4

An'kin Cassus. Planet: Gree. 14:32 GST. Bleeding Skullz Private Quarters. 14ABY.

An'kin sat on the edge of his bed. With his head buried in hands, he sat there broken. It was a calm day. Nothing out of the usual was happening. The stowaway that had arrived a few days prior was behaving well and wasn't causing trouble. No, there was something else invading his thoughts today. Something much more sorrowful.

He slowly got up and walked outside to check on things. He was just kidding himself though. He was only trying to find something to distract him from his thoughts. Construction was going along smoothly, the young stowaway, Lerina, wasn't causing trouble and was being taken care of, and Kli'nah was feeling well today considering her morning sickness.

"Kli'nah!" He thought to himself. "I wonder how she is taking this. And with another baby on the way… I hope she is alright. I should go check on her." He saw her earlier that day but only in the morning. After her morning sickness she had gone out to oversee some of the construction. It seemed as though that's all she did nowadays. With a heavy heart he searched for her. He finally spotted her talking to a crew member near the factory-in-progress. He slowly made his way to her side.

"How are things going?" He tried to say in a confident tone, but she could sense that he wasn't his usual self.

"They are alright I suppose." She answered. "I have a feeling something is bothering you though. Is it because it's the anniversary?"

He paused. "The anniversary..." He repeated in his head. It had been ten years. And time still hadn't healed the wound. He could tell Kli'nah was still grieving but it was different for him, much different. "Ten years ago." He thought. "I can't believe it's been ten years."

"Yea…" He finally replied lowly.

"It's ok An'ika." She said, "I know it's tough. I miss her too."

He gave a nod in agreement. Ten years ago their only daughter, Rusaan, was killed in a horrible Blackwing accident. After ten years, it wasn't just the death that bothered him, but it was also the fact that the last time he saw her before she died he had beat her senseless. She had disobeyed his orders about tracking shipments to the 2nd Death Star. None of that mattered now. He found it hard to come to terms with his grief and the guilt overwhelmed him, knowing that the last thing he did was beat her.

Kli'nah watched as he left the construction site with his head slouched over. The whole compound seemed to know that there was something wrong with him. Nobody dared confront him about it however. They all knew what day it was, and they knew better to disturb him.

An'kin walked back to his private quarters and sat on his bed again. He didn't cry on the outside, but inside his heart cried out for vengeance though there was none to have. The only vengeance that could have been was already taken when he had destroyed a Black Wing plant on Raxus Prime all those years ago. And now, with the Empire slowly declining, the only thing left was restoring the Mandalorians to their former glory, his main objective. He slowly lifted his head and looked over to a holo of Rusaan posing in her newly acquired navy uniform. She was so proud and excited to be in the Imperial navy, he remembered. The picture brought back the memory of the day it had happened. The day he had gotten the call.

Deep Space. 12:37 GST. Imperial Star Destroyer Raven Wing. Rusaan Cassus. 4 ABY.

"This has to be the most boring patrol yet." Rusaan thought to herself. The deck of her Star Destroyer laid out in front of her. The crew was flipping away at switches and buttons keeping the ship in line and on course. She couldn't help but wonder why the Empire had her fleet patrolling this section of wild space. "What could possibly be out here?" She pondered.

"Admiral Cassus, ma'am?" The captain had come up to the bridge with a nervous look plastered across his face.

"What is it captain?" She replied curiously. Things seemed quiet. What could possibly be wrong?

"Command sent us new orders."

"Well? What are they? What's with the fear smeared across your face?" She tugged out the information he withheld.

"Sorry ma'am, it's just that. They have report of a distress signal coming from a Star Destroyer somewhere in our sector. They have ordered us to investigate." The shaky tone in which he said it set Rusaan off. "What is it he isn't telling me?" She thought.

"Distress signal? If it's in our sector then why didn't we pick it up ourselves?" She asked with contempt.

"Orders are from the The Grand Moff himself…" he forced out with the same distracted tone.

A surprised expression swept across her face. "Grand Moff?" She thought, "This was different for sure."

"Ok." She replied, "Send an order for the remainder of the fleet to stay on course we will check out this 'distress signal' out for ourselves."

"Yes, Admiral!" The captain obeyed, but she could tell something was up with him.

Rusaan didn't like this. The whole thing wreaked of trouble. "I smell a set up… or a trap." She thought. But, obeying orders, she headed out to wild space in search of this Star Destroyer. Thoughts of mutiny kept seeping into her mind. What if they found out she had something to do with the construction delays on the Death Star? What if they found out she was a double agent for the Bleeding Skullz? She kept repressing these thoughts, but they always came back the closer to the signal they got. The crew seemed to be on edge. All the staff gave her little eye contact. As they closed in on the coordinates she could feel their nervous glances they shot at her. She continued to stand there looking out into hyperspace with a stern resolve. She wouldn't let her thoughts be shown on her face. Perhaps her demeanor would instill fear of her in her crew. The Command Deck was silent.

"Admiral, we are coming in range of the origin of the signal." The Captain finally informed. The ship came out of hyperspace, and the Destroyer they were sent to investigate zoomed into full view of the Command Deck. There were no other ships around it; just the Star Destroyer. She sensed something was very wrong. There were no signs of a battle. There was no debris floating anywhere, and the Destroyer sending out the signal seemed intact. "Odd…" She thought, "We are here and still there is no distress signal coming from the Destroyer…"

"Alright Captain, nice and slow." She commanded. They brought their ship closer to the derelict and sent out a comm message.

"This is Admiral Cassus of the 157th Imperial Navy Fleet. Do you read?" She sent over comm channel. Nothing but static came back from the Star Destroyer. She could have sworn she heard a faint scream in the midst of the static but no one else seemed to respond to it.

"This is Admiral Cassus of the 157th Imperial Navy Fleet. Do you copy?" She tried again. Still static and what seemed to be garbling sounds. For once a sense of concern swept over her. And fear? She didn't want to admit it, but a certain fear was also coming over her. She just hoped that this was just a test or some sort of drill.

"Ok then." She addressed the Command Deck, "Gather twenty troopers to meet me at the boarding ramp. Dock with the destroyer and send me word when its safe to board."

The crew hesitated and stared at her with quivering eyes. That definitely told her that this wasn't a drill and that something was really wrong here. Her crew on the bridge never questioned her orders. But, as soon as they had hesitated they were forwarding her orders and moving the ship to docking range. She looked over them, studying them with scrutiny, looking for any signs of what might be going on. After a minute she headed to the turbo-lift to go down to the boarding ramp. As she walked across the bridge, she could feel her crew member's fearful stares. As she stepped inside the elevator, she hoped for the sake of all humanity that she wasn't about to make a huge mistake.

When she got down to the boarding ramp the battalion of Stormtroopers she had requested met her gaze. She couldn't see their faces but she could feel their terrorized stares. None of them ever said a word. The signal that the ship had docked blared over the intercom, and the boarding ramp door opened. She could feel a heavy atmosphere swirl around her once the door opened, and a horrid stench flooded the docking hatch. Before the group could even step a foot into the Destroyer they were coughing and choking on the gut wrenching odor that enveloped the airlock. Quickly Rusaan strapped on a rebreather, and the troopers switched on their helmet filters. Slowly the smell deluded, and they could start their expedition inside. Slowly they made their way into the derelict Destroyer.

Rusaan had gotten over all the previous questions that were swirling in her head, and the only thing she could think about was what had happened here. Where was the crew? It didn't take long for her to get some questions answered. They made their way down a hall towards a medical wing. The Destroyer seemed abandoned and empty. Not a sound could be heard through the entire ship. It was eerily quiet, and it unnerved her. Here and there were scratches, streaks of blood, and what looked like some kind of unidentifiable goo smeared across the floor, ceiling, and walls. As the small group of Rusaan and twenty Stormtroopers walked into what used to be the medical wing, the smell of decaying and rotten flesh was so potent that it seeped through their filters. All over the floor there were bits and pieces what used to be Stormtroopers. Busted helmets with flesh hanging out of them, ripped arms and legs, and torn apart and mangled doctors were scattered across the medbay. Damaged medical droids were hanging from the ceiling with guts and mucus dripping off of them. Rusaan was stunned just staring at the carnage and almost passed out from the fumes, but she quickly regained her composure.

Scanning the room for anything that could tell her what happened, she saw movement in the corner of the room.

"Umm, Tav, could you come over here!?" She frantically called over to one of the Stormtroopers searching the room. She never looked away from where she thought she saw the movement. Tav had came quickly, obviously wanting to be close to someone in this pit of madness.

"What is it Admiral?" He asked nervously.

"Look...look over there? Do you…. see that?" She choked out. What ever she saw earlier was making a low gurgling noise and low fluid movements across the back wall. They followed the movement as it headed over to one of the other Stormtroopers checking another part of the room. Then, what Rusaan saw next almost terrified her more than anything she had ever witnessed before. She and Tav watched in horror as the shadow leaped up in the air and came down hard on the unsuspecting Stormtrooper ripping and gnashing at him. The horrible creature devoured him as he screamed in terror. The other Stormtroopers that had noticed it started firing at the creature desperately trying to save their comrade, but it was too late. The creature had ripped him apart and was eating at him even as the others were filling it with plasma. Finally the creature slumped over lifeless. Rusaan was about to slowly step over to find out what it was that had attacked the poor trooper, but then one of the others cried out.

"Look!"

She whipped her head around in the direction he was pointing and she saw low glowing yellow eyes staring at her and the troopers. There seemed like a hundred pairs of dead yellow eyes glaring at them with merciless hunger. Quickly, without a thought she and the rest of the troopers shot out of the room sealing the door behind them.

Out of breath, Rusaan gasped, "What in haran was that!?"

The other troopers just stood there gasping for breath. One was crouched on his knees crying. He must have been the one closest to the victimized trooper. She sat there staring blankly at the ground shaking. What just happened? This isn't happening is it? What in the haran just shab'la happened? These thoughts just cycled over and over in her head. One of the troopers stood up, and looked like he was about to shake out of his armor.

"I'm… I'm getting the shab out… out of here!" he shouted.

Rusaan tried to stop him, but he just pushed past her and ran down the hall towards the boarding ramp. Another trooper took off his helmet gasping for breath. Rusaan knelt down beside him.

"Are you okay?" She asked panicked. The trooper was choking and gasping for air. He just stared into her eyes as he was choking and started to throw up blood. He reached for her convulsing, and choked out the word "help". She watched terrified as his eyes slowly turned a milky yellow and his skin crawled like there was some sort of parasite underneath it. She stepped back and ordered the others to step back as well. They didn't hesitate, in fact, most had already been five feet behind her. The gagging trooper slowly stopped choking and stood up with a dead blank look on his face. He stared up at the ceiling with blood and drool dripping down his chin from his mouth.

Rusaan stuttered out, "Are… are you okay?" But she knew he wasn't. Suddenly the trooper lunged at her with desperate hunger in his pale yellow eyes. She screamed and drove her vibroblade through his stomach but the trooper, or what used to be the trooper, kept clawing and gnashing at her with intense ferocity. She looked around, and the other troopers had deserted her. She felt so helpless and scared but she wasn't going to go out like this. She determinedly pushed the zombie-like creature back and whipped out her blaster and pumped the former trooper full of plasma bolts until it finally slumped down motionless on the floor.

She looked around frantically to see if any of the other troopers were still around.

"Hello? Guys? You cowards! Where are you? I order you to come back!" She screamed out. There was no answer. The hall way was silent again. She didn't know what to do. The shock was still enveloping her, and the slow flickering of the ship's lights put her into a trauma induced trance. Suddenly she heard crashing and thudding noises emanating from the vents above the ceiling that snapped her out of her delirious focus. The sounds traveled from down the hall towards her position with gargling and screeching. She stood stone-cold as the noises traveled past her and continued down the hall when suddenly the ceiling fell out with a loud crash. Rusaan watched horrified as a horde of mangled and unidentifiable stormtroopers and crew members flooded out of the air vent onto the cold durasteel floor of the hall. When they finally got organized, if you could even call it that, they spied Rusaan standing there dumbstruck with terror, and quickly clamored towards her clawing and gnashing at each other in a kind of competition to get to her.

Rusaan screamed and sprinted for the boarding ramp. She wasn't staying one more minute in this death trap and no longer cared what made the crew turn into brain-dead, fleshing eating, zombie-like monsters. As she was running back down the hall a horrid sight brought her to a sudden stop. In her way was one of those monsters devouring one of the troopers that was with her. In the light of the hall she could see in vivid detail the carnage the creature created as it ripped at the trooper. It was more than she could handle, and she had seen her fair share of war injuries and mutilations. She could tell by the serial number on the chest plate that it was Tav. The creature looked up at her with a part of Tav's arm hanging out of its mouth. Rusaan stood there, eyes wide, just staring at the monster quivering in total fear. The creature then dropped the arm and jumped at her. She screamed as she quickly dodged the attack and instinctually fired a few shots at the animal's direction as she continued to run down the hall. The screams of the creatures chasing her grew fainter and fainter as she neared the boarding ramp.

"Finally!" She gasped as she reached the docking hatch. Quickly she scrambled up the ramp back into her Star Destroyer sealing the blast door behind her. She slumped down leaning against the door and just started sobbing. Then, a loud bang bellowed against the bulkhead door, and she shot up and jumped away. Another bang and another, the creatures were trying relentlessly to get through the door. She stepped back and started to run back to the turbo-lift. On her way, she passed a crew lounge. She could see blood splatter on the walls and scratches on the glass in the door. Suddenly a Stormtrooper without his helmet slammed against the door from the inside coughing and gagging. Then another one hobbled over to him from behind and bit at his neck. The two of them fell down behind the door where Rusaan couldn't see, but she could still hear choked screams and gargled screeches as, undoubtedly, the other trooper was annihilating his comrade.

Pushed far enough from all the gore and terror, Rusaan threw up out of disgust and fear. Quickly though, she regained what little composure she still had and rushed to the turbo-lift.

"I can't take much more of this! This is insanity!" She said aloud. She stumbled into the elevator as soon as the door opened. No one was inside, but there was mucus and blood smeared all over the car. She dare not take her rebreather off because she knew that the smell would be overwhelming. The turbo-lift continued to shoot up to the Bridge. As it passed floor after floor she saw glimpses of patrols shooting at the creatures, and she heard bangs as some of them slammed against turbo-lift doors as she went up. Suddenly the car came to a stop a few floors early of the Command Deck.

"No.." She said with a horrified gasp. The door slowly opened and she readied her blaster. The hall ahead of her was silent. Not even a peep could be heard. The sound of echoing screeches, screams, and blaster shots rang through the ship but nothing on this level. Thankful, she closed the door and continued to the Bridge.

On the way up she thought to herself, "How did they get on my ship? This whole place is a war zone now and we are losing! It must be some sort of disease or bioweapon! There is no other explanation!" She continued to think over how the trooper in the derelict had just started coughing up blood and slowly turned into one of those creatures. She had heard rumors of Imperial Bioweapon plans, but she had no idea about anything like this. "Something must have happened." She thought, "that made the entire Star Destroyer go mad!" Well she wasn't going to stick around to find out. She just wanted to get out of here as fast as she could.

When she reached the bridge it was abandoned. Nobody was at their posts. Curious she raced over to the command console and searched for shuttle departures. The console confirmed that the entire Command Deck crew had left on shuttles stationed in the main hanger shortly after she boarded the derelict Destroyer.

"Those di'kut'la shabuire!" She said under her breath, "They knew this was going to happen!"

Then suddenly an emergency light started flashing on the console. She checked the incoming message.

"Haran…" She gasped. The message was a warning that the derelict had somehow punched in hyperspace coordinates to Dathomir. Questions flooded her head once again: How could they program the hyperdrive? Why Dathomir? But they quickly passed, and she instinctually started to punch in the same hyperspace coordinates to Dathomir. She knew that if she hadn't then the jump would rip apart both Destroyers killing her and anybody else who may have survived. She had to save as much of her men as possible. Even if this was an attempt to get rid of her she had close friends and Bleeding Skullz members aboard this ship. She sat down in front of the Command Deck overlooking the outside of the Star Destroyer and into space. She closed her eyes, staying calm and focused, and waited for the jump.

She was jerked from her trance as the two Destroyers simultaneously jumped into hyperspace. A blaring warning alarm sounded on the command console again. She rushed up and looked over the alarm.

"This is never going to get better is it?" She said hopeless as she read the warning: Coordinates too close to system! Reroute Coordinates!

She knew she couldn't. The other destroyer wouldn't. If those mindless creatures had somehow set the coordinates than they wouldn't know how to change them. She just stood back.

"What am I going to do?" She said to herself. There was nothing she could do. With the speed they were coming in at and the coordinates of the arrival the Destroyers would be ripped apart within seconds as soon as they came out of hyperspace. No messages would get through until they were out of hyperspace, no distress signals, nothing. She walked up to the Command Deck's large observation window and looked into the warped lights flashing by as she raced towards her impending death. A thought flashed through her mind.

"What's the use? It's not going to go through anyway…" She thought to herself.

Hopelessly she walked back over to the Command Console and sent a distress signal to the only person she knew she could trust. Her mentor and closest friend to her father, Pharsa Nets. If in light of some miracle he received her message he would be able to come to her rescue. "If I survive…" She thought.

Then, as fast as she sent the message the two ships came out of hyperspace right in the middle of Dathomir's atmosphere. Her eyes widened in horror as she watched her ship and the other ship tear apart as they screamed through the planet's atmosphere. Large segments of durasteel hull tore off the ships and crashed into other parts of the ships ripping them apart in turn. She fell to the floor of the deck as a large steel beam from the tip of the Destroyer flew up and rammed in under the Observation Deck. The entire Command Deck of the Destroyer tore off the main body. It and Rusaan inside went flying down towards the planet's surface twisting and flailing all the way. Rusaan couldn't control herself. They had come out of hyperspace too fast for her to be able to get restrained. The jostling of the Command Deck had her slamming against one wall and the next. From the ceiling to the floor she was juggled across the deck flailing and screaming helplessly as the head of the Destroyer flew through the air.

Finally the deck crashed with a huge impact that shook the earth underneath it, and Rusaan flung through the glass of the observation window. She screamed and fell silent as she was hurled into the ground having the wind knocked out of her. She lay there unconscious, unknowing that the crash through the glass had cut her all the way from her left shoulder to her right hip which allowed the hideous disease to be able to enter her body. Her thoughts drifted slowly. They went to being back home.

The wind was cool and she had just woken up in the morning. She got up and went outside. She saw Kotra playing in the yard with their pet strill. She went over to play, but An'kin called her back inside for a moment. He said he needed her to get dressed up because today was a big day. Today was the day she was going to be able to start training with Kotra. She remembered being so excited. This was the biggest moment of her life. All her family was there except her mother, but she had left a few years ago. Kotra, An'kin, Kal, On'dru, Nae'ya, Saiya, and Se'lina; they were all there to congratulate her on her becoming old enough to train! She couldn't wait!

Then suddenly a storm started to brew and she started to tremble. The earth fell out from under her, and she started to fall. She screamed and struggled trying to grab something to pull her up, but she just kept falling.

"Rusaan!? Rusaan!?" She heard somebody cry but it was faint. It sounded like… It sounded like An'kin.

"Rusaan!? Please! Rusaan no!" It was louder. The cries slowly grew more distinct. Buir? Where was he? She cried out "Buir!" Father.

"Rusaan look at me! Rusaan!"

Slowly the darkness faded into a light. She could see An'kin's face. He was leaned over her trying to lift rubble and wreckage off of her. Was this a dream? What was going on?

"Daddy, ni… kar… ar…" was all she could squeak out of Ni kar'taylir darasuum gar. I love you. She couldn't keep her strength. She could feel her skin crawl like something was growing inside her. She could still hear him cry at her, but she couldn't comprehend any of it. She went back to the celebration. They were all cheering and congratulating her. She smiled.

"Rusaan stay with me! Rusaan!" He had cried.

An'kin started crying as he sat there alone in his room. He held the holo of his daughter in his hands. Holding it with great care and looking it over.

"I'm sorry… I couldn't save you…" He said through tear filled sobs. He remembered how it ended. Pharsa had called him. He told him of Rusaan's distress signal. Pharsa was tied up and unable to help, but An'kin was on the first shuttle to Dathomir as soon as he got the news. He didn't know what he would do if anything had happened to Rusaan.

Once he arrived he traced the site of the crash and searched frantically for her through the wreckage. Lead after hopeless lead he searched in horror at the scene. The Blackwing infested creatures were everywhere and he had to put down many of them as he searched. He loathed Blackwing. He knew all too much about it because of a scientist friend, Kiwon, he had back in Moneta. The bio-weaponized disease was manufactured by the Empire for a purpose he didn't understand, but it had mutated and instead of its main purpose, it turned anyone infected into a zombie-like creature by killing them and taking control of what was left, and they consumed anything in their path with an intense hunger. He couldn't bare the thought of Rusaan succumbing to this horrid disease.

Frantically he continued his search all over the crash site. Finally he spotted her trapped under a twisted wedge of durasteel. He rushed over to her crying at her, trying to lift the sheet of steel off of her.

"Rusaan!? Rusaan!?" He cried tears flowing down his face under his helmet.

"Rusaan!? Please! Rusaan no!" He cried trying to get her to come to. He was finally able to wedge the metal off of her enough to slide her out from under the wreckage. He knelt down beside her and shook her trying to get her to open her eyes.

"Rusaan look at me! Rusaan!" She groaned and her eyes flickered to what life was left in them. She mumbled something to him. It sounded like she was trying to say I love you.

"Rusaan stay with me! Rusaan!" He cried but she fell limp in his hands. He just sat there with her in his lap and cradled her. He couldn't believe this had happened. His only daughter… his little girl was gone.

He sat there for a few minutes until something happened that he wish he could forget forever. He started to feel her skin crawl as he held her. He took off her top jacket and stared in disbelief as he saw the cut from her shoulder to her hip. It moved and a black gooey substance was seeping out of it. He could see her veins slowly turn black around the cut as it infected her. He quickly laid her down and stood back.

"No.." He screamed, "NO!" He didn't want to watch, but he couldn't look away as what used to be his beloved daughter slowly transformed into one of those mindless Blackwing infested monsters. Tears streamed down his face as he primed his rifle.

"Ni kar'taylir darasuum gar Rus'ika." He said. And with that, he unloaded his clip into the creature, that had just started to run at him, until it fell limp at his feet. He couldn't look at it. He just closed his eyes and tried to tell himself that it didn't happen. It couldn't have happened. Never! But it wouldn't go away. He couldn't forget.

Dying inside but outwardly calm, he carefully drug her body to a clearing and cremated her. She was too mutilated to bring back for a proper burial, and he didn't want anyone else to see her this way. He sat there in the fire light on a cool Dathomir night. Releasing his daughter into the Manda.

An'kin stood up and put the holo back on the desk. He straightened up and regained his confident demeanor.

"I love you Rus'ika. But I'm not going to do you any good crying over you. You would think me a fool for doing so anyway." He said to himself. He walked out and headed to the guest quarters. He had a stowaway that needed reconciliation. He thought it was time to do right by his new friend. Lerina reminded him much of the spunky and headstrong character of Rusaan, and he felt it would bring her peace to fix the relationship he had with Lerina.