| abstract
| - Using his helmet just as the Acolyte expected, Drosk switched to a tactical infra-red mod, allowing him to easily see the confused pirates. Deciding that trying to recover his blaster would be a waste of time, he charged at his enemy, quickly taking down the closest two before they knew what hit them. The other two drew their melee weapons, knowing they couldn't do a thing with their blaster with their vision impaired by the suffocating smoke. Drosk was upon one of them quickly, the pirate barely able to defend himself, but he was somehow able to block the first strike. But with his eyes blurred and watering, he could get enough of a clear enough picture to predict the follow-up attacks, and was dispatched soon after. The last pirate took covered his mouth and nose with a bandana, allowing him to breath slightly more easily. But that didn't alleviate his trouble seeing, so began to back away from the position he figured the Mandalorian to be. He managed to get toward the edge of the smoke by the time Vorad caught up with him, allowing him to see his adversary coming and block his attacks accordingly. While the last pirate was dueling Drosk, the security guards had made sure to finish off any pirates who were down by still alive. Vorad finally finished off the last buccaneer a few moments later and the room was now clear of hostiles, at least for the moment. ~~ Xanara's face darkened, her lips compressing into a tight, cruel line, and from her expression, Tay could tell that what she was sensing from the cafeteria was nasty indeed, to actually affect a Sith. She sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed, and stretched out with all the power of the Force she could manage, knowing this exertion would leave her utterly drained afterwards, but also realizing that a direct attack would be suicide for just the three of them. Force Domination. As sounds of blaster fire could now be heard, the pirates inside, sixteen of them, turning on each other under Xanara's influence, she spoke in a tone so twisted with strain of her Force effort to be almost unrecognizable: "SU253, move in, full force! Only the pirates are the ones still standing... Tay, take position at the doorway and provide cover!" "Yes, ma'am!" - the trooper replied, pressing the door open button, charging in, then immediately dropping to one knee behind a nearby upturned table and sweeping the entire cafeteria with an unremitting hail of blaster fire from his ZR, now set to full-auto mode. Like Xanara said, only the pirates were the ones standing, with over two dozen dead or dying civilians on the floor, most of them savaged, raped, beaten, and molested beyond imagination, out of the way of the trooper's indiscriminate fire. Tay peaked around the corner, and took aim... but hesitated for a split-second as she looked into the room, seeing bodies strewn about the floor out of the corners of her eyes. Managing to focus on the pirates, she began firing at them. Several of the raiders had already been taken down by SU253's shots, but there were still enough standing to give Tay something to blast. Her first two shots missed, but third connected with a pirate's face, sending him reeling backward. She continued firing at the next closest hostile. Within the next five seconds, only four of the pirates remained, most of them blasting each other, and several more killed by SU253's hail of fire and Tay's single shots. One of them managed to focus past Xanara's already-diminishing Domination, and attack the trooper, his shot hitting the table the RTSE troop had taken cover behind, before Tay's next shot took him in the chest. Another two were mowed down by the trooper, while the last one fired a shot at Tay, which grazed her left cheek, leaving a burn mark, before her own shot took him in the knee, sending him plopping to the floor with a shriek, but still alive. Tay held back a scream, the pain angering her. Unable to control herself, she entered the cafeteria and started furiously shooting the pirate on the floor, even after he was dead. Finally stopping, she lowered the gun and put her hand to her cheek, moaning softly. She was about to turn and say something to the trooper when she heard a very familiar voice weakly utter her name. "Tay... is that you...?" Tay started searching over the civilians on the floor as fast as she could, looking for person who had spoken. Finally she found the person sprawled out on the floor just beyond one of the tables. It was her younger sister, Jenna, lying front-down on the floor, most of her clothes ripped off and her body covered in blood and bruises. "No... no... no..." Tay mumbled as she crouched down and tried to cover up her sister with some of the ripped clothes on the floor nearby. "Tay..." Jenna said again, her face twisted in unimaginable pain. Even if she didn't want to believe it, Tay could tell the younger girl was near death, as a terrible blade-wound from one of the pirates was visible in her back. Turning back to face Xanara, who had just entered the room, Tay cried: "Please! Heal her! She's dying!!" "I would... Tay... but I'm... I'm drained! I'm sorry..." - Xanara muttered, swaying on her feet, her face pale from the Force effort that surpassed anything she had ever attempted before. With a soft moan of her own, the Sith woman collapsed heavily into one of the chairs, slightly shuddering. SU253 checked the Acolyte's pulse, which was racing, then approached Tay, and spoke: "Looks like she'll be out of it for some time... I'm not one to know a lot about this Force stuff, but I guess whatever she did really took everything out of her. 'Course, can't say I'm surprised... she just scrambled the heads of all of 'em here!" - his electronically filtered voice sounding amazed, before he added: "We should move out of here, girl, 'cause our position's vulnerable right now, if more of 'em come! Saw some kind of small storage room back down the corridor... take your friend down there, while I help Xanara walk." - moving back to the Sith woman and helping her stand up. Tay nodded at the trooper, slung her blaster over her shoulder, then turned and scooped up Jenna. Jenna was thin and frail, so she wasn't hard to lift, even if Tay wasn't particularly strong. "Stay with me, sis! Stay with me!" Tay pleaded with her sister as she stumbled out of the cafeteria and down the hallway. Once they were in the storage room, Tay laid her sister back down on the floor. She then started to look around for anything of medical value, but to no avail. Just as SU253 appeared in the doorway with Xanara, Jenna started coughing violently. Tay bend down and embraced the dying girl, tears streaming down both their faces. "Jenna... where's mom and dad?" Tay asked softly. "They.... they're..." Jenna sputtered, blood starting to run out of her mouth, "They're... dead... they told... told me to run..." Tay shook her head in disbelief. "No... it can't be!!! Jenna, don't die! You're all I have left!" she cried. But already the shadow of death was across the younger sister's face. It was too late... "Taylor... I love you." Jenna managed to say, using Tay's full first name. Tay couldn't speak, she was so choked up with despair. Unable to say anything, she simply bent over and kissed her sister on the forehead. Even before she pulled away, she could feel Jenna's body go limp... SU253, who was standing guard at the doors, suddenly began hearing more pirate voices from the direction of the cafeteria... coming their way. "Corporal, this is 253. The Acolyte's incapacitated, and more hostiles are converging. Requesting backup over here! Main corridor, near the cafeteria, about 50 meters from the stairwell we came from." - he reported into his helmet commlink. "Acknowledged, Private. We'll be there in three minutes!" - SU533's voice replied back. Tay overheard the RTSE soldier's report, and stood up, rage in her eyes... "I'll kill them!!!" she snarled through gritted teeth, pulling the blaster off her shoulder and charging toward the door. "And if any of them are alive after I blast 'em, I'll stomp their teeth out!" she thought. However, SU253 stopped Tay's mad rush, manhandling her to the wall and pinning her down, before he spoke firmly: "HEY! Getting yourself killed won't bring your sis back, will it? Cool it down, girl!" - as Tay began to sob in rage, trying to kick her way out of the trooper's grasp, to no avail. "Let go of me! Let go!!!" Tay growled back, "I have to... I have to kill them!" "Or they'll kill you, more likely! NOW SHUT UP AND DO AS I SAY!" - the trooper snapped, more forcefully than was the intent, to get through to Tay. Tay flinched at the sudden bile in the soldier's filtered voice, but she also stopped struggling, as SU253 released her. "Saw a code-panel on these doors on the way in - meaning this place can be locked. You probably know the basic lock codes for this station... lock this room down so they can't get to Xanara in here! Then we'll start falling back to the stairwell... a fighting retreat, laying down fire as we go, staying close to the corridor walls. I expect the Corporal and his squad will come in from behind 'em in about two minutes now! We just need to keep 'em busy that long. Now hurry up!" - he said, already out the room and on one knee, rifle aimed in the direction they came from, expecting the first of the pirates to show up any moment now. "Right." Tay thought out-loud, a bit more level-headed now. Following the trooper out, she turned and inputed one of the few security codes someone at her level was intrusted with. With that done, she shouldered her carbine and aimed in the same direction as SU253, ready to start firing and backing away once the pirates turned the corner. Suddenly, a sound of running footsteps could be heard... and moments later, the first two pirates, heavy blasters in hands, rounded the corner. The lead one promptly took a blast to the stomach from SU253, while Tay's shot missed the second one, but forced him to duck back behind the corner... for the moment. "Alright, fall back and mainitain fire! Stay close to the wall!" - 253 shouted to Tay, keeping up suppressing fire at the corner, as he began back-walking in the direction of the stairwell, staying in a half-crouch as he did so. Two pirates briefly leaned in to take snap-shots, but both missed, fired without time to aim them properly, as they ducked back almost immediately. Tay did as she was told, keeping her weapon trained down the hall. Inside she was hoping that one of them would show his face again so she could shoot it off. After several moments, during which Tay and the trooper had managed to backtrack over a dozen meters, the pirates decided to storm the corridor in full force. Five of them suddenly rounded the corner, the first two being taken out by 253's and Tay's suppressing fire, before the other three dropped prone or hugged the walls themselves, and fired back. The first several shots missed both of their targets, though one impacted the wall right next to the trooper, another flashing less than a decimeter past Tay. "Take cover!" - 253 shouted, ducking into another room he came across on his side of the corridor. Another two meters down, there was a room on Tay's side. As he leaned out again, his burst of auto-shots took out one more pirate, giving Tay time to reach the room. She also took position by the door, leaning in-out and taking potshots at the pirates, catching one in a glancing hit to the side, wounded but still alive. Three more pirates joined the two remaining at the corner, as the firefight continued for now... With five pirates now laying fire down the hall, Tay and the trooper found it more difficult to return shoots. Tay managed to nick another man, but couldn't quite get a full kill. Just when the situation was starting to become grim, the pirates' fire seemed to falter... as more shots joined theirs from behind the corner, these sounding like they came from the RTSE ZR rifles. "Watch out... they're behind us!" - one pirate exclaimed, turning around and trying to bring his blaster to bear on the eight RTSE troops that suddenly appeared from the cafeteria behind them... before a blast from SU533 caught him in the face. Four seconds later, it was over, with Tay actually taking out the last pirate, as he was rushing back behind the corner to engage the RTSE squad behind. "Sir!" - SU253 saluted, as he and Tay approached SU533 and the rest. Returning the salute, the corporal replied: "Good work, Private. Where's the Acolyte?" 253 pointed to the storage room. "Inside. She was spent, but I'd guess she--" - the soldier was cut off, as the tip of a lightsaber blade suddenly showed through the suddenly-melting doors, which opened a moment later. "...recovered by now." - 253 finished. "Not completely, soldier... but enough." - Xanara replied, her voice still sounding tired, as she approached Tay. "Tay... I'm very sorry I couldn't effect healing for your sister. I overstrained myself during that last battle." - she spoke, looking the girl straight in the eyes, her tone apologetic. Inside, Tay felt slightly resentful that Xanara didn't at least try something. The sheer emotion of the situation was clouding her judgement. But reminding herself of what Xanara had done for her earlier, she managed to get the illogical feelings under control. "I understand." she replied, "If you hadn't scrambled those guys I would never have gotten to see her before she died." "Status report." - The Sith woman then addressed SU533. "All pirate resistance on this level neutralized, Acolyte, but we're down to nine troops. And we've been receiving reports from the other teams... the pirates have been contained throughout the station, with over 50% losses by now." - the corporal replied. "What about our overall losses?" - Xanara asked, though she was able to generally sense the RTSE casualties aboard. "We're down to 63 units, ma'am... including one Acolyte loss, too." - SU533 answered dispassionately. "Understood. Send one of the troops back to our shuttle, and have him provide a report to the Strijela." - Xanara said, before turning to the trooper next to Tay: "SU253, I will recommend you for a field-promotion for your actions just now. Well done indeed, soldier!" "Thank you, ma'am." - 253 replied calmly. Tay looked up at the trooper shyly. "I guess I owe you my thanks. I would have gotten myself killed if you hadn't stopped me." she admitted. 253's facial expression was impossible to see behind his mirrored helmet visor, but somehow, his stance seemed less stiff, as he replied: "No problem... wouldn't have exactly done my job right if I let you get killed, would I? But you've got some fight in you, girl... I like that!" - his filtered voice turning unmistakeably smooth in this last sentence. "Heh, heh... looks like someone's got a crush on the foxy!" - one of the other troops remarked with a chuckle, before SU533 interrupted sternly: "Can it, everyone... we still have a job to do here!" - before turning to Xanara, who was grinning at this latest exchange. "Orders, ma'am?" "I don't sense any other pirate activity anywhere in this sector... we will link up with Team 3, down in the central core. I can sense the pirates' resolve fading... it won't be long before their morale is broken completely!" - she replied confidently. "Understood. Move out!" - the corporal replied, motioning the eight troops to assume point-advance positions, as they headed to one of the main stairwells. As they walked, Tay seemed conflicted, as well as more than a little lost... and the Sith woman easily picked up on that. "What will you do now, Tay? With your family... gone..." - she began, then stopped, not sure how to finish the question. "I don't know... right now I just want to throw these dogs off our station!" she replied, fire in her eyes, "After that..." She sighed and looked down at her feet, a more depressed mood now setting in. "I don't think I could handle living here anymore... being reminded of what happened here every day... there's nothing to keep me from leaving." "Except maybe Kam... but he'd want me to go and do what I've always wanted. I have the chance to see the galaxy now... he'd want me to take it." she thought, then looked back up at Xanara, "I'm going back with you." Xanara nodded to herself, not really surprised by the young woman's decision. "Her connections to this place have been destroyed... it would now serve as nothing but an unhappy remainder of better days." Then she smiled at Tay, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I'm very glad you chose to embrace your destiny, my dear. I promise... you won't be disappointed. There is nothing to quite compare to the feeling of fulfilled potential! I know that is how it felt for me, when I was an Initiate myself..." - Xanara said, her voice turning reflective, remembering her many adventures, trials, and challenges she surmounted during her own training. "I hope so." Tay responded. Half an hour later, the pirate force on the station was reduced to the few scattered bands, less than fifty, altogether, who were scrambling to return to the Suprosa. Once aboard, the freighter immediately detached from the station, as it's captain hailed the Queen's Revenge: "Boss, we've just had our backsides kicked! Almost all the boys have bought it on that scrap heap!" - but there was no response. "Boss?!" - the pirate tried again, to no avail, as only a squeal of static issued from the comm channel. And with good reason, as Riion's Marauder Corvette was taking massive punishment from the converging enemy ships, it's comm array destroyed. With the second Marauder disabled, Riion's ship alone couldn't hold off all the Kalrich ships at bay, as they got in close, into encirclement positions around the Marauder, smothering it with fire. The only reason the Razors couldn't get close enough to disable it, was because the Corellian Corvette was still there, heavily damaged but functional, practically on top of the Queen's Revenge, providing close cover. But not for long... ~~ Aboard the Strijela, itself taking significant damage, it's hull down to 38%, but no longer under fire, with the Marauder's attention on the closer threats, the pirate's strategy was instantly obvious to Vedran, as he shouted to the tactical officer over the noise of damage alarms, and hooting automated fire extinguishers which were busy snuffing out a massive fire on the left side of the bridge: "Target that Corellian Corvette and finish it off! It's the only reason that pirate's flaghsip is still functional enough to try and escape!" - as he observed the Marauder turning about, and beginning pre-hyperspace maneuvering, the Corellian Corvette matching its maneuvers point-for-point. "Unable to get a clear lock, sir... there are too many friendly ships in the way, and our turbolaser fire has as much chance of hitting one of them as the Corvette." - the tactical officer shook his head. "Blast! Is that remaining Galleon still coming their way?" - Vedran inquired, pointing to the only other remaining red dot on the tactical display, the surviving Star Galleon from the other front, with Sar'Eel's Toscan and the Muurian pacing it, but not engaging, as Star Galleons were well-equipped to handle fighters, nearly as effective against them as Corellian Corvettes. "Yes, sir... if it joins up, Kalrich fighters won't have any chance at all." - the officer muttered. "Intercept course! Target and fire as soon as we're in range... we'll just have to hope Kalrich forces can take out that Corellian and then disable Riion by themselves." - Vedran ordered. Minutes later, the Galleon had come into range of the Sith frigate's turbolasers, which made short work of the relatively frail, and already damaged, heavy freighter. However, without the Strijela supporting them in those critical few minutes, the Queen's Revenge had made the jump to hyperspace, along with the Corellian Corvette, both ships' hulls registering at below 30% at the time. "Confound this! I can't believe that pirate slipped away!" - the tactical officer slammed his fist to the console before him. Vedran remained calm, however, as he turned to the nav officer: "Have you traced their hypervector?" - he inquired. "Yes, sir... their most likely probable destination is the edge of the Unknown Regions, and the many asteroid belts in the area. Best guess is that's where their main base is. And we can still dispatch our scoutship to trail them, sir!" "Do it! NOW!" - Vedran exclaimed. A minute later, the RTSE scoutship, the only other auxilliary craft the Munja carried aside from the four assault shuttles, left the frigate's small hangar bay, and streaked off into hyperspace along the pirates' hypervector. With its Class 1 hyperdrive, and capable of sensor-stealthing, the scoutship would easily catch up with the fleeing warships, and follow them undetected to their base. That only left the Suprosa still in the area, as the heavily shielded freighter tried to follow in Riion's wake. However, Kalrich ships were already gathering around it, and soon, the Suprosa had found herself completely surrounded. "Oh, great... if they get their hands on us, we'll all be skinned alive after what we did at their station!" - the Suprosa's captain thought, cold sweat breaking out on the pirate's forehead. While some of the Kalrich employees wanted to destroy the pirate freighter entirely, they were kept in check by their more clear-thinking comrades. Although able to inflict shield damage on some of the fighters, the Suprosa soon found its own shields gone. With the station secure, Drosk had made his way back to the command center and was watching the situation. Deciding to try and talk them down before they lost their communications, Drosk raised comms with the ship. "Alright, you dogs have two choices: keep resisting and die very painfully, or give up now and die less painfully... But I'm warning you, we'll have you all one way or another." he growled. "We're not stupid! You think we don't know what you'll do to us once you get your hands on us?!" - the pirate captain's voice came back at Drosk, trying to put up a good front, but with very clear undertone of fear audible in it. "And I don't make idle threats you worm!" Drosk retorted, "I gave you your only warning, now start praying that some force of nature strikes you down before we get our hands on you!" Closing the channel, he glanced over at his lieutenant. "Assemble boarding parties. Get our best men, best weapons and best equipment." he commanded, before adding: "And lieutenant, it's time to bring out the gas canisters." "Right away, chief!" the man responded. As the man turned away, a softly vicious female voice came at Drosk from the other side of the command center... Xanara, just having reached that level, with Tay following her: "That won't be necessary, Mandalorian... no reason to waste resources on those pathetic vermin!" - before adding, in an even more sinister voice: "I just need to be within a few dozen meters of their bridge... and that pirate will do ANYTHING I want him to do! Mmm... anything." Drosk looked over Xanara, then nodded, easily able to tell she was a force-user, and he wasn't one to underestimate them. "Very well Sith." he ceded the job to her, "But I want as many of them brought back alive as possible... and that captain especially!" Xanara hissed softly, more than a little attracted to the fierce Mandalorian, as she turned to walk out: "I'll try... but I can't promise some of them won't be... mmm... mentally damaged!" - slipping out before Drosk could reply. Tay tagged behind. Looking back at the lieutenant, Vorad adjusted his orders: "The gas won't be necessary, but we'll still need to some men to take and hold the ship. I don't know what she has planned, but if she's anything like Force-users I've encountered before... Anyway, send some tech crews over; I'm sure Mr. Kalrich will appreciate one more addition to the freighter fleet. Afterward, we can work on bringing those two warships into the fold as well." His last sentence directed toward the Strike Cruiser and second Marauder, both of which were also disabled. On their way back to the assault shuttle Xanara came in, she leaned in to Tay: "What do you know about that Mandalorian? He is most... impressive! I'll admit, I was tempted to... influence... him just now." - in a conspiratorial, lustful whisper. "He's Mr. Kalrich's security chief. I don't know much about who he was before he got here, but he's been with the company for a few years now. Not alot of people like him because he is so serious and hard-arse. But he's at least got the respect of people, even if he's not the most popular man in the company." Tay explained, not sure why the Sith woman seemed attracted to him, "He's never been friendly in the few times I've encountered him, but he beats hanging around that creep Durgen." "Sounds like the kind of man who needs to be... thawed... somewhat! A challenge... excellent." - Xanara muttered to herself, that underlying lusful undertone remaining evident. With that, they reached the shuttle. Being a competent pilot, the Sith woman took the controls herself, as she took a direct vector towards the besieged Suprosa. Only she and Tay were aboard. Tay just sat and let her mind wander. Memories of her parents and sister, mixed with recent events and vengeful thoughts of what she'd do to any of the pirates she could get her hands on. Sadness and hate were all that filled her soul, without something outside to distract her from them. Easily sensing the girl's state of mind, Xanara remarked softly: "Anger and hate are both potent tools, Tay... they will serve you well, fueling your connection to the Dark Side of the Force. But therein lies a trap - you must not let them overpower you, because that leads to the state we True Sith despise above all else... becoming a slave to the Dark Side! At that point, you no longer control your instincts, urges, and ambitions... they control you! And you will be no different than the common Dark Jedi such as Darth Vader and his kind were." Tay turned to her in some surprise, but the Sith woman held up a hand. "You will learn more of this delicate balance when you're at one of our Academies, my dear... all I will say for now is that maintaining that balance is perhaps the most difficult aspect of being a True Sith." "How strong is the Dark Side, that it can overpower so many individuals?" Tay asked. Xanara didn't answer out loud, only adding a Force message to Tay... "All in good time... but power doesn't come without a price, Tay. Whether you get to pay it or not, depends on your strength of will to resist the temptations of abusing your power... one way or another." - before adding out loud: "Take over... get us to hover just above their bridge section, as close as possible! I will prepare myself..." - vacating the pilot's seat, sitting cross-legged on the shuttle's deck, and closing her eyes. Tay took the controls, which were close enough to some of the shuttle-class craft Kalrich Co. used, which she had also flown a couple times. As she brought the shuttle up to the Suprosa's bridge, the pirate freighter now disabled, a voice came over the radio. "Shuttle SC-1, Dalton 4 here. Chief told us what you're up to. My wingman and I will be hanging with ya as escort. Not that there's any pirates left to cause trouble, but chief just wants be safe I guess." a Razor pilot stated. Tay had to look around for the right button to press for communications, but finally found it. "Uh... Copy Dalton 4. Thank you." she replied. ~~ "Okay boys, get ready for boarders! If they want our skins, they'll have to spit blood to get 'em!" - the Suprosa's pirate captain barked to his bridge crew, masking his fear behind a falsely confident facade, before reaching a hand to flick an intercom switch and address everyone aboard... ...but the hand never got there, as the pirate suddenly froze in mid-motion, eyes going blank, glazing into nothing, under Xanara's control. "Yeah... they're not gettin' us without a fight, big chief!" - one of the other pirates on the bridge, a very slim and shapely, imaginatively pierced, mohawk-haired Zeltron woman in an extremely revealing outfit, armed with a half-dozen wickedly serrated knives, very beautiful in her own way, if not for her dead, killer-like eyes, exclaimed enthusiastically, before taking a longer look. "Chief? What's wrong..." - she started, noticing the captain's suddenly unnatural stance. "Kill them. Kill them all. Then lock down the bridge." - a darkly sinister voice suddenly manifested itself in the pirate's head. Just as the Zeltron reached an arm to shake the captain, he swung his other arm at her in a devastating back-hand to the temple, sending her slamming with a scream against one of the bulkheads on the bridge, unconscious. "Chief?! What the--" - one of the others began, before taking a blaster bolt to the chest, and crumpling in his chair. The other pirates could only stare in shock, as the captain turned, that blank expression on his face, toward the rest of the bridge crew, and lifted his blaster, gunning them down one by one, excluding the Zeltron woman, whom he though was dead. Finishing, he sealed off the main bridge entrance. "Shut off life support to all lower decks." - the dark voice intoned in his head. Moving with zombie-like mannerism, utterly a slave to Xanara's will, the pirate complied, stepping over to the engineering station, after pushing the corpse of the pirate who was manning it out of the way, and inputted a string of commands into the console. Unlike a real warship, the Suprosa didn't have an auxilliary command center from which the order could be countermanded, so none of the crew could do anything to prevent their captain's actions. Over the next ten minutes, the air throughout the rest of the Suprosa gradually grew thinner, until the oxygen level was so low that the crew began falling unconscious, from lack of oxygen to the brain. ~~ "Just a few minutes... long enough for all of them to be firmly incapacitated, but not many to actually die." - Xanara thought to herself. Waiting for seven more minutes, until she could sense that none of the Suprosa's crewmen were conscious anymore, some already beginning to suffer permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen, some already dead, the Sith woman issued another command to her thrall. ~~ The captain promptly complied, before Xanara's final command came to his mind: The pirate immediately flicked the selector switch on his heavy blaster, his blank expression not changing even slightly, lifted it to his temple, and fired. As the blue effect of a stun blast ended, he collapsed limply to the deck. ~~ Xanara stirred from her motionless, cross-legged posture on the shuttle's deck, opening her eyes, which blazed even redder than usual, sending a slight shiver through Tay as she saw them, before speaking: "The deed is done." - in a softly sinister voice. Standing up, she opened a channel to Drosk in the station's command center: "All resistance aboard the freighter has been neutralized, Mandalorian, as I promised... Most are unconscious, and will remain that way for the next 15-20 minutes. Some have suffered permanent brain damage from oxygen deprivation, and others are dead. Their captain still lives. Are you pleased, my dear?" - she asked, her tone abruptly changing to sultry. "Good work." Drosk's voice came over the radio, "I'll have our boarding parties secure the ship now." There was a pause before the Mandalorian followed up with a question: "I would hope the captain isn't brain-dead as well?" Xanara chuckled slightly at that, before replying: "Not unless my knowledge of blaster stun setting, and its effect on neural tissue, is incorrect. But I doubt it..." - before adding: "However, none of them are brain-dead, in the manner you probably think... though some will be mentally handicapped as a result of oxygen deprivation." "Very well then. My men will handle the ship now. If you are willing, we still have a disabled Marauder Corvette and Strike Cruiser floating out there, although they'll take more effort than that freighter." Drosk replied. Xanara was about to reply in an enthusiastic affirmative... before she realized the dark tone her thoughts were beginning to take, as well as the sudden inexplicable headache manifesting itself. "I have already overextended myself once today... this headache will only increase progressively, if I don't stop. Even as I am now, I will need several hours of meditation to reestablish my equilibrium! And... I don't want to lose control, and fall to the temptation to obuse my power! For the first time, I understand what the Master meant, in the Holocron we were shown during training, when he spoke of how seductive the Dark Side can become if relied on too much!" - a trace of genuine fear also visible in her eyes for a moment. Then she finally replied to Drosk: "I am willing, Mandalorian... very much so. Too much, in fact... and that is why I cannot - must not - do it!" - her suddenly-strained voice reflecting her uncertainty and fear, before she abruptly closed the channel, and turned to Tay. "Remember what I said about resisting the temptations of the Dark Side? I have just came perilously close to crossing that boundary..." - trailing off, before she added quietly, her voice suddenly sounding very tired: "Take us to the Strijela... I need to rest." - taking the copilot seat and closing her eyes. Tay wasn't sure what to think of the sudden change in attitude, but she didn't question it and simply flew the shuttle back to the Sith Munja. With all the pirates gone, disabled, or destroyed, Sar'Eel had returned to the site of her battle with the TIE's... and the moderately damaged TIE Interceptor she disabled earlier, still lying dead in space. Opening a channel to the station, she spoke: "I need a tug to come out here and pick up my newest toy... oh, and have someone meet us in the hangar, since the pilot's still inside, probably fuming right now!" - her clipped tone carrying a trace of excitement. Among the several dozen tugs all being dispatched to tow various disabled light craft, as well as large chunks of debris to be eventually sold as scrap metal, one of the tiny yet powerful ships split off to pick up the TIE. As the tug reached the Interceptor, Sar'Eel admonished the tug pilot over the comm, in a mock-menacing voice: "Just handle her with care, will you? A TIE Interceptor is a delicate machine... and I don't want any more dents in her than I've already given her during the fight, alright?" - unable to fully contain her excitement, as she had her Toscan hovering protectively, literally dead-astern of the disabled TIE, actually preventing easy access for the tug to latch onto it. "Would you mind moving a little? You're in the way." the tug pilot replied. "Oh... sorry... didn't notice." - Sar'Eel muttered, backing up slightly, but just enough to give the tug room, as she still stayed within 20 meters of the TIE. As the tug hitched up the small Imperial fighter, its pilot couldn't help but think: As the tug towed the TIE back to the station, Sar'Eel's Toscan was still close on it's tail, just shy of bumping into the tug's rear. In a few minutes, they reached the main hangar, and the tug settled the Interceptor down on it's wings. Almost before it was finished settling down, Sar'Eel was already out of her cockpit, coming to stand next to a single security guard, whose blaster was already pointed at the TIE's top hatch. She drew her disruptor, before muttering: "Any ideas on how to coax him out?" Just as she said that, the hatch abruptly popped open... but no-one climbed out. Not the least bit convinced, Sar'Eel kept her disruptor trained at the hatch, before whispering: "Think he's trying to bait us, and attack when we look inside?" - she whispered. "Could be. A smoke grenade would get him out." the guard suggested. "Suppose so. Now, if we only had one..." - she agreed, glancing at the guard's belt, which only held the blaster holster. "But since we don't, we'll just have to do this the hard way! Let's try the easy way first, though..." - she added, before shouting in the direction of the open hatch: "Come out! You know it's over... you don't have to die like this! You're a good pilot, and you almost vaped me back there! I'm sure you could get a new job with these people, like I have!" "Look, you know you're going to get out of this, so why not make it easier on yourself?" the officer bellowed, growing impatient as the pirate didn't respond, "Like she said, we're willing to overlook your past if you cooperate, otherwise this isn't going to end pleasantly for you!" There was still no response from the pirate. "I guess he's insisting on doing this the hard way." the guard sighed. "Indeed..." - Sar'Eel replied, but a bit indecisively. While she was a very decent shot with a blaster or disruptor pistol, she was mainly a fighter pilot, and her knowledge of infantry combat tactics was practically nonexistent, as she suggested hesitantly: "So... I guess we should both get up there and aim inside at the same time... one of our shots will take him out, am I right, before he can react?" The guard shook his head. "We'll try something different." he said softly. Looking over at one of the mechanics across the hangar, he called out: "Okay, bring the gas canisters over!" The mechanic wasn't quite sure how to react, but the guard pointed at the stack of small fuel cans next to him. The mechanic decided to play along and picked up one of the cans. "No! Not that one! The neuro-toxin!" the guard shouted back, hoping the pilot inside would hear. The mechanic looked back in confusion, but the guard simply used hand gestures to coax him to pick up one of the gas cans and bring it over. After taking it from the mechanic, the guard looked back at Sar'Eel. "Let's just hope he doesn't call my bluff." he whispered, "Follow." The two walked over to the fighter and climbed up to the top, careful not to look over the hatch and get blasted by the pilot inside. The guard made sure to make a few clanking noises with the gas can as he brought it up. "Alright, last chance bud. I'm not chemical engineer, but I know this stuff will have you paralyzed in less than two minutes if it contacts you. I certainly wouldn't be looking forward to slowly suffocating because my lunges can no longer move or function!" he shouted at the pilot. Finally they got their first reaction. "You're lying! You don't really have toxic gas!" the pirate called up. "You want to try me?" the guard challenged, sounding as dead serious as he could, "You have five seconds to throw out your weapon and surrender! Four... three... two..." A single, muffled blaster shot was heard from inside the cockpit... "What the... he didn't actually kill himself, did he?" - Sar'Eel exclaimed in surprise. "Could be a trick." the guard responded hoarsely, though he figured the Zabrak's observation was correct. Not wanting to stick his head over the opening, the guard flashed his hand in hopes of drawing a shot if the pirate was still alive. With nothing, he looked over at the Zabrak and motioned for her go around the other side, then they'd both look in at once. The two cautiously peaked into the cockpit, to find their suspicions correct. The pirate was slumped to the side, a blaster burn in the side of his head. Zabrak woman shook her head and remarked: "Well, all the better, spared us the trouble! Still, he was a good pilot... I'm partly sorry he ended this way." "Talent often gets wasted on the worst people." the guard muttered. "Well, his choice... but now, I have his fighter! That's all I cared abaut in any case..." Sar'Eel replied, stepping down from the pylon and pulling her hand across the Interceptor's solar panel wing. "Yesssss..." geting literally dreamy-eyed. The guard only rolled his eyes as he went to fetch a team to extract the body. ~~ Several hours later... Drosk Vorad and a handful of Kalrich board members stood beside one-other in the main command center, watching as the last of the pieces were picked up from the battle. All that remained was the pesky Strike Cruiser, were the pirate crew was proving difficult to subdue. Still, with strategic use of gas and other tricks, the Kalrich Security Force had been able to secure much of the vessel, as well as the entire Marauder Corvette, without losing many men. But despite the stroke of luck being given them by having the two pirate starships fall into their hands, Kalrich Company was not in good shape. Eisen Kalrich himself had gone into cardiac arrest during the early stages of the station boarding, the overwhelming stress being just too much for his already overtaxed heart. Although he survived and had been stabilized, he was in no condition to continue to manage the company. He had placed his son in temporary control, but although the younger Kalrich may have held the official title, Drosk was truly the man in-charge at the moment. His decisive and imperious personality easily overrode the more mild-mannered members of the Kalrich family, and few of the other executives were bold enough to dissent, although most actually agreed with Drosk's suggested actions. The destruction to both outside and inside the station was incredible. The death toll was well into the hundreds, with a sizable portion being women and children, butchered mercilessly by the boarders. Because of this, few opposed the capital punishments inflicted upon the captured pirates. The buccaneer officers were given intense electrical shocks, making their deaths slow and agonizing, while most regular crewmen were given the more direct and humane firing squad. A few were publicly hung with steel cables. Although there were plenty of bloodthirsty employees who wanted to see more brutal methods used, they were kept in check by those who knew it would only be descending to the pirate's level if they went any further than they already had. "And that's the damage assessment." one of the employees in the room, an accountant, concluded the report he had been giving the assembled company leaders. "It looks like we're going to have to downsize considerably to stay solvent." one of the executives observed glumly. "It's better than going out of business." another replied. "We can relocate the distribution center's operations here, then lease out the installation." Kalrich's son suggested, "We can also sell any old or unneeded ships and equipment." "What are we going to do about security?" the first executive asked, "That Riion creep escaped, but even if he's no longer a threat, his is not the only pirate gang out there." "Riion won't show his face here for a long time." Drosk stated coldly, "Once we have the Strike Cruiser secure, we have a good-sized capital ship to escort convoys and serve as a carrier for fighter escorts. Then we can keep more defense assets here to protect the base." "How long until those Sith head out?" the executive inquired. "Soon. They are only getting their ship patched up enough so they can safely hyper out. It's not likely we'll be getting any further support from the Sith Navy after this; we'll be back on our own." the Mandalorian's answer. The discussion continued, while the last scrap-towing tug returned to the hangar... ~~ Tay strolled slowly through the halls of the station she had called home for the past six years. Its once busy and generally light-hearted atmosphere was gone, replaced by a cold, somber gloom. Blood still stained the walls, although the bodies had been cleaned up. In fact, she had just come from one of a few public memorial services being held for the victims of the attack. Those deceased individuals whose bodies were intact enough to display were out for viewing in open caskets, but many were so chopped up, or disintegrated completely in the case of the ship pilots and crewmen, that they were only memorialized through a plaque or picture. Tay's sister was among those whose body was available for viewing, and it gave eased Tay's pain very slightly to see Jenna one last time, cleaned of blood and seeming to rest peacefully. But her parents were not there, so she could only guess they had suffered an even worse fate. Finally she reached her destination: the apartment where she and her family lived. It was a mid-sized apartment, just adequate for the four people that had lived there. The family had originally been from Dantooine, where both Tay and Jenna were born, but a job opportunity led Tay's father to move to the station as a welder and service worker. Tay was twelve at the time, so her entire teenage life was spend on the station, trying to make friends with children of other company employees. "Curse fate." she spat under her breath, walking across the apartment to her room. Her room was small and plain, but cozy. She liked the neutral colors and simple furnishings, since it made the room less cluttered-looking, unlike her sister's. Tay wanted to flop on the bed and cry, but she knew she had stuff to do before she left with the Sith, so she began gathering a handful of possessions she wanted to bring with. Only a handful of trinkets, a couple changes of clothing and a few pictures of her family were what she packed. She had just about finished when there was a buzz at the apartment door. When Tay answered it, she found Kam outside, hands folded behind his back. "Hi, Tay." he greeted softly, "Can I come in?" "Of course you can." Tay replied. Kam stepped in, neither of them speaking for a couple awkward moments. Finally Kam broke the silence. "I didn't get a chance to see you after the battle." he said, "I didn't find out about your family until a short while ago. I... I'm really sorry. It was hard enough for me to lose my brother; I can't imagine losing everyone." Tay couldn't think of anything to say, her emotions choking her up again. A tear streaming down her cheek, she moved closer and hugged Kam, burying her face in his chest. Kam wrapped his arms around her and let her cry for a few minutes. "My mom says you can come live with us." he told her softly. "T-Tell her thank you..." Tay replied in a quaky voice, "But I won't be staying here." She looked up and into Kam's eyes. "I'm going with the Sith. I can't bear to stay here any longer and be reminded of the past." she explained, "Every will be torture... and... and I think it's time I went out and saw the Galaxy." "And finally get that adventure you wanted so badly?" Kam smiled, "Yah, that's what you really need to do. I'll miss you though." "I'll miss you too. You've been my best friend." Tay replied, finally letting go of him. "We'll be here for you if you change your mind." Kam assured her. "Thanks." the girl replied, giving Kam a smile. Tay then turned and walked into her parent's room, emerging a moment later in the process of attaching a holster to her belt. Inside the holster was her father's D18 blaster pistol, a weapon he had carried himself on rare occasion. She then immediately walked back to her room and fetched her bag, then came back into the main room. "You're leaving now?" Kam inquired; surprised she was already ready to go. "Yes. Do you think you can get the contents of my parent's safe to my uncle, whenever he comes by here again?" Tay requested. "Your uncle? The freelancer?" "Yes." "I'll make sure he gets them." "Thanks." Tay walked over and hugged Kam one last time. "Goodbye." Tay whispered, hesitating a moment before reaching up and pecking Kam on the cheek. Before Kam could answer, Tay was already out the door, not once looking back...
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