‘Why the hell do you keep doing this to me? Every single time you end up back with this bunch of buffoons, worse than that, they are all injury prone buffoons.’ As usual the annoying inner voice was droning on about its usual topic of complaints. ‘You didn’t even want to come back here; she pulled some strings with her fan-club and got you back in her group of merry men.’ 

As he sat with the RAIDERS in their small transport, which was once again different from the last time the medic was with them, he could not help but think back over the events that had lead him here.

~~~Several Months Ago~~~
“I cannot cope with them any longer, I no longer have the desire to run myself to insanity trying to make sure she, I mean they, stay out of harm’s way.” Karash was stood discussing his decision to leave the RAIDERS with some random personnel officer.

“Are you suggesting that the Squad leader is not up to the job?” The young lady spoke with as much neutrality as she could.

“No, I feel that my position there has become obsolete as she, I mean they, refuse to listen to my advice.” The scorn in his voice was easily heard.

“Are you insinuating that you deserve a promotion...” She was cut off.

“No! The woman does not need a bloody medic; she needs a babysitter that will pick up her rattle when she throws it out of her crib.” Although regretting his choice of words Karash stood his ground.

“Very well corporal, you will be contacted shortly."

~~~On the Transport~~~

Havock had said something that Karash replied to in his now instinctive manner or sarcasm as everyone else knew it. The rest of the squad seemed to be occupying itself but something was different about them, they were no longer joking or messing around they all just sat carrying out their little tasks. In fact the changes seemed to be the ideal environment for Karash to work in but he seemed to actually miss it.

“Bloody people, they do nothing but annoy and disappoint me.” The whisper did not appear to be heard by anyone else, though it did prompt another trip into Karash’s mind.

~~~A few days ago~~~   

“What do you mean I am being transferred?” He was horrified at the words of the young personnel officer who looked vaguely familiar.

“It has been requested that you be moved to duties that are better suited to you.” The neutrality was unwavering in her voice.

“I refuse to do anything of the kind, now you can leave me to my work.” Karash turned and tried to make the woman leave.

“This is nonnegotiable you leave for this squad tomorrow.” She got up and made her way to the door.

Karash cringed and asked, “What squad?”

“The RAIDERS, you should feel right at home.” She said with a smirk, breaking her supposed neutrality.

~~~On the Transport~~~

“Karash, we will be there soon.” An unrecognisable trooper spoke in an unrecognisable voice.

This was bound to be another mission from the set-plot that the RAIDERS always seemed to follow and the strange thing was that Karash did not want to complain, he would, but the true desire was not there. ‘Don’t panic too much; I am sure I will have changed your mind by the end of the mission.’ 

The man sat in the corner of the shuttle, completely silent and still. No words or even sounds had been uttered from his mouth for the entire duration of the trip. Not even the rhythmic beat of breathing could be heard. In fact, he was so silent, that a few of the shuttle’s other passengers had no idea that he was even there. And that was precisely the way the man liked it.

Behind the motionless face plate of the helmet, the man’s face was a stark contrast to his outside appearance. The eyes were always in constant motion, looking here and there, taking in information. The mind, however, was the most active part of the body. Always thinking, always processing and storing information. It never stopped, even while the man was sleeping. In the state, it simply slowed down a bit. But that mind, for all its activity, was damaged. The memory sections of the brain, particularly the long-term memory, were damaged. While they had been repaired, the memories they contained were lost forever.

The man was an amnesiac. He remembered nothing of his past. Everything that had ever happened to him was gone. Nothing remained. But with that, came new beginnings. A fresh start. Even, a new name. Valthir, seemingly random letters that were jumbled together in his mind after he first woke up. He had actually grown rather fond of the name, regardless of whether or not it actually meant anything.

The armor he wore was worth just as much to him as his name was, which was actually not exactly a lot. Regardless, it did have a small place in his heart. Unlike a few of his squadmates, his armor was genuinely battleworn, or at least he thought it was. It may have been touched up by an expert, just as the aforementioned squadmate’s respective armor had been, but he liked to pretend it had actually been in it’s fair share of battles, regardless of whether or not it actually had. It made him feel safer to be in tried-and-trusted armor.

The base color of the armor was a dark-grayish, with streaks of dark red crisscrossing at entirely random points. The size of the streaks varied from barely a mark to about three inches across, and were intermixed with splotches of the same dark red here and there. The armor itself wasn’t exactly high-tech in the electronics sense. However, the actual composition of the armor would definitely be considered high-tech. Or rather, body suit underneath. The armor wasn’t specially made or anything like that. It was just tough and durable, like most other well-made armor. The bodysuit, though, was specially designed to be superbly flexible, yet almost invulnerable to most laser blasts because it spreads the energy of the laser over a large area, weakening it to the point where it just dissipates. Slugthrowers and melee weapons could prove a problem, however.

Valthir sighed, causing a few of the troopers in the shuttle to tense slightly, almost involuntarily. The majority of the squad was familiar with each other and the sounds that everybody made. It was hard not to be when everything you did could be heard over the squad comm channel. This sigh was a new sound, coming from a new being. The few who actually were curious enough looked around, searching for the source of the sound. Their collective eyes snapped to Valthir after he reached up and twisted his helmet off, breaking the seal with a hiss of escaping air. Almost casually, he set the helmet aside and reached up towards his head, brushing his hand through his hair.

“Ugh. Helmet hair.” he muttered to himself, grinning slightly.

His hair was interesting, to say the least. A dark brown in color, it was usually sticking up in front, pointing in all different directions. “Wild” is what most people described it as. He rather liked it.

Valthir looked up as the shuttle shuddered. He heard someone ask what happened and heard the pilot’s reply.

“We landed.”

Grabbing his helmet, he donned it and stood up.

Time to go.

OOC:

First post. Good, right?

‘A stroll around an idyllic back alley of... of... this war torn hell hole! Why did you come back? Repeatedly, you have come back repeatedly! Then she swans off with another one the ‘new’ ones and expects you to find out some information from the local savages and then regroup in a bar!’ The inner consciousness was in true over-drive as the medic stared out at the ghastly looking city.

“I guess yousa is with mesa” The familiar voice spoke from just behind Karash.

Without Karash noticing the rest of the squad had paired off and gone into the city, leaving him with his former friend Grahim. The two had not been the closest of friends since the incident that left Grahim having to come back from the grave and Karash having to question his own ability as a medic. 

“Well come on then, the sooner we can get out of this floating rock of death the better.” As the medic spoke he began to move off into the city.

The place truly was one of the worst that he had ever visited; the city looked bruised and the people looked battered, they simply scuttled about their business without interacting unless absolutely necessary. ‘You know you have not been in a situation like this for months?’ The pesky inner voice reminded Karash that he was fairly rusty when it came to things like this and when it came to it, he did not know what to do. Continuing to scan the people’s faces as he and the Gungan made their way through the city, Karash could see that not only were they hardened by war, they were in a poor state physically.

“Wheresa is wesa going?” Grahim spoke whilst he peered at something in the distance.

“How should I know?” Karash tried not to sound annoyed but he could not help it. “I say we just keep on moving until we find something that could be of use, watch it!” As he spoke one of the locals had barged into him.

“It’s you that wants to watch it buddy.” The gruff looking man had a gravelly voice.

“Why don’t yousa...” Grahim was about to step forward.

Karash put his hand out to stop Grahim and then turned to face the irritated native, “Why don’t you carry on and we will say no more about it.” He was trying to be diplomatic.

“Sure but I’d watch yourself buddy, or you’ll end up in the medics bay because I got connections.” The gentlemen turned and stomped back off into the faceless crowd.

After a few moments of thinking, Karash turned to Grahim and spoke “I think we had better pay a quick visit to the local medics, I have a feeling we could end up spending a lot of time there.”

The two troopers once again began their silent march through the war torn city, neither of them wanting to mention the event that had caused this tension; though Karash’s inner monologue seemed to do nothing but mention it, ‘you tried to kill him.’ It said with a hint of glee.
The incessant noise of the medics mind almost drove him to insanity but luckily for him they had reached their destination. The local medical facility was one of the better looking buildings but by no means was it in a fit state; it was not falling down nor did it have large chunks missing from it. It was simply there.

“Oh Grahim, whilst we are in here try not to speak too much. Remember we are with MY people now.” Karash’s voice oozed with self-importance as they entered the medical facility.

With considerable irritation the Gungan followed the over confident medic into a building full of strangers, in a strange city without any kind of backup. ‘Well this was a brilliant idea; I mean seriously how stupid are you?’ The inner voice once again filled Karash with his usual sense of dread.

The door shuddered as it opened, tapping a pitiful bell that whined more than rang. Dust covered most surfaces near the window, including several brochures that looked two months too old. In stark contrast the main desk and terminal were pristinely clean. A woman sat behind the desk, her short brown hair cut in jagged layers across her head. She looked up her eye twitching with an unspoken thought for a second before she smiled politely.

“Hello, welcome to Lock and Key Apartment Service. Are you two looking for a one bedroom, or maybe two? We have many prime locations here in Blackfyre that I can show you.” Her voice betrayed the enthusiasm she was trying so desperately to convey. It was obvious that her eyes kept twitching to Valthir's uniform and helmet. She must have been wondering what was really going on but she was also smart enough to know not to ask questions.

Havock stepped forward. “We just need some information.” She tapped a few buttons on her datapad, and brought up a picture of the Pentastar emblem. Then she thrust the datapad in the womans face. “Have you ever seen this before?”

She visibly recoiled from the image, her eyes darting sharply up to the two troopers in the room. “Who are you?”

Havock smirked. “Relax, we don't want to hurt anyone. We just need to find these guys. Maybe you rented an apartment to them?”

The woman shook her head, her eyes darting to all the known exits in the small office. “No. Never seen it, you should leave.”

“Okay.” Havock raised her hands, hoping she could calm the woman. “My name is Hav...Ayme, my name is Ayme. I'm not with them, I'm not with anyone. I'm just here to get some information. No way they will know it was you that gave it to us. Especially if you were just showing us an apartment.”

She sniffled, and rubbed her nose. “Show you an apartment?”

Valthir nodded. “That's right.” He shrugged. “Just tell us a good apartment to look at, we can find it I'm sure.”

Her eyes made it clear she still wasn't convinced that this was in any way a good idea. Hesitantly she stepped forward and started to type on her terminal at the desk. Neither trooper advanced in the hopes she wouldn't suddenly get spooked and decide not to help them. The screen she was looking for finally came up based on the deep breath she took the moment her fingers stopped tapping the keys.

“If you can drive a speeder, it's better if I take you.” She rolled her eyes, not liking this plan. “If I don't take you anyone watching would know something was wrong.”

“I love driving speeders.” Havock smirked. “Lead the way.”

Valthir watched the woman carefully. She had a visible reaction when the word “Pentastar” was mentioned. Maybe they use fear tactics to keep the local population in check. Would explain the reaction. As the conversation continued, beads of sweat began to appear in various places on the woman’s face. Valthir’s eyes flicked up above the woman’s where a rather large fan was blowing cold air down onto her.

Yeah, definitely fear-induced. She’s afraid of them. Really afraid. What exactly did they do to provoke this kind of fear? Threats? No, not unless they were either really showy or they made an example of somebody. Public execution then. Or something of the sort.

He tuned back into the conversation in time to catch a response by the woman, “No. Never seen it, you should leave.”

As she spoke, she attempted to check all the exits discreetly. She actually did an admirable job at it, but her movement’s couldn’t quite escape Valthir’s sharp eyes. She’s starting to get really nervous. We have to get her calm or this won’t end well. Valthir glanced at Havock, who was starting to speak.

“Okay.” she said, raising her hands in an attempt to calm the woman. “My name is Hav...Ayme, my name is Ayme. I'm not with them, I'm not with anyone. I'm just here to get some information. No way they will know it was you that gave it to us. Especially if you were just showing us an apartment.”

Valthir frowned underneath his helmet. Why did she flinch? Something to with the names, has to be. But she didn’t flinch when she introduced herself earlier, using “Havock”. Meaning that she doesn’t like using the name “Ayme”. Odd, really odd.

The woman sniffled, and rubbed her nose. “Show you an apartment?”

Figuring he needed to participate in the conversation, Valthir jumped in with a nod, “That's right.” With a shrug, he added, “Just tell us a good apartment to look at, we can find it I'm sure.”

The woman switched her gaze between Valthir and Havock a few times then apparently made up her mind, still with a little bit of hesitation. Slowly, she reached forward and started typing on the terminal. Finally, she stopped and took a deep breath.

“If you can drive a speeder, it's better if I take you.” she said, obviously still not sure about it. “If I don't take you anyone watching would know something was wrong.”

“I love driving speeders.” Havock said. “Lead the way.”

Valthir could almost see the smirk that surely plastered on her face. Great. I hate speeders. Too noisy. Sighing, he followed the two women as they moved towards a side door that led out into a garage of sorts.

“Pick a speeder, any one you want. Just know that it has a tracking chip in it so don’t try anything.” the woman said quickly.

Giving her a nod, Valthir looked around then had to restrain a burst of laughter. There were three speeders, just three.

“I just love the selection. Don’t you, Havock?” Valthir muttered.

A barely audible click sounded out, apparently on the comm channel based on the woman’s lack of reaction. Valthir looked over to Havock, who was slightly shaking. Valthir grinned. Ah. Laughter. Noticing that woman had already gotten onto her speeder Valthir hopped on the nearest one and started it up. With a hacking cough, it jumped, but soon dipped down into a steady purr. Well, at least I didn’t get a deathtrap for once.

Having to shout over the collective roar of the speeder engines, the woman got their attention and motioned for them to follow her. With a nod, Valthir and Havock signaled their understanding. The woman leaned forward and eased out of the garage. Once around the corner though, she shot off like a rocket. Havock followed suit, matching the woman’s path almost perfectly. Gritting his teeth, Valthir zoomed out after them, not even bothering to go slow at first. As a result, he very nearly clipped the corner of the garage, cutting it so close, he actually left a mark there. He made a mental note to watch his maneuvers and increased his speed slightly, closing the rather large gap between him and Havock. He wanted to get close enough where he could easily keep her in sight, but he didn’t want to get so close, he’d plow into her if she stopped suddenly. As they zoomed through the streets of Blackfyre, Valthir glimpsed very unsavory characters, nearly all carrying various forms of weaponry, from knives to shotguns to grenade launchers. Not good. Let’s just hope they’re locals and not Pentastar members.

At last, the woman in front started slowing down, allowing them to catch up and draw level with her. She looked around, still nervous.

“This is it. The majority of the building has already been rented out, but there are a few rooms still open. If you’ll step right this way . . .” she said, parking her speeder in the shadow of the building and getting off.

Havock and Valthir mimicked her and, once they all were on their feet, the woman led them inside.

“Ayme.” Again with the flinching. Still odd. “Do you need me to show you around, or would you prefer to have a look around yourselves?” the woman asked, probably hoping they’d choose the latter so she could get out of there.

Valthir looked to Havock to make the decision, who spoke after a short pause, “We can look around ourselves . . .” The woman sighed with relief. “. . . But we would feel better if you were on hand in case we had any questions.”

The woman visibly sagged at these words. She had been so close to getting out of there. But wait, she still could . . . “Ok. Well, if you need me, I’ll be right outside the door. And don’t try to steal the speeders. They are rigged to explode and I can set it off by remote.” Quickly, she turned and exited the building.

Valthir, who had since turned away and was peeking in one of the rooms, turned around at these words. But if she is going to be right outside the door, how could we steal the speeders . . .

“She’s leaving.” Valthir said quietly.

“What?” Havock queried.

“She’s leaving us. Jeez. What could those Pentastar people have done to make the locals so afraid?” Valthir said, sighing.

“How do you know that she is leaving?” Havock asked, sounding a little skeptical.

He held up three fingers and dropped one finger. Then he dropped the other two in succession, each representing a second in time. Once the third finger dropped, an engine started up with a roar. It was just outside. It sputtered a few times, then seemed to move away. It slowly got fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared.

“Voila.” he said, sarcastically.

Shaking her head, Havock stomped to the door and peered out. A moment later, she withdrew back into the building.

“Yeah. She’s gone alright. At least we have the other two speeders, in case we need to make a quick getaway.”

“True. Guess we better get back to our investigation.” Valthir said.

As he spoke, he drew a slugthrower from a side holster and opened a nearby door. Havock took up position on the other side of the door, allowing him to enter while she covered his back. Who knew what kind of scum and villainy would be hiding in these rooms?

The medical facility was not what he had expected; in fact the weary outside was completely juxtaposed with the sterile inside. There was a small waiting area that was devoid of any life, a small desk behind which an ancient looking woman sat and several doors that must have led to treatment rooms. Karash thought it odd that a medical facility, that bore the signs of a charitable organisation, was completely empty, especially on a planet that had not recovered from war.

“Wesa is looking for...” Grahim had approached the fossilised woman at the desk and was about to ask an unwise question.

“I am very sorry madam for my friend here...” Karash elbowed the Gungan away from the desk, “...You see he is not very well and we were wondering if there is someone that could see him?”

“Ya can have wha’ ever ya want done, but it’ll cost ya.” The woman wheezed.

“I don’t seem to understand, the symbols on the outside of the building show this as a charity that provides free medical care and...” Karash was not allowed to finish.

“We’re under new management hun, if you don’t wanna pay then you gotta leave.” The old woman gestured towards the door.

“Wesa is looking for the Penta...” This time Grahim stopped himself.

‘Oh terrific! You are about to die because that bloody amphibian could not keep his mouth shut, you should know that I REALLY hate you!’ For once Karash’s inner voice had a point, the old hag had pushed a button on realising that the two were not leaving and from one of the doors came two brutish looking gentlemen. As they made their way over to the two troopers Karash desperately tried to figure a way out but there was none, this was surely going to hurt.

“Now gentlemen I really do think that we ought to...” Once again the medic was not able to finish as one of the brutes had lifted Karash clear of the ground and was carrying him to the door.

THUD ‘Bloody brilliant’ THUD. 

Karash and Grahim were thrown several feet away from the building and landed face first in the dirt; it would have been fairly accurate to say their investigations had come to an end. ‘At least they didn’t kill you, but I would get up before they come back.’ Even the inner voice realised that this was not the time to mock as they were far from safe, in fact they were in more danger than ever. 

“I think wesa better go now.” The Gungan said trying to regain some dignity.

“You mention this to anyone and I will make sure you do die this time.” Karash spoke with a deadly seriousness. ‘Let’s hope this bar were meeting in doesn’t have bodyguards.’ If the inner voice could have laughed, it would have.

The street was lonely as Skarr made his way to the apartment complex. Dust was kicked up by passing pedestrians, making Skarr squint against the gritty sand. He was close now. As he loped across the street, a speeder nearly ran him over. He stared off at it for a few moments before continuing up to the apartment complex where two other identical looking speeders sat.

Skarr entered the dilapidated building, stepping over scattered trash. The apartment was crumbling and Skarr could tell that no one preferred the building as a living space. He passed several spice dealers and prostitutes on the way to the stairs. Skarr wasn’t going to trust the lift. With the way the building was falling, Skarr knew the lift wasn’t going to hold him.

The stairs were treacherous. Some of them were destroyed. Some Skarr doubted would hold his weight. He gingerly scaled the steps, leaping across gaps and climbing when there was no stairs at all. He made his way to the seventh floor where the Pentastar’s apartment lay. The seventh floor was completely empty.

Skarr paced down the hallway. All of the doors were closed. Except one. And lying in the doorway was a body. Skarr slowly made his way to the doorway. He didn’t have time to grab his blaster out of his coat; he would have made too much noise. A quick cursory glance inside revealed nothing. He looked down at the body.

Dead or alive? Skarr thought. He looked intensely at the body. There were some well-placed blaster bolts on the now confirmed corpse. A rustle further into the room made Skarr look up. Standing with a blaster aimed at Skarr was a wiry looking stormtrooper. His cigarette fell out of his mouth, he didn’t have enough time to dodge or pull his own blaster.

Havock’s voice cut through the air, “No!” The stormtrooper’s hand twitched and the blaster bolt went wide. Skarr couldn’t help but let out a breath.

He smiled, nervously, “That was close.” Havock stood not too far from the wiry stormtrooper and Skarr. Havock turned to the new stormtrooper, “That it was. Valthir, meet Skarr. RAIDERS Assistant Squad Leader and my second-in-command.” Skarr sighed deeply and walked up to Valthir, as the new stormtrooper’s hand lowered. Skarr’s hand came out and he offered it for Valthir to shake.

“Welcome to RAIDERS,” Skarr said. He turned gravely to Havock. “Bad news. Bright never rendezvoused with me. And her transponder isn’t working.” Havock’s face turned pale and she held out an object wrapped in a handkerchief. Skarr slowly took it and looked inside. All color drained from his face. Inside was one of Bright’s daggers.

“So she’s gone?” Skarr asked. Havock could only shrug as she took the dagger back from Skarr. Valthir looked upon this whole exchange without a change in body position or a word.

“What next?” Valthir finally spoke after a minute or two of silence. Skarr accessed his wristband’s display. “Well, Karash and Grahim are already at the bar rendezvous. Perhaps they have some information for us. The rest of RAIDERS are all over the city.”

Havock nodded, analyzing all of their choices. She looked up to Skarr, a weary look on her face. “Let’s get to the bar rendezvous.”

‘They would pick a bar to meet in, absolutely filthy and these people look like they have only just evolved to be able to sit on chairs’ The voice in the medics head had steadily gotten more and more agitated, if things were to get any worse they might just tip Karash over the edge of sanity.

The bar, not to mention the people inside of it, was even shabbier looking than the rest of the city. An odd smell inhabited the building, it was most likely to be a mixture of smoke, mould and unclean inhabitants; there was a low murmur of chatter amongst the regulars that kept giving shifty looks in the troopers direction, it would seem that the people the RAIDERS were looking for had their spies everywhere. ‘I shall never understand why people like places like this? You could catch some horrible disease or get beaten to death by one of these happy fellows.’

“Mesa is going to look around, yousa stay here.” Grahim spoke softly so they would not draw attention.

Karash went and sat down in a booth, when he sat there appeared to be a squelching sound that made him cringe. Running his finger along the table several inches of dirt and other muck was lifted off of the table, underneath which was the more ground in stuff that probably had several life forms in it. ‘Why did you have to come in here, you could have just waited outside and then you would not have had to wait so long in this sewer!’

“This is for you.” A barely dressed woman, with far too much makeup on placed a drink down on the table but did not move away.

“If you are expecting a tip I would put some more clothes on because I hear the winters can be very cold around here.” Karash snapped at the clearly annoyed woman who proceeded to give some vile remark.

He looked down at the drink and it was an odd colour, the glass itself had not seen a clean for a long while and the previous owners’ fingerprints were still in the grime. ‘Don’t drink it!’ The inner voice gave one of its occasional wise comments; Karash did not know where the drink came from, who it came from or what it was. He looked down and could see something swimming about inside the liquid, the little creature seemed to be happily bobbing about and enjoying his bath in the alcoholic substance. ‘Leave him in there; someone might as well enjoy their self.’ Karash looked down and with a slightly sick feeling; he pushed the drink through the slime to the other side of the table.

“I wish they would hurry up.” The medic spoke in a whisper.

The horrible smell got thicker as the people sitting behind Karash all light up something they were about to smoke, though what it was was anybody’s guess. They were speaking about something that Karash could not truly understand but still he listened, anything to get his mind off his surroundings. If the rest of the squad did not hurry up, he would get himself into even more trouble.   

OOC:

If anything needs changing let me know.

The thug holding the pipe collided into Havock. The other four thugs took that as their cue to charge the rest of RAIDERS. A man holding what appeared to be a jagged piece of a ship’s hull, charged at Skarr. Racer ran out to meet the man, causing Skarr to swear out loud. Skarr jumped out and pulled Racer back as the thug swung his weapon down. The makeshift knife barely missed the young rookie.

Skarr didn’t have time to pull his blaster as the thug charged again. His knife flashed out and Skarr kicked the man’s knee. Racer tackled the man as he fell to the ground, making Skarr shake his head. He reminded himself to teach the kid a lesson in some bar fight brawls. Granted, this was more dangerous, but Racer was an amateur at best. Skarr walked up to pull Racer off of the thug just as he was kicked off.

Dust was being kicked up by the fights generated by the other squad members, Skarr decided to use it to his advantage. He grabbed some dust off the ground and threw it in the thug’s face. The grimy man howled in pain and charged Skarr again. Skarr tripped the man and caused him to barrel into Racer instead. The young Sergeant grabbed the collar of the man’s shirt and threw him into the wall of the bar. He crumpled to the ground in a heap.

Racer struggled to stand and Skarr helped him up only to push him towards the thug, “Try it out, rook.” RAIDERS newest recruit rushed up to the thug eagerly only to meet the thug’s punch. Skarr chuckled inside his helmet as Racer and the man exchanged punches. The kid actually scored a few lucky hits, but he was getting the crap kicked out of him. Skarr stalked up to the man and kicked the back of his leg. The man fell and Racer kicked his chest.

The other squad members were doing well enough that Skarr could see. He looked back down at the man, who was struggling to get up. Skarr swung a punch at the thug, who happened to duck at the last moment. The fist intended for the thug instead connected on Racer’s jaw. Racer’s head snapped back comically and he fell to the ground in silence. Skarr bet he was completely unconscious.

Skarr grabbed the man, who punched Skarr in the gut. The Sergeant growled under his breath and kneed the man in the groin. A grunt of pain escaped the thug as he suddenly lost the will to fight. As he lay on the ground gripping his prized possessions, Skarr kicked him in the ribs, just as a reminder of who was boss. He looked over at Racer and was sure the poor kid wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. Skarr was sure it was a hell of a start. But it was RAIDERS squad. They should come with a disclaimer.

‘You never could fight; even when you were a child you never won a fist fight. That boy always used to get you in headlocks and you could never get out of them, how the hell you hope to best a group of drunken brutes is unbelievable! Not to mention the embarrassment of Havock having to help you, that is only if she manages to get out of this without a limb missing...’ 

Consumed in his own thoughts, Karash had failed to notice the drunken man rushing towards him until the last moment. The man was reasonably sized and appeared to be holding a blunt object that Karash was about to become a lot more familiar with.

‘Well this is the end for you, the rest of them are all busy playing soldiers and you are going to get your head bashed in by a cretin, if you had listened to me and just stayed in your officer you would be perfectly fine but...’     

“What the bloody hell do you think you are doing?” Karash shouted at the obviously riled Grahim, who had just whacked the drunken man over the head with a metallic object.

“Mesa was just stopping yousa from getting your head bashed in.” The Gungan spoke expecting a thank you.

“Well I can take care of myself you know, I am not some delicate little darling.” The medic was trying to divert the words, “But thank you...” The second part came out as a whisper.

On surveying his surroundings Karash could see that a few of the RAIDERS had dispensed with their advisories whilst others were still battling with them. Although he had been looking for nothing in particular, in the back of his mind he was expecting to see someone dying; specifically Havock. Though what he did find was something that did not surprise or shock him in the slightest, the new recruit had been knocked unconscious.

‘Well you over reacted then a bit didn’t you? Though having to thank the Gungan may have been slightly damaging, I suppose you are pleased to see you are still needed in this squad. They will always need some poor fool to look after them once they have gotten injured.’  

“What has happened to him?” Karash asked Skarr, who seemed to be suppressing a chuckle.

“I hit him.” The ASL replied bluntly.

“You hit him? Not satisfied with letting others kill us, you are giving them a helping hand!” The medic said whilst looking at the new trooper. “He is fine, just let him sit there for a while.”

The noise and the crashing about seemed to have stopped by the time Karash had finished examining the rookie, he could not really see what the outcome of the scuffle had been but that is not what concerned him.

“What the hell has happened to Havock?” Karash spoke with a sense of trepidation.

Her face slammed into the pavement managing to hit the deepest puddle of muck on the grimy street. Havock spit and winced at the use of the muscles that indirectly attached to the skin that had been torn by the pipe. The blood ran down her cheek as her eyes strained to focus on a flash of red at the mouth of the alleyway.

Havock painfully shook her head then stumbled to her feet. Her boots splashed against the pavement leaving the rest of the squad to deal with the thugs. The woman turned, she was fast and when she twisted Havock recognized her. She almost called out to her but the sound caught in her throat when she watched in horror as the speeder jerked and clipped Brightstar sending her flying out of view.

She ran, then abruptly halted as she watched a man step up to Brightstar with a pistol. Havock sneered at the brute and her hand tightened around the dagger in her pocket. Her eyes quickly scanned the street in a moment of clarity so she wouldn't be ambushed before the rest of RAIDERS could catch up.

“I'm afraid that she's not the only problem you have.” Havock's eyes looked down at the bleeding wide eyed woman looking up at her and her voice dropped to a vile whisper. “You see, I'm the one you really have to worry about.”

The body of the thug went limp under her grasp and she let him drop to the duracreet with little care. Havock's whole body relaxed. "Geezus Bright you scared the crap out of me." She reached out her hand to help the red head up only for the injured woman to scoot away from her.

Havock frowned and felt her shoulders clench with worry once again. "Bright? Its okay, he's dead. The rest of the squad is just over there. Come on."

The green eyes looking up at her held no recognition what so ever. Brightstar looked around wildly, Havock knew that expression. The fear, the need to escape. She knelt down, placing the dagger on the pavement between them. "That's your's." She slowly backed away from Brightstar which prompted the inevitable confusion from the injured woman. She pointed at her chest. "Ayme." Havock pointed at the red head. "Rain."

That definitely got a reaction, but not a good one. In typical Bright quickness the woman leapt to her feet snatched the dagger and in a swift movement slammed Havock up against the wall and pressed the blade to the blonde womans throat. "Okay well that could have gone better."

"Who the hell are you and where do you get off using my name? How do you even know my name? You're one of them aren't you?"

Havock wanted to scream No I'm not one of them, you know who I am. But it was obvious Rain didn't have a clue who her friend was, it was also obvious from the favoring and wincing that she was in bad shape. "I'm not. I'm Lieutenant Ayme Katash, VE Army, RAIDERS squad." Her voice was only a whisper but just loud enough to over come the chaos in Bright's brain. "I'm your squad leader."

The dagger backed off but only slightly. "No you're not. I'm not in RAIDERS, I've never even heard of RAIDERS."

Havock swallowed hard. This situation was not pleasant. She knew what it was like to wake up over and over again with no clue who or where you are. She wanted to hug Bright but she knew that would result in a knife would and a verbal lashing from a certain medic. "Okay, I can prove that. But for now you are hurt, and I have a somewhat disgruntle but qualified medic. I can help you over to him."

Bright moved the dagger farther from the squad leaders neck but still didn't put it away.

"You want the rest of my weapons? They're yours if you would just let me get you some help."

The green eyes searched over the other woman skeptically then grimaced and put the dagger back in it's proper place. Havock breathed a long cleansing sigh of relief. "Okay hang on to me, lets get you back across the street and try not to cause anymore traffic accidents today."