Part 1, Ipha wakes in Wrongville
Part 2, Brei'yu wakes in Wrongville, finds Pierce in her bed.
Part 3, Brei'yu meets Pierce's Sith lord, gets a surprise.
Part 4, The brain burns are discovered, a mystery
Part 5, Ipha talks with Jorgan, Brei'yu gets a warning.
Part 6, Brei'yu contacts Ipha.
Part 7, A hesitant meeting between sisters.

Rendrik Poole pulled up on his speeder outside the dilapidated laboratory in an under used bog on Hutta. He had had his squad combing the area for three days looking for Kodrevas. She had disappeared off the face of the planet while running an errand for him and the news of where she might be disturbed him immensely. A second and third speeder pulled up beside him, both with double riders. Behind them two male figures rode single, in preparation for freeing Ipha and her sister.

Elara used his broad shoulders to swing her leg off the speeder, pulling a data pad off her armor and sweeping the area. Poole stood and went to Westan. Poole was having trouble trusting the former Intelligence man. But they both had too much at stake not to work together.

Almost two days ago, the teams had converged on the same informant at the same time. After nearly killing each other, they discovered they were both looking for a Kodrevas sister. For expediency, and because the informant's information was excruciatingly alarming, Poole made the decision to work with what would have been the enemy. They pieced their ragged information together and singled out this lab out in the middle of nowhere.

Now Poole stood with the former Agent and regarded the building with deadly eyes. “Just making sure we're clear. This op goes down my way. I don't want questions, second guesses, stupid comments. If we're getting the women back, it has to be my way.”

Westan regarded the large Zabrak with narrowed eyes but finally nodded. “Hear that team? This goes the Major's way, and we take Brei home. Kaliyo, I'm looking at you especially.”

“You love my mouth,” she scoffed.

“Please Kaliyo. We fear for Brei'yu and want no harm to come to her,” Vector said with rare anxiousness.

“Don't worry, bugboy. We're getting your girlfriend back.” Kaliyo checked her weapon. “I'm happy as long as someone dies.”

Westan looked at Poole and shrugged. “She's good for that kind of thing, just keep it in mind.”

“Someone is going down for this,” Poole promised. He signaled to his people and they entered the lab, weapons drawn. They let Westan's team cover their backs as they moved deeper into the facility.


Ipha pulled up a few kilometers from the spaceport. She'd chosen higher ground as a place to get their bearings and figure out their next move. She had specifically moved out of the city and into the wastelands around it. The strange staring Anomids were everywhere and they were being stalked.

Jorgan had been the first to point it out but Ipha had felt it. Pale Anomids on speeders shadowed their movements. Ipha surveyed the landscape, barely picking them out in the swamps. “They're trying to herd us,” she said.

“Agreed. But where?” Jorgan asked.

“West as far as I can tell. But to something? Or away from it?” Ipha frowned as she turned her head to track their movements. “And they're getting bolder.”

“I say we go where they don't want us to go,” Brei'yu said. “And we shoot them if they get too close.”

“I'm for that,” Vik said.

“Okay, but shooting only when necessary,” Ipha said pointedly. “Let's go.”


The building was silent, but red lights shined off the walls in warning wherever they moved. Their presence was no secret. They turned a corner and were met by four armed Anomids. Their uniforms were generic and their weapons outdated but they stood at ease spread across the hall.

“Are you from the Republic?” the lead Anomid asked. None of them had reached for their weapons. Poole got the idea that someone was expected.

“Yeah,” Poole said.

“We weren't expecting so many,” the leader said. Poole assumed he sounded exasperated but it was hard to tell under the rebreather. “Which one of you is the Senator’s delegate?”

Poole had to make a decision. “He is,” he answered, pointed to Westan. “My people are his security.”

“And this is my entourage!” Westan improvised, dropping his Imperial accent in an instant.

“Hrmph,” the Anomid said. He looked them over and Poole couldn't tell if he was unsure or not. But eventually he shrugged. “Very well. The experiment is through here. Please tell Senator Fren'ishe we cooperated.”

As the Anomid turned to lead them away, Havoc Squad fell in to look as though they were guarding Westan's people. Poole caught Westan's eye and gave him a nod.

“So, what goes on in this place? Sure is rather... empty.”

“There were many Schism Collective experiments being pursued here until Wode realigned with the Republic. We were shut down for a while, then reopened to perform this one particular experiment, per Senator Fren'ishe,” the Anomid said.

“And what exactly is this experiment?” Westan asked, trying to keep his tone light and nearly failing.

“You'll have to talk to the scientists. They are through here.” The Anomid keyed open a door and allowed the united groups to enter. Once Poole and his people were through, the armed Anomids spread themselves out along the back of the room, at ease. The lead Anomid closed the door.



One would think that dodging skinny white Anomids on speeders would be a simple job. But the sons of gundarks were spry. Brei'yu nearly collided with two of them and would have probably lost a leg if the Weequay hadn't reached out and yanked her speeder handles to the side, forcing her along his trajectory and missing the welcoming party by only a meter or so.

She told herself she didn't have time to acknowledge a thank you to the large alien, because they were riding really fast up on a tree. Why was that one single tree sitting in the middle of the bog they were racing through? Its ancient trunk had to be four times the size of her. She made to go left. Again, Vik grabbed her handle, yanked her toward him and set himself on a wide path around the trunk. She followed in his wake, daring a look over her shoulder as two of the racing Anomids failed to adjust their courses properly.

When she heard the Weequay laugh sharply she nodded. He was alright.

She was feeling pretty good about herself until the first of the blaster fire whizzed past her head. The Anomids had just upped the ante. Whatever was ahead of them, they weren't supposed to see. Brei glowered and pushed herself lower on the bike. Screw that. She didn't even let Adris tell her where she could and could not go.

Tanno Vik didn't seem to carry a blaster. He pulled a giant techblade off his back with his right hand and swung in a colossal chopping arc at two unfortunate Anomids. Brei'yu covered his left side with her own shots, weaving and dodging so she was never too far from him. She was better with knives and her bare hands, but the white heads of the mounted aliens proved to be a good target.

“There!” she heard Ipha shout, somewhere ahead. Brei'yu looked up and over and saw the dilapidated remains of an old factory. They looked like crumbled building remains in the old bog. But there was something more. Something telling her that this was it, what they had been looking for.

She veered in its direction and the shooting intensified. “They don't want us there!” she shouted, unsure if she'd even be heard.

“All the more reason to go!” Vik crowed.

They dumped the speeders and ran for the cover of the wall, Ipha and Jorgan shooting long range out of their cannons. They found the front entrance destroyed, the durasteel doors warped beyond hope of opening. But a long thin crack had been wedged open in the wall beside it, and they could see the dim interior of building. Jorgan pushed Ipha in with Brei'yu right after. Vik covered them then squeezed in after the Cathar. In the dark, Ipha looked up.

“Oh. My. St- what the f*ck?”

There was no ceiling on the factory. It had crumbled away ages ago, large chunks of it having crashed to floor below leaving jagged boulders and dust. But beyond, the day sky was gone. As though they had passed from smoggy hazy day to bright clear night, the stars stood out like beacons. Nar Shaddaa, which should have been visible from this hemisphere, was nowhere to be seen. It was like looking out the view of a starship, facing away from any celestial body. The stars numbered in the millions.

“What's going on?” Brei'yu whispered, suddenly afraid to attract unwanted attention with her voice.

“We're still being shot at, boss,” Vik said as he ducked. “I'll stay here and hold them off. Come back and get me when I've had my fun.”

“Star's sake, use a blaster,” Ipha said, handing him her side piece.

“That gets old,” he said, but he took it anyway. “Don't stare at me, go figure it all out.”

Ipha freed a lamp from her belt and lit the devastated hall. She pushed down fear, looked her sister in the eye then began to walk.

<to be continued>