The night had gone smoothly after the dancing, Gilman had proved to be a generous host as their glasses never seemed to empty and the food was plentiful. With all his kindness something didn't quite settle with Cyleaf, most people didn't take kindly to an outlander beating them in anything on their turf with their toys.

The alarm clock was raising it's buzzing voice rousing the Zabrak from his thoughts even though he had already awaken.  Muscles creaking and head pounding he tossed the blankets aside. Need to lay off the liquor he screaming head was telling him as he walked across the room taking off his clothes and stepping into the refresher.

The warm water felt exquisite as everything seemed to unknot like a crystalline snake. The mad bantha seemed to abate some that was until a loud banging came from the door. With a loud sigh he turned the refresher off and grabbed a towel wrapping it around his waist, the water still dripping off his body Cy walked over and peeked out peephole in the door.

Slowly opening the door he let Than and Goltred entered smiling,

"Good morning Cyleaf" Than greeted with a wide smile that showed his teeth, it seemed almost fake.

"Yeah it was until you to came banging on my door" he didn't hide any of his annoyance.

"But we have a nice surprise for you" Goltred chimed in moving towards the bed and plopping down and pulling out a piece of paper.

"Just make yourself at home, mind if I stop dripping on the floor?" the Zabrak spat and for the first time his friends noticed him in a towel.

"Sure go ahead, this will be here when you get out" Than chuckled.

Grabbing some boxers, cargo shorts and undershirt Cy stepped into the refresher to change in privacy. In less than a minute he emerged, the shirt clinging to his wet chest. Going into the closet he pulled out his vest, hiking boots and the DC-17M. Cyleaf finished getting dressed and sat down at the table while Than sat across from him. Goltred began to speak as the Zabrak took apart his gun.

"Well when Than awoke this morning a map was slide under his door and this piece of paper was attached. I've been looking this over and it leads into the jungle to some clearing&"

"Well what did the note say?" Cy interrupted him, removing the rifle stock he replaced it with a pistol grip and continued to listen.

"It was from Gilman, he said that this would be an interesting route for us to take and would have challenges fitting our extreme appetites. Also he warned to bring a pistol, some of the indigenous species are hostile." Than paused before continuing,

"The girls are going to stay here along with Krius, Skylla will take care of them. They know we are going into the jungle just incase something bad happens and we do have our comlinks."

Cyleaf finished making his rifle into a pistol and loaded a magazine,

"Think this might be a set up?"

"Only one was to tell" Goltred said standing up,

"Cause he arranged transportation for us and we have to catch it in about" looking down at his watch he continued "five minutes."

Gathering his weapon parts and standing up Cyleaf repacked in the bag inside his closet. This feels like playing cat and mouse with a Razor cat he thought following his two friends out of the room.

They waited outside of the hotel as air cars zoomed in and out picking up other passengers. It had been fifteen minutes before a worn looking hover car stopped in front of them. Steve stepped out from the driver's seat and greeted them.

"A pleasure to see you again, Gilman thought you would like to explore out rustic jungles and see the wildlife. Shouldn't be too tough for you extreme enthusiasts."

With Steve beckoning them into the car they began the short travel to the edge of the jungles, dropping them off at a well worn path Steve bade them goodbye but not before giving them his comlink number for pickup later.

The lush vibrant trees stretched in front of them, untamed fresh air assaulted their nostrils. Roaring, chirping and barking sounds all seemed to flutter from behind the branches, if Cyleaf had hair the back of his neck would be standing at attention like Than and Goltred's.

Pulling out the map Goltred studied it for a brief second then pointed away from the path and into the trees.

"Seems that we are supposed to go this way" he said taking a step forward. Than nodded and followed while Cyleaf put a hand over his blaster and walked, something doesn't feel right but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

The foliage seemed to envelope them as the passed from the safety of the city into the unknown.
 
-----------------------
EFM/CPO/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)(=*SA*=)[BWC]

Will checked his datapad again, they were slightly off course. Adjusting the auto pilot slightly, Will then slumped back into the worn synthetic seat, comfortable nonetheless. They had been moving at a constant speed, heading deeper and deeper into the jungle for the past half hour since they set out from the storage compounds.

The sky outside was a dark blue color, almost black. Lighted by two bright moons, the surrounding jungle appeared in patches of light, shadows from the plants high over them. With years flying, Will could feel the change in altitude as the hovercraft ascended to the summit of a plateau. The datapad beeped once, signaling their arrival at the appointed area.

Will brought the hauler to a stop, looked around, then stepped out. He was standing in a slight clearing. The jungle had stopped around the bottom of the slope that lead up to the plateau. Demonic came out the other side of the vehicle, and checked out the surrounding area. The view was awesome. Being on the top of the plateau, Will could see over some of the plants in all directions. The moons helped light up the area. Looking up, Will felt the cool breeze blowing across, as well as the bright moon light shining down.

Ten minutes later, Will heard a slight change in the natural sounds, sounds of hovercrafts. Looking around, Will saw a pair of lights approach. But from the sounds, Will guessed there were more. The pair of lights drew closer, until it was on the same plane as Will's truck, then slowed their motions. Will squinted at the bright lights. when piloting a fighter, he always wore his helmet, which helped reduce glare and lights from any light sources. But not now, and he resented it. Before he knew it, the lights switched off, the area was once again, filled by only the lights from the moons.

Two men in black jump suits and hoods climbed out from a vehicle unknown to Will. "Hello there." The man greeted with a chilling voice.

"Hello yourself." Will replied equally emotionless.

"I assumed you're here with the cargo?"

"How do I know you're the right receiver?"

"Well..." The guy abruptly stopped. He turned his head slowly to the right, no doubt listening to a comlink hidden inside the hood. Will watched as the person's expression evidently soured by the second. After half a minute, he looked at Will, then said, "I thought you were told to come just by yourselves." Through the shadow of the hood, two bright yellow eyes burned menacingly. Will guessed he wasn't human, but he couldn't guess what humanoid the person standing before him was, thus not able to tell what kind of actions he could expect.

"We did come alone. If there are anyone else, they're not with us."

"No? Let's just be sure." He pulled out a small hologram projector with a gloved hand, then activated it. The projector buzzed a bit, then focused into three figures on foot. Even from a distance, Will could tell who the three figures were. Their appearance was unmistakable. Cyleaf in the lead, followed by Goltred, and Than bringing up the rear. "Let me ask you again, are you sure they're not your men? My lookouts tell me they're heading directly for this plateau."

Come to think of it, I haven't seen them all day. So this is what they've been up to. Or perhaps they found out about the mission. His thought trailed off. The humanoid facing him was staring at him expectantly for an answer. "From what I can see, they're just normal hikers. Which shouldn't be surprising."

"Good." he pulled up his collar, then said, "Shoot them."

"Wait." Demonic spoke for the first time that night. "You're going to shoot innocent civilians?"

"We can't risk anyone finding out about this. I'm sure you can understand that. Now, let's get the crates over to my hauler and we can get out of here."

"Alright, Demonic, stay here while I get the hauler turned around so it'll be easier to unload the cargo." Just as Will slammed the door shut, he could hear a volley of shots going off. He closed his eye briefly, hoping they missed.

But when Will got out of the vehicle, Demonic was lying on the ground, face down, with a gun pointed at his head. "Your friend here tried to persuade me into not killing those intruders. I hope you don't have the same idea in mind."

Before Will knew it, both of his pistols were in his hands, and he was squeezing off shots at the humanoid standing over Kal.

He made short work of the guy, as two shots hit him square in the chest. Taking the chance, Kal grabbed the gun off the dead humanoid, and joined the fight. But it was short lived. Fifteen or so men came out of the darkness and started firing back. Diving back into the cover of the hovercraft, Will found him self in the copilot seat, and Kal in the pilot seat. He knew Kal's background pretty well. An orphan raised by a group of racers. Will had every confidence in Kal. Except hoping he wouldn't go too fast and crash.

"We'll need to pick up those three." Will said, and then stuck his hand out the window firing a few shots into the space behind their hovercraft. They were being chased by the other men.


-----------------------
-(William the Conquerer)-
Elite Squadron Commander
King of PPC
"Lives are created to be ended, just as rules are made to be broken." -- Unknown, probably me
ESC/ESN Willtconq/Kaph 1/Wing I/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S][SV][BWC][LSM]{VB}
Wm/Wm Willtconq/WM:1/Webmasters/VET/VE

The pleasant aromas and sounds of the jungle brought many sensations to the Zabraks's nose. Once he stopped to smell a flower and almost got his nose bit off.

After the argument between Than and Goltred had died down and the human opened up though even for a brief moment, the awkwardness was still lingering in the air. Walking over towards one of the colorful and lush trees he knelt down upon one knee, a brilliant flower seemed to be blowing in the wind.

Cyleaf had never been hypnotized before so the sensation tingling at the back oh his mind he mistook for curiosity instead of a warning. The smell that seeped from what he perceived as a flower was so intoxicating, it was like nothing that had been manufactured and sold as fancy perfume. His hand slowly reached out to touch it but he stopped least the smell dissipated when he plucked it. Slowly inclining his head towards the multi-colored petals he was about to inhale when a blaster bolt sizzled beside him.

Everything came back into focus as if he was awakened from a dream; the Zabrak almost wet himself as he noticed he was almost nose to nose with a snake. Its head was covered in feathers that gave it the flower petals look and shimmered the many different beautiful colors a rainbow offered. Venom was dripping from the two fangs of its opened mouth and sizzled as it hit the ground.

Dropping backwards Cy was reaching into his holster for the gun when it struck burying it's fangs into his armored vest. He yelled from the impact as it slammed him onto his back, the head still pressed into his chest area. Gasping he called out to Than who had ran beside him.

"Shoot the damn thing" he pleaded as his friend looked down in horror,

"But I'll hit you..."

"Just shoot it in the head, even we can't miss from this distance" Cy yelled knowing that they all were lacking in ground based combat skills due to too much time in the air and not enough on the ground.

The Zabrak felt another thud followed by the sensation of dropping a hot drink on yourself and cooling it off with cold water. Chunks of snake and blood had splattered his face.

"You're one crazy nut" Goltred commented bending over and peering down at what was left of the snake. Looking at Cyleaf's vest he decided to say more,

"Lucky that thing was only a baby or it would have pierced that vest like an arc-welder through butter."

"That's only a baby? How do you know?" Than asked interested.

"Cause the adults would have struck when I shot at it before, they are more into the kill than playing with their food"

"I thought it was a flower, I just wanted to give it to Crystal"  Cy stammered obviously in somewhat shock as he peered down at the holes in his vest, it was mere centimeters left before the poison would have been in his veins.

"Ok now the next question is why didn't the blaster burn through you too?" Than asked puzzled.

"Cause it's Barabel microbe armor, absorbs blaster fire but nothing else." Cy said taking Than's hand and standing up.Really lucked out this time, and I'd hate to meet it's Mamma he thought taking the lead as they continued to follow the map.

"Guess he didn't lie when he said extreme hiking" Cy chuckled as they continued trying to ease his racing heart.

"Yeah killer what was it, flowers? What's next razor grass?" Goltred teased.

They continued to hike for about a half hour without incident, the spring was back into Cyleaf's step and the morale was back up. But the good cheer was short lived.

Blaster fire rang out in the jungle, spooked animals rustled in the underbrush darting for safety. Natural reflex had taken over as the three companions dropped to their knees and drew blasters.

"What is blaster fire doing out here?"

"Don't know Than but I think our friend Gilman set us up"

Cyleaf listened again and heard more gun fire, followed by the sound of speeders. The noise was intensifying as they came closer towards their position. Still judging the distance to be about a kilometer or two out he was perplexed by what happened next.

A red blaster bolt pierced through the trees and entered through Goltred's left leg slamming into the ground kicking up dust. The man's scream of pain rattled the Zabrak to the core more then the stench of burnt flesh from the smoking wound. Cyleaf and Than both grabbed an arm each and dragged their companion behind a fallen tree, it wasn't cover but would act as concealment.

"Such a shame, if only you were faster we wouldn't have had to kill you." Steve said as he stepped into the clearing with Dale on his right and Jack to the left. Dale was carrying a smoking EE-3 rifle while Steve and Jack had DL-44s.

"All Gilman wanted you to do was interrupt the supposed secret meeting and get yourself killed, it doesn't pay to show off and win on someone else's territory" He continued as Cyleaf placed his hand over Goltred's wound trying to stop the bleeding from something that hadn't cauterized. Than grabbed some nearby leaves and began to stuff the hole, though not the most sanitary thing to do it was all they had available and it slowed the bleeding.

"How do you want to do this Than?" Cy asked grabbing his blaster and checking the magazine.

"Your armor gonna hold up?" he asked while thinking, the Zabrak nodded,

"As long as they aim in the chest"

"Ok when I signal run for the tree over there, draw some fire I'll try to get some shots off" Cy nodded, he now wished for more time with weapons other than missiles and cannons. Cyleaf's palms were starting to get sweaty and the taste of bile seemed to come up into his mouth, the mishap from earlier and now Goltred and his burnt flesh were making his adrenaline soar.

Looking over to Than he saw him nod, taking it as the sign he stood up and sprinted for all he was worth taking pot shots in the direction of their assailants. Dirt and fauna splashed into the air around him as he was almost next to the tree, back to them but the feeling of a gaffi stick smacking him into the back made Cy tumble almost losing his blaster. Rolling behind the tree he hoped they would think him dead and slip up.

Seeing their attention poised on Cyleaf, Than crept around the end of the fallen tree taking careful aim he placed a bolt into Dale's chest knocking him off his feet. Taking their attention back on him the area lit up with fire. Than tried desperately to see Cyleaf, put each time he looked a blaster fire pelted the area, and they wouldn't last long behind the log as holes started to burn into it.

The Zabrak tried desperately to catch his breath; it had work for a brief second as he heard one of their men cry out in pain only to go silent. Placing his back up against the tree he slowing began to calm his heart down, though he couldn't see Than or Goltred he could see the pestering their hiding spot was taking from fire. Leaning slowly from the tree Cy aimed at Jack who was closer to him and began to fire, watching his bolts pound the ground slightly behind his target he adjusted and fired some more catching Jack as he was running for cover.

"Two down Than" Cy called over to his friend, "How's Goltred?" he added.

"He's not doing to good Cy, we gotta get him help or a decent med kit fast" the worry was unmistakable in Than's voice.

The roar of a speed grew, it was very close now and Steve's shooting died down briefly. Must think back up is here Cy growled to himself. Peering from his hiding spot he saw a speeder slam into Steve sending him flying into a nearby rock and shattering his body. The Zabrak couldn't believe who he saw and the good luck that had befallen them. Standing up he called out to them.

"Will, Kal, I can't believe it's you, hurry Goltred's been shot." He breathed holding back some excitement and turned to Than.

"Than, Will and Kal are here" he shouted running over and helping his friend pick up Goltred and carry him to the speeder.

"He needs a doc or a med pac, something quick" Cy said to Will as Demonic put the speeder in motion. A hail of blaster fire began to come from behind them as the people pursuing Will and Kal caught up to them.

"Seems like you both made friends too" Than said taking aim as he and Cyleaf returned fire.

(Edit:changed to left leg, sorry bout that.)

-----------------------
EFM/CPO/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 1-3/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)(=*SA*=)[BWC]

"Than, would you be so kind as to secure the crates to the floor please, I heard some creaks when Kal made the last turn." Will called back. Without further comment, Than tossed his gun to Cyleaf, and proceeded to secure the locks. Turning back to the task at hand, Will checked the status of the craft. It was barely holding up. The rear sections showed red with warnings on the diagnostics. If we don't get rid of those freaks quickly, we're toast. Will thought to himself. The guns that they'd brought were not meant to be used on speeders, only on men. The shots merely scorched the front of the two remaining ones. Cyleaf had caught one of the drivers in the shoulder earlier. The driverless speeder crashed into a tree.

"How far are we from the city?" Cyleaf asked. Looking at the datapad, Will saw that they were still hundreds of kilometers away. "Approximately half an hour if we go in a straight line at it." Will replied, paused a bit, then said, "At the rate we're going, plus the turns and dodges, I'd say it'll be another hour or so. If we don't shot up." Will added the last sentence after another pause.

"Goltred's not doing so good. He's bleeding again." Cyleaf reported.

"Alright, all cargo are secured." Than came back from the aft section. "The space back there is really hot. I think the shots are burning through whatever the material this piece of junk was built out of."

"All the more reason to get this over with as fast as we can." Will hinted. Without sensing any change, Will turned to Kal and said, "kal, see if you can bring this piece of junk up a notch."

"Can't, there's been some damage done to the port engine. If you can fix it for me then I'll be glad to push it to its max."

"Alright, I'm on it." Cyleaf said, standing up, at the same time, tossing the guns back to Than. "They're almost empty anyways. These guns can't do anything to the speeders. Unless I get another lucky shot on them. Which is very unlikely."

"Than go with him. Take the guns. If they blast open the back side at least you'll have a weapon to defend with." Will orders without taking his focus from the sensors. "Meanwhile...."

He was cut off as Kal made a tight turn to the left to avoid incoming fire. The shots hit a tree on the path they used to be, and set it ablaze.

Grunting, Will sat up straight again. "Damn these things, no inertial compensators. And next time, Kal, try to give us a warning before you pull something like that again."

"Sorry Sir, it came with reflexes. When the shots came, my body automatically pulled left, but giving out a warning isn't on my list of reflexes." Kal said with dry humor.

Than emerged from the back, holding a hand to the side of the head. "Whoever did that turn is gonna get his head split open just like mine is." Than said through clenched teeth. "gimme the med pack. i've got a bloody crack in the head."

"Yes, kal, you definantly need to give us a warning next time." Will said calmly, suppresing his anger at Demonic for wounding Than unnecesarily, at the same time, he handed Than the medpak, with witch Than used to tend to his bleeding head.

"Looks like we've got a small plain coming up soon. Plus, we still have..." Will looked at the datapad blankly. He'd missed the part when another speeder was killed. Probably due to Kal's driving skills. "What happened to the other one?"

"It crashed into the tree when you were busy talking to Than." Kal replied easily, without turning from the front view. "Everyone hold on."

-----------------------
-(William the Conquerer)-
Elite Squadron Commander
King of PPC
"Lives are created to be ended, just as rules are made to be broken." -- Unknown, probably me
ESC/ESN Willtconq/Kaph 1/Wing I/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE (=*A*=) (=*SA*=) [VC:S][SV][BWC][LSM]{VB}
Wm/Wm Willtconq/WM:1/Webmasters/VET/VE

Than Sion's head was throbbing still, he didn't really blame Kal for it though.  He did what he needed to do for them to survive.  Speaking of that there was still a speeder of angry men following them with big guns.

"Do you have a plan to get rid of the last one?" Sion asked Demonic.

"The only thing I can think of right now is getting through this plain without getting our back end blown off," replied Kal grimly.  "This would be the time for one of you to figure something out."

Than Sion remembered back to the first time he had live blasters pointed at him in the intent to kill and couldn't help but smile.  He had come along way from the day that Jak had busted him out of NR Headquarters on Kazaar.  After about a year of being a fighter pilot, he was no longer overly afraid of things with guns. What ever happened to him, thought Sion.    He found himself looking out the window at the far side of the field.  Something caught his eye.

"Hey Kal," said Than pointing, "look at that over there."

"What, I don't see anything...Oh," said Demonic.

It wasn't too obvious, but if you looked you could see a pair of large yellow eyes glaring at the two speeders coming toward it.

"What if you made a wide turn around it, it shouldn't be too out of place for a thing this size to make a big turn.  They'll try to cut us off by making a sharper turn and..."

"...Run right into it."

"What are you guys talking about, I don't see any..." Will dropped what he was saying when he saw the eyes.  That thing is big; you guys aren't planning on going any where near it?"

Their vehicle took another hit, causing a jolt reaction from Demonic on the controls.

"No sir, but they will," replied Demonic.

"I am going to go back to see what happens," said Sion.  "Knowing our luck lately it will be a harmless herbivore or something like that."

They shot into their wide turn around the eyes and... the idiots took the bait.  He watched the enemy out the left window in the back go right toward the location that they had seen the eyes.  Then all of a sudden some big reptile like thing came out of the shadows and into the head lights of the enemy's speeder.  It must have been at least twenty feet tall with big jagged teeth and had five horns studding its head.  It slammed its large hind legs onto the speeder before the men could even react.  That was all Sion was able to see before his view was hidden.  But anything with in five miles could have heard the men screaming.  Than Sion returned to the front of the speeder.

"What happened?" asked Cy.  "That screaming was something fierce."

"Well a big dinosaur thing jumped the nerf herders, but other than that nothing much," replied Sion.

"Demonic," said Willtconq with a blank look on his face, "keep an eye out for anymore things that go bump in the night."

"Yes sir," replied Demonic.

"Oh yeah, you all can drop the sir shit now."

(OCC: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know is was too Jurassic Park but I thought we could do something different than Demonic getting the last speeder to hit a tree or big rock.)   

 
-----------------------
EFL/WO2 Than Sion/Kaph 5/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)[LoM][VC:B][MC:1][SWC]{VB}
For two fricking games I thought the Precursors were powerful beings of light, then in Wizard of Oz fashion they all look like Daxter!!! Oh well, at least he got his pants and the girl.

"Demonic and I are going to go get a new vehicle," said Willtconq, "keeping this one would be suicide.  You two stay here and keep watch over the cargo.  Do everything in your power not to bring attention to yourselves.  Remember that the cargo is the key to getting off this rock alive.  We will return as soon as possible.  Oh yeah, don't make any attempts at communication with the others.  We cannot risk our transmissions being intercepted."

Demonic and Kal left CY and Than Sion sitting there on the loading ramp of the big, charred, metal box.  Than Sion still could hardly believe that Demonic had taken them out of harms way in this thing.  Not out of harms way, out of immediate danger.  They weren't out of this yet.  He thought of Goltred in the hospital and hoped that something didn't go wrong that ended up killing him.  He observed a blue and red bird in a tree and wondered how much less complicated life was for it than him.  Then he suppressed the thought, the complexity of life was what made it interesting.  Besides, at least when predators came after him he could fight back.

With the immediate threat on hold, the worries of his life beyond this planet seeped into his mind like the memory of a bad dream.  Even though Goltred would most likely live, they wouldn't have him in a fighter for awhile.  That meant that Sion was short a wing man.  His own success had split him from Demonic who was replaced by Goltred.  Now his own stupidity had gotten Goltred's leg messed up leaving him with no wingman.  If only he hadn't been stupid enough to talk smack to those pilots they would have never gotten into this mess.  Cy looked over at Than and must have figured out what was on his mind from the look on his face.

"If you wouldn't have went into that race and gotten tricked by those pilots, the cargo would have been in the hands of the New Republic," stated the Zabrak.

"Is a few guns worth the price of Goltred's leg?" Sion said with guilt laden in his voice.  "For all we know all that blood he lost could have caused brain damage and he will never be able to fly a TIE again!"

"Think rationally Than, is a single man that we just happen to know worth the deaths off one hundred others?  We cannot let our emotions control us in this field of work.  Remember that one pilot from that space station in the last mission?  His anger put him out of touch with reality, the consequence was his demise."

"I see what you mean; it's just hard to cope with."

"The last 24 hours have been hard on us all."


Will and Demonic returned a half an hour later with another bucket of rust.  But at least this one looked like it had some speed behind it.  He thought he had heard the name of the red speeder before, but it didn't come to mind at the moment.  They stashed the cargo into the new speeder and then proceeded to use the cruise control and a delayed power surge to the repulsor stabilizers to drop the old speeder into the ocean.

They returned to the hotel with a shared feeling of guilt.  It had been many hours since Sion's transmission to Skylla and the others would be deeply worried.  He felt sorry for Cyleaf's girl the most.  The rest of them had combat experience to keep them calm, but she was but a mechanic.  He wishes he could tell himself that he could only imagine the emotional trauma she was going through, but that would be a lie.  His parents were still dead and the NR was still in power.  But if this Admiral Thrawn character had anything to say about it, their days in power were numbered.  On the other hand, if Admiral Thrawn had any say in anything, the VE would not be independent for long either, none of the other Remnants would.   

(OCC: Hope I didn't hog too much of the story.  I didn't specify on the speeder for it would take me an hour to figure out what to use.)
 
-----------------------
EFL/WO2 Than Sion/Kaph 5/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)(=TE=)[LoM][VC:B][MC:1][SWC]{VB}
For two fricking games I thought the Precursors were powerful beings of light, then in Wizard of Oz fashion they all look like Daxter!!! Oh well, at least he got his pants and the girl.

Than Sion knocked softly on Skylla's door.  He had promised this point would come, even though at the time that he made it he wasn't sure if it was the truth.  But that did not matter, what did was that he was standing here right now.  He had survived to fight another day.  The door opened.  For a moment Skylla just stood there with out saying a word.  The look of surprise changed to an expression of gratitude.  She came forward and wrapped her arms around Than.

"It has been a long time," said Skylla, her eyes tearing up, "I was beginning to think that you had..."

She couldn't say anymore, the emotions were too strong.  Than Sion held here in his arms as she sobbed on his shoulder.  Death had made an attempt to separate them, but Than did what he always did when Death wanted to play hard ball.  He shoved his boot up its ass and sent it away yelping.

"Everything is going to be alright now," said Sion, "we are together once again."

He knew it was not completely the truth before he said it.  There were crazy men out there that had sworn their lives away to the evil NR, men that were out for their blood.  They wouldn't be safe until they were off this rock.  No, it was a bigger picture than that.  They wouldn't be safe until every last rebel had their blood splattered across the galaxy.  But Skylla did not need to know this, Skylla only needed his love.  Sion only needed hers.  In the moment he didn't even notice the figure that had walked up behind him until the point where he tapped Sion on the shoulder.

"Sorry to break up the moment," said Kal quietly and sympathetically, "but Will wants to have a group meeting in his room."

"Ok," said Sion simply.


**In the Eyes of a Women**


She could not believe it when she opened the door and saw Than standing there.  For a second she believed it was her imagination, she had wanted it to happen so bad that her mind projected it happening.  But when she blinked and he was still there, she knew that he was real.  She took two steps forward and embraced Sion, the man she loved.  She began to tell him all that she had went through but couldn't get past the first sentence before she fell apart.  For the several hours her faith that he would return to her arms was tested.  She had begun to think horrible thoughts of his possible demise.  He told her that every thing was alright and she believed him.  Nothing else mattered except for that they were together now. 

She almost jumped when she figured out they were not alone.  Kal told them that Will wanted a meeting.  The question was about what?  But she regressed; she already knew what it was about.  They would have to get off this hell disguised as heaven if they wanted to get out of harms reach. 

"Maybe I should go change," said Sion, obviously referring to his dirty, torn, and slightly blood stained cloths.

"Please don't leave me," stated Skylla, "not yet."

"I understand."

They held each other tight for a few more minutes before heading for Will's room...


(OCC: Wanted to stick in some relationship development.  It is the perfect time for it.  I thought that Will or Demonic would want to write about the "big plan."  Ok, that and that lost in coming on it ten minutes and I can't miss it.)

 
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EFL/WO2 Than Sion/Kaph 5/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)(=TE=)[LoM][VC:B][MC:1][SWC]{VB}
For two fricking games I thought the Precursors were powerful beings of light, then in Wizard of Oz fashion they all look like Daxter!!! Oh well, at least he got his pants and the girl.

With the exception of Cy and Crystal, everyone was there.  On his bed was Willtconq, the assertive and modest leader.  He has the respect and admiration of every pilot under him.  Posted by the door was Kal, fighter perfectionist and former speeder bike racer.  He doesn't socialize much, but is a good pilot and the best wingman Than Sion ever had.  Sitting on the floor cross legged was Krius, the youngest member of the squadron though a good pilot just the same.  Even though it could get annoying sometimes, everybody loves his sense of humor and his mildly cocky attitude.  There was also Qualray and Orrak, Sion doesn't know much about their pasts, but he can tell that they are great buddies.

Sitting in the chairs by the table were Than and Skylla.  Anybody who ran into the couple could tell that there was a deep attraction, though they would not get why if they were able to compare the two individuals' pasts.  Good thing that Than Sion was the only one who really knew anything about Skylla's past, and it was the complete opposite of his farm boy upbringing.  She had grown up on an industrial world where being part of a gang could easily be the difference between moving up in underworld society or starvation.  Though as far as Sion was concerned, the Vast Imperial Navy had changed both of their lives for better and for worst. 

Skylla is an interesting case.  She was put into Kaph Squadron before the attack on the HQ of the RS and has become a great contribution to the Squadron.  Even though she is the only female in the squadron, she gets along just fine with the men.  Than Sion is known for his unconventional tactics and his semi-kill joy attitude as a fighter pilot.  Position changes and recent events have been giving him a lot of internal stress lately.  But he would get over it eventually and it wouldn't show in public.

"Kal, by any chance do you know where Cyleaf and Crystal are?" asked Will.  "This meeting needs to start ASAP and it can't start with out them."

"He said something about making a delivery or something," replied Kal.

Cyleaf, far from being new to the squadron any more, had seen a lot of messed up crap in his duty as a pilot.  Most notably the death of his academy friend Dodger.  He doesn't say much, but is observant of all that is around him.  He has recently gotten into a relationship with the young mechanic Crystal.

About a half an hour later Will's temper went off, just in time for a knock on the door.  After a short exchange with Kal, Crystal and Cy walked into the room.  Will had stopped raving when they knocked, but Sion would prefer he had continued rather than to see the look on Will's face.

"Where the hell have you two been," said Will angrily.  "If I am having a meeting after a shoot out with a bunch of idiots then you better believe that it is important."

"Just helping out Goltred and the local hospital," replied Cy soberly.  "I brought them the med supplies from the boxes."

"I see you had a good motive now, but it could have waited until a later time," Will stated in a cooler manner.  "I might as well start the meeting now.  As you all know, Shazam is not expecting us back for several more days.  We don't have the time to wait for the rest of the VEN to investigate.  We are completely alone.  We are going to have to get off this planet ourselves.  Now any attempts at stealing civilian space craft would alert the local NR insurgent group, who would fry our asses before we make it out of the atmosphere.  That leaves only one way off this planet, at the heart of the enemy.  We need to attack the enemy outpost...
 
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EFL/WO2 Than Sion/Kaph 5/Wing 1/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE(=A=)(=*SA*=)(=TE=)[LoM][VC:B][MC:1][SWC]{VB}
For two fricking games I thought the Precursors were powerful beings of light, then in Wizard of Oz fashion they all look like Daxter!!! Oh well, at least he got his pants and the girl.

Cyleaf stood guarding the rooms with Krius by his side; he had checked the sniper rifle earlier making sure that everything was functional and setting the sights for him. He was wearing his Barabel vest which had already saved his life twice and gun belt that carried the DC-17. Earlier he had replaced the power coupling he used to fix the speeder when they were being pursued.

It two hours before sundown and they were all going to be leaving very soon, not soon enough he thought while pictures of Crystal danced in his head. Turning his attention over to Krius, Cy started up a conversation hoping to pass the time and relieve some of his anxiety.

"Hey hot shot, some vacation this turned out to be hungh?" he said chuckling, "Yeah last time I let you go off in the jungle while I have baby sitting duty" Krius retorted, a hint of frustration in his voice, "I could have helped."  His face didn't hide any of the hurt he felt from being left behind. "How where we supposed to know what we were getting into, and it could have been you almost attacked by the snake or even shot" Cy replied trying to calm Krius down, the Human's face had gotten red with rage.

After a few seconds of silence Krius turned towards Cy and was nearly yelling, "I signed up to be a part of the action, not a bystander" spit gathered at the corner of his mouth. Looking around at the attention they were starting to draw he thought he saw something familiar but shrugged it off as exhaustion. Grabbing Krius's shoulder and squeezing hard made the younger yelp in pain, Cy was a lot stronger then he gave himself credit for.

"Now listen to me, I have always known you were cocky and that's a good trait for you but this is just stupidity," his violet eyes glared at Krius and his skull tattoo seemed to get a little brighter "I'd expect this out of a four year old who got last year's best toy but not outta you. You're a pilot and a damn good one, you are supposed to be able to handle stress so don't crack on me now!"

Krius nodded, some color returned to his face. The sun had nearly set by then. Just then a glimmer appeared off the corner of Cy's eye, spinning Krius behind him just in time as a blaster bolt slammed into his vest sending him backwards and knocking the wind out of him. The micro organisms absorbed the blast by feeding off of it, but he was starting to wear the vest out. Krius had dropped to one knee and returned fire catching the man in the chest sending him crashing into a table.

"Well Cyleaf, I figured since you got rid of Steve it's the least I can do for my brother." The Zabrak recognized the voice as Gilman. "Sith spawn" he said under his breath as he and Krius ducked behind the nearest metal table. Blaster fire pelted the table and began to heat it up. Cy and Krius returned fire but their arm poor do to having no line of sight.

"What I wouldn't give for a comlink" Krius said one glanced off the tile. "Crap" Cy looked down at his leg; some tile was sticking out of it. Reaching down he pulled it out hissing through clenched teeth. The pounding on the table slowed, but the sound of heavy fire filled the air, the stench of ozone filled the air.

Peering around the table He saw Kal holding a large rifle and lighting up the room. Gotta love back up he thought as Than's voice came over the noise, "Gilman you rat."

After a few more minutes the noise died down and Will came over to the table. "Ok guys the fighting is over, you can come out of hiding now." Noticing Cy's leg he motioned for Crystal to come over, they both helped him stand and Kal held out the sniper rifle. Cyleaf took the rifle and slung it on his back as they all went outside to pile into the speeder.

"What happened to Gilman?" Cy asked as they picked up speed heading towards the base. Crystal was tending to Cyleaf's wound. "Well give Kal and large automatic blaster and everything goes to pieces" Than stated and they all laughed. After a few minutes Cy's leg felt immensely better, he reached over and grabbed Crystal's hand and whispered "Thanks." She blushed.

The rain picked up as Will motioned for Than to stop the car, they all stepped out and formed two parties, he was with Will, Crystal and Krius. Will's earlier speech had left them all more motivated, except the rain was starting to slog them down. The Zabrak brought up the rear, his DC-17 in hand and sniper rifle slung over his back. In his pocket was the comlink that Will had given them, though it would only be good in short range. "Could have used this earlier" he mumbled to himself smiling slightly.

Though not having hair could be a blessing as well as a curse. His spiked bald head did nothing to stop the rain from sliding into his eyes making it somewhat hard to see. Kal and his team had gone ahead into the woods, but Cyleaf's job was watching their back.


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EFM/CPO/Cyleaf Aehait/Kaph 2-6/Phoenix Wing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE/(=*A*=)(=*SA*=)[BWC]

The rainfall formed the ambient sound of the area. Kal didn't like it - It would mean they would not be able to rely on their hearing very much during the attack. The rain was so heavy, they wouldn't likely see very well either.

They were at a huge disadvantage. The enemy could see through the rain with Heat-Sensing and other high-tech optical filters built into their armor. They were better trained in this sort of thing as well, having spent as much time learning firing a blaster as the imperials had learning to fly their fighters. Still, they needed a way to get off of this planet.

"Kaph 2 to Kaph leader, we've encountered a small patroll, which we managed to dispose of before they could respond. We're proceeding towards the base." Kal drew out his comlink, hoping the device would still work after being drenched by the water. "Kaph Leader," Kal said, pressing down the transmit button, the frequency already being set, "Can you read me?"

A burst of static and what sounded like someone's voice sounded out through the built-in speaker. He pressed the transmit button again. "Say again Kaph leader, I'm not reading you here."

"Kaph... er... here,... I... an't... here... ou..." The voice replied again, slightly more clear this time. It was Will, but he still could not make out the response.

"Will, I'm still not getting a clear signal from you, say that again." Kal said, activating the comlink for the third time. Suddenly he received quite a different response, this one crystal clear.

"Five Twenty Five Twenty, Five Twenty Five Twenty." A cautious sounding voice echoed out. "Five Twenty Five Twenty, Five Twenty Five Twenty." Kal recognized this -  An identity check when unknown chatter is discovered over a Vast Imperial frequency. He took a moment to try and remember the proper response.

"Twenty Five Twenty Five. This is Elite Squadron Kaph's Executive Officer." He replied.

There was a moment's pause, then, "We read you. This is troop carrier Iron Gauntlet. What the hell is a starfigher squadron doing down there?" The man said.

"It's a long story. We were trying to get into this enemy base and steal a ship to get out of here."

"Well, forget about that." The man said, "We'll send you pickup. Anyways, we need you guys out of the way before we launch our assault."

It looks like the army is launching it's own attack. Kal thought to himself, I wonder if the Stormtrooper corps are involved. "Copy that, thanks Iron Gauntlet." He said, lower his comlink but leaving it online so that they could track them down.

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Kal and Willtconq stood outside of the meeting room, awaiting the meeting on details of their report. The door opened, and they walked inside. The room was filled with officers, mostly from the internal security department. Both of the pilots saluted. One of the men nodded for them to sit down.

"So." One of them said, "You were on the plan Imous III on vacation, but you say a senior officer charged you with a mission as well."

"Yes. We were given a small cargo, which turned out to be weaponry, to deliver." Willtconq said.

"And who were you to deliver to?" The same man asked/

"It was arranged that we were to bring it to a specific location and wait deliver it to the people there. The men attempted to kill us, and we left with the cargo still in our possession." Willtconq replied. "They had the shipyards locked down, so we attempted to steal a ship from the enemy."

A few of the people at the desk quickly jotted down notes. The man spoke once more. "Was there anyone else involved?"

"Yes, there were new republic soldiers around the enemy base. It seemed like they were allies."

Even more notes were taken at this. The man paused for a moment, and asked another question. "Who was the officer who told you to deliver these?"

"Commander Wolfe." Willtconq replied. The man's eyes widened with what seemed like surprise for a moment, but he quickly regained his cold expression.

"That'll be all, you may go." The man said, waving towards the door. The two pilots turned and left.

"Did you see how he responded when you mentioned the officer's name?" Kal said, speaking for the first time since before they had entered.

"Yeah. It seems like they didn't expect it. Something must be going on within the navy we don't know about." Willtconq said. The squadron leader took out his datapad.

"Looks like we have an assignment." Will said, reading something over. Kal felt a surge of excitement rush over him - He was anxious to get back in a fighter.

"We're going on a join mission with Nazgul." The ensign continued. "We're to report to briefing in eighteen hours." Kal nodded, and grinned. They were going back into space, were they belonged.

END OF STORY
 
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|EXO/WO2_Demonic/Kaph 2/PheonixWing/mSSD Atrus/DEF/VEN/VE| (=*A*=)(=*SA*=)(=*ee*=)(VC:B)(MC2)(VEB)(DSM)[BWC]{O1}-=TOP PILOT=-
100% on both Exams, looking good.
Demonic = Darr-Rann
Kaph Elite Executive Officer
Training Operator, Level One