And now, we visit the Smuggler's Moon. Some details that I left out of chapter 2, was that the technology, and prisoners on the freight, helped to confirm the existence of a Republic Spy cooperation, working to gather intel on the workings of the Sith, in the Unknown Regions. The base of this operation, is located in the last place the Sith, or anyone for that matter, would expect: Mar Shaddaa, and more specifically, The Red Light Sector. By the way, this will be a long one.
The Smuggler's Moon
Fifteen miles away from the Red Light Sector, Darth Terecept's ship landed in a hangar. Once arriving, The Sith contacted his Master. "My Lord, I've arrived on Nar Shaddaa."
"You will be heading to the city's Red Light Sector. We have some imperial agents working under deep cover, for this Republic Operation. You will meet one of them in the Sector's cantina. Work from there. And my apprentice, no survivors, no matter what the cost."
"Yes, my Master."
The call was then cut. "Query: Master, am I to accompany you?"
"Yes CID. Come along, however you may need to wait outside the Cantina."
"Affirmative: Cantina's are not usually droid friendly."
"Ready your weapons. We leave immediately."
The Sith, and his droid left their ship, and headed outside the hangar. Ignoring all of the looks that he got, for both his appearance, and lightsabers, Terecept proceeded to the taxi service. As droids don't judge, the taxi service droid simply gave his statements. "Greetings Sentient. Welcome to Nar Shaddaa. Where would you, and your droid like to go?"
"I need to get to the Red Light Sector." The Sith told the droid.
"Destination set. This Taxi will now take you and your droid to the Red Light Sector. Have a pleasant stay."
The Sith and his droid mounted the Taxi. Given that it had been so long since he had been among a big city, with speeders going every which way, Terecept meditated to help him remain calm. This also helped any visions from popping up in his head. It seemed to make the trip into a minute long flight, though it actually took ten minutes to arrive. Coming out of the trance, Terecept and his droid made their way toward the Cantina. As expected, the bouncer keeping watch right outside the bar, told the Sith that his droid would have to wait outside for him.
"Stay here CID. I'll be out shortly."
"As you desire, Master."
The Sith walked into the cantina, and looked around. Using the Force to find his contact, he walked up to the bar, right next to the one person in the room, who he saw as blue, through his senses. Walking up to the man, he found a lightsaber on the man's belt. The man turned around to face Terecept. Bowing, he spoke. "Lord Terecept. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"If you are a Jedi, how are you my contact?"
"I am no Jedi. There are ways that those of us, who walk the Dark Path, can mask our presence, from the weaklings that walk the Path of the Light. I have used this technique, to make myself appear to the Republic, as a Jedi, looking to help out with this operation."
"I see. And now, what is your name?"
"I am Hunter Rar'bell. I began to devise my plan, the second that Lord Odysseus informed me of you arrival."
"Very well. Let's hear this plan."
"I have full access to the base. As such, I will enter the security room, and silently sabotage the security systems, allowing you to break in. Much of the personnel in the base, are very strong-minded. However, those in such parts of the base, such as the security room, are not. I would request that you wait for me to contact you, before you break into the base. I will do so when I am at the entrance to the base, myself. This way, we can complete this mission, together."
"A wise plan. One that I see no fault in."
"Excellent."
"Be warned however, Dark Jedi. If you decide to betray me, I won't give a second thought to killing you."
Hunter gulped. "Of... of course Master, I won't even consider it."
"Good. Now, come. We have a slaughter to attend to."
The two men walked out of the cantina. Terecept made the introduction of Hunter, to CID.
"My Lord Terecept, something like this, would best be done with the element of surprise. Much of the base sleeps during the day, as work like this seems to work best at night. Since it is nighttime, perhaps we should wait till the sun rises, before we attack. But, it is your call."
"I like the way you think Rar'bell. We shall strike during the noon hours, when they are deepest in sleep."
"A wise decision, my Lord. Contact me, when you are right outside the base." The human Dark Jedi left from the Sith Lord's view. The Sith, and his droid would find a place to rest, and would then head to their mission, after awakening."
Ten hours later...
Having made it to the outside of the base, Terecept contacted Hunter, who responded after a moment. "Are you ready my Lord? I can disable the security system on your request."
"Do it now. Contact me when you are at the entrance."
Several minutes past, and while they were waiting outside the base, Terecept and CID had to fight off some drunken men, with weapons. They ended up both dead, and serving as a good warm up. "My Lord, I am right behind the door. You'll need to use your lightsabers to break through the door."
Terecept took his two sabers, and cut through the door. It feel to pieces from the heat of the blades, and the Sith and his droid walked into the base. Many guards lay resting in the first room of the base, as in many of the other rooms. Terecept looked as if he was about to find some way to silently kill tthem all.
"My Lord, no need to soil your hands. There's a droid bay in this base. Once we gather all the Intel we need, and then destroy All of the computer equipment in here, we can reprogram the droids to kill all the guards, while they sleep, for us."
"You have a strong tactical mind Hunter. I believe you and I will get along just fine."
"Yes my Lord. There is something you should know. There is a Jedi Master in this base. A man by the name of Atton Rand. He is here, with another Jedi, a Knight who arrived here recently, and whose name, I don't know. The Knight should prove easy enough, but Atton I have seen in action, and he once come close to discovering the true path I walk."
Hearing the familiar name didn't effect Terecept. "A Jedi Master shall fall today."
"My Lord, all due respect, but don't be overconfident. This Master Rand is a member of the Jedi High Council, and... Ergh..." Hunter could not complete his sentence, as Terecept began to Force Choke him.
"Do not doubt that I have earned the right to be called a Sith Lord." He said, coldly.
"Of... Of course- ergh- My Lord. P-please... Fo-forgive me."
Terecept released him. "It is not your time yet. We have a mission to attend to. Come."
"Y-yes... My Lord." Hunter replied, still catching his breath. The group of three made their way through the base, encountering little resistance, as much of the base was still fast asleep, just as Hunter predicted. Maybe being forced to kill six or seven guards at the most. Before making it into the control room, the group stopped before making it in.
"My Lord, it looks as if the base Commander is awake, and consorting with the Jedi."
"CID, handle the base commander. Hunter, kill the Jedi Knight. Master Rand shall die by my hand."
With their plan settled, the group of three walked into the control room. Their enemies greeted them, only after Terecept used the Force to destroy the turrets in the room.
"Hunter, what are you doing," The base commander started. "These two are enemies, kill them!"
"Sorry, Republic dog, but I'm afraid that I never served you, nor the Jedi."
"I always did think there was something dark about you, Hunter." Atton Rand started. "But, I can sense something even darker with this one here. What is your name, Sith?"
"I am Darth Terecept, and I have come here to kill you, Atton.
"I'd ask how you know my name, but I'm more interested in why you seem so familiar to me."
"Maybe before I kill you, I'll tell you why." The Sith Lord said, activating his twin-hilted, red lightsabers, and then connecting them together. Atton grabbed his yellow long blade, and orange shoto.
"Doesn't seem like there's a way to talk you out of this. Alright, let's dance, Sith."
Hunter Rar'bell activated his red lightsaber, to counter the Jedi Knight's blue one. CID, and the base commander found cover, and started shooting at each other. To ensure that the battle remained three-on-three, Terecept sealed the door, with the Force. He then brought his double saber onto Atton's blades. The Two warriors went to war against each other, with their blades making the control room deafening. They met each other blow for blow, strike for strike, with neither giving an inch. The same could not be said, for Hunter's battle, as he was unable to deal with the Jedi Guardian, who was using the Juyo form. However this left him open to several Force attacks. As for the firefight, between the commander, and CID, the droid had managed to land some shots, but had taken several serious shots. This was noticed by Terecept, during a lightsaber clash, with Rand. Terecept kicked the Jedi Master in the gut, stunning him for a moment. Using the opportunity, Terecept used the Force to hurl a crate at the commander causing him to stumble out of hiding. Using the opportunity, CID shot the commander in the head, killing him before he hit the floor. With Atton still stunned, Terecept disconnected his doubleblade, and tossed one of the blades to Hunter. He then turned his attention back to Atton, who stood up, only to have his shoto destroyed. Hunter manage to pray on the weak defense of the Juyo form, and kill the Jedi Knight.
"I may be out numbered, but this isn't my end." In desperation, Atton unleashed a Force Wave, causing everyone in the room to fly back, and hit the wall. Atton then unsealed the door, with the Force, and used Force Speed to get out of the room, quickly. Terecept got back to his feet, and chased after Rand. However, Rand made it to his speeder, started it, and got away.
Terecept was then contacted by CID. "Query: Master, did you kill the Jedi?"
"No, he got away. I'll have my chance another day. But we focus on the now. CID, I'm on my way back. Start downloading the necessary information. We'll look over it on the ship. Tell Hunter to go to the droid bay, and program them to kill the sleeping guards." Terecept hurried back to the control room. Within a few minutes, he could hear the secreams of the dying, as Hunter Joined them. "My Lord, I've programmed the droids to kill all of the guards, and self-destruct upon completion of that task. I've also swcrued ourselves a speeder, that can seat all three of us, and you can drive directly to the hangar where your ship is."
"Very good, Hunter."
"Statement: All the necessary data is now stored into my memory core, Master. I shall upload it all to the Blade Edge's computer, once we arrive."
"Let's get out of here, then."
The group of three boarded the speeder, and drove straight to the hangar bay. They were out of that base before anyone knew they were in. Deciding to keep it, and knowing there was a garage on his ship, Terecept had those working the docks, bring the speeder into his ship. Once that was done, CID flew the ship out of the hangar, and left the Smuggler's moon. The crew then looked over the data, and contacted Darth Odysseus.
"My Lord," Terecept started. "I trust that the data we collected was all sent to you?"
"It was, my apprentice. You must travel to these worlds, and eliminate the men responsible for this operation. Once the last of those men are dead, the operation, and the knowledge of its existence among the Republic, will die with them."
"Yes, my Master." The call was cut.
"My Lord," Hunter Rar'bell started. "I assume that your taking me along as part of your crew, correct?"
"Yes."
"Where do I stay?"
"The crew quarters are down that hall, and then you make a left turn. Pick whichever of the bunks you prefer, as my armor requires that I rest in the captain's quarters."
"Understood, my Lord. If there is nothing else, I would like to get some rest."
"You are dismissed, Hunter."
The Dark Jedi walked over to the crew quarters. Terecept turned to his droid. "CID, where is the closest Target located?"
"Answer: The closest target is located on the desert world of Tatooine."
"If its a desert world, I'll need to make some modifications to my armor. Plot a course for that world. I'll join you in the cockpit shortly."
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm hungry.
