436. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

Raezyr meditated in his room for a while before stretching out on his bunk. When Trychon told him earlier how things had gone with Kord's friends, his "stuff happens" attitude almost had him fooled, even with their Force connection.

Despite his closeness with his old Master, they had never discussed feelings and emotions much, and he wouldn't have known what to say to Trychon had his older brother been wanting to discuss them.

He laid there for a while, sensing Trychon's restless dreams. He'll get it worked out. What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger, he thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow, he needed to figure out where to acquire a shuttle for their "landing" on Altax IV.

The next day Raezyr was sitting in the cockpit, going over star system maps, when Trychon entered and took his usual seat at the co-pilot's chair. "Here: The Matra System in the Tingel Arm. That's where we'll pick up a shuttle."

"What's there?" Trychon asked, going over some system checks of his own.

"The main planet is called Den Var. It's an independent, city-wide planet, so we won't have to worry about Republic entanglements, although they do have a small fleet of their own. We should be able to find someone selling a shuttle there," Raezyr said. He further laid out plans for taking possession of the ship and getting all three ships to the Bermatrix system. "Once we engage the slave circuits on this ship, we can slave it to the the Stalker, and when it jumps, so will the Razor."

They spent the next several days sparring and working out in the mornings and used the afternoons to study their tomes or sit under instruction from Daxon Var's holocron.

Despite the wraith's constant berating and tirades on their ineptitude, he did note that they were making remarkable progress in their skills. It had been quite a while since they had had down time to just study and train, and they could feel that their powers were growing significantly under the ancient Sith Lord's direct tutelage.

Finally the day came when they exited hyperspace into the outer edges of the Matra system. Few of the systems in the Tingel Arm of the galaxy were colonized and the ones that were were mostly mining or farming colonies, and Den Var had become a central planet for supply, trade, and industry in the sector.

Trychon put the Twilight Stalker into orbit around one of the outer, uninhabitable planets, and they began the four hour trip in to Den Var. As they came in, they noted that it wasn't as built up as places like Coruscant and Nar Shaddaa, or Taris had been. One could still walk on the ground between the buildings and see the sky above.

Night had fallen where at the large spaceport where they parked their ship, then caught a speeder shuttle to a posh, nearby hotel. They checked in, freshened up, changed clothes and then headed to one of the upscale nightclubs called Club Sky. They felt they had earned a break from all the training and studying they had done on their trip, and they did have a few creds to spare. Tomorrow would be soon enough to locate a ship.

435. Manipulation of Emotion - Trychon

After what was one of their shortest visits ever, both Trychon and Raezyr had gathered everything they were going to take with them, and were loaded up and ready to go aboard the Jet Razor. Trychon had stopped by to give Dianna a bottle of their newly acquired brandy and to wish her a quick healing trance, and sensing his mood she thanked him with a hug.

After thanking Delki for the quick check through, and with a very brief sendoff from most of the healthy crew of the Lair, they settled into the cockpit and headed out of orbit of Hoth. Watching it disappear into their rear sensors, they said goodbye to their 'almost' home. As Raezyr pulled back on the appropriate lever, it was gone.

The first day of their trip was rather quiet. Trychon was keeping to himself by and large, either in the common area reading his tome from THX 1138 or in his berth, still reading. Becoming more than a little irritated with his brother, Raezyr insisted that they needed to spend some time together with the Holocron, as it would perhaps be able to give them some input on what was a puzzling mission.

Trychon retrieved the Holocron, and after summoning Daxon Var, they took turns explaining the very little they knew about the mission that their master Eiron had given them. Trychon started off by explaining how they were supposed to go to Altax 3, a small moon with a high orbit above the gas giant Bermatrix. They needed to find the monastary of the secretive Taxl monks, and turn them from their ways of peace, and allow them to destroy themselves. Raezyr went on to explain their further instructions and the recent unhappiness from Darth Vikon, explaining that he was the reason they'd inquired about long distance force communications a while back.

The conversation was rather short lived, as Daxon Var laughed at them and told them not to trust a Lord of the Sith, either their master or any other. The apparition then retreated back into the crystal on the floor, although Trychon was sure he heard something mumbled about a 'real master' right after Var was gone.

After Trychon put the occasionally quixotic jewel back in it's hiding place, they met back up for a brief sparring session. They hadn't practiced in several days, but if anything their skills were sharper than before, having been honed by the tests of real battle. Even though they'd spent more time on Gentes blocking blaster shots than anything else, they felt quicker in general. Nothing else had changed though, and Raezyr managed to end several of Trychon's attacks by disarming him or halting him with a thrumming blade dangerously close to the neck.

Wiping the sweat from their brows and arms, they sat down and broke out another bottle of ale, pouring it into separate containers to drink. They sit in silence for several minutes and Raezyr watched Trychon stare into his glass. He had a smile on his face that matched his normal one, but Raezyr could feel through the force that his brother was troubled. He was about to ask how things went with Kord's friends when Trychon looked up.

"You know, I was friends with a man who became a monk... do you mind if I reminisce?" Trychon asked. Raezyr shrugged and took a drink.

Trychon continued smiling and continued. "Ok, my friend is driving down the road and broke down near a monastery. He went to the monastery, knocked on the door, and asked, "My car broke down. Do you think I could stay the night?"

The monks graciously accepted him, fed him dinner, and even fixed his speeder. As my friend tried to fall asleep, he heard a strange sound. The next morning, he asked the monks what the sound was but they say, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

My friend is disappointed but thanked them anyway and went about his merry way.

Some years later my friend broke down in front of the same monastery. The monks again accepted him, fed him, and even fixed his speeder. That night, he heard the same strange noise that he had heard years earlier.

The next morning he asked what it was but the monks replied, "We can't tell you. You're not a monk."

My friend said, "All right, all right. I'm dying to know. If the only way I can find out what that sound was is to become a monk, then how do I become a monk?"

The monks replied, "You must travel the earth and tell us how many blades of grass there are and the exact number of sand pebbles. When you find these numbers, you will become a monk."

My friend set about his task. Some forty-five years later, he returned and knocked on the door of the monastery. He said, "I have traveled the earth and have found what you have asked for. There are 256,897,103,145,236,284,232 blades of grass and 231,281,219,999,129,382,756,124,512,999 sand pebbles on the earth."

The monks replied, "Congratulations. You are now a monk. We shall now show you the way to the sound."

The monks lead my friend to a wooden door, where the head monk told him, "The sound is right behind that door."

My friend turned the knob, and behind that door he is amazed to find the source of that strange sound."

Trychon took a sip of his ale. After it was obvious that Trychon was done, Raezyr put down his glass and asked him "So what was it?" Trychon looked at him and took a long draw of his drink.

"I can't tell you that, Raez... you're not a monk." Trychon said as he started to laugh. He still managed to catch the empty bottle that was soaring towards his head though. He set it down and continued to laugh. Raezyr chuckled and then asked what he wanted to ask originally.

"How did it go with Kord's friends? You never mentioned it." He could feel Trychon's mood lighten a bit as his smile settled back to normal.

"It went really well, Raez. They weren't mad at all, although they were upset of course. Rather than discuss what happened on Gentes though, they insisted on telling me stories about him. Said that it would have made him happy. Not that it matters of course... but it was still enjoyable. Good to know a little bit more about the kid. I never even learned his last name was Scarlett before he died. I guess it's never too late for some things."

"You're right. Just glad you cheered up about the whole thing." Raezyr commented.

"Well you know, in a short time, Kord was the first person to really look up to me. He was really nice to me."

Raezyr grinned. "Anya was pretty nice to you too, if memory serves."

Trychon laughed as he got up and grabbed two more drinks. "Well, I can't dwell on it forever, obviously. We were there to help, and that's more than the galaxy can really ask of us anyway. I tried to save him. If I'd done something different, maybe it would have turned out better. Maybe worse. It doesn't matter now."

Raezyr nodded. "Exactly."

Trychon looked off into the distance for a moment before continuing. "You know, all the talk about reminiscing about my monk friend... then Kord... and how it's never too late for some things? I'm starting to wonder about our past. I'd gotten used to not knowing how I came to be where I was... an orphan child in a village. We know now that there has to be more to it though. I wish we knew what happened. I was thinking that at the very least, we could ask Vikon. He clearly knows something."

Raezyr looked into his glass. "Well, I didn't randomly show up somewhere with no memory and no past... but clearly things were kept from me as well. Maybe Vikon could tell us something. Daxon Var warned us not to trust him though."

"Yeah... he'd love for us to believe his word is the final authority on everything... and we should trust him somehow too. He isn't wrong though. We need to watch our backs even when we're dealing with Sith. Common goals hasn't always bred loyalty among us." Trychon stood up and stretched, clearly ready for another night of real rest.

Raezyr finished his drink and stood up as well. "It may mean being nicer than I was hoping to 'Darth' Vikon as well. He better not expect to get either of our gems back... they've proven too powerful to part with."

Trychon yawned. "Agreed. We'll keep our eyes on Vikon, but he's useful to us for the moment. To our mission and maybe to our past... we'll even play the nice apprentices until we're done with him. That said... I'm ready for bed. Don't stay up too late writing Dianna..."

"Shut up Trych..." Raezyr said as he followed his brother back to their rooms.


----------------

Within minutes of falling asleep, Trychon began having the same dream as the night prior. Over and over again, Kord's lifeless eyes seemed to plead with him to save him the next time... as his body fell repeatedly to the ground. His expression pleaded for an ending to the eternal suffering of having the guard accidentally shoot through his skull... an accident for the guard, perhaps. Kord's pained face said what he knew though... it was because of Trychon.

434. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

Upon landing at the King's Lair on the ice planet of Hoth, they learned that Dianna had been placed in the kolto tank nearly thirty standard hours earlier, and the MD droid estimated that she wouldn't be out for another fifteen hours, which was fine with the two Sith.

They hadn't seen Zanz since he had been put in his place when they arrived last time, and as long as he stayed out of their way, they were alright with it. Still, they left Aitchkay aboard the Jet Razor with orders not to let anyone but themsevles or the Chadra-Fan, Delki, aboard without their express permission.

After asking the little mechanic to give the ship a thorough mantanence check, Trychon and Raezyr retired to their quarters for some more rest. They both hoped Darth Vikon decided to keep to himself this time.

Thankfully, their sleep was peaceful and uninterrupted. Raezyr had set the alarm on his chronometer to wake him an hour before Dianna's scheduled release from the kolto tank, but it proved to be unnecessary, as he awoke on his own before it went off. He stepped into the refresher then dressed in a white tunic, black pants and black vest. After strapping on his utility belt, he stepped out and headed for the cafeteria as he was feeling famished. He paused briefly at his elder brother's door, and sensing he was still asleep, continued on his way, deciding not to wake him.

It was mid-afternoon and between meals, leaving the dining facility empty when he arrived. He entered the kitchen and found half of a pot of caf still sitting on a warmer. It was old, but hot, and after pouring a mug, he took a long swallow and the bitterness tasted good anyway. Digging around in the refridgeration units, he came up with the makings for a cold sandwich and made one and put it on a plate. After refilling his mug, he took his quick meal and sat down at one of the tables.

He was just about to take the first bite, when he felt Trychon's presence approaching. He bit into the sandwich just as the other Sith entered. "I'm so hungry right now," Trychon said, looking wistfully at the meal his brother was practically inhaling.

"Get your own food," Raeyzr said around a mouthful.

"I see how you are." Trychon chuckled and went into the kitchen. He would have told Raezyr the same thing. A few minutes later he emerged with a sandwich of his own and a cup of cold elderberry juice, and sat down across from Raezyr.

They ate in silence for minute then looked up toward the door expectantly, having sensed Zanz approaching.

The ex-Sith commando entered the dinning hall and looked at them hesitantly before approaching. Raezyr swallowed the last of his food and spoke before Zanz had a chance. "If you're going to start something, do you mind waiting for awhile? I'd rather not have to kill you on a full stomach."

Zanz ignored the comment and took a deep breath before speaking. Clearly he was having problems with what he wanted to say. "Look. I just finished going over the holo-recordings you submitted on arrival, and I spoke to Taggart and Dengar when they left Gentes," he paused before continuing. "I may have been a bit hasty the last time we spoke."

Without letting either of the Sith reply, he spun about and walked quickly out of the cafeteria. After he had left, Trychon and Raezyr looked at each other and burst out laughing.

They sat and joked for a while about "understatements," when Raezyr glanced down at his wrist crhono, and noted it was time for Dianna to come out of the tank. He stood up from the table, "You coming?"

"Nah," Trychon said, his mood turning bleak in an instant. "I need to go talk to Kord's friends. I realize they probably already know, but I should talk to them anyway. Besides," he added,"you probably want to talk to Di alone for a bit."

Raezyr sensed the despair that was beginning to cloud around the other Sith. "Trych, I know a little something about kicking yourself over 'what if's,' but the bottom line is that Kord's blood is on Riv-ar's hands."

"Yeah, I know," Trychon said. He knew what Raezyr had said was right, but now that things were settled down a bit, he couldn't help but think that Kord might still be alive if he had just done things a bit differently. He watched as his younger brother exited the room and put his own dishes away, then headed out to find Kord's friends.

By the time Raezyr got to the medical bay, Dianna was already out and was resting in the bed. She smiled at him as he entered the room. "Hey lover!" she said playfully, although still a bit weakly. "Kill anyone lately?"

Raezyr sat next to her on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, I took a little trip to Gentes, and I brought you this souvenir," he said, pulling out a necklace that he had chosen from the wooden box. It was a brilliant green gem which emmited an inner glow, in an aurodium setting and chain.

"It's beautiful, but you mean to tell me that my lover went out and killed my arch-enemy, and all he brought back was a necklace?" she said teasingly.

He grinned, then leaned over and kissed her gently. "Well, Trych would kill me if I gave you the Delfa ale we found, so that's going to have to do." She leaned her head forward and he did the clasp for her.

"I love it, Raez." She held up the pendant and looked at if for a moment, before Raezyr spoke again. "I thought you'd be done once you were out of the tank."

Dianna explained that the medical droid wanted to run some more tests before clearing her and she may not be out for another day or two, but she was more concerned about other things. "Raez, you and Trych saved us, you know that, right?"

"No, Taggart and Dengar are doing that by making the delivery. You wouldn't have given up the operation here for a few prisoners. You would have wanted to, and you would have hated yourself for not doing it, but in the end they all knew what they were getting themselves into. All Trych and I did was wipe out a bit of the competition. Plus we let a few escape with the knowledge that anyone who tries to cross you or your crew can expect the same." Raezyr fell silent, holding her hand and looking at the floor.

"What's the matter?"

"We've got to go again. I can't tell you where, but it may be a long time before we return," he said. He looked into her eyes and then bent over and kissed her. Standing up he headed for the exit.

"Raez?" she called when he had reached the door. "I love you."

He looked over his shoulder as he activated the controls. The door slid open with a 'whoosh.' "I know," he said, and stepped into the hall.

433. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon got out of his bunk and rubbed his eyes. As they came into focus, he glanced at the crono by his bead. Eighteen hours had gone by, and he still felt groggy. He hadn't slept that long that he could ever remember. Must have really wiped myself out... He concluded. That, and I need to stop being interrupted by Sith Lords with inflated views of self importance. In his mind, he could hear Vikon yelling at him for the snide remark if he'd heard. That made him grin. He was fairly sure that Vikon's mental intrusion really did adversely affect his rest, but it was impossible to know to what extent.

He got out of the outfit that he slept in, as it was coincidentally the same one he'd worn for the entire day prior. He dressed himself in identical black fatigues. His wardrobe was still rather repetitive, but he liked it. He'd maybe get a few alternatives if he knew he was going to be in an area where another color was more suiting, but they always seemed to be planning a bit at the last minute and the black worked well for that.

As he wandered up to the cockpit, where he was sure to find Raezyr, he noted in the lounge that they hadn't put away their glasses or the drinks the previous night. Not wanting to leave the common area a mess, he picked up the glasses and drinks and took them with him up to the front section.

He tossed one of the empty glasses towards his brother, who had his back facing the entryway, as he had been looking through the viewport. Trychon had caught him just as he leaned back to stretch and let out a yawn, yet Raezyr managed to twist one of his hands into a position to catch the missile regardless.

"Isn't it a bit early?" He asked, taking an ale from Trychon, who was sitting down opposite him in the copilot position.

"No such thing." Trychon poured his own ale as he spoke. "If there was, it would be irrelevant in space... let alone hyperspace."

432. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

The stars appeared quickly in the cockpit window as the Jet Razor exited the atmosphere and Raezyr switched to the sub-light engines, throttling up to full speed to escape the gravity well of Gentes.

Reaching over to a small locker, Raezyr pulled out the small wooden box he hand pilfered from Riv-ars private vault. "Check this out," he said, tossing the box over to the man in the co-pilot's chair.

Trychon studied the well lacquered, intricately carved box. The wood was unknown to him but it had gold, silver and aurodium inlaid designs. "This is pretty nice; where'd you find it?"

"Found Riv-ars private stash," Raezyr said.

Trychon opened the box and looked at the jewelry and gems inside. "Very nice. All of this should bring a nice profit, as soon as we can find a fence."

"If you like that, you'll love what else I found," Raezyr grinned, easing the hyperdrive levers backward. They watched as the stars streaked into white lines and then formed the familiar mottled blue of hyperspace.

Trychon slid into his usual seat in the lounge area as Raezyr pulled out a couple of bottles and some glasses, then set them down on the table. Trychon picked up a bottle of the ale and looked at it. "Delfa ale? Very nice. This stuff is expensive and hard to get. How much was there?"

Raezyr filled two tankards and then sat down before answering. "An entire crate. Several cases worth. I also found a crate of Corellian brandy, too," he said, indicating the other bottle he had brought to the table.

Raezyr paused a moment then raised his mug. "Victory toast?"

"To the death of Fillis Riv-ars. May his soul never find peace."

"And to a steady flow of income," Raezyr added as he touched his glass to Trychon's.

They sat in comfortable silence for several minutes, enjoying the carbonated, amber liquid and relishing in it's refreshing bitterness.

When they finished the ale, Raezyr picked up the bottle of the brandy and poured a little into each of their mugs before Trychon finally broke the silence. "Speaking of income, I found a bit of information that we may find useful when I was digging through the data I stole from the Republic cruiser."

"What's that?" Raezyr asked, taking a sip of the brandy. He sighed contentedly as the liquor burned slightly going down his throat.

"I found the location of a Republic aurodium storage facility. It even had a technical readout for the base where it's located." He grinned as he took as sip from his glass. "You know, this brandy is good, but I think I prefer ale."

"Do you even have any idea what you're proposing?" Raezyr asked incredulously, ignoring the last comment. "I don't even have to look at it to know that the place has to be nearly impenetrable. It'd take an army to get past their security."

"I know. I was just throwing it out there. But can you imagine? With that kind of haul we could buy a capital ship of our own." They both laughed at that, and then spent a few minutes day dreaming about what they could do if creds were no object.

After a while, the discussion turned to their most pressing dilemma: Darth Vikon and the Taxl monks. They had defied the order of a Sith Lord, and even though he wasn't their master, they knew there might be consequences, but felt that together they could handle whatever may come of it.

Fatigue, weariness and alcohol overcame them shortly as they finished a second ale. The toll exerted on their minds and bodies from pushing their Force abilities to their limits was finally winning out over the artificial stims that had been keeping them going, and they decided to get some rest. Hoth was a mere 20 hours away.

Raezyr crawled into his bunk and was alseep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Almost as quickly, a dark figure he recognized as Darth Vikon formed in his dreams. Through their bond, he could sense Trychon was experiencing it as well.

"Now that you are finished playing, we need to discuss some things, APPRENTICES!"

431. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon flipped over his datapad, which had a black surface but was reflective enough to allow him to view his own eyes. Sure enough, there were a handful of small yellow dots in his normally green irises. They both knew this was a possibility or even an eventuality. Trychon wasn't sure if the situation was permanent, increasing, or reverse able. He decided he also didn't care. If it became an issue, he could always get micro lenses that would cover them. In fact, he was sure he could find some that had some nice extra features that would be handy and maybe help him catch up to Haley, and without the need for surgically modifying anything.

He turned to Raezyr. "Take us out of here. Then we can turn this place to dust." They were both looking forward to that part, Trychon mused. He was going to let the Sith Stalker take a few shots at the key points he'd already loaded into its computer, and it should be enough to topple the building, while leaving some of the underground in tact, such as Riv-ars' private hangar. The Black Phoenix crew didn't know anything would be left... and Di's crew would be convinced that it was destroyed as well. Yet, if they ever needed a haven, this would be one more.

Raezyr piloted the ship out of the main hangar, and straight up nearly a thousand feet before circling around. He did it with less flourish than he normally used, no fancy turns or unnecessary adjustments, concentrating on just flying the ship out cleanly. As he made his wide loop, Trychon signaled to the Stalker to pull back down out of orbit one last time. It had been waiting for the signal, and did not take very long to pull within firing distance of the building they'd just vacated.

Trychon took one last look at the place. "It was our pleasure, Riv-ars. Good bye." Then he gestured to Raezyr, who fired two shots at the center of the building. He took the Jet Razor in a path directly over the target, which Trychon had told him would be perfectly safe but interesting. As they flew by, the air around their ship was filled with turbolaser blasts from several guns at the same time. Several of the blasts nearly grazed the shields, but none did, with the computer brain of the Stalker shooting around them perfectly while laying waste to its programmed target.

"Impressive." Raezyr smiled. He took the Razor up past the larger automated ship and set a course straight away from the planet, ready to get back to the Lair.

430. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

"I think the clincher was the promise of new toys, Trych," Raezyr said after Haley had closed the door. He hadn't been too sure of how much she was buying into the new regime until he had seen her eyes light up when Trychon mentioned getting her some top of the line equipment.

"Yeah, I think so too," Trychon commented as he stood up. "I better go see if I can help her anymore than I already have." He shook his head to clear the fatigue that was creeping in. His stunt in the prison block had taken more of a toll than he had realized, and after what Raezyr had done in here, he was pretty sure his younger brother would be feeling the same way once his stims began to wear off.

Raezyr decided to go poke around a bit, and see if he could find anything worth loading onto his own ship, and the two Sith split up, with Trychon heading for the control room. Raezyr made a round through the dormitory area, noting that most of the crew's personal belongings had been cleared out already. He poked through some of the rooms that hadn't been cleared, assuming they must have belonged to those that had been killed in their assault on the base, but found nothing useful.

He began heading toward the hangar bay when an idea occurred to him. That dirt bag, Riv-ars would probably have horded the best stuff for himself. He doubled back and made his way back to the office and then into the Captain's quarters.

He searched around a bit, but found nothing of interest. Standing in the center of the room, he decided to let the Force guide his actions. Closing his eyes, and embracing the Dark Side, he began to wander around the room until he felt the urge to stop.

Opening his eyes he found himself standing in front of a set of shelves. Various knickknacks and pictures of nude females lined the shelves, but his attention was drawn toward a single tome standing upright in on of the corners. I bet that nerf-herder can't even read, he thought to himself and reached for the book.

When he grabbed, it tilted forward and the entire book case slid silently away opening into a small store room. Inside he found two medium sized plasteel crates sitting on the floor and a small wooden box on a set of shelves.

Opening the box, he found it was filled with several pieces of expensive looking jewelry and some loose gems. He closed it again and picked it up, tucking it under his arm, then turned his attention toward the crates.

He opened the first one and found several cases of what looked to be Corellian brandy, and in the other, several cases of Delfa ale, known to be very good, very potent, and very expensive.

He keyed up the comm link in his helmet and ordered Aitchkay to his location, adding that a small gravsled was needed as well.

It took the droid a while to get there, and by the time he did, Raezyr could tell the effects of the stims were starting to wear off, and fatigue was starting to close in on him. The droid loaded the crates onto the sled, and after Raezyr sat down on one, they began to head back to the ship.

He let the droid load the crates and made a show of supervising the rest of the crew as they were finishing up the loading of the other starships, then boarded the Jet Razor and sat down in the pilot's seat. He ordered Aitchkay to do the pre-flight inspection, then leaned back and closed his eyes. I'll rest for just a moment... only a moment... he thought to himself.

Raezyr nearly jumped out of his skin when Trychon spoke behind him. "We ready to go? All the other ships have left." He chuckled at having startled the younger man.

"I was just, uh, resting, and um..." he trailed off as he began going through the controls, and starting the ship.

"Right," Trychon responded, drawing the word out as he sat down in the co-pilot's chair and hooked up his data pad to the ship's computer.

Raezyr glanced at his older brother, who was looking a bit haggard. Something else was strange, and it took a couple more glances for Raezyr to figure out exactly what it was.

Trychon noticed Raezyr staring intently at his face. "What are you looking at?"

"Your eyes."

"Oh, well, I thought you were... well... but if your not... I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that... except I'm related to you, so that's a bit weird," Trychon said with his usual grin.

"Seriously, Trych... You're irises have flecks of yellow in them."

429. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon looked at the motley crew. The doors were closed, but he waited for the sounds to disperse from the hall before continuing. He used the time to observe the expressions of their employees, so to speak. Tocar stood out the most. He was clearly still a bit uneasy about the entire situation, but that was to be expected. The expressions of the other two were more extraordinary, as both seemed to be handling the situation well. He could feel that they were both curious, but neither seemed to feel threatened or worried. That's probably why he and Raezyr had a good feeling about them though. He also noticed that Haley seemed to have no lingering effects from the stun blast, and Falka seemed to do a good job managing his more substantial wounds.

Once the voices were gone from the hallway, Trychon continued. "I'm sure you have questions, but we'll leave that for later. We don't want to stick around too long here... so I want to nail down the basics." He paused and saw both Falka and Haley nod, while Tocar just stared. "Ok... good. Here's the idea. We're not smugglers or pirates, nor do we aspire to be. We'll do whatever work fits our needs, but it's really not among our major plans as a whole. The things that we work towards are often academic... knowledge and understanding. As well and good as that is... we need income as well. You'll serve us to that end, as well as the occasional information and contact."

They seemed to be with him so far, and Raezyr didn't feel as though he wanted to add to it. "We want you to start from scratch for a number of reasons... but most importantly, that's the easiest and often most successful way to start a new endeavor. You'll go in with all of your knowledge and combined experiences... and build from the ground up. That's the important thing though - we want you to build. Obviously, you'll be starting small since there's a small number of you. You can hire in more now or later and you don't even have to tell them of us. We don't need the attention, honestly."

All three seemed to be listening rather intently now, and Tocar even seemed to be calming down a bit. "We do need you to grow though. We'll be taking a percentage when you liquidate what assets you gather from here. Then to help you get started, we'll start with a rather small cut of your earnings for a while, giving you more ability to grow. As you grow, your rewards will be greater and so will ours. To this end, we will do what we can when we are available to help you. However, please keep in mind that we won't really be available that much as we do have things to take care of. It's also worth noting that our order of the Sith highly values independence and resourcefulness." He eyed them each individually. "VERY highly values."

Trychon was surprised at the continued silence. "Well, I don't want to keep you too long, as I'm sure that given your new positions, you'd like to oversee the work they're doing now. Naturally, we will be in touch with you... but here's your chance for any quick questions you have on your mind."

Fittingly, the Khommite Captain spoke first. "Where would you have us go?"

Trychon shook his head. "Don't run from us, don't attempt to hide from us. Beyond that, you were selected because we're putting our trust in your abilities. You three can make that decision."

Tocar got an excited look on his face. "I know of an abandoned monastery on Tatooine that would probably serve us well... and the high amount of traffic in that system means more competition... but it also means we can blend in easier, and we'll have good access to contacts and work." He smiled for the first time since the Sith arrived. Trychon could feel that Tocar was starting to become excited at their new prospects as he looked to Trych and Raezyr for approval. Trychon looked to Falka. "Captain?"

Falka nodded. "This is the sort of insight I picked you for, Tocar. We'll put it on our short list of places to look into. We'll probably find ourselves in that area when we try to offload all our belongings anyhow." He waited for Trychon to respond, but when he didn't he continued with his last question. "Finally, Fillis called his group the 'Blood River'... what would you have us call ourselves?"

Raezyr made a face. "Ugh... anything but that."

Trychon laughed. "Agreed. Going with my earlier point, I offer 'Black Phoenix' as a suggestion."

Falka nodded. "Black Phoenix it is then. Let's get to work, crew..."

Haley got up from her chair. "How exactly am I supposed to undo the mess you did to my system and offload all of our data in under an hour? We can still use all of that... and I have some important programs of my own."

Trychon turned to Falka. "You're dismissed. I needed to talk to Ms. Stargazer about communication protocols and I'll help retrieve your data. You'd better get underway to make sure you get what you want most out of this place." They watched as the two men left and the door closed again. Trychon checked the security monitors to ensure that they were underway before continuing.

"I've already undone my own mess. It's always easier when it's your mess and you understand how it was made. The full contents of the computer here is already uploading to a remote station that will work as the dock for our communications. I'll give you a copy of all the information you'll need to access it as well as contact us through the station." Haley nodded and walked around behind Trychon to take a look at the screen herself. Trychon pulled up the computer transfer, which was nearly a third complete already.

Haley watched it as it slowly progressed, then she reached out over Trychon, who considered stopping her. He let her continue, and she hit a few keys. The transfer sped up noticeably. Trychon turned and smiled at her. "See? That's why we picked you for third in command. You're almost as good as me."

"Almost?" She backed away and folded her arms with an incredulous look on her face. "I was testing your methods and movements before you slipped that bug into my system. I wasn't expecting something so nasty or I would have had the system protected better."

Trychon couldn't help but to continue his smile as he looked at her. He was amused. "We'll see. In any case... that's exactly why we needed you as the third in command. You're going to act as our eyes and ears on the organization. We have no reason to doubt Falka or any of the crew yet... but we have less to trust them for either. We have a good feeling about Falka... but also about you. Keep a close eye on the crew as well... they may not all have their hearts fully in place behind what we have going on."

She seemed to be thinking it over. Trychon continued. "This will be good for everyone. We'll have extra oversight to make sure that things are going how we'd like them, and we can leave Falka alone to do his job for the most part, which will make him and the rest of the crew more comfortable with their new arrangement."

She looked Trychon up and down. "Ok. Don't mess with my computers again. I don't see why we can't work well together. Falka's a good man to lead, I think."

Trychon nodded and stood up. "Good. Ok." Haley took this as her cue to leave, and began to walk out. Trychon called out to her as she reached for the door control. "Besides... I'm always looking out for new slicing toys anyway."

She turned and gave him a look of shock. "Toys?!"

Realizing that she must have thought he had meant her, considering her cybernetic implants, he stammered to correct himself. "I uh... I mean that I'm always looking out for great computers and tools. The best. I'll share what I can, and make sure you have the top of the line systems to work with."

Haley Stargazer gave him her first real smile since their first encounter.

428. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

The members of the crew sat in silence. Some looked at the dead body on the floor, others looked at the two Sith in the front of the office, and some seemed to try and avoid looking at anything all together.

"Very well then," Trychon continued. "You," he said, pointing to the man wearing the guard uniform. "Get that thing out of here. Lord Raezyr and I will return in a moment. I want you all to think about what I've said." With that, he pushed his chair away from the desk and stood up and walked toward a side door that lead to Riv-ars private quarters. Raezyr followed him, taking care that his steps didn't falter.

When they had closed the door behind them, Trychon reached into his pouch, pulled out a stimulant injector and handed it to Raezyr who injected it. Immediately he felt a rush of adrenaline and energy course through his body, artificially replenishing his stamina.

"Much better," Raezyr sighed, tossing the empty injector onto the bunk, then turning back to Trychon. "What's up?"

"Any thoughts on who we put in charge?" Trychon asked.

Raezyr and Trychon discussed various individuals for a moment, but they kept coming back to Raezyr's initial suggestion of Falka, the Khommite. "He's a warrior, and clearly some of the men respect and obey him," Raezyr said.

"Plus he seems cool-headed and logical," Trychon concurred.

"Now how about his First Mate?" Raezyr inquired. They discussed it for a few moments, as Raezyr suggested installing the cyborg Haley Stargazer as second in command.

"Didn't you want to kill her just a little while ago?" Trychon asked, a bit confused as to how Raezyr could make such a change in so short of a time.

"Oh, I was just wanting to kill everyone at that point. But now that I've had some time to think rationally, I think we can control her a bit easier, and if she's second, then that will give us a bit more control over Falka," the younger Sith explained.

"I think we should let him choose. Not only will it show the crew the level of trust we are placing in him, the kind of person he chooses will tell us a lot about Falka, as well," Trychon suggested. "Besides, I have something else in mind for her. She is going to be our eyes and ears in Falka's inner circle."

"Very well, third in command, then?"

"Agreed," Trychon said, turning back toward the door to the office. "Let's get back in there before they have too much time to think."

They walked through the door and resumed their positions at the front of the office. The crew had been talking in hushed tones and quieted instantly as the Sith reappeared.

"Where were, we before we were interuppted?" Trychon asked.

"I believe we were about to appoint a new Captain for this crew," Raezyr answered.

"Oh, yes. Falka, you will be in charge," Trychon said.

The Khommite stood up slowly. "I am honored by your offer, but may I speak?"

"We welcome your opinion. We wouldn't have appointed you if we didn't," Trychon said, leaning back and resting his forearms on the chair's arms.

"I am not sure if I am comfortable, leading a crew who answers to ones as evil as the Sith. If stating such forfeits my life, then so be it," Falka said.

Raezyr stood up and put his hands on his hips and laughed. "Evil? Captain, it is clear that you have been listening to the lies of the Jedi.

"The Sith do what is necessary to further their goals. Just because we do not answer to someone else's idea of morality, does not make us evil. Each of you has run afoul of the Republic and their laws. They would designate you as evil for not following their rules, just as the Jedi call us evil for not following theirs.

"I could just as easily term the Jedi as evil. They steal children from their families to brain wash them and force their code of ethics down the throats of the unwilling across the Galaxy, but because they are in power, they are allowed to do as they see fit, with the blessing of the tyrannic Galactic Republic. I say they are the true evil to be contended with." Raezyr looked at the Khommite and waited for his answer.

"I see what you are saying, and that makes perfect sense," Falka said looking at the floor, thinking over what Raezyr had said, and he could not find any flaw in the logic. "Very well. I accept your offer to lead this crew."

"Good," Trychon said. "Now, as your first duty, please choose your second in command."

Falka raised an eyebrow in surprise. He spoke with only the slightest hesitation. "I choose Tocar," he said indicating the human male that was seated next to him. "He's been a smuggler and a pirate for a long time. He has many contacts and is familiar with most of standard space traffic routes, as well as many lesser known ones."

"Excellent," Trychon commented. "We are going to name Miss Stargazer as your third in command. She has skills and resources that will be unavailable to you. Her expertise should prove invaluable to you." A few of the crew members grumbled a bit at the announcement that a cyborg would have authority. It was well known throughout the galaxy that cyborgs were often considered second class citizens, or on some worlds, slaves.

Falka spoke up before Trychon and Raezyr could. "You heard what has been ordered by our new Masters. If any of you have a problem with that, you will answer to me." He glared around at those who had grumbled, and they looked down at the floor in acquiescence.

"Now, our first order is that all but the three named go immediately and pack everything of value and load everything you can onto what ships you have remaining. You have exactly one hour. After that, we will be destroying this base and you will no longer be operating in this Sector. If you must chose between something you need, and something of value, take what is of value. You will be able to purchase that which you need later. That is all," Trychon commanded then turned to the computer console on the desk, not because he needed to look at anything, but as a sign of dismissal.

The crew stood and filed out of the door. Curious discussion began as soon as they hit the hallway, and in moments Trychon and Raezyr were left alone in the office with Falka, Tocar, and Haley Stargazer.

427. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

The man in the guard uniform crouched over the big brute and shook him by his shoulder. With a groan, the man sat up. A large purple 'egg' was already bubbling up on the man's temple. The guard started to help him up, but he shook his arm free stood up on his own, looking around the room a bit bewildered. Eventually his gazed came to rest on the two Sith at the front of the large office.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" the large man roared.

"Sit down and shut up," Trychon said calmly.

The man started to make his way forward. "Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Does it look like I care?" Trychon said apathetically. "Now do as your told, what I have to say may be of some interest to you." Trychon nonchalantly turned his attention back to the rest of the crew.

The man's face reddened with anger. He clearly wasn't used to being spoken to in such a manner, but the ease with which they had put him down earlier gave him a bit of hesitation. He sat down, but from the look on his face, Raezyr realized it probably wouldn't be for long.

Trychon leaned back in the chair, resting his elbows on the arm rests and letting his fingers rest against one anther, forming a peak with his hands. He glanced at his younger brother, who had removed his helm and was leaning against the front edge of the desk, fists clenched and arms crossed over his chest. Trychon couldn't see his face, but he didn't need to to know the glare the crew was receiving was intimidating. He'd seen that look before, and it could be unsettling.

"I am Lord Trychon. This is Lord Raezyr. We are Sith," Trychon stated. He let that sink in a moment before continuing, and judging by the crew's fidgeting, it had the desired effect.

"Fillis Riv-ars made the lethal mistake of crossing us and those loyal to us. He has paid the ultimate price for his idiocy..."

The bald man jumped to his feet interrupting Trychon. "What? You killed Fillis? You bas..."

Trychon's calm demeanor turned ugly in an instant. "I told you to sit down and shut up! I won't tell you again! Next time, Raezyr will just cut out your tongue and slice off your legs!" Trychon snarled vehemently.

The man glared at Trychon for a moment, then looked over at Raezyr who hadn't moved a muscle except to turn his head to stare at the big man. Slowly he said down again, arms crossed and eyes shooting daggers at the two Sith.

"Now," Trychon continued, his calm air of superiority returning instantly, "We are going to offer you a business opportunity. You will take your ships and evacuate the premises. We don't care where you go, but you will leave this Sector of the Galaxy. You will set up in a location of your choosing, and then continue business as usual." He looked around the room for a moment, waiting for the inevitable question.

"If I may, Lord Trychon?" the Khommite spoke up.

"Proceed."

"Thank you. I assume there is some sort of catch. I have trouble imagining that after granting us our lives, that you will just let us leave so easily," the Khommite said.

"What is your name, Khommite?" Trychon asked.

"Falka, my lord."

"You are quite perceptive, Falka." Trychon said. "Of course there is a catch. You will be working for us. We will take a percentage of your profits, and you will, on occasion, be called upon to serve us in any capacity in which we see fit. In return, we will occasionally feed you with intelligence and/or equipment which you may use to further this operation. As our power in the Galaxy continues to grow, so will yours. We will provide you with protection from your rivals, but as usual, you will have to safeguard against any Republic or Jedi entanglements as the time is not right for us to reveal ourselves to them.

"Understand this: Loyalty to us and success will be greatly rewarded, while betrayal, ineptitude, incompetence and failure will not be tolerated. Any such will be dealt with swiftly and harshly.

"Some of you may be thinking that you would rather leave, and are already planning to run the moment you are dismissed. I don't blame you for that, but what you are not realizing is that there is nowhere in the Galaxy that you can hide from the Sith.

"Despite rumor to the contrary, our Order is alive and well. Our reach is far, and our grip is deadly. We have spared you, thus your lives belong to us, and we will do with them as we see fit. As long as you are useful to us, and prove yourselves worthy, you will find a place at our feet, and will ride our ship to glory and riches.

"Fail us, and we will grind your bones to dust."

The brute stood up and walked forward. "I think I'll just kill you, and then I won't have to worry about any of that garbage."

Raezyr stood up, dropping his fists to his sides and let the big man come. He stood a good 15 centimeters taller than Raezyr, out weighed him by a dozen kilos and had muscles straining at his clothes, but still he stood there.

Raezyr could sense his brother tensing up. I've got this. Just act calm. he thought to Trychon.

As soon as the big man got close, he lunged forward, catching Raezyr's throat in his his huge hands and began to squeeze. Raezyr grasped at the big man's hands as his face started turning red and he struggled to breath.

You sure about this? Trychon thought, getting ready to reach for his lightsaber.

Got him... right... where I want him. Raezyr replied.

Trychon slid his hand to the silver cylinder on his belt anyway, and was about to stand up, when suddenly Raezyr grinned at the huge beast crushing his neck.

Raezyr let go of the man's hands and started slamming his fist's into the brute's ribs. Cracking and popping noises accompanied each Force assisted blow as it landed.

The larger man's face blanched and his eyes nearly popped out of his head as the pain screamed throughout his entire body with each punch. His grip on the Sith's neck lessened as Raezyr rained blows into the brute's body. Finally the big man coughed, spitting up blood. The flecks landed across Raezyr's face as his opponent slowly sank to his knees. His hands, once deadly weapons used to bring pain and death, now only sought to hold him up.

Trychon relaxed, realizing that Raezyr did indeed have the situation under control,but kept an eye on the rest of the crew, in case any of them thought this might be a good time to try something similar. Luckily, none appeared to be making any moves to help.

Raezyr fully embraced the Force and put his hand out in front of him, lifting the man off the ground and levitating him two meters above the floor. He let the memory of Dianna lying injured fill his mind, and embraced the rage that followed. He remembered what Trychon had done to the guard's gun in the detention level, then focused on the big man's throat.

The brute began to choke and sputter and the man grasped at his neck, attempting to free himself from the unseen force that was crushing his airway. Strange croaking noises emitted from him as Raezyr slowly clenched his outstretched hand into a fist, and finally, the man went limp.

Raezyr let him hang there for a moment before finally releasing the Force and the brute's lifeless form dropped to the floor with a thud. He felt a bit woozy, and light headed, and stepped over to the desk and once again leaned against it before he fell over after the exertion he had just put his body and mind through.

"And that is how insubordination ends," Trychon spoke breaking the silence in the room. "Any questions?"

426. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon and Raezyr stared out into the sky for a few more moments, enjoying their victory over the Pirate leader that had not only caused them problems, but been more than a thorn in the side of their friends. Now that he was gone, they could see what else they had to gain from this trip. If they were lucky, they would not only find some wealth to add to their small collection so far... but also turn the remnants they'd not yet destroyed from this operation into an operation of their own. That was their plan, anyway.

After looking around the previously hidden hangar, they quickly found a small transport tube that led them back to another concealed doorway in Riv-ars' office. They entered the room to see it very much the same as it was when they'd left a few minutes prior. Trychon walked over to the still-open trap door that Riv-ars, pressed a button on the desk, returning the seat and floor to normal. He sat down in the chair and stretched as though he were getting comfortable.

Raezyr rolled his eyes and walked over to the large brute on the floor near Trychon's feet, and pulled the man by the main entrance the two Sith had originally entered through. He stood up and turned to Trychon. "We need a way of getting everyone's attention."

Trychon was already playing around with Riv-ars' desk controls. "On it.... ok. Go ahead... talk."

Raezyr looked at Trychon and stopped just short of shaking his head at him. Public address was clearly a strength of his elder brother's more than it was his. Assuming that Trychon didn't want to take a visible lead role when he was weak, he spoke up anyway. As he started, he could hear his voice echoing down the hallway. "Attention all survivors. We have gotten what we came here for. Phyllis Riv-ars' life. Were he still alive, he would have learned not to cross the Sith. We plan to flatten this base of his... but some of you may still prove useful. We are monitoring all movement in the building, so running will only cause us to give chase and cause great pain. For your chance to learn from Phylis' lesson... please report to his office in the next 5 minutes."

Raezyr moved to stand behind Trychon, who had popped up a security monitor out of the desk, and they observed various attempts to sneak out of the building. Trychon toyed with them individually... allowing them to feel as though they were on their way out before blocking their exits. Raezyr was just beginning to chuckle as the first person entered the room... it was the woman they'd encountered earlier.

"Ah... Ms. Stargazer... I'm glad you were the first to arrive. Please have a seat." Trychon welcomed her with a grin, not looking up from the monitor he was entertaining himself with.

Haley did not sit down though, as she walked over to the desk to see what Trychon was doing to her system. She tried to reach in front of Trychon to some of the controls, but he brushed her hands aside as he turned to face her. She raised her voice over the semi calm tone she'd used earlier. "Are you crazy? Do you expect everyone you shoot to do as you ask?"

Trychon blinked. It certainly seemed to be an odd question to him... and her intensely blue eyes were distracting him from a foot away as she leaned in to glare at him. "Uh..." he started to formulate an answer before Raezyr stepped in for him.

With a look of clear irritation bordering on anger, he tried to figure out how to best get her to get out of the way and stay quiet, as Trychon was clearly off balance with her. "We expect those whose lives we spare to understand their place. My brother chose to spare you already... so he may have a plan for you. We may have a plan for all of you, in fact. You're simply the only one who's value he's determined. Sit down, and be quiet, as we may be asking the others a bit less pleasantly."

Haley straightened up and glared at Raezyr before walking silently to one of the seats against the wall as some of the others began to find their way into the office.

What the hell was that, Mr. Smooth? Raezyr asked his brother through their link.

Thanks, Raez. I'll do the talking, and I'm here for you if this turns into a fight... but I'm a bit out of it. Make me proud.

Right... Raezyr thought more to himself, although he was sure Trychon heard him. He turned to watch the last of the men walk in, and taking Haley's example... find seats. There was a rather small group all in all... but enough to make a rather tight fit for the office. There was the Khommite and his small group, the unconscious bald man, Haley, and then a few others they had not run across, who seemed the most confused.

All in all, there were a dozen of them there to talk to the two Sith. Raezyr turned to Trychon again. No problem... but saw Trychon's gaze intently burning into the last man to enter. He was wearing the same guard outfit the two they'd run across in the prison. The same as the one that had killed Kord... and the same as the one Trychon had electrocuted for it.

The man took the last seat, next to the bald enforcer. Raezyr pointed at him. "You! Wake him up!"

425. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

Raezyr followed his brother, still carrying Teera in his arms. He was worried about Trychon. His old master had warned him that using Force abilities beyond your control could sometimes drain the user physically and mentally, leaving them incapacitated, and while Trychon was clearly not incapacitated, his little spell may just be the first signs of something yet to come. He decided he would keep a close eye on his fellow Sith, just in case the stimulants weren't enough to compensate.

They hurried quickly toward the landing bay and arrived just as the hangar bay doors opened again. The shape of Trychon's large vessel filled the opening, and barely squeezed through before setting down on the deck.

Raezyr carried the twi'lek woman up the loading ramp followed by Dengar's mercenary and they made their way to the small medical bay. Once the two hostages were securely in the medical bunks, Raezyr gave instructions to the on-board medical droid and made his way to the cockpit where Trychon was making slight adjustments to the settings.

He studied Trychon for a moment, who was looking a bit weary. "Are you sure you're up to continuing this? Because if you're not, I can handle the rest by myself."

The strain of expending that much energy had taken it's toll and was showing on his face, but the set of his jaw and look in his eyes spoke to Raezyr more than words. "I'm going to see this thing out."

They exited the ship and watched as the massive bulk of the Twilight Stalker lifted off and made it's way skyward again. The doors began to close again as Trychon punched something into his data pad. "I've uploaded the building schematics into the Stalker's computers. Everything should be set. All we have to do is find Fillis Riv-ars."

They made their way through the base to the room that the layouts had identified as Riv-ars office. Trychon overrode the security lockouts and they entered the room, lightsabers at the ready.

A man who could only be Fillis Riv-ars was sitting in a large chair behind the desk, and an extremely large man with a bald head was standing just to his right. Both men held blasters leveled at the two Sith as they entered.

"Who are you, and what exactly do you want?" Riv-ars asked them in an annoyed tone of voice. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Trychon took a few steps forward and Raezyr slid to the left to divide their targets. "You have crossed those that are loyal to us, therefore you have crossed us. We are here to show you what happens when you cross the Sith," Trychon said.

The big man looked over at Riv-ars in surpirse, only to see the pirate himself a bit shaken. "Sith? But I thought the Sith were gone... Look, what ever I did, I'm sorry. I didn't know. Whatever you want, just take it and go, and be assured that it will never happen again," he said quickly.

"I'm glad you feel that way, because what I want is your life." Trychon raised his blade to swing when Riv-ars suddenly mashed a button on the control panel on his desk and then dissappeared, sliding down under the desk.

The big man lifted his blaster toward Trychon, but Raezyr leaped forward, slicing the weapon in half, taking the brute's trigger finger in the process. He screamed in pain, dropping to his knees and Raezyr slammed the hilt of his other lightsaber into the man's temple. He slumped to the floor unconscious.

Trychon somersaulted over the desk and spun, peering down, only to see an escape hatch open on the floor. Without hesitation, he dropped into the hole in the floor followed closely by Raezyr.

They found themselves hurtling down a slide which twisted a few times before opening up into a small private hangar. Hitting the floor, they rolled to a crouching position in case Riv-ars tried to attack, but they needn't have bothered. The small hangar doors were opening just as the cowardly pirate was pulling the canopy of a small starfighter closed behind him.

Raezyr tried to rush the craft, but Riv-ars powered up the laser cannons and began to fire at the two men on the ground as the ship began to lift off. They dove out of the way as the lasers drilled holes in durasteel deck and walls around them, then ship was gone, speeding it's way across the Gentes sky.

Raezyr keyed up his helmet comm. "Aitchkay, don't let that ship get away!" He yelled into the microphone.

"I'm on it, Master," came the droids mechanical voice as the Jet Razor entered they frame of sky they could see from inside the hangar, quickly gaining on the small fighter.

Crimson laser beams shot out from the cannons of the pursuing ship and smoke began to trail from Riv-ars fighter. The fleeing ship began losing altitude then augered into a hillside a handful of kilometers in the distance in a brilliant fireball.

"Nice shot, Huck," Trychon said flatly into his comm. "Now return and land in the main hangar. We'll meet you there in a little while."

"I just wish one of us could have run a saber through his body, so we could have seen his expression as he died," Raezyr commented, watching the fire burning on the distant hillside.

"Me too, brother... Me too."

424. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon headed down the hall, leading the two men away from the prison cell. As he turned the first corner, he became unbalanced and nearly fell. He managed to stay on his feet though and merely walked sideways into the wall. "Woah..." He said inadvertently, meaning to keep the comment to himself. Only Raezyr seemed to hear him.

"Let's hold on for a minute here so Trychon can check the map..." Raezyr said, as he shifted Teera's weight around as though he was tired on the one side. You alright? He asked Trychon silently.

Lightheaded. Very...

Take a stim. We need to get these guys to the Stalker. Can you call it down to load up?

Trychon pulled out his datapad and punched a few buttons on it. When he put the datapad back into his pocket, he opened and jabbed a stim into his leg, and he began to feel more like himself again.

"Ok... I know where we're headed now." Trychon said. "Ready to move?"

The crew member who was trailing Raezyr in the back got a smell of the burnt flesh off Trychon, and turned into the corner and vomited as he had in the prison.

"Ok then. Let's go."

423. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

Raezyr watched as the man convulsed in Trychon's grip, the smell of ionization and cooked flesh filled the air. Arcs of electricity danced over the guard's body as Raezyr moved to the blue-skinned Twi'lek female.

Teera was cradling Kord's lifeless body, and glanced up at Raezyr. "He was captured because of me. I was wounded, and he wouldn't go with the others," she weeped, tears streaming down her face.

Serves him right, Raezyr thought to himself as he picked her up in his arms. Her tortured and abused body was in no condition to allow Teera to escape on her own, and she passed out, her arms locked around Raezyr's neck as if he might let go.

He glanced back in cell from which they had all emerged, and saw a man struggling to get off the floor. Raezyr recognized him as one of Dengar's men, but he couldn't recall if he had ever heard his name. "Hey. You. If you're coming, then you better get to your feet. I'm not carrying you too."

The man finally got to his feet and started following Raezyr as he headed toward the exit. They stopped next to Trychon who still held the pirate aloft, sparks crackling all around the charred and smoking carcass. "Trych... TRYCH!" Raezyr shouted, finally breaking through to him. "He's dead, man. Save some of that for Riv-ars."

He dropped the smoking hulk to the floor and turned to Raezyr. "Do you smell that?" he asked, with crazed look in his eyes.

"You mean the electricty and burnt flesh? Yeah, I smell it," Raezyr answered, wrinkling his nose under his helmet at the acrid smell.

"Smells like...," Trychon paused and inhaled deeply through his nose, closing his eyes as he did so. He opened them again and smiled serenely. "Smells like revenge," he said dreamily, then stepped through the hole in the door and out into the hallway.

Raezyr watched him go for a second, then shrugged his shoulders and followed his older brother.

422. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon inched the blade a bit closer to the Khommite's neck and the alien began to answer at the same time one of his crew pulled his trigger. The bolt headed straight at Trychon's head before his blade swung back to intercept it. He managed to redirect it at the pirate next to the one who'd fired. The energy poured into his lower torso, weakened by a layer of armor. The pirate clutched his stomach as he doubled over on the floor, restraining his screams to mere groans of agony.

Trychon swept the blade back to the throat of the helpless alien. "Looks painful." He could feel the other pirates tensing for another shot when the Khommite yelled.

"STOP." He looked at his men. "There's nothing to gain by this." Looking back to Trychon and Raezyr he continued. "Your men are in the prison. We never log arrivals and departures for the obvious reasons."

Trychon loosened his grip on the man without letting go. "You'll want to see to your man. Find a nice quiet corner and stay out of the way." He took out a small metal object from his belt and jammed it into the open wound in the Khommite's leg. "We may have more questions later."

The alien fell to the floor, grasping at his wound... and staring at the now blinking object protruding from his leg.

Trychon and Raezyr turned back down the hall they came from and headed back in the direction of the prisoners. They could hear the upset conversation behind them start quietly and rise to a full argument as they turned the corner.

As they jogged down the hall, Raezyr glanced at Trychon. "What was that?"

"Just a homing transponder. They'll think twice about it though."

They picked up their pace and made it down several hallways and stairs until they neared their destination. The alien had told them the truth, as they could feel a number of familiar presences on the other side of the door they approached, as well as a small handful of ones that weren't as familiar.

Trychon turned to his more battle tested brother. "Got a plan?"

Raezyr nodded. "Let's go get them."

Trychon ignited his blade. "These ones die. Di's crew can't see us taking prisoners." Then he punched in the code to open the door to the prison block. As they walked in, they could hear shuffling, but they could not see anyone immediately. The cells were split on both sides of the room, with the metal doors locked among stone walls and only small panes of transparisteel to observe through.

They were about to walk to the first one to begin releasing Dianna's crew when the door at the back right hand corner clicked and slid open. Kord's head popped out. Trychon could feel the young man's fear from across the room, although he seemed a bit reassured to see them.

"Kord!" Trychon exclaimed. He was about to ask how everyone was when he saw Kord continue slowly out into the opening. Behind him was a short little man, holding a holdout blaster to the base of Kord's skull.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Trychon asked the man, allowing his anger to flow freely into his voice. It reverberated throughout the room.

"I'm... negotiating. Myself any my fellow workers would like..."

That was all the man managed to get out before Trychon yanked a stone out of the wall in fury, hurling it at the man's head. His aim was perfect, and there was a loud, sickening crunch as the stone was barely slowed by the impact with the skull of the guard.

Kord's eyes opened as wide as they ever had, and Trychon felt relieved as he saw him begin to smile as he always had. Then the smoke began to curl up from behind his head, and the young man's body crumpled to the floor, all strength leaving him.

The scream came immediately. "KORD!" Trychon heard the voice, and he thought it was his, but the pitch sounded all wrong. He was frozen in place seeing his friend fall to the ground repeatedly in his head, until he saw Teera crawl out of the cell Kord had emerged from. She was clearly in poor shape, as she favored nearly all of her limbs as she struggled to get to the bodies in the opening.

Finally, Trychon found his voice. "NOOO!" Was all he could manage as he could feel his vision slip away from him in unadulterated hate. The door almost directly to his left swung open and he turned to center what was left of his vision on the guard that emerged with his blaster pointed directly at him.

The guard pulled the trigger and then dropped the suddenly crumpled weapon in confusion.

Trychon closed the gap without remembering taking any steps. He felt his arm go to the mans throat and grip him while pulling him off his feet, his strength aided through the dark side. He felt a charge race through him and the man began to shake uncontrollably.

421. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

"Ready to die, pirate?" Raezyr said mockingly. He stared at man for moment, waiting for him to speak. Raezyr could feel the fear emanating from him and basked in it like warm sunshine on a cold winter day. The pirate dropped his blaster and it clattered on the durasteel floor. "I-I-I don't get paid enough for this. I'm... I'm out," the man stammered. The third group held their fire, apparently waiting to see where this was going to go.

"Darth Trychon, do we have to leave any of this scum alive?" Raezyr asked loudly enough for the third group to hear. The implications of using the title were not lost on any of the pirates, and the fear in the room swelled with their realization that they were dealing with Sith, and not Jedi.

Trychon strode away from the group of mercs he had slain and spoke as he walked, his black blade humming at his side. "No Darth Raezyr," he began in an ominous tone, picking up on Raezyr's que. "Cheap mercs are a cred a dozen."

"Good." Raezyr flicked his left hand and the blue short blade sliced through the mercenary's face. The lifeless body sank to it's knees then crumpled to the side. The third group opened fire again, realizing that their only chance at survival now lay in killing the intruders.

Trychon Force leaped to the top of a stack of crates and sprinted across the top while Raezyr charged forward into the crimson bolts that streaked toward him, deflecting them as he charged.

Trychon somersaulted forward off the crates, twisting in the air and landed deftly behind the fighters as Raezyr leaped over their barricade. The three lightsabers flashed about, cleaving torsos and severing limbs. Their dying screams faded into nothing, leaving only the warning sirens and thrumming of energy blades in their wake.

Wordlessly, they moved into the corridor and found the stairs that would take them to the control room. When they reached the top, Trychon punched in the code he had embedded into their security system and waited for door to slide open. He was eager to meet the man who had given him such a battle within the station's computer system.

They burst in as the door slid back, holding their blades at the ready. A woman with perfectly kept blond hair and wearing a tight fitting black jumpsuit stood up from her chair at the main computer terminal. Cyborg implants above her left eye and in front of her right ear blinked with small red and green lights. "You're the one aren't you? I am so mad at you right now! You've made a huge mess of my computer systems," she irrately, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's going to take me days to clean it up."

"A cyborg!" Trychon said with a bit of astonishment. "No wonder... Cheat!" A grin spread across his face as he noticed her bio-interface implants on her left hand.

"Yes I am, and you're pretty good for not being a 'borg. Now are you going to kill me, or can I get back to work here?," she asked, clearly annoyed.

"Can I, Trych?" Raezyr asked with anticipation, his blades held ready to strike.

"No, we have use for her," he said walking over to her, shutting down his blade and hanging it back on his belt. She took a fearful half-step back as he reached over and took the pistol out of the holster at her side. He looked down at the weapon and flipped a switch on it's side. "I'm sorry Miss...?"

"Stargazer. Haley Stargazer."

"May I call you Haley?"

"Whatever."

"I'm sorry Haley, but I can't have you messing around in here while we're still running about the base," he said and pulled the trigger. A blue ring shot out from the end of the blaster and struck her in the chest. The stun setting on the weapon overloaded her nervous system and she fell to the floor unconscious.

Trychon tucked the weapon into his belt at the small of his back, just in case the stun setting came in handy again, then stepped over to the terminal. Haley had been correct, the system really was a mess, but since it was his mess, he found the information for which he was looking. The detention section was located in the basement, three floors down, but according to the data, no one was being held there, and no amount of searching through files revealed the location of the hostages.

"We'll need to interrogate anyone we find on the way to the detention level," Trychon stated as they raced back down the stairs and down the hall toward the lift that would take them to the basement. Thirty meters behind them, six figures came around a corner, and spotted the Sith.

Trychon and Raezyr spun, instantly sensing the new presences in the hall. They began sprinting back down the hall toward the pirates.

"Cover me!" a Khommite yelled, as he drew a vibroblade and charged toward the two Sith. The other five drew their weapons and opened fire, sending beams of energy past the near-human toward Raezyr and Trychon, who deflected them easily.

The blaster fire stopped just before the three engaged. Raezyr reached the Khommite first and the engergy blade met with the vibroblade in a clash of sparks. Trychon circled around to the other side and made his attack, but the pirate's blade seemed to parry every blow the two Sith could throw at him, and somehow he still managed to make attacks of his own.

After a furious 45 seconds, Raezyr's blade found it's mark, slicing a crippling wound into the pirates left thigh, and he dropped to his knee with an agonizing roar. Spinning around, Raezyr took up a defensive position, ready for the incoming blaster fire, as Trychon ripped the vibroweapon out of the Khommite's hands with the Force.

He grabbed the pirate by the throat with his off hand and slammed him against the wall, holding his ignited blade inches from the near-human's gray-skinned neck. "Where are the prisoners?" He growled.

The Khommite looked at him defiantly. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because if you don't I'm going to kill you, and then I'm going to let my Sith brother slice your men to pieces, and believe me, he'll make do it slowly and as painfully as he can. He likes it that way," Trychon said with a menacing grin.

The pirate's eyes widened just a bit in concern. "So, Riv-ars has crossed the Sith. I knew that when he took over, he'd go too far one day. I'm just sorry I was around to see it.

"If you will spare my men, I will tell you where the hostages are," he said, setting his jaw firmly.

"I make no promises but this: Tell me where the prisoners are, and I will spare you and your men for the moment. If you lie to me, and I will know if you do, then I hunt you and your men down, and it will take days for all of you to die," Trychon snarled in his ear.

420. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Trychon caught up to Raezyr as he got behind some cover to catch his breath for a second and to reassess their situation. He took a cursory look at his armor for assessment, and was pleased with the lack of new scarring. Then he turned to Trychon, who had settled down next to him. "Done playing around now?"

"For the moment. I don't know who he is... but he's probably my equal if not better. Doesn't matter though. I left a nasty bug in there that will get everything going haywire. Should keep him busy for a while... and all of the doors should stay open in the meantime." Trychon got up and glanced over the top of the overturned worktable they were using as a shield. He was greeted by an incoming blaster bolt that nearly singed his short cropped hair. "Still feisty..."

"Time to fix that..." Raezyr said as he force jumped out from their haven and leapt sideways towards a small alcove along the wall that would provide him some very temporary cover. As he flew through the air, he could see three small groups of roughly half a dozen pirates each gathered around an exit to the hanger. Two of them managed to snap off shots quickly enough at him that they were within his reach to redirect even though neither would have touched him. As he landed, he watched as he sent one man diving for safety. The other bolt struck a wall. Damn. He thought.

Trychon closed his eyes and pictured his surroundings from his brief glimpse moments prior, aided by his and Raezyr's feelings through the force. Feeling the attention firmly on Raezyr, who had certainly been the battle's focal point thus far, he reached out and focused on the table between himself and the blazing guns. He lifted it through the force and began to move it forward in the direction of the group closest to Raezyr, adding as much power as he could behind it. When he felt the momentum reach near the peak of what he felt capable of giving it at that moment, he released it and allowed its mass to carry it into and through the small blockade the men had set up in between them. The inertia carried the makeshift missile through the blockade and into the legs and torsos of three of the men, who found themselves pinned against the wall very briefly. As the table rebounded off of them and ultimately fell a meter away again, they fell to the ground screaming in pain from limbs unable to support their weight.

Trychon watched as they flailed to the ground. He ignited his lightsaber and began walking towards them. He deflected a few bolts, but their fire seemed to become more hesitant as fear welled up in them. He sent a few more of the bolts back in the direction of the shooters, but he had not acquired Raezyr's accuracy yet. He saw one blaster explode from a direct hit and smiled. Having closed nearly half the distance, he looked at the table again. No longer needing fine control of direction, he gestured towards it with his right hand and sent it flying back into the previously injured pirates, whose cries stopped immediately.

Raezyr used the opportunity to force leap his way over the first group that Trychon was now advancing towards. In the back of his mind, he was both smiling and frowning at their enemies' lack of discipline. Amusing as it was, it didn't bode well for Trychon's plan to use these men in the future. He hoped that they were merely caught more than a little off guard by the Sith tactics. He put the thoughts out of his mind entirely as he landed gracefully in an open spot on the hangar floor. His position placed him between the first two groups, but Trychon had the first one nearly taken care of... and the third one was now unable to fire at him without hitting the backs of their own men.

He gathered up the force around himself and propelled himself forward with speed he was sure the pirates weren't ready for. Not one shot they sent his way was even close enough to note, but he labeled the men one through five. In an instant, he found himself between the first two men of the five in that group. His sabers having already found their way through those unfortunate two, he took another step to the center of the small circle and then to one side as he spun down on one knee and cut the legs out from under his third target. He nearly brought his other blade down to silence the man's screams, but instead let them ring for all to hear. The pain emanated a small wave of dark side energy that refreshed him slightly anyway.

He pushed off the floor and towards his fourth target, lashing out with his left leg and connecting solidly with the man's chest. The man fell back into the wall behind him, as Raezyr had left the attack unaided by the force. Instead, he spun and brought up his long blade in a vertical swipe that reached from the ground and straight up the middle of the disabled attacker.

Feeling Trychon dispatching his last foes, Raezyr turned to face number five.

419. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

The light from Gentes' sun pouring into the open hangar bay doors was blotted out as the small two-man freighter passed through the opening and landed on the deck. Some of the blaster fire turned on the ship as it landed, but he laser beams bounced harmlessly off of the ship's armor plating. The hissing gasses expelled by the ship as it touched down was drowned out by the collective noise of sirens and blaster fire.

Dengar, wearing his blue Neo-Crusader armor, was striding down the ramp, even before it finished lowering, and he jumped to the ground, a firing a heavy repeating blaster rifle from each hand into the enemy positions as he ran for cover near Raezyr.

The comm in Raezyr's helm crackled as Dengar's voice came across. "What's the plan, boss?" the Mandalorian merc asked, taking cover behind a set of crates.

Raezyr was breathing heavy from the effort of deflecting the incoming blaster bolts. "Just keep them pinned down while Taggart loads those crates over there."

"Aye, aye," replied the merc as he popped up over the crate he had taken cover behind. His entire body shook with recoil and the effort wielding a weapon in each hand designed to be fired with two as he single handedly unleashed a salvo that could rival that of an entire squad.

The pirates dove for cover as their armor and shields were unable to withstand the heavy blaster bolts raining down on them from heavy rifles, and Raezyr chanced a glance over his shoulder at Taggart as the incoming fire let up.

The pilot was struggling to get the large crates on a gravsled which had been sitting nearby. Raezyr closed his eyes and concentrated on the crates. Taggart jumped back as the crates slowly levitated, then drifted over to the gravsled and set themselves down.

Taggart's astonishment only lasted a moment, and he moved quickly to the controls of the sled and was ready to go as the crates touched down. He moved it quickly toward the loading ramp, giving Raezyr the 'thumbs-up' signal as he and the sled hovered effortlessly up the incline and disappeared into the ship.

A blaster bolt whizzed by Raezyr's helmet, bringing his attention back to the attackers. Dengar had drained the power packs in his rifles and had dropped back below the crate to reload. Trychon's thoughts entered Raezyr's mind, as the hangar bay doors began to close again. Get them out of here, I can't keep the doors open any longer!

"Go, you two! Get out of here and get that cargo to it's destination! I'll cover you!" Raezyr hollered into his helmet comm.

Dengar noticed the doors closing and, grabbing up his rifles, he sprinted for the ramp as it began to raise again. He dove onto the ramp as the ships repulsor engaged and the freighter began to lift off of the hangar bay deck.

The ramp closed as the ships landing gear retracted, and the spacecraft began backing up, and spinning at the same time. Trychon glanced over his shoulder, noticing the gap between the hangar doors was getting narrower and narrower as the seconds ticked off the clock. They're never going to make it! he thought.

Suddenly, the whine of the repulsor lifts switched to a deafening roar, shaking everything in the hangar, and the ship shot towards the closing doors, flipping up onto it's port side just as reached the opening and squeezed through the narrow gap.

Trychon grinned. I'm not sure Raez could have pulled that one off. He disconnected his data pad and drew his lightsaber. Now he and Raez could have some fun.

418. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

The two Sith ran quickly down the corridor, their boots clicking on the durasteel floor. Their holocron mentor had spoken to them of Force abilities to mask their sound, but neither man had perfected that particular talent.

Fortunately they saw no one who might try to raise an alarm along the route they had chosen and they quickly made it to the hangar bay. As they entered, they saw several people scrambling around two more fighters. They were apparently trying to get the ships airborne, but were having some sort of mechanical problems in doing so.

Two green-skinned Rodians who were standing next to one of the starfighters were the first to notice Trychon and Raezyr, and cried out in alarm, drawing their blasters at the same time.

The Sith brothers easily deflected their blaster bolts and moved in toward them. Other members of the pirate crew came running at the sound of blasters being fired and added their own lasers to the fight amid the flashing red alarm beacons and blaring warning alarm which someone had set off.

Raezyr and Trychon stood back to back as blaster fire began to pour in from all sides, but the fight didn't last long. The two expertly redirected the fire back into the enemy and one by one, they began to fall.

When the last of the pirates and mercenaries were laying on the deck of the hangar, some dead, others alive, but severely wounded, Raezyr turned to Trychon. "Alright, get those docking bay doors open for Taggart, and I'll hold off the back up," Raezyr shouted over the screaming klaxon alarms. "And see if you can disable the alarms, those lights are annoying!"

Trychon dropped down behind a plasteel tool cart, pulled out his data pad and began working feverishly. His own programs already in place, it didn't take long before the gigantic bay doors began to slide open. After a few meters, they began to slid closed again. He punched the buttons on his pad as fast as he could, but to no avail.

"I've got to get to that terminal over there by the wall," he yelled to Raezyr as blaster fire began pouring into the bay from the two entrances toward the lone armored figure standing in the middle of the hangar, red and blue lightsabers burning brightly in each hand. "I don't know who their slicer is, but he's good. He's overriding my encryption protocols, and doing it faster than I can keep up on this thing."

"Go! I'll cover you!" Raezyr shouted, his voice muffled a bit by his helmet, and began moving to his right to cover Trychon's route to the terminal.

Trychon reached the terminal as Raezyr stood in front of him, deflecting the incoming fire. He hooked up his pad and went to work. Within moments, the giant doors began sliding open again.

"I could use some help here, Trych, these guys have personal shield generators. I can redirect the bolts back at them, but I can't take them down," Raezyr said to the other Sith, who was still working furiously at the terminal.

"Can't do it, Raez. I'm fighting my own battle here," Trychon responded. As fast as he could add encryption layers, the other slicer's programs were breaking them. Damn, this guy is good! Trychon thought.

As the bay doors finally finished opening, Raezyr activated his helmet commlink, "Kingsman One, the doors are open, get down here ASAP."

"As ordered," crackled the answer inside Raezyr's helm.

417. Pirates....... YAR! - Raezyr

Raezyr and Trychon watched the dogfight through the information readout on the scopes. It was difficult to sit on the ground, engines running and just simply observe the dogfight taking place only a short distance away. Had they wanted, they could have been in the midst of the battle in mere seconds, but they needed to wait and let Taggart do his job.

"Draw them out a bit farther," Raezyr said quietly, more to himself than to the droid or his partner. If the fight was too close to Riv-ars base, one of the fighters might spot them visually.

"Here we go," Raezyr said as a third fighter went down. He slammed the throttles into high and the ship shot forward toward the trees in front of them. Trychon gripped the edge of the control panel in front of him, his knuckles turning white as they barely cleared the tree tops.

"Cut that a bit close, didn't we?" Trychon panted, his hands still in a death grip on the panel.

"Can't be helped. Any higher and their sensors might pick us up. Shut down all active scanners, and our transponder too," Raezyr replied, gripping the steering yoke tightly, his eyes locked on terrain in front of them. With the sensors off, he would have to do everything by sight and feel, with no aid from the ship. At the speed they were moving, a slight misjudgment or moment of carelessness, and the ship would trench a fiery furrow in the forest below them.

"You sure about that? You'll be flying blind," Trychon said, complying with Raezyr's orders all the same.

"That can't be helped either."

Trychon finished shutting down the systems, then closed his eyes and held on tight. If they crashed, he didn't want to see it.

The Jet Razor skimmed the top of the foliage below at breakneck speed, only slowing down when their target was in sight. He pulled the ship into a hover just above the large building, then carefully slid out of the seat, as Aitchkay slipped in.

Trychon and Raezyr made their way back to the ship's emergency ventral hatch and activated the airlock. The roaring whine of the repulsor lifts filled the air. When the doors were fully opened, Raezyr put on his helmet and dropped out. He landed on the roof fifteen meters below in a crouch, and rolled as Trychon landed a split second after him. Trychon pulled his com link from his belt. "Huck, go back the way we came several kilometers, then pop up and give Tags a hand."

Raezyr watched as the hatch doors slid closed and the ship took off across the tree tops. "If he scratches my ship, I'll turn that droid into scrap."

Trychon put the comm away and headed toward the edge of the building and looked over the edge. The base was four stories tall, but there was a large window about two stories down. They pulled out their grappling hooks and attached them to the edge of the roof and the line to the mechanisms on their belts, then rappelled down the side of the building in two jumps.

With his lightsaber, Raezyr stabbed the transparisteel window and it shattered. After kicking out the remaining shards, he hauled himself into the room and looked around, followed closely by Trychon.

It was a medium sized dormitory type of room, sparsely furnished. The bed was unmade, and the closet was open. A few articles of clothing were strewn about the floor. Trychon walked over to the computer terminal on the wall.

With help from his data pad, he quickly had access to Riv-ars' base's central computer. He downloaded a complete map of the base to his data pad, then began looking for the location of the cargo and prisoners.

Trychon grinned at his half-brother as he disconnected his data pad. "They be makin' it easy fer us. The booty still be in the landing hangar," Trcyhon growled in his best pirate voice.

416. Pirates....... YAR! - Trychon

Having set down dozens of kilometers away from their target, the Sith waited in brief meditation, concentrating on their bond. This would be their first real test since the revelation that they were in fact half-brothers. The seemingly inexplicable bond made all too much sense now, and while it had served them to a strong advantage in the past, they were determined to make the most of it for the upcoming excursion.

They could feel their awareness of the limited surroundings become more resolute and defined. The life forces in the surrounding forest clearing seemed to slow down as well as the sensors tracking the incoming ships, which suddenly attracted Raezyr's attention. He opened his eyes and let the trance fall away from him as he looked to the chronometer.

He looked to Trychon, whose eyes remained calmly shut. Trychon nodded, and Raezyr opened the channel back up to Taggart and Dengar. "Kingsman one... fighters inbound."

Taggart's voice came back as Trychon finally opened his eyes. "We're not seeing them from..." then the transmission was filled with the quiet beeps from the fighter's sensor board. "Correction. I show four fighters emerging from the target. Make that six."

"Copy." Trychon said. "Don't take them out too quickly."

Taggart responded with the confidence necessary for an ace pilot, although Trychon had a feeling the pilot wasn't very sure of the firepower of the Stalker. It didn't matter though. He'd see what Trychon or Huck deemed necessary for victory... but not a joule more. Taggart's own knowledge of the vessel was rather immaterial, but the less was known as a whole the better.

"Whenever you think is best..." Trychon turned to Raezyr.

"We'll let them take out half the opposition. If they don't send up another flight by then, they're not likely to at all." Was the other Sith's response, as he began preparations to take off whenever that moment came.