Chapter 15: Out of the frying pan…

Larry ached all over after his second meeting with Genji Take-no-hemi, but despite that he felt like he had achieved much. This time he had learned more about detecting people who did not want to be seen unobserved, a tricky task but one that Larry had caught on to almost every time. Every time, except the first time. Delaine had planted a foot in the small of his back so firmly, that it still ached.

From then on he had managed to defeat every one of master Genji's hidden watchers, but not without taking a few pains for his efforts.

The day was getting dark, and Larry was ready to catch some real sleep before his return to DreamLand this evening.

Walking next to him, Delaine smirked at him, "You sure you're okay?"

Larry coughed slightly but waved her off, "Yes, I'm fine."

Truth be told, Larry hurt a bunch. But he wasn't about to show that in front of the only ninja in the dojo who had managed to lay a hit on him.

"Thanks for the lesson, Delaine. But I have some things I need to get done tonight. I have to finish studying for that calculus test and need to read up on the information concerning the fall of the Han dynasty," Larry said as he unlocked his car, "I'll see you in class, right?"


Larry came to himself inside of DreamLand where he had fallen asleep the night before: inside the cabin that he had taken onboard the Pride. There were so few actual clan members left that there were more cabins now then fighters, but Nikita and the rest of High Command hoped that would change in the next visit.

A fist pounded on the door that was covered in gilt and hieroglyphs in the Goa'uld fashion, and a tall blonde haired man stepped in who looked familiar.

"You're Harrod, right?" the guy asked.

It took Larry a moment to realize that the blonde had just quoted his screen name, "Yeah, that's me alright."

"Good, I'm glad you're awake. HC is assembling a team to go down to Nar Shaddaa and they want a Jedi on it. You game?"

Larry stood up, "Of course. I just need to get a few things together before I go. I'll meet you guys on the bridge, alright?"

Larry came onto the bridge to find Fury, Nikita, James, Bobby, Tex, Fox, Assim, Outlaw, the blonde haired man, a girl whom Larry did not know, and a few others like Biffy and Spacer.

"This team will consist of seven members," Nikita said, "Fox, Assim, Tex, Outlaw, Harrod, Allied, and Section. Allied will lead the expedition because he is the ranking officer," she said motioning to the tall blonde haired man, "but Outlaw has been hired to bring us into contact with the Hutts who control this system. Once we re-supply and rearm, we should be able to move on."

James stepped forward next, "At the same time, Fury and I will go into the city and try to recruit some new blood and maybe get our hands on some equipment."

Then Bobby said from behind James, "I will lead a small group of soldiers to attempt to raise funds while we are here. Our money is running low, and we will have to leave able to sustain ourselves should it come to another fight. All of you try to gain money if you can, but don't attract attention to yourselves. The Clan Hunters have the Index, and every clan, guild, and faction knows that. Understood?"

Everyone either nodded or murmured their approval.

"Everyone else who is not going will remain behind and watch the ship. This space is dangerous and this task is most important. If we're stuck on Nar Shaddaa or if the Index is lost, things will be very bad," Nikita said, "If you need help, raise us on our PDAs, alright?"

The crew members who were staying behind nodded their heads, and the High Command quickly placed the ranking officer in charge. Larry recognized the cold blue eyes of Fate and nodded in approval. He and the Doc, who was still the group's white mage, were to be in command of the Pride for this short amount of time, but they were important because they had remained loyal to the Clan Hunters during the mutiny.

"Alright, everyone head out to the Hanger," James said and began to push his way through the small crowd to lead the way, "We're all going down on different ships, so form up with your team and make your way down to the surface in one of the remaining five SEC shuttles that you all arrived on Halo in.

"Any questions?"

"Do you have a list of the parts that the ship needs?" Allied asked, "I doubt I can find something labeled "generic parts" anywhere."

Nikita clicked her tongue in irritation and tapped the screen of her PDA and sent a list to Allied's own PDA, "Any other questions?" Nikita asked.

"Remember, if your crew cannot make it back to the ship within the five hour limit, let us know and hunker down for a while. Nar Shaddaa is a large place, and even though it's dangerous you should be able to find a place to lie low for a long enough time for you to make it back. Does everyone understand that?" Bobby said from the helm.

Everyone nodded their heads and anxiously indicated that they were ready to make for Nar Shaddaa without wasting any more time. The began to break up and Larry moved to stand nearer to Allied.

And that was when Larry noticed the impossible.

Standing in the doorway leading directly off the bridge and into the captain's quarters stood the Clan Hunters' former chief of intelligence: Rear Admiral Cano. Larry's mouth opened in shock, but as he was about to point out the man, he disappeared.

"Ya alright there buddy?" Fox asked while leaning on his rifle, "You're about as white as a sheet."

"In fact," Tex said grinning, "I'd have said you had seen a ghost!"

Blinking Larry looked down at the two, "I'm fine. Just ready to get out of this ship."

"I hear ya there buddy!" Fox said as he slung the rifle around to his shoulder, "When do we leave?"

Allied was talking with Assim and Outlaw and both seemed to be in a heated argument with each other. The other girl whom Nikita had named as Section was sitting off to the side, tapping keys and buttons on…a large white thing…

Motioning to his two friends and surviving squad mates, Larry moved in to hear the argument between Assim and Outlaw.

"…and I still say we can't trust him!" Assim was saying.

"Sir! I'll have you know that I have offered my services to you for no cost. I have laid myself bare before you and this is how you repay me? I will not have it, sir, I will not!" Outlaw growled back at Assim.

"You have laid yourself bare huh? I say that's horseshit. You're up to something, merc and I want to know who paid you off!"

"No one. My last employer ended services with me after I left Halo. Don't believe me? Ask your High Command, they were there."

Assim seemed to get even more enraged at that, "That's what you wanted them to see! Why were you on Halo in the first place?"

Outlaw smiled and twisted his moustache around his finger, "Still angry about that are you? Face it, ambassador, I beat you fair and square. Get over it."

Assim snarled, "That's not what this about! Why were you…?"

"Enough," Allied said. He did not shout or raise his voice, but both stopped and looked at their commander, "I will not have my team ripped apart because they were on different sides a few days ago. If that were the case, then this already tattered clan would not exist and the Index may have already been used to activate Halo. You two will learn how to get along, or else I'll maroon both of you on the nearest moon I can find."

Assim's face darkened and Outlaw clearly thought that Allied had just made a clever joke, until he saw Allied's face.

"Alright people, for those of you who don't know me, I am Fleet Captain Allied. We are the largest group because our mission is the most dangerous. We have to approach the most cunning of enemies on this side of the galaxy in order to cut a deal with them. I have a list, and only the Hutts can furbish this equipment. We must not appear to be any more then what we are: travelers who need the services of the Hutts. This equipment will not be cheap either, so any complications here will only injure our cause. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," Larry said.

"I reckon' so," Fox drawled.

"Yes, sir," Tex said smiling.

Section nodded softly.

"Very well," Assim said grudgingly.

"You are most correct to advise caution," Outlaw said.

"Good. Let's get down there then," Allied said.

The team shuffled for the door, but Larry glanced back over his shoulder toward the door that lead to the Captain's room. It was empty.


SeeD Candidate Emma Varch frowned at the mess of the street distastefully. Her partner was a short and strong man with dark skin who was bent over a dumpster.

"I told you not to drink anything here!" She said angrily, and he raised his head in what may have been an attempt to reply, but he buried his head back into the bowels of the trash can.

Rolling her eyes, Emma leaned against the wall of the alley way and read some of the graffiti. Most of it was in an alien tongue, and but even she was unable to make out the untidy scrawl.

Emma was a linguist by nature, and had applied to SeeD hoping to gain a job in that would involve travel. She had not expected to be drawn into the manhunt for the men that had escaped the Headmaster, but she should have realized that her skills were necessary.

"I thought you said it was safe to drink that!" Jake said, groaning.

"I didn't say any such thing! It was green and bubbling, clearly poisonous to humans. Those rodians are probably laughing themselves back into a more cheery mood now."

The strong-arm heaved himself up. He had sunken eyes and a broken nose, but he clearly looked in no condition to hit anyone out. His name was Jake Cipriani, and he had arrived at Garden in an ambulance after a bar brawl in Balamb, and had never left.

"Ugh," He groaned as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, "I've had some bad drinks in the past, but that was the worst."

Rolling her eyes, Emma helped the larger man up, "Let's head back to our hotel," she said, slight disgust tinged her voice on the word 'hotel.'

Laughing, Jake caught her mood, "You mean our little hole in the wall that has a door over the entrance? Yeah, let's head back there. I doubt the Headmaster's quarry would plan on showing up here…"

The two walked nearer the mouth of the alley until the throng of alien life that walked up and down the crowded streets of the Corellain district came into view. Turning to the left, Emma readied a spell strong enough to render anyone who took them as easy prey unconscious in a moment. They passed several bars and shops before coming to the district's spaceport. Numerous ships were docked and most of those ships were freighters and other ships of transport.

Their small apartment sat in a wide alley just off of the spaceport, and they walked into it as two hired thugs watched them menacingly. One was a Talaxian while the other was an Unas. The Unas was glairing at everyone through its thickly armored eyes. The Talaxian let the two SeeD candidates pass without any problem.

The alleyway was lined with doors that reminded Emma of storage compartments that she had seen elsewhere, but here they were used by refugees and other miserable folk to live in. She pulled her larger partner through the rusty doors that marked their storage compartment and set him down on the two cots in the room.

"Sleep it off," she growled, "I'm going to get some air, and keep an eye out for people at the pubs, alright?"

His only response was a loud groan and she slammed the door behind her, hoping that it didn't help his headache.


Larry brushed his lightsaber under his old drab olive green uniform with his fingers. This whole place made him feel uncomfortable, especially since he was beginning to pick up the moods of places through the Force, and he did not like it.

"Where is this contact that you know?" Allied asked as he touched the hilt of his gunblade.

"He's in the Corellian sector, in the Meltdown Café'," Outlaw said as he threw his cape around his shoulders. They had managed to land the shuttle on a rickety landing platform after bribing the owner of the platform with gold scraped off of the gilded halls of The Pride of Clan Hunter. Sometimes the tacky interior decorating of the Goa'uld warlords came into use.

Assim was scowling at Allied, because Allied had ordered that all obvious guns of extreme firepower (namely Assim's mini-gun) be left behind, on account that they would really make them obvious to anyone who was looking for Clan Hunters members. As a replacement, he was carrying a pair of pistols similar to the two Desert Eagles that Outlaw carried. Perhaps that grated him even more then having to leave behind his large weapon in the first place.

Tex and Fox both came out of the shuttle then, and Fox was waving his hat around in front of his face trying to waft away the smell that was everywhere on Nar Shaddaa. Tex was glairing over Fox's shoulder into the crowded throng as though looking for danger already. She wore the camouflaged outfit that Larry had seen on her the first day they had met, but something about her body language was different now.

Considering her for a moment, Larry returned his attention to Allied and Assim, "Sir, we need to get out of here," Larry said, "We're wasting time."

Allied blinked as though that had not occurred to him and he spun on Outlaw, "Well don't just stand there, man! Let's get going."

Outlaw huffed through his moustache, but he spun on his heel and led the Clan Hunters through the throng of aliens and humans. The Clan Hunters formed a tight box around Allied with Assim watching Outlaw and Tex and Larry to either side while Fox took up the rear, his rifle not attracting many looks. Section was busy walking along next to Allied and occasionally looking down at the big white plastic rod that she was carrying.

"What is that?" Larry asked her as Outlaw paused at an intersection between two ramps and the main road that they were traveling down.

She looked up, "This? This is my MUT. Think of it as a computer that's made for the single purpose of hacking into a computer."

Larry stared at the thing with a little more respect, "So I take it you're decent at hacking into any computer system then?"

She nodded, "I managed to pick up some skills in that area. The High Command thought I'd be helpful because I can detect security systems too and disarm them if they pose any threat. That kind of thing. I can do a lot more though."

The group started off again and Allied muttered something to Section, who began fiddling furiously with her MUT.

Larry turned away from her and began to cast out around him with the Force, attempting to find an overall mood for the people that surrounded him here. Larry almost choked on the overwhelming emotions that surrounded him.

Fear. Hate. Suspicion. Rage…it was overwhelming.

All around them were either tall buildings or severe drop offs into the lower regions of the moon. The movement of ships and speeders overhead and between the buildings gave a sort of breeze that reminded Larry of a highway's unsettling wind.

A shrill scream vibrated through the air over the sound of the passing vehicles as a woman's body flew by the walkway. It happened so fast that no one could do anything to help her before she passed out of sight on her way into the depths of the moon.

Suppressing a shiver, Larry watched the crowd as they took almost no notice of the incident and passed on as though it were usual to see people fall to their deaths. Outlaw turned a corner into an alley that was covered with something sticky on the floor. Suppressing a groan, Larry saw the entrance to the Meltdown café near the end of the tunnel.

The façade was rusting away, and the only way anyone could have told that it was a pub was because of the hand painted sign that was fastened over the door and lit up by an eerie yellow light.

"I wonder what they got to drink in there," Fox muttered.

"I wouldn't advise it," Outlaw said looking back at him over his shoulder, "Not unless you brought your own glass."

Fox smiled, "That's just like home."

Allied turned to Section and the squad spread out a little bit. The alley was less crowded then the street.

"What's the security here?" he asked in a low voice.

Section peered into her MUT for a few moments before answering, "Surveillance inside the bar and automatic turrets stationed behind the bar, and on each of the corners of the room, allowing for a full field of fire. The turrets are set to stun, most likely to break up bar fights…" she frowned, "This is strange…there's an odd energy reading here..." she tapped her screen, "It's under the building, deep. An explosive that could take out this whole sector," she said and glanced up at Allied.

"That shouldn't be there," Allied murmured, "The Hutts wouldn't have put it in, since it would destroy a lot of their money making ability here. Do the owners know about this," Allied asked Outlaw.

Outlaw blinked and straightened as Allied looked at him, "I wouldn't think so, sir. But even if they do, they wouldn't tell me…"

Allied pushed forward and everyone had to quicken their pace to keep up. A large Hork-Bajir was standing at nearly eight feet with a long serpentine neck and a beak sprouting from it's green skinned face. The creature peered down at them with beady eyes and flicked his blade-covered arms and legs at them.

With a flick of its long neck, it allowed them in.

"You make no trouble, me no have to hurt you. Understand?" It said thickly as Allied was about to walk into the bar.

Allied turned and looked up into the intent gaze of the Hork-Baijir, "I won't go looking for trouble, if that's what you mean."

The creature blinked in confusion, but before he could open his mouth to question Allied, he had stepped into the bar with his squad behind him.

The first thing that Larry thought about when he stepped into the bar was that it was a dirty place that had almost no lightening. The smell of tobacco and other vile things stained the air, as though they would never leave it.

Outlaw lead his companions to a table to the right of the door in a corner, facing the bar and the entrance so that the Clan Hunters were watching both at the same time. After a few minutes a small female squib with ruffled fur and a missing ear said in a high pitched voice, "Hiya buddy-buddy, you want drink to wet down dry mouth?"

Fox opened his mouth from his seat on the far end of the table, but Outlaw forestalled him, "No Dena, I'm here to see Vogga. Is he around?"

The squib's other ear flattened against her head as she studied Outlaw for a moment, "Oh, It's you!" she squeaked, "Vogga is here, but he been bad-mad, you bet. You go in there, you be toasty-crispy when you comin' out."

"We're willing to take that chance," Allied said.

Dena gave Allied a flat stare, "Okay-dokie. Vogga gonna' eat you for lunchy, you bet."

She walked off, leaving the Clan Hunters to stew in their own thoughts. It took a while, almost fifteen game minutes by Larry's PDA timer, but she came back out escorted by one very dangerous looking klingon.

"Only two of you see him," The klingon growled, "And you two go in unarmed."

Allied stood up and motioned to Outlaw, "You know him, so you'll take me too him," Allied leaned close and muttered something into the flamboyant man's ear, and Outlaw went slightly pale.

Allied surrendered his gunblade and several throwing knives out of his pockets and boots and set them on the table next to Outlaw's Desert Eagle combo.

"We'll be back," Allied said and he walked off.

After a moment, Fox said, "Well I reckon' that since we're gonna have to wait a while, I'll order myself something to drink."

Tex shook her head, "Don't drink too much. We may need you to be sober. I count two different gangs in here and one clan of gamers. I hope that they have no interest in the Clan Hunters…"

Assim shook his head, "If they didn't make for Halo when the message went out then I doubt they have any interest in…what we're carrying."

Fox finally got the attention of Dena again, and he offered a canteen, "Fill that up with whatever ya got to around drink here."

"You bet," the squib said and walked off.

"How long do you think this is going to take?" Larry asked.

Tex shrugged, "I don't know, but I wish we could hear what was going on in there."

Section spoke up then, "Got it. Everyone lean in close so that no one overhears this."

That was when Larry suddenly noticed that soft voices were coming from Section's MUT. Leaning closer, Larry realized that they were the voices of Allied and one very deep voice that was in a language that he didn't recognize.

Able to catch only words and phrases, Larry figured that the Hutt was willing to deal with the Rear Admiral for the Clan Hunters, provided that they were able to pay the appropriate fees. Then Allied seemed to be haggling with the Hutt, hoping to drive down the price of the parts that were needed for the Pride of Clan Hunters.

Larry glanced up, and was surprised to see a young woman staring at them. When she saw Larry looking, she quickly went to the bar and placed an order, never looking directly back at the Clan Hunters. Rather, she began talking to a very tall man next to her on the bar who had a large quarterstaff type weapon next to him.

Leaning over to nudge Tex he whispered, "I think someone has taken notice of us."

She nodded, "I saw it too. We should get out of here as soon as possible."

Fox leaned in and glanced over his shoulder toward the woman, "Whatcha talkin' about?"

"Look at her outfit," Assim murmured, "It has the insignia of a SeeD candidate on it."

"You can see that?" Larry asked in surprise.

Assim tapped his eye, "Borg implants, remember?"

That was when a large muscular man with an unsteady gate stumbled in though the door. He looked a shade of green and cast his eyes frantically around the room. Seeing the girl at the bar, he hurried over to her nearly knocking over several tables of patrons and upset two drinks into the laps of their owners. The man ignored their curses and hisses and stood next to the woman.

"This can't be good," Larry said as he eyed the newcomer.

"What do SeeDs gotta be chasin' us for?" Fox asked, "We didn't do nothing'."

Larry shrugged, "That's beside the point. We need to get off this planet as soon as possible. Section, can you contact the other Clan Hunter teams? I'm sure Nikita and the other High Command will want to know about this…"

That was when the big man stumbled over to them with the woman pulling at his sleeve as though trying to pull him away, but he pulled her along as though he did not notice her resistance. Finally she gave in and smiled at the Clan Hunters as he opened his mouth, "Hiya. My name is Jake. You mind if I have a seat here?"

Before anyone could reply, though, he sat down in a vacant chair next to Fox. The woman hesitated before taking a seat across from her partner which placed her next to Larry.

"We're travelers," the big man slurred, "And we know that you're not from Nar Shaddaa. We like to know where other people have been and have come from and that like. Where have you come from?"

Larry couldn't think of anything to reply to that, but was saved by the Ambassador, Assim.

"We come and go as we please, stranger. Never staying in one place for long though, I'm afraid. What about you? Where do you come from?"

"We're from the Fourth Imperia, at least, that's where we started," the woman spoke up, "But since we've ended up here."

No one made any reply then, and the silence stretched into long uncomfortable minutes, broken only by the sounds of Section's typing on her MUT.

Finally, the big man leaned over the table, "Listen," he growled, "We know who you are. You are going to come with us because we want to talk with you somewhere other then here. Someone who we know would like to talk with you very much."

Larry felt Tex tense next to him, and that was when a tug in the Force made him look up. Standing in the door were about six other men and women dressed in the blue uniform of the SeeD candidate and lead by a man in a long tan trench coat with a cowboy hat on his long red hair. At that moment, Allied and Outlaw were coming out of the back room after meeting with Vogga. Allied's eyes widened at the two new people seated at the Clan Hunters' table and his eyes snapped to the door. They met the startled gaze of the cowboy, and everything seemed to slow.

Allied raised his palm toward the man in the trench coat at the same time that the cowboy raised a shotgun toward Allied from across the bar. Fire shot out of the tips of Allied's fingers and lead poured out of the muzzle of the cowboy's rifle.

The fire from Allied's spell erupted around the SeeDs, but did not touch them. The lead from the shot that was fired seemed to stop in front of Allied, and the shot fell to the ground.

Larry snatched his lightsaber from his belt and ignited the blade at the same time that Tex rolled backwards off of her chair and that Assim flipped the table overtop of the SeeD candidate who called himself Jared.

"They must have delayed us until backup could arrive," Larry shouted as the rest of the room began to disintegrate.

"No kidding! Thanks for figuring that one out, Sherlock!" Assim said sarcastically as he began swinging the table around the room easily.

Tex picked up Allied's gunblade from the floor and tossed it to their commander from across the room. It landed at Allied's feet and he bent to pick up the slim weapon with one hand. Fox picked up Outlaw's Desert Eagles and tossed those to Outlaw as well.

The other SeeD candidates had begun spreading out then, using overturned tables as cover and producing an assortment of weapons. Larry counted two with swords, three with guns of some kind, and a third dark-haired girl that was swinging around something that reminded Larry of nun-chucks.

The other patrons in the bar began producing their own weapons: sonic weapons, phasers, pepper spray, blasters, vibroblades, swords, knives, shock-lances, and one of the clan members carried what looked to be an elephant gun with its muzzle spread wide. The big man that the female SeeD candidate had tried to speak with earlier was using his giant metal quarterstaff now, swirling it around and cracking open skulls and knocking anyone who was in his way unconscious. A dark smoke was leaking from the ends of his staff, and it lingered around the tall man like some kind of smoke bomb, making it difficult for Larry to make out the man's features.

Tex was carving a path towards Allied with quick thrusts and powerful overhand blows, never bothering to parry an attack unless she had no other option. Assim was following behind her, swinging what was left of his table into the heads and bodies of the brawl.

Fox had taken cover behind the bar and was popping up to take well aimed shots at the SeeD candidates that were still covered by the door, forcing them to keep their heads down.

Larry cut through the arm of an attacking human, one of the clan members Larry figured, when an enormous fist nailed him in the jaw. The next thing Larry realized was that he was sitting on the ground with his vision swimming in front of him. His lightsaber was still in hand, but all of Larry's concentration was gone.

Looking up, Larry saw that it was Jared the drunk SeeD candidate that had stuck him. Getting up slowly, Larry let his mind go out to the Force and began to react to the urgings that he felt from his subconscious. In an instant, Jared was on top of Larry again thrashing and punching into his body. Larry dodged each attack only to find another one waiting for him. Trying to gain a little distance, Larry back flipped over an overturned table and struck out with his purple blade in a strike aimed at the large man's Adam's apple. With supernatural grace, the big man managed to dodge Larry's strike and landed a powerful uppercut on Larry's wrist. The shock forced Larry to drop his weapon and gape as another hammer-sized fist came for his face.

Again, Larry found himself on the ground. Eyes rolling around in his head, he tried to stand but could only make it to his knees. Looking up at the big man, Larry braced for another blow. Jared grinned down at him and pulled back his other fist for a finishing blow when a hollow clunk sounded from behind him. Jared's grin became a look of confusion and then he turned only to receive another blow to the face from the tall man's quarterstaff. Jared dropped to the floor.

"Th..thanks." Larry managed to the tall man.

"Don't mention it," the big man said tossing Larry's lightsaber over to him, "For a Jedi, you need work," he motioned behind Larry.

Behind Larry sat the female SeeD candidate with the nun-chucks. She sat up against the wall with her throat cut. Her nun-chucks were on the ground just behind where Larry was sitting.

"We should get out of here," the tall man said.

Larry considered for a moment as the tall man ducked to avoid a blaster bolt, "Sure."

The leader of the SeeDs was using his forearm to steady his aim as he fired a shot at the last remaining member of the clan that were inside of the bar. He went down with a cry of, "Ohhh! I just got this account too!" before his body convulsed and he lay still.

Fox's head came up from behind the bar and he fired a shot at the tall man. Sensing it, he sidestepped and the shot flew past him and into a SeeD behind him.

"Yeah! Take that!" Fox cried.

The SeeD who took the bullet groaned and sent a powerful fire spell into the bar, causing the alcohol there to burst into flames.

Tex finished off the wounded SeeD by placing her sword into his ribs. The SeeD leader spun as and tried to fire a shot just as Tex removed her sword from the SeeD candidate, but he froze when Allied's gunblade came across of the man's throat.

"Too slow Irvine," Allied said cooly, "Drop it."

Larry deflected a shot from another entrenched SeeD and then cut through the sword of a very surprised looking SeeD candidate. Drawing on the Force, Larry mustered all of his strength and flung out his palm into the face of the SeeD candidate. He flew backwards across the room and hit the other SeeD that was hiding behind a table. Both slammed into the far wall and were still.

At this point, the chaos had died down so that the only people who were standing were the Clan Hunters, the tall man who had helped Larry, and the man named Irvine. Assim was holding the girl who had been with Jared by the back of her neck and forcing her to stand upright. When the girl saw that Irvine was captured and without his rifle, she began to splutter, "I…I'm s…sorry, sir. I tr..tried to contact you as soon as possible.."

Irvine motioned her to be quiet, and she cut off with a sharp click of her teeth snapping shut.

"Out into the street," Allied said coldly, "MOVE!"

Fox came out from around the bar, from which fire was spreading even faster. He picked up his canteen that had been discarded during the fighting and filled it up with one of the unbroken bottles that littered the floor. After a sip, he nodded his head in approval and stuck the canteen on his hip.

"Where's Outlaw?" Section asked as she handed the throwing knives that Allied had forgotten to her commander. She had picked them up as a last minute weapon and had succeeded in throwing one at one of the SeeD candidates when he tried to shoot at her. The blade bounced off of his face after hitting handle first, but the distraction had been enough for Fox to put a bullet through the man's forehead.

Larry looked around. The flamboyant man was no where to be seen, "I can't sense him either," Larry said after trying.

The whole group moved into the street then with Allied pushing Irvine ahead of him. Smoke began to billow out of the bar behind them, "A fitting name," Irvine said as he nodded his head toward the sign that read, 'Meltdown café.'

Allied shook the man in a command to keep silent, "Why do you keep following us?" he demanded.

Irvine looked up to the sky that was slightly obscured by the grimy sides of the alley wall, "Because we were paid to, traitor." Allied shook the man a little harder, gagging him.

"By who?"

Irvine grinned, "You know I can't tell you that."

Allied roared with rage and rammed the head of the SeeD commander into the side of the wall, and he crumpled into a heap.

Section cleared her throat, "I just got a message from Nikita on the Pride. Vogga has delivered the supplies we need and we've been ordered to return to the ship."

Allied spun around and had to look up to stare into the eyes of the tall man with the staff. The smoke that had surrounded the tall man earlier were gone now and he was just a towering giant.

"Who's this?" Allied asked after a few deep breaths.

"My name is Beyond," The tall man said as he pulled a flask off of his side and sipped out of it, "I was in the bar. Is your clan looking to recruit? I haven't seen that much action since I went on an infiltration mission in a borg cube."

Assim shifted at the mention of the borg, but he said, "James did say we were looking for new members."

Allied nodded, "Alright. Sure, but we'll need to ask you some questions before you are allowed to stay. Nothing serious, just typical procedure."

"We should get going," Tex said softly. She had cleaned her blade, but was looking at the alley entrance, "Either SeeDs or the authorities will come and find us. I don't want either."

Allied agreed and the group marched off with the captured SeeD linguist in tow.


John sat upright in his chair and stared into the screen intently. It couldn't be. He zoomed in on the figure who was leading the procession and he sat back with a laugh.

"Ta'veren." He laughed and stood up.

Walking over to where his own original device sat, he quickly plugged himself into the World of Dreams and entered certain override codes from his neural feeds.


The Clan Hunters walked out onto the bridge that connected the landing pad that held the Clan Hunter's SEC shuttle to one of the main streets in the Corellian district. Allied suddenly stopped and when he spun to face the rest of the Clan Hunters, all the blood had drained from it.

"No…" he whispered. He grabbed Larry by the shoulders and said, "Listen to me, you have to stop him. It won't be easy but there is a way. There's not much time. You're Ta'veren, I've felt it since I saw you at the battle on Halo. You can stop him, but not alone."

"Stop who?" Larry asked. The other Clan Hunters were beginning to look concerned at their commander going mad.

"No time. You'll know soon enough. You need to gather together other Ta'veren from the other worlds here inside of DreamLand. You need the Hero of Time, the Boy who Lived, the King of Gondor, the Son of Big Boss, the Hero of Chaos, the Dragon, and the High Summoner. Only then can you overwhelm him! But be careful. When you take those Ta'veren away from where they belong, their worlds will begin to fall under the sway of a darker balance inside of those worlds, and DreamLand will become more dangerous then you can possibly imagine. But the alternative is worse! Much worse!"

"You're not making any sense!" Tex said.

"How do you know this?" Section asked, "Only a system admin would be able to know that."

Allied gave her a smile, "That's because I made DreamLand to begin with. But I did not know the costs that making this place would take on my mind."

Larry stared, "That makes no sense! John Call…"

"I can't explain!" Allied said, "Remember! Hero of Time, Boy who Lived, King of Gondor, Son of Big Boss, Hero of Chaos, the Dragon, and High Summoner. Now GO!" Allied shoved a stunned Larry toward the shuttle.

"Come with us," Section said, "We can run from whoever's chasing…"

"No, you can't!" Allied shouted, "He's after me; you're in danger so long as you're with me."

Larry and the rest of the Clan Hunters had to scramble inside of the shuttle quickly. The shuttle hovered off of the pad for a moment, and Allied stood in the middle of pad and turned back the way he had come, with his gunblade drawn. With one last hesitant glance, the shuttle turned and flew up into the sky.


John Call walked down the ramp toward the end of the landing pad and watched as the shuttle's engines faded off into darkness.

"Touching," John sneered, "Very noble of you."

Allied looked at the man sadly, "You knew what noble meant, once upon a time."

"It'll never work," John said, "Even if they do manage to even convince those Ta'veren to join him, the World of Dreams will become too dangerous to travel anywhere. Much less execute that command."

Allied smiled, "You never were an optimist."

"That's your job."

"It was yours once," Allied shot back.

"You were a fool."

"You still are."

John's face darkened and he began to concentrate on the figure in front of him. It took more effort, considering who the man was who he was about to do this too.

Allied's screams went on for nearly five minutes before it cut off abruptly, and then John walked over and picked up what was left of the head and stared into a face that was his own.

Cursing, John pitched the head over the side of Nar Shaddaa's landing pad and exited the World of Dreams.