Chapter 1

 

Lord Methic was having a fairly good day–Quinn was off the ship, as were Jaesa and Broonmark. He had been forced to order Quinn–the traitor–to leave with Jaesa, but he was gone.

Methic was particularly pleased because he had, using his status as the Emperor’s Wrath, gotten him and Vette into Dromund Kaas’ highest-prestige diner. It was the first time they’d had time alone in weeks.

Quinn, Jaesa, Broonmark…they were gone, leaving only–

“Hey, boss!”

–Pierce.

Methic knew he’d forgotten something. Pierce had become Methic’s closest friend on the ship–save for Vette, of course–in the recent months, since Methic had helped Pierce gather a team to attack the Bastion on Corellia.

Pierce even thought of Vette as a sister, since she and Methic were married. But she wasn’t fond of him sticking around, and it was extremely hard to get Pierce to take a hint.

“Yes, Pierce?”

“What’re we doing this evening?” Pierce asked.

Methic sighed. “Actually, Vette and I were going to dinner.”

“Ooh, great! I’m starved. Where?”

Methic thought back to the last time Pierce had interfered with his and Vette’s alone time…

 

Two months earlier

 

Methic had just finished his mission on Belsavis, and was about to take off for Voss. But first he and Vette went to have lunch at the Imperial garrison’s small cantina.

Pierce had entered the cantina before they had ordered their food.

“Hey, boss!” Pierce said. “After you’re done eating you want to go hunting one last time before we leave Belsavis?”

Vette choked on her drink.

Methic sighed. “All right.”

“Great.”

Pierce pulled up a third chair and sat down between Vette and Methic. He had an unusually youthful grin on his face, like his big brother had just agreed to take him to the holovids with his friends. Methic kept a straight face.

“Pierce,” he said slowly. “Vette and I were kind of hoping to eat alone.”

“Oh!” Pierce exclaimed. “Of course, silly me!”

He got up and went to a table on the other side of the cantina. Methic returned to his drink and had just started to say something to Vette when he looked over to Pierce and saw the man sitting there, his eyes wide, and that silly youthful smile on his face, staring at them.

Methic sighed. Pierce was like a baby nexu. Treat it right and it would be your best friend forever, but abuse it and it would withdraw.

“Vette…”

“I know,” she muttered. “He’s your buddy. Go hunting and we’ll eat dinner in the ship’s mess later, okay?”

Methic nodded. “Okay.”

 

The Present

 

“Actually, Pierce…I only managed to get two reservations; one for me and one for Vette,” Methic said.

Pierce looked downcast. “Oh. All right.”

“Maybe you could get your friends in Black Ops and hit Nar Shaddaa, or something.”

Pierce nodded. “Okay.”

Methic watched Pierce as he walked away; his head hung low like a sad little boy. Methic chuckled and walked to his and Vette’s bedroom.

“Vette!” he called. “We’re gonna be late!”

“Hold on!” she replied. “I’m almost dressed, be patient!”

 

 

Pierce visited Nar Shaddaa and had a few drinks with his old buddies from black ops, but quickly became bored. Taking a shuttle to the Imperial Fleet, he checked the bounty boards and announcements, hoping there would be something interesting he could do for a day or two.

He found something.

 

 

Major Prudii of Havoc Squad saluted General Garza, who motioned for him to stand at ease. She sat down at her desk.

“Major, our intelligence agents have located the black ops team that helped General Rakton capture the Bastion. Led by Jonas Balkar, they captured the SIS captured the team–save one member, who was apparently the commanding officer of the group. Lieutenant Pierce.”

“Want us to hunt him down, General?”

Garza shook her head. “No, Major. We have other objectives for you. We will be posting Pierce’s name on the Republic’s most wanted list, and giving a two hundred thousand bounty to anyone who captures him alive.”

Prudii saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Now, onto your other objective…”

 

 

Pierce geared up in his gold and orange suit of Mandalorian armor he’d taken from a corpse on Taris. He always wore it when going on a hunt.

As the shuttle landed on Belsavis, he loaded his favorite rifle and sighted it up. He grinned went to the speeder rental store, which he took to the far reaches of Belsavis’ prison–the Tomb. Imperial Intelligence had offered a reward for a live Esh-kha to study.

Pierce would get them one–but leave a bunch of dead ones in his wake.

 

 

Dha, Grand Champion of the Great Hunt, sat on his ship and read through the latest bounties. Mako, his wife, got his attention.

“How about this one?” she asked. “Lieutenant Pierce, two hundred thousand credits alive, or one hundred fifty thousand dead.”

“No way.” Dha shook his head. “Says here Pierce works under the Emperor’s Wrath. Killing Tormen already got me on the Empire’s ‘almost a threat’ list, and this would definitely put me on the ‘kill’ list.”

“Oh. Says here he pilfered a set of Mandalorian armor off a corpse. Isn’t that taboo in your culture?”

Dha nodded. “I’m not gonna do it…but I’ll tell the Mandalorians, just in case they want to nail him.”

 

 

Chernan, one of Mandalore’s bodyguards, received the call from Dha about Pierce. With Mandalore’s permission, he assembled a team of Mandalorians to find and track down the Imperial.

His wife, Dinua, would join him, of course, and he selected ten of Mandalore’s finest soldiers to go with them. Dinua wore traditional Mandalorian armor–except for her chestplate, which was a Republic trooper’s gear to symbolize her past in the Republic army.

“Last report saw Pierce leaving a cantina on Nar Shaddaa,” said Dinua. “That’s where his allies were captured. Let’s see if anyone there saw him leave.”

Quinn, Jaesa, Broonmark…they were gone, leaving only–

“Hey, boss!”

–Pierce.

Methic knew he’d forgotten something.

 

Bahaha! For some reason, I always forget about Pierce.

 

Love it. I'm looking forward to reading more

AHAHHAAHA! Seeing him as the eager little puppy is a whole new perspective. I can't wait to see more.

This is probably the most "serious" chapter of them all, the rest will be humorous.

 

Chapter 2

 

Pierce blasted another Esh-kha through the head and reloaded as another squad of the aliens charged at him with electrostaffs and rifles. He cut down three with a hail of bolts, and then bashed one in the head.

There’s my live one.

Pierce blasted the final one in the chest. Satisfied, he put stun cuffs on his prisoner and loaded it aboard his rented speeder. Time to get back to Dromund Kaas.

 

 

Halfway to the first Imperial waypost, Pierce’s speeder was toppled. Pierce managed to jump free, but to his anger it landed on the Esh-kha, killing it.

In an instant, Pierce was on his feet, rifle in hand. A team of Mandalorian shock troopers landed and fired at Pierce. He took one out with a bolt to the throat.

The others threw down their rifles and whipped out vibroswords or raised their fists. Pierce grinned and threw off his helmet, letting them see his face. Then he charged in. He clobbered one in the back of his head, then whirled and jabbed another in the throat with his fingers.

One wrapped his legs around Pierce’s, and the lieutenant fell to the ground. The Mandalorian leapt atop him and prepared to kill him with his vibroknife, but Pierce ejected his gauntlet’s vibroblade and stabbed upward into the Mando’s chin.

Eight more Mandalorians landed, and Pierce noted that one was wearing the armor of a Republic soldier. He grinned and charged in. He clobbered three of the supercommandos, and killed a fourth by snapping his neck. Then he whipped out his pistol and blasted all but two.

The last two charged together. One was apparently the leader, and the other was the female with the Republic armor. Pierce engaged the leader first, exchanging rapid punches and jabs.

Then the female jumped on his back. Pierce roared, flipped her off his back, and stabbed her in the gut.

The leader let loose a tortured howl.

 

 

Chernan saw the blade stab Dinua, and he roared in anger. Then he threw off his helmet and slammed into Pierce. He punched him in the face, and then kneed him between the legs. Gasping, Pierce sent a fist at Chernan’s throat. Chernan dodged and the fist bounced off his shoulder.

Chernan gave a rapid one-two combination of punches, blackening Pierce’s eyes and breaking his nose. The lieutenant fell to his knees and raised his arms to ward off any more blows, but Chernan punched him again, for Dinua.

Again. Again.

Again.

 

 

Methic sensed Pierce’s pain. Surprised, he jumped up from the couch. He and Vette were back aboard their ship, and they had been watching a holovids when he had felt the sensation.

Vette frowned and followed Methic as he ran to the cockpit.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, Vette,” he said. “It seems we’ve had less and less time alone since our marriage. But Pierce is hurt. Badly.”

Methic reached out with the Force. He sensed Pierce somewhere familiar.

Belsavis.

 

 

Chernan left Pierce where he was, picked up Dinua, and ran to his ship. Patching her up quickly, he examined her life signs with fear and anger.

Clenching his fists, he hoped his pummeling had killed the lieutenant. The man had stabbed Dinua. His Dinua.

He deserved worse than death for that.

Chapter 3

 

Malavai Quinn sighed quietly as he sat at the lovely Willsaam family table. Jaesa was meeting with her parents, being on the same planet and all, and Methic had asked–rather, told–Quinn to go with her as a chauffeur.

Quinn might’ve refused, but Methic still held the whole I-spared-your-life-when-you-stabbed-me-in-the-back thing over his head.

So now Quinn sat in a white dress uniform, his captain badge prominently displayed, at a Republic table. Thoroughly dismaying, he decided. If not for the fact that Methic might’ve had him executed, he might have just left.

And then there was Jaesa. The disgustingly sweet, naïve little girl insisted on spending all her time when not at her parents’ manor in the mountains, and she did nothing but sit looking over the pastures and valleys, her eyes closed.

While Quinn watched.

It almost made him wonder what would’ve become of her if Methic had tried to turn her to the dark side of the Force, rather than allowing her to hold to her idealistic Jedi standards. No matter.

In any case, there was nothing to be done. Quinn picked up his glass of tea, prepared by Madame Willsaam, and tried to ignore the two Republic soldiers guarding the entryway.

“So, Jaesa,” said the father. “You did not tell us you were bringing a guest.”

“Oh,” Jaesa said with a smile. “My, ah, employer insists.”

“Don’t be so modest, Jaesa dear,” said the mother. “Why didn’t you tell us there was a man in your life?”

Unfortunately, Quinn was in the middle of a swallow of tea when those words left her mouth. As such, he of course tried to protest, and found himself on the floor, choking on tea.

Jaesa rolled her eyes, and then used the Force to dislodge the liquid from his throat. Nodding his thanks, Quinn took his seat and tried to hide a blush.

“Mother,” Jaesa said. “He is not a part of my life any more than the refresher is!”

“What a flattering comparison,” muttered Quinn.

Suddenly, his comlink beeped and he thanked all his lucky stars. He looked down at the comlink and saw the number displayed. He touched Jaesa’s wrist.

“It’s our, ah…employer. We must go.”

Jaesa nodded. “I apologize for this, mother. Father. Perhaps another day.”

They stepped outside, and Jaesa shot Quinn a sharp look.

“And what would be so bad about being married to me?” Jaesa asked indignantly.

Quinn flushed. “Now’s not exactly the time.” He answered the comlink. “My Lord?”

“Quinn,” Methic said. “What took so blasted long?”

“I had to interrupt dinner with Jaesa’s family,” Quinn said. “I apologize.”

“We’re on our way to Alderaan. You will be at the spaceport when we arrive, or chauffeuring Jaesa will seem like the Empire’s most cushy assignment!”

Quinn gulped. “Yes, my Lord.”

“Methic out.”

 

 

Quinn rented a pair of speeders and raced to House Thul’s spaceport with Jaesa in hot pursuit. When they reached the spaceport Malavai ran inside, hoping the Fury hadn’t landed yet.

Methic exited at the exact time Quinn entered. The Sith Lord nodded.

“Good, right on time. Get on the ship. Now.”

 

 

Pierce was lying in the medical bay, bandages around his chest and forehead. He had two black eyes, and streaks of blood staining his face. He was out cold.

“What in death’s name happened?” Quinn cried.

“I don’t know,” Methic replied. “Pierce was out cold when we found him. He hasn’t awakened. Work on him, Quinn. Now.”

Quinn nodded. Jaesa and Vette left the room, and Quinn settled down beside Pierce, pulling out his medical kit.

“Has it occurred to you, my Lord, that Pierce and I are rivals and that I could simply treat him in an improper manner, and get rid of an annoyance?”

“It has,” Methic replied. “And if you do, I will allow Pierce to raise his blaster one last time and shoot you before he dies. Fair is fair.”

Quinn swallowed. “Yes, my Lord. Just making sure weeks away from the field had not affected your keenness.”

Methic had an annoyed look on his face as he walked away. Quinn got to work on Pierce.

Chapter 4

 

"VVVEEEETTTTEEE!”

Vette raced into the medical bay and looked at Pierce. He was lying there, one eye cracked halfway open–as wide as it could get.

“What?” she asked.

“I need a water.”

Vette groaned, walked over to the crate that contained the ship’s water supply, and returned to the injured Pierce.

“Here,” she muttered.

“Thanks.” Pierce downed the bottle in one gulp.

Vette took the empty bottle and returned to the main hold. Methic and Quinn were away at a Dark Council meeting, and Jaesa was at her monthly meeting with Nomen Karr.

Methic had allowed Jaesa to meet with her former Jedi Master once every three months, but only on the grounds that Jaesa had a guard–Broonmark, this time–and that any Jedi with Karr could not try to get Jaesa back to the Order, and that Jaesa would not try to glorify Methic.

So Vette was alone to baby-sit Pierce. This was the third time today Pierce had called for water, and Vette didn’t like where that was going.

“Vette!” called Pierce.

Vette groaned and returned to the medbay, where Pierce had a dour expression on his face.

“I can’t reach the HoloNet remote.”

Vette walked over to a nearby stand and tossed the remote to Pierce. The man thankfully pawed the device and flipped on the ‘Net.

“Thanks.”

Vette left the medbay, flopped down on the couch, and fell fast asleep.

 

 

“Methic!” cried Pierce.

Methic had just entered the Fury, and Pierce must have heard the airlock open. Methic and Quinn raced to the medbay, where Pierce was convulsing in the bed.

“What’s wrong?” Quinn exclaimed.

He ran over to check Pierce’s monitors. Since Methic’s threat, Quinn had taken Pierce’s life as seriously as his own.

“I have to relieve myself!” Pierce yelled.

Methic helped Pierce stand and walked to the refresher, trying to hide a smile. Vette was asleep on the couch, so she had likely not heard Pierce’s agonized calls. It was the wonder the man had lasted as long as he had.

 

 

Though Pierce could now walk around the ship with minimal pain, he felt as if he would die of boredom. However, he was not in too much a hurry to return to battle, not in his condition.

Watch out, you stupid Mandie, he thought. You did this to me and you should pay.

Pierce paced in boredom through the main hold. Quinn and Methic were flying the ship, Vette was in the engine room as always, and Jaesa and Broonmark had not yet returned from their meeting with Karr.

Pierce sat down at the dejarik board and started the game he’d last been playing–before his injury. He winced at the board. He’d been doing badly.

Quickly playing two moves, he defeated a Mantellian savrip and a gundark using his pair of kintan striders. He smiled as a k’lor’slug moved at his wampa and cut it off with a manka cat.

“Too easy,” he muttered. “Nothing fun to do when I can’t blow things up.”

Chapter 5

 

Jaesa and Broonmark returned, and Jaesa was in a surprisingly downcast mood. Quinn guessed that the meeting hadn’t gone well.

“On the contrary,” replied Jaesa, upon his asking. “It went quite well. Nomen Karr has almost returned to his former state of mind.”

“But?” Quinn probed.

“One of the Jedi Knights guarding Karr.” She sighed. “She was a friend of mine when I was at the Academy, Kira Carsen. She looked at me with such disappointment, such resentment.”

“You have to expect that, when you are fighting for opposite sides,” Quinn said, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“I know,” Jaesa sighed. “But…Kira and I used to be such good friends. I guess I realized that I don’t have any good friends like that, here in the Empire.”

That statement surprised Quinn.

“If this Kira was as good a friend as you suggest, she will understand,” he said. “No doubt she sensed you were not a Sith.”

“True, but she’s mistrusting of anything within the Empire. I sense it.”

“Well then. If she is your friend, she will get over it, right?”

Jaesa looked absolutely startled. “Where is the Quinn who spits on anyone even vaguely allied with the Republic? And who is this new Quinn?”

Malavai laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m still the same old grouch you remember, Jaesa. I merely see a…a friend who needed encouragement.”

Jaesa raised an eyebrow. “You? A friend?”

Quinn shook his head. “Hard to believe, isn’t it?”

He turned and walked to the cockpit, his normal place of solitude.

“Quinn!” cried Pierce.

Malavai groaned.

 

 

Pierce was bored again. His eyes were no longer black, but his nose was still fragile and his ribs ached profusely. The Fury was currently docked on the frigate Ziost Shadow, and Methic was helping the Empire with a raid on an ancient prison on Belsavis called the Eternity Vault.

Pierce looked up as Malavai reluctantly entered the crew quarters. Quinn planted his hands on his hips and spread his legs.

“Yes, Pierce?” Quinn asked.

“I want to go out onto the Shadow,” Pierce said. “Is it okay?”

Quinn nodded. “Just…no strenuous activity, all right. If you get bruises in new places, Lord Methic will tan my hide in ten different ways.”

Pierce chuckled, and then nodded. “Okay, then. See you later, Captain.” He gave a smart salute and departed.

 

 

Pierce raised his rifle and took aim at the Shadow’s training dummy and opened fire. Each bolt caught the dummy in the chest or the head, depending on which way Pierce decided to fire. Some of the shots glanced off its shoulders, or even its lower corners.

Pierce groaned quietly. A few days confined to quarters and he was already losing his edge.

He looked over at the other dummy and noticed someone over there, too. A female Rattattaki, she had purple tattoos around her eyes and ears. She wore a gray trenchcoat and wielded a crossbow.

“Nice shot!” she called over sarcastically.

“Shut up!” Pierce roared.

“Nope,” she replied gleefully. “I’m Kaliyo! I don’t do ‘shut up.’”

Pierce growled and turned back to the dummy. He fired a few more times before returning his gaze to Kaliyo.

“What are you doing here?” he asked. “You don’t look like much of an Imperial?”

“Oh,” she replied. “I work with an Imperial agent, Cipher Nine. He’s away on a mission, on Belsavis. Capturing a prison called the Eternity Vault.”

Pierce laughed. “Did they send everyone in the Empire there?”

Kaliyo didn’t reply, she just blasted at the dummy, every bowcaster bolt a headshot. Pierce returned his gaze to the dummy and fired again, determined not to be outgunned by some street girl working for an intelligence cipher.

He took aim and scored three straight headshots.

At that point, a few more beings entered the Shadow’s training deck. One, a giant beast with pale skin covered only by a loincloth–and Pierce wished profusely that there was more of it–stepped up to the dummy Kaliyo was blasting and starting hacking at it with a vibrosword.

“Hey! You with the skirt!” Kaliyo yelled. “You are in my line of fire!”

The big thing slowly turned and marched up to Kaliyo, its vibrosword still in hand. A little less boldly, Kaliyo stepped back and looked up at the nine-foot-something monster.

“You should rethink those words next time, little girl,” rumbled the monster. “Next time I may be hungry.”

Kaliyo chuckled. “You’re real fun, aren’t ya?”

“I am not ‘fun.’ I am deadly.”

“Some people think that’s fun.”

Pierce, distracted by this, did not notice the Devaronian that stepped up next to him with a sniper rifle and began sniping Pierce’s dummy.

“Hi,” the Devaronian said. “Name’s Gault.”

“Pierce,” he replied.

He glanced back over at Kaliyo. The big monster was now holding her upside-down by her left ankle.

“You are too scrawny,” the monster said. “And unappetizing.”

“What is your name, beastie?” Kaliyo asked.

“I am not a ‘beastie.’ I am a Dashade. And my name is Khem Val. Fear me!”

“Nah. Only thing I fear is a bad hangover.”

Disgusted, Khem Val dropped Kaliyo. Luckily she managed to sprawl out on the floor rather than hit her head.

“Ow! Watch it, jerk!”

Khem Val loomed over her.

“Sorry,” she said.

“Hey,” someone said, tapping Pierce’s shoulder.

Pierce turned and looked at the man–or, rather, the Houk. Tall, with a thick head and pinkish skin, the Houk had a large vibrosword strapped to his back.

“You going to shoot or what?” the Houk asked.

“Lay off him, Skadge,” said Gault. “That scene over there is the best entertainment we’ve had since Dha went to help the Imps at the Vault.”

“Your boss is at Belsavis, too?” Pierce asked. “What are the odds?”

“Apparently quite good,” replied Gault. “Want to lay a bet the Dashade has a friend there, too?”

“Nope,” Pierce replied. “I’d probably lose.”

By this point, Skadge had charged in and was, like Khem Val, mauling the dummy with his vibrosword. Pierce sighed and tried to aim around Skadge. He glanced over and saw Kaliyo was doing the same thing with Khem Val.

After a few hours of training, in which a few more beings entered the room, all of them apparently waiting for someone to return from Belsavis, they agreed to go to the Shadow’s small cantina.

Sitting around the bar, Pierce exchanged war stories with Kaliyo and a newcomer named Torian–who made Pierce a little nervous, since he was a Mandalorian–while Khem Val muttered something about Yn and Chabosh.

Pierce laughed as Kaliyo vividly described how she had dealt with a man on Dromund Kaas, and Torian said a few words in his own language. Pierce raised an eyebrow.

“You’re Mandalorian,” he said to Torian.

Torian nodded. “I am.”

“A Mandalorian did this to me,” Pierce said, rapping a fist on his armored chestplate, where bandages covered his broken ribs.

“Well then,” Torian said with a smile. “You were beaten by the best. Why don’t you tell that story?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Pierce shook his head. “I killed and injured a lot of your friends.”

Torian shrugged politely. “So? They knew the risks going in. Part of battle is the possibility of death. You deal with it.”

Pierce considered that, and then laughed. “You’ve got guts, kid! Real guts! All right, so here’s what happened…”

He told the story, Torian nodding the whole time and Kaliyo laughing at some of Pierce’s more vivid statements. A few others gathered around to listen, including what was apparently an assassin droid codenamed Scorpio.

“An impressive feat,” Scorpio said. She looked him over. “You killed or injured eleven of the best warriors alive. I’ll add you to my threat list.”

That creeped Pierce out a little.

great story! i love the part when all the companions are together

great story! i love the part when all the companions are together

 

Thanks! Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts to write - there's more companion interaction coming.

Had to giggle at Pierce's convalescence. Guys are such bad patients, and Pierce would be awful!

Had to giggle at Pierce's convalescence. Guys are such bad patients, and Pierce would be awful!

 

Thanks. Loved putting that part in there.

Chapter 6

 

The next day, Methic returned, but they did not depart the Ziost Shadow, because Methic had to go on yet another mission–this time on an operation the Empire had dubbed “Explosive Conflict.”

Pierce returned to the training dummies, and this time he brought Vette with him. The two of them targeted the dummies for a while before others began to enter the training room. Torian and Gault returned with a spunky little Jawa called Blizz, and Gault made an offhand comment that Skadge was skulking in the ship because “that’s who he is.”

Kaliyo came back with Scorpio, and they brought a man with black eyes and a distant personality by the name of Vector.

“He’s buggy,” Kaliyo said. “Literally.”

“He is part of the Killik hive mind,” explained Scorpio, deadpan.

Pierce sighted his rifle and attacked the dummy. Vette raised her pistols and took a shot at its chest. Then, Torian leapt in at the dummy, avoiding all their fire and chopping it apart with an electrostaff at the same time.

Kaliyo and Scorpio went to work on the other dummy, and Blizz the Jawa joyfully assaulted it with a surprisingly large rocket launcher.

Pierce wondered where he kept such a thing.

Vector seemed disinclined to join in, sitting on the sidelines with a confused look on his face. He would occasionally speak to himself, and Pierce found it a little creepy, so he tried his best to ignore Vector.

After a few hours of training, the group once again went to the cantina. There a bald, dark-skinned man who called himself Andronikos joined them. He claimed to be a pirate, and yet also the pilot of the Sith Fury parked next to Methic’s.

“So you know Khem Val?” Kaliyo asked.

“Sadly,” Andronikos muttered.

Kaliyo and Pierce laughed, and Torian gave a small smile. Gault ordered another round of drinks for all of them, and put it on his tab. Pierce wondered how many time Gault’s boss had been on Shadow.

“I wonder how the boss is doing?” Pierce said.

“Did you get intel on their op?” Torian asked.

“I heard they were crushing a Trandoshan rebellion,” Andronikos added.

“Reminds me of the Battle of Wasskah,” Pierce said.

“You were there?” Andronikos said, surprised.

Pierce nodded. “I was. I was the Black Ops officer in charge of collapsing the Republic base.”

Andronikos gave an impassive look. “I was there, too.”

“You?” Pierce asked. “A pirate?”

“Well, I wasn’t a pirate then. I was, ah, a captain in the Republic Navy.”

“One of the starfighter pilots?” Pierce asked.

Andronikos nodded. “My buddies in the base you blew up…they all died.”

“Wish I could say I was sorry,” Pierce said. “But they were the enemy.”

“I don’t blame you,” Andronikos replied. “In fact, that battle was really the point I decided to leave the Navy.”

“Oh? You deserted?”

“No. It took me a year after that to quit. But that was what made my decision.”

Everyone got quiet after that. Kaliyo and Vector left for their ship, and Torian returned to the training dummies. Soon after, the group dispersed.

Quinn x Jaesa... I like!

 

Also, Your peirce is hilarious. Please give us more.

Ask and ye shall recieve!

 

Chapter 7

 

After Methic returned from Denova, the planet with the Trandoshan rebellion, the crew of the Fury went to Ilum, where the new war was breaking loose in frenzy like on no other planet.

“It’s cold here,” Vette muttered.

Broonmark bllorp-ed in excitement and ran out of the ship, his weapon at the ready. Pierce, though still wounded, had been cleared by Quinn to fight, so he sealed his helmet to keep out the cold and charged into formation with the other troopers.

Methic’s lightsabers, blue and red to symbolize his unusual status within the Sith Empire, leapt into battle, hacking arms and legs from Republic troops. Pierce wondered if Methic’s brother, the Jedi, was here.

“Keep your head down, blast it!” Quinn yelled at Pierce. “If you die Methic will have my hide!”

Pierce chuckled, lowered his head, and thanked Quinn silently when a mortar round exploded not two meters in front of him. Pierce lifted his rifle to eye level and picked off a pair of Republic troops.

“Jedi incoming!” Jaesa reported. “I refuse to fight them.”

“You cannot refuse,” Quinn said, deadpan.

“I can fight someone else! Lord Methic can more than handle the Jedi!”

“Aw, let her go, Quinn,” Pierce said.

“She has to decide her allegiance,” Quinn said firmly.

“I thought you were my friend,” Jaesa said sadly.

“I am! But friendships must be put aside on the field of combat. That’s why you must engage the Jedi.”

Pierce saw Jaesa, a few meters away, her double-bladed lightsaber deflecting blaster bolts into the ground or chunks of ice, never back at her opponents. He rolled his eyes and shot one through the throat.

“One less for you, girl,” he said.

“Lay off her,” Methic ordered. “I will handle the Jedi myself.”

He leapt in.

 

 

Methic slashed the arm from one Jedi and blocked the green blade of another. Then he impaled the Jedi, a Miraluka, through the chest. Two more Jedi came in, a sandy-haired man and a white-skinned female, possible an Arkanian or Sarkhai.

Methic locked blades with the male, who seemed familiar…

“Cousin Gareb!” he exclaimed.

Gareb’s face was hard. “Malakai?”

The girl advanced on Methic’s flank, and the Sith Lord twisted around and kicked her in the face. She went flying into a snowdrift.

“I knew it,” Gareb said. “I knew you were a Sith.”

“I am,” Methic replied. “But we do not need to fight. Go to a different position. I don’t care if you kill another Sith Lord, but you cannot attack my allies. They are my friends, and I will protect them.”

Gareb had a sad expression on his face. He slowly lowered his green blade.

“Jasin would be so disappointed.”

Then Gareb helped the Sarkhai to her feet and the two ran off to another position. Methic turned and blocked the blue blade of another Jedi and slashed him across the torso.

Gareb’s last words struck a chord with Methic. Jasin was Methic’s twin, a Jedi Master to counter Methic’s Sith Lord. The two had been separated years ago on their homeworld Phaeda, when Jasin had sided with the Republic, and Methic–then named Malakai–the Empire.

Since he’d discovered that his brother had become a Jedi, he’d only told two people: Vette and Pierce. The two of them were possibly the only beings in the Empire that knew of Methic’s unfortunate ties to the Republic–and the reason he was not as steeped in the dark side as the other Sith Lords.

A team of Republic troops opened fire on Methic and he deflected the bolts back into them. Jaesa came to his side and blocked bolts coming at his flank.

“Thanks,” he said.

“That Jedi,” she said. “You let him go. Why?”

“Another time,” Methic replied.

Then he went back to fighting.

 

 

Despite himself, Quinn saw Jaesa wade into the thick of the fighting and found that he was worrying for the girl. Standing, he snapped three shots from his pistol and killed the Republic trooper near her.

What’s wrong with me? Quinn wondered. She’s a blasted Jedi!

Broonmark was near Jaesa’s position, hacking the troopers to pieces with his vibrosword. Seeing the fuzzy white Talz in action would have been almost comical had the situation not been so serious.

“Fight on,” Quinn ordered over the comlink. “Command says we have successfully repelled the troops at our position, and that we are to move to the crystal caves and help the fighting there.”

“You heard the man,” Methic said. “Move out!”

I never would have thought it till I saw Fino's story, but I've come to love the Quinn/LS Jaesa dynamic. So funny!

I never would have thought it till I saw Fino's story, but I've come to love the Quinn/LS Jaesa dynamic. So funny!

 

I didn't even originally intend it...it just kind of happened while I was writing.

 

Chapter 8

 

Pierce blasted a Republic soldier in the arm, and as the trooper spun around, he let loose with a volley to the trooper’s back.

“Good shot!” commented Vette.

Her twin pistols were working overtime, cutting down troops faster than they could rally. Methic and Jaesa leapt in ahead, using the Force to propel them, and Broonmark smashed into the defensive line.

“Take down those defensive turrets!” ordered Methic.

Pierce knelt and zoomed in his rifle’s scope on the left turret. It had an energy shield, but the power lines were visible in the snow…there. Pierce fired, searing the lines and destroying the turret. Broonmark, on the other hand, just ripped into the turret’s structure with his vibrosword.

“Command relayed new orders,” Quinn said. “We are to cut through the cave and sabotage the mines.”

“Pierce, Quinn, Broonmark: go!” Methic said. “Jaesa, Vette, and I will hold them off out here.”

Pierce raised his rifle and charged in.

 

* * *

Methic slashed into one of the last guards’ arms, and the man went down. Jaesa and Vette finished off the last guard together, and there was silence.

“Good job,” Methic said. “We’ll hold the line out here, while the others sabotage the mines.”

Jaesa nodded and sheathed her lightsaber, looking around nervously. Methic knew she had refused to engage the Jedi, and was hoping to stall confrontation over it.

“Lord Methic, this is command. When your men have the bombs set, get out of there. The battle is going well enough.”

“Understood, command.”

He waited.

 

 

Quinn ducked under a blaster bolt and snapped a shot at the attacker. The man dropped, a bolt through his chest.

“Plant the charges, Pierce,” he ordered. “Then we can get out of here.”

“Right.”

Pierce knelt by the central pillar and planted his charges. A team of Republic troops charged in, and Broonmark hacked them apart.

[bllorp.]

Quinn had no idea what Broonmark was saying, but he nodded, just in case.

* * *

 

When the group returned to the command center, Pierce returned to the Fury. His injuries had started to affect him in the battle, and he didn’t like it.

Grabbing a kolto injector from the medbay table, he injected it into his leg. The blood stream took the medicine throughout his body, relaxing his pain.

“Prepare for takeoff,” Methic said. “We just got orders from command: we’re headed to Corellia, more specifically the Black Hole.”

“What’s going on there?” Pierce asked.

“Combat over Corellia’s supplies.”

Pierce nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”

 

 

When the ship landed in the Black Hole, Malavai and the others were ordered to stay at the cantina there, and wait for Methic and Pierce to return. Quinn took the opportunity to get a drink. Jaesa sat at the bar beside him.

“Ah. Jaesa,” he said. “What would you like to drink? On me.”

“Just water,” she replied.

Quinn nodded, then motioned to the bartender. “One water and one Corellian ale, one of your best.”

The bartender nodded and went off to get Quinn’s order. Quinn turned to Jaesa. She lowered her head, as if knowing what he was going to say.

She probably does, he realized.

“Quinn, don’t.” She looked him in the eye. “I know you’re going to lecture me for not fighting the Jedi.”

“Wrong,” he replied. “I’m going to lecture you for going against a direct order.”

She laughed. “Like there’s a difference?”

“Absolutely, there is. Listen, Jaesa, I cannot find fault in your not wishing to do combat with your former allies. I understand, really. But when you go against a direct order just because of preference, you can get killed or someone else can. What if those Jedi had been too much for Lord Methic to handle?”

Jaesa didn’t respond for a moment. “I didn’t think of it like that. But Quinn…if I kill a Jedi, there’s no chance I can ever go back, and no way they would ever listen to me when I finally tell them…tell them about Methic. That he uses the light side.”

“Do you think they’d believe you without any evidence, anyway?”

Jaesa’s mouth opened, then closed. “I didn’t think of it like that. I just always assumed he would come with me if I asked him to.”

“Do you know how many enemies he has among the Jedi? He participated in the downfall of Jaric Kaedan, one of their greatest warriors. Even if you could convince them, Jaesa, they would not let him off without punishment.”

She shook her head. “I never…I didn’t think about that, I guess.”

Malavai patted her on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. If you’re stuck with us, I could think of worse people to have as friends.”

He smiled, and she smiled back.

AWWWWWW, jaesa x quinn is just so adorable!!

 

I now ship these two... when i'm not busy shipping light jaesa and dark jaesa...

AWWWWWW, jaesa x quinn is just so adorable!!

 

Thanks so much.

Very enjoyable to read, nice job.

Very enjoyable to read, nice job.

 

Thanks man! As an aspiring author, comments like this make my day.

well, you are a good writer... so why are you still just "Aspiring"? You could probably write for the star wars EU... But you might want to wait and see if it gets reset with episode seven, so until then just give us more of peirce. Or preferably quinn and jaesa.

Thanks so much man. Ha-ha, you got it.

 

Chapter 9

 

 

Pierce and Methic returned to Black Hole’s cantina after a few hours of combat. Jerking his helmet off, Pierce walked over to the table where Broonmark and Vette were sitting.

“How’d it go?” Vette asked.

[bllorp.]

Pierce had no idea what Broonmark was saying, so he just nodded.

“It went good.”

“Where’s Methic?” Vette asked.

Pierce jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Talking to Jaesa and Quinn. Hey, you notice those two have been talking a lot lately?”

Vette nodded. “Hey, it can get lonely on that Fury. When Broonmark here speaks unintelligibly–”

[bllorp.]

Vette nodded.

“–Broonmark here speaks unintelligibly, so the only people to get acquainted with are you, me, and Methic. Quinn knows and–no offense–hates you, he’s not fond of me, and Methic’s had him at arms’ length since ‘It’ happened. As for Jaesa…you’re too violent, I’m to greedy, and she’s shy with Methic.”

“Still, they used to never talk. But now…”

Vette shrugged. “Don’t read too much into it, Pierce, or this’ll turn into a bad story where the well-meaning best friend tries to hook up a boy and a girl who want to be friends but the friend thinks like each other.”

“Relax,” Pierce said. “I’m a horrible matchmaker, anyway.”

 

 

Methic put his hand on Quinn’s shoulder. The man looked up at him. Methic gave him a nod and made a motion toward the other side of the cantina.

Quinn stood and followed Methic. Methic glanced around, and took a table with no occupants nearby.

“Lord Methic?” Quinn asked.

“I need you to do something for me,” he said. “And I need to know if I can trust you.”

“Of course you can.”

Methic glared at him. “I believed that, before ‘It’ happened.”

Quinn didn’t ask what ‘It’ was, because he knew. If he had asked, Methic probably would have slapped him. Or choked him.

“I have apologized often, my Lord.”

“You have,” Methic confirmed. “And you have done quite well in proving your loyalty. But that does not mean I will drop my guard immediately.”

“Nor would I,” Quinn admitted.

“A typical Sith Lord would have skewered you,” Methic said. “Turned you into something that looked as if it had been bitten by a rakghoul.”

Malavai swallowed. “I know.”

Methic nodded. “Good. Now, regarding your new assignment, this is very important. Failure is not an option.”

Quinn nodded. “I understand completely.”

Methic paused a beat. “At the Battle of Ilum, it was brought to my attention that there is someone of…past importance…to me in the Jedi Order, which I was unaware of.”

Quinn frowned. “My Lord?”

Methic leaned in close. “Jedi Master Gareb, the newest member of the Jedi Council. I want you to go to Tython. Watch him.”

Quinn looked as if Broonmark had slapped him. “Tython, my Lord?”

Methic nodded. “Tython. I will convince Jaesa to give you an access code to land on the planet. You will disguise yourself as a Republic soldier assigned to the Jedi Temple security detail. Watch Gareb when you can, but don’t make it obvious. He can sense it, just like me.”

Quinn nodded. “I…see, Lord Methic.”

“Go.”

Wow, I never thought I would like your story that much when I first read the title. I even enjoyed what you wrote about Pierce even though he never left the ship while I played my SW

It's totally funny to read and it's just getting better with every chapter.

 

Can't help thinking that Broonmark is saying terrible things to all of them while they are only nodding

Edited November 4, 2012 by kalistea

Can't help thinking that Broonmark is saying terrible things to all of them while they are only nodding

 

Who knows...

Chapter 10

 

Quinn, dressed in the white plastoid armor of a Republic soldier and wearing a helmet that resembled that of a fighter pilot, goggles down, walked through the Jedi Temple and tried not to sweat through his bodysuit.

He didn’t belong here. It was made obvious by his badly hidden accent, his unfamiliarity of Republic standards and tradition, and the fact that he was constantly getting lost in the Temple.

Miraculously, the Jedi never said anything to them and so far he’d only spoken to two: one on his initial landing, when the young Padawan had given him directions to the trooper in charge of Temple security, and once when he’d gotten lost and accidentally gone into the Temple’s ramshackle cantina rather than the armory.

Now, Quinn was outside in the courtyard, and practically shaking in his boots as he watched his target, Jedi Master Gareb, walk through the trees with his Padawan, Nadia Grell.

Quinn had a spycam installed in his helmet where the spotlamp should have been, and he activated it with a blink of his eye. The camera snapped a holo of Gareb and the girl. Quinn moved to a different angle, trying to look like he was on patrol as he did. But, try as he might, he was a military officer, not a blasted Intelligence agent.

“You, trooper!” called a voice.

A dark-skinned Jedi Master approached, hailing Quinn. Malavai’s heart nearly stopped, for he was sure the Jedi had discovered him somehow.

“Trooper,” the Jedi said. “I need you to report to the Gnarls. There’s been an injury, and I need you to heal the injured.”

Quinn was thankful he’d chosen armor with a medic’s patch on it–who knew what he’d have done if the only armor available had been a demolitionist’s kit.

“I’m on my way,” Quinn replied.

As the Jedi walked off, Quinn pulled the spycam from his helmet and activated its auto-roll feature. Then, pointing it at Gareb, he set off for the Gnarls.

 

 

Malavai found a group of Jedi kneeling over a girl with red-brown hair. She didn’t appear conscious, and upon further inspection, Malavai realized that she appeared to have been bitten.

“A poisonous snake,” one Jedi explained. “Come on, Kira. You can’t die.”

Malavai’s heart skipped a beat. Kira. That was the name of Jaesa’s friend. Could it be the same girl?

He couldn’t take that chance.

Kneeling, Malavai wrapped a bandage around her upper arm so the poison wouldn’t flow from her wrist anymore.

“Stay strong, for Jaesa,” he whispered to her.

Then he pulled out a manual removal system and planted it over the wound. As he turned it on, it began to suck out the poison.

“She’ll be fine,” Malavai said to the man beside her. “Master…?”

“Jasin,” the Jedi replied. “Thank you for saving her.”

Malavai nodded. “Let’s say I did it for a friend.”

 

 

It was time for Jaesa to visit Nomen Karr again, and this time Pierce was assigned to guard her. They met on a neutral space station above Nal Hutta.

Pierce clipped his rifle over his shoulder and nodded for Jaesa to enter the room. Karr was inside, his hands clasped in front of him and his head down as if ashamed. A pair of Jedi, each with a lightsaber drawn but not ignited, guarded him.

“Jaesa,” Karr said. His face brightened. “Good to see you.”

Jaesa smiled. “And you, Master Karr.”

“I’m sorry, Jaesa. I was a horrible Master…I was a hypocrite and if not for me, you might still be with the Jedi.”

“No, Master Karr. The Force guided us to this. I am with perhaps the only Sith Lord who is aligned with the light side of the Force.”

“Impossible,” Karr replied. “The Sith only draw on the dark side.”

“Remember, Master?” Jaesa insisted. “He could have killed you, but he did not. And he did not try to corrupt me with the dark side.”

Karr snorted. “He tricked you, Jaesa. He learned from Baras.”

Jaesa shook her head. “I have traveled with him for two years now, and he has always acted fairly, even to his enemies. Your old apprentice, Master Timmns, worked with us to stop Darth Ekkage. My Master had a chance to kill him, but he did not, in honor of our alliance.”

Karr hesitated. “Timmns told me. I found it hard to believe…but your story matches his.”

“So you believe me?”

Karr shrugged. “I am not certain. Maybe.”

“Master Karr, your time is up,” one of the Jedi said.

Karr nodded, then looked at Jaesa. “Be safe, my child.”

She nodded. “Be safe, Master Karr.”