"Yes indeed, here we come, Dar. Just hold on a little bit longer. We'll get you back," Jack said as he continued to focus on the sea of stars dead ahead.

Right now, he had some of the stormtrooper armor on again, but he was getting a little sweaty. Not from the armor, but from his visions of the past. Mistakes he made that cost lives. Failures in life he couldn't live with. He had even considered suicide once... but decided against it.

He kept his focus ahead.

They still had a few more hours, yet some of the members were about to fall asleep. Art had gotten up every so often to walk around, but Jack only did it once or twice. Saving Dar from Kessel was his main objective.

He noted that in his mind. "Objective number one," he said in his mind. "Objective: Rescue on Kessel."

(I know it's short, but it's getting late for me. I'll post later, though.)
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.

------------------------------------------------------------
Senior Chief Petty Officer and Reporter Jack Nebulax, Imperial Navy and VE Today Staff, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/SCPO Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) (=*SA*=) [SV] [VC:S]
Rep|Int/Rep Jack Nebulax/Rep: 4/Reporters-Interviewers/VE/VET
------------------------------------------------------------
Admiral Jack Nebulax, third-in-command of the Auroran Defense Fleet (ADF) and leader of Nemesis Wing (Wing I)

Shazam grabbed the stun weapon from DJ and held it very closely to himself, far more twitchy than he had been before.  They were at a moderate jog, turning they're heads back and forth in the hopes they wouldn't spot anything at all.  If glitterstim could be seen, the point would be avoided quite dramatically, they were in fact in quite the little clump.  Only Shazam was running ahead.  A little ahead anyways, he feared being picked up and thrown into the darkness.

The good thing about new recruits is that they are in fact, just out of basic training, which means they had to commit to fitness exams only a short while ago.  Still in shape...  If anyone ever argued why he wanted his people in shape, he might be forced to bring up the time he had to escape killer cave dwelling spiders.  What a story to tell the children!

"So you do know where we are correct?" Shazam beckoned to the young ones following him.  Aldur led the pack.

"Um...  Well...  No." He giggled despite the disturbing circumstances.  "But...  Ha, always beleive in Aldur..." He bent low as he took a long stride and placed a glow stickinches from the ground.  About three feet to his right lay several opposing foot prints.

"So we run until we see no more footprints?" Omulis wondered, obviously skeptical.  Raddon shook his head with outright disapproval.

"Yea, well, its the only way...  We're going to have to make sure we keep our eyes glued to the ground though.  Make sure those eyes keep open though."  Shazam was becoming hasty as he again thought the sound of spiders was present.

**About twenty-five minutes later...**

"Screw this...  Stop."  Omulis nearly fell to the ground.  Raddon and Aldur were ready to keep moving but Shazam slowed to a stop.

"Alright...  I suppose I don't hear anything."  He did a couple of double takes back and forth before the Squadron commander decided to take a seat in the sandy underlay.

"You gotta be kidding me..." Aldur kicked some soil about.  Raddon sighed and took a seat in the to-be circle.  Omulis layed out on his stomache while Shazam sat indian style.

"Seriuously...  Are we ganna get off this planet again?  It seems since I woke up, this day has never stopped.  That hanger bay seems to be months back..." Omulis had a wicked perception of time just now and felt he needed to share it.

"Yea." said Shazam.

"Yup." Aldur nodded.

"Mh hmm..." Raddon finished the circle.

"Now we need sometlhing to drink," Shazam began, but DJ interupted, appearing from really out of no where.  Had they forgotten about DJ?  Again?

"Guys, did you notice that our tracks don't go past this point?"  He was about ten feet ahead, his glow stick creating a halo around his arm.  Shazam turned his head to investigate from what little light he could even see.

The flight leader lifted the glow stick higher to get a better look at his surroundings when there was a scuffle.  Then a flash.

"Holy HELL...."  Shazam dropped back down to the floor as he was beggining his ascent.  Shazam felt for the stun baton he had taken from DJ before he'd gone ahead to search for tracks.  Freakin DJ he thought.

Everyone stood up at once, a tight nit ring of almost certainly doomed fighters.  Another scuffle and the group clutched the ground with remarkable speed.  Then another scuffle, this time Raddon was accidently shoved sideways, across the dimly lit sand and into a hard rock wall.  Shazam knew he was swearing but couldn't help but look at him, wondering what would happen to him now that he was seperated from the group.  There was no going back now.  He could not be re-addmited.

Raddon did seem pretty much shocked, but his confidence was boosted when he felt some foot carvings behind him.  What was this?  Freedom?  The man began to climb very quickly and without thinking he let go of the glow stick.  Shazam kept his eyes watching the same spot although the target was rising, the others were watching out for possible predators.  As the blue glow stick fell, it stopped.  In mid-air.

What?  Then it was gone.

"They're here..."

(Alright, that should be fine.)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/CWO Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

(Art, I fixed my last post to make it look like a joke.)

Dressed in their white stormtrooper armor, the party decended from the shuttle's boarding ramp onto the landing platform.

The officer who had just got done speaking to them asking for code clearances had walked up to meet them. He saluted to Jack, and Jack returned his salute.

"I'm stormtrooper officer TK-835," Jack said through his comlink, trying his hardest to sound like a stormtrooper. "We were sent by the Vast Empire to pick up a prisoner that you have secured on the planet."

"Ah, I see. If you would just come with me for a second, we'll get you and your troops cleared out," the officer said as he led them to a building.

Once inside, the officer began making small talk with Art while Jack was getting cleared out. Luckily for them, they had brought fake ID's of stormtroopers for the VE. After a few minutes or so, they were all cleared and were being led out of the building through another doorway.

Outside, the dust and dirt of Kessel's ground could be seen everywhere. It was almost unbearable. The officer continued to chat with some of the Nazgul Squadron members in their armor. He's testing us to see if we're acting like real stormtroopers, Jack thought to himself.

He's on to us.

Jack turned to face Art. Although they couldn't see each other directly, both knew that the other was aware of the officer's game.

Jen was now talking to the officer, who had trailed behind a bit. What they were talking about Jack wouldn't know. Right now, he was just focused on three objectives: Freeing Darius, killing those pirates, and the most important one:

Surviving.
 
-----------------------
Revenge is what holds this galaxy together. Without it, the universe would be a boring place.

------------------------------------------------------------
Senior Chief Petty Officer and Reporter Jack Nebulax (*Formerly and No-Longer a ComNet Spammer*), Imperial Navy and VE Today Staff, Vast Empire.
XO/FL/SCPO Jack Nebulax/Nazgul 5 (2-1)/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) (=*SA*=) [SV] [VC:S]
Rep|Int/Rep Jack Nebulax/Rep: 4/Reporters-Interviewers/VE/VET
------------------------------------------------------------
Admiral Jack Nebulax, third-in-command of the Auroran Defense Fleet (ADF) and leader of Nemesis Wing (Wing I)

The gang members were broken.  In a few strokes of the enemies swords, their leader had died a bloody death.  The sand all around his dead corpse was covered in blood.  The stench could not be smelled through the air masks, but it was there.

Not only were the gang's spirit broken, but they also feared Darius.  They were scared to find the same fate as their leader.  Like any normal being, they feared for their lives, and would rather run away.  But, the guards at the entrances were telling them otherwise through mean looks and the lethal weapons they carried.

Darius hands were now sweaty.  It had been a great while since he had felt the grip of a sword in his hands.  In a strange way, he felt powerful, but did not show it.  It was his rule not to bring emotions to a fight.  That is what kept Darius in the Navy.  He hid his emotions, especially of the once permanently forgotten past.

Darius bent down on one knee, and wiped dust and sand on his hands.  He scooped it up into each hand and let it sift through his rough, flexible fingers.  Rubbing his hands together, he felt the course grains attempt to tear at his battle worn hands.

He rose back up, and was going to reach for his swords in their sheaths, but his hands instead, found another man's body.  One of the gang members tried to charge at him.  This was a mistake. 

Coming up from his low position, Darius' arm was able to find the gang members armpit and neck.  He swung the man around and now had his opponent firmly locked in a sleeper hold.  Darius could feel the steady pulse slow, with every second, the struggling man went closer and closer to the brink of unconciousness.

The body went limp and Darius took no chances.  He places both hands firmly on the man's head, and twisted until he heard the familiar deathly pop.

Now the gang did not know what to do.  There number have decreased by two, in the hands of one man.  The wookie hadn't even done anything.

"Drop your weapons and you'll be spared," commanded Darius.  He was greeted by the war cries of the gang, charging in full fury.

Darius didn't draw his weapon yet.  He ran at the oncoming enemies and dropkicked the first one he reached.  He rose up with one sword in hand, taking out the legs of another man.  The other sword had found it's place in the dropkicked man's chest.

The one sword was an extension of Darius' body.  It flashed with impossible speed and accuracy.  Clanging of metal against metal rung in the arena.  The crowd cheered with every man Darius struck down.

The gang was fighting sloppy.  There were tough when it came to being out of the arena, but inside, they were unorganized, and unskilled.

In less than a minute, Jolanc and Darius had eliminated 7 more of the gang members.  Jolanc was a giant fury of flying limbs.  He had dropped his weapons, and his weapon was now his climbing claws and brute strength.  He was literally tearing men apart.  Even armed, the men were scared of the wookie.  Anything the beast got a hold of would be dislocated or torn off.

Darius, on the other hand, was taking a more cleaner, and refined way of killing.  Darius tried not to kill, but the gang was making it hard.  They fought to the death, and Darius had to take their lives.

The small human blocked a high swung sword and kicked the wielder in the groin.  In a weakened, painful state, Darius took the advantage and grabbed the man's sword.  Spinning around, he decapitated the man, and just barely blocked a blow from a mace.

Using the time it took to raise the mace again, Darius took the man's arm above the elbow.  He howled and bled.

The gang member were trying to keep their distance now.  Darius was too lethal for them to deal with at such a close range. 

They created a circle around him again, and studied Darius, looking for any weak spot they could find.  There were only nine left.  Six on Darius and three left to defend themselved against the behemoth wookie.

Then, the they did was Darius did not anticipate: they ran away.  Not to the exit, but to the wookie.  Darius was able to stop one immediatly.  Only because he was in between him and the wookie.

Darius tried to chase after them, but he was still calculating his next action.  His body spoke for his mind, and his arms threw the two swords, catching two gang members in the backs.  Next, he grabbed the sword he had left in the man at the beginning of the engagement, and threw it also, catching another man in the back.

"Jolanc!" yelled Darius quickly, he was still trying to beat them to the wookie.  The tall beast turned and receive a force pike in the shoulder.  He roared and grabbed the weapon, swinging the man holding it into another man.  There five left and two were on the ground.

Jolanc hunched over, roaring a blood curdling battle cry and ripped the force pike out of his chest.  Blood began gushing out.  Jolanc now had the pike in hand and was keeping the gang at bay, long enough for a determined man to finish them off.

He now was wielding the two daggers he had hidden in his armor.  With one, quick motion, Darius had come from behind and slit two men's throats.  He threw one, catching one in the neck and charged at another, stabbing him in the back between the third and fourth rib cage, severing one of the lungs.  Slowly, he died and blood filled his other lung, suffocating to death.

Darius ran at the last standing man and switch kicked him, breaking the man's nose and knocking him over.  Jolanc then grabbed the surviving gang member by the head.  Mid-swing, he was already dead.

The wookie let out a victory cry and all Darius could to was observe the devastation.  The bright red sand was now dark red, and bodies were strewn everywhere.  A few surviving men cried in agony at their severe wounds inflicted upon them.

Darius felt a strange want for more, then, he felt light headed, then, he fell down, falling into the past.
 
-----------------------
Feed a womp rat a food ration, he'll want an energy stim. Give him an energy stim, and he'll rip your throat out.

----------------------
FM/SCRW Darius Pursius/Nazgul 3-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)

Art still was not convinced.  Too many things were not right and to top it off, the officer had led them out of the main facility onto the streets, something Art had not anticipated and subsequently, did not have the street plans memorized.  Idiot!  he thought to himself angrily.  It was unlike him not to prepared or to completely miss a possibility.  Clearly the stress is beginning to show its effects he thought. 

Art looked back towards the officer and knew in his hearts they had fallen into the ambush he predicted.  The question was now, where were they going to do it.  He had anticipated it would be near the hanger but now, they weren't even in the facility.  The officer moved away from Corwin and led them on their way again.  He's doing a terrible job Art thought to himself.  It's too obvious, he would be a failure as an
intel officer.  Imperial officers are notoriously arrogant and elitist, they would not hob-knob with stormtroopers, it's a very poorly run charade.  He thought to himself as the officer led them through the streets.  Eventually, they stopped and after inputting the security code, the officer led them back into the main facility from one of the side guard stations.

Inside, Art immediately began to look around, trying to place where they now were in the facility.  As they passed through the hallway, he began to recognize some of the identifiable parts of the plans.  On the left, a small communications room directly across from a guard post.  Further up on the right, a small hallway that led to firefighting equipment for the sector.

The officer stopped them in front of a large security door while he entered in the pass key.  The door hissed open a second later and they went on into the room.  As soon as the
door hissed closed behind them, the officer whirled around, pistol in hand.

"Alright hold it right there."  The officer ordered.  Art glanced around and saw they were surrounded by ten prison guards.  Lovely.  Art thought to himself.  "I am going to
ask you to slowly put down your weapons, unfasten your gunbelts, and then take off your packs.  Any sudden, unnecessary moves would be most unwise."  The officer continued.

"What is the meaning of this."  Demanded Jack, trying vainly to regain some control of the situation.

"We have had security leaks at this facility lately. We have been instructed to search all people who enter now in order to prevent further leaks.  For all we know, you could be smuggling in gear to assist those wanting to break out of prison.  Therefore, guards have been schedueled in daily to perform these checks.  It is also a good way to keep everyone's guard up and the machine finely tuned."  The officer explained.  He's lying through his
teeth Art thought to himself.  It had taken him only a second to think back to the duty scheduel Taylsha had gotten from the Kessel computer and he knew that no such role had been schedueled for guards.

As the guards searched each gunbelt and pack slowly, Art began to think of a plan.  It was going to be difficult to carry out their plans now that they had to disable guards that had
been assigned to this detail.  There was a chance that they were only following the plan the officer had explained but Art felt this doubtful.  As the search continued, the officer walked over to the desk in the corner and picked up a commlink.  Art couldn't hear what the person on the other line was saying but what the officer was saying confirmed what he thought.

A moment later, the door hissed open again and another officer entered, flanked by two guards.  The officer walked around and faced the team who were standing in a row.

"Now."  The newly arrived officer began.  "We have an interresting situation here.  Two hours ago, an Admiral flanked by Royal Guards stated he was from VE and was here to escort a prisoner back.  Now we have a team of stormtroopers, without a commanding officer and arriving in a shuttle without a pilot, here to escort a prisoner back to VE."  The officer stated, sarcasm and mockery evident as the classical arrogance of imperial officers shone brightly in him.  Art's mind was racing.  The VE would not send an admiral to collect Darius and certainly not anyone dressed as royal guards.  Too much authority and power in that combination, would look highly suspicious to use it to escort one man out of the Kessel prison.  It must have been Shazam...  Art concluded. 

His mind was brought back to reality as the officer began to speak again.  "Now we seem to have aproblem here.  stormtroopers who don't act like stormtroopers and an admiral and group of royal guards who have disappeared.  To top this off, one prisoner is missing and several guards were
overpowered.  I think it is time to end this charade once and for all.  Until I can communicate with the VE, you all will be held in detention.  Once we find out who the real VE escort forthe prisoner is and if they have any authority, no one leaves this facility.  Take them away."  The officer ordered.  The guards gathered the team's gear and escorted them towards the detention centre.  Art smiled inside.  At least I got the hidden gear gamble right, I didn't completely miscalculate.
 
-----------------------
FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

Art began to think back to the duty schedule he had studied before they had left.  Thinking back, he remembered that at any given point, there was a lieutenant in charge of the detention centre desk in addition to five guards stationed at various points.  Two would be near the desk, the other three patrolling the hallways.  Thinking over the blueprints, he assumed that they would be brought to the main holding block, a transitionatory area before being sent into the cells that held the labourers.  They held people in the main centre for processing and, or investigation.  In their case, they fell into the latter.  Art tried to look down at his watch without looking too obvious about it.  He saw that they had just over an hour before the extra guards came on to pass out the meals.  The changing of the guard would have just happened so everything would be normal when they arrived.

Five minutes later, the escort led them through two sets of blasts doors and into the detention area.  The lieutenant at the desk snapped to attention and saluted the captain who was leading the escort.

"These men are to be held in detention pending the results of our investigation into their activities."  The captain instructed.  "Make sure you lock up their gear and helmets and keep them secured.  Earlier in the day there was a group of people from the same organization who overpowered several guards and escaped.  These people are well trained and dangerous, do not let your guard down."  The captain barked gruffly.  He then whirled around and faced the team.  "Do not try anything funny.  We have had too many security leaks for one day, if you try to escape, you will be shot as a rebel spy."  He warned.  With that, the captain and the guards who had escorted them hastily left the detention centre.

The two guards at the desk walked over and took the packs, weapons, belts, and helmets to lock into the vault.  Art took careful notice of where it was located for future reference.  Once the gear had been locked up, the lieutenant walked out from behind the desk and faced the Nazgul team who were lined up in a row.  Art was standing next to Jack at the end of the row.

"Now remember what the captain said."  The lieutenant said, walking down the line, the power of his position clearly going to his head.  "Until otherwise proven, you are as worthless as the rebel scum to the great army of the Empire and if you even attempt to escape you will be shot like worthless rebel scum would deserve."  The lieutenant said, finally stopping infront of Art and Jack.

"And when you find  out that we are who we say we are, what then?  I suppose apologizing for your pompous arrogant behaviour is a concept that your tiny distorted mind could not comprehend."  Art snapped back at the officer, trying to bait him.

"You worthless scum, how dare you mock an imperial officer.  You worthless stormtroopers aren't fit to spit polish my boots, when is the Empire going to learn to rely less on your pitiful group of brainless wonders."  The lieutenant fired back, his face getting red with anger as he did not like his authority being questionned.  "Now, take off their binds and lead them into their cell!"  The lieutenant ordered the guards.  The two guards went one by one down the line, disabling the stun binds.  Once Art's were deactivated, he twisted his wrists around in a fake attempt to show some pain and discomfort from having them in binds.  He then ran his right hand through his hair before scratching his left shoulder.  Staring at the lieutenant who was in front of them with a gloating smile on his face, Art began to take shots at him again.

"You must really love this.  Such arrogance and love of power is clearly the mark of a small tiny, worthless man.  Your love of power demonstrates your insecurities over your petty abilities.  It is only a matter of time before the Empire realizes the worthlessness of scum like you, you are the reason the Republic succeeds.  If we executed your kind, the Empire would crush the Rebellion."  Art said aggressively.  The lieutenant, his arrogance causing him to fall completely into Art's trap, grew ever redder with anger and his eyes darkened.  The first words of reply out of his mouth were inaudible as he was stammering for a reply to the stinging abuse.  A second later, unable to find any words, the lieutenant swung his fist hard at Art.  Art spun to the side and swung back hard with his right fist.  It made loud contact with the lieutenant's face, loud enough to muffle the sound of the aerosol spray Art had triggered when he hit the lieutenant.  As the lieutenant dropped to the ground, Art released the tiny cannister, allowing it to slide into the arm of his body suit.  A second later, one of the guards swung us gun against Art's stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Before the guard could swing again, a loud gurgling noise could be heard as the lieuteant shook.  The lieutenant's face got even redder and his arms were grabbing at his throat.

"He's having a heart attack!"  Shouted the other guard.  The one standing over Art whirled around to help the lieutenant, only to receieve a hard left hook from Jack as he did.  The other guard kneeling by the lieuteant was kicked hard in the head by Jen before he could react.  Art climbed to his feet and saw that all three were now unconscious.

"Bind and gag them and find an empty cell to hide them in."  Jack ordered.  The team began to carry each of the bodies towards one of the empty cells while Art worked at getting the vault open.  By the team the rest of Nazgul had come back, Art had managed to get the vault open without triggering the alarm.

"Alright let's go!"  Art commanded, dragging their gear out of the vault.  It was time to find the rest of the squadron and get out of there.
 
-----------------------
FM/ESN Corran "Arturus" Hargraves/Nazgul 2/Phoenix Wing/M-SSD Atrus/VE/VEN/(=A=)(=SA=)(=*MA*=)(=JCPA=)(=SCPA=)[MC:1](x2)[SV][BRC][VC:B][LSM][LoC]


"The way of war is a way of deception. When able, feign inability; when deploying troops, appear not to be. When near, appear far; when far, appear near. Lure with bait; strike with chaos. If the enemy is full, be prepared. If strong, avoid him. If he is angry, disconcert him. If he is weak, stir him to pride. If he is relaxed, harry him; if his men are harmonious, split them. Attack where he is unprepared; appear where you are unexpected. This is victory in warfare; it cannot be divulged in advance. Victory belongs to the side that scores most in the temple calculations before battle. Most spells victory; least spells defeat; none, surer defeat. I see it in this way, and the outcome is apparent." -- Sun Tzu

Shazam was instantly dazzled by the shining exterier of the spiders.  DJ flashed the light once again, but the creatures were gone away from the light.  They weren't very far though, intrigue was setting in as the aftermath of thier previous fright dissipated into the dark nothingness.  The cavern had grown far larger than anyone could have imagined, with high or far areas of unknown light, casting shadows upon the barren land below.  The shapes and shifting sounds were no longer just that, but another step in completely dismantling whatever composure the group had. 

This was a situation where the unusual had become horrifying.  Where Raddon had vanished to, Shazam and the others did not know and did not think it would matter now.  There was a clinging sensation of hope though, the commander's own thoughts centered on, 'How the hell are we getting out of here?'  The swishing sound of the torch seemed to last only a second, clearly the spiders would not be frightened off by the first fire they're probably ever seen.  A galloping sound could be heard on the right face of the cave, like a horse running on a wall but with a crapload of legs.  Shazam was gripping Aldur, and Aldur DJ.  Whoever had the light was holding it up high to hope for some kind of anticipation towards the next move that should be made. Through this gripping action, Shazam suddenly realized they didn't have Omulis...  And they thought it was DJ with the light up ahead?  But he's here now...

Oh crap.

No one could really 'see' per see...  However, there was the fleeting glance of a glass like body and deep rustling that was sand being smashed beneath these enormous claw-like feet. 

DJ seemed to be leading the group somewhere as the spider suddenly jumped out from the shadows.  It stopped directly in front of the group who was continuing to make ever quickening steps to where Raddon had gone to. 

Shazam felt sorry for DJ, because he knew that he was now looking into thousands upon thousands of blood thirsty eyes.  Instead feeling of the feeling of the flight lead being lifted above thier heads, there was a blood curtling scream and a sizling sound.  Then sudden tuggings began as the group was wrenched from thier position at the quickest pace yet..

Shazam turned his head to look at what was puling him, hoping he wasn't some enormous spider's dinner.  He was surprised to see DJ smiling in the strangest way while the path ahead was clearing.  Where were they going? 

His movement was still frantic and maybe a bit eccentric, but the squadron commander was able to make it to the cavern wall.  He couldn't see into the darkness beyond, the fire light only going out about five feet.  Aldur was asking a lot of questions and DJ was really occupied...  With what?

"Dude...  What in the hell are you doing?"  Shazam chortled as he caught his breath and got a good luck at his squadron member.

"Getting us out of here..." He replied back, his eyes beaming.  They appeared to be glowing, but maybe that was the firelight...  Or, it could be the bright overhead light.

"What in the hell..." Aldur glanced upwards.  The spiders who had been hesitant now backed off completely, scattering far away.  "Versanz...  You may put your trust with me...  Your damned right!"  This was one of those random things you say after you just realized your not dead after all.  Similar to Comeny Yeaha if you will. 

DJ and Aldur scrambled up the ladder as fast as their bodies would allow and eventually blended into the bright light.  The world above really wasn't that bright or glorious, but after living so long in the shadows, a glowstick seems holy.  The darkness always felt evil to Shazam, but he was still in it.

The reason he hadn't climbed the ladder just yet is because of his slight revelation.  It had not been DJ who was taken out by the spider...  It was Omulis.  If he was still alive...

"What in the hell are you doin man?" Aldur shouted down the tunnel.  Raddon had a sly grin on his face still, regaurdless of whatever his SC was doing.  Ah yes, finally some recognition.

Aldur swore under his breath and kicked at the ground as his head continued to twist back and forth like a sprinkler demanding to hit every patch of grass. 

Below, Shazam was treading through the sand towards the last point he saw Omulis.  IF, and that's a big one, he was still alive, they didn't take him anywhere at all.  They probably..

There was a groan.  Shazam stopped in his tracks, there was no echo but a strange filling howl in the caves.  The SC cranked his head to the right,  He had taken the glowstick from DJ as he was trying to climb the latter, he also realized, noticing he was far into the darkness.  The spiders would go nowhere near the true light though, so he was probably safe.

Again, there was a groan.  Shazam wouldn't hesitate now, he was sure it was his lost friend.  Oh man...  Please don't be dead or something, I will be in so much crap...  He continued to prey just as he reached the young woman, her body was cast against several rocks near the cave wall.  Her entire left hand side was dark from a massive bruise, not to mention some very serious breaks.  Her head seemed fine but she wasn't moving, only whimpering to the darkness.  This wasn't the type of thing Shazam liked to see... 

Not completely sure of what to do he slowly paced backwards toward the over head lamp light.  "Someone, get down here, I'm ganna need help gettin Omulis up...  She's...  She's in bad shape."

He turned to move back towards Omulis and was glad to hear some one coming down the ladder of rock.  "Alright, I think we should be really careful and get 'er up the..." Before he could finish, as he was turning to get sight of who had come down, there was a sudden numbness.  And he was out...

*About two hours later**

Shazam awoke softly; again, the light was almost blinding to him, seeing it for the first time in a while.  He sat up to try and taken in his surroundings to immedietly feel a stun point on his right thigh that was kind of firey.  He went to lift up his shirt but stopped as he noticed he was no longer in his Officer's uniform, but a prison outfitted completely with assignment number and all.  You gotta be kidden me...

Ahead of his was a dirty white wall, and the same to the left and right, his cot connected to last wall he'd seen.  He dropped the edge of his shirt and turned around to look out through the holding cell bars.  Across from him was Raddon, and to the right of him was DJ.  The door to the room was exactly opposite, only about five feet from either cell connected to the wall.  Just out of reach.  And assuming the cells continued all the way down, Aldur was probably on the otherside of the left wall. 

This was everything he expected of prison, except there was no window.  SO that sucked.  But he could basically replay what probably happened now that he was in a detention cell... 

After DJ burned out the eyes of that spider, Raddon ushered everyone up through an entrance in the middle of a wide open field, so they were probably immedietly spotted...  Well then...  Here we are, he thought gravely.

"Hey guys, Shaz is awake..." Raddon pointed his finger through the bars which buzzed with an electric pulse.  Aldur shouted out, "Hows it goin man?"

DJ waved a freindly arm from the diagnol way and a couple of hoots from cellmates erupted as well.  Welcome to prison.

"Any idea what happened to Omulis?" he said, rubbing his face with his grey uniform, it was actually made of pretty good cloth.  Almost comfy. 

"I know they were going to try and get her out the hole we came out of, but it was too small or something, so I think they dragged her to a bigger one or something."  Raddon was laying down on his own cot now, his eyes staring up towards the ceiling as he spoke in a reasonably comfortable voice.

"The guy in charge has a thing for women in distress...  Said anybody else that wasn't as much speculation as our group would have been left down there.  That's crap...?" Aldur chuckled at the thought of some moron trying to hit on an injured, and extremely hostile woman.

"That means she's probably around here some where," Dj added.

"Yea...  But I don't think we're going to be getting out of here.  Not with these buddies..." Shazam guestured towards the electrical bars.  "Think I'll just nap for now.  I always get my ideas when I'm more awake." DJ lifted an eyebrow at this.  "Well, I'm more optomistic when I'm not tired I should say.  Right now I'd probably just let 'em shoot me.  'Slong as I can get some sleep"


(I edited that post up pretty good, but the add on was specifically to get us out of there and to get the story moving to the finishing point.  Jack and Art's group is running around doing whatever right now, and Darius just got done with a match.  Good time to meet up.  I know you've been working hard and I think its starting to really pay off for you guys.  Lez go. )

Shazam must have been twidling his thumbs for atleast an hour before he fell into an imperceptable slumber.  The prison cells were quiet, reguardless of the fact that the four members new eachother and needed to plan an escape.  Aldur has begun occupying his time by studying the cage that held him and looking for the source of its electrical pulse.  Dj was watching Aldur...  And Raddon simply sat on his bed in deep thought.  No one noticed if anyone was really doing anything anymore.  Thus, Shazam nodding off after about an hour needed no attention; they seemed just as focused as ever.

There's nothing really interesting about someone falling asleep, rather, its once your asleep things get intense.  The everyday thought process is completely distinguished and your most primitive thoughts make thier way to the screen.  Every want, no matter how small, is present.  Shazam dreamed of stories, like every time he fell asleep, he was no longer in the same world, but one of a seperate universe where everything he had held back, came out.  The dream he was having now was one of darkness.  But not your normal darkness, because when he dreamed there was always more to what you saw.  Information comes to you, but you don't  care where it came from.  This was eternal darkness.  What lurks in eternal darkness?  No one can be for sure, but the thoughts going on during his strolls in the pitch black world were something along the lines of optimistic. 

Once he started to figure out he could get out, thats when he woke up.  Maybe it was complete coincidence, or the fact that the light was bright enought to find its way through Shazam's eyelids, but he awoke exactly as stun weapons erupted about a half foot from his head. 

He forgot where he was for a moment, but then, sitting up and turning to see Art blast an alien in his right hip brought a lot of things back. 

"Well then..."  Jack chuckled as he bent low and slid to the left to get cover next to an outreaching beam connected to the sperating walls. 

Shazam glanced to the right where the hallway extended to a security checkout.  He'd only glanced around once or twice to find it was impossible for them to get out, so seeing he could possibly get out of now, he started thinking again.

Jen sprinted down the corridor, about as low as possible, and drilled the last of the guards with the blaster.  He had bee occupied with reaching the security alarm, which Art seemed to have thought of but didn't really plan.  A first.

"Crap...  Might as well have pushed the button ourselves..." Art was pretty upset about the noise, and Shazam grinned with a renewed twinkle in his eye.

"Ah yes...  Yet another rescue mission...  Guys, we gotta stop gettin ourselves into this or we'll have a reputation as easilly captured." DJ was standing up next to the bars now that the fire fight was over.  Shazam really didn't see the whole thing all that well, most of it kind of a blur in his mind. 

Aldur was giving direction to Art to keep away from the massive conduits going up the wall, something about cutting out the electrical charge would keep the lock mechanism intact for good...  Raddon was knocked out in his cell, most likely hit by one of the stun blast that was probably loud enough to alert the secruity...  Perfect.

Shazam still on his bed, feet firmly planted to the floor as the sound of thinning energy fields could be heard.  The SC wasn't quite sure why, but he was in a delightful mood, but very drowsy at the same time. 

"I suppose we should have asked them to the code for your cells first," Corwin kicked one of the bodies.  Now Shazam had something to talk about.

"My stuff...  I don't know where they put it, but I got some crap that'll have that guy up in a minute."  Shazam was clutching the bars now and receiving no shock, so atleast they'd done that. 

Art went to the medium sized desk and starting looking frantically while the rest studied the panels. 

"Dude...  Its' probably in the box right behind you..." Aldur pointed towards a shiny silver box behind the desk.  This much he could see.

Art blushed and nearly slapped himself while Raddon grabbed a card off the belt of a hefty humanoid in black sprawled out on the ground.  He waved it triumphantly and made way to the case, a dark shape rising behind him as he did so. 

Aldur noticed the pompous being looking for his weapon and trying to find a wall to help him stand.  Without a seconds thought, he clutched the belt of the humanoid and forced him against the bars of his cell, his other arm squeezing around the its throat. 

The rest of the group became aware of the man pulled out their weapons to maybe assist.  But the job was done.

"Give us the code to these cells or your going to be in a world of hurt..." he said in his most menacing voice.

"Whatever..." he whisped through the mashed air tunnel.  "Those weapons were on stun, you won't hurt me..."  He grinned with just as much gungho attitude.

"THEIR weapons were on stun...  I'm not them..." Aldur used his now free hand to rip out a wad of hair from the prisoner's head and force it into his mouth, nearly suffocating him after about ten seconds.

The guard coughed loudly and heaved itchy breaths all the while forcing some numbers out.  Art was putting them into the sidelong lock system located on the wall next to DJ.

Five numbers later, the cells popped open and the guard was again knocked out by a stun blast.  Corwin had unlocked the case with all of the pilot's belongings anywho and was handing them out to thier seperate owners. 

Shazam had his mind back and was feeling a bit weird.  Originally this was going to be a pick up mission...  With four or five people...  This was no pick up and he was pretty sure there was more than what he had predicted.

"Guys...  No more screwing around...  We gotta grab Dar, and run for it.  We're going to split up to prevent us from running into a walll."  Art nodded as well as Jack and Jen.  "Jen, DJ, Corwin, and Aldur...  You four are going to get to that hanger bay and free our ships, I'm sure the Real Bebop is in there as well..." Shazam swore vengence for any damage done to the ship under his breath.

"Everyone else...  Your with us." Shazam pointed to Art and Jack.

"Ok, good...  We should be able to grab Dar from whatever he's doing as long as we stay to the shadows..." Art began his elabrote plan....


(You guys are going to have to finish this out, I'm leavin...  You've been great, and I hope while I'm gone you'll be even better.  Rock on.)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Shazam had said, 'Follow Me', but actually had no idea where he was or where he was going.  Art seemed to understand and began to lead the group to the left where a pretty darned thick door lay.  Shazam wondered how he didn't notice two huge doors on opposite sides of him while Jack went back to the terminal to open the door.

The bodies that had previously been strewn across the ground were now locked up in seperate cells.  Each of them stripped of thier weapons and outlying heavy clothing.  Aldur had turned the electrical pulse in the bars back on before he left as well, so atleast they'd be really awake.

The door slid, revealing a very short hallway with one more door at the end which could barely be seen because steam was rising up through the dotted floor panels.  What in the hell was a steam room doing next to a security block.  Again, Art noticed his confusion.

"This is a part of the laundrey room, Shaz.  You can't see them, but massive bars come down from above and hold the clothes in place as they're steamed.  Which reminds me..." He looked around a bit cautiously," we should probably get moving.  These things will take the skin off of you if your in the wrong position..."  The group hurried across the walk.

"So this door doesn't lead outside?" questioned Raddon.

"Well, its not like you guys could go out there anyways..."  Shazam nodded suddenly remembering as Art continued to explain.  "But we noticed Omulis was being held in a med room about four blocks from your denention cells.  Figured we'd go on ahead..." He undid the card from his pouch and slid it into the security lock," we'd go on ahead and take the liberty of getting her before we took off."

"Ok...  We need to split up again.  I didn't take that into account..." Shazam glanced around ta the group.  Art kept the card in its place...

"Right, Jack, you stay with Art, and I assume you'll want some extra hands still, so take Raddon as well." Shazam was becoming pretty frantic, the feeling that they were running out of time somewhere was really bearing down on him.

"Ok, I've got this place memorized so go on ahead and take my datapad.  Its got everything we've encountered thus far and then some.  Make sure you stick to the shadows and don't try to act like anyone from the VE..." the two of them grinned.  Shazam hadn't at all been angry with Jack and Art for taking the rest of his squadron out of vacation to save someone he denied being saved in the first place.  Well, he hadn't...  Yet.

"So your goin alone?" Jack queried, he had a look in his eyes like he really wanted to be with him.  Shazam nodded then said-

"Its not like we have a lot of those mask..." Which Art began to remove as he spoke.  Shazam took the datapad as well, Art showin ghim the location of Dar's cell from their location.  Shazam suddenly remembed he had his own datapad but since Art had already given him his...  Well...

"Dude, take my pad for whatever reason," Shazam handed him his dented up equipment. 

The group took a deep breath and Shazam put on the mask as everyone exhaled. 

"Good luck..." Raddon gave him a good pat square in the shoulderr.  Shazam replied with a thumbs up...

Right, so if this door takes me the laundrey main, this door to the right should take me to the exit, thought Shazam as the door opened, half going up and the other dropping down.

Shazam looked up from the datapad to see two prisoners chatting with eachother about life on Coruscant as Art's group moved left.  The prisoners seemed to be a bit frightened of what was going on so they simply didn't move.  Good, thought Shazam.

He began a good jog to the door on the right and found it easy access opening.  When these doors opened, there was another long hallway, but no steam.  He strode through with the datapad still in hand, the doors he'd just passed slamming shut as he reached a new panel.  Suddenly, the heavy exit burst open, blasting sand and a foul smell his way, really contributing to the gloomy doomed look of the room already. 

Ahead of him now was nothingness, so again he glanced down at the pad for guidance.  Never had he been so badly prepared for something, so he was just a little bit uncomfy looking at a pad for every step he took.  But oh well...

*Twenty minutes later*

Shazam been sticking to the shadows of various buildings, one particular edifice was sprouting tall in the center of the camp, casting a long dark strip over many buildings.  This helped him considerably as he crept throught the various obstical courses. 

Most of the time, he'd been continuously rubbing his eyes because of all of the sand and ever strengthening wind gust.  The camp was indeed larger than he had remembered, but as he neared his destination, everything seemed to get real small.

Shazam reached the cell about two minutes later, identifying a few places he'd seen before going off on a series of missions that were completely unplanned...  So more or less, he was releived to see this small building.  As he neared however, he heard some victorious roaring and an abruptly silenced crowd. 

He glanced in the general direction of the wookie sounds and saw a cluster of buildings with that was truly encased in shadow now.  The sun was just beggining to set and all the buildings farther out were shading about a mile or so of land. 

Shazam was standing right in the middle of a security cell block as Darius was being carried out of the cluster by an enormous wookie.  More followed, but Shazam narrowed his eyes as he made eye contact with the pilot who immedietly asked to be dropped and began to say something very quietly to his massive friend.

Being glued to his position wasn't helping Shazam as four guards left thier post to apprehend him.  The SC's only reaction was to sprint towards Darius and tell him about the hanger bay while he still had some time, atleast then the mission wouldn't be totally in vein.  As he neared the group, the wookie ahead let out a tremendous roar, stopping the guards behind him from chasing him.  Why?  Well, the SC wasn't really concerned but all at once, the creatures from behind Darius began charging toward the guards with crude weapons Shazam wasn't even sure he'd seen before. 

The two pilots were glancing around at the ensuing chaos before Dar suddenly came back to his senses and said-

"Shaz?  What in the hell are you doin here?" he seemed happy, but also a tad bit angry that he was there at all.

"Well..." Shazam rubbed his eyes again, they were really starting to burn," figured we'd try and rescue you...  Well...  I did, and said they could...  Well...  Never mind, I'll tell ya later, its kind of a long storie..." He ended the ramble and waved for Dar to follow.  He didn't move to follow him though, but instead was speaking to his wookie companion again.

After about five seconds of talk and a couple of stares, Dar returned and the two of them took off behind a series of cell blocks as various guards made way to the wookie frenzy. 

"What was that about?" Shazam wondered as he glanced down at the datapad, although e probably knew where he was now.

"Oh, just tellin him I'm escaping to where I came from before I was here.  A lot has gone on since I've been here..." he answered hoarsly, he appeared to be sweating badly already which was a surprise considering it was Dar. 

"Well,  what happened to you then?"  Shazam whispered as they reached a point about two blocks from thier destination.

"Like I said...  Long story..." he would probably not say anything else, which was acceptable considering the circumstances.  "Where are we goin?"

"Hanger bay...  I think..." Darius was already feeling a bit uneasy at this look.  He pointed towards the spire in the center of the block arena and then pointed again lower, attempting to explain where they hanger bay lay.  Darius already knew.  Said he'd memorized his route from the hanger bay up until he'd been taken to his cell.  Quite the survivor thought Shazam.

The two of them finally reached a crusty sand colored wall with a single entrance, they had found their way into a desolate alley, which was really quite perfect.

"Right, before we go in, we're going to need to go straight down this hall, then take a sharp right, then a left...  Then we should be there.  Hopefully..."  Dar nodded, kind of astonished how far he'd gone since yesterday where he'd been expecting some hard time.  It could all be over soon, meaning he might be on a ship within the next few minutes or dead.

"Les go..."

The door slid open and the two of them began sprinting.  The muffled sound of 'intruders,' could be heard as they passed, but the two of them were pretty hell bent on just getting through this corridor.  Once they reached the end of the hall, once guard had made his way to the scene and was immedietly close lined by Dar.  Not even a seconds hesitation from this guy, Shazam noticed he was giving his old squadron member a lot of credit.

The turn left was almost immediate, and to Shazam's dismay, there was a closed door. 

"DAMMIT!"  Shazam roared and had to hold himself back from punching the huge door.  The entrance suddenly flung open and the two of them were staring into the face of Jen who was glowering with pride. 

"Told ya we'd get the ships back...  And you should probably step in because Aldur needs to shut them."  Shazam and Darius stepped through, slightly bewildered. 

"Did Art and the others..." Shazam began as the entrance shut with a metallic click.  Jen finished his sentance though, looking more and more like a flight attendant-

"Get back?  Yes...  They have Omulis strapped down in the back of your ship.  Art and Jack will be piloting the one we came in."  She ushered them forward, Shazam glanced up at the hanger control room to see Aldur totally forgetting about computer interfaces and instead bashing all the controls to peices. 

"Alright, you stay with me Dar, and get into that co-pilot seat.  Jen, you go on ahead and take a body count real quick before we take off."  She nodded curtly and ran back to the cruiser which Shazam was seeing for the first time, and Dar grinned as he took hold of the hatch on the side of the Real Bebop.

"Get your ass down here Aldur!" he yelled as the hum of ships became louder.  Shazam had the feeling it wouldn't be so easy to get out of the atmosphere, he'd have to take Page out the back of the Real Bebop to fend off whatever came up. 

Aldur had slid down the railing to the control room and skidded to a stop in front of him.

"How ya doin cap'n?" he was just as proud as Jen.

"Your ganna be piloting this hunk." He said and slapped him on the back.  Aldur lost the smile and replaced with a grim frown as he glanced up and down the ship.

"But its sooo slow..."

"Whatever, lets get out of here."

(Alright, Art you can explain how you got Omulis or whatever, but I just needed to exit this mission anyway I could.  If you guys would like, include a quick fighter battle or somethin, cause I suppose it'd be nice to fly around and take some people out in that Star Viper.  Its been a while.  Keep rockin.)
 
-----------------------
*Flash Was Here...*

CMDR/ESN Shazam/Nazgul 1-1/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/1VENF/VEN (=A=) (=*SA*=) (=*MA*=) (=*FOCE*=) [LoM] [LSM] [VC:S] [DSM]

Darius was pushing the Real Bebop to its limit.  The only way they were going to escape it by manuvering themselves through the astroid field infested with black holes.  It was also known as the Maw.

The ship shuddered slightly and began to gain a little speed as Shazam's Star Viper burst from it's hidden compartment.

"Remember Shazam, you can't kill anyone," said said a slightly worried Darius into the com unit.

"Don't worry, I'm way ahead of you," Shazam replied.

"And you can't be identified either," commented Darius.

"Oh yeah, forgot."  Darius watched as the little starfighter turned around from the advancing TIE interceptors.  "We're just going to have to lose them, won't we?" spoke a confident Shazam.

Darius searched frantically on the control panel for a scrambling switch.  It wouldn't be long till the TIEs caught up with them.  In just a few seconds, he noticed a bright yellow piece of tape that said "use, in case of emergency."  He looked at Jen and said, "ah, what the hell."

Upon flipping the switch, a noticable femine voice was heard over the speakers.  "ID scrambler activated."

Darius muttered to himself, "need to get me one of these."  Suddenly, sirens and buzzers broke the silence.  The clangor was almost unbearable.  "Let's do this," said Darius into the com again.

"Right," replied Art, who was piloting the borrowed medical transport.  The wave of asteroids were small and less numbered, but as the three ships went further in, the denser, and bigger they got.

Though, it didn't seem to bother Shazam.  He was having a hay day, manuvering through the astroid field, throwing the pursuing TIEs into near death collisions.  He twisted and rolled all around.  Purposefully, (serveral times) he flew in a collision course with asteroids and dodge it at the last possible moment.  He proved there, that he was probably the most skilled pilot in Nazgul. 

Eventually, their pursuers realized they were in over their heads and bugged out, having to face the wrath of their own commander.

In time, Nazgul squadron emerged from the Maw, and entered hyperspace.  Going back with one extra member than when they left.

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

Darius landed the Real Bebop with the most care possible onto the shining surface of the hanger bay of the Star Destroyer.  He rose out of his seat and put on his bloody prison uniform, to add effect upon what he was going to do next.

With a quick jesture to Jen, they exited the the ship and caught the attention of half the hangar crew.  He heard a few tools drop, and watched as a young man crashed a small hover car into a stack of coolant barrels.

They made their way through to corridors, being stopped several times, but Jen helped Darius get through security. 

Eventually, they reached Japheth's quarters and Darius barged in without knocking.  A stunned Japheth sat behind his desk, not expecting to see that particularly blood-soaked pilot in a long time.  Darius reached in his pocket, and threw a data card he had gotten from the prison medical ward on the desk.  On it, was proof of a poor brain wipe, and the verfication from the medical staff there.

"Re-trial," spoke Darius in a cold, emotionless voice, and walked out of the room, leaving Jen alone with Japheth.

She gave an awkward, embarrassed smiled, apologized, and walked out of the room, to catch up with her squadron-mate.
 
-----------------------
Feed a womp rat a food ration, he'll want an energy stim. Give him an energy stim, and he'll rip your throat out.

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FM/SCRW Darius Pursius/Nazgul 3-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=)