No Rest for the Wicked

Orders are Orders

ABOARD 'FIST OF KORRIBAN'

Alarick was still in a deep meditative state when Rage climbed out of the Kolto tank and got dressed. She decided not to bother her companion so she quietly hid her presence with the force and went to get some food. Meanwhile the meditating Alarick was getting an unwanted visitor.

Alarick's mental self opened his eyes and stared angrily at the visitor. His Cybernetic green eye and golden organic eye flashed. "What do you want Destructus?" he asked the dark figure in front him. Destructus chuckled under his hood. His long black cloak concealed his face and flowed like a living shadow.

"Is that any way to treat your superior Alarick?" Destructus asked in a dark, low voice. Alarick glared at Destructus. The Sith warrior stood and crossed his arms.

"Answer the question Destructus or I'm kicking you out of my mind", Alarick threatened. Destructus laughed at Alarick and shook his head.

"Don't be so anti-social my friend. I came to tell you that the Smuggler you were sent to kill has been spotted. My fleet is closing in on him now. If you want to catch him you'd better hurry before we destroy him. I'm sending the co-ordinates to your ship", Destructus said with another chuckle before disappearing in shadow. Alarick growled and got out of his meditative state. He stood and walked towards the cockpit oh his ship. Rage, clad only in a tank top and her underwear, was on her way back from the kitchen with some toast in her mouth. Alarick passed her without a second look.

"Get to the cockpit after you get dressed. We found the target…" Alarick said. Rage ate her toast then stuck her tongue out at Alarick before walking off to follow his orders.

"What a prude. Didn't even comment on my figure", she grumbled. Alarick sat in the cockpit with a slight blush on his face.

"I can't believe she's just walking around my ship in her underwear", he mumbled before looking at the co-ordinates Destructus sent him and moving the ship. He growled when he thought about the smuggler. "I won't go easy on him this time. He won't humiliate me again…" Alarick sent the ship into hyperspace. Rage came back to the cockpit in a tunic and sat in the co-pilot seat.

"What's gotten you in such a bad mood?" she asked, taking note of Alarick's expression. The male sith warrior shook his head.

"It's nothing", he lied. Rage raised an eyebrow and prodded Alarick's side.

"Tell me now", Rage said sternly. Alarick gave her a questioning look but quickly looked away. Rage looked angry and when Rage was angry things got broken. Alarick sighed in defeat.

"Destructus found the smuggler before we did. He's always sticking his nose where it doesn't belong and it's starting to piss me off. I don't know if he's just prideful or insane", Alarick said with another sigh. He was too tired to be vicious at the moment. Maybe I should rest before we reach the battle. He thought to himself. He set the ship on auto-pilot and closed his eyes, listening to Rage rant about cutting off some of Destructus' important parts. He couldn't help but smirk at his partner's energy.

Jaicer had his hands full at the moment. Acelyn was going on a rampage on his ship and the Hazard Commandos couldn't contain her. Garth's attempt at stunning the jedi resulted in a supply box flying at his head. The commandos decided to leave it to their leader. Jaicer walked into the cargo hold where Acelyn was yelling at Garth and Jax.

"I don't CARE if you have a mission! I want this ship turned around! I'm a Jedi Knight so I call the shots!" Acelyn yelled. Garth and Jax shook their heads.

"I'm sorry ma'am but you are just a hired hand at the moment. Only the Commander can call the shots", Jax explained. His explanation didn't make Acelyn very happy though.

"Where is your captain?" she growled. Jaicer cleared his throat, causing Ace to turn abruptly.

"I'm the Commander", he said matter-of-factly. Acelyn marched up to him.

"You turn this ship around right now and take me back to my crew!" she screamed. Jaicer shook his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that Jedi. I make the rules, and I have a mission to complete if I want to get paid", Jaicer turned and began walking back to the cockpit. Acelyn grabbed his shoulder.

"How about a bet! Let's have a dual to decide where this ship goes. If I win we go towards Tran and the others. If you win we stay the course to your mission", the Jedi suggested. The gunslinger turned and faced Acelyn.

"Fine. You could use a lesson in obedience anyway", Jaicer said, drawing his vibroblade. He didn't even bother with getting in a stance as Acelyn ignited her cyan lightsaber. The Hazard Commandos took a step back so they wouldn't be sliced in two by either fighter. "You make the first move Jedi", Jaicer said pointing his blade.

Acelyn growled and sprang forward, swinging her lightsaber in a downward arc towards Jaicer's head. The smuggler didn't even dodge. He just parried the blow to the side and pushed Acelyn back. The Jedi tried a different angle and made a feint towards Jaicer's left shoulder before switching her attack to aim at his leg. Jaicer jumped over the leg attack and struck fast and hard, slamming the flat of his blade into Acelyn's shoulder. As the Jedi recoiled, Jaicer continued his advance, striking at every opening and pushing the Jedi back before ultimately disarming her and pointing his sword at her throat. Acelyn was panting and wide eyed. Jaicer looked ready to kill until Garth delivered a solid punch to Jaicer's jaw. The smuggler stumbled back and looked at his friend.

"Alright, that's enough, both of you. There is no need to be fighting! We all share the same mission. Ma'am we will meet up with your crew soon enough so just relax and let us take care of you. Commander, you should have explained the situation to her better instead of beating her senseless with that blade of yours", Garth scolded both of them. Jaicer sighed and nodded slowly.

"Alright then. I apologize for striking you down, now can we get on with this mission?" Jaicer said finally. Acelyn stood up and brushed herself off, completely ignoring Jaicer. That caused the smuggler to scowl. Jaicer turned and went to the cockpit with Jax and Chrom while Garth stayed behind with Acelyn.

"I'm sorry about his attitude. He has gone through some pretty nasty stuff I'm afraid", Garth said to Acelyn once everyone had left. Acelyn raised an eyebrow at the veteran soldier.

"Like what?" she asked, curious about the commander with a bad attitude. Garth began explaining Jaicer's final battle as a trooper.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jax asked Jaicer as their landing craft began its decent on the neutral planet of Arcsynth 12 (completely made up planet). Jaicer shrugged and looked at the viewscreen.

"It can't be our worst idea ever", he mumbled. He was still getting over the loss of Lucas and Blaster. The Hazard Squad hadn't been completely briefed on their mission. They only knew that Imperial soldiers that needed to be eliminated were on the planet. Jax had been assigned to Unit 1 to replace the dead soldiers. Jax had requested that he kept his old armor so he was still clad in it. Garth and Chrom had already cheered up and were trying to get Jaicer to do the same. They tried reassuring him that there was nothing he could have done and that it wasn't his fault, but that only made things worse. The soldiers finally gave up and let Jaicer recover on his own. He had just started to come out of his slump but was about to be thrown in again.

"Alright men listen up. The whole planet has been classified as a threat. Intel says that they have gone over to the Empire so our job is to wipe them out before they can hand over their Cortosis mines to the Empire", the Pilot said. Jaicer's eyes went wide and he stood up.

"Hold it pilot. We didn't sign on for a planet wide extermination. This was supposed to be a simple assassination", the commander growled. The pilot looked back at Jaicer.

"Son, this is your job. If you don't follow your orders, more of our soldiers and Jedi are going to die. Do you want that?" the pilot asked. Jaicer clenched his fist but sat back down.

"No sir…" he growled under his breath. Chrom, Jax, and Garth stared at Jaicer in disbelief at how easily he had succumbed.

"Sir, are you sure about this?" Jax asked. Jaicer shook his head.

"Orders are orders. I don't want more of my fellow troopers to die because of my mistakes", he said. He put his helmet on and shut off all communications. Chrom, Jax, and Garth shared a look before putting their helmets on and nodding. Chrom hacked into Jaicer's radio and spoke.

"Sorry sir but we can't do it. We refuse to kill innocent civilians because of some shaky intel. We're bugging out", Chrom said. Jaicer looked at them, shocked, but turned away again as they stepped into the escape pods for the landing craft. They ejected and guided the pod back to the RAS cruiser they were stationed on.

"Looks like you are joining up with the ground force alone Commander", the pilot said. Jaicer nodded but didn't speak. It wasn't long until they landed on Arcsynth. Jaicer disembarked and stepped onto the burnt soil. The attack had already begun. Jaicer hefted his blaster rifle and jogged off to join the main force. He arrived and got in formation with another group of soldiers. The main force split off to do a clean sweep of the city they were in. Screams and blaster fire were heard everywhere as the city burned. Jaicer kicked down a door and threw a thermal detonator in, ducking behind the doorframe as the explosive detonated. A loud scream from a family rang through his ears and he refused to look back in. 'Orders are orders. Orders are orders. Orders are orders.' He repeated to himself in his head. He cleared the next few houses until he ran out of grenades. He had no choice. He had to use his rifle. He kicked in the door and aimed at whoever was inside. There, cowering before him, was a small family. The husband was standing protectively in front of his wife and children. The man was holding a blaster pistol loosely so Jaicer's reflexes told him to take the man down. Three shots rang through the air. Two from the man and one from Jaicer. The two shots fired at Jaicer made small burn marks on his chest and shoulder but did no real damage. Jaicer's shot landed right between the civilian's eyes, dropping him instantly. Jaicer focused his aim on the rest of the family but didn't fire. He didn't know if he could. 'Orders…are orders….orders…are orders' he said in his head. He was losing resolve. The gaze of the small girl was penetrating his soul. Her innocence was gone, replaced by fear at the armor clad man with the gun. There was also confusion in her eyes as to why her father was on the ground asleep. Jaicer couldn't take it anymore.

"Open fire dammit!" one of Jaicer's squad mates yelled through the helmet radio. Jaicer's reflexes kicked in and he slotted the rest of the family. His eyes fell on the little girl again. Her eyes, once full of life and emotion, were now dead and empty. Jaicer suddenly felt very sick. He rushed out of the home and removed his helmet, instantly regretting it as the stench of death filled his nose. He quickly lost his cool and threw up on the street. He was a trained killing machine, but he wasn't trained for this kind of massacre. He was told all his enemies would be armed to the teeth and trying to kill him. Not innocent families. Jaicer replaced his helmet to block out the smell around him as he marched slowly onward. He still had his fellow soldiers to think about. Orders were orders. Jaicer cleared the next few houses, relieved they only had armed people in them, even if they were only armed with blaster pistols. His armor had obtained a few new blaster marks and his shoulder was starting to hurt. Eventually the massacre of this city ended and Jaicer regrouped with the rest of the invasion force.

"This city has been cleared. We are moving on to purge the rest of them now. This isn't a very inhabited planet but there are 3 more cities. The mines will be untouched because we need that cortosis so it won't fall into the Empire's hands", the Commanding Officer said to his men. Jaicer couldn't believe his ears. He had to clear at least 3 more cities. He could feel his stomach gurgling again at the thought of the families he had killed simply on orders, but he had to follow through. "Are we understood troopers!" the CO yelled.

"Yes sir!" the troopers and Jaicer yelled out. Some troopers were less enthusiastic than others and Jaicer was flat out depressed.

The campaign continued for the rest of the day and once everyone was dead, millions of civilians and families murdered, the troopers were sent home with some unfortunate news. Jaicer ran onto the gunship he was leaving on. His helmet slammed against the wall and he roared as he punched the seat he was sitting on. He set his head in his hands and clawed at his skin. He had become a monster. He had just murdered thousands upon thousands of innocent people just to find out the Imperials had never even made it to the planet. Other troopers looked disappointed that their time was wasted while others looked just as horrified as Jaicer. A hand was placed on Jaicer's shoulder and the Commander looked up. A female trooper was sitting beside him with a sad look. It was a girl from the 143rd. Judging by her insignia, she was a fresh recruit. Jaicer looked away and shrugged her hand away.

"I don't need any comfort if that's what you're thinking", he grumbled. The female trooper shook her head.

"I don't think comfort is what you need. You need reassurance. Yes, it is terrible what we did but it isn't your fault. You were just following orders like the rest of us. You wanted to protect the Republic", the trooper said. Jaicer stood up and whirled to face the woman.

"The Republic can go to hell for all I care! What we just did was worse than anything the Empire could conjure up! I'm finished with this crap! You, and your justice, and your peace can all die slowly!" Jaicer erupted in the woman's face. The trooper looked on the verge of tears. Jaicer calmed down, remembering he wasn't the only trooper who did those things. He sat down again and sighed. "I'm sorry…what's your name kid", he asked the girl.

"I'm Samantha", the girl said timidly. Jaicer nodded.

"Sorry again for my outburst Samantha, but I've been with the Corp for a long time. Never in all my life have I seen anything as terrible as this…or done anything like this", Jaicer sighed, putting his head in his hands again. Samantha rubbed the older trooper's back as the gunship took off. When they returned to the RAS cruiser where the Hazard Squads were stationed, Jaicer marched right up to the bridge and resigned. He explained the whole story to the General who was there and was given an Honorable Discharge. Jaicer then said his farewells to his men and Samantha, who turned out to be a new trooper in Unit 2 of the Hazard Squads to replace Jax. Jaicer left the Republic that day to live life on his own. Later he became the cold hearted Smuggler that he is now. He still fought for the Republic but knew where to draw the line. The officer in charge of Intel was discharged by the Republic and later killed in a mysterious explosion. Reports said a man in a black gunslinger coat and a black hat was seen leaving the area but no one could be sure.

Garth finished his story and Acelyn looked horrified.

"He did those things because of orders?" she asked. Garth nodded slowly and sadly.

"Unfortunately. That's why he's like this now. He doesn't trust many people and puts himself first. He doesn't want to risk another incident like that by following someone else's plan. He must be in the mood for some serious payback on the Empire if he accepted this mission. I think it'd be best if you backed off of him for a little until this mission is over. You'll be with your friends soon enough", Garth reassured the Jedi. Acelyn nodded and the two made their way out of the cargo hold and to the cockpit. Jaicer ignored them both as he punched in co-ordinates for Korriban. He hit the hyperspace lever but nothing happened.

"Hyperdrive must be shot. We should be near Tatooine. I could probably pick up some repair parts there. Get some rest everyone because it's going to be a long trip", Jaicer sighed, setting the course for Tatooine and putting the ship on auto-pilot. He closed his eyes and began to doze off in the pilot's seat while the eyes of his troopers and Acelyn examined him. Acelyn felt bad for the smuggler and the troopers wanted desperately to get him back to the way he was before Lucas and Blaster died. They would all have to come up with a plan sooner or later.