Kami groaned. Raising trembling fingers to her forehead, she gently probed the bandage that now covered her wound.

“Stop that.” The young medic perched on the side of her makeshift cot slapped at her hand, “Leave it alone.”

“Glad you decided to join us,” Merrick was suddenly above her, a rare smile lighting up her features. She glanced over at the medic, “Give us a moment?”

The medic declined his head, gathered his small kit then hurried off to attend the next groaning soldier further down the line. Merrick dropped down into his place at Kami’s side, watching as her squad leader forced herself into a sitting position.

“Update?” Kami queried, her gaze flashing about the interior of the hanger which now housed a few hundred Imperial soldiers.

“Well, we were quite obviously successful,” Merrick’s smile faded, “Quite a few causalities. Zafo’s not so great, he's been dunked in a bacta tank and probably won't be out for the next stage of the mission so we'll have to do without him. Aeos got a flying bit of brick to the head so you two can probably compare headaches.” She gestured vaguely towards the hanger door, “Evis, Duran and Hashi just got back in with the Peshargas. They’re being debriefed at the moment.”

Kami nodded, extremely relieved when the slight movement didn’t stir her dormant pain to life. Draining the small canteen at her side, she swung her legs over the side of the cot and came to her feet, “Where’s Evis now?”

Merrick snorted, “That medic is going to flip out if he sees you storming around.” Noting the determined expression on Kami’s face, she sighed, “He’s with Major Skorzeny.”

Kami smiled and gestured for Merrick to follow. Too much had gone on while she’d been down and out. Making a mental note to find out the fate of the bastard Trandoshan who had so successfully brained her, she grabbed at the discarded rifle at her feet and strode quickly across the hangar floor.

*        *        *        *        *        *

“Seems as though we get to play babysitter while y’all go out and do the hard work,” Skorzeny drawled, his relaxed demeanor a convenient façade for an officer who remained constantly on guard.

Kami declined the cigarette offered to her by Eviscares, her gaze once again shifting to the metallic door behind which the Peshargas and the pair of Intelligence agents were locked in conversation. So far only one agent had emerged briefly to scrounge up refreshments for their guests, pausing only to reassure the waiting officers that things were going well before reentering the room.

“You know that for certain Otto?” Kami locked gazes with the graying commander of Brave squad, abruptly amused, “Or you just mouthing off?”

Skorzeny laughed, “We regulars know well that that particular area is where Jester excels.”

Kami smiled as Eviscares picked up on the friendly banter, exchanging quips with the veteran soldier as they continued to wait. It was a well known fact that there was a certain degree of animosity between what the Vast Empire deemed ‘regulars’ and the elite handpicked squads such as Jester. It was a common misconception by regulars that specialty squads received cushioned missions, encountering success only on the back of the hard work of the so called ‘grunts’ of the army as they fought and died to provide support. Subsequently, it was a more than welcome change to encounter an officer who recognized the necessity of specialty squads, and calmed his men’s stirring if it ever threatened the success of a coordinated mission.

“Looks as though they’re done for the day,” Merrick noted, drawing their attention back to where the Peshargas had materialized at the front of the briefing room, still conferring with the agents. One dropped down into a deep bow, briefly clasping the closest agent’s hand and bringing it to his forehead in what seemed to be a ritual farewell, before the trio turned and sauntered casually free of the confines of the hangar.

“Should have a briefing soon,” Skorzeny said, taking a deep drag of his cigarette, “Once those boys talk to HC.”

“Good,” Kami looked up at the darkening sky, “The longer we stay in one spot, the greater the chance Barzini gets his act together and decides to do something about it.”

“All set?”

Kami jumped as Eviscares materialized at her shoulder, snapping her out of her brief reverie, “Stop doing that.”

Her assistant squad leader offered a smile, his teeth glowing white in the fading light, “The shuttle is prepped.”

“Good,” Kami unceremoniously jammed the rough sketch of the weapons factory out of sight, and looked across the tarmac to where Jester milled about impatiently, “Get them on board.”

Evis nodded, slinging a rather large rifle looted from a dead mercenary over his shoulder before strolling towards the others. Kami glanced up at the darkening sky, unable to shake the growing feeling of dread that ha settled in the pit of her stomach. They had taken too long. Although such complex tasks as establishing a base and debriefing couldn’t be rushed, the 24 hours in which the Vast Empire forces had remained stationary was more than enough time for someone such as Barzini to figure out what they would target next. After all, someone could hardly become a ruling drug lord by idly waiting for their enemies to strike.

Shaking her head, Kami forced herself to remain focused on the task at hand. Jester would be dropped a short distance from the weapons factory before meeting with a select Pesharga guide who would take them up the mountains. Jester would infiltrate the weapons factory, disable any anti-aircraft defense then call in the flyboys for a little targeting practice. Then, before the dust settled, they were to be in the central spice mine to the north where Barzini’s true fortune lay.

The roar of the shuttle’s engines broke through the relative serenity of dusk as Kami reached the boarding ramp, acknowledging Hashi’s lopsided salute with a smile as he paused to wait for her.

“You look worried Kams,” Hashi dropped the cigarette he had been smoking to the floor, grounding it beneath his boot; “Smoking helps to calm the nerves you know.”

Kami examined the mass of swelling bruises and half healed abrasions on the Sergeants face before responding, “You should be soaking in a bacta tank somewhere.”

Hashi shrugged, “Ain’t no fun in that Kams. Besides, if your gut is serving you well I suspect you’ll need us all for this one.”

Kami sighed, “Fine. But keep the helmet on this time for the worst of it alright?”

Hashi bared his teeth in an imitation of a smile, “Whatever you say boss.”

Glancing down at her chrono, Kami strode into the interior of the shuttle, Hashi close on her heels. If things were going to go badly, the least they could do is get to their destination on time.

"Merrick, take Durandal, go around to the left and pull their attention and we'll snipe them from here when your a sufficient distance away." said Kami, looking at Merrick and Durandal.

The thought was suicidal, but Durandal and Merrick both just nodded and started backtracking, crawling along the foliage on the bright day, then as they came to an end of constant protection, they started to dash from bit to bit of cover. Running between rocks and trees and hearing the bullets of the snipers whiz by.

Durandal paused and gave a small bit of covering fire, providing her the time she needed to cross a rather long stretch of open area. Durandal then took a deep breath and leaped into the open area, rolling over to make a harder target.

He heard another bullet go past his head and thanked the powers that be that it had missed, and just and he got back on his feet to take the last few steps he felt his head jerk as a bullet claimed the fin at the top of his helmet, tearing it right off.

Durandal yelled in fear and surprise, and put his back to the rock, gripping his carbine tightly. His vision was blurred and he couldn't hear or see anything. Merrick told tried to get his attention, but failed so she grabbed his shoulders and shook him, telling him to calm down.

He nodded, as his vision cleared, seeing the masked figure of Merrick before him he nodded again, "I'm good, I'm good... Thanks."

He pushed gently away from her and grabbed a smoke grenade, tossing it to the next area. He then wrapped around the boulder the other way and raised his carbine, taking aim on the snipers as they focused on the cloud of smoke, and shot off the quick shots, killing one sniper, and missing the other by inches. as he steadied for another shot, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hand like a hammer crushing it, and he cursed in pain, pulling back behind the rock, and cradling his broken hand.

The prick had shot him, and the bullet was lodged in his hand, between the bones. His carbine fell to the floor as he took off his gauntlet.

The bulge of the bullet was enormous, and as he looked for Merrick, he saw her across the smoke, having taken his distraction as an opportunity to move up.

He cursed again and got to work on his hand, screaming as he tried to get the bullet out.

His vision flashed, red all over his bare hand, cradeled useless against him, the bullet lodged in his hand, memories of his past rushing through his mind. He grunted and pushed the bllet out, letting out another cry of pain, then wrapped the hand in gauze, to staunch the bleeding.

Durandal looked in his belt and wanted to kill himself, in one of the small pouches for the field medic lie a morphine pack. his hands shook and he prepared it and used his good hand to inject it in himself.

A quarter of a dose, enough to lighten the pain, but not make him silly. He hoped. He threw the needle away and leaned back against the rock.

He could see Merrick distracting the snipers look over to him, he nodded and gave her a thumbs up, he'll live.

He picked up his carbine with his left hand and peeked over the rock, and aimed very carefullly, as the sniper shot towards Merrick. He breathed in, to steady himself, and breathed out, firing as the last of his breath went out.

His shot was true and took out the last of the snipers. durandal but the Carbine on his back, and pulled out his pistol, holding it in his left hand.

With the snipers out he walked up to Merrick, and stood as she hailed Kami on the mic.

"Whats your situation?" came Kami from the other end. Merrick paused and responded, "One wounded, we're fine, the snipers are out Ma'am."

"We're taking out the AA batteries now Colonel, I need you and Durandal to take over the comms station, try to keep it intact, its vital to the success of the mission."

"We'll get it done Ma'am, over and out."

Merrick looked at Durandal's hand and he looked down and back up, shrugging, "It doesn't hurt," he said, a smile coming to his face.

OOC:

I didn't wanna progress the story too far without the rest of the squad, but i wanted to keep things active, so i worked more on Merrick and my end, hope its okay.

Durandal and Merrick turned and ran between the rocks, down the death valley of what had been the snipers range and up to a squat building with no windows, and a large satalite on top, away from the compound.

"Five credits says THIS is the comm station Merrick." said Durandal, trying to brighten up the day, though they had both heard the news on the comms, Vass was down and needed an evac.

Merrick just shook her head and started to apply explosive foam to the door frame, when Durandal stopped her. "Ma'am, i know this sounds dumb, but we dont want to destroy the comm station on accident, so... lets knock?" And before Merrick could stop him Durandal lifted his boot, and kicked the door as hard as he could.

There was a loud scraping sound on the other side of the door and footsteps approaching. Merrick raised her rifle and Durandal his pistol, pointing it to the door.

As the door opened two technicians with raised rifles shot out, and Durandal and Merrick rolled to the side, dodging the fire barely, then Durandal turned and popped on of them in the head and Merrick unloaded in the other 's chest.

They both got up and scrambled for the door. They got in to find the two dead technicians and a large room full of equipment, including the high frequency broadcaster in the far corner.

They stepped up to it and Durandal closed the door. Merrick clicked the mic, and left a message for Kami,"Communications Secured, calling down an evac now."

OOC:

I didn't proof read it, so you will just have to live with any errors I've made. Let's get on with phase 3!

Merrick clenched her teeth. She had been unsure of the navy boy, but had let him come, and now he might be dead. Someone had vastly underestimated the defences they would face, and now the entire mission was at stake. Almost every member of the squad had been injured and they still had a vital job ahead of them. With one of the AA guns still intact, the factory might survive the onslaught from the air. At this point, that was a risk they had to take.

Durandal and Merrick beat Kami and the rest of the squad to where Vasili and the others were holed up. By the time they’d disposed of the last guards and mercenaries attempting to get at the stranded Jesters, Kami had arrived. Hauling Vasili back out onto the roof, they awaited the arrival of the medivac, Vasili blissfully oblivious to it all in his drug-induced slumber.

-----

Watching with a grim smile as the weapons factory burned, Merrick backed onto the shuttle that would ferry them to the next objective. One of the larger spice mines that kept the Hutt scum in such comfort. This time the plan would be simple. Most of the workers were underpaid, if paid at all, and addicted to the very stuff they were extracting from the earth. If they could eliminate those who kept them at their work, the labourers should run for their lives. They’d be tracked down and killed later, by their employer, for leaving their post. Assuming any of Barzini’s people survived that long. If she had much to do with it, Merrick was confident that they wouldn’t.

Kami sat apart from the rest of the squad. Her helmet lay on the floor, a medic rewrapping the bandage around her head. She was interrogating him about Decem’s condition when Merrick sat beside her. “How’s he meant to know that Kami? The navy boy’s on another shuttle.”

Kami looked up at her and shrugged, waving the medic off as he enquired about being any further assistance. He’d already tended Durandal’s wound, stating it should barely even affect his accuracy with a rifle. Evis had held Durandal back from tearing the medic’s head off at that point. Kami sighed. “I don’t know if we should head straight on to the mines Colonel, but that’s what we’re doing. You think things will be easier there?”

Merrick chuckled humourlessly. “I don’t expect so. They’ve obviously had some warning, and figured we wouldn’t leave it at the air base and a pile of dead mercenaries. If we’re lucky this time we can be quiet enough as to avoid an all out confrontation. We sure as hell don’t have enough people left to do that again.”
Kami frowned and nodded. “So, what’s the brilliant plan?” Merrick told Kami her idea and Kami brightened slightly. “That could really work, I must be tired or I’d have thought of that myself.”

-----

Remluf was complaining about having to sneak around again when they came across the hidden entrance to the spice mines. Evis silenced him with a kick to the backside and stepped up to take a look at the defences. He whistled quietly and Merrick cursed to herself, knowing that it meant they were in for some interesting times. They’d skirted the main entrance in the hope they’d be able to find this side tunnel, or another like it, but it still had a reasonable guard posted. Hashi begged Kami to let him lob a grenade at the entrance and cause a cave in, but they knew that the mine was far too extensive for this to stop the entire operation. Not long after they’d taken up observation positions in the surrounding scrub, one of the workers wandered out of sight of the guards. When 3 of the 4 men came to collect the dishevelled man, Jester had them disposed of before they knew what had hit them. The last went down almost simultaneously as the result of a single blaster bolt.

-----

The workers fled in terror out of the entrance Jester had used to get into the mine as soon as the fire fight with the guards on the front entrance started. Even some of those directing the workers fled. ‘Well’ thought Merrick ‘finally some luck in our day’. Most of this squad were poorly trained locals, usually confident in the fact that holding a gun meant the workers obeyed their orders. Their leader and another two were mercenaries, and seeing their deaths so terrified the inexperienced guardsmen that they were easy targets in the end. Kami now gave Hashi her blessing to blow the entire mine sky high, and he trotted off happily to obey. The rest of Jester covered the exits until Hashi’s return, and his cry of “fire in the hole” forced them to seek cover from the blast. There was no sign of the workers who had fled the mine, and Merrick smiled. ‘I love it when a plan comes together like that.’

-----

The sun had just begun to rise again as they touched down back on their original bloody battlefield, their now base of operations, the airbase. Kami ordered Jester to get some rest before they moved on to the next objective. Hashi groaned and commented that they’d already done the hard part, and Jester should leave some work for the regulars to do. Aeos laughed and Remluf agreed loudly before returning to inspecting his beard, apparently searching for life.

Merrick ditched her gear in the area Jester had been assigned for sleep and made her way to the hangar that was being used as an infirmary. She didn’t have to say a word to the medic on duty; she recognised her and led her straight to the cot upon which Decembrist lay. He looked bad, but was obviously alive. His armour lay in a pile in a corner, with his rifle and other gear stacked on top. Merrick shook her head, cursed at him and went to inspect his armour. A number of blaster rounds had hit the chest piece. She shook her head, wondering why the hell he’d barged into a room full of armed men thinking he was invincible. She turned, the armour still in her hands, and was stopped by Kami. “Well, they say he will live.”

Merrick nodded. “Lucky bastard, these should’ve killed him.” She indicated the holes burnt into the plate.
Kami nodded her agreement. “Colonel, promise me you won’t bite his head off the second he wakes up. I think the kid got enough of an ass kicking today.”

Scratching her head, Merrick threw the piece of armour back towards the wall. “Maybe not the second, but possibly the same day.” Kami’s stern look made her laugh despite herself. “All right, all right. You’re the squad leader here, I’ll let you do it.”
Laughing and shaking her head, Kami turned to leave. “Thanks, I think. Get some rest Merrick, we have a long way to go yet.” Merrick glanced down at Decem once more as she left. She met Aeos on the way to make sure her friend wasn’t dead, and filled her in on his condition before ordering the woman to get some sleep. She tried to argue and go to visit him anyway, but when Merrick started to drag her back to their quarters, she gave up and returned to her bunk.

Judging by the reports that had been coming in, Barzini should now be well and truly feeling the effects of the attack on his major operations. Until the fall of the weapons factory, he obviously hadn’t considered that the Empire’s attack would cost him so much, or be so successful. He’d soon after begun to see the threat to himself, and moved to a more secure location. Merrick felt no joy at that news, even if it did mean he was running from them. They’d still be on his turf, and he apparently had a very deep pocket for mercenary hire.

Sleeping little as usual, Merrick left the rest of Jester to catch up on the sleep they’d missed and saw to her gear. Every piece of weaponry and all of her armour needed a good clean and it’d keep her from going nuts from being stuck in such close quarters with a huge bunch of regulars. Considering how weary and edgy she was, she didn’t trust herself not to get into a fight when asked for the millionth time how she had made XO, or how she had talked the Prefect into letting her out of her cage for this mission.

Kami tracked her down an hour before they were to be briefed on the final phase of their mission. Merrick had found herself a comfy little supply room that was only half as full of boxes as it looked, and managed to avoid contact with anyone all day. Kami sat on one of the boxes and watched Merrick finish sharpening and cleaning her axe. “I was wondering where you had got to. You didn’t spend all day in here did you?” She laughed as Merrick nodded, then continued. “Sleep much?”
Merrick put down her axe. “Sleep? That doesn’t happen on missions. There’s far too much to be done, especially for those of us who have to write the reports and plan the attacks. How about you?”
Kami shrugged. “Enough to keep me sane...” Merrick raised an eyebrow. “Well, at least, keep me from getting any crazier. Half the others were still out to it by lunch time.”
“Good, they’ll make fewer mistakes if they’re well rested. I take it we won’t be requiring our armour?” Merrick indicated the clothes Kami currently wore.
Kami smiled. “It’s always business with you. Let’s get to the briefing, and you’ll find out the details of why.”
Merrick groaned exaggeratedly. “I have a feeling that I already suspect why, and I don’t think I like it. My rifles and axe aren’t exactly easy to hide under peasant clothes. Maybe I should’ve got myself injured too, then I could be home already.”
Kami patted her shoulder, but held her other hand up to hide a grin. “Speaking of which, Vasili refused to be moved onto the Vehemence, he’s still in the infirmary down here. Thinks he can do some good from his cot. At the very least, it shows loyalty to his new squad.”
Merrick snorted. “I should think so, we risked the mission to save his stupid ass. I’m sure I could get him to go though, you just need to let me tell him exactly what I think of his actions thus far.”
Kami shook her head swiftly. “We don’t want the kid dying of fright just yet Colonel. We may have a use for him yet, if he recovers fully.”

As they entered the makeshift briefing room, Jester squad looked from Merrick to Kami and then to Vasili, seated in the front row. His torso was still bare of a shirt, but swathed in bandages. Kami muttered to herself, then said quietly to Merrick, “I guess that answers that question” before heading to the front of the room to start the briefing. She shook her head as Merrick took the seat behind Vasilli. Merrick tried to look innocent, saying nothing to the former pilot. He avoided looking at anyone in the room but Kami, even ignoring Aeos who sat beside him looking concerned. Clearly she and the medics had tired of arguing with him about his fitness to be out of bed.

-----

As Merrick had suspected, Jester squad were to enter the fortified hideout of Barzini and, reportedly, some of this high ranking people, under cover as servants to the slug. She’d done it before, over 6 months, with an excellent outcome but still hated the idea. It would take only one nervous trooper to get them all shot, and most of them would be unable to take their preferred weapons along. Still, if it worked they were just a few dead aliens away from heading home. Provided that none of the Jesters were among those killed, it’d be a good night’s work.

Aeos has kept to herself for the most part after the mission. Vasili’s attempt to save her, yet injuring himself clashed horribly with one another. This was a selfish thought that maundered through her traitorous mind.  Why in the seven hells of Sith did she agreed to return to the Army!  She was done with it. She promised herself that when she left it.
Finish, finito en klaar!  she thought  as she tried to straighten her newly acquired wardrobe of brown and grey. As Merrick’s rock connected with Durandal’s frame, followed afterwards with a scolding of maintaining improper etiquette about postures, she allowed herself a slight slump as well, resulting in a battle with implanted instinctive installed by her mother’s strict hand.

Slowly the clock of the night crept by across the sky, the stars were replaced each hour with new constellations, many names slipping her mind, and she was not familiar with this star system. In the North, rays of orange and pink dyed the clouded air as an addicting light crept about.  Aeos paced her jog slightly to catch-up with Kami. They have just reached a look-out point.
“Are we on schedule?” she asked in a controlled whisper to the jet-black haired woman.  The latter nodded as she gestured with her fingers, pointing in the direction of a building that became more distinct with each closing step. Were it not for the circumstances of the situation, Aeos would have paused in her steps to marvel at it. The palace was tucked away in a valley nestling itself between two huge mountains, a small stream trickled gently at side of the palace. 
Behind the house, at the peak of where the valley ended, was another look-out point from where more landscapes of desert and mountains rested.
The calming silence of dawn was broken by a snapping twig.
“Rem, keep to yourself,”
“But, it isn’t me, one of the guys at the back…” Remluf spun around, about to his piece of mind to the soul who tempered with Merrick, when his face met with the barrel of a blast-gun.
“Uh oh…”
Remluf’s voice alerted the rest of the squad, who all spun around. Several men sneering in malicious grins at them as they patted their carbines, warning them…
A man what Aeos assumed was the leader of their newly founded captors spoke up.
“Got ya sooner than expected hmh? Barzini would be most pleased at this. He doesn’t take lightly to slaves, who tries to forsake their duties, though you lot don’t seem that familiar to me. Fresh batch prolly,” He jerked his head to the side, motioning to his men to take action. In the blink of an eye, the whole squad was secured, tied and trotting along a new path moving away from the palace. Confused, Aeos frowned, but her questioning mind was soon put at ease as wagon was revealed around the next corner.
Like sheep, they were herded in the small doorway of the primitive vehicle before two unknown specimen at front started the trek.

OOC:

I did intend for it to be longer, but just couldn't get any more done. If no one else posts I'll add to it later.

Merrick stretched and rubbed her neck as they set off in search of the rest of the squad. She’d had a nap on the way and hadn’t been able to get very comfortable. Well they had managed to get into the palace without any resistance, and they were probably closer to Barzini now than if they’d come in through the tunnels as planned. She just hoped that their contacts hadn’t lost their nerve when the Jesters didn’t show up at the agreed time. Silently, she thanked whatever powers had sent Barzini such moronic guards. She’d almost been prepared to risk attacking the men who’d discovered them, thinking they had seen through the slave disguises. Now, with luck, some of the household guard would be sent out to look for the escaped slaves.

-----

The rest of Jester was in sight, being bustled down a hallway in the lower floors of the palace. When they reached a secluded spot, Merrick and Kami snuck up to take out the guards. The slave driver with the whip pulled it back to lash Hashi, but Merrick grabbed it as it streaked past her. He turned to look at them, smirking at first, until he noticed their weapons. Kami had already disposed of one guard by the time Merrick’s axe silenced the whip wielder, Aeos holding the third man silently at the point of her blaster. Kami finished the last man as Merrick cut the hand bindings on the male Jesters, pushing Remluf away with a glare as he hugged her for freeing him. Kami stifled a laugh and with unspoken agreement the whole squad headed back up to the floor that should contain the Hutt’s “throne” room. Most of them had brought weapons concealed in their clothes, but they'd also picked some up from the guards they'd killed and Merrick now carried the taskmaster's whip in addition to her axe. She grinned as Kami shook her head in mock disapproval, and followed the squad up the stairs.

The Vasili Interlude

Played to perfection. The oldest trick in the book. Kami was a sucker falling for it like that. Vasili smirked at the memory of his Leader's face when he told her he wanted to fight. Wanted to fight. This woman certainly hadn't read up that much on him. He had nothing but praise for his act; an act he had practiced over and over to get out of work. Even his fake limp was pristine. Vasili was the master. Because honestly, who would rather fight over sitting around and drinking?

“Ha ha...”

The offer that Kami made to “personally drag him to bed” was very tempting, but Vasili had business of a different sort to attend to.

The first order: get rid of the crutches. A ceremonial burning would do: a sacrifice to the good fortune of slackers everywhere. The fire reflected in Vasili's unprotected eyes and he remembered that he needed new glasses. He was gonna go steal some beer anyways, a pair of shades wouldn't be too much harder to nab. Off he went to find some.

The second order: get drunk. The Army found it necessary to put a “don't sell alcohol to Vasili” law in effect when said man entered said Army. This posed little problem. Accords with friendlies supplied him enough when he was able to escape the overly watchful eye of Garet and the Squad.

“Look what we have here...” Vasili mumbled to himself as he spotted an injured trooper holding a flask. He wasn't far from the infirmary and injured soldiers do love their liquor. Vasili loves his liquor too, and he doesn't always need an inside man to get what he wants. “Excuse me...” The man with the flask looked up. Vasili swiped the bottle and jumped away, the injured soldier yelling after him but unable to put forth the energy to give chase. Two more soldiers nearby, there attention piqued, were holding flasks as well. Vasili sprinted by and grabbed the containers. There can never be enough free alcohol.

The third order: get sleep. Stealing beer from cripples is fun and all, but drinking is no fun if you're not lazy. Finding a dark spot, Vasili grabbed a seat and downed the warm liquid found inside the flasks. He groaned at a day well done (all four hours of it) and lay out to sleep.

OOC:

Just scraping off the rust. These post things will get better.

Jester managed to stay together for about three seconds.

The press of bodies in the main chamber was astounding. There were humanoids everywhere, lurking in every crevasse beneath the giant marble columns of Barzini's throne room. A huge expanse of gleaming stone floor was the only clear space visible to Kami's eye, located as it was at the base of an elaborately decorated platform that could only belong to the head honcho himself. Music emitted from the very rear of the chamber, where a shackled Bith musician swayed tiredly on his feet to the catcalls of a meager audience of mercenaries and palace guards.

"Out of the way slave!"

Kami barely managed to dodge the sideswipe from a passing whipid, who unceremoniously barreled his way through her squad to come back the way they had come. Straightening, Kami made to step back towards the throng only to have a large hand clamp down on her shoulder.

"Slave, drinks!" A human palace guard roared in her face, seemingly unaware that her stolen knife had automatically come to fore and was pressed against his lower body. Forcing her heartbeat to still, Kami slide her hand back beneath her robes and dropped her eyes in a submissive gesture before replying,

"Of course."

She took off in a shuffling walk towards where the guard propelled her, not allowing herself the privilege of glancing back to see where the rest of Jester had disappeared too. Ahead, some of the patrons of the chamber had risen to their feet and were now craning their necks towards the gold lined dais. Kami halted at a small bar, ducking behind the meager protection offered by the structure to where another slave was standing, arms full of drinks. He saw her and let out an exasperated sigh, "It's about time they sent me some help! Barzini's on his way and he likes his guests to be attended too. Here, help me with this."

Moments later, drinks precariously balanced up both arms, Kami ducked back into the crowd and started making her way slowly towards the the front of the crowd, hoping to catch sight of Barzini if he had indeed arrived. Ignoring the majority of drunken patrons who attempted to bar her way, Kami cast drinks into their clutching fingers and continued forward, her face appropriately turned towards the floor so as to not distract any undue attention.

"Bout time he bothered to show himself," A bothan grumbled to Kami's left as she reached the edge of the stone pathway, her drinks tray almost empty. The furry alien cast a single glance in Kami's direction, snatched an ale from her and turned back to his richly dressed companion. Kami barely noticed, entranced as she was by the sight of Barzini as he slithered into place at the head of the room.

He was huge, double the size of any Hutt that Kami had seen, his hide the dark greenish gray of a member of his species who had lived out many cutthroat years. Drool slithered in a constant stream out of the slug's giant mouth, weaving its way down his fat layered body to drip on the jeweled cushions beneath his mass. Resisting the urge to curl her lip in disgust, Kami backed away from the edge of the floor, silently contemplating how she and the others would reach him in his current location. Clutching the drinks tray protectively to her chest, she started to make her way back to the bar, intending to place the others before making her next move.

Merrick had escaped from the party for long enough to strip down to her shadowsuit. As soon as Kami killed the lights, Merrick snuck up to the podium and positioned herself close to the hideous bulk that was Barzini. His personal guards had leapt to his side as soon as darkness had fallen, but they were all well on their way to being drunk and were having a very difficult time seeing anything in the gloom. Aeos and the other members of the squad who had clustered close to the podium took the opportunity to drag them down and dispose of them. None of them was able to retaliate in their drunken and blind stupor. Mere minutes after the lights had gone out, before the slaves had been able to get any other sources of light going, Merrick was on Barzini and hacking off his horrible stinking head. His roars of rage and pain were terrible but short-lived. By the time someone got the lights back on, Merrick was crouched on the podium in an expanding puddle of the Hutt’s blood. Swearing to herself, she leapt off the podium and ran for the exit. Only the Hutt’s personal guards had been killed, and as those by the door slowly regained their dazzled vision they realised that their master had been slain. The other Jesters slipped back in amongst the slaves and out of the throne room silently as half of the mercenaries formerly employed by Barzini followed Merrick.

She stopped herself thinking about what had happened to Kami to allow someone to fix the lights before Jester had escaped, and concentrated on losing the men chasing her. She heard them laugh and joke about her being trapped as she led them down into the dungeons, slipping past them to retrace her steps back to the ground floor. More awaited her there and in full light her shadowsuit offered little assistance or protection. ’Wearing armour all the time has made me too casual about getting shot at!’ she muttered to herself as she fled down another corridor. She smiled as she saw the other Jesters at the end of the hall, stole and smuggled weapons still hidden beneath their robes. The mercenaries called to the ‘slaves’ to stop Merrick’s escape. Not one of them managed to raise their weapons before being shot or cut down, realising too late that these were not slaves. Merrick nodded to Kami who then led the way to one of the palace’s many exits. Once they reached a safe distance, they’d radio for transport out and make their way back to the captured airbase. As they retreated to the safety of the surrounding wilderness, Merrick saw what looked like the entire house hold’s slave labour force fleeing in their wake. Apparently the mercenaries had decided that, since their boss was dead, it wasn’t their problem. Making a mental note to interrogate Kami about what had happened later, she took her place at the rear of the squad and ran with them towards the rendezvous point.