515. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

The four of them sat in the cafeteria alone, with the company of just the droid. Several times, Dianna had to run off part of her crew, who had stopped in to welcome back Raezyr and Trychon, had heard the news of the alien child, or who were just hungry.

Trychon had started off by telling the story, but he didn't get very far. He had started off by telling how they'd heard rumors of a rogue Sith Master on a remote planet who needed to be stopped, and how they'd taken a shuttle, not wanting to draw too much attention. Then he started to explain how they'd had mechanical failures on the shuttle and lost control and some safety measures.

Mannix had already finished the first plate of food Dianna had set out for him, and it turned out she was right. Having downed the serving, and helping himself to a second round, Mannix jumped in on Trychon's story, figuring he'd remember the next part better than the brothers could. He told Dianna how he'd found the shuttle, and then continued on with the story until it was done.

Trychon and Raezyr sat quietly and listened to the boy's perspective on the adventure, a little shocked at how quick Mannix was to open up to Dianna. On their voyage back to Hoth, they'd forgotten how excitable and friendly he once was. He told Dianna with a big grin about how the two had saved the miners, how Trychon had destroyed the giant horde of beetles, and how
Raezyr had found Saffron's body and brought it back to the monestery. He finished the story by telling how the town had turned on itself, unsure whether or not Trychon and Raezyr were the ones from the prophesy... and how they'd saved Mannix from a mob. He left out the part about the mob bieng his brother's friends, and how he'd killed his brother Baldemar with Trychon's knife... but neither Trychon nor Raezyr felt like correcting him.

Trychon added on to the end of Mannix's story a small spin about how they had been attacked from behind while helping search for survivors of the fight and give aide.

Dianna gave him a somewhat doubtful look, but she seemed to believe the look of concern on Mannix's face when Trychon recalled the pain of the attack.

Dianna changed the subject to some of her business, although she kept much of it vague and more 'visitor friendly'. When everyone had eaten, Trychon took Mannix back to the ship while Raezyr and Dianna headed back to her quarters to discuss things a bit more.

514. Hoth: King's Lair - Trychon

Delki and Bleetz were the first to greet Mannix. In their usual fashion, they were exceedingly enthusiastic in their approach and introductions. Mannix's eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets when he saw them quickly approaching, and his initial reaction was to shield himself behind Aitchkay. This was as Mannix liked to say 'Old Mannix' reacting. Then as the two aliens started shaking his hands and asking him questions, he forced himself into what he called 'New Mannix' and stood up straight, unafraid of anything and with nothing to lose. He still had a very unsure look on his face as he turned to look at Raezyr, who smiled and nodded reassuringly.

Dianna stepped in between the friendly twosome and the boy, deriding them for not giving Mannix room to breathe before sending them off to find work. She then sent the rest of the crew off after them, partially to ensure that they didn't stick around to eavesdrop, but also so that she could privately attempt to comfort her new guest as well as punching Trychon and finding out the real story.

She kneeled down and put her hands on his arms to turn him to face her directly and to talk away from the two brothers, though she suspected they'd be able to hear anyway. She gave the small alien boy her most welcoming smile she could manage as she mouthed hello. She'd always enjoyed children, but she hadn't had many opportunities to spend much time with any lately. She was guessing that this boy was between the ages of ten and twelve, but she was unsure because his small frame also indicated a diminutive near human species.

"I'm Dianna, and this is my home. What's your name?"

Mannix steeled his nerves and kept his gaze equal with her eyes. He knew he'd be meeting new people and going to new places, but that still didn't quite ready him for the experience. Dianna struck him as a nice enough person, but he was still off-balance from the onslaught of questions and randomly offered insights of the two aliens who'd jumped to meet him first. "Mannix." Was all he replied, and his first words on the new planet.

"Well, it's certainly my pleasure to have you here, Mannix!" She continued to smaile at him. "Did Trychon and Raezyr bring you here? How did you meet them?" She trusted Raezyr and Trychon implicitly, but she could not fathom what in nine systems could have brought them to the possession of a young boy. She was sure that they wouldn't be stupid enough to be too out of line, but Zanz still liked to tell stories about some of the Sith he'd encountered and some of the travesties they'd caused. She knew that he was simply trying to not so subtly discredit her friends with these stories, and she didn't pay him much mind, but she didn't doubt the stories and she couldn't help if it had slipped into her subconscious just a little.

"I saved Trychon and Raezyr from a crash. They took me away from home because there wasn't anything left there for me anymore." He was loosening up a little, but still didn't feel like saying too much.

His comment didn't do anything to calm Dianna down though, as phrases like that are seldom spoken by kids Mannix's age. "Nothing left for you? What about your family and friends? Won't they miss you?"

"No."

"No?"

"They're dead."

"Who died, Mannix? Your parents?" She was becoming more and more unsettled, and Mannix's defeated manner was almost creepy.

"Everyone. Everyone died."

She forced another smile and brushed his cheek before grabbing his hand and standing up. She shot a dark warning glare at Raezyr and began walking towards the cafeteria. "How about some food, Mannix? After a long trip on a ship, there's nothing that cheers me up like a good planetside cooked meal..."

It turns out that she'd have Trychon telling their tale a bit sooner than she'd originally planned, and he'd have a much smaller audience, but it couldn't wait. This story better be good, she thought.

513. Flight of the Decoy - Raezyr

Anya put her back to the wall just left of the open doorway, a blaster pistol in each fist. She stretched out for just a moment, sensing where other beings were in the hall. Silently she slid into the hall and faced the six cops to the left, and opened fire with both blasters, and two went down with her first salvo. Making a half turn she kept the blaster in her left hand on her original targets while pointing the blaster in her right hand at four new targets 180 degrees from her down the hall and continued to fire.

The commandos were unprepared for the deadly onslaught, concentrating on covering their comrades in the rooms in front of them. By the time they dove against the door jambs for cover to return fire, six of them were down.

Anya felt Kal step back to back with her, and as one they spun around, each facing opponents at the end of the hall.

Suddenly Anya felt a surge in the Dark Side and watched as the door to Tyrrazapon's room burst outward, followed quickly by Tyr, wielding his lightsaber and making short work of the two security team members that had taken cover outside his quarters.

At almost the same time, Anya felt Kal Van-Dohr's body jerk and sensed his shock as a blaster bolt hit the man in the stomach. Anya dropped to one knee and spun, firing both pistols and taking out the remaining target.

She then stood and strode up and down the corridor, assessing the wounded. She walked along, putting a blaster bolt into each their foreheads. She stopped and bent over the last one left alive. "Have you called in for help yet?" she asked, carefully brushing a few strands of long brown hair from the woman's face.

"Yeah..." the woman said, struggling through the pain to say the word.

"Good," Anya replied smiling, placing the barrel of her pistol to the woman's skull.

"Please! No! I've got kids!" she pleaded.

Anya pulled the trigger.

Standing up, she turned to Kal, and Tyr, who just stood, watching her. "I need to get my lightsaber," she said with a grin and nearly skipped toward her quarters.

Tyr looked at the expression on her face, and it reminded him of a small child at a festival. He pushed it out of his head. "We have to hurry. Their back up can't be far away." Turning to Kal he said, "You going to make it?"

"I-I think so," Kal said, pulling his hand away from his stomach and examining the wound. It was red, blistering, and ugly. Tyr was pretty sure Kal wasn't going to make it.

"Just... just let me get some stims from the medical kit in the speeder garage," Kal said through the pain.

"Sorry old buddy. They've probably got that covered already. If you have a back way out, that's the way we go," he said as Anya returned from her quarters, holding the metallic silver cylinder of her lightsaber in one hand and Kal's blaster in the other.

"Kitchen... garbage chutes... this way..." Kal said, and lead the way.

Anya and Tyr watched him go for a moment.

"You think he's gonna make it?" Tyr asked in a whisper.

Anya tucked away her weapons, then put her left hand on Tyr's cheek and the right on the back of his head, pulling his ear close to her lips. "Doubt it," she whispered, then gently licked his earlobe.

512. Flight of the Decoy - Raezyr

It didn't take long or much urging to get Kal to take her back to his room for a drink. A small hint about "the good stuff" and within moments they were in Kal's quarters.

He lifted the stopper on the ornate decanter and took a whiff from the bottle. "Ah, the best Corellian brandy I could get my hands on out here." He began pouring dose into two snifters. "I'm sure they have much better stuff on Corellia, but out here you'd probably have to be much more powerful and influential than I am." He replaced the stopper and handed a glass to Anya.

She'd never really cared for the brandy from her homeworld. It reminded her too much of the place she was trying so desperately to leave behind. The memories she knew she could never outrun. Nevertheless, she took the glass and smiled, gulping down the liquor.

She walked over to the bed and sat down next to the pillows, then patted the spot next to her, indicating she wanted Kal to have a seat next to her. He did as she indicated.

Kal put his hand on her thigh and tried to lean in to kiss her neck, but she skillfully avoided his seeking lips, her years of experience making it seem almost accidental as she leaned back and turned her head as if she hadn't noticed his advance.

"I'm not dumb, Kal," she commented as she carefully slid her hand under one of the pillows. She found what she had suspected to be there. Very few criminals slept with out a blaster or weapon of some sort under their heads, or somewhere else within easy reach.

Kal, confused by her statement, didn't notice her subtle search. "What do you mean? I never said you were."

"Back in the lounge. You were bothered that we had taken care of your job already," she explained.

"I wasn't bothered. Honestly. I was just really surprised. Things must have been opportune for you two to strike so quickly," he said.

Anya noticed that he didn't look her in the eyes, and the Force told her that his pulse quickened with nervousness, although his outward demeanor appeared nonchalant.

She also noticed an unfamiliar presence outside of the doorway. It also seemed nervous and hesitant. She was about to dismiss it as a member of Kal's crew, unsure as if to disturb the boss at such a late hour, when suddenly 3 more joined the first. Now there were feelings of fear and determination as well.

Suddenly there were several more up and down the hallway. Somewhere in the background she heard Kal blathering on about who knows what. Some slick line to get her to stay the night no doubt, but Anay wasn't listening. She was wishing she hadn't left her lightsaber back in her own quarters.

Suddenly the the tension outside the door grew, and the door slid open. In rushed four people dressed in some sort of tactical gear decorated with Arkanian Security Forces insignia. They lowered their assault carbines to cover Anya and Kal as one of them spoke, "I'm Captain Farrell of the Ark-"

At the same instant, Anya summoned the Force and accelerated her movements, reaching under the pillow with one hand and drawing the blaster in Kal's holster with the other. She interrupted the speaker, jumping to her feet and blasting him with both barrels, the bolts striking him in the forehead.

Her movements had been so fast that no one had been able to react in time, and she flipped backward onto the bed just as the three other Security commandos triggered their first shots at the spot where she had just been standing.

Anya landed in a crouch and fired both blasters again, striking two of the other troops in the throat. From the corner of her eye she notice Kal rolling off the bed and diving toward his desk.

Anya dove forward as the last trooper fired again, trying in vain to track her quick movements with the barrel of his carbine. Anya hit the ground and rolled forward under the blast and came up right in front of the trooper, the barrel of her blaster pistol dug in where his throat met his chin.

She paused for a just a moment, letting the situation sink into the commando's consciousness and soaking in the terror and despair like a sponge as it oozed from her victim. Then she pulled the trigger.

Looking over at Kal who was just pulling another blaster from a desk drawer she said, "C'mon... and try to keep up."

First, she needed to get back to her room and get her lightsaber. I won't be caught without it again, no matter how safe I think I am, she vowed to herself.

511. Hoth: Kings Lair - Trychon

The trip to Hoth was an uneventful one. Mannix was starting to act normally, albeit with a fairly unhappy disposition and general moodswings. One day he was homesick, miserable and missing his parents; the next he was still miserable but was talking about how much he hated 'that place'.

Aitchkay for his part had taken on the role of temporary nanny rather well, helping Mannix figure his way around all the technology he'd not been exposed to before and helping him with the computer, learning a bit about the galaxy. Granted, he did have a bit of a quirky touch to his teachings, such as introducing a species by first explaining the quickest ways to disable or kill them. Trychon thought his bedtime stories were hilarious though.

They arrived on Hoth without any notable instances though, simply glad Mannix was eating again. Raezyr commed down to Lair control, and after a routine landing, the landing bay doors creaked shut, keeping out as much of the harsh temperatures as possible.

Raezyr turned to Mannix and set a hand on his shoulder. "Trychon and I are going to go down here and say hello to our friends. We may be leaving you here while we go look for any leads on how to find Darth Vikon. You're a bit young for the crowd we're going to be talking to. I want to find the right time and way to introduce the idea to the leader here though, so I'm going to ask you to stay on the ship with Aitchkay for just a little bit, ok?"

Mannix frowned, but not really more than normal. He looked at Trychon, who just nodded and winked at him. Mannix shrugged and muttered 'ok.'

Raezyr turned to the droid and told him he'd have Trychon tell him when to bring Mannix down. The droid affirmed his understanding, and the two brothers grabbed a few things and headed for the ramp.

Out in the landing bay, a small group headed out of the control room towards the Sith Stalker. The group was the expected faces mostly, Dianna, Delki, Bleetz, and a few other faces Raezyr recognized as Kord's friends, though not all of them. Not surprisingly missing was Zanz, the group's grumpy second in command.

Dianna jogged the last 50 paces to Raezyr, who dropped his bags and picked her up in his arms, embracing her with a kiss. Raezyr looked on her warmly before setting her down, sure he hadn't been so happy to see someone before in his lifetime. "How are you?" He asked nonchalantly.

She smiled at him with one of her warm and caring smiles. "We're ok. Not great, but we'll be fine after all. How was your 'trip'? Any bruises I need to know about?"

"Long story." Was his quick reply.

Her mouth opened a little and she put her hand out to stop him from grabbing the bags. "I'd love to hear it."

He smiled, just as much as he first had. "I'm sure Trych will go into story mode at dinner, like usual. I'll fill in any blanks later tonight."

She didn't break her gaze from his eyes, clearly concerned about the level of danger he tended to put himself in, but not voicing it publicly as her crew and Trychon closed in on them.

Trychon gave her a quick hug. "Good to see you up and about, Di."

Delki hopped up and gave Trychon a high five as a greeting. "Hey there Trych! Bring me anything to tinker with?"

Trychon laughed. "Of course I did." He pulled out his new datapad and tapped a few buttons, which looked nearly exactly the same to Raezyr, but elicited an 'Ooh' from Delki and Bleetz, who were clearly impressed.

Trychon turned back to Dianna. "I brought you a surprise too, Di."

She looked at him with a bit of shock in her eyes. "You shouldn't have, Trych..."

He punched another button, and the door at the top of the Stalker's ramp opened up again, revealing Aitchkay and a nervous Mannix, whom Trychon had summoned just moments earlier.

"Oh, Trych... you shouldn't have." Dianna said, with a clear look of disbelief covering her features.