Xzhar ducked as a burst of blaster fire blew over his head, taking cover behind the crumbling walls of what had once been a house. The past hour had changed that quickly though, heavy blaster carbines and thermal detonators turning what had once been a reasonable settlement into a war zone. Figures, Xzhar thought, Come here to do one little thing and we get trapped inside this hellhole. He ran his hand through his unruly shock of brown hair and scanned the street momentarily, looking for the pirates that had them hunkered down in the tight, dilapidated building. Xzhar was young, only nineteen, but the life he'd lived had prepared him for this. He was doing something. Something that would make a difference in the galaxy. He slid against the wall, well out of the reach of any prying eyes.

He yelled out to one of the hired mercenaries, "Your guys check out the rest of this building yet?"

"We've got a viable exit out back," the Amaran called out from the other side of the doorway, "But it won't be clear for long!"

Xzhar nodded to himself, peering back around the corner of what had once been a durasteel-trimmed decorative window, squeezing off a few shots to the pirates unlucky enough to be peeking over their own cover within range. "Anything on the upper level?" he called out, "If we can get higher, we can undermine their position and take them out."

"Remember the mission, sir," the Amaran replied gruffly, "We're to get in, plant charges in the Comm Tower, get to the extraction point, and blow it. In and out. We don't need to be hanging around, losing more of my men by the minute."

With a frustrated sigh, Xzhar nodded, quickly jumping out of the way of the open window as a few stray blaster bolts crashed into the wall behind him with a harsh thwuk. Slinging his blaster rifle across his shoulder, he crossed the room, stepping into the darkness of the hallway beyond. Running perpendicular to the room he'd been shooting from, this hallway ran to a set of stairs on one side, leading to a heavily damaged and crumbling upstairs, and a few more rooms on the other.

The black-furred Amaran led him towards the latter, where a thin doorway covered with a silver durasteel door stood out from the sandy texture of the rest of the house. Who in their right mind would want to live on Lutrillia? he thought to himself again. It was a vast planet full of open tundra and mammoth wheeled settlements containing the planet's 800 million inhabitants. With only one primary export, the planet took in far more than it put out, focusing on mining iron ore to survive. The scarcity of life on the planet had made it, as it turned out, an outstanding secret base for pirates acting in the area, which is exactly what had brought them all here.

Following quickly behind the short creature, he crossed the alley, running between the grey-uniformed mercenaries. Each bore the same symbol on their left shoulder - a silver profile of an Amaran head on a black diamond-shaped background. This was the symbol for the Chrysocyon Mercs, a group of Amaran-led Mercenaries that had gained notoriety in the region for their ability to overcome even seemingly impossible situations. The only issue Xzhar seemed to have with the well disciplined group was their stature - each of his compatriots came only up to his chest, leaving him the tallest member of the twelve man team.

Albireo Kizen, the leader of the group, was leading them through a series of labyrinthine alleyways, led only by a small holomap marked with the location of the communications outpost. He was tall for his species, coming almost up to Xzhar's neck. His fur was a deep black color, tinted with grey along his muzzle and cheeks, giving the leader an aged appearance befitting of his position. The rest of the party followed his lead faithfully and without question, paying homage to his tactical abilities as well as how he felt about his crew.

The plan was a simple one - find the communications outpost and destroy it to cripple pirate activity in the sector. Based on information EternityCorp intelligence had received about the base, there was a large communications outpost that served as the information hub for the pirates working in the area, allowing them to coordinate their efforts, devastating trade in the entire quadrant. Their plan was to take the thirteen man team into their settlement as quietly as possible, leaving behind a white furred Amaran to pilot the craft that was to be their rescue craft, the Hawkridge. Known only by his callsign, Jasper, the Amaran had an easy confidence about his abilities. His brown-tipped ears and head fur gave away a bit of his youthful spirit when his flying didn't. From the little time Xzhar had spent with him, he'd shown a clear knack for carefree, almost wild flying. It was outweighed by the ease he showed at the controls, though, so that even those who didn't trust the way he flew could trust who was flying.

The cessation of blaster shots behind them made it clear the pirates were on to the group's escape. Stopping at an outlet of the alley they were traversing, Albireo and Xzhar scanned the empty road ahead of the team. The tower was just ahead, looming over them and hiding them in its deep shadow. Not wasting any time, Albireo led the group forward, spreading out evenly between the massive, open doorway of the tower. Everyone moved quickly, entering the hall from both sides and scanning for any sign of the tower's inhabitants. It seemed that anyone guarding the area had been sent to deal with them when the initial struggle broke out, as the lobby was completely deserted.

"Move out," Albireo said simply, "That turbolift should take us up to the command section."

No sooner had he said the words, than a fresh torrent of laser fire descended upon the group. "Move!" Xzhar yelled, immediately turning and firing several bursts into the hateful stream of pirates quickly moving into the lobby. The very air seemed charged as Xzhar slammed his back against the far wall of the open turbolift, rolling quickly along it as four purple bolts slammed into the wall where he had been moments before, melting and churning the thin durasteel wall. From the safety of the lift, he continued firing into the mass of pirates, laying what cover fire he could while the team scrambled to reach safety. A sickening smack and the smell of singed fur flooded the air as a young, sand colored Amaran fell prey to the pirate's blasters.

Albireo was the last one into the lift, the doors sliding shut just as a bolt tore into his shoulder. He cried out in pain, his hand immediately clutching the molten wound. He quickly tore a strip of fabric from his uniform and wrapped it around his shoulder, grunting as pressure was applied to the tender spot. Xzhar rammed the button for the highest level with his elbow, moving his way toward the front of the crowd to lay down a wave of blaster fire as the doors opened.

With a metallic whoosh, the doors slid open, much to the surprise of the few people working in the upstairs relay. Their surprise turned to terror as blaster bolts began to fly from the vengeful Amarans and human, torn over the loss of their friend. Within moments, the upper level was cleared while the Amaran tech, Dannen Korr, worked shutting down the lift. While the Amarans worked feverishly, placing charges around the room, Xzhar moved to the outside of the circular room, peering through the window at the settlement below.

"Albireo?" he called out after a moment of scrutiny.

"Hmm?" was the only mumbled reply he received. He waved the frustrated leader over and pointed to several structures on the ground. They were large, rounded buildings topped with large silver domes that didn't quite conceal sets of large, grey tubes protruding from them.

"Correct me if I'm wrong… but aren't those Anti-Aircraft turrets?"

Albireo cursed under his breath and nodded. "We'll have to modify the plan slightly," he said irritably. "Korr!" he called over his shoulder, "Think you can squeeze a few det's under that lift?"

"I suppose, but why would you want to? I thought we were going through the roof," came the confused reply.

"Yeah, so did I. Just do what you can. We need that lobby cleared twenty minutes ago."

The work continued feverishly while Xzhar moved to the main terminal. Pulling a small datastick from his vest, he plugged it into the device, quickly entering commands into the machine to activate an external memory dump to the external unit. His eyes flicked across the screen, reading the information as the terminal displayed it and wrote it to the disk - communication logs, ship manifest, tracking information. This thing is a goldmine… he thought.

The terminal beeped a solitary notification, letting him know that the write process had been finished. He pulled the datastick out, then froze.

"EvacFlight, this is the infiltration team, come in EvacFlight…"

The words hung in the air, almost echoing with their significance. EvacFlight was the code name given to Jasper to signal that the team was ready for evacuation from the site. Nobody knew that information other than the team that had come to Lutrillia, and the team was far from ready to go. If the Hawkridge came into the area now, it would be quickly mowed down by the anti-aircraft turrets waiting for it. There was a mole in the party, and the team was betrayed. The response that quickly followed the radio broadcast had the entire team scrambling to their radios.

"Infiltration Team, this is EvacFlight. I'm inbound. ETA… five minutes."

All around the room, the mercenaries were practically screaming into their radios, doing everything they could to abort the flight. A new window had opened on the terminal though, showing a rounded wave bouncing around a box, displaying, "SCRAMBLER ACTIVE"

A small green light lit up as the pseudo-radio replied to the Hawkridge's transmission. "Roger that," it said, "Evac point is the top of the comm tower. We'll have it open by the time you get here."

Albireo threw his Radio across the room, drawing his sidearm. "Alright," He growled, "Which one of you inbred swine decided to leak information about this mission?" He looked around at the group, glaring at each in turn. He shook his head frustratedly, holstering his weapon as he growled, "Well this certainly exacerbates the situation."

Xzhar was only half listening, his fingers flying over the keyboard of the terminal, trying every slicing technique he could think of to shut off the radio scrambler. He cursed under his breath, continuing to plug in commands in the same, feverish pace. A hand on his arm was the only indication he received that his work had been noticed.

"I take it this is what was broadcasting?" Albireo asked gently.

Xzhar nodded, "From what I can tell, the data transfer activated a subroutine I couldn't see. They knew everything.. When we were coming, what we were doing, even the command terms we were going to use." He shook his head, "I don't think I can fix this.. It's buried deep in the programming. Whoever did this knew exactly what they were doing."

Albireo's only response was a nod. Turning, he points to his men. "Get those charges set," he rumbled."

"How do you plan on us getting out of here?" Dannen snapped, "Or do you plan on us just blowing up with the rest of this place?"

Xzhar resisted the urge to reply to the flustered creature. These were Albireo's men, his call. He certainly didn't disappoint.

"Get that lift working. We'll drop the det's down the shaft, hopefully thin out the welcoming party a bit, then take the lift down and try to get out of range of the scrambler and keep trying to get back in contact with Jasper. If we can make it out of range, maybe we can get Jasper to abort his evac run before those turrets start powering up."

Xzhar kept his mouth shut. If the pirates knew they were coming, it didn't take much of a stretch to think that maybe they knew the Hawkridge would be leading the rescue, which meant that they were likely prepared for that as well.

"We're all set, sir." A russet-colored Amaran spoke up.

Albireo only nodded, then looked back to Dannen. "Are we set?" he asked, glaring at the short tech.

"As set as we can be.. Let's hope the control circuits aren't damaged in this lift, though, otherwise this trip is going to be real short."

"Keep it to yourself, Korr," Albireo retorted.

"Guys…" Xzhar said, eying out the window, "I think we better get moving…" A silver shape was looming on the horizon, betraying the approach of their only way offworld.

Suddenly, everything seemed to slow down. Dannen released his grip on the grenades, dropping them down the dark shaft to the unsuspecting pirates below. Moments later, a muffled explosion resounded throughout the building. Everyone piled into the lift as Albireo hit the button from the ground floor.

The lift didn't move. Instead, a low honking sound emanated from the control panel, realizing everyone's fears. The panel in the back of the turbolift had housed its rapidly decaying control mechanism, but after the fire fight downstairs, that panel was charred and half melted, emanating a thick, bluish smoke. The lift could not and would not move. For the first time, hints of fear crossed the faces of the mercenary team as they looked around for each other, each one hoping for a plan to save themselves.

Albireo kept his cool, quickly formulating a plan to try to ensure the survival of everyone on the team. He looked around, his black eyes quickly scanning everything in the room, trying to find something, anything to use for cover. Xzhar stepped forward, tugging at one of the terminals to see if they would move.

"Couldn't we just deactivate the explosives?" a shorter, young looking Amaran asked.

Dannen's response was quick, "It wouldn't have done us much good for the pirates to just come up on the lift and deactivate everything would it?" He shook his head, "No. Once those charges were set, we were committed to seeing the task through, no matter what the outcome." Somber silence was the only response.

Outside the window, turbolaser batteries were warming up, their gyroscopic housings already swiveling to take out the incoming Hawkridge. Xzhar quickly returned to the main console, his fingers once again pegging away at the terminal, trying to find some way to remotely shut down the anti-aircraft turbolasers. Try after try resulted in a failure though. As he looked out the window, a bright purple flash shot heavenward, narrowly missing the Hawkridge's wing. The craft swerved to avoid the shot even as more laced heavenward, a beautiful but devastating display.

A russet-colored Amaran approached Xzhar, looking at what he was trying to do. "Any luck?" He asked.

Xzhar could only shake his head in response, chewing on his lower lip as he kept working feverishly. His eyes flicked between the screen and the terminal screen, hoping beyond hope that Jasper would turn the ship around or somehow make it past the rivers of energy spreading unceasingly towards it.

Suddenly, the sound of the terminal's radio broke the silence. "It's too hot out here guys!" Came Jasper's torn exclamation, "I don't think I can make it to you. I'm going to try and turn back and find another way in!" Radios crackled around the room as the team desperately tried to contact their friend, to give some sort of warning not to come yet. The terminal's scrambler still pulsed though, the small image in the upper left of the display standing out as almost a beacon of failure for the group. Either way, the job would be done, but was it worth the cost?

The radio crackled to life again as a stream of thick, churning smoke betrayed the Hawkridge's condition. "I'm hit!" screamed Jasper over the comm, "I don't think I'm going to make it back after all… I don't know who's still alive over there, but if you can hear me I'm going to try to graze right over the top of the tower, maybe try to pull of some semblance of a rescue…"

Albireo's eyes bulged as he cursed again under his breath. "He'll never make it," he said, "And even if he does, there is no way he could slow the ship down enough to get us out!" Still, he crossed to the window, watching earnestly as the ship drew ever closer. "Everyone on the roof," he said finally, "If he can make it, we'll try to be there."

Xzhar shook his head, "I'm going to keep trying to override the command protocols."

The russet Amaran, still standing next to Xzhar, spoke up next, hefting his rifle, "I'll make sure none of those pirates can get back up here and tamper with the explosives. You go chief. We'll hold the fort."

Albireo could only nod in response, sharing a brief moment of intense eye contact with his friend. The Amaran simply nodded, then turned to watch as Dannen sliced through the ceiling of the tower, opening a hole to the roof.

"Are you sure about this?" Xzhar asked gently, "Odds are we won't be getting out of here…"

The Amaran nodded simply and smiled, "Someone's got to keep you safe, right?" He lifted his gun as if it were some sort of trophy, "Might as well be me."

Xzhar could only nod, admiring the young mercenary's bravery. He continued typing away, but looked back, watching the last of the furred tails disappearing through the hole to safety. Suddenly a chime alerted him that one of his commands had gone through. His head whipped back around, looking at the screen, "ACCESS GRANTED" displayed across the terminal in bright green letters. Quickly he searched for a command to power down the turrets, looking around his terminal at the approaching ship. The angle looked right so far, but he was still half a minute out. He entered the command to shut down all the defense systems, the recurring chime another indication that the command had been entered successfully. He looked up proudly at the ship, his triumphant smile fading quickly into a look of horror as a purple bolt tore through the starboard wing, shearing it off. The Hawkridge flipped, plummeting quickly into an uncontrolled dive, heading straight for the tower.

"Brace yourself!" Xzhar yelled, ducking behind the terminal moments before a heavy metallic screech filled the air. The next thing he knew, the entire tower pitched forward and dropped. Both Xzhar and the Amaran were thrown backwards, flung against terminals. Xzhar finally landed flat on his back in the lift as explosions ripped through the floor of the tower, sending bits of durasteel and electrical components flying in every direction. It was the last thing he saw before everything faded to black.