Star Wars: The Starkiller II

= Chapter 15 =

The Conquering Paladin of Hoth, the Shadow Blade, and the Monkey's Paw dropped out of hyperspace, just outside of the Demarus System. The three starships hovered in the void of space for a moment before pressing onwards, into the System.

The Demarus System was home to only a single habitable planet, appropriately named Demarus. It was a solid Republican world, a proper representative democracy, but far away from anywhere exciting. It was on the opposite side of the galaxy to Hutt space, where Galder and the other Dark Jedi were used to working.

They had little interest in this world. The only significant thing about Demarus was that it was a place of mass agriculture. The planet was astonishingly good at thing, supplying enough basic food for export to feed about a dozen other rather more barren planets. However, Galder and the others were not farmers, and they would rather not be seen anywhere near this place.

However, it was very handy as a place for a rendezvous. The only thing happening hear was food haulage. Big freighters full of wheat, not even worth the bother for space pirates.

Kuylen’s signal chimed strongly. This had to be the place.

“I say we land in an area with as few settlements as possible and follow the tracking device to Kuylen..." Galder suggested via comlink. He looked over at his copilot, Rura Ta, and turned back to the comlink. "Any other suggestions?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Rura, checking a screen. “I am picking up a lot of comm traffic near the main ports. More than I would expect in a system like this."

"Comm traffic does not worry me, it's people spotting us and recognizing us that does," Galder replied, not looking up from the controls as he prepared the landing sequence.

"More comm traffic means more attention being paid to people in orbit," says Rura. "A quiet landing at a port will be awkward. I'm trying to listen in to get an idea why this is so."

“Can you trace the signal to Kuylen?” Rand asked over the comm. “I am eager to meet him...”

“From what I can tell," said Rura, "the signal is coming from a small town in the northern hemisphere. It's a market town. The name appears to be 'Prosperity.’ However, its port appears to be the source of the increased comms traffic."

"Dammit," Galder cursed. "Of course, Kuylen chooses some place where it's difficult to get without us getting shot at. Ingenious..."

"I see no problem with it,” Rand said, ignoring Galder’s ranting. “It is not as if an agricultural world has an army waiting for us. Just set down outside the city a ways so that we aren't seen."

"I'll try and find a suitable landing place," said Rura, checking the comm traffic again. Suddenly, he found something. "Wait... I'm getting the strongest signal from Prosperity. It's on loop."

The message looped itself around and crackled over the comm unit in the Paladin’s cabin.

"...is apprehended. Please comply with our recommendations for your own safety and security.

“This is a public information warning. This town is a secure zone. A dangerous criminal named Zatev is thought to be hiding in the area. Zatev is armed and extremely dangerous, and is believed to be a threat. He should not be approached under any circumstances. Republican security forces are dealing with the situation. All traffic entering and leaving Prosperity is subject to a security review. It is highly recommended that all private travel to Prosperity is avoided, and all commercial traffic re-route to other ports. Should your journey be essential, it is recommended you stay inside at all times until Zatev is apprehended. Please comply with our recommendations for your own safety and security.

“This is a public information warning. This town is a secure zone. A dangerous criminal..."

"Zatev, eh?” Rand interrupted the message, as Tanic had found it himself. “I somehow doubt that that is his real name..." Nume cleared his throat. "I suggest we be ready for combat, just in case. Look inconspicuous upon entering the town. If we enter the firefight that is probably occurring, we take them by surprise."

“Why do you think that is not his real name?” Rura asked.

“This is where Kuylen wants us to meet him, is it not?”

“It is, assuming my signal trace is correct. But if you think Kuylen is the murderer...well aside from that, from my time with him, Kuylen never wasted time killing without purpose...well, furthermore, if he killed, he used his lightsaber. If they were tracing a killer using a lightsaber, this place would be crawling with Jedi, not security men.

“In my opinion."

“You have a point, Rura. Galder, you’re opinion?”

Galder pushed a button and spoke into the unit. “Rura is right, Nume. Kuylen doesn’t make petty murders.”

“Saber or no saber," Slate butted in, using his ship‘s comm unit, "if this murderer is dangerous enough to warrant a lockdown and help from the Republic, it's not impossible a Jedi is heading the security team. Catching interplanetary murderers is one of their jobs. That could be awkward."

“Then it is an unlucky coincidence that a petty murderer is here. Jedi do not scare me.”

"Hey, you guys who worked with this Kuylen guy before," said Slate. "Maybe this is no coincidence. Is this Zatev guy the kind of person he might work with? Didn't you say he had some pretty violent associates before?"

"If you take a look at Galder, then you have a good idea of how violent his associates were..." Nume answered. "You could be right, bounty hunter."

“Well, whoever he is, he cannot have killed anyone that important. Else he would be on my hit list."

"Thank you, Nume..." Galder replied sarcastically. "You ain't so innocent yourself...

“Maybe he's new to the business. Hell, if he's with Kuylen, it's possible he's a replacement for the lackeys that Kuylen lost. We went into hiding to escape the Jedi, as did he. Chion went nuts, Jolanta vanished, and Saar- that cowardly bastard- turned himself in.”

"Regardless, doesn't make our life any easier. So much for a quiet place to meet..."

"Yes, it's a shame, really..." Rand commented. "Rura, have you found an ideal place to land yet?"

"There are numerous good landing sites near this town. This planet's sensor coverage is relatively slight and the growing land is flat."

"Good. Shall we land then, or is there anything else I need to know?"

"I'm ready to land,“ Galder said. He looked back to Rah and Takuan, who were sitting attentively in the passenger seats, overhearing the goings-on. “I want to meet Kuylen as soon as possible..."

Zatev... Galder contemplated. Sounds like a Damagran name...

“We shouldn’t have much trouble with security officers,” Takuan said, scratching the inside of his palm.

"Of course not, they are simple minded,“ Galder laughed. “Hell, Takuan, you could just stand around persuading them to walk into an open field and dance rather than shoot at us..."

The three ships glided smoothly through the atmosphere, heading a way out to the east of Prosperity without attracting attention to themselves.

“Gee,” Slate commented over the comms as they descended over the surface. “No wonder they make so much food.”

Beneath their ships were endless fields of Demaran wheat. The wheat was serious business; each strand was over seven feet tall, taller than Rura or even the dead Chion, and in some places the wheat was even taller than that. It was more of a forest of wheat than a field.

Wheat this size required equally large-scale methods of harvesting it, and hovering over the fields not far below them was the mother of all combined harvesters. Galder compared it to about the size of a Jawa sandcrawler back on Tatooine, with gigantic frontal blades hacking up vast quantities of the wheat, sucking the rest in for processing and storage with a monumental vacuum.

“This stuff will make good ground to hide our ships in,” Galder alerted the others. “But we’d better bring the locators, or we’ll lose track of them.”

“Our senses will suffice,” Rand replied confidently.

“Bring them just to be sure, then.”

The ships landed quietly in the forest of super-wheat, hidden amongst the wind-blown stalks.

“Nice smooth landing, Galder,” Rah said as Galder powered down the ship and opened the cockpit hatch. The four of them, the three Dark Jedi and Rura, dropped down from the ship.

Rah fiddled with his lightsaber at his belt. “Well, what do you think?” he asked the others. Galder opened his mouth to say something, but Rah was not waiting for an answer. “I don’t really believe in coincidences where Kuylen’s concerned, and this Zatev character attracting a lot of attention in the same place as Kuylen’s transponder? Nah! I think there’s a lot more going on here than is immediately obvious, and I have a feeling that we’re headed for some fun and games.” The athletic alien smiled wryly.

“We will probably hear more about this Zatev,” Takuan said. “But...best not hurry things. The transponder guides us to the city...we should make our way over there and act as normal as possible. We don’t want unnecessary troubles, no matter how unafraid of threats Rand is. We’re going to have a lot to deal with anyway...and I cannot see any further than these stalks of wheat."

Takuan was right. Visibility was restricted in every direction.

“We’ll need to have the locaters double as signal-tracers then,” Galder said. He snatched a locater from inside the Paladin, a boxy white thing with several knobs and a few antennae. Fiddling with it, Galder managed to trace the signal slightly, then handed it to Rura to keep track of.

“It is very difficult to keep a firm lock on the signal,” Rura reported to Galder.

“We’ll head in the roughly in the direction of the thing, then,” Rah decided. “Try not to flatten the crops too much, or anyone flying overhead will see our path...”

Takuan looked skywards. “Not much flying today, shouldn’t be a problem.” He stared at the clear blue sky for a few moments longer wistfully as the others moved onwards.

“Takuan, hurry up,” Galder urged. “Don’t you want to meet Kuylen?”

“Shush,” Takuan silenced him.

“Don’t shush me,“ Galder replied, but Takuan fixed him with a glare. Galder shrugged and headed on as Takuan looked skywards again. He gave a sigh, then disappeared into the wheat behind the others, leaving the Paladin in quiet among the stalks, with only the sound of the whistling wind and the harvesters a ways away.

= Chapter 17 =

“Shit, he is armed,” Rand announced, as they rested between two of the massive silos.

“Why is that such a big deal?” Galder inquired, the feeling that they were being watched fleeing momentarily. “We’re armed too.”

“He has a neurowhip...right now it just looks like a squat handle clipped to his belt...”

“What’s a neurowhip?” Galder had never heard of such a weapon. Rand, obviously, had, and did not like it.

“The neurowhip is a very nasty weapon, Galder, also a very high-tech weapon. In fact, to give an idea of what level they are, neurowhips are built individually by their owners...just like lightsabers. That much care goes into them...

“However, the big problem is this. The neurowhip is the weapon of the Osokan Hunting Guild...which, for fun, goes out and hunts those dinosaurs they live with on their world...and they also act as local law enforcement. These people actually go to take them on purposefully! Needless to say, they are very...special...people...”

“Ludicrous,” Rah commented. “Why the hell would anyone do something like that?”

“The Hunting Guild was also very bad news for the Galaxy,” Rand went on, brushing aside Rah’s comment. “The Osokans have a superiority ethic, much as the Aryans did, the Hunting Guild doubly so, and some two centuries ago they became rather overly interested in bullying neighbors. Along with that, they were very peeved by wildlife protection laws enforced by the Senate, which included the raptors.

“To say the situation got bad is an understatement. Best explained by what the solution had to be...”

“And that solution was...?” Galder asked.

“They sent two hundred Jedi to ‘pacify’ the Osokan situation. It took them a long time to finish the job. A very long time.”

“Son of the Suns, are you serious?!” Galder nearly shouted. “Two hundred Jedi?”

“Yes, two hundred. It took them twenty years to finish the job...

“From that point on to now, the Hunting Guilds were abolished, and the neurowhip banned throughout the entire Galaxy. Anyone carrying one is subject to arrest- and an Osokan carrying one is asking to be executed. I pity the person sent to do that job.

“And this Osokan is carrying one. Must have learned to use it in secret. But...that is still incredibly odd...”

“What?”

“Patches of the Hunting Guild on his clothing, or so I saw,” Rand explained. “He’s a member. He’s blatantly wearing it, as if we were to carry big placards reading ‘I am a Sith.’”

Rand turned and looked to the top of the silos. “Zatev! We know you are here! Come out if you wish to fight us, or meet us! It is cowardly to hide!”

Nothing.

“I do not think it wise to attract his attention,” Galder told him, looking around. “Neurowhips are dangerous in the hands of an Osokan guild member, as you just told me, and I’ve not had the experience of fighting a wielder of one. It could be tricky...”

“Hold your tongue, Galder, and find that silo!”

“There are a damned three hundred of them in this area!”

“Then pinpoint one of them and find Kuylen!”

Galder glared sullenly at Rand, then began working on the locater again.

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The door to the silo grinded open slowly, wrenched open by Takuan‘s powers, to reveal the dark innards. Tanic had found the silo only a short while ago, and Rand had ordered the others to rally to him.

Rand moved in first, motioning for the others to follow, grinning maliciously with anticipation. “Finally, at long last...”

The silo was solid and heavy, and entirely dark. They could not see a thing, and opened their senses to scour the shadows for any presences inside.

“Kuylen?” Galder called out.

Rand found the light switch and activated them with a snap of his fingers.

“It’s totally empty!” Galder shouted. Indeed it was. There was not even any wheat bails as they had found in other silos. No place to be hiding. No Kuylen.

“I don’t understand,” Rand sighed. “The signal is coming from here!”

Takuan, who had come in behind Galder, sighed outwardly. “I should have known...”

Suddenly, a loudspeaker sounded throughout the silos, coming from outside this one, opposite side of their entrance.

“Okay, I reckon all you folks should just put your hands up and come on out, nice and easy like.”

“Local security,” Takuan analyzed. “Great. Hicks with guns.”

“Finally, someone to skewer,” Galder hissed, let down by Kuylen’s no-show.

“We have the upper hand, we can just walk out of here without a shot fired...” Rand began to plan.

“Okay, folks, you’ve got about ten seconds to git on out here and lay down on yer fronts,” the security man spoke again. A group of the security force moved to cover the entrance by which the Dark Jedi had entered the silo.

“I say we kill them all,” Vash suggested.

“Yes, cut them all down before they know what’s happening...” Tanic said evenly.

Rand looked about his group, hearing nothing against that plan, and turned his lightsaber on with an evil grin, his face glowing in the light of his blade as the lights of the silo were shut off by the security outside.

= Chapter 18 =

As the thirty security men crowded around the entrance to the silo, two figures leaped out at high speed with extended hands. Two of the hapless Demarans were flung backwards into the wall of a silo, denting it and slumping to the ground with shattered bones. Rah and Rianna then ignited their lightsabers without hesitation.

From the darkness of the silo, a red lightsaber bolted forth and skewered one of the hicks. Vash emerged to retrieve it with a Force pull, grinning at his own handiwork.

Nume Rand came out of the silo next. With one hand clenched in the direction of a Demaran, he activated his weapon with the other. He manipulated the Force and used it to knock two of the gunmen away, plowing into one another then smacking against the silo.

Two of the officers nearly dropped their guns as Takuan glared at them, using the Force to fill their minds with evil pictures, and another officer tried to let loose a shot at Tanic as the latter followed Takuan’s lead.

Last but not least, Galder vaulted over all of their heads and landed in the midst of the hicks. With a single swing, he beheaded a guard effortlessly.

And then the hicks opened fire with their long-barreled blaster rifles. A majority of the shots ricocheted harmlessly off of lightsaber blades or exploded against the side of the empty silo, but one shot burned across Vash’s arm. He growled angrily that he had allowed himself to be hit, and lacerated the chest of the attacker that hit him.

Tanic flashed in, drawing his lightsaber and disemboweling a foe in one movement. The purple blur cut his opponent open, and he fell back with a loud cry, squeezing the trigger of his gun helplessly.

All too easy... Galder thought as he strafed the shots coming his way. They streaked past his head, past his legs, past his body entirely, becoming bursts of light and sparks as they collided with the ground or the silos, or relaying off of his lightsaber. He brought out his blue lightsaber to compliment his blocking ability, then brought it through the chest of a hick.

This time Tanic was hit in the exchange of fire. A shot skimmed across his leg, but did no serious hindering to his agility.

Vash and Takuan, however, attempted to relay the shots back into their firers. Takuan reflected one shot that nearly hit, and a second reflection burned into a Demaran’s chest. Vash’s reflections were not as lucky, and he only scored reflections of two of the three attackers with non-fatal shots.

Scrank! Takuan made a gesture to a rusted slab of silo wall, tearing it away and flinging it at a Demaran. It split his head with a sickening squish and gurgle, then clanged against the silo behind, covered in blood.

Vash and Rand moved in with lightsabers flashing with deflected bolts. Vash made a slash for a Demaran’s arm, removing it with ease. Rand jabbed and ran a man through without much effort, then turned to defend himself from more burst fire.

After cutting down his last man, Galder spun and grinned maliciously as he cut another down. Within a second, he had spun to behead another. He spun once more to deflect two shots from a mook, flicking one shot downwards into the Demaran’s leg, then impaled him.

The remaining fourteen Demarans were spread apart to the sides, having moved around the silo to apprehend the Dark-Siders. Rah tackled down one of these then rose as another volley of fire came in, reflecting one bolt straight back into the chest of a security man with a precise snap of his blade.

Vash rushed to Rah’s side, becoming a blur as he used the Force to speed his movements. He twirled his lightsaber wildly, Rah ducking under his strike as he hacked a Demaran clear in two.

“Watch where you’re swinging that thing!” Rah barked, interrupting his battle song.

Tanic twirled his lightsaber a few times then dashed in. He removed the arm from one of the mooks, then spun to cut through a man’s gun and forearms.

Rah got to his feet and attempted an attack on another man. However, this man flung himself clear of Rah’s precise blow, an unlucky miss. Tanic finished him for Rah without straying from his current path.

Galder, like Vash, used the Force to speed himself over to where the Demarans still resided. Vwum! He disemboweled his target as Rah, Takuan, and Tanic reflected shots into their attackers. Rah’s reflection was a struggled thing, and he was concentrating more on avoiding the shot. Takuan’s target shied away from the bolt, which burst against a silo and showered sparks and debris downwards. Tanic successfully injured his target, however, who crumpled to the ground, still firing at the Dark-Siders despite the pain.

With a growl that his target had not died, Tanic leaped through the air and whipped his lightsaber about, beheading the injured man and cutting through the legs of another. He fell with a scream, but Tanic silenced him with a swipe to the throat.

Clunk! Rah sent a Demaran hurtling towards a silo. He hit head first, knocking him unconscious or snapping his neck.

Vwum-um! Vash dropped two opponents, cutting through their legs then making another sweep to vivisect them.

Vwum-um-um! Galder cleaved a man in two, and in the same motion lacerated the stomach of another. The last man turned to run after firing a wild shot, but Galder laughed as he hurled his red lightsaber, at full speed, into the Demaran’s back. He fell with many a groan, then lay still.

“Thirty men dead in thirty seconds,” Rand commented, looking quite insidious. He had placed his lightsaber at his belt before the fight had ended, and Rianna had gone to his side to watch as well. “Brilliant work, my apprentices...”

As everyone began to place their lightsabers away and Galder retrieved his thrown blade, Takuan kept his out. Glaring, he turned his gaze to the top of a silo. “We’re being watched again.”

“Damned Osokan...” Galder spat, flicking out his wrist blaster and cocking it.

Following his line of sight, everyone spied a man standing atop a silo, viewing them with electrobinoculars. He was clad in a crisp gray uniform and a peaked officer’s cap, a small lapel on the left side of shirt. A blaster pistol hung from his belt.

“Rado Helkin,” Tanic said. “He is the man from Coruscant, working for the Bureau of Immigrants and Undesirables...”

“Rather a pest, that one,” Takuan said with contempt. “He most likely watched that skirmish from up there. Do we go for him?”

Rand opened his mouth to talk, but there was a quick shriek of white noise. Helkin had produced a small communicator, and set it to amplify his voice.

“Well well,” he called down. “Looks like I found my man.”

“Not one of us here is Zatev,” Rand shouted up to him, “so you may carry on your way.”

Helkin merely laughed and bent his knees, squatting on the silo. “We seem to be one many short,” he commented. “Where is your leader?”

“That would by my position,” Rand continued shouting. He took his lightsaber from his belt and stepped to the front of the group. “Can I help you with something? I’m sure you aren’t here to take us in, Helkin. That would be just plain stupid.”

Helkin snorted. “You’re no leader. But don’t worry. I am not here to bring you in...

“Kill them,” he said aloud, to no-one that Galder could see. “You can keep the sabers as trophies.” He turned off the communicator and turned around to get off the roof of the silo.

“I have a bad feeling about this...” Rand said, activating his lightsaber again.

“Who are you to threaten me, Helkin?” Galder snarled. He raised his robotic arm and took aim, opening fire on Helkin with a burst of fire. The shots burst on the surface of the silo, sending sparks and smoke into the air. Grain spilled out of the silo’s gaping holes, and Helkin was out of range.

Standing in the crossroads between four of the silos, which were set in neat rows with roadways between them in grid pattern, the Dark-Siders based themselves at the center, activating their lightsabers again. Once Helkin had gone, things had gone silent.

Suddenly, from the east side of the crossroads, which lead back to the city and to Helkin’s route, an Osokan stepped out. He was making pig-like grunting and snorting noises, glaring at the Dark-Siders over his moist snout.

Then another one stepped out from the west side, with a wide, horribly spiky grin. They looked very similar, and Galder guessed that they might have been seeing either one of them over the hour or so that they were searching the silos.

Two more emerged from behind the silos, one on the northern road and one to the south.

“Don’t jump the gun,” Rand ordered.

“There are only four,” Galder whispered. “We can kill them and get off Demarus now.”

Takuan brandished his lightsaber at the Osokan to the north. The Osokan mimicked the horrible grin that the others had adopted, then removed the neurowhip handle from his belt, turning it on. A brilliant cascade of blue crackling energy spouted forth from the hilt, hanging limply to one side as he held the neurowhip at a slight angle.

“We should move around and stalk them,” Takuan suggested.

There was a sudden cacophony of igniting energy weapons as seven smaller though equally as ugly Osokans, joined each of their captains. They all held their whips at a slight angle, snorting and grunting as they blocked each route.

“Four teams of eight,” Rand counted, suddenly becoming very grim, “that’s thirty-two.”

“I am not afraid of these swine,” Galder hissed, then broke away from the group of Dark Jedi, Vash following his lead.

“Wait, Galder!” Rand called, but it was too late.

Whum! Galder swung with all his might and cut across the chest of an Osokan. It just about cut him open, the slash going deep. However, the Osokan stumbled back, still on its feet, snarling loudly. The other two Osokans moved to apprehend him and the Captain slipped around to Galder’s back.

Whum! Vash flashed in with a hack-slash draw, but his target actively struck with lightsaber with his whip. The energy lash tailed around the red blade, causing an almighty crackle, and trapped the blade. With a shout of surprise, Vash yanked his lightsaber free, for the whips lacked friction.

“They’re energy weapons, they can block!” Vash cried out.

The Osokans from the west, north, and east moved in to attack the rest of the Dark-Siders. Tanic quick-drew his light blaster pistols and unleashed a volley towards the Osokans, but only one of the shots struck an Osokan, hitting him in the arm.

Crack! As Galder attempted to finish off the Osokan he hacked open, the Osokan Captain shot the lash past Galder’s head. As it cracked, there was a bright sparkle and a loud crackle. One of the two uninjured Osokans attacked Galder, the whip catching his left arm with a snap.

“Gah!” Galder cried out in anguish. As the lash flashed against his arm, a shock was sent through his entire body. After the intense pain fled, there was an odd numbness.

The four Osokans moved around him, obscuring his view of the others, though he could see Vash to his right. He swung again, hacking across the Osokan’s chest again. With an ear-piercing squeal, it fell back.

“Ah!” A whip had cracked across Vash’s face. Galder saw his face turn pale and his eyes go out of focus for a moment before he raised his blade to defend again.

The three remaining around Galder attacked. The Captain’s shot went wide as Galder blurred to the side by tapping into the Force. He then twirled his lightsabers around to get the neurowhips wrapped around his lightsabers, then pulled his blades out forcefully in an attempt to disarm the Osokans. He failed miserably, for they had an extremely tight grip.

Galder swung again, this time at the Captain. There was a loud crackling before Galder was able to pull his blade free, since the Osokan merely parried his attack. As he yanked his lightsaber free, he pushed himself away from the Captain, one of the other Osokan’s neurowhips wrapping around his lightsaber’s blade. More pain shot through Galder as the third Osokan whip smacked into his arm.

Once more, he attempted attacking the Captain. More sparking light and an effortlessly parried blow. Galder felt as if he reflexes were slowing down.

This time the Captain was the one who hit home. Waving his whip up into the air and bringing it down, the whip cracked against Galder shoulder, which went numb. Galder riposted into the Captain’s stomach, letting the lightsaber burn inside him for a moment before pulling it out to thrust into another Osokan. He used his second lightsaber to jab at the third, but it avoided harm.

Next to him, Vash riposted twice, stabbing his two targets violently as their whips cracked very close to him. The third Osokan he kicked in the face, but it did not even flinch. Then, in another flash, Vash carved a long slice from hip to shoulder on one of the stabbed Osokans. It fell back with a nasty snarl.

“You bastards just won’t die!” Galder hollered angrily, slashing open another one of the Osokans he had semi-impaled. However, it remained standing, though snarling and squealing in agony. As vengeance, the heavily injured Osokan smashed his whip across Galder’s face. His head went numb momentarily, everything going out of focus, and intense pain filling his body. He felt himself starting to convulse, but fought it.

I am not going to die here... Galder thought, bringing his blades up to intercept the other two whips.

Vash was hit again, the whip flogging his backside and tearing open his clothing. The bandoleer on his back was undone by the neurowhip’s crack, and his blaster rifle fell to the ground. Galder’s senses told him that Vash was emanating sheer terror.

Feeding off of his own anger and Vash’s fear, Galder swung in again. This time, he dropped the heavily injured Osokan. The thing was beheaded. Satisfied with the kill, Galder moved to stab the other Osokan. It slid off his blade and crumpled to the ground, hit by Vash’s wild swinging as he cut into an assailant. This one cried out and swung at Vash, who made a timely riposte and drove it to the ground.

Vwum! Galder cut another one down, but it kept twitching on the ground, squealing constantly. He would have moved to finish it, but it was already wounded too much to be a threat, as the remaining Osokan Hunter and the Osokan Captain were.

Vash leapt on top of the remaining Osokan Hunter, driving him to the ground as well with a well-aimed jab, then moved to attack the Captain.

“Go help the others!” he urged with uncertainty, as he swung three times at the Captain, missing the three attacks and narrowly avoiding another whip-crack. “We need to get out of here!”

Galder glared angrily at the Captain that was now tangling with Vash, then turned to give aid to those in the middle.

= Chapter 19 =

As Galder moved to aid those in the center, Takuan slashed across one of the attackers, but failed to drop him. There were now fifteen uninjured Osokans flailing away at the Dark Jedi massed in the center. The injured one that Takuan attacked riposted and nearly smashed into Takuan’s leg, but Takuan had adopted a blocking stance, as if he was fighting another saber-wielder. The three Captains at center were still smiling that hideous smile, cracking their whips menacingly. Two of the Captains had but cut open badly but were still attacking, and one had yet to feel the intense burning bite of a lightsaber.

The Dark Jedi that remained standing were Rianna, Takuan, and Rah. Standing in defensive positions and occasionally lashing out at their targets, the were nearly stepping on their two fallen comrades at their feet.

“Rand and Tanic are down!” Rah shouted to Galder as he noticed him approaching. “They’re completely paralyzed!”

Indeed they were, as were the effects of the neurowhip. Rand and Tanic were laying sprawled on the ground, unable to move, their lightsaber hilts still clutched in their hands. They both twitched as if they were still putting up an effort to dodge, for the whips still crackled close overhead.

There was a flash as Rah flicked his lightstaff around to catch a Captain’s whip just before it flogged his backside. He was convulsing more than Galder was, and had ceased his emotional singing. Galder was met with several cracks- which he skillfully avoided- as he moved to help his friend.

In a display of great anger that they had managed to drop his allies and were attacking him, Galder placed his blue lightsaber into his arm compartment and swung three times for three heavy blows. An Osokan was split open across the jaw, and then across the chest, falling to the ground. A second Osokan found himself skewered upon the red blade, but pulled itself off, screeching. It pushed itself away from Galder, but found a purple lightsaber hacking down through its skull down to its throat.

“About time!” Rianna shouted at Galder after removing her weapon from it.

“It is no easy task making an escape route, miss!” Galder shouted back, but Rianna ignored him. She was too busy biting back a furious yell as a Captain’s whip wrapped about her arm, shocking her terribly. As she twisted one blade around to force the whip off her arm, she drove the other into an Osokan’s chest. Dislodging her arm, she quickly feinted for the Captain but bit into the Osokan she had just stabbed, knocking him backwards with a powerful slash.

Now Galder was feeling the pressure of the center group of Osokans. He blurred to the side just in time as an Osokan Captain moved to strike him down. Then, with one fell swipe, he struck another Osokan down. There was now enough room for the others to grab the wounded and flee.

Rianna dragged both of her blades through an Osokan, finishing him, before she noticed. However, the other two were in no position to escape with her, and they had injured men to worry about. She stayed to keep the Osokans at bay.

As the Osokans lashed out at Galder and Rianna, who shielded Takuan from the blows, Takuan moved away from them, motioning for Rah to follow.

When the violent lashes subsided, having been parried away from the Dark Jedi by the lightsabers, Galder dove for Rand. Hoisting him up, he pulled out of the ring of Osokans through the gap he had made. Before he could dash back to Vash, the Osokans cracked their whips again. With the Dark Side Master over his shoulder and his red lightsaber still in hand, he flailed his blade about to ward off the whips. One wrapped around his left forearm, but he felt nothing. The whip crackled and sparked against his synthetic arm, leaving a nice scorched ring.

Galder broke away from the center as Rah did, carrying Rand with him. Looking back, Takuan seemed stiff and slow to evade the attacks, and was just managing to avoid being paralyzed.

Shit, I have a conscience? Galder pondered when he realized that Takuan would not make it if he was not helped. He threw Rand down heavily without thinking and dashed back to Takuan, intercepting a blow that would have struck him in the back of the head.

“I’m touched by your heroism, Galder,” Takuan snarled, deflecting another whip and pulling his blade free with great frustration. “It was so sweet that I could shed a tear...”

“Not my fault that you get yourself into tight spots!” Galder retorted, defending his friend from another blow as Takuan and Rianna moved out. In a swift movement, Rianna fended off a few Osokan attacks and grabbed Tanic, dashing away. Galder followed suite, relieved to see that Rah had decided to lift up Rand instead of leaving him for Galder.

“Let’s get out of here!” Galder shouted. “To the ships!”

As the Dark Jedi grouped together once more, Vash and Rianna viciously defended themselves along with Takuan and Rah, as Galder took the initiative to lead. As he passed his companions by, he took note of Tanic and Rand. They were unmoving, but Galder could sense they were alive. Just paralyzed...

Suddenly, Galder had an idea. “I want to kill Helkin, and learn how he fooled us into coming into his trap!” Galder yelled at the others as they began their dash southward. “We can continue to head east and...”

“We could not deal with the situation when he came to us, Galder,” Takuan reminded with a weary growl. “Let alone us going to him, impaired and dysfunctional as we are. To the ships, not to Helkin.”

Galder glared eastwards, straight ahead, for a moment, then quickly produced his locater. “Great, our ships are to the left...that‘s north...”

“Turn...” Rand struggled to instruct, his face paralyzed into a state of menacing pain.

The Dark Jedi were running like hell eastward, and were two blocks from the original point of the battle where they slaughtered the security men, with the Osokans only a block behind, when a horrible sight sent cold shivers tingling down their spines. Their danger senses went off the scale as two Osokan Captains commanded another two teams of fresh, battle-ready Osokans to ignite their whips.

“Shit,” Takuan cursed from the rear.

“Adequately expressed,” Vash replied, holding his blade in front of him defensively.

Without a word, Vash, Rianna with her load of Tanic, and Rah with his load of Rand broke off to the north. Galder turned to follow when his comlink went off.

“What the hell do you want?!” Galder answered with an urgent tone.

Gunfire cracked in the background as Rura’s eerily calm voice came over the comlink.

“We’re withdrawing to the ship,” he announced. “These things are everywhere.”

“Move, move, move!” someone hollered in the background.

“They’re moving to cut off our escape,” Rura continued. “Watch out for the c...” He was cut off.

“Rura?! Come in!” Galder crushed the comlink to dust in his hand out of anger, and threw the remains to the ground. He rushed to join Rianna and Rah soon afterwards, motioning for Takuan to hurry up. With two dozen Osokans and six Captains behind them, it was a good idea to keep together.

As they turned north, another team of Osokans appeared to block their path to the ships. They ignited their whips all at once, their Captain grinning smugly.

“Don’t go further east,” Takuan warned. “My senses tell me that is absurdly dangerous...”

With a determined look and his lightsabers held aloft, Galder began dashing head-on towards the new team of seven blocking their way. The others behind him gave him a look to let him know that he looked like an imbecile dashing to his death. However, just before he made it to the Osokan line, he made as if he was going to hack into the leader, but instead sprung up and over the row of swine and landed on the other side smoothly. Only seconds later, the encumbered Rah and Rianna landed behind him, not so smoothly but still managing to break away from their turning attackers in time.

“You had worth be worth the hassle, Rand,” Rah said sardonically, using him as a shield as the Osokan Captain turned to lash at Rah. The whip cracked and wrapped around Rand’s arm, but their paralyzed leader showed no further pain. His face was already carved with the excruciating pain from the whip that made him immobile.

Takuan, however, had different plans. Rather than attempting to make the jump- he would not have made into position before being swamped by Osokans- he turned west, disappearing behind a silo.

Galder, Rah, Vash, and Rianna reached another crossroad, where three of the Captains from the original conflict caught up with them, along with fifteen Osokans. Surprising the hell out of an Osokan, Galder suddenly turned and cut through the creature’s front. It did not drop, but it cried out and pulled back. A whip crackled across Vash’s back, the Dark Jedi crying out in pain and nearly falling down, but keeping his feet and smashing away the attack. It tore a long strip out of his shirt. A similar attack befell Rianna, tearing a gash in her pants from her thigh to her knee. With an enraged expression, Rianna resisted striking back and continued her dash northwards.

His survival instincts overpowering him, Galder turned away from his friends and broke into a run at ludicrous speed, tapping into the Force for a short burst. He emerged onto open ground, north of the silos, with an injured Captain and seven Osokans still behind him.

“Damn,” Galder profaned, pushing himself into another burst of speed and checking the locater. “I’m getting close...”

With the others a ways behind him and Takuan out of sight, Galder dove into the Demaran wheat fields. Obstructing his view and making his fleeing awkward, Galder was sure that the Osokans would have a hard time of navigating the fields, more so than he. He continued to navigate north with a compass on the locater, then broke out of the field. Unfortunately, he was only crossing a dirt road between fields, and had to dive into another.

A mechanical noise droned in the background, and Galder pondered what it was. He looked skywards.

“Oh, not good...” Galder muttered, realizing what it could be. But he did not have time to dwell on the thought. As he dove into another field, only one field away from the position of their starships, shots rang out. Bolts whisked past him, burning the tops off of the wheat stalks, which toppled to the ground. He ignited his red lightsaber and swung through the wheat, decapitating a hick he had sensed.

“Damn, security got here first!” Galder shouted angrily as more shots snapped past him and collided with the wall of an outhouse on the edge of the field just behind him. He whipped his lightsaber around a killed another, toppling more wheat. Suddenly, two shots struck him in the left shoulder and upper arm. It burned intensely and Galder cried out while reflecting a few shots back with his unharmed arm. Also quite sudden, an Osokan Captain came barreling out of the wheat towards Galder, snorting with a heaving chest as he raised his whip.

= Chapter 20 =

“You have very bad timing, my friend!” Galder growled at the Captain, blurring out of the way of his attack with the Force, then skewering a security man. He reflected the incoming shots, injuring two of the remaining hicks and knocking a third shot full into one of their faces. Galder attempted to yank the Captain’s whip away with a pull from the Force, but he kept a firm hold, lashing out again. Galder strafed sideways as the whip cracked and the two security men fired, hitting the Osokan instead of him. The Captain growled and smashed his fist into the face of one of the hicks. His head was knocked clear off, blood spattering over his companion as the Osokan gave him a taste of whip.

Speeding off an at obtuse angle while the Osokan Captain exacted his revenge on the ill-fated gunmen, Galder found himself blindly flailing through the wheat. He stumbled and fell, grinding through the irrigated mud and wheat, scratching himself up and getting covered in mud. His lightsaber, however, flew through the wall of wheat ahead of him...only to be vacuumed up by a hurricane-like wind emitted from the gaping maw of the Demaran harvester Galder had heard. The entire wall of wheat ahead of Galder vanished in the deafening noise of the suction, and he felt a pull on himself as well.

“Definitely not good for my health,“ Galder groaned. Using the Force, he pulled his weapon back, reactivating it as the Osokan Captain reappeared, this time with another Osokan minion. Trying to keep ahead of the hurricane of wheat, Galder attempted to backtrack and leap over the heads of the two Osokans. However, as soon as his feet left the ground, he was violently tugged backwards, towards the harvester.

“Sith spit!” he hollered angrily, reaching out and grabbing at a stalk of wheat. The Osokan Captain squealed with glee as he grabbed Galder’s mechanical arm and tried to force him to let go. Galder’s lightsaber went hurtling towards the harvester once more, and as Galder watched it go, he glanced up to the harvester’s bridge. Helkin was glaring down at him, his face stern and cold. Two Osokan Captains stood alongside him, obviously laughing at the helpless Dark-Siders.

They can see us all from there! Galder realized. He also took notice that the plas-glass on the bridge had been reinforced to reflect blaster fire.

“Damn you!” Galder shouted, feeling a surge of anger and thrusting an open palm towards the Osokan Captain. It through the Captain off-balance, forcing him to release the arm and grab onto the wheat himself. As Galder was swept up by the suction of the harvester, he maneuvered himself in midair with the guidance of the Force, yanking his lightsaber from the pull to his hand and grabbing hold of a stanchion some twenty feet above the vacuum of certain death. Within a split second of grabbing hold, he ignited his lightsaber and hacked away a robotic buzz-saw arm before it took a chunk out of him. With a cry of furious relief, Galder jumped up the side of the harvester again.

For a moment, he could see everyone. He cackled maniacally as the Osokan Captain retreated from the harvester and his Osokan minion was plucked from the ground and grinded into tiny cubes with the wheat. Rah had guided himself to the periphery of the harvester, having dropped the cumbersome and helpless Rand, but was going back to grab him again. Rianna was about to find herself in the same situation as Galder, still carrying Tanic over her back. Takuan made a ripple in the wheat field, causing his pursuers to think that he had gone in the opposite direction of his current location. In the general area of their ships, not too far away, Galder noticed Rien Orsyn’s starship rising up and taking off.

However, Galder sensed great fear welling up from the field. The source of it was Vash Bloodcarver, who was now sprinting desperately through the field. His lightsaber flashed as he cut down one of the security men moving to attack him and reflected a few shots away. He extended a hand and sent another hick hurtling backwards through the wheat, but was caught unawares by the Osokan Captain behind him. The Captain sent his whip crackling down Vash’s back, the Dark Jedi convulsing until he reached full paralysis. Defenseless and helpless, the security men fired point-blank into his chest with blaster rifles, making direct hits. He was thrown backwards into the Captain, he proceeded in removing a hunting knife from his belt. With a quick series of incisions, the Captain slit Vash’s throat and lacerated his chest and stomach, then tossed him to the ground. With a mighty squeal of victory, the Captain picked up the dead Dark Jedi’s lightsaber and attached it to his belt.

“You bastard!” Galder screamed down at the Captain. He realized that perhaps Vash had not been as strong as they all thought, and gave a sigh and moved up the side of the harvester further. He noticed another Captain moving out above him. “Damn, not more of you!”

The Captain moved into close combat he moved down the side to Galder with surprising speed. He lashed out at Galder, who lashed out at the same time, attempting to keep his hold on the harvester. The whip wrapped around the lightsaber, but Galder drove his lightsaber into the hull of the harvester, trapping both weapons effectively. Grinning at his opponent’s misfortune, Galder made sure he was holding on firmly with his legs as he released his hand-hold to lash out with his other lightsaber.

However, this was an error. The Captain grinned- his grin being more hideous than Galder’s- and yanked both weapons out of the side of the harvester. Galder was thrown clear of his grip, and was only supported by the neurowhip wrapped around his red lightsaber. It was going to untangle in a matter of milliseconds.

Galder gave a mighty yank on his lightsaber, propelling himself upwards, the whip cracking after him but to no avail. He grabbed onto a high stanchion, with the Captain scrambling after him. Pulling himself to the side of the harvester, seeing as it curved slightly, which would make another jump upwards dangerous, Galder drew his wrist blaster. He fired at handholds near the Captain, delaying his scramble towards Galder. One shot missed the hold and sizzled into the Captain’s shoulder.

Crack! Out of pure instinct, Galder swung upwards and carved into the hide of an Osokan hunter above him after it attempted to flog him. This gave the Captain time to catch up, but Galder was intent on clearing his path. He swung again, but missed, then leaped upwards just as the Captain’s whip smashed across the hunter’s arm, accidentally forcing him to release his hold. It fell downwards a great distance, disappearing among the wheat.

Galder had grabbed hold of one of the many robotic arms on the side of the harvester, but it began to sprout whirling blades and spin as Galder held on. He scuttled sideways and swung at the arm, dismantling it smoothly, then climbing quickly to the roof of the harvester.

Galder dashed across the flat top of the harvester, admiring the view of the vast fields for a peaceful moment before clambering down the side of the harvester. This time, there were no Osokans, but he noticed that the harvester was slowly edging towards his ship. He scuttled downwards as fast as he could, but was cut off by two Osokan hunters a quarter of the way. They lashed out at him, but he managed to fend off their attacks and continue his scramble down the side.

At three-fourths of the way down, Galder saw that the harvester was hideously close to the ships. With a silent appeal to the Force, Galder let go of the side of the harvester and prepared himself. He hit the ground on his feet, then buckled to the ground. His ankle had crumpled from the mighty drop, but he could still run, using the Force to numb his pain. A whip cracked near him, but he completely ignored it as he got up, piling all his emotion and focus into a might burst of speed towards his starfighter.

He reached it just in time. Rand and Rah were atop his ship, the latter firing his kinetic blaster from Zeiton wildly. The Osokans were kept at bay, and Galder leapt over their ring onto the ship. Cringing as he landed on his injured foot once more, but crawled into the cockpit. Motioning for Rah to haul Rand in, he began the take off sequence.

“Glad we’re out of that mess,” Rah commented, laying back in the co-pilot seat. Rand remained unmoving in the passenger’s seat.

They made a pass over Tanic’s starfighter, which lifted into the air as well. It rose unsteadily, and Galder guessed that Tanic was instructing Rianna in the take-off sequence and how to set it on auto-pilot.

“Where’s Takuan?” Rah questioned.

“I see him,” Galder answered, noticing the wheat falling as Takuan cut it down to signal his position. “I’m going to make a pass...”

Galder activated the anti-personnel guns, which popped from underneath the wings and just beneath the main cannons as little white pods. He proceeded in spraying the area surrounding Takuan with firepower enough to at least injure the hardy Osokans. With an impressive but somewhat unstable leap, Takuan landed on the nose of Galder’s starfighter. It rose slowly as Galder opened the hatch for Takuan to climb in, then sped off into the sky and out of the Demaran atmosphere.

As the two ships raced out of Demarus’ gravity well, a sleek transport vessel flew out of its eclipse behind the moon. The sensors aboard the Conquering Paladin of Hoth told Galder that it was going to get a perfect vector on their hyperspace launch or even attempt to pull them in with a tractor beam if they did not jump now.

Fiddling with his controls, Galder looked up the first coordinates in his navigation computer. Deciding that he would rather keep Hoth a well-known secret, he set up a jump for the forest moon of Dayeldra. Linking to Tanic’s nav-computer, the stars began to streak and they left the Demaran system with powerful blasts from the engines. They were home-free.

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“Where too now, Master Rand?” Rianna asked her mentor, with a sarcastic tone. “We cannot stay here long, and we need to get you some medical attention for the paralyzing...”

The Shadow Blade and the Conquering Paladin of Hoth were currently planted in the steppes of Enbooaari. This was their third stop after their escape from Demarus; they had halted for a moment on the bright forest moon of Dayeldra, then made another jump to hide in the deeper, darker forests of Rybooine. Their next destination would be the moist rain forests of Sullbrinlag, home to a Force-using indigenous species of spiky lizard hordes no larger than Galder’s thumb. After that, they were to head to wherever Rand decided they should, for medical treatment.

“Cyn...” Rand’s rigidly angry jaw started to budge, but he could not get it moving.

“What, Rand?” Galder asked. “Come on, spit it out...”

“Cyn...Cyne...lline...”

“Cynelline?” Takuan asked.

“Ye...” was all Rand was able to say, notifying that Takuan was correct.

= Chapter 21 =

Galder tapped his feet impatiently and twiddled his thumbs and flipped a pen between his fingers trying to alleviate the extreme boredom he was now suffering from. Rianna, Takuan, and Rah sat with him in the waiting room for the hospital that Tanic and Rand were currently being held at for further treatment.

“This place isn’t boring like Demarus,” Takuan remarked. “Demarus was dull because there are millions of worlds like it. No...Cynelline is boring because nothing ever happens here.”

“No kidding,” Galder replied, staring blankly at the pen as he twirled in between his index and middle fingers.

They had come to Cynelline at Rand’s suggestion, in an effort to escape the Osokan horde. They had done well, and two weeks after their flee from Demarus, they had not seen a single suspicious shadow or a sign posted, with love, by the Bureau.

“I swear, Lanzar should be bombed into a million tiny pieces,” Galder spoke again, with a hint of angry enthusiasm. “Obliterated, destroyed, melted, cast into a nearby sun!”

“I agree,” Rianna replied, “but who would do it? The Republic?”

“No...” Galder sighed, remembering what Kuylen had offered him on Zeiton. “I could have done it...had I quashed the Republic with my Zeitonian forces...”

“Yes, as if that will ever work,” Takuan reminded. “The Zeitonians would only turn on themselves...and us. And that’s exactly what they did.”

Galder did not reply this time. He would rather avoid thinking about Zeiton any further.

“Until someone comes up with a way to destroy Lanzar,” Rianna continued, “those Osokans will remain. Oh happy day.”

“Your sarcasm is bringing great joy to this conversation...”

“Shut up, Galder.”

Galder ceased. Sometimes Rianna could be a tad scary, and now was not the time to incur her wrath. After all, they were only space travelers who were caught in an unusual magnetic storm when passing through a nebula. The storm had left their ships unharmed, but had terrible results on the occupants.

At least, that was what they had told the Cynellise Doctor.

Cynelline was boring, but it was well-suited for what the Dark Jedi currently needed. It was quiet, well-kept, well-supplied, well-run, incredibly advanced and sophisticated, administrated by an enlightened democratic process, and one of the founding worlds of the Republic, alongside Coruscant, Alderaan, Corellia, and the rest, nearly twenty-five thousand years ago. The Cynellise themselves were truly ancient, even by the criteria of species, and their longevity was measured out to several millennia. There were Cynellise who could recall the great Sith Wars, or retell tales passed on from parents who were alive during the founding of the Republic. As a result of this, the Cynellise were one of the wisest, if not the wisest, species in the known Galaxy. It was little wonder to Galder that Cynelline should be so advanced and developed with its native being so ancient.

However, they were notoriously lazy and not at all driven to achieve great things. Their massive lifespan is what had made them so passive. Most Cynellise had done all they had wanted to do by the time they were three-hundred. Realizing that they still have millennia to go before entering the grave, they indulge in lethargy. It was not hibernation, but rather pointless lives. The Cynellise took forever to decide anything or do anything, and they always wood.

Crises were nearly nonexistent in their timeline, crime nearly invisible, and violent crime totally eradicated from the face of the planet. There were no seedy bars or criminal underworlds. There were no unique valuables worth stealing. Cynelline was a planet ignored by the rest of the Republic, and that was because nothing the Cynellise did ever affected it.

Despite that the Dark Jedi, within two weeks, had already become bored out of their minds and very tempted to just drop a Cynellise dead, they had come to the place due to its boring, ignored ways. Rand had met a Cynellise during his years as a Jedi, on a territorial dispute; the Cynellise was part of a Republican negotiating team and was very good at his job. According to Rand, he must have read everything about his job a hundred times over to make sure he got it right every time.

“It took him days to read through notes that I scanned over in minutes,” Rand told them, once he had improved enough from his condition to talk normally. “I talked to him about this place. Which is why I know it is perfect for us to hide on until things blow over.

“There’s no trouble on Cynelline...which disgusts me to consider as a factor. Normally, I would avoid civilized worlds, such as Corellia or Alderaan, because the danger of a security outfit recognizing me is great. However...even if Kuylen were striding around the streets of Cynelline shouting manifestos, no one would give a damn. But, that doesn’t mean you can start trouble. The younger Cynelline would be happy to take a shot at you, and they have thousands of years to practice their marksmanship. That, or they’ll just call the Jedi...

“We can stock up on supplies and stay hidden here for as long as needed,” Rand continued. “Best of all...the Cynellise medical facilities are first rate anywhere. They can treat any known injury for any known species. The good Doctor here has been in practice for just over four thousand years. He’s quite good; travelers from the Outer Rim seek medical attention here all the time, and though his staff is mainly droids, the Doctor himself is a miracle worker.”

If Rand and Tanic had been bleeding to death, with their entrails dragging on the floor, the Doctor would not have been quick to fix their problems. However, as soon as the Doctor confirmed that they were not about to die, he prevaricated treatment so that he could come up with a way to completely clear things up. Therefore, Rand and Tanic had been forced to stay in the hospital, due to the severity of their paralysis and in light of Rand’s age.

Now, the others were waiting for the Doctor to allow them to see Rand and Tanic. Soon, the Doctor allowed them to shuffle inside. It was disturbingly clean, and made Galder feel filthy, despite the fact that he had taken a Cynelline shower that morning in the hospital.

“I’m not happy about this,” the Doctor said. Whilst the Cynellise were vaguely avian, they seemed more human than anything. The Doctor towered over them, though. “Mr. Rand, especially, should be very careful. I recommend nothing but the most passive of activities for at least the next three months, and light work only for the three after that. You really are safer here.”

At this, all of the Dark Jedi cringed, including Rand himself.

Passive...what means this word? Galder asked himself, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the thought of remaining on Cynelline for six long months.

“I...I assure you, Doctor,” Rand replied, obviously not connecting with the word himself, “that I and my accomplices will be just fine.”

“Without knowing the full details of what actually caused this damage,” the Doctor continued. “It is hard for me to guarantee your recovery.”

“Yes,” Takuan chuckled. “Bed rest for you two, of course! We have some big cozy pillows for you...”

Rand glared at him. “That’ll be enough.”

“As for Tanic,” said the Doctor, ignoring Takuan’s comment, “I’d be more worried about long-term issues if you discharge him early. He may develop certain forms of early signs of old age if I don’t check to my full satisfaction that my treatment has worked.”

“Tanic, how do you feel about have gray hair before you’re thirty-five?” Galder asked.

“That’d be just dandy,” Tanic replied, glaring almost as well as Rand’s practiced glare.

“See, Doc? He’s just fine. Just dandy, in fact...”

“Shut it.”

“Yes, Master Tanic...”

“Galder.” Rand fixed him with his practiced glare, which Galder rolled his eyes at, but remained silent.

“I do actually have a couple of concerns about the nature of these injuries...” the Doctor started, beginning a fifteen minute medical rant.

Galder watched the Cynellise talk, and could tell exactly what Tanic was thinking, for he was thinking the same himself. Bah! This guy is just being excessively cautious. Look at him, moaning on there like an old woman. I feel strong! The Force is with me, after all, and I am pretty sure I am not going to turn into some sort of cripple.

Tanic interrupted him before he could go further than a quarter hour. “What sort of symptoms, Doctor?” he asked, pretending to be truly concerned about whatever the Doctor had said.

"Well," said the Doctor. "I've completed my analysis of the injuries of all of you when you first came here. It hasn't helped me define what the actual cause of it all was in this storm of yours. But...some of these injuries..." He brought up a holographic image of Tanic’s leg and a few other places from the others’ bodies and pointed at some of them.

"Some of these burns look awfully like close shaves from standard issue blaster rifles..."

Galder ceased tapping his fingers on his mechanical arm. He had briefly forgotten the Demaran security forces that had arrived before Helkin and his Osokan horde. The others shifted uncomfortably, each trying to develop a feasible lie, but Galder spoke first.

“I collect weapons, Doctor,” he informed, which was not untrue. “Quite nice blasters. Unfortunately, they malfunctioned during our pass through the storm...”

“Blasters?” the Doctor inquired. “Left exposed during hyperspace navigation?”

"What can I say,“ Takuan butted in. “You're right about us leaving weapons unsupervised during hyperspace. Our friend..." he gestured to Galder, "...is very attached to his collection. We threw them in in a hurry. We're lucky to have him still alive." Takuan acted deeply concerned, though Galder knew he would probably not care too much if he bit the bullet. "It was hell up there."

The Doctor bought it, but he was still unhappy about not being able to get Rand and Tanic to rest for the supposed required time. He produced release papers, which Takuan was able to sign with his own name, since Cynelline had probably still not received news of their dangerousness. And they actually had not been in the news for two years.

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Galder settled himself in the quiet bar. There were very few Cynellise inside the bar itself, though the bar tender was one. It not crowded, and the few spacers inside were drinking quietly by themselves.

“Well, wasn’t Demarus fun?” Galder asked Rand, who was sitting across the table from him. He looked old and tired, slightly disappointed by whatever he was thinking.

“No,” was Rand’s simple answer, taking a sip of his euphoric Chav. He gestured for Rianna and Tanic to sit at his sides. Both looked tired, and Rianna had an annoyed grimace that she had been wearing the past two weeks. "I do, however, want to find Kuylen, and kill Helkin, and eradicate the Osokans. Two of those three could very likely happen in my life time, but I want to know why they didn't two weeks ago."

Galder paused a moment, glancing at Rianna and Tanic and gulping some of his Aludium pu-36 and taking a drag on a Magravian cigarette, which had taken a liking to just before Demarus. It had replaced his Magravian spice snuffing, which was not actually bad in the first place, except that it hurt his nostrils. And despite the smoke produced by the cigarette, it was not bad for his body either. Rather, it kept his concentrated.

“Put the cigarette away or I’ll do it for you,” Rianna snarled, having put forth a few coughs.

Galder merely grinned, and was about to puff a cloud into her face when Tanic kicked him under the table and gave him a look that implied “I’ve done it before, I advise you don’t.” Galder’s grin dropped and he snuffed out the cigarette in Tanic’s drink.

“I think Kuylen was on Demarus,” Galder theorized, taking another gulp.

“What makes you believe he was there?“ Rand asked. “We followed the beacon and found Helkin’s trap, not Kuylen.”

“I don’t think so,” Galder countered. “I doubt that Helkin could replicate Kuylen’s beacon, especially if he hadn’t found Kuylen in the first place.”

The insidious Master pondered that for a moment. “Helkin was after the leader...maybe he’s hunting us in order to hunt down Kuylen.”

“Kuylen was there,” Takuan cut in, seating himself beside Galder. “I am almost sure of it. We’ll have to get into contact with him again...”

“The tricky part is how,” Rand replied.

“I have an idea,” Rah started, sitting on the other side of Galder. “We need to go back to see if Kuylen is there, right?”

“Back? I highly doubt there’ll be a show of hands for that one, genius,” Rianna hissed.

“Well, I was thinking we should go pick up some destroyer droids, and get them programmed to kill Osokans while we extract information from Mr. Helkin...”

“We don’t have access to such high-class Techno Union technology,” Rand said, frowning at him.

Of course...there was a leak... Galder recalled. To that Hutt and Faylar on Damagran...ah, everyone’s probably forgotten about that by now...

“My guess is this,” Takuan began again. “Kuylen’s signal is genuine. It might have been intercepted by this so called Republican Bureau that Helkin acts in the name of. They therefore track him and wait for the rendezvous to happen, so that they could jump all of us. But I know Kuylen...and I’m willing to bet he found out somehow and took off. Not having a way to notify us, he left us to deal with them, hoping we’d get through. We’d all have done the same. That's why Helkin was expecting Kuylen, and asked about our leader. Now, if I were Kuylen...I wouldn’t have gone far. And I’d try to get back in contact. He didn’t call us for nothing, you can be sure of that. And I definitely think it was him that called us. We have to get back.”

"I'd rather we didn't go anywhere near that damn rock..." Rianna said. “And besides, we have no guarantees that Helkin will even stick around there, Rah. For all we know, he could just take off and leave a bunch of Osokans waiting for us if he suspected we'd come back after him.”

“I concur,” Rah decided, dropping his idea. “Returning to Demarus would be about as much fun as a stroll through space without a vacuum suit. But I believe that Kuylen lead us there for a reason, and I think that smug bastard Helkin has a lot to do with it.

“Let’s see if we can’t tap into a bit of background info on Helkin,” he suggested, waiting for the others to respond.

“He’s covered as an honorable Republican law man,” Takuan said. “What I’m curious about is how he acquired an army of Osokans, which is apparently illegal for such an army to exist, and with those whips as well.”

"I believe Helkin was, and probably still is, after Kuylen,” Tanic suggested. “I don't know why he was using Osokans - maybe because their labor is cheap, or maybe because he doesn't want the Jedi to know that he is hunting Kuylen and us down. Maybe he was in a business partnership with Kuylen, one that screwed up, and now he's hunting him down. Perhaps he has a signal receiver from Kuylen himself, and guessed it would be the same signal for our beacons. Thus he replicated the signal."

“No,” Galder said, vetoing the theory. “Kuylen would never duplicate his own hardware, not even to his closest allies. He was very particular on security.

“Perhaps Kuylen needed our help,” Galder continued, with a theory. “He is quite the swordsman, but see how we faired as a group against the Osokans? One man, even Kuylen, would not be able to stand up to that.”

“Osokan labor,” Rand answered Tanic, “is not at all cheap. Not to mention the legal troubles.”

“Then...we have no answers,” Takuan brought things of that subject to an end.

Things proceeded to talking about group tactics, and how they failed miserably at such a thing.

"We see ourselves brought to the next vital point of our not only well-being,“ Takuan said, leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, “but our existence. Before we need worry about Helkin or finding Kuylen, we must straighten the way we act as a group. Our last battle is living proof that something must be changed.”

The conversation continued on to mention that the fact that they were a group is what made them strong, how the Osokans had done better as a group than they, and that no man should be left behind, for with them, another would die because they had not defended their fellow Dark Jedi. Rianna remarked that they had severely underestimated the Osokans as well.

As things wound down, and talks of the future were introduced, Galder sat back and merely listened. Eventually, he remarked that the food was incredibly dull, but he was not paid any mind by his cohorts.

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Galder sat at a public console and typed in some information, as Rand dictated it. The Dark Master stood behind him, gaunt in the dim glow of the console in the dim bar.

“Found it,” Galder alerted. “’Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables Personnel Records.’”

“Open them, and find Rado Helkin,” Rand ordered. Galder did this quickly, and began to read aloud the information in the file.

Rado Helkin was at the rank of Agent at the age of twenty-nine. His previous service record included time in law school, security training, and an undisclosed job working for the political service. Notable gaps dotted his record, but Galder confirmed that they had not been deleted, simply not included.

“Cloak and dagger, most likely,” Rand said, nodding. “Must have been a spy for the Republic.”

There was a three month stint as a field researcher for the Senatorial Oversight committee on Immigration and Security as well.

“I’ve not heard of that one before,” Rand sighed. “Appears to be the body from which Helkin gets his authority from, though, to have enforced law like he did on Demarus...”

“I can’t find anything else,” Galder said, finishing his search on Helkin.

“Try looking for the Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables.”

Galder clicked in the search. “Nada. There’s no information on it.”

Rand sighed again. “Well, at least we know who Helkin is. But the Bureau...I am still clueless. I’m sure we’ll get to know, in time.”

= Chapter 22 =

Tanic, Takuan, and Rah had moved off to ensure that their ships were released with all due speed. As was Cynellise law, there was a twenty-four hour maintenance procedure.

The other three, Galder among them, were wandering in the direction of the space port when suddenly, a shrill, ear-piercing whistle sounded throughout the city.

“Please proceed to the nearest evacuation point,” said a calm voice over the intercom.

“Fire drill,” Rand informed Rianna and Galder. They moved back towards the bar, and were relieved to see that no one had taken their place. However, no one had taken any place. Everyone had vanished.

“Where the hell is everyone?” Galder asked, somewhat startled.

“There...there’s someone nearby...” Rand said, as they left the cafe. Looking across the river, just down the street from the cafe, a man appeared on the balcony overlooking the far side of the river.

“Galder!” he called out.

Galder frowned. Unlike most people who shouted his name, there was no “We meet again and now you die” or “There he is, get him!” implied in the shout. It was more like “Oi!” as if the man knew him. He seemed to be an engineer of sorts, very worn looking and wearing equally worn clothing.

“Who are you?” Galder shouted back. “Who are you to dare to hail me?”

He shouted something back, but Galder could not hear him.

“Repeat yourself!” he called back, moving onto the balcony on his side of the river, Rand and Rianna behind him with curious gazes.

This time, the man was drowned out by a cacophonous crackle of energy.

“No...” Galder turned, igniting one of his lightsabers alongside Rand and Rianna. The sides of the cafe square that did not border the river were lined with Osokans, who had just activated their neurowhips. They moved in quickly.

Turning to look at the man who had been shouting his name, and noticing that the Osokans now held all exits, Galder made a risky choice.

“Galder, wait!” Rand shouted as he turned and head for the river’s edge. He leaped off the railing gracefully and dived down into the river’s water with a mighty splash. As the foam cleared, Galder bobbed to the surface. He looked up to see Rand glaring at him for whatever reason, then beckoning Rianna to follow him, off of the balcony. Galder glared back for a moment before beginning to swim for his life, as fourteen Osokans and two Captains dropped into the water behind him.

Maybe if I swim low... Galder pondered, then dove lower into the water, trying to lose them. He pushed himself through the water with ease, but soon he needed air. The Osokans, with their far greater constitution, could remain underwater as long as they pleased. But that was not what worried Galder. While his lightsaber shut off automatically when underwater, the neurowhips did not.

Three Osokans caught up to him despite his best efforts, and Galder was forced to defend himself. Propelling himself upward in the water, he spun around with many a splash and struck one of the attackers in the chest with his red blade. His blue blade flashed in a second later, cutting the Osokan open. It stopped swimming after him, floating on its back in the water. He ducked beneath the water as the other two let fly their whips, which sparked on top of the water. Turned briefly from his hard swimming once again to drive the tip of his blade into the chest of another Osokan, which cried out by continued to give chase. The whips cracked again, but Galder was safe.

He continued swimming, leaving the cafe plaza and balconies behind him and keeping ahead of the Osokans swimming after him. The Osokans on the riverside above him and to his sides continued to keep pace with him, however.

Flailing behind him to stop another Osokan in its tracks, Galder attempted to apply the Force to speed his swimming movements. However, he botched his attempt and slammed into an Osokan Captain that had gotten ahead of him from the riverside. Three more Osokans caught up to him as the Captain lashed out. Galder blurred to the side in the water, but one of the flanking Osokans caught his shoulder with the whip. The icy cold, painfully numb energy discharged into him, but he refused to let himself cry out.

Soon after pushing past the Captain and swimming again, picking up two more Osokans, Galder reached the City Center. As he rose from the river, he cut into an Osokan with one swing of his blue lightsaber, then kicked him out of the way to make his way to the sheer rock wall. He began to scramble up, deciding that he had had enough of the river combat.

I can do this... Galder urged himself as he scrambled upwards. The Osokans pursued, one incredibly close behind. Two whips cracked across his back with an audible crackle, but Galder clenched his teeth to keep himself from shouting. But, just as he made it up to the last section of the wall, Galder lost his purchase on the wall, due to a hard yank from the injured Osokan right behind.

“Gotcha!” Suddenly, a human hand had shot forwards and grabbed his. As he dangled, Galder looked up to see the other hand grasping a silvery pistol. Squeezing the trigger several times, the blaster unload into the Osokan’s face. It tumbled from the rock wall and back down into the river with a large splash.

It was the scruffy man in work clothes that had called to Galder before the Osokans had appeared.

“Hell’s teeth, you’re heavy!” he said, lifting Galder clear of the river with enough effort that left him lying on the ground, just as another Osokan climbed up. Snap-hiss-vwum! Galder redrew his lightsaber and cut into the Osokan’s gut in one swift motion. The man then unloaded twelve shots into the Osokan’s head at point blank range, thoroughly ending its life.

“Damn things,” the man said as he fished in a large satchel at his side, producing a thermal detonator.

“Who the hell are you?” Galder asked, dumbfounded that this man had rescued him.

“My name’s Doon,” he replied. “Melkus Doon. And if you want to live, you’ll come with me.”

“Related to Matthias Doon by any chance?” Galder asked, the name flashing into his mind briefly despite the odd situation. “And why the hell are you helping me?”

“Hell if I know, and a friend of mine asked me to help you guys out,” Melkus explained. He blasted at the hand of another Osokan coming up, then twisted the thermal detonator to activate it. “You may know him. His name’s Kuylen.”

“Kuylen!?” Galder shouted, startled. “Hell, Melkus, you’re my new best friend.”

“Gee, thanks,” Melkus replied, tossing the detonator into the river and dashing away as fast as he could. “You might want to start running now...”

Galder pursued him. “I don’t suppose you’re from Tasker’s Crown?”

“Hell no!” he called back. “They’d shoot me if I was and I was dressed like this!”

“Where are we going?” Galder asked, changing the subject. “This place is swarming with those damned...”

The detonator went off in the river, the shockwave nearly knocking them both over, and the water turning to steam and depositing around them.

“That’ll slow them down,” Doon said, “though it will also piss them off. And bring attention. Keep moving; they haven’t covered the whole city yet...”

A loud beep from Galder’s comlink interrupted him. Galder reached for it, but Doon knocked his hand away with his pistol and shook his head.

“They’re monitoring your communications. They’re very good.”

“Tricky,” Galder replied, reaching for his comlink in order to shut it off. “I take it that you’ve done business with the Bureau before!”

“No, but I’ve taken some time to know what I’m talking about.”

There was a roar overhead as a squat, black transport swooped in low overhead, lower than it should. It fired a few inaccurate shots, blowing away a statue nearby, before pulling away.

“That’s ship number three for the Osokans,” Doon informed him. “Helkin’s making sure this time. We’ll need to find the others, and fast.”

“Sith spit,” Galder growled. “Follow me then?” He tapped into his senses in an effort to track down Rand and Rianna, whom he had seen last.

“Who are we finding first?”

“Our current leader, I suppose.”

“Who the heck did you guys elect as leader?”

“A former Jedi Master named Nume Rand,” Galder told him. “A Nautolan; I met him and his crew on Naadal. I’m sure you’ve heard of the place, constantly in war...”

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" shouted Doon, stopping for a moment. "You guys got some new people in? A new leader in? What in the name of the Rings of Charion do you think Kuylen is going to make of that? He sent me to pick up his old crew. The beacon was for the old crew. Not some new pretenders!"

“They know too much about us already,” Galder replied, pushing Doon onwards. “He’ll have to let them in.”

"You'd better be right. You know what he is like when he is angry. It's muggins here that will have to answer to him."

“I’ll make sure he spares you, for saving my hide...”

"We've got a long way to go yet before we're out of this," Doon reminded. He stopped Galder from running. “You'll just hit the river again, and the Osokans will pick you up for no gain. Besides which, you might have your fancy powers, but I can't jump it. Better to meet them at a bridge."

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Phwish! Doon aimed the flare gun upward and launched a flare into the sky over a bridge, splashing the area around with a warm red glow. It was the only way that Doon could get the attention of the spread out Dark Jedi, without using the comlinks. At his side, Galder twirled his lightsabers anxiously.

Soon, Tanic appeared, dashing away from the spaceport. Rah, obviously trying to avoid a wall of Osokans, had leaped upwards and through a window, landing heavily on the other side. He did not look well, but neither did Tanic. Both were beginning to move stiffly.

Unfortunately, two teams of Osokans showed up at roughly the same time. Doon moved off the bridge to the east side of the river, with Rah and Tanic on the west, and Galder standing directly on the center of the bridge. Tanic leapt through the air and landed next to Galder with a grunt, but the Osokans then blocked Rah’s way.

Doon was the first to attack. There were decisive gats! as his shots rang out and struck an Osokan in the chest. Intent on holding the bridge and doing some damage, Galder attacked directly after, cutting across the chest of another Osokan. Alongside, Tanic drew his twin blasters, but his shots were horrible, merely skimming an Osokan’s clothing, which was completely ignored.

Still separated from the others, Rah panicked and attacked an Osokan. He sliced deep, and then finished the Osokan as it turned to return the favor. However, the Osokan Captain who seemed to be the leader of the porcine army turned, along with nine others, and advanced on Rah.

“You better have a plan, you damned fool!” Tanic shouted to Galder, drawing his lightsaber and dodging a series of whip cracks.

“We hold the...gah!” One of the Captains caught Galder’s forearm with a flick of the whip, sending a numb pain through it.

Doon, seeing Rah in distress, holstered his blaster. Dashing over to the river’s edge, he fished a high-tensile wire from his satchel and a grappling hook. Twirling it a few times over his head, he let it fly. The hook caught on the ground, just inches away from where Rah was panicking. Seeing his chance, Rah dove for the grappling hook and dived over the side of the river, swinging to the other side and scrambling upwards safely.

Tanic swung at an Osokan, but his lightsaber only met the neurowhip with a discouraging crackle. Galder met equally frustrating ends to his attacks, both of his blades skittering across the lashes of neurowhips that had been raised to deflect his blows. Angrily, he dislodged both blades and brought them down on one of the Osokans, which went down with a squeal, then turned to bring them across the other, which stepped back and met his blows with the whip. A series of blaster bolts whisked past him as Doon redrew his blaster and opened fire on the Osokan he had injured earlier. A third series of shots on the same target finally put it down.

“About damn time...” Doon griped, picking another target.

Whips crackled menacingly around Galder and Tanic as they strafed the whips and parry the blows. Doon opened fire, his precise blasts solidly hitting the Osokan that Tanic had attempted to blast. Rah had drawn his kinetic blaster and was also trying to spray a series of kinetic bursts in the vicinity of the Osokans, but they took no notice. However, the shots did give Galder and Tanic some time to back off to the east side of the river. A whip snapped at Tanic’s midsection with a spark, causing Tanic to stagger suddenly but regain his balance.

Takuan now appeared, fortunately from behind them, his lightsaber drawn and looking quite eager and untouched. Across the river, Rand and Rianna dropped from the top of a building, looked a bit battered but not too shaken, more angry than anything. They frantically searched for a way to cross the river, seeing as it was too wide to simply clear with a jump.

"We're surrounded," said Doon, keeping blaster trained on the Osokans. "They want to make sure this time." He opened his satchel and rummaged around.

"There's a way down to the sewers somewhere near here," he notified, quickly. "The systems are automated so hardly anyone ever needs to go down there; the cover is concealed well. If some of those magic senses of yours can find it, cut the damn thing open..."

“It is not magic,” Takuan reprimanded, despite not knowing this character yet. “It is the power of the Force.”

Beginning to resume his battle song, Rah moved about, searching with his senses for a hatch as Doon had described. He hit a discordant note, thinking himself in error, but realizing that he was actually standing directly over a hatch. Immediately, his drew one edge of his lightstaff and drove it into the edge of the hatch, cutting it open with all due speed.

Doon brought the wire out of his satchel again and dropped it down into the river, which Rand and Rianna quickly dropped into. The Osokans, now taking notice of them, sent twelve of them down into the river after them, the rest continuing their attempts at bagging Galder and Tanic on the bridge. The two swam across the river as fast as they could, but Rianna reached the wire first, and was being hoisted up as the Osokans closed in on Rand. Takuan moved rapidly to Doon’s side as he hoisted up Rianna, but rather than helping Doon, he concentrated a Force pull on Rand. Slowly but surely, Rand rose from the water and was set down on the river’s edge, just before the Osokans would have reached him.

Rah finished cutting open the hatch, which Rand used the Force to rip clear of the entrance and hurled it towards the Osokans before being the first to drop down. Rah followed, then Takuan, then Rianna.

“Time to go, Tanic!” Galder said, grabbing Tanic by the shoulder and pulling him to the sewer entrance. As Tanic and Galder backpedaled, they both switched off their lightsabers and opened fire with blasters. They reached the hole, where Doon was already setting charges with one hand and frantically blasting at Osokans with the blaster in his other. As the two dropped down, Doon slid down on his wire behind them, thick gloves preventing him from slicing his hands open.

“Down!” he yelled, just moments before the charges detonated with a deafening blast. The entrance was collapsed.

Doon knows his business... Galder admired.

= Chapter 23 =

“It won’t take them long to dig that out though,” Doon announced, getting up.

Galder nodded, and looked about. Had Doon not told him that this was the sewers, Galder would have sworn that it was an underground rail system.

“We need to find a sanitization point,” Doon alerted Galder. “There should be one a few minutes from here.”

He then turned to the others. “I’m Melkus Down, by the way,” he announced. “I’m here to save your asses. Galder I’ve met, Takuan and Rah I know of, the rest of you, I don’t, I’ve not heard of you, and if you want Kuylen to do anything more than make balloon animals out of your innards I recommend you are nice to me, and not least because I’ve got the plan to get you off this rock. But hey! All that aside, always good to meet new pals...”

Galder nodded to confirm what Doon had said. “It turns out that Kuylen sent Doon here to hunt us down,” he explained. “Or, Takuan, Rah, and I, anyway, since we were veterans of his group. Kuylen knows nothing of you others...so we have to find a way to get you on the inside.”

Rianna shrugged. “If being nice means we get out of here, I guess I can handle it...”

"Well, we can worry about it later," said Doon. "As far as I am concerned, you're all useful. It's Kuylen who gets so discerning about these things. I went to Dordellus once actually, Galder. I saw the graveyard."

“You were on Dordellus?” Galder asked, surprised. I don’t recall meeting him, either, but he’s very sure of it...

An air of certainty surrounded Doon on all sides. At no point in the entire preceding experience did he panic, and he always seemed to have an idea. Galder took a good look at him now; short, slightly untidy blonde hair, and a careworn face. His clothes, solid as they are, look weathered as well. He was not old, but he was not a kid any more by any means. Everything about him looked experienced. The silvery yet dull, gas magazine-fed gun that hung from his low-slung holster was a custom job. On his other hip was his satchel, which had so far produced thermal detonators, timed charges, many lengths tensile wire, and the Force knew what else. The satchel had a security lock on the front that he opened with an odd twiddle of his fingers each time.

As they walked on, they all suddenly felt a sensation of static cling. The hairs on Galder’s body stood on end.

“Sanitation," explained Doon. "The Cynellise have a lot of time to deal with the small problems in life. This process removes all odors, which the Cynellise have a particular problem with. The sewer system purges smells regularly."

“Wow, this place even smells boring,” Galder commented.

"Which is good. I don't know if you realized it, but the Osokans track by smell; they can smell better than you or I see. Once they have your scent they don't let go, but now it's all wiped clean. Enough to put it beyond their threshold anyway. So for now...we're safe."

Doon fiddled with his satchel’s lock to open it, but got it wrong.

"Damn thing..." he cursed.

Suddenly, an old scar on Galder’s chest twitched, and a memory came flooding back to him. The scar had been from an experience after defending Kuylen from a mass of Rodians on Nar Shaddaa, alongside Quam and Dim, five years ago. One assassin had point-blanked Galder as they were leaving the bar, but Galder still managed to decapitate the pitiful assassin.

“I met you on Tarsonis,” Galder recalled.

But Doon was not paying attention to him, but explaining his background to Rand. "... so although my background is mainly in shifting goods, I have a bit of a reputation in crisis management and troubleshooting. I know a few things, know a few people in a few places...once you've seen the breadth of what the Galaxy has to offer, it's hard to be surprised by it any more, whether that's killer pigs or guys that can sense the future and move rocks with their mind. Survival is a learned skill; I guess I was just always a quick learner.

"But as part of my goods shifting business, I also have a sideline in scavenging with regards to...what you might call the antiques trade? Kuylen had seen the collection of that guy Ascar on Malastare...”

Galder chuckled a little with a glance at Rah and Takuan, who both recalled the business that they had had with the bizarre Force-using businessman. Rah had never met Ascar, but he had helped Galder eliminate his bodyguard and pupil, Persis.

“... but of course, Ascar wasn't selling; Kuylen needed some pieces for himself to out his Avalar operation together. So he needed a supplier who could supply that stuff, and suppliers like that are very rare. As it was, in the end, it was me he found, which shows good judgment on his part. Kuylen and myself had a good working relationship; that sour bundle of fun Saar would come along as well- Saar's an antique expert, he used to double check if my stuff was legit. But I bumped into the whole group once when I was supplying Kuylen with an old data unit that had details of Bane's final assault on the Avalar monastery.

"Anyway, Saar is in jail now, which is no good to anybody, but Kuylen has been busy since you guys last saw him. But also keeping quiet- very quiet. He's been backing off from his old associations- too risky. But over this last year, he's been in contact with myself again."

Eventually, the Dark Jedi and their new friend came to a large room in the sewer system. Doon settled here, and pulled out a holoprojector from his satchel.

“So that's who I am," he finished. "Now...I reckon you guys might be a little bit curious just as to what is going on. Well, I have some answers for you, if you want them...so ask away."

“Where is Kuylen?” Rah asked, “and does he know of these pigs following us around the Galaxy?”

"Kuylen is in hiding,“ Doon answered. “He's safe for now but if he shows his face then all the pigs go his way.

"If you're implying that the Osokans have something to do with why he called you...then no, this is an unfortunate coincidence, though indicative of change which I guess is related to why Kuylen ever does anything at all. Problem is, he's not the only one with that idea. But yes, he knows and I know about them- we've been doing some checking."

“Why did he recall us, then?” Takuan asked. “Why now?”

“That's a fair question, but I am afraid I can't tell you. Which is to say, Kuylen's ordered me not to tell you until we're safely out of here- just in case any of you get taken alive and end up blowing it all. I don't even know much myself. But to assure you on the basics, yes, he wants the old crew back together again, and yes, he has some big plans, for which he needs able combatants and agents like yourselves."

“Does Kuylen have any plans for rescuing Saar, do you know?” Rah asked.

“Kuylen has an intolerant nature towards failure,” Doon sighed. “He’ll leave Saar where he is, unless Saar makes his own arrangements.”

“So Saar’s in jail now,” Takuan said. “I hope he’s not getting soft near all those Jedi.”

“That coward deserves it,” Galder hissed. “He was a menace to our group. If he’s done anything near the Jedi, it was probably reveal all of our doings and plans.”

“Saar wasn’t a coward, Galder,” Takuan retorted. “Him squealing to the Jedi would be due to his intelligence, if anything. But I doubt he said anything...the Jedi are off our backs now.”

“Whatever...” Galder said, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, do you have a plan for getting off this rock, Doon?”

"I do actually have a kind of escape plan, though you'll have to come up with the immediate decisions, and you'll probably be better off planning that in full possession of the facts. Once we're out of here, we can start making arrangements to meet him- but he has work for you to do first, work he is not in a position to do himself right now.”

Galder pondered what it could be that Kuylen could not do, when Takuan spoke again. “That Helkin character seems very determined to find and kill Kuylen. He will be a rather annoying thorn in the back for us.”

“Helkin...yes, Helkin is a problem. Worse, he's the symptom of an even bigger problem. Have you guys sussed out the deal yet? Helkin's beef with Kuylen isn't personal. And those Osokans are going to keep coming."

“He’s acting on behalf of the Republic,” Rand said, folding his arms. “And I take it that eliminating Helkin would not end the problem.”

"Not to any decent extent, no,” Doon began.

"Helkin does indeed work for the Republic. In fact, he is a rising star within it. More precisely...he works for the Bureau. You probably saw evidence of their existence on Demarus? The Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables. It's the Bureau that is the threat.

"It's a new organization that has come into existence over the last two years. In the last six months, it has stormed violently onto the scene. The Bureau's technical remit is to regulate the movement of people between worlds- more precisely, of undesirable elements between worlds. Hence they are meant to act as a form of interstellar law enforcement, similar to the Jedi but with a specific remit of catching criminals moving between stars, because all too often criminals just move on between worlds when the heat gets too much for them. Immigration- moving between worlds. Undesirables- the criminals. Hence the Bureau.

“And it's a lie. This is the Bureau's cover. The actual task they perform is far more focused than that. The Bureau has one task only. It's job...is to hunt down and eliminate all adherents of the Dark Side inside the Republic. It's a death squad- and you are its targets.

“Just over two years ago, Kuylen and Galder and Takuan here came to Malastare, significantly inside Republican space. During their time there, a small war erupted, with many casualties on all sides. The public was outraged, and every effort was pledged to catch the perpetrators. Now, I don't know if you know this, but by this point, the Jedi under Gundark were already acting as Chancellor Palpatine's personal agents- the Council itself being unwilling to put too many resources into hunting Kuylen. Gundark continues to act in this capacity afterwards- with a personal brief from the Chancellor to fulfill the role of chasing down and catching you guys.

"Of course, due to the somewhat disastrous ending of that mission, the Jedi Council felt justified in its original position, and Gundark went back to normal duties. But public outcry about the issue was still considerable- and the Republic, especially the Chancellor, had taken great exception to the way you guys seemed to just stroll about and get away with it. Accepting that the Jedi were too busy to spend their entire existences chasing people like you, especially when it seemed to do more harm than good, Palpatine and the Republic started to put together a new organization designed specifically to do that job. The Bureau.

"It's taken them two years to put it together. The Bureau Agents in the gray uniforms have studied everything known about your kind- all the Jedi have about the Force, and about the Dark Side, how you work, how you operate, your strengths and weaknesses; the best ways to tackle you. Helkin is just one of several Agents, though one of their best. He's gotten a couple of big 'scores' already.

“So all they needed then, was a means of actually finishing the job. Not easy- replacing the work of a Jedi in that circumstance. But they found it. And once they were ready, the Bureau was all set to go. They found the Osokans."

Doon fiddled with the holoprojector, loading up some programs.

"Executive Order 78/A/BC3596A, passed by the Senate six months ago, states the following...

“The prohibitions against membership of the Osokan Hunting Guilds, and the carrying of the Neurowhip technology armament, is lifted among those Osokans who present themselves for voluntary service for the Bureau of Immigration and Undesirables.

"In brief, the Hunting Guilds are back in business...so long as they work for the Bureau. They have just one prey now- Dark Siders. And it suits them. Suddenly the Bureau has more Osokan hunters than it quite knows what to do with. A suspiciously large amount of them...in fact, nearly all of them... were already trained in the whip, which goes to show how seriously they took that law on their home world. Now they can parade them again throughout the Galaxy. It's a good time for them.

"Now the Galaxy is being swept, end to end. The Osokans are performing very well. As you know, they are lethal up close, which is the way you like to fight as well, which is what makes them so well suited for this job. They are tireless, ruthless, almost impossible to kill and they will never give up. They are not necessarily the most strategic or forward planning of people...but that doesn't matter, because that's the Agent's job, and the Osokans will always obey the Agent, else they lose their rights of Guild Membership and that's worse then death for them.

"That's two parts of the deadly Bureau triangle. The other third is their logistical support. Their funding is immense. The Agents have been given wide-ranging legal powers. They have Jedi-like authority in any system they come to, and in pursuit of their targets they are allowed to commandeer any local resource or law agency; anyone who obstructs the Bureau can expect to be arrested and to lose their job and probably their liberty. And their technology is advanced- the latest. They have ships, scanners, sensors...and this is the bad news. They have the latest generation of starship transponder analyzers."

“Oh, bugger...” Galder said, perking up at the news. “A transponder lock on a ship is a bastard to get rid of. I had one on a ship awhile back, but I had to finally just ditch the thing.”

“I have never seen Republicans use such means before,” Rand added, raising a brow. “It’s normally the domain of elite bounty hunter operations by the best.”

“But thanks to the damn Techno Union, who builds nearly all the parts, each ship has a unique transponder signal encoded into it, for ID purposes,” Doon continued, explaining transponders to those who did not know what they were. “If anyone gets a firm lock on that signal, then all they need to do is get the briefest of sensor scans on that vessel and they’ll know what it is. If the Bureau has your transponder codes, all they have to do is come vaguely near you, and they’ll have you. Those analyzes will be constantly searching for you, and will alert them as soon as you come near.

“Just to make it worse, the transponders are almost impossible to remove, and even if you do remove them, the analyzers will be looking for ship without transponder codes as well, and investigating each one. The only thing to do is to replace the transponders with a safe substitute...which are incredibly hard to come by. Only the Techno Union makes them, and all stolen ones have their codes reported and the analyzers will be looking for them as well. It is possible, it gets done- but underground transponder swapping is a vastly complicated criminal business, way beyond your current resources.

"They have all the resources they need. They'll pounce on you wherever they see you, and they are looking everywhere. Kill an Osokan, and there are a dozen ready to take his place. They have infinite powers in the Republic and you have none. They won't stop until you are dead. You have to understand, guys- playtime is over. This is the end of the road. The Republic's changing, and you guys won't be allowed to just swan around any more."

“So, we’re done for?” Galder asked. “That’s it? We’re going to be tracked from now to the time we die?”

"Well, I wouldn't say that..." said Doon. "Rand asks if it is worth killing Helkin...well, killing him won't stop the Bureau, but it would certainly help. There is a whole lot of organization behind what they do, and Agents who can put that together are a very finite resource for the Bureau. If nothing else, killing him would slow things down until they found a replacement. However...personally, I don't think it's worth it simply because we're not in a position to.

"The Bureau doesn't normally turn up with quite this many Osokans; this one is a special case. See...it so happens that Kuylen is number one on their most wanted list.

"Kuylen set off his signal on Demarus as a quiet place to meet you guys, explain his plan and go into action. Unfortunately, the signal wasn't as secure as he had hoped. We're pretty sure what happened was that when Master Gundark boarded his ship when he was on Nar Shaddaa two years back, she did a scan of the ship and that picked up the code on the transmitter device.

"Now, that didn't seem very relevant, but what Kuylen didn't know at the time is that the Bureau has set up a huge network of interstellar listen-and-transmit posts that are monitoring signals Galaxy wide. Now, a project like that takes time and is incomplete and will always have gaps...but unfortunately, Kuylen's transmitter is, by design, very strong- after all, it has to summon you from wherever you are in the Galaxy. Probably by sheer luck, the Bureau intercepted it, and comparing with their records they clocked onto its significance. The officer on duty at the time was presumably Rado Helkin. Now, he strikes me as the ambitious kind, and as soon as he realized that the number one wanted man was broadcasting his location throughout the Galaxy, he leapt onto the case, and knowing that Kuylen is incredibly dangerous and most likely to be in company, he put together the rather considerable Osokan army he is now throwing your way. They normally operate at one Hunter team per target, but to get Kuylen, Helkin's been able to pull together way beyond his normal resource allocation.

“Of course, he didn't find Kuylen. Kuylen and I managed to get wind of what was going on just in time, and he got out of there. I am afraid that due to some extended circumstances in his escape, Kuylen's temporarily out the picture. He's been in convalescence, just like you guys. He's lucky though- he managed to kill everyone that came after him before he could be ID‘d, and can now recover from his injuries in peace.

"You guys are less lucky. Helkin will be disappointed not to have found Kuylen, who was already off-world by the time Helkin got there, but he'll take you guys as a substitute, especially with you others thrown in...assuming Mr. Rand here is a person of some repute, as you tell me. He latched onto your transponder codes. When you escaped, you chose a good place in this place- Helkin through you would go outwards. But he's also a professional. He deployed probe droids in all directions; they have been scanning every planet in this quadrant."

Doon shrugged. "Two weeks is what this place got you. I would say that is the limit of safe time you can ever buy from the Bureau.

“In the meantime, Kuylen was having to react. He called for me. I wasn't actually meant to be anywhere near this rendezvous- Kuylen keeps his cards close to his chest; he keeps his different operations separate and he didn't plan for you guys to meet me at all. But he sure as hell couldn't do anything- not only was he injured, but if he even showed his face anywhere it would be full of pigs before he could blink. So he asked me to pull you guys out, asking me to use my crisis-management skills, and troubleshooting, in the traditional sense of seeing trouble and shooting it, of course. So my brief is to get you guys to safety, and get you started on Kuylen's work. Kuylen's not a man you want to fail, so I'm determined to get this right, and besides, be a shame if you all died after I only just met you.

"So I could move around without the Bureau suspecting I was working for Kuylen. Unfortunately, we were a bit too late. By the time I got to Demarus, the Bureau had already sprung their trap on you. When you escaped, I had no idea where you were, so I only had one option- I just followed the Bureau. Eventually, they got here, and I raced over and tried to find you before they did. Which I did...by a matter of seconds, which was kinda more narrow than I planned. Still, all's well that ends well, huh?"

Doon finished setting up the holoprojector now.

"So I agree, it looks harsh. But there some positive points as well. So first of all, at all times in future, you guys have to remember that if you make too much noise, wave your sabers around or throw too many rocks, it's the Bureau that will come after you to shut you up. It's going to need a different approach in future than just killing everything you see. But...as I say, it won't always quite be in these numbers. So it won't always be a death sentence.

"Secondly...although the Bureau has powers similar to the Jedi, there is one important difference. Their remit is purely internal- their cover remit, of immigration, couldn't have it any other way. Jedi can be an instrument of foreign policy- they can represent and act for the Republic outside its borders. Not the Bureau. What you do outside the Republic is not their business, and they have no license to pursue you that far- leave it, and they won't follow you there. You are safe...so long as you stay out the Republic.

“Thirdly, and most importantly, the man with the plan is here to help, and once you and me out of here, the big man with the big plan, Kuylen, is going to put things into operation. Kuylen plans to go places, and no bunch of pigs is going to stand in his way, trust me."

"Very well,” Takuan spoke up. “So we can't leave the planet in our ships. Not that we'd have access to them anyway. I guess our only option is to blend in as civilians as much as possible and board regular interstellar flights. Depending on the destination, of course.”

"That's not an option," replied Doon. "The Bureau has quarantined this planet; there is no regular traffic. No, your ships are our only choice."

He activated the holoprojector, which displayed a visual reference to everything that he had been talking about.

“First of all," said Doon, "we get to our ships, by passing the Osokans in whatever way we deem fit. During the escape, we disable the local transmitter-receiver they will have placed here by now. That gives us a short amount of time in which they will not be able to track the transponders whilst they replace it or launch more probes."

The holoprojection showed their ships streaking away from the planet.

“For a short amount of time, we drop off their radar. Of course, within, I'd say, two days, they will catch us again in the local area. They lock onto our transponder signals. Immediately when we scan them, we flee. They'll have interdictor vessels with them that will prevent us making a hyperspace jump if they reach our vicinity, so we won't risk it, instead making our way to light speed immediately."

The display moved along a few stars.

"We are low on fuel and options. Nearby is the Serjanius sector. This is where we run to. Serjanius' stars are unusual, being in close proximity to a black hole that creates an unstable subspace field that enables enterprising travelers to perform high-speed, long range, low fuel jumps. Or at least they did until a few centuries ago, when such jumps were banned under safety legislation- the area had become so unstable that up to one third of travelers found parts of their ship dropped out of hyperspace halfway through, which was followed very quickly by the demise of all concerned as the ships mostly atomized. It's risky, but the only option we have- in one huge jump, we will outrun the Bureau and flee for freedom. Unfortunately, what we don't know is that a solar flare from the central star system three days ago has made the system even more unstable than usual. No ship can get across safely. When we try, our ships are destroyed less than a quarter of the way into the journey, and we are all killed."

The holodisplay showed their ships coming out of hyperspace in pieces, and tearing apart violently.

"Rather sad, really..." commented Doon.

Galder was highly amused. “We’re going to fake our own deaths?”

“And where’s that transmitter-receiver at, Doon?” Rah asked, equally amused.

“They've not been here long, so the transmitter-receiver will be at the starport.

"And Galder has rather caught onto the spirit of things! The solar flare is very real, but they have no reason to think you know it is there- heck I doubt they do, unless they check it out.

"No, the essence of this plan is in those two days when we are off their radar. See, we aren't just twiddling our thumbs in those days. Just within range of here there is a quite sizeable dockyard-junkyard. It's actually nicknamed 'the Graveyard.’ It's well used by all kinds of...uh...'disreputable' types? I'll put it plainly; it's a legitimate business, but it's actually a front for it's sideline in stealing ships, stripping the parts out of them, and selling them on to customers. Quite profitable. Place looks like a goddamn mess, but it actually sells high quality stuff.

"Three weeks ago they got in a shipment by special order for some seedy organization in the next sector along. That shipment has still not yet been collected. Part of that shipment...is half a dozen stolen ship transponders that are as clean as a whistle. Techno Union has no clue that they were never installed on ships and they aren't on the blacklist. They're fireproof. We're gonna go there and 'boost' those transponders. I am sure there will be certain difficulties...which I am sure we can bypass.

"Meanwhile, I'll be visiting a scrap dealer I know there. It won't be perfect, but I can rig together some basic ship chasses that will vaguely resemble your vessels. When we switch the transponders, we will put your current ones into these dummy ships. We'll also need to boost some autopilot units whilst we are there. They go in the ships as well. I've got the mathematics for the jump worked out already; we just need to feed it into the autopilots.

"Then, we let the ships go. The Bureau gets their signals. We appear to flee immediately before they get into visual range, race to Serjanius...and all perish in that insane hyperspace jump. Meanwhile, in reality, we've strolled out of there in our own ships and the Bureau's transponder analyzers won't notice a thing- unless they get a visual, which in the vastness of space is almost impossible."

Doon shrugged. “If they launch a full forensic investigation, they might catch onto the fact that the ships were faked. But so what? That would take them months, and we'll all be way away in safety by then."

“You do have too much time on your hands, Mr. Doon,” Rand commented, with a hideous grin. “When will we begin?”

"Well, first thing to consider, of course...is getting to your ships."

= Chapter 24 =

The streets of Cynelline were now quiet, the injured Osokans having been removed, and the Dark Jedi missing. Osokans patrolled in pairs of two, grunting to one another as they explored the drab streets.

Doon and Rah had gone ahead to create a distraction that involved an explosion. During their absence, the Dark Jedi had used a neuro-sensitve bacta that Doon had given them to heal their smaller wounds from the whips, and waited for the distraction to take effect. It came, and they had obviously succeeded. There was a loud explosion in the distance, signaling that the others were to sprint to the starport walls. Silently, they slipped out of the sewers, one at a time, their lightsabers unlit but in hand.

However, they were spotted merely seconds after they left the sewers, as the Osokans rushed to garrison other areas and investigate the explosion. Still, it would have been far worse had Rah and Doon not created the explosion. The Osokans would have still be focused solely on hunting the Dark Jedi, rather than halting terrorists on the other side of town.

Rianna took the lead, Takuan and Tanic not far behind, as the group sprinted towards the starport. The aging Rand was slow to start, and fell behind, with Galder tripping over him.

“Hurry up, old man,” Galder snarled, before setting an easy pace for himself.

“Mind that tongue, lest I cut it out...” Rand snarled in reply, following close behind.

“If you can catch me, I’ll let you...”

As they made their dash at break-neck speed, the crackling of neurowhips became present in the air once more. Driven by the want of not meeting the whips again, Galder tapped into the Force, becoming a blur and sprinting ahead of Rand. He reached the wall just as Rianna and Tanic had made it half way up. By the time Galder reached where Rianna and Tanic had been, he found a shattered window. Looking down, he saw that Rand and Takuan were clambering up the wall with the Osokans at their heels, and decided to head in solo.

Rianna and Tanic had been assigned to take out the transmitter-receiver array, so as Galder moved into the window, he began searching for the control room. Moving as quietly as he could through the corridors, he came to a corridor. At the end was the door to the control room, but three Osokans were guarding it. Sneering with disgust, Galder crept along until he was very close, then ignited his red lightsaber and made a wide swing. He only managed to strike one of the Osokans, the other two falling back with a few defensive whip cracks. Another attack on the Osokan brought it down, but Galder could sense more heading his way.

“I don’t have time for this shit...” he cursed, deflecting a few whip cracks before turning to sprint...directly into the door to the control room. He slammed at full speed into the door and collapsed backwards. As he rose, a whip crackled over his back, to which he turned at attacked the attacker, missing horribly as he shudder from the pain.

“Never one for a flashy exit, eh Gald?” Rah shouted, appearing behind the Osokans with his lightstaff spinning wildly in front of him like a propeller. “Would you like to stay and play with the pigs or shall we try the door again?”

“I say the door,” Galder replied, swinging with his single blade again at another Osokan. Two more had joined his assailants when he had gone down, but four threats was reduced to three threats when Rah skimmed his blade along the Osokan’s spine and Galder slashed across its gut. Another whip cracked on Galder’s shoulder, convincing him to back off.

“Sorry, Rah, but I’d rather live...” Galder shouted to his friend, hopping up and kicking off of an Osokan, twisting through the air over a few whips, and hit the ground running. He dashed away as Rah called after him, and entered the control room.

“Oh great!” Galder cried as he realized that the control room was usually controlled by droids. However, the system was shut off; the droid was confined to the room by cables, and was currently inactive. Quickly, Galder looked over the controls, completely lost, and thought he had found the correct control panel. Ruffling his hair in frustration, Galder continued trying to hack into the controls and get the ships unmoored. Unfortunately, not only could he not get the panel to activate, but after punching a few wrong buttons, the panel locked up and the alarm sounded.

“Sith spit...” Seconds later, Galder could only smile apologetically as Rah dashed in, the Osokans directly behind.

“Ah, Galder...” Rah moaned, seeing the result of Galder’s unsuccessful ventures, then smashing the window overlooking the hangar with a swift kick. “Out!”

Rah and Galder leaped down from the control room and landed on their feet. There was a deafening blast as they dashed away from their landing spot. Looking up, Galder spied a ship whisking by at high speed, two torpedoes tearing apart the traffic control tower with violent, fiery explosions. The Osokans in the area looked up in, startled by the blast.

“Doon made a distraction, I see,” Rah said. “Let’s get on the move!”

More running from their Osokan stalkers brought them to their starships in the dry dock area. They were locked in place by thin bunches of high-tensile metal threads.

“We need to transfer the ships still,” Galder alerted Rah. “I’ll try and use the emergency transfer systems...” There were a few flashes above them as Doon’s ship made another pass, cannons blazing, and more flashes to their sides as the others approached, Osokans at their tails. Tanic, once more, had been paralyzed by the neurowhips, and was slung over a very angry Rianna’s shoulder. Rand and Takuan were behind her, their lightsabers warding off continued attacks from the Osokans.

“I hope this works...” Galder bent over the controls to the emergency transfer system, pulling some wires and pushing buttons. Suddenly, there was a response. The ships began to transfer, but Galder could not manage to remove the wire bindings.

“Solution is here!” Rah cried as he spun his lightstaff around wildly, cutting through the wire attached to Galder’s starship easily. Galder joined him and removed the remaining wire.

“Just cut through!” Galder shouted to the others as they leaped onto the conveyor belt. Takuan jumped onto Galder’s ship and crawled inside, Rah and Galder remaining on the hull a few moments longer with guns blazing and lightsabers whirring as they moved into the ship as well.

“Get us out of here, Galder,” Takuan muttered quietly as he closed his eyes and rested against the seat back.

Galder began the start up procedure when the Osokans began to climb onto the conveyor belt. Rah fired a few more times, but the hatch closed down on the three of them. With the quick combat-minded wits that Galder possessed, he quickly programmed the Conquering Paladin of Hoth for auto-pilot, then took control of the starship’s twin automated turrets that extended from small hubs beneath the engines. The ship began to rise as the blaster cannons roared to life, sending Osokans flying off the conveyor belt with small bursts and direct hits. However, one Osokan managed to get out of the firing arc and remained on the front of the hull.

“Off my ship, you porcine bastards!” Galder shouted, as he brought the Conquering Paladin high enough for a barrel roll. The Osokan fell down onto the belt with a crunch and screech of warping metal. With that, Galder pulled up and out of the hangar.

“Flight plan is complete," came Doon's voice over the comms, as Galder’s ship clear Cynelline's atmosphere, Tanic‘s in close pursuit. "We'll be taking a roundabout route to our destination, and I think we should make it quick because one of those Bureau ships is already taking off...transmitting details now. Scorpio out."

“We’ll meet you there,” Galder replied, slamming the throttle forwards as the ship tried to catch up with Doon before entering hyperspace. Doon‘s ship, the Scorpio, was baffling to the Paladin‘s scanners. It appeared to be a Corellian job, but the engine configuration was unfamiliar. “Conquering Paladin out...”

Shortly before passing into hyperspace, they made a quick pass by one of the black, massive Bureau ships. The Scorpio, with Doon’s excellent handling, shot by with a few volleys of lasers, but Galder was not nearly as skilled a pilot. The Paladin’s shields flared as near misses from turbolasers flickered by, and Galder squeezed the firing pin in response, taking out a cannon emplacement and damaging the hull. Once they were clear of the ship, the stars streaked, and they were away.

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Merely a day or so after escaping Cynelline, the Dark Jedi were already putting their plan in action. The Graveyard, the floating bazaar in space, built into a combination of an asteroid field and huge amounts of ship debris, was home to hundreds and hundreds of traders dealing in the 'quieter'- for which read, more illegal- traffic moving between the inner, civilized worlds, and the outer areas where the real money was to be made. They said there was not anything to do with a ship a person could not get there...one way or another.

"It's not easy on the frontier," said Doon, who is smoking something exotic as they looked out over the surface from inside Tanic‘s starship. "You have to make your own way out here. The pampered merchants of the Inner Worlds; the worthless, stunted worms of the Trade Federation, Techno Union, Banking Clans and the rest; the insidious slugs of the Hutts. They don't know anything about real life. They strut around with their petty power games and politics and think they know something about control. They see their world in numbers and reports, and they have no idea how to live. Only people like us know that.

"The Galaxy cuts us no breaks. We don't ask to be given all we need. We fight for it and we take it and we make things work for us. The Jedi think they have it tough keeping order in the Inner Worlds. Hah! Just living for a day out here is more of a challenge than they can imagine in their lifetimes. We face problems and threats that would turn their heads inside out. We've stared into the jaws of death so many times, we've counted all the teeth. You've had your lives and your stories, I know. I've had mine too. Galder, Takuan, Rah, you've been to the edge of existence and back; stared into ancient secrets that less than one in a billion still have any clue about. Rand, Rianna, Tanic, your lives have been nothing but incident. Each of you should have died at a thousand points on that journey, just as I should have done during mine. One thing we have in common- we are all of us survivors.

"But if the Bureau teaches us one thing, it is that it is not enough to just survive any more. That road has come to an end. Now we must thrive or die." He gave a smile at this point. "Kuylen has a vision that will burn a path across reality and history for untold ages, and that destiny beckons to each of us. And all those others...they had better watch out. Because to people like us...the survivors...belongs the future.

"But still. To work."

"This place is a hell of a mess," said Doon, taking a puff of his cigarette. "Luckily I know my way around. I'll take Scorpio and sort out the dummy ships for you. I can tell you where to get the transponders for the switch. You can't get them legitimately so get them...the old-fashioned way. What we call, in the trade, 'boosting.‘ But make it quick- and make it quiet. A firefight will finish us off- a Bureau probe is in this sector, and any noise will attract its attention too soon. Our fighting is done for this time.

"One more hurdle, people. Then this distraction is finished with, and we can get down to business."

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“You were expecting us to pick up the parts,” Takuan muttered to the dealer, with a wave of his hand. “You want to bring us to the parts right away.”

The man checked a databank of purchases, much to Takuan’s chagrin. “I don’t seem to have any credit details on our system,” he replied. “Are you sure you paid for these?”

“Yes, we have paid for these transponders,” Takuan says, waving his hand once more.

“Of course you have paid for these...” he replied, slightly confused. “I’ll just retrieve them for you...”

The plan was for Rah to follow the droid that was now moving to retrieve the transponders, or hitch a ride on it, without being detected. In order to aid their sneaky, athletic friend, Rand began to ask the dealer questions, such as “How much did it cost, again?” and “Do you install them for me?” and “What are the benefits of flight insurance?” and “Would it be wise to strap a military-grade capital ship-sized laser battery to the front of a podracer?”

The droid arrived without the parts, and Rand and Takuan acted as if they were ashamed to have paid good, nonrefundable money to a low-life business, and stormed away at Rah’s signal of tapping Rand on the shoulder as he walked by.

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"Those Bureau ships will be here in 30 minutes!" says Doon. "We'll want to get cracking on with things, folks..."

“I put one in Tanic’s ship, but this one doesn’t seem to be working!” Galder shouted with frustration, tapping the transponder against the hull of his ship. He began to throw it away, but Doon snatched it from his hand and retuned it with great speed and mechanical aptitude.

"I have to set the autopilots on the dummy ships," alerted Doon, when he had finished tuning the transponder. "Scorpio will catch you up. Get going! Quickly!"

Both piloting men jumped into their starships and powered up the engines, roaring into space. Doon’s ship overtook them within fifteen minutes of entering space.

"Don't do anything hasty or stupid now," said Doon. "Whilst that probe is around scanning all ships in the area, we are just a small group of passing travelers...not the sort who suddenly take flight and whiz off without a flight plan..."

Galder watched the situation on his scopes with anticipation. The dummy ships, which Doon had done a great job cobbling together, entered their hyperspace jumps after Bureau ships entered the area. The ships paused...and chased after the fake starships. Galder let out a sigh of relief.

"Cynelline sector traffic control, please state your intended business."

"This is the trader Scorpio and escorts; we are hauling a cargo of Auronarian tobacco to the Outer Rim."

"Stand by."

There was a minute and a half of agonized torture, as they waited for the clearance.

"Scorpio, this is Cynelline sector traffic control. Your flight plan is approved. Have a nice day."

"Oh, I will..." replied Doon.

His next transmission was to the ‘escorts.’ "Ok folks, time to get out of this party. The Republic is too hot for you now. Besides, I have some heavy duty orders for you guys, and you'll need to rest up before you get to the Ghost Citadel. Luckily, I have just the place..."

Doon transmitted a hyperspace flight plan that would stretch their fully-fuelled ships to their limits, outside the boundaries of the Republic, to an irrelevant star that seems to have no planets.

“How are we going to find rest there if there’s no place to rest?” Galder asked. “We need planets, not space...”

"It's a sensor illusion caused by some stellar anomaly in the sector," informed Doon. "It actually carries a habitable planet, but you have to get pretty close to notice. No-one in the Republic has any clue it is there.

"You are free men again now, people. And safe. Setting course to the planet Epireus."

= Chapter 25 =

The Scorpio roared into the atmosphere of Epireus at high speeds, passing into breathable air within seconds. The Dark Jedi had gathered on the Scorpio willingly, for Doon had explained that he would have to program their ships in order to get them onto Epireus and into his fortress.

“The security sensors would go nuts, and while I don’t have any orbital defenses,” Doon explained, “the landing area would seal off.”

The Scorpio itself was quite large for a smuggling type as Doon, a class larger than the Shadow Blade and The Conquering Paladin of Hoth. The rusty brown ship was wedge-shaped, and possessed its own bridge. While it was not the massive bridge of a Republic battle cruiser, it was a bridge nonetheless, with seating for six. Each station could control a separate aspect of the ship, though Doon, the talented flyer, seemed to operate everything alone, dashing from the front three seats to the other three that were on a raised platform behind them. There was room to walk around, and a scanner screen to show the depths of space they were flying through. Like the man who owned the ship, everything seemed a worn and used, but customized, well-maintained, and in good shape.

“Gah! Epireus is a very high pressure world!” Rah stated, slightly alarmed, from the sensory chair. “Too thick for us...it’s inhabited too! By intelligent life...signs of civilization!”

“I’d hardly call it intelligent,” Doon cut in. “Big ugly chaps with large muscles, as you would expect on a high pressure world, but stuck in the bronze age; real dawn of civilization stuff. Just discovering how to build water pipes, that kind of thing. Usually each part of the world is busy warring with its neighbors. Barely worth consideration.

“And yeah, don’t hang around most of the world too long; the pressure is bad for you. But Epireus has tall mountains- very tall mountains. The air up there is much thinner; perfectly tolerable for us. The Epireans never come near.”

“Perfect orbital insertion,” Galder commented as the wedge cut through the clouds and roared over the towering peaks. It approached a mountainside, but not without a brief alarming wobble. “Fixed emplacement orbital deflection shield, Doon? Strong enough to deflect any bombardment, by the feel of that jolt. Serious hardware, having a shield generator.”

“Better than that,” replied Doon. “The geothermals on this world are a gift from the Gods; wasted on the natives. The whole mountain gives me enough power to run that shield continuously. A man like me learns to make precautions in case some guy with a battle cruiser has a grudge against me; this way, they have to come and do the job personally. Which suits me.”

The landing of the Scorpio was a hair-raising experience. It flew directly into one of the mountains, coming to a halt atop a huge lift, which drew the ship downwards into the heart of the mountain.

“A full-scale, hidden mountain base...” Rand commented in awe, as they emerged from the ship and through a considerably large security door. They entered what seemed to be a living room; warmly furnished, with soft chairs all around.

“I’ll get some refreshments,” Doon told them. “You guys can relax now...”

Waiting in one of the comfiest, tallest chairs Galder had ever seen was a familiar sight, clothed in black robes, reminding Galder slightly of Kuylen’s Sith garb on Zeiton.

“Hello, Master,” Gallador muttered, turning the chair about with the Force, raising it from the ground briefly and setting it down with an upraised hand. “I see you have escaped safely.”

“Greetings, Gallador,” Rand greeted, saluting with an outstretched hand. “I trust you found the Jedi Master and eliminated him?”

“No,” Gallador replied. “I found him, but Grevor is a tricky character.”

“Grevor?” Galder asked, the name ringing a bell.

“That is none of your business, Galder,” Gallador hissed. He rose from the chair, his flowing black robes billowing like a pillar of dark smoke, his face hidden by his hood.

“And now we can breath the air without the putrid stench of the burning flesh of those inhuman monsters,” Rand said darkly, turning to everyone. “You hear that? Not one crackle of a neurowhip, nor a cry of pain as we are struck with said whips. We are free, for the moment.”

“So I noticed, Rand,” Galder replied, distracted by other things happening about them. Maintenance workers ran about performing small tasks. It seemed that they had been expected for awhile. Looking about to adjoining rooms, Galder took notice of the living quarters, a wine cabinet, and electronic recreation units.

“Pretty nice set-up ya got here,” Galder complimented. “You must be paid well for...whatever it is you do.”

“The service industry pays well,” Doon responded with a grin as he unlocked the wine cabinet for Rand to fetch a bottle of expensive rimble-wine.

“Doon, if you ever grow weary of Epireus,” Rand said, looking around while removing the cork with a long, sharp knife, “please hand over the deed to this place to me.” He reached out with the Force and a wine glass shot to his hand. He poured the blood red wine into the glass and took a sip.

“Ah, that is very agreeable,” Rand sighed, taking a few more sips.

“Doon, could you fetch me a Dark Side Daiquiri?” Gallador asked, snapping his fingers. It was obvious that Gallador had been here for awhile. Doon did so complacently.

Galder sat opposite of Rand at the small table he had selected.

“Care to take me on in a game?” Galder asked, slightly bored.

“Depends on what there is...” Rand said, sipping his wine contently. “I doubt any of those will interest me.”

“Dance Dance Galactica?”

Rand snorted. “Pah! You want me to die, don’t you?”

“Yes...”

Rand glared for a moment, and returned to his wine.

“Galder, I’ll take you on the gun machine Doon has set up,” Tanic offered. “If you’re looking for a partner, that is.”

“You’re on...”

In a moment, Galder and Tanic were blasting away at small targets on a projected holoscreen with toy blasters that made realistic sounds and flashes, but no actual damage to anything but the projected targets, which were harmless creatures or deadly warriors. Tanic began picking off Galder’s targets, and vice versa, and soon the two were very deeply obsessed with the game.

Blam! Galder shot a Gungan across the jaw, his gun held loosely, and it fizzled out of being.

Blam-blam! Tanic, using two pistols, steadily fired upon two Gungans, one of which was in Galder’s line of fire, his trained hand sending them into oblivion.

“Stop doing that!” Galder said, stealing one of Tanic’s targets with another shot.

The shoot-out concluded with a tie, fifty kills each. While Galder had the finely tuned warrior’s instinct, Tanic had a trained and steady hand. Both were fine shots, nonetheless.

“Blowing stuff up,” Rianna sighed behind them. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Rianna, my pupil,” Rand said, nearly putting a hand on her shoulder but withdrawing it quickly to sip more of his wine. “We do not need to use the Force to predict that Galder likes to blow things up. It’s in his character...just as it is in my character thoroughly enjoy this wine...” He raised the glass to his lips again and took a gulp.

“Now, now, Rand,” Tanic said, putting the toy blaster down. “Wine is all good and proper when served with the proper food...”

“I’m not hungry,” Rand replies, taking another gulp. “Just craving wine.”

“As always.”

“Hush, Rianna.”

Doon gathered their attention as they drifted back to the chairs, where Gallador and Takuan were sitting already, the latter giving Doon skeptical looks of distrust.

“Right then!” Doon started, having just returned from reassuring himself that things were running smoothly. “I had best begin. I have to kick off with bad news, I’m afraid.”

“Bad news?” Galder asked, seating himself upon a sofa next to Rianna.

“What is it?” Rand further questioned.

“Well, bad news for some of you, at least," he said, "probably just more of interest for the rest.

"I am afraid I exaggerated the smoothness of Kuylen's position. It is true that he escaped the trap Helkin set for him. However, his escape to a safe place in the Galaxy did not go well. He was intercepted by a Bureau ship on then planet Pandateria. Kuylen managed to cut their comms before they could link up with anyone else, but then he had to kill every single Osokan on board over the course of the following week in order to secure his own position.

"This he did, but at too great a cost. Kuylen is critically injured and almost totally paralyzed, and I cannot guarantee that the damage is treatable. It was only when he saw how desperate the situation was that he called me in; he's a proud man and only calls for help as a last resort. I had to leave him there when he gave me my orders; there was no way to safely bring him back to Demarus or anywhere near you guys.

"He may even be dead by now. I have not heard from him. He could have died of natural causes, or the Bureau might have pieced together what the deal with their missing ship is."

Doon was silent for a few seconds, contemplating something.

Kuylen, wiping out an entire ship full of Osokans? Galder pondered. Sounds like the Kuylen I know! Kill all who get in his way...

"But on the other hand, maybe things are going to plan. The Bureau has been pretty distracted by you guys, so I doubt they have gone to Pandateria yet. Kuylen told me to extricate you guys first and get you to work, and then go back for him. He should be safe there, and if he is still alive he might be well enough to travel...

"So I am afraid the other piece of bad news is...I can't be with you when you guys go to the Ghost Citadel. I'd only slow you down in a full scale fight anyway. I have to pick up Kuylen, extricate him by force or brains if necessary, just like I did with you guys, and then we'll rendezvous back here afterwards. We're a long way from where the action is here but it is the safest place to meet- still, I'll have a back-up rendezvous ready in case we need to meet more quickly. If Kuylen is dying, he says he has a message he wants to pass onto you people...but only if he is not going to make it.

"Just to remind you...when I say 'you people', I mean Galder, Takuan and Rah. I'm not really sure what the best time to tell him about the others is."

“I see,” Takuan muttered, still giving Doon the skeptical glare. “I assume you can withhold his message at your own bidding. What are his orders, then? What is this...Ghost Citadel?”

"That will be his call, about the message," replied Doon, looking in Takuan‘s direction. "Maybe he won't trust me with it after all.

"And yes...well, if you are all ready to hear about his orders? Actually...that reminds me. I have some presents for you first."

“Whatever you say, Doon,” Takuan said, still not submitting to Doon’s words. “What presents do you speak of?”

"Just a few knickknacks he had with him...” Doon left for a moment to fetch them.

“I don’t trust him,” Takuan declared, not moving from his stiff position against the back of his chair.

“I don’t know...” Galder muttered, rubbing his chin. “If he says he can get us to Kuylen, then I believe he can. I’ve spent the past two years wondering what the man was up to, I’d like to find out now.”

Doon returned with a packing crate, which he opened easily and presented the contents. They were indeed meant for Kuylen’s old familiars.

“I hope this fits your style, Galder,” Doon said, handing him a submachine gun and five clips. Galder looked at them curiously, but then remembered. He took a bullet from one of the clips and examined it. Bastic warheads!

“And for you, Rah...” Doon handed Rah a fully-powered kinetic rifle from Zeiton. The alien hummed a couple notes of happiness and looked down the sight, tossing away his pathetic blaster for the rifle. “No visible shot, I noticed,” Doon commented. “Good stealth piece, that.”

“And for you, Takuan...Kuylen said you’d know what it is...” Doon handed him a rectangular object wrapped in cloth, which Takuan steadily unwrapped.

“It can’t be...” Rand mumbled, sitting up suddenly.

Takuan tossed away the cloth to reveal a smooth stone tablet, completely blank. With a grin, Takuan pressed his hand to the back, and it emitted a warm, green glow as the letters slowly appeared. The writings of the Sith.

“It is...” Rand continued to mumble, staring at the tablet with eagerness. “Eh...Takuan? M-might I hold it...see it...” He reached a hand towards the tablet, but Takuan turned his back to him with a grin.

“Hey, what do you know, it does work!” Doon declared, placing his hands on his hips. “Doesn’t with me. Must respond only to people with...your talents.”

“You know, Takuan, I can read it,” Rand said, with a slightly nervous grin.

“No point in teasing you, then,” Takuan replied, turning back to him. “What does it say?”

Rand looked it over for a few moments. “I could spend hours, days, studying this thing...hmm...it appears to be speaking about some sort of ritual...an entry ritual...oh, the Sith speak from across the millennia!”

“Entry ritual?” Takuan said, slightly disappointed. “Does it say another about Darth Demnos?”

"I am glad you like that toy, Takuan,” Doon said, patting him on the back. “I understood in the early days Kuylen and the others made off with quite a portion of whatever was on Avalar."

“Hell yes we did,” Galder interjected, frowning at the tablet. “And now I have no idea where the hell they are...”

Doon grinned, obviously happy about something, which only gathered another glare from Takuan.

"But here is something it seems Kuylen never told you. Did you know...that one of the tablets in the central archive on Avalar...wasn't there when Kuylen found the chamber?"

“I did not know that,” Takuan muttered, still glaring.

“Really?” Galder said. “I was the only one on Avalar of this bunch, Kuylen never mentioned such a problem as a missing tablet.”

“From what Kuylen tells me,“ Doon continued, still smiling. “It was possibly the most important one. It certainly contained knowledge that he desperately needs. So...you guys are going to go and get it."

“Has something to do with the Ghost Citadel, I assume,” Takuan said.

“Absolutely!” Doon announced, pointing to Takuan. “In as much as it is in the Ghost Citadel.”

Rand looked uncomfortable for a moment.

“Tell me,” Doon went on. “Have you ever heard of a man named Siva Lantarnan?”

Takuan, Rianna, and Rah shook their heads; Takuan and Rianna had not traveled much of the Galaxy, and Rah ventured to guess that he was a singer of sorts.

“Some drug smugglers I ran into a while back used to talk about him...” Galder muttered in response.

Tanic began to look uncomfortable, and Rand even more so.

“Siva Lantarnan? The founder of the Golden Serpent? Aw crap...” Tanic mumbled.

“Oh hell, it is the place I was thinking of...“ Rand cursed to himself, then to the others. “Hell, this Kuylen guy has got you pissing around with the Serpent now...oh, not good.”

“What is the Golden Serpent, Tanic, Rand?” Takuan asked, looking to Tanic and their leader. “Who is Siva?”

"Siva Lantarnan is a legend, the King of all Bandits, the greatest rogue and robber of them all," said Doon, proud of his historical factoid.

“So he is,” Rand commented, entering a dream-like trance in which he seemed to always tell his stories. “He’s been dead now for a good thousand years, yet he is the inspiration for countless hundreds and thousands of young thugs and pirates who all aspire to his golden image. No heist was too daring, no goods too secure, and no woman too cold, for Siva not to get his way...”

“Rather like a Robin Hood figure,” Tanic added. “That legend that has built up around him has twisted and turned and become something it wasn’t. Deliciously ironic, because many of these thugs say that they are following the golden dream of Siva, talking about how he was his own man who bucked the system and thumbed his nose at bureaucracy, answering to no man, beholden to no woman, representing all things free and proper and so on and so forth...and of course, most of these young thugs end up doing dreary extortion work or mass slavery and murderous piracy until they die violent deaths.”

“That's ironic because the truth is that Siva himself was a vicious murdering bastard,” Rand picked up. “He just happened to be a very good vicious murdering bastard, and he was also clever and brave and cunning, and also lucky in no small measure. Very few of these thugs know the truth about Siva, but end up becoming more like him than they suspected they ever would- except in aptitude and ability. And brains. Okay, they become more like him in evil violence than they suspected they ever would.

“Siva's greatest moment was when he performed the crime of all crimes. The ultimate test of his cunning. The most daring, the most dangerous, the most fantastic crime perhaps ever performed. Siva Lantarnan performed a heist...”

“...on the Sith Armada,” Doon finished his sentence, still grinning. The others’ eyes widened.

The Sith Armada? Galder thought, startled. Sith spit, that must have been disturbingly difficult...