Interference

[NexusLuke]

This is a CLOSED solo RP (a short story), featuring my trooper alt Daric Lethech.

It takes place on Ord Mantel, a few days after the events of "Scattered."

Enjoy.


Interference


Part 1

It had been a couple of days since the Saint’s secret base on Ord Mantel had been savagely attacked. There was still smoke rising from the ruins of the base and the outlying areas. The place was rank with nature taking its course on the hundreds, no, probably thousands of dead littering the area. This vile sight disgusted Daric Lethech and even though he had not known many of those fallen for very long, he believed that they all deserved a proper burial. However, this was not to be the case, and both he and the dead were deprived of this basic right and honor.

Daric had joined the Saints a few months prior, in so much as you have the illusion of choice when given an order. He and several other troopers were dispatched from his unit, to find quite a few of their armor clad brethren already there. So they were able to settle right in, and before long it felt like any other assignment, but more than that it felt strangely like home.

Daric had been coming back from the local smuggling Contingency with supplies when the Saint’s base had been hit. Their supply convoy consisted of two Jedi, and six troopers. They had a land-speeder with an attached hover-sled, and two speeder bikes flying escort. After a heated debate with the older Jedi Knight, the others finally persuaded him to see reason, and they decided unanimously that there was nothing they could do for the rest of their unit if they joined in the battle, but add their own names to the list of the dead. A course of action that they all would have embraced if they did not see some Saints fleeing the massacre successfully. To add to this, while they had been in discussion, a Sith star fighter, had dive bombed their position attacking the land speeder. It was destroyed along with the supplies in the attack, supplies that Daric wished they had now, along with one of the speeder bikes, the young Jedi, and a trooper. All careless casualties that should have been avoided. Daric cursed himself for not following his training and immediately concealing the equipment and their personnel when the threat of aerial attack was so prominent. They had then taken to concealment and observation counting those they got away as far as they could see, painfully watching the slaughter carry itself out, and finally conclude, the Sith leaving as fast as they had appeared.

In the time since, Daric and the others had decided to run interference for the Saints that were trying to escape the area or the world on foot. They decided to do so, based on the hunch that the Sith had not used all these resources to target them for nothing, and that surely small tracking parties would be hunting for survivors. They had been right. They had spotted and noted a few Jedi come and go, a couple fire fights erupt, and someone taking out what remained of the sensitive communication equipment. Had they been betrayed by one of their own? The next morning the first of their troubles showed up. The night previous Daric and the others, after darkness had settled in, scouted the base for survivors and supplies. They found neither. Using the cover of darkness they then hooked around the outskirts of the base and formed a small skirmish line at the edge of the forest. That next morning despite the element of surprise and the stern warning of Daric and a couple of the other troopers, the Jedi Knight forced them to attack the hunting party by doing so himself. Whether the Jedi and the other troopers were looking for some sort of revenge for what had happened the day before, or that they simply felt a surprise attack would be better than the enemy falling on their defensive line, the Sith hunting party consisting of a Sith Acolyte, and several bounty hunters, was killed. At a great cost however. Two troopers had fallen and the Jedi had been gravely wounded, and slowly and painfully died that same night. Again Daric cursed the losses, had they developed a plan of attack before pouncing on the Sith hunting party, they could have had, in theory, no casualties using proven ambush techniques. However, the rash judgment of their Jedi leader had led to not only his but others deaths as well. Not only that, but it compromised their very mission, which was to prevent the tracking and pursuit of the Saints fleeing on foot, not to destroy any Sith forces that showed themselves at the base.

This had left three troopers to carry out this goal, and as they were all of the same rank they had decided seniority to dictate who was giving the orders, because in battle someone had to call the shots and the rest had to follow or it was chaos. Chaos meant failure, and failure on this war-torn planet was to meet death. So it was that Daric had the men entrench on the edge of the tree line, with a couple entrenched fall back positions with extra ammo and a couple scavenged grenades. Most of the grenades they had used already, or had fashioned small booby traps not only on the flanks, but between their positions if any were to follow them. Lastly there was a final fallback position that was made on top of a small knoll in a clearing in the woods, which was designed for optimal cover, and maximum effectiveness against the enemy. It was designed as a last stand, as there was no way to effectively retreat from the position.

It was in one of the forward entrenchments, deep enough to stand in only revealing your shoulders and head, roughly six feet in length and three feet wide, with two crude steps on one end, that Daric peered over the sights of his blaster rifle through the bramble, over the vast clearing surrounding the destroyed Saints base, eyes constantly scanning the horizon for any sign of movement or activity. His hand slowly moved to his mouth as he torn free another piece of bitter jerky-like meat, and began working it around in his mouth. This meat had been his and the others only source of food for the last few days. It was poor in taste and came from a furry rodent like creature that scurried through the forest at night. They had caught them by fashioning snare traps made of survival fishing line placed between saplings, and collected their catch every morning. They then cooked the meat over a very small fire made of low smoke producing materials, and divided the meat among themselves, reset their traps, and returned to their place on the line joining the one guy that was on watch. No matter what it was that needed done, at least one pair of eyes were on the base.

Suddenly the roar of a star ship could be heard. Seconds later it came into view, heading east to west descending across his view towards the Saints base. It was a fairly large ship, much bigger than a one man fighter, roughly the size of a freighter. It landed brazenly in the vast clearing in front of the smoldering ruins, assuming any resistance was long gone. Daric painfully watched as the freighter disgorged nearly forty men, give or take one. He couldn’t be sure as they moved about the ruins and ruble and their ship.

Roughly an hour passed before Daric made out what he suspected was their leader. He was taking an unnerving interest in the ground that sent shivers running up and down Daric’s spine. “A tracker.” He quietly spat to himself. He felt his stomach tighten, and he spit the tiny bit of gristly remnants from his last bite of meat onto the forest floor in front of him, as he saw the leader’s eye-line move toward the tree line. He pointed to the forest and he and his men began strolling towards Daric and his two remaining trooper defenders. He flipped a switched and his blaster thrummed quietly as power was released from the energy cartridge and flowed into the firing chamber. He brought his head down slightly, his eye in line with his sights, and slowly lined up his first target.

[NexusLuke]

Part 2


The men got closer and closer, but Daric and the other troopers did not fire, they were too well trained. When outnumbered it is almost impossible for green troops to keep themselves from firing when a target gets within their maximum range. The desire to take out as many targets as possible before they get too close is overwhelming, but it is a fatal mistake. Daric knew this all too well from past confrontations. Though in maximum range, the target is only in minimum effective range. Meaning that a shooter is likely to miss, alert the enemies too soon and allow them enough time to mount a counter offensive. Daric and his men could not afford that. So he waited, heart pounding is his chest, despite the icy resolve on his face and his best effort to control it through steady practiced breathing. His finger fell slowly to the trigger, touching it so lightly he could barely feel it through his glove. “Wait for it….” He thought to himself.

There is was. Kam on the left flank, let loose with the heavy repeating blaster they were lucky enough to find intact on the edge of the battlefield, firing in five to seven round bursts. Giant lances of blue light shot through the air and cut down small groups of Imperials. The gun was placed on the flank in such a way that enemy soldiers approaching the tree line were right in its sights. It sat slightly forward of Daric and Relsh on the firing line, and was at a 90 degree angle from the approaching targets. Instead of being directly in front of the approaching men, where the operator would have to sweep the large weapon back and forth over a line of advancing men, this placement on the flank allowed the gun operator to fire on the entire advancing column of men with very little horizontal movement, greatly increasing the rounds on target and maximizing kill potential. This was critical if Daric and the others were to survive, and so far it was working well. In the handful of seconds that had passed at least fifteen Imps had been exterminated, as they reeled to face this unexpected deadly threat sporadically and erratically returning wild fire. The horizon erupted in blue and red lances darting back and forth, and this was Daric and Relsh’s cue.

Daric opened fire, squeezing the trigger five times in as many seconds sending five perfectly aimed shots out into the fray, Relsh joining him at precisely the same moment as if their minds were one. Ten more Imps fell lifeless on the desolate terrain the remaining men reeling back towards the tree line. This was a critical point in the battle. The Imps being taken completely off guard, and now taking fire from what seemed like a hundred directions, their minds had to be racing, any sentient beings would be. Thus the Imps had a decision to make, and their level of training, leadership, and battle awareness would make that decision for them. They would either retreat, or march forward. Luckily for Daric they chose both.

Some of the men had clearly never experienced combat, these were the ones who started to flee back towards the veiled safety of the ruined base and ship. This safety was a total fabricated illusion. Being caught out in the open the only thing that lie in that great expanse of open ground was a sure and quick death. The others split their fire between the heavy blaster emplacement and the tree line. Leading this group was the mysterious tracker, who only stopped briefly to call and command those retreating back to him, probably with a greater peril if they chose not to.

Daric reached down and triggered several of his remote detonators synced with previously hidden grenades, quickly, but one at a time. The expanse in front of the tree line erupted with small explosions raining sod and smoke as Relsh detonated his as well. The grenades were meant to startle and confuse as much as they were meant to maim the enemy, the desired effect was to slow their advance giving the heavy blaster more time to wreak havoc. At this point both troopers switched to full auto firing mode on their blaster rifles and began pouring small bursts of fire into the smoke, as their ability to pick out specific targets was hampered, the heavy blaster barking out death sentences all the while.

The scene in front of Daric was both incredible and terrifying, as war often was. Latent explosions on timed delayed fuses from the initial detonations shook the very ground the bulk of his body took refuge in, rays of the sun tried to pierce the dust and smoke in the open terrain as explosions and blaster fire illuminated it in brilliants reds, gold, and blues from within; even as the Republic defenders poured their own blue energy bolts into the fray, trying to take advantage of any silhouetted foe or muzzle flash. A scene twisted in beauty, power, and terror.

Just as expected the heavy blaster fell silent, as they hadn’t had much ammo for it. Daric kept a mental timer running in his mind, calculating the time it would take his companion to fall back to his secondary position. He spared a quick glance and could barely see Kam shoulder his rifle and haul out of the heavy blaster nest abandoning the large weapon. Not only was it out of ammo, but on the move such a gun was useless to men with the battle disposition of Daric and his men. Daric had heard of troopers using the heavy blasters outside of a mounted position, carrying them around in battle. What the heavy blaster gained in firepower it exponentially lost in mobility and accuracy when it was carried outside of a mounted fixed position. Mobility and accuracy was what his training counted on to keep him alive, and he would never sacrifice either for a more powerful energy discharge. One regular shot on target was worth a hundred “close” powerful ones any day. He quickly slapped another energy cartridge in his blaster rifle to replace the discharged one, and immediately resumed firing.

Roughly thirty to forty seconds had passed since the first shot.

Daric and Relsh kept firing sporadic bursts, covering Kam as he fell back, and trying to maintain the illusion of fire superiority. It would only be a few seconds before the enemy realized the heavy blaster was out of commission for good, and they were facing a very small opposition force. They needed every one of these few precious seconds to begin falling back to their second layer of defense, or they would very quickly be overrun by the advancing Imperials.

They gave Kam several seconds head start and for the first one hundred yards of their retreat performed a bounding overwatch, taking turns running twenty yards then stopping and laying down covering fire as the other man ceased fire and ran until he stopped and started firing again, letting the first resume his retreat for twenty yards, then repeated again. This withdraw tactic allowed at all times at least one pair of Republic eyes to be watching the enemy in case of any surprises.
As they fell into the second layer of defense, their blaster rifles quieted, as there were no targets to engage, and they now had to conserve as much ammo as possible.

Daric flipped his selector switch back to semi automatic fire, body as still as a stone as he peered out of his new fox hole, eyes darting over the horizon for any sign of the Imperial force. Having lost the element of surprise, they now would be fighting toe to toe. Now came the hard part. They were coming, of that there was no doubt. The only question now was, how many?

[NexusLuke]

Part 3


Only a few moments passed until he heard blaster fire to his left. Kam had engaged someone. He then started to see movement through the tree line directly in front of him, two maybe three men, one of them the tracker. Relsh started firing to his right, trying to draw a flanking move from the enemy, and they fell for it. While trying to flank around on Relsh the two Imps ran headlong into Daric, who still held the middle position of their slightly curved defensive line, and they didn’t even realize it. He dropped the two oblivious soldiers with two consecutive shots, and saw the tracker dart behind some downed trees and thick cover.

Kam showed himself on the left flank, and signaled to Daric he had downed two hostiles and that the left flank was secure, and held behind cover waiting for Daric to signal back. Daric gave him a few short hand signals indicating there was one known target, and then pointed to his eye line and toward the area the target was last seen. Kam nodded and began to move forward, trying to loop around behind the tracker. Daric smoothly emerged from his foxhole, rifle tight to his shoulder, and began heading straight for the tracker, weaving in and out of large trees that would provide suitable cover.

Just then a rocket a missile or some such device, screamed rapidly through the air, and landed very close to Kam. The explosion sent Kam flying nearly ten feet into the air where he folded around a tree with a noticeable smack as his armor came into contact with the bark, and his helmet was ripped off of his head from the sudden deficit of momentum. He then slid down the tree breaking off several branches on his way down. He landed in a heap on the forest floor and did not move. The explosion was enough to send Daric tumbling end for end over a downed tree, even though he was thirty feet or so from Kam. As Daric collected himself and his blaster, he noticed that much of his white armor was now exposed. Shortly after the attack, Daric and any other trooper who was unfortunate enough to be stuck in white armor, caked it in thick mud. After a day or so it would completely dry out and begin flaking off, needing a new coat. That blast flaked a lot off, to say the least. Why military types made white armor, much less issued it as standard battle armor, Daric would never know. The tracker, who most certainly now was a bounty hunter, was taking this opportunity to rush Relsh, duel blaster pistols firing rapidly.

Daric heaved himself to his feet and began sprinting to his comrades’ aid. The bounty hunter took note of this, Daric and his movements highlighted and broadcast by the patchy white armor in the dreary forest, and shifted one of the pistols fire in Daric’s direction. The sheer amount of bolts coming at him were staggering, not to mention accurate, and Daric was forced to return fire then dive head first behind a stump, rolling to the safety it provided. The bounty hunter continued to pour fire on both men, who had little choice but to cower in their respective cover until the intense fire abated, Relsh’s was getting dangerously small as the bounty hunter got closer.

As soon as it waned, Daric leapt from behind his stump and started to fire at the bounty hunter who was closing the distance to Relsh’s foxhole rapidly, dodging small saplings. The bounty hunter then started to slide towards a stump of his own, tossing a small thermal detonator at Relsh as he did so. He slid neatly behind the stump, and just as effortlessly it seemed his detonator rolled right into the foxhole. Relsh jumped out, took two steps, and dove into a roll that would hopefully take him out of the blast range. It did, but as he rolled the bounty hunter leaned around the stump and fired a quick burst of shots. At least one found its mark as Relsh’s roll tuned into a limp flop and he lay in a twisted mess of armored appendages. Daric could only see the very tip of the blaster pistol barrel that just gunned down his friend, and thus he had no shot. Worse than that, he attempted to fire hoping to distract the bounty hunter enough to cause him to miss, but when he pulled the trigger there was only a small click a whine, and a short beep indicating the charge in his pack was depleted. So now he was running headlong at a very well trained bounty hunter that very clearly knew their combat tactics and was very clever, with no ammo in his rifle, and no backup. Time to give the bounty hunter something he wouldn’t expect. Daric dropped his blaster rifle, and drew his sidearm. He took a couple shots at the stump to keep the bounty hunters head down as he continued to run towards him, but this bounty hunter took his chances and popped into view long enough to fire a couple shots. One of those hit Daric’s pistol sending it flying and smoking from his hand. He was committed to this unorthodox tactic now, blaster pistol or not.

A few more strides and Daric leapt head first over the stump, giving a yell inside his helmet. To Daric’s surprise the bounty hunter was just coming to his feet to finish him off, and he caught him square in the face with his trooper helmet. To the bounty hunters surprise Daric had continued his death charge without a weapon, about the last thing he expected from the trooper, and they collided fiercely. The impact knocked both his pistols from the bounty hunters grasp, but he had the presence of mind to roll with Daric’s impact, plant a foot into Daric’s lower abdomen, and send Daric flying as they completed the roll. Both men were quick to their feet, despite the impact. Daric found himself looking down the bounty hunters arm, who was standing about ten feet away, as several small projectiles launched from his wrist and sailed toward Daric. Daric didn’t have time to react, and two of the three darts hit him. One bounced off the left pectoral piece of his armor, and the other smacked into and ricocheted off his helmet somewhere around the left eye and nose area. Daric was never so thankful for the white armor. The bounty hunter slowly lowered his arm.

Daric pulled his combat knife out of the sheath on his utility belt. The bounty hunter produced a short vibroblade from somewhere underneath his short cape that draped over his back. Daric took notice that this bounty hunter had a jetpack on, but without his helmet Daric guessed he wouldn’t risk using it in the forest, especially aggressively. They took a few jabs and swings at each other, testing each other. The bounty hunter made a faint that he was committing to a hard stab, then jumped back, Daric reacted, but instead of a defensive parry from the bounty hunter Daric got a face full of fire instead.

“Flame Thrower! How did I miss that!” Daric raised his arm to protect his face, but made the split second decision to carry through with his counter stab. The flame thrower had him and his knife outranged by several yards, and this was his only chance to get this close that he would have. The bounty hunter was counting on Daric to fall back away from the flames, where he could melt him to a puddle at will, but Daric’s training had forced him to make split second life or death decisions, not driven by instincts, but by disciplined reactions. So Daric reacted, pressed into the flames, and drove his knife into the bounty hunters abdomen, again the last thing he was expecting the trooper to do. This was not an instant killing blow, and Daric knew the vibroblade was headed his way. He extended his left arm and caught the bounty hunters arm at the wrist. With his right hand he angled his blade a few degrees and gave a quick upward jerk to his combat knife. He then let go of his knife and pushed the flame thrower well away from himself and gave the bounty hunter a firm shove.

The bounty hunter fell backwards to the ground, and Daric spun frantically in circles trying to see where he could go to best extinguish the flames, but he couldn’t see out of his helmet, and he dare not take it off. He could however smell his armor burning, and he could start to feel the heat through it especially at his joints. He ran a few paces, and dove to the forest floor and began rolling. He knew the fire would not extinguish easily, as the flame thrower left a combustible burning oil on every surface it touched. He rolled, and rolled and rolled, but it kept getting hotter. Then suddenly he had the sensation of falling, then BLACK…

[NexusLuke]

Part 4


He woke with a start, body jerking as his last known memory was that of falling. He was not falling now, that was a relief, but what had happened? All this flashed though his mind, and Daric opened his eyes. All he could see was the darkness inside his helmet. That was familiar… ah yes, the flame thrower. He tried to move a little, making sure all his faculties were in place. While he was stiff and certainly sore everything seemed in order, though he felt… heavy. He propped himself up on one elbow, and with his free arm he ran his gloved hand over the faceplate of his helmet and chest. He could hear the sound of lose falling dirt as he did so. It intensified as he managed to get to his knees, and sturdy himself against… against. Since it was clear he was no longer on fire he removed his helmet. He was in, a hole.

“Hey! You alive down there?” Came an all too familiar voice. “I was wondering if you were ever going to get up from your nap. Ahhh.”

Daric recognized Relsh’s voice and insufferable sense of humor, but his brother in arms must have really been hurting to let out an audible grunt of pain. A grunt that brought the top half of his helmet into view as he peered down at Daric, sending some loose dirt down with his gaze. Daric shielded his eyes from the falling particles, and started to put the pieces together. He must have fallen into Relsh’s foxhole.

“I came to in time to see you take a header into my cover. Ablaze I might add. Must have knocked yourself cold when you found the bottom. It was all quite a show.” Relsh added mater-of-factly, in his slow meticulous way of speech.

“Yeah, well it is a tad deeper now, thanks to that detonator… and you weren’t using it anymore. Plus you know I always seek to please.” Daric shot back, checking out the perimeter of his small prison.

Relsh shifted his weight slightly, speaking again. “That’s true boss, but it’s a good thing I saw you go down, and was able to drag my busted hind end over here and put out the barbeque pit. Sorry if I got some dirt on your blouse, but I was fresh out of water.”

Daric just let out a stifled sigh, and looked down to assess him armor. It was toast, but did its job well. The foxhole was now three to four feet deeper than it was before, thanks to the explosion, and was well over his head in the center. After a few minutes he managed to claw and pull himself out.

"Don’t worry buddy, I will get you out of here.” Daric said as he got to his feet, and got his first good look at his prostrate companion.

“Are you sure our company is dead?” Relsh inquired skeptically. “You didn’t exactly bolster my confidence when I seen ya come this way.”

Daric was pretty sure the bounty hunter would have bled out by now, but it never hurt to make sure. He took a very short walk around the stump blocking his view, and found his bounty hunter friend exactly how he left him.

“He’s down.” He said more to himself than to Relsh.

He meandered back over to the wounded man, exhausted and battered himself. “Now let’s get this armor off ya and see what were are dealing with.”

Relsh already had found a nice stick, and wedged it between his teeth. “I’m ready.” He said, words muffled by the obstruction.

Daric slowly loosened the fixtures that held the chest and back plates of the armor together. Even this seemed to cause quite a bit of pain. Painstakingly he worked to pull the plate, melted and burned clothing, and bits of fused chard flesh off of Relsh’s back. He finally got a good view of the wound.

“Looks like your back plate absorbed most of the blast.”

“Ohh yeahh? Relsh spat, still through clenched teeth.

“Your pretty lucky, doesn’t seem to be any muscle or deep tissue damage. It burnt ya pretty good, about eight inches wide. It’s pretty nasty, but you’ll live.” Daric tried to reassure him.

“Sooo lucky.” Relsh added sarcastically, and he spat his stick onto the forest floor.

“We will have to use our late friends supplies and fix you up a proper bandage. Can you stand?” Daric offered Relsh his hand.

“Can I stand?” He rolled onto his hip and sat up, clasping the outstretched hand. A sharp jolt of pain as his burnt skin stretched from the movement cut off the rest of his retort.

“We have one stop to make first.” Daric said as he slung Relsh’s right arm over his shoulder, and helped steady the man.

“Kam?” Relsh offered without another word.

Daric heaved a sigh. “Yeah.”

They slowly marched off in silence to where their brother had fallen. Daric left Relsh leaning against a tree, and stood above Kam. He reached down, placing a hand on Kam’s shoulder, and as he rolled him over he suddenly found a blaster in his face.

“Die Imp… Lethech?” Kam said in disbelief lowering the blaster off to the side. “I thought you were that bounty hunter, I was going to finish him for you guys. I thought you were all dead.”

“I thought for sure you were, you stubborn gundaark. What are the Imps going to have to do to finish you off?” Daric said trying to pull his friend to his feet.

“No! No.” Kam offered with a start, forcing Daric to abandon his effort. “They came closer this time than I would like to admit. Broke me up pretty good. I know I have several ribs broken. And there’s this.” Brent gestured to his left leg, where a small diameter tree limb was sticking in his thigh through a break in his armor.

“Is it bleeding bad?” Daric inquired, stooping to examine it himself.

“Not yet. I’m sure it will cut lose when I try to pull it out.”

“We will hold off on that for the time being.” Daric said, helping Kam take his helmet off, then standing again. “It will be dark in an hour, hour and a half tops. By then we need to have you both secured in that ship.”

"Isn’t that risky? That ship is complete exposed in the open.” Relsh piped up, not far away.

Daric stared at the ground as he weighed the decision again in his mind. “It is, but given our condition, what choice do we have? The ship should have medical supplies, fresh clothes, and hopefully some food. We will get you two bandaged up, rested, and move out at first light.”

“We are leaving? Giving up the mission?” This from Kam.

Daric exhaled slowly. “Yes. I’m calling it. We are in no position to engage anyone right now. We have expended most of our ammo, supplies, personnel, and done all we can here. We are no longer combat effective. The survivors have several days head start, if they haven’t made it to ground, or gotten off world yet, there is nothing more we can do for them.”

This brought nods from both men, as they reluctantly agreed. No trooper felt right about terminating a mission before it was seen through, no matter the circumstances, but it had to be done.

“So what’s the plan then... sir? Relsh said, managing to push a smile through his grimace, adjusting his grip, steadying himself against the tree.

Daric smiled coyly as an idea came to mind, triggering involuntary smiles from the other two men. “I think I know just the thing.”

[NexusLuke]

Part 5


It took nearly the full hour before darkness set it to make a crude one man stretcher for Kam, and to haul him and help Relsh to the edge of the tree line.

Once Daric had armed himself and the others with scavenged weaponry he checked over the ruins, and then cleared the ship’s various compartments and holds, he moved the two injured troopers to the medical room inside the Bounty Hunters starship, and closed and locked the main ramp.

The medical room was small, had one table similar to what the men knew to be found in most hospital surgical rooms, and a flanking bed on either side half built into the wall. Accompanying that was a couple metal chairs that were bolted to the floor, and various medical supplies stowed away in secure cabinets. The room was sterile, largely metal with a polished gleam, but had dim lighting that accentuated the grey look and bountiful shadows. The only bright light was situated on a pivoting moveable arm over the operating table, which each injured man was moved under to address their specific wounds.

Both men were given a stim shot for pain, and Daric went to work. After cleaning and stitching Kam’s puncture wound, they wrapped his ribs as tight as possible to help ease the discomfort of the cracked ones. Then Relsh’s back wound was cleaned, covered in ointment, and bandaged. These simple medical treatments went a long way to improving the morale and pain levels of both men, and they relaxed considerably.

“I’m going to get you boys something to eat. Any requests?” Daric inquired playfully.

“A nerf steak and a Corellian Ale for me.” Kam stated dryly never bothering to open his eyes.

Relsh said nothing, but smiled expectantly. This would be their first meal, other than rodent, in many days.

Daric found the small kitchen station, but it was not stocked with much of anything. He searched around some more and found a couple crates of Imperial rations in one of nearby holds. He gathered an armful and headed back to the medical bay.

Thump.

Daric heard the muffled noise, and in the blink of an eye he had drawn his blaster pistol, clasping the weapon firmly with two well trained hands ready to fire, sending an assortment of bagged meals clambering to the floor. While he was in a corridor that didn’t provide any cover, he took the opportunity to take a knee and make himself small against one of the side walls. He paused. Waited. Listened.

Thump. Thump. Came the muffled noise again. Daric’s eyes drifted to the floor a few paces in front of him. The sound seemed to emanating from beneath the floor itself. They then darted to a small control panel indented on the left wall of the corridor covered with what appeared to be a retractable clear pane.

Relsh’s frame came to view on the edge of the corridor that led to the medical bay. He had a blaster rifle and was on high alert along with Daric. The relief to find Daric alive was present in his eyes, but that soon washed to uncertainty as he saw no visible threat. He must have heard Daric drop the rations followed by silence and assumed an intruder was on board.

Daric signaled to the floor and control box, adding in a few gestures and commands. Relsh responded immediately and silently, shuffling quickly into the corridor and pressing against the wall Daric was on rifle trained on the floor.

Thump thump thump.

Daric slipped to the opposite wall, and moved down tightly against it to the control panel. He looked it over, and pressed one of six identical buttons laid out in a single horizontal row.

He saw Relsh’s rifle muzzle snap up, and he reeled to look behind him where the sharp sound of rushing compressed air was coming from, dropping to one knee as he spun around training his pistol on a… cage?

An entire panel of the floor decking had raised no more than three maybe three and a half feet into the air. It was framed in by steel bars no more than two inches apart, and seemed to feature a hinged door that opened inwards fitted with a hefty lock. It was probably a five by five foot square, and had another piece of heavy floor decking securing the bottom of the small cage. It looked like a kennel.

Daric tapped the same button again, and the cage slid smoothly into the floor with a hydraulic resonance, and sealed itself shut was a base reverberating thud, returning the corridor to normal. He assessed the floor quickly. Between each large square of floor decking was a two foot wide five foot long strip that seemed to separate the larger ones. He counted them out, three on the left side of the panel, and three on the other. Six panels or cages. He moved his finger over the appropriate one, and with a nod toward the floor panel closest to him on the right side of the control box he and Relsh readied themselves.

He pressed the button and the decking began to rise.

*More to come, maybe later tonight.*

[NexusLuke]

Part 6


As soon as the seal was broken, on the apparently sound proofed chamber, a chilling scream pierced the air. “…MEEE OUTTT!!!!” A feminine voice cried out. Abruptly ending as light penetrated her dark entombment.

Both men took a startled half step back, as this was not what they were expecting to find, nor hear. Daric appraised the captive. She was a human female with sandy blonde hair, bright blue tear filled eyes reddened around the edges from her distress. She was clothed in a dirty off white… pajama gown to the best of his knowledge, which functioned much like a very long plain shirt that came to her blackened and filthy knees. She was barefoot, her hair was somewhat tousled, and as she locked eyes with Daric he could see the only part of her bare skin that wasn’t dirty was where her fresh tears had cut through the grime. Her lips were dry and cracked. She was shivering, despite her best effort not to, and though she had just seemed terrified she froze in place in silent defiance. Hatred filling her eyes. She looked to be around twenty standard years of age, give or take a few years. Though she was petite her small cell didn’t give her enough room to stand fully upright, even on her knees. This cell, unlike the other they had just seen, had one wall of bars adjusted so that the girl could not fully extend her body even when lying down. Add to that the prisoner seemed to be held in complete darkness, and utter silence aside from what vibrations seemed to pierce the floor decking. Like the sound Daric had heard, which must have been the captive girl arching her back and throwing her weight into the roof of her cell propelled by her legs in a vain attempt to free herself, or be heard. Maybe she was just going crazy, Daric could not fault her for either.

Daric and Relsh exchanged a quick glance and lowered their weapons, standing speechless.

The captive girl was the first to speak. “Are you finally here to kill me?” She spat defiantly with a grainy parched voice, grabbing two bars with her bruised thin white knuckled hands. Still holding the lock she had with Daric’s eyes.

“Who are you? And what are you locked up for?” Relsh asked. Setting the stock of his blaster rifle on the floor and taking one knee.

She spun on her filthy knees to face him. “Why don’t you ask your friends?”

Daric glanced down, and back at the girl as he remembered they had stripped off the trooper armor from Relsh and Kam to deal with their injuries and they were wearing light casual clothes he had found on board. He was still in his armor, but it was chard to a crisp and unrecognizable.

“The owners of this ship were no friends of ours.” Relsh retorted. “And you didn’t answer my question.”

"It’s just another trick.” The girl resigned wearily. She fell back sitting down, and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, and started slowly rocking in the center of her cell, staring at the wall. “Just kill me already. I told you I don’t know where he is.”

Daric saw the girl thought they were hostile, and just directly questioning her would get them nowhere.

“Would you like some water?” He asked, pulling a bottle from one of his larger pockets on his hip. One of the only things he did happen to find in that sparse kitchen.

The girl didn’t even bother to look at him, until he stooped down and held it out with an outstretched hand.

She snorted. “Humph. You think I am going to drink that poison voluntarily? Not again.”

“Poison! Its water.” He stated defensively.

“Not poison, drugs.” She shook her head. “Not again.”

Daric exhaled through his nose. “Alright…” He screwed of the cap, and took a long swig. He was thirsty too after all. “Here.” He extended his hand again.

The girl eyed him suspiciously for a second then scooted over against the bars.
The bars were too close together to pass anything through. So he had to pour the water into her mouth. The exchange was awkward, and she chocked on as much water as she swallowed, but her thirst was so intense she never stopped.

Daric sent Relsh for a blanket, and he returned in less than a minute. A minute spent in silence as Daric weighed what to do in his mind. This they were able to pass between the bars. It took some tugging, but she managed to pull it through and wrap herself in it.

He started to move to the control panel.

“Wait! Please don’t!” She pleaded dropping her new prize from her shoulders as she darted up against the bars again. “Please.”

The words cut Daric like a Vibroblade, made all the worse when he turned to look at her. Her eyes were welling up again and like any man they pierced his defenses and pressed against his soul. He wanted to let her out, give her a reassuring hug that everything was alright now that she was safe, and send her to the nearest fresher with a stack of clean clothes. However, Daric had the responsibility of looking after his men, and he could not afford to let emotions and groundless compassion cloud his judgment.

He stood still for a moment looking at the floor, a slight hesitation, one that he would not have had for a man in a similar position. He grabbed at a small snapped capsule on his chard utility belt. It virtually crumbled as he did so, but he still produced an intact chem light. He broke it, gave it a few shakes and pushed it into the cage. “I’m sorry.” He said with pain in his voice, and he quickly pressed the controls.

In the couple of short seconds that is took for the cage to descend, she pleaded with him, her eyes burning deep into him as she fell away illuminated more and more by a growing green light. Then she was gone.

Daric walked a few paces back down the corridor where he had dropped the rations and collected them. He started to briskly walk back to the medical bay, passing a motionless Relsh who was leaning against the wall. As he passed he fell in line behind him.

“Sir?” Was all that Relsh said. All he needed to say.

“We can’t take the chance.” He said quickening his pace as if he could outrun Relsh’s questions and his guilt. “We have no idea what side she is on.”

“What side she is on? She clearly is no friends of the Empire.” Relsh said as they came through the medical room’s door. Kam was alert and tightly gripped his blaster pistol, relieved but brimming with curiosity.

Daric stopped and turned to face Relsh, depositing the things he was carrying on a small cart in the center of the room. “No. She is clearly no friends of THESE imperials. Maybe she is a rival. Huh? Maybe she is an Imperial assassin sent to kill this bounty hunter? Maybe she is a rival bounty hunter?”

“She doesn’t look like the type.” Relsh chided flatly. “Maybe she is a Republic sympathizer? Maybe worth collecting a bounty on?”

“Yes, she very well could be, but until we know for sure, we have to treat her as a threat.”

“She didn’t look like much of a threat.” Relsh said.

“No, but things aren’t always what they appear to be. Women… Women aren’t always what they appear to be, and so we must be careful.”

“We could have at least left her up in the light.” Relsh continued to argue.

“No. We have no idea who she is and what she is capable of. The best way to keep her secure is to leave her the way we found her. Unpleasant as that is.”

Daric started to get Kam on his feet. “Look. I want to let her go out of that pit as much as you do, but until we know she won’t kill us in our sleep we have to be careful.”

“He does make a good point Relsh.” Kam spoke up, hobbling along as Daric helped him into the larger common area. Relsh gathering up the food stuffs and following them.

“I know.” He resigned. “He always uses that irrefutable logic of his. I hate it.” Relsh said sternly, though smiling slightly as he grabbed a ration and fell into a plush couch. “Must be why we put him in charge.”

Daric was younger than both men especially Relsh, and of equal rank, but he had been that rank for a longer duration, if only by a few months, and thus had seniority. Soldiers often got promoted quicker in times of war. Daric was one that had moved through the ranks quickly after being recruited into Havoc squad, bypassing years of time where Relsh and Kam had served in lesser ranks. Nevertheless he had made his current rank before the others, and was placed in charge of his fellow Havoc squadmates.

Daric smiled as he settled Kam into an equally extravagant chair, handing him a ration. He passed out water bottles and plopped onto the couch a few feet from Relsh. They all started to dig into their food.

A moment passed and Daric spoke up. “We can discuss the girl later.” He chewed and swallowed a mouth full. “Our first order of business is to discuss how we are going to get out of this ship, and off of this rock.”

“Yeah… why don’t you tell us this… this great plan of yours.” Kam said trying to chew and talk at the same time, not very successfully. “Where are we going? What are we… going to do when we get there? And how… are we going to get there?”

Daric smiled. “Well, a few weeks back I was on patrol, in the very woods we came to love lately…” This got a snort of derision from both men. “… and I noticed an unusual amount of starship activity in the area.”

“In the woods?” Relsh said unconvinced.

“Yes. I believe them to be smugglers.”

“Smugglers? Within a few clicks of the smuggling contingency? One of the largest conglomerations of smugglers in this sector? In the woods?” Relsh shook his head and took another large bite.

“Yes, I believe so. And why not? Their activity would be covered up by the larger group and their shipping traffic. Plus the best place to hide is where you are not only hard to detect, but a place someone is not likely to look.”

“In a woods?” Kam barely made audible by the amount of food he had in his mouth.

“No… a gundaark cave under a Rancor nest.” Daric noticed the analogy did not immediately sink in. “A smaller predator disguised in the shadow of a bigger one.”

“Ahhh.” Kam said.

“So what are you going to do, if you find them?” Relsh asked, taking a long draw on his water bottle afterward.

“Get us enough credits to get ourselves out of here, and secure us on our way.” Daric stated, expecting the inevitable question.

“What? You think they are just going to give you credits for finding their hidden base? Or bribe money for not letting the region know about it?” Kam asked, starting to get a look of concern on his face.

“Nope. I am going to sell them something. Cut them a great deal they won’t be able to refuse.” Daric said, finishing the last of his ration.

“Sell them what?” Kam had stopped eating, his face awash with disappointment.

“This ship.” Daric said.

It seemed so obvious, and the light seemed to turn on in Kam’s mind. He nodded in approval stuffing the last of his food into his mouth.

Relsh remaind skeptical as always. “The ship?”

“Well since none of us can fly it and ourselves out of here why not? Besides, it might be tracked, or someone might recognize it and get us into trouble we can’t afford.” Daric said reaching for another ration, and tossing a second to Kam as he stared him down with expectation.

Relsh had already procured himself another ration. “Well, that doesn’t sound like the worst plan I have ever heard. It just might work.”

Daric spoke again after a moment of eating. “There is something else we need to discuss.”

“The girl?” Relsh said turning toward Daric, pulling one leg onto the soft sofa.

“Well that too, but later.” Daric said, taking a quick bite.

“How we are going to regroup with the Saints that are left?” Asked Kam.

“No. What happened that day? At the base?” Daric said feeling the horror of that day creep up inside him again.

They all were silent for a moment.

“We got caught up in a wrong place wrong time situation.” Kam ventured.

Daric’s tone became very serious. “No way. Not with the speed and precision of that assault. We were targeted, as were those smugglers. This was no average skirmish. This was a planned and carefully calculated extermination, and we are going to find out who did this, and why.”

“It was the Sith Daric, that much is obvious. Just another tragedy in a long line of tragedies in this war. There isn’t always a rhyme or reason.” Relsh said with a tone of sadness.

“Yes, you are right, but they couldn’t have spotted us and surprised us that easily and quickly. We had to have been infiltrated, or betrayed, and that is what we are going to find out.” Daric took another long drink.

“So why don’t we find the other survivors, and try to piece this puzzle together?” Kam inquired, tossing an empty ration bag onto the floor. “You know, pool resources.”

Daric addressed them with his raw logic again. “Right now everyone thinks we are dead. Surviving Saints included. If we show back up and announce the possibility to those we find, we will alert the traitor to our intentions to uncover them. More Saints might be lost in the feline and rodent games of flushing the traitor out.”

Relsh sat up straighter. “You think a Saint might have been in on this?”

“We saw several return to the base after it was destroyed, including Jao and Avissi.” Daric said plainly.

“To check for survivors?” Relsh advocated.

Daric looked Relsh in the eye. “To examine their handiwork perhaps. They did happen to be away during the attack.”

“So did we.” Relsh let his back fall against the couch again, looking to the refreshment table, his mind working.

“Look I am not accusing anyone of anything right now. I think we owe it to those who died, and those who are still living to find out what happened that day, and if any of our own had a hand in it. It might not be a Saint, it might have been a traitor or spy in the Republic personal stationed here. They did have inside information though. That much is clear.” Daric paused for a second before continuing. “Staying off the grid for a while will help us achieve these goals easier and safer. Not to mention we might have bounty hunters after us if anyone finds out we are alive.”

Kam sat up slightly in his chair, testing himself with the motion as pain tickled at his cage. “Then it is settled then.”

Relsh nodded.

“We leave this ship just before first light.” Daric concluded.

After a meal, and sitting down on the lush furniture the men were exhausted and about ready to fall asleep then and there, but their work was not done.

“Then what of the girl?” Relsh added.

“We have to discover who she is, and if she can be trusted.” Daric said standing.

“Me and Relsh will speak to here again briefly, and see what we can discover. Some food and kindness may go a long way to loosen her tongue.”

“Or cause her to lie.” Kam cautioned.

“Yes, that is where you will come in. While me and Relsh give her provisions and try to talk to her, you will access the ships database and see what you can learn about her. We will then compare notes. I don’t care who she is, we will not leave her to die in that hold. So we had better have answers by daybreak. I do not want to release a terror on the galaxy.”

“What if she is?” Kam stated as they helped him over to a computer console in the common area. “A terror I mean.”

Relsh answered. “If she is the enemy we will have to turn her over to the Republic garrison by Worlport on our way out of here. That may draw attention, people wanting to know on what authority we are doing this and all. We may have to impart some justice as an alternative.”

Daric glanced up from the computer terminal Kam was bringing to life. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. Lets go.”

[NexusLuke]

Part 7


His boots plodded heavily down the metallic corridor as he made his way back to the imprisoned mystery girl, Relsh trailing behind him. He didn’t know if the weight was from the decision of what they were going to do with her, or from not sleeping since… how long had it been? Daric could not recall getting a full nights rest since before the attack. Just an hour or two as situations allotted here and there. Even among the best trained, it took its toll, slowed the mind, reactions, and the senses.

“So what are we going to ask her now?” Relsh piped up, causing Daric to stop and turn to face him. “We couldn’t get anything out of her before.”

Daric held up a couple ration packs. “I am hoping some food and water along with the kindness we showed her already will help her to trust us enough to tell us something.”

“You mean locking her back in her dark cell?” Relsh added sarcastically.

“I mean the blanket and light.” He paused then continued. “You know as well as I do that prisoners should not even be given those things. They can fashion a crude knife, hang themselves with the blanket, or come up with all sorts of mischief with the most basic elements. It goes against protocol, you know that. Not to mention things don’t add up.” Daric glanced down the corridor each way for emphasis. “Why would they leave their ship unguarded? Why not leave a man or two behind? If they did leave sentries where did they go, and are they calling in backup? We have to entertain the idea that she may be one of them, trying to play us. At the very least she may not be friendly to the Republic even if she is enemies with this bounty hunter and his lot, as I pointed out before. She must earn our trust, not simply be given it because she is a pretty girl in a cage.” Daric set his hand on Relsh’s shoulder. “Just be patient, this will work itself out.”

Relsh just nodded in silent agreement. Daric knew the other man was fully aware of everything he just laid out. Like Daric he was just tired, and for once wanted to skip a corner. Daric knew that skipping corners got people killed, and this girl could not be granted an exception.

They continued down the corridor in silence the rest of the way. Daric first checked the other cells, to make sure they were all empty. Something they should have done before. He then activated the girl’s cell. As it rose they could see her curled in a ball under her blanket, chem light laying in front of her face, and she was fast asleep. In fact she did not stir until the cage completed its cycle and locked in the upright position. She woke with a start, and sprang to the back of the cage. After a few seconds she seemed to recall her situation and relaxed into her defiant disposition, but said nothing.

Nor did the troopers. Daric just opened one of the rations, took a bite to show it was safe and began poking small pieces of food through the narrow bars. She caught them urgently and after overcoming some skeptical hesitation began eating the morsels ravenously. It wasn’t until half way through the second ration, and another awkwardly given drink of water did Daric speak.

“Please miss. Tell us who you are and why you are locked up in here.” He handed her more food.

She stared at him, then Relsh, and seemed to be struggling with what to say, if anything. It was obvious she still believed this to be some type of trick. Finally she spoke, between chewing and full cheeks her sentence was muffled and hard to decipher. “I am a Republic citizen, and I have been taken prisoner for any information they can get out of me.”

The answer was intentionally vague, and she clearly didn’t trust them. There was clearly something she was hiding and didn’t want to reveal.

“You know we can’t let you out until we know who you are, and what side you are playing on. Why can’t we just skip all this nonsense, we need more specifics.” Daric prodded.

“She’s telling the truth. Well, at least part of it.” Kam announced, sliding his way along the corridor wall for support as he made small steps. “Only took me fifteen minutes to find an entry about her.” He came in normal conversation range lowering his voice slightly. “Says they picked her up on Nar Shaddaa, and they were counting on her leading them to a Jedi named Orson Ves. Seems he has a large bounty on his head.”

“So they were Jedi hunters.” Relsh chimed in.

“Well let’s get her out of there then. Kam see if you can override the door lock from that terminal.” He pointed down the hall Kam had come from to a terminal not far way. “We will try to find a torch or backup plan in case you can’t.” They all went their separate ways.

Daric had not found any cutting tools, but he had found some clean clothes for her. He vaulted over the cage, so he was on the side with the door and on the same side of the small cell as Relsh who had returned empty handed and Kam.

“There we go!” Kam said casually.

Daric saw the lock cycle, and heard it click open loudly. He tapped the cell door with his foot and it swung open. The girl began to crawl from the cell head first and Daric stooped down to give her his hand, but she didn’t take it. He took a step back, and she stood shakily to her feet. Her eyes met his and she was scowling, brow furrowed. The hair on his neck bristled and stood on end.

The chem light shot from the open doorway, and though he tried to dodge it, it struck Relsh with a ‘thwap’ causing a startled cry of pain from the man as it knocked him right off of his feet.

“Siiith!” Daric yelled, as he attempted to draw his blaster pistol. He barely got the word out of his mouth and his pistol half drawn as she shot out her arm at him. It seemed if a thousand tiny hands had grabbed a hold of his charred armor as he suddenly was flung through the air glancing off the corridor wall falling to a heap in the hallway, blaster pistol clattering to the floor.

Kam was unarmed, breaking the most sacred rule, one he immediately regretted. He fumbled frantically with the console controls, but all he managed to do was cycle the lock on the cell and cause it to start retracting into the floor. This drew her attention for a split second.

Daric clamored to his hands and knees, he had been thrown down a corridor of the T-sectioned hallway and could no longer see Kam, and only the feet of Relsh. Only the girl remained in full view still standing by her cage, and he made a desperate dive for his pistol. As he was lunging through the air a couple feet from the floor decking, he watched as his pistol skidded across the floor away from him, took to the air, and sailed into the outstretched hand of the blond girl. She leveled it at him but her head snapped ninety degrees towards Kam followed by the blaster and she squeezed of two shots.

Kam saw her bringing the weapon to bear on him and pushed off of the wall, diving into an open doorway directly behind the console. She missed, but the pain that racked his body when he landed on the floor took his breath away.

Daric jumped to his feet and rushed her, pulling his knife. She shot her hand at him again and his momentum was completely lost, he felt like he was suddenly submerged in concrete mix, movement next to impossible. He slowed to a stop a mere foot or two from her. This feeling only lasted for a second as she back handed him, a blow so fierce from a being her size it was clearly augmented by the Force. The blow spun him around a full rotation and his back collided with the corridor wall again, this time only a few feet from the prostrate Relsh. Before he could even react from the impact she descended upon him again. She threw herself into him, pressing him firmly against the wall her left arm braced horizontally across his crumbling chest armor, right hand pressing the cold muzzle of the blaster pistol harshly and painfully into the soft tissue under his jaw.

It all made sense now. The ultra-secure cell, the small confined space, the narrow bars so nothing could be drawn with the Force into the cell from the outside. It seemed too obvious now.

He tilted his head back to alleviate the pressure.

She pressed harder, and he could hear the power cell whine as it was primed to fire.

The chaos in those few seconds was over, and it was eerily quiet. The only sound that could be heard was their slow heavy breathing, Daric’s being forced from his nostrils, and they locked an icy gaze with one another as she spoke through gritted teeth to Kam.

“Come out now, or your friend dies!”

[NexusLuke]

Part 8


If it was possible, she pressed the barrel deeper into the soft tissue under his jaw, for emphasis. He tensed noticeably. He knew that Kam had heard the threat, but would not give himself up, that was never an option. No doubt he was scanning the room for anything he could arm himself with, for as far as Daric could tell he had come to meet them unarmed. A simple mistake that could have tipped the odds in there favor.

“Tell your friend to come out, or else!” She spat sounding desperate.

“He will never surrender to you… Sith Scum!” Daric’s words dripped like poison from the fangs of a viper. “And I will never put myself before one of my men, and bow to your wishes! So kill me now.” His last sentence turned to ice as it came through his clenched teeth.

“Sith?” The blaster drifted carelessly a few inches from under his chin, as her eyes widened slightly and her brow furrowed.

That was all it took. Instinct took over there was no conscious thought.

Daric shot his left arm up and to the side, pushing the blaster further from his body. As his body rolled left, his right arm followed like lightning with his upper bodies’ motion, and a tenacious fist slammed squarely into the nerve bundle of the girl’s agape jaw. He grabbed the blaster by its barrel housing, and wrenched it from her grasp as she involuntarily collapsed to the floor. This motion was a blur to the untrained eye. He snapped the blaster down and took aim, he would only have a split second to…

“Stop!” The girl yelled.

For a reason unknown to him, he did not immediately fire. The girl had fallen to the ground, holding herself upright with one arm, while the other slowly moved to her jaw, as she wobbled and tried to stay upright. Her world was probably spinning, and she seemed to be woozy. Kam bounded from the room clasping a small metal rod the best he could in his injured state. She must have known the next words out her mouth had to be good, or she was dead.

“I am no Sith…. I am a Jedi.” She claimed, as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Daric.

He saw in them no deception, and if he could detect anything it was relief.

She continued. “It seems both of us are a bit confused on who is on whose side here.” She slowly laid on her back, blond locks splaying on the decking as she seemed to be soaking up its refreshing coolness. Her blue eyes were sheathed by the dark eyelids as she tried to recover from her massive Force exertion and the blow she had sustained.

Kam dropped his makeshift weapon and it clattered on the decking, the metal on metal impact resounding down the long corridor. He leaned against the bulkhead and slumped down to the floor, exhausted and clearly in pain. He ran his left hand though his short cut brown hair, and sighed as he closed his eyes.

Daric was frozen in the same position, blaster still trained on the docile… Jedi? It took him a second to process what had happened, and he ran through their brief encounters. He turned to Kam. “Why didn’t the file mention she was a Jedi?” Without missing a beat or waiting for an answer, his head swiveled back to the girl. “Why didn’t you tell us you were a Jedi?” Without waiting for a response, his mind caught up with the situation, and he lowered the blaster and headed straight for Relsh, who was lying on the floor.

She responded as Daric set the blaster on the floor, and started to tend to Relsh. “I figured you either already knew I was. Or you were that Bounty Hunter’s latest trick in breaking me somehow. Either way, there was no benefit to revealing that about myself.”

Daric half listened, as he swiped blood away from Relsh’s neck to get a better look at the cut. He then applied firm pressure. “I need some help here. Relsh is bleeding badly!” Daric’s limited medical training did him no use here.

The Jedi girl was quick to her feet, and her sudden motion triggered a defensive response from Daric and he scooped up the blaster.

“Relax muscle head, I am coming to help.” She chided as she walked over and brushed him out of the way. She sat with her legs under her, and closed her eyes and placed her folded hands over the bloody gash on the still man’s neck. Daric could have sworn he saw the faintest of light, shining out from under her hands, but it was impossible to know for sure. A minute passed, and when she pulled her hands away there was still plenty of blood, but the cut was… gone.

Daric had heard of Jedi being able to heal themselves and others, but he had never seen it himself. While he was thankful, it gave him the creeps.

“He will be alright. His body can take it from there.” She stood and walked a few paces away, falling into silence.

Daric looked down as Relsh stirred. “Sith Witch!” He screamed suddenly, and wheeled to his knees. He scrambled for a weapon, eyes wide. “She… I’ve been hit!” He grabbed at his neck and seeing fresh blood his panic kicked up a notch.”

“Sergeant!” Daric sounded loudly. This stopped Relsh in his tracks. Daric laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s over. The girl is a Jedi, and she has mended your wound.”

A few seconds passed as Relsh processed the new information. Daric knew he would, and as if by cue a calmness washed over the man and he relaxed. “A Jedi? Well why didn’t she say so?” It was a rhetorical question. Relsh rubbed his chest where the projectile had first struck him, and then traced over his neck where it had then cut him on the way by.

No one said anything for several long minutes.

It was the Jedi who spoke first. “So who are you, and why are you here? …. Where is here?”

Daric looked to Relsh, and leaned into the bulkhead himself.

Relsh spoke up. “We are on Ord Mantel. We are Republic Troopers, Havoc Squad, originally assigned here to a protective garrison.”

“Originally?”

“Our base was destroyed by the Sith, going on four days ago now. We set up an interference screen to ward off any pursuers that might try to track survivors. We are all that’s left.”

“That’s your story?” The girl sounded amused. “That’s it?”

Daric stood straight again, pulling himself off of the wall. “That’s right. Aside from running into your bounty hunter friend and his posse, that led us here to this ship… to you.”

“You troopers sure don’t bother with the details do you?” She scoffed as she blew the hair from her eyes.

“Not sure you need to know everything, just yet.” Daric replied, crossing his arms. “Look. We are all tired, and some of us are in need of a shower.” He turned to Relsh, mockingly. “Or a second shower.” He pointed to the clothes he had brought out for the girl, before she attack them. “So why don’t you collect those, and head to a fresher.” He stooped down, and picked up one of the scattered rations that lay about the corridor, and tossed it to her. “A hot shower and a meal will do you some good.”

She caught the ration with the fluid grace of a Junepal Forest Cat. “Look who’s talkin.”

Daric did spare another glance down to his armor. It was beyond repair, and hope of salvage. Since arriving on the ship he had been attending to the other men and their prisoner, and he had not had a chance to clean up. He might need to take some tools with him to the fresher, as it looked like a few pieces had fused themselves together in his fire bath.

He and Relsh helped Kam from the floor, and with each man under an arm, started to escort him back to the common area of the ship.

“Have you troopers been so far removed from civilization that you don’t even ask for the name of those you encounter?”

Relsh indulged her. “Sure kid, what’s your name?”

Taking it in stride, she called after them. “Brin Tovah!”

Relsh had returned to his typical cynical grizzly disposition. “Yeah. That’s nice.”

Daric looked back over his left shoulder. “Once you get done in the fresher, meet in the common room. We have some things to discuss, Jedi.”

Brin gathered her clothes, and stuffed the ration under one arm. “I’ll say.” She spoke under her breath.