-Than-

We stepped off the lift and found ourselves in a large, two level, open area that looked like a central distribution unit for the power cores. There were openings for the cores all over the walls, and the assembly lines were connected to a large pillar that was directly in front of us on the far side of the room that the power cores were coming out of. The lights on the walls were an ugly light yellow color. We were standing on the top floor, and a large hole opened in the middle that led to a bottom floor, where more assembly lines criss-crossed the dark floor. There were ramps on either end of the floor we were on that led to the lower level, but to get to them you would have to walk all the way to the side with the pillar, about 50 meters away. This room was about twice as big as the one we met the first guards in.

Before we could really take everything in, doors opened on either side wall and out spilled Burhaj and Seyley. I heard some doors open below us and assumed the same happened downstairs. I sprinted for cover behind another outcropping in the wall without really caring what happened to the rest of the Specs. Thank the maker that the designer of this place put a lot of these outcropping in the walls. I don't know what their purpose is, but they're saving my butt. The green carbine shots fired past, and I heard a rapid metallic shinck shinck shinck that I knew belonged to a thornhive. I watched as a Burhaj Spec on the other side of the room took some thorns in the chest and fell. Ster ran over and stood in front of the Burhaj, returning fire and felling a few. This surprised me. The Burhaj were considered cannon fodder throughout the Alliance.

A yellow orb landed next to me, bringing me back to the present. I ran, and heard the explosion, and felt the force of the blast on my back, but it didn't do any damage to me. The nades were meant to concentrate their destructive blast, dealing tremendous damage to the thing they get stuck on. I turned and returned fire on the attackers. I dropped a few Burhaj, then got into a firefight with the Seyley. He got a few good shots in, but I was able to evade well and tear down his shield, so he fell rather quickly. I ran and grabbed his carbine and looked across the large gap. There were more Seyley on that side, and they were doing a good job of shutting down the Specs. I sent the three Specs who followed me to go down and take out some guys on the bottom floor and aimed at the Seyley on the other side, getting multiple headshots and taking out the Seyley that were stopping the Specs. I ran forward without watching for them and started shooting at the guards on the bottom. The Specs I'd told to go down already took out one or two of them, so I ran along the inside of the wall and hit one of the Seyley in the back with the carbine, depleting his shield, before shooting him in the head. I noticed that Ster and the Specs who were on the other side had come down and started firing their weapons at the last of the guards, making quick work of them.

When the firefight ended, I asked "What's the damage?"

"Two Seyley" Ster said. I looked around and noticed that one of the Burhaj had bandages soaked with light blue blood. He must have been the one who got hit. I grunted and nodded at him before walking to the Seyley corpses to find more carbine ammunition.

When the carbine was full, I led the Specs down a narrow hallway that was off to the side. We traveled lower and lower, all the while fighting off more guards, until it finally opened up into a large hangar bay. To one side was a large opening where ships could enter, and there were lights on the ground that guided the ships towards designated landing zones. The Ugnaughts were loading power cores onto a freighter as the Seyley ordered. I noticed one of them was wearing orange armor, signifying that he was the leader of a defensive force. He must be the one in charge. I watched him walk through a small side door, and two guards took positions on either side of the door when it closed.

"Take the Specs and take these guys out. I'm going after their leader. When you're finished, escape. Don't wait for me," I said to Ster. He nodded, then crept towards a group of power cores close to the freighter, the Specs following closely. I turned on my active camo, and quietly slipped towards the door the leader went through. When I got to the guards, I activated my saber and cut through both of them before they could even react, then slipped through the door in hot pursuit. I would not let this guy escape.

As I ran through the halls, the alarms began blaring. The Specs must have made their presence known. With stealth no longer an option, I broke into a dead run.

The walls were lined with doors, but they were all dead ends. The only path seemed to be the way I was going. I quickly spotted a sign that said that I was approaching another landing bay. I pushed myself to move even faster. The floor was a blur and my heart pounded in my ears.

When I finally reached the entrance to the landing zone, I noticed the orange-clad Seyley walking towards an airspeeder, which seemed to be the only kind of ship in the whole hangar.

"Turn, traitor" I said loudly, deactivating my camo and training the carbine sight on his head.

He turned to face me. "Than Valum. I'm surprised they sent a Vindicator to silence me."

I recognized the Seyley. He was Gayne Quelt, the tribal elder who ordered the assassination of my family. I felt the overwhelming urge to pull the trigger a couple of times and kill him now, but stopped myself. That kind of death was too good for him. I wanted to make him suffer.

"You have turned your back on the Alliance and on the Seyley."

"Says the marked traitor."

"You preached to me about treachery. And now you stand before me as a hypocrite."

He chuckled. "I'm no hypocrite. Your family turned on the Alliance. The Alliance turned on our kind. We fight a war without an end, and will do so until we are replaced."

My eyes widened when I realized what he was saying. "NO! Blasphemy!"

"The Seyley are blind, Vindicator. I must make them see."

Plasma bolts whizzed past me, and I turned to see guards running from the hall where I came from. I turned back to Gayne, but that split second was all it took for him to jump into an airspeeder. I scrambled to an airspeeder and jumped in quickly, firing the thing up and chasing after Gayne, plasma bolts flying at me from all sides.

Gayne had the jump on me, but I was close behind him. There weren't any weapons on these things, so I was forced to tail him.

I landed behind him on a small landing pad and jumped out. I trained the sight of the carbine on the bastard and fired a warning shot. He paused, and turned to me.

"If you refuse to join me, you will die. The master you serve will replace you, and you will be fed to the Bluurg."

I fired at him, hitting him in the chest. His shield absorbed the blast, but before I could fire again he ducked behind the airspeeder. I stood with my back against one of the speeders folded wings and watched his red blip on my tracker sit for a bit, then start moving quickly away from me, and I moved to follow. As soon as I left cover, a red blip appeared immediately to my left and I was able to move to the side just in time before a glowing whitish-blue blade impaled me in the chest. Instead of killing me, it stabbed my side, missing major organs but still enough to drop me to my knee. I let out a yell of pain, and a sharp kick in the face sent me sprawling on the ground, carbine flying out of my hands. I looked up to see Gayne rearing up to cut me down, helmet gone. I rolled to the side, barely avoiding the downward plunge of the blade, punching him in the head and then in the side. He let out a low oof and collapsed to the ground as the force of the second punch hit him directly in the polop, compressing it and sending waves of excruciating pain through the digestive organ. I stood up, wobbling slightly, and kicked the blade away from him. I looked around quickly, found the carbine, and went to get it. When I came back to him, he was on his hands and knees, struggling to get up. I slammed the butt of the carbine on the back of his head, and he fell back to the ground. I stepped on the back of his neck and pressed down hard so that his face was digging into the pavement. He squirmed against me in a vain effort to escape. Coldly, I lined up the reticle of the carbine with the back of his head, and pulled the trigger.

The squirming ended abruptly, and I was left on the landing pad with the dead man. I didn't feel the joy or even the satisfaction I thought I would after killing the man who killed my family. Instead, I felt regret. I was no better than he was.

I heard a ship flying towards me, and looked to see the freighter from the hangar bay that I left the Specs at approaching me. As I watched it land by me, I held the carbine at eye level and aimed it at the hatch as it began to open. I was about to pull the trigger when I noticed that the blips on my tracker were green. I lowered the carbine and watched as Ster, the bandaged Grunt, and three Seyley walked out to greet me.

"I thought I told you to leave me."

Ster shrugged. "We were going to. Then Stroh noticed two airspeeders moving this way. Figured we would help out." He motioned at the bandaged Burhaj, who I assumed to be Stroh. He looked at the body and said "It looks like you finished the job. Come on. Let's get back to the Ascension."

I nodded and stumbled after them onto the ship. As I was walking, the pain from my side flared up more than ever and my head started pounding. I realized just how exhausted I was. My vision swam as I found a cot in the lounge and layed down, closing my eyes and letting myself drift to sleep.