Chapter 4: Mautmua

--- --- ---

We had been traveling for about a day now. Vayne, Annoli, and I had joined on the bridge. Vayne had been analyzing some more programs for the Zenith. Annoli wanted to come here because she liked watching the colorful distortion of outside space during Hyperspace and the bridge had the best view. So I took her to the bridge and showed her around. She had changed into her regular padawan uniform.

The three droids were all standing aside waiting for when they were needed. Vayne was sitting in the chair of the main controls while I was leaning against a support column next to the main controls. The two of us were having a discussion about Vayne's flight academy when a small blipping sound came from the control panel. Vayne looked down, "We'll be out of Hypserspace in a few minutes."

"Great." I told him, "Vayne, activate the com."

"Alrighty." He said as he hit a button on the panel.

I then began speaking throughout the entire ship, "Hey everybody. We'll be arriving at Mautmua shortly. Start packing everything you'll need to take down on the planet because we'll be leaving in an hour. Sbaki, start getting the transport ready."

I then signaled for Vayne to close the com. Which he did. Annoli walked over to us and asked me, "Is there anything you want me to do?"

"No. Just go with Zade and do whatever he tells you to do." I answered.

She bowed her head to me, "Okay."

She began walking for the exit when we came out of Hyperspace. We all turned towards the viewport and saw a tiny speck of a planet off in the distance. It was barley noticeable in the sea of stars. I signaled for Vayne to take us closer to the planet. He did so without fault. Annoli turned back from the exit and walked towards the veiwport to get a better look as the speck got bigger and bigger. When the outline of the planet became more noticeable, she squinted at the planet, "What is that shape around the planet?"

I waited to answer her until it became more visible. When we got close enough I patted Vayne on the shoulder, "Alright. Stop here."

He halted the ship in a safe distance away form the planet. From here the planet only looked the size of a rancor so we were still kind of far away. But this was the closest I felt we could get without being detected by the Sith on the world. While we were stopped I pointed to the top of the planet's globe and answered her question, "You see the north pole?"

She nodded, "Yeah."

I moved my finger and pointed towards a long strip of continent that began at the north of the planet and fell diagonally south-west. The top of the continent was white from the wintery poll. The rest of it was mostly colored with greens and browns. Though if we were closer we'd be able to see an unnatural patch of brown in the greener sections. Brown wasteland caused by the Sith. I explained to her, "The planet has one main continent with thousands of smaller islands around it. They call the continent the 'Slash Land'. Because of the way it looks. Like a giant slash mark from the north pole, all the way down to the south-west edge of the globe."

I then pointed towards a ring of rocky particles around the planet. It was a light ring that formed around the plant's equator. I explained, "They call that the 'Mountain Sky'. The indigenous have thousands of legends surrounding the planetary ring. While they haven't ever since they discovered space travel, the ring used to be thought of as a type of religious plane and treated as holy. Now the Sith use that ring to hide their satellites. There in the ring, the satellites orbit and project the weak planetary shield around Mautmua. Since they project from the ring around the equator the shield is weaker at the north and south pole. That's where we can enter with the least risk of detection."

"Prime! This planet sure is beautiful." Annoli exclaimed.

"Yeah. We'll have to keep it that way." I said as I lowered my pointing hand and patted Vayne on the shoulder again, "Alright now. We'll leave the ship to the droids and Sbaki. We have to prepare for our leave."

"Affirmative." Vayne said as he stood up from his chair.

I looked towards Pilot and told him, "The ship is your cold, metallic hands. Sbaki is officer on deck. Listen to what she tells you."

"Understood. As always." The droid said as he took his position at the main controls.

I walked with Annoli and Vayne as we headed to the hanger. As we walked I told them, "Don't worry about cramming into that compact, flying brick of a transport like last time. That one was just an unmarked ship. To stay low. This time we'll be traveling in style."

"Good." Annoli said.

The hanger doors opened. We entered and saw a ship taken off the rack. It was a transport/gun ship. The main body was sleek on top. Bulky and wide on the bottom. The ship had four wings. The two near the rear of the ship were curved into a downward bow. Like a bird's wings. Those wings were to help stabilize the ship when it entered into an area of gravity and wind resistance. The wings towards the front of the ship were a fourth the size as the rear wings and served no purpose other than decorative. They were slicked back to look like thin horns on the ship.

The ship's nose was slanted into a plow shape. In the center of the ship there was a single, heavy-mounted laser canon. The canon was high powered but slow. Mounted above the cannon was a dual laser turret with less power but snap fire reactions. There was also a second and third laser turret mounted in the left and right rear end of the ship. An entryway ramp was constructed between the two rear turrets. That way if soldiers had to rush into the ship the two turrets could provide cover fire. A nice little feature. The ship was painted in a plain, light gray color. The horned wings were painted black. Sbaki had named the ship the, "Snap-Axel".

Sbaki was slithering around the ship as she went through a checklist in her head to make sure it was prepared. Lwyn, Caily, Zade and Lou had already gathered by the time we arrived. Zade was also back in his Jedi robes. Annoli joined Zade while Vayne and I walked towards Sbaki. I asked her, "Is the Snap-Axel ready?"

"All I need to do isss refill the coolant on the main canon. Then itsss up and ready to play it's role." She told me, never taking her eyes from the ship.

I complemented her, "Nice work as all ways, Slither-Skins. Did you check to see if the codes for planetary shields are still up to date?"

"Yeah." She said as she finally made eye contact with me, "They are the ssssame old codesss. They don't even care enough to change them. Or too cocky."

"Well that's good. Right?" Vayne asked.

"Yeah. Makes our job easier. Not that hacking into the Sith's database and getting the new codes would have been hard. At least not for me." I bragged.

"Hmph. You're ship will be ready in a little bit." Sbaki said as she went back to her work.

"Alright. Keep up the good work." Not that I really needed to tell her that.

After a quick update from Sbaki, Vayne and I headed towards the others. Jaxter had joined the group with his belongs packed and ready to go. Lwyn nodded at me and held up a large black case. She handed it to me, "Forget something?"

I cringed, "Oh, yeah. Right."

She smiled, "You'd be so lost without me."

"I'd probably be dead without you." I corrected her.

I took the case from her and set in on the floor. I flipped the case's latches and threw the case open. On the insides of the case there were two pieces of black foam. On each side of the case were five indents in the foam. Eight lightsabers were fitted firmly into the indents. My main, and favorite lightsaber was already clipped to my side. My favorite lightsaber was a thing of beauty. At least in my opinion. The base of the saber was built of golden electrum. The decorative outline and hand grip was made of a black shiny metal. The blade o flight was an ultramarine blue. I grabbed three other sabers and clipped them to my belt. Zade smiled, "You weren't kidding. Did you really make all of those?"

I nodded, "Yup. No offense to the Jedi. I know you guys like to think of the lightsaber as a one-of-a-kind, honorable symbol."

Zade shrugged his shoulders, "No offense taken."

I closed the case and handed it to Vayne, "Here you go, partner. Why don't you do me a favor and put that in the transport?"

I shoved the case into his chest with a smile. He scowled at me, "Since when did I become your bag boy?"

"I'll let you drive the ship." I said enticingly.

He sighed, "Alright... fine. Darn you."

He took the black case and carried it into the transport ship. I looked at Lwyn and saw she had her lightsaber equipped to her side. She got creative with her saber. The base was black with a silver vine that wrapped around the base from top to bottom. The vine also acted as an added grip for her hand. Her blade was a light green color. Unlike I was, she was prepared.

We stood around checking our equipment, waiting for the others to arrive, and waiting for Sbaki to finish adding the coolant to the Snap-Axel. When we were ready we all packed into the Axel and said goodbye to Sbaki and the Zenith Black. Off to Mautmua.

---\__V__/---

Xelka laid down stomach first on the barren, Mautmua soil. Wearing a blanket over her body in the same color as the soil. Atop one of the Hedem Hills. The Hedem Hills was range of hills that was in between the Sith/Turr'shek lands and the Curakunda/human lands. As she laid down she clutched her model, "E-WYN 85 sniper riffle". With one eye closed, she pressed her open eye into the riffle's scope.

Through the scope she looked across the Hedem forest. Most of the trees in the forest were dried and leafless. Reduced to sticks and twigs. A few trees still tried to clutch on to their greenish-blue leaves but they were fighting a losing battle. At least without the leaves it was easier for her to see enemies approaching through her scope. Though it didn't matter at the moment. There was a heavy fog on the ground and a light, misty dew in the air. Visibility was horrible. She could barley make out the sticky treetops. Anything bellow that was impossible to see. That was exactly why the War Head was concerned. If the Turr'shek wanted to travel through the forest in secrecy, now would be the time.

She inhaled a cool breath of the misty dew and exhaled into a sigh. She spoke calmly to herself, "Nothing. Can't see a rotting thing."

Just then two forms walked up the hill from behind her. One of the forms was regular in size. The other was a large, broad body. The first one was her associate, Rento. He clutched his two blaster pistols in his hands. The other was a Curakunda. The Curakunda were classified by a large, muscular, humanoid body. Their skin was a either light gray or a dull wheat color. Their heads were more animal-like. About 80% of their heads was covered in hair that were typically gray, gray and shades of brown, or gray and shades of blonde. Both males and females often had a long beard of hair that wrapped around the bottom of their skulls. Really, it was more like a mane that a beard. Their furry and droopy ears hanged from the sides of their heads. The top of their heads had a top tuft of hair that resembled a mohawk.

Besides their size, their faces was the most recognizable. They had yellow eyes with narrow slit pupils with long, hairy eyebrows. It wasn't uncommon for the outside ends of a Curakunda's eyebrows to fall down as far their chins. The noses were flat and wide. The mouths were wide and the top lip had a split that gave them a rounded, smiling face. If someone saw their heads alone, and not their looming and stalwart bodies, the Curakunda could be thought off as kind of cute looking. At least Xelka thought so.

The Curakunda usually only wore leather. Either hard leather for protection or softer leather for regular clothing and they usually didn't wear much at a single time. But because of the current state of the area, most of the animals the Curakudna hunted for the leather and meat to eat had permanently migrated to areas with less pollution.

This Curakunda in particular that joined them had dull wheat skin and gray hair. He tied the hair in the back of his mane into a tail. He was a young man around the same age as both Rento and Xelka. But they all looked kind of the same when it comes to age. Except for the children it's hard to tell if a Curakunda is 20 years old or 80 years old. His name was Regendie and he wore a hard leather vest and soft leather shorts. The Twi'twins were closest to Regendie than any other Curakunda.

Regendie was holding a Sadek staff. The most common weapon of the Curakunda. Traditionally, the staff was just a long spear with a spearhead for stabbing and a curved axe blade on one side for slashing. It had changed allot during the past one hundred years. The axe blade remained but the spear head was replaced by a blaster barrel for shooting. The blaster on the staff was inaccurate and not very powerful but it was an improvement over a spearhead.

They leaned down behind the hill to remain hidden. Rento asked her, "See anything?"

"No. Not unless you're asking me if I've seen sticks and dew." She whispered back at him.

"That's good." Regendie said in his low voice. Most Curakunda had low voices.

"No." She corrected him, "It's not that I haven't seen any enemies. I just don't have the visibility to do so. The forest could be completely empty or an entire army could be assembled there. I just can't tell."

"In that case, the War Head will want to send scouts into the forest." Regendie told her.

Rento nodded, "Well then I guess our job is done. Let's head back."

"Not yet." She told him, "I want to stay here. You two go on ahead of me."

"We're not leaving you out here alone." Rento scoffed.

She remained silent and kept the scope of her riffle searching over the forest tops. Hoping for a break in the fog. The fog never broke but something was telling her to keep put and be ready. Just then she tilted her riffle upwards into the sky. Off in the foggy distance she saw a dark mass blurred by a misty gray hue. She removed the scope from her eye to see if she could see it without the scope. It was too far away so she put the scope back to her eye. Rento noticed her behavior and asked, "Whats up?"

Before she could answer, Regendie's more sensitive ears perked up and he answered, "Weapon's fire. Off in the distance. Heading for us."

Xelka zoomed in on the object as closely as her scope would allow. It still appeared only as a gray mass. As she watched see saw a few streaks of red lights fly at the mass. She told the others, "Laser fire. It's under attack and I think it's headed this way."

"A friendly must be under attack." Rento deduced.

"It could be one of our hunting parties." Regendie guessed.

Since most of the prey the Curakunda hunted migrated they were forced to send long distance hunting parties to further away lands. They would use lower-tech planes powered by propeller engines. They were big, awkward, slow, and defenseless.

Sure enough, Regendie was right. A few seconds later she was able to make out the plane's long wingspan. One propeller engine on each wing. It had no weapons. It had no shields. Only dark green plating. Their attackers were ripping through it's hull effortlessly. Force be with them though. So far none of the blaster bolts had struck anything important like the engines or fuel lines. Only a little further and she could perhaps give it cover fire.

Xelka was getting impatient but kept her body flawlessly still. She waited calmly until she could see the attackers. Then they appeared through the fog. Through the side of her mouth, she told them the identity of the attackers, "Aeronauts. Maybe a dozen of them."

Aeronauts were a class of winged Turr'shek. The Turr'shek looked bug-like, though were not insectoids. But they had large, round, black, binocular type eyes that resembled that of an insect. Their skin was dark gray and slightly transparent. The skin was especially transparent around their faces.

Their skeletal bones were red in color. On many parts of their bodies their red bones could be seen through their skin. On their heads, parts of the bones even protruded from the skin. On the top of their skulls they had a flat crest where the bone protruded. And the bones around their mandibles also protruded. The Turr'shek mouth was sideways and full of sharp little teeth. They spoke in face paced chittering or clicking sounds.

They were tall, around two meters in height. Their bodies slender but powerful. They could jump high, run fast, and pack a punch. Their muscles were tightly wound. That caused their increased strength but as a side effect their bodies deteriorated quickly. Which is why a Turr'shek warrior is usually younger in age. The older ones are unable to fight. They wore the most simple of armoring. Just plates of metal on their chest, back, and legs.

None of the Turr'shek were born with wings. Nor did they possess advanced technology that gave them false wings. No. Aeronauts were a sin of science created by the Sith. With Turr'shek volunteers, the Sith operated on the Turr'shek and gave them foreign but organic wings.

These dozen or so Aeronauts were flying after the hunting plane with blasters. Trying to shoot them down. Xelka put the scope's reticule on the nearest flying Turr'shek. The sound of the plane's engine roared. To her it sounded like it was crying for help. She took her index finger and rested in gently on the trigger. When it got close enough she aimed for a mercy kill. Quick and painless. She had the shot and pulled the trigger. An orange line of laser shot from the riffle and hit its mark. The first Aeronaut fell. She pointed the riffle at the next Aeronaut. She waited for the two second cool down on the riffle to pass. A small green light in the lens of the scope flashed. Signaling that the next shot was ready. She locked on to the target and fired. The second one was down.

This time the other Aeronauts were able to see where the shots were coming from. So they swarmed over to the opposite side of the airplane and used it as cover. She took a deep breath and cursed softly, "Rot. They're hiding on the other end of the plane. I can't get a shot with them using the plane as cover."

She may not have been able to see what was happening anymore. But she saw the result. Smoke started to trail from the side where the Aeronauts were hiding. The plane was on fire. How large and serious of a fire she couldn't tell from her point. She couldn't see, she couldn't do anything. They were getting closer. Close enough that the twins could now hear the blaster shots in the distance. But at this rate the plane wouldn't make it past the mountains. Regendie cringed, "They won't make it."

Rento raised his pistols into the ready position, "Prepare for retrieve and rescue. Maybe they can crash land safe-"

His words were cut off by the sound of laser fire. The three of them looked up and saw green laser fire rain down from the sky above. The laser danced around the hunting plane but avoided hitting it. The target wasn't the plane. It was the Aeronauts. When the laser rained, one of the Aeronauts was caught in the mix and was obliterated. The rest took the hint and flew away. Continuing the pursuit was suicide with that laser fire in the sky. Rento pumped his fist victoriously as the plane flew safely over a hilltop to their left. They got a look at the fire on the rear side of the plane near the tail wing. The fire was fizzling away into a small flame. The plane was damaged but it should be able to make it back home.

Xelka tossed her camouflage blanket from her back and stood up. She gazed upwards and saw the Snap-Axel lower from the foggy skies. Rento pumped his fist into the air, "The Axel! Whoo-hoo!"

Regendie clapped his hand together and had a genuine smile on his face. Xelka sighed loudly as she took her hand and wringed the tight muscles in her neck, "Just in time."

She then lifted her sniper riffle and rested it against her shoulder. Keeping the still hot barrel away from her body. The Snap-Axel lowered near them and hovered near the side of the hill. The back of the ship opened and a ramp extended. A grizzly man with a long beard (Lou) stood at the ramp with his arm extended. He shouted over the Axel's engines, "Hop aboard!"

The three of them took turns leaping into the back of the Axel. When they were safely inside, the ramp closed and the Axel went forward. The Axel trailed behind the damaged hunting plane to make sure it arrived in one piece.

Inside the ship Xelka placed her riffle on the floor and sat down in the nearest seat. Sniping to kill was stressful. Yes, she was good at it. But it felt cheap. She took no joy in taking an unsuspecting life. Even if taking that life saved three others. But she accepted the burden. Thanks to Laan and the others her skills and intentions were aimed, no pun intended, in the right direction. No live and die to stop the Sith.

---\__V__/---

The Snap-Axel was parked just outside the central encampment of the Curakunda-Human coalition. Its was simply named the, "Camp". It was just a bunch of storage tents and mobile housing for the coalition. If needed, the camp could be abandoned or moved to a new location. But so far the Turr'shek have yet to pursue them to that point. Probably because there were a few Curakunda strongholds between their territory and the Camp that prevented that.

They chose this location because it was surrounded by grassy hills on all corners. Making it difficult to find unless flown directly over the Camp. There was also a nice flat patch on the other end of the hills that followed along a river path. It was long and flat enough for their planes to land and take off. That was where the damaged hunting plane landed safely.

We left our ship and walked into the camp. Thankfully, most of the fog had lifted so visibility was manageable. There was a thick dew on the ground. Since it was grassy in this area the dew made the air smell nice and calming. We were met by a Curakunda with gray skin and light-gray hair. There were many patches around his face and mane where scars had left his skin unable to grow hair. He had two sashes, one red and one blue that crossed across his chest over a hard leather chest plate. This was the War Head, Tockle.

Standing to his left was a Turr'shek. A friendly Turr'Shek. Not all of them supported the Sith. There was a small group of Turr'Shek sympathizers that joined the coalition. This was their leader, Biderek. To be honest, I couldn't tell the Turr'shek apart. I think allot of people couldn't. He fixed that and painted the red, protruding bones on his face blue. It was a symbolic stand against what the other Turr'shek were doing. He chose blue because blue was in direct contrast of his red boned brethren. His followers painted there bones white to symbolize their unity with the Curakunda and Humans. White, the same color bones of the Curakunda and Humans. They also dressed in the modified leatherings the Curakunda wore. So I had to remember, blue is Biderek the leader. White is his followers.

Regendie, the Curakunda that joined us on our ride over, walked ahead and greeted the two. He spoke in the Curakunda's language which consisted of allot of soft growls and words with very few vowels. The Turr'shek and Curakunda in camp could understand each others language but the Humans and Turr'shek struggled to learn each others languages.

As Regendie talked with them, we joined up with them. Regnedie pointed to the Twi'twins and said something about them. In response Biderek clicked and chittered a response. Whenever Biderek spoke, he would often sway in place and tilt his head around. He looked aggressive when he did that but that was just the way he spoke. Tockle translated for us in his raspy voice, "Regendie told us you escorted our plane. Thanks once again."

"No problem." Rento told him. As we spoke, Regendie was translating the conversation to Biderek.

"What was a hunting plane doing in Turr'shek territory?" I asked.

"I have no idea. I didn't order it." He told me.

"I hear this activity has increased." Zade mentioned, "How long has this been going on."

"A large Sith warship was seen a couple of days ago. Ever since then the Turr'shek have increased their activities. They've been attacking more of our villages and increased patrols." Tockle explained.

Lwyn looked back at the Twins and said, "The twins here mentioned that they've been abandoning bases?"

After Regendie finished translating what Lwyn had said, Biderek chittered his response. Regendie translated back to us, "At first we were confused but we just got a report from Biderek's spies. The reason why they were leaving and returning their bases was because they were gathering materials. They are constructing something on top of their bases. What they are building? We don't know."

"I'm guessing it's either a weapon or defensive array." I guessed.

"It's hard to tell what they are up to. Ever since that warship arrived things have changed. The Turr'shek have seemed sporadic as of late." Tockle added.

A sudden thought occurred to me. I looked over at Lwyn and Vayne and asked them, "Remember General De'Kyte?"

They both knew instantly what I was thinking. Vayne smiled, "Oh yeah. So perhaps that Sith warship was carrying a special guest."

Lwyn added, "Someone that started overseeing the operations across Mautmua. Maybe they even took over completely."

I turned back to Tockle and told him, "Just a theory but we know the Sith will sometimes send a General or someone else of rank to overlook their operations if the operation isn't producing g as much as they'd like. Perhaps this General decided to change their approach."

"Sounds plausible" Tockle said.

Biderek chitered something to which Regendie translated, "If that is the case, something worries me. If the Sith were unhappy with the way their operations were before. A more aggressive approach could lead to more battles. More invasions."

"That is true." Tockle said, "We will have to increase the scouts to make sure they don't try and surprise us. And we'll have to do something about those bases too."

"Perhaps we should discuss this in greater detail inside of my ship?" I suggested.

"Right." Tockle said. He then took a wide look around our crowd, "So, which of you is the leader of the Jedi and which is the leader of the Republic."

Zade raised his hand, "I will represent the Jedi."

Lou raised his hand too, "And I for the Republic."

"You two will be allowed into the war meeting. The rest must remain outside." Tockle told everyone, "And if I were you I'd keep to yourselves for now. There are many around this place that still view the Republic and Jedi as enemies. They won't harm you but I still wouldn't push it."

"We understand." Vayne told him.

Our group split up. Tockle, Biderek, Zade, Lou, Lwyn, and I headed to the Axel. Jaxter tried to talk his way into the meeting. But, no. He remained outside with everyone else. Regendie, HotShot, and the twins had to stay close with the others to show that we were all on the same side.

---\__V__/---

Jaxter and Annoli stood next to each other as a group of Curakunda stared at them with their arms folded over their chest. There was malicious intent in those eyes. Annoli gulped, "I've rustled with some big ones before but these guys don't seem the slow, clumsy type that I'm used to."

Jaxter nodded, "No kidding. I wonder who'd win in a fair fight. A Curakunda or a Wookie?"

Caily walked over to them and incidentally turned her head towards the Curakunda. When the Curakunda saw her mask they flinched slightly. Annoli smiled at Caily, "I think you're mask scared them."

"My mask does not cause fear in them." Caily responded cryptically, "Rather, they see this mask as my declaration as a fearless warrior. As fellow warriors they respect that declaration."

Jaxter and Annoli exchanged looks. Jaxter rolled his eyes, "Yeah... Okay. You crazy hag."

Caily smiled at them, "Completely off topic. Unrelated to anything in this conversation. I sense a weed nearby that could be grounded into a fine dust and discreetly mixed in with food. To younger bodies like yours, the powdered weed would be quite deadly... Again, completely unrelated."

Annoli and Jaxter's faces dropped. Jaxter stammered, "Th-That is a joke right? Because I cant' really tell with you."

She laughed and began walking towards the Curakunda that flinched at her mask, "Perhaps I will find more mature conversation from those Curakunda."

Annoli let out a sigh of relief, "Oh well. She's their problem now."

Jax turned to her and asked, "Yeah, but you don't think she would actually poison us? Do you?"

She innocently shrugged her shoulders, "Doesn't matter to me. My body had been trained to withstand small to medium strength poisons."

"Yeah but what about me?" Jax asked her.

She laughed to herself as she got up and left him alone. Wondering what Caily was actually capable of, Jax decided that just to be safe, he'd eat the food rations inside the Snap-Axel. Sure the food was tasteless but at least it was factory sealed.

---\__V__/---

Rollo was checking his backpack when HotShot approached him from behind, "Hey you!"

He stood up and faced her, "Are you addressing me?"

"Yeah." She said as she put her hands on her hips, "I wanted to talk to you about something.."

"Yes?"

"We're concerned about you. You're too timid. To be honest, I started a betting pool that you would be shot dead within our first three days here."

He scowled at her, "I don't think that's very amusing."

She shrugged her shoulders, "Neither did anybody else. That's why nobody else took my bets. But c'mon. We're all thinking it. You haven't shown us a damn thing to give us any confidence in you. All you have is a war story and a recommendation from the Chancellor."

He grit his teeth in frustration, "Just because I'm quiet and try to be as respectful as I can, you think I'm week? Pardon me, but you haven't seen a damn thing I'm capable of on the battlefield. You haven't seen how I execute an order. You haven't seen my dedication to complete the mission with zero causalities on our side. Why don't you reserve your complaints until you have something to complain about?"

With a smile on her face she put her hands up and backed off, "Alright, alright. Keep that up. Show some life in you. You're not with the Republic right now. You don't have to be all stuffy here."

He loosened up a bit and nodded strongly at her, "Right. But stuffy is just who I am."

"That's fine. I just wanted to gauge where your head's at." She told him.

"Well..." A self-amused smile crept across his face, "Thank you for caring enough to talk to me about this personally."

Her face went blank and she pointed sharply at him, "Whoa. Nobody said anything about caring. At least not about you. All I care is that some inept little punk doesn't get me killed. Okay? That's all I care about."

He stood up straight and raised a sarcastic eyebrow, "Of course."

She left it at that and huffed away. Vayne came walking over with a smile on his face. He reached over and smacked Rollo on the shoulder, "I don't know what you said to her, but congratulations. Ticking off Hotshot? That practically makes you an honorable member of the team in my books."

---\__V__/---

Inside the Snap-Axel everyone invited to the meeting, including a Turr'shek that actually understood Basic language and translated for Biderek, was huddled around a holo-image of the surrounding area while the lights were dimmed. We used the Snap-Axel as our war room because it had the only working holo-vid in the area.

Tockle looked around the meeting and told us, "Before we start I'd like to mention that I received a report from the pilot of the hunting plane you saved. He told me that while they were out hunting they were attacked by a Turr'shek scouting party. One of the hunters was kidnapped and the others hunters chased after them into the Turr'shek lands. That's when they were attacked and the plane was forced to flee."

"So they never got a chance to rescue the kidnapped hunter?" Lwny asked.

Tockle shook his head, "No... L-Lets just start the meeting now. Laan, the bases."

By his request and with a remote in my hand I zoomed the holo-vid into a closer image of the Sith bases that were reportedly abandoned and then reoccupied. Tockle pointed out three bases, "These are the ones."

The first thing I noticed about them was that they were far apart and not really near anything of value. They were only small strongholds and watchtowers. They were too few and far apart to be a defensive array. Since they were the bases nearest the Curakunda/Human lands I figured it was one thing, "They must be building weapons on top of the guard towers."

"Do you know what kind of weapon that would be?" Tockle asked me.

I shook my head, "It could be anything. I wouldn't be surprised if it was something experimental."

"The Sith have reduced us to target practice." Tockle said aggressively under his breath.

Zade looked towards Tockle, "War Head Tockle, I know there is allot of ill feeling towards the Jedi but if I may speak?"

He nodded, "Talk. I hold nothing against you, Jedi. I allowed Laan to bring you here. It wouldn't make much sense if I treated you uncivilly after I allowed you to come."

Zade nodded, "Thank you. I was just going to add that if those bases are a risk of armament, I think it best to begin assault right away. The longer we wait the greater the chance they are able to fully arm themselves."

I smiled at Zade's comment, "Quick and direct. I like it."

"As do I." Tockle said.

Lwyn asked Biderek, "Did your scouts happen to count how many hostiles were posted at each base?"

Biderek clicked and Tockle translated, "No guaranteed count. But it is estimated to be from 15-20 per base."

"Hey," Lou piped in, "I have a question. Is the enemy aware of our presence here? Do they know your side had outside reinforcements."

"I'm sure they do now after the Snap-Axel shot down a few of their Aeronauts." Lwyn told him.

"But are they aware that we have Force sensitives on our side?" Lou asked.

"I doubt it. We've done our best to avoid detection." Lwyn told him.

"Then if we attack those bases, the lightsabers should be left behind and the Force powers should be held back." Lou suggested.

"That's a good point." Zade agreed, "If we go in with sabers ablaze, the Sith would undoubtedly learn of our presence. Not only would we lose the element of surprise but the Sith may feel threatened into tightening their clutch on us."

I nodded in agreement, "In that case we won't be able to use everyone this time."

In half-embarrassment, Zade rubbed the back of his neck, "Well.... heh... I guess that leaves my team out of this one. I'm afraid Annoli and myself aren't capable enough with a blaster or other weaponry to contribute. And Caily is a Miraluka. It's implied that she is Force sensitive."

Biderek clicked to Tockle. Tockle nodded to him, "I agree." He then turned to the rest of us, "Biderek shall take his troop and attack one base. Regendie shall lead a team of Curakunda and assault another base."

I suggested, "Why doesn't Regendie take the Twi'twins with him? Xelka can provide the long distance cover that your Sadek staff's lack. And Rento is a deadly close encounter fighter. Plus, the twins have a good relationship with your troops so there shouldn't be any problem."

Tockle nodded, "Very well."

"The third team will be our game." I said as Lou and I exchanged glances, "I'll take Lou, Rollo, Vayne, and Hotshot."

Lwyn exchanged glances with Zade, "Jaxter and myself are in the same boat with you guys. We're not very adept without a lightsaber."

Tockle pointed towards the map and the three targets, "We'll hit these bases simultaneously. Fight off the enemy, occupy the base, and then blow these abominations off our planet!"

((Author's notes: Just a heads up about my next update. I think I'm getting sick... again. So I'm not sure when the next one will be. Thanks.))