Tatooine

[Terra]

Terra's silvered eyes moved their gaze from the swirling sand, which clouded the distant, blued skies, and focused on the comlink transceiver. From it, a line of Hutt spoken basic was springing forth from it, like garbage overflowing its barrel. The language was normally beautful but now it sounded disgusting. She focused on the Hutt's words as he spoke, translating the filthy language in her mind to Echani.

 

”œTerra, I will meet you. I take it you are in a ship? If you are, come a few miles out of town and look toward the sand, you will find a large rock formation and an arrow in the sand."

 

She toggled a basic affirmative back through the encrypted channel and placed a gloved hand against the shuttle's steering yoke, letting out a gentle sigh before she eased the craft back into action, following the Hutt's order. As she did so, she sent an encrypted message to Smash Diasaku, giving him affirmation of contact and location. Within a few moments, one of the Krath droids located an arrow being assembled. She set it as The Ossus Fallen's course for the arrow, and set the great Sith craft down in a gentle landing.

 

As the ship powered down, she slipped on a deep black sandcloak, covering her armor and weapons with the cloth. Terra's booted feet made small clicks on the landing ramp as she strode down it, turning to light crunching as they hit the sand at the bottom. Sand was certainly not her favorite of terrains. Striding past the arrow and towards the large rock overhang, she could not help but notice the lack of typical Hutt-esque elegance. With slight annoyance, she spoke out

 

”œGreat and mighty Dordjooba... Smash Diasaku, Lord of Black Sun, Conqueror of Corsec, and Drinker of the Finest Liquor, bids you to return with me to our stronghold on the planet Dubrillion...”

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

Dordjooba's voice thundered through the rock face of his hiding spot as he slithered out to greet the Black Sun emissary. The intonation of each syllable held such a rich low timber that each line of dialogue held aloft several pleasant tones of baritone.

 

His face was wooden though and betrayed no emotion. He had enough humility to last a lifetime and wasn't about to be figure of sympathy. His fat had all but left him on his trek through the desert, but his muscle held his girth just fine. So in the end, he wasn't as wide, but he still loomed taller than the girl as he approached.

 

"I thank you for your formal greeting, but I need none of it here. It seems Smash has accrued more titles since I've last seen him." Dordjooba said, allowing a small smirk to escape is lips. "No matter however. I apologize for the hasty and rudimentary accommodations, but it is a necessary evil for the time. My empire is destroyed and not worth a third attempt. I am approaching a retire from this work when it is clear I am not only out of my element, but Hutts don't hold much of a candle in galactic issues anymore." Dordjooba bellowed, internally crestfallen, but without skipping a beat. "So, I will follow you back to Dubrillion in whichever way you wish and make any arrangements I can there for a peaceful retirement and hand over all resources I can to Smash in assistance."

 

Just as Dordjooba finished speaking however, his Yacht emerged from space just overhead and set down adjacent to Terra's vessel.

 

"However," Dordjooba asked, a small smile unfolding upon his previously vacant expression, welcoming his pride and joy, "I would ask if you would join me on my Yacht. It is much better than this sand pit, I assure you. If not, I will follow you. All I ask is a simple comfort and luxury because I am quite tired and I can only imagine the amount of time and energy it took you to get all the way out here. "

[Terra]

Terra smiled warmly at the Hutt's kind responses to her arrival. Her silver eyes drifted about the encampment, observing the state of the Great Hutt's current living conditions. From the look of him, Dordjooba had trimmed down a bit, quite uncommon for a Hutt, but the now more muscular of his body suited him well, giving him a bit more imposing stature than the holovids made him out to be. There was a slight prickle on the back of her neck, a moment before the exhaust ports sent her long plait of silvery-blonde hair whirling about her pale face. A smile spread across her face as she glanced towards it. Unlike the Hutt's camp, the Yacht seemed to be in good condition, an opulent jewel in the starliner series, rivaling even Smash's craft.

 

From within the sandcloak, she withdrew a grand bottle of the finest whiskey, decorated in diamonds, whose strength could stop a Wookiee in its tracks. She tossed the bottle high; lobbing it towards the Hutt's spread hand. If all went according to plan, it would land square in his palm. She inclined her head and spoke softly, just loud enough to be heard over the roar of the yacht's engines.

 

”œIn order to honor you in your retirement, take and enjoy the finest of Smash's stock. It would bear me great pleasure to accompany you in your craft.”

[Dordjooba the Hutt]

Dordjooba's smile widened and his demeanor settled a little. His cold blue eyes searched the sands for a moment and as his eyes fell upon the girl once more, his last employee emerged from the sands a few feet away to avoid covering Dordjooba and his guest in even more of the grains that littered their feet. He was a tall lizard that beard striking resemblance in some ways to a Krayt Dragon. It had an inordinately thick exoskeleton that bristled with scales and a taut musculature. It's amber eyes flickered with a dormant flame, but where aware all the same.

 

The brown scaled lizard looked upon the two with silent reverence and caught Dordjooba's nod before returning to his crook at the side of the rock face.

 

Vlahjik admitted his release and bowed deeply to the Hutt. He was his employer, his savior and probably his only friend in the galaxy, as odd as that was, but Dordjooba was moving on and it was time for him to do so as well.

 

"I understand master." The lizard growled in a low voice that even though it was absent the lisps characteristic of his kind, felt more beastly than his brother. He looked toward the girl, bowed reverently as well and stood stock still ten feet away. After a few moments of holding his position, he placed his right claw, which stuck out a bit and brimmed with an impressive array of tightening muscles and sinew, right above the ground. With one small shift of his body he held his left claw, which was much the same as the other, directly above the other claw and moved them both in opposite directions like he was trying to punch the dirt.

 

When his arms met the sand however, the sand parted like butter and accepted the lizard as he dug his way through the sands and out into the distance.

 

The Slug bowed his head a little in recognition to Vlahjik and turned slowly back to Terra, giving her a warm smile and slithering toward the, now open, Yacht landing platform. He waited a moment for Terra to join him and then stepped fully inside as the platform raised to meet the rest of the ship.

 

[continued in yacht thread]

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

They were finally home, back in an area of space where the people were content to keep to their own and not interfere, no matter the injustices that went on around them. The general attitude being one of ”œbetter them than me”

Edited November 15, 2011 by Guest

[Sandy Sarna]

She heard the cries of a struggle, and jumped to her feet, her hands flexed at her sides. Her mind roiled and she almost fell, but she kept her footing, she dove into the force for strength, pulling the energy to herself and her friend. There was no fight, just the restless turmoil of the drugs in her friend's system. She quickly ran to her side, making no sound on the bulkheads with her bare feet. She fell to her side and placed her thin fingers upon Mirdala's face and neck. She soothed the pain with a touch of her mind. It was a great effort, and Sandy was already exhausted, she trembled ever slightly, and sweat dripped through her blonde locks.

 

Her friend muttered something about Tatooine and Sandy could feel her heart freeze in her chest. The Hutts, Sand People, Jawas. There were many prospective buyers here, and it was a perfect place to completely disappear from the authorities. They were as good as dead.

 

Sandy reattached the stun cuffs and said a silent prayer. She squeezed Mirdala's hand tightly, swearing that she would never let go. A bright light shown as the door was whisked open and she cried out in pain. Her eyes screamed in her skull, blinded temporarily by the rapid transition from dark to light. Her hand was wrenched from Mirdala's as she was dragged away by several Trandoshani slavers. They were foul smelling, and their claws left deep gashes in her pail skin. She cried as they dragged her through the halls into a dank smelling room. Hours passed in solitude, as she wept, alone. After what felt like days, they dragged her back out, and through many hallways into another smaller room. it looked like it had been used to clean a bear's carcass and It smelled heavily of iron and their were dark red stains upon the floor. She could feel her stomach sour and she retched as she knew what was to happen.

 

She could see her friend off to her left as well, the tattered blue uniform and all. The raven hair covering those eyes that had been haunted by drugs and torture for far too long. Sandy struggled as they tied her wrists above her head. She kicked, and used all manner of resources at her disposal. She tried her best to use the force on them, but it wouldn't come. She screamed and kicked some more. Then she heard the words:

 

"The Captain said to transport them to the canyons. Something special is planned out there.”

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

Mirdala woke much as she had over the last week and a half, suspended by her bound wrists in the torture chambers of the viscous and cruel Uhalu, leader of what was left of the Thalassian slavers. Without a second thought she activated her implant, sensing that time was running short. The message was brief, but to the point.

 

Tatooine, echoy'la habir'jetii, oyayc.

 

She blinked off the device as she fixed her gaze on Uhalu's tusked visage, mentally envisioning exactly how she was going to wipe that sadistic grin off of his broad face. Her stare was defiant and issued challenge; Uhalu and his brute squad had done their worst to her in the days and hours before and she knew that she had nothing to really fear from them.

 

He casually picked up a particularly brutal instrument and brandished it in front of his captive. ”œThis is the last time I will ask woman,”

Edited June 24, 2016 by Guest

[Delta73]

The cockpit shuttered slightly as the great ship emerged from hyperspace above the small dismal world. He looked to ShadowFett, "The ship is somewhere on this pathetic planet, with both captives. Sadly, I do not have all that much info on where the ship is. They may have dredged their fuel tank, and removed the tracking unit."

 

He glanced to the golden world, "I guess it's time for some investigation!"

 

The ship set down in one of the docking bays, and Delta checked his weapons. "Should we begin asking the locals?"

[Moon Knight]

ShadowFett shrugged when his temporary ally said he couldn't locate the Golden Ark's exact whereabouts. "There are only about three spaceports on the planet," he said, not yet picking one to set the Justice down. Instead, he activated the sensors and told the ship to start scanning with IFF to see if the shabuire had been stupid enough to have left their vessel's ID intact. More than likely they would have changed it, so Fett told the ship to start compiling a list of vessels it detected that met a size requirement--he knew the ship would be a large freighter, which would narrow things down considerably. But he would do even better.

 

The Mando'ad got up, locked out the controls so that 2277 could take over and his Black Sun guest couldn't touch anything, and headed out of the cockpit. "Be right back," he told the agent. He quickly went to the small space devoted to prisoner holding and there he found Nora, his prisoner from the slaver's shop on Coruscant. "We've tracked the slavers to Tatooine," he told her. "You're going to identify the Golden Ark for us."

 

Her loyalty assured until the job was done, he brought her back to the cockpit, where his beskar'ad had compiled a neat list for him. It only took Nora a minute to determine which one was the slaver ship, but a sensor focus noted that the crew had disembarked. Still, it was a good starting place, as a large group of slavers travelling through town with their prisoners was guaranteed to draw attention. And from the same kind of people that would spill their guts in front of a well-known beroya such as ShadowFett.

 

Unfortunately, there was an incoming sandstorm that was going to make any sort of search unlikely, as the streets would be barren and it would be too dangerous to get around on foot at first. Fett was annoyed by the delay, but it couldn't be helped. Just ahead of the storm he set his ship down and returned Nora to her holding cell. Heading back to the front of the ship, he looked at the Black Sun agent through his buy'ce. "We'll have to wait out the storm," he said. "But finding the Ark means we've got a good lead. I'm betting we'll have plenty of witnesses to tell us where the slavers went next."

 

Having no other choice, ShadowFett settled into the main cabin to wait out the storm, which could potentially last a few hours. He would pass the time cleaning his gear and prepping for battle, because when it ended, the osik was going to hit the fan.

 

((You can take us out next post or hang around, doesn't matter. Ash and I are eager enough to bring this to a close that the investigation will probably only be a few posts.))

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

((Tim's got some major school stuff to do so I'm going to do a quick post to get you guys planet-side and on the trail, mainly this is going to sound very GMish...))

 

Hours passed, and finally the sandstorm abated enough so that the Justice could make her landing on the sand-scrubbed surface of the planet.

 

~~~~~

 

Kelin was a man who believed in working smarter, not harder, but, at the same time, he was rather lazy about things. The alley-way adjacent to the cantina where he had sought shelter from the storm had been as good a place as any to dump the bodies. It wasn't like he'd been tasked with hiding them in the first place anyway, Uhalu wanted them found.

 

Enjoying his time away from the base, and the attentions of an attractive Twi'lek waitress, he sat contentedly sipping his drink in a darkened corner of the small cantina.

 

~~~~~

 

Once the two of them landed, as they wandered the streets in search of someone willing to give up information about the slavers. A pair of surprised and frightened cries were heard from a side-alley and a couple of under-fed waifs tumbled over themselves and into the street in an effort to get away from the grotesque scene that they'd stumbled upon. The two of them were too quick to get away and had quickly melted back into the small, but crowded city of Mos Espa.

 

((I'll PM you with details.))

[Moon Knight]

The sandstorm, ShadowFett noted, erased any way to track the slavers conventionally. Any hope of just finding the pattern of a large caravan moving through the sand was forgotten. Thankfully, Fett had a reputation, and not many would seal their lips when staring into the cold mask of the renowned beroya. Especially now that people were starting to hear that he'd turned into a high-ranking cop that could bring legal charges down on their heads even if they managed to stay clear of his blaster. Essentially, he'd picked a huge network of agents that were working under him, and regardless of the morality of using that network to achieve personal goals, it came with the turf out here. Whether he would actually do it or not, his enemies in the seedier places in the galaxy feared the possibility, and that was useful.

 

The Mando'ad was about to hit a local cantina, the classic place to gather information, when there was a scream and a flurry of activity. As Moon Knight, it drew his attention because he was supposed to stand against public threats. As a man on a case, it drew his attention because there was a pretty good chance it was related.

 

It was. Half-buried in the sand was what appeared to be, tortured, murdered, and unceremoniously dumped in the alleyway, Mirdala Ad'Goran and a young girl he assumed to be the habiir'jetii she had mentioned in the comm he had been glad to receive during the wait. For a moment, he thought he had been too late. Perhaps that they had intercepted that same transmission on its way out and decided she wasn't worth the trouble anymore. Perhaps that, after too many days of torture and too many doses of drugs, she had given in and, her secrets spilled, had become useless to them.

 

The thought angered him tremendously. He stood still for a moment, gripping the beskad'ika she had given him when last they had spoken until his gloved knuckles were white, apparently emotionless. In the wake of the anger came something he had sworn he wouldn't feel again--the pain of loss. Just like Yuusuke... he realized, clamping down on the emotion. He had known the risks, and so had she, but somehow he had walked right back into a partnership and opened himself up. And now he was suffering for it. An ori'ramikad couldn't form these attachments, regardless of how much he had wanted something different.

 

Coldness started to seep through him, and he started to think about how many slavers he would need to kill to satisfy his rage.

 

Wait... It was the voice of Vegeta Isolder. Let yourself be consumed by revenge and you will never emerge.

 

Vengeance is fine if the cause is righteous, but aren't you forgetting something? This time the voice of Yuusuke Hakusho. You're a cop, and you haven't even identified the body yet.

 

ShadowFett realized that the latter Moon Knight was correct. The body certainly looked like Mirdala, but, painful as it would be, he needed to make sure. Mand'alor knelt down and started brushing away the sand, uncovering more of her beaten and bruised body. He didn't even want to think about what his traat'aliit'ad had gone through in the last few days, but promised himself that people would die for every bruise she bore. Soon he was able to pull her out of the sand, her tattered uniform barely covering her. Look at that.... he thought immediately. Her stomach was bruised like everything else, but.... there was no scar.

 

The Mandalorian suddenly stood up, leaving her propped against the wall. "A clone," he said aloud, for the Black Sun agent's benefit. Nice try, he thought of the slavers. Had he not known Mirdala as well as he did, he would have been completely taken by it.

 

No, his partner was alive. Determination flooding him and chasing away the flood of loss, reinvigorating him, ShadowFett moved briskly toward the cantina. The bodies had been dumped just before the sandstorm, or else they would have been discovered already. That meant that whoever had dumped them was nearby. One of the slavers was here... and Fett was willing to bet he had ducked into the cantina to have a drink and wait out the sand. The shabuir would still be here, and he was going to take Fett to his compatriots.

 

Entering the establishment, ShadowFett started to look around for the type of man that fit his criteria....

 

((Post is getting long. Next time, I'll have my lead.))

[Delta73]

Delta stood gaping at the bodies when he saw them. It was a horrid sight, the bodies mutilated and dumped. Naked, or close to it. The patches of blood were covered with wet sticky sand and silica. The sight made his heart race in anger. He punched the wall, "You gottah be shitting me. They're dead, why the krif-"

 

But the mando was already inspecting the coresec girl. Ca'Aran shut himself up, so not to intrude on his reverie. Delta himself looked at the blonde girl. "By the force, she can't even be fourteen."

 

"A clone"

 

Delta looked up. "Really? Just like me."

 

The man started to stalk away. Delta baulked, He gestured to the blonde girl with the her stomach cut to ribbons. "What about her? You didn't even look at her. I mean I guess I could like pull her out of the sand, but I somehow think that would be illegal or something."

 

The man continued to strut away, like a super model strutting his goods. "I mean you didn't even glance at her, you think she was a clone too?" He followed the man at a jog after pulling a lightsabre from the ruins of the girl's belt.

[Moon Knight]

ShadowFett didn't turn back around to face the Black Sun agent, for whom he still didn't have a real name. "They're no longer relevant," he said. "They were put there to throw us off the scent." He found it interesting how the slavers seemed to think he cared about the habiir'jetii. Or perhaps they figured he would have brought some jetiise with him on the hunt and wanted to throw them off as well. Maybe what Delta suggested was indeed good practice and procedure for a cop or investigator. Right now, Fett was neither. He was here to solve this case and kill the perpetrators. The less documentation there was about it later, the better, because he had no intent of applying due process of law.

 

And now he scanned the room, standing off to the side in the cantina proper. The uplink from his buy'ce to the Justice made sure that 2277 could see everything he could see, and once again, that came in handy. The beskar'ad was very good at noticing things that any human would pass over. "Fett," the droid said over his private link. "Man in the corner."

 

The Mando'ad tracked his eyes to the place that his copilot had indicated. There was a gruff man sitting there that fit Fett's description and... pinned to his uniform was a CoreSec lieutenant rank insignia. Moon Knight arrived swiftly at a conclusion and, keeping to the crowds and the edge of the cantina, made his way to the slaver's location without being spotted.

 

He didn't waste any time. Fett sat down across from the man, discreetly drawing one of his blaster pistols. He laid it down on the table facing the slaver, keeping his finger on the trigger. "Not a twitch," he commanded, quietly enough not to draw too much attention to himself. "You're going to tell me where I can find the CoreSec lieutenant from which you stole that pin. If you don't, you're going to go through everything those clones in the alleyway did and join them there." His voice was almost matter-of-fact, devoid of emotion. No doubt the slaver would know who he was, since one of the reasons they'd gone after his traat'aliit'ad was to get dirt on him. Hopefully that would mean the slaver knew he meant exactly what he'd said.

[Moon Knight]

((I was going to wait for a post from Ash or Tim, but I really want to move this forward and am capable of doing so myself.))

 

The slaver froze when he saw ShadowFett slip into a chair across from him, and the Twi'leks that had been hanging around him suddenly seemed to have places to be when they saw the gun. The Mando'ad could tell from the man's expression that he had in fact been recognized. This meant, of course, that he could not allow the man to report on his presence on Tatooine, lest his targets had time to prepare for him. Assaulting a camp of slavers by himself was something he intended to do and was capable of doing, but it became all but impossible if they knew he was coming.

 

Thankfully, this slaver was a coward. It took an idealist to be willing to submit to torture and eventually death for a cause, and there were no idealists among these shabuire. "F-Fett," he stuttered.

 

"The location, please," the beroya reminded him.

 

"Wh-what are you going to do?" The slaver looked around and saw only Delta being potentially associated with Fett. He no doubt was curious if Fett had backup waiting somewhere, some army of CoreSec officers that were going to take down his organization. Which meant he probably had some loyalty to the king chakaar, Uhalu.

 

"I'm going to free them," he said simply, his buy'ce as still as his voice. He twitched the blaster. "And you're running out of time."

 

The slaver practically quaked. "I got no quarrel with you, Fett," he said. "I can give you the coordinates."

 

Moon Knight shook his head. "Give me your weapons and comlink," he ordered. "You will conceal me in the speeder truck you used to deliver the bodies and take me back to base. Once we are inside, you will let me out and then run for your life--I can make no guarantees about who gets shot and who doesn't. If you deceive me, you will die." Mand'alor gestured with the blaster. "Let's move."

 

The man got up slowly and, after turning over his weapons and communications devices, started to head for the door. Fett followed him and stopped for a moment to speak to Delta. "Follow at a distance or leave," he said, keeping his voice low. "I don't know what you wish to accomplish here, but you can make yourself useful by paying close attention." Truthfully, it would be difficult for Fett to know if the slaver was deceiving him and driving to the middle of nowhere in an attempt to save his compatriots. But the Mando'ad knew that fear could be an excellent motivator, and this Black Sun agent, by being attentive, could potentially pick up on it earlier than he.

 

Soon they were outside, and Fett concealed himself in the trunk of the speeder truck. Then they were off, and he was that much closer to finding his traat'aliit'ad.

[Sandy Sarna]

The man shook in his boots as he climbed into the truck, he was alone, with a man in his trunk. A mando. Plus there seemed to be another one of them on a swoop behind them. God he hated these I am Grooting mandos, they were everywhere, and their cocky nature took him as retarded. But now this man's imbecilic nature would bite him in his hard armoured ass.

 

Kelin was not afraid of death, he had never been, and he would never be. He lived for fame and fortune, and his close group of friends. Driving this MoonKnight to kill his friends was the worst betrayal he could give. And Kelin had no intention of betraying these friends of his. He drove for several miles in silence going as fast as he could, per MoonKnight's orders, contemplating. Then he smiled. He pulled a piece of flimsi and wrote a short note.

 

SHE WAS FUN, KRIFF YOU.

 

And on the back it read.

 

Get: Milk, eggs, and bread.

 

He pinned it to his jacket, and pulled the capsule of poison from the dashboard. He grinned, looked at the trunk, then popped it in his mouth. With his last breath he alerted the slaver sentries through the truck radio, and then expired. Who in turn broadcasted distress signals to their allies across the galaxy. Within minutes, the compound would be set for war. The man would have no chance to escape, having locked himself into a trunk of a speeder truck. What an incredibly foolish thing to do. Kelin Laughed himself to the grave.

 

Within a second of his expiration, the SpeederTruck slammed into the canyon wall at 250 kph. The impact, as well as the resulting fuel explosion was no doubt enough to kill even the heavily armoured Fett, who was nicely locked in the trunk like a kidnapped little child. When the dust settled all that was left was the note, and fragmented bits of the speeder truck.

____________________

[Moon Knight]

Uncertain of whether Delta would keep an eye on the situation or even if he trusted the Black Sun agent enough to do something were the slaver to attempt to pull a fast one, ShadowFett had immediately activated his penetrating radar visor in his buy'ce when the ride began. The visor gave him at least some means to observe the environment as it whipped past, even if it was a vague, rather short-range capability. Still, the Mando'ad kept the penetrating radar on often even during combat to give himself an advantage, and so he was experienced in its use.

 

At any rate, he wasn't sure when the slaver that had been quaking in his boots at the bounty hunter's approach had suddenly grown some gett'se, but Fett didn't miss the man taking and drinking something on his belt, then start immediately to slump. Even as he did that, Fett could hear the sound of the speeder truck picking up pace and it whined as it went flat-out in a straight line.

 

The beroya couldn't conclude with certainty what had transpired, but his instincts told him he was in immediate danger, and that the slaver had turned on him, risking his wrath and ensuring his death for a meaningless cause. Fett fired his blaster, blowing open the trunk that concealed him, grabbed the slaver by his collar, then hit his repulsor pack.

 

He wasn't a moment too soon. The speeder hit a canyon wall a second later and exploded. Moon Knight dropped the slaver, who was weighing him down, and rolled in the air, buffeted by the shockwave until he hit the unyielding sand. Shab, he thought. He had been certain that the slaver had been too terrified to try something like this. It seemed that he had found perhaps the only slaver in the galaxy that was willing to die to protect the rest of his gang, which would no doubt cut his throat in his sleep if they were given a single reason to do so.

 

As the fire died, Mand'alor picked himself up and went over to the slaver. The man was dead. Though Fett had saved him from the explosion, the fall itself would have killed him at the speed they were going, even if it hadn't been for what Fett suspected was a vial of poison. "Shabii'gar," he said to the corpse, frustrated at the development because it had potentially destroyed the lead he'd had on the camp.

 

But he had saved the body for a reason. Fett began to search the man for something like a datacard that would have the location. While he was searching, he grabbed the CoreSec pin off the man's jacket. If this failed for any reason, he still had the slaver's commlink, and as necessary, he could go through its recent contacts and get a comm trace on the camp. The Mando'ad had suffered a setback, but he was far from out of the game.

[Pinckz]

Malin's nerves were scattered slightly with the sudden change of gears, but he still managed to keep his mind on the mission. Once he and his new employer reached the ship they would be taking to Tatooine, he even fastened his weapons a little tighter, to compensate for his accelerated footwork.

 

However, considering their 'cordial' impressions, no matter how offensive or obtuse they were, Malin remained considerably more quiet than he had since he arrived on Dubrillion. Once he fastened the safety harness around his shoulders and abdomen, he fell completely silent; and considering what was to come, he was sure that was enough riding on the mission that no suspicion would come of his introspection.

 

Still... He knew this work would be difficult to swallow. Not even five minutes into his employment, he was already going to secure a slave operation. A despicable practice in civilized society, but civilized society wasn't a dogma that Malin clang to anymore. Still... Innocent people will be hurt...

 

Malin shook his head a little side to side, trying to rid his mind of those hauntingly familiar blue eyes, staring daggers at him through his subconscious.

 

I know she wouldn't like it... I know she wouldn't, but she isn't here. Yeah, she isn't here because I failed to protect her.... Ugh...

 

What kind of person am I...

_______

 

Time passed relatively quickly outside Malin's head, but the speed at which his thoughts cascaded through his consciousness, pulled Malin's temporal awareness to a crawl.

 

He remained silent though, continuing his thought pattern until the ship hit Tatooine's orbit. He still had regrets clinging to his mind, but he would serve his masters, same as he did years ago... Just like a mongrel pup...

[Lord Ar-Pharazon]

First, for clarification sake, Malin and Terra can arrive, but there is absolutely no way that they can interfere with Moon Knight. This specific event started before they left Dubrillion, and since this actual event would only take place in mere hours, it is impossible that they would be there in time for it. However, they can meet Moon Knight after his battle. Second, if there is a notion IC that Malin and Terra were in transit before, or even when, the events on Tatooine began, such a notion is impossible, and thus nullified. The is happening, chronologically, before Malin and Terra left Dubrillion .

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

((Sorry about the length and the wait.))

 

There was nothing useful on his person other than a few extra blaster power packs, but no sooner had the CoreSec commissioner began his search, the dead man's comlink began going off as the slavers tried to reach him again.

 

Apparently Kelin had been expecting a call from his comrades as the comlink picked up automatically and a terse, ”œKelin, damn you, respond. How many? This better not be one of your stupid drunken games son! Kelin, answer me boy!”

[Delta73]

Delta shifted the Swoop down a gear and pulled up next to Moon Knight. "Holy Crap, what the hell just happened? Did everything just go boom?" He gestured towards the back seat of the swoop, "Feel free to climb aboard, though there are no handle bars, so you would have to wrap your arms around me to hold on, which would not be awkward at all!" He paused for a second, "Or you could sit on the handle bars, and we could go cruising around the neighbourhood, listening to the cards clicking through the spokes. Either way, not romantic at all. Though I know your culture is very open and accepting about that stuff, and I do admit dating myself would be kinda coo-"

 

He snapped his mouth shut upon seeing the look from MK, He made a tsking sound from his helmet comm, and shot the twitching body in MK's arms. "Just in case."

 

They headed off to find the blasted slaver base. In one of those two seating arrangements. As there was obviously no other way to ride a swoop bike.

[Moon Knight]

((No need to post my actions...))

 

ShadowFett noticed the tunnel entrance just before the Black Sun operative caught up to him on a swoop, then started blabbing about them riding together. Fett still didn't trust the shabuir in the slightest, and it looked as though he was no longer going to be useful--the stirrings he felt in the Force, the touch of his traat'aliit'ad, made it clear to him that this was the entrace to the slavers' base. And while they suspected something was coming, they didn't know it was him, which gave him a bit of an advantage.

 

The Mando'ad looked at the Black Sun agent. "Your part is done," he said. "Don't follow me. If you want into the fight, find another entrance." Combat would be a perfect time for a betrayal to occur, and Fett wasn't interested in having to watch his back while he was gunning down slavers. Without preamble, he slipped through the crack in the canyon wall caused by the speeder truck detonation and into the darkness beyond. Flipping to infra-red so that he could see easily, he started walking, his black armor making himself all but invisible in the shadows.

 

It was time for the fighting to start, so Fett signalled for backup--using his buy'ce, he uplinked to the Justice and asked his beskar'ad to home in on his location, keeping the vessel very low to the ground to avoid detection and working on minimal power levels. He was going to need the ship nearby once the rescue was complete, particularly since he didn't know what Mirdala's condition would be.

 

The caves were somewhat complex, but despite not being a Force user himself, ShadowFett could feel her touching his mind, sensing the familiarity of her presence and knowing from his memories of Vegeta Isolder that this was indeed through the Force. It probably meant, the beroya noted, that Mirdala had gotten the chance to develop her abilities during her captivity, probably with the help of the habir'jetii. For him, it meant that he knew which way to turn, and after about six minutes he was starting to see the signs that these tunnels had been worked. There were bulkheads supporting tunnels, and he started coming across tools and utilities.

 

The ori'ramikad gripped his assault rifle in both hands now, knowing that it wouldn't be long before he came across his first targets.

 

And then, rounding a corner, it happened. He flipped off infrared because the tunnel was lit. He'd found a service door, which was perfect. He moved up and triggered it, then entered the complex. He was in a small storage room, empty of targets. There were two doors. At this point, it didn't matter which one he took--he was here to kill chakaare. But another whisper in the Force and he picked the one that would lead him to Mirdala.

 

The door opened, and three slavers stood in the hallway beyond, armed but simply talking. One of them was facing him, and his eyes widened. All three spun to face him, going for their blasters. His assault rifle, already raised and ready, unleashed a fully automatic spray of energy. All three dropped without a shot fired from any of them. ShadowFett had arrived. Finally he spoke into the private link between himself and Mirdala, hoping they hadn't torn out her implant. "K'oyacyi, vod," he said. "I'm here."

[Sandy Sarna]

Shadows flickered in the edges of her vision. A Darkness that would herald the dawn of a new light, for life had survived. Sandy coughed hollowly and opened her eyes fully. She was in another dank and horrid room, she groaned and shifted her weight from her back to her knees. The shocking feeling of jagged stone on her bare knees jolted her completely awake. Her thin pale fingers brushed across her small stomach and found a line of sutures across her belly. She gasped, the cut had been long and deep enough to damage her severely, the area was wet with freshly applied bacta, mixed with the blood slowly seeping through the sutures. Then the pain hit her, the shoulder, the stomach, her body as a whole. She was feverish, and she knew without the proper treatment she would surely die.

 

She pushed herself to her feet, acknowledging the presence of only an ankle chain keeping her attached to the stone wall. She curled her fingers into fists, and focused, she could feel her friend fighting somewhere nearby. The pain throbbed in her skull, and she lashed out with the force, her ankle chain crumbled into fragments of iron. She felt a laugh escape her lips, the pain and her anger were very powerful. A small voice within her head warned her of its dangers, all those voices of the teachers who drilled the dangers into her. She laughed again, they had never been through what she had. They would do what she did. Screw them.

 

She could hear and sense a few men approaching, and she could feel fear strike in her heart, she crouched next to the doorway and covered her nakedness. Shame mixed with fear and anger as the door opened. As the door opened she struck her blow. With a scream of rage she lashed out with her fists, though before they could turn their skulls were crushed by her very thoughts. The same technique that had been used to bat aside the probes and pushing stones across the fields could be used for some epic violence. The force crushed their skulls in a spray of blood. And she giggled with delight, as the blood sprayed across the room. This power was so fun to use. It made her confident, this power was epic.

 

She lashed out as the next man entered the room, with the flick of her hand, his chest cavity crushed inwards, as if squashed by a giant iron fist. She stepped over his body and retrieved a few scraps of equipment. From one of the first men she grabbed a camouflage shirt, which was big enough to cover herself from perverted eyes. From the second she grasped a sword, wickedly curved, with a keen and honed blade.

 

With the sword in hand she dashed into the corridor, just as a man took a blaster bolt in the head. It was Mirdala! She crouched, and beckoned to her, gesturing to the bodies, two missing heads, and the last missing his chest. ”œIt looks like the force is with me today, let us fight our way out together!”

[Terra]

Terra's greysteel eyes focused upon the distant swirling deserts that made up the planet Tatooine through The Darkened Fear's main viewscreen. It was hardly a gem of a planet, but according to ancient historical records, it had once been a lush world, before its destruction at the hands of a long-extinct species. The planet itself was cloaked in darkness, the twin suns having long before become invisible behind the planet, giving it a halo of fiery orange, an omen of what might be in store for their mission.

 

With a few strokes on the ship's computer, she activated the scanners on their highest alert, and began to bring the ship into the planet's darkened atmosphere. Terra kept the assault craft at a painfully slow decent, not wishing to risk a revealing flare in the night sky, or appear on too many scanners. Keeping her hands upon the control yoke, she placed the craft into its lowest power setting, for flying at ultra-high speeds in any atmosphere was hardly recommended. Reaching slowly with a gloved hand, she activated the craft's combat systems, quickly making sure all missiles and laser systems were prepped for easy access along with the ship's heavy shielding. Although prepping the combat systems might place a higher strain on her efforts at stealth, it was a better alternative than being shredded by a random rock or inconvenient missile.

 

Terra flicked on the low-light setting on the forward viewscreen and smiled as the desert appeared before her in green outlines. Placing her helmet on over her head, she activated her comlink, and selected the highly encrypted Black Sun frequency. The frequency was unhackable, so she felt safe using it. Activating her microphone, she spoke in a small voice.

 

”œThis is agent Terra... We were called in for assistance, give me your location, and we'll be there to blast anything away.”

[Delta73]

Delta shrugged at MoonKnight's suggestion, it wasn't like he would be following this imbicile's orders anyway. The man was far out of jurisdiction, and even farther from backup, the wildlands...now this was his territory. Though he didn't really feel like blasting the man in the back with a disruptor, so he stuck to following the man into the deep cave. If the man had a problem with that, then he could argue later. Delta was not keen to being told what to do.

 

With a flicker of the eyelashes, his HUD began to record in all light spectrum's, and the live feed fed to the Black Sun Network, encrypted for higher associates only. The HUD locked onto the targets through their heat and movement, as the duo blasted their way through the compound. And somewhere along the way sprinting across the line of police brutality.

 

Delta hollowed the head of a slaver with a disruptor blast and laughed as his body was consumed to ash. "No open casket funeral for you!" The next bolt caught a slaver in the groin, "No kids for you!"

 

It was a glorious firefight, and there were so many slavers left.

[Terra]

Terra raised an eyebrow at the live feed coming through the Black Sun network, transposed onto a small section of the viewscreen. It was a feed from Delta's HUD, and through it, she could see a scene in chaos. Slavers were biting the dust left and right, but their pitiful deaths were not what intrigued her. It was the figure in Mandalorian armor, fighting in the centre of the screen, which caused Terra's eyebrow to rise into her pale, lightly freckled forehead. A fully-armored Mando'a wasn't something one saw every day, especially for an Echani. Terra's greysteel eyes sparkled with intensity as she watched the Mandalorian's actions, drawing Delta's readings off the Mando from the linkup.

 

The Mandalorian was stacked with weapons, in true Mandalorian fashion, and his electronic signature was very unique, for no other thing in the compound had that kind of equipment. It probably helped the man survive, but now it would help to be his undoing. Activating The Darkened Fear's advanced targeting computer, Terra began to feed the information from the Mandalorian into it, from the readouts on his armor, to the leaching electromagnetic signature the internal equipment of the armor gave off. The armor had the advantage of being packed to the brim with electronics, a hologram projector, and being supposedly invincible, but such upgrades came at a cost. It painted a very large target on his back for someone who could track the signals. A smile formed on Terra's lips, her pale lips parting slightly to reveal her pure-white teeth, she wanted armor like that. She had a feeling she'd like this man if she met him.

 

With a flick of a button, Terra duplicated the information and displayed it on Malin's screen, so he could see as the ship's computer assigned the Mandalorian a unique targeting and tracking code, before feeding that information to the weapons systems. Following it up, she fed the information of all the targets on screen into the system. Bringing the signal itself up on the screen, she quickly traced it using an algorithm she had used often before. The signal's point of origin was about forty miles away, across the desert sand, a distance that could be very quickly covered if necessary. It was time to prepare for war.

 

Terra set the craft to start a slow, stealthy course toward the battleground, and made ready for battle. Standing, she carefully removed the duster that she was wearing, giving a smug look in Malin's direction, and pulled a pair of dark, armored gauntlets on over her hands, linking them to the light armor she wore beneath. Taking a folding razor from her belt, she opened it, and slid the blade across her cheek, drawing a line of blood upon her freckled face. Finishing the old, Echani ceremony, she sat back down in the pilot's chair, and gave Malin a small smile.

 

Before she could speak, an alert passed on-screen from the ship's dedicated tracking computer. The Jedi and Sith vessel she had met up with on Thallassia was now in hyperspace, crossing holonet s-thread. From its calculations, it was headed right towards her, the planet of Tatooine. Thank goodness she had planted the XX-23 on their YT cargo shuttle. Her smile widened, and she passed the information to Malin. She activated the advanced scanners, and set a portion of them onto hyperspace detection. Her sensors would pick up the ship Tobias Vos and the Jedi piloted when it exited hyperspace. If she felt it necessary, and labeled them a threat, Terra would ambush them with half a dozen concussion missiles, and a discord missile for good luck.

 

Reaching behind herself, Terra grabbed her duty-bag and pulled a nutritional cage from the bag. Placing it next to her, with its harness ready, she began to bring the ship up a bit, so it would be in the middle atmosphere, instead of almost skimming the ground. She kept a careful eye on the distance locator, and the scanner readouts. They were drawing close, and she was ready for battle against any that would have her.

[Mirdala Ad'Goran]

In his office, Uhalu quickly became aware of the chaos that was quickly becoming his operation as more and more of the guards missed their check-ins and more of his monitors went off-line. Like any wise slaver, he knew when it was time to cut losses and run. He'd done it on Thalassia, and he would do it now. Unfortunately, this complex was much more complex to escape from, and that would cost him precious time.

 

He motioned for his second to bring his blasters and other various arms and armaments to him. The Gammorean held little faith in the mercenaries and brigands that made up the slaver defense force. They were formidable, but they were no trained army of CoreSec officers.

 

If rumor that when the Republic and the Alliance merged after the Death Star battle that most of their military began joint-service as CoreSec. If the female he'd been torturing for the last two weeks was any indication, then this particular rumor was certainly true. His troops ultimately stood little chance against them, even if the entire compound was geared for war. After the battle on Thalassia, their resources had been greatly diminished, as that had been their predominant base of operations. They didn't have nearly the same amount of fire power here.

 

Another reason to prepare to make his escape quickly.

 

~~~~~

Mirdala had found her stride as she slipped from room to room spreading fear, panic and carnage; there were no innocent among those that perpetuated sentient trafficking, regardless of their own personal role in the actions against her. Let them answer to whatever gods they believed in for their crimes. Survival had turned her into a cold, hard killer and she would not stop until she was either dead, or every slaver on this outpost was.

 

She opened the cages of any slaves that she came across, but they understandably shied away from the possessed dala when she approached, preferring to stay, for the moment at least, in the safety of their cages and cells as caged nuna.

 

More than a few spread out in other directions, finding make-shift weapons of their own, but she paid them no mind, she was on the hunt and nothing could stop her short of a blaster bolt to the base of the skull.

 

Other than a familiar voice calling out to her. Sandy was alive, but something in the young girl had changed. Mirdala could sense the darkness within her, driving her and drowning her in it's powerful and seductive embrace. Had the tide of battle abated long enough, the Mando'ad might have found time to be concerned about the path the habir'jetiise was starting to traverse.

 

She merely nodded as the two of them turned towards their captors and began the onslaught anew.

 

Mirdala dodged, wove and danced a deadly waltz as her attacks alternated between blaster fire from the hold-out pistol she'd managed to procure from some unlucky fellow, Lura's vibroblade, and her own martial skills. Bolts and blades, slices and stunning blows, she exacted retribution on each and every one that she came across until they were had reached what she'd managed to locate as the central hub for the underground complex via the information she'd stolen from the slaver's systems via her implant.

 

Pulling her blade from yet another guard that she'd felled, she felt something edge into the back of her mind. A signal. Were they trying to hack her implant? How had they found out about it? Was that really Fett that they were working with? She immediately deactivated the chip, shutting it down completely so that no signal could be broadcast or received. The thought of a betrayal of that magnitude was enough to help her stay the slowly ever-growing sluggishness that the insidious neuro-blocking drug threatened her with each time she paused to catch her breath.

 

Then she caught sight of him, clad in his usual black beskar'gam, rifle in hand appearing to be engaged in a fire-fight with one of the guard teams. Would there be no lengths that these low-lifes wouldn't stoop to in order to get her to talk? Did they think that she was so easily fooled?

 

With a cry of rage she ran at him with the vibrodagger, having long spent the reserve power packs for the heavy blaster that she'd managed to scrounge. Her kute was torn and stained with a mixture of old blood and fresh crimson, her hair was loose, matted and wild, giving her an almost bestial appearance as she launched herself at the would-be Fett, unaware that her current target was the genuine article.

 

She was aimed for his heart, but at the last second he shifted and the blade glanced off of his beskar'gam leaving a slight gouge in the paint, deflecting the blow to his off-shoulder as she crashed into him hand raised with the vibroblade again to strike, but the blade was shot from her hand by a stun bolt from one of the guards that came around the corner.

 

Mirdala looked up, forgetting Fett for a moment as she rolled back, trying to find a way to re-arm herself, but came up empty, she stayed down behind a half-wall as she fought off the internal enemy that was finally beginning to catch up with her, she shot Fett a look of disgust, as she looked closer she noted a new element to this seemingly fake Fett, the beskad'ika that she'd made for him hung from his hip. Kand'ika, she managed to transmit after turning her implant back on, using their secure channel her own thoughts becoming faint. Ne'paravu takisit.

 

That was the last thought that went through her mind before the tranquilizing dart hit her in the neck, delivering it's potent dose and dropping the dala to her knees as the fight continued on around them.

 

She yanked the dart out of her neck, her eyes becoming unfocused as her mind tried to comprehend what it was before she tossed it aside, her adrenaline spiking once more, but his time she couldn't fight the drugs as well and her movements became more and more sluggish. Coupled with the drugs already present in her system from weeks of torture, sedation, brainwashing attempts, and sleep-deprivation, it was all she could do to stay conscious.

 

Fett was here, that was all that mattered right now. She had faith in her traat'aliit'ad's ability to get them out of there safely. Something told her that he knew of a shortcut out of the complex.

[Lord Ar-Pharazon]

Delta, Terra, Malin: The ruling I just made said that ”œMalin and Terra can arrive, but there is absolutely no way that they can interfere with Moon Knight.”

[Moon Knight]

((Thanks Ben. Sorry about all that, guys, but trying to keep things real.))

 

Somewhat to ShadowFett's annoyance, the Black Sun agent had decided to follow him despite his express wishes that he stay out of this. The agent was putting him in a difficult position--one that was quickly convincing him that the agent was going to betray him at the opportune moment, or at least do something else to hinder him. The Mando'ad knew from years of experience never to fight on someone else's terms if he could help it. It had been in situations where he'd been fighting in Sith Temples or aboard Imperial Star Destroyers without proper support that he had suffered his worst defeats.

 

For now, it seemed that the Black Sun agent was content to shoot slavers. As another pair rounded the corner, all to close to Fett's position, he whipped around and shot one of them at point-blank. The other threw a punch because of his proximity, and struck beskar. From his expression, that was a most painful experience. With his left hand, Fett drew the bekad'ika Mirdala had given to him and plunged it into the man, who screamed and fell.

 

Mand'alor decided for now that he would simply keep an eye on the Black Sun operative, his narudar*. The 360-degree vision afforded by his buy'ce meant that if the agent at any point pointed a gun at him, he would know. And that might just give him the chance to get clear. He still didn't like it, but as long as the agent remained an ally, he would hold to the bargain he'd made on Triple Zero.

 

Somewhat to his surprise, the next person around the bend was none other than his traat'aliit'ad herself, looking almost as bad as the corpse he'd found in the alleyway, almost feral due to the effects of the drugs mixed with the rage of combat. So feral, in fact, that she lunged toward him, seeing him somehow as an enemy. All she had was a vibroblade, but in her hands, that was still a lethal weapon. Surprised but locked in combat mode, Fett managed to reposition to get her initial strike to deflect off his beskar'gam. There was another slaver who managed to shoot the knife out of her hand before Fett subsequently gunned him down with barely a thought.

 

Then, somehow, she snapped out of it and realized who he was, only in time to start to slump under the effects of the drugs. And now Fett had an important choice to make. He could take her, throw her over his shoulder and get her out, leaving the sands of Tatooine far behind and calling it a day. Alternatively, he could stay, find and rescue the habir'jetii that was still a prisoner, and find and kill Uhalu, the slaver responsible for all this.

 

He was torn. As the man he had always been, he would have taken her and gone. But now, the man that he had become, Moon Knight as well as a CoreSec officer, really had no other choice but to stay. He spoke over their link, which the Black Sun agent wouldn't hear. "Mird'ika, find a safe place. Meh gar kyrayc, shuk bah ni, vod. I have unfinished business."

 

Moon Knight switched back to external and spoke to the Black Sun agent. "Let's hunt."

 

((*means 'temporary ally', or 'enemy of my enemy'))

[Delta73]

Delta waded through the dark tunnels, blasting away with his weapons, pausing only to reload. He smiled as he blasted away, woman or man, it did not matter. Slavers were bad, or at least according to the law. So he was content to kill them, beside ShadowFett. Recording everything for posterities sake.

 

His disruptor's buzzed low again so he reloaded and paused. There seemed to be a priority transmission coming through the RCAA3 network from Black Sun command. It was recalling all agents. He cursed verbally.

 

”œShadowfett! It has been a pleasure assisting you in your hunt, I am afraid to say that I have been recalled. Fate has intervined, may God guide your hunt.”

[Terra]

Terra's greysteel eyes flashed as an alert came onscreen, notifying her of a high-priority call to Black Sun agents abroad, for an immediate return to Black Sun headquarters. She paused and glanced over to Malin, catching his eye with her own. Their plans were not going as well as she had hoped. She had not gotten any contact from Black Sun agents, and now their mission was being overridden by Black Sun Command. She blew out a small sigh, smiled at Malin, and brought the nose of The Darkened Fear up, heading for the atmosphere.Once they had cleared atmosphere, she activated the hyperspace drives, and the craft blasted into the swirling veil of hyperspace.