Or'osson settled in nicely with the ship, just as soon as we gave him the room closest to the engine controls, which every deck has to have. He said something about silence being the worst enemy a person could have, or some sort of bounty hunter wack-a-doodle bullshit. But as long as he's happy, I'm happy. The rest of the crew get on with him too, he helped Loyus perfect her blasting skills despite her protests, saying she had the best training the galaxy had to offer. Clearly not. Adriav point blank refused to have any help however, stating her skills were enough to get her out of plenty of sticky situations in the past that anybody else would surely have died if they were to face it. Marduk and he had many hand-to-hand combat fights and every time Marduk won, Or'osson won the next. Adriav managed to pound both of them to the ground at the same time though, much to their distaste. Tyrik just observed from afar, not wanting to have any confrontation other than necessary, even if it was for training. Although I doubt he would need any extra training, you have to be pretty damn perfect at what you do to get on that council.
"Who do you think we should go for next?" Bardo asks, handing out the tablet to me. We managed to narrow down our criteria a bit last night, getting rid of the ones we definitely didn't want to work with. Still, it went from one-hundred and something to about forty, which is still a lot to pick from.
"Should we ask Mak again?" I laugh, signalling Mak to come over to us. Bardo shakes his head.
"No! We need to be serious about this!" He shouts, "Sorry Mak."
I groan and begin to examine everybody we could recruit.
"Okay, I want another girl. The last three people we got were boys." I inform him, and he nods, switching something in the criteria so it only shows girls. I scan through it again, and one in particular catches my eye.
"What about her?" I ask, handing the tablet back to him as he too looks through the profile. He seems impressed with her looks, although he doesn't examine much else other than her unusually large breasts.
"I like her." He grins.
Typical guy.
I snatch the tablet back and begin to read through her dossier.
"Specialises in blaster combat, most prominently through the use of her T-6 Thunderer heavy blaster pistol." I read out, allowing a confused look upon my face at the name of the pistol.
"What the heck is that." I sneer, looking back at Bardo who shrugs his shoulders.
"T-6 Thunderer. Hmm." We both turn to see Loyus think deeply throughout her vast knowledge on weaponry, "Ah! Of course, the T-6 Thunderer, recognized by many as the most powerful blaster pistol ever created. However, due to it operating like a carbine-" She stops as we begin to get confused again.
"You two really need to brush up on your knowledge of what's in the armory." She sighs.
"Sorry." I grunt back.
"A carbine is a smaller version of a rifle with less accuracy but a faster rate of fire. Many consider the T-6 Thunderer to be a carbine due to it having the very same properties a carbine would." She finishes, symbolically wiping her hands against each other.
"Anything else?" She grins, cracking her knuckles.
"So what about your blaster?" I ask, now deeply fascinated by the range in blaster pistols. I honestly only though there was one type. She pulls it out from underneath her white robes and examines it, holding it up in the light.
"DL-22. One of the finest in the galaxy, if you ask me. The barrel holds a higher-grade focusing crystal to increase the damage from each individual blast. Not only that, it also has a stun setting. Which is always good fun." She smirks, putting it away again.
"And Adriav?" I ask. I may be getting too excited of the overall prospect of guns.
"Twin KYD-21s, although one is closer to her heart and the other is from your armory." She finishes, folding her arms and joining us looking at the dossier.
"Human, former Sith spy, interesting." She says sarcastically, glaring at the dossier.
"Emphasis on former. The Sith are her enemy now. Which means she's our ally. Tarth! Set a course for Hoth.
"And her name?" Loyus asks, folding her arms.
"Tara Fury."
I look at myself in the mirror of my bedroom, tugging on my hair so it ties up in to a tight bun.
"Okay, we're over Hoth. Hop on a shuttle when you're ready." Tarth says over the intercom.
Loyus gave us each one of her many fur coats and I pull it on, feeling warmer instantly. It's black, and although I have no idea what creature it came from it must have been big, because it stops just above the ankle. I've replaced my usual boots with thick leather boots and am wearing around ten pairs of socks.
"You ready?" Bardo grins, he too has wrapped up especially for the occasion, wearing the leather jacket Loyus payed for on Mos Eisley over his white fure coat.
"Always am." I reply, pulling on my fur hat and sunglasses which will shield me from the blinding white that is everywhere on Hoth.
Tyrik has decided to say behind for this mission with Mak and Tarth, which leaves six of us to scout around on Hoth to try and find Tara.
"We spitting up?" Adriav asks, glaring at me as I step on to the shuttle. Earlier today she specifically asked to not be in the same group as Marduk.
"We sure are. Loyus and Or'osson with me. Marduk and Adriav with Bardo."
Adriav's eyes flare up and she grunts, slumping back into her huge brown fur coat. The six of us will blend right in to Hoth, each of us wearing layers and layers of fur and leather to try and keep warm. As long as nobody sees our weapons, they won't suspect a thing.
"Wait a second – what exactly is she doing on Hoth? No people live there, only Wampa's and Tauntauns." Or'osson asks, confusedly.
"She's an ex-Sith spy. I'm guessing there must be some Sith activities going on over Hoth." I reply, "Which is all the more reason for us to head there."
I'm almost blown over as soon as I step off the shuttle by the intense snowstorm that is Hoth's natural weather. Adriav too is almost knocked off of her feet, although we both grab on to the shuttle to stop ourselves a humiliating fall. Nobody other than each other see us fall, so we give one another a mutual nod and follow the rest of our allies out in to Hoth.
"There!" Loyus shouts, pointing to a huge war zone on the other side of a base directly in front of us.
"That was the rebel base in the original Battle of Hoth. Let's hope the people in there are still the opposing side of the Sith." Loyus notes, beginning to run towards it, and I follow along with the others.
"So much for splitting up." I say to Loyus, who smiles.
"Splitting up isn't always the best option!" She replies, continuing to run. I dodge a runaway blast from the warzone and pick up my pace, hoping to make sure that doesn't happen again. Whoever it is inside the base notices us and notifies a few others, who all ready their weapons. Standard practise, although they won't shoot unless they're sure we're enemies. I'm guessing due to our outfits being different to the Sith they're hesitating to shoot us.
"Beka Fenn. Jedi, and this is my crew." I say, getting my breath back.
"Loyus Montani, Queen of Rattatak." Loyus says, stepping forward. All of the soldiers bow their heads in presence of royalty.
"Adriav Winters, psychopathic murderer." Adriav smirks, receiving a few panicked looks from soldiers, "Ah, what a difference a title can make."
The six of us step in to the base, and I pull off my hat and sunglasses.
"We're with the alliance. These Sith aren't half putting up a good fight!" A female soldier says to me, ushering for me to follow her further in to the base.
"Although I'm glad we've been sent some Jedi back-up. You are our back-up right?" She asks.
"Well actually, we're – no, we're not. Although we would be happy to assist in any way possible," I start, looking over to the others, "Wouldn't we."
I receive groans from Marduk, Adriav and Bardo, but enthusiastic nods from Or'osson and Loyus.
"Well you're with me, and I'm saying we are." I inform them. My rule overrules everything else.
"This our back-up?"
The six of us and the soldier look and see a very alluring woman strut towards us, whipping her hair backwards as she does.
"No, we're not, my names Beka Fenn, and you?" I ask, holding out my hand.
"Tara Fury. I've been expecting you Miss Fenn." She says she she shakes my hand, before dismissing the soldier who salutes and promptly marches away.
"She saluted you." I point out.
"Excuse me?"
"She saluted you. That must mean you're pretty high up in the rankings, I just thought they wouldn't be so quick to trust somebody who used to work for the Sith." I say, leaving my face expressionless.
"Don't be so quick to judge, Miss Fenn. I provided vital information on the Sith that has saved many lives, as well as being very experienced in combat. I rose through the ranks quickly." She winks, spinning around and walking towards a computer console.
"I'll be ready to leave just as soon as we're done with the fighting here." She adds, "You gonna help?"
I stare at her. To say she's supposedly one of the highest ranking people here, she certainly isn't dressed accordingly. Attired in a shiny black catsuit, even with the heels, black hair that just goes past the shoulders. Her accent is even different to the others, it specifically sounds like Earth Australian.
"Just say the command." I grin.
"Queen Montani, you, Winters and Or'osson will join me on the ground team. Your blaster skills will prove a force to be reckoned with. Blud, Fenn and Fenn, the three of you will take to fighters jets. While your lightsaber and erm..." Tara stops mid-sentence to examine Marduk's weapon, "Spade skills would no doubt be able to tip the scales on our side, you could easily become overwhelmed. You would do better in a jet."
I nod and begin to climb in.
"See ya' later guys, be careful!" shouts to us over the sound of the jets firing up. I nod, and give Loyus a stare to say don't trust her.
"You ready?" Bardo says through the headset as I put it on.
"Let's go, boys!" I cheer, zooming out of the opening, right over my allies heads and flying straight into the battle zone.
"Okay, Marduk, you scout around Tara and the others and keep them alive, Bardo and I will tackle the enemy fighter jets!" I shout through the earpiece. These jets are definitely older models than the ones aboard my ship, they make too much noise.
"Got it!" He replies, doing a loop to fly back to our allies.
"Okay, Bardo you tackle the ground forces for now, I'll take down some of these jets. I'll inform you if I need any help!" I inform my brother.
"Got it sis!" And with that, he too flies off in another direction. Instantly he begins firing at some of the enemy ground forces and they fall to their death in a puddle of their own crimson blood.
"Gross." I hiss, and turn away from what Bardo's doing to focus on what I'm doing. I fly directly forward, making sure to swerve to avoid several blasts as I head for another jet. I pull back on the main gun and begin to fire, and the jet instantly dodges it. I curse under my breath and begin to chase it, falling back into my seat as I pull the jet upwards to follow the exact directions of the jet I'm after. I pull back on the gun again but it swerves and does a speedy roll to avoid every one of the shots. The ship suddenly turns and I see the guns being pulled up.
"Shit." I whisper to myself, driving the jet straight downwards just as it begins to fire. It misses, luckily for me, as I managed to move faster than the pilot was expecting. I accelerate and go as fast as I can to try and make the pilot decide I'm a lost cause but he refuses to give up, continuing to follow.
And then, out of nowhere, another jet is following me too. They both begin to fire at the same time from different angles, and I have to fly the jet upwards to dodge the X-shape of blasts that the two jets create.
I think back to pilot training from the Jedi academy. None of it covered anything like this.
I'm guessing they underestimated how far I would go.
I twist the ship around and fly straight forwards, making sure both are still following me. They are. Good, my plan should work.
I fly behind a mountain and the two ships, as I thought they would, split up to go either side of the mountain. I slow the jet down to wait for the two of them to appear either side of me, then pull up, allowing them to crash in to each other in a burst of orange flame.
"Nice work, sis!" Bardo says through the headset, as I look over to see how he's doing. I find it almost comical that the Sith are running in fear as they see Bardo's jet approach their base, and he begins firing in to it.
"Not bad yourself!" I reply, laughing.
"Marduk, how's it going?" I ask.
"It looks like us being here is really payin' off!" He shouts back, "We've got rid of half of the ground forces already!"
I grin. At this rate, people all over the galaxy will be begging for our assistance. Beka Fenn, Jedi to the rescue! I like the sound of that.
"Loyus, are these Asinis's men?" I say to the earpiece, aware that as a ground soldier she won't be equipped with a headset so I have to use the earpiece instead.
"As I said, Asinis is building an army. I think he's the- look out!"
Loyus stops talking for a second, and I look over and see a huge explosion where she was just standing.
"Loyus?" I whisper through the earpiece.
Is she dead?
"We're fine!" She pants, and I stare closer and see the four of my allies in cover just behind where the explosion was, she continues to talk in between jumping up to shoot, "As I was saying, I think the Sith view him as their new leader. He's the most- Of for fuck sake!"
I laugh at her displeasure at having to move to new cover to avoid another bomb, and am almost shocked that a Queen would use such language.
"He's the most powerful Sith lord there is right now, okay I'll speak later there is one Sith bomber soldier that is really getting on my last nerve!"
I fly over them to see her snatch Tara's heavy pistol and use it to shoot straight at the bomber that won't seem to leave her alone, and it explodes in a fiery blaze, before she hands Tara her gun back.
"Beka, bogey directly behind you!" Bardo says through the headset, and I twist the ship around to directly face it. I'm close enough to see the pilot's face fill with fear but far enough to blow it up before I impact with it.
"Okay Beka, return to base, we'll rendezvous there!" Tara says through the earpiece.
"I have to say, I'm impressed. After the Jedi council themselves contacted me I knew you'd be good, but I never expected you to be that good." Tara says, folding her arms and examining us.
"You're a lot younger than I expected too." She adds.
"I'm sixteen!" Bardo protests, folding his arms in one of his stroppy teenager mood swings.
"And I'm twenty. But does age really matter?" I ask.
"Of course not. I'm thirty after all, and I've been both a spy for the Sith and a general in the Alliance army. How many other people can say that?" She winks, spinning around to head over to her computer again.
"You kept your part of the deal, and I'll keep mine. You helped us here on Hoth, so I'm happy to join you on your mission now." She says, downloading some information on to a memory drive and inserting it in to her tablet.
"Let me just download my stuff."
"Any personal belongins?" I ask.
"None. They simply weigh you down. I've got my information, my gun, and my utility belt, what more could a girl need?"
I shrug my shoulders, not wanting to give her the endless list of things of which I require to survive.
"I'm not sure how I feel working with a former spy." Or'osson states, eyeing Tara. I roll my eyes before replying.
"You were okay working with the convict." I hiss.
"I'm right here!" Adriav shouts, holding her arms out, as all of us burst into laughter.
"I'll meet you on your ship. I've just got a few goodbyes to say." Tara finishes, walking away.
"See you there."
And with that, we return to the ship.
"I have to say, I've hijacked rides on many ships in my time, but this is by far the finest I've ever been on." Tara points out, admiring the ship.
"That's what everyone says." I reply, sighing, prompting a confused look from Tara.
"Oh! Not about the hijacking bit, but about the ship itself." I chuckle awkwardly, scratching my head. She smirks at me and continues to admire the ship.
"I'll head down to my room. Let me know if you need my assistance." She grins, walking to the elevator.
"You sure we can trust a spy? Never mind a Sith spy?" Tarth asks.
"Former. Geez, you people are so untrusting." I groan, before myself heading for the elevator.
It's been a long day.
Covered in black we lack the social graces,
Just like an animal we crawl out of our cages,
They can't tame us,
So if you're one of us, get on the bus!
If you're a freak like me,
Wave your flag!
If you're a freak like me,
Get off your ass!
It's our time now,
To let it all hang out...
So shout if you're a freak like me,
You were born to burn,
This is no disease you don't need a cure!
It's our time now to come out!
If you're a freak like me!
If you're a freak like me!
This chapter was named after Freak Like Me by Halestorm.
The latest addition to the team is Tara Fury - the scorned ex-Sith spy who wants nothing more than to exact her vengeance upon the Sith. She was created by Rookie756.
Ugh, so I don't know what you think but I feel like my writing is getting worse, I didn't like the chapter before this and this... no. Just no. I'm not feeling it at all. But as I said, I want to keep up the daily updates, so here it is!
For last chapters question I asked you what colour Ahsoka Tano's lightsaber was in the Clone Wars cartoon - the first person to get this right was ShadowMaster77.
Also - I have a couple of things to say! Not necessarily complaints but points I want to make sure you all are clear on.
- Firstly, this is my story, remember that! If I don't write your character or something about your character exactly the way you want it, don't complain and do not tell me to change it. You have no idea how much this infuriates me! I'm writing these characters in to the story in a way that fits me, I am the author, you are not, learn the difference people!
- As I recruit more people your characters part will naturally get lesser and lesser, I'm sorry but there isn't much that can be done about that! But remember the story itself focuses on and follows Beka and Bardo, so this itself shouldn't be too much of a problem (hopefully.)
Now I'm aware the first one doesn't concern all of you, but if it does concern you, TAKE NOTE! To those of you that it doesn't concern, pretend I didn't just go on that long rant cause you are AWESOME.
Last chapters just for fun question was Which one of the team would you least like to go up against in a fight?
ShadowMaster77: I would least like to go up against Tyrik, he sees with the force, I wouldn't be able to sneak on him.
Barrett M107: Adriav: Psycho! Hello? She'd probably chop off my hands, make them in to fists and punch me with them before doing so many other things... *Shudder*
Rookie756: And I would least like to fight with Loyus 'cause if she got pissed off she would just call upon her endless Rattataki armies to annihilate me. XD
Alice the B-Rabbit: Adriav xD She'd kill me.
KingOfStories01: As for the team member I'd least like to fight... Adriav... she's too insane to predict normally...
Storm229: I wouldn't want to go up against Adriav, since she's all badass and stuff xD
There seems to be a common pattern occuring here... Can anyone see it? Looks like some of us are a liiiiitle afraid of Alice the B-Rabbit's character Adriav.
You may have noticed a certain character didn't appear here at all...that's as that certain characters submitter has not been reviewing at all. If you're reading this certain character's submitter, get reviewing!
Okay I'm aware I seem angry at several points in this authors note but seriously I'm as cool as a cucumber, like when I have alphabet spaghetti it spells words like 'serene' and 'waterfall' on its own cause I'm just that relaxed, yano?
For the question; Whoever can name the most members of the Jedi council during the Clone Wars will win!
And just for fun, Which character so far other than your own would you be most upset to see die in the final assault on Asinis's lair, and why?
Thanks for reading, reviewing(most of you), and for your continued support of the story!
Until next time, GOODBYEEEEE.
I would least like to go up against Tyrik, he sees with the force, I wouldn't be able to sneak on him.