The troopers looked at each other as the they waited for a response.  They didn't have to wait long.  A spray of laser bolts came their way quickly and unexpectedly.  The troopers ducked quickly before taking cover.  A storm trooper stepped out into the open, blaster at hand.  It glanced around the room before spraying bolts randomly around the room.  Leth twitched as a bolt hit just above his head, careful not to give away his hiding spot.  Draken crawled from place to place, narrowly getting missed by the bolts.  Talstorin sat in the corner, suddenly forgetting where he was.  His heart seemed to beat faster, the trooper suddenly found himself taking deeper breaths to get enough air.

  Talstorin walked through the empty halls, his worn out shoes made a slight echo.  His coat blew as the breeze came down the halls.  Another sound came.  Quickly, Talstorin grabbed his pistol, readying it at the source of the sound.  A rodian popped out, immediately falling back as it got hit square in the chest.  Six more shots came, seemingly overkill, all to the head.  Talstorin relaxed his arm, the murderous glare still on his face.  He ran faster down the hall, assailed by several more bounty hunters.  Quickly taking them all out with well aimed shots before sending multiple unneeded shots at the dead bodies.  Talstorin took a deep breath again, exhaling with a growl.  He headed toward the door.  More bounty hunters were there, some hesitating to shoot their former ally.  Talstorin on the other hand, didn't wait a second. 

    Minutes later, he was standing among smoldering bodies.  He took out a lighter and threw it on the bodies, setting it aflame.  There was no one left, but his job was not finished.  He needed more, he needed revenge.  All that went through his head was one word that pulsed with his heartbeat.  Kill.  Kill.  Kill.  The world was about to pay and Talstorin was going to make sure of it.  The man walked through the last door and the man that was in there quickly ducked for cover.  Talstorin only chuckled.

    "Hiding?  Afraid?  Coward.  I'd give you a quick death out of pity, but I'm just in the mood for a little torture."  He reached into his pocket, taking out a short metal rod.  With the click of a button, the rod sprang out into an electrostaff, it's red sparks cackled, humming.  The blood red glowed grimly, as if it reflected the hatred that burned within it's wielder.  The man under the desk got up and tried to make a run for it.  Talstorin sprang quickly, first swiping at the mans legs, sending the body tumbling to the floor.  Jabbing the body lightly with the staff's end, he watched as the man twitched from the electrocution with sadistic amusement.  Then, he send the staff straight through the man's chest, heart and life.  The arms that once twitched stopped lifelessly, the body began to turn pale almost immediately.

    Hardly appeased, but slightly calmed down, Talstorin headed for the door, leaving a blazing inferno behind him.  But where was he going to go?  The officials would soon be after the culprit.  Then, an idea sparked in his head.  He headed for a ship dock with silence.  The anger burned within him.  Even when he had got on the shuttle, saying goodbye to Sarah, his old life and his home planet, anger still burned.  Little did he know, this wasn't the last time he would burst out in anger, but only spread the seeds for a short temper.  The anger that would eventually send him into insanity and coldness only a year later, on his own homeworld.

    The stormtrooper was soon joined by others.  Draken peeked at Leth and whispered.  "We're doomed."  Leth nodded, making a face inside his helmet.  Suddenly, Talstorin bursted from his spot, pouncing on a trooper, knocking off the helmet.  The rest of the stormtroopers look back in shock before shooting at the reckless man.  Suffering grazes on his limbs and body, Talstorin moved unhindered still, knocking the troopers around, barbaric seemingly.  He used no weapons but his anger.  Draken and Leth nodded to eachother and took the chance to leap out, returning fire, trying hard not to hit their thrashing madman of a companion. 

 
-----------------------
In the brightest light,
We find darkness...
-=Wraith Squad=--=TRP=-
TRP/LCPL Tnepres/4SQD/1PLT/1COMP/1BAT/1RGT/Tadath/VEA/VE[LoR]
Memoirs of a Withered Soul- Compendium of Short Stories on Talstorin's Background/Story of Talstorin and Durandal( out now- read it on army story board)
Tnepres/HellKite

    Leth kept firing at the enemies until the clicking of his pistol told him that he could fire no more.  He paused for a second to think, and in that second one of the Thrawn troopers raised his rifle.  Leth rushed the man and tackled him, blaster clattering away harmlessly.

Leth fought for control of his own body with the trooper.  The two grappled each other, rolling about the ground as they did so.  Each struggled to find a weapon while still trying to hold the other off.  The trooper got a look at Leth's face without the night vision on and gasped as he saw the mangled face of the Wraith squad PFC.  This distraced the trooper just lonf enough for Leth thrust himself out to one side, almost making himself look like a shrimp as the trooper went onto the ground.  Instantly, Leth was on the trooper's back, one hand on his chin, the other on his forehead.  The Wraith twisted his hands as a sickening crack sounded, the trooper's body jerking quickly, then going limp.

Kanderin removed a vibroblade from the skull of the mand he just annihilated and picked up a rifle from one of the fallen troopers.  Leth did likewise as the two moved back, cautiously firing into the melee, Talstorin hacking wildly at the troopers who surrounded him.  As the fight progresses on, it seemed that Leth was slowly regaining his sanity.

I think I can get through this, I'll be fine and go home. . . But wait, where is home?  Oh well, I can worry about that later, first we have to fight our way through this.  Then I'll be let go.  Unless. . .

Leth inched toward Kanderin as Kanderin kept firing.  The crazed trooper pressed his rifle to the base of Kanderin's skull. . .
 
-----------------------
Private First Class D'har Leth
-=Wraith Squad=-
TRP/LCPL D'har Leth/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/Nar Shaddaa

{THE POPE} {EmoSlayer}

Arnaut blinked his eyes and did a double take. Chaos played out before him. Utter chaos. Laser bolts screamed through the air. Explosions rocked the room every other minute. Stormtroopers battled to the death like savage animals. And in the middle of it all stood their ship. Completely unharmed, by some freak chance, but the ship's prospects were grim. Arnaut, Snipes, and the twi'lek woman had run back to the hangar as fast as they could as soon as Arnaut could stand again. And had gained sanity again. Going  to the brink of insanity and back wasn't the most pleasant journey Arnaut had ever had.

Arnaut lifted his rifle and put a hole in a stormtrooper that had strayed too close. The corpse flipped backwards and landed in a crumpled heap. Within seconds two more had taken the ill-fated man's place. Arnaut backpedaled as he fired, his gun spewing out death. Stormtroopers were maimed and killed with his every shot. Behind him, he could hear Snipes doing the same. And the twi'lek. He had to get used to her being part of the group now. He blew off a chunk of another trooper's head. Why is she helping us? Is she with...them? He ducked as a smoking, dismembered arm flew overhead. People can go insane and not know it. Maybe she's insane, and just has it hidden. A stormtrooper lunged at Arnaut only to fall to the ground short, one of Arnaut's knives protruding from his throat. Arnaut retrieved his knife and continued fighting.

Maybe she'll attack us when we least expect it. He beat a man down with the butt of his gun, making sure he was completely still before moving on. Davrim. That's what Davrim did. We don't need a repeat of that. He scooped up a grenade some careless trooper had obviously dropped to the ground and tossed it back into the crowd. A tremendous explosion and a flying body came a second later. But then again, maybe she is an ally. In which case we'll have to take her with us. He but the barrel of his gun at the base of a crouching soldier's skull and blew his brains out onto the floor.

She could even become-- Suddenly he noticed two people in the crowd very different from the others. Two people in black commando armor, albeit very battered and broken armor. Troopers from the Vast Empire. My troopers. With a guttural cry of rage, he raised his rifle and charged into the mess of people.

Three minutes later, a panting, struggling Arnaut dragged two unconscious black-clad soldiers out of the fray and over to the relative safety of a stack of crates. Snipes hopped down next to him, firing off shots to ward off any curious soldiers.

"Who are they?" He asked, looking down on the two men.

"Tnepres and Yillis, I think," Arnaut said, peering into their visors. "I had to knock them out so they wouldn't attack me. They were going wild. I don't know how they got here, but they did. Do you have the shot?"

"Never leave home...well, at least the lab...without it," Snipes replied casually, pulling the syringe out of a compartment on his armor. Suddenly another black clad trooper flew overhead, crunching loudly against the crates. Not far behind a fourth bounded, a knife in one hand, the broken butt of a gun in the other. He stopped when he saw Arnaut, turned toward him, and leaped. Arnaut kneeled down and lashed out with his gun, catching the trooper in mid-air. He fell with a sigh.

"Kanderin and D'har," Arnaut said wearily. "Give it to all of them." Snipes nodded and set to work as Arnaut looked back at the still messy battle being played out. There were far, far fewer people now, but it was no less chaotic. No one so much as turned an eye Arnaut turned back toward the passed out companions. How lucky it was for them they had found a cure for the...the disease. Otherwise Kanderin might just have killed D'har there. And he might've been dead a long time ago.

Little did the twi'lek know at the time, but a certain antibiotic drug in her med kit was one of the only types of drug that could kill the microorganisms. One of the few drugs the organism wasn't resistant too. She had just injected snipes with everything she had to keep him alive, never knowing the cure was rigth at her fingertips.

They had stumbled upon logs later that had told them exactly why the organisms weren't immune to the drug. The first set of drugs the scientists had used to control the organism in its pre-stages of cultivation had included said drug. It had rapidly become immune to it, and the use of the drug had dwindled and died. As the organism was grown over many generations, the immunity wasn't used and eventually the organism lost it. Arnaut shook his head. He didn't pretend to know the specifics, but that's what he could gather from all the jargon they had found.

The hangar had quiteted down quite a bit. Arnaut peered over the lip of the crates to look at the carnage. The survivors walked aimlessly through the piles of dead bodies, weapons forgotten. A few simply sat and weeped. Others were gibbering to themselves mindlessly. But the fighting had stopped.

"To the ship!" Arnaut commanded, picking up D'har with a groan and carrying him on his back. Snipes and the twi'lek complied. I wonder if she has a name, Arnaut thought as he walked up the ramp into their still untouched ship. Yoder was, suprisingly, lying unconscious inside the ship. Why are they always unconscious? Arnaut thought wonderingly as he watched Snipes inject the last trooper with antidote. 

It took two trips to get all the Wraiths on board, and soon they were ready to go. Almost. Arnaut ran back outside, without telling the rest of the squad what he was doing. When he returned, he had a satisfied grin on his face. He sat himself down at the controls of the ship ignoring Snipes' questioning looks.

"Tadath here we come!" Arnaut yelled happily. Snipes grinned and started up the engines. That was when the first turbolaser blasts began to hit the asteroid.

* * *

"All batteries, open fire!" Garnus roared. His commands were obeyed. Green lasers streaked toward the asteroid, knocking off chunks at a time. Parts of the station fell away, drifting into space, while others simply disintegrated. Volley after volley streaked toward the asteroid.

"Sir, we have two ships leaving the topmost hangar." Garnus looked at the officer who had spoken. He waited for more. Outside the lasers stopped. "Well...uh...sir...one has Thrawn markings. The other is a Vast Empire ship."

Garnus shook his head. He should've known they'd be caught up in this.  But it was too late now to stop them now. They couldn't fire without killing both their men and the Vast Empire ship.

Those soldiers on the Thrawn ship better have a good story after all this. Three weeks of wasted time. He shook his head again. He needed a vacation. Slowly, with tired eyes, he leaned out next to the window and watched the remains of the asteroid drift lazily through space. In the distance the Thrawn shuttle came slowly toward their ship and the other hyperspaced out. A mighty good story...

* * *

"You let the surviving stormtroopers go!?" Snipes' asked heatedly. "You couldn't have left them to be shot by the Star Destroyer?" Arnaut gave Snipes a smug look and leaned back in the chair.

"Think of it as sabotage. If they go back, they'll be healed with the crate of antidotes I left on board. After that, their memory will return and they'll have to relive the entire ordeal. No doubt most of them will be institutionalized after the trauma of that last battle we saw. And...if they don't get cured? Well, we'll just see what that microorganism does to Admiral Thrawn's ranks of troopers."

Snipes sat down. "Well...fine. At least we're finally away." And indeed they were. Outside the window, the blue swirls of hyperspace flew by. Finally going home. Arnaut sat back in his chair and nodded off, thoughts of the warm sun of Tadath fresh in his mind.

(OOC: DONE! Savour the word, for it only comes once a story. New story to be put up soon. You can post landing posts if you want after this to end your troopers' part of the story. Arcos, especially, will need to make an introduction and meet the squad. I'll talk to you personally about that.)




-----------------------
Sergeant Arnaut
-=Wraith Squad=--=SL=-
SL/SGT Arnaut/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE

"Take care of your equipment, and your equipment will take care of you"

"Life is a dream; we all wake up eventually."

"Do you have any idea how long it takes to dig graves for twenty-three oak trees?" - Davram Bashere

Kanderin was the first one to acknowledge Jacques' introduction, raising a hand in friendly welcome. He had quite a thick bandage around his head, and a very visible black sag under his left eye. Kanderin noticed Jacques interest in his injuries and smiled warmly. He pointed to the bandage on his head.

"Hit by a steel girder" He moved his down to his black eye "Fight with Thrawns men....And D'Har"

D'har laughed gingerly, although did'nt break eye contact with the almost mumbling Yoder. Kanderin got up from his seat next to Tnepres and walked over to Shadow, shaking his hand upon arrival.

"Lance Corporal Kanderin Draken, well at least now i am" Kanderin smiled, proudly tapping his shining new badge on his chest. "I was also our FTC until our return about two days ago. But anyway, enough about me"

Kanderin moved to the side of Shado, and waved his hand towards the group. His hand paused at Arnaut, who broke his conversation with Yillis long enough to wave.
"You should already know Sergeant Arnaut, our squad leader" Kanderin stated making Jacques nod.
"And the man he's walking with is Corporal Yillis, our assistant squad leader"

Kanderin shifted his hand to point at the huddled group near the center of the room.
"From left to right, Lance Corporal's Tnepres, D'har Leth and Private First Class Yoder"

Jacques nodded. "Thankyou, but isen't one of you missing?"

Kanderin looked across the room puzzedly, before a look of humour spread across his face.
"Oh yeah, thats right. Gunnery Sergeant Snipes. I think hes busy doing something on the ship" Kanderisn voice lowered to a whipser for the final part. "Bit of a drinker though and he can have quite a nasty temper"
 
-----------------------
Private First Class Kanderin Draken
-=Wraith Squad=-


Wraith Squad Motto: When staring in the face of death we see our reflection

FTC/LCPL Kanderin/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/VEA/VE/

Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain, or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands! - Auron, FF X

  Yoder walked up to the new guy, shook his hand and patted him on the back and at the same time putting a paper on his back that says. 'Dump fury's in my room-new kid'.
Then Yoder said to the kid silently," Good luck, you'll need it." Then walked off with a small smile on his face, [i] Hope the guys see it, this ought to be his initiation test. Well now time to get some sleep. [I] Yoder then watched kanderin knock the kid out.

  Yoder mainly slept on the way back to home.

 
-----------------------
trp/pfc
-=Wraith Squad=-
Yoder/4SQD/1PLT/1COM/1BAT/1RGT/VEA/VE/LoR
Master Swordsmen (RL)
Flatter me, and I won't believe you.
Criticize me, and I may not like you.
Ignore me, and I may not forgive you.
Encourage me, and I won't forget you.
-Me