Cold Cigna Campaign: Pressure Building.

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce Tondry entered his room and dimmed the lights. He walked into the refresher, held his arm up, and looked in the mirror.

Months ago, he had received a piece of information. It had happened not long after he had been promoted to Vice-Director, actually...


The Intelligence agent entered the office with the door sliding closed behind him. There was an exchange of salutes. "Well, I'll be damned."

This took Pierce, who was sitting behind his desk, by surprise. "What?"

"You're the new guy in charge, right?" the agent replied. "You couldn't have been on Chandrila recently, could you?"

Pierce frowned. "Hell no. What's this about?"

The agent sat down. "There was a guy there- looked a lot like you. Except maybe 50 years older or so. He also had the Cigna tattoo, 'cept it was on his left arm."

"WHAT??"

Pierce gazed at his right bicep, at the tattoo that was there. It was a small picture of an ice stalactite striking through the top of a skull and out one of the empty eye sockets. The icy spear had an alphabetic symbol etched into the top of it.

The Cold Cigna Guards unit tattoo.

Cold Cigna was an elite military defense unit assigned to guard Chandrila since the Old Republic. Every member of the Old Republic Cigna had the tattoo on their left arm or they were not allowed in. When the Imperial regime had taken over the Old Republic, the tattoo had switched to the right arm to differentiate between regimes. Plus, the majority of the Imperial military was right-handed, and conformity was the name of the game.

Further investigation had revealed that there had been someone fitting an older version of Pierce's description on Chandrila, and at all the right places.

Pierce abruptly dropped his arm and grabbed a commlink. "HQ, send contacts to Sorsha Kasajian and Sumor Rayial. Tell them that it's time to go hunting."

[Pierce Tondry]

The ship Long Shot glided down through the atmosphere on autopilot. Pierce was in his cabin exercising. Abruptly, he stopped and looked at the tattoo again.


"What's this about, General?" Ken Ludos, Intelligence's Chief of Operations asked Pierce as he was collecting data cores.

"You know what it's about," Pierce brushed the question aside. "A ship escaping where no ship was said to have escaped."

"General, if this is about your parents-"

"They're dead. I'm sure of that- dad was Army, never Intel, and mom was hell to handle when she wanted to be. Nothing would have kept them from coming back if they could have. This is about someone else."

"Who?"

Pierce plucked a datacard from its' holder and inserted it neatly into the computer drive. "One of the few people even Palpatine may have respected, and for that respect, might possibly have been allowed to retire from the military in the only way it could have been arranged."

The file came up, listing facts Pierce was well aware of. Detailed holo and genetic profile. Medical history. Birthworld, Chandrila. Service history in the Chandrilan National Defense Guard before joining Old Republic Intelligence. Mission history, with a 95% success rate and two Stars of the Republic, as well as the Chandrilan Cigna Cross.

Status: missing in action, presumed deceased.

Ludos examined the history over Pierce's shoulder with a low whistle. "This is some guy. Is he for real?"

Pierce nodded, downloading the contents of last mission on the record to a separate memory core. "So why are you up in arms over a dead guy?" Ludos asked.

Pierce just looked at him. "It's about respect," he said, and left it at that.


Long Shot landed outside of Irentios, the mansion home of Dalethria Mal Pannis and her sister, Sorsha Kasajian. Pierce knew he would be expected, but did not expect to see Sorsha, Dalethria, and her husband Ogre all standing by the landing pad as he exited his personal craft. "Lord and Lordess Mal Pannis," he greeted them all with a nod. "I didn't expect to see you here, just Sorsha. May I ask why you've chosen to grace me with your presences?"

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha strides up the boarding ramp and into the Long Shot. She gazes at Ludos briefly, then makes herself comfortable and waits ::

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

Striding out of the doorway to Dalethria’s home, his battle axe slung in its place on his six foot frame’s back, his saber on his hip, as well as a few other of his miscellaneous belongings and supplies. Ogre makes his way to the landing pad. He had met Pierce Tondry directly once in the past, when he aided his wife in fighting back an angry mob on Bakura, and once indirectly, when his droid spied on a meeting between Pierce and Jedi Master Leia Solo.

Having heard about some type of deal his sister had made with the man, Ogre decided he would join them for the trip, hoping to be able to wet his claws with blood at some point in the journey.

He entered the ship and made his way to the crew compartment, preparing for the trip ahead, looking forward to sowing the seeds of destruction in the coming days.

<IMG src=http://darthogre.clanpages.com/sig.jpg width=592 height=237 usemap=#sig1 border=0><MAP name=sig1 alt="Big Green"><AREA shape=rect coords=240,42,378,78 href=http://pub59.ezboard.com/bthesempire alt="Go to the Sith Empire"><AREA shape=rect coords=395,9,583,229 href=http://www.geocities.com/crsonly/Ogrefull.htm alt="Big Green"></MAP><FONT size=1>[<a href=http://pub55.ezboard.com/bogrescave style=text-decoration=none> <font size=1>Ogre's Cave</FONT> (http://darthogre.clanpages.com/crsonly/)] [ <font size=1>Irentios</font> (http://pub31.ezboard.com/birentios)]</FONT>

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She followed behind her husband and thought this had the potential for a nice family outting. It had been sometime since all three of them, Ogre, Sorsha and Dalethria had done anything remotely together without it ending sour. Of course, this was being led by Pierce Tondry. A man that Sorsha owed some sort of debt to and a man that Dalethria recently incured the wrath of when she returned his stolen rifle. She wondered how the man that once knew her as a Jedi, a Sith, and then a thief would act in her presence.

At least it would be fun, Dalethria thought as she boarded the ship.

[Sumor Rayial]

**Sums sat in his office aboard the orbiting TSE shipyards doing the rutine paperwork that never seemed to go away when his comm panel started flashing. What he found was an encrypted message addressed to him but without noting the sender in the unencrypted section. Pressing his thumb to the small oval pad he watched as the message became clear. Finding it was from Tondry he read it over quickly before muttering.**

You'd think he could give me more then a set of coordinates next time.

**Hitting a button on the comm panel the face of his personal fleets commander Admiral Cureatz popped onto the scree.**

Admiral prepare Sith Dragon, Dreadnaught, Phoenix, Scimatar and Fencer for immediate departure.

"Aye Sir. Can I ask where we're going?"

Someplace in deep space, after that your guess is as good as mine.

"Yessir"

**Sums shut off the screen and finished his work quickly. Sending messages out to Dara and his apprentices he left his office for the hangerbay.

20 minutes later the ISD3, two Wraith Cruisers, and 2 Neb-B frigates jumped into hyperspace heading for their rendez-vous point in deep space.**

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce's eyebrows lift as the three Sith all board the freighter without a word.

"If you want to come along, that's fine," Pierce scowled. "But I didn't plan to accommodate three people."

He began considering the implications of having two other Sith around.


"I'm coming with you, sir," Ludos stated, following Pierce up the ramp of his personal freighter. "Even into battle."

"You don't understand, do you Ken?" Pierce turned on him suddenly. "This mission concerns all of Intelligence. There's an agent out there. Intelligence needs him. I need him. He won't recognize anyone but me. Only I can bring him back."

"Sir-"

" No other agents will be risked! No other factors in the equation! I've spent too much effort putting this plan together, and I can't chance the interference! This time, everything has to come out right!"

Pierce took a quiet breath and lowered his voice. "This time it's my way or the highway."

Ludos was stubbornly silent for a moment. "As Chief of Intelligence's Coruscant Operations, it is my duty to serve as liason between my commanding officer and Intelligence."

"You had to throw duty in my face, didn't you Ken?" Pierce growled. "But it's not going to work. Since the danger is far too great for you to be allowed to participate, you will only accompany me until immediately prior to the operation's beginning."

Pierce turned and stalked into the ship. Nothing could be allowed to interfere.

Pierce woke from his consideration. "Ogre, Dalethria, you do what you want," he said coldly. "But nothing will get in my way. Do you understand? DO YOU?! NOTHING WILL INTERFERE WITH WHAT I HAVE TO DO!!! I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOU!!! YOUR LIVES ARE IN YOUR OWN HANDS!"

Pierce shuddered involuntarily, then seized control of himself. "Apologies," he said curtly. "Food's in the fridge, if you want it. I'm going to be laying in a course to some old rendezvous coordinates I gave Sumor. He'll be joining me in this venture. Make yourselves comfortable."

He turned abruptly and left.

(ooc) There we go. Less boldness.

[Pierce Tondry]

(ooc) Anyone is welcome to jump in now.

(ic)

Long Shot I exited hyperspace in deep space. Pierce turned to his subordinate officer. "Go home, Ken."

Ludos turned and left the cockpit without a word.

Pierce flipped the comm on. "This is the freighter Long Shot . Please put me through to your commanding officer. My name is Pierce Tondry, and I'm expected."

"Pierce?"

"Sumor, is that you?"

"Of course not."

"Funny," Pierce's eyebrows lifted. "I've got our target. One of the very last bastions of the New Republic."

"Where do I set course?"

"Toprawa. Formerly Imperial colony. It was bankrupted and left to starve for the Republic to make a charity case out of. They made a big show and got the planet back on its' feet. I'm leaving now. Follow me in one hour. That's all I'll need."

"I'm there."

Pierce cut the comm and brought his ship about. He keyed for the pre-set destination and left.

As the stars stretched into starlines, Pierce began thinking again. He had given up months of time and effort for this. He had made arrangements he wouldn't make otherwise. He had given up his very soul for this.

He might end up giving his life for this.

Pierce's lip curled. No. That was defeatist thinking. He would NOT fail now. Too much had been invested, and the return was priceless.

A small smile crossed Pierce's face as he relaxed in the pilot's chair. It was ironic. So much effort for a simple data raid.

Pierce sobered. Except that this was no ordinary mission. This time, the pressure was on.

Success was the only option left.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha senses Tondry's emotions. She could feel the blood coursing through his veins and grinned. This meant everything to him. He surrendered his soul for it ... and he will have it. She would make sure of that. She let her mind drift into meditation until she was needed ::

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

He sat calmly, his eyes closed as he awaited the bloodshed that had better come on this journey. It had been far too long since Ogre tasted the blood of innocents on his claws and he looked forward to the opportunity with great anticipation.

Not knowing the particulars of this venture really didn’t concern him, he had an uncanny way of making any situation he was in, into one that he could enjoy in his own twisted ways.

[Sumor Rayial]

Time?

**For the umpteenth time Sums called the command out over the bridge.**

"T minus 5 sir."

Close enough. Helm set course to Toprawa, engage the hyperdrive engines at your convenience.

"Aye sir"

**A minute later the ships had started moving again and soon jumed into hyperspace.

Sumor sat back in his command chair. He wasn't completely sure why he was asked to be part of this little party, but he wasn't really going to complain either. It was allowing him to get out of his office and give his personal fleet a little work for a change. Hopefully he would get the chance to engage some sort of enemy, that would at least make the trip tolerable.**

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria, for one reason or another, was on edge. She didn't know why and all she ended up doing was fidgting with her belt strap for most of the way while her family was off meditating. Something that she should be doing herself but there was much on her mind. Why was she here? She shouldn't be. She and Tondry parted on the most unpleasant of circumstances and now she found herself here, on the way to helping him.

Again she asked the question to herself, why the hell was she here?

Her knuckles were ghostly as she tried to search out the turmoil in her head. Looking to the other passengers on the ship, her eyes stared questioningly at Sorsha and Ogre. No answers were found in the silence from them as they sat quietly meditating.

It was rather strange actually. The potential killing didn't bring her here nor did a promise. The only reason was that her family was here and she really didn't want to be here at all.

[Pierce Tondry]

Long Shot I landed on Toprawa soil with a gentle bump. It had made its' way through the atmosphere utilizing stealth- sneaking from cloud to cloud and keeping a powerful sensor mask up. Now that the ship had landed, it would be concealed by a cloaking device.

Pierce set the controls on standby, then left the cockpit and locked it with a security code.

Then, he stopped by his quarters where he dressed and picked up his pre-prepared backpack. It was loaded with weapons, ammunition, and slicing tools.

Pierce took a moment to eye himself in the mirror. Mobile combat armor, rifle, grenade launcher, flechette pistol, wrist commlink, blast helmet with a macrobinocular visor and a motion detector alarm grid, stun gloves, knives and blasters secure in straps and holsters across his armor, and thermite mines secured to his belt for easy access. There was even a short-term personal shield he could activate if necessary.

He entered the lounge area where Dale, Ogre, and Sorsha were ready and waiting. That figured.

"Ready to go?" he asked Sorsha. Her only response was to nod.

"Then here's the plan," Pierce continued. "The base is one kilometer north. I'm going to blast my way through their external security wall, blast my way into their information center, steal ALL military personnel files, then blow the base and leave. Your job is to kill as many people as you see. Got it?"

Another nod.

"Good," Pierce said, not addressing Ogre or Dale. They would do whatever they felt like, and he wasn't here to try and stop them. Not today, anyway. "Then let's go."

Pierce turned and left his ship. His walk indicated that he was cool and dangerous, but just beneath the surface Pierce could feel an undercurrent of something he didn't necessarily like.

He shrugged off the tension, tried to stay focused, and headed into the forest.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha had taken preparations upon landing. She pulled her hair back into a tight ponytail and painted her face, appearing to the others like a kabuki raccoon out of some hell. Her eyes flashed gold as she tied a black scarf over her mouth and gathered her weapons. Without a word she rose and joined Tondry outside ::

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria elbowed Ogre in the stomach, "Hey, there leaving without us. That isn't right."

She unclipped her sabre and ran off after Sorsha and Tondry, trying to hide her apprehension with a grin on her face. Whole sale slaughter would perhaps do her well to get her mind off of her problems and at least she be with Ogre.

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

He swayed back some and opened his eyes as he was elbowed, coming out of his little meditative state, rising to his feet to follow Dale, Sorsha and Tondry our into the forest, extending his senses, staying alert for anything that might could happen. He wasn’t sure exactly what was planned here, but he didn’t care, this should prove to be interesting and pleasurable.

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce approached the edge of the forest with a slight ease of the pressure in his mind. There had been alarms in the forest, but he'd manage to spot and bypass them with little time lost. His timeline was still in the green, and he had ten minutes to make it into the base before he started to fall into yellow status.

Between the forest and the perimeter wall of the base, there was a large stretch of open land. Mined land, or Pierce had never been trained for combat. He waved Sorsha back and considered his options.

Without sophisticated sensor equipment and some decon droids, Pierce could not clear the path safely without announcing his presence.

But the time for silence was over.

Pierce lifted his microgrenade launcher and aimed at the ground not ten yards away. He took several steps back, then fired off three shots, angling upwards slightly after each round to get a better distance arc. Just before the first grenade hit, Pierce took cover behind a tree.

The first grenade simply exploded on impact, showering up rock and debris and a massive dust cloud. The second grenade was a different story- a massive eruption occurred, filling the air with more sight-blocking dust and leaving a small explosion crater. Huge rocks showered around the area- someone had gotten smart and piled them on top of the mine because they were large enough to rock and take down some of the trees around the area. Fortunately, Pierce and Sorsha's cover did not get damaged.

The third grenade exploded even farther down, and on either side of it were two explosions. Two more craters were left, but no rocks or shrapnel emerged from the ground.

Pierce re-emerged from cover and studied the new landscape with his eye-level vantage point. Where the mines had been before, there was a telltale clearance, as though it was part of some hidden trail. Quite a clever trap- trick people into thinking they had a way in, then let them step on mines.

With a brief recollection of the existence of his timeline, Pierce charged out onto the ground he'd just blown away. He continued to fire ahead of himself, locating and destroying five more mines that way.

Then he reached the perimeter wall amid raid sirens and wailing alarms.

Five-foot thick durasteel designed to resist artillery fire with shock and integrity fields.

Pierce pulled a small cutting tool from his belt and activated it. The device scanned the target area, calibrated itself to work against the fields in place, then fired off a yellow drilling beam that left a small hole in the wall. The device then shot a small, cylindrical bomb into the wall.

It was short work to repeat the process five other times. Pierce flattened himself against the ground and pressed the detonation button.

Six short explosions occurred, and their affect on the wall was impressive. The bombed section of wall bent inward and fell over.

The way inside was clear.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: follows after Tondry with catlike grace, extending her senses around her as she runs ::

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce gazes upward at the torn section of wall next to his shoulder. There are shouts coming from above that Pierce recognizes as entrapment orders.

Holding up a finger to get Sorsha's attention, Pierce then points upwards. He mouths the words cover me- kill them to her and then begins to run inside the compound, leaving the killer.

A loud shout comes from the emplacement's ledge and Pierce knows he has been spotted. Shots sounded out and blew into the turf, sending up sprays of dirt. Pierce did not stop.

The microgrenade launcher lifted and aimed at the large steel wall in front of him, launching two impact grenades. The auto-defense cannon that had awoken to target the moving intruder blew apart.

The grenade launcher swung again, this time targeting a closing durasteel blast shield. Three explosions from both inside and out sent the right hand blast door out of its' track and to the floor.

The way was still open.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha tosses a thermal detonator into the air. Using the force, she makes it fly like an insect up to the ledge. A blazing flash spreads out behind her as she keeps moving with Tondry ::

[Sumor Rayial]

**The five ships slipped out of hyperspace and moved into close orbit of Toprawa. As they did the defensive system system automatically activated.**

"Sir, automated defense system activated."

Any immidiate threat?

"Not that our systems are picking up sir. Looks like only the sheilds have come online so far. We are detecting no targetting locks."

Very well. Scan the surface for any possible ground based weapons that can attack us. Tactical, target the sheilds, take them down.

"Aye aye sir."

**Sumor sat back down in his command chair. There was nothing he liked better than an easy mission that gave his crews some on the job training, and this one was looking like a cake walk.**

[Pierce Tondry]

Warning! Sith Empire contacts sighted in system! All pilots proceed to your craft! All base personnel, report to your defense stations! This is not a drill! Repeat! Warning! Sith Empire contacts sighted in system! All pilots proceed to your craft! All base personnel, report to your defense stations! This is not a drill!

' About damn time, Sumor,' Pierce thought. ' That's an hour and five minutes- you're getting slow in your old age.'

Pierce jerked his head right, then left, checking further down the corridor. Blaster bolts whizzed past him and Sorsha, who was busy keeping the two of them safe by dealing with the troops who tried to catch them from behind. Pierce, meanwhile, was working with the defense shield that was keeping them from proceeding.

The shield was personnel oriented, which was why blaster shots from the local security were getting through. The device was a curious one projected in front of a door ready to sizzle the bones of unwary intruders. Pierce, however, could smell the blasted thing.

He continued to cut away at the armored covering to the apparatus with a slim, specialized cutting tool, but knew it would take another two minutes at least. Sorsha had offered to cut it down with her lightsaber, and Pierce had refused on the grounds that he was unfamiliar with this device and any traps it might have to catch Jedi or Sith attackers. Sorsha was an ace he could not afford to lose at this point.

Sorsha was there to keep the enemies off his back, and Sumor was there to give the New Rep an extra set of targets. But Dale and Ogre were-

Where were Dale and Ogre anyway? More importantly, could they be used to draw more fire?

"If you can contact your sister and her husband," Pierce said, not turning his face away from what he was doing, "Please suggest to her for me that she might find something interesting to steal or destroy in the combat vehicle hangar or the armory."

Suddenly, with a loud POP! of compressed air, the section Pierce was cutting at came away. He looked inside, carefully examining the innards of the intruiging device.

Then, he began slicing wires with his cutting tool. The shield flickered into visibility for a moment, then disappeared again.

Pierce sniffed the air. The rancid odor of ozone had begun to dissipate slightly. He could now proceed.

Leaning back out into the hallway, Pierce brought his microgrenade launcher to bear and fired. A large flaming explosion occurred at the enemy emplacements clustered by a fork in the corridor, and several of the troops there were blown apart.

"Take them out," Pierce motions, setting a shielding device on the floor to protect them from the rear long enough for a quick strike against the troops keeping them bottled. "I'll cover you."

Edit: *Bump.*

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha reaches out with the force and seizes the mind of one of the soldiers. He turns against his compatriots, gunning them down with a twisted leer on his face ::

[Pierce Tondry]

"Thank you," Pierce nodded, already breaking into a run. The microgrenade launcher was up and firing at the hall's blockaders, sending the guards down in flashes of flame and smoke.

The turbolift towards the end of the hallway opened to reveal more guards, but a microgrenade fired inside the lift killed them all before they could factor into things.

Pierce dodged flames into a side hallway towards another lift that was presently empty. He stepped inside and pulled out his blaster, giving the lift controls a quick shot to render them useless. His fingers stung as they touched the still hot metal to pull the plating away. Pierce's eyes ran over the lift's control wiring, then he touched two wires together and stepped backwards, out of the lift.

The lift jerked downward and the doors closed. Pierce turned to Sorsha. "Cut through this with your lightsaber so we can get inside, then head up the shaft. Defense coordination will be done from a well-guarded room towards the top of the base. You destroy that area while I infiltrate the data storage facility at the bottom of the complex."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Ogre and Dalethria had long split away from Sorsha and Tondry, wanting to leave those two to start the mass confusion. They had something important to take care of so all of them could leave this base with minimal troubles. It was simple for the couple to sneak into the base. With arcane words that were known to her husband, Ogre was able to bring both of them into Ethereal realm. It was easier this way to slip by everyone. Let their sister and Tondry deal with the soldiers :lol:

Her husband held tightly to her hand, keeping the bond tight that the spell required. If he was to let go, Dalethria would be forcefully kicked out of this realm. Such an occurrence would cause much mental and physical strain.

Guards ran through them towards the sound of gun fire and Dalethria looked up at Ogre with a grin.

"They're getting closer. We need to hurry."

Ogre knew who she was referring to ...

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

In the realm of the Ethereal, everything had a purplish misty look to it, but the Prime Material plane could still be seen and navigated almost as if they were there, but in reality they weren’t. They were in an entirely separate place. Force shields, scanners, and laser blasts could not connect with them in any way. They were untouchable by these mere humans with no power over the mystic or the Force.

Guards moved in succession right thru the two as they made their way to where they were heading, the troops heading the opposite direction. Various vehicles both land based and air bound passed, to intercept both the ground assault taking place as well as the threat from the skies.

Ahead of them was a large facility, it was shielded, but that was of no consequence. They traveled up the roadway and to the entrance of what appeared to be a motor pool facility, people clamoring and hurrying about, getting into and moving out in the many different types of transports there.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Sorsha slices a perfect circle into the metal and it falls away. She force leaps upwards, scaling the side of the shaft with unnatural celerity and disappears from Tondry's sight ::

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce watched Sorsha depart up the shaft, settling his microgrenade launcher into the clips on his backpack. Shouts behind him indicated that more troops had found their way to him, but he paid them no attention.

Taking one long step forward, Pierce dropped down the shaft.

Twisting his torso slightly as he stepped off the ledge, Pierce pulled out a fusion disc. He pressed it to the wall as he fell, drawing a lanyard rope from it's center. The disc fused to the wall, drawing Pierce towards it. The Imperial Intelligence agent brought his feet up and weakly pushed against the wall. After his side-to-side momentum had been stabilized, he continued his descent by rappelling down the shaft's side.

It was not long before he reached SubLevel 12- the level that housed the data storage facilities. Pierce attached a device to the separation in the turbolift doors and activated it. The doors jolted apart just enough for Pierce to fit himself through.

At the end of the hallway, a pair of guards reacted to his presence. One of them dug for a commlink while the other brought a blaster rifle to bear.

Pierce gave them no easy target. He ducked and rolled forward, coming out of the roll with a flechette pistol in his hand.

His first shot went right through the commlink in the guard's hand and hit the hand itself, cutting off the chance for an S.O.S. call.

His second shot imbedded itself in the firing hand of the guard with the rifle.

Both guards gargled with pain and clutched their hands as the acidic nerve toxin in the flechettes went to work. Pierce then put flechettes into the heads of each guard, permanently removing them from the equation.

Pierce pulled his door-opener from inside the turbolift, then oriented himself. If Sorsha was playing the part of a good distraction, he had a short window of invisibility until his next encounter.

No one would see him coming.

[Pierce Tondry]

Pierce sped around a corner, his commando armor concealed inside the uniform of a dead guard. "Look out!" he shouted. down the hall. His face was adorned with a look of panic. "He's coming!"

The guards trained their blaster rifles on him, and he stopped. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "I've never seen you here before."

"Sargeant Jace McMasters, sir. Rotated in from the Kashyyyk station," Pierce stated quickly, giving a hurried salute. "And one of the intruders was chasing me down this hall, but I slammed a blast door in his face. He'll probably manage to work his way through it in a minute or so."

"What makes you think he's coming this way?" the second guard asked.

The guards to Data Storage were better than Pierce had expected. He raised a hand and pointed back the way he'd come, sliding his middle and ring fingers as far towards his wrist as they would go. "Because he-"

The sentence was interrupted by a sudden explosion that sent fire, smoke, and rubble from the blast door in question spewing down the hallway. The guards shifted their weapons to aim around Pierce, who dove to the ground. On the way down, he twisted so as to come up facing the same direction the guards were facing. He pulled a combat knife and a blaster from somewhere inside his uniform to ready himself.

The first one wasn't expecting a combat knife to enter his throat, and the second one had barely enough time to realize what had happened to his squadmate before Pierce shot him in the back of the head.

Snatching up an ID card from one of the guards, Pierce swiped it through a reader. The door lock opened, and Pierce stepped through the door into a room full of terminals and mainframes.

Toprawa data storage, and all its' important information, were up for the taking.

All Pierce needed now was uninterrupted time to take it.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Soldiers were scattering to and fro around the motor poll. The alarms were resonating throughout the area and Dalethria scanned the area for the best transport to take. One had just pulled up and already deposited its troops. What made it the perfect choice is that the transport wasn't too far away.

With a grin, she pulled out her husband's blaster from his holster. Without even asking because their mental bond was so strong, Ogre knew exactly what his wife was thinking. They continued to stay in contact with one another as they stalked closer to the vehicle. Dalethria led the way to where she was just outside the driver's door and placed the blaster through the opened window, pointing it at the driver's head.

Let go.

Ogre did so and the driver had no conception of the danger he was in but it didn't matter. As soon as Dalethria was completely in the real world once again, she blew off the drivers head in one shot. The solider slumped forward and his head crashed onto the steering wheel. Another man was in the passenger seat and he only had enough time to pull out his weapon before he was blown away too.

There wasn't much time now as everyone in the immediate area was now alerted to her and Ogre's presence. Opening the door, she grabbed the dead officer by the collar and threw him out of the seat. The dead body hit the ground with a thump and Dalethria climbed in ... waiting for Ogre to get himself inside.

She placed her hands around the steering wheel and rocked it back and forth, "I think I remember how to do this."

[Darth Ogre]

He materialized in the plane of the Prime Material, shortly after she had released her hold of his hand. Stepping on the body of the man she had just tossed out of the vehicle, he entered it with her and headed for the rear of it, climbing into the control seat for the big gun that was atop.

“Hope that memory is correct, because they know we are here and they aren’t at all pleased.”

The turret began to spin and Ogre peppered the motor pool with several volleys of fire. Explosions rocked the encampment and the chaos it created was beginning to increase, as bodies flew through the air, while others lucky enough not to be caught in the blasts returned fire at the all terrain vehicle , the two Sith had stolen.

[Guri HRD]

The acrid smell of smoke filled Major General James T. Tohmahawk's nose, as the base's command hub came alive with pandemonium. They were under attack by an unknown force on the ground, although all signs pointed to TSE, if the fleet in orbit had anything to do with it. Call it Murphy's Law, but it never failed for the worst to fall in Tohmahawk's lap at all times. This time, on a defensive inspection from NRSF headquarters. If he were any expert on defenses, he would be sure that this post had decidedly failed.

From behind, a NR Army captain strode forward. The muscular man repetitively scratched at the side of his mustache as he addressed Tohmahawk.

"Sir, the raiders have compromised base security. We believe they are congregating toward the data storage facility."

Tohmahawk remained silent. Tentatively, the captain continued.

"I am sending four squads to cut off their escape angles."

Suddenly, Tohmahawk spun on his heel, revealing two lethal rail guns at his side.

"Captain, leave them to me. I will personally take charge of your squads. You are obviously not adept at handling the situation."

Leaving the captain stammering, Tohmahawk strode quickly out of the command center, quickly making his way to join the advancing NR troop squads.

<img src=http://www16.brinkster.com/matrix1138/CT4sig.jpg>

[Pierce Tondry]

Time slowly ticked by, and for some reason, no one came hunting for Pierce.

Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps the Intelligence agent had simply evaded detection. Or, perhaps the Sith were doing as good a job of destroying things as Pierce remembered them being capable of.

Pierce stepped to the next terminal, terminal nine, and keyed up a search. He saw several files that looked both important and useful, so he earmarked them, then left the terminal running.

Down at the end of the row, a small black box sat. Several wires ran to and from cables in the wall and the main data core, and two blinking lights indicated a data transfer. Pierce had never been the best at slicing, but he did have several unique talents when it came to splicing cables and tapping lines. Everything in Toprawa's memory that the box could seize and download it did, from general communications to encrypt sequences to passwords to history files to security rotations. Everything was up for grabs, and the Electronic Data Thief took it all and sent it to the security of the storage computer in Long Shot's hidden cargohold. The earmarked items, however, took priority and a special data storage unit that he'd put in place on Toprawa shortly before his landing.

Leaving the next terminal, Pierce looked around the room. He began trying to work out which of the twenty terminals might have the information he required- personnel biographies and personal logs.

The door slid open behind him and he spun, levelling a blaster. An aged Verpine engineer had entered the room, and the alien was staring at Pierce open-mandibled. One of its' hands held a security card that no doubt had enough clearance to bypass the lock Pierce had set.

Then, the room seemed to expand. Pierce's viewpoint somehow shifted to the right, as though Pierce were suddenly standing three feet in that direction. From that vantage, Pierce could see that his aim was off if he wanted to kill the technician, but it would probably be close.

I'm not here to kill. I'm here to get information I can't get any other way.

The perspective suddenly shifted back to Pierce's current location, but the room still had the bulbous, enlarged look. As though the angles and perspectives of the situation were being held under a magnifying glass so they could better be viewed.

Frowning to himself, Pierce put the blaster away and told the Verpine to stay put in its' own language. Then taking a chance guess, he stepped two rows over to terminal seventeen and keyed up a search.

Personnel Listings and Related Material read the screen. Search for: _?

What a break. "Must be my lucky day," Pierce muttered to himself. "Time to go hunting- pattern Durager style."

[Sumor Rayial]

**Sumor sat on the bridge of his ISD. Things were quiet, too quiet for his tastes. he was a man of action, not inaction, and so far this mission had provided nothing but inaction. Inaction made his men lax in their duties leading to mistakes, and Sumor hated mistakes.**

Status of the shields?

"20% and dropping sir."

Launch the alert fighters and prep the next group as soon as they have launched.

"Sir?"

Do it. I won't have my pilots just sitting in their fighters doing nothing. If nothing else they can perform bombing and strafing practice on the planet's surface.

"Aye aye sir"

**The Lt. Commander turned and repeated Sumor's orders. As the turbo laser turrets continued to work over the planetary shields a half wing of fighters slipped into the sky above the planet and formed into their designated formations. Holding positions 10 kilometers from the shields they waited for the moment to attack. Not for the excitement of combat as much as the excitement just to be able to do something.**

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: Fires burn as Sorsha steps over the dead bodies of the men Tondry instructed her to kill. She walks over to the elevator shaft with a grin, tossing another thermal detonater into the room as she leaps down to catch up with the Sniper ::

[Guri HRD]

Sorsha leaps down the elevator shaft, just as two squads of New Republic troops round a corner to cut off the raiders' advances. The sound of multiple blasters being primed to their killing setting crescendoed in the evil woman's ears.

From the other direction, Captain Tohmahawk entered, leading the other two squads of reinforcing troopers. His hand on the hilt of one of his railguns, the New Republic soldier stared down at the blonde for what seemed an eternity.

"Kill the Sith Witch...she is a distraction. The rest of you, come with me."

The bark of jack boots against polished tile was nearly as loud as the 24 blasters firing at Sorsha Kasajian. Amid the hail of orange light, Tohmahawk could barely be seen as he raced down the hallway at the lead of his men. With such a small raiding force, there could be only one true objective...

<img src=http://www16.brinkster.com/matrix1138/CT4sig.jpg>

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

"Aw nuts!"

Dalethria turned the wheel hard right and almost did a donut in the middle of the motor poll. She barely was able to get out of the way as one of the turrets opened fired on them. Wincing, she looked over at Ogre and half smiled, "So it's been awhile since I drove one of these things."

Getting the vehicle back under control, Dalethria floored it and they raced forward at the troopers that were attempting to stop their escape. For the ones that made it out of the way in time, some of them took shots at them. For the others, they became part of the pavement or a decoration on the front of the ATV.

Then danger screamed in the back of her mind as she forced the atv left. She avoided the direct hit but the impact sent the vehicle up off the ground a few feet. It landed hard on the ground and Dalethria got her head smacked on the steering wheel. Felt like she got hit in the head with a smashball bat.

She blinked back the pain and regained control once again. A hearty laugh escaped her mouth and she smiled, "Whoo! That was fun!"

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

The sound of turret fire, made it quite difficult for Ogre to really hear Dale’s words in the true sense of the word, but his mind heard everything she thought and that included what she decided to put into speech.

The near miss that caused their vehicle to jump as it did, caused Ogre’s shot at the artillery tower, firing at them to go wide, but it turned out to be a fortunate miss, as the blast impacted a nearby fuel depot.

The resulting explosion wasn’t enough to take out the tower, but it would certainly cause some distraction, while Ogre set his sights on it once again. Lining up the crosshairs, he squeezed of a shot and scored a direct hit, lighting the tower up in a ball of flame and debris, similar to the fuel depot not too far away from it.

“We have a matching pair, let's move out between them.”

[Pierce Tondry]

It was amazing luck.

Almost immediately upon starting to search the terminal, Pierce had found exactly what he wanted. He scanned it up and down, grinning at his prize.

It was at least a decade old, probably two or three considering the timing involved. But it was there, in front of him, allowing him to scan its' contents.

Ivanrue Mikas Tondry's personal journal.

Not only was Pierce now certain his grandfather had survived the incident at Agrilat, he had existed for a time in the New Republic. Moreover, the last update had been five months ago- just before one of his agents had reportedly seen an older version of himself on Chandrila, homeworld of the Tondry family extending back countless generations.

Pierce lifted his blaster suddenly, aiming it at the Verpine. "Kitcha kreetach sivvfffit! Touch it and die!" he stated at the alien, who had been surreptitiously approaching the datathief device.

The Verpine froze again. Pierce earmarked his grandfather's journal for download, then walked over to the box. He keyed it to finish the download and self-destruct.

Then he turned to the Verpine. Snatching the alien up with a powerful hand, he turned to leave. Now, he had to cover his escape, and a hostage would help that.

[Sorsha Kasajian]

:: The Thermal Detonater explodes, snuffing out the soldiers lives in a blazing flash of light as Sorsha races to catch up with Tondry again ::

[Pierce Tondry]

*Bump.*

Edited:

(ic)
Pierce sped through the corridors into a stairwell, and sped down the stairs to the bottom. It was a six floor descent, but that was no problem. Pierce had climbed stairwells the height of the entire Imperial Palace without being winded.

The insectoid Verpine struggled weakly from where Pierce had slung it across his shoulder. His determination lent him speed and strength, allowing him to reach his final destination quickly.

A large durasteel blast door stood before him. Pierce set the Verpine down. "I didn't kill you when I had the chance," he said to it in Basic. "Now open this door and you can go."

The Verpine's multifaceted eyes gazed at him and it made a 'no' gesture with one of its' forelimbs.

Pierce whipped a flechette pistol out and aimed it. "I need to get in. You will help me."

The Verpine simply stood there. Passive resistance at its' finest.

"The datathief device will explode unless I stop it," Pierce said flatly. "Others will die. You can either let me in, or I can detonate it."

The Verpine blinked, then stepped away from him. "That's right," Pierce confirmed. "I can blow away an entire floor already. I'm sure there are others of your species in this base who would get taken out."

The Verpine chittered a question. "I have need of the equipment," Pierce told him.

With a doubtful look on its' face, the Verpine worked the blast door's security pad.

The door opened, revealing several technicians, guards, rings of computer banks, and the base's main power core.

Pierce snatched the Verpine up again. "I have a hostage," he shouted. "You either leave, or I blow it away."

"Take it easy," one of the guards said, talking calmly and slowly. "I'm sure we can work this out-"

"I'm fully acquainted with all New Republic delaying techniques," Pierce cut in. "You are stalling for backup. You can either leave and save lives, or I can detonate the bomb I've placed in this facility and bring everything down on our heads, mine included."

The guards froze. "That's right," Pierce said, stepping just inside the door and holding tightly to the squirming Verpine. "There is an explosive in this base. Leave now if you want to live."

Although their weapons were trained on Pierce, the guards quickly moved to the other side of the room, allowing Pierce a clear path in the power core's control room unmolested. When they had given him enough space, they headed for the door he had just entered. "Set the doors to shut on a timer, then leave," Pierce told the Verpine.

It looked up at him questioningly, as if wondering why he should be so merciful. "Hurry and go," Pierce encouraged.

The Verpine tapped a few phrases into the security pad, took a last look at Pierce, then left. The blast doors slammed shut ten seconds later.

And Pierce Tondry, Imperial Intelligence Agent, was alone inside the power core of a New Republic base.

He pulled out a commlink, walking over to what he recognized would be the main terminal. "Mal Pannis," he called over a widecast frequency, figuring that either Dale or Ogre would have a comm on their person. "Pick your sister up and go. Things are about to get wild."

[Guri HRD]

Not long after the technicians and other staffers had fled, Tohmahawk and his squad arrived to the power core's blast doors. The Major General caught one of the fleeing soldiers by the collar.

"What is the situation, soldier?"

The corporal motioned to the blast doors.

"An unknown man forced his way in with a hostage, and closed the door behind him. We think he may have a bomb."

Tohmahawk's jaw set, and he snapped his fingers, signaling a burly Sergeant to step forward. The soldier removed several bulky items from his backpack -- shape charges.

"On my signal...slag the door. Somebody give me a comm."

One of the soldiers handed a comm device to Tohmahawk as the sergeant went to work arranging the network of demolitions across the heavy door. Tohmahawk activated the comm.

"Hostile intruder...this is Major General James Tohmahawk of the New Republic. We have your only exit covered, and if you do not stand down, we will breech this entrance and terminate you immediately.

There is no escape. You have twenty seconds to comply."

Tohmahawk cut off the comm, and signaled to his squad to assemble. Blasters and railguns began to power up, as the soldiers prepared to strike.

[Pierce Tondry]

Twenty seconds. Pierce's fingers were already working the power core's safety shield control terminal. "A whole twenty seconds, huh?" he called loudly. "I don't suppose you're taking into account the fact such an explosion could hurt the power core, eh?"

"The shields in place will protect it," the voice replied. "And our charges are precisely placed."

"Don't bet on the shields saving you," Pierce chuckled, moving to another terminal. "They're down now."

The glow of the core flickered and began to pulsate more irregularly.

"Fire charges."

Behind Pierce, there was a loud boom. He ducked, and shrapnel flew over his head into the field generated by the conical power device where it was vaporized.

"GO, GO, GO, GO!"

Pierce pulled a flat circular disc from inside his jacket. He flipped a switch on it, then hurled it at the power core.

The device penetrated the edge of the power field, then self-destructed. The conical towers shook and tore and the glowing field vanished. A low rumbling ran through the facility.

"Ten minutes to core explosion!" Pierce hollered. "Get out while you can!"

[Guri]

Tohmahawk glanced at the destabilizing power core, knowing that the system was quickly on its way to meltdown. The damage was already done...all he could do now was to stem the bleeding. The Major General made a curt hand gesture to his squad.

"Form up...get out of here. Full evac."

He glanced back at Tondry, squaring his rail gun at him.

"I will handle the Imperial terrorist."

The troops began to disperse quickly, leaving only Tohmahawk, Tondry, and a rapidly-destabilizing power core.

"You should have escaped when you had the chance. Now you'll die here."

[Ogre Mal Pannis]

The vehicle that Dale and Ogre had “requisitioned” escaped the combat vehicle area and headed for the rendezvous coordinates that the force sense of Sorsha and Tondry’s presence provided. Dale was doing the driving, being sure to run over as many troops as got in their was as possible and Ogre manning the turret affixed to the top, blasting everything in sight that looked to be habited by those that operated this facility, and even those constructs that looked to be nothing more than civilian buildings.

The presence of the combat vehicle should prove to be at least somewhat of a distraction, drawing the heavier fire from those who guarded this place. Cannon fire from the heavy turret gun tore its way into the main facility, rocking and shaking the structure, no doubt causing mass mayhem inside.