The young Chiss Ca’valon or Cav as he was sometimes called for short, continued to work quickly at a terminal in their small office/living space downloading and deleting the last of the critical information as the station’s alarms blared out, warning that the station was under attack. Unfortunately, they could hear the sounds of fighting increasing near them. At the small holo briefing table the Chiss only known as Rake finished setting the last of the explosives that would destroy the information center and prevent anyone from recovering the information that could remain in the drives. She glanced over at Ca’valon, “How’s it coming Cav?”
Cav nervously looked at the progress bars on the screen. “Less than a minute.”
She nodded as she continued working. If she had set the explosives right the Wipe-3 Data Purge Grenades would go off first, physically erasing the drives completely and then the Detonite blocks would physically destroy them. “Be ready to move, we probably don’t have much longer.”
There was the sound of metal being sliced by a lightsaber and Rake snapped her head in the direction of the door, raising her rifle as the red blade of a lightsaber cut through the door lock and it slid open. A woman in dark robes stepped through looking smugly at them. “Just the beings I was looking for...”
She didn’t finish her sentence as a bright blue energy blast struck her in the back and she nearly toppled over as the shot echoed through the main office area. As she turned to face where the threat came from her blade was struck by something and for a moment Rake could make out the outline of another figure wielding a double-bladed lightsaber slashing into the black robed woman, the strange obsidian and sapphire blades seemingly absorbing light instead of radiating it the only thing fully visible as they sliced through the dark robed woman’s chest and stomach. The dark robbed woman collapsed to the ground in a heap, her lightsaber deactivating as it tumbled across the floor. Rake immediately pointed her rifle at the body on the ground and fired a final energy round into it to make sure she stayed down before turning her attention back to the door as a female voice calmly called out. “Room clear.”
Rake took cover as she waved Cav back out of the line of fire, looking out into the room she couldn’t see anyone, not even the outline of the woman she saw earlier, she must have shut down her blades for the moment. “Thanks for the assist, care to identify yourselves?”
There was a pause before Ar’lissa’s voice answered, “Nighthunters Wraith Two and Wraith Three. Your turn.”
Cav looked at Rake with an expression of relief, but Rake didn’t seem completely convinced. “Rake.”
Ar’lissa decloaked as she walked a little further into the office space of the apartment, her rifle at the ready as she retracted the visor and guard so they could see her face. Off to her side in the server room with them another figure decloaked wearing the same black and grey full body armor, a deactivated double-bladed lightsaber in her hand, she also retracted her visor and guard so they could see her face as well. “Is that Ca’valon with you?”
Rake let out a huff of relief. “Yeah, he’s finishing the download. I’ve just about finished up with the explosives.”
Ar’lissa nodded as she closed her visor and guard. “We’ve still got a few hostiles in the area. Wraith One is guarding the ship.”
Rake looked over as Cav nearly shouted, “Got it!” and disconnected his portable data drive.
Ar’lissa turned back to the office entrance as two pirates shoved the door open quickly calling out, “Contact, Hallway!” as she quickly fired off a couple of shots and two pirates collapsed in a heap before they could even bring their blasters up. She calmly updated, “Tangos down.” as she quickly moved to the door and began checking the hallway. She could hear screams and some blaster fire in the distance, “Clear for the moment, but we need to move. Any idea how many hostiles there are?”
Rake shook her head as she quickly went back to work, “Not a clue, we were cut off from the rest of the station and fought our way here. I don’t think the other inhabitants are well armed.”
Va’lana nodded as she closed her visor and guard, “Are there any other members of your cell?”
Rake finished connecting the last of the explosives and keyed the explosives to her detonator, “We were a small cell. No other Chiss, we employed a few others, but they were killed by the pirates.”
Ar’lissa activated her headset, “Wraith Two to Wraith One.”
Iz’aphine’s voice calmly responded back, “Wraith One here go ahead.”
“We’re at the objective, two friendlies located unharmed. They’re setting charges on the drives; we’ll be mobile shortly.”
“Good to hear. I’m not sure how much longer we have until they realize our ship wasn’t originally in the hanger.”
Rake quickly stood up. “Charges set. Cav’alon stay close to me, your last man. Once we blow the charges we’ll guard the rear while they take us to their ship.”
Ar’lissa looked over at Va’lana and nodded, keeping her rifle at the high ready position. “Ok, let's get moving.”
The group quickly moved out into the hallway and Rake held up the detonator as Cav quickly took cover. “Last man out! Fire in the hole!” They covered their ears as Rake quickly clicked the detonator three times and then a loud electrical discharge was heard as the Wipe-3 Data Purge Grenades detonated, two heartbeats later the Detonite blocks exploded with a roar that was nearly deafening in the confined spaces. Cav’alon whistled softly, “Wow that was intense.”
Ar’lissa nodded, “And noisy, they’re bound to check it out...”
As if on cue four pirates charged around the corner, skidding to a halt as they spotted the four of them as the smoke starting to flow out of the doorway that was once their office. Rake called out, “Contact left!” as she raised her rifle to engage. Ar’lissa quickly turned, snapping her rifle up to take aim, and with four raped yet precise shots the pirates collapsed to the ground dead. Cav’alon stood wide eyed for a moment as Ar’lissa called out, “Four Tangos down. Clear.” Rake raised an eyebrow, “Impressive shooting.”
Ar’lissa shrugged, dropping her rifle back to the high ready position. “Thanks, but they could have been cleaner.” She proceeded to move down the hallway calmly stating, “I’m on point.” as she carefully swept the intersection. Va’lana smirked behind her face guard as she walked past Rake. “She’s her own worst critic when it comes to her shooting skill.”
Rake gave Va’lana a look before falling behind her with Cav’alon, “I know beings who would give their souls to be able to shoot half as good as that from a prepared sniper position.”
Va’lana nodded, “She has a very rare gift. I’ve watched her take out Droidekas at range with one precision shot.”
Rake’s eyes widened, “Really?”
Ar’lissa sighed, “They were lucky shots, and the droids were probably not fully functional anyway. Can we please just cut the chatter?”
Va’lana casually shrugged as she moved up behind her sister as they continued toward the hanger their ship was docked in. “You should give yourself more credit.”
Ar’lissa grimaced speaking in a lower tone, “I’m also trying to avoid gaining notoriety.”
Va’lana smirked behind her faceguard, “You know our ancestorial armor doesn’t help that.”
Ar’lissa shrugged, “It can be concealed and is often mistaken for Mandalorian or some other group's armor. I carry a different rifle when I think my Nightstinger isn’t going to be essential.”
“Just be weary of ‘protesting too much’. It makes you look like you’re trying to hide something.”
Ar’lissa grimaced, “I know, I know.” and clicked on her built-in headset, “Wraith Two to Wraith One. We’re two minutes to the hanger.”
Iz’aphine’s voice responded, “Got six pirates trying to break into the ships parked here. I buttoned up so they can’t easily get in when they get to ours.”
Ar’lissa reflexively nodded as she turned her head slightly to the others as they continued down the corridors, “We’ve got six hostiles in the bay. Wraith One has buttoned up the ship.”
Rake checked her blaster rifle as they got closer to the hanger, “They may be spread out, Wraith Two you want the right side with Three?”
Ar’lissa nodded, “I’ll open fire first and try to thin them out.”
They quickly and quietly took up positions at the entrance to the hanger and Rake whispered, “On your start.”
Ar’lissa took a moment to lay out her shots at took careful aim just as one of the Pirates spotted her shouting, “We’ve got...” He couldn’t finish as Ar’lissa squeezed the trigger and the blast echoed in the hanger as the pirate when down. She quickly fired three more times, taking out three more pirates before they could even respond. The two remaining pirates quickly exchanged fire with Rake and Ca’valon as Va’lana used the distraction to close on them and with two quick slashes of her now ignited double-bladed lightsaber the fight was over as quickly as it started. This time it was Rake calling out, “Tangos down.” as Va’lana activated her headset, “Wraith Three to Wraith One. We’ve taken care of the pirates in the Hanger can you drop the ramp so we can get out of here?”
Iz’aphine sounded relieved as she responded, “Give me a moment to unlock.”
Va’lana gestured to the others, “This way!” and started quickly leading them over to the Wandering Star. Rake and Ca’valon looked up and the Lancer Persuit craft. Its obsidian-colored, gold and sapphire trimmed hull would normally blend into the darkness of space very well, but in the hanger the colors made it stand out. Ca’valon whistled softly, “Nice ship.”
Ar’lissa quickly responded to him as the ramp descended, “Thanks, let’s get out of here before more pirates show up.” The four of them quickly ran up the ramp and into the ship, Iz’aphine was already heading for the Dorsal turret calling out, “Strap in! I saw at least three fighters out there.”
Ar’lissa and Va’lana rushed into the cockpit, quickly strapping in before Ar’lissa took the controls and guided the ship out of the hanger trying to accelerate up to speed. The sensors wailed out an alert and Va’lana quickly checked them as she activated the deflectors, “Two Z-95s to port and one coming in on starboard. We’ve also got a YZ-775 closing from starboard side of the station!”
Ar’lissa banked the ship hard towards the Z-95s calling into the coms, “Izz, take the solo, I’m on the pair!” Ar’lissa used the advanced targeting array to aim and with a quick squeeze of the trigger the two Z-95 exploded into fireballs from the burst of twin heavy laser fire. Iz’aphine smirked as the two blips dropped off of the advanced targeting array. She swung the turret onto target and got a good tone from the array and pulled the trigger, the triple heavy lasers filled the space around the Z-95 clipping both wings off of the fighter and sending it into an uncontrollable spin before it exploded like the others.
Suddenly twin turbolaser bolts streaked over the cockpit followed shortly by two proton torpedoes. Ar’lissa cursed, “Shit!” as she jerked the controls, preparing to go evasive. Va’lana checked the sensors calling out with relief, “They didn’t lock! YZ-775 closing to close combat range!”
Ar’lissa nodded with brief relief as she banked the ship around hard to face the threat, “We’ve got to take them out before they can fire those again.” The array gave her a tone and she once again pulled the trigger. The twin heavy laser blasts pierced through the deflectors, impacting on the engines and causing them to sputter out and die as Iz’aphine snapped the turret and around and fired. Two of the three heavy laser shots getting through a gap in the deflectors and burning through the hull plates as the YZ-775 desperately tried to return fire with its twin medium laser cannons but the Nightshadow Coating threw off their targeting sensors just enough and the shots barely grazed the ship’s deflectors.
As Ar’lissa brought the ship around for another pass Iz’aphine fired the turret again, this time all three shots burned through the deflectors and into the hull. As the turbo laser turret turned to track the Wandering Star Ar’lissa lined up where she thought the main reactor would be located and pulled the trigger. The twin blasts ripped through the deflectors and pierced the armored hull cutting vital connections and killing the remaining powers to the ship’s systems leaving it dead in space. Both Ar’lissa and Va’lana let out a sigh of relief as the turrets stopped moving. “YZ-775 neutralized. The scopes look clear.”
Ar’lissa nodded as she guided their ship away from the wreck. “We should start plotting a jump out of here and put a distress call out on the station’s behalf.”
Va’lana gave her a look, “You know, now that we’ve taken out their ships...”
Ar’lissa sighed, she knew what her sister was thinking, “We were here to rescue Rake and Cav and we’ve done that. Going back in puts them at risk.”
Va’lana glanced back in the direction of the station, “I know, but I don’t like the idea of leaving those people behind to mercy of the remaining pirates.”
Ar’lissa tried to sound soothing, “I know, but we don’t know how many pirates are left or if they have more coming. We are not a warship by any stretch of the meaning.”
Va’lana looked at her with a pleading expression, “You know it’s the right thing to do.”
Ar’lissa sighed, even if she couldn’t see her expression, she knew from Va’lana’s tone what her expression was. “Let’s send the distress signal on their behalf first...”
She was interrupted as a Arquitens-class light cruiser appeared in a brief blur of pseudo motion, “Well looks like we don’t have to send out the destress call after all.” She quickly activated the coms, “This is Captain Ar’lissa of the Wandering Star. An unknown number of pirates have boarded the station. We’ve taken out 13 of them along with 3 fighters and disabled their freighter.”
There was a long pause and then they heard a female voice respond, “This is Captain Brento of the Shyrack. Trouble seems to find you, doesn’t it?”
Va’lana quietly interjected, “Their launching TIEs and a troop shuttle.”
Ar’lissa gave a sigh of relief, “Does seem that way of late ma’am. Feels like we should check and see if there’s some sort of trouble magnet or tracker attached to the ship.”
There was a slight chuckle on the other end of the com. “Indeed, though you seem to be able to handle it well.” There was a pause, “The station’s short-range transmitter is back up and the station chief says the remaining pirates attempted to flee to their shuttle but were apprehended by the remaining station security. The station’s crew wish to express their thanks for your assistance, because of your efforts they were able to rally.”
Ar’lissa looked surprised, “Uh if you could, tell them they’re welcome.”
“I will pass it along; you have the Empire’s gratitude as well, safe travels.”
“Thanks same to you.” Ar’lissa closed down the coms. “Let’s plot a short jump out of here and then head home.”
Va’lana nodded as she started working on the jump calculations. “We’ll be ready to jump in about a minute.”
As the Wandering Star headed through hyperspace Iz’aphine climbed down from the turret and headed into the Lounge where Rake and Cav’alon were sitting as Two-Vee walked towards the galley, he turned to her, “Would you like something from the galley ma’am?”
Iz’aphine politely nodded, “Some water please, thanks Two-Vee.”
Two-Vee nodded, “My pleasure ma’am.”
Rake seemed to finally relax a little. “Thanks again for the save back there. I don’t know why that Sith was specifically after us. I don’t think she was part of the pirate group.”
Iz’aphine looked at her curiously, “Could she have been after the data you had collected?”
Rake shrugged, “Possibly, we had gathered a lot of interesting intel. We were just trying to schedule a pickup shortly before the attack.”
Iz’aphine nodded, “We have a communication triad setup at our home base you can transmit from.”
Cav’alon’s eyes lit up, “You have a triad? How’d you manage to swing that?”
Iz’aphine nodded to Cav’alon, “We operate out of an asteroid that’s listed on the star charts as JN-85 it’s between Selvaris and the edge of unknown regions. It was relatively easy to hide the poles on the outside and rig a secure relay to our home.”
Rake looked impressed, “Must have cost a pretty credit to do that.”
Iz’aphine shrugged, “Not as much as you would think. It’s not a huge transmitter, just enough to reach another relay that was setup.”
Cav’alon smiled, now even more interested in the conversation. “I might be able to help boost it a bit, maybe check the security protocols.”
“That would be appreciated.”
Rake studied Iz’aphine for a second, “Perhaps we should merge our team into yours?”
Iz’aphine looked at her curiously. “We’ll need to talk to General Ba’kif about it.”
Rake looked a little surprised for a moment, “So the rumors were true, The Nighthunters do report directly to General Ba’kif.”
Iz’aphine nodded, “Well his office at least, our missions can be a little more ‘unique’ at times and we have to be flexible.”
“Cav and I can be flexible; we’ve had to deal with a lot of interesting situations ourselves.”
Iz’aphine quickly sat down on the couch, “Alright, it’s a two-day hyperspace jump back to the asteroid, let’s talk about how this merger would work.”
