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Izurich
ISD Waylander- Above Nar Shaddaa
Captain Dram Cruvee sat behind his desk as he watched the security holo from inside of the base of the Kath Hounds. When he had first brought his Imperial forces to Nar Shaddaa, he was met with fierce resistance. The Hutts had fought hard to keep the remnant of the Empire off of the Smuggler's Moon, employing street gangs and other criminals as foot soldiers to fight their battle. And though Cruvee was happy to engage the criminals, he soon realized that it was a wasteful conflict. Soon after that realization, hoping to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, he approached the Hutts with an offer of an alliance, which the Hutts eventually agreed to. Once he had the cooperation of the Hutts, he had been able to bring some of the street gangs to heel, and the Kath Hounds had proven to be a valuable asset in enforcing his rule over the moon.
Until today, when two men, a Mandalorian and a street urchin, broke into their compound and released a prisoner that was being held there, costing the lives of not only several of the Kath Hounds, but of a number of stormtroopers as well. And to Cruvee, that was an unacceptable loss, and he was determined to understand what had gone so terribly that two men were able to do so much damage.
His eyes remained glued to the holo as he watched the pair engage with Kenso. The three men spoke to one another, and then Kenso, clearly not pleased with what was said, drew his blaster and pointed it at the prisoner's head. What happened next left the seasoned Imperial speechless, as one of the intruders seemingly knocked Kenso's blaster hand away, with nothing more than his mind.
“Interesting.” Cruvee said to himself as he watched the pair free the girl and make their escape from the compound, however, not before the supposed street urchin used his gifts again, this time on a stormtrooper.
Cruvee pondered what he had just seen as he deactivates the security holo. He had been a young officer in the early days of the Galactic Empire, shortly after the Republic had been reorganized following the end of the Clone Wars. He had heard tales of the Jedi, and the amazing things that they were said to have been capable of. He had even seen it first hand when he witnessed Lord Vader choke the life from one of his superior officers for some perceived failure during the Rebellion. If this street urchin was indeed someone with command over the Force, perhaps if he could be recruited into his ranks, he would give Cruvee the one weapon that would ensure his ascension in the ranks of the Imperial Remnant.
A new Vader. One that would serve him. One that would all but guarantee that not even the Grand Imperium would question his authority.
“Ensign.” Cruvee called to his underling.
“Yes Sir?” The ensign, a young man of slightly darker complexion replied.
“I want you to contact Sargent Dozner on the Moon's surface. I want these men in custody and brought to me by nightfall. Also get word to our underworld friends that I do not want these men harmed.” Cruvee demanded.
“Yes Sir.” The ensign said as he rushed off to complete his superior's bidding.
***
The speeder raced through the skylanes above Nar Shaddaa towards Kelsa's home, where the quartet of friends had hoped her father would be able to use his underworld connections to get them off of the Smuggler's Moon. However, as they approached the palatial estate that she had called home, their hopes dimmed as they saw a billowing column of thick, black smoke coming from the general vicinity of her home. They rode in silence as they approached, hoping that it was not her home, but a nearby structure that had burned to the ground. However, the closer they got, the more they realized that it was no such coincidence, and something terrible had happened.
Their fears were confirmed when they pulled the speeder up to the smoldering ruins of the home. Nyna had barely brought the speeder to a stop when Kelsa jumped out of the back seat and raced toward what remained of her home. Joren took off after her, not wanting her to go in alone, just in case whoever had done this was still there. Dono and Nyna followed behind Joren, who called after Kelsa to wait for them.
Kelsa entered the house first, going directly into what remained of the greeting chamber, where their worst fears were realized. Laying in the rubble were the charred remains of Dresa, the Sila family servant who had practically raised Kelsa from the time that she was a small child, taking over care for the girl after her mother had passed away. Kelsa stood there in the center of the room staring down at the remains of the woman before Joren rushed over to her, grabbing her and forcing her to look away.
“Don't look.-” He said, shushing her as she began to cry. “-Don't look.” His voice was soothing, however, Kelsa was inconsolable.
“Joren, we've got to get out of here.” Nyna said, her voice cracking at the sight of the servant.
However, suddenly Kelsa broke away from Joren's grip and ran up the broken stairs to what remained of the second floor.
“Dad! Dad!” She cried out as she ran from room to room, avoiding debris as she went. She made her way down to the end of the hall to her father's office, and she went in. Then she let out a blood curdling scream.
When Joren and the others reached her, they were horrified to find Kelsa's father laying on the floor of the office behind his desk, his body still smoking where the blaster bolts had hit him. Kelsa was kneeling by her father's body, cradling his head in her arms, begging him to wake up. Joren's heart broke at the sight. He had also lost both of his parents, and in a way, he knew how she felt. He wanted nothing more than to console her. To grab her and pull her close to him and take her pain away.
However, the sounds of footsteps coming down the hall put an abrupt end to that line of thinking. Dono put a hand on Joren's shoulder and pulled him away from Kelsa.
“Vod'ika, we have to go. They're still here.” He said as he drew his blaster.
“Kelsa, we have to go.-” Joren said to her. “Kelsa, we have to go, now. They're here.” He said again, this time over the sound of blaster fire.
Kelsa looked up, and when she saw the white armor of the stormtroopers entering what had been her father's office, a look of hatred etched itself on her face as she drew the blaster that they had given her while there were escaping the Hounds' compound, and fired several shots.
“They've got us pinned. We can't get past them!” Nyna shouted as she fired on the troopers.
“We don't have to.” Kelsa said, her voice suddenly calm.
“What?” Dono asked, unsure of what she had meant.
“My dad. He has an escape hatch that leads to the landing pad. I just have to get it open.” She explained as she went over to the desk and started to key in commands on the console. After several tense moments, the hatch slid open.
“Let's go!” Joren called as he pushed Kelsa into the narrow corridor that led to the landing pad.
The four friends raced through the winding corridor, dodging stun blasts as they went. Eventually, after rounding one final turn, they emerged from the corridor at the landing pad. There was only a single ship docked on the pad, a Starwind class pleasure yacht.
They reached the ship and managed to get up the boarding ramp just as the stormtroopers emerged from the corridor behind them. Dono and Nyna jumped into the pilot and copilot seats and began the pre-flight checklist.
“No time!-” Joren yelled to his friends as he watched more than a dozen stormtroopers move into the landing pad, making their way toward the ship.
Dono cursed to himself as he fired up the repulsorlifts, and the ship began to lift off even as the Imperials opened fire on it. Within moments, the ship took off, away from Nar Shaddaa and towards the void of open space.
