Dawnbreaker Episode Split Destiny/Part 10

CHAPTER 28

INTRUDER 1 - ONE OF EIGHT UNMARKED OBSOLETE STORMTROOPER TRANSPORTS ON APPROACH TO EKATRA COMMAND BASE

"If there has ever been a more motley excuse for an assault force then this one in recent history of galactic warfare, I would be very surprised!" Kiara reflected with a slight smirk, looking around at the filthy, rusted bulkheads of the transport's troop bay, crammed to full with Hale's troops, their helmeted heads reflected in her sunglasses. The other seven ships were equally crammed, as well.

Still, she had to admit, the outside appearance was definitely not indicative of the competency of Hale's troops, or the ship's hidden upgrades, which had thus far prevented the Ekatra sensors from detecting them, masking their sensor signatures like that of common Ekatra-made transport ships. As the diversionary battle progressed outside, in planetary orbit, led by Hale and his mercenary lieutenant Raze, intended to provide the transports with as much interference as possible once in range of the station's defences, she made one last field-check of her weapons and supporting equipment.

Finishing in a minute, she then addressed the troops, after opening a link to the rest of the ships az well, on a coded channel, to address everyone at the same time: "Stop gawking and pay attention, because I wont vaste time to hold yor hands once there! We'll be breaching the station's perimeter in five minutes, if your dear boss Hale's timetable is accurrate. Intruders 4, 5, and 6, you're to dock with the station's outer docking ring, and occupy the main Ekatra garrisson forces there. Your heavy repeaters, rocket launchers and other heavy weapons will prove effective in dealing with those Cyber-troops that Hale's contacts aboard said are mostly assigned to the main garrisson. Be sure to have your sappers seal off, or destroy the connective tunnels from the outer ring to the main body of the station as quickly as possible, so they cannot reinforce the sexondary garrisson there. You're the diversion - once the tunnels are sealed, don't stay there to be viped out - board the transports again, and join the rest of us in the main assault. The rest of us will dock into main hangars on the station, and attack the secondary garrisson there directly, and wipe them out with maximum expediency. Take no prisoners! Any specific orders, you'll receive from me mid-mission. Understood?" she ended the briefing.

One of the platoon sargeants came back with: "But Hale's specific instructions were to keep the Ekatra command staff alive until he can interrogate them. So--" but Kiara interupted:

"Shut up, moron! Have you ever tried to interrogate a Force user? Has he? I've seen those Ekatra Knights when I was aboard one of their ships... not the type to break under any kind of interrogation I can think of - and BELIEVE ME, I can think of a lot of 'em. Now, I'll say this once... you see one of those robed creeps, you take him out on sight with a maximum possible barrage - or you won't live to regret it... And if he somehow doesn't kill you, I will put a blast through your face, for disobeying my orders. And as for what Hale wants, I couldn't care less - his main orders were to seize the station, and that's what we'll do. I won't risk the mission at large to cater to his idiot whims, which he seems to change every few hours! Besides, the station's computer database should have all the information he wants, anyway. He doesn't like the way I do things, he's welcome to take over himself. If he can... if that doesn't appeal to him, he can piss off out of my way and focus on flitting around in his toy fighter out there, while I do the real fighting." she growled, annoyed.

After a brief grunt, the sargeant came back with: "Yes, ma'am!"

"Good. Out." Kiara finished.

Within minutes, the transports assigned to dock with the outer ring have done so, and Kiara got the first reports of contact with Ekatra defenders from her troops.

"Killing time." she said, standing up and hand-motioning the troops to assume positons for point-dispersal, as the rest of the transports began their approach to the main hangars, Intruder 1, with her aboard, choosing the center hangar.

The hangar was quiet - too quiet - as Intruder 1 touched down and began deploying its troops. The other Intruders ran into similiar conditions.

"I don't like this." the sargeant of Kiara's platoon muttered under his helmet.

"There's nothing to like or dislike, soldier... but I agree." was Kiara's professionally calm reply.

The 24 troops faned out through the hangar, assuming hold positions, before Kiara added: "Deploy static defenses in here. Autoturrets covering each of the 3 doors, and barricades in front! And set up air filters over the went shafts - in case they try to pump in neurotoxin gas! I don't want surprises... looks like we caught them off-guard, and I want to use that time to have a fortified beachead. And send a message to Hale thet we're aboard."

As the troops broght out the equipment, and began setting it up, Kiara contacted the rest of the teams, issuing the same set of orders - except those of Intruder 3, whose orders were to scout out the immediate vicinity around the hangars. Then she contacted the diversionary force, which was actually facing resistance, to expedite with their mission to destroy the tunnels from the outer ring as fast as possible. By the time her set of orders were complete, the defences in the hangar have been set up, along with all the other hangars the main force had landed in - except for the one where Intruder 3 waz, of course.

Meanwhile, one of the tunnels from the outer ring was already sealed off, and a squad was just converging on the second one - 8 heavy troopers and 4 sappers behind, advancing through the defending squad of Cyber-troops.

"Suppressive fire!" the squad leader called out, hugging the wall and doing that himself with his heavy gatling blaster repeter. Two more troopers were doing the same, keeping the sextet of Cyber-troops at the intersection pinned down by the unremitting barrage, as another two of Hale's rocket troops fired a pair of HE baradium rockets at the intersection. A second later, the six Cyber-troops were transformed into burned-out fragments of metal and flesh - but they did kill one sapper and two of Hale's troopz, too.

"Advance!" was the squad leader's next order. In the next minute, they were at the target tunnel, the 3 sappers setting charges, the troops providing cover.

"How much longer?" he asked one of the sappers after a minute.

"Two minutes, sir." was the reply.

~

Meanwhile in the control room, the Ekatra, whom were Loyalists, the group that chose to stay with the Sentinel, had been quietly meditating for about 25 minutes, completely ignoring the constant breaching commands over the intercom.

The Cyber Elites in the room were standing guard at the door.

Unknown to Kiara and her team, a group of CyberSoldiers was stationed directly outside the hangar, positioned to storm it.

With an upload to his comrades visors, the order was given from the Seargent to take cover and wait for them to come out. In the hallway outside, the Sentinel had set up some firepower of their own: a wheeled wall that took up most of the hall covered in durasteel, with a light shield generator and armed with 4 repeating turrets - this was called a PTS, or Portable Troops Shield.

"Contact." the sargeant of Team 3 reported to Kiara, when their scouting of the hangar's perimeter had uncovered the Ekatra Cyber-troops and their own defence line.

While quickly repelled by the Cybers and their own defence equipment, with abaut 50% losses, the team did give Kiara advance warning...

"Teams 2 and 7, advance from your hangars and converge on their position! Flanking approach... keep their attention diverted before we attack." was her order.

Getting an acknowledgement, Kiara waited - looking at the Ekatra-made energy-dampening grenades on her belt thet she obtained while on that Ekatra ship before.

"These will cut through that energy shield easily... thanks for giving me such nice toys to use against you!" before she mutterd to herself: "You don't wait for the enemy to come to you, Cyborgs - you go to them first!" with a wicked grin.

Minutes later, the two teams attacked the Ekatra defence post outside Kiara's hangar. Even caught by surprise, the heavily fortified Ekatra were giving a stiff fight, the energy wall deflecting the atackers' massed fire, and even Baradium rockets were only marginally effective against the combined durasteel wall and energy shield. Taking considerable losses from the Ekatra, the team leader of Team 7 called Kiara:

"Enemy engaged... we can't hold them too long, boss!" over the sound of heavy weapons fire.

"Acknowledged." she replied calmly, still waiting, as she gave a hand-signal for her troops to set shaped charges at the doors toward the Ekatra defence post.

Once set, she motioned the troops to assume advance positions, before remote-detonating the charges and blowing the doors - taking the Cybers, still preoccupied with fighting off Teams 2 and 7, by surprise.

Before the smoke and debris was even clear, two of her energy-dampening grenades came through the blasted hole, landing in the midst of the Cybers, and their energy shield generetor. With an electricized flash, they overloaded the shield, collapsing it. Without the shield, the durasteel wall alone was much more susceptible to heavy explosives of the flanking teams, and was down in moments, along with the turrets and a few Cybers.

"Move in!" she barked to her team, before communicating to the flanking teams to retreat, to cut their already considerable losses.

Her troops piled through the hole, their heavy gatling repeaters proving effective against Cyber armour - overwhelming it with sheer number of high-powered blasts. The light troopers, with their carbines, were less succesfull, but even they were a threat, aiming for the Cybers' faces. Then she joined in herself, after using her sniper to pick off a half-dozen Cybers from her position, through the blast-hole, the hyper-velocity charged slugs easily bypassing their armour. At closer range, her DL-44 was useless against the armour, but her aiming proficiency compensated for it - aiming for their face visors, the heavy blaster's shots were proving effective enough. Three minutes later, the defence checkpoint was overrun.

"Secure the area. Teams 2 and 7, report losses!" she ordered.

"Team 2 here- we've lost 40% of the troops."

"Team 7 here - we've lost all the rocket-armed troops, but are still at 75% otherwise."

Her own team was mostly intact, with only 6 out of 25 soldiers killed, a result of their surprise on the Ekatra. In turn, there were 20 Cybers littering the deck, and 4 blasted-out turrets. Still, the losses wee piling up, with Team 3's 50% casualties, too.

In the meantime, the diversionary force had sealed off the last of the tunnels from the outer ring to the station, preventing the Ekatra's main garrisson reinforcements from joining, but not before taking heavy losses themselves. Only Team 6 was still active, boarding their transport and returning to the main hangars, to join the main force.

But the main Ekatra defense forces had no plans of joining the small-scale fray - they knew that in this station, there was only one way to access the other 85% of said station: a wide hallway, spanning some 30 feet. With no possible way to get around that hallway, as there were no connection hallways, no ventilation shafts, no nothing, the main defense force had set up there. To further add to the Ekatra's tactical advantage, the hallway sloped up - allowing Cyber Snipers - equipped with the exact same model of Sniper Rifle Kiara was using - to take position amidst the regular troops, in which it was impossible to tell them apart. PTS' had been set up, and the automated defense grid, comprising of MD turrets, was online.

Among the CyberSoldiers placed at the hallway were Snipers, Demomen, armed with explosives, Regulars, with heavy rifles, and even a few Heavies, armed with Chainguns. At the back, several Ekatra Knights had taken up position, sensing the area, waiting for someone to show up. And finally, at the base of the hall were two Melee Specialists, with cloaking devices, reinforced armor on par with the Heavies and Elites, made from Durasteel, and armed with a variety of melee weapons ranging from armor-piercing knives to a katana. They also carried a heavy projectile pistol, which was suprisingly accurate. They maqde good spies and assassins, as well.

Only a small force of troops, mere Regulars, were left in the frontal part of the station, to act as a diversionary tactic, and to give the Ekatra more time to meditate.

A full two hours passed, with Kiara's assault teams combing the station, clearing out pockets of resistance. But it rapidly became clear that the Ekatra resistance was too weak and diffuse to be realistic, especially with the lack of any Ekatra Knights among the enemy. And Kiara noticed that. Now having her Team 1 just sexure one of the cargo bays, of a small squad of Cybers there, and receiving mostly positive reports from other teams, except Team 8, which was completely wiped out in one skirmish, but not before it crippled the Ekatra defence checkpoint enough for Team 3 to finish it off, she waz geting nervous...

"This is too easy... granted, we had surprise on our side, but still... for their main installation in orbit, this kind of underwhelming defensive response is not what I expected!" was on her mind, before Hale's communique came:

"Kiara, report."

"Idiot! To use real names in-mision, even on a coded channel... the last thing I want is for these Ekatra to know it's me leading this assault! Unless he wants to compromise me deliberately..." she thought, not replying, hoping he would get the message.

"Valkyrie, report." then came in, with Hale clearly getting the unspoken message.

"Outer sections of the station secure, Instigator." Kiara replied, using Hale's own code-name "But their resistance has been less efficient then I predicted. I get the feeling they're planing something nasty! I'm preparing to have my teams move deeper in..."

Raze's voice came back at that: "No, wait... our scans of the station layout indicate there's only one hallway connecting to the main body of the station... might be a good place for an ambush!"

"Well... at least he seems to have his mind focused on the mission... maybe I was wrong about him!" Kiara thought in satisfaction, before replying: "Thanks for the heads-up, Targeter... I'll scout it out." closing the link.

"Let's go check it out..." she addressed two soldiers in her team, before instructing the rest to stand by.

They back-tracked through the already pacified areas of the station, before coming at the site of the entry to the hallway, as Hale's telemetry indicated - in one of the back maintenance rooms, wher her teams missed it before.

"Strange place for the main connecting corridor..." was her thought, as the three crept up to the wide blast doors. She nodded to one of the troops with her, and the soldier pressed a buton on the panel next to it, the doors opening without protest.

They took a look inside...

...only to catch a glimpse of a massive security checkpoint, with a mass of turrets and Cyber-troops, and even some Ekatra Knights in the rear, some of them looking different from the ones before, all protected by an energy shield.

"Fall back!!!" Kiara snapped, throwing herself back out and to the side, with a sniper pellet grazing her left hand, as one of her troops' back suddenly erupted with anoter sniper pellet coming out - and the second one was seemingly impaled out of thin air, lifting briefly in the air before falling back down, dead.

"Cloaking devices! Must be some kind of special forces troops!" she guessed immediately, her memories of the Nightsister camouflage flowing through her mind. Taking cover behind one of the crates in the room, she threw another of her energy-damping grenades, hoping the discharge would overload the concealed troops' cloak...

...and she was right, taking a look back out, and glimpsing a pair of Cybers, armed with a variety of melee weapons, shuddering from the elektrical discharge of the grenade.

"Uh-oh... I dont think I want to take on THESE alone!" she reflected, taking the opportunity while the troops were still recovering from the grenade to slip back out of the room, and seal the doors behind.

Once out, she pulled the commlink: "All teams, converge on my position! NOW!" vhile thinking: "We'll have to flush them out first... and I have an idea!" with a devious smile, before pulling the commlink again:

"Team 6, go back to your transport and load your rocket launchers with Nytinite glop gas rockets. Then join the rest here!"

Getting an acknowledgment, she thought: "In that kind of cramped space, with so many of them bunched up there, the glop gas will not disperse, and will be VERY effective in glueing them in place! They will have to vacate the tunnel before the hardening proces sets in, or they will be sitting ducks within minutes! They'll have to come out here and face us in the open... and we'll be waiting!"

Five minutes later, all the teams were positioned in the general vicinity of the room with the hallway, in ambush positions, and Team 6 was back, as well.

"Are the rockets loaded?" Kiara asked the Team 6 sargeant.

"Yes, ma'am... but you understand that if the tunnel is too short, the gas might come as far as our own positions too?" he asked.

"I've seen the tunnel... it's long enough, trust me! Get ready..." she replied, giving a hand movement for the gatling-armed heavy troopers of Team 6 to clear out the room of those special forces Cybers before the rocket troops could move in.

The fight was brief, but the advanced cloaked Cybers had killed 10 of her troops before being overwhelmed. Still, it was vorth it...

"Move in!" she ordered the rocket troops, 4 of which rushed in the room, and took positions at the mouth of the hallway. One was down by a sniper in a second, the other following behind in the next second - but the other two launched their rockets, immediately falling back to Kiara.

"That's it... they should be coming out as soon as the glop begins to harden, and they see they have no choice! Take positions!" she barked, falling back to join one of the ambush points.

The two rockets detonated in the far end of the tunnel, in a cloud of insidious glop gas. At first, none of the Ekatra or Cybers hed any idea what that was... before the glop began to harden on some of the Cybers, rendering them immobile. Looking through the whitish fog, they began to realize what was happening...

"We will need to move forward, Sir." - the Cyber Commander intoned to the Ekatra Lord, who was in command of the station, right next to him.

"No. We've seen these weapons before. The Kamen was smart enough to think to try and melt the hardened gas with lightning. And it worked. Knights!" -the Lord snapped - "Electrocute the hardened gas. It'll melt quickly. Spread your streams for maximum effect. Engineers! Slice open the layers with your cutters. They have the same effect!"

From the end of the hallway, Kiara and her entourage could hear the unmistakeable sound of Force Lightning in rapid succession, and shortly after, some sort of heavy machinery kicked on.

An ES assault transport, launched from an Assault Freighter outside and carrying twelve full platoons of CyberSoldiers, touched down in one of the hangars. The Cybers quickly unloaded, and began spreading through the station, knowing they would eventually come upon whoever was invading them. But just as they left the hangar, their shuttle was destroyed, thanks to a partially-incinerated Englad...

Kiara's face twisted briefly, because she realized her gambit had failed, hearing the sounds of heavy machinery and electrical discharges. She hissed: "Okay then... time to change the rules of engagement for our Ekatra friends. Get me Hale!" addressing her platoon sergeant.

"Link open, ma'am." was the sergeant's reply, handing her a coded commlink.

Hale's clipped voice came: "What is it, Valkyrie?"

"I have a somewhat stubborn group of Ekatra creeps in the connecting corridor with the main sections of the station... I need a tactical strike on the station at these coordinates!" as she transmitted the exact location of the corridor to the outside space force Hale had.

Hale's self-satisfied voice came back: "Hold on, let me be certain I understand correctly... you actually need my help?"

Kiara rolled her eyes, before giving an impatient reply: "Yes, oh great leader, I do need your help! Is that what you wanted to hear? Now, if your male pride has been satisfied properly, maybe you can fly over here and launch a few torpedoes at these coordinates, if you want this mision to actually advance forward! Out."

"Idiot." she thought.

Then she addressed all the teams: "Fall back toward the hangars. We don't want to be anywhere near here when the torpedoes hit!"

Less than one minute later, a half-dozen proton torpedoes struck at the coordinates. Even if they did not have too much real effect on the station, with it's shields and armour, the precision strike at a confined spot like thet did overload the power lines in the corridor walls, and collapsed a good section of it, those two effects combined killing off half the Cyber troops, a few Ekatra Knights, destroying the turrets, the energy shield, and static defences, and forcing the rest to retreat out of the corridor toward the main section of the station.

Unfortunetly, this also had the unwanted sideeffect that the corridor was now completely blocked, and would need to be cleared out before Kiara's force could progress further in.

While retreating back to the hangars, Kiara's teams did run into Ekatra reinforcements. However, since the Cybers were scattered throughout all the hangars, and Kiara's teams were all together, they had the advantage in numbers, as they eliminated the Ekatra teams one-by-one. Of course, not without considerable losses on ther side, as well.

"Status report!" Kiara addressed all the teams when the last of the Cyber reinforcements were neutralized.

"We have lost an additional 43 troops, ma'am... we're at less then half-strength now! Three hangar beachheads have been overrun, we have only two left." was the reply.

"Seal off all the rest of the hangars, and rig them with explosives, in case anymore reinforcements try to board the station!" she ordered.

After getting an acknowledgement, she began to think: "Sith-spit... this is not turning out the way I planned! I'm beginning to think this mission might not be possible to complete... the odds are too heavily stacked against us. But if I fail, Hale will execute Fareeni. I have to stall him... for now. What happens later - I'll mark that target when I get to it. Well, anyvay, I have a perfect excuse why I can't advance further for now..." before she called the few sappers she sent to check on the collapsed tunnel:

"What's the estimate on clearing out the corridor?"

"At least half a day... maybe more. Looks like the whole corridor has collapsed afterwards, and is now exposed to vacuum. It will take time for the auxilliary bulkheads to engage, the atmosphere to be restored, and THEN for the rubble to be blasted-through with shaped charges!" came the reply from the sapper leader.

"Yes... a perfect excuse! All the more so since he was actually the one who fired the torpedoes - I couldn't have known this would be the result." she thought in satisfaction, before informing Hale of the setback.

As she anticipated, he was furious, but there was nothing he could do abaut it, and he knew it. After telling her in no uncertain terms thet any additional delayy would not be tolerated, he signed of in a huff.

However, something else caught Kiara's attention before... an active communication relay array, with the abilitiy to encode communication signals to the planet's surface. She went back to that area, and examined the equipment thoroughly - before an idea suddenly hit her: "If I could encode the kind of signal only Fareeni could recognize and decode, I could establish a communications link with her without Hale's people intercepting it! She does have that neural-interface dataport... so she could actually receive it directly to her brain! Of course, she would have to find a way to send a reply without tipping her hand to them... but she's resourcefull! She'll find a way... and then, the two of us could come up with some kind of plan!"

With that, Kiara set to work on encoding the signal, remembering the unique frekuency of Fareeni's dataport, that the Cathar had told her days ago.

CHAPTER 29

ZAIYA'S SHIP - A FEW HOURS FROM ARRIVAL TO SERNPIDAL

"Did you transmit the request for reinforcements to Dathomir?" Zaiya asked one of the Huntresses.

The Huntress looked at her, replying in annoyed tone: "Of course I have... but I don't see why should we need them! It's not like we couldn't handle her ourselves."

Zaiya smirked at that: "Like I told you before... I don't want to take chances, with Sernpidal being an active warzone. Who knows what kind of interference would we run into before reaching her! You see, sister... this iz why -I- am the one in charge of this mission, and NOT a fool like you!"

At this, the Huntress leapt up, drawing her vibrodagger and assuming a combat stance - which was mirrored by Zaiya barely a second later. The Huntress, inscensed, made a hasty attack, rushing in with a quick but simple horisontal slash - which Zaiya deflected easily, then trapped the Huntres' hand behind her back, and put her own dagger under the Huntress' throat.

"And you're also reckless, you schutta! Do you declare a blood-match? Hmm? Just give me a reason to cut out your heart! When the reinforcemens join us, I won't need a fool like you anyway!" Zaiya hissed in her ear, drawing some blood with the dagger.

"No... I... don't!" the Huntress ground out after a few moments.

"Smart. You just saved your own life! Now get back to piloting the ship." was Zaiya's reply, before she shoved the Huntress away, but still stretching through the Force for any indication of repeated attack.

The Huntress gave her a baleful glare, before vanishing into the cockpit - before the second Huntress whispered to Zaiya from the other room, where she was watching all along: "Thet's the second time she proved how stupid she is, Zaiya... the third one may be detrimental to the mission itself! She is a liability."

"I know, sister... but as long as it's only the three of us, I can't afford to dispose of her. That's actually the other reason I requested reinforcements, you know!" Zaiya smiled insidiously.

The Huntress smiled back, dissappearing back into the other room.

On the other side of the caved-in hallway, the Cyber Commander stood up from the now-deceased corpse of a young Ekatra; there was nothing more he nor the Medic could do.

"We've sustained 13% casualties. 4 Ekatra Knights, 122 CyberSoldiers dead. Main hallway defensive system offline. Debris blocking our route." - he reported to the Lord.

"How long would it take us to clear the debris?" - the Lord inquired, taking a penetrating glance at the fragile-looking block.

"140 minutes." - an Engineer responded.

"Much shorter than it would take them, I assume. If we clear the debris first, we can go on the offensive ourselves." - one of the surviving Ekatra Knights stated.

"Gaining us the initiative..." - the Lord pondered - "And their ranks are surely diminished after our surprise attack from the hangars. Lets do it."

"Yes Sir."

Meanwhile, a Krevace Stealth Cruiser, a common favorite for Ekatra, decloaked outside the lone reserve hangar, located in the rear of the station, still under Sentinel control, and deployed several small shuttles: reinforcements from Ekatra space. Unlike the Ekatra already on the station however, these Ekatra were very highly trained and perfect for leading battles. They also were bringing they're personal type of CyberSoldiers with them, used for guarding the Ekatra, and had the reputation for being all-around killing machines.

SERNPIDAL SURFACE - FARENNI'S HOLDING CELL

All of a sudden, the Cathar hacker thought she imagined Kiara's voice in her mind: "Fareeni? Can you hear me?!"

At first, she thought she was having another of her madness stints, but the voice came back: "Answer me. It's me, Kiara."

"Slayer? How do you do this?!" the Cathar whispered, possibly the first time she was truly surprised, her standard monotone sounding a bit anxious.

"I have tapped direktly into your dataport, using a coded signal. What's your status?" waz Kiara's reply.

Once again having a relapse of her madness, the hacker replyed: "Impressive... waah! It looks like you have learned something from the Mistress!"

"Sure, whatever... where are you?" Kiara asked with a hint of command in the sense of this message, this not being a situaton for the Cathar's histrionics.

It worked, and Fareeni replied in her monotone: "They're holding me in detention block at Hale's base. There is no way I can access any kind of port from here, as the cell has no outlets of any kind."

"They're not stupid, Fareeni... but I have an idea: I'll transmit the exact location of his base to the Ekatra forces in orbit, using this same coded signal. The Ekatra assault shuld occupy them enough for you to slip out. And the damage to the base itself should overload the power grid, and open your cell... that's my theory, anyway." Kiara answered.

"Not very favorable odds..." Fareeni muttered.

"Last-ditch options are like that, Cathar! For now, just sit tight." Kiara signed out.

On the Ekatra station...

Kiara got to work, reconfiguring the array to transmit to the Ekatra command ship. She was successful, and a set of precise co-ordinates was dispatched to the vessel - detailing the exact location of Hale's base, and command codes to disable the air defence grid, which she learned days ago, when she was still preparing for the mission.

"Snapping two necks with one twist... it will give Farenni a chance, AND divert the Ekatra's attention from this station at the same time. Oh, not to mention give Hale something to think about! Not two... three necks, actually!" Kiara thought with an evil grin.

Outskirts of the Sernpidal system...

Zaiya's ship dropped out of hyperspace minutes ago. Holding station for now, it was awaiting the arrival of the reinforcement ship, scheduled to come within half an hour, carrying a full infiltration squad of 6 Elite Guard Huntresses, and 24 Nexu.

"Yes... the outcast iz here - somwhere! I can feel her." Zaiya hissed to herself.

Aboard the Vera Command Cruiser...

"Sir, the Station has just sent us the coordinates of Hale's base," a Cyber commented to the Fleet Commander.

"Hmm... I'm tempted to order an assault down there... but this just doesn't seem right. The station is still under attack, I assume?"

"Yes," the Cyber responded.

"Then why would they take time out of their defense to send me a message? It is unethical," the Commander pondered.

"I suggest sending a Recon Team down there to check it out," his subordinate input.

"Good idea, but we need all available CyberSoldiers at the station," he countered.

"Call the station itself?"

"The lines have been down since the invasion began," the Commander answered, then just realized what he said.

"Hmm... It seems Hale's men are trying to pull the wool over our eyes. This must be a trap. Do we have any Torpedo Gunships here?"

"Affirmative. We have half a battlegroup of them."

"Order one of them to break off their attacks and bombard those coordinates. If this is a trap, the trappers just trapped themselves!"

"Yes Sir."

Minutes later, a Torpedo Gunship had moved into position, ready to bomb.

"Ready to bombard Hale's base, Sir," the Captain said over an open channel, in a coordinated effort to get the instigators to reveal themselves.

On the station, Kiara was one of the first to intercept the call...

...and she smiled deviously to herself. "Now... let's see if my gambit worked! I'm sure Hale will not let his primary base be destroyed without assisting... and his attention will be off this mission and me!"

"General! We have Ekatra forces moving in to bombard us!" a panicked voice came out of Hale's fighter communications system.

Hale's face twisted at that: "How could they get past our air defence control?! Vhere did they get the codes?!" before adding "Actually, nevermind that... right now we have to stop them! Kiara and the mission will keep... have half the force converge on that Gunship! Raze, you are in command of the situation up here until I return!"

"Acknowledgd, sir." was Raze's reply.

Minutes later, Hale's force was already in the atmosphere, closing on the Gunship - which was already bombarding the base. The 18 fighterz, Hale in the lead, attacked it.

Inside Hale's base...

Amidst the blaring of alarms and the debris falling from the ceilings, all the remaining personnel focused on the attack, Fareeni's cell has been left unguarded. She was busy trying to override the electronic lock, but without her neural interface, it was slow work.

Suddenly, one soldier happened to ran through the hallway where her cell was, and noticed her actions. "Stop right there, Cathar! Leave those doors alone or I'll blast off your head!" aiming his blaster carbine and stepping close.

Fareeni obeyed, before trying for a trick: "Waah! They'r here!" she yelled in pretended utter alarm, also ducking down and pretending to take cover, like there were really Ekatra soldiers approaching from behind.

To add to the deception, one of the other doorz blew in at that exact moment, a result of the bombardment, but with a sound like it was blown in by a shaped charge. The soldier turned in a flash, dropping to one knee and aiming in that direction - turning his back on Fareeni, who was back on her feet with a heavy piece of metal tube in her hand, which fell from the ceiling during the bombardment.

"Unghhh!" was all he could grunt out as the metal tube connected with the back of his skull with a dull thud, and he dropped to the floor, unconcious or dead.

The Cathar then picked up the soldier's carbine, and blasted off the cell lock. Remembering the way she was brought in before, she backtracked along that same route, intent on getting out. Almost all the troops were at their stations, and she did not encounter anyone else until reaching the lift to the surface section of the base. But, she realised that going up there would be suicide, with the bombardment still going on, and Hale's troops. So she headed back, thinking that Hale could have some kind of convenient secret tunnel which would lead directly out of the base, as his own escape route, if necessary.

And she was right, finding a small, unassumming hatch at the far corner of the underground compound, guarded by a pair of soldiers still there. With the element of surprise on her side, and that the soldiers were not facing her entry point, she was able to take out one, despite her inexperience, firing a few shots before one of them got him. But the second one was already prone on the floor by that point, aiming in her direction... and hitting her in the shoulder before she cold back out in the corridor again.

"AAHHH!!!" she screamed, the pain causing her to drop the weapon, and lean hard against the wall, not able to control it, her left arm useless.

She was on the floor by the time the soldier was out in the corridor - lying on top of the blaster carbine.

"Nice try, cat woman... now, time to pay the price!" the soldier laughed, aiming his weapon.

She rolled on her back, to reveal the carbine, which she gripped by her right hand only. The soldier fired first, but missed the hacker by a hair, because of the roll. Fareeni desperately squeezed the trigger in quick succession, not even aiming - but at that range, it didn't matter. The first shot missed, the second caught the soldier in the right leg, the third grazed above his shoulder, and the fourth hit in the stomach. With a scream, he fell down, dead.

"WAAAAH! I.. have... to... get out... of here!!!" the Cathar croaked in madness and pain, as she opened the hatch and headed down the tunnel.

On approach to the planet now, Zaiya's ship was joined by another Nightsister vessel - the reinforcements she requested, which dropped out minutes ago. Both ships in sensor-stealth mode, they were invisible to both Hale's forces and the Ekatra.

"Infiltration Squad Kai'jj' Mir, of the Fireserpent Clan Elite Guard, hailing Zaiya! Respond at once, peon!" came an arrogant voice over Zaiya's ship comm system.

Zaiya's hands gripped the armrest of the pilot chair tight in anger, as she thought: "Oh, great... they had to send those Elite Guard insufferable arrogant whores! The Matron's personal boot-lickers... and when I specifically requested reinforcements from our own clan!"

"Looks like the Matron doesnt exactly trust us, sister..." the second Huntress rimarked coldly.

"She is hedging her bets... no surprise there." Zaiya replied, trying to keep her anger under control, before replying to the comm:

"Assassin Team Ii'ness'Rya, of the Bloodshade Clan, Huntress Zaiya commanding. About time you arrived... I had thought the Elite Guard would have a better sense of timing!" not resisting the urge to mouth back.

"Watch your tongue, insignificant one, before we cut it out! We are Elite Guard! The only timing that matters is our own." came the angry reply.

"Whatever... if you're done with stroking your egos, are you ready to receive the in-system telemetry?" Zaiya said, keeping a tight leash on her temper, not rising to this latest jab.

"Proceed." was the slightly calmer reply of another voice - a different Elite Guard, clearly.

Zaiya dispatched the covert scans of the system they conducted earlier, which included the Ekatra station, where she had already sensed Kiara's presence aboard, during a close-by fly-by earlier. After agreeing to proceed covertly, and try to inflitrate the station without raising early alarms, the two Nightsister ships moved inwards...

Kiara, still following the events unfolding outside, suddenly had a strange... feeling... rushing through her. Almost like a premoniton... accompanied with an inexplicable sudden 'I am being watched' instinct. She stirred, uneasily, looking around. But aside from her troops holding positions, there was nothing to be seen.

But the feeling did not go away.

"Listen... I want three squads patrolling around every part of the station we seized." she said quietly, approaching one of the platoon sargeants.

"Trouble? There was no indication of any more overt moves by the Ekatra." the man asked.

"I'm not sure... but something is... wrong. Stay alert." she replied.

The sargeant looked at her oddly for a moment, before saluting: "Understood."

As Hale's fighters approached the Gunship, they found that it had point defenses. Although the light mass drivers were few in number, they were rapid fire, and could easily make short work of a squadron or two of most types of fighters. With no Englads in sight, Hale's fighters decided to attack anyway. It was obvious that with their numbers, they would eventually overwhelm the Gunship.

On the station, the fresh, battle-hardened Ekatra Knights had entered the defensive perimeter, with their companies of Cyber Destroyers - the most advanced type of CyberSolder available, armed with fighter-grade armor and a personal shield generator, as well as a stealth generator and an ES-350 H - the Sentinel's heavy-duty assault rifle, only this model had four modes:

Standard: Assault Rifle - fired superheated MDs, the same ones on Ekatra starships. Full auto. Sniper: Using the scope and flicking a switch, the 350 instantly transforms into a sniper rifle, firing hypersonic mag-charged rounds. Similiar to the one Kiara was given. Heavy Armor: Flicking the switch a different diretion, the 350 became a sort of rocket/grenade launcher hybrid. With two settings, for hypervelocity rockets and grenades carried by the Destroyer himself, this was used against armored targets. Stealth Op: Essentially a silenced, no-scope version of the Sniper variant. Perfect for infiltration.

Coming with a long, jagged and laced bayonet on the end, the ES-350 H was the most powerful gun the Sentinel had to use for their troops.

With numerous other equipment features carried by the Destroyers, such as various types of grenades, a tactical, night and thermal vision visor and a tactical display, these were easily the strongest infantry in the galaxy, but were very costly, and as such only the best of the CyberSoldiers were upgraded to Destroyers.

"The Destroyers could probably blow that heap of scrap out of the way," the fresh Lord proposed.

"No. That is too risky. We might blow up the-"

The Lord drew his lightsaber, aimed at the other Lord's throat.

"I was not asking for your opinion," he growled, "Destroyers, blow that scrap away."

"Yes sir," one of the Destroyers responded, switching his 350 H to Heavy Armor mode.

The fleet commander, seeing Hale's fighters distressing his Gunship, and knowing how valuable it was to his fleet, glared out the viewport.

"Send in a Blue," he ordered.

Yes sir."

As the tunnel was blasted through by the Destroyers, Kiara's sapper team was caught by surprise from the other end.

"Ma'am, they've blown through! The Ekatra are--" was all the time one had to report, before all of the sappers were killed.

"So... they've decided to come to us after all? Good!" was Kiara's thought, before she addressed the two platoons remaining with her: "We'll take positions outside the tunnel entrance, like before. When they enter our trap, they're dead!"

But that inexplicable feeling of exposure she was getting for the past fev minutes refused to go away... and with very good reason, as the Nightsisters were already aboard.

Both Zaiya's team, and Kai'jj Mir Elite Guard squad have infiltrated the station, in different areas. Zaiya and her accomplices have began work on setting up a commlink jamming signal, before, while the Elite Guard, and their backup of 24 Nexu was already converging toward the center areas of the station... and the Ekatra troops now out of the tunnel and in the other area of the station. On the vay, they had come across one of Kiara's patrols - taking them by surprise, and slaughtering them, with onli 4 Nexu lost. However, one of the soldiers did call in an alert to Kiara:

"Unknown intruders in Sektor 5! They're not Ekatra, they--" before the sentence was truncated by a sound of a lightvhip skewering through him. But the commlink stayed active, also transmitting nearby Nexu growlz and the voice of one of the Huntresses, since the Elite Guard didn't weit for Zaiya's team to finish setting up a jamming signal before they attacked - a tactical error that just cost them their element of surprise. A minute later, the commlink died, the jamming signal active, but the damage was done.

Kiara's face was carved from stone, as she realized who the intruders were. Quickly, she addresed the two teams with her:

"Fall back! We'll regroup at Hangar 9. Three of you - go to that Ekatra armory we passed by, and see if there are any IR googles there! NOW! Bring all you can carry! Are there any auto-turrets left in any of the transports?" she asked one of the sargeants.

"I think there are three left in Intruder 4, ma'am. Why? What's going on? Who are these new guests to the party?" the trooper asked.

"You'll find out son enough, soldier... but let's just say the Ekatra are the least of our problems now! For now... stay focused, and don't let your mindz wander - not even for an instant. Let's move - first to Intruder 4, to pick up the turrets, then to Hangar 9 to set-up a new perimeter." Kiara replied darkly.

On the way, she explained in detail who it was they were facing now...

"Idiots! They moved in before ve were finished setting up a jamming signal! So much for waunted Elite Guard efficiency... they may fight better then we do, but they don't know the first thing about subtlety!" Zaiya thought angrily, as she could sense thet Kiara was now fully aware of their presence.

One of her other Huntresses looked at her questioningli. Zaiya nodded.

"Yes, I know! What's done is done... let those idiot schuttas distract the Ekatra and Kiara's troops - ve shall take a more subtle approach! Use the maintenance tunnels and secondary utility corridors to start searching the hangars - best guess iz that is where Kiara will choose to make a stand."

Then she added insidiously: "Besides - all the better! We would need to get rid of those Fireserpents in any case anyway, if we wanted our plan to stay a secret! The more of them get killed now, the less we'll have to dispose of later. Not to mention - their failure will give my next request for reinforcements added weight, for them to be from our clan!"

With that, she crawled into one of the maintenance tunnels, each of the other two choosing a different one.

Meanwhile, the Ekatra were already through the cleared-out tunnel, when one of the Lords sensed the presence of the Elite Guardz nearby. Just as he was about to alert the Cyber troops, two troops at the front were killed - a pair of bright violet lightwhip slashes skewered through their Cyber armor as if it were nothing, killing the Cybers where they stood.

A soft shadow passed before the tunnel exit, but nothing more could be seen.

Force Persuasion - three of the Elite Guardz applied on the remaining Cyberz, trying to lure them out into the open, while the other three were camouflaged and ready to strike, the Nexu hugging the walls in preparation - all spread out all around the tunel entrance, in all of the adjoining rooms and corridors.

CHAPTER 30

Unfortunately for the Nightsisters, the CyberSoldiers, being more machine than man, had lost nearly all of their sentinent mindset except for tactical relations and select others. Among those lost, or replaced by cybertechnology, was the part of the brain that functioned as a thought processor.

The Lord, this one the more-experienced one, instantly realized what was going on.

"Destroyers, switch to Armor mode! Blast that wall away!" he commanded, pointing at the wall the Nightsisters were hiding behind. Not giving a verbal response, the Destroyers, three of them, switched their 350's to Armor, and took aim...

Meanwhile, Cyber Melee Specialists, cloaked, were waiting next to an entrance as an Elite Guard went by - their automated presence preventing them from being sensed.

One of them giving a silent nod to the other, they both uncloaked, charged from the rear, drew their laced staffs, and had slaughtered several Nexu before the Nightsisters knew what was going on. But once the element of surprise was gone, so was the Cyber's advantage...

"Fools! They think they can take US by surprise!" the Guard thought, the Force alerting her to imminent attack from the rear. Anticipating, she applied Force Jump...

...by the time the Cybers uncloaked to attack, she was already in midair, her lightwhip slashing to skewer the Cybers horisontally in half. Two of the Nexu with her weren't so fast, and were killed, however, with one staying alive.

Meanwhile, the blasted wall did kill one of the others, and three more Nexu.

"Cybers, go," the Lord ordered, knowing they would get slaughtered, but not giving a damn about their lives - a trait that all Loyalist Ekatra seemed to have. Besides, they had near unending reinforcements from the fleet outside if things got too hairy, not to mention the production center one floor below, which was still active at this moment.

A rush of standard CyberSoldiers came from out of nowhere, guns blazing at anything that wasn't an immovable object, as the Lord contemplated going to battle himself.

But aside from a couple of Nexu slow on the retreat, two more killed, there was seemingly nothing moving to be seen. The Cybers spread out in several rooms and corridors, encountering the same scene everywhere... nothing.

Until, one of them, possibly the sargeant, who was one of those non-standard ones, switched his vizor to IR vision...

"The--" was everything his electronic voice had time to utter, before a violet blur swished through him, and the two Cybers next to him.

The rest of the Cybers in thet room tried to bring their weapons to bear on the suddenly visible Elite Guard, but she was no longer there... Force Jumping behind them even as they spun, light whip already re-coiled and slashing out again, beheading one more.

Before the rest could turn again, she Force commanded the two hidden Nexu to come out and distract them. The animals rushed in from one of adjoining corridors, bowling over two Cybers, one's head actually bitten off, the Nexu's teeth defeating the relatively low armour there. The last Cyber, distracted, was quickly finished off by the Elite Guard.

Similar scenes repeated themselves in other rooms the Cybers wer in, though one more Elite Guard fell, and three more Nexu, bringing the Nexu number to 13, and Elite Guards to 4 left.

Finished with the Cybers, the Elite Guards moved in to attack the Ekatra themselves.

"Blood... BLOOD!!!" one Guard snarled like an animal, already slipping into blood frenzy, as she attacked one of the Ekatra Knights.

The Knight parried the first lightwhip swipe with his lightsaber, but the lightwhip blade coiled around the saber blade. Taking advantage, the Guard pulled hard, ripping the saber out of the Knight's hands. Then, not bothering to re-coil her lightwhip, she Force Jumped, vibrodagger in hand, directly at the stunned Knight, who tried to stop her with a quick Lightning burst while she was still in midair.

She screamed from the lightning, but the pain also goaded her more, slamming into him, and plunging the electricized vibrodagger into his chest.

"AAAHHHH" was the Knight'z scream, from the pain and electrical discharge.

"I want to feast on your heart!" she hissed like a snake, as she cut out his heart, and actually eaten it raw, face covered in Knight'z blood by the time she was done.

Then, she quickly retrieved her lightwhip and applied Force Camouflage, waiting for more targets, as she could sense more Ekatra nearby. Another Knight has fallen to one of the other Elite Guards in the meantime, some Nexu harrassing one more, biting off his left arm.

Another of the Elite Guards was fighting another Knight, but this one was not faring so well, and was currently trying to apply Drain Life on the Knight, to regenerate a nasty slash wound she took across her side from his lightsaber.

This Ekatra Knight, however, one of the true Loyalists rather than the weaker part-timers, was not just going to bow down and let himself die. Initiating a type of Force Absorb, the Guard's Drain Life only served to enhance the Ekatra's Force strength for the next several minutes.

Having been trained, like all the Loyalists, in battle against both lightsabers and lightwhips, to some extent at least, he had some idea of how the lightwhip operated and how it was used in battle, so when the Nightsister tried to wrap it around his own lightsaber, he jerked toward himself, hard, breaking the grip, but making sure to stay clear of the whip as it passed by his head.

Utilizing a light Force-Push, the Guard was knocked back several feet, then the Knight lashed out with a lone bolt of lightning, hitting the base of the whip, causing it to sputter for less than two seconds. But in those two seconds the Knight had leaped forward and landed another, deeper slash across the Elite's stomach, but suffered an abrupt reflex kick to his own, and was launched back, landing on the floor but quickly resuming his spot in the battle...

"Animals! They cannot restrain themselves even when there's a mission to be accomplished!" was the thought of one of Zaiya's Huntresses, sensing the Elite Guard's actions.

"Did you expect anythng different, sister? They are Elite Guards... they live for slaughter! They have their use in direct battle, certainly, but to assign them to a delicate mission like this one... a mistake! Still, you cannot deny they are providing an effective distraction for us..." Zaiya replied to her via Force message.

Moments later, Zaiya had reached a grate in the ceiling of the hangar Kiara's forces have fallen back to - Hangar 9. One look was enough for her to asses the situation: "Static defences, almost 30 troops with her... a direct attack would be suicide! But then, direct attacks are seldom the most effective ones!" she thought, moving back.

"Just picked up something on the scanner..." one trooper muttered to Kiara.

"It's them... they're likeli scouting us out." she replied.

"Why don't they attack?!" another asked nervously.

"They won't attack directly... that's not the Nightsister style. Fist they'll try to find a weakness in our defense. Don't give them one! Keep your minds focused." Kiara answered.

The Elite Guard who had eaten the heart of the first fallen Knight, her face still covered in the deceased Ekatra's blood, sensed the presence of two Ekatra - both station-defenders and not individually as powerful as a Loyalist - coming her way.

That particular Elite Guard was actually the one in charge of the Kai'jj Mir... a Death Maiden, designated DM-13. While she was eager for much more slaughter, sensing the death of the one facing the eksperienced Ekatra Knight, moments later, changed her mind, az she thought, brutally suppressing her blood frenzy:

"That's enough... if we get ourselves killed against these Ekatra, we'll fail the mission!" before sending a Force message to the surviving two:

"Lure that one who killed our sister towards me, so we can tear him apart together, and any vho are with him, then we'll join those Bloodshades in hunting Kiara down."

She received two acknowledgements. In the following few minutes, the three Elite Guards began falling back, their remaining Nexu staying with them. True to their form, the Ekatra Knights pursued their Force sense - which was exactly what DM-13 was hoping for.

They set up their ambush on the Knights at one of the corridor intersections... a T-junction, with several nearby maintenense rooms and machine shops where the Nexu could hide in. Two of the other Guards concealed themselves, and took positions at both secondary corridors of the junction, while she stayed visible at the center of the junction itself, as a lure for the Knights.

Barely a minute later, the Knights, three of them, the Loyalist one and those two she sensed earlier, appeared at the end of the corridor.

Deliberately, DM-13 adopted a nonchalant, arrogant stance, activating her lightwhip and spinning it in an intricate pattern through the corridor toward the Knights, the blade making deep furrows in the metal bulkheads, with a Force message to them: "Come on, boys... can you take me, or are you scared... you pathetic Ekatra whelps! If you're very lucky, I may evrn teste of your hearts before I kill you!"

That goad was as much intended to distract them from sensing the other two Guardz and the Nexu in ambush, as it was intended to provoke them into a reckless attack... and it worked, as the trio of Knights Force Speeded down the corridor toward her, with the Loyalist replying:

"I'll show you vho's pathetic, schutta, when you die by my hand like that other one did!"

Instead of meeting their charge, DM-13 darted inside one of the rooms, just as the three Knights came to the intersection... and the two toxic blowdarts fired by the other two Guardz. One of the Knights behind the Loyalist one managed to bring his saber to block the dart, but the other was a shade too slow, as the lethal dart impaled itself in the side of his neck. Unlike the standard paralysis darts of the Huntresses like Zaiya, the Elite Guard darts' potent blood poison acted within moments, az the Knight'z face turned green, and he fell to the deck, dead.

Both flanking Guards Force speeded toward the two Knights left, DM-13 following from her room. All three slashed out ther lightwhipz at once, in a three pronged attack, with the two Knights at the focal point. With their ability to alter the trajectory of the whip-lash in midmotion, the second flanking Knight never had a chance... skewered in two even as he tried an evasive Force Jump.

The Loyalist one was more skilled and faster, also applying a mind-block so the Guards couldn't anticipate his evasion. He feinted to the left, then rebounded himself horisontally off the wall in a Force jump, heading diagonally upward and to the right, and he managed to block one whip with his saber, ripping it out of that Guard's grip, the second one sweeping just belov him... but the DM-13's one caught him across his other arm in an unpredictable upward sweep, severing it off at the elbow.

"AIEEEEEE" he screamed, but still didn't give up, Saber Throwing his saber at DM-13.

She easily anticipated however, rolling beneath the saber while applying a short burst of Force speed, using the motion to also send her lightwhip blade slashing through the saber hilt as it flew by, destroying the saber, then re-coiling the whip and shutting it off, even as she got back up on her feet.

"Nice try, Ekatra whelp..." she mocked, then threw her electricized vibrodagger at the Knight, impaling him in the stomach, deliberately not using her blowdart weapon, since she wanted him alive for what was to come...

With two massive wounds, the Loyalist was no longer able to apply any kind of Force power past the debilitating pain. He collapsed to the deck, screming in pain from the continuous electrical discharge from the impaled dagger.

The three savage Guards gathered to stand above him, grinning maliciously. One remarked: "How long has it been since you tasted fresh blood, sister?" her voice lustfully hungry, as she crouched next to the screaming Knight, starting to lick off the streaming blood from the stomach wound.

"Far too long!!!" the second one growled ecstatically, crouching down herseft, kissing the Knight in the neck, then using her own dagger to slice open the side of Knight's neck, but not completely, wanting him to be alive for it... until the end, before she bit deep, and started sucking blood as well. At the same time, she stabbed the dagger once again... then again... and again, each time in a non-critical, but painful and debilitating location.

Several of the Nexu had also come out of the rooms, begining to feast on the other two Knights.

DM-13 didn't join in however, as she said: "Take yor time, sisters... I've already had my fill today!" licking some blood stil pouring down her face, before she ran back down the corridor the three Knightz had come from, using her lightwhip to weaken the support bulkheads and the ceiling, collapsing a large section of it, and preventing any more Ekatra, including the Lord in charge of the station, from following in their wake.

However, that action on her part had one unanticipated sideeffect... with all the internal damage that was so far inflicted on the station, from Kiara's assault, the many heavy explosives used, the Cybers' defensive actions, Hale's torpedo strike, and now culminating in this, the station's overall structural integrity had fallen to critical level.

A soft, nearly unnoticeable shudder pervaded the station... then another, and another, each one repeating itself in more-or-less regular intervals.

Back in the other section of the station, where the Ekatra were, a very deep alarm went off, and a computer voice intoned:

"....STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY COMPROMISED TO CRITICAL LEVEL - TOTAL STRUCTURAL COLLAPSE IMMINENT IN 35 MINUTES - COMMENCE EVACUATION PROCEDURES IMMEDIATELY...."

In the outer sections where Kiara and the Nightsisters were, the alarm didn't sound, and they had no idea what would happen, the seemingly-irrelevant shudders being the last of their concerns at the moment.

Zaiya could not help but shake her head to herself and chuckle at what she was sensing from the Elite Guardz nov: "Not that I don't ocassionally get those kinds of urges myself... but I tend to find different ways to release them! Mmm... like a good, long, hard sex! But it's good... with only three of them left, it will be easier to get rid of them when we have Kiara!" keeping this last thought deep in the back of her mind, so it culdn't possibly be sensed by any of the Elite Guards.

Then she sent DM-13 a Force message: "Any time you girls are finished sapping the lifeblood of that unforturnate soul, feel free to join us... ve have that outcast whore's exact location, and we need to find a way to flush her out in the open!"

On Sernpidal's surface, Fareeni had already escaped from Hale's base, which was now literally burning in the distance behind her, still under heavy bombardment from Ekatra gunships. Already weak from the wound, she was still determined to reach the Escort Shuttle in the forest, and the medical pack there... especially since it was already twilight, and the Goalla would be active soon...

With the final non-Loyalist Ekatra dead, the Lord was now solely in charge of the station when the alarm went off.

"Sir?" a Destroyer asked, unconcerned.

"Civilian Management will cover the bill," the Lord said, not caring at all about the multi-thousand credit station that would soon collapse.

"What about the Nightsisters?" another Loyalist asked.

"That's why the station explodes - ahead of schedule," the Lord said with a smirk, "Those savages will regret the day they invaded Loyalist territory - especially once Remus returns and inevitably orders the destruction of Dathomir!"

With smirks of approval from the other Ekatra, and a few laughs from the CyberSoldiers, the call to the Torpedo Gunships was sent out, as the Loyalists and most of their surviving troops boarded the Krevace...

With Hale's base destroyed, and the fighters blown apart thanks to the Blue Corvette, the Torpedo Gunships began moving ominously towards the station itself, an obviously aggressive move to anyone inside paying attention...

Hale and a few other pilots were still alive, but, with their main base destroyed, they had no choice but to go into hiding at one of the other hidden bases he still had left on the planet surface.

"What about Raze?" one of the other surviving pilotz asked, referring to Hale's mercenary chief of security, who decided to land at the base and organize the defences back when the bombardment first started.

"We don't even know if he's still alive... but given what those Ekatra have just done to the base, I doubt it! I won't risk my neck just to find out... he is on his own. This whole operation was a mistake... how could I have thought the Ekatra could be defeated with a direct attack! Next time, I will attempt something more subtle..." Hale replied.

"And Kiara?" the other asked.

Hale's voice got cold at that: "She was expendable from the beginning. I will find another elite operative to serve my purposes in the future - it's just a matter of time."

"This is futile... staying holed-up here won't accomplish anything! Sooner or later, the mental focus of some of my troops will falter, and then those schuttas will influence them. And... I dont like these tremors..." Kiara thought grimly, the inexplicable periodic shaking of the station also getting her attention.

"Sargeant, take command here... ready the transport for launch. We're cutting our losses!" she finally ordered, turning to the sargeant.

"Impossible, ma'am... looks like the hangar doors have been mag-sealed." was the man's reply, pointing at a couple of troopers who were trying to open them.

"Blast! The station's been put under lockdown... but that wouldn't be the Nightsister way! They would want us to try and escape, so they can pursue us in those enforcement ships of theirs, disable us and force us to land, then fight us on their terms, in the open. So, vhat's going on here?" she thought, with a frown of confusion.

Finally, she spoke again: "Team 1, on me! We're going to the main hangar operations control, to override the lockdown."

"Are you insane?! With those Nightsisters waiting in ambush, we'll be easy prey to them while on the move like thet!" Team 1 sargeant protested angrily.

To find himself staring down the barrel of Kiara'z DL-44 a second later, as she growled: "Don't remember asking for your opinon, sargeant... besides, do you WANT to be stuck here in this hangar like a trapped mynock weiting for whatever caused this lockdovn to finally happen?!"

"What makes you so sure it wasn't those Nightsisters who locked it down?!" the sargeant shot back, suddenly taking a step closer, and pushing Kiara's hand with the weapon away from him, looking her straight in the eyes, and adding angrily: "Don't point that thing again at me, lady, unless you really plan to shoot me. You do, and you'll regret it."

"Well... here's one with guts! Someone who dezerves a straight answer..." Kiara thought with a slight smile, instantly rewising her opinion of the sargeant.

"The last thing they want is to lock us down, sargeant... trust me, I know how they think. Right now, they can't get to us here, and are at a disadvantage! They WANT us to try and escape, so they can pursue us and attack on their terms." she said.

"All the more reason for us to stay here and wait them out! We have plenty of rations in the transport... sooner or later, they'll grow impatient and attack directly, and then we'll have them!" the man countered.

Kiara shook her head: "You're forgetting abaut the Ekatra out there... AND these tremors ripping through the station lately. Call it a hunch, but I get a feeling time is something we no longer have!" in a suspicious tone.

"Besides... I WANT to fight them! I want to take them head-on! I want to get my hands on one of those Nightsister whores who ruined my life, and crush her kriffing skull in the bulkhead! And keep doing it until her brainz flow out..." was her thought to herself, as she clenched her left fist hard enough to draw some blood.

"So basically, we have two bad options, and it's a choice between them?" the sargeant stated sarcastically, snapping her out of the thought.

"Exactly." Kiara replied, consciously unclenching the fist, keeping her face straight, with only a trace of gallows humor in her tone.

"Great... thet makes me feel so much better! Alright ma'am, have it your way..." he said in a resigned tone.

She grinned briefly at that: "Don't worry... I don't plan to die on this scrap-pile, if I can help it!" before adding:

"Let's move out! Get your IR googles on, stay in semi-close formation, keep looking around in every direction and your fingers on the trigger, and stay alert! If you see something thet even LOOKS like it could be one of them, shoot on sight! Trust me, you'll only get one chance... if that. If you feel your minds drifting, it means they're trying to influence you - DON'T GIVE THEM THE CHANCE! Stay focused, and alert!"

"Rest of you, hold position here untill we return... they probably won't attack, with us being the easier target, but it's possible - stay alert."

With that, Kiara and Team 1, 15 troops, were out of Hangar 9, and begnning to advance to the hangar operations control, a good eight minutes walk away.

"Scrambler, if you can still receive this, and if you're out of Hale's grip... try to find a ship and get up here! We won't be here much longer. And... about your warnings to me... you were right, Cathar!" Kiara used her comlink to transmit across a previously established channel to Fareeni's neural dataport frekuency.

At that point, the wounded Cathar woman had just reached the Escort Shuttle, when she received Kiara's message. Climbing up the ramp, then sealing it, she made her way to the cockpit... to find Raze, badly vounded, sitting in the pilot's chair, aiming his E11 at her.

"You're not going anywhere, cat woman! Now... remove the lockouts, and allow me access to the engines! We're going to one of Hale's other bases."

By now, the only Ekatra forces left on the station itself were a maze of auto-defenses and a full batallion of highly-expendable CyberSoldiers, coming standard with many different classes. Their final orders: Stop the enemy from escape. By any means necessary. With the timer down to twenty-five minutes, and the explosives planted by the Demos, the button was given to the CyberOfficer. His orders: Press the button if his life was threatened. Otherwise, let the Torpedo Gunships destroy the place.

"T-Leader, what is your ETA?" the Vera Commander demanded of the squadron of Torpedo Gunships.

"ETA is 15 minutes," the stone-cold voice of the CyberSoldier replied, before slamming down the commlink.

With a shiver, the Vera Commander, who was sentinent, put down his end.

"I'm never going to get over that..."

Aboard the Krevace Stealth Cruiser...

As the Lord settled down on his ship, he casually contacted Remus, to inform him of the situation, and his proposed idea to destroy Dathomir. But to his surprise, there was still no answer; Remus was long overdue, and no one had heard from him.

Suddenly feeling uneasy about this whole situation, the Lord ordered the ship to make for Titania. There, he was sure, he would get his answer. One way or another.

Deep in Sernpidal's atmosphere, a squadron of 12 Warcraft Bombers rushed toward Hale's forward base, knowing they had only a short time to fulfill their operation. They knew Hale had left by now, but if they were lucky, they could destroy the base, taking it out of operation, before its data was wiped from their sensors, allowing Hale to potentially rebuild it.

"5 seconds..." "4..." "3..." "2..." "1..." "Fire."

Multiple Hypermissiles launched from the bomber's pods, flying at the base at supervelocity speeds. The base stood no chance. Each volley struck remaining critical structures, and in a massive fireball, the base went up...

Five minutes later... near the main stairwell to the hangar operations deck...

"They're coming... are you ready, Bloodshade? There was time enough to prepare even for someone like you..."

"Oh, I'm ready... question is whether you have been subtle enough for them not to smell the trap, Fireserpent!"

"HEY! You're speaking to an Elite Guard, worm... Watch your mouth or else! I can skewer you without breaking a sweat..."

"Try it... Elite schutta!"

At this point, Zaiya's stern Force message interrupted the petty bickering between her Huntress and one of the Guardz: "ENOUGH! Both of you! Before I do some skewering on you both myself! We have a mission to complete, in case it escaped your notice."

"Agreed... I admit, you hav some intelligence for a Bloodshade, Zaiya." DM-13's message came at that, slightly condescending.

"Why... thank you. Even if I have reservations whether or not you're sufficiently mentally apt to evaluate my intelligence, Death Maiden..." Zaiya replied, the message carrying a trace of sarcasm.

"Eh... sufficiently mentally apt - what does that mean, Zaiya?" DM-13 inquired, lost in Zaiya's phrasing.

Zaiya smirked to herself, a smirk shared by her other two accomplices, before replying: "Oh, nothing at all... just thinking out-loud. Anyway... here they come!"

Just reaching the wide foyer before the stairwell, Kiara and her troops spread cautiously out through it. Aside from several consoles and two maintenance droids, nothing could be seen. But, just as the 8th troop, which the Nightsisters have already sensed their precise number with Kiara, crossed into the foyer, the door sensor, which Zaiya gimmicked to seal the doors automatically when it detected 8 people pasing through it - exactly half of Kiara' team - activated.

The heavy blast doors slammed shut, just as the 9th troop was directly beneath them, literally bisecting him in half.

"What in--" the sargeant began, before realising what happened: "They'we split us in half! Men, take positions, and watch for trouble... we have to re-open these doors!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the doors, Kiara barked to her remaining 7 troops: "Watch it, it's their doing! Stay low and--" just as a bright IR shape of one of the Elite Guards suddenly appeared in her peripheral vision.

In the next second, Kiara was lying prone on the deck, her mind-block, which she set up the moment she realized the Nightsisters were after her, preventing the Guard to change the whip-lash trajectory to match her drop - missing the top of her head by a hair.

Even before she was down, she was already shooting at the brigt shape - but her bolts flew through empty air, as the Guard had Force speeded behind the corner. A truncated scream behind her told her thet one of the other troops wasn't as lucky.

"Blast it... they'r too fast!" one other trooper yelled, that one crouching next to the wall, his voice barely audible amidst the sputtering of blaster fire in another direction - clearly more Nightsisters making an appearance from the other side of the corridor. Another trooper went rigid, a paralysing dart from one of Zaiya'z Huntresses impaling itself into his throat.

"Use yor grenades! They're probably still close-by behind corners!" Kiara yelled back, just as a new sound joind the blaster fire - Nexu growling.

"Oh, great... those things will distract us vhile they attack again!" she thought, shifing her aim to the already-charging pair of Nexu in her direction, but also hugging close to the wall, to minimize the chance of a horisontal lightwhip swipe catching her.

Her shots quickly took two Nexu down, the second one in midair as it was alredy in mid-jump at her.

Behind her, she could hear more screams, as two more of her troops fell to the charging Nexu, then one grenede detonation. "Hope that thing got at least one of 'em!" she thought.

At that moment, the same Elite Guard who made the initial attack, attacked again, this time with the blowdart wepon. Kiara tried to anticipate again, but this time, she was just a shade too late - and the poison dart impaled itself in her left arm, just below the elbow. But, when she wasn't instantly paralysed, Kiara realized she could have a chance, as her fleeting thought was: "Elite Guardz... lucky me! If it were a normal paralyzing dart, I'd be helpless now... this way, I have a few seconds before the blood-poison spreads to kill me!"

Instantly, she clenched her teeth, then used the blaster to shoot herself in a grazing hit to the dart impact site, hoping the blaster shot would neutralize the poison before it spreads out of that immediate area.

"Aaahhhh!" she yelled in pain, the blaster shot crippling her left arm, but her gambit vaz successful - since she was still alive, the blood-poizon clearly neutralized.

But the Elite Guard was still there - and that pair of seconds was enough for the Nightsister to Force Speed toward Kiara, and attack her in a close-blade vibrodagger fight. With all her remaining troops busy fending off the Nexu and more Nightsisters from the other side of the corridor, Kiara was on her own for the time being...

...the first slash almost disembowling her where she stood, if not for her reflexive pull-back, drawing her own vibrodagger with her right hand, and parrying another attack.

"You're no match for me, outcast!" the guard hissed, beginning a ligtning-fast combo of slashes and stabs, which Kiara, being slower, wounded, and less trained in the use of a vibrodagger, had no hope of matching speed-for-speed.

So she didn't even try, as she fell back in a pair of rapid steps, adopting a very closed stance, and deciding to rely on her strength, wich was significantly above her opponent... even with only one hand, thinking, with her face staying mostli impassive: "We'll ses about that..."

The Guard attacked, a sudden, low stab, aimed at Kiara's left hip. She parried the attack, but the follow-up upper slash at her face took her by surprise, and a shallow line of blood traced itself along her left cheek. Kiara screamed, more from electrical discharge than the actual pain of the wound, thrown momentarily off-balance. The Nightsister instantly seized the advantage, throwing a powerful hook-kick at Kiara's right temple, expecting to knock her out.

Too resilient to be knocked out just like that, Kiara simply slammed agenst the bulkhead, only a little dazed by the blow.

"You're mine, outcast whore!" the Guard hissed, about to plunge the dagger into Kiara's side, with the intent to slice her open from hip to shoulder. And it would hav worked... had she not underestimated Kiara's resilience.

Focusing past the daze, Kiara pushed off the wall, barely bringing her dagger to parry the attack, which left the Elite Guard's hand momentarily locked in a dagger-lock with hers. Sensing that Kiara was stronger, and would overpower her in a lock, the Guard threw a quick kick to her gut, trying to momentarily debilitate her. But again, Kiara's toughness worked against that, as her rock-hard stomach shrugged off the kick - which did leave the Guard momentarily off-balance herself, and she eased off the dagger pressure against Kiara's dagger to regain it... only for a second.

But that one second was all Kiara needed... suddenly releasing her dagger, and gripping the Guard's dagger arm just above the wrist. Then she squeezed...

...HARD.

"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!" the Nightsister screamed, her arm feeling like it was gripped in a docking claw, as she released the dagger from the pain, instinctively throwing a quick punch to Kiara's face with her other hand, caching her in the nose, a drop of blood lending on her sunglasses.

Kiara again shrugged it off with only a brief grunt, before growling: "You were saying something about me being yours? Let's see if I can adjust that perception, abomination!"

She pulled hard on the Guard's arm, bringing her forehead in contact with the Guard's own nose in a devastating headbutt, which drew blood, and cracked the Guard's nose slightly... immediately followed by another, just as powerful, which broke the nose. The Guard barely had time to scream in pain, before Kiara's right knee stabbed hard in her gut. She doubled over... directly into another knee-strike, to her mouth, smashing her front teeth.

All the vhile, Kiara's iron grip on her arm didn't falter even for an instant... completely dulling all nerve responses in that arm, due to intense pressure. Half-unconscious, still screaming in pain, the Nightsister tried to apply Drain Life on Kiara, in a desperate attempt to stay in the fight, while using her other arm to try and loosen Kiara's grip.

But Kiara realized what she was doing, as she instantly released the grip herself, then gripped the Guard by the throat, before the other woman could react... and squeezed, just as hard as before.

"Khhh...kkk...khhh..." was all the Nightsister could utter through her rapidly compressing throat, her face turning diferent shades of blue.

"Now... YOU are mine!" Kiara roared in berserk fury, lifting the Guard bodily off the deck with one hand, and squeezing even harder, to the outer limit, the tendons in her arm standing out, as she slammed her enemy to the opposite wall, with full force.

She felt the Guard's windpipe finally give way under her pressure, as she followed up with another slam... and another... and another... making good on her promise to herself earlier, to crush the skull and brains of one of the Nightsisters.

Finally, after the fifth slam, she got her wish... the Guard's skull split open, her brains, alongside her eyeballs, flowing out in a slow, slushy reddish-vhite mush - very dead.

She didn't even notice that the blaster fire had silenced down in the meantime, her remaining troops - only two of them left alive, and one badly wounded - managing to fend off the rest of the Nexu, and the second Nightsister, this one belonging to Zaiya's team.