The light tunnel of hyper-space blinked out of existence and Thyferra appeared in front of the battle cruiser. Military ships of various governments weren’t an unusual sight around the planet. The high cost of Bacta made it prudent to use ships of war to either guard a freighter or transport it themselves. The usual chatter of first contact was exchanged and the ship was on its way.

The headquarters of the Hand of Thyferra was a heavily fortified building made of reinforced permacrete. It bristled with cannons and turrets around the main buildings and the landing pads. The battle cruiser stopped some way above the compound. A short time later a large shuttle was launched and winged its way from the ship. The bulky shuttle took a while but finally came to rest in one of the landing pads.

The boarding ramp lowered into position and the passengers began to disembark. First out was a hard looking human with blonde hair and golden eyes in gleaming white armor and cloak. Beside him strode an equally hard looking Cathar woman with a slight smirk on her face. She wore a nondescript cloak over tight fitting light armor that allowed for maximum movement.

Behind them was a tall white haired woman in black armor with a red cloak. At her side was a green skinned Twi’lek in tan armor with a heavy repeating blaster strapped to his back. Several more guards followed in pairs down the ramp until they were greeted by the landing pad master and his own squad of heavily armed guards. The oppressive heat and humidity was causing sweat to bead on foreheads already.

The beaurocrat was looking at his datapad more than the newcomers. “What business d’ya have here?” He looked up and noticed the lightsabers on the hips of the three in front. Nothing new there. Jedi and Sith were at one installation or another all the time. The arrogance rolling off of the blonde man made it a cinch that he was a Sith. Since he wasn’t fighting with the others, they must be as well.

The Cathar woman spoke up as the representative for the group. “I am Lady Ruqua, and this lovely Male specimen, is Lord Ganlaan. We have a purchase order on behalf of the Empire. We are here to oversee the loading and delivery of that contract.” She handed over a datapad that contained the order. He studied it a moment and compared it to his own records.

“Are you sure this order is from here? I don’t have a record of it.” He started speaking to himself, “The form is right. That’s the right designation. Right port. Hmm.” He looked up from the pad at the Cathar and said, “I’m not finding this anywhere I look.”

She smiled amiably at him saying, “Then we have a problem dear. This was handed down to me directly from the Council.” The pad master fiddled with both datapads for a bit before scratching his chin in confusion.

While he did so the others casually looked around the landing pad and noted the defenses. The Twi’lek absently rubbed at the scar on his jaw while looking around. He was nervous being around Sith after a lifetime of fighting against them. And what did that get him? Injuries, scars and little else. Here he was at least promised a chance at revenge and a share of the spoils. It was a turning point for him since he had always tried to do what was right. Now it was time to do what was right for him.

“This kind of thing happens from time to time. I’ll just have to dig into the problem at the main terminal. It usually doesn’t take long to find the problem and fix it.”

He turned to walk away and the Cathar stopped him with a word. “Lord Ganlaan will accompany you.” The master started to object when she cut him off with a loud whisper. “He doesn’t do well in the heat like this. It makes him ill.”

Ganlaan dramatically rolled his eyes and sighed heavily in frustration. “Really? You had to go there? I would have managed.”

She smiled wickedly at him. “Of course you would dear. Now run along and cool off before you pass out.” Incredulous, the man gave her a disgusted look of hurt pride. She made shooing motions saying, “Go on. Get!”

The pad master chuckled and waved him along as he turned towards the main building there. Once he was not being observed anymore, all expression left Ganlaan’s face. He glanced briefly at the others and nodded before following along. So far so good. Talo’Ra and Ruqua felt Ukodi pass by them in his Force cloak. Ganlaan felt his presence following along as they approached the doors.

The double door was purpose built, having reinforcements on the reinforcements. Tracks for a thick blast door were evident in front of them should there be a need. The scarring of blaster fire and shrapnel peppered along the inner walls told the story of the need for those blast doors. A cloud of insects hung near the doors and the overworked pad master waved them away with his datapad.

Using his badge to unlock the doors, they slid open and he proceeded through. Ganlaan purposely walked through the cloud of insects and started gagging as if several had gotten in his mouth. Attention was directed at him while Ukodi slipped in unnoticed. Once he was through, he gave a telepathic signal to the struggling Human. Ganlaan was able to get himself under control again and finally entered the building.

The room was bustling with activity as office staff was taking and organizing orders for Bacta. Battle droids were posted around the room as security. They made the perfect guard as they didn’t make any distracting breathing noises. Ganlaan took note of where they were around the room. They were strategically posted for defensive purposes while a pair patrolled on a padded walkway to keep noise down. The workers spoke among, or to, themselves while coordinating the stream of orders.

Ukodi made good his escape from the receiving office, and swiftly made his way through a maze of passageways that he had memorized. He found the stairs and sped down them to the third landing. There he used a slicing spike to override the lock on the door with a minimum of fuss. Inside there was a short hallway that ended in what looked like a vault with a pair of guards and half a dozen droids. Exactly what he was expecting.

Asmenys had managed to procure the blueprints of this complex. Money and subtle threats alike were expended to make this happen. Initially the Darth had not condoned a direct assault on the Hand. After some thought and further discussion with Talo’Ra, he agreed to consider it. The Darth had summoned the now Lord Ganlaan to a meeting place away from his hideaway.

Both being natural schemers, they hashed over the idea and found merit. Ganlaan was brought to Asmenys’ lair and for many long days and nights they planned. The Darth was impressed by the young Lord. He was no Asmenys, but that would come with time. Asmenys thought that it may be profitable to tutor this one in such matters.

The Sith Order was overrun with idiots who thought cruelty was more effective than strategy. They let their lightsabers do all the thinking. Being evil for the sake of it. Despite his youth, this one had promise. The Cathar was a powerhouse of prowess. His new apprentice was a hot head, but she knew the value of patience. He was certain of that now. She was a dark horse. Unpredictable. Just what he needed as his right hand.

Ukodi crept forward using goggles to look for the nearly invisible beams laid across the hallway. Their location hadn’t been marked other than this general area. It was a tricky time avoiding the static ones. Two moved slowly which added extra challenge. He had nearly made it through when a floor tile he stepped on clicked slightly. He was relieved that it wasn’t rigged to an explosive charge, but he still had a problem.

An alarm sounded briefly to alert the guard if they were not already aware of intruders. He swore under his breath but did not hesitate in his next actions. Using the Force he accelerated forward. He sent twin Force Waves ahead of him to smash the droids against the wall. The sentient guards were only just starting to register danger when the first one was decapitated and the second cut diagonally in half. Their bodies were still falling to the floor when he changed direction. The droids on his right seemed to be recovering faster.

The double bladed saber spun as if alive in his hands. The barrel of a blaster rifle was cut off and fell to the floor along with the arm and leg of the other two droids. He speared one through the head and it dropped in a shower of sparks. A second was cut into several pieces as the blades spun. The last of the three he grabbed with the Force and threw it into the other three. The throw was off and only sent one of the droids off balance.

A steady stream of fire was directed at his location. He spun his blades with speed and accuracy to deflect the bolts back at droids. First one, then another went down to their own blaster fire. The third one was bisected, both halves falling in a shower of sparks. The droid he had thrown was still partially functional so he stabbed a blade into it.

He sent a thought to Ganlaan and hoped he would be able to get it that far away. Droids down, entering mainframe. The control for the door was secured in a box with an encrypted lock . He used the Force to tear the lid of that box off. Another spike was produced to override this lock. Ukodi found that a temporary hold had been placed on all traffic since the floor tile had been triggered. He assumed that the guards had a way to shut this off, but they were worm food now. Even this spike couldn’t get past it for quite some time.

Time to go off script. Igniting a saber blade he plunged it into the middle of the large door and held it there. A rapidly growing circle of heat expanded out from the point of contact. First red hot, then white before burned and brittle metal broke away in chunks on either side. Ukodi slowly moved his blade from one side to the other and then up and down. Once there was a hole big enough for him to step through, he turned off the blade and used the Force to blow the slag out of his way.

Ruqua entertained herself outside with trying to get a rise out of the guard commander. She reached out with the Force and gently flicked his ears, or stroked his neck like an insect would. He kept swatting at his ears and neck when she did it. She fought to hide her smirk while talking with Talo’Ra and Qet’al.

Talo’Ra and Qet’al chatted amiably while they watched the movements of patrols and disposition of the guard. Occasionally their eyes met and locked on each other. The apprentice had spent a great deal of time with him in the month since his release. The time had been spent in preparation, planning and checking his health. He was still having some issues with his lung, but she was working on trying to fix the issue. It rankled, but she may have to resort to consulting Ganlaan about it.

Ganlaan stood by the desk of the beaurocrat who fiddled with the terminal and talked to himself. The Sith interjected after a while, “Worked here long have you?”

The master replied absently, “Nearly twenty cycles. I know this place inside and out.” He narrowed his eyes in concentration. “Why do you ask Lord uh… My Lord?”

“Just passing the time while we wait. And curiosity. You do seem to know how everything works around here.”

The overseer gave a short bark of laughter. “Yes my Lord. I dare say this place would probably fall apart without me. Us really. Zilner over there is a genius of organization.” He paused a second, “Well, the docks anyways. Production is someone else’s problem.” He said all this without really considering his words. Those words had just saved his life and that of Zilner.

“What is your name, good sir?”

“Sharoshna. I think I see the problem here. Let me try something.”

Ganlaan thought it would have to be quite the trick if he found an order that didn’t exist. “Very well. And who is this Zilner you mentioned?”

“Hmm? Oh, that blue one over there.” He pointed in the general direction of a Duros bent over a pile of datapads around her terminal.

Ganlaan could hardly credit his eyes. “A Duros? As an accountant?”

Sharoshna chuckled, “Yeah, she’s an odd one.”

“A Duros.”

More chuckling. “Yeah, we said the same thing for a while, but she’s not like the others. She likes to work on puzzles and organize things. She’s a weirdo, but great at her job.”

Ganlaan snatched the Duros away from her desk with the Force and plopped her down next to Sharoshna. Neither had any time to react before a lightsaber hilt smashed into both of their heads. Half a moment later the room was filled with Lightning. Short circuiting droids were falling over as more opened fire on his position. He was long gone by the time the first bolts arrived. He sped away diagonally and then towards the closest droids.

His black and green saber blade danced among the nearest enemies; deflecting redirected blaster fire and cutting down droids. Sparks flew as each one was destroyed. Lights in the room started to flicker as the lightning blasts played havoc with the circuitry.

Talo’Ra keyed up her radio and said, “Mark. Three, two, one.” On one all the mercenaries from the shuttle started shooting at the guards, or diving for cover. Ruqua and Talo’Ra exploded into violent action. The Cathar leapt into the air and did a flip, landing amongst the guards gathered. Twin sabers erupted into life. She whirled around and three guards fell in pieces around a giggling Cathar.

Talo’ra sped forward faster than thought, her own black and blue blade cutting down the leader of the guard. He was swatting at invisible insects again when his head and hand came away from his body. Blaster fire began to rain down on the intruders from nearly all directions. Qet’al opened up with the heavy repeater he had. Rapid fire blaster bolts poured from out of it in a raucous staccato. The recoil was hard to deal with but he was experienced at controlling it.

Blaster fire saturated the air as both sides coordinated. Qet'al had retreated behind cover with his FireTeam. He shouted commands into his radio and the team prepared to move. The second and third FireTeams were to stay and draw fire. The countdown ended and two mortars fired several rounds in rapid succession. The explosions killed some and caused others to hide. Then the heavy gunners laid down suppressing fire while the rest took aimed shots. The Sith had cleared out of the way, not wanting to get hit by friendly fire.

Qet’al was glad that Ukodi had knocked out the defense grid and communications. Had the turrets on the towers been active, this would have been over already. As it was they had enough problems with the enemy having high ground positions. He would have to rely on Talo and Ru to eliminate those threats. A glance over his shoulder showed him Ruqua already scampering up a wall.

His team flanked around to the right. First contact was a group of guards huddled down and taking pot shots over the barricade. The team fired indiscriminately into the crowd and downed all of them. Not all were dead, but that wouldn’t be the case for long. Individuals were finished off as they were found to be alive. FireTeam One moved on and encountered their first resistance.

Qet’al’s second in command went down in a hail of fire. He yelled out, “Medic!” as he tried to recover the Rodian. The body of the downed warrior suddenly skidded towards the group’s cover. Qet’al and a Devaronian grabbed the body and pulled it to safety. Just then a black and red blur with a bluish lightsaber flashed past them. Blaster bolts were deflected in all directions as it travelled.

Talo’Ra laid into the group pinning down Qet’al’s team. She swung her blade quickly to deflect blaster fire then jumped into the air. Her red cloak billowed around her like the wings of a predatory bird. She landed in their midst and slammed her offhand fist into the ground. A shockwave of the Force burst forth all around her. Those closest to her were thrown several feet away into their comrades.

Using the momentary lull, she began to dispatch the guard with precision strokes of her lightsaber. Body parts were separated from their owners in a curiously bloodless scene. The heat of the plasma in the blade immediately cauterized all wounds, sealing in eighty percent of the blood. Her armor and cloak bore slight spatter where some had escaped.

Ruqua paused on a landing to avoid being shot by a defender that braved the withering suppression fire. The guard was clipped by a shot from FireTeam Two that had aimed carefully. Free to move she blurred forward at the speed of the Force to her destination. Twin blades appeared again and began their deadly work. She swiped at two huddled together and a pair of heads flew up over the barricade. The other hand parried panic induced shooting.

Wild shots sprayed all around her as she moved from enemy to enemy. Weapons and body parts scattered the ground around her as she hacked her way through them. The last one standing was a Human with a Vibrosword. She had purposely left this one alone so that she could entertain herself. An explosion was heard above as the battleship started to deal with the local air defense. All comm’s were jammed so they couldn’t call for backup.

The Cathar looked at the Human in her way and smiled. She moved in to attack and he parried her lightning fast attacks. The smile on her face broadened as she saw a worthy opponent. She engaged him again, faster than before, and his defense wasn’t as strong. He fended off three blows but was spun around by the last so she planted a boot in his back sending him stumbling away. He recovered and spun around in a guarded stance. Afraid as he was, he wouldn’t back down.

She threw a lightsaber in his direction. He braced to block when it flew past him on the left. Suddenly there was a shower of sparks as a half dozen battle droids fell into pieces behind him. The blade returned to her hand while he watched. He glanced behind him to see the metallic carnage and quickly back to her. He nervously tightened the grip on his sword and started to inch toward her.

She smiled at him while he advanced. The lightsaber she had just caught winked out and was hung on her belt. With only a single blade, she beckoned to him with the other hand. “We’ll do this properly,” she said over the din of battle. He assumed a high ready position with the sword above his head now. She nodded and did the same.

A long moment stretched out as they took the measure of each other. She was amused while he resigned himself. He would fight with every ounce of skill he had, but he knew he was outclassed. He would die a warrior’s death. He rushed forward with a feint to his left, then right and finally a broad downward swing.

The Cathar was caught off guard by the second feint and barely managed to block the real attack before spinning out of the way. “Oh you are fun!” She launched her own attack: A flat slash at his midsection, followed by several swings from the left and right. He jumped back to avoid the initial then countered the rest of her attacks and even managed a counter attack of his own.

She laughed openly with glee at how well he was doing against her. She hadn’t had this much fun in quite a while. They circled around each other like dangerous animals. He was breathing heavily from the effort of keeping up with her. She felt like she had finally warmed up and was ready to really fight. She leapt at him with a flurry of attacks. He dodged, or parried, everything but fell backwards when he tripped on a body. She backed up saying, “None of that now. Get up and let’s finish this properly.”

He rose to his feet and took up an exhausted guard position. He darted forward the few steps between them and tried a straight thrust at her chest. She stepped aside and knocked the sword out of his hands. He dove forward trying to get to his sword, but missed. He rolled over and scrambled back towards it. She let him get a hold of it and stand up.

He was shaking from stress and exhaustion so she simply walked up and speared him in the chest. She said, “Pleasure doing business with you.” The light went out of his eyes and he dropped to the ground. She smiled briefly at the body and went in search of more fun.

Ganlaan had the reinforcements bottled up inside by blocking the door ways. His lightsaber was busy deflecting shots fired at him when he wasn’t hunkered down behind cover. He was wise enough to know that a stationary target was easier to hit when in the open. He would pop up and launch lightning at one of the two doorways he was protecting as they tried to make it through. A pile of bodies at each was evidence of the efficacy of his tactics.

His armor was scored from glancing blows and an explosion he’d managed to avoid. Shrapnel had bitten into his arms and his scalp. Blood had flowed from the minor cut in the overly dramatic way that scalp wounds always do. Talo’Ra’s pet Twi’lek entered the building with his team and started shooting back at the barracks doorways. A second team came in and took up a position to the left of the first.

Random members of the teams stood up at different times to fire into the door ways. The Twi’lek shouted some commands that he couldn’t make out. Simultaneously three members of each squad threw frag grenades into the doorways. Ruqua entered the building as explosions liquified the closest to the doors and blew the troops back. She saw that Ganlaan was already rushing into the furthest doorway and smoke poured out of another one. That is where the fun would be.

Talo’Ra entered the building while FireTeam Two was outside mopping up the dregs and securing the landing zones. She arrived just in time to see green lekku disappear into the furthest doorway. She followed suit. Inside was a nightmare. Blood and gobbets of flesh were splattered all over what remained of the walls for the first few feet. After that it opened up into a wider barrack with individual rooms lining the walls.

The guttural sound of a lightsaber deflecting shots and cutting into things was a constant undertone to the firefight. She joined the fight as Ganlaan was cutting the legs off of a guard. Grenades exploded near Qet’al’s position, sending him and his men sprawling. Talo’Ra was there in a flash, pulling the stunned Twi’lek to safety with the rest of his team. He regained his senses and saw her crouching over him. She looked down at him and a pleased smile crossed her face before she was gone again.

The apprentice leapt forward across the room and drilled her lightsaber into the chest of a defender. She ripped it out to one side and the nearly severed torso flopped awkwardly to one side. A shower of lightning enveloped the space to her right so she headed left. She saw another group of the dwindling guards and shot lightning at them as well. Their spirit broken, the guards in this barracks began to surrender.

An explosion sounded from the other barracks as the battle was still joined there. Ganlaan rushed out of the hall to aid the Cathar. He arrived to a whirlwind of red blades cutting through people and walls. Halves of FireTeam Three leapfrogged each other advancing into the barracks.

Ruqua jumped into the air, and did a tabletop spin, to avoid a cluster of blaster shots. Her blades flashing, she landed and double swiped through a guard. The sheer amount of fire aimed at her was too much to block all of it. One hit her in the fleshy part of the thigh; another glanced off of her forearm. She ducked into a doorway and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. The damage to her leg was painful and debilitating. She was in some trouble now.

The FireTeam was advancing her way, but it might not be fast enough. She was relieved when a wide blast of lightning incapacitated the nearest guards. The field was so wide it wasn’t enough to kill them without prolonged use. She waved a lightsaber through the doorway to pinpoint her position then stepped out. Immediately she felt herself dragged through the air to her lover.

He grabbed her in midair and pulled her behind the improvised barricade this half of the FireTeam was using. The sniper dropped her rifle and began cutting away the legging around the wound. He poured some water on the wound to try and clear away the char. She produced a couple of vials for the hypospray she had and began injecting them.

Ganlaan saw this happen in a semi detached way while his brain exploded. The woman he loved had been hurt and the ones who did it were still alive. His golden eyes seemed to glow with power. Electricity began to crackle involuntarily around his hands and arms. The sniper froze in fear at the show of power and the look of terrible rage on his face.

He stood and extended his arms in front of him. A massive storm of lightning blazed forth from his hands. Flesh cooked, blood boiled and fat deposits began to explode on those it hit. A furrow was torn up from the permacrete floor along the pathway of the lightning. Shrapnel from the furrow went everywhere and injured more. Pivoting in place, another torrent of lightning burst forth. This time he slowly moved it to the left and melted armor to convulsing bodies.

The last few survivors tried to surrender. Ganlaan grabbed each one of them with the Force and yanked them towards him. Once close enough, he cut them in half with his waiting lightsaber. Body parts slammed into the floor and walls behind him. Some halves screamed, others just stared in shock and horror for their last moments alive.

Ruqua watched him as best she could with her back against the barricade. She could feel the raw power rolling off him, and smirked through the pain. His rampage over he turned back to her to render further aid for her injuries. She said, “You’re so hot when you do that.” She grabbed his breastplate and pulled him forward into a passionate kiss.

When they parted he began his work of healing. He produced another set of vials and handed them to the Sniper. She took them in hand and loaded one into the hypo. Ganlaan looked at the sniper and said, “Thank you. I know it wasn’t life threatening, but I will never forget what you’ve done here.” A sickly greenish mist formed around the wound on the Cathar’s leg. Icy needles knit the flesh back together. “What’s your name?”

“Kari’nyev my lord. Kari’nyev Stormrider.” He instructed her on how to work with his healing to maximize both attributes.

Ukodi appeared next to them with a flourish. Without looking up Ganlaan said, “Took you long enough to show back up.

Ukodi bristled slightly saying, “You try knocking out all the systems, keeping comms down and looking this good while doing it.” Ruqua snickered while Ganlaan rolled his eyes. “The systems are back up now, we’re defensible.”

Ganlaan and Ruqua said, “Good" in unison.

Talo’Ra performed similar work to save downed members of the FireTeam. They had put in good work and deserved to be treated. Qet’al oversaw securing the prisoners and making sure they had no hidden weapons. When her job was done, the apprentice walked over to the Twi’lek and said, “You seem to be in one piece.”

He chuckled and turned to look at her. “Thanks to you. Again.” He smiled. She made a dismissive noise and shrugged her shoulders a bit with a smirk. On impulse, Qet’al leaned in and kissed her. When she didn’t pull away he put his hand behind her neck and pursued the kiss further. He pulled back a bit and kissed her again quickly before backing away to see her reaction.

She smiled impishly at him and said, “Took you long enough.” They both laughed and then looked around at the chaos. “I suppose we should look in on the others.” He agreed and they walked out of the barracks.