"Blast it, Brink! Where are you?" Myk-Ron Dinn muttered under his breath. The Rogue stood at a junction in the corridor, with his back to the wall. Cautiously, he risked a glance around the corner. He quickly pulled back as fifteen blaster bolts slammed into the opposite wall. There were twenty of them, and they had an E-Web repeating blaster set up behind a small barricade. Effectively, they had the only passage back to his ship closed off. He could just see them now, running their filthy paws over the Firebird

Just then, Brink came running up from the opposite direction. Myk grinned at the old smuggler, and tossed a flash-bang around the corner. "What took you so long?" He shouted over the sound of the explosion.

"I had a little company," Brink gasped as he slid to a cover position next to Myk-Ron. "Had to back-track a bit. Who tripped the damned alarms?"

"I don't think anyone did," Myk shook his head and blind fired around the corner to keep the mercenaries pinned down. "I think they knew we were coming."

Brink swore. "How?"

"Well, now that you're here, you can set your blaster to stun, and we'll keep one alive long enough to ask him," Myk-Ron said, holstering his own DL-40, and drawing his lightsaber.

"What about Nik and Vince?" Brink asked. "If the Imps know we're here, they'll have a similar welcome party back at their ship."

"Yeah," Myk nodded as he began to draw on the Force. "And, do you think we'll hear the end of it if they get outta this mess before we do?"

"Point taken," Brink clicked the safety on his blaster to stun.

Smiling, Myk-Ron leaped into the corridor. A torrent of red light lanced out at the Rogue, and he waded into it. His silver blade traced large arcs through the air, intercepting bolts and sending more than a few back to their owners. Slowly, Myk-Ron advanced on the mercenaries, his hands and his blade moving in time with the rhythm of the Force.

The E-Web continued to pump kilojoules of energy out at a pace that even Myk was starting to have difficulty keeping up with. But the Rogue wasn't worried. Sailing over his shoulder, he caught a glint of steel. With a little nudge in the Force he directed Brink's throw directly into the nest. Mercenaries dove for cover, but too late. The fragmentation grenade reduced the E-Web and the mercenaries around it to smoking ruin. And, Myk had his opening. In a flash of silver light, he appeared at the end of the corridor, mercenaries falling to their deaths behind him as their bodies fell apart.

"Ewww!" Brink complained as he made his way to the hangar door. "Force' sake, Myk, do ya hafta make such a mess all the time?"

The Rogue shrugged as he placed a hand to the door, stretching his senses into the room on the other side. "Twenty more inside," He said. "And, one's on top of my ship."

"Say no more, mi'lad," Brink sighed. "So much for leaving one alive." The old smuggler drew his other blaster and set both to kill.

Myk-Ron smiled darkly. "On three?"

"One," Brink began the count.

"Two," Myk pressed his hand to the sensor plate near the doors, and they whisked open. Before him and Brink were twenty mercenaries armed to the teeth and ready for them. And, I thought fact-finding missions were boring, Myk mused.

"THREE!" they both cried as the plunged into the fray.

"That went well," Nik's voice, only slightly distorted lost none of its sarcasm over the comm unit aboard the Firebird.

Hanging in a sector of space devoid of anything, the Firebird and the Dragon floated. Vince and Nik had flown the Dragon in for this particular run as Nik's Phantom was still in the shop undergoing a new install of the cloaking shield.

"Yes," Vince said. "Sarcasm. How quaint."

"You guys didn't happen to keep one alive, did you?" Myk asked.

"Yeah, we're fixing him tea right now," Nik quipped.

"Okay, okay," Myk sighed. "I don't suppose the two of you have any ideas how they knew we were going to be here?"

"None," Vincent said. "Though, with Sylvia Iceheart running things in the Empire, I would suggest we try to rectify the situation post haste."

"Aye," Brink nodded from the copilot's chair aboard the Firebird. "Well, sittin' here isn't going to do us any good. Let's head back to Coruscant. We'll commandeer a table at the 'Crash,' and try to wrap our heads around how the Empire seems to know what we're gonna do before we do it."

"Roger that," Nik agreed. "Who's buyin' this time around?"

"You," Myk said as he pointed the Firebird onto a heading for home. "No matter how many times you ask that question, it's still your turn." He could hear Vince's laughter over the open comm, and he grinned as he pulled back the levers and the Firebird lurched into hyperspace.

"Honey!" Myk called as the entry door slid shut behind him. "I'm home!"

"I kinda figured that out when you commed me from the hangar, nerfhearder," Arie replied from the living room. She sat on the sofa with a glass of blue milk and a sandwich. She had their favorite show paused on the holoprojector.

"I know," Myk shrugged as he pulled off his boots in the entryway. "I just like sayin' it." He crossed to the back of the couch, leaned over and kissed his wife on the forehead as she leaned back to look up at him. "Where's my little princess?"

"Daddy!"

Myk whirled on his feet as Evelina came running from her room and he scooped her up into his arms. "Hey, Kiddo," He grinned. "I missed you. What did you and Mommy do today?"

"I missed you too," The three-year-old wrapped her arms around the Rogue's neck as he carried her into the living room and plopped down on the couch with her in his lap. "Mommy and me went to the zoo! We saw the baby nexu, and even a diagona! Daddy, can I have a baby nexu? I asked Mommy, but she said to ask you."

Myk-Ron laughed. "I'll bet she did," He cast a wry grin in Arie's direction. "Well, a baby nexu is a big responsibility. You'd have to feed it, and clean up after it, and probably groom it a lot. And, they don't stay babies forever, Nexu get very big, and I don't know if we have enough room here."

"I know, Daddy," Evelina said, determined. "But, I'd be a good mommy. I'd feed her, and take care of her, and I heard you talking to Mommy about moving to Corellia and getting a house. Would we have enough room then?"

"How did you…" Myk again looked to his wife.

She grows stronger in the Force every day, Arie sent. I think she's learning to listen in on our little mental conversations.

"Yeah," Evelina nodded enthusiastically. "I've been studying really hard."

"Very impressive," Myk said. "But, you shouldn't eavesdrop on other people's conversations, princess. It's not nice."

"I'm sorry, Daddy," She said. "I won't do it again."

"It's okay," Myk lifted her chin. "We're still just talking about moving to Corellia right now, but I know you'd be okay with it now. I tell you what. You keep up with your studies, and keep your room clean, and I'll think about getting you a baby nexu. Deal?"

"Deal!" Evelina took her father's hand and shook it.

Myk and Arie laughed.

"Why don't you go get your coloring book?" Myk said. "Mommy and I want to watch our show."

"Okay, Daddy," Evelina hopped down from Myk's lap and took off for her room, skipping.

Myk watched her go, and smiled before turning to Arie.

"So, how'd the mission go?" Arie asked.

"Complete failure," Myk sighed. "Somehow Iceheart Jr. knew we were coming. We got in okay, but it was a firefight the whole way out. We didn't even get to the records room."

Shassa, Arie swore silently. "Myk, this is getting out of control," She said. "They took out the Chiss Ascendancy, for Force Sake. What is going on in the galaxy?"

"I don't know, Princess," Myk shook his head. "But we need to figure it out, and soon."

"Didn't we retire from this sort of thing like three years ago?" Arie smirked.

"I seem to recall," The Rogue scratched his head before shrugging. "Well, it'll keep for a little while at least. Are we all set for the trip to Cataan tomorrow?"

"All our bags are packed, and Steffan's expecting us," Arie nodded. "Said he and Jade had the guest house all prepped. I think he's going to ask you to come teach at his praxeum again."

"He knows I can't do that," Myk said. "At least not full-time. I like Cataan, and Steffan's a great friend, but I couldn't live there. It's too…"

"Perfect?"

"I was going to say remote, but yeah, that too," Myk nodded.

"Well, he's still going to try," Arie leaned her head on Myk's shoulder. "And, you can't really blame him for that. He did want me to let you know he'd be bringing the grill out for dinners. It's summer there, now."

"Fantastic!" Myk beamed. "You made sure to pack a few bottles of Whyvern's Reserve, yeah? I know it's hard for them to get the stuff out there."

"Yes, dear," Arie said. "You know, even with all that's going on, it'll be good to see everyone again. Xan and Calli even managed to get the time off."

"Yeah," Myk agreed. "Feels like it's been ages. I can't believe Karrde's boy is going to be eighteen. I hope he likes what we got him."

"Rogue," Arie laughed. "We bought an eighteen-year-old boy a speeder-bike. He'll be thrilled. But, I think Steffan's going to kill you."

Myk-Ron just shrugged, and cast her a trademark grin. "Nah," He said. "He'd mentioned he wanted to spar during our visit. He always fights better when he's just a bit ticked."

"Whatever you say, Love," Arie kissed him on the cheek and hit "resume" the holoprojector. Evelina brought her coloring book out to the living room and set up her station at the low table in front of the sofa.

More content than he'd been in a life-age, Myk-Ron settled in for a night at home with his family. Things is the galaxy were heating up. He figured he could enjoy one slow night before he and his family were thrust into the thick of things again.