The gathered Jedi and members of the military watched the three feeds with silent, horrified fascination. The first, ending with the twitching hand of a marine sergeant, hadn't been the worst of them. If anything, it had been the least brutal. The second had ended with the bodies of two marines being visibly ripped to pieces by the snarling, drooling monsters that, despite looking as if they were human, could not have possibly been. The third, a team led by a female sergeant, had ended abruptly without any warning. The sergeant had removed her combat helmet and lifted it, the camera pointing towards a cluster of the things that staggered within meters of her hiding spot - a very narrow space behind pipes of some kind reachable only through a maintenance hatch seemingly too small for any adult human. When the things had moved on, she had waited another several minutes and then eased herself out, put her helmet back on and picked a direction. The feed cut into stacking and squealing audio that indicated jamming of some kind.

In the briefing room, everyone was silent until, unable to help himself, Wade Vox nearly squawked. "What the hell did we just watch?"

"That is the question, Tech Sergeant Vox;" said Admiral Ackbar gravely. "We have no idea what we saw. What we know is that the Low Tide and three individuals from the Freemaker Salvage and Repair Company are missing and have been for two weeks now. In response, we are sending a strike force to investigate further. It will be large enough to deal with two Cardan VI-class space stations and an Imperial Star Destroyer and we would like three Jedi to accompany the mission if possible."

That last comment was directed more at General Rahm Kota than anyone else. The blind Jedi master crossed his arms over his mandalorian breastplate and stroked his silver goatee as he answered, "You'll have them. Will the strike force be picking up these three luck souls or will our Jedi be meeting them over Meglumine?"

"Your Jedi can meet the task force at the edge of the system and ride in with them. We would like them to leave as soon as possible;" said General Cracken politely but firmly. More than anything, it was out of respect for General Kota and General Galen Marek who were two of the founding members of the Rebel Alliance and had initiated the Treaty of Corellia. The fact was that, since most of the Jedi were serving members of the military, the order could be given and the Jedi would either have to follow it or resign their commissions. As it was, neither Rahm nor Galen had an issue with the order. The younger Jedi master nodded his head. "We'll have them selected and ready to go within the day. Do you have a shuttle for them or should we use one of our own?"

"If you have a ship, that will do just fine;" said Ackbar. "We are, as with most things, running on a shortage of transports at the moment."

"We'll take care of it then, Admiral;" said Galen and bowed.

The military members who were not Jedi filtered out of the room and the three Jedi masters strode to the fore. It would have been an odd picture or anyone who hadn't been around it for some time. From the view of the seats from left to right, there was Kota, a man with his blinded eyes uncovered and a scar across the bridge of his nose. He wore a holster on his shoulder where his lightsaber was and mandalorian combat armor. In the center was Galen Marek who, when not in a combat situation, wore military fatigues with a general's rank insignia on them. Finally, on the right was Jedi Master Kanan Jarrus. He was one of the few Jedi who did not have a military rank since he usually worked with the diplomats and councilors of the New Republic. He had a strip of cloth across his eyes, wore a top knot and a neat mustache and goatee.

Master Kanan cleared his throat and said, "Who do we think should go on this mission? It would seem all four of our Jedi Knights are indisposed at the moment. Should one of the three of us take up this issue?"

Rahm stroked his goatee thoughtfully. Galen shrugged and said, "I could go out and take care of whatever the issue is."

"No doubt you could, Boy;" chuckled the older general, just a hint of fondness in his gruff voice. "However, I think this mission might be an excellent time to test three of our advanced students. What do you think, Kanan?"

The other nodded solemnly. "I agree; I think this situation was pre-chosen by the force for them."

After a moment of hesitation, Galen nodded his agreement and looked at the eight gathered Jedi students. "Wade, Nisotsa and Keyan, please come down here."

Immediately, they stood and approached the front. "The rest of you, go to the training hall. It will be open training. Work on whatever you wish until we arrive."

The others bowed and filed out of the room, leaving the three students with the three masters. "Go and get whatever you need together for this mission;" said Master Marek. "You will be departing in twelve hours. A E-9 Explorer called the Rogue Explorer will be fueled and ready for you to depart. Get a good meal, some rest and whatever you think you may need. Are there any questions?"

The three Jedi apprentices looked at each other. Wade cleared his throat nervously. "Can we get a compilation of whatever information we have on this whole messed up situation? I'd rather not the only info I have been generalities and some very disturbing cam recordings that leave considerably more questions than answers."

Kanan smiled in the young man's direction. "I'll see to it that Cracken sends you everything we have but the truth is that it probably won't give you many answers, Wade. This is a situation full of unknowns. Now go on. Prepare for your missions. If you need to speak to any of us, you know you can always ask."

Wade, Nisotsa and Keyan bowed and departed. At first, none of them spoke as they headed towards the dining facility. It wasn't technically anywhere near an official meal time but the palace's commissary was open at all hours and the food was excellent - something that the three of them were not entirely used to. Finally, Wade shook his head and said, "I've seen some things since Luke and Mara found me on Tatooine but those video feeds were like nothing I'd ever seen before."

"I don't think anyone had, Wade;" said Keyan Farlander. The man was a older than Wade - probably closer to Luke Skywalker's or Mara Jade Skywalker's ages. "Whatever it is, I'm sure we can handle it. You heard what the masters said about us being their advanced students. Master Jarrus even said we were pre-chosen for this."

"Actually;" said Nisotsa, an attractive blond haired woman, "they said that this situation was chosen for us."

"Same thing;" said Keyan, waving his hand aside. Nisotsa rolled her eyes. She had seen dozens, if not hundreds, of men like Keyan - young warriors or fighter pilots who had survived numerous engagements by no small skill of their own. How old she could be was hard to judge since she had been encased in carbonite along with thousands of others by a Sith Lord named Darth Revan nearly four millennia ago. She had been wakened by a man who had summarily declared himself a Dark Lord of the Sith and attacked the New Republic. Because of this, she had surrendered to the Jedi and reformed, even going so far as to help against her former masters Darth Diabolis and Darth Heluquin.

As they entered the commissary, they weren't surprised when it was mostly empty. A few aids of the members of the council and some members of capital security were clustered here and there but other than that, the place was completely bare. They got their food and sat down. "So..." said Wade between bites of the noodles and nerf strips he was devouring, "should we bring anything special?"

Keyan nearly choked on his own food and Nisotsa laughed quietly, "Wade, you've been on missions before. Just bring what you normally would."

"I know, I know;" said the young man, blushing fiercely, "but this seems different somehow. I'm just- I dunno. I'm nervous for some reason."

Keyan had finally regained control of his laughter and said, "No reason to be, kiddo. We'll be fine. Finish your food, go grab a shower and pack a bag. Then, if you have time to spare, you can go meet up with the Hapan ambassador. I'll bet she'll give you a hell of a send-off."

The fighter jock-turned Jedi waggled his eyes and earned a sharp elbow to the ribs by Nisotsa, who was only scowling to hide her own smile. Suddenly, Wade looked panicked and checked his chrono. "Blast!" he said and chugged his drink before standing, literally shoveling the food on the tray into his mouth as he tried to hurry to the turn-in line for the tray. "I promised Mesa I'd meet her after the briefing. She's going to kill me."

"Doubtful;" Keyan called after him. "She likes you too much."

Nisotsa watched Wade go with a smile but then turned a frown on Keyan. "Don't you think you mess with him a little too much, Key?"

"Nah! It does him good. Every squadron has that one member who is like the kid brother to everyone. They get teased the most, sure, but force help any poor son of a schutta who tries to cause them trouble. Wasn't that how it was before you went to sleep?"

Nisotsa's eyes suddenly grew distant. "It was, somewhat - at least among the males. Truth is, I don't remember all that much of that life anymore. I remember the war against the Mandalorians and being frozen in carbonite but the little details escape me these days."

There was melancholy in her tone and Keyan sobered quickly. Reaching across, he covered her small hand with one of his. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to prod old wounds."

Nisotsa smiled at him and caressed his fingers with her thumb. "You didn't, Key. I was just remembering Cariaga and some of the few memories I do have from the time before. They're mostly happy, really. Anyhow, come on. We aught to take our own advice. We have a mission to prepare for."

Wade made it back to his quarters less than an hour before he was expected in the hanger. Mesa Lorilli, the ambassador to the New Republic from the Hapes Consortium had ensured that he had gotten eight hours of sleep - and no more than that. The rest of the time, from the minute he got to the door to her quarters until a small alarm went off indicating that the young man needed sleep, she had taken him to bed and engaged in rigorous copulation. This was usually how it was before Wade went on a mission for the New Republic Military or for the Jedi.

The eight hours he had gotten had been more than enough but now, he needed to gather his gear. He always had a bag packed with extra uniforms and such, a hygiene kit and a datapad all ready to go. The other bag he needed to pack, he would put two or three other datapads in, as well as tools for working door mechanisms, slicing into computers or conducting unforeseen repairs. He also threw what he called a datacron and its reading plate; the datacron was something he had put together to store massive amounts of information and the reading plate allowed it to be hooked up to most kinds of terminals, computers and even droids. Aside from those items, he strapped on an old blaster pistol that had belonged to his brother, blaster rifle of roughly the same vintage and, of course, his lightsaber was swinging at his belt. With a mild grunt, he threw his duffel bag onto his back. He was about to grab his tool bag when he remembered something. From a drawer in his storage compartment, he pulled a thick gold bracelet with durindfire gems and a large ultima pearl set into and clasped it on his left wrist. It was a gift from Mesa when he had first visited her in Hapes to negotiate for a hyperspace pod filled with files from the Empire. That done, he switched off the glow panels and headed to the hanger designated for the Jedi. Along the way, he ran into Keyan and Nisotsa. The former was wearing an orange flightsuit with a flack jacket over it, a DL-44 blaster pistol on his right hip, an A280 blaster rifle over his shoulder, his lightsaber and a large military-issue duffel bag on his bag. His hands held only his flight helmet. Beside him, Nisotsa was wearing black Rebel Alliance marine combat armor with a black Jedi cloak over it. She carried a DH-17 blaster pistol and her lightsaber but no other weapon. Her blond hair was tied back in a simple tail and she smiled. "My, my; you look well rested, Wade. I guess you didn't get that send-off Keyan mentioned."

Wade blushed, revealing that she was incorrect and didn't reply. Keyan laughed and slapped his shoulder. "Geez, Wade; you think you packed enough stuff."

"I never go anywhere without my tools. You never know when we'll need them."

Nisotsa and Keyan chuckled as they walked into the hanger. Master Galen Marek was standing at the bottom of the ramp of an CEC E-9 Explorer - a light freighter originally meant for scouting and surveying unknown planets. As they strode up, the young Jedi master said, "Take good care of her; she's a good ship. As for you three, remember everything Luke and Mara and the others taught you and what we taught you. Follow your instincts and trust each other. May the force be with you."

He shook their hands and grasped their shoulders with affectionate and proud smiles. They stowed their gear in the holds and went to the cockpit. "They already took care of preflight;" said Wade casually as he plopped down into the pilot seat and strapped in. Keyan cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable not being at the stick. Nisotsa began to chuckle at him and Wade looked at him, the innocent look on his face belied by the clear delight in his eyes. "What?"

"You ever flown a ship like this before, Wade?" asked the veteran fighter pilot uneasily.

"Oh sure;" replied Wade casually but then emended, "well, I've flown ships similar - you know, other CEC ships and they aren't generally that different." Keyan's shoulders tensed ever so slightly but he replied as casually as he could. "Not that different, no... I guess."

Wade nodded with an easy grin, his eyes still sparkling with mischief. "Well good; I mean, I haven't flown any actually ships - just practiced in the sims but that isn't too different, right?"

Nisotsa was dissolving into helpless laughter as Keyan tried to jump to his feet, only to remember he had buckled his restraints. He fumbled with the buckles and said, "That's it! Wade, out! I'm flying!"

Wade burst into laughter and waved him back. "Easy, EASY Keyan! I'm only joking. Luke let me fly his ship a couple times, and I've actually flown an E-9 before. Relax. I was only messing with you."

Still looking highly skeptical, Keyan sat back down and buckled back in as Wade easily maneuvered them out of the hanger and looked behind him. "Can I get a copilot up here?"

Before Keyan could move, Nisotsa was up. With a sweet smile, she pushed him back down. "I got it, fly boy. You must be tired of all that flying you do. Let us handle it."

Looking somewhere between dejected and stressed beyond belief, Keyan crossed his arms and hunched down in his seat. Within moment, they were in hyperspace. With a sigh, Wade turned stood and stretched before plopping back down and pulling out his datapad. With a pleased exclamation, he became fixated on the device. Nisotsa frowned and looked over at what he was reading. "What do you have there, Wade?"

"Information on what we have about this Imp installation we're going to;" he replied, "there isn't much but it's better than nothing. The Low Tide responded to a salvage claim by the Star Scavenger and met them over Meglumine. Aside from the stations, the star destroyer and an old prison barge, the numerous ship there were either pirate, rebel or civilian of other kinds. There were nearly a hundred of them - from single man fighters to frigates apparently. This is weird. Woah! Apparently those stations have grav-well generators fixed to them. What was the Empire doing here?"

Nisotsa pursed her lips and stroked her chin before asking, "Do we have I.D.'s on any of the ships?"

"Most of them - the Alliance ships, we do and some of the civilian ships. The ones that we don't are likely smuggler ships or stolen maybe. The rest are pirate ships, I'm sure. They at least fit the profile of pirate ships."

"What about the two Imperial ships - the destroyer and the barge?" asked Keyan as he dug into his flightsuit pocket and pulled out a ration bar. Wade scanned the reports again and replied, "The Imp Star One is called the Vector and the prison barge is called the Purge."