Disclaimer: Don't own SWTOR, KotOR 1 or 2! SWTOR and K1 belong to Bioware and K2 belongs to Obsidian! The characters–both playable and computer–belong to them!
Chapter 2
Quesh's acidic rain pounded against the durasteel ceiling, creating an echo that rippled across the entire compound. Mixed in with the droids constantly manufacturing the planet's chemicals, it was enough to keep a cadet up throughout the entire day and night. Reca was no cadet, and she managed to drown it out. It was the best Reca could do to keep her mind busy for the next few minutes.
Reca's brown eyes scanned the many Republic personnel attending the computers placed around her. Any of them paid little attention to the head of Havoc Squad standing in the middle of the command center. Reca could not really blame them, they were just doing their job to watch out for Imperials.
During the Great Galactic War, the Republic set up a compound on Quesh to harness the planet's toxic chemicals for making adrenal glands. It would not have been a problem if the Sith Empire did not put up their own compound. It was what made Quesh become one of the many planets caught in the power struggle between the Republic and the Sith Empire.
It was at that point a gruff, yet familiar voice asked, "You alright?"
Reca's eyes wandered towards her husband, Sargent Aric Jorgan, who stood next to her. He was large and in white armor with Havoc Squad's insignia. What made him intimidating to the others were the feline features of being a Cathar with the sharp teeth and the vertical pupils in green eyes. That and Jorgan did carry a large assault cannon on his back.
"I'll be fine," Reca assured her husband. "I'm just a little antsy."
Jorgan turned his eyes away to glance at the personnel working around the base. The muscles under the red and tawny fur remained stiff until he spoke, "A place like Quesh is no place for a married woman."
His commanding officer gave the Cathar a playful nudge to his side with her elbow, causing Jorgan to grunt a little. "Then maybe you shouldn't have married me in the face place, Jorgan," the Miralian shot back with a playful grin on her face.
Reca could see a small smile break through the stoic look on Jorgan's face. Such a fearsome look for a soldier, yet Reca found her husband's soft side so easily. It seemed to be a given thing, the lieutenant learned, as her relationship with Jorgan developed since first joining Havoc Squad on Ord Mantell.
The couple had only been married for a few months, and yet the constant ongoing disputes between the Republic and the Sith seemed to take away from their time together. Sure, they fought side-by-side against Imperials, but they rarely had time to themselves to relax. It almost made Reca wish that she and Jorgan could leave Havoc Squad and spend living out rest of their days, but she knew that she still had a job to do.
The sounds of footsteps caught the attention of Reca, and she saw two Republic soldiers, members of the many units deployed to Quesh, approaching. Both were armed with blaster rifles that were kept aimed on the person that stood between them.
That said person was a Twi'lek woman dressed in a long, raggedy brown coat over a simple red uniform. The Twi'lek's pair of lekku hung from her scalpel and there were patches of dirt all over her red skin. A pair of electronic bindings cuffed her wrists together, limiting the Twi'lek's arm movement.
Reca's eyes shot towards the two Republic troopers flanking the Twi'lek's right and left. "What's going on, troopers?" she inquired.
"We found this one trying to leave the base," the trooper on the right reported, gesturing his blaster rifle at the prisoner. "She was caught smuggling some toxins from the lab."
At the point, the Twi'lek interjected, "Hey, it's not like they were going to use it."
Havoc Squad's commanding officer promptly studied the Twi'lek. The prisoner carried the look of a smuggler or a scavenger with her clothes, possibly on Quesh to make a profit with some stolen adrenal glands, which had been pretty common. As for her accent, there was a hint of Corellian, but there was something that felt off about it.
Reca brought her gaze back to the Twi'lek's guards when one of them asked, "What do you want to do with her, ma'am?"
Reca sometimes wished she did have to call the shots, but she had little choice. By the time Taran left, Sajar had turned himself in to the Republic authorities and awaited the Jedi Council's judgment. Sajar's lieutenant was in charge and he was nowhere to be found at moment, so it was left on Reca's shoulders.
"Take her away," Reca ordered. "Make sure she gets the same rations as the other prisoners."
Both soldiers complied to the command with a nod. "Yes, ma'am," both announced in unison.
Reca kept her eyes focused on the prisoner for a minute, swearing she caught a twinkle in the Twi'lek's blue eyes. But that went away when one of the troopers lightly pushed the butt-end of his blaster rifle against the Twi'leks back. All Reca could do was watch the prisoner be escorted away to whatever holding cell was available.
"Hey," Jorgan called out to her. Jorgan's voice recalled Reca's attention back to her husband. "You lost it for a second."
She simply waved off the Cathar's concern. "Don't worry about it. That prisoner seems different that's all."
The comment made Jorgan raised a curious eyebrow. "You mean besides the fact she has a long coat?"
"No, I mean…" Reca started, but she stopped herself. The discussion seemed too ridiculous for her to carry on, so she simply said, "Never mind. Just forget about it."
With that, Reca returned her focus to the lack of action that surrounded her. For now, all she could do was just stand and keep watch with the hope of something exciting to happen.
The sound of pounding boots echoed across the halls of the Republic compound as the two Republic troopers followed their prisoner. The Twi'lek managed to spare a glance at her guards only to see their faces covered by the black visors. Returning her attention in front of her, the prisoner's glance came across the hall of the compound.
Metal cables and pipes were placed alongside the durasteel walls to provide power to the complex. It was somewhat faulty, however, as as one of the lights constantly flickered on and off. In spite of that, the cable led to one place inside of the complex, the one place that had been of most interest to the Twi'lek.
The Twi'lek's inspection was cut short when she felt a blaster rifle poke her in the back, forcing her to take an extra step forward than she wanted. Turning her head around, the prisoner sent a glare at the guard who just poked her in the back. The trooper's black visor simply stared back at her as he ordered, "Keep walking."
The prisoner did as she was told, but she caught sight of a small shimmer of movement underneath one of the flickering lights. The troopers guarding their prisoner did not seem to notice it as they began to engage in casual conversation. Yet, the Twi'lek noticed it and immediately knew what the shimmer was. All she did was remain silent, anticipating for the right moment to happen.
"Man, I can't believe we're stuck on this rock," the Twi'lek heard of her guards mutter to his comrade.
"Tell, me about it," the other agreed. "This place smells worse more than Coruscant's Undercity!"
The first guard turned to the other. "It was you're idea to come in the first place, remember?"
"Hey, I didn't know if-"
The sound of a blaster discharge rang loudly, and the Twi'lek ducked in time for a red blaster bolt passed her over her headtails. The soldiers were caught off-guard as the blaster bolts struck the one on the right. The trooper under the left diverted his gaze away from the prisoner and towards his fallen comrade. "Dack!" he cried out.
Before the trooper had a chance, the Twi'lek prisoner made a dash towards him. He was taken by surprise at the spryness of the prisoner and he raised his blaster rifle. But it was too late as the Twi'lek kicked up a leg, raising the end of the blaster into the air when it discharged a bolt of red energy. The trooper would have attacked but another kick to his stomach sent him stumbling back.
The Twi'lek charged again, and swung her cuffed hands at the trooper. Her hands were wrapping together in balling fists, providing enough durability to strike the trooper right in his mouth piece. The trooper found his back bouncing off of the wall before he fell on his knees, paying little attention to the Twi'lek charging towards him.
When the trooper did stare up, he was too late to prevent his prisoner from wrapped her arms around his neck. Her wrists were bound, but the Twi'lek managed to keep them tight like a noose. The trooper released his blaster rifle and grabbed on the Twi'lek's arms to pull them away from his neck. His efforts were futile as the Twi'lek made a simple twitch in her arms that released a made a cracking sound echo through the hall.
The sound dissipated in the air, and when replaced with silence, the Twi'lek released her grip around her guard. The Republic trooper's body dropped to the ground dead, his neck in a disjointed position.
There was no remorse in the Twi'lek's eyes as she bent down and reached her cuffed hands to the trooper's corpse. The red hands grabbed on a small remote and yanked it from the trooper's belt. Pushing a button on the remote, the cuffs around the Twi'lek's hands came undone with a click and clattered onto the ground.
As the Twi'lek flexed her wrists, her blue eyes traveled to the space under the faulty light. "I know you're there," she called out, a sophisticated Imperial accent of Dromund Kaas replacing the roguish Corellian one.
Moments later and the empty space was became occupied with the shimmer of a deactivating cloaking device, revealing a human and a Rattataki under the faulty light source. The Rattataki wore a simple black coat that contrasted much with the human's gray Alderaanian robes.
Smoke rose from the tip of the Rattataki's blaster pistol as she rested it on her shoulder. "Ah, you ruined the fun!" she said, the tattoos on her chalk-white face curved as she smiled.
The expression on the Twi'lek's face did not change as she stared at the duo with demand in her eyes, instead of appreciation. "What in the emperor's name took you so long?" she demanded.
The human stared at the Twi'lek with black bug eyes instead of a human ones, a sign of a Killik Joiner. "Apologies," the human spoke up, "the soldiers made it difficult for us to maneuver through the facility."
"Don't worry about it. We're here, aren't we?" the Rattataki assured as she holstered her pistol on her right hip. She raised her other hand with a small metallic case in her palm, displaying it to the Twi'lek. "Besides, we've taken good care of your toys, Ellie."
'Ellie' crossed her arms over her chest. "Enough with the nicknames, Kaliyo."
The Rattataki, Kalliyo, placed her free hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, Elina. Sheesh," the Rattataki, Kaliyo, sighed before she tossed the case it to the Twi'lek.
Elina kept silent when she caught the case and knelt to place it on the ground. Opening the case, the Twi'lek's eyes came across enough weapons placed inside to make it look more like a mobile armory. A blaster pistol, the separated barrel and trigger of a sniper rifle, a belt filled with a few grenades-everything Elina needed for her mission.
The first thing that Elina grabbed was the belt and she wrapped it around her waist. "Did you find anything?" she asked, her gaze remained fixated on her equipment.
The human Joiner stepped forward and answered, "We have found a computer terminal on the south side of the compound. There are few technicians maintaining it. We believe accessing will not be any trouble."
The use of the royal "we" in the human's speech would have annoyed some, but Elina often reminded herself that was the result of the Killik joining. She just ignored it as she went for the blaster. "And the number of guards, Vector?"
The human named Vector was about to open his mouth to answer, but Kaliyo beat him to it. "I'd say about five," she spoke up with her ever-confident tone. "Those guys won't know what hit them when we show up."
Vector's black bug-like eyes turned to the Rattataki with a slight hint of irritation. "Perhaps," Vector turned his eyes to Elina, "however, we noticed several patrols through the compound. Accessing the computer may attract their attention."
"That won't be a problem," Kaliyo interrupted once more. "We can just blast them whenever they show up."
Elina knew better than to trust Kaliyo's confidence and pondered over Vector's words. As soon as they would attack a few guards, the others would immediately be alerted to the trio's presence, making their predicament somewhat more difficult. Perhaps even the entire compound would be coming down on their heads.
While Elina contemplated, she holstered the blaster pistol and grabbed the detached pieces of the sniper rifle. The Twi'lek attached the trigger to the rifle's main body with a loud click and proceeded to face her two companions. "If that's the case, we won't have much time," she turned to the human Joiner. "Vector, contact Raina and tell her to bring the ship around for pickup."
Vector nodded. "Understood."
Kaliyo soon found Elina staring at her. "Kaliyo, I noticed there's a tunnel that goes underneath the compound. I want you to place a few detonators to make our escape route."
Just as Elina expected, the chance for wanton destruction brought a grin to Kaliyo's face. "Be my pleasure," she accepted. "Give me the tools and I'll get the job done."
The long barrel of the sniper rifle rested in Elina's other hand. "Alright, then. Let's go," she said.
In the back of her mind, Elina wondered about the chances of success. While they had infiltrated the compound, there were still all those Republic soldiers. It was possible that anyone of them would be captured. But Elina shook off those thoughts, knowing well that would not happen.
After all, Cipher Nine never failed a mission for Imperial Intelligence and she did not intend to start now.
The alarms rang throughout the halls of the Republic compound, alerting Reca to her surroundings. The leader of Havoc Squad could see Republic technicians rushing their normal routine of maintaining the computers, while a few Republic troopers were running about. The entire scenario made Reca just what was going on around her, much like other troopers within the area.
Among them, Jorgan was the one to voice the question on everyone's mind: "What's going on?"
Reca spared a glance to husband next to her. "Don't look at me," she said. Walking to a technician, Reca repeated Jorgan's question, "What's going on?"
Sparing a glance to Havoc Squad's leader, the technician replied, "Someone's attacking the computer frame on the other side of the compound. We don't have any visual, but our readings show there are three intruders."
Jorgan decided to step in and inquire, "What about the guards?"
"We haven't received anything," was the technician's answer. "They could be dead, for all we know."
The news sent an irritated sigh through Reca's body as she wondered about the facility's security. Already, it was falling into chaos, just after that prisoner showed up-
Reca thoughts immediately racing as she turned her head to her husband. "Jorgan, how long has it been since that prisoner arrived?"
"About ten standard minutes," was his answer. The cat-like eyes widen when Jorgan soon came to the same realization that Reca had. "You don't think…" The Cathar did not finish his sentence, but his wife's silence was more than enough to answer his question.
Havoc Squad's leader remained silent until she noticed another Republic trooper, a woman, was approaching. Her blond hair combed back into a bun that rested on the back of her head, and her blue eyes shone with experience. She did not wear the typical white armor, but a brown combat uniform that identified her as a medic. On her uniform was the insignia of Havoc Squad, the same one that Jorgan and Reca wore on their own uniforms.
The medic saluted the lieutenant, the hand brushing against her fair complexion of her forehead as she did. Lowering her hand, the medic spoke, "Sir, I have some troubling news," she reported, the accent of Dromund Kaas leaving her throat.
While others relate the medic's accent to her origin as an Imperial, Reca ignored it for she knew very well that the medic before her defected to the Republic and became Havoc Squad's medic. "What is it, Elara?" Reca asked her.
Elara's blue eyes met Reca's brown. "Lieutenant, I have just talked with some of the security guards," she answered. "There has reports of a prisoner gone missing. She was recently brought in."
The words confirmed Reca and Jorgan's suspicions, much to their own disappointment. Whoever that Twi'lek was, she was not a simple thief as she was assumed to be, perhaps someone far more dangerous. "Just great, another headache to worry about," Reca muttered, stiffening a curse.
The technician with the three members of Havoc Squad inquired, "What are your orders, ma'am? Do you want us to send troops down?"
Turning to the technician, Reca replied, "Leave that to us." She paused before adding, "Have the other troops to scour the entire base. Make sure our intruder has nowhere to run."
"Understood," the technician nodded and returned to his station to convey the order.
Turning her head once more, Reca stared at Elara and Jorgan. "Elara, Jorgan, we're moving out!"
Both of her subordinates nodded, and they whipped out their weapons. The large repeater was gripped in Jorgan's hands while Elara carried a blaster pistol. Reca grabbed her blaster rifle and immediately left for the source of trouble with Jorgan and Elara following their commanding officer.
As she headed to her destination, Reca felt a smirk appear on her face when she remember what she said several minutes earlier. "Well, looks like my wish did come true," Reca muttered to herself as she strode down the hall.
A blaster shot echoed through the hall, followed by the loud thud of a Republic trooper hitting the floor. Smoke rose from the tip of Elina's sniper rifle and left a trail in the air as the Imperial agent tread through the hall. She paid no attention to the corpse at her feet as she continued her path into the chamber before her.
The said chamber was large and dark due to the lack of the lightning, save for the blue glow from the screen on the computer database placed at the far side. Elina's eyes scoured the area for any sign of a Republic trooper, technician, or even a Jedi. No one was around–save for the Republic soldiers who came out to meet Elina and her two friends only to end up dead, so she entered the chamber.
If she turned around, Elina's eyes would have come across a white-armored Republic trooper standing near the entrance, his form hidden by the shadows of the chamber. The soldier raised his blaster rifle at the Imperial agent and put his finger on the trigger.
The trooper would have fired, but a blaster bolt–not from Elina, that is–had struck him in the head. The cipher did not need to turn to know her would-be killer fell on the ground, dead, and she instead continued forward.
By the time Elina was well into the center of the chamber, she had seen no more sign of resistance in the vicinity. She turned around to see two companions trailing behind her. They carried their own weapons on their persons, Kaliyo with her smoking rifle and an electrostaff in Vector's hands meant for melee combat.
"The area's secured, cipher," Vector announced as he approached Elina. "We have contacted the ensign. The ship shall be arriving soon."
"And I've already placed enough detonators to light up Nar Shaddaa!" Kalliyo added with her wild grin.
Elina nodded at her accomplices. "Good. Keep an eye out for anymore guards. I don't want any surprises."
With that, the Imperial cipher head for the computer on the far end while the Rattataki and the human Joiner went to guard the entrance. Elina reached into her pocket and pulled out a small circular a datacard before inserting it into one of the database's many terminals. Her fingers rapidly tapped against the controls, which left a light blue glowing hue on Elina's red face as she searched through the fields inside the database.
Elina was not sure how long it took, but she eventually found what she was looking for, thanks to her slicing skills. All of the information was before the Imperial agent: turbolasers, hyperdrive engine schematics, tractor beam ports–all of designs meant for a typical warship.
But added to the layers upon layers of schematics, there was something that stood out from the rest. It looked like the designs to a superweapon of some sort. And what was more curious that the designs were Imperial, not Republic as Elina's sources had informed her. Elina decided to ask Imperial Intelligence about that later, and focused on the information, copying anything useful she could find into the datacard.
Suddenly, the lines of information rolling down the screen suddenly stopped and Elina's fingers froze before she stared down with confusion. She typed at the computer again only to receive nothing. The computer terminal was not responding to her commands, and Elina did not know why.
Taking a step back, Elina soon found out just what caused the malfunction as a hologram emerged from the computer terminal. It was a man, one who donned an outfit with the symbol of the Republic's Strategic Information Service. "Hunter," she recognized with a low growl.
As the hologram of Hunter spoke, Elina came to realize that it was just a simple recording, but the smugness in Hunter's voice irritated the agent. "Hey, there. I see you've reached this place, Cipher Nine." That took Elina by surprise, but the recording continued. "Yes, I know it's you cipher. You're the only who's obsessed enough to take up this job. But I set up a few little things for you."
The hologram of Hunter retreated back into the computer terminal, which soon started to continue to flash red instead of blue. The red was an obvious warning to Elina and she could see the lines of data stored on the screen starting to being erased.
Fortunately, Elina pulled out the datastick before the virus could even reach it. It was just in time as the system started to overload, small sparks going into the air and smoke starting to rise from the controls. The computer's screen went from red to black and it died. Backing away, Elina did her best not to snarl at her predicament, and instead focused on getting back to her ship.
Unfortunately, Kaliyo's voice rang out, "We've got company!"
Just as soon as the cry came from Kaliyo, a blaster bolt seared the air past Elina's head and struck the screen of the computer terminal. A crack split open upon the glass screen, adding more to the damage caused by Hunter's virus. The Imperial agent whirled her head around to see the one who fired the shot.
Standing the hall outside were more Republic soldiers, more specifically Reca Jorgan and the two members of her squadron, Aric Jorgan and Elara Dorne. The orange insignia of Havoc Squad on their persons caught Elina's attention.
Reca kept her blaster on Elina and shouted, "Halt!"
The command was ignored as Elina put the datacard in her belt with one hand while the other went for her rifle. "Kaliyo, Vector–take them!" she told her companions, who kept themselves spaced from the entrance.
After narrowly dodging a shot from Havoc Squad's leader, the Imperial cipher took immediately took cover behind one of the smaller computers nearby, the blasters striking the floor where she once stood. Once she found her cover, Elina aimed her sniper rifle and fired.
Reca moved her head to the side to avoid the shot from Elina's rifle and she managed to catch her husband also dodging a few a bolts. She turned her head to her squad mates and shouted, "Fall back!"
Less than a second, the three members of Havoc Squad found themselves parting from the entrance to avoid the blaster bolts that would have killed them. From where she stood, Reca spotted the Twi'lek agent and she aimed her blaster rifle at Elina. Behind Reca, her husband provided cover fire, shooting blaster bolts at the Rattataki.
Standing across from the other two was Elara, who was the closest one to the entrance. The former Imperial would have joined her squadmates if she did not notice the human Joiner avoiding the blaster shots as he charged at her. Elara ducked her head down in time to avoid a swing of an electrostaff.
From within the chamber, Elina could see Vector swinging his electrostaff at one of the Havoc Squad trio. The other two, Aric and Reca Jorgan, were firing away at her and Kaliyo, either too busy to even notice what was going on or they knew Vector would meet his match. Either way, Elina decided not dwell on it as she turned to the Rattataki and shouted two words, "Kaliyo, grenade!"
Kaliyo was more than happy to oblige. She grabbed a small orb from her belt and tossed it over her head before ducking behind her hiding spot. It rolled at the feet of Havoc Squad's leader and second-in-command, who noticed the grenade.
Reca and Aric Jorgan's eyes widen with fear and they immediately turned tail to space themselves from grenade. They were too late, though, as the grenade exploded with a flash of white light and sent the two hitting against the floor. Elara and Vector felt the floor vibrate, causing them to halt their own little dance for a moment before resuming.
Seeing a free opportunity, Elina charged and came across Aric Jorgan as the first one to get up. The Cathar noticed the Imperial agent and due to space becoming smaller, he lunged forward with his hands ready to grab and tackle Elina instead of his repeater.
Elina foresaw the attack, sidestepping the lunge and swinging her rifle at Jorgan. The butt end connected with her opponent's face and sent him reeling back. It gave Elina time to draw a small dagger from her cloak and she stabbed at him, causing Jorgan to scream in pain as the blade dug into his left arm.
The agent continued her offense, lashing out with a kick that connected with Jorgan's nose. The large Cathar found himself on the ground with the petite Twi'lek standing over him and her rifle rose at his head. Suddenly, a blaster bolt tore into Elina's shoulder from behind, and she let out a gasp of both surprise and pain.
The shot forced Elina's body to twirl a bit to see Reca coming to her husband's rescue with her smoking rifle in hand. A swing from Reca's rifle to Elina now exposed side forced the Imperial agent away from the Cathar and on the floor, not too far from the dueling pair of Vector and Elara.
Reca raised her blaster to fire at the Imperial agent, but she stopped herself to avoid a blaster shot that whizzed past her head. The lieutenant saw the Kaliyo rushing to Elina's side and getting close to Elara and Vector. "Elara!" Reca called out to her medic.
After ducked yet another swing, Elara quickly backed away, thankfully avoiding the Rattataki. By the time the medic regrouped with her two squad mates, she and Reca fired their blasters at the Imperials across from them. Their shots missed as Vector grabbed the wounded Elina and they, along with Kaliyo took a small retreat down the hall.
Grasping her wounded shoulder with a free hand, Elina looked up to Kaliyo. "Kaliyo, where's our escape route?" she shouted.
"Coming right up!" came from Kaliyo.
As a blaster bolt whizzed over her bald head, the Rattataki whipped out a detonator trigger from the insides of her coat. "Fire in the hole!" Kaliyo's voice rang and she pressed down on the trigger.
Nothing happened.
"What the…" came from Kaliyo before she looked at the other two. "Just give me a moment!"
Once, twice, three times, and there was still nothing. "C'mon, already!" Kaliyo shouted in exasperation.
The thumb pressed down one more time and finally, an explosion rang throughout the hall. It took Reca and her two squad mates by surprise as fire and smoke shot out from the power lines attached to the walls. It did not make things better for the Havoc Squad trio as the light above them died, shrouding the entire hall in darkness. A moment later, the red emergency lights turned on, but it was not enough as Havoc Squad was only greeted with smoke.
Reca accidentally inhaled some smoke and coughed. "Can you see anything?" she asked Elara, swatting away the smoke with a free hand.
The medic coughed a little as she moved forward to find any sign of the Imperial trio. After a few moments, Elara reported, "They're gone," before coughing again.
Before Reca even let out a curse, her ears picked up a groan and she stared down at the Jorgan. Catching sight of the dagger still in his shoulder, Reca knelt to her husband's side and asked, "Are you alright?"
Another painful groan left Jorgan before he mumbled, "Some place for a honeymoon, huh?"
The words brought a relieved smile to the lieutenant. "Don't worry, I'll ask Garza if we can get that trip to Ithor," Reca told him before turning to Elara. "Help me get him up."
Nodding, Elara went to Jorgan's other side, and she and Reca helped the large Cathar stand. If they paid close attention, the trio of Havoc Squad would have noticed the smoke move to the side a little, almost as if they were making way for someone.
Outside of the Republic compound, one would have seen Republic troopers and technicians running amok from the sudden power outage. While it was only in a small part, it created the perfect distraction for anyone to make a getaway. That was the case as three pairs of footsteps trailed out from the compound, leaving small tracks on the muddy ground. The ones leaving the tracks could not be seen by the naked eye, at least not until the tracks led far past the compound.
By the time the boot prints went over a hill, the cloaking stealth field deactivated to reveal Elina, Vector, and Kaliyo. All three of them halted to take deep breaths from all the running they did to get away from the compound, each one panting heavily through their breath masks. They did not need to worry about being followed, for their tracks were already being washed away by the rain and mud.
Kaliyo bent over a little to take a deep breath. "Looks like we're safe for now."
Elina silently agreed with that, but her thoughts were interrupted by her wounded shoulder. The pain felt like lava and it was getting worse as she felt the acid rain hit the burn on her shoulder. "We need to get out of the rain," she told them.
Fortunately, Vector said, "The ship is here."
Curious, the Imperial agent turned her head to see what Vector said was true. Not too far away was Elina's starship, an X-70 Phantom-class ship, with the rest of her crew waiting inside. The ship had limited cloaking abilities, but it was enough to keep it hidden from the Republic.
"Cipher, c'mon!" Kaliyo shouted.
Elina's eyes noticed both of her two accomplices rushing towards the ship and she did not hesitate any longer. She, along with Kaliyo and Vector, ran up the ramp, which closed once all were inside the ship's hull. It was not long until the ship's engines roared to life and rose from muddy ground before rising up to leave Quesh's skies. By the time Republic sensors even noticed, the ship would be long gone and so would its crew.
Raika: Alright, that's chapter 2. So how was it? Good, bad, meh? Personally, I think I'm starting off my story really slow and I think I'm only just boring you guys. Also, I think that I'm having too many characters involved and it's taking away from the focus of the story. *shrugs* Oh well, I'll leave the judgments up to you. Please your thoughts and comments in the reviews, and give constructive criticism.
Raika out.