND divert the patrols' attention at the same time! We use these Goalla to run interference..." - before she turned to Farenni:

"You've done your research on their habits, right? And I could tell they relied mainly on smell and sound when they traced me back then - I doubt those half-blind red eyes of theirs were much good for hunting by sight."

Farenni nodded:

"Correct. The creatures mainly rely on olfactory sense for close-range hunt, while their acute subsonic hearing can detect even the most insubstantial sound over a distance of several kilometers." - replying in an in-control monotone.

"Any library records on what kind of sounds they're most drawn to?" - Kiara inquired, her tone staying devious and anticipating.

"Searching." - the Cathar replied, busying herself at one of the shuttle's consoles, where she hacked in a link to the main planetary library database.

After a few minutes, she turned back toward Kiara:

"The Goalla are particularily attuned to ultra-high frequency sounds, above most species' auditory threshold, such as the hum of a small speeder's repulsorlift engine, an analog radio signal, or a--" - as Kiara suddenly interrupted her:

"An analog signal? The base has a heavy duty communications relay - that building with a big subspace antenna on top. Can you set it to emit the kind of signal that would attract the Goalla?"

"Perhaps... but not as long as their direct remote linkup jammers are active. When the recalibration takes place, those would be deactivated as well, allowing me a window of opportunity." - Fareeni said, before the Rodian suddenly joined in:

"But if you can make a direct connection at that time, couldn't you simply deactivate the turrets and the minefield while you're at it?"

The Cathar shook her head:

"Unlikely. There are automated safeguards for both systems, and an alert would be initiated if I were to attempt that. However, the communications array is a lower priority tactical system, and I have seen no indications of similar safeguards there." - before Kiara nodded in agreement:

"And the last thing I want is them to have any kind of advance warning! These are not common hired thugs and amateur mercs we're dealing with like on the last mission - these are professional soldiers, if their security setup is anything to go by. I won't underestimate them for a moment! Remote-disabling their defenses would tip our hand rather obviously, and give them time to arrange a reception committee for us... not to mention give Hale time to prepare for us. I don't think so." - before adding:

"We'll go with the comm array plan, Fareeni."

The Rodian glared at her.

"You realize the up-to-minute timing this plan will need, Kiara? And the kind of risk involved? We would need to be in position to make a move to the tower the moment the Goalla begin their charge, so they can run interference for us, and stay unnoticed by them in the meantime."

Kiara scowled briefly, before muttering in annoyance:

"Yes I do. And that's where your... excretion... comes in. I promised myself I wouldn't use that stuff unless absolutely unavoidable, but this looks like it qualifies. It'll keep me off the Goallas' smell radar while they get themselves killed charging the defense perimeter.

The Cathar made a face of barely restrained nausea at that.

"Waaah... it pleases me that I shall not be the one in your place, Slayer!" - she croaked, momentarily losing control of her equilibrium.

Kiara smirked at that.

"It should... and Ruusan, if this thing doesn't work like you said it will, you better hope those Goalla things tear me apart - 'cause I'll do the same to you if I should live to get that chance!" - in a mock-menacing voice.

The Rodian laughed:

"No worries, boss... they hate it every bit as much as you do! You'll be quite unattractive a prey to them - just like me!"

"Let's hope so..." - Kiara muttered, before starting the final briefing:

"All right. This is the plan... first off, code-names only while on a mission, and maintain comm silence unless necessary, and even then, keep the messages short and to the point. But we'll have code-names for EVERY mission objective, and every object in the base! Unlike last time, we don't have a coded frequency to use - unless you can set us up one?" - looking at the Cathar, who shook her head, before Kiara continued: - "So they'll have a chance to listen in. Let's not give them much to listen to... Me and Shade will get to position at the periphery of the base's security grid, on closest approach to one of the watchtowers. We'll time it so we get there by nightfall, when the Goalla are most active. Once there, we'll send you two short bursts of static in quick succession when the shift exchange takes place at the tower. When you hear it, you'll have three minutes to set up a signal for the comm array to emit to draw those Goalla to the base. Make it intense, so they can't possibly miss it, and that as many of them as possible comes calling! The more interference they can run for us, the better... especially since many of 'em will be shredded by the mines, or blasted by the guards and turrets before even getting close. When they start to converge, I'll rub myself with this... thing... and the two of us will stay out of their way for a few minutes... long enough for them to clear out a good path for us through the mines, and draw enough attention. Then, I'll provide sniper cover as Ruusan makes it for the tower, then follow him in. In all the mess, I doubt a few more dead guards will draw attention... and it'll make things easier later. Once in, the two of us will wipe out both lookout shifts, taking 'em by surprise before they can call us in - and get their coded keycards. There'll be a remote interface for the cards in that tower, I'm sure of it. By then, the Goalla will most likely be repelled or exterminated, but we won't need them anymore... 'cause we'll have the cards, and an authorized remote access to disable the security grid permanently - or until they get suspicious inside, anyway. But with the Goallas running amok, they might assume some of 'em got to the circuitry and damaged it, so I doubt they'll be tipped off immediately. With the turrets out of the way, and proximity scanners down, we'll have a clear run to the garrison building, dealing with only the few guards outside still alive after the Goalla diversion." - Kiara finished the briefing, her voice remaining cold and professional the entire time.

"And once inside?" - Ruusan asked.

Kiara allowed herself a wicked smile at that, crossing her arms, before she replied in an eager voice:

"Once inside, the easy part'll be over, and the real fight starts..." - cracking her knuckles.

"Can't wait..." - the Rodian muttered, trying to hide his nervousness.

"We move out in an hour... should be night by the time we're down to the plateau. Get you weapons and equipment ready." - Kiara ordered, back to cold professionalism, as she turned her attention to her weapons.

Four hours later... at first twilight.

Crawling prone, Kiara made her way to the front of a dense bush, her chosen cover. Sighting through her sniper's scope, now set to night vision, she could see clearly the inside of the watchtower, just visible through the foliage in the distance.

"In position. No sign of shift-change yet." - she reported curtly.

"Understood. Should be starting in ten minutes." - the Rodian replied, now in position himself at the very edge of the base clearing and the security grid detection radius, his stealth armour allowing him to approach closer than Kiara was.

Setting her chrono for a ten-minute countdown, Kiara took another look at the section of the base's perimeter visible from her position. Three patrols were visible past the chain link fence, a total of six guards and three war droids, along with four automated blaster turrets, in addition to the two lookouts in the watchtower.

"Mmm... more will come when the action begins. That fence won't be much problem for those Goalla, with their climbing skills... but they'll be more exposed as they climb it. I'll take a few shots at those guards at that time, kill a few to cover the Goalla... they won't notice with their attention on the Goalla. When they're past the fence, we'll move up to the tower... good thing I have these wire-cutters... and take the lookouts by surprise inside! They won't know what hit 'em..." - Kiara thought with a slight eager smile, before briefly fingering her new sniper rifle:

"Yess... can't wait to perforate someone's skull with this!" - the smile changing to vicious, before she suppressed it to her usual cold expression, and settled in to wait.

Eight minutes later, she could see another group of people exiting the garrison and splitting up. Two each seemed to be heading different directions, with two heading directly for her chosen watchtower. Kiara watched carefully as they approached, then entered the tower. Moments later, she could see the turrets stopped moving in their alcoves.

"That's it... security grid is offline!" - she thought, while pulling out her commlink, setting the channel to Scrambler, back in the shuttle, and tapping it twice, before deactivating it.

A minute later, a response double-tap came... indication that Scrambler had set up the Goalla lure signal into the base's comm array.

"Okay... time for the revolting part..." - Kiara thought, reluctantly pulling out the canteen of the excretion, and opening the cap.

One smell was almost enough to make her gag, as she thought:

"No two ways about it, Kiara... either this, or becoming Goalla snack! But I SWEAR it... if this doesn't work, I'll strangle you, bug-eye..." - face twisted in disgust, as she could already hear the distant shrieks of the converging Goalla.

She poured the fluid on herself, until the canteen was empty. Just as she was finishing, Shade called her:

"Hope you're soaked, Valkyrie... they'll be here in minutes!" - a slight smirk audible in his voice.

"I am." - Kiara ground out between clenched teeth, before closing the link. Breathing through her mouth as much as she could, she turned back in the direction of the forest, now completely dark, and listened to the steadily escalating Goalla shrieks.

"Well... there are a LOT of 'em! Good... the more, the better." - was her thought, as she waited for the creatures to come into sight.

She wasn't waiting for long, as the first of the Goalla, a full dozen, suddenly leaped out of the forest haze. Keeping her DL-44 trained on them, Kiara tensed briefly, waiting to see if they would attack her or not. Without so much as a pause, they passed by her bushes and continued their charge... directly at the base.

"It's working..." - she thought with a sigh of relief, as more and more Goalla were storming out of the forest.

Moments later, the leading Goalla reached the edge of the minefield... and the carnage began.

Kiara and Ruusan had a perfect view, as the nightly silence was suddenly lit up with multiple thermal explosions, the Goalla plunging into the minefield. The explosions soon turned into a veritable firestorm, as more and more Goalla intersected the mines. Some Goalla tried to go around... only to find that the minefield stretched throughout the entire perimeter. Just at that moment, distant flashes of blaster fire began coming out.

"Almost..." - Kiara muttered, sighting through her sniper's scope.

Even though over three dozen Goalla had been killed by the minefield, three dozen more were still converging on the chainlink fence, beginning to climb...

Opening her commlink, Kiara exclaimed:

"Now!" - as the Goalla began falling off the fence, being shot, and Kiara knew they occupied the guards' full attention.

"Going!" - Shade came back, before the link was cut.

"Alright... let's see what this thing can do." - Kiara thought, sighting on one of the guards behind the fence, aiming for the head.

The rifle made a soft flop sound, as the guard's head suddenly exploded in a shower of blood and brains.

"Excellent... not even a muzzle flash. I LOVE this thing!" - Kiara's face spread into a slight smile, as she began targeting the other guards. As she guessed, no-one paid any attention to the fallen guard, all of them absorbed with fighting the elusive Goalla, some of which had managed to climb over the fence in the meantime.

Meanwhile, Shade was already halfway to the watchtower, following in the wake of the Goalla, where they made a wide breach in the minefield. As he got closer, he could see more of the carnage...

The Goalla, now down to just under two dozen, were past the fence, pouncing on the nearest guards. Three guards were already dead, with two more struggling with the vicious beasts. As he watched, another guard in the background suddenly collapsed, as well - then one more, a droid, three seconds later.

"Looks like Valkyrie's busy..." - the Rodian thought, now at the fence next to the watchtower, beginning to cut through it.

"Okay, time for me to join Shade..." - Kiara thought, just after killing one more guard.

Scrambling up, she slung the sniper over her back and started running toward the watchtower, her DL-44 out again.

Shade, just having cut through the fence, was approaching the watchtower entrance, both his silenced holdout blasters out and ready. Bursting in, he nearly collided with one of the watchmen, just going out to assist the guards. Before the man even had a chance to recover from surprise, the Rodian shot him through the mouth with one of the blasters. Rushing up the stairs, to the top observation chamber of the tower, he could hear voices:

"How long until the recalibration's over?! We need those kriffin' turrets now!!! Those blasted Goallas already got thirteen of the guys!" - one voice roared.

"25 seconds and counting!" - another shouted back.

"It'll be close... get in here, boss!" - Shade thought, just as he reached the obeservation chamber.

He had one of the remaining lookouts down before they even saw him coming, before throwing himself to one side, aiming for the second one. That one got off a single shot from his carbine over the Rodian's head before he went down as well. The last one anticipated, rolling aside ahead of Shade's next shot, while spraying out cover fire to force the Rodian to take cover behind a piece of machinery.

"BLAST! If he calls in an alert about us, we'll lose any surprise we still have!" - Shade thought as he rolled into cover.

However, just as the last lookout was pulling his commlink, still spraying cover fire at Shade's cover, another blaster shot came from the direction of the stairwell - Kiara's. As a blaze of fire erupted from the guard's chest armour, he collapsed with a scream to the floor, dead, a split-second before activating the commlink.

"Great timing, boss!" - Shade exclaimed as Kiara rushed in to join him.

"Guess I've got a knack for that..." - Kiara replied with a slight smile, but her voice remaining cool, before she added:

"Well, we're in... find one of those encryption keycards." - walking to the viewport and taking a look outside.

Most of the Goalla were dead, with the few survivors fleeing back into the forest, under rapid fire from the turrets, once again active. The area below the tower was littered with corpses, Goalla and the guards', 60 of them at least.

"Those things can sure make a nice bodycount! 19 guards down, including the five I got... not bad. Now we just take down the grid again, and we've got a clear way to the garrison. So far, the plan is working perfectly!" - she thought, enjoying the sight of the butchered corpses.

"I've got the keycard..." - the Rodian spoke up behind her, holding out a semi-transparent hand-sized object, with integrated circuits on in, which he took from around the neck of one of the lookouts.

"Good. I think that's the security terminal... plug it in there, then contact Scrambler and let her know she has her remote access to disable the security grid." - Kiara replied, pointing at one of the consoles.

Shade nodded, and moved to the console, before asking:

"Right. You think any more of them are still out there to block us when we make for the garrison building?" - plugging the card.

"Maybe, maybe not... doesn't matter. Just a few more bodies to hit the dust." - Kiara replied, her cold voice taking on a ruthless overtone, now beginning to cross into the realm of joyous bloodlust, just as Shade was informing Scrambler.

Unnerved by Kiara's tone of voice, the Rodian tensed slightly, looking at her for a few seconds, before muttering:

"You know, I'm nervous when you get like that..."

Kiara stirred slightly at this, before letting out a soft sigh, and glancing back at him.

"Sorry... guess I let my control slip for a moment." - giving him a slight smile.

Shade chuckled at that, before replying:

"You know, I've never met any Human who's got such an appetite for killing like you... Sometimes I get the feeling that's all you really want to do!"

"That's not far from the truth, Shade... wish it weren't." - was Kiara's thought.

"And you probably never will... not counting Boba Fett and his kind, I guess." - she muttered distantly, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed as she waited for the response from Scrambler.

"Where are you from?" - the Rodian inquired, his curiousity peeked anew at that.

"Told you before, Shade... some things are better left unsaid. 'Sides, this really isn't the time for that." - Kiara retorted, her voice remaining distant, as she thought:

"Still, you'll find out anyway... if they catch up with me as soon as Scrambler says they will. After seven years. Good... let them come!"

At that moment, Scrambler's voice came from her commlink:

"The Mistress is successful... Waaah! Their electronic sentinels shall no longer waylaid you, my charges!"

For the first time, Kiara was actually grateful for the Cathar's madness-laced reply, reflecting with a soft chuckle:

"Even If they intercepted this transmission, they'll have a hard time figuring out what it means..." - before she closed the link, and nodded to Shade:

"Okay, this is it. The base's security grid is down, and we have a clear run to the garrison building. Let's move!" - running out of the observation chamber and down the stairs, the Rodian following suit.

When they exited the tower, no additional guards could be seen nearby, but Kiara knew that wouldn't last.

"Go! I'll cover you from here until you get to the building. Then you cover me as I advance!" - Kiara ordered, dropping to one knee and aiming her sniper rifle toward the distant garrison building.

Shade nodded, taking off at a dead run, while holstering his pair of holdout blasters and pulling out a pair of mass-drive slug pistols. As he was halfway there, Kiara could spot a pair of guards just rounding one corner of the building, about to notice him. Shifting her aim, she quickly took out the lead guard with a mag-charged pellet to the chest, perforating his armour as if it were nothing. The second guard briefly glazed in confusion at his partner, apparently not realizing immediately what happened, before she spotted Shade, and took aim with her blaster carbine. Before she could even lift it all the way up, Kiara's second shot took her in the stomach. With a soft moan, she joined her late partner.

Moments later, Shade had reached the building, waving at Kiara to join him. She slung the sniper rifle, after replacing it's depleted clip, and started running towards Shade, DL-44 once again out and ready. She reached the building without incident. Approaching the main entrance, Shade muttered:

"Never a good idea to use the main doors..."

"Agreed. But I have not spotted any other way in... maybe there's one on the roof." - Kiara said.

"Maybe... but how do we climb up there?" - the Rodian asked, eyeing the smooth duracrete walls of the building, over four meters high.

Kiara reached at the back of her vaist, opening a small pouch there and pulling out a rather long, thin rope.

"One of the reasons I never go anywhere unprepared..." - she mused, straightening it.

"You can't be serious! A rope that thin could never hold us..." - Shade retorted, eyeing the rope.

"This is a composite cable rope, Shade. Trust me, it can hold both of us at once with no problem." - Kiara assured him, finished with mounting a small but strong mag-lock tether at one end of it.

"Huh... if you say so." - Shade muttered dubiously as Kiara threw the rope upwards at the building wall.

The anchor embedded itself with a soft stonk, half a meter below the roof. Pulling on it, Kiara noted that it's secure.

"Alright, let's move." - she ordered, motioning Shade to take the lead.

As the Rodian climbed up, she kept an eye on the surroundings, in case more guards come. Just as Shade had reached the top, he exclaimed softly back down at her:

"There's a trap door up here... looks like we have our back entrance after all!"

"Wait! I'll check it first for hidden alarms." - Kiara replied, climbing up herself.

Crouching next to the trap door, she looked carefully around its edges, searching for any wires, photosensors, or anything that could indicate an alarm.

"Anything?" - Shade whispered.

"Doesn't look like it... and that makes me suspicious. Given the sophistication of his base's security grid, this Hale doesn't strike me as someone who would leave a back entrance unmonitored like this." - Kiara muttered, in a thoroughly unconvinced voice.

"Well, he could have missed this here... anyway, it's either this, or the main doors. Take your pick." - Shade said.

Meanwhile, below the garrison building, underground section of the base...

Hale sat at the command console in the Administrative center, studying the reports on the aftermath of the Goalla incursion.

"How many have we lost?" - he asked the lieutenant standing next to him.

"Still unconfirmed - preliminary count indicates almost two dozen. More troops are converging to the site right now, sir." - the man replied.

"What I don't understand is why did those bloodsuckers even come all this way down and attack us... in two years since this base was established, they never tried this kind of overt raid. And to actually do it with such suicidal determination to charge across the minefield, then over the fence... the Goalla are intelligent, and they wouldn't have gone through all that effort unless something was - driving - them." - Hale mused, hand on his chin, deep in thought...

"Still... there is a pattern here. They clear out the mines, charge our perimeter, get themselves killed while doing it... all happening at the same time as the shift-change in Tower 3. All in a three-minute period..." - before he suddenly looked at the lieutenant:

"Have a team get to Tower 3 immediately and see what happened to the lookouts there!"

"Probably killed by the Goalla, sir... if they got in while the tower entrance was open, they could've taken our men by surprise." - the lieutenant said.

"Confirm it! And the--" - Hale's order was suddenly interrupted by a commlink voice from his communications centers' chief technician:

"Sir, we've just detected a non-standard signal being routed through our subspace comm antenna."

"What kind of signal? Something those Ekatra bastards are sending to try and sabotage us again?" - Hale inquired tensely.

"No, sir, we're configured to detect those instantly. This one's different... some kind of analog signal on an ultra-high frequency - basically just a stream of static inaudible to our ears, sir. It couldn't have come from orbit, it's not strong enough for that."

Hale's face suddenly compressed, as he thought:

"UHF analog signal..." - before he growled:

"You think the frequency could have been close to what those Goalla usually hear when looking for their favourite prey?"

"Actually, the frequency is almost an exact match, yes... and the intensity of the signal would be enough to attract every Goalla in the--" - the technician came back, just before being cut off by the lieutenant next to Hale:

"SIR! Just got a report from our men from Tower 3... the lookouts have been killed with blaster fire and slug pellets! And some of the dead guards outside don't seem to have been killed by the Goalla!"

"SOUND INTRUDER ALERT! Put the garrison on full combat status and initiate lockdown! They're probably inside by now..." - Hale roared.

"How did they get past the proximity scanners? Unless..." - the lieutenant began, while Hale finished for him:

"Unless they timed their incursion to coincide with the Tower 3 shift-change, then having used the Goalla raid as cover to infiltrate Tower 3 and shut down the grid via remote access by one of the code-cards! Ingenious... whoever these intruders are, they're good. Not the usual type of incompetent Ekatra assassin filth we're used to getting here."

"We're reenabling the grid, sir... they won't be able to leave, if they're already inside." - the head technician spoke.

"Oh, they're inside, all right... probably looking for me. But for them to have been able to shut down the grid so quickly, even with authorized remote access... they must either have specialized equipment with them, or someone else did it by remote link to our computer! They could have someone else out in the area, providing logistical support..." - Hale growled, turning to the lieutenant:

"Dispatch four patrols to comb the forest above the plateau, for any makeshift outpost or anyplace where this unknown support could be working from!"

"But at night, sir, with more Goalla out there--" - the lieutenant began, but was cut off by Hale:

"There won't be any left anywhere nearby, not after their raid here! Carry out my orders."

"Yes, sir." - the lieutenant snapped a salute, before walking out of the administrative center.

Having entered the garrison building through the roof hatch, Kiara and Shade had separated, still trying to keep as low a profile as possible.

Now in the maintenance tunnels, Kiara could suddenly hear the throaty vail of an alarm permeating the building.

"There goes our element of surprise... we're comitted now!" - she thought, with a slight eager smile, getting a fresh grip on her DL-44

"Valkyrie? You hear that?!" - Shade's tense voice came from her commlink.

"Of course. Like I said before - the easy part's over now. This is where the real fight begins." - Kiara replied with calm, rock-steady coldness.

Coming at the intersection of her maintenance tunnel with one of the garrison corridors, Kiara began hearing shouts of issued orders to the troops. Deducing from their responses that they planned to execute a methodical search pattern of the building, she realized the extent of the danger...

"They're good... if they catch us in a pincer, we're dead!" - moving back down her tunnel, where she found a power relay junction.

Looking around, she noticed a hatch leading into a vent shaft passing by the tunnel.

"Diversion... if power goes out in this section of the building, it'll lure them here for awhile... give us some breathing room." - as she pulled out her vibrodagger and stabbed it into the power junction.

As a shower of sparks erupted from the circuitry, Kiara reflexively jerking back, the lighting in the tunnel suddenly went out, and an alarm sounded. Kiara quickly crawled into the vent shaft, moving away from there as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, Shade had reached the other end of the building, finding his way into one of the auxilliary monitoring stations - vacant for the moment. Several monitors lined the far wall, displaying security camera footage - along with voices, the cameras clearly equipped with microphones.

One camera feed drew his attention...

"We've got a power failure in Quadrant 3! Three squads are converging there, you stay here and watch the turbolift to the lower section!" - a soldier on display spoke, addressing the four others positioned near a reinforced turbolift doors.

"Yes, Sergeant." - one of them replied, in a military precise tone.

"The lower section... that must be where Hale is! Where is that turbolift..." - Shade thought, moving to a computer terminal in the room and trying to call up the interior plan of the garrison.

He was successful after a minute. Opening a channel to Kiara, he spoke:

"The target's underground... we have to get to the turbolift in the central fo--" - as his sentence was suddenly cut off, the doors to the monitoring station sliding open and two of the troops bursting inside.

"HOLD! DON'T MOVE!" - one soldier barked, weapon steady on Shade, whose right arm dropped to one of his slugthrowers, the left one still holding a commlink.

"Shut that thing off and lower it to the ground... slowly." - the trooper intoned in a steely voice.

"Shade? Come in. The central what?" - Kiara's anxious voice came from the commlink.

Not answering, the Rodian did as instructed, shutting off the commlink and lowering it.

With only a soft fade-out sound from the commlink, Kiara knew Shade was taken.

"Great... the situation had just gone from bad to worse." - she thought grimly, lips tightly compressed, but the expression of determination on her face not faltering, as she came out of the vent into one of the other corridors.

"My only way out now is to take Hale hostage. They won't interfere then... I can take him out later." - she added a thought.

Just as she reached an intersection, a pair of soldiers suddenly came around it, weapons at the ready. Reacting purely on instinct, not having time to draw her DL-44, Kiara rushed the lead trooper, tackling him to the ground just as a blaster shot from the second man flashed centimeters past her. On the floor, she quickly rolled over, while holding the soldier, to give her a momentary human shield...

"What the frag..." - the troop growled, still recovering from surprise, before Kiara gave him a sharp head-butt, momentarily stunning him, as she reached down for her vibrodagger, and plunged it into his throat.

"Aeeggh..." - was the last sound he made, as the second soldier was in the process of taking two steps to the side, still trying for a clear shot...

Leaving the dagger stuck into the dead trooper's throat, she got both legs between them - while drawing her DL-44. Then she pushed the corpse off of her - directly into the second soldier. The impact threw the man's aim off for a split second, the blaster shot from his carbine going wide to impact the wall.

Kiara's shot was a split-second later... but the trooper, refusing to be caught by surprise, leaped aside to land sideways on the floor, anticipating the shot, which flashed just over his shoulder. His carbine came back to track on Kiara...

...just as she rolled forward toward the soldier, still on the ground, while striking one of her legs out, in a desperate attempt to kick the carbine out of his hand before he can fire.

Her foot intersected with the weapon a critical semisecond before the soldier fired... the blast coming close enough to singe Kiara's neck.

"Blast!" - the trooper exclaimed in annoyance... all the time he had before another shot from Kiara took him full in the face.

Breathing heavily, Kiara got back to her feet, while pulling her vibrodagger back out of the other soldier's throat.

"That... was intense! I got lucky... and I was right... these guys are GOOD!" - rubbing the burn across the side of her neck.

Realizing that her time would be running out in minutes at most, Kiara moved on, DL-44 at the ready, while thinking:

"What did Shade mean before they interrupted him?! Central what? Must be something in the central quadrant of the building, I guess..."

"Excellent. Execute the prisoner. And set up an ambush in the central foyer... when she tries to take the turbolift down to our level, we'll have her as well." - Hale ordered to the detachment of troops now holding Shade.

"Yes, sir." - came the crisp reply, as Hale thought:

"The power failure was a diversion, to throw us off track... Impressive! She is clearly an elite... someone I could make use of in my plan to take the fight back to the Ekatra."

"I still think it's a mistake to take her alive, General Hale." - another voice, from the shadows, in a corner of the room Hale was in, intoned.

The voice was male. Rough, bitter, and hard-edged, it was the sound of someone out for blood.

"I understand your feelings, Raze... especially in light of what you told me of your encounter on that Hutt's base, and the loss of your two friends. However, are you certain she's the same mercenary who killed your friends?" - Hale asked the man, pointing at one of the camera monitors, where a frozen footage of Kiara's last skirmish with the pair of troops was still displayed.

Raze stepped toward the monitor and gazed at the image of Kiara there, before replying, his voice even more cruel and bitter than before, laced with barely restrained rage:

"Yes. She is."

"Alright, you heard the General... line him up against the wall!" - one of the troops guarding Shade said.

The Rodian's compound eyes blazed, as he thought to himself:

"NO! Not like this... if I'm going to die, I'll die fighting for my life!" - before he went berserk, starting to kick, bite, scratch and claw at everyone around him, trying to tear himself out of the soldiers' grasp, their aimed weapons notwithstanding...

"RESTRAIN HIM! Now!" - one trooper shouted, as he was being scratched across the face by Shade's frenzied attempts.

In the mad scramble, Shade had somehow managed to get his hands on one of the troops' carbines, trying to rip it out of its owner's grasp. The weapon accidentally fired, taking the soldier in his chin, killing him, as both he and Shade were rolling on the floor. The Rodian then scrambled for the soldier's commlink, calling Kiara:

"IT'S AN AMBUSH!!! STAY AWAY FROM THE LIFT! YOU MUST--" - before his voice went silent, truncated by a blaster shot to the back, and the Rodian's eyes dimmed, as he took one shallow breath for the last time, before expiring.

"Thanks, my friend... just hope I can make your death worth it..." - Kiara muttered with genuine sympathy, closing the link after the sound of the blaster shot from the other side.

As she came up to one of the entrances to the center foyer, the lift doors clearly visible at its center, with no apparent guards in sight, she thought:

"But looks like I could be joining you soon enough... because I HAVE to try and get to Hale! Without him as a hostage, there's no way I can make it out anyway..." - taking a deep breath, in preparation to move into the foyer.

Hugging one of the walls, Kiara began to approach the turbolift doors in a half-crouch, gripping her DL-44 tightly, alert for anything. Still no guards appeared. Quickly running across the foyer, she flattened herself by the turbolift doors, before pressing the call button. To her surprise, the doors opened momentarily, revealing a trio of soldiers inside, weapons aimed at her.

"I wouldn't!" - one snapped, as Kiara's finger tensed on her DL-44's trigger.

Kiara relaxed her grip on the weapon, realizing the hopelesness of the situation, before another, gruff and bitter voice suddenly intoned behind her:

"Fancy meeting you again."

Kiara turned her head halfway around, to see Raze standing less than a meter behind her, clearly having sneaked up while her attention was on the soldiers.

"Have we met somewhere before?" - she frowned, since she couldn't see him that clearly back during their brief run-in on the Geyrin.

Raze's jaw bunched in fury, and his one eye blazed, as he growled:

"You don't even recall, do you, schutta?!"

"Recall what?" - Kiara replied in confusion, still not placing him.

"You killed my friends!" - Raze roared.

"I don't know what you're t--" - she began her retort, before he suddenly slammed the stock of his E11 into her temple with full force, sending her slamming into the bulkhead, before she released her weapon and slid down to the floor, trying to hold on to her consciousness, but failing.

"Take her." - Raze growled, motioning for the troops to hoist Kiara off the floor.

Fifteen minutes later... in the basement interrogation chamber.

Kiara stirred, before coming back to consciousness, and taking a careful look around. The scene was in many ways identical to the one on the Geyrin, but with one notable difference - there were no torture devices of any sort present, and she wasn't restrained, nor were her sunglasses removed, although her weapons had been taken from her. Even more telling, the bruise on her temple had been tended to, and bandaged.

"Looks like this Hale is a civilized type... which makes me wonder why he had Ruusan executed?" - she thought, rising from her chair.

At that moment, Hale's clipped voice came from a speaker on the room's wall:

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Kiara."

"How in blazes do you know who I am?" - she demanded warily.

"Come now, my dear... I make it a point to familiarize myself with those seeking to terminate me. Especially when their level of competence surpasses that of common assassin rabble that have attempted the same over the years." - Hale replied in a somewhat chiding, but evaluative voice.

"Including these Ekatra creeps who want you out of their way?" - Kiara asked pointedly.

"Yes. Their forces had come to my beloved world, and proclaimed us a part of their Sentinel. I do not take kindly to conquerors... not when the Galactic Empire came, and not now! Since they had finished seizing Sernpidal, they have sent a half-dozen assassin squads to try and eliminate me. Their pathetic agents failed, most of them killed by the Goalla before even managing to approach my base here, or any of the dozen others I still posess." - Hale answered, before adding:

"You are different, though... an elite mercenary capable enough to survive the Goalla, and bypass my main base's security grid, a setup which I had contracted another elite mercenary to develop for me. Most impressive."

Kiara chuckled at that.

"You mean the one who knocked me out earlier? You can tell him his security grid need some more fine-tuning." - in slightly irreverent tone.

A choked-off growl came from the speaker, before Hale quickly spoke:

"Now, Raze, she does have a point - even if you don't want to admit it. But I think it would be best to continue this discussion in person..." - before the speaker clicked off, and the door to the room opened, admitting two people inside: Hale, a rather thin middle-aged lean man of average height, with sharp, piercing, intelligent eyes and an ease of movement which suggested supreme self-confidence, as well as a background in either gymnastics or martial arts, or both.

Kiara instantly took this in, as she thought:

"Not your typical bloated paramilitary waste of skin, that's for sure... no wonder these Ekatra had such a hard time taking him out." - before the second one walked in... Raze.

Raze's face was still set in a bitter, angry expression, as he took position to stand behind Hale, the other sitting down in a chair opposite the table from Kiara, then motioning for her to do the same.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll stand..." - Kiara muttered, somewhat unnerved by Hale's seemingly friendly, calculating attitude.

"Sit down!" - Raze snapped, aiming his E11 at her face.

Kiara looked at him, before making a slight contemptuous smile, not complying.

"Stop hiding behind that gun of yours and make me... if you can." - she said, crossing her arms.

Raze's face darkened, before Hale suddenly jumped in with a commanding tone:

"Enough! Before we proceed any further, the two of you will settle what seems to be the issue between you." - the calm steel of his voice enough to quell the escalating tension.

Kiara held Raze's gaze for another pair of seconds, before saying:

"I don't know what's there to settle. I don't think I've ever met your whipping boy here before. Before, he started saying something about me having killed his friends... suppose it's possible, if they were mercs like him, and we crossed paths on one of my many missions."

Raze bellowed at that, inscensed even more by Kiara's indifference:

"It was on the Geyrin, you despicable schutta! You don't remember killing a pair of Twi'Lek mercenaries there, a brother and a sister, my friends?!"

Kiara shook her head irritably at that, before retorting in a voice of strained patience:

"No. I don't. I've killed a whole bunch of mercs and thugs there, all together, and I didn't bother to learn their names! If your--" - before Raze interrupted:

"We weren't part of that slug's force. We were simply there to pick up a contract from him at the same time your team was raiding the ship! But you killed them both, then escaped through a vent shaft when I almost had you there!"

Now, Kiara's eyes lit up with understanding as she nodded with a wicked smile:

"So... YOU were the one whose plasma grenade almost turned me into a charred crisp, and destroyed my Tenloss? And I guess those other two with you were your friends? I'm a bit proud of myself for that, actually... breaking her neck, then leaving a little nasty surprise for the other one when he rolled the body over..." - Kiara mused, as Raze's face seemed on the verge of exploding with rage - before she suddenly asked him, her voice back to serious:

"But tell me something - why were you on that deck in the first place? The slug's throne room was below, and the hangar was to the aft. If you weren't with his guys, why were you up there looking for us? I overheard some of your comm traffic before I made my move, and you WERE coordinating with his mercs!"

Now, Hale had likewise turned to look at Raze with curiousity.

"Well... Gargonn did offer us a commission if we were to join in to defend the ship..." - he muttered with understated embarassment, lowering his one-eyed gaze, finally realizing the extreme hypocrisy of his gripe with Kiara.

Kiara laughed with utter contempt at that:

"So in other words, you WERE with him! And you were there to try and kill me. And now you're upset because I had the jump on those two morons first and killed them, before they could do the same to me? For your information, that's called a fight! You want to assign blame for your friends' deaths on someone? Start with yourself, and them, for accepting that slug's offer and going after me in the first place." - she snapped.

Hale nodded at this, before addressing Raze:

"You really have no basis for your issue with Kiara. The two of you were on opposite sides in a battle, trying to kill each other, and your friends were a casualty of the battle. That's all there is to it."

Raze nodded reluctantly, still gazing at the floor.

"I guess so. But I've known them for years... and we've been through so much together." - he growled, before he looked at Kiara again.

"But you're right. It was our choice to take part in the fight, and our consequences to pay."

Hale nodded to both of them.

"Now that the issue is finally settled, we can move on to the matter of why I had decided to spare you, instead of having your executed like your Rodian friend." - he addressed Kiara.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear this... even if I have an idea." - Kiara thought, rolling her eyes.

"Ever since the Ekatra takeover, I have been planning a coordinated counterattack at their main base station in orbit... to defeat their command staff, and leave their occupation forces without leadership. So far, however, I have lacked someone like you... someone experienced enough to lead my partisan forces in this assault. Together with Raze here, the two of you will be the ones to lead my men in this campaign." - Hale stated.

"And my guesses are rarely wrong..." - Kiara thought, her suspicion confirmed, before she replied in an irreverent voice:

"Nice plan... except two minor details: I don't work for free, and I already have a lucrative contract with the Ekatra to take you out. And I always fulfill my contracts." - her gaze locked with Hale's.

He smiled thinly at that.

"You don't seem to be in a very strong bargaining position at the moment, my friend... you WILL do as you're told. As for your payment... you did invade my base, kill my troops with intent to kill me. Your payment will be your life."

"I see." - Kiara growled.

"And, there is another factor to enter your consideration, as well..." - Hale added, with a sinister smile, as he pushed a button on the wall, next to a monitor.

The screen lit up, to show the interior of Kiara's Escort Shuttle, with Fareeni sitting there, manacled, captured by Hale's patrols when they were sent out to find the source of the remote interface. Two of Hale's troops held their weapons aimed at her head.

As Raze smirked at that, Hale continued:

"Remember your late Rodian friend? The cat-woman will share his fate if you don't do as I say."

"What makes you think I care one way or another what happens to her?" - Kiara asked him in her usual cold, ruthless voice, her pretense wasted on Hale, however, whose smile simply turned to brittle:

"Nice try... but like I said, I know you... Nightsister. Unlike the Mandalorians, your kind believes in the fellowship of battle - perhaps the most significant difference in your, otherwise remarkably similar, philosophies pertaining to conflict. You have come to regard her as a comrade-in-arms, as you had the Rodian, as well. And that is precisely why I had him executed - to demonstrate that I am willing, and prepared to go that far, if necessary." - in an utterly cold, calculating tone.

"Bastard... I promise, you'll live to regret this!" - Kiara thought, carefully keeping her stone-cold facial expression in place, before she merely nodded, not saying a word.

Hale nodded back, before continuing:

"Excellent. The preparations for the assault are already proceeding, but it will take another week for all the elements to be ready. You have that long to familiarize yourself with the task force I have assembled, get to know the unit commanders, as well as the equipment you will have to use, and come up with an initial attack plan. Myself and Raze here will be handling the orbital assault part of the operation, but you will be the one on the scene when we board the station itself, commanding the assault team."

"And my companion?" - Kiara asked.

"She will remain in our custody until you've successfully accomplished your mission. Should you fail, she will die." - Hale replied matter-of-factly, before adding:

"For now, I'm sure you're quite tired after today's events... and you will need to start out fresh tomorrow. Quarters have been arranged for you. Please, consider my base your own, and feel free to take full advantage of its facilities while here." - he finished with an ingratiating smile, before standing up and walking back out of the room, Raze following behind.

Kiara glared at his back for a pair of seconds, hatred in her eyes, before she followed suit.