"You won't be able to keep us here long. Do you have any idea who we are? You're all dead men-- AAAaaaAAAAHHHHHHH!!"

Quin writhed and screamed and arched and tore at her restraints as the voltage being pumped into her body was turned up. The brutal shock went on for what seemed to be hours even though it lasted mere seconds. When it fizzled out she hung limp from her wrists on the wall. Her legs refused to support her. She struggled to regain her breath.

They were somewhere deep below the glamorous casino lobby and ballroom in a place that was damp and filthy and reeking of rust and sweat. The walls were unfinished with pipes and wiring left bare. The doors were heavy, rudimentary steel with ugly locking mechanisms. The room they were in now contained what seemed to be holding cells and paddocks, strange alien devices of unimaginable utility, devices shaped to humanoid form but in a fearsome manner, and the overwhelming sense of fear and death. A dungeon.

"We know who you are. Two slimy little snakes trying to pull a fast one on Mr. Thexys," the burly, but clean cut security, guard snorted, "Mr. Thexys doesn't tolerate snakes."

"Tch-- Sh-- D-Drop the b-bad cop act," Quin hissed, "Just kill us if we're so intolerable. You aren't going to do it? Are you?"

"No. I wouldn't dare come between Mr. Thexys and his leisure. He is a man who fiercely enjoys certain kinds of sport. And you. You are a rare treat with an overabundance of fight in you. I know you will make this interesting, but I wonder about your friend here."

One of the other guards snickered and shook his head before his leader pushed a small switch and sent the same vicious jolt through the restraints on Nyrette's neck and wrists. The woman next to Quin grit her teeth together and groaned at first, resisting the pain. But she only lasted seconds under the onslaught before she too screamed out in agony, gave in and collapsed. Quin watched in horror and squirmed. A horrible knot formed in her gut until the screaming stopped. She snarled and spat at the man. She cut her wrists on the cuffs, threw herself and kicked at the wall behind her in an attempt to get free. The guard started to walk over.

"You're going to be the last one to die! You hear me!?" Quin shrieked, "I'm gonna shoot out every joint in your body starting with the wrists and ankles and watch you wriggle around on the floor like a fucking worm! I'm gonna peel your skin and laugh while--"

The huge guard delivered a full force uppercut into her stomach. It was followed by another and another and another until something inside her cracked. He stopped. She curled and wheezed, unable to fill her lungs. Her head spun and she panicked. A few moments later she was able to take in a long, slow, strangled stretch of air and groaned weakly.

The guard looked between Quin and Nyrette with a coy smile.

"Touched a sore spot didn't I?" he hummed, "I get a kick out of you sentimental types."

"Sir," one of the other guards spoke up, "Delta team is bringing in three more prisoners. More than likely the incidents are related."

Oh, no...

The head guard smirked at Quin once more and shrugged his shoulders in a lackadaisical way, "Woops."

"Gamma team is being dispersed to the floor to make up for lost man power."

"Lost man power?" he looked over his shoulder with a raised brow.

"Yessir. The prisoners resisted. Six men have been sent to hospital. One is in critical condition."

As he was speaking the sound of several more voices could be heard outside the door. The distant shouting and struggling grew in intensity until finally the thick door was thrown open and the tuxedo'd captives were roughly hauled through leaving Quin with no hope that the rest of the crew might have gotten away. The Trandoshan, Cheshik, was the first. Stripped of his weapons, muzzled and flanked by hulking aliens on each arm. The next two, whom they had some trouble getting through the door as they were both in a raging frenzy and the guards seemed desperate to keep them away from each other were Zen and Iisska. The former was bleeding from a deep wound on his upper arm and lashing out with a kick aimed at the latter who was halfway into a rudimentary muzzle himself with blood staining his teeth and cheek. He nearly dragged a man over trying to headbutt Zen when they were let a little too close. The two were dragged to opposite ends of the room.

"WHORE BASKET!!" Zen yelled at the top of his lungs.

His would be attacker yelled something indiscernible through his gag and snorted. It looked like Iisska would start going after his captors next, but he caught sight of Quin and Nyrette. The fighting stopped. He stared at them in confusion and then anger and then fear. Wide eyes darted around the horrible room as the weight of the situation sank deeper. All three of them were quickly restrained.

"Well. Fuck. Me," the large man shook his head at the spectacle, "Women, beasts, bad-asses and colleagues. Mr. Thexys is going to have one hell of a night.”

---

Hand crafted calf-skin oxfords with leather and cork soles clicked sharply down the hall. They all but drowned out the droning thud of the body guard's boots close behind.

"Ding dong. The King is dead," the low, grinding robotic voice sung, "I trust you have begun the procurement of our late friend's assets? How are things progressing?"

He paused and allowed the person on the other side of the communicator to speak.

"Good. This makes me happy. Now then. I am finished with business for the day. I have more personal things to see, but should you call, my secretary will make sure I am made aware of your needs. Good night."

The immaculate businessman turned off the communicator and gently slipped it into his tuxedo pocket with very long, clawed and webbed fingers. He unclipped his cuff-links and loosened his collar with a delicate grace and precision. Afterward he let out a long relaxed sigh that registered as a mechanical hiss from the cybernetics that sealed his mouth and throat.

"Call for me a pitcher of water and bottle of brandy, Cael," he waved a slender arm and looked over his shoulder.

The body guard nodded and spoke softly into his headset. The pair soon approached an unassuming door in the center of the maze that made up the massive underworks of the casino and hotel complex above. The businessman rolled his shoulders out and let his overcoat slide off his arms before handing it to the body guard.

"Do you wish to attend to the door this time?" the man asked before chuckling. The chuckle was a noise made terrifying by the cybernetics.

"I go where you go, Sir," Cael nodded.

"There's the stones I hired you for," his boss replied, "Good. But should you need to vomit I'll not say anything. I may laugh, but not say anything."

The door opened. A tall, thin, near ethereal Selkath male floated in with only the click of his heels as evidence that he was walking at all. His brilliant blue eyes rolled in their sockets and his head turned slowly as he looked at all of his captives one by one. Steady, hissing, metal breaths filled the silence that entered the dungeon with him. He began to roll up his sleeves.

"The women look worse for wear," the Selkath commented, "I hope they have some defiance left in them. They should if they had resolve to cross Radon Thexys... A moment... I know you. You are the crew who assassinated our dear friend Olok, are you not? Yes. Yes you are. I payed you a small fortune. You should be drunk and happy far away from here. Yet here you are biting the hand that feeds you. Shame for you. Joy for me. Cael, I will be needing someone to find their ship. Take it and get me my money back. And as for you five..."

Radon held out his hand. Into it was placed a broad, vibro-dagger with an exquisite hilt.

"We are going to party until the sun comes up, as they say... Perhaps longer, even. You there, get for me the branding irons, a hammer and a chisel. So... Who would like to go first?"

Radon approached Zen first and ran the edge of the blade under his jaw, splitting the skin until it bled and no further. He traced a shallow bloody line down the front of his neck, through his clothing and down his chest.

"I am told that if not for you, the rest of them may have got their hands on a prize and lived for a few more hours before I tracked them down. I think you will be more personal, more experimental option to save for later."

He passed by Cheshik and looked him over carefully. Then he placed the blade under one of the thicker scales on his face and began to twist so it was pried upward out of the skin. He applied pressure with more and more force very slowly while cooing. "Oh. Never had one of you before. I am curious about Trandoshans. What does it look like inside, I wonder? Are you really so tough?" The force he was putting between scale and flesh was begining to test the strength in his hand but finally it snapped. The root gave out and pulled away leaving a deep wound. Radon ripped it the rest of the way out. He inspected it and narrowed his eyes at Cheshik.

"It is beautiful in the right light. I would like to take more. Perhaps I will be needing the whole pelt. Looks difficult to remove, but I could maybe make something of it."

He set the scale down on a table on his way across the room then approached Iisska. The Togruta glared up at Radon, snarled and snorted and tried to chew through the gag the guards had put on him. When the Selkath tried to put his hands on him he bucked and lashed forward with threatening, but completely stifled words.

"What are you? An animal? I expect such things from the likes of your reptile friend, but from you it is unbecoming," Radon shrugged, "But it does not concern me. I'm sure you are far less strong than you like others to think."

When Iisska did not stop thrashing or trying to swear at him Radon lashed out and grabbed him roughly by one of his lekku and used it to yank his head down to a position where he could not struggle as much. The pain and shock caused him to hiss and he suddenly became motionless.

"However, I like the fight. See if you can prove me wrong," the Selkath turned the blade in his fingers, "Also, these heal well don't they?" he laughed, "What am I saying?"

The knife caught him across the chest first as it was slashed like a whip in front of him. But the Togruta was suddenly left dazed by a sudden imbalance in his skull and a mind-numbing, white hot pain that spread all the way through his head and into his collar bone.

The muffled screaming only seemed to delight Radon who was now chuckling softly to himself. He dropped the severed lekku in the small puddle of blood that was now dripping onto the ground and started toward the girls.

"Do you really have no eyes?" he asked Nyrette and started to run a finger under the cloth on her face. She pulled her head back, "Fascinating."

Radon raised the knife into the air above Nyrette and brought it down.

"NO!" It was Quin who screamed out at him.

The cloth that concealed the place where her eyes should have been fell, cut in two around her neck. A slight trickle of blood ran down her cheek where Radon had accidentally grazed her. He examined her face with the utmost curiosity but slowly turned his eyes on the other woman. He watched closely as he pressed the blade to Nyrette's neck. She merely swallowed, set her jaw and put up no struggle. But Quin squirmed. She had bitten her lip to keep her self from saying anything else, but it had already been too much.

"Oh ho ho. This is good. I like this," Radon put his hand on Nyrette's shoulder, "You will be first... and third, and fifth, and seventh. Little bit at a time. I do enjoy you females more anyway. So soft. And you," he pointed the blade at Quin while getting very close to Nyrette's face, "You go last. Enjoy the show."

He had been running for just under three hours, trying to evade the crime lord's grasp. He sat now outside of his territory, against a metal wall in an alleyway while citizens walked back and forth just outside said alleyway. "Damn you to the void, Zen." He whispered and shook his head. The plan was supposed to be easy. Slice the systems, have Iisska and Cheshik steal the money while Marquis assassinates Radon and Zen acts as the getaway driver in an armored hovercar outside. Easy. But there he was inside the Casino, walking through the crowd while Marquis lined up the shot. A patron spilled a drink on his suit and he threw him across the room in anger. That's what started it all. The security systems had activated from a guard hitting the alarms, Zen was electrocuted by four different guards and they tried to corner Marquis. He barely made it out of there alive. Void, he even lost his arm in the process. One of the guards happened to be an obscenely lucky shot and hit a joint between the arm and body and severed the connection in the weakened metal. He didn't even have a chance to go back for it. He sighed and shook his head again. This was all his fault. He trusted Zen to actually play this part...he arranged this huge heist in the name of revenge, to try and make the nightmares stop.

It was a hotly debated topic for many of the galaxies' scientists. "Do droids dream." With the advancements of AI in the galaxy, many were attaining true intelligence, Marquis included. This came with the obsoletion of periodical memory wipes and many unique circumstances started to come about. A few of the older droids and A.I. matrices were telling their masters and companions that they were dreaming of events around them while powered down. They would reactivate later with new memories in their system that had been formed while they were deactivated. Nearly every scientist immediately dismissed the claim at first, but more and more droids were saying the same thing and immediate denial started to become doubts then quickly became fierce debates between leagues of scientists and A.I. specialists.

That was what was starting to happen to Marquis. Some nights he would dream of he and Trinity no longer on some rust bucket ship and instead on some beach somewhere. Other nights he would dream of Radon. The most recent one was from a few nights ago. It was a dream of his target. He was in an old decrepit jail cell deep below the planet. Four shadowed figures were shackled to the wall while Radon stood over a pile of golden scrap...which was Marquis.

He shook his head again and snapped out of it, his eye glowing bright red with hot rage. Now, because of him, the entire crew was captured and was either being tortured to death or were already dead at Radon's hands. The droid stood their feeling a strong mixture of rage and guilt wrack his metal body. "This is my fault." He said to nobody in particular. "Time to make things right." He announced and went back out into the street.

_________

It took another hour to reach the Casino again, but when he did he went to the back to where the garbage was dumped out to be collected. If he remembered the blueprints of the casino correctly, there is an entrance to the kitchen at the top of the garbage chute. Normally, Marquis would be a prudish droid that avoided disgusting places like this, but this was no time to be prude, so he waded into the filth. As he did so however, a bit of fortune shined down onto him from above. He kicked something long and metal in the garbage. He reached down with his surviving arm and fished it out. For once, something went right for him as he found the arm that the hotshot guard had shot off earlier. It was dirty and disgusting but Marquis didn't care. He found his way to a wall where he forced the arm to line up to the socket before his good hand flipped back at the wrist to reveal a soldering tool. He spent several minutes performing self surgery to reattach the arm to his body. Once he had finished he tested it out by punching the wall. It made a resounding dong that echoed down the alleyways. "Excellent." he said aloud.

Now with his arm reattached to his torso, he looked up and spied the garbage chute that spewed out rotten food and debris at an almost constant pace. He spied a ladder leading up to it and took it up. Normal people would never have been able to do anything with this chute other than look at it and barf. But the magnetized palms on his hands said that he was a determined type of person.

Latching onto the inside of the chute, Marquis took a face full of rotten food as he climbed inside and started to haul himself up a ninety degree angle to reach his mark. In addition to his entire attire being ruined beyond recognition, he took far more time than he would care to admit to finally reach an opening for him to crawl into.

He was in complete darkness the entire time, only the light of his eye guided him on his journey through the chutes that made up the catacombs of Radon's casino. Marquis would have cried if he was human when he saw light at the end of the tunnel. Coming up to the opening, he poked his head out and saw that there was nobody around. He pulled himself out of the chute and stood up fully for the first time in a long while. He felt slow and sluggish because of the junk in his systems, but there was a droid service cabinet nearby for him to use to at least loosen up.

Going off of memory, Marquis made his way down the halls, going towards a part of the casino that was being labeled as highly restricted. He frequently saw signs that said "Unauthorized personnel will be shot on sight.". Ignoring them, he made his way deeper into the Casino. The glitz and bright colors started to appear much less frequently as he made his way through the relatively empty halls. What was left in their place was a foreboding prison-like area. Marquis summarized that this was most likely where Radon "Disappeared" people to when they opposed his will.

There were very little signs of which cell could be where the crew is being held prisoner, so he checked each one. Thankfully, it wasn't a very difficult search as he came to the conclusion, as he turned a corner that is, that the crew was being held behind the door with ten guards posted outside of it.

___

"Haha! Is that the best you got, calamari breath?! I've eaten Quin's cooking! This is nothing!" Zen hung from the wall, twice the chains around him when compared to the others. His clothing was gone save for some underwear, he had no less of than seven knives dug in various places in his body, one in each limb and three in his chest. His right shoulder was missing a mouth sized chunk in it and he was bleeding profusely. His Hair was mated and blood soaked and he was still kicking and kicking hard. Radon put down several tools that he as using on him and gave up.

The crew was in bad shape. Zen might as well be dead, Iisska's missing part of a lekku and looks more red than white, Nyrette is comatose almost, Cheshik had one of his legs skinned to the point where it is just some muscle and bone in addition to having a pain enhancing drug pumped into his system. Meanwhile, Quin was forced to just watch, untouched by Radon until he was ready for her. He approached her now, knife in hand. He raised it to her neck and pressed it, drawing blood. "I am going to make this slow and agonizing. The pain I inflicted on your friends will be nothing compared to what I will do to you." he flipped the blade and ripped open her shirt, bringing the blade close. He slipped it underneath her skin and started to skin her, ignoring her screams.

He stopped suddenly then as muffled sounds of blaster fire made their way into the room. Radon withdrew the blade from the weary Quin's skin and approached the door slowly. He placed the knife down and grabbed Iisska's blaster from the table. The other three guards raised their rifles and took aim, slowly approaching.

The heavy metal doors opened slowly from the outside. There was darkness outside the door for but a few moments before Marquis stepped through, rifle raised. He fired three times, each guard taking a bolt to the chest before they could react. They dropped to the ground with smoking holes in their chests. He pointed his rifle at Radon and kept his eye on him. Radon didn't move to fire as Marquis closed the metal door behind him. "Put it down. Now." Radon didn't move to do as the assassin said, so Marquis did it for him and shot at the blaster, shooting it out of his hand, making Radon yelp in pain and grab at his scorched hand.

Radon glared at his attacker but didn't move. Marquis placed down his blaster and started to grab at the leather fingers of his gloves and pull them off. "I have been savoring this moment since the day Trinity ripped out my Assassination protocols." He reached for his turncoat and unbuttoned it, placing down on the ground on his gloves, followed by his bowler cap. He balled up his hands into fist and put them up, taking a fighting stance. "I am going to enjoy this."

"Are you?" Radon grunted.

He rubbed out his scorched hand and took slow steps toward the table. He never took his eyes off the droid that had crashed his little party. As he did so he began to laugh. Just a little at first, but soon it was a full blown cackle. The Selkath finally caught his breath and sighed. He picked the knife back up off the table.

"You want a fight, M4RQU-15?" he asked, "What makes you think I am going to give you one? Look at you so prepared. I don't remember giving you such sense of humor. I don't remember giving you such rudeness either. I was in the middle of something, can't you see?"

Seeing that his old droid was going all or nothing and that there was no feasible means of escape for him now, he continued to toy with the edge of the blade. He took a step or two backward. Edging closer to his victims.

"You know these these thieves of mine? No? Okay," he shrugged.

With a snap he twisted around and shot his knife hand out. It crunched into taught flesh. Quin's breath stuck in her throat with a sick gurgle as the knife was plunged into her stomach all the way to the hilt.

"Okay!" Radon held his hands out, leaving the knife stuck in place, "Last one done! The rest will bleed to death on their own soon. That one is already dead, I'm thinking," he pointed to Iisska, "So. You want a fight?"

Radon undid the buttons on his white dress shirt, quickly. Glints of metal began to show up on the skin it exposed. The shirt fell to the floor and Radon took up a more relaxed fighting stance than his foe. Sprawled across his body were massive cybernetic enhancements. The artificial muscles made up the entirety of his chest, dove into his arms and wound down his back. They were covered by artificial skin from the top of the bicep down. He rolled his neck out.

"I will humor you. Let us see if I remember exactly how you are put together, insolent little droid," the Selkath hummed.

Marquis was the first to charge, closing the gap between them and taking the first few punches, missing the first three punches to his stomach, but connecting with the forth in Radon's muzzle as well as a follow up to stagger him backwards. He didn't give his foe any time to recover as he moved in to continue the assault.

Radon reeled from the first onslaught, but managed to get his hands up between himself and his attacker. He waited for an opening, allowing the cybernetics to absorb the impacts and then lashed out. His own punch connected with Marquis' throat. Metal on metal. He ducked in lower and slammed his shoulder upward into the droid's chest.

Marquis popped up in the air a bit and pushed off of Radon, giving him a few inches of breathing room. Radon hit hard, like a speeder with a heavy grill at high speed. But then again, so did he. Marquis went on the defensive as Radon approached, blocking the punches and double fisted slams that followed and switched combat styles, taking up a mixed stance and retaliating with hammering blows on Radon's arms and working footwork into the assault, aiming for Radon's weak legs. He wasn't going for anything vital, but instead was trying to slam his boot onto Radon's foot to impair him.

A low blow caught him in the ankle and left him slamming into the floor. Radon hurried backward to a control panel trying to get up before Marquis could get to him.

"Not bad!" he spat.

With his foe on the ropes, Marquis started to close the gap, savoring the moment slightly before moving faster.

Radon hooked his arm up on to the lip of the console and latched onto one of the levers there. He yanked it down and pulled himself to his feet with the same motion. Wicked arcs of electricity crackled, lit up the room and shot through Zen's body. Radon broke the lever off.

"HHHAAA! YES! FEED MY RODIAN TACO HAH" Zen screamed as his body was practically starting to melt as the electricity fried him. Though he was dazed, Cheshik tilted his head in Iisska's direction. "I believe your apprentice has lost it."

Ignoring the rantings of the clearly far gone Zen, Marquis closed the distance and threw a flurry of punches at the waiting Radon. Most of which he dodged, anticipating Marquis' attempts to take him out at the legs and distract him, it was then that Marquis grappled onto Radon and slammed his extremely durable forehead into Radon's before throwing him across the room. While he was flying, Marquis hit the console with the bottom of his fist, disabling the switch. Zen hung there as the bolts of electricity stopped, smoking and still laughing.

Radon's world spun. He lurched to his feet only to fall to his hands and knees again. Beads of blood began to form where the mechanical mask bonded to his face. He snorted and wheezed. After a few more moments of dizzy fumbling he was able to pull himself up by one of the exposed pipelines on the wall. He gripped it tightly. Furious blue eyes threatened to burn holes into Marquis' skull. What started as a growl in his throat exploded into an enraged scream. His claws tightened around the pipe and wrenched it out of it's fastenings. Scalding hot water burst out of the breach and sprayed across the room and quickly formed puddles on the floor. Ignoring the heat and the sudden surge of steam, Radon wielded the long, jagged section of pipe as a weapon. He charged at Marquis.

With the steam flooding the room, Marquis had a great deal of difficulty finding Radon. Within a few seconds he couldn't see the Selkath cyborg anymore, though that wouldn't last long as a metal pipe crashed down onto his shoulder, sending him down into the water for a moment before he recovered and stood. He disabled his optical sensor and transferred power to his hearing, listening for the splashing. It was subtle and barely audible, but he heard Radon approach from behind. He caught the pipe with one hand, reigniting his eye and held out his right hand to Radon's face. The hand flipped backward and searing flame from the welding tool shot out, scalding Radon's face and eye, disarming him as well.

Anguished, digitized screams followed the spray of fire. Thexys tossed backward, blinded. His face was in both hands as he ducked further into the steam now looking for the door. He found the wall and skirted it until he located the locking mechanism. With an angry growl he forced it open and stumbled into the hall, tripping over the bodies of his men.

Marquis was right behind him, stepping through the door and politely over the bodies as Radon limped away. He kept an even pace, staying just slightly faster than his terrified former master in front of him. During the stumble down the hall, Radon tripped and fell to the ground, but could not get up in time. Marquis grabbed him by the nape of his neck, digging his fingers into Radon's flesh to grip the metal and started to drag him backwards. He picked him up and slammed him face first into the metal wall once, twice, and a third time before throwing him to the ground. He stepped onto the Selkath's body and placed a boot on his neck.

The once powerful tyrant of Nar Shaddaa writhed underfoot, hissing and clawing at Marquis' leg. He struggled to push him off with all his strength. The artificial voicebox and trachea were starting to creak under the weight. He let a hand loose to search for a weapon, something, anything that may be on the ground near by. His fingertips brushed against the utility belt on one of the corpses.

As Radon tried to grasp at what few straws he had left, Marquis knelt down to Radon's level, the luminous scarlet of Marquis' eye illuminating Radon's petrified face. Marquis' welding tool sparked up again and lit up both of their faces in a brilliant blue hue. "This is for the hundreds of innocents you had me murder."

"Heh," blood misted from the vents in Radon's mask as he spoke, "What are they-- do with your revenge? They're dead. You won't undo your actions."

"I do not need to undo anything. Their spirits will smile knowing you died a horrible, deserving, death. Go with grace, demon." He jammed the fire of the welding torch into Radon's last good eye, piercing into his skull.

Marquis kept the welding torch in Radon's eye for a good time, making sure that the organs were eviscerated, even waiting until the flame came through the other side of his skull before withdrawing it and turning it off. He had to be sure that this nightmare was long gone. He felt a huge weight drop off of his shoulders, but his work was far from done.

He sprinted back to the holding cell and back inside. He picked up his gear and reoutfitted before going to Radon's coat and fishing out a ring of credit chits and a datapad. He placed them in his pocket and proceeded to pick up the rest of the crew's belongings, stuffing them into a pack that a guard had. Then then went to Cheshik's chains. "Cheshik?" He said.

"Please release me already, I am tired of these bonds, please break them so I may regain my honor." Said the Trandoshan, a sickly tone coming over him as he said it.

"I need your help. Can you walk?" Said Marquis, hoping for the best.

"Indeed. I see what you need. Let me down."

Marquis did as he had already planned and broke the bindings that held the severely weakened, but far from broken, Trandoshan in his bonds. He fell to the ground in pained sprawl but got up on his own and stood proud, even if he did favor his skinned leg. "Help me with the others." Marquis said as he went to work at breaking Quin and Nyrette free. Quin was mostly unconscious from the trauma and blood loss and Marquis took care to lower her to the ground before moving to Nyrette. When she was freed she was lowered to the ground as well but she refused to be helped up. She got up on her own and retied her blind fold. "I'm alright. Nothing I haven't been subjected to before." She stood very slowly, trying to get her balance. She fell to her knees and Marquis had had enough and helped her up even though she protested.

Both Zen and Isska were unconscious as well, but Cheshik saw to them when he broke them free and hoisted them like they were mere paperweights. Even if his body was being wracked with pain, he was forcing his way through. Marquis was impressed to say the least. It took a few minutes for Nyrette to get her bearings back as she had to fix her arm and one of her knees. Her arm had been 'reversed', leaving her in insurmountable pain in addition to her knee being totally dislocated, which she popped back into place with a horrendous scream. Being careful of the knife, Marquis lifted Quin up and the group was out the door.

They were slow moving because of the heaving load Marquis and Ceshik were lugging, but Nyrette as well due to her injuries. Thankfully for them, Radon had cleared out the back rooms for the evening for his little "Event" to take place. Marquis was overly relieved to not have to deal with more guards.

With how popular the casino was, they had to go out a back door and start to slunk their ways through many alleyways and slums to avoid any sort of contact with other civilians, doubling the time it normally took for them to reach the ship from the Casino. When they reached the ship, they found the scene a lot quieter than they expected. Cheshik had told Marquis that they impounded the ship, but from the looks of it things were untouched on the landing pad.

Surveying the location a bit, blood soaked and starting to spark slightly, Marquis noticed Nyrette sit down against a wall and droop her head slightly. He noticed the blood coming from her mouth. He knew that the crew didn't have much time left and set Quin down into Nyrette's lap. He sprinted on ahead without them and up the open ship ramp. What he saw was a gruesome sight, blood and gore everywhere as men and women loyal to Radon were torn apart. What made him want to cry however was Iisska's beloved Akk Dog Kobel and Cheshik's huge Varactyl Snickers sitting in the middle, covered in blood. Marquis nearly stood there to laugh, but he sprinted back to the crew and helped them up. Nyrette was moving slower now as her body started to shut down. Even Cheshik was started to slow down from the blood loss from his leg. Marquis wasted no time getting them into the Harpoon.

Iisska was the first in the tank. His wounds were the worst.

"Oh void, what happened?!" Trinity yelped via her hologram projector in the med bay, she looked over the scene of the crew laying on medical beds and Iisska barely alive in the Kolto tank for the second time this year with a posture and expression that said that she was ready to break down. "Dove. I'll tell you soon, but I need help. Please, tend to Zen and Cheshik...have to work on Quin."

She nodded and robotic arms descended from the ceiling to deliver IV and sedatives for Zen and Cheshik. Nyrette lay in a bed all her own, barely holding on. Trinity didn't neglect her either as arms made sure she stayed awake. Marquis however worked intensively on Quin, extracting the knife and patching up the wound as best as he could with bandages and kolto injections. He stuck a needle in her that boosted her body's natural healing factor as well. He then turned and attended to Nyrette, whom had finally fallen unconscious. Her wounds were far more extensive than he thought as he saw the cuts and bruises and lacerations appear through her clothing. Trinity had taken them off bit by bit and patched her up as best as she could. Cheshik's leg was wrapped and his gashes were sealed, Zen's entire body was one large wound, she had extracted the knives and patched him up. A normal man would be dead three times over, but Zen just didn't fricken die...and now that he was reconnected with the force, his body was already healing up and he would be back up on his feet within a day or two. The said could be said of Iisska, though that would be a week instead of a day. This was apparently normal...least according to Zen. Certain powers get passed on through the bond or some other mumbo jumbo. Marquis didn't care at this point.

He backed away from Nyrette's sleeping form and got against the wall and slumped down onto his arse. He sat there for a time before he noticed just how damaged he was. His arm was starting to come off from how hard Radon had hit it...his throat was damaged and his chassis was severely damaged. That was when he noticed something horrible. He was running on res-The light in his eye went out then.

His power core failed.

Fear. Rage. Hate. Pain. Two buttons lit up on the kolto tank's control panel after several thuds rocked the glass and it began to shudder. It was initiating emergency release protocols. The door zipped to the side and Iisska stepped out, still retching from having the breathing tubes ripped out of him while awake, and immediately lost balance and hit the floor. His head was spinning and his heart was racing. Where was that bastard? It took several long moments of confusion for him to finally realize he was on the Harpoon. Several more moments passed before he tried to get up again. Many of the deeper wounds on his face and body had not closed yet and his skin and skull burned. Every motion was a chore as he was finding it damn near impossible to keep himself from tipping over to the right. He had to support himself on the tank and other objects.

"Marquis!" he found the motionless droid propped up against the wall and clumsily knelt beside him, "Hey, wake up will ya?"

He shook Marquis and got no response. He lifted his head up and examined him. There was way more damage here than he had initially seen. Many of the repairs he would need would not leave him as he was before. Iisska listened. There was no faint hum from processors or electric current. All the lights were off. Someone had done more than just hit the off switch.

"Shit," he hissed.

He swiveled to look over his shoulder. Resting in bunks and makeshift cots was the rest of the crew, all still out cold. Quin and Nyrette were attached to monitors. It was all coming back in more detail than he ever wanted. Every horror right up until he bit Radon in the arm. Everything after that was red and black. Not sure what else to do he went to them. He wanted to wake someone up. Find out what happened. Ask them how they got back to the ship. Ask them if this was a trick. The injuries were extensive and gruesome. They needed to rest. He doubted he would be able to get any of them awake even if he tried.

After stumbling once more he placed a hand on Quin's bedside. She was hooked up to oxygen and pale. Almost white or greyish in color, even in the lips, with dark bruises around her eyes. That couldn't be good. The monitor showed her heart beating extremely slow. Most of the information was being displayed in a yellow color a few things in red and almost nothing in green.

"You next, then," he mumbled.

He unhooked her and hefted her up off the bed with a pained grunt. He cursed through his teeth after nearly falling over again.

"You say I'm the fat one?"

After a few more minutes of struggling Quin was in the kolto tank, floating peacefully, but still looking like death. Now it was Marquis' turn. Iisska flopped down next to him breathing heavily. One trip across the room and he was already dizzy.

"Tell me you killed that fuck face dead," he wheezed at Marquis, "... Now... what to do with you..."

Iisska ran over the options in his head. Without knowing exactly what was wrong, he didn't want to go tinkering around with someone's body. Obviously there was a power issue. Maybe if he could get him hooked up to an external power source or A.I. drive even, he could get a few words out of him and an idea of what to do next. Perhaps Trinity would know. The A.I. core!

"Got it," he snapped his fingers.

With Marquis slung over his shoulder and a roll of bandages and gauze in his teeth Iisska began the now much harder than usual trek to the maintenance bay and the A.I. core. Oh what he wouldn't give to not be missing good five pounds from the left side of his head and the ability to be able to walk a straight line again.

He nearly dropped Marquis at the base of the A.I. core then spent some time figuring out how to open him up and get him jury rigged to the ship somehow. Lucky for him Trinity was somewhat present to walk him through the process. However, once he was done she silenced herself completely. Iisska curled in a warm spot nearby and began to patch himself up. It wasn't long before Kobel wedged himself into the tight spot as well and curled up with his master who had already passed out again.

Nyrette's eyes shot open with a shock, she sharply inhaled and sat up. Just as she did she started to cough out all the breath she had just inhaled. She wouldn't stop coughing for several moments, her body unable to process whatever was stuck in her chest. How long had she been out? She looked around the room to see it empty. No auras or traces of the force to be found. She finally stopped coughing and took a slow, raggedy breath. She swung her legs out and stood up slowly, trying to get her balance. "Hello?" She called out. "Is anybody there?" She bellowed again, but to no response. She was naked save for her leggings and some bandages over her chest. She was a curvacious young woman with messy black hair, though she was not the galaxy's view of a "super model" by any stretch of the imagination. Her body was riddled with scars. Deep knife wounds, whip marks, lacerations, blaster markings, ripped skin where bone had broken through, a c-section scar. She had been brutalized over her entire life. Most women would have caved in and taken their own lives if they had gone through the same things she had, but not her.

Treading lightly, she made her way out the door and into the halls of the Harpoon. It was completely silent, not even the noise of the ship engines, which was normally a very quiet hum, could be heard. The hairs on the back of her neck started to rise and she knew something was far from right. She went down stairs to the lounge where everybody usually meets, but it was empty. There was a layer of dust on everything, like it hadn't been touched in years. The window on the far side of the lounge showed her a great view of space, with a white star casting a pearly white glow into the room.

Agent N....

Nyrette gasped and turned towards the source of the noise. Her breaths came shallow and raspy as she trembled under the gaze of the thing that called her code name. A dark red skinned woman layered in ribbons of black from neck to toe, a golden mask upon her face that was overshadowed by her long black hair. The ribbons and hair flowed unnaturally as if a light breeze pushed it to and fro even though there was none to be had.

You have betrayed me...agent.

The woman moved closer to her, her every step making the world around Nyrette colder and darker. She backed away from her and tried to make an excuse. "I-I-I-I didn't, mistress! I swear! I-I-I'm doing r-r-reconnaissance! I-" Her throat closed shut as the woman held out her hand, gripping Nyrette with a mysterious power. She lifted the agent into the air and brought her closer as she kicked and flailed to escape, her feet just nearly touching the floor. The woman reached up to lift the golden veil that obscured her face. What lied underneath froze Nyrette's heart...nothing. Nothing but pure darkness, no features, not even a face, just a hole where only the most unholy of terrors made their home. Nyrette was so wracked with fear that she froze like she was in an icy shell. She couldn't move, couldn't fight back, just lose herself in the void. She felt her soul being ripped away and, as smokey black tentacles leaked from the void to wrap around Nyrette's head, she could only mouth a silent scream.

____

When her eyes open, she had broken out into a cold sweat and could only see Cheshik's friendly face. "Are you the...okay?" he said in a comforting tone. It took her a few moments to try and speak as her heart had leaped into her throat and was pounding frantically. She found herself swallowing and gulping multiple times before the Trandoshan grabbed a pitcher and a glass to bring to her. When he brought it to her side, she put aside the glass and took the pitcher by both hands, tipping the spout over her mouth and gulping down the contents like she was about to die from dehydration. She had downed nearly half the pitcher when she finally released her mouth from it and let Cheshik take it back. "Thank you..." she said, taking slow deep breaths.

She sat up and swung her legs out again. She was clothed this time, though not in her battle dress. She had her civvies on save for her jacket, which was hanging on a coat rack at the door to the med bay. She looked over to see Quin still in the Kolto tank healing nicely. Zen was nowhere to be found and neither was Iisska. "What happened?" Cheshik said, sitting on the bed across from hers. He wore nothing but a set of breachcloth, letting what was left of his wounds heal and letting his freshly healed leg breathe as it started the process of growing his scales back. It was a disturbing change from his scaly body as his left leg had little more than nubs across it, the skin itself was dark green in color and looked wrong on a Trandoshan body.

"Nightmares..." she said at last, not making eye contact with him after being embarrassed at him seeing her so weak. "Where are the others?"

"Isska is nodding off with dog in room. Zen is...drunk," he said after realizing that Zen was down in the lounge drunk off his ass after realizing that Trinity had moved all of Radon's funds into a shared, and very secure, account.

"...And Marquis?" She said, worried about her friend.

A voice over the intercom interrupted the conversation as Trinity's hologram appeared at a terminal. "He's right here." She said as a holographic Marquis appeared next her her, his hands clasped behind his back.

"Do not worry, Nyrette. I am fine. You can thank Iisska for that. He got me to the A.I. core and hooked me up to Trinity. My body's power core failed and my systems defaulted after I got everybody into the med bay." He bounced slightly, rising onto his toes and back down several times as he spoke. Nyrette sighed as she finally calmed down a little and looked at him with a smile.

"Good. I was worried about you, you old fart...will Quin be alright?...and how many days have passed?" She questioned him now, though Trinity answered in his stead.

"Four days. She will be fine...in fact, she should be ready to come out of the tank at any time. I've gotten us off of Nar Shaddaa and out of Hutt space as well...though we'll have to go back when we're ready."

"Why do which we have to return to that we left?" Cheshik said, not realizing his grammar made Quin's nose bleed in the tank. "Unfortunately for Marquis, his power supply is a rare and unexcusibly expensive type that is exclusive to a certain assassin droid line...the HK assassin droid line that is.

"And let me guess," Nyrette said, not letting Trinity finish. "We have to raid some stupid factory in Hutt space to get it?" She said, annoyed that they were being thrown into danger not even a week after being a hair's breadth away from dying. ...Exactly...on Nal Hutta...It's the only place in known space that has one of these factories.

Before Nyrette could explode and demand that Trinity bite her, Cheshik spoke, rising to his feet. "We will need the supplies, yes? I have friend in republic, can get us what we need. We will have no money issue, no? Make list for me and I will get us fun boom boom stuff."

"CORTOSIS GAUNTLETS!" said a scream from down the hall. A few seconds later Zen showed up at the door, grabbing onto the door jam with a sickening smile on his face. "Get me Cortosis gauntlets! Actually, two pairs! One for me and one for my whipping bo-I mean apprentice! I must teach him how to punch things! Plus, a five pound Lekku prosthetic! He can't balance on ANYTHING anymore! It's hilarious but counter productive!"

"You do realize that HK droids are of the same caliber and intelligence as Marquis...right? Do you have any idea how stupid it would be to try an-" Nyrette tried to reason with Zen, but he ran up to her and grabbed her by both arms. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW AMAZING IT WILL BE TO PUNCH A ROBOT IN THE FACE WITH THE FORCE?! IT'S ON MY BUCKET LIST, WE'RE DOING IT." He turned to Cheshik. "NAKED REPTILE MAN. MAKE IT SO." Cheshik smiled and chuckled as he spoke.

"Aye captain."

Quin was sitting on a grassy hill under a tree. A cool breeze was blowing and autumn leaves were drifting around her and out through the lovely untouched valley of rolling, pristine forest. Even though it was autumn the entire environment had sort of a green tint to it. That must have been from the kolto she guessed. She knew full well that she was in the tank. She had woken up once or twice but the pain and sickness she felt made her opt to stay. Now she was just buying time alone in a place that was not a broken down ship packed to bursting with morons. Seriously wounded, dying, possibly dead morons...

It was too quiet in here. But in here she didn't have to face reality and her memories were lost and muddled in the back of her mind, unable to fully come forth while she was dreaming, lucid or not. She didn't want to see them. She didn't want to hear the screaming.

"CORTOSIS GAUNTLETS!"

Or that yelling. That stupid, grating, maddening, yelling. It made her ears want to bleed. Where was it coming from? Quin snapped up off her back as the distant voice scared a small flock of birds with colorful streaming feathers from her tree.

"AMAZING... PUNCH ROBOTS IN THE FACE... BUCKET LIST!!"

Quin put her elbows on her knees and her hands over her ears. The tall, thin, beautiful horned creature that had been grazing quietly near the tree line looked at her in horror and bolted. She groaned. The dream was collapsing with every stupid word out of his stupid mouth. A small burst of bubbles came from her mouth piece in the tank and her brows furrowed. The kolto tank began to make quiet beeping noises.

"NAKED REPTILE MAN! MAKE IT SO!"

Quin's fists clenched hard as her forest and grasses and hills and animal friends started to burn and tear away from existence through her tightly gripping fingers. The bubbles turned into a violent stream of air and her eyes snapped open. The kolto tank immediately drained itself upon sensing her activity. As soon as the level was low enough she ripped the breathing tubes and monitoring equipment off and came coughing and sputtering, but never stumbling out in to the med bay.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" she screamed at them all, "CAN FUCKING NOBODY GET ANY FUCKING SLEEP ON THIS FUCKING SHIP!? JEEZE!"

The glass cycling door opened as Quin was free to exit, Nyrette smiled as her friend came out of her slumber. "Morning, sunshine. Good to see your jolly self has remained intact. Would have missed you otherwise."

"Uh," Quin cleared her throat, "G-- Good to see you too. You're okay? Everyone's okay? I saw..." she trailed off and became vacant.

She clasped a hand on Quin's shoulder and pecked her cheek. "Of course, Pik're-" she said to Zen's chuckle."We're all fine...for better or worse." She said as she gestured towards Zen, whom was gently tapping his fists together in anticipation of the cortosis gauntlets. "Oh, and here. So you won't question yourself." She reached out and pinched the skin in the middle of Quin's chest. "See, not dreaming."

Quin blushed and touched her cheek a moment before smiling at Nyrette. Then proceeded to go full beast mode on Zen. Her hand instinctively shot out to grab his and twisted it the wrong way around, forcing his elbow out at an awkward angle and his torso to bend if he didn't want several things dislocated.

"Oooh, playing dirty." He laughed as he turned himself around, ignoring the earing pain and pushed his fingers into Quin's nose and pulled, trying to get her to release his arm."

"OW!" she yelped and stooped downward only wrenching his arm further and thus her face down more.

"Don't make me scratch your tiny tiny brain, woman. I can you know. I can also make you bark like a dog, but only if you present me with three coins. Now release my Iisska tickling arm!" He pulled her up a bit, bringing his fingers together slightly to scratch her nose from the inside.

Quin immediately reeled back and loosened up on his hand only to hold it out at a distance with a disgusted, "EW!" She dropped it and wiped her own hand on his sleeve. For a second she frowned at Zen then seemed to space out. In silence she walked over to one of the beds and sat down with her elbows on her legs.

"I can't believe that happened," she said first, "How did we get back...? I'm so sorry... I guess it doesn't matter. Guess what's more important is where we go now. I think I heard something about HK droids and supplies?"

"YES!" Zen yelled. "We're going to-" Cheshik stood then and grabbed a blaster from the cabinet. "the HK facility to PAWNC-" His words were cut off as Cheshik shoved the blaster into Zen's mouth. "Even I have limits that which are my own, Zenithar. Please, tighten lips until sealed quiet." Zen tried to speak again. "But I" Cheshik withdrew the pistol and shot it at Zen's feet. He danced frantically and ran down the hall as Cheshik kept firing, much to Marquis and Nyrette's laughter.

Quin turned her gaze on Cheshik and lifted one of her eyebrows. However a deep frown was still carved into her face.

"Thank you," she said with a crisp staccato, "But I don't appreciate being left out of the loop. Information is sort of my profession and I like to be ready. I need to be ready. So loose lips aside, what in exact detail, do I get to find out from you and what am I going to find out on my own, whether you like it or not, over the next day or two?"

"No, do not take wrong way, was going to tell, Zenithar simply...stabs with knife? I think is saying. He pisses me off, to put it rudely." He explained to her, proceeding to tell her of what the coming plan is...with some help from Nyrette's speechcraft skills.

"I think my brain may hemorrage, but that does clear things up... Sort of," Quin rubbed her chin, "Do you think you could get me a few toys from this friend of yours? Nothing too fancy or too seriously illegal. Just a couple of items that --"

"ooh yeah!" Nyrette said. "I have a few ide-Oh...I mean...I'll just..." She patted Quin's head. "I have you covered, Pik're." She smiled ear to ear.

Quin paused and looked confused, "You have a crate of N-20 Baradium thermal detonators, a crate of V-6 Haywire grenades and an RD-4 launcher?"

Cheshik cocked his head and shook it slowly. "I barely know basic and even I knew what she meant." Nyrette however just frowned before getting up to leave.

Quin reached out to her but stopped as the woman walked away, "I-- Wait, what did I do? I was just-- Oh... OH... Oh I--"

She simply sank to the floor and curled in a ball to hide the fact that her face had turned a brilliant shade of red and that she now wanted to vomit from embarassment.

---

Iisska held the little object that had been taunting him for the past two months in one hand. He lay against a softly snoring Kobel on the floor and held the thing out at an arm's length in front of the light while looking through it with one eye closed. As if that would somehow help him unlock any more of its secrets. The silvery Durindfire crystal was still partially caked in Tattooine sandstone and far too big to fit into a lightsaber hilt. Iisska sneered at it and groaned. "Meditate," was all the instruction he had been given.

Meditate on what? I've been doing that. Nothing's happened.

Iisska sat up straight and crossed his legs with the crystal in his palms. After taking a breath it floated several inches into the air. He stared down at it.

"What do you want from me?" he asked it.

There was several moments of silence that seemed to grow thicker as they passed. Kobel rolled up onto his haunches and grumbled at his master. Iisska didn't budge. The crystal was now suspended between his two tense and curling hands and vibrated in bursts.

"I was nearly killed for you. I killed for you. You were bathed in blood when I pulled you out of that void-scape you shitty little rock," he seethed.

Kobel nudged his back and growled but it was oddly like trying to move a boulder. Iisska did not even notice.

"I could shatter you into dust right here, right now. If you won't help me cut down the monsters like that fishy bastard then maybe I don't need you."

The vibrating and tension that shook the stone grew in intensity.

"That hssiss never stood a chance. If nobody tries that frequency shit to neutralize me, they won't stand a chance either."

A dark, fiery heat began to seep forth from inside the stone. A small trickle of blood streamed from Iisska's nostrils. Kobel whined and growled and circled the room.

"I'm only getting better at this. They have no idea what they're dealing with."

A single hairline crack splintered across the face of the crystal. The hulking beast snapped and tackled his master his huge beak-like maw and teeth clamped down on Iisska's arm and the stone. Kobel ignored the enraged protests and shook it free before readjusting it and clamping it tightly in his mouth where it could never be pried free. His master fell back against the workbench clutching his arm.

"KOBEL, NO! PUT IT DOWN!" Iisska yelled at him.

The akk dog's spines went up making him look even bigger and he snarled in his master's face. The wide pupils turned to no more than slits. His own wild and untamed presence pressed down on the pair of them. After several seconds Kobel raced out of the room, slid into the opposite wall with a heavy THUD and continued to run off with the crystal in hand and Iisska hot on his trail.

As Iisska ran around the corner, he froze to see Zen standing with Kobel, holding out his hand to retrieve the crystal. The beast bent to Zen's command over the force and handed it over. He held it up and looked it over. "I see you've been busy with Marquis' little 'gift'," Zen obviously wasn't happy with Marquis over Iisska's acquisition of a crystal. Long tradition held that the master was suppose to lead his apprentice to the crystal, not some robot assassin. "I see you've put a little too much anger in it. I can see that you're angry that you haven't been able to refine it yet. Here." He held up a small red pouch and threw it at Iisska. "Those are quartz and other useless gems. Too impure for a lightsaber, but a perfect way to practice...smashing things into dust. Temper those with your mind then see what you can do to your 'gift'."

"Might help if I understood what 'temper with your mind' means," Iisska scoffed, "What do you expect me to do?"

"Shatter a few into dust, then each time, do a little less than that until you shatter them into what you want."

"That doesn't make sense. What am I trying to get? I don't know what I want."

Zen reached for his belt and grabbed his lightsaber. He opened a port on the bottom and reached a finger in, fishing out a small crystal, a lightsaber crystal. "This is what you want. See it's size? It's perfect edges and shape? Replicate it."

"Perfect. Right. Perfect isn't going to happen."

"Then you don't get Kobel back until you learn it. Come along Kobel." He snapped his fingers and the force dominated Iisska's pet, forcing him to following Zen, away from his master."

"Hey! You can't do that! Kobel! Get back here!" he trotted behind them until he got beside Zen, "He does not belong to you. Let go."

Zen turned towards his apprentice with a blank stare, though it was but a mask to the slowly rising anger underneath. "Until you get this lesson through your hard head, he belongs to me. Once you refine a crystal, he's yours again. Not until then." To accenuate that fact, Zen snapped his fingers again and Kobel responded as the force worked through him, making him growl at Iisska defiantly.

Though he took a step back, he didn't back down, "There is no lesson here. You're just thinking up more ways to piss me off. Maybe it's your fault I'm angry at this stupid thing."

"If I wanted to piss you off, I would have taken your blaster again. Not that hard. What you're failing to grasp is a lesson that every force wielder must come to bear: Patience, control. If I wanted to, I could crush you with a thought, but I don't. I am patient and I know you will learn eventually. I maintain the control over my anger and control my hand into not backhanding you. Instead of blaming others for your own faults, focus your anger into something useful and get it out of your system. Try Calligraphy...or shattering stones."

The apprentice squared his shoulders, although bristling, and grumbled as he walked away with the bag in hand, "I'll shatter your stones."

Zen responded by placing both hands on his hips and thrusting them forward. "Try me!"
Iisska was too busy nearly rolling his eyes out of his skull to see Quin come around the corner. The pair barely missed slamming into each other.

"Watch where you're going!" Quin snapped at him, "You think you could at least-- Uhg what happened to your face? I-- No wait-- I know... I'm sorry."

Iisska gave her a look that twisted the multitude of lacerations, many of which would soon be scars, that webbed his face. He balled up a fist, raised it and started bearing teeth, ready to strike. He had never wanted to beat someone to a pulp more than his master, but here it was. He was going to shut her up once and for all. Then he looked over his shoulder with a cold glance at Zen.

"It's fine," he sighed and visibly relaxed, "Whatever, you're sorry, sure. But seriously, what's wrong with your face. Humans aren't supposed to be that color, I think. Did you get sunburned?"

Quin merely cleared her throat and slipped beside him before continuing on her way to Nyrette's room without another word.

---

It was several standard cycles before the crew found themselves deep into Hutt space. The Harpoon floated just outside of scanning range of one of the busier hyperspace trade routes while it docked with another ship. An Ithorian, well dressed but heavily laden with random trinkets, satchels, electronic devices and decorations was welcomed aboard. And he did not come empty handed. Cheshik's dear republic friend delivered several crates of weapons, medical supplies, ship and system parts, and other goodies to the cargo bay for a small fee of course.

Quin who seemed to have an over abundant amount of positivity for a no longer so mysterious reason seemed almost too happy over the crates of explosives she opened up and hoisted up a beastly looking under-slung grenade launcher. She laughed almost maniacally. When she saw the looks she was getting she regained her composure and set the ordinance down gently before sealing it up.

"Don't worry, I much prefer the more quiet and covert method of doing things. It's always better to be light years away when your targets go up in violent flame... But it's always good to have a powerful back up plan when you really need to pack a punch."

Speaking of punch, two pairs of cortosis gauntlets, normally in a set with some very expensive tactical armor lay in another unassuming crate nearby. Their Ithorian contact had not let them down.

After a mostly quiet evening of touching bases and sharing drinks and stories, the two ships went their separate ways and the Harpoon was on a fast course for Nal Hutta.

Inside Trinity's haven, Marquis sat on the deck of her wooded home, overlooking the vast valley in front of him. "I forgot how beautiful your inner haven was. You've worked on it a lot. Walking up next to him as he sat on a hanging bench. The sun was shining in a perpetual sunset, bathing everything in a crisp orange. "You always told me of your ideal home. I wanted to try and replicate that. I think I did well, She said confidently. "That you did. That. You. Did. Marquis replied in a happy tone. "I need to go back out there, though. Trinity was visibly saddened by him saying that, but she knew that he was a being that could never just do nothing. He was always on the move and always had a problem to solve. He was never the man to really settle down for long. She admired it...somewhat.

___

A knock at Quin's door would bring her attention away from whatever she was doing and answer it. When she opened it she would be surprised to see Nyrette in her civilian clothing, looking tired with her eyes slightly sunken and red from weariness. "May...may I speak with you for a moment?" Smiling, Quin stepped aside and let the bedraggled woman in. She came in and sat down on her bed and looked up to her friend. "I need to tell you something very very...sensitive, okay? We've been friends for a couple months and the...nightmares are starting to get to me. I need to air this out." Closing the door, Quin grabbed an office chair and straddled it, leaning against the back of the chair and getting comfortable. She asked what was on her mind and Nyrette took a deep breath. "Okay...here we go."

"Have you ever heard of Imperial intelligence?" She said the name sounded familiar but didn't ring a bell. Nyrette continued. "There is a faction outside of known space known as the Imperial Empire. A long time ago there were multiple wars between them and the republic, they are mortal enemies. The Sith lead them and they are mortal enemies." Quin recognized that name. The sith. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Nyrette more intently. "The 'Sith' you know here are nothing compared to the Empire. The Empire is much much worse. Right now, they aren't a threat but soon they will be. That isn't what is important right now, what is however is what I am."

She paused to let Quin soak it in. "I'm an imperial agent. I work with Imperial intelligence on the recon and spying on the republic nation to prepare for the Empire's coming. I used to be a member of republic space, on Nar Shaddaa no less. Being there made several...dark memories resurface." Though Quin rose to attack an enemy of the republic, Nyrette lifted her shirt and undressed to her undergarments. She was riddled with scars from the top of her body to the bottom of her tailbone. Deep knife wounds, whipping scars, missing flesh. "Most of these were at the hands of my trainers. The endurance training, conditioning, and preparation for the field was...excruciating. But none were as terrifying as my primary handler...She inflicted...nightmares against me. In the intelligence training program, only thirty of five hundred survived, and the last thirty, including myself, were subjected to the power of a woman named Sol'tsyri. She inflicted deep, horrifying terrors on us..." She noticed Quin was standing now, barely restraining her anger. Nyrette put her clothing back on. "Sol'tsyri is an enormously powerful woman, she makes Zenithar look like a child. She inflicted horrors on us that I would not wish on my worst enemy. Only five of us survived. We then became her personal agents. I was the only one sent into the republic to spy, but since I've gotten here I haven't reported back and I haven't bothered doing any spying. I've been with you and the Harpoon in what used to be my home ten years ago."

She looked off towards Quin's window distantly. "I forgot what it was like here...safe and...warm. In the Empire it's always so cold and dangerous. One wrong word and a guard will shoot you on the spot. I...I can't go back, but if I'm revealed or if Sol'tsyri finds me I...I don't know what will happen. I'm only coming to you because I...trust you. You're the first woman...the first person...I've been able to trust since I first left the republic. I just wanted to tell you that and...thank you for listening to me." She stood and approached Quin and hugged her, though she didn't receive one in return. She walked out and went to prepare for the landing on Nal Hutta.

___

With Trinity's help, The Harpoon successfully made it right past the scouts that constantly patrol Nal Hutta's toxic atmosphere. Setting down in an abandoned facility a dozen miles or so from the droid factory, they were able to successfully hide themselves and step off of the ship. They were able to make a small base camp out of the facility. While Zen and Nyrette stayed with the ship, Cheshik and Iisska went out to explore the facility while Quin and the rest of the crew prepared a base camp. From what the two explorers could find, the facility used to be a weapons research lab though unfortunately everything was stripped and there's nothing left. It was empty however and nothing was swallowed by the toxic swamp, so it would work for them well.

Thunderclaps from outside rumbled through the walls and foundation of the dilapidated facility. Inside was relatively silent, aside from the voices of it's newest inhabitants, which only served to amplify the sounds of thunder, lightning and the rattle of heavy rain drops striking the roof. In one of the larger docking and loading bays sat the Harpoon. She was surrounded by emergency lanterns, which provided some kind of light in the dark building, and was tilting to one side along with the entire foundation of the facility as it slowly sunk into the swamps of Nal Hutta. Quin was struggling to get any preparations done. While checking her equipment along with the stores on the ship and formulating plans for scouting and infiltrating the HK factory she set the shot glass she had just drained down on a table. It stayed at first. Then slid an inch or two. Then another. Until it finally tipped off the lip of the table and clattered to the floor only to roll underneath a locker where it would surely be lost forever. Quin watched the slow, pathetic display of failure and did not bother to intervene. She wore a look somewhere between disinterest and disgust.

"Great parking job. It's not as if anybody wanted to sleep, or sit down, or walk straight or get anything done at all for that matter," she mumbled.

She had suggested they idle the engines or fire up the auxiliary power just to use the artificial gravity, but it was concluded that doing so might trigger nearby scanners or other unwanted attention. It would seem nothing could ever go right. Not the ship, not their jobs, not the crew, and not her friends. An Imperial Agent on this ship. Scheming snake. She readjusted her footing as best she could on the tipped floor and finished loading her new grenade launcher before propping it up in the gun locker next to a handsome blaster rifle she would be using as well. They should kill her while they had the chance. Quin thought about pulling the trigger, but realized she wouldn't be able to do it. She wouldn't shoot the one person in this crew that didn't make her feel alienated.

Speaking of crew member, said woman stepped into the room then to gather her gear and prepare for the mission. Seeing Pik're made her face flush a bit as she remembered her emotional state when Nyrette had left and the aura that she had about her that stayed even until now. In Nyrette's unique Miralukan vision, she saw Quin's emotional state coated in a deep red color, darkness and anger swirled about her core in a torrent of grief and self loathing. She took a deep breath and put on her best smile before approaching her locker, which was next to Quin's, and began to disrobe to equip her armor and gear. "Hey." She said, emotionless steel diguising her nervous nature. "Is that an RD-4 Grenade launcher? That's the one with the EMP on detonation, right? That'll help quite a bit in the facility." She tried to make small talk but she wasn't sure if she would have an effect or not. She grabbed her rifle, a Senate royal guard's DC-15A Blaster rifle with a wooden stock and overcharged blaster packs, and shouldered it while grabbing her electro-knife.

"Trying to put on the happy face and play nice already?" Quin asked, "Now is probably a bad time for small talk."

She simply looked at her and smiled. "Tis better to look to the new day with renewed vigor than to mire one's self in the past day's grief."

"Bad timing for poetry too," Quin sighed. After a short pause she risked a look at Nyrette, "I'm not with the Republic anymore. For obvious reasons. However, I still have to ask; what did you mean by 'the Empire's coming?'"

"The Empire wants another war. I was one of their forward scouts that was sent ahead of the forces to gauge enemy forces. Obviously, I'm not reporting back in."

"Do you really think I believe that? Why should I trust you? What reasons would you have to simply up and leave The Empire if you say they're so dangerous and horrible?"

"I went ten years of being in fear. The slightest mistake and I would be thrown into a world of unimaginable pain and torment the likes of which you will most likely never see." She looked at her, her smile fading now. "You don't deserve to see that. Being back in the republic, where people are free and not forced to follow those that you know in your heard are truly dark and evil...." She trailed off, looking through Quin like she wasn't even there. "I will not go back to that."

Quin sized up the other woman for several long moments after listening to her story and explanation. She still wore a frown but was beginning to soften. Then she shook her head, "I see. If you think Republic citizens are truly 'free' and not 'forced to follow' dark and evil people then the Empire must have been something else. Regardless, they picked the right time to strike. The Republic wont survive another war. Not on top of the one we already have. I don't mean the government either. The damn Senate and their murderous monks can go play in a black hole for all the fucks I give about them. These people wont survive though. Most of us don't have a home anymore," she gestured to the ship around them, "Or even something like this... Nothing we can do to retaliate I suppose. On another note what's to stop S... Whatever you called this bitch, from coming after you. If you were so exclusive I doubt you'd be let go so easily."

"Those questions are why I scream from nightmares at night." She said darkly.

"Oh," was all Quin could say. She absentmindedly brushed a little dust off a set of crudely thrown together combat armor that hung in her locker before closing it and trying to remember what else needed tending to. Her mind was too clouded though.

"I'm sorry for the way I reacted," she finally choked out, "All the chaos and unpredictability and brutishness of the past months had me feeling out of sorts. Then you came along. Sophisticated, disciplined, well-groomed... pretty. Guess I felt betrayed by you being... abnormal."

After a moment she chuckled at what she had just said, "It sounds absolutely ludicrous now that I say it out loud. I can't believe I expected anything to be neat, orderly and by the books among outlaws."

"Hey, sometimes there are outlaws that have extreme cases of Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Like us." Her smile returned to her face then and she stood up straight. "Have you worked on the camp outside of the ship yet?"

"Aside from setting up some lights so the lemmings don't trip over themselves while walking around the ship, no. I've been feeling somewhat... aggressive..."

"Boy I wonder why." She stuck out her tongue as she set her gun on it's stock and caught it as it fell over. "Lets go set up a barricade at least. We might get tracked back here by HK droids of doom or something. Need to protect ourselves somehow."

---

MEANWHILE

"Kobel! Iisska...get akk dog AWAY from wall, please. Holes in wall not needed...no matter how delicious wharf rat looks."

"He's not making holes. He's making dents. D-eh-n-ts," Iisska sounded out slower, "Don't worry, I had problems with that word too."

Kobel was going absolutely nuts as the conversation progressed and began to slam into the edge of the wall and the floor with more ferocity and began to claw at the metal and throw debris every which way while pursuing his prey. The obstacles in his way were not holding up well under the battering from his teeth and claws.

"Iisska." He said and pointed at Kobel. "That is hole. Dent is what happens when I hit skull with hammer."

He frowned at Cheshik for a few seconds, "You win," then went to go calm down his lovable monstrosity. Several bruises, scrapes and curses against ancient gods and spirits later, Kobel was back to prodding around the facility happily and in a less destructive manner. The other pair of explorers carried flashlights and weapons but little else as they ventured further and further away from the Harpoon into the maze of corridors, offices, observation decks and assembly lines. Much of which had fallen into severe disrepair and had begun to be covered by swamp vegetation and unspeakable slimes and molds. Fetid water submerged floors in the lowest sections. As they walked Iisska took a moment to bend a pick up a broken piece of pipe with which to poke at a very large set of vines that seemed to be pulsing and moving a little. They recoiled from the first jab but stilled quickly.

"Gross," he tilted his head a bit, "I like this place. With no assassin droids and slimy Hutts running around it would be... nice."

"It reminds me of home. If more plants and creepy crawlies tried to munch us, I could not tell difference." He whistled as they got farther in and Cheshik's Varactyl came out of the darkness to his master. "You should attempting to training to your Kobel like Snickers here."

"I already did attempting to training him. And I succeeding to training him. Watch. Kobel!"

The akk dog snapped his head up mid sniff and froze, with all his attention on his master.

"Jiri!" Iisska commanded.

Kobel snorted and wiggled his butt but didn't move.

"Kobel, jiri!" he yelled again.

Nothing more happened aside from the akk dog shifting his weight again.

"He never does this!" Iisska shrugged, "Uh, just... Kobel! Anlaa te gin azdii me raatem! JIRI!!" he jabbed his finger at the ground beside himself.

The huge creature wiggled his butt once more but it lead into a powerful pounce as he bounded back toward them at a full sprint, tongue lolling from his mouth.

"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO--!!"

It was too late. Kobel tackled Iisska to the ground and after licking and drenching his face in sticky drool, sat on him proudly.

Cheshik looked down at his friend and shook his head. He looked at Snickers then back at Iisska, he simply clapped slowly. "Behold, Snickers. Iisska. Master trainer. He has indeed caught them all."

"Shut that face, Cheshik," he hissed while squirming out from under his companion, "He's my first pet--"

Kobel growled at the word.

"Friend... My first petfriend. We're figuring this out as it goes. Cut us some slack."

"Snickers, please, if you will. " In an instant, Snickers leaped at Kobel and rolled him off of Iisska, playing with him on the ground and rolling around like goofballs. Cheshik knelt down and helped the Togruta up. "Do not feel bad, all firsts are zens at first."

"All first are-- Oh ho ho ho. I get the cut of your jive," he chuckled, "That's--"

A deep metallic groan rose up from the depths of the facility followed by a snap that echoed through every space.

"What was that?"

Cheshik turned his light towards where the sound came from, dispelling the shadow that had been encroaching on them. "Metal. light weight. Durasteel." He whispered before whistling for Snickers to come back. It was but a moment before the giant lizard was there again, scanning with his master. "Iisska. We are being hunted."

______

"Shit!" Zen screamed as he burst out his door. "Why is it that every time that stupid choir boy walks out the door I have, just HAVE, to get a disturbance in the force?!" He talked to himself as he ran to the armory. He grabbed his armor and garments, suiting up real quick-like before grabbing those Cortosis gauntlets that he had ordered and ran out the door.

Sprinting down the ramp and past the barricade Nyrette and Quin had built up, the two looked at him as he ran by, yelling as he did. "Where are you going?!" Nyrette yelled as Zen sped into the darkness. "Togi's trying to get himself killed again!"

___

Moving slowly with Iisska and the pets at his back, Cheshik scanned every inch of the hallway, listening for the slightest sounds that their stalker is making. It was very difficult for Cheshik to pick out the sounds of the hunter between the sounds of the rainstorm outside and the sounds of the building creaking and moaning. They were definitely there however and Cheshik was closing in on him. The Trandoshan, in addition to being a powerful warrior in his own right, was an expert tracker. He had to be to have been a bounty hunter for seven rotations. He had tracked down Iisska from half way across the galaxy before joining with a bounty hunter group to hunt down Quin, which Iisska happened to be partnered with. If it wasn't for the necklace that Iisska wore, the young force user would be dead.

Not even an assassin droid could escape his eye, they left the faintest marks wherever they went, slight disturbances in the room, slight air variances, heat emissions, radiation. Sometimes the pure nothingness in a room was the biggest tip to an assassin droid's presence. Cheshik himself has been hunted by a few in his years as a hunter, he knew the signs by heart as there were few fighters more vicious and now...he had one in his grasp.

He fired his blaster into the darkness at the slightest sound and he heard it impact something before more sounds were made, a droid scrambling for cover. He flashed his light at what was moving and saw the HK Droid get down behind a heap of rubble. "There!" Cheshik fired again at the rubble and rolled at an old piece of furniture, getting down. The droid popped up and fired a heavy barrage at the rest of the group to scramble them, he set his sights on the Togruta first however, standing and sprinting at him. "JEDI SCUM. DIE NOW." Like most assassin droids of this time and age, they were able to detect the stronger well of the force within force users and were able to detect them much more easily than normal pray, thus is why Jedi Hunter droids were created, to create a perfect enemy for the jedi.

"Right..." Quin narrowed her eyes as she watched Zen run away into the darkened factory. It took her a few moments to process what exactly he had said to her. Everything happened so fast with that man.

"Wait! Wait a minute! What?," she shook her head before turning to Nyrette, "Is he being serious right now? Do you think we should go help? ... Or go watch?"

---

He inhaled sharply and crouched low. Unlike Cheshik, he had not found cover. No he was too busy making a stupid face and being stunned by the reality of suddenly being faced by the one thing on this planet that had made him nervous about being here from the get go. Of course, Iisska should have expected this by now. No matter where they went trouble would inevitably follow. As was life.

The HK came up on him like a freighter. Iisska waited for the very last second to snap off the ground and roll out of reach. He landed on his feet with a hand on the ground and his back to a piece of towering rusted machinery. The HK didn't miss a step and turned on him instantly. He drew his blaster with his free hand. A deafening discharge echoed through the sprawling room after a brilliant blast that could have ripped a human nearly in half erupted from the blaster. The HK was struck in the shoulder and was thrown off balance. It wheeled in a circle from the force of the shot and hunched for a few seconds. A dark smoking blemish was the only visible damage. It locked its gaze back on its prey and lunged.

"Fuck," Iisska whispered.

A metallic boom and screech filled the room next. The HK hit the machinery with such violent speed it practically embedded its body into it. Black ooze drooled out of the equipment and pooled on the floor. The assassin quickly peeled itself from the jagged embrace to find it was empty handed. Iisska touched down hard on the second floor catwalk after throwing himself headlong across the corner of the room with an impressive force jump. The rough landing left him on all fours and sheered a dozen or more bolts off. The walkway sagged, suspenders snapped and supports groaned. The noises had the force user up and on the move quickly albeit clumsily.

"Ha! Keep up with that, Rusty!" Iisska yelled.

He expected to see the HK trying to come at him again, but several more shots from Cheshik's gun erupted into the side of the droid's head. It didn't waste time. Now it was turned on the Trandoshan and no amount of cover would stop it.

"Nnggguh, no! No! Bad!" Iisska started stammering.

He stopped and aimed carefully before trying to shoot the damn thing down once more. Heavy fire struck around it and into its torso and legs, but barely did anything but stagger it and slow it down.

"Cheshik, move!"

Another screech of metal and the walkway fell out from under him completely.

Cheshik dove out of the way of the incoming HK and took a battle stance as the HK wheeled around and engaged him in hand to hand. Catching the first fist and countering into the HK's chest, Cheshik proved that he was vastly stronger than the much lighter and more nimble droid, but it did little versus the HK's armor as his fist left barely a dent in it's chest. The HK returned the attack with surprising force into Cheshik's jaw and nose. The droid was incredibly fast and threw several haymakers into the Trandoshan's chest and face before doubling back and delivering a damaging palm into Cheshik's heart that sent him flying backwards.

Cheshik flipped onto his stomach and looked up at the HK as it gloated to itself, walking at him slowly to finish him of. His face was bloodied and beaten to a pulp and the liquid pouring out of his nose only sent Cheshik into a rage. He pounded against the catwalk and sprang up into a sprint at the HK. It took a battle ready stance and delivered a sharp strike to Cheshik's chest to run him through but...it stopped just short, a massive claw wrapped around it's wrist. It looked up to see Cheshik's pupiless face and went to pluck out one of Cheshik's eyes, though it wouldn't get very far. Cheshik twisted his hand hard and, in one swift motion, snapped the HK's arm in twain, dropped it, and grabbed the HK's head. He twisted his body and brought the face of the HK into the metal of the catwalk before lifting him up to slam it into the railing, bending it to near breaking, before releasing the HK and letting it recover just enough for him to start wailing again, stuck in a blood rage.

The HK stood up and tried to attack, but Cheshik savagely elbowed the HK in the chest before following up with several vicious attacks to the HK's body and head. He shoved the HK back and came to the realization then that he was doing very little to the HK's plating. Every bit of damage he thought he did was superficial at best, but then he noticed the arm. It had broken at the joint. He huffed through his nose, clearing out the blood as he solidified his plan before breaking into another sprint and charging it. It tried to leap up over him and dodge the charge, but Cheshik had none of it and reached up to grab the HK by it's ankle to yank it right back down into the ground. He grabbed at both heels now and turned, slamming it down onto it's face before flipping hands and reversing the maneuver by slamming it down onto it's back. He planted his foot on it's chest, pinning it, before kneeling down and grabbing it's head. The roar he let out was enough to scare off both the pets, whom were watching nearby, as he pulled on the HK's head hard enough to sever the joints and only be held on by the wiring, but Cheshik didn't stop there. He pulled as hard as he could and one by one, the super hardened wiring came apart and was ripped from the main body.

Now headless, the HK sat motionless as Cheshik made sure it was destroyed by gripping onto the edges of it's chassis plate and pulling with all his strength to destroy the joints and expose the wiring within. He tore into the wiring with his claws and destroyed part after part, wire after wire, until every last bit of it was shredded to pieces. Once he was done, he breathed heavily and turned away from the legs that once was an HK, the pieces that had held it together having been strewn about.

___

Now, approaching the part of the destroyed catwalk that Iisska had fallen through, he looked down to see nothing but pitch black darkness. Cheshik whistled for his Snickers, whom bellowed from the end of the catwalk. He waved and pointed into the hole. "Retrieve." He yelled. The Varactyl signaled that she understood with a bellow and came up to the metal wall on the far side of the room before standing on her back legs and placing her front paws on the wall. She gripped and her nails tore through the wall, enabling her to climb it with ease and start making the slow advance to the bottom floor of the complex to help Iisska out.

Scaling down the wall, Snickers came to the bottom of the chasm and stepped into a (human) waist high muck. She trawled through it, easily doing so because of her marshy upbringing, and felt for Iisska. She knew where he had fallen and it was easy for her to find a small lump in the muck. She buried her face into the swil and found his shirt, biting and lifting him up and out. She shook him a bit to wake him up.

"Huurrgg! Kk--aagck! L-let go! I'll beat your stupid robot face in you pile of--" Iisska started and then slowed when he realized what had him, "... of lizard."

She opened her death trap and dropped him back down into the pool, snorting at his insult.

"Hey, you aren't the only one who's mad," he waved her off.

He walked slowly through the foul smelling swamp water that flooded the basement of the facility carefully testing each step. There was no telling how many diseases he had contracted from this stuff already and he didn't want to go under again if he didn't have to. A shaft of dim light pierced down into the darkness but that was the only illumination in the suffocating dark. Iiskaa walked into it and looked up. It was a long way. A gaping pit that seemed to go through at least two or three floors of rusting rotting building materials that jutted out like teeth. Much of it looked like it had been broken ages before they arived. He squinted.

"Thinking I can't jump this one," he cast a look at Snickers who only stared back at him, "How helpful you are."

Giving up on that vanished glimmer of hope he cupped his hands around his mouth and started yelling, "HEY! ARE PEOPLE DEAD!? HELLO!?"

There was no response from above, but within a minute, something long fell down and landed on Iisska's head, giving him a nasty bruise. When he picked it up, there was a note attatched saying. "YES". It was then that he realized that he was holding Zen's lightsaber.

Iisska glared down at the weapon while rubbing his head. Somehow it felt like his brain wasn't functioning quite right. Actually he was pretty sure he was asleep. This didn't make nearly enough sense for his waking life. No. Actually. This was the perfect amount of sense for it to be his waking life. Part of his face developed a nasty twitch and he gripped the saber hard.

"ZEN! I NEED OUT! I DON'T NEED YOUR DAMN TOY! GET A ROPE YOU STUPID FUCK FACE! I SWEAR WHEN I GET UP THERE I'M GONNA RIP--" Iisska fell silent immediately.

Something was moving in the water. Now stilled he could hear that something turning into somethings. His heart began to race. As quietly as possible he dipped the side of his head into the water. He was met with a chourus of scattered scraping and thrashing and feral voices. All coming closer. He backed up.

"Oh, we have to go now. Right now," he flipped the switch on the hilt and the glowing black blade of the saber erupted to life.

At that very moment, Snickers started to growl loudly, searching for whatever was in the swamp muck.

Meanwhile...

"So, think he'll make it?" Nyrette said as they looked down and saw Iisska waving them lightsaber around.

"20 credits says he loses an arm." Zen said.

"I'll take that bet. He'll make it." Nyrette answered his call.

"You are both the holes of the butt." Cheshik scolded.

"This is mean. Entertaining, but m-- Wait, what?" Quin snapped at Cheshik, "No. No! You mean 'assholes.' Come on. It's not hard. Why is Basic so hard!? 20 credits says it's a leg, not an arm!"

Kobel whined at them and circled the crumbling hole in the floor.

Back at the plot...

"There's gotta be a way up," he kept telling himself, "If she can climb that so can I."

Snickers' growl was met with others far more unnerving. Like nothing living he had ever heard. A pale figure slinked into the white glow given off by the lightsaber. It crouched on a large piece of rubble that jutted from the swamp. Hunched eyeless horror covered in spines. A wide slit full of jagged and cracked teeth split it's face near in half. It snorted and sniffed the air through its mouth before tilting its head. Another joined it mostly submerged in the water. Two more of the creatures came into sight.

Are those...

Iisska wasn't give time to think. The first beast came at him in a flash. It burst through the water in a splashing, furious uproar. Shrieks echoed up from the depths. A disembodied head sailed through the air and plopped into the water where it sank. Blood began to dye the foamy mess that was forming. But all this went unnoticed. Iisska frantically ripped through the first of the things that came forth running on instinct. The dangerously light weapon cut through bodies like butter. Steam wafted off the blade and anything that it touched.

Iisska jumped out of the water onto a beam running the length of the celing where he took a precious second to catch his breath. No longer illuminated or aided by the small bit of light from above, but painted like a target by Zen's weapon. He stopped looking for a way out. Now he was just looking for the next target to destroy. If he couldn't run away he would carve his way out. Dozens more of the creatures ran through the darkness with hungry tongues lolling. A disgusting gut feeling pressed down on him and he was strongly reminded of the hssiss cavern.

He dove off his perch and whipped the blade in a wide arc through at least three of them. The smell was nauseating. Finally it struck him. Rakghouls. He knew he recognized these things. Horrible, virus-spreading, murderous vermin. Though most of the civilized galaxy had been vaccinated against transformation in the past decade such things did not make them any less dangerous to any creature. He brought the blade down and cut one of the monsters in half before leaping out of the water on to semi-sold footing once more.

"Snickers! Get!" he pointed upward.

He would not be responsible for anything happening to the friend of a friend.

"Go!" he snapped again.

His awareness lit up for a split second and he turned, ready to swing but felt the teeth sink into his leg. The rakghoul didn't feel the saber go through its skull. With a pained grunt he pryed the dead jaws off himself only to feel another set go into his forearm and another into the top of his shoulder. By the time he had shaken them off and retreated to high ground again even more had poured in. Every single one was on the edge of his frayed consciousness and they were near countless. He would never be able to cut them all down. Not at this rate. He ground his teeth and bolted back to the hole from where he came. With a little use of the Force he bounded up the unstable wreckage to what may or may not have been the next floor.

"Snickers! Get your butt up here before I drag you!" he yelled down.

The rakghouls could climb too, it would seem, as they were slowly making their way up the walls. Shifty little bastards. They couldn't be allowed out of this place. He could feel something inside him spiking and rippling. These cielings were awful unstable. He was getting a pretty good sense of the building's layout. The crazy was starting to tug at him. Snickers scrambled past him several feet before stopping. Iisska shut off the saber and put it in his mouth before finding a place he could crouch for a second. A place that didn't seem to be connected to the next floor. Boy he hoped this beam wasn't connected to the floor. He closed his eyes and spread his fingers. He had no idea why, but it felt right. Everything pressed down on the lower floors of this place. It wouldn't take much more time or weight or decay for disaster to strike. A little more pressure, a little more shaking and shivering and instability, a few broken supports. The foundations started to tremble and the entire level groaned in resistance. Harder. With another inhale, a slow, heavy exhale and a large dash of anger he crushed his will down on everything that lay below his feet. The dilapidated floor cracked and ripped and fell through. In a crecendo of distruction everything came collapsing down onto the rakghouls trapping them in a dark, swampy basement prison.

Dust blew out of the gap in the floor up above. It felt like an earthquake up there. After Snickers came scrambling out, Iisska bounded out into the light, covered in mud, blood, slime, dirt and other umentionable substances. He collapsed onto his butt, took the saber hilt out of his mouth and threw it at Zen.

"THIS PLACE SUCKS AND I HATE IT!"

Zen's lightsaber bounced off of his head, though he had no reaction to it other than carelessly catching it when it fell. "You owe me two hundred credits, Iisska." He turned and bounded off to the ship, angry that he lost a bet. While Quin followed him, Nyrette and Cheshik stayed back to help Iisska to his feet and to the ship, leaving a couple thermal detonators on a timer behind them. They would be back at the ship and under protection of Cheshik's blaster and two automated turrets by the time they went off.

__

Sterling couldn't rest. He paced back and forth in Trinity's simulated cabin, wanting to desperately return to his body. Sighing, he went outside into the night-time simulation. His mind couldn't calm down after all that had happened. That might be because of the state of his mind when he powered down, but regardless, he was worried. He felt guilty about the crew jumping into a damn HK droid factory on the worst planet in the galaxy all for some stupid power core.

The crunch of pine needles under foot amidst the dew on the grass and dirt reminded him of Kashyyk, it brought back a lot of good memories. A few years back, he was sent there under Radon's order to eliminate a Czerka arms dealer that was trying to cut into Radon's own business. The time of his arrival was complete coincidence as there was a Kashyyk hunting party about to descend into the shadow lands to hunt the same arms dealer. Though they didn't trust droids, recent interactions with the Republic worked in Marquis' favor as he looked like a Republic nobleman's personal droid.

Taking a turn, he came up to a large pine tree and sat down against it. His hand felt something odd and he grabbed it, holding up what came to be a pinecone. He tested the fully matured cone's needles and toyed with it, pulling the various leaves back to reveal the interior. He chuckled a bit as he realized how akin the Pinecones and many of the plants on Kashyyk were. Both were extraordinarily hardy and thrived off of the world around them.

The group's descent into the Shadow lands was, surprisingly, tame. The wookies were very kind and respectful, though mistrusting of outsiders. They had a forty mile hike to get to where the arms dealer was and they took the time to show Marquis how wookies stalked prey and how to pick out sacred wookie sites. While not exactly important information, it shed a little culture onto the droid, whom had previously mostly learned culture from books and extranet. The group had found the Czerka compound after a couple days hike and to this day, Marquis had an enormous respect for the wookies. The group he was with refused to use blasters, so instead they used wookie-sized longbows with titanium tipped arrows. Though the wookies may be large and heavy, their group of fifteen was never once detected. Masters of stealth, they had gone in, silently killed the guards, disabled the security droids, and strung up the arms dealer in less than an hour. Even though Marquis had gotten several kills of his own, the wookies were the stars of the show and he had to be honest: He was jealous.

Closing his eye's shutter, Marquis relaxed, letting the aroma of the pine trees and the grass waft into his sensors. "Everything will be fine," he finally concluded. Sometimes, even honed killers have to let allies do some killing...or all of it, depending on the situation.

____

Hugging his blaster rifle, Cheshik sat on top of the ship, using it to keep himself upright. Every bone in his body wanted him to just fall back and enjoy the rain that was washing over his scales, but he had to keep watch. His eyes were a little glazed over as he stared into the darkness, lost in thought. The crew would be pushing off for the HK factory tomorrow around noon so that they could arrive by nightfall, and Cheshik couldn't sleep.

Originally, Nyrette was supposed to keep watch for the night, but she was exhausted after yet more nightmares and Cheshik offered to take her place. He felt sorry for the girl, she was under constant mental attack, but she showed no fear. If Cheshik hadn't notice her stumble heading out of the hanger, she would have been steadfast and stood up the entire night, further driving herself into a hole. She reminded him of himself, but younger. He was turning fifty standard galactic years old in just a couple weeks and now, Iisska could start calling him an old fart, regardless of him not even being halfway through his life cycle yet. He could still say he had a lifetime's worth of stories though.

"Hello, Quin." He said then, smelling her as she climbed the side of the ship to join him. She was somewhat shocked to see him, as she was expecting to trade with Nyrette now. "No. I let your friend catch the...as you say, "Zees". You are welcome to join me." She obliged him and sat near him with a blaster in hand.

"I am the...erm..."Green with envy" of you, Quin. You are young and at your peak." She looked at him and cocked her head, asking what he meant.

"When I was younger, I was a lot like you and your..."special friend"...Nyrette I mean, though I wasn't some spy. I was a soldier on my homeworld: Hsskor. I made life in the Strategy corps. Do not be fooled by name, it is simply flashy title for group of T'doshok that attacked back door while brothers and sisters hit front door. I was no better than other soldiers, I simply refused to die. Not many people know that T'doshok had proper army and groups. We were not always monsters and gangsters you know us as. We were once proud, honorable hunters. We took great pleasure and honor in hunting for Jagganath...until Trade Federation came."

He shifted a bit, getting comfortable. He tended to ramble when he was talking about his life, and unfortunately for Quin, she stumbled his life story. "Federation...they come for "allies" but we refuse, so they choose to make slaves. We did not have luxury like republic. No cruisers or battleships or destroyers, we had fighters with drives of hyper tied on. We swarmed enemy with wall of death then jumped on enemy ship to...swarm with wall of death. We did not have people to defeat federation, and they instead overwhelmed us. My home was taken in less than year. They enslave people, force them into service. Week after home was defeated, left with son on stolen barge. Slipped past defenses, went to Not long after the planet was sacked, I stole a federation ship and left my home. Had friend on Rishi, stayed there for year, but hunters came. Proved worth to them and joined crew to make money for son's health. Spent three years with crew, made name for self, sent money to son."

He looked over to seen Quin concentrating on him intently. He figured his story would put her to sleep. He smiled internally, but continued. "You may know already, Hsskor reclaimed by republic, people 'freed'," He quoted with his fingers. "They put into debt by republic, many left to support family, hunt for money and not Jagganath...did same. Dishonor Jagganath, disgrace son, bathed in blood, became living weapon, lost sight of universe for two decade. Hear of Trade Federation attacking Rishi in war, return to find son missing, MIA as soldiers called it, spent month on planet looking. Return to mercenary life, drift ever since." Quin nodded as he finished his story. She asked about whatever happened to son. "Do not know. Assume with Jagganath now, still trying to earn points in name of son and Jagganath. Still too far off." She nodded, understanding.

"Thank you for listening, Quin. Few put up with my kind, would prefer shoot and forget. You are good Jahumba...friend."

"Thanks. You're not too bad yourself," Quin said.

She smiled at Cheshik and made herself comfortable on the roof again, hugging a blaster rifle to her chest.

"Nyrette and I plan to get everyone up and on the move at dawn. I'd go get some rest and prepare if I were you, but I wouldn't mind if you decided to stay. You're an interesting person Cheshik. I'm glad you decided to come with us."

---

With the sun rise came yet even more rain. It turned the sky an angry dark gray and showed no sign of letting up. Heavy rain drops, some nearly the size of bottle caps, pelted the ground and everything living on it. They stirred up a soothing sound that contradicted the tension and nervousness of the crew stepping outside the safety of the Harpoon. Quin and Nyrette scouted ahead, but stayed well within earshot of the others.

Quin constantly checked their surroundings by looking through a telescopic scanner that would pick up any anomalies that came within range. Although the coast was fairly clear aside from the occasional animal she stayed low and stuck to shadows and brush. A thick waterproof cloak helped her feel more camouflaged and kept her clothes (a decommissioned reconnaissance suit from a nation, the name of which she couldn't pronounce despite her best efforts), her blaster and her new toy dry. Her scanner picked up a large fortress-like complex in the distance.

"There it is," she whispered into a headset so the crew and the T.I.'s back on the ship would get the update.

Quin looked to Nyrette who had stopped not far from her, "That's quite a bit more extensive than I thought it would be. Maybe most of it will even be left standing when we're done with it."

Though she was trying to joke and stay positive and alert she was also rolling out her shoulders and neck and taking calculated breaths. She had never gone up against an HK before and what she saw from the fight yesterday left her convinced that she didn't ever want to. Too bad.

"They're certain to have patrols around the perimeter and in the jungle nearby. We will need to approach as quickly and quietly as possible," she said, "And then once inside we should at least try to stay quick and quiet. I'm not expecting much, but best efforts. Please. Pretty please."

"Fuck me, you have a sense of humor sometimes," Iisska came up beside her wearing a rain cloak similar to her own, "Or are you over here wishing on bugs and flowers for impossible shit? Lemme see."

He took the scanner from her and started to size up the lay of the factory. Quin punched him in the arm.

"Moron! This is important and more dangerous than you can imagine. Seriously, if you don't care about getting Sterling back together and staying alive doing it, then get your stupid lardass back to the ship," she hissed.

"Ow!," he hissed back and threw the scanner in her lap, "You wanna play? Check out what Zen ordered from Cheshik's friends."

He made a fist and showed off one of two extremely sturdy gauntlets that covered his entire hand and forearm up to his elbow. Something resembling brass knuckles had been rather crudely, but cleanly attached to the back of the hand.

"I made a modification or two. They look the shit don't they? And no HK is gonna cut through 'em," he bragged.

"Oh good. Those will really come in handy when you get shot in the face," Quin rolled her eyes, "You go punch holes in stuff, kid. I'll make funeral arrangements."

---

Cheshik and Zen were the first ones out of the jungle. They cut through a rusting fence, disabled the motion detectors and flanked the locked service entrance Nyrette had picked out from their surveys. The coast was clear. The other three crew members rushed out to meet them. Quin immediately knelt and got ready to hack the pinpad on the complex locking mechanism.

"Okay, just a minute or two and--" she started.

Zen unsheathed his lightsaber, shoved it through the crack between the door and the jam and severed everything from ceiling to floor in about twenty seconds. Quin glared at him and then rubbed her temples.

"Whatever," she mumbled.

They were in.

Quin steadied her blaster in her hands once more as they all filed into the first corridor. It was dark and empty. Obviously the workers did not use this passage often. After deciding on which way would probably lead to an office or factory floor where they could find out where a powercore would most likely be housed they headed off. Quin stayed close to Nyrette and defended the rear. She had wanted to head the group like they did in the forest, but the boys, namely Zen, had other plans and charged off ahead of them. At least they were still being quiet.

The first room on the right turned out to be a janitorial closet housing a small, dusty cleaning droid that sighed miserably and put its face in the corner when they informed it that they were not in need of its services. The next room was a restroom with no doors on the stalls and a leaking sink. Finally they came to a small office space on the next floor. Two computers were stacked side by side on the far wall.

"Excellent!" Quin hurried forward and began to access them, "There might be an inventory system somewhere in here. Keep an eye on the hall."

"This place is somehow even more creepy than the rakghoul infested wreck where we parked the ship," Iisska complained from the doorway.

"Probably because of the exponential increase in mechanized death," she shrugged.

"... Are you making up words?"

Nyrette shushed them both.

The seconds seemed to tick by slower and slower as she worked. The software was an incomprehensible mess to anybody who didn't know how to use it. She knew they didn't have all day. It would only be a matter of time before--

"Oh, fuck--"

"HALT! DROP YOUR WEAPONS, TRESPASSING, FLESHY SCUMBAGS!"

The hallway erupted into blaster fire and the startling sound of lightsabers being turned on before Quin could even react. Time up. She frantically redoubled her efforts to crack into the inventory records.

"Hold it off for just a second!"

BOOM!

One of the HK droids flew backwards and impacted into the metal wall, it's entire upper body sunk deep into the wall, immobilizing it enough for Zen to approach it and snap off it's legs at the knees without much effort. "Iisska!" He looked back and yelled. "You have to try this!" Zen sprinted down the hall and jumped into the air. The very second a pair of HK droids came around the corner, he drop kicked one, sending it flying backwards and out onto the factory floor. Klaxons popped out of the ceiling and coated the hallways in a deep red as their ear splitting alarms rang out. Zen stood up, absent mindedly punching the other HK in the head before snapping off the neck, as he stared straight ahead. The HK he had drop kicked had triggered the other ones in the factory. Dozens...no, hundreds of incomplete HK droids dropped from their restraints and simultaneously lit their eyes up. All at once they yelled out: "STATEMENT: YOUR TIME HAS COME, MEATBAG."

"NooooooooOOOOOOOOO!" Zen screamed, turning on a dime and sprinting, no force shoe-sploding, back to the group as fast as he could. Just as he came past, Quin had finished the hack and learned where they were heading. As the group came out of the closet, they froze as Zen galloped past yelling "NO NO NO, RUNNINGNOWGODEATHNONONONONONONONONONONOOOPE" at the top of his lungs. Just as Nyrette mouthed a silent "What...?" the group turned around to see the legion of HK droids sprinting down the hallway. Before Nyrette and Quin could start running, Iisska and Cheshik's positions were little more than outlines of smokes, putting instincts ahead of everything else. "OH FUCK YOU ZEN." Nyrette yelled as she took off with Quin down the hall. The two non-force users were barely able to catch up to the boys to try and direct them to the supply room where the parts they needed would be located. Zen was nowhere to be seen and the group had no inclination to try to find them. Quin simply pointed towards the western part of the facility and yelled to go towards it.

As the group booked it, Nyrette pulled out her own little toy that she requisitioned from Cheshik's supplier. A large roll of tape. While it seemed like nothing, she took a moment to lay a long strip on the floor before sprinting away. Ahead of her, she saw Cheshik stop at a door to hold it open for her while she escaped from the horde of HKs right behind her. He fired his blaster at the HKs, though it did little more than bounce off of their armor. Nyrette got to the door and looked back to see the horde just stepping onto the position where she lay out the tape. From her right pocket she fished out a detonator and smiled up at Cheshik. "Flex-5 thermite." She laughed as she squeezed the button and a huge explosion rocked the facility, blowing pieces of the horde all over the place while masked by a small mushroom cloud. Stepping inside the entrance to the western part of the facility, Cheshik shut the door tight and smashed the control panel. There was no going back to the eastern facility, that was for sure.

___

The western facility was much quieter than the eastern one. The storage and management offices were here, though there was no staff other than droids here, they were too busy hiding to bother reporting the intruders in the facility. The group moved fast, knowing that the HKs were hot on their trail. Quin directed them up a large set of stairs and into an office area. She explained that the power cores of the HKs were put through processing and rigging in this section, they needed one that wasn't coded to an HK and the only ones would be here where the nerds would code each individual part to a specific HK. This was done so that pirates couldn't hijack disabled HK parts. If they tried to put a part on another droid, it would self destruct.

Hearing noises from above, Quin, Nyrette, and Cheshik held up blasters at an above vent. Iisska looked around for a moment, looking a bit confused before he simply put up his fist, not having a blaster on his own due to Zen's encouragement. Ready for anything, the group tensed as the vent was kicked out and let out a groan as Zen dropped down from the vent. "We had need of you in room!" Cheshik yelled, ready to rip Zen apart for abandoning them.

"Nah, you were fine. Nerd room is down there some where." Zen shrugged and pointed down the hall. Though the group nearly did rip Zen apart, they swallowed their pride and went down the hall. The offices were just as bland as the rest of the facility, but somehow it got even more so the longer they were in it. Cardboard cubicles, crappy meeting place water fountains, tacky plants, and some fat rodian woman named ginny had her picture on the wall naming her employee of the month. Coming to a halt at the end of the corridor, Quin lead them into a large office where they found a room that didn't seem like what they were looking for. There were strange machines littered about the room on desks and on the floor. "Looks like a blueprinting or prototype R&D room...." Nyrette said, cautious of the potentially untested monstrosities around the room.

"This one looks complete." Cheshik said, standing in front of a model at the right side of the room. It was standing on it's own, deactivated and unpowered. There was a clip board on the wall next to it that Nyrette grabbed. "44-YR...R05I3. Prototype medical, protocol, hacking, and accounting droid. Like an HK but...for corporate espionage. That's...brilliant actually, but it seems this model was discontinued...too expensive? What?" She said, shocked.

"We are in Hunter Killer factory and single robot too pricey for hutt? Sense not made, cannot compute." Cheshik mused.

"Na na na...decommissioned...blah blah blah...prepare for deconstruction....yaddah yaddah...this droid isn't marked or prepped for anything...it's an empty shell. Ya know who might love this? Trinity and Marquis."

Iisska crossed his arms and asked how so. "Trinity has no body and over the past two months and she's had the patience to care for us when Zen has nearly gotten us killed, or when Zen messes up a plan, or when Zen puts us all in near death comatose states-"

"Rude! I only messed up one plan!" Zen responded

"And Marquis dragged us out from the brink of torture and death by Radon." She continued, ignoring Zen. Quin mentioned that she got what Nyrette was saying but that they didn't have time. "They didn't have to keep us alive. They could have just thrown us in the airlock, took the money and ditched us. They deserve a thanks. I say we take this shell and plug Trinity in it. It's got the same outfit as an HK model, it should hold her systems just fine."

"I agree whole bottomly." Cheshik said, nodding. Iisska just nodded and went back to looking for a power core for an HK unit. Quin shook her head and shrugged, saying that if she wanted to drag the hunk of metal back by herself, she could.

"Hah, I'm not carrying this. Cheshik, if you would be a dear, please give this droid a heft and we'll take it back with us, okay?" Her voice was soft and sincere enough that the Trandoshan barely had to be convinced to take the droid over shoulder and follow the group. "Marquis is going to be one happy droid after all this is over with." Nyrette said with a smile.

He was chewing his own tongue off to pay for his silence. The things he was remembering he would have seen buried for the rest of his life and been happier for it. A soft and precise voice spoke old words of practical wisdom in his mind. Any second those blue eyes would flicker on, she would tip her head just so and place those long fingers over the elegant mouth she never had and would never have. Where she had picked up such a useless, yet so very becoming behavior would be forever a mystery. He waited while the others talked after his passive and quiet protest had been forgotten. He wanted to tell them to leave the damned shell, but didn't want to say why.

He waited for her to wake up, retaliate and change their minds, but she didn't. Before Cheshik could get to her... it. Before Cheshik could get to it, Iisska stepped forward to where the droid chassis was hung on the wall and put his fingers on its jaw. He turned its head to the side gently. The neck gave way and the chin fell lifelessly to the chest. It was only a body with no soul. He prayed it was only a body with no soul. He prayed it had never had a soul before. Never had that soul before.

He helped Cheshik heft the heavy thing onto his shoulders. Not because Cheshik couldn't do it himself, but because the serial number would be on the small of the back just above the waist. He searched for it and found it quickly still while pretending to help. The first dozen or so numbers were the same, but the last four were wrong. It wasn't the same one. It wasn't her. When everybody had moved on and nobody was looking he heaved a deep sigh of relief and stilled his furious stomach and heartbeat. Iisska took up the rear of the search party some distance behind as Quin began to shoot out cameras and motion detectors.

---

"What the fuck is going on down there? Tribals again?" an obese man with a breathing apparatus embedded into his face asked.

He leaned over a portly alien woman with a visor as she monitored well over a dozen screens, displays, switches and lights. A handful of others sat around the large office at stations similar to hers.

"No, Sir," she shook her head, "They've already disposed of twice as many patrol units than any tribal raid and they've been poking around our systems. This is someone very well armed who knows what they're doing."

"Dammit. Can you get me a visual?" the man asked right as a screen went dark like several others had.

"They're destroying our cameras too, it would seem."

"Well this is just fan-fucking-tastic. Call the boys in security. Get the big guns out. Lock down our reactors and sound a station wide alarm."

---

"Let's pick up the pace people!" Quin barked, "The engineering block should be close. That's where they'll have the power cores on standby."

The alarms were spreading around them and growing louder. They could hear them kicking up along different hallways and wings. A loud voice started to bark orders over an intercom and then began to threaten them.

CEASE YOUR ATTACK. STOP WHERE YOU ARE AND PUT DOWN YOUR WEAPONS AND YOU WILL BE DETAINED. RESIST AND WE WILL COAT THE WALLS IN YOUR ENTRAILS.

"What's the difference?" Quin rolled her eyes.

The crew rounded a corner only to find themselves with a massive blast door sealing them out of the engineering block.

Quin immediately started fiddling around with the control panel on the wall trying to find someway to bypass the lockdown routines. Sounds of more HKs could be heard rallying in their wake. The rest of the crew turned down the hall with weapons at the ready. Iisska backed up to Quin. The last fight had been more than enough droid action for him and everybody was beginning to wear down.

"Will you just-- DAMMIT! Stupid fucking thing wont let me-- Just-- COME ON!" Quin punched the machine while the buttons flashed.

"We don't got time for that," Iisska said to her.

He looked around the console with his fingers on the wall before pressing his head against it and giving it a good hard thump with his fist.

"Have. We don't have time," Quin huffed.

"Look who's agreeing with me for once," Iisska retorted, "Stand back. Way back."

A small army of the infernal, profanity spewing, blaster toting, Jedi splattering droids filled the mouth of the hallway. Iisska had his feet planted firmly into the edge of the floor opposite the control panel wall. He clenched his fists and set his shoulders with his head low like a charging bull. With a massive burst of the force behind him he shot back to the other wall faster than most eyes could see and impacted with a punch so hard the wall disintegrated at the molecular level at the epicenter. The surrounding six feet merely rippled and exploded out into the next room with the rest of the wall breaking free of the ceiling and only just holding itself up thanks to the reinforcements in the floor. Iisska was blinded by the fine mist of wall dust on the other side, but had otherwise gone clean through unscathed.

"Hurry up!" he yelled back.

Nyrette was already in after him and the rest of the crew followed quickly. They sprinted through the dust cloud away from the HK's.

"Nice!" Quin yelled at him, "Great thinking! You might turn out to be useful yet--"

They reached the end of the cloud. The room they were in spread out a couple hundred yards in all directions and was at least three stories high. Assembly bays and machinery filled the floor and parts hung from the ceiling. Huge parts. And fully constructed monstrosities. The lights on the half dozen house sized droids were flickering to life. One had already stepped free of it's restraints and now towered over them with missiles and rail-gun in their faces.

Quin sighed, "I hate you again."

Before the droid could get a bead on them she dropped her grenade launcher from under her rain cloak, got into stance, aimed and gave the droid a face full of fire as one of the heavy charges hit it square in the targeting module. The rupture deafened them and reverberated through the entire facility. The droid sagged and staggered back before gaining it's footing once more. The crew scattered.

"Oooohoooohoo. Finally!" Zen yelled, reaching for his sabers at his hip and igniting them. He flipped them upside down and crouched, gathering his energy. "A real fight."

The ground exploded around his feet and he propelled himself forward, immediately drawing the calculating eyes of the spider-tanks. Spooling up their armor shredding gattling cannons, Zen explode-dashed between two of them as they moved to relocate and keep track of their target. Zen detonated the ground under his feet and propelled himself towards a wall only to do it again and fly high into the air, landing on a tank as bullets filled the air around him. Tracing him, two tanks aimed at him and mistakenly aimed their cannons at their compatriot, their anti-tank rounds pierced the hull and shredded the tank in mere seconds. Zen leaped down and took off down the factory floor, zigzagging between HK droids, slamming his armored fists into their heads and using them as platforms to fire himself across the room, drawing as much fire away from the group as possible. His ploy worked as the spider tanks evaluated him as the highest threat and four followed him to engage, leaving two to deal with the rest of the group.

___

While Zen was off bouncing around like mad, the group scrambled for cover as the tanks turned on them. Splitting off from the group, Nyrette and Cheshik got down behind a power generator to try and come up with a plan. Nyrette peeked around a corner to try and spot Quin and Iisska. She saw them across the floor as HKs started to descend on them and a Spider tank moved to their position. "Shit, uh...any ideas Cheshik?!" Nyrette was out of ideas at the moment, her thermite tape could not do much from here as it need to be set first...her eyes darted about the room to find some kind of advantage but Cheshik actually spoke first, much to her surprise.

"Do you see that there?" Cheshik said, pointed at a large support beam and at the tank. "We can tip over, see cracks at base? Can hit with explosive. Would take little, like grenade from grenade launcher?" He smiled and outstretched his hand. "I have another...shall we zay..."Zen?" as you and Pik'ere say. Please, thermite tape." She resisted it at first because of how volitile the tape was, but she trusted in Cheshik's experience with bounty hunters and handed it over. "Good, now trot to Quin and scribble fire. This shall be...fun!"

She nodded and waited for a moment when the droids were distracted by Zen blowing up another Tank before going for it and gunning from conveyor belt and machine to another set of bastardized cover. The HK droids were mostly concentrated on Quin and Iisska, whom were being very effective with their...tools, though the two tanks left in the area were keeping them from doing anything. Nyrette sprinted to where they were, sliding into cover and yelling over the blasterfire and Iisska suplexing HK droids just because he can. It took a second of explaining, but she explained the plan and switched positions with Nyrette to line up the shot to the column.

She was all lined up and ready to pull the trigger. She would smile as she went to do it. Then of course. Zen happened.

Zooming by like a black and red clad blur, Zen was screaming at the top of his lungs like a raving lunatic
"OHMYVOIDIFIGUREDOUTHOWTOFORCERUNTHISISBETTERTHANSEXAHHHHHHHHHHH". Zen had apparently finally figured out how to force run and was using his force mastery to make it beyond fast as he barreled along the floor, slamming his fists into every HK droid he could see like a pinball of destruction. Having had enough of the chasing, the Spider tanks planted their feet in the ground and opened up their homing rocket pods, launching dozens of rockets and locked onto Zen's blurry form. Seeing the rockets launch and turn towards him, Zen, moving at high speeds, crossed his sabers behind his back and ran. Right. At. The. Rockets.

Barreling head long into the swarm of rockets, Zen narrowly missed them and could feel the heat of the explosions as multiple rockets went out of control and spiraled around the room, vaporizing squads of HKs and nearly Cheshik too as he enacted his own plan. More rockets still however managed to keep track of Zen and spiral upward to continue after him, their smart targeting helping them avoid the high hanging conveyor belts and molten buckets as the factory continued trying to work in the midst of battle. Few hit the structures and yet more made it down to just within a few steps of Zen.

Bouncing around erratically, he zoomed underneath one of the spider tanks, causing two rockets to hit it and vaporize it where it stood. The last two started to unload their cannons on his position but their mechanical parts could barely keep up with him. Racing down the factory floor, past the group, Zen ran to the column that Quin was aiming at previously, Zen took a sharp turn as he neared it and fooled with the rockets, the last four of the swarm hitting the structural weakness and enacting the plan that Nyrette had in mind. The column base was heavily damaged, leaving a massive crater in it, but it wasn't enough. The column was left standing and Nyrette cursing loudly. She tried to talk to Quin about a new plan...though neither noticed just what Cheshik was doing.

While all the droids were trying to kill Zen, Cheshik sneaked up to one of the tank droids and placed down the rosie droid that they had picked up earlier, only now she was covered head to toe in thermite tape! "The apologetic noises, Trinity. I shall steal you a better body in future, but now is time of action and large explosions." Leaving the rosie where he left it, he stretched his legs as much as possible and sprinted to where Iisska and the group was. "PLACE YOUR HEADS BETWEEN LEGS, NOW!" He yelled and waited for the group to comply before he held up the detonator for the tape and pressed the button.

A gigantic explosion shook the factory, throwing Zen mid sprint into a wall so hard it left an impression. HKs and spider tank parts were thrown all around the factory floor, shattering windows and destroying supports for the high-level conveyor belts and causing hundreds of tons of pounds of machinery to fall from the sky and smash into the ground and kicking up a massive cloud of dust to cover the room. The group, covered with debris and dust, peeled themselves off of the floor and looked over the destruction. The lights were knocked out, leaving the room in a near pitch darkness as the lightning flashes from outside occasionally lit up the room. In the center of the room, the epicenter of the blast, was a huge crater that tore deep into the ground under the factory. Nyrette hit Cheshik in the chest with the back of her hand as hard as she could before yelling. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" She screamed, death staring him. "That shit is expensive! Gimmie that!" She tore the remainder of the tape out of Cheshik's hands. There wasn't much remaining. "Fucking idiot! You're lucky the factory isn't collap-" Just as she started to say the word, she instantly regretted it as the factory started to shake as beams and supports at the top of the factory broke lose, falling right onto their heads.

Without even thinking, the group scattered, running for their lives. They filed behind Quin, whom knew the layout of the factory and whom they trusted to lead them out alive.

Meanwhile, across the factory, Zen peeled himself off of the wall and lay there for a moment, groaning, before getting up slowly and shambling out another door, away from the group.

"Wait!" Iisska yelled at the group as they ran, "We left Zen!"

Quin risked just a few seconds to slow and turn toward him with a frown and a raised brow. Iisska made a confused face in return and then sighed and shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, let's go. He's fine," he said.

They continued to haul ass out of the building as it slowly came down on their heads. Behind them the debris was already starting to fall and the flames from the fight with the assault droids was consuming the way back. The alarms were ever blaring, keeping the crew from even hearing their own frantic and sparse thoughts, but the screeching from the structure tearing itself apart drowned even those out.

Quin yelled back, "We're almost out! It's just up--"

---

Everything warped and disappeared. The world was replaced by the void. Blinding pain which fills the skull to the point of cracking. Nothing but darkness with twisting stabs of flashing red. Weightlessness. Nausea. A surgical separation of the self from the body.

"I wonder. How long do you think you can ignore me?" the voice was quiet and yet it was everything, "I call for you time and time again yet you never return. You never respond."

A faceless woman wreathed in power stood before Nyrette in the darkness. For a moment the pain ebbed and her surroundings became frantic calling voices and fire. She could hear her name and feel herself being pulled along. The woman, whom was fading in and out of her vision, raised her hand with fingers outstretched. She slowly clenched her fist. There was an intense tension in her head and the flames and voices were strangled out. The pain returned tenfold.

"You will listen to me. Despite your best efforts, your mind has been of some use to me since you deserted. However, I have need of you elsewhere. Return willingly and be punished for your insolence. Or I will drag you back by force and you will beg and pray for death. You cannot run. You cannot fight. You cannot stop us. I know where you are."

As suddenly as she was overtaken, Nyrette was released.

---

Sol'tzyri exhaled slowly and opened her eyes. She sat cross-legged on the floor of a dim, sealed off chamber with her hands in her lap. The only noise was the timid flickering of candles in four sconces on the walls and her own breath and long, slow heartbeat. She was mildly tired after the exercise and yet somehow calm and rather pleased with herself. There was something mentally rejuvenating about it.

A knock on the chamber door brought her awareness forth but did not startle her.

"Enter," she commanded.

The door opened, letting in more light and a human figure stood there.

"You summoned me, My Lord," he stated.

"I have an errand for you, Apprentice. Our stray agent is currently in Hutt space. She refuses to come to her senses and I feel it is time her little romp around the galaxy was over. Fetch her for me," the Sith said.

"It will be done, My Lord," the man bowed slightly.

"Her companions will more than likely make obstacles of themselves. If it is not a detriment to your task, please destroy them."

"Do you think the corpses could be useful?"

"Indeed."

---

"Just get her into the ship..." someone whispered.

"What about the power core?" the voices were so distant, "How did we fuck this up so bad? Marquis is gonna shit embers."

"Not exactly our priority right now. Cheshik, be careful with her."

"Not a priority!? Did you see that mess we made? Even for Zen that fireball would have been a deathtrap. We all nearly died, for all we know he is dead, and we have nothing! Just because your girlfriend goes and has an episode nothing else matters!?"

"You shut your fucking mouth."

"No. It's obvious you don't give two shits about anybody else in this crew."

"What the hell do you know?"

"Enough to tell that you're nothing but poison! Don't you fucking shh me! This isn't over! We should have killed you along with all your stupid Republic friends! You're probably some fucking spy! I'll throw her in the swamp and leave her ass on this rotting planet I swear to--"

A door slammed loudly. Quinn flopped down in the chair next to the semi-conscious Nyrette and the bed where Cheshik had lay her down before dragging Iisska off to who knows where. Her launcher and other gear hit the ground. She put her face in her hands and took a long ragged breath. She was covered in scorch marks, scrapes, bruises and the stench of failure. Nyrette wasn't any better off. Gently, Quin made sure she was still breathing and waited for her to snap out of it.

Cheshik was...livid.

No. Livid is too kind a word for how he is right now.

In fact. There isn't a word for it right now, but it was almost enough for him to snap.

Gripping onto Iisska's shirt, Cheshik dragged him down to the hanger as he thrashed and kicked and screamed the entire way. He took him all the way down the ramp and back into the facility. Far enough away from the ship so that nobody could hear them. Then he threw him down, bent over, and gripped his neck, lifting him up and slamming him against the wall. "You are disgrace to self and family." He said, his claws digging into his neck. "Quin do more in last month for family than you have since I join crew." He rose his hand and backhanded the Togruta. "I care not that you slay hssiss. Disgracing family is worse than murder, they are what make you. You would be dead if not for her and Nyrette. You-" He stopped short and turned his head as he heard somebody walking towards them.

Charred, burned, and smoking, there he was. Zen. Hunched over with a large box under his right arm. "Oh hay guys." He said. "Don't mind me." he walked past, "Just coming back from the exploding factory of fire. Keep doing what you're doing. OH. And don't you worry one bit!" He said walking into the distance. "Power core that I FOUND is safe and sound!"

Cheshik's eyes returned to Iisska's and he snarled. "Learn respect, Togruta. Walking life alone is burden that not even darkest hearts can shoulder. Apologize to her and Nyrette and redeem self or else family will grow small. Fast." He released the Togruta and let him crumble to the floor of the facility as Cheshik walked away, disgusted with his friends' actions.

__

Walking back into the ship, Cheshik froze for a second when he saw Zen on the floor in the middle of the hanger face down and still smoking from the factory. He took a step to help him but the Mandalorian twisted slightly and put his arm in the air. "No. Go awaaaay. I'm fine. Trin has the package. I'mma just lay here for a bit and take a smoke break." He twitched his hand back and forth and spoke again. "Shooo. Go on, lizard man." He let his arm plop to the ground then.

Shaking his head, Cheshik left Zen to his own devices and returned to the medical room to find Quin still there with her hands buried. He closed the door and approached her slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Pik'ire. It is okay." She looked up to him, hurt and failure in her eyes. "We have been through worse. Come." He pulled on her but she resisted, so he knelt down to eye level and...pulled her into a hug. While she was still soaked from the rain from outside, Cheshik was surprisingly dry, soft, and warm. "It is okay."

He let her go and stood by her side, gripping her shoulder lightly and being there for her. On the medical bed, Nyrette started to move a bit, flexing her hand slightly even though she was still out cold. Quin looked up at Cheshik for a moment only to get a nod from him. She gripped onto her hand with her own. Nyrette seemed to calm.

____

On the fringes of her mind, Nyrette saw a seal chamber and two dark figures in the middle. One in the very middle was crosslegged while the other was standing. She could hear every word they said.

"I have an errand for you, Apprentice. Our stray agent is currently in Hutt space. She refuses to come to her senses and I feel it is time her little romp around the galaxy was over. Fetch her for me," the Sith said.

"It will be done, My Lord," the man bowed slightly.

The man left afterwards and she was left alone with the crosslegged figure. Nyrette knew who she was. Her former master, Darth Scurus. She turned towards her.

Nyrette felt her body die. She felt the skin being ripped away and her mind falling into an endless abyss of cold darkness and void. If she had tears they would be streaming in fear. She wanted to scream but could only watch as her vision blackened and she gave way to the force.

But something pulled her back.

From the brink of death, she felt something. Something tender and soft and warm. She saw the veil of darkness lift and life returning to her body. She saw the inside of the Harpoon and there she was. Quin sitting with Cheshik. Quin was gripping her hand and keeping her from falling into the void. The vision started to fade, but Nyrette was not scared or worried.

She knew she was waking up.
__

Nyrette opened her eyes and sat up and she immediately swung her legs over the side, ignoring the pain ripping through her back. Cheshik nearly jumped out of his scales as she did so, but then looked upwards and feigned a whistle. It might come to a huge shock to Quin, but her forehead was against Nyrette's. "Whether you know it or not." She said. "You saved me from a terrible fate. I..." She pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. "Thank you." She whispered.

From the other side of the room, the door opened and a very familiar face walked through. The group turned and all gave a big smile as Marquis in all his glory stepped into the room. "Well, you all seem jolly for a lot that was unceremoniously set aflame and nearly buried alive." While Nyrette was a bit slow at it and lagged behind, Cheshik and Quin jumped up and leaped across the room to hug the droid tightly, with Nyrette on her feet and hugging him too. "Wow. Did you really all miss my body that much? I worry what would happen if I took off for a week." he said, embarrassed and pink in the eye. "Good to feel the love again...but where is Iisska? He was with you when you returned, right?"

"Right?"