One

Lord Pilot Thunder stood in the Hangar of the Siths’ SSD.  She stood there admiring her new creation; well, her new modifications.  During her recent venture to her homeworld of Adumar, Thunder had managed to “acquire” a Blade-32 Prototype with Hyperdrive.  She had spent much of her spare time modifying the Blade with stronger shields, faster engines, stronger lasers, and torpedo bays.  The Blade had been constructed with enough room to turn it into a Deuce, but Thunder had modified this area to become an astromech droid pit.  The pit would accommodate her R2 unit, Digger, who would be responsible for actively using the rear laser cannons as well as his other normal duties.  The modifications did come at a price.  She had dismantled and scavenged her old T-65 X-Wing Fighter for parts and systems.  But, it was not to worry.  Thunder was already planning on acquiring a new X-Wing to use in Sith Squadron missions, once Incom got around to marketing a newer version of the snubfighter.

     Thunder was currently on Leave and had liberty to leave the Super Star Destroyer and enjoy a little down time—as well as the benefits of being a Colonel.  She had just finished applying the last coat of new paint on her Blade-32.  She had decided to use the colors of her family’s crest which was green and orange.  The majority of the Blade’s hull was dark green which would provide cover on covert missions.  Several large areas of the Blade were also painted a deep and dark orange—though, not to bright to attract too much attention.

     Thunder headed off to pack up some supplies and gather Digger from her personal cabin suite.

     Five hours later, and several “good-bye rounds” on the BarDeck, Thunder was heading off to enjoy some R & R.  Her first stop would be Obroa-Skai, the library world—yes, the library world!  Thunder liked to keep up-to-date on various issues and research on old topics.  After a day on Obroa-Skai, she would head to a nearby Casino facility, The Library Den, that the other Siths did not know exist…as impossible as that might sound.  Thunder smiled, this is going to be so relaxing. 

 

Two

 

     Thunder carefully landed her Blade-32 in The Library Den’s Hangar 12.  Now, she was really going to enjoy herself.  Before leaving Obroa-Skai, she donned her Sith cloak over her flight suit.  By doing this, she could hit the facility’s bar as soon as she was out of her Blade.  Digger would remain with the ship, which was drawing a lot of attention because of its unfamiliar design.  Thunder leaped down from the cockpit and was met by a Security Officer.

     “Thank you for choosing The Library Den, Miss Tundre ya Silens.  We welcome you to our facility.”

     Thunder exhaled heavily, “Thanks, point me to the nearest drink serving facility Mister Security Officer.”

     He handed her a small holopad that she could use to guide her throughout the facility.  She gave him a quick nod and headed toward the turbolift, “Oh, Mister Security Officer, don’t touch my snubbie.  I don’t want to have to make a mess of my favorite little getaway.” 

     Thunder walked into one of the more seedy looking taverns of the casino and sat down at the bar.  She ordered Whyren’s Reserve and gave the bartender access to set up a tab for her.  The bar had three sides for patrons while the fourth side was against the wall and stocked full of beverages.  Thunder had arranged herself on one of the short sides with the wall to her right.  After several glasses, she decided to glance around the bar. 

     If it weren’t for the drink in her hand, she would’ve fallen to the floor.  Sitting across and opposite from her was a very attractive man—Thunder’s type as well.  He wore a lot of facial hair.  Thick sideburns and a partially grown beard over his chin, but no moustache.  Thick dark hair crowned his head and complimented his fiercely dark eyes.  He was busy minding his own business and enjoying his drink.  Thunder easily recognized the warrior in this man.  He had also positioned himself next to the wall.  The man wore the face of an experienced warrior—a cold, passive, sabacc face.  You couldn’t tell what was going on in that head.  She continued to look him over.  He was wearing a lot of clothing but his hairy hands and wrists poked out of his coat’s long sleeve.  Thunder thought she could barely glimpse what looked like Mandalorian armor.  But you’re not Fett…and he is the only one that I know who has a full suit…who are you?  The warrior glanced up and locked eyes with Thunder.  Damn, busted. Nothing like getting caught admiring.  She held his stare for a moment and nodded. He nodded back then returned to his drink.  Few knew the silent language of experienced warriors.  He purposely locked eyes with Thunder to let her know that he knew she was watching him.  Had she immediately glanced down, he would have assumed that she was stalking him.  Instead, she held the stare and nodded which allowed him to make his little unspoken statement and receive an answer from her—not here to  fight you, just looking.  The bartender sat a fresh glass of Whyren’s Reserve in front of Thunder and she forgot about the warrior. 

     Then it happened.  Thunder was nearly paralyzed by it.  The Force—the Dark Side of the Force—shot up her spine like an icy cold chill that wracked her whole being.  She momentarily lost her own composure and jerked her head towards the casino’s entrance—toward the source of the Dark Side sensation.  Several individuals had just entered and were heading toward the bar.  They were a mixture of humans and nonhumans.  Thunder was unable to tell which of the newcomers was the one emanating such strong vibrations in the Force.  Her strongest Force talent was telekinesis and the newcomers were too far away for her limited ability of reaching out to sense the exact person.  She would have to wait for them to get closer.  Well, she could reach out through the crowd and start tossing people with her TK.  Whoever resisted her ability the most was probably the one who was strong in the Force.  But, then her own cover would be blown.  She calmed her mind and regained her composure.  She drew her cloak and the Force around her tightly.  She didn’t want this unknown Force-wielder to sense her.  The bartender handed her another drink and she glanced across from her—damn, the mysterious warrior had noticed her sudden alertness and shock.  Once again, he locked eyes with her and waited for her silent response.  She used her eyes to glance towards the newcomers, then back to the warrior, and then shrugged her eyebrows.  He nodded, he understood—danger, over there, unknown. 

     The first newcomer made it to the bar.  He had been wearing some type of head garb that covered the majority of his head while leaving his face exposed.  It was then that Thunder noticed the strange newcomer was not human—or was it?  It resembled a Bothan to a degree, but also had more human-like features.  It was wearing a long coat that hung open a bit to reveal a black flight suit and a silver vest.  Thunder finished the rest of her drink and picked up a new glass.  This stuff must be stronger than I realize—everyone in this place is freaking me out.  The little creature pressed himself tight against the bar and began watching his sides with his peripheral vision.  The other two newcomers walked up; taking up spots on either side of the little guy.  Bounty hunters…Thunder recognized them easily now.  One was the well-known Wookiee Snoova and the other was some random human counterpart.  Bounty hunters and mercenaries always became overly focused on their prey and failed to notice the true dangerous warriors among them.  Thunder nonchalantly loosed her cloak to make her lightsaber more accessible.  She had been forced by station policy to leave her small blaster locked up in her Blade.  The bounty hunters were extremely cautious with the little guy, which made Thunder think that they were aware of his ability to become very dangerous.  Now, I wait…patience…wait for a move.  She kept her gaze forward and away from the bounty hunters.  The last thing she wanted was them to realize that she had them pegged as targets.  Her mysterious warrior had also prepared himself by standing up at the bar.  Sithspawn—what does he think he’s doing…this is mine. 

     The move finally came in a blur of split-second decisions and chaos.  Snoova had pulled out a massive vibro-axe that he had tucked into his pack.  The human bounty hunter pulled out two vibroblades and lunged them at the little guy.  Lord Pilot Thunder had already grabbed the vibro-axe with the Force and yanked it free of Snoova’s grasp.  She flung it across the room where it impaled itself into the wall. The little guy had done an amazing flip up and on top of the bar where he landed in a crouch.  The human bounty hunter was already neutralized by Thunder’s new warrior friend.  In the seconds that Thunder had de-armed Snoova, the other warrior had deployed a long cable whip from one of his hidden wrist gauntlets and entangled the hunter’s upper body.  He detached the cable and filled the hunter with a few laser blasts from the other wrist gauntlet.  Snoova lunged after the little guy with the intention to rip him apart by shear brute strength.  Thunder caught Snoova with a Force shove that sent him sprawling several feet back away from the bar.  He snarled and pulled out a small explosive device, but Thunder had dispatched half of his arm with her ignited lightsaber before Snoova could activate it.  Bar patrons were flooding out, screaming and knocking over tables as they dashed for the exits.  Lord Pilot Thunder held her lightsaber at Snoova’s throat to make a point and sneered at him, “Bounty hunter, I should not have honored you with my lightsaber. I should have taken you out with my blastsword.  For that reason only, you live.”  Thunder disengaged the lightsaber and turned away from the wounded Wookiee.  The little guy was gone and so was her new warrior friend. 

     Lord Pilot Thunder dashed into the corridor and scanned with Force-enhanced senses.  She wasn’t as powerful as other members of Sith Squadron, but picking out another Force-wielder shouldn’t be too difficult.  There you go—both of you too.  They were both heading for Hangar 12.  Thunder took off at a mad run for the hangar as security claxons blared throughout the facility.  The security force was being mobilized and had already cut off the path to Hangar 12.  The mysterious warrior and the little guy were pinned down in the corridor leading to the hangar.  A security force in front of them and a force lining up behind them.  Thunder sighed, this is gonna be messy…so much for taking a relaxing Leave. 

     Lord Pilot Thunder took hold of her lightsaber, leaving it inactive, and walked briskly towards the rear security force.  One of the security officers noticed her and turned with his weapon trained on her, “Tundre ya Silens, you are ordered to stand down and are under arrest by authority of—”

     Thunder snatched his weapon and Force-shoved him through several other officers.  They all turned their attention to her now, which left her two warrior friends with the force blocking the entrance to the hangar.  Lord Pilot Thunder’s lightsaber hissed to life while she took up a defensive posture.  They opened fire.  She batted away shot after shot and hurled the little photons back into the officers.  Minutes later, the first security force was neutralized with the majority of them clutching wounded limbs.  Now, one more squad to go and the little trio would be safe to dash for their ships.  Lord Pilot Thunder smiled as she noticed that the battle had turned into personal hand-to-hand combat.  Security officers had been forced to engage the mysterious warrior because his hidden armor deflected their bolts.  In the process, the security force had gotten too packed together to use any ion blasts to stun the culprits.  The two warriors were both doing an excellent job at pounding the officers.  Thunder turned her attention to the sealed hangar blast door.  A snap-hiss later, she had plunged the blade into the heavy metal and began melting it away.  She only needed to weaken it enough to tear it away with her Force Telekinesis.  The combat behind her continued to rage on.  She turned all her focus to the blast door.  Finally, a large section had turned a fiery molten red.  Thunder stepped back and, using her TK, shoved that section inward to leave a hole for the trio to escape. 

     She turned back, but noticed the two warriors had defeated the security team and were running towards the hole that she had created in the door.  Impressive.  Another armed security force turned down the corridor with weapons drawn.  Thunder fended off the blaster bolts while the two warriors picked their way through the molten metal.  Once the two were in the hangar, Lord Pilot Thunder channeled as much of the Force as she could to shove the entire security team down the hall and into the metal wall.  She stepped lightly around and over molten metal to follow her two new charges into the hangar.  They had already boarded a Corellian Transport that was quite heavily armed.  Digger had fired up the engines on her Blade-32 and blared away at her to hurry.  Seconds later, her Blade and the Transport were running out-of-system and heading to an agreed-upon set of rendezvous coordinates.  Thunder yanked back on her snubbie’s controls and was quickly surrounded by the swirling safety of hyperspace. 

 

Three

 

     An hour later, Thunder’s Blade reverted back from hyperspace at the rendezvous.  She carefully guided the Blade over and piggybacked it onto the Corellian YT-3000.  Once the ships had been mated, Thunder reached down under her legs and pulled open a special compartment that contained a TIE suit’s life support and helmet.  Thunder pulled on the helmet and situated the life support systems.

     “Digger, my suit is secure.  Start venting the cockpit’s atmosphere.”

     Thunder kept an eye on her wrist-link, which translated Digger’s communications.

     <<As ordered.>>

     Several minutes later, her wrist-link blinked and beeped.

     <<Vent complete.  Now safe to pop cockpit.>>

     “Thanks, Digger. You keep the Blade ready to go in case any shadows followed us. I’m going to pay our new friends a visit.  Patch through to the freighter’s main computer and read it over.  We’ll keep in touch through my wrist-link.”

     <<Understood.  Standing by to open cockpit.>>

     “Alright, pop the top, Diggs.”

     <<Compliance.>>

     The Blade’s cockpit slowly opened and Thunder headed for the freighter’s hatch.  The hatch popped open, allowing Thunder to weightlessly drift into its little bay.  She shut the hatch and righted herself, then she tapped the comm to signal that she was secure.  Gravity pulled her to the floor and atmosphere began flooding into the bay.  Several minutes later, the hatch leading to the interior of the ship popped open.  Thunder removed the TIE pilot helmet and exited the bay.  She was greeted by the mysterious warrior who was still sporting his Mandalorian armor.  He took her helmet and assisted her by removing the life support pack from the front of her flight suit.  He stowed it away in a nearby locker and turned back around to her,

     “Well, I see you brought your lightsaber with you. Don’t plan on using that in here, do you?”

     Thunder glanced down at it, “No, but I also didn’t plan on using it back there at the bar, either.  Things happen—fast too, I might add.  I’m Tundre ya Silens.”

     “Nice to meet you, Tundre ya Silens, and welcome aboard my ship.  I’m Pachet Karnel.  My copilot in the cockpit is a Twakwaash by the name of Lotan Ekwesh.”

     Thunder sat across from the little Bothan-looking creature, “You have a Twakwaash as a copilot?  I never heard of them flying much because of their size.”

     Karnel sat down next to the little Bothan and returned his attention to Tundre, “Yeah, well, the Corellian YT-3000 has a tall cockpit.  Besides, Lotan has a younger brother who has applied with the Rebel’s Fighter Command.  His brother is short, obviously, and goes by the nickname Runt. But enough about us, how about you, little man?”

     The little hairy guy seemed reluctant to talk.  Tundre locked eyes with him and spoke, “Look, you could at least thank us for saving you.”

     The little guy snarled out at Tundre, “I can take care of myself. They wouldn’t have been a problem. I don’t need your help. I would appreciate being dropped off somewhere soon.”

     Karnel chuckled, “Look kid, you’ve obviously got a price on your little head…and from the looks of it, the bounty requires you dead.  So, you can play this little game or you can give us a little insight.  Well?”

     “Alright. My name is Starfighter.  Fox Starfighter. You happy now?”

     Tundre leaned back in her chair and folded her arms over her flight suit, “Fox Starfighter? That’s an odd name. Well, I guess not. I always thought that Skywalker was a silly name.  Where you from kid?  And don’t lie to me. I think you know that you can’t lie to me.”

     She could feel Fox reach out with the Force to sense Tundre and feel that she, too, could use the Force.  He sighed heavily, “Well, I don’t know much.  I escaped from a Binring Biomedical Product facility near Obroa-Skai.”

     Karnel’s face lightened into what looked like sympathy for Fox, “Binring Biomedical Product.  I’ve heard of them.  I’ve also heard of some of their quiet experiments.  I’m assuming that you didn’t work there, huh?”

     Fox looked down at the table, “No, I didn’t work there. I was one of their Empire-sponsored toys…a genetic experiment.  They wanted to create a subject with Bothan intelligence, human capabilities, and Ryn resourcefulness.  I wasn’t exactly what they expected.  I turned out with a lot of, uh, deformities.  I’m built thin and light like a human.  I’m hairy from my Bothan genes, though, I have a thinner muzzle.  And I have a, uh…I have a tail courtesy of the Ryn genes.”

     Karnel leaned back to look the kid over.  Fox snarled at him, “I keep it tucked into my flight suit with the dangers of atmosphere and vacuums and all.”

     Fox resumed, “So, anyways, I escaped about a week ago…I think.  I don’t really know since I don’t have a chronometer of any type.  I guess they did accomplish what they set out to do.  I was more than able to plan and carry out my own departure without their security catching me.  I picked up the bounty hunters a couple of days ago.  I figure they’d rather have their pet project disintegrated than exposing the horrors of that place.  Some really messed up stuff in there, ya know.  I saw this Gamorrean that could do all sorts of things, even talk.  He seemed to be the only survivor of his researcher’s experiments.”

     Tundre used the Force to carefully move a small flask of water over to Fox.  She smiled and spoke warmly, “You also had a little help of the Force-variety to get your plan from start to finish, huh?”

     Fox played with the flask for a few seconds before answering, “Yeah, I suppose.  I could always tell where guards were…before I even saw them.  It was strange.  I knew which way to go, even after leaving the familiar areas of the labs.  I was never trained to fly any type of spacecraft, but I managed to fire one up and head out.  I know when I’m being followed.  I know how to evade anyone trying to get me…like those bounty hunters.  So, you both know all the rest.”

     Karnel gave the kid a glare, “You better get some rest in the bunks, kid.  Then we’ll see what we can do for you, got it?”

     Fox stood, “Sure.  I guess it’s been awhile since I slept and you don’t seem like bounty hunters.”  Fox disappeared down the corridor and into the bunkroom to sleep. 

     Karnel crossed his arms and turned back to Tundre, “So, between the lightsaber and the Force, I’m thinking a Jedi, huh?”

     Tundre rolled her eyes at him, “Well, between your combat skills and your armor, I’m thinking a Mandalorian commando, huh?”

     Karnel smiled, “Heh, fair enough.  I’m no Mandalorian commando, so what’s that make you?”

     “A Sith.”

     Karnel narrowed his eyes at Tundre, “A Sith, eh?  Like Darth Vader and all that? How come you don’t have one of those names like Vader or those old ones—Maul and Sidious?”

     “I’m known as Thunder, Lord Pilot Thunder at that.”

     “Well, Lord Pilot Thunder, you seem very interested in little Fox there. How about some insight?”

     Thunder rubbed her sore and tired eyes, “How about a couple of cold ones while we talk?  It’ll help relax the nerves.”

     Karnel got up and came back with a variety of beverages, “I got some Loman Ale and Whyren’s Reserve.  I’m assuming you’ll be drinking the Whyren’s Reserve?”

     “Yeah, I’ll be drinking that.  Thanks.  Anyways, getting back to Fox.  I didn’t notice the bounty hunters’ arrival back there.  I sensed Fox’s entrance because he seems to be quite strong in the Force.  As a Sith, I like to get a feel for potential trainees.  If he is strong, then I will make him an offer that I don’t think he’ll refuse; especially with a price on his head.  Now, I know why I was interested in helping Fox, Mister Karnel, but why did you lend a hand back there?  Why are you interested in Fox?”

     Karnel took a swig of his ale and smirked at Thunder, “Who says I was interested in the little hairy kid?”

     Caught off guard, Thunder nearly choked on her drink, “Looks like you acquired yourself a target, Mister Karnel.”

     He held up a hand and smiled, “Please, just call me Pachet…Pach for short.”

     “Pach it is then…and it would be nice to hear someone call me Tundre again.  I get tired of hearing ‘Thunder’ and ‘Two’ screamed into my ears.”

     Pachet retrieved more beverages and sat back down, “As ordered, Tundre.”

Continued...