House Tridens Team Based Run-On for the Prelude to Andevia Competition

Murkrow eases back on the hyperspace levers and the stars collapse back to normal size. He checks his sensors and watches as the rest of Hammerhead squadron comes out of hyperspace behind him. After making sure every thing is clear MD sends the ok message to the VSD Corsair and the rest of the house/clan ships. In a few minutes they would be here to set up the recon post for monitoring the NR Activity. Nothing much but it was going to be home for the next few weeks.
A few minutes latter, the VSD had arrived and ships were already laying down the mines and defense stations and sensor equipment and satellites. Next the VSD started blasting a hole in the biggest asteroid so the smaller ships could start setting up the prefab. Based inside the safety of the asteroid.

The base was ready and after 3 hours of patrols Hammerhead squadron would finally get some rest. MD entered the hangar and put his fighter down. He jumped out and met his Quaestor at the entrance to the base.

"So what do we do now Striker?" MD asked.

"We wait, we listen and then send out patrols and scouts every once and a while. Nothing much else, we should be basically on vacation for the next few weeks. That is why I wanted to get this duty first"

"Ah, the wisdom of a high ranking Sith. Join me for a drink?"

"Sorry MD, this base has no cantina yet, and if we brought one along we would probably get in trouble. This is supposed to be a sober mission because of its importance."

"Man that is no fun! At least I can always prank!"

"MD this is a really important mission and we need to get pilots more active so that is what we will be doing. No pranks, just flying and playing cards and doing other non-pranking things."

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The room was covered in a blanket of darkness; one single ray of dim light pierced the room. As the individual in the room jumped and dogged around to his targets, electric sparks were discharged as he struck his training targets. As he completed the gauntlet, in a record time for his rank, he heard someone in the room in clapping.

“Excellent show young Rekio.”

He dropped to his knee and bowed, “Thank you Quaestor Striker.”

“Yes,” he said is a calm voice, as he motioned for Rekio to stand “that training saber you constructed for yourself is quite impressive.”

He retracted the saber and gently tossed it to the Sith Warrior, “It’s nothing much. Just the traditional emitter with a extendable titanium pole approximately the same size as a blade would be. I then enable it to displace an electric charge for my earlier stages of training when I would hold it close. I noticed it had the same lighting effects as a blade so when I began training in the dark I amplified the power to increase the charge.”

“I noticed that since you aren’t with a battle team you spend lots of time practicing, so it seem quite practical.” After examining it he looked up at the ceiling toward space, “Hammerhead is coming in …”, then tossed the saber to the side as Rekio turned to catch it, and as he turned back Striker was gone.

“Cripes! That’s creepy … “

Rekio made his way upstairs into the base’s hangar bay as MD and the last of Hammerhead returned form their patrol. As he stared outside he saw the asteroid the base was hidden within. He would have called it a bunker but it was within the side of an asteroid. It was quite different from what they called home, but it will make do while they prepare for their operation. At least it doesn’t reek of filthy, disgusting monkeys.

As the next patrol took off he turned and walked out of the hangar.

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Quaestor Wil Striker sat motionless on his meditation mat while the candles dimly lit the surrounding chamber that served as his temporary office. Being deep inside an asteroid was one thing, but not following his practice of meditating in the middle of the day was unacceptable. He allowed his mind to become one with the Force, and as he slipped deeper into meditation the Force took control of his body. Deeper and deeper his being merged with the Force, and as he lost himself to its power the shell of his existence began to levitate above the mat. Suddenly a powerful presence was detected outside the door to his office, and Striker sighed inwardly, then slowly slipped out of his meditative trance. When his mind was once again within his mortal shell he swiftly stood and moved towards his desk.

"Come in Nightflyer." Striker said, his voice barely audible, but still seemed to resonate within the walls of his office. Sith Battlelord Nightflyer slipped silently into the room, and paused for a moment to allow his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the surroundings. Striker realized that the lights were still very dim, and with a motion of his hand activated the light sensor across the room. The lights illuminated until the office could be seen, but the room still appeared to be bathed in a shadow. The Quaestor preferred it that way, this way anyone having to face him would feel uneasy about being in the room. But his Aedile was the exception to this rule, and the Aedile found the darkness that seemed to surround the office quite comforting.

"Sir, I'm sorry to disturb you but I just received the preliminary report on HammerHead Squadrons recent patrol. Not much to report of course, but our enhanced sensors did pick up residual traces of several other ships besides the Imperial and New Republic ships that were in this system in the last several weeks. It would appear that someone else was most definitely in the system, but didn't stay long based on the sensor readings. We have most definitely picked up the energy signature of another vessel, but not Imperial or NR in nature. From the residual readings it would also seem that one of the vessels was much larger than a standard NR cruiser. We can find no trace signatures of any ion energy either, so it is inconclusive if a battle took place. There is also no evidence of any debris fields either. Its as if every ship in the system suddenly disappeared without a trace."

The Aedile presented the data pad to his House Master, who took the pad and set it down on his desk. No sooner had he set it down than the Quaestor was suddenly around the desk and had seated himself in the most ancient chair the Aedile had ever seen. He motioned to the AED to take a seat as well. The Aedile looked down at the chairs that sat opposite the QUA and grimaced slightly, then took his place in one.

"I know, I hate them as well, but we are on a special assignment, and obviously we couldn't bring all the luxuries of our Castle with us." The Quaestor quietly commented with a hint of humor in his voice, obviously taking some amusement at the obvious discomfort of his House Assistant. "Look on the bright side, we could be sitting in some wetlands area like those troopers from the Hammer's Fist are right now." Striker permitted himself a rare laugh, and the Aedile joined him.

"Your right, but I still think we can do better than this. Even the robes don't provide much comfort in these chairs. Why in the world did you bring these fossilized things with you anyway?"

Striker sat back in his chair, and allowed his hands to move slightly over the ancient and rough texture of the chair. "To remind myself that things were not always so easy in the old days. These chairs date back to the early years of Tarentum, before it became a clan and was just a simple House. I keep them stored on the Corsair in the event we have to be in the field for extended periods. Without the comforts of our Castle surrounding us I find that it keeps me focused on the task at hand, and therefore always mindful of what may lay ahead."

The Aedile nodded his understanding, and inwardly admired the wisdom of his House Master, who although was several ranks below him, had proven quite adept at leading House Tridens into a new era of prosperity. The Aedile was one of the few brethren in House Tridens whose loyalty the Quaestor didn't question. There were others that had served the House diligently for years, but the Aedile had proven his loyalty many times over.

Striker picked up the data pad once more and quickly glanced over the jumble of numbers and raw data. The encrypted data retrieved from the HammerHead fighters was still being sorted out by the technical support staff. But the AED was quite useful when it came to slicing his way through the clutter and finding the useful bits before others did. He scanned the information one last time then placed the pad back on his desk. He then stood and walked towards the familiar Crest of House Tridens mounted on the wall of his office. As he stood looking at it he clasped his hands behind him, a gesture that the AED recognized that meant the QUA was considering a plan that was outside the normal parameters of their mission in the Andevia system.

After several moments he turned back to the AED and simply nodded. Nightflyer's face showed the slightest hint of a smile and he rose suddenly from his chair. The Aedile knew instantly that the QUA was already tired of scanning space for evidence of ships that may or may not have been near the planet of Andevia. Obviously the real investigation belonged on the planet below, and both men knew that the Sith were better at finding clues than any other unit in the Emperor's Hammer. The Sith were notoriously capable of finding clues that most normal people would dismiss as irrelevant, and then turn that 'irrelevant' clue into a hard fact that had generally embarrassed many officers in the past.

"It will be as you wish sir. I will make the necessary preparations and we will launch in one hour." As the Aedile turned to leave he suddenly sensed that the QUA had something to add. Turning back around he realized his feeling was accurate as Striker walked a few paces toward Nightflyer.

"Take Rekio with you as well. He has proven quite adept in his training lately, and maybe some experience in the field will aid this young apprentice further in his training."

Nightflyer nodded his understanding and then quickly left the room. Striker was now alone with his thoughts. If there was one thing a Sith never worried about, it was offending others. If the Hammer's Fist had been unable to uncover any real clues as to who was behind the mysterious disappearance of the colony on Andevia, then the Sith would search out the truth, and jurisdiction be damned. The last thing Striker wanted was to create any problems, but he wasn't about to sit idle on this cold barren rock while others took more time sifting for clues that the Sith could possibly find faster.

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MD Looked around as he got out of the sonic shower. Dirt and dust was every where he looked. If it weren’t just a temporary base he would go insane! At least he got to be A-CMDR of HammerHead for the mission while his CMDR was away on some special assignment. He started to think back to the day when he was CMDR... A few weeks ago it would have been him on that special mission. But that was in the past and he couldn't let it bug him.

Suddenly he felt a presence approaching. He put his cloak on and grabbed his training saber. He hid beside the door and turned off the lights. The door opened slowly and as MD went to swing with his training saber he felt something that he never felt before. “Don't even try it MD, You can't hit me”, the AED said into MD’s mind using his power of telepathy.

"Yes Aedile, come on in. I had to try, I wanted to see if my training would pay off but I guess I picked the wrong test subject, eh? So why are you here? I already sent in my report and I just got off duty."

"Yes I received your report. Unfortunately I will have to cut your down time short, Striker has asked me to go down to the surface to find clues that the Stormies were unable to find. You and your squad will be coming along with some of Sub-Zero."

"Oh great more flying..." MD said with a sigh.

"No, the SZ members will be doing the flying. We will be in a shuttle and the SZ members coming with us will escort us since they are already on patrol. Now go get your squadron ready and bring them to the hangar immediately."

"Yes sir, I will be there in 10 minutes."

"Good, and don't forget your training saber, this may give you a chance to try out your new abilities"

"Great. I can't wait" MD said as he walked out of his room and started rounding up the rest of the squad.

MD Walked across the deck and inspected the squad.

"The AED is bringing us in to pickup where the Stormtroopers appear to have left off. We aren't really supposed to be doing it, but we really can’t afford to allow anything to be overlooked. If they ask you about it just pay no attention to them and just continue searching for clues. Now board the shuttle, we are taking off in ten. Dismissed!" MD announced to the squad.

This wasn't going to be the funniest mission ever but it would certainly be interesting.

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“Hammerhead on your feet and muster! Ground equipment only! We launch in thirty minutes.”

Rekio watched as the Sith pilots scurried along to the hangar bay, He remembered the feeling of being a pilot. The thrill and rush of dodging around the enemy as they struggled to get a target lock just as he swooped in from nowhere and vaporized them. However, he felt that he had made the correct choice by spending his time studying and training as he tried to reach his goal of Dark Jedi Knight. He continued to stare out the port window facing the stars drifting through his thoughts.

“You’ll get your chance too …”

“Battlelord Nightflyer ..” Rekio said as he bowed to the elder Sith.

“As I was saying you’re going too, the Quaestor feels your training has progressed rather nicely, and that going along will be beneficial.”

“Yes I understand …” Rekio said then turned around to go to the hangar.

There was a slight pause. “ I know why you study and train instead of look for combat experience like the others do for elevation,” Rekio turned to face the Aedile as he continued, “I read in your profile that you were ranked third in you Battle Group. You feel that you have the combat experience that is favorable of veteran Sith but lack the necessary philosophy that all Dark Jedi share …”

Rekio said nothing but slightly smirked.

“As I thought,” the Aedile turned slightly and left toward the hangar bay. He need not say anything, as Rekio knew he was to follow.

The Sith members that loaded into the transport shuttle did not speak. Instead they shared a mutual silence that was felt by all as they left for the planet that they could see nearby. As the shuttle left for the planet, Rekio pulled a data pad out of his pocket and began to look it over. He stared at the data pad and showed and expression that would lead one to believe he had made a discovery.

“Something troubling you Rekio” the Aedile asked as he sat down next to him.

“Just looking over some data from the sensor reading of the scouting patrols.”

“I wasn’t aware that it was to be disclosed to you.”

Rekio smiled lightly, “It wasn’t …… but that doesn’t matter…”

“Oh and what does?”, Nightflyer asked angered.

“The conclusions I’ve come up with.”

“Oh, and what’s that?” MD asked trying to become involved in the conversation between Rekio and the Aedile.

Nightflyer glared at MD. “Hush you!”, he said scornfully.

“One, we’re dealing with an unknown from outside this galaxy that has a capital ship big enough to capture smaller craft and a means to travel great distances other than hyperspace and jump points per say. Or, two, we still have a big, unfriendly ship lurking around on that planet.”

“And?” Nightflyer asked, sensing Rekio wasn’t done.

“Well we’re on our way to the planet to uncover what the ground-pounding Stormies have been unable to so far.”

“I take it you believe the second choice?” the Sith Battlelord inquired casually.

“No, the House Master believes that …. I just do as I’m told” Rekio replied.

Nightflyer smirked as the shuttle prepared for the final stage of the landing on the planets surface. And with a few bumps, shakes, and a variety of hissing sounds, the shuttle landed. The Battlelord stood as all eyes fixed on him and everyone awaited his command.

“Murkrow, advise your members appropriately.”

MD nodded in compliance The Aedile turned toward Rekio. “I believe you already know what to look for …”

As they cleared out the Aedile quietly spoke to himself. “And I need to report to the Quaestor about our current status as well as one Sithlet who appears to have a larger hand of the deck then we thought ……”

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Striker entered his office after his exercise session in what laughably passed for a workout room. He quickly entered the head in his office and showered. The Sonic Shower did wonders to remove the minor aches he felt in his shoulders from the workout. He knew the mission wasn't going to be as easy as most, and decided that some additional training was in order. At the moment all he felt was that the training simulator had been the victor based on the pain in his shoulder. As he allowed the shower to continue its cycle he closed his eyes and began to focus inward on the pain and it focal point. Minutes later he opened his eyes, the pain barely noticeable.

He stepped out of the shower and quickly put on a fresh set of robes and then walked back out to his office. From across the room he could see a flashing indicator beckoning for his attention. He crossed the room and sat at his desk, noticing that the indicator was from the temporary Communications Office. He had little doubt what the call was about.

"Striker here, what is it?"

A voice responded back, a technician fearful of interrupting the Quaestor by the sound of his young voice.

"Sir, we have an incoming transmission from the planet. A LT Kaan from the Hamer's Fist demands to speak with you at once."

Striker hesitated a moment, inwardly laughing at the though of some upstart Lieutenant from the Hammer’s Fist demanding anything from a member of the Dark Brotherhood.

"Very well, put him through."

Striker sat back and waited a moment as the tech switched the incoming communication to the Quaestor's office.

"LT, what can I do for you today?" Striker said with a fair amount of amusement in his voice.

"Sith Warrior Striker, you have unauthorized personnel on the planet, I demand they be removed at once."

Striker sat looking at the communications console for a moment, briefly admiring the tenacity of the young LT, who no doubt failed to grasp the situation he had just placed himself in.

"Well, I'm pleased you took the time to contact me regarding your 'advice' LT. But the personnel on the planet are not unauthorized. I sent them there because your troops have been unable to locate any clues or the whereabouts of the EH personnel that disappeared. I 'suggest' you do not interfere with their investigations."

"But sir, they do not have clearance to be on the planet. I have orders from High Colonel Ironfist that only personnel personally cleared by him are to be allowed planet side."

"LT, I am not under the command of your High Colonel, and my superiors have given me different orders, and those include not allowing ANYTHING to interfere with our investigations into the disappearances of EH personnel and equipment. Do I make MYSELF clear?"

The LT sputtered for a minute, unsure how to answer. Finally he composed himself and responded.

"Sir, we would be happy to have the additional support and help down here. I will ensure that your people are looked after and are given everything they need."

"I trust you will LT. And in the future you can communicate directly with my AED since he is down on the planet at this time. He will be more than happy to give you a list of the things he will need while on the planet. Striker, out."

Striker turned towards the House Crest hanging on the sidewall and smirked. Well, now that that little problem was out of the way the team on the planet could continue unimpeded with their investigation. But somehow he figured this wouldn't be the last he heard from the HF or its officers regarding the Dark Brotherhood's investigation of the planet.

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SZ 1-1 to control. Shuttle safely descended to surface, awaiting new orders."

"SZ, You are to remain on standard patrol. Sending waypoint to your NAV systems. Control out."

"OK guys, you heard the orders. Spread!"

All members of SZ reported to Clark and the T/Ds began to split in smaller groups and finally each headed in different directions...

Guardian Vortoq was to fly towards the asteroid belt near the temporary base of Tridens. After a few hours of boring flight and scanning the asteroids, Vortoq thought that nothing interesting would ever happen. He spoke to soon...

Suddenly a warning message appeared on his HUD. A NR CRV with 4 X-Wings as escort entered the area only 1.4 km from Vortoq's T/D.

"Sub Zero 2-4 to Control. NR CRV escorted by 4 X-Wings just entered the area, they are heading towards the planet, requesting instructions!"

After a brief moment of silence, during which Vortoq directed his craft towards the X-Wings, a response finally came.

"Sub Zero 2-4 you are to disable the CRV before it escapes to hyperspace. I repeat - ignore X-Wings and DISABLE the CRV! The rest of the Squadron is coming to your position."

"Roger control, going after CRV", Vortoq responded and switched to lasers, he linked them and targeted the upper laser turret on the CRV. After the first pass the turret was gone and the shields of the CRV were down to 60%. Vortoq turned his fighter about face and began the second approach. This time he took some laser hits from the CRVs escort but the shields of the target were down to 25%. The third pass brought the shields down and the fourth one brought the CRV to stop - it was disabled. Unfortunately while taking care of the CRV Vortoq didn't have time to evade the fire of the X-Wings - his shields were down to 30% and he had all 4 of them on his tail.

"Better hurry up guys or you'll be too late..." shouted Vortoq as he was making a hard turn evading the sluggish yet still dangerous NR fighters.

"This is Pel. We are directly behind them. Vort, go hard up on my signal.... wait...wait.... NOW!"

In that moment Vortoq pulled the stick and braked hard. 3 T/Ds from the 2nd flight brought swift justice to the attackers, but one of them managed to escape their fire and headed for the hyper point. Seeing what was happening, Vortoq switched all the ships power to engines and began to chase the escaping X-Wing. Vortoq switched to advanced missiles, carefully targeted the NR fighter and launched 2 missiles. The rebel pilot engaged his chaffs system, making the missiles useless, but by then Vortoq's T/D was only 0.3 km from the enemy. Vortoq switched to lasers, and a few linked series from the T/Ds cannons made a quick job out of the old X-Wing.

"SZ 2-1 to Control. Target disabled, escort destroyed, awaiting further orders."

"Roger that, stand by… SZ we are sending an ATR to board the CRV. Flight 1 you are to provide close escort, Flight 2 guard the CRV, flight 3 assume standard patrol around base. Control out."

"Roger that control." it was Clark. He had just arrived to the battle area in time to see the remains of a few NR fighters and a disabled CRV.

After a few minutes the ATR launched from the asteroid and set off on a course for the CRV. Vortoq was flying close to the CRV. Suddenly he realized something...

"Guys ... can you feel it?"

"Feel what? I can't sense anything..." responded Pel.

"That’s my point! NO life signs form the CRV! I could have sworn that I’d sensed them earlier..."

"SZ 2-1 to ATR, be advised - something strange is going on aboard the CRV"

"Roger SZ 2-1, we’ll be careful,” sounded the response from the ATR.

After few minutes the ATR was boarding the CRV.

"Boarding team to Control. LT Virat reporting - target secured...no casualties. But... Control the crew is dead... it appears that they have committed suicide... I've never seen a hole NR crew commit suic..."

"Stop it Lieutenant! Bring the CRV to the base for full inspection. SZ give them cover!"

After a period of time the CRV finally docked with the asteroid base, and the SZ fighters landed in the hangar. Vortoq jumped out of his TIE.

"Wheeew... that was one bloody patrol mission..." said Vortoq to himself and headed towards his quarters to meditate and take some rest.

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SW Wil Striker was preparing to leave his office, and the mountain of paperwork that had suddenly piled on his desk. In reality the "paperwork" was a deep stack of datapads, but nevertheless it was still 'work'. As Striker neared the door to his office the communication system beeped, alerting him to a new message.

Striker sighed deeply, wondering if he was ever going to escape his office, or if he was compelled to serve out this entire mission in it. As he returned to his desk he hit the activation button.

"Striker here, this better be good!" he replied, letting the irritation show in his voice. The tech on the other end hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.

"Ssssir.... pardon the intrusion, but CM Jekaf thought you should know that the Sub-Zero team captured a NR CRV that entered the system. He also reports that the escorting NR fighters were all destroyed as well. But there is something else, and he thinks you should see for yourself."

Striker was immediately curious.

"Inform the CM that I will meet him in the hangar bay in two minutes."

"Yes sir!" and the connection was broken. Striker immediately made for the door of his office, suddenly glad for a break in the work. As he neared the door he turned and sneered at the pile of data pads on his desk. Then he turned back and left his office, quickly walking to the hangar deck, his robes flowing behind him. Several Protectors were walking down the corridor as Striker stormed through, but he barely noticed them or their respectful bows.

A minute later and the QUA was at the hangar bay looking at the slightly scorched CRV. Technicians and Dark Troopers were running in and out, each time they came out they were carrying a litter with a body on it. Striker walked over to CM Jekaf, who promptly saluted.

"CM, don't you think it would have been wise to have taken some prisoners. Are your Troopers really that trigger happy?"

"Sir, the crew was already dead when the ATR boarded the ship. It appears as if the entire crew committed suicide just after the ship was disabled."

Striker walked forward and up the ramp to enter the ship. As he walked through the tight corridors, he had to duck several times in order to avoid hitting overhanging panels that must have been dislodged during the disabling of the ship. As he entered the cockpit of the vessel he sensed something. Not able to immediately put his finger on what he was sensing, he started examining the star charts and navigation logs of the ship.

Striker turned to the sudden arrival of the CM and had a dark frown on his face.

"CM, the NR has no idea that they are missing any ships. Apparently they believe that the convoy that arrived here several weeks ago has suffered a communications problem and sent this crew to investigate. From what I can see here there may very well be more ships arriving in the next two days. I want all flights on constant readiness and a patrol around the clock until further notice."

"Yes sir." The CM turned and activated his personal communication device and notified the Control Center of the Quaestor’s orders. Within moments members of HammerHead arrived and boarded their ships, the preflight crews finishing their inspections and last minute tasks at a record pace to get the craft launched as quickly as possible.

Guardian John Clark was suddenly standing next to the CM as Striker continued pulling more data from the ships logs.

"Sir, Guardian Vortoq said that just before his last flyby he sensed that the entire crew was alive. Its as if they just suddenly fell over."

Striker looked at his Battle Team CMDR and nodded.

"Nothing here makes any sense of their deaths. From what I can see there was no reason for them to have died, let alone the possibility they would have taken their own lives. Even if they were concerned about capture, they knew that a NR taskforce was on its way. So I seriously doubt they committed suicide." Striker suddenly stood up in the cramped cockpit, his head bowed to avoid hitting the cockpit ceiling.

As he stepped out Guardian Clark stepped forward, nodding his understanding as Striker telepathically gave his team CMDR orders. The CM standing nearby inwardly frowned.

"Why do these Sith always feel they have to keep EVERYTHING a secret?" he quietly wondered.

Striker immediately turned towards the CM, surprising the TC Officer when he was suddenly standing in front of him.

"CM, when the time for you to know what is happening is right, you will know. In the meantime follow Guardian Clark and proceed with the investigation."

Striker immediately turned and left the ship, heading to the Control Center to check on some data collected from the fighters during the capture operation. As he left the ship the CM breathed a deep sigh of relief. Clark stepped forward, a smirk on his face.

"That'll teach you to think such thoughts in front of a Dark Warrior. If you weren't needed right now you could have possibly had an early 'retirement' CM." Clark motioned for the CM to follow him, and Jekaf reluctantly obeyed, deeply swallowing as he left the ship. As Clark stepped off the boarding ramp he motioned to several techs nearby.

"I want every inch of that ship scanned. Any irregular readings of any type are to be reported to me personally, and at once!" Clark ordered.

The techs all nodded their understanding and scurried off to gather their equipment to begin their newly assigned duties. Clark then motioned for the SGT of the Dark Troopers.

"SGT, I want a detail guarding this ship until further notice. Only those techs, myself, and the Quaestor are allowed back onboard until further notice."

The SGT reported his understanding and then activated his communication device to summon the detail. Within seconds 8 additional Dark Troopers were standing station around the captured NR vessel. Clark looked back at the CM and then walked off. The CM understood and followed, not sure he liked the developments of the day.

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The briefing room in the temporary Tridens base on the asteroid was full. The whole SZ was sitting and whispering about the latest events. Suddenly the doors opened and Guardian Clark entered the room. The Jedi’s stood up and bowed to the CMDR of SZ.

"OK guys listen up. Quaestor Striker suspects that the CRV we captured is not the last NR ship we'll see in the area. As a matter of fact he states that within 2 days more NR forces will arrive in the system. So our mission for today is deep space patrol. Your NAV computers have been loaded with the necessary hyper coordinates. SZ will split into smaller flights, and each flight will cover a wide area of space. If you encounter NR ships which your able to destroy - do so. If the enemy forces outmatch you, return to base immediately so we can prepare for their arrival. Any questions? No? One more thing, the whole case is CLASSIFIED, you will not ask about it, try to exchange opinions, or even speak about it. Is that clear?"

"YES SIR!"

"Very well. DISMISSED!"

As the pilots began to leave the briefing room, Clark stood there for a moment and wondered what would happen this time on this so called 'standard patrol mission'.

15 minutes later 12 T/Ds from the Sub Zero squadron launched from the asteroid and headed to their jump points.

SBM Pel, followed by the rest of the 2nd flight, headed to the hyperspace jump coordinates. Pel gave the order and the fighters disappeared in the hyperspace...

The first two locations were quiet places close to some small planets and nothing unusual was observed in there. The third one was different...

"Leader to all, disengage hyper drive and prepare to enter normal space."

4 T/Ds emerged near the small group of asteroids.

"Leader to all - spread out and begin scans."

The fighters split off and headed off in four different directions.

"2-2 reports nothing unusual."

"2-3, same here."

"2-4 report!"

"2-4 REPORT!"

"Vortoq where the hell are you!?!?"

"I'm here my Master... found something strange...think you should see this."

Pel directed his craft towards Vortoq’s location. As he passed near the large asteroid a beautiful, yet strange, view began to emerge in front of him. When the asteroid no longer covered the view, Pel recognized the "thing". It was the wreckage of a Republican cruiser. Here and there he could see the remnants of the Cruiser escort: a FRG, 2 CRVs and several X-wings, B-wings and A-wings.

"In the name of The Dark Side... what the hell happened here?"

"Don't know Sir... but I've noticed that there is only Republican wreckage in here... no sign of the attackers."

"Impossible! I want everyone to search the battlefield for any non-NR remnants!"

After about 30 minutes of maneuvering through the debris without finding any signs of the attackers Pel began to lose hope of finding anything.

"Leader to all ... lets head home we won't find anything in here... lets report back about our finding. Prepare to jump to the Asteroid Base coordinates."

4 T/Ds, one by one, took their places in the "V" formation and the 2nd flight of SZ entered hyperspace.

1st flight from SZ was just landing in the hangar. The 3rd one was already there. A flight of TIE’s was on patrol around the base.

The T/Ds emerged from hyperspace 8 km from the asteroid and slowly began to approach the base.

"Sith Battlemaster Pel to Control. We've found something interesting... inform the Quaestor."

"Roger that. You’re cleared for landing."

They were now 6 km from the base, when the radar began to blink.

"Control to ALL FIGHTERS! We have a squadron of Republican A-wings in the system! Engage at once!"

"Leader to all! Follow me! Damn they must have followed us somehow."

T/Ds accelerated and headed to meet the intruders.

"2-4 to Leader. They aren't heading for the base, they are heading for the planet!"

"Control to Pel, we have calculated the course of the A-wings, they are heading directly for the planet, and it appears they will be entering the atmosphere just above the location were our shuttle with the ground team landed! You MUST intercept them!"

"Did you hear that guys? Redirect all power to engines, we must catch them before they enter the atmosphere!"

A-wings were no match to TIE Defenders, and they caught them quickly. The first 2 were down within seconds, after a few minutes of dog fighting the next 6 were down. The last 4 managed to reach the atmosphere.

"Leader to all, Follow them!"

"No can do Sir, I took some have hits, I won't make it in the atmosphere," it was the voice of Guardian Randrowan - SZ 2-2.

"2-3 in the same situation. Must return for repairs."

"2-4 still with me?"

"Yes Master, ready to kick some Rebel butts!"

As the damaged craft returned to the asteroid, SBM Pel and GRD Vortoq began descending to the planet surface.

They caught the intruders in the upper layers of the atmosphere... 2 were shot down and burned due to atmosphere friction. The last two managed to reach the surface. Now it wasn’t so easy, and it wasn’t a dogfight but more of a chase.

SBL Nightflyer stood in front of the tent and watched the sky where 2 A/Ws where chased by the 2 T/Ds. it was a beautiful piece of flying... all 4 pilots were good... in few moments all the people in the camp were looking at the show. Suddenly green lasers reached one A/W, and shortly it crashed just a few kilometers from the camp. All of the viewers began to shout loudly as they saw the success of their Sith brother. The second A/W followed the first one in few moments and another shout of victory could be heard from the Hammerhead camp...

"Nightflyer to unidentified T/Ds in the atmosphere. Identify yourself!"

"SBM Pel and GRD Vortoq Sub Zero flight 2."

"What the hell is going on???"

"Nothing special. A squadron of Republican A/Ws was trying to fry you down there, but fortunately we were there to stop them."

"Glad to hear this."

"Sorry Master, but we must return to base and report, good luck down there. Pel out!"

Nighflyer stood there for a while. GRD Murkow Defender stood beside him.

"They destroyed the full squadron with 4 fighters. I had no idea that SZ was that good."

"Yes Murkow...they are good... but lets get back to work."

As the 2 T/Ds landed in the hangar Striker was already waiting for the pilots as they jumped out of the cockpits and bowed respectfully.

"We began analysis of the data you gathered, the technicians will download the data from your crafts within a minute."

"Master if I may..." Vortoq was trying to be calm but his sounded very nervous.

"Yes GRD?"

"Those Fighters, I mean the A-Wings we chased, they almost didn't fight back. Like all they ever wanted wass to make it to the surface... we'd be in much more trouble if all of them were fighting us, but they just headed for the planet."

"Conclusions?"

"Well... Master... I think that they know much more then we do."

QUA smiled a bit and said: "Not necessarily young GRD... not necessarily." He made an 'about face' and began to walk to the briefing room... Vortoq and Pel received a telepathic order to follow.......

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MD stared up at the clouds as the T/Ds of SZ flew away. Something about that bothered him.

"GRD DEFENDER!"

"Oh... sorry Nightflyer, I was just distracted."

"Well get back to work, we need to find some clues."

"Sir, I think we just did," MD said timidly. "Those A-wings didn't even put up a fight. They were basically trying to out run the Defenders even though they must know it is impossible. They must have been looking for us. Or something around here."

"Well it is possible that they were looking for our shuttle."

"I don't think so master. They weren't following its vector, I checked our entry vector just after take off and I can tell you that they weren't on it. Looked more like they were heading for that valley over there. It would be a good hiding place for something."

"Yeah, but what would they be hiding? A battle cruiser?"

"I don't think THEY were the ones hiding it. I think that what ever is down there is related to those missing shops. Maybe a alien scouting force, maybe from the outer rim like the GA's species. Actually I think I have heard rumors about a species that flies ships made of some kind of rock or something. Maybe we should start searching the valley"

"I think I agree GRD. Huh, maybe you are starting to smarten up."

"Don't worry, no chance in heck of that happening any time soon."

They both laughed and set out to the valley to start their search.

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Suiting up in his Terminator, SW Torres waved the group of troopers into the crashed ship. It was located just outside of the Clan's base camp and didn’t really present much of a threat. Still curious, Torres requested permission to lead a small team to investigate the wreck and see if they couldn’t uncover anything. Walking his way though the corridors, it became apparent that the craft was of Imperial origin, but no signs of where it came from or what it was doing on the planet.

"T1 to T3, status report."

"T3 here. We've entered what appears to be the main engine room and well its a mess in here. Looks like we had a firefight in between the crew. Also the main hyperdrive is a write-off."

"Who were the crew fighting? Any signs of alien bodies?"

"Actually, sir, the only bodies belong to the crew. It appears they were over-taken by something and went crazy."

Before Torres could respond, he was informed that SW Wil Striker was approaching and went to meet him. As he neared the wreck, Wil looked around and then to Torres.

"You call this a ship?"

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

MD continued his trek through the jungle with Nightflyer, cutting the trees in his way with his training saber. Then a sudden beep came from his comm. link.

"GRD Defender, who is this?" MD said as he picked up the commlink.

"This is Torres. Just thought you would want an update."

"Ok go ahead."

"Well we just got word that CMDR Darklighter is back and is taking over for the rest of HammerHead at the asteroid base. And there is something else; we found a ship near our base. Looks like it was in a fight with the rebels. It has 6 TIE like wings with an alien body. Any idea what it could be?"

"No clue but thanks for the update," MD said and turned off his comm.

"Hey Nightflyer, you ever heard of an ugly with 6 wings?"

"No. And any way the Republic would know if they were pilots and could have taken them out easily then just left it alone. This has to be something else."

"Yeah I guess you are right," MD conceded and cleared a path ahead. "After you.”

MD walked into the clearing and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What in the name of the Dark Side is that?!" Nightflyer exclaimed behind him.

MD couldn't take his eyes off it. A huge castle made out of dark black stone. It had 4 huge towers, one at each corner, bristling with huge turbo lasers and ion cannon emplacements. In the center was a huge covered hangar full of fighters like the one Torres had described. It was a fortress like he had never seen, even greater than the Tridens home castle.

Suddenly MD watched the turbo lasers start to fire from one of the huge towers. Then over the ridge a low flying A-Wing appeared, probably coming from the opposite side of the planet to avoid the Tridens defense net, flying towards the fortress. It got to range and then started to fire at the laser emplacements. MD couldn't believe his eyes! The lasers were absorbed by the castle!

"What do we do Nightflyer?" MD asked still in shock.

"We go back to base and get Striker."

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

...While GRD Clark and GRD Vortoq were following QUA Striker to the briefing room, the alarm sounded.

"Battle stations, battle stations! We are under attack! This is not a drill! I repeat this is not a drill! Battle stations, battle stations...."

Striker gave the 2 GRD’s a telepathic order and 20 seconds later they were both sitting in their TIE’s. The rest of SZ pilots were beginning to emerge from the corridor and turbolifts. Clark and Vortoq were the first ones to launch from the Asteroid Base. A quick look at the radar and everything was clear:
there were 2 squadrons of the attackers - one of B-Wings and one of A-wings. The B-wings were preparing to launch warheads on the base while the A-wings were flying escort. Beside the craft that Clark and Vortoq where flying, there were only 4 TIE’s on the standard patrol, they already got engaged in the dogfight with the A/Ws so the GRD’s could use a little freedom in attacking the B/Ws. The first 4 were destroyed by advanced missiles, they came towards the T/Ds so the chaffs were useless. Next 2 were down within a matter of seconds - the linked cannon fire from the T/Ds was way too much even for the B/W. An A/W managed to destroy one of the other 4 TIE’s and from the Base more T/Ds from SZ launching. Clark gave an order to attack the A/W’s and leave the B/W’s for the rest of SZ. The fight was quick. The Republican forces were destroyed.

"eeee....Master... may I make an observation ?"

"Yes Vortoq what is it?"

"Those ships were no match for us ...why did they even bothered to attack? I think we are missing something."

"Like?"

"I don't know.... but wait! Here’s something! According to my math, we are missing one A/W. there were 12 of them and we only killed 11..."

"What? You must be mistaken...wait a minute I'll analyze the log. Yes your right.... one of them detached from the group and headed for the planet. Not good.
Control this is SZ 3-1 reporting one missing A/W probably heading towards the planet. The attack was just a distraction..."

"Roger that SZ 3-1, we already have confirmation of the A/W being destroyed."

"Confirmation? From where?"

"From the surface by AED Nightflyer."

"WHAT? They managed to shot down A-Wing? With what???"

"SZ 3-1, I'm not authorized to give you that information. Report to the hangar immediately and take SZ 3-4 with you."

"Roger Control. Vortoq did you hear that? Head home."

"Roger sir."

The pilots landed and found the QUA was waiting for them.

"Maybe this time we'll get a chance to talk. Follow me to the Briefing room.”

Clark and Vortoq followed him to the Briefing room.

"Now ... listen carefully and ask no questions... here's what we know so far."

Clark and Vortoq looked at each other and turned towards the holoscreen. There were two pictures on it: a strange looking TIE shaped craft and a black castle....

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MD runs back to the shuttle, with his AED in tow. He ran through the camp, not talking to any one. He climbed aboard the shuttle and ran as fast as he could to the nearest comm station. He turned it on and sent a priority message to his QUA back at the asteroid base. The Comm Officer's face appeared on the screen.

"What do you want GRD Defender? Striker is busy and cannot be disturbed. We have an A-wing unaccounted for and heading towards the planet."

"No you don't!" MD shouted. "Just shut up and listen. I just saw that A-wing blown up into a million pieces, now put me through to Striker! The AED needs to talk to him now! See, here he comes!"

"Ok GRD, I will put you through now, please forgive me" The officer said as his face disappeared and Striker's face popped onto the screen.

"MD? What happened to Nightflyer?!" Striker said confused.

"He is on his way, We have a big problem!"

"Yeah we have one here too, there is a missing..."

"Not any more there isn't! I just saw the thing blow up!"

"What?!?" The QUA said in amazement, "How? You have no guns that can take out an A-wing!"

"That is the problem sir! WE DIDN'T do it! There is something down here! We found a wrecked fighter that was partly imperial and an entire base full of them in a valley."

"Ok so we can make contact and if they aren't friendly we can destroy them. They will be no match for Sith"

"Yes, actually they are! This fortress is huge! They must have 2 wings of fighters! Plus each of its 4 towers is covered in dozens of heavy turbo lasers and ion cannons! The Corsair wouldn't stand a chance! And even if we blast it from space, the walls absorb laser blasts! Nothing short of the Sov could take it out!"

"MD I have no time for your stupid pranks and jokes! Now tell me why I shouldn't hurt you for telling the Comm Officer this was priority from the AED?"

"Because of these images I am sending you! See for yourself! I am not making this up! Look, I even got a shot of the walls absorbing that A-wings blast."

"By Palpatine’s Ghost! How is that possible?!?" Striker exclaimed, shocked as the first of the images got through to him.

"So what do we do now?"

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

“Ahh… back to report your findings GRD Corsair?”

“Yes Master Nightflyer. I found some sporadic footprints and blaster marks.”

“Stormies?”

“No the blaster markings seem to go in opposite directions in relation to the footprints.”

“So it was a skirmish …”

“Yes, Master. However a few of the blaster marks seemed to be reflected in odd directions.”

“Reflected?”

“Yes by a lightsaber from my estimates, a lightstaff to be more specific.”

“Hmm … there are similar reports throughout the area. I suspect that was part of EH-A94 getting chased around.”

“Any indication of what might have happened to them?”

“No, worse yet there are some nasty things happening to spacecraft up there,” Nightflyer said as he pointed to the sky. “Big crashes, lot of deaths, non-humans, some really crazy stuff.”

The comm unit in the AED’s pocket beeped. After a brief conversation with the annoying LT form the Hammer’s Fist platoon Striker spoke with, Nightflyer turned to Rekio.

“I need to send someone over there.”

“I understand,” Rekio said as he headed out of the small temporary office at the base camp.

Rekio knew it would be a long walk to the Hammer’s Fist camp.

“Let’s just hope they have something worth my trouble.”

As Rekio walked through the field to the HF camp, he took the time to enjoy the surrounding landscape. The world was quite temperate overall, but its land features varied greatly. It has swamps, (where he was heading to,) mountains, deserts, and jungles amongst other things from what he had heard. Still, from what he had seen of it so far it was quite dull.

Rekio came upon a Stormtrooper standing post about 50 meters away form the large group of temporary buildings that made up the HF camp. The Sstormtrooper stopped and inquired Rekio about his presence.

“Ahh, you’re one of the Sith? You have clearance to pass.”

As he passed, Rekio left out a laugh followed by a quick smirk caused by his feeling of superiority he felt over the ground-pounder. He made his way to the LT’s office and entered.

“You must have been sent by the Tridens?”

“That is correct LT. What do you have for us?”

“Something you will find very useful.”

“That is what I am here to determine, let’s see it.”

The LT grabbed a map and unfolded it on his desk. He pointed his finger to a plain south of the HF camp.

“So you Found some flatlands, congrats,” Rekio snapped sarcastically.

“No, we found Andevians.”

“They’re a primitive group of nomads.”

“Yes Mr. Corsair, and they found something very interesting. But we can‘t make sense of it, seems it may be Force related. I‘ll have one of my Sergeants escort you to their location.”

“Very well,” Rekio bowed and left.

When they arrived Rekio was greeted by what seemed to be an important individual.

“Greetings Dark Jedi. I am Kinneas, leader of this group of people.”

“I am GRD Rekio Corsair,” he said with a slight bow.

“You are strong with the Force Guardian, but not as strong as the one before you.”

“Before me?? Dark Jedi Master Kem-Shu Maeda??”

“Yes that was him. There were others as well.”

“EF-A94 !!!” he said surprisingly, “Please sir, tell me what you know and have seen recently.”

“Very well, I will help all I can.”

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

It had seemed only a few hours earlier that the team of techs had entered the crashed ship and began working on its systems. Still unsure of what could be learned from it, Torres shrugged his shoulders and walked back to his TIE Defender where his wingman, Protector Vonnegut, was waiting.

"Ok Vonnegut, we head off for the castle in standard formation, do a quick fly-by of that mysterious castle, and then head home to base. Questions?"

"Just about the armament at the castle. The report says they appear to be extensive."

"Yep, and that’s one more reason to do this. Another is because I need the stick time and you need the practice. Now man your station and let’s fly!"

Lifting off, the two TIE Defenders speed off across the landscape and were soon in sight of the castle. Although both had read the reports on the large castle, they still couldn’t believe the size of it.

"Emperor's Blood, how could a primitive species build something that big?"

"My thoughts exactly, and the only answer I can think of is they can’t. Not without help."

Before either could speak further, the castle's turrets went active and started firing a barrage of laser-fire at the fighters. Both of them went into a wild-spin and then straight up as they attempted to climb out of the range of the guns. Escaping into orbit, the firing continued and then stopped for no reason. Deciding to head onto base, Torres checked his fighter for damage.

"Vonnegut, damage report."

"Shields are down, main fuel tank is leaking, tactical computer is offline and the launchers are damaged."

Acknowledging Vonnegut's report, Torres listed down his own damage. Shields were also down, all weapons except one ion cannon were either destroyed or damaged, and life support was showing signs of failing.

"Torres to base. I am currently enroute to base, with Vonnegut in formation as well. We did a fly-by of the castle, but their defenses managed to score a few good hits. Vonnegut's shields and tactical computer are down while I've lost my shields and life support is in danger of failing. Request support."

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

The QUA walked slowly through the Control Center of the asteroid base that Tridens was temporarily calling home. He made a show of examining each station, but inwardly he was reflecting on another matter entirely. Suddenly one of the communications techs quickly walked up, holding a recently decoded message on a data  pad.

"Sir, this just came in, and was marked urgent from the PCON."

The QUA nodded and took the offered data pad, and after examining the message for a few moments immediately called the Office on Duty.

"LCM, contact SBL Nightflyer and tell him to report back here immediately. When he arrives escort him to my office immediately."

The LCM nodded and headed off to see to his new duties. QUA let out a heavy sigh and began walking to his office. Along the way he saw technicians and Sub-Zero pilots hurrying about their assigned duties. As he neared his office he ran into DA Harconan from HammerHead.

"Harc, got a second?"

Harconan turned and nodded, following the QUA down the corridor.

"Harc, I want you to take the rest of HammerHead down to the surface and link up with the team already down there. I think Sub-Zero can handle the air operations for the time being, and I've asked for some temporary pilots to be assigned from the SSD Avenger, and they will be arriving in a few hours. Darklighter is going to need all the assistance he can get in the next few days."

Harconan was one never to say much, and simply bowed and proceeded to collect his charges and head out for his duties. Striker finally reached his office and entered. As the door slid shut he welcomed the peace and quiet for a moment, then set his mind to the task ahead. He sat at his desk and then activated his comm system.

"LT, inform SW Torres I'll want to see him in about an hour."

"Yes sir, he will be notified immediately."

Striker sat back in his chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling the beginnings of a headache developing. Closing his eyes he concentrated on the minor pain and within seconds the pain disappeared.

Thirty minutes later the sensors outside the QUA's office indicated that he had a visitor.

"Come in Nightflyer."

The AED stepped into the office and then took the chair offered by the QUA.

"I have received a communiqué from Proconsul Proton requesting you return home as soon as possible. No further details were given other than to say you were being transferred to a new Sith House for other duties. Your transport leaves in 20 minutes. Be sure your on it."

SBL Nightflyer nodded and stood to leave. He hesitated a moment, as if about to say something, but then turned and left to head off to pack his bags. Striker sat back in his chair; now realizing he wished he had brought some different furniture at times like these. Then he walked over to a cabinet and opened the upper half, which contained a hidden bar. He found a bottle of Corellian Whiskey, nearly 150 years old and decided that it had aged enough. Pouring himself a large glass of the brownish liquid, he allowed it to breath for a moment, and then swiftly downed the contents in a single gulp. The remaining bottle was placed back in the cabinet and then Striker activated the security lock he kept on his personal cabinet to prevent intruders from helping himself to his personal alcohol stash.

He returned to his desk and began working through some important documents that had piled up recently. Well, they were marked important and urgent, but they were the usual tiresome operational reports that he always received every shift. A short while later the sensors announced another visitor, and Striker called for them to enter. This time it was SW Torres, looking somewhat shocked to have been summoned to the QUA's office so suddenly.

"Have a seat Torres."

Torres stepped forward and took a seat, immediately noticing the uncomfortable nature of the chair, and struggling to hold back a grimace at his discomfort. Striker on the other hand couldn't help but let a small smile cross his face at the obvious discomfort of his visitor.

"I really should throw out this archaic furniture, it really is becoming uncomfortable." Striker commented with an air of amusement in his voice.

"I'd agree sir, but where would you get new furniture now?"

"The Avenger is due to arrive in about two hours, why don't you see what you can scrounge up for me."

"Yes sir. I was told you wanted to see me?"

"Torres I won't beat around the bush on this one. SBL Nightflyer has been sent back to Clan Headquarters. His transport has already left, which means I need to find a new Aedile immediately. Your name keeps coming up in my reports with the excellent work you've been doing in recent months. Therefore I have decided you will be my new AED effective immediately."

Torres sat staring at his QUA, not believing his ears. He expected, like many did, that when they were summoned to the QUA's office it was never good. But this was beyond anything he could have hoped for. In a single instant he had become the Second in Command of House Tridens.

"May I ask why Nightflyer was sent home sir?"

"No, and I won't ever say either, except to add that the Clan Summit agreed with the reasons for his removal and have also endorsed my selection of a new AED." Striker suddenly stood, his right hand stretched out towards his newly appointed AED. "Congratulations Torres, I know we'll make a great team."

Torres accepted his QUA's handshake and then returned to his seat.

"We have some matters to discuss about the recent reports and scans of the system and planet below. Care for a drink first AED?"

Torres was quick to accept the drink, especially since he had never had a drink in the QUA's presence before. Striker walked back to his cabinet and disengaged the security device. Then he poured two glasses of the recently opened whiskey and returned to his desk, handing a glass to Torres. Torres accepted the glass and looked up at Striker.

"To a long and fulfilling reign over House Tridens!" Striker raised his glass, and Torres did the same. Both swiftly drank the contents of their glasses. But it was Torres who had the look of surprise on his face.

"Corellian Whiskey? I've never had any that tasted this good, it must be at least 100 years old."

"153 years to be exact, and just opened earlier. Care for another glass?" Striker said with a broad smile on his face. Torres nodded his agreement and headed off to refill their glasses. He was definitely going to like working with Striker from now on in the House Summit.

When Torres returned Striker activated a control on the side panel of his desk and a holoscreen appeared. It showed the Andevia system, the location of the asteroid base, and more importantly, the recently scanned area about 35,000 klicks away from the planet.

"GRD Clark and his flight group just returned from scanning this area marked in red a short while ago. For some strange reason we noticed that the probes sent into that area to take sensor readings had all immediately failed. It was assumed that maybe the probes had failed or were reacting to some type of interference. However, with all things not being as they are in this system recently, I decided it was time to take a hands-on look and sent Clark out to investigate personally. I also had the shields on his fighters reinforced just in case. Turns out it was the right idea, because they all barely made it back. Their systems were seriously damaged or drained, but we were able to get some pretty clear readings from their sensor logs during the time their shields were still operational."

Suddenly the holoscreen changed its view and zoomed in to that particular area of space.

"What their sensor logs revealed was rather interesting to say the least. It appears that the NR has once again been working on a cloaking system similar in design to the prototyped destroyed two years ago by the TIE Corps. But, this one has been modified to project a highly intensive ION field as well to disable any craft that wander into its operating area. It appears that the NR maybe behind the mysterious disappearance of our EH colony on Andevia."

"But sir, didn't earlier scans detect an energy signature of a much bigger ship in the system around the same time of the disappearance?"

"Yes they did, and that's what troubles me even more, is that if what I'm putting together from all collected data so far is correct, the NR have a new class of ship that is equal to the SSD Sovereign. Which means we need to find that ship and get what information we can about it. I have sent a dispatch to the Sith High Warrior regarding this matter, and he has sent back word that he will be dispatching Battle Teams from other Sith Houses to scout and recon surrounding systems and sectors to see if any sign of this ship can be found. In the meantime GRD Clark is preparing some battle plans to attack the cloaking field out there and give us a look at what it is hiding. But you have a new assignment AED, you are to take a transport down to the surface with the rest of HammerHead. DA Harconan has already received instructions to gather the rest of the Battle Team and prepare them for transport to the planet. I want you to oversee the investigation firsthand down there and report back anything out of the ordinary. DO NOT let anyone interfere with your operations on the planet."

Torres allowed a short smile to spread across his face, realizing instantly who the QUA meant by "anyone".

"Sir, there won't be any problems, of that I can guarantee."

"That's good to hear. When you arrive planet side you will receive an update from GRD Darklighter about what they have recently learned from the Andevians. They have proven most cooperative in helping us so far. But beware, they are very Force sensitive, so take nothing for granted."

"Yes sir, I will keep that in mind. Will that be all?"

"Yes, and do me a favor, bring back our pilots in one piece. They are eager to prove themselves, but you know as well as I do they still have a lot to learn about the ways of the Dark Side."

Torres nodded his understanding then headed out to gather his remaining team and leave the base. Striker sat back in his chair once again, this time convinced that things were going to go much smoother from now on in House Tridens.

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

MD stood at the temporary "pad" the house had set up for shuttles and fighters to land, waiting for the AED to return along with the rest of his squad. He couldn't figure out what he was doing down on the ground, he wasn't a bodyguard, and after seeing that mysterious castle he didn't feel very comfortable with only a training saber to defend himself. He wished he was back up in his fighter, even recon and patrol was better than this! Better to figure this mystery out in a heavy fighter than in your underpants in a giant mud hole waiting for your cloths to dry each night.

The AED’s shuttle appeared over the horizon with a few TIE’s flying escort and a few minutes later the shuttle landed on the pad. The ramp came down and MD went too meet back with the AED.

"Hey Torres, were is the AED?" MD asked as the dark figure came down.

"You are looking at him, I was just given the position."

"Congratulations sir! So will I be with you? Me and Nightflyer were working on the castle area..."

"No, Striker thinks that should be left alone for the time being. And any way, I have a job for you. Think you could con some chairs out of the SSD Avenger?"

"Yes sir, why?"

"Well Striker wants new chairs and the SSD Avenger is on its way. Good enough for you?" Torres replied sarcastically.

"Yeah... can I use ANY means necessary?" MD asked with a sparkle in his eyes, "I won't do to much damage. Please?"

"Ok, maybe I should send some one else to do that job. Hehe, can't have you terrorizing the Brotherhood flagship."

"Crud, I should have just gone," MD replied, disappointed that he lost his chance to prank the crew of the mighty Avenger. "So what do you want me to do now?"

"Same as every one else, prove that we can do the job better than those mud Stormtroopers next door. We need some answers and we need them soon"

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

Still a bit overwhelmed by the promotion, Torres decided that the fighters would remain behind while the Sith went on foot.

"Ok Jedi, time to move. Flight 1, take flanking positions, Flight 2 point, and Flight 3 rear-guard. No risks people. Darklighter, report on the way."

As the Sith moved into position, Torres glanced up at the sky where his former wingmen were preparing to take out the NR cruiser. Even though his Space Marine training had been on ground combat, he had come to appreciate flying and missed it in times like this. But orders were orders and all wars were won by the ground-pounder.

"Move out. Report!"

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“Striker here, go ahead Rekio.”

“You won’t believe what I found.”

“It isn’t an energy absorbing castle by any chance is it?”

“What!?!?”

“Never mind, what do you have for me?”

“I found the Andevians. And they seemed to have met Dark Jedi Master Kem-Shu Maeda and the rest of EF-A94. Also it seems there were other military officers on the planet talking to the natives. Form the descriptions, it seems there was a COL from an unknown force talking to them.”

“Very good young GRD. I’m pleased with the progress you’ve made ……” the QUA trailed off.

“Something wrong Master?”

“These events on the ground don’t match up with what the pilots are finding from flying their patrols.”

“I’ll see what I can uncover down here. Should I report to the AED?”

“Yes contact Torres and inform him of what you have told me.”

“As you wish Master.”

As the transmission ended, Rekio pulled out a data pad and began to enter and retrieve data rapidly. It had been uploaded with all his information he had collected while in the EH, including enemy profiles. He did a search on NRN COL’s and didn’t see and promising results. He rubbed his chin as he pulled up some data on the nearest NR’s nearest Battle Group.

“VA Seth Kahler,” he thought to himself. “He was in the Battle of Endor, and commands a Battle Group of the Outer Rim. Bah! This isn’t enough to make any logical conclusions.”

He stood up and walked back to the Andevian camp. Rekio found himself impressed by the Force potential of the primitive people. The Andevians were a primitive nomadic population. They were organized into tribes, which were headed by chiefs. Shamans were Eldred Andevians with great powers, and were well respected among the people. And he hadn’t learned much more than that.

When he arrived at the tribe’s camp he was once again greeted by their chief Kinneas.

“Welcome back. Grekag was expecting you.”

Grekag was the High Shaman. He possessed a great deal of knowledge and was (in Rekio’s opinion) equal in power to a DJM.

“Welcome young Knight of the Dark Ones, I thought that you might be coming back.”

“Yes I must learn more before I can unravel this mystery that has unfolded before us.”

As Grekag began to speak, Kinneas interrupted, “We must be moving soon. The local tribes are at war with us and it is best if we keep going.”

“Where will you be going?” Rekio inquired.

“We are nomads … we shall move to where we have not been.” That was the answer Rekio got, but he didn’t trust Kinneas. He knew he was hiding something, but what was it …

“Yes,” Rekio nodded “I would like to follow you in you travels.”

“Very well,” Grekag agreed before Kinneas could object. “So it shall be.”

As Rekio traveled with the tribe, he took time to find about the planet and the history of the people. He found that several of the local women were indeed very beautiful by anyone’s standards. He learned that the history of the people was founded on mystical powers of what he felt and believed to be the Force.

After another day of travel the tribe stopped to make camp and Rekio took the opportunity to speak with Grekag alone.

“I thought you might come when we stopped,” he said in a slow and calm voice.

“What is Kinneas holding back?”

“He doesn’t want to tell you about our troubles. We have been a pacifist tribe for many generations, but with his inexperience the other clans are trying to tear us down.”

“I see ..”

“We met your friends as they were exploring our planet. And then others showed up and your friends were gone.”

“ Can you tell me anything else about why my ‘friends’ disappearance, or about what the others were after when they came to you?”

“I’m not sure but some nice young woman came to test us for something she said was very important,” the old man said with a smug grin on his face.

“The Force … “ Rekio whispered to himself.

“Thank you for your time. I must report to my QUA now.” Rekio nodded then turned and walked away.

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While Rekio was investigating the matter with the Andeavian’s, and the rest of Hammerhead under the leadership of AED Torres was still searching the surface for some clues, the Sub Zero team along with the Avenger techs was trying to find a way to neutralize the Ion field encountered earlier by the Battle Team.

After detailed analysis of SZ T/Ds sensor readings the technicians form SSD Avenger came up with the solution: The Ion filed is based on a Sine wavelength, which is constant in time. They figured that it might be possible to create a device that emits the waves of reversed polarity that would attenuate the original wave so it would be harmless to the fighters systems.

"OK Siths, here's the deal:" said GRD Clark entering the briefing room, the rest of SZ was there already.

"The techs form Avenger found a way of neutralizing the Ion field we encountered during our previous mission. The only thing is that they are not sure if it works...so I need a volunteer."

Silence....not a single sound in the briefing room.

"GRD Vortoq maybe you would like to volunteer?"

Vortoq stood up and bowed.

"Yes my Master." But if someone could have seen his face during the bow they would have seen he was not happy of the CMDRs selection of a "volunteer".

An hour later the device that the techs called "The Wave Nullifier" was installed onboard Vortoq’s T/D.

"Vortoq to control. Requesting permission to leave hangar."

"Permission granted SZ 2-4. You will be escorted by the SZ team until the border of the Ion field."

"Roger control."

A few short hyper jumps later SZ was closing on the Ion field....

"SZ Leader to Vortoq, we can't go any further. You are on your own now. We will be waiting for you here. Good luck and may the Dark Side guide you."

"Roger SZ Leader, activating the wave nullifier now. It appears that the system is working but its energy drain is enormous!!! My speed is down to 80!!!"

"Roger, understood. You have permission to enter the field."

"Here goes nothing. Entering the field...now....."

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"Vortoq to Leader.... SZ 2-4 to SZ Leader come in... Vortoq to Clark please respond." A brief thought slipped thought Vortoq’s mind: “The field must have jammed the comm or the Wave nullifier is disturbing it. I'll have to record everything in case of....”

"GRD Vortoq, Sub Zero Squadron, Tridens of Tarentum - mission log. The comm is down so I’ll be recording everything. I'm about 10 km inside the field... lost radar contact with the rest of SZ, no signs of anything... 20 km inside the Field, got a weak reading of something, but can't get an ID.... 28 km inside the zone ID’d the object - looks like an Imperial ATR - well at least what's left of it... 35 km inside the Field, another reading, this time of a large object... 52 km inside, The object is an Asteroid base - distance 13.4 km and closing, it appears that it is the center of the field... 5 km to The Asteroid - it is some sort of a base, sensors got a NR ID code, arming weapons... 2 km to Asteroid sensors didn’t spot any laser batteries or missile launchers, only one hangar for shuttles... no fighters spotted, closing in... Just passed the Asteroid, I can now see remnants of a Golan platform on the other side of the Asteroid, probably the base defenses... still no sign of the NR forces or any other hostiles...
Attempting to make a close flyby to the asteroid to attempt use Life Sense... Made it to the other side of the asteroid. There seems to be about 50 people on the Asteroid base... Done all I could ... returning to rendezvous with the SZ team... 53 km form the Asteroid got radar contact with the SZ fighters, still no comm..... Left the Field... Vortoq to SZ Leader, do you copy?"

"This is SZ Leader, good to see you back in one piece... find anything?"

"Yes, but let’s get back to base, don't want to risk anyone intercepting the transmission..."

"Roger SZ 2-4, take your place in the formation and prepare for hyperspace jump."

Some time later all 12 fighters of SZ landed in the hangar of the Tridens temporary base.

QUA Striker was already on the hangar deck waiting for them.

"Greetings GRD" - he addressed Vortoq.

"My Master" - replied Vortoq and took a deep bow.

"Found something interesting?"

"Yes my Master, a NR base on an asteroid from which the field is being emitted, near the base there were remnants of a Golan station, and en route I encountered the wreckage of an Imperial ATR, the ID code suggests it was assigned to EF-A94s fleet. There are about 50 life forms on the asteroid, I didn't encounter any fighters, the base had also no defenses."
”Interesting..." was the only thing Striker said and headed towards the turbolift.

Vortoq stood there for a while not knowing what to think of the Quaestor’s behavior, and finally followed his team members to the SZ quarters.

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Quaestor Striker sat at his desk, pouring over the countless reports and data from the recent recons from the space patrols, and the team on the planet. Something wasn’t making any sense about all this. He knew that there was one piece of information that was eluding them from finding out the truth of what happened, or was happening on Andevia. Suddenly something came to mind, and Striker hit the button for the Control Center.

“Yes sir, how can I be of service?” Responded a young Lieutenant by the name of Helak.

”LT, contact Guardian Rekio Corsair on his personal communicator and inform him that I want to see him back here ASAP. Also contact the Aedile and inform him his presence is requested here as well.”

“Aye sir, I’ll notify them at once,” and the screen went blank.

An hour later and both Sith brethren arrived and were seated in front of their House Quaestor.

“Rekio, what have you learned so far from our Andevian ‘friends’?”

Corsair paused for a moment, not sure how to understand his Quaestor’s use of the work “friends”.

“They appear to be quite ‘friendly’ sir. They have quite a talent for creating what they call ‘magic’, but from my evaluations they don’t quite have a grasp on the full potential of the Force as a people.”

“You reported to us recently several things that have proven useful during your time with the Andevians. But what I found most interesting was the fact that they had been visited by a woman that was testing their Force capabilities. I have been in contact with the Sith High Warrior and Intel and they are convinced, as I am, that Leia Organa Solo was the woman that came here. She and her traitorous brother have been actively seeking out beings that are strong in the Force to ‘recruit’ for their new Jedi program back on Coruscant. It would appear that they have taken an interest in our newly discovered friends. What troubles me is your report that the leader of the tribe you visited appears to know more than he’s cared to divulge. Therefore I have new orders for you Guardian, as well as for the Aedile. You both are to seek out these other tribes that have been mentioned. Learn what you can from them, and do it as quickly as possible. I want you to take Battlemaster Pel and Dark Prophet Kumba with you as well on this mission. Something tells me you’ll need all the help you can get, and both are highly experienced in getting information that we need. It goes without saying that I believe the Andevians you have been learning from are not what they seem, and there is a good reason why the other tribes have been hunting them. Lets just say that I don’t believe that this particular tribe is a peaceful as they claim to be, and may be in some way responsible for what happened to our missing colony. Oh, I’m sure they had help, and this is exactly what you will be going to find out. In the meantime I want the rest of HammerHead back up here on the station immediately. Torres inform the Battle Team Commanders that I want to see them the moment they are both on the station.”

“Yes sir, we will be leaving in 15 minutes, once I have gathered the necessary equipment and found Pel and Kumba.” Torres stood and quickly left the office. Corsair remained a moment, and then started to leave.

“Something bothering you Guardian?” Striker asked with a sense that something was troubling the young Sith.

“Not really sir. Well ok, a little. I’m just concerned about how our tactics might affect these people on the planet. We might be doing the wrong thing and provoking a response if we push them to hard for information.”

“Guardian, it is my intention to invoke a ‘response’ from whoever is behind all of this. Somehow I don’t think your going to mind the tactics being used once you see the results. Besides, consider this part of your training. You must learn to put aside your feelings for others in order to accomplish your mission. Focus on the task at hand and allow the Dark Side to lead you down the correct path. You have come far in a short time, and now is the opportunity for you to put your talents and skills to a real test outside of the training rooms.”

Corsair nodded his understanding.

”I won’t let you down Master.”

“I know you won’t Guardian, your path in the Dark Side has already been foreseen. It may be a hard path for you, but you will make the right decisions when the time comes. Carry on with your duties, and may the Dark Side be your ally.”

Guardian Corsair bowed again and then quickly left the office. Striker sat back and momentarily thought back to his earlier days as a Guardian. What a hard time that had been. Struggling with inner demons and emotions, and at the same time afraid to disappoint your Master, who had shown such great faith in you. He knew already that Rekio was going to go far in the Dark Side. And yet he understood the fear that dwelled inside the young man, but that fear would be enough to bring his true powers forward that laid yet undiscovered inside the young apprentice.

Now, if what he had guessed correctly about the Andevians and the New Republic were true, the new mission to the planet was bound to prove most enlightening. Striker walked across his office and looked over the chart of the surrounding system. A short time later both Battle Team Commander’s arrived and waited for their Master’s attention.

“Commander’s I have a task for you. I want you to listen carefully, because I have a little trap planned for our Republican ‘friends’, and everything needs to proceed according to plan. Guardian Clark, you will assemble Sub-Zero and transport over to the SSD Avenger. You will be shuttled over, but will return with some new fighters that we are temporarily borrowing. I have asked the Clan Summit to allow us the use of some TIE Phantoms for the duration of this mission, and she has approved my request. Guardian Darklighter, I realize you will departing once again for a special assignment, and that you will not be returning to HammerHead or House Tridens once you leave. But I have one last assignment for you before you do leave. You are to take HammerHead to the VSD Corsair, where you will join the Proconsul on a special mission to take out that Ion field. Proconsul Proton and I have discovered a way to use the deflector screens on the Corsair to send out an intensive energy wave to destabilize that Ion field. Your fighters are being outfitted with a new variation of that Null device that was hastily constructed recently. The new devices shouldn’t cause much of a drain on your systems, but just in case an additional generator has been added to help equalize the power consumption. Once the Corsair has knocked out the field your Squadron will then engage all enemy forces and defenses that appear.”

Guardian Darklighter had a shocked look on his face. “But sir, Vortoq’s recon already showed that there weren’t any defenses within the field.”

“Commander, believe me when I say that you’re team is about to find more than you bargained for when that field comes down. But your Squadron, along with the Avenger Squadron, should be more than enough to counter any enemy resistance. As for Sub-Zero, they will remain here, but on double-duty patrols until further notice. They will be augmented by flight groups from the SSD Avenger as well that are also being outfitted with TIE Phantoms. The purpose of the Phantoms is to allow us to hide our true numbers while on patrol. The Phantoms will remain cloaked at all times while on patrol, and only our standard TIE’s will be seen. Which means that when the NR forces arrive, they will incorrectly believe that our base is poorly defended. Want to guess what kind of a surprise will be waiting for them when they do arrive?” Striker finished with a dark and evil grin on his face. His Commander’s returned the evil smile and then swiftly bowed and headed off to their assigned duties.

The New Republic had no idea what it was in for, and would be surprised when they found themselves overwhelmed by deadly Dark Jedi’s in even deadlier fighters. What did trouble the Sith Warrior was the location of the missing colonists. Something was hiding them and preventing their presence from being detected. Striker couldn’t help but determine that the mysterious castle on the planet was involved somehow. But first he had to deal with a direct threat that was mostly known to him now, and in the end they could concentrate their full powers to determining where the colonists were being held. One thing he was convinced of, that wherever they were something had happened to the Dark Jedi Master Kem-Shu Maeda. That Dark Master had a reputation for being a vicious fighter, and unless he was dead or somehow incapacitated, you could be sure that his presence would be felt from far away. But for now, he had a real enemy to deal with, and one that was apparently heavily involved with the use of Light Jedi. The encounter to come was sure to be a bloody one, but the heavy cost and casualties would be owned by the New Republic. This time they were going to learn a very hard lesson from the Dark Jedi.

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

Leaving Wil's office, Torres headed for the new cantina that had just opened. Knowing pilots as well as he did, he was pretty sure BattleMaster Pel would be there, relaxing and enjoying whatever entertainment they had going on. Entering the cantina, he wasn't impressed. The lights were flickering, the air stank and it seemed something was growing in a vat. Sitting in a corner with a drink in one hand, while watching the latest news-vid, was Pel.

"Hey Pel, time to rock and roll!!!"

"Torres, relax. Sit down; take a load off your feet. Have a drink while you're at it."

"Very funny, Pel. Now move it before Kumba starts getting annoyed about having to wait."

Grumbling about over-eager Sith, Pel got up and followed Torres as he headed to the main hangar bay where a fighter from Hammerhead Squadron was landing. Seeing Kumba leaning against a shuttlecraft, with his arms crossed and looking quite annoyed, Torres sighed and walked over.

"Ok guys, let’s go. Pel, you've got weapons control and Kumba, you're piloting. I'll be reviewing the data we've collected so no bumps please?"

With that, the three Jedi entered the shuttle and soon after it took off with Guardian Rekio Corsair flying in his TIE Defender. Leaving the small gravity well of the base, the two craft made a short hyperspace jump and arrived at high orbit of Andevia.

"Ok guys listen up. I've located our 'friends' as well as possible locations for the other tribes. One seems to be close to that castle, but the others are more distant. We'll leave the one closest to the castle alone. I don't want to tangle with it's defenses if we can help. 10 klicks north of our 'friends' is a small tribe. That’s our target. Land just to their west on a small line of hills."

Moving quickly through the atmosphere, the two craft landed just beyond the tribe's sight, and the Dark Jedi moved into position. Scanning the area, the tribe seemed more of a settled group then nomadic which could be why they were attacking their 'friends'. But Torres never assumed anything was that simple and knew Wil wasn't telling the whole story. He shrugged his shoulders. Wil was entitled his games; Torres was entitled to the action.

"Corsair, you've got more experience dealing with these people. We'll move to the tribe and while Pel, Kumba and myself keep guard, see what you can get out of them. Remember we're not here to be nice. We need to locate the colonists and we need to find them now!"

Getting nods of agreement from the others, Torres started walking down the hill to the tribe.

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

Guardian Blackhero heard whispers and rumors about what was going on; interested in helping and getting in some action, Blackhero requested a transfer from OW Ziguarath.

"I know I just got reinstated, but I believe I can help Quaestor Striker".

"I know you can help, but you have not started training our members, when are...."

"Sorry Zig, but you know as well as I do that something is going to happen. Only a few people in the EH have a Tie Shadow and I am sure Striker can put it to good use".

With that Zigurath knew he could not deter Blackhero. With his Avenger training, there was nothing for this pilot to do but join his fellow brothers in battle.

"Hopefully Striker can use my skills and not let my fighter go to waste".... Blackhero was worried though, the TS was not battle tested and who knows how it would react out there. But one thing was for sure, even though late, Guardian Blackhero was not going to miss out on this.

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*"What do you mean get in? Look trooper, I am a Sith and I have orders to be here!" MD told the Stormtrooper looking back at him from the door of a chariot light assault vehicle.

"I know sir, but please listen. The VSD Corsair is sending a shuttle and they have requested that we round up all of your squadron for immediate retrieval. Come inside and I can show you the orders from your Commander."

"Fine but if you are lying you better be prepared to take on a Sith." MD said, hoping the young trooper didn't know that he was only a Guardian and couldn't REALLY hurt him if it was a lie.

MD climbed into the small hovercraft and went to the comm unit. He went checked the orders and sent a message to the comm frequencies listed for his Commander.

"Guardian Defender sir, what is going on? Some trooper just grabbed me off Striker's assignment and said you had new orders for me."

"Yes, Striker gave us some new orders. They found some kind of ion field up in space and we are going to take it out. My shuttle will be there in 30 minutes, make sure your trooper buddy gets you there on time."

"Yes sir Commander Darklighter." MD said bowing and turning off the comm. "Hey Stormy! Can't this thing go any faster? We have half an hour to round every one up and get back so step on it!"

 A short while later MD was sitting in his fighter listening for his name to be called by the tower. He made the final pre-flight checks and moved into position over the deck of the VSD Corsair's launch bay. He went to full throttle and let go of the air brakes and blasted down and out of the hangar doors. He lined up and called into his Commander.

"I'm here sir. When do we go in?"

"You'll know when Murkrow." his Commander replied, getting ready to strike.

MD checked all of his systems again, and got ready to fight. It was nice to be back in his fighter. Better than being on the ground with no real defense. That was a job for people with sabers, but not him, not for the time being any way. Then he read a large blast of energy from the VSD behind him and the ion field destabilized. That was the signal, he presumed. Putting full power to engines, he sped off.

"Hey Commander, you getting strange readings from that asteroid base? Wasn't it dead last time we came through? I have a really bad feeling about this."

"So do I Murkrow, so do I…"

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

As Guardian Blackhero entered Strikers office he could see the toll the situation was taking on Striker.

*Snaps to attention*

"Sir GRD Blackhero of House Cestus reporting for new orders".

Striker: "Relax and tell me why you are here again?"

"Nothing is going on right now so I decided to drop by, plus it has been awhile since I have been a Sith. Not to mention this will be the perfect test for my new fighter."

Striker, *Chuckles* "First good laugh since I have been here... Yes I have looked over the specs, very impressive indeed."

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As Rekio made his way to the Andevian tribe below, he couldn’t help but feel honored to be in the presence of Kumba and Pel as well as the Aedile. Although Rekio had met Pel in his time on the ISD Intrepid, he had seldom seen Kumba. Rekio knew very little of the two men other than they should have his complete and utmost respect.
Rekio cam upon the tribe’s camp and stopped as he saw the fearful look in the eyes of the Andevians. He knew his masters had told him to move past his emotions and invoke the people if necessary, but he felt it currently best to alter his intentions for the current situation.

“Greetings friends,” he said as he coaxed the Andevians into talking to him.

“Hello stranger,” one brave man spoke as he cautiously walked toward Rekio “We are the Polaris Tribe. You come from the skies do you not?”

“Yes I do. I am Guardian Rekio Corsair, a knight of the Dark Jedi” he rasped with a slight bow

“Knight Rekio, I am Kao,” he said with a humble grin.

“I have come to ask you some questions Kao. Some friends of mine have disappeared and I would like your help finding them.”

“Ahhh …. Yes. Several strangers have come our way. One was a knight such as you. They came and were chased away by more strangers.”

“Yes,” Rekio nodded solemnly, “Please tell me all you know …”

Day turned to night and Rekio returned to his elder Sith with all the information that could be gathered. Kumba locked glances with the young GRD as he approached. He waited until he had the others attention before he spoke.

“The Polaris Tribe has also confirmed seeing DJM Kem-Shu Maeda and the other members, with one exception: the RA in charge was not present with them. They appeared to have been on the run and we chased form the Polaris camp,” Rekio paused. “I have likewise been informed of accounts of NR troopers and our unidentified woman testing for their ‘magic’.”

“Very good Guardian,” Pel nodded.

“And their reasons for hunting the other tribe?” Kumba pressed.

“The Agartha Tribe is being pursued by the other Andevian tribes because they have violated an ancient pact and honors between tribes and taken a stranger to the ‘sacred place’. Which implies to be our infamous castle.”

Kumba looked at Rekio once again.

“…… The next tribe is the Taisodu. They are approximately 100 klicks from our current location …..”

“Very well we shall move to that location now,” Torres spoke as Pel and Kumba moved into the shuttle.

The two ships took off and speeded on their way to their location.

“SHU Dark Legacy, this is Shadow 1,” Rekio rasped, “I have confirmed a small patrol of NR troopers on my scanners.”

“Proceed to engage, Shadow 1”

“Roger that Dark Legacy …” Rekio trailed off.

“We’ll be waiting at our destination, Shadow 1.”

Rekio returned to his Sith masters once again, only this time with a half-conscience NR soldier. Rekio slugged the limp body to the ground.

“The other three are dead and I’m quite sure he wished he was right now too.”

“Quite impressive Guardian Corsair,” Torres interjected.

“I suppose all that time in the training rooms paid off …” Rekio said as a small smirk tugged at the sides of his face.

“Go relax for a moment Guardian. Dark Prophet Kumba and I shall take care of this,” Pel said as he clamped the limp NR trooper.

“And I shall report our good news to the Quaestor,” Torres said aloud as he walked off to inform Striker of the recent events.

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Sith Warrior Wil Striker sat listening to the report from his Aedile.

"Very good work Torres. Instruct Kumba to get everything his able to from the traitor, but warn him that I want that prisoner left alive! I'll want to have a few words with him soon. By the time Kumba and Pel are done with him he'll be very receptive to tell me everything I want to know."

Striker sat back and watched a dark smile appear on his Aedile's face.

"As you wish sir, we'll begin his "processing" immediately. We should be returning in a few hours once we've located the other two tribes and finished gathering our information. Guardian Rekio has been quite useful down here with his quickly learned knowledge of the Andevians culture and customs. What we have learned so far is that it is entirely possible that the Dark Castle may be the holding ground for the missing team. Where RA Dever is still remains a mystery, but from the information gathered so far it appears that she may have joined up with the NR team that tested these tribes recently. "

"Torres, quickly gather your information. If you find any leads to where RA Dever has gone pursue them with due diligence. I want her returned for a "debriefing" as soon as possible. It is quite apparent she is behind the disappearance of the EF-A94 team, and may have sold them out to the NR."

"I'm in agreement sir, and will proceed cautiously. I will keep you informed once we have met with the other tribes. Torres out."

Striker turned away from his comm console, focusing sharply on the House Crest mounted on the wall to the side of his desk. Outwardly he would appear calm to anyone, inside though a turmoil of anger was boiling, and the Sith Warrior used his meditation talents to focus that anger into a renewed energy. Moments later he was entirely focused on his plan of action. He bolted from his desk and entered the adjoining chamber where his private quarters were kept. He removed his traditional robes and quickly slipped on his battle robes.

Minutes later Striker was on the hangar floor, technicians and other officers bowing or saluting as he stormed across the deck to his fighter. As he neared his fighter a Lieutenant he didn't recognize appeared in front of him. The Lieutenant hesitated for a moment when he was the look on the Quaestor's face, but for a brief moment he found the courage to speak to the Dark Master in front of him.

"SIr! The VSD Corsair has just reported that the Ion field is down and Sub-Zero and Avenger Squadron are beginning their attack on the NR platform. It is also reported that the our fighters are outnumbered 4 to 1 by advanced NR fighters and assault craft. They are requesting additional orders."

"Inform the Corsair that I will be joining them shortly."

The Lieutenant looked after the Quaestor as he seemed to leap directly into his waiting fighter. He hesitated a moment longer then scurried off to relay the message. By the time the message had been relayed from the Control Center, Warrior Wil Striker had already launched and was about to enter hyperspace for the jump to the VSD Corsair's current location. The officers in the Control Center watched as the Quaestor's personal TIE Phantom disappeared into hyperspace, knowing that the future did not hold well for the NR forces on the other side.

A short while later a lone TIE Phantom emerged from hyperspace, about 7 klicks away from the VSD Corsair. Ahead could be seen the explosions and laser blasts of an intense dogfight. Sith Warrior Wil Striker had not seen such action except in the reports of the Battle of Endor. But he was sure that this time the NR wasn't going to find themselves the victors. He adjusted his shields to increase his speed, and within minutes was joining the elegant ballet of spiraling and twisting fighters as the Dark Brotherhood and the New Republic attempted to each gain an advantage over the other.

Suddenly another TIE Phantom came alongside Striker's.

"SZ-1 to Shadow Hunter, do you copy?"

"Shadow Hunter here. I see you have your hands full John, need a hand?"

"Wouldn't mind that at all sir! As you can see there's plenty of kills around for everyone."

"Not for long my Jedi Hunter, not for long', Striker hissed as he suddenly pulled his fighter into a tight loop and swept in behind a pair of A-wings attempting to jump a fighter from Avenger Squadron. He reset his energy settings to increase the power to his lasers, and with a single pull of the trigger the powerful lasers of his TIE Phantom suddenly turned one of the A-wings into space debris. A large chunk of fuselage spiraled out and impacted with the other A-wing, momentarily knocking the tiny fighter off course. When the pilot attempted to correct, Striker slipped in behind him and let loose another volley, quickly destroying the fighter. His threat tracker informed him that there was an enemy craft attempting to get a missile lock on him.

"Foolish rebel", he thought to himself. And with movements that only a well trained veteran Dark Jedi pilot could perform, Striker's TIE was suddenly facing around the opposite direction and rapidly closing the distance on the enemy fighter. Seconds later and the fighter was but a memory, but only a fleeting one as Striker sought out his next targets.

The NR was quickly loosing its advantage, and a lot of fighters in the process. Striker looked at his tactical display and watched with satisfaction as his Dark Jedi quickly removed one enemy fighter after another from the targeting area. Today was going to be a good day for the Dark Jedi, and today they would find answers to what had happened on Andevia!

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MD armed his ion cannons and started into the area that would soon be a battle zone.

"I am reading that the NR outnumbers us 4 to 1! Are you sure this mission is still on CMDR?" MD asked his Commander.

"Yes Murkrow, we have to get rid of these rebels. Any ideas?"

"Yes sir, my favorite strategy is to spray ion into them and make them collide with each other, gets rid of their advantage pretty fast. Better tell the rest of the squad fast, they are only 4 clicks out, and they will have missile lock on us soon", MD said with some urgency in his voice. What ever the rebels were doing around here, they weren't messing around.

Dodging some early missiles launched with no lock, MD chose a fighter to take out and aimed directly for it. The missile indicator flashed and MD switched to lasers just long enough to get 3 shots off to take out the missiles coming at him. Then, from the entire squadron a wave of brilliant blue light lanced out and covered the rebel ships in a cloud of ion splash from their shields. The like fire on water, brilliant explosions emerged from behind the NR fighters as the next wave crashed into them. Those lucky enough to escape the blockade of derelict fighters met up with a blade of emerald light as Hammerhead sent lasers into the mix of crushed metal, exploding oxygen and failing shields.

"Good news is, we got their advantage down to 2 to 1 bad new is they still have us, 2 to 1, so what do we do now?" MD announced to the squadron, still acting as if he was partly in control of his old squadron.

"Well you could distract them for a bit as they lose a few more fighters from behind", came the familiar voice of Commander John Clark of Sub-Zero.

"What?!? Where are you guys? I don't see you on my scopes, how did you get behind these scum bags any way?" MD asked, not even giving his own Commander a chance to get a word in.

"Just distract them, we will do the rest", Clark responded back.

Not one to argue in battle, MD put his fighter through a gut wrenching maneuver that combined a snap roll, half loop and another series of climbing reverse snap and barrel rolls. As a result MD found a NR pilot trying to follow him by snapping up and coming in on his tail as he climbed. Guessing that this hot shot didn't know what he was up against, Murkrow had no problems in catching him. MD stopped his turn and pulled hard up and to the side, then as he pulled out of the turn he hit the brakes and stopped. As the A-Wing blasted by, trying to avoid the ship stopped in space, Murkrow armed his missiles and let one go into the A-Wings tail pipe. Then having gotten rid of the immediate problem, Murkrow turned to see were Sub-Zero was. Suddenly they appeared out of no were, 12 TIE Phantoms decloaking behind the unsuspecting New Republic pilots. Suddenly seeing what was going on, MD pulled his ship around and went as fast as he could to get on the other side of the NR ships. As he emerged into the barrage of laser fire that was going back and forth from the New Republic ships to the Sith fighters and vise versa, he watched his sensors as 24 torpedo's plowed into the back ends of the rebel fighters.

Then every thing became a blur, a wave of adrenaline washed over him and his Jedi senses kicked in and Murkrow launched himself into the dog fight which had become more of a cloud of fire than the organized strike that was originally planed.

"Good job Tridens, looks like they’re almost gone." Striker suddenly announced from out of nowhere.

"Holy monkey! Were did you come from Striker?" MD yelped, surprised to see his Quaestor's ship appear on the Heads Up Display replacing the A-Wing he’d just put away.

"I wasn't going to let my position and the supposed New Republic advantage stop me from flying today. Any way, I need anyone in a TIE Defender to capture some prisoners, I think that Assault Frigate will do nicely." Striker replied, obviously with a huge evil grin on his face under the mask.

"You got it, Hammerhead, target me with missiles and when I tell you to, launch them at me." MD announced to his squadron as he turned towards the bulky frigate that hadn't done anything so far but sit behind the fighters, probably as a back up or last defense for the base that was probably being evacuated by now. He locked on to the weapons systems and fired into the targeting computers. Turbo laser blasts lanced out at him but none hit. His fighter was dancing in and out of the barrage of light.

"NOW! FIRE MISSILES AND THEN COME IN WITH ION!" MD Shouted to his squadron as the missile warning alarm started to sound in his helmet. He watched the giant shield generator of the huge bulky ship loom in closer as he approached, then he snapped the fighter sideways to dodge and let the tail of missiles behind him blow up the huge sphere.  He then quickly turned around to add his own ion blasts to the wave of ion shots from his squadron.

"The is the Corsair, Assault Frigate disabled, we are pulling it in now. Stop those escaping shuttles and get back to the dogfight if it is still going. Good job Hammerhead."

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As Avenger hyperspaced back to the VSD Aggressor, GRD Blackhero stayed behind as he escorted Striker back to the hangar.

"Wil, I have an anomaly showing up on the sensor, it is faint but with the circumstances around us I feel it is worth looking at, if I need something disabled I would like at least one transport to disable it. Looks like some traffic has been passing by it."

"Roger Blackhero, but don't go getting into any trouble, I don't need to be rescuing you", Striker said with a smile.

The Tie Shadow was loaded by a tug with some more missiles, this time heavy rockets, because if anything there were going to be some fireworks somewhere.
There was something funny out there. It wasn’t big enough to be a hidden base, so it could either be a fighter or caused by something from the planet Andevia.

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After receiving Wil's new instructions, Torres nodded to Kumba to start interrogating the traitor while the two ships slowly flew to the next tribe. Deciding to stay out of sight, he sent Rekio on to meet the two tribes, and waited on Kumba to complete his assignment. Hours passed as they waited, and then Kumba broke out of his trance, putting the traitor to sleep.

"So what did you learn?"

"Well Wil was right. Dever did betray the team and the traitor does believe the team is being held in the Castle. The problem is that Dever managed to convince a couple of the team members that the Empire was gone and their only chance of survival was with the Rebels."

"Good work, Kumba. I thought this was unusual. Anything on the Dark Jedi assigned to the team?"

"Nothing. Completely vanished. According to the traitor, that’s the one thing Dever fears can overcome the Castle's defenses."

Torres nodded as Kumba finished his report. Dever was right in fearing the Dark Jedi, as nothing could stop them once they start a mission. Before he could make a decision, Rekio contaced the team on the shuttle and made his report.

"Ok good news. The two tribes had visits from the Rebels, who were lead by an Imperial Admiral. We don’t have many of them around so I think you know who it could be. Also the second tribe's leader did indicate that the Castle defenses were aimed at orbital targets and that any ground attacks would be handled by ground troops. I'm heading back to base as ordered. Rekio out."

Considering Rekio's report, Torres plotted a course back to the main base and opened a com-link to the asteroid base.

"AED to QUA. I've got a confirmed sighting of Dever allied with the Rebels. I repeat, Dever has betrayed the Empire. According to what we've got, Dever is holding the team in the Castle with the support of 2 members. We've got one of the traitors now, so she's down to one supporter. Also Rekio reports that the Castle's defenses are being aimed at orbital targets so I think its time we got the whole House down here and lead the Stormtroopers on an attack of the Castle. We're heading back to the base so I expect to see you when we arrive. Torres out."

Smiling as he flew back, Torres could barely contain the thrill of battle. Pretty soon, they would have Dever in their hands and the team would be able to explain what happened. Of course, he planned to shake the dust of this accursed planet off his shoes and be back home.

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“Clark to the Corsair, we are going after the shuttles. OK, Sub Zero split into flights and destroy the shuttles, but remember to inspect them before destroying them, there might be someone important aboard.”

”Sub Zero 3-1, roger that.” It was Guardian Vortoq, who had become a Flight leader just a couple of hours before the assault, and now he had led his flight to the biggest fight the Sith had seen for a long time. It was a great feeling to finally be in charge, to be able to follow his own plans and tactics. Now he led his flight after a group of 3 escort shuttles preparing for the hyper jump about 3 klicks from them.

”I’m going in to inspect them, when I signal each one of you will take one of them understood?”

All flight 3 pilots confirmed their orders and then Vortoqs TIE Phantom cloaked and headed towards the shuttles, while the rest of his flight slowed down a bit to give their leader some time.

Vortoq had no problem in inspecting the shuttles – he loved Phantoms almost as much as Defenders, they’re cloaking was excellent!

”Vortoq here, just some crew aboard... no one important – take them out!”

A minute later and the shuttles were space debris.

”Vortoq to Clark, no targets in sight, requesting new orders.”

‘Not much left to do Vortoq, take your flight for a close inspection of the asteroid base, maybe you will find something.”

‘Roger Sub-Zero leader, heading towards the asteroid.”

Four TIE Phantoms approached the disabled base on the large asteroid. The base had taken some heavy damage form the Corsair while its ion field was being disabled. After a slow flyby Vortoq reported back.

”Vortoq to Clark. The base is badly damaged, but I’ve sensed about 10 life forms close to the hangar bay, requesting permission to land with my flight and investigate the matter.”

”Vortoq let the troopers do the boarding job... we have more interesting things to do besid...”

”But Master, the Corsair is busy with that Assault Frigate HammerHead disabled. I’m sure they have no troops to spare, and there are only 10 people down there, and we are Sith. We could use some battle exercise.”

”Well OK.... You have my permission to land and investigate the matter, Clark out!’”

”GREAT!”, Vortoq thought to himself, “now we’ll have some REAL FUN!”

”Entering the hangar... I think there are some people behind those blast doors, wait...”

Vortoq’s TIE levitated above the hangar floor, turned towards the doors and a burst of laser fire literally vaporized the doors.

”Now it’s clear. Enter the hangar and land.”

A couple of minutes later, Guardian Vortoq and three Protectors, with blasters and training lightsabers, were standing in the hangar of the NR base.

”OK. Follow me.”

They headed towards the destroyed door, after stepping through the remnants they saw three corpses, or what was left of them. Apparently it was the main corridor to the base. Deeper inside they noticed a sign that read ‘BRIDGE’, it was lying in front of the half-opened doors. They carefully entered the room with blasters ready, but the room was empty, none of the computer consoles worked. They were about to leave when Protector Vonnegut found a hard copy of the base engineering plans.

”Good work Protector, it will be useful.”

They located the computer core on the engineering plans and headed towards it.

”I wonder were the rest of the people are? There should be at least 7 of them left.” Vonnegut quietly asked his Flight Leader.

”Keep quiet, lets not give our presence away!” Vortoq barked back at his pilot.

They were slowly moving towards the computer core when they heard voices from the not so distant room. A quick look at the plan and it became clear – on the plan the room was marked as ‘TOP SECRET’, but it was next to the engineering section, so the conclusion was obvious: it was the ion field generator room and someone was trying to fix it.

A few hand signs later and the Sith were ready to enter the room.

”NOW!”’ shouted Vortoq.

The four Jedi’s made quick work out of the five technicians. And more importantly they didn’t fire a single shot. It was a good thing that they took their training sabers with them.

‘You three check the engineering section, I’ll take care of this thing.” Vortoq ordered.

The Protectors bowed and left the room.

Vortoq looked at the device. It was badly damaged and was extremely large – there was not a chance it could be taken to the Corsair. Vortoq took a step back and cut it to pieces with his lightsaber. He was admiring his handiwork when he heard a blaster shot from the corridor. He quickly moved that way, passing the engineering section and headed towards the computer core. He saw Vonnegut standing in front of the doors.

”What happened?!?”

”We killed another Rebel and ...”

”And?”

”Take a look sir.” Vonnegut replied.

Vortoq entered the room. One of the Protectors was busy with the dismounting of the data storage unit and the other was guarding a prisoner – a female in the uniform of a NR Colonel. Vortow approached the prisoner.

”Name!”

The Protector guarding the prisoner looked at Vortoq, because the Guardians voice was much more terrifying then usual.

The woman looked at him and said, “Colonel Ris Olaru of the New Republic.” Her voice sounded proud, too proud.

Vortoq looked at her with the most evil of his evil looks and smiled, but it was a terrifying smile.

”I’ve got the data storage unit another Protector announced to Guardian Vortoq.”

”Very well Protector.” said Vortoq and hit the Colonel so that she passed out and wouldn’t be any bother to the team while transporting her back to the Corsair.

”Now let’s get back to our ships.”

Half an hour later they were aboard the VSD Corsair, technicians had taken care of the data unit, and Colonel Olaru was placed under the escort of the Dark Troopers where she was then taken to the prison sector of the ship.

Clark was still on patrol and since the Quaestor was here, Vortoq decided to report directly to him.

When Vortoq entered Strikers office, he found the QUA sitting behind the desk and looking at a data pad.

”I’m waiting guardian...” said Striker, without even looking at the young one.

‘Master, my flight has boarded the NR asteroid base. We recovered the data storage unit; the technicians are on it as we speak. I’ve also destroyed the remnants of the ion generator as it was too large to remove form the station.” After each statement the QUA nodded slightly, but his sight was still focused on the data pad.

”We also took a prisoner sir. It is Colonel Ris Olaru. Our records indicate that she is a member of the NR intelligence and has something to do with some research projects, including Force detection. I believe she might be the one who was visiting the natives on Andevia. She might also be responsible for the ion field generator project.”

”Excellent work Guardian. Now take a look at this.” Striker handled him the data pad.

There was a Calamari cruiser on it, a little bit different in shape, but it surely was a Calamari. He was about to handle the pad back to Striker when the QUA told him to look at the next screen. Vortoq touched a button and an image of the SSD Avenger appeared, he pushed the button one more time and the two images merged into one. Vortoq’s face became almost white.

”Master, the scale is surely wrong! This Calamari is twice as big as the SSD!”

‘There is nothing wrong with the scale. This... this… THING is that big. It’s the new NR ship. This image was recovered form the sensor logs of that Frigate we captured an hour ago. Now get some rest, you will need it soon.”

Votoq bowed and left the room without saying a single word. He was shocked...

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As Blackhero headed for the strange occurrence, he noticed an object. "Looks like some space debris, but I will check it out anyway. Getting a strange feeling inside.”

On closer inspection, Blackhero revealed that it was a strange fighter, sort of a merging of craft.

"This is GRD Blackhero to unidentified craft, identify yourself!"

The person in the craft replied, "Do not interfere with things you have no knowledge of young one!”

Feeling a surge of darkness from the craft, Blackhero knew what was coming and put his full shields forward. The pilot of that fighter was trying to use heavy lasers and some Force techniques to damage the TIE Shadow.

"You have been trained well GRD, meet me on that asteroid and maybe we shall talk."

Blackhero followed this mysterious pilot to a neighboring asteroid, which looked to be a small hidden base. Once the pilot exited his craft he knew that this was the missing Dark Jedi. But what was he doing, and what did he know?

"You should not search for answers you do not have questions for." The Dark Jedi smugly commented.

"I have plenty of questions for you", replied Blackhero.

"So you do, but first you must prove yourself worthy, for my knowledge is not to be taken lightly."

Both Dark Jedi took out their lightsabers, with Blackhero joining the Obelisk he had finished making modifications to his lightsaber after all this time. Now it was time to test his skill.

A raging battle with well-developed powers ensued, it was obvious this Dark Jedi was at a higher level, but that never stopped Blackhero from a challenge. From space you could see the brilliantly colored sabers as they clashed from the power of the Jedi's.

"You have been trained well, but you are no match for Me."

"I may have just come back to the Dark Brotherhood, but I have some techniques of my own."

The two continued the battle but it was a stalemate; it was time for Blackhero to use his trump card. The GRD pressed a button and two of what looked like couplings opened on either side of the light blade. As Blackhero adjusts the crystals, two little lightblades shot out of the couplings.

“Now you will see my true skill, I don’t need my powers to defeat you", said Blackhero as he went to disable the jedi's saber.

As the two sabers met the two Jedi stared at each other, and with that Blackhero knew he was about to win. A flick of the wrist, and a transfer of power to one of the little blades, the Dark Jedi's saber hit the floor and the little lightblade sliced the saber in two.

"You have won GRD, and with moves I have never seen before."

"You know I just make stuff up as I go", replied Blackhero with a smile. "Now down to business. What are you doing here and what is that anomaly?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. But I will tell you this, it was big enough to leave a huge ion trail after entering hyperspace."

"Ok Dark Jedi, come with me. QUA Striker will want to talk to you."

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

MD waited for Sub-Zero to clear the area, then he and his flight sent a salvo of missiles into the abandoned base.

"Well, looks like the rebels are without another base, To bad they still have that small fleet out at the base on the other side of the system."

MD announced over the flight frequency.

"MD, I wouldn't call it small." Striker's voice resonated over the comm. Channel. "We have a big problem, I need every one back on the VSD NOW, our job is done here."

MD didn't need the force to tell him that the Quaestor was serious. He turned his fighter around and punched in for a slot in the landing circuit for the hangar and set the ship on auto pilot to give him a chance to think about what could be going on.

"I am pleased to announce that we won't be needing our asteroid base any more, but unfortunately the problem is much bigger than the secret base we just wiped out, or the group of troops we killed on the planet." Striker announced to the house once they were all assembled in the VSD Corsairs briefing room. He then hit the holo activation switch. "This is an image recovered from the captured Frigate, and data computer we recovered from the secret base. And this is the SSD Avenger, as you can see the problem is pretty obvious, or at least PART of the problem."

MD allowed time for the gasps to die down and then spoke, "Sir what did you mean by ‘PART’ of the problem? That is a pretty darn big problem. There can't be more!"

"Unfortunately yes. As some of you know the Andevians seem to have force powers that they are unaware of. Unfortunately the rebels know it too, and that base we wiped out was researching ways to find force ability, and they were able to get some new technology out on that huge ship before we got them too. Also the leader of the expedition force has betrayed the Emperor's Hammer, and we have discovered that the rest of the force is being held in that blasted castle. Fortunately our Dark Brother has survived and escaped the treachery of RA Dever’s. After consulting with everyone, I have decided that we are going to hold off until the rest of the fleet can get here. We can't take on that monster of a ship by ourselves."

"Well what happens if the fleet gets here, and another of those huge ships appears in the Aurora system? They will be wiped out!" MD said, hoping that there was some way to get out of this problem now.

"Actually that is the one good part, this is the prototype for a new calamari cruiser called the MC-120. But it is the only one, and it would be to big to build more of them if the prototype failed. So if we can get the Sov and the rest of the fleet organized to take it out now, we will be safe. Don't worry Guardian Defender, they may have the upper hand at the moment, but trust me, they won't have it for long. Now prepare your things and return back here to the VSD, this is just the beginning."

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Rekio watched as the battle in the planets atmosphere raged on. He wished more than anything to be up their vaping NR fighters with his fellow Sith and Imperials, but his mission was here on the planet and it wasn’t finished yet. One thing was left in this whole mess: EF-A94. We knew how and why the team vanished, but no one had been able to locate them. As Rekio pondered the situation in his mind he came to one logical conclusion, a NR bunker on the ground. Somewhere on this planet was a bunker that held his fellow Imperials and there was something that was preventing him from detecting their presence.

Rekio pulled out a data pad and punched in a magnitude of calculations. The data took into account all factors that had been discovered of the NR forces on the planet, their locations, locations of the tribes, and geographical factors. The results led Rekio to believe that the bunker was located in the one place everyone went out of their was to avoid; “the Castle”. That’s why the other tribes are hunting the Agartha tribe. The Agartha lead the NR to the “scared place” and angered the fellow tribes. The NR must have come into contact with the traitorous RA from EF-A94 who revealed to the NR the location of the planet, as well as the strong presence of the Force the people here had.

Rekio wasn’t sure who was in charge of the NR forces or how many were left on the planet, but he knew his mission wouldn’t end at this bunker. Rekio took his starfighter back to the location where he had fought with the NR troopers. The easiest way into the bunker was infiltration. That way he could learn about the NR forces and search for EF-A94.  He didn’t have to worry about being discovered anymore, the firefight in space ensured that the NR forces within this sector already knew of the Imperial presence here. All that was left to do was finish the mission here.

Just as Rekio had suspected, the bunker was located approximately one klick away from the castle. It had been built into the far side of a mountain and was partially underground. He made his way into the bunker with fairly few problems. He was surprised by the size of the NR operation here, he immediately knew there was something else going on other than just planet occupation of ancient Jedi ancestors. Rekio followed the natural movements of some NR troopers so as to not look suspicious. He occasionally heard muttered relevant details. Eventually he spotted a RA that caught his attention. He watched closely as the RA meet up with a VA.

After listening in on the conversation he had learned that the woman-RA was the individual who had betrayed the team. The male-VA was in charge of the operational forces here, both in space and on the ground. As Rekio made his way through a maze of corridors, he found himself face to face with Jedi.

“Ahhh … Yes I thought I felt the presence of a Dark Jedi earlier. As I’m sure you’ve figured the Castle here blocks our detection of the Force.”

Rekio quickly grabbed the Jedi in a strangle hold and removed his lightsaber.

“Where are the Imperials being held”, Rekio asked as he ducked into a dark corner to avoid being seen.

“You think I would actually tell a Sithspawn like you,” the Jedi said with a smug attitude. “Besides, they are all already dead. The ex-Imperial RA killed them all, expect that Dark Jedi that got away.”

“You’ll regret saying that,” Rekio said as he tightened his grip around the Jedi’s neck. With one quick, swift, movement; Rekio snapped the Jedi’s neck and let the limp body fall to the ground.  Rekio spit on the body as he continued through the maze of corridors.

Rekio entered one room and activated the lightsaber he had taken.  The gleaming yellow-green was a beautiful sight to see, even if it was a Jedi’s. Rekio quickly reflected the laser shots that came at him. As the brought the saber up in the shape of a “J”, he spun around and decapitated the Rebel by the door. Reflecting another laser shot he killed the NR Officer working at the control consolel. Rekio jumped upward as two NR troopers came through the door. He came back down with his lightsaber and pierced the trooper in the dead. He swiftly brought the saber across his body and cut the other trooper in half. As the last NR officer in the room attempted to sound the alarm, Rekio threw the saber at him like a javelin, landing in his head.  Rekio then typed a fury of commands into the control panel. A minute later, Rekio was running back toward the entrance he had previously entered through. He went through just as the alarm sounded, slicing his way through the troopers with the stolen lightsaber.

After Rekio came out of the bunker, he pulled a small cylinder with a trigger on it. He pushed the button and a series of well-placed explosions occurred in the bunker. The mountain above it collapsed and the bunker, or what was left of it was buried.

“That takes care of the NR troops in the ground,” Rekio said to himself.

Rekio pulled a comm unit and a data pad out of his pocket.

“GRD Rekio Corsair to Control.”

 “Torres here Rekio.”

“Master, I have retrieved information about DJM Kem-Shu Maeda and the rest of EF-A94.”

“The DJM is here on the asteroid, what of the others?”

“Gone …” Rekio said solemnly.

Rekio paused before speaking again  “And I have something else that may be of use to us,” Rekio said as he looked down at his datapad.

“And what is that?”

“The tactical information for an experimental Calamari Cruiser designated the ‘MC-120’,” he paused. “I believe you already have an idea of what we can do with this.”

“Excellent Work Rekio !!!!” Torres said excitedly. “I’ll inform Striker, and we’ll be awaiting your hasty return.”

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Sith Warrior Wil Striker sat in his office back aboard the VSD Corsair. He had a lot of paperwork to file regarding the activities and discoveries of the recent days. As he read over the reports from various members of House Tridens, he couldn’t help but feel like something was still being missed back on the planet Andevia. Perhaps the next team sent to pickup where EF-A94 had left off would discover what was causing his Force senses to go insane.

A short while later a young female LT arrived with a data pad. Striker read over the information, and was pleased to see that his reports back to the Grand Master and TIE Corps Flight Officer had been taken seriously. The SSSD Sovereign, and the Aggressor Strike Force were being sent to deal with the new New Republic prototype cruiser, and its support vessels, that had been discovered by House Tridens. The VSD Corsair was expected to rendezvous with the SSD Avenger and her support ships in a nearby sector in seven hours, and then proceed to the battle staging area to meet up with the battle groups from the SSSD Sovereign and the ASF. The NR had no idea what was coming their way, but in a short amount of time they would be taught another costly and painful lesson. The Emperor’s Hammer was determined to show the NR that the values and wishes of the Emperor were still alive, and that just retribution would be extended to those that opposed the will of the Empire.

Still, Striker couldn’t help but allow his thoughts to return to Andevia. There was still a piece missing in the puzzle, and hopefully after they dealt with the current NR threat, House Tridens could return to Andevia to finish solving the puzzle. The chime at the door caught Striker by surprise and pulled him from his thoughts.

“Enter!” he called out.

GRD Blackhero entered and promptly bowed. “Sir, I’, ready to leave and return to Cestus. I just wanted to say that it has been a pleasure, and an experience, serving with you and House Tridens.”

Striker nodded. He then walked around and placed his hand of the young Guardians shoulder.

“GRD, you showed great skill and insight during the recent battle. I will be forwarding a recommendation to your House Summit, along with my appreciation for the fine work you demonstrated. It is a pity you are returning to Cestus, but you will always be welcome within the walls of House Tridens.”

The Dark Jedi walked out of the Quaestor’s office and headed for the VSD Corsair’s hangar deck. As they walked. they were passed by a number of Dark Jedi, all of who bowed in respect to their noble leader.

“Master, may I ask you a question?”

“Granted GRD.”

“How did you know that there was more going on in the Andevian system than reported?” Blackhero stopped the instant the QUA did, momentarily looking into the deep dark eyes of the Dark Jedi standing next to him. In those eyes Blackhero could swear that for just a moment a bright light shone through, but then quickly faded.

“GRD, in time you will understand more about the nature of the Force. In time you will understand that the Dark cannot exist without the Light, and the same is true in reverse. It is necessary on occasions to reach out and allow both sides of the Force to become one within yourself in order to better understand the chaos that surrounds you. A former Dark Master once taught this to a few others and myself when I was younger. He once told me that as a young Jedi apprentice both sides of the Force confronted him at once, but eventually the Dark Side won over. But the one thing he realized was that in truth both sides must exist within a being, or else no true balance of power can ever be attained. Eventually the Light Side took hold of him, but only in the last moments of his life, when he was to weak to continue controlling the power within himself. I have retained this wisdom all through my training in the Dark Side, and through it have managed to find the balance necessary to control the power that could easily be subverted for other purposes. Learn to listen to what the Force tells you, regardless of which side is speaking. In time you will find the balance you seek within yourself.”

Blackhero stood staring at the Sith Warrior for a moment longer, then nodded his understanding.

“GRD, you have much potential in you. Never be afraid to defend yourself, even if the attack isn’t physical in nature.”

“Thank you Master, I will indeed keep this in mind while continuing my training.”

Blackhero bowed one last time to the Quaestor and then took his leave. His TIE Shadow was ready for launch, and the GRD had a destiny ahead of him that would wait for no one. In time Blackhero would be a great leader within the Dark Brotherhood, of this Striker was sure, but only if he was allowed to fulfill his destiny as chosen by the Force.

To be continued…

Participants:

SW Wil Striker (Sith)/QUA/Tridens of Tarentum - #174

SW Torres (Sith)/AED/Tridens of Tarentum - #223

GRD Blackhero (Obelisk)/TRP/Cestus of Tarentum - #1620

GRD Murkrow Defender (Sith)/FL/Tridens of Tarentum - #1091

GRD Vortoq (Sith)/FL/Tridens of Tarentum - #1258

GRD Rekio Corsair (Sith)/House Tridens of Tarentum - #747

Submitted on behalf of the members of House Tridens and Clan Tarentum of the Dark Brotherhood!!

In Darkness…..

SW Wil Striker (Sith)/QUA/Tridens of Tarentum

DC-KC/(BN)/CoL {SA:CORE-GDSC}

"Death is only the beginning!"