Call of the Crystals

[Darth Delirion]

*Halbara, a mining colony in the Elrood system

Guldus Strone, Administrator of the Radell Mining Corporation, has sent out a call to his former clients, friends and enemies alike. Long gone are the days of his former glory, as Deputy Manager of the Sluis Van Shipyards, and he hopes that someone will answer his call.

Life on Halbara is dreary and drab, compared to Sluis, with nothing better to do than this barrenplanet of rocks, and a garrison of the Empire's dumbest stormtroopers to look after.

But things have changed now. Deep in the mines, a worked has discovered a hidden cave. A cave which is covered from top to bottom in sparkling crystals, and which promises a richness in minerals never experienced before on this planet. It would be a shame to let it pass into the Empire's hands.

Fortunately for Strone, the worked who discovered the cave has come straight to him to report, and, after getting the exact data wher to find it, Strone had him thrown down a reactor shaft. Knowledge of some things can be deadly.

He has spent a long time pondering about what to do next. He is too old to benefit from such a large hoard of riches - it would only waste away if he hid it somewhere secret. And he has no lust for power left - having witnessed what power can do to a man. So he developed a plan.

He would have them fighting over it, friend against friend, enemy against enemy, and he would get away with a fat reward in the end. So the call had gone out - some Jedi, some Sith, some Imperials, some Rebels; not that it mattered to him.

Now he would just have to wait until his call was answered.

-----------------------------------------------------------

*Planet Vjun, Lambda Sector

Overlooking a burning sea of acidic rain, a lone figure stands perched upon a crumbling rock. Above the desolate, wasted landscape, ornage lightning rents apart a purple sky as if the Gods were battling in a bloody war against each other. The acrid atmosphere is growling with thunder, like some mystical beast terrifiying its prey before tearing it to shreds.

Wincing slightly under the pain as the acid rain blisters the bare skin on her arms, Delirion fights to maintain the power of the Force running through her. At such times, it feels like the Force has taken hold of her inside, bathing every vein, every cell of her body in blinding light, searing energy.

But her hold on it is weakening. The words of her teacher ring through her mind, telling her that she will never be strong, never be as strong as others. But she had to doubt his words. Would he admit that she had surpassed his own hopes for her? Admit that she could be as strong as he could? No, he would never admit to that - not he, a renegade Dark Jedi, hunted down by Empire and rebellion alike.

She had come to him like an open book, had grown in strength under his tutelage, had faced and bested the trials he had put upon her, and had surpassed her own hopes, ever doubting. It seemed like a miracle to her, still. And he had nothing but words of scorn for her ever after.

Then they had come for him, Emperor Palpatine's Jedi Hunters. Never would he now find that it was she who betrayed him, that it was she who left traces of him wherever they went, that she was responsible for his death. The death at the hands of the Hunters had robbed her of something, though - at first, it had felt good to have survived him, to best him at his own game. But soon she realized that without him, there wasn't much she knew.

There were others like her. They called themselves Sith, and had formed groups. When she had come across them, everything in her had screamed out to fight, to kill, to eradicate them all, but instead she had begged them to let her be part of them, to give her back a reason to live and fight. And they had sent her out again to prove herself.

Now the call has come for her former teacher. A call from a friend, a partner, a foe - she could not tell. That was another things she had lost. There were no files to peruse now for hidden knowledge, nothing but the crumbling ruins of his former abode upon this planet.

So she would go out, desperate to prove to herself and the Sith, that she is worthy.

Still doubting her course, she strides back to the ship - the only posession that remains from those of her former teacher, the once proud Adalric Brandl.

------------------------------------------------------------

*Halbara, Elrood System

Guldus Strone goes to meet the first of the contestants to meet the call - the call of the crystals.

He knows the ship he is about to meet, and the memories that flood his mind at the sight of it are more than just unpleasant. It takes him back to a time long past, on Sluis.

The proud and arrogant Lord Adalric Brandl had called for a ship of his own specifications. He had been told to wait while final modifications were carried out. An entire tacafe full of people had lost their lives when one of Palpatine's Jedi Hunters had found him there, and tried to capture him. In the end, Brandl had escaped the Hunter, retreated to the ship hangar, broken into this particular ship, and threatened to turn the guns loose on the command tower if they wouldn't let him go. So they had, letting him away with the ship and his life.

A cold hand seems to wrap itself around Strone's heart now, as he approaches the ship. He does not wish to meet Brandl, but there is no other way. There are worse people out there.

How surprised is he then when a lithe figure steps out of the ship, and walks towards him.

The figure he meets is a young woman of thin but tall stature, with nothing but dark, penetrating eyes and a thin, forced smile visible on her face. She is robed in a dark cloak covering her from head to toe. When she speaks, she speaks in a husky, low voice that makes one lean forward to hear every word she says.

I am Delirion. I have come in my teacher's stead. What is it you want from him - and me?

Strone is looking at her with mixed feelings. A woman? Where is Brandl? He doesn't know her, has never heard of her - how can hetrust her to fulfill the terms of this deal? That she is here instead of Brandl can only mean one thing - that she bested Brandl. And then she is not to be underestimated.

Finally, tentatively, he takes her outstretched hand and brings it to his lips in an old-fashioned gesture of respect and admiration.

I shall be frank with you, mylady. I have asked several of my old clients to assist me in a deal. Brandl was one of them.

He hesitates for a second.

I do not want to mince words with you. There is a treasure hidden in this barren rocks that would mean a lot to some people. For a little reward, I am willing to let you fight for this treasure. What do you think?

Delirion tries to hide her inner turmoil - what use has she for a treasure? would a treasure bring her status among the ranks of the Sith? She does not think so.

What is this treasure you speak of?

Strone tries to hide the trembling he feels comeing over him.

Crystals, Mylady. Precious Crystals, such as your kind uses to make lightsabers.

Taken aback at the thought of this, Delirion is unsure. If she can win the Crystals, she would have a better chance to gain rank within the RSO, as they could not refuse such an offer. Would they?

But she can't pass it up. She has to prove herself somehow.

Very well. I accept. As long as it's a fair fight. Where are the others?

Strone leads her off into a small waiting area, and bids her to take a seat.

You are the first, Mylady. But I hope the others won't be long in arriving.


EDIT: had to undo some spelling mistakes.

[Nupraptor]

Hundreds of light years away, inside of an old & disused Jedi Temple, a lone Jedi's eyes snap open, waking him from his meditation trance with a start. Something had disturbed his rest, and as far as his experience had showed him, disturbances were never a good thing. He tilted his head to one side, almost as if examining a piece of art across the room. In reality, he was trying to determine the source of this "ripple" that he had felt.

And then he felt it again: A tug, almost a pull. Calling out to him, almost by name. He closed his eyes once more, focusing on discovering it's source, narrowing down the point of origin. It took several minutes of quiet concentration before he finally was able to establish an answer. He frowned a bit, nervously chewing on his upper lip.

"Strone, you old bastard... what do you want from me, now?", he muttered to the emptiness of the room. "I gave up Bounty Hunting long ago. I have no more use for your shady dealings."

And then he felt the call once again, urgent; insistent. With a sigh of resignation, he pulled himself to his feet, brushing off the dust that had collected on his form. He bent over, retrieveing his trademark Jedi robes, and tossed them about his shoulders, pulling his hood deep over his face.

"A jerk, he very well may be: but I owe Strone this much.", he grumbled again.

He extended his palm outward, fingers splayed open, apparently waiting for something. There was a whistle as the metal cylinder he was calling to himself flew across the room, smacking neatly into the palm of his hand. Calmly, he attached his lightsabre, Twilight, to his belt and headed for the door.

[Jekaan Oludh]

Jekaan is about to take a long nice nap in his favorite armchair in his sparsely decorated quarters, when his comm-link beeps. Starting up from his seat, he grabs for his blaster first, then remembers that that isn't the alarm going off, and reaches for his comm-link. It's not at the usual place.

He follows the beeping noise to a heap of unwashed clothes, and rummages around in it for a while, before finally finding what he sought for. He jabs at the activation button, and a call comes through.

...Calling all my old friends, partners and one-time clients, this is Guldus Strone, from Halbara. PLease come to see me on Halbara as fast as you can. This is a matter of some importance. Please respond..."

"What the fraggin hell is that?"

Jekaan scratches his head, but all hard thinking doesn't seem to work. The name Strone and Halbara just doesn't seem to ring a bell.

Finally, he stumbles over to his desk, and activates the computer, and soon has access to the data archive. Only minutes later, searching for keyword "Guldus Strone", he finally finds an entry he can do something with.

"Oh....that damn bastard! I thought we got him long ago. Hmmmmm.....ahhh....maybe I should go and check what he's up to."

Five minutes later, having stuffed some clothes into a battered old bag, he is on his way out.

[Darth Delirion]

Delirion sits waiting in an uncomfortable chair in Guldus Strone's Waiting Lounge, tapping her foot on the ground impatiently.

Finally, she has enough of waiting, and jumps up to approach the nervous Administrator. She grabs him by the collar, and pulls him towards her until his face is just inches from hers.

Where are they? Didn't you say you had sent out a call? Well, no one seems to answer.

She stares into Strone's eyes wiht all the fury she can call on.

I suggest you and I will go take a look at that cave...without the others.

Pushing him ahead of her, she shoves him into the direction of the door.

Let's go.

[Nupraptor]

The surface of Halbara was quite a desolate place, indeed. It was quite obvious why this dark & rocky desert of a planet would be good for little more than mining operations.

Breaking the planet's atmosphere, just a few miles from one of the major mining sites, a Corellian Gunship began it's descent to a nearby landing pad. The force of it's engines was kicking up quite the duststorm, sending it flying in almost blinding waves of sand. It's main hatched cracked open, the passenger ramp lowering to touch the rough ground, and a lone figure silently walked out into the harsh weather.

Even someone who had never seen one could tell that this man was a Jedi. His robes flowed against the wind almost majestically, pulling back to reveal the lightsabre at his side. He stopped, putting his hands on his waist and sighing: picking up that stranded X-Wing had certainly slowed him down quite a bit. But, after all, it was his duty. Raising one hand to shield his eyes, he surveyed the landscape, trying to get his bearings. Heading off in the direction of the facility, he drew his hood even deeper to shield against the environment.

It was a several minute hike to get there, and once he did, he was irate to find that no one was waiting to greet him. He was highly tempted to simply call out through the Force, and demand that Strone tell him where he was. But that didn't seem very practical at the moment: warning bells were going off in Nupraptor's mind, and he had a tendency to listen to those bells. Something didn't feel right about this. Besides... Strone, to the best of his knowledge, was not Force sensitive. Calling out like that could only attract unwanted attention. Instead, he opted to do things the 'old fashioned way'.

"Strone! You old worm, where are you?!?"

[Darth Delirion]

Guldus Strone at that moment is in no condition to hear any calls for him. He is slowly making his way deeper into the mines, with a lightsaber dangerously close at his back.

Delirion isn't taking chances. Twice she has brought her saber to bear upon him already, merely burning his shabby uniform a little, or maybe inflicting a slight burn. Twice Strone has tried to run, and both times she has held him in place against his will by the power of her mind over his. Her self-confidence is growing.

Unbeknownst to her, and even to the terrified Strone, who is far too scared for his own life to think of anything to safe his skin or remember a device he carries with him day in day out, in his pocket there is a miniature comm-link.

Back in the Administrator's office, a signal on a map outlining the deep caverns of the mines, moves slowly deeper into the darker marked -off areas.

[Nupraptor]

Receiving no answer from his quarry, the Jedi frowns. One would think that, if you're going to 'invite guests', you would be there to greet them.

"Blast it, you old fool. I come all the way out here from halfway across the galaxy, and you can't even be here to greet me? Bags!"

Weary and aggravated, Nupraptor began to look around for any signs of the absent trader (And, although that's what he knew Strone as, he was certain that there were other things he had his dirty hands in, as well.) Eventually, he came across the Administrator's Office. The door was ajar, and the lights dimmed.

"It seems that someone else may have already seen to him."

Reaching to his waist, he clenched his lightsabre handle in one hand, keeping it unlit for the moment, and pushed open the door a bit to take a peek inside. To his surprise, the room was mostly intact. He had been expecting it to be trashed by some mystery figure looking for something. Food containers and various other trash littered the floor of the office, but nothing really out of the ordinary for a slob like Strone.

In the darkness, his attention was easily won by the small, blinking light across the room. Cautiously, he made his way over to it, not sure what to expect. On the dimly lit screen was a 3 dimensional map layout, with a transponder signal slowly moving across it: a tracer, of some sort. Turning his head to look outside the window, Nupraptor assumed that it was coming from the nearby Caverns. He grimaced: not good. He wouldn't really need to venture a guess as to where Strone was. Very briefly, he was half-tempted to leave Strone to whatever mess he had gotten himself into this time. However, he was a Jedi, and it was his duty to protect the innocent. Even if Strone wasn't exactly "innocent".

Giving another sigh of resignation, he walked out of the squat building and strode over to the dark maw that was the entrance to the caves.

"You better appreciate this, Strone."

[Darth Delirion]

Deeper into the mines, the trail that hundreds of workers' feet had left, abruptly breaks off at what seems to be a dead end. Bare rocky grey walls greet Delirion and Strone, and Delirion at first thinks Strone has led her on a fool's errand. Then she notices the narrow crevice at the side of the tunnel's end.

Strone motions wiht a hand towards the crevice.

In there. It's in there.

Delirion stares at him, stonily and silently, until he relents and takes up walking towards the crevice. Strone squeezes his thin form through the split between rocks, and Delirion follows him, haltingly, a little doubtingly. But she can't withstand her own curiosity, and follows Strone in.

Blackness greets her. Blackness that scares her a little as it enwraps her totally. Then she remembers to feel out with the Force for her surroundings, and in the darkness locates Strone's presence in front of her. Quickly she activates her lightsaber, and its bluish glow shows him standing pressed against the wall of the cave.

Strone's eyes open wide in surprise, and Delirion can hear him whistle lowly. Only then does she take a look at her surroundings.

Millions of tiny sparkling rays of light coruscate at the barest move of Delirions's lightsaber, creating the effect of a glittering sea of stars on a night sky. Darkness seems to flee from under the blue glow of the blade, and the light is thrown back a thousandfold as it falls upon a forest of tall crystal stalacmites. Covered in snowy white, they appear like filigrane artwork left over by a long forgotten race.

For a moment, Delirion forgets all anger and hatred, and laughs delightedly at the sight. She feels like the happy child so long buried in her sinister past again. Turning and laughing at the dream that enfolds around her, she holds out her hands as if accepting a gift.

A rustling noise can be heard then, coming from the crevice.

[Nupraptor]

It had been little trouble for him to follow the two figures this far without being noticed. After all, he used to perform tasks of this nature a hundred times more strenuous without so much as a sound. It didn't take him long of listening to thier snippets of conversation to piece together what was going on. Strone had apparently bit off a bit more than even he could chew (heck, more than a Rancor could chew), and it was biting back. The woman in the dark robes was leading him deeper and deeper into the caves.

He had his suspicions as to her nature, but they weren't confirmed until the edge of her cloak caught on a rock outcropping, revealing the lightsabre at her side. Silently, he contemplated the possible reasons a Sith would involve themselves with him as he followed along. Strone's captor was leading him to... something. And Nupraptor wasn't entirely sure he wanted to find out. But he also understood that an attack in cramped quarters like this wouldn't be the wisest of ideas, and might even get Strone killed in the process. So he bided his time for the moment.

Traversing the shadows was more than simple enough for him, so he staed out of sight until he saw the two of them pass through a crevice in the wall, apparently entering some much larger area. This was what he had been waiting for. As he was working his way through the tight opening, he heard someone let out a low whistle, and he used this as a signal to ignite his lightsabre. The click-hum of it turning on was somewhat reassuring to him. As he looked up in the direction of the two, Delirion was already waiting, her weapon ignited, as well.

"Well, well... a Jedi." She said with a distaste. "And what, praytell, are you doing here?"

Even though he knew there was no point in doing so, Nupraptor tried his best to sound business-like as he spoke.

"I have come on a call from the man you hold captive. He's an old... associate of mine. I can't allow you to harm him in any way."

Chuckling, she spoke: "You dealt with this scum? What kind of Jedi are you?"

"I don't believe that that is any of your buisness."

[Darth Delirion]

Well, then maybe I should make it my business. I do like to know something about the Jedi I kill - a little hobbie of mine, so to speak. The collected histories of Jedi who failed. Fascinating topic, don't you think?

Poised to attack, Delirion slowly circles around the Jedi. Nervous sweat makes the grip on her lightsaber handle as slippery as her grasp of the Force right at that moment. The momentary lapse she had whilst overcome with the beauty of the cave she stands in, has made her lose the tentative grasp on the Force that she had maintained to keep Strone in check. Now, it seems entirely impossible to build up enough hatred and anger to fuel the Dark Side sustaining the Force inside her.
She can only hope to stall the Jedi - stall and keep his senses occupied so he would not sense her own weakness.

But maybe we should let your former ... associate tell you what he had in mind for his little game.

She beckons to Strone, who slowly, hesitatingly steps forward and out of her reach into the Jedi's.

[Jekaan Oludh]

When his modified mechanic's nightmare, the Mail Courier ship Scrapheap (formerly Chainsaw Massacre , formerly Moldy Sow , formerly Wings of Corellia ), touches down on dusty Halbara ground, Jekaan is hunched over a map of the area. 'Good ol' Strone is up to something nasty, and I don't meant to bother about whatever twisted scheme he's been concocting recently. Most likely, if the reports have anything to say, those Jedi and Sith he's been contacting are about to rip each other's heads off, and if they're not complete idiots, they bloody well do the same thing to Strone's head, too.'

Whatever Strone is up to, Jekaan isn't going to do this the way Strone would want. 'The bastard has some kind of sick scheme involving Sith and Jedi, and I be damned if I'm to get into the middle of that - especially not without the right kind of equipment. No, whatever trouble he's been brewing up around here, better I snoop around a bit on my own, before I make up my mind what to do about the situation - whatever it is.'

Having made up his mind about that, Jekaan downloads an exact copy of the Radell Mining Company district map that he got from his Intel files, and prepares to leave.

When Jekaan finally manages to open the rusty trap-door of his ship, he is dressed in a mechanic's uniform. Within minutes he reaches a busy street and dissappears into the mass of people. Somehow, he manages to mix in with the general crowd, despite his portly and rough figure. To the innocent eye, the bulges in his bulky mechanic's over-coat look like just anoher slab of fat. But if the people around him would know that he's in reality a walking arsenal of deadly weapons, they'd run screaming in terror. Everything from TDs over a fast-assemble Force Pike to a handheld miniature ion-cannon he carries in folds of his undertunic. 'Good to be prepared for all kinda things at all kinda times. Sure, I haven't got a clue where a fraggin hand-held ion cannon would come in handy, but I'd rather not find out by not having one at the moment I might drokkin need it.'

Milling through the crouds of miners and their families, Jekaan makes his way towards the Repair Hangar of Radell Mining - located conveniently at the back of the Administration building.

[Nupraptor]

Nupraptor listened distractedly as Strone did his best to explain the whole situation. Despite his stammering and habit of running words together, Nupraptor managed to make out his intentions, and how the Sith woman had perverted those intentions. There was no big puzzle to fit together, here: It sounded about par for the messes Strone usually got himself into. Cooly, the Jedi turned to Strone, a small amount of something akin to disgust tracing his features.

"I really should leave you here to her whims. You were foolish for trying to sway a Sith with your greed. One would think you would have leanred your lesson by now."

Turning back to face the Sith once again, Nupraptor licked his lips. His face had become an emotionless mask, betraying nothing further.

"But, as always, I am sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Now, I will politely ask that you this, Sith: Leave this man's property, or I will be forced to defend it for him."

[Darth Delirion]

The disgust that was written on the Jedi's face just a moment ago, is mirrored still on Delirion's own. Disgust at Strone's weakness, and disgust at the Jedi feeling obliged to help such a weak and irritable little man. 'If that is all the Jedi stand for, I have chosen well to become one with the Dark Side.'
The thought alone makes her angry, and the anger once again fuels her so completely that the welcome feeling of being suffused with Dark Side powers overcomes her in a rush. Having newly regained her confidence, she stands to face the Jedi.

"My, my!" She sneers at the Jedi. "All righteous and courteous he is. Tell me - doesn't this weak fool's whimpering stir anything but your samaritan soul? Didn't I detect a slight stirring of disgust there just a moment ago?"

She takes a step forward, towards the Jedi, and stares him hard into the eyes. As he stands there seemingly unperturbed by her taunts, she senses out towards him with the Force... and exults as she gets a glimpse of a memory the Jedi has been unable to hide.

"Can you honestly tell me that you have never felt anger or hatred overcome you? Do you mean to tell me that you have no capacity for fear, when fear lies topmost in your mind? For there it is," - she reaches out with her hand, and touches his head for an instant, before he steps back - "at the top of your mind, riding along with every waking thought of yours. Don't you fear that you'll become like your father one day? Like the great Sith he was?"

[Nupraptor]

Nupraptor took a slow and cautious step backwards, unerved by neither the Sith's accusations nor her cold touch.

"Was I disgusted? Yes. But not at the man; at his actions. He acted out of greed, and as such has brought this upon himself. However, The peace and justice of the Galaxy will be guarded, and all life in any form is and will be respected."

Despite his iron resolve, he faltered for a moment, speach failing him. Just how had this woman he had never met garnered that bit of information about his past? How had she known about his father. He shook his head, clearing it of these thoughts: he would have plenty of time to worry about it later.

"Do I fear that I will become like my father? Quite simply, No. For my ally is the Force, and I use its powers to serve and protect the innocent from evil. I seek goodness, and defend it from the Dark Side. I have dedicated my life to the Truth, I am the Light - I am a Jedi."

Nupraptor brought his lighsabre up to guard, indicating that he had every intention of protecting his new ward.

"One way or another, you will not get what you came for... leave now."

[Darth Delirion]

Delirion's dark eyes glitter dangerously, as if all her anger is contained in them. This Jedi is indeed quite strong in his belief - he won't be turned from his path by silly taunts.

This leaves only one thing for her - the one thing she has both dreaded and hoped for: to fight him. Her first real fight against a Jedi, with nothing but her own anger and inconfidence to support her. Compared to that, her former duels were mere child's play.

"Do not tell me to leave - Strone dug his own pit of doom when he invited my former teacher here, along with the rest of them. He's got himself to blame for getting into this position."

She brings her saber down into the space between them, and their eyes meet over the blue sheen of the light it gives off. Her eyes seem to burrow into his mind.

"He asked for assistance, so that's what he will get - as I will get the crystals. If you wish to save his pitiful hide, then you can do so, but the crystals are mine to take."

As the Jedi takes another step forward to meet her eyes wiht a hardened stare, she laughs.

"I did not think you would be the one to step down. Tell me? What is worth more to you? Saving this man's life? or getting this treasure for yourself?"

Without further ado, she raises her blade up, mockingly bows to him, then in a fluid motion brings her saber out of an outer circle upwards at the Jedi's chest

(OOC: going off now - let's continue this tomorrow, shall we?)

[Jekaan Oludh]

Surely one average looking mechanic in an oily grubby mechanic's uniform won't stand out in a hangar full of them! Jekaan thinks to himself as he stands in the entrance of the Radell Mining Hangar, observing the hustle and bustle of the workmen inside.

The Hangar doesn't have many ships inside it; apart from a somewhat rusty YT-1100 and a Lambda Shuttle, there isn't anything spaceworthy in there. What the mechanics seem to be working on mostly is mining equipment of some kind, little wagon-cars for an underground mining train, load-lifters, droids of several makes, and a few crude looking mining instruments.

Jekaan's eye falls on two mechanics working on a binary load-lifter who are assisted by a barrel-shaped droid. One of them, a woman, is fidgeting, dropping her tools from time to time and looking nervously towards a big clock at the rear wall of the Hangar. The other mechanic seems to be wasting his time shouting commands at the droid, which is the only one working of the three.

Somehow, the shouting mechanic looks awfully familiar, while Jekaan is pretty much sure that the fidgety girl is one he's had in his Special Skills class until recently.

Apparently, the message he sent out to Gormul Hyfe before entering hyperspace has been received and immediately acted upon. Raising his hand in greeting to Hyfe, he quickly crosses the space between them, and acts to all eyes as if he's just another mechanic on a a difficult repair tour.

During the next five minutes, whilst Jekaan appears to be examining the other two mechanics' work, the three exchange what they have managed to find out about this place in the short time they have been on-planet.

"WHAT IN DROKKIN SPACE WHERE YOU DROKKIN THINKIN OF, YA DROKKIN PAIR OF IDIOTS????"

He loudly shouts at them, managing to cause a few turning heads amongst the rest of the workers. While standing there bent over the lifter, fumbling at a cable or two, he whispers at them.

"We need to get into the Admin center next door. There is just one set of walls, cos some fraggin fool built the Hangar using the existing wall as the rear wall. Hyfe, do you think you can get us a way inside without a lot of noise? Qourr, have you been able to find a spot where we could operate from unseen by this rabble?"

[Nupraptor]

Without hesitation, his blade came up to block the Sith's in one fluid motion, colliding in a bright flash. Putting the sheer force of his muscles into it, he held the blades crossed for a scant few moments, keeping her occupied as he removed one hand from his weapon and held it out, palm towards his opponent. With a little application of the Force, she found herself pushed harshly backwards, stumbling a bit. The Jedi didn't really want a fight, but it didn't look like he had any alternative. But he can think of none that would get both him and Strone out of here safely. So he just stood, watching, as she rose back to her feet.

If he wanted to win, he couldn't give her an instant of freedom. He charged at her with a burst of Force Speed, hopping a few feet into the air and delivering a quick kick to her chest. It was enough to push her back even further, fulyl knocking her onto the ground. As she collided with the stone floor, Nupraptor took a few steps back, weapon readied.

"Strone... get the hell out of here. NOW!"

[Darth Delirion]

Delirion hastily gets back on her feet. Concentrating inwards for precious seconds as she closes with the Jedi, she gathers all her strength and power over the Force, and redirects some of it onto herself to supress the pain in her back from being flung back so violently. Using her strongest gift she channels some of it on the air surrounding her, and the Jedi's vision is suddenly blinded by white dust that rises from the ground he stands upon and envelopes him like a shroud, spiralling faster and faster around him.

From the corner of her eyes, she can see Strone slinking away and frantically sqeezing his narrow frame through the crevice they had entered the cave by. Delirion decides to let him go, as she can deal with him later, should there be need. The Jedi has to be dealt with first.

Careful not to step too close to the white inferno the Jedi is cocooned in, she arcs a cut in toward his left shoulder. But with his eyes closed, he steps through the white shroud and picks the cut up, blocking it high left. Delirion comes down and around in a sweeping blow at his left leg, but the Jedi brings his lightsaber down and bats hers away easily. The sparks of light that explode from the contact of their saberblades is mirrored a millionfold in the small crystal dust floating in the air. Were it not for the fight for life and death in its midst, the scene would take one's breath away with its sheer beauty.

Delirion closes in quickly, trying to overcome the lull in her power over the Force that she feels at the beauty around her, and snaps her blade down in an overhand cut. Picking up speed in the cut, she forces the Jedi to block it in the middle ring of defense. Then she pushes in with her right hand, and slides the saber's hilt down. She hammers the Jedi's breastbone with the hilt, and sweeps her right leg through her opponent's, dumping him to the ground.

[Gormul Hyfe]

"NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I put it like that for a reason you bumbling old hag!!
Get out of the way!"

With that, Gormul gives the over-weight man in the sky-blue mechanics suit
a firm shove on his left shoulder, possibly a bit harder than it should have
been, which sends him stumbling clumsily backwards a few paces.

"I said get out of the way you sorry excuse for a heaping pile of Bantha
Manure!"

Again, several heads are turned towards the scene. Perhaps he is trying a
bit to hard to make them fit in, Gormul thinks to himself as he hears a
scrawny mechannic in similar garbs whisper to the short stubby woman next to
him, Who the hell are those guys? The woman replies in an even more
short-tempered voice, I aint got a flippin' clue but they bester shut the
heck ap!

Now leaning down over the lifter himself, Gormul angles his head up to
look at Jeekan, whose face is now a bit flushed with anger for having been
shoved out of the way. Gormul could tell Jeekan wanted very badly to shout
at him in a military-fashion, reminding him of his superior rank and
importance to the Empire. Pretending not to notice, Gormul whispers to both
Jeekan and his female counter-part, who remains huddling close by, tinkering
with another set of power cables a few feet away.

"I havent gotten a very good look at the building yet myself. Are you sure
theres no "back door" or anything? If not, you just want us goin' right
through huh?"

Gormul tosses a quick glance at the rear wall, sizing it up.

"Well, I don't have much on me as far as special equipment goes, so getting
through "without a lot of noise" could be quite a task. I've got a swoop
bike parked outside near a local pub, and I could take that on back to my
ship which is sitting way out in the middle of bloody nowhere. Then I could
bring some stuff back with me... but that would take a few hours yet. Now...
if we already had ourselves a lot of noise, getting through there without
attracting too much attention shouldn't prove to be that much of a problem.
And I'm sure we could find ourselves a good distraction in a joint like
this..."

Gormul then looks over his right shoulder towards Qourr.

"You got anything?"

[Qourr Mhawat]

"Hmmmmm....what?"

Disturbed by her partner's elbow landing in her ribs, Qourr looks back from a group of mechanics huddled around a mining wagon, and focuses her attention on Jekaan and Hyfe. A nasty grin forms on her face.

"You're looking for distractions? I can create some - starting with that group of idiots over there."

She points at the mechanics she's been watching, and rubs her hands together in anticipation. Finally she'll get a chance to use her hands in the right way - not that silly mechanics stuff, getting her hands dirty and stuck inside some machine part all day long.

"They've been pissing me off all day long - it's just fair to make them pay, dontcha think?"

Hyfe rolls his eyes at that, but Jekaan grins at her. "Sure, Qourr - you just go and do what you're best at."

Triumphantly, Qourr puts her multi-tool down on top of the load-lifter, and turns around to walk over to the mechanics. But a hand grabbing her arm from behind holds her back.

Jekaan looks at her, the grin wiped off his face. "Later, you silly goose - let's plan this a little bit more. There are too many things that don't add up yet."

Qourr grumbles to herself, thinking that they have a better chance at not being detected if they'd act soon, but has to admit to herself that she should probably start thinking first a bit more, before acting.

[Gormul Hyfe]

"Oh come on Quorr. I'll admit those two haven't exactly been a cup of tea for me either, but lets not get too hasty. You know damn well that you punching the lights out of a few lazy-ass mechanics isn't going to cover up the sound of me blasting through the wall with a C-22 Fragmentation Grenade. We're gonig to have to think of something"

"Still, I think I may have something you might yet enjoy..."

Looking around the hangar hastily, the expression on Gormuls face shows clearly that he is lost deep in his thoughts.

"Hell... Like I always say, "What better to cover up an explosion with, than another explosion?" Yeah... so I just made that up, but still."

Shifting his gaze away from Qourr, whos face has suddenly lite up with interest once again, Gormul turns to look thoughtfully at the rear wall.

"I think the best way to get through there would be with some good ol' Compound Flex-5 Detonite Tape. That stuff usually doesn't make too much noise, and it should be able to do the trick."

Bending over, Gormul sets down his electro-welder, and reaches into the large black bag which is one of the few things that doesn't quite fit in in the dirty hangar. He pulls out a small roll of black tape, which looks much like a regular roll of plasto repair tape or electric tape.

A smile spreads accross Gormuls face as his two companions look at him with a quizzical expression on their faces.

"MerrSonn Munitions Compound Flex-5 Detonite Tape." Gormul states with a bit of enthusiasm.

"Ingeniusly disguised as a regular old roll of plasto repair tape, this stuff works like a charm. Just tape it to where you want it, and then set it off with either a remote or some other extreme heat source, like a blaster bolt."

Spinning the roll of tape around his right index finger, Gormul continues to gaze around the hangar.

"Now we just need that distraction..."

[Jekaan Oludh]

Jekaan listens to the two agents with a frown on his forehead. 'Maybe sending Qourr out into the field that soon after joining Intel wasn't such a good idea', he thinks to himself. 'Fraggit, she's not one of the brightest, but I guess she's got it where it counts. I'll never forget that combat practise session - or the dunk in the bacta tank I needed afterwards...'

As Hyfe outlines the details of his new plan, Jekaan suddenly remembers something he has seen when he arrived in the hangar. Out of the corner of his mouth, he asks Hyfe, "'You ever heard of the Nightstinger?"

Hyfe looks at him, piqued at Jekaan thinking he mightn't have. "Of course I have! Xerrol Nightstinger sniper rifle, isn't it?" Suddenly suspicious of whatever mad idea it is that Oludh has come up with in his sick brain, Hyfe lowers his voice even more. "Something on your mind, Oludh?"

Jekaan takes a deep breath, and goes over this wild idea in his mind again. He isn't sure if it can work, but if Hyfe is the expert he's been bragging he is, then nothing should be entirely impossible. Careful to keep it hidden away from any prying eyes, Jekaan unholsters the DL-44 blaster he has kept slung around his torso underneath his tunic, and shows it to Hyfe.

Qourr's eyes go wide at the sight of the gun, and she quickly steps in the gap the two men have left between them, so that no one could see what they are doing.

"This is what I had in mind, Hyfe - can you fix this up so I could take a shot over at the guard watching over those fuel tanks over there? if we can make it look like it's his doing when they blow up, we get a nice little riot in here, and no one will bother to look at what we're doing."

For the benefit of the ears of those in the vicinity, Jekaan speaks up, almost shouting at Hyfe. But the serious look in his eyes shows that the question is a valid one, and one that he needs a serious answer to. "Can't you DROkkin' DAMN do THAT???"

[Nupraptor]

As Nupraptor knew she would, Delirion sought to take advantage of her fallen, moving in for a strike against him. He rolled sharply to his left, avoiding her slash and making sure her blade bit nothing more than cold stone. A quick hop and the Jedi was back on his feet with an amazing precision. He spun around with an inhuman alacrity, stretching out his leg for a sharp kick to his opponent's side. The blow knocked her just a bit off balance.

Although it wasn't much at all, he would make do. He brought his lightsabre around in a low arc, aiming it's swing at Delirion's legs. It was his best bet if he was going to stop her without killing her. To his surprise, however, she brought her own weapon to guard before his could connect, sending a small shower of sparks flying into the air. The effect was absolutely dazzling: So much so, in fact, that Nupraptor had to block it out his sight, lest he lose concentration on the fight. If one were to catch the reflections wrong...

Still exchanging blows with the Sith Woman, he slowly began to edge her back towards the cavern wall. When he had her in exactly the position he wanted her, his hand slipped to one of the adjustment knobs on his lightsabre's hilt, causing the blade to flare up in a flash. It had exactly the desired effect as the flash was reflected a thousand-fold across the multifaceted gems lining the walls, burning with a radiance like that of a small sun. With a scream, Delirion instinctively brought her arm up to shield her eyes. Celerity granted by the force guided his stroke as he made a downward strike at his foe...

[Gormul Hyfe]

Gormul just stood there stiffly, staring at Jekaans pudgey face for another few seconds as if he didn't quite understand what the man was saying, and then he dropped his head down as if in defeat. He then began shaking his head slowly. Looking back up at Jekaan Oludh, he began to speak very softly, and with great control.

"Let me get this straight... You're asking me to single handedly modify this DL-44 blaster pistol so that it has the special capabilities of a Xerrol Nightstinger? Do you have ANY idea what that would require to be done?? I HIGHLY doubt that something like that has EVER been accomplished, if ever even attempted, even if the newest state-of-the-art equipment was at hand! I'm sorry Jekaan... it's just impossible."

Gormul then stands silently for a moment, rubbing his hand along the back of his neck, looking down to the ground once again. Then, in a tone with just the slightest bit of hope, the slightest hint that he just may have the means to accomplish this task, he says:

"... But doable. Give me 10 minutes, Oludh..."

A broad smile spreads across the other two agents faces as Gormul looks to each of them in turn, a slight smile on his own face also. Returning his gaze to Jekaan, he sees the man extend his right hand and spin the DL-44 around his index finger, having the handle of the weapon end up pointing towards Gormul.

"All right then. Hop to it!"

Taking the DL-44 in his own hands, Gormul kneels down behind the heavy lifter which they had been previously "working on". He sets the weapon onto the floor, and then pulls the large black bag, which he had taken the Detonite tape from, over to him with his right hand.

As Gormul removes several different items from the black bag, he begins to run over the game plan quickly.

"So here's the deal: I rig this baby up so that she can fire a bolt which travels through the air invisibly, until it ricochetes off an object with a flash of light. If and when we get that working, we will make it appear that the guard over there shoots the oil containers, blowing them up. Hopefully, when the containers blow, the guard will instinctively draw his weapon right after. In the meantime, I will be setting off the detonite tape which will be attached where we need it on the rear wall. The sound of the oil containers exploding should provide for a big enough distraction for me to be able to blow through the wall without anyone noticing the extra blast. It's going to take perfect timing for us to get that right... Now, that's step one. What were really hoping for now is that in effect, the workers will think it was the guard himself who blew up the containers, causing a type of riot that will provide for a distraction. That is our opportunity to make our way through the rear wall unnoticed. It's all a stretch... but it's just going to have to work. If all else fails... I know I've got a BlasTech Nact5 Smoke Grenade around here somewhere."

Quourr, having been standing silently absorbing the plan, pipes up a bit when Gormul finishes.

"Great! So we get some ruckus after all!"

Jekaan chuckles at the comment.

"Indeed..."

[Gormul Hyfe]

14 minutes later, Gormul leans his head back against the side of the heavy lifter, letting out a sigh. He wipes his hands on his already filthy blue mechanics suit. His fingers ache and his head hurts from the concentration.

"Alright... Basically what we've got here is a DL-44 with modified flash supressor, final stage culminator, cooling unit, power pack, and enhanced blast delivery circuits. The fact that there was already a flash supressor on the weapon helped a little bit. I just had to modify it so that it would also act as a sound supressor (don't want the sound giving us away), and also to help with the new configuration of the blaster bolt type. This, of course, would not work at all without the adjustments I made to the final stage culminator. The cooling unit has been adjusted to help keep the weapon from blowing up in your hands as you fire a blast that is thrice as powerful as intended. Since the DL-44 is already a very powerful gun for it's size, this was rather tricky. The work on the power pack and enhanced blast delivery circuits themselves are what makes this "Nightstinger" type blast possible. I won't get into the icky details because they would probably put you to sleep, but, you've got your stinkin' "Nightstinger Blaster Pistol" now."

Gormul lets out an exagerrated sigh, and then smiles a bit. In return, Jekaan Oludh lets out a hearty chuckle and then punches Gormul on the shoulder.

"I knew you could do it!" he says, just a bit to loud, causing some heads to turn. Realizing this, he adds in a hushed tone:

"Sorry. But great job! I haven't got a fraggin clue what you were rambling about, but at least ya got it done!"

Gormuls smiles.

"Yeah... I did, didn't I? Now comes the real hard part. Due to the modifications made to the power pack that were necessary to produce such a blast, you will only get ONE shot. I don't care which one of you takes it... but you sure as hell better know what you're doing. I'll go "tape" our explosive to the wall, and then we'll be all set. I doubt anyone will take much notice of me if alls I've got is a roll of what looks like regular old tape, so I should be able to do it with fairly little interest. Even so, a little distraction there would help also... Nothing big. Anyone know the "Barumpa?"

At this, Jekaans face becomes suddenly stern, and he replies in a quiet but very harsh voice.

"What!? NO! Mr. Hyfe... if you think that I am going to go out there and DANCE for those foul mechanic people, just to be a distraction for your stu --

"Awww.. Come on, Oludh. You don't know the "Barumpa"? Well now... Quorr, I'm sure you can show him how it's done?"

[Darth Delirion]

Blinded by the sudden searing light around her, Delirion stumbles backwards, only to connect with the rough wall of the cave. Frantically trying to sense the attack coming from the Jedi, she can feel nothing, see nothing but the darkness of her closed eyes.

Suddenly, out of nowhere it seems, a purple sheen shimmers though the searing white light lying behind her closed eyelids, and Delirion can't move quickly enough to dodge. The Jedi's saber comes crashing down on her shoulder, but is stopped before cutting too deep by the wall Delirion stands pressed against.

An almost inhuman scream esacpes her lips, as Delirion feels the pain course through her right side. Every nerve in her seems to scream out in pain, and the agony of the searing energy numbs her mind to everything else.

But something else is happening: something that Delirion has never experienced before - as the energy from the blade dissipates into her flesh, it makes her skin tingle, and her heart throb with renewed strength. All of a sudden, not knowing why or how, she holds out her hand, as if to fend off a direct attack from the Jedi upon her weakened body. And as she stretches out her arm she can feel the energy she has absorbed from the blade run down her arm, and gather in her palm for a fraction of a second - gathering its force. Crying out then again, she opens her eyes to see a small ball of energy shooting outwards from her palm, flying with impossible speed towards the Jedi.

Almost as surprised as she is, he nevertheless regains his senses in time to dodge the fiery missile on its way upward, and it hits the ceiling of the cave instead.

Exploding in a white ball of impossible dimensions, it causes the heavy crystals hanging from above to disintegrate and break up in millions of shards that fly in all directions. Deadly foot-long splinters cut into the snowy white ground around them, making it lethal to both the Jedi and the Sith to remain standing there.

Delirion huddles against the wall, shocked by what she just did, and shocked by the results. Unable to move one step into any direction, she can only lean against the wall, exhausted, as if the white ball of energy took all of her strength with it as it exploded. No thoughts of her Jedi opponent are left, as she feels scared for the first time in so many years - scared of the forces of nature around her. Deadlier than any enemy.

[Qourr Mhawat]

Qourr giggles at the image she has in her mind of the fat man dancing a Barumpa in the middle of the hangar. Now THAT would really be a distraction!

Jekaan looks at her, and if looks could kill, she'd be a speck of blood on a piece of rubble after a thermdet explosion now.

"Qourr, I think it's time for you to take your daily exercise."

"Huh?" Qourr looks at her superior officer, puzzled.

"I mean, go and knock someone out. Didn't you want to do that?" Jekaan says, rolling his eyes at her.

"Oh!" A broad grin appears on her face. "OH! Oh yes! Sure! They'll never know what attacked them!"

Off she walks towards the mechanics that have been annoying her all day long.

'Indeed that they won't...' Jekaan mumbles to himself, as he watches the slight woman walk up to the two grubby mechanics, put an arm around each of them, and starts whispering into their ears.

"You sure this is such a good idea, Oludh?" Hyfe whispers at Jekaan. "I don't see---OH!"

Hyfe's expression takes on one of admiration as he watches as Qourr leans in closer to the two men, then suddenly throws her head back, and, with a mighty show of strength that no one would expect from so slight a woman, she bashes their heads against each other, resulting in both of them slipping away to the ground to her feet.

She turns around and looks at Oludh and Hyfe with a satisfied grin, rubbing her hands together. As more people arrive to see what the ruckuss is all about, she casts a look around at anyone approaching.

"Anyone up for some more head-bashing?"

[Gormul Hyfe]

As Gormul stands smiling, admiring Quorrs skills, he suddenly snaps back to attention, remembering what the distraction is all about. He graps the roll of detonite tap, and then looks up at Oludh who is still watching Quorr with great interest.

"I'm gonna go rig this up..."

Jekaan looks down to Gormul, with a confused expression on his face.

"Huh? Oh, yeah... Go ahead."

Oludh then goes back to watching Quorr in action, his smile returning quickly as she graps hold of another tall lanky man by his uniform, and thrusts her knee straight up into his croin.

Gormul shakes his head as he begins to work his way on over to the rear wall, moving slowly and casually, trying not to attract any attention. Quorr obviously sees Gormul working his way over to the wall, but takes care not to look directly at him so that the other mechanics will not take notice of him.

'At this rate she'll have taken 'em all out before I even get there...' Gormul thinks to himself.

Jekaan doesn't even glance once at Gormul to see how the progress is going. Whether it's because he has much restraint and understands the risk that he would be taking of attracting attention to Gormul, or if it's just because he has totally forgotten about the mission again as he continues to stare at Quorr, throwing mock punches as Quorr eliminates another mechanic with roundhouse kick followed by a powerful jab to his face. Gormul figures the second of the two possibilities is much more likely.

Finally reaching the rear wall, Gormul ducks down behind a small box whose label reads "De-Gaussers". Peering up over the top of the box to check on how Quorr is doing, he sees that Jekaan, caught up in the action, has now engaged in a little tustle with another rather hefty man.

"Idiot..." he mutters to himself.

Turning around to face the rear wall, Gormul leans his back against the side of the box, letting out a sigh. As he peels off a long strip of the detonite tape, he looks over the wall, trying to determine where would be the best place to attach the explosive. Having determined where he would plant the explosive, Gormul begins pressing the free end of the detonite tape to the wall, about half a meter off the ground. Then, thinking of Jekaan, he brings the detonite tape up another .2 meters or so before securing it to the wall. With a small dagger which was sheathed in his left boot, Gormul cuts the strip of detonite tape off the roll. Making sure the whole strip is in place, Gormul then does the same with two other pieces of tape, but with these he sets them so that they are perpendicular to the first piece, and run all the way down to the hangars floor. Gormul leans back and looks at the crude "box"-type shape he has made.

"That'll do..."

Peeking around the corner of the box again, he sees that Quorr and Jeaan have nearly run out of people to distract, and their prodding calls to the other mechanics seem not to be working any more. Most of the battered mechanics have just returned to their work and are now ignoring the two trouble makers. As Jekaan walks back over to their spot behind the heavy lifter, he finally glances over to Gormul, who is hurrying back towards the lifter himself.

"Well, that was good enough." mutters Gormul

"Yeah?"

As Gormul huddles by the lifter, he sees Quorr walking back towards them with a look of disapointment on her face. Then his gaze shifts over to something else.

"Yeah. Just one problem..."

"What's that?" Replies Quorr as she comes to a halt by Gormul, trying to follow his gaze.

All remains silent for a moment, and then Gormul says in a sorrowful tone:

"... Where the hell did that Guard go?"

[Jekaan Oludh]

"Well, that just...." Jekaan's mouth opens and closes several times, as he apparently has run out of swearwords. "That's just....just... Emperor's black bones! What in drokkin space are we going to do now?" he finally manages to say.

Qourr is shaking her head. Not like he's expected her to have any ideas apart from bashing up some more people, really, anyway, but one could never know.

Hyfe looks irritiated. In fact, he looks like a man about ready to explode with anger at something.

"Well, let's just blast right at that direction anyway. They'll be all confused then as to where that shot came from, and think something weird happens. That's even better. Besides, they'll have enough to do getting rid of 2 tons of burning fuel to notice anything else, don't you think?"

[Gormul Hyfe]

His face still rather red with anger, Gormul finally manages a reply.

"Yeah, whatever."

At that, Gormul ducks down behind the lifter once more, reaching his hand down along his right leg. He quickly produces an Mk 45 holdout blaster that was secretively secured in his right boot holster. Turning around to peek back over the top of the lifter, and then glance at Jekaan, he adds:

"Try and stay low."

As Gormul flips the safety off on the Mk 45, he grabs his large black bag with his free hand, and turns to face the rear wall. Aligning his sights with the top strip of Flex5 Detonite tape which he secured to the wall, he speaks again in a soft whipser.

"Get ready..."

Jekaan Oludh quickly takes up the modified DL-44 blaster pistol and turns to face the oil canisters. A stern look of determination comes across his face as he levels the barrel of the DL-44 with the canister, just barely peeking up over the top of the heavy lifter. As Oludh settles into position, securing his index finger around of the trigger, he says:

"I'm ready."

One hand on the Mk 45 and one hand on the large black bag, Gormul doesn't even look back to Jekaan for visual confirmation.

"Good. We're going to have to time this just right. Quorr, you count it off for us..."

Huttled down behind the heavy lifter as well, Quorr clears her throat.

"Why, gladly... Alright fellas, on the count of three."

Holding the silence for a moment, Quorr looks to both men to make sure they are ready.

"One....

Two....

Three!"

As Gormul closes his left eye and prepares to fire the instant after "three" is shouted out, time seems to slow. He can hear his own heartbeats, his heavy breathing, and then the distinctive sound of a powerful blasterbolt being fired from a DL-44. His finger already easing back on the trigger of the Mk 45, Gormul snaps off his shot immediately after Jekaans. He does not even hear the sound of his own shot being fired, but instead, he hears the large booming sound of a huge oil canister bursting into flames. The explosion shakes the hangar, echoing throughout with the harsh sound.

To Gormuls delight, not only is the sound of his Mk 45 not heard, but neither is sound of the Flex5 Detonite blasting through the rear wall, causing little collateral damage, and collapsing backwards in a neat little box-shape, which should be just big enough for each of them to fit through one by one.

"Lets go!" Gormul shouts, as he breaks off into a sprint, ducked down low, only glancing over his shoulder once to see the havok that has broken out in the hangar bay. In the instant that Gormul glances around the hangar, he sees two bodies strewn across the floor, scroched badly, and several mechanics running straight for the exit.

'Couldn't have worked more beautifully' he thinks to himself as he reaches the rear wall and immediately shoves his way through the rubble of the rear hangar bay wall. He can only hope that Quorr and Jekaan are following right behind him as planned...

[Qourr Mhawat]

"Flightly hell!"

Qourr comes running after Hyfe, followed by a somewhat slower Jekaan. She is holding her somewhat scorched sleeve of her mechanic's tunic.

As they come to a stop after climbing through the hole that the detonite tape blasted through the wall, Qourr turns on Hyfe and stabs a finger at his collarbone.

"What in space did ya think ya were doin? I got bloody roasted standing where I was! Ya could have told me that it would get a bit hot in there - ya roasted me, ya bloody idiot!"

[Jekaan Oludh]

Breathing somewhat hard after the physical exertion of running through half the hangar and nearly getting blasted to oblivion by a drokking deto-tape, Jekaan stands there, listening to Hyfe and Mhawat as they bicker and argue with each other - again.

"Would you two ever knock it off??? we're on a mission here and you're supposed to keep quiet - right now every damn trooper in this place has to have been alerted by you two bitching at each other!"

Hyfe and Mhawat are looking at their leader somewhat puzzled. There's a tone in his voice they never heard before. It's enough to make them forget whatever it was they had been arguing about, and stand at attention.

"Now, I think we better get away from here as quick as we can," he whispers at them. "The detonation may have been muffled in the hangar by our little distraction, but I doubt it very much that the blast and the shockwave from it didn't carry further on this side. I want---"

In one of the pockets of his tunic, the tiny comlink he is carrying goes off.

"Now what?!"

Fumbling hastily to still the vibrating motions it made against his left side, he snatches it out from his pocket and looked at it.

This is a non-standard data-link - modified to receive both text and verbal messages. The message flashing on it now; after he applies the simple coding system that he had set up together with the new Intel Crypt Chief, he has to re-read it twice just to make sure that he gets it right. 'This can't be...' he thinks, angered.

"Bloody fragging scraggin damn! Frag, this is just...just...DROKK IT!" He groans and turns to Hyfe. "You're being re-called. HQ wants you to report in at 0800, so you better get your ass moved out there again and off the planet, if you don't want your head to end up on Icehearts's dinner-plate. This comes directly from her, so get moving!"

Hyfe's eyes go wide with surprise, but he nods and a second later has disappeared again through the hole they just blasted through.

"Let's just hope he gets out of here alive first..." Jekaan mumbles more to himself than at his remaining team member. "And hope they're sending us someone else in his stead..."

Then he hears a faint noise from further up the corridor. Quickly looking up and down the corridor from where they are standing now, he scans the immediate surroundings. He has seen it all before - on the map he got out of Intel with him.

Finally seeing the door of a chamber he wants further down the corridor, he gestures behind his back for Qourr to follow. Stealthily, they creep towards the chamber, taking furtive looks over their shoulders from time to time, to see if the footsteps are coming any closer.

Then they're inside the other chamber. Pressed close against the wall next to the door, blasters armed and raised, they stand waiting for the security troops that undoubtedly have to arrive.

But nothing happens. They can't hear a thing. Nothing at all. Jekaan opens the door a tiny bit, and can just see one of the utility droids used for cleaning roll past. 'So that was the noise...!' he thinks, and takes a deep breath.

Something is strange about this building. They would have to proceed with the utmost caution. And Jekaan has no one else but a half-trained youngster to work with...

Continued in "The price of Knowledge"

[Nupraptor]

Making a dive to his left, Nupraptor barely managed to avoid one of the falling stalagmites, missing him by no more an arm's reach. Swinging his lightsabre in an upward arc, he destroyed another stalagmite in mid-fall. He hadn't the slightest clue as to what Delirion had just done, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that the place was collapsing. And if he didn't act quickly, all three of them were going to be buried alive. He looked over his shoulder ready to call out to Strone to haul it, when he noticed the man was gone. Make that the two of them.

The Jedi looked back at the Sith, his eyes narrowing. She had disengaged her lightsabre, holding it numbly in a limp arm as she leaned against the wall. The thought crossed his mind, however briefly, that perhaps he should just leave her here. After all, she did this herself. With an inner sigh, he swept up his weapon, slicing yet another piece of falling debris. He couldn't just leave her. He probably would regret it later, but he knew that he couldn't abandon her to certain death. Briskly, he dashed over to wall, ready to take her, willing or not, out of here...

Had he not stumbled just a bit on his way to her, the gigantic outcropping of rock would have almost surely crushed him. Instead, it fell with a deafening roar mere inches in front of him: landing directly on top of Delirion. The Jedi let out a scream of frustration, drowned out in the mind-boggling loud cacophony around him.

... If only he had rushed a bit more. He might have been able to do something.

The entire place still coming down around him, he ever-so-slowly turned to make his exit, all by himself. He didn't know how he was going to be able to live with himself after this. The entire thing hit him like a blow, knocking his breathe out of him. He disengaged his lightsabre, barely aware that he was still holding it and walked slowly back to the crevice he came in. Once through that, he should be safe. And everything that happened here would be trapped behind a mountain of stone. He doubted they would even find her b...

<font size=-1>... help ...</font>

He stopped dead. His ears... they were surely playing tricks on him. His guilty conscience was tormenting him, already. No... that wasn't it. What he heard, he didn't hear with his ears. It was a voice speaking to him through the Force. The voice that belonged to Delirion. Faint as it was, it was very much alive. He didn't stop to ponder why or how, he simply dashed back over to the boulder that had fallen on top of her, visibly wincing as he looked at it. There was no way...

<font size=-1>help me, please...</font>

He didn't think about it further. Pulling free his lightsabre once more, he ignited it and made a wide sweep across the boulder's surface. The purple blade burned a deep ash in it's surface, sending flakes of stone flying in every direction. He stopped and looked at the cut he had made, frowning. There was no possible way he could cut through this entire boulder before...

And then he noticed that he could see straight through the wound he had put in the "boulder". Just barely, he could make out the woman's shape underneath. What luck! It had a hollow underside! It hadn't crushed her, merely trapped her. His hands disappeared in a flurry of cuts and slashes, and within moments, there was a large hole left in the face of the rock. Delirion, however, had slipped into unconsciousness. Quickly affixing his weapon back to his belt, he bent over the opening, grabbing her limp form and hauling it over his shoulder. With as much speed as he could muster, he made way back out the crevice, hurrying down the hallway. Nupraptor was several yards down when he noticed that the cavern was still intact. He was certain that, the moment he stepped back through the portal, everything would come...

*CRASH*

Scratch that thought. His insane pace slowed to a walk as he turned back to see the results of the cave in. Only to realize, in horror, that the entire tunnel was collapsing, as well. Picking up his pace once again, he made a mad dash out, making it outside with plenty of time to spare. He didn't stop running, however, until he reached the Administrator's Office once more. As gently as he could, he set Delirion's body down on the ground, laying her in what he hoped was a comfortable position. She was starting to come out of her daze, and Nupraptor decided that perhaps now would be a good time to make it back to his ship. Before he walked off, he took one last look down at the woman, shaking his head. Without really knowing why, he bent down to her, placing a small kiss on her cheek.

Perhaps someday you will see how self destructive the Dark Side is. The life of a Jedi is not easy, but it is far more rewarding.

[Darth Delirion]

As the rock came rushing down on her, she expected to die, crushed mercilessly underneath it. As the events of her life flashed briefly before her eyes, she felt cheated somehow. When the rock touched her skin, she lost all remaining cool and fainted.

Only to regain her wits as she realized that death had not come to her - yet. But she was effectively trapped in a hollow underneath the rock, and there was no way out.

The Jedi would not waste a moment's thought to rescue her from her plight - if he had not left for safety already. Still, it was her only hope of rescue as she slowly ran out of air.

Not even the Dark Side could save her now - she felt weaker than she had ever felt before, as if her spirit had been crushed, as if she had been drained of all remaining energy when she had loosened this inferno upon both of them.

With a last effort, she mentally cried out for help. Hoping against all hope that someone would hear her, that the Jedi would take pity.

Then she lost consciousness as she plunged into an abyss of her own dark thoughts.

*******
Scenes out of her life flashed through her mind like a waterfall, blurred and out of sequence. Suddenly, with crystal clarity, she found herself standing at the edge of a precipice, looking down on a small building engulfed by flames.

My Master's death!

The pain that had lain so hidden away in a dark corner of her mind, resurfaced, fresh and agonising as ever before.

She watched again the three unmoving, unrelenting figures of Palpatine's Inquisitors stand away from the building, watching it with unmoved faces, cold, calculating, taking pleasure in their deed.

She watched again, as out of the building, a figure comes stumbling out, screaming and writhing in agony as the flames seem to engulf him.

Cursing, cursing the words come out of the mass of flames - "Min min vil ut valle Nharquis..." before her Master's figure collapses on the ground with one more long scream of rage.

The silent pain she sufffers, and the resentment at Palpatine's minions, overcome all the gloating satisfation she felt before at winning over her Master like this. She had been the one responsible, she had been the one who brought on this death of his - and the horror seems to overcome her.

Suddenly her skin puckers and burns, cold flames licking over her as they did over her Master.

What is happening? this hasn't happened before!

Her skin is burning, blistering with cold, and jabs of agony stab deep into her heart. She writhes in pain, much like her Master at his death. Her skin seems to peel away, leaving the bare flesh beneath, a horrible charred mass of flesh and she hears herself scream, even though there are no sounds coming from her mouth.

DELIRION! FEEL THE WRATH I BRING UPON THEE! YOU WILL NEVER BE SAFE FROM YOUR OWN DECISIONS!

My Master's voice! Is he then alive? How can he be alive? I left him for dead - I buried his remains myself... this can not be him!

NO, DELIRION, I AM TRULY DEAD - AND YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO PASS THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR MY DEATH ONTO SOMEONE ELSE. KNOW THAT I WILL HAUNT YOU FOR THE REMAINING DAYS OPF YOUR LIFE...I WILL BE THERE TO REMIND YOU OF YOUR BLACKEST THOUGHTS WHENEVER YOU WISH TO FORGET IT ALL.

Then she is sucked back into the waterfall of images, falling and falling, deeper and deeper...
******

With a start, she sat up. Where was she? The rock she had been trapped under was no longer there - instead she found herself sitting in a chair, in a dark office.

She could feel the Jedi still nearby - he had dragged her out of the cave after all, had saved him.

It galled her that she owed her life to a Jedi's intervention.

She stood up, slowly. Her trembling knees seemed to buckle under her, but somehow she remained standing.

It took long moments until she felt ready to leave. This place was not safe - in her present state, even a weakling like Strone could win the upper hand over her if he found her.

She did not wish to be seen like this.

20 minutes later, her ship took off - back to the RSO.

[Darth Delirion]

(OOC)
This story is now finished. :)

So - what did you all think of it? any comments/suggestions?

Praise is always welcome;)

[Gormul Hyfe]

Beautiful. Sorry I'm no longer available to take part in the other aspects of the tale, but the whole Jedi/Sith story-line was wonderful.