Jedi Council Forums - When Few Stood Against Many [NJO action/thriller; OCs, Mandos, Vong] --- Chapter VI --- 4/6

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Author	Topic: When Few Stood Against Many [NJO action/thriller; OCs, Mandos, Vong] --- Chapter VI --- 4/6
Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/7/06 7:13am Subject: When Few Stood Against Many [NJO action/thriller; OCs, Mandos, Vong] --- Chapter VI --- 4/6 - Date Edited: 4/6 7:51am (28 edits total) Edited By: Corran_Fett
	Prologue This can't be happening. The Twi'lek found himself in the most uncomfortable situation he had ever been in, and the muzzle of a heavy blaster pistol aimed at his forehead didn't quite aid to feeling any better. "If there's one thing that disgusts me more than the Vongese themselves," said the fierce woman holding the blaster, "then it's scum like you." His lekku were trembling heavily and his face was soppy with sweat, but he still managed to hold his own in the conversation—he used to be a skilled ambassador, after all. "That's ironic, you know," he countered, "coming from a member of a group of gun-for-hires who haven't too long ago been doing the dirty work for your loathed Vongese, as you call them." Even before finishing talking, the Twi'lek realized that it hadn't been such a good idea to insult the furious woman, and she made him pay for that. "Nar'sheb, hut'uun. Don't push your luck, scumbag." The Twi'lek could've never imagined that the last sound to hear in his life would be a rather tranquil, even harmonic one—but he did realize that the cold metallic dart piercing his carotid was not in the least harmonic as he faded into netherworld. Half an hour before... Ara Norvath immediately realized something was terribly wrong as the spaceliner jerkily dropped out of hyperspace. This sense only increased as the calm voice of one of the ship's stewardesses appeared on the comm-speakers. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are currently experiencing technical problems with the hyperspace engines but this matter should be solved within an hour. Please remain calm and stay on your seats." The stewardess well managed to conceal the nervousness in her voice, but not well enough for Ara not to notice. "We apologize for the delay and we are offering free fresh drinks for everyone. Please be patient, and if you have any questions feel free to ask our staff." Free drinks to keep the passengers unsuspicious? Ara thought, eyeing the other passengers who were hysterically in whispered conversation. Now that's new. The Mandalorian woman wore a loose tunic and wide trousers well concealing the armor and gear she wore beneath them. Her helmet and weapons were in a bag in the cargo bay, but she wasn't unarmed—she still had a small combat knife and her gauntlets, and she was certain that both would be needed, soon. Taking a spaceliner these days wasn't exactly the safest way to travel, even despite the fact that Sundance, an old Leonore C-3 passenger liner, had been modified with automatic quad-laser-turrets and turbolaser batteries. Once more, Ara regretted having taking a civil craft from Denon to Contruum, instead of taking a ride with the starfighter of a befriended bounty hunter—no, Ara hadn't wanted to cause her friend any more troubles, after all he'd done for her. But that was another issue, and she had to deal with her decision, now. She needed to find out what had hauled the ship out of hyperspace—hoping it weren't the Yuuzhan Vong—so she unstrapped herself, stood up and went to the corridor. She didn't get far before a Duros steward noticed her. "Excuse me, madam," he said nervously, "but could you remain on your seat, please?" "I can't," said Ara. "I'm not feeling well—I need to use the 'freshers." "I—Of course, madam." The Duros was even more irritable now, as if he knew she was lying. But, for her sake, he didn't ask any more questions, so she advanced through the corridor, and, well aware of the cautious eyes of the alien steward on her, she entered the ladies' refreshers. In the cabin, she considered what to do next. If it was the Yuuzhan Vong who had pulled them out of hyperspace, then it could either be a simple dovin-basal mine—these days, thousands of them were still on often-used hyperspace routes—without any other Yuuzhan Vong craft in proximity, or it was a mine together with a small force of Yuuzhan Vong coralskippers and transporters, only waiting to pitch into any new stranded starships. If former, Sundance's crew had only to repair the hyperspace engine and hope they managed to escape before any Vong arrived. If latter, the spaceliner probably would've already started firing on the Vong, and the fact they hadn't made the first possibility more plausible. Ara knew there was a third option, though—one that she bristled to imagine it was the most probable. Rumors said that the Vong—and the usual pirates, but they had been doing this all the time, also before the invasion—weren't the only ones ambushing cargo-, refugee- and passenger transports; there were also the idiots who still believed the Vong would spare them when they allied with them: the Peace Brigade. And Ara had this uncomfortable feeling that it was this very scattered group of immoral traitors to the whole galaxy was about to raid Sundance now—the over 1300 beings on the ship had to appear to be a good present to the Vong, after all. Trying to clear her mind, Ara held her head under the refresher and let algid water pour down her face. She had, after all, not completely been lying to the Duros—she really wasn't in best health, although she had no idea why. Then she halted, the water still flowing out of the faucet, as she heard and felt the dumb sound and rumble of another ship docking to the only airlock hatch of the spaceliner. Here we go, Ara thought. Wonder what took 'em so long... Grabbing her vibroblade, she leaned against the bulkhead and unlocked the door, but didn't open it. Going through a mental list of measures to take in such a situation, she decided it was best to wait—running out of the cabin and engage the enemy head over heels would only compromise her current advantage of a safe position; not to say she'd be dead before she could even touch one of them. Whoever they are, that is... It didn't take too long before the voice of the stewardess reappeared on the comm, no longer calm but hysterical and nervous now, and she announced that the ship was being boarded, there were not enough combat-trained crewmembers to handle this and using to the escape pods was useless, too—thus implying every soul on this ship was doomed. That was when the panic started, although not a single one of the raiders had yet showed up, and Ara could hear desperate shouts and cries (and various alien "expressions" of trepidation), along with the slight tremors of people stampeding senselessly through the corridors, not caring about anyone but themselves. Though, Ara was certain not everyone was going mad—there had to be some who did the exact difference: nothing. They probably just sat on their seats, stunned and experiencing a total blackout. Ara didn't dare open the door just yet, to see what was going on on board and try to calm things down, but there was a lot of anger coming up on her, either way—for both the attackers and the crew of Sundance. Condemning the lives of over 1300 people just like that was an inhuman act. Unfortunately, the "need" to perform acts like this had inconveniently increased since the beginning of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. A sudden knock at the door, followed by someone cursing, brought her back from her thoughts to here-and-now. "Open the door, whoever's in there!" a voice from outside called harshly—it didn't sound like one of the passengers. It's already open, di'kut, she thought, pushed the button to open the door, reached out as it opened and put the human into a tight stranglehold, her vibroblade millimeters from his throat, and closed the door again. "Woah," the apparently unarmed man said, with honest shock and surprise on his dark-complected face. "Easy... you might—" "Don't push it, hut'uun," Ara said grimly. "Tell me any reason not to ruin your fancy suit with ugly red blotches from your blood." The man sounded more than uneasy now, after realizing the fierce woman was serious, after all. "Well, for starters, there's, um, nothing I can think about, apart from the fact that my short career as a bounty hunter's come to an end, at last. Still, before I cease to be, I'd like to hear what scumbag didn't have the guts to take on me personally and sent another hunter instead." That answer caught Ara more than off-guard, as well as the other's slightly sarcastic tone. "Bounty hunter? What in the Emperor's Black Heart are you talking about? You're not from the Peace Brigade?" It was to the man to be surprised now. "What?! You think I'm one of those Vong-glorifying bastards?! What is this, some kind of joke show? You could start releasing me already..." Take that as a no. He might be saying the truth—after all, what should an unarmed Peace Brigader in finest business-suit do here, anyway? And if he was, he wouldn't try to deceive me 'cause his lads are right around the corner. But trust's good, control's better, so I better keep one or two eyes on him—just in case. "False move, you're dead," she said, loosening the grip. "Understood?" "I guess so," the man said, relieved. "Macos Fenix, by the way, would-be-notorious bounty hunter." Before Ara could answer anything—not that she had intended to—the sound of a blaster clanged outside the cabin, followed by even more screams. "Everyone who hasn't got his mouth shut by now," a guttural nonhuman voice shouted—maybe Devaronian or Twi'lek, Ara thought, "will have it shot by me." That was, of course, and idle threat—the Brigade would need every single prisoner alive, so their blasters were probably set on stun. However, it worked, and silence filled the scene, only to be broken again by the Brigader's voice. "We bring you a gift. A gift that none of you can defy. You are among the few chosen ones to take the journey of the true path..." "Yeah, yeah," Fenix said impatiently. "I'll show you 'true path', son of a murglak." He looked at Ara, who was tinkering with her vibroblade. "It doesn't happen you've got another one of those neat knives, does it?" "Nope, but you can have mine. I don't need it," she added as she noticed Fenix's confused gaze. "Wait for my mark—we don't know their numbers, so we need to take 'em quietly, and unseen." "You know, I usually don't take orders, but you look like you know what you're saying, so I'll make an exception." "I'm flattered," said Ara, rolling her eyes. "Now shut it." She could well need her helmet and especially its thermal vision now, because miscalculating the number of hostiles now might end her day sooner than she'd like to. Nevertheless, she made an assumption of about two to three dozen Peace Brigaders on Sundance, take or leave a handful, and probably another handful still on their ship. These figures would make sense to Ara, did she ever plan to kidnap 1300 people on a ship like that, but Ara was a professional—and what she heard about the Peace Brigade stated they were not exactly pros. But she decided to stick with her assumption, just in case. No matter how many hostiles where on the ship, it was totally vital to be cautious and stealthy, to catch them off guard and prevent this from becoming a devastating gunfight with the odds against Ara and her new companion Fenix. Finally deciding to do something, she pressed her ear against the door and listened closely. Apart from the still boasting Brigader, she could hear footsteps approaching. Turning her head to face the alerted bounty hunter, she gave him a sign to stand down and wait, and then, as the footsteps passed by, pressed the button to open the door. It slid open with a hiss, quiet enough not to be noticed by the person who had just walked by, and Ara stepped out cautiously. The refreshers were in a side corridor that crossed the main corridor, and so she was out of sight from the deck where the hostile leader was holding his speech. She was surprised to see that the lights where dimmed and it was rather dark, what let her to the assumption that maybe some of the crew members hadn't been as inactive as she had thought and switched to emergency power in order to have a small advantage when defending the ship against the intruders. Crouching, she sneaked off to the bulkhead where the corridors crossed, leaned against it and took a brief look into the main passenger's deck. The Brigader—a Twi'lek—had stopped talking and was giving orders to some of his men and then walked off, headed to the bridge. Ara could make out seven armed Peace Brigaders in the shadowy illumination, most of them non-humans: Rodians, Devaronians, and she thought she could even make out a Weequay, but she figured there were more of them she couldn't see—seven men against over 400 passengers was a risk even the Peace Brigade wouldn't take; or so Ara thought. She decided to get back to Fenix and tell him about the plan she had in mind and as she looked at the cabin, she could see the overly swanky dressed bounty hunter cowering there, his dark brown eyes expectantly fixed on her. See could spot the urge to do something and the rage against the immoral Peace Brigade in his eyes, but also something else—something she couldn't quite place, something even more intense and emotional than what she could already see. There was something about that man that unsettled her, but she didn't know why. Ara just hoped she wouldn't need to find out the hard way. She just wanted to go back to Fenix as a voice and approaching footsteps interrupted her. The voice had that distinctive, disgusting chirping sound of a Rodian, one that was mumbling in a jittery Huttese into a comlink, and from the tense in his voice, Ara could tell that the conversation with the person on the other end of the line wasn't about to end very soon, especially not soon enough for her to take out the Rodian without getting the attention of the person on the com. Another problem was the fact that the side corridor with the refreshers was more illuminated than the main corridor and there was nothing to hide except from the cabin, and that was ouch of reach. Just in time, she gave Fenix a mark to close the door and then, without further thinking and driven by her reflexes and intuition, she went the only way possible. Up. As the Rodian entered the corridor, he instantly froze. He shouted a few, nearly inaudibly fast spoken words into the comlink—it sounded something like "I got 'em." to Ara, but it could've just as well been "Shut your sithspawned mouth, you disgusting koochoo." And from the following action, as the Rodian smashed his comlink to the floor, she figured it was latter. Now that the Rodian wasn't any longer communicating with one of his comrades, Ara decided to do something about him. So she dropped to the floor behind the Peace Brigader as soundlessly as possible, who apparently didn't notice her and was slowly, his blaster rifle ready, approaching the door to the refreshers. Ara had been dealing with lots of Rodians before, so she knew exactly their weak points, the major one being their necks, why she grabbed his head and neck and jerked his green, sweaty head back, just about faintly enough not to kill him already, but so that another quick pull would do the trick. "One sound," she threatened the nervous nonhuman, "and you're dead mea—" "Bring it on, bitch," suddenly a deep female voice said from behind her, the same time as she felt the cold metal of a blaster's muzzle pressed against her head. Not good, the Mandalorian woman thought simply. Slowly, Ara turned her head to face a female Bothan with near-purple pelt sprinkled with beige spots, whose toxic-green eyes made her appear more than surreal. "And you would be...?" Ara asked. "None of your business," said the Bothan harshly. "Now, would you kill that murglak already, or do you want me to shoot both of you?" Me'ven?! The Mandalorian woman couldn't conceal her surprise—she was gazing in utter bewilderment. What?! This is getting seriously ugly... This little shock could've nearly cost her life, but before the Bothan was about to open her mouth after a short time's silence, adrenaline flooded back into Ara's veins and she reacted. With a brief, but forceful draft she twitched the Rodian's head back and with a loud cracking sound his neck broke. She loosened her grip and the lifeless body plunged to the ground. "So," she said after taking a few steps away from the Bothan, the blaster still aimed at her, "would you tell me why I just killed a useful informant?" Ara hadn't brought up this issue before on purpose; had she started an argument under the pressure of that death-threat about whether or not the Rodian was more useful alive, the Bothan might've most likely lost her patience and just killed them both. However, the Bothan might still shoot her, now. "That slimy creature would've rather killed himself than speaking a single word of truth. And speaking of slimy creatures..." The Bothan woman hesitated, a disgusted look on her face. "I'm looking for someone." "And this... someone might be...?" "Macos Fenix." She pronounced the name as though she had eaten something nauseous. "I doubt you've heard of him." Surprised once more, Ara couldn't conceal her reaction, and thus decided to go another way with this. "You're right, I never heard of him." She hesitated, closely observing the Bothan's reaction. "But I met him." "You met him?! Where?" "Here on board. I'll lead you to him, under one condition: you're aiding me to cleanse the ship from the scum." "Are you insane? There's more than forty of those murglaks on the ship, and even a Corellian wouldn't take the odds against that. No, I'm not playing along your little psycho game." "I'm sane enough to know that Fenix won't be of much use for you when you two end up as mindless slaves once the crab-boys arrive. Anyway, where'd you get that number from, forty?" "I've been lurking around the airlock as they entered, and I simply counted. Forty-two entered, but there are probably still several of them on their vessel. But I'm still not ready to die miserably in a battle where I'm more than outgunned." "You don't exactly have a choice. Yuuzhan Vong slavery isn't death—it's worse." "Who says I'm gonna let myself get captured by those dungheads? No, not if I can do something about that. I'll grab Fenix, steal their ship and..." "And what? Leave thirteen-hundred passengers to their unholy fate?" Anger was rising in Ara again. That Bothan's no better than this pack of Vong-allying hut'uune. "Not with me." "What do you want to do, girlie?" the Bothan asked skeptically, lifting her blaster. "Spit at me?!" That first contemptuous 'girlie' made her nearly lose her temper, but then she noticed something in the background and could just about draw in her horns. "No; better," she said as calmly as possible. "I do nothing at all." The Bothan woman didn't even have time to shoot her a confused gaze before she collapsed to the ground, a vibroblade stuck deep in the hollow of her knee. From the open cabin door, Ara could see Fenix stepping out and approaching as she knelt down to pick up the Bothan's and the Rodian's blasters and then felt the Bothan's pulse. It was still beating. "You're good at throwing knives," she said, looking up to Fenix who bore a troubled look on his usually rather cheery face. "Is she dead?" he asked, trying to sound sober. "Nope, but she's unconscious." "Damn. I aimed at her neck." So much about the fancy knife throwing, she thought, but something in his features and tone told Ara that his otherwise sarcastically meant comment wasn't sarcastic at all. "Who is she?" Ara asked cautiously. There was a long moment's silence as Fenix was staring into space, obviously pondering about something that really touched him, before he finally spoke those few words, slowly, as if still half in his dream world. "She used to be my wife." Ara didn't say anything. Whatever she had said, it would've been misplaced, and she doubted Fenix would've actually received anything had she spoken up, anyway. "It's a long, boring and intricate story," he said, nevertheless, slowly coming back to here-and-now. "Let's just lock her up and get to the task at hand." And with that the bounty hunter grasped the Bothan woman and carried her into the empty cabin. Ara did the same with the dead Rodian, and then they relieved the two of their gear and locked up the cell, all without speaking a single word. Then they divided the weapons, with Fenix wielding the Rodian's blaster rifle and wearing the torso of the nonhuman's light armor, and Ara, with her Mandalorian armor still covered under her clothes, had the light blaster pistol and the knife—she had wanted latter back because she could handle this weapon better as Fenix. Fully geared up, each ready to fight for their own reasons and goals, the unlike team went to the door where the corridors passed and cautiously stepped out onto the main deck. After taking a few steps into the shadows, Ara felt that they had done a terrible mistake. As she turned, her feelings proved themselves right, because she was staring into the muzzles of six blaster rifles surrounding them. "Put your weapons down at once," a Weequay shouted, "and leave your hands where I can see them." Ara threw a certain glance at Fenix, who only nodded slightly. She hadn't come this far to end up like that, no. The odds were against her, but with a little portion of luck, and the advantage of surprise, she should be able to manage this early threat. She looked around, noting the position of every single of the seven men, and then decided to do something about it. After a quick nod to Fenix, she ducked and gave a clean shot out of the low-energy blaster she had overcharged in the Weequay's face, then threw the ineffective weapon away and shot a poisoned dart from her gauntlet into another Brigader's throat, and it was only then that the others reacted. One of them, a Rodian, was stupid enough to fire a stun blast at Ara and missed her, instead hitting a Devaronian behind her who went down cursing in his native tongue. Back-to-back with Fenix, she didn't have time to check how many the bounty hunter had taken out, and continued fighting, now down to melee combat weapons, intending to spare her additional armor gear for later, when she needed it more. She grabbed her vibroblade, dodged another shot from foolish Rodian and slung it into another Rodian's chest, the one who had been scarcely missed by his comrade's shot and now dropped lifelessly to the floor. Ara performed a roll to the dead Rodian's body and retracted her blade, only to face the Rodian with the blaster as she stood up again. Both opponents froze, plainly staring at each other, before a quiet 'klick' broke the silence and Ara noticed that the Rodian's thumb had just tilted the switch from "stun" to "kill", his black, facetted eyes still fixed on hers, his face deadpan like a Mandalorian's helmet. Ara had never really often watched holo-dramas, but the scene she faced now reminded her of those old cheesy gunslinger movies where the action culminated in a duel of the hero versus his arch-villain—something that was, of course, more than ridiculous, especially because the Rodian made a really poor villain, and Ara would've been close to laughing, hadn't it been for the matter of life and death. But still, it was exactly like that, and each of them waited for the other to make a move. After another minute—it seemed more like hours to Ara—she eventually made that move and made an illusive gesture to shoot another dart from her gauntlets, but instead she performed a cartwheel to the left, a fraction of a millisecond to late, as it turned out, because the Rodian's reaction was faster than expected and the blaster bolt grazed her left wade, why she lost balance and crashed inflexibly to the ground. With her face down and the tremendous pain spreading from her leg making it hard for her to move she didn't notice what was going on around her, but after a few seconds she noticed that something was wrong, because the Rodian should've shot her by now. As she finally managed to steady herself and get up, she could make out both Fenix and the Rodian with their hands up and their backs to her, and a handful of uniformed humans behind them, with E-11s at their ready. One of them was talking to them, but the from distance, Ara couldn't hear what they were saying. Meanwhile, the pain had dropped to an acceptable level and Ara cautiously got back on her feet and limped towards the others. As she approached, she could see the many passengers who, now more or less safe, at least for a while, gathered around and watched the scene. "...not one of them, how often have I got to repeat this?!" That was Fenix muttering at the man with the rank stripes, definitely being upset about being captured with a Peace Brigader and suspected to be one of them. "I don't know how many of those kriffin' dungheads are on this ship!" Ara now recognized that those men where all staff members, probably the only ones able to handle a gun, and the man Fenix was talking to was most likely the captain. And the captain was just about to open his mouth to accuse Fenix of even more things as the Mandalorian woman interrupted. "He speaks the truth, sir." All of the sudden, all the attention—as well as all of the blaster rifles—was on her, and their leader had a confused gaze. "Why should he and I be Peace Brigaders when we are fighting against them, anyway? No, the only member of the Peace Brigade here is that slimy Rodian." "And why," the captain asked skeptically, "should I know you aren't lying?" "Easy," Fenix said. "He's not on the list of passengers. You can check us, I'm Macos Fenix, and she's..." "Sarad Dyre," Ara said. It wasn't exactly a lie, because she was traveling incognito—she did have enemies, after all, ones of the sorts that would've immobilized a whole armada and blasted a spaceliner with thirteen-hundred people aboard to shards, just to ensure they got her. "But we're wasting our time with this nonsense. There are forty-two of them on the ship, minus the six we've taken out here and another one I got the information from. That leaves thirty-five, not counting the ones that should be still on their docked ship." The captain gazed at her but said nothing, then nodded to one of his men who took a datapad from his belt and checked the list, nodding affirmatively to his superior. "Alright, listen, everybody," the captain spoke up after gathering words so that the other passengers could hear him, too. "Anybody who knows how to fight or to handle a gun will be of great help and would be significantly repaired when we're through this. This is OUR ship, and we'll make sure it stays that! Now, somebody lock up that scumbag,"—he was glancing at the Rodian now, disgust on his face—"and all volunteers grab any kind of weapon you can get!" Ara wasn't surprised to see only a handful step forward to fight alongside them—in those desperate times, everybody hold on their lives, always fearing for the worst and mostly caring only for themselves or their families. But still, it was a pity there were only so few—it would've been easier had there been more of them, and then, perhaps, this whole situation could have been solved without spilling further blood, both of the Peace Brigade and hostages they'd sooner or later be taking. "Captain," Ara said impatiently, "we've got to get moving—now! I suggest we head towards the bridge, that's were their leader was headed." Without waiting for the others, she walked ahead, well aware of Fenix on her tails. At least someone... Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you regarded it—they didn't come too far before the captain cried out "Wait!" and he, his men and the volunteers quickly caught up with the Mandalorian woman and her bounty hunter companion. En route to the bridge, they went through another passenger deck—this time with less than a hundred people—where they met only six Peace Brigaders who weren't really up for a fight after two of them had been stunned and gave up—but not before one of them managed to send a call for reinforcements. On this deck, nearly another dozen of volunteers joined the group, although they were rather short of ranged weapons, now. After interrogating one of the capitulators, Ara found out that on the last part to the bridge, there were only five more Brigaders, plus their leader. So they decided to split up and only Ara and Fenix went on towards the bridge, while the captain and the others entrenched themselves and prepared a trap for the incoming reinforcements. "So this is it, eh?" Fenix asked while they were cautiously walking through the corridors, avoiding spots that provided an ambush. "I never thought it'd get that easy." "It's not over, yet," Ara muttered back, her tone implying that she wasn't quite keen on chatting right now, and for her sake, Fenix caught that and went on without further conversation. After walking a few more steps, something came to her mind that she should've thought of far earlier. So the Brigaders we've blown sent a reinforcement call. But wait, this means that... That was when guns started to pop out a few dozen meters away and began blazing all over the place, even before Ara could finish her thought. Instinctively, she sought cover, and the only she could find was a door right to her two meters ahead, so she sprinted forward, opened the door and got inside, then grabbing for one of the blasters she had picked up. All that went with a good portion of luck, what couldn't quite be said about her new comrade, Fenix. Before he could reach the door across from hers, one of the stray shots from their attackers—who still couldn't be seen, apart from their blasters blazing blindly all over the place—hit the bounty hunter in his left lower leg, and in the motion, he couldn't catch himself before collapsing to the floor. "I'd rather get moving," Ara shouted out, eyeing Fenix's attempts to get up again, however desperate and futile they were, "in case you don't want to end up like Byss Cheese once we're out of this." "Ha-ha, very funny," Fenix muttered back. "You know, I could use a hand..." "Sure," Ara said, then firing a few blind shots herself towards the Peace Brigaders, not assuming or attempting to hit anyone. Nevertheless, she heard someone screaming, and the number of shots directed at them suddenly decreased. Ara couldn't help but smirk, and then she quickly went out of the cabin, reached for Fenix, grabbed his hand and pulled him in. "Sorry 'bout the mocking, I usually don't tend to be kidding in situations like that..." "It's fine," Fenix replied, grinning. "At least if I don't end up like Byss Cheese in the end." At least I got what I wanted. Cheer him up and make him forget about the pain... "So, how's your leg?" she asked, serious again. "It's had better times, and I doubt I can walk too far. I really envy you, you know..." "Envy me?!" Ara said doubtfully. "For what?!" "Well, it's all yours now. You're the one who gets all the fun of kicking the asses of those last scumbags." "Er... you're sure nothing else got hit? Like... your head?" Fenix hesitated, obviously trying to think of a good reply to that, but before he could, Ara had already slipped into the cabin across from him, and therefore all he said was a sarcastic "Ha-ha..." before he began to examine his wound more closely. Ara was rather confused, now that the shooting had stopped completely. She could hear voices from ahead, though, and she was wondering whether they had run out of ammo. The answer didn't have her wait too long, as suddenly one of the Peace Brigaders left his cover and stepped into the gangway. Immediately, Ara's reflexes kicked in, she lifted the blaster, inhaled and held her breath, aimed at his chest and nearly gently pulled the trigger, when she recognized that she had done something terribly awful, but it was already too late. In shock, Ara gazed at the young female Devaronian, not even thirteen years old, who stared back at her, her wide-opened, tear-overflowed eyes in utter agony, her innocent lips choking out a few last words. "You... killed... my... father—" Then she lowered her head, facing the big black hole in her chest, and collapsed to the ground. "No!" Ara screamed out, bursting into tears herself. "I didn't mean to..." She walked over to the dead girl, dropped on her knees, trembling severely, and gently held onto the child's small hand, sobbing about what she had done. Take my life, instead. This just isn't the way things were supposed to be. Those hut'uune don't even balk at using their kids against us. If there was anything she could have done to undo this, she would have, but sadly, there wasn't. Then, suddenly, there were shots coming from behind her, and someone yelling at her—probably Fenix—but Ara didn't care, and didn't react. She still couldn't believe the gruesome act she had committed, and nothing, not even the danger of being killed now, could drag her thoughts away from that. Only subconsciously, she noticed all the noise and the heat around her, and it was also her subconsciousness that told her to come back to the here and now, and very, very slowly, her mind did, and more and more she became aware that the shooting had halted, still with the smell of ozone and burnt flesh in the air. And then, she also began to notice the pain that was spreading from her left upper arm, but as she looked there, she gladly noticed that it was only a graze. She got back on her feet, picked up her pistol and observed the scene. In front of her, there were the corpses of four Peace Brigaders, including the girl, lying on the ground, two of them with still smoke rising from their fresh wounds. Behind her, Fenix was lying on the floor, half in the cabin, half in the gangway, and he seemed more than freaked out, although apparently unhurt, what Ara was glad about. "Kriff!" Fenix cursed as he looked at her approaching him. "What in the nine hells of Corellia was that all about?!" Ara just gazed at him, deadpan, but didn't offer a reply to that. "Four of five chakaar'e dead, that only leaves their leader." "Whoa, wait, wait, wait! Don't you think...?" Fenix said, but then he probably hadn't noticed that the agitated Mandalorian woman hadn't exactly been talking to him, because she was already gone for good. Rushing through the gangway, Ara didn't even care about any other doors and traps, because she knew there was only one place where the Peace Brigader could be, and that was the bridge. It was probably some sort of intuition that lead her there, because she couldn't think of a rational reason. The door to the cockpit wasn't even sealed, so she just stepped right in and immediately recognized the Twi'lek standing with his back to her over some consoles. He swirled around, a blaster pistol in his hand and fired a shot at her chest, but it only hit the armor made of a fair amount of Mandalorian iron beneath her tunic and the ever-so-forceful thrust only made her press on more franticly. The Peace Brigader's skills obviously lay elsewhere than in ranged combat, because anybody else would've kept on firing, but he just froze, and made it easy for Ara to punch away his weapon and thrust him to the ground. "No, no, no!" the cowering Twi'lek begged under the pressure of a blaster pistol only inches away from his head. "Don't kill me!" Ara hesitated and eyed the disgusting creature with what she imagined to be the most ferocious look she ever had put on. "If there's one thing that disgusts me more than the Vongese themselves," she said, "then it's scum like you." "That's ironic, you know," replied the soppy-faced alien venturously, "coming from a member of a group of gun-for-hires who haven't too long ago been doing the dirty work for your loathed Vongese, as you call them." Of all things he could've said, the Peace Brigader had picked the very most thing that he should not have, and Ara didn't hesitate too long before letting him pay for that completely foolish and infelicitous boldness. "Nar'sheb, hut'uun. Don't push your luck, scumbag." And with that she lifted her left arm and released a silent saber-dart from her gauntlet, delivering the Twi'lek his ticket to netherworld. To be continued... -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/7/06 7:14am Subject: When Few Stood Against Many - Index - Date Edited: 4/30 3:17pm (17 edits total) Edited By: Corran_Fett
	Title: When Few Stood Against Many (full title: Rage of the Shadow Warriors: When Few Stood Against Many) Author: Corran_Fett Timeframe: NJO, TUF - 29 Years ABY, 46 Months into the Yuuzhan Vong invasion Characters: OCs, maybe canon-cameos Disclaimer: Lucas owns it all, apart from my OCs Genre: Adventure, Action, Drama (?) Keywords: Mandalorians, Yuuzhan Vong, NJO Summary: The Yuuzhan Vong are near defeat, and the Galactic Alliance is close to liberating Coruscant. But there are still thousands of worlds controlled by the Yuuzhan Vong and their minions, and a group of former Mandalorian mercenaries, bounty hunters and even criminals takes it upon themselves to do something about that. A task that proves not to be without perfidies... this story tells the adventures of this party, and the galaxy would remember that few stood against many. Notes: This is the sequel to Honor Guard and is part of my NJO story arc Rage of the Shadow Warriors (see below), featuring characters from the other stories. It is advised to have read Honor Guard, Pariah and Runner to better know the characters and for a better undestanding, but this story can also stand alone. You can grab the PDF in the following link. It's always up-to-date, and also easier to read. http://www.daves-sw-rogues.de/fanfics/r_when_few_stood_against_many.htm Cover Dramatis Personae (to be added with the story continuing - mentioning all starring characters would ruin the story) With the Mandalorians Atross; Mandalorian commando, explosives expert (male Togorian) Ronan Barec; Mandalorian commando, former special forces sniper (male human) Goran Beviin; Mandalorian commando and bounty hunter (male human)* Altair Jiriad; Mandalorian commando and armorsmith (male Kiffar) Sareth Karr; Mandalorian farmer, Ara’s husband, (male human) Kharritokh of clan Bakh'tor; Mandalorian commando, martial arts master (male Noghri) Ara Norvath; Mandalorian commando and mercenary (female human) Skira Jiriad; Mandalorian soldier, Altair’s son (male human) Ayden Stone; Mandalorian commando, former professional bolo-ball player (male human) Gladus Tite; Mandalorian commando, former outlaw, criminal and assassin (male human) Ram Zerimar; Mandalorian commando sniper (male human)* With the Yuuzhan Vong Tzekon Lian; subaltern (male Yuuzhan Vong) Rulaak Tsun; commander (male Yuuzhan Vong) Others Macos Fenix; bounty hunter (male human) Salem Rios; lieutenant, Galactic Alliance Intelligence (male Feeorin) (* save for Goran Beviin, and Ram Zerimar, both official EU characters, all characters are Original Characters created by me) Other stories in this arc (in chronological order) Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Pariah, by Corran_Fett Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Honor Guard, by Corran_Fett Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Wrath of the Mandalore, by Quiet_Mandalorian Rage of the Shadow Warriors: Runner, by Corran_Fett - Behind the Scenes of Rage of the Shadow Warriors - Illustrations from Rage of the Shadow Warriors - Character and tech profiles from Rage of the Shadow Warriors PM List (post in the thread if you want to be added) -DarkScorpion- -DDR- Antilles2001 Darth_Garak Enyc_KadGoran Jaina-Sticks-Fel Kudzu RK_Striker_JK_5 sdhfs VIII VaderLVR64 YodaKenobi -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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CeiranHarmony Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 10/7/06 7:44am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)***ALL NEW 10/07!
	Go Corran, go.. we need Mandalorian cheerleaders^^ Let the fics rain upon us like napalm on a good Mandalorian Crusade upon their enemies. -----signature----- www.njoe.com (Govsec Author) "Less is more!" Union "Make Love, not Clone War." The forgfotten line from the Ancient Code: "There is no Dark Side, there is just the Force." My life is an Idiots Array, PURE SABBACC
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Antilles2001 Registered: Oct '01	Date Posted: 10/7/06 8:06am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)***ALL NEW 10/07!
	as he faded into netherworld. Oh, netherworld, I always wanted to use that word. Along with the phrase "fall from grace." Pretty shiny, Dave. -----signature----- I have defied gods and demons. I am your shield. I am your sword. I know you. Your past; your future. This is the way the world ends. Oly Oly Oxen Free - 2007
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VaderLVR64 Title: Fan Fic Who Runs w/ Scissors Registered: Feb '04	Date Posted: 10/7/06 8:41am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)***ALL NEW 10/07!
	Could you put me on the PM list? I can't wait to see what happens next! -----signature----- “The smaller the mind the greater the conceit” – Aesop A Light from a Window http://boards.theforce.net/the_saga/b10476/28625076/p1/?10
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/8/06 3:04am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)***ALL NEW 10/07!
	CeiranHarmony posted: Let the fics rain upon us like napalm on a good Mandalorian Crusade upon their enemies. Will do! Antilles2001 posted: as he faded into netherworld. Oh, netherworld, I always wanted to use that word. Along with the phrase "fall from grace." Pretty shiny, Dave. Hehehe... in my first draft, I used "afterlife", but I thought netherworld would be more intriuging. Thanks! VaderLVR64 posted: Could you put me on the PM list? I can't wait to see what happens next! Done Next part should be up later today -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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Ph0enix Registered: Jul '02	Date Posted: 10/8/06 6:15am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)***ALL NEW 10/07!
	Oooh...nice. Can't wait to see where you go from here.
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/8/06 7:59am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)*Update 10/8*
	Ph0enix posted: Oooh...nice. Thanks! Ph0enix posted: Can't wait to see where you go from here. Then read on, Part Two has just been posted. -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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Kudzu Registered: Jun '05	Date Posted: 10/8/06 2:20pm Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)*Update 10/8*
	Wow. Your writing improves every time I see it. Very, very nice. Great start. Keep up the good work. -----signature----- Super Golden Ewok™ Recipient It should be the right of every American to go out and get wasted the day they're told that they're being sent to war. Ron Paul for U.S. President 2008
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RK_Striker_JK_5 Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/8/06 4:12pm Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)*Update 10/8*
	Thank you very much for the PM, dude. Please keep 'em coming. I like Ara. She's got a cool head under pressure. Loved the prologue, too. Hehe. -----signature----- E-married to the wonderful DarthIshtar. Now also her Padawan. Member of the Y.J.K. Revolution Staring into the Darkness http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/27537567/p1/?23
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/9/06 8:13am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)*Update 10/8*
	Kudzu posted: Wow. Your writing improves every time I see it. Very, very nice. Thank you very, very much! That really means something to me! Kudzu posted: Great start. Keep up the good work. Vor entye, glad you liked it. RK_Striker_JK_5 posted: Thank you very much for the PM, dude. Please keep 'em coming. Heh. Will do. RK_Striker_JK_5 posted: I like Ara. She's got a cool head under pressure. Loved the prologue, too. Hehe. Thanks, glad you liked it, too. And her heads cool, indeed - literally, cause her head is under cool water... Oh, and the prologue isn't finished yet... there's still at least two parts to go, and I'm aiming at 4000 words for the prologue, but from the progress what I currently have, it could become way longer... Anyway, I'll post the next part tomorrow. -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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Darth_Garak Registered: Jul '05	Date Posted: 10/10/06 4:59am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO)*Update 10/8* - Date Edited: 10/10/06 5:01am (1 edits total) Edited By: Darth_Garak
	Thanks for PM-ing me about. I've been feeling the need to read something with Mando'ade and then I got you're PM and raced over to read it. Great start. Can't wait for more ner vod. PS: PM please -----signature----- Ib'tuur jatne tuur ash'ad kyr'amur. Holding the Line http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=25728489&brd=10475&start=27377934 Breakthrough http://boards.theforce.net/Message.aspx?topic=27044667&brd=10475&start=27377928
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/10/06 8:33am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO, Mandos)*Updated 10/10
	Thanks, Darth_Garak. Darth_Garak posted: Can't wait for more ner vod. Then check out the first post. I just added Part Three of the prologue. At least one part to go. -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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RK_Striker_JK_5 Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 10/10/06 11:48am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO, Mandos)*Updated 10/10
	Whoa. Macos and Ara there... heh. Nice banter there. Shre's pretty smart, there. But who's the Bothan, there? Freaky eyes, too. Great post... or edit. And congrats on getting story of the month, too! You deserved it for that one. -----signature----- E-married to the wonderful DarthIshtar. Now also her Padawan. Member of the Y.J.K. Revolution Staring into the Darkness http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/27537567/p1/?23
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Corran_Fett Registered: Jan '05	Date Posted: 10/11/06 6:02am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO, Mandos)*Updated 10/10 - Date Edited: 10/11/06 6:11am (1 edits total) Edited By: Corran_Fett
	RK_Striker_JK_5 posted: Whoa. Macos and Ara there... heh. Nice banter there. Shre's pretty smart, there. But who's the Bothan, there? Freaky eyes, too. Great post... or edit. Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. RK_Striker_JK_5 posted: And congrats on getting story of the month, too! You deserved it for that one. Thanks. So, are there any other readers dropping by...? -----signature----- The other side of the NJO, featuring Mandalorians, Vong, and Peace Brigaders in a thrillride full of betrayal and intrigue... When Few Stood Against Many \| http://boards.theforce.net/b/b10477/25253415/ - http://corranfett.deviantart.com -
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sdhfs Registered: May '04	Date Posted: 10/11/06 11:45am Subject: RE: When Few Stood Against Many (sequel to Honor Guard; OCs, NJO, Mandos)*Updated 10/10
	great story, pm me with the next update please. -----signature----- http://boards.theforce.net/The_Saga/b10476/16229314/?30 Up is obidala at it's best love chooses you you don 't choose it. Death is but death why are you afraid of it ?
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