I apologize this has taken so long. Work has been very busy. Anyways, I hope to get a couple of new chapters up over the next few days.
Three Mandalorian boarding craft screamed towards the slave ships. They screeched to a halt in the main hangar of the lead ship. Within seconds, the Mando'ade were out and ready to fight. Rezin exited his transport right behind his warriors. He began reaching out through the Force for the one person he had sensed from the Skyline. He found that person quickly. She was alone.
"Shadow Squad! With me!" Rezin commanded. He then sprinted for the corridor in front of him. His squad of Mandalorian Commandos followed. They met quick resistance. A blockade of guards met Rezin and his commandos at the first opening down the corridor. Rezin was forced into a defensive stance to protect his team. Shadow Squad made quick work while Manda'lor protected them from the blaster fire.
"We must keep moving. I have no idea how much time we have." Manda'lor told his team.
"We are with you, sir. We'll follow your lead." Striker, the squad leader, replied. Rezin and his squad took off once again. They continued to make their way through wave after wave of Imperial guards as they worked towards the prison cells.
"This seems too easy, sir." Striker commented after the fifth wave of guards. "Where are the sith? There is no way that there are not some Sith, even those weak apprentices, here."
"You're right, Striker. Stop here." Rezin ordered. "Teams, report in," Manda'lor stated over the coms.
"Blade Squad here. We are outside the bridge. Ready to breach on your order." Came one reply.
"The engines are under our control. Shields too." Reported Alpha Squad. Similar reports came from all the other squads as well as teams from the other ships. No sith warriors were reported being seen or faced. This made Rezin pause. Where are they? This does not make sense. Rezin thought.
"This is a trap." He started quickly as something dawned on him.
"Sir?" his team asked.
"The reason we have not faced any Sith is that this is a trap." Rezin restated. A smile began to spread on his face, although his team could not see it because of his helmet. "What is our response?" He asked.
For the first time since they entered the transport onboard the Skyline, he could feel the excitement from his team. "We spring the trap." came the reply.
Rezin and Shadow Squad proceeded to advance towards the prison levels. They entered two elevator lifts and descended to the lower levels of the ship. Rezin drew his sniper rifle. He knew that he would not have room to use it in its sniper mode, so he switched to his close-range modifications. His lightsabers would be useless exiting the lifts as well.
The descent only took a minute or two, but it felt like an eternity. As Manda'lor and his team reached the end of their ride, a smoke grenade went off. Inside their helmets, infrared sensors switched on and they readied to fight.
The doors hissed open. It was as if time came to a crawl. Mandalorians opened fire blasting everything within eyesight. Sith troopers dropped like flies. As they advanced, there was more room to maneuver and Rezin slung his rifle over his back and began his dance of death. It really is a scary sight to have Mandalorian dual-wielding double-bladed lightsabers. Shadow Squad closed ranks behind Rezin as they advanced down to the prison cells. Rezin went in front of his warriors to protect them and shield them.
Rezin suddenly halted his path of destruction. His squad quickly advanced down the rest of the tunnel, securing each cell. Rezin opened the cell door and froze. "I really hate it when I'm right, '' he said. Rezin was staring at the person he came to rescue, surrounded by 3 sith lords. One of those sith lords held a lightsaber to her throat.
"Nice of you to join us." the sith holding the saber sneered. "Your daughter has been telling us the greatest of stories." Lyd kept her eyes looking up at the ceiling. She did not meet the gaze of Rezin. She feared he would be upset with her, or worse. She also could not bring herself to acknowledge that she did not correct the sith in thinking that he was her father. In fact, that had been the only thing that had kept her alive while being a prisoner. She felt a presence in her mind. It startled her but she couldn't move. Lightsaber. Are you ok? That was all she heard. Lyd was not sure why she nodded, but she made the slightest of movements to confirm she was ok. At least, she was physically ok. A wave of relief flooded over her. She quickly realized the thought and emotions were coming from the posing presence standing before her and her tormentors. When I tell you, fall backward. Her eyes grew wide as she realized he intended to fight these sith.
"Silence? Interesting choice, Rezin." The lead sith commented. "I guess she means nothing to you. Oh well. We really hoped that we could at least get something out of you before killing her." Just as he was about to cut her throat with his saber, she kicked off the ground backward and slammed into him. In an instant, Rezin was upon the sith. He twirled into the cell, dispatching the two apprentices in the back in a matter of seconds. By the time he turned around, Lyd was standing with the other sith's saber in her hand. She held him at blade point.
"Why did you keep me here!" she yelled at him. Rezin placed his hand on her shoulder. He didn't say anything. Just offered her support. In the blink of an eye, she drove the lightsaber through the sith, ending him. Lyd then dropped the lightsaber and she began to drop as well. Rezin quickly caught her and held her up.
"It's ok. You're safe." Rezin said to his friend.
"It's n-n-not that." She stuttered, trying to calm down. "This has been building for a while. I-I-I have had to keep it in for so long. I just n-n-need a minute." She said, not looking up.
"I wish I could give you a minute, Lyd. We need to get off this ship. There is a powerful fleet that my forces are trying to hold off while we rescue you all. Can you walk?" He asked.
"I think so. I might fall though. Please don't let me." She requested in return. This shocked Rezin. In the few years he had known Lyd, she had never asked for him to keep her from falling. In fact, she had avoided physical contact almost completely. She preferred to do things on her own.
Without a word being said, they turned and left the cell. Rezin did not see Shadow Squad waiting for them. He reached out through the Force and reached them quickly. He then reached out to the other commando squads and ordered them to pull all prisoners back to the ships. Those that did not have prisoners to escort were ordered to eliminate the enemy with extreme prejudice.
It took them the better part of 15 minutes to reach the ship. Once Rezin got Lyd there, he took her to the cockpit, helped her into the co-pilot's chair, and activated the defenses. It wasn't long before Shadow Squad came running up the ramp. "All the other squads are on their ships and leaving, Manda'lor." Striker reported.
"Thank you. Death count?" Rezin asked.
"No Mando'ade deaths. Too many sith troops to count. It was glorious." He replied. Rezin lifted the ship off the hangar floor and shot out of the hangar.
"Skyline, this is Manda'lor. All vessels are away. Target the prison convey and fire at will." The reply came in the form of turbo laser fire arcing its way towards the vessel they had just been on. It erupted into a ball of fire as the barrage struck the engines. Rezin took the last couple of moments before they landed on the Skyline to check in on Revan and his fleet. He saw that they were holding their own against Darth Nox. In fact, it was then that the Dark Council member's fleet jumped into hyperspace.
As his ship landed in Hangar 1, his squad disembarked and went to check their armor and weapons. Rezin turned to Lyd and, for the first time, gave her a good look over. He saw different cuts, scraps, and gashes. Her clothes were torn. It looked like she had been tortured. She was still shaking. She seemed to be in control, but still very scared. He realized that she probably did not know who he was.
As he was removing his helmet she spoke up. "I know it's you, Chris. Or should I say Rezin?" She spoke the last name with a hint of confusion. "I do not know how I knew, but when I heard your voice in my mind, I just knew. I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what? You have nothing to apologize for." Rezin quickly replied.
"For not correcting them. I'm not your daughter. It would have saved us both a lot of trouble." She answered back. She kept her gaze on the floor. Rezin knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hands, something he had never done before while working with her.
"I have told you from day one that I think of you as a daughter. You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing at all. I am just glad that you are ok. I wish we could have gotten to you sooner." Rezin tried to comfort her. "Shall we get you cleaned up?" She only nodded. Rezin stood up and went to help her stand. Lyd tried but collapsed back into the seat. Rezin then took her right arm and put it over his shoulders. He reached around Lyd with his left and helped her up. He kept his left arm around her as they walked off the ship and into the Skyline hangar.