> New information obtained by ICNN indicates that a large-scale black-market drug manufacturing and distribution operation might have been active in Pratikaya for as long as a year. Prefectural officials didn't address the allegations directly, but issued a statement that they are 'cooperating fully' with the Royal Security Service to 'root out any illicit enterprises and bad actors wherever they might exist.' Rumors linking abductions of Rayeths and recent disappearances of denizens to the criminal activity have yet to be verified.

- Mondir Inisharu

Inusagi Central NewsNet

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41:03:31 GrS

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The universe was ripping apart.

Its crashing, tearing clamor jarred Taz to abrupt, annoying consciousness. But an instant later, he felt like he was drowning. He gasped in a panic, but all that did was overwhelm him with thick, inky blackness, pain, and the turbulence of the dark Force. It took a long time to clear the confusion. When it did, he realized he wasn't, in fact, drowning; it was just hard to breathe in his present circumstance.

Whatever that is.

More time passed while the universe kept convulsing and his memory returned. I ought to be dead. The incredible surge of power he'd channeled through his body must have worked to counteract Agonis's shower of deadly lightning. At least that was the only hypothesis he could come up with.

Stabbing pain lanced through his arm with the slightest movement. He felt hard deck plates beneath him, though his chest and neck were numb. Try as he might, he couldn't open his eyes.

Maybe I'm dead.

If I am, it's kind of boring.

After a minute he decided he could feel himself breathing and remembered his meditations. I am one with the Force. The Force is with me. I am one with the Force. The Force is with me.

He repeated the mantra until he felt calm enough to push against the rushing currents that encircled him. It seemed like he could make out a tiny light, far in the distance. Taz started swimming toward it. At least it felt like that's what he was doing; the sensation reminded him of the feeling he'd had in Thrymenoly-Riv.

The point of light grew at a gradual, steady rate. After some period of seemingly strenuous effort, his eyes opened. A painful groan issued from his clenched jaw. He could tell immediately that his arm was broken. Slowing his breathing, Taz entered the healing trance he'd used before.

Only, it wasn't the same. The flow of the dark Force was still there. He could feel its healing, corrupting power. With a start, he realized that it was the remnant of the very power he'd used to rejuvenate the dying Rayeths and attack Agonis.

For all the good that did me.

He felt the Rayeths' presences around him. They seemed stronger than before, but there was no question in his mind that their tortures continued.

He tried sitting up. If I can just get out of here...

Taz yelped a cry. Besides his fractured arm, his chest went from dull and numb to feeling like it was pressing against a miniature sun. A few seconds' concentration confirmed severe electrical burns and he remembered what Agonis's lightning had done to him. Only the healing current he'd created from the dark Force had kept him alive, and that barely. The ancient Sith might be a psychotic egomaniac, but he was also exceedingly strong, not to mention dangerous. Taz would have to tread very carefully if he was going to survive.

He spent a long time in the trance. Unlike his previous attempts, the power of the dark Force made healing even faster, but it felt less controlled, more likely to go awry. At first he tried to cut out the dark Force, calling only on the light-side energy, but the darkness seemed to be mixed in so thoroughly that he couldn't easily separate them. It dawned on Taz that his use of those dark powers might have changed his access to the Force so fundamentally that he'd never be able to retreat from it.

Tentatively, he allowed the flow of energy— light and dark both— to permeate him. It was hard to control; he felt like any mastery he'd previously gained had nearly been stripped away, and he was learning all over again. He willed himself to stillness, feeling the storm of dark energy competing with the halcyon light. Gradually, he found a tenuous balance point between them.

I'll need to tread carefully with this, too.

He could feel his body's many injuries being mended, but it was different than he'd ever experienced. Usually, it felt peaceful and soothing. But now it had a harsh quality that made him cringe with the pain of it. Could that be the price for using the dark Force to heal? He forced himself to relax and reestablished control over the energy flow.

After several minutes in the trance, Taz sat up, gingerly flexing his arm. It ached and throbbed, but it was whole, and all his joints and muscles seemed to be working as they should. Through his shredded shirt he could see thin, angry-looking scars crisscrossing his chest. "Those should have healed too," he mumbled, then winced painfully when he touched them. "I guess Force wounds are different. Maybe they don't ever heal completely."

He looked around. Lights flickered and plenty of panels were missing from the walls and ceiling. Occasional sparking showers erupted from disrupted circuits and power conduits. "Did I do that?"

The Rayeths struggled in their restraints. Taz grew dismayed when he saw the copious flow of pale fluid in the tubes attached to each creature's head. Dread stole over him when he realized why.

Healing them only made Agonis's work easier. He felt sick at the thought, and he snarled a vicious curse.

How can I fix it?

He needed to find a way out, but calming them seemed like the right first step. Taz reached out to the adolescent Rayeths with the same kind of gentle thoughts he'd transmitted to Gan. These Rayeths didn't react like Gan, though; they recoiled when he touched their minds. All he could feel was their blind fear and unrelenting hunger. Taz pulled back his mental probe, realizing that there might be nothing he could do to salve their suffering.

They don't matter. Only power matters.

"Get out of my head," he grumbled, but the voice felt more comfortable than it had before. Indeed, when he thought about it, he realized that the Rayeths weren't the most important thing right now. "Getting out matters more," he said to himself, though he felt a twinge of regret at the idea of abandoning them.

There was a sudden, sharp sting in his neck and Taz whirled around. A mantis droid stood beside him, a hypospray in its manipulator claw.

"Hey!" He clutched at his neck, more in surprise than pain, and regarded the droid with wide eyes. "I smashed you—" Then he saw the pile of debris that had been the droid called HL-0T. Its twin loomed over him.

"What was that?" he demanded.

"My master has decided to see how his isolate affects a Force-sensitive Human."

"Isolate?"

The droid nodded toward the Rayeths.

"The endocranial fluid. It's what causes the physical and psychological effects of that drug." Taz wasn't completely certain, but the theory fit everything he'd learned.

"Accurate enough," agreed the droid.

"I suppose it enables Ag— Lord Agonis to exert his mental control as well?"

"Imagine," quipped the droid in what must have been an excited tone, "millions across the galaxy under my master's direct control. An invincible force!"

"Yes, that's... amazing to contemplate." Taz grew even sicker at the thought. With the same poison slipping through his bloodstream, would Agonis be able to command him too?

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

To cover the plunging despair he felt at that thought, he snapped, "What's your designation?"

"I am HL-0T."

He nodded at the droid wreckage. "What is that, then?"

"Scrap."

It made sense that Agonis wouldn't care any more about his droids than he did about the Rayeths. Taz realized he probably wasn't much more valuable to the Sith either, especially now that he'd healed them. "I want to see Agonis."

"You will address him with the respect that is his due!" exclaimed the droid, raising its arm and extending its shock probes.

Claim mastery over this mindless mechanism!

"Will I?" Taz snarled, feeling the power of the dark Force surge again. The tracery of scars on his chest and neck burned, but that just fed the angry eruption. He thrust out his hand and pushed, sending the droid tumbling backward. It issued a surprised tone. Taz grimaced with the strength flowing through him.

Using the power stung terribly, but it also felt good. Really good. For a brief moment, he wondered why he'd been so hard on himself after squeezing the life out of Vaniel Ruatha. He aimed a cold, wicked smile at the droid. "I think I'll make more scrap."

"Impressive, whelp, but I need my droid intact for the present." Agonis strode under the arch and motioned with his gloved hand.

There was a sudden shock and gut-twisting nausea that made Taz fall to his hands and knees. He vomited all over the deck and his body shook, balking at his attempts to stand. He bent all his will toward moving, even just a finger, but he might as well have been set in carbonite.

"You've taken a generous step toward embracing the dark side of the living Force." Agonis's silky, ominous voice rang through the chamber.

Taz's eyes flicked up to see the swirl of the Sith's long cape. Have I? The thought was unexpectedly thrilling, but terrifying too. Agonis's effortless control over him only made it worse.

Gaze beneath his mask; the creature before you is but a shell.

You are stronger than he is.

The whisper in the Force was more seductive and immediate than ever.

Not yet, but maybe soon, Taz thought. He decided it was best to keep playing his apprentice role for now. "My lord," he said, lowering his head. It seemed to be the only part of his body that could move.

"You healed yourself, I see. Equally impressive," mused Agonis. His facial tentacles swished, amused and perhaps with a wisp of surprise.

"Yes, my master. Your lessons are already finding practical application." Still on the ground, he pushed out with his senses, touching Agonis's presence again. This time, he still felt the strength and evil, but the sense of ancient power he'd had before now felt more... decrepit. When he glanced up, for just an instant, he thought he saw the Sith's face, hollow and cadaverous, covered by a drapery of flaccid flesh. Taz blinked and the visage was gone, replaced by smooth, ruddy skin, the very image of vigor. He smiled to himself.

"Very good. Then let us consider what your next lesson should be," said Agonis, stroking his bony chin. "Come, young Oktos. We have much to discuss."

Taz felt something inside him change and suddenly he could move again. He rose, enthralled by the tall Sith and his promise of power, yet trepidatious, too. He wiped the filth from his mouth while his eyes blazed, red-rimmed and hungry for the power emanating from Agonis. "As you wish, my master."

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"Sera-sha!" Reiko screamed. Her face went slack at the horrific scene, her senses overwhelmed. Sera was there, naked, covered in blood, and pinioned to a torture frame. Her right eye socket was a bloody mess, her red hair matted with dried blood.

At the engineer's frantic cry, Rawl's head snapped around to see the newcomers pour through the door. "Friends of yours, Brasheer?" He squeezed the handles on the cutter he held, and two of her fingers tumbled to the deck.

Sera's mouth opened in a scream, her bloody, beaten face contorted in sudden agony, but barely a sound came out.

Lyra and Rei's twin cries filled the room. Lyra fired her blaster but her hands shook from fury and the shot went wide. Rawl dropped the blood-stained shears and advanced on her, his hand moving toward the enormous pistol at his side.

Lyra shot again as he closed the distance. This time her plasma bolt hit him squarely in the chest. Rawl looked at the blackened hole in his shirt, crinkling his nose at the acrid smell, but instead of collapsing, he just smiled and kept coming.

"Girls shouldn't play with guns," he taunted. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that?"

Lyra stood rooted to the spot and fired again. Now she could see the bright metal under his clothes, hidden by synthskin. It wasn't just his arm and jaw that were cybernetic, but his torso too. She adjusted her aim toward his head, but Rawl had already drawn his T-6. His arm blurred as he swung the heavy gun around and fired.

The blaster made a deafening, booming sound. Lyra flinched but suddenly Shin was in front of her, bellowing like a warrior of old. His tulan-sho flashed in the light and Rawl's flesh-and-blood forearm went careening through the air, flinging sprays of blood.

The long-haired man let out a roar and whipped his cybernetic limb, faster even than the battlemaster could react. Rawl's heavy steel arm caught Shin in the shoulder and sent him sprawling. His tulan-sho skidded away over the smooth deck plates.

"Uncle Shin!" Lyra shouted and lunged toward him.

Rawl's harsh voice, laced with unexpected pain, nevertheless caromed off the bare walls. "You'll pay for that old man!"

He kicked Lyra aside and she uttered an agonized scream as her ribs cracked. His foot came up again, ready to stomp Shin. Through the pain and tears, Lyra could see the smoking wound in Shin's chest where he'd taken the blaster shot that should have killed her.

Someone was still yelling. She realized it was Reiko. Shouting incoherently, she fired into Rawl's back, then pummeled him with the butt of her blaster.

Rawl made a feral snarl and grabbed Reiko by the throat, lifting her off the deck. Her legs kicked frantically and she clawed at him, scratching bloody tracks across his cheek. He just laughed and squeezed tighter.

"No," Lyra yelled, but only a whimper came out. Shin wasn't moving and Reiko's shouts had become gagging coughs. She lifted her blaster, trying to aim through her swimming vision. Just one shot, Lyra.

Rawl's mocking laughter filled the room. Then suddenly, he issued a surprised-sounding "whuuff!" and looked over his shoulder.

Sera stood there somehow, Shin's tulan-sho in her hand. She jerked it from where she'd buried it in Rawl's back and jammed it hard under his armpit. The blade's energized monomolecular edge punched through his implanted armor, making him howl.

Her face was twisted into a terrible, murderous snarl, her remaining eye blazing with rage as she thrust again and again, driving the glowing blade up to the grip. "Shouldn't have turned your back on me, you sick rutting mudsucker!" she rasped, red spittle flying.

Rawl's surprised eyes rolled up into his head. Blood spilled from his mouth as he collapsed backward, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. His cybernetic arm rapped random spasms against the deck plates, loud enough to make Lyra's ears ring.

Rei choked and wheezed, pulling air into her lungs again. Sera sank to her knees. The urgent sound of the alert klaxons filled the bay as Rei caught the collapsing Sera and sobbed over her.

"Rei-sha," Sera whispered, "are you alright my love? Did he hurt you?"

Reiko wailed hoarsely and shook her head.

"You shouldn't have come, but I'm glad you did." Sera's swollen face managed a grim-looking smile.

"Oh, Goddess!" Reiko finally managed, verging toward panic. "What do I do, Sera-sha? There's so much blood!"

Sera gestured vaguely toward the table with Rawl's assortment of torture tools. Reiko scrambled for the towels and pressed them against Sera's wounds. Through the terror, scraps of her combat medical training returned to her, but she couldn't stop the flood of tears.

Seelam hurried into the room. The footman blanched at the brutal scene, but he recovered in a moment. "Senguru Raga!"

Shin opened his eyes, looking weary and resolute. Lyra got her arm under his neck, ignoring the grinding in her ribs. She helped him to sit. "Uncle Shin," she said in a pleading voice.

"My lady, are you injured?"

"Never mind me, Uncle, you've been shot!"

He nodded, acknowledging and dismissing her concern all at once. "As long as you're safe, Lady Lyra." His voice was terribly weak.

"Seelam?"

"The path is clear for now. We should make haste from here, my lady," said the footman grimly. "We're sure to face opposition on our way out."

Lyra saw Reiko struggling to lift Sera. "Seelam, take Uncle Shin." She groaned and staggered to her feet while Seelam lifted Shin. Shuffling beside Rei, she tried her best to look reassuring while she grabbed Sera's arm. "Where's Taz?"

Sera gave a slow shake of her head. "Don't think... they brought him," she said between labored breaths.

Lyra's heart sank. Either he was a prisoner on the other ship, or...

"Doc's not dead... big humanoids... hard to kill... used stunners on us," Sera mumbled when she saw Lyra's terror-stricken face.

He's alive! Relief and renewed ferocity energized her. "You're a mess, Rebel."

"See if you look this good... after hours of torture, Imp," Sera uttered through her swollen lips, then coughed up more bloody sputum.

Lyra was overwhelmed with fatigue, pain, and terror, but needling Sera made her feel a little more like herself. "Can you move?"

"I'll manage," she croaked and levered herself up with their help.

Lyra grabbed another towel and wiped at the blood covering the commando's naked torso. There were dozens of cuts on her trunk and arms, her mutilated hand, missing ear, and bloody eye socket. Her hands shook, seeing the horror that Sera had endured. She felt like breaking down, but she could see that Reiko was, too.

Hold it together, Nimor!

Lyra swallowed the bile rising in her throat. "We need to bandage these. Rei, medpack." She wished her shaking voice carried more authority.

Reiko stared for a second, then remembered the medical kit on her belt. She grabbed a rolled bandage and helped Sera to wrap her mangled hand. She couldn't stop sobbing, but she kept working as Sera quietly reassured her that she'd be alright.

Lyra wrapped a sloppy bandage around Sera's head, covering her ear and eye socket. She looked around for her clothes, but couldn't see them. Her eyes fell on Rawl and his long coat. "Better than nothing," she muttered and wrenched it from his corpse. She helped Sera into it, then got under her arm while Reiko supported her from the other side.

"What's our exfil?"

"The Chimera." She looked at Seelam. "Where's Eshna?"

"Here, Lady Lyra," called the guard, poking her head around the door. Her grim look didn't falter despite the bloody, chaotic scene, though she paled seeing Shin's awful wounds.

"My armor," Rendix croaked, waving vaguely at the pile of ceramic composite near the wall.

"No time for that, Rebel."

"You... know what good armor costs?" she wheezed, trying for a smile.

"Bill me," Lyra snapped, but glanced at Eshna. "Grab that G-nine rifle and give me your carbine." Eshna did as she was told. When everyone looked ready, Lyra said, "Let's go."

Sera took a couple of steps with them, then shrugged out of their grasp and fell to her knees beside Rawl. Uttering jagged screams she brought the tulan-sho down, stabbing him over and over again until all of her fury was spent.

Sera looked up at Rei and Lyra, tears flowing with the blood, but wearing a defiant look on her tortured, beaten face. "Help me up. I'm done with this place."