546. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Minutes later, having successfully dodged the quick aim of the Tusken Raiders and having made their way into the fairly narrow canyon, Trychon pulled Haley around one of two large boulders, and motioned for her to be quiet. They were now several hundred meters into the ravine, having walked slowly after finding the cover of the walls of rock.

Nearing the corner was two of the savages. Trychon closed his eyes, and Haley nearly asked him what he was doing, though she thought better of it. Raising his hand slightly, Trychon lifted the smaller boulder across from them up in the air. At nearly three meters across as well as tall, the boulder lifted from the ground nearly silently, and glided gracefully through the air.

It continued on until it held its position about four meters above the ground, just inside the entrance. Haley peered over the edge of their cover at it, with a look as close to awe as she ever showed. The two Tusken Raiders turned the corner, but then backed up several large steps, barking and gesturing at the hovering obstruction. Their motions continued on for a moment, before the rock jolted forward and down. It pushed them back quite a ways before rolling over them.

Trychon opened his eyes and began walking down the cavern, hiding a small grin from his companion. They walked nearly another klick in silence before finding what seemed to be an appropriate cavern.

Trychon pointed to it, and Haley held up a hand, warning caution. She closed her eyes half way for about half a second, which felt near an eternity for Trychon, who was in a hurry to find shelter and no hurry to discover his first Tatooine dust storm. She opened her eyes again and looked at Trychon. "It seems to be an abandoned Krayt Dragon dwelling... It should suffice for shelter for now."

Trychon closed his eyes and did not sense any living creature worth noting in the cave either. "What makes you so sure it's abandoned?" He asked Haley.

"It's empty." She responded. "No native being would be caught out in a dust storm."

That was enough sense for Trychon, who walked into the cave without grabbing his weapon, which he thumbed out of habit instead.

Trychon was wondering how far deep one would have to walk into a cave in a canyon to be safe from flying dust when Haley finally spoke again as they turned a small corner. "We should be safe here."

Trychon took a look around. It was much darker than it was just moments before, so he drew his lightsaber and ignited it. They were in what seemed to be a large room of sorts. It seemed to be a natural occurrence, though there were markings on some of the walls as though a very large set of claws had expanded certain parts. The caves extended beyond the 'room' though, and Trychon couldn't help but be curious why Haley was confident this was a safe distance. "Dare I ask how you know that for sure?" He asked her.

"The Krayt Dragon knew it was." She responded, walking around the room and taking note of the surroundings.

Trychon mumbled something to himself about knowing that comment was coming, but also walked around the room, looking for any potential issues. Finding none, he sat down in a corner, and fell into a quick meditation. You ok? He reached out to Raezyr through the Force. Normally, he wouldn't bother with even a quick meditation for communicating with his brother, but they didn't often communicate at a distance.

Nearly back to the base now. Where the hell are you? You feel like you're still way out there.

Ran into some complications. We're fine, but we can't make it back on the swoop. There's a sand storm coming, and we've taken temporary refuge in a cafe in the canyon.

I'm going to have to teach you how to drive one of these days, big bro. I'll send someone to pick you up as soon as the weather is settled. May the Force be with you.

Back at ya.

----------

"What are you doing?" Haley stood over Tychon, with a nearly quizzical look on her face.

"I was sending a message to Lord Raezyr, to let him know where we are and that we'll need pick up after the storm." Trychon dusted himself as he rose from the ground.

Haley dusted off a spot that he'd missed on his shoulder. "I admit, I had my doubts about your so called abilities before I saw what you did with that large stone."

Trychon smiled at her, but she didn't return the gesture. He shrugged internally and gathered up various sticks from around the cave. Haley followed suit and before long they had a decent size pile in the center of the area. Trychon ignited the center of it with his lightsaber, and was rewarded with a fire that lit the cave better than several glowsticks could, let alone his weapon.

They both watched the fire for a bit before anyone said anything. "How's your arm? I noticed you were favoring it slightly as you gathered the wood, yet you act as though it doesn't bother you." Trychon asked to break the ice.

Haley sat down on a rock she'd deemed suitable and moved to near the fire. "I'm fine. I took a blaster bolt early on in our escape, but the stims quickly abated the ill effects."

Trychon reached out and grabbed a similar rock and pulled it to him through the Force. He took a seat, about a meter away from Haley. "I didn't know you'd taken stims."

Haley turned to look at him. "They're like a biological upgrade. They are built into my systems to help the constant adjustment for having non biological components. In the instance such as a more severe injury, they adjust automatically."

Trychon got up and gave a brief examination to her wound. "So you'll be ok until we can get that tended to? It looks clean..."

"I'll live." She pulled her arm away from him. "However, without my backup power, I will soon lose control and access to my cybernetic components. I will have enough power to control the most necessary additions... but I will no longer have my stims, or my sensors."

"It will be ok." Was all Trychon could think to say, as he took his seat again on his rock, once again watching the fire burn slowly.

545. Flight of the Decoy - Raezyr

From several blocks away, Anya and Tyr watched as security vehicles swarmed into the area of the electronics shop where Anya had left Tyr's old smuggler friend as a message for the Arkanians, the Republic, and any who might try to cross the Sith.

Tyr wondered if Kal Van-Dohr might survive what Anya had done to him, then decided it would probably be more merciful if he didn't. He had watched the whole time consuming process, and somewhere in the back of his mind, he realized he should feel sorry for Kal, or remorse for not putting the smuggler out of his misery, but Anya had a point. People needed to realize that this wasn't a game. You don't mess with the Sith and expect to get away with it.

"Let's keep moving," he said to Anya, and the two ran down the alley, crouching low. The News broadcast had the added effect of creating breaches in the security perimeter as units saw the broadcast and responded, vainly hoping to catch the Sith still there.

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

"Fools," Anya said as they slipped unnoticed up the ramp of the Wasted Rancor. "So confident in their perimeter that they only bothered with minimal security on our ship."

In reality, they had placed four well armed security officers at the entrance of the hangar, more than sufficient for two normal people. Apparently they were still underestimating who they were dealing with, and Tyr, for one, was glad for that.

They had closed on the guards quickly, and from two sides, and had cut them down with relative ease. That had been the easy part.

Tyr was sure the instant they lifted off, that Space Port Control would shut down the exit, trapping them inside. Sure, they could do a lot of damage with the armament this ship carried, but it'd be little more than a tantrum unless they could find a way to get through the blast shield.

And they couldn't just sit and wait forever either. Sooner or later, they'd realize the guards outside were missing and force their way onto the ship.

Fortunately, they didn't need to wait long. A rather large cargo ship was beginning to lift off, getting ready for departure. "That's it," he commented to Anya.

"What's it?"

"That cargo ship. That's our ticket out of this city and off this frozen rock," Tyr said, punching up all the pre-flight checks he could without doing a full power up. As soon as that happened, Space Control would monitor it, and the Defense Force would be all over them.

"What do you mean?" Anya said, clearly puzzled.

"You didn't think they'd just open the blast doors for us and let us go after all this, did you?" Tyr asked, half joking.

"Oh... I hadn't really thought of that," Anya answered, her face a blank as if this was the first time it really had occurred to her.

"We're going to have to work on thinking ahead, it seems," Tyr said, grinning.

Anya stuck her tongue out at him.

"Is that an invitation?" he asked, still grinning.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Anya retorted playfully.

The cargo ship had been rising higher and higher and Tyr reluctantly shifted his attention back to their escape. "We're going to have to time this just right. That cargo ship is going to have to explode just as it's passing through the blast doors, so get ready on those proton torpedoes. When I give you the signal, fire both tubes. We're only going to get one chance at this."

Anya nodded her consent. She put her hands on the firing triggers for the torpedoes and watched the cargo ship as it lazily drifted toward the blast doors, which lumbered open. As it got closer to the exit, she kept glancing nervously at Tyr, who just sat and watched the slow progress of the big ship.

Just as she was beginning to think it might be too late, Tyr began punching in codes and throwing switches, powering the ship up. Her weapons console lit up as power surged through the circuits. "As soon as you hear the lock tone, punch it," Tyr instructed.

Anya looked down at the controls just as the lock tone rang loud and steady. She instantly mashed the firing triggers down and watched as two blue streaks shot forward toward the big ship just now exiting the city.

At the same time, their own light freighter leapt into the air as the repulsor lifts kicked in. Tyr jammed the yoke forward, following right behind the torpedoes at full speed.

"I sure hope this works," Tyr said nervously, raising the shields and switching all power to the front deflector screens.

"You and me both," Anya agreed quietly.

Suddenly both torpedoes struck home against the unsuspecting ship. Huge explosions ripped through the massive cargo carrying spacecraft sending superheated debris and molten shrapnel in all directions.

Tyr jammed the accelerators forward, aiming the Rancor at the explosion. He had just enough time to pray that no large chunks of wreckage stood in the way and then they were through, into the Arkanian skies, streaking for the blackness of space.

"YEEEEWHOOOOO!!!" Tyr shouted in relief as they escaped the snowy planet's atmosphere.

Anya slipped from her seat and into Tyr's lap. Wrapping her arms around his neck she kissed him long and deeply. Suddenly a warning beep sounded, breaking their concentration. "Ah, what is that?" Anya pouted.

"That, my dear Sith Lady, is our notification that the Unity just exited hyperspace in our immediate vicinity," Tyr said as Anya slipped back to her own seat.

"How far out?"

"Close enough for them to recognize us, but too far for them to do anything about us," Tyr told her.

Anya began watching the scopes for herself. "Dammit, Tyr, they're launching two fighters... how come only two, I wonder."

"Feel for yourself," Tyr said, his eyes closing slightly as he stretched out to the fighter pilots with the Force.

"Ah!" exclaimed Anya with understanding as she followed Tyr's example. "They have Jedi aboard."

"No matter... we'll be in hyperspace in... thirty seconds," Tyr said checking the timer count down on the navicomputer.

Suddenly the comm speaker crackled to life. "Wasted Rancor, dis is Firaxa 1 of da Republic Bahttle Cruiser Unity. You are here by ordered to surrender in da name of da Galactic Republic," said the voice.

Anya instantly recognized it and keyed up the comm before Tyr could stop her, and evil grin on her face. "Firaxa 1, are you still mad that I shoved a dagger in your little friends chest?" Anya asked with mock sincerity.

"I am sad for da loss of life you have caused, as any normal being should be, and dat is why I came to bring you in, before you can do more harm," came the other pilot's voice.

"Ooooh. Yeah," Anya said mockingly. "Then you're a teency bit late for all those folks on Arkania. Look honey, you really should go back to whatever water world you came from before you get a knife through your ribs too." Anya giggled evilly.

"As I recall, it was you who fled da fight last time," the other pilot said.

"Alright, but just think about this: Last time, we left your little wannabe Jedi friend dead, you without a leg, and we've only gotten more powerful since then, so yeah, bring it on, fish bitch," Anya said curtly.

They never heard whether the Jedi responded to Anya's last taunt as the stars elongated around them when Tyr pulled back on the levers, releasing them from real space.

As the mottled blue of hyperspace swirled outside the cockpit windows, Anya slipped back into Tyr's lap and put her lips so close to his ear he could feel them brush against his lobe as she spoke, "Now that all that unpleasantness is finished, we can get back to celebrating."

Several minutes later, she lead a willing Tyr back to her quarters and closed the door behind them.

544. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Trychon motioned for Haley to follow him back to the swoop bike, and she turned in that direction right as he did so. Trychon did a quick visual check of their vehicle as they approached, but couldn't see any damage from the surface.

"The starboard brake vent was jammed slightly on your last maneuver. I'd recommend against full speed stops until we can have that repaired." Haley commented as though she was merely ordering her standard meal at the local Tapcaf.

"Consider it duly noted." Trychon couldn't help but roll his eyes at her manerisms, even though he knew it was very good that she had warned him.

Haley either didn't sense his sarcasm, or didn't care as she sat down behind him without another word. Trychon guessed it was the former, but was glad either way, and shrugged it off as he started the engine and headed off.

Wanting to avoid any further mechanical issues, and with no lingering pressing need to hurry, Trychon kept the swoop at below maximum speed. After several minutes of leisurely navigating the dunes, he began to feel a growing sense of danger in the Force.

Moments later, as though she knew he was troubled, a slightly computerized version of Haley's voice came in Trychon's comm. "There's a small sandstorm coming in from the west. We have about twenty five standard minutes before the edge reaches us."

Trychon looked back at her as he listened, and saw that her she was indeed not actually talking. Another neat trick. He thought. "We should be able to make it alright." He spoke into his comm as he turned his eyes forward again, adding a bit more to their velocity to be safe.

The sense of warning persisted though, and grew slowly over the next minute or so. Then as they maneuvered trhough a long fairly tight gap, the light sense turned into immediate alarm.

In his head, he could see two immediate outcomes depending on how he reacted. Neither was good, but he had little choice.

He gripped fully down on the brakes and leaned slightly to his left. He braced himself and held Haley in the Force as they skidded off course and into a small sand dune. A sniper bolt zipped through their original course and gouged a hole in a stone several hundred meters in the distance as Trychon used the Force to throw himself and Haley from the bike. At nearly the same time, an explosion sounded from inside the engine of their bike.

Gathering himself, Trychon stared off in the direction the attack came from, but couldn't even catch a glint off the rifle the shot came from.

"At that angle, the origin was likely beyond that second large boulder there." Haley said, pointing at an outcropping nearly three quarters of a kilometer away. She stayed flat on her back, she dusted some of the sand off her body.

"More of those dumbass Raiders?" Trychon asked, looking where she indicated, and now seeing what he thought may have been a scope moving, though he couldn't be sure.

"Unlikely. This is Tusken territory. The smugglers could handle them, but they are more trouble than they are worth."

Trychon rolled over to the far side of the dune and Haley followed suit. As they crested the hill of sand, another blast just missed Trychon and sent sand flying over the both of them.

"Either way, we're not making it back to base on that piece now. Will we be able to find shelter in the Canyon?" Trychon asked Haley as she began to brush herself off again.

"Perhaps. The Canyon itself is barely safer than the dunes during a sandstorm. However, there is a chance we will find a cavern to wait it out. Preferably an uninhabited one."

"Preferably, yes." Trychon looked at the Canyon entrance he had been heading for. "I think I can get us to the Canyon ok, and it's too far for the Tusken to catch us on foot, which I hope they are."

Haley scooted further down the hill so she could stand. She looked down at the state of her outfit and sighed, brushing more sand off. "How do you plan to get us there? Blocking more of their shots with your sword?"

Trychon slid down next to her. "Possible. I think we'd be better of if I carried you and ran for it though."

She looked at him for a moment with some disbelief. "Whatever is quickest, I suppose."

543. Black Phoenix - Trychon

Trychon hopped off of the swoop, with a force boost to give him extra clearance to flip forward and land on his feet. He twisted in mid air, his back facing the fast approaching attack.

He yelled to ensure that Haley could hear him over the roar of the wind combined with the engine he'd left running in case she needed to get clear. "Get any shots off if you think you can, but stay behind my blade!"

He spun around, knowing he didn't have time for a response from her, but he could feel the apprehension she felt through the force. He thought that was odd, that he'd noticed she always had a very level emotional keel. The laser fire from the bounty hunters came in right on cue. He began to block the incoming blasts deftly, but they were coming too rapidly for him to redirect any back to their origin with purpose. He felt a few shots come from behind him as Haley attempted to take down one of the riders. He wondered if her ability to feel apprehension where most would feel fear came directly from having computers integrated with her somehow, or if it was instead an indirect result.

Trychon cursed as the two swoops swung wide around them. He was really hoping for one or both of them to swing in range of his thrumming lightsaber. They were probably trying to look for some kind of trap on the other side, he figured. As he watched them make their wide turns to make another approach, he estimated he had enough time to actually walk around to the other side rather than jump over, so he walked up to Haley.

"You ok?" He asked her, noticing for the first time that she had a small burnt hole in her outfit over her right arm, though it was not smoking as a recent blaster wound normally would.

"I am not going to be able to hit one of them with you constantly changing your position." Haley replied, sweeping a strand of her hair back behind her ear, mildly frustrated by the wind.

"Well, we'd be bantha meat if I stood still long enough for you to get a clean shot." He commented as he set himself up for the next run by the swoops.

"I figured you'd say that." She said, checking her levels on her blaster.

Trychon was about to tell her to keep trying, and maybe they'd get lucky... but he knew she was going to anyway. He watched as the swoops began to bear down on them and their lasers opened back up.

Fools. If they'd thought to split up and flank me, I'd have had some trouble. Here's hoping I don't give them time to learn that mistake.

He grinned as they got closer and closer. He felt as though they intended to make a close sweep this time, to get a point blank shot or even knock them over. He reached out as he blocked their bolts and tried to confirm their feelings that they should fly by as close as they could.

He let a few bolts fly by that were not any danger to him or to Haley and their swoop. He blocked several more shots, and the grin grew as they got closer and his knees bent in anticipation.

The swoops came closer and closer, and their shots became more meticulous as the distance closed, no longer taking wild shots and just hoping to score a hit. Their velocity also slowed as they got close, though they were still coming at an incredible speed.

Finally, the time was right and Trychon pounced. Rather, he jumped straight up and waited for the first goon to fly under him. As he did, Trychon swung his leg into his side, careful not to catch him from the front and be overwhelmed by the swoop's momentum.

Trychon was rewarded by immediately feeling the swoop begin to fly out of control. The impact was still enough to spin him around, but it with the Force, he was able to maintain control. It was only a fraction of a second before the second man was on him, but Trychon was already in position.

He landed softly and fell to his knees to absorb the shock, having cut the bounty hunter from shoulder to hip. He could hear the swoopbike crash into the ground. He turned to make sure neither had run into Haley and their vehicle. He saw instead just their two person swoop.

In the vast wilderness of Tatooine's desert, it didn't take long to find Haley's unique force signature. He ran toward one of the two pillars of smoke and dust that was just beyond where he'd set down moments before. As the dust settled and he got closer, he could see Haley walking towards what must be the wreckage of the first swoop rider. He had already passed the twitching and mangled legs from the second rider.

Haley stopped as Trychon got near. She raised her blaster, hesitated, and switched it to her left hand before putting two shots into the bounty hunter who was moaning at her feet.

542. Black Phoenix - Raezyr

Wait for it... wait for it... Raezyr thought to himself as he felt out through the Force, searching for the location of the other beings around him. He could sense Falka's calm steadfastness turning to panic. He could sense his pursuer's elation as they closed the distance between them.

"Hold on, and get ready to shoot as they cross in front of us," Raezyr ordered. He felt Falka nod, apparently forgetting that Raezyr couldn't see him. He could feel the Khommite refocusing.

Suddenly Raezyr activated the left hand brake, while jamming the right hand throttle up to full speed, sending the swoop bike into a flat spin. Instantly Falka began firing, using Raezyr's shoulder to steady his aim.

His second shot took the helmeted driver of the lead speeder in the face. The bounty hunter's head snapped back and then he slumped forward into the controls. The vehicle yawed to the right, clipping the back of the second speeder, sending it careening out of control past Falka and Raezyr.

Raezyr immediately brought the spin back under control and jammed the throttle up to full speed, once again making for Tracker Canyon and Deathshead Ridge.

Their second pursuer finally brought his vehicle under control and continued his pursuit, but Raezyr had gained the distance he needed to make it to the relative safety of the Canyon, and said as much to Falka.

"I don't see how the canyon is much better than here, not when we both have to slow down for the turns," Falka replied.

"I'm not slowing down," Raezyr said, and was met only with silence. He could feel the conflict of fear and trust raging on inside Falka.

Within minutes they entered the canyon, and true to his word, Raezyr ran the swoop at full throttle down between the narrow walls. The sensors on the bike soon became useless, but he could sense the mind of the bounty hunter falling farther and farther behind him.

For a time, Raezyr considered to pull to ambush the man hunting them down, but in the end decided it was best to just get back to the Black Phoenix headquarters and wait for Trychon to arrive.

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

Raezyr and Falka pulled into the large hangar at headquarters several hours later. He got off the bike and strode toward the exit to the main part of the base. As he reached the door he looked over at the head mechanic. "When Lord Trychon arrives, I want to be contacted immediately, do you understand?"

"Y-y-yes, m'lord," the man stammered.

Raezyr didn't acknowledge the reply but instead walked through the now open doors, Falka at his side. "I will be in my quarters. As I said, I want to be notified the instant we even hear from Trychon," he told the Captain of the Black Phoenix as the arrived at his quarters.

"Indeed," the alien replied before departing hastily.

Raezyr watched him go for a moment, then entered his room. He desperately needed to meditate, regenerate his strength. Being separated from his half-brother was bothering him more than he would have liked to admit.

A couple hours later, his brother's voice entered his mind. You okay?.........