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When the Drums Fall Silent: Part 2. The Death of Friends.
Darth Vectimus sat alone in his cavernous throne, and raged. "How could security have allowed the Jedi to escape? If they had not taken him with them, I would have killed Zachus for such a failure! When I catch them he shall be the first to die! I will crush his bones one by one, until he begs for death, and then he shall be left for the Teranteks!"
He calmed down, and pressed a concealed switch on his throne. "Admiral, our plans must advance. Ready the fleet for deployment. Soon we will set course for Coruscant."
A shadow moved behind him, and his apprentice, cloaked in that shadow, spoke in a guttural voice "At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."
"Indeed my apprentice, soon. Soon the Teranteks will be sated beyond their wildest dreams, and the Galaxy will be mine. And then I will find that traitor Revan, and I will make him regret his existence, and bind him into my service!" His cackling laughter rang out, filling the cavernous throne room.
The Coruscant Eagle, the Anome System
"I'm breaking off the attack now; I wish you a good run back to Coruscant Mission. Goodbye, and may Warriors Fortune follow you!" Bralor's voice cut off from the comlink in the cockpit, and as several Sith destroyers exploded behind them, the Mandalorian Basilisks jumped to Hyperspace.
A few moments later the computer chimed to show that the Eagle was out of Anome's gravity well too, and Dustil Onasi engaged the Hyperdrive.
Supreme Commander's office, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth Onasi paced his office. He had read every report in his in-tray, put several in his out-tray, and had since then received no messages or reports. He couldn't even contact any of his usual friends; they were all on missions or with the Jedi Council on a trip to salvage records from the academy at Ossus. He had even become so bored as to play 3-D solitaire on his computer, and given up on it after completing it three times.
Then his office window blew in for the second time that month.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
"Why are we going to Coruscant? Wouldn't a nearby planet have a message system we could use?" Mira asked.
"Yes it would, but you were captured in a nearby system, so we don't know if we can trust the system's inhabitants. And by the time we can clear through the Bureaucracy of the systems closer to Coruscant it would be too late anyway." Mission Vao answered.
"Ok." Mira paused, thinking through what she was about to say. "How are you Mission? Back there on Anome you were very angry."
"I don't know what came over me, I just suddenly felt very angry, I wanted to hurt him, for denying us passage. I felt very strange."
"Well as long as you've gotten over it now it's ok, but be mindful of your anger."
Dustil Onasi walked into the room, smiling. "You sound far too much like Bastila when you say that Mira. I'm glad to be away from the Jedi Princess for a while, please don't suddenly transform into her."
"You're pretty disrespectful of your master, Dustil. Why is that?"
"Well, I know she is wise and experienced, but she is a major control freak, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with her."
"Me and Dustil have tried getting here to lighten up, but so far, no luck." Mission spoke up again.
Zaalbar growled "Maybe you should try something other than playing practical jokes on her. She wasn't very pleased when that bucket of Gizka attractant landed on her head."
Mira burst out laughing. "Gizka attractant? Sheer genius."
Dustil spoke up. "I've been to check on our prisoner. The medicomp says Zachus should be awake within the hour, I've set it to page me when he wakes up."
"Good idea Dustil, call me when he's awake." Mira got up and walked out of the lounge towards her cabin.
Mission laid back in her chair. "I think I'll turn in too, bye guys." She got up, and went to her cabin, which was situated next door to Mira's.
Zaalbar stretched "You should sleep too, young one, I will stand watch."
"Ok then, see you later Zaalbar." Dustil checked his comlink was on, and opened his cabin door and stepped inside.
Zaalbar took out his bowcaster, and started to take apart and re-calibrate the mechanism.
Medical Wing, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth stirred in his bed. "Where the hell am I?" He reached for his pistol, but instead ended up grasping hospital bedclothes.
"Sorry sir, the medics removed your blaster when you were admitted." A familiar voice spoke next to him.
Carth looked round, he could see a fuzzy image lying in the next bed, but his eyes hadn't focused to the light yet, and all there was was a blond blur. "Mical? Mical Drevak?"
The man laughed "Close sir, but no. I'm Traviss Drevak, his brother. I'm one of Atton Rand's team, appointed to track Sith assassins."
"Hmmm..." Carth stroked his brow thoughtfully "I've been waiting for a report from Atton, but I don't think he is a reports kind of person."
"No." Traviss concurred, "More of the 'blow the door off' kind of person."
Carth smiled "So how did you end up in here, Lieutenant?" Carth said, glancing at the rank tab on the uniform at the bottom of Traviss' bed.
"It's not much of a story sir, but here goes..."
3 Day's earlier.
The Endar's Revenge, Lane 1189, Gamma District, Coruscant
"Blue...Green..." He knew he had only milliseconds to decide before the bomb under the Chancellor's speeder went off. He heard Brianna shout "He's detonating."
Traviss fired.
The blast cut straight through the green wire, and dissipated against the armour on the base of the speeder.
Atton's elated voice sounded over his comlink. "That shot was one in a million Traviss!"
Traviss crawled back into the ship and reached for the ramp switch.
"Traviss, get down!" Atton shouted over the com.
As fast as he was, he knew he was still too slow, as two heavy blaster bolts went straight through the open hatch and hit his chest. As he fell he dimly saw the assassin's speeder veering away from a line of blaster bolts, and then darkness claimed him.
Medical Wing, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
"So what happened after that?" said Carth, intrigued.
"Apparently the assassin tried to shoot the bomb on the Chancellor's speeder, but took a shot from the Revenge's blaster cannon and ploughed into the side of a building, killing the assassin and injuring four people who were working in the building, and I was rushed to the Medical Centre with a gaping hole in my chest."
"It disturbs me how two assassins were able to infiltrate and reach positions connected to important men in the Republic without anyone detecting them."
"According to Atton they act as sleepers, disappearing for a few weeks at a time to complete their training, and then making no contact after they have finished. They will simply pursue their current life, until they are activated, and which point they will carry out their mission and vanish from mainstream society. Atton said he had only met them twice before, both times at hidden training centers on pro-Sith worlds during the war."
"So there could be hundreds of them, just waiting to be activated, behind enemy lines."
"Pretty much sir, although Atton claims that a lot of them were either deployed in the war, defected, or refused to answer the Sith call to act."
Carth looked thoughtful "So there could be Sith assassins no longer willing to work for the Sith out there? That could be a powerful weapon if we could find out who these people are."
"I'm not so sure about that sir. If you remember, there was an assassination attempt on Atton. We think that Magex is killing all who refuse to serve him."
Carth nodded "I guess it's what I would do too."
A nurse walked into the ward and spoke "Lieutenant, there is a man waiting to talk to you in the corridor, 'says his name is Atton."
"I guess I'll go and talk to him. Nice to meet you sir."
Traviss heaved himself out of bed, and walked awkwardly out of the room, Carth watched him relax from Military straightness to a more relaxed posture; he obviously did not feel comfortable talking to the Supreme Commander.
Atton saw Traviss walk through the doors into the hall, and smiled "Nice to see you up Traviss, but if your good, we've got some Sith Schuttas to deal with."
With that, Atton turned round, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and walked out with Traviss following him.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
Mira awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She slid out of bed, stood up and hit the door open switch.
As she rubbed sleep out of her eyes, she was greeted by a grinning Dustil. "Hey Dustil."
"Hey Mira. You asked me to tell you when our prisoner was awake."
Mira glared at him. "Good, if you had woken me up just to say hi you would be eating through a straw for a month. I am NOT a morning person."
Dustil's grin widened. Probably thinking of some hugely irritating prank, at my expense. She glared at him again.
"Don't even think about it flyboy."
She followed him into the med-bay, where Mission and Zaalbar were standing next to one of the two beds in there, with a man sitting on the edge of the bed, manacled to the side of the bed. He was tall, with handsome features, brown hair and piercing blue eyes. There like the oceans of Manaan, they look like they go on forever...Woah girl! She blushed. He's a Sith prisoner!
"Ah! Someone else here to interrogate me! I am honoured." Despite herself, she smiled, but then she was all business.
"Mission, Dustil, Zaalbar, could you step outside, I'll call you if I need anything." They complied, and she sealed the door behind them and pulled out a Bothan Stunner.
"Now there are two ways we can do this; the easy way..."
Alleyway outside the Flarstar Cantina, Coruscant Underlevels
"...or the hard way." Atton Rand let the small man's collar go, and he fell to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the man had pulled a long knife out of one of his boots. Atton just smiled, and before his target realized what was happening, he was dangling upside down in a tight Force grip.
He smiled again, but not a smile of mirth; it was that of a predator who had caught its prey.
"Sith assassin standard issue. Even carrying that thing carries a life sentence on any Republic world." The man just glared at him, which Atton countered with such a piercing stare that the assassin turned away, feeling like his soul had been glimpsed in millisecond. It was one which he had perfected long ago, in a different life, perfect for interrogation. "So are you going to tell me where Magex is, or do I need to break out the hydro-grips?"
"I don't know! All of my missions are given to me by an anonymous message drop. I never see my contact's face!"
Atton shook his head, smiling an evil smile "They don't train you to the same standards any more, do they? When I was one of you, I would have broken my false tooth and taken poison by now, but you? You break at the first mention of torture. Well it makes my job easier."
He pulled out a blaster, and pressed it to the assassin's temple "Are you sure you know nothing else?"
"Yes! That's all I know!"
The stun beam knocked him out instantly, and he dropped to the floor.
"Traviss, call Grenn and get him to pick Target One up, we have three more targets to find." Atton walked to an open Turbo-lift, and keyed for the landing pad.
"Got it." Traviss walked out of the shadows, whilst HK-47 stepped round the corner from the other end of the alley-way.
"Disappointed Statement: The Meatbag appears to still be alive. Query: Would you like me to change this, Master?"
"Not now HK, we've got some more people to track." Traviss spoke, taking out his com-link.
"Analyses: Not now suggests possibility of violence later. Eager Statement: I await this with pleasure."
Traviss shook his head ruefully, and opened a line to Captain Grenn.
"Grenn? It's Drevak. We've got another target for you to pick up, Residential area 796, Level 153, Block 19, The Industrial Quarter. Thanks." Traviss cut off the call, and hit the call button for another Turbo-lift.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
"Are you willing to repeat what you've just told me in front of Supreme Commander Onasi?" Mira said threateningly.
"Sure, whatever you need." Zachus, not quite so composed now, but still with steel in his eyes, nodded.
"Good. See: it's always good to do things the easy way." She shut off the Bothan Stunner, and hit the door release.
As the door sealed behind her, he winced, looking at the stun burns on his chest. "That was the easy way?"
Supreme Commander's Office, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth gazed at the sheet of durasteel welded across the hole in his window. He shook his head, wondering how an assassin managed to get close enough to ram a speeder through his window without the automated defences destroying it. The Techs still hadn't found evidence that they had been de-activated, but Carth suspected they would.
"Sir, Supreme Chancellor Ritson has requested that you go to his office for a meeting to do with the current Assassin crisis." His new secretary spoke from the door.
"Thank you Gert, please tell the Chancellor that I'll be there soon." He keyed for the turbo-lift, and pressed the personal vehicles hanger button, and felt the lift begin to rise.
Personal Vehicles Hanger, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Atton shut the door to his speeder and ran towards the turbo-lift doors. He punched the call button, and waited impatiently as the lift rose to meet him. As the doors opened, all he saw was a flash as the explosion knocked him off his feet and across the hanger bay. He twitched once, and lay there unmoving.
The Coruscant Eagle, The outskirts of the Coruscant System
"Go evasive; see if we can shake them!" Mira shouted over the inter-comm, before holstering her blasters and running towards the cockpit."
She ran in to see Dustil wrestling with the controls, whilst Mission put out a small fire on one part of the control board. Zaalbar, strangely enough, was nowhere to be seen.
"I asked Zaalbar to check on the prisoner." There was clear strain in Dustil's voice.
"Good idea, this may be an attempt to rescue him. How many Hostiles?"
"I count six Sith fighters, and one larger ship, some sort of carrier or transport."
"Have you tried contacting the Coruscant Defence Fleet, they may be able to send some backup."
Mission spoke up, having put out the fire. "The first thing they hit was the Comm-dish, we can't get a signal."
"Have we got weapons Dustil?"
"The topside Quad-lasers are working but the bottom ones are damaged."
"Ok, I'll go topside, try to keep our enemies in that arc of fire."
"Got it."
Mira ran to the gun turret corridor, unsealed the hatch, and strapped herself in the topside turret port. She checked the charge levels "This is Mira, I've only got half charge, did they hit the generator?"
"Mira, this is Mission, they hit that in their last salvo, we've managed to keep it online, but I had to lower the power output, sorry."
"Ok, got it, Over and Out."
She swung the Quad-lasers round, and sighted on the first wing pair. With two quick squeezes of the trigged, both Craft exploded. "Two down, four to go."
As one fighter cut across the top, trying to force Dustil to turn away from his current bearing, she blew it to pieces, spraying it's wingman with shrapnel. Flying blind through the explosion, the wingman emerged in the middle of Mira's Crosshairs, and soon a laser burst sent him to the same place as his wingman.
"Dustil, where are the other two? I have no visual."
"They have figured out where we can't get them, they are hanging around our blindside, I've been trying to rotate to get them in our sights, but our manoeuvring is severely impaired right now, so they can easily out manoeuvre us."
"Ok, do what you can, I'll try and use the Force to slow their reactions." She reached out with the Force, and felt where the two minds of the pilots were. Both were human, and brimming with hate. She sensed that they weren't Force Sensitive, so just as Dustil rolled the ship, she scrambled the first one's mind for a few seconds, landing him right in her sights. "Boom." The ship exploded spectacularly, hurling a large piece of shrapnel into the wingman as he tried to dodge the spinning Coruscant Eagle. The wingman's engines cut out, and he was sent careening into the abyss with no power to his engines.
"The Carrier is jumping to Hyperspace, see if you can hit its engines!" Dustil shouted over the inter-comm.
"Will do." She targeted the engines and unleashed a withering hail of energy into them. Unfortunately, the ship continued to pick up speed.
"Damn! Sorry Dustil, she's gone." No sooner had Mira said this than a Republic Warship materialised from Hyperspace in front of the fleeing ship, and hit her with an ion-cannon barrage.
"Or maybe not..." Dustil's voice sounded perplexed. "Mission, did you get a signal off to fleet command?"
"No, the long-range comm unit is still down, but we still have short range."
Mira cut into the conversation "I think we should open a hailing channel."
"Got it."
Mira unstrapped herself from the turret, and ran towards the cockpit. She arrived just after Zaalbar, and everyone just stood there, staring at the comm-unit.
Mission spoke up "We have an ID on the warship, she's the Requiem, her and her sister ship, the Dream, are the new Firaxa-class cruisers, the most heavily armed ships in the Republic Navy. There's no way that one of them should be over here!"
The Comm suddenly lit up. "This is Admiral Forn Dodonna, hailing unidentified craft. State your name and prepare to be boarded."
Mission glanced at Mira, who nodded, whispered something to Dustil, gestured at the maintenance control board, and walked out of the cockpit. Mission keyed the comm "Admiral, this is Mission Vao, onboard the Republic Intelligence vessel the Coruscant Eagle. The other ship is a Sith vessel that was attempting to stop us reaching Coruscant."
"Well met, Mission Vao, I'm glad to see nothing has happened to you since the Star Forge. May I ask what you are doing here?"
"We've only got a Class 4 Hyperdrive; we have to stop here to avoid hitting the Corellian System. But you have a Class 3; you should easily be able to cut off this stop."
"We intercepted a transmission from a spy in Fleet Command to a ship we suspected of running guns for a Sith terrorist cell. From the smugglers we obtained these coordinates, and lay in wait."
"Well, thanks for the assist, but I'm afraid we have to be moving, we have to deliver a message to Supreme Commander Onasi."
A note of sadness entered Dodonna's voice. "I'm sorry Mission, I thought you had heard. The reason I'm out of retirement is because Carth's dead. A bomb took out the lift he was in."
Mission sat back in shock, and stared at Dustil. He had gone white, and was shaking.
"I'm sorry Dustil." Admiral Dodonna spoke softly. "We haven't found a body yet, but the blast took out most of the top of the building he was in, he had no chance."
Mission looked straight at Dodonna, with fire in her eyes, and spoke, with a voice as cold as Hoth, "When we get back to Coruscant, we will find the person who did this, and make them pay for their crimes. Carth will not be forgotten."
"You seemed to suddenly age as you said that Mission. Remember, taking on such a burden is not something you want to dominate you life. A life built on revenge is not a life well lived."
"I'll bare that in mind Admiral, but we have to present this message either to the new Supreme Commander or the Supreme Chancellor, unless you're the new Commander?"
"No, Mission, the Chancellor has yet to select one, so for now you will have to see the Ritson. I would offer you a lift, but I have Fleet business at the Cron Drift."
"Thanks Admiral, but we could probably not trust this on your ship, all it would take is one spy and this information could be lost."
"Understood Mission, and good luck."
"The comm unit light flickered off, and Mission turned to Dustil, who was sitting silently, staring at the floor.
"We will find who did this Dustil, and we will make them pay."
Mission keyed in the course for Coruscant, and reached for the Hyperdrive lever, but Dustil sat up and grabbed her hand, and looked her straight in the eyes. "A life built on revenge is not a life well lived. The Admiral spoke good advice Mission, always remember, look towards to the Future, and do not regret the past. I would like to be in your future, Mission; you're all I have now." His voice broke halfway through, but he spoke seriously, and calmly. "Jedi do not hate. I will bring my father's killer to justice, but I will not mourn him. Instead I will celebrate his life, a tribute to a man who gave his life to an undeserving Republic, a man who saved the Galaxy.
He held Mission's gaze a few moments longer, and together they engaged the Hyperdrive.
Personal Vehicle Hanger, Former Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Nem's laughter rang out, standing amid the debris. Various vehicles were visible amid the debris, in various states of dismemberment.
"A Traitor and an Admiral dead today. It has been a good day. Remind me to promote Ukem for placing the bombs perfectly." Nem appeared to speak to the empty air, but then pulled a comlink out of his pocket and put into the end-call position. He walked to the edge of the building, which had been exposed to the open air by the bomb, and dropped the comlink off it, surveying Coruscant.
He glanced down at his chest and saw the red dot dancing across his chest.
Roof, Gavrisom Offices, Coruscant
Two kilometres away, Traviss' finger twitched, and he tracked the body fall a kilometre before hitting another roof. He stood up and brushed himself off.
After completing this, he sent a brief message through his comm: Target neutralised, awaiting further orders, my Lord.
He then switched to a different frequency.
"This is Traviss, I have sighting on the roof, no sign of Nem, prepare to move in."
Suddenly HK-47's face and blaster appeared from the wrecked lift shaft, as at the same time an unmarked speeder prepared to set down on the distant roof, Brianna piloting and Bao-Dur aiming with his blaster.
Brianna's voice came over his comlink "Looks like he has either already gone, or never turned up."
"Statement: It is difficult to take a reading; there is much ionisation in the air due to the explosion."
Traviss nodded to himself, satisfied, and began to disassemble his rifle.
Observation Balcony, Temple of the Beast, Anome
Darth Vectimus smiled, staring down into the pit. "My plans advance quickly, my pets. Soon you will have to rely no longer on inferior food. Soon there will be Jedi enough to feed you all."
He heard the beat again: dah dah dah dum, dah dah dah dum, endlessly repeating itself in his mind.
He knew that sound, he knew it better than life itself, and it was the Sound of War.
He pressed a button on the banister of the balcony. "Admiral Kellner, prepare to launch. The last great Sith fleet will follow the call to war. Set your destination to the Pyria system. From there, Coruscant beckons."
He cackled with laughter, and walked off the balcony, beckoning behind him. "Come, my apprentice, we must see the fleet off. Within the month Coruscant will be mine."
Fine Hage removed himself from the shadows and followed his master.

Description
When the Drums Fall Silent: Part 2. The Death of Friends.
Darth Vectimus sat alone in his cavernous throne, and raged. "How could security have allowed the Jedi to escape? If they had not taken him with them, I would have killed Zachus for such a failure! When I catch them he shall be the first to die! I will crush his bones one by one, until he begs for death, and then he shall be left for the Teranteks!"
He calmed down, and pressed a concealed switch on his throne. "Admiral, our plans must advance. Ready the fleet for deployment. Soon we will set course for Coruscant."
A shadow moved behind him, and his apprentice, cloaked in that shadow, spoke in a guttural voice "At last we will reveal ourselves to the Jedi. At last we will have revenge."
"Indeed my apprentice, soon. Soon the Teranteks will be sated beyond their wildest dreams, and the Galaxy will be mine. And then I will find that traitor Revan, and I will make him regret his existence, and bind him into my service!" His cackling laughter rang out, filling the cavernous throne room.
The Coruscant Eagle, the Anome System
"I'm breaking off the attack now; I wish you a good run back to Coruscant Mission. Goodbye, and may Warriors Fortune follow you!" Bralor's voice cut off from the comlink in the cockpit, and as several Sith destroyers exploded behind them, the Mandalorian Basilisks jumped to Hyperspace.
A few moments later the computer chimed to show that the Eagle was out of Anome's gravity well too, and Dustil Onasi engaged the Hyperdrive.
Supreme Commander's office, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth Onasi paced his office. He had read every report in his in-tray, put several in his out-tray, and had since then received no messages or reports. He couldn't even contact any of his usual friends; they were all on missions or with the Jedi Council on a trip to salvage records from the academy at Ossus. He had even become so bored as to play 3-D solitaire on his computer, and given up on it after completing it three times.
Then his office window blew in for the second time that month.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
"Why are we going to Coruscant? Wouldn't a nearby planet have a message system we could use?" Mira asked.
"Yes it would, but you were captured in a nearby system, so we don't know if we can trust the system's inhabitants. And by the time we can clear through the Bureaucracy of the systems closer to Coruscant it would be too late anyway." Mission Vao answered.
"Ok." Mira paused, thinking through what she was about to say. "How are you Mission? Back there on Anome you were very angry."
"I don't know what came over me, I just suddenly felt very angry, I wanted to hurt him, for denying us passage. I felt very strange."
"Well as long as you've gotten over it now it's ok, but be mindful of your anger."
Dustil Onasi walked into the room, smiling. "You sound far too much like Bastila when you say that Mira. I'm glad to be away from the Jedi Princess for a while, please don't suddenly transform into her."
"You're pretty disrespectful of your master, Dustil. Why is that?"
"Well, I know she is wise and experienced, but she is a major control freak, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with her."
"Me and Dustil have tried getting here to lighten up, but so far, no luck." Mission spoke up again.
Zaalbar growled "Maybe you should try something other than playing practical jokes on her. She wasn't very pleased when that bucket of Gizka attractant landed on her head."
Mira burst out laughing. "Gizka attractant? Sheer genius."
Dustil spoke up. "I've been to check on our prisoner. The medicomp says Zachus should be awake within the hour, I've set it to page me when he wakes up."
"Good idea Dustil, call me when he's awake." Mira got up and walked out of the lounge towards her cabin.
Mission laid back in her chair. "I think I'll turn in too, bye guys." She got up, and went to her cabin, which was situated next door to Mira's.
Zaalbar stretched "You should sleep too, young one, I will stand watch."
"Ok then, see you later Zaalbar." Dustil checked his comlink was on, and opened his cabin door and stepped inside.
Zaalbar took out his bowcaster, and started to take apart and re-calibrate the mechanism.
Medical Wing, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth stirred in his bed. "Where the hell am I?" He reached for his pistol, but instead ended up grasping hospital bedclothes.
"Sorry sir, the medics removed your blaster when you were admitted." A familiar voice spoke next to him.
Carth looked round, he could see a fuzzy image lying in the next bed, but his eyes hadn't focused to the light yet, and all there was was a blond blur. "Mical? Mical Drevak?"
The man laughed "Close sir, but no. I'm Traviss Drevak, his brother. I'm one of Atton Rand's team, appointed to track Sith assassins."
"Hmmm..." Carth stroked his brow thoughtfully "I've been waiting for a report from Atton, but I don't think he is a reports kind of person."
"No." Traviss concurred, "More of the 'blow the door off' kind of person."
Carth smiled "So how did you end up in here, Lieutenant?" Carth said, glancing at the rank tab on the uniform at the bottom of Traviss' bed.
"It's not much of a story sir, but here goes..."
3 Day's earlier.
The Endar's Revenge, Lane 1189, Gamma District, Coruscant
"Blue...Green..." He knew he had only milliseconds to decide before the bomb under the Chancellor's speeder went off. He heard Brianna shout "He's detonating."
Traviss fired.
The blast cut straight through the green wire, and dissipated against the armour on the base of the speeder.
Atton's elated voice sounded over his comlink. "That shot was one in a million Traviss!"
Traviss crawled back into the ship and reached for the ramp switch.
"Traviss, get down!" Atton shouted over the com.
As fast as he was, he knew he was still too slow, as two heavy blaster bolts went straight through the open hatch and hit his chest. As he fell he dimly saw the assassin's speeder veering away from a line of blaster bolts, and then darkness claimed him.
Medical Wing, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
"So what happened after that?" said Carth, intrigued.
"Apparently the assassin tried to shoot the bomb on the Chancellor's speeder, but took a shot from the Revenge's blaster cannon and ploughed into the side of a building, killing the assassin and injuring four people who were working in the building, and I was rushed to the Medical Centre with a gaping hole in my chest."
"It disturbs me how two assassins were able to infiltrate and reach positions connected to important men in the Republic without anyone detecting them."
"According to Atton they act as sleepers, disappearing for a few weeks at a time to complete their training, and then making no contact after they have finished. They will simply pursue their current life, until they are activated, and which point they will carry out their mission and vanish from mainstream society. Atton said he had only met them twice before, both times at hidden training centers on pro-Sith worlds during the war."
"So there could be hundreds of them, just waiting to be activated, behind enemy lines."
"Pretty much sir, although Atton claims that a lot of them were either deployed in the war, defected, or refused to answer the Sith call to act."
Carth looked thoughtful "So there could be Sith assassins no longer willing to work for the Sith out there? That could be a powerful weapon if we could find out who these people are."
"I'm not so sure about that sir. If you remember, there was an assassination attempt on Atton. We think that Magex is killing all who refuse to serve him."
Carth nodded "I guess it's what I would do too."
A nurse walked into the ward and spoke "Lieutenant, there is a man waiting to talk to you in the corridor, 'says his name is Atton."
"I guess I'll go and talk to him. Nice to meet you sir."
Traviss heaved himself out of bed, and walked awkwardly out of the room, Carth watched him relax from Military straightness to a more relaxed posture; he obviously did not feel comfortable talking to the Supreme Commander.
Atton saw Traviss walk through the doors into the hall, and smiled "Nice to see you up Traviss, but if your good, we've got some Sith Schuttas to deal with."
With that, Atton turned round, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and walked out with Traviss following him.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
Mira awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her door. She slid out of bed, stood up and hit the door open switch.
As she rubbed sleep out of her eyes, she was greeted by a grinning Dustil. "Hey Dustil."
"Hey Mira. You asked me to tell you when our prisoner was awake."
Mira glared at him. "Good, if you had woken me up just to say hi you would be eating through a straw for a month. I am NOT a morning person."
Dustil's grin widened. Probably thinking of some hugely irritating prank, at my expense. She glared at him again.
"Don't even think about it flyboy."
She followed him into the med-bay, where Mission and Zaalbar were standing next to one of the two beds in there, with a man sitting on the edge of the bed, manacled to the side of the bed. He was tall, with handsome features, brown hair and piercing blue eyes. There like the oceans of Manaan, they look like they go on forever...Woah girl! She blushed. He's a Sith prisoner!
"Ah! Someone else here to interrogate me! I am honoured." Despite herself, she smiled, but then she was all business.
"Mission, Dustil, Zaalbar, could you step outside, I'll call you if I need anything." They complied, and she sealed the door behind them and pulled out a Bothan Stunner.
"Now there are two ways we can do this; the easy way..."
Alleyway outside the Flarstar Cantina, Coruscant Underlevels
"...or the hard way." Atton Rand let the small man's collar go, and he fell to the ground.
In the blink of an eye, the man had pulled a long knife out of one of his boots. Atton just smiled, and before his target realized what was happening, he was dangling upside down in a tight Force grip.
He smiled again, but not a smile of mirth; it was that of a predator who had caught its prey.
"Sith assassin standard issue. Even carrying that thing carries a life sentence on any Republic world." The man just glared at him, which Atton countered with such a piercing stare that the assassin turned away, feeling like his soul had been glimpsed in millisecond. It was one which he had perfected long ago, in a different life, perfect for interrogation. "So are you going to tell me where Magex is, or do I need to break out the hydro-grips?"
"I don't know! All of my missions are given to me by an anonymous message drop. I never see my contact's face!"
Atton shook his head, smiling an evil smile "They don't train you to the same standards any more, do they? When I was one of you, I would have broken my false tooth and taken poison by now, but you? You break at the first mention of torture. Well it makes my job easier."
He pulled out a blaster, and pressed it to the assassin's temple "Are you sure you know nothing else?"
"Yes! That's all I know!"
The stun beam knocked him out instantly, and he dropped to the floor.
"Traviss, call Grenn and get him to pick Target One up, we have three more targets to find." Atton walked to an open Turbo-lift, and keyed for the landing pad.
"Got it." Traviss walked out of the shadows, whilst HK-47 stepped round the corner from the other end of the alley-way.
"Disappointed Statement: The Meatbag appears to still be alive. Query: Would you like me to change this, Master?"
"Not now HK, we've got some more people to track." Traviss spoke, taking out his com-link.
"Analyses: Not now suggests possibility of violence later. Eager Statement: I await this with pleasure."
Traviss shook his head ruefully, and opened a line to Captain Grenn.
"Grenn? It's Drevak. We've got another target for you to pick up, Residential area 796, Level 153, Block 19, The Industrial Quarter. Thanks." Traviss cut off the call, and hit the call button for another Turbo-lift.
The Coruscant Eagle, Hyperspace
"Are you willing to repeat what you've just told me in front of Supreme Commander Onasi?" Mira said threateningly.
"Sure, whatever you need." Zachus, not quite so composed now, but still with steel in his eyes, nodded.
"Good. See: it's always good to do things the easy way." She shut off the Bothan Stunner, and hit the door release.
As the door sealed behind her, he winced, looking at the stun burns on his chest. "That was the easy way?"
Supreme Commander's Office, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Carth gazed at the sheet of durasteel welded across the hole in his window. He shook his head, wondering how an assassin managed to get close enough to ram a speeder through his window without the automated defences destroying it. The Techs still hadn't found evidence that they had been de-activated, but Carth suspected they would.
"Sir, Supreme Chancellor Ritson has requested that you go to his office for a meeting to do with the current Assassin crisis." His new secretary spoke from the door.
"Thank you Gert, please tell the Chancellor that I'll be there soon." He keyed for the turbo-lift, and pressed the personal vehicles hanger button, and felt the lift begin to rise.
Personal Vehicles Hanger, Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Atton shut the door to his speeder and ran towards the turbo-lift doors. He punched the call button, and waited impatiently as the lift rose to meet him. As the doors opened, all he saw was a flash as the explosion knocked him off his feet and across the hanger bay. He twitched once, and lay there unmoving.
The Coruscant Eagle, The outskirts of the Coruscant System
"Go evasive; see if we can shake them!" Mira shouted over the inter-comm, before holstering her blasters and running towards the cockpit."
She ran in to see Dustil wrestling with the controls, whilst Mission put out a small fire on one part of the control board. Zaalbar, strangely enough, was nowhere to be seen.
"I asked Zaalbar to check on the prisoner." There was clear strain in Dustil's voice.
"Good idea, this may be an attempt to rescue him. How many Hostiles?"
"I count six Sith fighters, and one larger ship, some sort of carrier or transport."
"Have you tried contacting the Coruscant Defence Fleet, they may be able to send some backup."
Mission spoke up, having put out the fire. "The first thing they hit was the Comm-dish, we can't get a signal."
"Have we got weapons Dustil?"
"The topside Quad-lasers are working but the bottom ones are damaged."
"Ok, I'll go topside, try to keep our enemies in that arc of fire."
"Got it."
Mira ran to the gun turret corridor, unsealed the hatch, and strapped herself in the topside turret port. She checked the charge levels "This is Mira, I've only got half charge, did they hit the generator?"
"Mira, this is Mission, they hit that in their last salvo, we've managed to keep it online, but I had to lower the power output, sorry."
"Ok, got it, Over and Out."
She swung the Quad-lasers round, and sighted on the first wing pair. With two quick squeezes of the trigged, both Craft exploded. "Two down, four to go."
As one fighter cut across the top, trying to force Dustil to turn away from his current bearing, she blew it to pieces, spraying it's wingman with shrapnel. Flying blind through the explosion, the wingman emerged in the middle of Mira's Crosshairs, and soon a laser burst sent him to the same place as his wingman.
"Dustil, where are the other two? I have no visual."
"They have figured out where we can't get them, they are hanging around our blindside, I've been trying to rotate to get them in our sights, but our manoeuvring is severely impaired right now, so they can easily out manoeuvre us."
"Ok, do what you can, I'll try and use the Force to slow their reactions." She reached out with the Force, and felt where the two minds of the pilots were. Both were human, and brimming with hate. She sensed that they weren't Force Sensitive, so just as Dustil rolled the ship, she scrambled the first one's mind for a few seconds, landing him right in her sights. "Boom." The ship exploded spectacularly, hurling a large piece of shrapnel into the wingman as he tried to dodge the spinning Coruscant Eagle. The wingman's engines cut out, and he was sent careening into the abyss with no power to his engines.
"The Carrier is jumping to Hyperspace, see if you can hit its engines!" Dustil shouted over the inter-comm.
"Will do." She targeted the engines and unleashed a withering hail of energy into them. Unfortunately, the ship continued to pick up speed.
"Damn! Sorry Dustil, she's gone." No sooner had Mira said this than a Republic Warship materialised from Hyperspace in front of the fleeing ship, and hit her with an ion-cannon barrage.
"Or maybe not..." Dustil's voice sounded perplexed. "Mission, did you get a signal off to fleet command?"
"No, the long-range comm unit is still down, but we still have short range."
Mira cut into the conversation "I think we should open a hailing channel."
"Got it."
Mira unstrapped herself from the turret, and ran towards the cockpit. She arrived just after Zaalbar, and everyone just stood there, staring at the comm-unit.
Mission spoke up "We have an ID on the warship, she's the Requiem, her and her sister ship, the Dream, are the new Firaxa-class cruisers, the most heavily armed ships in the Republic Navy. There's no way that one of them should be over here!"
The Comm suddenly lit up. "This is Admiral Forn Dodonna, hailing unidentified craft. State your name and prepare to be boarded."
Mission glanced at Mira, who nodded, whispered something to Dustil, gestured at the maintenance control board, and walked out of the cockpit. Mission keyed the comm "Admiral, this is Mission Vao, onboard the Republic Intelligence vessel the Coruscant Eagle. The other ship is a Sith vessel that was attempting to stop us reaching Coruscant."
"Well met, Mission Vao, I'm glad to see nothing has happened to you since the Star Forge. May I ask what you are doing here?"
"We've only got a Class 4 Hyperdrive; we have to stop here to avoid hitting the Corellian System. But you have a Class 3; you should easily be able to cut off this stop."
"We intercepted a transmission from a spy in Fleet Command to a ship we suspected of running guns for a Sith terrorist cell. From the smugglers we obtained these coordinates, and lay in wait."
"Well, thanks for the assist, but I'm afraid we have to be moving, we have to deliver a message to Supreme Commander Onasi."
A note of sadness entered Dodonna's voice. "I'm sorry Mission, I thought you had heard. The reason I'm out of retirement is because Carth's dead. A bomb took out the lift he was in."
Mission sat back in shock, and stared at Dustil. He had gone white, and was shaking.
"I'm sorry Dustil." Admiral Dodonna spoke softly. "We haven't found a body yet, but the blast took out most of the top of the building he was in, he had no chance."
Mission looked straight at Dodonna, with fire in her eyes, and spoke, with a voice as cold as Hoth, "When we get back to Coruscant, we will find the person who did this, and make them pay for their crimes. Carth will not be forgotten."
"You seemed to suddenly age as you said that Mission. Remember, taking on such a burden is not something you want to dominate you life. A life built on revenge is not a life well lived."
"I'll bare that in mind Admiral, but we have to present this message either to the new Supreme Commander or the Supreme Chancellor, unless you're the new Commander?"
"No, Mission, the Chancellor has yet to select one, so for now you will have to see the Ritson. I would offer you a lift, but I have Fleet business at the Cron Drift."
"Thanks Admiral, but we could probably not trust this on your ship, all it would take is one spy and this information could be lost."
"Understood Mission, and good luck."
"The comm unit light flickered off, and Mission turned to Dustil, who was sitting silently, staring at the floor.
"We will find who did this Dustil, and we will make them pay."
Mission keyed in the course for Coruscant, and reached for the Hyperdrive lever, but Dustil sat up and grabbed her hand, and looked her straight in the eyes. "A life built on revenge is not a life well lived. The Admiral spoke good advice Mission, always remember, look towards to the Future, and do not regret the past. I would like to be in your future, Mission; you're all I have now." His voice broke halfway through, but he spoke seriously, and calmly. "Jedi do not hate. I will bring my father's killer to justice, but I will not mourn him. Instead I will celebrate his life, a tribute to a man who gave his life to an undeserving Republic, a man who saved the Galaxy.
He held Mission's gaze a few moments longer, and together they engaged the Hyperdrive.
Personal Vehicle Hanger, Former Republic Fleet Command, Coruscant
Nem's laughter rang out, standing amid the debris. Various vehicles were visible amid the debris, in various states of dismemberment.
"A Traitor and an Admiral dead today. It has been a good day. Remind me to promote Ukem for placing the bombs perfectly." Nem appeared to speak to the empty air, but then pulled a comlink out of his pocket and put into the end-call position. He walked to the edge of the building, which had been exposed to the open air by the bomb, and dropped the comlink off it, surveying Coruscant.
He glanced down at his chest and saw the red dot dancing across his chest.
Roof, Gavrisom Offices, Coruscant
Two kilometres away, Traviss' finger twitched, and he tracked the body fall a kilometre before hitting another roof. He stood up and brushed himself off.
After completing this, he sent a brief message through his comm: Target neutralised, awaiting further orders, my Lord.
He then switched to a different frequency.
"This is Traviss, I have sighting on the roof, no sign of Nem, prepare to move in."
Suddenly HK-47's face and blaster appeared from the wrecked lift shaft, as at the same time an unmarked speeder prepared to set down on the distant roof, Brianna piloting and Bao-Dur aiming with his blaster.
Brianna's voice came over his comlink "Looks like he has either already gone, or never turned up."
"Statement: It is difficult to take a reading; there is much ionisation in the air due to the explosion."
Traviss nodded to himself, satisfied, and began to disassemble his rifle.
Observation Balcony, Temple of the Beast, Anome
Darth Vectimus smiled, staring down into the pit. "My plans advance quickly, my pets. Soon you will have to rely no longer on inferior food. Soon there will be Jedi enough to feed you all."
He heard the beat again: dah dah dah dum, dah dah dah dum, endlessly repeating itself in his mind.
He knew that sound, he knew it better than life itself, and it was the Sound of War.
He pressed a button on the banister of the balcony. "Admiral Kellner, prepare to launch. The last great Sith fleet will follow the call to war. Set your destination to the Pyria system. From there, Coruscant beckons."
He cackled with laughter, and walked off the balcony, beckoning behind him. "Come, my apprentice, we must see the fleet off. Within the month Coruscant will be mine."
Fine Hage removed himself from the shadows and followed his master.