DROMMUND KAAS
Bloodshade Darkstar glanced about, grey eyes scanning the way ahead as she and Khem Val, the bound and grudgingly loyal deshade, picked their way through the jungle growth towards the planets spaceport. She had spent a good portion of time skulking about KaasCity. She had hoped to learn more of what was going on, but it became apparent that was futile. She had given up quickly before making her way to the spaceport to find a means of getting off planet. For the time being, she had given the Mandalorians the slip.
Khem grunted in his usual gruff displeasure, the sound almost soothing to Bloodshade. She had come to find his presence reassuring and welcome. His strength and endless vigour would come in handy if she ran into any more of her pursuers as well. The big deshade was her shadow, and in a way her protection. She was skill and stealth, he was all muscle and strength.
"This is not the way of Tulak Horde." Khem muttered.
Bloodshade grinned again but was hard pressed to argue the point with the deshade. She was not thrilled with skulking about instead of taking care of the enemy. The problem was she had no idea who was pulling the strings and paying off the mandalorians. Whoever it was, they had enough clout and credits behind them.
"Hard to fight an unknown enemy." Bloodshade whispered to the creature. "Be patient, Khem. Soon enough you can feast on their corpse."
The large dark reddish, overly muscled beast that was Khem Val merely grunted, flashing a maw full of needle like teeth. He was a predator, and he revelled in it. Towering over most, he made Bloodshade look positively tiny by comparison, but it was she who was master. At least until such time as he grew strong enough to break her hold on him.
"I will suck the marrow from their cracked bones."
At that Bloodshade gave a light little laugh within her helmet, nodding to the creature. She would love to see such, she knew. If luck and the force had anything to do with it she would find herself with a front row seat for such. If the two of us could take out Zash, whoever was behind this couldn't be as devious and dangerous, she thought.
The jungle was alive and thick about them as they crept to the edge where the spaceport was. The foliage had been stripped and cleaned out, leaving a wide open area before where the Empire had built a speeder station, medical facility and storage areas. Entering the spaceport with all the traffic coming and going from it was going to prove difficult.
Even worse, she knew, was that to get off planet she would have to take the shuttle to the space station in orbit. From there try and find a ship to board. For a moment she regretted telling Blackheart to take her ship. Best laid plans, she mused.
"What now little sith?" Khem growled behind her.
"Now we try our damndest to get in there and aboard a shuttle. We don't fight unless we have to."
Khem muttered something but Bloodshade did not hear it. She guessed it was another of his comments about skulking about not being sith-like. Tulak Horde blah blah blah, she thought. Sometimes Khem was like a broken record with his mantra about his former master. Shaking off the feeling and thoughts, Bloodshade instead focused harder on wrapping the force about both of them to keep them from sight and struck out to find a shuttle.
"This is not a wise plan."
Bloodshade stopped in mid stride, turning to look at the deshade, recognizing Zash's voice coming from that massive form. Zash had tried her damndest to take her body and her life, but instead wound up inside Khem. The deshade had saved her, but the cost was having Zash within his consciousness.
"And I suppose you have a better one?"
"No, but if I was allowed control here, I could make some inquiries." Zash-Khem said and Bloodshade just shook her head negatively. "Still don't trust me?"
"Why should I?" Bloodshade answered back.
"You cannot do this alone. You do not even know what you face." Zash-Khem said, and Bloodshade knew she could not argue against that.
"I won't be." The inquisitor stated. "I've got some people I know I can trust."
Zash-Khem gave a groan, almost a pained moan, and then the deshade gave a massive shudder and shake of his head. Khem Val snorted and smacked the side of his head with a hand as his consciousness pushed out the fallen sith. Bloodshade noted the moment and knew Zash was gone for the time being once more.
"Come, Khem. Lets go."
"Where you lead, I follow, little sith." Khem growled.
Vette leaned against the wall, blue eyes scanning about watching the ebb and flow on the station. Malavai Quinn stood beside her, unmoving and likewise as watchful. Necrolis had sent them to watch for Bloodshade, but there was no sign of her at all. Vette was beginning to think they were wasting their time and should head down to the planet to look around for her instead.
"Patience is a virtue." Malavai Quinn muttered to her, not taking his eyes off those about them. He could see the twi'leks fingers twitching and it was irritating him.
"Yes sir, Captain Killjoy, sir." Vette snapped back irritably.
"We follow orders, Vette, like them or not." Quinn stated matter of fact, keeping his voice low and trying his damndest to be calm. "Just be still and don't do anything to draw attention to us."
Yes, draw attention Malavai, I'll do that by putting a blaster bolt smack in your ass, Vette thought. She had never understood what Necrolis saw in the man. Vette had never liked Malavai Quinn, and the feeling had clearly been mutual. It left them with an uneasy alliance where they grudgingly worked together. If Vette had gotten her way a while back, Quinn would have gotten shoved into an airlock and blown into space for betraying Necrolis. How he had lived through that was just beyond her comprehension.
She knew Darth Baras had been forcing Quinn to act, using the force and manipulating him. Part of her wanted to be compassionate and understanding. The other part thought Necrolis had made a big mistake keeping him around. It made it hard to really trust the man, Vette knew. Like it or not, Quinn was the go to guy for strategy, and he was good at what he did. Much as he got on Vette's nerves, and vice versa she knew, they all seemed to make a very good team.
"Vette, you notice anything?" Quinn suddenly asked her, breaking the silence.
Vette was set to make a smart assed comment but bit her tongue when she noticed Quinn had tensed and was glancing about intently. She cast a glance at Quinn, taking a moment to study him, then looked about to see just what might have caught his attention so. At first she did not notice anything out of the ordinary, not until a large group of Imperial troopers walked right by them. It was then Vette took notice of just how many troopers were milling about the station, as well as a handful of sith in full armour.
"A lot of firepower in here." Vette replied back, "Something tells me they're expecting trouble."
"Agreed." Quinn said. "And I don't think it is from us."
Vette glanced about again and was about to use the comm link to advise Necrolis, when the station erupted into chaos. Imperial troops rushed towards one of the shuttle entryways even as blue hued lightning flashed and blaster fire erupted. Quinn swore even as he drew his blaster, glancing at Vette before rushing forward. He hated being right.
"Well here's where the fun begins!" Vette chimed, falling in beside Quinn, drawing her own blasters.
Bloodshade waited for the few people aboard the shuttle to exit down the ramp before following, Khem Val following close and right behind. She reached the bottom only to find herself with too many people around. The force cloak she had wrapped them in did not work well when there were too many people in close proximity. Seeing heads turning towards them, she let the deception fall. Most looked away and ignored them. A few however cried out, and Bloodshade could see the Imperial forces of the station rushing to the hanger entryway.
"Looks like we fight our way out from here on, Khem." Bloodshade stated sourly.
"Good. I'm hungry." Khem growled, eyes already locking on a few of the sith force users in the group that was forming and coming for them.
Vette moved swiftly, two stepping to perch atop a metal bench and letting loose a spray of blaster fire in sweeping arcs left and right. The shots caught troopers from behind, dropping a half dozen. Quinn took a stance off to her right firing away, adding to the confusion and chaos. Imperials scrambled as they unexpectedly found threats in front and behind them. What had been a simple capture of a sith, had now turned into a larger battle.
"My lord." Quinn used his comm link as he continued to shoot. "Your guest has clearly arrived. I would suggest we be ready for a swift departure."
"Understood, Quinn." Necrolis's voice came back to Quinn.
Bloodshade noted the shots and the falling Imperial troopers. She lashed out with her lightning, sending waves of it from her fingertips, the bolts chained together leaping from one person to another so that multiple opponents dropped to the floor. Over the chaos and yelling she heard one of the Imperials, clearly some high ranking officer yell at her to surrender. Yes, I'll just go ahead and do that, Bloodshade thought.
With troopers and a couple sith drawing closer, the inquisitor reached out with the force, sending a wall of energy pulsing out to throw those closest back away from her. One hand shot out to unleash a blinding bright gout of lightning from her fingertips once again. The energy crackled at her command, stopping a sith warrior's advance as he caught the lightning on the blades of his sabers.
Khem Val waded straight into the wall of Imperials, his vibrosword, which to Bloodshade was far more club than blade, swept into them hurling two and three bodies back and away at a time. The blows fell with such force those caught by the attacks stayed down. Bloodshade moved behind the deshade, following close on his heels as he opened up a hole. Her lightsaber flashed to life, bright pink in contrast to the blue lighting she unleashed from her free hand.
Amidst the fighting the inquisitor kept note of the attack coming from the rear, helping Khem open up a gap in the forces arrayed against her. Pushing through and past the deshade, Bloodshade took in the two figures who seemed to be helping her and a grin came to her lips. Both of them she recognized. Ah brother I owe you big for this one, Bloodshade thought.
"I believe your ride is here, Lady Bloodshade." Quinn commented as the woman and large creature made it through to them.
"A quite fortunate circumstance." Bloodshade answered back, smiling inside her helmet.
"Hey there!" Vette chimed in, "Now you have a ticket for travel right?"
Quinn shot Vette an annoyed glance to which the twi'lek just grinned back and winked. It was so easy to get the man riled up, she knew. Bloodshade regarded both of them a moment as she and Khem fell in behind, stifling a laugh at the twi'leks joke. Not wasting time, they dashed to the airlock and waiting ship. Behind them there was a lull in pursuit, with the few Imperials that remained clearly confused as to what had just happened, and unsure as to what to do next.
Vette lead the way aboard the waiting sith fury ship, Quinn covering them. With a final glance back down the corridor of the airlock, he hammered the button to seal the airlock behind them. Necrolis waited until Quinn gave the all clear, then immediately tabbed the button to disengage from the station docking clamps and pushed the engines up to maximum thrust. The Wraith lurched forward in response jumping with the surge of power it was given.
"My lord, I expect pursuit. I was unable to ensure any calls for re-enforcements were blocked."
"Already noted, we have company." Necrolis growled through the comm link. "Vette get up here and man the weapons. Quinn, see to our guests."
"You heard the boss!" Quinn snapped looking to the twi'lek, though he knew he did not even have to say a word. "And do us a favour and shoot straight!"
Vette made to go until she heard the last of Quinn's comments, stopping to cast a glance and laugh at the man. He had to really be nervous, she surmised.
"Wow, you cracked a joke." She responded over her shoulder as she headed for the cockpit. "Don't worry, it won't kill you!"
Bloodshade settled on the bench seating, sliding in next to her deshade as the ship shuddered. They were being shot at, she knew. She looked towards the doorway where the twi'lek had disappeared. She was quick witted, good with a blaster, and married to Necrolis, she knew. Bloodshade was unsure how to take the woman, but if Necrolis had married her, how bad could she be? The one called Quinn seemed the typical stiff and by the book Imperial. He also seemed to be the foil for the twi'lek, the straight man to her joking kidding nature. Still, Necrolis kept Quinn close and relied on him, she knew. Clearly there was more to the man than first impressions would seem.
"I take it I should expect some turbulence?" Bloodshade remarked, looking to Quinn.
"Unfortunately my Lady, it would appear so." Quinn answered back. "This is where things get interesting."
Necrolis yanked hard on the controls, sending the ship into a tight spiral while dropping her into a steep dive. Green streaks of fire lit the darkness of space past where they had been, arcing down to follow them. A moment later the ship shuddered as the shields deflected the brunt of a shot that found its mark. In response, Necrolis banked hard left levelling out.
To Necrolis's right, Vette sat in the co-pilot seat muttering away as she attempted to target the scout fighters that pursued them. The twi'lek thumbed the weapons and fired back, red streaks painting a line that the scout ship barely dodged under.
"Damn fast little buggers." She muttered. "Stay still so I can blow your asses up!"
Necrolis would have laughed but he was pre-occupied, sending the ship into a curving and banking dive to the right, immediately feeling the strain as the force of the turn bore down on the ship. Beside him, Vette groaned before letting loose another volley of fire from the ships guns. Necrolis grit his teeth as he fought to keep the ship under control, using every trick in the book and pushing the limits of the vessel to keep them out of their pursuers' crosshairs.
"Hold this crate still!" Vette complained as Necrolis brought them out of the turn launching the ship back to the left and climbing hard.
"I don't think that's a good idea. You want to take it in the ass?!" Necrolis growled back.
"We can discuss our sex life later!" Vette quipped before giggling and then firing again on the pursuing ships, watching as a shot caught one of their pursuers flush on and turned it into a fireball.
"Nice shot. Now get the other two!" Necrolis commented, once again sending the ship banking to the left, then sharply back to the right.
The Wraith leapt through the motions Necrolis put it through, weaving amidst the green streaks of energy shot at them. Necrolis and Vette continued working the controls, only to have the momentary silence broken as Malavai Quinn came over the internal comm system.
"My lord, if I may say, all this spinning about is likely to make a mess back here if it continues." Quinn remarked. "I am not sure my stomach can take much more."
"Find one of those little air bags then!" Vette shot back as she continued to try and lock up another of the ships chasing them.
"I would endeavour to do just that, but it seems the in flight service is lacking!" Quinn quipped back in response.
Necrolis laughed at the banter between Quinn and his wife. Banking them hard out of the way of more shots, he watched out the viewport as they sailed off into space. Vette was right, he knew, the scout ships were indeed faster and more manoeuvrable. The trade off however, was that they lacked any type of shielding and the weapons were far weaker than on star fighters or worse, a gunship. Still, all it was going to take were a few well timed and placed shots to damage the ship enough to allow a cruiser to catch up and tractor beam them into a hold. Necrolis had no doubt there were capital ships out there somewhere, they just had not seen them yet.
"This is some rescue." Necrolis growled in complaint.
"Oh come on," Vette giggled again from her seat beside him. "Admit it, you missed all this fun!"