Jace was breathing hard as he binded Skate’s hands and confiscated her many weapons. She was a helluva lot harder than he expected. Certainly was harder than the 45 second fight he had predicted. Either way, though, the end result had been the same.

Five down, two left.

Seven and Palin were the only two left unaccounted for. But before that, he had to make a quick trip to the bridge.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

For the second time in the day, Palin regretted opening the door to her quarters. Seven didn’t even have the courtesy to ask to be let in this time though, he just barged in and started ranting like a madman. The temptation to TK him into a state of unconsciousness again was very high--she had to fight to keep it down.

“Look, I know you said nothing is going on, but something is!” he demanded. “I can’t raise anyone on the comm. Sky, Ryvo, Star, Skate... no one is answering!”

“If you were calling me, I wouldn’t answer either,” she shot back sharply. “There, mystery solved. Hey look, there’s my door, it’s open, get out.”

“C’mon!” he whined, “you gotta believe me! People are vanishing left and right here! Who knows, I could be next!”

Palin shook her head. “I’m not that lucky,” she muttered.

“Or you could be the next one to vanish!”

“I’d be lying right now if I said the prospect isn’t somewhat tempting. Now get out of my quarters.”

Seven gave her a cold stare, then surprised Palin by actually walking towards the door. Just as the door was closing, however, Seven burst back in. Infuriated by his sheer insolence, Palin was preparing to TK him back to his usual spot across the hallway when he stuck his hands up in defeat.

“Let me make a deal with you, then!” he quickly spit out.

Though she wouldn’t ever admit it, that caught her somewhat off guard. A deal? What kind of game was he playing at this time? She was curious. “Talk,” she grumbled.

“Something is going on. I know it, and I’m going to need your help to stop it. I can’t do this by myself. But since you don’t seem to want to help, here’s the deal. If you humor me by coming with me to see what’s going on, and it turns out you were right and I’m just being paranoid... I’ll never hit on you again.”

To say Palin was intrigued was probably the understatement of the century. What would life be like without Seven making constant failed attempts to hit on her? Joyous, was one word that would describe it. Tons of others came to mind, but she really didn’t have time to recite them all. Besides, there was bound to be some kind of negative catch to the deal. There always was. “And what if you’re right, and something is happening?”

“Then you and I save the SSD,” he said flatly. “That’s it.”

“No loopholes? You’re not trying to trick me into going out with you or having sex?”

“Nothing insidious like that, no. I just want help. If Jace really is up to something, you’re the only person here who has a chance of stopping him. I can’t do this without you.”

There was something about the sincerity in his words that struck a chord with Palin. She didn’t even have to use the Force to sense that he was being sincere and not just trying to flatter her. She did anyway, just for the hell of it, but she didn’t have to. Not only did Seven believe Palin was his only hope, but he truly believed that Jace and Narska were up to something.

Palin gave him a hard stare, and looked deep into his brown eyes. For once they weren’t full of lust and she could tell he wasn’t undressing her in his mind. He was genuinely concerned about the SSD, and all of their lives. Such focus... surprised her. She wasn’t used to sensing focus and determination in Seven. She had to admit, when Seven was focused and acting more mature, he did cut a pretty decent figure. He wasn’t hard on the eyes, not a bad little pack....

Palin stopped herself and inwardly swore. Great, now Seven is focused and determined and all she can do is think of sex. This is all Seven’s fault.... she reminded herself to TK his ass into a wall later. For now, though...

“Deal,” she said, pushing him out of the doorway and into the hall. This time, however, she followed. She stalked down the hallway, with Seven running to catch up to her.

“Where are you going?” he asked.

“Bridge,” she commented.

If it were true that Jace and Narska were planning something, then the bridge of the SSD would be the first logical place to start looking. She didn’t think Narska would think of going there, but Palin would bet all her Whyrens that Jace was in charge of the two. And if he was in charge, he would think of all possible outcomes. The first thing he would do is make sure no communications could go in or out, that way no distress signal could be sent. And while she doubted stubborn old Vanicus would go along with a scheme like that, she also doubted Jace would’ve left him much of a choice.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Reno tried his best to calm down, to keep the anger from spilling out. He had refused to believe it at first. Refused to believe that Narska Plo’kre had deceived him, that he could deceive him. But Jen wasn’t mistaken. He knew it. Wes Janson had been on PX4-978. And that meant that Narska’s little “duel” against Rogue Squadron where he “killed” several members had all been a set up, a lie. A falsified signal to indicate life-forms in the remote controlled X-wing had fooled their sensors... probably a hypercom signal so the “pilots” could communicate without any lag.

During the battle Palin had suggested that the X-wings could be just drones. He was starting to regret not taking the request a little more seriously. Obviously a surface scan hadn’t been enough.

Their shuttle was about half an hour away from leaving hyperspace. He hated waiting, especially in situations like this. Narska could’ve called in the entire NR military by now. The SSD could be nothing but a floating pile of debris. He, Jen and Thunder could be the last of the Siths left alive.

Reno sighed. It was going to be a long half hour.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

The instant Palin reached the door to the bridge, she regretted not taking Seven’s request for help earlier a little more seriously. The blast door was closed, locked. That was something that just didn’t happen. All the members of the squad had total access to the bridge. The blast door was never locked. Except... it was.

She punched the comm button. “Vanicus, open the door,” she commanded. He didn’t respond, but she could feel his presence on the other side of the door. He was scared, nervous--unusual, for him. But in a situation like this, not surprising. When her request was met with silence, she realized that extreme actions had to be taken. She unclipped her lightsaber and activated it, and Seven followed suit. The hallway was bathed in an eerie greenish-blue light.

She went to work on one side of the blast door, while Seven worked the other. They jammed their sabers into the durasteel and carved a nice little door for themselves. Once the outline was complete, they clipped their sabers back on their belts and simultaneously TK’d the giant slab of durasteel out of the doorframe. The giant slab fell to the deck with a mighty bang. The bridge was totally empty for some reason, which obviously wasn’t proper protocol. Some crew were always there. Something was definitely going on.

Eltrar Vanicus was at the other side of the bridge, near the viewport but staring at Palin and Seven. As she stalked over to him, she was pleasantly surprised yet bummed to see he wasn’t cowering in fear. Surprised because it meant he wasn’t going to act like a pansy and cry, not that she expected him to. Bummed because sometimes it was just fun to make grown men cry.

“Explain,” she said simply.

“He’ll kill me,” Vanicus said. It wasn’t out of fear, he appeared to be just stating a fact.

“I’ll do the same if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”

Vanicus sighed. “Lord Sidrona came to me earlier today and asked for a favor. After hearing it, I declined.”

“What did he ask you to do?” Seven asked.

“He told me to cut off all transmissions to and from the SSD. And, of course, to tell no one he said to do that.”

That little rat bastard, she thought to herself. He was up to something. Damnit...that means Seven was right. Now not only would he keep hitting on her, but he would have an even bigger ego about it....

“And you told him no?” she asked.

“Of course. Only the Lord Baron could authorize that. However, he convinced me that it would be in my best interest to do as he said. After he executed a member of my bridge crew by spacing him, I decided he was correct.”

As Palin expected, Jace hadn’t left him much choice. “Anything else?”

Vanicus shook his head. “That was all he told me.”

“And where is Jace now?” she grumbled, not even trying to hide the anger in her voice. Before

Vanicus could answer, though, Palin felt her danger sense tingle and there was a sound by the blast door.

“Right over here,” Jace said as he fired his blaster.

Jace hustled to the bridge as quickly as he could. So far everything was going according to plan. Although he had encountered a little more resistance than he previously guessed, things were still under control and right where he wanted them. So far nothing had gone overtly wrong. He was almost to the bridge, when...

BEEP.

Jace reached down and picked up his comm. “What?”

“I‘m going to the final bomb site right now,” Narska told him. “How is your Sith hunt going?”

Jace rounded the final corner to the bridge, and immediately was put on guard. Where the blast door used to be, now there was just a gaping hole. Obviously it had been cut by a lightsaber. One or more of the remaining Sith were on the bridge. Seven didn’t have the temperament to cut a hole in the bridge door. Palin, on the other hand....

Jace reached out into the bridge. It didn’t take him long to feel the presence of two Sith: Seven and Palin, definitely. He raised his comm. “I’ve got them both on the bridge,” he told Narska. “Get to the final site, I’ll meet you there when I’m done with this.” He turned off the comm before Narska could reply.

Jace crept over to the door and listened in as Vanicus spilled the whole story. Jace unclipped his lightsaber. Considering how much trouble he had with just Skate, he really didn’t want to fight Palin and Seven together. Unfortunately, life wasn’t about being fair. He was going to have to get the drop on them. If he could take one of them out immediately his chances of success would be greatly increased. One-on-one he should be able to take both of them, so it didn’t matter which one he targeted. He just needed one of them to be out of the fight.

Jace took out his blaster and stared at it. Stun wasn’t going to be enough. A stun blast was wide, and could be easily blocked. Seven and Palin wouldn’t exactly be next to him, they would be at the opposite end of the bridge, or at least half way. He needed the attack to be quick and hard to block.

Slowly, reluctantly, he switched the setting over to kill.

“And where is Jace now?” he heard Palin say. That was it, he had to move now!

In one motion he rolled around the corner, blaster in hand pointed at the closest of the two, Seven.

“Right over here,” he said, and fired directly at Seven’s chest.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Palin didn’t know why she did what she did next. She supposed everyone had moments of stupidity, though until this point she really couldn’t recall herself doing anything quite this stupid.

When Jace rolled around the corner with his blaster in hand, Palin was ready. She had her saber out in front of her ready to deflect anything he dared shoot at her. She almost wished Jace had shot at her. Instead, though, he aimed and fired at Seven. Despite having a better danger sense than anyone else in the squad, his reflexes were surprisingly sub-par. She could tell right away that he wasn’t going to get his saber out in time to deflect the shot. So...she took the shot for him.

As she lie on the deck, a fresh blaster wound in her shoulder, Palin cursed herself over and over again. For whatever reason, it hadn’t occurred to her to reach out with her own lightsaber to block the shot. No, that would’ve been too easy. Instead her dumbass lunged in front of Seven and took a hit in her right shoulder. When she fell to the ground, the heavy thud knocked the wind out of her.
By that time, Seven had finally managed to get his own saber out and Jace had of course ditched his sidearm. He knew he had one shot at them before they got their sabers up. It would be pointless to try to shoot one of them while they were on guard. So instead he ignited his blue-bladed lightsaber and charged at Seven.

Palin sighed as she tried to make it to her feet. There was no way Seven could out-duel Jace, just no way. Reno could, Thunder could, Jen maybe... but they were all gone, and would be for several more days. Palin thought she might be able to take Jace on a good day, but she had just been shot in the shoulder and the pain was searing through her body. Maybe that would even it up, though.

For his part, Jace looked like nothing short of hell. Although he seemed to be fighting Seven with ease, she could see the pain in his movements. His ribs were hurting him, probably broken. His left leg was moving slow...

With a surge of energy, Palin pushed herself to her feet. She ignited her saber again, but held it in her left hand. It hurt too much to move her right arm. With all the speed she could muster, she ran over and tried her best to assist Seven. At first she thought she was helping, but that was quickly disproved. When she swung down hard with her left hand Jace blocked easily. With one hand, he knocked her blade away and caught her with a sharp kick to her chest, knocking her back down to the ground. When she hit the ground her lightsaber fell out of her hand and slide all the way across the room until it hit a wall.

She groggily looked up. Seven wasn’t faring so well, not that she expected him too. Jace was too much an experienced swordsman for him to handle. If he continued trying to fight him, he wasn’t going to survive.

Palin closed her eyes and reached out to touch Seven’s mind. She couldn’t speak to him like this, but she could send him a message of sorts. Send him a thought, or feeling: Run!

Despite being engaged in a duel, Seven cast a glance at her. He didn’t project any thoughts, but the expression on his pained face said more than words could: Not without you!

Damned fool, she thought to herself, he‘s going to get himself killed if he stays here any longer! That wasn’t an opinion, either, it was a fact. He had to get out of here, had to leave her behind. Even if it did cost Palin her life. But even as she thought it, she knew it was futile. No matter how bad the situation was she knew Seven wouldn’t leave her behind. And it went beyond his lust for her, too. She was a squadmate, a fellow Sith, his wingman... a friend. Bah. Who would’ve thought....

With the realization that Seven wasn’t going to leave her behind came a new surge of energy and determination. Palin didn’t want Seven to die, didn’t want him to foolishly give his life to protect hers. She knew that he wasn’t going to leave her as long as she was alive. And she also knew that in their current state, they couldn’t defeat Jace. Palin knew what she had to do in order to save Seven’s life.

Palin stumbled to her feet and charged at Jace with all the grace of a drunken bantha. With his attention on Seven, he didn’t see her until it was too late. She speared him in the midsection and held on tight, driving him backwards. If she could just push him back ten more feet they would fall into the crew pit The fall could kill them if they landed wrong, but that was fine because she expected to be dead before it got that far. Although Palin was doing a good job of trying to knock Jace into the pit, she was totally exposed. Her back was wide open--all Jace had to do was jab his saber into it. She knew Jace knew that, too. He could kill her in less time than it took to blink. She waited for it. The final blow. She probably wouldn’t feel much, just an intense pain in her back as the saber made initial contact. After that, she would be dead so quick she wouldn’t even know it. Worse ways to go, definitely. But before that could happen.....

“Seven, run!” she yelled, as she inched closer and closer to the crew pit. “Damnit, go!” And then she waited. Waited for Jace to take advantage of her weak spot. She did all she could for Seven, hell, it was more than she thought she ever would. If he didn’t listen to her, didn’t honor her sacrifice, then there was nothing she could do. It was all in his hands.

And then she felt it, and intense pain in her back, though it wasn’t as hot as she figured it would be. Just a sharp pain that echoed throughout her body. As she prepared to surrender herself to death, the floor suddenly gave way underneath her, and she and Jace were sent falling backwards.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Seven wasn’t sure what to feel as he sprinted away from the bridge. He had never been filled with so many emotions. Fear, anger, loss, regret... rage. He hadn’t wanted to leave Palin by herself. That was the last thing he would ever do. Had it been up to him, he would’ve sat there and died before he let anything happen to her. But... it hadn’t been his choice.

The moment Palin tackled Jace, Seven had known what she was doing. He knew that she was aware of the fact that he wouldn’t leave her as long as he still had a shot in hell of saving her. She knew that he would rather die than leave her. So instead of letting him die while protecting her, she gave her life for him. Tears welled up in his eyes but he was too busy to wipe them away.
Damnit, damnit, damnit! Why had she done that? Surely she was more important to the squadron than he was, her life worth far more than his. That should’ve been him dying back there, not her!
And slowly Seven stopped running, until he was at a complete stop. He hadn’t bothered running to any place specifically, he was just running away. Jace was probably going to come looking for him, going to come and kill him. Hunt him down like a womprat. The SSD was big, but he doubted he could hide from Jace that long. Eventually he’d have to confront him.

Confront the man who killed the woman he loved.

It was his fault, really. He was the one who dragged Palin to the bridge, who brought her into the trouble. It was his fault. He should’ve just left her alone like she asked. If he had, she’d still be....

Wait a second.

He would’ve felt that. If Palin had died, he would know. He would feel it. That meant that she was still alive! He reached out to try and touch her presence, but got nothing. Either the bridge was too far, or she might be unconscious. Probably the latter. And if Palin was still alive, he could still protect her! He had to get back to the bridge, and f-

Just then, at the other end of the hall, someone quickly ran by. He only caught a glimpse of fur, but he knew immediately who it was. Narska. And he had been carrying a bag, and had something in his hand. Knowing his reputation as a Mad Bomber, Seven didn’t have to stretch his imagination to figure out what it had been. So that was their game. Blow up the SSD while Reno and the others are gone for a few days.

Narska had probably been a Rogue all along. They had been lied to, then tricked. And now Narska Plo’kre and Jace Sidrona intended to blow up the SSD, and everyone along with it. Seven had to stop him! He started to follow him, but stopped.

Palin....

He couldn’t leave her there with Jace, he’d probably kill her! He cared too much about Palin to leave her in the care of Jace. He didn’t know why he was betraying them, but it was clear he had. But if Narska succeeds and plants bombs, everyone is going to die. Me, Palin, and anyone else unlucky enough to be here. For once Seven was torn between his heart speaking and his mind. He couldn’t leave Palin alone, but he couldn’t let Narska succeed. Damn... what would Palin do?

And that was it. He knew what she would do, he knew what she would say to him. She would tell him to get off his sorry, dumbass, stop putting personal feelings ahead of the mission, and finish off that intolerable little furball before he kills everyone! With Palin’s words supporting him, Seven ran off after Narska.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

With a sudden gasp, Palin did something she thought she would never do again: she opened her eyes.

She wasn’t dead, she was sure of that much. And if she was dead and the afterlife was nothing but lying in an uncomfortable position inside a crew pit of a Super Star Destroyer with a blaster burn on your shoulder and Jace Sidrona staring at you, she’d much rather be alive.

He looked about in as much pain as she was. Both were too hurt to move. So instead, they just sat there and stared at each other. Palin knew her lightsaber was still somewhere up on the deck, far away from her. Jace’s was back on his belt, clipped tightly. She thought about trying to Force-grab it, but realized how stupid an idea that would be. She was hardly in a position to fight. So instead, she just stared.

She wasn’t sure what to think while looking at him. Rage and hatred were right up there at the top, but there was also a certain level of confusion. Palin should be dead, she knew that. And just by looking in his eyes, she knew Jace knew that. All he had had to do was bring his saber down into her back and she’d be dead--but he hadn’t. The pain she had originally thought was his lightsaber digging it’s way into her back was probably just him delivering a sharp elbow into her spine, trying to get Palin to break her grip before they fell into the pit. He’d purposely avoided killing her. But... why?

“I’m not a traitor,” he suddenly said, as if answering her unspoken question.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You don’t understand....“ he said, shaking his head and staring at the ground. Don’t understand what, she wondered. “I had to make it look real, just like he did. He was watching me. Anything suspicious and he would‘ve called it off and found a way to flee. I couldn‘t allow that.”
Palin fixed him with a hard stare, curious. “You’d better start making sense, pal.”

“Narska. He’s planning to blow up the SSD. He tricked us when he fought the Rogues. It was a deception of some sort. The ‘dead‘ Rogues are probably off in hiding somewhere.”

“So why didn’t you stop him?” Palin grunted.

“Reno wouldn’t have believed it. He’s... different since he got back. I don’t want to say he’s not as sharp as he used to be....”

“But he’s not as sharp,” Palin finished.

Jace weakly nodded. “He refuses to believe he is fallible, when nothing could be further from the truth. He puts on a good show most of the time, but he’s just not there anymore. If I had gone to him without flat out proof, he wouldn’t have believed it. For a Sith Lord, he’s very naive.”

Palin really couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Ever since she’d been here she’d never heard Jace say a bad word about Reno. It was always “The Master is correct”, and blah blah. Perhaps Jace Sidrona wasn’t as blind a follower as everyone thought he was. Maybe he isn’t so one dimensional after all, maybe just a bit deeper than people gave him credit for. Still...

Palin shook her head. “Don’t buy it,” she muttered. “Your plan has gaps I could fly two SSD’s through. It makes no sense for you to hunt down all the Siths when all you had to do was confide in them. We could’ve gotten him together.”

“No,” Jace told her. “You don’t understand how Bothans work. He’s been watching me on the security cameras, making sure I‘m not betraying him. And I’d be willing to bet Thunder’s Whyrens supply that he’s been listening in on me, somehow. If he caught even a whiff of deception, he would‘ve just gone ahead with his plan without me, and we would be dead.”

“Why tell me all this now, then? If he isn’t listening in, won’t he hear us?”

Jace shook his head. “I ordered all communications from here jammed. Even if he does have a listening device on me, it’s not working.”

“So what now?” she asked. “We can’t call out for help. I’m in no shape to do anything, and you’re not much better off. What is that, broken leg?”

Jace looked down at his leg, which was still bent at an odd angle. He nodded. Jace wasn’t about to be going anywhere, and neither was Palin. “Seven,” Jace muttered. “He’s still out there.”

“Oh god....are you saying our lives are in Seven’s hands?” she asked incredulously.

Jace weakly nodded. “’fraid so.”

“Well ain’t that just the shi-”

Before she could finish her sentence, the radar screen started to beep. Neither could see which screen it was coming from, but they knew what it meant. Somewhere outside the SSD, a ship had just emerged from hyperspace.

Continued...