Taris

[Tress]

Khedryn watched as Horatio paid the man a very large sum of money and figured this was Black Sun's standard operating procedure for staying out of public eye.

 

He walked with his two new recruits and carried on a menial conversation with them to further acquaint himself with them. He figured knowing as much as he could about the agents and forming as much of a bond as he could was necessary for the mission.

 

"So Mitt'res is it okay for me to just call you Tress? It rolls off the tongue better. Oh and you can just call me Blur. It's an old nickname that has grown on me." Khedryn said with a dry laugh.

 

"If it makes it easier for you sir then it's fine." The man replied. He seemed to be a man of few words, but Khedryn hoped that he was a man of action.

 

The younger man spoke up,

 

"Why do they call you Blur?"

 

Khedryn turned his attention to the man and said,

 

"I have unnaturally fast reaction time when it comes to piloting. I can pilot vessels that normally need two crew members. It's a gift that has helped me many times."

 

The younger man just nodded and retuned his attention to the journey through the scum-riddled lower levels. The streets, or more appropriately alleys, were very poorly lit. Garbage was strewn about and the smell of disease lingered in the air. Rodents scurried across the alley at the presence of the group. A few residents also got away from the group when they saw their arrival.

 

They are probably used to newcomers meaning death and destruction.

 

Khedryn continued to follow behind Horatio and the others as they walked through the alleys. he was beginning to feel more and more uneasy about this as they went. He never was one for direct fighting and that was all this mission would be.

[Tress]

Khedryn instinctively reached for his DL-44 strapped to his thigh, slung low just the way he liked. The cold handle fit perfectly in Khedryn's hand and he quickly withdrew the weapon. He brought the barrel up and aimed it in the general direction of the armed guards. Before he squeezed the trigger, he gave orders to his two troopers.

 

"hey you two get behind those dumpsters and cover my ass. I'm gonna need it!" khedryn yelled out at the two.

 

As soon as his men went to take cover Khedryn let out a volley of blasterfire. The searing bolts sizzled past the armed guards, many of them harmlessly flying overhead. Khedryn heard one of the men let out a yell, but he wasn't sure if it was a hit or a battlecry. The return of blaster bolts flying at him caused him to think he hadn't made a hit, or at least not a fatal one.

 

Khedryn quickly dropped to the ground and yelled at his men to return blasterfire. As the guards became distracted from the Black Sun Agents, he took a moment to concentrate and scope out a guard. He got the head of one in his sight and took a moment before he fired. He took a deep breath and the gently pulled back on the trigger.

 

<>

[Tress]

"Damn it." Khedryn muttered under his breath. He never had been an expert with a blaster, but he normally wasn't this bad.

 

Khedryn quickly signalled for his two men to fall in behind the rest of the group. The wails of the sirens in the distance pierced through the night and gave further motivation for the group to get out of there. They were quickly moving through the streets and alleys and were doing their best to avoid attention. This was a bit of a hard task considering the shrieking woman with the party.

 

The Chiss assigned to Khedryn turned to him and said

 

"You know it's rare a mission goes this smoothly sir."

 

Khedryn offered a quick reply

 

"Yeah well we aren't in the clear yet in case you haven't noticed."

 

The statement proved to foreshadow the upcoming events to unfold...

 

[/i]

[Tress]

Things had been running relatively well until Khedryn heard the shrieks of terrors of civilians behind him. As he turned he saw an LAV streaking through the streets and mowing down all in its path. The alleys were turned into blood soaked pathways of death. Khedryn did not hesitate, even for a split second, and he instinctively flung his body behind cover. He peered over the object he was hiding behind, which happened to be a rotting table presumably from a local bar, and saw the Tress had taken cover. He scanned the nearby area, but he could not locate Travis.

 

Khedryn thumbed his commlink and tried to contact Travis, but the comm transmissions were being jammed.

 

God dammit. Travis better not have gotten himself killed.

 

Khedryn heaved his body up off the ground and saw that to his left was an alley that was littered with old furniture and scraps of old machinery. He carefully slid across the ground, all the while making sure to not catch the attention of the oncoming guards. As he reached the alley he took yanked a concussion grenade off of his belt and quickly set it. With a quick turn of his body Khedryn heaved the grenade towards the LAV and miraculously it landed just where the troopers pouring out of the armored craft were. The concussive wave went off and sent a tremble through the area. Khedryn was unsure of how many he had taken down, or if he had for that matter.

 

They probably have armor designed to protect them from such assaults.

 

Khedryn peered down the alley he had come from and saw a guard approaching his direction. The man spotted Khedryn and quickly brought his blaster to his hip and went to unleash a volley of fire from his weapon, but he was suddenly struck by a stray blaster bolt from one of his own men.

 

"Holy shit that could have been bad." Khedryn muttered under his breath. The area was starting to fill with a rechid smell of death. The scent permeated everything and filled Khedryn's nostrils with a burning, horrid odor. He let out a cough and continued on. He knew he wouldn't do much good from here so he headed towards Horatio's postion. \

 

Just as he got up from where he had been a volley of fire came towards him and peppered the building with scorchmarks. The accrid smell of burning flesh let Khedryn know he had been grazed in his hand. He quickly squeezed the trigger of his trusty sidearm and aimed it towards the fire.

 

<>-

[Tress]

Khedryn saw two troopers go down dead instantly and a third had a burning hole in his neck. Where skin had been now only charred flesh had been. His trachea had been blasted away and he would either die from shock or a lack of oxygen. The trooper flailed in agony and could only emit sickly gurgling sounds. Khedryn chose not to shoot him and kill him.

 

After he had seen the troopers go down Khedryn quickly went to work on his hand. He used bacta spray to help the wound and then wrspped it in sterile bandaging. When Khedryn returned to the battle he saw the remaining troopers fleeing for their lives. Deciding it would be a waste of his energy pack to pick them off, Khedryn turned and motioned for Tress to come over towards him. The Chiss man nodded in acknowledgement and quickly jogged over to his position.

 

"Sir it looks like we should get out of here soon. I really doubt that reinforcements won't be coming."

 

"Agreed. First we have to find Travis and then meet up with the others at the LAV."

 

Khedryn had seen the Blackstone and Jason carrying out Michelle from her position. It was a shame to see such a young and beautiful woman that badly injured, but that was generally the result of firefights.

 

"I believe I saw him over here sir" Tress replied as he pointed over towards the porch-like area of a nearby house. The two men headed towards the area, but the recruit was nowhere to be seen. The two were about to split up and search the alley until they saw a body laying on the ground a few meters away in a pile of slimy, putrid liquid. The person was dressed in the same gear as Tress...

 

Khedryn sprinted over towards the Travis and quickly flipped his body over. His chest was still rising and falling slightly so he was still alive. When Khedryn looked at his face, or what was left of it, he wasn't sure for how much longer. His face was severely burned to the point that only thick gooey plasma over charred flesh remained. The man was no longer recognizeable; they had only knew it was him from his uniform.

 

"Hey...Travis...can you hear me?" Khedryn took the grimy hand in his, graped it firmly. "Travis... it Khedryn..."

 

Travis no longer had much in the way of eyelids, and Khedryn knew he must be blind. But he turned his head slightly, and his mouth moved.

 

"Khedryn.."

 

"Don't try to talk...you're gonna be fine. We'll pop you in a bacta tank, and you'll be chasin' girls and shootin' Imps in no time."

 

A faint thread of expelled air and Khedryn recognized it as the ghost of a laugh.

 

"Wrong...Khedryn...Shoulda been...merchant. Not meant...fight. Das...was...right." The lax fingers tightened once, and then released. Khedryn leaned over and checked for a pulse, then released his grip. He took off the young man's blaster pistol, energy packs and any other useful items. He handed these items to Tress and then ripped off the man's ID tags and put them in his pocket. He would make sure the man's parents got them.

 

"Come on let's go meet with the others." Khedryn said. Travis just nodded and turned away. They went to the LAV with the others and quickly got inside.

 

"So where are we going boss?" Khedryn asked Horatio.

[Tress]

As the LAV raced down through the maze of alleys towards the shuttle, Khedryn sat solemnly in his seat. He could not help but feel solely responsible for the death of Travis as well as everything else that had occured. It had been him who had fired off the shots at the guards. He knew they could have stealthily eliminated the guards. He cursed under his breath several times and continued to stare down at his blood-splattered boots.

 

Tress was also staring down at the floor of the transport. He did not feel guilty for what had happened as he had seen many fellow recruits die, but Travis had been a special young lad. Tress looked over at Khedryn, not with a burning rage but more with sympathy, and their eyes met in a cold gaze. Neither could bear to look for long and they both continued looking down.

 

The princess had quieted down from her earlier shrieks and now she just sat there shaking and mumbling under her breath.

 

Poor girl is probably scared out of her mind. She didn't need to be exposed to this.

 

The LAV was bound to reach the shuttle in a few minutes...