| abstract
| - At the same time, back on Mon Calamari... The civil unrest had been steadily escalating over the past few hours, with the civilian, mainly non Mon Cal populace, taking increasingly violent actions to protest the actions of the Mon Calamari government, and their desperate tactics in the face of the Sith invasion. In response, the Mon Cals have begun to implement their segregation plans, by force. The entire capital city was up in arms, with the news coming in reporting similar situations in many other cities. Several rebellious groups formed spontaneously even expressed approval of the Sith invasion, hoping it would bring the situation back in order, and stop the Mon Calamari actions against them. Through it all, Deathstrike was out on the streets, taking the chance now that the Mon Cal authorities were preoccupied with quelling the riots, and no longer had much means of enforcing their curefew. However, she wasn't out there to participate in the mayhem, or to help the rebels, aside from an occasional encounter with a stray Mon Cal security patrol. Leaving the Acolyte back at the apartment, to keep an eye on things, and to inform her if any news came through on the progress of the invasion, she was prowling the lower levels of the city, in response to a feeling through the Force... the unmistakable sense of another Force user in the area - and not a Dark Side user, like her acolytes. Nor a Light Side one, either... the individual's sense in the Force was strangely... gray, yet very pronounced. "A rogue... perhaps a recluse, an outcast Jedi, choosing to hide from both us and the Jedi on this world. But for me to be able to sense him so well... he must be strong in the Force indeed! The chaos must have driven him out in the open..." - she thought, following the trace of the other individual's Force sense through the alleys and accessways of the lower levels. She was no longer clad in her commoner disguise, just her standard leather outfit, since the disguise's usefulness had expired when the Mon Cals began to round up any non Mon Calamari individuals off the streets. Anyone coming across her would know that she was a Sith. With that recognition came added danger from the authorities, as well as respect and approval from most rebels. At the end of one of the accessways Deathstrike came across a situation... A Mon Calamari security squad was raiding a hostel, clearly a low-price lodging for travelers. They were already inside, storming the rooms and taking any non Mon Cals into custody, with two remaining outside, hardly knowing what hit them before their dismembered corpses were left behind in Deathstrike's wake. The civilians resisted, but with their weapons, the Mon Cals were subduing them and beginning to escort them back out of the hostel. However, a few of the civilians were armed... and a firefight began. Drawn by the shouts, screams, and the sound of blaster fire, Deathstrike approached the hostel's entrance, turning off her lightsaber and taking a look inside... in time to see one of the armed civilians killed, before one of the Mon Cals joined his fate, the others exchanging fire across the wide lobby of the hostel, while she could sense more battles being fought on the upper floors, as well. The manacled civilians were trying to stay out of the way of the firefight. Smiling eagerly to herself, Deathstrike activated her lightsaber again, its twin crimson blades flaring into existence... The distinctive snap-hiss sound of the lightsaber didn't go unnoticed by the Mon Cals, as two of the security officers turned in surprise, their bulbous eyes widening: "A Sith! They're here... open fire!" - one of them screamed in the guttural Mon Cal tone, while some of the armed rebels began to cheer. The first security officer was killed by his own deflected fire, as the rebels took out two more in the background, taking advantage of Deathstrike's distraction on the Mon Cals. Force Jumping over the heads of both the rebels and the Mon Cals to the far side of the lobby, Deathstrike landed between two more of the Mon Cals, dispatching both with an elegant lightsaber combo, before applying Deadly Sight on the remaining Mon Cals. As they began to howl in pain, the Mon Calamari aquatic physiology even more susceptible to the superheating effect than Human, Deathstrike motioned to the rebels to finish them off, with a wicked smile: "All yours..." One of the rebels, a leather-clad young man with the look of a smuggler or some other kind of semi-legal rogue, grinned at that, before aiming his heavy blaster and shouting in a cocky voice: "You heard the lady... let's wax those fishies!" - several other echoing the shout, before opening fire in full, with the howling Mon Cals being cut down like wheat by a storm of blaster bolts. Ten seconds later, the rebel group, the smuggler in the lead, moved on upstairs, intent on killing all the rest of the Mon Cal security officers as well. Deathstrike followed them up at a measured pace, but stayed out of the fight, except if any of the Mon Cals attacked her directly. A minute and a half later, it was over, with the last of the Mon Cals appearing out of one of the rooms just as Deathstrike was passing by... before his left knee bent sideways with a crack, as Deathstrike side-kicked it, the Mon Cal bending down and cradling the broken knee in pain, giving Deathstrike a perfect position for a downward heel chop-kick at the back of his neck. With another crack, the alien plopped to the floor, dead. The smuggler, who turned to look the moment he heard commotion from Deathstrike's direction, but only caught the glimpse of the last few moves, before even lining up his blaster, approached Deathstrike, appraising her very closely. "That settles that, I guess... you've got some moves, foxy! Thanks for your help with those fishy bastards." - walking up to Deathstrike, and extending a hand. "That's not all she's got..." - one of the others remarked with a sly grin, eyes literally undressing Deathstrike, before the smuggler silenced him with a glare, then turning his attention back on Deathstrike. "I'm Liyan... and I'm looking at a picture of perfection! What's your name?" - he asked with a smile, taking Deathstrike's hand. One of the other rebels, a Twi'Lek woman, rolled her eyes at this, before Deathstrike answered, taking the offered hand and smiling back: "You don't waste any time, do you, Liyan? I like that... and you're welcome." - while thinking: "That's a line I haven't heard yet! Except I wonder how many other women heard it from him as well? If that Twi'Lek's facial expression is any indication, more than a few. Not that I mind, of course. We Sith don't usually bother with lines at all - we just... mmm... conquer... that which we desire! If only I had time for it now... because he is intriguing. And more... a shame I don't have time!" - before adding: "Anyway, you won't be contending with the Mon Cals by yourselves for much longer... our forces are in orbit at this very moment, and soon will be landing to seize this world from the fish! Just think of me as an advance scout, handsome." One of the others interjected at this point, asking in a serious tone: "And the Sith will stop the Mon Cals from harrassing us any longer?" "Among other things, yes. And the more you and the other rebels can undermine them now, the less effort will it take for us to subdue them fully! Are you up to the task?" - Deathstrike answered with a question, turning to the other. Now Liyan frowned, and answered before the other could, with another question: "Sure we're up to it! But what happens then, hmm? When the Sith have taken over?" - voice still friendly, but slightly suspicious. "Then this world will be a part of the Reborn True Sith Empire, and you'll be free of the weakening influence of the New Republic, and its Mon Calamari lapdogs." - Deathstrike answered matter-of-factly, before noticing the look in Liyan's eyes... "M-hm. You know, foxy, you should stick to what you're good at - sneaking around and kicking ass, 'cause that's got to be the most pathetic political sales pitch I've heard in my life! And believe me, I've heard a lot of 'em." - Liyan laughed, crossing his arms. Deathstrike hissed softly, with a brief flash in her eyes, before grinning: "Observation noted... but you're right. I shall leave political speeches to those whose job is to give them! I prefer a more... unambiguous approach." - giving Liyan a long, hooded gaze. Liyan nodded, eyes on Deathstrike's exquisitely conditioned athletic physique. "Oh, I've noticed, Sith girl... so what brings you down here, besides thinning the Mon Cal gene pool?" - Liyan asked. "Actually, I'm looking for someone..." - Deathstrike answered distantly, once again trying to focus on the other Force user's sense. The Twi'Lek woman nodded at that, understanding visible in her eyes. "You mean the Recluse?" - she asked, approaching. Deathstrike focused on her. "You know who I'm talking about?" - she asked the Twi'Lek. "There can be only one reason a Sith would come to this scenic neighbourhood, and it's not sightseeing." - the other woman stated sarcastically, nodding. "Wait, who in blazes is this "Recluse"? I've never heard of him." - Liyan asked, confused. "You don't live here, smuggler... and he's the type to keep very much to himself. Nobody knows much about him, except that he's got the Force, and wants to be left alone. My guess would be some old ex-Jedi or something. I suppose all this chaos has driven him out of hiding. You can probably sense him, right?" - the Twi'Lek asked Deathstrike. "Yes... I could sense him for awhile now. But not well enough to actually track him down with precision. Do you know where he lives?" - Deathstrike asked the woman. "No-one knows. And he made sure it stays that way. He's good at... misleading... people. Why are you looking for him? To kill him?" - the Twi'Lek woman asked accusingly. Deathstrike's eyes narrowed in annoyance, before she growled: "Perhaps. Or perhaps not. I won't know until I find him, will I? Now, I suggest you stay out of things that don't concern you..." - before adding to Liyan, while turning to leave: "So long, handsome... and good luck with any more skirmishes with the fish-people!" - Deathstrike smiled, walking back down the stairway to the lobby. "Oh, if they try to take us in again for "segregation", we'll show 'em." - Liyan retorted with a grin, before calling out: "You still haven't told me your name, foxy!" Already at the hostel doors, she turned, giving him a piercing reddish-emerald stare: "Deathstrike... will do for now." - before walking out. "Heh... I was expecting something along those lines. Probably a callsign of some kind... but I'll be Kesseled if it doesn't suit her! Wow..." - Liyan thought. The Twi'Lek woman scowled hard, muttering: "What a schutta..." - in a voice containing equal parts of annoyance and jealousy. Liyan chuckled knowingly at that. "And I suppose your opinion of her's got nothing to do with the fact that she's hotter than you, eh?" - grinning, as the Twi'Lek woman shot him a venomous glare. ~~ Meanwhile, Margos had found a place to lie low, not too far from where Deathstrike was at the moment. However, with his less advanced Force sensitivity, he couldn't sense her yet, while Deathstrike was preoccupied with tracking the mysterious Recluse, having little attention left to spare beyond standard short-range Force coverage and attack premonition. After getting a quick meal at one of the street stalls, he decided to join in with the rebels and rioters, assuming that Deathstrike would also like to take an active role in the schism, thereby increasing his chances of encountering her. After participating in a rebel attack on one of the government security stations, and insuring the rebels' victory, he was on his way back to his hideout... Walking down the deserted alley, he was engrossed in a conversation with one of the rebels. "So, you really do have the Force, do you? I've seen you in action... looked like you're pretty much invincible, even with just a blaster, and not a lightsaber!" - the rebel, a young and attractive Zabrak woman remarked in awe. Margos grinned at that, thinking: "Wish that were true..." - but aloud, he said: "I am a Sith... so I'm trained to be the ultimate warrior! You know, I'm one of the Sith Masters. I could tell you stories of all the Jedi I have crushed in battle..." - in a proud, exaggerating voice, determined to impress her even more. The Zabrak woman's eyes sparkled, and she whispered in his ear: "You know... my people are warriors by nature. We respect someone who knows to live by that code!" - in a sultry tone. Margos smiled inwardly to himself, thinking: "I've got her..." - draping his arm around her waist and pulling her close, before responding: "And you would make a deadly Sith, beautiful. If you had the Force, I would train you as my apprentice without a second thought!" "You mean that?" - she purred. "Absolutely..." - Margos growled, aroused, before backing her to the alley wall, and starting to undress her... before she kicked him in the crotch and scratched him across the face, hissing angrily: "But I'm not THAT easy... Human! First, you have to take me!" - stepping two steps away and glaring at him, a challenge implicit in the stare. Margos, as a Sith, was conditioned to resist pain, only smiled slightly at the pain in his crotch, before tasting some blood from the scratch across his face, and growling: "So... you wish to play... Zabrak? Let's see what you have!" - responding to the unspoken challenge in her eyes, dropping into a Teras Kasi ready stance. The Zabrak woman smiled, before hissing: "Yess... that Sith martial art of yours, Teras Kasi, is it? But I know something too... the Gi'Rrya! No Human, Sith or otherwise, ever had the stamina and balance to learn any form of our martial arts!" - dropping into a ready stance herself, a most unusual one, a very low-swept posture, legs widely spaced, yet steady, in a pose Margos, or any Human, couldn't maintain for more than a pair of seconds without losing balance, arms held parallel to the shoulder line, outstretched, fingers splayed apart, curled slightly inward. "Are we going to talk or fight?" - Margos grinned, while thinking: "The Gi'Rrya?! What the blazes is THAT? Well, whatever it is, I'm a Teras Kasi Adept... I can handle it!" - motioning for her to attack. The Zabrak suddenly straightened, with an almost snapping motion, the momentum of the movement bringing her toward Margos, both her arms stretching out wide, before curling inward and stabbing toward both sides of Margos's neck. Margos took a hasty half-step back, bringing his arms up to block the dual-strike to his neck, but was shocked by the power behind the motion, as his arms were bent inward out of the way, only managing to slow the attack down, and he still took the strike to both sides of his neck, nearly losing consciousness. If he hadn't slowed down the attack, the match would have ended right there. "Whew... talk about an embrace of death!" - was his fleeting thought. Realizing that Zabrak can clearly apply much more inward arm pressure than Humans, he took another half-step back, while twisting sideways and deflecting a simple direct-kick at his stomach with the hinge of his left palm, before snapping out a kick at the Zabrak woman's temple with his right leg. The powerful snap-kick connected directly to her temple, but the Zabrak merely staggered sideways, barely dazed, where most Humans would have been unconscious. "Impressive... but looks like she's not that good at blocking, anticipating, or evading attacks, relying on her endurance to resist them. And you can't resist everything..." - was his another fleeting thought. She suddenly advanced, leaping sideways up and trying an inward-snap heel kick at Margos's jaw. Margos was set to instinctively try to block the attack, before remembering how ineffective his block was against her strange inward embrace dual-strike, and instead ducking the kick. A moment later, he was glad he did, when the heel of her foot struck a discarded metal box next to Margos, the force of the blow leaving a rather deep dent in its metal surface. "Alright, lesson learned... DON'T try to block any of her inward attacks!" - before straightening up, and trying a lightning fast one-two-three combination: a palm strike to her chin, a hinge chop below her ribs, and a knee strike to her solar plexus. The Zabrak took the palm strike to her chin squarely, once again barely affected, before blocking the hinge-chop with the inside of her left arm, forcing Margos's arm backwards by sheer force, pushing him slightly away in the process, before once again trying an inward side heel-kick, this time aimed lower, at his right side ribs. With no chance to evade it, Margos froze in place, hardening his stomach muscles as much as possible, while twisting to the left and taking the kick to the stomach. Even knowing what to expect, his stomach felt like a volcano had erupted inside. Had he not been prepared, the force of the kick would have shattered his ribs, and killed him. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed her foot before she could withdraw it, pulling on it to bring her closer, into an elbow-strike at her nose, which she was too slow to block, drawing some blood and snapping her head backwards, followed by a knee-strike below her left ribs. This attack proved much more effective, far more so than would have been on any Human, in fact. The Zabrak woman collapsed to the ground in agony, cradling her side, her face a mirror of unbearable pain, gasping for breath, and moaning. "AAAHHHH!!!" - she screamed, curling up in convulsions, drops of sweat beginning to pour down her face. "WHAT?! What's wrong?!" - Margos exclaimed, kneeling down beside her. However, the pain was apparently too much for her to even respond to the question, as she continued shuddering in convulsions, skin growing pale. Margos stretched out with the Force, trying to suppress her pain. He was partially successful, and she moaned softly: "Why... do you... think I... blocked you... when you tried... to hit me below... the ribs before?" - giving him a weak smile. "I see you people don't take too well to being struck there, then? And I didn't even hit you that hard..." - Margos stated. Slightly more recovered, she sighed: "No, we do not... but you have taken me! Please, don't stop doing whatever it is you're doing to ease the pain." Margos smiled: "Well, if it's any consolation, you almost had me there! If I weren't ready for that nasty inward kick of yours, you would've probably killed me... you can sure put some force there!" "Like I told you, Sith... no Human has ever been able to learn the Gi'Rrya! You don't have the stamina for it." - she hissed. "Seems I've done rather well without it, beautiful..." - he hissed back. "Yes... your Teras Kasi is definitely... quick and unpredictable! And you have a talent for anticipating and evading attacks." - the Zabrak conceded, her voice even more purring and sultry than before. "Well, anyway... I have taken you, hmm? Time for me to collect my prize, then!" - Margos growled, aroused, pulling her back on her feet, and leaning her once again to the wall, before starting to undress her, this time without resistance. The two of them reached the end of the alley, entering one of the abandoned apartments in a building there - Margos' hideout. "If her endurance during the fight was anything to go by, this will be... incredible!" - Margos thought eagerly. ~~ Mon Calamari orbit, where the battle was about to be brought to conclusion... Lord Darkon has returned to the Blood Sanctum, and was once again coordinating the battle from there, after the New Republic crewmen managed to sabotage the Golan's power core, depowering its weapons. The other Golan had been destroyed by the New Republic defenders. However, it was worth it... "They're raviting, my lord!" - Zavron exclaimed, looking at the magnified tactical scope, which displayed the few remaining ships and surviving starfighters of the NR defence fleet in retreat. "Victory..." - Lord Darkon thought, before opening a fleet-wide channel: "Pursue them and destroy them! All of them... I'm contacting our interdictors to move inward and cut off their retreat." - before opening a subspace channel to the interdictor group. "At once, my Lord!" - came back from the comm. "The full estimate of our losses has just been compiled, my Lord." - Zavron said hesitantly. "Tell me." - Darkon growled. "We've lost over 50% of our fleet. The Blood Sanctum had taken critical damage, and we cannot enter hyperspace, my Lord." - Zavron reported dejectedly. "Yes... this was a costly victory, indeed. But victory nontheless! Still, it is not over." - Darkon nodded, watching the remaining New Republic ships being destroyed outside. "The planetary invasion? We will have to disable their planetary shield grid before we can land any kind of substantial ground force." - Zavron noted. However, Lord Darkon's face had gone remote, stretching out through the Force, and feeling the turmoil of the civil unrest on the planet below... he smiled. "The invasion will pose little problem, Admiral... the civil unrest down there is already working to our advantage! Once we disable their planetary shield grid, and land sufficient forces to establish an effective beach head and assist the rebels, the Mon Calamari government will crumple, and we will be able to assume control without much resistance." "And the rebels?" - Zavron asked dubiously. "The rebels will hail us as heroes, liberators... from the oppressive Mon Calamari security crackdown! I have anticipated this, Admiral, as a most useful sideeffect of my apprentice's actions on the surface. Psychological manipulation and warfare can be just as potent, if not more so, than an overt military action. This planet will be ours soon." - Lord Darkon stated with conviction and certainty, before turning to Zavron: "Dispatch the advance landing force!" Zavron nodded, turning to his console and opening a channel to Ground Control aboard the Blood Sanctum: "Advance Guard 71, assemble in Hangar 26, and prepare for an incursion operation on the planet surface. Four commando units, equipped with fast-moving all purpose ground craft/submersibles. Your assignment is to reach the main planetary shield generator array on the surface, or below the sea level perhaps, since this is Mon Calamari, and disable it." "Advance Guard Control reporting, Admiral. Orders acknowledged. Do you have the likely location of the main shield generator?" - a precise military voice came back. Zavron movet to the sensor console, looking over the shoulder of its operator. The man pointed at a large power signature displayed on the rendering of the planet surface, saying: "We believe this is it, sir... No other location is emanating that much power. Location - approximately 620 meters beneath the water surface, sir. Must be some sort of submerged facility." Zavron nodded, motioning for the officer to transmit the coordinates to the Advance Guard Control, before resuming channel: "Advance Control, you'll be receiving the coordinates momentarily." "Acknowledged... we have them! Guard 71 has assembled in the hangar as per orders, sir." Lord Darkon turned and nodded, and Zavron spoke up: "Proceed. For Blood and Death!" The battle cry was echoed, before the line closed. A minute later, two modified Assault Shuttles exited the Blood Sanctum, and set course for the Mon Calamari polar region, and the edge of the planetary shield. Zavron turned back to Lord Darkon, to see a strangely... preoccupied... expression on his tattooed face. "My Lord?" - he asked cautiously. "I sense a disturbance in the Force... another focal point is on the surface." - Darkon whispered. "You mean another Force user, my Lord? A Jedi?! Our intelligence reports didn't indicate Jedi presence here." - Zavron asked, frowning. "No, not a Jedi... someone else. Someone... shielded. Elusive... And my apprentice is on their trail." - Darkon mused, focusing even harder. Zavron grinned. "Well, Lord, if Deathstrike is onto them, they do not have long to live, do they?" "That is what I have trained her for... but in this case, it won't be enough... I can feel it." - before his face suddenly tensed. "NO! Don't..." - Lord Darkon began, as he could sense Deathstrike about to reach her mysterious quarry. He tried to send her a Force message, but for some reason, could not reach her. As he did so, he could sense the mysterious Force user mentally laughing at his efforts. "My Lord?" - Zavron asked, confused. Darkon tried again, harder, but the other Force user continued to block his message to Deathstrike. "NO!!!" - Darkon roared in frustration and rage, before suddenly turning to Zavron: "Prepare my personal infiltrator craft. NOW! I'm going down there..." - already Force Speeding to the bridge turbolift. "But what's this all..." - Zavron began, already speaking to the closed turbolift doors. "Yes, my Lord." - he muttered instead, relaying the order to Lord Darkon's personal hangar. Climbing one of the escalators to the city mid-levels, Deathstrike suddenly had a break in her step. For a split instant, it felt as if someone was attempting to reach her through the Force... but could not, for some reason. Frowning, she stopped, trying to trace this strange feeling. "What was that? And why can't I stretch out through the Force anymore?!" - lightsaber suddenly in her hand. She continued cautiously upward, ready for anything. Reaching the top of the escalator, a voice suddenly entered her mind: She tensed, igniting the lightsaber and looking around. No-one. "Show yourself, Recluse!" - Deathstrike shouted in a challenging tone, simultaneously applying her Force Seeing, and once again looking around. This time, the greenish-hued Seeing vision showed a dark entrance in what was only metal wall before. Suddenly, a short, robed figure came walking out of it at a measured pace. Before Deathstrike could do or say anything, the figure applied Force Blinding... disrupting her Force Seeing. However, this Blinding was far more powerful than the standard one, and it did more than blind her - sending her into unconsciousness. Dark. SLEHEYRON - A SMALL SETTLEMENT ON THE COAST The modified Escort Shuttle with Boba Fett's mercenary unit, and Kiara, has landed several hours ago, and the mercenaries have spent that time getting into positions for the infiltration of the Geyrin... Gargonn's seafaring headquarters, currently making its customary round of Sleheyron's major population centers. Some of the team were already on the way to board the vessel, others were waiting at other sites to join in when the time comes, while Boba Fett and Kiara were at the settlement, monitoring the preliminary incursions, and waiting for the Geyrin to come to the vicinity of the settlement, when they could infiltrate it. Now an hour past midnight, local time... A secure communications burst-channel had been established between all team members, with no chance of outside eavesdropping. "This is Scrambler. Their cyberspace bends to my will!" - the Cathar hacker's crazed whisper came in. "Be clearer! What's that mean?!" - Fett snapped irritably. "I have shut down the Geyrin's underwater scanners. The way is clear... for the next 50 seconds, until they complete their auto-maintenance cycle." - Scrambler said, her voice monotone now. "Could've just said so..." - Fett muttered, before nodding to Kiara, who nodded back, and activated her commlink: "Shade, move in! You've got 45 seconds." - she spoke, addressing the Rodian merc, in position to make an underwater ingress into the Geyrin. "Acknowledged." - Shade's whisper came back. ~~ In his black diving suit, Shade quickly detached from the rock he was clinging to, his X-ray googles detecting the blurry shape of the Geyrin's hull on approach. Taking an intercept approach, the Rodian quickly swam to the previously identified auxiliary hatch. Barely managing to grab the hatch as the Geyrin was passing by, Shade used his auto-bypass device to hack the electronic lock, causing the hatch to open, then forcing his way through the strong magnetic field that was designed to keep the water out, inside. Quickly sealing the hatch again, he checked his wrist chrono. "43 seconds... that was close!" - before opening a channel to Kiara and Fett: "I'm in." "You know what to do... adjust their autopilot system to take a closer approach to the shoreline. Scrambler will guide you through it once you get to the interface. And keep a low profile!" - Fett ordered. "Always." - Shade responded sarcastically, signing off. Kiara grimaced slightly at this, before remarking: "Hope that bug-eye knows what he's doing... if they spot him and raise the alarm, we'll lose any element of surprise!" "Wouldn't have recruited him if I didn't think he could pull it off. Okay, time to go." - Fett retorted confidently, putting the helmet of his armour on, before closing the portable comm terminal he was using and leading the way to a small speedboat waiting tied at the pier. Kiara followed, consulting her own chrono. "If he adjusts the autopilot as planned, that thing'll be passing by here in less than 30 minutes. Do I call the others and give them the signal to go?" - she asked Fett. Fett thought about it briefly, before shaking his helmeted head, his voice coming out filtered. "Not yet... they're closer to the intercept point than we are, and we want to be in position at the same time. We'll wait another 10 minutes." With that, he seated himself at the driver's seat of the speedboat, Kiara taking the other one, before the speedboat roared off into the night sea. ~~ Shade, having discarded his diving suit, now in his stealth armour, suddenly flattened against the wall, as he heard a door opening up ahead. One of Gargonn's thugs emerged, heading in Shade's direction. His gaze passed over Shade, but with the light-bending effect of the stealth armour, all the thug could see is a strange shimmering effect. He barely had time to frown in confusion before Shade fired one of his specially silenced holdout blasters at the man, killing him, the only thing heard being a soft whoosh of displaced air from the blaster bolt. Quickly hiding the body in a maintenance closet nearby, Shade moved on. After a minute, he entered a wide chamber, with an overhead walkway connecting his entry point with the exit on the far side, the lower area filled with some sort of distilling equipment and strange tanks, smoke and noxious vapours rising from them, with a myriad of haggard-looking slave workers of various species miling around, many of them looking weak and sickly, under brutal supervision of armed guards with breath masks. "Looks like some kind of narcotics manufacturing vats..." - Shade thought, beginning to move like a shadow along the overhead walkway to the far end, keeping his pace irregular and sticking to the shadows, timing his advances when a minimal number of people seemed to be looking in his direction. Suddenly, more thugs enter the chamber from the far entrance to the walkway, walking in Shade's direction... "Great... looks like I might need a little help here." - Shade thought, freezing in place in the deepest shadow he could find, while pulling out his commlink and opening a burst-channel to Scrambler, still on-station and monitoring the situation through a hidden camera on Shade's armour. "Scrambler, come in! I need a diversion..." ~~ The Cathar woman had managed to gain a measure of equilibrium over her unstable mind, and responded in the monotone voice she used whenever she was in control like that: "I see them, Shade... stand by." - before plugging a connector into her neural interface dataport, and entering the Geyrin's main computer. In cyberspace, she found and accessed one of the emergency subroutined on the level Shade was on, causing a surge-overload in the control interface for the narcotics tanks, resulting in a maintenance alarm being sounded on the lower level. ~~ As the alarm sounded, the thugs moving in Shade's direction stopped suddenly. "Sithspit! Looks like another mis-balance in the amount of chemicals mixing in! Those stupid slaves... they never get it right. Come on, we've got to recalibrate it!" - one of them exclaimed, running back the way he came, the rest following. "Thanks, Scrambler... moving on!" - Shade whispered into the commlink, before shutting it off. Without more incident, he made it to the turbolift to the navigation deck. Taking it as far as one level below, Shade decided to use the maintenance tunnels from that point on, fearing that the nav deck might be considerably more crowded than the auxiliary area he came from. Using a hatch at the top of the turbolift car, he climbed out into the shaft, finding a ventilation tunnel and taking it to the nav deck. One look through the grate showed him that his hunch was correct, as the corridor was filled with thugs and crewmen going about their business. Moving further down the vent shaft, he listened to the conversations outside in the corridor, eventually deducing the location of the autopilot interface access on this deck. Eventually, the vent shaft led him to a grate leading to the chamber with the autopilot access interface. Peeking out, Shade noticed four crewmen, two navigators and two guards, in the room. Drawing both of his holdout blasters, Shade kicked the grate off, hopping out of the shaft into the room. The two armed thugs were dead before even realizing what happened, one managing to get his blaster halfway out of the holster before Shade shot him, then turned to the surprised navigators: "The autopilot interface access... where is it?" - the Rodian asked, his compound eyes steady on the two navigators, a Human and a Falleen. "Over there..." - the Human pointed to a nearby console, while the Falleen's left hand creeped slowly to the small switch under the board he was next to... a silent alarm panel, clearly counting on his companion's pointing to distract Shade from seeing it. However, with his multifaceted compound eyes, Shade easily noticed the Falleen's movement, even with his attention seeemingly on the Human, quickly snapping up one of his holdout blasters and killing him, then dispatching the Human as well. "Your mistake..." - he muttered, before again opening a channel to Scrambler: "I'm at the autopilot interface... what do I do?" For a few seconds, there was no response, only the sound of strange wheezing and half-whispered screams, the Cathar woman clearly having another episode of her unpredictable madness... "Scrambler, come in! We don't have time for this!" - Shade snapped impatiently. This time, the response came... "You must make your electronic slave dance to your whim! Waaah..." - Scrambler hissed, clearly still not under control. "And how do I do that, oh great Mistress of Cyberspace?" - Shade asked in a falsely awed voice, knowing the Cathar woman well enough to realize that the only way to get through to her in this state is to play along. The grandiose term had gotten Scrambler's full attention, and she proceeded to explain the process of altering the autopilot's course without being detected by the ship's automated safeguards, with an occasional grandiose term of her own, still in the grip of her madness, but clear and to the point enough for Shade to understand. A minute later, the procedure was completed, successfully, and the Geyrin altered its course. "I am finished, Mistress! Perhaps you would deign to apprise your other loyal subjects of the accomplishment now?" - Shade asked, requesting Scrambler to inform Fett and Kiara of the mission's success. "Waaah! Yes indeed... I will allow them a glance at the shadow of our sublime wisdom!" - the Cathar croaked, before closing the channel with Shade. Shaking his head to himself, Shade proceeded to hide the bodies, then find a place to hide himself until the others boarded the ship, his part of the mission finished... for the moment. ~~ "Yeah, I got it... the bug's altered the ship's course, and you're both kriffin' magnificent! Great work, Mistress of whatever..." - Fett growled into the commlink, before shutting it off with a vicious flick of the wrist. Kiara's lips curled into a brief smirk, before she turned to Fett. "What's her story, anyway?" - voice cold as usual, but unmistakably interested. "Don't know, don't care. She's nuts, she's useless in a fight, and she's a kriffin' good hacker. What else you want to know? I only put up with that schutta 'cause of that last." - Fett shrugged dismissively, voice colder than Kiara's. Kiara simply nodded, before checking her chrono again, noticing that 10 minutes had passed. Without waiting for clearance from Fett, she opened the commlink with the rest of the group, the Chistori, Zabrak, and Devaronian: "Crusher, this is Valkyrie. You're clear to go. We'll be in position in 20 minutes." - Using the Chistori's callsign, as well as her own. "Understood. Moving out now." - the Chistori's deep voice came back. Fett said nothing as she closed the channel, just giving her a slight nod. Taking the opportunity to field-strip all her weapons and check the other equipment one more time, as Fett continued to drive the speedboat, Kiara couldn't help but think, the passage of the nighttime seascape and the glittering waves reflected in her sunglasses, which she always wore, as her eyes were damaged, oversensitive to light, a result of the torture the Nightsisters inflicted upon her when she was a child. "No... something tells me there's a lot more to that Cathar then just being nuts. And blast it, but I can't help but sympathize with her... a member of a near-extinct species for thousands of years, probably as much an outcast in this kriffin' galaxy as I am. Oh, great... me starting to get sentimental! Maybe I'm just getting soft. But it's clear she knows things... and what did she mean by all that gibberish she told me back on the Dominance? How in blazes did she guess where I came from? Guess I'll have to ask her after this thing's over. But right now, there's a lot of killing to be done... can't wait!" - her cold expression briefly adopting a wicked smile, before she suppressed it, and turned her attention back to her weapons and equipment. ~~ Meanwhile, in Gargonn's throne room aboard the Geyrin... "Boss, a group of bounty hunters wishes to contact you about the bounty you put on Coss's head." - one of Gargonn's lieutenants approached the Hutt. Slumbering on a raised dais in the corner of the chamber, Gargonn's heavy-lidded eyes opened, and he growled in his deep Hutt voice: "Ah... another group of hopefuls who think to succeed where all the others I have hired had failed... well, perhaps they'll get lucky. Put them through." - he ordered. The lieutenant nodded, patching the channel through. "This is Raze. Me and my associates are calling you to get more details about your bounty on the smuggler Coss." - a voice came from the channel. "Are you, now? HA, HA, HA... Good... but such details are best discussed in person, not across a communications link which could be monitored. You have permission to approach the Geyrin, where we shall discuss the details. But I warn you, bounty hunter... I am a busy Hutt, and if this turns out to be a waste of my time, you will sorely regret it!" - Gargonn intoned ominously. "I assure you, Gargonn, I have a great interest in seeing this smuggler dead - as much as you do." - Raze replied. At this, Gargonn let out a deep laugh, before continuing: "I doubt that, bounty hunter, but at least it shows you are serious. But enough of this - as I said, we will discuss the details in person." - closing the link, and nodding to his lieutenant to send docking instructions to Raze's ships, now on approach. ~~ Raze's PES and Foon's Y-Wing began their approach to Sleheyron's surface, and the Geyrin. "Not sure I like the idea of meeting this crimelord in person..." - Foon muttered over the commlink. "Me neither... but looks like this bounty is a sensitive matter for him, and I suppose its possible Coss has contacts even here who could intercept any communications between us and him. Anyway, we're committed now." - Raze replied, before adding: "Just remember we're doing this to avenge our friends! We'll get that Coss bastard!" ~~ Turning its running lights off, Kiara and Fett's speedboad slowed down, before eventually coming to a stop, in the middle of an open sea - their intercept point with the Geyrin, its massive shape just barely visible through the mists in the distance. Shutting down the engine, the only thing that can be heard is the soft sloshing of the water... before another buzzing engine sound reached Kiara's ears - the second speedboat, carrying the rest of their team. "They're here... right on time." - she remarked to Fett, as the other speedboat's engine also shut down, and the boat stopped not 50 meters away from them. Fett nodded, before opening a commlink to the other speedboat, as well as Shade and Scrambler, the orders applying to Kiara as well: "The ship'll be here in 3 minutes. Scrambler, jam their main sensor array for the next 4 minutes. Shade, stay out of sight until we're in. Crusher, you and Boomdeath - referring to the Chistori and the Devaronian woman - will tether near their engineering section, blast in, and take out their power generators and engines, then wait for orders. Dervish - referring to the Zabrak - you'll take the same entrance Shade used, and seal off the lower garrison decks from the rest of the ship. Maybe find a way to route those narcotic gases to the garrison vents... The less of their troops we'll have to deal with, the faster we'll get to Gargonn. Shade will work with you once you're in. Valkyrie, you and I will tether near their upper control decks, get in by way of the bridge, and work our way down to Gargonn's throne room, disabling any rescue boats or escape pods along the way. We'll probably meet up with the rest of you at some point." - he finished the field briefing. After a chorus of acknowledgements from the commlink, and a curt nod from Kiara, Fett made some final adjustments to his armour, before climbing to the front of the speedboat, and the tether-gun there, setting up to fire the tether at the Geyrin as it passes by. Kiara took position next to him, on one knee, her Tenloss raised to sniper position, set to secondary sniper mode, as she took aim at the rapidly approaching Geyrin, and any of the enemies that might be on patrol outside, covering Fett. In the other speedboat, the Devaronian woman was at the tether-gun, while the Chistori was covering the approaching ship with his rapid-fire repeater blaster. The Zabrak had already slipped into his diving suit, and was in water, setting up to head for the same auxiliary hatch the Rodian used. ~~ Meanwhile, Raze and his companions have landed at the Geyrin, and are meeting with Gargonn. ~~ Geyrin's outer observation gallery, below the bridge... "Ah... I hate these night watches!" - one guard muttered to the other, stifling a yawn, as they were passing each other on their rounds, before adding: "Want to tell me what exactly are we out here for? Does Gargonn actually thing someone's going to fly in from the outside? The hangar deck is way aft! Ask me, this is a waste of time..." The other rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up! You complain about the same thing every time you're out here. Deal with it! Another half-hour and our shift's over anyway..." - before an indistinct dark shape on the water surface caught his attention, looking over the shoulder of the first guard. "Hey... look at th-" - he was cut short, as a bright orange disruptor beam flashed out of the darkness to strike the other guard in the back, disintegrating him in an orange vapor before his eyes, leaving a charred mark on the walkway, and a burn on the back wall. "What in blazes..." - he exclaimed, lifting his blaster carbine and taking aim at the distant shape, just as there was a soft metallic stonk of a tether imbedding itself in the bulkhead five meters away, and a streak of fire lifted from the black shape - Boba Fett's jetpack. As the guard shifted his aim to track the fire streak, it approached at an amazing speed, before a bracket of blaster shots came his way, five of them, three hitting the guard, and sending him screaming over the walkway's fence into the sea, dead before he finished landing. As Fett landed on the walkway, a door nearby opened, and another guard came out - halfway, before a blaster shot from Fett caught him in the face. Kiara was already one-third of a way there, crawling along the tether to join him. On the other flank of the ship, the Chistori was spraying heavy fire from his repeater, covering the Devaronian woman as she crawled along the tether to an outer walkway near the aft section of the ship, and Engineering decks. Three guards have already fallen to the unremitting hail of blaster bolts, while the two more outside were forced to take cover from it, giving the Devaronian time to reach the walkway. She disengaged from the tether, unslinging her blaster carbine from the back and signaling the Chistori to stop shooting, before she lunged around the half-opened durasteel doors one of the guards had taken cover behind, firing two shots, and killing the guard. The second guard leaned out of his cover, snapping off a shot which missed the Devaronian by less than a decimeter, before a barrage of shots began to pelt around him, one taking him in the stomach and killing him - the Chistori, already crawling along the tether, holding his heavy repeater in a one-handed grip, before he slung it again and continued crawling. 20 seconds later, he was on the walkway alongside the Devaronian woman. "Thanks, Crusher... that was TOO close!" - she grinned in relief, glancing briefly at a slight burn mark along the left side of her armour, evidence of how close the shot had come, already digging into one of the pouches of her armour for a shaped charge. "No charge, Boomdeath! Now blow us in..." - the Chistori growled with a fierce smile. Nodding, she entered through the door the guard was covering behind, finding herself into a narrow foyer, with another, thicker blast doors leading into the ship's interior. Setting the shaped charge on the doors, she set the timer for 10 seconds. Running back out, she shouted to the Chistori: "Take cover!" Both of them ran down the walkway some 40 meters, before the charge detonated, transforming the heavy blast doors into half-molten metal, a brief fireball also spewing outside. ~~ Meanwhile, the Zabrak had gained entrance to the ship by way of the auxiliary hatch... Entering the corridor outside the anteroom, he immediately ran into one of the thugs. Before the Twi'Lek man could even reach for his blaster, his right fist snapped out in a flash, to the Twi'Lek's throat, the spiked knuckles impaling themselves deep, while crushing the windpipe. Without a sound, the Twi'Lek collapsed. At the end of the corridor, another two guards entered, lifting their rifles. The Zabrak threw himself forward to the ground under their aim, the shots flashing above him, while reaching for the blaster at his ankle, rolling and snapping off a handful of shots. One guard went down, and the other momentarily crouched, taking cover, giving the Zabrak time to steady his aim and take the other one down too. Moving on, he opened a channel to Shade: "This is Dervish. Come join the party at the lowest deck!" "On my way! Meet you at the narcotics lab." - The Rodian replied, before closing the link. By the time the Devaronian woman's shaped charge detonated, Boba Fett and Kiara were already inside as well, just having cleaned out the bridge, and the dozen crewmen and guards there, moving down the stairwell to the lower decks. Exiting the stairwell into the main foyer on the deck below the bridge, they came across six more thugs, just taking positions to prepare to defend the foyer. Snapping up his dual blasters, Fett had two of them down before the others even realized what was happening, before rolling to the side, continuing to fire, the guards' blaster fire tracking in his wake, one bolt grazing off the side of his chestplate, - just as Kiara popped around the corner, in a half-crouch, her disruptor rifle's bolts taking out two more guards. The last two dove for the deck, once again shifting their aim from Fett to track Kiara, as she ducked back around the corner, two shots flashing past it... before Fett's wrist flamethrower caught them both, incinerating them alive. As Fett was about to finish off the screaming, burning thugs, Kiara remarked, coming back around the corner and glancing at the thugs, the fire reflected in her sunglasses: "What for? Waste of energy, they're dead anyway... let 'em burn." - in a cold voice with a touch of sadism, before moving down to the foyer exit, stepping over another corpse, disruptor rifle at the ready. There was a soft half-chuckle from Fett's helmet as he followed suit, letting the guards burn to a crisp. "My type of woman..." - he muttered, more to himself than Kiara. ~~ As the explosion from the shaped charge rattled the ship slightly, Gargonn finally became aware that something was going on... just as a voice of his mercenary commander came over the ship-wide intercom, and the alarm-klaxons began to blare throughout the ship: "Intruder alert! We've got multiple security breaches... reports of firefights on the bridge, maintenance area, and a hull breach in the Engineering area. All security forces go to maximum alert! Report to the armory and grab your weapons, then stand by for orders." Raze and his group, who were discussing the bounty with Gargonn, started in alarm. "What in blazes is going on?!" - Raze demanded warily, hand dropping to his blaster... "That is what I wish to know as well..."- Gargonn boomed, before pushing a button on the wall next to him and opening a private channel to the mercenary commander: "What is happening aboard my vessel?" - he demanded. "Boss, we've got undetermined number of intruders... internal sensors seem to be jammed, so we can't get a clear fix on them, but they got in through three separate points. We're-" - as Gargonn interrupted him. "Spare me the details. Find and exterminate those pests, and bring me their heads!" - before abruptly closing the link, and addressing Raze: "Nothing to concern ourselves about, bounty hunter... just a group of soon-to-be corpses having the audacity to assault my most heavily defended base. They are not the first, and I'm certain will not be the last. Now... where were we?" "You sure they don't pose a threat?" - Raze growled, unconvinced, while Foon and Alli glanced at each other, equally doubtful. "Of course not, bounty hunter. As I said - they are not the first. And they will get no farther than all the others who attempted to attack me here!" - the Hutt growled in a confident tone, before steering the conversation back to the matter of the bounty. "So, I believe you were about to bargain for the price for your services... and I am a tough bargainer, bounty hunter." ~~ Crusher and Boomdeath have managed to storm the main engine room in the meantime, where Boomdeath planted several more charges at the main ship's engine, and the aft stabilizer control, while Crusher took position at the entrance, covering the access hallway to the engine room. Another pair of Gargonn thugs appeared at the far end, and were promptly dispatched by a hail of repeater fire... joining the number of corpses already there, before the Chistori turned around and yelled: "Finished yet?! We can't spend the whole night here!" "Almost..." - the Devaronian woman responded absently, engrossed into setting the last charge at the stabilizer control. "Done!" - she said, at the same moment as one of the other doors, the one they managed to seal before, when they had taken the engine room, opened, three more thugs storming in, blaster carbines at the ready. Caught out of position, Crusher had to turn around to track them, losing a vital second in the process, and the first of the thugs managed to get a shot off, striking the Chistori's heavy repeater, destroying it - before Boomdeath's shot took him in the chest. The second one crouched, her second shot missing him, and opened fire on Boomdeath, who scrambled for cover behind a piece of machinery. The last thug fired another shot at Crusher, who had no cover, and was just charging toward him with both his vibroswords drawn, taking him in the left side of the stomach. The Chistori roared in pain, but kept coming, just as Boomdeath popped from her cover and took another shot at the second thug, taking him in the arm, and making him drop the weapon. Before the last thug could fire again, the Chistori was upon him, beheading him with a dual swipe of his vibroswords, but already staggering from his heavy wound. The last thug scrambled for his carbine, picking it up with his good hand, and snapping off a shot at Crusher, this time taking him in the chest. With a moan, the Chistori collapsed to the deck, dead. Before the thug could turn around, Boomdeath popped from her cover again, taking him down with two more shots. "Crusher!" - the Devaronian woman called, running to the Chistori's sprawled figure. One check of his pulse was enough for her to realize he's dead. "Great... not the first time I've had things go wrong on a mission, but like this?! He saved my life on that walkway, and now he's dead because my aim was off and I didn't take that other one with the first shot!" - she snapped at herself, before shaking her head and opening a channel to Fett: "Chief, Crusher's gone! I've set the charges but I doubt I'll make it much further alone!" - she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice professional, but not quite succeeding. "Your job is to take out their engine and immobilize them. So do it! Crusher being dead or alive doesn't change anything, merc. You've got a job to do, and you'll do it, or die trying." - Fett's cold voice came back, before the channel closed. ~~ Kiara grimaced at that, having heard the exchange between Fett and the Devaronian, before muttering contemptuously. "Amateur. Did you hear her voice? She sounded scared." Fett nodded almost imperceptibly, before growling: "Long as she takes out the engine and does her job, I don't give bantha spit how she feels. She doesn't do it, I'll kill her myself!" - as they came across another escape pod hatch, making a dozen by now, rendering the controls inoperable with one blaster shot. As they were about to move on, Fett suddenly turned to Kiara, his voice somehow getting even colder than before. "Just want to make one thing clear, alright? Nobody gets off this ship. Not Gargonn, not his cronies, not the slaves. No one. I'm hired to make a clean sweep of the slug and his whole business here, and that's what we're going to do. That's the contract. Any of our team becomes a liability, they're expendable to me, including you. The mission's not. If that schutta gets herself killed, someone else'll have to set the rest of the charges to scuttle the ship. Any of Gargonn's scum or slaves manage to escape the ship before it's scuttled via escape pods or lifeboats, we hunt down and kill 'em." Kiara was silent for a handful of heartbeats, keeping her expression neutral, but thinking, Fett's helmeted head reflected in her sunglasses: "Now tell me something I didn't know since the start, Mandalorian. I know how your kind thinks... 'cause it's not that different from how most Nightsisters think! Not to mention I'm well aware of your reputation. But it works both ways, Fett... you're expendable to me, too. If I think for one second you could get me killed, become a liability to the mission, or my quite sizable interest in it, you're dead. So we understand each other on that score." - before speaking aloud only one word, in a purely professional, dispassionate tone, nodding: "Understood." Fett nodded back, holding Kiara's gaze for a second more, before they moved on. ~~ Fifteen decks down, in the Narcotics Lab... Shade had managed to rendesvous with Dervish, and together they were searching for a way to route the noxious gases in abundance there to the garrison section of the ship. So far, no success, even though they managed, with Scrambler's guidance, to put almost half of the garrison deck under lockdown, trapping Gargonn's mercenaries there. Momentarily, they had taken cover in a maze of storage bays off the main complex, a defensible position for them to deal with any guards and thugs searching for them. In position, half-crouched in a ready stance, Dervish stood guard beside the archway, to ambush and kill any guard charging through, while Shade was prone behind an upturned metal table, keeping his weapons on another archway, while speaking to Scrambler... "... so one of us will have to sneak to the main chemical pressure valve in the vats section, and route the chemicals to the distillery chamber?" - he asked incredulously. The Cathar hacker's tone came back monotone, as she was able to put a temporary stop to her madness: "Correct. You must route the chemicals there, before reconfiguring the distillation temperature to 3500 sangen, where the chemicals will become gaseous. However, you must be precise, since at 3250 sangen their molecular structure will collapse on itself, causing spontaneous detonation, and at 3750 sangen, they would become solid matter, clogging the intake pipes. You will have to set the correct temperature on the first attempt, before the chemical fluid arrives at the machine. Once accomplished, I will be able to use the ventilation network to route the chemical toxin gas to the garrison deck." "And I'll have to get inside the vats chamber without being seen, AND breathe the foul air there for the next 10 minutes! Does that about cover it?" - the Rodian hissed sarcastically, while the Zabrak briefly turned to him, grinning: "A little bad air never killed anyone, greenie! You'll be fine." - before the Cathar came back, not responding to the sarcasm, her monotone remaining exactly the same: "Correct." "Thanks..." - Shade growled, the sarcastic word addressed to them both, before closing the link, in time to see another guard approaching from his archway, quickly taking him down with a pair of shots from his holdout blasters. Then he turned to Dervish: "Okay, here I go... just cover my back here, agreed?" - he asked. The Zabrak cracked his knuckles, before smiling wickedly: "I'll try my best... Go!" Shade slipped out of the room through one of the vent shafts on the wall, intent on reaching the narcotics vats by means of the least conspicuous route, while Dervish took a more central position, now keeping an eye on both archways, still flattened against the wall. ~~ "Kriffin' ice-cold Mandalorian bastard! As far as he's concerned, Crusher was just an useful tool, no more... but he's right. I still have a job to do!" - Boomdeath thought, keying the charges she set around the engine and the aft stabilizers for remote-detonation, before exiting Engineering through one of the secondary corridors, heading one level up to do the same at the main power generator. Making it there without running into any more enemies, she found the power systems chamber deserted - which came across as more than a little suspicious. As she got to work, placing more charges around the power assembly, she kept looking around, nervous, keeping the blaster carbine close at hand, expecting more guards to appear any moment... but no-one came. Finishing her work, she contacted Scrambler: "What's going on, Scrambler? Why aren't they converging on me anymore?" An unsettling hiss came from the link, before the Cathar answered in a croak, her madness again surfacing: "The hunters are biding their time, my prey... Waaah! NO! My eyes had just been blinded there..." However, unlike the Rodian merc, the Devaronian woman had no patience for the hacker's histrionics, her nerves already stretched to the breaking point by the unenviable position she was in now... "HEY!!! Save your stupid little games for later! Just tell me what in blazes is going on! You say they're biding their time... are they planning an ambush?" But the Cathar continued undeterred. "My eyes there have been blinded, waylaid one... I have no more wisdom to impart! Waaah! But do beware of the hunters, bec---" - before the link abruptly died with a brief hiss of static at the end. "Hey, come in!" - Boomdeath snarled, before thinking: "Eyes blinded... maybe she means they had shut down the main computer to cut her access! They figured out she was hacking in... and now we don't have advance warning of their plans anymore! And the internal sensors are probably no longer jammed! Great... so there probably is an ambush planned. And not just on me!" - about to head out of the chamber, before suddenly stopping, and remotely switching the detonation sequence of the set charges from remote-activation to a timer... set for two minutes. "Just in case I'm no longer alive to detonate them when the time comes..." - she thought grimly, before walking out, blaster carbine at the ready. Consulting her layout map, she proceeded to the turbolift that would lead her to one of the pre-determined locations near the outer hull, where one of the charges to scuttle the ship needed to be set. Once again, she encountered no-one along the way, becoming increasingly nervous. Reaching the turbolift without any incident whatsoever, she pressed the call button, and the doors opened... ... to reveal a half-squad of Gargonn's merc waiting for her, led by the chief of security, the mercenary commander Gargonn talked to earlier, heavy blasters already out and aimed forward. "End of the line, scum!" - he intoned, at the same time as they opened fire. Boomdeath was hit by no less than four bolts simultaneously, before she could even twitch, let alone fire. As she collapsed to the deck, dead, the commander motioned for the rest of his team to proceed to disarm the charges she set, while he opened his commlink: "Did you cut their commlink channel?" - to the computer expert on board. "Affirmative, sir. They had someone outside, hacking our system via remote, AND infiltrating our main computer. Probably a cyber-enhanced hacker, who could patch in directly. I have scrambled their comm frequency, and the main computer had been shut down. Most of our systems are now on auxilliary control, working at reduced efficiency, but no longer in danger of being compromised." - the expert replied with satisfaction. "Good... what about internal sensors?"- the commander inquired. "Working at 63% resolution, because of auxilliary control, sir. I can give you the approximate locations of all the intruders aboard, but not the exact ones." - was the response. "That will be enough to corner them and take them down one by one! Great work. Out." - the commander ended transmission. Just as he was about to open a channel to the other squads, a series of detonations echoed from the direction of Engineering section - the charges Boomdeath had set, their 2 minute timer just expiring, before the mercenaries could disarm them, destroying the main engine, the aft stabilizers, and the primary power generator. The Geyrin stopped dead in the water, its balance shifted slightly forward, as all the main lights and primary systems throughout the ship shut down, plunging most of the vessel into relative darkness, only lit by limited self-powered emergency lighting at places. "REPORT!" - he roared, re-opening the channel with the head tech. "We've lost all main power, sir! Engines are dead, and the engineering section is taking in water! Auxilliary generators are taking over - but they can cover barely 25% of our systems' power requirements. "Internal sensors?" - the commander asked, not sure he wanted to hear the answer. "Re-routing power, sir... we still have them!" - the tech replied after a few seconds. With a sigh of relief, the commander closed the channel, then opened one to his other security squads. Some have replied, some were already neutralized by the enemy infiltrators, some didn't reply at all. Those that had responded, he issued immediate orders to converge on the approximate locations of the remaining infiltrators, and kill them at all costs. –– Meanwhile, in the Narcotics vats chamber... Just as Shade was finishing his adjustments of the distillery device pressure, after managing to sneak in unnoticed, the distant detonations sounded, and the chamber was abruptly plunged into pitch-black darkness, due to power loss. "Looks like Boomdeath has been busy... good! Now I won't be seen for sure..." - he thought, before trying to open a channel to Scrambler, to let her know the alterations were complete. However, only a soft hiss of static issued from the device... "Scrambler! Are you there?" - he whispered urgently. Nothing except more static issued from the link. "Scrambler?" - he tried again, with the same result. Then he tried calling Boba Fett and Kiara, with no more success. Likewise with Dervish. Shutting off the commlink, it dawned on him: "They must have isolated and jammed our channel. Which means they're on to us... I have to get out of here!" ~~ However, Dervish was already under attack from the converging security squads. After managing to defeat the first few mercenaries storming the storage bays, the next wave had cornered him in one of the rooms. A grazing blaster wound on the left arm, he was trying to contact the others... having no more success with it than Shade did. "Dervish to Chief, come in!" - he growled in a pained voice, while popping up over his cover and snapping off a few shots at the enemies already attempting to storm the room. Hitting one, and forcing the rest to duck down, he crouched back into cover. "Dervish to anyone, answer me!!!" - he roared, the static being his only answer. "Don't worry, scum, you'll soon be seeing your friends again - in the next life!" - one of the thugs called mockingly, as a few bolts struck his cover. "We'll see about that..." - Dervish thought, enraged, as he grabbed the upturned table with both his muscular arms, his great strength allowing him to throw it at the far end of the storage room - and the enemies crouched there. The gloating thug only had time to widen his eyes in dismay as the table came flying at him, bowling him and other two mercs with him off their feet. As they were trying to push the table off of them, the Zabrak was already sprinting at them. Kicking the blaster carbine out of the hands of one of the mercs with his left foot, he pivoted in place in the same motion, shifting his balance while doing in, before planting a devastating inward-heel kick at the merc's jaw with the right foot - the force of the kick literally ripping the jaw from the rest of the head with a horrible bone-crunching sound. Dead instantly, the thug collapsed without a sound. "After you, dead meat..." - the Zabrak muttered. The second one had just managed to push the table off of him, before Dervish's right fist caught him in the temple, the spiked knuckles penetrating the brain - also killing him instantly. The last thug had dropped his weapon, and was just scrabbling on the deck for it - before Dervish's left foot stepped hard on his back, pinning him to the ground, then firing a single blaster shot, which turned the thug's head into a torch. Suddenly, a soft metallic clatter of a thermal detonator could be heard landing to the metal deck near him... accompanied by gloating laughter from beyond one of the room's doorways. Dervish had just enough time to turn in the direction of the sound, eyes widening briefly, with one last thought... "Looks like my best wasn't good enough, greenie... hope you make it out!" - before his world turned to a semi-second burst of red haze, accompanied by disintegrating heat... and he felt no more. "Another one down, sir!" - a voice intoned from beyond the doorway. ~~ "You know, Gargonn... something tells me these attackers just might be more trouble than you think!" - Raze stated sarcastically, as the ship shook from multiple explosions in the aft section, and the lights in the throne room went out. The Hutt was about to make an angry retort, before changing his mind and growling: "Perhaps you're right, bounty hunter..." - before calling the mercenary commander: "What was that explosion?" "The attackers have destroyed our main engine and power generator. We're dead in the water, boss... But we still have auxilliary power, and we've pinpointed their locations. Two of them are down, and the third one is cornered and about to be killed. But we have the general locations on the last three... we'll get'em, boss!" - came the response. "See that you do! My guests have been expressing concern about our security." - the Hutt boomed ominously. "No worries, boss... they won't be a factor much longer!" - the commander replied confidently. Not looking the least bit convinced, Raze remarked: "If it's all the same to you, Gargonn, I think me and my friends will get out of the way until these intruders have been dealt with." - Foon and Alli nodding in agreement. "What if I could make you a better offer, bounty hunter? You will each be paid 2500 credits if you join my men in eliminating the last three attackers. Then we can resume our conversation." - the Hutt replied in his deep voice. Raze looked at his companions, who nodded in agreement. Turning back to Gargonn, he muttered: "Extra credits never hurt... you've got a deal, Gargonn." "Excellent, my bounty hunter friend... for I don't take well to rejections of my offers." - Gargonn boomed, before waving Raze and the others off. Without further word, Raze and the rest departed the throne room. ~~ Now four levels below the bridge, and two levels above the throne room, Fett and Kiara have just learned of the loss of comm channel, when Fett tried to contact Scrambler, then several other team members, without response. "Looks like things are about to get complicated." - he commented, as the two had just taken down a dozen more enemy mercs, rushing up from below. Just as the two were about to descend further down, the blast doors leading to the stairwell abruptly sealed. "M-hm... I'd say you're right." - Kiara growled, her instincts telling her this was likely a prelude to a dangerous ambush. Fett was apparently thinking along the same lines, since he glanced around him at the wide, empty foyer, and muttered: "Little too exposed here for my taste... let's go." - leading the way to one of the side-corridors leading away from the foyer. Just at that moment, three of the other doors suddenly opened, and six more enemy mercs piled in, while more were converging from above, from the decks Fett and Kiara thought they cleared out before. Kiara dropped prone to the floor, as a bracket of blaster bolts came their way, one of them grazing her left arm hard. Gritting her teeth, she sprayed disruptor fire at the enemies converging from the three side-doors, trying to keep them pinned down, while Fett aimed his backpack rocket launcher at the far stairwell from which more enemies were coming down. The rocket flashed forward, striking directly at the side of the archway, collapsing it, and sealing off the stairwell, while shredding the four enemies within the blast radius.. Meanwhile, Kiara's disruptor fire had taken out two enemies, before one managed to lean around his doorway and get off a shot at Fett, catching him off-guard as he was deactivating the rocket pack and drawing his blasters again. The blast struck Fett directly in the stomach, some of it being absorbed and dissipated by his armour, but still burning through, and wounding him. Without even a grunt of pain, Fett shrugged off the wound, while dual bolts from his pistols struck the attacker in the face, killing him. As the rest of the attackers began to pull back from their doorways, Kiara got back on her feet, and she and Fett took positions by two of the doors the attackers were coming from, each unclipping one thermal detonator, and tossing it inside. Two successive detonations later, it was over, as they took a look, seeing only a half-dozen charred corpses in each of the rooms. "Must be some alternate route up - and I guess bug-eye and Dervish hadn't sealed off the garrison deck, if this many of 'em are still left to get up here and try to ambush us!" - Kiara growled, vincing slightly at the deep grazing burn along her left bicep. "Looks like it..." - Fett nodded, voice sounding a little strained, before he consulted his chrono, and added. "And I doubt Boomdeath's still alive, since there's been no more explosions... you get down there through the maintenance shafts and vents, and finish setting up the charges to the breach points, we still have to scuttle the ship. I can't fit in there in this armor... and I still have to get to Gargonn. I'll blast past these doors and keep tryin' to reach him." "I'll have to find her body first, and get the charges..." - Kiara nodded, already opening one of the grates, before she suddenly turned around: "How are we going to coordinate our efforts without a comm channel?" - she asked. "We can't. You do your job, I'll do mine... after I get the slug, I'll assume you didn't make it, and set up a reactor overload to destroy the ship." - Fett replied coldly. Kiara held his gaze, before answering, equally coldly: "And I won't be waiting for you after I set the charges... soon as I'm out of their area of effect, I'll detonate 'em, whether or not you're still aboard, Fett. The mission comes first." Fett simply nodded. "You're sure you're not part Mandalorian?" - with a soft chuckle, before motioning her to go. Kiara briefly smiled, a predatory smirk, before slinging her Tenloss across the shoulder, and vanishing into the vent shaft, adding over her shoulder: "No... I did kill a few, though." ~~ One level below... "Tavor 1 to Raze. There are two intruders above - I've dispatched a security unit to kill them, but I haven't heard from any of my men; have to assume they're all dead." - the merc commander's voice suddenly came from Raze's commlink. "Got it.." - Raze replied. "Heh... those Hutt lackeys are pathetic! They can't take out a couple of intruders..." - Alli muttered contemptuously. "Maybe they're not your standard variety of intruders..." - Foon added dubiously, gripping his weapon tightly. "We'll see soon enough... Alli, take position and cover us as we ascend, then follow! Foon, let's get up there..." - Raze said, as the three had reached the stairwell to the upper deck, where Fett and Kiara had been. As they emerged onto the deck above, not encontering anyone, they found themselves on the opposite side from where Fett and Kiara had engaged Gargonn's mercenaries. Looking around at the row of side doors lining the foyer, an identical one to the one on the other side, they didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. Separating, the three chose one door each for themselves. Raze crept up to his chosen doors, his E11 blaster rifle at the ready, before pressing the door open button and leaping in. He found himself in a small machine shop, with various tools and droid parts everywhere, and a door on the far side. Proceeding cautiously forward, his commlink suddenly sounded: "Raze, Foon. Nothing here. Moving on..." - the Twi'lek mercenary came in. A moment later, Alli sounded out: "Alli here. All cle-- nggh." - her voice was suddenly cut off by a choking sound from the commlink, then a soft crack, followed by a muffled thud, like that of a body hitting the deck. "Alli! Come in!" - Foon's elevated voice came next, before he addressed Raze: "Something's wrong! I'm checking it out..." - cutting the link. "NO! Wait..." - Raze began, before he realized the link was cut. Meanwhile, Foon was already back in the foyer, creeping up to Alli's room. Suddenly leaning around and aiming his repeater around the doorway, he had just enough time to notice the doors on the far side of the room, a storage bay of some sort, closing - and Alli's unmoving body lying on the deck five meters ahead, next to a stack of shipping crates, an opened vent shaft on the ceiling above and slightly behind her. "ALLI!!! Oh, no..." - he shouted, running toward the body, while keeping his weapon trained at the far door. Crouching next to his sister, Foon checked for pulse, then slowly turned the body... only to find a thermal detonator lying underneath it, armed and set for proximity detonation... Beep... beep, beep! Foon's eyes widened in dismay, as he began to leap back to his feet, turning to run... before his body was literally shredded into fiery fragments where it stood, in a massive thermal explosion, that rocked the entire deck. Raze, just exiting his own room into the foyer, dropped down to the deck as the fiery blast of the explosion briefly flashed out of the room Alli and Foon were in... along with a few burning fragments of flesh. "In the name of the..." - Raze thought, shocked, before fumbling for his commlink and calling his late comrades, a reflexive reaction, before he shut off the commlink, realizing no-one in that room would be in any condition to answer it. Then his shock turned to white-hot rage: "Whoever you are, I'll gut you for this!" - getting a fresh grip on his E11 and heading back into the room he came out of, walking to the far-side door, with the intent to find the unknown assailant who murdered his two friends. Storming into the next room, a speeder bike garage, with four of the bikes parked inside, one of them on fire, heavily damaged, Raze could see a handful of half-incinerated, thermal-blasted corpses near the exit on the far side... some of the thugs Fett and Kiara dispatched earlier. Moving even more cautiously, he proceeded toward the corpses at a half-crouch, rifle aimed and ready... just as a shadowy figure leaned in, weapon aiming in his direction, and spitting out a bracket of disruptor bolts. Raze leaped forward, diving for cover behind one of the speeder bikes, catching a brief glimpse of the attacker as he popped out to return fire - a tall, very athletic-looking woman with short black hair, wearing black leather pants and tank top, and a pair of sunglasses, before she ducked back from the doorway ahead of his barrage of blaster shots. "Oh no, you don't!" - he thought angrily, quickly unclipping a plasma grenade from his belt and tossing it through the doorway. Two seconds later, the grenade detonated in the outer foyer. "Sithspit!" - was Kiara's thought, as a soft metallic clatter sounded out behind her just as she was running away from the doorway. Throwing herself through another room entrance, she barely managed to get clear of the incendiary blast in time, some of it still catching her feet, slightly burning through her pants on one side. Gritting her teeth at the burning sensation, she quickly slapped out the small fire that was created at the burn point, before taking a look back out into the foyer - where her Tenloss disruptor was, half-melted and on fire, destroyed. "Blast... must've dropped it when I jumped in here. Great... after all it took to get my hands on a Tenloss, and all the credits I spent on customizing it!" - she thought, her annoyance only evident in a brief tension of her facial muscles, as she ran toward another vent grate on the ceiling. Pulling her DL-44, she blasted the grate covering off, just as Raze leaned around the doorway she came through, releasing another barrage of shots at her. Acting purely on instinct, Kiara rolled to one side, one of the shots passing centimeters beside her, as she sprayed fire back in the general direction of the doorway, forcing Raze to lean back under cover momentarily. Scrambling back to her feet, she ran back to the shaft on the ceiling, while firing a few more shots at the doorway to keep Raze pinned, before she threw her DL-44 upward into the vent shaft, then leaping up and grabbing the edge of the opening, quickly pulling herself upward and crawling into the shaft herself. "Love to stay and play, but I have a ship to scuttle... at least I've killed those other two. Still, you're good, whoever you are..." - she thought, a brief smile appearing on her face, as she unclipped a frag grenade she picked up from one of the dead mercenaries, not wanting to expend her last thermal detonator, and sent it rolling back out of the vent shaft to fall back into the room, while she continued to crawl away. Raze was inside the room and running to the vent shaft when he heard the clatter of the grenade on the deck. Duplicating Kiara's earlier move, he leaped back out of the room, and made it a second before the weapon exploded. "Nice try, schutta..." - Raze thought, picking himself up, before running back in and toward the vent shaft, and listening hard... but no sound can be heard, since Kiara had already crawled well away by then. Just as he was about to follow Kiara in, he thought better of it... "She might expect that, and set up an ambush somewhere in this blasted shaft! But I won't take the bait... if she's after Gargonn, she'll head lower into the ship. I'll find you, scum!" - before running back toward the stairwell to the lower deck - only to find it locked down, since Fett had sealed the door after heading down. Instead, Raze made his way back to the other foyer, and took the other stairwell down, back to the deck Gargonn's throne room is on.
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