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Myrkr


Tarrian Skywalker

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Karys kept a close eye upon Hayley as she seemed to be mumbling to herself incoherently....all in all it was not a good sign. However it appeared slapping the Hapan, despite his reluctance to do so, for all his faults he would not strike a woman or child...without good reason had the desired affect.

 

She puked her guts up and that appeared to wake her, he noted her remaining eye clutter open for a moment. Whispering to her ear he spoke.

 

"Feel better? Up for repaying the pirates for that eye? Looks like we have company, three of the same type scum as before. Best be ready for them."

 

With that the massassi set to work. His eagle like vision, and honed natural senses heard the three long before they even came into sight. As such he prepared beforehand via climbing up a nearby tree like a similar circumstance previously however this time, Karys took care to conceal himself, and moved a little slower to be as silent as he could....covering himself with whatever he could so when they did turn up....it would be a unexpected surprise when he jumped upon them.

 

Preparing his grapple, Karys thought up a plan. He would if possible, first wheel one of the three upwards as he went downward, using the liquid cable to hoist the pirate up at the neck...wrapping the coil around, removing his weapon along the way and keeping him momentarily occupied whilst he dealt with the other two a bit more traditionally.

 

It sounded ok in practice at least. Time would tell if it bore fruit...

 

He informed Hayley of the plan.

 

"Ok best keep out of sight for now. If you can fight, hide and wait for my signal...then strike the one on the left, I'll take the right. If not keep hidden until it's over. Right let's get to it."

 

I hope this goes right...

 

The massassi thought as he ascended, beginning what he hoped would be a successful plan.

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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The feeling inside her abdomen was like that of a Cazaderan Bloodworm burrowing through her innards, taking hefty bites along its way. Each breath was a fire inside, blowing upon a furnace of pain. Her face was paler then its normal alabaster, and a slow trickle of half coagulated blood trickled down her cheek, oozing slowly from the scorched pit where her eye had once been. Her whole body shook with each shallow breath as she looked upon the Massassi as he spoke of his plan.

 

She let a shaking hand fall to her side, where she unbuckled the small holster on the belt of her muddied and bloodstained pajamas. She slid a slugthrowing pistol from the blackened leather, and racked the slide, hearing the satisfying click of a slug entering the chamber. Hayley gave the Massassi a pained smile and hauled herself to the edge of the fallen log, watching as he turned to go

 

“I’ll take the right one. I’ll fight to the last if we have to…”

 

The young girl could feel the wood give way slightly as she hauled herself to a position where she could shoot, sprawling herself across the dryrotted wood. She could hear the pirate’s footsteps, the distant chirrup of ysalamiri, and the burrowing of insects around her in the rotten wood. The smell of mold and moss clung to the still air of the jungle, and it hung, humid and putrid about her like a smothering blanket. She placed the sights of the pistol on the rightmost Barabel, propping the pistol up on the wood.

 

...Wait for the signal… Focus on the frontsight and follow it through…

 

((OOC: Your plan will succeed, post up the aftermath of the attacks))

 

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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Karys managed a smile as Hayley let it known she was all but ready to fight to the last...a sentiment that was shared. The massassi was not about to let some pirates get the better of the sith, at least not while he still had any breath left in his veins.

 

The pirates would pay the blood price for interfering in the affairs of the Order and his assignment, but not before suffering a little. Hearing the sounds of the ysalamiri nearby, Karys impersonated the call, and threw a small stone he had acquired on the way up nearby...sounds that soon drew the attention of the three man patrol.

 

Cautiously the trio approached and soon enough both Hayley and Karys heard them talking.

 

"You surez you heard somethingz Skahtul? Last time you'd said you found somethingz it was a vornskr and then a ysalamiri! You betterz be right this time."

 

A greenish/red barabel turned to face their accuser, snarling at them as they grabbed them by the front, much to the amusement of the watching massassi...how little did this group know what fate soon awaited them.

 

"Laughz it up Thared, I know what I heardz. Someone is here I smellz them....now follows me or wouldz you rather end up like Yek Lissk did. Heard he got his arm cut off and headz split like a ripe fruit by one of them force typez. Some red man and a Hapan womanz. And now we gotz the plaeasurez of hunting them for Sahka's trophy room, after all they killed her mate didn't they."

 

Inwardly Karys laughed, it appeared someone had taken his last kill rather personally. Regardless, Sahka was about to be very dissatisfied and dissapointed.

 

Within moments the chirping of ysalamiri and growls of nearby vornksr were interrupted by the sounds of slug rounds whirling through the air as hell broke loose. The trap was sprung and the signal given.

 

Karys acted quickly, wrapping the coil of the liquid cable around the one they called Thared's neck before hoisting them upwards as he descended below to the left most pirate, spitting them with a saber cut that emptied the barabel of their guts as he touched the ground to come face to face with his nemesis resulting in a swift kick.to.the guy that sent the barabel pirate sprawling to the ground and his weapon getting trapped between some undergrowth.

 

Soon enough a slight round flew from the right, followed by another hitting Karys in the right arm, much to his aggregivation....before he dived behind a tree, a simple diversion as Hayley was given a moment to take aim and unload a shot or two of her own. Luck or something other appeared to be on both their sides as the shot hit home, departing the barabel previously known as Tull of their face and life when the round span through the cheek and exited the back of the cranium, spilling brain matter across a tree bark and part of the forest floor.

 

Abandoning his previous weapon the remaining pirate, owing true to the barabel's aggressive nature decided to not given in without a fight and proceeded to despite the odds make a charge at Karys wielding a pair of razor sharp double ended knives who was only to happy to depart him of one arm and a leg sending the pirate to the ground.

 

The massassi was quick to stroll up to him and start what would hopefully be a fruitious if painful interrogation of the remaining pirate. Imbedding his saber into the barabel's remaining arm to get the point across...Hayley and he were in control and depending on if his answers were suitable, he may just walk out alive. However unlikely that was.

 

"Now that I have your attention, I believe you have some information of use to me and my colleague here. Depending on how you answer, you may walk put with most of your limbs or none. That choice is yours to make.

 

Let's get started shall we? Starting with the obvious. Where is your current base of operations situated, is there a shuttle and how many remain to guard it."

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hayley’s remaining hazel eye wandered over to the fallen barabel, his body embraced by the forest floor. She could see emerald blood leaking in a bubbling flow from gaping wounds in his armour, exposing shredded internal organs oozing with shuddering death. He was still gasping, frothing virescent bubbles popping on his jagged teeth as he strained for air through the shattered lungs. Her work. His blood mirroring the darkening treetops above, soaking into the moss, the rot, the lifeforce of the chirruping jungle.

 

The vast emptiness she felt in the force was being filled by something else entirely, the call of the wild, the creeping darkness of the jungle. A hidden madness that drove to the primacy of her soul. It was true life, consuming the weakness about her. Her pain. The Barabel’s last breaths. Life was surrendering to something far greater. She could feel why they had come so far across the stars, abandoned themselves to the Force, in its vast emptiness. In its absence it was a crucible, forging them both in strength. Compared to that overpowering life, all other things seemed to pale.

 

The Barabel’s eyes were glassy as he perceived her, and he raised a grasping, trembling hand towards her. A call for release, and end to the pain. She stooped low, placing her alabaster palm against the shattered scales, covering it in oily blood, glittering jade from the falling sunbeams filtering through windswept boughs above. His death was her responsibility and although no words could leave his quivering jaw, she knew the creature wished for one last kiss from her pistol.

 

“They say, Karys…”

 

She glanced up to where he investigated another barabel, her voice fraught with an unease that was echoed by the snarls of distant creatures, and the crackling rattles of the dying Barabel beside her

 

“The Force shall free us.... Free us…”

 

Her words marked her scorn

 

“That is the lesson of this place… To find our own strength so we are able to carry on if the Force abandons us.”

 

The girl stood, her bloodstained hair falling about her face like a veil. The glassy eyes of the Barabel turned panicked and his rattles became more strained. She could almost feel the surge of his adrenaline. The darkness of the jungle surged with it.

 

“Die from your own weakness. Embrace the rhythm of the Jungle, of the chaos and let it consume you, and in your death you make it stronger. The strong feeding on the weak… Adding only weakness to themselves.”

 

As for the victim of Karys, this one could at least speak.

 

“S-s-sithspittting BAST-”

 

The crackle of the crimson blade through his scales cut him short.

 

“Godssss Damn you Jeedaii… Two clicks to the s-south. Basecamp. We have a YT-1000… And a shipment of productssss set to leave for Nal Hutta…”

 

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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Karys listened as Hayley came to her revelation. Thinking upon her words,he to came to the same revelation...he had felt a change while here, a strength he had not encountered before now. A hidden strength that allowed him to carry on in absence of the force.

 

It seemed Sheog knew what he was doing when he sent the two here.

 

It was both a lesson and a means to improve his connection to the darkside, he saw that now. Allowing a smile to grip his lip, he felt humbled in that new understanding...even as the barabel before him squelled in pain from the lightsaber stuck in his scales.

 

Speaking out to Hayley first, he revealed he too had come to the same revelation.

 

"Yes...I believe I too I am beginning to understand, it does seem that is the lesson of this place. Sheog as always knew what he was doing when he sent us here. He knew we would grow in this jungle and become stronger if taught what it is to be absent of the force...to be a sith is not just to know the force but to know even in those places without the force that the dark is always present.

 

The lesson is as you said, to find our own strength so we are able to carry on even when the force is not present. He truly is a worthy master of the sith."

 

On that note the Barabel spoke up...indicating where the pirate's basecamp resided and that there was a ship they could steal there. However much to the massassi's delight the pirate neglected to.answer the rest of his line of questioning, which gave him a good enough reason as any to inflict more suffering upon the helpless soul he was tormenting.

 

He really hated pirates, especially those who tried killing him.

 

"I'm afraid your shipment is about to be delayed and your friends are about to lose a ship, your Hutt friends will have to wait for another shipment. As for your answer....you answered most of my line of questioning but you left out a detail. I asked you how many remained to guard the ship...a pity, for this lapse of judgment I must now punish you. You force me to reveal my true nature. A consequence of your lapse of thought and a reminder not to be so neglectful in my next line of questioning."

 

Removing the saber, Karys started to slide it along the barabel's remaining leg at the knee. Like he were peeling a onion as he slowly and purposefully removed the scales and bone in the most painful way possible, as if he were enjoying every moment the barabel suffered.

 

It was torture at it's finest.

 

"Let's try again shall we? I trust you not to forget anything this time. How many guard the ship and remain at the base? And who now leads you, do they remain at the base or are they hunting us as well?"

 

The massassi awaited a answer as he contemplated the revelations he and Hayley had made while on Myrkr. As ever it seemed, Sheog was full of surprises.

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hayley slipped her hand beneath her shirt, the sharp pains on her stomach drawing her curiosity. The ripples of pain came from a leaking wound with charred edge. It felt almost foreign to her hand, the nerves of the skin being fried by the blaster shot, and no longer sending signals to her brain. She winced at the thought, and withdrew her hand, now stained in crimson.

 

“His thoughts are often a disjointed jumble of insanity, but he certainly knows how to teach…”

 

She looked to the jungle, the consuming power of its primacy drawing her into its embrace. They needed to get off this planet soon, or they might never have the strength to leave. It was almost a gnawing hunger rising inside her, similar in feeling, but different then that which flowed from her master. This was evil. A desire to destroy for no reason other then death itself. The screech of the Barabel drew her attention back to the situation at hand

 

“TW- KRIFF- TW- BAHHHH”

 

His shrill cry was grating on her ears. It’s reptilian pronouncement made her want to crush his larynx until no sound would ever be made again. Her fists clenched, her fingernails digging into the flesh of her palms

 

“Twwwwenntyyyy…”

 

His gasps now heaved in rattles

 

“Not… As… Armed… As We…”

 

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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Listening to Hayley, Karys could not but help agree. Sheog was perhaps the must unusual creature he had ever met...at times he often made little to no sense, his cookie challenge was evidence of that but despite this his methods did yield results.

 

As such he couldn't fault the Hutt, at the very least he had found his time under Sheog to be alot more fruitious than the time he had spent with previous sith. He had felt the change, had found a sttrength where before he lacked.

 

Putting that thought aside, the massassi focused on the task at hand. Looking at Hayley, he decided it was high time they got off this rock and back to the Order and Sheog.

 

"That he does. Well I think we have spent enough time in this jungle, what say you to hitching a ride out of here? Although getting that ride is another challenge itself...but such is the way of things. Let's get off this rock and back to civilization. I hope you still got enough strength left we are gonna need it."

 

With that Karys faced the now apparently drained barabel. He didn't bother smiling, instead lowering his considerable height down to the pirates level before speaking.

 

"Better this time. It is unfortunate that now our path together here must end, I suppose I could be merciful...in putting you out of your misery quickly on account of the information you gave us. But first tell me, do you long for such a moment? Do you long for death's sweet embrace? I have seen beyond the veil three times and found nothing but pain and suffering, a endless torment that seems like a lifetime. That continues day after day...hour after hour...second after second. Before I mastered the strength with my own hands and clawed my way back from the lands of the dead.

 

Is this truly what you want, what you desire? To be set free into this living nightmare?"

 

Finding silence, the massassi ignited his saber once more as he rose to full height...and decapitated the barabel with one swift movement even as he spoke again.

 

"So be it."

 

Moments later and Karys had erected what amounted to a makeshift warning sign. Placing the head atop a pole for any who travelled that way to see. A warning to other pirates. Do not cross blades with the Sith or face the same fate.

 

Once finished he looked to Hayley.

 

"That should suffice for now and keep some of the pirates away from our direction. Now let's go acquire our ship shall we?"

 

On that he put the saber away, but ready just in case as he begun walking the direction the now dead barabel had indicated the camp was. Motioning that Hayley should likewise follow.

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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The burning stench of the Barabel’s blood being flash-boiled by the crimson blade of Karys hit Hayley’s nose like an acrid wave. She was used to the smell of human charr, but the lizard’s roiling blood stunk like a vaapaad thrown into an industrial grinder. She took a small step back and closed her remaining eye as the acidic vapour burned at her face, causing tears to form. She helped the Massassi construct a warning sign, a barbaric effigy to the darkness that was drawing at them from the jungle. The macabre signal would burn for a short time within the jungle, before the scavengers made a meal of it, and carried it off to their warrens with the rest of the body. The Pirates would feed the jungle, and the feral call would grow.

 

The jungle gave way to scorched earth, creeping vines burned away by clear cutting, a seeping wound compared to the rhythm of life that had surrounded them. Massive Olbios brought low, to char and ash, nothing now but a mangled mess of coals. The jungle wept over its destruction, a dark cry that reverberated through both of them.

 

The cause of the destruction was a small camp of prefabricated structures, and a small landing pad, upon which lay a YT-1000. The pirates were scattered about the camp, drinking and lounging in the oppressive jungle heat. They appeared drunk, or overfilled with their rations. Hayley crouched at the edge of the destroyed landscape, placing a palm into the cooled ash.

 

I feel anger and hatred...

 

She looked at the Sith beside her, with a wry smile. It wasn’t the Force that drew her emotions to the surface, but something else. A primal thing. She looked back into the endless sea of green that faded into shadows, that which urged her to slay everything before her. To strike back at the pain caused to...

 

I don’t kriffing like being used.

 

She spat into the jungle, rejecting the emotions that grew within her. She had no reason to become an environmentalist.

 

Let’s get out of here. Power that is not ours, we ought not to use. Sheog once told me that... Let’s sneak aboard the ship and leave these lizards to this planet’s vengeance...

 

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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Karys looked at Hayley as she seemed to speak to no-one in particular and spat upon the ground, mentioning that the two should leave. It was a sentiment shared...however there was first the matter of acquiring some medical supplies and perhaps if chance afforded it to give the planet a helping hand in it's vengeance by providing a circumstance where the native wildlife could easily attack the camp with little trouble from the pirates.

 

The massassi saw such a chance when he noted to what amounted to a makeshift armoury. One or two pirates kept going in and out, now and again and exiting with a weapon of some sort. Karys smiled knowing the enemy was hardly in peak fighting condition, at least not like he or Hayley who were sober and not bloated with food which gave them a distinct advantage. He would sort that armoury out once his current task of finding the medical supplies was complete.

 

He spoke out.

 

"Wise words. You head to the ship, get it ready to leave...we have spent long enough on this wretched planet devoid of the force. I'll grab you some medical supplies."

 

With that Karys snuck towards the camp as best he could, concealing himself as before among the foliage and moving around the outskirts until he stopped in a area that was least patrolled, waiting as his newest prey approached and stopped just in front of the bush he was hiding in. It appeared the barabel was having a smoke break....a shame he was about to ruin it.

 

Instead of his saber, Karys opted to use his combat knife Adas Fury. Silently the massassi crept upon his unsuspecting victim...and slid his poisoned knife upon his throat ripping a grin like tear across and spraying babarel blood upon the jungle floor. If the fact he was bleeding out didn't kill the lizard, the potent poison capable of rendering a full grown adult human dead within two minutes would.

 

After placing the blade away, back in it's usual place, Karys proceeded to hide the body in the same bush he had been using and proceeded to sneak about the camp, attempting to avoid further patrols and making his way to where he hoped would be the medical tent.

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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  • 2 weeks later...

The ship reeked of reptilian sweat, a stale and putrid invasion of her nostrils. Mixing with it was a sticky sweetness that clung to the air in a fog of rancidity. Hayley could feel her one eye watering, and the smell threatened to choke her. She placed a hand on the bulkhead to steady herself, and felt a skittering terror climb up her arm. Stifling a shriek, the Sith girl tossed an arachnid the size of her head across the ships entrance, where it hit another web with a reverberating clicking.

 

...Oh... Screw that…

 

The teenager flipped her blaster pistol from her belt and emptied a shot into the skittering and creeping spider, only to watch its carapace split open and a wave of miniscule spiders rush across the decking. Thousands of spiderlings began to click and shudder in their shells, and the echo began to grow within the darkness of the cargo-ships interior.

 

Nope.

 

A shrieking and insectoid rattle began to arise from the decking below her feet.

 

Nope. Nope. Nope.

 

Hayley turned her back to their escape vessel, and with a shrug tossed a thermal detonator over her shoulder. She could hear the timer beeping as she stepped down the landing ramp and walked calmly to Karys, shivers running down her spine. An ear-shattering explosion shook the entire facility, as the ship detonated in a starburst of flame, followed by a sonic clap indicating a hyperdrive breach. The girl looked to the Massassi as they were buffeted by followup explosions. The wreckage of the ship’s engine went critical, and the glowing and burning hulk hurled itself into the jungle.

 

“Well that ship was totally not… Um... spaceworthy.?”

 

She pointed to the facilities makeshift com-tower, past a few running Barabels, who were in a full panic

 

“Let’s call us a ship… I’m sure a Sith picket ship was following us, Master wouldn’t trust our lives to fate.”

 

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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Karys was quick to dive out the way of the out of control ship's path, when it went hurtling into the jungle...scorching a path deep in the trees. As the camp went wild and barabel pirates set into panic, the massassi couldn't help but laugh a little.

 

This wasn't exactly the distraction he was planning, but it worked all the same.

 

Although now the two had another problem...no mode of transport. That was until the massassi listened, replying in kind he came to the same conclusion.

 

"I agree. Sheog doesn't seem one to place all his chips on one table. You call for a ship, I'll try and keep the remnants of these pirates away." With those words, Karys ignited his saber once more, and started to clear a path through any who got in his way to the makeshift com-tower...any pirates who attempted to stop the two sith from leaving this forsaken world.

 

They would become prey and embrace the darkness.

https://jedirp.net/topic/4851-trodai-narat-iv-adas-darth-akheron/

Akheron.jpg

 

 "Only in my pain, did I find my will. Only in my chaos, did I learn to be still. Only in my fear, did I find my might. Only in my darkness, did I see my light." - Darth Akheron

 

I survived the Great JNet Outage of 2012

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  • 2 weeks later...

((OOC: Moving things along))

 

Hayley pulled the twitching corpse of a barabel from the communication array’s control panel. The beast had tried to disable it, but her pistol had put an end to that. She had shot him in the small nodule at the base of his reptilian skull, and his head had peeled open like an overripe muja fruit. Her one eye scanned over the transponder signals that were beginning to envelop the screen, a small barabel fleet was being overrun by a much larger force. The comlink opened, and a familier voice appeared, both projected over the loudspeaker, and through the Force

 

<>

An overpowering hunger for war sprang up in them both

 

<>

 

((Continue on Nal Hutta with an infiltration post. We are now part of OpFor for Whitehelm))

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King Kheldar vos Correlli said:
Sheog, I have to ask, overkill much?
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  • 1 month later...

Halo Squadron emerged from hyperspace, soon followed by a number of transports dispatched from the Steadfast that they were charged with escorting. "Spread out and secure local airspace," Commander Janus ordered.

 

Jace thought the assignment was a bit odd for one of the top E-wing squadrons in the Galactic Alliance fleet, but the war with the Sith hadn't ramped up into open conflict yet and it seemed like GA leadership was still trying to avoid any conflict with the Remnant, so it wasn't taking them away from any real action. The fleet was still a shadow of its former self from the end of the last war, and there would definitely be a period where everyone would need to be flexible to stretch the manpower they had.

 

In any case, a few minutes of poking around the system soon indicated that the most dangerous thing they were likely to encounter here was the wildlife. The transports found a clearing on the edge of one of the planet's many Olbio forests and began to establish an operating camp. Halo Squadron stayed in orbit for a few minutes before descending to join them. Though they were starfighter pilots by specialization, they had all been through other sorts of training and at the very least they were extra sets of hands for moving equipment around and eyes for watching for Vornskrs.

 

Setting down next to his wingmate's ship, Jace climbed down the extending ladder, telling his R9 unit to keep an eye on the long-range sensors and alert him of any incoming ships. "First time here?" he asked Tainor as he approached her.

 

She nodded. "Doesn't seem so bad. You?"

 

"Yep," he answered. He looked her over not quite subtly. "Really quite lovely, actually."

 

She shot him an annoyed look, but there was a touch of humor in her eyes. "Try to stay focused on the mission, Aeryx," she said dryly as she headed toward the transports to start helping with the unloading process.

 

He grinned and followed her.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The camp went up quickly, and soon teams of Galactic Alliance experts were leading expeditions into the forests, armed with specialized equipment that would make the extraction of ysalamiri from the olbio trees possible without killing them.

 

Jace and the other pilots of Halo squad accompanied these groups as an extra pair of hands and a blaster in case there were vornskrs. According to Janus' briefing, the predators were territorial and aggressive, and they hunted with the Force. The GA teams were large enough that most packs wouldn't want to take their chances against them, so it was probably safe, but if anyone strayed too far alone from the main group, there was associated risk.

 

Commander Janus continued to run the Halos like he had during their initial training exercises in the sims. He demanded everyone diligently perform their duties at all times and handed out specific assignments so that he could account for everyone's locations at any given moment. Jace found it frankly stifling, but Janus kept the wingmates paired up on the ground just as they had been in fighter cockpits, so the silver lining was getting the chance to interact a little more with Tainor. Jessa Tainor, it turned out. In their brief, mostly-formal interactions so far, the squadron hadn't found much use for first names, but in the more relaxed environment, she started to lower her guard a little. It helped to know the person you were trusting with your life every time you flew into an engagement.

 

"So where you from originally, Jessa?" he asked her casually as they walked a perimeter around one of the ysalamir extraction teams that was trying to coax one such stubborn reptile's claws out of the wood from which it drew its sustenance.

 

"Tralus," she answered.

 

He smirked. "Thought you sounded a touch Corellian. How'd you get involved?"

 

"I'd been flying for a while, helping out with my father's shipping business," she answered. "Always thought I had the aptitude to fly combat missions, but it took the Arach'tar to shake me out of the comfortable routine of steady private work. When they came and took Centerpoint Station, when we realized the destructive power they had... well, it became hard to ignore."

 

Jace nodded. "Flying against them was something else," he said. "I wasn't there for Centerpoint, but I managed to get into some of the other battles. Ilum, for one. Skirmishing against the Empire... I dunno, it almost gets comfortable after a while, knowing the other guy is a lot like you, just with some different ideas in his head. But the Arach'tar, not only were they totally alien and had tech like we'd never seen, but their campaign represented a threat of a magnitude we hadn't seen either. If they'd won, everything would just be gone. The idea had the whole New Republic going nuts. It almost took the fun out of it."

 

Tainor gave him an appraising look. He found it ridiculously attractive, like just about all of her other looks. "This really is just all about fun to you, isn't it Jace? Do you actually care about the cause?"

 

"I don't have much use for causes," he answered. "I grew up dodging Espos in the Corporate Sector. Not much room for idealism when you're scraping by under the thumb of the CSA."

 

"You must've joined the New Republic for some reason other than thrills," she said. "How'd you end up doing this instead of flying a TIE?"

 

He shrugged. "Fewer rules, plus not having to live on an Imperial world. Better starfighters. Plus orange is a good color for me, don't you think?" he asked, glancing down at his uniform.

 

Jessa ignored the question. "You must hate Janus so far," she commented dryly instead.

 

"Don't get me started. Guy could learn a thing or two about trusting his pilots." His words sped up in his annoyance. "We wouldn't be here if we couldn't handle ourselves. What he wants is a bunch of droids."

 

She shrugged this time. "You can't deny that we're pretty efficient doing things his way. He's been leading Halo Squadron for years. He's got to know what he's doing."

 

He supposed she wasn't wrong, and he was going to stick it out for a bit. Halo was going to get the best assignments -- lizard babysitting notwithstanding -- and the action would make it worth it. But a man like Janus was something he could only tolerate so much of, and if it came right down to it, he would put in a request to transfer out to find a better fit.

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It didn't take long for the "asset procurement expedition", as command was calling it, to turn into "roughing it in the wild for a couple days". The team had brought field rations which were notably worse than even cafeteria food on the Lemon, and the lack of modern facilities due to the absence of civilization on Myrkr had some other downsides. Soon Jace knew more about Myrkr's indigenous insect life than he'd ever cared to, and had almost resigned himself to sleeping in his cockpit as the only guaranteed escape from the myriad pests and creepers that would gravitate toward warm bodies and subsequently hide in any pocket, boot, or hole that they could find.

 

After the first day, Janus started mixing up their pairings to aid in team cohesion. Jace found himself working patrol duty with the Defenestrator, who seemed to be a better pilot than a conversationalist, and it made for a boring few hours. He did attempt to learn a bit more about the strange advanced droid's past, but its answers were vague. It was perhaps millennia old and it had only become a GA pilot a few years back. Before that, it had performed a variety of roles for a variety of employers, but it was unwilling to share details. Jace's guess was that a number of them were illegal, and at least one of them probably involved literally throwing people out of windows, quite possibly to their deaths. Now it joylessly carried out its duties as efficiently as possible, not capable of boredom or laziness or hunger or anything else that might distract it from its single-minded purpose. By all accounts it was the perfect pilot to be serving under Commander Janus.

 

Jace, meanwhile, had all of those vices and owned them. He didn't like Myrkr, he didn't like this assignment, and he was eager to get back to civilization. The only thing that kept him attentive in his duties was a desire to avoid coming under Janus' scrutiny.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A few days into their little camping trip, Jace admitted that the chance to spend a little bit of time with some of the other squadron members aided in cohesion and would probably translate into better squadron performance in combat, but then one afternoon he was assigned a shift with Commander Janus himself. At first he was determined to keep his mouth shut and just ride the shift out, but it was destined not to last.

 

"So what's your story, Lieutenant?" Janus asked him.

 

Jace was helping to secure a pair of empty ysalamiri cages on a hover-pallet to take them out to one of the harvest teams, and he kept his attention on that. "Not much of a story, Commander. I'm here to fight and win and I'm good at it."

 

"I'm sure you are," Janus responded. "You're also a loose cannon. That stunt you pulled with Tainor in the sims could get you the wrong sort of attention if it happens again."

 

Now Jace turned to face him. "Is this really how the GASC operates now?" he asked, eyebrows furrowed, his voice not hiding his disdain. "Behavioral profiles, carbon copy pilots and micromanaging squadron leads?"

 

"And you've got a real problem with authority," Janus observed passively.

 

"No," Jace argued. "I've got a problem with being treated like a drone, sir. You've got some of the best pilots in the GA flying for you. Respectfully, if you want to see what we can do, you've got to trust us."

 

Janus gave him a patient look, not riled up by the comments at all. "The problem with that line of thinking, Aeryx, is that it focuses more on personal glory than the team's objectives," he said. "Reckless stunts might be able to win small victories in desperate situations, but they also get good pilots killed and lose wars. I'm not holding this post so that eleven pilots follow me around from fight to fight. I'm leading a single unit that's greater than the sum of its already-talented parts. I already know you can fly. I'm challenging you to step up your game and fly as a part of a cohesive team."

 

Jace crossed his arms but remained silent.

 

"Think about it, soldier," Janus said, clapping him on the soldier before turning on the hover-pallet and pushing it out deeper into the forest. "Maybe give it a try. If it doesn't work, I'll fully cooperate in finding you a post that suits you better."

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Recall orders for the harvesting teams arrived from the Galactic Alliance base on Hesperidium. All starfighter squadrons were to rendezvous with their respective ships and all cargo ships were to proceed immediately back to Triple Zero in order to distribute the harvest to the most useful locations.

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The orders to return to Coruscant couldn't have come soon enough for Jace. Sure, getting to know his squadron wasn't the worse thing in the universe, but the rustic setting was a drag and there was nothing happening during downtime.

 

Soon the GA contingent had packed up the ysalamiri they'd gathered, Halo Squadron launched first to do a quick check along outbound hyperspace routes to make sure the way was clear, and they were off into hyperspace back towards the core.

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