Hamner's Fall: "Revolution"

[GuardianElite]

This takes place a while back in the Alpha story line. Posting this so you can all get an idea of where the wedding planning is going.

[GuardianElite]

--Now that Shadow Fall is over, I am starting an in between story that leads up to my Legacy's war against the ultimate super-villan. Just to fill in some gaps. Hope you guys enjoy it--

Former Major of the Republic Army, RT-946 as he was widely known disconnected his Holocomm grimacing slightly. Since leaving the Army, he had taken up work with his younger brother, Marstel and business was relatively good, but there was some jobs he simply couldnt bring himself to do, his now disconnected Comm call being one of them. Sliding happily next to her husband, Master Dremmess Alpha leaned on him. She was happy that he was home more now, but now bore the burden of an unhappy husband most of the time. He missed the Army and she knew it. He would never say as much to her, having sacrificed his career to rescue his Son from an evil Republic project, she knew he wouldnt change a thing. That didnt make his missing the Army and now being effectively out of the War any easier. She held his hand as he looked at the Comm, considering something. He finally looked at her, forcing a smile to his lips. She leaned her head on his armored shoulder, speaking softly, part of her silken nightgown draping itself over his armored legs.

"Whats wrong, my love...bad Comm call?" He shook his head, still keeping the forced smile.

"Oh...its nothing. Marstel is frustrated with me, I can tell..." She frowned, knowing he was holding back, wondering how long it would be before he actually decided to come clean and just admit he was unhappy. She decided now might be the time to press the issue. Smiling sadly, Dremmess squeezed her husbands hand.

"If your so unhappy...just go talk to Jace. Get your commission back, go back in the Army." RT gave her an incredulous stare, releasing his hand and pacing away from the Holocomm unit.

"I don't regret what I did...but just because I'm out of the Army doesn't mean I can't still have the values it instilled in me." He frowned, "There are some jobs I just can't do..." Dremmess frowned at her husband. Although his brother Marstel appeared to be a decent person, he did have a certain moral flexibility that surrounded him. And there was also the company Marstel seemed to keep, Dremmess would never say anything to RT, but Marstel's little Zabrak companion, Kat seemed to be even looser in her morales than Marstel. She sighed at RT.

"What did he ask you to do?" RT turned looking down, he didn't want to confirm his wife's suspicions about his brother.

"He's got a bounty he wants me to go on with him, but...it's a Republic target. I just can't do that." Moving to the cargo hold, his wife close behind him, RT activated the lift system to shuffle some boxes around, Dremmess raised her eyebrow curiously.

"Are we expecting company?" As the lift continued its automated movements, RT smiled back at her faintly.

"No, just shuffling some stuff around. Marstel also has a shipping job he needs done, I told him I would take that instead...your more than welcome to come along if you want." He continued to smile at her expectantly. Although he really did want her to come along, he was not going to press the issue. Being a Jedi Master, RT knew she had responsibilities. If he pressed her, she would drop everything to be with him, but he already resolved a long time ago never to put her in that position. It was hard enough for her to be a married Jedi, he didn't want her to have to make those kinds of choices regularly. Besides, it was just a cargo run, they would have lots of 'play' time together, but for the most part it would be boring. And she was still fighting the War, even if he wasn't.

"I will go if you need me, Dear. The Beacon is planning a huge Operation and I have been summoned back to the Council. But, I could tell them no..." He raised his hands waving them dismissively and smiling brightly, hiding a slight sadness at having to feint happiness.

"No...no, you go baby...this is a boring cargo run. You have responsibilities..." She crossed the room putting her arms around his waist.

"Nothing is boring with you. If you need me, I will go with you. The Council can wait..." Turning back to the cargo movement he reached down with his other hand, not on the controls and squeezed her arms.

"I will be back before you know it. Perhaps by then you will be done and we can go off somewhere." She squeezed tighter, before slowly letting go and turning to leave the hold. Untying her robe, she let the sheer silk hug her body before letting it slowly caress her as it dropped silkily to the ground. Smiling wickedly she looked at him over her shoulder.

"I better go get dressed then...oh, I seem to have dropped my gown..." RT quickly stopped the machine, moving up close to hug her naked form from behind. He clutched her tightly, his hands wrapping around her replacing her gown.

"Need help?" He whispered hotly in her ear. She turned in his arms, wrapping herself up in his form.

"I always do..."

Drem's Jedi Corvette rocketed out of her hangar just as RT sat down at his piloting console. He watched her ship until it disappeared out of the hyperspace lane into oblivion, a slight sadness came across him. No matter how many times they made love, he could never get enough of her. For a moment he second guessed his decision to let her leave. Cargo run or not, he missed her when she was not around. As he listened to the silence if the ship, just sitting in his seat, he realized he was truly alone this time. His young Son, Uniform was spending his time at the Jedi Temple on Tython awaiting an appointment to be allowed to begin Jedi training. Porchia was off running races and becoming famous. Karolin had her own life, after being rescued off of Makeb, she had made the unusual decision to join the Beacon with Drem. RT had to scoff at that decision, he suspected that Drem had very little to do with that. Rumors were flying that she had met someone and was joining to be closer to him. All of the family was engaged, all of them had some part to play and for the first time, sitting in the pilot seat, RT felt completely useless. No longer part of the War effort, no longer a man of any importance, RT was now a nobody, simply anonymous. This is what it felt like to be out of the Army and for the first time, it really hit him. For the first time, his life had no significance. Reluctantly, RT powered up the impulse drives and maneuvered his ship out of the dock, looking down at the screen. He put the ship in the hyperspace lane, setting coordinates to rendezvous with Marstel's ship in order to pick up the cargo. Destination: Commenor.

Kat was acting strange. Since the robbery, she had been keeping to herself lately and trying to act as if she 'wasn't' keeping her distance. Marstel noticed, he noticed everything, but did his best to continue to act normal. Since giving her half the money, to which she acted strangely sad about taking, Marstel had noticed changes in her demeanor. She acted as if she was hiding something. Then there was the whole scene in the bar, she seemed oddly 'loving' toward him, overly affectionate. That night, they had actually spent the night together in his bed of all places for the first time ever. He had never seen her so affectionate, almost appreciative of him. The next morning, she was gone before he woke and the next time he saw her, she was back to acting strangely again. Had it not been for the night of extreme passion they shared together, he would have questioned her about it. Since he had never had her in his bed and never really knew how she would react to him really 'loving' her, maybe this was her response, maybe he would just give her time, or maybe he was just over thinking. But, one thing he was sure of, his own feelings, after sharing his bed with her and waking up to the emptiness of her being gone, the strange feeling he felt was something he never encountered before. Loss. Loss that the woman he was falling in love with was gone. That much he was sure of, he loved Kat. He shook his head, rubbing his hand over the Rock in his pocket. Perhaps he should just chalk all of this up to his lack of understanding about the female species, he brushed it aside, there was work to be done, a bounty to collect, but he had to get his brother on his way with the shipment of arms he was carrying. The proximity alarm sounded as he was standing by the lower cargo hold, another ship was approaching, it had to be RT. Marstel jumped up the stairs taking them two at a time, moving to the cockpit, it was indeed RT, his ship moving into range and positioning to dock with Marstel. Flipping some panel switches, Marstel locked his ship into its present position activating the magnetic docking clamps, RT would be on-board soon...

Crawling through the cramped port, RT emerged, Marstel offering his hand to pull him the rest of the way through to the deck of his ship. Standing up to his full height, RT stretched his back out, adjusting the armor he wore.

"Next time, lets do this at a spaceport Marstel...it's hard to crawl through there with armor on." Marstel smiled wickedly at his brother.

"Next time. Wear clothes, not Armor." Marstel gestured for RT to follow leading him to several small long military style tactical cases, stacked neatly, one on the other. RT raised an eyebrow.

"This is it? You need a whole ship to carry a few weapons cases? Hell, Marstel....you could have dropped these off on your way to your bounty." RT let his distaste for the bounty Marstel was going on bleed into his last words. Frowning Marstel leaned on another crate facing his brother arms folded.

"Could have been OUR bounty." RT shook his head kneeling down to get a closer look at the cases as he spoke.

"Look. I'm grateful to be working with you...seriously, I am....but I just can't go after a Republic target, not so soon after leaving the Army....I just can't do it." Marstel frowned, he tried to understand his brother. On one hand, RT had nothing but contempt for the Republic. The Organization was responsible for his role in Project Alpha and the kidnapping of his Son. On the other hand, RT still carried this suit of honor on him. Almost as if he was above anything as petty as some of the jobs him and Marstel did together. It was because if this suit if honor that Marstel had neglected to tell RT about his robbery on their other brother, Hamner. It was now that same suit of honor that had Marstel questioning their relationship with one another. At its heart, even though he didn't want to admit it, Marstel WAS an Imperial. And RT was a Republic Soldier, maybe not in current status, but definitely in his heart. At some point Marstel was going to have to get RT to face that if the two if them were going to have an future together. Pursing his lips, Marstel decided that today was not the day to do it.

"Have it your way. Your missing out on a huge amount of credits." For weeks RT had been trying to guess what was driving Marstel to save up so much Credits. Everytime he wod guess something, he always got a wry smile from Marstel. It had become sort of a game with them.

"A Hutt Pleasure Barge?" Marstel didn't give him the smile this time, instead sitting down on the crate he'd been leaning on, looking at him. Something had changed in Marstel.

"Property. Beach front property." RT looked up at him, a surprised look that Marstel had given in and ended their game after weeks if torturous questioning.

"You want a beach house?" Marstel nodded his head giving RT a serious look.

"I want to settle down. Retire. Live out my life in peace." RT had to stifle his laughter, Marstel was deadly serious.

"You? Live in peace? That kind if thing doesn't exist in us brother...that's impossible, the Project saw to that." Marstel stood up angrily, turning away and leaning into the crate, his hands gripping the sides.

"We were told we couldn't have children. You beat that one..." Marstel did have a point, reconsidering he decided to take his brother at his word.

"Ok. So beach front property, you have someone in mind to share this with or..." That brought Marstel back around, his lip turned up slightly, a smile for Marstel.

"Yea. At least I think I do." Marstel wasn't sure anymore. With Kat acting strangely anything could or could not happen at that point. Clearing his throat RT stood up, a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"If it's meant to be, it will be Marstel. Give it time. There is a whole universe of beach houses out there." Looking at his Chrono RT realized he was on the clock. "I gotta get going. I will Comm you after I deliver these..." They shook hands Mandalorian style grasping the forearm of the other as well as the hand, Marstel pulled him in for a hug.

"Careful RT. There IS a War going on..."

The klaxon blared too late to warn RT of the ships he was coming out of hyperspace close to, luckly nothing was in his flight path. Billringi was much like he remembered, Azure blue with patches of rustiness from the high pollution of the industrial sectors. But on his last trip, it wasnt surrounded by Imperial Warships. They hovered lazily around the planet, RT's ship had come into system at the outer Imperial picket line, but they made no move to intercept his ship. The Imperial formations looked well established indicating they had been here a while. RT frowned, it was strange that he had not heard anything on the Holo-net about an invasion. As the Holocomm message light began to blink, he soon found out why.

< "This is an automated message...By Order of his Majesty, the Emperor of the Galactic Empire; the Bilringhi System is under Imperial blockade. All vessels entering this system are subject to Search and Seizure. All vessels found in possession of material relevant to the aid of the enemy will be destroyed....This is an automated message...">

As the message began to repeat itself again, the Imperial accent of the speaker echoing off the walls of RT's ship, he began to get a sinking feeling. Crates of weapons, weapons that the Empire would definitely consider 'relevant' to the aid of those who opposed this blockade, were sitting in RT's hold. For the briefest of moments, he counted himself lucky he hadn't come out of hyperspace closer to the picket, he might have found himself in the death throws of a tractor beam. As he tried to casually turn his ship away from the picket and back toward Billringhi's hyperspace lane, the Holocomm abruptly activated indicating someone was using a system wide emergency channel, this Imperial accent sounded much like the pre-recorded one.

< "Republic vessel...this is the ISS Dominance, you have entered restricted space and are ordered to power down and prepare to be boarded...">

Having dealt with far too many Imperials in his military career, RT knew they would never believe he was a private citizen flying a military-grade Thunderbolt class, Trooper assault vessel...he cut off the Holocomm, counting the seconds until they would realize he was not responding. All the while he was plotting a new course in the Nav computer. He needed something close, anything close.... to hyperspace to.

Looking up from the Pit on the bridge of the ISS Dominance, one of the dozen tech officers signaled the deck officer on duty, "Sir, that Republic vessel. It's powered down its Holotransmitter." As the deck officer bent down to look at the screen, his first inclination was to simply tractor the ship; a fitting retaliation for making the Empire wait too long. The Deck Officer's movements caught the attention of the Captain, who on a normal day of picket duty, would have definitely left a menial decision such as dealing with a non-compliant ship to his underlings. But this was not an ordinary day and RT's ship was also, not ordinary.

"Deck Officer. Do you seriously expect me to believe that you do not recognize the class of that ship out there..." The venom in the Captain's voice caused the hapless Deck Officer to come to a rigid position of attention as he shot standing up ramrod straight. He did not lock eyes with his Captain.

"Sir...there are so many types of Thunderbolt class assault vessels...it could be a Smuggler...anyone could.." The Captain walked slowly around the man at attention, looking up and into the eyes of the taller man. He pointed down at the Technician's screen.

"Regardless...think about your words. 'Assault' vessel. And it is transmitting a Republic military transponder signal..." Looking out of the massive window on the bridge in RT's direction, the Captain spoke without looking back at his two Officers. "Destroy it. Darth Marr's orders were clear. No Republic vessels are to be allowed to approach Bilringhi."

Warning Klaxons blared inside RT's ship as he glanced down at the tactical display. The ISS Dominance committed all of it's missile batteries to fire on RT, over fifty Nova class heavy missiles were headed his way. Grabbing his helmet off the console he sealed it to his suit as the electronic systems on the inside booted up, indicating the same immediate danger. His HUD flashed an incoming message, redundantly...

< "Incoming Space to Space missile attack....survival probability 0%..."> He muttered under his breath....

"Yea...tell me something I didn't know..." Hitting the reverse thrusters, RT spun his ship to face the incoming attack. Nova class missiles were typically used to attack larger targets or vessels of the same average size of the Imperial Dreadnoughts, In RT's estimation if he could avoid the first few, he could get closer to Bilringhi and perhaps closer to being rescued after the destruction of his ship. His annihilation was a foregone conclusion, he only wanted to get close enough to perhaps use his escape pod. As he passed the first Novas, the wave, sensing it missed its target turned coming around to face the other four waves behind it, his ship rocked violently as the second wave hit home. The first wave detonated simultaneously.

< "Attention...Attention, Hull Breach...decompression in progress..."> Smiling slightly RT finally realized why all computers had female voices...to make a disaster seem that much more palpable.

"I should have programmed this thing to speak in Drem's voice..." He jerked the ship violently in the only direction the now shattered controls would allow setting it off in a violent spin. Bilringhi was still a long way off.

< "Estimate two minutes till complete system failure...repeat..."> As RT watched the windows of the bridge begin to crack, the third set of Novas hit its target, sending RT's ship forward and stopping the spin, he suddenly had an idea, slapping the console which was blinking with power intermittently. Activating the hyperdrive which he had set to stand by while plotting his escape route, he set it for a 30 second delay, consciously crossing his fingers. As he departed the bridge for the last time he patted the bulkhead.

"You've been good 'ol girl..." Activating the escape pod, he jumped in feet first sealing the door and counting down. If he activated too early he wouldn't get close enough to Bilringhi. His ship let out a massive cry as he heard the main deck break apart from the rest of the frame, it rattled against his door. A last warning for him to get out. RT kicked the release as his hyperdrive activated, carrying with it his pod and the last remaining pieces of his noble vessel. The pod tumbled out of control as his helmeted face smashed into the interior of the pod control console. The Thunderbolt exploded propelling his escape pod even further toward Bilringhi. He tasted the vestiges of blood as he started to black out, a familiar computerized voice the last thing he heard.

< "Escape pod compromised...estimate Bilringhi atmosphere in 3..2.....1....initiating Trooper air drop protocol...">

Dremmess walked back into the main deck of her ship, a hand behind her neck as she stretched, moving her head in a circular pattern, massaging. Her schedule had been greatly increased lately. The Beacon in last minute preparations for the assault on Balmorra had set schedules to rehearse tactics almost 24/7 not leaving much time for anything else. As Dremmess placed her lightsaber on the table next to the center transmission console she turned on the Holonet to catch up on some sports, curious to see where Porchia was currently on the Galactic Pod Racing standings, what she got was news.

< "....Darth Marr's fleet continues its attack, initiating a blockade on the Sovereign world of Bilringhi...the attack which was actually launched two weeks ago was deftly disguised as a fleet of Trade Federation Regulators, the Imperial Fleet jumping in behind the decoys and initiating a Communications black-out....GRN was able to obtain this footage from the Capital City...">

While listening to the report she glanced down at her transmission console, frowning slightly. It was strange RT hadn't even messaged her...

Kat jumped over the retaining wall trying desperately to keep up with Marstel, who was chasing their latest mark. He glanced back at Kat a questioning eyebrow raised at her, she was slow for some reason, he usually was trying to keep up with her. Taking out the Rangefinder on his hip, Marstel shot wide missing his target, but firing two more shots, he landed the third dropping the Republic Captain. The Captain rolled slightly sideways grabbing his leg where the shot landed. Kat finally caught up with him, putting her hands on her knees and bending forward at the waist, gasping breath. Marstel sprayed the Captain without a word to him, the Carbonite freezing the Officer in place. Clearing his throat Marstel glanced over at Kat as he worked. "Movin a little slow today, ain't cha?" Kat stood up massaging her leg and touching some of the sore spots on her body. She sneered at Marstel.

"I'm just a little sore...it will pass."

After placing their target in a stasis field back on the ship, Marstel activated the Holocomm to contact the buyer, letting them know he had the target. The blinking red light of a saved message interrupted his transmission. As he activated the message playback, Kat sauntered in drying her hair with a towel curious as to whom Marstel was talking to. He looked back at Kat strangely, again her act of taking a shower without even the hint of inviting him or telling him what she was doing annoying him slightly. Shaking his head he activated playback and immediately sneered...the image of his brother, Hamner filling up the screen. Kat's face paled immediately as she quickly looked away, glad that the image was not live.

< "Dear brother...let me be the first to express my deepest condolences at the recent loss of your business partner...our brother RT. These images were captured by the ISS Dominance....">

Marstel watched in horror as the last pieces of RT's ship exploded from the Imperial rocket attack. The screen finally dimming as the light from the explosion died out. Kat had already stopped drying her hair and turned three shades of a deeper red at seeing Hamner's image, she skulked back away off of the deck to hide her embarrassment.

< "Again...I am truly sorry...do send me an invitation to the funeral. It will be with Full Military Honors? Oh I do love a good show..."> The transmission ended with a smattering of hideous laughter as Marstel slumped down in the control chair, eyes focused on the deck. He sighed heavily moving to the cockpit as Kat had managed to sneak back into the area.

"Marstel? What are you doing? We have to deliver this mark...our credits? Remember?" Marstel moved his hands over the controls as she spoke finally turning sadly to look at her, his face a mask of devastation.

"Tython. Bad news doesn't get better with time..."

[GuardianElite]

--Nobody here knocking at my door—
--The Sound of Silence I can’t take anymore—
--Nobody ringing my telephone now—
--Oh how I miss such a beautiful sound—
--And I don’t even know how I survived—

-Armin Van Buren-

Wind whipped the plas-cloth parachute up and over RT’s limp form, he unconsciously rolled into it wrapping up from the chill. His armor’s environmental controls long since destroyed he was still out cold and his body was reacting to a new environment. As he lay there, the rebel patrol was just cresting the ridge unable to see the parachute billowing softly up and over his body, still catching some light air. It wasn’t until several members of the patrol broke off to look for the crashed escape pod that they even got close to him.

“Erryn! I told you I saw it over here!....See! If you would open your eyes the smoke is comin from that direction!” Erric yelled at his Sister, pointing in the direction of some smoke coming just over the ridgeline. Erric wasn’t much to look at, a gangly boy of about 14 his youthful features showed through the collection of Seperatist, Rebel and Imperial armor pieces he wore. They rattled as he walked, all of the uniform pieces different sizes and different colors, he resembled a walking junk droid. The fact that neither Erryn or Erric had a shower for a while, they smelled like it to. But his eyes…his eyes were no longer innocent. Not yet the eyes of a hardened killer, but not quite that of an innocent child they carried a sad experience behind them, They were aged well beyond the years he had been alive. Erryn, placed her hands on her hips, although her armor didn’t rattle like her little brother’s, they were still a hodge-podge of different materials, types and colors. She looked more like a mercenary type, not truly caring what armor she wore, not caring if it matched, but rather if it was effective. Squating down she took out a pair of Macrobinoculars, looking in the direction her little brother had pointed out, now quite sure he was wrong. She gave him a smart smirk.

“Tell you what ‘tough guy’, you go on ahead in that direction…I’m going to go around the ridge the other way….we will meet up on the other side.” Erric nodded quickly taking on an air of seriousness as he rattled away, still having trouble keeping his large armored pants up. Erryn smiled playfully watching him leave. Although he was serious about their ‘little rebellion’ a fighter, he would never be…but, then he hadn’t gone through what she had when the Imperial’s invaded. Looking through her ‘binos’ in the opposite direction, she saw the smoke was being carried in the direction she had sent her little brother in, but the true target was in her direction. She licked her dry lips, another Imperial to kill perhaps, maybe even some supplies to be had. Her and her band of Rebels desperately needed anything they could get. She moved up over the ridge to high ground, taking the optics out again to get a better look and saw the crashed pod. As she panned around the crash site, she was positive she saw an Orange and Red emergency chute…as she zoomed in, she was now sure. “Damn…” she whispered taking out her vibro-knife and cutting a small slice of Billringhi apple, plopping it in her mouth, “Hopefully, they are already dead…” She sheathed the knife, pulling the power cell charger on her ‘re-appropriated’ rifle and moved off in the direction of the crash site.

Annoyingly, RT slapped the side of his busted helmet, the emergency signal had been echoing in his head since he had laid there. As it finally gave out and died in his internal speaker, his ears were still ringing with the tone. With no way to use his internal systems to give himself a once over with the medical sensors, he had to rely on feel. He groaned as he tried to move, finally just laying his head back down in the dirt. “Maybe just a few more minutes…”, he whispered as he closed his eyes to just lie peacefully.

Eryyn approached cautiously, her weapon pointed down, but at the ready. She could have sworn she saw the armored figure under the parachute move…Keeping her weapon pointed sideways at the figure on the ground, her first instinct was to just stick a knife in it, just to be sure, but her hunger and greed got the better of her as she glanced over at the pod and the myriad of discarded materials all over the place. As she looked in the pod, she would look over at the motionless figure under the parachute every so often. Dead bodies still got to her, she always thought she could see them moving after death, not major movements but a hand raise or a leg shift. It had been that way since the invasion, but she would never share that with the others, they would have wrote her off as crazy. She stopped sifting through the pod contents and stared at the figure a second, it wasn’t dressed like the others and none of this stuff looked like Imperial materials; there were no markings or insignia of any kind. Shaking her head, she realized it could be a trick….this could be the Imperials trying to infiltrate her group, but again she could just be paranoid. The figure under the parachute groaned as she quickly brought her rifle up almost dropping it. ‘Did it groan?’, she thought and began to stalk slowly toward the figure. A piece of metal that had been sheered from the escape pod’s decent through atmosphere, groaned out next to her as she quickly turned firing repeatedly into it. RT sat up quickly….

Sitting up quickly, RT caught sight of the strangely dressed Soldier, firing into his escape pod and tilted his head slightly. His senses began to return to him almost immediately as he realized his person was not a ‘friendly’, he didn’t know who this person was. He reached on his hip to draw his blaster, realizing he didn’t have one as the firing stopped in front of him.

“Don’t you move! Not one….move! I will kill you where you sit, Imperial!” RT looked up into the face of the young girl, who couldn’t have been more than Porchia’s age. Blonde hair billowed out from under her helmet as she slowly stalked toward him. She looked dirty, black stains on her makeshift uniform and on her face as she sneered at him. RT slowly raised his hands painfully, giving out a slight grimace as he did so.

“I’m not an Imperial…I’m just a guy who got caught up in the blockade and crash landed…” RT was counting her paces as she still walked toward him, she wasn’t a trained Soldier that much was clear. A trained Soldier would have stopped at range and at an angle to keep a would be unarmed attacker at bay, she continued to move forward.

“I….dont care. You are some place you don’t belong and I can’t take any chances…” Reaching forward quickly, RT snatched her and the rifle forward as she squeezed the trigger, the plasma burning his glove and the ground next to him. He rolled over on top of her as she struggled to get free, pinning her hands out to her side. The rifle rattled away landing close by.

“Are you crazy?!?! You could have killed me!!!” RT exclaimed, trying to clamp down on the struggling girl. As she struggled, RT caught sight of her eyes, a deep green, just like his daughters, that was just enough distraction as she brought a knee up between his legs hitting him the MOST important of male places. Grimacing and grabbing his crotch he rolled off of her as she scrambled in the dust for the rifle. As RT got up he heard the familiar whine of a weapon power-up, raising his hands again he stood.

“That wasn’t smart Mister….not smart at all…” Erryn pointed the rifle at RT’s head, conviction in her eyes. RT shook his head at her.

“Not very trusting are you? I tried to tell you I’m NOT Imperial…” Erryn considered for a moment before emphasizing with the rifle again.

“Ok…What’s the Capital of the Republic?” Either way RT would have answered, he was dead and he knew it, he could see it in her eyes…she had no intention of letting him live. Again her lack of military training shined through as she took the barrel of the rifle off of his head, placing it on the armor of his chest. Keeping his hands raised he answered softly.

“Coruscant.” She punched the barrel into his chest as she clenched her teeth.

“Wrong Imp! It’s Tython!” RT quickly again grabbed the rifle out of hand, spinning her around as he did so, bringing the rifle to bare on her. He pointed the rifle at her non-chalantly as she slowly emerged from her spin, this time her own hands raised. Someone had to break this aura of mis-trust between them if he was going to get anywhere, spinning the rifle around quickly in his best military flourish he handed the weapon back to her, speaking softly.

“It’s Coruscant…”

Marstel landed on a private pad located in the back of the Beacon’s compound, as he disembarked from the ship with Kat slowly in tow he was greeted by a harsh low voice.

“’ands up..’unter. An don move a muscle.” Lieutentant Shampine held his rifle up to his shoulder, gesturing with his head at the two Marines flanking him, “Search him.” Marstel slowly raised his massive arms as the two Marines removed his Rangefinder blasters, dropping them on the floor. “Now just be still, big fella. This is as far as you go…Master Dremmess is comin to ya.” Shamp kept his rifle trained on Marstel as Kat backed off toward the rear of the ramp, he shook his weapon at her, “You too, missy…just keep em where I an see ya.” The entourage of personnel arrived in the hangar as Shamp held him at bay, Karolin leading the pack. She broke out in a run glaring at Shamp angrily.

“You going to shoot my brother, Shamp?” He lowered the rifle slightly, looking over the stock at her. She put a hand on the barrel lowering it further.

“e’s an Imperial. And I ave orders…e’s not ta move.” Dremmess cleared her throat as she finally caught up with Karolin also giving Shamp a slight grimace.

“And…also my brother in law…lower the weapon.” Shamp reluctantly lowered the weapon gesturing for the two Marines to return to him as he did so.

“Tha’s your problem, but I’m not going to be moving from this spot, e can say what e has ta say from right there. e’s not coming in the compound.” Karolin gave her new boyfriend a slight grimace as he spoke, but chose not to say anything. Dremmess looked up at Marstel smiling, but quickly lost the smile when she saw his face.

“Marstel. What’s wrong? You don’t look well…I must say your communication was vague, I had to pull a lot of strings to get you permission to land.” Marstel slowly lowered his hands glancing at all of them before speaking.

“Need to talk to you.” He gestured for Dremmess to come aboard the ship. As she did so Karolin stepped up on the ramp and Marstel raised a huge palm to stop her. “Just her.” Shamp again raised his rifle and Dremmess gestured for him to lower it.

“It’s ok, Shamp…there is no threat here.” They moved up the ramp into the ship, a sense of impending doom began to rise in Dremmess as she realized this had to be about RT. He hadn’t Comm’ed her or sent her any messages. She slowed her movement slightly as Marstel urged her on. Stopping in the doorway, she grabbed the frame. “This is about RT isn’t it…Marstel tell me.” Marstel turned slowly not making any movement toward her, he had no idea how to do this. Planning to show her the images sent to him by Hamner, he now had to face that she was not going to make it that far. Nodding slowly, he reached out with his hand taking hers to help her over the threshold. She clutched the frame not moving, slumping slightly, “NO! You tell me now…” Marstel squatted down to look eye to eye with the now falling Dremmess.

“He’s gone…”

She now fell completely to the floor, hand clasped over her mouth. Unable to cry, or speak she simply stared at Marstel. He stood up to his full height, looking around nervously, not really sure what to do. Finally after a brief moment, Dremmess let out a shrill scream, followed by uncontrollable tears and Marstel let her be. The others came up the ramp quickly, Shamp looking around at everyone, weapon at the ready, but seeing no threat just stood down the ramp. Karolin bent down putting a hand on Dremmess as she angrily looked up at Marstel.

“What the hell, Marstel??? What did you do?” Marstel just shook his head, for the first time his own emotions beginning to emerge, but still remaining silent. Dremmess turned looking at Karolin then back at Marstel, shaking her head uncontrollably.

“No…no…he’s not dead! Your lying Marstel, your lying! He’s not dead…” She began crying again at her last word falling into Karolin’s robe to sob as Karolin looked up at Marstel mouthing the words, questioning.

“RT?” He merely shook his head again, confirming his Sister’s question, as she too clutched Dremmess leaning her head down into her hair and began to sob.

[GuardianElite]

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Gods....they hate change.

--Plato


Dremmess stood in the center of the circular room, the U-shaped table laid out before her. Her eyes were locked on the back of the room, no emotion. The eyes all around the U-shaped table were locked on her as they watched her clasp her hands behind her back, tightening them visibly. Master Darnell Othone was the first to speak, looking at his fellow Council members.
“I do not agree with this course. “He frowned visibly at Dremmess before glancing at the other seated members. “The evidence is clear…and it pains me to have to confirm the obvious. Master Alpha…your husband is gone.” Dremmess shot a glare at Master Othone as Master Melodie Vandolen interrupted the reply she knew was to come from Dremmess.

“What we are trying to say, Master Alpha is that…now is not the time for the Members of this Order to go off on their own….in search of ‘something’ that we are sure would only bring you further grief. We have a mission to perform, a battle to fight on Balmorra and….we need you.” Dremmess now glared at everyone around the room, she couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

“You all never approved of my marriage! Don’t sit there now and pretend that this doesn’t give you ALL some measure of satisfaction! I’m going! You can have my resignation if you wish…but, either way, I’m going!” The Grand-Mistress could sense the darkness once again rising to re-assert itself in Dremmess, something she was not prepared to allow. As the other members of the Council looked at each other confused by the hostility being shown at them, Master Aylayi stood, walking around the side of the table, laying a hand on Dremmess’ shoulder.

“A moment if you please….Master Alpha…” The Grand-Mistress looked at the other Council members, “Ladies and Gentlemen….if you would….give us the room and a moment of privacy.” As they solemnly obeyed and filed from the circular room, Dremmess kept her eyes locked on the far wall not glancing at them and not glancing at the Grand-Mistress, who had now half-seated herself on the edge of the table facing her angry Master. The large door slid shut and there was a brief moment of silence as Master Aylayi shifted nervously. “…So yea, we all didn’t exactly approve of your marriage, but we ‘accepted’ it, we trusted in the Force….and allowed it to lead you where it would…” Dremmess moved her eyes over to her Grand-Mistress, but quickly moved them back forward. “You don’t think your being a bit harsh…maybe a bit rash in your treatment of me and the others on this Council? ‘WE’ are not responsible for the death of your husband…’we’ are not responsible for most if not ‘ALL’ of the bad that has befallen you as of late…yet you treat us, as if we are the ‘bad guys’.” Dremmess relaxed slightly, her anger decreasing, finally turning to face her Master.

“If there was a way…RT would have found it. RT would have survived. I owe it to him to at least—“ Master Aylayi slapped the table getting her attention.

“You owe it to us!” She took in a deep breath, “I have never said anything to oppose any decision you have made, even when I thought I should…” Master Aylayi walked to the large door, the only entrance to the room, speaking away from Dremmess. “Consider this. You have a family…two families actually. You have a Son, who needs his Mother. You have us…your family in the Force, who have never wavered who have always been there to support you…” As she punched the button to exit the room, Aylayi looked back briefly, “…and, we have a mission to perform, your family needs you…BOTH families. Ask yourself, what would RT do? Would he leave everyone behind to follow some blind crusade, knowing you were dead? Would he forsake his duty to those around him, with no hope of finding you?” Dremmess turned suddenly watching her leave, she lowered her head slightly. Perhaps it was time for her to accept the truth, RT was truly gone and was not coming back.

All around the campfire, the children laughed and poked at each other. The noise has roused RT from his slumber, he looked at his cracked Chrono….had he really slept for 12 hours? Sliding out of the makeshift shelter he had created out of the parachute and bits and pieces of the escape pod, he slid his armored pants on painfully. Even though genetically, RT’s advanced healing should have taken over and begun to heal his body, without his medical scanner he couldn’t tell what internal injuries he had sustained. Not to mention at some point, the pod had ejected him due to some sort of damage it had sustained, there was no telling what was going on inside him. Resolving at some point to actually pull the flight recorder from the pod, just out of curiosity, to see what actually had happened; he pulled the torso portion of the body suit over his battered torso sealing it to the pants. Erryn sat closely in the darkness, watching him. As he emerged from the tent, only in his undergarments, she turned away briefly, slightly embarrassed before slowly looking back anyway to watch him dress. She was intrigued by him, on the march back to the camp they had hardly spoke, but she was very observant of his movements. Even without his technological advantages to back him up, he was well-trained, she could tell. Moving her and her brother around and underneath things to avoid Imperial seeker droids and patrols, they arrived back at camp unfettered. The cup of caf steamed in her hand as she watched him pull the body suit over his torso, again she turned slightly red not sure why she was feeling a sudden warmth come over her. Stumbling out of the darkness, she led with her hand on the cup, smiling as she approached RT.

“Brought you some Caf…thought you could use it after…” RT glanced up at her as he snapped his boots into place, finally reaching for the cup. He noticed her face was washed and could see the slight redness in the cheeks.

“You change your hair or something? You look different?” Erryn brushed her blonde hair out of her eyes, looking away slightly.

“I washed my face…we don’t like to use what little water we have on hygiene, but you mentioned on the way back…” she stopped talking turning slightly redder. RT sipped at the Caf, all business. Looking at the Chrono on his wrist, he looked at her inquisitively.

“You let me sleep for 12 hours? Why?” Erryn smiled down at him, shifting her feet slightly.

“We all thought you could use it, you looked rough when you came in…and after you set all this up.” Setting the cup down and standing to place his torso armor on, he fastened it looking at her.

“Well…thank you. And thank them…I appreciate it. My body is busy telling me that I need it, in fact I probably need more…” He chuckled picking up the cup and moving with her to the campfire, the laughter died down as they approached, most of the children standing as the black and yellow trooper approached. RT nodded at them all before finally sitting down among them, hands outstretched at the fire. There was a strange silence as they all watched him. Erryn had told them about how he had disarmed her practically twice and how on the way back he had shown them how to avoid the Imperials. RT looked around a bit unnerved by the silence finally smiling at them all around the fire.

“Please…don’t let me interrupt. You all sounded like you were having fun.” RT looked around, instinctively trying to guess where they were in relation to the enemy. With the kids being noisy and flooding the valley with fire light as well as artificial light, they were a ripe target for any Imperials who might send out a seeker or a patrol. Erryn sensed his change in demeanor, laying a hand on his arm as he looked around.

“It’s ok…our parents brought us here before…well before they…uh…were ‘killed’. It’s safe…we have had no trouble since we’ve been here.” Realizing she still had her hand on his arm, she quickly withdrew it as RT continued to look around finally settling his gaze back on the others. Finally satisfied that they were safe, RT had expected to be greeted by an adult of some sort, instead all he saw were children, perhaps the adults were off doing other things. It hadn't dawned on him what Erryn had said, that her parents were 'killed', the grogginess of fatigue still engulfing his senses. Several of the kids scooted closer to him, one handing him a can of Imperial rations, obviously stolen and already half eaten. RT was hungry and wanted to tear into it, but decided decorum was his best choice, he lifted the spoon from the can, eating slowly as the questions started.

“What’s your name?” Erryn looked at the child who asked it with slight hostility, mostly directed at her as she realized she hadn’t even asked him that. RT sat the can down, this was something he had to consider briefly. Protocol usually dictated, when in hostile territory, one would only give their Name, Rank, Service Number and Unit of Assignment. But, these kids were hardly hostiles and although obviously behind enemy lines, he wasn’t captured. Smiling at the young man who had asked the question, he cleared his throat. There was no need to alarm them.

“I’m Treavor…that’s my birth name. I haven’t used it in a while, but you can call me that if you want.” That seemed to satisfy most of the kids, one of the older ones standing toward the back, twirling a pistol was not convinced.

“What do you use, if you don’t use Treavor?” RT looked at the young man, sizing him up.

“My designation is not important. I don’t go by that anymore…I was once in the Army, I have been considering going back to my given name, now is as good a time as any.” Picking up the can RT began to eat again, as the young man with the pistol twirled it twice before holstering it and glaring at the black and yellow warrior.

“It’s important to us…see, some of us are not so convinced you’re NOT an Imperial…some of us are still trying to decide if we should let you stay or not.” Erryn stood up angrily to face the pistoleer, getting nose to nose with him.

“You’re not running this outfit Bein…I am. And I say he stays!” She looked around the group for any disagreement, not getting any she sat back down. RT laughed slightly, speaking with his mouth full.

“Outfit. You call this an outfit? You’re a bunch of kids….speaking of which, where are the grown-ups, I don't have time to answer a bunch of questions, from a bunch of kids...” That brought collective glares from all of the children seated at the fire. The one called Bein, stepped into the glowing light of the campfire.

“Yea…well, these kids…have attacked more Imperial’s in this sector than anyone else…” One of the other children spoke up speaking softly.

“We’re the only ones doing the attacking…” RT glanced around at the group finally settling his gaze on Erryn.

“You mean there is no defense force…any organized resistance in this sector?” Erryn looked at RT sadly.

“They are all dead. Wiped out in the first few hours of the Invasion…Treavor, we are 40 kilometers behind the lines. There is no army here.” RT stood pacing around, angrily. In his heart, RT had planned on staying a few days to get his bearings and then moving off on his own to locate a sub-space transmitter to perhaps get a message out to his wife. Now things had gotten much more complicated. He turned looking at the children, his hands on his hips.

“And you all have been out here…on your own, surviving…no adults around at all?” Bein stepped closer to RT a sneer still present on his face.

“Who needs em? We are doing just fine on our own…” RT shook his head thinking of his own children. Knowing he would go absolutely mad if his kids were out in the wild on their own, behind enemy lines. He suddenly realized, there was no one coming for these kids, their parents were either dead or captured. His heart sank. Bein continued his aggressive approach to RT. “Come to think of it. We don’t need you either…” he looked back at the group by the campfire, “…aint that right boys…we don’t need no old, washed up Spacer draining our resources…” Bein went for his pistol as RT clasped a hand over the hand drawing the pistol twisting it, pushing Bein away. As Bein looked up RT was standing over him, his own pistol in hand. RT tossed it back to him.

“Yea…Bein is it? You’re doing real well here, barely surviving…” RT closed the distance helping the younger man up, the collective ‘Ooo’s and Ahh’s’ already emanating from the crowd at seeing RT put one of their best on the ground. RT stretched a leg over the log, sitting back down in front of the fire. The fatherly instinct coming over him, these kids needed direction, he was about to give it to them. Erryn looked around at the others, wanting to ask the question no one else had.

“Sir…you obviously know ‘stuff’…are we…could you…” she let her words trail off. RT looked at all of them.

“My designation is RT-946, I am or rather was a Major in the Republic Army. I was trained as a Republic Commando before my recent ‘retirement’ from the Army and I have been fighting the Imperials for some time. And yea…I know stuff….” He stood letting the light from the campfire cast an evil glow over him. His decision made, he could have no dissention. There was different types of leadership, this situation called for a more authoritative approach. These kids need to be directed before they could think on their own, much like a group of raw recruits. “Now listen up..." He dashed the remaining Caf out of his cup and onto the fire, "From now on…I’m running this show. You all will follow my direction, no more going off on your own, no more excursions out of this safe zone, until we get the lay of the land, find out what we are up against…” RT looked down at his busted helmet, “The first thing we need to do is get an inventory of what we have to work with and what we need to survive, we may be out here a while.” Looking at Erryn RT tossed the helmet at her. “I need to get this online…have you guys been stashing components, parts of any kind that I could use to get my armor back in order…” he glanced at the various pieces of armor all of the kids wore, “It’s obvious you all have been doing some sort of outfitting to yourselves…” The group was silent, no one moved or even breathed. This was not the response RT wanted or even needed from all of them. He kneeled down looking into the fire, perhaps too much 'authority' all at once was too much to bare, he softened his tone. “Look…I know none of you asked for this…Force knows I didn’t…I had planned on resting up and moving on to find a transmitter to call for help, but that was before I realized that there were NO adults around to protect you…” Erryn stood holding the helmet in her arms, she paced away. RT’s revelation that he had planned to leave hurt her in a strange way.

“Well…don’t let us keep you. If you plan to leave, go…we can take care of ourselves.” RT stood again letting the light cast a glow about him as he addressed them all, his eyes glancing at Erryn briefly.

“I am not going anywhere…I want you all to understand that. I am getting us out of here…” He glared at Erryn’s back, “ALL…of us. Then once you are all safe, I will tend to my own business…” Erryn turned looking at RT sadly, he smiled weakly at her, “Deal?” The collective group let out a held breath, seemingly happy that they now had a true leader. Erryn smiled, clutching the helmet.

“Deal...RT…Major...I mean...uh…Treavor.” RT smiled at her.

“You can just call me RT…my friends call me RT.”

[GuardianElite]

--You Walk Unscathed through my Skid Fire—
--No Plowman’s Blade will Cut Thee Down—
--No Cutlass Wound will Mark Thy Face—
--And you will be Ain True Love—

--Allison Krauss

The buttons on the dress were rather old-fashioned in an age of clasps and magnetic fastening devices. Fingers trembling, Dremmess continued to fuss with the buttons, slowly making her way up the front, closing up the garment she was forced to choose for this occasion. Although Karolin disagreed completely, the fashionista in her constantly disagreeing with Dremmess’ choice of attire, she wore all white of a finely woven synth-silk. Black was the socially acceptable color for a funeral, Dremmess could not bring herself to wear it. As she viewed herself in the mirror, realizing she had missed a button, she reached down trying with hands that wouldn’t respond to somehow seal her clothing. A light knock at the door interrupted her as she turned slightly exasperated at the interruption. Almost like clockwork, everyone seemed to come and check on her under the guise of offering help, at regular intervals. With clear annoyance in her voice, she answered, “Oh do come in! Don’t just stand out there…” The head that peeked around the door surprised her slightly, this was the last person she expected to see. But, since she had seen everyone else, it made sense in a cosmic sort of way. Kat reluctantly entered the room, eyes cast down slightly. Dremmess looked at her through the mirror, continuing to mess with the dress.

“I…uh…wanted to thank you for allowing Marstel and myself to come back here. It means the world to him that he will be included…” Kat’s fine Imperial accent bouncing off the words as Dremmess adjusted the dress, she could sense that Kat was having difficulty saying the words ‘thank you’, but there was also something else elusive about her. Dremmess arched an eyebrow, happy for the moment to be talking and thinking about anything other than burying her husband.

“Well…it seemed the least I could do. We…’I’…am forever in your debt for your help in rescuing…our…’my’ Son.” Dremmess frowned as she corrected her speech, she knew that she would have to get used to referring to herself when referencing her family in the singular, now that there was no husband around, perhaps it was too soon, she continued to glare at Kat through the mirror, “I sense…that’s not really why you’re here. Was there something else you wanted to say?” Kat leaned on the wall near the door, crossing her legs over themselves. The black body suit, a contrast to the visage of white standing before her, she bit into her lip and shook her head slightly.

“I don’t know why I’m asking this…forget it, I am sorry to have bothered you…” Kat made for the door slowly as Dremmess sensed her sadness, there was something conflicted going on inside of her. Moving quickly for the door, Dremmess placed a gentle hand on Kat’s closing the door and her inside the room.

“No…please…Kat. You have something bothering you…please, I am happy for the distraction.” That wasn’t a lie as Dremmess sat softly on the futon at the base of the mirror gazing at Kat expectantly. Kat shifted nervously as she once again leaned on the wall, this time wringing her hands.

“I mean…I don’t even know you that well. But…I observed you and…your ‘husband’…” She cleared her throat unsure how to proceed, “I-I am curious to know…was it worth it? Everything. Falling in love…getting married? Was all of it worth it….now that you…well now that he’s gone?” That brought a slight sad smile to Dremmess’ lips as she leaned back slightly looking back into the mirror, her reflection a vision of beauty. She spoke suddenly, without pause.

“Yes. It was.” Standing, she moved close to Kat, sizing her up. “I wouldn’t change a thing…if I had to do it all over again, I would…even knowing that this day was coming. Love, is rare Kat…true love is not something that comes along often, some people never find it…” Kat looked down and Dremmess followed her head looking into her eyes, she felt the need to touch her chin raising Kat’s gaze to her own. “Kat…if you have found that…grab it, don’t ever let it go. Don’t worry about the outcome…” Kat nodded solemly.

“Thank you…again, I am sorry…uh…for your loss. He was a good man…”

“He was the best man…he was my life.” Kat opened the door softly exiting just as quietly, leaving Drem to stand in the room, alone. She glanced back at the mirror, a look of resignation came over her. “My life…you were my life…”

The procession of speeders parked in a row along the side of a hill overlooking the Coronet City zoo, the hill specifically chosen by Dremmess, RT after all was Corellian and this hill, this site, spoke to her as the sun slowly rose over it casting yellow rays down on the side. The crowd moved up over the side to the chairs all aligned in front of the gravesite, everyone held back as Dremmess walked alone solitary up to the lead chair, sitting first before the others took to their chairs. She looked around at the people assembled, she knew most all of them, but none of their faces registered. She was numb, numb to thought, feeling…everything. Young Uniform took his seat next to his Mother grasping her hand, she thought she gave him a slight smile, but she couldn’t be sure as the Repulser lift bearing the empty casket slowly crested the hill. The attention of the crowd turned to the troops in formation, as the Commander of the unit called the Soldiers to attention, the lift finally coming to a halt. A team of eight Troopers in glossy white armor marched to the side of the lift raising the empty casket and placing it on their shoulders moved it to the front of the crowd setting it gently on the rack set over the gravesite. They unfolded the Republic flag, holding it tightly between them, outstretched over the casket. As the Senior Officer presiding over the service began to speak, Dremmess’ mind went blank, the words only background to the scream inside her mind, she squeezed Uniform’s hand tightly. Porchia leaned across to squeeze her step-mother’s shoulder, none of it registered. Was this really happening? Was she really sitting here? As the Senior Officer continued to speak, reciting the oath all Officer’s take when they join to protect the Republic, all of the many accolades RT had during his career in the Army, Dremmess gazed at the casket, the empty casket…she looked around briefly, half expecting RT to walk up that hill to ask what everyone was standing around for. The Senior Officer stepped back, nodding slightly as the Commander down the hill called the troops to attention once again and saying in his best military command voice.

< ”Firing Party…Fire Three Volleys!”>

The crowd glanced behind them as the murmur of the firing party commander gave his team of seven troopers quiet orders, Dremmess didn’t turn around keeping her gaze on the casket. Again in a loud command voice the firing party commander ordered…

<”Stand-by….READY!.... READY!....AIM….FIRE!”>

The first shot made Dremmess jump visibly as she now allowed her tears to fall, hesitating to wipe her face, the second shot made her jump as well, this time rattling the tears down to her dress. The final shot did not affect her as she finally wiped her face, squeezing her Son’s hand a little tighter.

< ”READY!....AIM!....FIRE!...Preeeesent….ARMS!”>

As the sound of music slowly drifted up and over the hill the Troopers holding the flag clicked their heels, folding the Republic banner in time with the music. Having completed their task, they turned with military precision, marching off…disappearing down the hill, the flag having been handed off to the detail Commander. He checked the flag one final time before approaching, kneeling in front of Dremmess.

< ”On behalf of the Supreme Chancellor, the Republic Army and a grateful Galactic Republic, please accept this flag as a symbol of your husband’s faithful and honorable service…”>

He stood slowly, just as slowly rendering a salute to the flag and the person that now held it. Dremmess looked up at the man, she couldn’t tell if she had mouthed the words ‘thank you’ or not…she was still numb. She sat there as the well-wishers filed by, grasping her and holding her hand…she didn’t know any of them anymore, keeping her gaze on the casket. Finally, after sitting for what seemed like an eternity, she got up…placing a hand on the empty box. Everyone had already moved off toward the base of the hill to wait on her allowing her to be alone, truly alone. As she moved slowly off the hill down toward the crowd a strange line of troopers in different colored armors formed, single-file to make their way to the casket. The line was long and Dremmess stopped to watch them wondering to herself why she hadn’t noticed them before. They came out of the crowd, out of the ground almost…troopers, commandos…all seeming to appear out of no-where. They kept their eyes locked forward one behind the other as one by one they laid the various unit insignia and pieces of their weaponry on the empty casket. Finally getting in the speeder, Dremmess looked behind her at the line which stretched on forever. Tapping the driver on the shoulder, she looked forward again, clutching the flag she still held. “Let’s go. There is nothing here to see….”


A quick kick to his head woke RT from a dream he was having. He was sure the dream had something to do with his wife…but, he couldn’t remember exactly what it was. Stretching he looked up at the darkened figure, it was Erric, Erryn’s brother…the armor rattled as he moved around RT’s hovel getting his boots for him and shoving a cup of Caf into his hand. RT tried desperately to remember the dream as he thought of his wife, she must be worried sick about him by now. At some point he would have to try and get a signal to her, to at least let her know he was alive. For the moment, he looked at his Chrono grimacing slightly. “Erric, what time is it? What are you doing in here so early?” Erric smiled, kneeling down to look at RT a glint in his eye.

“We are going off to attack an armored column…Erryn thought you might like to see what we can do?” RT swallowed a bit of the Caf, almost spitting it up just as quickly.

“Your what?!?!” Getting dressed quickly, RT walked into the central area near the fire pit to a flurry of activity, he grabbed one of the kids by the arm as he passed. “Where is Erryn?” The kid pointed over his shoulder before moving off in the opposite direction. Moving up to the makeshift Command structure RT had ordered constructed, he squinted at the artificial lights hung about the ceiling as he entered. In the center Erryn was busy pointing and giving direction to her Lieutenants. He folded his arms over his chest, just listening; his first thought to go in and chastise Erryn for trying to run an OP without his approval being replaced with a quiet admiration. As she concluded the briefing and the others moved off, RT stepped up to her trying hard to look mean and serious. “You’re doing this without my approval?” Erryn slunk back slightly, unable yet to read that RT was really not angry, merely appearing to be.

“Major…this is a great opportunity. The scouts we placed on the ridge identified a column of Imperials moving supplies…” She used his official title on purpose and pointed at the hand-drawn map, all of RT’s attempts to get any type of electronics working had thus far been unsuccessful. “….here and here, these are what you called ‘chokepoints’. If we hit them here, we can bunch them up, destroy them before they have a chance to respond.” She stepped back looking at him proudly. He looked over the map with a keen eye talking to her as he did so.

“You planned this? All by yourself?” Erryn nodded excitedly as RT looked up at her, his body leaning on the make-shift table.

“Yes Sir…” She quickly attempted to explain herself. “I mean…look at this! It’s too good to pass up…and we NEED the supplies, you said so yourself there is a lot of stuff we are lack—“ RT smiled raising a hand to stop her, her green eyes gleaming in the artificial light.

“Alright. I got it…” Turning serious he looked her in those green eyes, “Are you prepared to put these kids in harms way? Perhaps even lose some of them, you can’t lead…unless you are prepared to do that.” Erryn hadn’t thought of that. Even before RT’s arrival, none of them had thought of that…they had never lost anyone yet. She pursed her lips.

“Our needs outweigh any personal needs I may have to keep these kids safe…if we don’t get supplies, we will die anyway, I don’t see any other choice.” Spoken like a true leader, RT placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Alright…but, I check the men before we move out and no improvisation….I haven’t even taught you all how to pull this off yet. They follow your orders to the letter, or the deal is off..understand?” RT didn’t see really any other choice, the ball was already in motion. He could have demanded that they not go, but Erryn’s points were valid…they did in fact need the supplies. Besides, it could be a morale boost to allow the kids to show what they could do, they so wanted to impress their new Commander. As RT emerged from the Command structure, the Kids, all lined up in formation snapped to a rowdy position of attention, they had a long way to go to be Soldiers, but at least they had this. Smiling RT approached the first child in line, looking over his gear and taking his weapon looking over it. They had gotten the basics, RT had at least taught them that in the past day and a half. Finally raising his hand into the air and moving it in a circular motion, the kids silently rallied around him. “Alright listen up! This is Erryn’s OP, no one….and I mean no one deviates from the plan, understand?” They all gave a silent acknowledgement as RT looked over at Erryn. He saluted his ‘XO’, “Move them out…I will be right behind you.”

Slowly the Imperial APC’s moved down the road finally coming to a slight cut that doubled the road back on itself. Erryn, pointed at the kid to her left, signaling the rocket attack. As the first burst of rocket fire hit the lead APC the Imperial’s were caught unawares, running in a few different directions, returning fire in all directions. The kids all hunkered down as some semblance of order began to get the Imperial’s in line on the ground, several Imperial Officer’s were yelling and barking orders moving the Imperial troops into the treeline opposite of Erryn’s attack. RT looked over at her, a worried look on his face. If the Imperial’s were able to reassemble and mount a stiff resistance there could be casualties. Just as RT was about to say something to her, she signaled to her right this time, a kid in a tree laying his sniper rifle out on a limb, cutting down one of the Imperial Officers. The APC began to explode in order as the rockets coming from Erryn’s ambush hit their targets just as planned. But, RT was still concerned, the group of Imperials the Officers were rallying now crouched behind the opposite treeline, an effective fire just beginning to reach Erryn’s ambush line. RT quickly slapped on and sealed his busted helmet, he could see what was happening and if someone didn’t flank those Imperials soon, this ambush would be lost. Erryn quickly grabbed RT as he started to get up, pulling him back down, a wireless detonator in her hand.

“Wait! Watch this!”Erryn depressed the toggle as a series of explosions rocked the bank and the treeline the Imperials were using for cover. Their firing ended abrupty as Erryn turned to RT looking at him smiling. “Not too bad for a bunch of kids, huh?” RT shook his head as he laughed, looking down over the smoky burning remnants of the ambush.

“I’m proud…real proud of you Erryn.”

[GuardianElite]

It's easy to convince a man to fight one battle, It's harder to convince him to fight a whole War after he's experienced carnage....

-Sun-Zhu

Transports sat down in a row as the armored Marines ran into the open hatchways, the yells of the Non-Com’s and Officer’s urging them forward. Through all of the frenzy of activity, Dremmess walked slowly into the hangar and toward her designated transport, she had agreed that the Grand-Mistress was right, she did owe her Order and her Council. Thoughts of loss still weighed heavily on her mind as she adjusted the light armor she wore laying a hand on the railing to pull herself into the ship, looking over seeing her Son standing amid the flurry of activity she stopped, getting down. His face was impassive, although she could sense a strange anxiousness underneath. Smiling she brushed his grey hair back on his head, “Uniform, shouldn’t you be saying goodbye to your new Master…wishing her well?” Having decided that Uniform met the requirements to begin his training, the Beacon Council had granted permission for him to enter training. His many weeks of cleaning up around the Temple and being mindful finally paying off. Jedi Knight Naxxy was to become his new Master and although he was happy to be entering training, his acceptance as a Padawan came closely to the onset of this Operation, he had not had a chance to spend very much time with her.

“She has already boarded her transport Master….she told me to be mindful and continue my studies in the Archive while she is gone.” Dremmess smirked at hearing her Son call her ‘Master’.

“Mom…it’s ok to call me Mom, when the others aren’t around.” Uniform looked around, even though he was blind he could sense the turbulence in the hangar, everyone was around. Dremmess smiled again at her Son’s astute observation. “Don’t be a smart-alek…ok, maybe I just need to hear you say it.” He stepped back bowing slightly.

“Please….be careful, Mother. I will anxiously await your return.” Her instinct was to give him a good-bye kiss, but she respected his wishes watching him step away from her. Right now, he was all she had, it wouldn’t do to create a rift between them so soon after the death of his Father.

“I will…” she hesitated, but decided his sensibilities be damned, he was going to have to live with her being emotional. “…I love you, Son…I will contact you when I can.” Getting in her jump seat she watched Uniform back up off the landing pad and continue to watch her transport as it lifted off into the sky. At least she would have distraction, Balmorra was lovely this time of year.

Uniform was not the only one watching Dremmess’ transport as it took to the sky with the other sets of ships bound for the Carrier that would send them to Balmorra. Shortly before boarding her own transport, the Grand-Mistress observed the scene between Young Uniform and his Mother, a very disturbed Master Othone joined his Order’s leader as they watched her leave. Speaking in his typical rich, deep tone, Master Othone raised an eyebrow.

“Far be it from me to question your decisions, Master. But it concerns me, is she ready to be faced with this kind of action. Her thoughts are scattered, unfocused…” Master Aylayi smiled in her Mandalorian way, always one to consider battle the ultimate point to which to gain focus, she pulled herself up onto her transport looking down.

“She will be fine. Maybe a little more quiet than usual, but fine. If she is faced with a situation which requires her attention, I am sure she will do what’s right.” Master Othone brought his hand to his chin considering, always in quiet contemplation.

“Force be with you Master…good hunting.”


Sitting next to a rock on an open field, RT carefully inserted a pair of Hydro-spanners into one of the sockets inside his helmet twisting carefully. The raid on the Imperial supply convoy had indeed been fruitful and he was now enjoying the fruits in a futile attempt to repair the electronics in his helmet. As the wind blew over him sweeping a bit of dirt and snow over him, he could hear the sounds of the kids at play in the background, a Hutt ball in between them as they threw it back and forth, one side trying to destroy the other side. Eryyn stood off to the side of the rock face RT leaned on, not too far away. She was never too far away from him, although RT never seemed to notice or at least pretended not to. As he worked on the helmet she began to ease her way closer to him, curious as to what he was doing. He smiled to himself, feeling her eyes looking over his shoulder finally looking up at her, squinting in the sun. “Something I can help with, Captain?” After the successful raid and subsequent gathering of supplies, he had promoted and appointed several members of the clan to positions of importance within the group. It seemed appropriate considering and also seemed to give them all a semblance of order. Without a firm plan, RT always fell back on his military training. Order was the military watch word, in the absence of Order, you create Order. What better way to do it than establishing a military rank structure, besides it being the only structure he understood. She glanced away quickly, not wanting to appear overly curious, she was not really interested in what he was doing…more to the point she was just interested in him.

“Nothing…just roving around, checking things out. How’s the repairs coming?” RT placed the Hydros back in the ‘appropriated’ tool-kit, running his hands over the other tools loudly looking for something to make delicate adjustments with.
“Oh…you know. Slow…I am now convinced the Imperials must make their electronic systems in their helmets ‘child-proof’ there is no way they make fine adjustments with these tools.” She bent down looking in the toolbox, not sure what he was looking for, but wanting to help him. She looked up at RT as he continued to rummage, biting her bottom lip as she squatted.

“How old are you?” She asked matter of factly, continuing to gaze at him as he stopped rummaging finally looking at her curiously.

“Old. Old enough to be your Dad…” he laughed, starting his rummaging again finally finding a delicate soldering tool to begin fusing some wires together. Erryn looked away a slight smirk on her face, realizing what he was doing was beyond her, she eased up behind him, sitting above on the rock face.

“What about your wife?” RT squinted looking up above at her and into the sun. A slight smirk on his face as well.

“What about her?” he asked, as he looked back down in the helmet. Small streams of smoke began to rise from the inside only to be swept away by the cross wind that blew across them.

“Is she pretty? How old is she?” RT shook his head, stopping his wire-fusing for a moment to look back up again. He used his elbow to hit her in the leg, knocking her off her perfectly balanced position momentarily. She swatted back at him, laughing as he did it.

“She’s Old…like me…” RT lied, knowing full well that Dremmess was at least 10 years his junior, he was slightly curious as to where these questions were coming from. “Why do you wanna know all this stuff? You writing a journal or something?” She turned slightly red, trying to deflect his question with her former one.

“You didn’t answer…Is she pretty?” RT finally stopped what he was doing completely, looking up at her. He thought about his Dremmess, a slight smile coming to his face. It had been at least a week since he had anything but dreams about her, most of the time pressing thoughts of family out of his mind all together to focus on his situation. Thinking about her, he looked fondly at Erryn.

“She’s very beautiful…Eyes, like deep blue pools of clear water…Hair, the color of a Sith’s blade…and her body…the perfect body, skin the color of pearls…” She kicked RT, grimacing slightly.

“Ok…ok..I get it. She’s beautiful…” Placing his hands back inside the helmet, RT set back to work, the smell of wiring and solder once again wafting around him. They sat there in silence a long time, the sounds of the kids continuing to play Hutt ball in the background. Looking back down at RT working she spoke softly, almost as if she was keeping a secret. “Do you love her?” This time RT was extremely concerned, having a teenage daughter himself, he now knew exactly where these questions were coming from. Internally, he cursed himself for not recognizing it sooner. Angry, not at her, but at himself he took a deep breath, his Fatherly mind recalling when he last dealt with Porchia concerning love and older men. He had to be gentle with this, if memory served, saying the wrong thing would cause an explosive reaction which could result in Erryn not speaking to him, at least that’s what happened with Porchia. This was especially volatile, Erryn’s affections were directed at him.

“Erryn…you know I think the world of you right?” Erryn slid down the rock face slightly, planting her feet firmly on the ground, her back still rigid against the rock. She nodded innocently. “Then you know…the questions you’re asking, the curiosity…that all has to do with your age.” RT cleared his throat as Erryn turned slightly red again turning away. “The feelings your having…they are not real…they are misguided…and…and…you need to think about the mission.” Erryn stood up straight this time, a bit of anger behind her green eyes, but she did not move or lash out, merely standing there looking at RT. He stood up dropping the tool back in the box. “Listen…someday…you are going to find a man and…you are going to fall in love…” Erryn shifted slightly preparing to move away, she looked back at him her blonde hair arcing as she turned.

“I understand Sir…I get it….” As she walked away she spoke over her shoulder, “You won’t have any trouble out of me…I promise you.” RT arched his eyebrows sitting back down to work on the helmet, wondering why that was so easy, much easier than when he had the talk with his daughter. Believing himself successful, he went back to adjusting the mechanisms inside the helmet smiling at his success. The lights of the HUD lit up his hand as the helmet came back online…he bent his head to peer inside.

“Now I’m in business…”

Erryn stalked off slamming her weapon down against the tree and taking off her torso armor in a huff. The kids standing around her bunk area quickly moved away, they had seen Erryn mad before, they didn’t want anything to do with that again. She laid her hands on the tree, looking up into the piece of shiny Durasteel she had mounted to serve as a makeshift mirror, looking at herself. ‘Why doesn’t he like me’, she thought, ‘Am I ugly…am I a…bitch?’ she reached down into the basin next to her tree, grabbing the sponge out, rubbing it softly over her features. Looking down at her undershirt, she suddenly realized, ‘He hasn’t seen ME…all of me.’ Taking out the brush she hardly ever used she began to brush her hair, looking at herself lovingly. ‘I will show him’, she thought, ‘I will make him LOVE me…then, he will never leave’ As she finished brushing she reached down ripping a piece of red plas-cloth off one of the packing crates she kept as a seat, tying the bow ever so lightly into her hair, stepping back to admire herself.


The Imperial Garrison Commander wrung his hands nervously, his adjutant standing close-by had very little to say in consolation to the man. As he paced the Garrison Commander, looked at the adjutant again, the remains of the ambush still littered the ground around him. “Are you sure that’s what the Communiqué said? Are you sure you read it right?” The adjutant sighed boringly as he unrolled the piece of flimsy looking at it again, it wasn’t his ass on the line after all.

“Yes Sir, I read through it twice and sent a coded verification back to the Flag Ship….” He handed the flimsy to the Commander, “…it’s been received and verified.” The Commander waved off taking the flimsy, this had been the third convoy ambushed in as many weeks, all done with the same techniques, all done in this sector.

“I don’t need to read it again! My Lords…I will serve the remainder of my service in charge of a Garbage Scow…” The Commander continued to pace as the Imperial shuttle bearing black and red markings slowly made its way to the ambush site, setting down in the middle of the road. The Commander adjusted his tunic walking quickly to the ramp exit before the shuttle even finished its landing cycle. As the Chiss emerged, he squinted at the scene with a careful eye taking all of the information of the assault in his head in mere seconds as he descended the ramp. He practically shoved the Garrison Commander out of the way taking a relaxed stance near the bottom of the ramp, weapon at the ready. The next figure that emerged was horrifying, it wore the mask of a long dead Sith Lord and was dressed in the all black garb of a Sith Assassin, its long lightsaber dangling carefully from its belt. Unlike the Chiss, this individual did not even look at the ambush site, instead keeping its eyes on the Imperial personnel scattered about the wreckage, going about their recovery business. As it also made its way to the base of the ramp, it took position next to the Chiss, but kept its eyes locked on the Garrison Commander and his Adjutant…as if any moment it would be given the order to strike both of them down and would have no problem in doing so. The final member of the Command emerged from the hatch of the shuttle, stretching slightly as he did so. Smiling under his mask wickedly, Darth Hamner stepped down off the ramp, looking at his two personal aides reverently. The Garrison Commander gave a curt military nod stepping up toward Hamner. The Dark Lord placed his hands on his hips, sneering angrily at the man. “My Lord…allow me to introduce myself I am Commander…” Hamner clenched his fist, ending the man’s speech as he held his throat in the Force.

“You will speak only when spoken to…I am not here for pleasantries. I am here because you cannot do your job.” The man clutched furiously at his throat, Hamner held the choke almost long enough to kill him before letting him go. He gave an amused look to both Sicness and Amalgom, before turning back to the Imperial personnel assembled. The Garrison Commander had fallen to the ground and was now struggling to get back up, Sicness kicked him back to the ground, placing a foot on his back. Hamner raised his voice so everyone could hear, the vocabulator he wore increasing the volume as well. “I am Darth Hamner…and as of this moment, I am taking Command of this Garrison. You will all report to me or my unit Officers…” Hamner reached down picking the struggling Commander off the ground. “Please tell me you were alerted to our arrival?” The Commander reached next to him to take the flimsy from his now nervous Adjutant.

“Y-yes…M-my Lord…but, we expected a military unit…led by…well Imperial Military…no disrespect, My L-Lord…” Hamner snatched the flimsy from his hand, looking at it before handing it to Amalgom.

“This man has a reading difficulty…Amalgom…what does that say?” Amalgom’s deep Chiss voice rang through the vocabulator he also wore.

“Right here…My Lord, it says…’The First Imperial Combat Team…will arrive to provide oversight and assistance in locating and eliminating any rebel threat’…” Amalgom put the flimsy at his side as Hamner turned back to look at the Commander, who still had a puzzled look.

“But…but my Lord…a Combat Team? Typically led by…Imperial Military…” Hamner’s anger rose as he realized he wouldn’t be able to work with this man. Giving Sicness a cursory glance, Sicness stepped away from the ramp, igniting his lightsaber in the back of the Commander’s head. The Imperial personnel watched in horror giving a collective gasp. Hamner kicked the carcass of the Commander out of the way looking at the Adjutant and then the others.

“I am Darth Hamner…Commander of the First Imperial Combat Team…and I will eliminate the rebel threat…now, lets look at the ambush site…”

[GuardianElite]

I find your lack of faith....Disturbing...

-Darth Vader

As the attack commenced RT couldn't have been more pleased. There were no hang-ups, besides the one kid in the sniper's position that had to go to the bathroom. RT could teach these kids everything there was to know about how to fight and survive; how to beat the odds, but he couldn't beat Mother Nature. A small bladder was a small bladder, there was no getting around that. He was also equally satisfied to finally have his armor and most of its systems back online. Looking through his HUD he could see the red cursor points indicating the enemy positions up to 200 meters. The network symbol in the corner of his screen spun endlessly searching for an uplink, that wasn't there. Without a network to connect to, there were some functions that he just didn't have access to. For one, he could not switch to an aerial view on the fly to get an overall picture of the battlefield, he had limited long-range radar capability. Then there was communications. Without a network he couldn't establish a communications net; of greater concern was the use of a long-range sub-space transmitter; still no way to contact his wife. As far as the other systems requiring a network, there was no rush really, he was just now getting some of the Imperial armor systems to work, their systems required an extensive network to uplink and operate on. RT toyed with the idea of establishing his own network, but that would indicate they intended on staying in place for a while. That was a message he didn't want to send to 'his' kids. The generator powering the transmitter relay station exploded in a shower of sparks and blue electrical discharge as the Imperials began to pull back. The attack was almost flawless, getting the perimeter guards and the meager defense force by surprise, decimating them in seconds. RT sighed, it was almost flawless, no plan ever executed without change; there was always an unplanned for variable that changes things, in this case, it was an Imperial Captain who exited the control station moving to the auxiliary generators to re-establish power. Looking at him through his visor, RT could only guess he was doing it to try and re-establish communications and call for help. Gesturing with his right hand, RT signaled to Erryn that he was moving down to ground level to take care of the 'variable'. Moving up from the side, RT leaned on the wall drawing his appropriated Imperial blaster, he could hear the Imperial Officer giving orders to the remaining defenders.

"That's not my concern Sergeant! Our losses are grievous...if we don't get that generator online then none of us survive....wait! Where are you going!" The other Imperials had pulled back, it wasn't like Imperials to disobey orders so blatantly. Shrugging RT waited until the Sergeant and his men had pulled out past the fence line before making his move, leaning from the corner and catching the Imperial Captain right behind the right shoulder blade. As RT stepped over him crouching down briefly to survey the battle at ground level, his HUD blinked twice and the screen border turned green, no enemy present...the other Imperials were either dead or had ran. RT searched the body at his feet quickly noticing the Man's uniform was slightly different than other Imperial Captains he had seen. To the untrained eye, there was no way to tell, but to RT he noticed the red and black pinstriping down the trousers and the red and black pinstripping on the cuffs. Flipping the man over RT looked for some form of identification and found only the standard Imperial holo-tags they all wore. Stepping over the body to leave RT didn't look back. Time to gather the kids and go back to base.


All red and black, the Imperial shuttle set down in a grass field next to the power station, remains of a previous battle were clear. Smoke emanated from the building, where the generators sparked, the light smell of detonite and burnt plasma filled the air. The Chiss agent, Amalgom sniffed the air taking in the destruction with a keen eye. Almost immediately his eyes drifted to the slight raise in the ground above the power station fence line. He murmured to himself, "That's where you were...where have you gone off to?" Without looking over his shoulder, Amalgom gave a two-fingered gesture waving his hand back and forth; and without a word spoken the Imperial Troopers in red and black armor moved out toward that area, the other Soldiers entering the compound. Flipping his wrist gauntlet over, Amalgom frowned, his spy net and electronic surveillance revealed nothing. Tapping a few keys, he saw that satellite imagery revealed nothing as well. As he walked he considered, 'No detectable network or use of networked devices...either they are very good, or they don't have the capability...' He looked skyward, even though he couldn't see the satellite it was a habit, 'No images on satellite...' Looking over at his Soldiers combing the attack area he still frowned, '....they knew where to hide from the satellite and knew where to stand...' It just didn't add up to him, no electronic capability, but the knowledge and know-how to avoid Imperial intelligence systems. A voice cried out from within the fence line next to the building.

"Sir...we've got a live one, Officer...one of ours...."

The Captain was barely alive, RT's blaster bolt penetrating his right lung and exiting further down the front of his abdomen. Looking down, Amalgom viewed at the red and black troopers already kneeling beside him. One of them held up a medical scanner to allow Amalgom to see his condition, although uninterested he feigned concern.

"I would like to have a word with him. Is he stable enough to talk?" The Imperial Corpsman shook his head, not realizing this Imperial Agent knew a little something about medicine and even more about chemical affects on the body. "Give him a stimulant. I need him talking." Without hesitation the Corpsman gave the injured Officer a stimulant, knowing the increase in his heart rate would most likely kill him. Soldiers under Darth Hamner's command did not question orders. After a moment the injured Captain gasped, blood burst from his mouth in a hacking cough as Amalgom smiled, bending down to face him. "Captain...can you hear me? I need to ask you some questions." His eyes rolled back in his head as he continued to gasp for air, finally answering weakly.

"Y-yes Sir...." Amalgom reached out touching his shoulder, put quickly moved his hand rubbing the mans blood on his uniform.

"Easy now...did you see who did this?" The Imperial Captain struggled with speech, blood continuing to pour from his mouth. Amalgom leaned in closer. "Captain...listen to me, twenty-seven of his Majesty's Soldiers are dead...now can you tell me who did this?" As he started to lose consciousness Amalgon stood up angrily pointing at the Corpsman, "Hit him with the stimulant again." After several moments the injection took effect, the eyes of the injured Captain widening he grasped at the Corpsman looking at Agent Amalgom.

"Black...and Yellow...Trooper..." Was all the Captain managed to say as Amalgom grasped him angrily on his tunic.

"Trooper? Republic? Bounty Hunter? Tell me more!" As the Imperial Captain finally gave out he murmured his last...

"They were....Shadows....Black and Yellow...Shad...." Amalgom released the dead man's tunic wiping his hands on his own armored pants. The Corpsman turned to him giving him a slash sign across his neck, the stimulants had killed him. Looking up into the woodline from which RT had commenced his attack with his band of 'Shadows' Amalgom sighed, humorously. He would have to report this to his Master, Darth Hamner...someone would be blamed. As he moved into the Duracrete courtyard inside the power facility mentally going over the numbers of the dead accounted for inside the facility, there were only 27....where were the other three. Signaling for the detachment Commander he arrived as Amalgom arched an eyebrow.

"Commander, there are three Imperial Soldiers missing...send a squad out beyond the fence in the opposite direction of the attack...I think you will find them there. Have them sent to Darth Hamner at Headquarters...he will be most interested to speak with them..."

[GuardianElite]

I Like to think there are always...possibilities....

-Kirk, speaking to McCoy after the Death of Captain Spock

Opening the door to anteroom of the former Planetary Governor’s mansion, Amalgom was greeted by the shrill screams of multiple individuals. He frowned, at some point he had hoped that his Master would somehow ‘get over’ his lust for torture and pain, but he realized that would most likely not happen in his lifetime. As he stood by the door, listening to the voices beg for mercy, he realized that the screams were all female, again he frowned. Torture and this type deviancy…a weakness. One that the enemies of Darth Hamner could exploit of they so desired. Had Amalgom been a Sith Lord, his first order of business would have been to confront Darth Marr and ask him why he’d given such an important and symbolic Command to such a buffoon. But it was not his place to question, only to obey. Such was his lot in life, he had sworn ultimate loyalty to the weak Dark Lord and he intended to keep his word. His oath as a Chiss demanded it. Only once in his time together with Darth Hamner had he ever faltered in his loyalty and in that instance, his own sense of duty about the treatment of the prisoner, Dremmess, outweighed any sense of loyalty he may have had. Darth Hamner had stepped over the line…he made the torture and violation of the prisoner personal, not business. And an Imperial Agent was always about business. But that score was even now, the fallen Jedi Karolin had rescued Dremmess and Amalgom repaid Karolin’s act of not killing him by giving her brother RT, information about their formerly missing Son. As he thought about it, surveying the room, he could see the stealth outline of Sicness, standing close to the make-shift torture chamber. There was another one he absolutely despised. A creature of pure malice, Sicness never once questioned the Master’s motives, be it business or pleasure. Hamner had some hold over him, or it was just that Sicness didn’t care. Either way, Amalgom abhorred having to work with him. He wasn’t sure if Sicness felt the same way and thinking about it he was pretty sure Sicness hated everyone, that he would much rather kill you than talk with you. Amalgom cough-laughed to himself, it wasn’t as if Sicness was a mindless creature, on the contrary, he was very well educated and had extremely good taste and manners, he just choose to be a mindless killer. ‘Who does that?’, he thought. Emerging from the chamber, Darth Hamner slid the door closed to the still echoing screams from within. He adjusted himself, smiling brightly at his Agent.

“Ah…Amalgom, I trust you have something for me. It has reached my ears that things did not go well at the Forward Power Supply Station….”, he gestured behind him at the door, “Just trying some of the local fare, quite satisfying actually…care for a taste?” His eyes lit up as he spoke grinning wickedly, he knew Amalgom would never accept his invitation, but he did so enjoy teasing his Chiss sensibilities. Amalgom gave a fake smile and a slight roll of his eyes as he bowed.

“Thank you…no Master. And you are correct, things have not gone well. These ‘Shadows’ have once again attacked our facilities, this time…it’s a total loss.” Hamner lashed out, sending a nearby statue from out of an alcove in the closest wall to crash into the opposite. He breathed heavy, his fury instantaneous. Amalgom knew what was coming next and was prepared for it.

“If you can’t do your job Amalgom! If you can’t…in your infinite skills as an Agent locate and eliminate this threat, what good are you to me!” Amalgom continued to bow his head reverently, smiling to himself. Just like clockwork, Darth Hamner was quick to lay blame, always pointing the finger at others instead of his own lack of leadership. Speaking with his head down, Amalgom began his plan of deflection as always.

“My Lord…I have done my analysis. These ‘Shadows’ are simply…not there. None of their images were captured by the Satellite Surveillance and none of them are using any detectable network, a trace is simply impossible…” Hamner turned back around to face him.

“Shadows? Is that what we are calling them now….Shadows?” Hamner had completely missed most of what Amalgom said, instead focusing on the enemy instead of how to find them. Amalgom’s plan of deflection working beautifully. “I want them found…not tomorrow, not next week…TODAY!! Is that understood?!?!” Hamner began to stalk away back toward his torture chamber as Amalgom spoke up again stopping him.

“There was one other thing, my Lord…minor point…” Hamner turned, still furious, but knowing his Agent he knew there was always ‘one other thing’, he had gotten used to Amalgom’s way of reporting. Hamner was always amused that Amalgom thought so little of him, that Amalgom underestimated him.

“Yes Agent…well…spit it out!”

“One of our Officer’s…our OWN Officers…was present at the scene, unfortunately he succumbed to injury, but not before revealing to me that there was indeed a Trooper presence there. I am still trying to ascertain if that presence was aligned with the Republic, local defense forces or other interested parties…” Hamner was genuinely surprised, he let his anger soften for the moment as he placed his hand on his chin considering, walking toward the huge center ‘throne’ in the grand circular room. There was an uncomfortable silence as Amalgom and Sicness watched their Master. Plopping down in the chair, Hamner continued to think. After a moment he sat up suddenly, rubbing his hands nervously.

“It was only one individual. Then it can't be the Republic in force....We must ‘draw’ this individual or individuals out…we must bring them to us. If they are aligned with the Republic, we must formulate a way to ‘pique’ their interest…” Hamner sat back down, leaning his back against the chair. Sicness finally rematerialized from his cloak, stalking up to Darth Hamner deliberately.

“Executions, my Lord…a series of executions. If the Trooper or Troopers are in fact aligned with someone, having vested interest in saving this Planet or its populace, then Executions would surly draw them out….they would kill themselves to try and save the innocent.” Hamner smiled evilly at his Assassin.

“Sicness…that’s brilliant. Now I know why I keep you around” Hamner looked at Amalgom disdainfully, “Why cant you be more like HIM…Amalgom.” Backing up slightly Amalgom cast a glare at Sicness before responding.

“I do try my Lord…I am sorry if my work does not meet with your satisfaction.” Hamner got up to approach his Agent, an attempt at fake placation.

“Don’t worry Amalgom…your work is excellent, I have no need to replace you yet.” Hamner moved back toward the torture chamber, looking at his two aides. “If there is nothing else, I have ‘business’ to attend to…Amalgom you can show yourself out.” Amalgom continued to bow his head until Darth Hamner disappeared back into the room. As he spun around to leave, Sicness interrupted his departure.

“You didn’t tell him about the color of the Trooper’s armor…I am curious, is there a reason behind that?” Amalgom stopped dead in his tracks, there was indeed a reason. An Imperial Agent never gave up every detail, it was the paranoia of an investigation being compromised by too many people having too much information. He cursed himself for not realizing it sooner. Either Hamner didn’t completely trust Amalgom or Sicness had his own Spy network at play here. Either possibility was feasible. Turning to face his fellow aide, Amalgom gave a toothy grin.

“You are indeed well informed…I chose not to reveal it because it was irrelevant to the discussion. The fact that there was a Trooper there was the information necessary to come to a decision. Everything else is mere ‘window dressing’.” Sicness seemed satisfied with Amalgom’s answer. He was quite shocked that Amalgom didn’t ask him how he came about his information. As Amalgom departed, he let that question hang in Sicness’ mind. Sending a clear message to Sicness that either he already knew how he found about the ‘black and yellow’ warrior or that he didn’t really care that he did know. Resolving to find out, Amalgom shut the door to the chamber, the screams of the women following him as he left.


RT had the ‘kids’ on the range. Over the past week, he had them on the range most everyday, honing their shooting skills, learning to deal with a weapon that stopped firing or wouldn’t respond. In RT’s mind there was no better training than live action and besides the actual Operations they had been on, live fire on a range was as close as they could come. Standing in the newly constructed tower, RT placed his hands on his hips, watching the older ‘Lieutenants’ walk carefully up and down the range making corrections and coaching the younger ‘kids’ on the finer points of shooting. Erryn creeped up close to him climbing the tower ladder quietly to position herself to his back. RT smiled to himself, Erryn had become his ‘Shadow’ ghosting him everywhere he went, but there had been no more overt displays of affection from her toward him. For that, he was grateful. Taking the Macrobinoculars in his hand, RT looked out over the targets the ‘kids’ were shooting at. For the most part, they were becoming excellent marksmen. He bent down to speak into the loudspeaker.

“Bein…take number 5 off the line. He needs some remedial training.” Bein did as he was instructed, calling a ‘cease fire’ up and down the firing line, before walking down and removing the target off of the number 5 shooter’s lane. He grasped the ‘kid’ over the shoulder as the two off them walked off into the treeline behind the encampment to perform some training on the finer points of shooting an Imperial blaster rifle. Erryn tapped RT on the shoulder.

“I have something for you.” RT turned around to look at the smiling face of Erryn who shifted with excitement. He smiled at her broadly.

“There is nothing you could give me that I need right now, but I can tell nothing I say is going to stop you.” As she quickly produced the small box, the wires hanging off the sides and around it waggled as she handed it to him. He looked at it curiously. “What’s this?” Erryn backed up leaning on the railing.

“Well…you told me the other day that you needed a network device to restore some of the systems in your armor and to get all of us online…so I found you one.” RT raised an eyebrow, curiosity coming over him.

“Where in the world did you find this…” Erryn smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly red.

“We went back over that ambush site…I found some network equipment discarded in one of the APCs…I don’t really know if it’s EXACTLY what you need, but it was the only one that wasn’t damaged.” Flipping the box over in his gloved hands, RT nodded appreciately.

“It’s a great start Erryn…there are several more components we need to get it up and running but this is a great start.” RT sat the box down, returning to looking at the range. Erryn frowned behind him. In his mind, RT never intended on getting a network up and running. That would require them to stay in place and monitor it, he didn’t want them to be there that long. After the last attack, he had begun to formulate a plan, find a sub-space transmitter, get a message out and wait for rescue. That rescue would also take these ‘kids’ from this place, getting them to safety. Not feeling the need to, he never shared his plan with anyone. Just the fact that he had told them he would be with them till they were safe, in his mind, was enough. Erryn obviously disagreed with that plan, even though she had no idea of what he was thinking. Her only objective was to get RT to stay…no matter what. Using the network as her anchor, she grasped onto that hoping to get him working on it, drawing out his time a little longer. Erryn wasn’t stupid, she knew he was planning something. She just didn’t know what. Shaking her head, she realized she had to get serious…there weren’t enough spare network modules around to keep him occupied. Erryn climbed down from the tower just as stealthfully as she got up, walking away toward the encampment, RT glanced over at her walking away. He could tell she was up to something, the network module was just the beginning.


Amalgom stepped slowly around the perimeter of the Power Station, looking on the ground and checking the sensor readings he held in his hand. As his instructors at the Imperial Academy has once said, ‘There is always evidence…sometimes the most innocuous things, can blow a case wide open.’ Looking on the ground and picking up a discarded Imperial power cell, he hoped those instructors were right. It boggled his mind, the attackers sat right here…yet left little trace of who they were or what they were after. He continued to kneel as a sound rattled in the trees next to him. Without getting up from his squat, he pulled his blaster pointing it across his body. As the sound began to move closer, he called out, “You are in a restricted area…this facility and grounds belong to the Empire, show yourself or you will be fired upon.” The rattling stopped for a moment as Amalgom, began to think perhaps it was an animal or something. But from the sound and falling back on his training he knew it had to be a person of some sort plowing through the brush. This sound was smaller, indicating the ‘person’ coming through…must be smaller as well. As he sat, continuing to point his blaster the brush parted to reveal an adolescent teen. The teen’s arms shot straight up at seeing the blue man with the pistol aimed at him. Amalgom slowly rose to his feet, a look of slight surprise coming over him. “What are you doing in there? Who are you?” The boy stood completely still, shocked to see a blue man, shocked even further that he emerged from the woods on top of him.

“I am…uh…Bein…my name is Bein….” Sensing no hostility and seeing that the boy was obviously not armed, Amalgom holstered his weapon placing his hands on his hips.

“Well Bein…what are you doing lurking around in the woods? Especially near an Imperial installation?” Bein kept his arms up, not sure if he should put them down. He stammered badly, unsure now if the reasoning for coming back to the ambush site was such a good idea.

“I am….looking for someone.” Amalgom smiled slightly at that.

“Well you found someone…most likely not the person you wanted to find, but someone nonetheless. Tell me…is this person looking for you as well?” Amalgom’s investigator training taking over, he wanted to befriend the boy and he had begun by asking a slight question. He was rewarded with more than he bargained for.

“No…they are not looking for me. They don’t know I’m coming…are you…an Imperial?” For the moment, Amalgom was not prepared to answer that, still wanting to get more information from the boy. But, teenagers were talkative. “Because….if you are, I have something…something you might want to know.” That definitely piqued Amalgom’s interest as he moved alongside the young man, placing his hands on the raised arms to lower them.

“You can put your hands down…I’m not going to hurt you, in fact I may be able to help you…find who you’re looking for.” Amalgom played his role as the ‘good guy’ to a ‘T’, putting his hand out to him. “I am Amalgom....and I may be able to help you.” The voice of his Academy instructors echoed, 'There are always possibilities...something...or someone, always presents itself.'
-

[GuardianElite]

NOW YOU NOW WHO YOU FACE!!!

-Achilles


They crawled on their knees and elbows over the slight hill, the high grass hiding their movement. RT peered through the Macrobinoculars, at first all he saw were a series of Imperial Assault Vehicles, dressed neatly in an arc facing a newly compacted mound of dirt in the center. As he continued to survey, he had to adjust the magnification to zoom into the platform constructed adjacent to the dirt mound, it was then that he was sure he saw him. Pacing back and forth on the platform, dressed in his signature black armor was his brother, Darth Hamner, the red and black tattoos that covered his face unmistakable. He juggled with the Macrobinoculars for a moment, almost dropping them as he saw his brother standing on the newly constructed platform. There was no way he could be here…anywhere but, here. Swallowing hard, Erryn noticed the sudden change in RT scooting close to him and grabbing the Macrobinoculars to look at what he had been gazing at. She also saw something that made her heart sink, but it wasn’t Darth Hamner. The both of them exchanged glances, RT now wondering what had Erryn so un-nerved. “Erryn…what is it…what’s wrong?!?!” She pointed down to the scene below to the small holding area off to the side, it contained a group of Bilringhi civilians, a quiet sob escaped her mouth as she looked at him.

“M-my Father….they have my Father…”

Hamner paced anxiously back and forth, he quickly looked at his Chrono then at Amalgom. “You’re sure you got the word out…made a big show of it?” Amalgom nodded respectfully looking around landscape from their present position.

“Yes…my Lord. I ensured that this target site was known and it is well inside the ‘Shadows’ area of Operations…” Amalgom bit his lip before speaking softly, “…they are out there, somewhere…they are out there…watching.” Hamner jumped down off the platform, walking briskly toward the loudspeaker system as he gave Amalgom a humored look.

“Then…lets give them something to see….shall we?” As Darth Hamner began to speak testing the output device to ensure it was in working order, the three Imperial Troopers who had run away from the attack on the Power Station were led in front of a large mound of dirt adjacent to the podium at which Hamner stood. They did not struggle against their bindings already coming to grips with their fate. Hamner spoke not for the ‘Shadows’ he was sure were watching, but for the other Imperials in attendance.

“Fellow Citizens of the Empire…it gives me no pleasure to be here today. These men you see before you…left their posts, decided to run away from the enemy…” He raised a finger, “An enemy mind you…that in their cowardly attack against the glorious Sons and Daughters of the Empire, killed many of their fellow troopers. These men here, DO NOT represent the values that our Emperor has instilled in all of us, to fight and win in order to bring peace and stability to the rest of the Galaxy. Nor do they represent the values of the First Imperial Combat Team, in fact a unit they are not a part of…we offered to take them under our wing, to show them the honor and glory in serving in a unit dedicated to the Imperial cause, but they shunned us!. No! These men represent the values instilled in them by the previous Garrison Commander, to run….hide and save yourselves at all costs. And now…they must pay the ultimate price!”

Hamner stepped away from the podium as a group of red and black Troopers stepped off the Assault Vehicles and lined themselves in front of the condemned men. As Hamner raised his hand into the hair, he sneered at the three troopers about to meet their fate. Dropping his hand the red and black Troopers of the First Imperial Combat Team fired into them, ending their existence. As the bodies fell, Erryn turned her head away. RT just remained staring, not at the now dead men on the base of the dirt mound, but at the cruelty of his brother. Almost in disbelief he wondered how Hamner could have gone so far off the deep end. The bodies were drug away as Hamner stepped back up to the podium.

“And now…in keeping with the spirit of the moment. We shall execute dissidents who in their re-education have chosen to shun the teachings of the Imperial ideal…” Hamner looked around the landscape as the 10 civilians were led from a small holding area into the same spot as the Imperial Troopers, Erryn grasped RT's arm tightly, “These individuals are responsible for sewing deceit and discord among their peers in the re-education camp. They alone are responsible for planning a takeover of the work camp in order to facilitate their escape…and now they too, will pay the price for spitting in the face of Imperial generosity!”

Hamner stepped away from the podium, raising his hand slowly. Erryn began to get up, to run toward her Father, who among the other nine was now standing in front of the dirt mound. RT grabbed her, jerking her down into his arms, holding her close and tightly he hid her face so she would not see as she pounded her fists against him. Nodding at the other children to back up off the hill, they slowly crawled away, also not to see what was about to take place. Hamner frowned, he had half-expected the ‘Shadows’ to make some sort of rescue attempt. RT looked up and over a struggling Erryn as his brother dropped his hand, the red and black Troopers unloading their power cells from their rifles into the helpless civilians. As the echo of the shots died out along the landscape, Erryn stopped struggling, it was over. RT slowly released her and she glared at him before she too, slunk back down the hill on her hands and knees to join the others. Shaking his head, RT made a decision…he stood up rather than slink back down the hill, his armor gleaming in the sunlight along the grassy plain. Placing his hands on his hips he stared down at the assembled Imperials, especially his brother. There was no fear of attack, the Imperial troops and armor were well out of range. Hamner who had turned away from the dirt mound was quickly grabbed by his aide, Sicness who pointed and exclaimed excitedly.

“MY LORD!!!!.....Look!! Up on that Ridge!!!” Hamner turned to see the Trooper standing on the ridge…all black and yellow and he smiled to himself.

“So…our little ruse worked. They were watching after all…but there is only one of them, where are the others….” Hamner approached the podium once again, touching the output to make sure it was on. “I hope we got your attention with our little display, my friend…now…you and your little band of ‘Shadows’ come down from there, turn yourselves in…I promise…you shall be treated fairly.” Turning around Hamner gave Sicness a sarchastic smirk, he murmured under his breath, “They are probably scared out of their minds right now…regardless if they surrender, I think we have seen the last of the ‘Shadows’.” Hamner turned back to the podium, his impatience growing at the figure who just stared at them, his hands on his hips. Slowly unsealing the helmet, RT removed it, turning slightly to his side and peering down at his brother. Amalgom already had his Macros up looking, a sinister smile beginning to cross his lips as he recognized the man standing there in solitary defiance. Hamner watched the helmet come off and looked back and forth between Amalgom and Sicness quickly, finally snatching the Macros out of Amalgom’s hand. His face went pale as he saw the image. His voice a low rumble as it slowly grew to full volume, “No…NO!....NO!!....NO!!!!, It can’t be!!! There’s….it can’t be!!!” RT continued to peer as Hamner jumped from behind the podium screaming at his troops, “Fire men!!! FIRE!!! Turn those Tanks around….Fire!! Fire!!” Both Sicness and Amalgom grabbed their insane Commander as he jumped up and down struggling to get free, struggling to get closer to RT. “Unhand me!!! Do you men hear me!!! Fire!!...Let me go!!!” Amalgom was the first to try and calm his Master.

“My Lord…he is out of range…we can’t reach him from here. And going up there is most likely an ambush…” Hamner continued to struggle, the spittle leaking from the sides of his mouth. Fearing for his own safety, Amalgom let Darth Hamner go, there was no need for him to be crushed by the Force today.

“NO!!!...NO!!!...we can’t let him escape….!”As Amalgom released his Master, Hamner started to run flat out in the direction of RT. As he ignited his lightsaber, Amalgom yelled to him, stopping him in his tracks.

“My Lord! He’s not going anywhere! If he could leave…he would have left already!” Taking one last look at Hamner, RT stepped off the hill sliding down to the bottom to reach the others. Hamner’s words echoed off of the grassy plain as RT slowly walked away, sealing his helmet back on.

“RT!!!! You are finished!!! Do you hear me!!!! Finished!!! And after I kill you….I am going to kill your Wife and your Son and everything you hold dear in this life!!! Do you hear me!!!....RTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!”


Dremmess woke suddenly, not sure where she was then the vibrations and echos of distant battle brought her back, she was on Balmorra. The Beacon was engaged in battle. The last remaining vestiges of a voice echoing inside her head, she struggled to get them out, she saw Darth Hamner, lightsaber in one hand, fist clenched in the other yelling up at a blue sky….the field surrounded by tall luscious grass. The vessels on his forehead close to bursting as he screamed in agony and in rage, “RTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!” Again she shook her head taking a sip from a water reclamation container, wondering when she would ever stop dreaming about him? Wondering if she really wanted to…all she had were these dreams and memories. Walking over to the field tactical display, she let the low lights of it play on her face as she feigned interest. That voice still inside her head, only it was no longer Hamner standing in that field screaming, she had replaced him with herself. In her mind, she screamed his name and she would continue to scream forever.


As he walked by the acquired Imperial tool set, RT picked up a tool used for armor sets and went to work taking the memory drives out of the torsos of the various pieces. Still in a state of disbelief and shock, he could not believe it was his brother he was once again facing. Dremmess would console him at this point telling him that it was the Will of the Force and that nothing happened by accident. He really wanted to believe that, but now things just got more dangerous for everyone. He cursed himself for standing up on that hill, just to gaze at his brother, he wasn’t even sure why he did it. Vanity…spitefulness? No, RT had done it to send a message, to let Hamner know it was him that he was facing and that he was serious. Seriousness, could get them all killed as RT soon understood that now, since he had reveled himself, things would change. Hamner would stop at nothing to destroy him and everyone around him. No one was safe anymore. His only recourse was to accelerate his plan, get these kids out of here and off this planet and get back to the safety of his own family. Not even bothering to take off his own armor, he could hear the sobs and cries of the children in the background as he continued to work. He wanted to console them, go to Erryn and hold her, tell her everything was going to be fine, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. All too quickly, the genetic conditioning programmed into him by the Project he and his brother Hamner had been a part of, taking over. He worked quickly, removing four of the five remaining memory cores, before placing the tool down and leaning his arms on his knees looking over at the children. Erryn stared at him, the tracks of tears now permanent lines on her face. Gathering up the cores, RT walked into the Command Structure, flipping on the artificial light, he plugged the cores one into the other and then into his own armor, punching a few keys to begin the download. As he stood there, trying to decide what he should do about the sadness that had overtaken them all, Erryn parted the tent flap standing more demur than he had ever seen her, his face pursed inside his helmet. All of his programming telling him that he did not have time for this. He finally spoke after a few moments, his thought to get her out of the way so he could work. “Im downloading the map datum from the Imperial cores…I’m getting us off this roc—“ Erryn grabbed RT quickly around his waist holding him close as she began to cry again, he stood there for a moment, his arms raised to his side, not really sure what to do. Finally, he gently lowered them to Erryn’s back, patting her gently. “Erryn…I am sorry. I couldn’t let you go down there…I had to hold you back. They would have cut you down and then cut us down along with you, there was just too many of them to fight…” She looked up at him slowly.

“I know…I know you did what you thought was right. I’m grateful…” She let him go, as she walked out slowly she resolved that NOW she had to do what she must to ensure their survival. RT clicked up the map data inside his HUD, the last known location of a Sub-Space Transmitter was inside the capital city, deep inside well fortified Imperial positions. One way or another, he had to get to it, his mind raced as he thought.


Erryn slipped out of her sleeping bag, she had never really been to sleep, waiting for everyone else to sleep around her. Most of the time, she spent crying, but after a while she resolved to never cry again, instead steeling herself with a new resolve to keep her friends safe. Moving up to RT’s makeshift sleeping area, Erryn took the armor tool she had seen him use, applying it to the back of his black and yellow torso piece. The memory core slot opened without much trouble, the memory core itself sliding out with a slight electronic ejection sound as it did so. She looked down at RT who shifted sleepily, but didn’t wake. Sticking the memory core in her pants, she moved off to the Command Structure, slipping in and getting the Imperial Datacores as well. After walking for what seemed like an hour, she laid the cores down in the middle of the field, the three moons of Bilringhi giving her enough light to see what she was doing. Stacking them like a pyramid, she took out the accelerant squirting it over the stack. She stared at the igniter glowing in her hand, for the moment questioning what she was about to do. As she dropped it on the stack of cores, she was sure it was the right thing. They popped and hissed as she watched them burn…and she stood resolute in the moonlight. This time RT would protect her and his family....her family.


Hamner sat alone in the Governor’s throne room, his hands steepled in front of his face, long past the point of anger, he was now simmering with a quiet rage, contemplating. Throwing everyone else out of the room, he even dismissed Sicness…just to be alone. In the background the quiet sob of a tortured woman could be heard ever so often, even they did not scream. Hamner had threatened them with death should they disturb his meditations. He would have dismissed them as well, but he had no where else to put them at the moment. As he continued to think and ponder about his brother, who at every turn, along with his wife, had bested him. Realizing he wasn’t thnking clearly, he needed this time to calm down. Grasping the sides of the massive chair he got up walking to the Holocomm, his objective to check on the location of his brother’s wife Dremmess. If the two of them were not together, then one or the other of them could be vulnerable. Perhaps he could strike at the weaker one. As he punched the keys to bring up the personnel in charge of his Spy net, it dawned on him…Amalgom’s words. Indeed it was RT who was vulnerable. If RT could have left the surface of the planet, he would have. More over, if RT could have contacted anyone on the outside Galaxy, he would likely have done so as well. RT was trapped, alone, cut-off and thanks to Hamner’s communication to Marstel, now presumed dead. Hamner had to find RT first and end him before he could actually contact anyone, then he would deal with his wife and anyone else who came along. His objective on this planet was to end the Rebel threat, RT was that threat. How ironic that his own brother was handing him the keys to get back in the Dark Council’s good graces and continue his search for the secrets to Project Alpha, a goal that up to this point had been denied him by Darth Marr. End his existence and the Universe would be his, along with RT's wife and anything else he wanted to take. Hamner stopped what he was doing signaling for Sicness to re-enter, he bowed as he came through the double doors in a flourish.

“Yes….My Lord…” Hamner walked away into the shadows as he spoke, the darkness seemed fitting for this time of dark planning.

“Sicness…I want you to use your power to track my brother…but, do not kill him yet. That will be MY honor…find him and report back to me…” He waved his hand in dismissal as Sicness backed up withdrawing himself from the room

[GuardianElite]

Revenge. A Dish best served cold with a side of Regret....


Annoyance was hardly the word to describe Amalgom as he strode the marble halls of the once opulent manor known as the Planetary Governor’s mansion, now headquarters to the First Imperial Combat Team. It was now clear to him that Darth Hamner did not trust him and by sending a Sith Assassin out to do the work he was clearly trained for, it burned him. Since the episode on Voss, Hamner had at every turn done nothing but mock and ridicule him and now the ultimate slap in the face. Sicness was a killer, plain and simple, nowhere near equipped to do the delicate work of tracking and surveillance, a task, that up to that point had been solely his. As he walked, Amalgom took out the tiny control pad which contained the final card he would play, should he need to. He ran a thumb over it delicately, his intent to show both Sicness and Hamner up in his hands. Sicness would fail. And when he did, Amalgom would be there, his control pad in one hand, the Comm to Darth Marr in the other. If Darth Hamner could not forgive a man his own sense of duty, then why should he care if he destroyed that man’s dreams.


The smell of burning plas and wiring brought RT out of a deep sleep. As he rolled over looking out from under the parachute tent, he quickly jumped out running in the direction of the smoke soon coming up on Erryn who merely stood in front of the smoldering fire, basking herself in the moonlight and allowing the flame’s smoke to ebb over her. RT quickly started stomping at the flames before he reached down noticing what he was stepping on, picking up one of the charred remnants of Memory Core holding it out at her. Erryn didn’t move.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done! Do you have any clue!” RT waggled the burned up Core at Erryn, wanting, in fact, needing a reaction from her, “Why?!?! Erryn…why would you do something like this?!?!” She still didn’t move closing her eyes to allow the moon to bask over her very feminine features. RT sat down near the smoldering pile running a hand up and over his scalp nervously, his mind racing. Those Memory Cores contained the Imperial positions from their location all the way to the Capital. Now he would have to come up with a different plan to get them all out of there. Erryn opened her eyes, a smile coming over her as she cast her eyes down at the man she loved. She quickly moved over to him sliding an arm around his shoulder to place her lips near his ear.

“I knew exactly what I was doing…now…you have no reason to leave. And we can stay here…you, me…all of us.” RT shook his head to clear out the many thoughts he was having to focus on her words, he stood suddenly to get away from her.

“You have just doomed us all, Erryn! You don’t know my Brother…he is going to come in here and he is going to kill everyone of us!” Those words seemed to stab her back to a sense of reality for a moment, she hadn’t realized the dark man on the platform was RT’s brother. She had seen the recognition in him, but never thought to ask. Now she frowned, regretting her action. Lowering her head she shifted her feet at him.

“You never said he was your brother…how was I supposed to know…all I wanted…” RT interrupted her getting up and starting to storm off, he tossed the Core on the ground angrily.

“All you wanted was what your hormones were driving you to want! You didn’t think with your head…Erryn! Now I have to figure something out!” She reached for him as he stalked away finally letting her arm fall back. Now was not the time to confront him, she had angered ‘her’ man, she had to give him time to cool off.

Angrily, RT kicked the pieces of his armor out of his way as he rummaged through the contents of his makeshift sleeping area. As he searched, he glanced at the port opened on the back of his torso armor and bit his lip. ‘She kriffin got that one too?!?!’, he thought. The empty space where the Memory Core for his armor’s systems was long gone and now burnt in the pile of Memory Cores Erryn had made a bonfire of. He sat down exasperated, tossing a boot inside his sleeping area. His mind began to race again before the genetic coding within him started lining up his thoughts, trying to come up with a logical solution. Erryn walked slowly back into the encampment, her head down, she looked over at RT before disappearing into her own sleeping area. Looking up RT didn’t really see her, his mind already becoming a computer of tactical thinking. Quickly he searched once again for the Network module Erryn had given him, finding it he sat it down and started the process of putting on his uniform and all of his armor. He had work to do. If he was going to save everyone, he had a lot of work to do. Erryn may have delayed his plan, but she didn’t stop it. Picking up the module RT moved over to the other nest of supplies the kids had been hording to begin his rummaging. His mind a blue-print for the creation he was spinning inside his head. The ability to create a Memory Core was beyond his scope, but perhaps he could create the next best thing.

The sun rose slowly over the hillside and over the plain where the Memory Cores still smoldered from the previous night and RT stepped back looking at his creation proudly. Never a Cybertech, RT was trained to work on and fix personal armor and all of its systems, but this creation would have made even a Cybertech proud. All of his activity had drawn a small crowd as the kids peered curiously at him from outside the Command Structure. He reached back with a slight flourish, flicking a switch. The power starting to course through the Network Server casting a beautiful myriad of red and blue blinking lights. The kids stepped back in awe of the blinking lights and the hum of the raw power as it came to life. RT smiled out at them, thumbing at the Server, “Nice huh? Took me all night…but now we can link our systems, use all of our tactical data as one unit.” Most of the kids gave him a confused look as they glanced at one another, his words having little meaning to them. Realizing he was speaking above them he toned down his rhetoric. “It means we can talk to each other now…share what we can see with each other.” Moving back behind the Server RT punched a couple of more inputs on the keypad as the Server made a slight vibration, its transmitter linking to the civilian satellite floating in space. “It doesn’t have much range. And it’s a closed system, meaning only we can use it, but it will make our attacks and planning so much easier….” Erryn slowly emerged taking a place at the rear of the crowd, RT glowered at her before continuing. “….unfortunately, until I get more Data Cores, we will have to rely on the satellite to give us imagery and data on the surrounding area, but it’s a great start.” He gestured at Erric, Erryn’s brother who still had a look of doubt on his face. They truly didn’t understand half of what RT was saying, he would have to show them. “Erric, put your helmet on and seal it…” Erric did as he was instructed as RT activated his HUD, linking it to the Server. Erric almost fell backwards as the onslaught of information came up digitally in front of his eyes, the systems HUD booting up and linking to the Network. RT caught him as he fell, “Whoa…Erric, just let the system start. The HUD can be a bit overwhelming at first.” As he gestured for the others, who now came in closer to him he spoke excitedly, “Go on…all of you, put your helmets on and seal them…I am going to show you how this system works and how we can all use it together.” Everyone did as they were told, except for Erryn who drifted back to her bunk area, slightly annoyed that RT had once again started on his escape plan.


Midday sun crept up and over the hillside casting light between the tress on the road the Imperial convoy now traversed. The Armored Personnel Carrier bounced uncomfortably as Sicness adjusted himself in the passenger seat. This mode of transportation severely limited him in the use of his abilities. He could have opted to take his own speeder into the sector now known as ‘Shadow’s Rest’ unofficially among the Imperial forces who frequented the area. But a lone speeder entering a sector that he was supposed to infiltrate would have been too obvious. Besides, RT hadn’t hit ALL of their convoys, several of them had gotten by unscathed. Better to infiltrate in the guise of a normal member of the Imperial army. Sicness looked anything but normal as the driver looked over at the dark visage in his passenger seat nervously clearing his throat before speaking.

“We are here Milord…the site chosen for the next executions.” Sicness rolled his eyes, he had almost forgotten. Darth Hamner had chosen a site well inside the ‘Shadow’s’ sector to perform another series of civilian executions. This convoy was supposed to be re-enforcing a Water Treatment Plant, but the executions were to be conducted enroute. A minor distraction to Sicness. Trying to sit up uneasily in the seat, not made for a Sith Assassin, Sicness reached for the door.

“Right. Lets get this over with…I have business to attend to…” As he used the handrail to disembark the red and black Troopers of the First Imperial Combat Team were already getting the civilians out of the carriers to line them up at the base of the ridge. Sicness put his hands on his hips looking around at the landscape with a keen eye. Such lovely scenery, what a pity.


Looking at his view-in-view RT could see the image being transmitted by the forward scout near the base of the Imperial Convoy, the first live test of their systems working perfectly so far. He spoke into the HUD. “Alright men…look sharp. Looks like our Imperials are going to take a bathroom break or something. Assault teams, get ready. Sniper positions make ready to target the Officers.” As he received the wordless acknowledgement from his ‘men’ in the form of blips and tones on his HUD, he switched to a tactical view. Everyone was perfectly in place, this ambush wouldn’t last long at all. Right before he was about to signal the ‘men’ to begin their assault, he got a HUD chime from the forward scout, switching back to his view-in-view he looked on the image being transmitted and understood why. A group of civilians were being corralled and lined up, the classic formation for conducting an execution. RT spoke into this HUD quickly. In any other situation, with trained Republic Troopers, RT would have explained nothing, simply inputting the changes into his HUD, but they were still new, they needed guidance to use this technology, “Listen up men…change of orders. I am going to be redeploying some of you into new positions…move quickly, we don’t have much time.”


As the Imperial Officer raised his arm to signal to the firing line to cut down the civilians, his chest exploded in a cloud of crimson. Sicness looked around quickly, glancing up at the ridge and behind him seeing nothing. He raised his hand to move it in front of his body, an attempt to apply his Force Cloak and stealth away. RT’s rifle butt struck down across the ancient Sith Lord’s mask that Sicness wore, knocking him to the ground. The sounds of scrambling men and returning fire joining the sound of his crumpled form as he hit the ground hard. Stepping over him, RT quickly kicked the double-sided lightsaber away as Sicness stretched out his hand to try and grasp it. He brought an armored boot down on top of the hand, a pang of recognition hitting him as he did so.

“Hey…I remember you. Your one of my Brother’s cronies, I saw you standing next to him the other day.” Sicness looked up from the road, the pain of his hand being stepped on driving him insane. His thought to use the Force to push this Trooper away, subsiding as he noticed the other ’men’ coming down from the hillside, the ambush now over. There was no returning fire from the Imperial line. The assault was lightning fast and precise, the Imperials never stood a chance. As one of the children led the civilians away, he glanced at RT giving a thumbs up, everything was accounted for, no casualties.

“Children? Your training children?” Sicness words were as much of a surprised to him as they were to RT. It appeared that Hamner didn’t know as much as RT thought he did. Bending down, his foot still firmly on Sicness’ hand RT turned up the volume slightly on his external speaker.

“What…are you doing here? Sith Lords are not in the habit of traveling with the rank and file…” Sicness bit into his tongue, not wanting to give anything up. He was so close to his objective now, this black and yellow Trooper, Hamner’s brother loomed over him. It would be nothing to cast him off and call his saber back to himself. To cut this Trooper down and be done with it. But, he would be cut down in return, by these ‘children’ and that was no way for a Sith Assassin to die. Besides his orders were to track, locate and report in…not kill. In so far as Sicness could surmise, he had accomplished his mission, he had indeed located Hamner’s brother. Wanting to deflect RT’s attention, Sicness spoke through the pain to RT.

“I was sent….to find you.” RT let out a small laugh, taking his foot off the Assassin’s hand he stepped back keeping the barrel of his rifle on him.

“You found me. What now?” Sicness rolled slightly to the front, his hands raised in front of him as he flexed the fingers of the hand RT had his boot on.

“What now? There is no what now…I have done my job, I have located you that’s all I supposed to do.” If Sicness could have seen RT’s face he would have seen the skeptical look that rose on it. Sicness glanced around out of the corners of his cracked face mask looking for an opportunity. RT continued to point the rifle, considering. Sicness looked him up and down, “Are you going to kill me?” Smiling inside his mask RT stepped back again, his weapon still trained on the Assassin.

“No. I’m not going to kill you…I may torture you a bit…get some information, but I need you…” Sicness was not about to be tortured as he watched several of the children move off toward the rear of the convoy to begin searching the last remaining vehicles. Reaching his hand out quickly, Sicness struck RT with a lightning tinged Force Push knocking him to the ground, reaching down to pick up his lightsaber he put more of his Dark power into his run as he leapt up the hillside and disappeared into the woodline. RT sat up, firing back at the blindingly fast Sith missing terribly. As the shots began to strike the trees next to him, Sicness ran his hand over his form disappearing from view completely, sealed in his cloak. The others had already started firing in the fleeing Sith’s direction as RT joined up with them quickly removing his helmet and calling a cease fire. The lightning had shorted out his systems, he would be giving VOCO commands from here on out and Sicness was long gone. Turning RT grabbed Erric.

“Send a message to your Sister…tell her we will rendezvous at the Water Plant…”


Hamner leaned over the Holo-map displaying the tactical layout of all the planetary forces. Not only did he have his own brother to worry about, Hamner also had a planet to get under control. His Commanders were arrayed in an arc circling the Holo-map as Hamner stabbed and pointed at various positions on the map. He motioned for his Air Wing Commander to get a little closer. “This sector here…the Infantry has the last vestiges of the Planetary Defense Force in a full retreat…I want you to take your Air Wing…make them retreat all the way to their main area of operations…then we will roll in with Armor and Artillery…close the book on this rabble.” As his Commander nodded his agreement with his orders the double doors of the large marble room opened with a flourish. Blanketing the door, Sicness looked disheveled. His robe formerly a black now had patches of dirt and debris over it, his ancient Sith Lords mask, cracked down the center, he looked the picture of chaos and not in the way Sith were so fond of. The voices in the room quieted as Hamner looked up from the Holo-map, a puzzled look coming over him. Amalgom, sitting in the corner bit his lip under his own mask, the smile threatening to crease the sides of it. Sicness stood at the best semblance of attention he could, awaiting the Dark Lord’s command as Hamner waved for the others to leave, “Gentlemen…please excuse us. We will resume the briefing momentarily…” He clasped his hands behind his back walking slowly around Sicness taking in his haggard appearance as the others filed out. Sicness took a deep breath before he spoke, his voice meek in comparison to his earlier bravado.

“It appears, My Lord….that I have underestimated your Brother…a mistake I will not make again, I assure you.” Hamner stopped roaming as Sicness spoke releasing his hand and bring one up to strike Sicness across the face. The ancient mask fell, shattering into pieces on the floor.

“You mean you saw him!!! And you didn’t kill him?!?!” Hamner’s anger now fully surfaced, Amalgom let a slight laugh escape and quickly disguised it as a cough. Standing back up from the blow, Sicness spoke through the jet black stocking that his ancient mask once sat on top of.

“My Lord…you orders were to track…and report back…not kill.” Hamner unleashed his anger on one of the control consoles, instead of using the Force, he physically slapped it off the wall shattering it in between them all.

“I pay you…both of you to think independently! Not to obey orders blindly like the rest of these idiots!” He looked between both Amalgom and Sicness as he spoke. “What good are either of you…if you follow my orders blindly!” Amalgom cleared his throat to speak, no doubt in Darth Hamner’s mind to remind him of what happens to individuals who DID think independently and not follow orders. Hamner raised a finger in his direction, “Not a word Amalgom…not one Kriffing word!” Hitting the button to open the doors, Hamner signaled the Air Commander to re-enter, he brought up a Holo-image of the ‘Shadow’s rest’ sector pointing to it angrily. “Commander, you will break off part of the Air Attack scheduled for tomorrow…you and I will be flying into this sector personally. I want to bomb these men into oblivion…” Sicness brought a hand up, coughing into it.

“Children…my Lord. Not men.” Hamner turned suddenly his look between pain and hilarious laughter.

“Children?!?! My Brother is leading an Army of Children….and YOU….you were bested by them?” Sicness shrank back as Hamner approached him. “Fine Assassin you turned out to be…bested by the school yard bullies.” He glanced at Amalgom before stalking off, speaking over his shoulder as he walked into the darkness. “I want the bombers Airborne at first light…I will meet you on the tarmac Commander.” The Air Wing Commander hesitantly bowed, closing the doors behind him as he left, not sure at all what he had walked into. Sicness remained standing at the center of the room, his breathing heavy as Amalgom got up laying a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s not your fault…you didn’t know what you were up against.” He started to walk away as Sicness turned, his voice defiant.

“And you do?” Amalgom stopped, opening the front of his ballistic vest and his uniform as he turned. The large blue scar was pock-marked over his left chest, the slight raise and tell-tale sign of a former blaster wound, now covered with scar tissue. He walked slowly back toward Sicness holding the vest open so he could see.

“Yes. I did know…he shot me, you see? And he allowed me to live.”