"One, two, three, keep your guards up you want to have you arm sliced open?" Namyr yelled walking around the group of special ops soldiers who had been selected for her class of melee training. Lately, the Corps had seen that in the field that blasters and rifles were insufficate due either the enemy or by the environment. Besides a swift blade to the lungs made a lot less noise then a blaster.

"Four, five, six, lets start again until you soldiers can get it right," Namyr said receiving stiffed sighs and groans from the soldiers. One thing that could be said about her being an instructor, she was to the point of a perfectionist and though the drop out rate of her course was high, those who did pass went on to surviving the dangerous missions they went on, and in the Corps that said a lot.

"Sgt Namyr," a messenger came running up with a note in his hand.

"Yes?" Namyr spoke not looking away from her soldiers.

"Message from Snipes, he wants your office right away," the messenger panted.

"Tell him I'm busy," Namyr said coolly, "Back straight, I don't care if you're tired keep going!" she yelled at one of the soldiers.

"He told me to tell you that if you don't get your ass to his office right now he'll show the squad those pictures he has of you when the two of you went drinking."

"Fuck," Namyr growled, vowing to get ahold of those pictures before the day was out, "Fine, all of you take the rest of the day off, practice will be tomorrow morning at six sharp," she snapped ignoring the cheers from the soldiers she took her time getting to Snipes' office. She wrinkled her nose as she stood outside, the smell of booze and smoke always reeked from his office and she tried to hold as many meetings as she could in her own office which always smelt like cinnamon apples due to a plug in air freshener she had purchased. Opening the door she wasn't just greeted with Snipes' hung over face, instead there were several. Darr gave Namyr a nod, that was usual for him, Darr had always been calm and collect. Rogueboy gave her a saucy wink, the man never did know when to lay low and Riqimo let out a low cough that sounded somewhat like a chuckle at her surprised face.

"oh damn, oh damn, this is all Snipes' fault I'm going to kick his ass once they all leave," Namyr thought to herself getting her composure and walking to sit on the edge of Snipes' desk, who obviously needed some sort of backup. Instantly Fury the Gurrcat nuzzled his head in her lap and began purring. the blasted thing was cute, too cute, to the point that she wonder if the creature would destroy her office if given the chance. Envious looks from Rogueboy and Riqimo made Namyr stifle a smile and begin scratching the creature behind the ears.

"RAIDERS has a new mission," RB started. "There are reports of a hutt base below the waters of the planet Da Soocha. Do you know it?" Snipes shook his head. "Well it's a planet covered entirely in an ocean, much like Mon Calamari. Anyway, Intel suggests that this hutt base is working on something, something sinister. We're not entirely sure what's going on down there, but we do know that there is a good chance it stands to become a threat to the empire. This is why RAIDERS is being dispatched. Orders are to infiltrate the base and destroy it. Simple, to the point."

"Ok, what's the catch? And why are there three of you?"

"The catch has to to do with that squad you failed, quite miserably, to catch. There is a rumor that they may be in that base, having found refuge with the hutt crime lord Wogga. Which is also related to why we're all here. We're coming with you. A secondary objective is to capture or kill any or all of them. However do not let this interfere with your primary objective."

Namyr watched with calm eyes as Snipes almost spat out his alcohol out of habit she grab a tissue and gave it to Snipes to wipe his mouth. He was so over dramatic in front of the higher up, she let out a sigh and continued to scratch Fury behind the ears. Though she had to privately think that she did enjoy these meeting when her two favorite guys were in their uniform, even after spending all this time in the corps she still was a sucker in uniform. Namyr looked at Snipes noting his wrinkled, unbuttoned, stained uniform...okay some men.

"Also, this Da Soocha is not in Vast Empire space, it's well within hutt space, as such any rescue may take some amount of time, weeks, months, possibly never."

"Then why the hell are you taggin' along?"

"My prerogative Snipes."

"Fine, get killed, leave the army without a head, well, more of without a midsection, but nonetheless, without a very important body part. My squad is not specialized in babysitting, so you guys are going to have to look after yourselves."

"Fair. To be honest we were going to send a squad with more experience in underwater activities this way, but it seems you came highly suggested as the man for the job. I hear it was Merrick who initially advised Fury to put your squad to the task."

"Ha! We'll do fine. Now leave the Intel, I've got a squad to prepare." And that was the end of the pissing contest that Snipes always seemed to try to get on for every mission they were assigned to. She was pretty sure that all the booze he had drunk over the years had brought him down to retarded standards...did that mean he had super strength, Namyr chuckled to herself at the thought of Snipes headbutting some barfly. Well she could always dream, that kept her sane the little comical movies in her head about odd situations. She was so caught up with this picture she didn't really notice the three higher up leave, no matter it wasn't like she wasn't going to see two of them when she got home.

"Well, my delinquent ASL, what do you think?" Snipes asked breaking Namyr from her thoughts. She moved from her spot on the desk to the chair, where Fury promptly jumped into her lap to receive more head scratches.

Doesn't sound like fun. You, though," Namyr said waggling her finger and pretending to be angry, "need to learn some respect. I don't want the squad to lose prestige just because you can't get over yourself," like she cared how Snipes carried himself, everyone knew he was a lazy bum and as long as the mission got done no one really cared how they looked.

"If this is where we're going I don't even see a point in staying here. On the other hand, we could get wading through Intel reports, which while unappealing, is more appealing than being chewed out."

"As if Intel has ever really given us the whole story of a mission," Namyr said rolling her eyes, "Hey give me a glass of what you're drinking," she added, Snipes looked surprised but did as she asked.

"You drinking in uniform...are you sure you're Sgt Namyr?" Snipes asked narrowing his eyes.

"Are you kidding, you get two of your lovers in one room and lets see how your nerves are afterwards," Namyr grumbled tossing back the drink and motioning for another.

"Wait...both of them...the office and RB? No way, wow Namyr just wow, two time much?" Snipes asked pouring her another drink.

"Not two timing actually, we all live together," Namyr shrugged, "Alternate lifestyle I suppose, either way its gotten a lot better then the first few weeks, they were constantly at each other's throats for male dominance or something, now I think they're at least acting like friends. Complicated matters," Namyr took a sip of her drink, "now speaking of naughty things Snipes...I want those pictures...all of them every copy that you plan to black mail me with in the future," she said holding out her hand for the pictures.

"Are you kidding, right now I have so much dirt on you, I could have you getting me coffee for years," Snipes said holding up five pictures of Namyr doing various naughty things, "I mean who would have thought my ASL, the prim, proper, and Corps scout could dirty dance, strip, and various other activities as well as a home life that would make the gossips of the corps quiver with excitement."

"I hate you so much," Namyr said crossing her arms, "Damnit gimme those pictures!" Namyr yelled leaping across the desk and tackling Snipes trying to wrestling the pictures from his grasp.

"Oh hell no, this makes me look like an angel," Snipes replied.

"Er, private Voth reporting for duty?" a voice from the doorway spoke just as in mid-tussle Snipes accidentally pulled lose one of Namyr's uniform buttons, just barely revealing the lace of her bra.

Snipes and Namyr looked at one another, before Namyr grabbed the pictures and lept up, 'I'll let you handle him," she said in a snotty tone before strutting out of the room as she tore up the pictures and left the little pieces on the floor of Snipes' office.

"Well, welcome to Raiders Voth," Snipes said standing up, "Care for a drink?"

As Voth stood outside his Commanders door and watched the backs of the three retreating officers, he thought about his last two months. They had been a whirlwind of travel, a rollercoaster of emotions that the Barabel couldn’t begin to deal with. So he pushed them aside, locking them away in a corner of his mind that was partitioned from the rest. This part of his mind was where he pushed his fatigue, his pain, his discomfort. It was a trick that his Honor Father had taught him, and it worked to perfection. By portioning his mind he could ignore injuries that would kill a human, shrug of pain that was incapacitating to any other species, and shut off distractions.

Voth stopped and shook his head. He had let his thoughts wander. On Barab I, that would get you killed. The ramblings of his mind had made him ignorant to his surroundings. Sounds were coming through the thick door, muffled even to his supersensitive hearing. He moved closer, and pressed the side of his head against the door, trying to distinguish the strange sounds coming from the office.

Instantly he could feel vibrations through the door. To a Barabel, certain things were immediately recognizable. The feel of a fight, the vibrations such maneuvers cause, was one such thing. A mere second after touching the door, Voth leapt back, indecision etched across his face. Now he had a decision. The Twi’lek sergeant had told him to remain outside, but if there was a fight, he wanted to be in on it.

Finally he acted. He had to restrain himself from ripping the heavy door of its hinges, instead opting to merely hit the latch and peek inside. The sight that greeted him made him even more conscious of his previous orders. His two commanders seemed to be engaged in some sort of mating ritual. Voth cleared his throat, which came out as a slight growl. His two commanders looked up at the noise, and Voth spoke.

“Private Vothh reporting for duty, commandersss,” he said as respectfully as he could. He winced at the sound of his own words. After six months of traveling the galaxy he still hadn’t mastered the Human’s language. He shook off the thought. The language would come, or it wouldn’t. Either way, Voth was determined to remain proud of his Barabel heritage.

“I’ll let you handle him,” Voth heard the Twi’lek say. She stood up, and Voth could see a bit of her undergarments. He still couldn’t see what was so attractive about the Twi’lek, but whatever it was most of the other humanoids he had met had commented on it.

As the female left, Voth turned his black eyes back to his commander. Turning his back to the reptilian-humanoid the Platoon Sergeant spoke. “Well, welcome to Raiders Voth. Care for a drink?”

Voth shook his head negative. Barabels didn’t drink, and if they did it would have little affect on their physique. He much preferred fresh blood to alcohol, but he realized that most other species enjoyed the fire-water to the extreme. Snipes shrugged and poured himself a glass of some liquor Viergoth didn’t recognize.

Voth stood absolutely still as the squad leader took a sip of the drink and sighed with pleasure. Suddenly he threw the glass at Voth. Moving with inhuman speed and precision, Voth caught the glass in a giant hand a foot from his head. Slowly he sat the glass down on the desk and turned questioning eyes back to Snipes.

The sergeant smiled and nodded. “Yes, you’ll do nicely,” he said. “Now listen close. We have a new mission, and we have three tag-alongs. I want you to keep an eye on them, ok? If any of them die, I’ll skin you alive.”

Voth was impressed. Most humans couldn’t work up the courage to threaten a Barabel. His new squad leader, however, had no such problem. Voth grinned, showing all of his hundreds of dagger-like teeth. “I think I can handle that, sssir,” he said.

Snipes nodded. “Good. Now get out of my office. Details will be sent to your datapad shortly.”

Voth nodded, clapped a fist to his heart, and spun around. In his enthusiasm he forgot his own strength. As he gripped the door handle and pulled, the door actually came off its hinges with a loud CRACK! At the noise Snipes dropped his glass, the same one he had thrown at Voth. He yelled something Voth didn’t understand, but from the sergeants tone Voth figured it was probably a swear word.

Turning, still holding the door by its handle, Voth turned and faced the sergeant. “Er, I’m sssorry-” he began. He never got to finish. The handle broke and the door fell to the floor, resulting in another loud crash. Voth winced and stood in front of his superior, the door handle still in his hand.

Snipes simply stared. Then he began to laugh. Walking over to where the lizard was standing he slapped the Barabel on the back. Voth tensed, not used to being touched, but he understood the gesture was supposed to be reassuring.

“Go on, get out of here,” Snipes laughed.

As Voth left he could hear Snipes on the phone. “Aye, Sergeant, that’s right. A new door. One of the sliding ones…” The voice trailed off as Voth made his way back to his room.

********************

Voth was with the rest of his squad, making his way to the transport that would ferry them to Snipes personal Corvette. It had been decided that the sometimes-pirate ship would attract less notice and alarm in hut space than an Imperial vessel. Beside that, the crew new the tricks of Hutt space, and what was required to survive the voyage.

Voth was walking directly behind three men. One was short, the other two were taller, but all were veterans. The shorter one was an officer, and the other two were senior noncoms. Together the three represented the leadership of a major element to the Vast Empire Stormtrooper Corps. Voth couldn’t believe they were all going on the mission.

That wasn’t his problem though. His problem was keeping them alive. Right now, that was easy. When the lasers started flying, it wouldn’t be so easy. Grinning at the thought of killing again, Voth lengthened his stride to catch up with his charges. Looking past Snipes, who was leading the squad, Voth saw a sleek transport.

Grinning once again, Voth hummed to himself. Xander, or X-Ray, who was standing walking right beside Voth, looked up at the noise. To the human it sounded like an angry growl. At the look on the smaller mans face, Voth laughed. The noise appeared to alarm the human even more, and for his sake Voth quit laughing and tried to stop grinning. Still, it was with a light heart that the mission began for Voth. He just hoped that wouldn’t change.

OOC:

1158 =P

Voth was impressed at the technology aboard the corvette. On the outside it didn’t look like a much, just a black CR-90 Corellian Corvette with a few weapons upgrades. The interior, however, revealed a wealth of modifications that proved the ship was more than a light transport. The rooms were a bit cramped, especially for a nearly eight foot tall humanoid, but the halls were easily navigable and the dining room spacious.

The stormtroopers were living three to a room. Voth was sharing a room with a Corporal he didn’t know, and Xander, the human he had met earlier. His bunk was small, and Voth found the floor much more comfortable to sleep on.

At the moment, Voth was sleeping. It was the first ‘night’ of the ten day voyage and the Barabel was enjoying a rest like he had never experienced on Barab. On Barab I, if you slept too soundly you died, and dying was not on Voth’s list of things to do. So he didn’t sleep to soundly. Now that he didn’t have to worry about a predator raiding his camp, or even another clan attacking, the Barabel was enjoying a rather long sleep that he didn’t really need, just for the hell of it.

Voth was in the strange dream-like state that was a deep Barabel sleep when something touched him. As the Barabel snapped awake, he heard someone speaking.

“Oi you giant lizard, move your fat ass,” a voice said.

Instantly the Barabel was enraged. With a speed and agility that belied his enormous size the reptilian humanoid moved, jumping to his feet, turning, and confronting the speaker. With a step forward the Barabel grabbed the man by the shoulders and lifted him up off the ground, his fists like vices clamping down on the mans collar bone.

Voth stood there, seething, trying to get a grip on his anger. He had been warned that fighting would not be tolerated, and that he would have to control his anger. But by the Gods, did they have to go and provoke him. Voth was different in the fact that he attempted to control his emotions. Most Barabel did not. But at the same time, he was a Barabel, and his instincts ran strong.

Taking several deep breaths and letting them out with a hiss, Voth regained control of himself. He sat the man down and spoke quietly. “I apologize,” he said simply, turned and left the room, leaving both his bunk mates staring at his back.

Taking a left out of his room the Barabel headed to central lift and went down a level to the mess hall. Once there he grabbed an incredibly large chunk of beef, barely cooked, from the startled cook. Ripping into it with his dagger like teeth, he sat down and began to think

As he was eating breakfast he was approached by his commander. “So I hear Dante woke you up,” he said.

Voth stopped in mid-bite, swallowed, and sat his meal down. Turning his eyes to his commander, Voth waited for an ‘ass-chewing’, as the humans called it.

Instead of the yelling Voth was expecting, Snipes just met his gaze. Finally the Barabel lowered his eyes and let out a deep hiss.

“On my planet, sleeping too deeply can kill you,” the Barabel said quietly. Snipes nodded, and Voth continued. “I wasss enjoying the luxury of a peaceful sleep. The man…I believe you all him Dante…kicked me as I wasss sleeping. My instincts took over.”

Snipes nodded again, looking thoughtful. “It won’t happen again, I trust?” he said after a moment.

Voth nodded, and went back to eating. Snipes watched the Barabel for a second, shook his head, and left.

A loud rip sounded through the air and Rogueboy jumped out of his bed and used it to take cover from the door. That’s up until a smell pervaded his nose, and then the realization hit, he wasn’t being attacked. Wrinkling his nose in disgust Rogueboy went to the bathroom to get himself ready for the day. Looking into the mirror he noticed he needed a shave, he hated shaving as he normally waited a few days in between shaves causing his beard to become thick, which made the shave all that more annoying.

The ship’s quarters were fairly small with his bed laying up against a bulkhead, luckily for him he didn’t have to share a bunk bed with someone, mind you he wish he was sharing his bed with someone though. Someone with red skin the colour of those peppers he likes and an attitude to match the fire within. To think that her bunk was perhaps less then ten meters away, however during the mission they would need to act professional as people’s lives will depend on them doing their jobs. Still it would be nice if protocol could be broken every once in a while, perhaps he could say he needed entertainment?

Donning his commander’s uniform RB headed to the galley to grab himself a quick bite before the briefing. Essentially the squad had already been briefed all that needed to be done was the killing. Looking outside the viewport RB realized that it would be coming really soon, the ocean stretched outside as far as they eye could see, meaning that they have arrived at their destination. Heading back towards his room it was time to get his weapon, which he was proud of, as he had done all the modifications himself. His weapon of choice was the BMC-160, which was released a few months ago to replace the 150 version. The major difference was that the 160 was much easier to customize which RB took full advantage of adding a mini-scope on the top and an under barrel grenade launcher, as well as customizing the handgrip for himself. This also forced him to wear a belt of about twenty launch able grenades in order to maximize the weapons effectiveness.

Less than thirty minutes later Rogueboy was inside his aquatrooper armour and was being lowered into their sub-aqua transport through a whole that looked two sizes two small. Grinding his oxy tank on the hatch as he descended Rogue made sure to seal the hatch tight, as he was the last person in. Underneath his armour he still wore his commander’s uniform and the suit’s air conditioning system was working over time in order to make sure he was comfortable.

Looking outside one of the viewports Rogue felt gravity raise him as the ship dropped the transport in the water, upon collision RB’s head immediately snapped forward giving him a little whiplash. Apparently he was not the only one to experience it as a groan from the squad mimicked the groan that Rogue had suppressed. “Sorry about that guys, it’s a bit windy planet side and captain didn’t want to risk the ship.” Snipes said as he guided the ship downwards into the darkness of the planet’s vast ocean.

"He always hate being called sir, is he always like that?" Unggoy said as they were heading towards the exit, "I don't know, probably he hates it because it shows how old he is" Dante shot back as he went ahead Unggoy towards the exit, "alright kids, as the boss ordered lets keep our ass close to the ship and stay clear of those big ugly fishes".

"Aw man! and I hate fish" Nyla Moonfang said as she stepped up the platform seeing school of fishes swimming around the light that comes from their vehicle. "No complaints Nyla!" Dante replied as he turned to her while he floats away from the sub. Nyla was looking around as her foot left the sub. The two were suprised when a whistle of an arrow come flying through a creepy looking fish swimming atop the two. The poor fish didn't got a chance as it dropped slowly to the ocean floor. Dante and Nyla looked back and saw Unggoy smiling "hey, if you dont like them you can always shoot at them". Unggoy was pushed by Xander out of the sub and followed "yeah but your wasting ammo bucket head!"

"Come on guys quit fooling around!" Dante said gesturing the three to come to him, "Ok i want buddy system from here on ok, Nyla and Xander cover the rear, bucket head and me covers the front, now move it!" he ordered. "Roger" all replied.

As Dante moved up towards the front of the sub he checked his weapon and ready himself for any problem that might happen as they descent towards the facility. "Whats up with the three army boss Dante?" Unggoy asked, "Shut your yap Unggoy, besides, Snipe didn't gave me any dirt either so even if i want to answer you i got nothing to tell you" Dante replied as he point Unggoy to swim on the other side of the sub. "Hmmm, whatever it is i'm pretty sure that this is big, I bet a thousand credit on it" Unggoy said to himself.

"Do you think this mission will be better than the last?" Nyla asked Xander as the swim towards the rear, "well it depends" he answered as he surveyed the area for any danger that lurks around. "Youre probably right, if everything goes according to plan we might be able to cover up the shitty mess when Jester Squad escaped" Nyla said as she grab hold to the sub as it pulled her. "Amen to that" Xander replied.

Voth was feeling extremely cramped. He was stuck in some sort of aquatic armor that didn’t really fit him well, and he feared that it wouldn’t keep pressurized. His scales would withstand some pressure, far more than a human would, but they would be no use at this depth. So for the moment, he had to hope that he wouldn’t have to swim.

The armor wasn’t the only thing bothering the giant Barabel. The sub itself was small and compact, built for humans. Voth’s 7’3” frame barely fit in seat, and he had to hunch his shoulders so as not to hit his head on the ceiling. All in all, it was a very uncomfortable voyage for the Barabel, who was beginning to become extremely angry. He kept the anger bottled up, though, waiting to unleash upon some of these Hutt slime. The Hutts had been a driving force behind the hunting of his people a few decades earlier, and Voth was itching to return the favor.

As the sub cruised along Voth was barely aware of his surroundings, speaking only when spoken too. He was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute, and as he became more uncomfortable his anger built to the point where he was about ready to explode. At some point in time, unnoticed by the Barabel, the troopers who had been outside and re-entered the sub.

He did, however, realize that the squad had come to a rather difficult problem. A particle field protected the Hutt facility from the pressure of the water looming over their heads. It also effectively kept out everything else, a fact Voth was sure the Hutts were quite aware off. Muttering a curse in Barab, Voth waited for orders.

Even Snipes seemed at a loss. The particle field was one thing they hadn’t planned on. The sub itself could attach to the outside of the facility, bore a hole and insert is occupants. It couldn’t, however, drill its way through a particle shield. Glancing around Voth saw a control gate. It was, essentially, a dam, built to keep the water level in the dome at the proper levels. Inside the particle shield the water level ‘dropped’ drastically. In the center of the sphere stood what appeared to be a floating city. Voth suspected that the city continued far underneath the surface of the water in the air bubble.

The Raiders got their break soon, however. A supply convoy was heading for one of the gates, and Snipes just piloted the sub in line with the convoy. Without a second look they were passed through into the air bubble. Now they were floating on top of the water, a good mile of air above their heads. Dead ahead lay the Hutt facility. Separating from the supply ships Snipes put the sub into a dive and started towards the monstrous contraption.

They made the relatively short trip without any exciting events, something Voth was glad for. The faster they got to the facility, the faster he could start killing. Finally he felt the jarring that told him they had attached to the sub. A second later a hiss sounded as the sub sealed itself against the hull, and then another hiss/whine as the laser cut through. Finally, another hiss of air as the sub pressurized again, and then all was silent.

That was, until the shouts of soldiers came floating through down the hatch. Voth snapped. His anger over being in the sub and in the constricting armor for so long won out over his logical mind. With a great roar he ripped most of the armor off, save the chest plate and leggings, drew his double barreled sawed-off shotguns, specially made for him by an armorer on Tadath, and propelled himself through the hatch. His only intent was to kill.

As he cleared the hatch he was met by five ragged soldiers. All were stunned at the sight of a giant lizard coming up through a hole. Voth used their inactivity to his advantage. Raising both shotguns he fired all four barrels simultaneously, killing three of the troopers and wounding the other two. Voth quickly dropped the weapons and drew his two long knives, each with a blade almost two foot long. With a snarl and a feral grin, he leapt at the two standing men.

By the time his squad mates made it up the hatch, all five were dead and Voth was stained with blood. He had a smile on his face, though. A smile that made a few of the squad members step back. The Hunter had taken control of him, his instincts and heritage winning out over his reasonable senses and his logical mind.

Snipes seemed to be the only one who really realized the danger that a half-mad Barabel posed, not only to the Hutts but to the squad. Taking a few steps forward he spoke in quiet but commanding tones.

“Alright, Voth, lets take ‘er easy. Think son, think. Get control of yourself,” he said. Slowly, but surely, the mad light in the Barabels eyes disappeared. Suddenly disgusted with himself, Voth hurled his knives as hard as he could at the wall. Both of the incredibly hard blades pierced the wall, remaining imbedded in the steal. Snipe nodded and moved on by, the rest of the squad following. Voth took his A280 of his back and took of the rear point position. Not even thirty seconds in and he had already lost control.

Voth didn’t trust himself. And he feared that none of his squad did either.

Xander had drawn the short straw. This was what it seemed to him.  He didn’t mind rooming with the Barabel.  He rather liked the big guy; he had an honorable bearing about him.  No, the displeasure in the rooming assignments took the form of one Cpl. Dante Asana.  He wasn’t really a bad guy, just a little full of himself.  He strutted around the room like he was a Moff instead of a corporal.  Xander had met plenty of guys like Dante on Concord Dawn.  Guys who thought they were Boba Fett himself and felt you owed them respect they hadn’t earned.  They usually got a whole lot of Raibaux, but Dante was his superior – and he didn’t feel like spending time in the brig. 

  They had boarded the Corellian Hound over a week ago, and the trip had been smooth.  Rooming with the Barabel was no problem.  He tended to stay quiet, and out of the way.  The only time he was in the way was when he slept.  The bunks onboard were not made with seven foot lizard-men in mind, so Voth had taken to crashing on the floor.  Dante and Xander took the normal bunks and everything went fine till the morning of the assault.

  Dante’s alarm had roused both of the humans from their sleep, but Voth continued in the Barabel version of a dead sleep.  Xander hit the fresher and started to suit up as the already armored Dante attempted to rouse Voth.  Several tries did nothing but cause the reptilian to twitch and roll over.  Xander could see that Asana was clearly agitated.  Xander did not see the kick coming. 

  “Oi, you giant lizard, move your fat ass.”  Shouted Dante.

  The Barabel was on Dante in a flash.  Xander stumbled back on his bunk in shock.  Voth had seized the corporal and hoisted him up, pinning his arms to his side.  Dante kicked and struggled to free himself, but to no avail.  Xander saw him go for his sidearm and stop. 

  Just as well, it’d only bounce off the bastard

  He watched as Voth glared, wild-eyed, at Dante.  The hard look softened and faded away.  Voth dropped Dante to the deck.

  “I apologizze.” He hissed as he literally turned tail and darted from the room.

  Raibaux saw Dante stagger a bit, rub his midsection, and suck in a sharp breath.  He looked at the shaken man and asked, “Are you going to report him?”

“Much as I hate to admit it, I provoked that one.” He stated, shaking his head, “If it happens again though…”

  The words trailed off as Dante resealed his armor, and made his way out of the bunk.  Xander followed as they headed for the mess hall.  They both grabbed some stew and large hunks of freshly baked bread.  Xander found the rest of Raiders and joined them.  He saw Snipes move from Voth to intercept Dante.  The words exchanged were not happy ones by the look on Asana’s face.  Snipe’s body language and sharply pointed finger drove the point home and he saw Dante acquiesce. 

  He and the rest of the team finished up and reported to the main hangar.  It was less of a hangar and more of an oversized closet. This closet, however, had a fully functioning sub lodged tightly within.  One by one they finished suiting up in their full aquatrooper armor, and were hoisted aboard the craft.  The hatch was tight and several troopers, including Gunny Rogueboy, scraped the hatch with their armor. 

  Once aboard, everyone became acutely aware of how claustrophobic the transport was.  Eight fully armored and geared troopers plus three tagalongs and a seven foot Barabel did not make for a comfortable fit.  Added to the misery was the less than smooth launch perpetrated on them by the crew of the Hound.  The sub hit the water hard and quickly dove beneath the waves.  It was a long way down, and Snipes seemed to want to break any and all speed records.  Xander noticed that Voth appeared to get more agitated as time went by.  He twitched and hissed as the craft bucked against the currents and finally bumped to a stop on the bottom.

  Snipes killed the engines and doused all lights. He turned to Voth, knowing the lizard would have better night vision than anyone else, and asked, "Do you see any patrols?"

  Voth peered into the Stygian darkness and replied, "S-nones sirrr."
 
  Snipes nodded agreement and rattled off a couple of theories of sea life feeding habits.  Finally he jerked a thumb at the hatch and barked, "Dante, you take X-ray, Moonfang and Unggoy and get out there, stick close to the ship, if anything looks like they want to use us for a snack, open fire."

  "Yes sir!" said Dante in a half-mocking tone.

  An annoyed Snipes fixed a glare on him and replied, "Don't sir me God Damnit."

  The chosen troopers filed to the airlock, and eased out of the craft.  Unggoy shot a stray fish with his air-powered spear gun.  Xander chastised him for wasting ammo, and holding up the line.  Once everyone cleared the sub Dante divided them up.

  “Nyla and Xander cover the rear, bucket head and I will cover the front, now move it!" he barked.

  Raibaux and Moonfang swam-walked toward the aft of the vessel.  The chatted and scanned the darkness for anything that looked big and hungry.  He heard the cry of “Contact” over his comm and turned to see an extremely large, ugly and pissed looking sea snake.  The snake dove at Nyla and she unleashed a round from her spear gun, hitting it in the belly.

  "Sithspawn..." X-Ray cursed, before taking aim at the monster.  His shot sailed wide of the writhing beast.

  The now wounded beasty turned and attacked Dante.  Xander watched as Dante fired several shots into the animal, only to have it continue on in a single minded frenzy.  That all ended with a well placed bolt through the animals’ skull.  As the troopers stood catching their breath, they watched as the body drifted along the currents and impacted on an undetected particle shield.

  They reboarded the sub and waited as Snipes tried to figure a way around their newfound obstacle.  The gods must have been smiling on them today, because shortly a supply convoy approached the barrier.  Snipes fell into line and was dutifully passed through.  Once past the shield, Snipes dropped out of the convoy and headed to the entry point.  Upon arrival he attached the transport to the dome, let it cut through, and pressurize. 

  All hells broke loose the moment the hatch blew.  Voth exploded out of the sub and dispatched the gathered security men in a most messy fashion.  Three of the men had been blow apart by his shotguns; the other two were diced by his blades.  The rest of the Raiders reached the scene of the carnage moments after it ended, and were greeted by a Barabel in full bloodlust. 

  Slowly Snipes moved forward and in a calming tone said, “Alright, Voth, lets take ‘er easy. Think son, think. Get control of yourself.”

  Voth snapped out of his battle trance and looked about.  Xander watched as the reptilian hurled his blades and deeply embedded them in a nearby wall.  Snipes took point and waved the squad on.  One by one they filed down the hall passing the shaken lizard. 

  Xander tried to give him a reassuring pat on the arm as he passed and said, "...nice going Barabel!"

  The praise seemed lost on the reptilian.  Voth turned his eyes away from his squad mate, and fell in at the rear.  The moved stealthily down the hall, ready for any action.  Snipes halted them after several hundred meters.  He signaled for them to drop. Nams and he conversed via sign language, and she summoned Xander and Voth forward.  Nams mimed the presence of three guards.  No weapons, only blades to be used.  She put Voth on the furthest due to his speed and quickness, herself on the nearest and Raibaux on the remaining man.

  On her signal they exploded into the surveillance checkpoint.  Nams caught her man leaning back in his chair and slit his throat from ear to ear.  Xander drove his blade through the base of his man’s skull and into his brain.  Voth didn’t tell the sergeant that he no longer had any blade, but followed the instructions none the less.  He snatched up the remaining man and deftly snapped his neck mere seconds before he could hit the intruder alarm. 

  Snipes brought the rest of the squad around the corner and surveyed the carnage.  He nodded approval and looked over the viewers.  Removing his helmet, he motioned for the rest to follow. 

  “OK, boys and girls, get these swimsuits off and let’s get ready to have some real fun.” He said with a wry smile forming on his face.

  Pulling his vibro from the dead man’s skull and wiping it on the corpse’s back, Xander nodded and began to pull off his aqua gear.  Thoughts of what was to come dance in his head, and grimly smiled.


 

OOC:

1531 words

As far as the Raiders know they were almost all alone in the area. But since the squad was disciplined well enough by Snipes their guards were still up. "Those two didn't know what hit them" Nyla said as she checked the ammunition in her spear gun.. A bolt fell on the ground so she had to pause to pick it up. As soon as Nyla stood up she was at the end of the squad seeing the tail of the Barabel swinging. "hmf!" was her reaction when a hand suddenly covered her mouth. The squad was going farther and farther and Nyla knew she have to do something.

She pulled the trigger a couple of times on her speargun. It finally hit the foot of the man who grabbed her which made the man shout in pain. The Barabel's ears turned quickly and faced the rear. 2 men were trying to gag Nyla and another 4 approaches. Voth shouted "We have company to our rear ssssir!" as he sprinted towards Nyla's help. The Raiders would easily tried and help Nyla and Voth but as they tried to respond on Voth's call their surroundings started to move with a group of men who started their ambush on the squad.

Voth reached Nyla with a flying fist targeting the man's face trying to choke her this time. Nyla broke free from the man and turned around to face him and gave him a couple of rounds more on his chest. "Isssss everything alright Nyla!" Voth said as he stood at her back scouring the area for escape cause they were being surrounded already.

This is just freaking great! Snipes thought, "Alright ladies, you know what to do!" he shouted. "What do you want us to do?" Unggoy shot back, "Take care of the trash bucket head!" Snipes responded as he started to charge the men with bare fist. The squad looked at their squad leader for a moment and after that they all broke rank and dealt with their own flank of enemies.

As soon as X-ray dealt with the rear he looked back at Voth and Nyla, they were being over manned. He ran towards the couple and did a cartwheel breaking the ranks of the enemy. "Need help guys?" X-ray said, "Nice of you to drop by...Duck!" Nyla replied ordering Xander to go down as she punches the man trying to hit him from behind. The squad was able to fend of the ambushers and dispersed of them, they all went to formation puffing and breathing hard. "That felt good! What do you think was that Snipes, welcoming party?" Dante said as he approached Snipes. "Well, I dont want to stick around here that long to find out" Snipes replied and turned to the rest of the squad "....raiders lets march again!"

"Are you ok Nyla?" Xander said as he walk by her, "Im fine, thanks to that guy" she responded pointing a finger to Voth is now more and more keen on his surroundings.

*Bo-Bo-Bo-Boom!* Four solid shots flew, so fast they seemed almost as one. And left behind six dead or dieing bodies. Snipes really did love his shotgun. The battle was not over though, behind him a vibrosword flew down, he was quick enough it missed his head and his armor took most of the blow, but the latch on his shoulder was broken, and the armor flopped on his body. Snipes barely noticed, he spun as his adversary readied for another blow and another solid boom from his shotgun sent the man reeling backwards. Snipes lept from his crouched position back towards the RAIDERS, seeking the safety there was to be found in numbers. He loaded three more shells into the weapon with his back to Dante, but was interrupted by volley of blaster fire that connected with the squad. Their armor allowed them to shrug it off and the three men firing blasters were quickly riddled with the bolts from spear guns. They lay spasming on the ground. The enemy began advancing though, as they turned the next corner, blasters firing, Snipes was forced to push his squad back, behind the blast door and into an outer hallway. Snipes destroyed the door console, but he knew it would still only be a matter of time before they managed to get through it.

"Damn there's a lot of them mercs." Dante commented, wiping blood from his armor.

"Yeah, we're going to have to find another route." Snipes took a look at his own armor.

It was already battered beyond any real use. If he stepped into the deep in it he would surely be crushed in an instant.  He had foreseen this though, or at least foreseen that it would become useless at some point. He began pulling plates off. The chest plate had more than a few divots in it, and two of the latches were broken, at this point it was more of a hindrance than a help. It was first to come off. Then the helmet, it had nearly been broken in two by a few rounds from a slugthrower. He tossed it down the hall in frustration. The rest of it was in little better condition. He pulled it all off, then the body glove. Beneath that he was wearing a pair of simple brown pants and beneath that his shadow suit. He wasn't sure if it would be of any use, but he'd worn it so he would have a shirt if nothing else. He kept the boots from the armor, they fit fairly well, but were a bit tight around the top with nothing to seal to, the gloves as well, they'd be worth their weight if he ran out of ammunition.

A banging on the door and the sound of feet in the distance brought Snipes back to reality, and made him grind his teeth. There were a ton of the bastards. Snipes had to once again fall back. The garrison of the place had been far underestimated. Snipes knew it couldn't just be that, somehow an alarm must of been sounded. He wasn't sure how, but somehow. He was really beginning to get irritated.

The squad made it to another doorway before the enemy could be seen, the hallways slight curve had kept them out of sight for awhile, but now they were visible. Snipes fired three rounds from his shotgun, but at that range they were ineffective. He swore loudly and posted one of the troopers with a better weapon on the door resigned himself the role of guarding the other side. They were almost to the checkpoint now. It would be a better place to hold up, but in their position they couldn't let themselves get trapped in on place, they didn't have the ammo or man power to hold a position for long. Snipes wasn't about to declare the mission FUBAR and retreat. He didn't feel it was that hopeless, yet. But he did need to insure that the sub hadn't been discovered yet, if they did need to retreat that was their only good exit strategy. He planned and plotted as blaster bolts flew around them.

"SOMETIME SOON WOULD BE GREAT!" X-Ray yelled, there seemed to be an ammo shortage going around. Snipes had noticed that the enemy was suffering few casualties, mostly the RAIDERS were barely able to keep them pinned.

"Seal the door, we're going to head back to the security check point, then Voth, you three, " Snipes pointed at the commanders, "And Nams will head back and check out the sub, no need to take the sub's entry point back if the enemy has discovered it, these are just the things I need to know."

There were nods of acceptance all around, despite their battered appearance. Snipes gave them a smile and motioned for them to lead, if they were going to be attacked from behind he wanted to be the one taking care of it. The rear guard was a difficult position to fill, and with the promise of pursuers Snipes didn't feel like leaving it in anyone else's hands. And there was certain amount of pleasure derived from knowing he had a difficult battle to fight, his blood boiled and he loved it, even with the fear of impending doom looming low above their heads.

The squad was moving quickly now, they didn't have much time to waste. Almost none for that matter. They were almost in full retreat by this point, if Snipes didn't need to know about the sub then he might of been able to shake the pursuers. That didn't change the fact that he couldn't though, and so it was with some distaste that he slid into the security check point. He took a moment to check his gun, while trying to keep an eye on the hallway. His bandoleer of shotgun rounds was beginning to run low, he only had another two magazines left on his belt. Maybe three total magazines, twenty-four rounds. He had a single clip of the spear gun ammo left, but no spear gun, still, it could probably be used as a thrown weapon.

"Dante, X-Ray, get those oxygen tanks out of the closet, and the bodies for that matter." Snipes had heard a sound down the corridor, so he wasn't sure how much time he had left.

Snipes tossed the tanks into the hallway first, then draped the three bodies length wise over them, the corridor was just barely short enough that it would look like a small pile of bodies, instead of three bodies barely hiding a pile of oxygen tanks and a grenade. It wouldn't do much, take the enemy by surprise a little, there would be a bit of an explosion, but Snipes had set the tanks to leak some, soon the area would be filled with oxygen, the moment he tossed his remaining grenade out there the entire area would erupt into a fireball, but not a true explosion. Still, there was some time to wait.

Snipes leaned back on the wall, lit another cigarette, in spite of the danger and reflected on the chaos leading to this.

Snipes stood against a wall, watching the RAIDERS at work, those with no computer skills were, like him, remaining guard. There likely wasn't very much info to gather, the guards blasts had done a number on the systems. But whatever they could get would help, even if just a little. Best case scenario they'd get a god damn map. Still, there was an unease in the air, Snipes could sense it. Something was going to happen, this had been too easy. Snipes didn't believe for a minute there had been a plan to trap them in there, that was too thought out in too short a time. No, it was the my-karma-sucks kind of too easy. Snipes knocked his helmet idling against the wall, bouncing his head away, and then back, away and then back to a steady rhythm.

Then he heard a sound, a knocking, steady knocking, but not in his rhythm, no, it was the knocking of many boots against the floor. Snipes eyes widened as he realized what was going on. He didn't have time to react, the door slid open next to him, but even before it was done opening a heavy blaster could be heard lighting up. Green bolts of energy flew past him, the squad was quick, but several of them were still hit, slightly. Except Uggnoy. Uggnoy was torn in half by the relentless fire. IT happened so quick that by the time Snipes had filled the shooters eye socket with small spears to quell his maniac laughter Ugnnoy lay dead.

It only got worse when the other door opened. The squad would of been trapped if the group with the heavy cannon hadn't been small. But even when the squad burst out of the room there were reinforcements coming.

"Did anybody get anything?!"

"I found. . .something while I was in there, but I couldn't get much. Just the name Ragnarök and some alternately encrypted and corrupt data."

"Shit."


The sounds of rabble and report of footsteps took Snipes attention and he moved back to a position where he could watch the hallway. Snipes waited, patiently puffing on his cigarette, wondering what was taking the others so long. First he was greeted with the enemy, the rabble coming towards him. Snipes was beginning to see that there was no organization to these people, they all just wanted the rewards that would come with being the first to bring back a head. Snipes kind of chuckled. Given the time and space they'd be easy to take down. But in these closed corridors, with no where to run, no way to chip away at them, they were very effective.  Snipes waited until they'd closed some distance on the pile of tanks before tossing out his grenade.

The explosion was small, by Snipes standards, but the resulting fireball forced Snipes to duck behind cover. Pieces of bodies and armor flew all about and clattered to the floor, useless once again. Snipes stuck his head around the corner and clenched his teeth in anger. There were a few charred and screaming bodies, but not near enough, five maybe, the others were barely slowed and their number seemed to be growing. Snipes let loose an agonized howl and fired of a pair of rounds.

"Lets move back, we're FUBAR, I think we must of come down somewhere near the barracks. Star forsaken watery rock! I swear to the stars above, if I ever get out of here I'm blowing this planet into another galaxy." Snipes waved for his troopers to fall back.

There was too great a mob and their ammo was getting far too low. Snipes didn't like it all, he didn't like retreating, it went against his nature, his nature to charge into battle and fire off round after round, then club the enemy to death with his gun when finally it, too, ran out of ammunition. Still, that too made it exciting, what would he do when he ran out of places to run? I'll make more places to run. Snipes spun around and unleashed three more rounds on the progressing mob as they rounded the curve, then he spun again and caught up with his squad. He pushed them hard, and finally they rounded another intersection and could see where the breach was. And what they saw was not pleasant at all.

Nams, Voth and the three commanders were pinned down in a doorway, six or seven being, two of which were trandoshans, were grouped around the front of the breach, keeping the other RAIDERS pinned down. They weren't paying attention to the hallway though, Snipes fired the final two rounds from his gun as he charged the ten feet or so towards them. Two were taken down by the blasts, Snipes tackled another to the ground as he came on them. He didn't have a chance in hell to survive it alone, but his squad was with him. Voth took the distraction as a opportunity and launched onto one of the trandoshans, the other was taken down by joint fire with the rest of the squad.

"Alright, up you go." Snipes said, grabbing the short commander by the back of the armor and lifting him up so that he had to choice but to pull himself into the sub. "You two too, no arguing. Pretty soon now they're going to come along with patrols of the exterior, this sub is our best way out, go hide in a crevice or something, if you don't hear from us in an few hours, go topside, call the Hound and wait."

"Snipes," RB started.

"No arguing," Snipes said, lifting RB as well.

Darr had the foresight to climb up himself, with some help from RB and Riqi. Snipes nodded to them and they returned the favor before closing the hatch. The squad then turned to the bodies, scavenging ammunition and weapons from their fallen foes. The fallen foes friends weren't far away though, their noise could be heard echoing down the hall.

"Lets move it!" Snipes yelled.

They weren't fast enough though. Hutt peons were coming from both sides. They were already out of places to run, and they had just sent the sub off. Snipes gritted his teeth again. Then heard a noise from above, he quickly turned his head up as a volley of blue stun blasts rained down on them, Snipes, Voth and Dante had been missed, but even so, a blond woman dropped down from the vent above. Snipes clenched his fist. He'd spent many, many missions crawling through vents, but even so he never thought to take note of one.

The woman with a blaster trained on him looked familiar, very familiar. Snipes smiled, pulled out another cigarette, lit it and sighed. Aeos stood before him with a smirk, she'd got the best of him, there were no two ways about it, he felt very dumb.

"Well, I think I know how this goes," Snipes said, taking off his gun belt and bandoleer and handing it to her, "Clap him in irons, right?"

The rest of the mob of ruffians had come into view on both sides. There was no getting out of it now.

* * *

"Ha, why don't we throw him in with her?" Snipes had broken that mercs nose twice already, they weren't good friends.

"Yeah, why don't we, she ripped the last one to shreds, he won't last the night." The other one laughed, Snipes was planning on breaking his nose.

Of course his bonds didn't make it very convenient. Still, he had his feet, knees, elbows and head. The corridor was narrow and they'd only given him two guards. But Snipes had no weapon, and these guards just had stun batons. Nothing fun. Besides, it wasn't the first time Snipes had been in prison, and it probably wouldn't be the last. He'd escaped from most of the others, this one wouldn't be worse than some.

The guards got finished guffawing among themselves and pulled Snipes to a stop, unlocked a door, then his cuffs, then pushed him in. He barely had enough time to spin around and catch the guard with the unbroken nose with a strong kick to the hip, sending him toppling over. The other just laughed at his friends misfortune and slammed the door. Snipes took a moment to look around, the room was dimly lit, just a small light in the ceiling that was on its last legs, there were two cots, one on each side. On the one to Snipes left a figure lounged. Snipes could barely make out the face.

"Snipes, isn't it?"

Despite the circumstances Snipes took a deep bow with a flourish, "The one and only. Can honestly say you were the last person I expected to run into here."

She shrugged. "Take a seat, stay awhile."

Snipes chuckled, but hopped onto what passed for a bed. It didn't turn out to be all that bad, for a prison anyway. It had an actual mattress, the mattress had seen much better days and the various stains spoke of things Snipes would rather not investigate. Snipes pulled off the gloves and stuffed them into the waistband of his pants. Then he pulled his last pack of cigarettes and a lighter from the boot and lit one.

"Enjoy 'em while you can, I don't imagine they'll let you keep 'em."

"Meh, I've been to prison before, I know a couple tricks."

"I don't want to know."

"So what are you doing here. This certainly wasn't part of any plan I knew about, but then again the same can be said for me being here I suppose."

"Probably much the same reason you are, things didn't go according to plan."

"Like they ever do. I have a question. Any idea what they're up to here?"

"Heh, you want to know about Ragnarök." It was more of statement said with a wry smile than a question. Snipes turned his head to the one that could only be Merrick. "Honestly I don't know much myself, just the name."

"You're real helpful. What was your rank again?" Snipes didn't actually know, but he wasn't expecting an honest either.

"Sergeant." She said, giving him a look that said he'd better not ask.

"Great, that means I'm your superior. I need a back rub." She threw what passed for a pillow in this place at him. Probably because it was the only thing handy.

OOC:

This happens before the last post.

Dante felt his E-11 rifle pulled from his fingers by a Rodian thug, and didn't even protest. Instead, he stared blindly at the woman in the bodysuit who was holding a blaster to his squad leader's head and hoped this was all a dream. All around him the Raiders were frozen as their weapons were wrestled from suddenly nerveless fingers.

It was Aeos. Aeos, the former-squad leader of Jester and escapee from Imperial justice. The same Aeos who had saved his life and the lives of the other Raiders back on Elden, and who had lead him and many others to victory on Strak.

According to their mission briefing she, along with the rest of the Jesters, had been committing treason for months against the Vast Empire, but Dante had never been able to  quite bring himself to believe that the Jesters, men and women he had fought with and respected would betray the Empire. During their initial escape, Dante had intentionally fired at random, hitting little more than trees and rocks. Now, the prickles of guilt he had felt during the pursuit felt like vibroblade gashes, and he sorely regretted not burning the traitor down.

"Osik." Dante spat at the former Imperial leader and saw her expression harden. As he spoke, his hand dropped to his side and he pulled out a blaster pistol. He clicked off the weapon's safety, heard its clack echoed by dozens of others all around him, and knew that if he fired he would be reduced to a pile of smoldering and charred flesh.

A silence settled over the chamber, with Dante's pistol pointed at Aeos's head, her rifle shoved into Sniping's chest and a ring of assorted weapons aimed at both. There was the sound of breathing and mercs shifting from foot to foot, but that was all.

Impasse was Dante's only thought. Aeos was obviously of somewhat high rank among Worga's forces, which was probably the only reason he and the other Raiders were still breathing. However, there was the little matter of the dozen or so rifles pointed at his head and the blaster his hostage herself wielded.

There was an outcry from among the motley band of hostiles, followed by muttering. Despite the severity of the situation, Dante allowed himself a smile before moving the blaster slightly closer to Aeos's forehead.

"Drop it, Imp pinkskin!" one of the mercs, a Trandoshan, snarled.

"Do as he says."

Sniping101's voice was quiet but firm, and it echoed through the silence that had settled over the chamber.

Dante looked at the hordes of mercs and the rows of blaster pointed at him and the other RAIDERS.

There are the others; if I fire I'm dooming us all.

"That's an order."

Dante shrugged and let the DC-15 pistol drop to the ground. It clattered, bounced once, then came to a stop. As the mercs advanced towards the disarmed RAIDERS, Dante stared at Aeos.

How could she?

He never saw the stun bolt that impacted his upper back, rippling through the bodysuit and paralyzing him in a fraction of a second. He twitched as the energy coursed through his system, then felt a stab of pain as he landed heavily on the ground. Although he was facing a wall and couldn't turn his head due to the stun bolt, he still  heard a voice barking orders.

"Take them away, and put them in separate cells. Search them for any weapons or anything that can be used as a weapon, and report to me when you're done."

There were a series of shots then the sound of bootsteps filled Dante's ear that was pressed to the ground.

He felt himself be toed over by a durasteel-tipped boot, and watched what little he could of the scene. Several of the RAIDERS were being matched off, while others lay in a heap, either unconscious or dead. Dante hoped desperately that it was the latter: the loss of Uggony had been bad enough.

In many ways, the loss of the young trooper had shaken him more than that of Yush weeks earlier. The young, eager recruit had in many ways reminded him of himself back when he had first joined the Corps, back when he had been in Jester. Jester, the squad now lead by a traitor. Jester, which was now licking slime from the backside of some Hutt lord.

Why?

The question echoed through Dante's head but went unanswered as a pair of shabby guards dragged him by the legs through the hallways and into the prison quarters. He could smell the filth and heard jeers and taunts thrown at the guards as they passed. The guards, far from ignoring the comments, roared obscenities back at the prisoners and once or twice used their rifles, held in their free hand, to smash an outstretched arm or too.

They halted, and Dante fell to the ground with a thump as they dropped him like a sack of bantha fodder. There was a shriek as a rusty key was placed in a lock, the thick durasteel door was opened, and Dante felt his stomach lurch as he was bodily thrown in. He tried to shield his face with his hands but merely managed to twitch before he impacted the stained duracrete floor face first. Dante felt a tooth loosen, and the taste of copper filled his mouth.

Lying there, paralysed and bruised, in the centre of a Hutt lord's prison complex, and weaponless, he cursed Aeos and the Jesters, cursed that bloated bag of filth Worga, cursed the idiots that had sent them on this mission, but most of all cursed himself.

Well, that went well. Next time you have a smart idea like taking a hostage, look around you first.

Eventually, Dante managed to regain control of his limbs, and struggled to his feet on limbs that felt like they were filled with water, The world seemed to spin, and he tottered over to a bench, only to find it already occupied. The rat-like creature, with fur so stained as to make its colour unrecognizable, chittered angrily at him, then hissed. Taking a hint, the trooper staggered back and collapsed onto the floor.

Intimidated by a rat. How the mighty have fallen.

Dante would have laughed, but he couldn't find the energy.