A/N: This is a little bit shorter than my normal chapters, but if I didn't split it up, this chapter would be a beast to read. The next chapter should come up in a few days hopefully.
Overlapping Targets
Belsavis
Labor Camp
"Fierfek."
Fynta only used that word when she was surprised or exasperated, which was becoming a common theme lately. "It couldn't be just a simple case of hostage rescue, could it?" Fynta growled.
Jorgan crouched beside her, watching a group of soldiers argue over what should be done with a Chagrian prisoner. While they bickered over whether to lock him back in a cell or escort him to the surface in shock cuffs, the criminal knelt calmly on the floor.
"Anyone know who this guy is?" Fynta asked.
"Yes, sir," Dorne answered in a tight voice. "His crimes are appalling."
Fynta sighed, and walked into the room. Jorgan followed, rifle at the ready. They were greeted briefly by raised weapons of varying types until the soldiers noticed the Havoc badges. "Alright Dagger Wing, I've been sent to pull you out. Ready to get off this rock?"
The Chagrian chose that moment to chuckle, cutting off any responses from the soldiers. The sound made all the hair on Jorgan's body stand on end. "I go free, whether you stay or not." His freakishly blue eyes slid over Fynta, and Jorgan's finger tightened on the trigger. "Then we'll have some fun."
The major responded by unholstering her blaster, flipping it over, and smacking the prisoner across the face with the grip. It was a smooth movement that spoke of years of practice. "Shut your mouth and let the adults talk."
The Chagrian started forward with a growl and Jorgan fired a bolt into the floor at the man's knees. "Move again, and I'll drop you, scumbag." Jorgan really hoped he tried, he'd love to end this guy. Instead, the prisoner settled back onto his heels with a snarl. Fynta glanced over her shoulder. Jorgan couldn't see her face, but he was pretty sure the major had winked.
Fynta continued, putting her hands on her hips to display her annoyance. "The whole planet is going to hell, and you four are squabbling like school kids. This is war, people. Trading four good men for one prisoner is laughable. Just leave the chakaaryc here and move out."
The soldiers stared at Fynta for a few heartbeats before the silent nods of agreement began. One guard was making weak arguments for not leaving the Chagrian behind, when the man in question began to chuckle again. "I'm going to find you when I'm out. You, me, and a blade… we'll get cozy together."
Without warning, Fynta turned and put a bolt in the guy's pointed head. "Problem solved," she added, slamming her blaster back into its holster and strutting away before the prisoner's body hit the ground.
The Dagger Wing pilots fell in silently and began their trek back to the surface, leaving the mouthy guard behind to stare at the body of his charge. Jorgan lengthened his stride to walk next to Fynta, not quite believing the words about to leave his own lips. "Probably would've been easier if we'd done that from the beginning."
"Yeah, probably," Fynta snorted, dusting her hands together. She made a silent motion for Vik and Cormac to take point on the way out.
"Hindsight's a bitch," Vik said as he jogged past to catch up with Cormac.
Jorgan scooped up a small piece of rubble and lobbed it at the Weequay, grinning when it bounced off his helmet. Fynta opened a private line and Jorgan could hear the repressed laughter in her voice. "See, I am rubbing off on you."
Prison Transfer and Processing
A vein bulged alarmingly in Verin's forehead as he stood on his toes, face to face with the Houk who had relentlessly hounded them. Cinlat rarely saw her husband angry, but now he was screaming and flapping his arms.
"She didn't have nothing to say anyway," Skadge replied, crossing large arms across a barrel chest, daring Verin to hit him.
Verin glared at the Houk with balled fists. "It's probably because she's got a shabbing concussion!"
Cinlat sighed and crouched next to the woman on the ground. She was bleeding from her ears and nose, sobbing as she curled tighter into a fetal position. The bounty hunter gently stroked the woman's hair, eliciting a squeak.
Their target was Zale Barrows, the so called Ferryman. He smuggled supplies to and from Belsavis for the Republic. Darth Torman wanted the guy put out of business, and the Sith was willing to pay a hefty fee for it too. Unfortunately, the Houk, who Verin was trying hard not to throttle at the moment, had gotten to Zale's girlfriend first. The moron had beaten the osik out of her by way of interrogation.
"Sorry we didn't get here sooner, darling," Cinlat said. Her helmet was on the ground with the recognizable T-shaped faceplate hidden from the woman's view. Leaning down a little further, the bounty hunter crooned softly. "Zale will be here soon, I'm sure." Then I can cryo the chakaar and get away from this blasted Houk. Cinlat continued to brush the a light skinned Zabrak's blood soaked hair and made promises she had no intention of keeping.
The woman shook her head and sobbed again. "He's not coming back."
"Why wouldn't he?" Cinlat asked in a tender voice. This whole female bonding thing was an annoying, but necessary ruse.
"Cameras, he knows you're here," the girlfriend responded before collapsing in a fit of coughing. Cinlat noted that a lot of what the woman spit out was blood, which meant Skadge had broken something fairly important. She didn't have long.
"Maybe we can get you to him," Cinlat suggested. Just tell me where he's gone to, stupid girl.
"He's at the power plant with our astromech-" the woman coughed more, wheezing as she tried to draw another breath. At some point, she'd latched onto the bounty hunter's boot. "To-to turn the power back on to the prison."
Cinlat had what she needed.
"Why don't you get some rest, sugar." As much as Cinlat hated it, she could pour on sweet and innocent almost as well as Fynta. Maybe better, since her physical stature wasn't even remotely intimidating. While continuing to make soothing noises, Cinlat discreetly pulled her blaster from its holster and lined the barrel up with the back of the woman's head. Without a moment's hesitation, she squeezed the trigger.
The shot echoed off the walls of the small room, and the woman's hand went limp, sliding from her boot. The argument between the two men stopped abruptly. Cinlat stood, holstered her blaster, and checked her plates to ensure she wasn't covered in brain matter. Once satisfied, she turned to find her companions still staring at the corpse.
Verin took the hint when Cinlat slipped her helmet on, and once they were sequestered from the outside world, she shared her information. "Zale's at the power plant with an astromech trying to turn the power back on. This place is full of cameras, so he already knows he can't come back here."
"Ah," Verin said as they headed for the exit. "And the woman?"
Cinlat shrugged. "She was dead anyway, I eased her suffering."
Verin was silent until they reached the speeder bikes. "What do we do about Skadge?"
"Other than shoot him?" Cinlat paused at the bike while Verin settled onto the bench seat.
His faceplate turned towards her, but Cinlat could see through his pov that Verin was eyeing the Houk who'd followed them out. "Tempting."
Cinlat sighed. "There's only one speeder, we'll just leave him behind."
Her personal comm chirped with Fynta's frequency code and Cinlat held up a hand to tell Verin to wait while she answered. "Everything okay, Fyn'ika?"
"Sorry, Cin. Hope I'm not interrupting anything." Cinlat could hear blaster fire as the commando spoke, but she didn't sound in pain.
"Caught us in transit," Cinlat answered, then paused as more blaster fire drowned out Fynta's response. "Who's shooting at you?"
"Imperials. We've kicked the nest on a few troublesome commando squads." There was a pause and what sounded like return fire. "What sector are you two in?"
Cinlat pulled the map up on her HUD to find their exact coordinates. "Looks like we are near the max security area. Headed to the power plant."
"How near?"
"Maybe three klicks." Cinlat paused and shook her head when Verin made a silent, questioning gesture. "Why?"
"Oh, good," Fynta responded, then shouted something that Cinlat assumed wasn't directed at her. "Sorry about that. Anyway, don't get any closer until it's over."
"Fynta, are you about to do something stupid?" Cinlat asked, ignoring Verin, who was impatiently tapping his wrist chrono from where he sat on the speederbike. It concerned her when Fynta gave proximity warnings.
"Of course not!" Fynta laughed, and the line went dead.
Cinlat assumed she would know when whatever Fynta was doing, was over. Luckily, the power plant wasn't inside the blast radius. Climbing onto the bike behind Verin, Cinlat opened the line to fill him in on the conversation. "I think your little sister is about to make a big mess. She was calling to tell us to stay outside of the maximum security quadrant until it's over."
"Until what's over?" He asked, starting the engine on the bike.
Cinlat shrugged, "It's your sister."
Verin chuckled. He knew what that meant. Fynta liked to watch things explode, and from what they'd heard, Havoc Squad had made a lot of things explode lately.
"Hold on, riduur," Verin said just before the speederbike lurched forward, leaving the Houk spitting curses behind them. Cinlat leaned forward and rested her helmet against Verin's back, tightening her hold around his waist.
The full moon provided plenty of light to the landscape. This planet was nice; warm weather, full of life and color. It was times like this, where they could just ride along like any other couple, that made Cinlat's life worthwhile. Verin took one hand off the steering handle and patted her arm, his way of telling her he loved her. For now, they could enjoy this brief moment of peace, because when she finally caught up to Barrows, Cinlat didn't plan on being merciful.
Maximum Security Section
Operations Access Road
The landscape in the Maximum Security Section looked like every other area Havoc had traipsed through since getting off that damn bus. The vegetation was vibrant and breathtaking, as were the corpses and variety of blood spatter. Jorgan wasn't sure if he was impressed that the animals didn't seem bothered by the constant din of blaster fire, or repulsed.
To top it all off, Jorgan had overheard the guards placing bets on who would come out on top in the minor gang war that had erupted once all the cells opened. So far, it sounded like the Rattataki were favored.
Havoc Squad was here to help clear out some Imperial guerrillas that were making things difficult on Conrad Gall, commanding officer of Dagger Wing. He'd contacted Fynta to inform her about the large contingent of Imperial personnel he was tracking across the prison zones. Of course, Fynta had offered to cut them off in the maximum security area to aid their chances in putting an end to this. The major seemed on edge, and Jorgan knew it had nothing to do with being in the middle of a warzone. She might not admit it outright, but Fynta was nervous being so close to her brother. Jorgan could only guess as to why, only that she wanted to get as far away from Verin as possible.
The lack of Imperial activity in this sector was surprising, mostly just ill-equipped prisoners running amok with nowhere to go. The commandos they'd faced a few klicks back had been sturdy, but eventually neutralized. Since then, nothing.
Fynta had a theory that they were dug in, waiting for a real threat to come along. Her plan was to flush the Imperials out all at once, then pick them off. Of course, as with most of Fynta's plans, it involved plenty of detonite. Cormac and Vik had approved, immediately descending into an argument over the details.
Havoc Squad was on approach to the coordinates for what the duo calculated to be the best area for an all-inclusive assault. A minute sound, something Jorgan couldn't consciously identify, caused the Cathar to call for a halt. Suddenly, a young human male shot up from behind some debris with a rifle trained on them.
Havoc reacted, each member responding in kind. The soldiers took half a second to recognize one another's alliances before the man lowered his rifle. "They're here, Adan," he called over his shoulder before smiling at Fynta. "We're sure glad you're showed up."
Fynta removed her helmet and nodded a greeting to the soldier, who Jorgan now realized was wearing Dagger Wing colors. Another man approached and Jorgan and Fynta tipped their heads back in unison to stare up at a massive Cathar. Jorgan watched the male warily, given the last two they'd come into contact with weren't exactly cordial. Meanwhile, Fynta's head tilted to one side as she studied the stranger openly.
Adan dipped his head politely. The pattern of spots around his golden eyes made him look less ferocious than the average Cathar, despite his large stature. "You're just in time. Commander Gall rushed off after the Imps. We were told to hold this position, and wait for you." His voice was higher than Jorgan's, but still had the rumbling undertones that gave it an almost musical quality.
The first guy, almost forgotten in Adan's overwhelming presence, pushed forward in his excitement. "Ondorru was with them! Lord Ondorru; the Sith we were trying to take out on Fest!" That pulled Fynta's attention from the towering Cathar back to Myles, who flapped his hands incessantly. "He's here, now, on Belsavis!"
Adan put a hand on the smaller man's shoulder, speaking in a calmer voice. "You've got to understand. Ondorru is the reason we're all here. Commander Gall couldn't let that filth escape. When the Imperials started pulling out, Gall took a handful of men and followed them." Jorgan gaped at how calm Adan was, almost serene. Definitely a far cry from normal Cathar behavior. "It was too good an opportunity to pass up."
A memory tickled at the back of Jorgan's mind. Something Dorne had said on the ship about the Imperials only staging a prison break if there were Sith involved. He glanced back at the medic. Elara met Jorgan's eyes briefly, her concern evident, and he wondered just how powerful this Ondorru guy was.
Fynta nodded to the pilots. "Sounds like we should wrap this up quickly so we can find your CO." At a simple gesture from the major, Vik and Cormac started pulling out their supplies.
Adan watched the Weequay set to work while Cormac followed behind unspooling wire. He continued relaying information to Fynta even while his eyes followed the demolitionists. "There were remote charges in the tunnel. It collapsed just after our people moved through." Adan raised an eyebrow when Vik started digging. "Uh, what's he doing?"
Fynta ignored the question, not even glancing back at the Weequay. "Can you tell me where this tunnel leads?"
"The tunnel lets out on the other side of the maximum security area," Adan replied, pulling his attention back to Fynta and slapping the smaller man on the shoulder again. "Or at least, it used to. Myles here, has the schematics memorized."
Myles nodded, bouncing on his toes, full of energy. "The only other way in is through the main entrance. There's a lot of fighting there, but it's the only option left to reach Commander Gall." He was all but shoving them in that direction, clearly eager for Havoc Squad to catch up to his comrades.
Fynta rubbed her chin while staring at her boots. They stood in silence, waiting for the major to choose which course of action she wanted to take next. When Fynta looked up at the surrounding soldiers, her dark blue eyes were determined. "You boys head back to the rendezvous," she said with a nod to Adan and Myles. "You've earned some rest, and we may need someone back at base to direct medical aid."
Myles saluted Fynta. "Yes sir, you'll find the main entrance is a little different, by the way. It's a portal, not a door. Hard to explain, but you'll know it when you see it."
Adan chuckled as he and the energetic pilot started back in the direction of the closest guard tower. "Good luck, Major."
Something about the way he laughed, or maybe it was the shared glance between the two men, told Jorgan that he wasn't going to like the main entrance in the slightest.
Prison Maintenance
Industrial Facility
Verin brought the speeder bike to a stop and dismounted. "Think Zale's still here?"
Cinlat climbed off and looked towards the maximum security prison. She could see the walls from here, and wondered if Fynta had done it yet. Probably not, Cinlat decided, returning her attention to her husband, and pulling both of her blasters. "Only one way to find out."
Verin grabbed his rifle, and together they entered the power plant. They had no sooner stepped through the door, when the power switched on with a mechanical hum. The lights flickered and a couple shattered as their outdated filaments overloaded, dripping green, glowing fluid onto the floor. The highlighted hallway was the standard rusted metal of every other industrial facility Cinlat had entered.
"Well, at least we know where to find him," Verin said, starting towards the control room. The great thing about industrial buildings is that they were all laid out the same way. Sure enough, Zale was at the controls, arguing with an astromech, right where expected.
"Keep that forceshield up, or you'll be scrap too," Zale growled and the little astromech beeped indignantly. When he looked up to see Cinlat and Verin standing on the other side, the man sneered. "Sorry, hunters. Not today."
Cinlat heard the thudding of heavy footsteps and stepped aside as Skadge threw himself at the forceshield, bouncing off with a satisfying sizzle. The Houk scrambled to his feet and began pounding on the barrier. "I'll tear you apart, Barrows!"
"Keep at it, pal," Verin said, hooking his rifle back over his back and crossing his arms.
Cinlat shook her head and wondered idly how the annoying creature had gotten here so quickly, and how he knew where to come. Surely she hadn't underestimated Skadge's intelligence that badly. "Come on Verin, we can shut down the external generators. I'll take west." Cinlat shoved her blasters into their holsters and took solace in the familiar feeling of the long barrels smacking her legs as she walked.
"Guess I've got east." Verin stopped and pointed at the Houk, "If he's dead when I get back, I'm going to be really unhappy." Skadge snorted in reply, then started banging on the forceshield and hurling insults at the man inside.
Cinlat and Verin parted ways just outside the main door. "How do we always end up with these jobs?" He asked over the comm. Cinlat had been wondering that for the last year and decided it all went back to that shabbing Supreme Chancellor and his bogus accusations. Well, mostly bogus.
Verin's comm was still open when he blew the generator and Cinlat's helmet automatically deafened the sound feeding through. The genny was easy enough to find, and she put a few bolts into it. Hers didn't so much explode as spark and hiss, but Cinlat assumed that was good enough because the mechanical noises stopped.
Verin was waiting by the door when Cinlat came around the side of the building. He went rigid, putting Cinlat on alert. Her blasters were halfway out of their holsters when the ground shook violently beneath her feet and a brilliant light reflected off Verin's faceplate. Time slowed as she turned to see the night sky burn as a bright as noon. "Oh," she started to say. That must be IT. A second later, the pressure wave knocked Cinlat off her feet.
Mando'a:
Fierfek [FIRE-fek] a Huttese slang word that meant "hex" or "curse," but was commonly accepted to mean "poison" by non-Huttese-speaking races. Later adopted as an expletive.
chakaaryc [chah- KAR-eesh] rotten, low-life, - generic adjective to describe an undesirable person of dubious ethics
osik [OH-sik] dung (impolite)
chakaar [chah-KAR] corpse robber, thief, petty criminal - general term of abuse
chakaar [chah-KAR] corpse robber, thief, petty criminal - general term of abuse
riduur [REE-door] partner, spouse, husband, wife