“Oh come on, Agent. Enough moping.” My back was to the Rattataki woman as I stared out of the transparisteel cockpit.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not moping. I’m just…” I paused, not quite sure what I had been doing really. Daydreaming perhaps. Zoning, really.

“You’re moping,” Kaliyo said definitively. “You’ve been moping about Sanju ever since we finished on Nar Shadda and went looking for him on Balmorra.”

Before leaving Balmorra, Sanju and I had had a lovely time --a little respite for both of us after having been undercover with the Balmorran Resistance together for a month or so. From the first time we met there had been...something. A spark between us. And it wasn’t just physical. He showed promise for this life--he could be really good, especially if he learns to weigh his desire to help individual against the greater good for the Empire a bit more. But the fact that he did want to help to protect people so much was one of the things that really drew me to him.

“I just think that he could be a good addition to our crew. He has the basic skills and we could teach him the rest.”

“He’d be a good addition to your bed you mean,” she teased. “But I told you from the beginning that it’d never work out.”

I swivelled in the captain’s chair, my lips curled into a mischievous smile, and tossed my head back. “You’re just jealous that he was interested in me.”

She snorted, leaned against the doorframe and crossed her arms over her armored chest. “So he preferred a couple of nights between your thighs rather than mine. Big deal. I don’t see that it mattered enough to get him to leave that hole of a planet and come with us.”

I turned back to face the transparisteel. I had been telling myself that it was just that he had his mission now that he was undercover again as Gray Star--a mission that I had set the groundwork for. And I had my own mission. But deep down I had been thinking the same thing as my only companion. Even if what we felt was real, it just wasn’t enough. Not for him at least. Not enough to make good on his offer for me to visit him. Not enough for him to keep in contact. Perhaps his mission went wrong and that’s why…I didn’t know anymore if I wished that were the reason or not.

“We’re going out,” Kaliyo said emphatically, turning my chair to face her again. “You need to loosen up--not to mention get laid.” I rolled my eyes, this time so she could see.

//

Kaliyo was true to her word. We did have a good time. Perhaps too good of a time, I thought as I gingerly tried to maneuver my way from between the two naked men asleep in the hotel bed. They were just as gorgeous as I had thought them last night while under the influence of something called ryncol that Kaliyo had us drinking last night. Some exotic alien drink from part of the universe out of the reaches of either the Empire or the Republic. Strong stuff. Strong enough to make me forget my moping and live in the moment. One man was a Twi’lek of a lovely shade of light blue, delicate patterns of light gray swirling over his lekku. He was beautiful, as pleasure slaves often were. And it was true what they said about Twi’leks. Then really didn’t have any hair. Anywhere. None. It was unusual and I faintly remembered exploring that novelty with all of my senses last night.

The other man was large and muscular (in Intelligence we would categorize him as a size 3 body type) with blonde hair. Last evening I thought that he had been wearing tiny sunglasses but this morning it was more obvious to me that he was Miralukan with the more modern eye coverings that have a similar appearance to some ocular cybernetics implants. That would explain some things about last night--like him using his hands much more than men usually do since most men tend to be heavily visually oriented.

Luckily, I was able to slip into the fresher to grab one of the hotel’s bathrobes without waking the men. I padded into the common room of the suite that apparently we had rented to find Kaliyo sitting on the couch sipping a cafe, a nexxu-who-ate-the-canary look on her face. “So…feeling better?”

I grabbed a cup of cafe as well and plopped onto the couch beside her. “Sure,” I started reluctantly, “except I’m a bit fuzzy on how I ended up with two men in my bed.”

The rattataki woman smirked at me. “Oh, that. Never figured you to be a prude, Agent.” I raised an eyebrow at her and she winked back. “Well, I started the night by leaving you to your own devices. Boy was that a mistake!” she rolled her eyes. “You got all cozy with someone that looked similar to him. As I dragged you away you complained--about how pretty his eyes were. So I found you the Miralukan. You know, as a bit of a joke. Besides, he looked like the type that wouldn’t be shy. And judging by how he was pawing you in the club, I was right.” She made a disgusted noise. “But I still caught your eyes looking for the Sanju look-alike. Obviously you needed more distraction. So I spied the Twi’lek boy and paid him to make sure all your needs were met for the next 24 hours.”

So I had been right. The Twi’lek was a pleasure slave. Probably owned by the blasted Hutts, too. What I remembered from the night, the man had been very attentive and kind, yet strangely passionate for someone who got paid for sex. I’d never been with a paid escort before. Never had to. Seduction was part of the job and I was good at my job. Unpleasant memories of that portion of my training began to surface. Thankfully my partner interrupted my thoughts.

“You going soft on me, Jade?” I had never given Kaliyo my real name and had no plans to. Only those with the highest clearance in Intelligence knew that I was born Kara Jade Onasi. She usually just called me “Agent” but on occasion she would use my more common alias, Jade. “Although,” and she leaned in closer to me, “if you were thinking of staging a coup against his Hutt master, I’m in. I could use a good fight and would love a chance at payback for old grievances against the Hutts.” A malicious gleam flickered in her eyes.

I laughed. No. I had no intention of fighting the Hutts. No point in drawing undue attention to ourselves. But the thought of giving the poor young man enough money to pay for his freedom did cross my mind. “We’ll see,” was all I said and then sipped my coffee.

////

I gave the blonde Jedi a warm hug and received one from the man with her. My first cousins Kimbri Onasi and “Moff” Dillon. Our fathers were brothers in the Empire together, had their first children together and eventually Moffy and I had even gone to the Academy together. But when Kimbri had been born, everything changed for my uncle. He couldn’t bear to send his Force-sensitive baby girl to the Sith to be twisted into something evil and self-serving. So he and my aunt had defected to the Republic in the hopes of securing a place for her amongst the Jedi. Upon graduation from the Academy my cousin Moff followed suit, albeit in a more mercenary fashion as a smuggler pilot. My father had disowned his brother from that point on. But I hadn’t. They were my family, my blood. The greater good of the Empire and its people is and will always be my mission with only this one exception--those that belong to me.

“Thank you, Cousin,” I said quietly since the cave, although remote, still produced a lot of echo.

Kimbri looked behind her to her padawan, Kira, who was talking to the young Twi’lek man who we had come to call Olo since he apparently didn’t have a proper name of his own. The Hutts had just given him a binary number consisting of 0’s and 1’s. His was 01010101. So we called him OLO for short, which resembled his numerical name. “We’ll do what we can for him. Perhaps the Jedi could use his skill with massage and caretaking of others in their healing centers.” She blushed and I knew that she was embarrassed at the thought of his primary set of skills. She then looked into my eyes. “It warms my heart to see that you still care about people, about individuals, Kara--that the Empire hasn’t taken that from you. It gives me hope that if there are more like you in the Empire perhaps we could come to a peaceful resolution afterall.”

I chuckled. “The eternal optimist, Kimbri.” I patted her on the shoulder affectionately. “I hope the realities of war never change that about you.”

@Kitar: More adorable Talos.

@YoshiRaphElan: Did Ylenia feel the urge to strangle Kira? At least a little bit?

Mako in brainwashed-mode is scary. Must be hard for Dha to wait outside.

@alaurin: You're giving me more reasons to play female Jedi...

And I clearly remember Thorns collecting some dark side points on Alderaan. It's hard not to hit those nobles.

@bright_ephemera:

Their eyes met, and whether she could properly read Chiss eyes or not he knew she knew it.

I get the feeling it will be interesting to see Torian disentangle himself from his little lie, or maybe he will entangle himself further?

I like how much Calline is able to tell with only six words.

@kabeone: another adorable Talos!

@marissalf: love Kinka and Vector

@elliotcat: great background for Zash!

@sthrift: Always good at raising more questions than you answered

@DarthSillyMonkey: Nice to see a bit more of the next sibling. She doesn't seem to be overly pacifist for a Jedi.

@Phyreblade: Welcome to the thread. You had my eyes glued to the monitor! I, too, will be waiting for more.

@Lesaberisa:

I may be a killer, but I am not a murderer.

Veresia embarassing Khem made me chuckle.

And Chiss gazes would most certainly be enough to make me squirm.

@Striges: It's great how you bring these small objects from minor Korriban quests to life!

I hope I haven't forgotten anybody...

Torian gripped Iviin's leash tightly as the strill surged ahead. Yuun had handed him over and explained the situation, and then gone off to search a different part of the forest for Tanno. Torian used his own tracking skills, along with Iviin's excellent sniffer, to keep on the Weequay's trail. Soon enough, Iviin hopped up and down excitedly.

Torian was about to comm in that they were getting close when he felt cold metal touching his throat through the cloth neck-guard on his Mandalorian armor. Swallowing, Torian made a quick hand gesture for Iviin to stand down; the strill reluctantly sat and glared at the attacker behind Torian.

"Hands at your sides, Mando scum," growled the attacker.

Torian held out his hands, and as he did he blinked twice, which activated his helmet's 360-degree view. It quickly picked up his attacker and he saw that it was a Weequay in filthy brown-and-green Republic soldier's armor. His heart soared. It was Tanno!

"Udesii," Torian said. "I'm a friend."

"Mandos work for the Imps," Vik replied. "You're no friend of mine."

"I'm with Prudii," Torian offered. "He asked me to help find you."

"How do I know I can trust you?" The knife pressed closer to his throat. "Talk fast, Mando."

"Give me ten seconds," Torian replied. He blinked, and his helmet's sound suppressors activated, so Vik couldn't hear what Torian said. "Yuun, it's Torian. I've found Vik but he has me at knifepoint."

"Yuun hears," replied the Gand. "Yuun is short distance away; coming now."

Torian deactivated the sound suppressors. "Yuun's on his way."

Vik let up on the pressure, but he didn't remove the knife from Torian's throat. Clearly, he wasn't taking any chances. Not that Torian blamed him; knifing him in the throat was probably the fastest way to kill him, especially since if it came down to a fight, Torian's armor was made of beskar and would resist almost any hand weapon, meaning he had an undeniable advantage.

Luckily for Torian, Yuun chose that moment to emerge from the forest. Vik sagged, sheathed his knife, and stepped back from Torian. Relieved, the young Mandalorian reached up and pulled off his helmet.

"Su cuy'gar, Sergeant Vik," he said. "We'll take you back to camp."

Vik nodded. "Thanks, kid."

Torian activated his wrist comm. "Search Team One to base. We've found him; we're on our way back."

@DarthSillyMonkey, I'll join the bandwagon of people who loved the final exchange in Not Today. It's also nice to see someone looking out for Grommick - the guy is barely equipped to deal with everyday problems as it is.

@Phyreblade, welcome to the thread! Quite a gritty story. As kind of a convention it's common to note gory content with a quick disclaimer outside the story spoiler tags. I like how the slaves pull together...they really have nothing but each other. And even that can seem like not much.

@alaurin, I'm trying to decide whether it's better or worse to have these glimpses of awareness between days of servitude. I like that you brought in Ros's father alongside Master Knightspoiler.

@Lesaberisa, “Nonsense. I am merely finally understanding the true nature of the Force.” Truly a beautiful sentiment for a master of Force mysteries and alcohol. Then - Mina and Chiss eyes, unsporting yet effective. I remember there's a zone-chatter on Hoth where soldiers discuss how scary a Chiss's gaze is.

@Striges, great chatter from scary ancient spirits. I particularly liked

“Exquisite. I would court her if I were younger.”

 

“And alive,” Revan’s mask said.

 

“Well, yes.”

@KimbriOnasi, welcome to the thread, and forgive me if you've posted here before - that just means double welcome, right? Sanju Pyne is such a tantalizing character, it's a shame the game has to leave him behind. All part of the agent's no-strings lifestyle, I guess.

@YoshiRaphElan, I can't fault Tanno Vik's caution...though a throwdown between Vik and Torian would probably be impressive to watch if Vik didn't instantly end it.

How do you interpret the duration and extent of the brainwashing between Acts 2 and 3? Is it entirely training and meditation on the Emperor's station, or do you read it as also going out into the field as a servant of the Emperor? The game only gives on-station footage, but if you're enslaved for any significant period of time he must put you to some use. Thoughts? Is this something worth opening to the Story and Lore or Spoilers forum?

Dha paced outside the med-center, fists clenched as he worried about Mako. He'd had no word since he'd left her. Fear clenched at his heart and it was all he could do not to lash out. Treek, Blizz, Skadge, and Gault stood in the path alongside him; Treek and Blizz jabbered quietly to each other in their respective language, Gault stood leaning against the med-center's wall, strangely subdued, and Skadge looked ready to beat something.

"I'm bored," the Houk finally roared.

Dha turned. "What?"

"I said, I'm bored. I wanna kill somethin'!"

Dha felt his temper boil to a peak and he stormed right up into Skadge's personal space. Though the Houk towered at least a meter over Dha's head, the smaller Zabrak did not cow down. He glared up into Skadge's beady yellow eyes, letting the full extent of his rage show in his own emerald eyes.

"We're here for Mako," he said, his voice deathly cool. "You're part of this clan, so you're here with us."

"Blondie ain't," Skadge grumbled. "He's out there, prob'ly fightin'."

"He's looking for Prudii's friend," Dha replied. "He is helping the clan. You want to fight because of bloodlust. That can wait until we know Mako's condition."

"Didn't ask to be part of no clan."

"Yes, you did!" Dha said. His emotion finally boiled over, and he shouted at the top of his lungs. "When you signed up, you shabla chakaar, you became part of the clan! I've tried to treat you as such; for years now I've tried not to hate your guts, di'kut! You wanted to be one of us? Act like it."

Skadge snorted. "Just wanted to come along for the fight. Ain't a family man."

"You want it that way?" Dha asked, deadly cold again. "Fine. Get out. You can find your own way out of this Republic outpost but I guarantee you'll be thrown in a cell within an hour. Ucenye, hutuun."

Skadge balled his fists and stormed away. Gault pushed off the wall and walked over to stand beside Dha.

"He'll be back," Gault noted. "He's miserable without us."

"If he comes back," Dha said, "he'd better be ready to put his back into his work for this clan. I won't take his slacking anymore."

Gault shrugged. "Frankly, I'm surprised this didn't happen sooner."

Someone had to do it.

@Marissalf: Hmmmm, Corso snuggling with Jorgan......that could be a fun What If. Explaining that to Garza would not be fun at all, but I think Jorgan was well on his way to pacifying his irritated wife at the end though. As for Ros, she is definitely in for a struggle.

@Lesaberisa: What a wrenching continuation of Amurri's story. I'm really liking what you're doing with her and look forward to reading more!! It will be really interesting to see what happens when she meets up with Torian on Taris. Also, the piece with Veresia made me giggle.....I kept picturing Khem trying to keep his cool around his drunken master! I really like Mina too......and like someone (Bright I think) already mentioned, that story made me recall that Hoth conversation that was triggered when you entered one of the bases there, where the soldiers are talking about Chiss women.

I think being good with a flamethrower would be an interesting skill to master......especially for a fur covered sentient. I'm glad you liked Lissa and Iresso's little warm fuzzy moment. I do plan to delve into her story along with Ros and her romantic interest (definitely NOT Doc). I agree, the end of JK Act 2 really was lacking and I felt like so much was left out/put aside. There's a lot of potential and hopefully I'll do it justice with Ros's version of events.

@Stridges: I loved that story! I think I had a smile on my face the whole time I was reading. The banter between the three was fantastic and Khem's thoughts at the end made me giggle too. Nicely done!

@DarthSillyMonkey: I'm glad you like Ros, and yes, she has a tough road ahead of her. She'll never be quite the same, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm looking forward to delving into her version of events during the end of JK Act 2.

@Yoshi: Yay!!! Vik has been found, but what a tense moment for Torian! Also......yes, yes, YES!!!!!! I am so glad someone stuck it to Skadge!!!!! I'm betting Dha won't be the only one to toss him!

I'm glad you liked that Ros was able to communicate with her father and 'Master Knightspoiler' (loved that, Bright.)

@KimbriOnasi: Welcome!!! A really awesome start!! I often wished there was some sort of follow through with Sanju Pyne on Balmorra. I'm glad Kaliyo talked Kara Jade into that night out, but what an interesting wake up she had!! I like how you've incorporated other classes into the story as well leaving for a lot of potential later on. Nicely done and I look forward to more.

@Frauzet: Glad you're liking Ros's story and I also earned some DS points on Alderaan, but that guy was totally asking for it!!

@Bright: Hehe, Master Knightspoiler.....love it! As for Ros having those glimpses of awareness.....it's going to be rough, but I hope good for her in the long run.

My personal take, that I will delve into with Ros and to some extent Jakob, is that the Jedi is captive for an extended period of time and taken off the the station either for Sith training and/or missions. I definitely think the Emperor would put the captive/controlled Jedi to some sort of use.....he did with the other Masters. That's just my opinion though and it will be interesting to see what other people think about what really happened.

“Aric, did she leave any clues as to what happened?” Val asked carefully, “Anything that might help us find her…..”

Aric saw her tapping her wrist as she trailed off and nodded his understanding, “I’ll look again.”

Aric went back to the bedroom and began searching for Tia’s bracelet, remembering Val’s description of it when she first told them about it back on Coruscant. After searching through her drawers, makeup case and jewelry box, Aric came up empty and desperately hoped that meant Tia was wearing it. He called Val and told her the bracelet wasn’t there. The petite Mirialan shared Aric’s hopes and told him to meet at her ship as soon as they could get there. Aric agreed and left the bedroom to find Jonas on the Holo and Corso inspecting the floor.

While Aric was searching Tia’s bedroom for her bracelet, Jonas got a call from his team, telling him that they got a hit from the signal tracers and telling him to check his datapad. The agent complied to find his people discovered an Imperial team staying in a suite down the hall. Corso spotted blood on the floor next to a knocked over chair and went to get a closer look, Aric joining him a moment later. Jonas got off the Holo and saw Corso and Aric looking at some bloodstains on the floor.

“Here,” Jonas said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket, “Wipe some of that blood and I’ll have my people see if they can find out who’s it is.”

Corso took it and did just that, handing it back to the agent who carefully put it back in his pocket.

“Nothing in Tia’s bedroom that stood out,” Aric told them carefully, not wanting to give anything away, “Who was on the Holo?”

“We got a hit with that tracer,” Jonas answered, “and it appears that we might have other business here.”

“By all means,” Aric replied, having an idea what that meant, “Let’s go deal with that.”

Aric, Corso, and Jonas left Tia’s suite and headed to the Imperial one, hoping to find out if they have any footage of Tia’s kidnapping. The three men armed themselves and barged in, not wanting to give them any time to react. The Imperial commander was on the Holo with Captain Andrik when Aric, Corso, and Jonas entered the room.

“I’m telling you Andrik,” the Imperial was saying, “Something’s happening. The munitions warehouse was attacked and Republic Spec Forces were spotted in the area. I tried to contact Sergeant Vleska but she’s not answering.”

“That’s because she’s busy distracting that nosy agent,” Andrik shot back, “I got what I needed from the warehouse so the rest is your problem, Zardres, not mine.”

“You’re supposed to be assisting us!” Zardres replied, incredulous at the other man’s refusal to help.

“No, my mission is to secure the wardroid for Tavus,” Andrik snapped, “Not babysit you…...now when Sergeant Vleska returns, send her down to me.”

“Sir…..” an officer called out, “we’ve got company!”

“What is the meaning of this?” Zardres demanded when he saw the intruders.

“Oh, that’s just great,” Andrik sneered, “now you’ve let yourselves get caught.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zardres told him as he drew his weapon, “I’ll have this problem taken care of in moments.”

“No, in moments you’ll all be dead and that little problem will be headed my way,” Andrik retorted.

“Three civilians are hardly a threat!”

“Those aren’t civilians you idiot,” Andrik shook his head, “The Cathar is Republic Spec Forces and that’s Agent Balkar with him. I’m sure they have backup ready as well.” Andrik turned to adress Balkar, “So, Agent, what have you done with Sergeant Vleska?”

“I didn’t do anything with her,” Jonas answered, his blaster never wavering, “She was gone when I got to her suite. It looks like she’s been taken.”

“Dammit,” Andrik swore, “Tavus isn’t going to be happy about that after what happened at the ball, but no matter…..I have work to do before I can concern myself with her. Major, it was nice knowing you…..make yourself useful and try to take at least one of them out before you die.”

“Ungrateful scum,” Zadres shouted as Andrik’s image disappeared. He sighed as he raised his weapon and turned to Balkar, “He doesn’t deserve our assistance.”

“Then don’t give him any,” Jonas shrugged, “We’re more than happy to apprehend him.”

“As much as I’d love to see that,” Zadres sighed, “I'm afraid I can't allow the three of you to leave.”

“I don’t think so,” Aric growled from behind Balkar and before anyone could react, he had the major by the throat, his claws pressing an advantage.

"Hold it right there," Corso told the two Imperials that moved to fire at Aric. The Mantellian had a blaster in one hand, Hewie in the other, and wasn’t afraid to use either.

“Easy, Jorgan....Corso,” Jonas instructed, “No one needs to get hurt." The agent was careful to keep his tone calm...the last thing they needed was a gunfight in a Hutt casino. "We just need information and we’ll leave peacefully.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” Zardres gritted, not wanted to move too much with those sharp claws at his throat.

“Because we aren’t after you,” Jonas told him, “If we wanted you, we would have come in fully armored with more than three of us. I swear on my honor, we just want that wardroid and Sergeant Vleska…..that’s it."

"Balkar's right," Aric confirmed, loosening his grip a little, "Think about it, Major.....Andrik's loyalty is to Tavus, not the Empire. He'll turn on you, just like he did with the Republic.”

After a tense moment, Zardres nodded and the Imperials holstered their rifles. Aric let the commander go and both Jonas and Corso holstered their weapons.

“I’ve never liked Andrik…..he’s scum and doesn’t deserve our protection,” Zardres admitted, rubbing his throat, “He took the wardroid into Shadow Town. They have a charging station there and Sergeant Vleska was supposed to keep you busy while they completed the charging process to it’s core and shields.”

“You got a location for that station?” Jonas asked.

“What about Sergeant Vleska?” Aric growled.

“I’ll give you the coordinates to the charging station,” Zardres nodded, “As for Sergeant Vleska, I have no idea who took her if it wasn’t you.” The Imperial commander narrowed his gaze at Aric, “Why the concern for her anyways? Aren’t you just going to execute her for treason?”

“Her friend has been helping us,” Aric replied, “and in exchange, we promised to bring her in alive.”

“You may not know who took her,” Jonas told the major, “but I’m certain you have her suite monitored. Can you bring up the footage?”

Zardres told his tech to patch the footage through to the main monitor and a minute later, they were all watching Tia as she got ready for her date. One of the Imperials whistled at the young Cathar singing with the stereo and dancing rather provocatively in her satin bra and panties, earning a harsh glare and threatening growl from Jorgan.

“Yeah, you’re not jealous at all,” Jonas snickered at the bristling Cathar.

“Bite me,” Aric muttered, embarrassed at his reaction as Tia disappeared into her bedroom.

“Her bedroom isn’t monitored,” Zardres explained and a few minutes later, they saw Tia rush out of the bedroom in her dress to answer the door.

They saw Tia’s hand go to her thigh as soon as the door opened, reaching for a weapon. They heard her growl when she came up empty and her claws came out as she backed up. Three large Cathar males entered the room, spreading out to cut her off from any means of escape. Aric saw her kick the man blocking the door to the bedroom behind her and knew she was trying to get to the weapon she left on the bed. They watched as she fought off the three men with everything she had, wincing as her claws raked one of the men’s faces and her sharp stiletto caught another one in the gut. Unfortunately, with no weapon other than her claws and no armor, she was brutally outmatched and they saw as the largest male grabbed her by the waist, pinning her against him as one of the others grabbed her thigh and injected her with a sedative. A moment later, Tia’s struggles ceased as the sedatives rendered her unconscious. One of her attackers stepped out of the room, returning with a large tool chest. He wheeled it over to where the large male was still holding Tia and opened the lid. Tia was lowered into the empty chest and the three men wheeled her out.

Corso noticed an emblem on two of the attackers' jackets, “I think those two work here…..probably maintenance crew judging from the tool chest.”

“Which means they probably used the maintenance elevators,” Jonas concluded and a few minutes later, he, Aric, and Corso appeared in the doorway.

“Do you know those people?” Zardres asked, in awe of how hard the young woman fought despite being unarmed and outnumbered.

“Not really,” Jonas shook his head, “I’d need to compare it to the footage we got from the ball, but I think the one of them was the same one who drugged Tia’s drink. Can we get a copy of this?”

“I suppose I can do that,” Zardres agreed, “Although I’m not sure if I want you to find her or not. She’s a brave young woman and a good soldier…...I hate to see her caught and imprisoned.”

Corso volunteered his datapad since he had nothing on it that the Imperials would be interested in and handed it to the tech.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Major,” Jonas told the man, his tone genuine as the tech handed Corso his datapad with the footage on it.

“I just hope you stick it to that scum, Andrik,” Zardres nodded, “but you need to get there quickly. That droid’s shields will be at full power by morning. Once that happens, he’ll be next to impossible to subdue.”

“Thank you, Major,” Aric saluted, then the three men turned to leave.

“Good luck, Captain,” Zardres replied, hoping the Cathar killed Andrik slowly.

Once in the casino lobby, Aric called Val to let her know they were on the way to her ship.

@Alaurin: thank you! I've been posting details of Gaib's story elsewhere but thought this would be a great opportunity to offer one-shot glimpses into his tale. Bearing in mind, of course, he's very much a part of a larger over-arching legacy, too, hehe. I'll be glad to share more, trust me.

@Marrisalf: I honestly believe heroes are forged, that they overcome tremendous challenge and adversity to become heroic characters. Hence, they endure plenty of wrenching moments, yes. FWIW, Gaib is a character I can't help but absolutely adore! Writing his story is tremendous fun, really.

@Lesabarisa: Of course! Fun stuff, writing!

@Darthsillymonkey: That was Gaibriel's lowest point, of course. He never forgets but he does overcome it, too. Thanks for the welcome, it was awesome of you! Although call me ma'am, since it fits me better.

@Frauzet: Thank you!

@Bright: I'll be more careful with my grittier offerings, by all means. Thanks for the welcome!

Akaavi settled herself against the headboard of the bed she shared with her riduur, staring over at him as he slept. She tucked her knees against her chest, wrapping her arms in a loose hold around her shins and breathing slowly in the peace of the moment.

Udesiir. She had forgotten such moments. When everything seemed right, when danger and threat seemed so far away. When the people she cared for the most were safe from harm and all the world was in some sort of trembling relaxation. Even that stupid Mon Calamari wanna-be Jedi was far-off, it seemed. Or quiet, at least.

There was nothing but the hum of the ship's engines, the steady pulse of movement as they traveled to some new destination. Just the slow cadence of Gaibriel's breath as he slept, sprawled in ungainly splendor against the cushions of the bed with all his limbs flung wide out and apart. The sheer amount of space her riduur took up whenever he slept was largely why they'd hunted down a bigger bed to tuck up against the wall of the quarters they shared. She smiled sardonically at his sleeping form, now.

For a man who'd shared his body with so many women, Gaib had a hard time sharing his bed. He'd never be the sort of man who enjoyed cuddling up against his wife, at least. Not that it bothered Akaavi so much, either. She was always afraid one of her horns would dig into the softer parts of his body if they slept too close.

All that, and Gaib had almost thrown a sheer fit when Akaavi pondered keeping her own quarters after he stumbled his way through his Mandalorian marriage vows. "We're married now, right? So put your stuff in the closet next to mine, put your tooth cleaner in the 'fresher next to mine, and put your rear in the same bed next to mine." She hadn't truly understood why he was so adamant. It's not like he was going to lose her if she was sleeping just down the hallway from his quarters, at least.

She must have looked confused, though. Because Corso mumbled something about Gaib's sisters, then. Akaavi well understood the sense of loss Gaibriel must have suffered when they were torn from him, at least. But the women they'd grown to be were powerful fighters, fully capable of defending themselves, too. Even if the younger one was a jetii, the fact remained her ability to fight was well-understood by even the most stupid.

Akaavi decided it was one more example of how fascinatingly different Gaibriel was from every bit of her experience. She'd never met a man like him, until he'd neatly beguiled her and she wanted -- needed, even! -- to know more, to know him. Everything about him was new, interesting, like a sweet and tempting hunt through every moment. He pleased her, in the smallest ways. When he amused her, when he maddened her, even. Whenever he spoke, or flashed her some bright-eyed look from his blue eyes, whenever he laughed or rubbed one of her horns between his fingers.

Gaibriel mumbled her name suddenly, his voice rough with sleep so that she knew he hadn't really woken at all but was still dreaming in that slow cadence of his. His tendency to speak words through the long hours he slept was also endearing, one of those idiosyncracies she might have once called bothersome. Except it was Gaibriel's, some quirk of his that made for a brief bubble of warmth to expand through her belly.

Or maybe it was how her name was the one he gave up to his pillow, so she knew she was there even in his dreams. And she sighed, settling herself further into the udesiir. Stopping only to smooth some of the dark hair off Gaibriel's forehead as he snuffled further into sleep. The peace of the moment, when everything was just so ... right.

"Pierce ... what other name are you called?"

Pierce leaned his head up, staring over towards Jaesa as she finished gathering those brief robes she delighted in wearing back over her shoulders. Things somehow managed to only barely conceal the good stuff, in fact. He frowned as he considered the bare flesh of her shoulders, left exposed by the neckline of that skimpy top thing she called a shirt. Not that he imagined he could get her to wear anything else, either.

One thing Pierce had learned over the time navigating the delicate world of Sith challenges and clashes, was that sometimes it was best simply to avoid the fight altogether. He picked his battles carefully when it came to those who could toss his head into the nearby wall with a flick of their wrists.

Even when it was someone who made such regular entrances into his private quarters. Heck, she had her own closet space, even. So Pierce only grunted a response to her question, rather than insist she cover up more of her skin, "Don't remember a time I was called anything else. Unless you mean my rank. That changes every so often."

More prestige in recent years had netted Pierce a pretty bit of promotion, in fact. Not surprising, considering the Sith he served so loyally went by her own title. One that landed her a spot outside the rank and file of the Dark Council itself, even. Not bad calling the Sith who acted as the Emperor's own executioner "commander", really. He'd definitely come a long ways since Hurdenn's hesitant bumbling command back on Taris, at least.

Jaesa frowned towards him over her shoulder. She was yanking her dark hair into some semblance of order against the nape of her neck even while she argued with him. A purely feminine gesture. Pierce twisted his lips into a brief smile as he contemplated pulling the mass of thick brown hair back into a tumbled mess. Just as soon as she was finished with her careful combing, of course. Playing with her was one of his favorite past-times. "I could not care any less about your rank, Pierce. I asked you what name you go by, what your family called you."

Pierce's smile disappeared in a heady flash. "Family? I never had one, Jaesa. I imagine there was some couple of people who made me, yea. But that's about as close as I ever got to such a thing." He sneered at the confused look she turned on him, then. But he bit back some purely stupid remark about Jaesa's parents. Mainly because Lord Lusiel had personally destroyed the both of them, cutting them down when she still called Baras master and he insisted on it. Hard bit for Jaesa to have come to terms with, and a scarred-over wound he avoided prodding against.

To steer clear of the head-banging-against-the-wall thing, of course. Jaesa, thankfully, didn't travel along that verbal minefield, either. "How curious. Do you imagine that's why you enjoy direct confrontation, over more methodical planning, rather? Perhaps why Quinn annoys you so much, do you think?"

Pierce chuckled, reaching out to pluck at one of the looser tendrils of hair against Jaesa's pale temple. He yanked pretty hard against her hair, pulling her face a little closer to his own. Close enough he felt the gasping breath of her surprise wash against his chin as he held her there. "What is you're trying to do, getting into my head like that? I'm not one of those flunky idiots you enjoy rooting out of their hidey-holes, trying to dis-prove their loyalty. Fought too hard to get off that stinking world of Ziost, where every day was some battle for a piece of stupid bread, even. I've got a good thing, here. And I plan on keeping it."

Jaesa hummed as she ran one of her fingers down along the side of Pierce's face, watching him squirm as he felt the scratch of her nails along his skin. She smirked at him even as her lips trembled in diligent anticipation. How she enjoyed their little games, she thought. "One can never be too cautious, Pierce."

"Cautious, huh? And here I thought you were angling for something tougher. You barely ruffled my feathers, Jaesa. Might want to prod a little harder next time, cause insults to whatever mommy might have called me Pierce to begin with just won't do the trick." He ended up ripping that stupid shirt off her, then. And never mind any questions over his loyalties and the ties they made for where he was right then. If only because he was still precisely where he wanted to be.

My personal take, briefly alluded to in my snippet where the former Minister of Intelligence calls my Agent, is that the JK is under the Emperor's control for quite some time, and that he parades her(and the other Masters) around to show off his power. Master Orgus implies that the Knight has done some terrible things under the Emperor's control, which smashing up some training droids doesn't even begin to qualify as. My impression is that those scenes are the only things the JK really remembers from her time in the Emperor's thrall, the times she nearly wakes up.

@Kimbri: Welcome aboard! I really liked the take on Sanju, and the relationship between he and the agent. That Jade went after a Sanju look alike I thought was a nice touch to the opening, but luckily, Kaliyo was there to make her story more interesting! Jade's an interesting character, I look forward to seeing more of her.

@Yoshi: Like how Vik got the drop on Torian. I always thought that bastage would be hard to kill!

And it looks like great minds think alike. I have to run a few more edits on it, but I came up with the same idea you did for the new prompt. It is hard to live with that jerk, isn't it?

@Alaurin: YES! Jonas Balkar and his Roughriders to the rescue! I don't know why, but I do like Jonas, so any inclusion of him in the story always scores points with me. I'm interested in seeing Tia's next part with all of this.

@Phyreblade: That was an excellent Akaavi piece. Just like your last piece, I love how you could feel the serenity through Akaavi's thoughts and feelings. You're good at that.

And an interesting pairing, Jaesa and Pierce. I enjoyed how she tried to pry info out of him, and Pierce was smart enough not to fall for it. I don't use him a lot, but he's one of my more favorite SW companions.

You know my take on it from RtG. Remi was a Sith for a long time and caused a lot of damage that the Council later covered up and she went around apologizing for personally.

Lore elements that I feel support this:

1. Orgus saying you did terrible things and that you've been a pawn for a long time. You ask him days or weeks but he doesn't know. Agree with theStirge that droids probably don't count as terrible.
   
2. Satele Shan saying "It's been so long. We thought you were lost forever." Probably at least several weeks.
   
3. Overseer Chaskar implies that you were already tested in combat and that interrogation is next. Stuff like the trials on Korriban might apply. Hunting down a beast offworld, as well as interrogation stuff that Tremel rushes the Sith Warrior through.
   

Other date helpers:

According to the swtor Encyclopedia, the game begins the same year that the war begins. Since open war starts in chapter 3 and you are captured in chapter 2 it seems you can be missing for no longer than a year.

Not really time related but Jomar is running around trying to prove you fell to the dark side. If he's finding evidence of that (other than what Liha plants to lure him to the station) then it stands to reason you do things other than kill droids. It is strange that the other Jedi were sent out to do things while the JK was still being tested. It might have been that he had a special plan for the JK since he hated the JK so much.

Ashara was droning on as usual about changing the Empire. "This task we've taken gets more difficult every day."

"Yes, fine, whatever...just shut up, apprentice."

"I'm not your apprentice!"

Lingus walked off, grumbling. "Whatever."

- - -

Ashara called Lingus into her usual haunt in the starboard engine room. "My lord, I must ask a favor of you."

Lingus crossed her arms, already knowing the slant of this conversation before it had even started.

"Our mission. We cannot hope to accomplish it without help."

She grumbled in disgust and walked out before the petulant chlid could go any further.

- - -

The young whelp had just boarded the ship after going off on some wild-vrake chase, and was alternating grumbling and yelling at herself. How very Sith she had become, and yet not.

"What are you railing on about? Tell me."

"I can't believe him. I'm not a Jedi? He says I'm not a Jedi!"

She prattled on some more about some Jedi idiot she'd gone to for help with this mission that the girl had convinced herself that the Sith Lord was helping with. Lingus just held up her hand to forestall more of the same stupidity and walked out.

- - -

"My lord, I have incredible news. A group of Jedi have split from the Jedi order. This is the perfect opportunity for us to win allies!"

"Allies?" Lingus had finally had enough. After the year she'd wasted on this impudent girl, she'd finally found her own true apprentice in Xalek. At this point, putting up with this Jedi's whining had begun to grate on her nerves more than she could take. "What part of 'I'm a Dark Side Sith, and I enjoy killing and destroying things' is failing to penetrate your mind? Have you missed the part where I go out of my way to kill Jedi whenever they're nearby? Do you not realize that I'm in a game to the death with Darth Thanaton, and after I break him and take his seat on the Dark Council, I intend to mount his steaming corpse on my wall?"

She released a burst of force lightning toward the spoiled clownfish, causing her to scream. "But...my lord...what about...peace?"

Lord Lingus redoubled her efforts, drawing on the power of the ghosts she'd bound. Khem and Talos came running from opposite ends of the ship to see what was happening. "I don't want peace! I like war! I want to crush the Republic under my heel, and burn every Jedi temple to the ground, and when I'm done, I might take some of the strongest Jedi as my apprentices, after I've turned them to the Dark Side. That Satele Shan would look good wearing Sith robes and bowing and scr*ping at my every command."

"But..." the girl was clearly growing weaker... "our mission..."

"We don't have a mission, you imbecile! My mission right now is to feed you to Khem. He hasn't had a decent meal in ages, since all the smart Jedi run at the very sight of me."

The Dashade stepped forward at that, currently in his Zash persona. "Oh, this dear girl will taste lovely. Too bad she won't be able to help with research anymore."

Talos felt honor-bound to say something in the girl's defense. This stupid courage in the face of certain death for a rather quaint principle was something that endeared him to Lingus. "My lord, it's not my place to speak, but..."

The Rattataki stopped shocking Ashara for a moment and turned to him. "It's alright, Talos. You know I value your counsel."

"Well, my lord, it's just that it seems wrong to let Khem Val consume one of our own, even if she is misguided. No offense, Khem; you know I respect your power and knowledge of history."

The beast had apparently ejected Zash from his psyche for the time being, probably since he heard the virtual dinner bell rinigng. "Do-beela way-su." As usual, he looked to Lingus for translation.

"He says he understands, and no offense taken. He respects your bravery for speaking up."

Khem continued. "Eema und mill. Oostapahn, ai cee-jai een alam."

"He also says that he's witnessed Ashara breaking and ejecting your prized Sith artifacts out the airlock."

The scientist's mouth moved for a few moments, then he turned purple and drew his blaster pistol. "You little...I can't believe...my lord, should I fetch a napkin for Khem?"

Lingus had already started to lose interest in the still-smoldering Jedi at her feet. "Whatever...just eject the body before we get to Corellia. And do have 2V clean up any mess. I'll be watching Huttball with Xalek." She walked off, savoring the screams behind her.

I have never been able to forgive the devs for failing to finish both sides of Ashara's storyline and making her light-or-dark, the way Jaesa is. With her schizophrenic nature in mission conversations and the fac that any options where you aren't cooperating with her light-sided mission just evaporate after a while, that's the only explanation that makes any sense.

To this day, I still haven't finished Ashara's storyline on any of my inquisitors because I can't stand accepting the premise that my dark-sided evil nasty bloodthirsty Sith want to change the Empire and the Sith and make peace.

It rankles me even more than the outcome of the Quinncident.

@Adwynyth: I have to agree. I finished her storyline and even after dragging it all the way out (pretending I was going to turn all those Jedi to my will), she STILL focuses on that... and choosing not to get married because Jedi can't! It was tough because my Inqui is just one of those guys who wants to see the galaxy burn (which is why I have no stories of him. Can't figure out how to write that in an entertaining fashion!)

That said, Loved the story! Just the different instances where you could see the cup filling, and filling, and now it's full. That Khem got to eat her was great, plus Talos was awesome!

"Here, I got you a present. Now can we go? I'm bored with this place. You never let me out when we're in Nar Shadda!" He tossed Gault onto the interview table and stomped up the steps, mumbling, "You beat people with a bounty, you're okay, but you kill just one Sith apprentice...."

The job was simple. A Sith Apprentice on Nar Shadda was creating havoc with some local "establishments". Apparently, he was trying to create a criminal network and become a "crime lord".

Probably seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, rumor has it that two other Sith created cults here, so why not him?

Mako knew the answer to that question before she finished the thought.

Because if you're from the silver spoon life of the Kaas City elite, you have no IDEA how these people think, or what they fear. Just because you fry a few of them with lightning in broad daylight, you can't expect established gangs to just roll over and hand you the keys to the kingdom. Especially not on Nar Shadaa.

The contract: Remove the upstart Sith from the planet, by any means necessary.

It hadn't taken much for Drokk to hunt him down. Once the locals heard the famous Grand Champion of the Great Hunt was looking to rid them of this newcomer, they gave him up without even charging for the information.

Still, killing an Apprentice could lead to bad juju... as in, Lord Ba'djuju, the apprentice's master. To avoid that problem, Drokk decided to try intimidating him into leaving . For that, he had decided to use the new guy they picked up on Belsavis a few weeks ago.

That big, ugly Houk is probably the best suited for this, but I don't trust him at a--

Mako heard a mortifying, ear piercing scream, followed by a series of sickening crunching noises, and then Drokk's voice, yelling his usual string of profanity.

"YOU FRAGGIING HU'TUUN! I told you not to kill him! I was pretty gol damned specific about it, as I recall!"

"Meh, what's it matter? He had nothin' you needed."

"What's it matter?? We don't DO things that way, that's what it fraggin' matters!"

Mako walked into the room. She could tell by his tone she was gonna have to calm the big guy down. He was furious. "Okay, okaaay. Relax, Drokk. Now, what happ-*BLERGH*"

She puked up everything she had. The Sith Apprentice -- legs popped out of the hip sockets, putting the knees where the ears were supposed to be, if he hadn't been twisted so he could kiss in own a*s from the front -- was a mess of blood from where skin and muscle had torn, to allow for the anatomically incorrect state he was in.

"Oh kar-*gag*" She spit and wiped her mouth with some gauze she pulled out of her medpack. "WHAT THE KARK HAPPENED IN HERE?!" Her horrified gaze flew between the newly attained crew member and the Hunter who had brought him here.

Skadge laughed a booming laugh. "HA! Never thought a skinny broad like you could pack away that much! Hey, Hunter! Check out all the garbage the toothpick here barfed up!"

Drokk's face darkened as he began to advance on the Houk, growling. She could see his hand flexing into a fist, and she knew he was probably going to beat Skadge stupid... well, stupider. She sucked up her nausea and quickly put herself between them, pushing on Drokk's chest to keep him in check.

Not that she really cared for Skadge that much, but she knew how Drokk would feel later on. Jerk or not, this guy was crew now.

"Hey! HEY! Drokk! Calm down!" The pressure from his advance eased up. She looked up at him, "The day I can't take lip from some low bred criminal like him, is the day I hang up my blaster. Braden taught me better. Now, RELAX!"

She heard Skadge stand up behind her, "What'd you call me, girly?!" he said in a menacing tone.

Mako kept one hand pushing on Drokk's chest, and spun around pointing the other at the Houk. "Really? You really want to do this now? With me? Because let me tell you something pal, I'm the ONLY thing standing between you and a lifetime of sipping your meals out of a straw!"

She watched him start to sneer, and then heard Drokk emit a predator like growl. She watched as the Houk's eyes move to lock onto the Hunter's and saw that, while the face didn't waiver, the resolve in his eyes did. Skadge had been beaten badly by Drokk'it before, but this was going to be different.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." The Houk made a dismissive motion with his hand and started to walk away.

"NO!" She could feel the roar through his armor, and her head snapped back to see Drokk's hand come up and point at the newest crew member. "We ain't done here, Skadge!"

He moved her aside and walked up to the Houk, who was intimidated, but standing his ground.

"This mess? This is YOURS now. I wash my hands, and the crew's hands, of it", he stopped poking Skadge in the chest and motioned like he was dusting his hands off.

"YOU bring in the body. YOU collect the bounty. Spend the reward however YOU want. It's YOUR problem now. C'mon Makes."

She stood there dumbfounded for a second, and then ran to catch up with her partner, slugging him in the arm when she did.

"What the hell are you doing? We spent decent cred on setting this up, and now we're not getting any of it back?! I swear, you think we have a magic money Jawa or something... and no, Blizz doesn't count!"

He kept walking, looking straight ahead.

"You ok with dumping Skadge like that though?" Her voice carried a tinge of concern. "I mean, not that this place isn't as good as any to dump that guy."

It wasn't like Drokk to turn his back on a member of his crew -- new or not -- like this. If he accepted you, you were family.

"Trust me on this, Makes."

"Trust you? You can't even get my name right! I'm supposed to trust a guy who can't put a vowel at the end of my name?"

"Hasn't stopped you yet", he grinned.

... she hated it when he was right.

*******************************************

They stayed docked in Nar Shadaa for a few days, for reasons Drokk wouldn't elaborate on. He just kept saying "Don't worry about it. Trust me." Mako had little reason not to, but she hated being out of the loop.

It was getting close to lights out on the second day when she heard a loud thumping on the cargo bay entrance.

"Gault, that better not be you, and there better not be Hutt gangsters with you looking for what you ow--", she opened the door to see Skadge standing there.

"Oh, it's you. Why are you here, Skadge?"

The burly Houk forced the door wide, causing her to take a few steps back. "Out of my way, runt. I'm tired and I don't have--"

"That's not the way it works here, Skadge. Answer the lady's question." Mako jumped as Drokk's commanding voice came from behind her.

GEEZ! I didn't even hear him!

The hunter was calm, but had a steely look in his eye. He leaned against the stair railing, arms folded across his broad chest.

Skadge grumbled, "Yeah, yeah. I'm done enjoying my money, so I came back. There a problem with that?"

Mako looked up at the Houk in amazement, "Are you SERIOUS?! Is there a... you're gol damn right there's a prob--"

"Makes," Drokk stood up from the railing and walked over, "let me handle this. Yeah, Skadge, there is a problem."

"What's the problem then?" the Houk grumbled.

Drokk moved to her side, and said in a calm yet stern tone, "The problem is you didn't follow my orders. By not following my orders you put my crew at risk. That's unacceptable."

"What, you mean my turning that finger waggling pansy into a paper thranta? Bah, you worry too much!"

"That's not your call. This is my ship, my crew. You choose to be a part of that, then you do what I tell you or what she tells you..."

Surprised, she looked up to see Drokk pointing at her.

"... it's not a matter for debate. We do things a certain way around here. I didn't let you kill Zale's gal in cold blood. I didn't let you kill those scientists in cold blood. What makes you think I'm going to let you kill a mark in cold blood?"

"Are you KIDDING me?!" The Houk raged, "It was a karking SITH, Hunter! Not like he was innocent or anything! Why do you care?!"

"Because now his master has sent other apprentices to start asking questions, and that's bad for business... and for us."

"Bah! We can collect their bounties too!"

There was a moment of silence as she watched their eyes meet, and then Drokk spoke. "Makes here asked you a question, Skadge. You owe her an answer."

"I already gave the runt an answer."

She saw the Hunter's brow furrow as he bared his teeth, "You call her that again, and I'll make what you did to the apprentice seem like a kid's holovid program", he snarled.

Mako stepped away. Something in his voice, the look in his eye... just this aura of menace... it was scary as hell.

"Hey, Drokk, it's ok. He's said his piece, let it go."

"Mako, you've been around the streets. You know what happens to a gang boss who gets snagged and tagged?"

She shot a puzzled look at him, and then the Houk. Skadge's expression had changed. Drokk knew something the Houk didn't want known. "Yeah, don't they get some street cred for doing time?"

"Sometimes, but in Skadge's case here, he was sent to the hardest of prisons. No contact with the outside world. No contact with his gang. No escape possible. What do you suppose happens then?"

"I dunno. I guess new leadership... takes... over..." realization dawned on her as she quickly looked at the Houk, who face was a mask of anger.

"That's right. And if the old boss "suddenly" escapes from a previously inescapable prison, you think the new leadership is going to happily roll over for him when he returns?"

"Probably not." With the look the Houk was giving Drokk, Mako expected a fight to break out right there.

"Exactly. Now, factor in that 'ol Skadge here was set up to take a fall. You think when the master planner who made that happen finds out he's alive, he or she is gonna sit on their thumbs waiting for him to come knockin'?"

"Shut up!" the Houk growled threateningly.

"Skadge is here because he wants revenge... but also, because his previous employer is coming for him. Since he can't get help from his former gang within Black Sun, he's looking to us for back up. Skadge is on the run. He has nowhere to go. Without us, he's a deadman."

She had a hand on the vibroblade sheathed in her lower back. Drokk was poking an angry Bolraida, and she couldn't be sure the result wasn't going to be violent.

"Anything you feel like adding, Skadge?" he poked again.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" the Houk bellowed.

The Hunter pointed a finger and fixed the Houk with a fierce gaze. "Here's the deal, Skadge. You want to remain part of my crew, you play the game. You'll get your chances to beat people -- hell, even kill'em sometimes -- but you don't ever, EVER do anything that puts your crew mates in danger. You don't have to like'em, but you do have to respect their lives... whatever your version of that is."

Mako had never seen a Houk so angry.

"Take it or leave it, Skadge, but make your decision. It's almost lights out, and I'm tired of dealing with this crap."

The Houk stood there silent, and trembling in anger... and after some moments passed, he unclenched his fists.

"Fine. Whatever. Can I get my spot back, or do you have stupid rules about that too?"

*******************************************

Later that night, after they had left the griminess of Hutt space behind, and everyone had fallen asleep, Mako left her bunk and walked to the cockpit. Drokk was sitting there, feet up, hands behind his head and watching the stars, like she knew he would be.

"Hey."

"Heya Makes."

"Mak-O! Mak-OOOOOO! What about a bounty? If I put up a bounty for you to say 'OOOO' would you take it?! Geez."

She plopped down next to him, and he put his arm around her and pulled her closer. She almost pulled away out of reflex.

Whoa there girl. You've made out with the guy, remember? Yeah, like I could forget THAT. Why'd he have to be a great kisser? Would've been easier to keep it all above board and professional, and not... well, awkward.

She looked up at Drokk, smiling like he didn't have a care in the world.

Well I guess I'M just the awkward one, then! It doesn't seem to faze him one bit! What an A*S!

She shot him a dirty look, right as he looked down.

"What? What'd I do now?"

Mako sighed again, "Nothing." She turned and looked out at the passing stars for a moment. "Hey Drokk?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is Skadge here? He really doesn't fit in with this crew. He's loud, annoying, always complaining... he wasn't back on board five minutes before he started b*tching again. He doesn't seem to like it here. Why'd you make him crew?"

She looked up at the bearded, tattooed face and watched, as he got a pained look and gathered his thoughts.

"Long time ago Makes, I could've wound up like Skadge. Violent, out of control, nowhere to go, no one to turn to. Just hunting and killing, hunting and killing... I've been down that road. Over time, maybe this helps him out, changes his attitude. I dunno, but I just felt... I had to give him that chance, y'know? To change."

Dammit Drokk, why can't you be a harda*s, like other hunters? Why do you have to be such a decent guy underneath that beard, and mean looking tattoos, and scar...

...and why do you have to be so damn warm and cozy?

She snuggled into Drokk's side, resting her head on his chest."Who knows? Maybe a long time ago, you knew how to pronounce... *yawn* your... O's... too... *ZZZZZ*

Corso stood, pulled his trousers and shirt on, and strapped his belt on. Then he walked out into the main part of the medical facility. He had been cleared to leave. Too bad he hadn't been able to woo Ylenia, but at least she had stopped being so distant. At least she talked to him. Although she was dressing more conservatively than ever since the whole underwear-battle debacle.

He was almost out of the medcenter when he heard sounds of struggle and went to investigate, pulling Hewie from his boot sheath. In the next room, he found Ylenia and a doctor holding down a young woman in a bed. The woman was struggling, pushing against Ylenia and the other man. Frowning, Corso sheathed Hewie and walked in beside them.

"Corso, what are you doing here?" Ylenia asked.

"I thought I heard a struggle," he replied. "What's wrong with her?"

"Brainwashed," Ylenia replied. "I'm trying to use the Force to cleanse the drug from her mind. It's reacting by triggering her pain receptors. It increases every minute she doesn't comply with the drug's commands." She paused. "I have to do this quickly or she may die. But I can't focus while holding her down. Corso, can you...?"

"You bet."

He moved over to where Ylenia was and grabbed the young woman firmly by the arm. Ylenia moved to the foot of the bed and closed her eyes, using the Force. Corso examined the woman on the bed. With black hair and dark skin, and cybernetics under one eye, she fit the definition of "cute" more than "beautiful," and he could see she had borne at least one baby.

"Who is she?" he asked.

"Mercenary," the doctor across from him replied. "Working for Havoc Squad. Very hush-hush, apparently."

Corso nodded. "Got it."

After several tense minutes, the woman stopped struggling and exhaled before passing into some form of sleep. Ylenia sighed, exhausted and turned to leave. Corso followed her, saying nothing. Outside the medcenter, a Mandalorian warrior, a Devaronian, a Jawa, and a little fuzzy alien stood waiting.

"Well?" the Mando asked expectantly.

"It's done," Ylenia replied.

The Mando breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Jedi. You aren't so bad."

There was a sudden scuffle of boots. "Corso!"

Corso turned to see Dankin, Akaavi, and Jorgan running up.

"They found Tanno!" Dankin said excitedly.

If you play light-side, you'll get along with her for a while. After the "whiny/you're all EVIL!" stage (about the first 1/3 or so) of her story, you'll get along famously. Then you'll start encountering choices out in the world where her affection makes no sense, like she's dark-side all of a sudden, but not all the time.

If you play dark-side, she'll be insufferable all the time, but at least you'll be able to start making the choices you want later on without pissing her off. However, through most of her story, you'll be confronted with the fact that you somehow (in your sleep, apparently) signed up to change the Empire for the better, stop the Sith from being evil and dark, and bringing peace. And you won't have any choices that reject that premise after a while.

If you play "gray", you'll still get annoyed because her preferences about your choices make no sense. Sometimes, she'll give you a -1 (or even a -30) for just being mean to someone in conversation, and other times, she'll happily +30 you for killing someone in cold blood.

If you play a psychopath who does things purely at random, you'll have a better chance of getting affection with her more quickly and enjoying the storyline, because it seems to have been hacked together from the pieces of two very different stories, much like Jaesa's two different stories.

...the one choice (really, two choices; the first being to kill, the second being telling the crew) you can't make after the Quinncident. Again, I have no problem with the betrayal storyline, and in fact I think it's quite good well-written, and completely in character for him, but removing the ability to act like a Sith afterward...horrible. But the Ashara debacle is far worse IMHO.

The problem with Ashara is that a lot of her non-romance conversations play out as though you have had several of the romance-only conversations with her. That's where the "reforming the Empire" bit comes from, for instance. Actually, Ashara seems half-finished in a lot of ways. In addition to the oddities of her conversations and affection gains/losses, she's extremely difficult to gain affection with through gifts, unless you use your magical dick of unlocking(not my term, but hilarious), which raises her affection gain from several types of gift, instead of just adding Courting and increasing one other type like most if not all of the other romance companions. Also, until recently, if you put her in any sort of skin-showing outfit, she would have this weird black texture instead of skin.

But yeah, if you play a male Inq and do her romance, her entire plotline makes way more sense. It still doesn't make much sense in absolute terms, but certainly much more than the schizophrenic, disjointed mess it is if you don't romance her.

@YoshiRaphElan: Guess Torian was lucky, that Vik was in the mood to ask questions first.

Yes, I always thought it would be quite easy to get rid of Skadge.

"underwear-battle debacle"

@alaurin: I like how they are working together with the imps, because there is no need for bloodshed.

@Phyreblade: I haven't played the Akaavi-romance yet, so I enjoyed your story very much, for showing me a softer side of her. And the hints about Gaib's background, hope we will hear of his sisters too.

I like Pierce and dark side Jaesa playing games and not totally trusting each other.

@Adwynyth: The way you put it, the end of Ashara seemed inevitable. I like Talos' reaction. I dimly remember her to be annoying, maybe that's why I only use her for doing missions.

@DarthSillyMonkey: Jep, never back away from Skadge. But I especially like the last part, with Mako thinking about their new relationship, how it's still awkward for her.

Nikeo snagged the blouse of one of the bigger dead seps on the platform, and pulled it over his own armor. It wouldn’t stand up to a close inspection, but Nikeo was sure that he could handle any sep that got this close. He had bid goodbye to Giz and Corso. The rest of the soldiers would give him ten minutes headstart.

As he entered the stronghold the first thing he became aware of were two men that were stumbling across two presumably dead seps, hidden behind a container. Well, Giz had said they had reached the landing pad ‘nearly’ without a fight. One of the men crouched down beside the bodies, the other one was standing behind him. The man standing saw him out of the corner of his eyes and turned in his direction. Nikeo greeted him with a wave of his hand and a nod asking “What’s up? What happened here?” as he walked closer to the man.

Taking him for one of them the man returned his attention to the bodies his companion was inspecting.

“They are still warm,” Nikeo heard the other man say. “We should check the landing—hey, what the…” Turning his face towards his comrade he was interrupted by a spray of blood hitting his face, when Nikeo slit the standing man’s throat. The moment of shock was enough for Nikeo to send the second men sprawling to the floor with a kick, that knocked the breath out of his lungs. In an instant he was kneeling on the men’s chest, holding his mouth closed with his left hand and stabbing his heart with the knife in his right.

Nikeo looked up to see if anybody had noticed the fight. But this part of the corridor seemed to be empty otherwise. The two men had to be a patrol. He didn’t know at what intervals they needed to report back, but before anybody missed them and acted upon it, the rest of the troops at the landing pad would be launching their attack anyway. He wiped his knife and hands on the shirt of one of the dead separatists. His own clothes were almost free from blood. The few drops on his right sleeve would be hard to spot in the relatively dim interior of the stronghold.

Nikeo got up and saw Giz carefully entering the corridor, followed by Corso. Giz grinned when he detected Nikeo and the bodies behind him. “See, Corso. I told you, the bodies were safe behind that crate, till our backup arrived.”

“Looks to me, like Nik prevented an alarm being raised,” Corso assessed.

Giz shrugged. “Maybe, but he arrived in time. You owe me 50 credits.”

“Remind me not to make a bet with you again.” Corso grumbled.

“You don’t seem to take this too seriously,” Nikeo reprimanded them.

“I take getting my ship back very seriously, let me assure you!” Giz defended himself. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t have a bit of fun in the process.” He winked at Nikeo. “So where to next?”

Nikeo wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to let them accompany him. The mission was dangerous and they were both civilians. But he could do with a bit of support. And Giz would be searching for his ship anyway. Checking the layout of the stronghold on his HUD Nikeo looked for the right direction, that would get him to a computer terminal where he could apply the data spike to disarm the bomb. “If my intel is up-to-date we need to go in this direction.” He pointed to their right.

They headed off in the indicated direction together. After a few steps Nikeo became aware of Giz’ scrutinizing glances.

“What?”

Giz hesitated to answer. “I know this is a delicate matter. I mean your squad. They are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

Nikeo stopped abruptly. Lying to Giz would be futile. He didn’t know the zabrak very good, but Giz was much better at reading people than Nikeo was at lying, so he would see right through him. Not answering at all was as good as admitting the truth. On the other hand Giz and Corso deserved the truth. They were here with him, risking their lives. Maybe not truly unselfishly, but they were in this mess together.

“Lieutenant Jorgan? I need permission to fill them in.” Nikeo hoped that Jorgan was able to receive the signal, that the walls of the volcano didn’t interfere with the transmission.

After a moment he could hear Jorgan’s answer. The signal contained some static but Nikeo was able to understand Jorgan well. “Permission granted,” Jorgan said. Nikeo heaved a sigh of relief. This would make working together much easier. Especially if they found his squad while they were together. Keeping secrets would be impossible then.

In a few words Nikeo explained to Giz and Corso, that they thought it possible that the rest of Havoc Squad had defected to the Empire. Giz wasn’t very surprised, he had already suspected this. Corso was rather perplexed. He wasn’t able to comprehend how anybody in his right mind would betray the Republic and conspire with the Empire or the separatists. It wasn’t clear whether he thought the Empire or the separatists to be the bigger evil.

When they continued along the corridor Giz asked Nikeo to get rid of the sep’s blouse and let him do the talking should they encounter any guards. Nikeo wasn’t excited about the idea Giz proposed. Seeing Corso roll his eyes didn’t make assenting any easier, but eventually he gave in to the smuggler and took off the blouse. Heading towards a bunch of guards stationed at the next intersection Nikeo and Corso followed Giz’ lead.

Giz approached the guards nonchalantly. “Hey guys, you wanna take part in the tournament?”

The guards eyed him cautiously with hands on weapons. “Who are you? Identify yourself!”

“They didn’t tell you I was coming by? I am Marcol, I am the one organizing the darts tournament tomorrow evening,” he looked at them expectantly.

The guards looked at each other, one shook his head.

“Guess the others thought you’d not be interested. Or they think you are better than they are.” Giz winked slyly. “You want to participate? Just sing here.” He produced a data pad that already contained a list of names. “Entry fee is 50 creds.”

A bit of banter and a minute later Giz had collected the entry fee from the men.

“Oh, I nearly forgot.” Giz pulled Nikeo forward. The guards seemed to only just become really aware of him. “Met the Sergeant on my way here. He managed to get lost. Maybe you could point him into the right direction to find the rest of his Squad.”

“Lost?” one of the men asked suspiciously. “You shouldn’t be walking about on your own.”

Nikeo cursed Giz inwardly. “Yeah, I know. It’s—I—well…”

Giz interrupted to save him. “Hey, you’re making the poor guy blush!” He then whispered conspiratorially, “He met Lieutenant Maren.”

Knowing grins and nods, Corso blushing. Nikeo decided he didn’t want to know, but they received directions. So it was true. Havoc Squad was on friendly terms with the separatists. At least he’d be able to exploit this knowledge to find them. He still refused to name them traitors, still hoping for some explanation Tavus might have, but part of him knew that there was little chance for that.

Once they were past the guards, Giz illustrated, under protest and further blushing from Corso, how he had rescued Corso from Maren, a very determined young woman, they had encountered on their way in.

They hid in a small side corridor when the attack from the troops at the landing pad started, waiting till several groups of separatists had passed. They found the computer Nikeo had been looking for soon afterwards. It was guarded by what were obviously Imperials. Giz distracted them, giving Corso and Nikeo the chance to get into a good position to open fire without damaging the computer. After the guards had been taken care of, Nikeo applied the data spike, rendering the ZR-57 useless.

Jorgan complimented him on his good soldiering. He had witnessed the fight with the Imperials through Nikeo’s armor cam. Nikeo was still astonished that the Cathar wasn’t harassing him any longer. Jorgan updated him on the latest intel regarding the assault on the stronghold. Thanks to Giz and Corso successfully clearing the landing pad the advancement was better than expected. Now they needed to know how deep the Empire and the separatists were connected. And they needed to find Havoc Squad. Therefore Nikeo was to intrude further into the stronghold. Recovering the ZR-57 was only a secondary objective now despite its value.

If Tavus and the others were still there, Nikeo would find them!

Coruscant. Miriah sighed as she looked around at the bodies and water deep under the main plaza. She felt dirty, hungry, and tired. She could only imagine how she looked. Corso was resting near a pipe she’d just fixed. He looks tired, too, she thought. We need a little break here. She turned to tell him that and saw children approaching them. Corso sprang to his feet but left his weapon on his back.

“What are you doing?” the young boy cried. “That’s our only source of water. Without it, we can’t survive!” The little girl with him looked scared, and they were both too thin.

“What are you even doing down here?” Miriah asked. “Where are your parents?”

“Dead,” the boy said, his face set in stone. “We and others like us live down here. And we need that water on.”

“Listen, I made a deal to fix the pipe, and it stays fixed.” Miriah saw the little girl tear up, and the frown on the boy’s face. “But, here,” she said. “Take this.” She handed the boy a few cred sticks. “That should be enough to get you to another planet, preferably one where you have relatives.” The boy looked at the cred sticks, then turned shining eyes to the smuggler.

“Thank you. Now I can get Jenny to safety, and the others down here, too.” He ran off, the little girl turning as they left to wave. Miriah sat down heavily, stunned that kids so young were living like that. It suddenly seemed futile, this running after her ship, doing the biding of others to keep the information flowing. She felt like a crate of transperisteel was crushing her, unable to move or even really to feel anything. They sat in silence for several minutes.

Corso was getting ready to stand when he heard it. Miriah sniffled. Not a ladylike, soft one. A large, wet sounding sniffle. He had never seen her cry, he thought, not even when her ship lifted off the deck without her. He peered at the captain, but saw no tears on her lovely face. “What’s wrong, Captain?”

Miriah sat quietly for another minute. “Why are you still here, Riggs? You could buy another blaster with the credits we’ve split by now. You could be warm and dry, somewhere on Ord Mantell, putting your life back together. So the question is, why?”

Corso shifted his newly purchased armor and gazed at the tiny woman who looked so tired sitting across from him. “Yes, if Torchy were just another blaster I could have replaced her by now. She’s not. She’s my first, and yeah it’s corny but I just don’t want to lose her. Besides, there’s another reason.”

“Yeah? Spill it,” Miriah said, a small smile on her face.

Corso thought for a few seconds. “A promise,” he replied, and scooted closer to her. “I made a promise.” He put his hand on her arm, and her eyes flew to his face in surprise. “When I make a promise, it’s golden. I would never willingly break it. I promised to help you find your ship.” She continued to stare at his face, drowning in his deep brown eyes. “I intend to do that, Captain. I’m with you, no matter what.” She thought she heard deeper meaning in his words, and when she was looking into his eyes, she could believe in him, in them. A loud noise somewhere close by broke the spell, and Miriah shook her head to clear it.

They stood, and started back to talk to Darmas. Miriah let Corso lead, because her head was still spinning from their exchange. I must be more tired and hungry than I thought, she mused. I almost thought I had let him through my defenses there for a minute. She trudged behind him, still thinking. Either that, or Corso Riggs is a more dangerous man than I ever imagined.

Luckily my Inquisitor is a male (though unfortunately for Ashara, dark side), so maybe it'll make a bit more sense, but it still peeves me that from what I've heard, a Male Inquisitor is literally the only player who cannot marry their romance option.

@YoshiRaphElan It figures Skadge would walk out when he’s not getting enough “action” *shudders*. Ah, but good news all around for Mako, Tanno, and friends!

@alaurin, I remember what a snot Andrik was to his compatriots in game. I like that here he knew way more than Zardres’ team about what’s really going down.

@Phyreblade, I loved Akaavi’s piece. Very nice illustration of udesiir. And I always enjoy questioning of Pierce’s name

@Adwynyth An admirable overview of Ashara’s relationship to a Dark Side Inquisitor! Honestly, I just…argh. "I just…argh" is Ashara for me.

@DarthSillyMonkey Okay, Drokk’it’s reasoning at the end tugs at the heartstrings. I sympathize with Mako, just the same.

@frauzet, I was cheering at Giz’s fast-talking. That’s a Smuggler at his best. You may not be crazy about this chapter but I liked it.

@Magdalane, how comforting must it be to have somebody sticking to Miriah’s side while she gets back on her feet…the last sentence might be true, but I think it comes true in ways she didn’t expect and won’t object to.

Thanks for all your responses! It’s clear it’s plausible that this servitude lasted for a while and encompassed activities outside the Voice’s fortress. All grist for the fic mill…

I thought it was just some mistake of mine that led her to think we were going to reform the Empire. Eventually I just started smiling and nodding because there was no option to say “You idiot! I’m Team Evil and if you want to keep all your teeth you are, too!” She’s one of the strikingly few companions I refuse to bother grinding affection with. I don’t have the magical dick of unlocking and she’s not worth the resources otherwise.

theStirge, it’s interesting that you say the romance conversations may help fill in the blanks. There are a lot of jagged blanks in my femInquisitor’s experience with Ashara.

As it is, I headcanon that she’s actually a supergenius and maneuvered her way onto my crew so brilliantly that I can’t even remember or figure out why it happened, nor can I figure out how to undo it. Super. Genius.

July, 11 ATC – one week before the confirmation of the Wrath

Fury-class designate Scorned

Ruth started away from the wall when she heard steps around the corner. It was Lieutenant Pierce, and he seemed at once to understand why she had been loitering outside the cargo hold’s makeshift cell.

“Milord,” he said. He had been careful since Quinn’s betrayal. He had been as correct as Ruth had ever seen him. Pierce knew how to stay alive, she could say that much for him. That canniness scared her sometimes. These days she didn’t like people who had a better grip than she did.

Casual conversation eluded her. Instead she blurted “What will happen? To– him.” After this was over. After Baras was dead and his flunkies had no reason to pit themselves against her.

“Depends on what you do.”

“If I return him to military service. And make it clear he is not to be interfered with.” He was still an Imperial, and a skilled soldier; he could still be an asset. Just not to her. Never to her.

Pierce shrugged. “Personnel Division will have a crack at him, see if they can drop him into service someplace. There’s a war on, finding a spot won’t be a problem. Probably go out to the front lines, take command of a unit there. If you spread the word on what he did he may not last long, friendly-fire mistakes bein’ what they are. Play a different tune in the right places, politics should tiptoe around him. No Force-blind’s in any hurry to cross the Emperor’s Wrath.”

“I see.” And he would be well and truly gone, out of her sight, out of her reach. Out of her life. As he should have been from the start. Her eyes were burning again. She bit her tongue, hard, until she felt a little more controlled. “Thank you, Lieutenant. That will be all.”

“Milord.” The big man looked like he might have said more, but instead he stood aside and let her pass.

January, 12 ATC – six months after the confirmation of the Wrath

Dromund Kaas – the Niral estate

The darkness seeped in as Ruth let her awareness of it open. She extended her saber, the double-ended one she used to demonstrate for her apprentice. Beside her Jaesa held out her saber at the same angle. They activated in unison.

“Now. The third defense is specifically made to maintain a guard against more than one saber. Withdraw, like this, then turn as you extend back out.”

Jaesa dutifully performed the motions. Her focus was a thin bright conduit in the Force. Ruth felt a surge of disdain for it. “Open to your feelings,” she said impatiently. “It’s the only way to solidly back this.”

“Ruth– master, you’re talking about the Dark Side. I don’t think this is superior to your old focus.”

Impatience spiked again. “Jaesa, my old focus doesn’t work. You must have noticed that. Everything I’ve taught you so far came from one source. My father. He had fine ideas. And he was killed, because his way isn’t good enough. It doesn’t earn the kind of respect that matters. It certainly can’t go toe-to-toe with the Dark Side. It’s useless, Jaesa.”

“I don’t believe that’s true, master.”

“Your beliefs can’t bring my father back!” Just saying it emptied her of breath. Darkness swirled around her, an awareness she wouldn’t let go of. Never again. “And they can’t win anyone’s loyalty. I always told you that I’m still learning, that I wasn’t a perfect master. Well, I understand more now. Everything I have I took from someone else. Even you. And everything I lost, I wasn’t watching closely enough. Those are the rules. The faster you embrace it the better off you’ll be.”

“I think you’re strong enough to make the other way work. You’ve survived this long because you had power and faith in the Light Side.”

“Survive. I wanted more than that. But it doesn’t work that way. How much stronger will I be when I really open to what I feel? How much stronger could you be, Jaesa?”

“I can’t follow you down that path.”

“If you can’t stand what’s necessary then leave.” Her throat worked uselessly for a second before she mastered it. “Or strike me down, if you think you can.”

Jaesa shook her head. “Never. We’re friends, Ruth. I won’t give up on you.”

Ruth deactivated her saber and looked away. Vette, gone, Quinn, gone, her father, gone. She’d loved them, she’d trusted them, they’d failed her. “Everyone else has.”

April, 28 ATC – seventeen years after the confirmation of the Wrath

Dromund Kaas – Kaas City

Ruth’s duties as Wrath took much of her time, and now that Rylon was at Korriban Academy she no longer had much reason to stay at home. That, and she was working overtime practicing the mental techniques that might someday shake her free of the Emperor’s bouts of control.

But she made time for an old friend.

She met with Jaesa Willsaam in Kaas City, just as they had the first time a couple of weeks previously. Small steps. Friendly visits. The same person who had arranged the defensive training had given Ruth a rather literal wakeup call. Now she was reaching out, regrowing connections she had cut off out of pain or paranoia years ago. And forgiving the meddler his meddling, because it wasn’t in his nature to leave well enough alone. Not when it came to friends.

“Ruth?” Jaesa said tentatively.

Ruth smiled, an expression instantly mirrored by her old student. “Sorry. Just wondering why I didn’t do this years ago. I’ve been trying…to come back. To the old habits.” She paused, struggling for words. “It’s nice to have something concrete to come back to.” She didn’t dare ask why Jaesa had welcomed her.

“It’s nice to have you here. You were the first person who ever believed I could make my own path. And you taught me everything I needed to get started.”

Ruth looked back down at her drink, then, on an impulse, raised it. “To friendship. And people who are still crazy enough to answer my calls.”

Jaesa raised hers. “To friendship. And plenty of happy calls to come.”

Prudii rushed at top speed from the barracks. He grabbed Vik, twice his mass and several heads taller than he, in a powerful bear hug and squeezed, laughing the whole time. Vik grabbed him return, roared happily, and lifted him in the air. As Vik dropped Prudii down, Jorgan, Elara, and Forex raced down, the former two embracing Vik and the latter cheering him on.

"I can't believe you made it!" Prudii said excitedly.

"I told you I would," Vik replied with a ferocious grin.

"How'd you survive against all of them?" Jorgan asked.

"Why did it take you so long to find the base?" Elara added.

Vik held up his hands to slow the questions. "Whoa, whoa. Can I get this filthy armor off first?"

"Sure thing," Prudii said.

Ten minutes later, Vik, dressed in a blue dress uniform, sat in the middle of the barracks with the rest of the squad. Elara was clad in a similar uniform, but with a blaster-proof vest under it, poking out over her baby bump. Jorgan and Yuun were still in their combat armor, and Prudii was an off-duty uniform, a light blue shirt with a blue Republic emblem emblazoned on the front.

"Now," Vik said. "When you guys first left me, the Imps had started jamming the comms, so I didn't know the actual coordinates for the outpost. Knowing that I'd have to find you myself, I fought off the attackers for as long as I could and then fled into the forest, coating myself with dirt and mud and everything else to stay protected. I slept in a tree, and I kept constantly moving during the day. While on the run, I took down at least two squads of patrolling Imps. When your Mando came out searching for me I saw him with his ugly little pet and snuck up behind him. Then I held him at knifepoint until he called in Yuun."

Jorgan whistled, impressed. "I gotta say, I'm impressed, Sergeant."

Prudii made a deliberately cold face. "How could you fake like you had the coordinates, Sergeant? What if you'd never found us?"

"Ahh..." Vik rumbled, "I wasn't worried. I'm a survivor."

Prudii grinned. "Of course you are, big guy."

Suddenly, a comlink chirped. Prudii picked it up and held it up to his mouth. "Major Prudii."

"Major," said a grim voice. "It's Commander Madine. The Empire's launching an all-out strike on us. No time to evacuate, Major. This is for all the marbles. Whoever wins this battle, wins the planet."

Prudii paused, glanced over to the squad. Vik was already gearing up in a fresh set of armor while Elara moved quickly outside to meet with Dha's crew, under escort by Yuun and HK-51. M1-4X was arming his cannons and Jorgan was priming his rifle.

"Understood, sir," Prudii said. "We'll be ready for them."

Phyreblade: Gaibriel’s despair is palpable. I’m glad he does so much better later. Pierce’s verbal sparring with Jaesa is probably going to get either or both of them in trouble.

KimbriOnasi: Kaliyo is a bad influence on everyone. For once, one of her schemes had a good ending.

YoshiRalphElan: Dha’s feelings for Mako show through clear. And she doesn’t recognize him. That had to hurt. And Vik--deliberately dense? Poor Skadge, unwanted by everyone. The Imperials are not going to have an easy time.

Kabeone: I love Study in Sith. Talos and Quinn comparing medical notes (crash course in Talz anatomy indeed) is a nice touch. As well as their divergent uses of such knowledge.

Bright: Traditions 101. I like Calline’s intro. How many ways can someone say “no!” I’m surprised there isn’t a word for ritual blooding. I wonder how Torian is going to explain to Calline when she learns the proper translation.

And, most definitely, “to friendship.”

Marissalf: Kabe’s drawing was beautiful, and you wrote a lovely story to go with it. Kinka needs more normal evenings.

Elliotcat: Zash backstory! I like what you’ve done for her. It’s like picking up the diary or journal of a relative you know, but not well.

Sthrift: As always, I love how soldier-y your trooper stories are. You really put the reader in the (Republic) military. This entry might not have had as much action, but you need to set up the next part. Secret note to Vic? This can only lead to explosions.

Alaurin: Havoc Squad going from most welcome to least wanted in one evening. Quite an achievement. And the further adventures of Kat, Tia, et.al.

DarthSillyMonkey: You have Doc’s voice down perfectly. I got that line from Doc once, right when sending him into combat. Nicely done. I also liked the observation that not all bad guys are Sith. We’ve had plenty of reasons to dump Skadge. I really like that Drokk decided to keep him, and why.

Lesaberesa: Amurri is a Mandalorian from the beginning. I liked how she changed her mind at the very end. It says a lot about her character. Veresia being both drunk and (thinking) she’s more in tune with the Force that way--very funny. Mina’s observation--that the Empire is better at making it’s subjects believing it is efficient than it really is--is so very true.

Adwynyth: Aieee! That’s one way to get rid of an annoying companion. I thought everyone just hated Skadge.

Frauzet: Admittedly, one (or two) lone heroes infiltrating and subsequently neutralizing the entire Imperial presence on Ord Mantell is a bit of a stretch. I like how you had your two team up. Darts team ftw!

Magdalane: Corso being adorable even early. And falling for Miriah this early. Nice.

@Phyreblade: Awww, such a sweet insight to Gaib and Akaavi. I loved it! Also enjoyed the exchange between Pierce and Jaesa.

@DarthSillyMonkey: I absolutely loved how you dealt with Skadge......idiot lump not following simple orders. I'm still working on deciding who I'm going to take on for this week's prompt. It's a toss up between Kat's Skadge or Ros's Doc.

@Alaurin: YES! Jonas Balkar and his Roughriders to the rescue! I don't know why, but I do like Jonas, so any inclusion of him in the story always scores points with me. I'm interested in seeing Tia's next part with all of this.

@Adwynyth: Yay!!!! Good to hear from you again and I loved that piece because I absolutely can't stand Ashara! I love that Khem is going to eat her and Talos standing up for her until he finds out what she did with his things. I feel really bad for the male SI.....being stuck with her as the only romance option! Being stuck with her as a female character was bad enough.

@Yoshi: Yay, Tanno's back and Skadge got put in his place......that's nice all around! Poor Corso still has the hots for the Jedi.......maybe he can convince her to be a little less strict with Jedi policies on romantic involvement.

@alaurin, loved Balkar talking down the Imps. Very "him."

@Frauzet: I liked how you handled Nik and Giz getting into the base.....I agree, that is pretty farfetched that a single or even just 2 people can fight all those Seps when the Republic forces on Ord couldn't manage it. I thought it was very well done and I'm really starting to like Giz!!!

@alaurin: I like how they are working together with the imps, because there is no need for bloodshed.

@Magdalane: Corso is so sweet and it's fun to see how smitten he is with her so early. Oh, yes, Miriah, you are definitely in trouble......but a good kind!

@Bright: I loved those three series with Ruth.....very emotional and insightful for the difficult time she went through with.....you know who doing you know what. I hated how that was handled in game.....for someone to be betrayed so badly by their spouse, well, it's not something that can just be shunted aside in a simple conversation. I think that's why I love reading and writing fanfic so much....we can get a bigger picture and so many versions of it!

@alaurin, I remember what a snot Andrik was to his compatriots in game. I like that here he knew way more than Zardres’ team about what’s really going down.

@Stridges:

Alaurin: Havoc Squad going from most welcome to least wanted in one evening. Quite an achievement. And the further adventures of Kat, Tia, et.al.

“It’s like they knew,” Risha broke the silence, saying what they were all thinking to some degree.

“I was just thinking the same,” Elara agreed, “They are minimally armed and everything went like clockwork. It was too quick and clean to be a coincidence…..they had to have known Tia had a date and what time she was expecting him.”

“They must’ve heard my conversation with her somehow,” Jonas sighed, “But I swear, I looked around carefully before calling her last night. No one was around.”

“Someone’s keeping tabs on you,” Val insisted, “Possibly those two from the ball and I’d bet one of them has a stealth generator.”

“Hold for a moment,” Kat instructed, “Can you zoom in a little?”

Val paused the footage and zoomed in on Tia. They were all sitting in the rec room of her ship, Corso’s datapad playing the footage the guys had gotten from Major Zardres through the terminal there.

“There it is,” Kat pointed, “She had the bracelet on when they put her in that chest.”

Val glanced for the hundredth time at the laptop sitting next to her, “Still no signal yet though.”

“I’m sure she probably knew her suite was being monitored,” Elara told them, “She may not be a trained agent, but she’s smart and cautious. She probably has it off unless she needs to transmit.”

“If she still has it on, she’ll activate it as soon as she can,” Kat insisted, “I just hope we can get to her in time.”

“We just have to keep an eye on this laptop,” Val nodded, “As soon as the bracelet is activated, we’ll know. Until then, there’s nothing else we can do.”

“I got it,” Mako called out from across the room where she was working on another laptop. She had gotten some footage from the ball and there was a brief few minutes where they were able to see a large figure walk up to Tia’s champagne flute. The petite slicer walked over to the group with it, “This is the best I could do. The lights were really dim, but I’ve isolated him and turned up the brightness as much as I could without distorting the image. We have a decent portion of his face.”

“Replay the footage from Tia’s suite,” Aric called out, studying the face Mako isolated.

They all watched the fight again and as Tia was being put into the chest by the largest Cathar, Corso pointed, “That’s him…...stop it there, Val.”

“Zoom in,” Jonas told her, “I think Corso’s right, the guy putting Tia in the trunk is the same one that put the drug in her drink at the ball.”

As soon as Val isolated his face, they looked at Mako’s image next to it and there was no question, it was the same Cathar. Jonas’ Holo went off and the agent left the room to answer it while the rest of them continued watching the footage again, trying to find something that might give them a clue as to the identity of the men that took Tia and where they might have went.

“We have an ID on the blood from Tia’s suite,” Jonas informed the group when he came back in, “Ivar Makov, and Corso was right, he’s a maintenance worker at the Club Vertica.” Jonas checked his datapad and brought up the file his people sent, “I got a photo here…….he’s definitely the one Tia got across the face. There’s an address, its old and I doubt they would’ve taken Tia there, but I’ll have a team search the place…...they owe me a favor.”

“So now what?” Risha asked.

“I’m going back to headquarters,” Jonas answered, “Corso, send me a copy of that footage. Mako, can you send me the images you isolated from the ball? I’m going to see if we can get an Id for those two and the third kidnapper. I’m guessing he works at Club Vertica as well.”

“Thanks, Jonas,” Kat nodded, “Let us know if you find anything. Since there’s nothing else we can do for now, I’m going to continue with my business on Nar Shaddaa. I can’t just sit here doing nothing.”

“How can you just go about your business?” Aric growled as he stopped pacing and glared at Kat, “Your sister’s been kidnapped or don’t you give a sh…...”

The rest of the group winced at the loud crack that echoed in the room when Kat’s armored fist connected with Aric’s jaw.

“Don’t you dare insinuate that I don’t care about my sister,” Kat raged, her eyes filling with tears, “One more word and I swear I’ll shove my flamethrower up your…..”

“Enough Kat!” Val snapped, “This isn’t helping…..”

“No, Val,” Kat shot back, her angry amber eyes still locked with Aric’s livid green ones, “I won’t stand here and let this jerk say I don’t care…..I do care. Tia and Jakob are the only family I have left and it’s his fault Tia was taken!”

“How can you say that?” Mako whispered, seeing the guilt ridden look cross Aric’s face at Kat’s words.

“Because it’s true,” Kat snapped, narrowing her gaze at the target of her fury, “You and your stupid ego. ‘Garza made it my call…..she’s getting extracted.’ If you would've listened to me and left her alone, she might still be safe.”

“You think I don't already know that?!” Aric exploded, “Don’t you think that very thought has been running through my mind since we entered Tia’s suite and found her missing?" He bowed his head as he muttered what had been bothering him these past few weeks, "Hell, its my fault she's behind enemy lines.....if I hadn't ordered her into that damned base..."

"Then all these traitors would've gotten away," Elara finished, "That’s not your fault, sir, and neither is this."

"If anyone's to blame, its me," Jonas admitted, "I should have waited until I got home to call her."

"Neither of you could've known this would happen," Val sighed as Kat crossed her arms and started pacing herself, "and Kat knows that.....she's just worried. We all are, but she's right. There's nothing else we can do for Tia right now and sitting around waiting won't help anything. Corso and I have business in Shadow Town."

"And you still have a wardroid to secure," Jonas told Aric.

"I can keep an eye on the monitor," Risha volunteered, “No need for everyone to sit around.”

“Thanks, Risha,” Val smiled, “that would be a huge help. It’ll beep at you and a beacon will show up letting you know where she is. Just call me with the coordinates.”

“Actually, call me,” Jonas insisted, “You might be in the middle of something and I’ll just be at headquarters. If you all let me know where you’re headed, I can call whoever’s nearest to her location.”

“That’s a good idea, Jonas,” Kat replied, her voice still a little thick, “I appreciate it. Mako and I need to head over to the Promenade to meet with our contact, I'll let you know where we're headed after that.”

“We might as well go into Shadow Town together,” Corso suggested to Aric and Val, “Might be faster with the four of us.”

Aric nodded his agreement, knowing there really was nothing more they could do for Tia and hating that feeling of helplessness. Val was right though, sitting around wasn’t doing any good and at least this way he’d be able to vent some of his frustrations out on Captain Andrik.

Val noticed he was bleeding, “Come on,” she told him gently, taking his arm and guiding the guilt ridden, brooding Cathar to the door, “Let’s patch you up before we leave.”

Aric let Val take him into the medbay and he sat on one of the tables while she stitched up the deep cut Kat’s armor made on his jaw when she hit him. He felt he deserved it…...deserved worse for what he said, for failing to keep Tia safe from her family’s enemies, and for putting her in this whole situation in the first place. He also felt guilty for the things he was starting to feel for her…...he had no business, no right to feel anything other than what a squad leader should feel for those under his command. He couldn’t help himself though and didn’t even know why he had those feelings…..it’s not like they’d spent much time together. Maybe it was just the way she flirted with him, taunting and teasing in order to get him back for Ord, maybe it was the way she refused to quit despite the danger she was in, maybe it was the way she looked in that dress the other night…...whatever it was, she was getting under his skin like no woman ever had before. He should tell her to stop, tell her that it was inappropriate…...but what if she’s flirting because she feels the same way? Aric pushed that thought aside, not wanting to get his hopes up…..she was not for him, for several reasons. He was older than her, he was her CO, and most of all, she was practically royalty among their people and he was just a commoner…..a soldier…...unworthy.

“She didn’t mean it, you know,” Val murmured as she finished stitching his jaw, noticing how tense and quiet he was, “Kat was just upset. She knows it’s not your fault.”

“No…...she’s right,” Aric sighed, “If I hadn’t been so insistent that she be extracted, this wouldn’t have happened…..but I just wanted her to be safe….back with us.” With me…..

“You care for her,” Val stated, a small smile curving her lips.

“Of course I care, she’s under my command……”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it,” Val shook her head, rolling her blue-grey eyes at his stubbornness, “You care about her…...not as a squad mate, but as a man.”

“I can’t…...I’m trying not to….”

“Why the hell not?!” Kat spoke up from the doorway. She’d been on her way in to apologize for hitting him earlier, stopping in the doorway, listening when she heard Val’s comment about Aric caring for her sister.

“Because of who she is…...who you are,” he growled, pissed and embarrassed that Kat overheard him.

“What does that mean?!” Kat glared at him.

“Your family was practically royalty dammit,” Aric snapped, hating that fact, hating how frustrated and unbalanced he felt lately, “and I’m not…..”

“Not good enough,” Kat finished, giving an exasperated sigh as her eyes rolled upwards, “You realize neither Tia nor I give a nerfsh*t about that, right? Think about it…...we lived on the streets of Nar Shaddaa since we were thirteen and Tia’s been in the military for the past five years. That part of our lives was over the day our parents were killed.”

“But your parents wouldn’t want……”

“My parents are dead,” Kat shook her head, then the cream colored Cather smiled, looking him over, “and Tia could do much worse than the CO of a highly decorated Spec Forces unit…...even if you are a smidge arrogant…..and an incredible a grouch,” Kat laughed at the dirty look Aric gave her and went on, “Besides, I’ve already sullied the family name a few times. There was this one time a few years back, I had sex with a Hutt merc during a mating cycle…...he’s the one that got me thinking about bounty hunting in fact.” She sighed as a dreamy look came over her face, “That Zabrak was fantastic in the sack…..good looking, great bod. Kind of intense though, but very thorough. I never did get his name…….”

“Not sure I really needed to hear that…..” Aric muttered, “Besides, maybe Tia’s changed her mind. You’ve been apart for these past few years…..and you’re forgetting that she hates me.”

“Nah, she doesn’t hate you,” Kat grinned, “and trust me, she loves being a soldier…..it really seems to be in her blood. I just hope she doesn’t go the same route as Dad and Uncle Mikhail. Jonas seems cool and all, but I really don’t want my sister mixed up with those spooks in SIS. At least with you in Spec Forces, she’s serving under someone who gives a damn about her life.”

“and not just as a squad mate either,” Val added.

“Look,” Kat interrupted when he was about to protest, “You don’t have to admit it out loud if you’re not ready. Just do me a favor and don’t let this bloodline crap stop you…..none of us care about that anymore.” Then she patted his shoulder, “I’m sorry I lost my temper with you, not being able to do anything right now to help my sister, makes me edgy. I don’t blame you for Tia being taken…...the fault lies with Shange’s clan and we’ll make them pay, trust me.”

“I shouldn’t have said what I did,” Aric admitted, “I know you care about your family. I just can’t stand feeling so helpless…...not knowing where she’s at or what those bastards are doing to her, it’s driving me crazy.”

“Well then, let’s get the hell out of here and do what we need to do so we’re ready for Balkar’s call,” Kat’s beautiful face took on a dangerous, feral look, “and as soon as that happens, I’ll make her kidnappers regret the day they were born. What I did to Murghir will look like child’s play in comparison.”