734. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

When Raezyr emerged from his steam, the ship was already in hyperspace.  He found his brother in his normal seat, nursing an ale.  On the table was several more, with just a few empty.

"Well?"  The larger Sith asked.

Trychon didn't make eye contact, which wasn't unusual due to their bond.  His facial expression was a bit more rare, as he was clearly upset.  He popped the top off of one of the bottles on the table and slid it across towards Raezyr's normal seat.

Raezyr closed the distance to the table and caught the bottle as it reached the edge.  He took a drink before grabbing an empty tankard to pour it in and sitting in the chair.

"Well?"

"One."  Trychon gloomily whispered.

Raezyr repeated the word back to him as a question. "I don't get it."

"One ship."  Trychon finally made eye contact.  "One ship got out of the second group.  That's all."

Raezyr looked down at his large mug.  "Could be worse."

"Could be worse?  Could be worse?"  Trychon laughed, though his voice was cold.  "Things could always be worse.  We specialize in that."  He downed the rest of his drink and watched the foam settle and dissipate at the bottom.

"We frelled up, Raez.  Bad."  He shook his head as he grabbed another two bottles, sliding another across the table after opening them and pouring one for himself.  He didn't notice or didn't care that his brother hadn't finished his first drink.

Raezyr waited patiently for his brother to continue.

"This whole kriffing mess was our fault."

The big Sith took a swig from his drink and eyed his older sibling questioningly. "How so?"

"We got complacent, Raez. We got so secure and relaxed that we forgot we were vulnerable. When Tyr and Anya ran off on their own, we should have gone after them. We should have tracked them down to the ends of the Galaxy, and either made them pay for their betrayal or at the very least ensured they could never tell a living soul where we were.

"Instead, we let them go, trusting that two frakking Sith who were angry with us and too stupid not to draw attention to themselves could wander around the Galaxy until the Jedi finally caught up with them and that they would not give us up to save their sorry asses," Trychon said through clenched teeth. "No, this was our fault. 

"On top of all that, there's the fact that when the inevitable Republic arrival finally happened, we had no better escape plan that to scatter like a bunch of Kowakian monkey lizards. No, there had to have been something we could have done differently on that end as well.  Had to be."

"Trych, if you want to play that game, I can do it too," Raezyr responded. "And it all goes right back to the Jedi, in the end. Had they taken a young girl into their Order... had they not murdered my Master... had Tyr's Jedi father given two shakes about what happened to him... had that Padawan not stuck her damn nose where it didn't belong... none of this would have happened. Don't you agree?

"I don't know," Trychon responded. "What I do know is that we let ourselves grow weak, and left ourselves open to attack out of some sort of misguided feeling that we were beholden to someone other than ourselves. What I know is that it won't happen again. It's you and me versus the Galaxy."

In silence, they raised their glasses to each other and to nobody in particular, hoping that they weren't raising them in honor of a friend lost forever.

After a few minutes of silence, Trychon spoke up.  "Damn... I just realized that I was so caught up in analyzing what went wrong that I never bothered to ask:  How did you fare?  Or rather, how did the Jedi fare?"

"Well, the fish did better than I would have liked...."  He paused to rephrase his answer.  "I mean, I completely obliterated her, but she was annoyingly ok with it.  Took her way too long to call her alien buddy down to help."

Trychon chuckled before Raez continued.

"By the time he came down, I wasn't ready for him.  He's quite a bit stronger than the girl, and he uses a double bladed saber.  I was already pretty spent when he landed, and I didn't realize it.  Add in the storm and cold... I wouldn't have lasted much longer.  Honestly, he would be a strong opponent even on a fair battleground."

"Here's to next time!"  Trychon raised his glass again, and struck it briefly against Raezyr's, "And to not believing in fair battlegrounds!"

"Uh... yeah," Raezyr added. "Next time!"  

Then he took his turn staring into the dissipating froth at the bottom of his mug while trying to ignore the nagging doubt in his head.

The hesitation wasn't lost on Trychon either.

733. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Trychon worked furiously on getting the ship airborne again.  He'd needed to set down briefly to let Raezyr onboard, and he was sure he'd set a personal record for shortest landing period.  Now that his brother was safely in the ship, he could really put the Jet Razor through her paces again.

He'd have loved to have taken his time and a few more shots at the Jedi, but the space battle didn't seem to be going very well, and that meant that they could have company very soon.  The blue-skinned Jedi who was still fighting would have been a hard target under the best of circumstances, and he couldn't see where the other had gone.  He'd been forced to settle for a short strafing run and a few quick shots on the landed fighters.  With any luck, he hoped they'd freeze.  Slowly.

Raezyr appeared at his side as the ship accelerated towards the far side of the planet.

"What are you doing?"  Raezyr gasped, as he pulled off his helm.  "We have to engage the Republic to get the rest of the crew out!"

"Too little to late, bro."  Trychon pointed to the long range sensors.  "It'd likely be over by the time we break atmo.  We have to run."

"But..."  Raezyr wanted to debate the point, but he saw the look on his brother's face as the shields failed on his prized possession, the Sith Stalker.  The ships were nearing the edge of the gravity well, and it was going to be very close.

"How long until we're clear?  Can they catch us?"


"Only if they have another fleet waiting on the other side of the planet."

"I'm going to go take a hot sani-steam."

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

Moklam couldn't hide his smile as he sat in his command chair, watching the final enemy ships being tractored into his docking bay.    One small shuttle had tried to make a last minute dash to escape, and had in fact made it to hyperspace.  Unfortunately for them, there had been an explosion of some sort right as they entered hyperspace.  Without knowing what exactly had exploded, their fate was up in the air, but it didn't look good.  The rest of the pirates surrendered without further issue.  He would look forward to taking them back to Coruscant for punishment.  He could never erase his errors and the taint on his career that the pirates and Sith had created.  He had now done the next best thing though and that was to bring them, or at least some of them, to justice.  A victory counted as a victory.

Though he was troubled by the lack of response from the Jedi, they were technically not in his chain of command.  One ship had escaped to the far side of the planet as they had rounded up the pirates, and he could only hope that the Jedi survived the encounter, as one or both Sith clearly had.  Still, it wasn't his responsibility to bring in the Sith, as the Jedi had reminded him countless times.  Only if it coincided with the rest of the battle, which it only had briefly.

His Lieutenant cleared her throat to get his attention before him the early battle reports.  He thanked her with a nod and perused the numbers.  Minimal damage to both capital ships, expectable losses to his fighter squadron strength, and that was despite the brief incursion with the Sith.

Yes, things were going quite well for him now.  The Republic Navy was very 'What have you done for me lately,' and with limited incursions lately, this would prove very handy for him.

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

Not long after, a shuttle craft set down on the deck of the landing bay inside the pirate base. Several Republic Commandos rushed down the loading ramp, reported to a superior officer, then marched off down a corridor.

Two Jedi, wrapped in emergency thermal blankets walked down the loading ramp a moment later and took stock of their surroundings. Everything was in disarray. Stacks of crates which had probably stood neatly stacked not long ago now lay strewn about. Gear had been dumped on the floor in the pirates haste to escape their impending capture.

Val had been impressed with his companion. She had taken a brutal beating from the Sith warrior she had faced, but most of the damage had been superficial. He had not only assaulted her physically, but mentally as well, and he was proud that she had not broken, even when it looked like the end was inevitable. She truly had recovered from her near fall to the Dark Side and was now stronger for it.

As far as her physical well being, he could feel the Force flowing through the Nautolan, using the power of the Light to heal and repair her wounds, supplemented by the bacta patches. Still, he knew he'd probably have to insist she spend some time in a tank in the med-bay for good measure.

The Chiss was brought back to the present as a young Twi'lekki commando walked over to them. "Master Jedi, I think there's something you might want to look at," he informed them.

"What is da situation, Lieutenant?" Nal Talla asked as they followed him to whatever it was he wanted to show them.

"There was minimal resistance from the few criminals who had been left in the base, ma'am," the soldier informed her. "Our ground forces sustained no loss of life and only one trooper was injured. Enemy forces sustained two killed and three captured.

"There was however, one body dead before we landed," he added. "Her body is right over here." He turned the corner, rounding a shuttle where three body bags were laid out in preparation to be loaded. He indicated the one closest to the ship.

Val knelt down and unzipped the bag. Somehow he knew what he was going to see even before he laid the flap of the bag open. The blond hair was disheveled, the skin was pale, cold and clammy and the blue eyes were now milky and glazed over, but both Jedi immediately recognized Anya Tachi.

"She matched the description of one of the Sith scum bags you were looking for," the lieutenant said. "We weren't sure though, since she was dee oh ay."

"Yes, dat's her," Nal confirmed. "Tank you, Lieutenant." The young man saluted and walked away.

Nal looked at the puncture wound in Anya's abdomen, and her thoughts were taken back to her friend Nylan. She thought it was ironic that their death wounds looked eerily similar.

It surprised her a bit to realize that she no longer felt the smoldering anger when she thought of her friend's death, but instead a sense of longing for the company of her friend. Maybe she was finally ready to let it go, especially now that Nylan's killer was no more.

"I guess we should send her remains back to Dantooine to be buried," Val said aloud.

"I tink she still has some distant relatives back on Corellia," Nal reminded her friend. "Despite what she became, dey might like a chance to make deir peace wit her."

Val looked up at the Nautolan's thoughtful face. I bet she makes a great Jedi Master someday, he thought to himself.

732. Hoth: King's Larir - Raezyr

The Sith ship started moving straight toward the Unity, acting as a shield for half a dozen fighters, shuttles and freighters. It had been able to keep the Republic fighters at bay just long enough to allow the second round of escaping ships to assemble and now was going to make another run. Captain Wash Moklam had no intention of letting it succeed.

He had felt bad, denying the Jedi any back up fighters when they had given chase to two ships back down into Hoth's atmosphere, but that had been the deal from the moment they had jumped into system and realized who they were actually dealing with. The Jedi would take care of the Sith and any ships they might have, while Moklam and his task force concentrated on the Pirates. Of course, had he actually had any fighters to spare, he would have sent them.

Their main hindrance so far had been their orders to capture prisoners first, but finally, they had gotten some decent sensor readings to go along with the Jedi's previous assessment. No life forms were detected aboard the small Sith capitol ship.

"Concentrate all firepower on that cruiser!" Moklam ordered. "Turn it into slag, then resume ion cannon fire on the rest of the enemy vessels," he added. Up until this point they had been relying on the ion cannons, but for some reason it seemed to have little effect on the big ship. In return the ship's accurate turbo laser fire had been able to keep most of the Republic fighters at bay.

Within moments, concussion missiles and proton torpedos began streaking from various Republic ships toward the Sith cruiser. Explosions lit up the view screens on the bridge of the Unity as the ordinance slammed into the shields of the enemy vessel.

Still, the ship came on, cannons blazing in the blackness of space, spouting darts of green in all directions.

Captain Moklam watched as it came on, the distance between them closing rapidly. This time his ship and the other Hammerhead-class cruiser, the Protector, were ready for the suicide-like run. Neither ship needed to take evasive action. Instead, they continued to pour laser and missile fire into the enemy.


For a moment, Moklam thought it just might break through as it's shields seemed to be holding up to salvo after salvo. Then all at once, missiles no longer detonated just prior to impact but began striking the hull instead.

"It's shields are down!" cried an ensign at a sensory station, and loud cheer went up from the entire bridge crew.


Moklam sat back in his command chair, breathing a sigh of relief as he watched gouts of flame and debris pour from the gaping holes which appeared in the surface of the vessel which had vexed him during two separate engagements now.


Quickly, the guns aboard the Sith cruiser quit and what was left of the ship began a slow tumble toward deep space, having been knocked off it's course by the explosions and no more engine power to correct it.


"Ignore that ship," Moklam ordered with a slight smile. "Neutralize the remaining enemy craft with ion cannons and issue an order to surrender."


He listened with satisfaction as calls began to come in, asking to surrender even before his orders had been carried out.


The Twilight Stalker continued to tumble out into deep space, even as it began to break apart. Moklam watched as it did so. It wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, but a win was a win.

731. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

Raezyr suddenly poured on a flurry of unexpected attacks, driving the Chiss Jedi backward but the momentum lasted only a moment. He tried to infuse himself, draw more energy from the Force, but his last burst had drained him.

Quickly the tide began to turn. Val, sensing that his opponent's fatigue was beginning to overwhelm him, began to make his own careful, well-chosen attacks. The impact was immediate and Raezyr began to give ground as the Jedi's thrusts and strikes came at him from what seemed like all sides at the same time. His two lightsabers moved quickly, but not as fast as the Chiss' double-bladed weapon.

Val's precision strikes weren't aimed to kill, but rather limit his opponents area of maneuverability, drive him back and force him to surrender if at all possible. "Raezyr, please listen," he pleaded. "There's someone you should meet and listen to. Even Tyr would beg you to listen. It will change everything you think you know." He tried to subtly manipulate Raezyr's mind with the Force. He doubted a full on mind trick would work, but hoped the Sith might be tired enough that something like that might at least allow the human to receive what he said with an open mind.

It was of no use. Despite his physical exhaustion, the big Sith warrior's mental defenses were strong although he gave no indication of having noticed the subtle attempt. Raezyr managed to laugh and even speak between panting for air. "As if I'd listen to you, a brain-washed Tyr or anyone else who might spew Jedi or Republic propaganda."

The talking distracted Val's opponent and he landed a well-placed kick to the Sith's midsection, sending him flying backward into the snow. He had hoped the move might disarm Raezyr, but no such luck was to be had.

Raezyr tried to draw on the Force to help him leap to his feet, but it was gone. It was taking all he could muster just to keep his mind focused on anticipating the incoming attacks. He scrambled clumsily to his feet and stood swaying as he flicked the switches on his blades, igniting them once again.

Val allowed a momentary reprieve, and the Sith looked around to take stock of his surroundings. For the first time he realized how hopeless the situation was. The edge of the cliff was only a few meters behind him now and all three ships were on the other side of  Jedi. He estimated his chances of getting past the big blue Chiss, but they were nil. No matter which direction he broke, the Jedi could easily cut him off from escape. He thought about trying to leap over his opponent, but he was too tired. The ability to draw on the Dark Side had all but left him.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the edge of the precipice and into the white invisible depths beyond, blotted out by the driving wind and snow. Raezyr had see this place before when the visibility was good and knew it was hundreds of meters to the jagged rocks below.

The Jedi tried one more time. "If you won't listen to me, listen to logic," Val proposed. "You can see there's no escape, but don't throw your life away. If you will lay down your weapon, there's always a chance you can escape and live to fight another day."

The midnight blue helm of the Sith shook back and forth signaling no. "I'll escape, and we'll meet in combat again some other day... but I'll never surrender to a Jedi," Raezyr said, spitting the last word like a curse.

Suddenly he spun on his heels, ran and dove over the edge of the cliff.

"No!" Val yelled, extending his free hand as if to catch the airborne Sith. He moved forward a few steps, then stopped. He began to sense that something wasn't right. He took few steps in retreat from the edge of the cliff just moments before he heard the whine of the repulsor lifts, then spun on his heels and ran.

The Jet Razor lifted from below. Val looked over his shoulder to see the armored Sith sprawled out, clinging to the dorsal section of the hull. Lasers lanced out from the ship's cannons, the sound roaring as the snow exploded all around the Jedi.

And as quickly as it had appeared, the ship was gone, disappeared into the raging blizzard. Val stood up and took stock of his situation. All three fighters had taken severe damage. They wouldn't be flying any time soon.

The big Chiss ran over to where Nal Talla lay, crouching down and gathering her into his arms. He could still feel her life force, and it was much stronger than he had expected. She looked up at him. "Did we save him from himself?" she asked.

Val smiled one of his rare smiles. "Not today, Nal. Not today."

730. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

Her answer only infuriated him more. He gathered the Dark Side and wrapped it around the Nautolan's throat and slowly began closing off the air she needed to breath. She had thrown up a pathetic attempt to block it, but in her condition he had blown right through her Force defenses. He planned on dragging this out and he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

A calm voice with a steady, even tone came from behind the Sith warrior over the howling wind. "Raezyr... release her."

Raezyr hadn't heard the ship land, but somewhere in his subconscious, he had felt the approach of another being, one sheathed in the pathetically weak light side of the Force. Unfortunately, he had been too wrapped up in exacting his revenge on the first Jedi to take more notice. "Touching that you should come down and witness the final moment of your little friend here," Raezyr said over his shoulder. "Although it is strange that you should be so eager to have your turn to die, Jedi. I thought your Order taught you more patience than that." He closed his grip in the female Jedi's throat even tighter.

The other Jedi must have sensed it because Raezyr felt the being behind him go tense, as if preparing an attack. Quickly he thrust out his palm and released a wave of Dark Side energy into Nal's body. She flew backward and slammed into the side of her fighter. The impact was forceful enough to pulverize a nerf, but he hand no time to investigate what happened to her. Instead, flipping forward while twisting and drawing his blades. He had just enough time to ignite them and block the powerful downstroke of the big Chiss Jedi as he completed his leap.

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

Val could feel the life force slowly ebbing from Nal. If she were to be saved, he had to act quickly. He was unsure of exactly what was happening, but he could feel sickening taint of the Dark Side flowing form the armored Sith into his friend. She clearly didn't have much longer.

He still suspected some sort of a trap. If not, why had the Sith not killed her yet and allowed him to approach on foot to within ten meters. He stopped and said something, hoping to change Nal's fate, hoping it wasn't sealed already.

The reaction from the man whom Master Solumi suspected was his grandson was about like Val had expected: a snide retort and then further torturing of Nal. The big Jedi did the only thing he could do and propelled himself through the air, igniting his lightsaber and bringing it down on the Sith.

Raezyr had reacted unbelievably quickly. Val had fully expected his attack to be blocked, but he hadn't expected the Sith to take the time to lay one last devastating blow on Nal. Val only knew she was alive because he hadn't felt her death through the Force.

He stood briefly, his blade crackling against the Sith's crossed lightsabers, and then the fight began in earnest.

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

Raezyr was tired. He had expended way more energy on the Nautolan than he had expected. In fact, he had hoped to draw energy from her fear, but had ended up using his own as he desperately sought to elicit a reaction from her. No matter, he thought. He'd make quick work of this one, then rendezvous with Trych and get off this ball of ice.

He furiously rained blows upon the Chiss, who slowly gave ground under the assault. For a moment, if felt almost like fighting against his brother since they both used a lightsaber which had blades that extended from both ends of the unusually long hilt, and since he could often push his sibling into defense mode as well.

It took only a few moments for Raezyr to realize that he was gravely mistaken. This Jedi was much more skilled than his brother, and this defense mode wasn't a desperation tactic to save his life. The parries and blocks were too deft and too sure to be anything but a passive form of attack. The Jedi was going to wait and let the Sith tire himself out, then end it when his opponent was too fatigued to go on.

Raezyr quickly changed his tactics to a more balanced attack, rather than try to over power his foe with powerful blows. He was already too tired from the first fight, and he cursed himself for underestimating this foe who was vastly superior to the last one.

The Jedi noticed the change in tactics as well, and it was obvious that Raezyr couldn't win. "Raezyr, everything you've been lead to believe is a lie. Surrender. Come with me and I can show you the calm and peace you've been seeking," the blue Jedi said amidst his calm defense.

The Sith snarled beneath his helmet. He spat out the Sith code: "Peace is a lie, there is only passion!"

729. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Trychon stood outside the ship for just a few more moments shielding himself as much as he could from the stinging weather.

Eventually, the Wampa who'd been playing with him landed, and its confusion and life force extinguished.  Trychon had tried to push him or lift him out of the way so he could escape the bunker, but the monster had dug its claws in and refused to let go until he was out of time and had to give it a gigantic push upwards.  Shame, he thought... it would have made such a nice pet...

Glancing down at his chrono, he became concerned.  He took a few steps towards the crater he'd recently created and more recently emerged out of.  His walk was interrupted by a gout of flame from the hole there, and Trychon jogged back to the Jet Razor, intent on turning the internal heater on full once inside.


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

Here it was in front of him... the living embodiment of his hate. For a long time now, he had known he'd face her again, and he had looked forward to it like a young Wookie looked forward to Life Day.  He had remembered the fear and smoldering anger she had shown back so long ago on Coruscant as he had stood above her and he had relished the thought of drinking in that energy again.

Instead, this infernal Jedi chose to remain calm. It was almost as if she had known that the time of her death was upon her and that it was she whom had chosen it willingly, rather than Darth Raezyr who decided whether she would live or die.

It infuriated him that she should deny him that which he had hungered for for so long. He felt like a man dying of dehydration, only to be denied the liquid which would slake his thirst by some inferior being. He let the rage take control and the Dark Side raged through his body like fire through a dry summer forest.

Raezyr grabbed her by the head-tails and hoisted her to her feet like a tooka doll. Again he slammed his fist into her midsection, letting the Force augment his already great strength and the Nautolan flew backwards, landing in the snow.

He could feel her feeble attempts to use the Force to cushion the blows he rained down upon her, and they were the sole reason she was even conscious, let alone alive. Somewhere underneath the rage he respected her courage, as a lesser being would not have survived.

The Sith trudged through the snow, and grabbed the Jedi by the flight suit, lifting her up once again. Her head lolled to the side, barely clinging to consciousness and blood trickled from her mouth, freezing as it dripped onto her clothes. Raezyr looked into her eyes. "If you will not give me satisfaction, then you are of no further use to me. Do me a favor: Come back and tell me what awaits a Jedi after death."

Nal Talla picked her head up and returned his gaze with calmness and determination. "Dere is no death, dere is da Force," she said, reciting the line from the Jedi Code.

728. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Raezyr guided his blades to the weakest points of the Nautolan Jedi's defenses.  Her sphere of defense was shrinking rapidly as he pushed his advances and she retreated.  Each block or parry she made that was less than ideal, which was most of them at this point, had a fitting snowball effect on her future defenses.  She was as good as helpless and dead if he so chose, but he refrained for the moment.

Her understanding of her situation was palpable in the Force.  She knew her fate lied entirely in his patience.  Sith were not known for their patience.

What he couldn't understand was the accompanying sense of calm she exuded as she continually flailed to stay in the Fight.  He lunged and planted his heel firmly in her sternum and sent her sliding on her back into a snow bank.  He couldn't see her now, but that wouldn't help her calm.  Her face was already reddened from the wind and the cold.  Her flightsuit was made to shield her from the cold of space, but Hoth was a special hell and her aquatic genetics were doing her uncovered head no favors.  Raezyr was glad yet again for his helm and the minimal shielding it provided from the elements.

Do you no longer fear death as you did on Coruscant, worm?  The Sith reached out to her mind with his message and sensed her impending counter attack.

Predictably, she launched herself through the air at him with a bland horizontal strike at his offhand flank.  He stepped into the attack and with his short saber, he sliced the tip of her weapon off, causing her blade to immediately disappear without even flickering.  Her momentary triumph at what seemed a poorly aimed block disappeared as quickly.

His other hand reached out instinctively yet with intent, and caught her by her throat.  His lightsaber had nearly landed in the snow when he pulled it to his free hand through the Force, as he shut down his short blade and placed them both in his pocket without removing his glare from her strained expression of struggle.  He held her off the ground and increased the pressure to her neck.

She gasped and words came out weakly through her tightened windpipe.  "I fear death..."  She coughed and drew what air she could.   "No more dan I fear you or da Sith."

He twisted his body around and pulled her with him in a half turn.  Driving her into the ground by the back of her neck first, she was nearly buried completely in the subzero terrain.

"There are fates worse than death, Jedi."  He spat the last word.  "Anything I remove from your body here, on this planet... the flesh will shrivel and die quickly.  You will not be able to replace what I take from you so easily this time.  Tell me... how attached are you to those.... things on the back of your head?"

If she had wanted to reply to his threats, he didn't give her time as he released her throat and instead grabbed hold of the collar of her flight suit.  With a grin, he yanked her upwards as hard as he could.  As she reached the apex of her sudden upwards flight, he pulled her back to the frozen ground.  With a ripping noise, the fabric of her suit gave way by a small centimeter.

Raezyr laughed, as he knew that was enough.  She was running very short on time, even with whatever strength she could pull from the Light Side of the Force.  Still, her calmness emanating in the Force was getting on his nerves.

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

Val circled the area one last time.  It didn't matter how low he went, he could not get a visual on the fight below and the weather made it impossible to get an infrared sensor reading.  He couldn't see what was going on below him without going low enough to land or be in the range of a lightsaber throw, but he could feel quite strongly that things were not faring well for Nal.

She had not called for him to help her, but he was getting the distinct impression that she wouldn't, perhaps until it was too late.  He was positive that it was more out of naivete or bravery that she did it, rather than a cold sense of revenge or justice, but he couldn't allow her to sacrifice herself under any circumstance.

He took his fighter upwards into the atmosphere for one last distance scan to ensure the other Sith wasn't closing in on them, then he'd decided he'd have to land and help capture the Sith.  He wished the Unity hadn't denied their request for support...

727. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Trychon guided the ship through the canyon until he had covered enough distance that he'd be hard for the Jedi to pick up with instruments alone.  He knew his brother would keep the Jedi from following him, but all the better that they don't know exactly where he headed.  If they were able to send reinforcements at him, it would slow him down and keep him from getting back and maybe getting a shot at taking out a Jedi himself.

He had a way to go to get to the backup facility now, but as he lifted the Jet Razor out of the giant crevasse and into the blowing winds and snow of Hoth, his sensors showed there was no ships even close enough to notice him, let alone give chase.  He increased the power to his repulsor drives in case the low visibility tricked him, then he put the remaining power to his main drives.  He wanted to be able to help out his brother as soon as he could.

Must go faster, must go faster...

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

The Sith vaulted to the top of the Nal's fighter as she pulled herself from her restraints.  She was barely able to jump out and flip over the engines and away from his sizzling blade before he landed.

There was a soft crunch of the snow covered ice as she landed, but it wasn't audible over the howling of the storm, even for her.  She was not equipped for the climate of this hellish planet, let alone a storm.  She centered herself briefly as she unclipped her lightsaber from her belt and pulled the Force around her to guide her as well as keep her warm.

The Sith was on her again within seconds, but she was prepared.  She ignited her weapon and parried his first attempt easily.  He was either being lazy and sloppy, or he was testing her.  She decided it was likely the latter, and remained on her guard as she swept aside his next few swings before he pulled his blade back into a guard and smiled at her.

She had to yell to be heard over the wind and ice whipping around them.  "You need to give in!  You can not win dis fight and escape.  Let go of da hate before it destroys you!"

A voice echoed in her head, somehow forced past her defenses.  I don't think so.

Then the Sith lit a second blade and began his attack again, with twice the speed he'd displayed earlier.

Nal let the Force guide her arms and her body as she began retreating with every blow from her opponents blades.  Though she could not see it, she could feel the evil grin on his face begin to grow.  He was still holding back.

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

Trychon pulled the throttle the rest of the way back to set the ship to hover.  As he calibrated his sensors to give him a clear look at where the covered entrance should be, he could feel the ship drifting to the side.  Swearing to himself, he made a minor adjustment before zeroing in on his target and letting loose several blasts from the forward cannons.

The smoke blew away quickly, revealing what remained of a duraplast grate.

After setting the ship down nearby, he gathered the charges he needed to plant, and prepared himself for the nasty weather outside.  That was the one thing he'd miss the least about this place.

He grabbed a heavy jacket and slung it on, pulling up the hood before he finally punched the control to lower the loading ramp. Despite his extra clothing and insulating himself with the Force, the cold still hit him like a wave, sucking the breath from his lungs and freezing his nostrils. He leaped from the bottom of the ramp anyway, landing knee deep in the snow and trudging toward the entrance.

It was cold inside, but not nearly as cold as it was outside. The cave-turned-bunker was heated, but only just enough to keep the equipment inside from freezing up. Still, it seemed worlds warmer.

It took only a minute to place each of the charges in strategic locations to ensure total destruction of the bunker and the redundant data stored within. Trychon paused for just a moment in the entrance that was already filling up with the snow being driven by the howling winds, steeling himself against the extreme cold he'd have to endure on the short trip back to the Jet Razor.


Suddenly he felt the presence of another life form. It wasn't sentient, but his sense of impeding danger caused him to draw his double bladed lightsaber anyway.


It was a good thing he did. He barely had time to get it ignited when the white-fur covered arm tipped in sharp black claws seemed to materialize out of the blizzard driven veil of snow.

726. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

Val had replied to the Sith on the same frequency, ordering him to land and surrender immediately, although both Jedi knew that nothing of the sort was going to happen. Still, both Jedi fell in behind the Sith fighter, following at a safe distance to where ever he decided to land.

After a moment, Nal clicked on the private channel. "Val, don't land. Stay airborne and watch our back. I'll take da Sith."

Silence was the only thing that followed for a few minutes. She could feel that Val was apprehensive. At last he replied. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Not only do I want to, I need to do dis. I recognized his voice. It's Raezyr... da one who took my leg," she told him. "I have to face him, Val." Nal Talla closed her eyes and drew in a deep calming breath and realized in that instance, she was never more sure of anything in her entire life.

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

Raezyr started the landing cycle. The ground he had chosen was on the top of a windswept cliff. It was wide and flat, allowing for easy landing, and the wind howled constantly, keeping the rocky shelf mostly clear of snow. Before the ship had settled to the ground, he popped the canopy and blew it open with a wave of Force energy that sent the transparisteel dome sailing into the air and over the edge of the cliff despite the fact he had chosen the landing site farthest from the edge.

He launched himself out of the cockpit and landed in a crouch on giant rock ledge. Immediately he realized exactly why the canopy had sailed so far. The howling wind of the blizzard had caught it and thrown it farther than it ever would have gone on it's own. The driving snow made him glad for his helmet, keeping it out of his eyes, but the rest of him was instantly cold.

He wrapped himself in a layer of the Force, hoping it would keep some of his body heat in. He drew his lightsaber hilts and watched the Aurek Tactical Strikefighter with the Jedi markings land. He noticed the other ship failed to land.

He swore under his breath. Not optimal. He had wanted both ships to land. Clearly they weren't as stupid as he had hoped. No matter, he decided. He'd make them pay for thinking it would only take one Jedi to take him down, and when that one died, he'd either steal the Jedi fighter and have access to all the information and data stored in it's computer, or the other Jedi would land. Either way, both Jedi would die on this frozen ball of ice called Hoth.

The canopy of the figher popped open, and Raezyr flicked on his blades and rushed. No way was he going to give the Jedi time to get ready.

725. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

"Warning: Oxygen levels critical," the computerized female voice told him for approximately the tenth time. The turbulence and heat of reentry into the Hoth's atmosphere had not helped his oxygen levels, and even though he was technically surrounded by air, it was still too thin to sustain human life.

Still, there wasn't much he could do. If he broke off and dove for a lower altitude, both of the Jedi might not follow him. If that happened, they might be able to prevent Trychon from destroying the remote data storage site.

Raezyr gritted his teeth, drawing on his anger, and watched his radar.

Thankfully he didn't have to wait too long.

As the Jedi fighters began to close the distance to effective firing range, but Trychon and Raezyr slowly dove in altitude. Finally Raezyr clicked his comm twice, sending two short bursts of static across the speakers in the Jet Razor's cockpit.

Trychon jammed the throttle as fast as it would go. The Jet Razor was extremely aerodynamic, making it excellent not only in space combat, but in atmospheric conditions as well. He easily out distanced his half-brother and the Jedi.

Quickly he dropped down into a snowy canyon in one of Hoth's mountain ranges and reduced his speed to something less reckless. He only need to lose their radar. Raezyr would hopefully keep them from physically following him.

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

As Raezyr watched his own ship accelerate and leave them behind, he watched his radar. Sure enough, one of the two Jedi ships began speeding up in an attempt to pursue his brother. "I don't think so," the Sith warrior said, speaking to the blip on his radar screen and banked starboard into their path.

Suddenly alarms screamed inside his cockpit, warning him that his enemy had target lock on him.. Banking hard to port, he also pulled back as hard as he could on the stick. The old fighter didn't respond as well as he would have liked, but it got the job done, looping around out of danger and dropping in behind the fighter attempting to give chase to Trychon.

He picked up target lock almost immediately on the Jedi fighter and he squeezed the trigger switch, watching the green darts shoot forward. They weren't really all that close to hitting, but scoring a hit would merely be icing on the ryshcate.

Raezyr's goal was to force the Jedi to give up following his brother and focus on him. It wasn't easy, trying to evade incoming fire while pursuing a different ship, but he did it. After several attempts to follow Trychon, both Jedi finally turned and engaged him.

He scrambled around, but despite his superior piloting skills, his older, damaged fighter was not going to be able to evade the Jedi forever, let alone defeat them.

Raezyr flipped his comm switch to an open frequency. One he hoped the Jedi would be able to pick up and keyed up the comm.

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

"Attention Jedi scum," came a male voice across Nal's speakers. "My fighter is unable to continue. I will be landing now. You can either vape me, or come and get me. That is all." Static followed the transmission.

"Do you tink it's a trap?" Nal asked on the secure frequency to her wingman and friend.

"My sensors show his ship is damaged," Val replied calmly. "I think he was only trying to draw us away from that assault shuttle."

"But..." Nal began, about pose her question again.

Val interrupted her. "Yes. It's a trap."

"What do you propose?"

"Spring the trap."

724. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

"Firaxa One, this is Two."

"Go Two."

"That fighter and assault shuttle are breaking off and turning back toward the surface."

"Copy Two. Dey won't get away," Nal said into her comm. She and her Chiss wingman banked to give pursuit in perfect unison. They didn't need to give voice to their speculations on who the pilots of those two ships were. Both could sense the sicking waves of the Dark Side oozing from that direction.

They had done their best to engage the two ships, but it seemed that something or someone had always been in their way. Finally they had a clear shot and they both jammed the throttle as high as it would go, doing their best to catch their quarry.

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

Raezyr followed closely behind his brother. They had a momentary respite from the battle and the big Sith finally looked around and took stock of the warning lights and beacons that were flashing and screaming at him from all about the fighter cockpit.

The fighter was an older model, and not nearly as agile or fast as he was used to. Several blasts had landed during the fierce sortie, but he hadn't really paid attention, instead allowing the Force to guide his actions. As he realized just how much damage he had sustained, he swore softly. His rage had swelled since it first began back in the base until it was almost a tangible thing at this point.

He reached over and switched his comm to the encrypted private channel. "Tryst... Blade. You copy?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Go ahead."

"My hyperdrive is gone and I'm slowly venting oxygen," he stated.

Trychon swore, unknowingly echoing his half-brother's words from moments ago. They both knew what this meant. Instead of taking out the facility and making their escape, they were going to have to actually land. He looked at his radar, although he needn't have bothered. He could feel the two Jedi who had peeled off to give chase.

"They're at our six and closing fast," Trychon stated. He knew he didn't need to say who was following them.

"New plan," came Raezyr's voice across the comm. "Once we hit atmo, I'll turn back and engage. Keep the Jedi scum off your back while you take out the target. Signal me when it's finished and I'll land... you come pick me up on the fly."

"They're gonna vape you when you cycle for a landing," Trychon stated. He didn't like the plan at all, but then again, he couldn't really think of an alternative at the moment.

"I don't think so," Raezyr replied. "They've been using ion cannons for the most part. They want us alive. A thousand creds says they land and try to capture me."

"Universally stupid, Blade," Trychon said. "I know they're Jedi, but they've been after us for a long time now."

"No, this might be a good thing," Raezyr answered. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was a great idea. He'd draw them off from his brother, then land. When they followed suit, trying to capture him, he'd slay them. The Sith warrior began to salivate at the thought of a little revenge.

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

Captain Wash Moklam studied the holographic battle screen laid out before him. The Jedi had broken off their attack to follow two ships. He had to assume those were the Sith they were after, and he was content to let them go. He had bigger problems right now.

That recent arrival of that damn capital ship had played havoc with his well laid battle plans, and long range scanners indicated it was an unmanned drone. Still, he recognized it. This damn ship had haunted his dreams ever since it's involvement in the aurodium hi-jacking.

Right now it was providing effective cover for the escaping freighters, making it hard for his fighters to get in and disable the escaping criminals. Once again the big ship was making it's way straight at his own Hammerhead class capital ships. The difference was that this time he was ready for it.

"Intensify forward shields!" he shouted to his command crew and over the comm to the other hammerhead. "Concentrate all firepower on that cruiser!"

723. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

"How are dey doin dis?!"  Nal exclaimed as she narrowly dodged yet another turbolaser blast.  "I've never heard of a ship dat size taking out so many of our fighters like dat."

"Reach out towards that ship."  Val responded with his voice as calm as ever, though strained through exertion.  "You'll feel that it's empty.  We're fighting a computer."

Recognition dawned on her.  Normally, capital ships such as the one they were facing were loaded with primarily quad cannons or turbolasers depending on whether it was geared towards taking on large numbers of fighters or another capital ship, respectively.  The weapons on this were clearly for the latter but the accuracy, speed, and anticipation that the guns were tracking and destroying Republic fighters could only be described as... inhuman.

"Dat's an impressive computer dey must have on dat ship.  It won't save dem when Captain Moklam gets here to support us."

"It may not have to."  Was all that Val had to say in response to her.  She looked down and saw that he was right.  The capital ship had been able to maneuver and keep itself in between them and the fleeing freighters.  The pinpoint weapons fire had been able to keep the fighters from taking the large ship out of commission as well.

Then the freighters did disappear.  The capital ship however, began to turn around and return toward the planet.

"Unity to fighter groups Alpha and Theta... put all power to thrusters and get back to us... that damned ship must be trying to get between us and another wave."  Moklam was clearly losing patience.  He was already furious about their previous encounters with this group.  "NOW!"

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

"Are you sure about this?"  Trychon asked as he keyed in the next instructions to be sent to the Sith Stalker.

"As sure as I am that you could have been noticed too early by taking off without the rest of us... even if you were just doing a sweep, Tryst."  Raezyr commed back, using the codenames he insisted on picking himself this time.  "But yes... the only vector we have a shot of getting the rest of the ships out now is if we head straight at the Unity and it's pal.  Any other path and the fighters or the big boys will get to us before the Stalker is of any use."

"That's not enough by my calculations, Blade."

"It will be if we can distract those fighters.... we'll break off in tee minus two."

Trychon sighed.  The numbers weren't adding up very well, even if they survived a quick skirmish.  He watched the timer count down on his panel, and he broke off on Raezyr's tail when the counter hit zero.

Within minutes, they were barreling through the center of the enemy formation.  Trychon managed to score a quick kill on one of the lead fighters, but his celebration was quickly interrupted.

"Don't go for the kill.  Get shots off at as many of them as you can.  If they die, so be it... but we're aiming to disrupt as much as possible.  Don't let any of them break away towards the freighters."

Raezyr let instinct take over and fell into a rhythm of fire and switch. The upside was that it was a target rich environment and each time he flicked the switch on his targeting computer to cycle to the next target, it almost instantly locked on. The downside was that there were so many enemy fighters, that he was never sure if his shots were striking or not as he was constantly in evasive maneuvers.

The arrival of the Twilight Stalker had really seemed to throw the Republic forces for a loop with it's precise maneuvering and targeting. Trychon's customized automation program really was a thing of beauty. The unfortunate part was that the enemy had apparently figured out no one was aboard and were starting to regroup.

The small Sith capital ship had provided cover for the first group of escaping freighters, but if the second group didn't hurry up and form up, the Republic would be ready for the next run.

No matter what happened, Trychon and his brother could no longer stay and fend off the attacking fighters. They had to get to that back up data storage site and physically destroy it. Too much precious information was sitting there and they couldn't let it fall into Republic or Jedi hands.

722. Hoth: King's Lair - Raezyr

Raezyr picked up the large duffel and slung it on his back. There had been more stuff than he'd remembered, but it still wasn't that much. He exited the room and trotted down the hallways of the base, memories filling his mind as he went. This place had practically been home since they had barely escaped Korriban many, many months ago. Once again, the big man found himself on the run from the Jedi, being forced out of a home. It had been the story of his life since he could remember.

His sadness quickly turned to anger and he allowed it to consume him, fuel his power. He could feel the familiar burn of the Dark Side as it raged hotter within, and he held it. Soon he'd need every ounce of it.

He stopped outside the control room and hefted the small orb in his palm for just a moment before flicking the timer on and tossing it inside. He slapped the controls to close the door and turned toward the hangar. In about 18 seconds, the computer memory banks would be atomized, as would anyone who was unfortunate enough to be within the five meter blast radius.

In the hangar, people ducked, ran and hit the deck when the tiny thermonuclear detonation took place, shattering the window between the control room and the hangar. Raezyr didn't bother to turn around, instead he continued his steady pace through the hangar as he knew he was safely outside the blast radius.

Shuttles and freighters were just now beginning to take off. The Sith warrior looked around for the Jet Razor, but it was no longer there. Trychon had already taken off. Raezyr let it add to the raging fire already burning inside. He knew he was a minute late, but he had hoped his brother would wait for him as that had been the plan.

He looked around and spotted a fighter off to one side of the hangar that no one was climbing into and trotted over. The ladder was missing, but that didn't matter as he used the Force to make the leap up to the cockpit. Raezyr slung the pack into the storage compartment behind the seat and closed it, then slid into the seat and began punching in the emergency start up procedures.

The Sith forced the ship to take off before the engine warm-ups were complete. Warning indicators screamed at him, but he ignored them. He didn't care about the risk of engine failure at this point. It was paramount that he catch Trychon.

As he neared the hangar doors, he punched the throttle as high as he dared, caring little about the collateral damage it would cause. His final glimpse of King's Lair was crewman, still frantically trying to load various shuttles with emergency supplies, ducking for cover and being bowled over as the Sith gunned the fighter out of the doors.

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

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no death, there is the Force.

Nal Talla repeated the Jedi Code to herself as she piloted Firaxa 1, keeping tight on the wing of her Jedi companion Val.  It had only been weeks since they had finally hunted down the Sith fugitives Tyr and Anya on an uninhabited planet.  She had come painfully close to succumbing to the Dark Side during that encounter.  Now they were closing in on the other two Sith, one of whom had taken her leg, and she had to keep her wits and emotions about her to keep from making that fall.

"Firaxa 2 to Firaxa 1."  Val's voice came in over the comm.  "Are you ready for this?"

She knew he wasn't talking about clipping the wings of a few smuggler's fighters.  He was speaking to the very thing she was thinking of.  Her only question was whether he knew what she was thinking, or if it was a coincidence.  "I believe I am, two."  She smiled.  The older Knight had been invaluable in helping her regain her calm and prepare for such an encounter.  "I am ready for 'dis.  Tanks to you."

They were closing in on the glaring white of the frozen planet quickly.  One freighter had made a quick exit minutes after the capital ships had arrived.  Her connection to the Force reassured her that they had not missed out on their targets yet though.

She looked down at her sensors in response to her instruments beeping at her.  Multiple contacts were now making their way off of the planet.  They weren't in range yet, but they would be well before the pirates could escape the gravity well of the planet.  Based on what her readings were telling her, none of the ships would be able to weather any severe harassment to make it to hyperspace.  They'd have to maneuver heavily to stay alive, and eventually they would fall prey to weapons fire or the tractor beams of the larger Republic ships when they were in range.

Val and she would have to try to do their best to disable the fighters, especially if they located the Sith.  She wasn't sure that the other pilots for the Republic would do the same.  She felt it might be the opposite for them.

They had nearly reached long distance torpedo range when the starry space in front of them suddenly shifted.  Alarms in her head as well as from her fighter filled the cabin.  The large ship that the Sith had used to steal from the Republic had jumped directly in between them and the fleeing freighters.

"Break off!  Break off!"  She heard the squadron commander in her helm.  "Regroup!  Where did that thing come from?  No one can jump this close into a planetary system.  No one!"