The Setup

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

The tunnels were even larger and more complex than Maleagant had originally guessed. It would be a tremendous undertaking to secure them all, rooting out every wretched den of Renatasians they could find. Difficulty in this matter was almost a guarantee, even with the support of every Enforcer and Specialist he could muster. Not impossible, though, and as long as Fa was paying for this all, Maleagant would not be opposed. A job like this would be a nice notch in the Syndicate's belt and secure future some fortunes for years to come.

He wondered, briefly, what Tai Fa's mooks could be so busy that they weren't able to stamp this out themselves. Perhaps they lacked the training or numbers necessary. Or they were pursuing some other purpose of Fa Holdings half a galaxy away, but what would be more important to Fa than this? Maleagant could and would not pretend to understand the inner-workings of the Thirriken aristocrat's mind; he could barely understand his speech patterns.

"Where are they located? How many?" Maleagant inquired, folding his arms. "How well armed are they?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]

There were ways to minimize your own costs with a project like this.

For instance, in this particular situation the government of Erilnar and the Centrality at large were subsidizing most of the project, because they realized just how important it was for their own economy. It helped that Fa had a number of government employees under his...wing, who helped fast-track certain procedures and legislation.

This time it was Vnut that responded. It was him who had been guiding the efforts to pin-point the Confederacy's last remaining safe houses.

"We have determined four points from which their operations are being ran." His low voice rumbled, while the holographic map shifted towards a map of Erilnar. Four pulsing nodes showed the centers of operations and little lines going away from them towards sub-nodes that implied safe houses and other points of contention.

Numbers were displayed, giving estimations of the bodies they'd be facing.

"Easy this won't be.​

But there's much profit to gain.​

And that's what matters.​

​

This datachip here.​

It has the intel you need.​

Any more questions?"​

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

Maleagant watched the numbers climb well into the triple digits. The Renatasians were evenly divided among all of the points, it seemed. Maleagant was unsure how to feel about that. Would four moderate battles prove less tiresome than one gargantuan one, waged furiously in the center of the earth? At the very least this was going to be interesting. Either Fa or Erilnar's government would be receiving the bill for any extreme damages the Syndicate incurred. There had to be a smarter way of going about this than just a direct assault. Perhaps controlled demolition of part of the caves, burying the Renatasians alive and then clearing the rubble. Assassination of ringleaders? Starving them out? Poisoning their supplies?

So many options, so little time. It would all depend on the exact fortifications the Renatasians employed. This was a large number of criminals- and any number that large was bound to be well organized at the very least. The setbacks given to them by Fa so far would hopefully see the majority of their foes as under-trained and under-equipped. One could hope.

"When do we start?"

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]

"Two days."

A pause, before the bodyguard elaborated.

"A week ago we hit their main point of supplies, they have been riding the HoloNet transmissions since to stay in contact with each other." Vnut patiently continued the explanation.

This was his main point of expertise.

Tai Fa was the diplomat, the man with the plan, he smoothed things out and ensured that things proceeded without wrinkles. But it was the ursine bodyguard who ran the day-to-day operations in turn of muscle and urban strategies. So it only made sense for him to continue the briefing. It was a partnership that worked, where everyone was satisfied.

"In two days the local HoloNet hubs will stop broadcasting for 12 hours- officially the story will be that faulty infrastructure caused a shortcut in the system. Their communication will be in ruins, which will give you the edge you need to overrun them. They won't know what hit them and won't be able to coordinate an effective defense against you."

Vnut looked at Maleagant to answer more questions, if necessary.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

Twelve hours to hit four nodes simultaneously. Two days to prepare. There were just over a hundred men at each node. Whether or not all of them had combat training had yet to be described, but as of now Maleagant saw little reason to suspect that seventy-five Enforcers, plus whatever Thrysians accompanied them, couldn't handle each one. They would have to strike just as the communications blackout took place to maximize their impact. There was also the option of feeding them false intelligence prior to the attack, tricking the Renatasians into diverting the bulk of their forces against a skeleton crew of Guavians. Decisions, decisions. As amusing as that would have been, Maleagant could not set up such a trap in two days. Getting the necessary Helix Syndicate Enforcers here would be a time crunch as it was.

"I will have the necessary soldiers deployed here." Maleagant replied. "In the meantime, I'll see what other information we can glean from spying on them."

It would be interesting to see what the Renatasians let slip over their broadcasts. Perhaps they had some token form of encryption, but there were few codes that couldn't be broken by the Syndicate. Military-grade communications had been minor inconveniences to the Aurelius-Class Decryption Engine. Whatever amateurish, bootleg encryptions the Renatasians had would be child's play at best.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]​

---​

​

"This is excellent.​

Now if you would excuse me.​

Other matters call.​

​

Vnut will escort you.​

You may have more questions now.​

You may ask Vnut, yes."​

​

Presumably they had all extinguished the dialogue for this particular meeting and were ready to move onto the next scene. If this was the case then the ursine bodyguard would show them the way back to their ships, before the scene faded to obscurity. It was time for something new, something exciting.

The two days passed quite quickly.

It always did when an operation such as this one was about to start off. Nerves, anticipation, the desire to crush some skulls, it was different for each and every one of them.

But the time passed just as quickly for all of them.

 

[Darth Osano]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7yTeF9ajcw​

TWO DAYS LATER​

​

Do you have any idea how hard it is to sneak a battalion of armed, angry Guavians onto a planet with no one noticing? It's a whole production. First you have to find three hundred Helix Syndicate Enforcers willing to make a little extra money by taking a high-risk, high-reward side job. Next you have to divide them into four divisions of seventy-five each. Then you had to persuade Tai Fa to let them hitch a ride on one of his freighters so the Renatasians didn't catch wind of it. Even the dullest, most unsophisticated criminal organization was going to catch wind of detect three hundred men carrying red and black bullseye helmets and guns moving through customs. The Helix Syndicate was occasionally known for its finesse, but this was not something that could be done with finesse in two days. Not without help.

Once they were actually on the planet, there was the matter of smuggling them close to their objectives without setting off any alarms. For this purpose, Maleagant requisitioned three standard cargo speeders and an oversized garbage speeder. Two of the cargo speeders were ostensibly LowCo™ Wholesale vehicles, ferrying supplies to the magrail's various workers. Another one was a FlorMart™ Retail truck, that just happened to be passing through. The garbage speeder truck was there to, you guessed it, acquire garbage to take to a disposal site. Ostensibly. Maleagant did not go into detail about how he persuaded these truck's owners to part with them. A well-placed bribe, perhaps. More unethical encouragement, also. All [member="Tai Fa"] had to know was that it didn't stir up a lot of trouble.

When the time came, these innocuous vehicles found themselves stationed outside of the various outposts. Maleagant himself was with the dump truck division. A Gand mercenary by the name of Adalbert was in the FlorMart™ division. Grigori the Sakyian and Deglarch the Morgukai were the leaders of the LowCo™ divisions. They were all waiting for the signal, which would be issued by Maleagant once he received confirmation that the Rentasians' communications were down. Crinkling his nose against the foul odor that still clung to the inside of the garbage truck, he depressed a button on the comlink in his ear. It crackled to life before patching him through to either Vnut or Fa. Whoever felt most like talking.

"We're in position." Someone behind Maleagant grumbled a question, which the Shi'ido dutifully relayed. "What's our prisoner policy?"

Maleagant, briefly, wondered what [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] was doing. Hopefully something useful.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"]​

As a rule Lord Fa stayed far away from operations such as these ones once they actually started.

Unless he was personally involved, of course.

Which wasn't the case in this particular situation. It was a matter of precaution and reasonable plausible deniability. A respected businessman and politician such as him could not be simply seen cutting down mook after mook after mook, by the heavens, what would respected society think of such a thing? No, Lord Fa was currently dining with the Centrality's Minister of Infrastructure and Engineering, who was coincidentally also one of his contacts within the government. Coincidentally, it was this same Minister who had enabled them to shut down the HoloNet hubs in this area in the first place.

Ah, it was beautiful when you had a number of contacts to draw from, when you were in the progress of being up to no good. No, Fa's haikus were not in this post to be found, instead it was the familiar low growl of Vnut of Garnib.

"Kill those who resist or attempt to flee. Capture those who surrender and if you manage to identify their leaders, capture them as well, please."

This was going to be a gift of sorts to the numerous politicians under Tai's... wing. The official story would be that a coordinated strike was organized by the various military and police organizations of Erilnar, who valiantly captured numerous prisoners and finally broke the Renatasians' terrorism on Erilnar.

It would be quite the coup and hopefully enough to further position his men into leadership roles.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line as Maleagant considered this. Thankfully, his Guavians had stun blasters. Some of them anyway. Very few. Alright, he would have to tell them to aim for the legs. The ones who didn't have the explosive bullets, anyway. It didn't matter where those guys aimed. "That will cost extra." Maleagant intoned, much to the approval of everyone in his truck and the various captains listening in.

Understanding that the time was drawing near, the various Helix Syndicate Enforcers ran some last-minute checks on their weapons. Sights were aligned, clips examined. Comms checks were also taking place. The Enforcers that were friendly gave one another fist bumps. The ones that weren't focused inward, thinking of paychecks and the various carnal pleasures they would be paying for. But only if they survived this. Perhaps not many of them knew that this was going to be a battle, one with casualties and intense fighting. These were not hapless civilians they were ambushing, intimidating them with stun batons to get them to cough up their money and cover their debts. These were hardened criminals they were about to go up against. Untrained rabble, most likely, but hardened.

Many had already suffered jail time. They would rather fight to the death than go back. A complicating factor and one that Maleagant would have to deal with according to his own judgement. Fa would have to trust him on that much. If Fa wanted to make these sorts of calls himself, he should have been down here.

"All teams report." Maleagant said.

Aldabert was the first to check in. "Teem Vahn shtandhing byeh."

"Team Two, standing by, comrade." That was Grigori.

"Team Three's ready." Deglarch said, breaking consistency. Unprofessionally.

"We're all set here." Maleagant once again informed Vnut. "Waiting for your signal."

 

[TB-705]

Sneaking several dozen professional contract killers into the proper position proved considerably less troublesome than with the Guavians, mainly because the contract killers did not have targets for heads. Even so, their specialized equipment took some doing to get through customs. The disassembled parts were shipped in on cargo containers and reassembled when they reached their assigned locations. Thengil played little part in that process, leaving the more minute details in the hands of cartel's enforcers.

Over the last several days he had familiarized himself with the structure assembled by Narbo and begun to streamline things rather than truly alter them. So far, events played out as anticipated. The budding cartel, concerned over its production base, acquiesced to the hostile takeover simply because it was difficult to say no to a Sith accompanied by Sunguard mercenaries. Their loyalty could be earned through trust and familiarity later. For now, Thengil only needed loyalty through fear.

"What is the status, Tribune?"

"One-Eye, Farrlo, and LeFrange's squads are all in position, ready to aid the Syndicate forces, Legate."

Ah yes. One-Eye, the ghestslayer with a penchant for large sniper rifles. Farrlo, the contract killer who favored disruptors. And LeFrange, the Devaronian who murdered his uncle in cold blood. In short, the cartels best hit men each accompanied by two Sunguard legionnaires and ten thugs pulled out of cantina dredges and given blaster rifles. Along with One-Eye's two brothers and Farrlo's Gran friend, the troupe seemed enough of a show of force to finish up whatever the Helix enforcers couldn't put down.

And Thengil would be there personally, of course.

"We are all ready," Ri'Shajirr informed Vnut, a minute after Maleagant.

[member="Maleagant"] | [member="Tai Fa"]

 

[Jairus Starvald]

[member="Thengil Ri'Shajirr"] | [member="Maleagant"]

In comparison it had been quite easy for Lord Fa to assemble a group of willing individuals to aid in this matter.

Mostly consisting of former Centrality soldiers and Erilnar security forces, the men and women in blackened armor and equipped with high tech, anti-riot weaponry were quite ready for the job ahead. They had little in the way of scruples. It long since dissipated after the taste of wealth, power and respect entered their system. You couldn't truly get that by working a 9-to-5 or worse government job, but you could... if you worked for Tai Fa.

These individuals silently joined the four hotspots, before linking up their comms with the forces of Maleagant and Thengil. That way they wouldn't accidentally shoot each other in the chaos, that was the last thing anyone wanted here.

"One minute remaining." Vnut's voice filtered through the comms and made them aware of the schedule. Some might have been anxious to start or dreading it, but in comparison the Balinaka was centered and at peace. There wasn't much more to do than simply wait until it all began.

He sat there, in silence and eyes closed. Around him black armor, black visors and a whole lot of firepower.

Suddenly a nervous voice entered Vnut's ear.

"S-sir, the hubs have been disabled." That was music to his ears and a toothy grin grinned next, before he raised himself from his seat, carefully, not to bump his head.

"We are a go. I repeat we are a go."​

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 3

They had the signal. One hand still holding his force pike, Deglarch reached down, gripped the handle on the bottom of the loading door. "Let's get this over with, boys. Kill anyone who doesn't give up on their own, yadda yadda." They knew the drill. They all had 12 hours to secure this node and wrangle up the captives. Sounded like a job for Blackwell, if you asked him, but Deglarch had given up on asking those kinds of questions a long time ago. This was all out of his league if you asked him. He used to be the best fighter in the Morgukai, you know. You had to be if you wanted to up and leave like he did. Wasn't until after like... Seven assassination attempts they finally gave up on him. Too much thinning of the ranks from suicide missions and all that. Grunting, Deglarch heaved the door upward, and his eyes adjusted to the brightly lit tunnels.

There was construction equipment- that he noticed off the bat. Materials stacked everywhere. The magrail on the ground was missing critical finishes, and Deglarch imagined he knew why. There were no perimeter guards on his end, save for a couple of Renatasians chatting by an abandoned speeder car. They were quite a ways off, but not that far. Deglarch hopped out of the truck, gravel crunching under his feet. The sudden movement caught the peripheral of one of the guards, who slapped his friend's chest and pointed a Deglarch. It might have been his traditional Morgukai armor that threw them off, or the Force Pike. Or the Guavians dismounting behind him.

All three?

One of the guards was trying his comms, but Deglarch knew it was a futile effort. The other was fumbling the safety off his weapon. Deglarch strode forward at an even jog, slowed, pulled his arm back, and lobbed the pike like it was a javelin. This was an ancient, rare Morgukai technique known as "throw your karking weapon because who really gives a chit anyway." It lanced the Renatasian with his weapon out through the chest, pinning him to the speeder car. The poor fellow made to scream, but gurgled instead. His comrade on the commlink gaped in horror at his lanced comrade then looked back at Deglarch. Deglarch, however, did not have a secondary weapon. He merely spread his arms out in the universal, "come at me, brother," signal.

The guard gaped for another second, then one for his sidearm, only to be shot dead by a Guavian who had come up alongside Deglarch. "Really?"

"Gotta set the bar high, pal." Deglarch sneered, lowering his arms and moving to yank his Force Pike out of the car/Rentasian. They'd be moving up soon, then the real fighting would begin and Deglarch would refrain from further shows of skill.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 2

It had taken some contemplation before Vnut of Garnib decided to personally enter the fray himself.

Not required by Lord Fa, who would probably be content with him guiding the efforts from the safety of the second team's carriage way, which included the respectable mister Grigori. Vnut's writer forgot what his species were, only remembering it started with an S and that it went on and on and on for a very long time indeed. But he was quite busy writing this particular text and was incapable of taking the two seconds it took to actually look up the name.

Perhaps it was laziness or perhaps it was just a drive to finish this post as soon as possible, because there was still the forlorn hope that his third partner in crime would finally show up and pull his weight in this story. Stranger things had happened, after all, so it wasn't surprising that he still held out some measure of hope.

Regardless.

Vnut was there and he was ready to rumble. He stepped out of the vehicle, followed closely by his personal militia and the forces pooled together by Pollux and the absent traitor named Thengil. They started moving. Some assumed they'd stealth this way, but one had to take only one look at the Balinaka to realize that this was not happening anytime soon. If at all. So they simply followed his head, even Grigori would probably be happy to know there was now a second huge entity who would protect him if he was attacked. Grigori had much luck in these kind of stories, it seemed.

They left the shadows of the tunnel entrance and came upon the following scene: one guard facing away from them, smoking a cigarette and staring at a fire. The fire was build within a small container and some material was burning, it didn't smell all too well, really.

Half a dozen of mooks were sitting around it and warming their hands.

None of them seemed to have realized they were being watched. At least, until Vnut of Garnib's great paws curled themselves around the, oh so, thin neck of the smoking man... and turned.

The snap of the neck, followed by the collapsing form of the thug, seemed to have done it. There was shouting next, into the comms which were not working for them, to each other, but it was all for naught. For the Helix Syndicate had come for them and they would pay the price.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 1

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Aldabert was by himself. He was not, however, unarmed. Slung on his back was a heavy repeater cannon- a very indistinct weapon that had appeared in an underground movie that no one had really heard of, much less seen. Aldabert was armed with this, his wits, and a bad, bad attitude. For when you were not just a Gand, but a Gand who spoke in a faux-German accent, how good could your attitude be? Pebbles and gravel crunched under his heels as he made his way up the magrail lines. Up ahead there were a gaggle of Renatasian fodder, examining their malfunctioning commlinks and voicing concern. Empty rail carts were scattered everywhere, abandoned construction equipment. This was a nice spot for an ambush, he reasoned. None of them had spotted Aldabert yet as he made his way closer and closer...

Finally, someone noticed. "What the hell?" There was a cacophony of weapons being drawn and primed, aimed at the lonesome Gand.

Aldabert stopped in his tracks, keeping his weapon held casually pointed to the ground. He drew himself up- not an impressive sight. Even for a Gand, he was rather short. "Vait," he said. "I haff kham to varn you."

The Renatasians looked among themselves for a moment. "What did he say?"

"Something about Vorn? Vornskr?"

"Nein, I haff kham to varn you."

"Oh, bloody hell," said another. "He's armed. We should shoot him."

"I think we should hear him out."

"Oh, is that it, Trebilg?" Said one Renatasian to his Ishi-Tib companion. "You want to give the karking Gand that shows up here with a heavy repeater the minute our comms go down a bloody-"

Aldabert depressed the trigger and six blaster bolts were discharged to various targets. One for each Renatasian, spread out like they were. The intensity of the bolt sent them all backwards, flopping uselessly onto their backs as lifeless as the rocks Aldabert had trampled over to get here. There had been a seventh one, though, towards the back who had still been screwing with his com and paying no mind to the confrontation. He looked up, terrified out of his wits, glancing around as he tried to process the deaths of his comrades. He dropped the commlink, reaching for his gun-

"Ach, ach, ach." Aldabert interrupted, leveling the repeater. "Don't evehn zink about eet."

The Renatasian paused and stared Aldabert down. For a few moments, that was all that happened. Then Aldabert lowered his weapon. "Run."

Without need for further encouragement, the Renatasian turned tail and bolted further into the tunnels. He would head for the main Renatasian encampment and warn them of what this interloper had done, and they would come out in force to meet Aldabert. Renatasians were a predictable bunch, prone to knee-jerk reactions. They would meet violence with overwhelming violence. Such was their small ways. Only by the time they all got here, Aldabert would no longer be alone. The full might of the Helix Syndicate's Enforcers would be behind them, plus some militiamen... Plus some Sun Guard... Plus some more militiamen...

The word overkill leapt to mind for the second time that evening. The first had been when the Gand was selecting his weapon...

 

[Jairus Starvald]

ERILNAR HOLONET HUB
ATTN: Rash Tsona

"S-sir, the hubs have been disabled." Rash Tsona managed to mumble into his comms, while fumbling with the controls. This wasn't the job for him, he had told them that a thousand times, before repeating it another hundred times, but Lord Fa and Vnut did not seem to be interested in his excuses. An Echani hailing from Eshan, Mister Tsona was an accomplished engineer and an expert of the mystical art of Mech-Deru.

Few individuals these days who had the patience to master that art. Even fewer who stayed in the game for long enough to become a curiousity for Rash himself.

Perhaps that was why Lord Fa had found him and offered him a job that he simply could not refuse. The Echani Compact was many things, but well-paying... was definitely not one of them. Especially not to a man who was less than proficient in their fighting arts, but that was besides the question.

"All I want to do is sit in a lab and experiment." The Eshan mumbled to himself as he passed the many server racks and other sensitive equipment on the way out of the room. "Not infiltrating a governmental institution- nevermind that I was supplied with the keycards, uniforms and that I wiped the-"

"Would you kindly raise your hands?"

Rash froze in the middle of his self-tirade and eyed into the double-barrel of a plasma thrower, before raising his gaze. Feth. Behind the Renatasian and his cohort of thugs lay the governmental security forces. Burned to a crisp from one side, hacked to bits on another, this wasn't good... not good at all.

"Thank you." The Echani did not even notice he had instinctively raised his hands. "Now... we are going to have a nice and little talk about what you just did, if you don't mind."

The big burly Renatasian did not seem to be interested in supplying him with a second option... or maybe that was what the plasma thrower was for.

 

[Darth Osano]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 4

Maleagant hopped unceremoniously out of the truck, flanked by two Specialists. A steady stream of Enforcers rushed past him, linking up with the militia fielded by Fa. The Thrysians deployed by @Thengil Ri'Shajirr were already present. Maleagant allowed them to form the vanguard. After all, since they had enjoyed such an easy time seizing control of his proxy's plantations, surely they would have no trouble with this gaggle of rabble; Renatasians armed with broken blasters, faulty cutlery, and jammed comms. Perhaps Maleagant was still bitter. So would most other Sith if one of their colleagues had stolen from them... Not once, but twice. Maleagant recognized some of these Sunguard regardless of whether or not they recognized him.

He was aware of all the crowd favorites in his arenas. The Thrysians had always been at least some of them, and now they were fighting for Thengil rather than him. For honor rather than money. Frustrating. They could have had fame and fortune beyond their wildest dreams, but they chose to shack up with a convict Cathar instead. It made no sense. Maleagant could not understand, or maybe would not understand, but maybe he would after seeing them fight. He would have a good view of it all from the back, walking calmly after the charging mass of troops with his escort.

The encampment was only a short distance ahead- the combined forces quickly overwhelming the perimeter guard. There was a large, heavy, mechanical gate barring entrance to the Renatasian encampment. Maleagant's forces took cover behind various cargo containers, equipment, and supplies. Renatasian forces were returning fire against them from the battlements. Their makeshift battlements. How long had these people been hanging out down here that they could afford to erect an encampment? Seriously. "Concentrate fire on the gate," Maleagant ordered. "Get it out of the way."

One of the rabble Thengil had brought with him had the common courtesy to carry a crude, old-fashioned RPG. Clearly seeking glory and a large paycheck, he scrambled out from cover, took a knee, aimed the launcher and-

Took a blaster bolt to the face.

Sad.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

ERILNAR HOLONET HUB
ATTN: Rash Tsona

"Didn't I say this was a bad idea? Yeah, you did, Rash, you totally di-"

Rash fell to his knees as he was clubbed over the head with a rifle. This was the second time it had happened in the short time they were walking, back towards the server room and the controls that controlled the HoloNet hubs of the Renatasians.

"Quiet, please." The big burly one called Jack -- at least in the Echani's mind -- quietly said, before pulling him back up to his feet and pushed him into a walk again. Rash wasn't entirely too sure what the thug ate, but it had to be steroids, stims and other chemical garbage, because he pulled him up like he was a little doll. Instead of a grown-arse man with nothing to prove! Lord Fa and Vnut would understand, though, wouldn't they?

If he crumbled immediately, instead of after an odorous torture session? If he just helped these... fine gentlemen out. (Out of the corner of his eyes he could just see how one of the goons wiped his snotty nose with his hand and... brushed it away on his clothing) Fine, they weren't very fine at all.

But that wasn't the issue, was it?

"Here we are." Jack said, before pushing the engineer into a chair. "Now, see here, mister...?"

"Anots."

"...right. Mister Anots then." He did not seem to believe it. "You disabled our comms - oh, please do not deny that. We were stationed right around the corner, yasee."

"Before Miss Kenow disappeared and the idiots took over. I am sure she will return soon- but... we will need those comms back on, if our men are to stand a chance, you see?"

Snotty nose grinned, before cracking his knuckles.

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 3


Fast forward at Node 3. They had breached the encampment, as planned.

Deglarch was some kind of monster with that Force Pike of his. It was easy to criticize the Renatasians for their lousy aim- every time they tried to shoot at the charging Morgukai warrior, they missed by a seemingly large margin. But consider this: how good would your aim be if you were facing down a screaming, bright orange Nikto with a Force Pike? Who's jet black, scarred, and battered armor was decorated with the broken lightsaber hilts of Jedi and Sith he had viciously murdered during the course of the First Sith War? Those were no ordinary screams either. These were the traditional war chants of the Morgukai. Traditional to Deglarch, at least. Typically they were supposed to be done by groups of Morgukai before the battle. They'd get the good sound of voices chanting together and all that, strike fear into their enemies. Right now, though, it was just Deglarch.

Screaming.

"AYYYAK-AYYYY!"


He leapt right into the middle of three Renatasians. These ones were slightly more skilled than the others. One could tell because they managed to swear up a storm before Deglarch went to work. The first was swept off his feet, then his comrade smacked in the face on the back swing. After the electricity discharged, that was not a smack in the face he would be getting up from. The first one hit the ground, then the next finally got his bearings and tried to point his gun at Deglarch, only to be disarmed after the Morgukai knocked it out of his hands with a swat of his staff. The Renatasian might have gone for his sidearm had Deglarch not gone to town on him with the pike. One, two, three hits, then Delgarch opted for a final flourish to knock him onto his back. Unconscious. Probably. If he had a heart condition, it might be a problem. Deglarch locked eyes with the first Renatasian, who remained where he was on the ground and didn't go for his gun.

He whimpered, "I surrender."

"Good for you, pal."

Deglarch rewarded the Renatasian's thinking by kicking him in the face, dislodging a few of the man's teeth but otherwise leaving him unconscious and alive. He then left to find some more Renatasians. You didn't get to have this kind of fun in the Morgukai. It was always about killing this and honor that and Force Sensitives must die, and blah blah blah. This was more nuanced.

 

[Jairus Starvald]

ERILNAR HOLONET HUB
ATTN: Rash Tsona

"Oh, but of course, of co-"

"It seems our guest is uncooperative, mister Sid." The burly Jack cut in again. "Please see to it that this changes."

The Eshan's eyes bulged as a fist was squarely planted into his plexus, before he could bring anything into it. There wasn't anywhere to go though. He was being held by two other one of those hooligans and now he couldn't breathe, must less think about his current predicament. It was so strange, so unbelievable, he was already willing to cooperate and even said as much. And still they punched the living air out of him, without even attempting any other course.

Then it hit him, this time metaphorically.

These individuals were not logical and could not be reasoned with. They'd most likely kill him after this was done, so now there were two options left to him. He was a coward, this is true, but that was the entire thing about putting a coward in a particular corner. The corner of definitely being killed or probably being killed, and it was about that time that a coward would go through great lengths.

To escape a death.

"I-I will help!" Rash got out, which solicited a very positive happy smile from Jack.

"I knew you would see it our way."

 

[Ugoto Chivaro]

ERILNAR MAGRAIL SYSTEM
NODE 2

Meanwhile, at Node 2, the story was similar. The encampment had been breached. The battle was scattered around the place, troops of every side running back and forth. Grigori imagined that, if one had a birds eye view of sufficient distance, they would all look like ants. Warring ants, scampering around in mindless, lazy circles, occasionally fighting one another when they happened to cross paths. Was this how the Celestials viewed mankind? The Rakata? Were all peoples of the galaxy not, ultimately, ants? Swarming ants on a hill, limited in capacity and vision... Doomed to labor, scavenge, fight, and breed until the end of their days. Was there a point to it all? There had to be. For Grigori, it was the thought of his love, Anastasia Kalashnikov that-

Someone yelled a warning at Grigori. "Look out!"

The Sakyian turned his head to see a Renatasian running towards him, holding a metal pole in both hands over his head and running towards Grigori. Without missing a beat, Grigori removed a knife from its sheath on his chest and flung it at him, hitting the Renatasian square in the heart. No, wait, it was just below the heart. Not everyone could be perfect. THe Renatasian staggered to a halt, dropping the pipe and clutching aimlessly at the knife as he, too, crumpled to the ground. A gurgling, warbling hulk soon to be bereft of life.

Anyway, what was he thinking about? Yes, the beautiful Sakyian Amazon, Anastasia Kalashnikov. Her eyes, they were like sharpened knives glimmering in the darkness. He ears, pointed as all Sakyians are, as sharp as knives. Her teeth, filed down into very sharp points. Like knives. Her personality was matched by her wit, sharp as... A knife, also. Much of Anastasia, Grigori realized, could be likened to a knife. This would make wonderful poetry, he realized, as he emptied the remainder of his blaster pistol's clip into a Renatasian that had been screaming into a commlink for back-up. Among the Sakyians, warrior-poets were very much respected. Like celebrities in their own right. Perhaps if Grigori took to poetry in addition to his clandestine activities, he could win back Anastasia's love.

"It is always worth a shot, I think. Agree, comrade?"

"Frrrbhlgbh..." Said the Renatasian, just before Grigori bent over and yanked the knife out of his chest. That was his favorite knife, you know.

Grigori wiped the knife off on the Renatasian's shirt before standing back up. "Agree."