Medical Bay, Charon Station…

Kaeden ran out into the medbay on the trail of her wayward togruta friend. What the kriff could have happened between Ahsoka and Salvia to cause that reaction? She could have changed in the fifteen years since Kaeden had last seen Ahsoka, but Ahsoka's reaction was a complete surprise. She had seen Ahsoka annoyed, remorseful, happy, and even flustered, but never… hateful.

Kaeden found Ahsoka in a corner of the medbay, her head in her hands. The togruta was sobbing and Kaeden moved to sit next to her, slinging an arm around Ahsoka's shoulders. "Talk to me, Ahsoka. What's wrong?"

Ahsoka was quiet for a while, maybe a minute or so, before she spoke softly. Her voice no more than a whisper. "I never thought I'd see her again."

"Salvia? How do you two know each other? What happened between you two?"

"I… she…" Ahsoka started to respond, but cut herself off, her voice hardening. "She betrayed me, long ago. Don't trust her." Ahsoka stood abruptly, almost knocking Kaeden over. "I'm going to help set the trap. Just keep Salvia away from me."

With that, Ahsoka stormed out leaving a confused and concerned Kaeden in her wake.


Hoop, Girard, and a reluctant Palmer had bled air back into Hold 3 by the time Ahsoka made it there, so she was able to move without her spacesuit. Everyone on the station had been given a headset and microphone to keep in touch, even though that meant Ahsoka could hear Barriss Offee's voice.

In all the Rebellion operations, on all the space stations, in all the sectors of the galaxy that Ahsoka could have wound up on, Barriss kriffing Offee just had to be present on this one.

How the kriff had she managed to get here anyways? The last time Ahsoka had seen her, she had been led off by four Jedi Temple Guards. She couldn't have escaped them, unarmed and restrained as she was.

It must have been during the fall of the Jedi. Maybe there was a riot or something where Barriss had managed to escape and lose herself in the galaxy? And wind up here with Ahsoka.

Why did she have to see Barriss again? Ahsoka tried to sort out her feelings as she carried the cargo netting from Hold 3 to the docking bays. She remembered the days before her betrayal, when Ahsoka and Barriss were both young and innocent, well… more or less innocent despite the war that raged across the galaxy and drew the two teenage padawans into its gaping maw. It was not perfect, but they were happy.

She remembered staying up late and sneaking out of her dorm to meet Barriss on the roof of the Temple and watch the stars and neat lanes of speeders zoom above their heads. It had just been so… peaceful. The speeders moving along without a care in the world while the war raged elsewhere. She remembered all their fun, happy moments together away from war, death, and conflict. She had cherished them long ago, memories for when she needed to escape the burdens of being a Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic.

And then Barriss had betrayed her. She had bombed the Temple, killing innocent people, then framed Ahsoka for murdering a witness. Ahsoka was then arrested for the death of clones, had to flee into the undercity of Coruscant, and was kicked out of the Jedi Order after Barriss lured her to a warehouse and ambushed both her and Ventress. And then Barriss was content to let her be sentenced to death by the Senate.

And despite everything Barriss had done to her, Ahsoka still was terrified of the fact that she had just considered killing her.

Ahsoka distanced herself from those painful thoughts by helping with the work. She dragged the netting into the vestibule for Bay 4 and got her first glimpse of the original impact zone for CS-02. The docking bays made a sort of double Y-intersection in the center of the station. Bays 1 and 2 were closer to the command center while Bays 3 and 4 were closer to the medbay. Each bay had its own vestibule that connected to a central spire that made the junction connecting them to the station.

CS-02 had impacted directly into Bay 2, plowed into Bay 1, then collided straight into the station below the command center, but left the vestibules for Bays 3 and 4 intact. It was a miracle that the dropship hadn't wrecked the station completely, but that wasn't necessarily true. The echoes of the crash still reverberated here, even weeks after it happened. The station was dying a slow death, as were its inhabitants.

CS-01 had docked in Bay 4 and Ahsoka could see it 30 feet away through a window. The dropship itself was as innocuous as any other dropship of the same model, but she knew that what was inside was enough to terrify anyone, possibly even the Emperor himself. There was a living nightmare inside that ship, and they were preparing to let it out.

Girard and Palmer got to work fixing the door to the docking arm. They worked quickly, quietly, and efficiently. Palmer didn't speak despite his very vocal disillusionment with their situation in the medbay. But now, they worked as a team, almost as if one mind were directing them both.

Ahsoka stood in the middle of the vestibule, lightsabers dangling from her belt. She had never faced this creature before, but if blasters could kill it, then a lightsaber wouldn't have any problems either. But there was the whole problem of the acid blood or whatever was coursing through the veins of the aliens. She knew lightsabers cauterized flesh; she hoped it would be the same with these creatures.

Against the left wall stood Henry, who held his blaster down by his side. On the right side of the vestibule by the door stood Rynn and Hunter, each with charge thumpers. The charge thumpers were sort of single-shot, break-action grenade launchers, with mining charges taking the place of grenades. They were large and unwieldy, but powerful.

Hoop, standing behind Girard and Palmer, held a plasma torch. Ahsoka noted that it was pretty much a flamethrower, shooting a jet of contained plasma that would burn through pretty much anything alive or softer than durasteel.

The only two people missing were Kaeden and Sal… no, Barriss. They were still in the medbay, preparing it to take care of any injuries that might occur. Ahsoka was glad that Kaeden would be safe, but she could really care less about what happened to Barriss.

Ahsoka currently held the cargo netting, which was indeed stronger than Ahsoka had anticipated. It was triple-core durasteel wrapped in epoxy-molded carbon fiber and was wound in compressed nylonite strands. But still, there was something pulling on the back of her mind telling her this wouldn't work. That something bad was going to happen.

"Done," reported Girard. "Ready to pressurize."

"Roger," responded Palmer.

"Do it as slow as you can," Hoop called in. "Don't want to make any more noise than we need to."

"Affirmative."

There was a slight hum as the docking tube repressurized once more, a hum that Ahsoka heard but she doubted the others would have. Her montrals were apparently more sensitive to higher and lower frequencies than human ears.

After a minute, the light on the door's control panel glowed green. Girard tried to make it as close to the pressure on their side of the door as possible, but no one was perfect. The doors sighed slightly as they slid apart, the pressure equalizing once more.

"Next step," Hoop said. "Slow and quiet."

Hoop, Palmer, and Girard advanced slowly into the docking tube and began repairing the disabled door. The window in the door was fogged with condensation, but it still felt as if something was watching them. As they worked, Henry and Hunter took the cargo netting from Ahsoka and began rigging it across the vestibule door.

Ahsoka couldn't shake the feeling that the plan was as loose as ever. Open the airlock door remotely, hope the aliens charge out, hope the netting held and trapped them, hook the netting using mining picks, drag the aliens across the vestibule, down the central corridor, through another other vestibule, down the docking tube, and into the airlock of Bay 3, close the doors, then space the bastards.

Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?

"I have a bad feeling about this," she said to herself, shaking her head.

Rynn caught her gaze and made a 'quiet-down' motion with her hand, slashing it across her neck. She mouthed the words. "Girard and Palmer can hear you too."

Palmer and Girard were now within touching distance of CS-01 and the beasts that lay within. The aliens had been locked in there for weeks with nothing but the rotting corpses of the miners and the dropship crew. Little food. No water. No place to move around or stretch. She hoped they would be tired and weak and put up little resistance as they were dragged away.

"Outer airlock door ready to open," came Girard's voice. It was calm, but she could feel the nervousness of everyone around her.

Hoop, Girard, and Palmer all came back through the docking tube to the other side of the netting. Girard and Palmer both grabbed mining picks and stood by to drag the aliens. Hunter had left to open the doors for Bay 3, but checked in via comlink to let everyone know she was ready. Kaeden also came over the comlink to alert everyone that the medbay was up and running should anyone need it.

Ahsoka looked around the room, everyone nodded slowly and took positions. The outer airlock door slid open and Girard made one last check of everyone in the room.

"Go," Ahsoka said, grabbing her lightsabers and igniting them. They hummed and sang soothingly to her through the Force.

Girard hit the button. CS-01's outer hatch came open with a squeal, and the shadows poured out.


The air was stale. Dead. They didn't much care though. The darkness did not faze them. They had slept, trapped as they were, and they could sleep more. Much, much more. From time to time, vibrations would awaken one and it would investigate the surroundings before descending back to slumber. What one knew, they all knew.

Sleep required less fuel. They lived. That was all that mattered. Life.

The life of the hive.

They waited until the time was right. When new sources of food and life would appear.

Stale air suddenly became fresh. They awoke. Not because of the air, but the scent! The scent of a wielder of the Power of the Cosmos. The enemy!

The scent rippled through their consciousness, driving them into a frenzy with the need to awaken and defend against the threat. And for them, to defend was to attack.

They moved, and as they moved they became aware. They felt the presence. Their hatred bloomed, rising and rising until it boiled over in a furious rage that fueled their limbs with the need to rend and tear. The need to kill.

Had the fires of their rage possessed heat, they would have burned away the entire planet below.


Ahsoka felt something. Something through the Force. An intense wave of… rage? Yes, rage and hatred coming towards them. Between blinks, the world around her erupted in chaos.

The aliens surged forth from the dropship like a tidal wave mere moments after the door opened. They were so fast, advancing with a fury that caused her to wince. The only sounds they made were the skittering of their biomechanoid limbs and claws on the metal surface of the docking tube and a horrible screeching.

Someone shouted in surprise. Ahsoka didn't identify who it was, there was no time before the aliens hit the netting. Palmer and Girard both readied their sand picks to drag the net, but something was wrong. It held two of the aliens tightly, but two more thrashed around violently. Limbs raked at the wiring, tails whipped and slashed in every direction, and teeth clacked together, a sound that sent ice through Ahsoka's veins. She outstretched both hands, eyes squeezed shut, struggling to control them and halt their thrashing, but she was no match for their fury. It was all she could feel.

Girard began to yell. "Careful! They're-"

He was cut off as the high-tension steel-cored coils snapped with a twang. Wiring flew through the air with a high-pitched whine. Ahsoka staggered back and brought a hand to her face as one strand sliced her cheek.

Palmer screamed as he seemed to almost blur, blaster shots joining the cacophony of noise. The aliens moved fast. So kriffing fast. Blood splashed onto the ground and walls, painting the whitish surfaces a shocking shade of red, and Ahsoka caught a glimpse of blood dripping from the talons of one of the aliens.

Hoop shouted, igniting his plasma torch and sending a blast of heat throughout the room. The alien running at him kicked sideways with ease in an alarming display of agility to avoid the flame. It's new course brought it right at Ahsoka and she wondered momentarily whether that was intentional or not. It screeched as it charged forward, arms flung wide and tail whipping behind it, claws primed and ready to tear through flesh and bone.

Despite the burning in her cheek and the feel of warm blood dripping into the corner of her mouth and down her jaw, Ahsoka relaxed, putting her faith into her lightsabers. She sidestepped and ducked as the alien reached her, dropping under its attack and spinning to bisect it with her blades.

The alien screeched as the contained bars of pure plasma sliced through it like a hot vibroknife through butter. The pieces continued forward, landing on a row of seats. The fabric began to smoke.

An acrid stench bombarded Ahsoka's nostrils and made her gag. She heard something spatter onto metal, then a sizzling noise, and smelled something burning. "Acid!" She yelled as another sound reached her montrals, that of a sputtering. Ahsoka looked down at her right hand and found one of her lightsabers had been hit by the acid blood and was shorting out. She immediately shut it off, she'd inspect the damage later.

Another alien came from her left, advancing slower than the other had. It was more cautious, wary of her lightsaber. Its claws waved in the air, slashing at her as a smaller, rod-like toothed appendage slid out of its mouth. But it was all a distraction and Ahsoka ducked as she detected the soft whoosh of the alien's tail cutting through the air where her neck had been.

Strange. She hadn't sensed the attack, she only survived because her montrals felt the slight disturbance in the air, caused by the slicing tail.

"Fulcrum! Down!" Hoop yelled from behind her and she dropped immediately as Hoop opened up with his plasma torch on the alien. The roar was accompanied by an unbelievable heat as the plasma jet shot towards the alien, and it would have singed her hair if togruta had any.

The alien squealed, high-pitched and in agony.

There was the twang of more netting breaking and Ahsoka saw a shadow burst out through the vestibule and out the exit doors, bowling over Rynn, who fell backwards into the vestibule's seating, and knocking Henry aside as he shot off a few blaster bolts. She heard Hunter yell into the com. "What the kriff is going on in-"

From beyond the doors came an impact-wet and meaty-then a thud and a scream.

Ahsoka and Hoop retreated towards the exit, away from the flailing, burning alien. It squealed loudly as it burned, thrashing around, tail whipping and slicing the air as it lumbered towards the airlock doors. Towards Girard.

Girard just stood there, blood flowing heavily from the chest wound flying shrapnel from the netting had caused. He was totally expressionless, waving his pick back and forth without seeing anything. Next to him in a corner was what was left of Palmer: bloody, shredded meat.

"Girard!" Hoop yelled. "Eyes left!"

Girard seemed to stir and he lifted his head to stare right at the flaming creature stumbling towards him, then turned his head back to look at the remains of Palmer.

Rynn jumped up from behind a row of seats and fired a mining charge at the alien. The sound was deafening in the confined space. The alien screeched louder as the odd tube-like protrusions on its back were blown off, but it continued its drunken motion towards Girard.

The creature fell upon him, grabbing his head with its two blazing, clawed hands. It parted its jaws and Girard's head imploded in a bloody spray under the force of the creature's inner jaw.

Rynn fired, then reloaded and fired again, her lekku swaying from the recoil as she did. The alien's head blew apart and its carapace shattered under the blows, spreading the burning parts across the walls and floors. Flames danced up the walls and formed intricate patterns above an acidic haze.

Amidst the crackling of the fire, there was a hissing and sizzling.

"We need to get out!" Ahsoka yelled, pulling Hoop to the vestibule doors.

"Where's the other one?" Hoop yelled back, glancing at the final alien in the vestibule that still struggled to escape the cargo net, which was now failing under the acid of the dead, blazing alien.

"No time! The acid will-"

Henry limped over to them, cradling a bloody hip with one hand and his blaster held in the other. Henry looked back towards the flames. "Rynn! Behind you!"

From the flames, like some kind of demon from some religion, came the final alien. It bore down on Rynn, who vaulted a row of seats in her mad dash to escape the vestibule. Ahsoka felt her disbelief and terror, but overwhelming it for the moment was a sense of determination and anger. That was good, Rynn would need that to survive.

She realized that the twi'lek would never make it in time before the alien caught her. She outstretched a hand, drawing the Force around her to throw the alien back towards the fire, but something was wrong. The alien kept up its charge after the fleeing twi'lek.

Ahsoka's eyes widened in horror. No wonder she wasn't able to keep them contained in the net! She couldn't feel the alien itself in the Force, just an endless sense of rage and hate coming from that spot. Without a physical presence to manipulate, her power had no effect on the alien!

But that didn't mean she couldn't affect Rynn. Drawing the Force back to her hand, Ahsoka seized Rynn and yanked her towards them. Rynn flew away from the alien with a yelp, which paused and snarled at Ahsoka, singling her out from the group.

The acid-splashed window gave way.

Instantly, the vestibule was filled with a raging storm. The winds caused by the pressurized air escaping into the vacuum of space ripped up everything not secured to the floor and blasted it towards the ruptured seal of the window. Broken chairs, dropped weapons, sheared-off panels, and corpses, both human and alien, all of it was jammed against the window and surrounding bulkhead.

The wind howled in an incredible roar. Ahsoka tried to breathe, but couldn't pull any air into her lungs against the flow of the raging torrent.

There was a scream and Ahsoka looked up to see Rynn lose her handhold on the doorframe. Ahsoka immediately let go of her one of her own handholds, clinging to the doorframe, and reached out a hand to catch Rynn with the Force. The twi'lek somehow flew against the torrent of the wind to grasp Ahsoka's hand and every muscle in Ahsoka's arms and shoulders screamed in agony as she did.

The tattered remains of Girard and Palmer's bodies were pressed hard against the broken window, bits and pieces being sucked out into space like Corellian buckwheat noodles. The surviving alien had snagged its claws in the remains of the cargo netting, but as Ahsoka watched it was torn loose from the weakened wires and slammed into its dead brethren, piled onto the bulkhead with the remains of Girard and Palmer. Things were drawn out of CS-02 as well, flying through the airlock door and whipping around in the hurricane wreaking havoc in the vestibule. Clothing, body parts, tools, and other objects she couldn't identify joined the massive pile of detritus.

The storm abated as the window was completely clogged with debris of all types. The pressure on Ahsoka's montrals lessened and she pulled Rynn to the vestibule door where Hoop and Henry hauled her through. Ahsoka looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened as the final alien righted itself and launched itself at her as a high-pitched whistle filled the room.

The entire bulkhead gave way as the pressure on its weakened state exceeded the critical level. The storm returned in full force and the alien launched itself in a leap against the wind, clambering for the togruta.

Strong as an iron vice, she felt the claws of the alien latch around her left ankle, anchoring it against the wind and keeping her from pulling herself through the bulkhead.

Ahsoka twisted and stared into that eyeless, elongated skull. She screamed, a primal roar coming from her voice box as she kicked furiously at the creature's head, trying to dislodge it from her leg. Blood flowed from the cuts on her leg that the alien's claws had caused.

"Fulcrum!" She barely heard Henry's yell, but she looked in his direction. He had anchored himself somehow on the other side of the vestibule door and had leaned over, blaster in hand and pointed at the alien.

Henry opened fire, a lucky shot hitting the alien square in the forehead of its elongated carapace. It shrieked and immediately let go of Ahsoka's leg, a speck of its blood landing on her calf as it was sucked out of the bulkhead and into the vacuum of space.

Ahsoka screamed as pain shot through her leg. The acid blood ate its way through flesh and muscle and she reflexively let go of her handhold. She was airborne for a moment until Hoop grabbed her wrist.

Ahsoka just stayed there for a moment, before summoning the Force around herself for a final burst of strength. She grabbed Hoop's arm with her other hand and pulled herself to the door. Getting a hand on the doorframe, she summoned every ounce of energy she could from her screaming muscles to pull herself through.

Once she did, Henry slammed the door close button and the vestibule was finally sealed off. Ahsoka collapsed to the ground, Henry hurrying to her side.

"One of them escaped," Hoop said, his voice grave.

They all looked over to the door to Bay 2. Stuffed in the doorframe was the mutilated body of Malana Hunter. Her chest was a bloody mess, deep gouges from the alien's claws that had ripped straight through flesh and bone. Shattered ribs and fractured bones glinted with dripping blood.

"We've got to find it," Henry said.

"Girard and Palmer are gone," Hoop said, shaking his head.

Ahsoka looked between the others: Hoop, Henry, and Rynn while trying to avoid looking at Hunter's mangled body. "We've got to track it down."

"First, the medbay," said Hoop. "We need to warn Kaeden and Salvia and make sure they're okay." He paused, looking at Ahsoka's wounded leg and Henry's injured hip. "And we should get you two patched up. We need to stay together. Move as fast as possible."

Henry nodded and held his blaster in front of him in one hand as he clutched his injured hip in his other. Taking point, he led the way back into the body of Charon Station.


Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. It was fun to write, finally some xenomorph action! So a few have died and the survivors dwindle in number. Not to mention, there's still an Alien on board the ship! We aren't out of the woods yet!

So it might be a while until Chapter 5 is up. I've neglected my other work-in-progress The Forsaken Knights for about two months and I think it's time I updated that one.

As always, you, my readers, are free to comment on anything you see or think may happen. Constructive criticism is welcomed and encouraged! And if you know anyone who may enjoy this story, please share it with them!

CT7567Rules - If you thought Salvia is Barriss, you are correct! Shit did just get real, in more ways than one. The Bad Batch isn't going to be involved, I'm afraid, but there are a few more characters to be introduced. But I have to admit, I'm a bit confused as to what you mean by "the Hunters". If you mean the Predators, sadly they won't be appearing in this one. They will in the future though. :)