The Descendant: Echoes of the Revanchist

by darthmaul90

The Old Republic is gone; the last vestiges of it swept away and replaced by Palpatine's Galactic Empire. But as the heroic Rebel Alliance wages their war of independence against Palaptine's machine, the descendant of Revan stands poised to launch his own war against the Empire. Will he be persuaded to join the Rebellion, or will he make his own path amongst the battlefields?

35. The Descendant: Chapter 34

The Descendant, Echoes of the Revanchist – Chapter 34

The Kwymar Sector

Rya System – Azkul Base

Marlowe thought Vilnius looked kind of ridiculous in the bulky lab coat he was wearing, though he did understand his reasons for wearing it. He'd claimed it was protect himself from all the falling gunk and he'd advised them to each wear one too. Marlowe was glad he'd taken Vilnius's advice, but Elassa and Sheila hadn't and they were regretting it now. What a place he'd dragged them all to. The stench was beyond foul and the slop was beyond disgusting. What in all the galaxy had possessed Vilnius to bring them all to this place? He, Elassa and Sheila had been asking him that question for some time now, but Vilnius had merely said he would reveal all when they got to where they were going.

Well they'd been here for a couple of minutes now and so far Vilnius hadn't said a damn thing to any of them. Instead, he'd looked all over this waste dump as if he was searching for something. Even now he was searching the far wall with his small glow rod, his back to them and ignoring their questions. None of the others knew it, but in reality, Vilnius was just stalling for time.

"Vilnius," Elassa complained in an exasperated tone. "Can we please go somewhere else? Why in the Force have you dragged us all here into this… dump?"

Vilnius finally turned and addressed them all. "I warned you, you scum bag," he said to no one in particular. "I warned you that if you destroyed the transmitter again, I'd know which one of you was the traitor. You obviously didn't believe me when I said that."

All four of them suddenly began to eye one another with suspicion. Marlowe spoke up. "The transmitter has been destroyed again then?"

Vilnius nodded, a hard scowl on his face. "Completely. There's no way you'll be able to repair it again." He reached into his coat pocket, pulled out a stack of ruined circuit boards and passed them to Marlowe. "This is all that's left of the transmitter."

Marlowe inspected the damage and shook his head in frustration. "He's right," he said turning to the two ladies. "I'll never be able to repair this again. Not before the Mass Shadow Generator is ready for use anyway."

Vilnius watched the other three intently, trying to see if even the faintest smirks of success crossed the face of the person he knew without a shadow of a doubt had been betraying them all along. And there it was. Gotcha, he thought. "The problem is that you made a mistake when you destroyed it," Vilnius informed them. "You left something behind." He reached into his other coat pocket and pulled out the necklace. "Look familiar to anyone?"

Sheila Alston was startled. "Why that… that's my necklace."

Marlowe was stunned and looked at Sheila with wide eyes. "What? That's yours?"

Sheila nodded. "Yes. It's the necklace my mother gave me years ago."

Marlowe still couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. "So you are the traitor?! You told me you were a member of Rebel Alliance intelligence!"

"I am!" Sheila cried out defensively. "I'm no damned ISB agent!"

"But this is your necklace," Vilnius said as he slowly approached her. "You've already admitted it. And I found this right there." He pointed to the spot where the droid he'd disposed of had nearly disposed of the necklace. "The only way this necklace could've ended up down here was if it had fallen through those emergency vents there leading up to the power control room. The only way that could've happened was if it had somehow dislodged from your person as you destroyed the transmitter."

"No!" Sheila screamed. "I've never been in power control without you three there with me."

Elassa chimed in with a comment. "Somehow I don't buy that Sheila. You're an officer and you're very high up the chain around here even if you are only a Lieutenant. Your Major Derwit's aide and he's been second in command around here since Moff Hazloc's death. You can have access to any area of the base at any time."

Vilnius raised his eyebrows. "What about that Sheila? Elassa's right."

"I can't believe I actually trusted you!" Marlowe roared angrily. "I can't believe that I actually bought into your lies about being a Rebel agent!"

"I say we kill her now before she can have us all arrested," Elassa demanded.

"Guys please," Sheila wailed in desperation. "You've got to believe me! That's my necklace, but I'm not the fucking ISB agent! I have not betrayed any you!"

Vilnius stared down at Sheila with a cold expression and she concluded that there was no way she could convince any of them of her innocence. She at least hoped her death would be painless and she hoped that they found the real agent before they were arrested and imprisoned and executed. I'll see you soon mom, she thought. But then, wait. What was that she'd just seen on Vilnius's face? Was it… a grin?

"I do believe you Sheila," he told her.

She was stunned and her heart skipped a beat. She almost didn't know what to say. "You… you do?"

Vilnius nodded confidently. "I do."

Sheila wasn't the only one who was flabbergasted by Vilnius's revelation. Marlowe's eyes narrowed and he shook his head to make sure he'd heard Vilnius right. "Huh?" was all he could say.

There was a similar reaction from Elassa. "What?"

"You both heard me," Vilnius said as faced the two of them. "Sheila here has not betrayed us and she did not lose this necklace down here." He pointed at the one he now knew beyond any doubt was the traitor. "You however, you have betrayed us and you did plant this necklace in an attempt to frame Sheila for your actions."

Elassa's eyes widened in shock. "Me? Vilnius have you gone insane?"

Marlowe turned to face Elassa with a stunned expression.

"Marlowe, you may want to move this direction," Vilnius urged and Marlowe almost unconsciously took his advice. "You know Elassa, I didn't want to be right about this. But I've suspected you practically since day one."

Elassa appeared surprised at the suggestion. "What are you suggesting Vilnius?"

"I'm not suggesting anything," Vilnius said. "I'm outright accusing you of being the ISB agent that's been giving us so much trouble over the past several weeks," Vilnius put it straight to his lover.

"Vilnius," Elassa said with an innocent expression. "How can you say that to me?"

He wasn't buying her innocent little girl act. Not anymore. "Do you remember that data disk that I had you plant for Dahlgen and his gang on Kestos Minor after the Governor's Reception? The one regarding the size of the Onderonian invasion force?"

"Of course," Elassa replied.

"It must've come as quite a surprise for you to see that the Onderonians were at least partially prepared for our invasion," Vilnius said. "That's because the disk you planted isn't the one Dahlgen and his friends got," he now revealed. "I don't know what was on the disk you planted because I never got a chance to retrieve it. Maybe you left it alone, maybe you altered it, maybe you even erased it. I don't know and I don't care because the disk that Dahlgen got was one I planted myself. See even then I didn't trust you Elassa and I wanted to make sure that whatever information got into Dahlgen's hands did not have a chance of being altered by you. The disk you left for them is probably still sitting in the exact same place where you left it."

Elassa tried another ploy. "Really Vilnius, have you looked at me lately? I told you this before when I was recovering from my wounds. I'm a woman and I'm not human to boot. There's no way I could be an ISB agent."

They were still lovers at that point but Vilnius laughed. "I should've let you die on Zeltros," he insisted. "As to your being a woman, the funny thing is roughly forty percent of the ISB's agents are, in fact, women. Regarding you being non-human, it is admittedly rare for a non-human to be an ISB agent. But it's not unheard of either. And it's rather ironic that you mention the infirmary. Do you recall what you said to me when I visited you there?"

Elassa shook her head. "Not really."

"Then let me refresh your memory," Vilnius stated. "You asked me about my family and I said I'd rather not go into it. You then asked me what was bothering me, to which I replied the emissary was bugging me. You then asked me, and I quote, 'What about her?'"

Elassa shrugged, "So?"

"How did you know the emissary was a woman?" Vilnius challenged.

Elassa looked like she'd taken a Teras Kasi blow to the throat. "Well, I… I … I don't' know. I must've have overheard it from some of the others in the infirmary."

Vilnius shook his head and his finger at her. "I admit, I didn't catch it right away but that's not true Elassa. You see, three people greeted the emissary when she arrived… the late Moff Hazloc, Major Derwit and Sheila here. None of them knew the emissary was a woman, a fact made abundantly clear by Moff Hazloc's colossal and somewhat comical gaffe when he initially addressed the emissary as "My Lord" as opposed to "My Lady." Clearly he had no idea the emissary was a woman and paid no attention to the fact that as the emissary walked down the boarding ramp towards him she was endowed with a large pair of breasts instead of perhaps the powerful arms and broad chest he had been expecting."

Up until this moment, Sheila Alston had actually forgotten about Moff Hazloc's inexcusable fumble, but now she remembered it with startling accuracy. "He's right!" she exclaimed as she looked at Marlowe. "Vilnius is absolutely right about that!" She glanced at Vilnius. "How did you know?"

"I was standing right behind you when it happened Sheila," Vilnius replied.

Sheila wore a look of a puzzlement on her face that suddenly snapped into an expression of recognition and understanding. "The guards who escorted us into the hangar bay! You were one of them!"

"Right," Vilnius confirmed.

Elassa appeared to getting bored by the whole conversation. "That doesn't prove anything Vilnius."

"Yes it does," he corrected her. "Oh yes it does Elassa. In fact it proves two things. First, it proves that you had advance knowledge of who Katarina was prior to her arrival. Second, it proves that you didn't get that information by overhearing it in the hallways or from the medical staff or anywhere else for that matter. The fact that Moff Hazloc had no idea the emissary was a woman coupled with the fact that I visited you in the infirmary immediately after her arrival, is the icing on the cake. The only way you could've known anything about Katarina prior to her arrival was if you'd been tipped off about it. The Imperial Hierarchy isn't going to do that for a lowly stormtrooper which means you either have to be with either Imperial Intelligence or the ISB."

"If you're right Vilnius," Elassa said as she folded her arms over her chest, "then why have I spent the past three months sleeping with you?"

"That's the easy part to figure out," Vilnius replied. "With the two of us in bed together, you figured it would be easier to gain my trust and at the same time, cast suspicion off yourself. Maybe you actually enjoyed our nights together, maybe not. But one thing is certain; it was all just a game for you and how you felt you could manipulate all the pieces. Like a game of dejarik actually. Because not once in our relationship has it ever been about love, respect and companionship. Not in your twisted mind anyway."

Elassa's pleasant demeanor was replaced by a harsh, angry stare. "Is there anything else rotten I'm supposed to have done?" she asked tonelessly.

Vilnius could tell they were enemies now though he didn't really care anymore. He held up the necklace that was in his hand. "This truly is a beautiful necklace," Vilnius said. "So beautiful in fact that it fooled both you and Sheila there." He tossed it to Sheila. "Would you mind telling me what's wrong with that piece of jewelry please?"

Unsure of what he meant, Sheila nevertheless did as she was instructed. It looked like her necklace. But something was wrong with it though. Something about it was odd but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. Wait a second that was it! The star on her necklace should have had on odd number of points, seven to be precise. This one had only six. And the stones in the necklace she held were cheap imitations. The ones in her necklace were real. "This… this isn't my necklace!"

"Correct," Vilnius said, his eyes not leaving Elassa. "It's a copy I had made." He thrust his finger in Elassa's direction. "For whatever reason, shortly after we returned from Onderon, Sheila told me her necklace was missing. As soon as she told me that, I knew you'd stolen it. Maybe to you it was just another necklace, but to her it was a priceless heirloom and she was very distressed at having lost it. So while I was on the shore leave we were granted after the Onderonian campaign I went to see a local jeweler. I gave him a description of the necklace and asked him to make me a copy. Problem was he had only had a star with six points available. To get a seven point star would meant a long wait and several hundred credits more in price. So for the sake of time and expense I decided to risk having a not-so-perfect copy of Sheila's necklace made. Apparently you never took a good look at what you stole, because you never noticed the difference."

"You can't prove that's the necklace you bought," Elassa accused.

"Oh yes I can," Vilnius assured her. "Sheila, on the bottom left point of the pendant you have, there are three letters engraved into the edge. Please read them aloud."

Sheila looked. "V… G… and K," she announced.

"V,G, and K," Vilnius repeated. "Vilnius… Garrett… Kellborn." He played his trump card. "I substituted that necklace for the real one you stole Elassa. I really don't need to tell you where it was that I found the real necklace, do I?"

In a flash, Elassa unfolded her arms and her right hand shot out from under her uniform coat where it had secretly been buried. She now held a blaster pistol trained squarely on Vilnius. "So sorry it had to end this way Vilnius," she said with mock regret. "I really did care for you. And I did so enjoy being in bed with you. But alas, all good things must come to an end. So sad really. I would've enjoyed continuing our little trysts if I'd been able to get you to abandon this ridiculous quest to help the pitiful Rebel Alliance. But I guess it's just not meant to be." She waved the blaster threateningly. "All of you do be so kind as to raise your hands."

"You won't get away with this Elassa," Vilnius said confidently even as he complied with Elassa'a demand. "Even if you do managed to kill us, at this very moment a Rebel task force led by Dahlgen Luzard is en route to destroy this facility and all traces of the Mass Shadow Generator with it. You'll never escape Elassa."

Elassa laughed. "Oh Vilnius, do you think me a fool? I already have gotten away with it. You three have supplied me with so much good information to use against you all. I'll admit Vilnius dear, I had initially intended to just arrest you all and let you be executed for treason. But you've provided me with a new alternative." She pointed to the left with her thumb. "Blowing you all out the airlock will be so much simpler." The outside doors to the Waste Disposal Facility opened and six stromtroopers, weapons drawn, walked in and took flanking positions around Elassa. One of them, Vilnius could tell, was his superior, TK8275. "As for Dahlgen and his hopeless group, we'll deal with him in due time," Elassa assured them all. "Because there is no Rebel task force coming here is there? There can't be because with the transmitter destroyed, you couldn't possibly have gotten any messages to him."

"Well you're half right," Vilnius said smiling. "Marlowe's transmitter was indeed destroyed, so I couldn't get a message to him that way. But then, I never said I used Marlowe's repaired transmitter, did I?"

Elassa's smile vanished. "What do you mean?"

"I never told you this Elassa, but during his short incarceration on Onderon, I spoke to Dahlgen face to face," Vilnius revealed. "I won't tell you how, but I've been in one on one contact with him ever since."

Marlowe couldn't believe what he'd just heard. "What?!" he yelled.

Sheila couldn't believe it either. "You've been speaking to him all this time and you never told us!?"

Vilnius nodded. "Do forgive me, but yes," he confessed. He glanced at Marlowe and Shiela, then gestured towards Elassa. "Not telling the two of you was the only way I could guarantee that she wouldn't accidentally find out and ruin my plan to trap her."

The veins in Elassa's neck were starting bulge. "You're lying," she angrily accused.

"Am I?" Vilnius asked her. "Dahlgen knows everything that has gone on here since Onderon. He knows about the Mass Shadow Generator and I now willingly confess that it was him that first put all the pieces together and informed me of what Project Epsilon truly was. He knows about Marlowe's test of the device and he knows it is near completion. And he knows where this base is located. So trust me when I say that the Rebel strike force is on its way."

"Enough of this," Elassa growled and waved her blaster threateningly again. "Into the air lock! All of you! Even if you are telling the truth the Rebel task force is no longer your problem."

"That's what you think Elassa," Vilnius said, stealing a quick glance at his wrist chronometer. "You see that task force is due to arrive right about…"

The Rya System – Aboard the Silver Horizon.

"NOW! Let's go!" Dahlgen yelled to the other ships in the task force.

He made one final glance at the sensor readings and the flashing orange warning light that confirmed the Silver Horizon had picked up Kel's homing signal. Dahlgen didn't know how Kel had done it nor did he care. As long as it led them to the base where the Mass Shadow Generator was being constructed, that was all that mattered to him.

"Signal locked on," Maris told him. "And course laid in."

Dahlgen punched the throttle and the Silver Horizon lurched forward. "Knight squadron, follow me!"

"Right with you Colonel," Lieutenant Gorjaye responded. She checked her own sensors which confirmed what Dahlgen was receiving. "All right Knights, you know the drill. All other fighters, you know your assignments as well. Don't let me down."

Ranna's fighter appeared beside the Silver Horizon with two escorts as Dahlgen dove towards the Rya system's asteroid field. Behind them, the four shuttle craft carrying the first wave of assault troops launched from the Dominion and followed them. "All right Dahlgen," one of the other pilots said, "We're relying on you."

"Just stay on my six and you'll be fine," Dahlgen insisted.

From the bridge of the Dominion, General Cracken called. "May the Force be with you, Dahlgen."

Dahlgen chuckled. Cracken wasn't exactly a skeptic when it came to matters of the Force but he wasn't completely a believer either. To hear him wish that the Force be with someone was extremely rare, but no less appreciated. The proximity warning sounded and he yanked back on the yoke, pitching the ship up to allow a sizable chunk of rock to just barely miss the underside, before having to immediately barrel roll around another larger chunk floating by.

This wasn't going to cut it. The asteroid field was far too dense. Closing his eyes and reaching out with his consciousness, he scanned the entire control panel so that he became intimately aware of what each circuit controlled and how fast it would react when manipulated. Now extending his senses further Dahlgen got a complete picture of the asteroids floating around in space, which ones could threaten the ship and which ones would not. A gentle impulse, a slight tweak and the Horizon weaved around a spiraling piece of debris before it ever became a problem.

In the Horizon's dorsal turret, Dannix turned the quad lasers on a smaller rock that was getting too close for comfort. "Why the hell can't the damned base be on the edge of this blasted rock garden?!"

In the ventral turret, Huuruundar laughed as the freighter rolled around an asteroid large enough for the ship to land on. Of course it could Dannix, but that would be too easy. And if it were easy, it wouldn't be any fun!

"Ah shaddup you overgrown furball," Dannix growled.

Dahlgen was focused too much on Force piloting to tell them both to knock it off. But suddenly he opened his eyes and pointed. "There it is! There's the crazy Imperial house we've been looking for!"

"I see it," Lieutenant Gojaye confirmed. Up ahead the asteroid that was their target lay quiet, the guns of the four defense towers silent but threatening. "I wonder why they haven't spotted us yet?" An instant later Azkul Base's defense guns erupted into a firestorm of activity, the incoming threat of the Rebels detected. "Guess that answers my question," Lieutenant Gorjaye said as dozens of brilliant green beams shot past her fighter. "Evasive maneuvers! Evasive maneuvers!" she called as she started to pull away.

"No, stay on target," Dahlgen shouted. "We're only going to get one shot at this!"

Charging straight into an anti-starfighter barrage went against everything Gorjaye taught her pilots. But Dahlgen was right. The assault team had to get in. Altering course again, she fell back alongside the Horizon. "All right, let's do it," she said. Shields, don't fail me now, she thought immediately afterward.

Rolling the ship to avoid incoming turbolaser fire, the Silver Horizon and her escorts streaked towards the base while another fighter squadron turned to keep the anti-starfighter guns busy. "Hang on," Dahlgen called out as the freighter shook a bit. "This is going to get rough."

Ranna turned her X-Wing's firepower on the closest tower to draw its fire. The Imperial gunners weren't fooled though, sensing the incoming freighter posed the greater threat. Changing strategies, Ranna fired a proton torpedo at the tower which exploded against the second gunnery level and shook the crews inside to the bone.

"There are the hangars," Dahlgen pointed them out. "All right everyone, let's knock and let 'em know we're coming!"

Dannix targeted the doors. "You got 'em locked mate?"

Just tell me when, Huuruundar assured him.

"Now, open fire!"

The Horizon's gun turrets opened up and Dahlgen gave them some support in the form of a concussion missile launched at the doors. Although the blast shook the entire asteroid, the door held fast. It's not giving, Huuruundar stated the obvious.

Dannix adjusted the quad laser's power to maximum. "Boost power to maximum! Give it everything this old bucket's got!"

In the hangar, the control room crew had been knocked out of their seats when the first missile hit. As they all started to recover and return to their stations, the general alarm began to sound and a red strobe light began to flash. "What the hell's going on?" asked the head controller.

The communications officer pressed the earpiece against his head a little harder, not quite believing what he was hearing. His face was ashen and a look of panic was evident in his eyes. "We… we're under attack sir!"

The station commander wasn't sure he'd heard that correctly. "What?" he asked in disbelief.

An instant later, his world exploded in blinding flash as the hangar doors blew inward under the stress of numerous missile blasts. The concussion wave that hit the crew shattered the transparisteel window mangling their bodies with razor sharp fragments of debris. Then the sound wave hit, blowing out their eardrums and finally the debris from the ruined doors flew into the control room crushing and impaling the crew. Looking down at the steel bar that had pierced through his torso, the head controller wondered who the hell would be attacking such a remote outpost. The last thing his dying brain registered was a Suwantek class freighter flying through the ruined hangar doors.

Dahlgen flared the Horizon's nose upward and hit the reverse thrusters at the same time in an effort to bleed off speed in a hurry. He then pitched the nose forward and brought the ship down hard, everyone suffering an uncomfortable jolt from the hit and knocking several of them to the floor. Sparks flew from under the landing struts and their metallic structure whined and complained as the ship skidded to a stop. Known not-so-affectionately in smuggling circles as a "smashdown" it was an undesirable but effective technique for landing a fast moving ship in a short distance or tight quarters. The problem was that it almost always resulted in damage to the landing struts and / or injuries to the crew from the hard hit. Only the best of pilots could perform such a maneuver without driving the landing struts up through the hull and only the craziest would dare to attempt it in the first place.

The boarding ramps dropped as Marsala and the others stationed near them recovered from the jolt. With his lightsaber ignited, he was the first one off the ship with Rayna on his heels as the first two shuttle craft touched down and began disgorging the first troops of the assault team. The blast doors at the far end of the hangar opened revealing a welcoming committee of more than thirty stormtroopers. They didn't bother to ask questions, opening fire as soon as they saw the invaders.

Marsala deflected a trio of blaster bolts as the Mandalorians, Rebels and Wookiees charged off the shuttle craft and began to return fire. Within seconds it was an utter brawl as blaster fire was exchanged and several troops from either side went down. Rayna weaved her saber around her body and deflected a blaster shot away from herself, then outstretched her hand and sent a pair of stormtroopers flying backwards.

As more of the assault team debarked the shuttles, Team Alpha came down the Horizon's ramp instantly surprising the stormtroopers fighting to prevent the assault from gaining a foothold. One of the officers pointed directly at Archie and shouted, "Over there! Clones! Eradicate them!" He never got the chance to see his orders carried out however as Burner, hefting his Z-6 cannon, cut loose with a long burst dropping the officer and two others.

Archie targeted another trooper and dropped him with a head shot as his helmet computer displayed a dizzying amount of information about the battle just starting to unfold around them. Next to him, his wife, Ashara, twirled her lightsaber around in a blur of blue light intercepting blaster fire as she did. And for a brief second, with her husband and the others around her, she felt as if she were a young girl again fighting in the Clone Wars.

Dannix and HK stormed off the ship next followed by Raquel and Gee Tee. Within a few more seconds, all of Force Revanchist that had come in on the first wave was off the Horizon, standing with their Mandalorian, Rebel and Wookiee allies, engaging Imperial the troops and inflicting casualties.

Dahlgen spun his double saber around and swatted a blaster bolt away which slammed harmlessly into the ceiling as a Rebel trooper next to him went down from multiple blasts to the torso. A quick survey of the hangar told him that they were starting to bunch up and from the sounds he was hearing, it was pretty much the same in hangar four where Salparoo was. Huuruundar, Marsala and Rayna had to link up with him quick and in general, if they didn't disperse quickly, the Empire's troops would bottle them up and contain them. "Dannix, let them have a blast!"

He nodded and fired a wrist rocket at the stormtroopers. It slammed into the floor in front of a small group of them, blasting them into the air and shredding their bodies with shrapnel. A second rocket was launched, impacting the corner of the blast door and vaporizing four more troopers in the fiery detonation.

Burner added to the conflagration by triggering the grenade launcher from his DC-17m. Loaded with a high explosive round, it provided a larger blast than both of Dannix's rockets combined. With a deafening roar, the shell exploded with a massive shockwave, sending shrapnel in all directions. Several stormtroopers were thrown about by the blast, their bodies ripped apart and mangled as the concussion wave from it tore into them. With that, the remaining stormtroopers started to retreat from the hangar.

Dahlgen smiled with grim satisfaction. They had their foothold and could now start advancing, but he knew this battle was just getting started and it was going to get a lot bloodier before it was over. Such was the price of war and he accepted that. Still, the loss of even one was a terrible price to pay. "All right you all know your assignments," he shouted as he reflected a blaster bolt into the chest of the enemy trooper who'd fired it. "Get out of the hangar! Let's move! Rebel team one me! Ashara, Archie, Burner, Val, let's go! Raquel, on my six!"

Be safe my love! Maris communicated to him as she spun her saber to block some blaster fire. May the Force be with you!

And may the Force be with you as well my love, Dahlgen replied.

Maris smiled. "Mando team three on me. Pops, Jack, Micro, we gotta move!"

"We're with you Maris," Pops called back.

Off to the side, Dannix yelled, "Let's get this party started!"

Dahlgen couldn't help but roll his eyes. As if we've been sitting around drinking tea for the past five minutes! "Cut the chatter, and move your butts" he ordered.

As the shuttles took off and made their escape, Dahlgen got held up next to Marsala. "Son, get to the next hangar and link up with Salparoo as fast as you can. And keep these hangars clear! I don't know why, but I've got a feeling we're going to have to bug out of here in a hurry."

Marsala turned his blade to the left and reflected a bolt. "Rayna and I will take care of it dad. If we need a fast way out, we'll have it."

Dahlgen nodded as he fanned his double saber, creating an impenetrable shield in front of him. "I'm counting on that son."

"Don't worry," he said. "And dad, shut that crazy woman down."

Dahlgen swung his weapon clockwise and reflected another bolt away. "Like you just said, don't worry."

Bridge of the Dominion

Captain Onasi watched with satisfaction as the first wave of shuttle craft flew at top speed to discharge its troops. "Here we go Admiral. Operation Dragonsnake is underway."

Admiral Lassiff nodded. "Very good Captain. Is our fighter screen in place?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied.

"Anything on the sensors?" Admiral Lassiff inquired.

The sensor officer reported back to her. "Nothing at the moment, ma'am."

"Those Imperials are out there somewhere Captain," she mused quietly. "Extend sensor sweep range to maximum and hold position here for now. Helm, be ready to move any second. I don't want to get surprised here."

"Aye ma'am," the helmsman replied.

Admiral Lassiff turned to General Cracken who was seated at one of the communications consoles. "General, what's the status of our Force Revanchist friends?"

"They're just going in now Admiral," Cracken answered.

Suddenly numerous red strobe lights began flashing and numerous klaxon warning horns went off. "Ma'am, enemy ships in sector eighteen!" the sensor officer yelled. "Closing fast!"

"How many?" she asked.

"Five large scale warships," the sensor officer responded.

"It's the Imperial defense fleet," Admiral Lassiff confidently stated. "Red alert! All hands to battle stations! Helm, come to port thirty-two degrees and angle pitch negative twelve. All ahead full and prepare to engage!"

The Dominion's engines roared to life as the massive vessel and her escorts set course for the incoming Imperial warships. "Estimated time to firing range, thirty seconds," Captain Onasi called. Another alarm, more shrill and faster oscillating in nature began sounding. Captain Onasi glanced over at it, then back out the main view port. "Enemy fighters coming in fast!"

More than a dozen TIE fighters filled the main viewport, swarming around the Dominion like angry wasps. Each of them opened fire and the bridge crew felt a tremor elsewhere in the ship. Admiral Lassiff called for a damage report.

"Power to the shield generator is fluctuating," the tactical officer reported back. "I'm trying to compensate to routing additional power from the main reactor."

A blinding flash erupted on the bridge and ship rocked violently to the starboard side. Admiral Lassiff and several others were thrown to the floor. "What was that?" she demanded as she struggled to her feet.

"The ISD Charybdis is in range and firing!" the tactical officer reported.

"All ships, fire at will!" Admiral Lassiff ordered. "Echelon Right and follow me!"

Another volley from the Charybdis slammed into the Dominion and the bridge lights flickered as the ship rocked. "Damage report!" Captain Onasi called out.

"Lateral stabilizers are fluctuating," reported the tactical officer.

That didn't sit well with Captain Onasi. Without the lateral stabilizers, they'd lose maneuverability and become sitting ducks. "Engineering?" Onasi yelled into the ship's comm.

"We're on it," a voice cracked back over the static.

Finally the Dominion's guns came to life, targeting the Charybdis and Admiral Lassif smiled in satisfaction as she witnessed the impact of more than a dozen turbo laser blasts against its hull. At the same time, she noticed the Imperial task force was redistributing itself.

"Looks like the Imperial commander is changing tactics," Captain Onasi suggested.

"Indeed," Admiral Lassif agreed. "Let's meet his challenge, shall we?"

Bridge of the Charybdis

Admiral Regnar smiled wickedly, relishing the success of his surprise attack on the Dominion. His smile turned to a grunt and he fell hard to the floor as the Dominion returned fire and got everyone's attention. As he got back to his feet, Admiral Regnar watched in gleeful anticipation as the Rebel task force began to form up in an echelon and approach with guns blazing. "That's it you Rebel scum," he said. "Right this way."

"The Rebel fleet is turning to engage," his first officer said.

"I can see that Captain," Admiral Regnar snorted. "All ships, spread line formation. All ahead full."

The change in tactics witnessed by Admiral Lassif and Captain Onasi lined the Imperial ships up in a side by side formation. Admiral Lassiff was forced to restructure her own ships into a similar line as a result or else risk losing her lead ship to the barrage of the five Imperial warships. As the two lines approached and passed one another, they exchanged broadside attacks. Several explosions rocked the Charybdis as it made its pass next to the Dominion.

Admiral Regnar stumbled and braced himself against the command console. "Damage report!"

"Shields are at eighty-nine percent and holding," his tactical officer responded. "Tractor beams are offline."

"Come about one eighty!" Admiral Regnar ordered. "Let's give it to them again!" The Charybdis and her escorts turned hard to port to face what they thought would be a retreating Rebel fleet. Admiral Regnar was surprised when he discovered the Rebel ships had turned to form a single file line right in front of him. He barely had to time to react as the Rebel ships fired countless broadsides into the noses of the Imperial ships.

The Charybdis lurched and shuddered and a shower of sparks erupted on the bridge. Admiral Regnar and the rest of his bridge crew were thrown to the floor. He clenched his teeth and growled angrily. "Hard to port! After them! Destroy those Rebel interlopers!"

It was a foolish order and Admiral Regnar's first officer knew it. If the Rebel commander was smart enough to turn and surprise them with a broadside attack to their front, the commander also had to be smart enough not to leave his rear exposed. His belief was proven correct as the Rebel fleet split in half and began turning in two tight circles in an effort to catch the Imperial fleet in a pincer move.

"They're trying to catch us in the middle Admiral," the first officer warned him.

The communications officer had something else for Admiral Regnar to consider. "Admiral, several transmissions are coming in from the base. A Rebel assault team has landed and has established a foothold on the base. They are requesting we launch our backup."

"Hard to starboard," Admiral Regnar ordered. "Pursue the command vessel and prepare to launch all available troops to reinforce the base."

His first officer wasn't sure if Admiral Regnar knew what he was doing. "Admiral, such a maneuver will expose our rear to the second Rebel group!"

"For a second perhaps," Regnar agreed. He pressed a button on his console. "But I've just evened up the odds a little bit."

"What are you talking about?" the first officer demanded.

"You'll see," Admiral Regnar assured him. He turned to his gunnery officer. "Target the Rebel command ship and open fire. All other ships fire at will."

The first officer still didn't like the situation they were in with their rear flank dangerous exposed for a moment. "What about our rear flank Admiral?" he loudly demanded.

Even though the Charybdis rocked from a minor hit inflicted by a Rebel vessel, Admiral Regnar remained nonplussed by it. "Captain, you are not here to question my orders," he shouted angrily. "You are here to follow them. Now if you cannot do that, I suggest you tell me now so I can replace you with someone who can! Is that clear?"

At that moment the first officer knew the battle was either going to be long and difficult or short and sweet. Either way, under Admiral Regnar's inept leadership, they were not going to come out of this unscathed. "Yes sir," was all he could say.

Azkul Base

Katarina wished those blasted klaxon alarms would shut up. She knew the base was under attack; they all did. Why did they need those blasted horns to continue reminding them of it? There was an alarm silence button in the main security station but as long as they deemed there was a viable threat to the base, they'd keep the damned things blaring.

She punched her secret code into a security door and stepped through as it opened. Walking through the barracks section, she was surprised but encouraged to see that most of the troops were hastily constructing fighting positions out of whatever materials they could. Perfect, Katarina thought as she descended a flight of stairs. She had no doubt they'd be able to delay Dahlgen and his assault force long enough for her to activate the Mass Shadow Generator. That would destroy him and his interlopers once and for all. True she would also destroy herself in the process, but if it was the price to pay to see her ex-husband and his misguided, weak followers dead then so be it.

Approaching another blast door, Katarina had to brace herself against a wall as a massive explosion shook the entire base. Looking out a nearby transparisteel window, a jet of flame from somewhere licked its edges. Katarina almost smiled. "Welcome home Dahlgen honey," she whispered to herself. "So glad you could make it."

A low-level technician who was a member of Marlowe Derwit's engineering staff came racing out the door from the other direction and nearly knocked her down. He was in an obvious panic and probably not thinking very logically. She stopped him in his track with a commanding, "Where are you going?"

The technician mumbled something in response that Katarina didn't understand. Ordinarily she'd grill the guy until he spilled his guts, but she didn't have that kind of time. "Is the device ready for use?"

Again the technician mumbled his answer.

"Speak up!" Katarina warned him. "Is the device ready or not?"

"More or less milady," the technician said. "The last couple of circuits need connecting. But once that's done, the device can go active anytime."

"How do you connect those final circuits?"

The technician figured out what Katarina had in mind and he was horrified by it. "Milady, if you activate the device here in the middle of this asteroid field, you will draw all the surrounding asteroids into this one," he said. "You'll kill us all."

"That's the idea," Katarina insisted.

The technician shook his head fiercely. He mumbled something again and Katarina struggled to hear him. Something about not assisting her in her crazy suicide plan and the murders of everyone else in the base.

"If you won't tell me what I want to know," Katarina said. "Then I'll rip it from your stupid head!" Her hand shot forward and clamped against the technician's forehead. He let out a startled painful gasp and tried to fight her off. But she was already forcing her consciousness into his mind, searching for the answers she wanted. With a look of pained shock, he stopped struggling and submitted to her will.

Where was it? Where was the information she wanted to know? Tearing through her helpless victim's memory, Katarina relentlessly searched leaving ruined pieces of consciousness in her wake. Memories of his wife and children… bah, useless. Memories of his last birthday… who cared? It was in there somewhere, she knew it.

Katarina pressed her mental assault harder causing what would've been unspeakable agony to her victim had he not already been in a catatonic state. His mental shielding was laughable. Picking his mind apart was child's play. But there were just so many memories to sift through. It was like she needed a single piece of his memory to complete a jigsaw puzzle, but only one specific sliver out of literally billions would fit. Katarina knew she had to find what she needed soon.

The technician convulsed a bit and his eyes rolled back in his head. Katarina had to shift herself a bit and prop him up against the wall to ensure the connection wasn't broken. If that happened now, she might not be able to reestablish it before his life expired. She could feel her victim's life signs beginning to flicker and die away. She had to find that information soon, otherwise it would be lost forever in a dead brain.

Ah there it was; all of his memories concerning the design and construction of the Mass Shadow Generator. No need to dig too deep, she figured. His most recent memories regarding the design will be enough. Ah, there it is. Give me that, she demanded. He let out an involuntary cry of pain and anguish as she tore the memories of what to do from his brain. And she had it… the procedure for connecting the final circuits. With the deed complete, Katarina removed her hand from her victim's forehead and allowed his lifeless body to fall to the floor.

She stepped through the blast door that the technician had come running out of and hurried through one of the many annex tubeways traversing the asteroid and looked out through the giant, transparisteel windows over otherwise empty space. She was thankful that the power source that maintained the atmosphere in the tubeways was still intact. A TIE fighter being chased by an X-Wing zipped by underneath. She could've used her power to send the X-Wing careening into the asteroids, but the fighters went by so fast she barely had time to react.

Besides, once she activated the Mass Shadow Generator, the travails of those fighters would be pointless.

Azkul Base – The Waste Disposal Facility

The sudden blaring of the klaxon alarms in the waste disposal facility startled Elassa and her stormtrooper entourage. She glanced up at the device, not wanting to believe what its loud report was telling her. Impossible. Vilnius couldn't be right. They couldn't be under attack! With wide eyes, Elassa turned back to Vilnius only to see him drawing a Westar-34 blaster from under his coat. It was already in his hand and there was no way she could pull the trigger on her own weapon before he gunned her down. "Look out!" she yelled as he opened fire. She dove out of the way and rolled behind some cover in the form of scrap metal.

The first blaster bolt that Vilnius fired slammed into the face plate of the closest stormtrooper. He never knew what hit him and gasped in surprise as his life abruptly ended. The trooper's last act was to reflexively pull the trigger on his own weapon and fire several wild shots, one of which grazed Elassa's shoulder and she dropped her own weapon.

Vilnius and the others all leaped for whatever cover they could find in this place as he fired three more times. Shedding his bulky lab coat, he was revealed to be wearing a dark red and gray set of Mandalorian armor underneath. Quickly he drew two more pistols and tossed one each to Marlowe and Sheila. He then drew a second Westar-34 pistol and resumed firing at the stormtroopers.

Using what little available cover he could, TK8275 triggered his weapon at Vilnius. Oh how he had waited for this day! Somewhere deep inside, he'd always known TK8873 was a traitor. It was the only thing that could make sense of his rebellious attitude, at least in his mind. Now he would make that TK8873 pay for every single mistake he'd ever made. Slowly. Painfully. He'd enjoy watching him suffer.

That traitorous TK8873 even had the unmitigated gall to wear Mandalorian armor. Did he really think he was a Mandalorian? TK8275 was eager to prove him wrong and triggered his blaster again. But one of those damned ASP droids got in the way and he accidentally blew its head off. It landed right in front of Vilnius, prompting him to seek additional cover elsewhere.

Another trooper fired his rifle only to have the flammable gasses around him flare up momentarily as the energy beam was generated. There was a bright flash as the space around him briefly lit up with fire, lightly toasting him. He yelped in surprise as his scanner was overloaded and he instinctively ducked. The act momentarily saved his life as Vilnius fired twice at the flash.

Near the airlocks, Marlowe fired a couple of hastily aimed shots and then ducked behind the support strut he was hiding behind. What the hell was he doing? He was an engineer, not a soldier! The hell with that commission that he had been given upon arriving here! He had never wanted to be a fighting man and still didn't. An energy bolt sizzled past his face and he cringed.

Finding himself thrust into a role he didn't want, Marlowe fired again and shocked himself when he drilled a stormtrooper right in the chest. He turned back around with wide eyes. Had he just done that? Had he just killed that trooper? Yes, you did you moron, he told himself. And if you hadn't done it, he would've killed you, so get with it and do what you've got to do. Angered by what he'd been forced to do, Marlowe turned and fired again, forcing another trooper to duck for cover.

TK8275 made a quick survey of the scene as Sheila blasted another trooper. Already they were down by almost half their strength. TK8275 shook his head. He'd have to beef up their training regimen after this was over. "C'mon you fools, there's only three of them." He fired a couple more times and made a few hand gestures indicating that the trooper furthest away should circle around to the right and the trooper closest should remain on his heels.

The shooting stopped momentarily and Vilnius scanned the area. The troopers had retreated back into the shadows. Even Elassa had retreated. Vilnius knew there was no way they'd simply given up and retreated. It was far more likely that they were trying some kind of modified pincer maneuver. He could barely see and with the stormtroopers having polarized eyepieces in their helmets lenses, the advantage was decidedly theirs. Somehow he had to turn that advantage against them.

An ASP droid brushed against him. Damn those things. They were still determinedly going about their task of collecting the garbage and disposing of it. They didn't care that there was battle going on all around them, as evidenced earlier when he'd seen TK8275 blow the head off of one that had blundered into the line of fire.

Hold on a second, that was an idea. One of the stormtroopers had already toasted himself due to the presence of flammable gas pockets in the area. If one of those droids detonated in a similar pocket, it would illuminate a much more sizable area for an instant. That would tell him where the enemy troopers were if only for a couple seconds. But it might be enough. Now there was just one other problem – how did he locate a gas pocket and get one of those droids to step into it where he could get off a shot?

He signaled to Sheila nearby and she crept up to him. "What?" she whispered.

"You know anything about flammable gas pockets?"

"A little bit. Why?"

"Where in here do you think is the likeliest spot for one of those gas pockets to be hovering?"

"Force I don't know," Sheila said. "Somewhere where there's biological material I guess, but don't quote me on that."

Ah yes, that made sense. Flammable gasses were often byproducts of certain bodily functions and processes. But even certain rotting foods could give off these gasses. And that pile of sludge about ten meters away looked like it would be just perfect for what he wanted to do. Now how did he get a droid over there? That was easy. Give it something to clean up.

Deciding he would no longer need it, Vilnius removed his Imperial issue wrist comlink. He waited a second or two, then threw it towards the sludge pile, being extra certain it was seen by one of the droids. He half expected the stormtroopers to fire at it as it made a sound when it landed. But they weren't fooled and checked their fire.

The droid however, was fooled and immediately marched over to the item to dispose of it. As soon as the droid bent down to pick it up, Vilnius nailed it with a well-placed shot to the droid's neck. A shower of sparks scattered from the blast point and a brilliant flash of bright orange flame lit up the area as the flammable gas around it ignited.

As Vilnius had hoped, the sudden flare up not only exposed the hidden positions of the stormtroopers for a few seconds, it temporarily blinded them too. TK8275 cried out and tried to shield his eyes from the brightness, but the damage had already been done. Recognizing his former commander's voice, Vilnius snap aimed his blasters and fired several times, each shot fatally hitting his former commander in the chest and face until his body pitched over backwards and he was dumped into the disgusting muck.

A piercing scream of rage to his left got Vilnius's attention. Having seen the potential consequences of using blasters in this place, Elassa attacked him with a vibroblade. Her first move was a vicious downward stab that missed Vilnius by millimeters, yet she successfully knocked one of his pistols from his grasp and it clattered on floor somewhere in the dark.

Vilnius raised up to shoot Elassa before she could recover but another stormtrooper beat him to the trigger and sent his second pistol flying across the room. Now weaponless, he faced the enraged Elassa and narrowly dodged a swipe of the blade aimed at his throat. Another swipe at his throat and Vilnius retreated again. Flipping the knife into a different grip, Elassa made a quick thrust at his stomach. Vilnius swatted the outside of her arm, parrying the attack away and followed up with a hard back hand to her face. Elassa's head recoiled with the impact and she stumbled backwards.

Snarling in anger, she leaped back at him and tried to bury the knife in the top of Vilnius's head. He made a slight move to his right and caught Elassa's hand at the wrist, immobilizing it and rendering her knife useless. He gave it a hard twist, causing Elassa to yelp in pain as her wrist popped and she dropped the knife. Vilnius then slammed his fist into her stomach several times, air whooshing from lungs with each punishing blow. He then shifted his focus to her face, breaking her nose and her jaw with a couple punches and a head-butt before he finally released his grip on her mangled arm.

Pivoting around, Vilnius unleashed a powerful spin kick that smashed into Elassa's chest and sent her tumbling backwards. She crashed into an ASP droid and they both fell. Elassa landed inside one of the air locks while the droid fell against the control panel, forcing the door to slam shut and seal her inside.

A blaster bolt whistled past Vilnius's ear and he instinctively ducked and rolled away from the attack. Snapping up a blaster rifle that had been discarded by a now dead stormtrooper, he spun around and triggered the weapon. Simultaneously, Marlowe Derwit fired his weapon and the attacking trooper took half a dozen blaster hits in the chest. As the trooper staggered backwards he fired a couple of wild shots, one of which had the unfortunate consequence of blasting his only remaining comrade in the head. The trooper whose life had been brutally interrupted by friendly fire triggered his own weapon as a reflex of impending death and ended up blowing his own foot off, though he could no longer feel the pain or anything else.

Recovering from Vilnius's onslaught, Elassa sat up and realized where she was. Horrified, she got to her feet and stumbled over to the emergency control panel and tried to open the door. A buzzer sounded indicating she'd failed. Damn it. Elassa tried the panel again and again the damn buzzer sounded. What the heck was going on here? She glanced through the small porthole into the disposal room beyond but couldn't see anything. Once more she tried the control panel and again, she heard that annoying buzzer indicating her attempt had failed. Had that stupid droid totally destroyed the control panel on the other side? Was she trapped in here until someone could cut her out?

A loud bang erupted and almost instinctively, her head craned towards the ceiling. Her hair began to float upwards and a glassy look appeared in her eyes. Elassa tried to move, but found she no longer had control of her limbs. Her breathing become shallow and labored. Elassa realized in growing horror that the wind was being sucked from her lungs. Her vision became blurred and she started to get dizzy from the sudden lack of oxygen. She managed to turn her head towards the porthole again where she saw Vilnius's cold, dispassionate face staring straight back at her.

All this happened to her in less than a second. For an instant later, Elassa's dying form was jettisoned from the airlock into the abyss of space.

Vilnius watched as Elassa's body began its endless fall through the cosmos. When he could no longer see it, he manipulated the control panel and reclosed the airlock door he'd blown open to get rid of her. Damn it all to hell. Why did he have to be right? Why did Elassa have to be the ISB agent? As ridiculous as some people might say it was, he had loved her and truly cared for her. All this time he'd spent trying to get her to truly defect to the Alliance – wasted. And Vilnius now realized just how futile the attempt had been.

He looked back at Marlowe and Sheila and almost found it miraculous that the three of them were still alive. Both of them could clearly see the pain in Vilnius's eyes. "I'm sorry Vilnius," Marlowe said. "I know how much she meant to you."

Taking a deep breath, Vilnius steeled himself. He'd mourn for Elassa later. Right now there was a war to fight and whether it meant his death or not, he was going to fight it. He recovered his blaster pistols and searched the bodies of the dead troopers for other weapons, power packs and whatever else he could find that might be of use. Distributing them equally amongst themselves, Vilnius fed a fresh power pack into his commandeered rifle and casually shrugged. "It is what it is," he asserted. "We made our choice; she made hers."

"Yes she did," Marlowe responded. "And I can't say I don't feel she got what she deserved for that choice either."

Vilnius didn't say anything to that comment, but he silently agreed with it.

Sheila cleared her throat slightly, indicating she had something to say. She gestured towards the armor he wore. "What's with the Mandalorian getup?"

Vilnius completed an inspection of his pistols and discovered one of them was no longer functional. He discarded it and holstered the one that still worked. "I am Vilnius Kellborn of Clan Kellborn. I was born thirty standard years ago on the planet of Concord Dawn in the Mandalore sector. I was born a Mandalorian, yet I joined the Empire to serve what I thought was a legitimate government and prove my parents wrong when they claimed the Empire was unjust, oppressive and tyrannical. It was a grave mistake and only recently have I seen the truth of their words. Yet they have already disowned me." He looked Sheila in the eye. "So be it. Even so, I am a Mandalorian. And I now, once more, embrace my heritage. Once a Mandalorian, always a Mandalorian. We have a saying that goes, verd ori'shya beskar'gam. It means, 'a warrior is more than his armor.' And I am a hell of a lot more than a damned stormtrooper. Now let the Empire feel what it's like to cross swords with a Mando. Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur."

"What's that mean?' Sheila asked him.

"Today is a good day for someone else to die."

Azkul Base – The Command Level

Dahlgen swung his double saber downward, slicing off the arms of a stormtrooper who had gotten a little too close. Reacting to some incoming fire, he angled his weapon and sent the bolts flying back in Major Derwit's direction. A small explosion erupted nearby as a computer console was hit and an astromech droid raced away from the area, screeching its head off.

The Rebel team commanded by Dahlgen, Captain Vash and half of Team Alpha had ascended to the command center through the turbolift and ventilation shafts, launching their strike only minutes earlier. What was supposed to be a surgical attack designed to overwhelm the security forces inside had quickly degenerated into a battle of attrition as the command center was better defended than it first appeared.

Even so, the Rebels had been steadily pushing the defending Imperials back into a corner. Comprised of three large rooms, the emergency command center was located to the northwest of the main center. Designed similarly to the command deck of a Star Destroyer with a command walkway flanking two crew pits and a standard duty post flanked by two turbolifts, it had already been overrun by the assaulting Rebels despite initial stiff resistance.

Two corridors led away from the emergency cee-cee on opposite sides of the crew pits. One led to the command staffs' quarters which was in the process of being cleared by another Rebel team. The other led up a small stairwell to the main command center, where the fiercest fighting on the command level was taking place. It was a busy, crowded place with more than eight standard duty stations as well as stations for the commanders. In the center of the room a dais rose up a few feet and walkways extended back to three command stations, the center one being slightly higher and further behind the two stations flanking it. A tactical holo-display sat in the middle of the dais where it could be viewed perfectly by anyone occupying the command stations.

A large view screen on the wall in front of the dais ran almost the entire length of the room and two other holo-displays provided a view to the entire command center of what was happening in the immediate vicinity of the base. In the four corners of the room were doors that led to turbolift shafts which the Rebels had made use of in their assault. Other doors led to offices, the command conference room and the Throne Room. All of which were being used for cover and concealment by the defending Imperials which severely hampered the Rebels' efforts to overrun it.

Captain Vash crouched next to one of the duty posts flanking the dais. Snap aiming his blaster rifle, he fired twice and gunned down a trooper who was using a doorway for cover. He retreated as a few energy bolts of retaliatory fire slammed into the bank of consoles above his head and a shower of sparks rained down on him. Looking around, he took a quick stock of the situation. His forces were fanning out from the turbolifts they had used to gain entry and they controlled the two offices to the north end of the command center. The Imperials still controlled everything from the dais to the south end however, which included the conference room, the crew pit and the Throne Room.

Burner tore apart one of the duty stations with his Z-6 along with the hapless trooper trying to take cover inside it. A blaster bolt whined off his shoulder armor and he instinctively drew back slightly. The trooper who had landed the glancing blow was preparing to take another shot, but Val had already lined up the enemy in his sights. The stormtrooper took a direct shot to the head, his life ending without even knowing who'd ended it.

Archie crouched near a duty station to take stock of the situation, his wife Ashara next to him. Snap firing his weapon, he blasted a stormtrooper that had been foolish enough to stick his head up too far. A volley of enemy fire responded and Ashara's blade danced all around, protecting her and her husband.

With the crew pit running behind the dais and the command stations that splintered off of it, Captain Vash decided it would be to their advantage to seize it and then use it to keep the enemy troops on the dais busy while Dahlgen his team assaulted it. He pointed to a nearby group of seven commandos and motioned for them to follow him. Breaking cover and moving as fast as he could, Captain Vash jumped in the crew pit and shot the first trooper he saw.

Archie saw what they were doing. "No you fools! Don't go in there!"

It was too late. Captain Vash and his fellow commandos followed him and they began a systematic sweep of the crew pit. Archie quickly scanned the area, searching for where he knew the inevitable turkey shoot was going to start. It wouldn't take the Imperial troops long to react to the blunder Vash had just made.

Nearby, Dahlgen reflected a barrage of blaster bolts back into the face of the stormtrooper who'd fired it all. He then leaped onto the dais to engage the five stormtroopers stationed there. One of them tried to trip Dahlgen up by taking a swing at his legs but he avoided it with a sai djem scissor kick. Landing gracefully, he swept his weapon in front of him, cleaving the head off the first trooper who stood to face him. He sensed trouble behind him and swung his double saber backwards, impaling a second trooper through the chest.

Seizing what he thought was an opportunity to catch Dahlgen unaware, the third trooper hastily fired at him. But thoroughly enmeshed in the Force, Dahlgen had already sensed the danger and pulled his blade free in plenty of time to deflect the shot right back into the trooper's chest. He then whipped his dual saber around, slicing a deep gash in the chest of the fourth trooper while Force throwing the fifth off the dais.

Near the door to the throne room, Major Verrill Derwit hunkered down next to one of the countless duty posts and observed Dahlgen on the dais. He'd never forget that double bladed weapon, nor how he had nearly been done in by that damned weapon back on Zeltros. The incessant hum it constantly made drove Derwit nuts. He watched half in fascination, half in terror as Dahlgen reflected several shots away from himself. Thinking he had a chance, Derwit snap aimed around the corner and fired twice only to have to quickly duck as Dahlgen sent the shots back at him.

He surveyed the unfolding scene and determined it was just a matter of time before the command center fell to the invading Rebels. Derwit felt that if he didn't make good on an escape very soon, he'd be trapped and gunned down with everyone else. He'd already given the order for the base's fighters to launch and the gunnery crews knew their drills and sequences clearly. So there really wasn't any need for him to stick around. Feelings of déjà vu mixed with fear gripped him and he recalled being in the middle of a not so different situation almost three months ago on Zeltros.

Derwit cringed as more fire slammed into the duty post console he hid behind. There were two banks of escape shafts that led to a shuttle craft located in a secret hangar near the power core. One was located in the command conference room. That was no good to him. There was too much open distance to cover between there and where he was now. He'd be shot dead before he'd gotten halfway to his goal. The second one was located on the right side of the Throne Room. There was still some exposed ground to cover, but it was far less than what he would have to cover to the conference room. The Throne Room was normally locked and opening it without the base commander's expressed consent was a no-no under any circumstances.

To hell with regulations. Katarina had seated herself on the throne more than once during her stay. Derwit needed an escape route out of this place and it was the only one that was largely unobstructed at the moment. He could clearly see the Rebel intruders were preparing to mount an assault on the command conference room. On top of that, the Rebels had overrun more than half the cee-cee so far. If he didn't move now, he could very well find himself cut off from any avenue escape, doomed to fight to the death.

His logistical mind as well as his sense of self-preservation told him that was not a desirable outcome. With the Rebel's attention primarily on the conference room for the moment, Derwit figured he had at least a fifty-fifty chance. Steeling himself for the worst, Derwit broke cover and ran as fast and as low as he could to the throne room door and quickly punched in the code. The door unlocked, slid open and Derwit raced through, not bothering to close it behind him as a few of the stormtroopers followed him in. One of them questioned where he was going but Derwit paid them no mind as they came under fire again and were forced to forget the questions and take covering positions. He ran up the first short flight of stairs and turned right at the intersection. At the end of the short hall were two small hatches. Derwit selected one and jumped into the capsule beyond, shutting the little hatch behind him. A second later, the capsule was released and Derwit was bounced around as he plummeted towards the base's power core section.

Elsewhere on the command level, Raquel moved along with the team that was clearing out the private quarters. Compared to the battle raging in the cee-cee, clearing out the private quarters had been relatively easy. But now they'd become bogged down while trying to clear the final suite. Taking a position just inside a doorway with a couple other Rebel commandos, she and her immediate companions traded shots with the stormtroopers holed up further down in the last suite.

Raquel's heart was racing as she fired her heavy blaster pistol around the corner in the direction of the Imperial positions. The first few minutes of the battle had told her in no uncertain terms that she needed a great deal more training and conditioning before she was truly up to the caliber of everyone else. For the briefest of seconds, she once again wondered if this had all been worth her constant pestering of Dahlgen to let her into his Force Revanchist team.

While she was busy plaguing herself with self-doubt, a grenade sailed through the open door way and bounced off the wall. It landed on the floor and rolled a few feet before stopping. "Get back!" one of the Rebel commandos shouted as he threw himself on top of it.

Raquel watched in horror as the little bomb detonated, pitching the Rebel's body upward a few inches. His body was shredded by the blast and a gaping hole tore open in the trooper's torso. Quite dead from shock of the blast, the commando's body slammed back down to the floor. But his final action had saved Raquel's life.

An instant later, the second commando was drilled four times in the chest as he attempted to fire down the corridor. His now lifeless body slumped in the doorway and he dropped his A280 rifle. Raquel stared at both men in disbelief. A few seconds ago, they'd been fighting alongside her and now they were both dead. The suddenness with which it had happened both saddened and terrified her.

But it did something more. Seeing them lying there reminded her of the Kwymar Suppressions. Reminded her of the countless people she'd seen slaughtered in the streets by the Imperials. Reminded her of the elderly Rodian couple whose house she'd "borrowed" as her own after they'd been killed. With all the memories flooding back into her consciousness, it enraged her and spurred her to take action that just a few seconds ago she wouldn't have believed she was capable of doing. "Damn you fucking bucket heads!" she screamed as she retrieved the commando's fallen blaster rifle and a grenade from his ammo belt.

A trio of stormtroopers had just started to slowly advance up the corridor, confident they'd taken out everyone in the room where Raquel was still hiding. Her sudden appearance the doorway they were approaching surprised them. Screaming in rage, she recalled something Dahlgen had once told her about 'violence of action'. That quick and excessively repeated firepower in a short time span could overwhelm superior numbers. And she triggered the blaster rifle… and again… and again… and again.

Before Raquel's brain could fully comprehend what she was doing, she'd blasted the three advancing stormtroopers with no less than four shots apiece and they hadn't even gotten a single shot off among the three of them. Still roaring in anger, Raquel tossed the grenade down the hall and it landed perfectly in the last suite. There were a couple cries of alarm that were silenced a second later as the bomb blew.

With her eyes wide and her teeth clenched, Raquel slowly made her way down the hall, her weapon ready and the remaining commandos following her. She was shaking uncontrollably. Whether that was from fear or rage, she didn't know. Maybe it was a bit of both.

As she cautiously entered the final suite, her eyes darted around in all directions searching for signs of hidden enemies. But all was quiet. The two dead stormtroopers on the floor, killed by Raquel's grenade, had been the last of the troops defending the private quarters. With that, the adrenaline rapidly drained from Raquel's body and her arms and legs went weak. The blaster rifle in her grip suddenly felt like it weighed more than the AT-AT walkers she'd seen on the streets of Thani.

Still shaking, she collapsed to her knees. Instantly she had a team of Rebels around her trying to give her aid. "Whoa there ma'am," one of them said as he helped steady her. "Take it easy there."

Raquel tried to speak to them, but at the moment her voice failed her. She just stared up at them with wide, pleading eyes and breathing heavily.

One of the other Rebels knelt next to her. "Why don't you just rest here for a bit ma'am," he suggested.

Still unable to speak, Raquel nodded.

The Rebel stood up and pointed to two of his cohorts. "You and you… stay here with her and let her rest as long as she likes. When she's ready, come join us in the cee-cee."

"Yes sir," one them responded.

The rest of the team started to file out, but the one who'd given the order had one final comment. "Guard her well," he said. "She's green but she's as tough as they come."

The other Rebels nodded in agreement.

Shortly after they'd departed, Raquel's breathing finally started to return to normal and she began to properly process what had happened. Had she really just done that? Had she really taken out five stormtroopers all by herself? It didn't seem possible and yet she couldn't deny it. Maybe she had strengths and skills she had yet to discover. She didn't believe for a second that she was Force sensitive but perhaps her past life had prepared her for this new life better than she realized.

She felt an unusual feeling of dread come over her. Though the walls of the suite were the Imperial standard gunmetal gray, everything else from the carpet to the furniture upholstery to the wall tapestries were colored in various shades of orange, red and black. The light given off by the room's illuminator's gave the suite a foreboding appearance that Raquel found very creepy.

"Katarina," Raquel whispered.

"Excuse me ma'am?" one of the Rebels who'd stayed with her asked.

Raquel thought back to that moment several weeks ago, when that crazed Katarina had nearly killed her in her mad attempt to assassinate Dahlgen. Raquel had only gotten a brief glimpse of her, but it was enough to burn the image of her twisted face into her mind forever.

"This is the private suite of the base commander," Raquel said. "Katarina."

"How do you know?" the Rebel asked.

"A hunch based on the décor I'm seeing," Raquel replied. "And the fact that I've also met her face to face once before." Slowly and with a great deal of effort, she hauled herself to her feet. The Rebels with her tried to encourage here not to attempt anything so strenuous so soon, but she waved them off. "Let's go. The others need us."

"Are you sure Miz Pherredyne," one of the Rebels asked. "We can stay and you rest a bit longer if you like."

Raquel shook her head. "No. I can't stay in this foul place. Let's go."

The Rebels readied their weapons and looked at Raquel with a certain amount of admiration and a great deal of respect. Yes she was green, but she was definitely as tough as they got. They readied their weapons. "All right," one of them said. "Let's move out." The commandos exited the room and started up the corridor towards the fighting in the main command center with Raquel right behind them.

Captain Vash realized his grievous mistake as soon as he'd jumped into the pit. The pit was a bottleneck and with little way in or out, they were essentially trapped. Still, there were other Rebels out there who hadn't jumped into the pit along with Dahlgen, Ashara and the clones. Maybe they'd be enough to keep the bulk of the Imperials distracted.

Keeping that hope close to heart, he began gathering his team for a charge down the pit and an assault on the conference room. He was just starting to give the few troops around him instructions, when a grenade landed nearby.

"Grenade!" someone shouted.

Captain Vash leaped away from the mini-bomb as it exploded. Several pieces of hot shrapnel flew through the air and tore into his left arm and shoulder. A few others caught right in the middle of the blast weren't so lucky as they were completely ripped apart by it. Horrified, Captain Vash realized his mistake had gotten them killed as much as the Imperial who had thrown the grenade. "We're sitting nerfs here!" he yelled. "Lay down covering fire and get out of the pit now! Move! Move! Move!"

Archie heard Vash's instructions and shouted, "Burner, covering fire!"

With that, Burner triggered a long burst from his Z-6, spraying fire at the stormtroopers. A couple went down but most had to duck and cover to avoid the deadly barrage. Archine and Val joined in the effort, placing shots over areas where Burner wasn't firing. One luckless stormtrooper, high on adrenaline and low on brains, stood up and raised his weapon. Ashara let her saber fly and it neatly severed the trooper's head before he could get a shot off. It landed back in her hand just in time to parry two other blaster bolts headed her way.

Two of Vash's commandos also laid down covering fire, keeping the remaining stormtroopers pinned and preventing them from throwing any more grenades. At the same time, the remaining commandos left in the pit leaped out and followed Captain Vash towards the conference room.

"WAIT!" Archie yelled.

Dahlgen saw what was happening and his Force attuned sense to danger warned him of the trap. "Captain, stop!"

But Vash didn't hear them. Desperate to get his men out of the death trap he'd led them into, he thoughtlessly led himself into another. He went through the doorway and was just starting to cross the hairpin corridor that wrapped around the command conference room when two groups of stormtroopers lying in wait on either side, ambushed him. Opening fire with everything they had, Captain Vash was struck in the head and chest by several blaster bolts. His left montral was sheared off as was his center head-tail. A few more shots hit him as he spun awkwardly around and collapsed to the floor.

"Captain!" one of his men shouted. "Captain!"

The Security Level

Maris executed a cho sun attack, slicing the arms off of a stormtrooper and hit another one nearby with a Force Blast. The sudden flash of light coupled with the loud bang overloaded the trooper's scanner and he cried out in surprise. Maris made his suffering brief, impaling the trooper through the chest on her yellow blade. Withdrawing her weapon, she sliced him across the chest and effortlessly switched to her preferred Shien style. Immediately she reflected a fired energy bolt back at the trooper who's fired it, hitting him squarely in the stomach. Holding her blade in a mid-level guard, she scanned for her next target.

Maris's team of Mandalorians had assaulted the Security level from two sides. Half of them had made their way through the vent shafts into the detention block while Maris had led a group through the turbolift shafts into the short range communications suite, more commonly known in naval circles as the S-Comm. Responsible for maintaining contact within the Rya system only, the room was surrounded on all sides by several offices including a ready room for the junior communications officer and a room of dozens of channel relays responsible for dialing in whatever frequency was dictated by the technicians working at the consoles. Even now amidst the heavy exchange of blaster fire, several technicians desperately tried to call in reinforcements from the capital ships patrolling the system.

On either side of the junior officer's ready room were doorways that led to the primary communications and sensor suite. Maris had no doubt that the Imperials pinned down in there were frantically trying to raise any Imperial reinforcements they could outside the Rya system that could respond in the fastest possible time. She knew that the chances of crew successfully summoning reinforcements grew exponentially with each passing moment but her group was bogged down by tough Imperial resistance just like on the command level.

Stabbing her lightsaber through the chest of a stormtrooper who wildly charged her, Maris got on her comlink. "Pops, what's going on at your end?"

Pops and Jack were with the other half of Maris's strike team going through the detention block. Pinned against the door of one of the countless holding cells, he triggered his blaster rifle at the plethora of stormtroopers occupying the detention block control room ahead. Three cell bays branched off the control room and were interconnected with one another at their farthest points. Smoke filled the cell bay and he could barely see the outlines of the stormtroopers' helmets through the haze.

"Not good Maris," he responded. "We're cut off and can't get out of the cell bay!" He fired his weapon again and witnessed the silhouette of a stormtrooper fall. "We can't keep this up forever," he called across the aisle to one of his Mandalorian comrades.

His comrade never got a chance to respond. In that instant, an energy bolt punched right through his helmet, cooking his brains in a second. His arms flew up and he released his weapon, the sound of it clattering against the deck echoing through the halls.

Pinned against another door, Jack triggered his T-21 light repeater. Amdist the smoke and barely recognizable silhouettes, he heard at least two cries and knew he'd found at least one mark. "What do you think Pops," he asked as he triggered another burst.

"I think we'd better figure some way out of this meat grinder and fast," Pops yelled back. He plucked a grenade from his belt, burned off a couple seconds then let the miniature explosive fly. Screams of alarm immediately preceded the blast which shorted out the warden's console and several stormtroopers were ripped apart and thrown violently about the control room.

Taking advantage of the ever so brief lull in shooting, Pops moved up one cell with Jack right with him. He quickly motioned for the others to follow suit. One of them was too exposed and was shot several times when the stormtroopers began to open fire again. Pops and Jack both shook their heads in disgust. For each enemy trooper that went down it seemed there was another to take his place right away. Wondering which side was going to run out of reinforcements first, Pops took a shot at the faint outline of a helmet, hitting yet another stormtrooper in the head.

Back in the short range communications suite, Maris deflected a blaster shot from one trooper while simultaneously slashing her lightsaber across the chest of another. Subduing the trooper who had fired the bolt in Force Stasis, Maris launched him across the room with a Force Throw follow up. The luckless trooper slammed into a wall as the Force Stasis broke and he fell in a daze.

Next to her, Micro blasted the top off of a stormtrooper's head who thought he could get the drop on Maris. He was listening in to the Imperial comm chatter as they made their progress and their desperate attempts to call for reinforcements. Although they had yet to succeed outside of alerting the ISD Charybdis, experience told him that if they didn't secure the comm rooms soon, it was only a matter of time before they did.

"Gee Tee," Maris called out. "Can you shut down the entire comm system from here?"

Dahlgen's ever loyal utility droid was hunkered down inside one of the offices they had overrun and was flanked by two Mandalorians. "I won't know until I try," he called out.

"Well get out here and try it then!" Maris yelled as she deflected another blaster bolt away from her.

Obediently, the droid rolled through the deadly blaster exchange and sought cover behind one of the two crescent shaped desks in the center of the room. He parked next to the closest computer terminal he could access and extended his interface plug. Hooking in, he began to sift through the countless files and operating programs used by the base. "Damn," he said. "No can do Maris. In order to completely shut down communications to the base I must have access to the master control panel in the primary communications room!"

"I could've told you that," Micro commented.

Maris didn't like Gee Tee's report. "Damn," she hissed. "What about jamming their communications attempts? Can you do that from here?" She knew there was still a chance the Star Destroyer Charybdis could successfully make contact with other Imperial forces, but she saw no reason to make it easier for the Imperials.

Gee Tee's answer to that question was a little more encouraging. "Yes, that I can do from here."

"All right, do it then," Maris ordered. "Anything to keep them from getting their message out." She swung her lightsaber wide, reflecting another energy bolt that sheared the arm off a nearby trooper.

The desks provided ample cover for the assaulting Mandalorians as they tried to dislodge the defending Imperials from the junior officer's ready room, the channel relay room and a couple of offices. Next to Gee Tee, Micro poked his head around the desk and fired three times in the direction of the ready room. Hitting the deck, Maris crawled up to him. "What do you think Micro?"

"I'd say we're pinned and not moving." He stated the obvious and fired a few more shots in the direction of the ready room.

"No kidding," Maris said with a smile. She liked Micro and the other clones they'd recruited. Though the battle was only moments old, Maris was considerably impressed with how they'd performed thus far considering their advanced aging genes. Even so, they were still clone troopers and it was the clone troopers that had carried out the deadly Order 66 at the end of the Clone Wars. Therefore, Maris viewed them as not entirely trustworthy just yet, despite Archie's marriage to a Jedi and fathering three kids by her as well. Maris wouldn't be letting her guard down around the clones just yet. She looked around at the dozen or so other Mandalorians who were pinned. "All right," she said. "Here's what we're going to do Micro. You and three others lay down suppressing fire. I'll take the rest of the team and advance on that ready room. Once we've secured it, we'll head into the primary communications suite. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am." Micro selected his fire support team members and nodded to Maris. "Covering fire!" he yelled. In a blaze of deadly lights, Micro and his three Mandalorian comrades opened up with everything they had on the Imperial held positions. The sudden coordinated attack forced the defending stormtroopers to retreat and prepare themselves for the inevitable assault. Seeing the tactic was working, Micro shouted, "Grenades! Now!"

Seconds later, five of the little devices hurtled through the air, three of them landing in the ready room and two of them rolling into the short corridors leading to the primary suite. Cries of terror were abruptly silenced by the deafening blasts and limbs were torn from the bodies and bounced off the walls.

"Move up!" Maris yelled.

Breaking cover, Maris advanced towards the ready room with her saber held ready. A trooper appeared in the doorway to the channel relay room and fired several times. Maris reflected one shot back into his chest and the others harmlessly away before three other advancing Mandalorians gunned him down.

As the advancing Mandalorian team broke apart into the three, Micro motioned for his cover team to follow him. Weapons held ready, they stepped forward and followed the group that was searching the offices to the right. A brief, but intense fight broke out as they discovered two stormtroopers waiting in ambush.

Maris led six Mandalorians into the ready room and immediately a stormtrooper popped up from behind the desk. Though he was able to get a shot off, Maris leaped and twirled through the air as she deflected the energy bolt and kicked the trooper's rifle from his grasp. Landing gracefully on the desk, she swept her blade to the side and neatly decapitated the trooper, his headless body stumbling backwards and falling unceremoniously into an awkward seated position in the desk chair.

"You're fired trooper," Maris couldn't resist saying.

The Barracks Level

Dannix overturned a table allowing dishes to crash and shatter on the floor. In their bid to overrun the barracks level he'd been forced to lead a team of Mandalorians through one of the mess halls. Though Dannix really hadn't had much of a chance to truly appreciate the décor, he could tell just by the semi-elegant nature of the tables and the bar located in one corner that it was a mess hall for officers. Not that he really cared. More than a dozen of his Mando brothers and HK were with him. Currently they held a series of six tables located on the east side of the mess hall.

Raising his head above the table he'd just overturned, Dannix fired four times in the direction of the bar and quickly ducked as returning fire started flying his direction. The defending Imperials controlled the area around the bar, the kitchen and a few more tables. A low ranking officer did his best to coordinate fire between the groups, but it was a losing proposition as to do so required he momentarily expose himself to the Mandalorians. Despite the few decorations he had on his chest, he was really nothing more than a big coward content to let others fight his battles for him.

The officer popped his head around the side of the bar and squeezed off two shots. Retreating he yelled at the stormtroopers who were with him, "C'mon men. Give me some cover here!"

Thought the officer never saw the gesture, every one of the stormtroopers rolled their eyes beneath their helmets. How could this clown be so inept? He always preferred to fire after everyone else did and cowered behind cover when everyone else was firing. He was so backwards in his thinking a couple of them silently hoped the Mandalorians would take him out soon. That way they wouldn't have to do it themselves.

In the southeast corner, HK had set up a hasty heavy repeater position and together with three other Mandalorians, laid down enough firepower to keep the Imperials' heads down as much as possible. One of the stormtroopers taking cover in the kitchen fired a barrage at HK that hit one of the few still upright tables. It sent dishes and uneaten food flying into the air and a plate of Chicken Alfredo landed on HK's head. He cursed up a storm as he tried to clean the mess off of him. "Irritated Declaration: When I said I was itching for a fight you bucket brained meatbag asshole, I did not mean a food fight," was the last statement he made before turning his heavy repeater's attention on the kitchen.

A fusillade of blaster fire flew through the kitchen doorway hitting one stormtrooper in the chest and dumping his body on top of a hot grill. Another took several direct hits as he tried to take cover behind a food prep table. Pawing at his suddenly ruined face, the trooper went down and pulled the table along with all of its contents on top of himself. Yet a third was gunned down by a Mandalorian next to the droid and the trooper fell back against a storage rack, spilling numerous containers of sauce, cooking oils and other ingredients all over the kitchen floor.

A Mandalorian next to Dannix took a hit in the face and went down while Dannix traded some more shots with the stormtoopers behind the bar. He ducked behind his rapidly disintegrating table as incoming fire forced him to retreat. Raising up again, he fired one of his wrist rockets at the bar and it blew a large section of it away. One of the defending troopers was torn to shreds in the blast and numerous bottles of fine liquor were destroyed. The glass and contents rained all over everyone behind the bar who'd survived the blast. Dannix winced as he ducked for cover again. Remembering what had happened at the Flustered Feline back on Byblos, he couldn't help but mutter, "Oh I hate seein' good hooch goin' to waste like that."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw HK prepare to throw a grenade in the direction of the kitchen. Dannix peered around the corner of his cover and observed the floor of the kitchen covered in liquid and other debris. Some of the liquid was even snaking its way into the dining room. A couple of the troopers still alive in the kitchen were having a great deal of trouble righting themselves amidst the mess. One of them slipped and crashed hard on his side. Dannix suddenly realized what covered the floor and whirled towards HK. "No you bloody stupid droid! Don't…"

It was too late. HK had already let the grenade go and Dannix watched as it bounced through the kitchen doorway, then off the overturned prep table and roll under the deep fryers. The explosion sent the deep fryer and their boiling hot contents in all directions and the heat from the blast brought the oil to flash point. Any stormtroopers that were still alive in the kitchen screamed in horror as the flaming oil came back down and ignited the oil that already covered the floor. Their screams abruptly died as they were literally fried in their armor.

A secondary explosion erupted, sending a jet of flaming oil spewing out the kitchen door into the dining room. The cooking oils that had already leaked inside were set alight along with several tables and the very edge of the bar. Within seconds the entire kitchen was ablaze and the fire in the dining room was rapidly spreading.

"Get out! Get out!" Dannix yelled. He raised his head up and fired indiscriminately at the bar as the others began to withdraw out the door. Though the entire room was beginning to fill with smoke, Dannix saw some movement ahead and fired a few shots at it, drilling the cowardly Imperial officer five times in the head.

HK put a screaming stormtrooper covered in flames out of his misery then turned his heavy repeater towards the bar. He riddled it with gunfire, trapping any troopers still using it for cover between it and the spreading fire. A red warning strobe began to flash and an emergency horn sounded as the fire suppression system was activated. Fire retardant foam sprayed down from the ceiling and began to smother the flames and coat both Dannix and HK.

Raising up again and starting to backpedal towards the exit, Dannix yelled, "Let's go HK, come on!" Dannix shot a stormtrooper in the face when he tried to stop their escape. One of his Mandalorian comrades took a hit in the leg as they retreated and Dannix grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged him to safety.

With the fire rapidly being smothered by the foam, HK laid down one last extra-long burst of fire and scooted out the door shutting it behind him. Dannix glared at him with an expression that suggested it was taking all of his willpower not to remove HK's head right there. "You stupid collection of short circuits!" he raged. "You could've fried us all in there!"

"Statement: But I didn't. So what's the problem?"

Dannix shook his head in frustration. As much as he wanted to lecture the near homicidal droid about what he'd done, now just wasn't the time. "Fah. Forget about it for now. Let's just get on with this mission. But you can bet your behavioral core that I will make a full report of this to your master."

"Bored response: Whatever.

Elsewhere in the Barracks Level

Don't these damned stormtroopers ever give up? Huuruundar wondered as he triggered his bowcaster.

No Hooroo, Salparoo answered. That's why they're stormtroopers.

It just seems like such a waste for them to throw their lives away for a despicable man like the Emperor, Huuruundar observed. As if to emphasize his point, he fired his weapon again and gunned down a stormtrooper some distance away, leaving a large smoking hole in the center of his head.

Huuruundar, Salparoo and about ten of their Wookiee brethren were fighting for control of one of the many trooper bunk rooms on the barracks level. The room was exceptionally large with four rows of twelve evenly spaced triple tiered bunks running the length of the room. Individual wall lockers were placed along both long walls and two doorways at the far end led to a communal refresher… at least that's what the Wookiees' keen sense of smell told them.

Salparoo ducked behind the bunk he was using for cover as enemy fire zeroed in on his location and a lock of his fur was singed. They weren't the best things to take cover behind, but at least it was better than standing out in the open totally exposed. Two bunks to Salparoo's right, Huuruundar fired several times and got the enemy trooper to back off.

With the pressure momentarily relieved, Salparoo raised up and blasted a trooper that was taking cover behind one of the flimsy wall locker doors. We've got to go forward, he insisted. We can't sit here and pick each other off until we're all dead.

I know that, Huuruundar replied. But we'll need some back up.

Sit tight my brother, Salparoo said. I'll be right back.

You'd better hurry, Huuruundar insisted.

Salparoo retreated out the exit and disappeared, leaving Huuruundar and the other Wookiees in the bunk room to hold it. Sensing that the Wookiee's resistance was collapsing, the stormtroopers renewed their assault and a few of the bolder ones moved up out of the latrine into the bunk room proper. A torrent of blaster fire ripped through the air at Huuruundar and the others forcing them all down. A Wookiee who wasn't quite as fast as the others got a chest full of blaster bolts and he slumped to the floor.

Pinned down, Huuruundar raised his weapon up and fired blindly over the lowest tier bunk. He couldn't see where his shot went, though he thought he heard the satisfying thud of a trooper going down. With more blaster fire chewing up the bunk above him, Huuruundar felt it was only a matter of moments before they charged forward to mop up whoever was left. He knew through the comm chatter that so far the assault was going reasonably well. But all it took was one little setback to upset the entire balance. And like hungry sharks, the stormtroopers smelled blood and they desperately wanted to shift the momentum of the battle to their favor.

Huuruundar triggered his bowcaster around the left side of the bunk at whatever targets he could make out in the haze. It didn't appear he'd hit anything as he retreated to wait out the inevitable barrage of return fire. How much time had gone by since Salparoo had left? A few seconds? A few minutes? What was holding him up? Was he on his way back? Had he been gunned down elsewhere? Huuruundar had no idea, but if he didn't show up soon, he'd have to retreat just so he could salvage what was left of this little squad.

It was therefore with considerable relief, that Huuruundar saw Salparoo crawl back into the bunk room with Dannix, HK, a few Mandalorians and a few more Wookiees in tow. Dannix crawled up right next to him. "I understand you could use a bit of help mate?"

Huuruundar nodded. Yes my friend, we sure could.

"Right." Dannix turned to HK. "All right HK, give 'em all you got at floor level. Knock their legs out from under them."

"Statement: One series of meatbag amputations, coming up." Deploying his light repeater on the floor, HK began blasting away at any set of white shelled legs he could see. One by one the troopers began to howl in agony and fall as their legs were ripped apart and shredded by his accurate fire. A few of the luckier ones avoided the maiming barrage by leaping onto the bunks, only to be targeted by Wookiees and Mandalorians.

"All right let's go," Dannix shouted. "Mandos to the left! Wookiees to the right! Forward!"

Getting up, Dannix quickly moved down one of the aisles created by the bunks. Several Mandalorian warriors followed him as Huuruundar and Salparoo executed the same tactic on the other side of the room. A stormtrooper suddenly popped out from behind a wall locker and raised his rifle but Salparoo blasted him several times in the face and chest before he could get a shot off. On the other side of the room, Dannix came upon a critically wounded trooper who, despite his obvious pain, tried to raise his weapon. Dannix shot him a couple times and moved on.

Another stormtrooper playing dead on a bunk suddenly shot one of the Mandalorians in the back. In an instant, the rest of them turned and hosed the idiotic trooper with no less than three dozen shots. He wasn't playing dead after Dannix and the other Mandalorians were done with him. Dannix looked down at the Mando who'd been hit. The shot had gotten him right in the spine and he was now paralyzed. He managed to remove his helmet and looked up at Dannix with a pleading look that they both as Mandalorians understood. A lifetime confined to a hoverchair was no place for a warrior. Dannix could only bow his head in remorse as he ended his comrade's suffering forever.

He was enraged and wanted a little payback. Turning around he saw that both groups had reached the other side of the room but had yet to storm the refresher. Dannix took position at the left door with HK joining him while Salparoo and Huuruundar readied themselves at the right door. A few hand signals from Dannix and they made their move. Firing high, Salparoo and Huuruundar unleashed a torrent of blaster fire into the refresher while four other Wookiees fired from crouched and prone positions.

Nearly a dozen stormtroopers were still holed up in the refresher. Two of them immediately got it in their faces and the others quickly turned to deal with the threat. With their attention diverted by the Wookiees however, Dannix, HK and a trio of Mandos made their move and surprised the troopers from the opposite angle. The Wookiees took cover as HK gunned down two troopers taking cover in the sonic showers. Dannix shot another one four times in his head and their Mandalorian comrades each found a target or two to dispose of.

The Wookiees resumed their attack and trapped the remaining stormtroopers in a deadly crossfire. Huuruundar blasted the weapon arm off the final trooper at the elbow while Dannix stepped forward to confront him face to face. The enraged Mandalorian unsheathed his bes'kad, a traditional Mandalorian knife that was also occasionally used as a bayonet, and jammed it through the seam separating the trooper's chest and abdomen armor, piercing his chest. Less than an inch from the dying trooper's face, he growled, "That's for my Mando brother you miserable son of a bitch!"

Dannix ripped the trooper's helmet off and yanked his blade free. He then slashed the trooper across the throat, planted the knife in the top of the trooper's head and jammed the body head first into one of the toilets. He regarded his handiwork with a miniscule amount of humor. "I always knew these Imperial bastards were full of poodoo."

Near the Engineering Level

Katarina sensed that Dahlgen was still several levels above her location. That was good for now, but she held no illusions that he would discover her location and move to stop her in rather short order. She entered a code into another blast door's control panel and slipped into the Engineering level. She wasn't far from where the Mass Shadow Generator rested. Only thing now was to get it active before Dahlgen could stop her.

In a twisted way Katarina regretted what she was about to do. She had hoped her final showdown with Dahlgen would be in a test of skill with the lightsaber or the Force. Ending his life along with her own through the use of the Mass Shadow Generator seemed anti-climactic somehow. Oh well. Necessity sometimes dictated final results rather than desire. And her master would ensure that the faction continued on without her.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks. She sensed something. What was it? Slowly she turned around and looked in the opposite direction at nothing in particular. She sensed something, a presence she hadn't sensed since…

Marsala. Her son was here, right now, on the station. He had grown impressively strong in the Force. And as she observed him from afar, she could tell his skills were equally impressive as well. Oh wow, to turn him to dark side would mean she'd have a ruthless and efficient killing machine on her side. As she smiled with delight, she ever so briefly entertained the idea of not activating the Generator and instead pursuing and capturing him. He was strong, to be sure, but not yet strong enough to face her. She could overpower and capture him easily.

But then, Marsala wasn't truly alone. Dahlgen was nearby and she doubted she'd be able to escape before he challenged her. And even if she did succeed in killing Dahlgen, even a moment's delay would be enough time for Marsala to get away. Oh well, it had been worth the consideration. But unfortunately Marsala would have to die with everyone else when she activated the Generator. It was perhaps what was best anyway. If she couldn't have him, then no one could.

The Command Level

Dahlgen watched as Captain Vash fell to the floor. He leaped off the dais and spun around, slicing open a stormtrooper's stomach and then cutting off his right leg. A blaster shot came at him from somewhere and Dahlgen quickly angled his weapon to reflect it away. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another stormtrooper taking aim at him as Major Derwit retreated into the Throne Room. Dahlgen spoiled the trooper's chances to kill him by using a Force Wave to knock him to the floor and disrupt his aim. By then Major Derwit had vanished from sight and there were other issues to deal with. Yet another trooper closed in and tried to whack Dahlgen in the head with the butt of his rifle. He never got close as Dahlgen parried the clumsy assault upward then spun his double saber downward, carving a perfect X into the trooper's chest.

Nearing the spot where Captain Vash had fallen, Dahlgen looked at what remained of the commando assault team he'd tried to lead into the conference room. "Cover me!" he shouted. Before anyone could protest, he turned down the left leg of the curved corridor and the stormtroopers lying in wait attacked. A ceaseless barrage of enemy fire was hurled at Dahlgen but using the powers of Knight Speed and Force Deflection, he closed the gap in a second while swatting enemy fire aside with both his weapon and his bare hand.

Before the stormtroopers knew it, he was upon them like an angry rolk-mangir. His double saber flashed through the air and the head of the first trooper bounced off the corridor wall, the victim of a sai cha. Swinging his weapon to the left, Dahlgen carved a deep gash in the chest of a second trooper while simultaneously deflecting a pair of blaster shots from others. Reversing direction, Dahlgen spun his weapon down and sawed off the arms of a third trooper while reflecting a blaster shot back into the face of a fourth. Dahlgen stabbed backwards and impaled a fifth trooper and dazed the final trooper with a Force Blast. The sudden shock of it slammed the trooper into the corridor wall and he collapsed to the floor. Dahlgen yanked his blade free of the trooper he'd impaled, stepped forward and brought the heel of his boot down on the sixth trooper's throat ending his life.

While this had been going on, the clone and Rebel commandos acted with Archie, Burner and two Rebels firing down the corridor's right leg. A group of four other Rebel commandos fired down the corridor's left leg. Two other Rebel commandos rolled into the corridor and lying prone, fired upon the stormtroopers waiting in ambush. One of the Imperial troops got a face full of blaster bolts and another was shot in the chest as the Imperials returned fire.

Seeing an opportunity, Val rushed forward to the downed Captain Vash, a hail of balster fire sizzling all around him as he moved. With a mighty heave, he dragged the grievously wounded Rebel captain to the relative safety of the conference room and immediately began treating his injuries. But there was little Val could do. His wounds were mortal and his life was ebbing fast.

A blaster bolt impacted the wall just above Archie's head and he instinctively ducked. But he refused to let the near miss rattle him and he was a little pissed off as a result of Captain Vash's getting hit. Shaking it off, he resumed firing down the corridor and blasted another enemy trooper. A few seconds later, Dahlgen vaulted over him and charged ahead to deal with the remaining troopers. Ashara did likewise down the other half of the corridor.

Archie signaled for the men to hold their fire as he witnessed Dahlgen reflect a blaster bolt right into the face of the trooper who'd fired it an instant before he whipped his double saber around and sawed off his head. Dahlgen then thrust his weapon forward and fatally stabbed another trooper in the heart. The last trooper in the corridor was Force thrown back up towards the Rebel commandos' position where he landed hard on the floor and was promptly shot to death.

Down the other corridor branch, Ashara sliced the blaster rifle of a stormtrooper in half, then whipped her blade back across his eyes, destroying a portion of his helmet and permanently blinding him. A second stormtrooper tried to adjust his aim only to have his arms cut off and a third didn't even get his head around fully before Ashara drove her blade into his chest.

With both corridor branches now cleared, Dahlgen and the small commando team moved into the conference room to check on Captain Vash. "How is he?" Dahlgen asked Val.

Val could only look up and with a slow gesture, shook his head. He then reached down ad closed Captain Vash's dead eyes. Two of the commandos snorted angrily while a third pounded his fist against the closest wall that he could. Dahlgen didn't bother to say anything. They needed to vent a bit and cautioning them to do anything but might make their desire to vent even greater.

Dahlgen peered back into the main command center and they had just about overrun it. And he saw something that surprised him. Raquel was at the far side of the cee-cee with a couple Rebel commandos in tow. She had a blaster rifle in her hands and was engaging what stormtroopers she could.

How had she gotten her hands on that rifle? Ah hell, it wouldn't do any good to know the answer now. What few Imperial forces were left had retreated back into the Throne Room. And curiously, Dahlgen sensed that Major Derwit was no longer among them. He turned back to Ashara, Archie and the others. "All right, there's nothing we can do here anymore," he said. "Ready yourselves for a final push on the Throne Room."

"Yes, sir," Archie replied. "We're ready when you are."

Dahlgen had half expected Katarina to be somewhere on the command level, possibly even the Throne Room. But so far, he hadn't sensed her presence anywhere close by. That didn't surprise him too much, but the question remained, where was she? Was she elsewhere in the base or had she evacuated the minute the Rebel task force had shown up?

He ruled out the latter. No way Katarina would've backed down from this fight unless she had been absolutely certain there was no chance of victory. And at the moment, the outcome of this battle still hung very much in the balance. Where are you, he thought. Where have you run to? Leaning on the conference table, he stretched out with his consciousness and began searching through the myriad of Force essences on the base for the revolting, yet admittedly familiar one that was his ex-wife. Where was it? Where was she?

Archie and the others became concerned as they had no idea what Dahlgen was doing or what might have happened to him. "Sir," one of the Rebels questioned. "Are you all right?"

Archie chuckled for it was something that he knew all too well. He looked at his wife. "He's reaching into the Force, isn't he?"

Ashara nodded. "Yes. He's looking for something… or rather, someone."

Ah, there you are, Dahlgen smiled to himself when he located her presence. She was on the move, but to where? What are you doing? Where are you going?

He suddenly opened his eyes as he discovered where Katarina was and where she was headed. There could be only one reason why she would go there. And if he didn't stop her, this whole mission would be for nothing. But how the hell did he get down to the Engineering level without becoming bogged down in the rest of the attack?

He began moving around the conference room in all directions, looking for the object of his refined search. He knew from Kel's floor plans it was here somewhere. He just needed to find it. Where was it? It had to be here someplace. It was the only way he could catch up to Katarina.

A couple of the Rebels thought Dahlgen must've completely gone off his rocker. "Sir, what are you looking for?"

"Aha," Dahlgen exclaimed. He'd found it. The escape tube to a secret hangar near the rear of the installation. Stretching his hand out and giving his wrist a gentle flick, he ripped the hidden panel off its mount exposing the tiny, one person vehicle. If he used this, he'd overshoot Katarina and have to double back a bit. But at least he'd avoid getting held up in the remainder of the assault. Of course that assumed that there would be relatively few, if any, enemy troops between the secret hangar and the Engineering level... oh to hell with it! He had to move… now.

"Ashara, you're in charge," he said as he clambered into the capsule. "I've got other business to take care of," he explained.

"Your ex-wife?" Ashara guessed.

He nodded. "Yes. I've got to intercept her before she can activate the Mass Shadow Generator. This here capsule is my only chance of stopping her in time. Take the Throne Room and then make sure Raquel does her work unimpeded."

And with that, Dahlgen slammed the door of the capsule shut and released it.

Ashara turned to her husband and the others. "You heard him. Let's take the Throne Room."

37