It was raining. Big, fat drops splattered against the window, smudging the outside world into an indistinguishable mess of grays and blues. Between the drops and the fog of the storm that had risen over the city, Arnaut could just barely make out the garish lights of Lit Lane. What a sight, even in the storm, they were, a neon cornucopia of eye-shattering pleasure. Even in the dim pseudo night of the storm, they made Arnaut squint. He looked away.

The apartment was dimly lit as well, the only light supplied from the gray outside world. Kroh was asleep on the couch. He was silent, almost appearing to be dead. But no, his chest rose and fell regularly. Calmly. His leg was still bandaged from his close encounter with those...things. The insectoid monsters. Arnaut couldn’t get them out of his head. They were so...alien. Terrifyingly alien. It didn’t help that Arnaut had nothing better to do than wait around thinking, and, while the creatures dominated his thoughts, that wasn’t a very enjoyable pasttime. While the rest of the squad went and got themselves into all sorts of deadly trouble, Arnaut was stuck back at the apartment. Supervising. Arnaut knew he shouldn’t, but he really did envy them. Them and their excitement.

Arnaut walked over to the small comm station Ron had set up. He poked a few buttons, looked at a few screens, but didn’t generally understand most of it. Letters scrolled down two of the screens, and incomprehensible jumble of signs, and another two were rapidly scanning...something. Arnaut shook his head. It didn’t make much sense. He was ready to turn away when a screen began flashing. Arnaut looked quickly at it. Detected something or rather on the something or rather.

Arnaut sat down at the chair and punched a few keys. The message grew larger, and, much to Arnaut’s relief, displayed the code that Ron was supposed to be sending. It was coded of course, in more ways than one. But it was out there, riding along the vast array of communications that was the holonet. Someone would see it. Arnaut was sure. He closed down the message and went back to the window. His mind was working. Plans were born, formulated, scrapped, and reborn.

He had to assume that anyone who was coming would be on the planet in two weeks at the most. No doubt Imperial surveillance would have the message before the week was out. Another week and they might have cracked it, despite the precautions. It was just a matter of time. Which is why that, in two weeks, if the other Wraiths weren’t on planet with them, they’d never be.

Ron would have to run surveillance on the incoming space traffic. All registered and unregistered passengers. Quite a job, considering the planet’s size. There was the matter of the two men Arnaut had seen in the spaceport. Arnaut would get to that personally, along with Kroh, and possibly RK. Koll and D-Crowe would set out investigating leads in Ord Mantell. That, by all that Arnaut had seen so far, seemed to be the Wraiths next destination. Just as soon as they were done with Corellia. And that left Jenny.

She was still somewhere. That’s all Arnaut knew. She had a few contacts on the planet, or so she said. Hopefully they would pay off and not get her killed. Going out alone in the city wasn’t exactly safe, especially not in the Lit Lane. Arnaut hoped she was still alive. They would need everyone they could get for this. Everyone.

Which was why making sure that all the incoming, off-world Wraiths made it to Arnaut safely. Maybe he could pass by the spaceport every now and then, while searching for the two men. He might get lucky and spot one. After all, being the largest city and the capital, Coronet seemed like the place to stop for any Wraiths coming to the planet.

Ten days. All of that had to be completed in ten days, and then they were gone. A bit much to ask, but it had to be done, one way or the other.

Arnaut would tell the squad once most of them were back. They wouldn’t be out much longer, with, possibly, the exception of Jenny who was still off in parts unknown. Then they would lay out the plans for the next ten days of their mission. It was coming together, slowly, Arnaut could see now. They could do this. Arnaut leaned back in his chair. Outside it had stopped raining. Thunder roared in the distance. It sounded like a roar of approval.

OOC:

Short-term assignments have been assigned. Have fun! We leave for Mantell at the end of the ten-days in the story (a week is five days). So...y'know, let's post and do stuff and then head to Mantell!

UPDATE: Two pages! Woo!

The speeder turned from the dock and went back to the Jenny’s temporary base at her directions. Jenny heard Mia spoke of Leia being attacked by Ella on Mantell when they were looking for Albatross and Mia being forced into Ella’s will by this poison, the Appealment, or as Jenny would call it Kuri’au. It was only that she defeated Albatross in a battle would she be freed from Ella’s control. She stared at that once shy and serious girl now turn into a speechless zombie, it was rescuing her from Ella’s will that mattered more than killing Ella. And that’s what usually gets me into trouble, still I cannot abandon my friendship with her, she saved me from Wincester’s slug gun blast, took the blast and got several scars on her back, it’s time to repay the favor. Jenny reflected from the past as Mia turned to Jenny with those black eyes and warned:

“The mistress has see fit to let you go back to your mates to explain your actions, but take any longer than necessary or try anything funny and Mia won’t be curable by the antidote I have and you’ll be dead. Filmub’ra, escort Jenny inside and if there’s any trouble, contact me. ” Jenny tried to avoid Mia’s peering eye at her as she stepped outside the speeder, escorted by Filmub’ra and her hidden pistol inside her jacket, which she put on to hide the pistol that might kill Jenny for disobeying orders.

“I hear a speeder outside, is that you, Jenny? Goodness I have missed you, how was Azalon?” Arnaut asked kindly as Jenny stepped inside and closed the door, Filmub’ra following close behind, pistol to her back. She answered carefully, lest Filmub’ra pulled the trigger at the wrong word, though she was deep in conversation on the comlink:

“A lot more danger than I thought. Listen, Arnaut, I’m here at your message, but there’s a bit of a problem, Mia’s under the influence of Ella, she’s not herself and the only way to get her back is to have a duel with Albatross on Mantell, he’s expecting me and the shipment to come. It’s a great opportunity to nail him, and we should get going.”

“Ah, we’ll see, once all the squad members have gotten back, including Kand, whose leading people to the base, we’ll then devise a plan. Although your end provides a great chance to capture Albatross, if we were to find him on Mantell.

“Ella’s here, she’s being escorted by Mia.” Just as Filmub’ra finished announcing and putting away her pistol into her rucksack, Mia came into the room, her face still looking grim dark and her eyes still black. Ella came behind, blinking her eyes at Filmub’ra, hers blinking back.

As Jenny saw and Arnaut saw amazed, Ella was wearing differently from the plain clothed Mia and Filmub’ra, she was wearing a beautiful red dress, the right seam of it opened partly to reveal her lovely legs and feet wearing high-heels the color of pink, carrying a medium leather purse with the symbol of her position, the mistress, the mark of which were left behind on her parents’ body, which was also in gold colors on her dress. Ella turned to Jenny with enjoyment and put her fingers on top of the mark as she greeted happily:

“You look amazed to see dress like this, Jenny, and perhaps a little terrified. I know these are not the marks you want to see, for your parents died, bearing them. The police were quite baffled at who left these, for this was not the mark of the Republic, but those who work for them in secret.” Ella then turned to Arnaut, leaving Jenny in thought, wondering what the heck she was trying to cook up. Ella spoke openly to Arnaut, chuckling at him refusing a simple handshake:

“So you must be Jenny’s new squad leader, how are you, I’m Ella, the enemy of your enemy, this last shipment contains a secret weapon just finished by my mentor, Albatross, he will not live to get off the planet. If he does, the Republic and the Empire both will be in danger, for he will release it upon both Republic and Empire planets. He has gone outside of our agreement, and must be killed by Jenny’s sword, for she is the only one who has faced him before, or do you not remember, Jenny?” The memories came back to Jenny, painful, but she replied to Ella, who looked like she knew how much Jenny was pained by it:

“I do, though the memories are a bit clouded, I think we should wait for the others and come up with a plan to trap him.”

“A good suggestion, but Vilman is meeting with us for the shipment instead. Albatross is not coming; I just got the message from him, apparently he still think his loyal pupil is not betraying him under his watch, so much for good judgment. Vilman will be expecting sometime in the next ten days or so, I’ll be tracking Albatross, once he’s dead, Mia will be released, Jenny. Filmub’ra will prove to a loyal ally, seems how she’s yours, and she’ll lead you to the vessel which’ll take you to Mantell. Goodbye, and we’ll keep in touch by your personal comlink in your pack.” Jenny had the urge to take out her vibroblade and hack Ella to pieces, but she resisted for poor Mia, and watched her follow Ella out the door and onto the speeder, speeding out into the busy streets, Jenny looking at it go, tears down her face, Filmub’ra comforted Jenny, hugging her in her arms.

“Mia will be fine, I’m sure, Jenny, I’m sorry about exposing my cover, but Ella had Mia under her will and I couldn’t let Mia die, my last girlfriend had already died by Ella’s poison, and I can’t bear another death by my own creation. I created that potion to cure, not to control and kill at will, I didn’t know Ella would do that, she was my friend, and….”

“You will find that many people share your experience for betrayal by friends who only need you for their own ends, and then you become useless and get throw on the side like garbage when they’re done with you. Let’s wait for the others to come back and formulate a plan.” Arnaut replied sympathized as they sat down, Arnaut lost in thought, and Jenny slowly crying her pain as Filmub’ra held her.

Filmub’ra will be with us as my partner, she’ll guide me to Vilman, who will probably lead us to Albatross, she’s on our side, if you didn’t notice. Remember that she’ll take me to Mantell on a separate vessel once everyone’s back and the plan is dealt out on the table. Arnaut, try not to ignore this post, it won’t effect your plans, I’m sure, it'll just add someone else who hates Albatross and has agreed to help us under her terms, also enters Vilman, if you hate that I can change him to someone else, just say the word and I will.

Kuri’au is a word used to describe the art and practice of seduction to attain a specific goal. Twi'leks are renowned for being an attractive species and have adapted this to suit their benefit by using their powers of seduction to obtain money, goods, services, and information. This practice is also referred to by the Basic term "the Game." A Twi'lek practicing the Kuri'au is not necessarily looking for sexual favors, but is using their seductive prowess to their advantage for whatever means necessary in the way other species use their strength or mental capacity. In this case it’s used by a human.

RK lifted the speeder off of the landing pad, it rumbled underneath them, and joamer almost looked scared. for someone who can fly the biggest ship in the galaxy.... He grinned at the thought.

“So you're one of the original wraiths?” RK was trying to break the silence, specially since he hated silence.

“Yea, I left for a while, then came back, well this would be me coming back.”

“Well, your in for a surprise, after all we are fugitives. I hope you didn't bring attention to yourself with that big ship of yours.” RK said, grinning.

“Nope, I'm just a normal civilian, you did give them my landing papers right?”

“Yea, gave them to him as soon as I got there.”

“ah good.”

RK kept the speeder level as he sped towards the lit lane. He didn't expect to encounter heavy traffic, but you never know in busy planets with people coming and going all the time.

“So we're fugitive?”

“no, but technically, yes.”

RK continued to speed forward, he had increased his speed considerably, but not enough to draw attention. He wanted to get to the hideout fast as possible, but not to fast. After all, drawing more attention to themselves could be deadly.

So, I'm a fugitive, huh, last I checked I was the one who hunted the fugitives. It hadn't hit him until now, but RK had a feeling that this had something to do  with karma; After all, he had killed a bunch of fugitives at one time. yep, definitely Karma

They continued to draw closer to the lit lane, each moment RK felt like someone was watching him. Joamer had been quiet for most of the ride, asking questions here and there, but most of the situation he already knew.

Without thought, RK looked down at the radar, a yellow blimp kept coming up. He couldn't tell what it was,  it could have been a normal civilian speeder, or just a really close animal.  The odd thing was, it was getting closer, and he didn't like that. He double checked by bringing up the rear camera, an option not on normal speeders. As he hit the button a live video feed filled the front view port,  leaving just enough viewing area so he could see in front of him. At the moment however that was the least of his worries. 

“Uhh, what's that?”

“Honestly I don't know, but it doesn't looked friendly.”

RK stared at the screen in front of him. Something was following them, he couldn't tell what, but it was definitely not friendly.
“Looks like a speeder, a very heavily armed speeder.” RK tried to get a closer look. It was black, and it had a flashing red light on top, two cannons were visible. The only thing that wasn't see able was the inside of the cockpit, it had tinted windows.

“I think...”

Before Joamer could finish his sentence flashes of red light erupted from both cannons, flying straight past them.

RK juked to try and dodge, but it didn't help, the second laser braised the top of their speeder. “I don't think they want us here.”

“Yea.”

RK grabbed the control sticks tighter and punched the accelerator. “Hang on!” The speeder sped off.

“Ummm, I don't think going straight for the base is a good idea right now.”

RK turned hard to the right, almost flipping the speeder. “Then let's take a detour.”

'Jennabelle, RK and Joamer are all present and accounted for, they made their own way'

Kanderin read the message a few times and smiled, knowing three people were already safe was a huge relief on his side. He had already sent Ron on his way with directions, which left him just waiting for D-Crowe and Koll. Then, in theory, they were safe. If only he meant that.

He'd made the senior decision that, as D-Crowe and Koll were new and inexperienced, he would escort them back to the base in case something happened. As much as he refused to admit he worried about them being caught and cracking under interrogation, he couldn't help thinking about it. And it was a risk all too dangerous for him to leave chanced.

He only had to wait a few more minutes for them to arrive, from separate ships at other sides of the dock, typically. Luckily Kanderin had accounted for that, and was already sat in the main waiting room, shuffling through a deck of Sabaac cards. As both men walked past and saw Kanderin sat there, they made their way over, involved him in short conversation, before sitting down and playing cards. They both left their luggage in clear site, and all three men tried their best to keep expressions resembling no clear correlation. They'd never met before, and probably never would again, but that wouldn't stop them having a game of cards over a few beers.

"We'll leave in about twenty minutes, going our separate ways again" Kanderin said, not taking his eyes off his own cards. "Each one of us will leave through one of the three exits, and take a taxi. There's a small club on the corner of a street about ten minutes away from here, known as the Garland. That's where we'll meet up again. If anything goes wrong, even if there's the slightest chance of you being followed, get me a message somehow, and I'll come running to deal with it"

"Wouldn't that compromise our cover?" Koll asked, throwing a card down on the table as D-Crowe cursed.

"Probably" Kanderin nodded, smiling at the card on the table "But more important than our cover is to make sure that every member of the squad gets through this alive. Besides, I don't like to brag, but I'm a dab hand at assasination myself. If anyone's following you, I'll make sure they have an unfortunate accident with a speeder not long after, alright?"

"Haha, alright sir" D-Crowe smiled.

The man shook his head, a long, drawn out shake that dropped more loose hairs onto the table’s already covered surface. Arnaut brushed them off disgustedly, leaving a small hill of the white hairs lying on the floor. The old man stared at him, but said nothing, his sad, sunken eyes shining dully in the stark light of the spaceport.

“Well...thank you anyway. If you find anything, you know where I’ll be,” Arnaut said, finally looking back up. He turned off the datapad he’d been holding for the man to see, and, for a second, the ghost after-image of Adareem Talos, former Major in the Serellian army turned rogue, burned on the screen. Of course, Arnaut had no idea what his name was, what rank he’d held, or how he was connected to Serrell in any way, shape, or form, other than that he’d been seen with Albatross on the planet. It had been hard enough to try and find the picture. The old man gave no sign of knowing anything either. He stood up, shaking out a few more hairs from his near balded head, gave a curt nod, probably his idea of thanks for the fifteen credits Arnaut had paid him, and left.

Arnaut leaned back in his chair and stared out at the loading bay. A shipment of medical supplies had just landed and crewmen pushed and shoved their way to be the first to unload. They were all sodden and wet, the rain having drenched them long before. Arnaut sighed, looking back down the hall, in the direction the old man had went off in. Three days. Three days of coming to spaceport, three days of frustration. Not a single person knew about the two men that Arnaut had seen the first day on Corellia. Not one. Not so much as a glance in passing as the two men walked down a hallway. It was like they’d never come, never been in the building at all. Out of all the staff that Arnaut had interviewed – ticket salesmen, janitors, security guards – no one had seen them. And it was getting risky. Word was getting out that Arnaut was looking for someone, and, if the two men were still in the city, the word might spread to them.

Arnaut looked around the empty room he was in, a lowered extension of the food court overlooking the spaceport below. Didn’t look like there’d be many more clientele today. He stood up, wrapping his coat around him, and headed out through the spaceport and into the city.

Immediately, despite his coat, the rain soaked him to the bone. He shivered as a cold gust blew down the crowded street. All these businessmen, Arnaut thought to himself. They’d still be walking through town even if it were raining fire. Arnaut pushed his way onto the street, narrowly dodged a speeder, and made his way across to the other side. Kroh, who had inconspicuously been reading a newspaper at a stand, paid the squat stall-manager, and fell into step with Arnaut.

“Anything? You pulled out early.” Kroh indicated toward his chronometer.

“Not a single person, again. I’ve nearly worked my way through all the staff, and most of the travelers still there haven’t been around since we landed.” Arnaut gave a half groan, half sigh, and stared at the sky. The rain hit him in the face, but he didn’t much care.

“It’s like...” Arnaut said, turning to face Kroh again. “Like they simply vanished. Completely. Either they’re very good at what they do or...or I didn’t see them at the spaceport. But that’s impossible, they were there, I know they were there!”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’re running out of time though. We have other things to do, like securing transportation to Ord Mantell, or making sure that any...” He stopped as a pedestrian got within earshot. The man walked by without looking up. “Making sure any Wraiths that are coming get here.”

“I guess you’re right...” Arnaut conceded. “I’ll come out tomorrow, and then I’ll get to work on the other stuff.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly. He hadn’t gotten much sleep in the past few days.

“You know a place where I can get a nice, hot cup of caf?” Arnaut asked. “And maybe get out of this rain?” Kroh smiled.

“I might know a place or two. Follow me.”




On the other side of the street, standing just in the darkness of an alley, the old men watched them go. The fools. For all their sneakiness and precautions, they still would’ve been incredibly easy to track down. The man turned around, smiling to himself, and ran smack into Talos. Talos grunted and shoved him back.

“You wanted to see me, Barnaby?” Talos said, his face giving nothing away. Barnaby smiled as obsequiously as he could, a large toothy grin from ear to ear, and motioned for the door.

“Shall we?” A few of the Barnaby’s white hairs fell lightly on Talos’ boots. He shook them off with a  grimace and went through the door. Barnaby sneered at Talos as his back was toward him, but followed without another word.

The smells of cooking, especially what seemed to be a stew, wafted up to meet him as he moved through the door. Barnaby closed it behind him, and the cook looked ‘round.

“Oh, jus’ ole Barnaby. Lotta ruffians about these days; yuh nearly gave me a heartattack. The room’s ready, if yuh be wantin’ it...‘Course yuh do. Yuh woulda used the front door if yuh didn’t.” Barnaby thanked her kindly and moved trailed Talos to the left, through the kitchen, and to the back room the cook had had prepared for them.

Talos sat down in the sole chair, leaving a disgruntled Barnaby standing on the other side of the table. Barnaby kept his annoyance out of his face.

“This had better be good. You don’t know what it takes for me to get here without being seen.”

“Oh it is,” Barnaby said, putting on his best smile and nodding enthusiastically. “It seems someone know you’re here. They’ve been asking around, showing pictures, trying to find you.”

“Why are you smiling? Wipe that ridiculous grin off your face. This is a bad thing! A bad thing!” Talos cursed loudly and Barnaby went back to frowning.

“How?” Talos said after a moment.

“How wh--?”

“How do they know!?” Talos snapped, whipping around to face Barnaby.

“I...sir...I have...well...”

“Oh, stop your blathering,” Talos said disdainfully. “Was he with anyone else?”

“No...well, yes, but when I saw him he wasn’t, but after the meeting he...uh...” Barnaby had just noticed the threatening way in which Talos was looking at him. He pulled at his collar, sweat pouring out from his forehead.

“What I meant to say is that he met someone after he left the spaceport. Big tall guy, muscular. Couldn’t be sure, but he looked a bit like Kroh...”

“Kroh?” Talos asked suddenly, eyes widening ever so slightly. He leaned forward. “As in Vankrius Kroh?”

“Like I said, can’t be sure, but that’d be about right.” Talos was silent, staring at the table. Thinking about important stuff, no doubt.  Barnaby let his eyes, and mind, wander off to the austere walls of the windowless room, enjoying the moment’s respite from Talos’ harsh scrutiny. It was nice and quiet in the room. Nice and...

“Did he leave you any way to contact him?” Talos’ voice made Barnaby jump.

“Who, Kroh?” Barnaby asked hesitantly, wits still a little frayed.

“No, the person you actually talked to!” Talos yelled. He came up out of his seat a little and, for a moment, Barnaby thought he was in danger of taking a fist to the face. But Talos sat back down.

“He said if I found something, he’d be in the same spot. He’s been there for three days, far as I can tell,” Barnaby said, still cringing for the blow that never came. Talos nodded slowly.

“Go to him tomorrow and bring him back to the alleyway. My men will meet you there and kindly take him off your hands.”

“But how can I do that?” Barnaby asked anxiously.

“Tell him you have found something. Lie. I’m sure you can think of something.” Talos stood up and headed for the door.

“Hey! What about my—” Talos flicked a credit chip at him. It hit him squarely between the eyes before dropping leadenly to the ground. Barnaby scrabbled for it greedily, holding it right up to his face before flicking it on.

“Aw, only twenty? I got almost as much just from talking with that guy!”

“You’ll get more when you bring ‘that guy’ to me. If you bring him to me. Do not fail.” With one last threatening look, Talos was gone, leaving Barnaby sitting alone on the room’s floor staring longingly after him.

Well, there was nothing to be done for it. Money was money, no matter how it came about. Barnaby stood up, pocketing the measly amount of cash, and made his way back out onto the streets. Another day, another payment. Nothing to be done.

Koll scoopd up the goods from his most recent win at sabaac. He hadn't played much before in his life, but Kanderin seemed entirely intent on losing his month's wage. Crowe didn't seem to happy about the outcome of the cards match either. He shot a subversive glance over at the man that was watching them. He knew by now that he wasn't just some homeless man on the street; if he were, he surely would have tried to peddle some credits off the Zabrak. Koll, in keeping with his newfound confidence in the game, stretched as he leaned back in his chair once more. He heard a slight beep from his commlink at his belt. He rested his hand at his belt, attatching his Imagecaster to the link, and turned it up just loud enough for him to hear it. A blue hologram of Ron appeared, broadcasted under the table.

"Hey, uhh, guys, this is Ron. I'm kinda stuck in the middle of nowhere in a Hutt's ganghouse with an angry Rodian outside that wants my head. As much as I hate to admit it, I need your guys' help. So, uhh, help."

The image and sound cut out at the same time. Koll began gathering his credits. "Good playing with you guys today, but I gotta go. Places to go, people to see, you know how it is." Koll stood up and began walking towards an alleyway. Once he was certain he was out of view of the 'homeless' man, he stripped off the jacket, gloves, and pants he was wearing underneath his armor and donned his helmet quickly. He activated the stealth mode of his armor and disappeared. As he expected, the 'homeless' man followed him. Koll snuck up behind him, slammed a solid fist into the back of his head, and caught him, lowering him to the ground softly. Nighty night, Koll thought, deactivating his armor and donning his proper clothes once more.

He waltzed back out past the cafe he was just at and addressed the two men with a look of chagrin. "My business is actually this way, one of my friends called." He smiled at the two; Kanderin seemed to know what was going on. Koll walked across the street and hopped on his speeder. He kicked it started, shot off, and hit the proper altitude. After a good ten minutes of biking through Corellia, he took out his commlink. Cracking it open, he rerouted a few wires and circuits, seeing if he could reverse its functionality, if only for a few seconds. He hooked his datapad to the device and turned both on.

We're in, he thought as the glow of his screen pinpointed the relative location of Ron. He saved the data and quickly undid the work he had just finished. "Kanderin, sir?" Koll asked as he activated his comm.

"Read you loud and clear, soldier. Good work, by the way," Kanderin returned over comm.

"It was nothing, sir. I'm sure you would have done the same as well. However, Ron appears to be in trouble and needs our help; I'll send the coordinates right away." Koll sent the coordinates through his datapad, hopefully to the datapad Kanderin had on the other side. "I'll see you there, sir. Koll, out." Koll then kicked his speeder into gear and shot off for the Hutt's base.

Somewhere, someone was laughing uproariously. A child cried. Two selonians struggled with their bags through the customs check, under the intense stares of the human patrons around them. A man was escorted into a back room by two guards. He didn’t look happy. A tech ran up and down the masses of people, in a rush to be somewhere. Two pilots shared smokes in the shade, away from the crowd. Such was the state of the spaceport as Arnaut walked in. He saw all of this, and yet he noticed nothing. He was still a bit tired. Leadenly, he raised his cup of caf to his mouth...and immediately spat it out cursing. He was definitely awake now, he thought bitterly, rubbing his burned lips.

A passer-by gave Arnaut a funny look. Arnaut simply smiled sheepishly and rubbed his splatter of caf into the pavement with his boot. Taking a more hesitant sip of his drink, Arnaut strolled into the spaceport proper. So began day four of his wild nuna chase. Arnaut sighed, stripped off his damp jacket, and made his way to the food court to, once again, sit by himself and get nowhere. It came as surprise, then, to find the old man from the previous day sitting there when he arrived.

“Can I...help you?” Arnaut asked, setting down his cup and draping his jacket over the back of the chair.

“I...” the man looked around, eyes darting to every corner of the empty room. He leaned in close and lowered his voice to a whisper. “I found something.” Arnaut sat down.

“Well...well, that’s...great!” More than great, in truth, but Arnaut still wanted to hear the old man out before seeing whether he should be happy or not. Three days of nothing made him skeptical of anything that arose on the fourth. It could be a trap.

The man looked around again. “Could we walk somewhere?” Arnaut nodded, and regathered his stuff.

Once back out on the streets, the old man began whispering again. Arnaut leaned over and still strained to hear him.

“Alright, I...I saw the man you showed me. He was walking down the street. I...followed him.” Arnaut glanced at the man, and he shrugged. “Discreetly,” he continued. “He didn’t see me. I was sure of it.”

Arnaut nodded, half-listening. Silently, with his other hand, Arnaut tried to signal Kroh to follow him. It was always good to have back up. On the first day, Arnaut and Kroh had worked out a crude system to communicate, using transmitters on the undersides of their chrons, just in case anything went wrong in the spaceport. This was the first time they had had to use it. Arnaut hoped Kroh remembered what it meant.

“He goes to this hotel, every day, or near to it. Not at the same time each day, but the same time depending on the day of the week.  I talked with the cook after he left. That what she says. So if today’s...Datunda, he should be there right about now.”

“Today’s Natunda,” Arnaut said evenly, stopping his walk. He took the break to look over the other end of the street, in the hopes of catching sight of Kroh. Nothing.

“Oh...well...that’s good, he’s there the same time today as he is on Datunda,” the old man said, flustered.

“Does he meet anyone there?” Arnaut said, continuing on down the street.

“No...erm, not always. Sometimes. There’s another person, sometimes I mean.”

“Who?”

“Who?” the man asked, jumping slightly. He rubbed his scalp. “Uhh...dunno. I never saw him. Anyway, here’s the place.” Arnaut whirled around, took one look at the building, and grabbed the man by the arm, dragging him into the nearby alley.

“What? What’s wrong?” he asked quickly.

“Did you see that building?” Arnaut hissed. “The entire front might as well be made glass. We could see everyone in there, and they could see us. I think my questions about this guy might be raising suspicions and the last place I need to be seen is at the hotel he frequents.” The man's eyes narrowed with the last sentence, but he spoke up again.

“There’s...a side door. Maybe that’ll work?” Arnaut looked down the alley they were in. There was a door a ways down, just one, shrouded in shadow. He couldn’t make out much else in the alley, but it looked deserted. Still...better safe then sorry.

“What are you doing?” the man asked suddenly.

“Calling in some support,” Arnaut grunted, pulling out his comlink.

“No!” the old man snapped. “I mean...he’ll be leaving soon. There’s no time.” Arnaut looked at him incredulously.

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” Arnaut said, still fiddling with the small, white cylinder.

“I can’t let you do that.” Arnaut looked up. The man was dead serious. Things were getting real bad, real quick.

“Why not?” Arnaut asked, flicking on the comlink quickly. He scanned the sidewalk across the street, hoping to get a glimpse of Kroh. Still not here. There was a cold sensation of metal pressing on the back of his head, and Arnaut went rigid. He hadn’t even heard the door open.

“Because,” the old man said simply, “of him.”

“Shit,” Arnaut muttered.

* * *

Arnaut hit the ground leadenly, coming down hard on his right shoulder. His chest and stomach hurt. They hadn’t been kind to him on the journey out. He groaned and pulled himself to his knees, the rain drenching him quickly without his coat on. A boot came down hard on his back, crushing him flat against the mud.

“No standing.” It was a hard voice, thick and gruff. No surprise, considering the size of the boot that was crushing Arnaut’s back.

“I...wasn’t...standing...just...kneeling,” Arnaut grunted.

“No kneeling.”

“Look, if it’s money you want, I have loads of money! Just...not with me. I can make you guys rich. This is not really worth killing a guy over!” Arnaut was babbling, quite purposefully. He had no intentions of ever paying these street thugs. They’d be lucky if they came out of this alive. He was just getting them off their guard.

“We don’t want your money,” the man said. “Though if you have anything on you right now, we’d be more than happy to...relieve you of it.” He laughed, a big booming roar, which was joined by two other men. None of the laughs was the laugh of the old man from the spaceport that had sold him out.

“Then...why are you doing this?” Arnaut asked. He tried to look up, maybe catch a glimpse of his captors, but all he could see was wet grass and mud.

“Because dead men tell no lies.” Arnaut’s blood ran cold. These were more than street thugs out to make a pretty penny, then. If they were worried about him talking, and Arnaut knew exactly what they'd be worried about, then they were most likely from Albatross or his associates. Like the unnamed guy Arnaut had been tracking. If that were true, which Arnaut strongly suspected it was, then that meant that that man already knew were the Wraiths were. Which meant that they no longer had ten days to sort things out. He had to get back to the city, right now. Now or never.

Arnaut had been stripped of all his weapons. All but one. They’d left his leather bracers on, for no other reason than that they’d had the time to search them properly during the short trip out of the city. They’d made a mistake, and they were about to learn from it.

“Do it,” a second voice said. Arnaut heard a click. Now or never. He rolled.

The shot went past his ear, exploding a small bit of the ground. Arnaut worked without thinking. He lashed out with his left foot, knocking the man off his feet, and brought his right fist straight for the man’s throat. His hand clenched, the pressure triggering the blade he’d hidden away to slide out of his bracer. It hit its mark. The man choked, tried to say something, and then flopped backward. Arnaut was already moving.

The next guy fired off two shots and then Arnaut was on him. He sliced, cutting through the man’s jacket, shirt, and flesh. The guy dropped his gun, howling in pain, a howl that was cut off abruptly as Arnaut shoved his thin blade through the bottom of the man’s jaw. It made it clear into the skull. The third man was firing now. Two shots popped dully on the dead man’s back. Arnaut yanked and, instead of getting his blade, got a broken stub of metal where his blade used to be. No time to retrieve it. He dropped the body, jumping backwards onto the speeder and over the other side. He jumped in, thankful that they’d left it running, and began to speed off, door open and shots pinging off the hull.

The city wasn’t far, and, soon enough, he was engulfed by its lights again. He raced through the streets, finding his way back to Ron’s apartment. Kroh’s absence was troubling. If they had Kroh, and had found Arnaut, then they probably knew where they all were staying.

Arnaut sped up to the hotel rather quicker than he would’ve liked. He slammed on the brakes, propelling himself forward in the speeder. He didn’t notice. He jumped out and ran inside, dashing up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. He knocked aside a guy, who gave him a stern look with his piercing blue-white eyes. Arnaut apologized quickly and kept running.

The door was open when he got up. He walked forward and instinctively reached for his pistol. The pistol that was no longer there. Down in the speeder or left lying on the ground in the field no doubt. He put his fists in front of him. They seemed weak and feeble, but they would have to do. He pushed his way inside, quietly.

“...and so then...Arnaut?” Kanderin turned around. “What...are you doing?” Arnaut looked at his fists, and then at the way that the squad was looking at him.

“Uh...the door was open. I...assumed the worst.”

“It was open because we only just got here. Where’s your coat? You’re soaked! And is that blood?” Arnaut followed Kanderin’s outstretched finger to his shoulder. Sure enough, there was a hole and a good deal of blood oozing out. He hadn’t even felt it but, now that it’d been pointed out, he did feel a bit dizzy. And it hurt. Like hell.

“Just...just a flesh wound,” Arnaut said waving off Kand’s hand.

“Maybe you should sit down.”

“No!” Arnaut said, the dizzy spell passing, “We need to get out of here now. Listen to me, that guy from the spaceport knows we’re here. He—” Whatever Arnaut had been trying to say was lost in the gunfire. The door exploded sending woodchips flying through the room. Arnaut dove forward, scrambling across the floor and smoke to his bed and his A280.

A hard, round cylinder flew through the door. Kanderin, nearest to it squinted at it for a second and then hastily kicked it back out through the door. It exploded just outside of the doorjamb, fracturing the walls and sending even more smoke into the air.

“Grab what you can and let’s go! Arnaut ordered, getting to his feet. He grabbed his kitbag, basically the only thing that he really owned in the room other than his rifle, and moved toward the door. The bag went to the ground; it was only clothes, he could afford it. He checked the clip on his rifle, and then gave the bag a good kick out the door, following it a split second later.

The man tried to re-aim, his first shots having uselessly broken the ground around Arnaut’s bag, but Arnaut blew him off his feet. He slid down the wall, his black bodysuit smoking and slick with blood. Arnaut moved over to the body, checking to see if there was anything of note. As he crouched down, he gasped out loud. It was the man from the stairs. He would recognize those eyes anywhere. He was carrying nothing.

“Hurry up! I don’t think he would’ve come in alone,” Arnaut hollered down the hall. The squad sprinted out, guns drawn, heading down the stairs. Ron was last, hefting two large bags of equipment and read outs.

“Good to see you made it out okay,” Arnaut said as Ron passed.

“It’ll take more than a few smugglers to take me down,” Ron grinned, already sprinting down the stairs after the rest of the squad.

Arnaut hopped in his speeder as soon as he was out. Ron, Koll, and D-Crowe followed him. The rest of the squad was, presumably, in the other speeder, already off toward the spaceport. Arnaut flipped on the speeder and sped off in that direction as well.

“Ron, you’ve been monitoring the traffic in and out of the spaceport. How many freighters are en route for Mantell that we could get on in, say, the next twenty minutes.”

“No need. Joamer has a ship, apparently. He can – take this left here – can take us. Apparently it’s not that nice of a ride,” Koll explained.

“Anything spaceworthy is good to me. Which hangar?”

OOC:

To Mantell! Everyone was back at the apartment in my post, so we're all heading to the spaceport together. Mantell begins Phase II of our mission. Be ready! It'll be fun.

Oh yeah, Datunda and Natunda are days four and five of the week, respectively. Search 'calendar' on Wookiepedia.

Joamer had walked to the engine room and engaged the core, it sprang to life and a soft hum started sounding throughout the ship.

"That's my girl, that's my good girl." He mumbled as he walked towards the bridge.

  Keying a mic as he sat down and began flipping controls he said " Welcome about the transport Si'rnty, I will be your captain for this flight. Please keep arms and legs inside the ship at all times, the weather outside is not pleasant."

"Flight control, this is the transport ship Si'rnty, requesting clearance for takeoff and departure."

  A tense moment occured then, between everyone, would they get a nice clean takeoff, or would the usual happen. Would they make a run for it, in a ship with minimal shields, and no weapons. He had his hand on the VTOL controls ready to liftoff even if they said no.

"Ship Si'rnty, clearance granted, the sky is clear, have a safe journey."

  Flipping the last few switches he engaged the VTOL jets and the ship lifted off without so much as a shudder, she rose gracefully into the sky, flipping the switch for forward flight, she gained forward momentum quickly and soon the vast blackness of space filled every view port.

Joamer set a course then punched in the data for a Ord Mantel hyperspace jump. A few long moments later the board lit up green.

"Passengers, we are now making our hyperspace jump towards Ord Mantal, While we travel the long distance there feel free to browse the galley, or watch a view holovids, I seem to remember putting a few tapes about some ship called Serenity, apparently she was a firefly class just like this vessel."

  Pulling the hyperspace levers the star field expanded, and the ship jumped towards the Wraiths new target.

the flight was quiet, too quiet D thought as he left the apartment to go visit Kymeri. Kymeri is a well known thief in New Mantell and D was worried about that bounty as he checked to make sure he wasn’t being followed. As he walked he lifted about five hundred credits off passer-by as he headed for Kymeri’s hangout at the New Mantell cantina. He sat down across from Kymeri and ordered an ale. “Kymeri, long time no see.” D said as he sipped his ale.

“Crowe” Kymeri said, “I thought you were dead after that incident with Bernard.” “Well, I’m not, he just kicked me out he didn’t kill me.” D said as he pulled out his sabacc deck. How about a game? If I win you tell me what I want to know, if you win, I give you all the credits I have in my pocket” D asked. “Sure” ,said Kymeri, who was a sucker for sabacc. As they played, D made sure he wasn’t being watched.

It was down to the last hand and D was confident he would win, because Kymeri was an awful sabacc player. After he won Kymeri said, “What the hell do you want to know?” “Okay, do you know the whereabouts of a man named Villman?” D asked. “No I don’t, but Yras the Hutt should know, he knows all the scum in New Mantell.” “Thanks Kymeri, I owe you one.” D downed the rest of his ale and left the cantina.

As he was walking back to the apartment he realized he was being followed, and by the looks of the guy he was a bounty hunter. D readied his blaster and headed for an alley. The bounty hunter followed him and pulled his blaster out and started firing at D. D dove behind a dumpster and started shooting at the bounty hunter. He realized that he was outnumbered and pulled out his comlink. “Help here, I’m in an alley about 5 blocks from the New Mantell cantina. And I have about 5 bounty hunters shooting at me I can’t hold them off for long!” D said into his comlink. He took out the heavy blasters he had lifted off a couple of civilians and started firing at the bounty hunters. [/i]I hope my message got through[i] D thought.

Somehow, Kanderin expected the facility to be empty. One tiny speck of hope in the back of his mind had somehow forced itself forward, to the point where he actually believed not a soul would inhabit the caverns. However, the sound of some sort of mechanised vehicle and quiet conversation soon swept up the speck.

He turned to Koll, and without having to say another word to him, he nodded and snuck over to the corner, glancing one eye around it. He raised two fingers behind himself, mixd in with a few other handsigns.

"Two people to our right. They look like scientists, neither are armed but they are stood very close to an alarm" Kanderin whispered, just loud enough so that Arnaut could hear him.

"You could pick all that up just through some strange handsigns he did?"

"Yeah, it's something I started experimenting on with the rest of the squad. Had too much free time on my hands" Kanderin sighed.

"You always seem to" Arnaut smiled, crouching beside Koll and having a look himself. The rest of the squad huddled in closely together as well.

"Seems like they're looking at something" Koll whispered

"Whatever it is, it's unlikely to be good" Crowe replied.

"Quiet, they're coming our way"

Kanderin forcibly pushed his left arm out, shoving all the wraiths against the wall. He joined just behind Koll, for some reason deciding to breathe in and hold his stomach tight. He wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to achieve. The odds of two scientists wandering past and not noticing a squad leaning against a wall like statues, was unlikely. Even more unlikely was that Kanderin sucking his gut in would actually change those odds. He looked across at Arnaut, and he nodded back. That was all the permission he needed, so he tapped D'Har on the shoulder and whispered a few words in his ear.

"Shouldn't be long now until they're fully grown" One of the men smiled, ticking something on a clipboard and looking across to the other man.

"I hope so, this batch are really taking their time" The other yawned.

"Stop complaining, word is there has been some changes to their structure for the new batch"

"What, they've been made even stronger?" The man asked

"Something like tha.."

The man was silenced by a blow to his neck, which instantly caused his body to freeze and collapse to the ground. The other man jumped back, pulling a pistol from underneath his jacket. Kanderin's left heel kicked it from his hand and sent it clattering to the ground. The man looked around to Kanderin's foot, which had stopped in mid-air about two feet past the impact, and barely has time to blink before it came back towards him, hitting him square in the neck and dropping him where he stood.

"You guys are getting sloppy, that took forever" Arnaut sighed.

"Just shut up ad help us move them out of sight, this guy weighs a ton" Kanderin grunted, doing his best to lift the podgy shorter man.

They settled on hiding them in a store cupboard further down the hall, before carrying on down to where the men were talking earlier. As they feared, the things they were talking about, were the exact same creatures that had nearly ripped them to pieces before. They were floating in what appeared to be a stream of water, reaching from the ground, to about thirty metres up in the air where the tube took a sharp turn to the right and carried on down the passage. Encased in some kind of green goo, were slightly less matured versions. Like the men had said, they were nearly ready to hatch, their eyes were beginning to flicker. All the more reason to get in and out quickly.

"Alright, I don't want to spend any more time here then we have to. Let's find anything of use here and be out, quickly" Arnaut waved them onwards, but was already half way around the next corner. He seemed to be in a hurry, but Kanderin didn't blame him. He was getting the shivers himself.

OOC:

Alright, feel free to run wild with the complex. I'm not really fussy with what it looks like, nor what it is exactly they're doing. They're main purpose is growing the creepy creature things, so if you feel the need to start writing about watching them in some training exercises, go for it. My only command right now is first of all, not to go wild on information leading us to god knows where, and secondly, let's not have the creatures attacking us just yet. Wink wink

"Ron, get on the computer terminal and see if you can dig anything useful up. And don't get lax and leave any holes through which we can spotted" Arnaut replied.

"And someone do something with these bodies" Kanderin added.

"Isn't that normally your job?" D'Har smiled.

"Normally, but I'm having problems with my comlink"

Arnaut looked across to Kand, who was crouched in the corner, pressing buttons on it rapidly.

"What's up with it?" He asked

"It's like someone is trying to get in touch. The signals pretty patchy though, and this number is encoded, it can't be anyone back from home, it's too early for them to of broken the code" Kanderin replied, grimacing as he pressed some more buttons. "Think I should answer it?"

Arnaut looked across at the rest of the squad, who all looked worried. They nodded however, somehow they're worry for their wellbeing was second best to the intrigue of the call. Arnaut turned back to Kand and nodded, and before long the call was answered and put on loud.

"Who's this?" Kanderin spoke, but manipulating his voice into an accent the others hadn't met before.

"More importantly, who's this" The voice replying sounded feminine, taking Kanderin aback slightly.

"Xephilus Sekine"

"Ah good, I got it right. And you can cut the crap Kand, I know it's you"

"What?" Kanderin shouted into the comlink "Who is this?!"

"This is Private First Class Helena Leucine"

The name sent shivers running down Kanderin's spine. It had been at least four years since he'd heard that name. The girl that worked in the coffee shop on Tatooine. His friends were quite good friends with her parents, but they had only personally met a few times. She was quite shy, a stark difference from Kanderin, who was still fresh faced and mouthy. Two things however didn't make sense. First of all, the fact she's now a soldier, and secondly, why she wanted him. Not to mention how she managed to get the number.

"I can tell by the silence you're surprised, so I'll keep this brief. I know you're in a chemical lab underneath a store, but I don't know what you're doing yet. Mind if I meet up with you? We need to talk"

"This sounds dodgy Kand..." Arnaut whispered

Kanderin looked up at him, before gulping and speaking again.

"You know where it is right? I'll meet you at the entrance"

He cut off the comlink and stood back up. Ron had finished with the computer terminal a while back, and now the squad were gathered in a semi circle around Kanderin.

"If this i this is a trap, they already know where we are so it doesn't help anything denying it. You guys keep moving through the complex, and find what you can. I'll go alone to meet her. They only know that I'm here, not that any of you are here. Worst case scenario is its a trap, I'm arrested and I'll be relying on you guys to prove I'm innocent. If it's not, Il be in touch" Kanderin took a large gasp of breath after he has finished.

"You sure about this Kand?" Koll asked.

"There's no other choice. Rather one man goes down then the entire squad"

Arnaut nodded.

"Kand's right. We'll keep moving, and Kand we'll see you later"

Arnaut gave the go ahead for the squad to move out, and they filed through the door one by one. Kanderin turned out through the other door, but paused.

"Oh and guys. If I don't make it back, it's been a pleasure working with you"

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

It didn't take long before footsteps appeared on the stairway down to the complex. Kanderin stood up from the ground, pulling his top back from his arm. The electrostaff was still there, holstered invisibly under his arm. He hoped he wouldn't have to use it.

"Long time no see Kand"

The woman was alone, walking down the stairs. A purple streak flashed through her hair as she emerged from the light, which faded back into a dark midnight black. She brushed her hair back from her face, revealing deep hazel eyes. She was quite short, but slim. It was Helena alright, but she appeared unarmed.

"What are you doing here?" Kanderin asked

"I came here to find out the truth" She stopped walking when she arrived less than a half metre away from him. She suddenly seemed angry. "Are you really a traitor? Tell me the truth"

Kanderins eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that to be her first question. Personally he was hoping for something slightly more friendly. He recovered his composure, looked her straight in the eyes, and answered.

"No. I'm here to clear my name"

Helena smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Then in that case, I'm here to offer my services to Wraith.

RK felt odd. This was a different world for him, he usually the one looking down the scope of the rifle; not being on the end that would get him killed. After all maybe this would give him an upper hand, maybe he could get inside the hunters minds and keep alive better, or get rid of them entirely. What are you thinking? You don't have any sort of weapon on you.

“Hey Arnaut, I'm going to take a walk.” RK didn't even wait for a reply, he was to shook up, He  just needed to clear his head. Last time he had seen a bounty list was in his Katarn armor visor, and he wasn't on it.

In this line of work, there is no safety zone, you either kill your prey first or be killed. his father used to tell him, every single time his father knew where he was going that's the first thing that would be said before goodbye. Father, I know I let you down, but if only you could see me now.

He knew he would get over this,but he didn't know how soon. He hated not being the downer of the group, normally he was the one cracking jokes, not the one worrying about what was going to be around every turn.

RK turned the corner thought, something changed. He ran into something hard, what he didn't know but it was hard. He struggled to get back up on his feet, the ground was cold and hard; specially since it  was all metal. 

“Ow, what you do that for?” a young woman said.

“oh, I'm sorry ma'am, I wasn't paying attention.” RK stood up and held out his hand.

“It's alright.” She took his hand and RK pulled her up. She was beautiful; she had blond hair with brown highlights. The first thing RK noticed however was her blue eyes, they were bright blue, piercing bright blue.

“I'm sorry, I've had a rough... couple of weeks, so in other words I'm not feeling myself.”

“Oh that's alright, I know the feeling.” She replied, she kept her face down.

“Well, I better get going. My boss will be worried if I stay out any longer.”

“Yea, it was nice meeting you.”  She didn't even say goodbye, she just ran off when she saw the opportunity.

RK thought it was peculiar, whoever she was she was acting really nervous. Just get back to base RK, where all those monster's are... Monsters, everybody loves monsters.

Helena ran as fast as she could, making sure she was still close to Kanderin. After all, she didn’t know where she was going. Even if she did have a good sense of direction, this place was like a maze in the mid summer heat. Totally impossible to keep track on where you were going.

“Got hold of Arnaut yet?” Kanderin asked.

“Not yet, keep running” Helena panted, slowly losing hope on actually finding them.

Suddenly, the whole complex echoed with the sound of a loud high pitched screech. Both Helena and Kanderin stopped in their tracks. They tried to make out where the fearful screech came from.

It didn’t sound close, but they couldn’t be too sure. Helena reached into her pack for some water when suddenly, the ground started to move. It wasn’t a startling movement, just as if something heavy had been dropped on the metal.

“W-What was that?” Helena stuttered.

There was no reply, this frightened Helena further. She turned around to find Kanderin in a fighting stance, facing what looked to be a giant spider. It looked about seven feet tall, it didn’t look fully grown, but it was big enough to creep Helena out. She’d not seen one before. She stared into its face, the teeth scared her the most, they were sharp, V-shaped and there seemed to be many rows of them.

“Kand, are you okay?” Helena shouted, just to be heard of the high pitched screeching.

“Ah! Yeah, I’m fine, just do me a favour, keep trying to get the others, we really need to pin point where they are”

Helena nodded and stepped back out of the way and slipped round the corner, continuing to find a connection that actually allowed her to speak to them.

Meanwhile, Kanderin took a deep breath as he pulled out his electrostaff.

“I’m so sorry, but I have no choice”

Kanderin turned on the electrostaff, the bright glow from the electricity caused the creature to back up, and Kanderin moved forward as the creature did so. It back up into a corner and covered its face with its enormous legs. It seemed scared, not stunned, just scared.  He slowly walked towards it, it was a baby after all, and maybe Kand shouldn’t have been that harsh in it.

Kanderin slowly walked towards it, keeping an eye on it in case it decided to get up. He slowly reached his hand up it to smooth it on the nose, as he did so, it released its arms from its face to relax in Kanderin’s company. 

“Kand! I got them; they’re just down the corridor, about 6 rooms down and to the left”

“Thank god for that!”

They both picked up their stuff and ran as fast as they could down to meet the others.

Evil. That's all they were. They had no other purpose than to kill, at least that's the impression RK had been given after the video he had seen. Why would anyone create such a thing?, or breed such a thing. It was one of those things that just didn't make sense.

Their red eyes pierced through him, giving him a sense of what true fear felt like. Even their sharp claw like arm were a site to behold, one swipe from them would have you sprawled across the ground all over the place; wishing you hadn't gotten up in the morning. There so much that scientists could be doing, but why this? What struck him the hardest was there green skin, it was hideous. The whole thing was like staring into death.

“Beautiful creature aren't they?” The sound of boots clanking against the metal platform came up behind RK, followed by a man's voice; it was shrill, but comforting.

“well, I wouldn't go that far, 'course you know to each his own.” RK was trying to be sarcastic, but he had never seen the creatures up close, and part of him still shook in fear.

“I guess your right, but what I would like to know is what you are doing here, this isn't exactly a petting zoo.” The man said. He was a scientist, the white robe gave it away.

“Ah, I'm a big fan of nature, specially abominations, you know the ugly ones in there.” RK grinned.

“That's your opinion, to us they are delicate creatures.” His eye brows furrowed, RK wasn't fooling him.

“Excuse me, but could I ask you a few questions?”

“You may, but before you ask me my name, since that would be awkward I am, Ti Nital.” Ti said, his voice was getting a little antsy.

“Ryan Karrax, now that that's out of the way; first question, why?”

“I'm sorry but could you rephrase the question?”

“For a scientist your not that smart, why where they created?”

“Oh, that's quite simple, but first would you kindly follow me.” Ti turned and started walking away. RK barely knew the man, and he didn't have a good feeling about him, but he wanted answers.

TI lead RK down a hallway towards a dimly lit room. AS they drew closer though the hallway itself started to close in, and get dimmer. “Is this normal?” Ti didn't reply, he just kept walking.

When they got to the end of the hallway TI reached into his pocket and pulled out a small key card, he slipped it into the lock on the wall and waited for a sound Hisss before opening the door and ushering RK in.

“I know who you are, and I know what your here for.” Ti said, keeping his hand in his pocket.

This is going well. “Well, not everyone's a secret agent.”

“Listen carefully, I can't promise the quality of the creature, but I do know one thing they will do what they are meant to do.”

What the hell is this guy talking, about... RK was confused, but it didn't take long for him to catch on. “Ah, that's fine, but I don't see why you have to hold me here.”

“Because this isn't something you talk about out in the open.” Ti was shaking from head to toe.

“I understand.”

“Sorry, that we were so late on getting the last batch done.”

RK sat down. It was getting hard on him standing. He hadn't expected to be mistaken for the order of these creatures, he just wanted to check them out, and maybe figure out why they had been created. Well, this just made my plan a whole lot easier. “That is fine, but may I ask, what are the precisely made for?”

“Killing, cold-blooded killers. That's what they are programmed for.”

“With all due respect they are not robots.”

“Understood.”

“Now, this may sound odd, but which one of my bosses ordered them?”

“I believe the name was Villeman, and not odd at all.” Ti took a file out of the cabinet in the corner of the room and threw it to RK, who caught it almost spilling half the papers out.

“What's this?”

“Everything you need to know, the genetic engineering and everything else you need to know.”

“This is all well and good, but...”

“Listen, I have to be at a meeting in just a little bit, I would take you on a tour but there is no time. It was nice chatting with you. I must be going. They will be shipped out tonight.” Ti walked away, still shaking and having a difficult time standing.

Well that was odd, and so was this conversation it was kinda sudden. I shouldn't worry about it I have valuable information, might as well get it back to Arnaut.

Drell, chief medical officer, and official anatomical progression team-lead, was in trouble. He knew he was in trouble his friend, Gellard, from the other end of the room knew he was in trouble, and the creature ready to jump out of it’s test tube next to Drell sure as hell knew he was in trouble. There was only one option: run.

Drell ran. With one arm fishing through his labcoat for his rarely used blaster, and his bundled stack of notes secured under the other arm, he dashed as fast as he could toward the emergency lockdown seal. Klaxons were wailing, lights were flashing, and something very, very bad was happening. There was a snap-hiss, and, not breaking stride, Drell turned to find the creature jumping down into the space he’d just evacuated. The scientist lost control of his bowels.

Running faster than he thought possible, Drell smacked headlong into Gellard. The pair tumbled in a flurry of limbs behind the blast door and into the darkness of the sealed chamber.

“Safe, safe, you’re safe now.” Gellard shoved Drell off of him and onto the metal grillwork of the floor.

“Safe?” Drell asked. “With those things loose, noone is safe. I can’t even begin to comprehend how we’re going to get them back in their chambers.” He shook his head sadly. “We might have to kill them. All of them. And after all the work we put into growing them.”

“Well, we might be able to just incapacitate them. Move them back into their cells and all...” Gellard’s eyes drifted over to the door. “The door!” The two scientists lunged for it, Drell getting to it first. He pulled it closed and twisted the lock, sealing the other room off for good.

“That...was a close one,” Drell said, sliding down to the ground. He was breathing hard and his legs felt like jelly. He hadn’t had to run like that in...well, a very long time. He shouldn’t have had to run like that. He should’ve remembered the notes in the first place. He looked down at the notes, the bundle of hastily tied together papers resting innocently on the ground. They contained everything, all the progress that had been made in the last three months with the creatures’...improvements. The creatures were an ever improving, ever changing experiment, the likes of which Drell had never worked on before the project. And such a project it was! Test labs and holding pens on dozens of worlds, thousands of scientists spreading all the way from the Vast Imperial realm to almost the southern fringe of New Republic space, the greatest bio-engineers and chemists the galaxy had to offer all working in concert.  It was exhilarating, if often extremely dangerous, work, knowing that he was part of such an immense undertaking.

Gellard snatched up the notes, seeing that Drell was lost in his own thoughts, and thumbed through them idly, making sure everything was there.

“You forgot the metabolic papers, you know,” he said idly. “It’s been increased two-fold since the—” Drell cut him off with a dismissive wave of the hand.

“We...have those backed up,” he said, still breathing heavily. “Plus... that stuff on the keratin proteins...that was much more important. Go...go take that over to Samson, I’m sure he’s just dying to know that they made it out okay. I’ll...I’ll catch up.”

“Sure you’re okay?” Gellard asked, looking down at his friend. Drell waved his hand again.

“Yeah, yeah....fine. Just...just go,” Drell said. Gellard nodded and jogged off, down the hallway, leaving Drell alone in the room.

Drell was tired, and shaking. Slowly, he tried to push himself to his feet, but collapsed back down. Too much running. So tired. Maybe...maybe he’d just rest a bit. He closed his eyes, savoring the peace and quiet. Just a few seconds, then he’d be gone.

There was a scratching noise, and Drell’s eyes shot open. The door? Could one of the creatures be trying to get in? He pressed his ear to the metal and listened, waiting for the noise to come again. It did, but not from outside. With a terrible sense of foreboding, his eyes looked up at the ceiling, straight into hell’s jaws.

He had only the time to utter one small, high-pitched shriek before the creature dropped down and neatly bit off his head.




About a hundred meters down the hall, bathed in the crimson glow of the emergency lighting, Gellard suddenly turned. He’d been sure he’d heard a scream, Drell’s scream. And...a crunching noise. He drew his pistol.

“Drell?” he yelled down the length of the darkened hallway. There was no reply. “Drell!? This isn’t funny!” Still no answer. Suddenly, he felt very, very alone. A chill washed over him, and, before he knew what he was doing, he had reached the door to the emergency lockdown command center. His hands groped blindly, trying to find the keypad, but his eyes were concentrated on the end of the hall. A shadow moved, not at all a human one, and Gellard’s heart seized with fear. Finally his hands found the pad, and, as quick as he could, he turned and typed in the code. The door slid opened, and Gellard literally hurled himself in, closing the door as quickly as he had enetered. None too soon for, not a second after it closed, there was a hard impact on the other side followed by the baleful keen of one of the creatures.

In that moment, Gellard knew that Drell was dead. His oldest, dearest friend was dead. The words didn’t seem to sink in, and he stood there numbly, listening to the creature attack the door.

“Gellard. Gellard!” It was Samson, Gellard’s direct superior, charging up the steps of the command center towards Gellard and the door.

“What happened? What’s one of those creatures doing down here?” Samson yelled, panic starting to grip him. Both his arms, the organic and the mettallic one, waved over Gellard’s head. “Where’s Drell!?” At the mention of his friend’s name, Gellard looked up.

“D-dead,” he said. “Dead, creature killed him. Must’ve...must’ve gotten in when we left the door open.”

“You left the door open!?” Samson roared.

“It was just for a second! Only a second and...he’s...he’s dead! He’s dead!” Gellard began to sob, large drops streaming down his face and dampening the top of his white coat.

“Alright, someone get up here and sit Gellard down. Eakins, Jar! Grab those rifles and get up here! I don’t want this making it past the door. Leela? See if you can raise the other rooms, make sure they are on full lockdown. Make sure no other creatures made it inside. And see what you can do about those damned alarms!”

Gellard heard Samson’s orders as he shouted them without really comprehending. Someone came over, gently grabbing Gellard by the sleeve, and led him down to one of the cushioned couched in the center of the room.

The command center wasn’t very large, but, with the creature outside one door, and the other doors sealed off, it felt even smaller. It was circular, with computer terminals lining its walls with the occasional break for a door, and a myriad of different pipes criss-crossing over the ceiling. The center of the room was depressed, a flight of stairs leading to a circular meeting area with a holoprojector at its center. Currently, it displayed the entire underlevels of the lab, showing which rooms were secure and which, like the hallway outside the command center, were not. Gellard stared at the display thickly, still in shock. Dead, dead, dead, dead, DEAD. Sirens blared loudly, punctuating his thoughts.

The door dented inwards, just a little bit. It wasn’t as sturdy as the other doors, but it should’ve been holding. Worried glances were exchanged between scientists as they all wondered the same thing: had they finally gone too far with the creatures? Made them too strong?

The door pressed inward again, the dent plain for all to see. Everyone jumped back to their tasks with renewed vigor. “Eakins, Jar, keep those rifles steady. Don’t let that thing in alive. Ren, unlock the doors at the other end of the room. I want to have a place to escape to if this thing does get in here.” From the look of the door, there didn’t seem to be much doubt of that any more. “Aral, get yourself a rifle and get near the door as well. Leela, those blasted sirens are still on!”

Everyone acknowledged his orders as soon as he began giving him, and the entire command center was a flurry of activity. Gellard was the only one unmoving, sitting rigidly firm in his chair with the same faraway look he’d had for the past seven minutes. Seven minutes? Had Drell only been dead for that long? It seemed like ages. Dead. Drell was dead. Drell had been dead for ages? Drell...dead. Dead, dead, dead.

The sirens were still blaring, carrying away thoughts, dreams, hopes, memories...when they shut off, it seemed like part of Gellard shut off with them. He looked around, confused by the lack of noise, suddenly more aware of his surroundings.

“Thank you! Frigging finally! Now, if we can just...try...” Samson trailed off as he heard the noise from the ceiling. He looked up and, upon seeing the dented path the creature had made through the air conditioning chute, pulled out his gun, motioning for everyone to do the same. There was a metallic clang and another dent formed. As one, all twelve scientists in the room, with the exception of Gellard opened fire.  They were too late.

The creature lashed outwards with its long talons, shearing the chute from the ceiling and dropping both to the ground. It jumped as it fell, taking out Eakins first. It’s blades scissored the man’s neck, slicing off his head in one quick motion. Fire drizzled from the other scientists who weren’t fleeing, but the creature was too fast and they were too untrained. The entire security detail was hundreds of feet away through at least five sealed doors. They’d never make it.

They tried anyway. Ren held the door open as many of the scientists in the room fled, dropping their weapons and work to run. Samson roared at them as they left, his mechanical arm shaking at them angrily.

“Yellow-bellied bastards! I’d kill you myself! Kill you all!” He turned just in time to see the creature lunging at him. Time seemed to slow as Samson hurled himself to the side. Gellard saw it all clearly. Samson, his right arm braced to catch his fall, his organic, left arm firing his entire pistol clip at the . The creature, stretched through the air, eyes deadened slits of light beneath the skull plates. It raised a talon, almost lazily, and tore off Samson'’ arm at the elbow, taking the gun with it.

Samson screamed, landing heavily, blood leaking from his missing appendage. He screamed all the louder, his face contorted in a mask of pain and hatred. He walked over to the creature who was clearly wondering why Samson was not underneath its hooves, and how he’d ended up beside it. Samson gave it no time to recover and swung his mechanical fist around hard, connecting with the creature’s jaw and making it stumble back a bit. He smiled sadistically, raising his cybernetic fist for another hit. It never landed.

The creature spun, faster than Gellard’s eyes could track, and impaled Samson on its outstretched talon. Samson’s smile slid from his face as he coughed up a bit of blood onto the floor and slowly went limp in the creature’s embrace.

Gellard ran, his feet suddenly taking on a life of their own and propelling him toward the door. The door was closed, though, Ren having the foresight to at least cover the other scientists’ escape. Gellard looked around hopelessly, before spotting the bloodied form of Samson still on the ground. He rushed over to the corpse, quickly stripping it of the keycards. The creature was busy on the other side of the room eviscerating one of the few scientists still left in the room.

Gellard carefulyl made his way to the nearest station, where the lockdown emergency override sat. He flipped the hatch open, stuck in the keycard and pressed the button. He watched on with elation as all the doors in the room unlocked and slid open. Not only all the doors in the room, all the doors anywhere underground. Now he would be safe forever.

Forever for Gellard lasted all of about three seconds. The creature lunged and tore Gellard limb from limb as he turned away from the computer, his blood splattering over the control panel. With no one left alive in the room, it darted down the nearest hallway, it’s heightened senses already picking up the smell of other humans. The slaughter began.




Up, above the supposedly secure lock-down area, all the Wraiths could hear was screaming. Lots of screaming. Doors around the entire main facility had simultaneously opened, quite unexpectedly, and the creatures had ran into them. Arnaut assumed that’s where all the scientists had fled to. They were in some deep trouble now, he thought as the last creature sprinted through a nearby doorway. The lab suddenly seemed very quiet.

“Alright,” Arnaut whispered to the squad, “I don’t know how long the creatures will be preoccupied with those scientists, but it won’t be too long. Let’s just...find a way out of here.”

“What about that?” Kanderin said, pointing to a rather large blast door that had opened with all the others. Behind it was a sort of boarding ramp onto a trolley, of sorts. The electric rail the trolley sat on disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.

“Wonder where it leads,” Kanderin mused. “But wherever that is, it seems to be far from here. And it’s as good a choice as any.” Arnaut stared at the small, metal cab and wondered where it would take them, if there were any creatures waiting on the other side. But Kanderin was right: it was as good a choice as any. They certainly couldn’t risk going back to the surface; the creatures would definitely be done with their scientist-meals by the time the Wraiths found the door again.

“Let’s go.”

OOC:

Trolley! Yay! There’s a dark tunnel, we’re in a fully enclosed box...thing...that rides on an electric rail through the darkness. It’s quite a few miles; we’ll end up right underneath the Bounty Hunter’s Guildhall, which is an immensely large building full of...bad people. Be ready. The end is nigh!

Hrn, kinda longer than I'd hoped for...