Narek walked up to the Wildfire, its ramp was fully extended with Lenovo carefully watching over the people entering and existing. Sliven was standing with his wife at the base of the ramp. Drew was inside trying to maintain distance from Sateal seeing as she could sense his dark side presence. Robert was with Thatin who was saying goodbye to the Jawa Chief. As Narek walked up to the Wildfire he had Lenovo transfer the stolen Separatist data codes into a disc, the small data pad then popped out of his gauntlet as he walked up to Sateal who was with her clones loading up the gunships and transports for departure. As he walked up he felt some type of remorse, he had a spark with the Jedi something that would leave him on a weary term with a Jedi. He wasn't sure of her feelings seeing as it was forbidden for Jedi, it was good though because Narek didn't want to take the chance. He approached now in his full armor with the disc and tapped Sateal on the shoulder. As she turned he handed her a small information disc. She gracefully took the piece and studied it for a small time, as she did Narek continued.
"It is decoded Separatist data that Robert and I obtained on Alderaan, this is my way of saying thanks," noted Narek looking at the Jedi. She looked up and bowed.
"Thank you for your support and time Narek it will help us in this war," assured Sateal. The Mandalorian nodded and turned back to the Wildfire leaving Sateal, as if instinct as he rounded up to the ramp he turned his head slightly to what he believed would be his last sight of the Jedi. The ally had already left when he turned; saddened he turned to Sliven who was still with his wife. He stood far off not to intrude on their conversation.
"Narek has asked me to accompany him and his team to find the Jedi and bring them to justice, I have to do this to end my thirst for revenge, and I know it has been a long wait….." Hearta didn't let him finish, she placed her finger over his mouth and continued for him.
"I have waited this long for you; I can wait a little bit longer. When you come back though you know you will be a father." Narek jumped at this and almost fell over, he shook his head and began to walk up the ramp, he was going to say goodbye to Hearta but now he did not want to ruin the moment at all. As he entered the ship Sliven gave her the new Greater Krayt Dragon pearl to remember him. As Narek entered the ship he was followed by Thatin and Robert who walked inside to their rooms. Robert and Drew had now set up the new rooms for Thatin and Sliven. The team was beginning to take form; they had a medic, force user, sniper, and a technician. Narek walked up to the cockpit and sat down, Lenovo then appeared next to him.
"Sir, I have analyzed the formula Revan gave you, however I cannot find any solutions or outcomes when searching for this information, I have seen though it is a form of Bio-chemistry and is more complex than anything else I have ever encountered." Narek took his helmet off and placed it on his co-pilot's chair; he rubbed his head while Lenovo talked.
"Then we will need to find someone who is skilled in this field on Ryloth," Narek paused as he looked out the cockpit, he saw the last Republic gunship levitate into space and toward the large Republic Warship Liberty in the upper atmosphere. For a strange reason he couldn't get Sateal's face out of his mind, as Lenovo continued about intelligence and universities at Ryloth Narek sunk into deep thought about the Jedi. Narek had spent a day with the woman and was completely baffled by her, he knew that a single day was too little to base a love off of, and yet he seemed compelled to do so. His reason though got the best of him, she was a Jedi and he was a Mandalorian, not to mention the most beautiful person he had ever seen, it was a fool's chance, so the warrior shrugged his feelings to the side and continued with Lenovo.
"A subject that has enough sub-conscious power to conclude to this information will not be that difficult to find, Ryloth's economy thrives off prostitution of the females and benefactors of underworld crime lords keep the local population in check, no Twi'lek on Ryloth is capable of producing their own space flight, they need other worlds to figure it out for them."
"We shouldn't focus on the local population Lenovo; there might be someone on that planet not native to Ryloth that will be able to help us, we need to keep record of planet's underworld as well, it will be difficult. Besides Edvir probably has a lead to where that person is by now." Drew walked in with a piece of fruit in his hand; the force sensitive had his mouth half full as he spoke.
"You saw Revan again?" asked Drew walking into the cockpit. He swallowed after saying this clearing his throat after he looked out the window to see the outlines of a former Republic camp. Narek turned to look at his friend.
"Yes another message, I will tell you what happened after we take off." Drew closed his eyes for a moment then reopened them.
"Sliven was the last to come aboard, Robert is helping him move, and we are cleared to take off." Lenovo shifted the ship, the landing gear came up, and the massive gunboat kicked sand into the air, before long the blackened ship raised high into the sky and high into the atmosphere. The Republic Warship was nowhere to be found, Narek stood and looked out into space then back at his program.
"Don't enter hyperspace until I give the word, we will need to get a strategy first and Ryloth is not that far away," ordered Narek as he and Drew walked out of the cockpit. Lenovo transferred back to his master's system as the two warriors entered into the conference room. Robert, Thatin, and Sliven were sitting in the chairs that were beginning to become full. The other two team members sat down. Narek had left his helmet in the cockpit so he was showing his face to the team. As he sat Lenovo appeared on the table, the other four members watched their leader as he wiped his face with his hand.
"We have a new destination; the desert planet of Ryloth," Narek paused as Lenovo brought up the formula Revan gave them. "In the Forgery the pyramid projected Revan for the second time since Korriban." Narek paused as Robert turned to Sliven and explained what Narek was talking about. "There we will find someone capable of solving this formula; it is a form of Bio-chemistry and is so complex Lenovo cannot figure it out. So we will be traveling to the home of the Twi'lek and we need to keep our eyes open for someone who can figure this out." Robert then explained the rest to Sliven then interjected.
"Ryloth is incredibly wide opened with basically no star ports in that many major areas should we buy a land speeder with the money Drew and I got from Jabba?" asked Robert looking up. Narek scratched his chin and nodded a few times.
"There is a space for land speeders in the back of the Wildfire, if we can find one large enough to fight us inside with a great enough speed we should." Thatin then bounced in his chair at this announcement.
"We could upgrade it, make it unlike any other in the galaxy!" exclaimed Thatin looking around the room.
"It would be a good idea as well keeping us all together, fully stocked, and support against other vehicles," stated Drew looking at the Jawa. Narek scratched his chin then looked at Lenovo.
"Lenovo go search for some dealerships and give the information to Robert and Thatin," ordered Narek. The program bowed and flashed away leaving the team. Sliven then turned to Narek.
"Are we going to resupply and upgrade our weaponry when we arrive?" asked Sliven referring to his outdated Tusken Rifle back in his room.
"Ryloth has one of the largest underworlds in the galaxy; we will be able to find practically any weapon there if we look in the right places." Sliven, Drew, Robert, and Thatin looked at one another then continued.
"So what is the exact plan for finding this person boss?" asked Robert leaning forward.
"Since Edvir has cheated off us, I think it is time that we cheated," Lenovo then reappeared in front of Narek as he snapped. "Lenovo after you get that information go to the Separatist codes we got from Alderaan, I'm sure you remember them?"
"Oh yes master, unless you want them deleted I will never forget them."
"Then find any Separatist codes, information, or something relating words with Revan, Edvir, and anything else you deem useful." The program nodded and waited for the permission to leave. "Get this ship moving to Ryloth."
Narek emerged from the Wildfire; Ryloth was a barren wasteland of a former planet. The red planet had been recently ravaged by war on an unimaginable scale that required several Jedi Generals to retake the planet and free the people. The town that the Wildfire had landed next to was extremely poor from the initial look, but it was quite wealthy in the terms of underworld. The town's structure was similar to Tatooine, not very tall buildings made of clay. The difference was that these towns were carved into a canyon with a dry riverbed as the floor. The town looked like a large key which was long gauntlet until you reached an opening in the riverbed which was a dried up lake. The ground was hard as rock and red with aged stone. Lenovo had parked the ship Wildfire near the entrance of the mouth of the riverbed next to large cargo ships that looked like they had stolen goods on them. As the team came from the Wildfire they saw hundreds of multi-colored Twi'leks walking into the large opening and buying many sorts of goods and products, everything from food to speeders depending on who was buying. As the leader reached the bottom of the ramp he turned to his friends and paired them up.
"Thatin and Robert go into the main dried up lake and buy whatever speeder you think is best and any upgrades we you can afford." The two nodded and sprinted off like small children to a candy store. Narek watched in disbelief as his two most powerful allies practically skipped to find a land speeder. Laughing to himself Narek turned to his other friends. "Sliven and Drew go to the markets buy weaponry, supplies, communicators, and see if you can find anything about the person we are searching for." The next pair of allies then walked more comfortably into the sea of Twi'leks that now roamed the dried up river bed. Narek then spoke to Lenovo through the communicator. "Lenovo monitor their progress and tell me when they are all done, don't forget to keep searching through the Separatist systems."
"Sir, what are you going to do?" asked Lenovo through the com-link.
"Going to read," stated Narek as he walked into the sea of Twi'leks, as he walked many of these creatures failed in comparison to his height, making the Mandalorian stand out for not only his armor, but also his height. Children watched as the metal monster troughed along the dried riverbed, many people looked weary causing them to hold their loved ones and shield them from the warrior's sight. The Twi'leks had become weary in the past months many of their cities were either burned from the Separatist occupation or the bombing campaign at the end of the occupation that had left many people homeless and starving. As he walked many people looked scared, fearful, and hungry. Compassion overtook him as he looked up to see a Republic gunship land in the middle of the lakebed several miles ahead of him. The dried river was several miles long, the lake bed was about ten miles in diameter, and this place was filled to the brim with people starving for food. Narek walked much slower to see these people, children without parents, parents without children, and poor beings with nothing to do but reach out their hands for scraps.
Narek continued his walk through the street until he saw a small building on his left; the sign was small and hung out from the second story. Narek had searched this bookstore from the Wildfire's database; it was small and very out of the way, making it unknown to most people in the town. The place opened during the occupation an old man owned it and moved here not knowing about the underworld goods that were primarily sold here. However now that this dried up bed had become a refuge many of the underworld ceased because of Republic activity to help surplus the people. He walked inside to hear an old fashioned bell ring as he walked in, an old frail Twi'lek with green skin and many wrinkles on his face looked up. There were few people in the store, and the books were both paper and holograms something which was never heard of anymore. Paper books were considered antiques and were hardly ever used. Narek looked around to see two stories of mainly hologram books which were lining the walls. Narek looked at the old man who smiled and looked back to his readings. The Mandalorian walked to his right which was a small living room that had six shelves of books. On the second bookshelf was one for books with B, he looked down to find Bio, and he looked right to find Bio-chemistry. As the man looked it was an antique book with trillions of dust mites on it. He picked it from the shelf next to a hologram book and looked at the difference. He opened the page and felt the paper; laughing to himself he turned the page to see more dust fall out. The book store was dusty from the sands of Ryloth but was well kept for an old man who shook constantly. Many other Twi'leks were on the upstairs book store with the more up-to-date hologram books. Narek though found this paper book interesting and sat down next to the shelf on a couch that was placed. The furniture was old and ripped in more ways than one; he looked around the room to feel a sense of history and peace. He then picked up the first page and began to read.
"You handle that book with no care," stated the old Twi'lek as he looked at Narek two hours later. Narek looked up from the visor of his helmet and smiled.
"It had more dust on it than this planet, I doubt I could handle it any easier," answered Narek looking back at the book.
"That book hasn't been touched in a while, maybe a few years now, the first one to touch it is now on the advanced books farther down the shelf."
"Someone has enough time to read all this?" asked Narek looking back up, the man was walking toward him now and prepared to sit on the chair opposite to Narek, across the fireplace which was there for decoration.
"Most people don't figure the past is worth reading into, most of these new intelligent people start from the top and work up."
"They'd be smart to; I've noted that this book is a bore."
"Sometimes we must bear through boredom to find patience and true knowledge."
"What is true knowledge?"
"It is understanding why and when the original source appeared in our galaxy and worked its way to what it is now; take that book you are reading. Eons upon Eons ago our ancestors wrote on cave walls and now we can see more knowledge than they ever hoped to, but that type of learning began with the style you hold in your hands a paper book."
"This is the first time I've ever seen a paperback book, I actually thought that these things didn't exist anymore."
"They don't, you are looking at preserved copies from my families' generations. There are no more paperbacks that we can read, that one has been translated to a paperback to keep its history." Narek paused as he looked at the front of this book.
"You said that someone has read this book and all the other ones you have?"
"Oh yes, she was very interested in all my books. I gave her a job and she worked with me for about two years, but I haven't seen her in months. She was tied up in the resistance against the Separatists."
"You have no idea where this person is?"
"I am sorry, I have not spoken to her in weeks, she never returned with the resistance when Jedi Mace Windu freed our planet." Narek scratched his chin before continuing.
"What was her name?"
"Eleena Olan, she was a blue Twi'lek that fought with her people. She joined the resistance but that was the last I've heard of her." Narek closed the book slightly and stood; he pulled out a few credits and showed them to the store keeper.
"May I buy this paperback?" asked Narek looking at the old man. He smiled and stood ever so slowly.
"I'm afraid that one is priceless to me son, I do however have a paperback you would enjoy much more." Narek followed the old man to the register; he went under his desk and pulled up a large book with the word Mandalore on top. "This book will interest you much more Mandalorian, it is about your people." Narek smiled and paid the old man a large sum of credits. Narek walked out of the store, he turned though and looked at the old Twi'lek.
"Good luck," stated Narek walking from the store. He walked out of the book store and held the paperback book to his helmet. As he opened it the weathered book began to release the dust and settled with its new master. However the acquaintance was short lived as he radioed Lenovo. "Lenovo change of plans, look for someone named Eleena Olan in the Separatist database."
Narek heard a large bolt of fire as he came to the edge of the sea of Twi'leks to see a large speeder with several opened rocket canisters on the sides. Narek looked out to his left to see a small crater in the ground and Thatin working on the massive vehicle. Robert and Thatin looked innocent as they slowly turned to see Narek approach and shake his head. Robert however leapt from the tan machine and puffed out his chest.
"Introducing the greatest thing you've ever seen!" announced Robert as he stood before Narek with his arms in the air. "The Trast A-A5 Speeder Truck is now ours!" Thatin then popped his head from the metal machine as Robert said this.
"With some major modifications on it engine, weapon emplacements, and boosters this thing is going to make a lot of fun!" Robert looked back to display the tan machine. The speeder truck looked large enough to hold twelve people; it had a large cockpit that curved down while making a 'dragon snout' near the edge of the cockpit. It had two large doors on either side for quick escape, loading, and unloading. It had four rocket emplacements that would retract on either side. The top of the speeder had a large tank gun barrel on the top that made the AAT gun look like a tooth pick and six smaller firing cannons on either side near the front. Basically the dark tan metal speeder looked like a death machine. "The engine has been replaced to make it travel faster than most known two man speeders, along with several illegal laser batteries that some Twi'lek in the dried up lake sold us. We fixed the repulsion system to confiscate for the massive weight gain, also we reinforced the armor with purified Durasteel from the black market in the dried up river." Narek stood in baffle as Robert and Thatin walked around the vehicle showing off its perks with much enthusiasm. The one regret that Narek had was pairing those two together in the first place.
"Let's take this thing out for a spin and really see what it can do!" announced Robert heading toward the vehicle. "Oh and Narek; Thatin and I came up with the name how about the Ender, or maybe Destroyer, or how about King Daddy Bad!?"
"How about the Titan?" asked Drew walking down from the ramp with Sliven. Narek wondered about how well Sliven got along with Drew, he sent Sliven and Drew together to experiment on the Tusken's reaction, and so far there was no hostility. Sliven was an easy going man until the heat of battle came, which was unlike any Tusken known to the galaxy, Drew was a emotionless Sith with a laid back attitude. Thatin however paralleled to Robert the two were absolutely insane when anything that interests them came into play. That was to their upbringing Sliven and Drew had lost their parents creating a mellow themed temperature, Thatin and Robert grew up with many people surrounding them it seemed that they almost craved attention from others.
"I actually like that one to, they are all good!" announced Thatin hopping into the vehicle.
"I actually would prefer the Titan," stated Narek walking up to the side of the massive truck.
"That's alright, but you are missing out on this creative genius here!" Robert jumped in the Titan and began to fiddle with the controls, making the speeder hum ever so slightly. The Titan name fit the vehicle; this massive dark tan behemoth was packed to the teeth with weapons and armor.
In two hours Thatin and Robert managed to completely remodel a large speeder truck, in two hours Sliven and Drew upgraded the weaponry of the team along with buying more supplies and ordinance. Narek walked into the Wildfire with the paperback book in his hand, he took the Mandalore book to his room and placed it on his bed. As he looked at it he wondered what the people of that day thought, of what they had, and how they obtained the information to get to where Narek's generation was today. He sat down for a while in his room, he looked at the walls. The square room was filled with ammunition for his gauntlets and various other weapons. Lenovo rang through his system coming up very quickly.
"Sir I have found some information involving Eleena, however it will take some time to crack this Ryloth code," assured Lenovo looking up at his master.
"How long?" asked Narek standing up.
"Maybe an hour or so, this is slightly different from Separatist code.
Gillhem Askolock looked at his former apprentice as she walked in. Sateal Karan had just returned from a brief encounter with a traitorous Jedi on Tatooine. She walked fairly quickly until she reached the holographic communicator in the center of the Bridge. They were on Gillhem's flagship Savior which was a Republic Battleship with twelve other ships under his command, the rest of his forces were in battle with Grievous under the command of Anakin Skywalker an exceptional Jedi but a bit unstable. Gillhem was a Master Jedi with a single green bladed lightsaber; he was white with a full brown beard, full messy brown hair, and a large scar on the right side of his face. The scar was three claws that imprinted on his face from a large beast on Lok called a Kimogilla, which were a cousin to the Krayt Dragons on Tatooine. Gillhem wore the ordinary battle robes for war. He had never served on the Council, but retained high respect among the Jedi.
Gillhem found Sateal on Dantooine many years ago, she has now grown into fine student one who is loyal to the Council and follows rules unlike many Jedi in the Order. She had grown to be like a daughter to Gillhem and he recognized that constantly giving her advice when she asked. Sateal was granted Jedi Knighthood many years ago, and she had severed the Republic to this day with power and faith. The units under Gillhem were colored green stripes, and now one commander stood next to Gillhem overseeing the transport of supplies to Ryloth. As Sateal came to the transmitter she seemed distant and distracted. She then pulled out a small data pad and gave it to Gillhem.
"Separatist codes from Alderaan, I was given this by a friend on Tatooine," stated Sateal giving the disc to her former master. Gillhem was stunned he took the bit of information and put it into the terminal in the desk in front of him. The holo-desk lit up showing large amounts of tactics, forces, and base locations amongst the galaxy.
"This is amazing Sateal, this will help us greatly in our fight against the CIS," assured Gillhem accessing the information. His voice was low and commanding, he stood well over 6'2 240lbs. "Where exactly did you get this from?" Sateal looked strange when Gillhem asked this, she seemed almost to have a very slight blush.
"From a man named Narek of Mandalore."
"A Mandalorian gave you this?" asked Gillhem handing the disc to the clone commander, who ran to the other clones amongst the bridge the transfer the information. "Send this data to the Council immediately."
"Yes, after I helped him on Tatooine he showed his gratitude by giving me this." It was never in a Mandalorian's best interest to help a Jedi, still Gillhem was grateful that the information was in the hands of the Republic. The Master returned to the holo-communicator in the middle of the bridge. He noticed that Sateal was moving rather slowly as they over watched the supply flow, this would take a few more hours to give the supplies to Ryloth, he knew that Sateal would be slow to do this but she seemed very distracted. Gillhem then turned to his friend and stood, she knew what was coming so she looked up at her former master. "Can we go to the meditation chamber for this?" Gillhem nodded and led the way to the Jedi chambers on the Republic Battleship before they left he turned to his clone commander Kyle.
"Kyle, watch over the operation until we return," ordered Gillhem. The two Jedi walked down the steel colored halls and passed the barracks and into the Jedi Chambers. The meditation chambers had three pads surrounding a small holo-projecting pole which Jedi talked over important matters with, the lights were dim. Sateal quickly sat down followed by Gillhem. "What is it Sateal?"
"It is about the men I met on Tatooine," stated Sateal looking at the ground.
"How many were there?" asked Gillhem.
"Three humans, one Tusken, and one Jawa."
"You may proceed."
"The Mandalorian Narek Pride led them, but they had something special about them, each one had a certain gift I have never sensed in anyone, something that I've only felt when I am around my closest friends and allies, and these men fought with more valor and zeal than any Jedi I have ever seen. I do not know why but when I fought with them I felt something strange, a rift in the Force if you will." Gillhem studied the reactions and emphasis on the words. She seemed to be confused on this.
"The Force acts in mysterious ways, we do not always know how to recognize the shifts and turns in the Force, however you may be experiencing a rift because for what you have with them, a bond."
"They were not force-sensitive, except for one which had the presence of both Light and Dark side of the force." Gillhem looked even worried at this, he leaned back and looked into the future, Sateal's future was clouded and he couldn't see much.
"Can you expand on this man with the Mandalorian?"
"No I would like to stay on Narek." Gillhem raised his brow and shrugged.
"Alright Sateal if you wish so. Bonds do not necessarily have effect on just Force users, they have effect on all living things, the way we sense our lightsabers or how we know where to find our masters when no one else can. When a Jedi shares a massive bond with a being such as a close companion or master they have rifts and senses to where the others are. It is what the Jedi call a bond."
"I would like to emphasis on Narek."
"Then do as you wish."
"The bond I felt with him was massive, it kept me at peace…. But his presence also brought something else. I felt something special, something strange, something I have never felt before and when I found him in anger I tried to calm him only to have feeling return with more power, it was strange." Gillhem knew this, a passion for someone, it had not blossomed into love but it was beginning to sprout.
"When did you feel it the strongest?"
"When he crushed a small detector in his hand and built anger, I helped calm him but I looked into his eyes and I felt….. Happy, happy in the sense that I was with him." Gillhem nodded a few times through the story as it progressed, Sateal was an exceptionally beautiful woman there was no denying that. This Narek Pride was another obstacle for her to overcome. Gillhem had tried to shelter her from this as a Padawan keeping her at the Jedi temple until she was ready to fight. She was an exceptional student with much of her power still untapped.
"This is a trial that many Jedi face at some point, it is the most difficult emotion to overcome, you remember your teachings of love?"
"Master I do not love this man- he is simply someone I spent time with…. There is no possible way that could happen so quickly?"
"You must train yourself through this Sateal, remember your training and do not let your emotions become rampant or you will be lost to the dark side."
"Master I have located the one known as Eleena, she is being held at a Separatist camp many miles west of this location!" announced Narek. He was standing with his friends watching Robert and Thatin doing a vehicle trick called a doughnut just past the Wildfire. Sliven was back on the ship and Drew was with Narek watching the two drive the Titan around in circles.
"Shall I tell them to stop?" asked Drew looking at his friend. Narek shook his head.
"No I want you to get Sliven," ordered Narek about to walk toward Robert and Thatin.
"Leader I do not believe that is wise, Sliven is most hostile toward me." Narek looked back in shock.
"Well then I guess Lenovo will get him."
"May I ask why he shows hostility toward me?" asked Drew shrugging.
"I think that is something that you two will need to have a conversation on your own time," Narek paused to call his program "Lenovo get Sliven out here." Narek then walked forward making Robert and Thatin get out; they were having a joyous time until the Mandalorian called them. As they came forward Sliven emerged from the Wildfire and went to the group, he stood away from Drew as Lenovo appeared before them.
"Master the Separatist outpost is a small listening port with hardly any defense surrounding it; the Separatists are actually Twi'lek converts with a strange leader I believe called Asajj Ventress guiding them, they took Eleena prisoner after the Republic invasion and have no begun interrogation on her. I have found a picture of her in the Ryloth database." A small figure appeared with a fairly attractive Twi'lek female. "Eleena Olan blue Twi'lek 5'10 with no data on weight, she has two records of heroic service for the Republic and a small account of crime activities in Ryloth. Weapon of choice two silver blaster pistols, a skilled personal with defense clothing rather than armor, she is currently in cell block four in this Separatist base, but I have some orders of her being moved by tonight to another location." Narek looked up at his team.
"Straight forward raid, I want this done quickly and powerfully, no stealth, and no mercy. We need to make a statement to Edvir and the CIS that we have had enough of them. We will take the Titan into the base, Robert and Thatin will drive, when we reach base and begin the initial rescue I want Thatin to stay outside with the Titan's defense. Robert, Drew, Sliven, and I will enter the base take out any hostiles while Robert and Drew make the extraction Sliven and I will cover them. I want us in and out in less than five minutes do you understand?" Everyone snapped to attention and nodded. "Then let's get going."
The Titan sped through the plains of Ryloth as a large tank. The piles of dust were scooped into the air creating a large cloud. As the team traveled through the desert Narek went up to the cockpit, Thatin was driving with Robert watching over. Sliven was charging his new rifle along with the pistols on his sides. Drew was meditating near the front entrance to the cockpit. The truck had several chairs that could be propped up from the floor of the vehicle; it also had a small medical bay in the back of it with some supply of bacta and respiratory systems. The lights inside the truck were a dim red that represented a standby; when it flashed green the doors would sling open. Thatin had been driving for the past few minutes now; the Separatist base was not far off. Lenovo was sitting in the Wildfire waiting to swoop in and pick them up for an escape in case of problems. The Wildfire's main storage area could basically clamp onto the Titan and swallow it into the docking bay inside the ship. Wildfire was a fast pursuit gunboat that was produced to kill fighters and run from larger targets, which worked to the team's advantage. As they closed Drew looked up to Narek as the Mandalorian walked into the main loading bay of the Titan. It was a large rectangle with rails along the top to hold onto in case of fancy driving. Drew was sitting as he looked up.
"We will be at the Separatist base in a minute, I have sensed the base it is small and not well protected relying on stealth rather than protection, it looks like a Republic outpost with one main two story building, but the main building feeds into three corridors in the ground. I have sensed many communicators, scramblers, and a holding cell." Narek nodded as the Dark Jedi stood, he placed his hand on Drew's shoulder and continued to Sliven. He looked at the Tusken who finished loading his rifle.
"Are you ready?" asked Narek. The Tusken stood from the chair which retracted back into the floor.
"Yes sir," replied Sliven. Robert came into the main loading bay and stood next to the Tusken on the opposite side of Drew and Narek. The Titan then began to shake as the Mandalorian could hear the sound of explosions in the foreground.
"Red light standby!" yelled Thatin as the Titan swerved a little. "Green light go!" Narek jumped out as the doors slid open, the small outpost was basically reduced to rubble as the four looked around the extremely small square outpost. The four Twi'lek guards were now facing down in the sand with a massive explosion in the ground. The outpost's top was blown off by a missile and was now burning. Drew and Robert entered first followed by Narek and Sliven. As the four entered the base Thatin turned the Titan around and began to scan for enemies.
Robert entered after Drew who ignited his black purple lightsaber which lit the dim corridors. They passed a few corners making their way down to the corridors. As the four emerged from the descending hallway they came to an open room with ten Twi'lek aiming at them. Drew shot forward cutting down the men and blocking the laser shots back into the shooters. The men were immediately cut down and lay amongst several computers and terminals that lined the sides of the walls. There were three other doors on each side of the square room. Narek looked ahead and pointed toward the left.
"Sliven you take that corridor, Drew and Robert take the middle, I have right move!" ordered Narek as the team sprinted into the doors. Robert and Drew entered the middle corridor but were halted by laser turrets hanging from the ceiling. Drew reached out and crushed the metal turrets as they entered the room. Robert looked forward seeing two different halls with Twi'lek coming from them, the tube looking halls were the detention blocks for holding prisoners. There were six holding cells on each side with Twi'lek guards running from them. Robert went right while Drew went left. The commando shot down the invading Twi'lek with ease as they poured out into the rectangle room Robert and Drew came from. As the commando stepped over the men he looked through the prison cells to find several dead bodies of other unknown Twi'leks that did not fit the match of Eleena Olan. He then went up to the last door to hear Drew call out to him.
"She is over here!" yelled Drew. Robert came back through the tube and went into Drew's hallway to see him standing at the end of the long red tube with his lightsaber cutting through the Durasteel plated door. Robert ran up to lean against the side wall. "Asajj Ventress is in here along with two other droids, kill the droids I'll take the assassin."
The Durasteel door then fell over to show Asajj with two drawn red lightsabers. Robert rounded the entrance to see two other magna body guards with electro-staffs. Robert charged them and pulled out the vibro-blade in his armor shoving the small blade into the head of the steel colored droid. It powered off to leave its friend alone against Robert. The droid swung at the commando a few times, he was able to stun Robert for a moment by smacking him in the head with the staff, however after that hit Robert swept the feet from under the droid and pointed his gun down unloading an entire clip into the droid's body and head. The crumbled droid let out a large discharge of electricity that shook Robert making him step back. As Drew cornered Asajj he slashed down causing her to use both of her lightsabers to hold off the Dark Jedi. Drew had her pin so Robert came up and shot the two lightsaber buds from her hand causing the sabers to deactivate and crumble to pieces. Drew stood up and kept his lightsaber near Asajj's head, she lifted her arms up to surrender. Robert then looked to the middle of the room to see a young thin Twi'lek being bound in a containment field. She was hanging in a cross style unconscious; the commando deactivated the field causing the limp body to fall into his arms. She had several bruises and scars from the interrogation. Saddened Robert placed her slightly on her back and went up to the assassin.
"Where is Edvir?" asked Robert looking at the pale faced woman.
"I have no idea who you are talking about," answered Asajj with an attitude.
"Don't act stupid, or did you already forget about how you lost on Tatooine?"
"A minor setback but I was never with someone named Edvir."
"That is a lie!" announced Drew pressing the lightsaber closer to the woman's head. The burn made her back up farther. "Who else could have given you two new lightsabers in such a short time?"
"That's true, where in the world do you get all these lightsabers!?"
The Twi'lek started to moan causing Drew and Robert to lose their focus, Asajj then pressed a small button in the corner she was pressed into and fell through a hole in the floorboard. Drew went forward to the small opening but Robert grabbed his shoulder.
"She's not worth it we need to get out of here," suggested Robert turning and picking the young Twi'lek and throwing her over his shoulder. The two then sprinted out of the detention room back to the larger square room. As they came out they were met by Sliven then Narek. The Tusken had small silver pistols in his hands while Narek had a small data-pad.
"The Separatists knew we were coming, they've wiped the memory banks as soon as we arrived," stated Narek.
"The armory is completely destroyed, very few worthless weapons are there, it was freshly destroyed as well, but I did find the Twi'lek's silver pistols," stated Sliven as he came up. Eleena was beginning to twitch, she had been brutally interrogated and had many scars on her back, she had few pieces of clothing seeing as her garments were ripped by something, the scars on her back looked like lashing or lightsaber cuts.
"Narek we have a lot bad guys coming!" yelled Thatin over the intercom. "A small squadron speeder bikes are headed toward us." Narek looked at his team and sprinted with them up and out of the outpost. As they came out the evening sun of Ryloth was beginning to slowly die down. Narek looked out to the left to see several large clouds approaching them; a small frigate emerged from the clouds that were being made by dozens of swoop bikes barreling toward them. Narek, Robert, Drew, and Sliven jumped into the Titan, letting Thatin press down on the pedal speeding the massive truck back toward the East. These droids on speeders had large blaster poles and began to fire. Though the Titan was far ahead of them the starship hovering above was slowing them down with the constant barrage of laser fire. The shower of red laser fire continued as the Titan swerved left and right dodging the massive explosions.
Robert placed Eleena on the medical capsule near the back of the Titan, she began to wake but Robert pushed her back down on the bed while injecting her with bacta. Robert had left the superior bacta from Alderaan on the Wildfire; however the normal bacta would heal her in no time. He placed the oxygen mask over her mouth and wrapped her in a blanket that folded out from the capsule. Sliven placed the silver pistols in the cockpit then returned to the main loading dock of the Titan, he pulled out his rifle and manually opened the doors. The Tusken turned back slightly and reached up along the rails near the top of the Truck, he also grabbed a clip and hooked on the top of the vehicle. He crouched down with his rifle on the top of the Titan and began to snipe the droids speeding up toward them. The cannon on the top of the Titan was turned around and began a barrage of bolts as speeder droids came. Narek opened the other side of the doors and began to shoot backwards trying to slow the droids down.
A massive shock blew the Titan off the ground causing it to fly higher through the air, the wave knocked Narek back into the main loading bay and caused Sliven to hang on to the cannon barrel on the top of the Titan. Drew looked up through the cockpit to see the small frigate which was a long steel colored brick pass them up and begin to turn around. Drew then stepped back and concentrated, he began to breathe slowly and reached with both hands out toward the ship, the small frigate began to stutter in its flight causing Thatin to look back for a quick moment. Drew began to breathe deeper and deeper as the frigate was pulled closer and closer to the ground. He then opened his eyes and threw his fists to the ground causing the ship to slam head first into the planet generating a massive cloud of dust which blew into the Titan causing the truck to skid a few times from the wind. As the levitated vehicle gained its stability back Thatin made a sharp turn to avoid the wreckage, Sliven was thrown from the top of the vehicle but the strap on the railing caught him letting him pull himself back to the truck with ease. Narek flew back into the Titan were Eleena was he stood and returned to the position and started shooting at the droids again. Robert, who took control of the cannon, was looking through the scopes when he saw two other frigates emerge from the planet and begin the chase after them. The ships easily caught up with them seeing as they were much larger than the Wildfire which was hastening to the team from the Twi'lek dried up lake. A small ship came into view from the cockpit; Lenovo came onto the intercoms to talk to his master.
"Master I am close!" exclaimed Lenovo as the Wildfire came onto the scene.
"Stay away Lenovo those frigates could pulverize the Wildfire if you slow down to catch us, we also need to get rid of these speeder bikes if we dock now the speeders will latch onto the ship's engines!" Narek looked back to see over fifteen speeder bikes coming toward them, they were finally getting close enough to reach the Titan, they were after Eleena and wanted to retrieve her alive to get the code Edvir wanted. Two droids jumped onto the truck, Drew turned around and slashed one of them in two. Narek however went forward, not wanting to shoot the inside of the Titan, and began a fist fight with the droid. These series of biker droids were IG series capable of assassin protocols and completing high risk operations with ease. The fist fight did not last long seeing as the Durasteel armor crumbled under Narek's fists. As the droids fell two more took their place. Drew looked out to the right while Narek fought the two droids and shot a massive pulse of Force causing many of the IG droids to crash into another. As Narek ducked, dodged, and grabbed the two droid's blows Drew went to the left side and shot another Force pulse creating a massive explosion from many speeder bikes crashing into one another. Only a few bikers remained allowing Sliven to pick them off one by one with ease. Narek grabbed the heads of the IG droids slamming them into one another, the circuits' combusted and wired together as the Mandalorian kicked these black colored droids out of his new truck. As black metal codded droids fell from the Titan, the frigates began to lower down trying to land commando units on the Titan trying to kidnap Eleena. As they did Narek looked back at Thatin and Robert who were in the cockpit.
"Can this thing go any faster?" asked Narek looking back at his friends. Thatin shot back at Robert who looked up from the gunnery scopes to the large cannon on the top of the large cannon.
"The boosters!" yelled Thatin about to press a small red button near the controls. However Narek looked up at the large hills that were beginning to form in the distance. He grabbed Thatin's hand before the small red button was pushed.
"See those hills? Will the boosters launch us into the air with that much of an angle?" asked Narek looking down at the Jawa.
"Sure, it would send us for a big flight!" exclaimed Thatin looking at the hills. Narek turned back and accessed his communicator to the Wildfire.
"Lenovo do you see the hills not far ahead of us?" asked Narek.
"Yes sir, why do you ask?"
"We are going to launch off those hills, I want you to keep the docking bays open for our return, magnetize the room so we don't explode if this goes rough!" ordered Narek looking up at the top of the truck. "Sliven get back inside we are going to get airborne here!" Sliven looked back at the doors and jumped slinging himself with the safety rope, he clipped the harness off as he landed letting the rope retract into the Titan. Slowly the two doors of Titan began to close. A red light appeared when a slight seal was heard from the doors. The three men braced themselves by grabbing the rails on the top of the Titan's inside. Thatin pressed the small red button causing a huge blast which launched this traveling death machine into the hill shooting up into the sky. Thatin and Robert cheered as the gravity began to feel nonexistent causing Narek, Sliven, and Drew to float slightly off the ground. The Wildfire swooped over and let the Titan glide into the dock. As the machine entered many of the walls glowed slowing the truck down immensely. As the tired truck scooted into the Wildfire Narek looked up at Lenovo who appeared in front of him. "Punch it!" Wildfire began to increase its speed causing the ship to lean backwards and become flaming red with heat. Narek pulled himself from the Titan and sprinted up toward the bridge; while he did several bolts of lasers shook the Wildfire like a dog.
"Sir we are being hailed by the Republic," stated Lenovo as the Mandalorian ran up to the bridge. Narek looked up to see Liberty and another Republic Battleship coming right at him with blazing speed. The frigates tried to catch their prey before the Battleships intercepted, so naturally the turbulence of Wildfire only increased. The Mandalorian pressed a few buttons on the pilot's control and two Jedi appeared in front of him, one of them was very familiar.
"Narek?" asked Sateal looking through the hologram; he pulled off his helmet and winced.
"Hey Sateal, sorry I didn't tell you we were coming to Ryloth." The Wildfire began to get closer to the Battleships approaching him. "I think there might be a few Separatist groups still lingering on Ryloth." Sateal looked both happy and confused to see him, a strange combination but this was no time for pleasantries.
"You will dock with my ship Savior immediately, we will shelter you from the frigates but you will need to explain what you are doing here on Ryloth!" ordered the Jedi Master next to Sateal, he was very commanding with three scars on his face and brown hair with a brown beard.
"I would love to Master Jedi but I can't, I need to get my friends in the back of my ship out of here and without questions." Narek looked back at Sateal again as he talked, sorrowfully he looked at the Jedi and sighed cutting the communication. The Wildfire then shot upward letting the Republic ships engage the CIS frigates. It would be an incredibly easy fight for the powerful Republic Battleships, making Narek feel almost no guilt for leaving them to fight, though the some guilt crept up his side because Sateal had been on the other ship. Shaking his emotions away yet again he plugged in a random Hyperspace jump and pressed the button without warning the crew. Again Narek, Thatin, Robert, Sliven, and Drew were sent flailing backwards as the ship blasted into hyperspace. Narek flew backwards into the far wall and fell down; he picked himself up slowly as the ship began to be enveloped in the blue vortex of hyperspace. Narek sighed as he looked at his helmet which had been sent flying into the far wall as well; it was laying two feet from him with the giant T facing him. Narek sat there for a few moments catching his breathe. He slowly reached to the helmet and placed it on his head. His back was slightly sore from the impact but his team was fine with the person he thought could solve the Bio-chemistry formula. Narek stood thinking about if he was wrong, they would have to go back to Ryloth and instead of droids following them there would be clones and Jedi. Narek dusted himself off and walked up toward the Captain's seat, he sat down and looked at the controls, he then monitored his team from the bridge they were slowly climbing out of the Titan while grabbing their equipment and gear. Robert pulled the Twi'lek Eleena out and carried her medical pod to the medical bay of the ship located next to Robert's room. He placed her on the table set up in a small white room, a surgical droid popped out and the two began to work on the unconscious Twi'lek. Narek arose and went to the medical bay.
Eleena woke to a strange white surrounding; she jolted upward with adrenaline pumping through her veins causing her little pain. As she looked around the room a surgical droid approached and held her close to the bed she lay on. Surprised she looked around the room to see a metal armored man leaning against the wall in the corner. The man had Mandalorian armor on, which was red on the armor plating with black on the undercoat. As she looked toward this presence the large man started to walk toward her. She reached down looking for her blasters but couldn't find them; she tried to remain calm seeing as this man could smell fear. He looked down at the Twi'lek and reached around his belt grabbing silver colored pistols. Stunned Eleena slowly took the pistols from the Mandalorian's hands; they were gifts from the militia back on Ryloth. She suddenly propped up again looking at the potential ally.
"Who are you? What do you want?" asked Eleena as she sat up, the droid pushed her back down on the bed. The Mandalorian turned around and walked back to a chair on the opposite wall, which was only three meters away. As the Mandalorian sat down he folded his arms and leaned back into his chair.
"My name is Narek Pride of Mandalore and I want you to help me in return for your rescue," answered Narek his voice was extremely low with much command. Eleena turned her head to the right so she could see this man; the droid was still helping her recover from the interrogation. Eleena looked lost however she saw no possible way for her to ever help this mercenary. He noticed her confusion and continued. "Start off with who are you?"
"I am Eleena Olan, born on Ryloth twenty years ago," answered Eleena looking questionable. She had a strange expression on her face one of weary and query. It was expected however waking up in a strange place with a stranger watching her after being tormented with extreme prejudice. Narek was going to have to play his words well. This was a delicate process.
"Why are you not concerned about a family do you not have a one?"
"I never knew my real parents they sold me into slavery when I was young." Eleena was hesitant at first but she eventually realized that this man had saved her so she cooperated well.
"I am so sorry; do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"Far too many to count, besides we 'accidents' are merely thrown into the underworld like the rest of the other girl Twi'leks."
"Why would you say that?"
"Because the Twi'lek way for us is either prostitution or death, and my mother didn't want me apparently I put two and two together." Narek was puzzled by her actions; this Twi'lek had become calm and easy going to talk about a sensitive past. It was easy to tell that she had a comedic look on life, trying to hide the pain that she kept bottled up.
"How did you escape slavery?"
"I persuaded the guards to let me go, and not in the way most people would think." Narek looked at the silver blasters lying on her bed.
"I assume that you used force?"
"You could say that, I'm not exactly prideful of some of the stuff I did but it's an honest living." The honest living bit that Jade and Conner had told Narek back on Bespin. Underworld business was an honest living.
"When did you escape?"
"When I started to look good to the guards." Narek wasn't getting anywhere with this, and this Twi'lek was joking in her domineer; she had a slight bit of attitude and sass.
"Where did you go after that?"
"After I escaped I got into some business with crime bosses on Ryloth, I got in a big mess making me leave the towns I worked in. I wound up living in the streets and I ended up with an old man in a book store years ago he gave me a job for two years to get me back on my feet."
"What brought you to the militia?"
"When I turned 18 my adventurous nature kicked in causing me to get mixed up with some smugglers. However after the clone wars broke out I went to the aid of my people when the Separatists attacked." The surgical droid finished patching the Twi'lek woman and gave her some clothes to replace the ones burnt from the interrogation. Narek didn't move as she turned to try and get dressed. "Do you mind?'
"Yes I do, we are not finished talking and I don't trust you in the least bit yet sit back down," ordered Narek. The Twi'lek resisted but eventually fell in line. "Why were you imprisoned on the Separatist base?"
"Because when the war started I took control of a Separatist supply ship and stole about 1,000,000 credits of supplies and spices. I delivered the cargo to my people but I was caught when the droids swept the planet, I was a prisoner for a few months."
"Why didn't they kill you?"
"I guess to find were all their supplies went, they kept me and others in that prison for several months. I was only tortured a few times but I've never endured so much pain when that pale faced Sith came to the Separatist base yesterday."
"Do you know why?" asked Narek leaning forward.
"They knew I had practically every book in the old man's book shop, they were asking for my assistance in helping them, I have no idea why but they took interest in my studies of Bio-chemistry and began to torcher me for my help in solving something of importance."
"Do you remember exactly what it was?" asked Narek. Eleena turned arrogant and violent as Narek questioned her she turned sour letting her built up rage loose on the Mandalorian.
"Why does everyone expect me to know everything!? Why is this stupid thing so important!?" exclaimed Eleena throwing her new clothes to the ground. Narek stood from this and looked ready to kill, his blank T expression in his helmet began to flair, but surprisingly he sat back down and took his helmet off, he was white with brown hair and blue eyes.
"No one has been honest to you Eleena so I will be. This formula is a part of a mystery, and the mystery needs solving. Somewhere out in this galaxy is a place of untold power; a lost factory with the most advanced droids in existence waiting to be discovered. The creator of this factory Revan has left several clues to finding this place. There are others trying to figure out this puzzle as well and they are willing to kill anyone in their path to get it, did you tell the Separatists the answer to any formula?"
"No, I refused to help them, so they never showed it to me." Narek pulled out a formula on his gauntlet; a small diagram of advanced Bio-chemistry bloomed in a blue hologram. Eleena started to walk closer, she looked at the formula very closely but Narek pressed another button causing the picture to disappear back into his gauntlets. The Mandalorian looked up at the Twi'lek seeing as he was sitting down.
"So here is the deal, you figure this out and I will pay you enough credits for you to return to Ryloth and build yourself a new life there." Eleena raised her brow and paced the floor; she constantly looked back at Narek whose expression did not change in the least, she looked back after a minute of pacing.
"You are after something much bigger than what I can imagine?" asked Eleena sitting down on the bed.
"Yes something that will make or break my friends and I."
"Then I guess you are going to need some more friends if you are going to make it, a real adventure wouldn't you say?"
"If you think I'm going to give you a place here on my ship you are mistaken, I've seen your training and history you would not last long with us."
"Either you give me a place on this ship or you will be solving this thing all by yourself." Narek stood again; he pressed his helmet back on his head and began to walk out the door Eleena held a smug look on her face while folding her arms. He then turned back and placed a small disc next to her on the bed.
"Solve this thing and you can stay, if not I will send you back to Ryloth in an escape pod."