41:03:30 GrS

----------------------------------------

Kneeling awkwardly on the short-circuited escalator inside the wrecked terminal, Lyra pressed her hands over the security troop's bloody stump where his arm had been ripped away. In the flickering light, the man looked a few years younger than her, panting and pale, his eyes wide with terror. There were sounds of chaos and clashes all around, and she ducked at every explosion and crash.

"It's okay," Lyra assured, putting as much confidence into her shaking voice as she could. "You're going to be alright." But she knew he'd lost too much blood. She'd seen injuries just like his during those furious final months of the Empire's death throes. She yelled again for a medic, but there was no response.

"I— " he stuttered, "I don't want to die, my lady. Please..." he begged, the words hissing from his lips with the last of his life.

"It's alright, I'm here," she uttered in a pitifully weak voice.

Raga came down the steps from the terminal's observation level. He pressed fingers against the man's carotid artery. "Come, Lady Lyra," he urged with quiet intensity, "Chadhar has left us."

The sudden flood of tears obscured her view of the man's lifeless brown eyes. Lyra uttered a gasping curse and let Uncle Shin pull her to her feet. She wiped the guard's blood on her pants and dragged her sleeve across her eyes, feeling enraged and helpless.

A sudden wild shrieking rent the air amid the chaos. Lyra had just enough time to spin around before she was slammed against the escalator's sharp metal steps. A girl who might have been Neela's age clawed at Lyra's throat with inhuman ferocity. She threw up an arm to block the girl's swiping hand and reached for her blaster. The girl screamed incoherently and lifted both fists.

A steely flash of Raga's sword sent the girl's arms sailing through the air. Lyra wrenched her A-180K free and fired panicked shots into her chest. The girl lurched aside, gurgling. For just a moment the madness in her red-rimmed eyes faded.

"Dastarai sey," she whispered just before Shin's blade separated her head from her body.

Lyra had the presence of mind to scramble up the steps as the girl's youthful body became a glowing, bloated grotesquerie. Shin hovered over her as the detonation shook the escalator and set it creaking ominously.

Seelam appeared above them. "Are you harmed, my lady, Senguru Raga?" They hustled up the final few steps before the escalator buckled with a groan of stressed metal and sparking electrical arcs.

"I'm fine," she said, feeling sick and unsteady. "Did you hear her?"

"I didn't, my lady."

"She said, 'Help us'. She asked for help. Uncle Shin, what are we doing?" Lyra cried desperately.

In Raga's hard eyes she glimpsed the same despair she was feeling. "Surviving, my lady."

"But they need our help, Uncle, and we're killing them!"

"I fear the only help we can give these unfortunate creatures is to speed them into the embrace of their honored ancestors."

"I know, but... BESHKHAT!" Lyra channeled all her impotent fury into the Inusagian crudity. The footman flinched from the ferocity of her outburst.

"Perhaps you should allow Seelam to escort you back to the Skipjack Chimera, my lady. The fighting isn't over."

Stop being a child, Lyra! She took a deep breath and remembered her Imperial officer's training. "Sorry, Uncle. I'm fine. I know what has to be done." Sorrow could come later; cold calculation was more useful to her right now. "I swear, whoever did this to our people will feel my wrath." She tapped her comm. "Reiko, any word from Oktos or Rendix?"

"Not yet," came the engineer's concerned voice over the speaker in her wrist link. Seelam and Shin leaned in to hear. "They're moving southwest toward a big parcel of open land about a klick from here."

"Nalidipaya," Seelam offered. "The site of an Imperial compound, but it was dismantled when they retreated, Lady Lyra."

"What's there now?"

"Only undeveloped parkland, my lady."

"See anything at that location, Rei?"

"Nothing on scanners. I've tapped into the planetary satellite network, but other than some tau-wave emissions, nothing's showing up there either."

"Some kind of cloaking field or sensor jamming, perhaps," Raga suggested.

"Maybe. Rei, what about the tau waves?"

"There are strong emanations from the park, but I can't think of why."

"Any chance of jamming the signal?"

"If we were on Allegra we could use her countermeasures suite. Not sure what good that would do, though. We don't even know what the transmission's being used for."

Lyra clicked her tongue. "Uncle, can we get the Etas into action?"

"The pilots are members of Lady Nimor's security staff. They are at the manor."

Lyra scowled. "I'm sure she has more than enough bodyguards. We need those pilots here. If Nalidipaya's where these attackers are coming from, there could be a hidden installation or even a couple of ships. Whatever's going on, we'll need the fighters."

"Understood, my lady." He drew his comlink and called the manor. After listening to the reply, he said, "One of the pilots has been injured. They are sending the others, but it will be half an hour at least before they arrive."

Lyra spoke impatiently into her comm. "Reiko, keep trying to raise them. We need to know what's happening at that park."

----------------------------------------

Taz peered through compact electrobinoculars at the grassy field that stretched a kilometer or more beyond the low rise where he perched beside Sera. He could see the bare remains here and there of what must have been a whole complex of buildings. The place was empty now, save for the pair of spherical droids executing a standard zig-zag patrol pattern in the air above the field.

Sera scrutinized the scene through her riflescope. "Can't see anything, Doc. Strike that," she amended suddenly. "Something's out there. Hovering about eight meters above the ground. Range, forty-three meters, bearing one ninety-two. See it?"

Taz shifted his focus. "Looks like a comms antenna, just hovering in the air."

At nearly the same time he and Sera both said, "Stealth."

"Gotta be," Sera followed. "Those droids are their eyes. Thought I saw one like it at the spaceport, but with all the ships and the action on the ground I couldn't be sure."

"They're watching what's happening at the spaceport? Why?"

"No idea. I'd say some kind of military op, but there aren't enough attackers for that. They're making a mess in the city, but nothing more."

"Maybe a trial run for a real attack."

"Seeing how their drug performs on a large scale. Makes sense."

Taz nodded toward the field. "Whoever's been calling to me is down there, too."

"You know we're most likely walking into a trap, right?"

"Can't see how it could be anything else," he agreed, swallowing a sudden eruption of bile in his throat. The transcutaneous medpatch was wearing off. Crap timing.

"No cover, and no intel on what we're walking into." She sounded unhappy. "What if whoever's in there just wants to kill you?"

"He could've done that without all this fuss. He wants something from me, I'm sure of it." Taz tried to relax past the renewed nausea and pushed his senses out into the hazy gray Force. After a few seconds, he said, "Besides him, I can feel maybe twenty other active minds."

"Active?"

He nodded. "There are hundreds more, like the ones who've been attacking. They feel... like they're being subdued, suppressed." He gave Sera a sober stare. "The Rayeths are there, too. I... think they're being tortured."

"Okay, so he doesn't want to kill you. What if he captures you and tortures you like he's doing to the Rayeths?"

"I guess you'll just have to watch my back to make sure that doesn't happen." His smile was thin and humorless.

"Right," she drawled and re-checked the magazine of micro grenades under the G9's barrel.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Taz glanced at the power level on his pistol and holstered it. "Well, I sure as hell don't feel like just walking in and giving myself up." He slid the carbine off his back and shoved a grenade into the launcher. Got any thoughts on a plan?"

"Sure. Fix bayonets, charge in, and kill everyone we see."

"Just like old times, I guess."

"Except for the two dozen Ballistas who aren't here to have our backs." She screwed up her mouth at their very disadvantageous tactical posture. "I'll call back to the ship, give them the sitrep. Want to wait for the cavalry?"

"We should, but I don't know if it'll make any difference. If they think it's just the two of us we might catch them off-guard."

Sera looked at him like he was a new recruit. "Remind me to give you some lessons in basic military strategy."

Despite his sickness and apprehension, he retorted with a sour expression. "If we make it past today you can give me all the lessons you want. In the meantime, no sense making it easy for them. How about we take out those droids, blind them before we go in?"

"It's not much, but it's a start." She switched to the encrypted channel on her comlink. It was only civilian-grade, and she was under no illusions about their conversation staying private if someone was scanning comm frequencies. "Skipjack Chimera, this is Javelin-One, respond."

"Ser— Javelin-One, this is the Chimera!" Reiko's voice betrayed relief, and Sera thought she could just detect the hint of smile from her lover at the use of their old Razorclaw callsigns.

"It's good to hear your voice, Support-Six. Sitrep?"

"Ly— um, Allegra-Two is with the security team. They're just about done securing the terminal. Medic-Two is treating some casualties but we're ready to support you. What's your status?"

"We think we've ID'ed the enemy's base of operations, but it's shielded from sensors."

"We've been monitoring, Javelin-One. Sensor return is zero on our end too."

"I'm sending relative coordinates." She tapped the tiny keys on her wrist link.

"Received," acknowledged Reiko. "What do you need?"

"Nothing for now. We're going to try to make entry."

"That sounds dangerous, Ser— Javelin-One! Wait for us to put a team together."

"Negative. That'll take too long and we don't want them rabbiting if they see a big force bearing down on them. Establish air superiority if you can and hold for further instructions."

Reiko sounded reluctant, but she said, "Understood, Javelin-One."

"Listen, we think there are twenty hostiles and at least a hundred more of the attackers. Medic-One says they're in some kind of inactive state, which is good news for us, at least for now. Put that team together. If you don't hear from us in thirty, come running."

"Will do, Javelin-One."

"That's my girl. Javelin-One out."

Taz had his carbine in hand, dialing in the scope. "They'll be alright, Javelin-One."

"Let's hope we can say the same, Medic-One." She settled behind her G9, aligning the illuminated targeting reticle over one of the black, spherical droids. "I'll take the one on the left. Once we hit them, advance in a standard evasive pattern at eight-meter intervals. I'll cover you."

"Eight-meter covering pattern," Taz echoed. His nausea started feeling like the old stomach-twisting blend of excitement and terror that he felt every time he took part in an assault. "I've got the right." He adjusted his aim and tracked the droid's lazy motion. "On your mark."

"Three... two... one... Mark."

Their twin blaster shots lanced through the air. Sera's bolt obliterated the glossy black and silver droid. Taz missed by less than a meter. He swore, but even before he shifted his aim, Sera's second shot sent the probe's flaming remains dropping out of the sky.

Then Taz was on his feet sprinting along an irregular path. He dropped to one knee and snapped the carbine to his shoulder.

"Mines?" Sera mentioned almost casually as she passed him and angled suddenly to the right, then back again. Eight meters ahead of him she skidded to a halt and knelt, sweeping the space in front of her with the G9's muzzle.

"Hope not," he answered as he jumped ahead. About six meters past Sera, he felt a static prickling all over his body. Everything went instantly dark and he ran headlong into something hard and metallic. Taz fell on his ass and cursed again. His eyes adjusted gradually as he realized he'd passed through a cloaking field.

"Medic-One," Sera called out.

"Here, Javelin-One," he said, picking himself up. Sera's hand brushed his shoulder as she crept up to him. Maybe twenty meters to their right, dim light indicated the silhouette of an extended boarding ramp. Blinking indicators and monitor lights gave them a rough idea of the vessel's size. Its hull extended overhead and continued well past the light they could see. Taz wiped the corner of his mouth where he'd cut it on what felt like a landing strut. "Big ship."

"Yeah. You okay?"

"Nothing injured but my pride."

"Speaking of which, I'm adding target practice to your training regimen."

He couldn't see Sera's wry smile but he could hear it. "The droid's vector changed right when I fired."

"Mm hmm," came the commando's skeptical reply. "One of us studied their patrol patterns so she could anticipate the vector changes." She swept the area peering through her riflescope. "No welcoming committee. That's good."

Taz reached out through the Force. "Everyone's in the ship. They're watchful."

"Watchful, as in waiting for us?"

"That'd be my guess." He pressed the switch on the carbine's forend, throwing a circle of light on the ship. "Some kind of heavy transport, maybe. Looks old." He turned off the torch. "For a ship this size, twenty people seems like a small crew. What do you want to do?"

"Say hello to the neighbors. That's why we came, isn't it?" She dropped to a half-crouch that let her move quickly but presented a smaller target. With Taz behind her shoulder, they advanced.

----------------------------------------

"My lord," called the woman at the sensor console, "The probe droids on overwatch have been destroyed, and there are two people approaching the portside ramp amidships."

"They are expected," answered Agonis with a dismissive flourish. "Allow them to board. They are to be captured unharmed."

"Yes, my lord," answered the woman and issued orders into her microphone.

"Unharmed, Lord Agonis?"

"Yes, Madam Sykes, unharmed."

"You said they're expected. What's going on?"

The Sith's tentacles swished. "They are no concern of yours. You have seen the demonstration. I trust it is satisfactory?"

Anais didn't like his tone at all, but she had to admit that the Breeze-crazed attackers, even those who were old, starving or sick, were undeniably murderous and chaotic. Just the kind of thing her father and Tyber Zann had asked for. "It is, Lord Agonis. How much of the isolate have you collected for me?"

The tall Sith looked at HL-0T. The droid lifted a silver armored case onto the holotable and opened it. Nestled in protective foam were twenty vials of pale pink liquid. "One point oh seven liters, Madam Sykes, enough for fourteen million doses, assuming the intended recipients are humanoid."

"A good start," she answered, flipping her blond hair with a casual hand. At her nod, Rawl took the case from the mantis droid and closed it.

"You will have more, Madam Sykes. For now, I suggest you return to your ship." He glanced briefly at her bracer and gave her an edgy, frigid grin. "Your power cells are running low."

Anais's aloof look didn't falter by even a millimeter, but the Sith smiled at the fear he knew she was feeling. She turned on her heel. "Rawl," she snapped.

He glared at the menacing Sith, but stuck close to Sykes as they exited, flanked by two of Agonis's hulking guards.

----------------------------------------

Taz and Sera crept along the edges of the ramp, ready to jump at the first sign of ambush. The light spilling from the entry was steady, if dim. They stopped outside the portal and peered around carefully. At her nod they entered, sweeping the space with their blasters.

"Clear," Sera said, scanning what looked like a small, empty cargo bay with her sharp warrior's eyes.

"Clear," Taz echoed.

A broad passage opened halfway along the right-hand wall. She could just make out the curved bow of a small ship perched on the deck. "Looks like a hangar."

Taz thrust his chin at a closed door straight ahead. "Access to the rest of the ship."

"It's your show, Doc. Which way do you want to go?"

"Hangar?"

Sera took the lead. The passage opened into a bay big enough to hold the Chimera, though the cutter sitting on the reinforced deck was a good deal smaller. As soon as they entered, there was a loud clang and the hangar's armored doors began to slide open.

Taz was about to suggest a change of course when the bulkhead door slammed down behind them, closing off the passage. At the same time, four people walked into the hangar from a passage to their left. Taz started. It was the man and woman who'd bought their load of ceraglass. "Contact front!"

They shrank back against the bulkhead door as much as they could, but they'd been spotted. Sera was already firing, scattering the man and woman in front, and dropping one of the beefy-looking creatures who escorted them. "That's Rawl, the... man I knew from Corellia."

"Knew I should've taken him apart back on Enarc," Taz grumped. "What's the plan?"

"Blow a hole in the bastard's face," she growled, firing a precise string of shots at him. He'd taken refuge behind the ship's thick landing strut, though, and her blasts failed to bring him down.

There was a clatter of boots on the catwalk ringing the hangar; more of the bulky, gray-skinned, visored guards. They opened up with chunky, antique-looking rifles, firing blue stun blasts that impacted the walls around them. Taz crouched below Sera and they both returned fire with quick bursts before ducking back.

"Welcoming committee doesn't seem any more friendly than Mr. Ugly," Taz quipped and fired a grenade. There was a bright explosion near the ceiling that collapsed part of the catwalk. A few of the stout aliens fell to the ground but sprang right back up. One hung from a ragged length of railing and began advancing toward them, hand over hand. Taz poured blaster bolts into the creature until it dropped to the deck, inert.

"Why are they here?" Sera wondered aloud and traded more shots with the tall cyborg. The pistol in his hand was even more massive than Sera's big PP40. Its ruby-red plasma bolts hammered into the bulkhead, vaporizing chunks of durasteel. She recognized it, a T-6 Thunderer with a cryo module under the barrel to improve the rate of fire.

Sera took her time and let the riflescope's reticle align over the brazen orange fur on the shoulders of Rawl's long duster jacket. She squeezed the trigger, feeling the G9 buck in her hands. The sizzling particle beam slammed into Rawl's shoulder. He jerked with the force of the blast, ducking behind the landing strut's reinforced column, but he didn't fall like she expected him to. The woman who'd come in with him yelped, then flew into the vessel, carrying a compact, heavy-looking case.

"This position sucks, Doc!" she called over the sharp din of blasters as she kept firing.

"No argument from me." The alien fighters on the mangled remains of the catwalk were busy connecting a tripod-mounted apparatus to a portable fusion generator. Taz thumbed another grenade into the launcher and fired at the aliens advancing from ground level. He tapped his lightsaber. "I could try cutting through the bulkhead."

"How long would that take?" She jerked back an instant before Rawl's shot melted the steel conduit where her head had been.

"Fifteen seconds?" he guessed.

"Too long."

Taz nodded. "Make a break for it through the hangar doors?"

"Sure. Think you could cover us with your lightsaber?"

He looked doubtful but tried to sound optimistic. "Maybe."

"Right," Sera pronounced. "I'll cover you."

Her face was inscrutable, but Taz had seen that look enough through their years serving together to know what she was thinking. "No heroics, remember? We both go or neither of us does."

"Alright, Doc." Sera acquiesced. "Grenades?"

"One left."

"Good enough." She pressed the rifle's selector lever. There was a click as the rotary magazine loaded a grenade into the chamber. "We hit their ship and run for the exit."

Taz nodded. They raised their guns and fired. Twin explosions filled the hangar with a thunderous sound, but instead of rupturing the cutter's hull, the shimmer of deflector shields absorbed the grenades' energy.

"Run!" Sera shouted, laying down a suppressive spray behind her as they both dashed for the expanding hangar opening. Aurora Ascendant hissed to life in Taz's hands. Stun bolts splashed around them but their breakout move had surprised the attackers. Her long strides chewed up the distance and Taz was right beside her, feet pounding. His amber blade intercepted a few of the bolts as they ran, but Taz was glad their aim was so poor.

Sera planted a foot to launch herself through the open hangar door when a powerful sonic boom made the bay shake. There was awful pain, like spikes being driven into her ears as the world spun and twisted violently. Another low-pitched but impossibly powerful boom shook the ship and she tumbled to the deck, dizzy and disoriented.

"Doc," Sera groaned and managed to flop onto her back just in time to see one of the hulking creatures lurking over her. Then there was nothing but ear-shattering agony and blackness.