Twists and Turns

"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Outside of the Ruined Duros Base

The team scattered to cover, Tieria growling out a question to the human leader, "Who are you? Who hired you? And why kill us?" Tieria and Allelujah took cover behind a large overturned cart in the center of the room, Lyle on the right side, and Setsuna gripped his sword behind cover nearest to the Twi'lek women.

"Name's Rand." The scarred man laughed, "We were paid to not say who hired us, and very well at that. But I can say our client wanted to thank you." His voice took on a sadistic edge, "If you have any final words, I would love to hear them."

Lyle yelled out from his cover, "Why don't you tell me yours?"

The Aqualish thug laughed, and the scarred leader glared at him, the laughter stopping as the human grunted in annoyance at the words of the rebel. A blast pierced the air as a warning shot was fired by the mercenary, a growl coming from the scarred man, "You know I was going to let you talk, but I can see that you want to joke around."

He gestured to his group, "Alright, let's get this started. Ji, Li, have fun with the man with the sword. Brother, eliminate the man who thought he was funny. And Gh-" A blaster bolt shot a few feet to his right, and Rand looked to see Feldt with a blaster in her shaking hands. With pursed lips, he continued, looking at the Gamorrean, "Ghart, keep their heads down. And bring me the girl alive. A Miralukan will bring big money from the empire."

Blaster bolts began to fill the air as each part of the fight began. Heavy blaster fire focused on Tieria and Allelujah, the heavy gun wielded by the Gamorrean hitting the cart and flying over it as the Jedi and purple-haired soldier struggled to get an opening to get any fire. And the Aqualish was nearby the alien with the large cannon, pumping fire down on them as well.

At best, they could fire a few potshots before they were forced back down into cover, their shots bouncing off of the heavy armor of Ghart, the Gamorrean grunting as he was singularly focused on the group, the mercenary leader hanging back as he narrowly missed the two behind cover with his shots.

Allelujah looked at Tieria, "You got any tricks up your sleeve? That Gamorrean is kind of an issue."

Tieria gripped his blaster tightly, hissing as this was not in his plan. He had no more thermal detonators, and at best he could only singe the large alien unless he could somehow get a sustained burst on him, but the situation wasn't really presenting a chance for that.

Tieria spoke tersely, "Do you have any grenades on you?"

"A few frag grenades. And some plastic explosives, but they aren't really throwable."

The temporary leader nodded, a plan forming in his head, "Aim a grenade for the Gamorrean and Aqualish. Even if it doesn't get them, it will at least hurt them. Those Gamorreans are tough, but not invincible."

Allelujah was filled with a bit of confidence, "Alright!" Pulling out a grenade, he waited a second before throwing, the enemy having little time to react as the explosion and shrapnel hit the two aliens, the Aqualish letting out a last cry as he went silent, the metal filling his body. His rifle hit the ground and Ghart let out a grunt of pain, some blood leaking from his side, but he was seemingly unphased, his armor deflecting most of it.

Allelujah looked disappointed at the lesser effect on the large alien, but he didn't have time to think as a blast hit inches from his head.

On the left, Setsuna wasn't dealing with blasterfire, but the two Twi'leks dodged his fire with a dancer's grace, their light and curved blade flashing as Setsuna enhanced himself with force speed, his senses warning him about their initial attack. He dodged out of the way, and a blaster bolt hit the cover near him, causing him to notice Feldt trying to hit the women.

Parrying a blow from one of the women, kicking back the other, her looked over to where Feldt was, "Feldt, stay down! I'll deal with these two." He kept most of the worry out of his voice, but a little couldn't help but escape.

Ji smirked, a malicious glint in her eye, "Is that your girl?" She saw Setsuna scowl, and dodged past a strong blow of his, an elbow hitting his side as the other sister got him with a lucky blow, Setsuna grunting from the hit. Even with his speed, trying to keep track of two people at once was tricky, especially a pair that seemed to be trained to work in sync. The Twi'lek spun away, her voice light, "It's too bad we have to leave a pretty girl single."

Li giggled, "I wish we didn't have to kill you. Taking a man like you in bed would have been fun." There was a malicious grin on her face, but Setsuna could sense she wasn't lying, though he also sensed she seemed to be enjoying the fight. Feldt growled under her breath at the words, but followed Setsuna's order, keeping her head down.

For every blow he blocked or parried, another would narrowly miss him. The sisters were skilled with their blades, them moving like an extension of the sisters, and Setsuna tried to stay on the move, not staying in one spot as the vibroblades clashed. They flowed around him like water, Setsuna not used to facing opponents more agile than him. A few blows even managed to clip him, cutting his shirt and leaving small cuts on his body.

Letting out an angry huff, Setsuna swung a diagonal slash at Ji, and managed to cut into her torso a bit as she jumped up onto a cart. She scowled at him, yelling something in Twi'leki at him, Setsuna using the force to bring up an industrial tool to block a blow from the other sister that was inches from him.

Ji glared at Setsuna, "We were going to turn you in for the bounty on jedi, but now I'll just kill you." Her previous playful tone was gone, a fury replacing it. The fighting paused for a few seconds, Ji hopping down as Setsuna moved back slowly, the sisters circling him like predators. Setsuna kept his guard up, waiting for a chance to make a move against the two, letting his focus on force speed drop to be able to fight longer. And the fight began again with two slashes to his chest, Setsuna parrying the blows. 'I hope the others are doing better.'

In contrast to the others, Lyle was doing fine. He was only dealing with one moderately armored mercenary, the brother of Rand. The blaster bolts only impacted above him, and Lyle couldn't help but crack a comment, "I can't tell if your brother thinks you can do this alone or that I'm not the threat."

There was no response from the other side, and Lyle just rolled his eyes. 'God this guy must be like Tieria.' Lyle peeked up and took a few potshots at the stern looking man, who looked very similar to the leader, lacking the scar the other had. He was only a short distance away, ducking as the dual pistol roared. One blast hit a broken tool behind the mercenary, sending it scattering in pieces. Lyle grunted in annoyance as a shot forced him down, leaving both of them stuck in this eternal balance of firing and ducking back into cover.

Looking at his belt, Lyle saw he had one remaining stun grenade. "Well now's a good a time as any…" Unclipping the grenade, he pulled the pin and tossed it over his cover as he looked over, following the arc as it landed a little behind the enemy mercenary. The Corellian couldn't see the reaction, but he hoped his eyes widened at the sight.

Hearing the explosion, Lyle rushed out of cover, his pistols ready as the man had a hand over his eyes, grunting in pain. A deep voice called out in anger and confusion from the man, "You won't get me that easy!" A blast came out of the rifle, hitting Lyle's armor on the Corellian's side, it mostly getting absorbed. But Lyle knew from experience this was going to bruise, and he was going to need to see the medical bot again.

But he didn't pause as several bolts hit the mercenary, hitting over his torso and legs as the body stilled. Lyle looked at the still form, pursing his lips, but he didn't have time to react as a blaster bolt sizzled past him, an angry voice calling out from the leader, "That was my brother! You'll pay for that!"

Lyle dived for cover to his side, sweat running down his forehead. A pang of sympathy rushed through him, a memory of his own brother going through his mind.

"You are being a stubborn asshole!" Lyle slammed his hands down on the kitchen table of their shared apartment, looking at his brother, anger filling Lyle's eyes.

Neil, his shaggy hair in contrast to Lyle's slightly shorter hair, just growled, "This rebel group is just holding us back. We know where an imperial base is, so we should strike!"

Lyle wanted to rip the hair from his head, "We don't have the forces to do it! And rumor has it this is an inquisitor's base. We can't fight a force user!"

Neil just glared and marched out of the kitchen, punching a hole in the wall, his voice cold, "I am going to get revenge for our family. If you are going to be a coward, then I'll do it myself." Neil fell out of view as he entered a bedroom, leaving Lyle stewing in anger.

With a harsh bark, Lyle spoke, "If you want to kill yourself, go ahead. Mom, dad and Amy wouldn't want us to do this, but I'm not going to stop you."

That was the last time he had seen his brother, and it had been years. He hated his last words to his brother were out of anger, and a hint of guilt sat in him for pushing his brother to act, but he had come to accept that his brother was going to do something like that regardless. 'At least I hope I didn't push him to doing that.'

But his mind was brought back to the battle, annoyed he was stuck in cover by a guy with good accuracy, and he had no way to distract him. 'We need something to turn the tide.'

Allelujah looked down at his feet as combat raged around them. The group was caught in a stalemate, and he didn't know if they could outlast these mercenaries. Setsuna was holding but Allelujah could sense him using the force earlier had exhausted him a bit. 'But there is one thing I can do.' His hand trembled as he reached under his armor, touching the cool cylindrical metal, memories weighing on his mind.

Tieria looked over at the heterochromatic soldier, "What are you doing?"

Allelujah just nodded heavily, "Something I wish I didn't have to." He stood up, and with a snap-hiss, a green blade shot out of the handle, green light highlighting Allelujah's face. The mercenary's attention immediately snapped to the appearance of a lightsaber. The Gamorrean let out some squeals, and the scarred leader replied angrily.

"I don't care! He can't block all of them!" There was a squeal that sounded nervous, but the gun turned on him, and Allelujah focused himself as the blaster bolts bounced off his lightsaber, each bolt easily being blocked as Allelujah ran from cover to cover, leaping over a cart as he rounded up on the pig-like alien. Ghart tried to swing the gun to smack the Jedi, but the energy blade just sliced through the barrel, a burning smell filling the area as the hot metal hit the ground.

And with a quick overhead slice, Allelujah cut Ghart from shoulder to upper chest, the armor melting and breaking as the life left the alien. The body slumped to the ground, and Allelujah deflected a bolt from the scarred human, "She didn't say the Jedi had a lightsaber!" Allelujah blocked a few more, and a blaster bolt from the side hit the head of the mercenary, the now dead body hitting the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Tieria raised his weapon and let out a long burst at the Aqualish, multiple shots impacting him, leaving a burning corpse behind. Tieria huffed in annoyance at the fact they had been put in such danger, but only two threats remained.

Lyle grinned at the Allelujah, "Thanks. The lightsaber's cool. Didn't think I would get to see one again." Allelujah let the words wash over him, still getting used to the sensation of deflecting blaster bolts, his senses rusty, but not forgotten.

A cracking sound was heard as Ji was thrown into a wall by the force, Setsuna's hand extended. The two Twi'leks had been distracted for a split second due to the lightsaber, and Setsuna jumped at that, and now he was left with only one sister, who looked at him nervously, though he could see anger in the back of her eyes. But with reckless abandon, the woman charged him, her sword ready to thrust.

But with only one woman to focus on, Setsuna dodged her as he activated force speed again, grabbing her sword arm from behind as he stabbed his blade through her from behind. The woman trembled in his grasp, a hand going to her stomach, blood spilling out of her, and she dropped to the ground with a soft gasp. Her face was down, and Setsuna caught his breath.

Feldt cautiously came out of cover, looking away from the two bodies, "Is everything…clear?"

Setsuna nodded, not saying anything, and both of them were drawn to the still active lightsaber. Feldt looked at it miraculously, while Setsuna hummed. 'It seemed he took my advice.' And by the way the weapon left the Gamorrean's body, he could see why everyone was amazed by this tool of the Jedi.

The Miraluka put a hand on Setsuna's arm, "Let's join the rest of the team." She saw several small cuts across his body, but Setsuna seemed to be holding up, so she held her tongue. The Kiffar smiled at her, and the pair left the bodies behind, gathering up with the rest of the group, Tieria looking over everyone, "Status report."

Everyone affirmed they were ok, Lyle stating he was out of grenades but otherwise fine. Allelujah deactivated the lightsaber, storing it away out of sight as he looked over the team, "To answer your question that I'm pretty sure you all have, I had this hid in my gear, but was too nervous to use it." He let out a breath, "I guess I'm using it again."

Lyle clapped him on the shoulder, "Well you saved all our asses, so we owe you a drink."

Allelujah laughed, "Thanks."

Tieria just tapped his foot, "While I am thankful for the save, I wonder why you didn't use it earlier." His voice was harsh, but he turned to the way out, "Now let's hurry to Wang Liu Mei. I want to know what is going on."

Upper Area of Point Athor

The group made good time as they made it to Wang Liu Mei's office, and it already was a bad sign that there was no bodyguards outside. The area was quiet, and the group opened the door to see four corpses on the ground. The room was a mess, the furniture thrown about and the secretary they had seen before poked her head up, shaking as her eyes widened at the sight of the rebels, "Oh by the force, help arrived. Nena stormed in, killing the security." Her hair was messy, and her eyes were red and puffy, "I didn't think she would betray us…and she pointed her gun at me…"

Tieria raised his blaster pistol at the office door, "Open the door and we'll deal with this." Muffled voices were heard through the door, clearly full of aggression, though their words were indecipherable. The woman nodded and the door slid open, Tieria and Lyle taking point as they were presented with a tense situation.

Nena and Wang Liu Mei had pistols drawn, Nena with an angry scowl, while the Twi'lek was outraged, with a hint of fear. Wang Liu Mei's voice filled with some confidence, "Well Nena, it appears you've been outplayed." She called to the group, "Kill this traitor!"

The group had their weapons raised, Nena looking between the two groups. She growled, "I thought I would have had more time!" Her finger tightened on the trigger and she looked at the rebels, "Don't shoot me. She's the monster here! She's the traitor! She sent you to kill some gang who had nothing to with attacking her agents! And sent mercs to make sure the job was done!"

Feldt gasped as Setsuna hummed under his breath, Nena's warning to them about the Duros making sense. She knew they were going down there, and seeing that she was the traitor to the Twi'lek, the fact the mercenaries showed up after them could only mean she was involved. Setsuna looked at Feldt, but there was only a lost expression on her face, matching his.

Wang Liu Mei spoke quickly, "Nena was behind it all! She wanted to betray me and she knew where you were going! I went on information she told me! So shoot her!" Lyle couldn't help but find her words uneasy, like she was lying, but he didn't trust Nena

Tieria, angry and confused at the complicated situation, asked, "Why did you send mercenaries to kill us?" He glanced over to see Setsuna and Feldt looking at Nena with familiarity. 'When did they meet her?'

Lyle was focused on the tense standoff, Nena hissing out a response, "I didn't pay the mercenaries! I tried to warn your group about it! Don't trust her!" She turned her attention to Wang Liu Mei, "She murdered my family! She sent my brothers to die!"

Lyle could see a fire in her eyes, hear a grief in her voice. He remembered that feeling when he learned his brother died. The rest of the group's eyes widened with concern, sensing her grief and anger leaking off of ger, besides Tieria, who narrowed his eyes, not knowing who to trust. 'How could I have fucked up so bad?! How did I blindly trust Wang Liu Mei?!'

Wang Liu Mei looked at the group, fury in her eyes, "What are you doing? Kill her! Otherwise you'll never get that agent of yours!" She was losing control of the situation, and fact the rebels that she gave a job to aren't doing their job just wound her up further.

Nena detected the strain in her boss's voice, and calmed a bit, "She's not the only one who knows where your agent is. Let me kill her and I'll tell you." There was also a hint of desperation in her voice, and the group struggled with what to do.

Tieria looked between the two women, his gun switching between the two. Yet his trigger finger trembled, his failure haunting him. He lowered his gun, not knowing what to do. Both women looked at the rebels, knowing their lives were in their hand. Nena growled and Wang Liu Mei looked around nervously. Tieria looked at Lyle, doubt taking over his previous conviction.

Here were two criminals in front of him, and he had no idea who was right, or if Nena was lying. 'Criminals are scum, but we need that agent.' But Lyle was razor focused, his eyes not meeting Tieria's, and Tieria was a bit disturbed at how cold and calculating the look in the Corellian's eyes were.

'Both promised the agent, but who could they trust?' The tense air was suddenly disrupted as a blast hit Wang Liu Mei in the chest, the criminal falling to the ground, her voice weak, "Why…" The breath left her, and her cold body lay on the floor. All eyes turned to Lyle, who put away his blaster, looking over everyone. Setsuna just nodded at him, Allelujah let out a breath and Tieria's eyes widened, not expecting Lyle to just end the situation like that.

"I didn't trust her. And I hated her attitude." Feldt looked at Lyle, concerned at how cold he was, but Nena stepped over to Wang Liu Mei's body, kicking it viciously.

"That's what you get for killing my brothers." She kicked it again, "Bitch." She turned her attention back to the group, looking at Lyle, "Not that I'm complaining, but why did you shoot her?"

Lyle pursed his lips, "Because I could hear the anger about your family in your voice. You can't lie at a strong emotion like that." Lyle then grunted, "And she most likely tried to kill us. That's kind of rude."

Tieria stayed quiet, and Allelujah looked at Lyle, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I don't know if there was any happy solution to that." Tieria frowned at that, thoughts rushing through his head. 'How could I have been so stupid!' He had no idea who he would have killed, and Lyle doing the job for him filled him with shame.

Feldt glared at Nena, holding onto Setsuna's arm as Nena opened up a secret panel on the walls no one spotted before, humming as she accessed Wang Liu Mei's archives, smiling at the data and power in her hand. Her network was now Nena's and she wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Finding the data for the rebels in the room, she pulled up a projection, copying the data for them, "I did promise you the data."

Lyle narrowed his eyes, but she just smirked, "I'm going to be nice. While I didn't get to kill her, I got vengeance for my brothers. And you backed me, so I'll show a little good faith."

Lyle rolled his eyes, "I don't really want to interact with any of you again honestly. No offense." He took the data, and looked at the map, showing a block of apartments on the middle ring, the label showing the agent was at apartment block 4, unit D45. A question then popped into his mind, "So those mercenaries weren't meant to kill us?"

"And here I was offering a hand in friendship." Nena just tilted her head, smirking, "And honestly I think they could have gone either way. If you went along with her plan, then they would have been gone by the time you go there. If you hadn't…well we know what happened. Either way you have an ally in the criminal underworld. I owe you one, but exactly one."

Tieria growled at being potentially killed for someone's ambitions, but his mind was still working through everything that happened, so he didn't say anything. The rest of the group stayed silent, but made it very clear on their faces of their dislike. Lyle's hand twitched to his gun, but he held back, not knowing if she had any tricks up her sleeve.

But Allelujah took a deep breath, taking note of the location, "I'm surprised that she kept her in somewhere relatively comfortable."

Nena rolled her eyes, "Wang Liu Mei liked to pretend she was a noblewoman. So I suppose it was a 'gift' to have a hostage being held in a comfortable place." She clenched her fist, "I always hated that."

Feldt spoke up, directing her attention to Nena, "You said she killed your brothers. What did you mean by that?"

Nena's eyes filled with anger, her lips trembling a bit, but she spoke after a harsh breath, "I don't feel like telling the whole story, but they failed a few missions of hers, not that it was their fault, and she felt they were useless, so she sent them on a suicide mission. They tried to get out of it, but she held a debt over all of us, so we couldn't say no." A tear went down her face, "But now I am free, and she's dead."

Setsuna could sense the strong emotions coming from her, Feldt able to sense the wound Nena's brothers' death left on her. Allelujah just shook his head at knowing firsthand what the criminal underworld did to people. Tieria clenched his fist at the thought of how that debt was used. 'It's despicable. This is why I hate all this.'

Lyle just nodded and looked at the door, "We're going to get out of here. I have no interest in being here with the cleanup."

Nena just shrugged, "By all means." Her gaze went to Setsuna, batting her eyelashes, a purr in her voice, "If you ever want to visit me, my bedroom is always open." Feldt scowled and pulled Setsuna out of the room, Setsuna grunting, having no interest in the shape-shifting woman.

Before he left the room, he stopped, turning with a stern look, "I have no interest in you." Feldt's hopes rose at that, seeing the small smile that Setsuna gave her as he walked beside her, the first of the rebels to leave the room.

Allelujah quickly followed them, his mind weighing on the past. He paused for a quick second as he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. A force presence that he hadn't felt in a long time. 'Marie?' It was gone almost as soon as he felt it, but his heart called to look for her. 'I'll have to get away from everyone.' He began moving again, hearing the footsteps of his last two teammates behind them.

The last two team members walked slowly out of the office, Lyle seeing a quiet and contemplative Tieria. The Corellian spoke in a relieved voice, his previous desire to gloat disappearing as he saw how lost Tieria looked, "Well that could have gone better, but we got our agent. And all of us are alive." Lyle grumbled a bit, letting out a breath, "And you aren't a bad combat leader, all things taken into account."

Tieria bit his lip, his voice soft, "But I messed up. I got so caught up in-" Lyle raised a hand, and Tieria looked at him confused.

'Not even I could have predicted that Wang Liu Mei would have been betrayed from the inside.' Tieria also looked genuinely lost, the calm after combat and resolving the betrayal issue probably letting him think over things. Letting out a bitter breath, Lyle looked in Tieria's red eyes, "Listen, as much as I want to gloat, we were played. That wasn't your fault. But we can talk as we walk. I don't want Nena to hear what you are saying."

Tieria nodded, Lyle's words making sense. He huffed his usual annoyed huff, but Lyle could tell there wasn't as much heat in it as usual. Straightening himself, he moved to keep pace with Lyle, "Fine. We can walk and talk." His clipped pace almost filled Lyle with ironic joy. As much as he enjoyed Tieria learning his lesson, there was something fun about teasing the straightlaced man.

Author Note

And we reach the end of the first drama of Act 2. But there is plenty more to come, especially with our favorite mercenary! I want to thank you all for reading and I'll see you guys next chapter!