DROMMUND KAAS

Darth Marr read the data pad for the second time then tossed it from his grasp, letting it fall to hit and land on the back of the corpse at his feet. Marr could have cared less about the adage of not shooting the messenger. The incompetent fool had been left to take care of loose ends and had failed. The crimson robes of the royal guard had marked him as one of the elite in the Empire. It clearly had been a distinction he was not worthy of. He had failed him.

The news of someone breaking into the Sith Academy on Korriban was troubling, even more so when it appeared someone had used an Overseer's terminal to gain access to the central computer system. A check had shown the intruders had accessed and gotten a hold of files relating to Lord Mekhis' work. The same mess he had been trying to clean up.

Marr swore under his breath and strode back to settle in his chair. Reports had been filtering in that had set him to a dark mood all day. Failures by the Mandalorians on Tatooine and on Drommund Kaas itself made him question what level of incompetence he was surrounded by. He cared not a bit about what losses they had suffered or the excuses of unexpected people interfering. Results were all that mattered.

He had already issued orders for the Imperial fleet to look out for those he sought, but he had to have them captured just to avoid unwanted scrutiny and questions. That applied especially with the Emperor's Wrath and Dark Council member Darth Nox. At least with the Republic scum he was free to act openly in killing them. Even with capture orders, he doubted they would have good luck in finding them. Like any good prey, Marr expected they would go to ground. These were not ordinary marks, these were the finest warriors, the heroes of both the Empire and the Republic after all.

Marr knew time was of the essence. He had to deal with the matter quickly, quietly, and decisively. His hand was being forced. They simply did not have the common decency and sense to just die. It was for the good of the Empire as it were after all. It was time, he knew. The pieces were all in play on the board, all save one. Loathe as he was do take that step, Marr knew there was no other way.

Pressing the communications button on his chair, Darth Marr was instantly connected to one of the many secret locations he often employed with trusted and competent men in his command. When one controlled the might of the Empire, the entire military, one tended to ensure his power base could not be affected by simpletons.

"My lord?" A voice answered immediately, awaiting his orders.

"I want all 53's activated and with full files on all the targets I am sending you. Is this understood? Kill order, but capture for any acquaintances named."

"Yes my lord, so shall it be done." The voice answered back and Marr cut the connection.

CORUSCANT

Asha Lightstar paced the hanger bay deck outside of her ship impatiently. She had finally gotten approved for some time to herself and the longer she waited, the more likely the Jedi Council would find a need for her once more. She had already heard Alderaan was having a problem with rakghouls and she would not have been surprised to find she was being dispatched to help enforce the quarantine. It was not all bad news there though with the GSI company in charge of the quarantine and making every effort to get the issue under control.

Beside her T7 bleeped and blooped and the jedi could only smile, knowing the little droid was excited to be heading off wherever. It did not take much to make T7 happy. Asha checked her chronometer and sighed, knowing they should have been off planet by now. If he is any later I'm going to make him pay, Asha thought.

"Well hello there beautiful." Doc remarked as he walked up casually to them. "I think before vacation you need a complete and thorough medical."

Asha rolled her eyes at the man. Always the walking hormone, she mused. Still, she had to admit he was charming enough, and well he was the best option available for some stress relief. And he was quite good at stress relief, she knew. The thought almost made her blush.

"You're late!" Asha chided.

"Mmmm, and you're lovely when you're angry." Doc countered moving close and slapping Asha on the ass.

"Doc!" Asha hissed in warning, knowing there were too many about for her to tolerate such.

Their relationship, such as it was, was not something she wanted bandied about at all. She knew the order would most definitely frown on it. Doc took the hint, glancing about himself before holding his hands up defensively in lieu of a verbal apology. Asha just shook her head before winking at the man. Incorrigible, she thought, the man is utterly incorrigible.

"Asha!" Rusk's gruff and loud voice called out.

Fideltin Rusk had held the rank of sergeant before joining Asha's crew. The blue skinned chagrian had proven useful both from a strategic standpoint as well as in a fire fight. Asha had to admit she did have the most interesting crew and companions. Beside the sex addicted Doc, and Rusk, there was the turned sith Scourge, as well as T7, and the jedi Kira Carsen.

"We're coming! Doc just showed up." Asha called back but Rusk waved a hand to brush such aside.

"You've got an incoming priority call."

Asha groaned even as Doc gave her a quick apologetic look. He already knew his delay had likely just lead to the cancelling of any down time. Asha is going to kick my ass, he thought sourly. He knew it also meant that physical exam he had hoped to give her was likely going to get replaced with a very cold shower.

Quick strides carried Asha into the Vigilant, up the stairs and straight back into the lounge area where the holoterminal was located. She noticed Kira was chewing her lip as she arrived. The fact the young woman was doing so was not a good sign. Kira only did that when she was bothered by something. Scourge was also present, the former sith standing with arms crossed off to one side. Scourge nodded to her in greeting, but kept silent.

"Hey boss." Kira said lightly. " Strange call coming in. Your personal secure channel but Rusk noticed it was being routed through a blocked transponder."

Asha digested that information. It was certainly strange. Still, few knew how to contact her directly through that channel, and there could be any number of reasons why someone would block or hide their transponder too. It was a mystery that at least she could solve with relative ease. Nodding she understood to Kira, Asha hit the button to open the channel.

"Asha? You there?" The jedi smiled seeing Tormen Darklight's face appear in the holodisplay.

"Tormen. This is a surprise." Asha said, trying to read the smuggler's face even as she tried to recall the last time he had dropped word to her.

"It's been too long, darling." Tormen flirted before growing more serious. "Listen we got a big problem. You aren't going to like this."

Asha arched an eyebrow as blue eyes glanced towards Kira and Scourge. Kira frowned while the former sith merely shrugged indifferently. Tormen was not prone to calling her at the drop of a hat, so whatever had him calling was something that she needed to take very seriously. She instantly got a bad feeling about what the smuggler was going to tell her.

"Where are you?" She asked, watching as Tormen glanced off to the side before looking back as if seeking some sort of permission to talk. "You alright?"

"Yeah but we need to meet and talk. I'm sending co-ordinates to rendezvous on Nar Shaddaa." Tormen said before adding, "And Asha, when we meet do not jump to fighting."

The last made Asha nervous, but all she could do was nod and leave it at that. She cast a glance to Kira who was still frowning. Asha could feel her worry and shared it, but Tormen was a trusted ally. The circumstances were not the best, but Asha did not think they were in any danger from the man. Well other than him trying to get in Kira's pants again, she reminded herself.

"What do you think?" Asha asked Kira finally.

"I don't know." Kira replied to her. "We've got the co-ordinates, and I'll set course for Nar Shaddaa, but I just have a bad feeling about this."

"And you?" Asha looked over to the silent pure blood sith.

"I think we are going to Nar Shaddaa." Scourge remarked pointedly. "Everything else is speculation and a waste of time and energy."

Asha smiled softly and nodded. He was as right as he was blunt, she knew. There was no getting around the fact that like it or not they were heading to Nar Shaddaa. Still, Asha was worried over Tormen's last words. She was a jedi, she did not jump to fighting. Whatever that was about, she surmised she would soon know and just have to keep it in mind. Tormen is going to owe me on this one, she thought.