Band of Misbegotten Misfits (a Star Wars tale)

Orcina

Orcina wiped the sweat from her forehead. Sweat! It was not hot in the weapons control room. No, the sweat was not from being hot, but from her being nervous. AK-47 was going to cut to pieces so small no one could repair him and she was his only hope to stay in one piece.

She moved the laser aim point to the closest attack droid. Her stomach tightened as she pulled the trigger. Her aim was true and the first droid exploded in the shower of metal. She swung the laser aim point to the second, but the droid was now taking evasive action to make her shot even more difficult.

She fired. The droid ducked at the last possible second behind a metal structure. Her blast ripped a hole in the small part of the droid still exposed. The droid controls were harmed and it just started to spin around in a circle.

Orcina moved to the third droid. “DRUK” she gasped as the third droid had almost reached AK. It had also taken a route that did not expose it to her field of fire. She was running out of time. The attack droid was seconds away from AK. She had to do something now! Then she got an idea. She swung the laser aim point to access control point, actually just below the point. She fired another blast. Her shot ripped a hole in the ship and the out pouring of air from the ship’s atmosphere blasted AK away from the danger. Orcina squeezed off another round, when the surprised attack droid appeared at the access point and blew the robot to scrap metal.

“YES!!” Orcina yelled in triumph as AK-47 beeped a “thank you” over the commlink.

Alma Bols

Alma Bol was just leaving the detention facility when she felt the STS Retribution take multiple missile hits.

“Security detail… surround me” She ordered the team that was about to go on their way. She then activated her commlink and ordered her personnel security guards to the facility right away.

“The prison facility is very defensible” The human leader of the security detail advised her.

“Yes… good thinking” She agreed as they re-entered the facility. Before the doors closed two creatures flew into the facility with them. They appeared to be small Devaronians. They had red-skin and a pair of black wings. They also had a long tail ending in a poisonous stinger. They stood about 2 feet tall. Each flanked Alma Bol.

“My personal security guards” Alma told the human leader as they re-entered Soni cell. Soni cell had the heaviest and most secure door.

Kovit was starting to relax. The target vessel was immobilized and defenseless, all that was left to do was dock...

Then somehow - he couldn't quite tell how - AK-47 rocketed up from the hull of the target, in serious danger of being lost in open space.

"What the... hold on to something!" he yelped to Fibi. He yanked hard on the control yoke, whilst simultaneously activating various maneuvering thrusters, pulling a turn so tight that the inertial dampers couldn't fully cope with it.

"Sorry about that..." he murmured to the surprised Zeltron, who had only managed to stay upright thanks to her extraordinary acrobatic skills. He thumbed the comm-switch, sending his voice echoing throughout the Dursima's pride - just in case anyone was on the move through the vessel. The ship was now rapidly bearing down on the hapless R2 unit.

"Warning to all passengers - I'm depressurizing the forward loading corridor in 10 seconds... if you happen to be there, better get to the upperdeck fast!"

True to his word, after 10 seconds he triggered the depressurization of the section, and opened the forward loading ramp. For good measure, he also switched off the artificial gravity the entire lower deck, and began over-pressurizing the cargo-hold.

The next part would be tricky, given the relative positions of the cockpit, the open ramp, and the drifting droid... if he misjudged this AK-47 would be little more than a smear of molten metal and debris down one side of the hull...

But Kovit was nothing if not precise, and the droid was suddenly swallowed up my the fast-moving ship. What was going through AK-47s mechanical mind as it shot down the airless corridor towards the solid doors at the end can only be imagined, but at the last moment those doors slid open.

Air came blasting out of the main cargo-hold at hurricane speeds, slowing the little droids relative speed considerably. Without the artificial gravity holding it in place, the air was considerably denser towards the rear of the cargo hold and this too acted to slow down the astromech's trajectory. He was still moving too fast for comfort when he collided with the rear cargo bulkheads with a resounding "clang" but could do little more than squawk out an angry stream of binary as he bounced off the doors.

Dented, but still mostly in one piece, AK-47 drifted back across the cargo hold. Then, as gravity was restored, he dropped onto the cargo bar floor with a metallic thud, and lay there, emitting a forlorn binary whistle that might have translated into something like "Remind me to never volunteer for anything, ever again..."

Eek

Eek was in the cargo bay getting ready to board the transport ship. All his various weapons laid out in front of him. Suddenly the ship started doing wild maneuvers. He was thrown sideways by the final turn.

“What is that kriffing pilot…” He started to say when he heard Kovit’s announcement “Warning to all passengers - I'm depressurizing the forward loading corridor in 10 seconds... if you happen to be there, better get to the upper deck fast!”

“That MOOF-MILKER!!” Eek gasped in frustration at Kovit. He hurried to get to an upper deck, he was still on the ladder when the forward corridor depressurized and the loading ramp opened.

“Thanks goodness… he didn’t open the inner door.” Eek said breathing a sigh of relief while hanging on for dear life to the ladder. That was when the artificial gravity was turned off.

“DRUK” Eek yelled as his feet started to float away from the ladder. His ear felt an over-pressurization building in the cargo-hold.

“DOUBLE DRUK!!” He yelled as the inner doors opened and air blasted out of the main cargo-hold at hurricane speeds!! Eek watched as the weapons he had laid out blasted into space. But in return, he saw AK-47 come into the cargo-hold. The droid smacked into the cargo bulkhead with a resounding "clang". Eek now understood what all the wild maneuvers were about.

When the gravity came back, Eek came back down the ladder. “Welcome back little buddy” He said to AK-47. The droid beeped and warm hello to Eek as well.

“Both of us need to talk to Kovit about the proper treatment of passengers!” He suggested to AK-47. The droid beeped a loud affirmative to Eek’s suggestion.

AK-47 opened a commlink to the weapon’s cell and transmitted what he had done Orcina.

Orcina

“Kolem… AK-47 shut down all the bulkhead doors on the transport ship. No need to blow up the passageways to Alma Bol’s quarters. I’ll make the access hole, you’d better get ready to board the ship” She told him. She fired the lasers cannons and a nice hole opened up in the ship’s side. The Zeltron bitch was right about Alma Bol’s cabin having a view. The operation was going to be quick and easy. It had better be, because Orcina was sure rescue ships from Subterrel were on their way!

Fibi

“Kovit… keep the ship here. We’ll be back soon. Time to do some Galaxy saving Jedi shit!” I said as I got out of the co-pilot seat and headed for the cargo bay.

“I thought you said you weren’t a Jedi?” Kovit asked

“I’m not… I’m something much more powerful!” I replied calmly. Kovit got a worried expression on his face. He did not think I was bragging about my statement.

I got to the cargo bay. Eek and Kolem were there too. But Eek was missing most of the weapons. He also looked wind-blown.

“What happened to the weapons? And You?” I asked him.

Eek shrugged his shoulders and moo’ed in frustration.

“Ok, we don’t have the time now. If we are still alive after this, you tell me all about it.” I said pressing the button to open the access door. Force fields held the air in place as we entered Alma Bol’s.

“Eek… gather up her research and computers. Kolem and I are going to kick some ass and capture us a cloner. We’ll call you if we need back up.” I informed Eek. Eek’s three eye stalked nodded in understanding. Kolem and I enter the ship’s passageway outside the stateroom and headed for the detention facility.

We were immediately greeted by laser fire from 4 ship security personnel in the passageway. I was full of force energy from my activities with Kolem earlier. When I have that much energy in me, it is uncomfortable, almost like I’m about to burst. As a result, when a chance to use some of that energy appears, I do not hesitate to expend the force energy.

My light saber was out and activated. Unlike other light sabers, the glowing light was not a single color. It was a constant shifting spectrum of colors as you would see if you looked upon iridescence from a soap bubble or a thin oil film. The color of the blade was different, but it was just as effective as a single colored blade. As the security personnel would soon find out.

I accelerated my motion using the force. I deflated the few laser bolts fired at me and then I was among the guards. I was not sure if Kolem knew fighting techniques, but if he did, he would have noticed my form. The glee as I spun into my next victim, with a blow to the knee and an elbow to the head. My strikes, footing and moves were meticulously and measured. If he was very observant he might see a little recklessness to that shone through my fighting form too.

I had dispatched the 4 guards, their weapons cut in half and they were all out cold.

“Hurry up… you’ll miss all the fun!” I kidded him as I ran down the passageway looking for the detection facility. My joy ended as I found a bulkhead blast door locked down and in our way.

“Guy that can make “things that go boom”” I said as I pointed to the door. “Your turn”

There had been some hairy moments getting to this point, but how hard could capturing some egg-head be, right?

I didn't have time to do much as Fibi leapt into the fray against the security personnel. I had entered the passageway with my grenade launcher at the ready, but there was no safe way to fire it with the lovely zeltron right in amongst them. Instead I simply popped a couple of incendiary grenades down the corridor leading the other way. Not only would it make it harder for anyone trying to outflank us, it would confuse the ship's auto-repair functions making it that much more difficult for anyone trying to counter-act the slicing that AK-47 had done to seal off the bulkheads.

Fibi called me over, being surprisingly merciful. I don't consider myself a bad guy, but people shooing at me tend to get shot back, whereas the skilled force user had KO'd her four opponents rather than killing them.

"Give me a moment..." I muttered, as I pulled some security-ties from one of the unfortunate guards pouches. I quickly bound their wrists - we would be coming back this way and I didn't want them waking up and causing trouble. Interestingly, I noticed my guess about the troops on this ship had been correct. Although they had different hairstyles, and one had a cheek-scar, the four security mooks all had the same face. Clones...

"Your turn..." Fibi was calling, and I could see what had stymied her. She probably could have cut through the bulkhead with her sabre eventually, but the door was thick enough to make it a slow process.

"Allow me." I drawled, pulling a ribbon charge from one of my pouches. With practiced swiftness I stuck the adhesive ribbon onto the door, outlining a shape big enough for even my broad, armoured shoulders to fit through.

"You might want to stand to one side." I advised Fibi. "Most of the charge will be directed into the door, but there is always some backblast.

I flicked the switch on the detonator. It began to beep, quietly, the beeps speeding up in rhythm as it approached activation. Fibi and I stood either side of the door, ready to act. I could tell she was fixing to leap through as soon as it was clear, but I raised a hand to sign "wait" and showed her the small stun grenade I was holding...

With a "crack" rather than a boom, the ribbon charge detonated, cutting a sizable hole in the bulkhead. The central section of the door clanged to the floor as I lobbed the stun grenade through the hole. A flash of blue light and a pulse of high pitched sound blasted out of the hole, then Fibi dived through. I wondered what would be waiting on the other side, as I ducked my head and followed her.

I’m reckless! Who dives through a hole blown in a door during a battle? It was just crazy. My reckless nature is the reason the cloners wanted to kill me. When I was still in their care, the cloners had set up a few “training” missions for me. I later found out, these were tests, not training missions. On my first mission, I was sent to Chazwa (a cold world) to acquire a new break-through medicine. The meds were held by some smugglers. I was with a squad of highly skilled fighters to get the meds back. But I competed the mission with almost no help from my team. My teammates didn't know what to make of me, a big breasted fighter that fought with such reckless abandon. You see, what I lacked in finesse, I make up with guts and luck. I thought I had gained their respect after proving my toughness, and bravery on that mission. However, they said I was just a bit too crazy for them as a fighter. The cloners knew that their experiment with me had failed.

This is why I prefer not to work with a team. But here I was, working with a team. This time around, things were working out better. Not sure why, maybe I have learn a few things, or maybe this team was different. I could not help notice Kolem dove after me through the hole!

Anyhow, as I tumbled back to me feet, I noticed Kolem's stun grenade had knocked down the first row of human defenders. But it had missed the 6 KX-series security droids behind them. Their computers issued commands and the roar of blaster pistols resounded in the passageway. I engaged the laser blasts with my iridescence lightsaber. I didn't have to look to Kolem to know his laser blaster was engaging the droids too. I deflected the shots with ease, ricocheting some back on the shooters.

Only three security droids remained standing by the time I pressed my way forward and speared my lightsabers through two of them with precision. I swiftly withdrew my weapon to take down the third but Kolem's blaster took the droid’s head off.

With all opposition eliminated, we moved undeterred down the passageway to the ship’s detention facility. The main door was locked and there was only a small access keyboard next to the door. The door was reinforced.

“I got this” Kolem commented with confidence as he started to type at the keyboard.

I leaned forward over his shoulder to get a better look at the small screen, "What are you doing?” I asked

Kolem flashed a brief smile though he never took his eyes off the screen, "Detention facility doors are designed to keep people in… not out" He stated. To prove his point, he reached up and pressed a few buttons and the locks on the door opened.

“Nice” I replied, not sure what he had done, but just glad it worked. I moved in front of the door. My light saber out and ready. “Open it” I commanded him. The door opened to the dark detention facility. No one was there to shoot at us.

I was surprised to see droids in the security complement - my various battles in the clone wars had seen me fighting clones, and droids, but never both on the same team. I hadn't pre-loaded any Ion Grenades into the launcher, and the incendiaries wouldn't act fast enough on droids, so for this fight it was good old-fashioned blasting.

It was fortunate that my companion had the skills of a Jedi. I'd never been this close to a Jedi before (though I had seen them across the battlefield) and having somebody between me and the enemy who could cut blaster-bolts out of the air was something I was rapidly learning to appreciate. Between us we had soon cleared the room of active opponents.

Then we got to the security door, and I grinned. "“I got this” I declared, and set to work.

Now, I'm no slicer, but I've served some time as a prison warder on backwater planets - may even have been the wrong side of the bars once or twice. Guards escorting prisoners in to prison areas are usually itching to get rid of their charges. They aren't expecting people to break in - and I said as much out loud - They get sloppy, and keep things simple - its hard to watch a prisoner and type in a complicated pass-code at the same time. And on a ship this old, the regular typing in of the same simple code was going to have left some wear and tear on the keypad. The keys bearing the digits of the pass-code were clearly more worn than those that didn't see regular use, so it was just a simple matter of trying those keys in the right order.

I got lucky - found it on the 3rd attempt. The door locks disengaged, and when Fibi was ready, I opened it wide.

To my surprise, we didn't get shot at. Perhaps the security teams hadn't expected us to come this way.

In fact, stopping to think about it, why were we coming this way?

"Fibi?" I murmured. "Are you sure we came the right way? Why is our target in the prison area? I thought she was in charge around here, not a captive..."

As Kolem asked "Are you sure we came the right way? Why is our target in the prison area?" I got a really bad feeling about where we were.

“Because… AK told us she was here.” I replied to Kolem but then wondered if the data AK-47 had found might have been a clever decoy. Kolem and I were walking into the very prison cells we’d be held in. I used my light saber to remove the door closing controls on the detention facility wall. Sparks flew across the room as my saber cut the controller in half. Kolem gave me a funny look.

“So we don’t get locked in somehow.” I told him with a shrug of my shoulders.

We walked down the dark, dim, passageway peeking into each cell. The first few cells were empty, but then I looked in one which held a female Twi'lek. She saw me and moved to the small view port. I activated the voice channel.

“The Kaminoan and her guards are in the last cell.” She told me. “Please let me out of here” She begged me.

“We will, once we have the cloner.” I said and closed the channel. Kolem and I walked to the last cell. The door was massive! The cell must have been designed for the most dangerous prisoner. I looked into the small view port. There was a Zabrak with horns, red skin, and black tatoos sitting in a chair. It looked like he was passed out. Next to him was a kaminoan, in her clean white robes. Her hand held up in surrender. Next to them were two human guards with their hands up as well. Their weapons were at their feet. I could see all of this in the limited light provided by the single dim light bulb in the cell.

“Looks like we found her, and she is finally giving up.” I told Kolem. I deactivated my light saber and pressed the door opening button. The cell door opened.

“Welcome Fibi” The Kaminoan said in a calm, arrogant, and superior way. It just pissed me off. I wanted to kill her right there… her smug superior tone really grated on me.

“Frakle Off Cloner!” I said with hatred in my voice.

A grin appeared on the Kaminoan’s face. “I’m Alma Bol. You do not know me, but I know you, Fibi. I was the lead scientist on your genetic experiment. It is too bad, it did not work out.” She looked over to Kolem "I’m so sorry, this woman’s hatred will be your DOOM." Alma Bol stated calmly as 2 men and 4 large security droids stepped out of the shadows. All their weapons pointed at Kolem and me. I knew at that moment I had fucked up badly.

To make matter worse two flying creatures flew on either side of Kolem and I. They appeared to be small 2 feet high Devaronians, with red-skin and wings. But the part that worried me was their long tail with a nasty stinger on the end.

Alma Bol smile grew bigger and more arrogant “My personal security guards. Mutated Devaronians. Poor souls lost their minds during the process, extremely painful procedure too. You should have heard the screams. But what remained, is obedient and deadly body guards.” Alma Bol dropped her arms and took one step forward “I know Kaminoan do not normally gloat. But since there is nothing you can do. I’m going to gloat." Alma stated, then continued "I had an idea. What if I could clone an army of Jedi?” Alma asked “Or Sith lords” She asked again this time pointing to the sleeping Zabrak. “That would be an Army to rule the galaxy with! You do see the brilliance of my scheme!”

“The galaxy does not need another crazy ruler, particularly NOT a cloner. Everyone would raise up and fight you. BITCH” I commented. I did see the brilliance of her plan, but right now I needed a way for Kolem and I to escape capture.

“Heroes with their tough words… your statement gives me a nice warm evil feeling in the black pit of my soul… I will enjoy grinding your face into submission and then killing you.” Alma Bol said with glee.

If I did not come up with any good ideas on how to escape… Alma Bol’s gloating might come true! That thought really pissed me. I was hoping Kolem had something up his sleeve.

“The problem is control. As with you, we lost control of you. Soldiers or Armies that turn rogue are not useful, no matter how powerful. That is where I have made two new breakthroughs. This black box” she said pointing to the small cube on the sleeping Zabrak head “and a termination virus! Wipe out the clones if they go rogue.” Alma Bol laughed

“We are more determined than you. We are stronger than you think!” I stated with confidence.

Alma Bol laughed as she signaled her guards to disarm us. “From the looks of things, your brave words are not enough” The men near Alma Bol bent over to grab the weapons at their feet. The other human guard from the shadows move forward too. The droid remained on guard, weapons on Kolem and myself.

“I WILL NOT LET YOU WIN!” I screamed getting ready to fight the men in hand to hand combat if necessary. This made the two guards bending over pause.

Alma Bol burst out laughing as the droid lasers got ready to fire. “THIS IS TOO MUCH FUN TO WATCH… your hatred is going to kill you… how poetic!” She said.

“Fibi hatred is so strong because her love is so strong. Her love of fairness and justice. I think you are about to find out how powerful those two loves are!” Said the suddenly awake Zabrak. He grabbed both bending over security men next him smashed them into each other. A moment later he was armed with their laser rifles.

I could not watch what happened next as I turned towards the two flying creatures. I used my unique force ability. Great jets of fire shot out of my hands and burned the flying creature to dust!

“KILL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Alma Bol screamed to her remaining guard force.

Soni

The captive Zabrak had been slipping in and out of consciousness for some time, the withdrawal of the drugs he had been pumped with taking an inevitable toll on his abused body.

He was aware that Alma Bol and her guards were in the cell, but lacked the mental focus to be interested in their doings. The cube attached to his head was interfering with his ability to concentrate. In a detached way he wondered if that was how it suppressed his ability to use the force, or if it were a side effect.

Suddenly, he sensed something new. The presence of a powerful force user. Their power stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Like a scar-moth drawn to a glo-lamp, he could not help but focus on the presence.

He was becoming more aware by the moment, the force energy from the other user blasting away the cobwebs in his mind. Whilst feigning continued unconsciousness, he became aware that this other Force user - Fibi, a subconscious voice whispered - had come for Alma Bol, but had unwittingly walked into an ambush. He could feel her emotions raging - hatred, for Alma, but more than that - a love of justice, of fairness. He could have chosen either emotion to siphon energy from, but he had had his fill of hatred long since, and in truth, the love was far stronger...

Still unable to generate his own force power, Soni found that he could channel that being radiated from Fibi. She could have cut him off instantly and without effort, but whether consciously or subconsciously she had recognized him as a potential ally. And so, just when it seemed Fibi was about to be cut down, he channeled that energy into his battered body, feeding himself a burst of inhuman strength that allowed him to snap his binders and deal with the two nearest guards in a brutal instant...

"Fibi hatred is so strong because her love is so strong. Her love of fairness and justice. I think you are about to find out how powerful those two loves are!”

***

Kolem

I had been caught by surprise when Fibi marched straight into the cell with our target - too slow to react and stop her from her own impetuousness. Now she was in the cell with Alma, two guards and two twisted caricatures of my own people. I made a mental note to have "words" about that later...

And I was outside the cell, with four armed guards holding me at gunpoint. Slowly I raised my hands, still holding the grenade launcher, above my head. Surreptitiously, the fingers of my left hand played across its inbuilt keypad, as I played the part of a desolate captive.

"Easy now," I said quietly, doing my best to sound slow and stupid. "I'm just hired muscle - I don't know what your boss's beef with my boss is, but it's not worth dying for."

One of the guards chuckled. "Typical mercenary scum. All cowardice, no loyalty." The others laughed. "Now drop your weapons, and maybe we'll let you live."

"OK, ok..." I muttered. The grenade launcher clattered onto the floor, and I slowly pulled my blaster from its holster to drop too, holding the end of the grip thumb and finger, trying not to get shot. Regrettable - I liked that gun - but there was no choice. I could probably jump one guard, but the other three would have cut me down in an instant... hence my alternative, and rather desperate plan.

The grenade launcher beeped once. Before any of the guards could finished saying "What was that?" I was moving, diving through the open doorway, colliding with Fibi and pulling her to the floor with me as every remaining grenade in the launcher detonated simultaneously with a deafening boom.

The four guards in the corridor didn't stand a chance, caught in a maelstrom of explosive and incendiary mayhem. I wasn't feeling much better. The doorway had cut off some of the concussive force, and my Armour had stopped anything lethal getting through, but I had been deliberately shielding Fibi fromt the blast at the expense of my own welfare, knowing that she had no armour at all. I wasn't going to be much use for the rest of the fight, but the odds had shifted considerably and I was going to have to be content with that...

***

Soni

In the instant of the explosion, Soni dived to one side. The flow of energy from Fibi had stopped abruptly, leaving him feeling weak again. But he'd seen the remaining flying creature get thrown against the rear wall of the cell, and Alma bol herself had dived in the other direction, so hopefully the Zeltron Jedi - or whatever she was - could handle the rest...

Soni

He did not lose the rifles as he landed, even with the drugged weakness overtaking him. Something to write home about. He managed to fire a suppressing volley from the two rifles, but without that external source of power, his strength seemed to slip from him.

'Drox'

The one thing that Force users learned early on, was to focus their minds. Even with chemicals seeping into his system, blocking off his concentration and through that the connection. But The Force was everywhere, even inside him.

He reached out as hard as he could, the electronics of the cube switched off, like when a control signal would have done the same. With nobody checking on him, the dead box drew no attention. He felt that faint flicker again, his connection fighting to return to The Force.

Not up to fight yet, he focused on the two sprawled figures and use the last bit of his strength to slide one of the rifles over to them.

Fibi

My use of The Force in combat was mainly to increase the speed of my actions. I had caught a glimpse of Kolem diving towards me. I could have moved out of the way but choose to remain where I was to “cushion” his dive. I had thought he was saving me from the laser blasts that were sure to come after Alma Bol’s orders to “KILL THEM ALL”. But it was actually to save me from the massive explosion outside the cell chamber. I had not expected that! The blast wave was so powerful it knocked everyone in the cell back 5 feet. Kolem's body shielded me from the blast. But at what cost? I knew he was hurt, maybe critically.

This is where my unique relationship with The Force differs from a normal Jedi. I did not think of revenge like a Sith, or need to control my feelings like a Jedi. I was thinking about the beauty of Kolem's soul. How he scarified himself to save me. My thought was, I was not going to let that soul die. I needed to end this battle quickly, so I could provide him aid. Then I saw the laser rifle slide across the floor. The Zabrak, who had helped before had shoved it. Another noble act. Another soul to save.

These thoughts and emotions were fuel to my Force powers. I rose from the floor like a phoenix!! I was holding the laser rifle in my hand and there was a cold determination on my face. Alma Bol was laying on the floor in the back of the cell with the 4 large security droids in front of her. That was all that remained of her security force. The droids were just getting back on their feet, but I had been just a second faster.

I had the advantage. I moved aggressively toward the droids and fired as faster as I could. I blasted the first three droids into pieces. But the last droid activated its energy shield and my laser shot was absorbed. This was quickly followed by the last droid returning firing at me. Under a hail of laser shots, I dove for cover behind the turned over chair of Zabrak prisoner. This was also where the Zabrak was laying.

He had helped before. But he looked like a Sith lord, dressed in black. He looked like a user of the dark side of the force. I needed an ally to battle the droid, but this ally might be worse than Alma Bol! I had felt his connect to me earlier and knew he was a powerful force user. The collar on his neck was stopping his force powers. There were several types of collars; Ultrasonic pulses, Electric, Reactive, and Chemical. His collar was the Chemical type. Those types of collars could cause permanent loss of force abilities. Those were the cruelest of the collar devices.

I only had a split second to decide if I should free this man. I pulled out my laser saber and cut the device from his neck. His eyes opened and he gasped “throw the cube at them” he looked at a strange dark cube on the ground near him. It was the cube Alma Bol talked about using to control her army of “force” clones.

I grabbed the cube and threw it at the droid. The security droid opened fired on the small cube as it flew towards it. The result was an explosion big enough to blow someone’s head off. That was my chance. I bolted from behind the turned over chair and raced toward the droid. The explosion had blinded the droid for a moment, and that moment was enough time for me to reach the droid. The energy shield was similar to a metal shield used by ancient knights. I was now close enough to swing my light saber past the energy shield. My blade cut the droid in half. The battle was over.

I turned around and saw I was the only one still standing. How was I going to get everyone back to the ship? That was when Eek's face appeared at the cell door.

"Having fun?" He asked me.

"Get Alma Bol" I told him pointing to the cloner. As I went to check on Kolem.

*Kovit, Orcina and AK*

Back on the ship, kovit was extrememly worried. "Orcina, did you see that? I have energy readings that show a big explosion right on top of where the boarding party should be... do you and Ak have any signals from their comms? Or life-sign readings?

Orcina frowned, and responded over the intercom "I've mostly been scanning for signs of movement on the hull, make sure no smart-ass battle-droids try to sneak up on us. You got anything AK?"

AK beeped and blarted, a clear negative. Then in a series bleeps and whilstes he indicated that the explosion had knocked out all of the internal sensors that he had previously hacked into, and he was now as clueless as to what was going on as his flesh and blood crewmates.

"Crud," murmured Kovit, his concerns unallayed. "Orcian, do you think its worth you going in to see what is going on in there?"

***

*Kolem*

My ears were ringing, my eyes blurred into seeing double, and I couldn't feel my left leg at all, but I could tell that the battle was over. Fibi had been first to recover from the explosion and had used that to full advantage.

"Hey..." I grinned up at the two identical figures crouching over me. "Didn't know you had a twin sister," I weakly wisecracked. "That's hot."

I struggled to sit up - and managed it, even though I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my side. Couple of cracked ribs, it felt like.

"So, ahh, couple of questions then..." I said through clenched teeth, trying to make light of my injuries. "Did we win, and who's the guy in black?"

Soni

He got to his feet, using the chair as support, the remaining laser rifle in his hand. His strength was not returning as rapidly as it would have if he had his full connection to the Force and he dared not siphon more from the Zeltron, he knew that she read some of who and what he was from their brief contact and being a Sith is never a good thing if you are weakened to the brink of invalidity.

"My name is Soni."

That was all they needed to know for the moment, his story was a long and winding one and he did not feel up to explaining. He closed his eyes and took a deep steadying breath, the Force was there, flickering in the back of his mind. He had not lost it and he felt a strange surge of happiness. He rarely had anything to be happy about lately, but that was one thing. He opened his eyes and looked at the carnage around him and the two people who had come to take care of Alma Bol. One of them was injured, that was clear to see and he had to admit that this was the first time he had met a Zeltron with a connection to the Force.

He only had the clothing on his back and the laser rifle in his hand, he was basically a Zabrak with nothing more than memories and training. He was out of his depth. He studied the three people and he felt that he should be angry and even hate Alma Bol, but that was the road which had been forced upon him, the road that he had been taught is the right one. He took another deep breath and straightened up.

Fibi

“Ask and you get an answer. His name is Soni and yes we won. Soni saved our asses” I told Kolem. “Now shut up and let me help you up” I put one of his arms around my neck and pulled him carefully to his feet. He gave a small grunt of pain, but he was on his feet.

“I’ll help him too” Orcina suggested. I had missed her arrival as I was helping Kolem.

“I got him. Help Soni” I told Orcina.

“What? Why are we taking him?” Orcina asked not leaving Kolem’s side.

“He saved our lives and if he stays here, he’s dead” I told her.

“You do it. I’ll help Kolem” Orcina said with a bit of jealousy in her voice.

“Fine” I agreed. I knew we needed to get out of here and arguing with Orcina would slow us down. But I really needed to set things straight with her after we were safe. Orcina took Kolem’s other shoulder and helped him out of the prison cell. I saw Eek carrying the knocked out Alma Bol out of the cell. I headed over to Soni. He seemed weak but he was standing. He waved me off.

“Ok, but I’m right besides you if you need some help.” I told him as we walked out of the prison cell. I noticed all the other cell doors had been opened. I figured Eek must have released the other prisoners. I would need to ask him why when I got back to the ship.

Soni did not say anything to me as we walked. I probably would not have said anything either. So, I told him enough about this situation to let him know what his choices were.

“Soni. We were hired to capture Alma Bol and destroy her research. Sorry, you got in the middle of that. I’m assuming, since you were in a prison cell, we helped you. But whatever is the case, we’ll get you off this ship. Once we are safely away, we’ll figure out a planet or space station to drop you off at.” I told him as we reached the access point to Duursema's Pride. “Or you can stay here. Your choice” I told him as I turned my back and climbed into the ship.

Once aboard I was surprised to see 4 new people aboard, including the female Twi'lek from the prison facility.

“Eek?” I asked him, looking at the new people.

“Part of Alma Bol’s research… it can’t be helped. I'll explain when we have more time.” He told me as he heading to the tied up Alma Bol. I felt Soni walk aboard the ship as the access hatch closed.

If I'd been a bit less injured, the idea of two beautiful women arguing over who got to help me would have been a lot more fun, but as it was, I just wanted to get off the ship. I was glad when Fibi handed my care over to Orcina, just to stop her from arguing.

"Everything... good... on.. the.. ship...?" I asked between stabs of pain as we travelled along the corridors.

"Well, Eek lost a bunch of gear when we had t' do some crazy stunt to pick up Ak... but other than that its all shipshape and squared away... but ye shouldn't be talking right now."

She was tight, of course, every breath was painful and I shouldn't be wasting any on talking... but...

"Stop!" I barked, shortly. We had reached one of the points where we had battled the clone security troops, and they were still here, unconscious. "Lost... all... guns..." I started, and Orcina, bless her, picked up where I was going without me needing to say anything more. Leaning me up against a bulkhead, she grabbed a blaster pistol and rifle from one of the fallen, and tucked the blaster into my empty holster. Eek, bringing up the rear, had a similar idea and gathered up as many as he could carry (although he was already encumbered with the captive Alma Bol.

Even though I was in no condition to fight, having a weapon at hand felt good, and we soon got back to the Dursiima's pride.

Everybody filtered through to the lounge. I was as surprised as Fibi was to see we had four new guests - five, if we included Soni or six if we included Alma. The only absentee was Kovit. Poor guy was probably having fits at the idea of all these strangers on his ship, but even if he was keen to meet them all, he was busy with piloting.

Orcina helped my to one of the lounge-chairs and then grabbed a medikit and held it against my injured side. The in-built diagnostics beeped a couple of times and then injected me with something - probably a bone-knitting accelerator but definitely some strong pain relief. "You're an angel," I murmured to Orcina as the meds took effect.

Feeling better, I swung the chair around to face into the room. I wasn't planning on moving much for a while, but at least now I could talk without sounding like a hutt that had tried to run a marathon.

"Nice work, everyone..." I grinned. "Not the smoothest operation by any means but mission accomplished, and looks like we saved some lives too."

I turned to Fibi - I was having a little difficulty remembering some of the details of the job, either due to concussion or the meds. "Where do we need to take Bol? Because if its any distance away, we are going to have to think about where all these people are going to sleep..."

Soni

It wasn't that he tried to be all macho, or even felt pride to not want any help. He knew that intimate contact would not only hurt his bruised body, it would give her further insights to his Sith origins. He slowly hobbled along, listening to her explanation as to how they came to be there and why they had taken down Alma Bol. When given the choice if he wanted to stay or leave along with them, the option was an easy one to take.

He entered into the ship, just as the ramp closed, but without the rifle. Listening to the conversation about the other prisoners and concerns about providing sleeping quarters, he stepped forward,

"I suggest we make a hasty retreat before worrying any further about quarters. There is a fully loaded laser rifle cycling up near a central node. The chances that the explosion, which will occur when the rifle overloads, will start a chain reaction and destroy a great part or maybe even the whole facility, are great. The work done here must be destroyed."

Fibi

"DRAK" Kovit yelled from the cockpit when Soni said there was going to be an explosion. He disconnected Duursema's Pride from the damaged STS Retribution and sped away. Then the four imperial cruisers showed up. "DRAK" he gasped again, but he had been ready for their arrival. He quickly jumped to hyperspace as an explosion rocked the STS Retribution. The cruisers never had a chance to fire a single shot.

They were safe! He placed the ship in autopilot and walked to the lounge.

“That was close... but we are in hyperspace. Should be safe now. Can someone tell me what is going?” He asked looking at the new people aboard the ship.

Eek raised his hand waited to be called upon.

“Just spit it out Eek!” I told him.

“Mooo” He said to acknowledge my request. “You, Fibi, ordered me to gather up Alma Bol’s research and her computers. Her computer data is in the cargo bay. I deleted everything in the ship’s data banks, so we have the only copy. These people… are the other part of her research, so they are here too.”

“But I told you to gather up the data and research so we could destroy it. Not bring it aboard.” I gasped in frustration.

“That is not what you said. Anyhow, what did you want me to do? Destroy these people along with the computers?” Eek asked.

“No, of coarse not!” I said to Eek. The visitors heard my statement, which hopefully put their minds at ease. “I guess we can drop them off at a neutral planet” I suggested.

“No… not really.” Eek told me.

“Why?” I asked surprised

“I don’t think I should say in front of everyone” Eek warned me, but everyone heard it.

“What!! Why?” The female Twi'lek from the prison facility asked “It involves us, we want to hear it” She told Eek. Everyone was looking at Eek and he finally gave in.

“MOOO” He said in frustration “The clone virus requires living people as incubators. I saw this in Alma Bol's research. These people are critical to the research. They are carrying the virus you want to destroy. So you can’t just drop them off on a planet.” Eek explained.

"This gets better and better!" I grumbled. The four new people were looking at each other. Fear could be seen in their faces. They were scare of what the virus was, what it would do to them. I looked at Kolem. "I guess we need to contact Hoss. He told us to kidnap Alma Bol... and destroy her research. He was going to provide more details once we completed kidnapping her. We got her. So he might have an idea" I suggested.

Soni shook his head and looked at the other passengers, "If they are part of the research, but there is no research, they pose no threat."

He purposefully left himself out, since the only research Alma Bol did on him was to suppress his Force connection and see how much torture he could handle without his powers. He was sure that if things went further, Alma Bol might have tried to clone him, to see if his level of midi-chlorians could be replicated. That though actually bothered him.

"If you have the research on this ship though, that does mean that you are now the danger."

He gave half a grin, "And I am all out of laser rifles."

"Oh.. wonderful..." I groaned. "OK, I concurr that we couldn't leave these people on the ship. It's pretty obvious from what we saw that what Bol was doing was nasty. But did you stop to consider if any of them might be contagious? Are we in danger of being infected, just by being in the same room?"

I addressed my final question to the new passengers. "I don't suppose any of you can tell us anything useful about what Bol was doing?"

I looked around the room at the four passengers. All of them were humanoid - near human, even. All clad in ragged dirty beige overalls, presumably issued by their captors.

There was a Twi'lek. Generally considered an attractive race, she was no exception, inspite of the dull clothing and general raggedness of being a prisoner. She was sitting on the floor next to where Eek was seated, leaning against his legs in a submissive "Grateful to my rescuer" pose. Probably an act rather than genuine hero worship, given how well twileks play up to their sensual sterotype, but either way, maybe the horny gran mercenary would be geting his end away at last.

Seated together on one of the battered couches, holding each other for comfort, were two Pantorrans. I'd done some mercenary work on Pantora suring the blockade there, so they were easy to recognise, by their blue skin and golden eyes. Both had pastel yellow hair, (although the man's was cut quite short) and there was enough of a family resemblance in their features that I was guessing brother and sister rather than lovers. They were quiet, for now.

The last was a mystery. Olive skinned, female, humanoid, and attractive, in the "cute little sister" sort of way. But she was sitting on the couch with her hands loosely in her lap, and keeping her face and body language completely blank. To the extent that it had to be deliberate. I idly wondered whether it was a religious or martial order thing, or if it was racial. Maybe we'd find out later.

They were all, taking their recent ordeal into account, pretty fine physical specimens. I suppose if you are running genetic experiemtns you want to start from healthy subject, but I'm no scientist. Either way, none of them looked terribly threatening. None of them looked ill or infected for that matter. None of them volunteered any information, either.

"You are right, Fifi, we need to get Hoss the Boss' instructions on this but if he tells us to throw them out the airlock, what then? Because, I, for one, am not going to allow that."

Fibi

Eek moo’ed to get everyone’s attention. “MOOOO”

“What?” I asked him.

“The virus is only designed to kill clones. Not the incubators or other people. As long as you are not a clone, there is no danger.” Eek explained.

“Can we kill the virus in them? Or remove it somehow?” I asked.

“From what I saw in her research, the short answer is no. As you may know… there are millions of viruses in each of us. Viruses are everywhere. Some are dormant, other active. 8 percent of most species’ genomes, consist of retroviral sequences. This is where a virus has inserted themselves into the DNA of the species. The function of the virus sequence has been adopted to serve essential function for the host. If we kill the wrong virus… we may kill these people.” Eek explained.

“Ok… Druk!” I gasped beginning to understand the problem better. “Ok I’ll call Hoss. But first I think all of us, need to know your story.” I said as I looked at Soni. “I can sense the Force in you. You must be someone important or at least someone who once was important. My Zeltron empathetic abilities can feel you are in conflict and you are being cautious. So, I’m like a walking lie detector. Tell me where you stand? Are you part of the empire?” I asked Soni.

“The Force? What drukload of mumbo jumbo!” Orcina injected

AK-47 beeped an objection to Orcina. Then he projected a hologram of the flames shooting out of my hands in the prison cell. The hologram was from one of the secure cameras in the cell.

“Fake” Orcina said to dismiss the image.

I smiled and then raised my hand and a small flame appeared. “Is this fake too?” I asked her. “Soni has Force powers as well. Get use to it. The Force is real. Certain people can use the Force. Some people use it for good… and others for evil.”

Orcina said nothing as she tried to make sense of what she had just seen. The flame in palm went out and I turned to Soni.

“Soni, what is your story? And where do you stand?” I asked him.

He focused his gaze on Fibi as she asked him what his story was. He almost sneered when she asked if he was part of the Empire.

"I am not an Empire supporter. I would not have been in that laboratory if I was."

He took a steadying breath, "I used to be part of the Empire forces, but I am not anymore. Right now the only place I stand is the one where I get back my Force connection and live my life as I see fit and not according to the dictates of another."

He shrugged, "That is all you have to know as far as I am concerned."

Fibi

The room was silent after Soni' statement. No one said a word. It remained like that for what seemed like an extended time. I final broke the quiet.

“I was kind of kidding about being a walking lie detector.” I told everyone. “But I did not detect any hints that Soni was lying.”

“Soni, sorry but we needed to…” I started and got interrupted by Eek.

“Speak for yourself” Eek corrected.

“I needed…” I started over “to understand your situation.” I told Soni.

“Ok, I’ll call Hoss now. Orcina, Eek, Kolem, Kovit, I’ll make the call from the cockpit if you wish to listen in.” I explained

Eek and Orcina both waved me off. “we’ll stay here” Orcina explained.

Kolem, Kovit, AK-47, and I headed to the cockpit. Once there, I patched in Hoss commlink. The now familiar still photo of Hoss Cartwright from the Bonanza, a TV show from 1960’s appeared.

“Hoss, great to see you have not stopped wearing that silly cowboy hat.” I said after the connection was established.

“Fibi, how did the mission go?” Hoss asked.

“We have captured Alma Bol. But there were some complications with other parts of the mission” I told him.

“Mmmm, like what?” Hoss asked. I explained virus and the “living” incubators. I also told him about Soni.

“Well, that is a problem.” Hoss said. I could almost hear his mind working. “I’ll have some tech-people look into a solution for the virus people. If they become a problem… I can locate the closest carbon-freezing facility. Once the incubators are in carbonite, they should be easier to deal with.” Hoss explained.

“What about the Sith… and Alma Bol?” I asked

“Sith seems fine for now. I’ll do some digging.” Hoss promised. “As for Alma Bol. Kill her” Hoss ordered with glee.

“Wait. That would be in cold blood” I protested.

“Fibi, she is a risk we can’t keep around. Just "space" her… and be done with it.” Hoss said more firmly.

“Copy” I said back to Hoss and cut the connection. Then I turned to see what Kolem, Kovit, AK-47 had to say about that order.