[FIC] The Adventures of Jolee Bindo

[Jae Onasi]

I do have to say that they all did get sober before delivering a baby....

[JediMaster12]

Great chapter Jae. I practically chuckled at the joke. Yep it was another Bindo moment.

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks folks.

 

So many things in life happen through the strangest set of events....

 

Jimbo and I meeting, winning a radio contest because I knew the Fujita scale, being in the right spot at the right time to treat an accident victim who was being treated incorrectly by the first person who stopped, that kind of thing.

Jimbo got called up about a month before his boss moved on to another job, so he wasn't able to apply for his boss' job. When he got back, he found out from his new boss that the job he would have applied for and probably gotten was now being eliminated. If he hadn't gotten called up, he would have been out a job and we would have been in a world of hurt.

[JediMaster12]

There is no such thing as a coincidence BTW I think you might like my next Chapter that I recently posted and Pottsie already commented on

[Darth Jester]

Great work once again Jae. Keep it up

[Char Ell]

A great chapter, Jae Onasi. You exhibit wonderful talent when writing Bindo stories. I don't know how you came up with that one but I found it quite enjoyable.

About JK707--sometimes things get lost in translation on forums/emails because we get zero facial cues that would show that it was irony or joking, even if that potential is small. So, I chose to ignore any 'attitude' at this time until it's proven to be an attempt to be truly offensive. But I appreciate you coming to my defense.

Me coming to your defense? That's jimbo fett 66's job, not mine. But with your martial arts skills I'm sure you're quite capable of taking care of yourself and so I'm guessing he doesn't need to "step in" very often, if at all. In any case, I just think it's important to tell someone if I think they had some attitude when I'm not sure the individual really meant to exhibit said attitude. I thought Jedi_Knight_707's post had a condescending tone to it and so I simply stated that because as you say and as I've experienced it's very difficult to pick up on any emotional cues in writing. But if nobody points it out to him how would he ever know or learn? I did notice however that he hasn't responded yet so maybe we'll never know...

[Jae Onasi]

A great chapter, Jae Onasi. You exhibit wonderful talent when writing Bindo stories. I don't know how you came up with that one but I found it quite enjoyable.

Me coming to your defense? That's jimbo fett 66's job, not mine. But with your martial arts skills I'm sure you're quite capable of taking care of yourself and so I'm guessing he doesn't need to "step in" very often, if at all. In any case, I just think it's important to tell someone if I think they had some attitude when I'm not sure the individual really meant to exhibit said attitude. I thought Jedi_Knight_707's post had a condescending tone to it and so I simply stated that because as you say and as I've experienced it's very difficult to pick up on any emotional cues in writing. But if nobody points it out to him how would he ever know or learn? I did notice however that he hasn't responded yet so maybe we'll never know...

 

You do have a point about JK707 there....

Heh, I may have a black belt now, but I'm not an idiot--guns are faster than side kicks any day, and you never know who's packing one (or knife, or other weapon). I'm not particularly fast, either, though I certainly can give a solid kick. The best way to get out of a fight, of course, is to not get in one in the first place. If there's a dangerous situation happening, I call the cops, actually.

Jimbo is more than happy to come to my defense, and has on the few occasions where he felt someone was really being nasty to his wife.

 

The seed for that Jolee story came from a story a friend of mine told me 3 or 4 years ago about his experience when he was on leave with a buddy of his the year Jaws came out. There's no way I could begin to explain it because you had to be there to see the hand motions and facial expressions and this guy is a master storyteller and his timing is exquisite, but I laughed so hard I was incapacitated from doubling over, I could hardly breathe, and the tears were streaming out of my eyes. I saw a post by my friend not too long ago, and I can't help but think of that story every time I see his name, and I realized that an adaptation would make a very fun Jolee story. The rest of it came about as a result of thinking "well, what would happen if Mik'oth got the snot scared out of him, and this happened? Well, then this would happen, and that would happen...."

My family has a bunch of members who have amassed a number of stories in life, a lot of them just hilarious. I talk a lot with friends and the people I see in my office, and I have heard some of the funniest, saddest, and weirdest stories, many of which are great seeds for Jolee stories. When I read some of the tlk files of Jolee's dialog, it'll trigger some ideas--'he said x, and you know, that reminds me of a story my uncle told us one time....' A lot of it is completely made up, but a small part of it has some basis in things I've heard, experienced, or seen in 'Real Life' , because they're so funny or unusual that there's just no way I can improve on it, and it works well for the story.

 

And thanks!

[Jae Onasi]

Chapter 26: Searching for Thorn’s Ship

 

De’layn and I ran towards Jolee and Talin, who were fending off several mercenaries holding vibroblades. Raxton was behind a table, picking off other mercenaries. At his feet were Riki and the other sailor, dead. The Bith musicians had scattered into hiding. The bartender popped up from behind his bar from time to time to squeeze off a round from his blaster, missing his targets more often than not. We had to dodge his ricocheting blaster fire more than once. There were eight more mercenaries—the three trading blows with Jolee and Talin, and the other five hunkered down behind more tables, trying to shoot at all of us.

 

“De’layn—I’ll take the big blond over there,” I yelled over the noise of blaster bolts and crashing furniture.

 

“I’ve got that green Twi’lek behind that table.”

 

I jumped over behind the blond, who was focused on shooting at Jolee and Talin, taking him by surprise. My lightsaber hummed towards him, dropping him with one blow.

 

De’layn ran towards the Twi’lek merc, deflecting blaster fire before engaging him in a duel so short it was almost a one-shot.

 

The other three thugs dropped back and regrouped after seeing their companions cut down so quickly, and we followed after them. Raxton picked off one of them with sniper skill. The other two tried to pull out their vibroblades, but their lack of practice made them slow. I whirled my blade twice before one of them fell. The other fighter decided to surrender, putting his hands up just as De’layn was ready to strike him down, her blade stopping only centimeters from his head.

 

I looked over towards Jolee and Talin. Their opponents had more skill and so the battles had taken a little longer, but all three were down on the ground, one dead and two injured. The smoke hung heavy from the ceiling but was starting to clear as De’layn and I put away our sabers and walked over to Jolee and Talin.

 

“What is it about you ladies going to the refresher together? Both of you missed all the excitement,” Jolee said.

 

“Jolee, dear, we had more than enough excitement saving you from being shot by these brutes over here.” De’layn pointed at the ones we had taken down.

 

Jolee inspected my work and then said to me, “You took them out fast. Good. They can’t attack you back if they’re down.”

 

“Thanks. What happened while we were gone?” I asked.

 

Raxton joined us at that point, holding his arm. “I noticed the mercenaries drifting in one or two at a time during the meeting with Riki. When Jer and I went over to Riki to ‘arrest him for being AWOL’, Riki pulled a blaster.”

 

Jolee added, “Riki shot at Jer and Raxton, and Raxton had to fight back. Once the blaster fire started, the mercenaries joined in.”

 

I looked at Raxton still holding his arm. “Do you want me to look at that for you?”

 

“No, no, thank you. I’ll be fine, it’s very minor. We need to get these three into custody so we can question them. Maybe we can find out more information.”

 

“I wonder how these mercenaries knew about this meeting.” Talin asked, steepling his fingers and then tapping them together in thought.

 

Raxton replied, “It could have been anything that tipped them off. Maybe they followed us from our ship, maybe they just saw you in the hallways, and maybe Riki decided he wanted a little backup. This is a small community, so intelligence would travel fast. Norelden is so well organized that he could probably field a small army in a day or two. Sending out a squad immediately would be no trouble at all for him.”

 

“The information from these three and the ship registries should give us a pretty good idea where to go next,” Jolee stated.

 

“My team is working on the registry information as we speak. When you meet the Captain tonight, I should have some solid data for you,” Raxton said.

 

De’layn added, “I’ll go back to my office and see if any of my contacts can shed some light on this.”

 

The authorities arrived, and Raxton spoke with them to arrange for the arrests and questioning of the survivors.

 

“Let’s go back to our ship for a bit. I can’t stand the smell of smoke in my robes,” Jolee said.

 

 

* * *

 

The three of us sat in the common room at the table, reviewing the events of the last two days.

 

Talin said, “Jolee, I know you hold De’layn in high regard, but I have to be frank about my suspicions. Any chance she’s involved in Norelden’s organization? Even though she fought with us, you have to admit the attacks have been rather convenient, and she knew about both meetings.”

 

“I’ve known her too long. If she’s the leak, then I’m young with a full head of hair again. I’d have tried to get the information through other routes if I had any suspicions, and I don’t.”

 

“What’s the possibility that she’s being used by someone in the organization? Could some kind of double agent be feeding her bad information or getting intelligence from her?” I asked, sitting back in my chair a bit to think.

 

“There’s always that possibility, but De’layn isn’t a brainless twit. She’s a master at teasing out information and using it in the right places at the right time. I think she’d recognize if someone was trying to blow stardust her way,” Jolee answered. “She knows how to keep her mouth shut. Well, except for that damn firaxan story. But I forgive her for that.”

 

Talin frowned and shook his head as if trying to clear a thought.

 

“You don’t trust me, then?” Jolee asked, tilting his head in question but not offended.

 

“I trust you. I’m not ready to trust her,” Talin replied.

 

“Something just doesn’t feel right,” I added.

 

“Hmmph. When you go poking around a Sith Lord’s home planet, not a whole lot is going to feel right. I suppose I should be happy that you both are actually using those brains of yours to think this time. If I didn’t know her so well, I’d probably feel the same way. All I can tell you is it’s not her.”

 

* * *

 

“All right, if De’layn is right, Jolee, then we know that Thorn is our prime suspect.” Carth said at our meeting that night.

 

“If De’layn says it’s Thorn, then it’s Thorn,” Jolee said, as sure as I had seen him sure of anything. “She’s never been wrong yet.”

 

Commander Aichon put a data chip in the projector, and the results were displayed for all of us to see. “This is the list of ships that have docked around the same time as the Fujita.”

 

“That’s a pretty big list,” I said, scanning through the dozens of names. "There’s no chance that Thorn or Norelden are listed as the owner or captain of any of these, is there?"

 

Aichon tapped that in, and no ships were displayed. “Good thought, though. You never know when someone might make a mistake. We’ll have to do this the hard way, then, and weed things out.”

 

Carth said, “Let’s pull out any ships that have only been here once at the same time as the Fujita. I’m making the assumption that Thorn wouldn’t switch ships every single time.”

 

That whittled down the list by about two-thirds.

 

“I’m pretty sure he’s not one of those folks who likes hanging out with others. Can you see a Sith Lord sitting in a seat next to a mother with a crying baby? He’d probably fry the poor kid.”

 

“Jolee, that’s terrible,” I said, wrinkling my nose in distaste.

 

“What do you expect from a cranky old man?”

 

“Uh, I haven’t received any reports of electrocuted children,” Carth said. The corners of his lips twitched up but he was otherwise serious. “Take out all the larger transports.”

 

“And take out any major merchant ships,” Jolee said. “He might have a bigger ship, but if he wants to get around discreetly, he’ll have to use a small ship. Otherwise, too many people will know his business.”

 

Another fifteen ships dropped off the list, leaving nine ships left.

 

“At least this is a little more manageable,” I noted. “Can we rank them according to number of times they were present when Dycen’a was here, too?”

 

“Sure.” Carth punched in some data, and the names rearranged themselves. Two ships had docked every time that the Fujita had come in.

 

Talin asked, “Is there any way to confirm that Thorn was on Telos station during any or all of these times?”

 

Aichon tapped in some information on his datapad. “Raxton’s gathered some good intelligence, but I doubt it’s 100% complete. We can’t know everything, even if Thorn and Norelden receive a lot of our attention. Let’s see….” He frowned in concentration as he watched the data come up on the screen. “OK, here it is.”

 

“Cross-reference that to our list,” Carth ordered.

 

“Aye, sir.” Aichon said, putting another data chip into the projector. This time, only one ship remained.

 

Carth sat back, brushing a strand of hair back out of his eyes. “So, it’s most likely the Rapid Vengeance.” He looked up some other data. “It’s not docked on Telos right now. Aichon, any chance we can get some info from Norelden’s group on just where Thorn is and when he will be back?”

 

Aichon smiled. “That’s the kind of challenge Raxton relishes, sir.”

 

“Good. Let’s get it done, then. Jolee, as soon as I know anything, I’ll contact you,” Carth said, standing as the meeting concluded. “Jae, I’m not going to tell you to stay out of trouble--I know you won’t listen. So, I’ll tell these two to keep you out of trouble instead.”

 

“Very funny,” I replied, as we kissed each other good-bye on the cheek.

 

“Don’t worry, Carth. I’ll make her work so hard practicing, she’ll forget all about trouble,” Jolee assured him with a grin.

 

* * *

 

Jolee wasn’t joking about the practice. After spending several hours of study on the Xi-ro form and meditation on the holocron, we worked on blaster bolt deflection. Three practice droids swirled and flew around as I concentrated on deflecting the energy bursts. The sweat started to drip into my eyes as I worked to repel all the bursts in time, turning this way and that, dodging the floating droids.

 

“Don’t just watch them, Jae, feel them. You can sense the energy the moment they shoot, even before you see it,” Jolee yelled over all the noise.

 

I opened my mind to the Force as much as I could, trying to feel for the energy signatures. As soon as I had deflected a number of the little blasts effectively, the droids sped up.

 

Talin stopped the droids a few minutes later. “You’re working harder at this than you have to. Don’t swing your blade over so far. The only bolts you have to deflect are the ones that are going to hit you. Don’t make big swings with your arms if a little wrist motion will do. Keep it fluid, not choppy.” He did a quick demonstration with his saber before turning the droids back on.

 

I practiced for several more minutes before the holovid chime sounded. “Got it,” Jolee called out, leaving the room.

 

For a few more moments, I managed to maintain control before I thought of what that call might represent. “Ow, ow, ow, stop!” All three droids hit me as my concentration broke. They stopped and returned to a ready position when I gave the order to cease.

 

“What happened there?” Talin asked, with a bit of a frown. “You let your concentration break.”

 

“The call happened.”

 

Talin tipped his head and his brow wrinkled in momentary confusion. “I’m missing the significance. Why would you let a little call distract you?”

 

I took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off my forehead. “It’s not the call itself. It’s that it might be the call about Thorn, and we’ll be heading out.”

 

“Ah, I see,” he answered, walking over to take me in his arms.

 

“I’m all sweaty,” I protested.

 

He held tight anyway. “That’s OK. I know you carry the burden of this vision, and I can’t take that weight off you. But I’ve been working hard with the holocron, and so has Jolee. I’m not going to let him take you from me.”

 

Jolee came back and seeing us, said, “If you both need a few minutes….”

 

“No,” I said, breaking gently from Talin's embrace. “Tempting as that is, if your lives could depend on something I have to do right, then I need to get back to work.” I looked over at Talin. “Thorn’s not going to take any of us without a fight. I intend to give him one hell of a battle.”

 

Talin smiled his understanding.

 

Jolee said, nodding in approval, “Controlling passion, mature attitude—good. Not that I’m worried about you. Now, if you were both hormonal teens, it’d be a different story.”

 

“Who called?” I asked.

 

“It was Carth. Raxton apparently found Thorn’s ship. It’s due to dock in three days.”

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter as always.

[JediMaster12]

Another fantastic chapter written by the Talented Jae Onasi. Let's give a round of applause and watch as the plot unfolds. Let's give it up for Jae!

*clapping hands*

[Jae Onasi]

Another fantastic chapter written by the Talented Jae Onasi. Let's give a round of applause and watch as the plot unfolds. Let's give it up for Jae!

*clapping hands*

 

Lordy. Heh, you know, when I started this I thought it was going to be 6, maybe 8 chapters max. Now it's taking me 8 chapters to do just one subplot, let alone the main one.

Thanks!

[JediMaster12]

Always.

[Renegade Puma]

Great stuff Jae. I am glad that your story is long and not short. I can't wait to see what happens when they go afer Thorn's ship!

[Jae Onasi]

Going after Thorn's ship is going to be very eventful.

[JediMaster12]

Ooo! You're killing me with the suspense. Jae you are evil, you have fallen to the dark side. Your romance of Jae and Talin be the only thing that saves you. Turn back to the light!

[Char Ell]

Yeah. Me like. Jolee and company are getting closer to finding out who the Sith Lord is and confronting him. But is De'Layn playing for both sides? I'll stay tuned for the next exciting chapter.

 

One thing that stood out to me and I wanted to ask about. Is Talin standing or sitting when he makes this comment?

“I wonder how these mercenaries knew about this meeting.” Talin asked, steepling his fingers and then tapping them together in thought.

I ask because my impression is that he is standing when you so vividly describe what Talin does with his fingers. It just struck me that it would look strange if he was standing with steepled fingers. It seems much more natural to me when people steeple their fingers while sitting. Just my observation and thoughts on the matter, FWIW.

[Jae Onasi]

^

You know, I didn't specify if he was standing or sitting there. Probably standing, because most people are too hyped on adrenaline after a fight to settle down enough to sit. I'm sure even Jedi get adrenaline rushes since that's a physiological response to danger (at least in humans ). They just know how to work with it and blunt the negative effects.

I've seen people standing and tapping steepled fingers against their chin in thought, which might work better as an image in this case. I'll tinker with that a bit at some point.

I'm working on the next chap so hopefully the wait won't be too long for you all.

[JediMaster12]

Ooo,Oh! I'm dying here Jae. Must...have...more...Bindo...*faints*

[kata_mad]

Wow!! I have come to this quite late I have just finished reading and I love it, you seemed to have captured jolee's character really well I have found myself laughing more than once while reading (just like in the game) I can't wait for the next chapter.

[Jae Onasi]

Ooo,Oh! I'm dying here Jae. Must...have...more...Bindo...*faints*

 

(Jae puts cold washcloth on JM12's head and pats her arm to revive her....)

"It's here...."

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Chapter 27: Capturing Thorn

 

“Raxton’s found the route Thorn is using to get to Telos. We’re going to intercept his ship when he drops out of hyperspace and approaches the system in two days,” Carth said in his briefing the next day.

 

The officers and senior enlisted were gathered around the table, all eyes on their Captain. “I don’t want his ship anywhere near the planet. It’s a small one, but we’ll have Special Ops going in to secure it.”

 

I picked out the Ops team leader immediately. He had wolf-eyes that ached for the hunt, and the set of his hard-edged features made me glad to have him on our side.

 

“Bernecki, do you need anything for your team?” Carth asked him.

 

“We have all our equipment, sir. We’ve studied the ship diagrams and photos of Thorn that Commander Raxton gave us, and we’re finishing up our attack plans with Commander Aichon. We’re ready, sir,” Bernecki answered.

 

“Good. We’re going to ambush and then tractor the Vengeance in. I want gunners in place just in case their people decide to do something stupid as we haul them in,” Carth said.

 

“Yes, sir,” answered the Weapons commander.

 

“Helm, Engineering, Communications—I know we’re in good shape, but I want to know if there’s anything that could give us trouble if we’re running over 100%.”

 

The three department heads indicated all systems were go.

 

“Ops will go in first,” continued Carth. “The Jedi will go in with them. Watch for traps. I want to take Thorn alive, but if you have no other choice, you have the kill order. If he’s a Sith Lord, guns may not work too well on him. You’ll need the Jedi to take him out.”

 

“Aye, sir,” Bernecki replied. “No offense sir, but will they be able to keep up?”

 

Jolee’s grin slowly spread across his face. “The question you should be asking, son, is if you can go fast enough to stay ahead of me.”

 

When Bernecki looked dubious, Carth said, “Trust me. I’ve fought with Jolee. You won’t have any worries about the Jedi.” He looked around the room, and then asked, “Any questions?”

 

Everyone indicated no.

 

“Good. Keep me updated on any status changes. We’ll finalize all plans tomorrow. Dismissed.”

 

* * *

 

Talin’s lightsaber flashed against mine as I blocked and then circled the blade up quickly, trying to dislodge his hold on my blade. We were back on our ship the evening before the mission, practicing some of the fine points of the Xi-ro form, but the movements felt stiff and slow. I tried to speed up my defense to compensate and got soundly smacked when Talin’s blade hit my shield.

 

Jolee sighed from the edge of the room. “Jae, you’re trying to force it too much. Think river, not dam.”

 

I nodded and got back into the ready position, trying to relax, trying to feel the Force flow more freely.

 

Just as Talin stepped in for the attack, Jolee called out, “Stop, stop, stop.”

 

We pulled back from each other and returned to our ready positions.

 

“You know what, we all need a break,” Jolee decided.

 

“I need to practice this sequence more to get it down,” I protested.

 

“You’ve been working on it how many weeks now? If you don’t know it by now, you won’t in the next few hours. Go do something fun and get your mind off tomorrow. For heaven’s sake, do something lovey-dovey—I hear the Ithorian vivarium is nice. Life’s too short not to enjoy it.” Jolee took both of us by the arm and shooed us off our ship.

 

“What are you going to do?” I asked, looking back at Jolee standing in the hatch.

 

“I’m going to go visit De’layn, of course. We didn’t finish our little chat about my godson.” He grinned and waved us off. “Don’t come home early.”

 

Talin and I walked off down the corridor, our hands slipping together almost as if they had their own minds.

 

“Any place you want to see?” Talin asked.

 

“You pick. Last time I picked, we got attacked.”

 

Talin grinned down at me. “I didn’t appreciate their interruption.”

 

“I’m sure we can make up for it.” I gave him a coy look.

 

“Ah, Jae, you know how to make me laugh,” he chuckled, putting an arm around my shoulders briefly as we walked along.

 

“I hope that’s a good thing. I hate being the butt of jokes.”

 

“That’s a very good thing, dear.”

 

My heart skipped a moment and I blushed at the word ‘dear.’ “I think I like how that sounds,” I said quietly.

 

He lifted my hand to his lips and brushed a kiss over the top. Even his eyes smiled at me. “Good. I liked saying it.”

 

We toured the vivarium, admired the Ithorians’ work on Telos, and talked about those things that might normally be meaningless except to two people wanting to learn more about each other. Anyone watching would have seen a smiling couple holding hands, looking at each other with that special softness, and speaking in those low tones that meant the conversation was reserved for only them.

 

Talin found the quiet spot he had been looking for—a secluded place where we could sit and be alone, uninterrupted. We had a view of the vast blanket of stars arcing over us, and they sparkled the magic of the evening. I slid my arm around Talin’s waist as he put an arm around my shoulder and drew me in close.

 

“Jolee was right. I needed a night off.” I relaxed against Talin’s shoulder.

 

“How often is he wrong?” Talin stroked my hair, and then with a feather touch, traced a line down the length of my neck and over my shoulder. He leaned in close, his breaths coming rapid like mine. I shivered a bit at the pleasure of his touch.

 

“Not very often.” I closed my eyes and held him tight, meeting the passion of his kisses. I willed time to slow down so we could share this bliss just a little longer.

 

* * *

 

“De’layn is missing,” Jolee announced when he returned to our ship the next morning.

 

His frowning dark eyes and set lips emphasized the depth of his worry. I’d never seen him pace the floor before.

 

He continued, “I looked for her most of the night, but no one seems to know anything. I have a bad feeling about this.”

 

Talin and I glanced at each other, sharing the same suspicion. Jolee caught our look.

 

“Damn it, she’s not cavorting around with a Sith Lord. She’d never betray me like that.”

 

“It’s a little convenient, that’s all,” I said.

 

Jolee stopped pacing for a moment, forehead furrowing as an idea struck him. “It is convenient, isn’t it? Somehow, the mercs knew to follow her. But how? Did Thorn have her com bugged? I’d love to know how he got that info.”

 

“They might have been ordered to keep her under surveillance and followed her anywhere,” Talin said.

 

“De’layn can spot a tail a kilometer away and shake it without a second thought.”

 

The call from Carth stopped our discussion. “We’re leaving in half an hour to meet Thorn’s ship. Be on board in ten minutes, please,” he said.

 

“Will do,” Jolee answered and then signed off without mentioning De’layn to Carth. “I just hope De’layn will be all right while we’re gone.”

 

* * *

 

The wait for the Rapid Vengeance was anything but rapid. The three of us meditated during the wait. I tried not to disturb the others when my distraction broke the meditation state, but after the third time, Talin finally took my hand. His strength bolstered my focus and the calm returned for both of us.

 

“Jae,” Carth’s quiet voice and his light grasp on my shoulder broke through the focus. “It’s here. Meet me on the bridge in 5 minutes.” He strode out of the room, occupied with thoughts of the mission.

 

“Jolee, Talin,” I called out to the other two in a hushed voice to avoid startling them.

 

Both opened their eyes immediately. We made a quick check of our equipment and left for the bridge.

 

“Captain, there’s no response from their ship,” the Communications officer, Z’yan announced.

 

“Give them the warning once more and then tractor them in,” Carth ordered.

 

Z’yan hailed again, “Rapid Vengeance, stand down and surrender. We will fire if you attempt any other actions.”

 

Carth gave them some time to acknowledge the hail, and when they remained silent, he said to Aichon, “Looks like we’ll need Ops to take their ship. Tell them to be ready in about 15 minutes. We’re sending a shuttle over.”

 

Aichon replied, “Aye, sir. Bernecki’s in the ready room with his team. I’ll let them know to gear up.”

 

“Bernecki’s been looking forward to a good challenge for a long time,” Carth grinned at Aichon.

 

“Here’s his chance to prove his boasts, sir,” Aichon answered as he contacted Bernecki.

 

The shuttle docked with the silent ship. One of the team members sliced the lock on the hatch of the Vengeance and then stood back as it opened.

 

The Ops team ducked into the ship one by one, covering each other as they slipped through the hatch, leaving behind some members to guard the shuttle entrance. We followed after the team boarded, their normally quiet armor and weapons making muffled noises in the eerie silence of the ship. The ship looked absolutely normal, except for having nobody on board. The Ops team split into two smaller groups and moved rapidly through the small ship, darting in and out of doors, hyper-alert for any enemies.

 

That odd death scent curled its way into my nose as we approached the bridge with one of the teams.

 

“Jolee,” I said, “someone’s been using Scourge here.”

 

“I smell it too,” he said.

 

“The Sith Lord may be in there,” I said, swallowing my fear. He gave me that 'no kidding' look, and I realized with some chagrin that Jolee had already figured out the obvious.

 

“Jae, if he’s there, we fight. It’s not like it's your first battle. Relax, let the Force flow. And stop gulping your air. You look like you’re doing a beached Selkath imitation. It’ll give you a nasty stomachache later on.”

 

I chuckled at that image and relaxed. Talin gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze of encouragement.

 

Jolee motioned for Ops to back away from the door to the bridge. He stood off to the side as pressed the switch to open the door, prepared for an attack.

 

The sickly-sweet smell of the dead crew was nearly overpowering. Even the battle-hardened Ops members who had seen plenty of death felt the effects, several of them mouth-breathing to avoid retching. All three of the victims were completely blistered and nearly unrecognizable.

 

“Master Jolee,” we heard Bernecki call over the com. “We need you in the cargo bay.”

 

We ran back. Jolee stopped short and swallowed hard. Lying on the floor covered in the horrible blisters and cracking skin was a Twi’lek, struggling to catch her breath.

 

“Oh, De’layn,” Jolee sighed his heartache, shaking his head slowly, eyes glittering as the tears welled up. He rushed to her, kneeled and cradled her head in his lap.

 

“Jolee. I knew you’d come,” she wheezed through the pain.

 

“I called the corpsmen,” Bernecki announced.

 

I knelt down and started healing while Jolee held her.

 

“De’layn, what happened? Where’s Thorn?” he asked.

 

“Thorn captured me to get to you. He’s on the bridge. Said he wanted to go find Dycen’a. Wouldn’t believe me when I said he was dead,” she swallowed to try to moisten her throat enough to speak and closed her eyes against the agony.

 

“Everyone on the bridge is dead,” Jolee told her.

 

“Oh, he got them, then,” she tried to open her eyes wide to stay conscious, but her lids kept dropping. I held on to her life force as I applied the techniques we had been working on for so long to heal the damage from the Force Scourge.

 

“Did Thorn escape before you went to hyperspace? We were waiting for him when his ship dropped out.”

 

“No, the Sith Lord did.”

 

“What do you mean?” Jolee asked, distracted by his concern for De’layn’s critical condition.

 

Talin’s eyes widened as he put all the pieces together. “Jolee, Thorn’s not the Sith Lord. It’s someone else.”

 

De’layn nodded to acknowledge Talin’s conclusion, then lost consciousness.

 

Talin said, “I’m going to go back to the bridge with Bernecki and see if I can find any more information or evidence. We’ll be back shortly.”

 

Talin left with Bernecki.

 

The corpsmen joined us, pulling out equipment to start treatment.

 

Jolee put the oxygen breath mask on her. “Hold on, De’layn. Just hold on,” he said in a soft voice near her ear.

 

“Jae, we’re going to check the hyperdrive. We’re getting odd readings from the nav'puter. We’ll be done in a couple minutes,” Talin said over the com.

 

“I’ve healed De’layn’s lungs enough to get her breathing stabilized, but we need to get her into a kolto tank as soon as possible,” I replied.

 

“We should be done by the time you get her on the shuttle.”

 

A couple minutes later, all our coms crackled at the same time. “Evacuate! Evacuate! Bomb in the hyperdrive!”

 

There was no time for us to do a textbook patient extraction. The four of us rolled her onto the stretcher, grabbed each of the handles, and ran to the shuttle.

 

“How much time left?” Bernecki called over the com.

 

“Six minutes, thirty-two seconds, sir!”

 

“Shuttle engines firing now, sir,” one of the Ops members called from the shuttle. “We’re ready to leave yesterday.”

 

“Everyone out now!” Bernecki ordered.

 

We heard a dozen pairs of footsteps sprinting towards the shuttle. The hatch sealed, and Bernecki said, “Get us out of here, MacFinlay!”

 

MacFinlay banked and accelerated away so fast that the gravity generator couldn’t keep up. I lurched and nearly fell on top of De’layn, who thankfully did not move since she was now fully secured into the stretcher.

 

Talin came back to see how De’layn was.

 

“You’re working hard,” he commented, noting the sweat on my brow. “Let me help with the healing. Now’s the time for me to see if all my work means something.”

 

Jolee looked up. “Damn well better. I’ve worked with you enough on it. Quit talking and get to work.”

 

With all three of us focusing the healing techniques, we were able to stabilize her condition enough that we knew she would survive. Jolee breathed out his relief, and held his head in his hands, fighting the exhaustion.

 

Carth, seeing the shuttle leaving the ship abruptly, said over the com, “Report, Bernecki. What’s going on down there?”

 

Bernecki answered, “We’re trying to get away before the ship explodes, sir. We found a bomb and we couldn’t disarm it in time. We have approximately 3:12 before it goes off.”

 

If Carth hadn’t keyed his comlink off, we would have heard a colorful string of words.

 

“Thorn was on board with a very small crew, sir. All are dead except a Twi’lek who apparently was his prisoner,” Bernecki continued. “She’s female, approximately 60 years, and was the victim of Force Scourge. The Jedi report she’s in critical but stable condition.”

 

“We’ll have the med team waiting,” Carth said.

 

MacFinlay poured everything into the shuttle engines to maximize speed, and then somehow managed to come up with a little extra. It still felt like the shuttle crawled away from the other ship too slowly.

 

The timer expired, and the Rapid Vengeance exploded, flames racing out and threatening to engulf us.

[Diego Varen]

Good Chapter. I suppose this Fic is nearly over.

[Renegade Puma]

No NO NO nonono No nono!!!!! You can't end a chapter like that! Now you are taking a page out of my book :( Dangit now I will be waiting and waiting and waiting for the next chapter. This is one of your greatest chapters yet Jae. The action, tension, and emotions were all done perfectly to the T. Please please post a new one tomorrow ?

Dang your a good writer.

[JediMaster12]

*sighs with relief* Thanks Jae. This chapter did me good. Now I am picking myself off the floor from where I fell because I was left on the edge of my seat. The suspense and the drama. May I make a prediction that maybe your Sith Lord is someone named Revan. You can try to shoot me but I have a strange knack at guessing. Comes from my mom being able to guess her Christmas gifts before opening them.

Looking forward to the big showdown.

[Jae Onasi]

Thanks, folks.

 

@RP I suppose that means I shouldn't tell you I'm leaving for vacation next week and will be offline most of the time....

 

@JM12--Revan's LS in my little universe, so not him.

[JediMaster12]

Well it can't Malak unless he has returned from the dead and the only other possibilities are Nilihuis and Sion.