585. The Heist - Raezyr

"Am I mentally challenged? Is that why I'm not getting this?" Trychon asked in frustration. He noticed Tyr had opened his mouth to say something and instinctively knew it was going to be laden with sarcasm. "Answer that question and you'll regret it."

Both of them chuckled. "Seriously though. How is that that Raez can pick this up but I can't?"

"Are you implying that I'm somehow inferior?" Raezyr said, glowering.

"Well, now that you mention it," the older brother shot back with a grin.

"Hey! How come you get to answer those kinds of questions?" Tyr asked, mock dejection on his face.

"It's because I'm more quick-witted than you," Trychon shot back. "But seriously, we don't have much more time to mess around trying to learn how to alter our facial features. If we're going to Corellia, and I'm still not sure I like the idea, we need to do it and get it over with."

"You can't go if you don't learn this, Trych," the blond Sith girl said a bit poutily. "Let's try it again."

"Let's not and say we did. Look, I'll just hang out on the ship while you guys go take care of things," Trychon suggested.

"You can't do that either, Trych. If the ships are getting a tune-up while we're there, then there will be techs in and out of here," Raezyr explained. "I think I have an idea of how you can still go and not have to learn this trick."

The big Sith warrior walked over to a locker where they kept spare bits of armor. Opening the door, he began to rummage around. "Here we go," he said triumphantly as he stood back, holding out his find.

"There is no way in Kelldonia that I'm wearing that thing... especially not for two days," the eldest Sith said in horror, staring at the battered Echani helm his younger brother was trying to hand him. "I have no idea who wore that last or where it's been. It was on the ship when we acquired it, for Chiss sake!"

"Don't be a baby. You know it's the only way, so just try it on," Raezyr said.

"I will NOT put that on," Trychon said adamantly, crossing his arms across his chest.

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

"How do you see in these things, Raez?" Trychon said, fiddling with the slightly over-sized helmet. "Hell, how do you breath in these things? It's hot as Tatooine at noon in here."

The four Sith walked down the busy avenue in Coronet, the capital city and the Jewel of Corellia. Speeders streamed by in the mid-day sunshine yet the cool breeze kept them comfortable for the most part.

"Stop messing with that thing. You're supposed to be a bounty hunter, but the more you fiddle with that, the more you look like what you really are: Some guy wearing a costume," Raezyr rebuked his older brother.

"I'm just saying..." Trychon began before he was interrupted.

"Yes... we know. You've been 'saying' for the last half hour now. We get it. You don't like the helmet. Now shut up, will you?" Raezyr said.

Trychon shrugged and walked on in silence as if suddenly he couldn't care less.

Raezyr's irritation, however, nearly cost him his concentration. It was getting a bit easier to maintain the illusion that his scar was missing, but he still longed for his own helmet, although wearing his own armor was out of the question, as there had been plenty of good footage of it from their mission on Coruscant. He sighed a bit to himself and worked on maintaining the Force illusion, occasionally checking his reflection in window to make sure it the scar was really gone.

"How much further is it, Anya?" Tyr inquired, bringing Raezyr's thoughts back to their situation at hand.

"Not much, the Blue Sector, where I used to live, is maybe another twenty minutes or so by foot," the blond said. Her demeanor had become more serious the closer they got to their destination.

"You sure you're ready to see your parents again?" Tyr asked her.

"After what they put me through growing up, going home is all I've thought about for years now."

584. The Heist - Raezyr

"Hey, Trych," Tyr called. "I've been having some problems with the Wraith's computers lately. You think you can take a look at them?"

"If you'd stop downloading all those indecent holonet images, you wouldn't be having those problems," Trychon said with a grin.

Tyr didn't answer, but instead scratched behind his ear and gave the other Sith a sheepish look.

Trychon chuckled and rolled his eyes. He picked up his data pad and headed for the hatchway where Tyr's ship was docked to the Twilight Stalker.

Anya stepped around the corner from where she had been listening. "That takes care of him for a bit. Now maybe you can talk to Raezyr?" she asked Tyr, running her fingers across his chest playfully.

"Sure thing," Tyr responded. "I'm sure he's working out somewhere," he commented and they went to find their big Sith counter part. Everything seemed to be going as he had planned. Soon it wouldn't be long and both Raezyr and Trychon would just be used to doing whatever it was that Tyr instructed. Someday they might wonder when the change had come about, but by then it would be too late.

Unfortunately for Tyr, Anya was thinking along similar lines as well.

They found Raezyr in the workout room where they had expected to find him. He had been going through his daily calisthenics/meditation routine when they entered the room. Raezyr let himself down from his one-handed hand stand position, combining Force techniques and his own physical acuity to perform difficult feats. He stood up, grabbed a towel and began wiping the sweat from his body. "You two here to workout? A fit body and a fit mind go hand in hand, you know."

"Maybe later, Raez. Right now I wanted to discuss our immediate plans," Tyr said.

"Well, let's get Trych in here then. He knows what our time line needs to look like and can fill you in," Raezyr informed him and walked over to a bench where his gear was, looking for his communicator.

"Trych's busy working on the Wraith's computers," he informed the big Sith. "Besides, I'm not talking about this little caper he has planned. I mean more immediately."

"What exactly did you have in mind?" Raezyr asked, giving the former smuggler a skeptical look.

"We need to go to Corellia for a day, maybe two."

"You've got to be kidding, right?" Raezyr blurted, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. "Our pictures are emblazoned in every spaceport in the Core, and you want to just take a little daytrip to one of the Galaxy's most prominent planets? I do NOT think so."

"Look, you know Anya has some unfinished business on Corellia, and I know that my ship at least could stand to have some certified astro-techs give her a look, and I bet at least the Stalker could as well," Tyr reasoned.

"It's out of the question. We'll all be arrested on site, and while I'm not worried about a little hand to hand combat, the entire Corellian Security Force would be bearing down on us. Even if we did manage to get back to the ships and take off, we'd be lucky if we even broke out of the atmosphere before we were vaped," Raezyr explained. "No way. Not happening. Anya's little revenge trip will have to wait for another day."

Anya stepped up to the big warrior, put her hand lightly on his bare chest and looked up into his face. "Raez, please listen for just a minute. You know some of my story. If you had a chance to get revenge on those who had taken everything from you, could you wait?"

Raezyr started to say something, but the blond Sith slid her hands up to the top of his shoulders and continued, "Listen, Raez. You're worried about being recognized, and I understand, but what if I could promise you that wouldn't happen?"

Alarm klaxons were ringing in Raezyr's head. The temptress was up to something. Deep inside he knew it, yet at the same time he could detect no deception in what she was saying. "How is that even possible?"

"Remember that little talent I learned? The one where I can make small objects invisible?" she asked and the big Sith nodded, all the while looking for some hint of what the catch may be. "Well, I've developed that a little further, and I think with a little bit of training, I can teach you to use the Force to alter your facial features a bit."

She paused to let that sink in for a moment. "It's not permanent. It's more of an illusion, but for a while, Raez, your scar would be gone. With practice, you may be able to even hold the illusion with very little effort."

Raezyr pulled her arms down from his face where she was tracing the scar with her fingers and stepped back. The room was silent for a moment before he spoke. "Alright. If you can teach me how to make my scar disappear, then I guess we can probably make time for a trip to Corellia."

583. Sith Hunt Part Two - Trychon

Val followed Nal down the corridor to the small civilian cabin that had been converted from a two man housing area into a very cramped computer lab that could barely sleep one.

The man who converted it, Geoff Spickolly, was a civilian slicer who largely kept to himself, and was supposed to be one of the best minds that worked for the Republic... for a price. He was also renowned amongst the fleet for being very odd mannered. On the Unity in particular, it was well known that Moklam found him downright annoying. As such, he had reportedly been told to continue to work hard in seclusion, but not to bother to report until he had a solid answer for the Captain.

The Jedi however, had also been told by the other techs that he was the most likely to figure out what was happening, and went to seek out an update of any sort. Until the commander was convinced that whatever was giving the Sith a warning every time they were bearing down on them, the ship would just not make another move for fear of being slowly led to a trap.

The younger Jedi stopped, pointing at the nearest door. "I believe dis is da one." Her Chiss companion nodded, and she touched the control panel. From inside the room, they heard a tired voice call out "Yeah!" and the doors slid open.

They entered, and saw the room was nearly packed with equipment. Actually, that was all they could see until the slicer stood up and peered over the monitor he was working at.

Nal smiled at the blond man. "Hello. Are you da Mista Spickoli? I am Na..."

Spickoli laughed without provocation. "Hahahaha... the pushers! Yeah... hahahah. I knew you'd be coming some time."

Val cocked his head to one side in curiosity. "Did you just call us... 'Pushers'?"

"Hahahaha... yeah... you know... haha... cause you push stuff... and stuff!"

Val nodded in understanding. "Of course. Silly of me to ask." He smiled, showing that he was more amused than upset by the nickname. "I'll get to the point though. We were wondering how your analysis was going. Have you made any progress in discerning the source of these mysterious transmissions?"

The slicer let out another laugh and went on a diatribe that took several minutes, none of which meant anything to either of the Jedi.

"Was dat... a 'no'?" Nal asked, looking very confused.

The slicer shrugged. "Of course not. How can I find it when it's randomly displaced after each use, and I can't get it to reactivate?" After seeing only a slight increase in the amount of comprehension from the Jedi he tried to put into even more normal terms. "It'd be like trying to find a murderer who decided to hide in a completely random spot, leaving no clues as to where... the only way to find him would be if you could find a way to draw him out."

Val's eyes opened slightly as he finally understood. "I see now. You're saying..."

"Hahahaha... Yeah, man... the pusher knows... haha. We have to make another jump if we want to catch it in action."

The Naulatian shook her head no. "Da Captain has already said he would not allow such a ting to happen."

The slicer's smile faded for the first time. "I know that... I was hoping you could maybe convince him. You know. He won't listen to me... but everyone listens to pushers, don't they? Haha."

The Chiss spoke up just as he sensed Nal was about to shoot that idea down as well. "It certainly couldn't hurt if he heard it from another, could it? I'm new here, perhaps my perspective will have a little extra weight for him."

The slicer thanked the Jedi as they left, clearly hopeful that he'd get a real shot at seeing what this invisible program was up to.

As they headed back to the command deck, Nal voiced what was on her mind in the other room. "Da Captain is certain we could be headed to a trap if we move again. You know dis."

Val smiled. "I understand his concern, but we must find the program or we will never be able to move on. I'm certain the Captain will want to find the problem before his secret mission as well."

"Obviously dat would be da case... but what is da risk dough? What CAN we risk?"

"We can only be trapped young Jedi... if we are following the Sith."

582. Sith Hunt: Part Two - Raezyr

"Ataraxiav'a'lajean?" Captain Wash Moklam of the Republic Hammerhead questioned. "That's quite a mouthful. Is there something less... lengthy... we can call you?"

"Val is sufficient. I rarely use my full name for anything other than official business or formal occasions. If I had grown up on Chiss, I might have more use for it, but I didn't, and I don't," Val explained rather matter of factly.

"Please be seated," Moklam invited after shaking hands with the newly arrived Jedi, and sat down behind the desk in his ready room just off the ship's bridge, and the two Jedi followed suit.

"Now, you asked to be brought up to speed, but there really isn't much to tell that I'm sure you haven't read in previous reports... except for the virus," Moklam said.

"Although our civilian programmer has been able to tell us a little about it, I'm not sure how much to rely on his information. He insists that our computer systems weren't sliced, but that someone who has access to the ship uploaded the program directly.

"If it's true, then that means the Sith we are chasing allowed themselves to be caught and they uploaded the program sometime during their escape. Our security is too tight for it to have happened at any other time," Moklam explained. "Personally, I think he's full of poodoo.

"The problem is that pretty soon, the Unity will have to break off it's hunt for the Sith for a few weeks, and you Jedi will have to be on your own until we return," Moklam said.

"What?" Nal Talla said incredulously. "What are we supposed ta do in da mean time? Take a vacation?"

Val reached over and calmly put his hand on her arm. Almost immediately the Nataulan Jedi felt more at ease.

"Captain," the Chiss began, "might we inquire as to the reason?"

"All I can tell you is that the Unity has been tasked for a highly classified mission. More than that, I'm not at liberty to say," he informed them. "I am authorized, however, to allow you to stay aboard during our mission, if you so choose, but you would have to remain aboard this ship at all times during."

Nal and Val were silent a moment, thinking it over. "No, Cap'n, if da Sith were to turn up, it would do us no good to be stuck aboard your ship," Nal concluded. "However, would it be a'right if we talked to dis civilian ourselves, cap'n?" Nal asked. "Maybe he can give us some leads to check out while you are on your mission."

"Be my guest," the ship's captain said, rising from his chair. "If you need anything, Val, let my first mate know."

The two Jedi shook the officer's hand and made their way to the door. Once in the corridor, Nal spoke,"I don't tink it is a good idea for da cap'n to dis miss what dis programmer is saying. He's supposed to be very good, although I 'ave not met him."

"I agree. Let's go talk to this slicer and see what he has to say," Val said.

581. The Heist - Trychon

The two Sith stood by the docking entrance, flanked by Schyrt and Reed. Trychon stood with his hands casually clasped behind his back, while Raezyr crossed his arms in front of his chest. The two mercenaries stood at attention, not really sure what to expect.

Finally, a hissing and some heavy mechanical noise began to emanate from the hatch, which opened shortly thereafter, revealing Anya and Tyr on the other side. Anya was tapping her foot impatiently. Tyr was leaning against the bulkhead and seemed to be doing nothing other than observing Anya being impatient.

Anya muttered something under her breath before putting on a large smile. "Hey boys! How are you? Anyone need some stitching up? Feels like it's been forever since I had to clean a battle wound." She giggled to herself, not actually making any sound.

Raezyr snorted. "We've managed fine somehow, believe it or not..."

Feeling that things were already headed down the wrong road, Trychon jumped in. "Not that we never had an obstacle or two to maneuver." He added a small smile. "You know what they say though... anything that doesn't kill you obviously wasn't too hard to deal with afterall..."

Tyr raised an eyebrow. "They actually say that?"

Trychon shrugged. "I'm hoping it will catch on. Come on in, make yourself at home. Let's have a drink and catch up. Haven't stayed in touch as much as I'd planned."

Everyone began to turn to head to the common area when Schyrt and Reed looked at each other, unsure whether they had permission to move. Raezyr turned and saw both of the soldiers staring at them... and Anya. "Oh... right. Schyrt and Reed, this is Anya and Tyr. They're with us, they've just been handling other parts of our mission. Should the need arise, handle any order from them almost as though it was handed down from us. Anya, Tyr... this is Schyrt and Reed. They're going to go find work. Now."

The two men didn't argue, merely nodding their understanding and presumably heading off to find ways to stay busy.

The other four made their way to the common area. Trychon zealously overacted the part of the waiter, taking orders from the others and providing drinks and glasses with a cheesy smile.

"So guys... did you have fun finding your tablets and ancient secrets? I know it sure sounded like a blast." Tyr laughed.

Anya slugged him softly in the arm. "Tyr, don't be like that. They were off doing their part just like we were. I'm sure they not only did a great job, but had plenty to deal with, right Raez?"

Raezyr was surprised to see Anya smiling at him again. "Yeah, I guess. There were a few moments where it got interesting."

"But nothing that you two couldn't handle, of course..." Anya continued. "I knew you would be able to do Master's missions and make it back. I didn't expect you to be gone so long though. Are you glad to be done?"

Trychon also noticed that she was smiling at Raezyr more than usual. "Well, more than anything, we're glad that we got some holocrons and a few other things. You're really gonna love Master Daxon Var... he's the only holocron that seems to work. He's even more personable than Raez here." Trychon winked and raised his glass towards Raezyr.

Anya frowned at Trychon. "Look... I know I had my issues with Raez in the past, but I'm past that now. I realized that his advice has really helped me along the way with lots of things, and he was doing it for all of our good." With that she stood up and got herself another drink and one for Raezyr, ignoring Tyr and Trychon's glasses, which were also nearly empty.

Trychon used the Force to bring a few more drinks for himself and Tyr. "So now I'm the bad guy, I guess?" He followed the jest with another wink.

Anya took a drink while looking at Raezyr. "Don't be silly. It wasn't a slight at you... I just wanted to show my appreciation to Raez here for doing what was best for the group. Enough of this talk though... I'd like to hear some stories. Tyr and I will share after you guys do."

With a shrug, Raezyr motioned for Trychon to tell the tales, as he enjoyed storytelling so much more than Raezyr himself. The four Sith sat around for hours sharing stories, mainly Tyr and Trychon, though Anya and Raezyr interrupted when they began their normal exaggerations.

After Tyr and Anya headed off to move some of their belongings into the larger living quarters aboard the Stalker, Raezyr shot a concerned look at Trychon.

I have a bad feeling about the way Anya's acting. Something's up.

Yeah. Trychon thought back. It worries me when women are nice to you too.

You know what I mean. I think there's more to it than her just suddenly seeing things my way.

What's the worst she can do... sleep with you? Oh no! Look out! She's undressing! Oh wait... I'm actually enjoying myself for once!

I know where you sleep, Trych.