Text scrolled over the droid display screen:  It seems there is little threat at this moment, may I continue?

"Go ahead GWB-43," Than Sion said.

New words began to replace the old:  I continued to do the work that the body had done with its old mind, the whole time trying to figure out how I was going to get off planet.  I did this for over ten years.  Then one spring day, I was being oiled by the master back in the shop when I grabbed a screwdriver.  The master backed up and hit the restraining bolt controller, but it didn't work.  I backed him into a corner and eliminated him.

This sent shockwaves down Than Sion's back, GWB-43 had not only the ability to directly kill someone, but the will to kill someone outside of self defense.  He thought for a moment that he should land the Preybird on the Steel Talon and destroy the astromech in fear that the droid would take over his ship and shut down life support if he didn't submit to the its will.  But the thought quickly left his mind, the security system on a ship of this type would be much greater than that of a simple droid used for farm work. 

The droid obviously noticed the long pause:  You are greatly disturbed by the fact that I can kill.  You fear for your own life.

"Only for a second, you can't hack into a Preybird's computer matrix, it is too advanced," said Sion in a stern voice.

The droids reply terrified Sion:  That is where you are wrong for you have forgotten one crucial fact.  An astromech's computer matrix is as very advanced for they are often used in military service.  I need you.  After I killed the farmer, I got the hyperspace probe back to the shop.  I repaired it, downloaded my memory back into it, and took back the downloading device.  This was over 3500 years ago.  My journey started over 4050 years ago.

"How is that possible, that was the Sith era and that didn't explain why you need me!" Sion yelled.

The text scrolled:  How covenant that you mention that.  My original masters were the Sith.  The other ship was piloted by a Jedi.  The artifact is a weapon of great power and of mass destruction.  The Imperial remnants are all that remains of the Sith.  Like I said, I have taken many bodies: 1 farm droid, 2 hyperspace probes, 3 protocol droids, 1 heavy lifter droid, 1 assassin droid, and finally this astromech.  I have taken this particular form for over five years.

"You still haven't explained why you need me!"

The text scrolled once more:  I need you not only that, even with me being able to take control of this fighter at any time, I don't have the programming to pilot this thing.  I also need you because you can communicate with others, I can't alone.  This is the first time I have had access to any form of communications with biological beings since I have taken this form.  Besides, I like you. 

"A cold blooded killing machine liking anything," said Sion, "I find that hard to believe."

The droid replied:  I must apologize for sounding like a mindless killing machine.  The farmer had it coming.  He kicked not only me often, but owned three slaves that he also abused.  After more than 4000 years of existence with no memory wipes, you gain a sense of existence and a conscience.  Even in 100 years, no 20 years, you gain these traits if you are a droid.

               


-----------------------
FM/PO2/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
I don't care about the political part of the government, I care about the part that tells me where the enemy is and lets me loose on them.

Than Sion's engines all of a sudden wheezed and shut down.

"What is going on GWB?" said the Pilot.

Text scrolled across the small screen: You are a fool. I have been leading you on, the whole time since I revealed my true motives, to gain control of the ship. Though one problem remains, I need you to pilot this ship to where ever I need to go. Do what I say or DIE!!!

A sense of fear mixed with a feeling of stupidity and a little anger hit him immediately. How am I going to get out here, thought Sion? He panicked. He started slamming on the cockpit controls but nothing worked. Maybe I should submit to his will, no I have to get out of. Oh no, he has control of everything including the ejection controls and even if I could get out I can't breathe in... His feet hit something hard. He looked down and logic started seeping in and just in time.

Text replaced the old: I don't have to wait for you biological, you are under my control, do what I SAY!

"NO," said Sion.

He picked up his flight helmet from the floor. He had forgotten that he had it. He had also remembered something about this ship.

Do no defy me puny human! I am your master, I shall suck enough air from the cockpit to torture you until you are almost dead and then I will pump it back in.

Than Sion heard a hissing sound.

"I will give you this much, you have had the upper hand for a long time, but no more," said Sion.

He threw his helmet on and sealed it. The droid wasn't loaded until after he had put the helmet under the dash board.

"Goodbye GWB-43."

Than Sion pulled down the mechanical ejection release behind himself. The canopy blew off and Sion shot into space. The old droid had only been around fighters and ships in general a few times. He didn't know much about mechanical releases and such. Hell, Sion himself forgot all about it until the last minute.

"This is Kaph 2; I have gone EV and need pick up..."

His ship started moving away. The droid must have meant that he couldn't fly the ship with much control since the Preybird was only going in a strait line. Preparing for hyper space aye, thought Sion.

"...On a second note, disable my ship. It is a threat, I will explain later."

"Kaph 11, I got your message loud and clear, it's a bit odd though... Never mind that, going in for attack."

Sanders came in and started taking hits at the "ghost ship." He got perfect hits at GWB's six because the fighter could only go in a strait line. The engines died out in the arcs of electricity. Glad that's over, thought Sion. That droid started to give me a head ache.


-----------------------
FM/PO2/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
I don't care about the political part of the government, I care about the part that tells me where the enemy is and lets me loose on them.

A figure in black floated in the infinite void called space.  Than Sion had successfully ejected from the compromised Preybird with no injury.  He wasn't out of the woods yet.  He was hovering helplessly in the middle of a space battle at the mercy of engine exhaust, laser fire, and the wind shields of fast moving fighters.  The most dreaded memory of his life played through his head once more:

An angry man wearing a large helmet pulled out a blaster.  He fired, blank point range, at a man's chest.  He turned and did the same to a woman.  They both dropped to the ground.  The man and his fellow soldiers just walked away, just as if they were walking away from a trash heap.  No care that they had killed innocent people, the people Than Sion loved more than anyone else in the galaxy.  Just got in their land speeders and took off.

A shuttle came in slowly with its coffer dam extended, it gently scooped up Sion.  The outer hatch of the air lock opened before he floated in and then quickly dropped hard on the deck from the artificial gravity.  The hatch closed.  Pressure filled the airlock as Sion stood up.  The inner hatch opened.

"Thanks for picking my up guys, you're a..." Than Sion stopped halfway through the sentence.

Four men, in an all too familiar helmets, pointed blasters at him.

"Put your hands on your head," said the soldier, "get up against the wall."

He didn't even have to think about what he was about to do.  He had been hardwired to do it since his parent's death.  He would not be taken alive!

"For the Empire!!!"

Than Sion dived behind a supply crate so quickly after the man stopped speaking that the enemy didn't even hit him with the stun bolts.  He unclipped the E-11 from his belt and let bolts fly. He took one out before he felt a sharp pain and then nothing. 


Than Sion opened his eyes.  He didn't know where he was for a second but quickly came to a realization, they had captured him.  He was in a familiar interrogation, that off a Star Destroyer.  A man in New Republic uniform came out of the corner. 

"See you have woken up," said the man in a cruel voice.

Than Sion scoffed, "I won't tell you anything, Rebel scum."

A mock look of being hurt crossed the man's face, "Oh but you don't have to my friend.  The only reason you weren't blasted to pieces when we first detected you is that we need you."

That sounds familiar, thought Sion.

"Lucky for the New Republic that the majority of the galaxy sees the Heroic Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker saving the day form the "mindless killing machine" Storm Troopers.  If they saw the dark side of the New Republic, they would know that the only thing that makes us worst than them, is the Jedi purge."

The man smacked Sion.  Sion tried to punch him in the face but found that his hands and feet were tied to a chair.

"NEVER even remotely compare the honorable New Republic to your miserable, overzealous, dictatorship of a government.  The only reason that your neck hadn't been snapped, after that intolerable comment, is that we need you for negotiations with the other Imperial Scum."

"I just did."

The man upper cut Than Sion in the jaw.  He went for another punch when alarms went off.

"Imperial troops have entered the Phalanx, repeat, imperial troops have entered the Phalanx," said a voice over the load speaker.

-----------------------
FM/PO2/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
I don't care about the political part of the government, I care about the part that tells me where the enemy is and lets me loose on them.

"Damn," said the New Republic officer, "Too late for using you to get this ship out of here."

Than Sion rolled his eyes, "To bad I can't say I care."

"I could use you for my crews escape from the ship without capture," said the NR officer.

It just dawned on Sion; this man was the commander the NR occupied Phalanx.  This could be useful, thought Sion. 

The commander signaled to the person behind the one way mirror.  The door unsealed with a hiss and two NR soldiers came into the room.  Two more were outside the door.  The locks on his chair clicked and he was free, well from the chair anyways.  One of the soldiers took out a pair of hand cuffs.  Than Sion put his hands out as though he would participate.  He was going to use their want to keep him alive and their want to get off the ship to his advantage. The man was bringing up the hand cuffs when he quickly jabbed the man in the gut.  With in a second he pulled the man's blaster pistol from his holster, threw the man at the other soldiers, and set the blaster to kill.  The other soldiers, in the confusion, shot the victimized soldier with stun bolts.  This gave Sion the time to get behind the commander and take his pistol two.

"Listen up, Rebel Scum," said Sion to the three active guards, "You try to stop me, he dies, you try to shoot me, he dies.  Get it?"  He watched the men nod their heads before he continued.  "Commander here and I are going to take a nice walk over to my friendly forces aboard.  Now will you be kind enough to walk away and make an attempt for the escape pods?" 

Than Sion began walking toward the door and the men left.  Not going to fall for their little trick though, thought Sion.  He made it look like he was leaving as though he didn't suspect something by having the commander just walk forward.  He then quickly kicked the man in the back and shot parallel to the wall both ways.  Two men dropped dead.  The third man popped around a corner, but Than Sion also picked him off.  The commander ran; Than Sion let him go.  He most likely would be picked up by Imperial forces.  He was truly free now.

He headed for that floor's armory, it most likely would have been unlock in the process of defending the ship; he would have to get out of the detention block first though.  Than Sion swung around a corner, two soldiers were running down the hall.  He shot them before they could react.  He knew how to get around a Star Destroyer well, so it didn't take him long to get to the exit.  The security room, attached to the detention block, only had two men defending it now.  One turned toward Sion and took a shot, it thankfully missed, and he shot the man in the chest and shot the other man in the side as he was turning.

Than Sion left the detention center and quickly worked his way to the armory.  He shot the one guard in front of it.  This is too easy; they must be evacuating the ship, thought Sion.  The floor's armory was unlocked, as predicted.  He walked inside.  The NR must have not cleaned out the Imperial stuff yet, the place still had suits of white armor hung up and E-11s on racks.  He put on a suit of storm trooper armor. 

Better chance I won't be shot by my own men, thought Sion.  He rummaged through the E-11s.  Come on, come on there it is.  He found his E-11 among them; it had the Kazaar crest etched into the metal opposite side of the Imperial crest.  He knew it would probably be here since this was the closest armory to the detention zone.  He placed the helmet on his head and turned on the comlink with his tong. 

"Kaph 2 to Kaph 9, I was captured and taken aboard the Phalanx.  I have escaped in the confusion and am making my way toward you in Storm Trooper armor."

"This is Kaph 9, Nice to find out you are still alive.  Just don't get your self shot in that armor now." 

 
-----------------------
FM/PO2/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
I don't care about the political part of the government, I care about the part that tells me where the enemy is and lets me loose on them.

Running around a Star Destroyer with a blaster reminded Than Sion of the short combat training he had received at the academy...

The combat training area at the academy was made up of different sections. These included a forest (made up of artificial duracrete trees,) a urban battle ground made up of defected prefab shelters and duracrete mockups, and a desert area made up of, well, sand. They were all small because they were only used for a short time and in small groups. But the one Sion remembered the most was a section of an old Star Destroyer that had been salvaged from orbital wreckage and brought by salvage tugs to Abrae.

It was a people vs. people skirmish. In many cases it would be a few cadet flights, at a time, verses combat droids armed with blasters hardwired to only fire stun bolts. The combat droids were mass produced so they were easily dispensable. The cadets were armed with real blasters. But in this situation both sides were armed with the same stun only blasters as the combat droids. One side had flight suits and the other had Army clothing on in order to tell the difference between the two sides.

Both sides mission was simple, to "eliminate" all of the enemies. Than Sion was on the flight suit side. Both sides started on different parts of the Star Destroyer chunk. The section had been made as fully operational as the chunk could be. The lights, turbo lifts, even the refreshers all worked.

Than Sion's team had started in a lounge aboard the ship. They quickly moved out in search of the "enemy." They snuck around the "ship" for about an hour with no contact. They were sneaking into a small cargo bay when a shot sounded out. Sion's team quickly ducked behind cargo crates. The "enemy" had come through another door on the other side only a few seconds earlier.

Both sides took pot shots at each other for about ten minutes before the first "casualty" was taken. A recruit on Sion's side stuck out his elbow for only a second, but that was enough. He got hit and fell over. His team now had one less member. Sion popped out and took three shots, then quickly popped back down. When he popped out again, he noticed that the man he shot at was on the ground. One of the shots must have gotten through. The teams were even now.

It went on for about a half an hour. Both teams had been worn down until it was exactly three on three. One of Sion's team members got stupid and ran out of his cover screaming and shooting. He actually took one out, but got hit by about four stun bolts himself.

It was kept even, two to two. The two "enemies were hiding behind a cluster of crates in front of a raised compartment. Then he got an idea. He told his partner this idea. The partner advanced forward a crate, effectively distraction the "enemy."
Than Sion snuck out of the door. He headed around to a set of stairs and through another door. He was now in the raised compartment. He crawled on his belly forward until he was almost to the edge. He popped up and shot over the ledge and...

He got one before he had to drop down because the other turned and fired. The partner popped up and effectively took out the last "enemy."

He hadn't fallen because he was hit. He had fallen tactically to not get shot. He was stunned in a certain way though, with shock. He couldn't believe it actually worked!

Than Sion returned to the present.  He was running down another hall when he noticed something.  He turned to look at a row of escape pods.  He had passed many of these such rows, all had been empty.  But this one was different, this one contained a pod! 

He hit the button next to the hatch, it opened and he jumped in.  He quickly tapped on the controls.  The door closed behind him and he blasted out of the Phalanx's hull. 

"This is Kaph 2, I have left the Phalanx via escape pod.  I am leaving emergency transponder on under a Imperial code.  I will need pickup..."

...As soon as he got back on the Steel Talon, he got suited up and was in an Interceptor.  He was told by flight control that his designation had been changed to Kaph 6.  He flew out of the hanger as soon as he got the all green. 

-----------------------
FM/PO2/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
I don't care about the political part of the government, I care about the part that tells me where the enemy is and lets me loose on them.

(OOC: I'll assume you meant to say Hyperdrive-modified Interceptor...)

Goltred's Tie Interceptor throttle hitted 100% in a frame of second after reporting in and picking up his comrades signal, his heart began to beat strongly and those treacherous nervous of the first real fight made him shiver while approaching the battle field.

"Got'cha!" - said Than Sion at the same moment he opened fired on a enemy X-Wing destroying it's shields and damaging the hull, the speed of the craft diminished drastically as two of the engines exploded, the weapons system got completely destroyed and the electrical system damage caused an over shock on the cockpit, killing the pilot. Than Sion broke his pursuit line, turned around and after a few seconds he prepared for a second run on the damaged X-Wing.

Just before he managed to hit the Fire button on his control stick a burst of lasers began to fly between his flight path and his target - "From Below!?" he said surprised as he  began to perform a Split-S manouver to get away from the attack.

"Kaph 7 pursuing" - transmitted Goltred over the Squadron channel and began to chase Than's attacker. The new Interceptor approached its target quickly and fired upon him a couple of times, missing its mark. "Stay Quiet!" - though Goltred as he tried to get the enemy craft on the targeting reticle once again, trying to calculate the flight path of the craft Goltred opened fire managing to destroy the X-Wing shields and passing his target due to his speed and the nerves made him lost focus on the battle.

Goltred's breath began to accelerate as he saw the laser fire pass by and nearly hit his craft. In a quick move, Goltred pulled the stick toward him and began to roll to the right making him a harder target... Few rolls and many lasers more, he eased the pitch on his interceptor, and while still rolling, applied full right rudder making his tail to roll in a wider arc than his nose, he then pulled the control once again performing a weird Barrel Roll that made the X-Wing pass by him.

"What was that Kaph 7!" - Said Demonic passing near Goltred's ship being pursued by two more X-wings and Than Sion in the back trying to clear his tail. "What in hell was that" though Goltred while linking his lasers to Quad Fire and lining up to fire once again. "Watch it Kaph 7!" heard Goltred at the same moment he fired his four lasers toward his target shredding it to pieces and his fighter shaked strongly... "What the..." though Goltred as he began new evasive manouvers.

The X-Wing turned around and began his second attack run on Kaph 7, advancing at full speed and making the last direction adjustments he began to fire against the evasive interceptor.
"Stay Alive Kaph 7!" was heard over the Comlink while Goltred made a hard turn to the right evading some incoming fire, finding another two X-Wings flying straight at him. In that exact moment a sensation of fear blinded his mind, the fear made Goltred hesitate and almost bail out but after a strong struggle he managed to calm down and get back on himself. "At least I'll destroy this one" he though while lining up for his shot as he saw that the sensors showed his target as friendly. "Break left!!" - said Demonic at the same time the incoming X-Wing began to fire it's lasers, the Tie Interceptor abruptly turned to the left and the incoming lasers hitted the pursuing X-Wing engulfing it in a quick implosion.

Not being pursued Goltred quickly checked the Damage status of his ship and found the Hyperdrive, Ejection Systems offline and the Life-Support system at 75%. "At least they are being repaired" he muttered while he watched a scratch on the left sensor and the hull status display completely destroyed& "I wonder how that would show my craft now".

"Kaph 7 moving back to battle!"

(OOC: First story post... i hope i did it right
 
-----------------------
Senior Crewman Goltred Skydark
Vast Empire Navy

FM/SCRW Goltred/Kaph 7/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=)

Nodding Lonewolf acknowledged Will's plan. He didn't feel like being a chatterbox for the moment. Flying with a new squadron was like learning how to dance with a new partner. As an experienced pilot he wanted to "feel" how this group of pilots acted. Pulling behind the enemy's wingman and successfully taking him out of the picture Lonewolf began to build his confidence. Concentrating on the situation he noticed Will's avenger launching missiles at his squadron commander.

In his previous time as an Imperial pilot he wouldn't have hesitated on focusing on the stolen fighter and simply killing the cocky rebel pilot. Instead though he focused on keeping his commander alive. Pushing his throttle to full he tried to get close enough to get a safe shot at the missiles chasing Will.

As it turned out Will was more resourceful than he originally gave credit to. Kaph leader tricked an enemy A-wing to hit one of the two missiles chasing him, taking the rebel out of action. "Not bad Kaph leader&" Jace mused under his breath. Not wasting his time he switched his weapons to single fire, still keeping the ion cannon armed in case he should miss.

Squeezing the trigger Jace grimly took the shot. The explosion from the warhead was close to Will's fighter but Lonewolf was certain he had gotten it before the impact, or so he hoped. "Kaph leader?" Jace calmly asked over the comm. "Kaph leader are you alright?"

He may have grown more compassionate over the years as a person but he wasn't completely ignorant enough to stick around to find out if his new squadron leader was alive. His timing couldn't have been better as an A-wing took a liking to him. "A shame that you're going to die today&" pulling the throttle to a lower setting he tried to get behind his tail. Crimson bolts tried to catch up to him but he managed to dodge them by randomly changing his directions. It was a struggle and he was trying to get the upper hand. Pulling back on the yoke he pulled his interceptor in a tight turn one the A-wing couldn't fallow if they were going to keep they speed they were at. Noting that the rebel was struggling to readjust to get the upper hand he had Jace took advantage and made a complete loop; bringing the turning A-wing in front of his crosshairs. "Rebel training seems a bit lax." If there was excitement from the moment Jace's tone sapped it away.

"Need any help Kaph leader?"

 
-----------------------
People question things that exists and ask "why?", I think of things never imagined and ask "why not?"
- Unknown

The good news, Than Sion wasn't dead and his ship was almost completely functional. The bad was that "almost" was his whole transmitter package. It had been hit coincidently by enemy fire. It wouldn't be that bad, actually it would have been lucky in any other case since the bolt could have easily passed through the engine or his body on the unshielded ship. He could have easily flown back to Steel Talon and had it replaced.

The problem, that transmitter package included both outward communications and the id transmitter. Also there was the fact that he was being chased by a flight of X-Wings.

The radar display would show him as "unknown gray" and he couldn't tell anyone this either. As far as the rest of the squadron knew, he was dead. He couldn't attempt to get near the Steel Talon to shake the fighters off his tail since he most likely would get shot up like the X-Wings. The other fighter pilots wouldn't know who he was either. He had no way of communications unless...

An idea came to him, but he knew it would be risky. He would have to get close enough to one of the other fighters to communicate over personal comlink. The problem was that he had a high chance of being mistaken for an enemy fighter unless he could prove other wise.

He headed for Demonic and Goltred's position, dodging enemy fire from behind. When he got into range of the rest of his flight, He was fired at by Demonic; he had expected this may happen and dodged it. How ironic that he was being shot at by Demonic when only an hour or so ago he had done the vise versa.

He made the risky move and swerved around at the enemy fighters and fired. He took one out with the quick move but dived down just as quickly to avoid being shot up by the other three.

It seemed like the rest of flight two got the message that he was friendly and engaged the X-Wings. Than Sion pulled out of the dive and came up on one of the distracted, enemy X-Wings. Making sure before he fired, it wasn't Kal, he let four bolts rip. The snub fighter exploded into a mortal firework. The other two fighters where taken out swiftly by Kaph 5 and 7.

He pulled up next to X-Wing.

"Who are you," said Demonic.

"Someone who came back from the dead," said Sion.

It probably came in full of static, compared to Demonic's which was crystal clear since his receiver package was untouched, but it should have gotten through. There was a long silence.

"Kaph 6, we thought you were dead," said Kal. "Kaph 6 is alive," he said to the rest of Kaph, "why are you showing up gray on my display and why is your transmission so full of static?"

"My transmitter package was taken out, so I couldn't communicate and my ship ID couldn't go out."

"So you are communicating via comlink. I'll have Kaph 7 escort you to the Steel Talon since I need to help Kaph 1 get his Avenger back."

"Copy that flight leader."


 
-----------------------
FM/PO1/Than Sion/Kaph 2/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/VEN/VE(=A=)
Paintball is the only sport that you get to shoot somebody in.