Prove thyself!

[Oddball]

Slowly, the one known to many only as Oddball stepped into the small room, immediately almost tripping over a small lump of metal on the floor. Resting on a small desk to stop him falling, he looked up at the room's inhabitant, a thin man working on a computer.

"Jak, ever thought of getting yourself a cleaner for this place? Or a Proton Torpedo?"

"It isn't unclean, it's an organised room" Came his reply, his head still watching the terminal screen.

Oddball sighed as he realised he couldn't actually walk to the man. Pulling out his Nightstick, he activated the grappling hook, firing it at the roof. Swinging over the top, he detatched the hook, making a near-perfect landing. Near-perfect, meaning he landed on the end of a chair, causing him to fall on his face. Getting up as if nothing had happened, The mercenary walked to a position behind Jak, and looked at the screens.

"What you got for me? Security link into anyones rooms?" he asked the scrawny man

"No 'ball, just a round up of the competition"

"Ooh, highlights"

Oddball watched as a series of filmings were shown on the screen. Woman, purple hair, using a stun baton to eliminate three guards without breaking a sweat. Man, armoured body, using a jetpack to reach a balcony. Woman, dark hair with white front sneaking into an air duct. A team of men and women, blowing up a bulkhead into a vault.

"And these are all new to your eagle eyes?" Oddball asked

"More or less. It appears your little market has expanded"

"Suppose this mouse better go steal himself some Bantha cheese. Jak, I need an installation, not too far away, located in a city, that would contain important data. Name it"

"Well, there's an Imperal Airbase not far from here. Two days space travel, say?"

"I'll take it" The Merc said. "But I'll need some stuff"

"Sure thing, still carrying that Sabbacc deck around"

"Yeah"

"Why?"

As if to answer his question, Oddball pulled the first card out of the pack on his belt, spun round and threw it. The card lodged itself into a wall, much to Jak's suprise.

"Never trust a man with a Sabbacc deck" He said as he pulled the card out.

"Well, they should help" Jak said bringing a single card out from his desk draw.

"This looks just like a simple black card, right? Well, it has been specially made for keycard doors. You slide this into the slot, wait a few moments, and this little beauty will open the door as if you ripped the card out of the hand of a man you just killed"

"But that's part of the fun" he said regretfully, as he slid it into the back of his deck.

Saying nothing more, Oddball waved a goodbye and left.

***

Leaving the city, Oddball looked up at the main building of the airfield that was right in front of him. He removed the cloak he had used to hide his red and black disguise, noting the irony or disguising a disguise. Allowing the spring loaded handle to come out of his nightstick, before spinning it round, flicking the end off, and firing the grapnel towards the roof. Slowly, he began to retract the wire, sending him upwards. A few stories up, the mercenary almost fell, as he found himself staring through a window at a woman lying asleep in bed, her dyed hair hanging down. Shaking his head, he continued upwards, noting which floor she was on. Finding a vent, Oddball gently swung it open, before slipping inside.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus scratched lightly at the back of his head as he sat in his temporary living quarters. It was late, and he probably should have been asleep. The next morning, he was scheduled to oversee a new squadron as they ran through their basic manuevers. He hadnt realized how much Stark had actually done on the Superior til he found himself doing the same with the Draconian. Silus had what squadrons he could moved there already, but due to the sheer size of the Super Star Destroyer, he was having to bring in a wave of rookies to fill in the rest of the squadrons. Maybe he was a bit nervous, maybe he was dreading the task. Either way, all he could do to busy himself now was sit at his desk reading the progress report sent to him from Balmorra laboraties on the Quantum project.

Silus looked up at the chrono on the wall and sighed. He slowing pushed his chair back and got up. After stretching his back for a second, he wandered out of his room and into the hallway, slowly making his way towards the mess hall for a drink...

[Oddball]

Allowing the grate to swing open gently, Oddball jumped nimbly out of the vent, landing in a corridor which he recognised from a data feed from the security cameras he had intercepted while he was crawling through the tight ducts. A few quick tweaks, and all the cameras in the near vicinity were on loops, constantly showing empty areas.

Checking that noone was near, Oddball hopped to a door with a keycard lock. Thanking whoever is up there for making him decide to visit Jak, the mercenary pulled out his "special" card, and slotted it into the slot.

"Breaking through a lock, breaking through a lock, tra la la la la la la la, breaking through a lock" he hummed to himself as a small light on the lock went green. Pressing the door access button, Oddball slipped into the room he desired. The restricted area. Smiling to himself, he eased into a chair, and began to type into a terminal.

[Silus Xilarian]

Thoughts churned in Silus' head as he walked down the dim corridor. His current situation and standing at Balmorra was becoming more complex by the day. Before the Grand Admiral left, things ran smoothly. Millard had a peculiar way of running things, at least when it came with Silus. Millard seemed to give more objectives than orders, leaving Silus room to operate as he wished. Most commanders were keen on giving strict, precise orders. Men were simply made to fill in a pre determined course, with improvation being frowned upon. Millard, though stubborn at times, was surprising open to this, and was more than willing to give a thumbs up to a good plan, no matter how far it had strayed from his original design. As long as the objectives were met...

Now the Grand Admiral was off in search of his fiance. It was becoming more obvious by the day that Emperor Kiterix was plotting against the Grand Admiral. He had Vorrann on his side now, which was a surprise. What other commanders did he have? Just how much did he have planned?

These things tossed through Silus' mind. His every move now tended to be a calculated step. Above all else, his true disposition couldnt be known, for there was no telling what the consequences would be.

[Oddball]

-FILE TRANSER COMPLETE-

As the words flashed upon his screen, Oddball ejected the disk from the terminal, and stored it safely in a pouch on his belt. Logging out of the account he had hacked into, he eased himself out of his chair, and walked softly towards the door.

Easy as taking a datadisk from an airbase He thought to himself, as he moved his turned his head to look down the corridor.

Sithspit!

Someone was walking down the corridor, although they clearly hadn't seen him. His back pressed against the wall, Oddball waited patiently for the man to walk past, hoping he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty.

As the man walked past, oblivious to his presence, Oddball crouched down and began to slowly crawl towards the vent he came from. He breathed a sigh of relieve as he reached the wall, and gently reached to open the grill....

CLANG

Oddball remained motionless as the man spun round to look at him.

"Erm....Your mind is playing tricks on you. I am just a rat from the air duct. Go get some rest, or get back to thinking about your wife, girlfriend or similar. Just ignore me leaving"

Not expecting the man to fall for his ingenious scheme, Oddball flexed his fist, preparing for a fight.

[Silus Xilarian]

He wondered how long Millard would be gone. It was obvious that Millard wasnt gonna catch s'Ilancy, but he couldnt blame the man for trying. It left things in shambles though, and Silus was half tempted to drag her back himself, just to help get things straight. If anyone in the empire could catch her, it would be Silus. He'd proved that once before. For now he was stuck at Balmorra though. Above all else, he had to watch out for his friends. Shadow Squadron was his main concern. He wasnt about to let them get seperated from him, to be left under command of some dictator who would just assume let them die in an impossible fight. His mind wandered a bit at the thought of Shadow Squadron. He remembered the night on Coruscant when himself and Commander Davis slipped back to a hotel to.....

CLANG!!!

Silus thought process was interupted by the sound of metal hitting metal. He turned around, with an obvious look of confusion...

"Erm....Your mind is playing tricks on you. I am just a rat from the air duct. Go get some rest, or get back to thinking about your wife, girlfriend or similar. Just ignore me leaving"

Oh...A rat. Makes sense.....

Silus turned back around, ready to continue his train of thought. Lets see, where were we? Oh! He and Commander Davis in the hotel. THATS NOT A RAT!

Silus whirled back around suddenly to see nothing more than a foot being pulled into the vent. He quickly ran up and grabbed the foot, jerking it, and the man attached to it, out into the floor...

[Oddball]

Hitting the floor, Oddball immediately turned into a roll, and scrambled to his feet.

"I said go back to girl thinking. See how you like it when all you can do is think!" He says, and aims a kick at his groin, the ebst way to disable someone in his estimation. At the last minute, his opponent stepped backwards, instead having Oddball's boot meet his upper torso, sending the mercenary falling back. Attempting to use this to his advantage, Oddball spun his other foot round, sweeping the mans legs, sending him crashing down a short distance away.

"Never mess with the King Rat"

[Silus Xilarian]

As Silus hit the ground, he immediately rolled away from Oddball, and turned slightly, repositioning himself so he could keep his eye on the intruder. Oddball was already up and headed his way as Silus was able to get up to one knee. Rather than try to stand up fully and get hit while off balance, Silus braced his foot behind him and sprung forward, throwing his right shoulder into Oddball's midsection. As Oddball doubled over from the hit, Silus pushed him backward and took a few steps back, bringing his fists up in somewhat of a boxing stance...

[Oddball]

Bringing himself up to full height, Oddball saw his adversary was ready for him, his stance ready for fighting.

"Quiet person aren't we? With a personality like yours, Im sure you have no trouble with the girls, note sarcasm. Well, if your tongue loosens, maybe we can meet for a talk? Here, my card"

As Oddball finished, he slipped a card out of the Sabbacc deck on his belt, and flung it towards the mans throat, in hope of disabling him. Not waiting to see the result, the mercenary turned round, and began to run for what he hoped was an exit.

[Silus Xilarian]

As Oddball threw the card, Silus brought his arm up to block it out of reflex...

"Son of a ...!!!!"

Silus immediately grabbed the card and pulled it out of his hand, throwing it to the ground. He shook his hand for a moment to rid himself of the sharp pain then realized the intruder was running away. Without further hesitation, Silus tore off after Oddball, this time drawing his blaster. As he ran, he checked to make sure it was set on stun. He looked back up in time to see Oddball make a left at the end of the hall. He followed suit, and was slowly gaining on the intruder...

[Oddball]

As he turned the corner, Oddball stopped dead, and turned round. He waited until the footsteps were loud enough, before extending his arm out, catching his adversary in the throat. As he fell, the mercenary sent a number of kicks at the mans midsection, before running back down the corridor to find.....a dead end.


......Ah

[Silus Xilarian]

As Silus hit the ground, his blaster flew out of his hand and skittled across the floor. As soon as the intruder ran off, Silus was back on his feet and continuing the chase. Rather than retrieving his blaster, he kept after the intruder, not wanting to lose anymore ground. He pressed on until he came upon Oddball, and a dead end...

"You're gonna pay dearly for that last one...."

With a slight crack of his knuckles, Silus eased forward toward the intruder, taking his time with his "catch".

[Oddball]

Stepping back until he was leaning against the wall, Oddball waited for the man to throw the first punch. Grabbing his fist, Oddball swung the man past him into the wall, before throwing his elbow into his lower back. He then used the situation to send a number of punches into the mans back, the wall stopping his body from moving away. Rolling his head round, he stepped away as the man slid to the floor.

"Stuck between a wall and a funny place?" He asked mockingly

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus got back to one knee and quickly glanced behind him. the intruder had backed off. Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet. He opted not to rush in this time, as thats what this guy was probably hoping for. Instead, he slowly began to pace a half circle around Oddball...

"Actually, I was just a little surprised. No one told me the circus was in town. Who are you anyways? Harry the human hood ornament?"

As he paced, he kept his left side towards Oddball, ready to react if an attack came his way...

[Oddball]

"Me? I'm your worst nightmare. That's right, the giant fluffy Bantha!"

Oddball advanced forward, and swung a punch, which was blocked by his adversary. He used this to his advantage, ducking udner his arm and turning so that he now had a way to escape behind him. But rather than running, Oddball stayed still, waiting for the man to advance.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Is that all you can do? If so, Id suggest you go ahead and start running again.

Silus casually stepped forward, though staying just far enough away that the intruder would have to take a step before attacking...

[Oddball]

"Why, such a kind offer. I may take you up on it"

And with that, Oddball turned tail and ran, hoping that the punches and kicks he had landed would slow his opponent down sufficiently.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus casually walked forward as the intruder once again started running. He had held back so far, but the pain in his side would nag him badly if he had to run much more. Silus concentrated for a moment on Oddball's feet. With a slight tug from the force, the intruder's foot was pulled out from under him and yanked backward, bringing him face-first to the concrete floor. As he fell, Silus had already took off forward.

As the dazed intruder started to pull himself up, a booted foot came from the side, and roughly planted itself across his face, causing Oddball to fall over onto his back...

Silus took a few steps back, giving Oddball room to get up and silently began stalking around his prey.....

[Oddball]

As he rose from the floor, a chuckle came from Oddball's lips.

"Spoonbender eh? Think you can rustle me up something dark haired, attractive and female, about my height?"

[Silus Xilarian]

"Spoonbender? I think that hit to the head knocked what little sense you had out of you. You tripped..."

A smile crossed Silus' face. So what if he found the joke funny, he was still a bit more pleased that the intruder was floored...

"Dark hair, attractive and female....about your height? You know, I suppose I could, or I could just drag you off for interrogation...decisions, decisions...."

[Oddball]

"How about both? Find me the person I want, and she can interrogate me. I warn you though, you'll get nothing out of me" He said as he slowly moved a hand to his back, reaching for something. Putting his legs closer together, Oddball watched the mans face for any alarm as he quietly dropped a small thick disc that he had taken off his belt, letting it land behind his legs.

[Silus Xilarian]

"Both? You know what? Thats not a bad idea. After the interrogating is over, I'll find a nice brunette nurse to treat your wounds, or.....if you're really stubborn, she can just cover up your wounds and wait for the coroner...."

Silus reached into his coat pocket and retrieved his comlink, then glanced back down at Oddball one last time...

"Sound good to you?"

[Oddball]

"I have a better idea"

With that, Oddball steps on the object on the floor, which made a high beeping noise. Kicking it towards his opponent, he turned as the bright flash it emitted blinded the man temporarly.

Turning, the mercenary ran towards a window, and jumped shoulderfirst into it, landing hard on the ground on the other side. Having studied the plans before attempting this heist, he had known that there was a small speeder pool here, which he;d now exploit. Running to a parked speeder with a hard top facing the exit gates, he opened it, pressed the ignition device, thankful for this series not having locked activation switches, and sent it away at full acceleration, leaving him standing alone. Knowing what this would cause, Oddball quickly ran behind another parked speeder a fair distance away, and ducked his head.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus stumbled back and started shaking his head. His hands immediately came up to his face as the flash of light burned his eyes. After a few moments, he got his vision back, hazy, but back. He immediately took off after the intruder again. He reached the end of the hallway and looked over, seeing the broken window. Instead of making a dramatic leap through the window, Silus pushed on and exited out of the door labeled "Military Parking".

As he ran out of the building, he the gate open to allow a speeder to exit. He cursed for not ordering an immediate lock down when he first saw the intruder, as he ran for a vacant speeder to continue his pursuit.

As he got inside, he hit the ignition, pulling his foot in and slamming the door as the speeder shot forward......

[Oddball]

Watching as the man sped away, Oddball slid into the speeder he had his eye on. A more armoured variety, this is what you would find in ground assault teams, if a transport with no weapons but speed is desired. Activating it, the mercenary set the accelerator to full, as he sped after the man, still in view on the road ahead.

The opposing speeder becoming larger in Oddball's view, he braced himself as he smashed into the rear of it, in hope of damaging the repulsorlift that kept the speeder going. Believing the damage would now be done, he swerved his speeder beyond his opponents, before darting away.

"Hope you're insured"

[Silus Xilarian]

The hit jarred Silus pretty bad, as he just then realized what had happened. He fought with the controls for a minute and finally leveled out the speeder. He heard a knocking sound coming from the speeder. "Damn, thats gotta be the repulsorlift" he though to himself, since the engines themselves hadnt been touched. He checked his rear view to see a thick trail of smoke. For now though, the speeder was still moving, so he would continue the chase. With any luck, the intruder might wreck.....

[Oddball]

Seeing the speeder behind was still moving, Oddball made the snap descision to try and finish it off. He hit the brakes, bringing himself level with his opponent, before turning to him and waving in an over the top style. Sure that he had his attention, the mercenary swerved sharply, hitting the side of his speeder, before repeating the procedure.

[Silus Xilarian]

Silus realized that the speeder he was in couldnt take the beating from the more heavily armored speeder. The heavy knocking coming from his speeder was getting louder. He quickly braked, then let off, so that the intruder would be ahead of him. It was time for a last ditch effort. His engines were still in good order, but his repulsorlift was about to rip itsself apart. With Oddball now in front of him, Silus acclerated hard, letting the lighter speed almost leap at the heavier speeder. As he did, he pushed the craft up as hard as he could, keeping his engines at full throttle.

The effect was what had hoped for, as his speeder lept above Oddball's. As he was dead even with Oddball, his repulsorlift engines went out in a fiery burst, and the speeder dropped like a sack of bricks, Right on top of Oddball's speeder........

[Oddball]

Oddball ducked as he heard a large bang on his roof, a dent causing his headspace to be half a foot or so lower. Peeking over the steering yoke, the mercenary accelerated to as fast as he could go, before hitting the brakes hard, with hope of sending his new passenger flying off his roof.

"No ticket"

[Silus Xilarian]

As soon as Oddball hit the brakes, the speeder Silus was occupying went flying forward, hitting the ground with a crash sliding a bit. Silus clenched his eyes closed and held the controls with a death grip until the speeder came to a halt. Slowly, he opened his eyes and loosened his grip, to make sure he was still alive.

Silus pulled the door handle. but realized the door was slightly jammed. A hard bump with his shoulder succeeded in opening the door, sending him sprawling out of the vehicle, landing on the peripheral of the light from Oddball's pilfered speeder's headlights.

Quickly getting to his feet, Silus grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it at the speeder in a fit of sheer annoyance....

[Oddball]

Hitting the reverse, Oddball flinched as the rock his opponent had thrown smashed the front window, landing in the passengers seat. Smiling to himself, he waved to the man as he spun his craft round, and sped off in the opposite direction.