The Edge of Wild Space

by MBosco

Shortly after the death of Emperor Vitiate and the draw-down of the second Great Galactic War, Republic Intelligence picked up a transmission from an Imperial Station on the edge of the lesser know part of the galaxy warning all to stay away. The four heroes of the Great Galactic War were summoned together to lead an investigation of why the Empire simply abandoned the station.

1. Chapter 1

JedI Weapons Master Tarson Draay sat in a darker corner of the small cantina on Carrack Station in the midst of the Republic's great fleet. In front of him was an empty plate and a freshly refilled glass of Tarisian Ale, the third that had been bought for him by some smuggler or soldier who had recognized him and his former apprentice, Kira Carson who was now a JedI Knight. They spoke softly about the war when a voice interrupted. "Hail the Hero of Tython and Savior of the Republic, JedI Master Tarson Draay!"

Looking up, the human male JedI Master saw an old friend, JedI Master Jaina Doneeta, a Twi'lek and the Bar'senthor of the JedI Order. Tarson and Kira stood with grins on their faces and stepped out from behind the table to embrace their old friend and bow respectfully to her tall Trandoshan companion Qyzen-Fess, a famous hunter, who bowed in turn and greeted them with great respect. "What have you been up to, Master Doneeta? I heard rumors that you aided I after that Rakghoul outbreak on Alderaan. Was it truly as bad as the holonet made it out to be?"

Asked Kira. Jaina straightened her ornate JedI robes and replied, "It was both worse and not as horrible. It took some weeks to drive them into a network of caverns and to seal all but a few of the entrances. From their we used vaccines where we could and our weapons where we unfortunately could not. It's all over now, thankfully. How about you, my friends? We haven't seen one another since the battle on and above Ilum against Darth Malgus and his forces. Do you still have that HK droid that we had to fight?"

Tarson leaned against the wall and crossed his arms over the plates of his JedI battle armor, saying, "Yup. We fixed him up using parts from a shipment of HK-51's found on Belsavis. Since then we have been trying to unravel the mystery of the Dread Masters. It was quite a fight too, taking us all the way out to Oricon in Sith Space. I'll tell you all about it but now it seems that there is trouble coming our way."

Hearing this, Jaina turned and saw four individuals striding towards them, chatting amiably. One was a female Iridonian Zabrak of small stature named Deena Sworrez and around her were three men in full battle armor. Two of them, a Human and a Cathar, wore the blue striped armor and gear of the Republic Special Forces while the other, another Human male, wore well made Balmorran Arms armor. Seeing the JedI and Qyzen, the male soldier, Colonel Derek Antilles, grinned and said, "Well look who we have hear, gentlemen and lady: our most noble JedI friends."

And he embraced each of them in massive bear hugs that none of them except Tarson, being nearly as tall as Derek, could return. They all greeted one another for they had all served together against Darth Malgus but none of them had seen one another since then having been sent on other very important missions. After the salutations they put two tables together and began to chat about what they had been up to. The two JedI Masters told of their missions again and then listened eagerly to the mission that Derek and Havoc Squad had been on. "Major Jorgan and I have been busy fighting Mandalorian pirates and raiders throughout the Outer Rim. Even though the war with the Sith Empire seems to have ground to a halt for the time being, the Mandos seem intent on carrying on fighting. It has been quite the task too. What about you, Voidhound? What have you been doing?"

Captain Sworrez downed a shot of liquor before replying. "Before receiving a transmission from Generals Var Suthra and Garza and, of course, JedI Master Satele Shan, my crew and I were blockade running through the Imperials over Telos IV, delivering supplies to groups of civilians just trying to live through the harsh rule of the Empire. It was fairly simple. Those Imperial Destroyers and their gunners aren't getting any more accurate or powerful."

They continued chatting until three individuals strode up to their table and greeted them. One was a Mon Calamari, General Var Suthra. The other two were human females, one of which was Grand Master of the JedI Order Satele Shan and the other was General Garza. "Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for meeting us so quickly. There is a new development that we think our best should look into." said Master Shan.

General Garza said, "The Science Division of the Republic Strategic Intelligence Service have received word that an entire Imperial space station located on the edge of Wild Space has gone completely offline within the period of only twelve standard hours. The only news of it is apparently a signal quarantine warning. If this is something that the Empire thinks is worth abandoning and warning people away then it may be something we can use to permanently push back the Empire and keep them back. We would like you to go with them and protect them and their research teams."

All were silent for several moments until the JedI Weaponsmaster said quietly, "If whatever happened has been abandoned by the Empire and its Sith Lords then it is something that is beyond dangerous. Master Satele, do you truly think that studying it and trying to control it is wise?"

The Grand Master looked doubtful and shook her head. "What I think does not matter. Supreme Chancellor Saresh refuses to listen to the JedI Council on this issue and has decided to make it a military matter. She did invite us to help in the matter, thinking correctly that we would want to go in case it is a situation where the JedI would be needed to handle it."

General Garza nodded and said, "We are confident that, with your help and the help of the Science Division of the SIS, the Republic Military will find and harness weapon powerful enough to ensure peace. Once the Empire realizes what we have gained they will be begging to make a peace treaty that will last a thousand years - a coexistence that has ever been heard of."

Tarson was leaning back in his chair with his fingers steepled in front of his face while the three were speaking. As soon as Garza finished her little speech, he leaned forward and chuckled. "So you want a super weapon, a deterrent as it were. They never work. It becomes a cold war where the possessor fights for all it's worth to try to keep the weapon while the opponent seeks to take and possess the weapon. Instead of open, army to army and fleet to fleet warfare we have a shadow war with assassins and intelligence groups. Fewer people will die but corruption will fester and grow even more quickly than ever."

Silence followed for several minutes as the Generals and the Grand Master looked at the saviors and heroes of the Republic. Finally all eight of them stood and looked at each other before very reluctantly consenting to go on the mission. The Generals relaxed visibly and even smiled slightly while Grand Master Satele nodded her head but looked no happier than she had before. With much thanks and promises of awards and payment and the Republic's most heartfelt gratitude, they left the heroes sitting in the Carrack Station Cantina. For several minutes they all sat brooding silently until Colonel Antilles finally slapped the table top and said, "Right, listen here. We need to make an agreement right now before any of this truly begins. If this is to dangerous, we blow that stations straight to Hell, agreed?"

The other three looked at each other and they all shook on it after which they finished their drinks and walked to the lifts to their private hanger. Before they entered, Tarson grinned at Jaina and said, "How is that old ship I got for you after Dromund Kaas treating you?"

Jaina replied, "The Ebon Hawk is an excellent ship, especially after I had it upgraded and refitted. You said you found it in a chamber of the Dark Temple on Kaas, right? Well I think I may have found out who it belonged to before it was taken by the Emperor. A pair of holocrons in secret compartments say that it belonged to JedI Master Meetra Surik and the JedI turned Sith and redeemed JedI Master Revan. Their was also quite an armory in there. A whole half of the cargo hold was turned into an armory with over a dozen suits of armor and over a hundred blades, blasters and even several lightsabers that seem to have belonged to quite a few famous and powerful JedI masters. I'll have to show you sometime when this is over. I'll meet you at the Imperial station with the others. Apparently there is going to be a cruiser meeting us there as well."

Each of the heroes went to their ships. Tarson and his companions piloted their sleek Defender-Class Freighter from the hanger. From the three hangers next to them came a B-7 Thunderclap-Class Heavy Fighter, a XS Stock Freighter and an old Dynamic-Class freighter emerged from their hangers and the four ships entered hyperspace together. Some standard hours later they all came out to see a massive space station before them. It looked on the outside to be a standard Imperial Space Station though quite a bit larger. No Imperial starships were anywhere to be seen but a Republic Cruiser was attached to the docking shaft. The four freighters went in and landed in a large hander where they found a large number of people setting up a base of operations. A tall female Cerean seemed to be in charge. He issued orders and a pair of Rodians stood behind him taking notes and rattling off information which were, in turn, turned into further orders. A Bith was on a comlink speaking to someone, arguing about requisitions of supplies and equipment. The heroes strode up with their crews behind them. Colonel Antilles cleared his throat in an attempt to get the Cerean's attention. She glanced at them quickly with a polite smile and said, "One moment please."

After issuing a half dozen more orders, she turned back to them and proffered her hand. "It is an honor to see you here. When I heard that I would be under the protection of the heroes who were crucial in the saving of the Republic during the Second Great War, I felt like a teenaged fan of a inter-galactic actor who was going to meet her celebrity crush. My name is Sar-Duris-Vennar and I'm the captain in charge of this section of the science division. It's a real pleasure to meet you all. So… how are you setting up security here?"

The Colonel smiled at the captain's excitement and replied as he shook her hand, "We haven't worked out the details yet but I did notice to seem to have hired additional security." and he motion over to a group of Mandalorians in red and blue armor cleaning the weapons and glowering at everyone around them. One of them, a human in silver and black armor, strode up to them and looked the Colonel up and down wordlessly. Sar-Duris nodded and replied, "Yes this is Tersius Ordo, leader of Clan Ordo. He is the only clan that refused to fight for the Empire. We hired him because no decent Republic Army unit was available. If it's ok with Tersius, he and his boys are at your command."

She turned to him expectantly and he smiled, "It would be an honor work with so many war heroes. My men and I are at you disposal, Colonel." Colonel Antilles personally liked most Mandalorians he had met. Well those he hadn't had to kill. He had heard of Ordo, that they had covertly worked with the Republic in the memory of Canderous Ordo who was made Mandalore the Preserver and fought with the Republic during the Dark Wars. Suddenly Captain Sworrez pushed her way forward and scowled at the Mandalorians. "Why didn't the generals mention that they were hiring Mandalorians?"

Sar-Duris smile became disarming and said, "They didn't hire anyone. I took it from the budget of the science division as well as the contingency fund we are allowed. It covered the price well and left some to spare too. Now if the generals were telling the truth you didn't all approve of this mission so I thought that giving you each some extra help wouldn't be a bad idea. No disrespect intended to you but you are only twenty-two and the Mandalorians would more than triple your numbers."

The two JedI nodded their heads as did Colonel Antilles. Finally, the Colonel said, "Well then here is my plan if the none of you mind…" he said to the others, "…I was thinking of leaving at least twenty around here so that we can be sure to have a secure get away if the need arose. Original I was going to leave that wholly in the hands of Havoc squad but since we have help I won't need to. Master JedI, Captain Sworrez, what do you say to this…"

And the Colonel outlined a plan for the security for the research operation. Twenty of Ordo's Mandalorians would stand guard in the base camp so that the shuttles and ships would be secured. Thirty were set to clearing chambers and corridors as the SIS scientists needed to access them. Havoc Squad and Captain Sworrez's crew were setting up security cameras, auto turrets and other such defenses equipment after which they patrolled in groups of four the areas that were secured. The droids, HK-47, HK-51, M1-4X and T7-O1 were hooked up to different systems. The HK units were in control of a droid control station and coordinated all the defense battle droids. T7 was attached to all security cameras and sensors and monitored all of them while M1 was stationed with an open field of fire towards every entrance to the control camp in case anything tried to get in, hooked up to an energy source and a munitions dump. The crews of the Ebon Hawk and the Defender were set to guard the docking tube and the cruiser itself with Kira Carson being placed in charge of security.

After all security assignments were attended and carried out, the four heroes of the Republic began to explore beyond the explored areas of the space station accompanied by Tersius and the remaining dozen of his Mandalorians. They moved with absolute silence through the darkness of the station. No lights shined and nothing moved. The air was utterly still and neither of the JedI could sense anything living nearby and an eerie silence permeated the air. After an hour of silent wandering, marking with luminous spray paint to mark in the gloom where they had been, Colonel Antilles spoke, breaking the silence with a low murmur. "This place looks like it's been abandoned for years. No people, no bodies, no droids, not even a sound of the energy generators or turbines of the air scrubbers. What in the galaxy could have done this to a station this size? Where did the fleet go, too? Stations like this always have a fleet to defend them. I have a really bad feeling about this."

Tarson called to T7 and asked what the scanners picked up. After a long stream of binary, the JedI Weapons Master thanked him and shook his head in puzzlement. "T7 said that none of the scans picked up anything in the way of living life forms nor in the way of droids. There are also no signs of airborne pathogens or viruses in the air. However there is a massive amount of organic material deep in the depths of the station, down where the power core and turbines are."

The others looked at him quizzically and Tersius Ordo said, "We're game if you are, Masters. My Mandalorians and I are eager to prove ourselves to you - and to the good captain who seems to still not trust us."

Captain Sworrez frowned and crossed her arms over her chest but did not retort or make any reply. She did, however, un-holster one of her heavy blaster pistols, a Iridonian made piece with a stun setting. The others followed her example in their own ways. The JedI took their lightsabers from their belts but left them unlit for the moment and Colonel Antilles checked the energy sells of the Rotating Assault cannon before re-slinging it in favor of a smaller blaster rifle. Several of the Mandalorians already had their weapons ready as always and a few of them went on ahead in a stacked formation while the others brought up the rear. It was less than a half hour before they found a turbo lift which was, of course in operable. One of the Mandalorians, a woman in red armor, trotted up and saluted before reporting, "We are trying to pry open the doors but it may take a few minutes. They seemed to be jammed shut pretty tightly."

With a small smile, Tarson ignited his lightsaber, its bronze blade casting light on all of them. Without a word he respectfully ushered the two large Mandalorians aside before thrusting the blade into the turbo lift door and cutting a hole wide enough for them to pass through one at a time. He looked down into the shaft and dropped a glow rod. It fell for many seconds and when it finally stopped it was only a tiny green dot. He turned from the turbo lift and was about to comment on it when his comlink chimed. Switching it on and saying, "Yeah?"

The voice on the other end belonged to Captain Sar-Duris. "I have news, Master JedI. We found a massive laboratory. Part of it is studying computers and equipment of a wholly unfamiliar nature - nothing in any of the Republic or even Imperial records even mentions this kind of technology in any way, shape or form. After taking the information the Imperials had on the hardware we have a head start. It's so fascinating but it's not even the most interesting part. In another section of the lab we found stasis chambers of differing sizes with several different creatures in them. I'll send you holo-images of the creatures now. How goes the exploration of the facility?"

Tarson looked at the images before replying to the SIS Captain. One was smaller than a Tatooine Wamp Rat and had eight limbs and a very long prehensile tail. It's underside seemed to have another appendage though he couldn't determine the purpose just by looking at it. According to the statistics that showed up next to the image, the creature's flesh was silicone based and the blood was highly acidic. A second creature replaced the first. It was wholly different than the other, being long and serpentine, much like a snake of some nature but it had not eyes and the only way that its head was identified was by a round crescent-like form without eyes but with a mouth full of sharp teeth and what appeared to be a secondary mouth inside of it on the end of a extendable and retractable tongue like part. It also had acidic blood and its skin was also silicone based. The third appeared to be an extremely evolved version of the second, with powerful legs, longish forelimbs that could either be used to grab or carry or to propel them along on all fours. Also like the second, this creature had silicone based flesh, acid blood, an interior mouth and the strange oblong head. Unlike the second however, it was much larger, larger than a full groan male human. It's long tail had a bladed spike at the end of it as well but most noticeable of all it had a beetle-black exoskeleton that was comprised of a hard and unfamiliar substance. Upon observing these three images closely Tarson replied to the eager captain, "They are a strange trio of creatures to say the least. What do the Imperial research archives have to say about them?"

Captain Sar-Duris smiled ruefully and said, "It would appear that the files were corrupted sometime during their evacuation. As far as that goes we will have to start completely from scratch, I'm afraid. I can say this though: it seems that the creatures are all the same creature but in a different stage of life."

Tarson and the others looked at each other with furrowed and cocked brows as Tarson spoke allowed their silent enquiries. "How can that be? They are all very different from each other. Are you saying that the little spider looking thing turns into the other two? Sounds to me like reverse evolution."

This brought a good natured laugh from the captain who replied as if she was addressing curious university students, "Of course not. I thing that the first creatures delivers the embryo to second party who then gives birth to the second. The second, like some species of insects, then cocoons and metamorphosis's into the third. It's all quite fascinating."

Tarson chuckled himself and said, "Yes, you have said that several times now, but if the files were corrupted and lost, how did you learn about this interesting life cycle? It sounds unique in comparison to any life cycle of creatures in the known galaxy."

The Captain scratched her elongated cranium and replied, "One of the scarce few things we could recover was a recording of the creatures life cycle. There are six of the little creatures in some sort of containers filled with a strange fluid that looks to be keeping them calm. Six small cryo-chambers have the second stage life forms in them completely sedated. In fact there life signs are dangerously low but stable so I think I'll leave them there. In another four large cryo-chambers are the third stage life-forms, also completely sedated. They are marvelous creatures to look upon."

A grunt from Sworrez followed by, "They sure look ugly to me."

She said allowed after that. "Tell me captain - what do you plan to do with these strange creatures? Are they dangerous? Can you salvage any indication of what they are, where their from and how they got here to this station and what the Empire was planning on doing with them? It seems to me that those are the real questions we need answered before we do anything else as far as research and study goes, wouldn't you say, Captain?"

The Cerean smiled disarmingly and replied in the affirmative. "Unfortunately we cannot pull enough information to answer all the questions that we have. We will need to do our own research. Wait a second…"

And she put a finger to her earpiece and listened for several seconds before saying, "Excellent. It seems that we have found some containment chambers for the third stage life forms. Some of my top technicians and droids are looking each of them over to see how they work. They seem to have been based off information gleaned from the alien hardware in the other part of the lab. I'll keep you updated but now I must get back to work."

After the image of Sar-Duris winked out of sight, the explorers looked at one another, saying nothing at first. Finally, Sworrez blurted out, "Ok is anyone getting one of those 'those things are most definitely dangerous and we should destroy them along with this entire station' feelings? I have never seen anything in the galaxy that looks like that but those teeth are not made to eat fruits and vegetables and that secondary mouth…"

And she shuttered silently at the thought. The two JedI masters looked at each other before turning to Tersius. Master Doneeta said, "Send two of your soldiers back and have them keep an eye on things back in the labs and research facility. Have them report to you every ten minutes."

Tarson looked back down the turbo lift shaft at the fading green dot where the glow stick fell. After contemplating for several moments, he pulled a line and collapsible hook from his utility belt and secured them to a nearby railing after giving it a good shape to ensure its stability. With that he looked at his friends and said, "I'll tell you what's down there and when its safe to follow."

With that, he took one of his two lightsabers in his right hand and dropped down the shaft. Closing his eyes, Tarson reached out with the force and sensed everything. When he felt that he was near the bottom of the shaft, he used the force to cushion his fall. The line of his utility belt reached the bottom and he detached it from his belt. Igniting his light saber, Tarson observed all that was around him. He had bypassed the bottom-most floor of the station and was looking into a maintenance duct. Crouching down so as to not smack his head on the moderately low ceiling of the duct. The light of his lightsaber revealed nothing out of the ordinary. After about thirty meters the duct opened into a central maintenance chamber with consoles and monitors. Activating his comlink, Tarson contacted the other explorers. "It seems safe enough. Go straight to the bottom of the shaft and take the maintenance duct until you get to a central chamber. I'll be waiting there."

After receiving an affirmative from those above, Tarson clipped his lightsaber to his belt and began to examine the inactive monitors and consoles. Suddenly, he felt a ripple in the force and heard several snap-hissing noises that only lightsabers made, seeing a scarlet light around him. Moving instinctively, Tarson leapt straight up and over the monitor he was studying and ignited both of his lightsaber blades - bronze and a shining royal blue. Turning around, he deflected a blow from one of his three opponents. Facing him were two young male pure-blood Sith warriors, one wielding a single lightsaber and another wielding a pair of them. The third individual, the one assailing him at the moment was a female chiss wielding a double bladed lightsaber. Calling on the force, Tarson used the force to blast all three of them to the middle of the chamber before saying. "Don't be hasty, Sith. It's obvious something terrible struck this station. Before you kill me, tell me this: Are you the only survivors? What happened to this place? How was it that you were left behind and survived?"

The two warriors said nothing but glared with beady yellow eyes. The Chiss said, "We will tell you nothing, JedI. You face three Sith trained on the homeworld of Korriban and christened on Dromund Kaas by Darth Nox and Darth Purge as their apprentices - the Emperor's Wrath and the Lord of First Knowledge. You will not defeat us alone even if you are a JedI Master."

She leapt high, force lightning rippling from blade to blade of her light saber, preparing to strike with the full measure of her physical and forceful ability when she was suddenly stopped in mid air and thrown with mighty force against the wall of the chamber. Suddenly she felt herself slammed back to the wall - her two companions on either side of her. Looking towards the entrance of the chamber, she saw another JedI - a twi'lek with her hands upraised. Beside here was another short, lean zabrak woman with a pair of heavy blaster pistols and a large man with an assault cannon. Behind them were eleven Mandalorian warriors with different weapons. "Yield. Drop you weapons and do not attack us. We do not wish to do battle right now, only to talk. We have food, water and medical equipment and a long list of questions. If you surrender now and allow us to place you in our custody then we will take care of you."

The Chiss Sith clamped her jaw shut. Suddenly the lightsabers flew from her hands and the hands of her companions and they landed in the hands of the JedI Master they encountered first. They then fell to the floor but leapt up as if ready to fight again. Before they moved a muscle, they were hit by volleys of stun bolts, knocking them unconscious. The Mandalorians put restraints on them made especially to hold JedI and Sith. They were made with crystals that were found on a planet in Wild Space that seemed to make a buddle in which the force was powerless. When the Sith came to, Master Doneeta began to look over them with the help of Captain Sworrez to check for injuries. None of them had any serious injuries but one of the pure blooded Sith had a nasty looking burn across his ribcage which they treated. The Chiss Sith did not bother to speak or resist. Master Doneeta smiled and said, "When we are done here, we can give you some of our rations we have and some water. We mean you no harm and we won't torture you but we need to learn about what happened here."

Suddenly one of the other Sith, a massive fellow with the nasty burn on his ribcage said, "You won't get anything out of her, Master JedI. She is so loyal to the Sith Council that she still raves about how the death of the Emperor and Darth Malgus is the best thing that has ever happened to the Empire."

Tarson strode over to the young Sith and said, "My name is Tarson Draay. Since your friend here is unwilling to help, will you explain what happened here?" the young Sith hesitated for and Tarson chuckled and said, "Look kid, if you're worried about betraying the Empire, don't worry about it. If these creatures are that dangerous, we will destroy this station and everything on it."

After another small hesitation the Sith said, "I was just in charge of one of the security teams here, sent by the command of the Emperor's Wrath. With my limited clearance I was able to see a good amount of what the station was doing here and I was able to learn a large amount more by getting close to Darth Marabous. The man was brilliant. He knew more about the species in the known galaxy than any other man, having studied them over three centuries. I have his holocron. It's in that storage container there."

He pointed to a plasteel cylinder beneath one of the consoles. Colonel Antilles went and opened the cylinder and pulled out a coal-black cube. The female Chiss began to splutter and shouted, "Almec you traitor, when I get free I'll tare the flesh from your bones and make you eat every last bit of it before you die!"

The smaller Sith looked coolly at her and said, "A great assassin you may be but you know you can't hand both of us in a straight up fight so keep a civil tongue in your head, Tanis." he then turned to the JedI Masters and said, "Activate the holocron and ask about the most recent xenomorphic species that he ran into. Believe me that will answer all of your questions. Make it quick though. Those things wake up and become really active when anything else moves around too much. I'd contact your friends and tell them to be on the lookout."

Tarson and Jaina sat down on the floor and the Colonel placed the holocron between them. Jaina, who had had a lot of experience probing holocrons of all kinds, reached out with the force and activated it. A life sized apparition of a tall Kel Dor Sith Lord appeared. "I am Darth Marabous, Dark Lord of the Sith. Of the species and creatures of the galaxy, forceful, sentient or otherwise, you can learn it from me. Knowledge is power, even if it something as seemingly trivial as this. Of what creature would you learn?"

The two master looked at one another and then Jaina said, "Tell us of the xenomorphs you recently encountered. Tell us everything you learned about them, Sith Lord."

The flesh attached to the creatures mask raised a little, an indication the the Kel Dor was smiling. "I'll tell you everything you need to know - before they destroy you."