(This is between the Battle for Cepany and the downfall of the RS)

Part I  The Escape

Shazam sat down on his bunk and let out a sigh of relief.  They had just returned from battle and finished the briefing and everyone was exhausted.  His comlink attached to his hip beeped and vibrated.  He pulled it off of his belt and was preparing to throw it against the bulkhead, but thought better of his actions.  This better be good, he thought to himself.

"What is it now?" he barked into the comlink.  His mood wasn't very good after failing to kill the traitor from Nazgul. 

"Uh, we may have a problem with one of your pilots Lieutenant," said a hesitant voice over the com.  "We now just uncovered some interesting reports that were hidden in some very inconspicuous data files.  We believe one of your pilots has left the ship without, well&I guess proper leave."

"Who?" Shazam questioned.

"A Darius Pursius sir, he's gone."

I should have guessed.  "How did he get proper leave?"

"Go to his quarters, one of the Atrus' intel officers will fill you in with the details."

"Will do, Nazgul One&I mean&Lieutenant Shazam out," he said, and let out another sigh. 

Shazam left his quarters, walked down the hallway and took a right.  There, he found a short intelligence officer in full, neatly pressed uniform, standing at Darius' quarters.  He had blonde hair and a shortly trimmed beard.  The Nazgul leader tapped his cheek and gave an innocent smile, "not necessarily Imperial protocol."

"It's nice to have under cover Lieutenant," the intel officer said without a smile.  He had a very dry humor.  "It appears that there is nothing we can do to move against Master Chief Petty Officer Darius."

"That's good?" Shazam said, not exactly positive of the conversations destination. 

"It appears&" the man continued, completely oblivious to Shazam's remark, "&that this Darius is extremely good with paperwork."  He handed Shazam a piece of flimsiplast.  On it guaranteed indefinite leave without punishment, signed by the quartermaster himself.  "From what I gather and where we found the document, it was slipped into a pile a paper for acquisitioning food stuffs and other living necessities.  I will also add it was at the top of the pile, meaning he had slipped it into the bottom and was the last paper signed.  This concludes that the quartermaster got careless, and since having the authority to authorize such document, signed it himself."

Shazam had listened to the officer's speech, but didn't care for what he had to say, instead keeping an eye out for any young women wandering the corridors.  "So how did you come across the document?"

"While in battle, Darius had his private ship, a heavily modified YT-2400 Corellian Light freighter called Patient Revenge, brought out to into the hanger and prepped and fueled for departure.  He had spliced in his departure with outgoing cargo haulers held back until after the battle was fought.  Now I've ordered a team of splicers down to open the door."

"No!" he suddenly shouted.

"Beg your pardon," the officer asked, intrigued by Shazam's sudden show of interest.

"If I know Darius, the second you walk into that room, un-invited, the room will probably kill you."

"But that kind of act is against every policy in the book, and would have been detected and prevented!"

"Ahh, but you said he was very good with paperwork.  How don't you know he hasn't slipped another document in to the old quartermaster granting him to booby trap his room?  Let me handle this, ok?"

The intel officer gave Shazam a dirty look.  "Go ahead."  Then the man stood there, watching the pilot closely.

"Umm&I don't need you to hold my hand, get outta here," he said, and shooed the officer away.

Before the intel officer rounded the corner into a turbolift, he turned and stared Shazam straight into his eyes, "you haven't seen the last of me!  This Darius has just made a new enemy!"

"Wouldn't want to be you," Shazam muttered to himself, and hit the button opening Darius' door.  It slid open silently.  Something wasn't right.  He stepped into the dark room and the lights turned on.

"Where did you go," he muttered again. 

A blue light revealed itself behind him and shimmered against the far wall.  A familiar, cold voice broke the strange silence that filled the empty room.  "Faster than I thought.  Well done."

Shazam turned around, not surprised or angry, but in a good mood, and came face-to-face with a life-size hologram of Darius.  "I knew you'd turn on me one of these days.  Sloppy job hiding your departure though," he said smiling.  "I'm talking to a recording, and you're light years away, doing who knows what."

"Turn on you&never," Darius answered back, keeping his cold tone intact.  "And sloppy?  I thought the trail I left would buy me enough time to pull it off and not piss too many people off.  Also, this is not a recording.  I speak to you live, in VE space."

"So you wanted to be discovered?" Shazam queried, seeking the truth.

"Of course.  I want people to know I've still got the touch.  I just don't want people to think I've been tamed."

"I thought I did a pretty good job on you," shouted a feminine voice from the background.  Darius had taken his wife Layren with him too.  Shazam almost thought of that as a punishment.

"Why did you leave?" he asked, still trying to find enough answers to quench his thirst of understanding.

"I need to have some revenge.  I have two more ships I need to reclaim, some unfinished business to take care of as soon as possible.  Money."

"Money?"

"My father didn't die a poor man.  We had a lot of credits sitting around after our organization fell.  Didn't have two thousand mouths to feed, clothe, shelter, arm."

"Do you remember everything, so this won't happen again?"

"My memory is fully restored, but you can expect the unexpected out of me still.  I'm still a pissed off soldier of revenge."

Layren then came into view.  Instead of seeing her in her usual Imperial medics uniform, she wore a shimmersilk cloak loosely on her shoulders, and she wore her brunette hair long and curly, with thin blonde highlights.  Her shirt that she wore showed plenty of skin, but not too much, and she wore tight pants, accented by plastic gem studded sandals.  Shazam almost let his jaw, but resisted the old temptation, relying on his "skills" with women to resist the greater temptation to stare.  He gave her one quick look at returned his attention to Darius.

Darius put his arm around her and smiled.  Just a rare thing from Darius almost made Shazam uncomfortable.  "If you stare at my wife like that again, I'll make sure that when I return, you won't stare again."

"Are you joking?" Shazam said smiling.

"No," the other man replied curtly.

The smile immediately left his face.  "You're a lucky man to have such a woman as that."

"I know."  There was a moment of awkward silence, then Darius spoke again.  "I will return before we the next mission, I can guarantee it.  I'll be listening in and know everything that goes on when I'm gone."

"So this is really happening then?" Shazam said, aiming for a conclusion so he can get something to eat and go to sleep.

"Yes, farewell Commander.  I'll come back to you in one piece."

 
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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke
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FM/MCPO Darius Pursius/Nazgul 2-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) [VC:B] [CB*] [CBV]

Part II  First Things First

"So, what do you think about this one," Darius said to his wife as they cycled through orbital homes the VE offered.

She looked back at him and frowned, "It's a desert planet, who would want to have a home there."

"We wouldn't live on planet," he replied, becoming almost frustrated in a search for a home away from the Atrus.

"I want a home located around a planet that we could go to and enjoy some luxuries, not just adore from our view port from the bedroom," she said, enjoying the home search no more than Darius.

"Layren, how about a tropical planet," he said, and typed in some basic information.  He scrutinized the screen on the cockpit panel and picked the first planet he could pronounce correctly.  He looked at the mission crono he had programmed.  "They should be here soon.  Look things over and get ready, this is going to have to be fast.  I'm going to get my gear."

He pulled his armor-weaved cloak on and concealed his Marksman E-11 in it.  He rubbed the hilt of his father's sword, and a distinct claxon broke the silence.  He ran and slid down the ladder into the gunner station of his YT-2400 Corellian freighter.

"Alright dear, this is it.  Keep my gun pointed at them as much as possible without getting us killed, I'll do the rest."

"What's the magic word," Layren said, slightly perturbed.

"Please and thank you."

"Copy that." 

Darius watched his scanners as a Bulk Action IV freighter emerged from hyperspace, its engines leaking fuel and afire.  "Go!"

Their ship accelerated and Darius opened up on the freighter, spraying it with scarlet beams as he played his guns over the hull and damaging the communications relay as much as possible while moving so fast.  The ship didn't even have a chance to open fire before Darius had disabled it.

"They're hailing us by tight beam," Layren announced over the ship speakers.

"Go as planned," Darius said.  "You know what do say and do."  He climbed out of the gunners seat.  A few moments passed.

"Starting docking procedures," she announced and Darius grabbed the medical droid he kept on ship.

"Now, listen to me," Darius said, giving very complicated orders to a medical droid.  "You help no one but me as we jump ships.  Do you understand?"

"I will fight my programming sir," the droid answered in a monotonous voice.

"That's all I ask."  He opened the hatch and dropped the droid to the floor below.

"Hold your fire!" a familiar voice yelled, and several clicks announced the flick of firearm safeties turning back on.  "Hello up there!?"

Darius dropped down into the Fire Dragon without a sound and smiled.  Several safeties were turned back off.

"Well bless the stars, a familiar face coming to apologize and lend a helping hand," said Dellan Starq, a short, fat human, holstering his blaster and wiping his brow.  "You been alive all these years.  I hadn't heard a word about the survivors of that little Imperial campaign.  I thought you were dead."

"I stand before you in the living flesh."  He paused for a moment, taking in his surroundings and plotting his next move.  The corridor his had dropped into was dimly lit and a greasy film covered the walls.  The floor, however, was buffed to a clean shine, and reflected images off its metallic surface.  Familiar faces of many different aliens had their guns trained on him, but many were beginning to relax.  Yet, Darius presence left a Rodian very nervous, and the green alien kept his aim, safety off.  "I believe I have enough spare parts to get you to the Outbound Outpost in the Velix system."

"We don't have any wounded, so you can send your droid back.  I'm glad to see there's no hard feelings between us Darius." 

The Rodian quickly retorted, insulting Darius in his native tongue.  In a flash, Darius kicked the gun out of his hand and drew his sword, toughing the tip to the Rodian's neck.  The ships crew drew their weapons, but held their fire.  "Watch your tongue Mila, or I'll cut it out," he threatened.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa&there's no need for violence.  What happened in the past is gone, forgotten.  Let it be," Dellan pleaded.  Mila continued to speak again, continuing with his harsh comments.  "Stop!  That's an order Mila!  This is my ship!  No violence!"

"I'm afraid I can't let this stand," Darius, stripping his emotions from his voice.

"I can't let you just?"

"I'm not talking about Mila, I'm talking about your violence policy!"  He thrust the sword into the Rodian's neck, and pulled his combat helmet on with his free hand.  Then he threw Mila corpse in between him and Dellan.  Pulling out a cryoban grenade, he ducked and threw it Dellan.  In seconds, he was encased in carbonite.  He rolled two concussion grenades down the corridor and took two shots in the chest.  The double layer of armor he wore protected him from the blasters, but nothing could stop the concussion force of the grenades.  He flew back against the wall, but was not blinded or impaired by the blast.  He staggered to his feet, and a Nikto tried to stand.  Darius put it down in one shot to the head.

"I seek revenge on those who betrayed me!" he yelled at the wounded mercenaries.  "Consider us even!"  He walked down the corridor and shot every single alien that was still alive.  He quickly went to the bridge and dumped the cargo, two of his prized starfighters that had been stolen from him when he was a mercenary.  They were being sold to an old mentor of Darius' on Hapes.  She was Darius next stop.

He tapped the side of his helmet.  "Layren, I'm coming aboard, slave the fighters to the ship and let's get outta here.  I'm going to detonate the ship in five minute.  Thanks dear."

**********

Dellan woke from his carbonite slumber.  He couldn't see, but he knew who was there.  His mouth was taped shut.  "It's going to get cold," said Darius, and he shut the hatch of the emptied escape pod.  Dellan screamed but nothing could stop him from being launched into the cold vacuum.

Darius walked to the cockpit.  "Set a course for Hapes.  Then I'll give you a nice massage."

Layren looked up at him, "sounds like a good idea."

 
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All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men to do nothing. --Edmund Burke
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FM/MCPO Darius Pursius/Nazgul 2-2/mSSD Atrus/Defensive Fleet/VEN/VE (=A=) [VC:B] [CB*] [CBV]