Dark Fury 11

[Darth Turbogeek]

I'm not in a mood to write much more, so here it is, dark Fury 11.

Comments welcome.

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Dark Side Eclipse – Dark Fury 11

The Turning Away / Turn the Page

From above, the stars shone like bright beacons, the air clear and crisp, a light breeze blowing the snow that had stopped falling at nightfall into small drifts against the trees and the home in one of the infrequent clearings. A lone light shone out from that home, not very powerful but highly visible, especially with the added effect of the snow’s reflection. For travellers to this beautiful area, it often meant welcome shelter, a friendly face and a hot meal. For tonight and for this traveller, it would mean something completely different.

It would mean the closure of a circle, opened so many years ago.

He had first seen that light 10 minutes ago, knowing without looking at the maps he carried that it was his destination. Somewhere he had been looking for, for so many years and so many journeys around the Galaxy. He had found the one thing that he had sought – or as he thought sometimes, wasted his life in finding. Then again, since when are the best secrets the easiest ones to ferret out? Since when was the keys to power readily obtained? This power was not for political, nor was it military, it was something far greater again. The Dark Side had lead him here, lead this lone person through so many trials and tribulations, through the agony of a sabre thrust in the gut and the heat of desert planets.

Yes, he had suffered much, but his reward was near. It would be his death, but it was oh so close he could almost reach out and touch it. The equipment he needed moved slightly in his backpack as he clambered over a small snowdrift and slid down the other side. His blaster at one hip and a long disused lightsabre at the other, he could have passed for one of the hated Jedi if he so wished and often he had. But now, the Jedi would be made to suffer, as would the much hated and arrogant New Republic. The Empire was long dead and with it some of the greatest Dark Side disciples known, but that did not matter. As he had heard once the past is fixed, the future is flexible. The Jedi may have risen again, but with what he was going to uncover, the Jedi would surely be bought down again. Straight after the perversions that was The Sith Council and the Sith Empire, two so-called Sith groups that had shown themselves incapable of doing anything other than self destruction. The hate he held for those two, the groups that had held the Galaxy in their palm and squandered their chance, they would be made to pay for their lack of vision.

The house in the clearing was closer, or more precisely, the mud hut the single occupant had built over many years. It was a good structure despite it’s elemental building materials, it was warm and dry, a haven against the sometimes harsh weather in this planet. It had also guarded it’s secret below it’s floors, a secret that had been lost in the years since Palpatine and since Callista had used it for her own purposes. Now, it sat waiting, waiting for anyone with the right codes and flash memory to claim the prize waiting, to awake what was within. He got nearer to the hut and now with caution beginning to take over, he slowed his advance and also drew his blaster. Certainly, one old unsuspecting man would not be a problem for a true fighter like he was, but it was better to be certain that other company wasn’t there.

Anther drift was transversed and he finally was at the door, a rough hewn wooden object, cut from the trunks of trees similar to what the hut sat amongst. The man looked at the door, put his hand on the doorknob and paused, uncertainty staying his hand for a second. Willing himself, he made sure his blaster was set for kill, took a breath in and open ed the door in one fluid and solid action. He walked in as if he owned the place, took a look around and saw that indeed, there was no-one other than himself and the old human here. He took note of where the old one sat, shifted aim and froze.

The old man was sitting by the fireplace, a blaster the size of a small cannon aimed right at his face. He gaped in astonishment, wondering at how this old man could have possibly have known he was coming.

“I knew you would be coming tonight Kai Solus. I knew that before you even did”

The old man even knew his name? How could that be?

“Put the weapon down Solus, you will not be needing it here. I have no intention in stopping you, I only wished to make sure you did not do something foolish”

Slowly, slowly, least this crazy old man changed his word, Solus lowered his blaster, holstering it and raising the open palms. Fury and amazement flooded in his veins, wondering how this old thing could have so easily got the better of him.

“The reason young one is that I may be old, but I am not a fool. Have not lived in the middle of nowhere without learning a thing or two about people sneaking up on me, even Dark Jedi like yourself. I saw you in a dream years ago not long after I began to guard the secret you are after, set here by Callista herself. I have known one like you would come.”

The old man shifted slightly.

“I am only disappointed it was not sooner and I will not live to see the fruition of my time here” The old man coughed, a nasty sound that clashed in Solus’ ear. The Dark Jedi used his Force abilities to scan this old one, now not surprised this one was a Dark Jedi as well, his presence in the Force like a dark stain. Solus also noted that it was also al the old man could do to sit up and hold the blaster without dropping and that the old man was in fact in great pain. Dying to would seem to Solus

“Yes, I am dying. I think this is my last night and I shall die tonight, as you have come to do as well. I see in your thoughts you have all that is required to bring back what was once before.” The old one put his gun down slowly, then with great concentration, forced his decrepit old body to stand and shuffle over to a table. “This is where you need to go Solus. The door to the vault is here, if you wish to follow that path”

“I do wish it. With all of my soul, do I wish that path”

“Go then. Remember, once you go in, you shall not leave”

For an answer, Solus moved over to the table, shoved it aside. His momentary surprise was over and he was single-mindedly going about the mission he had selected for himself, so many years ago. The table aside and the rug beneath it, the outlines to a floor hatchway were evident. Solus concentrated in the Force, lifting the hatch away and uncovering a yawning blackness – in his soul it beckoned, willing him to enter and fulfil his destiny. With a smile on his lips, he climbed in, saluting the old man as he went inside. Somehow, Solus felt glad he had not been required to kill the ond one, thrilled to discover he was instead a kindred spirit, one who sought the same thing he did.

Watching Solus disappear, the old one turned and with a great effort, climbed onto his bed, not far from the hole. He leaned back, allowing the tiredness he felt, the age and weariness to begin to creep over him, accepting the death that was only a short time to come. He rested, wondering if he would see the culmination of many years of planning and waiting. The old one hoped to see what was the beginning of the end for the Jedi.

--

Solus turned on a torch, lighting the passway. He saw it seemed to go about 50 meters, then turn left. He strode forward and went around the corner to see just 10 meters later a steel blast shield, solid and rusted with the dripping moisture of the tunnel. Solus, looking for a control system, saw none and decided to use his lightsabre to cut the doorway open. The sabre’s beam sprang to life, then merged inside the metal, melting it and cutting great gouges from the steel. A moment later, Solus had finished the cut, stepping back to allow the remains to fall to the ground. Somewhat to his surprise the room within was well lit, clean. He poked his head through the hole, having his first look at the place he had only seen in dreams. Machinery pumped and wheezed, sounding alive. Two cylinders stood in the room, surrounded by tubes for fluid and nutrient delivery, cables snaked from a console and chair to their bases. A large shielded power supply hummed, giving the whole place life. The computers and other machinery occasionally changed light sequences, while other readouts gave the staus for the whole room and its contents. Solus stepped through the still glowing door remains, concentrating on the two cylinders, hardly noticing as he burned himself carelessly on one red glowing door shard. The smell of buring cloth and skin assailed his nostrils, but he ignored it, focusing on the contents of the cylinders.

Two naked men, one older than the other, but still clearly the same man.

Two clones of the same man.

The man who had once betrayed the cause, but would now unwittingly serve as the basis of the final solution. Solus felt himself bite his lip, then taking a firm step toward the chair, he sat down at the console. Looking at the command options on the boards, he located the one he wanted, took a deep breath, mentally working himself up for his final act, his final act of loyaly to his Master, the final act that would seal his destiny. The console blinked….

Clone final initiation sequence started – add personality imprint to continue

A Flash imprint device, pointed at one end extended from the console. Picking it up, Solus pressed for the flash imprint process to initiate. A small beep and a light went green on the imprinter, signalling it’s readiness to accept the imprint. Solus breathed in, relaxing and putting the imprinter to the back of his skull, aiming the sharp end to the personality encoder deep within his brain. It had been put there years ago, just for this purpose, Solus becoming the live carrier for this most important cargo. He breathed in, gathering in the Force, placing both hands on the base of the imprinter. He breathed out and in, calming himself. He closed his eyes and with brutal swiftness, shoved the imprinter through his skull, through his bran and connecting the imprinter to the personality coder. The agony and the sickening crunch of bone, with the squish of brain and the squirting of blood gave solus one last hideous bout of pain, stiffening his back, then his body relaxed as death took over. The body expelled it’s breath, arms went limp. Blood dripped to the floor. The imprinter however successfully accepted the coders information, ignoring the death of the body it was in, throwing that information straight to the flash learner in the cloning tanks. A brief bleep was all that signalled success.

The fluid began to drain away from the clones and air came in. Probes were withdrawn until only a simple connection at the back of the head was left. It waited until the fluids were drained and then the hatch to the cylinder opened. The connection made one last check and gave the final command, withdrew.

Awake….

The two clones suddenly dropped to the ground, their minds and bodies suddenly switched on. The nervous systems went mad trying to cope with the sudden inputs, lungs breathed their first air, coughing and sputtering fluids. Nerves backfired, sending the two into spasms. Their brains, suddenly released to think for themselves desperately sought what to do from the imprints, finally found the correct sequences.

Slowly the spasms in one clone, the older one slowly stopped. He laid in a fetal position, and slowly came to true conciousness. He allowed his body to come under control, allowed his memories to sought themselves out, allowed himself to gain strength. He breathed evenly, listening with delight the sounds he could hear for the first time, things he could see for the first time, smells and touch senations. The taste of embryonic fluid was on his tongue, but he took pleasure in its horrid taste. This thing his brain told him was life felt…. Good. Another part of him, knowledge flooding forth told him how to gain strength, an energy field it called the Force. Not knowing any better, he reached out, feeling for this Force thing, finding it’s edges and allowing it to flow through him. To some surprise, it did indeed make him stronger. Greedy for more, he reached out and pulled more of this Force to him. He felt the strength to lift his head, to place one hand on the floor, to pick himself up slowly, to finally stand on his feet. A powerfully built man, dark haired and a snarl already on his face, he stepped forward. He noted the human on the chair, obviously dead with the imprinter in the back of the head. He smirked, thinking that would have hurt.

The thought of pain in others made his connection to the Force stronger.

The beginnings of a scream made him turn. He saw the other clone, smaller, younger, twisting and turning, hand on his head, screaming with agony and confusion. He wondered if The Force could help him see why this one behaved like this, saw to his pleasure he could. The other clone, exposed to this same Force had been sent mad. He grinned, revelling in the backwashes of the others insanity, then he kicked the other. It felt so good he did it again, and again and again, until he had kicked the other clone to unconsciousness and silence.

It felt incredibly good.

He turned, saw an exit to this room and without turning back, walked out. He transversed the short corridor, turned right and walked down the next

--

The old man stared up at the ceiling as he heard the screams from the hole on the floor, knowing the clone hidden below had gone mad. He sighed and thought it had been worthless, this whole thing had been a waste of life and time. Hence he was startled enough to be able to turn his head and watch as a shape came through the hole. It crouched and then like a barely constrined spring, it slowly came out of it’s crouch, standing and allowing the old man to regard what he saw.

There was a second clone? A backup?

No, it was the backup that had gone mad, this one was what they had wanted. The old one stared, taking in the massive build, the muscles moving beneath taunt skin, the incredible penetration of the clone’s stare. The old one nodded and turned back to the ceiling. He smiled weakly and thought, no, it was not a waste of time. They had produced something beyond their wildest dreams.

The clone looked about then settled his gaze on the old man. He saw he was about to die and he knew who this one was. Walking slowly over, he searched the memories until a name came to match the face.

“Master K’lun. It worked. I am back and I am as I should have been”

K’lun looked at the clone. “Yes…. You are all we could wish for. I die proud of you. Go and redeem us all… ahhhh…..” K’lun took his final breath, expelled it and died, a smile on his face and staring at the one he had guarded and waited for so long, knowing he had indeed lived long enough.

The clone felt a wave of sadness come over him, driven by the imprinted memories. The memories knew K’lun, respected and even loved this old one, for the had taught much. The clone made the final decision, accepted the memories for his own, deciding that he was to be what the memories said he was. A blink and somehow, the fact he was a clone was gone. The fact he was not the orignal was erased and he felt the power of the Dark side in him. In a act of reverence, he, closed the K’lun’s eyes, drew the blanket over the old one’s head. For the final time he bowed his head in respect to the old one, the one who had shown him first the power of the Dark Side of the Force. The clone lifted it’s hand, looking at the finges, the palm. He slowly closed it into a fist, then, opening his palm called himself by the name he had else where. A power like he once knew flooded him, powering him, making him want to move with it’s vibrance. He screamed in realisation of that power, he turned and with a mightly open hand attack, smote the table in two. Pieces flew everywhere as he pulled slowly back, darkly looking about. He would have to destroy this place, cover it’s existence. He knew a package would be somewhere… ahh yes he remembered. To the left and in a hidden cupboard, which he smashed open. Inside, a glint of armour, of clothes.

He selected the clothes, topping it with a dark cloak, and then putting ona belt. A weight on one side, he put his hand down to feel what it was. He unclipped the cylinder, looked at it and pressed a button. The lightsabre came to life, red and looking for all the galaxy like a sword of blood. He stared at the blade and a slow smile came to his face.

The circle was now complete.

The blade was lit and Venom knew he had been born again

--


Far above the ice planet of Hoth, a small light suddenly appeared, then from it , a rush of ships arriving from their journey in Hyperspace lead by the steel monolith that was the Super Star Destroyer Sabretooth. It’s commander silently observed the ongoing movements of the bridge, hands behind the back and red eyes burning, a marked contrast to his light blue skin. The white of a Grand Admiral he wore, though his real rank was of General. Some would say it was sheer arrogance he did so, others who knew better said the white of ultimate command was deserved. Not it truly mattered to the wearer, what others thought of him were not of his concern. If they were foolish to test his patience with such frivolous comments, they would die by the lightsabre at hip. More important than what he wore was he demanded loyalty and unquestioning obedience. His authority as a superb military commander and as a Sith Lord saw that his wishes were more often than not met, or at least not disputed. Such was the fear of his anger, one died of fright when they realised a mistake that would have earned all the Sith could unleash on the hapless crewer. So despite all the command he had, all the respect and fear, the ultimate power why was he putting up with a one man mutiny? A person who disregarded all he said, did precisely what he wanted, even dared to anger the Sith with harsh words about his commands?


It puzzled General Scorpion why he allowed James T. Tohmahawk onto his ship in the first place.

Sure, Tohmahawk was one of the most amazing hand to hand combat artist Scorpion had ever seen. A virtual maestro with open hand or weapon, a officer of the New Republic and responsible for the kidnapping of The Great Darth Milenko, held in a medical coma far in the depths of the ship. Sure, he had proven to be a tactician like Scorpion hadn’t seen for many years, even more incredible when you realised this New Republic soldier was not a Jedi. A fighting man Scorpion wished he could clone.

But he was so casual and only obeyed orders when it suited him. Tohmahawk had the gall to argue with Scorpion face to face, to dictate ship policy, to deliberately goad Scorpion into a hideously foul moods. In short, in anyone else, that would be a death wish. With Tohmahawk, it at first earned grudging respect, then finally admiration. Scorpion had come to know that Tohmahawk was not one to be swayed by opinion or other’s, to speak with such honesty it bordered on offensive. To one like Scorpion, who had lived his life with the only emotion he knew was hate, he was forced to admit he rather liked this hard nosed New Republic Captain to be around. It was a refreshing change from the brown nosers and fawns that always tried to get his favour. In fact, as he saw the very person he was thinking about enter the bridge it almost bought a smile of pleasure to his hard features. Of course, the guards had long learned not to deny Tohmahawk entrance to the bridge or to any place that Scorpion might be found, the last one was still recovering in a bacta tank.

The Sith waited until Tohmahawk has crossed the bridge walkway and had joined him near the observation window before speaking.

“Ahh, the esteemed Tohmahawk has decided to join us. Have you been dallying in the entertainment area again?” Another fascinating item was the sniping they did on each other, a word contest that they allowed as a form of competition between themselves

“Why yes, Lord Scorpion, I just have. The camel asks me to convey the displeasure of your services from you last visit”

Scorpion raised an eyebrow at this comment. “Oh? I was unaware camels lowered themselves to your level”

Tohmahawk snorted “Touché. I have no reply to your quick with that time my Lord” The Republic officer turned serious. “I felt the ship come out of lightspeed. We are at the Hoth system?”

“Yes indeed Tohmahawk. We are at present not far from where Admiral Ozzel’s fleet came out of lightspeed for the assault on the rebel base that was here”

“ I would think Ozzel would have preferred it to be remembered for the beginning of a Imperial victory, rather than his last act of stupidity. Still, I trust no such mistakes this time”

“No, I doubt anything is down there. To be honest, I’m not even sure what we are doing here”

“No, I guess that disembodied spirit of Thall must have had a reason for us to come here, unless you were drunk when you claimed you heard him”

Scorpion gave Tohmahawk a look of utter death

“Nope, not drunk obviously. My apologies General as I actually do believe that was Thall who spoke to you. What annoys me is he did not say why, just told us to come out here. All the hallmarks of a wild bantha chase I would think – the others are probably off having a good old fight with Callista and we are out here at the arse end of the Galaxy. The view sucks too”

“We are not here for the view Tohmahawk. If that spectre of that Jedi was leading us away from the real action….”

“You’ll what? Kill him? I’d like to see that. Besides that, with what I have heard of Jedi becoming ghosts, they don’t lie nor do they appear lightly so I think we have come to the right place. What the real question is, is Thall going to give us another hint, or will we have to do this by ourselves”

Scorpion frowned more, deep in thought. He looked down at the icy planet and then turned. He swept past Tohmahawk and walked over to the Bridge Commader

“Captain, begin to ready a full ground assault task force. I want every man ready within 24 hours. I shall be in the war room, call the senior officers there in one hour”

The captain saluted and began to issue orders as Scorpion left the bridge. Tohmahawk remained at the viewport, looking at the planet they were now orbiting far below. He too came to decision and walked quickly off the bridge.

--

The place Tohmahawk went to was his makeshift cabin, deep in guts of the warship. He had deliberately chosen a well hidden place and well away from anyone. It was warm, the room was well lit and more to the point, near a communication computer, where he could secretly tap in to send a receive information without being overheard. Although he had not come with any of his normal equipment, the warship was well stocked and he had “borrowed” what he believed he needed in a few stealth raids. He opened the door, checking that the intrusion detection was untouched and then went inside, closing the door quietly behind him.

Inside, he touched a button on a comms station, then sent a prearranged signal, hidden amongst the normal transmissions the warship was making. The signal went via the holonet, the instantaneous communications technology, that defeated the tyrrany of distance. Many millions of lightyears away, a computer received the signal. It triggered a message of it’s own, sending it encrypted along the same data paths its predecessor had come.

It took precisely 25 seconds.

Next, he proceeded to find the correct encryption code. He had dozens, all personally created and all virtually unbreakable and as a added level of protection, he only ever used them once as well. He found the right code the fourth try, noted the message had not been tampered with in transit. The items his spy contacts had queued for his viewing flashed through the data pad’s screen, making his face glow win with an eerie light as he read.

And slowly put the data pad down in disbelief. The spy report from Tatooine made Tohmahawk wonder with everyone had suddenly gone mad.

He picked up the data pad and read again. No, maybe he had gone mad

He read again. No, the Galaxy had gone mad

This was not believeable! Vog’on? A Jedi Master running amok? Gungans?

Especially Vog’on. He was quite well aware of what those beasts were, in the high top secret files mentioned such beasts and a suspected role in the population killing of Harrvi, but what were such beings doing on Tatooine? On a vacation? Having Callista involved in it all just made the waters even muddier and being out here, so far away from the desert planet just made things worse.

It did highlight one point however. The situation on Tatooine was sounding like it was going out of control and Scorpion’s forces should have been there. So why had the dead Jedi sent them here? Was there something important enough here to warrant splitting the available forces at what seemed to be a critical time?

He decided to make a call. Using a secret destination point, he thieved more bandwidth from the ships comms systems. The wait symbol rotated as the call went through to the terminal of the person it was meant for…the pause symbol dissolved and the image of a Imperial Royal Guard, red helmet and black visor masking the face. But the voice marked the person on the other end.

“What in blazing suns do you want Tohmahawk? Do you have any idea what time it is here?”

“Firstly, I don’t care about the time, nor do I care what you think of me Fire Blade. I need an update from Tattooine and I need it now”

Silence.

“The next time I see you, I’m going to kick you in the groin Tohmahawk. I’m having enough problem getting what the time of day is”

“Then ask more politely. Now, what do you know?”

“Very well. Our old friends are back and are at present scouting Tattooine for some reason, I think it is to identify whether Gregori Paladin is the one they want. Darth Turbogeek has indeed left and it is with Shay Kaylon, with the current rumour being Kaylon is….”

” I don’t want rumours, I want facts”

“Touchy. We don’t know which way they went, so we can safely say unless Turbogeek reappears he is out of the hologram, I hope he stays that way. There is no sign of Callista, only rumours of her location, as yet no solid supporting facts, just the word of two bounty hunters”

“Are they to be trusted?”

“These two, yes. They only care for money and the Sith Lord Bromine paid them enough to be trusted. They say that she is usually based on a planet in the Unknown Regions, with several outlying bases for support. There was one on Coruscant, another on D’yt’er. Last reports also had the possibility of a base on Hoth”

Hoth? Tohmahawk took a second to get over his surprise.

“Good. Keep me informed in the normal manner. Tohmahawk out”. The image of the Royal guard dissolved leaving Tohmahawk to lean back and think of this unexpected revelation. Sure, he only deal with facts, but the rumour of a Callista base on the planet below, coupled with Thall telling Scorpion to come here….

No, it all fitted. A dead Jedi Master tells us to come here and then there are rumours of the very person we are seeking being here too he thought. Tohmahawk was like the Jedi, he didn’t believe in luck, thence this side trip had taken on vital importance. How important he couldn’t guess, but he was going to find out. Switching off the comms equipment, he began to pack for a sojourn to the ice planet. Weapons, utility belt, ammo, cold weather gear could be stolen from the stores, rations and comms gear, all the while thinking of the best way to get off the SSD successfully. An idea came to mind and as he finished packing, he set the computer to do a map of the nearest set of escape pods.

But first, he needed to send a message.

--

The senior officers of the Star Destroyer gathered in General Scorpion’s state room, some sipping the wine the Sith had laid out, or just quietly sitting. Lady Razelle, Scorpion’s Sith aide stood by where her Master would be seated shortly. They were relaxed and hence all of them jumped when a sudden howl of anger bellowed out from Scorpion’s private chamber. Cringing in fear, the officers and Razelle turned to see a dark faced Scorpion, his blue Chiss faced flushed and the heat of his fury almost a palatable element in the room. He reached the table and slammed down a datapad, making the table quiver.

“My-y-y-y Lord, what is wrong?” asked Razelle.

“That damn fool Tohmahawk! I should let him die for his stupidity!”

The officers looked at each other, wondering what Scorpion was talking about and somewhat relieved none of them were the focus of this anger. A bridge lieutenant suddenly had a call beep go off, he turned to take the call as Scorpion glared, eyes glittering.

The officer turned back, slightly white. “Well, what was it?” snarled Scorpion

“My-y Lord, an escape pod has just departed for the planet. My men tried to recapture it with a tractor beam, but the weapons systems that would have been most effective were made inoperable. By the time the problem was found, the pod was out of range and we can do nothing to stop it reaching the planet. Shall I get a chase party organised?”

If it were possible, Scorpion just became more furious with the news. “Damn that Rebel idiot! I’ll skin him alive for not telling me first!”

The others backed off, hoping the General’s temper wasn’t turned on them. Even Razelle backed off, fearing what would come next – which happened to be Scorpion smashing the table with his fists, splinters flying everywhere as he expended his anger on the wooden surface. Slightly gaining control again, he glared at the now covering officers. “This datapad is a message from Tohmahawk, telling me rather rudely not to interfere with what he was going to do. What he didn’t say, but now it is obvious, there is something on that planet we need to concern ourselves with and he means to keep it to himself. I wont stand for this, you hear me! Now get an away crew ready right now, I want it ready in one hour. I shall be personally going with them so I can take a piece out of Tohmahawk personally. Now GET OUT!!”

The officers, if not running, made their way out very quickly. Scorpion slumped into a chair, feeling wrung out and drained by this latest surprise pulled by Tohmahawk. Lady Razelle stayed behind, gulping down the fear she felt constrict her throat.

“What the hell are you still doing here Razelle. Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“M-y-y Lord, why this reaction? Why should we worry if some rebel takes it into his head to go off on his own?”

“Because Razelle, I have not seen Tohmahawk make a wrong call so far in the short time I have known him. Whatever he is up to, I have the feeling it is highly important and I am insulted he would not seek my support or help. It also makes me wonder if he wants to keep something hidden from us, which annoys me even more. Worse than that…. Worse than that, I don’t see why he would not ask a friend for help”

Lady Razelle stared at Scorpion in astonishment. “A friend? Who would that be?”

“I of course”

“But… I thought the Darkness Keeper had burned away all feelings apart from hate in you”

“That’s what I presumed as well, I find that in the last few days that is not the case. Hate is all I knew up to now. I find myself actually liking this idiot, as he is a man of my own type. Ruthless, sadistic and the first person that will speak to me straightly, without fear or wanting of favour. He gained my respect and my favour. Now, he treats me with this disrespect? What does he think he will achieve following this path?”

“A cast hull way of making you follow him?”

“Pardon? What do you mean by that?”

“well, it seems he knows something we don’t and thence decided to act. He surely has some idea what you are like and hence did this deliberately to make sure you a) acted and b) followed him”

“How about he asked me Razelle. That could have worked too”

“But would you have responded as fast if he did?”

That made Scorpion stop and think. Obviously, Tohmahawk was no fool and if he acted, it was only with just cause. So if he was willing to risk wrath by deliberately sabotaging ship systems and send that pointed note about not trying stop him…factor in Scorpion’s temper and the result was startlingly the senario that Razelle had come up with. He felt his temper dying and even a laugh come.

“Well, if that was his intention, it certainly worked. I’m now also most curious to know what it is that we should have to act with all speed. Maybe our crafty Rebel also has information that lead him to take this action, would that be a possibility?”

“Possible, yes, How he would have that information without us knowing, I have no real idea”

“Prehaps we should find out. Place a call to Grand Admiral Thrawn and also to Admiral Lyle, I’m sure they can tell us more. I’m also especially interested in the situation with that Rebel fleet that went chasing Callista. Have their reports by the time I am ready to leave for Hoth. Dismissed” Lady Razelle bowed, turned and left Scorpion sat down, deciding to recapture his sense of balance of the situation. He picked up the datapad the message from Tohmahawk was on, re-reading it and this time definantly seeing ti was meant to provoke Scorpion to this plan of action. Now why didn’t he just ask? Wondered the Chiss, wouldn’t that have been simpler?

He was about to put down the pad when he noted there was more to the message he had not read before. Scrolling down, the message blinked at him :-

Scorpion, my apology for the juvenile prank, but the situation is much worse than we realised. I have contacted the Republic fleet and have been bought fully up to date – I wish I hadn’t now. The report is that Turbogeek has gone nuts and run off to save some Gregori Paladin, who may be his son, Callista has not shown up, but some of her friends have, called Vog’on, these things appear to be the cause of the planet Harrvi getting wiped out . I have had definite confirmation that a base of Callista is on the planet Hoth, I have gone ahead to check this out. I suspect they know we are here and may keep a low profile – there is only really one place they could have set up and I will go there first. It was far more likely an escape pod could make the surface undetected, hence I took the chance. Create a diversion of some kind to help hide my tracks and I will report as soon as I can. Tohmahawk.

The data pad thudded down. What in the Force was going on?

--

By the time Scorpion had gotten to the main hangar, the whole situation had been confirmed – much to Scorpions discomfort. In his days of being the apprentice of the Darkness Keeper, he knew of a Dark Side race of lizards that were known as the planet eaters by the Chiss. He had even seen one in captivity, a huge beast that could kill in a blink of an eye and was one of the most perfect assasins known. If there were an entire planetful of the these things and Callista did control them, that flagged trouble for someone. Maybe even him as he knew what Callista was really after and how she could be stopped.

Considering what he knew and his role in this drama, he decided caution was the course to take and to do as Tohmahawk had suggested. He walked over to the ship commander, grouped together and waiting with a touch of nerves for his orders.

“Are we ready to depart?”

They all nodded their acknowledgement

“Excellent. We shall be landing near the old rebel base and we shall be going there with maximum strength. Prepare the drop ships and be ready to leave on my signal”. The others bowed and moved off to comply, leaving Scorpion alone to contemplate what his first move would be when he reached the planet below

--

He woke up and instantly regretted it. It seemed like every bone ached, every nevre screamed with pain as he came to, his body throbbed as nerves shrieked at him. His mind, already fogged by the coma he had come out of, was confused further by this deluge of agony that even now tried to drag him back under again. Not know ing better, he fought the pain, fought to clear his mind, to remember what had happened to cause so much distress.

He remembered he was a Jedi.

He sought the inner peace that was the hallmark of the Jedi, the calmness that allowed him to connect to the Force. The pain battered at him, which made him push harder. Red hot pokers seem to be inserted into his head as the Jedi fought to wakefulness. Then he managed to brush the Force and despite the pain, pushed with his mind, creating a connection that would allow him to silence the needles stabbing at him.

The Force enshrouded him, beginning to heal and to quieten his nerves…a centre of calm was reached….he felt his head clear and his blurry vision become sharp and focused. He was still groggy, but at least he could remember his name now. Looking around, he saw he was in some sort of hut, made out of wood, grass and dirt. It was crude, but it was warm, somehow welcoming, somehow feeling like he was safe.

Where in the name of the Force am I? wondered Darth Turbogeek. Why am I not on my spaceship? Did something happen? Is this a dream?

Consulting the Force and his own memories just served to deepen the mystery. No, it wasn’t a dream, yes his last memory before waking up was falling asleep on his craft. There was no recollection of anything inbetween. What was odd was that his time sense told him nearly a week had passed, a week he had no idea of what had happened. Puzzled he sat up, almost as fast collapsing back down as his head spun and a shot of pain re-entered his back

Owwww.

Getting up a good deal more carefully this time, he sat up and took in his surrounds. Reaching out with the Force, he looked for other beings or some sort of clue as to what was happening and why it seemed (as he now noted) that he had been injured, with numerous bandages and bruises evident on his skin. He also noted he was dressed in some sort of toga type wrap, the cloth being rough but well made. The Force told him a being matching Shay Kaylon was across the other side of the room, naturally asleep.

There were three others outside the hut, whose Force sense he could hardly understand. Men they seemed….but something odd about their sense made him wonder just what they were. Turbogeek decided to walk outside as the three showed no sign of hostility he could sense. Carefully lifting himself up, he stood, the sensation of pressure on his feet feeling odd. His bare feet caressed the dirt floor, feeling it’s smoothness, it’s texture. Feet that hardly ever felt anything other that steel and boots sent signals of satisfaction up his spine. Turbogeek smiled, realising he hadn’t walked barefoot for too long, certainly not on dirt. For some reason, it made him feel more connected to the Force. He saw the door, took a small step, allowing his body to get used to movement. The doorway was made out of the same material he was wearing, he reached it and pulled the material back, allowing him to view this planet for the first time.

And he could hardly do anything but stare. It was one of the most thoroughly beautiful places he had ever seen. On one side was grassed plains with the occasional tree, on the other an magnificent valley yawned. Dusk was settling in, the last rays of sunlight peeking around the evening clouds, creating incredible colours. He could hear some birds in the distance, the air fresh and clean, seeming to bring life into him. He took a step onto some grass, feeling the blades tickle his feet. What was this place? Had he come to some sort of paradise?

“He can sense nature much as we can. What do you make of this, brothers?”

Turbogeek turned to face th three humans he had sensed before. They were all sitting on a log, a fire pit with a fire ready made there, meats on a wood tray ready for cooking. They were all unarmed.

“Maybe it’s a Jedi just as she said? He certainly has no evidence of being possessed by a Wyrm”

Turbogeek regarded the three, they stared back, not unfriendly, but in a neutral, non-committed way.

“Yes I am a Jedi. My name is Turbogeek and I am wondering how I managed to end up here. I seem not to recall the incident that bought me here”

“Maybe not a surprise Jedi. Your ‘spacecraft’ was found crashed not far from here, you and your young friend would be dead if anyone else other than us found you. But even then, you surprise us with how fast you recover, I would not have given much hope of any recovery like yours. Your companion told us much about you this morning when she woke up. Told us who you were. Like you, she has no idea what caused your ship to come here, nor why it crashed”

The Jedi moved to face the three and sat down on a log opposite. “Can you at least tell me where I am?”

“This planet is in what you would call the Unknown regions and has no name. We would not know this, except one of our number left and visited your ‘Republic’, coming back not long ago. He is the only one of the Garou to have done that”

“Garou? Is that what you call yourselves?”

“Yes, it is what we are”

Turbogeek thoughtfully ran the name inside his head, trying to see if he had ever heard of that word before. Oddly, it seemed he had, something to do with a Sith called Pivo? One he had heard of but never seen, one with odd powers?

“Was this journeyman called Pivo by any chance?”

The senses of the Garou turned dark at that name, obvious distaste tainting their sense in the Force

“Yes it was. How do you know this one?” asked one of the Garou

“I heard rumours of a Sith who was a shapeshifter. Never met it, but I was assured this shapeshifter existed and it was possibly a race called Garrow, the Sith was maned Pivo, Are you familiar with this name?”

“We are Jedi. This Pivo came back in disgrace and we exorcised a Wyrm, or Dark Spirit from him. We are not to speak more of that one, least the power that infected him be allowed to have us too”

Exorcised the Dark Side? That was new to Turbogeek, though the meaning of that and Dark Spirit was clear to him. This Pivo must have existed and been turned by these beings, who Turbogeek really didn’t know much about. Shape shifters were not unknown, most had some sort of Force power to a small degree to be able to do their change. He decided to try and find out some more about these ones. Shifting his attention, he focused on each of the beings across from him, focusing briefly but closely on each of the three. He nearly missed the twinge from one of them, the younger one. A small hint, but it was enough

“If I re-open old wounds, I apologise, however I know very little of you and I would ask if you would enlighten me? Like, who you are, what you do. And, if Pivo can be trusted now” At that, Turbogeek stared at the younger Garou. The Garou was good, but he still let slip the vital confirmation that Turbogeek needed to work this out. A small wince was all the Jedi needed. “I wouldn’t worry, young one. I can see your no Dark Jedi anymore” said Turbogeek

A larger reaction this time and he yet again gained his emotions, DT was impressed with his control he showed.

“Yeah I was. But I’m not anymore Master Jedi. I am Verse Dawnstrider and I an responsible for finding your wrecked ship and also bringing you here. I hope you would seek revenge on previous miss deeds, would you?”

“No Verse, revenge is of the Dark Side and I would never go down that path. I however offer my services if you wish to be Jedi.”

The younger Garou looked startled at this elders, they looked back in that same neutral stare they had. One of them spoke.

“This is the path you spoke you wanted to follow?”

“Yes it is. The Jedi are honourable”

“Yes…. I can see that. His touch on nature is clear and true. Very well then, your paths are to be joined”

Turbogeek wondering what in the Force that all meant

--

It had been a week since she had spoken to Master Skywalker, it had been a week since she had made her decision to leave the Sith. She had wandered the streets of Mos Eisley, sleeping when she wanted to, eating when she felt the necessity. Her life had been blown about since that chance encounter with what Skywalker thought was a clone of Turbogeek, her life had changed direction so radically, it made her wonder if that she was born again. All she saw was through fresh eyes, eyes untainted with the black curtain of the dark side.

It certainly was giving her a different perspective on life.

She watched two children playing on one of the dusty streets, marvelling at their single mindness on their game. Others in the crowd ignored the players and their lone watcher, people going about their business, too busy to take regard of three who had no regard for busy schedules or the steady march of time. Mara continued to watch, memories of her own childhood drifting in and clouding her vision She had never had playmates, she had never had any real companions to call friends.

By the Force, I’m getting mopey she thought. Others she had seen and known, they got married and they seemed to enjoy fulfilled lives. She had sought the Dark Side and it had given her nothing, only taken from her. Now, the nature of the Force had shifted from her, it seemed to want to give. Mayube she thought, maybe that is the nature of Light and Dark? The Dark Side is about taking, the Light side in giving? She thought about it and it seemed to make sense. Wow, I’ve just taught myself the first lesson of being a Jedi she thought. Now, that wasn’t so hard.

“Lessons in being a Jedi? Now why would you want to go and do something like that?”

If she detected the Jedi moving close to her about 10 seconds before he spoke, she admitted she would have been startled, so quiet was the Jedi’s approach. She hadn’t identified this Jedi until he had spoken but she wasn’t really surprised the Jedi was Figrin D’An. She didn’t turn to face the Jedi, but continued to watch the playing children.

“Why would I do something like that? I went insane I guess. Do you want to put me in a padded room now with I burst forth all the wonderful platitudes and delusions you Jedi seem to have no end of?” She turned and smiled at Figrin, turning what for her would have been a barb into a friendly joke.

“Me? Speak the delusions of the Jedi? No, that isn’t my job, I leave that to others like Yogurt and DT as I don’t have a way with words like they do. I do however know a pure heart when I sense one and for some reason the darkness has been lifted off yours. Did that talk with Skywalker have a bit of an effect on you?”

“You might say that” She turned to face the Jedi Master “Figrin, I’ve been wondering. Why do Jedi follow the path they do?”

Figrin paused. This was not a question he was expecting.

“Mara, when you boil the essence of a Jedi down, we are servant of the greater good. We do not seek power for ourselves, but rather to protect others. Why do you ask this?”

“Because I wish to follow that path too. I have realised I was living a lie and I have renounced the Dark Side, but I see no logical reason why I should follow the path of the Jedi. Maybe I should just become an ordinary person and live my life out.”

“Would that satisfy you, knowing you could have more that what you were? To know you had the keys to a greater world and gave them up?”

It was Lady Mara’s turn to pause. “No…. no your right. I could never be an ordinary person, not when I know what could await for me in the future. I will be a Jedi.”

Figrin smiled, placed a hand on her shoulder. “ I applaude your choice Lady Mara, it is brave and coraageous. Let me be the first to welcome you, as I am sure the Council will accept you”

“Who would train me?”

“I don’t know that one. The Council will have to decide that”

Lady Mara looked at the playing children. “Turbogeek I wish to be my Master. He is honourable and wise, he can do it”

“Despite what has happened”

“Yes even then. I think something’s going on that we don’t know about Figrin, something he needs to handle alone. I think that he only was giving himself an excuse to be left alone.”

“Right, so a Jedi Master goes nuts, beats up six Sith, destroys a bar, causes chaos thorough a major warship and then disappears, all to make an excuse to run off and go on some errand about a son we didn’t know he had, involving some mystical race that destroys planets for fun, who also appears allied to one of the evilest Dark Siders we have seen?” Figrin paused. “Funny, for some odd reason, it makes perfect sense. Mara, I need to see a medical droid, this insanity seems to be airborne.”

Mara laughed. “Yeah, it does seem to make sense, doesn’t it? So, what do we do about it?”

“Well, we find out where in the heavens Turbogeek went to. The last plotted course was for Malastare, although we can discount that, I’m sure he changed course where it couldn’t be tracked, so I guess we just have to wait and see if he contacts us soon”

“And if he doesn’t? Where is the best guess where he could have gone?”

“Who knows. We have our best searching through the Force for that answer.”

Mara stood up. “Well, gas bagging isn’t helping. Take me to where the Jedi are and I can start training with someone until Turbogeek comes out of that hole he is in”

Figrin D’An nodded and pointed for the way to go. As they left, Lady Mara looked back at the children playing, a soft smile on her face as she glanced at them. She turned away and followed the Jedi Master away.

--

News travelled fast of Lady Mara’s change of alliegience. The Jedi gathered around her, joyful of another saved from the Dark Side. The Sith were dashed into confusion when they heard and hasty councils of war came up with little solution as to how tho solve the unexpected crisis. A quick vote was taken and Bromine became the new head of the Sith Empire. Suspicion and anger grew of the Jedi’s true motives in inviting them along on this mission, suspicion of a trap or worse. Listening to their words, Darth Lynch, still recovering from the beating he had taken at the hands of Turbogeek, wondered what was going to happen next. The last few weeks he had got more than what he had bargained for, lying up in a med ward was not what he had signed up with the Sith for. He wanted power and glory, not bandages and hospitals. All in all, he considered life sucked. The continued to listen to some of the arguments for a while, then getting tired of the same words being said over and over again, he made an excuse and left the meeting.

He walked out of the low building housing the Sith Empire’s temporary base, onto the dusty and dirty streets of Tattooine. He wandered about, feeling like he had no direction, no path now that the one who was his Master, Lady Mara Jade had gone to the hated Jedi. He could hardly believe one like her could do such a blatantly stupid act…. Turn her back on the power of the Dark Side and follow the pathetic rules and order of the Jedi. He knew he would never be that weak, would never turn his back on what he was, a true Dark Warrior, hateful and strong. He may have been her apprentice, but he swore he would show who was truly the Master when they next met. His fingers lovingly caressed the sabre he had at his belt, imagining what it would be like to thrust it through her chest, to see the death pain on her face, to hear her gasp for a mercy that was too late….. yes, that was truly something to long for….

He became lost in his dark brooding thoughts and hence only noted the call beep on his comlink the second time it went off. He sighed and keyed to receive the call

Princess Rebecca came through. “Lynch, there is someone calling who says he has information for your ears only. Says the call clearance code is snakebite. You wish to take it, or you want me to tell him to go get lost?”

Lynch paused.

“Did he say the clearence code was snakebite?”

“Yes”

Lynch’s heart seemed to miss a beat. Surely not, this was a co-incidence right?

“Where can I take the call securely? Do we have a good encryption code set up at the base?”

“I wouldn’t know, I’m not a dumb teckkie. Do you want the call or not?”

Lynch snarled under his breath, wishing he was where Princess Rebecca was so he could punch here for that back chat. “Well, get one of the dumb teckkies to do what you can’t and get a secure channel working for me. And don’t ‘accidentally’ drop the transmission. Anything happens to it, I’ll reach down your stinking throat and rip your tongue out. Lynch out”

He paused a bit, almost pinching himself. Code clearence Snakebite? He decided to run back to the Sith’s base and their comm’s room, even if this was a co-incidence, this transmission had definantly caught his attention.

Back inside, the air in the comms room several degrees cooler than the blasting heat of the outside, the difference almost making him shiver. Either that or it was the anticipation of findong out what this transmission was. He pushed past Princess Rebecca, who glowered at his back. Paying her no attention, he sat near the hologram projector, looked at a tech who nodded. Lynch then pointed for everyone to leave. The techs complied, Princess Rebecca paused but moved swiftly when Lynch moved to throw her out.

Alone, he keyed to accept the call, noting the shimmer of the encryption keys shifting the data bits, unscrambling them. A two seconds later and the 1/5th sized figure of a man appeared. Features hidden by a cloak, hands folded in front, the projection seemed to extrude menace.

“Jedah”

The one word confirmed the earlier suspicion who this was. Only a few knew his former name and certainly only one who would call with this code word. The voice came out as low snarl, full of vibrant power and menace.

“Jedah, the code is Snakebite. Do you acknowledge?”

Lynch now felt his heart racing. The voice was so well remembered, the power it had, it’s sheer tones reflecting the power it came from, a power he hadn’t been near for so many years.

“Snakebite, this is Adder sting, Yes I acknowledge your code. What I am to do with it, I have little idea as this is highly unexpected”

“The first thing you can do is to kick that disgrace of a Sith, with whom I had to argue with and eventually take control of via the Force to find you, very, very hard in the teeth. Why have you fallen for such low company Jedah?”

“I felt I had no other place to go. This Sith group promised much once and I still believe it could.”

“Not if the mind of that childish fool is an example. I have never seen such gross prevertions of the Dark Way than what I saw there. You are to be admonished for keeping company with fools”

The last word was said with such malice, Lynch recoiled. If the speaker had been here in person, Princess Rebecca would probably be a smouldering pile of ashes and Lynch punished severely. Thank the Force for small mercies.

“I apologise Lord, but I saw no real alternative. The Sith Council was a fallacy I could not be part of and Lady Mara Jade did have something great for a while”

The glowering presence seemed to withdraw into itself, then the hand moved up to unhood the face. Lynch looked at the indistinct features, blurred by the hologram, but still recognisable as the face of fear he had once known. A man onf great anger and of deadly skill, one not to be crossed least you wished for death. A man who had been on the verge of carrying the Dark Side to a great victory before it had all collapsed, seemingly in a second.

No. This was not the same man, but something else. The voice, the countenance, the actions were the same as long ago, but it wasn’t the same.

It was much worse.

“Your thoughts give you away Jedah. Do you think the past has any hold on me? What was done was done by another and I am here to repair that mistake”

He could sense his thoughts, despite the obvious impossible distance? Lynch was impressed. Only the truly powerful in the Force could do that. “I am here Lord. What is it you want from me?”

“Nothing yet but a summary of what is going on at Tattooine. I have been able to piece together some parts, others I have heard from rumours, others I have forseen by the Force. What I see has lead me to believe events are rapidly coming to a head and now is the time to move quickly. Tell me what you see is going on”

Lynch spoke quickly, summing up the last few months in a few short sentences. When he had finished, the person on the other end seemed to lean back to contemplate Lynch’s words.

“Very well Jedah. I see we need to meet in person to continue. I shall contact you shortly to arrange a time and place. Out”

The hologram dissolved into static and then nothing. Lynch continued to state at the afterglow, then he leaned forward to wipe the logs of the message and all other traces that it could have left in the computer systems the communications systems were using.

Well he thought, this changed everything. The Sith had become weaker and less focused lately…. Maybe this would change things. As for why, that wasn’t for him to question. Kai Solus had obviously succeeded in his mission, now it was him for Lynch to do his and he would do it, no matter the cost.

Venom had returned and now the Jedi, as well as the traitorous Sith who no longer did as they should were all going to suffer.

--

I t had been a week of frustration for the Jedi, for the Sith and for all of their allies. Despite all the searches, all the probes, since Alpha had the fight with one of the Vog’on, not a single trace had been found of them or Turbogeek or of Calista. The frustration had turned to anger for some, others it was pessimism. At nights, the repaired Rama’s Bar was the scene for more than it’s fair share of fights as people took out their frustrations on each other. The Jedi usually retreated to their temporary council rooms, where discussions on what to do next drew overly long and sometimes even broke the usual Jedi calm.

Up on the bridge, the Imperials stayed busy, running the now doubly massive fleet, the New Republic forces joined by the navy of the Imperials. The republic soliers eyes their Imperial counter parts with caution and suspicion, the Imperial likewise in return. All in all, the levels of tension were so thick, it was almost cuttible.

In the docking bay, a small group of tired Jedi came out of a shuttle craft, tired but the gladness on them was noticeable. Admist them was Lady Mara Jade, on her left was Master Yogurt and Rmaio, on her right was Figrin D’An, Garik Loran and Obiwan2. A few of the crewers who saw this group were puzzled why the Sith leader would be doing with so many Jedi, not knowing that Lady Mara no longer followed the Dark Side. The group headed for a turbolift, keyed for the Jedi quarters. The doors closed on the group, the small space seeming to intensify the silence. As the turbolift began to move, Garik bumped against Mara. He smiled at her in embarrassment, which she returned. Other than that, the group chose to stare a the the walls, the ceiling or even their own feet until the lift had finished it’s journey. The doors opened to the area the Jedi called home while this mission was in progress, the hall had a smattering of other jedi, who turned to look with some curiousity at the newcomers. The party turned left and went to Rmaio’s private room.

Almost immediately, on closing the door, the cats and kittens Rmaio had were circling, almost tripping the group up with their feline welcomes. Rmaio smiled, his eyes at this point only upon his many pets, mentally accounting for all the animals, wondering what ones had gone wandering this time.

“How many of these things do you have?” asked Mara in some astonishment

“Oh, about 100. I bought about 12 with me and one of them had a litter of kittens while we have been on-board. So that makes 17”

“Ugh. I’m glad I don’t have clean up after all of them”

“Don’t worry, either does Rmaio. If you’re a bad litte girl, we put you on Kitten Patrol and you have to feed and clean up these little monsters” said Obiwan2. Mara laughed at the joke, but stopped when she saw the serious faces of the Jedi.

“That was a joke right?” she asked

Yoghurt shook his head. A crewer came out of another room adjoining the one they were in, gave the Jedi a foul look and then walked out with a bag of rubbish and walked out. Mara stared at the departing crewer in surprise.

“You beings are sadists!” she said

“No, not us. It was an idea from Thall while he was still with us, one I thought was quite amusing. Kitten Duty has become quite a incentive to perform I must say” Rmaio replied. Turning away from Mara, me turned to Figrin. “Call the Jedi together. We will firstly greet our newest member then we will discuss when we should leave Tattooine. It’s clear to me we are not going to get anything further out of this planet”

Figrin nodded and left. Rmiao and the others continued in the larger room that Rmaio had converted into a meeting room, with enough seats for all the Jedi to be in. “Mara, there is a refresher station just over there. If you want, you can get cleaned up and I’ll order a change of clothes for you” She nodded with thanks, and moved in the indicated direction. He pointed at Garik to go get a change of clothes and when he had left, the Jedi Master sat down on his favorite seat, allowing a few of his cats to clamber onto his lap. The other two remaining Jedi also took seats, with Obiwan2 shooing one of the more persistent kittens. Yoghurt clambered into his chair, his small frame looking almost lost in the depths of the chair.

“Master Rmaio. Time to leave you think? What brings you to this decision?”

Rmaio sighed. “Because we are not getting anywhere Yog. This seems like a dead end and we are just going around and around in circles. The Bounty Hunter’s information hasn’t quite paid off as we hoped, No-one has any idea where Turbogeek went to or why and even Master Skywalker has no clear direction what to do next. What else can we do?”

“Where else do we go Master Rmaio? Where else do we go to search for Callista out. Hmmm?”

Rmaio seemed to slump, knowing Yoghurt had a point. Where else could they go, when they had no idea where next?

A knock on the door sounded, Rmaio nodded wearily for one of the other Jedi to open the door. Obiwan2 nodded, got up and went to the entrance way. He keyed for the door to open and hissed in surprise at the Imperial Royal Guard, armoured and armed to the teeth. The Jedi had his sabre out in a flash and ignited, hardly able to get into a defensive position before he felt the touch of the polearm this Imperial carried against his neck. Stepping rapidly back gave him living and breathing space, time enough to put his sabre up in a defensive position. He hardly had time to think He moves so fast! Before the awesome red figure spoke, voice blurred by the helmet’s voice processor, hiding the wearers true tones :-

“Let me in. I have news you wish to hear”

By this time, the other Jedi had felt the disturbance in the Force, had come and also had weapons lit, pointing them at their rather aggressive visitor.

“What in the Force is this?!?” whispered Rmaio to Yogurt

“A Imperial Royal Guard by his makings. But wouldn’t they all be dead by now?” said Yogurt in return.

“I really dont care about your conjecture on my existence Jedi, I just want to tell you what I know and get out of your foul stench. Okay?”

The three Jedi backed away to allow this visitor to enter. Even the cats seem to back away from the palatable menace of this Imperial. A kitten hissed as the Guard walked past, going into the room the Jedi had been in two minutes ago. The bemused Jedi followed, sabres no longer lit, but in hand in case their visitor tried anything. The guard looked about the room and selected the area that gave him the best cover, also gave him the best view of the doorway. With a whistling swing, the Force Pike he was carrying disappeared into the volumous blood red cloak. Rmaio had to admit he was impressed with the swiftness and sureness of movement, the sheer presence this armoured figure had. No wonder the Imperail Royal Guard had the reputation they did.

The Jedi took places each one with weapon ready. “What is it you want to say?” asked Yogurt

“This place, is it secure?”

“About as good as your going to get.”

The guard nodded slightly, face hidden by the impassive helmet. He seemed to shift his hands, then with a movement of such speed, he had his Pike against the neck of Lady Mara Jade, who had chosen that particular moment to enter the room, showered and changed. She felt the needle sharp point against her throat, she stopped btreathing and oh so carefully backed away, hands in the air and staring at the point of the guards weapon. Rmaio had hardly had time to pull out his sbare again, tense and ready in case something more happened. Lad Mara gulped and gingerly pushed the Pike aside and entered the room with the other Jedi, always turned towards the Guard, eyes filled with shocked surprise the whole while. She backed away until she reached Obiwan2.

“Who in blazes is this??” She gasped

“Says he’s got information for us. Apart from that, your guess is as good as mine” Obiwan2 said in return.

“Well, he certainly makes for an impression”

Obiwan2 could only agree silently as the guard once again hid his pike almost as fast as eh had unleashed it

“Are there any more?” snarled the guard

“No, more there are none. Others may be coming soon” said Yogurt.

“Good, I’ll make this quick. I have reliable word that there is a base of Callista’s on Hoth. At present, General Scorpion and his forces, plus a ring-in are investigating. I suggest you go and investigate”

“How can we be assured this is not a trap?” asked Rmaio

“You don’t”

Fair call thought Obiwan2. Honest and straight to the point.

“Anything else you wish to say?” asked Yogurt.

“No, apart from I recommend to go now”

The four Jedi digested this.

“We need more assurance than just the word of a person in costume, no matter how fast with their toys. Like who you are for starters” announced Rmaio.

“I am known as Lord Fire Blade. I swear allegience to no-one but the return of the Empire. Is that enough to satisfy your curiosity?”

Rmaio could tell that was about all they were going to get now and their visitor obviously lacked any sort of patience, tact or openness. He sighed and nodded. In acknowledgement and watched as the Imperial Guard turned and walked out. He passed Figrin D’An who was coming in, the Jedi was shouldered out the way and the Imperial walked out Rmaio’s apartment without another word. Figrin rebalanced himself, watched the back of Lord Fire Blade leave and then moved into the same room as the rest of the Jedi, surprise written all over his face.

“Do you normally have visitor of that politeness?” asked Figrin

“No, I usually don’t get visitors at all, certainly not ones like that. Who in the Forece WAS tht?!” exclaimed Rmaio.

The other Jedi looked at each other in puzzlement. “I think I know, I heard about a ex-Royal Guard who had joined the Imperials. He was supposed to be a true expert in hand to hand combat and that pike he carries is almost as lethal as a sabre, the name I heard matches what he claimed”

The others looked at Mara.

“An Imperial Royal Guard? How could that be, it been 60 years since the Emperor died, how could anyone live and be able to move and possess obvious strength like that?” asked Figrin

“I have no idea and none was ever given. I understand he is only about in the most difficult missions and is possibly their most effective operative. Apart from that… no-one really knows, not even Grand Admiral Thrawn. I must say, he’s every bit as impressive as I was lead to believe. How can anyone move so fast?”

Rmaio looked at Yogurt, then to Obiwan2. Neither of them could do more than shrug.

“Well, at least we got something out of him. I say by his manner and by his sense that he is telling the truth and we really should follow up.” He said

“What did he say?” asked Figrin

“Our red friend told us that we should go to Hoth, that General Scorpion was there and that Callista had a current base on the planet.”

“Do we want to believe him?”

“No….. but for some reason I think we should at least follow this up. Maybe our friend was abrupt and not very polite, but we have nothing else to go on. Whatever else we do, at least we should give this some thought.”

Figrin hissed out a breath. “I can hardly believe we are seriously considering believing this person”

“Believing and following up are two different thing Figrin”

Figrin quietly acknowledged that Rmaio had a point on that one. Still, what if this was a lie or a trap?

--

The ruins of the Sith Council building still smouldered in places, now over a week after the sudden and massive attack that had melted it and the nearest buildings around it. Pockets of heat and smoke still were detectible, it was only now that unshielded people could come close and then only if they had been allowed through the cordons and the guards around the destruction area. Passers-by still rubbernecked, hopeful scavengers still tried to get in, stopped by impassive Republic guards. Some officials were still combing the site for survivors but none were expected, not after this time. It had been marvelled how accurate the attack had been, just upon the Sith Council and also an opportunistic attack on the Hutt gang lords and their associated scum, some had estimated the Hutts would probably not recover from the overwhelming damage. An occasional rodent ventured about, feeding off rubbish left….

And also a blank faced man, dressed in a simple cloak with an unusual broach on it’s front. He slowly climbed over some steel, moving about, looking in anger at what remained. He could hardly believe that it had happened, even after the week he had to come to terms with the event. Another person came closer, he tensed and then relaxed as he realised who it was. The other came closer, they came together and the second beckoned for the first to go to a overhang that provided some natural protection against eavesdroppers. The first nodded and the moved in the pointed direction.

The first man arrived at the overhang, did a quick look and then threw back his hood, revealing his face. The other did likewise, the two turning out wards to view the destruction again.

“I must say, this is not a place I would have expected we could meet safely Itala”

“On the contrary Darth Bane, this is not a place that anyone would expect us to be, at least alive. Almost everyone would expect us to be dead under the rubble of our former temple, not standing on top of it still alive – and thinking of still alive, who among us could you find word of?”

Darth Bane grimaced. “Not many Lord Itala. It would appear that the attack was extremely effective and no-one in the Temple at the time lived. However, it would appear that as well as us, Mu Satach2, Minotaur, DaBossNasty and Live Wire were on errands and are as of now going to our backup base, we seem to have a few new recruits who never came to our training base, they too have been instructed to make their way to the alternate base.”

Itala Marzullo pulled a face at the news. “So few?”

“I’m afraid so my Lord. It would seem the attack against TSC was well planned and effective. They knew when they would have most of us in a group, they knew where to strike to cause maximum damage, they also knew the best way to bring down the shields. If it wasn’t for the fact we were on an unexpected errand, we would have been caught and also be dead under this pile of rubble”

“Have we found out how the shields were disrupted?”

“Yes my Lord. A surviving officer described a person dressed in Imperial Guard uniform, came in and planted some sort of bomb inside the actual shield generator control room. How that person got in is not known and probably will never be known, but that person did have more than average fighting skill, may even of been a Force sensitive. The bomb appears to have been of the EMP variety and hence was able to disable all electrical systems for some distance. After the shields were down, well it would have been child’s play for the Destroyers to turn the place into liquid”

The two Sith contemplated this quietly. Finally, Itala pulled up his hood, motioning Bane to do the same. He lead out, moving smoothly over the rubble heading for the outer perimeter. Getting there an guard tried to stop them and ask for a clearence, Itala waved a hand and the guard promptly allowed them to pass without further question. The two Sith walked for several minutes away from their former base, allowing themselves to blend in with the flow of pedestrians thatbegan to get thicker the further away from the former Sith Temple they got. They arrived at one of the many public transport stations, moving into one of the mass transports that plied their trade around the giant city’s lanes. In a city so big and so crowded, air was the only way to quickly transverse the surface, but even then that could suffer delays as the air lanes filled up with thousands of speeders and starships.

They waited while a100 passenger speeder landed and pushed their way to the front. Using their mind powers to trick the staff of the speeder, they got in and immediately settled in one of the more private areas for the trip they intended to make. Passengers filled the craft, some quiet, others noisy. Cabin attendants quickly got everyone seated and within minutes, the speeder was flying it’s way down an express flying corridor towards the very heart of Coruscant, the Senate Quarter.

The journey was made in under one hour, all the time the two Sith sat in total silence, staring intently at their fellow passengers, making sure none of them got too close or turning curiosity away from themselves. For such a crowded flight, the two Sith made sure they sat apart and alone, the passengers who noted them were soon prompted by the Force to forget the two were ever there.

Landing on the outskirts of the Senate Plaza, Ital and Bane waited until all the passengers had disembarked, then they too left, blunting attention to them and making mental suggestions that the cabin crew forget they were ever there. The Force Suggestion, a basic mid power of any Force user worked superbly, the weak cattle that the masses were easily swayed to do what the Sith wanted. Everyone who saw them would never know that their two fellow passengers ever existed. As one great Jedi once said, the Dark Side was hard to see and these two were giving a practical demonstration on how the Dark Side kept itself hidden.

Itala indicated that they should go left and with Bane nodding in agreement, they both went in the indicated direction. They skirted the enormous Senate Plaza, the huge Senate building dominating the otherwise flat park. One of the things to note about the planet Coruscant, with such a huge density of buildings and beings, all crowded into insane densities, that space represented power. Space from your fellow beings, space to move, to breathe. Space to make yourself visible. Space was the ultimate sybol of power on Coruscant, the more clear area you commanded, the more status and power you had. The Jedi Temple itself was the tallest building in the area, rising thousands of feet above the other buildings, it meant nothing to the materially minded populace. The Senate on the other hand, it nested in a huge concrete area, uncrowded and clean, spacious and even wasteful in it’s usage of it’s allocated space. Republic guards kept the 1000 hectare area clear, the only ones allowed there were the senators, their aides and selected visitors. The closest the average citizen got was the massive ringroad, itself over 100 meters wide and for Coruscant, uncrowded. The two Sith walked calmly down that way now, hooded and cloaked, hiding themselves away in broad view of the security officers and the ever present patrolling droids.

The reached a moving decent way, took it and began to move downwards, into the shadows of the below paths that the lesser beings took. Even then, the security presence was still highly visible and didn’t begin to die off for several kilometres from the senate. Finally, two hours of walking got the two Sith to a doorway in a deserted alley, rubbish and dirt puffed up by a sudden gust of breeze. They both looked around, satisfied themselves that there were no watchers, either mechanical or organic, then they entered the dark hallway beyond.

A lone person was inside. Huge and indistinct, the hum of electronics and mechanical parts clearly audible as the person got up and blocked the way of the two travellers.

“Who are you? Identify yourselves!”

Itala began to open his mouth to tell this ….thing…. to get lost when Bane stopped him with a touch on his arm. Itala looked at Bane slightly puzzled, which Bane ignored and instead turned to address the cyborg.

“Revenge will come swiftly for those who would oppose us”

The cyborg stared at Bane. “And who is it who opposes you?”

“Those who oppose my right to rule”

The cyborg nodded and seemed to grow smaller, mechanical whines and hums in acompliment with the movement. Itala admitted to himself it was all quite impressive.

“Bane, who is this?” Itala asked

“A new recruit we have, goes by the name of Banestone. A half mechanical, half human cyborg, utterly no emotions but hate, utterly no memories other than anger. Totally single minded. Exactly the best type to become a true Sith, wouldn’t you agree?”

Itala quietly agreed, turning once to regard the cyborg as it resettled to guard the doorway again. Itala turned back in the direction Bane was going, stepped quickly to catch up. “I sense there are others I do not know ahead. Are they all of the same calibre as that cyborg is?”

“Some are better. We may have lost some, we may have had others be traitors and run from us and go to that pathetic Sith Empire or worse, turn Jedi, but we have gained much in return. I am sure you will be pleased with some of the ones that we have to work with”

Itala smiled….yes they would work with them, that was to be certain. They would work with the new ones, moulding and creating them, turning them into the vehicles of evil and darkness they need to seek revenge on the ones who had betrayed them, to seek revenge on the Jedi and most of all, to rule the Galaxy as it was their desiny to…

But across the alleyway of the door they had entered not long before, a tall biped whispered into a comm link, the message he made winging it’s way through hyperspace to it’s destination

--

It was always the most difficult of things was beginnings and to begin to train a Padawan learner was one of the most difficult beginnings of all. It was easy to teach a Force sensitive person how to move rocks and influence minds, with the power they learned, how did one teach responsibility? How do one teach patience? How did one teach honesty?

After a few Padawans, even one that had become a Jedi Master, Darth Turbogeek still didn’t really know the answer. All he really could do in the end was disciple that person and to teach via example. He made is life as best he could an example of what he wanted a being to learn, to be. Sometimes it worked…others not so well. Overall, it was the best way he had ever found.

Despite his chequered history, a legend had built up around him, passed on by others, mostly to his disapproval. Wild stories passed amongst the Jedi students of his feats, causing him to become almost god like in their eyes. Being a fairly stern man, not given to much displays of emotion, it was embarrassing at best and infuriating at worst. But right now, it had become his friend as Shay Kaylon was speaking another story of the legend that was DT to the group of strange beings that they had come into, the Garou.

It was a starry night and Turbogeek was still feeling the effects of his injuries that he had suffered when his ship had somehow crashed here. He was standing somewhat outside the firelight, being shadowed and out of sight from the Garou, who were all sitting in a circle and listening in almost rapture at the story of a fight Turbogeek had gotten into a few years ago. As Shay’s words drifted out across the plain, the person in question turned and slowly walked away, towards where the remains of his ship had been bought to the day before. In total, the two stranded Jedi had been here two weeks, two weeks that Turbogeek had found to be relaxing and he had been given time to sort out the thoughts and emotions that had been running through his head. Being so far away from anything, being so far away form anything that could harm Shay Kaylon, this beautiful planet had become a tonic for him. Even more so as he had begun to teach this Garou who wanted to be a Jedi, this Verse Dawnstrider. It also warmed him that Verse almost seemed capable of teaching himself and was becoming inspired to be a Jedi by some of the stories that Shay had been telling, of deeds done by the Jedi. Indeed, beginnings were difficult, but this one had been made quite simple, which bought a smile to Turbogeek’s face, a smile twinged with sadness as he remembered his own Padawan training.

Still deep in thought, he walked for a few hours until he came to the crash site. The moon was high and he estimated it was local midnight, the light of the moon lit up the plain in an errie pall that occasionally played tricks on the eyes, but still the ship could be clearly seen and was also just as clearly undisturbed – not surprising as the Garou had given their word not to touch the ship and there was no other intelligent life on the planet. The Jedi had been here in the daylight, but had never been here after dark.

What had surprised Turbogeek on his previous visits here was how well the ship had survived the crash. It was unflyable of course, but the damage was not unrepairable and Turbogeek was in the habit of bringing a full toolkit and a lot of spare parts everytime he flew. The ship which he called Razor at this point had even more spares than normal and with time could be put back into spaceworthy shape.

Time Turbogeek doubted he had, but by the looks of things, he couldn’t do anything about that, not unless he could get the sub space comms beacon going and get a message to someone where he was. Maybe the Jedi would not come to his aid after that stunt he had pulled back at Tattooine, maybe the Sith would come howling for his blood. It didn’t really matter as Turbogeek had other beings he could call on for help.

By this time, he had gotten into the ship and into the area where the sub space comm. Unit was and he had to admit to himself, it was far more likely that he would be able to fly off this planet than ever call anyone for help. The unit itself had broken loose and had smashed against a sharp bulkhead, piercing the core and breaking a lot of the superconductor shielding that it needed to work. The core was fixable, but the superconductor ceramic was impossible to repair and he didn’t have a spare. No alternatives had come to mind, so he had in the previous afternoon begun to repair the core in case he thought of a reasonable alternative. None had come to mind, but sometimes answers to problems came via the Force or in flashes of inspiration, thence he had decided to work on and hope an idea would come.

For about a hour he worked, allowing his focus to be single mindedly on the core, scanning for damage with the Force and his eyes, a portible work light turned down low, fingers plying tools with all the skill of master musician on an instrument. Hence, he was somewhat surprised when he heard someone’s footsteps in the hallways of the damaged ship and he hardly had time to scan via the Force who it was before a head poked down into the hatchway that Turbogeek was in.

More surprising was the person it turned out to be. He would have expected Shay Kaylon to come out here, definantly not Verse Dawnstrider. The young Garou had shown no interest in coming out here before why now?

“Hello Master Jedi? Are you here?”

Turbogeek turned up the dim light, more effectively lighting up the hatch he was in. “Yes I am Verse. Please come on in”

The Garou came forward carefully, coming insode the hatch and standing just at the entrance, with some nervousness Turbogeek noted.

“Verse my friend, sit down, be at home.. What brings you out here anyway?”

Verse sat down, his feelings of inease clear to the Master Jedi. Trbogeek put the tool down he had in his hands, shuffled himself to face the now seated Garou. He decided to take a stab in the dark and asked Verse why he had come here.

Verse shrugged. “I’m not precisely sure Master Jedi. I noted you were gone and I figured out you were most likely here, so I came here” Verse paused for a second, then continued on “Shay tells some incredible stories of the Jedi and also of you Master Turbogeek. Tell me, is it true you hit the Sith Lord Itala Marzullo over the head with a frying pan and then gave him such a painful wedgy he couldn’t walk for a day?”

Now the memories of that particular incident bought a smile to Turbogeek’s face. He nodded. “Yes Verse, absolutely true. One of the things that is sometimes hard to understand for others is that I have a warped sense of humour and sometimes my want for a laugh can lead me to do some strange things. I have to admit that the frying Pan and the wedgy done via the Force have got me out of some pretty tight situations and also become quite weapons in their own right”

Verse regarded the Jedi for a bit before he spoke.

“Your not what I imagined a great Jedi to be. I always imagined a Jedi to be sombre, stern, totally without emotion, with a wave of a hand solving the galaxy’s problems, totally serious. Instead I find they are light or heavy hearted, fun loving or with vicious tempers, emotions and just as much at a loss to solve their problems of where next week’s meal is going to come as everyone else. I expected to find Gods….instead I found normal beings, struggling to come to terms with powers not many can comprehend, let alone use”

Turbogeek had a bit of a think about this and he had to agree “You know Verse, I’ve never really though of that before, but your right. When it gets down to it, we Jedi are just ordinary beings thrust into situations where we are forced to be great. The Sith I think desire to be more than just what everyone else is and seek to do be so by any means they possibly can, they want to have power and influence over the mindless cattle they believe they can rise above”

“Personally, I’m not sure about that Turbogeek. I once was what you call Sith, mainly because it seemed like a great way to harness the power I have. I wanted to use it, not just for myself, but for the mindless cattle as you put it too. I know some of the Sith want to rule but others just want to go for the ride”

“You were Pivo right? Of The Sith Council?”

Verse grimaced “Yes, unfortunantly. I left when I saw the terrible things Itala Marzullo did, things I just could not agree to”

Turbogeek leaned forward. “Killing defenceless women and children perhaps?”

Verse just nodded.

The Jedi leaned back. “We have more in common than you realise then Verse. I once was a Dark Jedi too until I saw through the mindlessness of the Dark Side, until I was pushed too far beyond what I would do. For me, there has to be honour, there has to be a reason to do what I do. To mindlessly slaughter innocent like true Dark Jedi do, that is not something I wish to live with and believe me I have plenty that keeps me awake at night. Instead…. Instead I went looking for something else. I went looking for a reason to use the Force, not for myself but for others. As the grip of the Dark side slipped, I went from imagining myself as the leader of a bloodthirsty horde, to being the defender of the lost, the slave, the innocent, the widowed, the orphaned. From one who would joyously embrace the death of my enemies, to one who rejoiced as another victim was saved. I began to dream I was a Jedi, the sabre wielding hero. I dreamed of valiant last stands, of freeing slaves, of having ideals others could look up to.

“Verse, I found all that, but that’s not the half of it. When I became Jedi, I found acceptance for who I was, I found friendship, I found family. I found calm instead of anger, peace instead hate. I shared the good times, I mourned in the bad. I’ve shared the relief of those I had saved, to suffering in harsh places, in fights only few could have walked away from. I’ve been wounded to within a second of my life, I have seen brother and sister Jedi die. But more importantly, I found the true meaning of the Force. The Sith would deny it, but the Force above all else is life. It is joy. It is like seeing a new sunrise, it is the hatching of a chick from an egg. It’s the cry of the newborn, it’s the stillness of the desert, the noise of Coruscant. We Jedi embrace life in all it’s forms and all it’s emotions, we serve life and we serve others and we are all part of the Living Force. The rocks, the tree, the ship, even you and me. Luminous beings we are, not just crude matter.

“We are ordinary beings all right….but we live in a fantastic Universe with all it’s mystery and unknowns. I may be only like any other being alive in the Force, but is what makes me special. I am fearfully and wonderfully created, I may not understand, but I will forever embrace the Light”

“Man, you Jedi are also so complex! When I was a Sith, we were told that you were all simpletons, mindless sheep following a dead philosophy. I finding out just how wrong that really is. Especially in relation to you DT. They all say you’re a fool, the Sith do” replied Verse

“I’m sure they do and I hope they continue to do. I’d rather they not know exactly what I really am until it is too late”

“That’s a bit unjedi-like aint it?”

“Verse, the Jedi are seen as a peace loving order. That isn’t quite true. Yes, wars make not one great, but Jedi have been Generals, soldiers, warriors all through their history. It’s part of who we are. We are defenders of the Light and when called so, we fight. I’ll take any advantage I can get on anyone who seeks to fight against what I am called to do. Some of histories greatest fighters were Jedi in fact”

Verse quietly took this all in.

“Your really changing the way I view the Jedi tonight, DT. I wasn’t really sure if I wanted to follow the path of the Jedi, but now I’m more certain. Would you continue to teach me the Jedi ways?”

Turbogeek smiled as he went back to stripping the comms unit. “Of course I will Verse. I cant promise I’ll be your Master when we get off this planet, but we will begin anyway”

“Thank you Master. You don’t know what that’s means to me”

The Jedi Master looked up and smiled, then got back to work again. To be honest he thought, I very much DO know what it means…..the hatchway remained quiet except for the scrapes and rattle of tools.

“Master Turbogeek, how are you planning to leave?”

Now that was a good question, one DT had been pondering himself.

“If I knew, I’d be halfway ready to leave Verse. As it is, I’m tinkering and trying keep myself busy in the hope I’ll get an idea. The ship itself could be made flyable again, as I do have all the major parts and the rest we can find some way of fabricating them. The drives themselves are fine as is the general hull intregety, despite it’s rather hard landing here. Most of the electronics have spares and I can jury rig most except for the comms unit. Despite that, it will still take weeks to even be at the testing stage and I don’t think we can afford the time”

“What about the comms unit? Can’t you just call?”

“I wish. The superconductor shield is busted and I definantly cant fix that. I could make a low efficency one that would last about a second before it burned out, so I don’t think there is any possibility I can get anything better going at all. I’m afraid I’m going to have to fix the ship before Shay, you and I are capable of leaving”

“What about the Force? Could you try to reach out to one of your fellow Jedi and make contact with them by The Force?”

“No”

“Why not? It’s possible isn’t it?”

“It’s possible and yes I can do it, I could have done it a week ago if I really wished, but that option is not something that is open to me.”

“I don’t understand. Your fellow Jedi would come and help would they not?”

“Yes, but that was not the point of leaving when I did. I, uh shall we say, made sure that even if a call came, there would be no resuce. I was going on a one way trip and I can’t allow anyone to follow or to question what I’m doing, at least not yet. I was originally going to take Shay to a safe place and then go after a person who is in trouble”

“I really don’t understand” said Verse shaking his head “Why all the cloak and dagger stuff? What you just said is really not making any sense what so ever…. What wrong?”

Verse looked at Turbogeek, who was now not paying attention, but was looking into the middle distance with a look of concentration on his face. When the Garou didn’t get an answer, he began to try and use his own senses to work out why the Jedi was now clearly in high alert.

“Verse, do you get visitors often?”

“Ummmm no, very few beings ever come here. We are far out of the regular shipping lanes and as I understand, this planet hasn’t even been surveyed. Why would anyone come here?”

“I don’t know Verse, but you have two drop ships filled with what I think are humans coming to land about 10 kilometers to the west of us. I doubt their scanners would pick us up or even the Garou’s camp, but go back and warn them, then bring Shay back here. The Force tells me this unexpected intrusion could be trouble”

Verse got up. “Should I bring more help? We Garou are good in a fight”

Turbogeek had a quick think. “No harm can be done if you do. Quick, go now and warn the others.” Verse nodded, turned and in a few seconds Turbogeek could hera he was out of the ship and via his sense, was running hard for the Garou camp. Turbogeek decided to get the message back quicker.

Shay…… Shay are you there? The thought went outwards with the Force, touching the mind of Shay who was at that point sitting in front of the now dying fire, having a drink provided by one of their Garou hosts. She nearly dropped the container in surprise at Turbogeek’s voice sounding in her head

DT… what’s up?

Verse is coming back to warn the Garou of two drop ships landing 10 km’s west of our ship. Tell the chieftan what is going on and be ready to return to our ship as soon as Verse is there. If I’m not there, wait for me as I wont be far away, okay?

I will…. DT, who is it? Can you get a clear sense of who it is?

No, it’s not clear to me. For some reason the sense is gappy and incomplete, which makes me wonder. Now, do as I say and get back here as soon as possible.

Yessir!

DT broke the mind contact and got up. He exited the hatchway and walked his way down the hall, to a compartment that was there. One thing good about being on a deserted planet he thought, was the total lack of thieves and scavengers you would encounter, hence all his weapons were still safe. He retrieved his lightsabre, also added a set of marcobinoculors and and hand scanner, placing all the devices on his belt. Closing and then locking the cabinet, he mentally worked out the time it would take for Verse to get to the camp and then to return with Shay and whatever help he could get there. Turbogeek had walked two hours, that was about 12 kilometers, if Verse was fit, that meant a run of 40 odd minutes at best, give 10 minutes for the turnaround and about 50 mintues return at best. That gave Turbogeek about an hour and a half to go do some investigating of his own.

He got out of the ship quickly, checked with the Force the presisce location of the two craft that were now landed and then began to jog in that direction. His estimate of ten kilometres still seemed about right to him as well as the approximate westerly direction. The number of beings was still imprecise, though he could now tell there were humans as well as a Bith. He decided to make some quick distance, and used the Jedi power known as enhanced speed to suddenly increase his pace to nearly 60 kph in a burst. The Force propelled him as he moved at otherwise impossible speeds, legs and arms pumping as the breeze of his passage made his robes billow out like some parody of a bird in flight. It took fifteen minutes to make the distance, a figure impossible for a normal human, but even fo r a Jedi difficult and wearing. He slowed to a stop behind some bushes, confident he was camouflaged enough to escape detection. He spent a few minutes recovering from the run and when he was ready, moved forward with all the quietness he could muster, going from cover to cover, keeping to the deep shadows that were now evident, despite the full moon.

He got what he thought was close enough, then searched out with his senses to find out how many were here and more importantly, why. 20, 25, 30. 30 beings, all outside the dropships that had landed in the time it had taken him to run here, 25 human, one Bith, three Shivarians and one other he did not know….but the sense of that one made him immediately hide himself in the Force. It was impossible to truly hide in the Force, but it would have to do as Turbogeek had sensed a Dark Jedi.

He didn’t go any further, but enhanced his hearing, trying to make out the words he could here drifting in the still clearness of the planet’s night. He heard a few low vices, now magnified several times but still unclear. One or two other words were clearer, mainly to do with unloading and a few mumbled conversations, one that he tuned out of quickly as it was somewhat personal. Finally, he picked up something interesting.

“….. for you? Are there any others we should be wary of?”

“Unlikely. Tragg’vi indicated Shay was alone and undefended except by the primitives that are on this planet. She will not be difficult to capture”

“But what about the reports the Jedi Master was the one who took her from the Rebel fleet? Would he not be somewhere here as well?”

“I sensed her as we came overhead the primitives camp. I sensed no one who would be a Jedi Master there and I still don’t. I will have no trouble subdueing Shay and you should have no problem with these primitives…”

Some other conversations came through clearer, but none like the one he had heard and it had cut of like the speakers had turned away. He decided to give up overhearing and began to carefully move away. A Dark Jedi that knew that Shay was here? Gnated, the y had been stranded here two weeks and had been quit open about their presence, but this planet had no technology and the Garou had no comms units. How was this possible? Suddenly he decided getting back to the ship and then meeting up with the others was rather important, maybe asking a few questions. Obivously someone did have a comm. unit and had been talking to the wrong people

--

With a screech of air, the pod rushed through the bitterly cold air and then with a controlled crashed, smashed into the planet it had been targeted at. The snow settled, having cushioned the final impact and the sun shone weakly over the hillside the pod was on. No breeze ruffled the area, making conditions as good as they got on the ice planet of Hoth. But as the sole occupant of the escape pod got out, he had to admit it still didn’t mean the planet was anything like a moderate temperate. Sporting a few facial bruises from the landing, Tohmahawk threw a backpack outside with a thump into the snow. He ducked back in and re-emerged now wearing heavy snow gear, furs, goggles and breathing mask. He also hit the snow with a soft thump, coming up to his knees in soft powder. Going ski-ing conditions he thought, smiling a touch at his own joke. He put on a set of power skis, grimacing a bit from another bruise he uncovered. It didn’t matter how many times he had done it, using a rapid drop ship or escape pod may be a great way to quickly get onto a planet’s surface, but it damn well still hurt just as much when it landed – if your definition of landing was quite loose of course. Tohmahawk preferred the term splattering instead

He stood up o n the ski’s then bend over and picked up the backpack, heavy but manageable. He stood again and this time took out a set of macro binoculars, scanning the horizons for signs he may have been spotted and someone coming to greet him. He satisfied himself there was nothing, and the engaging the ski-s, began to move off at a mild pace, slaloming down the hill then when he got to the flat, consulting a compass and turning across the snow and ice plain to the destination he wanted.

He had decided to land about 100 km’s from the old rebel base, long ago sheltering the group of freedom fighters that had gone on to become the New Republic although not without some bumps on the way, the most notable being on this planet itself, when Darth Vader had forced them to run for their collective lives in a sudden assault. Of course, it could have been far worse. If Admiral Ozzel had not given up the element of surprise by going too close, the rebels could well have been totally wiped out and the Admiral lauded for his cleverness. Instead, the rebels had in the main gotten away to lick their wounds and by all accounts, Admiral Ozzel learned Darth Vader had a rather nasty attitude to people who failed him.

Oh well. Life was a bummer sometimes. History tended only to remember the great or the truly stupid and fortunately for the rebels, Ozzel was in the second category. Tohmahawk often hoped at night that he would be in neither category and just become a footnote in some family tree somewhere. Being a great meant you were a target and being stupid… well that was obvious.

The skis hummed as they powered on at their steady rate. Due tho the distance of the journey, Tohmahawk had set the speed at about 25 kph, a nice pace that would get him to the ex rebel base in about four hours, enough time to get set up nearby that base and investigate whether anyone was indeed there. Not likely, but that’s probably what the Imperials thought so long ago too.

--

Further away, the landing forces of General Scorpion grouped from their landers and drop ship. 12 mighty AT-AT’s, several AT-ST’s, 1200 troops, support staff, TIE’s and pilots all setting up a base camp for their sojourn on the planet. General Scorpion himself was supervising the operation from a shuttle converted into ground ops base, the air conditioners working over time to keep the craft warm as officers entered and left. The bitterly cold air was winning the battle at the present, hence Scorpion was dressed in full cold warfare gear, a portable heating device inside the battle armour of a snow trooper working – and working quite well Scorpion admitted to himself – as well furs for extra warmth in case the unit broke down. It was about the only time Scorpion liked being in armour and for once he felt the extra weight of armour climate control worth the effort.

He was at that time poring over a surface map, looking at all the features and the local landmarks, planning his defences and also looking for places that an ambush could come. He noted they were about 110 kms from the old rebel base site, with a resonable approach corridor, free of steep valleys to pass through and half reasonable terrain to make the approach if he chose to. Of course, he make not go in that direction, but who knew.

“Sir?”

Scorpion turned to see a nervous young ensign waiting at the doorway of his command room. He nodded for the officer to enter, noted the young man’s obvious problems with the cold.

“Ensign, were you not informed to be wearing cold weather battle armour? Do you know how long it will take for you to die if you stay in that uniform?”

“Sir my direct superior gave the order that it was weakness to be wearing that garb, so I was denied it as well as the rest of our group. I tried to argue, but he threatened me with detention if I was insubordinate. And yessir, I know how long it will take. Unfortunantly”

“Who is your Commander?”

“Captain Jo-holson sir. My lieutenant also tried to argue, but was silenced as well. Sir I would rather be regarded as weak than to have my abilities subverted by this cold”

“I agree Ensign, that is why I ordered otherwise. Tell your lieutenant to assume the duties of your former Captain and dispose of his body. Now, Report”

The ensign gulped at the cold-bloodedness of the execution order and fear mixed with the cold made him shaky. “S-s-sir, we have located the escape pod Tohmahawk used, it was found to have been abandoned for about a hour. We were able to find his tracks and we wish permission to pursue, otherwise we will just track him”

“Track him only. Any sign of where he is going?”

“The tracks point in the direction of the old rebel base”

“Good. Tell the trackers to follow at a distance and do not interfere or give away the fact Tohmahawk is being followed. Report on him every 4 hours. Dismissed”

The ensign bowed and left in a hurry, more likely to put on something warmer that to carry out the orders straight away. Scorpion could understand that, but he couldn’t understand this attitude of machoism that the ordinary troopers seem to want to live and die by. Any true warrior knew that bravery and strength to endure was one thing, sheer stupidity another. He keyed the call code for J-holson, waited until on the viewplate the Captain’s image came to life.

“Ahhh, General Scorpion, wha… gark…..urgh…..”

“”Lieutenant, countermand this fools order on cold weather armour immediately. I will NOT have my men wasted just to please some damn fool idealistic image! The ensign who reported to me has orders I wish done and I want men capable of doing it. Understand?” The other officers backed away from the choking Captain, as he fell to the ground. The lieutenant nervously nodded in acknowledgement of Scorpion, also moving a careful step away from the doomed officer. “Good. You are promoted to Captain. Do not make the same mistake this fool did” As if to emphasise the point, the ex-captain gasped one last time as a sickening crunch of bone sounded. The image of Scorpion disappeared, leaving the now Captain swallowing in fear at the power Scorpion had exhibited. The ensign who had reported to Scorpion came in, looked at the body and with some fearful glances, delivered Scorpion’s instructions.

Scorpion himself felt no pity at the fool’s demise. Instead he turned back to the maps he was studying, preparing for what could lay ahead. He began to look at a sector he believed he could use as a staging area for a attack if required, when his personal comms unit beeped. He pulled it from his belt, a touch angry at this interruption.

“Scorpion.”

“Well I hope so. I’d be mildly disappointed if it was anyone else”

The voice was scratchy and hard to understand, but still clearly it was Tohmahawk

“You idiot rebel, when I catch you…”

“You what? Put me out to freeze? Don’t worry, I’m doing that quite nicely now. I trust you came to the party?”

Scorpion sighed. “Yes we have. Now, what do you think you can accomplish doing this?”

“Solve Poverty and also whether there is actually anyone at the only place that this icehole can support. Tell your watchers over me to back off and leave me alone and I’ll keep in contact. Okay?”

“I don’t have anyone watching you”

“Oh sure you don’t. So tell me what the hell the white clad boys are doing? Preening themselves for the Wampa mating season?”

“They are there for your protection Tohmahawk”

“Don’t want their protection, I just want them away from me.”

Scorpion sighed. “Allright, I suppose if I didn’t you would find some way to do so anyway. Now what are you planning to do?”

“Have a look around. Are you going to provide me that diversion so I can take a closer look?”

“And what type of diversion are you expecting?”

“A whole bunch of Imperials stamping around and being obvious about it would be good. Make it look like you’re here for cold weather training and be ready to back me up if I get in too deep. Okay?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No”

“Somehow I expected that. Very well, keep me informed”

“Will do. May the Force be with you Scorpion”

Scorpion snapped the comm. link off. Idiot rebel he thought.

--

A small grin came on Tohmahawk’s face as he imagined the temper the General must be in after that exchange. He often took great delight in annoying other people, often going through great lengths to do so, although this time that was not what he was trying to do. Knowing that there could be listeners on his communications with Scorpion, it more than likely that if anyone was here, they would now be warned, although at the range and the bad conditions overall, that was unlikely. Still, to go through the effort of the transmission and not get overheard would be disappointing. Sometimes people trying to hide were rushed and sometimes made critical mistakes, like making communications with other bases at bad times or rushed their defences.

Whatever. He just hoped that they would make a mistake that would make his job of finding out where the main base for Callista was easier.

--

Across the other side of the galaxy, the twin suns of Tattooine beat down without mercy onto the heat blasted plains of the Dune Sea, the heat wafting between the valleys and drenching the towns that were there. Only fools went out in the midday sun, most of the inhabitants of Tattooine had the good sense to get indoors and wait for afternoon and some relief of the blasting heat.

Fools, or those on a mission that couldn’t wait. Lord Bromine, now the new Master of the Sith Empire after Mara’s defection to the Jedi, strode through the streets of Mos Eisley, loose garments covering him entirely, providing some escape from the heat and the powerful suns. A handful of other beings walked by, some dewbacks lead by a Jawa were the only companions on the streets. The smells of rubbish and other refuse assailed his nostrils, his boots kicked up the loose dust. Bromine really wanted to get out of this place, to get back to somewhere cleaner, somewhere cooler. The search for any sign of Callista here was obviously a dead end and it was only the fact that no-one had a better idea that they stayed and continued to follow up any lead that may hint in a direction to go. Bromine was at this time doing the final follow up on the information that the bounty hunters had given their group. So far, it had proved very accurate, however it appeared that the planet Callista was supposed to be on was abandoned, not long before the scouts had gotten there. The contact people on Tattooine had also disappeared, leaving the combined Jedi and Sith forces in a quandary as to what to do next, this was probably the last thing that they would try. He was going to a particular tapcafe that a suspected contact person for Callista was at, supposably right now. Bromine had his whole introduction rehearsed, he was going to be a mercenary offering his services and a grudge against the New Republic. If it didn’t work, there was the alternative of the Jedi mind trick to grab information from the contacts mind.

If that person was even there anymore. It seemed no-one else was anymore.

Bromine walked a few more steps and almost tripped when he sensed something in the distance. Dark. Sinister.

Bromine forgot about the suspected contact, concentrating on the dark presence some streets away. He wasn’t 100% sure, but he believed he knew what it was – a Vog’on. These beasts hadn’t been seen or sensed since Jedi Alpha had fought one a week ago, they had disappeared as quietly as they had appeared. The Sith Lord pulled put his comlink, flicked it on. Rama Sha answered almost immediately.

“Rama, tell the others I have picked up the trail of something somewhat more interesting than the suspect contact. Call backup to the Mis’rta tapcafe immediately, tell them to come ready to fight. There’s Vog’on’s about and I intend to ask thiem a few polite questions”

Rama acknowledged and Bromine began to move off again, this time with somewhat more care, keeping a track on the presence that he had sensed. The more he stayed in contact with it, the more he was sure it was a Vog’on. The beasts they had encountered twice already were somehow linked to Callista and hence seemed rather important in the scheme of things, especially according to the Jedi, who seemed to have some sort of inside word on a link between Callista and the huge lizards. Bromine put his com link back on it’s clip and choosing caution, he unclipped his light sabre, hiding it’s presence in his hand with the folds of the desert cloak.

A few minutes later, his guess as to where the Vog’on was going proved correct. The tapcafe that the Callista contact was reported to be at, The Mis’rta, a low class hovel that could only be produced by this place. Okay, so that confirmed in his mind two things – Callista’s contact person was here and the Vog’on were working for Callista. A co-incidence this wasn’t. Bromine stopped at the other side of the street, watching the door and also sensing the presence of the Vog’on directly inside. Bromine was one of the best fighters that the Sith bad, but even he didn’t feel like he would survive going into unknown territory, especially with fighters like the Vog’on about. He knew he could deal with a lone one, but multiple may prove difficult – if there were indeed more than one here. He doubted that, but he had seen too many Sith go headfirst into a fight and not come back out to be leaping in, lightsabre blazing. He chose instead to scope the place, waiting for his backup to come.

He sisn’t have long to wait. 6 of his fellow sith turned up as a group, hooded and cloaked like he was. They all gathered around their leader, who waited until they had finished moving before speaking :-

“There is a Vog’on inside the tapcafe across the street, where the suspected Callista agent was supposed to be at. I want two of you to wait here at keep an eye out for new arrivals – I also want some troops here as further backup. The rest of you, come with me inside. And be ready for trouble. Clear?”

The others nodded and Bromine turned without a further word for the entreway of the tapcafe. Entering, he felt the coolness of the rock hewn building, the change in smell from the street trash to various sweaty bodies and spilt drinks. It was dark in comparision to the harsh brightness outside, so he paused for a second to allow his vision to adjust. He looked about, seeing an empty table which he headed for. As he was about tho sit down, another group, lead by a Trasndorsian Wolfman snarled a claim for the table as well.

“It was unclaimed, friend. We are travellers, weary and thirsty”

A snarl that Bromine interpreted as a lack of caring and a challenge

“I’m not in the mood to argue friend. We go there first”

Another snarl in return. Well, diplomacy didn’t work…

“I said get lost hair ball. Else your going to be a lot shorter that you are now”

The wolfman began to snarl and growl, but stopped as his attention was drawn to a shiny object in the Sith hand. The wolfman’s eyes went wide when he saw the traditional Sith twin ended sabre revealed in Bromine’s hand, he looked up into the eyes of the Sith and saw his death written there. The wolfman slowly backed away, laughed about something sounding vaguely like a misunderstanding and rather quickly retreated.

“You must smell bad Bromine. He sure left in a big hurry”

Bromine grunted in response, unhooding his head to be able to see and hear better in this place. The other Sith did likewise, the faces of Rama Sha, Vengance, Diamond and Havok now revealed. The all took a seat around the table they had claimed, it was a good one, giving a good view of the doorway, the patrons and also was in a corner, meaning no surprises from behind. They settled in for a few minutes, until a flying blue thing came over to take their order.

“heh, what have eh? You likem house special no?”

A Toydarian? What in the Galaxy was one of those things doing in here serving drinks? wondered Bromine. He looked at the creature, wings fluttering like an insect’s, eyes shifty and with greed written all over him. The owner of this place?

“We’ll have four specials and also….I have a few credits I wish to spend”

“Repubic Credits?”

“No something more real. Will this be acceptable?” With this, Bromine opened a bag he had in his pocket and allowed the Toydarian to look inside.

“Hmmmm, is good, is good! What do want to spend on Outlander?”

“Are you the owner of this fine establishment?”

“Eh, you joke eh? I own place, like the scum that come here. They spend money easily. I don’t like respectable beings.”

That drew out a laugh from Vengance. Bromine waved for the other Sith to be quiet and faced the Toydarian again. “I have reason to believe that this bar is frequented by by a reptile, about 8 foot tall, clawed hands, nasty temper”. Bromine didn’t miss the thoughtful look he got for an answer

“You have more to spend, no?”

Bromine without a word handed over the bag. “See for yourself”

The flying creature examined the inside of the contents of the bag, seemed to be satisfied. He drew closer.

“You ask dangerous question outlander, that one don’t like questions about itself. Fourth privacy field on the left. He meets there with a human alone about once per week and leaves. More I don’t wish to know”

“Describe the peron this beast meets with”

“I can do better than that. Here is a a holoview of him, he owes me money. If you were to deal with him in any way you please I would not be unhappy”

Bromine nodded as the Toydarian flew off. The rest of the Sith sat in silence for a second before Vengeance spoke.

“You could have gotten that from him much easier Bromine. Why bother bribing such a pitiful excuse for a life form?”

“Toydarians are immune to mind tricks Vengeance, however if you pay them money, they will do anything. They are one of the greediest races I know of, a fact we can use to our advantage. Our Vog’on quarry doesn’t know we are here and that is an advantage we can use. Okay this is what we do. Rama, go outside and then tell the troops that should be there now to follow and capture the man who matches this holoview. Come back in and wait with us then. We are going to get ourselves a Vog’on”

--

It was about half an hour before the Vog’on came of the privacy field, followed by a grubby man, bearded and small. The man’s face matched the holoview exactly. They didn’t speak a word, but exited the tapcafe. The Sith rose at a signal from Bromine, he flicked a coin to pay for their drinks and they walked out about 20 seconds after the other two.

Back outside, the sun was no cooler, nor the light any less harsh. The coolness inside the tapcafe almost made coming out into the blast furnace of Tattooine impossible, the contrast was so pronounced. It was almost like a physical blow. Bromine noted one of the Sith was left outside running across the street, the young Ayamani Rai it was.

“Lord Bromine, the man who Vengeance described is going left and is now being followed by the troops as well as Saurron. The Vog’on has gone right and I being flowed by a single trooper until you can catch it”

“Good. Tell the troops to capture that man now and bring him back to the main base, by force if necessary, but d not kill him. Get Saurron to oversee that operation and then join us again”. She bowed and ran off to covey Bromine’s order.

“Right, sabres out. Lets go get us a Vog’on. In pieces will be fine, but alive. Understand?” The other Sith nodded, and then using Force speed, they accelerated in the direction they were told the Vog’on went in. It took only a few seconds to catch the designated tailer and then a few more to dismiss him. They then visually located their quarry, spread out and then resumed their chase of the Vog’on. So quickly they moved, they had the suddenly surrounded Vog’on in seconds. All four of them had sabres out and lit, all of them ready to fight in a moment’s notice. The Vog’on grunted in surprise

“Surrender peacefully and this wont be hard. We only want some information on Callista and you can go about your business” said Diamond.

The beast looked carefully at the surrounding forces, then joined by Ayamani Rai, who nodded at Bromine to tell him of the success Sauuron had.

“We have your friend Vo’gon, surrender is your only option. Not even you can fight five of us at once”

“Whhhhoooo are yoouuuu?”

The hissing words were filled with malice and anger. Bystanders became scarcer, none of them wanted to get involved in what was looking like trouble. The five blades of the Sith were being gradually being backed up by trooper’s blasters, from backup Saurron had called, the distant wail of speeders could begin to be heard as well.

“I am someone who wants to ask you a few questions. Now, are you coming quietly or not?”

The Vog’on looked around slowly, seeming to sag in realisation there was no escape. The beast’s eyes drooped, the jaw dropped open as a sign of submission. Vengeance and Rama looked at each other in glee, Diamond and Ayamani straightened, getting ready to put the beast in binders. Only Bromine noted the sudden tightening of muscles under the skin of the Vog’on’s hand, read clearly what the body language was. No way…..that was suicide!

The sudden leap caught them all unawares. The beast sailed out of the ring of Sith, crashing feet first onto the head of a trooper. The soldier collapsed under the weight and the Vog’on clobbered another two troopers in a blink of an eye. Even Bromine, who had correctly read the intention to attack was caught out by the suddenness, the incredible speed the Vog’on acted. He barely had time to move when a body of one of the troopers was flung at him, knocking the Sith over hard. He barely registered the shouts, the flurry of blaster shots, the roars of the Vog;on. When he did manage to get himself from under the trooper, he saw the Vog’on waving a human arm like a club, then get knocked over by a co-ordinated set of blaster shots, presumably dead.

He moved forward carefully, keeping his eyes on the smouldering carcass, only to back off in astonishment as the beast backflipped to his feet, cut and burned, but still very much alive and even more ready to fight. How…?

Vengeance didn’t wonder, he attacked, his humming sabre swinging in towards the body of the Vog’on. The Vog’on jumped the blade and in the same jump, smashed Vengeance with a kick that would do the average pile driver credit. The Sith flew backwards twenty feet before crashing into the ground.

How in the name of the Force can anything not Sith or Jedi move that fast?!?. Bromine signalled for the troops to drop back and form a perimeter, he then pointed to the Sith and got them clear. He then pointed at the Vog’on and said “Stun”

Fifty blasters opened up, firing stun bolts at the beast. Most hit, lighting up the lizard in a cascade of blue fire, the Vog’on issuing one screech until even it had to succumb to the overwhelming energies. It toppled over as a few more stun blasts scored, it laid twitching on the ground. As the last blaster was silenced, Vengeance groggily got up, a massive bruise beginning to show on his cheek.

“You okay?”

“What the hell did that thing hit me with? A speeder?”

Bromine looked at the Vog’on, who was now being put into binders, watched over by several trigger happy guards. “Close. That thing has the most amazing fighting ability I have ever seen. Who would have thought is was possible for anything to match a Force trained person in combat?”

“Not me. I be somewhat more cautious if I have to go up against one of his friends”

“Lets hope it never comes to that Vengeance. Still, lets get this one somewhere secure and lets also get off this planet. I don’t feel like trying on one of these things again in a hurry”

The party completed tying up their prisioner and began to leave, little aware of the snake like eyes watching their every move from a dark window.

--

The cold was beginning to bite, even through the thermal suit, the wind was beginning to pick when a exhausted Tohmahawk arrived within seeing distance of the old rebel base on Hoth. With some relief, turned off the power skis and stepped off, content now he could make the final distance on foot. He decided to rest a bit first, his legs humming from the 5 hour journey to this point and also take in some food. Throwing off his backpack, he sat down on it, at the same time turning up the heat regulator on the thermal suit. The wind died a bit, but then resurged. Tohmahawk looked at his time device, seeing it was late afternoon and knowing from now on the conditions were only going to get worse and in about an hour, drastically so. It was considered impossible for a human to survive a night outside unsheltered and Tohmahawk wasn’t about to test that assumption out.

He rested and also took in some fluids for 15 minutes, then achingly got up, realising his muscles had gone cold and would need a gentle restart to activity else he would damage something. Despite his recklessness that drove superiors crazy, he looked after himself, striving to keep his body in top condition, so it would be able to handle the demands he made on it. It initially protested moving again, but as the blood started to circulate faster, Tohmahawk felt his legs loosing up again. The backpack was more securely fastened to his back and he had his power skis slung over a shoulder, with a blaster rifle in the other. The snow that began to fall reduced visbility but he had already got his bearings and without hesitation moved directly to the entranceway of the old base – the north entrance, the one where all the fighter and speeder craft had been based in. It took half an hour, by which time Tohmahawk was beginning to battle a gale that had been brewing and was very thankful of making the shelter the mouth of the entranceway made – what he didn’t appreciate was the 12 foot high snowdrifts and icicles that had partially blocked the once yawning opening, making passage inside a right pain. He was forced to smash an opening he could pass through and finally made his way into the darkness inside.

It was dark alright, hardly any light was getting in from outside. He was glad he had thought to bring some glowrods, and also glad he had much firmer footing to walk on. Taking off the backpack and putting down his skis, he also took off his outer garment, leaving him with his thermal gear and his body armour. Okay, this will do for my exploring base he thought and looking around with the light, he could see no reason why it wasn’t safe to do so. There had been plenty of drifting snow come in the entrance over the preceeding years and it all was undisturbed. His footprint were the only ones and they were nearly 4 inches deep, a sure sign no one had been here for years.

Well, that proved nothing. This base was supposed to be huge, thence no evidence at one small section meant nothing. What would be more telling would be if there were intruder detectors in place….although Tohmahawk would have presumably been detected already. Well you ran that risk trying to sneak anywhere and if he had been detected, it was more than likely the controllers would have presumed it was one of the wild animals that must seek shelter here – despite the fact he had seen no evidence of that either. He decided to check anyway.

A small pocket detector he first set for audio probe detection – nothing. Motion detectors also proved negative as well as infrared. No intruder detectors at all. If there was a secret base here and they wanted to keep it hidden, that would have been most odd. Maybe the base was elsewhere?

No, if there had been a base, it was here. There was nowhere else on the planet that could have been used.

Somewhat confused, the soldier began to venture further into the cave, the glowrod making shadows on the walls and ceiling dance, glinting off ice and also now the odd bit of debris that had been left behind after the rebels had abandoned the base. Used equipment and also surprisingly one or two mummified bodies of Rebels and Stormtroopers were evident, the cold preserving the bodies almost perfectly. Had there been fighting here? Tohmahawk didn’t know, but it still was rather creepy that he was in what amounted to a huge tomb for probably hundreds of fighters that had died in the battle here, not really something he wanted to dwell on. He wasn’t a man that believed in ghosts, but it still didn’t really want to think of it, rather he wanted to keep his mind on the job at hand.

Everything had a coating of ice on it, making features of objects difficult to make out, also making footing difficult. Tohmahawk did slip a few times, the third time he skidded next to the remains of a blown up speeder. He cursed again and struggled to get back up, comically loosing his footing a few more times, but enough for him to notice some thing rather odd on the floor. He saw a canister, not unusual in amongst the other refuse and debris that littered the floor – but this one was different. It had no coating of frost and ice like everything else.

Tohmahawk stared at the ordinary can, smooth and metallic obviously freshly dropped. He gave up standing for the moment, reached over and picked up the canister. He looked at it closely, seeing his reflection in it’s polished surface. He touched it’s metal surface with an exposed cheek, feeling the can’s coldness but noting it was nowhere near as cold as it should have been. Putting the object down, he carely slid along the ice until he found an area he could gain enough of a foothold, stood carefully up and then put his blaster back in it’s holster. He reached into his backpack and in sequence drew out five objects, snapping them together with practiced ease to form the handheld rapid fire cannon, with external power and gas feeds which he plugged into the concealed gas and power chamber in the pack. He set the gun for kill, a grim look coming over his face as he scanned the area with hyperalert senses.

So….someone IS here.

Tohmahawk pressed a small button on the cannon, which triggered a micro signal to pulse out back towards Scorpion’s troops. It looked like this party against Callista’s forces here really was going to happen. Tohmahawk faded into the shadows and got ready to do his bit when the right time came

--

General Scorpion looked on as the enormous AT-AT’s jockeyed for position, backing up snow troops who ran to overcome an imaginary foe dug in. At-ST’s circled their much larger cousins, keeping a attack formation that would make any Commander proud. War games were not really something Scorpion liked, but given the situation, doing as Tohmahawk wanted seemed like the right thing to do. His temporary headquarters shook again as one of the mighty war machines stomped nearby, the place shaking like a earthquake. It was all rather impressive to the observer, but Scorpion himself hated the inability to use the war machines the way he wanted to – against real enemies in a real fight. Practice just seemed like such a big waste if there was no opponent in the end to beat up…

A small beep on his comlink interrupted his thoughts. He pulled out the unit, intending to give whoever was on the other end a razzing for interrupting him – but as he was about to open his mouth, he noted that the signal was only three brief beeps.

By the fires of the Maw….that was a signal made by a Imperial sniper when they had acquired their target and they wanted to let their commander know, not their quarry. Scorpion could only think that meant one thing, Tohmahawk had gotten to the old rebel base and was confirming it was occupied. Another four beeps issued from the comlink, the signal a sniper made to request backup. Sudden excitement flared in Scorpions veins as he sent out a private signal to his commander to come and see him at once, the thrill that all this effort was not going to be wasted and that there was some real action coming up. The commanders got into Scorpion’s office in remarkably quick time, making the General ponder whether they were just as keen to fight as he was.

He waited until all of them were there and then with a grim smile, he leaned over his table

“Saddle up boys. We’re going hunting”

--

Within twenty minutes of Scorpions announcement, the whole base had changed from one of indifference to one of tense excitement as Scorpion’s war machine made ready. With a signal from their commander, the mighty machines began to rock and them move, the course they were to take programmed into computers, the target of th old rebel base assigned. Inside, troops made equipment checks, last minute plans were made. Outside, Scorpion viewed the beginning roll forward, the wind picking up as the sun as it was began to set. Knowing the speed of the immense machines and their support, they would arrive at the old base in about 4 hours, in full cover of dark. Yes it was going to be bitterly cold by that time and some equipment would malfunction. There were tech crews and space lighters ready to pick up stranded men and equipment, medical crews were ready to deal with the expected cases of frostbite and exposure. Up above, the SSD Sabretooth made ready, TIE bombers and TIE Advanced fighters preparing to support the thousands of men who would in a few hours be flooding out of the machines, ready to face whatever foe that they might come across.

It promised to be quite an evening.

--

It was well after the moon had dipped below the horizon when the Garou party arrived at Turbogeek’s ship, in company with Shay Kaylon. It seemed to the Jedi that all the natives had come armed and were obviously primed for action, something that did surprise Turbogeek a bit. It also seemed it was a much larger party than he expected, fully two-dozen Garou had gathered.

One of them, one who Turbogeek recognised as some sort of clan chief bowed low. “Honoured Jedi, we apologise for how long it took for us to get here, but Moonwalker sensed one of these people who have landed is possessed by a Wyrm and it would have been folly to rush out here underprepared. We had to make sure that if this one cant have the Wyrm burnt out, it had to burn as a witch”

Possessed by a Wyrm..? Oh that was right, the Garou’s term for the Dark Side. “How do you know that there is a Dark Jedi with them? And how did they come to know that Shay is here?”

“We called them Master Jedi. We figured you needed to get off this planet, so we got permission of the Elders to use the forbidden talker and Verse told his former enslaver’s to come and collect Shay. Forgive us if this did not meet with your favour”

“You have a comms unit and you didn’t tell me?!?!”

“It is forbidden to speak of it, Master Jedi, we dare not tell you until now for fear of the Gods striking us. Long ago we received this unit, secret it has been kept and only used in emergency to call friends for help. Verse here, he discovered it once and made contact with one called Callista, who came and took him away. Verse was infected with a Wyrm by her magiks and when he came back here, we broke her magiks and freed him. We apologise again and hope you can forgive our deceptions”

Turbogeek could openly stare in wonder at these Garou who he had befriended in the last week. He could sense no deception or lies on them, wondering at how the Force had indeed given him a solution to his problem. We go hijack a drop ship and outrun the mother craft upstairs, allowing Shay and I to get out of this place, maybe even take Verse and my ship with us – the Force must be with us!

“Moonwalker, I see no reason to forgive for anything, you have done no wrong. Instead, I offer my thanks for this. But I will ask one thing, how do you know about this Dark Jedi?”

“I sensed him as he landed. Nature screams out against this one’s presence, demands the Wyrm be burnt from him”

This one must have the ability to sense things in the Force thought Turbogeek. What a group of being to have landed amongst!

‘Moonwalker, I call you friend and I am indebted to you for this. Now, how best shall we do this? We don’t want them to be able to give out a signal to whoever bought them here”

The Garou thought about it. “Master Jedi, I suggest we move on them now. It will be much darker and I think they will only move at first light. I also expect they have no idea we know they are here”

Turbogeek looked at Shay. “I want you to stay back. I assign Verse to make sure you do, okay?” Shay looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew Turbogeek was only thinking of her safety, so she reluctantly nodded. Verse on the other hand was about to speak out in protest until one of the other Garou spoke first :-

“Verse, what the Jedi asks is hard, especially for one who would seek to right the wrongs of the past. However, if you seek to truly walk the path of the Jedi, do as he asks without question”

Turbogeek moved close enough to make sure his words were for Verse’s ears only. “Young one, there will come time for fighting. But always remember this – a true Jedi seeks to protect first. I also tell you this – Shay is one of the most precious people to me and I would not have asked you to guard her unless I trusted you totally. Understand?”

Verse looked down at his feet and then looked the Jedi Master straight in the face. “You mean that?”

“I don’t lie Verse.”

He could see the words he said have their impact on the young Garou, making him straighten in determination. “I wont fail you Master.”

“I know. Now, stay with Shay. She most likely can defeat anyone we come to, but just be ready anyway” The Jedi turned away and moved toward the front of the group again. “Right, when we are ready, follow me. Stay quiet and quick step. Go!”

Turbogeek was rather thankful he could use the Force to refresh himself. Already done 20 km’s of walk or running that night, this final 10 kms would be enough to knock the wind out of even seasoned athletes, let alone being able to do any serious fighting at the end. He didn’t know how these Garou could keep going, all he could surmise they must have been used to this sort of thing. He wondered how Shay would be able to quote, so he dropped back to her and asked.

“I wont be able to Master” she said between breaths. Turbogeek nodded and told her to rest when she had to , but to keep following. He noted Verse was with her as he requested. Good.

The trip back to the landing site took about one hour, the last kilometre done with caution, moving at walking pace until they could see the two ships and the basic camp. There was only one guard, who sat by a fire, unaware of the presence of the other party.

“What should we do Master Jedi?”

“Even if the guard gives the alarm, we will have not much trouble in surprising them. Take them all prisioner and make sure none of them have time to make a distress call. I suggest there are people still in the ships, so we will circle around and capture them first. After that, subdue the rest of them. Don’t hurt them unless in self defence, got it?” The Garou nodded and then made a curious hand sign, the other Garou acknowledging. They seemed to all disappear like smoke into the darkness, leaving Turbogeek, Shay and Verse alone for the moment. The Jedi Master looked around the clearing, scanning with the Force.

“What do you look for Turbo?” asked Shay.

“This Dark Jedi I spotted here before. I don’t seem to be able to find him here now”

“Oh. Where do you suppose he went?”

“I don’t know and that worries me….. what in the Force?!?” The exclaimation was warranted as Turbogeek, with his Force enhanced vision had clearly seen across the clearing to where he saw one of the Garou and then suddenly saw in it’s place a large black wolf. He turned to Verse. “Did I see that right? One of you fellows shape shifted into a wolf?”

“Yes. We can change into the form of wolfs if we need to.”

“ I have never heard of such a thing before. This is truly incredible!”

“It’s not all we can do. But it’s not wise to talk much about it. Are we going to do anything?”

“You wait here. I’m going to deal with that guard”

Without waiting for an answer, Turbogeek dropped to the ground and began to crawl toward the lone guard. He also began to reach out with his mind, watching the guard’s sense to see if he was alerted, ready to pounce if the alarm was sounded. Few meters before he got to the guard, he felt a ripple through the Force, of someone surprised and then as quickly knocked out. Ah, that meant the Garou were in position and making a move on whoever was in the space craft. Turbogeek’s fingers tightened their grip on his lightsabre, waiting fo rthe right moment… the guard turned away from his position and with the speed of a Jedi, he pounced from the bushes, covering the few meters so fast the guard only had time to turn, before the blunt end of Turbogeek’s sabre smashed into his chin and knocked the guard out. The Jedi crouched, quickly made sure the guard was going to stay out for a while longer and then moved towards the tents where the rest of the intruders were sleeping. A shadow moved, came closer resolving into the shape of a man – Moonwalker

“Is done Master Jedi. No-one left to raise the alarm in the ships. Do we get the ones in the portable huts?”

“Not quite. Tell your fellows to come here and on my signal pull the tents down. I’ll deal with them as they come out”

It was done in a few mintues. The tents were pulled down on top of the sleepers, the lighter sleepers awake and with some swearing struggled out to right the tents, waking others and crawling out. They were met by their worst nightmare – a sabre lit Jedi, signalling them to stay quiet with the sabre ominously wagging at them. The rest were kicked awake and in a short time, the entire group was sitting around the guards fire, disarmed and with all possible comms devices taken, with the Garou pointing weapons at them. The ships were now in their hands.

Turbogeek looked at their handiwork in admiration, happy that the whole thing had gone off so far without a hitch. The drop ships were quite large, capable on holding a few fighters and with tractor beams as well, meaning the Jedi could even take his ship with him. Excellent!

One of the Garou came up to the Jedi. “Master Jedi, where is the one with the Wyrm? Can you point him out?”

That sent a puzzled frown on the Jedi’s face. The Dark Jedi wasn’t here? He turned and rescanned the prisoners, seeing none of them had the taint of the Dark Side on them. A credit dropped in his mind.

“Moonwalker, make sure these ones stay put until I come back okay?” Turbogeek didn’t wait for an answer, he ran straight for the area he had left Shay and Verse, suddenly feeling that something was very wrong. He covered the distance as fast as he could, when he made their clearing he saw Shay with sabre lit, facing the Dark Jedi, with Verse having changed by the strange Garou morphing ability into a Werewolf, snarling and with claws out, ready to defend Shay. Turbogeek made a flying leap and kicked at the Sith’s head, the Dark one moving slightly enough to stop the kick from knocking it out, but it still obviously affected whoever this one was. Turbogeek lit his sabre, ready to fight and he also signalled for Shay and Verse to get clear.

Quickly using the Force to get a good sense of this Sith, he went through his memories to see if he knew who this one was. A long time memory, of a training room and a boy going against a training droid, while he looked on flashed to mind.

“So, Jen’saari I see you have grown since we last met. Put you sabre down and you will get older”

“You traitor Q’Dunn. You will pay for what you have done!”

A grudge holder and as he had remembered, one of Callista’s up and coming Sith fighters when he had seen Jen’saari over 8 years ago.

“Me? Why what did I ever do apart from stab that bitch in the back? Are you going to hold the fact I woke up to her pathetic evil deeds against me?”

Jen’saari just simply attacked, the young Sith (How old? 17? wondered Turbogeek) attacked in a windmill if sabre thrusts and parries, swings and swirls. It all looked impressive, but to a seasoned fighter like Turbogeek, who merely stood his ground, blocking everything thrown at him, not wasting a single move, it showed youthful speed, but no real one on one fighting skill apart from the aerobatics and mobility.

I’m going to have to make him realise he’s going to be killed if he keeps attacking like this and I don’t want to do that. It would be such a waste of a life, a waste of potential.

The Sith swept in again, firing blows in high and low, the Jedi calmly fending them away and then forcing a footwork error and a slight stumble, he seized an opportunity and hit the Sith with a thunderous back fist strike, smashing the Sith several feet away with it’s power.

“Give up Jen’saari. Your not going to survive this if you continue”

I return, the Sith got up and this time advanced on the Jedi, much more carefully. The Sith got with striking distance of the waiting Jedi and attacked, this time without the frenetic activity, but much more measured and probing Turbogeek’s defences.

Better. He now knows I cant be killed easily, so he tries a different approach, but he still isn’t mindful of the tricks that can be played on him

As the Sith chopped at Turbogeek’s head, the Jedi blocked and kicked Jen’saari in the groin. The Sith’s breath came out in a whoosh, and he stumbled away, obviously in some trouble. Turbogeek followed the stumbling progress, not finishing Jen’saari off, but hoping somehow another solution would present itself. Shay called from her vantage point, where she and Verse, now in human form again, watched the fight. “Do you need help?”

“No Shay, go back to the others. Tell them to wait for me and watch over the prisioners. I shall not be long”

Shay nodded and with Verse left. The Sith seemed to have recovered somewhat and was huffing away, trying to get his breath back. The Jedi began to advance again.

“Your not going to survive this if you say with the Dark Side Jen’saari. You can only die. Change your ways and live”

“I’d rather die!! The Dark Side makes me stronger than you pathetic traitor, I shall see your blood flow before the dawn!”

“I take that as a no? Final chance. Give up your evil and I’ll allow to live and become a Jedi, pure and true to the Force. You have yet to see the true power the Light Side truly is”

“NEVER!!” The Sith came at Turbogeek in a complete fury, smashing at the Jedi with unbridled rage. Turbogeek was forced to give way, the rage inside this Sith making him faster and more powerful. The Jedi allowed the force to guide him, the sabre becoming almost like a wall of light as it parried the attacks of Jen’saari. Oddly, enough, it almost seemed like to Turbogeek that this Sith was herding him in a particular direction, towards the south. He testd it by making a move sideways, to see the Sith desperately attacked, reforcing him to go back south.

He’s got something in mind. I must be careful-

His footing gave way and he barely had time to leap away, realising that the Sith must have known about the existence of the cliff and had pushed Turbogeek into it. In his surprised jump away, he lost hold of his sabre, the weapon falling over the cliff to scythe away far into the darkness below. The Jedi tried to roll clearer, but the Sith gave him no time, pressing his sudden advantage, forcing the Jedi to either get split by his sabre or roll off the cliff. Turbogeek disappeared off the edge, out of sight. Jen’saari gave out a wry cry, taking his eye off the edge for a critical second and missing the flash of movement. He sauntered over, keen to see how far the Jedi fell, not hearing the soft thump behind him. The Sith looked over the ledge, saw nothing but a great yawning darkness and in contempt, spat over the edge.

“Looking for me?”

Defences totally down, Jen’saari spun in surprise and was kicked in the face. The Sith tried to regain his footing, but another mighty kick was enough to pick the Sith off the ground and he fell shrieking over the edge, too far away to grab a handhold and flick himself up again like the Jedi mush have done and not concentrating enough to harness the Force to cushion the blow of a jutting ledge he hit 20 meters below, then for him to bounce off and continue the fall far beyond sight. The echoes of rocks hitting the canyon walls echoed for a while and then was followed by a dull thump. Turbogeek didn’t approach the ledge but instead felt the Sith death through the Force. It gave him no joy, only a deep sadness at another cruelly wasted life, a life that had been corrupted by Callista. It was just another in the long line of things that she would eventually be called to account for.

Turbogeek walked back to where the Garou, Shay and the prisioners were.

With her Jedi senses, Shay could tell the mood of regret that the Jedi Master was in. She ran up to him.

“Turbo, what’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

“No Shay, no I’m not”

“What happened?”

“There was a cliff Shay. Our young Sith tried to learn how to fly”

“Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“He failed to learn in time.” Turbogeek walked off and sat by himself a short distance away, alone in his thoughts. Verse came over to Shay.

“Is there something wrong? Master Jedi seems to have a cloud of sadness about him”

Shay turned to Verse. “He said there was a cliff and the Sith failed to learn how to fly?”

“He must be talking about the canyon to the south of here. It’s about 1000 meters deep and almost vertical drop. But the learning to fl…oh no.”

Shay got it too. She looked at Turbogeek, head drooped almost to his knees and for the first time begun to see how painful it was for a true Jedi to be forced to take a life, no matter how just the cause. She stood up and slowly approach Turbogeek, and just as slowly sat down next to him.

“Do you need to talk?”

He looked up. “Why?”

She saw past the question, seeing what Turbogeek was really asking “I don’t know DT. Master Yogurt once told be it would be hard to be a Jedi and I guess this must be one of those times”

He smiled, a sad and lonely smile. “Yeah. Shay, I’ll be okay. Go back to the others and tell them to make one of the ships ready to leave. Believe me, if I was not like this, I wouldn’t be a Jedi”

She nodded and got up. “I hope I never have to kill someone”

Turbogeek watched as Shay walked away. “I wish I never did” he said quietly to himself.

--

The energy field that kept the Vog’on inside it’s area hummed away, allowing safe viewing of the monster now it was awake and very much ready to do something nasty to it’s captors. The Sith Lord Bromine looked at the lizard beast as it yet again hurled itself at the field, only to be knocked back. It’s size and speed were no less impressive than he had seen before, nor it’s obvious intelligence and it’s ability to be single minded when it wanted to be. The containment field snapped and buzzed again as this time a tail lashed out, seeking any hole in the field it could use to leverage an escape.

“Doesn’t give up easily” grunted Vengenance

“No, I guess if I was a Vog’on I wouldn’t take no for an answer either” replied Bromine. “Damn impressive I must say. I wonder where these things came from in the first place?”

“Don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I would not go for a holiday there. Not exactly the type of things I like sharing a planet with”

Bromine had to agree, although from all accounts it was the Vog’on who were the ones who didn’t like sharing planets. Another person came into the room, a single Jedi. The two Sith turned and saw it was Rmaio.

“Hey look what we caught Jedi. Do you like it?” simpered Vengeance

Rmaio didn’t bother commenting in return, instead stared at the best that was at this time staring back at the Jedi, a rather unpleasant stream of drool coming out of one side of it’s mouth. It suddenly hit the containment field with such rage that Rmaio took a step back.

“By the Force, how can something like that come about? I’ve never felt such a concentration of the Dark Side in on being like that.”

“I wouldn’t mind knowing either, we can use it to wipe you Jedi out after the necessity of this alliance is over” said Bromine

“I’m sure you’ll try Sith. Do we have any information from our two house guests?”

“Nothing from this thing, but then again no one has really tried. I’ve done some mind probing, but it resistance to that is incredible and I don’t think we’ll get anything useful out of this. The human however, we’ve already got what we wanted. He told us where to go next, told us all the contacts here, in fact even showed us the setups. He confirmed there had been a pullout by Callista just before we got here and that all operations were suspended until we left. It seems she decided to go undercover while we came out looking for her and was hopeful we would pass her by”

“That was quick. Either he was weak willed or you have some interrogation techniques I don’t want to know about”

Bromine laughed. “No, Jedi. We also found out he was a greedy little bugger. We just told him we would pay for what he knew and give him a hiding place. He was reluctant at first, but after he tested us with giving us a few titbits, he saw how big our coin bag was and went for the whole sabacc pot. We obliged, providing the things we can confirm here pay out.”

“Ahhh. And so far have they?”

“Yes, better than we expected. We found some data disks on the whole operation and also her decrypt codes. We are analysing the whole lot now, as well as bring the few operatives revealed here under arrest”

Rmaio nodded, continued to stare at the Vog’on. “Pretty impressive Bromine. At least this wasn’t a waste of time, at best we have real leads on the bolt hole Callista is in. Well done”

The Vog’on stopped hitting the containment field, faced the three humans and spoke, pointing at Bromine

“Yooouuuuu. Yooouuuuu will not get offffff planet alivvveeee. Bromineeee will dieeee for thisssss. I invoke curseeeeee of death on youuuuu”

Bromine stared back at the Vog’on. “You have to get out of there first, lizard, and if you do, my sabre will be waiting”

The Vog’on only replied with a truly ghastly grin and then sat down on the floor, still grinning at Bromine. If anything, this was more unnerving. The Sith Lord continued to stare for some time longer, then affecting an air of who cares, he walked out of the room, followed by Vengeance. Rmaio noted he was alone and decided to try and question the Vog’on, who was still staring at the door Bromine had left.

“Do you know of someone called Venom?”

The Vog’on snapped his attention around. To Rmaio’s surprise the beast answered.

“Yesssss, Venom I knowwww. Many seasons agoooo. Jedi he is nowwww”

“You know who he is now?”

“Heee is Jediiii. That is enough toooo knowwww”

Interesting thought Rmaio. So they know that much. I wonder what else they know of the one who was Venom? Another time perhaps, there were other questions he wanted to ask.

“Callista. What do you know of here?”

The Vog’on used an oddly birdlike twist of his head to look at the Jedi and then used it’s tail as a seat. “Turnnnn off prision. Weeeee talk moreeee”

“That’s not something I would think would be wise on my half. You’re already proven yourself to be dangerous”

“Feeeeel fear doooo you?”

“A Jedi doesn’t know fear. I’m more concerned with what you could do before we stopped you again”

“What I couldddddd dooooo or woulddd doooo?”

The Jedi Master had to admit this wasn’t what he was expecting. He was expecting a savage monster with little reason, he found a beast all right but it’s obvious intelligence was something else again. The Jedi had been expecting mindless machines and to be face to face with a being that could reason and knew what it was doing…..it was as chilling as maybe meeting Palpatine might have been.

“Palpatineeee was a foolll.”

What? Rmaio stared at the Vog’on in numbness, hardly daring to believe this thing actually may of read his feelings.

“Your thoughtssss are obviousss Jediiiii, it doessss not take Shamannnn to read themmm. Palpatine tried to claim usssssss, he failed. Callista tried to claimmm ussssss, she will fail toooo. We wait forrrr the oneee fortoldd, who walkssss among the livinggg todayyyy”

Rmaio had to admit he was now very confused, not knowing what to say or expect next. A promised one? Okay, maybe a bit of a guess could help here.

“Venom was your chosen one? Chosen for what?”

“Not just himmmm. Two otherssss that walkkk nowwww. Time that we have waitedddd for isss nowwww hereee and nowwww weeee can nowwww reveal ourselvessss, even to the Jediiii. Weeee have found twoooo, third weee will findddd and then Coruscant dieeee.”

“Your expecting to be able to kill a planet with three people? How are you going to manage that?”

“Theyyyy will enableeee Vog’on to killlll planet. Theyyyy are the keyyyy weeee neeeed.”

Now why in the Force would this thing tell me this, Rmaio thought. Would it not be more logical to just shut up and not say a word, or were they so confident that they believed it didn’t matter now?

“Even now Jediiii, we goooo forthhh and get ready. We have eatennn many planetssss in the past, Coruscant will not be the lasttttt, but it willll be moreee than enoughhh for longgg time”

“How in the Force are you able to pick off what I’m thinking? Only one trained in the Force could have a hope of doing that!”

“Weeee wereeeee bought outttt of the Darkkkk Sideeee Jediiiii. We hungerrrr and thristtt for death”

”Bought out of the Dark Side? How is that possible?”

“Some secretsss can not be tolddd Jediiii. It issss not harddd to readdd your thoughtssss, you do not guardddd themmm”

Now I can understand why the reports of their speed are true thought Rmaio. They must be able to use the Force but are unable to consciously control it. Now that is something to know! Rmaio decided to test the theory, putting up a mental shield and mentally insulting the Vog’on. Other than a puzzled glance from the beast, nothing happened. The Jedi kept the mind block up, knowing that would put the Vog’on at a disadvantage.

“I think I can understand. Now, what are you doing here on Tattooine?”

“Asssss I said Jediiii, somethingssss will not be toldddddd. No moreeee will I speak to youuuuuuu, except tell Dark person that he diesssss before I leaveeee”

“Bromine? And how do you think your going to do that?”

“Youuuu seeeee”

Rmaio could tell by the way the Vog’on turned away that there would be no further words with the Vog’on. The Jedi shrugged and decided it was best walk out and discusss the unexpected conversation with the other Jedi. He nodded to a guard who was stationed at the door as he walked out, not seeing the sly glance the Vog’on gave his back.

The Vog’on curled up n the ground, now content to wait for rescue he was quite sure was coming, the convesation was only to cover a dark sense the Vog’on felt, to distract the Jedi from feeling it too. One of this fellow Vog’on was close and soon Freggie would be free and the Dark one Bromine would pay for this outrage.

--

The massed forces on Hoth continued to make their way across the snowfields, now with a small gale making passage somewhat now difficult, but not impossible. Night had fallen adding to the difficulty, but the scopes and sensors of the AT-AT’s made short work of that. They were about 30 minutes away from the former rebel base, the critical time when the final advance on the target would be taken. General Scorpion, in the lead AT-AT and in the control cabin as his wont cursed the cold, wishing he had ordered better heaters in the massive war machines.

“Any word from the spotters? Have the seen anything?” asked Scorpion to a Storm trooper commander at his side.

“They have seen nothing Sir. If they are to be believed, there is nothing here”

All of the other sensors at Scorpion’s command verified the troopers report and there was nothing he could sense in the Force, other than a vague nagging something was going to happen.

“Any word from Tohmahawk?”

“No Sir. He has maintained complete radio silence”

Probably a good thing, but still it would be good to have a report from the man who was closest.

“Very well, proceed to the South Entrance and prepare to disembark. All troops are to presume armed hostiles inside and to proceed with the appropriate caution. Clear?”

The trooper nodded, leaving to convey the orders. Scorpion turned to watch thru the viewports, only occasionally seeing a hint of one of the other AT-AT’s through the dark and the gale force wind. He once again reached out through the Force trying to sense what he could, trying to sense if Callista’s forces were here. Also trying to sense what Tohmahawk was up to.

--

Tohmahawk ducked behind a pillar, pulling himself into the shadows as he heard footsteps coming towards him. He waited until the two beings walked past, discussing something in a grunting language the soldier had never heard before. He waited until the corridor was all clear, then with his gun held close to his chest and sensors in his helmet turned up to the max, he moved quickly to the next cover, all the time looking for a intruder detection system, a holocam, guards, anything. It was staggering to think that this base was so under guarded, the beings in here obviously not concerned with intruders or a surprise attack. Tohmahawk had to wonder why, this base was clearly a well kept secret and the people inside went through great lengths to make it stay that way, so it boggled Tohmahawk’s mind why there was simply no secondry or primary defence systems, no alarms and no concerns from the beings he had seen walk past in the last hour. The base was located in the north wing of the former rebel base, well decked out with plenty of planning, well guarded against the extreme conditions and well provisioned.

It even had the most modern weapons in it’s well lit and ordered bays, with personell keeping the lot in top condition. It was so bizarre, Tohmahawk was starting to doubt that this was anything else other than a base set up for settlers, though why anyone would come to this frozen hell to live was beyond him. He was beginning to be tempted to just grab someone and ask outright what in blazing suns was going on here. A well concealed base, well looked after and well provisioned just didn’t make sense. He decided to try something, he deliberately stepped out from his cover, pointing his weapon at the ground, he walked up the corridor until he heard footsteps. He didn’t duck back in, but waited unto the being, a human appeared. Thye human didn’t even look surprised to see a heavily armed warrior, armour glistening in the light stand in his way.

“Good evening to you. Are you part of the wargames going on outside?”

Huh? Tohmahawk decided to play this out and see what happened.

“Yes I am. We were not expecting anyone here and hence I’m here to scout out a likely location for a staged attack in the next few days. My commander is trailing us out for a operation somewhere else and he wants only the best. Please tell, who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Me? I’m a miner. There was a large deposit of minerals found not far from here and we are getting ready to begin taking them from the ground. We are part of the Mining Guild. And what about you? Are you of the New Republic?”

“No, Imperial. Is it okay if I look around?”

“Sure, help yourself. There isn’t anything here other than mining equipment as yet, so I suppose it’s okay. Have a good day to you”

That utterly floored Tohmahawk. The other walked away, obviously not caring about the lurking soldier, where he came from or who he was. Never had Tohmahawk seen anything like it, not even the bases furthest away from trouble on the most peaceful planets were more security conscious than this. In fact, the total lack of anything interesting was just making Tohmahawk wonder more and more what was really going on. This just made no sense.

He walked down a few more corridors, got greeted by a few others in a friendly, non committal way and still his unease grew, despite all the signs of nothing of interest. It just didn’t feel right. Tohmahawk had been to many places in his travels and there had been nothing as calm, as ordered, as perfect…..as fake. The realisation came to him suddenly and when it did, it was with a certainty he knew could not be wrong. He had to admit, it was a damn good idea, throw up a perfectly normal looking base, make it as unsuspicious as possible and then have the real base of operations somewhere else, even right under the noses of anyone investigating.

Nice. But of course he had to prove it and he came up with the perfect way, but first he waited until a human walked past. To his surprise, that person stopped.

“All is normal” the human said, waving a hand.

“All is normal” said Tohmahawk

“You should leave now” said the human

“I should leave now” said Tohmahawk.

“Move along”

Tohmahawk turned and walked away, the Sith watching the soldier who he had effortlessly mind controlled. He laughed as the rebel turned a corner, satisfied that he had kept the appearance of what they wanted. It may have been a risk to have this elaborate set up, but it was working….

A surge of emotion snapped the Dark Jedi’s attention to the present and a bouncing ball that stopped at his feet. The flashing lights on it all went the same colour and the Dark Jedi’s eyes went wide in surprise.

The explosion, while not huge for a Thermal detonator, rocked the base and sprayed Tohmahawk with ice chips as he scrambled for cover. He cursed himself for his foolishness, he should have kept the Dark Jedi thinking he was mind controlled, not retaliated with the bomb. @#%$.

But at least his will was too strong for mind control to work and his training to recognise it and to deal with it obviously worked too. Pity his anti-stupidity training had failed. How was he now going to discover the whereabouts of Callista’s main base?

Ah well. At least Tohmahawk had come ready for a fight. He armed the huge un he carried, set it for kill and ran down the hall as alarms hooted.

--

The lead AT-AT made it to it’s target, @#%$pit swivelling as it took aim at various areas that could have held concealed weapons. The occupants peered out into the darkness, trying to see from their vantage the local features, which were obscured by the dark and also swirling snow. General Scorpion glanced at the sensors, clearly outlining the hole that was the south entrance of the ex-rebel base, looked outside and then with a nod, ordered his troops to disembark and to enter the cavern. He waited until the sensors told him his orders were being obeyed and he too got ready to go outside and join them.

If he thought the inside of the AT-AT was cold, it was nothing in comparison to the outside. It hit like a physical blow, cutting and biting with the wind seeming to go straight through him, despite his thermal armour, despite the heavy clothes. He forced himself to move, running towards the direction of the base, making the snow and ice drift that partially blocked the cavern, clambering over in almost desperation like the rest of his men to get some shelter from thins hideous cold.

He rolled down the over side of the bank, instantly relieved. It was just as cold, but the gale was safely on the other side. Scorpion unclipped his com link and spoke to the AT-AT commnander

“I want all vehicles to stay in motion, I want everyone on patrol and to not turn off their vehicles. Understood?”

The commander gave back an acknowledgement, probably thinking of the same thing. The weather was now so cold that it was unlikely that the war machines could be restarted if they were switched off and the drivers would probably die. The moving around also would prevent frost buildup and keep hydraulics working. Scorpion returned the comm. link to his belt, began to look around. He saw his men had begun to spread out, to form a safe perimeter, to build up a safety zone which to base operations.

It was all being done with all the precision and speed of well trained and battle hardened soldiers, the General feeling a touch of pride as he oversaw the operation. He himself began to move to a point position, joining the lead group, using his Force abilities to search out for anyone ahead, for any nasty surprises. The Force told him that there were people around, plenty of them to the north. The senses told him that they were aware of the troops now arcing into the base, but no hostile retaliation, no one running for arms, only curiosity. Odd. He signalled for a stop of the advance, instead decided to wait for a bit, to see what the ones at the what seemed like the north side of the base did.

After a few minutes, he signalled for the troops, now numbering 1200 all up to group up and form ranks. Well, if that was the case, that no-one seemed to be concerned with their presence, then they were just going to walk in and say hello. Calmly, peacefully but with fingers on triggers incase there was something else going on – Scorpion could feel from the Force that something wasn’t right, that something was going to happen. He decided to just be on his guard and be ready for anything.

The hollow boom of a explosion echoed through the base, instantly snapping Scorpion and his troops to attention. He scanned through the Force and this time noted a huge change. Where there was calm, now there was action, now people were running about and it seemed getting weapons. Scorpion also sensed someone amongst the milling minds, a presence he knew all to well. He cursed, wondering what the hell Tohmahawk was thinking setting off that explosion.

“Okay everyone, follow me!” shouted Scorpion. He lit his sabre and began to run to the point where he had felt Tohmahawk’s presence, wondering how this hornet’s nest was going to react.

--

The Sabretooth, Scorpion’s flagship kept it’s quiet orbit and monitoring of the attack on the ground. The ships Captain gave a lazy look around the huge bridge, seeing the calmness and order that prevailed. Reports came in form the surface, giving the appearance that all was well and this whole sorjoin was but a waste of time. Well, it wasn;t his place to question General Scorpion’s orders, but this did seem awfully odd that they should come all this way to find nothing. The Captian had never really understood Scorpion’s powers in the Force, just took them for granted as they had never been proved wrong.

He walked across to the view port, inspecting the area out wards, the planet below and the endless blackness of space above. He was somewhat lost in thought when there was a small clearing of a throat behind him. His main scanning officer was standing just behind.

“Luietenant, do you have something for me?

“Yes sir. There is a fleet of Dreadnaughts that have come out of hyperspace and they are coming in this direction”

“Dreadnaughts? Who uses those things anymore? Well, how many?”

“9 sir. We cant tell more than that at this range”

“You think they have hostile intentions?”

“Cant say sir. But I cant think of any reason why they would be here”

“Agreed” Turning away from the comms officer, he moved to his group of bridge officers, mainly in one group at this time.

“Gentlemen, it seems we have someone coming. Battle stations gentlemen, yellow alert.” The hoot of alarms signalling a yellow alert echoed through the ship as crewers began to scramble for their positions, weapons went into warm up mode and the mighty SSD began to lumber a turn to face the approaching 9 ships head on. The shield generators also came online, protecting the vast ship from everything other than overwhelming fire. The Captain looked at the sensor displays barking out directional orders, placing the ship where he wanted it to be. 9 Dreadnaughts were going to be an interesting matchup, the 600 meter long ships arrayed against one 10 km long.

It was going to be an interesting couple of hours.

--

With the explosion still ringing in his ears, Tohmahawk raced down the corridor and took shelter as he saw responding troops run past. Not willing at this point to enter a firefight, the soldier used all his sneaking skills, to keep himself hidden. He found a door that was locked, quickly used a codebreaker to open it and went inside, locking the door behind him. He quickly scanned the room, seeing it was a store of some kind with no other apparent exits. His temper got the better of him, he ripped off his helmet, and sent it bouncing into floor in a flash of anger at his own stupidity. He kicked at a box and went on a mini rampage, kicking out at anything, expending his fury on the objects of the room, breaking some of the boxes open with the power of his kicks.

He stopped, still not satisfied, but somewhat calmer. He moved over to pick up his helmet and as he did, noted one box, about 2 meters long, split and with some kind of fluid dripping out the side. Now a bit curious, he looked closer, seeing it seemed to be some sort of alcohol by the smell. Well, more like embalming liquid. It reek even got past the filters of the helmet, strong and pungent. He decided to open the box, which proved none too difficult and then looked inside.

And closed the box just as fast. In it was a jumbled mess of body parts, some unidentifiable, others all too so. Tohmahawk’s mind reeled, noting the boxes all seemed to be the same size and shape. All full of body parts? He decided he didn’t want to find out and decided to get out of there, only to hear the door open, he barely had time to leap behind a box pile before he heard one set of heavy feet and another, much lighter. By fortune, the boxes he had hid behind had a small crack between them, he could see a good portion of the room. Two being were in view, one a smallish fluffy thing Tohmahawk had seen of before but couldn’t name and a huge lizard type animal, clawed with a scorpion type tail. Standing nine feet tall, hugely muscled, it utterly radiated menace.

What in blazing suns is that? Tohmahawk wondered. He froze when it began to speak

“I tolddddd youuuuu, casket was brokennnn. Think I wouldddd waste my timeeee and yoursss?”

“Humph, must have been clumsy handlers. It certainly would not have been my men, they know better than to treat your luggage this badly”

“Nooooo matterrrrr right nowwww. What of thissss explosion and a intruderrrr?”

“It seems Darth Menace went to check out someone who had turned up and was looking around. He was blown to pieces by a genade of some and it’s believed the intruder did it, then escaped. We also have what appears to be a taskforce inside the base, coming this way. They came on a Super Star Destroyer that our friends are going to take care of”

“Sloppyyyyy. Do youuuu think we or Callista would rewardddd foolishnesss? Why nottttt stoppppp intruderrr when have chanceeee?”

“I don’t know. I was not in charge, I would have done things quite differently but that is a mute point. Right now we have someone inside the perimeter and a task force outside it. What do you suggest we do, attack?”

“Leaveeeee to meeeeeee. Youuuu, go down tooooo control centreee and waitttt for furtherrrrr orderssss. Do not screwwwww up like formerrrrr commander”

The smaller beast bowed and walked out. The huge lizard like beast snarled quietly, then opened the cracked box, eating some of the offal inside. It finished and then suddenly began to flick it tongue outwards, obviously tasting the air, nostrils flaring as it sniffed it as well. Tohmahawk knew the thing had picked his scent, he mentally prepared to fight. The beast suddenly turned walked out of the room, closing the door behind it. Tohmahawk waited a moment, got quickly up and got to the door, used his audio sensors in his helmet to tell if anything was outside, keyed the door and exited, allowing the door to lock behind him. He looked at the ground, the ice particles allowing him to see a few sets of footprints. Some were of humans, like his, one presumably of the massive beast and one other, presumably of the furry thing. Deciding he didn’t really want to tangle with the lizard beast, he decided to try and track the smaller thing, deciding that the words control centre meant that it was going somewhere important. He took note of the tracks and then began to move with all haste where they lead

--

General Scorpion suddenly called a halt as the Force suddenly flared a warning. He signalled for everyone to take cover, which was done with the precise haste of well trained soldiers, he chose to linger a bit to see what may have caused his danger sense to go off.

He found it quickly. A dark presence or several of them, plus the sense of plenty of fighters behind them. He ducked behind the shell of an old speeder sabre ready in one hand and a blaster in the other, now able to hear the advancing forces, then seeing a glimpse of the dark presences and then the massed troops behind. It seemed there were 12 lizard like things, giants but unarmed and about 300 soldier behind them.

“Halt there” Scorpion had gotten up, yelling the command. The other group did so.

“Who are you?”

“Weeeee areeeee Deathhhh. You dieeee!”

The lizard thing leaped, followed by his fellows and with a yell, the troops. However, in a blaze pf blaster fire, Scorpions troops who had also been moving to positions unseen, blasted into the attackers with a storm of crossfire, troops being mowed down and three of the beasts also being killed as dozens of energy bolts cut them to pieces. The remaining troops dropped to cover and fired back, the air now a hail of deadly blaster fire.

Scorpion himself took careful aim, hitting the lead reptile in the face between the eyes. He fully expected the beast to go down, to die but it only snarled and came for him at a speed he could hardly believe. The sabre came up and with a deft move, Scorpion cut off an arm. Expecting that to stop it, he was instead crashed across the floor by the tail used as a whip. The General skidded to a stop, winded but otherwise okay, to see the beast come at him again. This time Scorpion made no mistake cutting its head off after jumping another tail strike.

The air continued to howl with blaster fire, but it was a forgone conclusion, Scorpion’s men were better armed in greater numbers and also in better positions – or should have been. The beasts were proving almost indestructible, only succumbing to huge amounts of blaster fire, if they could be hit. Scorpion witnessed one beast rip through a platoon, until he himself came over and ended it’s rampage. The beasts speed and outright ferocity were amazing! Eventually, even they had to retreat, only five left and the 300 odd support troops only down to a handful. Scorpion’s troops however hadn’t gotten off lightly, most of the casualties from the lizards.

Scorpion’s sabre blazed, blocking blasts and reflecting some back to the shooters, pushing forward. He signaleed for his troops to advance and the did in a cover and run set of moves, some providing covering fire, others running forward to take advance positions and then laying down a covering fire to allow others to advance and so on. The beasts turned and ran, their troops falling. Scorpion bellowed to cease fire, seeing their enemies had either been killed or run. He signalled for his lieutenants to come to him.

“What casualties did we suffer?”

“Sir, not many from the normal troops but up to 15% against those lizard beasts” replied one. The others nodded, confirming those words.

“15% losses against a handful of walking reptiles?”

“Sir, it could have been more. Those things are damn hard to target because of their speed and damn hard to kill. I estimate one took upwards of 50 shots, all well targeted before dying”

“50 shots? Are you certain?”

“I hit it with 4 of my own in that time sir. How it is possible some thing that tough can exist is beyond my comprehension, not even our best armour can stop that much energy!”

“Not much can. Okay, this is what we are going to do. Split up into groups of about 60 and split up, but stay in contact with each other. I want the wounded out of here and I want a detail of AT-ST’s ready to get into this hangar in a moment’s notice. Convey my wish for TIE’s to be ready to blast anything that comes out of this base that isn’t us. Does someone have a long range comm. link?”

A device was wordlessly offered to Scorpion, he took up the device, punched ina frequency and a encryption code and without waiting ofr a acknowledgement form the other side of the transmission he simply said “Now” and clicked the transmission off. He handed back the device and signalled for the troops to begin to carry out his orders.

--

The Sabretooth approached the incoming 9 Dreadnaughts, releasing it’s 11 squadrons of Advanced TIE’s, TIE Interceptors and Sindar gunboats as a shield. The Dreadnaughts responded, each releasing a squad of fighters of their own. The Sabretooth’s commander looked at the scopes of the incoming fighters, seeing that Threat Analysis had them marked as “Uglies”, a usually derisive term for cobbled together fighters, usuallay combinations of old TIE and Y-Wings, though there were usually some more effective combinations, like these ones approaching the Imperial fighters. They mainly appeared to TIE/X-Wing combo’s usually a X-Wing wing set and a TIE @#%$pit, probably the best Ugly there was. It gave the craft a better power level and also alleviated one of the normal TIE’s worst point’s – no shields, plus gave the craft true hyperspace abilities. Scorpion had long ago provided the Commander with shielded advanced TIE’s which were faster than the accursed A-Wing and more able to take a decent hit without damage to the craft. Sure, there were still those ide hard Imperials who thought shield were for cowards, but they tended to die in a ball of flame as their shielded opponents got the better of them.

The fighters met head on, the flicker of laser fire lighting up the battle with errie flashes, combined with the first kills, fighters being blown to atoms. The sensors showed that the unknown attackers were hold their own in what had become a messy dogfight. Some of the better pilots got through the fighter screen, beginning lone runs against the SSD, often with Imperial fighters nibbling on their tail. The SSD’s weaponry began to reply, hundreds of guns blasting energies into space.

As the fighters twisted and turned in the vacuum of space, the immense SSD met the Dreadnaughts head on. The massive warships began to turn their energies against each other, almost ripping the fabric of space apart. Surrounding the far larger ship, the Dreadnaughts traded blows, trying to knock the shields down as well as swatting at fighters that buzzed around.

The commander of the SSD knew this was not going be a fight easily won and at this point was wishing he had some backup of any kind, to tip the balance of the fight. He looked at the sensors, noted that one of the Dreadnaughts had over shot it’s position and was in the perfect position for a broadside. The Dreadnaught captain must have realised it too, the ship was turning away.

“All guns that can… fire a Dreadnaught designated 5…now!”

A SSD carried several hundred turbolasers and an equal number of ion cannon, and if a target strayed into it’s side zone, nothing short of a Imperial Star Destroyer could survive. The Dreadnaught seemed to skip sideways with the massive barrage, shields being crushed, hull burst, fires from escaping air blazed. A second and third barrage set of more explosions and then in a spectacular detonation the main reactor went up, breaking the Dreadnaught into firey sun, also managing to hit one of it’s fellow ships with some minor damage.

The Commander didn’t smile. He knew just how hard pressed they were and the loss of 1 opposing capital ship was going to make little difference in the end. A TIE chased a ugly into a collision with the superstructure the Commander could clearly see.

“Keep rotating this ship so that the Dreadnaughts can’t stay in a blind zone and order the fighters to target their shield once their fighters are neutralised. Comms, I want to know if there is any chance of backup!”

The SSD rocked as a concentrated concussion missile barrage hit the nose, breaking through shields and blowing into the bow superstructure. The Commander began to wonder if this was a fight he could win

--

Tohmahawk kept moving, now finally in sight of the small furry being he was tracking and trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible. In contrast to how the base was when he first arrived, it was now total chaos as the personnel scrambled to meet the attack on it by Scorpion’s troops. Tohmahawk himself was finding at with the confusion and the rushing about, he couls almost move openly, no-one was really paying attention to a lone soldier, albeit heavily armed and going in the opposite direction. The being he was trying follow was being jostled a bit, which made keeping up and keeping attention away from himself easier. Eventually it turned down a side passway, which Tohmahawk saw when he got there was empty and he would be unable to follow without being seen.

He cursed under his breath, then quickly looked down the corridor again. The furry thing has disappeared. Tohmahawk moved quickly to catch up and was somewhat puzzled to see that the passway was a dead end, with no exits. Confused, he looked about, wondering where in the Force that furry thing had gotten to.

He looked up in exasperation and saw a vent, with no handholds, it went up for nearly thirty meters and he could just see the furry being disappearing at it’s apex. Now how in the Force did it get up there, and how am I supposed to follow, he wondered. He didn’t have an ascention gun and he sure wasn’t a Jedi.

“THERE’S ONE!!!!”

Tohmahawk looked at the entrance of the pass way in surprise and saw a group of guards, stopping and beginning to point weapons at him, His battle relexes kicked in, he aimed his cannon and began firing into the guards. The cannon spat at rapid fire, mowing down anything that moved. Knowing he was trapped like a rat, Tohmahawk took a chance, turning the gun onto a wall and using a full power blast that nearly ripped his arms out of their sockets, blew a wall to pieces, hoping escape lay in that direction. The blast threw sparks and smoke everywhere, Tohmahawk didn’t hesitate, he threw himself at what he hoped was a hole – it was – and ran like crazy down the dark corridor on the other side, pausing slightly to leave an unpleasant surprise – a trip mine that would dissuade pursuers. Hardly knowing where he was, he bolted up some stairs, turned a corner and waited until the trip mine was detonated. The explosion echoed up the corridors and with that, Tohmahawk began to proceed up another flight of stairs, senses on full alert

--


So far, the group lead by Scorpion had been unopposed as they came through the base. He could hear fighting in different places, but none really close. The com link occasionally gave reports, telling the General how well his troops were going – so far quite well. Resistance was fierce, but not impossible. Another of the those damn lizard things had been killed, thankfully at no cost. Another report came in.

“Sir, the AT-AT’s ordered to move to the north side of the base have reported they have intercepted what appeared to be reinforcements, our forces have engaged and stopped them”

“Good. Any reports from Sbaretooth?”

“Heavily pressed sir. Our fighters are on the offensive, but the SSD may not survive. The Dreadnaughts are commanded with considerable skill”

“Not good. They will pay if I lose my favourite ship”

A shot zinged off the metal above Scorpion’s head and in a flash, he had his sabre out, blocking blaster shots, while a hail of return fire screamed by Scorpion. The General advanced, deflecting shots straight back into the attackers, right at the forefront his troops, just where he liked to be.

“Move forward!” yelled Scorpion. He hardly paused to see if his troops complied, Scorpion moved forward, swiftly cutting into troops too slow to move out of his way. The lightsabre flashed and danced, almost seeming to have a live of its own. Blaster shots ricocheted off walls and the ceiling, filling the hallway with smoke and ice chips. Scorpion’s adrenaline rushed, the Force flowing through him as he used his anger to become more powerful, to feel where danger was coming from and then to duck as a claw swung out to try and decapitate him. He stepped away and came at the lizard thing, leaping over a tail swing and neatly cutting the beast in half.

An explosion behind him knocked him forward, pieces of wall and floor peppering his combat armour, the heat of the explosion singeing his nostrils. Scorpion hit the ground face first, instinctively covering his head with an arm as shrapnel flew by. He waited a few seconds, saw the corridor ahead was reasonably clear, began to get up. He suddenly twigged that there was no supporting blaster fire, turned and saw that the corridor behind him was blocked. He was cut off from his troops, alone.

He swore once, then with a determined turn, began to face what opposition he had remaining, clearing his path and then marching down the hall to find away out of the sudden predicament he was in.

--

The Dreadnaught designated target 1 flared and in a massive detonation exploded, lighting up the darkness with it’s firey death. It had wandered too close to the broadside zone and the hard pressed SSD had obliged, nearly 100 turbolasers and ion cannons firing in unison. The SSD commander hardly acknowledged the explosion, before turning back to his own screens and getting back to the job of trying to win this battle. At this point, the Commander had to admit it wasn’t looking likely. 6 Dreadnaughts remained in fighting condition, 1 other drifted in space, fires of escaping atmosphere flaring as it floated away, escape pods signalling the escape of it’s crew. 4 squadrons of Uglies still remained, still making runs at the SSD, still being chased by Sbaretooth’s remaining fighters. Every now and then a fighter flared into vapour but still it was not enough. Whoever was commanding the opposition forces was obviously highly capable and knew how to deploy his forces to maximum effect. Sbaretooth had lost 50% shields, many guns and 70% of thrust. Fires were visible and damage reports were being yelled about as the ship struggled to maintain it’s advantage of superior firepower, but that was being slowly ground down.

“Sir! We are detecting a gravity body close enough to us to prevent a hyperspace jump!”

The Commander snapped his attention to the officer that had made that report. “An Interdictor has gotten close to us? Where is it?”

“Sir, to port. It appears to have jumped in the vicinity while our sensors were scrambled by the last ion cannon attack.”

The Commander inwardly groaned, now knowing even escape was not an option. It seemed that they were in for the duration and with another explosion rocking the huge ship, it looked like it was going to be Sabretooth’s final stand.

“Sir, transmission coming through. Do you wish to take it?”

“If it’s those scum asking if we wish to surrender, them him I’ll see him in hell”

“No sir, caller claims to be allied to us?”

The Commander was somewhat confused, nodded. A holoview came alive, the image on an officer came to life. “Commander of the Sabretooth, Star Destroyers Storm, Predator and Raptor requesting permission to join the battle. We have Imperial Interdictors surrounding the battle and all our fighters are ready to be under your command”

“About time, what took you so long?” snarled the Commander. “Well, what are you waiting for Captain? Wipe this rabble out”

“With pleasure Sir!” The holoview disappeared and the Commander now noted on his screen that there were several more ships had appeared on the scopes, three standing off (obviously the Interdictors in an encirclement position), with three Imperial class Star Destroyers now closing rapidly on the suddenly overpowered Dreadnaughts, who were now evidenced by their actions, deciding to stay near the SSD or turn and face the new threat. The confusion allowed the SSD to regroup, re-manoeuvre and begin to bear it’s working batteries of weapons against the Dreadnaughts. The enemy ships tried to escape, but with the Interdictors preventing a jump to hyperspace, an SSD behind them and three ISD bearing down on them, with their combined fleets of TIE’s getting to the Dreadnaughts first, the 6 capital ships didn’t stand a chance.

20 minutes later, the Commander ordered his crewers to stand down as the last opposing fighters were vaporised and the Interdictors shut down their gravity wave machines, the last Dreadnaught slowly tilted up and began a fiery decent into Hoth’s atmosphere.

The Commander smiled as he ordered the Sabretooth’s crew to begin the process of securing the ship from it’s damage and to begin to make emergency repairs. More of General scorpion’s fleet had appeared, bristling with fire power and ready for anything, surrounding the planet to make escape from the ice planet below.

“Send more troops to help The General’s ground forces, Lieutenant. I don’t wish to have us win this fight and not be able to tell our General about it”

The Commander got up nodded for the bridge captain to take over as he left the bridge. He nodded to Lady Razelle, who had arrived at the Bridge

“Well done Commander. I am sure The General would be most pleased”

“Thank you m’Lady. Any word from the surface?” he replied

“None as yet. Did I hear you order more troops to the surface?”

“Yes m’Lady. Do you object to that?”

“On the contrary Commander. I wish to join them”

“The Commander bowed. “Very well m’Lady. I shall inform the transports to expect you.” She nodded as the Commander conveyed the order and then left the Bridge, satisfied on was in the end a good day’s work.

--

Tohmahawk continued to run down a corridor, the sounds of pursuit distant but still coming in his direction. He paused for a second to place a trip mine at the base of a set of stairs he decided to go up, then with a huge burst of energy, ram the stair way, three stairs at a time. Gasping as he got to the top, he abrely slowed as the careened down the path way at the top, narrow and dark. He was forced to use his torch to see, his legs ached and his breath came in gasps. The cannon he carried weighted heavily on its shoulder straps, the backpack had come a bit loose and was thumping into his back. He turned slightly when he heard noises like that of people making the base of the stairs he had charged up, Tohmahawk saw there was no real cover, so he dived to the floor just as the sound of the trip mine blowing up echoed. The sounds of the roof collapsing behind him made him get up and run again, making a mad dash to be in the clear. Another large thump behind him and he got around a corner, slowing to a stop.

“Ohhhhhh boy” he sighed. He felt totally spent, allowing himself to slump to the ground. With some relief, he set the gun down, also took the backpack off for a spell. Reaching into it, he grabbed a drink, taking off his helmet to wipe the sweat off his face at the same time. The liquid sent a wave of refreshment through him, being laced with vitamins and other bodily energy fluids.

Still breathing heavily, but now regaining control he looked about the corridor he was in. Dark, narrow, it was however clean with no doors, but with a turn about 30 meters further on blocking further view. With the return way blocked, he knew either he was trapped or in a relatively safe place, depending on what was on the other side of the corridor. His gut feeling was that he was at this point safe, so he decided it was a good time to make contact with General Scorpion to see what he was up to. Taking out his com link, he patched through a call.

“Scorpion”. The voice on the other side was wary, almost whispering.

“Scorpion, this is Tohmahawk. Where about are you?”

“I’m on a frozen hell of a planet and I’m just pausing to ask the natives the way to the nearest tapcafe. Where the f*ck did you think I would be you idiot?!?”

Whow, he sounded pissed thought Tohmahawk. “Okay, I’ll call back later”

“Shut up and speak to me you stupid Rebel. What in the name of the force did you spark up here?”

“Ummmmm……. Would you believe they wouldn’t tell me where the refresher’s were?”

“Yes I do. Have you seen these lizard things? What in the name are they?”

Lizard things…? Ohh, had Scorpion encountered that thing too? “Don’t know, but I have reason they are running this place. I chanced to hear a conversation that indicated so.”

“Any idea how many of them there are?”

“Only saw one Scorpion. That was enough for me”

“Hmmm. Okay, so where are you Tohmahawk?”

“To be honest, I’m not 100% sure. And you?”

“That makes two of us. I’ve been cut off and I’m at present just trying to work out where I ….” The transmission cut off as Tohmahawk quickly cut the comlink off, grabbed his pack and his cannon, moved quickly around he first corner he had run around. Some thing had told him that a being was coming….another shuffling sound and Tohmahwak peeked cautiously around the corner, seeing a slight sliding of ice come from the roof, about twenty meters away. He suddenly froze, realising he had made another mistake, he had left his helmet in clear view at the point he had stopped to rest. He could hardly make himself breathe left alone move as a set of feet emerged from the ceiling, then flowed by the rest of the being – the furry thing that Tohmahawk had been originally followed. The being didn’t turn around, it just simply landed on the floor and sauntered away, going around the other corner and out of sight. With a sigh Tohmahawk unlocked himself, relaxing after that horribly close call. Thumbing on the comlink again, he called Scorpion again.

“Scorp, don’t say anything after we finish this conversation. I’m going to leave this thing on. Find one of your techs and see if you can follow the signal. I’ve found something that may be able to tell us what this base is for. Okay?”

Scorpion’s voice came back, a touch of curiosity in it. “Is that why you had to cut me off?”

“Yes. You do as I say?”

“Deal Tohmahawk. I’ll leave the channel open. Verbal report when you can.”

Tohmahawk clipped the comlink to his collar, resecured the backpack and picked up the cannon. He retrieved his helmet, put it back on, attaching an audio relay from it to the comlink, so that Scorpion could hear everything Tohmahawk could. The New Republic soldier cautiously began to move down the corridor, weariness now gone in his alertness. He stepped forward to the point the being had jumped from the roof, saw it was a ventilation shaft not unlike the one that thing went up. Tohmahawk was now on full alert, senses turned up to maximum as he looked at the track of the being left in the ice, then began to carefully moved to follow.

--

General Scorpion heard the crunch of Tohmahawk footsteps through the comlink, sounding cautious. The General used his force powers to try and locate Tohmahawk, failed. He instead decided to try Tohmahawk’s idea, to find a communications tech and do a bit of tracing to find out the Rebel’s position. Scorpion carefully moved down a corridor, striving to get back to his soldiers, occasionally coming across a group of the troops who had manned this base, usually just as quickly sending them running with a few thrown objects, tossed by the Force, or a wag of his lightsabre. A rare few tried to attack, just as quickly he dispatched them. Following the sounds of fighting, he quickly reached a fire fight, where some of his troops looked like they were pinned down by a cross fire. Scorpion, who was behind one of the groups who were doing the pinning, quickly waded iont ht e surprised troops, quickly ending the cross fire, which Scorpion;s troops took advantage of, quicky miving out and getting rid of the other side of the pincer. The General ran forward, quickly met up with the squad.

“Who is your commanding officer?”

“I am Sir. What can we do for you?”

“Do you have comm. technician here?”

“Yes Sir. Private Tg’yyk is one of the best”

Scorpion turned to face the private, who was carrying a field comm. unit. “Private, find the source of this signal. And make it quick” He handed over the comlink, the private clipped it into the field unit, looked at a data pad. “Sir, the signal is coming 120 degrees to the right. Do we wish to follow it?”

“Yes we do. Commander, what other men do you have here?”

“50 Sir. We have about 100 more near us.”

“Good. Your assigned to me now. Commander, protect the comm. unit operator and follow his directions to the letter. I shall take point. Questions?”

“No sir. Right, you heard the General, group up and follow the man!”

Scorpion pointed questioningly in the direction the comm. unit operator had indicated, he nodded and only waiting for acknowledgement from the commander, he took point and moved down the corridor closest to the direction the operator had indicated. His sabre in front of him, the grim General began to advance up the walk way, occasionally looking back for confirmation they were still going in the right direction. His Jedi/Sith senses probing ahead, he defused two traps he sensed, also taking the brunt of an ambush, before his forces could answer in a hail of returned blaster fire. They continued to advance until they came to a locked blast door. Scorpion paused, suddenly sensing something wasn’t right. He looked at the door and also it’s surrounds, wondering what had caused the silent warning in his head via the Force. He decided to scan the area, looking for anything that would have caused his unrest. Nothing he could sense on this side of the door was obvious, but when he scanned the other side…..

He quickly ordered a retreat, the troops began to back away as he stood his ground for a few more seconds. He took began to back away as the door opened, the grinding of ice making the normal door moving sounds ominous. Scorpion waved for his troops to get ready and then yelled to open fire as four of the lizard beasts leaped out, moving at incredible speeds. Scorpion lit the second side of his sabre, the deadly Sith weapon flashing outwards to meet the beasts while a hail of blaster fire howled around him, slowing the beasts but not stopping them entirely. The General used the Force to fling three of the lizards back, cut the fourth in pieces in a blink.

Screaming for a full out attack, he recklessly dashed forward, only to be slammed back by a massive tail to his midsection. Scorpion careened backward, sliding on the ground, quickly re-finding his feet and slamming one of the beasts backwards that had taken advantage of that last strike to try and finish the Sith off. The General got behind cover quickly and then sizing the situation, flung his sabre in a flat spin at the two other lizards. They ducked out of the way, but that move was enough for one of the beasts to stand still long enough to be killed by a concentrated rain of blaster fire, the other snarled, ready to attack, and was beheaded by the sabre returning to Scorpion, controlled by the Force. The final lizard had in the meantime, made it to the lead of Scorpion’s troops and was causing havoc, ripping into the troops. Another yelled order saw the lizard overwhelmed by a physical attack, nearly twenty troops going hand to hand and cutting the lizard down. The blaster fire slowly died off and the smoke cleared, leaving Scorpion to see four dead lizards and several of his own men dead.

He turned, seeing the comm. unit operator was unhurt and then nodding at the commander took up point again and began to lead his men through the blast doors that had hidden the beasts.

What WERE these things? wondered Scorpion. If they met a really sizable group of these things, even as few as 10, they were all likely to end up dead, without scorpion it was likely they would have gotten way with far higher losses. Not even the Darkness Keeper, his long ago trainer had told him of these things.

Advancing forward, Scorpion kept one end of his sabre lit, once again taking pint, once again on full alert for any unpleasant surprises.

--

The corridor seemed to twist and turn and with no doors on either side and with a ice cover on the floor, made tracking the furry beast easy for Tohmahawk as he moved with maximum stealth through the walk way. He moved with practised quietness, each step deliberately taken, each movement made with the least amount of motion to reduce his noises. His breath was guarded as he poked his head around another corner to check to see if it was clear. Seeing nothing but empty corridor, he stepped around and continued his advance, crouched into a ready position, his cannon ready and at hair trigger, ready to deal with any surprises he might meet.

So far, all had gone well. He had caught sight of the furry thing a few times amongst the twists, obviously not thinking it could be followed, moving with no regard. This made Tohmahawk’s job all the more easier, knowing nothing was behind him and he could put his whole concentration to the job at hand.

After a few minutes, he came to another corner, peeked around it to see the furry thing at a door, opening it and then stepping through, Waiting for it to close, Tohmahawk sneaked up and then pulling a stethoscope type instrument, put it to the door so he could hear what was going on behind it. Connecting one end to an audio amp on his helmet, he settled the microphone end onto the door. He immediately heard voices, probably four, the step of feet and the occasional movement of a droid.

Well….. some kind of secret Control centre? Tohmahawk concentrated harder, using well used eavesdropping skills to sort out the voices and the noise to get a conversation worth listening to. It didn’t take long.

“What in blazes is going on?” Sounded like the furry thing

“It seems there is a Jedi leading the troops and is proving a match for the Vog’on. We have suffered heavy losses…”

“No you fool, Captain Hessa hasn’t responded to your last message. What is going on up there?”

“Sir, the SSD has defeated our Dreadnaughts with the help of a fleet that arrived not long after the battle started. The new fleet has enough firepower to repel anything we could call up at short notice”

A smash, maybe something hit in frustration? “Have we informed Lordess Callista of the visitors?”

“Yes Sir. She seemes to be singularly unworried by their presence.”

“That may be well for her, but what are we going to do? I don’t have the forces to stop this attack on us!”

A small light flashed on Tohmahawk’s visor, signifying somwone wanted to speak to him via the comlink still clipped to his shoulder. He allowed the listening device to swing clear, moved back away from the door to stop anyone overhearing him.

“Tohmahawk. That you General?” he said very quietly.

“Yes it is. We have come to a short pass way and the trail ends there, as the signal seems to be coming out of solid rock. How did you get further?”


Short pass way? With luck Scorpion was at the same pass way the furry thing had leapt up the ventilation shaft. “General, is there a wall that appears to be blasted to pieces?”

“Yes, but that seems to go in the wrong direction”

“Eventually it doesn’t, but it’s impassable right now. Have a look above you and tell me if you can see a ventilation shaft”. A slight pause while presumably the General did so.

“Yes there is. About 30 meters up, about enough room for two go up at once?”

“yes, that’s it. Follow that, I’ll meet you at it exit point. Get here as fast as you can, I have reason to believe Callista is here”

Scorpion clicked off the com link, looking upwards as he did. So, Callista was here? All well and good, but how was he going to get enough men up this shaft in good time? He decided to go first and to let the troops to sort that one out for themselves. Scorpion told the commander what he wanted and then seeing that the soldiers knew precisely what to do, he leapt up the shaft using the Force, grabbing onto the ledge up the top and hauling himself up to his feet, seeing a well lit tunnel, not wide but long, over 1 km long. The General heard a hiss-thump twice behind him, saw two anchor points on the ventilation shaft’s roof with what appeared to be a steel cord ladder. Another two thumps and another appeared. Smiling to himself, Scorpion saw the ladders tense as they had weight applied.

Clever, he thought. Turning, Scorpion left his men to follow, running down the corridor until reached the other end a few minutes later. A hole in the floor led to a 8f ott jump to the floor below, easily handled. He crounched on the floor below, seeing only the tired personage of Tohmahawk and stood, clearing the way for the first of his troops to follow him.

“How many did you bring with you General? We could do with a few” said Tohmahawk

“About 120 in this lot. There’s approximately 1,000 more filtering through the base and I have a lot of heavy hardware surrounding this base. I also have a fleet that I had secretly come with us in backup helping out in a battle in space”

“Well, no worries there. Your fleet has won the day so you have control of space and also most likely of the ground, I overheard a conversation a few minutes ago.”

“Good. Now, what was this about Callista – and lets give these troops some more room to come out of the ceiling. Over here please”

The two moved away from the troops now dropping through the hole, when they were far enough away, Tohmahawk turned to face Scorpion. “You thin…”. His words were cut off as Scorpion punched him in the face and then, grabbing Tohmahawk’s shoulders, kneed him in the groin. Tohmahawk had been caught by surprise and went down, the agony temporarily taking his breath away.

“You damn lucky I don’t split you in half, you stupid rebel! What in the name the Force do you think you have been playing at?!” Scorpion snarled.

“I guess I cant marry your daughter now?” wheezed Tohmahawk

“I almost wish I had one so I could forbid it. You know how much trouble you have caused?”

“Yeah I do actually. But if I hadn’t done it, we wouldn’t have had this shot in catching Her Bitchness Callista. Now personal pride aside, what’s the best way to do this?”

Scorpion helped Tohmahwak up, thinking about this little problem, he hadn’t expected to actually find Callista here. “No, not really. How about you?”

Moving with some discomfort, Tohmahawk shook his head. “Direct assault seems best to me. You feel up to another fight?”

“If there aren’t any of those lizard things about. 12 of them have managed to kill about 20 times that number of my troops before we could stop them so far. I’m not really favourable of going against any more with the group I have”

“Lizard things? Oh, Vog’ons. Are they that good?”

Scorpion looked in surprise. “You know of these things?”

“Only seen one and that was enough. I overheard the name as well”

“Very well. When all the troops have gotten here, we go and find out what’s behinfd this door of yours”

It didn’t take long for the rest of the troops to drop through the hole. Once again taking point, Scorpion marched through the twists and turns, Tohmahawk by his side.

“Interesting weapon. What is it?” asked The General, eyeing off the barrel of the enormous gun

“ New Republic invention. It’s an E-Web with a rotating barrel mechanism, lightened for hand held use and recoil mechanism. Fed through ammunition tanks in my backpack, with grenade launcher and a 5 shot rocket magazine. Takes a bit of time to get used to this thing, but a skilled operator can clean out a room in a few seconds. I’ve made a few mods to suit myself but eventually, this is to become the standard New Republic heavy infantry weapon, somewhat smaller for field use. You like it?”

“Not bad. Am I right to say it is based on a droid destroyer?”

“Yep, but with a higher fire rate. The rotating barrel has a 500 shot per minute maximum”

Scorpion had to admit he was impressed. He was a student of weaponry and despite only ever using his sabre, loved guns.

“Okay General, next turn and were there. Full quiet now”

Scorpion signalled for maximum silence as the made the corner, coming to the door that Tohmahawk was at not long ago. The solider and the Sith looked at each other.

“Are they expecting us Sith boy?” queried Tohmahawk

Scorpion paused to check via the Force. “No they have no idea we are here. Shall I knock?”

No, let me please. I have the prefect door ringer”

Scorpion nodded, waved for everyone to take cover. Tohmahawk too some steps back, loaded a round with an ominous clik-clak, and then took aim. He pressed the trigger, launching a rocket that streaked it’s way into one side of the door and then exploded, blowing the dorr off it’s mounts and flinging shrapnel far into the space beyond. Hardly waiting for the blast to finish, Scorpion leaped out, flying through the smoke a flames beyond the door remains, lightsabre blazing and ready for action. Tohmahawk was not far behind, actually beaten by a few of Scorpion’s troops who were right at the General’s heels.

They were in a control room of some kind, one of the control desks had taken the majority of the blast and was in tatters, dead being littering the floor. Other beings had hardly the time to turn and gape as the troops came streaming in, blasters already firing into targets they could see. With 20 seconds, any person with a blaster In hand or attempting to resist was also dead, victims to the co-ordinated fire of the invaders or of the blasts coming from Tohmahawk’s cannon. Scorpion dashed across the room to the only other exit, stopping all retreat. A lone Vog’on stood up and snarled, intent on killing the Sith, but it suddenly looked at a wound that appeared in it’s chest, then exploded as the rocket Tohmahawk fired went off, scattering pieces everywhere.

Tohmahawk looked around, smoke curling from the rocket launcher. “Room is pacified! Move on!” he yelled. Dashing forward, he made the other exit and was flowed by a few dozen of Scorpion’s troops, about twenty staying behind to deal with the survivors. A hidden guard took a pot shot at a trooper, hitting him, but was killed in return for his trouble, Scorpion’s sabre cutting his head off.

“Hey General, do you feel in the Force which way to go?” yelled Tohmahawk.

“Left! There seems to be some humans in that direction one other I cant identify there!”

The group took the left corridor, sprinting it way up the hall. A short burst from a few troopers took care of another door, and Scorpion’s sabre split another in half. Tohmahawk had fallen behind and was taking rear guard and hence hardly realised that they had entered another chamber, larger than the control centre and darker, the troops before him spreading out. He made it to the side of Scorpion and then paused long enough to take in the sight. About twenty humans were grouped together, blasters raised. The furry thing Tohmahawk had seen before was amongst them, bristling with anger.

“We are a peaceful base! How dare you do this, once the senate…” his words trailed off as Tohmahawk relocked his cannon and smiled sweetly at it.

“Hey fuzzy thing, before you get to any senate, you have to explain yourself to the satisfaction of my mate here”

‘Your mate? Who is that?”

“My mate BFG here”. Scorpion nearly spluttered into laughter, as the furry being looked back confused.

“BFG? I have never heard of such a person!” The furry being was tapped on the shoulder, and one of it’s guards whispered into it ear. “Big @#%$ing Gun..oh” it said as Tohmahawk deliberately shifted the weapon for emphasis. The being went quiet, eyeing off the New Republic warrior.

“Scorpion, do you feel the presence of anyone else?” asked Tohmahawk.

“No… yes! Poodoo, it’s Callista herself!” Scorpion immediately set off in the direction he had felt the evil Lordess at, signalling troops to follow him. Tohmahawk waited until a detail of guards had disarmed their prisoners. He gave the furry thing a a wry smile and a shrug that meant better luck next time and also peeled off to follow the General.

Rushing through the corridors, Scorpions could feel the evil presence slowly get closer, slowly as Scorpion ran her down. His feet flying, heart racing and sabre not unlit but in hand ready to fight, he allowed the Force to power him allowing him to move faster than any humanoid normally could. He even saw her back through a closing door, that slammed shut in his face. Attacking the door with every but of ferocity he had, it fell to the ground smoking. Resuming his pace, even he was not quick enough to stop the party ahead of him getting on a shuttle, the rampway closing before he could get close. The shuttle began to lift off, rising out of reach for a normal person, but not for Scorpion, who leapt and made a savage cut into it’s underbelly. A explosion of sparks greeted him and followed him as he dropped to the ground. Tohmahawk gained access to the hangar, saw the shuttle lifting and Scorpion falling from his attack. The soldier aimed his cannon and with the trigger held down for both blaster and rocket fire, raking the fleeing ship with all the firepower he could. One final rcket disappeared into a thruster nozzle. The Shuttle suddenly spat fire from it’s engines, struggled for height, smoke trailing from the engines. It made the exit of the hangar, lifted and with a mind altering noise, broke into pieces as the injured motor detonated.

“GOT HER!” yelled Scorpion, whooping with delight. Tohmahawk lowered his gun.

“Any need to check for survivors?” questioned one of the troops.

Probably not, but I will detail an AT-AT to scan the wreckage. Everyone, back to the control room. Lets get some answers from our hosts” Scorpion immediately turned, walking back in the direction they had come, confident victory was theirs in total. Tohmahawk lingered a bit, before he too turned away, hurrying to catch up with Scorpion. They all failed to see an old woman, peeking cautiously out from a pile of boxes, a strange salamander creature around her neck. She faded back into the darkness around her, out of sight once again.

--

Jedah Lynch waited at the edge of the desert, watching the night sky, the deep blackness and the incredible brightness of the stars in the desert sky. He pulled the rug around his shoulders, the heat of the desert day now well and truly gone, now replaced by the deep chill of the night. Far away a desert animal howled, another answered, then the silence settled over the plain again. Despite the bone chilling cold, he waited for the person he had arraigned to meet here, a person who was representing the one with code name Snakebite. He allowed his mind to wander a bit, not thinking about much, just drifting with each new thought that occurred.

What time was it? He wondered. 1 am? 2 am? Didn’t matter. He would wait patiently out here in the arraigned spot forever if needed. He felt cramped, thirsty, but he stayed still, not moving even a fraction, meditating.

More time passed, how long it was he could not tell although the positioning of the stars had not changed much. The moons had set long ago, leaving the landscape in total darkness, with even the nocturnal animals going quiet. A small sound of crunch sand, some distance away drifted to his Force enhanced hearing and he instantly switched to a state of readiness, getting up and stretching, readying his body in case h needed to fight or run. He doubted either option would be necessary, but it was much better to be safe than sorry. He heard another footstep, closer this time. Lynch detected which direction the human was coming in and began to walk in that direction meet him.

Even in the darkness, Lynch could tell the human was well built, tall and deliberate in movement. He could sense the caution in the man’s attitudes, alert but not alarmed. He decided to speak first.

“Welcome to this miserable part of the planet. Who might you be?”

“You don’t like this desert Lynch? Think of all the advantages it offers, the seclusion and the distance from snooping eyes. Where else could we meet in the open and yet not be fearful of spies?”

That wasn’t the call sign they had agreed to. Lynch’s hand went to his sabre. “Who in hell are you?”

The other laughed. “Oh come now Jedah. Do you expect that you and your light sabre are going to worry me? Don’t you recognise me?”

“Your Force sense seems familiar but your voice isn’t. Who are you?”

The man laughed again. “Maybe you would prefer to see one who sounds…” and with this, the voice became deeper, more powerful, more threatening. A booming harmonic added power to the voice and Lynch almost felt like giving way. The Force sense changed, became evil and corrupted. The man turned away from Lynch “… like this? I can arrange that if you prefer”

Lynch paused, hardly daring to believe who he with. “Lord Venom! But I was not expecting you here, I thought even this meeting would be too dangerous!”

“Maybe, maybe not. How have you been Jedah Lynch? Are you ready to serve me again?”

“My Lord, of course! Just tell me what you want and I will do it” Lynch felt the excitement rising, realising that his old boss (for want of a better word) was back in all his power. “Tell me first, will we be rejoining Callista?”

Venom paused for a few seconds. “No, no not yet. I have a few things to do before I announce my return to her, I don’t know even if I will do that”

“So what are you returned for?” asked Lynch

“Well, I have looked at the Sith Empire and the Sith Council. I have found them wanting. It would be my desire to make the Dark Jedi and the Sith strong again, able to challenge the Jedi.” Venom turned his head to look at Lynch. “What in the name of the Force are you Sith doing helping the Jedi out, no matter what the cause? Why do you weaken yourselves for something I don’t even think you believe in doing?”

“Well, it seemed to be the right thing to do and I was in no position to challenge Lady Mara Jade’s authority. Should I have done differently my Lord?”

“Indeed you should have Jedah Lynch. I am disappointed in you for that” I was said in a normal tone, yet it carried all the weight of a punch in the guts. Lynch actually winced.

“I am sorry my Lord. It will not happen again” Lynch was under no illusions here… if Venom did not accept his apology, he was as good as dead. Venom continued to stare at the Sith, then turned away.

“I know it wont happen again, I will not allow anyone to be put into this ridiculous situation again. I know you rightly fear what Callista could do to anyone that opposes her, but teaming up with your sworn enemies was a pathetic idea, weak and without substance. I shall not accept those who would choose expediency over all else, nor will I accept those who would water down our strengths with the weaknesses that the cattle that we should be ruling have! I am most disappointed with the Sith, Jedah and I aim to fix it.” Venom fell silent.

“How do you intend to do that, Lord Venom? Are we not but two?”

“Palpatine started with one other than himself and look what happened. If only he had simply shot Skywalker instead of using Vader to turn him, all could have been much different. We may be two, but we can do much if your prepared to do the work”

Lynch nodded. “I agree my Lord. What shall we be doing first?”

“First we will be heading back for Mos Eisley. I have some old friends I wish to speak to, you may have heard of the Vog’on, no?”

Lynch’s blood froze. “The Vog’on? Where in the name of the Force do you know them from?!?”

Venom chuckled. “Ahhh, many years ago, they did a few odd jobs for Callista. You know, the odd killing, hijacking, destroying a planet or two. Typical stuff you would ask beasts that are almost the purest lifeform in the Dark Side. I conveyed a few orders and also commanded the odd strike they did. We developed a good working relationship I am most keen to restart”

“Where are you going to meet them my Lord? No-one knows where they go to”

“Weeee willll meet Venommmmm hereeeee”

The hissing speech made Lynch jump in surprise and he turned to see one of the massive Vog’on almost directly behind him. The huge beast loomed over Lynch, easily two feet taller, a mouthful of teeth like daggers and laws that opened and shut slowly. Although he couldn’t see it, he could hear the tail swishing on the sand.

“Umm, are you certain about this? I mean, I’ve heard about this things, they are supposed to be savages”. Lynch took a careful step away as the beast hooted quietly.

“Savagesss? Iiiii like thattttt.”

Lynch wasn’t 100% sure how to handle this now. He looked at Venom, wishing there was more light so he could see the others face. Of course, if there was more light he would be better able to see the Vog’on and he wasn’t at all sure if he wanted to do that.

“Fregge appears to like you Lynch. Be honoured, usually he would just eat you instead” Venom crossed his arms, a sense of amusement coming to Lynch via the Force. “Enough now. We have much to discuss and to plan. Fregge, I believe your craft is here. Would you be good enough to allow us entry?” With that, Venom put a hand to his belt and with a hint of ceremony, dropped his lightsabre on the ground and placed a foot on it. He signalled Lynch to follow suit, the Sith complying with not just a small amount of confusion.

The Vog’on turned and gave out a complex bird call, an answering sound came barely on the other side of the dune. A light suddenly shone out and the Vog’on moved in it’s direction, Venom following and a now very puzzled Lynch at his side.

“Venom, what was all that about? You looked like you were having a religious experience when you were disarming your self. Shouldn’t we at the least have our sabres in case these things turn on us?”

“They wont turn on us. When I made contact with them today, I called the truce of the Omens, a scared truce that no Vog’on would defy. What we did back there showed that we are worthy to have honour in their eyes as they see weapons as evil. They worship hand to hand fighting, they gain honour and prestige by every fight they have and they have a rite of passage where a juvenile Vog’on must display his skill in combat unarmed or be killed called The Naming. I understand one of the Vog’on meet a Jedi and survived, hence he was named two night’s ago”

“You speak like they have an organised culture, beliefs and even are highly intelligent. The Jedi who seem to know more about these creatures than anyone else, don’t seem to know this” said Lynch, a frown on his face. Venom waited until they had got to the source of the light, a doorway that had been opened in the side of the dune. Lynch felt a shiver go up his spine, knowing he had been pacing in the same area, not realising what was beneath him.

“Jedah, the Vog’on go back thousands of years to the time that they were originally called forth and since then they have been developing, evolving. Originally they were no more than terror weapons or dumb guards, now they are a race of standards, honour. Their intelligence is extreme, all of them. They demand only the best survive, failures are killed. They exist like no other being as part of the Dark Side, without it they would perish. In some ways, they are the embodiment of the Dark Side, they use the Force without awareness, allowing them to perform physical feats that only a Jedi can do. Because they cant intelligently use the Force, they cant sense or do mind tricks, or move things, but I wonder how many more generations it will be before that is possible. Now, you are covered by the truce of the Omens, but you must not offend our hosts in anyway. Stay quiet and watch”

Lynch nodded, allowing Venom to enter the door first. He blinked a few times to help his eyes adjust to the light, and stopped with Venom in front of 10 Vog’on. Lynch had to admit it was an impressive site, the Vog’on to a being over 8 feet tall, hugely muscled and highly alert. One of them stepped forward coming within slashing distance of Venom and Lynch. Venom made a chopping motion with his hands and then from a hidden wrist sheaf, produced a small dagger. Grasping it’s hilt, he made a slit on his palm, dropping the knife and hoding his hand, palm facing the Vog’on. The beast repeated the chopping motion, but instead af a blade, used one of it ‘s claws to cut it’s ‘palm’. Venom and the Vog’on then slammed their palms together. A slight sizzling sound and a acrid smell of burnt flesh wafted across the room as the two separated palms, their flesh curling with smoke. Lynch’s eyes widened, wondering how that happened. Maybe the human’s and Vog’on’s blood had chemicals that would react if they were mixed? Whatever the reason, it was quite a sight.

“Welcomeee backkk Venom” hissed the lead Vog’on

“I to you bring you welcome too. The truce sealed with the mixing of blood now binds us in the Legends. I would now speak to my brothers in the Omen.”

“Comeeee insideee Venommm. Willll Sithh joinnnn usss?”

“Yes he will. Be honoured to meet Jedah Lynch, who can be trusted with anything to do with our venture”

The Vog’on turned to Lynch, it’s tongue flickering as it tasted the air. “Cannn heee be trusteddd? He issss nottt offfff the Trucee.”

Lynch felt a suggestion on what he should do via the Force. He bent down, picking up the knife that Venom had dropped. He cleaned it on his robe and then slashed his palm in the same manner he had seen Venom do. The lead Vog’on seemed somewhat taken aback, but the smallest beast, still well over two feet taller and at least 100 kilos heavier than him stepped forward. It too slashed it’s palm and with bone breaking force, slammed it’s palm into Lynch’s raised and bleeding one. Lynch felt the shock of the blow right through his arm, into the shoulder. He could have given away, softened the blow but he felt it wasn’t right. His blood and the blood of the Vog’on mixed and reacted, an intense heat developed, hot enough to burn his flesh. Bith Sith and the Vog’on stared at each other, each daring to allow their palms to be parted first. It lasted for a few seconds until the lead Vog’on grunted and the other pulled back. It hooted at Lynch and resumed it’s place with the others.

Lynch for his path will himself not to feel the burning, willed that he would not wring his hand, to keep impassive. Damn, that hurt! he thought. Venom looked on, amusement in his eyes. “Fregge, who is the young one who accepted the Blood Bond?”

Fregge chirped. Venom listened then nodded, addressing the younger Vog’on in it’s own tongue. It’s eyes showed it surprise then it had an evil looking smile on it’s face, bowed to acknowledge Venom’s words. Lynvh wondered what was being said.

“Heee asks who daresss to accept youuuu as blood bondddd. Fregge answersss Named oneee, who’s Nameeee cantttt be saidddd in on scareddd tongue yetttt. Venommmm tellssss Nameddd Oneee heeee acceptssss bondddd, Nameedddd oneeee bowssss tooo wisdom”

Lynch turned, seeing one of the beasts was now at his shoulder. “I must have looked puzzled, right?”

“Yessss. Nowww you are Blood bondddd, we accept youuuu and allowww you to liveeee, tellll you our secretsssss. Fewww humanssss allowed to doooo thissss.”

Venom moved his head to see Lynch and the Vog’on. “Fregge, may I speak with Lynch privately for a few minutes? I think he needs some explanation on what is going on.”

“Doooo sooooo. Wait in Tellingggg Roommmm forrrr youuuu” The Vog’on turned and with a wave of it’s claw, ordered the rest to floow him. All but the one Vog’on, the one who was beside Lynch pbeyed and walked out.

“I’m impressed with you Lynch. I bet your hand is still a bit on the sore side”

“You could say that. Ow! What in the Force do they have for blood?”

“Out species blood forms an acid when exposed to the red blood cells Sith. I think it would be wise to clean you wound, lest you get infected and it doesn’t heal properly. If any compensation, it would have hurt Alfaffa just as much. It is the other only wound we Vog’on are allowed to clean and bandage”

It was like having a static wall raised. All the lisping had gone from the remaining Vog’ons speech and it was now quite passable Basic. “Is all that lisping and hissing an act? Can you Vog’ons’ speak normally?” asked Lynch

“No, I only do it so the others can hear me better. When with humans, I almost uniquely can speak in forms the majority can understand. I will permit you to call me Yousef, as my Name is unpronounceable by those like yourself.”

“I am Jedah, although most call me Lynch. Do you have anything I can do first aid on my hand with?” The Vog’on handed him a medical kit, which Lynch accepted, sat on the ground and began to repair his hand.

“I never expected to see you again Venom. Once they told me you had run from your destiny, I feared the Omens would never come true. Seeing you here gives me hope that they still could come about. How many cycles has it been? 7? 8?”

“8 since Harvii. I trust you took care of that place?”

“Yesssss. Much we gained there. Found two of the Three of the Omen. Shaman has predicted Thrid of the Omen had appeared on this planet. We believe we have found that one, now at long last time of Omen is here”

Lynch looked up. “Time of Omen? What is that?”

“The Vog’on once had a prophecy about three people who would appear to together. Those three were to be the key that would allow one of them to rule the Vog’on and to lead them in a jihad eventually ruling the Galaxy. Since then, the Vog’on have strived to that goal, waiting for the one that they would obey utterly. Always there would be thse like Callista and various rulers who believed they were the one and ordered the Vog’on for a time, but they in fact were manipulated into doing what the Vog’on wanted, Callista especially. Palpatine was too powerful and in fact they were planning to get rid of him just before the rebels did the job for them. 10 years ago, we found the one of the Omen to rule us. Now, we have found the other keys we need” The Vog’on lasped into silence.

“One to rule? Is that you Venom?” asked Lynch

“Me? Oh no, not quite. Close though. The only reason the Vog’on will allow us to be peaceful with them, is that a) I have committed myself with a blood bond of the Truce, as you have wisely done and b) They have been ordered to accept me by the one of the Omen to rule”

Lynch looked at Venom, then at the Vog’on, something at the back of his mind trying to bring two and two together. Lynch knew quite well Venom was only a clone of the original, who he once had served as a teen with Callista and her army and that the real Venom had become a Jedi, turning his back on the Dark Side and the Vog’on…..it suddenly clicked.

“Oh. You mean to say Turbogeek is the One?”

The reply from Venom was simple. “Yes”

Lynch seemed to remember that Marcus Q’Dunn was also supposed to have been specially trained by Callista for some mission involving some being called the Darkness Keeper, something Callista made a big fuss about then. He wondered if this had anything to do with it.

“So what are we supposed to do Venom? Are we to help these Vog’on achieve this Omen thing?”

“No Sith. This is a thing only the Vog’on may do, it is our quest and we will not have anyone else help in it. What we are here for is something totally different” relied Yousef.

“Which is why you wanted to brief us first right?” asked Venom

“Yesssss. We need your help. There are too few of us to achieve what we want easily and to spill more Vog’on blood would be foolish. Your fellow Sith have captured one of us and we want him back”

“Not my bloody fellow Sith” mumbled Lynch

Venom stared at the Sith “I was not aware you thought like this. Why is it you did not say anything, even when I was critical of them?”

The anger flared up in Lynch. “Well I am now. They booze, they are like giddy youngsters the way they frolic with each other, they party and they allow the damn Jedi to live. They are a disgrace Venom. I would advise that if you were to fall in with a group, don’t. They are not true to the dark Side any longer.”

Venom stepped back and sat on his haunches. “I would not join them Lynch. I have my own agenda and I wish to make sure I am in a position to take advantage of what the Vog’on do to the Galaxy. I ask you instead – would you join me?”

“Join you? My Lord, it was my pleasure to serve you long ago when you were at Callista’s side, it will be my pleasure to do so again. Are we to reform the Rogue Sith Order again?”

“Yes Jedah Lynch. When we are finished here, it will be our task to find others worthy of being with us, but now it is time to discuss matters with the Vog’on. Yousef, lead the way.”

The Vog’on nodded, quickly moved to the door the other Vog’on had moved through not long ago. The two Dark Jedi stood up, Lynch finishing off bandaging his hand.

“Venom, do you need the medkit?”

“Thankyou Lynch, I shall use it now. Not exactly the most pleasant of experiences the Blood Bond. Oh” and here Venom lowered his voice so only Lynch could here it “I know the real reason why you persevered through all the stupid things the Sith have done. She is quite a woman to have gone as far as she has. It is a pity she made the mistake she just did”

“You know my Lord? You know of the marriage I once had, before Callista’s empire fell to pieces 7 years ago?”

“I do Jedah Lynch. It is time for not only I to claim what is mine, but for you to claim what is yours. Reclaim your Dark Bride. Tell her how pretty she is when she takes the permanent scowl off her face”

Lynch stood stook still, stunned shock rooting his feet to the floor. He willed himself to catch up to the other two, wondering how Venom possibly knew.

Your very pretty when you get that permanent scowl of your face.

He teased her enough about it so long ago, maybe Venom had overheard and the memories transplanted into the clone?

Your very pretty when you get that permanent scowl of your face.

He had lost her for so long, but recently he believed he had found her. His one love. He had followed from afar, hardly daring to get close, hardly daring to express himself lest it was seen as a sign of weakness.

Your very pretty when you get that permanent scowl of your face.

He had watched her from every angle, until he was finally convinced it was her. But still, he had not found the will to approach her, to ask her.

Your very pretty when you get that permanent scowl of your face.

So it was her. Steely determination coursed through his veins and he quietly swore he would do as Venom suggested

Your very pretty when you get that permanent scowl of your face.

He would indeed take back what was his own

--

The Tattooine night moved on and over near the compound where the Jedi and the Sith had made their base, only a few guards moved. The walls were bathed in shadows and only the odd drunken being wobbled past the area. The moon had gone down long ago leaving only the lamps or window lights to provide illumination, with only a handful of beings still awake anyway.

One who wasn’t was Jedi Master Rmaio and he very much wished he was. Since the news that a lead to Callista was on Hoth, he had been supervising the pullout from this planet, slated to happen from first light. There was so much to get packed and to get ready, so much to do in such a short period of time, it was exhausting him. However, now he was getting close to finishing the last things he had to do and now he was ready to turn in for a few hours sleep.

His terminal pinged that a message was coming in. Almost cursing the injustice of it all, he wearily touched the accept button.

“Jedi Master Rmaio. I hope this wont take long, it’s 3:30 am local time”

The image on the screen resolved itself to Captain James T. Tohmahawk, New Republic Special Forces. “My apologies Sir, but I believed you may wished to hear my report. I am with the troops of General Scorpion and we believe we have shot own the transport that Callista was. We have investigated the wreckage and there were no survivors”

Rmaio was tired mind nearly failed to comphrend what Tohmahawk said. He had to process it for a few seconds before he understood

“You got her? Can you confirm it for us?”

“We are doing that right now. We are also slicing the base’s computers to find out all that we can about her operation” replied Tohmahawk

“Extend my contratulations to General Scorpion, Tohmahawk. Give me an update in 12 hours please. Rmaio out”

Rmaio stared at the now blank screen, wondering if he should wake anyone else. No, it could wait. He would type up a message and leave it for the Jedi Masters and then go to sleep. A small kitten mewed to be picked up, which Rmaio did. He typed his message with the small animal purring on his lap, then he turned off the terminal, wandered over to his simple bed, shooed a cat. He put the kitten down and hardly had he got onto the bed, he fell asleep. The cats and kittens circled about, some playing, others deciding to sleep with the master, one sat by the front door and growled quietly, feeling by it’s cat’s senses something wrong was passing by the door. It turned it’s head to hear the sounds a human couldn’t, keeping on alert even though the wrong feeling passed by and left them undisturbed.

The Vog’on kept walking down the dark corridor, cautious with tongue flickering to smell the air, all other senses on full alert. It crept to the area Lynch had told them held the imprisoned Vog’on, moving with practised ease as it swept from one hiding place to another. It came to a certain door, paused as another one of it’s fellows joined him from a different direction. The second one produced a code breaker, putting it to the door. Within a few second’s it opened, revealing a brightly lit control room, two duty officers turning in boredom to see who the new arrivals were. Hardly with time to breathe, the Vog’ons had leaped in, rendering the controllers useless and claiming the room for themselves. Knowing what control to touch, the firstly bought down the force field holding the captured Vog’on and then unlocked the doors to it’s cell.

They both moved rapidly out of the control room, following the instructions given to them by Lynch, they met the now freed beast.

“Worthy one, do you seek revenge now?”

“Yesssss….I hunger for it!”

“The one who captured you, what was it name?”

“Bromine”

“Then Bromine will be our target. With or without honour?”

“We kill him as parasite. No honour”

“We know where this one is. We must leave here first, alarm will be sounded soon. We have open hatch not far from here. Come!” With that, the three Vog’on sped down the corridor, gaining the hatchway the first two had used to break in not long ago. They closed the hatch and re-enabled the alarms,, for all intensive purposes they may has never have been there, the only evidence being the two controllers who were knocked out.

They clambered through the tunnel, dropping out in a shadowy spot not far from the compound’s walls. They were met by the other 8 Vog’on and the two Dark Jedi.

“All as we said it would be?” asked Lynch

“Yesssss. Weeee goooo nowww to get Bromineee. Bloodddd bondddd we rememberrrrr ahddddd honourrrr.”

“We will speak again soon Fregge. Until then, fare well”. The Vog’on nodded, turned and ran off with it’s fellows, disappearing into the night. Venom and Lynch watch then turn a corner and then they too turned and walked away.

“Are you sure you want to do this Lynch? I am will to have you as my only fellow Sith, as Darth Bane decreed so long ago” questioned Venom

“Yes I want to. The Sith and Dark Jedi have been mishandled too long, we need lead them”

“Very well then. I concede to your knowledge of these other Sith and Dark Jedi I have not met and I trust your judgement. Who first?”

--

Darth Ogre was sitting at the bar, sleep had not come easily to him that night. He sipped a drink as the bartender slowly mopped the floor, moving around the two or three customers who were still there and still sober enough to sit or stand. A droid dragged the last inebriated being out the door. Ogre wasn’t drunk, he was just thoughtful, looking over the rim of his glass, held in a knurled hand.. The troll-like creature turned when he heard footsteps behind him, hand automatically going to the axe he carried and the relaxing when he saw it was his friend, Lynch.

“Ogre, I have been looking for you. How come you are not at you room?”

“Couldn’t sleep, so came here instead. All packed to leave tomorrow, so nothing better to do” Ogre replied

“Tell me, are you happy with how the Sith have been run?”

Ogre paused, realising this was a loaded question. “I cant say it’s been perfect, but I am still here, ain’t I?”

“This that because you have nowhere else to go? I know you hate Itala and TSC, may their bones rot, but what keeps you with The Sith Empire? It is an embarrassment, the Jedi don’t care if we are here or not! Is that right our mortal enemies do not fear to tread where we are?”

“We are allied together to be rid of Callista Lynch. You that just as well as I do” replied Ogre.

“Why are allied with the Jedi? Is that because we are weak and can’t stand on our own two feet without the Jedi supporting us? Why is it our fearless leader has deserted us and gone to the Jedi? Has she been leading us into a trap all along?”

That seemed to make Ogre think. “I don’t know. I have been wondering the same thing myself, why did she do that?”

“Because she is weak and not able to lead the Sith or Dark Jedi. A leader must not be susceptible to what they would oppose, else who knows what path they may lead? Would you not say the path she has trod seems a bit odd for a Sith?”

Both Lynch and Ogre turned to face the hooded figure, hunched and smaller in height than either of them. “Who are you and why do you care?” responded Ogre.

“I name I will reveal in time and I care as I hate to see talent wasted. I hate to see ones like you, so full of the Dark Side, to see you go to rot. Would you not prefer to be using your skills in the Force rather than sitting at a bar? Would you rather be ruling instead of suffering the injustice you are right now?”

“I wouldn’t call it injustice…”

The hunchback broke in “It an injustice your not at Corusacant with the misreble New Republic begging for mercy at your feet! It is injustice you have to be on the same ship as the Jedi! They should be our slaves!”

Ogre turned to Lynch “Where did you get this guy from?”

“Found him in the desert actually”

Ogre turned back to the hunchback and took in his sense in the Force. It took no longer than a quick glance to see the Dark Side lying more heavily on this hunchback than he had seen in a long time. “Well, I guess you do have a few points. Maybe we could discuss this further”

“Come outside the,. We go were we can speak privately.” The hunchback turned and walked out, Ogre tuned to Lynch. “Who in the Force is he?!?”

“One who wants to lead us Sith out of the valley we are in and raise us as kings over the Galaxy. It’s pretty complex actually, I’ve joined him and I think you will too when you see what he offers”

“He’s certainly one of the most intense beings I have met. Okay, I’m interested. I’ll go hear what else he has to say”

The two sith turned and walked out of the bar, out the door and into the pool of light from a glow rod above the door. The hunchback was waiting, half in and half out of the light, making the shadows of his cloak look even more pronounced.

“Okay, where you want to speak?” asked Ogre.

“Not far from here – but first I’d like you to meet my friend …” Ogre turned to face the hunchback, but to his surprise, he wasn’t facing a cripple – he was facing a 6 and one half foot utter hulk, hugely muscled and in form fitting black aromour – the armour of a Royal Imperial Guard, cloak he had crouched under now thrown back into a cape, hands at his side and visor seeming to stare through the troll. Ogre had to admit it was one awe inspiring sight.

“I am Lord Venom and I welcome you Darth Ogre. I would seek you to join me” Even the voice was more impressive, deep and rumbling, full of power and purpose.

“I…. I am honoured Lord Venom.”

“Good. Come with me and we shall talk further.” With that Venom turned and began to walk away, Ogre and Lynch being left to follow.

“Lynch, don’t tell me they succeeded in breeding humans with Star Destroyers…”

“What makes you say that?”

“I’ve never seen a human that looked that powerful! It is not a fake, right?”

“No, no fake. And I think comparing a Star Destroyer to Venom is an insult to him. The Star Destroyer doesn’t stand a chance”

Darth Ogre smiled, a evil grin, baring his tusks. “If he is all he seems to be, do you think I can invite a friend or two into this little group of ours?”

“I don’t see why not. Who do you have in mind?”

Ogre didn’t reply, but there was a notible twinkle in his eye.

--

“Havok… Havok!”

Darth Havok groaned and turned over on his bed.

“Havok!”

Havok slammed back the covers in a fury, resentful of the interruption to his sleep. Swearing, he got up and opened his bedroom door.

“What?!?! Do you know what time it is?!?!” He saw Ogre and Darth Lynch, plus a hunchback. “Oh what do you lot want. Why the hell couldn’t it wait for morning?”

“Time for you to join us. You have come recommended” replied the hunchback.

“Join you? What for? And who the hell are you short arse?”

The hunchback flicked aside his cloak and suddenly Havok began to back away, for in the hunchback’s place was a human monster, enormous and positively bathed in the dark Side, black armour adding the perfect touch of complete evil

“I am Venom and I wish for you to join us!”

Havok stared at the human, almost struck dumb in awe. He shook his head to come back to reality and he made a decision.

“I’ll just go get my lightsabre”

--

By the time they left Mos Eisley, dawn was beginning to break the party, now including Daquiari Kun and DarthHERA, strode out of the outskirts of the town, walking straight into the desert. At their lead was a hunchback, at either side was Darth Ogre and Lynch. Walking quickly, they disappeared into the desert.

--

The dawn broke over the town and in the coolness of first light, the Jedi, Sith, Black Sun and New Republic forces began to pull out of Tattooine, the first shuttle taking off as the nighttime curfew was lifted and the streets began to fill with beings. The Sith Lord Bromine was one of the first to awaken and begin to get items stowed on the transports to leave the planet.

“Have you seen Havok or Lynch this morning?” Princess Rebecca was still rubbing her eyes, obviously just awake.

“No. I something wrong?”

“I wandered to their room and it seems they have already packed and left.”

“Maybe they caught the first transport when I wasn’t looking. Anything you needed them for?”

“No, I’ll ask Xantaos.” She turned and walked away and Bromine also turned back to the loading of a crate into the transport’s underbelly.

The alarm’s sudden blaring startled him. He looked about, seeing equally confused faces and puzzled frowns. What in the Force was this about? He was about to call the controllers on his com link when Vengeance ran outside. “Lord Bromine! The Vog’on has escaped!”

“WHAT!?!?”

“Lord, the Vog’on is not there and the guards were just found unconscious in the guard room. We are putting the base on full alert in case they are still here”

“Somehow I doubt they are here, but good nonetheless. Call all the Sith to meet me here immediately” ordered Bromine. Vengeance nodded, turning to comply with Bromine’s order. The Sith Lord carefully scanned the area by the Force, saw nothing that resembled a Vog’on, but just in case, he shifted his light sabre so it would come more easily to hand.

It didn’t take long for the Sith, most of them still asleep to get to Bromine. Still, even as he looked ovr the faces assembled, he could see that there were some notable absentees, five in total and some of the best. Had they all gone with the first transport? He personally doubted it. “Has anyone seen Lynch, Havok, Ogre, Dai and Hera about this morning?” All the other Sith looked at each other, all responding no.

“Hmmmm. Okay, the situation is, our pet Vog’on has slipped it’s leash and gotten away. I want all of you to finish packing and then get on guard duty, I don’t want to see that thing within 100 meters of the base, clear?” They all nodded, leaving quickly. Rama Sha stayed behind at Bromine’s insistance.

“Rama, what is going on? One or two I could understand, but five missing? Did any of them tell you what is going on?”

“No Lord. I have no idea why they may have absented themselves. Perhaps they have already left?”

“I don’t know. Send a transmission to the fleet and ask them if those five have been seen and then you too go on guard duty.” Rama acknowledged the command, leaving Bromine alone to scan the field by himself.

From a distance, a set of macro binoculars were put down and a hissing sound came from the Vog’on watching the landing field . Alfetta jumped down of his vantage point and joined his fellow Vog’on the floor of the warehouse.

“He is there. Now is the chance before he leaves”

The Vog’on who had been captured just simply made a slashing motion across his throat, it’s intention clear.

Kill him

--

The black armour of Venom glinted in the sunlight and a light breeze ruffled his cape and he looked over the compound. Darth Lynch joined him as they looked over the base.

“Are you ready Jedah?”

“Most certainly Lord. Lets go bust some Jedi.”

Venom turned to the other Sith, the very Sith Bromine was just wondering the whereabouts of and lazily pointed at the compound.

“You have been told what to do. Now do it”

The Sith, lead by the dark Jedi began to advance

--

In anther section of the base, the Jed gathered as a group, responding to the alarm as well. They gathered near the room of Jedi Master Rmaio, who was still trying to wake up. They allowed Rmaio the time to dress and then they gathered as they usually did in Rmaio’s study. The Jedi Master sat at the entrance and waited unti everyone had come in.

“What’s this all about Master? Has something gone wrong?” asked Sage Hazzard.

“Yes. The Vog’on has escaped and we suspect it had help”

Figrin D’An and Siber Tiger exchanged glances. “Had help? Are you suggesting an inside job?” asked Figrin

“Don’t know yet, but considering the lack of alarm until now and the lack of violence, it does suggest an insider job”

“Who would do something like that? One of the Black Sun? A Sith? Certainly not a Jedi!” Exclaimed Obiwan2

“Well whoever it was, I want all of you to have your personal belongings on the next shuttle out and then to go and guard the land field until the last shuttle, I also want us to be the last aboard” ordered Rmaio. “Now before you go, catch a cat or kitten and put them in their travelling container”

“Kitten patrol, great” mumbled Obiwan2.

--

Vengeance walked back and forward on the wall, looking out across Msi Eisley, looking at the streets and their multitude of beings, senses on full alert as he stood guard outside the compound. He scanned the area in the Force, looking out for any type of danger, looking for any being that looked like a Vog’on. So far all was quiet and he hoped it stayed that way. Rama Sha and Darth Nuriko patrolled on the street below, Bromine stood guard near the land platform, Princess Rebecca and Ayamani Rai were further away and Vengeance knew others were about, but not visible. Soon he thought, soon they would be able to get off this dustball far away from these damn beasts. His face was puffy and sore from capturing that Vog’on, as far as he was concerned, this ball of dirt could be consumed by these beasts.

He knew quite well that if he saw one, there would be no discussion, he would skewer the thing without hesitation. A small disturbance in the Force caught his attention, off to his left. He concentrated, trying to identify what it was. It didn’t take long.

--

Bromine was getting a bit bored, a situation he was at that time trying to remedy. He was at that time looking over a crate, scanning it for potential bombs when his comlink went off. He took it off his belt and answered. “Bromine”

“Bromine, this is Vengeance. Vog’on coming from the west.”

“Good. Tell everyone else and keep track of it. There may be more”

“Vengeance acknowledged and Bromine returned the comlink to his belt. Drawing his lightsabre, he decided to head in the direction Vengeance indicated, meet up with Rama and Nuriko who were in that area and join them. He also decided to call as many of the Sith as he could get. Maybe these things could withstand an incredible amount of blaster damage, he doubted they would survive more than one sabre to the head.

--

Hardly had Vengeance put away his comlink, he felt a dark presence jump up onto the wall behind him. Turning, he saw two more Vog’on leap up to join the first, and 7 more. Just as fast they leapt into the compound, charging in with a speed that defied belief. The Sith grabbed his comlink in one hand, his sabre in the other, he leapt off the wall and opened a hailing channel.

“Vog’on the base! 10 of them!”

--

The message went out to all the comlinks, to all the terminals that responded to the same frequency as the broadcast. Figrin D’An’s com link beeped, he pressed a receive button and he immediately yelled to assembled Jedi the news. The Jedi had just finished loading their belongings – and Rmaio’s pets – into a transport that had taken off five minutes ago and had assembled to be ready to take the last shuttle, nnow preparing to board. Rmaio nodded to Master Yogurt to take the lead, Jedi Boricua by his side. They began to spread out a bit but as they came around a large crate, they almost collided with each other, seeing a cloaked hunchback in their way.

Master Yogurt moved forward. “Please be telling us why you are here?”

The hunchback growled from the depths of the cloak he was huddled in. “I am going to take back what is ours.”

Lady Mara Jade’s blood ran cold. She had heard that voice before, a long time ago. It was full of malice and spite and the hunchback’s sense in the Force! Utter evil.

“And what do you think we have that is yours? Now is not the time for this!” said Ramio. “Move aside please”

“You know quite damn well what you have that is ours Jedi.” A new voice spat out behind them, Jedah Lynch came into view, lightsabre burning at both ends and obviously ready to fight. Darth Havok, Ogre Hera and Daiquari Kun all formed up behind Lynch, all with sabres lit and all with deadly stares at the Jedi.

“Looks like were have ourselves a bit of a fight brewing Yog. I’ll take out this hunchback, or do want to, he’s more your size?” whispered Boricua

A gloved hand snapped out of the cloak, pointing straight at Lady Mara. “We will take what is ours NOW!” A booted leg came clear of the cloak, Yogurt noted that both the exposed fist and the leg seemed out of proportion, too big for the small hunched form.

“You can’t have her. She is a Jedi now and one of us. Now for the final time, step aside! You are outnumbered 4 to one, you can not win this fight!” replied Rmaio to the hunchback.

“You leave me no choice…” The growling voice turned into a snarl and then the hunchback flicked his cape back and in one smooth, quick motion an utterly huge human, in black Imperial guard armour emerged from his crouch, one hand hold and Force Pike, the other a blood red lightsabre. Most of the Jedi took an involuntary step back, seeing this awesome figure standing in front of them.

“Umm, you take him Boricua, He’s more your size, no?”

“Right… “ Jedi Boricua eyed off the massive human, not as tall as he was, with Boricua being over 8 feet in height, probably the tallest living human at the time and also immensely muscled, but this one he faced looked like the perfect human fighting machine. Most beings baulked at fighting the Boricua, but here was someone his match for pure strength, if nothing else. The Jedi lit his sabre and stared off the black clad warrior.

“I am Venom and I say for the last time, hand over Lady Mara and I will leave you!”

“She is a Jedi and we will never give her up!” shouted back Figrin D’An. Somewhere over the other side of the base, an explosion lit up and the sounds of fighting drifted over. Venom didn’t reply verbally, he just simply stepped forward and attacked, swinging the Force Pike viciously at Master Yogurt. The Jedi Master ducked, feeling the wind of the pike’s passage above his head and then a ‘Oomph’ from Boricua as the pike’s true target was hit in the stomach. The Sith had no hesitation, attacking as a co-ordinated group, flying into the Jedi Rmaio had his sabre lit and stepped back, giving the sudden battlegroud a quick view – the 5 Sith were forcing the Jedi back and Venom, who had turned off his sabre and was attacking solely with his pike, leaping and weaving around sabre blades with astonishing ease, looking for all the galaxy like a one man army. Master Yogurt aimed a slash at the Dark Jedi’s knees, Venom leaping over then while in the air, aiming his pike and firing a electrical bolt, blowing a hole in the ground and throwing Master Yogurt a fair way in the air. As the Jedi Master landed, Venom position ed the Pike so that he landed groin first on the shaft. The Jedi groaned and then was tossed skywards and belted away like a ball.

Rmaio winced, then suddenly was forced to defend as Darth Havok came on him, attacking in a whirlwind. Rmaio slowly gave way, forced backwards by superior swordmanship. It was times like this when Rmaio honestly wished he was more of a fighter instead of a scholar. Lucklily for him, jjwr stepped in and helped out, the Jedi double teaming to force the Sith into retreat.

All around, Jedi paired off to force the Sith into retreat, AmazonBabe, Leia1031 and JadeFire4 all combining against DarthHera, who cursed at the out numbering, then with the Force hurled all three into a crate. Figrin D’An, Siber Tiger and Obiwan2 fell upon Darth Ogre, who barely leaped out of the when Sage Hazzard joined in.

Boricua was fighting Venom alone, the Jedi spinning in a sabre blow that the Dark Jedi met with his pike. Instead of the pike being cut in half, the sabre shut down wit a muted buzz.

That pike had a Cortoros cover! The only metal that could stop a sabre, by shutting it down. Boricua hardly paused, swinging a axe kick initiall y aimed at Venom’s head, but instead ripping the pike out of Venom’s hands, the Dark Kedi instantly replied with a palmheel strike under Boricua chin, the Jedi reeling back to recover and throw some punches into Venom’s chest, then a massive croos that doubled over the Dark Jedi, followed by a snap kick and Venom fell backwards. The Jedi leaped high, intent on smashing Venom while he was still on the ground, only to find Venom had rolled away. The two men rolled and leaped to their feet, then attacked each other viciously, trading blow for blow.

Master Yogurt, a small distance away got up gingerly, feeling a bit secondhand. Lady Mara Jade, who had rushed to his aid, helped him to his feet and handed Yogurt back his sabre. “That must of hurt”

“Hurt indeed it did Mara. Go back and help Boricua we must!”. They both ran back to the battle, both with sabres flaring. Venom saw them coming and threw a punch into Biricua’s eyes, giving himself enough time to back clear for the new attackers. The Dark Jedi’s sabre came to hand, a single blade model and it met Lady Mara’s weapon with a clash that nearly threw here arm sockets out of joint. She barely managed to hang on to her sabre and then hardly had time to defend her self from the second, even worse blow. This time, the sabre was knocked cleanly out of her hands and she stared at the r death coming at her, blood red sabre searching for the finishing blow. It was barely stopped by a lunge from Yogurt. The little Jedi stood his ground, trying to defend himself against an opponent with a 2 meter longer reach and the Force knew how much stronger physically. Yogurt knew he could not win this one, so with the Force, picked up a wooden crate and smashed into Venom’s back. The Dark Jedi roared, then was crash tackled by Figrin D’An. As the Jedi and Venom crashed to the ground, Venom managed to get a hand on Fgrin’s cloak and then with his far superior strength, wrenched the Jedi up and away, the startled Figrin flailing in the air.

The rest of the Jedi continued to attack their Sith opponents, the multiple scuffles covering over the sounds of fighting on the other side of the field

--

Bromine’s head snapped uo as he heard the call through the comlink. “Vo’gon’s in the base! 10 of them!” He instantly lit both ends of his sabre, then rushed to link up with the few Sith he could see straight away. The group then moved towards the area that Vengeance was last in.

They saw the Vog,on quickly and moved in, the 4 Sith rapidly closing the distance between them and the beasts, Vengeance, Rama Sha and Nuriko not far behind, coming from the other direction. A group of troops moved in and rashly began to fire, blaster bolts flying into Vog’ons and the equipment all around. A blaster bolt struck a power line, a power coupling blew up in a shower of sparks. Vengeance skidded to a stop, an expression of concern on his face as he saw what the power coupling was close to. Bromine’s group didn’t notice, nor did anyone else. The power coupling gave out a few more sparks and arced out, electrical energy courseing over a barrel of chemical fuel. The arc caused the barrel to glow and the fuel inside reacted and exploded with a dull thuwp.

The flames shot out, consuming all in their path as a mushroom of fire curled it way skywards, the shockwave knocking everyone flat. Bromine kept his head down as debris shot overhead, a large metal slice hitting the ground mere centimetres from where his head was. The Sith Lord waited a few seconds, then decided to look up. The Vog’on’s all seemed to have survived and as well were already on their feet, ready to keep fighting.

Bloody typical! Doesn’t anything faze these monsters?!?

Yelling for the other Sith to get up, he got to his feet. Princess Rebecca, Princess Sara, Ayamani Rai (who were with Bromine), Rama Sha, Vengeance and Darth Nuriko all came together as a group, and with a short command, raced in at the Vog’on, coming in a full blown attack at beasts sabres all lit and with Rama screaming a battlecry. The Vog’on to a one bolted in several different directions, scattering at such speed that Bromine was hard pressed to follow more than one of the beasts.

“I wasn’t expecting that. I thought they would stand and fight like we have seen so far” commented Ayanami Rai.

“Even as good as they are, it would have been suicide to face us all. Right, two groups, time for a reptile hunt. Make sure they aren’t up to some other mischief. Ayamani and Vengeance, your with me, Rama take the rest. Use your judgement as to where they may have gone and when you find one, don’t ask questions. Understood?” The other sith nodded their agreement to Bromine’s instructions and Rama Sha directed his group to go near the shuttles. A scream suddenly ripped the air, without pausing to wait Rama ran in the same direction, Nuriko, Rebecca and Sara following.

Another figure came out a door, a running Vog’on followed by a very, very pissed off Sith in the shape of Saurron, sabre alight and out for blood. The Vog’on did a seemingly impossible move, managing to get behind the charging Sith and then smash him into a skidding slide with a tail strike. Saurron skidded to a stop, face down. Bromine and his group rushed over to help Saurron get up.

“#$%@ piece of $^%!! I’m gunna kill that damn thing!” yelled Saurron

“What happened?” asked Rebbecca.

“That…THING sneaked up and tried to backstab me! Would have damn worked if I didn’t turn around. Now, are we going to get that thing?” snarled Saurron

Bromine had a sinister grin on his face. “We get them all. No mecry”

--

Rama Sha and his group turned a corner, to see two Vog’on engaging a platoon of troops in a pitched battle, with the troops rapidly losing. The Sith charged, the Vog’on quickly spotting the Sith and bolting. The Sith kept chasing the Vog’on even after they leapt a shipping container, the Sith hot on their heels….

… and straight into an ambush. 4 more Vog’on attacked, coming up from their position on top of the container. A backhand slap send Nuriko spinning backwards through the air and to the ground, with Princess Rebecca screeching as a whipped scorpion like tail caught her across the face, cutting a wide slash. Rama hardly had time to get his sabre up to stop a killing blow, cutting a claw off the Vog’on opposite, but still losing his footing as a tail sweep knocked him over. Princcess Sara was the only one to be still standing, but was quickly surrounded by the beasts. She took one look as four of them came for her at once, decided she liked liking and barrel rolled out of the encirclement, landing near Ram who had just booted the Vog’on he faced off him. The beast slid to a stop on his back, allowing Rama time to get up. He realised that he had sprained his ankle, the kick having done some damage. Rama steadied himself and then with Sara at his side, came at the single Vog’on. Almost as soon as they moved, the 4 that tried the encirlement of Sara rushed over, bringing the Sith to a stop. Rama instead chose to retreat and regroup, grabbing Rebecca and leaping off the container to where Nuriko was below, still recovering from the hit she had taken.

“What in blazing suns hit me?” she moaned

“Get up and move…LOOK OUT!” Rama saw the 6 Vog’on jump off the container, intent on making the kill, the Sith used the Force to accelerate out of the danger zone, then to turn and come at the beasts head on. Nuriko attacked, slicing a Vog’on gut, only to see the impossibly fast beast limbo under the blade, snap upwards and then a massive twin claw strike straight for her shoulders. She swayed back, bring the sabre back to put it between her and the beast. They eyed each other, then the Vog’on struck with it’s lethal speed, it’s tail crashing Nuriko aside like a rag doll. Crashing against a piece of equipment, she groggily fought to stay on her feet, desperate to bring her sabre up in some form of defence. The Vog’on didn’t let up, chasing her and yet again striking out at her. She barely made her sabre intervene, cutting off the arm reaching to crush her neck. The Vog’on shrieked and faded into the shadows.

Okay, hopefully that will discourage that thing….

Rama had two attacking at once, firing in strikes faster than anything he had ever seen. Ducking and weaving, he tried to bring his sabre into play, trying to hold these two monsters at bay. Leaping upwards in a spiral, he used the force to grab a piece of metal and used it to smash one of Vog’on in the back of the head, hard enough to cannon the beast into its fellow. He landed close to Rebecca, again hard pressed to keep the Vog’on at bay. Rama pointed and used the Force to throw the beast into two others that were going at Sara.

“Nuriko, Sara and Rebecca! Get out of here!” yelled Rama

The other three Sith complied, Rebecca’s face streaming with blood and Nuriko somewhat still groggy from the last attack she copped. Rama waited until his fellow Sith were passed him, then turning he ran as well, getting into a clearer are were they could try and fight these things where the territory didn’t favour them. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the Vog’on chose not to follow the Sith into the open, but remain in the shadows, away from the troops that were now running in the direction the Sith, back them up. Rama considered sending them in to smoke out the beasts, but decided they would lose too many good men for that to be practical. He decided to do something else.

“I want this area surrounded, bring in all the heavy weaponry and then level it. Don’t allow anything to escape alive” The Captain nodded and signalled his men to do as Rama had ordered.

The first blast of a rifle was flowed by the heavier blast of a thermal detonator as the troops began to level the place the Vog’on’s were hiding. Rama grinned and then turned to see Rebecca was covered in blood, the face wound bleeding badly. He ordered a medic to come over to help Rebecca and turned to watch the destruction the troops were unleashing

Six shadows, on the other side of the fire storm sneaked way, unseen by anyone

--

The Jedi continued their battle with the Sith, their superior numbers beginning to drive the Sith backwards. Even so, the Sith’s sabres were an impreneratible wall of flashing light. The Jedi forced the Sith into a tight group, then began to take turns attacking, never letting up, resting and then fighting as they began to wear the Sith down. Not far way, Jedi Boricua, Master Yogurt and Lady Mara Jade circled the Dark Jedi Venom, keeping just out of range of the Force Pike Venom had retrieved and was welding that as well as his sabre. Lady Mara had a cut tio the forehead and a blackeye was beginning to show from a backhand slap. Master Yogurt and her were on onside, Boricua on the oter, looking for any opening the massive Dark Jedi might give them.

Instead, Venom sidestepped a lunge from Yogurt, spinning and rapping the little Jedi on the back with the Pike, then executing a back kick that caught Boricua under the chin. Mara tried to get in close enough, but the incredibl reach the huge human had beat her and she too got a chestful of Pike, sending her staggering back.

He’s toying with us, Mara thought. She reconsidered when she saw how savagely their opponent turned on Boricua, going into the Jedi with a flurry of blows and swings that would have taken the Jedi’s life if he didn’t fight to the absolute maximum of his ability. Master Yogurt recovered enough to try to swing at Venom’s exposed back, but without looking the Dark Jedi swung his Force Pike, the polearm meeting the lightsabre blade and the Cortoros shield forcing the sabre to deactivate.

Master Yogurt stepped back, reignited his sabre, a look of frustration on his face. One Dark Jedi verses three Jedi should have been an impossible task, but the Force Pike’s added ability to shutdown lightsabres was making the Jedi’s task seem impossible. Mara joine the Jedi Master as they swept in to attack once again, this time to see Venom back flip away and land, his visor making it impossible to see his expression, but it didn’t’t take great skill in the Force to see the fury the Dark Jedi was using to open up the Dark Side to himself. Jedi Boricua came across to the other two Jedi, breathing heavily.

“Hey Mon, how do we stop dis one?” he asked.

Lady Mara, not long ago the Sith ruler dug into the knowledge she had, wondering if a Jedi could do what she was about to do. Raising a palm, she blasted Venom with Force lightning, the Dark Jedi sqwarking in surprise as he dropped his sabre and fell down. She came at Venom again, again releasing the lightning to play over Venom’s massive form. The Dark Jedi rolled away, desperate to get away from this unexpected surprise, he finaly got a box between him and Mara, allowing hin time ot recover as she came around, intent on the kill. Master Yogurt and Jedi Boricua came around the other side, attempting to cut off Venom’s exit – instead they saw a black figure skyrocket upwards and away, propelled by the Force well clear. He landed near where the 4 Sith were pressed together.

“GO!” yelled the Dark Jedi, recalling his Force Pike and sabre by the Force, from where he had dropped it. Immediately, the four Sith made a breakout from the pocket of Jedi they had been trapped in, going for one co-ordinated attack at Dez Arken and CMJ, forcing them and then away as Venom joined in the attack. All five ten ran, Venom pausing long enough to give the Jedi a rude gesture before he ran off, following the others as they leaped over a wall and out of the compound, Rmaio, turning his sabre off, realised that the sound of fighting elsewhere had stopped and the only sounds he could hear were the shouted orders of those assigned to mop up damage.

The leader of the Jedi looked around, seeing his either slump to the ground or sit on boxes, exhaustion clearly readable on their faces. He himself was feeling okay, on a natural high after the fight with the adrenaline slowly ebbing away. Most of the Jedi Council were seated together, not speaking, so Rmaio went over to them.

“Any idea what that could have been all about?”

The gathered Jedi looked at each other, then looked back at Rmaio, all shaking their heads. Jedi Boricua, blood dripping from his nose, spoke what they all were feeling.

“Hey mon, who was dat person? He’s like fighting a cliffface!”

“Fortunate that we had so many of us here, else the result would have been much different. Mmmmmm, not good this is” said Master Yogurt, seemingly unaffected, even by the massive blows he had taken. The rest of the Jedi agreed, Lady Mara Jade flopped on her back, just hoping she could get some painkillers for what felt like a broken cheekbone and other facial injuries, wondering why the 5 Sith she knew, Havok, Ogre, Hera, Daiquari and last of all Lynch would have come out to help that insanely huge human… what did he call himself, Venom? Something in the back of her mind tried to make a connection, something about the name she had heard before… it suddenly clicked and she stared upwards in numb shock.

“Lady Mara, what concernes you?” asked Master Yogurt, obviously feeling Mara’s shock via the Force.

“Master Yog, that human we fought… he called himself Venom right? Don’t we know someone else who went under the name Venom?”

Master Yougurt looked puzzled for a second then his eyes widened to indicate his surprise as he understood too. Figrin D’An swore quietly.

“But… but that thing was way too big! No way….”

Master Yougrt turned to Figrin. “I agree, not the same person. No more words on this now, onto shuttles we get and discuss when we are cleaned up”

As Yogurt began to rouse the Jedi to get on a shuttle to leave the planet, Master Yogurt could not help thinking about this fight with Venom and the last time they had met. The first time, 8 years ago and Yog had barely survived, but that Venom was much smaller, but no less capable. He knew they were different men now, but the thought occurred to him…. What if this new Venom was a clone, bred and modified? The thought was chilling.

Cautious eyes stared out of the hiding place inside the shuttle, looking out as he saw the Jedi begin to come aboard, most looking very much worse for wear, some like Lady Mara sporting cuts and bruises. He had to smile, thinking that was the first time he had ever seen anyone go one on one with Master Yogurt and win. Impressive. He continued to look out of his hiding place, continuing to look at Mara as she came onboard with the help of Darth Ace. Jedah Lynch, using the Force to stay hidden and undetectable for unwary minds grinned in satisfaction. Just Jedi, he thought. Venom told you we were going to take back what was ours I’m going to make sure of it.

--

The Sith on the other side of the landing field congregated around Bromine, satisfied that the Vog’on had been run off. The fiery blaze that must have claimed six of them was still burning and the other three had been seen running from the base at high speed, no doubt running in fear of the massed sabres of the Sith. Relaxed and looking forward to getting off Tatooine, Bromine instructed his Sith to get onboard the shuttle that was beginning to get ready to take off, dropping his guard as he thought there was nothing to fear. With all of the Sith facing the one direction, toward’s the shuttle, only Ayamani Rai chanced to look back and suddenly see the terror seeming to come out of the ground, directly behind Bromine. The Sith himself felt the presence behind him too late, whipping around in a last ditch attempt to get his sabre out.

“NNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” screamed Ayamani, the rest of the Sith spinning round at the sound, to witness what followed.

The Vog’on that Bromine had captured, the 11th Vog’on that had snuck in under the cover of his fellow beast’s attack held the dagger in it’s palm, intent on getting this done, the ritual that was the only time Vog’on used a weapon after it’s Naming, the Ki’ltrath or Death without Honour, the Vog’on form of execution. Then with all the fury it could muster, stabbed Bromine in the chest, leaving the hilt protruding in the middle of the wound. Bromine gasped, staring at his killer, frozen in shock.

“DDDIIIIIIIEEEEEE WIIITHHHHHOUUTTTTT HONNNOOUUUUURRRR!!!!” roared the beast and then in a massive swipe, smashed Bromine high into the air, at the very apex of the flight, Bromine’s body gave up the fight for life, the dark side energy in him suddenly released from it’s fleshly bounds, exploding into a consuming ball of blue flame that rushed outward with a single mindblowing bang. A small object dropped as the fireball dispersed, Bromine’s lightsabre, the only remains of the Sith as it fell to the ground at the feet of Rama Sha, shock and fury written all over his stunned face. His shock also turned to burning fury as he looked to where the Vog’on killed Bromine, seeing the Vog’on was gone. He walked over to pick up the lightsabre, tarnished from the explosion. A hooting noise caught his attention, He looked up to see not one but 11 Vog’on, on the wall of the compound, 10 of them hooting and snarling, the other standing slightly away. Rama stared as the solitary Vog’on clearly gave the Sith the unversal sign for ‘Up Yours’. The Sith ignited Bromine’s sabre and flung it, sending sailing at the Vog’on who disappeared off the wall just as the sabre reached them. It curlied back, landing still lit in the hand of Ayamani Rai who was tembling with rage.

“I get every last one of those &^%$^’s I swear by the Force I will!” she screamed

--

Night fell on the planet of Tatooine, the stars at that time the lonely light in the desert sky. Many hours ago, the Jedi and the Sith had left the place after the early morning uproar, the Jedi to lick their wounds and the Sith to mourn their dead. Their ships still orbited the planet but even that would be for not much longer as the final preparations were made to leave and the Sith paid their last respects to Bromine.

On the planet below, deep in the desert, two figures were together, looking up. Both were enormous, one lizard like with a slashing tail, the other human in black armour. They briefly conferred and then parted, neither turning back to each other. The human clambered onto a speeder bike and without hesitation rode off, a small puff of dust the only sign of his leaving. The other disappeared into a light had suddenly appeared, then disappeared as suddenly as it came on. A few moments and then the desert sand shuddered as a engine started, then the sand began to split as a small cruiser, buried in the sand began to lift, The sand poured off the sides as the crusier lifted clear of the ground. The main motors spun up and whit a small bang, the drive engaged and the cruiser shot off into the night. Not far away, another flare of light signalled another ship taking off, streaking straight for the heavens. On that ship, four Sith sat quietly, discussing the future while Venom piloted the ship into orbit, alone in his thoughts.

A small beep on his control beep and he engaged automatic pilot, smiling underneath his helmet. He moved to the rear section where the other Sith sat, they all turned as the huge Dark Jedi entered

“Signal received. Let’s go to give the Jedi another kick”

Darth Ogre spoke for all the rest when he let out a low “Yesss!!!”

--

[Firebird1]

It's Great!!!!

[Darth Havok]

*Drools again, bumping it to the top, so others can get there fury fix*
Damn it, I could’ve taken both of them….Grrr…:lol:

[Darth Turbogeek]

TTT

[Jedah Lynch]

The dead give Dark Fury part 11 five scares out of five.

Another great read as always DT.

And in case anyone thinks getting high fived by a Vog'on is bad, then hope you don't get the dreaded wet willie.:)

[Master Yoghurt]

::Another dead person enters the thread..::

~~I agree with Lynch on that rating. I give it 5 Yoda spirits out of five~~

[Darth Ogre]

OMG! :eek: Great stuff!