I realized during my own read through that I put the wrong document in for this chapter! Here is the correct one!

Last time: Cien spoke with Messan as they staked out the bar.

Now: They find the remanent.


Chapter 10- Imperial Assault

After a few hours of staying at the bar, the party decided it was a bust. Although it was a good evening, neither Viran nor Cien got the impression anyone in the bar was paying any malicious attention to them, and the others were of the same mind. At the very least they did get to visit and have dinner, so it was not a total loss. They stepped out onto the streets in the mid evening hours, and started the walk back to the landing field, where they planned to retire to their ships for the night.

It was not an overly long walk, only a few kilometers along city streets. The Medical center and this district were close to the landing field. Along the way, a large speeder truck had overturned blocking the intersection, and workers and security were directing pedestrians away from the site of the accident. With a shrug the party took the suggested detour. Kyr walking beside Viran trying to engage him in conversation, Cien talking with Nova, while Kelce and Scamp were walking up front in their own conversation.

"So you going to get an X-Wing?" Kyr asked Viran as they walked.

"At some point, maybe," Viran said with a shrug.

"I never got to fly one, they looked pretty fun." Kyr observed.

Viran smirked. "It was really fun actually," he said. "It would be nice to do it again. Maybe once we get Op and Sasha back."

"Maybe we should get a couple." Kyr mused, "we have plenty of light freighters in the hangar, but a distinct lack of fighters. We could have our own little squadron?" He suggested.

"I would be up for that," Viran said, feeling better by the conversation.

"Do we know anyone who can paint? We'd need to figure out a livery to put on them." Kyr said, scratching the bottom of his buy'ce as though it was his chin.

"I can't think of anyone, but that would be awesome," Viran nodded in agreement.

"Hey, cyar'ika." Kyr said, she was deep in conversation with Nova about something, and she didn't respond. He spoke a little louder, "Cien!" She still didn't respond, she laughed at something Nova said instead. "Cienestra!" Kyr said louder.

"What?" She said, looking back at him with only a slight hint of being perturbed.

"Do we know anyone who can paint stuff? Viran and I are going to buy a squadron of X-Wings."

Viran, Scamp, Nova, and Kelce did a double take before exchanging a look with each other at Cien's full name.

"Why would I know anyone?" Cien said in a slightly bemused tone.

"Well you're such a social butterfly now I thought you might have a friend who did stuff like that." Kyr said in his own bemused tone.

Nova snickered at that. "If you need a good painter, there are some on the Defiant that could add the designs for you," she butted in.

"Thanks Super. Knew one of us would know someone." Kyr said with a smirk.

"What are you guys going to do with a squadron of X-wings?" Cien prodded, looking over her shoulder at Kyr and Viran.

"I don't know," Viran said, a little distantly. "Fly them. Take them on jobs. Race each other. Do stuff like that." He then looked away.

Cien caught the tone he said that with and furrowed her brow just slightly. "That actually sounds like fun, when we get home maybe I'll buy some for us." She said, with a slightly joking tone.

Viran looked at her surprised by that. "Wait, are you being serious right now?" He asked her.

"Yeah," Cien said with a shrug, going for it, "racing, escort, that actually seems like a good idea. And fun."

"They're not bad to have them around," Scamp agreed, speaking up.

"Wait, you're serious cyar'ika?" Kyr asked, quite incredulously, "even if they're surplus they aren't cheap…" He said, trailing off.

Cien slowed slightly so she could smirk at Kyr a little more directly, "well, three thousand years of compou-"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted as a high powered blaster shot pinged off her left chest plate from a distance down the road, she staggered back. If she hadn't slowed it would have been a headshot. Kyr immediately pulled her into him as he turned her around, using his back to shield them as he rushed her into a nearby alley for some cover.

Viran and Scamp dove for cover. Kelce pulled Nova aside and used his larger frame to give her cover as they took their own.

"Is everyone okay?" Kelce called once they got to cover.

"Yeah, thanks," Nova said as he still had his arms around her, protecting her.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Scamp called out to the others.

"Are you okay?" Kyr asked almost frantically as he finally loosened his grip on Cien, slightly.

"Yeah." Cien growled. She reached over her back and grabbed her buy'ce from the magnetic holder and put it on her head. "That shot came out of nowhere." She groused.

Kyr unslung his carbine and turned his attention back to the entry of the alleyway, they had stopped in the dead center of the long space between the multi-story buildings. The sniper probably still had them blocked off at that entrance. "Stay here." He commanded her, in a murderous tone that made her blink, as he stepped away. "Scamp, go clear the other end of the alley."

"On it," Scamp said as he unclipped his bucket from where it hung on his hip. He then pulled out his blasters and made his way to clear the alleyway.

Viran produced his lightsaber and made his way over to Cien. "You okay?" he asked her, with a worried tone.

"Yeah." She said, her voice slightly muffled from her helmet as she looked down at the impact mark on her chest plate. "It'll wash off." She used the Force to pull her lightsaber to her hand as she moved to where Kyr was stalking to the mouth of the alley.

Viran nodded and looked at Kelce and Nova.

"Of course this is the one day I don't pack explosives on my person," Nova groused as she pulled out her pistol.

Kelce chuckled at that. "You know other methods of making things explode," he said with a smirk.

Nova beamed at that.

Kyr was carefully stalking his way forward as Cien and Viran formed up behind him. "My buy'ce caught him, he's two buildings down, other side of the street, two windows in on the fifth story." Kyr informed them.

Two large trucks, something that looked like delivery speeders pulled up on either end of the alleyway and each disgorged six men, in civilian clothes and a mishmash of different surplus arms. Kyr definitely noted they were E-11s and other Imperial weapons in a split second before he dove behind a dumpster for cover, and dragged Cien with him.

"I think we found the Imperial Sympathizers," Kelce thought out loud as he pulled Nova into cover behind some boxes.

"More like they found us," Viran said as he activated his lightsaber and stayed put in the middle of the alley, ready to fight.

"Well let's show them they made a mistake facing us," Scamp commented as he ducked behind a nearby bin and pointed his blasters at them.

Kyr removed himself from cover and swept his blaster up, taking quick aim and disabling three of the men on their side of the narrow space. Scamp laid down cover fire on the other end of the alley. Viran rushed forward, lightsaber out before him, as he ran to help Scamp.

Cien ignited her saber and deflected a few shots that were aimed at Kyr and the others behind them, one of them she sent back to the man who fired it. At her side Kyr took out the other two. Viran blocked blaster bolts left and right, and sent them back at those who fired them. The men dropped as Viran closed the distance. Kelce and Nova stood back to back and laid down cover fire to both ends of the alley. Kelce firing towards the men Kyr and Cien were fighting while Nova helped Scamp and Viran. Cien used the Force to push the truck over on its side with a growl and rushed forward, and Kyr ran forward at her side, sweeping around the corner of the alley entrance.

He took careful aim, holding for a second as he used an enhanced vision mode to watch for movement. There, a barrel. Kyr took several shots at the window, and saw the barrel fall to the ground as the blaster was dropped.

As Scamp cleared the last of the men, the truck started to pull away. Viran used the Force to stop the truck and pull it back towards the alley, it's engine whining as it tried to get away. He then flipped it onto its side causing it to roll over onto its back.

"Is that it?" Kelce asked, keeping his blaster leveled.

Another hover truck came to a screeching stop at Kyr and Cien's side of the alley, and a side door opened as five men came pouring out. They weren't in armor, but the way they moved, they looked like Stormtroopers. That thought flashed through his mind as he swung his carbine around to take aim at them, as Cien brought her lightsaber up to shield them from their barrage of fire.

Viran and Scamp looked towards the other side. They exchanged a nod and Scamp ran down to give them a hand. Viran then went to make sure the coast was clear on their side and make sure all of the men were down before going to help them.

Kyr took three of the men down from behind Cien's cover, and was surprised when the other two went down from shots that came from off to the side, out of their view from the Alley. The truck started to pull away at that and Cien ran forward with an annoyed snarl, somewhat headless of her own safety as she ran forward and took hold of the truck with the Force, holding it back as it tried to escape, She twisted her arms up and over and the truck flipped up and over itself, following the movement of her hands as it crashed, loudly.

Kyr looked down the other side of the road and saw the security captain from the bar running cautiously up towards them. She'd been the one to fire the other shots.

"Are you all okay?" Captain Messan asked as she arrived.

"Yes." Cien growled as she stalked towards the overturned truck. Kyr ran to the driver's side door and covered her with his blaster as she ripped the door off its hinges with the Force. The captain rushed to her side, also covering her with the blaster pistol as Cien physically ripped the driver from the seat. The man was sitting there in a daze as his head bled from a head wound he must have gotten during the crash.

"Who are you with?" Kyr demanded.

"None of your business, Rebel scum," the man hissed.

"Oh to hell with this." Cien grumbled under her breath and opened the fingertips of her glove and pressed them to the man's throat. She froze slightly as she entered his mind.

"What's she doing?" Captain Messan asked Kyr uncertainty.

"Just give her a second." Kyr said.

"Is... she-" Messan started with a hint of worry in her tone.

Cien flinched slightly and came out, looking at Kyr and then to Messan. "He's a bounty hunter. Used to work for the Empire." Cien stated, "and he was the one who sold out Sasha and Op." She turned. "To Von Signa."

Viran, who had approached with Scamp, Nova, and Kelce, when Cien was in the mindspace, snarled as he charged forward and grabbed the man by the front of his shirt.

"Where the hell is my wife and brother?" Viran growled as he shook the man.

"I don't know," the man said, fear and confusion in his voice as to what just happened. "He just paid me to find them. He didn't tell me why or what for. He just said they were Jedi and part of the New Republic. That was enough for me."

Viran snarled at the man as tightened his grip around his shirt.

"He's telling the truth." Cien said, making no move to stop Viran.

"I'm taking him into custody, let go of him." Messan said forcefully, stepping forward.

Viran looked at her sternly, but nodded. He threw the man down as he let him go and stepped away.

She stopped forward, putting her blaster back in her holster as sirens from security forces started close by, and pulled a pair of binders from her belt.

"This Signa person is the guy Kitsu and Illara are checking on, right?" Kyr asked as he and Cien both approached Viran.

"Yeah, that was the name," Viran said in a low, stern tone as he continued to glare at the man as he was being arrested.

"Then that means they'll probably find something. We should let them know we got confirmation." Kyr said, stepping away slightly to call Tac and relay the message to the two of them.

"Are you okay?" Cien asked Viran quietly.

Viran took a deep breath and turned away from the man. He looked away as he answered her. "I'm alright," he said, quietly and slightly downcast.

She looked at him worriedly. She of all people recognized the darkness there. She swallowed, and took her helmet off, looking at him. "We're making progress, Vir. We're going to find them soon."

"I know we will," Viran said, looking at her. "Sorry, I lost it there."

"Viran, there is no one in the galaxy who understands more than I do." She said, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks," Viran said with a small smile.

Kyr walked back over, "they said they're about forty-five minutes out, they'll let us know what they find."

Viran nodded.

Messan walked over, grimacing at the messy battle that had taken place. "The not-dead ones are being taken to the hospital, the ones that weren't seriously injured are being taken to my security office. You guys want to join me there?"

"Are you arresting us?" Kyr asked, with a hint of a grin in his voice.

Messan looked at him puzzled. "No, I was just inviting you guys to come take part in the interrogations."

"Oh, good I love interrogating Imps." Kyr said, rubbing his hands together.

Cien looked at her husband with a strange look, not sure what he meant by that. "Yeah, we didn't have any other plans tonight." She said with a slight shrug.

"Alright, lead the way," Scamp said.


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