MC: AOTE: Fraught With Disappointment

[JasraLantill]

((another co-posting....))

 

As soon as Jeez had separated from them, Beryl said, “Ryshana, I’m so sorry that I couldn’t get here sooner.” Her eyes filled with deep concern. “Sorry I couldn’t prevent that mad scientist who calls himself a doctor from messing with your head.” Her gaze drifted down to the hand that Jeez had severed and the nurse had just reattached. “You sure you’re okay?”

 

"Why are you so concerned about me? I may not be at one hundred percent, but I'm ready to do my part in this," Ryshana stated calmly. "I know that you did your part to the best of your abilities." Pausing for a second, she added, "Besides, I've had far worse battle injuries before."

 

To prove it, she moved her left sleeve over to the side to reveal a barely noticeable scar running diagonally across her arm. "It was at the Siege of Alderaan when I squared off with Jeez against Count Dooku. In the battle, Dooku managed to take off my arm there. Unfortunately, his weapon didn't just burn the wound close. You see, that time Dooku had been forced to improvise, and he was using a sword. Dooku used the opportunity to tuck tail and run from Jeez while he reattached my arm with nothing but a field pack while I was laying there in a pool of my own blood.

 

“Believe me, I've had much worse than this."

 

Hearing Ryshana’s story, Beryl raised a cautious eyebrow. Sure, Beryl had some scars—most of them small, and most of them from burns and such that hadn’t healed properly with bacta—but she’d never lost a limb. Ryshana was obviously a lot tougher than Beryl had reckoned. I’ve got a lot to training to do if I’m ever going to catch up to her….,

 

“So… about Nic,” Beryl said, changing the subject as she and Ryshana started again towards Twerna’s office. “He wouldn’t really be that upset by us bringing a few extra folk with us, would he? Jana might, but not Nic. I mean, it’s not like they would all be staying on as crew. Well,” she added hastily, “Sam, (she’s my cellmate,) Sam might, but only because I don’t think she has anywhere else to go, and I think she’s got some sort of ‘crush’ on me.” She held up a hand to pre-emptively prevent Ryshana from commenting. “Don’t ask,” she said quickly. “Anyway, I’m sure Max the trustee has someplace she’d rather be. Conn, too, probably.”

 

"Well, Nic is just simply Nic. I can't really tell you what he'd do, but I don't think he'd mind picking up a couple of passengers. As far as crew members are concerned, I can't see Nic wanting more mouths to feed, so to speak. Perhaps Conn due to his medical knowledge, or so I've heard, but then, we still have Oliver, well, even with his drinking," Ryshana replied.

 

As they moved down the hallway, Ryshana pulled out her lightsaber and had it ready. Even if she didn't need it right now, she still wanted to be ready. If there was one thing she didn't like, it was how much the Darkside pervaded this place. It was making her somewhat uneasy, but as she closed her eyes as she went down the hallway, she thought back to several moments she had with Jeez, and she began to feel much better.

 

Finally, she spotted the third hallway up on the left. "Well, are you ready?" Ryshana asked Beryl.

 

Beryl tightened her grip on her lightsaber. She still wasn’t comfortable with it, but Jeez had been right—against other Jedi it was better than a blaster. “Yeah. Ready as I’ll ever be.” She stared at Twerna’s office door for a moment, then gave Ryshana a mischievous grin. “So, should we be polite and knock first, or should we just surprise him?”

 

"Lets surprise him, but I doubt you're thinking what I'm thinking," Ryshana stated somewhat mischievously. As they went down the hallway, Jeez spotted them on a camera and initiated the commands to the two Jedi that were in the room. As expected, they immediately became very confused mentally, although Jeez could still see them standing at attention.

 

Meanwhile, Ryshana quickly ran up to the door and activated her lightsaber. With a couple of very quick slashes, the door was completely cut through. On the other side of the door, a very surprised Twerna stood up from his desk. Expecting the Jedi that flanked him to attack the intruders, Twerna slowly looked over at both of them and realized what happened. "Jeez!!! I'll kill you for this!!" Twerna yelled out.

 

As the two Jedi with Twerna hadn’t moved, Beryl darted in, leaving Ryshana behind to guard her flank. “Gee, must be really hard to lose at your own game,” she said to Twerna. She activated her lightsaber, and grinned as she pointed it in his direction then moved forward toward the desk where Twerna still stood. “Ahh… gotta love that hum,” she commented, as she held the blue blade close to his chest. “Now, about that surgery you were going to do on me…? Well, I’d like to get a second opinion first. You know, go over all the pros and cons, the risks involved, rates of recovery….” Her eyes locked onto the datapad sitting on the corner of the desk. “Hey….” She grinned malevolently. “I bet you have all the information that I need right there, don’t you?”

 

Reaching her hand out, she used the Force to whisk the datapad through the air and into her waiting fingers. It had been easier that she had thought it would, and she was quite pleased with the results. “You being a busy man and all, Dr. Twerna, I’ll just work out the answers to my questions myself.”

[starmark2k]

(OCC- I've taken some liberties with a couple of characters but i don't think i did anything out of characte. so i hope it's alright.))

 

Nic walked into the common room onboard his ship, he winced at the mess all over the large table as he walked over to it. Cloud had obviously been tinkering with his Holo-recorder as it was open with tools around it. It seemed however that Cloud had disappeared and just left his equipment covering the entire table. Nic shook his head and walked over to the seat nearest the recorder, It had been completely taken apart. Next to the recorder was a small Holo-disk that had been taken out, Curiosity must have gotten the best of him and Nic grabbed a datapad and inserted the disk. The recording began to play and opened on an image of Jana standing over a cake.

__________________________________________________

 

Jana was putting the final touches by sticking three candles on to the top of the cake, as Nic walked in. Cloud pointed the camera at him and Nic looked directly at it.

 

“Cloud put that thing away.” Nic demanded looking less than amused.

 

“Oh come on Nic, it’s a special occasion,” Cloud replied off screen. Nic simply rolled his eyes and followed Jana as she picked up the cake and walked towards the main table where the rest of the crew were.

 

“For she’s a jolly good fellow!” Nic, Jana and Cloud began to sing as they walked up behind Beryl. She turned and looked at the three of them, blushing as the rest of the crew joined in. Jana placed the cake in front of her and she smiled and blew the candles out allowing the crew to cheer.

 

“How did you guys find out it was my birthday?” she asked, still bright red.

 

“We got a call from Rayne. He passes on his wishes,” Nic replied sitting down next to Beryl and smiling. “Now Jana did cook this, so Oliver may need to get the infirmary ready before we get stuck in.”

 

“Hey!” Jana said defensively.

 

“In his defence you are a terrible cook.” Cloud defended still holding the camera. “The stuff you cook does come alive again.”

 

The crew laugh while Jana gives Cloud the dreaded look.

__________________________________________________

 

Nic laughs the recording showed him a time he was on the ship when the crew were together in celebration. It showed him that the crew were more than that, more than friends, they were a family, perhaps the most dysfunctional but they were still family. Nic pushed the fast forward button and played it normally at an image of Beryl dancing.

__________________________________________________

 

Beryl was dancing in the middle of the room by herself while a fast music track played in the background. She had obviously had had more than just a few drinks and didn’t seem to care that she was the only one dancing. She approached the camera holding cloud and smiled at him.

 

“C’mon Cloud, dance with me,” she said still moving to the music.

 

“I can’t, I’ve got the camera,” he replied getting a disappointed expression from Beryl.

 

She then turned to Nic who was sitting on a chair and she smiled at her Captain. “How about you captain?”

 

“I don’t think that would be appropriate,” Nic replied.

 

“C’mon, you can show me some of your ‘smooth moves,’” she said persuasively, still moving to the music.

 

“I have no moves. I can’t dance,” Nic explained.

 

“That’s not true.” Ryshana exclaimed as the camera panned to her. “I seem to remember being surprised back at that ball on Corellia.”

 

“Well this music isn’t the same as Corellia,” Nic said, the camera panning back to him.

 

“Well that an easily be rectified,” Jana could be heard saying offscreen, and the music changed to slower more civilised music.

 

“C’mon, Cap’n.” Beryl held her hand out. “Please?” She grinned and dramatically batted her eyelashes. “It’s my birthday.”

 

“You ain’t gonna take no for an answer,” Nic stated, and Beryl replied with shaking her head.

 

Beryl smiled as Nic finally took her hand and stood up. He put his other hand above her waist and she placed her free hand on top of his shoulder. They both moved slowly not doing much more than swaying from side to side holding each other as they did, and both seemed happy as they stared into each other eyes. The camera occasionally zoomed in on there faces or panned down to their feet, but it normally stayed on there upper bodies. About one minute of this passed before Cloud stepped forward with the camera.

 

“Kiss the birthday girl, Captain,” Cloud called.

 

Nic responded by pushing his tongue against his cheek and looking at the camera. “Seriously Cloud if you don’t put that camera away it’s going to get a good shot of your small intestines!” he threatened.

 

The feed abruptly finished there.

[Rogue Nine]

Conn reclined uneasily in his seat, placing the sabacc deck on his desk in front of him. His experience with the Admiral had been interesting, to say the least. Thankfully, it had also been far less unpleasant that he had expected, especially with the appearance of Major Payne and the fact that Admiral Quitaan did seem to care quite a bit about his sister's welfare. Conn still didn't think that Beryl would be one to go for the Admiral's offer, but at least his heart was in the right place.

 

He reached out and took the sabacc deck in his hand and thumbed it on. "Beryl," he started, "I hope to the Force you're all right, because if you aren't, I'm going to hurt you myself." He paused, collecting his thoughts. "Your brother just inspected the facility and he was quite interested in your stay here. He left you a present back at your bunk. He also told me to inform you that he is here to take you back into custody and that you are to be transferred to the Reaper as soon as the paperwork is processed." Conn chewed his lip, then continued. "I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the plan, so I'd like to know how exactly you plan to deal with that. But for now, I'd settle for the knowledge that you're safe and whole and I won't have to be reattaching limbs or replacing internal organs. So please, send me back a message. Please." His thoughts lingered, as did his finger on the send button. "I miss you," he said quietly, then released the button.

 

No sooner had he replaced the deck in his shoulder pocket than the doors to his medbay slid open and in strode Max. "Doc Harlowe," she greeted, sauntering up to his desk.

 

"Max," he said, a little taken aback at her sudden appearance. "What can I do for you today?"

 

She had a strange grin on her face as she placed both hands on his desk and leaned in towards him. "It's not what you can do for me, Conn," she told him, her eyes glinting. "It's what I can do for you."

[JasraLantill]

Suddenly Beryl felt a vibration in her boot. Damn it, Conn! Not now! she thought, and she kicked her boot to make the Sabaac deck stop vibrating and distracting her.

 

"You aren't about to get away with this, you know. I still have the command of a full legion of troops," Twerna stated as he stared directly into Beryl's eyes. "The game is still afoot whether you like it or not." With that said, Twerna tapped a button on a ring that he was wearing on his right ring finger, and within seconds, alarms started going off across the Facility.

 

"I guess that means you had better get moving," Twerna stated ominously. Then, without warning, Twerna lashed out with the Force, throwing Beryl through the cut open door. Twerna then reached over and took a lightsaber off the belt of one of the confused Jedi.

 

Seeing Beryl fly through the door, Ryshana felt the Force come directly from Twerna. How did he manage that one? Ryshana thought to herself. Feeling Twerna approach the door, Ryshana quickly turned the corner and slashed at Twerna with her lightsaber. Twerna, however, quickly defended himself. However, he was obviously no match for Ryshana when it came to lightsaber combat, and she was quickly able to make him reel backwards from the ferocity of her attacks. "Ryshana, stand aside," Twerna suddenly yelled out.

 

In an instant, Ryshana's eyes seemed to go blank, and she moved away from Twerna. Moving back out into the hallway, Twerna then looked over at Beryl. "Well, I guess this time, the game truly does lie within my grasp. I'll be needing that, thank you," Twerna stated as he pulled the datapad from Beryl's grip with the Force. Using the Force, he set the datapad back down on his desk.

 

"You know, it’s amazing what one can do when you experiment with the human mind. Did you know that with the right application, you can even increase the mind's sensitivity to the midichlorians? You see, I never could've been a Jedi naturally, but with my techniques, anyone can be a Jedi, even me."

 

By this time, Beryl had picked herself up off the floor, and with a quick shake of her head to clear it, she stared at Twerna with utter disgust. “Well, I’ve heard through the grapevine that the Jedi had lowered their standards of late. You know, due to declining membership and all.” She ignited her lightsaber. “Right, you said I needed training?” She beckoned with her free hand for him to come forward. “Then let’s see what you can teach me.”

 

Without waiting for any more flourish, Twerna quickly attacked Beryl. He was no Jedi, but his attacks were still very precise. Even with her melee combat training quickly coming back to her, Beryl was surprised at how intense his attacks were. As Twerna came at him with a quick slicing attack, Beryl quickly ducked under the blow and rolled back towards Twerna's office intending to get to Ryshana and the datapad. However, Twerna sensed her intentions and used the Force to pull her back behind him and away from the office. Starting to feel angry from the frustration, Beryl quickly recovered and went on the attack.

 

Blow for blow, Beryl realized that although Twerna was good with attacking, he was not a good defender. Then, without warning, Twerna managed a counter-attack, and he nicked the tip of his blade across Beryl's arm. Crying out in pain, Beryl tripped over herself and fell backwards. Standing over her, Twerna looked down at her ominously. "Indeed, you do have much to learn. Perhaps you can learn something from your own Master," Twerna stated. "Ryshana, come here!"

[starmark2k]

Nic dropped the Datapad on the table and sighed as he stretched arching his head back, he closed his eyes and brought his hands to the back of his head and crossed the finger leaning backwards on the chair.

 

“You should of kissed her.” Cloud announced standing in the doorway behind.

 

Nic moved quickly as he was shocked to here the younger man standing behind him. “How long have you been here.”

 

“Since you started playing the vid.” Cloud Replied walking forward.

 

“Since you’ve become a Jedi you’ve become a Sneaky son of a schutta.” Nic informed leaning forward.

 

“Why is it you always change the subject when we talk about your personal life.” Cloud asked sitting at the chair next to Nic and picking up parts of his disassembled Cam.

 

“Not now cloud.” Nic said in his abrupt way to end conversations.

 

“O.K Let’s talk about me.” Cloud replied grabbing a small tool and beginning to tinker with the inside of his Cam. “You know I loved Aerith from the moment I her, when you brought the Echo to Alderaan. I don’t know what it was, yeah she was attractive, a blind man could see that, but there was something about her… an aura. You know it took me six months to pluck up the courage to ask for a drink.”

 

“I remember being the one to tell you to do it.” Nic replied.

 

“Yeah.” Cloud said laughing. “Anyway for the next one and a half years after that we were so happy together. Then she was taken away from me, I hated the fact that our future was taken from us, but you know what I regretted more than that… Those six months we could have had if I just had the guts to go ahead and ask her out on a date.”

 

“What are you getting at Cloud?” Nic asked seemingly uninterested.

 

“Like how you gave me advice about Aerith all those years ago, I’m going to give you some.” Cloud began still tinkering with his cam. “Time and love are terrible things to waste Nic, if you love someone you have to tell them.”

 

“I have my reasons no…”

 

“Damn them.” Cloud interrupted. “Damn those reason, Nothing is more important than the person you love.

 

“When did you become so wise Cloud?” Nic asked lean back in his seat again.

 

“About the same time I became a Sneaky son of a schutta.” Cloud grinned.

 

((OCC @ Sting + Jasra- Am I right in believing you guys are a day ahead of the schedule?))

[steven]

Jack entered the common room with a bottle of beer in one hand and chocolate bar in the other. He sat down and put his feet on the table before asking "How much longer do we have to wait? I mean you guy's know how much I wait waiting around doing nothing... and space stations."

[stingerhs]

((actually, we're still on Day 4 over here. ))

 

Before Ryshana could enter the hallway, however, Beryl quickly lunged herself at Twerna in a ferocious assault. Her anger was continuing to build with every passing moment, and the mere threat that he would make Ryshana fight her was starting to push her over the edge as the Darkside began to influence her every attack.

 

Seeing everything transpire over the security feeds, Jeez was a bit undecided as to what he was going to do. The alarm that Twerna had set off had prompted all of the soldiers under Twerna's influence to come running for the Level 5 Section. The only thing stopping them from getting there was Jeez's counter-hacking to their attempts to enter the Section. If he left to help Beryl, there would be nothing to stop hundreds of soldiers from decending on them all. Well, I guess I have faced worse odds before, Jeez thought to himself. Well, those were droids, but still, it can be done. Jeez then moved to the door, punched in the code to open it, and he then ran down the hallway towards Beryl and Twerna.

 

In the meantime, it was a furious fight between Twerna and Beryl. Both of them were combining simple lightsaber techniques with some acrobatic moves. Then, Twerna once again lashed out with the Force at Beryl which threw her backwards. "You want to know what I want your Master to teach you? I want her to teach you how to die," Twerna stated sinisterly. With that, he turned around and threw his lightsaber at Ryshana.

 

Just before the blade could strike Ryshana, however, its course was altered just enough that the lightsaber missed Ryshana entirely. Looking back at Beryl incredulously, Twerna caught sight of Beryl's outstretched arm. She was the one that had used the Force to alter the blade's path. Looking at Twerna with such intensity, Twerna knew that his time had now come. "And you Jedi claim that you don't go down the Darkside. So be it, then. Do what you must," Twerna challenged Beryl.

[JasraLantill]

As Beryl stood to her feet, she could feel her anger boiling over inside of her, but unlike before, she sensed that it just felt so right. With anger boiling over to hatred, Beryl charged Twerna to meet his challenge. And with one swift slash of her blade, Twerna's head was falling to the ground before his body could even buckle.

 

“You forgot," Beryl said to the decapitated doctor. "I’m not a Jedi.” She darted over to the desk, first grabbing the datapad, and then looking at….

 

“Oh, it can’t be that easy,” Beryl said aloud. Embedded in Twerna’s desk was a control panel—with a red flashing button that said ‘Alarm’ and a green button that said ‘Push to Cancel’. So, she pushed it. Immediately, the alarm claxons ceased. Below the ‘cancel’ button was a yellow one with ‘Comm’ printed on it. She cleared her throat, pushed the button, and calmly repeated words recalled from her days at the TCTA.

 

“Security drill cancelled. Situation green. All units report back to stations. Repeat, security drill cancelled. Situation green. All units report back to stations.”

 

She turned to Ryshana. “Can we get out of here now?”

 

Just as Beryl asked the question, Jeez turned the corner. Spotting Twerna's body, Jeez looked over at Beryl. Sensing the lapsing anger within her, Jeez asked, "You didn't kill him out of anger, did you?"

 

Beryl looked down at Twerna’s lifeless body. “It was self-defense,” she said plainly. “But…yeah, I was kriffin’ angry!” She looked at the slice across her upper arm. “He was trying to kill both me and Ryshana.” She rolled her eyes. “Now can we get out of here? Please?”

 

Jeez breathed in deeply. Exactly who have I gotten myself involved with this time, he wondered to himself. "Well, I appreciate your honesty, but something you have to remember is that you should never kill anyone out of anger, no matter what the circumstances are. It’s important to keep the end goal in sight, but using the Darkside to get there will only corrupt yourself and your purpose. It’s a hard lesson to learn, so please heed my advice," Jeez stated.

 

“Ok, ok,” Beryl said hurriedly. “I'll heed! Now can we please just go and get Sam and get out of here? This place really gives me the creeps.”

 

Led by Jeez, the three negotiated their way through the corridors of Level 5 and had finally made it back to where they had left Sam. Only she wasn’t there.

 

“Oh, I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Beryl said, pointing out an abandoned laundry cart in the corner to Jeez. “Maybe she’s waiting for us by the front entrance?”

 

They proceeded carefully to the entrance where the two security droids were… well, were supposed to be. Instead they encountered Sam, leaning against a pile of broken droid parts, filing her nails with what appeared to be a piece of a roughened edge of a laser canon barrel.

 

“Man, you guys took your time, didn’t you?” Sam said. “I’ve been waiting here for over twenty minutes.”

 

Beryl exchanged a confused look with Jeez, then turned back to Sam again. She waved her hand at the droids in a gesture of confusion.

 

“What?” Sam asked. She looked behind her at the broken droids, then shrugged. “I finished my rounds and I got bored.”

 

“You don’t have any weapons,” Beryl observed.

 

Sam shrugged again. “Didn’t need any, sweetie.” She looked at the pile of parts again. “They’re droids.”

 

Beryl rolled her tongue on the inside of her cheek. “O-kaay….”

 

“So, this your friend, sweetie?” Sam asked, eyeing Ryshana.

 

Beryl nodded. “Ryshana, Sam,” Beryl introduced. “Sam, Ryshana. And now that we know each other… let’s get going.”

 

“Sure.” Sam looked at the door. “But those creatures are out there. I threw a rat at them before I shut the door, but….” She shrugged. “Who knows if they ate it or not.” She reached into the long pocket on the side of her trousers, and pulled out another poisoned rat. “Still got a couple of spare ones though.” She grinned. “Just in case.”

[starmark2k]

"Rendevous ain't for another three day." Nic Replied to Jacks question. "but we're going to have to work out a way to disable the patrolling dreadnaught before we even consider the Evac."

 

"What about Reibe, I relly don't like it when she's around." Cloud announced obviously curious.

 

"I don't know Jana seems to want her around but We're all going to have to keep our eyes on her."

 

"Think she'll stab us in the back?"

 

"No i'm pretty sure she likes looking people in the eyes when she kills." Nic replied.

[steven]

"Well if either of you two are interested I have a typical Jack way of sorting out the reaper," Jack said befoe taking a swig of his beer "You see compared to today's mordern ships, the Dreadnought is ****. Even when new it was slow, hampered by inefficient power generators, which also resulted in weak shield projection, low fire power, and computer systems subject to frequent surges. In fact it's rather embrassing we keep getting into trouble with these bastards. Anyways, all we have to do is take advantage of one of these weakness.. with a bomb. But not just any bomb. This bomb will have to replace a regular component of a power generator, once the bomb goes off, a surge of power goes through the ship causing things to go wayfire and then boom. Escape will be easy thanks to the Dreadnoughts fire power and the fact it's slowly than disabled ant carrying it's shopping."

[starmark2k]

((OK So due to a four way conversation i think the rescue is happening on day six now as although chronologically prison team is on day 6 but action wise you're a day ahead.))

 

“We have the cloak ship so that’s our best bet of getting on without to much trouble.” Nic replied to jack.

 

“What Cloaked ship?” Oliver asked as he walked into the room carrying a half empty bottle of Trandoshan Whiskey.

 

“A few years back me and Jana stole a Cloaking device for Carmen, She put it on a small shuttle and has loaned it to us.” Nic replied as Oliver sat down.

 

“Anyway we’ll need to set timed explosives to disable the reaper just before we arrive in the echo the next day.” Nic informed.

 

“Otherwise we run the risk of them repairing whatever damage we do.”

[stingerhs]

"That won't be necessary. Those creatures won't be bothering us anytime soon," Jeez stated as a matter of fact. "I have an arrangement going for the time being."

 

"Wait, an arrangement with what?" Ryshana asked.

 

"Its a long story, but lets just say that we have some rather intelligent critters out there that like to hunt for live prey," Jeez replied.

 

Jeez then felt something coming up behind them. As he turned around to see what it was, Jeez smiled. It was the other 8 Jedi. Only instead of being mindless minions, these Jedi were now able to move and think independently. They even walked a bit different than they had before. It was as if something inside of them had clicked, and they had that old distinguished look about them that most Jedi seemed to have. As Jeez looked at them, though, there was one thing that these Jedi could not hide, and Jeez felt the deep pains that would be with them for the rest of their lives.

 

Then, Jeez noticed someone else walking with them. "Ol' Blue!!" Ryshana yelled out in a bit of surprise. "Its good to see you, my old friend."

 

"You as well, General Oliaya," Blue replied with a smile. As he walked up to Jeez, Ryshana, Beryl, and Sam, the other Jedi stayed behind him.

 

"I figured that you guys are probably going to be busting out of here, and we've decided to do the same thing. Problem is that we figure that whatever transport you'll be using is going to be a little crowded with all of us on board. So, we'll do this separate from you guys, if you don't mind," Blue stated.

 

"Well, I thought I'd never see the day when a Clone Commando leads a couple of Jedi," Jeez stated with a bit of a smile.

 

"It is a change of pace from the last time we were together, now isn't it," Blue replied. "Still, we figure that for now, we'll take control of this Facility while you guys make your escape. We'll take care of the whole escaping part later."

 

Placing his hand on Blue's shoulder, Jeez just looked at him square in the eyes. "Well, I guess this means that we'll be saying "goodbye" yet again," Jeez said with his smile quickly fading.

 

"I guess so, Sergeant," Blue said as he put his hand on Jeez's shoulder. The two comrades just looked at each other for a moment before suddenly standing at attention. Blue then snapped a perfect salute, and Jeez snapped his own return salute. Blue then turned to Ryshana and gave her the same salute, which she also returned to him.

 

Ryshana then turned around to Beryl. "Well, if we're all ready, lets go ahead and get out of here," Ryshana said to Beryl and Sam.

 

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” Beryl said, giving Blue and the other 8 Jedi a strange look, before pushing the button to open up the door leading out to the ramp over the abyss.

[Grace]

After Reibe left her, Jana focused her energy on meditation. A lot had happened to her in the last week and it was hard to take it all in. First, there had been the sparring match with Beryl and Ryshana. It had been a test for Beryl, a bruising session for Jana. But she'd literally felt the touch of the Force rather than just feeling a random unseen, unknown object throw her aside. At the time, it had frightened her.

 

Then, with Beryl and Ryshana gone, Jana had been forced to acknowledge that she was not uneasy only because they were a part of the crew and were heading into a dangerous situation, but also that they were full of the Force and it was a great comfort to her when they were near.

 

But now, she had Reibe to deal with, a woman whose true intentions aboard the ship could never be trusted or determined. By appearances, Jana was twice Reibe's age, but Reibe had seen and done more in her life than anyone at nineteen could have. Sometimes Jana wondered if she made it all up, but then she remembered the same cheerful face as her caretaker and then later as her TCTA instructor. This was a woman who did not age.

 

But to have Reibe aboard the Echo now and to have her life manipulated by the mysterious woman was something Jana was growing more and more annoyed with. Hoping for something to get her mind off Reibe, Jana left her room, entering the common room and taking a seat with the rest of the crew.

 

"How are things coming?" she inquired, having missed all of their conversations.

[starmark2k]

Nic watched as Jana walked into the room and took a seat at the table with the remnants of the crew.

 

“We’re working on a plan to disable the Imperial Dreadnaught.” Nic replied. “I would have got you but I thought you were busy with Reibe.”

 

“So who’ll be going?” Cloud asked.

 

“Myself, Jana and Jack’s the most qualified to pilot the shuttle.” Nic listed. “I’ll need you to stay and make sure the ship is running at 100%.”

 

“I’m coming too.” Oliver announced. Nic gave him a wry look, he knew that at some point over the next couple of days Oliver was going to betray him and the crew. If Impe was not the type to volunteer for these dangerous missions, the betrayal would probably happen on the ship. “I use to serve on a Dreadnaught.”

 

“O.K then, We should get some sleep and leave as early as possible tomorrow.””

[stingerhs]

As Jeez turned around to look through the open door, he felt something. Acting on instinct, he used the Force to throw Beryl away from the door just as several blaster bolts impacted the ground where she had been standing.

 

As everybody began running for cover, Jeez moved up right next to the door and carefully peered around the corner. Off in the distance, he could see a number of Stormtroopers advancing across the bridge. "Stormtroopers," Jeez yelled out. "They must've heard the ruckus we made," Ryshana stated.

 

"What happened to the turrets?" Sam yelled out. "Wouldn't they be able to target the bucketheads?"

 

Looking over at the trashed security station, Jeez then said, "My guess would be that those turrets can't target anyone at this point."

 

"Well, there's no sense in waiting about here. Lets go!!" Ryshana yelled out as she pulled her lightsaber out. With Jeez close behind her, they jumped out to the bridge and activated their lightsabers. As they ran outside, they easily deflected the blaster fire from the Stormtroopers. Around them, the sounds of the blasters firing echoed around the cavern, and one could scarcely make out distinctively harsh whispering noises as the creatures began to stir.

 

With the troopers only able to stand on the bridge with two across, they were quickly forced to halt their advance over the narrow bridge. With Ryshana now deflecting all of the blaster bolts that were coming their way, Jeez felt outwards with the Force, and he finally found who he was looking for as he nudged him gently with the Force.

 

Below them and out of sight, a very large creature was nudged awake by Jeez. It was only known as Imaharia which was actually a Falleen curse word for "Devil-monster". The prisoners that worked in the mines all knew of the legend that this creature was, and it was they that gave this creature its name long ago when the cavern that now housed the Facility was just another mining tunnel. Now, the creature stirred from its current resting place as it remembered its new Master's signal. It was time to feed.

 

Across the bridge, several Stormtroopers were suddenly attacked by several of the smaller creatures, but even these smaller creatures were no match for a concentrated barrage of blaster fire from the well-trained Stormtroopers. As the Stormtroopers continued trying to fire bolts at Ryshana from behind their comrades, the ones waiting out on the ledge were suddenly pulled out into the cavern, and they were sent flying to their deaths. As one of the troopers fell, he was caught in mid air by a leaping creature, and the others were torn apart almost as soon as they crashed to the bottom of the cavern.

 

Meanwhile the Stormtroopers on the bridge were finally starting to fall back to the entrance as Ryshana and Jeez started to move closer and closer. Before they reached the other side, however, the ground quaked behind them. Turning around to see what it was, they were standing face to face with Imaharia. The massive creature then roared at them just before it lept forward, grabbing one trooper in its mouth while swiping the other trooper off the bridge. Jumping off the bridge after the trooper that was now falling to the ground, Imaharia then swallowed the trooper in its mouth whole.

 

Deactivating their lightsabers, Jeez and Ryshana could both make out some some crashing and ripping sounds of the troopers being eaten just below them. Behind them, Beryl and Sam made their way to Jeez and Ryshana.

 

“Huh. Guess they were hungry,” Sam commented dryly.

 

Beryl turned and gave her an incredulous look. “Yeah, well let’s not hang around before they want dessert.”

 

"Dont' worry, they won't be back," Jeez stated.

 

"Yeah, well, that big one was rather surprising. I wonder why it went for the Stormtroopers and not us," Ryshana commented.

 

"Well, its a long story that I'll tell you later, but for now, I'll just say that I had a hand in that," Jeez replied.

 

As they walked down the bridge in silence, they could still hear the hushed sounds of armor crunching off in the darkness. When they finally reached the door on the other end, Jeez punched in the door code, and the door slid open to reveal an empty room just beyond. As Ryshana, Beryl, and Sam went through the door, Jeez turned around and looked back. Five long years. You took five years from me, Jeez thought to himself. "Jeez?" Ryshana called out from the other side of the door. With one last look, Jeez turned around and walked through the door.

 

Sam had already called the tram, so now, all they had to do was to wait.

[JasraLantill]

Finally having a spare moment, Beryl reached into her boot and pulled out the Sabaac deck. It had gone off when she had confronted Twerna, and she hadn’t had a spare moment to reply.

 

“Crap, he must be going nuts,” she said quietly as she prepared to listen to his message. “He’s called me twice and I haven’t answered him once.”

 

“Who? The doc?” Sam waved a dismissive hand. “Bah, he’ll be fine. Just tell him you were too busy to answer him back.”

 

Beryl pushed the button and the message began to play. "Beryl, I hope to the Force you're all right, because if you aren't, I'm going to hurt you myself. Your brother just inspected the facility and he was quite interested in your stay here. He left you a present back at your bunk. He also told me to inform you that he is here to take you back into custody and that you are to be transferred to the Reaper as soon as the paperwork is processed. I'm pretty sure that wasn't in the plan, so I'd like to know how exactly you plan to deal with that. But for now, I'd settle for the knowledge that you're safe and whole and I won't have to be reattaching limbs or replacing internal organs. So please, send me back a message. Please.” There was a pause. ”I miss you."

 

“Aw….” Sam grinned sardonically at Beryl. “How sweet.”

 

“Oh, shut up, Sam,” Beryl said, annoyed. Her brow furrowed with worry, as she pushed the button on the deck to record. “I’m fine, Conn. We’re just about to head to the mines, so get ready. And yeah, you’re damn right that Nuss wasn’t in the plan…,” she added quietly before ending her recording. “Great, Nuss…” she said under her breath as she put the deck away. “You always were a wet blanket for any party.” She looked down the tunnel. “Where is that bloody tram?!” she said impatiently.

 

As Ryshana listened on, she remembered that Beryl had a brother that was a high ranking Imperial Officer. So, he's here. This should be interesting, Ryshana thought to herself. Sensing a bit of frustration and anger from Beryl, Ryshana then asked, "Is something wrong? I thought that you wouldn't mind seeing your brother."

 

Beryl’s brow raised. “If it were Rayne, I wouldn’t mind. But Nuss?” She shook her head vehemently, and there was a hint of fear in her eyes. “Not Nuss. Not now, and especially not Nuss.”

 

"Why? Does he have it out for you or something?" Ryshana asked.

 

Beryl bit her lip, obviously reluctant to tell her. “Well… he’s sort of mad at me for something I did. Or rather, didn’t do.”

 

Sensing her reluctance, Ryshana decided that perhaps it would be a good thing to press the matter, although not in front of the others. Motioning for them to step away from everyone else, Ryshana then asked, "Well, what exactly did you, erm, not do?"

 

“Erm… well….” Beryl shifted uncomfortably. “Before I joined the Echo I sort of got… well, ‘caught’ by the Imps. By Admiral Berasmus Quitaan. And… well, I sort of made a deal with him to get the rest of my crew released, and then… I, erm… I broke it.”

 

"Well, I can see why he would have a reason not to trust you, but reason do you have to not trust him?" Ryshana asked. "Well, Imperial allegiances aside, anyway."

 

Beryl shook her head. “You don’t understand. To Nuss, the Empire is everything. His point of view is… skewed, for lack of a better word. Breaking a deal with him is like….” She sighed. “He put a bounty out on me. A live bounty, granted, but a bounty nonetheless. So, no, I don’t want to see him, and no, I don’t trust him, and yes we need to get out of here as soon as possible before he screws this whole thing up.”

 

There was a whooshing noise from the tram tunnel. “Tram’s here,” Beryl said. “We’ll talk about him later if you really want the gory details.”

 

The tram pulled up, the doors opened and the four of them got inside.

[Grace]

"I don't trust Reibe enough to leave her here alone with Cloud," Jana said abruptly. "And yes, I realize she tied me up and left me looking like her not all that long ago, but..."

 

"She what?" Impe demanded, startled.

 

"Another story for another time," Jana retorted. "At any rate, sorry Nic, but I think it'll be safer for us all if I stay here."

[starmark2k]

"Jana I'm going to need you on the Reaper." Nic replied. "I don't trust Reibe neither, but under the circumstances i'm sure Cloud is able to watch her."

 

"So i'm suppose to watch the weird chick and get the ship to full working order." Cloud stated.

 

"Yea that's the plan." Nic replied. "C'mon Jana we ain't done anything like this in a while, It'll be just like old times."

[Grace]

"The wierd chick will help you get the ship working," Reibe said from the doorway. Cloud flushed bright red and Reibe laughed. "I've been called far worse things than 'wierd'. Don't worry." Then, to Jana, she said, "Go on. I won't cause any trouble... I promise."

 

Jana sighed. "If I come back to find something gone wrong, I'll..."

 

"Get really angry and go back to not talking to me," Reibe finished for her. "I get it. And I'll get over it. But it won't happen."

 

"Guess we'll have a grand ol' time, Nic," Jana offered with a cheerfulness that was obviously forced. "Just like when there was just two of us... and plus Jack... and Impe..." She shot the medic a puzzled look, but he looked away, saying nothing. Reibe caught his discomfort and shot a wink and a nod to Nic. Then, she spun on one heel and stalked away. Jana watched her go and then turned to Nic.

 

"If she messes anything up, you can be sure, I'll kill her," she growled softly. Then, she rose and went to her room for rest.

[JasraLantill]

Beryl sank down in her seat, glad of the respite. “So, when we get to the mines, here’s how it’s going to work.” She looked at Jeez, half expecting him to object to her taking charge, but he just sat passively and listened.

 

“Sam and I have stashed some explosives right near where we’ll get dropped off. The plan is to set them off as a distraction—large enough to cause chaos and confusion, but small enough not to collapse any tunnels or kill anyone. That done, we’re going to smuggle you in with the rest of the prisoners. Hopefully, with the chaos, they won’t notice a couple of extra bodies.”

 

“Don’t forget Max,” Sam added.

 

Beryl sighed. “Yeah, well, if Max is there she’s there, and if she’s not she’s not. Just as long as she doesn’t rat us out.”

 

“Max isn’t a rat,” Sam said firmly. “Ice is, but not Max.”

 

“Yeah, well I already took care of Ice, now, didn’t I?” Beryl looked at Ryshana. “We’ll need to get you a cloak or something to cover your head. ‘Aliens’ are lodged in the lower levels.” She rolled her eyes at the absurdness of the segregation. “Like it matters for prisoners. Stupid Imps and their stupid non-huMAN rules….”

 

The tram began to slow, and Beryl sat up. “Ok… let Sam and I get out first. You two lag behind, hide near the shadows until we come for you, okay?”

 

The tram stopped. The doors opened and the automated voice told them to disembark. Beryl and Sam stepped out first.

 

“Perfect timing,” Beryl said to Sam, as she nodded towards the end of the tunnel. The first lot of prisoners were just coming up from the mines. Reaching out with the Force, she levitated four grenades from the box, and she handed two to Sam. “See that little nook over in the corner of the wall?”

 

Sam pulled the pin on her grenades and threw them at the nook. “Yup. See that explosion in that nook?”

 

“Sam!” Beryl said irritated, and then threw hers in the same place. The ensuing explosion was loud, rumbly, and smoky but hadn’t caused a lot of damage. But it did cause the alarms to go off.

 

Beryl motioned for Jeez and Ryshana to follow them. With the smoke and the clanging alarms, everyone’s main concern was to evacuate, not to count heads. Yet a shrill whistle caught Beryl’s attention as they moved toward the exit.

 

“Over here!” a voice called out. Max the trustee had suddenly appeared near one of the lifts. She had in her hand two blankets and she tossed one each to Jeez and Ryshana. “Cover your head and shoulders with these,” she told them. “Beryl, you and Sam flank them. The Doc should be at the top of the lift, treating the injured.” She winked. “So, act injured.”

[Rogue Nine]

"Think about it."

 

Those three words echoed in Conn's mind as he refilled his emergency epinephrine syringes and placed them in his medkit. Max had left the medbay an hour ago with those words as a goodbye. What she had said before that, though, is what gave Conn pause. He hadn't quite known how to respond then, and he still wasn't sure now. He'd had enough to deal with as it was, and Max's message just made things a little more complex than they already were.

 

So distracted was he that it took five vibrations of the sabacc deck in his shoulder pocket for him to notice it. Reaching for it, he pulled it out of his pocket and thumbed the switch. "I’m fine, Conn," Beryl's static-y voice said from the tiny speaker, and Conn breathed a sigh of relief. "We’re just about to head to the mines, so get ready. And yeah, you’re damn right that Nuss wasn’t in the plan...," The recording clicked off.

 

"Huh," Conn said, looking at the deck for a few moments before replacing it in his pocket. Just from her message, he could tell that Beryl was a little tense and distracted. Unsurprising, given her knack for planning. Conn was quite thankful for her other knack, though, the one that enabled her to stay alive and whole. Throwing a few more supplies in his medkit, he had barely just snapped it shut when alarm klaxons started to go off. "Always have to do things the loud way, Psycho," Conn muttered as he heard his comlink chirp. Raising it to his lips, he said, "Harlowe."

 

"Doctor, we have an explosion downstairs in the mines with some wounded," a voice he did not recognize said. "Get down here now, please."

 

"On my way."

[stingerhs]

As Jeez and Ryshana sat on the tram in silence, Jeez just looked down at the floor. He could hardly believe that it was over. In his mind, images and memories of the events that happened over the course of the past five years played through in his mind. He remembered watching in horror as Twerna had turned old acquaintances from the Jedi Temple into virtual zombies. Some Jedi had been permanently damaged, and Jeez remembered seeing them in hoverchairs and staring at him like they had never seen him before.

 

The world was indeed very cruel, and it wasn't the first time Jeez had felt its cruelty. A tear began to well up in his right eye, and it fell silently to the dirty floor of the tram.

 

Ryshana, however, was sitting across from Jeez the whole time, and she sat there feeling his pain. Even the memories coming to the surface could be felt by Ryshana as she sat there. Feeling his pain, Ryshana got up and sat next to him. Placing her arm around him, she held him close as they listened to Beryl and Sam.

 

When the tram doors opened, Ryshana and Jeez just followed Sam and Beryl. They trusted them, and of course, they could feel outwards with the Force. Whenever Max accosted them, Ryshana and Jeez caught their blankets and placed them over their heads.

 

“Cover your head and shoulders with these,” she told them. “Beryl, you and Sam flank them. The Doc should be at the top of the lift, treating the injured.” She winked. “So, act injured.”

 

"No problem," Jeez stated. Picking up his leg, he reached over and used Beryl to brace himself.

 

Ryshana then used part of the blanket covering her head to create a makeshift sling for her left arm. Leaning on Sam, Sam got the hint and placed her arms around Ryshana. As they loaded up into the elevator, Jeez caught sight of Stormtroopers coming down a lift just opposite of them. Too late for you, Jeez thought to himself as the grating on the lift closed shut.

[starmark2k]

"If she messes anything up, you can be sure, I'll kill her," she growled softly. Then, she rose and went to her room for rest.

 

“You’ll have to get in line.” Nic said with a smile as he watched Jana walk towards her room, he then turned to Jack. “Hey, the Cloak shuttles in the hanger next door so if you want to familiarise yourself with it go ahead, I’m sure Carmen won’t mind.”

 

“What’s the deal with you two?” Cloud asked.

 

“He’s my pilot.” Nic replied.

 

“Not Jack.” The mechanic interrupted. “Carmen.”

 

“I used to work for her.” Nic replied.

 

“Oh is that what you kids are calling it these days.”

 

“Ha.” Nic said sarcastically. “You’re funny cloud, they should give you your own sit-com on the Holo-net.”

 

Nic then left the common area for his own room.

[JasraLantill]

It was quiet in the lift, far removed from the smoky chaos in the mine below them and Beryl let out a sigh of relief. Half of their mission was over—now all they had to do was get out and meet up with the Echo. And avoid any attention from her brother.

 

Beryl was growing increasingly worried about his arrival. An prickly feeling nagged at her in the back of her mind—something intangible that told her danger was up ahead, but she didn’t have a clue what it was or how to avoid it. She reckoned that maybe it was the dark side of the Force she was feeling, and so she tried to push the uncomfortable feeling out of her thoughts.

 

“I can’t wait until we’re out of here,” she said, not meaning to speak out loud and unwittingly tightening her grip around Jeez’s waist, unconsciously seeking some feeling of security.

 

“Well, we’re nearly there, sweetie,” Sam said encouragingly.

 

“We’re not there yet,” Max hastily reminded them. “There’ll be increased security in the corridor.” She snorted with disdain. “Some big wig Imp is ‘visiting.’”

 

“Ah, that would be Beryl’s brother,” Sam said. “He’s an Admiral,” she added with lofty sarcasm.

 

“Sam!” Beryl shot her a dirty look.

 

“Your brother?” Max raised an eyebrow at Beryl. “What, did he come here to help you?”

 

Beryl rolled her eyes. “Hardly.” Her stomach did a flip-flop. “He won’t be anyplace near the med bay, will he? We definitely could do without meeting him.”

 

Max shrugged. “Dunno. Think he’s in the processing block. Commander’s office, probably.” She paused, noticing Beryl’s anxiety. “Don’t worry. We’re going straight to the med bay.” She grinned. “I’ve been designated by our good doctor to be a ‘medical auxiliary.’”

 

The lift began to slow.

 

“Okay, put on your best act,” Max said to all of them. “The doc will ‘assess’ your injuries and then tell me to take you immediately to the med bay for treatment. Then he’ll join there us later.” She took out her baton, making her look more ‘in charge’ of the prisoner group. “Just keep your heads covered,” she warned the two Jedi, especially Ryshana. “If the Stormies see an alien being treated before a human, they’ll report it to the Watch Commander.”

 

The lift doors opened. Max stepped out first, authoritatively waving her baton at Sam and Ryshana for them to hobble out first. Beryl and Jeez were next and as they stepped out, Beryl’s eyes locked with Conn’s. He looked worried, and so she gave him a quick but reassuring grin.

[Rogue Nine]

Conn had just finished up suturing an inmate's particularly nasty gash when he heard the lift doors open. Snipping the last thread, he glanced over and immediately spotted Beryl. She looked a little worse for wear than the last time he'd seen her, with smudges and small cuts on her face and arms, but she gave him a brief grin, the same one he'd seen numerous times before, usually following one of her spectacular Z-95 crashes, letting him know that she was all right.

 

Hurrying over, he noticed that she was helping to support another person, who had a blanket covering their head. Ah, that would most likely be one of our erstwhile Jedi, he thought as he approached. "Trustee Coronis," he said aloud, addressing Max. "What seems to be the problem here?"

 

Max gave him a small smirk before replying, letting him know that he was laying on the acting a little too thickly. "These two caught some of the worst of the explosion," she replied, indicating the two people Beryl and Sam were supporting.

 

"Really?" Conn said as he stepped over to where Beryl stood. Taking a peek under the blanket, he found himself staring into an unfamiliar human face, male with dark hair and dark eyes. The man stared back at him with equal curiosity. "Jeez, I presume," Conn whispered. "Pleasure to meet you." He nodded and let the flap of the blanket back down. "This one's going to need reconstructive surgery," he announced to Max loudly before moving over to Sam and the familiar purple-skinned Twi'lek she was supporting. "Ah, we meet again," he said to her. When the Twi'leki woman looked back at him confusedly, he waved her off. "Never mind, I'll explain later." Turning to address Max again, he said, "Max, please escort these prisoners to the med bay. I will finish up here and be with you shortly."