Long ago... in a galaxy far away...



The Clone Wars have been raging for nearly a decade and are reaching a bloody crescendo. Coruscant itself has not escaped unscathed as it's infrastructure and populace have seen a share of these brutal clashes on their own soil.

With destruction, homelessness, slavery, starvation, refugees and civilian death tolls on the rise the citizens of the Galactic Republic grow distrustful of the Jedi (who seem to be at the heart of the conflict but are notorious for not getting their hands dirty) and desperate for an end to the fighting. Separatist forces only seem to expand while Republic resources dwindle.

Propaganda and rumors of a mysterious terror in the Outer Rim circle the streets of the Galactic Seat. The people turn to their senate and their beloved Chancellor Palatine for protection and answers.

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Deeply tinted by the setting sun, an orange haze drifted through the streets of the lower Coruscant slums. Citizens trudged along as usual. Some were headed home, some to stand in food lines and others simply wandered because that was all they could do. At their feet refuse and rubble littered the walkways and alleys. All around shifty characters waited in shadows and the foundations of the structures that towered into the sky had become damaged and neglected. Above them messages from the senate and Chancellor Palpatine as well as news from the war front chattered away in a near unbroken stream. Those lucky enough to not end up down hear zipped around above them though the traffic had slowed substantially in years past. The atmosphere was anything but silent but coalesced into a tense ambiance that became a constant down here. Until it was broken by the scream of blaster fire and and the low reverberation of someone being thrown out of a forcefield.

Citizens scattered from the front of the canteena with shouts of shock and confused murmurs to either hurry along or stay and watch from a safe distance. An ex-patron rolled off his back to his hands and knees with a pained hiss. After shaking off the initial shock he stumbled to his feet, staggered and sprinted forward as two more people rushed out of the front door.

"Move!" he gave little notice before bolting through the small crowd. The other two came hot on his heels.

The glowing lights of shops and homes along the darkening streets became unfocused, blurred, streaks of color as he ran. Every now and again the orange sky would burst through a split in the buildings. Reassurances that he was moving faster than he felt he was since the feeling in his legs had been somewhat reduced by the evening's bad decisions. Wait, which senator had he told the Arconan to go shove his... Dammit! What had he said!? It was so witty too! He wanted to keep that one! In his efforts to remember what had transpired only minutes ago the Togruta lost his sense of surroundings and sprinted into the street and found himself face to face with an oncoming rubbish hauler. The horn blared loudly and the headlights blinded him lighting up his nerves like an inferno. He overcame the startled pause and wheeled out of the path of the hauler which blasted past with only inches between them. The draft ripped at his clothes and lekku but he was unscathed. His heart was racing and he grinned. His perusers slowed to a jog with stunned expressions on their faces.

"HA!," he yelled at them while backing up, "Look at that! I'm untouchabl--" another horn blared but this time the sideways, out of control vehicle hurdled toward him and he didn't have time to move. A silent curse caught in his throat as he pulled a stupid face, as his life didn't flash before his eyes because he was too scared to think, and as he instinctively held his hands out like that would really stop nearly two tons of steel. As if hitting an invisible wall the hovering transport wheeled into the air above him, the doors buckling inward on impact. It flipped once and struck the ground on his other side sending sparks and shattered pieces flying. The chassis skidded along until friction brought it to a stop. The people inside were shook up and looked around trying to figure out what happened. Jaws dropped. Silence. Even the Togruta was a little unsure of himself at this point... but he was still alive.

"Un-fucking-touchable," he hissed.

"Kill him!" the Arconan screamed. A rapid burst of blaster fire tore past his head, one blast singing his jacket and burning his shoulder. He ducked, spun and started running again. Still extremely lithe for being three sheets to the wind.

"Dammit!" he cursed. This. This is exactly why everybody kept telling him he was a bad drinker and should stay away from canteenas.

He took a turn down a narrow, barren walk-way where little light was able to reach. The area was getting more familiar. With out needing to see it he launched himself up and over a short barrier and relaxed for the long fall he knew came after it. An eight foot drop and he hit the ground letting his legs buckle and rolled to absorb the hit. Then underestimated the momentum he had built stumbled and landed on his ass. More blaster fire as the two morons struggled with the wall. He rolled out of the way and lurched back into a run. He was getting close to the scrap and repair yard where he worked. Confidence rose as he was sure he could lose them in the maze of twisted metal and parts and then sleep this all off like it had never happened. Having done it many times before in the months he had been on Coruscant he scaled one of the houses near by, hurried over the low rooftops and jumped a gap to a steel ramp that surrounded and barricaded the massive yard.

The sun was down and now the furnaces and bursts of flame from the mills and refineries in the area lit the way. It was a long slide down the ramp and the razor wire fence at the bottom was approaching fast. Gotta time it right. a nasty scar down his right shin was testament to timing it wrong. With roughly ten feet to go he burst off the ramp with all his strength and sailed over the fence. He hit the other side hard and skidded to a stop, crashing to his knees and side. He couldn't see them anywhere.

With a relieved sigh he got up and brushed off the dust. His body ached and his head spun but he was still in good shape and would live to see another day on this hell-hole of a planet. He looked up at the sky obstructed by towers and smoke. The traffic high above was only just visible and the stars beyond that were even harder to see, but they were still there. Almost immediately after arriving he had realized that coming to Coruscant was a bad idea. The Republic was falling apart at its core and this was not the safe haven it had been made out to be around the rest of the galaxy. He wouldn't make the same mistake again. One of these days, one way or another he was getting off this rock.

Over his shoulder he could hear voices. He swore and scrambled into the rows of scrap looking for a place to hide as the men looked for a way in.

"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NOOOOOOOOOO" Zenithar ran for his life through the streets of corusant a police patrol car behind him with it's lights blaring as he used the force to accelerate himself, but not faster than the damn car. "Marquis, start the ship! Start the damn ship! They don't like me on Corusant anymore! Ten minutes here and the police start waving around this warrant for my arrest that has 10 million credits sprawled on it!"

He ran for the scrap yard where they had snuck onto the planet to get supplies, the others waiting there while he went out on his own. This would serve to get him nearly killed as the police chased after him. He got close to the scrap yard after turning several alleyways. It seems he had lost them and he sighed, relieved. His armor was scratched and scorched up pretty badly and he had lost his blaster to some Rohdian asshole who decided that he owned him money or some garbage. He paid good money for that pistol! Fifteen credits!

He backed up and started a slow run to jump over the gate, he never got force jump down. He started to run when out of nowhere the police had caught up to him and slammed into him with the bumper of their car right as he got off the ground. He shot through the air. They REALLY wanted him dead!

"Whoo hoooooooo" He flew through the air and went right for a pile of scrap, landing hard on his back. He rolled off of the scrap pile and to his feet. Police had stormed their way into the scrap yard in an attempt to find him before he escaped. "How that ship coming, Marky?" "I do say, sir, that it is...broken again. Next time you decide to run into an asteroid, please refrain from doing so." "THERE WAS A PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN RACE THERE." "Yes, there was, a race of knee high toads that barely ran on enough cerebral power to acknowledge you. Then you wiped them out because you were hungry." "Hunger is important! The synthesizer was broken again!" "It is not broken, the power supply short circuited. Just have to get a new one." "Okay, now that wasn't my fault. You and Trinity were fooling around again." "Boy was that bloody brilliant..."

He stopped as he walked around, trying to find the ship. He stopped as he sensed somebody that was crazy strong. "Hold up, hey, you, I know you're there. Come on out. Do you even hide your force powers man?" He called out to the man-person-beast-thing that was hiding near him.

The Togruta stopped in his tracks, having tried to get away to the shop where he could lock the doors and windows behind him. Becoming the very essense of caution he slowly turned and stepped out to get a look at the man. He kept his eyes on him and payed attention to every little noise bouncing off every object, giving away any movement, any threat. Shooting someone had been the last thing he wanted to do tonight, but this guy knew, which meant he was more dangerous than any thug. A hand rested on the handle of his blaster as he revealed himself.

"Who are you?" he asked quietly.

"I AM YOUR FATHE-" Blaster fire interupted him as the police tried to shoot his face off. He jumped to the side as more came his way. He reached out and grabbed the Togruta that he was preparing to joke with with the force and pulled him over. He flew through the air and landed at Zen's feet. He yelled out "He's my accomplice!" and now they started shooting at him as well. He reached out with the force and grabbed the few police that had shown up and pulled them towards him and over them, making them fly into the scrap pile and straight into the convenient pipes sticking out, impaling them deep enough that they couldn't get out. A few others had shown up and he reached down and stole the Togruta's blaster, using it to shoot at a couple of them, downing them quickly and grabbing the last one with the force. He started to crush the man's vertebrae before two others showed up, yelling for the Togruta's head. He didn't take kindly to this, this was his accomplice!

He crushed the man's vertebrae and dropped him to the ground before reaching out again and grabbing the last two. They started to scream as they were lifted up and over the two's head. He smashed them into the ground with an immense amount of force, destroying their legs and hips before raising them up and doing it again, and again, and again, and again.

He finally dropped their crumpled bodies as more police started to show up. He reached down and grabbed the Togruta, lifting him to his feet. "Don't care who you are, just saved your life. You owe me a credit." Just after he finished, more police found them and he was feeling tapped. But blasterfire from another scrap heap put the police down fast. He looked up to see Marquis Von Sterling, a golden colored robot with a golden rifle with multiple small rings on top of it. A black turncoat and vest on his body. He was tall and skinny. He had his arm in an L position, using it to steady his aim with his rifle, of which his aim was impeccable, hitting every policeman in the head. When he finished he yelled out. "I do wish you would let me kill more often, Ouran. I am not getting any younger. The ship still needs repairs." Zen looked at the Togruta and smiled underneath his helmet. "Guess who just got hired!?"

"NO! He's lying! I have nothing to do with any--" he bit his tongue when the blasts filled the air around him. The police here weren't the listening sort. DAMMIT. DAMMIT. DAMMIT. Confused and panicked, he had tried to scramble away from the skirmish but found himself frozen when the man started throwing the police around like rag dolls. At first he thought this might be a jedi, but jedi didn't wear armor like that and they didn't fight like that. It was horrifying and fascinating in the most disgusting way imaginable. Things only got worse. By the time he was grabbed and pulled to his feet he was forcing down the urge to vomit. The sounds of shattering bone still fresh in his mind.

More police were showing up and he realized there would be no way to explain his way out of the situation. His life had been ruined in a matter of seconds. He would be hauled away in cuffs and locked up... again... Not in the same way, but still locked up. His fists clenched and his spine tingled. He would die first. He had to get away. Quickly he was snapped out of it.

"Hired? Hired for what!?" he sneered, "I'm not helping you and I don't owe you a damn thing!"

"You do know they have cameras in their helmets, right? You're a wanted man cause you're not smart and don't have a helmet. Plus, they'll send a jedi after you, whom will be able to track you down like a Kath hound after a baby because of your inability to hide force powers. Yes, it's quite obvious you have them."

"Of course I don't have a helmet, asshole. They don't--" he stopped and took a deep breath. No point in arguing here. His shoulders stiffened and he kept his eyes locked on the man's visor... "Fine. Just get me out of here. What am I doing?"

"Fix my ship!" Marquis came down from his scrap pile and joined them, speaking directly to the Togruta. He took his hand and shook it. "Greetings, sir, a please. Please excuse my ignorant friend, he is insane. Our ship is...damaged, to say the least and the engines have stopped working again and the thrusters might not be able to get us to a repair station to adequately repair them. If it is no trouble, please follow me and I will show you what must be fixed."

"Oh sure, take all the fun out of it." Zen said as he crossed his arms and looked away. "If you wish to have fun, wait a few minutes. More police will no doubt show up." "YES!" He reached to the back of his belt and pulled up his saber, clicking the button. The black light extended from the saber quietly. He spun it in his hand a little and went off to try and find them first."

"We're gonna die..." he muttered quietly as the psycho ran off and hurried along with the droid, "Who the hell said I could fix it, eh?"

"Either you fix it or we wait six days while the automatic repair program tries to make sense of it, which it never does. During said time, you will most likely be detained by the police and subjected to brutal prison..."intimacy." As a bonus however, you might be able to get off planet with us."

"Alright! Alright! Stop! I get it..." Being reminded of being detained again was more than unpleasant. Then he made a mental note to stop asking questions seeing now that they would never be answered. "Tell me where the ship is. I need tools first unless you got 'em already, buddy."

"We have several tools, though you might have a few more specialized ones." He lead him deeper into the scrap yard and to a large scrap ship, one that most mechanics would start crying at when they saw it's condition. "Mind the dust, it was stuck on-" He stopped as they both looked up and saw a policeman fly over head, sailing out of the junk yard. "Well, now they've seen us. Fantastic. Zenithar will not require our help however, he has done this type of thing before. Shall we?"

"What. The..." upon seeing the "ship" he found he was suddenly unable to remember how to speak basic. A million thoughts raced through his head many of which had something to do with unfixable piles of shit, metal death traps, burning up in the atmosphere, getting arrested, getting shot, getting butchered by maniac not-jedi, etc... He was burning up and being forced into a corner. The Togruta shook in rage, let out a feral snarl and started yelling something in an alien language before throwing up his hands. The ground at his feet seemed to heave upward and a few spare parts in the dirt hovered momentarily before he turned on his heels and started racing for the shop. He didn't trust them to have what he needed on board that thing.

"Get...!" he couldn't find the words and just looked at the droid and jabbed a finger at the ship, "I'll be back!"

Ducking yet even more blaster fire from the fighting he ran the maze as fast as his body would allow until he reached the large building at the front of the yard. There kicked down the door of the shop so hard, the lock and hinges snapped immediately and a deep rectangular dent was left in the wall on the opposite side of the room. The Togruta rushed through the cavernous shop throwing things off shelves and out of boxes into a stiff, heavy duffle bag. Several tools flew from across the repair bay toward him at dangerous speeds where he caught them in mid-air and threw them in the bag with the rest. All the while hissing and grumbling in the strange tongue until he was done packing and let out a stifled, "FUCK."

Back at the ship the gentlemanly droid and a strange female voice spoke to each other and then to him but he didn't care to focus on them enough to listen. He stripped off his jacket, tied back his lekku, popped a long panel out of the floor and one out of the ceiling, and threw them aside with no care or grace.

"Engines and thrusters first. Turn them over," he snapped. He listened to the utterly pathetic noise of the ship trying to struggle to life then grabbed the bag of tools and slipped into the cavern in the floor. He twisted and maneuvered through the cramped belly of the beast like a snake until he found what he was looking for. There was a special place in hell for whoever had done the electric work in this thing. Not to mention the mother. Fucking. Dust. He coughed and spat while soldering a conduit back into place. He writhed back out of the pit and immediately pulled himself up into the top of the ship slithering through an even more tight space with just as much ease. There he kicked several vents loose that had locked up or were clogged. A temporary fix but it would have to do or the thrusters would never fire. For several minutes he ran around like crazy ignoring anything that was said to him until finally, upside-down, incredibly hot, uncomfortable and taking his life into his own hands by not doing this in a more open space he welded a massive split in the power converter of the right engine.

Snapping the visor of the welding mask up he yelled back up to the cockpit to start her up again. Quickly he backed up out of the floor nearly blackened by dust, grease, metal shavings and sweat. A deep rumble followed by the sound of ignition roared through the cab and the scrap yard.

"She lives," he grinned with bared fangs and a wild look in his eye, "Let's go!"

Walking slowly with his cane-gun, Marquis stepped up onto the ship and took a place next to the ramp, waiting, leaning on his cane. "Ouran, it's time to go. The Togruta fixed the ship." Before he could try to look out for Zen, he came wheeling around the corner as fast as he could yelling "Start the ship!" as loud as he could. The thrusters kicked over and started to fire and the ship started to rise into the air. Behind Zen came several large security bots aiming to kill him. "THEY BROUGHT THE BIG ROBOT-MEN, IT'S NOT FUN NOW. THEY KICK ASS." Several well placed shots from Marquis put down two of the robots, but the others followed them and tore their way towards the ship. The ramp started to close and Zen jumped onto the ship just before it sealed shut and the ship started to take off.

Inside the ship, it was rusty and dirty. Something that came out of a maid's nightmare. Though it was just clean enough to live in without infection, it was still enough to make one cringe. Marquis found Togruta after they had taken off thanks to Trinity and shook his hand again. "Marquis Von Sterling, a pleasure. Thank you." A small hologram popped up next to them out of small wall mounted holo-projector, showing a woman. The Ship's AI, Trinity. "They'll have fighters on us soon. I have to concentrate on flying us through the planetary defenses, mind taking the gun, hun?" "Of course. Oh, and apologies, this is Trinity, the ship's AI. The crazy one is Zenithar Ouran and the Tukata, wherever she is, is Gyro. Don't worry, she's friendly, just let her come to you. Apologies for the dust as well. I was not part of the crew at the time but the Harpoon was stuck on a planet named Korriban for a number of years. Brought down by something. The ship took a phenomenally long time to repair itself and the dust simply got...everywhere. I've done my best to clean it, but more shows up every day and Zenithar is no help even though his room is spotless. If I may pardon you however, what is your name?" The robot leaned on his cane, the light in his one eye flickering every now and then.

Sighing, trying to settle and wrap his head around the sudden, involuntary life change he looked at Sterling and nodded, "Iisska Relyos... I'd say it's good to meet ya, but... It's not. So how about, 'hi?'" The robot looked at him and cocked his head before raising a hand and jerking it to the side in a fast motion. "Hi. Just find a room and fall in a bunk. It might be dirty, but nothing a little spring cleaning can't handle. Now. If you do not mind, I must attend to the guns. If there is one thing we can be thankful for, it's that the guns and shields work perfectly and well beyond expectations."

He bowed his head and took up his cane-gun, spinning it in hand and moving to a ladder where he jumped up the steps and to the gun turret deck. Zen came around the corner, dressed in robes instead of armor. He threw Iisska his blaster, the barrel was melted slightly and needed to be replaced. "Broke your gun, sorry. I owe you one new pistol."

All he wanted was to pull the trigger until this Zenithar guy was an unrecognizable lump of charcoal, but now he couldn't. However, feeling the thick weight of the broken blaster in his hand he supposed he could still easily bludgeon the man to death with it. While blood rushed to his head and he clenched his teeth Iisska even started to raise it up a little. Absolutely shaking with rage, he had to fight to keep from living out his bloody fantasy. After a few moments of tense, uncomfortable silence he finally managed to speak.

"You and everyone on this thing had better be made of credits," he said, brandishing the gun.

Iisska did not make himself comfortable nor did he find a bunk. He knew what was coming next. Even though Sterling had tried to reassure him they would be fine he was far from ready to trust. Police vessels had already started to tail them and their fire shook the ship. There was no relaxing in this. Instead he made his way to the cockpit to keep an eye on the instruments and readings. There had to be a billion other things broken on this pile, they were being shot at, and now they were about to try and run the tightest planetary customs in the core with it. They were already leaving the lower atmosphere when he got there and he could see missed laser fire flasing into the space ahead as well as the capital ships and fighters soaring above them. Nothing but tiny shapes against the starry backdrop at this distance. But, they were picking up speed.

For a moment the impacts rocking the ship and the bright lights blurring past them ceased and a loud BONG! went over the ship's sound system. They were being hailed. No doubt by the patrols wanting them to surrender. He looked around for Zen wondering if they would bother to answer it. At this point he would have been happy to just blaze on through. Nothing they could say would make him choose to willingly be arrested.

Zen came to the control panel and answered it. "Yes, I'll take one large fries, a nerf-burger, and a large zoke." "This is the Coru-Wait what? THIS IS THE CORUSANT PLANETARY DEFENSE FORCE, ZENITHAR OURAN, DUE TO YOUR IMMENSE BOUNTY, YOU AND YOUR SHIP WILL BE VAPORIZED IMMEDIATELY. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY FOR YOURSELF, JEDI KILLER?!" The ships pulled up next to them, two large patrol ships that used tractor beams to slow them down to a crawl, large guns pointed at them.

Zenithar just looked back at Iisska and smiled. "Watch this." He reached out toward the window and slowed his hand, his hand started to shake erratically, becoming claw like. The left ship started to creak and groan. At first, it just groaned, but then metal started to grind against metal. In the comms, screams from the other ship filled the room, the ship began to crumple into itself, becoming a ball of metal and blood. The comms ceased quickly thereafter.

He started to move the ship, blood starting to come from his nose as he pulled the ship in front of them, around and to the other ship, slamming it into the other one. It tried to fire at it, but it did nothing but disrupt the tractor beam, allowing them to escape.

Iisska didn't realize it at the time but his knuckles were turning white around the handrail beside the control panels. He had stopped breathing and looked at Zen in horror.

"You're sick," he said just above a whisper, "... I should have just let them kill you down there..."

"Not sick. Defensive. If somebody threatens your life, what are you going to do? Die or fight?" He turned toward Iisska, his entire upper lip covered in blood. "I choose to fight, and I fight with the tools at my disposal, those tools being my saber, my guns, and the Force. Don't really care who's in my way." The humor was gone from his voice, all sense of dread gone as well, replaced with a neutral voice, neither angry nor defiant, along with this stance. He didn't move to clean his face. "If you had "Let them kill me", more would have died. They would have assaulted the ship for days as Marky and I killed them by the hundreds, both robots and humans, before we ditched the ship and killed more to escape. Kill responsibly, as somebody once said."

He sneered, the urge to vomit rising up once again, "You're powerful enough... you didn't have to do that..." he changed his gaze, unable to look at Zen anymore, "If you people aren't headed anywhere in particular there's a few repair yards on Iridonia. No customs. They don't ask questions. You can get your repairs and drop me off there."

The ship re-oriented itself as coordinates were being set into the navi-computer. There was a low whum as the ship prepared to make the jump to hyperspace. Iisska collapsed in the chair behind him.

"You have no idea what power you wield, do you?" He crossed his arms, his voice remaining as it was. "Throw me."

Iisska rolled his eyes, "No."

"OKay." He pulled out his light saber and held it to his neck, the black blade scorching his throat. "Throw me or I'll kill you, simple. Find another mechanic, less force powers, teach marquis how to actually fix something, get laid, the normal."

The blade had barely nicked the Togruta's skin causing his spine to bolt upright as his entire body tensed and pushed back away from the blade. His heart stopped and an immense pressure seemed to push outward. The saber moved away for a moment and Zen was pushed back a few inches, "Don't!"

"AH hah! I was right! You do have the crazy-gene!" He laughed and pushed his saber forward again. "You just need deadly motivation! I like that!"

His eyes snapped to Zen and a low rumble came from his throat that turned into a snarl. As soon as he saw the saber coming again he rolled out of the chair and threw the man into the wall snapping panels, wires and pipes. Sparks fizzled around the body-shaped dent that Zen formed on impact. Iisska bolted from the cockpit.

"NICELY DONE!" He pried himself from the wall and landed on the floor laughing. "WE SHALL TRY AGAIN TOMORROW...AFTER A SESSION OF PRISONS AND TARENTATEKS. BECAUSE IT'S TUESDAY, AND THAT KIND OF THING IS IMPORTANT"

"I'M NOT GONNA BE HERE TOMORROW!" he yelled back, looking for that bunk Marquis had told him about.

"I'LL FIX YOUR GUN FOR YOU IF YOU STAY AND GET YOU A SECOND ONE. PLUS, YA KNOW, SHOWING YOU HOW TO THROW PEOPLE WITHOUT DEADLY MOTIVATION"

"BITE ME, ASSHOLE!"

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Late the next morning they finally reached the Mid Rim and were speeding toward Iridonia and the city of Wortan. Half the city sprawled into a gaping canyon several miles wide and nearly as deep. The other half had been carved directly into the rock walls. Many miles of tunnel streets, homes, civil buildings and shops had already been cut and the city was still growing. Massive defensive cannons lined the ridges of the canyon. Caves and a labyrinth of tall steel structures covered the cliff face and spread out to the water like a web. Ports and small boats could be seen dotting the river, a shocking blue thread that wound its way through the rocky, desolate landscape. On the far end of the visible city Wortan also boasted a sizable spaceport where travelers making the journey from the Outer Rim to the Core could stop, rest and resupply. This seemed as good a place as any to call home for now.

Iisska hadn't slept much on the trip, feeling like he had to keep an eye open for the rest of the crew all night. Not to mention the unsettling noises the ship kept making. He kept expecting the hyperdrive to fail at any second and tear the vessel into oblivion. Luckily that had not happened. The entire morning he spent trying to avoid Zen. By the time the Harpoon touched down in the canyon port he already had most of his tools packed up and was ready to start the "will-work-for-food" routine. He stood at the loading ramp and took a deep breath as the interior de-pressurized and the warm, dusty air was allowed to sweep in. The smells of thruster exhaust, river algae and greasy food hit immediately. It was a nice change from the putrid, polluted, war-torn atmosphere of Coruscant.

"The group was moving through an unsettling forest, charred wood, burnt ground, and smoking ruins around them. WHEN. Out of nowhere! They are beset by a snarling dragon! What do you do!" "I THROW ZEE LIGHTSABER AT IT!" "You roll a...four. You miss horribly, The group is killed". "FUCK." "Dammit, Zen!" "Great, two weeks down the drain. Thanks Zen." Zen threw the terminal across the room, anger swelling in him. "DAMN IT, MYSTERIOUS DEITY. WHY MUST YOU TORMENT ME?!" His faithful Tukata, Gyro, poked her head out of a large hole in the wall that Zen fashioned into a personal home for her. "Don't you judge me." She promptly pulled her head back into the hole and went back to sleeping.

Marquis stepped into the room then, speaking. "Zen old boy, we are here." His mood changed then, flipping off the anger like a lightswitch. "Oooh, Iridonia, I haven't been he-" "Not even a chance, Ouran. You are to stay here, on the ship." Zen's shoulders dropped and his face turned into one of sadness. "Awwww, why?!" "Because I do not wish to be chased off planet. Again. The ship needs repairs and it is going to take all of the credits we have to get it at least operational. "FINE. On one condition though." "What is it?" "Fix the damn synthesizer." "But you are the only one who uses it, why should I use my credits to-" "Oh, next time, I'LL buy the product that YOU break when you and Trinity decide to "experiment." Sterling froze in place, a little steam coming out of his head. Trinity's hologram popped up out of the side of the wall from a projector, she had her hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh. "Have to admit, Silver. That was a lot of fun." Zen crossed his arms and looked crossly at Sterling. "Silver?" Zen held up his cane and put the barrel against Zen's nose. "Tell anybody or call me by that name and I will kill you." "Oh, Silver. Put your gun down. Don't be so mean to him." "Thank you, Trinity." He said as Sterling grumbled and let down his gun, walking out of the room. Zen just shrugged and lay down on his bed again, he was forced to be stuck in this room, might as well sleep. From across the room, a familiar snoring was heard. He sat up in bed and whistled. "Come on girl, Come on Gyro! Come lay with daddy!" She poked her head out and glared at him. "Oh come on, I haven't scratched you behind your spikes in, what? Two days? You know you love it." She continued to glare at him as he patted his bed. She seemed to sigh as she came out and stretched before jumping onto the bed and laying with her master. His hand went to her head and scratched behind one of her spikes, her leg going to try to scratch her head. Her forked tongue rolled out of her mouth and her eyes closed a little as she was enveloped in pleasure. "Now who's a good girl?! Who are! Who's a cute deathmachine?! You are, Gyro! Yes you are!"

Sterling made his way for the air lock when Trinity popped up, overtaxing a holo-projector so she could appear life size, stopping Sterling cold. "Why do you mother him, so, Trin? I am starting to think that Radon was right in wanting him dead." "He saved my life several times over, as I his, plus, he's a lot smarter than he looks, Marquis. You know this, you've seen him do amazing things already. Not to mention he has never disrespected me." "Never disresp- He kicked you yesterday! I saw! He was angry about some bloody stupid appliance of his not working!" "He kicked the ship, not me. Even you have to admit that the ship is in..." She looked around, sparking wiring and loose panels everywhere, barely any space to really walk or move, dust and sand covering everything. "Poor shape." "That is putting it bloody lightly." "There you go getting angry again." She came close to him and wrapped her arms around him, placing her head against his chest. He may not have felt her and she occasionally clipped into him, but the thought was there, and he was calming down. His one eye closed a little as anger slipped away, replaced with calm, and a smidgeon of happiness. "Apologies, Dove." "Don't apologize, you have every right to be angry, but leave him be. He's annoying, but so is family." "I will look for a replacement ship if I cannot find a mechanic whom is brave enough to take on this monstrosity." She lifted her head off of his chest and locked eyes with him. "Do as you must, but try to get Iisska back."

She closed her eyes for a moment, a faint humming coming from her. "There is a DT-57 heavy blaster for sale in the market. It's missing a heat sink and the energy converter is cracked, but the parts could entice him back. Offer payment if you have to." "I will look for some work as well. No doubt the Zabrak have a criminal or two outside the city causing trouble." "Ooh...let me see here..." She closed her eyes again, searching. "There are quite a lot of small timers here but...Ooh there is a small band of Mandalorian Pirates that have been ambushing citizens, eighteen thousand credits...and Batarian Slavers worki-" "I will handle the slavers." "Knew you would before I even started. They're 25K." "Maybe speak to Zen about the Pirates. He seems to enjoy putting down people not of his home planet." She smiled for a moment before looking away, biting her lip. "There is also...a mobile holographic projector available in the market. A really nice one...do you think-" "Of course. I will take a look at it and let you know. Stay safe, Dove." "You too, Silver." She leaned up and pecked his robotic lip, a small electrical surge went between the two and she flickered out of existence, disappearing back into the ship. He puffed out his chest a little and planted his cane-rifle's tip on the floor, shaking his head a little before he went out the airlock.

Marquis walked along the market stalls, for once he had his smell receptor activated and the smells of fresh food and hydrolic oil filled his "nose." While the Zabrak people were very warlike and violent, their foods were a delicacy. At least, they were when all you've had for the last six months were piles of sludge from a synthesizer and horrible Corusant "Cuisine". Fine breads, fried, barbequed, and toasted animal meats, seasoned veggies. A silver lining in the warrior's name, so to speak. Many looked at him with distrust, anger, or even malice. But a word or two of kindness here, a boast or three there, and they left him be. While he might have been accosted under normal circumstances, he had elected to bring his cane with him, a deadly and elegant weapon of Zabrak design. The looks of it were designed by Radon, but the internal parts were all designed by Bek 'lashok, one of the many master weapon smiths that was one of the few that was born off planet and allowed to settle on Iridonia. Nobody messed with him and he was actually given a discount as he walked through, but he did not take them up on their offers, but simply asked for information on the items he was looking for.

He was sent to a single stall, close to the market's heart. A stall of rares and antiques. He found the blaster he was looking for and asked about it. The owner boasted that it was used by the infamous Jango Fett before his death, but Marquis quickly pointed out that Jango used the Westar-34 and that the market price for the DT-57 was 850 credits, plus reductions due to the damages that he pointed out, they settled on a price of three hundred credits, though the shopkeeper wouldn't have agreed if there wasn't a crowd.

Continuing among the stalls, he picked up several foods and drinks along with using a sizable chunk of the rest of his cash to pick up the synthesizer for the ship, having it delivered there as it was large and awkward. As he made his way back, he saw the portable holo projector and told the shopkeeper that he'd like to put the item on hold for pay and pickup later after taking down the slavers that were outside of town. The shopkeeper was overjoyed and said that his daughter was captured by the slavers and that he could have the projector for free if he brought her back. He was more than happy to agree considering the projector was seventeen thousand credits.

After taking the bounty and heading back to the Harpoon, he found several Ithorians huddled around one another, a sign saying "Will clean for credits". He approached them and flashed the few credits he had left at them. Though they were dissatisfied, he promised to give them 1 thousand credits each for cleaning the Harpoon from top to bottom. They mentioned that it would take several hours, considering how long the dirt and dust had been there, how it had worked into the cracks of the vessel, and the sheer amount of it all, but he said that would not be a problem and that compensation would be given upon completion. Though they would have refused most other people, yet again, his Cane-rifle came in handy, making him look like a high-class robot. They agreed and went back to the ship to work.

He also found Iisska, alone, near an entry door, with a sign that said "Will-Work-For-Food." on it. His clothing was a little singed and he had a couple bruises on his head and Lekku. He had apparently been chased out of several areas and attacked by several of the war-loving Zabrak. They didn't care for his kind nor his practices. He approached him and knelt down to face level, making him look up. He held out a loaf of the bread, he took it reluctantly. It was followed by the DT-57. He helped the injured Togruta to his feet and spoke. "Apologies about the condition of the pistol, Iisska. The Heat Sink is missing and the energy converter is cracked, but the barrel is in excellent condition, as is most of the parts. It should serve you well in your old blaster's repairs." He handed the Togruta the blaster and leaned on his cane again. "I apologize for getting off on the wrong foot. I realize that Zen is quite the...troublemaker. While he is skilled, he gets on everybody's nerves. I see that your sign says that you will work for food. I would like to hire you. Any parts you need I will get, and the Synthesizer I bought today is in excellent condition, so food is a given. I have to hunt a group of slavers outside of the city for the Zabrak people, whom refuse to attack considering that the Batarians are "War buddies" and do not with to start another war considering what's going on with the clones and separatists right now.. Why don't you come along? We can discuss your employment. To me. Not Zen. I however cannot guarantee that you will not be annoyed to no end by him. It is something we have to suffer through it seems. But, on the bright side, the ship is being cleaned right now, and you will be able to have your personal room...one that is not blockaded by debris and dirt. Plus, if you need parts, just ask and I will collect them, or give you the money to do so."

He simply looked between the droid and the broken blaster for a few moments and then let out a discouraged sigh, "You're kinda backing me into a corner with all that talk," he smiled a little then winced from the pressure that put on a blackening eye. Marquis and he both knew there weren't a whole lot of choices left. After a little more thought he tossed the pathetic sign away, slid the blaster into his bag and stood up. Every part of him urged him not to do it, but he held his hand out to the droid.

"Deal," he would have to learn to deal with Zenithar later. Sterling grabbed Iisska's hand and shook it, his eye slightly closed, a way to convey happiness. "Shall we get on our way then? I have to drop off a bit of food, but then we will take some speeders out to the slavers." He nodded and started to partially lead the way, walking beside Iisska to the ship to drop off the food, letting Trinity know what happened and seeing her overjoyed face before heading off, grabbing Zen's Tuskan Cycler out from under his nose as he did so Iisska could have something to shoot with.

Though not normally his food of choice, after not eating much of anything since the morning before, the crusty hunk of bread might as well have been the most tender cut of meat. Truth be told it was nothing like the "breads" he'd attempted elsewhere. This was really good. He dug into it ravenously on the way back to the ship to drop off Sterling's shopping and his bag. The Ithorian cleaners were sweeping over and through the Harpoon at an astounding pace considering the condition the flying casket was in. But they still had a long way to go.

"You must have offered them a small fortune," he commented to Sterling.

In the same room he had crashed the night before he dropped off his bag on the bunk. With a few minutes until Sterling would be ready to go he pulled the parts blaster back out and compared it to the melted one in his hip holster. Indeed they would be a good fit even though the metals had tarnished and were now different colors. No matter. He didn't carry the damn thing to look pretty. He only wished he had more time to fix it before they went out, but it would take him hours. What did that droid expect him to do on a bounty hunt like this? Wearing a puzzled look on his face he packed them both up again. Out of nowhere he heard something behind him that wasn't a humanoid shape and turned quickly. Only a fleeting movement on the edge of the entrance greeted him, but he could still feel it there. He took a few cautious steps forward and then it was gone. Creeping into the hall and poking his head around the corner his eyes confirmed it.

"Hello?" he said quietly. Nothing. He tensed upon remembering being told something about a... what was it? ... A tukata? Though he wasn't entirely sure what that was. If that had been "her," he didn't expect her to be so big... or creepy. Walking back out he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched and was almost running by the time left the air lock where Sterling was waiting of course.

With a gun.

"Where did you dig this up?" Iisska asked after being handed the rifle. That answered his weapon question.

"It's Zen's. Do not worry, he will not find out. A Tuskan Cycler. Very accurate and deadly. Not a lot of their type around these days." The rifle was light and ornate almost. Weathered from long years of use but kept pristine by it's master, Zen.

"That so?" he couldn't hold back a somewhat sinister laugh as he slung it over his back, "You're alright, know that? Where to next, boss?"

"Have to...borrow...a couple speeders from the garage over there. They may not enjoy us taking them, so a little tact may be needed."

"Borrow... Right..." he rubbed his chin in thought and felt a painful bruise there from earlier. Then raised a brow and smiled. There was more depth and purr in his voice now, "Actually, I know where there's a few that might be a little easier... and more satisfying to 'borrow.'"

"Lead the way, Friend."

Not long after the two of them ducked into a particularly shady neighborhood adjacent to the spaceport. Iisska was doing his best to keep out of sight as he had already discovered that foreigners were frowned upon in this part of town. They came to a run-down canteena partially cut into a large boulder. In front of the establishment nearly a dozen speeders were parked and ripe for the taking... As long as they were quick. He watched from his hiding spot as a group of patrons walked inside.

"This is it," he said quietly, "It should only take me a minute or two to get 'em up and running. Can you keep an eye out?"

"Is that supposed to be a cruel joke?" He looked at him, his one eye glowing white in the partial darkness."

He frowned and seemed to shrink as it hit him, "I-- Er-- No! No! That's really not what I was... It's just a phrase."

"And that was a joke." He looked at him, his eye becoming slightly pinker for a moment before he walked way to keep a lookout.

Iisska chuckled nervously, "Oh. Funny."

Taking the next opening he jogged out to where the speeders were parked, but he did not stop at the first two like any remotely intelligent sentient being would. Instead he skipped over them and the third and fourth and fifth before stopping and looking closer at the next two and grinning.

"That's them," he whispered to nobody specifically before wrenching a small side plate open on the first one. With a second or two of struggle he ripped a small circular electronic device off it's screws and threw it on the ground. Then he spliced two wires where it had been and moved on to wrenching two more out of the main console. Carefully he touched them together a couple of times, trying not to electrocute himself, and after a few more attempts the speeder roared to life. He gripped a paddle on the handle bar and clipped the plate back in place.

"Get on. Quick," he nodded to Sterling, "Keep the clutch in."

"I know how to ride a speeder, boy." He hopped onto Iisska's speeder and clamped his legs onto it via a bit of magnetism.

"I was just... Nevermind," he said jumping to the next speeder. He tried to work faster than before using the same magic trick, but this one was being far more stubborn. After at least ten tries to get current to the ignition all he had to show for it was sparks and singed fingertips. They were running out of time. Come on you little shit... The canteena door swung open and three dirty looking Zabrak came out. Their eyes snapped to the thieves at the same second Iisska finally got the bike to fire.

"You!" the first one yelled, though he was a bit stunned. His friend was already racing down the steps to another speeder.

"Shoulda killed me, jackass!" the Togruta yelled back as he jumped on and threw the machine into reverse.

The furious locals yanked blasters from their belts, having been given a great idea and open fired.

Marquis jumped onto his own, revving it and firing off, unholstering his rifle for when the bikers chase after them. He turned and started off for the desert, intent on leading Iisska towards where they needed to go.

He didn't need to be told twice to follow the droid's lead. More angered Zabrak out for blood were coming out of the doors to get a piece of the action. They tore away from the steel expanse on the speeders going down a little used dirt path that followed the river. A few homes and a small ranch or two dotted the canyon floor. The occasional outcrop in the cliffs could be used as natural corals for the reeks and the other strange, lumbering livestock that could be seen grazing on the low desert foliage that grew out from the water and collected in the shady areas along the edge of the rocks. It would have been a rather peaceful and relaxing place had there not been a biker gang hot on their heels shooting at them like a bunch of psychopaths.

Marquis seemed to be able to not only handle one of these old speeders at a neck breaking speed, but also take his eyes off the damn road, use a rifle one handed and hit targets at his back with an incredible accuracy all at the same time. He made it look as easy as walking. Iisska wanted more than anything to help but only got as far as turning to look behind him for a second or two before realizing that all he would accomplish was sending stray fire everywhere before more than likely wrecking and dying a burning, road-rashed, broken, mess. He couldn't out-shoot them, but they sure as hell couldn't out-ride him. Hunkering down, he put his eyes back ahead where they belonged and throttled the speeder into the red. The speed took him alongside Marquis and then he overtook him. The heart-stopping impacts from his cane-rifle still could not be drowned out though. Risking another glance back he saw one of the bikers get thrown off his bike by a well-placed shot right to the chest. The speeder touched the ground before snapping up, spinning through the air and tearing itself to pieces when it hit the ground again. It's owner's fate was little different. There were only two left and one slowed and turned back. Realizing that this was pointless alone the last one gave up as well. Iisska slowed his screaming bike down so he could follow Marquis once more.

Now they were well into the desert and unsettled territory. The farther they pushed away from town the less they saw any trace of sentient life. The last person they saw was an elderly Iridonian man with an abscessed horn, battle damaged armor on his chest and one shoulder, and a large blaster rifle across his lap. He reclined on his porch, a black cigar in his mouth, and glared at the strange pair as they zipped past his property.

"Such a warm and welcoming people," Iisska smirked and rolled his eyes.

From there on the canyon started to become narrow. A smaller waterway tumbled nearly a half mile down from a jagged vertical cut in the ridge above and joined the main river. Many more would join it in a similar fashion along several more miles. The added body and depleting space transformed it into an angry frothing beast, splashing through rapids and spraying into the air as it spilled over sudden drops. It became cool and dark as the walls pushed ever inward and blocked out the sun. The canyon took a sudden turn. Ahead, towering upward in a way that defied gravity, a massive stone monolith split the river again. Beyond that a jumble of alien rock formations, arches, pits, slots and spires, carved over millennia from the constantly shifting wind, sand and water, beckoned the foolish to become lost in them.

They had lost them, quite easily he might add. They dismounted from their speeders and hid them behind a few rocks. Iisska tended to them while Marquis stepped away and looked around. His eye changed to a bright yellow color, scanning the ridges. He held his rifle in hand as he looked around. He seemed to mutter to himself quite a lot. He scanned every inch of the canyons, finding every route, every trail, every path. He quickly pinpointed just where the slavers were.

When Iisska came up behind him and asked about the slavers, Marquis pointed down the trail, following a river. "They are this way, follow me." He lead him up a river, sneaking through the canyon until they came upon a large waterfall in the distance. Marquis' eye turned red and he held up his rifle, his vision magnifying. "There are several silhouettes ahead hidden behind that waterfall. Hmm" He looked around again and saw a path upwards. He lead Iisska up to a small alcove hidden in the canyon wall. They were able to set up their posts and lay down on the ground, sighting in. "Do not try and rapidly fire it, the Cycler will slow down when it passes through the waterfall. We want to lure them out of their hiding spot. Ready?

On his stomach over looking the dark slot canyon which the falls plummeted into Iisska listened and watched very carefully. Thanks to the rock formations around them the acoustics here were fantastic. He could hear the slavers moving about and had a bead on one before he even made out the silhouette. The Tusken Cycler felt nice and heavy in his hands and he was eager to pull the trigger for the first time. Normally killing of any sort left a bad taste in his mouth but slavers were among those kinds of people he felt little sympathy for. He took his finger off the guard and gently set it on the trigger getting ready to squeeze as he watched his target.

"Yeah, I'm R--" he stopped and shuddered. He felt nauseated and slightly repulsed by the Cycler all of a sudden. He felt like there was a weight on his entire body and on his very spirit. There was a sort of darkness consuming him. Something was so very wrong. And whatever it was he couldn't help but feel like it might be coming for him. He shook his head a few times and rolled his shoulders out trying to ignore and suppress the feeling. Quickly he got comfortable once more, focused his senses back on the targets and cleared his throat.

"Sorry. Ready when you are."

He squeezed the trigger as soon as Marquis did. Even after slamming through the water the slug still found its mark, going right through the Batarian's skull. Accurate was an understatement when talking about this thing. It took a second or two but chaos quickly spread through the slaver hideout and before long they were coming out from behind the water trying to scout for their killers. The Cycler had cooled down by then and Iisska took another shot. Again he found his mark. Marquis was picking them off one by one at a far quicker pace. But it would only be a matter of time before... In an instant he heard the pop of a rifle down below, detected where it was coming from and its trajectory and snapped his head several inches to the left. It ripped through the air where his skull used to be and exploded into the rock behind them. Slowly, almost stunned he moved back into position.

"Might be time to move soon," he said aiming right back at the slaver who had just shot at him.

"Oh this is bad, so very very bad. Why did I say it was the mandalorians?! Such a stupid idea...those poor bastards!* Trinity sat huddled in her personal server on the ship, designed as a small house overlooking a canyon-place of some sort. She was sitting on the porch of the house, no dark blue holographic hue to her or the area. She had her head buried in her hands.

Outside of Trinity's realm, a certain Gray Sith and his faithful companion have stolen a bloody and scorchmarked APC and are heading for the reported Mandalorian camp.

_____

"Agreed, and good shooting." He stood up and took a step back as a bolt flew by his head. "Ruffians. I believe I saw them retrieving their jetpacks, which means that we will get to have a little skeet to practice on." He looked at him, his eye turning pink for a few moments as he turned towards the edge and jumped off, using his hand to claw the wall and slow himself down as he plummeted towards the ground and launched off, going into a roll and firing after he stood, downing two more slavers. He ducked as blaster fire went towards his unprotected position and sprinted, heading for a large boulder where he dived in and got against it. He drew most of the attention from Iisska, a few Batarians taking off into the air to head after him were picked off by either Iisska or Sterling. His aim was definitely as good as he let on, dropping Batarians the very second they even popped. Their numbers plummeted quickly and when they started to head back into the camp to take cover, Sterling was waiting for them, having moved into the compound. Slavers had nowhere to run except straight into the void.

Together, the two cleaned house, going through the compound and making sure every Batarian was dead. They made their way towards the prisoner's cells and found a couple more Batarians, beginning executions, but they stopped them before anybody was killed. The prison cells were dank, darkened and grimy, the cells themselves were electrified with a forcefield and were cramped. Over a hundred and fifty people of varying races, sizes, and genders were locked in. Many of them separated from families into different cells. They disabled the cells, letting the slaves come together and hug, kiss, greet, and make sure each other was okay. Some however, were not as lucky. Many had their legs broken, some were dead. In a far cell, they found a small child, a Togruta female with her legs broken. Light orange in color, no face paint or colorings on it. Her Lekku was short, just barely resting on her shoulders, and they had stripes over it, but she was badly bruised, cuts all over her body, dark blue, torn and slightly shredded robes covering her. Her legs were broken.

Marquis tried to approach, but stopped as the girl started to breathe erratically and bury her face in the corner, terrified. She said several words that he couldn't understand but recognized as Togruti. He turned and found Iisska waiting just on the edge of the crowd. "Excuse me, Iisska. A word." He approached and crossed his arms. "A stupid question, but do you happen to be fluent in Togruti?" He gestured into the cell at the girl hiding in the corner. What was needed exactly became self explanatory.

Iisska raised a brow at Marquis and made a noise that could only be described as a deep hollow purr before speaking, "Yamar ch. Nadad zaasan yuu ch bish aav eej khoyor--" the low, trilling sarcastic remark trailed off as he saw what Marqius was pointing at. His shoulders slumped and he scratched the back of his neck, "Oh... Yeah. I'll take care of it." Iisska walked over to the girl and crouched next to her and a quiet conversation started between the two that ended with him slinging the cycler over his back and picking her up in his arms.

They exited the compound with girl in tow. The other slaves went toward the garage and found ships and speeders, taking them and heading off planet. He had sent a message and pictures of the area to the proper authorities and told them where to credit the reward. "I just realized something, Iisska. We are close to the reported area of the Mandalorians. I do not see why we cannot take a look." Iisska agreed and they followed the trail out of the Batarian compound to find their bikes, ready for them. They kicked them on again and took off, heading deeper into the canyon to find the Mandalorian compound.

Their ride was not long, a half hour or so. After dismounting they went towards the Mandalorian compound, leaving their bikes behind rocks. The girl had mentioned to Iisska that her name was Kifkae and took a position on his shoulders, patting his head every now and then, happy to be with her own kind. At one point, a horrifying stench hit the Togruta's noses and they ran around the corner, expecting a firefight. What they came upon however, wanted to make them puke in a corner.

The camp was utterly destroyed. Bodies were splattered into walls, impaled, eviscerated. Claw marks, Saber scars, marks where bites had occurred. Pure carnage. Almost all of the buildings that were here were destroyed, they even found some women and children among the blood and death. Kifkae patted Iisska's head and had him back out of the place, saying that there was an unnatural darkness left over. How she could feel it was beyond both of them, but Marquis took pictures, sent them to the authorities saying that somebody had tore through there and if nobody else had claimed it, they were claiming the completion of the contract.

Not soon after heading back to the speeders, Marquis got a call. He answered. "Where is my rifle, Sterling." It was Zen's voice and he had a very neutral, oddly terrifying voice to him. Iisska turned, hearing the voice too, but Sterling held up a finger, telling him to wait. "We found it at the Slaver camp. I was coming to surprise you with it. It was sold to the Batarians by the Mandalorians." He crossed his fingers, hoping his lie would satisfy Zen. He wouldn't be able to tell if Sterling was lying or not as he was a robot. "How did they get into my Ship to steal my rifle?" "I am unsure. Remember, the ship does not have Sensors and when you are asleep, you tend not to notice people coming in and out of your room." "Bring my rifle back to me soon." "Not a problem, Zen." He finished the call and sighed before asking for the rifle back. "That was close. But that also explains what happened to the camp there...The man has...simple pleasures in life. Apparently when they are taken away for any reason...well, you saw what happened. I apologize for that. I had no idea Zen would snap like that at the taking of his rifle."

"Simple pleasures," Iisska tensed and muttered under his breath, "Right." He was still fuming at the sight. Even if they were pirates it felt wrong to leave them like this, but he did for Kifkae's sake.

She sat behind him on the speeder, clinging tightly to his waist. She was a tough little thing and hadn't complained much at all even with both legs broken and swollen. Even now he could feel her singing random notes and little made up tunes. A few times an old folk song or lullaby he recognized from childhood would slip in. Bile continued to rise in his throat and his knuckles had been white on the handlebars of the speeder the entire ride back to the city. He glared into the distance deep in thought. Finding the little girl alive was a blessing in far more ways than one.

Once back in town Iisska kept an eye out for the thugs they had stolen the speeders from, but he doubted they would see any more trouble from them. Good thing too. He was not in any sort of mood for that. Following Sterling's directions they arrived in the marketplace and neared a small shop. Kifkae started bouncing, grinning, pointing and talking while patting his back. She was talking so fast and excitedly he could barely get a response in. This was the place apparently. Careful of her wounds Iisska picked her up and put her on his shoulders again. They walked into the shop and he looked around to find another Togruta behind the counter. The man's eyes widened and he nearly jumped over the counter to get to them. Kifkae nearly dove off Iisska's shoulders to get to her father. He slowed her down to keep her from hurting herself further, but soon father and daughter were reunited in a tight hug. Despite the touching moment and a tiny smile that was forming on his face Iisska couldn't stand it and had to look away. He put his hands in his pockets and mumbled in Togruti.

<"Glad to help. She needs to get medical attention soon though.">

<"Wait!"> the main raised a hand and stood before switching to basic, "I promised your friend here a reward," he nodded to Sterling and walked to a display stand to retrieve the portable holo-projector. He handed the extremely expensive device over to Sterling like it was nothing. The smile still hadn't left his face and his daughter clung to him tightly and even managed a grin and a wave at the scary droid.

"Oh, thanks," Iisska said. He wanted to object but knew it wasn't his place. He gave one last glance at the pair before starting out the door. But he was stopped by a startled Kifkae yelling at him.

<"Hey! Don't leave!">

He looked over his shoulder and she motioned him over. When he got there she caught him around the neck and gave him an affectionate squeeze. He frowned, his brow furrowed and he tried to hide his face until he got his composure back.

<"Thanks, kid,"> he sighed, <"Good to see you safe, but we gotta go.">

She frowned but nodded, <"Come back and say hi,">

<"We'll see,"> he said.

"Hey," her father spoke in basic again, "You Ranna's boy?"

"... Yeah," he looked at the man through a narrowed gaze, "Why?"

"Heh, thought you looked familiar, but you were just tiny last I saw you. Your mom and I used to take out akul together. That woman's a beast. How's ol' scarface doing these days?"

Iisska sighed and slouched eager to get out of here but not about to leave in the middle of conversation, regardless of how unpleasant, "She died... probably six or seven years ago."

"Oh... Sorry to hear that."

He shrugged, "Wasn't without a fight, I hear. Dad's still kickin' around though," Iisska turned his attention toward Sterling again and nodded, "It was good to meet you... again, I guess. But we should really get going. Thanks for everything, and good luck with your shop," he nodded to the man and smiled at Kifkae before leaving. His mood was only souring.

Zen was waiting for them at the Harpoon. Iisska parked his speeder by the airlock, hopefully there would be a place to store them in the ship so they could have them on hand later.

"Hey, Zen, we got your rifle back," the Togruta said with an unsettling smile as he walked toward him, "So there was no need to butcher women and children back there, but hey, must have had fun right?" As soon as Iisska was in range the smile turned to a glare and slammed his fist into the bastard's face with enough force to make himself stagger.

Zen barely reacted to the blow, his upper body reeling back only somewhat noticeably, the punch barely even phasing him. Zen made eye contact with Iisska, looking in disbelief at Zen's fortitude. There was a spark of red in Zen's eye for a mere moment before he spoke. "You. Touched. My. No-nos." Iisska's arm snapped backwards at the elbow, his pinkie now touching his shoulder. He screamed at the top of his lungs and was on his knees before he could truly react. Zen kept his position, his hands behind his back, a look of true anger on his face, his eyebrows coming together, scowl marring his lips and neck tense. "If you think I can't sense your presence on my gun, you are wrong. You fired it fifty-eight times. You are both lucky I do not have enough true evidence other than a signature of your life on my gun." There was a crunching sound in Iisska's arm as Zen started to slowly use the force to pull Iisska's arm toward him, grinding the bones and threatening to snap it off entirely. "There are three rules on [/i]My[/i] Ship. Regardless of what Sterling or Trinity say, it is [/i]My[/i] Ship. One: Do not touch my guns. Two: Do not touch my light sabers. Three: Do not fuck with Gyro." Iisska's arm started to disconnect slightly as more pressure was applied. His screaming became frantic as he couldn't fight back, his very control of the force was being suppressed! Zen bent down low and forced Iisska to make eye contact, the red sparks in Zen's eye appearing every now and then. "If you [/i]Ever[/i] touch my guns again, I will rip off your lekku and force you to eat them while a starving Tarentatek watches across the table from you, restrained by nothing but a pathetically weak chain hooked to a wooden wall. Is. That. Clear?" Before Iisska's eyes, the world around them darkened. Out of the shadows came several Jedi killing Terentateks, all with hunger in their eyes.

Shaking from either the pain or the fear, Iisska quickly nodded and the hold on him was released, letting him fall back to the ground and hit his head. The monsters around him instantly disappeared and the pain in his body quickly dissipated. He sat up to see his arm wasn't bent or broken, not even bruised. It was an illusion. Zen snatched his rifle from Sterling's hands and turned, swooshing his cape as he did, and went into the ship. Sterling stepped in front of Iisska then, holding out a hand and helping him up. "Are you alright, Old boy? I apologize. Truly I do. I had no idea he was capable of that power when angered. I would have helped, but I could not move." Iisska was shaking a little, but Sterling brought him inside the ship to be tended to by Trinity.

____

In Trinity's TI-Core...

She sat in a club chair within her core, a cabin in a place she called "Trion". Marquis appeared near her, his right hand behind his back. His mouth moved here. "Good evening, mi-lady." He took off his hat and bowed. She stood up, smiling, curtseying. "Great to see you here, Silver." She offered her chair and he gladly took it, Trinity sitting on his lap and laying against his metallic body soon after. "You feel tense...worried about what Zen did, Dove?" "Yeah. He's getting worse. I've never seen him invade somebody's mind before." He wrapped an arm around her hip and rubbed her ribs. "Hopefully the boy isn't too shaken from it. Hallucinations I can understand, but inducing pain is unreal. Zen might just need a good ol' kick in the head to sort him out." "I hope you or I won't be the ones to do it." "If we are lucky, we will make enough money to hop ship. A small starship maybe." She sat up, her face contorted in anguish. She clenched her fists. "No more talk of leaving." Marquis' eye turned a light shade of blue, then light red. "Wha-what did I say?" "I'm not leaving him, Silver. He made me. " "But he is a sickopa-" "I. Don't. Care. I won't leave him." "But I-" She turned and glared at him, her face determined, angry. A lot like Zen's. "End of discussion, Marquis. I won't leave him. If you want to leave because of your dislike of him, so be it." His eye turned a brighter shade of light red before turning white. "No. I will stay by your side, Dove. " She sighed and leaned against him again, kissing his jaw. "Thank you, Silver. It means a lot...Wait...where is your body?" "I...I left it in the chair...oh no..."

___

"And a little blush here...a wiener there...ooh, and an "Iisska was here" there!" Zen was straddling Sterling's inactive body as he was connected to Trinity's T.I. Core. Marker in hand, he was drawing away on Sterling's face. He got up quickly then and ran out of the room, Sterling returning to his body moments later. "Hmm. I guess I had nothing to worry about." Little did the gentle-bot know that he was a mess of adult graffiti...poor guy.

Finally the sights were lined up properly. Despite a bit of a color difference, the parts taken from the spare DT-57 were more than enough to erase the damage done to the original. He stood from the makeshift workbench he had put together, aimed at the doorway and narrowed his eyes. The problem now wasn't in the blaster or the repairs or his tweaks. His hands were shaking. His whole body was shaking and couldn't stop it. He clenched his jaw and started to squeeze the trigger, but quickly shoved the gun in its holster. It wouldn't leave his side again. Not on this ship. Not with Him around. Iisska stood still, taking a few deep breaths. There was work to do before they could go anywhere safely. He looked out the door of his modest quarters but didn't move. The blaster wasn't helping at all. There was nothing he or anybody could do against that bastard if he snapped. Nothing. It was hopeless. He shook his head and rubbed his temples. Work to do.

He picked up his tools and pulled a small data pad out of the bag. He fired up a blank file and left the room ready to compile what was sure to be a mile long to-do list. First things first: he had to check life support and and the hyperdrive. The two things most likely to murder them all. Wouldn't that be nice?

---

The Batarian captain paced back and forth muttering to himself nervously. His hand occasionally put pressure on a painful scorch across the side of his skull. One of his men sat nearby in the shade of a small rock formation groaning and dying slowly of a gut shot. Another stood next to him, a blaster in one hand and his other arm in a make-shift sling. Every few seconds the captain would look up at the horizon and scan the rest of the skies. He rubbed his head and wrung his hands and hissed and kicked small stones in the sand as they waited on the canyon ridge high above their decimated camp. In the distance a large black ship appeared. It was coming toward them at an alarming rate. The captain stopped his pacing immediately and backed up a few paces. In no time the shuttle was upon them. The noise was deafening and it spewed dust into the air as it landed before them. The engines wound down and quieted. The airlock hissed open and a ramp lowered to the ground. Six armed men in black battle armor and featureless, eyeless steel masks filed out of the ship in silence.

The Batarian captain bowed low, "My Lord!"

Out of the dark ship stepped a giant. The humanoid's feet fell heavy on the steel and crunched into the sand. He was at least eight feet tall, with broad shoulders and a powerfully set body. He dressed in a very heavy, battle-worn, blackened set of armor that had been augmented by hydraulics and computers. He too was masked but had two very thin slits over where his eyes would be. The small openings revealed nothing. He wore a cloak and a shroud over his head and shoulders. He slowly and gracefully clasped his hands behind his back while staring at the captain.

"My Lord! There was an ambush! We could not have seen it coming! They were bounty hunters! Demons!" he hissed and pleaded, "I-- We-- With just a few more days and a few more men we could make up our loses! I swear it to you! Please forgive us!"

The captain continued to beg and prattle on and make excuses while the dark men and their leader watched in eerie breathless silence. The giant raised a gloved hand. The Batarian shut his mouth almost immediately.

"Where are the slaves? And your men?" his voice was deep, grinding and mechanical.

"They..." he glanced down into the canyon behind them, "The bounty hunters took the slaves that still lived. Aside from us three there are only corpses down there."

The leader got on his communicator and spoke quietly, "Send the shuttles," then he turned to his guards, "Collect the bodies. And be quick about it. They need to be frozen. Now."

The Batarian glanced around nervously as the giant stepped closer to him. He came within inches, towering over the slaver.

"Your entire operation was crushed by... bounty hunters? That is... upsetting. We will be taking what is left of the slaves. Along with the bodies of your men."

"Y-- yes. Yes! Take them! Please!" he somewhat chuckled, "And... and our payment? We did have a contract, My Lord."

There was a very long silence that left the Batarian squirming, he started talking again trying to make more excuses. It was several tense moments before he realized he could not see this horrible man breathing. His observation made his words trickle off into nonsense and quiet. There was a minuscule moment as the masked man looked at one of his guard who pulled a blaster and shot both of the captain's remaining men in the face without a word. In an instant the desperate slaver found himself high in the air, over the giant with a vice-like steel hand clamped around his neck. There was a pop as his trachea collapsed and his gasps turned into a sickening, breathy whistle. His thrashing stopped and his body went limp in less than a minute. He was dropped.

"This one as well," the man ordered before heading down into the canyon to oversee the losses.

---

Buried deep within the guts of the Harpoon Iisska was starting to feel calmer. Getting the ship safely space worthy had consumed him after an hour or two. His mind was absolutely drowning in the amount of repairs she needed. Any other technician would have told the crew to sell the ship for parts and start over. They would see the huge piece of scrap as a lost cause. He saw it as job security. But that was only if he could keep Zen off his back. His stomach rolled over at the thoughts. He tapped a loose coupling and instead of adding it to the to-do list he just tightened it on the spot. As far as he could tell that was it for the parts he could access from the inside of the ship... Now for the outside. The Togruta wriggled his way back up out of the access panel reading through the already huge data file he had written. He pulled himself up and sat on the floor taking a moment to save his progress. Then he felt a hot breath on the back of his head.

At first he jumped then froze when the growling started. Very, very slowly he turned to look over his shoulder. The growling was turning into a snarl and he found himself staring into the eyes of a not only hideous, but terrifying and furious creature. The tukata. Right.

"Heeyyy, girl," he groaned but smiled and tried to look calm. When he moved his hands upward, her snarling turned even more viscous and she snapped her teeth only inches from his neck. He stopped moving all together.

"Hokay, hhoookay. It's fine, I'm a friend. Not gonna hurt you or nothing. Promise," he said slowly through his teeth. She continued her growling and circled around to his side. He stopped looking her in the eye hoping that would help, but it made no difference. She continued sniffing him and bearing her teeth and tensing up ready to strike.

"M-- Mar-- Sterling!" Iisska called only as loud as he dared, "Trinity! Need a hand here..."

Heaing Iisska's screaming, Zen poked his head through the door and smiled. "Oh, hi there, Togi. Is there a problem?" Iisska locked eyes with Zen and grimmaced with Gyro breathing down his neck again. "What do you think?" he said through his teeth, "Can you call her off? Please?" "And Why exactly should I help?" "Because... I don't... I don't know! Just do something about your damn pet!" he hissed and cringed as she started growling again. "I don't think so. You're a mechanic, not my friend. Make it a week and I might learn your name. Until then, you're Togi, either occasional bullet sponge and mechanic, or Tuk'ata food." He started clapping then, sliding out of view. The clapping continued down the hall until he stopped.

Rage and fear started pushing him to the boiling point and he shuddered with thoughts of pain and brutal murder mixing with ideas of escape. Someday... "Okay, girl," he tried to reason with her again, "It's okay, I'm not gonna do anything to you," he slowly reached out a hand and calmed a bit. "-t in the blotty 'ell is wit' all dis racket! Can't a gots damn A.I. Mechanic git sum damn sleep! A little blue foot kicked in a door close to Iisska's head and a small body jumped through, armed with a stick. He was barely the height of Iisska's hip and was incredibly thin. He took several swipes at the dog. "Git outta here, ya mongrel!" His voice was high and insect-like "Out!" Gyro dodged several swipes and growled before finally receeding and running away. "Stupid Idgit." He turned toward Iisska. "And hoo da heck arr you?!

Iisska pulled his feet under him and stood up before folding his arms and looking down at the little thing, "Bullet sponge and Tuk'ata food, apparently... Sterling hired me to keep this monstrosity together," he lightly stamped a heel on the floor of the ship, "Thanks for the help an' all, but nobody's told me about you." "Ain't No-one out 'ere that pays any attenshun to the little people. Of Curse..." He took Iisska's hand and shook it. "Balva. A.I. Mechanic...wait a minute" He yanked his hand back. "Mechanic?! I eyely doubt yur a mechanic, I dun think you even know whut size of Hyruhspannuh to use on a thruster." Iisska frowned deeply. "Depends on the ship and thrusters. The thrusters on the Harpoon are 150mm except for one bolt on the starboard side which for some reason is 125mm." Balva froze for a second before each of his eyes went into a glare. "Lucky guess. Whut is the frequency ov da hyperbolic energy converter's radion channeler?"

He thought about it for a second, "Not sure about this one, but from the sounds and handling I'd guess a few hundred gigahertz in low gear and a couple terahertz when Trinity takes over," His jaw dropped. Nobody's ever gotten that right. He took Iisska's hand again, the little guy having a surprisingly strong grip. "Welcome tuh da ship, Fellow mechanic! I would welcome you to my home in the A.I. Core but da radiation wud bake ya alive! Hah hah!!"

It had been dark for several hours, but the lights from the city and from the ship yards kept the Harpoon's exterior illuminated enough to see where one was going. Balva had dug up a spotlight from somewhere in the depths of the ship under which Iisska was currently working away on patching the re-entry plating. He had wanted to ask Sterling for money to run out and grab some parts before leaving the planet, but had found the droid's vaccant body after somebody had gotten to it and decided it would be better for both of them to just pretend he had never seen that. For now he could work around the lack of parts. Balva stayed with him engaging in chit-chat and aiding with the maintenance.

Visitors to the planet and city roamed the streets and dock still, some enjoying the nightlife, others just looking for a meal and a quiet place to rest. Iisska couldn't help but give passing glances to those who came close. Part of it was paranoia, part of it was just an interest in the comings and goings of people and part of it was being relieved to finally be somewhere that wasn't Courescant. In particular an old man and a few buddies sat outside his scrap shop at an old table, drinking smoking and gambling in relative silence with the occasional bout of laughter or story. These warmongers seemed to have some peace in them after all. He listened to Balva talk and recant unsavory and humorous tales about the Harpoon's crew. It wasn't enough to keep him from planning his eventual departure from them though.

After welding down the last major split in the plating he moved onto the thrusters to see what could be done. Out of the corner of his eye he saw someone approaching the men at the scrap shop. They were silenced a bit and it became obvious the newcomer didn't belong. Her features were hidden under a hood but she was small and lithe and graceful. She moved up to the men and showed them a link-pad. There were hushed tones and shrugs and scratched heads as they looked through the info. Iisska squinted trying to get a better look. He couldn't be sure but he thought he recognized the uniform peeking out from under her cloak and the blurry shape of a gold sigil on her collar. Regardless she had to be an authority. One of the old men suddenly pointed toward the Harpoon and the woman's gaze turned on them.

"Hey, man," he hurried over to Balva and picked up the tools and materials trying to stay casual, "Bodge the last of that up and let's call it a night, eh?"

He slipped back inside, the anxiety and flight response still chewing away at his gut. He had to convince the others that it was time to leave or at least find a way to keep a lower profile if running wasn't an option. The Harpoon could at least make it off planet at this point. If only Sterling wasn't still out and... covered in graffiti... Iisska put away his work and reclined against a wall near the loading bay. There he drew his blaster turned the safety off and tried to keep his senses sharp for anybody coming too close.

---

The hooded woman ducked out of sight between a couple of dilapidated buildings and pulled a holovid from her cloak. It flickered to life as she dialed her contact. On the other end a mechanical voice answered her call.

"Commander Kalor," she demanded quietly.

There was a short silence followed by a gruff, "Kalor. What is it?"

There was no hologram to accompany it. It was just like him to hide from her.

"Commander, I've located the criminals who escaped from Courescant last night. Visual confirmation on the ship and one suspect," she said.

"Already? Good work. I'm sending a squad, but for now you are to stay clear and keep me informed. Maintain visual but do not under any circumstance engage them. Understood?"

"... If they--"

"Agent Quin," his tone was absolute, "Do you understand?"

"... Yes sir," she hissed.

"Good. I'll leave you to your work then," the link went dead.

She gripped the holovid in her hand tightly until her knuckles went white then swiftly pocketed the device. Her fingers came back clutching what looked like a very small and minimalist blaster. It almost looked more like a toy than anything that would be carried by an adult. She made her way back to the shipyard until she could see the fugitive vessel, but she stopped there. Staying low she aimed the little firearm at the ship and pulled the trigger. There was a tiny pop! but nothing more as a slug whistled out of the barrel. It flattened itself on the hull of the ship and stuck there tightly with four little prongs that snapped out of its sides and sunk into the metal. She retrieved her link-pad and after zipping through a few screens she found where the slug had already started to upload the location and various other data about its new host.

Now she had to endure a maddening wait. Vengeance was so strong in her blood she could taste it on her lips. Friends of hers had been on the patrol ships that had been destroyed. These monsters would not be getting away from her.

---

##
##--user Zenithar : Ouran --data-ascii @TransmissionsInquiry.dpd GDLN://local//received//new
*--Connected to GDLN
*--Connected to local (127.0.0.1) port ##HIDDEN## (#0)
*--Port auth granted user 'zen'
> POST /Received text transmissions
>AUTH: Basic ZnJ1ZDpmbGludHn0b25l
>HOST: localhost: (#0//Iridonia)
>ACCEPT: */* (#145.1.1//Dac)
>CONTENT: application/x-text-transmission-data-form-encoded-received
>GDLN/127.0.0.1 OK
[[
"To": {
"Zenithar" endUserID}
"Body":{
"Zen,
How are you doing? Pretty well, I'd assume. You do tend to go about in that happy, little, twisted, apathetic, careless way don't you? You self-absorbed, childish, asinine, loud-mouthed sociopath. In case you missed it, you single handedly ruined months of my work in mere days. I don't expect you to have noticed this time nor the other several times you have done so. This is you we're talking about after all. Since you have been so careless and destructive and inconsiderate I have no choice but to permanently kick you from our group and ban you from all further P&T sessions with us. If you love to play the game as much as you say you do then maybe this will teach you to pull your head out of your ass and actually learn to play it like a sentient being and not a half-dead slime-mold. Have a nice life.

-Merlai

P.S. Nobody cares about your stupid, drooling, ugly, mutt. Do yourself a favor and just shut up about the smelly bitch if you ever slither your way into another P&T group.}
]]
>CONTENT: //end
##

"Hah, oh! Oh Sterling! I-Wait...stop, stop."

Sitting up in the bed within Trinity's personal realm, she darted her eyes about the room, her internals scanning the ship. "Something's wrong. " Stirling sat next to her, his eye a light blue. It was rare when he and Trinity got "into the mood" and most of the time, it was interrupted by something going on in the ship, and this was no different case. "What is it, my dove?" "We're being tracked again. Outside of the ship, near the rear engine, compartment four...class two tracking device, unknown manufacturer, origin...Corusant...military sector...it's the Agents again. Come on." "Oh bloody hell..." He got up in a huff and disconnected, Trinity waited a few moments, worried about Sterling's continued stress and anger issues. She disconnected as well and went to inform Zen.

__

Balva joined Iisska in the loading bay, plopping down with him for a few moments, a small drink in his hands. "Oi, is dat a Dee-tee fiddy sev-" Just before he could finish admiring Iisska's blaster, a shot rang out from behind them and Balva's head exploded in a mass of chunks and dark blue blood, most splattering onto Iisska. Iisska started to just yell. "AAAAH...WHAT THE-WHAT THE FUCK. " He turned around, blaster pointed, and saw Zen with a rifle. "WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHYY?!" Zen started to chuckle and laugh. "Oh man...did you see his head?! It was like...PPTHTHHHH. And your face...your fricken face, man!" He started to laugh very hard, nearly keeling over at Iisska's reaction. Iisska's blaster shook from the anger and he nearly shot it, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the limp little body start to move. He looked at Balva's body, narrowing his eyes and seeing that the stump of a neck was healed and there was a...nub? It was growing...before long, it was sizable and took shape, eyes opened and Balva sat up again, turning and shaking his fist while Iisska looked like he had seen a ghost. "OI! YOU BLOODY ASSHOLE! I'LL 'AVE A CRICK IN ME NECK FOR DA REST OF DA AFTAHNOON. PISH OFF YOU WANKAH." Zen was nearly on the ground now laughing almost hysterically, but Trinity appeared on a holo projector near them and spoke. "Zen, we have a problem." He was like a lightswitch, coming out of the laughing and standing like he never laughed in the first place. "What is it?" His face was stern and serious. "There is a tracker on the ship, Zen. Agents again. Want me to pop it off with a small charge again?" "Hmm..." He paced back and forth now, considering the next move.

They had been tagged by the agents a ridiculous amount of times. Enough to have learned their encryption algorithms forwards and backwards. They weren't fooling anybody, plus, they sent Zen a nasty letter that almost affected him. Almost. Then, he had an idea. "No. Not yet. I have an Idear!" "An...idear?" "YES! Take us to Kamino!" "Why Kamino?" "Because I want them to try and kill me, and fail miserably. YOU!" He pointed right at Iisska and he immediately felt the force surround him. "Come here you, I have a task." Iisska was yanked off of his arse and pulled across the room, hitting the wall and being stuck to it until Zen walked out of the room and he was dragged across the wall and through the door, regardless of how much he fought it.

"Now...hold still...no, stop fighting, Just a knot here, and a bit there...DAMMIT STOP MOVING. Know what, final step comes now, gimmie the...There we go. Now sit there and shut up. Oh, now that's just rude, sir. That gesture is quite obscene."

*Ahem*
Record this Trinity...alright, thank you.
"Dear Merlai, and the other Agent bantha poodoo that think they're going to do anything."
Zen stood in front of Trinity, whom was recording him. Gyro was at his side and he had his hands clasped before him. He was very aloof and on his toes.
"You do not frighten me. Your actions simply fill my day with glee, your attempts to stop me simply bore me. So, i invite you to come and get me at the enclosed coordinates on Kamino, Kalcozah sector. Come on, bring everything you have. I want your worst, I want your best. I want a capital ship. Come kill me, I'm ready to die."
He waved at the camera now, smiling. "Love: Zenithar!"

"PS: We have a hostage."
He pulled Iisska into view, whom was tied up with a disturbing amount of rope and a ballgag. The air rippled around him as the force mixed with anger.

The feed cut then and Zen sliced off a rope with his lightsaber so Iisska could get free, without even singing him! "Okay Zen, shall I send it?" "Nope, not yet. Gotta get there first. STERLING!" He yelled. Sterling came in the room moments later, his face cleaned of the graffiti. "What is it that you want, Zen? Do not think that I have forgotten the...Grrraffiti you stenciled upon my fac-" "We get to kill agents. Prepare your guns and show Iisska how to turret." "I forgive you. Come along, Iisska."

With a deep hole in the back of Zen's head being carved out by Iisska's laser-glare, he reluctantly walked away with Sterling. Trinity spoke now. "So...why Kamino?" Zen didn't answer her, he simply smiled.

___________

Kamino, Kalkozah sector, Kinowa city.

They had docked within a private space port deep within the heart of the city, near the lowest levels. There was the occasional mandalorian symbol on the wall as the group looked around the landing bay. They and the ship were pulled along by a freight conveyer belt and moved to a large room with large walls blocking the entire room from view. It was much like a maze. The ship was ferried through the halls and to a central point where smaller walls and pillars stood. Marquis spoke then as they entered. "What is this place, Zen?" Zen held up a hand to tell him to be very quiet and to move back. They did so and Zen stepped forward and whistled. Out from within the maze, a roar echoed. The roar chilled the blood of Iisska as there was only one creature that had a Roar like that.

Zen moved forward some more as It Stepped around the corner. Massive in size, it nearly doubled Zen's height, and tripled his width. It was a Tarentatek, the largest threat to any force user in the world. A body nearly immune to all but the most powerful force powers, and a hide that shugs off heavy blaster fire. It approached and stopped just before Zen, it's eyes darting between him and the "food with head tentacles" behind him. Saliva dripped out of it's mouth and to the floor, it's breath was disgusting enough to knock out most clone troopers, and the blood of what may be hundreds of victims was layered on it's claws and mouth. Zen held up his hand and, to the group's surprise, it obeyed and knelt, allowing Zen to place his hand on the creature's forehead and what seems like communicate with it.

He released his grip on the monster's head after a few short moments and turned. "There, now she won't eat you...hopefully. OH." He held up a large sealed back from behind his back and threw it up. It was filled with a dark red liquid that the Tarentatek caught in it's humongous mouth. It turned and went back to it's patrol while Zen returned to the group. Sterling spoke, his eye a bright yellow from either fear or shock.

"What in all the bloody voids was with that..." Zen smirked and spoke. "I am very, very good with animals...plus finding one as a baby helps a lot. Okay, ETA on the Agents, Trin?"

Trinity had very quickly gotten used to the mobile holo projector and she popped up. "About three hours, Zen. But one thing: Next time you pick up the most dangerous creature in the galaxy, let me know so I can never speak to you again." "Done."

Zen went back inside the ship for a moment, carrying out his guns and two lightsabers. Gyro was with him as well. "Alright, so, the fun part is coming. YAY! I have my guns and sabers, Iisska...don't die. Need you for things later. Sterling, kill things. Trinity, also kill things. Don't stop until they start crying, then make them wuss out like bitches and remember to have some fun!" He threw up his weapons and they floated in the air with the force. He tested the rifles, firing them at a wall while he caught his sabers. Now he was a walking armory, and he was going to slaughter everything. Ever.

"Iisska!" Zen yelled toward the ship. "I swear to the VOID, if you don't get in that gun platform in the next THREE SECONDS, I'm going to pull you down here to slap you willy nilly!"

"I'm ALREADY IN the STUPID gun platform!" he screamed out of the turret. He clenched his hands around the grips and rested his fingers on the triggers. They felt good, but not right. All of this was insane. He still had not changed his mind about that from the instant he first set foot on this damn ship. Had it not been for Marquis, Iisska would have been long gone. He frowned, took a deep breath, and mumbled "Please don't send sentients." It was a long shot.

(After you get back, maybe a little space engineers?)

"WHAT! WHAT ARE THESE SPACE ENGINEERS?!" Zen started to look around frantically, "STOP PLAYING WITH MY EMOTIONS"

Marquis poked his head up next to Iisska's and spoke. "What in the bloody void is he on about now?"

"I-- I didn't-- I said... Never mind," Iisska trailed off leaving the mad man to his own devices, "I have no idea," he sighed, "Won't be long until the GEU are pouring down our throats though... maybe he'll scare most of them off."

"Doubt it, boy. Not going to be a pretty fight. Zen has apparently drawn the fleet."

"I'll worry about the fleet once we're off planet. They're not stupid enough to just funnel everything they've got into one port," he scratched his neck, "I don't think they will... but what's to stop them just blasting us to hell and being done with it?"

"Civilian casualties, my boy. There are a lot of them, plus, they want to make sure Zen is dead. By dead I mean on the ground without a head. A bombardment won't do it for them."

Iisska visibly shuddered and took his hands off the turret. The sick was rising in his throat, "You sound like you've done this before."

"I've done this sort of thing many times in my life. This is the first time I've done it on this crew...I've killed a lot of people, Iiisska."

---

In the cockpit of a small ship that orbited around the planet she sat calm and still. Deep breaths flowed effortlessly in and out. Her eyes were closed. He heart beat was slow and steady. Kamino, the fleet, her ship, her men, her equipment and her body melted away into nothing until all that was left was her existence at it's very core. The normally balanced sanctuary of being keeled back and forth subject flares of anger and fear. It was frustrating and so much harder to still than it had been before. When she began to feel out the point where her focus was set in all the chaos the alarm on the communications receiver went off. Her eyes snapped open and she was ripped out of her sanctuary and into frigid reality.

"Agent Quin," the Commander spoke, "We have located the ship and are preparing our forward assault. Mobilize your squad."

"Yes, Sir," she relayed the orders to move in and gave power to the ship.

"The Admiral has informed us that the Kaminoans have offered to aid the operation in anyway possible. Should there be complications you will contact us immediately."

"Yes, Sir," she said more quietly.

"I suggest you hurry. Our forces are numerous, but the faster you move the less casualties there will be today... Do not fail us, Agent. I believe you know what is at stake if you do," the communication cut off after that.

Quin held the bile in her gut down. There the emotions smoldered and fueled her. Part of her dared the thick atmosphere of the water planet to burn her alive on entry and face the consequences. It wasn't so bold.

The small squad of one person ships slammed into the rough seas. Their engines still thrust them under the waters toward the target. She bit down on the mouthpiece in her helmet, double checked her equipment and began the process to equalize the pressure of the cockpit, the water and her suit. The others would be doing the same. On the displays the distance to their surfacing coordinates ticked smaller and smaller. Another deep breath. The ship shuddered against the force resisting it. The small pods would be damaged and worthless after the missions, too abused to be used again. She could see the massive structure that stretched up into the station partially above the water, but mostly submerged and the unfathomably long supports that stretched downward into the abyss with the untold horrors of this planet. Disengage. She gripped the yokes and braced.

The shock of the ejection nearly knocked her unconscious. The ship spat her out into the unforgiving hellish water with nothing to hold onto but what had once been a section of the cockpit frame. It was like being hit in the gut with a battering ram. She struggled to get her heart rate and breathing back down. Some black ops agents boasted about getting used to such maneuvers. She seriously doubted them. On the under section of the frame a small engine kicked on and spun a propeller which dragged her through the currents. All around she caught glimpses of her squad ejecting and heading toward the rally point.

It wasn't long before she was manuvering into a small opening in the lowest part of the station. It was tight. The sides of the tunnel nearly touched her on all sides. It stretched on and on and contained tight turns and inclines. It was shrouded in total darkness. The light on her dive helmet did little to illuminate her path.

The hatch should be in sight any second, she reassured herself.

It was several more agonizing minutes before her light shined on the sealed door. Here she let go of the little device that propelled her forward and reached out for wheel and override panel on the hatch. It was old, tarnished and stiff. The interface had most likely not been touched since it was installed. Regardless, the Kaminoans, thorough species they were, had maintained the codes she needed. It took several sequences of numbers but it was followed by a rewarding hiss. She wrenched the wheel counter clockwise. It took all her strength but slowly it screeched and ground until the hatch snapped inward. The force of the water shot her through. Quin landed roughly inside a dark corridor and grunted and rolled onto her knees. The water continued to flow in like a geyser. The rest of her squad came with it. Water splashed around her ankles but she ignored it and removed the bulky case from her back.

Inside were explosives, EMP grenades, and a very illegal but standard issue blaster rifle. Others had both similar and very different equipment. A couple unloaded deadly blaster cannons that had to be supported on their shoulders. Those were designed to punch holes and kill with out subtlety. So that's what kind of operation it would be. Quin ditched anything she would not need for the fight here including much of her flight suit. Underneath she wore a dark, lightly armored stealth suit that matched those of her squad. She dropped her helmet with a splash and checked the comm link in her ear. It worked.

"Commander. We are in the station and have surfaced in the labyrinth," she reported.

"Confirmed. The forward assault has already made contact with the target. You had better hurry, Agent."

The Squad waited for orders. The human woman leading them clenched her fists and turned stiffly. She was small, yet well built. Her dark hair was cut in an asymmetrical bob, ear length on one side and trailing down her chest on the other. A deep scar shot up her left cheek over her eye and across her brow. She glared at them.

"Get through their shields and disable the ship. Trap them. Execute them. No prisoners. Move out," Quin spoke harshly.

"They are here." Marquis said from his perch near Iisska. He stood atop the ship, using a small deployable barricade as cover. He rested against it and had a clear view to the front-most entrance where they would be coming from. He steadied his rifle and took aim, waiting. He could feel them landing on the base and he was almost worried. Not for them, but for the invaders. They were about to die a bloody horrible death.

Zen stood from his kneeling position and reached for his belt, pulling a lightsaber from it's holster and spinning it with the force, activating it and swinging the black blade to and fro. He lifted up his head and it was almost as if he was sniffing the air, sensing the enemies start to pour into the room. He reached out with the force and sensed any and all attackers coming inside and saw a small force coming from behind. "Heh...child's play." He whispered to himself. The squad that would be coming from behind would be met with a Tarentatek, and their lives would be made miserable.

He charged forward, leaping for the wall and bounding up it with the force, jumping over and landing with a thud, his force controlled weapons right behind him and already firing kinetic shells at the enemies around him as he unsheathed his second saber and went into a blender of light and darkness infused saber whirlwinds, leaping into the group and beginning his rampage, slicing up two troopers and spilling blood onto their comrades. He used the force to raise one into the air and slam him into the ground before leaping into the air and slashing at all the troopers around him, kicking, firing, throwing, slashing, and rending his way through the forces, decimating them and making them shoot each other before they could even get into the door. They were no match for the Gray Sith. Anything that made it past were quickly shown the door as they were decapitated by Sterling or reduced to ash by Iisska. Even if they made it past that they would have their throats ripped out by the ever loyal Gyro. Even Balva helped, taking the second gun and watching the other doors. He got several shots off, quickly followed by many a quip and gutteral laugh.

Zen was getting deep into it, Lifting entire squads into the air and pancaking them against the wall, using them as bowling balls to rip apart the forces. His rifles were clearing out any riff raff and their attacks were doing nothing. Zen himself was covered in blood, nary a blaster round having done more than scorch his clothing in near misses. He started to spin the lightsabers with the force without touching them, allowing them to almost become sentient as they went to seek the enemies, letting Zen concentrate on the singular force abilities and start to rip soldiers in half with nothing but his mind.

The squad moved quickly and suprisingly quietly for how well equipped they came. Quin kept a map of the structure up on her tiny data-link at all times to flawlessly lead them to their target. There was a rumble that shuddered the walls around them and the floor beneath their feet. Had they brought up the heavy artillery already? She pushed forward into air that was becoming thick. Think and pungent. It was only seconds before the stench became so strong she felt averse to breathing and some of the agents began to wretch.

"What in creation is that?" one of them mumbled.

"Rotting flesh..." Quin knew it well.

She slowed her pace. The rumbles continued. Not artillery. It wasn't quite right. What could be happening? With he light on the floor of the dark passage she spotted a small grimey bone beside her foot. She kicked it away. A few more steps revealed a larger bone and then several more, then a bit of clothing here and a pile of unmentionable rot there. She shined the light forward. The edges of the floor were piled high with shreded corpses as if their bits clawed at the wall still begging for escape after death. The floor shuddered and rattled.

"That... That sounds like breathing..." a man behind her whispered.

"Or footsteps?" another said in a jabbing tone.

"Don't be stupid," Quin snapped, "Keep moving, we're losing time."

She was the first to plunge through the fetid pile of wretched leftovers. Her rifle was raised safety off. The air felt cold. Then damp and warm. The drafts swept around them with a hiss. The bones that held her weight shifted. Screaming startled her and a roar from the void deafened her and stopped her heart.

Quin spun around and nearly fell as her squad errupted into chaos. The screaming became gutteral like choking. Blaster fire lit up the passage like flames. Shouting and screaming and the roaring. By all the suffering in the universe the roaring. Before her, barely fitting in this section of the labyrinth stood a monster. It lashed out at her men and crushed them between the horrible teeth that lined its foul maw. She froze. This could not exist...

"RUN!" the shrill yell tore at her lungs as she tried to be louder than the slaughter, "FALL BACK!"

The woman tore back onward away from the demon behind them. She could hear some of the squad repeating her orders and following immediately. The decaying carnage that she scrambled over now became nothing. It was all she could do to hail the Commander.

"Commander! There's something down here! It's... It's a monstrous... I don't know what it is, but we have casualties! We need to extract!" she screamed.

"Agent Quin, have you completed your mission?" his voice was cold.

A response would not form for her.

"I never thought I would be so disappointed in you... Agent, you will leave this planet alive when your mission is completed or you will not leave. Need I remind you that you and your men are not soldiers?"

"Sir..."

"Deal with it, Agent."

The feed went dead. Her ears were ringing and full of static, but still the beast's howling managed to peirce them. The ground rose up and threw her to her face as another squad member wailed and garggled in agony and death. There was a ripping noise before his silence. A rough hand grabbed her arm, hauled her to her feet and drug her forward.

"Captain!" The large blonde man thrust a laser cannon into her arms before pushing her along again, "He won't be needing it anymore!"

She couldn't tell how many of them still lived. How many were behind or in front or if they were going in the right direction now. Her heart slammed into her ribs painfully and her breath clawed at her insides. Another roar. Quin loaded a charge and turned on her heels to slide to a braced stop. The monster towered above her and fell upon her with a gaping, dark mouth. She fired. The impact struck the back of its throat in an explosive display. Its head ripped back and its furious, pained screeching could be felt in her chest. She sprinted away again. She could feel it tearing at the passage behind them, throwing bits of corpses and slamming walls and ceiling in its rage. The muscles in her legs ached, but she had to keep putting precious distance between them. She stumbled around a corner blindly and saw ahead flashing warm light flooding the passage. The exit! The battle! But they would lead this thing into the fray... It was the only choice. She could only hope it would be to their advantage.

The light and deafening blaster fire that burst all around them in the open space nearly felt like a sanctuary, but she knew it was far from that. There was the ship. The assault was being cut down left and right. Nothing had gotten through. Her guts boiled at the sight of the bodies and the blood. The monster crashed in after them. She risked a glance back to see its full form. She almost wished she hadn't. There was no stopping now. With a fierce battle yell she sprinted at the ship knowing full well it still followed her. Lasers whipped past them aimed at the ship and those that fought from it. A shocking pain ripped through her ear and she immediately slapped a hand over it and stumbled. She could feel the chunk missing from it but regained herself and charged forward. Only a few more meters. She slammed on the breaks and dropped down sliding into the low clearance between the ship and the ground. Rolling back around to aim the cannon and face the beast she fully expected it to come down on the ship with the same destructive force with which it had come after the squad. But it didn't. It had lumbered to a stop. She breathed hard and kept it in her sights. It walked around the ship and bellowed at her before striking under the ship with a deadly claw. She screamed and fired another blast causing it to recoil its paw in anger.

"Damn creature!" she spat. Frantically she looked for an out and only found herself trapped and alone.

---

The Commander sat comfortable, watching the butchering of his army in silence. He heaved a sigh and contacted the Kaminoans, "I apologize, but it seems we will need to resort to our back up plan... Yes, the damages will be repaid in full... Flood the sector."

---

Every blast of the turret shook him. The first kill had been the easiest. He hadn't thought about it. He had only followed suit. The following kills had been out of fear of what would happen if he didn't. Now it was just happening. Out of control. Horrifying. They put up little fight which only added to his guilt. They could have just run... but he knew what was waiting for them off planet.

A sudden cacophony from the rear ripped his focus away from the battle. Iisska dropped the turret after a few more moment and clambered out of the platform and up over the ship for a better look. The terentatek was back. Two people in black uniforms and carrying large guns fled from it. One of them was snatched up and torn to pieces in the blink of an eye. Then it came toward the ship. Not good.

"No. No, no, no!" he yelled.

It brutally tried to fish something out from under the ship, circling it and shrugging off fire like it was nothing, obsessed with its prey. Iisska aimed his blaster at its eyes.

"Back off!" he yelled at it. He was completely ignored and it struck out under the ship again. This time slamming it roughly. He nearly lost his footing but managed to stay up right.

"You, stupid... you gnotrohk... UUH'K WHORE!!" Iisska let loose several blasts into the creature's eye causing it to wince and throw its head and growl in annoyance. Again it went after whatever was under the ship slamming it again. This time there was a low snap and high pitched whine. The ship jerked and sunk to one side as one of the landing gears gave way. Iisska fell backward and started to slide off the ship toward the terentatek. He snagged a vent with his foot and kicked down hard to propel himself into a jump stronger and higher than anatomy would normally allow. Surprised by his own force jump he stumbled but stuck the landing on the new top of the ship.

"ZEN! YOU AND YOUR SODDING PETS! COME GET THIS--" the lights went dim and red sirens filled the room cutting him off mid tirade. What in the 'verse was... From hatches the suddenly opened in the ceiling and from the passage where the monster had come and from nearly all entrances into the area water flushed in like tidal waves and began to rapidly rise.

Zen came strolling around the corner, his kinetic rifles still floating around him, along with a single saber. He held his other, darker, saber in hand and held his hand out, using the force to hold what seemed like a commander in his iron grip. He wriggled and tried to break free, but Zen simply crushed his throat and dropped him to the ground so he could choke and die in his own blood. Death and destruction was all around him, nothing survived the torrent of pain that erupted from his being. As the room started to fill with water though, he surmised that his fun would have to end some time. Either through a watery tomb or the army running out of mindless goons to uselessly throw at him. He was walking back to the ship when he saw the Tarentatek clawing at something hiding under the ship and she was injured. He was about to shoot Iisska for insulting his "pets" but then he saw her. The woman poked her head out from under the ship and his heart Erupted into strange feelings that he could in no way understand. His mind was flooded with various scenes, one of them on a first date on a moon, careening towards a planet, another getting married on top of a giant rancor corpse, and one growing old, fighting bad guys. He pursed his lips and forced the Tarentatek back with the force. It looked at him and retreated a bit. The woman tried to crawl away, but Zen stopped her. She tried to point the gun at her, but he just took it and crushed it without even trying. The weapons floating around him continued shooting at the goons trying a final assault, badly of course, He pointed the tip of his darksaber at her. "How can I put this as politely as possible...hmm...I would like...to p-" Then he remembered that Marquis is an etiquette nerd and he should try that. "I want to get you out of here."

The woman looked up at him like a wild cornered animal. Her entire body shook. She could snap his neck. The water splashed around her thighs as she knelt there. It rose higher and higher. Her legs would not move. Murder was calling to her, pulling at her heart and poisoning her mind. She could break his spine if only she could move her legs. The thought showed in her eyes. If only she could get up.. "You..." she hissed weakly. Quin shifted her weight and tried to get up but only fell forward onto her hands. She needed to kill him. Fire burned through her and without thinking she surged upward, her fingers outstretched, dying to wrap them around his neck in vain and snuff the life out.

"Uuuh...MEEEE!!" He yelled, raising a hand. The water was getting higher and was around his ankles. "Okay, look, you have a choice. Come with me and the group and survive to try and-fail-to kill me at a later point, die in a watery tomb, or die by that." He pointed to the Tarentatek, licking her mouth in anticipation for the kill. "Your choice."

Marquis poked his head out from the landing ramp that had opened and he yelled. "Zen! I know that you are busy, but if we do not leave right now, we are not going to make it. " "Yeah yeah yeah, gimmie a minute." She froze where she was, blocked by some invisible wall. It was useless. The fire still burned but her will seemed to be sucked from her leaving only a husk. Her strength vanished as she realized he would only tear her apart like the others. Her head sagged and her body slumped "... I... I surrender," she whispered as the water was nearly waist high now. "EXCELLENT!" Zen yelled and she would feel a strong grip around her waist yank her around the ship and up the loading ramp, right behind Zen whom was yelling "Nyyyeaah!" The ramp went up and

The ship was starting to start and get ready to fly off at any moment, but then something in the engine went wrong and it stopped. An almost collective "OH WHAT NOW?!" sounded from the crew of the ship as Iisska and Balva went to work, quickly fixing the engines as the water surged higher, nearly swallowing the lower half of the ship. They were cutting it close as they fixed the problem in the engine and Zen found his way to the main hanger and set down a small mat. The woman stood near, glaring at him, her arms crossed. "You should really go clean yourself up. Don't need you bleeding out." Zen high-knee ran in place, shaking his hands and breathing. Trinity's voice came over the intercom. "Okay! Ready to go!" Zen yelled then as well. "Take us anywheres not here! Iisska! I need you down here to support me! NOW!" Iisska didn't even bitch or moan this time, just coming right down and standing close to him, asking what he needed to do. "Just concentrate your force powers on me. "

The ship started to whirr and take off, but the engines were about to be flooded with water and, for a moment, it seemed like they were doomed, until Zen spread his legs, threw out his arms, and closed his eyes, the air vibrating around them as the water inside the ship was pushed out and a bubble was created around them. The ship lifted up into the air and fired the main cannons at a wall, punching a huge hole in it, letting the whole damn sea into the base. They flew towards the hole and Zen started to scream as he took the weight of the sea onto his body, via the bubble around the ship. Blood started to seep from his nose, mouth, and even ears as he continued screaming, actually being pushed to the limit. Iisska tried to help, but he barely knew what he was doing. They rose higher and higher through the sea, coming to the surface as quick as they could, pushing the engine to it's max. They burst through the sea-ceiling and into the air, heading straight for the stratosphere. Trinity yelled over the intercom as Cannon fire rained down onto the ship, splashing over the shield of pure force power that Zen had put up. He screamed as if a lung had exploded, blood covering half of his face. "Zen! Where?!" Marquis spoke, thinking of the one place they could hide. "HOTH! GO TO HOTH!" The coordinates were punched in and they made the agonizing climb to the stratosphere, several more shots landing home on the ship. The shield broke then, Zen falling onto his back, barely breathing as his entire body was pushed up to and over the limit. He had gotten them just enough time though and they were high enough above the planet to shoot into hyperspace. They were safe.

Zen however, stared at the ceiling, unable to move or speak, blank. He wasn't dead, but to the crew, it would seem like he wasn't alive either.