JeniViolet shook her head as she and Seven walked down one of the many corridors on the SSD. "I can't believe this," she muttered. "How can you guys let this Bothan into the Siths? He's a Rogue, first of all, a rebel. And what about LifeFlame? He was our friend. We can't just accept his murderer with open arms."
It was the day after the drinking contest and Jen was still as upset as she was when she had found out the results. How could they do this?
"Look, Jen," Seven said. "You can cry all you want about it but the fact of the matter is that Narska Plo'kre is going to be our next recruit. You may not like it, in fact you may hate it, but that is the truth. And if I remember correctly you weren't terribly excited about Palin coming in the squad a year ago, but you've come to accept her as a friend. Just give it time. And besides, he ain't even a member yet. He might refuse to join and the Lord Baron will kill him...or maybe he'll be nice and let you kill him. All you can do is wait and see what happens."
Jen sighed. "I suppose you're right. Still......."
JeniViolet was interrupted as the intercom on the SSD hissed to life. "Attention all members of Sith Squadron....report to the squadron briefing room in five minutes. That is all, dismissed."
Jen and Seven exchanged glances and then turned down the hallway towards the briefing room. Reno and Thunder were probably done with the plan to kidnap Plo'kre. Great, she thought sarcastically, this ought to be good.
"The plan is fairly straightforward," Reno started as the last of his pilots took their seats around the oval shaped table. He was surprised that JeniViolet had been the first to show, Seven closely on her tail. Then came Palin, with Jace Sidrona the last to show. "Rogue Squadron is being stationed on this world, Thanara, it's a small agricultural world just inside the Rim. It's not of any real importance, though it is close to some critical trade routes and has easy access to the Core. Their base is located just outside the capitol city of Thrishstar. All snubfighters are being kept in an underground hanger under the base, all personnel the same. Now I won't lie to you, sneaking onto this base is not going to be easy, but it is possible."
Reno clicked the remote in his hand and the hologram of the planet changed to the schematics of Rogue Squadrons base. "Plo'kre's quarters are located here on the second level. Guards are minimal, but there are most likely silent alarms everywhere."
Seven's hand shot up, but he waited for Reno to acknowledge him before he asked his question. "Who is going to be on the team?"
"The team is going to be only two people, Captain Thunder and Jace Sidrona. But you, Seven, and Palin will be standing by in your fighters in case the mission goes sour. I'll be waiting here on the SSD."
There was an awkward silence and everyone gave a side glance at JeniViolet, who sat at the end of the table opposite of Reno. Jen finally broke the silence.
"I noticed I'm not on the team, Lord Baron," she muttered sardonically. "An oversight, I'm sure."
"Like hell it was an oversight," Reno shot back. "You'll be staying here on the SSD with me. With your attitude towards Plo'kre I don't trust you not to jam your lightsaber in him when his back is turned. Or maybe he'd accidentally get caught in the cross fire. Accidents do happen, after all. Now if there is nothing else I'll send the full mission parameters to your datapads. Go over them, study them, burn them into your memories. The mission is a go in eight hours. Meet at the hanger in 1730 hours. Dismissed."
Reno sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Thunder was starting to accept Plo'kre coming in, Palin wasn't happy about the decision, and Jen was just plain furious. He was curious to see how she'd react when the Bothan was actually here. She wouldn't do anything out of line, that much Reno was sure. JeniViolet would never do anything against Reno's orders.
Reno flipped on his view screen, which gave him a view of the hanger. They had had the final briefing inside the hanger and the four Siths getting ready for the mission. Seven was in his A-wing as usual, with Palin in her B-wing, but Thunder and Sidrona were forced to fly an old Lambda shuttle the Siths had lifted from Commenor two years ago. They didn't want to fly it, but they also realized that they couldn't jam Plo'kre into their fighters. They needed a ship that could carry passengers.
Almost without warning the three ships lifted off and headed towards open space. They would reach Thanara during the planet's morning cycle, and should be off again by nighttime. Seven and Eight would wait in the shadow of Thanara's moon so they could evade planetary sensors while Two and Four snuck in an took Plo'kre. It sounded so simple.
Reno sighed. He glanced over at Jen's scowling face. She stood in the corner of his office, her arms folded around her chest. He just hoped it was that simple. Because if it wasn't he was really going to hear it from Jen.
Narska Plo'kre stared at the door to his quarters. He knew that standing on the other side was a pair of New Republic guards, their blasters holstered their attention unwavering. He also knew that the second the door opened he'd have a pair of blasters pointed at as head.
But he had to get out of here! It had only been several days since his punishment started but it was torture! He couldn't stay inside a small room for a week? He wasn't an animal, despite what some of the humans around here thought. And speaking of humans.....
Taking a deep Narska pushed the button next to the door. Just as he predicted there were two guns aimed at him before the door was fully open. He stopped dead in his tracks, his hands raised in front his his face, palms outward.
"Back in your quarters, Plo'kre," the chief guard said.
"C'mon, Gimmer," Narska pleaded. "Just let me out for a few minutes. I just want to take a walk and get some fresh air. I've been cooped up in here for days. You've got to let me out, if just to get something to eat."
"Get back in your quarters, Plo'kre," Gimmer commanded.
"C'mon, Gimmer, you've got to have some sympathy left in you, I'm sure it wasn't entirely washed out by New Republic propaganda and brainwashing."
"You have three seconds to return to your quarters before I stun you and toss you back inside. One.......two.......three!"
All of a sudden there was a loud sound like an explosion and everything went bright.
ThunderingSilence sat crouched on the hill outside of the rebels base, a pair of macrobinoculars glued to her face. Jace Sidrona knelt beside her, his eyes fixed on the patrolling guards. Lord Baron Reno's reconnaissance had been slightly wrong. Narska Plo'kre's quarters may have been on the second level inside of the base, but the temporary quarters he had been assigned to were on the third level on the outer edge of the base. This made things a lot easier. Instead of sneaking through the base and fighting their way through countless guards they just had to sneak past the perimeter and scale a wall. A lot easier.
Thunder was about to motion to Sidrona to start their attack when the door to Plo'kre's room opened up. This was even better! They wouldn't have to break into his quarters to grab him, he was already standing in the hallway. Thunder motioned with her hand and they sprinted towards the base. They both wore camouflage jumpsuits with lightsabers attached to their waists. Despite her reluctance, Thunder had left her blastsword on the shuttle. There wouldn't be any need of it, a blaster and lightsaber would be more than enough.
They were about ten meters away from the base when they met their first resistance. Two New Republic guards jumped in front of their paths, blasters drawn. They hesitated, though, giving Thunder the only opening she would need. She lashed out with her right hand and caught the first guard in his throat. The man dropped his gun and fell to the ground, his hands gripped tightly on his injured throat. With him out of the way she sent a quick sidekick into the second guards gun. The weapon was sent flying into the air. Thunder grabbed the man by the head and forced him to bend over. She then sent a knee up into his face and followed that with a sweep kick that knocked the guard off of his feet. The man tried to get up, but Thunder grabbed her lightsaber off her belt and smashed the handle into the mans skull with enough force to knock him unconscious.
By now the first man had gotten back to his feet and was reaching for a holstered knife on the side of his right leg. The man smiled as he unsheathed the blade and headed towards Thunder. She was about to take out her own knife when a quick fist from the side knocked the guard to the ground. Thunder quickly glanced over at Sidrona, who stood there rubbing his hand.
"Hard jaw," he muttered. "Probably goes well with his hard head."
"No time for personal comments, we're running out of time!" Thunder sprinted the last few yards and took out a grappling wire. She tossed it towards the second level and waited for it to snap onto the wall until she tugged on it.
"Okay, I'll go up and get Plo'kre, you stay here and watch for more guards."
"There are two guards up there," Sidrona pointed out. "Put on your dark goggles. I'm going to throw a flash-bang up there to distract them."
Thunder nodded and she grabbed the dark goggles off her pack. "Good idea." A flash-bang was a small explosive that Jen's personal secretary, Tyros Dakon, had designed a while back. It didn't actually blow anything up, it was used for distractions and the like. All it really did was make a blinding flash and a loud bang, hence the nickname flash-bang. It had a more technical name....DR789 something. Thunder didn't know. Flash-bang worked fine for her.
Jace grabbed a small grenade out of the bag on his side an hurled it up on the second floor catwalk. There was a bright light, followed by the loud sound of a grenade going off, and within seconds Thunder was up the wall.
Thunder hurled herself over the catwalk and landed hard on her feet. The guard right now were totally blind, they had probably heard her land but they sure as hell couldn't see her. Thunder could see, however, she could see just fine.
By now she knew the whole base was probably alerted to their presence, so she had eliminated subtlety. She whipped out her blaster, set it to stun, and fired several shots into the chests of the blind guards. They fell to the ground, unconscious before they hit the ground.
"I can't see!" she heard someone yell from inside. No doubt it was the Bothan. "I can't see, I'm blind! Someone help me!"
ThunderingSilence strode confidently into Plo'kre's quarters, her blaster still gripped tightly in her hand. With the Bothan blinded it was going to be much simpler-
A quick and unexpected fist to the face caught Thunder completely off guard and knocked her backwards into the rail. What the....
Like a womp rat being chased by a speeder in Beggars Canyon, Narska Plo'kre shot out of his quarters and made a break for it. That little rat, Thunder thought, he wasn't blinded by the flash-bang, he was just luring Thunder into a false sense of security! She should've sensed it through the Force. Just more evidence to support the Lord Baron's theory that the Siths weren't using the Force as much as they should be. That was going to have to change. She grabbed the comlink on her waist.
"Four," she said, addressing Sidrona. "Plo'kre made a break for it! He's on the second level going east. Follow him on the bottom, I'll take the top."
"Copy, Two."
Thunder jumped to her feet and sprinted after the runaway Bothan. He was quick all right, putting about five meters between the two in a matter of seconds. Down the hallway the Bothan made a quick right turn down the side hall. Thunder mimicked the move, but as she turned the corner she stretched out with the Force to sense any danger. Just as she suspected Narska Plo'kre was just around the bend, waiting to ambush her as she came around the corner. Damn Bothan.....
Nevertheless, Thunder barreled around the corner and almost caught another fist in the jaw. She was ready this time, though, and knocked his arm to the side. She gave him three quick kicks to the midsection, one of which she was sure broke a rib. The Bothan didn't reel back, though, he fought back. A quick elbow to the nose made Thunder stagger back a few steps, giving Plo'kre an opportunity for either escape or attack.
He chose the latter, and made a big mistake in doing so.
With Thunder still off guard from the quick elbow, Narska Plo'kre went on the attack. He swung hard with his right hand, but at the last second Thunder grabbed his arm, twisted it behind his back and slammed the Bothan face first into the wall. Thunder reached for a pair of binders that were attached to the back of her pack when she suddenly stopped. Somewhere down below she heard the distinctive sound of blaster fire and the even more distinctive snap-hiss of a lightsaber being activated. They were running out of time...soon the entire base would be down on them. They had to hurry up.
She grabbed the binders and had one of Plo'kre's hands cuffed, but as she reached for the second one he squirmed, wiggled, and eventually reversed his way out of her hold. He did a quick tuck-and-roll and ended up behind Thunder, with the future Sith Lords arm in his grasp. As a bit of revenge Plo'kre none too gently slammed Thunder into the wall. She thought she felt her nose break but she wasn't sure. Then the Bothan threw Thunder backwards to the ground and once again made a break for it, this time jumping over the second floor ledge towards the ground below.
Almost exactly where Jace Sidrona was standing.
When Thunder returned to her feet she ran towards the ledge and looked down. Much to her surprise Sidrona was on his backside, a grim look of anger and determination on his young face. She looked up to see Plo'kre making a break for one of the other bunkers. Thunder sighed, shook her head in annoyance, and jumped over the rail. When she hit the ground she grabbed Sidrona and pulled him to his feet.
"Get the jump on you, did he?" she sardonically asked him.
"Shut up," he muttered.
"Come on, we can catch him. Put away your lightsaber and take out your blaster."
Sidrona turned of his dark blue saber and clipped it back to his belt, then reached for the blaster he kept holstered on his right leg. Together they took off, each a blaster in hand and each angry at being bested by Plo'kre. As they quickly gained ground on the Bothan thoughts raced through Thunders mind. Was the mission going sour enough for them to call in Seven and Eight? How many guards were there in that bunker Plo'kre was running towards? Where was Rogue Squadron, you'd think they'd be out here by now? But more importantly, was this Bothan worth the trouble they were going through to get them?
They were about fifty meters from the base when Thunder stopped dead in her tracks. Screw this, she thought to herself. She knelt down quickly and took her backpack off. Reaching into her pack she quickly grabbed several attachments to her blaster. A sight enhancer, a scope, and barrel and handle extensions. After several seconds she had a makeshift sniper rifle. She clicked the power setting to stun and aimed the weapon at Plo'kre's back. The sight enhancer on her rifle helped give her pinpoint accuracy. She triggered a blast and sent a bolt of energy flying through the air. It crashed into Plo'kre's back and knocked him to the ground. Sidrona, who hadn't stopped when Thunder did, reached to Bothan five seconds after hit the ground. Thunder looked around to see if there were any more sentries to take out, then she unclipped the sniper extensions and packed them up.
"How is he?" she asked when she reached Sidrona and Plo'kre.
"Alive," he said back. "You wanna carry him or should I?"
"You carry him, I'll watch your back. We didn't' trip any alarms on the way in so we'll just follow our footsteps." Thunder thought for a moment. They were quite a bit away from their insertion point. "Where d'you think our shuttle is from here, anyway?"
"Over there," Sidrona said, pointing behind her. "Right behind those twenty New Republic guards running at us."
"Oh stang!" Thunder yelled. "Grab Plo'kre and get running! I'll call Seven and Eight and get us some air support...we're going to need it."
"Got it!" Jace holstered his blaster, picked up Narska Plo'kre, hurled him over his shoulder, then started running the long route back to their shuttle. Thunder thumbed the comlink number for the two fighters sitting behind Thanara's moon.
"Seven, Eight, we need air cover! Now!"
"Hey, Palin," Seven said conversationally over the radio. "We've known each other for what..a year now? Yeah, it was about a year ago you joined the Siths."
"So what?" she grumbled.
Seven took a deep breath and held it. "Well I know so little about you. I mean, we fly on the same wing, our quarters are practically next door, but I don't know the real you, ya know. See I was just thinking...maybe after we get back to the SSD we could..."
"Save your breath, Seven," Palin interrupted. "I'm not interested."
"But you didn't even let me finish my sentence," he protested.
"I didn't have to, I know what you were going say. I remember you trying that same line on some of the other female Siths. Thunder gave you a swollen eye, remember? So just save your breath cuz' it ain't gonna happen."
"But-"
"Seven, Eight, we need air cover! Now!"
The sudden cry for help caught the two Siths completely off guard and it was several minutes before the two ships were out of the moon's shadow.
"All right, Eight, stick close to me. Most likely we're already on their long range sensors, but since we don't look any different from any other incoming traffic they won't do anything. We shouldn't hit any trouble until we actually get near the base. Ground based turbolasers will be a sure thing, maybe even some SAM's. Keep your forward sheilds at full and lasers up at max. Save your torps."
Seven glanced over at Palin's B-wing. Why someone would want to fly a slow piece of crap like that was beyond him. Give me speed or give me death!, he thought to himself. The A-wing was the perfect fighter in his opinion. Lots of speed, much more than an X-, Y-, or B-wing. And his A-wing had concussion missiles instead of proton torpedoes, which were much better suited for dogfights. True the sheilds and hull were a bit weak, but when you were as speedy as an A-wing and as good a pilot as Seven you don't get hit much.
Because of the proximity of the planet to Thanara they reached the base in a matter of minutes. Just as Seven had predicted they were battered by turbolaser fire from the rebel base. Five double barrel cannons, if Seven was counting correctly. Piece of cake. Two on either side of the long building and one at the very end.
"Eight, you take the left, I've got the right. The one at the end is the prize...loser has to buy a drink for the winner." Maybe if he could con her into a date.....
Much to his surprise Palin said yes. Seven smiled. Either way he couldn't lose. Either he was going to buy her a drink, or vice versa. Score! He was pretty sure that he was going to win, though. Palin's slow B-wing was no match for his speedy A-wing. Seven brought his fighter to bear on the first of the three turbolasers he would be targeting. Two quick blasts from his fire-linked cannons and target one was down. Seconds later he heard an explosion to port. Turning he saw Palin's first target explode.
Putting that behind him he quickly acquired the second target. This one was already targeting him, though. Seven dodged the incoming laser fire by using a Wotan Weave, slipping in and out of it's firing path. Pressing the firing stud he sent out four red laser blasts. The turbolaser cannon erupted and sent debris flying in all directions. Once again Palin destroyed her target seconds behind him. Two down, one to go.
The final turbolaser cannon was in a bit of a dilemma. Who to shoot first? The A-wing or the B-wing? Whoever was operating it made the mistake of choosing the A-wing. Seven stretched out with the Force and concentrated on the gunner who was manning the turbolaser cannon. If he could just influence his mind enough to make him stop shooting for a second Seven could get a clean shot and win the contest. Seven closed his eyes ever so slightly.....where.....where......there he is! Got'em! The gunner in the cannon was completely under Seven's control. He wasn't even firing anymore, he was just a pawn to Seven's whims. Seven checked his rear and saw that Palin was trailing behind him, completely out of laser range. Ha! The contest was his! Now if he could just get a quick target lock.....
Out of nowhere two objects shot over Seven's head and impacted against the side of the turbolaser cannon, causing it to explode. What the....
"Thanks Seven," he heard Palin say. "If you wouldn't have kept his mind occupied like that I might never have gotten a clean shot."
"You.....you cheated!" he said back. He had distinctively told her not to waste her torpedoes! "You used torps!"
"I don't remember you setting any ground rules," she shot back. "That makes three for me and two for you. I win. I'll take that drink you offered, but I'm taking it alone."
"But....."
"Save it, Seven, we need to find Two and Four."
"Yeah, right," he muttered. He couldn't believe this. Not only did he lose the contest, but he wasn't even going to be able to share the drink with her. Damn.... "Where did they last communicate from?"
"About two hundred meters from here. Probably that barracks complex over there. Here, hold up. Let me see if I can reach them. Two, this is Eight, do you read me? Two, this is Eight, do you read me?"
The voice that responded was stressed and full of static. "This is Two, we read you."
"Where are you, Two?" Seven asked.
"We're just outside the barracks complex. Some NR guards have us pinned down. We could use a little help over here."
Seven checked his sensors and saw the barracks. Sure enough Thunder and Sidrona were being shot at by at least twenty New Republic guards. We can fix that, he thought with a smile. Seven put his fighter on course for the barracks and pointed his cross hairs at the knot of soldiers advancing on the Siths. The targeting brackets of his cross hairs didn't even go green, people were to small to actually register on a targeting computer. Didn't matter, though, a couple of blasts into the middle of the pack would make them scatter like scared womprats. Seven pressed the trigger and sent out the deadly laser blasts. The first shot cut the assault force in half, while next few killed them all.
"Your tail is clean, Two," he reported. "Need anything else?"
"As a matter a fact, yes," Thunder said back. "We've got a clear run to our shuttle, but by the time we're airborne so will the Rogues. Hit their hanger on your way out. Don't worry about hitting the ships, just make sure they're trapped inside."
"Roger that, Two." Seven hit some buttons and punched up the layout of the base. The hanger the Rogues kept their ships in was located on the far side of the base. By hover car it would take the Rogues two minutes to get there, by A-wing it would take no longer than fifteen seconds. "Eight, cover me on the run."
Seven put his A-wing on a direct line to the hanger and put his cross hairs right onto the hanger entrance. This should take out their air support! Seven fired several fire-linked blasts and the hanger entrance collapsed on itself. Seven smiled. That ought to hold'em, he thought.
"Pull out now, Seven?" Palin asked him.
Seven nodded, even though he knew she couldn't see him. "Yeah, we'll break for space and wait for them up in orbit, just to make sure they get away clean. Now about that drink, Eight, are you sure you wouldn't rather join me.."
"No," she said adamantly.
"But..."
"No."
Seven sighed. It was going to be a long trip home.
ThunderingSilence jumped into the pilot's seat and hit several of the start up switches. Jace Sidrona, sitting in the co-pilot's seat, was likewise beginning the start up sequence for the Lambda shuttle.
The second that they had been aboard Sidrona had thrown Narska Plo'kre into a cage stored in the back. He made sure the door was tightly secured before he joined Thunder.
"All right, she's ready go," Sidrona reported.
"Take her up," she said back. "I'll power up the weapons, just in case."
"You know," Sidrona said while frowning, "the Lord Baron says whenever you say 'just in case', you've already lost."
"Did the Lord Baron also say to do exactly as I said?" she asked.
"Well.....yes," he said hesitantly.
"Then take her up and get us the hell out of here before they scramble some fighters! And now I'm going to power up the lasers....just in case." Thunder sighed, shook her head, then got to work on getting the lasers powered up. She didn't think they'd really need them, this shuttle was fairly speedy despite it's age. The mechanics on the SSD were very good.
With a violent shudder the shuttle lifted off the ground and headed for space. They could already see Seven and Eight's fighters on their sensor board. Thunder was glad to see that both had gotten out alive. If any more of the Siths were killed then morale would just hit rock bottom. They might not even recover from it. Thunder glanced back at the Bothan locked in the cage. He was still unconscious, the stun bolt Thunder had hit him with was a bit stronger than she had intended. Oh well, she though to herself, at least now he won't whine and complain the whole way home. It'd be a real shame if she had to shoot him again.
Just as she thought they had made it to space without any resistance. No fighters at all had launched from Thanara, Seven and Eight must've really gotten the job done. As they reached space two fighters flew into formation on either side of them, an A-wing on the right and a B-wing on the left. ThunderingSilence smiled. Two was piloting, Four co-piloting, Seven and Eight flying in formation beside her, and one Bothan locked up in back. A successful mission, if she'd ever see one. No losses and a mission accomplished.
Now if only Baron Reno can convince the Bothan to join the squad, then all the trouble they just went through wouldn't be for not, and Sith Squadron would be one step closer to being whole again.
Lord Baron Reno strode happily into the hanger. ThunderingSilence had just finished the shut down procedure and they were all exiting the shuttle. Sidrona came out first, his demeanor giving away nothing to his emotions. Reno had never met someone so stoic and emotionless. Even Reno felt emotions every once in a while.
ThunderingSilence hadn't reported whether or not the mission had been successful, but she couldn't hide anything from Reno. Although she tried to hide it, there had been joy in her voice. Joy, relief, several other things that Reno couldn't help but pick up. These all indicated that the mission was successful. It didn't hurt, either, that everybody had returned home alive.
Reno got confirmation that the mission had not failed when ThunderingSilence walked down the ramp with an unconscious Bothan being dragged behind her. Reno smiled. She certainly had a way with people...
"Do you think you could not drag your future squad mates around the hanger? For one thing it's not nice, and another we just had the floors scrubbed. Now somebody pick him up and take him to holding cell 334a on Diamond Level."
Two guards ran over and picked up the unconscious alien.
"Watch him," Thunder warned, her hand slightly rubbing her nose. "He's a slippery little guy." The guards nodded then carried him away.
Reno turned back to ThunderingSilence. "Congratulations on another successful mission, Captain Thunder."
"Thank you, Lord Baron."
"Any problems?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary," she said as they started to walk out of the hanger. "Plo'kre was a general pain in the ass. He broke my nose, I think. Stronger than he looks. Ground troops were also a nuisance but Seven and Palin took care of them. No serious injuries, no casualties...a good mission."
Reno took a deep breath. "Good.....because I have another mission for you. You have to leave right away."
"What!?" she erupted. "I just got back! You can't expect me to go back out again. Send someone else."
"There isn't anyone else I trust enough to do this. You won't be alone, though. I want you to take JeniViolet with you."
Thunders eyes raised. "Don't trust her here with Plo'kre?"
"Do you?"
Thunder sighed and shook her head. "No, not really. All right, where do we go and when do we leave?"
"Meet in the briefing room in thirty minutes, I'll explain everything to you then. And make sure to find Jen. I sent her a message but she's either not in her quarters or she's just ignoring me. And if you can't find her check with Dakon, if anyone knows where she is he will. Either way find her and bring her with you."
"Will do. What about Plo'kre?"
Reno smiled. "Don't worry about him....he's mine now."