595. The Heist - Raezyr

Mannix sat in the the cockpit of his small, one-man fighter and watched the timer tick down to zero and the launch of his small craft. It wasn't anything spectacular, or so he had been told, but it's what Taggart had trained him on, and it was all he knew. His instructor had also been pretty impressed at what he had already learned in such a short time. Impressed enough that Mannix was assigned to a fighter for this mission, rather than a crewman on board one of the bigger ships.

Suddenly the timer hit zero and the cargo bay doors aboard the Twilight Stalker opened. He watched and listened as Jester One, then Jester Two lauched and called out, signaling the next pair of fighters to launch. He had been assigned to be Jester Three's wing-man, and had been instructed to follow her lead during the mission. He jammed his accelerator forward and followed his wing out of the cargo bay. "Jester Four away," he called over the radio.

"Four, this is Three, follow me," came his wing-man's feminine voice over helmet speakers. She was a human female, new to the crew at Hoth, and Mannix had only met the new recruit once before. He tried, and failed to recall her name.

"As ordered," he called back. They quickly turned and sped away, forming up on Jester One. Their objective was to disable the shuttle before it could escape to hyperspace. The Stalker and the converted freighters would handle the looming Republic hammer-head.

He was surprised that he didn't feel more nervous, and tried to remember the last minute instructions that Raezyr and Trychon had given him. "Stretch out with your feelings. The Force can give you great insight into your opponents maneuvers. Trust your instincts."

The squadron leader's voice brought him back to the present. "Leader to squad, enemy two squadrons of fighters launching from the hammer-head. Two, Five and Six, you're on me. We have to disable that shuttle. The rest of you, keep those damn fighters off our backs."

They barely had time to acknowledge and the enemy came screaming among them, the two opposing waves flying through. Mannix watched his screen and when the reticule went red, he squeezed the trigger on his stick. Red darts of light burst out and struck the starboard foil of the onrushing fighter. He couldn't tell how much damage was done, if any.

Damage reports were already coming in. They were vastly out numbered as the Republic warship carried two full squadrons of fighters with it, twelve in each, while their own fighter force amounted to only ten... six since four were off trying to disable that shuttle. They were out numbered four to one. The Republic also had better and faster fighters. Faster than anything the young monk was used to, at least.

He followed his wing around in tight loop, rolling to port and instantly they were back in the thick of the fight. He lined up behind an enemy fighter and let go with his laser cannons. The fighter turned into a ball of fire and scrap.

For a brief moment, he was elated with the kill, but then he realized his father wouldn't have been so proud. Killing had been against everything his family and his community had stood for. But they were gone now. Gone because of the greed of one man. Brother Varth, or Vikon as Raezyr had later told him, had sabotaged and destroyed everyone he knew. If it hadn't been for the two Sith, he might have been dead as well. Rage filled his heart, and he used it as a tool as the two brothers had taught him to do.

Things seemed to slow around him and the situation became clear. The course of the enemy fighters seemed almost to be mapped out in his mind despite the lack of evidence anywhere else. He shot down three fighters in a row before losing his wing man.

In the back of his mind it registered, as well as the fact that the Jet Razor, or the "Mole" as was it's call sign on this mission, had acquired and boarded it's target craft. All he needed to do was last a bit longer and the mission was a success.

His fighter squadron, which had begun ten strong, was had now dwindled down to just Jester Leader and himself, while the enemy still had eight fighters... still four to one odds.

The squadron leader's voice crackled over the radio, "Jester Four, this is Jester Leader."

"Jester Four here," Mannix replied.

"Five, Six and Two are gone. It's you and me kid. Form up on me over here by Mole and the shuttle. They say they need five more minutes. We'll give them all we can," came his leader's voice.

"As ordered."

He banked and altered course, punching the accelerator as high as it would go. He had to break two separate missile locks just getting there.

"Hurry, kid, I've got one on my tail and I can't shake 'em!"

Mannix tried to get behind the craft pursuing Jester Leader, and it banked into a screwdriver roll, but not before letting loose with two proton torpedoes. He watched as the blue streaks homed in and obliterated Jester Leader's craft.

And he was alone.

He wished he could line up some of the other fighters in his sights, but it was all he could do to keep the remaining fighters from forming an attack run on Mole.

Suddenly, he heard a tone indicating another missile lock on his fighter. Mannix had just enough time to notice that it was the same craft which had just shot down Jester Leader. He quickly banked left and pulled back on the stick, climbing into a loop to try and get behind his pursuer, and although he broke the lock, he couldn't shake the fighter on his tail.

He tried several more maneuvers, but whomever it was dogging him was relentless. Three times his attacker gained missile lock and each time the monk broke the lock easily by banking hard left and either rolling, diving or pulling into a loop.

But each time the hunter stayed on his tail, almost as if they knew what he was doing before he did it. Once again the missile lock sounded, and the young fighter pilot banked left, but this time he banked directly into a heavy barrage of laser fire from his dogged pursuer.

Mannix entire world went black.

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

He slammed his fist into the dash panel of the fighter as the canopy slowly lifted open with a pop and a hiss, making the young pilots ears pop at the difference in air pressure. He pulled the helmet from his head and shut off all the ships systems. Raezyr had said they were going to score that simulator mission just for fun, and he wondered exactly how he would do.

He sighed and climbed out of his ship, looking around the crowded hangar at the Hoth base. There was only one other just climbing out a fighter that had been setup for simulator missions. "Raez?" Mannix shouted and trotted across the hangar to where the Sith was just hitting the ground. "Was that you in the enemy fighter?" the kid asked.

Raezyr pulled his helmet off and grinned. "Yeah, that was me. You have to stop banking to the left every time you want to break missile lock." He clapped the kid on the shoulder. "You did well, you let the Force guide your actions, but be mindful that your own reactions don't become repetitive. "

"I thought I was changing it up every time," Mannix said.

"Close, but your first move was to bank left and then you varied your actions. After the second time, I could have had you a sooner, but thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt," Raezyr told him. "It's the same way in light saber combat, but that will come later."

"A light saber? Really?" Mannix asked, excited and nervous about the prospect at the same time.

Raezyr gave a reproachful look. "Much later," he said, emphasizing the 'much.' "For now, get back over to your ship and give the mechanics some feed back. Let them know how you want it tweaked. We'll be leaving tomorrow, so things need to be finished up." He gave the young kid a playful push in the direction toward his fighter, and the monk began to trot off.

"Mannix," the Sith called to him.

"Yeah?"

"You did alright, kid."

594. The Heist - Trychon

Raezyr and Trychon leaned against the back wall of the briefing room while Dianna went over all the main details with her crew. The cafeteria converts nicely into a meeting space. Trychon thought to himself. They may always be looking for the cheaper way to handle most things, but it's still handled very professionally.

The three of them had gone over the plan with her countless times the night before so that she would be able to direct the briefing and answer questions, not to mention be able to execute the command of a large portion of it. She reminded them several times how it was still her crew and half her mission, even if Trychon was the one to bring it to her. She was recruiting more help and buying equipment to make this possible. The split of the profit was going to be even, which was fair enough, they'd all decided.

Dianna was just going over the most surprising part of the mission, and she didn't wait for the buzz in the room to quiet down before she continued. "Yes, it's true. The cargo we are going after is a pure aurodium deposit. While most people think of the galactic economy as a bunch of ones and zeroes, planetary systems do balance and secure their currency with the good stuff to some extent. There's all sorts of myths and stories about how that's done. I'm not sure how many of them are true, probably some of them and maybe all of them. What we do know is that this is happening. On a planetary scale, this deposit is rather small... probably a supplementary deposit or something. It doesn't matter. For us, it's not a small fortune. It's a huge one."

Raezyr toned out the scuffling and talking and felt the emotions pouring out through the room. He didn't need to listen to Dianna's presentation, as she'd rehearsed most of it in her sleep the night before. The emotions in the room were varying from disbelief and excitement to surprise and apprehension. He zeroed in on Mannix, whose thoughts were nearly an open book. The boy was excited, and very much so. There was a bit of fear mingled in, but it seemed to be more out of a desire not to let anyone down than anything else. Looking deeper at the boy, he was able to get some general thoughts from the past month or so. While the child was very shut down when he was left here, when he decided to accept his new life he flung himself forward into it with reckless abandon.

Dianna was taking final questions and Raezyr turned to watch her; he loved watching her from behind. She was handling the questions well and it was all the expected questions. They were being yelled out without any order though before she could answer them.

'Why don't they protect it better? One cruiser and only for part of the trip?'
'Why don't we split the haul into each of our ships to be less conspicuous?'
'So we're going to move it on one shuttle too? Isn't that... a LOT of risk?'

She peppered answers back at them without much pause. "Secrecy and disguise can work better in protecting valuables. This is an unthinkable fortune to us, but they likely get much larger. How big of a convoy would you send to protect the sort of wealth that planets war over?"

"No good. We have to move it in the shuttle. The other reason they use this particular model is that it's autoloaded. Getting to the cargo without being at a properly equipped dock would take forever. That's why Raezyr will hit the cockpit with incendiary plasma ammo after we've got the shields low. The insertion team then just has to patch the hole and rely on secrecy to keep them safe as it would have for their predecessors."

"Yes. It is a lot of pressure and risk to be putting on one shuttle. There's a reason they do it this way though. A larger more equipped cargo ship will grab attention. A small cargo ship with a large escort convoy will grab attention. We're not exactly going to be taking this into a core system. A lot of the places we can take this are crawling with the sorts of ships that wait for an hour or a day at the edge of a system before they jump... just to see if anything catches their eye. It's a huge risk... but we have no choice."

Raezyr nodded. Exactly as they'd gone over it. It turned out thought that she wasn't done. "That's why I'll be leading the insertion team and will be in command of the shuttle."

He shot a glare at his older brother, who didn't blink. The room was immediately in an uproar. Zanz had jumped out of his seat. The argument that followed was rather heated, mainly between first officer and commander, but with most of the room putting in their two creds at some point or another.

It was just then that Tyr and Anya walked in. Trychon could feel their irritation that the meeting wasn't stalled for them, but when they saw the argument in progress, they wisely decided against saying something. The look that they got from Raezyr may have played a part as well.

Zanz was very nearly in her face. Almost as if he wanted it to be a private conversation, but couldn't help the surroundings or the volume of his voice. "This is just like Ketor-3, Dianna! You told me that I made my decision and I had to put my trust in our men to do the job. I wanted to lead that team, and you told me that not only was it not my place... but my value to the organization was as a leader. Does this seem at all familiar?"

"This is not the same as Ketor!" Dianna got closer to him. "Yes, you sent those men in with a risk... but it was not mission critical. Everything rides on this, and the danger is mine to take. Not anybody else's. I accepted this risk for us all, and I deserve to shoulder it!"

Ultimately, it was Dengar's cool head that put in the final argument which sealed Dianna's loss in the debate. "You cannot command a mission from an insertion team. You have to put your best men in place to do their jobs, and we'll need you running the command of the group as a whole. With myself to oversee insertion, Taggart to fly, and Zanz for command decisions, there is nothing you could add beyond self sacrifice."

Dianna sighed. "I can't ask anyone else to take this risk."

Zanz held up his hand as though to signal the discussion was over. "You're not asking anyone to. You have to do what is best for the mission though."

Dianna hung her head admitting defeat, and Zanz signaled the end of the meeting, and everyone filed out towards their respective ships. Time was of the essence now. Normally a mission briefing would happen much sooner before launch, but in this case they were forced to cut it close.

Raezyr clapped his brother on the back. "Have you made all the necessary preparations for what comes next?"

"Let's go."

593. Sith Hunt Part Two - Trychon

"It worked!" The tech cried out from his station. Normally, such an outburst would be cause for a reprimand maybe even to go in his file, but in this instance everyone on the bridge was feeling the same thing.

Captain Moklam was already over the tech's shoulder at the data, not that he understood any of it. He grinned. "Can I get a status, please?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir. Monitoring the static burst and decoding it has shown that it now has us jumping half a system from where we were. With a bit of pre-planning, we could even make it seem as though we were jumping in from an entirely different direction."

"Good. Work on that, and make sure you have it figured out properly." The Captain patted the young tech on the back. "And you're positive that the previous test showed no 'burst' at all?"

"None, sir." The man beamed at his superior.

"Perfect. We now have them where..." The captain trailed off as he watched his Jedi envoy of two walk onto the bridge. He turned to address them. "Ah... excellent timing. I was just saying that while I'm not sure how he did it, but that geek civilian managed to crack our problem and turn it into a tool. We now have the outlaws where we want them. I know you are planning to strike out on your own for a bit, but you'll be more than welcome to join us after our... other mission. I know I haven't always been the most gracious host, but I have you two to thank for this turn of events as well."

The tall Chiss male nodded in response to the gratitude. "It is actually your mission that has caused us to come and speak with you."

"I can't give you any details on the mission. I've told you that."

"Yes, we know dis." The Nataulan said. "Howeva, Val has reminded me that we must follow da will of da Force. Even when it is suggesting patience."

"Especially when it preaches patience." Val reminded her. "In all honesty Captain, I've been getting the vague feeling that we should go with you. The fact that we have no other leads as of yet regarding our Sith counterparts merely reinforces that feeling. I think we may be most helpful with you."

The Captain made his way back to his chair at the center of the room. "Well, as I said you are welcome here. The mission we're headed on though is of vital importance, and as with the majority of the Fleet's vital duties it will be boring, routine, and have little need for the Jedi. No offense. We'll be going back after your friends shortly thereafter. You can spend that time with us or out on your own. It doesn't really matter much to me."

Nal did her best to ignore the subtle shot at the Jedi's usefulness. "Tank you, Captain. We do tink that we will stay wit you."

"Whatever you think is best, Jedi. Now, if you'll excuse me I do need to get back to preparations."

The Jedi both gave the Captain courteous nods and headed back to the gravlift as the Republic officer got to work.

"Actually," Moklam called out to them casually "You may want to see this." He tapped a few buttons on his console and the holo-image that was on his screen popped out for the whole crew to see. "This just came in from Corellia. It was flagged due to the possible unauthorized involvement of lightsabers in a security training exercise."

The clip turned out to be less than a minute long in all, not including some time and data clipped at the end. The 'possible unauthorized involvement' of lightsabers in a 'security training exercise' turned out to be two cloaked men in an alley throwing what were very obviously three lightsabers at a large security vehicle, annihilating it. It was undoubtedly labeled a training exercise error to cover up their embarrassment.

The silence was broken by the Captain. "Probably a poor choice of words on their part." Referring needlessly to the Corellian Security's insistence that the men toss their weapons.

"Captain, we must go to Corellia." Nal insisted. "Dat's dem. Dere is no doubt."

"Yes, you probably should. It looks like your Force didn't require you to be patient for too long. We will join you after our mission. Not until then though."

The young Jedi fought her urge to argue the point, knowing that the Republic cruiser would be better suited to taking down the Sith than off on some routine run. Val spoke for her. "We understand of course. This is not something we can ignore, however."

The small group exchanged well wishes and goodbyes right there on the command deck, and the Jedi headed off.

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

As they prepared their ships to take off from The Unity, Val had to remind Nal for the third time to slow down and be thorough.

"Jedi Talla... this battle will not be won or lost in a matter of standard time units. Take the time to be properly prepared." He chided her for skipping a step in her examination of their crafts.

"Even you don't know dat for sure. We have no idea where dey may be, or how much time we have." She shot back, clearly irritated as she went back to check the fuselage again.

The Chiss closed up his diagnostic. "True, I cannot sense things in such a distinct manner. However, I do know that if we do not arrive there safely we will not be of much use to the Corellians at all."

Nal did her last check. "I know you are right. It's just dat we must catch dem and dis could be our best shot. Patience nearly caught us in a routine mission for da Republic where we would have been of no help when we need to be hunting dose evil men. If dat report had come in any later, dat's exactly what would have happened."

"The will of the Force will give us justice."

"Da will of the Force just allowed da deaths of more innocents. It's time for da instruments of da Force to stop dis insanity once and for all."

With her final words, the Jedi turned for the hatch of her ship and boarded. She was not going to miss her chance.

Her companion followed suit. While he had done everything he could to mitigate her haste, Val couldn't help but feel as though he was forgetting something. As though he was leaving something very important behind, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

592. The Heist - Raezyr

The Twilight Stalker made it safely out of the atmosphere and well away from the planet. They wondered for a while if they were going to be held up or questioned, but neither happened.

Once they were clear of the system, they entered the coordinates for Hoth and made the jump to light speed. They had given orders to their men on board the Jet Razor to hold up just outside the Hoth system and await their arrival before approaching the King's Lair as no one on Dianna's crew would recognize their voices although they should have the correct passcodes and were flying a craft with which the pirates were familiar.

Trychon sat down across from Raezyr in the galley and they opened their ales. Schyrt and Reed were proving to be quite reliable and had done an excellent job of stocking up on good ale and real Corellian brandy.

"First things first," Trychon began after taking that first long, delicious pull from his mug. "When we lifted off from Talus, did you send that communique to Di? The one with all the instructions for this job and the list of equipment she'll need?"

"Yes, but Trych..." Raezyr began, a skeptical look on his face.

"Raez..." the older brother interrupted. "If you tell me one more time that you have a bad feeling about this, I'm going to zap you like I did that henchman," Trychon said grinning.

"Yeah," the other Sith replied. "About that: when were you going to tell me about that? Daxon Var sure as hell didn't teach you that. We've been practicing that forever now, and nothing."

A sheepish look crept over Trychon's face. "Sorry, little bro. I'd been meaning to tell you that I cracked a new holocron. I promise I'll teach you whatever I learn from it. I hadn't had a chance to practice that 'lightning' thing yet so I didn't even know if it'd work, or if what that thing was teaching me was valid," the older Sith explained. "I didn't see the point in getting hopes up if it proved to be no big deal, like Daxon Var has turned out to be."

"Alright, just don't hold out on me," Raezyr grumbled and his brother nodded.

"You know, it's not like Var wasn't useful. He progressed us a long way in our meditation and other things, preparing us for the things we are learning now. He just was never very truthful about his real status as a Sith," the big man said.

"I suppose," Raezyr's brother agreed. "Speaking of 'status as a Sith,' we need to find out what the hell Tyr and Anya were thinking, ditching us like that."

The two got up and moved to the communications room on board the Stalker. A hypercomm holo signal cost quite a bit, and was usually avoided at all cost, but the two warriors wanted to see the look on their counterparts faces and not give them time to come up with an excuse.

Raezyr moved toward the holo-pad, but his half-brother put a hand on his arm. "Raez, let me. If I know you, you'll blow up and make them defensive. Not that they don't deserve a good tongue lashing, but we want to keep this calm and see what they come up with."

Raezyr hesitated for a moment then exhaled. "Very well," he said. He really wanted to lay into those two, but he also knew his brother was right. He took a seat at the communications controls and entered the appropriate codes for the direct link via the holo-net. He signaled Trychon that he was ready.

The older sibling stepped up on the holo-pad and crossed his arms as the pad lit up beneath him. In moments a holo-image of Anya's head and shoulders appeared in front of him. Her shoulders were bare, and her hair tousled as if she had been in bed, although she appeared anything but sleepy. Trychon's thoughts flashed briefly back to a night on Korriban which seemed ages ago.

"Oh, uh, Trych," the female Sith said, a surprised look on her face. Trychon, snapping back to the present, knew she was seeing a full life-sized image of himself, and he hoped he looked anything but pleased.

"Do you care to explain?" Trychon said calmly, but coolly.

The surprised look was gone instantly on the woman's face, replaced by one of relief. "Oh, Trych! I'm so glad you're safe! On the way back to the ship we heard the alerts for Corellian Security and thought for sure they were going to catch you! However did you get away? Wait a second, let me go get Tyr." The holo image blacked out.

Nicely played, Anya the Sith warrior thought to himself. She had not only avoided answering the question but had now changed the topic. He decided to let it go and see where the conversation went.

He also knew that she didn't need to 'go get Tyr.' Three times her eyes had strayed to the side where someone else must have been standing in the room with her. When she returned to the screen, she had pulled a halter top on and Tyr was with her as well. The image had zoomed out enough to show both of them from the waist up.

"Good to see you, Trych ol' buddy," Tyr grinned. "Did Darth Grouchy make it out as well?"

Trychon's eyes flicked to his brother sitting at the console. He noted that Raezyr's jaw was clenched and was thankful he stayed seated, despite grinning to himself inwardly. He knew his brother was probably close to boiling over. "Yes, Raez made it as well. He's sitting here as well."

"Oh," Tyr said and laughed good-naturedly. "Hiya, Raez!" he called and Anya chimed in her greetings as well.

Trychon looked over at the Sith at the comm station. He didn't look up from operating the panel, but only made a hand gesture toward the holo-images, clearly not feeling the same good-nature as the other two were portraying. "Raez sends his greetings as well," Trychon stated, disregarding the true nature of the gesture.

"We were able to give CorSec the slip and make it back in one piece, although we did get some help from an unexpected source, but what I really need to know is what happened with you two," Trychon asked.

The images of Tyr and Anya glanced at each other for a moment before Tyr spoke. "I decided that in the event you were caught, it would be best if we were off-planet and that we shouldn't have any interaction with your ships or your crewmen. That way, we'd be able to come back with a team from the King's Lair and mount a rescue for you two."

"And if we had made it back and needed a quick take-off?"

"It was a risk, yes, but Anya pointed out that it was imperative that someone get cleanly away," Tyr explained. Trychon noted a glimmer of irritation cross Anya's face. It was so quick he wasn't sure whether he had imagined it or not.

"Well, I knew there was a good explanation," Trychon said, smiling. "Don't drink all the ale at the King's Lair before we get there!"

"Oh, you'll beat us back there," Tyr returned. "We're on our way to pick up the Wasted Rancor first. We left it in an uninhabited system in the Endoku Sector and well have to do a bit of doubling back, so don't YOU drink all the ale before we get there!"

Trychon smiled, noting Tyr's slip up. "May the Force serve you," he said and Raezyr cut the transmission.

The younger Sith stood up and looked at his brother. "What are you smiling about?" he asked. "You let them off completely scott free!"

"It would seem that way, and it's what I'd like them to think," the older sibling explained. "They said they were planning on getting help for a rescue mission, but they had no such intentions."

"I know that," Raezyr said, "but how do you know for sure?"

"They're already on their way to pick up their other ship. If they really were planning on a rescue attempt, they know time was of the essence. They'd have to get help and get back before we were turned over to the Jedi," Trychon explained. "Stopping to get the Rancor tells us they had no concern about rescue."

"Those slimy Hutts were just going to leave us to rot, weren't they? I swear, when we see them again, I'm going to..."

Trychon interrupted. "We need them, brother. Just wait for now. We know they're up to something, but let's not tip our hand yet. Let's wait and watch closely. If we're patient and observant, we'll figure out what exactly they're up to."

He paused for a moment then added, "They are also sleeping together."

The younger Sith forgot his rage for a moment, replaced with surprise. "How in the name of the Sith do you figure that?"

Trychon thought, wondering how he was going to answer that when a beeping noise sounded from the data pad at his waist, saving him. He pulled it out and punched a few buttons. "Interesting."

"What is it?" the younger brother inquired.

"Some glorified data-mucker has been messing with my program," commented irritably.

"Is that bad?"

The older Sith looked over and shrugged. "At this point, it's of no consequence at all."

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

The Sith warriors left their droid in charge on the small bridge of the ship for the next few days. There wasn't much to do there besides monitor the sensors and make minor course corrections over the three legs of the journey to the outer-most edges of the Galaxy.

The warriors themselves spent the time either in meditation and training either with their holocronistic Sith teachers or showing each other the techniques they were learning from their new mentors.

Trychon, was slowly but surely picking up the skills needed to wield his new double-bladed lightsaber and was excited to try it in combat. "You're still not quite ready," Raezyr told him near the end of their trip. He then ducked under his older brother's attack and came up with the pommel of his own lightsaber, stopping it just short of connecting with Trychon's chin. "You are close though," the younger of the two said with a grin.

The ship ended it's final hyperspace run on the outskirts of the Hoth system. After rendezvousing with their crewmen on the Jet Razor and giving them the final coordinates to the King's Lair, the two ships completed their journey, landing in the large hangar bay on the ice and snow covered planet of Hoth.

"Raez! Trych!" called a familiar voice as they disembarked their starship. They looked up to see Mannix running across the hangar bay, waving his hands excitedly. For a boy who was the only survivor of his reclusive colony, he looked as if he was adapting well.

"Guys, Taggart has been teaching me to pilot speeders and we've already moved on to the small fighters! He says I'm already as good as any of their other pilots here!" Mannix blurted out with a grin.

"Nice to see you, too, Mannix," Trychon laughed.

"We'll get you in a simulator and see just how good you are against a real pilot," Raezyr added jokingly. His older brother had worked up some simulator programs based on their up coming mission parameters and they planned on having all of the Kingsmen run through so they'd be better prepared.

"I can't wait," Mannix replied.

"Neither can I, Sith," a feminine voice added from behind them. Raezyr had sensed Dianna's approach and turned around, sweeping the red-headed pirate queen in his arms.

"Let's get down to business, then," the big Sith said, grinning.

"I spent hours in a Corellian sewer, yet now I'm nauseated," the older Sith said making a sour face.

"Shut up, Trych," Dianna and Raezyr replied in unison.

591. The Heist - Raezyr

They opened the hatch and crawled out of access tube into what appeared to be a small maintenance room inside the starport belonging to the Corellian Engineering Corporation, or CEC as it was commonly known. Peeking into the corridor, they saw the normal foot and gravsled traffic of routine business in the large concourse, but no evidence of heightened security procedures.

Raezyr re-established his Force enabled "disguise," and his older brother pulled up his cowl, hiding his face in it's deep recesses, and the two made their way to the starship maintenance offices. They quickly ensured their 'tune-ups' had been paid for and, after receiving proper clearances, made their way to the ships.

When they arrived, they expected to find them ready to go, with pre-flight checks done and engines warmed up. They were surprised to find the Nefarion Wraith not in it's berth any longer.

Aitchkay was waiting at the entrance to the Jet Razor as they approached. "Query:" the assassin slash protocol droid began, "why were you not with the others?"

"Query:" Trychon responded, a bit annoyed at finding the ships unready for departure, "why are the Stalker and the Razor not prepped for take off?"

Reed heard the voices outside and walked down the loading ramp. "My Lords, we were unaware that the ships were to be made ready. Schyrt and I will see to it at once."

Raezyr spoke up. "What do you mean, 'you were unaware?' Didn't Anya and Tyr tell you to get the ships ready?"

"No, sir," the underling replied. "We noticed your fellow Sith quickly approach and load up and take off in their ship about a standard hour and a half ago. We tried to comm them to see if they had any orders for us, but they never replied."

The Sith brothers glanced at each other, before Trychon spoke again. "Very well. Get the ships ready for take off as soon as possible. Reed, take Schyrt and the Razor and meet us at these coordinates." He handed the man a small data card. "Huck, you're with us on the Stalker."

"Yes, master," the droid and human replied in unison.

The two Sith warriors turned and began walking toward the Twilight Stalker.

"I told you something was fishy with them," Raezyr said to his older brother quietly enough not to be heard by the gun-metal gray droid following a few paces behind.

"You may be correct indeed, but let's hold our sabaac cards close and see how this plays out," Trychon replied. "We'll only tell them what they absolutely need to know, and otherwise give them room to either crash or prove us wrong."

590. The Heist - Trychon/Raezyr

Lexa watched as her quarry took off down the street. She followed them from a distance, relying on the fact that she would be able to smell them if she lost visual sight of them. If she got too close, she knew they would probably be able to 'sense' her with their annoying Force skills. Also, should Correllian Security show up too quickly, she'd be able to act like an innocent bystander if she wasn't right on their tail.

She closed in a bit when they came to a dead end. She could hear them talking from 100 meters away or so around the corner, but she couldn't make out what they were saying.

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

It didn't take them long to run out of room at their Force enhanced pace. Raezyr cursed. "We're gonna have to cut our way through here."

"Good plan, Darth Obvious." Trychon looked around for a second, until he found what he needed. "In fact you go ahead and do that, we should have just enough time for you to cut two or three holes. Put some stuff in the way as you come back, and cover the holes up. That should make it seem like we're trying to get away and don't want to be followed."

The younger Sith didn't hide his irritation as he growled back. "We ARE trying to get away and we DON'T want to be followed."

"Raez, stop. You're making it too easy." His brother called back to him as he waved off the comment with his hand. "We are going to get away. We're just going to do it without leading them straight back with us. We're going to use the maintenance tunnels, which have a handy little entrance right over there." He nodded in the direction he was looking. The two of them made quick work of creating their false trail, noticeable but not too much so.

They climbed into the maintenance hatch and looked around. The tunnel they found themselves in was completely nondescript, and after heading off through them for a bit they stopped. Trychon pulled out his datapad and whispered a few choice words under his breath about making sure to download city plans in the future before they crawl underground. They had a quick discussion, and ultimately continued in the same direction, hoping Raezyr's instinct was correct.

They continued on for many twists and turns before they both stopped simultaneously. Trychon nodded at his brother. I feel it too. He went back around a few corners to a panel they'd recently passed. Some quick fiddling with that as well as his datapad, and the ventilation fans began kicking on and off in random succession.

They headed off on their way again and felt like they had to be getting near to where they needed to be. Then they passed a ventilation control panel that looked extremely familiar, as did the markings where Trychon had dusted it off. "Sithspit!" He yelled as he looked at his own handiwork.

"You know boys... I usually like to know my quarry a little better before I capture them... how about you give me your names?" A voice carried over them as though it came from all direction like and omnipresent temptress. "The acoustics in here make it impossible to follow sounds, and you've successfully thrown off your scent... I figure we may as well become acquainted."

"Oh, absolutely." Raezyr mimicked one of his brother's smiles. "I'm Darth Obvious, and this here is Darth Comedian."

Lexa Teal chuckled. "Very funny boys, but have it your way. I'll still collect Jama's bounty eventually." She paused for a moment before continuing. "I was lucky back on Tatooine. A Corellian corvette made a fly-by just after I had taken off after you and your friends. It nearly wiped out Jama's entire complex, but I suppose you wouldn't know anything about that, now would you?"

"Would it matter if we did?" Raezyr asked, stalling for time while Trychon tried to find any information that might help on his data pad.

"Let me ask you this," Raezyr replied. "I know Zeltron's have the ability to detect pheromones, but how did you recognize us? How did you know it was us under our disguise?"

The huntress didn't answer for a minute, and the two Sith assumed she was debating her answer. Finally she spoke. "For our race as a whole, that wouldn't have been possible, but I was born with a... birth defect, if you will. I can not only detect, a pheromone, but my sense is more highly developed and I can pinpoint individuals. I've found it particularly handy in my profession. As you found out, my quarry can't hide by simply wearing a mask."

We're completely lost, Raez. Trychon thought to his brother, tucking his data pad back in his belt.

Raezyr cursed aloud.

"You boys just figuring out that you're completely lost down here?" She waited for a moment. "I'll take your answer as a 'yes.'

"Tell you what: Why don't we call a truce, and I'll show you how to get back to the spaceport before CorSec figures out you didn't tunnel your way into that other building," she offered.

"Right," Trychon said, rolling his eyes. "And would you like us to stab each other for you too?"

"I'm serious."

"Why would you help us?" Raezyr asked, confused by her motives as well.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm going to collect on you, but think about it this way: If you're caught by Corellian Security, they're going to turn you over to the Jedi at a minimum. If that happens, how do I collect the Hutt's bounty?" she answered.

"The Republic has a bounty on us as well. You'll just turn us in to CorSec," Trychon stated.

"I couldn't even refuel my ship on what the Republic is paying," Lexa Teal replied. "No, if I'm going to collect, it's going to be from Jama. I give you my word of honor, I'll show you the way out... no tricks."

Raezyr looked at Trychon. They both knew they were lost down here. Trychon shrugged as if to say, "What else do we have to lose?"

"Alright," Raezyr called. "Where's the exit?"

They heard her footsteps on the damp duracrete floor, but were unable to determine where they were coming from. Finally, they found her using the Force just moments before she stepped around a corner.

"This way, fellas," the bounty huntress called, grinning.

Both of the Sith kept a close eye on the Zeltron, but she was true to her word. Thirty minutes later, they stood at the bottom of an access tube. Durasteel rungs stuck out from the duracrete and lead up the tube to an access hatch.

"That hatch should open up into a maintenance room inside the spaceport," Lexa informed them. "Catch you on the other side of the moon... literally." She grinned again, and for a moment, both Sith felt as if they should kiss her.

Raezyr shook his head clear of the pheromones he was sure she was purposely emitting. "Knock it off," he said irritably. He grabbed the rungs and began to climb.

"It was worth a try," she said shrugging.

"You'll have to excuse Darth Obvious. He's afraid of girls," Trychon said with a grin.

"Shut up, Trych!" came Raezyr's voice from near the top of the access tube.

"No names, damn it!" Trychon yelled up the tube. He turned to look at the bounty hunter, but she was gone.

589. The Heist - Raezyr

Lexa Teal's blade came instantly back into line after Raezyr batted it aside. "Over? Why, my little Sith friends, I think we're just getting started," she said, her eyes reflecting sheer joy of anticipation.

Trychon suddenly threw his hand out, releasing Dark Side energy in the form of electricity, but the Zeltron bounty hunter dropped to the ground and rolled to the side. The Sith's blast struck one of the bounty hunters behind her, throwing him backward through the air.

Screams rang out from the crowd. Initially they had been eager to see a battle, maybe see some blood spilled, but they scattered and ran in terror when it became apparent their own lives might be in danger.

Raezyr drank in the terror, let it fuel the Dark Side energies swelling within him. He spun to the side, slicing two of her companions and evening the odds just a bit more.

Lexa Teal rolled to her feet lunging toward the Trychon who deftly blocked her strike and spun away, taking down another of her companions as he did. He tossed his ill-fitting helmet to the ground and readied himself to defend another attack.

The last two goons accompanying the beautiful bounty hunter closed on Raezyr, having drawn swords of their own. The big Sith focused all his attention on his atttackers. Somewhere in the back of his mind, it occurred to him that his scar must be showing once again, but he had more important things to worry about.

Raezyr met the goons' attacks, blocking each of their blows as they pressed him. He gave up ground, but only to reposition himself for his own attacks. As soon as the opportunity presented itself he struck, diving forward between the two mercenaries and cutting them both in two. He rolled to his feet ready to coordinate with his brother.

The Zeltron, seeing her back up dropping like flies, had launched a flurry of attacks backing up Trychon with her unexpected fury. He had been looking forward to igniting both ends of his dual-bladed lightsaber, but this bounty hunter was much better than he expected. Using his better judgement, he stuck with what was most familiar and only used the one end of his unique weapon.

The bounty hunter must have smelled Raezyr come up behind her, because she broke off her attacks and spun to the side, keeping herself from being flanked. "You boys are good," she grinned. "Most of the people I hunt are dead within moments after I engage them."

She glanced at Raezyr and notice his scar. "Well, aren't you the pretty one? How'd you hide that ghastly beauty mark?" she asked, grinning sadistically.

The taunt was too much for the younger Sith and he attacked, rage twisting his visage into a mask of it's own.

Attack was what she had wanted him to do, but the savagery and intensity was more than she or even Trychon expected. Even though she blocked each of his blows, their force was driving her petite frame back too quickly for her to recover.

Trychon moved quickly, trying to get around and behind her to take advantage of the situation, but she was backing toward an ally and the older Sith was unable to get by. Suddenly saw a better option. He reached his hand out and a small crate flew away from a building wall and into the back of the bounty hunter's legs. Lexa Teal spilled backward to the ground, yet somehow managed to maintain her grip on her sword.

A siren pierced the air behind them and a voice boomed over a loud speaker as a CorSec speeder came to a halt thirty meters away. "Halt! Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air. Do it now!"

Raezyr and Trychon froze and Lexa Teal looked up at the two of them. "We'll finish this another time, my Sith darlings." With that, she rolled to her feet and sprinted down the ally.

The brothers watched her go, then slowly turned to face their new adversaries. "I said drop the weapons. Toss them over here!" called the voice over the loud speaker.

"Alright," Trychon called out. He gave Raezyr a sidelong glance to make sure his brother was thinking along the same lines. The grin he saw told him he was. "Just remember you asked us to do that."

The two Sith suddenly tossed their still ignited lightsabers side-arm. End over end the blades spun through the air, guided through the Force by the Dark Side users and slicing through the engine and repulsor lifts of the CorSec speeder. The vehicle exploded as the brothers called the weapons safely back to their hands.

"We better get out of here, and quickly. More Corellian Security will be here soon," Raezyr commented and began trotting down the street.

"What makes you say that?" Trychon said, following his brother's lead.

588. The Heist - Trychon

Anya met up with the other Sith at their booth, sitting next to Tyr and ordering herself a strong local whiskey. Trychon seemed to think that was also a decent idea, and ordered himself a whiskey as well.

Tyr laughed. "Trych, if there's something that looks odder than a man sipping ale through a straw and a helmet, it's a man sipping shots through a straw and a helmet."

Trychon mumbled something about not caring. Without any prodding necessary, Anya quietly went into some detail about her vengeance. She was still near shaking from the mixture of excitement and absolute anger. More than anything else, she was furious about the 'lame excuses'. The others picked up on some mild doubt when she continually said it, but they all agreed she did a good job and they needed to be on their way. Trychon was the most emphatic.

They walked as a group through the streets, pointing and gawking at the various neon signs intent on looking like a bunch of tourists. Even as late as it was, the sky had no visible stars due to the massive amounts of lighting as they passed through the entertainment district.

Something on the other side of the street seemed to catch Raezyr's attention. Before they realized it, all four were crossing over to investigate what seemed to be an unusually large crowd. As they neared, they saw a pink skinned alien clearing her way through the crowd, with the help of what looked like paid muscle.

"Hey, I think I know her!" Raezyr told the others, louder than necessary as he picked up his pace to close the distance.

Recognition dawned on Trychon as well as he remembered why they recognized the Zeltron. He turned back to Tyr quickly as he kept up with Raezyr. Get to the ship and start prepping for take off. We may need to make a hasty exit. Tyr looked at him disappointed, but Anya seemed to catch her wits slightly quicker. She grabbed him by the arm and headed off at a run towards the docking bay.

Trychon caught up to his brother, who seemed to be in a near daze. "Raez... we don't know this woman."

"Don't be silly, Trych. I know I have to figure this out." Raezyr continued on his course.

RAEZYR! We DO NOT know this woman!

The mental thought came with images from their trip inside the base of Jama the Hutt... the last time they nearly fell to Lexa's pheromones. It was enough to get his attention, and he stopped in his tracks.

"You are right, of course. Let's get on our way."

The alien was already turning to face them though, and with a look on her face as though she was smelling for something. She made eye contact with Raezyr. "I know you."

He shook his head thoroughly. "Nope. Not possible... I was just informed."

Trychon hit him in the shoulder.

"Yes, I remember you both. You know, Jama put a rather large bounty on your heads. I could retire if I brought you in. Not that I would, mind you."

Trychon began to pull Raezyr to turn and leave as he denied it. "No, see... we've never been to Tatooine."

Raezyr punched him in the arm. Lexa pulled out a rather large sword and pointed it at Trychon. "I never mentioned Tatooine."

Raezyr instantly had his lightsabers out and was batting away the business end of Lexa's weapon. "I think this little chat is over."

Trychon ignited the black end of his blade. "Shame, too... it was going so well.

587. The Heist - Trychon

Tyr caught up to Trychon and Raezyr in their booth right around the time that three drinks were arriving. “Aw, guys... thanks! You didn't have to order for me...”

Trychon's helmet turned awkwardly towards him. “We didn't. I ordered myself two, in order to get my mind out of this particular hell.” He lifted his tankard, which rebound heartily off the barrier surrounding his head. “However, it appears as though I'm going to be spending some time getting used to drinking in the Sith forsaken thing, so have at it.”

“It's the thought that counts, Trych.” Tyr patted him on the back, knowing that the incorrect phrase usage would drive him as crazy as the helm did. He took a seat and grabbed the other tankard that Trychon had ordered. After taking a sip, he smiled. “I missed real Corellian Ale. They ship out the weak flavored stuff off-planet. The nut flavor is almost like a liquid Ryshcate.”

“If you say so, Tyr.” Trychon irritatedly commented while he tried to hold his helm up to figure out how to try it for himself.

Raezyr quietly growled as he set his own drink down. “Will you stop playing with that? You look exactly like someone who's wearing a disguise to avoid notice. It's more than a little obvious.”

“Oh, like this is going to look so much better...” The older brother said as he took the straw that his sibling held out to him, ignoring the grinning expression Tyr had. “I wonder what it'd be like to be a listening device under the table across the street.”

“Just your normal 'repressed teenage angst spilling out', I'm sure. Just like any bad depressing holo-drama. 'Oh, my parents ruined my life!' No offense, Tyr.” Raezyr didn't hide his grin any longer while he watched Trychon's sip on his ale.

“None taken. At least the ending is bound to be more interesting in this story... Now that, I would pay to see.”

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

“What do you mean, you tried your best?!” Anya screamed, throwing another plate across the room at her mother who was dodging rather well for a woman of her age. She talked to herself to try to stay in control of her mind. God, I wish I could crush her with my mind, but I can't even Force toss these plates. Guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way...Her emotions rampantly split between anger and utter joy.

“Your life would have been a tragedy here!” Her mother pleaded as she tried unsuccessfully to hide behind a couch. Shards of glass and cheap kiln-fired dinnerware kept bouncing off her head, leaving minor cuts in their wake.

“So you sent me off to be a tragedy elsewhere? So you didn't have to watch?” Anya yelled, feeling her voice already beginning to go hoarse from the screaming.

“No, I swear! I had to! It was your step-father! Your sister ran off without a credit to her name because of the things your step-father did to her. I managed to protect you from him when you were very young, but I could see that look in his eye, and I knew I couldn't save you forever.” As her story went on, the projectiles slowed to a stop, and she came out of hiding with tears streaming down her face. “That's why I wanted to find a place for you to live and work. I gave them some money to start in your account. So you would be set for a few weeks. It was more than I had a chance to do for your sister.” The last few words trickled out as she was on the edge of bawling.

The mention of her older sister had Anya choking back tears of her own, but her fury only grew. “So you thought it was best that I sell my body?!” She waited for a response for only a moment. “Well, congratulations on your plan, Mother. I did plenty of that. Earned lots of money for my owners. They were nearly as proud as you!”

"N-n...No!" Her mother stammered, clearly having lost all attempts to withhold her tears. "You were to be a servant girl working for yourself!"

Anya's face twisted into rage. "You LIE! Everything you spout is LIES!"

Her mother ignored the outburst. "Your stepfather beat me horribly for letting you go. I had tried another way before, where he thought he could benefit... but the Jedi said you were too weak to train and..."

Before she even saw Anya move, she felt hands wrapping coldly around her neck.

I... Am NOT. TOO WEAK! was the very last thing Anya's mother ever heard as she slipped unconscious.

586. The Heist - Raezyr

The four Sith stood outside the apartment complex. It looked like it was occupied by mostly lower-middle class families, making it one of the nicer buildings in the area.

"You guys don't need to come with me," Anya said, pausing just outside the door to the tenement.

"Good, I need a drink," Trychon said quickly and hustled across the street holding his helmet with one hand to keep it from jostling around. Raezyr shook his head at his older brother.

"I better go with him. If he takes that off, or if it falls off, we may be in for a hasty retreat," the big man said and after pausing for a speeder, took off after his brother.

Tyr watched as the two disappeared into a run down tapcaf before turning back to Anya. Once he was sure the brothers weren't watching him, he slid his hands around Anya's waist. "You sure you don't want me in there with you?"

The blond Sith looked down for a moment and then into her lover's eyes. The determination that was there needed no explanation.

"Alright then," Tyr said. "You call us on the comm when you're ready to go." He started to lean in for a kiss, but she tried pulled away.

"Not now, Tyr. They might see you."

"I don't care," he said and pulled her to him forcefully.

"I'll call you when I'm done," she said after they had parted, and disappeared into the building she once called home.

Tyr stood watching for a moment, then followed his fellow warriors across the street and into the bar.

---------

Anya stood outside the door to the apartment. A part of her hoped that no one was there, or if they were, it was no one she knew. She swallowed hard and pushed the buzzer, still unsure of what she was going to say, only knowing how this was going to end.

"Who is it?" came a vaguely familiar, feminine voice over the speaker.

"Open the door, Mother," she replied, her voice nearly cracking.

"Anya? Is that you? Oh, my!" The door swooshed open almost instantly, sliding back into the wall.

Anya stepped into the living area of the apartment. It was more worn than she remembered, but other than that it was pretty much the same. A woman in her late forties stepped out from the hallway which led to the sleeping chambers.

At least Anya knew she was about that old. She looked much older than that for some reason.

"Oh, Anya!" her mother exclaimed, rushing forward with her arms out stretched. "I was so worried you were dead!"

Anya let the woman hug her for a moment then pushed her away, taking a few steps back.

"What's wrong, dearheart?" her mother asked, a puzzled and almost hurt look on her face replacing the joyful one.

The Sith couldn't stand it any longer. "What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong: How can you act like this after all you did to me?" she asked. "I didn't come back for reunion. We're not going to go on a shopping trip and have 'mother/daughter bonding time,'" she said mockingly.

The look of grief came over her. "I don't understand. Why did you come back then, sweetheart?"

"I returned to pay you back for all thing things you did to me."