Lucky tossed and turned in the king-sized bed she shared with Alan, they had tied the knot two weeks earlier and she didn't regret it. She was actually happier now that she was married.

Unable to find sleep, she stared at the ceiling and wondered why she couldn't sleep when her data pad buzzed and it caught her attention.Leaning over, she picked the device off of her nightstand and felt Alan turn on his side. while she was reading the display, she heard him whisper "What is it honey?" Turning he head so that their eyes met, she told him that Kami wanted to see her right away. "Go back to sleep, I'll contact you if it's anything urgent, okay?" Kissing him lightly on the cheek as his eyes closed, she stepped into the refresher for a minute , got dressed and walked across the Stormtrooper Corps sector towards the cluster of barracks that Storm Platoon occupied.

Stepping inside the building, she walked swiftly towards her Former PC's office. She knocked and waited for Kami's voice inviting her inside before opening the door.

"Ah, good morning Lucky, my apologies for waking you at such an early hour."

Standing at attention Lucky looked her new PC in the eyes and simply replied "It's nothing, ma'am."

"Lucky, please, no need for formalities here. Now stop looking so stiff, relax and have a seat." Doing as she was told, she sat in the chair opposite Kami's desk and waited patiently for Kami to speak.

"Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

She watched as Kami poured strong, black coffee into two large mugs. She took one and handed the other to Lucky before sitting behind her desk.

"There's a matter we have to attend to. I think your squad is the better for this mission. Do you remember Abregado-rae?"

A look of surprise crossed the young Squad Leader's face as she nodded, unable to say a word.

"The people there have been up to no good lately- well, more so than the usual. Deep in an underground network of mines, passages and such they've been fabricating detonators for nuclear weapons and supplying these detonators to the people of Cepany. One of our sources has seen cargo ships shuttling back and forth between planets. I'd like you and your squad to go to Abregado-rae and do a bit of surveillance/infiltration. Depending on the situation, once it is properly assessed, a proper course of action will be taken. To decide on this course of action, I'd like to receive daily reports from you once you get there. understood?"

"Yes."

"Good, now go wake up your squad. Meet up at the shuttle bay in three hors. Oh, and all of you eat a hearty meal, it may be the best food you eat for the next few weeks to come. Dismissed!"

As she turned away and started to walk out the door, she heard Kami her name, not her Call sign, but her real name.

"Celine."

She turned around slowly and faced the older woman. "Congratulations, you and Alan make a great couple."

Smiling,she thanked Kami and walked down the hall. As she did so, she took out her Karoushi Personal Datapad and sent Alan a message.

Sweety, will you meet me in the Briefing Room in the Paladin barracks please? We now have a mission on our hands. We depart in three hours. Don't pack anything yet, we'll do that after the briefing.

After having sent out that message, she took out the data pad issued to her by the Corps and sent out a different message to the rest of her squad.

All Troopers meet up in the briefing room in half an hour. Let's get moving people!

Arriving at the briefing room, she got everything set up for the eventual arrival of the squad. She got a small presentation ready and made sure there was plenty of strong, hot coffee in the coffee machine.

Alan was the first to arrive, fully dressed in uniform. He nodded in greeting, grabbed of coffee and took a seat at the table.

They both had a lot in common including their professionalism. When hey weren't on vacation or weren't working on something important in the barracks or with the squad on Tadath, they were all business.

Twenty minutes later, everyone seated around the long table, coffee in hand and some a little bleary-eyes.

"Everyone's a few minutes early, I like that. alright, let's get down to business. Everyone listen up, I spoke with Kami a half hour ago and we now have a very important mission on our hands."

Looking around the table, she saw that she had everyone's attention.

"Abregado-rae and Cepany have joined forces some weapons containing nuclear technology. Our current objective is to get to Abregado-rae and do a bit of infiltration and surveillance to gain information. This information will determine further course of action. Any questions?"

Private First class Lennik stood up and asked "When are we leaving?"

"Two and a half hours. Pack some clothing and a few weapons in a travel bag. Make sure you have your A3 Comlinks with you at all times. We'll be spending some time underground in mines, caves and such so let's bring appropriate weapons. In a separate bag , put in your armor , squad equipment and a few personal weapons. Those will be put in crates for safekeeping in case we are to go to Cepany. And please do take the time to eat a hearty breakfast before before leaving. Dismissed!"

As everyone left the room, she put everything away and was the last one to leave. She locked up and went back to their Luxury Condo to pack her things.

OOC:

Alright guys, start posting. If you want any information on Abregado-rae, here's a link that should help:

Abregado-rae

Will work on finiding infos for Cepany if you guys want it.

As Lucky walked to their Condo, thoughts were constantly roiling in her head. What will we find there? Is this a trap? How long will we have to stay there? How many allies do we have over there?

She took out her key and unlocked the door. When she walk din, she heard movement on the second floor. Must be Alan packing As she walked up the stairs the sounds got louder and once she reached the master bedroom, her thoughts were confirmed.

Alan had what looked like a gm bag on the bed and was putting in clothes and a few more essential items from his dresser into the bag. The floor creaked under her feet as she walked into the room and he turned around with a smile on his face. "You going to get your stuff ready?'

"Yeah." She said in a slightly distracted tone as she moved towards her dresser. As she was packing her clothing, a few toiletries and some of her few trusty weapons she would bring, the two of them made small talk and her tenseness gradually receded as she relaxed.

Their bags with their armor were in a special hidden closet on the ground level of the Condo and she went to them, took them out and accessed a secret room where she put all of their firearms, grenades and everything else.

Since Alan had only been transferred to her squad a very short while ago, he had not gotten the chance to get the Black Shock Trooper armor the rest of the squad had, so she opened his bag, took out his Standard Armor and replaced t with the suit that had been refurbished once Sam had left and had been custom-fitted for Alan. She put the shiny black armor in the special bag, but she checked to make sure it was the right one by locating the ASL Insignia on the left shoulder of the armor.

Going back into the room, she pressed a button and soft, blue light filled the small room as their arsenal was revealed. The room was separated into two sections, one side had all of Alan's possessions and the other had hers. Soon, she would have to make extra shelves or build another underground room if they were to acquire anymore items from the store.

Picking out her tools, she put them in the compartments for weapons in a pouch located on the bag for the armor and zipped it up.

Moving to the kitchen, she got out a few pans from the cupboards and used cooking oil on them before turning on the stove and hearing the familiar sizzle of the cooking oil warming up. Moving to the fridge, she got out sausages, eggs, orange juice and a few vegetables and chopped the sausages and vegetables quickly before putting the sausages in one pan and cracking the eggs and making scrambled eggs in the other. Soon, the smell of cooking food filled the kitchen and she took out two plates, waiting for Alan to come down.

Two minutes later, he came down the stairs with his bag in hand and went into the Armory to get his equipment ready. A short while later, the both of them were sitting around the table, enjoying the hot breakfast.

Once she had finished eating, she looked at her watch and saw that there was only an hour left before departure. "We've got to get going" she said as she put the dishes in the sink. Alan followed suit and asked ol' Betty to do the dishes because they were a little short on time.

As the droid got to work, they put their bags on a cart and wheeled it out of their home towards the shuttle bay. Twenty minutes later, they were slowly going up the ramp with their things, took the lighter bag off the cart to carry to their seats and put the cart with the heavier bags into the crates in the cargo bay.

Having finished that, Lucky grabbed her bag, went to sit in one of the front seats, Alan following and sitting beside her and waited patiently for the rest of the squad to arrive.

Kyrus had left the briefing still feeling tired. For some reason he had been feeling tired recently. He was hardly exerting himself throughout the past couple of days. That is of course, not counting the missions. He would often come home to his empty apartment save for his little T3 droid, and the occasional beep from his datapad. Although Kyrus had recently purchased a PAC20 Visual Wrist Com, so there wasn't much need for his old datapad anymore.

Thus he found himself sitting on his couch, watching a cheap holodrama yet again. After watching a few minutes of it, he turned it off and went to his closet.

Kyrus pulled out from an old backpack, and propped it open against his bed as he collected the things he would need for his next mission. He brought a few of his knifes, including the twin Ryyk blades, which slid these into their sheaths behind his back on his Tusken Raider robes.  He also went through his drawers and brought some extra change of clothes. Quickly filing through the fridge, he found some ration packs and stuffed them into his bag.

When he was satisfied with his pack, he then proceeded to pull out another bag, with which he put his black Shock Trooper armor and assault rifle.

Grabing the two bags, he left to meet up with the rest of Paladin at the hanger bay.

*********

"Morning." Kyrus said as he approached the hanger, only to find Lucky and Alan merrily chatting away. They turned their attention towards him and greeted him.

"Ma'am, Sir, if I may speak freely."

"You may," Lucky replied, although they both new neither of them cared much about formalities. Ohh the masquerade of pleasantries that makes conversations so much more intriguing.Kyrus mused to himself.

"Congratulations to you both. I just heard the good news." Kyrus gestured at them, as he sat down at on a bench across from them.

Lucky and Alan smilled at each other briefly before they answered. "Thank you, Kyrus."

Kyrus slumped on the bench and quietly dozed off, leaving the two to resume their previous conversation.

Alan glanced over at Lennik and smiled as the ship took off.  He understood all too well what was going throulgh the kid's mind.  He had served with the army for a long time and he still relished the kill.

He knew these infiltration missions could be boring to a new recruit but he hoped that once they knew about what was going on then High Command would give them the green light to put an end to it, by force.  Alan patted his blaster and thought to himself don't worry, you'll get to see some action when the time is right.

Alan looked over and noticed that Lennik had decided to drift off to sleep.  Alan had been happy when Rizzit had assigned him to Paladin squad.

As Drill Instructor, Alan had helped Lennik through his academy days and was surprised with the kid's eagerness.  He'll do well thought Alan, although he was still going to keep tabs on him, too many eager troopers had gotten injured or killed because of their greeness and Alan wasn't about to let that happen to Lennik or any other member of Paladin for that matter.

Sitting in the shuttle, Alan turned his attention to Lucky and they started discussing the mission, dissecting into what they would do when they landed and how best to proceed.

Despite their marriage, they were totally professional and once the mission had begun they put their personal feelings to one side and focused on the mission.

"Prepare to land" came the pilot's voice.

Already thought Alan, surprised at how quickly they had gotten there.

The ship touched down and the landing ramp lowered.  Before the ramp had hit the ground, Lenik had leapt out ready for anything.

Alan shook his head and thought to himself eager, aren't you kid as he walked down the ramp slowly taking in his surroundings.

It seemed like the gods were cursing her. ALready she had been ransfered into another squad. New people ment new recons to know who she was working with. At least it was a personal choice for that part.  She hadn't been in the squad but for a few days. Keeping to herself as they were on  R&R. So, she spent her time watching and observing others. Only the night before had she actually fallen aslepp. Dreaming nothing but sweet darkness when she was forced to wake up.

All Troopers meet up in the briefing room in half an hour. Let's get moving people!


Saphira streached and quickly dressed. COmming to full alertness quickly as she  made it to the breifing room. It didn;t take long as they were instructed to pack. With a mental grin she had a bag already packed. Always ready as  she half paid attention to the breifing and went to grab her gear. Lek'ku flickering she entered the hanger. Her boots clicking lightly on the floor as she caught  part of a conversation.


"Ma'am, Sir, if I may speak freely."

Saph looked to  the person speaking as she came closer. Glade that her keen hearing came in handy. Information was more inportant then the best blaster... That must be...Kyrus.. Saph thought as her silver eyes flickered over the others. Lucky she knew.


"You may," Lucky replied.

"Congratulations to you both. I just heard the good news." Kyrus gestured at them, as he sat down at on a bench across from them.

Lucky and Alan smilled at each other briefly before they answered. "Thank you, Kyrus."


Saph blinked as she brushed past them. It was better to act like she didn't hear any of it.

Congratulations??


The Twi'lek caught the look between her andthe other male and had a pretty good guess before she went up the ramp and took a seat.
---------------------



It wasn't long before the ship was in the air and they were  making the jump to hyperspace. Saphira watched as afew others  held conversations. Some slept as she attempted, but the reslessness was almost too much as the Twi'lek kept her breathing in check and waited. Only when the ship landed did she strap herself with her knives. Hiding them on her person as she felt  a set of eyes watching her. Ignoring it she  placed her last blade into the protector in her black boot and walked off. Never did she go anywhere unarmed.


The ramp down she  kept up a pace that few did. Almost  itching for somewhere to go she found herself walking next to  Lucky.


How you doing, Saph?"

"Doing well, thanks."

"Good to hear."



Saph sighed as the door opened. Some music played as a few voices called out in a manner she knew was the sound of disaproval.


"Always a bar..."

She sighed and looked around. The tables where made of durasteel and bolted to the floors. Her eyes caught a large drain in the middle of the floor.


Probably to spray the tables and chairs off with a sanatizer..


Her suspisions confirmed as she saw a hose on the far wall.


"So much for plesentry decorations..."

Lingering in the bar the Twi'lek had viewd the other denzins. It was a mix of humans, rodians and one or two bothans. A few species she didn't recongise, but that wasn't a major part of her caring center.

Not that this isn't fun...


She brewed mentally with distaste. Sarcasticness lingered just below the thought as she  sighed. Knowing there were sets of eyes on her as she made it to a booth. She was use to having people loook at her, but it didn't mean she had to like it. Saph wanted so much to take care of that.. but she had to  "Be a good girl".

At least for the time beaing..


Ordering a jawa juice she sipped on it and watched as Lucky left with someone. The man looked like a gruff hermit to her. Keeping a mental note she  finished half her drink, paid the bartender and started to leave when  she felt someone grab her right hand.


"Buy you a drink beautifull?"

Her head snapped around to look at a tall human male with dark hair and brown eyes. His eyes were slighlty glazed over. Probably from a spice as well as drink. Silver eyes flickering over she saw about six empy glasses on the table that confirmed what she knew.


"Un no..  I-"

"COme on.. One drink... I'd like to get to know you..."

Saph tensed and counted to three.


"I said no.. Your drunk... I think it's time -"


He tightend his grip. Sending a small amount of pain up her arm. 


"I'll say when it's time..."


She smelt the boo's but then saw it. The change in his eyes. The drunkness was a ruse.. Oh hell no.. When he tried to pull her close to him saph kicked out and hit him near his groin. The man who was drunk enogh not to feel the full brunt of pain winced as he dug nails into her skin.

"You witch!"

He stuck out and tried to reach for her head tail when she twisted and  grabed the arm that had her hand. Twisting it like a baseball bat she  turned around and  he wnet with a she threw him to the ground. Before he could move she drew out her vibroblade by her hip and placed it against his jugular.


"I think you had enough.."


Her eyes flashed with the  ' come and try it look'. She dared him when the man seem to contemplate the situation. Either risk death or serious injury or wait for another willing host. Saph could almost see his mind spinning. The cogs and wheels turning when he  closed his eyes and nodded. Saph smiled and  stood up. Keeping a distance as others went back to their drinks.


"Good.. I'd hate to have to cause the authorites any issue.. Be carefull next tiem you try to tackle what you think is weak.."

He nodded as he opened is eyes.


"A word from the wise... 'Beautifull flowers have thorns.. Try to remember that..' ".


With that she left. No one saying a word and to he rknowladge she didn't see anyone from her squad. The door shut and she made  a straight line to the place they were stayng at.

"Mabey I'll see some action afterall..."



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



Reaching her room, Saph sighed again. The blood pumping her adrealine was wearing off. Always feeling good after something liek that she went into her room. Above the floor from where Lucky was she saw that her thigns were already there. As  a curtsy for herself the Twi'lek made sure it wasn't tampered with or anythign missing.


"Good.."

She muttered to herself as she pulled her datapad out and checked for messeges..


" Hiking gear!? You have to be kiddign me...."

saph was suprised at the outcome. She didn't even want to knwo directly why they had to go that rout. Disgusted she placed the thign away and  scratched the right side of her head.


"Well.. I better get going...."


with another sigh she headed out and thought instanty of the man she saw Lucky with.


I guess I'll have to try him first...

Oh what living hell is this thought Alan as he looked around at the dingy, stinking bar.  He had been in a lot of bars in his time but he decided that this one was one of the worst, if not indeed the worst.  His nostrils twitched alarmingly, and what is that smell he thought to himself as he wrinkled up his nose.

Alan watched as Lucky made initial contact with their source and they started chatting.  Leaving them to it, Alan made a quick dash to the bar and ordered up Corellian ale.  It had been a long trip and he was thirsty, besides which it had seemed like an eternity since he had last had ale.

Taking his drink, he moved deep into the shadows of the bar, concealing himself from sight, just the way he liked it.  From his vantage point, he noticed Saphira.  He remembered her from when she had served alongside him in Iron Horse squad.  She was an excellent trooper and Alan was glad to have her in the squad.  He looked on as she got into a skirmish with a drunkard. 

Alan decided not to help as he knew that Saph could easily take care of herself.  He watched on though, making sure that no-one else decided to join in.  Satisfied that the situation was well in hand, Alan downed his ale in one big swig and exited quickly before Saph could notice him.  Alan quickly caught up with Lucky and the rest of the squad who had just exited the bar a few minutes ago. 

Arriving at the hotel, Alan was surprised by the inside.  After the bar and the outside of this place, he wasn’t expecting much.  Taking his keys, he followed after Lucky and soon found where his room was.  Entering, he threw his bag to the floor.  He glanced over at his single bed and sighed.  Sitting down on it he remembered his time as a bachelor where he lived in his orbital platform apartment.  This isn’t right he thought to himself as he opened his door and left.

Whilst being a bachelor was an interesting and exciting time for Alan, now that he was married he could never go back to that life.  It felt alien and wrong to him and all he could think of was his wonderful wife Lucky.  Thankfully he had memorised what room she was staying in.

Arriving at her room, Alan raised his hand to knock and thought better of it and decided to surprise her.  He opened her door slowly and was surprised to see her cat like reflexes in full working order when he was presented with the barrel of her blaster.

“Whoa, don’t shoot” said Alan.

“Damn it Alan” replied Lucky as she holstered her blaster.

“Sorry, I thought you could use some company, besides which it felt so wrong for us to be apart” replied Alan.

Lucky smiled and gave Alan a hug and said “come on in” as she shut the door behind him.

The doors to the bar parted in front of Nova as his squad mates entered before him. He noticed each member go from smiling to having a disgusted, almost sick expression roll across their face as they walked in. Unfazed by the stench of dirty water and rotten food, Nova walked in chuckling at the rest of Paladin squad. His bounty hunting days had left him at bars hundreds of times worse looking and smelling than this luxurious bar.

While the others conversed about the rotten aroma within the bar, Nova skimmed over the menu. Being a Wookiee, he could always eat. There was a problem though, nothing on the menu looked appetizing. Grudgingly, he settled for a jumbo Bantha burger with two large orders of fries and some Vader ale to top off his first meal on a new planet.

Within a matter of minutes, Novacaine had his meal, and with half of his squad ready to puke, began eating it. To his surprise, the burger was exquisitely cooked. The fries tasted like they were freshly cut and the ale was wonderful. All of it combined with a relatively cheap price made for one happy Wookiee in that bar.

Kyrus was sitting in the shadows in the back of the bar, his back facing the wall so that he was facing the door at all times. An old habit he did not give up after years of being chased by bounty hunters. He didnt drink any form of strong drinks, so he simply sat there, watching the other squad members. It took him a while to locate Alan again, then noticed his form sitting in the shadows, like him, only a few tables over. Kyrus silently nodded in approval. The man certanly knows how to handle himself in a foriegn bar. In any bar for that matter.

Letting his eyes wander toward the rest of the squad members, he saw Lucky sitting a table with another man. Must be the Contact, he thought to himself. Then he saw the Contact get up and leave, with Lucky trailing close behind him. Kyrus decided to stay put. If she needs us, she'll probably com us.

He looked down at his new wrist com that he had bought recently. He liked it. It was much more convinient than the datapad he used to cary around.

Kyrus looked up again as he heard Saphira, and saw a small skirmish between her and another drunken man. Kyrus's hand dropped slowly to his hidden combat knife. He was a good marksman with throwing knifes, and although this was a regular combat knife, he figured he would be able to pin the man in the head.

But he soon saw that there would be no need for it. Saphira had things well under control.

He sudenly felt a small vibration around his arm, where his wrist com was. He didnt bother looking down at it, as he saw the others silently pull out their own datapads. One by one he watched as Paladin walked out of the bar.

Kyrus smiled to himself, as he looked at his com to check where they were going to meet up with Lucky.

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

As Kyrus walked up to the counter in the hotel they were staying, a tall man who was waiting behind the desk looked up. Without waiting Kyrus said to the man, "Kyrus Sagen Hassar."

"One moment, please." The man looked back down at the monitor behind his desk. After a few quick strokes on the keyboard, he finally turned around and pulled off a set of keys from the wall behind him.

"Here you are, sir. Enjoy your stay."

Kyrus simply waved off the man as he headed up to his room.

Nova looked over just in time to see the man in white fall to the ground. It was apparent that he was dead by the way his body lay slumped over itself.

"Take cover!" Lucky shouted. It was just in time. As the Wookiee surged forward toward a nearby rock, a red bolt came blazing at him. Narrowly missing him, the shot smashed into a tree causing splinters to spring for the trunk. With his back to the rock, Nova took a quick peak to search for a victim.

About fifty meters away, half covered by a fallen tree was the upper body of what would soon be his first kill of the journey. Not wanting to waste any time, Nova leveled his blaster infront of him and pulled the trigger sending three shots at his opponent. Only one hit the man, but that was all that was needed. The Paladin trooper watched as the red streak slammed into the man's head lurching the victim back in a most crude way.

As the Wookiee searched for another enemy, Lucky sent off a quick pair of blasts which resulted in another person falling victim to the amazing accuracy and coordination displayed by the Vast Empire's finest members.

Looking up, Novacaine noticed that clouds were starting to roll in. [Rrain,] he thought to himself. Sure enough, only a few short minutes after the thought, he smelled the unmistakable scent of water. A short time later, and a deluge came down soaking everyone in the matter of moments. Lightening began striking around them. This hike had not turned out as planned.

Alan glanced over at the squad to ensure that everyone was safe and had secured covering positions.  Alan noticed Novocaine sending off multiple shots at the attackers.  An attacker fell down from the volley of shots and Alan shook his head slightly.  Poking his head round the corner, Alan located one of the attackers.  Taking his trusty heavy blaster pistol, he sent a single shot which neatly cut through the man’s forehead.  The attacker didn’t know what hit him as his dead body crumpled to the floor.

“Hey!”

Alan whirled round, startled by the sound of Lucky’s voice.  He noticed that she was glaring at Saph.  Alan wondered what had been going on when he followed Saph’s glance.  His eyes soon spotted what Saph had been glancing at and Alan thought to himself nice shot.

Just then a rumbling sound reverberated around the place and Alan glanced up at the sky and true enough lightening streaked across the sky and the heavens opened up and rain started pounding the troops.  Just great thought Alan as he started to get soaked.

Peeking from his rain soaked boulder, Alan took in his surroundings.  Either the rain has chased the attackers or else we have eliminated them all thought Alan as could find no trace of any further attackers.

“We should find some shelter and get out of this rain” said Lucky as she started getting the squad back together again.

“It looks quite rocky over there” said Hassar as he pointed up the hill, “could be that there are caves in that region”.

“I’m all for that” commented Lennik.

“I second that” said Alan as he ran his hand through his rain soaked hair.

“Let’s head that way then” ordered Lucky as she started trekking upwards and towards the rocky area.

Alan looked at the dead enemy soldiers and thought to himself why do I get the feeling that we haven’t seen the last of them.

Bringing up the rear of the squad Alan took one look up at the sky as the rain pummelled his face as he thought to himself I hate the rain.

"Careful, it's slippery...'Lucky said stifling a giggle.  They moved on slowly, carefully until they saw the entrance to a cave or cove, whatever it was, it was shelter and that's what they needed.

She moved forward, past Saph and turned on a torch before walking in the damp cave. She played the beam on every wall  and pointed it ahead of her, the beam was lost in darkness.

"Guys, let's keep moving a little deeper."

The tunnel deepened, sloped downwards and there was a sudden right turn. She took it and they found themselves in a large chamber.

"This'll have to do, let's set up camp here for the night and we'll move on in the morning."

Everyone took out their sleeping bags and the water and provisions they had brought with them. It was going to be a very long night.

********A few hours later******

Lucky woke up from a light sleep. It was cold and nature called. She unzipped her sleeping bag and turned on the torch, making sure the beam was low as to not wake up everyone else who seemed to be sleeping soundly.

She moved a little deeper in the grotto and saw that a tunnel took a sharp turn to the left this time. What is this place? She wondered .

She relieved herself and started to walk back to their camp when she heard soft, quiet voices.

"The civilians on Cepany are demanding a shipment of fifty more..." A high-pitched voice said.

"Well, we're not a factory that has automatic machinery so they'll have to wait a little longer." A deep voice replied.

We'll see about that Lucky thought to herself as she went back to bed, keeping an ear out for sound sof approaching people.

Alan woke with a start.  He instinctively reached for his blaster as he opened his bleary eyes.  He was relieved when he looked into the eyes of Lucky.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"We've stumbled into a hideout, last night I heard several men talking about increased shipments.  They are getting ready to leave and we need to follow them to see where they are going to and put a stop to these shipments" replied Lucky.

"Understood" replied Alan.

Getting up to get ready to head out, Alan stretched and then he noticed something odd about the squad.  He first noticed a strange Trandoshan lying on the cave floor wearing stormtrooper shock trooper armour.

"Who's the new kid?" queried Alan wondering when he appeared and why.

"That's Zeshaun" replied Lucky, "he's a newly graduated trainee who has been assigned to Paladin".

"And he made it here and found us all by himself" stated Alan, "impressive".

"I thought so" replied Lucky.

Then Alan noticed something else strange about the squad.

"Where the heck is Saph?" he queried, concerned that a trooper was unaccounted for.

"She's been recalled back to headquarters and been reassigned to Blackjack" replied Lucky.

"OK" said Alan, "well I guess we'd better get the squad up so we can follow these guys and find out more about what is going on".

With that, Alan and Lucky started waking the squad.  Alan went over to Zeshaun and shook him lightly.  The trandoshan opened his eyes.

"Hi" said Alan as Zeshaun woke up, "names Alan, I'm the Assistant Squad Leader of Paladin and I believe you've already met Lucky our Squad Leader".

Zeshaun nodded and replied "yes I have".

"Any questions then just ask one of us.  I believe you've been briefed on our situation" said Alan.

Zeshaun nodded and queried "what's going on?"

"We've stumbled into one of their hideouts and they are about to head out so we are going to follow them and see where their trail leads to" said Alan.

"Understood" replied Zeshaun as he got up and slipped on his helmet.

Alan looked around and noted that Lucky had woken up the rest of the squad.  They were prepped and ready to leave the cave and follow these scumbags and put a stop to these shipments of detonators.

Lucky turned sharply, obviously something had alerted her.  She waved the squad to take cover.  They immediately complied and hid behind some large rocks.  From his position, Alan watched as several large men walked past and out of the cave.  Lucky slipped out from her position and motioned for the squad to follow at a safe distance.

Let's do this thought Alan as they started to follow them.

Zeshaun saw Lucky put a finger to her lips and motioned for everyone to stop.

"There are about 12 men in there, it seems that they have not noticed us quite yet. We should be able to take them out." Lucky explained.

"Let's do this." Zeshaun said.

They quickly formulated a plan and turned the corner Zeshaun caught the closest man in th chest while Lucky hit the farthest man. The rest of the squad followed suit and soon there were smoking bodies all over the ground.

"Hey!" A man yelled.

The man snapped off a shot which hit the wall they were all taking cover behind but missed. The second shot though grazed Lucky on the shoulder. She let out a grunt, Alan shot the man between the eyes and Zeshaun managed to get off a shot and kill the mans partner.

With all the men dead the squad looked toward Alan and Lucky for further instructions.

"So do we just blow this place up and get out of here or what?" a trooper said pulling out a few detonaters from his bag.

"Hassar let's not get ahead of ourselves." Alan said, "We need to get as much information from here as we can, then we'll think about blowing the place up."

"We'll split up into teams" Lcuky said as she slapped on a bacta patch on her wound. "Pvt. Hassar your with Alan, Pfc. Zeshaun and Pfc. Lennik will be a team, and Pvt. Nova and I will be together." She pointed to each pair in turn.

"Everyone split up and report back here in no more than 2 hours. Don't be afraid to call for help." With that Lucky and Nova dashed off toward a path that lead deeper into the factory.

Zeshaun and Lennik followed suit. They walked off toward the manufacturing line.

Zeshaun noticed that they had some boxes all set and ready to be shipped but had no destination on them. Lennik pulled a knife out from his bag and gently cut the box open.

Inside were many military grade detonators. Lennik whisteled. "That's a lot of detonators."

Zeshaun rolled his eyes, "Lets grab some of these and then some that aren't assembled yet so we can take a look at them later.

Zeshaun and Lennik went around collecting the detonators and put them in a bag.  They went deeper into the factory, Zeshaun was surprised that it was so large. Lennik tapped Zeshaun on the shoulder and pointed upwards. There was a camera pointed right at them. When they looked around they saw there were quite a few of them all over the ceilings. Zeshaun would bring that up when they met up again.

"Well I don't see any offices or filing cabinets or even a computer, where do they keep all their important files and holos?" Lennik wondered.

Zeshaun shrugged, he was thinking the same thing. "There must be a more secure area somewhere else in the woods."

Zeshaun and Lennik stated to make their way back toward the rendezvous point when they heard the voice of Alan and Nova come in over the comm.

"Paladin's we ran into some trouble, there seemed to be some sort of lounge back here and we ran into them just as they were coming off their break." Zeshaun heard some shots being fired in the background. "there's about 5 of them and they got a jump on us, we're making our way back to the rendezvous point now, any help would be much appreciated."

Zeshaun and Lennik looked at each other then broke into a run toward the point.

Zeshaun and Lennik saw Alan and Hessar run out. Zeshaun jumped over an assembly line and started firing, Lennik rolled under the assembly line and also started firing. Their initial shots took out two unsuspecting men with rifles. The rest turned their attention to Zeshaun leaving them open to a sweep from Alan and Hessar.

"Are you okay?" Zeshaun was panting from running so quickly.

"I am now," Alan said. “let’s get back to the rendezvous point”.

Everyone got up and started making their way back. They quickly went around the machines and assembly lines and found their way back to the rendezvous point meeting up with Lucky and Nova.

"You guys all okay?" Lucky asked.

"Yeah thanks to these two." Alan jerked his thumb toward Zeshaun and Lennik.

"Just protecting my seniors sir." Zeshaun said. Lennik nodded in agreement.

"Alright, since no ones hurt." Lucky said, "Report what each group found."

"Well we found a lounge that we couldn't really look into for obvious reasons," this set off a couple chuckles, "but there may be some files of some sort." Alan nodded and looked to his left for the next report.

Lennik stepped forward, "We picked up some of the detonators both assembled and disassembled so we can further investigate the wiring and such. We didn't find any sign of holo recordings or files that record shipments, investments etc. We think they could be in a separate more secure area around here."

Lucky nodded "We found a ladder leading up to what seems like the forest but we did not investigate further. If Lennik and Zeshaun didn't find any files in the actual work place then I doubt we will need to search the lounge. Lets go up the ladder and see what we find."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Lucky started to move off back into the factory. Five minutes of walking through the machines they came across the ladder.

"Ladies first." Lucky jumped onto the ladder and made her way up.

Alan and the rest of the squad followed her up the ladder and emerged from a hole in the ground in the middle of the forest.


He quickly filed out along with the rest of the squad alert and ready to shoot if he had to. They walked through the woods following Lucky

"Everyone, over here it seems Lennik and Zeshaun's feelings were correct we've stumbled upon a base." Lucky said. "We will talk through comm's from now on so that we don't give away our position."

The base was small and seemed to have a satelite
"Everyone listen up," Lucky's voice came in over the comm. "We will try to infiltrate the base, the faster we get in and secure the area the better, we don't want them sending out a warning or setting off an alarm."

Everyone nodded in agreement. "We will need someone to stand guard outside while the rest of the squad infiltrates, any volunteers."

Zeshaun piped up "Since I'm new and haven't truly learned to infiltrate effectively I will stand guard outside."

"We could argue that point but you and Alan can stand guard. Sorry Alan but we can't just let the new guy stand out there by himself."

Alan grumbled, "Fine, fine."

Zeshaun and Alan stood back while the rest of the squad moved up, Zeshaun saw Lucky place something on the door and back away. The door was covered in blue energy but was virtually silent. A trooper that towered over the others went up and opened the door; the rest of the squad followed the trooper in.

Zeshaun and Alan came out from the woods and stood guard outside the door. Now all they had to do was wait.