The Smuggler

The Obsidian

Hutt Space

I dropped us out of hyper space about an hour away from the start of the Voss "don't come near our planet" zone. I'd been about three seconds away from turning on our stealth cloak, turning off the comm channel and getting ready for the fun part of our little mission when an incoming transmission came in.

"Where's it coming from?" I asked Andro.

Andro looked confused. "Tython."

"Tython?" I frowned. "If that's that bitch Xerrin, I'm going force choke her through the holoimage."

Andro chuckled, following me to the main hold of my ship so I could snap on the holoterminal. Can't say I wasn't shocked when it wasn't Xerrin who appeared, but Doc.

"What the frak do you want?" I asked point blank.

Doc looked like hell. He also looked... confused. "Something's wrong with Xerrin."

I smirked. "You think?"

"No no. Listen. Just hear me all right?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "You got thirty seconds."

"The day the temple exploded, that very morning, she asked me to marry her."

Okay, that was unexpected. I blinked in surprise. No way miss Jedi poster-child had started up their fling again. "Are you bullshitting me Kimble?"

"No. I got a message to meet her just outside the Twi'lek settlement. When I get there, she doesn't have her lightsaber. Xerrin always has her lightsaber. Then she tells me she quit the order, and that she wanted us to try again. She wanted to get married."

Something wasn't adding up. At all. "Okay, say I believe you. What happened next?"

"It got crazy. There was an explosion, I got knocked out and when I woke up Elliah was kneeling over me asking me where Xerrin went. She disappeared. She was not on Tython, I'm positive. Elliah would have found her if she was."

I frowned. "Did you ever see who attacked you?"

"No. Never. Just explosions. When Xerrin comes back, she does a complete 180. She tells Nadia that Laresa killed Elliah, tells me we can't be together and that she's got to go to war."

"Woah... woah... hold the frak up woah," I cut him off. "Laresa did not kill Elliah. Your girlfriend did. Not only did she kill Elliah and send Laresa the holo-recording to prove it but she killed the kids too."

Doc look horrified. "No."

"Yeah. You got played lover boy."

"Reide... something's wrong with her. While she was talking to me, I kept... I kept hearing her voice in my head."

I quirked a wry brow. "You heard a voice."

"No, I heard her voice. It was weird, like a fuzzy comm transmission. I couldn't make it all out."

I pursued my lips. "Well spit it out Kimble what did she say?"

"Tell Reide they're alive. Something about the real mystics. Blocking something, and then something else about destroying something. "

I frowned. A whole new picture was staring to shape up in my brain. "All right Doc. I'm following a lead, I'll let you know how it pans out."

"You have to help her Reide. This isn't her. I know it isn't. She wouldn't have killed those kids, and she wouldn't have killed Elliah."

"Yeah she aint real high on my priority list Kimble. But I'll follow up on this." I shut off the connection.

"You believe him Ria?" Andro asked me.

I frowned. "Maybe. Miss Goody-two shoes is acting real Sith like and despite the fact I hate her, she aint a Sith and Jedi just don't go killing people unless they can help it. Course he could just be yanking my chain." I paced a quick little line, then snapped my fingers. "Pull up the recording of Xerrin fighting Elliah."

Andro nodded, heading over to the controls and brought it up. I centered my gaze on the two fighting figures and used my cybernetic eye to clean up the image, zooming in on Xerrin.

"What are you looking for."

I canted my head. My real eye narrowed. "That's not her lightsaber."

"You sure?"

"I'm frakking positive. I know my sister. That is not the right hilt. It's not hers."

Andro frowned. "So Kimble was telling the truth. Xerrin gets snatched like your niece and nephews do. Elliah goes looking for her. He finds her, gets dead, and so do they."

A small glimmer of hope peaked my excitement level. "Kimble said tell Reide they're alive. They might not be dead, that's why Xerrin didn't show it because the bitch was lying. And the real Voss Mystics are behind whatever the hell is going on. That's why Gaden-Ko went to go see Elliah I bet you. Either to warn him, or to set up him up. Oh those Fraks." I slammed my hands on the terminal. "I never did like those multi-colored assholes."

"Nobody likes the Voss." Andro agreed. "Better call Laresa."

I shook my head. "And tell her what? She just destroyed a planet. Only three things are going to reign her back in and that's her children. We better find em before she blows up something else."

Andro nodded. "Get your crew ready, I'll take us in."

I grinned faintly at him. "Always looking for an excuse to fly my ship."

He stepped into me, gave me a quick kiss, then headed into the cockpit. I watched his cute li'll swagger for a minute then went to rally the troops.

When I got planetside, the first Voss I saw was going to get it.

The Bounty Hunter

Voss

Gormak Lands

I don't know how much time passed with us stuck in that cell. We saw a guard once who gave us water to share and plate of some crap I didn't even bother eating. I gotta give Kaliyo a lot of credit for helping me not wallow in my misery during our confinement. I even caught a nap, it wasn't dreamless, but it was rest and when I woke up my head was in her lap and she was watching me with an amused, yet unreadable expression on her face.

Before I could open my mouth to apologize though we heard actual voices in the hallway. We all got to our feet as two men I didn't recognize stopped in front of the bars.

"Holy frak Gormak-Zak! That's the Bosses family! Get them outta there!" One of them said.

"We did not know," the human one answered and immediately took down the barrier.

I quirked a brow at them and asked the question for us. "Who are you?"

"Names Scratch. This is Gormak-Zak. I work for Boss Jinobie."

Aunt Reide. I wasn't surprised she had an operation here on Voss. In fact, we probably should have known. Good call on our part seeking the Gormak out, I sposed.

"The entire Underworld is looking for you guys," Scratch continued. "Wait till she finds out I found yah! And hey can you leave out the whole cell part?"

Vanceto and I smirked.

"We need a comm and fast. There's information Aunt Reide has to hear," Tana told him.

"Won't need a comm," Scratch said. "Boss Jinobie is on the way."

Before any of us could react to that piece of good news, the bad shit started going down again. We'd just taken an elevator up to a second floor when an explosion reverberated throughout the complex.

Gormaks started shouting, grabbing weapons and running towards some point in front of us. Gormak-Zak grabbed one of the Gormaks, speaking in their language.

"What's he saying?" Vanceto asked Scratch.

Scratch looked scared. Real scared. "The Voss Commando's are attacking. And they brought a Mystic."

"One of their future tellers? So?" Tana frowned.

I looked over at Gormak-Zak. "We're going to need our weapons now."

Gormak-Zak nodded. A few seconds later I had a new pair of blasters and was following a line of Gormak.

It was a mess towards the front of the facility. Lot's of Gormak in the doorway and from what I could see a few squads of Voss Commando's were closing in. No way the Gormak could hold them off.

"Got reinforcements?" I asked Gormak-Zak.

He shook his head. "Not that will arrive in time."

I frowned. There was no way we could all escape. "Scratch..."

Scratch looked like he was going to have a panic attack. I snatched him by the front of his shirt and shook him. "Scratch!"

"What?!"

"You know a back way out of here?"

Scratch paused thinking. Then his eyes got huge. "Yes. Yes!"

I nodded. "All right, I'll buy you sometime. Get the hell out of here."

Tana narrowed her eyes at me. "You're outta your mind if you think I'm leaving you behind."

"He's right Veltana. Lancoro and I will stay. You take the skinny one and go find Aunt Reide. Tell her what's happened." Vanceto brought the lightsaber to life.

Tana hesitated, I knew she didn't like but I didn't intend to give her much choice. Before I could open my mouth to shout at her though, Kaliyo stepped in.

"Better work to your strengths Agent," Kaliyo said. "I'll watch their backs."

"Take him Tana. Go and find Aunt Reide," Vanceto agreed.

Tana made a frustrated noise through clenched teeth. "Fine. But you better stay alive. Both of you." She snapped her gaze to Scratch. "Let's go."

I nodded. Truth be told I was just looking forward to hurting as many of these Voss as I could. I watched Tana and Scratch take off and turned my attention back to the chaotic front line. "Let's frakking kill em all, Van," I said with clenched teeth.

Vanceto released the laugh of a warrior who loves the battlefield and twirled his saber once. "Come brother, do you want to live forever!"

Not anymore, I thought.

We charged.