Chapter Six

            “I don’t believe this,” Nightshade practically howled as she viewed the image before her. A contrite looking Mayhem continued with the rest of the message:

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after them. There was no way I could talk them out of going, you know how Ravyn can be when someone she cares for is in trouble and Silver is caught up in her own guilt. I hope that, with me along, I can keep them from getting in too much trouble. We’re heading for the space station Alliance. It shouldn’t take more then a few days to get there, and then we’ll head to the next location. Eventually we’ll either catch up with them, or find out what happened. I know it’s useless to tell you not to worry so I’ll just say goodbye.”

The image disappeared and Nightshade sat back in her chair, furious. Through the huge windows in her office, she could see the sun had nearly reached its zenith. They couldn’t have left more then a few hours ago. Technically, if Foxy’s first destination was the Alliance, then the Gryffen was no more then a day or so away. The Vengeance could possibly catch up with her at the space station. So could you, if you left right now, the thought flitted through her mind.

Suddenly Cyber burst into her office, nearly out of breathe.

“You’re not going to believe this,” she gasped as she collapsed into a chair.

“Funny, that was going to be my line,” Nightshade replied.

“Huh?”

“An unexpected development has occurred that you aren’t going to believe, or maybe you will, knowing those two.”

“Try me.”

“Apparently our esteemed colleagues have taken off after the crew of the Gryffen in the hopes of some sort of rescue attempt,” Nightshade said in a dry voice. “We’ll forgo the logistics of such a plan, not to mention the fact that we have no idea if something is wrong.”

“Actually, it is,” Cyber stated, having regained her breathe.

“What?”

“Just got the word in, Darktide has disappeared.”

“So?”

“Word going around is he’s off planet, helping the Federation’s guard dogs find the terrorists behind the hijacking of the weapon.”

Nightshade muttered a few choice words which made Cyber smile.

“If Darktide is with them, they have to be looking for Foxy,” Cyber concluded. “They’re in more danger now then ever.”

“Your right, probably. At the very least they have to be warned of this new development. Any word on trying to reach them?”

“Nothing.”

“Maybe we can get a hold of the Vengeance.”

“I can try.”

Cyber headed out and Nightshade turned back to contemplate the view from her window. Now was probably the worst time for all this to happen. Maybe Cyber would be able to raise the idiots and warn them, but somehow she had no hope. Too many things were happening at once. Reaching over, she flipped a switch beneath her desk. A holographic projection appeared above her desk, the next piece in a puzzle she had been trying to figure out for six years. Hopefully this would be the clue to unraveling a mystery that had haunted her for sometime.

The projection was of a ships log. It was suppose to be a record of the final flight, a detailed description of everything that had happened the day the Misty Sky had disappeared. Unfortunately, bits and pieces of the log were missing. What was left seemed to show the Misty Sky’s last day was a normal one, nothing to indicate why it had disappeared or how. So far, the log had yet to yield a single clue, but Nightshade was only half way though it. She had been trying to piece together the missing data using a number of programs and old-fashioned intuition.

   As suddenly as she burst in before, Cyber came through the door to her office again. Nightshade immediately hit the switching, killing the hologram. She was really going to have to keep the door locked if this pattern continued.

“Nothing, I can’t get a hold of them,” she announced, pissed. “They won’t answer, probably afraid I’ll start yelling.”

“Keep trying,” Nightshade ordered, starting to get a tad fed up.

“Its no good,” she shot back, “they're ignoring me.”

Groaning, Nightshade placed her head in her hands.

“We’re going to have to go after them, its unavoidable,” she moaned.

“What is this we business? I’m not leaving the planet.”

“Oh yes you are. If I’m going to be dragged in to space you are going with me.”

“But, but… we’ll need someone here, won’t we? Of course we will. Someone will have to stay here in case anything else happens, plus we need someone to stay and run the Guild. Yes, that makes perfect sense.”

Cyber smiled and nodded happily, secure in her logic. There was no way she could be dragged off planet in a ship. She was more useful back here, happier too.

Nightshade just shook her head.

“I’m going to need your help and your expertise. You’ll have to come along.”

Groaning, Cyber dropped her head in her hands and began to whimper. This day could only get worse.

Locating her errant assistant and having her ship, the Wolverine, readied for flight took longer then she expected. Then came the hard task, getting Cyber onboard the ship and sedated for launch. After much kicking, screaming, and threats of bodily harm on both sides, Cyber was located, subdued and strapped in for launch. Bruised, scratched, and out of breathe, Solaria and Nightshade settled into the cockpit and launched for the stars.

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

            Grenem swore silently to himself as they came out of thirdspace by the Alliance. The Republic was nowhere in sight, meaning they had beaten Neran and his crew to the space station. Unfortunately that meant they would have to go aboard themselves and look for the missing Lorians. There was no matter the crew of the Alliance would cooperate with a lone High Guard officer, so he would essentially be on his own, until the Republic arrived.

Directing the now silent lupine to dock (he still hadn’t gotten a name out of him), Grenem prepared to enter what amounted to the galaxies deadliest place. The only comfort, if there was one, was the large lupine trained to kill, walking at his side. As they went through the security and weapons checkpoints, the officers glared at him, openly hostile. Commonwealth soldiers despised their High Guard superiors mostly because most members of the High Guard treated the ‘civilian’ military like as a joke. The Commonwealth’s sole purpose was to police the populace. That, according to most officers, did not make them real soldiers.

“I need to find an access terminal,” he whispered to his silent shadow once they were far enough in the crowd. Thankfully, he had thought to wear civilian attire so they could blend in better. “I can get all the information I need from it one way or another.”

His companion nodded then pointed towards a side booth across the way. Making their way through the throngs of aliens (and pickpockets) they reached the terminal where he pulled out his PDA. Plugging into the Alliance’s main computer system, he began to hack his way into various files.

“This will take me sometime but once we have the information, we should be able to determine if they are here,” he said to what turned out to be empty air. The lupine was gone.

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

            Morning, if it could be called that, had arrived at the space station. Angel roused the others from their rooms and they set off for the upper level dining facilities. Tech thought they made an interesting group. Angel was leading the way, looking tall and imposing. She had her usual long black sweeping cape that flowed from her shoulders and had a turned back hood, which contrasted nicely with her pale blond hair. Beneath the cloak she wore dark clothes, which stood out even more against her white fur. Foxy walked next to her, slightly shorter and thinner. Foxy had donned her classic casual look, with a beaten up tan woven jacket. Her hair was still in disarray.

        Juana trailed just behind the two, sporting a red unisuit with gold trim. As always, she had a grey cloak around her shoulders, thrown back. Her tail was unusually pouffy, indicating she was upset about something. Tech supposed he didn’t look anymore uniform then the others. He was even more casual then Foxy and he’d grabbed his jacket with the big pockets, so he could carry more electronic equipment. All together they were a motley group that caused quite a few head to turn.

        The morning and early afternoon were going to be devoted to normal commerce, if it could be called that, and maybe some light shopping. Juana was determined to peruse the shops even though the others assured her she would find better quality goods elsewhere. Tech wanted to hit the technology corridor that had been established on one of the lower levels. He was working on something top secret and needed a few more things to complete it.

        Despite being deep in space, the station managed to import a variety of food, a necessity with all the different alien races living onboard. They all managed to find decent fruit and grains to have for breakfast before setting off. Tech disappeared quickly, vowing to meet then later once he had found what he was looking for. Juana also headed off in her own direction. After putting up with Angel for several days, she wanted a break and knew the wolverne wouldn’t venture into the market places, finding them highly annoying.

            Meanwhile, Foxy headed back down to the more fun parts of the station. She still had several lots of goods to unload and some purchases to make. There was a rumor going around that a shipment of dyastrophite had come aboard and she had a permit buyer she could unload it on. Angel trailed along, partly for protection (two homicidal lunatics being preferable to one) and partly to give herself something to do. She really didn’t need any more weapons, although a girl couldn’t have too many instruments of torture and death. Also having a lunatic hanging over your shoulder fingering her weapons while you haggle can be helpful.

            They met back later for lunch. Angel had an uneasy feeling, something she couldn’t explain. They others were starting to pick up on her solemn mood. Foxy was meeting Ryo to finalize their deal late in the afternoon. Ryo was a fascinating individual, Juana decided. He was not your usual back alley smuggler and illegal goods dealer. For one thing, he complimented everyone he did business with, especially the females. It was an odd quark.

        “It’s a way to avoid being stabbed in the back by a business partner,” Foxy explained. “Ryo holds to the old theory that if you treat someone you want something from nicely, they’ll return the favor.”

        “Weird,” Juana replied.

        Angel just grunted and scanned the crowd again. She was back in silent mood.

        Tech finally began to pay attention to the world around him.

        “I’m surprised you haven’t gutted him for the names he calls you,” he said, munching on some giant tangers.

        “You get used to it,” she replied, swiping a fig off of his plate. “At first I was tempted   to rip his tongue out, but it grows on you.”

        “We have a meeting soon,” Angel spoke for the first time.

        Juana nodded and signaled for the check.

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

            The meeting with Ryo actually went well, it was afterwards that trouble started. When they arrived at the Den, it was already teeming with alien life. The same beat sounded just over the hum of conversation. Ryo was ensconced in his usual table, draining the same blue liquid he seemed to live off of. A thick haze had settled over the entire place, the only change from the day before.

        “Sit down, dearest, sit down,” he called to Foxy. “Hope you brought you credcard.”   

            “Of course,” Foxy replied as she took a seat across from him. “I assume you have the deed with you.”

            “As if I woldn’t bring it with me. I’m not fool enough to mess with you, darling. Now, letsee the credcard love.”

            Foxy produced the aforementioned card and slid it across the `tab, scooping up the deed as she did. She scanned it, checking for the usual authenticity marks, the passed it to Angel for safekeeping. Meanwhile, Ryo ran the card through his pad and extracted the correct sum. Cackling to himself, he passed it back across to his favorite client. It had been a profitable day after all.

        “What’s with all the hunters,” Tech asked, looking around the bar at the sudden increase in bounty hunters.

            “Haven’t ya’ll heard bout the Federation decrees, lad?”

            “No, do tell.”

        “Seems the Feddys are desperate to find that missing weapon of theirs. They issued bounties on it and the terrorists that stole it. Its stirred up a whole movement among the hunters and info gatherers, competing from the reward money. Its starting to get dangerous to busy around here, heck, its dangerous everywhere.”

        “You don’t seem worried,” Juana commented.

        “I’ve learned to avoid such messes, sugah, besides they aren’t looking for my kind, their after the fur.”

         “What!?!”

        “They are looking for the furry races, like your own kind. You might want to be a lil’ careful from now on til this whole mess ends.”

        “Good advice,” Angel uttered in a soft tone. “We should go now.”

            They rose, almost as one, and headed for the door, that’s when the trouble started.

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

        The Republic had finally reached the space station, Alliance. For most of the crew, especially the captain, it had been a tedious and annoying trip (the annoying part being their esteemed guest). But now the first part of their mission was over. After much negotiating and threats, a ship matching the description on the Gryffen had been located as docking two days ago, with her crew still onboard the station. After more threats and the waving of official permissions, they were allowed to go aboard and detain the crew.

            At the moment, Neran stood next to the Ambassador looking out from the bridge. They were waiting for a transport to the station. The logistics of putting a squad of High Guard soldiers among the ‘enemy’ was taking awhile to plan.

        “Hideous,” Tourushe finally pronounced judgment on the station.

        “From the vid-clips I’ve seen, it used to be marvelous,” Neran replied, getting tired of the other’s negativity.

        “Typical of the Federation to let it become so rundown, they have no sense of pride. It is an eyesore.”

        Neran began to count silently, waiting for Drellem to signal their transport was ready. It seemed to be taking forever.

            “Hopefully we won’t be here long,” he continued. “You’ll detain the crew and bring them aboard for my people to question. We should have some answers in just a few hours. What is taking so long?”

        “The military governor here is rather resistant to our presence.”

        Tourushe smugly chuckled.

        “You mean *your* presence. The Commonwealth’s animosity towards the High Guard is well known AND, from what I’ve heard, well deserved.”

        Neran had a sudden urge to wipe the snide and arrogant look of his face by shoving him through an airlock. Unfortunately he couldn’t as Tourushe had a point. The High Guard often looked down at the Commonwealth, a so-called ‘civilian military’. The Commonwealth was a different unit of the military that allowed anyone to join their ranks as long as they passed basic training. They were used for peace situations mostly, and to keep order. The thinking behind their inception was, the High Guard was meant to handle things in time of war; the Commonwealth would be there to handle everything else. 

        “Relations in the past have been poor, but the High Guard has been working to improve them for sometime. Its only out here on the rim that old hostilities linger,” he finally replied, trying to be as diplomatic as possible.

        “Captain sir, we’re receiving a transmission from the Alliance,” a junior officer called out.

        “Put it on screen,” he replied.

            The image of General Tatiofke appeared. He had served as military governor of the Alliance for nearly fifteen years, surviving two wars, three moral bureaucrats and a brief High Guard occupation of his station. Tatiofke was a Quartro, a weird race that had a mix of scales and feathers covering their flesh. Tatiofka’s feathers were a sickly shade of green that faded into a mottled yellow. He spoke with a sort of lisp that may have been an affectation. Tatiofke had a largely exaggerated opinion of his own brilliance that was not wholly unfounded. He was a clever if not sneaky and underhanded individual who enjoyed making others suffer. He’d done well in the military.

        “Captain,” he lisped with just a hint of a sneer in his voice, “you may bring your people aboard now. Arrangements have been made for them.”

        “Thank you, General,” Neran replied, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice. “We won’t bother you long. Once we have the ship and its crew, we’ll be on our way.”

        “The Alliance is a large station, it may take your men awhile to find them. They could be anywhere onboard.”

            Tourushe shifted into view and made a traditional sign of greeting.

            “I’m certain the honorable General will lend us soldiers to help find and subdue our quarry,” the Ambassador spoke in a voice that would allow no disagreement. Not that the General would argue. He was not the type to miss the opportunity to suck up to his superiors.

        “But of course, your eminence,” Tatiofke replied, oily, “I will have four squadrons prepared for you personal use. They will assist you in any capacity.”

            “Your… eagerness to help will be noted in my report.”

        “Always a pleasure to aide the Federations cause. You may begin transporting you men over, captain. I’ll meet you and the Ambassador when you dock.”

        It took awhile to have everything shuttled over and on station, but eventually Neran was striding through the noisy docking area to meet the Tatiofke. Tourushe trailed along behind him, trying to avoid touching anything. The Ambassador was thoroughly disgusted by the filth around him, not to mention the recycled air, but he wasn’t letting that keep him from complaining. Drellem was further behind, running through the information they had been given, forming plans, and avoiding Tourushe so they wouldn’t have an interplanetary incident.

            Tatiofke was waiting by the welcome area of the station, surrounded by flunkies. He gave Neran a half-hearted salute and turned to Tourushe.

        “Welcome onboard the Alliance, your eminence. I’ve had special quarters prepared just for your party,” he greeted him nauseatingly subservient.

        “Greetings to you, General Tatiofke,” Tourushe replied, at his most formal. “Thank you, though you needn’t have made a muss over me. I sincerely doubt we’ll be on the station that long. These criminals should be easy enough to locate.”

        Tatiofke shifted his eyes away from them.

        “As I said before, the station this station is huge. They can easily slip into the crowds, as there are millions of people on this station. Also, there are many places to hide. We haven’t had any luck finding them, so far.”

        “What about the identities they registered under,” Neran questioned, surely they most have quarters here.”

        “That would make sense, yes, but our system is having some problems right now, not enough government funding, you understand.”

        That last part was said with just the right amount of pleading.

        “Then, there is no way to track them,” Tourushe concluded.

        “Well, we are working on that,” Tatiofke tried to placate them.

        “For the moment, then, we shall look for them ourselves,” Tourushe announced. “I suggest we start in sectors most likely to attract the unsavory element. Its just the sort of place, we’ll find this group.”

        “Actually, uh… the upper levels might be a better choice. Most of the pilots who stop here, like to enjoy the fine dining, especially if the have certain… um… dietary needs.”

        “These people are criminals, General, lowlifes of the first order.”

            “Why don’t we compromise,” Neran put in. “We can search both sectors, in fact it would be best if we searched the entire station.”

        “That will take you awhile,” Tatiofke warned.

        Suddenly an announcement came over the speaker system.

        “All security, repeat all security, report to Grey Section 3. Riots in progress, all civilians return to your quarters until further notice.”

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

Foxy still wasn’t sure exactly how the fight started. She had been behind the others when the first body had been thrown. Angel had been leading the way when a hunter stepped in her path, already somewhat inebriated.

“What’s your hurry honey,” he slurred.

Angel growled at him, and then shoved him aside. A friend of his saw what happened and protested.

“Hey you %$&!, you can’t do that to him,” he staggered towards her and was tossed aside.

The throwing of bodies caught the attention of another, less drunken group of hunters who immediately pegged them as those on the list of alien races they could earn money for. They moved to surround Angel and the others, flanking them on three sides. With their backs to the wall, and a bunch of low life thugs itching for a fight, Angel made a quick decision. Sometimes if you assert yourself, people get out of your way. The guy closest to her went flying thirty feet across the room to slam into the wall, causing the bar to shake. He slid to a heap on the floor and stopped moving.

An all out war seemed to start as most of the patrons took the opportunity to let off some steam. Angel was quickly separated from the others and surround by the rest of the hunters, figuring her to be the most dangerous. Making a quick decision, she pulled out her `staff (her least fatal and most painful weapon). She whacked the hunter closer to her upside the head sending him reeling back into another group of fighters where he disappeared. Next she side-kicked another one, nailing him between the legs and sending him crashing to the floor, writhing in agony. The remaining five backed off a bit to regroup.

Meanwhile some other drunks, probably friends of the first two, surrounded Tech, thinking he was an easy target. He pulled out one of his more fun tools, a charge generator and aimed it for the one to his right. An invisible line shot out, catching the thug in the neck. Immediately an electrical charge ran through the line and into his body making him jerk around for several seconds before he collapsed on the floor, not moving. Quickly, Tech pulled the line back and hurled a few explosi-caps at the rest of them making them dive aside.

Juana saw the other two get swallowed up in the crowd and moved back towards Foxy, but she was already gone. Somewhat panicked, she ducked beneath a `tab and tried to make for the door. Someone grabbed her from behind and she dropped to a crouch, swinging her leg to bring him or her down. She sprung back up and hurled herself forward, leaping a fallen body. A hunter lurched after her and had his nose crushed. He backed off for a second dripping blood then tried to rush her. Juana whirled then grabbed him and used his momentum to throw him over the bar, shattering the mirror above it. She didn’t seem him again.

While Juana was looking for Foxy, she was searching for the others. Ryo had dragged her back out of the way and was trying to shove her towards a side exit. Shrugging him off, she assured him of her safety and dived back into the fray. A strange alien grabbed her by the arm so she wrenched it backwards; snapping his tentacle, then clipped him over the head with a blaster. More blaster fire rang out over her head. Two hunters moved towards her, one with a kryoblade, the other a pair of old-fashion knives in her hands.

The female lunged at her first. Whipping out her vibro-blade, she parried one knife while kicking the other one out of her hand. As it flew off into the crowd Foxy thought she heard a groan. Pissed, the female hunter came at her again, more cautious though. They circled each, looking for an opening. The hunter made a quick feint in one direction then swung her blade up. Foxy dodged the thrust and swung out a fist, hitting the hunter in her free arm. Caught off balance, she stumbled back, and Foxy moved in disarming her, and knocking her cold.

The other hunter, furious at his partners loss, went in swinging. Foxy leapt backwards, landing on a `tab. He swung his blade at her chest and she flipped over him, landing behind him. He quickly swung around, just in time to duck her thrust. He kicked out catching in the side of her leg. Foxy stumbled sideways, caught her balance and dodged to the other side, lashing out with her heel. She caught him in the upper arm, knocking the kyroblade aside for a minute so she could whack him in the head. He fell to his knees, stunned and she quickly finished the job. Limping slightly she worked out the pain and went in search of the others.

Angel had cut her attackers down to three. They were hovering a few feet from her a little timid after seeing what happened to their comrades. Two of them worked up the courage to attack her weapons in hand. The first one had his arm quickly broken as she flipped forwards and landed on him. She leapt back up and turned to face the second while the first struggled to get off the ground. She wrestled the second to the ground and pinned him there with his own weapons. Then she slugged him, knocking him out. Meanwhile the first one had struggled to his feet and was clutching his arm. Hearing the noise behind her, Angel whirled around and faced him. He limped back to his comrade and the two rushed her, hoping to catch her off guard.

The injured one sent a spinning kick at her so she grabbed him by the leg ands snapped his knee by jerking it in the other direction. She tossed him into the corner as he writhed in agony. The last hunter, a young female most likely new to the job, looked sort of ill. She dropped her weapons and ran for her life. Three other hunters took her place, all eager for a rousing fight. However, Angel was getting tired of kicking the crap out of people and decided to do things the easy way. She pulled out her lightsaber and turned it on. The three hunters coming towards all paused at the sight of it. Over the din of the fight, she thought she heard an echo, across the room, of hum like her blade made.

The first hunter, an older looking caniscan, had a pair of homemade blades in his hands and he came flying at her from above. She quickly flipped backwards out of his path, kicking up as she did. Her momentum knocked him the other direction, into his comrades. The fell to the ground swearing, but were on their feet again in a few seconds. The old one came at her a second time and she flung him across the room, out of her way. Blaster fire came at her form the other two, so she parried it with her lightsaber. Several of blasts came flying back at them and a few hit their mark. Satisfied they were no longer a problem she began to cut a path through he crowd to a door.

All of a sudden she heard Foxy’s message over her wrist unit. Smiling grimly she turned to the wall nearest her and began to cut a hole with her lightsaber. Once she had made a door, she leapt through the opening, avoiding the melted metal. On the other side chaos ensued, as more fights had broken out. Starting to get a little mad, a bad thing in her case, she waded into the crowd.

Tech was having a lot of fun. He’d decided to try the old-fashioned method of bar room brawling, and was pummeling every opponent he could find. Mostly those who challenged him were inebriated fools looking for an easy mark. They quickly learned he wasn’t easy as he kicked and punched and even bit his attackers. As the latest couple ran off he smiled smugly. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder, turning he beheld the largest alien he’d ever seen. This thing would have made Mayhem look tiny, he thought. Before he could react, the alien picked him up and flung him across the room. Crashing into the metal wall, he slid to the floor, unconscious.

Juana thought she saw Tech go flying past but it was impossible to locate anyone for sure in this crowd. For the most part she was being left alone, one of the benefits of being able to blend in with a crowd. She had worked her way around to one of the side exits when she heard Foxy’s message. Turning to go, she was grabbed by a large, hairy alien who seemed to be in an amorous mood. Snarling she promptly killed that mood with a well-placed kick. But that only made him mad. He grabbed her by the throat trying to strangle her.

She couldn’t get much leverage since he was holding her off the ground, so she went as limp as possible, trying to become dead weight. The sudden pressure made him drop his arms and he dropped her. Gasping for breath, she lashed out with her claws, ripping gashes into him. While he roared in pain, she snuck away, wanting to get as far away as she could from the havoc raging on.  

Foxy had pulled her lightsaber to deal with a couple of idiots at the bar shooting into the crowd. The one closest to her lost his blaster, and a hand, causing him to sink to the ground, howling in pain. His mate came at her and was soundly clubbed in the head for her troubles. The others stopped shooting and slunk away, not wanting to lose a limb. Foxy moved closer to the wall, trying to follow it around to the main exit, searching for her friends. Along the way, some %&$%!* grabbed her ass and lost on arm for his impertinence. Tempted to go back and stomp on him, she kept going.

At one point she thought she saw Angel, but the crowd quickly swallowed her up. Swearing she kept moving forward, bashing anyone in her way on the head. Most of the stumbled out of her path but one lowlife, high off of something turned on her and tried to grab her in a bear hug. Furious, she kicked him between the legs, and then bashed his nose in with her head. She slipped away while he reeled around. After a few minutes of futile searching she fell back on plan B. Activating her wrist communicator she yelled,

“Regroup at the ship. I repeat everyone meet back at the ship.”

Praying that the others had heard her over the noise, she found the main exit and dashed through before anything else happened. Unfortunately a dozen security officers and High Guard soldiers were there.

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

As the Vengeance left thirdspace and went into orbit around the Alliance, Mayhem began to swear.

“That’s a High Guard ship,” he said, pointing at the Republic. “We may already be too late.”

“Maybe,” Ravyn replied, a sick feeling in her stomach. “Do you have any contacts on the station?”

“One, let me see if I can reach him,” he replied. While Mayhem worked the COM unit, Ravyn powered up the weapons systems. Maybe, if they could get one clean shot, they could take out the Federation ship. That could give her friends a fighting chance.

“Well, I’ve got bad news and worse news,” Mayhem finally said.

“What?”

“That ship out there is the Pride of the Republic, a High Guard ship sent to capture the crew of the Gryffen.”

Swearing, Ravyn banged her fist against the control panel then yelped when it hurt. Mayhem picked up her hand and rubbed it between his.

“They’ve already arrested one crew member, from the description, it sounds like Foxy. They haven’t found the other yet, but they are looking. Oh, and he said they are getting reports of a homicidal lunatic dressed in black with a lightsaber slaughtering anyone in her way.”

“Death,” Ravyn and Silver, who had just come up, said as one.

“We have got to get down there,” Silver ordered.

“Can your friend get us onboard quietly,” Ravyn asked.

“For the right price, I’m sure he can. Let me talk to him,” he gently put her hand down and turned back to the COM. Silver and Ravyn exchanged worried glances as they sat there in silence.

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

Grenem was having a very bad day. Despite his civilian attire, he was still being pegged as a High Guard officer. I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong, he thought as he marched down the corridor, back stiff and straight, his hands firmly at his side. Moreover, his companion had abandoned him and was probably the one who had caused the riots going on down below. He needed to get down there and find him but they weren’t allowing anyone below a certain level. Not only that, he was certain the rumors about a High Guard ship docked outside were true, but he couldn’t contact them, not without blowing his mission (plus he’d look like an idiot when they found out he had lost his ‘partner’). Grenem had never felt so alone or stupid.

Tired of wandering around, he decided to try and find a way to down below. This station was notorious for its criminal leanings. Surely there was someone he could bribe for a map or directions, or even a hidden way down there. But, who would be the best person to talk to about such things. A security officer in the typically ugly grey uniform of lower rank walked by headed in the opposite direction as him. Struck by an idea, he chased after him. At first the officer ignored his hailing, but when Grenem caught up and grabbed him by the arm, he started to pay attention.

“Hi,” he began, “I need some help.”

“Accosting an officer will get you five days in brig,” the officer growled.

“Oh, sorry about that, but I really need help.”

“Yeah, that’s what you said before. What do you want?”

“You know where all the riots are happening?”

“Yeah, grey sector, what about them?”

“I need to get down there. I have a … friend down there who I have to find as soon as possible.”

“Sorry, you’ll have to wait until everything had quieted down again.”

“But I can’t wait,” Grenem insisted. “Isn’t there someway you can help me.”

“I don’t see how.”

“Surely you must know another way down there. I could make it worth your while to help me.”

“Are you trying to bribe me? I’ll have you know that’s illegal.”

“Look, I’ll level with you. I’m a High Guard officer, in disguise. I need to find someone down there right now. I know you guys take ‘monetary compensation’ for lending an extra hand, so name your price.”

“That’s is, your under arrest for assault and attempted bribery.” The officer pulled out a pair of `cuffs and slapped them on Grenem’s wrists.

“Hey,” he shouted as he was led off, “you can’t do this to me, I outrank you.”